2018-08-03:Earning Our Keep
- Log: Earning Our Keep
- Cast: Malfi, Ambrosius, Yarobeleedt, Layna Manydays
- Where:Lastonbell Merchant District
- Date:2018-08-03
- Summary: Two Metal Demons and a Veruni brave the legendary Thieves' Tower. What will they find inside?
===============<* Lastonbell - Merchant District *>===============
Lastonbell is one of the oldest cities on Glenwood, with a large bridge and belltower located in the very center of the city. Lastonbell's main street leads directly under this tower, which towers over the city, and a pair of ancient bronze bells hang from it, giving the city both its name and trademarked musical sound. The street, when approached from the west, is one of the hearts of commerce in the Rolance Empire. Shops, inns, and taverns line the main strip -- and the numerous caravan wagons passing through Lastonbell, to reach beyond. The eastern gate is always bustling with activity, and the crowded streets here can be a source of crime.
DG: A party led by Malfi is now entering Thieves' Tower. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=============================<* Thieves' Tower *>============================= ======================<* CHALLENGE - Moats & Monsters *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- You approach this dark gray stone tower cautiously. It appears to have five stories and was designed to be easily defensible, with battlements and even a moat. It's going to be difficult to get inside: not only do you have to find a way to lower the drawbridge, you have to get past the moat-monster -- who, judging by the bones scattered on the green, survives on a steady diet of would-be intruders... =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
It sits upon the greensward, this tower, forbidding, foreboding, not welcoming at all. The moat monster, which resembles nothing so much as a spotted plesiosaur, grumblerumbles a warning in your direction. He -- or maybe she! -- has definitely noticed your party's approach. The creature is too powerful to fight -- you'll have to find another way across! In a further complication, the drawbridge is raised. The resident thieves must've been expecting you -- or someone!--and they must be hunkered down inside, equipped and ready to deal with invaders.
"Go distract the monster," Malfi orders Yarobeleedt, as she forms her left arm into a harpoon and launches it into the drawbridge door-floor. It sinks into the wood with a satisfying *thwunk*. It's drawing it back that's the big problem. She manages, with much effort, and slowly the drawbridge is forced into its lowered position. About nine-tenths of the way down, she pauses to remove the harpoon head, which takes, if anything, just as much effort. "Almost...GOT IT!" She grins. It's a relief to form her arm back into its natural state."
DG: Malfi has used her Tool Portable Scanner toward her party's challenge, Moats & Monsters.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
It was a curious tower that Malfi had told him about. As a man with an interest in history it intrigued Ambrosius, not to mention its possible strategic uses...he, of course, agreed to provide assistance in the matter.
When they approach it, however, they find it closed up. Ambrosius stares, observing the drawbridge and forming a plan.
"...A faaascinating structure..." He murmurs to himself. He draws a device from the depths of his cloak and begins to study it as he considers exactly how to go about his plan. Malfi has a plan too, it seems...but unlike her, he is not able to shift his body as he pleases. He does, however, have other useful talents.
Ambrosius extends a hand toward it and the water beneath begins to rise up, forming tendrils that seek to wrap around the drawbridge and aid Malfi in pulling it down. This may confuse or irritate the water's inhabitant, which surely will not result in any complications for the gooey sentry who has been instructed to go distract it.
...Probably.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Moats & Monsters.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Help is in short supply. Back order. Possibly even discontinued.
Then you have Yarobeleedt, and one starts trying to look up any local product recalls on 'help,' as he slither-crawls along the ruins of Lastonbell behind two individuals he is not very fond of. (That seems to be almost everyone!!!) He looks up towards the gray stone tower that appears to have withstood the fury of an emboldened Hyland and the Fell Dragon called the Saint of Sinners. He scrapes his forearms together with trepidation as he looks further up to the sky where the so-called Blue Star - home - looms so very far, far, far away.
"what?? ^Creature Creature^ feature Yarobeleedt for creature?!" He protests as his head turns towards the human remains littering the ground nearby. He shrinks and shrivels at the thought as the great big spotted plesiosaur grumbles out their warning. "No no no. Not a frayed. No no no. Nononono."
Oh of course he's 'a frayed.' He can be considered a cat who is also a frayed, for being a slug-worm-naga-whatever as what little bravado exists sees him slither up to the bigger, meaner, hungrier, meatier, and dare one say, moat-ier thing.
...
He tries to sharply poke it once with a scythe-like claw, point towards Ambrosius, then dart behind Malfi.
Of course.
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Moats & Monsters.
=============================<* Thieves' Tower *>============================= ======================<* CHALLENGE - Moats & Monsters *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- You approach this dark gray stone tower cautiously. It appears to have five stories and was designed to be easily defensible, with battlements and even a moat. It's going to be difficult to get inside: not only do you have to find a way to lower the drawbridge, you have to get past the moat-monster -- who, judging by the bones scattered on the green, survives on a steady diet of would-be intruders... =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
========================<* Thieves' Tower - Round 1 *>======================== ========================< Results - Moats & Monsters >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malfi 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Portable Scanner 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yarobeleedt 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Malfi 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Malfi has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 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> Malfi has posed.
The moat-monster doesn't understand Yarobeleedt's gesture, of course: it has a brain the size of a walnut. The only option seems to be to scurry across the bridge before the creature can pounce! All three make it across, but it seems a narrow escape. The monster must be either very hungry or naturally alert!
DG: Yarobeleedt has drawn a new Challenge.
==================================================<* Thieves' Tower *>================================================== ======================================<* CHALLENGE - Lots of Quarrels With You *>======================================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- A crossbow bolt whooshes close by one of your party members in a near-miss. Some of the tower's defenders are firing at you from bolt-holes! Better get to the next area before you get skewered! =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Yarobeleedt darts ahead of the other two. He is expecting the moat monster to maybe eat both of them! He will be disappointed.
Meanwhile, inside, a couple of low-lives are going over some of the scavenged loot from the nearby human war. The three of them have seen it. Some people in blue and red aren't fond of one another. The ones in red seem to call this part of the continent home? Who knows, who cares, these folks aren't red or blue, they're jerks.
"We got intruders," says one such jerk.
Another jerk, who is a little less of a jerk but still a jerk, recoils at the sight of a big half-melted snake-like THING darting down the outermost chamber of the tower and calls out loud to everyone -
"WE GOT A MONSTER ATTACKIN'!" From there, they all find defensive positions throughout the derelict structure - makeshift gaps in improvised battlements that are just the perfect size in which to fire crossbow bolts.
There's even a loud 'bang' in there with smoke giving away where it comes from. Hmm!
Yarobeleedt screeches and speed-slithers up against a wall, even as the primitive crossbow bolts don't really burrow that deep into his flesh. Based on the screeching and the yelling, seems like the three of them have their work cut out with the possibility that any of the squatters present in the tower are fully aware of them being there.
...Or maybe it might be to their advantage. They aren't humans. They are monsters, to these primitives.
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Lots of Quarrels With You.
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
Malfi ducks and weaves, hoping to escape being skewered in the pandemonium that Yarobeleedt is sowing. The humans call him monster, and they're not far wrong! He attracts most of the fire. It's hard to be inconspicuous when you're a gigantic yellow slimy slug-naga! If she weren't in such danger herself, Malfi might even stop for a refreshing sip of coffee!
DG: Malfi has used her Tool Blackest Coffee toward her party's challenge, Lots of Quarrels With You. [ALTS] White Knight Leo is not on any alts lists.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius has never been much one for hurrying and scurrying. He walks across the drawbridge and into the tower at a leisurely pace, and when crossbow bolts begin to sing out at them from the holes in the walls, he merely turns toward them.
And stares.
The bolts don't seem to bother them.
"Such priiimitive weaponry..." He murmurs, continuing on ahead. With a subtle, dismissive wave of his hand, water forms and begins to rush into the bolt holes. Not enough to be a drowning risk, but maybe just enough to discourage the ones responsible.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Lots of Quarrels With You.
==================================================<* Thieves' Tower *>================================================== ======================================<* CHALLENGE - Lots of Quarrels With You *>======================================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- A crossbow bolt whooshes close by one of your party members in a near-miss. Some of the tower's defenders are firing at you from bolt-holes! Better get to the next area before you get skewered! =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
=============================================<* Thieves' Tower - Round 2 *>============================================= ========================================< Results - Lots of Quarrels With You >========================================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malfi 5 --(15)--> 20 Pass Blackest Coffee 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yarobeleedt 5 --(20)--> 25 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 5 --(20)--> 25 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Malfi 20 --(5)--> 25 Fail Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Hesitate(1) Effects: Resilient(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Malfi has failed this challenge! The party gained 5 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> Yarobeleedt has posed.
It was never a question about whether or not they'd manage to survive or get to the other end of this chaotic crossfire of weapons that cannot really do much to them. Ambrosius' dignity as a member of a superior species would never suffer such weakness of human futility. Malfi could never fail to find a place to have herself an enjoyable cup of coffee. Yarobeleedt...
At one point he slips inside one of the narrow gaps, thinking he'll hide. It's dark.
Someone strikes a match.
Yarobeleedt and this someone - just some hooded hoodlum - stare deep into one another's eyes. Poisonous saliva drips out of their maw (Yarobeleedt's specifically, unless the hoodlums of this part of Lunar have a peculiar taste in beverages) as breaks in otherwise tense silence between them.
They both scream. Yarobeleedt flails and, in his panic, smashes down what would've been the most accessible staircase further upward in his panic.
Lovely, that.
DG: Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Thieves' Tower *>============================= ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Fire! *>============================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The first thing you notice is the smoke, making you cough and your eyes burn. The next story USED to be reachable by wooden stairs, but the tower's defenders have set them on fire! They're about to collapse, and the smoke is getting worse by the second. You can see the door to the next story high above you. Will you risk the stairs or find another way up? -- ideally before you asphyxiate! =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Said hoodlum, in their surprise, ends up tossing their match. This match ends up taking a rather long and circuitous journey, eventually ending up...
...Right inside someone's burgeoning moonshine operation.
The results are immediate and catastrophic. Fire is everywhere, and what remains of the stairs - as well as a good portion of the tower itself.
Naturally this poses a problem for everyone inside it. ...Ambrosius frowns in an unamused fashion and draws a sleek metal canister from within his poncho. He opens it and then tosses it upward, where it begins to unleash a soothing mist.
Normally he would use it for combat situations, but here he is using it to put his water in the most opportune spot. With a gesture it begins to rocket out, and he attempts to put out the flames as expediently as possible.
...Of course, without being able to see what he's doing, there's no guarantee how quick this will actually be.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Fire!.
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
Malfi stands by relatively helplessly; there's not much she can do about fire. Ambrosius has some kind of water magic, which he applies to the flames... The smoke is interfering with her visual receptors, and it's getting hard to breathe in here. Experimentally she S T R E T C H E S both arms out, to the doorway above. She can reach it, and probably pull herself up. But that would mean leaving her companions behind... She retracts her arms and waits to see whether Ambrosius can completely quench the flames. She stays alert for any humans who might want to defend the tower, or interfere.
DG: Malfi has used her Tool Blackest Coffee toward her party's challenge, Fire!.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
To no one's surprise, Yarobeleedt's already scaling the ceiling and trying to ditch the both of them as tongues of flame start to taste the cobblestone and the wood of this ramshackle hideout for ne'er-do-wells. (Flame is generally not known to be picky about what it eats.)
It's at least easy enough to follow the ochre coward as he crawls along up. This has a fringe benefit as Ambrosius tosses up a metal canister that coincidentally manages to land inside Yarobeleedt's wide screaming maw. He goes a bit more bug-eyed than usual before he starts to spew a surprisingly pleasant (by Yarobeleedt standards) spray of regugitated fire-extinguishing water.
Given how these sorts of things go, maybe the upcoming puzzles are going to treat this as a central mechanic to progress. (Let's hope not.)
DG: Yarobeleedt has used its Tool Clutch Harness toward its party's challenge, Fire!.
=============================<* Thieves' Tower *>============================= ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Fire! *>============================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The first thing you notice is the smoke, making you cough and your eyes burn. The next story USED to be reachable by wooden stairs, but the tower's defenders have set them on fire! They're about to collapse, and the smoke is getting worse by the second. You can see the door to the next story high above you. Will you risk the stairs or find another way up? -- ideally before you asphyxiate! =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
========================<* Thieves' Tower - Round 3 *>======================== =============================< Results - Fire! >============================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malfi 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Blackest Coffee 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yarobeleedt 25 --(5)--> 30 Pass Clutch Harness 3 Agility Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 25 --(10)--> 35 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Malfi 25 --(15)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(1)|Hesitate(2) Effects: Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Malfi has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 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> Ambrosius has posed.
Fortunately, the party is well-equipped to handle the current situation. Ambrosius can't see what he's doing...but this situation is remedied thanks to Yarobeleedt, who manages to flail with the canister in his mouth in just the right ways to send the spray of water wherever it needs to go.
Meanwhile, on the ground floor, some of the tower's inhabitants begin to try and sneak up on Ambrosius...but Malfi's watchful eye keeps them back, intimidating them into obedience.
And, slowly, fire turns into simple smoke.
The booze, unfortunately, is unsalvagable.
They even managed to keep the rest of the stairs from turning into charcoal! It'd be difficult for a normal human to make it up, but for Malfi and Ambrosius, it will be no trouble to clear the gap between their current floor and the one above, where the path onward awaits...
DG: Malfi has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Thieves' Tower *>============================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Dogs of War *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Someone in the next room barks a command, and the next thing you know four attack dogs come bounding around the corner after you! They're a large, aggressive breed unique to Lunar. No chance to befriend them -- you'll have to fight! =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
Malfi hates killing animals, except, perhaps for sustenance, and even THEN only in emergencies. She doesn't have much choice in this case, however. These dogs are well-trained killing machines! She readies her lance and attempts to skewer them before they can bite her. Too bad there's not much chance to capture them alive!
DG: Malfi has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Dogs of War.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Yarobeleedt stays high on the ceiling, keeping himself squished up there as shouting commences from the alerted denizens of the dwelling. "Fufufu. Is no problem for Yarobeleedt. Is problem for ^Creature Creature^ and also extra credit for ^Long Voweler^? Beneath frozen notes. Also above it? But not level." He sneers, content to let the other two deal with it...
A well-trained war dog leaps up, nipping fangs against his sagging tail. Yarobeleedt screeches and jostles, and then something truly awful falls out of his person. It's awful in looks because it is a rubbery effigy of the hated Guardian of Light, Stare Roe. That is not the only way it is awful.
*squeak* It goes, as it hits the floor. Then it bounces. *squeak* *squeak*
Then it gets the ire of the war dogs and they all pile upon it.
*squeak* *squeak* *squeak* *squeak* *squeak* *squeak* *squeak*
It is distracting. It is the perfect size to end up inside the maws of any of the dogs. It is nigh-invincible.
"Give forward!!" Yarobeleedt protests as he descends from the ceiling. "Is mine to unstroy!!!"
In a roundabout way, however unintended, this effigy of Stare Roe is inexplicably now the possible salvation of the enemies of Filgaia itself as the hapless advance scout disappears into a veritable pile of war dogs as a brutal display of visceral violence devolves into play time as Yarobeleedt tries to take back what is his to somehow destroy and also cherish in so much that he wants to personally destroy it?
*squeak* *squeak* *squeak*
The ambient Malevolence, though aware of this contradiction of feelings, comes to the conclusion it wants no part of this.
DG: Yarobeleedt has used its Tool Toy Guardian toward its party's challenge, Dogs of War.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius frowns as he hears a human voice ring out. ...They're not alone. Before long, four large, aggressive dogs barrel down the corridor. Yarobeleedt is there too.
He's not sure which part is worse.
He observes them quietly...and then draws out another one of those metal canisters, tossing it at his feet.
This time, cool, soothing mist does wash over the party. It also obscures their sight and scent. This will make evading the dogs easier, as they're distracted by...
...that horrific thing.
The others might elect to fight them, but Ambrosius has something else in mind...
...Wading through to find the one responsible for them. If he does find them, he'll have a few choice words for them.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Mist Canister toward his party's challenge, Dogs of War.
=============================<* Thieves' Tower *>============================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Dogs of War *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Someone in the next room barks a command, and the next thing you know four attack dogs come bounding around the corner after you! They're a large, aggressive breed unique to Lunar. No chance to befriend them -- you'll have to fight! =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
========================<* Thieves' Tower - Round 4 *>======================== ==========================< Results - Dogs of War >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malfi 25 --(5)--> 30 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yarobeleedt 30 --(5)--> 35 Pass Toy Guardian 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 35 --(5)--> 40 Pass Mist Canister 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Malfi 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Injure(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Malfi has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 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> Malfi has posed.
Confused, the war dogs are confused. Squeaky toys are what they were trained with. Is Yarobeleedt their new trainer? The mist obscures, covering scents that are wrong, somehow. They were trained to attack humans, but none of these foes is human. Mystified, they retreat to their trainer for guidance. All Ambrosius has to do is follow them.
DG: Yarobeleedt has drawn a new Challenge.
==================================================<* Thieves' Tower *>================================================== =============================================<* CHALLENGE - Tangled Web *>============================================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- As you reach the middle of this room, you look up -- warned by instinct -- just in time to see nets dropping from the ceiling to envelop you! You'll need to act fast to avoid being ensnared -- or wriggle free if you're not quick enough! Enemies are waiting to rush in from the next room to attack while you're (relatively) helpless, and they'll show no mercy! You need to do something NOW! =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
*squeak* The Stare Roe effigy slash dog toy slash object of floating spades from Yarobeleedt is secured inside his droopy arms - one droopier than the other - as he hugs it close while the dogs are recalled back. In another time, in another place, were his mind ever open to such a thing, he might have begun to grasp the basic nature of what it means to have friends out of creatures that seem lesser. Creatures that are deeply inclined on some level to love and trust, even if twisted into being a vehicle of aggression.
Then the real reason the dogs were withdrawn comes out. There are nets being thrown, everywhere. Nothing but nets - and for what means are available to them, these are excellent nets. With hardly any food being grown in nearby Pendrago and LAstonbell being a disaster zone, food is hard to come by. Fishing, though... that yields results. Out of desperation and need, Rolance has themselves some fine, fine fishing nets.
Yarobeleedt is hoisted up into the air by this net as more gross ichor drips out between the criss-cross of rope section. He screeches for a while, clutching his lovingly hated Stare Roe toy.
Then he stops, eyes blinking irregularly as they roll out of focus.
Experimentally, he turns his less-drippy arm into something scissor-like and just tries to cut open the rope, as though having a moment of sense to reclaim lost dignity and think that, wait, why is he screaming about dumb ropes? Ropes aren't so bad. Ropes can't really hurt him. They're just dumb bundles of fiber waiting to be sliced open.
As if he were on the cusp of some greater self-realization.
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Tangled Web.
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
Malfi draws her sword (her back-up weapon) and slashes through the nets as they cocoon around her. She is still somewhat impeded by their remnants as they gather around her feet and lower legs. She eases herself free, but this takes all her concentration. Hopefully there won't be any more surprises in this room!
DG: Malfi has used her Tool Blackest Coffee toward her party's challenge, Tangled Web.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
It seems that the one responsible for the dogs had a back-up plan as Ambrosius attempts to pursue them back to their master, and this back-up plan involves...nets.
Ambrosius looks up just in time to see a net dropping on top of him, and he frowns. More primitive technology. Now, he could break his way free relatively easier...
...But he elects not to. No, he just...reaches into his cloak, draws out his revolver, and waits. If the enemy was coming to him, then they were right where he wanted them.
He just needed to wait until it was too late for them to turn back.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Tangled Web.
==================================================<* Thieves' Tower *>================================================== =============================================<* CHALLENGE - Tangled Web *>============================================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- As you reach the middle of this room, you look up -- warned by instinct -- just in time to see nets dropping from the ceiling to envelop you! You'll need to act fast to avoid being ensnared -- or wriggle free if you're not quick enough! Enemies are waiting to rush in from the next room to attack while you're (relatively) helpless, and they'll show no mercy! You need to do something NOW! =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
=============================================<* Thieves' Tower - Round 5 *>============================================= ===============================================< Results - Tangled Web >================================================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malfi 30 --(5)--> 35 Pass Blackest Coffee 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yarobeleedt 35 --(5)--> 40 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 40 --(10)--> 50 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Malfi 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Fright(2) Effects: Resilient(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Malfi has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 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> Yarobeleedt has posed.
They decide one set of nets isn't enough. To the credit of the thieves that live here, they really did account for the possibility they'd need to do a lot of fishing, or hold a lot of people for ransom. Having three monstrous folks seems a great way to dump ALL THE NETS, but this does them little good. Malfi slices the nets open, Yarobeleedt gets his off. Ambrosius patiently bides his time, embodying the inevitable end of anyone who dares accost them from there.
Yarobeleedt mostly just throws his excess net on Ambrosius without even looking in his direction, which is blatantly on purpose and will inconvenience him further with a mean-spirited 'fufufu.' There is a catch.
Yarobeleedt has a misshapen talon-tooth-whatever on his less-melty arm stuck to a more stubborn set of fibers and absolutely nothing stops Ambrosius from voicing his displeasure by forcibly dragging him along if he's of the mind.
There's more yelling ahead, though its nature is unclear. What are they going to do next, if they can't hold them in nets?
DG: Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Thieves' Tower *>============================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Knock Knock *>======================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- At long last you near the top floor -- where the thieves have taken refuge behind a fortified and locked iron door. You'll have to get through it somehow to get to them -- and into the very last room. =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Gunfire erupts as Ambrosius fires Conversator off repeatedly in the direction of the individuals responsible and drops from the nets(plural - thanks Yaro).
This is enough to scare them, and lock the door in hopes of preventing the monstrous intruders from getting to them.
It does not work as well as they might hope. Ambrosius heads in the direction of the door, dragging the net along with him and sparing Malfi a glance to ensure that she's been able to free herself...and when he's close enough, he hurls the net containing Yarobeleedt at the door, and then raises a hand.
A spinning blade of water begins to form, which he then sends repeatedly at the door in an attempt to slice it to pieces.
...Good thing Yarobeleedt is good at moving quickly.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Aqua Cutter toward his party's challenge, Knock Knock.
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
Malfi thinks outside the box and starts dismantling the door's hinges, shaping her hands into primitive tools to do so. It doesn't matter how sophisticated or strong the lock is! She is hoping this approach will work, and she's careful to not get in the way of Ambrosius' Aqua Cutter.
DG: Malfi has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Knock Knock.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
* SPLAT *
Yarobeleedt's liquid metal bulk splashes up against the barricade with a pained yelp, as frightening Veruni strength comes to the forefront. He flattens against it as his tongue lolls out upwards, wiggling and flailing like it were trying to pry the rest of himself off the door. He's not having much success.
Then Ambrosius gives some special incentives for him to get himself off the door, and he peels and twists in ways that ultimately knot him up in a ball of liquid metal cramps as he falls off and rolls about the floor while a maybe-two-thirds-melted body struggles to remember which way is right-side up for him.
He's in just the right place for the door to fall forward on top of him, if it is given a pull rather than a push.
DG: Yarobeleedt has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Knock Knock.
=============================<* Thieves' Tower *>============================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Knock Knock *>======================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- At long last you near the top floor -- where the thieves have taken refuge behind a fortified and locked iron door. You'll have to get through it somehow to get to them -- and into the very last room. =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
========================<* Thieves' Tower - Round 6 *>======================== ==========================< Results - Knock Knock >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malfi 35 --(5)--> 40 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yarobeleedt 40 --(5)--> 45 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 50 --(5)--> 55 Pass Aqua Cutter 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Malfi 80 --(0)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Fright(1) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Malfi has passed this challenge! The party gained 0 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> Ambrosius has posed.
This is a thick, fortified iron door. It may perhaps be the most durable construction possible on Lunar, without involving sorcery into the mix.
It also has no hopes of standing up to the forces arrayed against it - alien soldiers with power and abilities this world had only just recently begun to face.
Malfi's shapeshifting allows her to dismantle the outer fortifications quickly and expertly. Once she's out of the way, Ambrosius begins his work in earnest, slicing it into many even segments.
With the door well and truly removed from its frame it falls forward. Mysteriously, it doesn't crash or make any loud noises as all, as if something had cushioned it!
Mysterious.
DG: Malfi has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Thieves' Tower *>============================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - The Gang's All Here *>===================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Everyone in the last room is swarming you in a last-ditch attempt to defeat you! You're outnumbered and LITERALLY outgunned, and they fight dirty! Time to pull out all the stops! =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
They are desperate, these foes, and stop at nothing. Their opponents, however, are not human -- and not from this world at all. Try as they might, they really have no chance! Malfi shows off her skill with a lance once more, using it and her native shapeshifting to best advantage. Will the thieves fight to the death or surrender? It remains to be seen...
DG: Malfi has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Gang's All Here.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
When the door falls to pieces...Ambrosius is nowhere to be seen. A canister rolls into the room and erupts into a cloud of mist.
Slowly, Ambrosius emerges from the cloud, walking toward the bandits quietly. He does not have a weapon drawn. He does not flinch as they fire upon him with ARMs, presumably acquired from Filgaian ARMsdealers or looted from one of the recent battles. He turns his eyes upon them.
"...Humans. Lay down your weapons, and you may yet be met with mercy." He orders. If they refuse, well...
Then he might have to get aggressive.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Mist Canister toward his party's challenge, The Gang's All Here.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Yarobeleedt, squished under the door, does not have the basic decency to expire. His more solid arm turns once more into a pick as it strikes out from under the door, dragging himself out like a nightmare creature beyond comprehension. He leaks quicksilver, tinged a color most humans would intristically look at and think 'poisonous,' as he nurses the grievous wounds to his physical form and his ego. He hisses and moans pained curses as he crawls from behind Malfi and Ambrosius...
And then it rolls out of his grasp again. It? Yes, it, during a time where Ambrosius seems set to try and make this matter resolve with the least amount of fuss possible.
*squeak* *squeak*
The dogs come back. Yarobeleedt can scarce look up before he is trampled by entranced war dogs, who all dogpile and chase after the effigy of Stare Roe.
*squeak* *squeak* *squeak* *squeak* *squeak* *squeak* *squeak*
This climactic battle between three alien terror-horrors and a bunch of frightened lowlives sure just went to the dogs.
DG: Yarobeleedt has used its Tool Toy Guardian toward its party's challenge, The Gang's All Here.
=============================<* Thieves' Tower *>============================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - The Gang's All Here *>===================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Everyone in the last room is swarming you in a last-ditch attempt to defeat you! You're outnumbered and LITERALLY outgunned, and they fight dirty! Time to pull out all the stops! =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
========================<* Thieves' Tower - Round 7 *>======================== ======================< Results - The Gang's All Here >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malfi 40 --(10)--> 50 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yarobeleedt 45 --(5)--> 50 Pass Toy Guardian 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 55 --(5)--> 60 Pass Mist Canister 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Malfi 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Injure(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Malfi has successfully explored Thieves' Tower!
=============================<* Thieves' Tower *>============================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Tower Power *>========================= |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Congratulations, the thieves have been routed, and you can claim the tower -- and their lifelong ire! You also find two vials of Symbological tattoo ink, which you might be able to sell. =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
In the end most of the thieves surrender -- the few that don't are probably wanted for capital crimes anyway. The tower has been captured and will make a suitable headquarters once it's upgraded with power and indoor plumbing. The city is centrally located on Glenwood, and the tower is in the merchant district, making supplies relatively plentiful and easy to find.
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
As part of the terms of surrender, in so much that the lowlives are running for their lives and aren't that interested in the nitty-gritty of anything other than 'not becoming a fine red mist in the face of horrible creatures that talk like men and also whatever the snake is,' the dogs are left behind. The dogs probably wouldn't want to leave anyway, because now they're busy being lovely creatures of empathy and friendliness to one who has absolutely none of that to give.
The colorful squeaks drown out the incessant frightful screeching for a while. He, uh, might need Malfi's help.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
The tower's previous inhabitants have been dealt with. Ambrosius allows those who wish to flee to escape with their lives. Undoubtedly they will tell their friends, who will either know to stay away from here...
...Or will attempt to take it back.
A foolish endeavor, to be easily dealt with - particularly once Ambrosius works on some defenses.
Ambrosius ignores Yarobeleedt's plight. It looks like he's ended up making some friends, how nice. Instead he moves on to check through the stores of goods the thieves have claimed...and he finds something interesting.
"Ah...faaascinating..." He murmurs, and then emerges and offers Malfi a vial. It looks to be ink, but... "This liiiquid...it is used in the applicaaation of Syyymbology... You might have an iiinterest in it...Miss Malfi..."
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
"I do not," Malfi intonies, "but I know someone who will. Thank you!" She takes the vial, intending to give it to Kalve later. With his interest in magic, he'd surely like to study it. "I didn't notice any of the thieves using magic against us, how odd."
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
"Iiindeed... Perhaps their minds could not grasp it... or perhaps they...did not realize the vaaalue of what they had..." Ambrosius comments. "Regaaardless...I am certain he will...appreeeciate it..."
He comments. And with no further word, he wanders off. He needs to get a good mental map of this place down for later...