2018-09-04: Tides of Fox and Fire
- Log: Tides of Fox and Fire
- Cast: Talise Gianfair, Sephilia Lampbright, Seraph Lanval, Tethelle Cirdian, Rosaline Calice, Layna Manydays
- Where: Azado
- Date: September 4, 2018
- Summary: The Company of the Fox is caught in the middle of the burning of Azado. (NOTE: This takes place before Tiamat's Wrath.)
DG: A party led by Talise Gianfair is now entering Azado Burning. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
===============================<* Azado Burning *>================================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Will o' the Wisps *>========================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
The night sky in Azado fills with lights. On an otherwise cloudy night, they
stand out sharply: little balls of bright light that rise up over the city
-- seemingly streaming out of the lighthouse in the town's harbor. However,
they grow larger and larger, and the reason soon becomes clear: those balls
of light are /crashing/ down towards the city.
You see a trio of Will o' the Wisps slam into the nearby buildings. They go
up in flame, as a supernaturally hot fire erupts along the roofs and
consumes them too quickly. The trio of floating, glowing orbs lands before
you, and then rush in. Bolts of fire shoot ahead of them, directly for you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"You know what," Talise says with a warm smile as she stands at the harbourfront, in her tank top and slacks, holding her arms out to let the warm sea breeze bask across her. "I missed this kind of thing. There's something about the sea breeze with the Blue Star on the horizon that fulfills me in a way not much else can."
The warm sea air teases through Talise's bleached hair. She looks up to the sky, smiling widely. The group had come at Benedict's suggestion to sell some things they'd picked up along the way - but Talise can't help herself. "Can't you feel it?" she asks. "The crispness of the air, the scent of the ocean, the steadily-growing lights coming out of that lighthouse and looming ominously ever closer...."
Talise pause and checks that statement. "Hold on a second," she says.
And then the three fireballs burst over the heads of the assembled group of six - in fact seven, for they're accompanied by big, dark-bearded courier Benedict. Talise gasps as the Will-o'-the-Wisps burst through the air and tear through nearby warehouses - and they erupt into flame.
"What in Althena's name!" Benedict splutters as he reaches for his crossbow. "That's not supposed to happen!"
"They're coming around!" Talise exclaims as the fireballs tear out of the buildings and rush towards the harbour - and they're close enough that leering faces can be seen forming within the flames. There were panicked cries already. Now there are screams as the Will-'o-the-Wisps begin spewing fireballs at helpless civilians, flinging a few towards the Company in turn.
And receiving a burst of buckshot in response. Talise growls and fires off a couple of shotgun rounds to try and clear the fireballs away from the citizens of Azado. "Damn it," she growls. "How can they be here, in a town? This is inside the damn Boundary!"
DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Trench Sweeper Shotgun toward her party's challenge, Will o' the Wisps.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia Lampbright is a cute girl who likes to ride around on Chauncey of Foxington's back! Chauncey, of course, is a plushy.
Plushies don't do well with fire.
"Oh NO! Quick, Chauncey, take the chair and use it to bat any fire that gets close to us back!" Sephy cries, passing Chauncey a chair. This is the plan. It remains to be seen how well Chauncey can home run...a FIREBALL.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Folding Chair toward her party's challenge, Will o' the Wisps.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval has to hide in that bottle of his, after he went so far as to stand against the Red Priestess herself - but he'll always happily go with the rest, because where else would he go? Where could he go?
"It doesh feel nice," he can concur. There is a reason he liked to pass out anywhere and everywhere around Meribia after he was relieved of his post. He goes silent, other than a happy, prolonged sigh of relaxation. Things aren't great, sure, but he's in the company of good friends and that's--
"...Closher?" He speaks up about the same time Talise realizes it. Then there is fire, lots of fire. Lots and lots and lots of fire.
There isn't much of a choice - Talise puts it succinctly. Lanval manifests himself with little additional ceremony, and one Seraphic Arte cast later there is a wave of water washing forward to try and quench the mysterious invading flames.
"'m not gonna let 'em," he murmurs.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Will o' the Wisps.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
And it was such a nice day, too.
Now, Tethelle is from Filgaia, and it's a fact of life that sometimes - not often, but rarely - monsters do attack towns. Ignoring the Metal Demons in this case, there are occasional assaults against the smaller frontier towns, though only rarely the big cities. Nor does she follow Althena; by now she's seen enough to understand her power, but she doesn't have the faith of a native.
The net result is that she's not nearly so trusting in the Barrier as an absolute protection as Benedict or, for that matter, Talise. She's caught by surprise, but her reaction is to draw her strange-looking chopping sword, spin it once and then grip it in both hands.
"Perhaps they went around the strongest points?" she asks. This could be a real problem - lots of things are built here in wood, and, well...
"Come on!" Tethelle throws her sword, two-handed. It carves through the air, the curve in it and Tethelle's skill causing it to make a great arc and boomerang back to her, but hopefully with a bisected wisp or two on the far end of the arc.
DG: Tethelle Cirdian has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Will o' the Wisps.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
"Hm-hmm," Rosaline agrees, quietly, with Talise's thoughts on the sea breeze. "But I'll admit, I'm still not used to how... salty the air is. It's a little distracting."
Her eyes then dart to the horizon. "Hold on. What is..."
Fire. Why does it always have to be fire? At least it's not her fault this time.
"HYDRO STORM!" Rosaline cries out, for the first time in a long while, drawing her trusty vial of precious holy water. Luckily, the holiness hasn't dissipated over the months. The sight of the swirling water within glowing and acting as fuel for the spell might be intriguing to Lanval, but maybe not isn't the moment to inquire about it.
And a moment later, rain drizzles down, localized entirely within the harbour area. Rosaline closes her eyes to continue incanting as she channels the spell. It's been a while since she's used it-- Hopefully she hasn't lost her touch.
DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Holy Water toward her party's challenge, Will o' the Wisps.
===============================<* Azado Burning *>================================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Will o' the Wisps *>========================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
The night sky in Azado fills with lights. On an otherwise cloudy night, they
stand out sharply: little balls of bright light that rise up over the city
-- seemingly streaming out of the lighthouse in the town's harbor. However,
they grow larger and larger, and the reason soon becomes clear: those balls
of light are /crashing/ down towards the city.
You see a trio of Will o' the Wisps slam into the nearby buildings. They go
up in flame, as a supernaturally hot fire erupts along the roofs and
consumes them too quickly. The trio of floating, glowing orbs lands before
you, and then rush in. Bolts of fire shoot ahead of them, directly for you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Aye, lass, ain't it a beautiful sight? Nothin' better than this." Layna replies with a grin and a chuckle, looking up at the sky. Indeed, it was one of her personal pleasures, as well.
Really, it was looking to be a good day...at least if it wasn't for the impending doom just around the corner.
But then it happens, because of course it does - something couldn't just stay this good and pleasant, after all.
Layna heaves a sign and cracks her neck as flame begins to spread...and living flames emerge, seeking them.
"Good question, lass." Layna says with a nod toward Talise. "We can figure it out once they're all dead."
With that, Layna begins to recite an incantation of her own. The wind starts to stir before being whipped up into a frenzy, sweeping up some of the water provided by Lanval and Rosaline to amplify its fire-fighting potential.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Will o' the Wisps.
===============================<* Azado Burning *>================================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Will o' the Wisps *>========================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
The night sky in Azado fills with lights. On an otherwise cloudy night, they
stand out sharply: little balls of bright light that rise up over the city
-- seemingly streaming out of the lighthouse in the town's harbor. However,
they grow larger and larger, and the reason soon becomes clear: those balls
of light are /crashing/ down towards the city.
You see a trio of Will o' the Wisps slam into the nearby buildings. They go
up in flame, as a supernaturally hot fire erupts along the roofs and
consumes them too quickly. The trio of floating, glowing orbs lands before
you, and then rush in. Bolts of fire shoot ahead of them, directly for you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
==========================<* Azado Burning - Round 1 *>=========================== =========================< Results - Will o' the Wisps >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talise Gianfair 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Trench Sweeper Shotgun 1 Combat Effects: Embolden and Fanfare ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Layna Manydays 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tethelle Cirdian 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Holy Water 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sephilia Lampbright 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Folding Chair 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Talise Gianfair 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Fright(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair 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> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Maybe Talise shouldn't trust the Barrier so much. After all, Lanval did show them that Althena's clearly not that into upholding it. "It's still a problem," she grouses as she moves in nex to Tethelle. "Fortunately we can fix it!"
The Will-o'-the-Wisps leer and spew fire willy-nilly, darting about to try and sweep the harbour - but it seems they weren't prepared to run into a group of Drifters loaded for bear.
The fireballs scatter as Talise fires a round into them - she doesn't hit them, but she does line them up for Rosaline to unleash the Hydro Storm. A little flutter touches Talise's heart as she watches her beastwoman friend fire off that familiar enchantment. The leering fireballs shriek as Rosaline's spell rakes them, pounding them relentlessly.
They emerge from it - alive, but dampened and no longer leering, but frowning. "Now, bring 'em down!" Benedict shouts as he fires off a crossbow bolt into one of them. It squeals in pain but keeps on coming.
Until Chauncey deals with it. The big stuffed fox homeruns the Will-o'-the-Wisp. With a fiery shriek, it goes pinwheeling off into the sky, vanishing in a spark of light.
Tethelle goes sweeping in with a huge arc of her blade. It reams through the second fireball, slashing it into embers that dissipate in the air. Then Lanval and Layna follow up - another Seraphic Arte dampens the Wisp down to a cinder, before Layna comes in like a steamroller and just blows it away, bursting it into the sky.
Talise exhales, shoulders rolling - and she looks towards the burning buildings. "...I'd feel better about those things if not for everything being on fire."
DG: Tethelle Cirdian has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Azado Burning *>=============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - The Walking Dead *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Malevolence is in no short supply here. While a few of the fleeing townsfolk may be subject to it, one place it has taken root is the catacombs and cemeteries of Azado. You pass one such place; that is when a stone catacomb bursts apart, and a trio of skeletons wreathed in Malevolent light stalk out. They have crude weapons -- makeshift clubs and rusted blades -- but moves towards you with unquestionable viciousness. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
"As would I," Tethelle says, in reference to the burning buildings. Surely Lanval and Rosaline can help put them out - well, everyone can, his powers and her holy water are just uniquely suited for doing so fast and over a large area.
As she starts to run down the street, though, she is confronted by a trio of glowing skeletons that have just rounded the corner. She didn't even know there were catacombs here and yet she's almost run into the damn things. It screams at her. This makes no noise, since the skeleton doesn't actually have any lungs, but it sure tries.
"Ah, Talise?" Tethelle sweeps her sword about chest-high, angling it so she's less cutting into the skeleton - which is rather less effective against the bony undead than anything with flesh on it - and more smashing into it with the weight of the two-handed weapon. "Are these not supposed to get through the Boundary either?"
DG: Tethelle Cirdian has used her Tool Icon of Equites toward her party's challenge, The Walking Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
It does help to have water casters along. Looking back towards the group, Talise gives Rosaline and Lanval a thoughtful glance over - but the fire seems to be spreading. "...I don't know if we'll have enough people to keep it from spreading, but--"
They don't have time to discuss it in committee. A catacomb bursts up from the street - and Talise gasps as those skeletons come clawing their way up from those caverns. "No, they're not supposed to be in this part of the world!" she vents with obvious frustration. "I didn't even know there were catacombs under Azado!"
This time Talise doesn't fall back on her gun. Sweeping forward, she draws Rastaban and whirls it with a silvery hiss of blade through air, then dekes to one side and slashes out to try and carve through one skeleton. She whirls to slam the flat of her blade towards another, more trying to smash them apart than actually cleave. "We can ask 'em for their birth certificates later. Let's bring 'em down!"
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Walking Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Ah! Malevolence. Rosaline knows it well.
She starts raising her arms and extending her claws forward, more out of reflex than anything else, until she remembers that oh, right, she can't puppeteer skeletons anymore.
"Something is making them restless," Rosaline says of the skeletons, with a bit of panic in her voice. This isn't something she's sensing so much as an educated guess. "They could have been dormant here for some time."
The rain has already abated, but as soon as the skeletons come into view, already the warm, soothing shower is upon them once more. "I don't have much of this left..." Rosaline admits, "so we need to make it count!"
Even after all she's gone through, cleansing Malevolence is still not something she can do. But at least her holy rain should slow the skeletons down enough to let the others take care of them easily.
DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Holy Water toward her party's challenge, The Walking Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Hm, hm, hm," Lanval both contemplatively hums and laughs. That's called a chuckle. Maybe a bunch of words could have been saved if it were called that, but anyway, "that'sh quite a shpell ya got there, Roshaline...!"
It's a happy surprise, at least, recalling how all her Malevolent sorcery dealt with flame prior. Lanval staggers along a lot more purposefully than he usually manages as they clear out their lot of fire wisps and find themselves being interrupted by animated Hellion skeletons. At least these are the kind of skeletons that gave up previously, and may be convinced to give up again...?
"Talishe'sh got the right of it," Lanval says as he swings that little gourd on a rope as though it were a match for ancient, rotted weapons as he maintains an even keel. He's known something was weird and wrong for some time - they know something's weird and wrong with how all this stuff keeps getting in the Boundary.
Why are they here? That's not important. The important thing was to stop it from getting any worse - and so Lanval follows up this skillful parry with another cast of a watery, splashy spell that tries to sweep them back whence they came.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Walking Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
"Do you know, skeletons never scare me?" Sephy comments as Chauncey's fist crashes into one. "They're just kind of sad. They're trying so hard."
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Walking Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna, meanwhile, has to be a little careful with her wind - it can just as easily reignite the flames if she isn't careful, so she holds off on it for now as they run ahead.
Just up ahead - skeletons! Layna curses.
"Can't be just one thing, can it? One thing goes wrong and a thousand others come crawlin' outta the woodwork, aye?" She says, cracking her neck. Fortunately, this problem is one they can deal with.
"Aye, lass. I almost feel bad for 'em." She says. ...Almost. It certainly doesn't stop her for running up to one of them and trying to put her fist through its skull.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Walking Dead.
==============================<* Azado Burning *>=============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - The Walking Dead *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Malevolence is in no short supply here. While a few of the fleeing townsfolk may be subject to it, one place it has taken root is the catacombs and cemeteries of Azado. You pass one such place; that is when a stone catacomb bursts apart, and a trio of skeletons wreathed in Malevolent light stalk out. They have crude weapons -- makeshift clubs and rusted blades -- but moves towards you with unquestionable viciousness. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
=========================<* Azado Burning - Round 2 *>========================== =========================< Results - The Walking Dead >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talise Gianfair 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Layna Manydays 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tethelle Cirdian 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Icon of Equites 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Holy Water 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sephilia Lampbright 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Talise Gianfair 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Fright(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair 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> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
While Tethelle can theoretically cleanse Malevolence (or, at least, help with it - she's proven THAT by now) she doesn't feel the need to try to save skeletons. If she purifies them, they're dead bones, and if she breaks them, they are also dead bones - and one of these is much easier than the other.
Once Tethelle has cleared some space around herself, she brings her hand up to the pendant she wears with the simple, handmade engraving of Equites' symbol on it. Drawing strength from it, mental if not physical, she attacks with renewed vigor. In the meantime, the skeletons have spread out to menace other people, striking with ancient swords and rotting clubs.
As it turns out, the party can handle a trio of skeletons. Though not without accidents; Tethelle parries a worm-riddled club with sufficient force that she shears off about a foot of it. Which is great, except it was being swung at her head at the time, and the tip of the club flies free and hits her right in the nose just as Sephilia comes in from the side and takes down that skeleton.
The others, having spread out, are dealable with pairs. Layna and Talise team up to break a skeleton, Talise by sweeping its legs out from under it (literally; the legs fall off) as Layna smashes the now-forward-falling skeleton in the skull. The other skeleton is not dealing with the water well, and the light holding it together seems to melt away like mud in the rain, causing the skeleton to fall apart in a clatter of bones.
Tethelle, on seeing that Chauncey has gotten the skeleton in front of her and all the other ones are dealt with, raises her head to touch her nose. It doesn't feel broken, at least.
DG: Rosaline Calice has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Azado Burning *>=============================== ==========================<* CHALLENGE - Flamehound *>========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you run down the next street, a wall in front of you bursts apart into shards of stone and charred wood. The monster that emerges from it is not a Will o' the Wisp, but a hound the size of a horse, with a body wreathed in -- or perhaps composed of -- fire. It roars, and then lunges forward, jaws of flame spread open to bite and burn you all at once! =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Skeletons are taken care of, and the question of their origin might ultimately be moot, for now at least. As the fire spreads, priorities change and Rosaline's mood visibly worsens, for reasons most here are well-versed in.
Just as she draws Mother's Mercy, holy water still in her other hand, an enormous hound of flames crashes through the nearest wall, lunging for the group. Rosaline ducks and rolls away, blamming at the creature with her shotgun as she rises, then holds up the bottle yet again.
"HYDRO STORM!" she roars out, with an intensity she hadn't displayed until now. And once rain is pouring down into the beast, the Etone disciple resumes shooting the beast recklessly. It's almost as if fate is conspiring to dredge up her painful memories, as if they hadn't been enough already.
DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Holy Water toward her party's challenge, Flamehound.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
"Lanval, if you could soak Chauncey down a bit I'd really appreciate it," Sephy calls, worrying about the fire dog. Hopefully he can, but in the meantime...there is the FOLDING CHAIR.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Folding Chair toward her party's challenge, Flamehound.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
The Hellions aren't messing around this time, Talise realizes grimly at the very moment that wall bursts apart.
And yet, it is no mere Will-o'-the-Wisp that confronts them, but a vast hound of flame, barreling towards them with furious intent. As the creature burns violently into the fray, Talise jerks to the side and whirls out of the line of its first charge, letting out a startled yelp. "Althena's hat!" she curses. "If this is what Ghaleon had in mind for the damn Boundary--"
Talise doesn't waste time with sass anymore. Feeding a couple of shells into her shotgun, the tall woman scowls and wheels away, falling in beside rosaline as her friend conjures up the Hydro Storm. The tension in Rosaline's face and the intensity of her shouting--
Talise looks at her, and smiles roughly. "We're here for you, Ros'. Just keep going forward!" she urges.
Then she pumps her shotgun, clenches her teeth, and starts unloading. Shells may be at a premium on Lunar, but Talise unloads one, two, three in rapid successfion, following up Rosaline's watery blast with a barrage of buckshot as she tries to keep the hellhound at bay!
DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Trench Sweeper Shotgun toward her party's challenge, Flamehound.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval gets knocked flat on his back by one of the flying shards of stone, a low pained hum as he is reintroduced to one of the elements he is regulated by - Earth.
The hound of flame touches down, and the Seraph rolls back and forth to get himself up to a seated position to better get a look at the-- no it's being polite and showing Lanval all their flaming teeth in case he really wants to see. How nice of it!
"Huh?" Lanval's attention turns as Sephy addresses him. "Oh, shure, shurrrre," he slurs as he leans back and just narrowly avoids having his face bitten off (if Seraphim really have faces to bite off, or just look like they do), off-handedly sending clear water splashing down upon Chauncey to put out any lingering flames.
Others yet move to reinforce Rosaline as she takes point, facing down the flames that define much of her earlier life trauma. Lanval allows her to take it as she will - she can be Rosaline, and furious, at the same time! There's plenty here to be furious about.
The Water Seraph works almost seamlessly with the Etone, contentedly hurling along his own magical water conjurations into the hound-shaped tongue of flame that dares burn their way in ways that they don't overtake the visuals of the Granas-blessed storms of holy rainwater.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Flamehound.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
Tethelle Cirdian finishes by adjusting one of her gloves before moving with the rest of the party. Tethelle needs to be in front, generally, simply because... well, she has that sword for a reason. The better to use on... on...
Giant flame dogs?
"Where do these come from?" Tethelle doesn't actually expect an answer as she rushes, going in low so that Talise does not have to worry about checking her shots as long as her aim is reasonably good. She rises in a vertical slash, trying to impact the dog from below and hoping that her blade doesn't just carve harmlessly through it.
"Equites!" she calls, drawing on her Medium, and a single sword falls from the sky to land on top of the flame beast, exploding in a burst of green-gold light. Tethelle doesn't use her Arcana much, but nothing is stopping her. And she'd like to keep it away from the others who are a little less durable... especially Rosaline, really, but that may be overprotectiveness.
DG: Tethelle Cirdian has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Flamehound.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
They barely have any time to recuperate before yet another thing decides to leap out at them.
"By the Goddess, do we just have a 'reckless heroes over here' target painted on our damn backs!?" She shouts, dodging to the side as the flamehound leaps out at them. Layna, as it happens, still has plenty of room for sass.
"Hang in there, lass!" She calls out to Rosaline before lunging in toward the hound of fire. A quick incantation channels the force of a whirlwind into her hand before she unleashes a vicious right hook straight toward its flaming snout.
It's a good thing they have plenty of water around here to keep them cool, through all this heat.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Flamehound.
==============================<* Azado Burning *>=============================== ==========================<* CHALLENGE - Flamehound *>========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you run down the next street, a wall in front of you bursts apart into shards of stone and charred wood. The monster that emerges from it is not a Will o' the Wisp, but a hound the size of a horse, with a body wreathed in -- or perhaps composed of -- fire. It roars, and then lunges forward, jaws of flame spread open to bite and burn you all at once! =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
=========================<* Azado Burning - Round 3 *>========================== ============================< Results - Flamehound >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talise Gianfair 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Trench Sweeper Shotgun 1 Combat Effects: Embolden and Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Layna Manydays 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tethelle Cirdian 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Holy Water 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sephilia Lampbright 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Folding Chair 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Talise Gianfair 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Injure(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair 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> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline doesn't have an answer to Tethelle's question, because her guess is as good as hers. Talise comes in with her own shotgun, and already Rosaline is positioning herself to take advantage of double-shotgun tactics. She even gives Talise a small nod of acknowledgement at her words of support.
"I'll be okay," Rosaline says between blasts. 'I've killed plenty of hellhounds before,' she neglects to add.
Lanval stops a tongue of flame with her own magic, which doesn't quite reach the beast but at least prevents Chauncey and the rest from having a very bad day. Tethelle uses the power of Equites to pin the creature down as she and Layna come into melee range. A vicious, windy right hook and a swing of a trusty blade later, and the flame creature is soon dissipating in the rain.
"Let's move on," Rosaline says, reloading her ARM but at least appearing to be calming down. "This isn't getting any better-- We should form up with civilians we come across and get to safety with them." There are faint echoes of Adlehyde here, and she doesn't like it one bit, but at least there's something resembling a plan. This isn't their first rodeo.
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
==================================================<* Azado Burning *>=================================================== ===================================<* CHALLENGE - Steep Stairwells and Bad Timing *>==================================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- When you round the next corner, you find the street here comes to a long flight of stairs. Moving quickly down this will be hard -- but some quick footwork or ingenuous use of railings might help you get down, before the fire catches up with you. Be careful, however, to not fall. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Speaking of civilians, it seems plenty caught in the crossfire have the same idea - find shelter, get down lower. Lower and lower. The problem now is that almost any other way is blocked off by burning debris, aside from this one that goes further down the-- no, never mind, just had a watchtower collapse that way.
The fires continue to intensify behind the escaping, as the living continued to be funneled in this direction... wait, there's another way! That's not a cliffside they're running to, that's a long flight of stairs! A very, very long flight of stairs, full of panicked people who are trying not to slip and fall to their probable crippling or worse. They're barely organized, they're frightened, they're loud, and they can't possily be going fast enough.
"Shee ya ahead," Lanval says as he just rolls himself down the stairs. He's water, it looks like it should hurt, but the rotund guy just helping himself down descending terrain in this slapstick way is doing what just comes natural for him. It doesn't make it any less painful to watch!
...
Once he hits the bottom, bubbles start to rise up in which to help provide a means in which to drift downward safely (maybe), and not just the Fox Company friends escaping!
That's nice and all, but there's still a lot of corporeal bodies to help coax down safely...
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Bubble Pipe toward his party's challenge, Steep Stairwells and Bad Timing.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise remembers Rosaline killing things! She's just a mother hen sometimes.
"I wish I knew," Talise grumbles as she starts forward again, picking up into a run to try and get ahead of the rapidly-spreading flame. "But they shouldn't be able to infiltrate a city like this. But then again, Althena only knows what's possible anymore!"
On and on they run - and looming ahead of them is not a cliff, but that flight of stairs full of people fleeing the flame. Talise gasps as she realizes how perilous the descent is going to be.
She grimaces. "Oh well. At least there's no fuggin' rope to fall off of," she grumbles. "See, Rosaline, that's still the same, anyway. Me and the fuggin' ropes. Still best buds."
But Lanval's being useful, and Talise is more than happy to take advantage of his handy Seraph tricks! As a bubble comes bobbling up from below, Talise bounds into it, curls up, and begins nudging the outside of the bubble in the hopes of floating her way downwards just a little more quickly.
She floats along. It is a slow, steady process.
"Oh, by the way, this is one of Lanval's cool tricks," she explains for Rosaline.
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Steep Stairwells and Bad Timing.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Normally Sephy would shrink Chauncey down for this sort of descent and just take the stairs. However. Under the circumstances, the stairs present a little bit less of a challenge than the FIRE. So they just barrel on down.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Steep Stairwells and Bad Timing.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna exhales and shakes her hand. There was one problem with punching a beast made of fire - it really hurt!
"Well, that's done with. Let's see what jumps out at us next, aye?" Layna says. What comes next is not yet more fire attacking them personally...but a gaggle of civilians stuck on a stairwell. Layna frowns, draws a bottle from nowhere, takes a swig, and then hands it off to another one of her allies.
"I can take care o' this." She says, clearing her throat.
"Hey! Listen up, you lot!" Layna shouts, putting on her most authoritative tone of voice. "I want you to straighten up and start goin' down this in an orderly fashion, aye!? Doin' this is just gonna get more people hurt!"
Once she's got their attention, she immediately sets about giving orders - trying to make sure they all make it down in the quickest and most efficient way possible, with the fewest possible injuries.
She is a pirate captain, after all - she knows how to take command of an unruly situation.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, Steep Stairwells and Bad Timing.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
Well. So that's where everybody went.
Tethelle has no problem with stairs, thank you, but stairs with people on them are problems when there are monsters close behind them (Tethelle generally assumes that, in a situation like this, there *is* a monster close behind her whether she sees one or not).
Disdaining Lanval's bubbles - she knows they're useful, she's taken them before, but they're not what Tethelle needs now. Layna immediately takes charge by yelling, and Tethelle is glad she doesn't have to; instead she slides down the railing partway by sitting on it, hops off about halfway down (hopefully without turning an ankle) and assists in getting people down in a more or less orderly fashion from there. Every boss needs a lieutenant, right?
DG: Tethelle Cirdian has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Steep Stairwells and Bad Timing.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
All right, that's a larger group than what Rosaline anticipated. This doesn't, however, mean they can't do anything for them. "That's good, at least," she answers Talise, a little distracted, sparing a chuckle as she reaches for her crests.
"Granas, guide their path. Saint's Charge!" And suddenly, a few of the people on the stairway-- mainly the children and elderly --find themselves moving faster and more nimbly.
Rosaline doesn't join them, nor does she take a bubble. Instead, she gets up on a railing and begins running down it, uncannily balanced. This is reckless, but at least Lanval provides her with a safety net in case she ends up slipping. "That is cool," she comments.
DG: Rosaline Calice has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Steep Stairwells and Bad Timing.
===============================<* Azado Burning *>================================ ================<* CHALLENGE - Steep Stairwells and Bad Timing *>================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- When you round the next corner, you find the street here comes to a long flight of stairs. Moving quickly down this will be hard -- but some quick footwork or ingenuous use of railings might help you get down, before the fire catches up with you. Be careful, however, to not fall. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
==================================================<* Azado Burning *>=================================================== ===================================<* CHALLENGE - Steep Stairwells and Bad Timing *>==================================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- When you round the next corner, you find the street here comes to a long flight of stairs. Moving quickly down this will be hard -- but some quick footwork or ingenuous use of railings might help you get down, before the fire catches up with you. Be careful, however, to not fall. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
=============================================<* Azado Burning - Round 4 *>============================================== =====================================< Results - Steep Stairwells and Bad Timing >====================================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talise Gianfair 0 --(8)--> 8 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Bubble Pipe 3 Agility Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Quartermaster's Stash 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tethelle Cirdian 5 --(3)--> 8 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rosaline Calice 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sephilia Lampbright 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Talise Gianfair 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Tire(2) Effects: Quicken
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair 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. [OOC] Talise Gianfair says, "I warned me about stairs, bro" [OOC] Talise Gianfair fall [OOC] Seraph Lanval says, "surprise, Talise, stairs are low-res pixelly ropes" [OOC] Talise Gianfair sob! [OOC] Layna Manydays says, "They couldn't render stairs, so they just used ropees instead." [OOC] Tethelle Cirdian says, "https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/3b/4f/983b4fa421dccfd0155bd9d5dfa0645a.jpg stairs: now with ropes" [OOC] Sephilia Lampbright says, "this is by far the smoothest sailing as a whole we have ever had on a dig to my recollection" [OOC] Tethelle Cirdian says, "We're cool :|X" [OOC] Seraph Lanval says, "we are!" [OOC] Talise Gianfair says, "Turns out having Rosameow along gives us a much better Tool range" [OOC] Rosaline Calice :> [OOC] Talise Gianfair says, "Also more pink poofage" [OOC] Rosaline Calice says, "It's true" [OOC] Talise Gianfair says, "And to me that's what matters"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
It's quite a flight down the flight of stairs!!
The Cap'n calls for attention, and her voice booms out throughout the burning village - or at least these stairs. A few give pause and ask, isn't she the wanted--
The pause she gives them is enough for Tethelle to get into position to slide on half-way and start directing people down. Sephilia, via Chauncey, makes a whole lot of new friends with all the people she picks up! A special spell from Rosaline gives them the extra haste they need to do things orderly and quickly as she runs down the steps like a boss.
Lanval can be seen at the bottom 'smoking' from a kiseru-style pipe. The quotes are necessary, it only spawns bubbles. He relaxes and gathers himself while everything burns, because this is... okay, for the moment.
"Mmmm... it'sh good ya all ma-- wait, where'sh Talishe..." He looks up. Her bubble doesnt' take her all teh way down to the ground, but at least she's over ground. It'll be a short drop, but she'll be fine.
Well, they're all here, and they have a bunch of survivors. What next?
[OOC] Talise Gianfair says, "Layna, did you want the final, or should I grab it?"
[OOC] Layna Manydays says, "I'm good either way! I can if you want me to."
[OOC] Talise Gianfair says, "Go for it!"
DG: Layna Manydays has drawn a new Challenge. =============================<* Azado Burning *>==============================
=============================================<* Azado Burning - Round 4 *>==============================================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Open and Shut *>========================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
You round the next corner to find, finally, safety: for both you and anyone
you rescued, as well as a cluster of a dozen people ahead of you. The city's
guards have unlocked a massive floodgate, which leads into the sewer system
below the city. A few people have already rushed in. One of the guards, upon
seeing you, calls out: "Hurry!"
All seems safe, but you hear the strangest sound behind you. A titanic roar,
and a rush of wind that blows in front of you.
When you turn, you see the reason why: cresting above the burning roofs of
the city, even as high as the distant lighthouse, is an enormous tidal wave.
It slams into the city. Buildings shatter, as fire is turned to steam in an
instant, and the wave is crashing for you.
"GET INSIDE! WE HAVE TO CLOSE THE FLOODGATE NOW!"
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
[OOC] Talise Gianfair says, "good thing i didn't bring my gloves, I don't think I could bench the ocean"
[OOC] Tethelle Cirdian says, "But I can bench... the gate"
[OOC] Tethelle Cirdian prepares to help close it
(New BB Message (7/117) posted to 'Daily Spotlight' by Claude C. Kenny: She's also not wrong)
[OOC] Talise Gianfair says, "such big muscles, tethelle...."
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna and the others manage to take control of the situation, right on time - just around the corner there's a makeshift shelter in the form of an opening into the sewer system.
"Alright, everyone inside! An' if you're not doin' it in an orderly fashion, we'll toss you in there!" Layna shouts. One of the Guardsmen standing at the entrance does a doubletake at seeing the group that's leading people inside...
...But instead of acting on anything, he merely sends them a nod. At least, until panic crosses his face.
"...Ah, hell." Layna says, as a shadow passes over them.
On the horizon, there's a massive tidal wave. It threatens to consume anything and everything in its path.
"Get inside, on the double!" Layna shouts, drawing out her drill. She undoes the drillbit at the top, then hurries inside and slams it against a part of the door hinges. Once everyone's inside she activates it. It starts to whir, faster and faster, and the door starts to close...
...But not fast enough. She's going to need some help.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Arm-Mounted Drill toward her party's challenge, Open and Shut.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Chauncey's big plush arms slam into the door and Sephy yells "PUUUUUUUUUUUUUSH!"
Because they're that kind of pair.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Open and Shut.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
Tethelle is sort of regretting sliding down the railing. She thinks she has a splinter.
No time to think about that, though. They need to get them under cover. There's got to be somewhere out of the flames, somewhere where -
Tethelle says a bad word. She lived by the sea. She knows what the sound of waves is, and what it means when it goes on and on and on like that.
"MOVE," Tethelle roars. She, unlike most of the party, isn't really wanted by the Guard; she's not Lunarian, Leo doesn't seem to have realized who it was that tricked him that one time, and she has avoided committing any obvious acts of heresy in front of anyone who cares while she's been on Lunar. Which means that they certainly aren't going to give her a hard time when she practically throws herself at the door.
Tethelle is wearing a pair of good solid gloves. Nothing fancy, and nothing magical, but they let her get a good grip on the door, plant her feet just so, and pull. Tethelle is strong even without assistance, and she's not really holding much back - if they don't block the floodgate, everyone is going to be in trouble.
DG: Tethelle Cirdian has used her Tool Power Gloves toward her party's challenge, Open and Shut.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
It isn't all fire. It's something else. A growing roar, and a rush of cooler ocean air.
"Ohhhhh, fuck," Talise says as she slowly turns and stares at the sight of the ocean cresting higher and higher. Impossibly high. It is by far the biggest tidal wave Talise has ever seen, and she grew up on a ship at sea.
Layna shouts out. "You don't have to tell me twice," Talise sasses a bit on impulse, but there's no fire behind it aside from the fierce urgency of someone who knows how utterly screwed the city is as the wave comes in. Diving into the shelter after Layna, she throws herself into helping Tethelle.
Even without her gauntlets of strength, Talise is ridiculously strong - stronger than any human has a right to be. Her shoulders and arms, bared by her tank top, strain visibly, her muscles standing out much more starkly than usual as she leans into the task of pulling that damn floodgate closed. "Come on... damn you!" she growls through clenched teeth, throwing her head back as she pours all of her strength into trying to move the damn gate.
Because if they can't....
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Open and Shut.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval, on the other hand... well, odds are they won't see him. They might even know he's the Fallen Seraph. No, his eyes are on something else entirely. Usually closed, sometimes half-lidded if something has his attention, they open up wide at the great big shadow over them.
That's not the work of a Hellion. That's not the work of a powerful Seraph. That's nothing like anything he's ever seen in magnitude... that's...
He doesn't know how to finish that sentence. The water elemental is truly dumbfounded that he's not even conscious about how he's stumbling alongside the rest into what is the closest thing to safety there might be.
Or at least a death with intact corpses.
He's not capable of really pulling much - at all - other than sitting there looking like he's seen a... ghost... er. Maybe now's not the time to fish for the perfect metaphor!!
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Open and Shut.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
"Praise be," Rosaline says, a little out of breath, upon catching sight of the apparent end of their trek. At least some of the people will be saved. She's found that this is sometimes the most you can hope for.
She didn't count, however, on the rumbling of water in the distance. Her ears twitch, warning her. But as she looks, they flatten in dismay.
"What... the... Oh, Granas' blood. MOVE!" she yells, a little redundantly.
As she runs, she loads up some specially-marked rounds into Mother's Mercy, then fires a couple of well-aimed blasts at the piles of rubble and debris still in their way. The more of a path she can clear, the better.
And once she's on the other side of the doors? She pulls with the rest. Every bit helps.
DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Mother's Mercy - Demolition Rounds toward her party's challenge, Open and Shut. =============================<* Azado Burning *>==============================
=============================================<* Azado Burning - Round 4 *>==============================================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Open and Shut *>========================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
You round the next corner to find, finally, safety: for both you and anyone
you rescued, as well as a cluster of a dozen people ahead of you. The city's
guards have unlocked a massive floodgate, which leads into the sewer system
below the city. A few people have already rushed in. One of the guards, upon
seeing you, calls out: "Hurry!"
All seems safe, but you hear the strangest sound behind you. A titanic roar,
and a rush of wind that blows in front of you.
When you turn, you see the reason why: cresting above the burning roofs of
the city, even as high as the distant lighthouse, is an enormous tidal wave.
It slams into the city. Buildings shatter, as fire is turned to steam in an
instant, and the wave is crashing for you.
"GET INSIDE! WE HAVE TO CLOSE THE FLOODGATE NOW!"
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
========================<* Azado Burning - Round 5 *>=========================
=============================================<* Azado Burning - Round 4 *>============================================== =========================< Results - Open and Shut >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talise Gianfair 8 --(0)--> 8 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 3 --(0)--> 3 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 3 --(0)--> 3 Pass Arm-Mounted Drill 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tethelle Cirdian 8 --(0)--> 8 Pass Power Gloves 2 Brute Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rosaline Calice 3 --(0)--> 3 Pass Mother's Mercy - Demolition Rounds 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sephilia Lampbright 3 --(0)--> 3 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Talise Gianfair 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Reckless(2)|Tire(1) Effects: Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair has successfully explored Azado Burning!
=============================<* Azado Burning *>============================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - In the Darkness *>======================= |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The floodgate slams behind you, locked shut as the tidal wave slams into it... but bounces off, and those waters rush into the city. That leaves you in the catacombs of Azado, in the darkened sewers and tunnels that run beneath. There is no light down here -- and no answers as to what terrible fate befell the city above. There is only the way forward. =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Everyone gives it their all. They have no choice - if they don't close this door, then their fate will become all the more uncertain. They have to do this, and to that end. Some of them pull at the doors. Some of them blast apart debris in order to help people through. Some of them marvel at the magnitude of what's before them.
And, eventually, the doors close, plunging them into the darkness. There's a massive, terrifying 'ROAR' as the tidal wave slams into the floodgates with overwhelming force, the shockwave of it enough to dislodge Layna and her drill and knock her backwards onto the floor.
...But, the massive wave does not get through. Layna exhales and laughs.
"...Well, we ain't dead yet, at least..." She says. She doesn't get off the floor just yet.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
"Fox and Friends never say die!" Sephy objects in a quavering voice.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
The wave hits - and though the door holds, the massive impact is enough to jar Talise away from the floodgate. She staggers, but manages to catch herself on something - a beam of some sort. It's wet and cold and metallic and she can't quite tell what it is in the low light.
"Hang on," comes a gruff male voice from somewhere on the floor. And then there's a sudden spark of light.
It's Benedict. He's been knocked down too, but before getting up he's fished out a lantern and lit it. The flame dances within the glass compartment as he holds it up, clambering back to his feet. Shadows dance across faces. "This isn't good," he grunts. "There's something else out there."
Wincing, Talise steps forward from her beam. She reaches out to pat Sephilia's shoulder firmly, as if to remind her that she's not in the dark alone. "What do you mean something's out there," she asks Benedict intently. "You mean other than a billion gallons of water?"
The courier's expression is grim behind his beard. Lowering his head, he murmurs a few words. A suble spark of light dances in his eyes as he lets off a spell of scrying.
Then he sucks in a breath. "Althena's well-oiled gorget," he says in an awed voice. "It's... it's gigantic!"
"What?" Talise asks. "What's out there?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
They survived that impact intact. A miracle... but there is much fear and uncertainty in the air among the surviving people. Despair. Most of the masses huddle together in prayer, in the hopes that the Goddess will save them from whatever just befell Azado. The guards have left the floodgates ahead unattended in order to deal with the number of people in need.
Lanval, meanwhile... still sitting by the gates.
"What wash that?" Lanval asks aloud. Nobody here has any answers, of course, they'd have said by now if there was. The floodgates are water-tight. Lanval can fit almost anywhere water can... but water can't. He also can't operate the mechanisms in which to open them back up. They can't go back that way.
Not that they should.
"Huuuuuhhh? What'sh... gigantic," Lanval's voice trails off. He has no idea what's going on out there. It's scary, and maybe he wants to just sit there and hide with them, but he's been doing a lot of hiding and running. He wants to see what's going on out there...
...
Lanval stumbles up some of the stack of debris, then leans up against some other parts of the architecture...
"Heeeey," he says, "there'sh shome light comin' in from up theeeere..."
...This sewer has another entry from a higher elevation! Water's not dripping down into it, so it's from a part that's not submerged. All it needs is someone able and willing to just pull/push it open and shove the curious right back on out to their near-guaranteed deaths!
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline catches her breath for a moment. She doesn't hide her shaken state as the wave crashes against the gates and Benedict makes his grim realization. Well, what can they do? At this rate it sounds as if all that can even be done anymore is to remain here and wait for the storm to pass.
But Lanval notices something. Rosaline sees it now, too, a ray of light that shines through the cracks just so. It seems significant to her, in a way she has trouble putting into words.
She closes her eyes, takes deep breath and lets out a long-suffering sigh. "There might still be people out there," she says, slowly, "and if there's a thing on the loose, then... But this place might be dangerous too... And I can squeeze through that opening, I'm pretty sure."
After a moment, she connects those ideas and says what's on her mind. "We should split up."
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna lays on the floor for a while, listening to everyone speak. There was a massive thing outside, huh? Benedict wasn't too specific about what...but maybe he couldn't be.
Layna massages her forward...and then rises to her feet, putting her drill back together before stowing it away.
"...Aye. I'll go with you, lass. Better not to get too split up." Layna agrees, nodding toward Rosaline.
"You lot take care now, aye? We'll be back before you know it." She says.