2018-09-12: A Barrel of Fun (And Dragons)

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  • Log: A Barrel of Fun (And Dragons)
  • Cast: Ambrosius, Erzebet Lefanu, Seraph Lanval, Fei Fong Wong
  • Where: Great Krosian Plains
  • Date: September 12th, 2018
  • Summary: Ambrosius leads a group into the Mountain Palace, seeking to investigate the Dragon Cult that has taken up residence there...they find a bit more than they expected.

==========================<* Great Krosian Plains *>==========================

The bulk of the countryside around the capital city of Krosse consists of rolling, grassy fields, a stark contrast from the arid desert sands to the north. Every year, however, the desertification spreads, and more and more life is swallowed up by the sands.

As travellers near the capital, the grasslands transition into cultivated fields. The yields from Krosse's farmlands have given the kingdom the nickname of the breadbasket of Ignas, and the majority of its trade centres around grains, fruits, vegetables, and other foodstuffs. 

While its might pales in comparison to its larger neighbours, Krosse maintains a significant standing army to help deal with monsters and green-eyed neighbours who might seek to seize that bounty for themselves. These soldiers are kept active by frequent patrols and maneuvers throughout the Plains and major roadways; as a result, travel in the kingdom is safer than nearly anywhere else on the continent.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYbFnoRSW6M
DG: A party led by Ambrosius is now entering Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=====================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult *>======================
==========================================<* Leck Mines - Flooded - Round 6 *>==========================================
====================<* CHALLENGE - The "Dragon's" Teeth *>====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The Mountain Palace is found, unsurprisingly, in the mountains, specifically  
 among the peaks overlooking a lake in the northwest of Krosse. The road       
 leading there is not terribly well maintained, and the closer you get to the  
 cave - no matter what time of day it is - the darker the surroundings get.    
 Worse yet, someone appears to have taken a pick or mattock to the path,       
 breaking the stones and earth into something jagged and twisted. Getting up   
 will be a pain.                                                               
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Recently, strange, robed individuals had been seen in and around the Mountain Palace. For all anyone could tell, these fellows had dedicated themselves to the goal of breeding wyverns in the hopes of creating dragons.

While they seemed no closer to their goal(as ridiculous as it was), they did pose a threat to the surrounding areas. The port town of Rurik even had a sizeable bounty put out, asking for aid from anyone who could enter the Mountain Palace and deal with the growing threat.

Ambrosius...

...is NOT here because of that bounty.

No, for him, it was a little more personal. One of the cultist's wyverns had somehow found its way into his hideout and made a mess of the place until finally Nimue had enough of it and removed it. He came back to find the place worryingly disorganized, and now he felt it was time to make a personal complaint.

And so he makes his way down the road to the Mountain Palace itself, even as the surroundings begin to darken, picking his way carefully around the jagged stones and earth on the way there. While they didn't really pose much of a threat to him, his poncho was in danger of getting caught in them and getting unsightly tears put into it.

Best to be avoided.

DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The "Dragon's" Teeth.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.

 
"Mysterious and shadowy figures. A dark scheme. An evil plan to wreak havoc on the populace. Ahhh, it's so exciting!!"

That is what ERZEBET MARA LEFANU, or "E.M. Lefanu" in the yellow press's serial fiction columns used to pad out page count that couldn't easily contain more advertisements for cucco wire and natural sword enhancement, says. She didn't SAY it, she said it NOW. While walking along a road. In HEELS.

Her stockings are already ruined but she seems committed to the gag.

"So, do you want to be in the stories?" she asks the group as she keeps walking forwards, pausing as her stockings hit a snag and she looks at them. Lingering, Erzebet weighs her options. "There are three options here, basically. I can credit you, BY NAME, I can refer to you in a nebulous way, OR I can use a cover story. An alias. A nom de drifte, if you will."

Erzebet just yanks her leg forwards. She wobbles for a moment. "Doesn't this look fashionable? It matches my coat now!" The coat was haute couture 40 years ago. Now... it is a garment.

DG: Erzebet Lefanu has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The "Dragon's" Teeth.
[OOC] Seraph Lanval says, "amazing"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Lanval just kind of happens to be along, sort of trying to enjoy the Filgaian countryside. As far as he knows, he's stuck here, and incidentally while the Fox Company crew goes about business in some nearby part of the area in a vague fashion, he's been left to his own devices.
        'Own devices' tends to be 'lying face-down somewhere while clean and clear water pools around him,' and the trend hasn't changed any because he's passed out at the foot of the mountains of interest. The air of Filgaia, spiritually speaking, is a whole lot cleaner. It's both nice, and also really freakin' weird in a way he's not sure he's comfortable with...
        He stirs awake when Ambrosius and/or others pass by him. Come to think of it, he has heard some chatter about this place. Something that people aren't happy about, or happy with? He wasn't paying great attention to the details. Maybe it's worth a look into. There is one complication.
        Lanval's manifestation is far more flexible and agile than he may appear, but he is water. Water likes to settle where it is contained, and the tug of gravity always gently coaxes water to come settle as low as it will. There is a lot of climbing involved.
        'Getting up will be a pain' is putting it nicely, because in the process of indulging in his curiosity he kind of gets himself caught in and around all the broken stone paths.
        To those with just enough Resonance to know that there is a Something/Someone there if not the exact form and shape, there's a mass of water that is misbehaving and going the wrong way by the laws of physics.

DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The "Dragon's" Teeth.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong is largely hoping this isn't the Shadow Dragon Cult here. Or some other dumb cult. There's a lot of cults, okay. He is also a little worried about the three eyed man he saw last time here was here. He never came back because the three eyed man was honestly kind of a jerk but he wants to make sure he's safe at least.

Fei had forgotten how awful it is to walk to the Mountain Palace and how tiresome the whole ruin is but he is still coming along anyway. Honestly, he's probably sticking to Lanval here. ERZEBET MARA LEFANU is unnerving him and Ambrosius, well, Ambrosius causes problems. Best to keep an eye on him but not get too chummy. He certainly helped ressurect Mother.

"Hey dude," Fei tells water. "Welcome to Filgaia."

DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The "Dragon's" Teeth.
=====================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult *>======================
==========================================<* Leck Mines - Flooded - Round 6 *>==========================================
====================<* CHALLENGE - The "Dragon's" Teeth *>====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The Mountain Palace is found, unsurprisingly, in the mountains, specifically  
 among the peaks overlooking a lake in the northwest of Krosse. The road       
 leading there is not terribly well maintained, and the closer you get to the  
 cave - no matter what time of day it is - the darker the surroundings get.    
 Worse yet, someone appears to have taken a pick or mattock to the path,       
 breaking the stones and earth into something jagged and twisted. Getting up   
 will be a pain.                                                               
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult - Round 1 *>=================
==========================================<* Leck Mines - Flooded - Round 6 *>==========================================
======================< Results - The "Dragon's" Teeth >======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           0 --(30)--> 30                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       0 --(30)--> 30                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erzebet Lefanu                      0 --(30)--> 30                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       0 --(30)--> 30                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Ambrosius                   0 --(10)--> 10                 Fail
Conditions: Exhaust(1)
Effects: 
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ambrosius has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius turns his gaze upon Erzebet for one, brief moment.

"...I will pass." He decides. He wasn't particularly interested in being part of a story.

As for Lanval...Ambrosius's eyes fall upon him. His journey into Uzda Il-jam had awakened him to Resonance, and now the Seraphim were visible to him. ...But even if they weren't, he would notice something up with that pool of water. He knew how water was supposed to work, and it was doing so...but in the completely wrong direction.

He doesn't have any words, though. Instead he just focuses on continuing forward to the Mountain Palace itself in his usual slow, deliberate fashion.

This means it takes time - a lot of time.

As for the others, well...they might have been distracted for other reasons.

DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult *>===========================================
========================================<* CHALLENGE - Cultist Paraphernalia *>=========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 A small table in this room is labeled 'MAPS', which seems helpful.            
 Unfortunately, the first dozen papers are some sort of cultist propaganda     
 leaflets with sayings like:                                                   
                                                                               
 "Till You KNOW 4 Simultaneous Days Rotate In Same 24 Hours Of Filgaia You     
 Don't Deserve To Live On Filgaia"                                             
                                                                               
 or                                                                            
                                                                               
 If you would acknowledge simple existing math proof that 4 harmonic dragon    
 days rotate simultaneously around squared equator and cubed Earth, proving 4  
 Days, Not 1Day,1Self,1Earth or 1Granas that exists only as anti-side. This    
 page you see - cannot exist without its anti-side existence, as +0-           
 antipodes. Add +0- as One = nothing."                                         
                                                                               
 Finding the map without having your brain explode could be a challenge.       
=Dungeon Conditions: Madness, Exhaust=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Lanval can't make that entire climb by himself. That's just not in his nature. Water naturally doesn't flow uphill - or he's just too lazy. At some point he just lets himself flow to a small basin off to the side where Fei greets him.
        "Mmm. Thanksh~" Well, he's in reasonably good cheer for being exhausted and sort of stranded if he's too lazy to get himself up out of that basin!! He lacks commentary for Erzebet's manner of dress, and elects to have his Vessel be carried to catch up.
 
        INSIDE...
 
        Ambrosius will be the first to see it within this early chamber within the cult's stronghold. There's a nice draw in which to come here, this chamber is very clearly labeled for 'MAPS.' So thre must be a useful guide in here for getting around in this maze of chambers and natural wyvern byproduct.
        'You are too TRAINED IDIOTIC to understand the CHRONOSQUARE,' says the hastily-scrawled text on what is not a parchment detailing tunnel pathways but instead some sort of transcendent mathematical proof of... um, what exactly?
        Is this the map but someone decided to use it as a napkin for writing notes on? Is there another parchment here that is a map? This is not an isolated incident. There are multiple parchments written on this subject and the linework illustrations are increasingly arcane and yet filled with notations that are appropriate for real maps and it's...
        Ugh.
        Lanval's here, soon enough, and he's lying on the ground while holding a few of these pamphlets while wearing stupid swirly-lens novelty glasses.
        "Ha ha ha! Wowwww... if ya crossh yer eyesh it looksh kinda like a bird." Lanval entertains himself with the discovery of weird 3D images that probably do not exist.

DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Amber Tinted Glasses toward his party's challenge, Cultist Paraphernalia.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

It was rather convenient, having a table for maps right at the entrance to their lair. At least that is what Ambrosius thinks until he approaches said table and picks one up to take a look at it.

He frowns, deeply.

He sets it down and picks up another, but the result is much the same. Ambrosius stares for a moment...and then slowly, calmly, begins to walk away.

"...Do not trouble yourselves...with that garbage..." He states. He sounds almost...offended?

...Huh. He spares a glance toward Lanval, who...seems to be enjoying it? At least in his own way.

He doesn't comment on the situation.

DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Cultist Paraphernalia.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong is used to making maps more than he is finding maps. He frowns thoughtfully as he goes through some of the pamphlets himself, drawing out a small light from his artist's toolkit to shine down through the various pamphlets to try and speed this process up by looking through the paper to the next one and discovering that those, too, are not actually maps.

"Maybe they're actually clues to the real map." Fei murmurs but isn't going to actually try to solve them. He's got his limits.

But honestly, he reflects, timecubes aren't too complicated? It's just a cube. Of time. Right?

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Cultist Paraphernalia.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.

 
"And so the bold trio entered in the very den of the cult of darkness," Erzebet narrates as they step forwards. "And we find -"

Erzebet pauses.

She picks up one of the pamphlets in one hand and fiddles with her earring with another. Then she reads aloud in a loud voice, "The World Ends Tomorrow And You May Fry! Repent! Quit Your Job! Snack Off! - I'm going to bring this one in, I think. RIGHT?"

Erzebet stuffs that one into her coat's interior pockets.

Then she starts just pulling others off the shelf.

DG: Erzebet Lefanu has used her Tool Call toward her party's challenge, Cultist Paraphernalia.
==========================================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult *>===========================================
========================================<* CHALLENGE - Cultist Paraphernalia *>=========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 A small table in this room is labeled 'MAPS', which seems helpful.            
 Unfortunately, the first dozen papers are some sort of cultist propaganda     
 leaflets with sayings like:                                                   
                                                                               
 "Till You KNOW 4 Simultaneous Days Rotate In Same 24 Hours Of Filgaia You     
 Don't Deserve To Live On Filgaia"                                             
                                                                               
 or                                                                            
                                                                               
 If you would acknowledge simple existing math proof that 4 harmonic dragon    
 days rotate simultaneously around squared equator and cubed Earth, proving 4  
 Days, Not 1Day,1Self,1Earth or 1Granas that exists only as anti-side. This    
 page you see - cannot exist without its anti-side existence, as +0-           
 antipodes. Add +0- as One = nothing."                                         
                                                                               
 Finding the map without having your brain explode could be a challenge.       
=Dungeon Conditions: Madness, Exhaust=========================================
=====================================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult - Round 2 *>======================================
==========================================< Results - Cultist Paraphernalia >===========================================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Amber Tinted Glasses                3   Wits    Effects: Fanfare              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erzebet Lefanu                      30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Call                                2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Artist's Toolkit                    2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
-------------------------------------------------------< Party >--------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Ambrosius                   10 --(20)--> 30                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Madness
Effects: Enlighten(1)
===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Ambrosius 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.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult *>======================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Dragon Cultists *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 A group of culstists in black robes are standing at the foot of what appears  
 to be a rockslide descending from the ceiling above; nearby, several ropes    
 dangle downward, as if begging to be pulled. The cultists appear to be        
 debating whether this particular trap is fiendish enough to dissuade          
 visitors; your arrival convinces them to instead debate wether or not tey     
 should murder you dead.                                                       
                                                                               
 The motion carries unanimously.                                               
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        It's all so vexing and superfluous! Ambrosius probably has the right of it by just walking away from it all and finding his own way. Fei claims to not try to solve them, but already the patterns align and a much more coherent picture forms within the fringes of doubt, disgust, and a desire to not bother. He cracks the code of the endless expanse of a time that measures precisely that of two hours past one's bedtime and now has an inherent knowledge of where the billiards room is.
        ...Do cults located within caves have billiards rooms? If they do, he knows where it is. That could be their cue...!
        Then Erzebet just takes all the pamphlets. There is some entertaining material in here. Maybe even useful. Some of them might even corroborate a number of the sayings of one V. Rhadamanthus in an esoteric way that requires initiation in some specific schools of thought such as--
        "Ha ha ha... thish one looksh like a turtle~" Lanval utters as he is saying this not of a pamphlet but instead of a scrap of half-chewed leafy matter on the ground, which doesn't lead anyone anywhere. It's an odd experience for all involved, but the tunnels ahead seem straightforward enough...
        Onwards! (To the billiards room?)

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei says, "Easy," because he is now enlightened to timecubeism. He doesn't actually share the secrets though. Timecube is inherently poor towards newcomers of the philosophy.

Nevertheless onto the billiard room! Before the group opens the door they can hear voices behind the door.

"This is a Billiards room, the trap should be billiard based!"
"That's so gauche, and easy to avoid! We should just put a bunch of dynamite down and cave the roof in on them."
"What about a giant pit?"
"Shut up, Carl."
"Yeah Shut up, Carl."

When the door opens and you find yourself in a nice cozy Billiard Room with a group of several cloaked figures, they turn towards the party and then look back to each other.

"All in favor of the giant pit?" One hand.
"All in favor of the dynamite?" A couple of hands.
"The complex billiard trap with giant billiard balls?" Three hands.
"Just murder them all with shovels?"

All hands raise.

"W..wait!" Fei says. "How about we settle this with Rock Paper Scissors--?" Fei holds up his badge.

"I choose shovel!" A man clocks him upside the head with one.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Dragon Cultists.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius strolls into the billiards room, only to find himself face to cloaked face with a group of the cultists, deep in an argument on what kind of trap they should implement here.

He stares, watching them quietly up until the point they take notice of the party. At that point he reaches into his poncho and pulls out a metal canister, flipping a switch on the side and sending it rolling toward the cultists. It begins to emit a pleasantly cool mist that refreshes the party, hopefully clearing their heads of that garbage they involved themselves with in the previous room.

"...Allow me...to siiimplify...your discussion..." Ambrosius states, walking up to the billiards table, hefting it, and then hurling it at the cultists.

It can't be a billiards room if there's no more billiards table.

...Or no more cultists to partake in it.

DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Mist Canister toward his party's challenge, Dragon Cultists.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Lanval ambles along staggering about as his vision gets all weird from trying to perceive those weird images. That may be one of the few genuine likenesses between mortals and his own kind - those 3D art image things are whaaaaaaack. He comes into the billiard room and slumps down onto his seat against the wall just to watch a bunch of weird robed people argue. He doesn't quite have the full context of why anyone would be here.
        Then someone tries to take a shovel to Fei's skull. Fei showed him patience and kindness when his own kind were giving Lanval the business. No matter how 'along for the ride' he might be, someone taking a shovel to Fei's skull means someone might be taking away one of the few mortals who can see him - and one of the few who showed him such warmth and friendship both at his best, and at his lowest.
        There is a flicker of aquamarine from Lanval's briefly open eyes as he stands upright and throws his palm out to some Seraphic Arte of divine but vague make, and there is - to those uninitiated - a torrent-like splash of water that rushes out of virtually nowhere to try and sweep the whole lot of them away.
        The billiards room now stands to also become a pool room.

DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Dragon Cultists.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.

 
Forwards, into the deep. Erzebet refrains from narration as she walks, and even from humming. Her heels click a little, but that's life for you.

"How is the trap going to deter anyone if it kills them?" Erzebet asks rhetorically.

BATTLE BEGINS! When a guy goes to deck Fei, Erzebet reaches for her hip holsters. As Ambrosius flips a table she draws out her weapons, which resemble sawed-off rifles - like sawed-off shotguns, except, doesn't that just mean they're glorified pistols?

Then she raises her weapons, sights down one -

The water surges. She raises her gun and lets out a little huff through her teeth. "No fun," she tells Lanval, before the other one comes up and CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK out go a half-dozen shots, paid for no doubt by the word.

DG: Erzebet Lefanu has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Dragon Cultists.
=====================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult *>======================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Dragon Cultists *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 A group of culstists in black robes are standing at the foot of what appears  
 to be a rockslide descending from the ceiling above; nearby, several ropes    
 dangle downward, as if begging to be pulled. The cultists appear to be        
 debating whether this particular trap is fiendish enough to dissuade          
 visitors; your arrival convinces them to instead debate wether or not tey     
 should murder you dead.                                                       
                                                                               
 The motion carries unanimously.                                               
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult - Round 3 *>=================
========================< Results - Dragon Cultists >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Mist Canister                       1   Combat  Effects: Cleanse              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erzebet Lefanu                      30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
RPS Badge                           3   Combat  Effects: Rally                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Ambrosius                   30 --(25)--> 55                Pass
Conditions: Madness|Treasure(1)
Effects: Cleanse
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ambrosius has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 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> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong gets clobbered with a shovel for a while but then help comes!

Erzebet helpfully draws out a pair of ARMS, pauses a moment as Erfebat talks to Lanval. She can see Lanval? That's something he files away. It doesn't exactly mean anything on his own but he isn't sure what she means about his power not being fun. Maybe their superpowers don't work well together. It's not as if he knows what they are, really, except that Lanval tends to be a sweetiepoo about it.

"Uh." Fei says, bleeding from his face but otherwise okay.

Luckily bullets and water are both very effective methods of determent and ultimately Ambrosius ends the whole affair by dumping a full on billiard table on all the cultists (some of whom oozing from gunshots) and well, that does seem to simplify the discussion.

"Yikes." Fei says.

DG: Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult *>======================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Blue "Dragon" Vigor *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 This part of the Palace has apparently been converted to some sort of         
 primitive exercise room - a stationary bicycle, some free weights, and a      
 large heavy bag are all set up, though none shows sign of regular use - a     
 sign-in book at the front of the room indicates someone named Larry appears   
 to be the only lifter in the Cult.                                            
                                                                               
 A door at the far end of the room is blocked off by stone, but there are      
 handles at the bottom of the rock that suggest it could be lifted.            
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

With the discussion well and truly tabled, they're free to move on without having to worry about falling into a trap. Directly adjacent to the billiards room is, of course, an exercise room. There's even a sign-in book at the front desk!

Ambrosius, in a show of poor etiquette, does not sign his name.

Instead, his attention is on the door at the far end, which has apparently been blocked off by a massive stone obstacle with handles at the bottom. Obviously one is supposed to lift it, but...

Ambrosius instead draws a silvery device from his poncho, which soon emits a swirling blade of high-pressure water. He tries to just cut right through it.

DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Aqua Cutter toward his party's challenge, Blue "Dragon" Vigor.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        "It ishn't fun," Lanval is either agreeing or whining in that tone of voice and it's kind of hard to tell as he settles back down to the loopier, slurring disaster he generally kind of lives as for the most part. He makes sure Fei's doing all right before going along towards the next room where he misses the importance of the book entirely. He doesn't see a way forward, and isn't sure what the gentleman in red is doing with the rock, but something does strike him as interesting.
        "Heeeeey," Lanval calls in a way that sounds like it should draw attention but it's probably towards something incidental and not at all important as he goes and lounges up against the stationary bike. He's seen this a few times when he wandered around November. Weird thin carriages with no horses, no real cabin, just wheels and a seat. Okay, he can get behind that, like why nobody thought of the idea before.
        "What good'sh a carriage that doeshn't go anywhere? Ha ha ha!" That's so weird! He plops himself on it improperly and palms at the pedals. It doesn't go anywhere, and he either gets bored or winded after shoving it four or five times.
        This does nothing to help address the rock problem, but he keeps one eye open half-lidded just watching Ambrosius' water go to work on the stone. That is water, and that's water giving rock the business as a tool in which to slice at a pessure level unimaginable to him.
        He is a water elemental. Watching someone do stuff with water he didn't think possible is... kind of mind-boggling.

DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Blue "Dragon" Vigor.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei does sign his name. He's not going to be rude.

More rude.

Fei looks over to Lanval and he says, "Oh oh, it's not for transport," He feels compelled to genuinely educate Lanval here. "It's for working out. And after you do it, you get tired for a while, but then you also get a little bit stronger. That's specifically for cardio, so it improves the strength of your heart."

Fei picks up one of the weights and uh starts pushing them up into the air a few times. "Oh yeah, this equipment's legit. I'm surprised they aren't making use of it more. It's a shame." He frowns. Maybe it's the three eyed man's secret workout station and they just took it over?

Well he drops the weights eventually and--

--decides to let Ambrosius handle this rather than get in his way.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Blue "Dragon" Vigor.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.

 
Erzebet's nose twitches at the sight of gymnasia equipment. Her head tilts to one side, then to the other.

She signs in.

Then she reaches into her pocket and draws out a small book with a red cover. "At times like this," she says, "I like to look at religion." Her eyes turn for a moment towards the water spray and the mysterious enhancements that may or may not be coming.

Then she reads aloud with great animation...

"We are marching in a compact group along a precipitous and difficult path, firmly holding each other by the hand. We are surrounded on all sides by enemies, and we have to advance almost constantly under their fire. We have combined, by a freely adopted decision, for the purpose of fighting the enemy, and not of retreating into the neighbouring marsh, the inhabitants of which, from the very outset, have reproached us with having separated ourselves into an exclusive group and with having chosen the path of struggle instead of the path of conciliation. And now some among us begin to cry out: Let us go into the marsh! And when we begin to shame them, they retort: What backward people you are! Are you not ashamed to deny us the liberty to invite you to take a better road! Oh, yes, gentlemen! You are free not only to invite us, but to go yourselves wherever you will, even into the marsh. In fact, we think that the marsh is your proper place, and we are prepared to render you every assistance to get there. Only let go of our hands, dont clutch at us and dont besmirch the grand word freedom, for we too are free to go where we please, free to fight not only against the marsh, but also against those who are turning towards the marsh!"

She has a zippy, breathless reading style. You can totally feel the sarcasm AND the passion beneath it!

DG: Erzebet Lefanu has used her Tool Selected Quotations from V. Rhadamanthus toward her party's challenge, Blue
"Dragon" Vigor.
=====================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult *>======================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Blue "Dragon" Vigor *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 This part of the Palace has apparently been converted to some sort of         
 primitive exercise room - a stationary bicycle, some free weights, and a      
 large heavy bag are all set up, though none shows sign of regular use - a     
 sign-in book at the front of the room indicates someone named Larry appears   
 to be the only lifter in the Cult.                                            
                                                                               
 A door at the far end of the room is blocked off by stone, but there are      
 handles at the bottom of the rock that suggest it could be lifted.            
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult - Round 4 *>=================
======================< Results - Blue "Dragon" Vigor >=======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           30 --(10)--> 40                Pass
Aqua Cutter                         3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       30 --(15)--> 45                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erzebet Lefanu                      30 --(10)--> 40                Pass
Selected Quotations from V. Rhadama 2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen           
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       30 --(10)--> 40                Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Ambrosius                   55 --(20)--> 75                Pass
Conditions: Suffer(1)
Effects: Strengthen(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ambrosius 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> Ambrosius has posed.

Whether or not Ambrosius feels Lanval watching him he continue to get to work, cutting away at the stone blocking the path forward. Before long the stone(and the door behind it) are nothing but a pile of thinly-sliced rubble on the floor.

Meanwhile, Lanval elects to just relax and marvel at the strange things humans can come up with, while Fei extols their virtues.

And of course, all the while Erzebet reads aloud from her book. It's really impressive that she was able to get through that without taking a single breath - truly her readings gave them the drive they needed to succeed!

Probably.

Either way, the path ahead is open now. If they don't follow him quickly, Ambrosius is liable to leave them behind.

DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult *>===========================================
========================================<* CHALLENGE - A Boy And His Dragons *>=========================================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 In the depths of the Mountain Palace, you find what initially appears to be   
 a storage room, filled top to bottom with barrels. As you enter, you          
 discover you are not alone - a young black-haired man with a pair of short    
 swords belted around his waist turns to face you, at which point you notice   
 another, more salient feature of his - he has a large red dragon head         
 sprouting out of one shoulder blade, and a blue dragon head sprouting out of  
 the other.                                                                    
                                                                               
 He starts to say something, but this must /clearly/ be the leader of the      
 Dragon Cult. Time to attack.                                                                                                 
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Injure===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.

 
Ambrosius shows <s>de</s> the way. Erzebet twirls round her book and tucks it back into her coat, sauntering forwards with a little bit of a drunken sway. She sees enough of the dark for her to reach into her other holster and pull out one of her guns, holding it ready but pointed upwards. You never know who you'll meet in the dark!

Emerging into a storage room, they turn the corner and are confronted with -

A man with three heads!

BGM INTRUDE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui0a-QXPUf0

Erzebet's glasses shine to the point of opacity as she pulls out her other gun. "Hello, sucker!" she tells this erstwhile commander before pointing both her guns straight on at him and giving him both barrels!

Which was loud.

It should stop there. It does not. The recoil sends her pinwheeling backwards, staggering and leaping at the same time as she builds distance while alternating between guns, dive-rolling behind a stack of crates just in time to let out a rich cackle before laying down on the ground and firing at the man's feet, or shoes more accurately. This time something weirder is happening: she is leaving smouldering trails in the things she hits in the course of trying to hit the guy.

Quietly one crate starts to burn. Then another.

"And so, the wicked leader of the cult, twisted into hellish mutancy in red-blue alternating delight, confronted our heroine and her brave retainers!" Erzebet shouts over the racket from shooting her guns. "What secrets did his color scheme hide?! Does he answer the riddle of ice and fire!? Does he just like the contrast!? What indeed!!"

DG: Erzebet Lefanu has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Boy And His Dragons.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Barrels.

In the depths of the mountain palace...

...A room filled to the brim with barrels. Ambrosius isn't sure what he expected. What he certainly didn't expect was Erzebet going into overdrive(not capitalized) and just...unloading on the dragon-themed fellow who clearly must be the leader of this dragon-themed cult.

Ambrosius stares.

After a moment, he decides he might as well help out and rummages through his poncho, drawing out another one of those canisters. He hurls it into the fray, where it once more begins to spout mist...before drawing his revolver from within and opening fire.

It would be advisable for the double dragon dude to duck.

DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Mist Canister toward his party's challenge, A Boy And His Dragons.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Lanval's mind is being expanded upon by knowledge. If he has a mind? Seraphim are weird. He probably doesn't have a brain. That would explain a lot about him.
        What cardio is along with the point of having a super thin carriage that doesn't go anywhere, what's actually possible to do with water with the judicious application of some other force he does not fully understand, and how mortals have a lot to say about whether they can or will enter marshes, whether they should be there, whether-- anyway he likes marshes, is where he started. Now he's certain he still likes marshes but is very confused as to the surrounding words involving marshes and going into them.
        Lanval's mind-anatomical-equivalent feels so overloaded by watching and learning about these earth-shattering truths and reveals that he plasters himself on top of a barrel while everyone else gets to work dealing with that weird dragon cultist leader. He mostly just watches with one eye slightly open. Those are dragons coming from his shoulders and back, not a Hellion. He flops off the barrel and hits the ground as one such barrel starts to catch fire. He sneaks a drink in.
        Somewhere along the way, he pulls out a white potion bottle from... somewhere, pours it into his gourd, and starts whirling that gourd by the attached rope around to send its contents spraying about everywhere.
        The water that comes from the inside of this shining white bottle matches it - it is bright, sparkly, and for some reason makes the majority of monsters decide maybe they don't wnat to hang around, so he just indiscriminately splashes it everywhere as an afterthought in case the guy calls for minions or monsters or something. As he does this, it sounds like someone is whining underneath the application of sparkly monster-repelling waters but Lanval can't quite make it out. Something like now they can't find a so-and-so-whatever? It's kind of hard to hear underneath the sound of the enthusiastic narrator among them putting bullet points on the whole encounter.

DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Holy Bottle toward his party's challenge, A Boy And His Dragons.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei says, "...What?" shortly after Erzebet unleashes her ultimate speech, though he seems just as surprised by her strange weaponry. "Um." There is a longer pause. "He has dragons. On his back and..." He closes his eyes for a moment. Could he face Ruby if he just senselessly murdered this man?! Just because he happened to be a cultist??? With dragons on his back.

"Maybe...maybe we don't have to fight." Fei says, approaching the man, extending a hand forward with his RPS Badge, showing it to him. "Let's play this game, instead and oh okay I guess we could do that."

He frowns. He has no idea why, but he has deep sympathy for this man that he can't quite explain.

Actually it's more like... He feels like he'd be an understanding individual.

When it comes to bad luck.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, A Boy And His Dragons.
=====================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult *>======================
===================<* CHALLENGE - A Boy And His Dragons *>====================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 In the depths of the Mountain Palace, you find what initially appears to be   
 a storage room, filled top to bottom with barrels. As you enter, you          
 discover you are not alone - a young black-haired man with a pair of short    
 swords belted around his waist turns to face you, at which point you notice   
 another, more salient feature of his - he has a large red dragon head         
 sprouting out of one shoulder blade, and a blue dragon head sprouting out of  
 the other.                                                                    
                                                                               
  He starts to say something, but this must /clearly/ be the leader of the      
  Dragon Cult. Time to attack.      
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Injure===========================================
================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult - Round 5 *>=================
=====================< Results - A Boy And His Dragons >======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           40 --(0)--> 40                 Pass
Mist Canister                       1   Combat  Effects: Cleanse              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       45 --(5)--> 50                 Fail
Holy Bottle                         2   Combat  Effects: Cleanse and Liability
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erzebet Lefanu                      40 --(5)--> 45                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       40 --(0)--> 40                 Pass
RPS Badge                           3   Combat  Effects: Rally                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Ambrosius                   75 --(35)--> 110               Pass
Conditions: Fright(2)|Injure(2)
Effects: Cleanse
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Ambrosius has successfully explored Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult!
=====================<* Mountain Palace - Dragon Cult *>======================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Otherworldly Find *>======================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 After the fight, the man with the dragons rather sorely and stiffly           
 introduces himself as Ashton Anchors, and apologizes for the confusion.       
 "Yeah, I don't actually know these guys," he says. "I just came here to look  
 at some barrels."                                                             
                                                                               
 ...kay.                                                                       
                                                                               
 He shuffles off in search of some healing medicine, allowing you time to      
 loot the room fully. It mostly contains foodstuffs and other comestibles...   
 but atop one of the barrels, you find a strange-looking book of some kind.    
 The cover and paper are of exceptional quality, and rather than a solid       
 binding, they appear to be held together with a coil of extremely thin,       
 spiraling wire, that pops into small holes in the paper, each made with       
 incredible, mechanical precision.                                             
                                                                               
 The book is full of complex and difficult-to-understand writing, but          
 includes diagrams of the Mountain Palace and some other ancient structure     
 you don't recognize. Written on the front in English letters are the words:   
 'Property of Ernest Raviede.'                                                 
                                                                               
 You should send in a +request about this Discovery!                           
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.

 
GUN'S SLAY...

But the swift and eager resort of the weird newspaperwoman and the extremely Ambrosius gentleman are as nothing before the faith and purity of Lanval's holy bottle and Fei's skill at reaching out to make contact.

The air hangs heavy with the scent of gunsmoke. Erzebet sort of loiters.

She may be a little guilty about the entire thing.

SOON

"I'm Ashton Anchors," says Ashton Anchors. "I don't know who these people are. I came here to look at some barrels. If you'll excuse me, I need to go get at some potion berry. I'm sure we'll meet again."

Ashton shuffles off. One of his dragon heads - the blue one - glares at Erzebet, who blows it a kiss.

SO: A room full of loot. "You could feed, like, a thousand refugees out of this place," Erzebet says after jimmying open a crate full of tinned hobsteak. "Or engage in six different acts of targeted charity! Do you think they canned this themselves?" She had opened another crate and is holding up a jar of piccalili with a label on it:

DRAGON CULT EXTRA SPICY
"With Fire Be Purged"
Contains 22 Ounces of PURE RELISH GOODNESS
ALL HAIL OUR DRACOLORDS

Erzebet opens the lid. She sniffs. "This is medium at best. Are they selling this to foreigners...?"

The Notebook falls on her head from where she'd put the crate lid that held it. "Gah!" She catches it before it hits the ground, as well as finally holstering both of her guns. "What in the world?"

She opens it. The pages seem to glow. Her eyes widen. "Ohhh-h!"

<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius, meanwhile, is not at all guilty. He simply returns his revolver to its holster and acts as if he didn't just try to shoot a man. But it works out in the end, since they're able to loot the room without any further difficulty and that 'Ashton' fellow doesn't seem to hold it against them, even though he came out of it way worse.

Ambrosius has no particular interest in the foodstuffs...but something does catch his eye. That notebook. ...Interesting.

He approaches Erzebet as she looks over the Notebook and lets her have a moment with it.

"...May I take a look?" He asks. He spotted some rather fascinating diagrams in there...

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Good news for Ashton, he won't have to deal with random encounters for a while! But if he's looking for any to randomly drop something good, well, uh, tough luck for him.
        "Mmm... guessh that wash jusht a mishundershtandin', then," he comes to that conclusion like well after everyone else does, as he doesn't bother getting up from where he lounges around. He still has no real idea what all this nonsense is/was about, but maybe that's for the best. As Erzebet goes to enjoy ill-gotten literature, Lanval /now/ bothers getting up to just peek inside one of the stacked barrels.
        Moments later, he's put himself inside of it, and the barrel rattles with the sound of sloshing something or another. The laughter is muffled. The barrel becomes noticeably lighter - and dryer - in record time. Free beer!! Free beer to wash out the strange taste of odd inspirational/confrontational speeches about marshes, stationary vehicles, and having his understanding of the elements challenged.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Why was he looking at barrels." Fei asks, but it's not really a question.

He is going to have to ... .... ... to what? Tell Ruby about this? Maybe it's best if the truth is buried. Or perhaps sent out to sea. In a barrel.

Fei does eat food from the foodstuff option list since he's hungry, pretty much. It's extra spicy so Fei has to mildly slow down to eat it.

"A notebook?" Fei asks. He doesn't move to take it from Ambrosius. "Ernest Raviede...?"

He frowns faintly. "...Is that the three eyed man, I wonder...?" Pause. "or one of the dragon cultists I guess?"

Three eyed man???

<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.

 
Erzebet hands Ambrosius the notebook. "Be my guest!" She tied a thin black silk ribbon to her wrist and looped it through part of the wire thingy.

This may not be her first rodeo.

"It's quite a question! - Is that beer over there drinking itself?"

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"He's a nice guy," Fei says. "He's had a long couple of weeks."

<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

"...I do not beliiieve...he is one of the cultists." Ambrosius states, looking toward Fei. He accepts the notebook and flips through it, studying the text within carefully. "He strikes me...as an archaeeeologist...of a sort... Certainly not...one of those...fools..."

"He appears to have an...iiinterest in this place...and one other ruin...I have not seen..." He concludes. He only spares a single glance toward Lanval when Erzebet points him out before returning his attention to the notebook. "I am cuuurious...to see what he has uncovered... This may warrant...further...iiinvestigation..."

And with that, he closes the notebook.

<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.

 
"The beer is a nice guy? I have heard of live cultures, but never THAT lively!"

Thus says Erzebet.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"I'm well traveled."

Thus spoke Zarathustra.

I mean Fei.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        AND THEN THE BEER CRAWLS OUT WITH A HORROR SCARE AAAAAAAAHHHH
        A fat arm (Lanval's) shoots up out the top of the barrel! ...And flops on the side of it. Then the barrel just falls over lazily and rolls for a short while, before spilling a small puddle of crystal-clear water with a face-down Seraph who is having himself another drunken giggle fit.

<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.

 
Erzebet "SOR 12" Lefanu watches the barrel going down the hill.

"The beer pissed," she said. "Now I've seen everything."