2018-07-31: To Fight One's Fears
- Log: To Fight One's Fears
- Cast: Jacqueline Barber, Catenna, Ethius Hesiod, Cyre H. Lorentz
- Where: Uzda Il-jam
- Date: July 31st, 2018
- Summary: Members of the Caravan Kinship join forces to challenge Linaweyul, the First Ordeal. Will they be up to the test?
==============================<* Uzda Il-jam *>=============================== Peaceful. It's the best way to describe this little chain of small islands that lies nestled between Meribus and Glenwood. These islands are not on any map, not recorded in any texts. They do not exist. And one might imagine, if they did not -want- you to be here... you would not be. And yet, ominous is the last thing these islands feel, at least on the surface. Lush with verdant, tropical life, most of these islands are like tranquil pebbles in an ocean, with little space to support any sort of thriving ecosystem -- all except the largest of them. Quiet and peaceful, there is wildlife in this main island, a sense of serene vitality that relaxes the soul with the faint chirp of birds, or musical strains of crickets. There are a handful of things, here, that catch the eye. One, is the tiny motes of soft blue light that seem to rise from the ground, most visible at night, like little fireflies drifting through the air. They have a spiritual sense to them, like pure magic, and carry a soft warmth that feels somehow soothing. The second, to those who can sense it, is the extremely minimal amount of Malevolence in this place; while no land is truly free of its taint on Lunar, it is so scarce here one might forget it was even present in the ambience of the island compared to other lands in Meribus and, especially, Glenwood. And third... is the large structure that dominates much of the western half of the island. A ruin in name only, this temple, of sorts, is perfectly preserved, looking almost as if it were freshly constructed yet having the weight of untold generations of history behind it. The smooth stonework of it seems to blend it perfectly into the environment around it -- weaving in and out of plantlife as if it were a natural outcropping of the land itself, what is perhaps most visually distinctive about it is the pale blue crystals that extend outward from its structure here and there -- possessed of the same warmth that those motes possess. Its entrance is a massive gate with a glowing seal, one that ebbs a faint cerulean shade and opens for those who were worthy enough to be allowed onto the island. This is Uzda Il-jam. And it is waiting for you. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUePVO6vkEc
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has left your party.
DC: Cyre H. Lorentz switches forms to Wind Shaman!
DG: A party led by Jacqueline Barber is now entering Linaweyul, the First Ordeal. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
======================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal *>=======================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Pyrophobia *>=========================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 4 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Sometimes, one must walk through the flame unflinching in order to get what
they desire. Fire destroys, but also creates, changes -- strengthens, for
one with the bravery to wade through. As the light fades around you, you
find yourself at the gateway barring your entry -- a large, open air chamber
of shining yellow stone, ensconced with a single enclosed hallway...
wreathed in choking flame. The flame seems to react as if by magic to one's
mood; the more certain they are when wading through the intensity of that
pyre, the more inexplicably cool those tongues of fire are to the touch,
until they hardly burn at all. But the more doubt, the more fear, the more
hesitation one feels, the hotter they will grow.
Dare you walk through the conflagration?
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Treasure=======================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Their business in Uzda Il-jam was not yet complete. Though they had all been understandably a little preoccupied due to what occurred after they made their way through the Proving Grounds, Jacqueline had not forgotten the door that had opened up to them.
Uzda Il-jam was not done testing them yet...and Jacqueline was no done testing it.
After some time away to rest and recover their strength, Jacqueline brings everyone together in front of the door to the first ordeal once more.
"...Are we ready?" Jacqueline asks, and once everyone agrees she steps through...
...and is met with the sound of roaring flame. The light around them fades, and soon, they find themselves in a world of yellow crystal floating in an endless voice.
The source of the flames becomes evident when one merely looks ahead - the pathway is consumed by flames.
There is no other way to go - it is almost as if they are being asked to walk through it.
Jacqueline stares ahead. She had been confident at first, but looking at it...
"I think we have to..." Jacqueline says. She carefully, very carefully reaches a hand to the flame. Its bite is intense...but not unbearable. Jacqueline winces, shuts her eyes, and walks forward. She tries to keep herself steady...
...But how far will she make it?
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Pyrophobia.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
A trial by fire. Catenna's thoughts drift back to another place - a cavern which demanded she offer a sacrifice to a burning pyre.
Another place, even before that. A ritual flame that pulses through her heart. Flickers beneath the light of the moon. Herself, moving between the flame of the earth and the moonlight, letting both embrace her.
The trial's a familiar one in its ask, but difficult in its execution, for doubt dwells within all of them. The Moon Shaman slowly sinks to her knees and clasps her hands together, bowing her head. From its spot on her shoulder, the fluffy white Owlet does much the same.
Not challenging the flames immediately is the only thing she can do. The fire rises and falls, flickering with Jay's trepidation, rising as they react to it. That, she can sense clearly. Breathing in through the nose, Catenna lets it out in a long stream, then inhales again, lets it out. She concentrates on her body, from the top of her head, proceeding down, step by step, part by part.
I am relaxed. I am content.
I am more than what I call myself. I have good friends. A good man who loves me. A life the envy of many.
I am... relaxed.
Slowly, Catenna opens her eyes, easing to her feet. The Owlet looks up at her, its yellow eyes steady.
It, at least, is calm. Catenna smiles faintly, then begins to walk forward, ready to accept whatever the flame gives her.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool The Owlet toward her party's challenge, Pyrophobia.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
In the current state of the plot, the team manages to wander off to the path of Linaweyul at the exact narrow moment of time that Ethius is part of the CaraKin party for the next long while. If they so much as went into the 'next' room, he'd have left again. This humorous meta-point about timing and inexplicable wanderlust in the face of urgent continent-wide developments aside...
Ethius joins them on the road of yellowed crystal, of a time and space indistinct with no commentary or protest in spite of the aforementioned urgent developments - to come before a chamber of roaring flame.
The enigmatic man Ethius is almost too comfortable around death and destruction. At his worst, ash and dust trail in wake of one of his latest fits of sorcerous destruction - to the point that it seems to be what encompasses him most. A man obscured by the haze of heat and a cloud of soot, answering nothing and leaving only unrecoverable smoldering ruin in his wake. To what value is this man, if not to simply rain fire, dust, and electricity upon whatever offends him so?
This reflects upon him as he withdraws that odd eyeglass of his with little delay or sense of panic, channeling a low-yield electrical spell of Symbological make into it as he holds it aloft to one of his eyes. He can't see the source - there's a line of connections but he can't see where it's beginning or where it's ending. The raw, overwhelming heat wreaks havoc with the visual of it. It is eye-wateringly bright - but he must progress forward. Something compels him to.
The road senses the uncertainty in the finer points of whatever purpose guides him. Mockingly, tongues of flame lick at him - obscuring his vision. He does not clearly see what he is seeking, and yet, he progresses down the path of destruction surrounding him. The acceptance - or ignorance? - of the state of the space may make him appear an unlikely beacon for further progress, but that is an incidental benefit.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Pyrophobia.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
There is a saying on Lunar. In for a silver, in for a gald. Cyre doesn't know it himself, of course, but he understands the meaning just fine! Having thrown himself into the task of exploring the island of Uzda Il-Jam, Cyre has dedicated himself to uncovering its secrets in their entirety!
Unfortunately, that means that he's... Here.
In this hallway full of flame.
At least he's in good company.
"You know, they had something like this back home," Cyre reminisces, his ears twitching irately at the crackling fire. "Shamans in training would have to run across beds of coals. But a whole hallway of fire? That's something else. That's like, Moa Gault Nahual territory," and nobody has seen one of those crazy bastards in a while. The wind shaman sighs and rolls his shoulders.
Well. Hopefully the same principle still applies.
Cyre steels his will, takes in a deep breath, and... Begins running, headlong, through the fire.
He can't be afraid if he's too busy focusing on going fast, right?
...Right?
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Pyrophobia.
======================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal *>=======================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Pyrophobia *>=========================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 4 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Sometimes, one must walk through the flame unflinching in order to get what
they desire. Fire destroys, but also creates, changes -- strengthens, for
one with the bravery to wade through. As the light fades around you, you
find yourself at the gateway barring your entry -- a large, open air chamber
of shining yellow stone, ensconced with a single enclosed hallway...
wreathed in choking flame. The flame seems to react as if by magic to one's
mood; the more certain they are when wading through the intensity of that
pyre, the more inexplicably cool those tongues of fire are to the touch,
until they hardly burn at all. But the more doubt, the more fear, the more
hesitation one feels, the hotter they will grow.
Dare you walk through the conflagration?
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Treasure=======================================
=================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal - Round 1 *>================== ===========================< Results - Pyrophobia >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 0 --(15)--> 15 Pass Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(20)--> 20 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 0 --(20)--> 20 Fail The Owlet 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 0 --(20)--> 20 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Jacqueline Barber 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Conditions: Reckless(2)|Treasure(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline does her best to make it through, but the heat...it becomes hard to bear. It's as if it's testing her, judging her every weakness. It reminds her of that mental world, where she found herself bound and judged amidst a burning Adlehyde.
The flames rage higher and higher.
Jacqueline's pace begins to slow...and then she drops to her knees, shutting her eyes and wrapping her arms tight around herself.
...She couldn't make it any further.
In response to this, the flames continue to burn. It soon becomes unbearable...at least, except for one of them.
For the man who already walks a path of flame, this heat is nothing.
...But then, as if it had seen enough, they're swallowed up in light and deposited elsewhere.
The sensation of heat lingers for a moment, but soon fades, as if nothing had happened.
Jacqueline opens her eyes and stands up timidly.
"...I-I'm sorry...I feel like this may be my fault..." She murmurs, shaking her head before taking a look at where they've ended up.
They find themselves on a long path of yellow crystal, and if their eyesight is good enough, they will notice a series of white-yellow barriers interspersed throughout them - and one of them is right in front of them.
Behind them is an arch, much like the one they entered this place through. It would seem they have quite the journey ahead of them.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal *>============================================ ============================================<* CHALLENGE - Claustrophobia *>============================================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- Darkness greets you as you are whisked away by one of Linaweyul's barriers. Darkness... and then the dim spark of light. Just enough illumination to reveal that you are stuck inside a very very small room, seemingly buried and forgotten. Breaking your way out of here and getting back to the surface is the order of the day for this particular challenge, which would be simple, if not exhausting... were the enclosed space not starting to slowly shrink all around you, too. If it shrinks too far, you will fail the challenge -- to say nothing of how difficult it'll be trying to blow your way out of an increasingly small space with barely any wiggle room. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Exhaust==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius stands confused when the flames halt, the world flashes, and he's deposited back into the near-featureless yellow crystal road with the rest. He offers no consolation or explanation. He offers only blinks. Twice. And a hand to his forehead. The only way is forward, into the barrier. He goes on ahead...
...
It is dark. Dark, aside from a tiny ray of light from a gap above whose size cannot be determined other than 'tiny.' The four of them are placed close together. They have standing room with no more than a metre each in 'change.' Someone may discover they're already standing against a wall - barriers they can't even see. Someone may feel a shoving sensation. It is not by someone trying to get more space - yet. There's enough light, just enough, to see all four and their positions are accounted for.
It's the walls. They are silent in movement as they encroach upon what space they all have.
"Above." Ethius remarks calmly. His voice may be calm. The action he pulls next will not invite that, as he brings a hand up towards the light. For a moment, the light is obscured entirely in his attempt to work out the character of the ceiling above. In the pure darkness that hand rests there, it feels the walls accelerate further in their encroachment. He can't tell what the 'ceiling' is made of. Something hard? Something crumbly? The darkness transcends mere sight - there is sensory deprivation of sound, of feel, but there is a basic instinctual instruction to be made.
Ascend. Get out. By any means. Ethius makes another worrying decision by starting to cast a heat-based Symbological spell in which to try and melt open a gap... with next to no space to maneuver underneath, where air may well be at an expensive premium.
Desperation may yet overtake them. For what he shows on the surface, it might well be what's lurking under the skin - but perhaps being able to cast a secondary source of light will bring a momentary reprieve.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Claustrophobia.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Part of Catenna expected to be on fire when this is over. Interestingly, the Owlet is not.
The dark is a little startling, though. She inhales softly and looks up, blinking towards that tiny spark of light, squinting in the low illumination to try and make out just how confined the chamber actually is.
Like they've been thrown in the oubliette. Great.
And the oubliette is closing in on them.
"Cyre, I'm sorry, but this isn't really how I wanted to be pressed up against you," she murmurs as she tries to wiggle against the catman, whom she's been somewhat thrust against by the tight confines. Squirming past him, she manages to get an arm out to plant a hand on a wall. She turns herself, hitting the wall with her back and elbows, pressing her hips back against it and pushing with her legs. With a grunt and a straining sound, she struggles to keep the wall from closing in around her.
Nothing she has in her arsenal is going to be sufficient to tear down the wall; gravity can't do it, tidal waves will just drown them, and her sword will bounce off. All she can do is hope to keep the walls at bay for just a moment.
DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Claustrophobia.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
As soon as Ethius touches the barrier, the world becomes dark. Jacqueline yelps in surprise and reaches out. Her hand meets resistance. A barrier? A wall? She can't discern any details...
"Did we...do something wrong...?" Jacqueline asks, with a hint of worry. Then, the wall pushes back. Jacqueline feels a bit of panic coming on. She reaches into her bags quickly...but as she does so, she can feel heat - Ethius is undoubtedly preparing a spell.
Fortunately, Jacqueline has a method of ensuring she finds the right bottles, even when she can't see what she's doing.
"H-here, take this...it might be enough to help push back..." Jacqueline urges. She takes some of it herself and...well, pushes. But as she does so...
"Oh, if only I had my earth crests...! Why did we have to end up in a world where no one uses them...!?" Jacqueline huffs. She...actually sounds a little frustrated with her predicament...
This has been building up for a while.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, Claustrophobia.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Oh god the running it does nothing it's still way too hot--
Himh.
It's gone.
"N-nah, that wasn't your fault, Jay. I think anyone would get spooked at the prospect of running straight through fire. I mean, it's one of those primal fear things, right?" Cyre shakes his head and strides boldly into the next trial, "Come on. Let's see what's up next."
UP NEXT: UNCOMFORTABLE CUDDLING HOUR.
...
...
"Eh," Cyre answers with a shrug that pretty much everyone can feel, considering the circumstances. "Yeah, you're right. Mood lighting's all off, there's a weird smell, and Ethius is here. Hold on, I can fix two of three," And he does! By lighting up his trusty incense burner, Cyre pushes back the darkness and fills the unsettlingly tight chamber with fragrant scents! Unfortunately, this means everyone can see the walls closing in.
Which just means that they might ALSO be able to see a way to squeeze out!
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Invigorating Vapors toward his party's challenge, Claustrophobia.
===========================================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal *>============================================ ============================================<* CHALLENGE - Claustrophobia *>============================================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- Darkness greets you as you are whisked away by one of Linaweyul's barriers. Darkness... and then the dim spark of light. Just enough illumination to reveal that you are stuck inside a very very small room, seemingly buried and forgotten. Breaking your way out of here and getting back to the surface is the order of the day for this particular challenge, which would be simple, if not exhausting... were the enclosed space not starting to slowly shrink all around you, too. If it shrinks too far, you will fail the challenge -- to say nothing of how difficult it'll be trying to blow your way out of an increasingly small space with barely any wiggle room. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Exhaust==========================================
======================================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal - Round 2 *>======================================= ==============================================< Results - Claustrophobia >============================================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 15 --(15)--> 30 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 20 --(30)--> 50 Fail Brewte Force 1 Brute Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 20 --(30)--> 50 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 20 --(30)--> 50 Fail Invigorating Vapors 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Jacqueline Barber 10 --(10)--> 20 Fail Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Reckless(1)|Weaken(2) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Cyre's incense casts a shallow light on their environs. The walls twist and contort when eyes lay upon them - they are no longer flat surfaces. They curve, bend, and otherwise morph in ways that seems best suited to uncomfortably nudge people closer together. Catenna will find that her efforts to push the wall back, however well-intentioned, are seeing her being pushed back - as if preying upon her desperation. The Brewte Force doses aren't enough to give everyone the strength to push back.
The ceiling... drips? It kind of looks like dripping, the way Ethius tries to MELT THE CEILING. There is no sense of temperature or pain for when the bits of ceiling-darkness drip upon them and tap them. Air grows ever thinner. The ceiling tunnel-light starts to fuse together and collapse upon itself. Everyone feels themselves being pressed together as all goes dark...
...
The group finds themselves laid out - separately - on the yellow crystal road. Breathable air returns. Their bodies ache with the newfound sensation of no longer being compacted with one another. Ethius lies still for a while, staring up into the void of nothingness blearily.
A barrier ahead awaits. Are they moving forward?
DG: Catenna has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal *>========================= ==========================<* CHALLENGE - Somniphobia *>=========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Shining and ephemeral, full of white and gold emotes, the sheer, comforting warmth of this place feels like a dream. It is so peaceful in this wide, white room that one could realistically start to feel drowsy just entering it... and that is exactly the problem. Because the moment you enter, a massive, were-tiger-like Hellion drops down from above, snarling violence and immediately charging you to attack. To get further, to overcome this challenge and open the way further into Linaweyul, you must defeat this Hellion -- but the longer you linger in this place, the more its unnatural serenity and warmth saps more and more of your strength and makes you increasingly tired. The urge to go to sleep even when facing a horrible monster is increasingly high -- better hope you finish before you succumb to a nice, debatably pleasant nap. =Dungeon Conditions: Maim, Fright, Vault======================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
A barrier lies ahead, but Catenna's body aches just crossing it. "Whoever created this place was pretty serious," she murmurs as she looks back at Cyre, Jay and Ethius, moving her right hand to rest over her heart. She can feel it beating a mile a minute. "It's like it's trying to tap into very primal emotions...."
Into the next room they go - and as they do, the feeling of somnolescence is simply overpowering. On Catenna's shoulder, the Owlet wobbles slightly, its eyelids drooping.
The broad, white, soft, pure room is simply comforting. Even Catenna herself has to blink away sleepiness. "It... it wants us to rest," she begins.
Until something drops down from the ceiling.
It's huge. It's vaguely quadrupedal, but with enough man-like elements to it to be disconcerting - the eyes and the construction of the body and legs, mainly. Its white coat is interrupted by jagging bands of rippling violet, the same colour streaming from its huge maw and from three sets of eyes. It's also got another set of arms and it's bearing down on the group right now, breathing immense waves of Malevolent flame.
With a gasp, Catenna lurches away, diving under the Hellion as it leaps and rolling forward before coming out on her knees - but it's a bit clumsy. The sleepiness of the place is beginning to get to her. "We have to be quick!!" she calls out as she clutches her Medium, beginning to sling spells, hoping to anchor it with the power of gravity.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, Somniphobia.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius hasn't quite shaken off crush syndrome yet. It may have to do with the bandanna in front of his face limiting his air intake, like he hasn't fully come to grips with there being air to breathe again. He has to use his quarterstaff for walking support as he follows Catenna into the next, dreamy area...
His eyelids are heavy. Then they grow wide.
Ethius never liked sleeping in the confines of society. It has been a frequent happening to find him awake in the middle of night to go roam and pass out somewhere else, as though somehow it were safer to him to just pass out in the middle of the wilderness. Like he feels less secure being at rest among other people nearby...
I can't sleep here. An intense memory comes to the forefront as he grabs his head with his free hand. He might not... even directly acknowledge the monstrous Hellion spewing flame everywhere. I can't stop here. He staggers about the chamber, as if in... pain?
No, this is unusual to see from him. Distress. Panic. His breathing accelerates. He paces like he has to and he keeps moving like he must and he won't stop. They almost never see him relax to start. Always alert, always at the ready to act. I cannot close my eyes. He risks drying out those eyeballs of his. He begins to refuse to even blink. Both hands clutch the quarterstaff tightly as he falls into a kneel. They begin to squeeze. I have no time to rest. No time to lose.
The Hellion, a mere afterthought to whatever thoughts run through this man's mind, violently inserts itself into his perception. His eyes widen more. He backs away, falling onto his seat clumsily like he were a helpless child being pushed over by a big, mean bully. Fingers shake, fumbling for one of the two satchels at his belt. He stammers the incantation. Flexing the fingers of the hand already trying to hold the quarterstaff is a challenge. The ambient motes of light and strange sound that drifts to and fro obscures whatever signs there are that a Symbological spell has even been properly cast as he just throws the satchel at the enormous were-tiger Hellion and runs with a stagger.
Overcome by fear, Ethius has either provided a smoke screen unannounced that might make tracking the were-tiger's movements harder, or just failed to properly prime the Smoke Grenade at all and instead leave a useless bag of dusty powder on the ground while he fails to tackle it head on.
I cannot I cannot I cannot I cannot i cannot i cannot i cannot icannoticannoticannoticannot
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Somniphobia.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"It probably is," Cyre answers, rubbing at an all-too-real bruise on hs shoulder. "I wouldn't put it past this place. Anyone who's willing to mess with fear to begin with is probably going to go all-in on it. Otherwise, what's the point? You hang a sheet over a balloon and scare the kids a bit, I guess?"
No, that's not what's happening here. What's happening here is so much worse.
It's...
It's...!
A bright, warm sunbeam! Cyre's worst possible enemy!
Yes, even greater than the massive Hellion in the middle of the room.
That's like, only the second most terrible thing. The fact that it's apparently some kind of twisted tiger is pretty bad too, but Cyre can sympathize. He wonders, in that weird sleepy way that brains often do at two in the morning, whether the Hellion had called first dibs and they were interrupting...?
Ah well.
He can fix that.
Cyre levels a hand at the giant tiger-monster and... blows a gentle wind in its face. As if he's... trying to get it to fall asleep too?
Hm.
Well if that doesn't work, he can always fall back to punching it.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Somniphobia.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Just when it seems like they're about to be crushed, they find themselves deposited on the floor back in front of the barrier like they never passed through it.
Jacqueline lies on the floor for a bit. She just needs a moment, you guys.
"...Yes, I agree. It's...concerning." Jacqueline replies, getting to her feet.
But of course they can't stay here for long - it's time for the next challenge. It's...surprisingly pleasant, at first! Too pleasant.
"I-It's...hard to stay awake..." Jacqueline comments, staggering a bit. In any other situation, the massive Hellion dropping down from above would cause her to awaken, but here her instincts and reaction speeds are slowed.
"H-here...I've got something...that might help..." She comments, a lazy slur to her voice. She rummages through her bags and tosses some potions meant to give energy...but whether there's enough energy to her throw for them to actually reach is anyone's guess.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Somniphobia.
========================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal *>========================= ==========================<* CHALLENGE - Somniphobia *>=========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Shining and ephemeral, full of white and gold emotes, the sheer, comforting warmth of this place feels like a dream. It is so peaceful in this wide, white room that one could realistically start to feel drowsy just entering it... and that is exactly the problem. Because the moment you enter, a massive, were-tiger-like Hellion drops down from above, snarling violence and immediately charging you to attack. To get further, to overcome this challenge and open the way further into Linaweyul, you must defeat this Hellion -- but the longer you linger in this place, the more its unnatural serenity and warmth saps more and more of your strength and makes you increasingly tired. The urge to go to sleep even when facing a horrible monster is increasingly high -- better hope you finish before you succumb to a nice, debatably pleasant nap. =Dungeon Conditions: Maim, Fright, Vault======================================
===================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal - Round 3 *>==================== ============================< Results - Somniphobia >============================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 30 --(20)--> 50 Fail Powder Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 50 --(20)--> 70 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catenna 50 --(20)--> 70 Fail Celesdue Medium 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 50 --(20)--> 70 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Jacqueline Barber 20 --(10)--> 30 Fail Conditions: Fright(2)|Maim|Vault(1) Effects: Embolden(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
There's absolutely no chance in hell. By the time any of them even start attacking, the somnolent effect is already growing too deeply ingrained. The Hellion just bursts through anything that gets thrown at it. It slams into Cyre, steamrolls over Ethius, runs right through Ethius's powder grenade and breathes fire at him, then bears down on a drowsy Catenna.
The Moon Shaman raises her sword to try and bat it away, but --
The room pulses to a soft white hue, and everything is, momentarily, lost in a dreamstate.
Fluffy white sheep hop slowly over a picket fence.
When the slumber-light fades, the room is empty - but the injuries are real. The foursome drop back into existence, battered and bruised and exhausted.
Catenna hits a moment later than the rest of them, her armour mangled by several deep claw slashes that rip through muscle and flesh and leave her bleeding profusely into her hands as she curls into herself in absolute agony. She manages to choke out a few healing words to Lucadia.
It's the only thing that keeps her from curling up and dying on the spot, frankly.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal *>======================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Photophobia *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Everything in this place is darkness, a pitch black that is nigh impossible to see through but, most importantly, gobbles up anything even remotely like light or illumination. All except a single, shining mote of light in the distance -- one that reveals itself to be some sort of strange assemblage of shining white, floating geometric shapes that will attack you with light-based magic the second you approach. It is easily undone, though, and upon its defeat, it -explodes- into light -- light that illuminates the winding pathways of this area pitch perfect. Light that starts to fade the second the path is illuminated. To make your way through this long, interminable challenge, you will have to continuously defeat these light sprites to guide your way forward; just hope they don't overwhelm you. Or you don't run out of them. Either would be pretty bad. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Overwhelm========================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Just when it seems like the weretiger will finish them...they're plopped back in front of the barrier, exhausted but otherwise unharmed.
...They might need to wait for everyone to wake up from their respective naps first, though.
Jacqueline gets up and brushes herself off, looking around. This was more difficult than she thought it would be...but she could still press onward. She takes a moment to steel herself and then steps into the barrier once more...
...and then they suddenly find themselves submerged into the darkness once more. Thankfully, they are not pressed up against each other again. There's room to move around, it's just that they can't see anything. Any and all light is consumed by the darkness...
...Except for a single mote in the distance. And it's approaching them, and firing off more beams of light at them.
"Be careful, everyone!" Jacqueline warns, leaping to the side. She gestures and blasts the mote with a burst of raw energy. It explodes with brilliant light(causing Jacqueline to yelp and shield her eyes), illuminating the way forward...
...But not for long. And there are more motes coming. But will they have enough to make it all the way through?
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Photophobia.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna has seen better days, to be quite frank.
Groaning with pain, she curls into herself a little more tightly, as if trying to keep her blood inside is taking everything she's got. She murmurs to herself again, once more invoking Lucadia's power. A shimmer of blue light washes across her; the worst of her gashes begin to fade away, the bloody cuts growing shallower before fading for the most part.
Wincing and pale, she rolls to one knee. Her armour bustier doesn't come with her; shredded to ribbons, it's left on the ground, leaving her in the short, padded undertopshe tends to wear beneath it to keep anything metallic from chafing. There are a few rips in it too. "That was unpleasant," she murmurs.
And now something else is approaching them - in the dark. She can't see where Cyre is.
But she can feel him. And she can see the light. The light racing towards her.
With a startled hiss, Catenna throws her arm up and belts out a spell. Gravity warps the air around her. Light rays curve and distend into absurd arcs that make no sense to the eye, bleeding around her as if following the curve of some invisible eggshell, then warping off into the darkness and twisting in a maddening array of directions.
"Quickly... we have to get out of here," she manages before the light fires again, and she once more calls up the gravity - but bending light takes energy. And more importantly, MP.
Catenna is running out of both.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, Photophobia.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre had a good nap. This is probably because he was knocked unconscious by a rampaging devil-tiger. Unfortunately, the reality he wakes to is not nearly so sweet as his lingering dreams. Catenna is... Well, 'wounded' is putting it lightly. The shaman whispers a curse under his breath and goes to try and do what he can to patch her up.
And then the next challenge materializes.
"What--" Cyre starts, and then the lasers begin. First being crushed against two ladies and a lump, then a tiger, now lasers. Is this some kind of twisted divine punishment for the way he's been living life up till this point? No, that's not important.
Making sure Catenna gets through alive. That's the important thing.
"Hold on," Cyre grunts, hoisting the Zortroan up into his arms. He immediately takes off in a run for the opening in the distance. "You do the gravity thing, I'll try to keep them off of you. Just... Hold on a little longer, okay?"
Hopefully, his stamina and her MP bar will be able to hold out.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Photophobia.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna gasps as Cyre sweeps her up into a princess carry. Again.
"O-okay!" she manages as she struggles to keep casting. Her everything hurts and she's feeling faint, but she keeps casting.
But why would this even be here...? a part of her mind questions.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius doesn't sleep. He shakes, eyes wide awake. He might need some help getting up. Even the burns feel secondary. Distant secondary.
...
Darkness. Unseen. Aside from the challenges inherent in acting in the dark, there's a certain comfort to this. He can't see where his friends are, and yet, he likes the idea that he cannot be seen. That he can move and act freely as he must - a comforting feeling, as his mind struggles with sleep deprivation. He moves forward dauntlessly through the dark, cheating with the help of a quarterstaff as something of a walking stick to test the ground, the floor - he could probably get through here unassisted.
The light 'assists' him. A single, shining mote of light in the distance. He doesn't want to look at it. He doesn't require it.
It comes to him. It comes to him aggressively. He doesn't want it to. Every time he strikes at it - by staff or by spell - there is a shining, bright light. He squints, he shrinks, he puts his forearm up...
The light... it is pervasive. It shows the way. It shows where everyone is relative to him. It shows where he is.
He doesn't like it.
He hates it.
They don't stop. They keep shining. They keep exposing. Once more, Ethius' carefully controlled body language seems to unravel as it just keeps coming. More sight. More exposure. More everything--
He throws down the other Powder Grenade almost on a fit of whimsy rather than as a calculated tactical maneuver. The light shines through it anyway. The dust cover that blinds and chokes those caught in it unprepared does not apply. The light still shines on him. It sees him.
It's not clear if he's even following them along the way, as if the sensation of it were simply paralyzing.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Photophobia.
======================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal *>======================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Photophobia *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Everything in this place is darkness, a pitch black that is nigh impossible to see through but, most importantly, gobbles up anything even remotely like light or illumination. All except a single, shining mote of light in the distance -- one that reveals itself to be some sort of strange assemblage of shining white, floating geometric shapes that will attack you with light-based magic the second you approach. It is easily undone, though, and upon its defeat, it -explodes- into light -- light that illuminates the winding pathways of this area pitch perfect. Light that starts to fade the second the path is illuminated. To make your way through this long, interminable challenge, you will have to continuously defeat these light sprites to guide your way forward; just hope they don't overwhelm you. Or you don't run out of them. Either would be pretty bad. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Overwhelm========================================
=================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal - Round 4 *>================== ==========================< Results - Photophobia >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 50 --(20)--> 70 Pass Powder Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 70 --(25)--> 95 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 70 --(20)--> 90 Pass Celesdue Medium 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 70 --(25)--> 95 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Jacqueline Barber 30 --(10)--> 40 Fail Conditions: Fright(2)|Maim|Overwhelm Effects: Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The party continues forward, blasting the motes of light away wherever they appear, and using the resulting illumination to further their progress forward toward the exit. Catenna offers them defense, in the form of a well of gravity that bends the rays of light away from them, allowing to progress with minimal difficulty.
Unfortunately, the situation poses a problem - their current states means that they have to deal with the motes of light as soon as they appear, but they also need them to progress.
...And, unfortunately there comes a point where the motes of lights cease to appear.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal *>============================================ =============================================<* CHALLENGE - Nyctophobia *>============================================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- This area dank and dark, though not pitch black -- a long series of corridors, each one blocked off by a sealed door that requires defeating the Hellions assembled to progress further. Unfortunately, these Hellions seem to be impervious to harm... at least, until you exposed them to literally any form of light you can find, from shafts of it piercing through the ceiling, to any you may generate on your own. Light that, sadly, does not last long here when exposed to these Hellions until it is completely snuffed out and unable to be used again; to defeat your enemies and open the way forward, you're going to have to be conservative with whatever sources of light you might have on hand... and eliminate your enemies very, very quickly. =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer, Secret===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
When the lights all disappear, leaving everyone in darkness, they are all deposited back in the yellow crystal road. Once more, Ethius adopts bizarre behavior - crouching low and trying to hide his face from under his arm, like he absolutely does not want to be seen - ever. The sights are familiar... just the barrier ahead. Their exhaustion mounts. They have been pushed to the physical and emotional brink... and yet, their courage compels them to step forth once more towards the barrier.
...
It is dark in here. Darkness, again. They have space to maneuver. They can make out shapes. They can see one another. The walls do not squeeze in on them. There are no distant lights rushing to confront them. The place seems to have found a common thread of weakness to all of their psyches, and is moving to weave a test to fit them all.
Frightening screeches fill the room. The source is not clear, until moments later they all appear.
A giant crow(?) with red, veiny lines like molten lava to provide shape to one's eye.
A naga whose body seems hollow, save for soft crimson unlight that accentuates their serpentine lower body and especially their face.
A rotted, hollow tree stump of a dark purple core who moans as they lurch forward.
A harpy wreathed further in shadow where dark, crystalline teal does not adorn the crest feather-like horns of their head nor the drill-like ends of their feet.
Ethius moves in without hesitation, swinging the quarterstaff at them. He appears to see initial success, here in the dark. They are... moved? They are batted about. With breaks in the action, he even gets off spells. Rising heat, choking dust, electrical discharges. No one here will have problems landing hits.
...But they will find that it's not enough to stop them. No harm seems to last, if any harm is being inflicted. They're being toyed with. As the realization dawns upon them collectively, they start fighting back. Talons, spells, and all, growing more intense with their resignation and fears that all seems lost...
Until one of them accidentally strikes the ceiling, shining a great light upon the environs for the briefest moment. The Hellions recoil, as though vulnerable. The lights go out again moments before anyone can make a move.
The opening made fades, and light no longer comes out of that specific source. Other promising shafts of light are spotted - can they herd the creatures towards where light will erupt once struck, and then put them down?
Ethius does not move to assist. Something drives him to keep going, even when this approach is futile. He is battered about by claw and by spell, and yet, he doesn't wish to invite sight of what he does or how he does it. It is a deep-seated compulsion.
One that will lead to his doom, unassisted.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Nyctophobia.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"More darkness..." Jacqueline murmurs. There seemed to be a lot of dark rooms in this place, but it made sense...darkness - or, perhaps, a general feeling of the unknown - was a root of many fears. Jacqueline gestures with her left hand, and a small sphere of light appears, floating in front of her. But she can feel it - this place is draining it quickly, and it takes a lot of energy to keep it going. The light that occasionally streams from the ceiling helps, but only somewhat.
She'll probably need a little help from the streams of light coming from the ceiling.
"I'll keep this up as long as I can...but please hurry!" She urges, shining the light upon the Hellions.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Nyctophobia.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Where there was once light, there is darkness.
Darkness, and the monsters hidden within.
The shaman grits his teeth through the pain wracking his body and keeps right on running. Regardless of what manner of torture they've found themselves thrust into so far with the exception of the tiger incident, the running theme seems to have been to get to the other side as quickly as possible. Why should this be an exception?
Also, and far more importantly, Cyre has to worry about two lives, not just one.
No, make that three.
"Damnit Ethius--" Cyre growls, the monsters swarming in. He roars as one beast comes dangerously close, a lance of crimson light shattering the darkness around them. He fires bolt after bolt of prismatic light, until the colors have been exhausted. When that fails, Cyre turns to using his censer to stun the beasts. When that fails...
Well, he's still running.
Maybe Catenna has ideas.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Nyctophobia.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Still wounded and exhausted, Catenna keeps her arms around Cyre's shoulders as he carries her along. Her legs feel like dead stumps; she can barely move them, so little energy does she have at the moment.
Again they're plunged into the deep darkness. Catenna presses her lips together. She's not afraid of the night; she lives in the dark in a lot of ways. But even on the deepest, darkest night, the moon and the stars provide some light to see by. This is deeper yet than she's used to.
Screeches rise from all around her. Closing her eyes, she breathes in through her nose, then lets it out in a stream. "...It wants to force us to run the gauntlet of common fears," she murmurs. "Not specific nightmares... the primal ones. The ones which have unmanned and made cowards of us since the dawn of the ages...."As those Hellions sweep forth, Catenna widens her eyes as she manages to drop from Cyre's arms. She rolls free of his grip and comes to rest on her knees, holding her hand to her chest. The other sweeps outwards as she gathers magic.
The room groans under the force of her spell. Gravity wells at a single spot. An inexorable force tries to bunch all the Hellions up into one place, opening them up for others to try and sweep them away - or for herself to just pin them there while they run like hell.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, Nyctophobia.
===========================================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal *>============================================ =============================================<* CHALLENGE - Nyctophobia *>============================================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- This area dank and dark, though not pitch black -- a long series of corridors, each one blocked off by a sealed door that requires defeating the Hellions assembled to progress further. Unfortunately, these Hellions seem to be impervious to harm... at least, until you exposed them to literally any form of light you can find, from shafts of it piercing through the ceiling, to any you may generate on your own. Light that, sadly, does not last long here when exposed to these Hellions until it is completely snuffed out and unable to be used again; to defeat your enemies and open the way forward, you're going to have to be conservative with whatever sources of light you might have on hand... and eliminate your enemies very, very quickly. =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer, Secret===========================================
======================================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal - Round 5 *>======================================= ===============================================< Results - Nyctophobia >================================================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 70 --(35)--> 105 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 95 --(35)--> 130 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 90 --(35)--> 125 Fail Celesdue Medium 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 95 --(35)--> 130 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Jacqueline Barber 40 --(10)--> 50 Fail Conditions: Fright(1)|Maim|Overwhelm|Secret(2)|Suffer(1) Effects: Embolden(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: Ethius Hesiod is too exhausted to continue! DG: Jacqueline Barber is too exhausted to continue! DG: Catenna is too exhausted to continue! DG: Cyre H. Lorentz is too exhausted to continue! DG: The party has failed this challenge! All party members are now Exhausted. This attempt is over. DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has been fully Exhausted by Linaweyul, the First Ordeal! DG: The party will now draw a conclusion.
===========================================<* Linaweyul, the First Ordeal *>============================================
==========================================<* CHALLENGE - The Path Deterred *>===========================================
|Type: Escape |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
As exhaustion overtakes you, a warm white-and-yellow light consumes the
space you occupy. It does not matter where you are, or what you were
attempting -- that light takes you, and shuttles you away, before the
consequences of exhaustion in this strange, alien place can truly take hold.
When you come to, you find yourself once more in the Room of Doors in Uzda
Il-jam -- but upon the doorway leading to Linaweyul, there is an etching, a
message that slowly fades away overtime:
COWARDICE IS NOT FEAR
BUT ALLOWING THAT FEAR TO DETER US FROM OUR PATH
And the message fades...
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
They all face down what seems to be inevitable. Is it bravery that compels them?
Jay tries to circumvent the limitation best she can with her own significant sorcerous strength - but the darkness snuffs it quickly, as though it would not allow her to be the one whom dictates the light's origins, and makes it harder for her to deal with opening the sources in question.
Cyre tries to keep running, running, running as he flings what prismatic light he can. It, too, is snuffed just as fast. The censer does not halt them. With predatory precision, they overwhelm him.
Catenna meditates deeply on the inner workings of this place, to grasp deeper truths. By grasping this, she seems to have the most palpable effect on the herding of the Hellion horde. They screech, moan, and carry on as they are gathered to a single spot. They compress...
...and consume each other. There is a victor in this darkness, whom emerges larger, greater - and they fill the room, blotting out the light with one last, feral scream. Their legs can no longer carry them. All fight seems to leave them.
A warm white-and-yellow light shines, and all comes to a stop as the brighter white of the Room of Doors within Uzda Il-jam comes into their senses. They are all deposited - upright - before the doorway that leads to the realm of Linaweyul. An etching before them appears, slowly evaporating back into the eather...
COWARDICE IS NOT FEAR
BUT ALLOWING THAT FEAR TO DETER US FROM OUR PATH
Nothing more is said, or done. The group is left to stand there in ponderance of what they've all witnessed and experienced.
Not one of them will have the strength or will to step through the door again this moment.