2018-09-22: Embers of Memory
- Log: Embers of Memory
- Cast: Layna Manydays, Sephilia Lampbright, Talise Gianfair, Seraph Lanval, Rosaline Calice
- Where: Ruins of Memory
- Date: September 22, 2018
- Summary: The Fox Company returns to the Ruins of Memory - and they go deeper.
==============================<* Ruins of Memory *>=============================== The Ruins of Memory are located in the Ranchlands, as a towering structure nestled in the foothills. The temple's outer layer has been thoroughly pilfered, with large and emptied rooms that have little but inscriptions on the walls. The Ruins allegedly date back to the Metal Demon War. The lower levels of the Ruins of Memory, however, have not been breached. There, one can find fiendish puzzles and drop traps that make this a dangerous place to explore. Nonetheless, it is said that ancient treasures and ancient history lay within. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C55flOnlXMg
DG: Rosaline Calice has left your party. DG: You are already a party leader. Pass Leader status to somebody else in your party before attempting to join another party. DG: A party led by Layna Manydays is now entering Ruins of Altered Memory. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>=========================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Speed-Running Old Content *>==================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
To reach the Ruins of Altered Memory, one must first cross through the Ruins
of Memory proper. Although many of the dangers in the Ruins of Memory are no
longer so great, and you may know of them, it still takes time to get
through them -- unless you do something to shave time off. Perhaps some pits
are leaped over; perhaps some secret doors are known. Whatever the reason,
you should hurry!
You will know when you reach the door into the depths of the Ruins. The
large, double doors are covered in Elw runes. Those runes are inert, without
any light to them. Nonetheless, when you approach, the double doors of stone
open -- revealing chambers of dark green stone, occasionally alight with the
glow of strange, spectrally lit blue torches.
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Injure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
The Ruins of Memory - it was a place some of them may have been before. It was a popular location in Western Ignas for adventurers to cut their teeth on the Digging lifestyle...but now that they had more experience under their belt, it was time to see what else the ruins had in store.
"Y'know..." Layna starts, hopping over a pit. "Can't remember whether or not I've been in here before. Funny, ain't it?"
Layna chuckles to herself as she runs and jumps through the ruins, eventually going so far as to drawing out a bottle and taking a deep swig. This bottle is soon passed around to whoever else might want it.
Lanval, of course, will be the last one to get it.
At some point the Ruins of Memory may have been a challenge to the party, but their experience guides them well. They can easily pass through the difficulties that may have plagued them before, and now it's all about how fast they can make it through, and how much energy they use on the way.
It'll also make a good warm-up for what's to come...
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia Lampbright is a famous adventurer! This should be easy for her, and indeed, she's hoppin' along at a good pace! Her journal stays out for completing notes on the place as they pass through, and she passes on the bottle--she's underage!
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise has memories of this place. Long before she met most of her companions, she, Ida, Lynnai Albrek and Lestaco Delloro delved into the Ruins of Memory and found something which...
...which led Talise to a beating, to be honest. She winces a little as she hops over a pit, a little encumbered by her heavy armour but not excessively so. "There are some interesting things down here," she says with a nod to Layna, sword in hand as she makes her way over another gap with a quick hop.
She has a little more trouble with it than most of the group because Talise is just plain big and tall, but she makes it through nevertheless. Muttering to herself, she gives a particularly long gap a sour look. "Stupid thing."
Eventually she catches up to Layna. "...We found a mural down here depicting the death of someone called Enkidu," she explains. "So we followed it up and went looking for the grave. Me, Ida and Claude, anyway."
Talise grimaces. "Turns out Enkidu was a Quarter Knight killed in the last war. Also Siegfried's boyfriend. And he was not happy that we found the tomb."
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Mmm... I know I shure haven't," Lanval's memory can be trusted, because he's never been to the Blue Star before now, as he navigates the ruins with... less leisure and familiarity as a result. There are a few more silly pratfalls and mistakes made as a result, but the water spirit can always count on a good pick me up whenever the Quartermaster's Stash comes his way.
"...Heyyy," Lanval speaks up as he lounges up against one stuck door along the way because of course he's going to, "theshe markingsh... they're kinda like the onesh back under Azado...!" He says as he runs a hand across the inert runes like they feel good to the touch. He might need to be hurried along, as sadness starts to crop up. Maybe there's a way back to Lunar from here, but... that's a world he's no longer welcome to.
That's not an easy thing to let go... but thankfully, Talise and her natural inquisitiveness to old lore helps give some subject material to distract the alcohol-addled mind with.
"Wowww... 'n he'sh shtill around...?" Should he refer to Metal Demons under the same general blanket label of 'mortals' when there's quite a few out there who are older than himself?!
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline takes a sip of that bottle, but just a sip. It's best not to drink too much on the job, she figures.
She's never been to the Ruins of Memory, it turns out. Talk of their earlier days, however, remind her of her own start as a Drifter. She was easily overwhelmed, back then, though can you blame her? Not so much, now. What a difference a year and a half makes.
"Not this way!" Rosaline announces after outrunning a few enemies she encountered randomly. Not because the monsters seemed intimidating, though: "There's nothing interesting in that direction," she explains, "the experience wouldn't have been worth it."
"Those are Elw runes," she explains to Lanval. "They've been around... just about everywhere, from the look of things." But then, Talise recounts what they found here, once upon a time. Rosaline's eyes go wide. "What? Oh, wow... I suppose that explains why he seems so angry now. He and Elmina-- Harken are the only Quarter Knights who don't seem like complete monsters."
DG: Rosaline Calice has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>=========================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Speed-Running Old Content *>==================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
To reach the Ruins of Altered Memory, one must first cross through the Ruins
of Memory proper. Although many of the dangers in the Ruins of Memory are no
longer so great, and you may know of them, it still takes time to get
through them -- unless you do something to shave time off. Perhaps some pits
are leaped over; perhaps some secret doors are known. Whatever the reason,
you should hurry!
You will know when you reach the door into the depths of the Ruins. The
large, double doors are covered in Elw runes. Those runes are inert, without
any light to them. Nonetheless, when you approach, the double doors of stone
open -- revealing chambers of dark green stone, occasionally alight with the
glow of strange, spectrally lit blue torches.
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Injure=========================================
===================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 1 *>==================== ===================< Results - Speed-Running Old Content >==================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Quartermaster's Stash 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rosaline Calice 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talise Gianfair 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sephilia Lampbright 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Layna Manydays 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Reckless(2) Effects: Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Layna Manydays 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> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna looks toward Talise as she talks about her previous experiences in the Ruins of Memory. A mural depicting Enkidu, huh?
"Aye, I imagine that was a little awkward." Layna remarks with a chuckle. "Looks like you made it out alright, at least."
She looks toward Lanval then with a nod and a chuckle.
"Aye, they're a pretty long-lived bunch. Was talkin' to one just the other day who says she was born not long after the Day o' Collapse. ...Though I guess you might not know what that is yet, huh?" Layna remarks.
The pass the time in much the same fashion - talking and chatting as they walk through the ruins. They need to double back occasionally, as sometimes Lanval lags behind out of sadness. And sometimes they make a stop so that Sephilia can sketch out something or other they encounter in the ruins.
Overall though they make good time - and thus they find themselves in front of a pair of large, double doors covered in Elw runes. These ones, however, give off no light.
"...Aye, that they are." Layna says, nodding toward Lanval and Rosaline. Layna looks through the door, studies it for a moment...and then pushes it open before confidently striding through.
The chambers beyond the door are of dark green stone, with strange, spectrally lit blue torches interspersed throughout.
What else lies beyond the door?
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>==============================================
=========================================<* CHALLENGE - Orc Hellion Spectral *>=========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
When you enter this room, the dark green walls shimmer. Phantom images of
the city of Lastonbell appear, as it looked during the invasion by Hyland.
Flames lick off roofs; crackling embers can be heard. Then, in the center of
the room, a hulking, green-skinned figure appears -- a Hellion, save made
only of solid blue light. Even the 'Malevolence' roiling off it is, in fact,
an illusion.
However, the hammer in its hands is more than capable of causing real harm.
Which you may discover, as it swings it for you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Injure============================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval is appreciative that they are willing to slow down and help him along as necessary. He is truly well out of his element, in more ways than one. He decides to stumble on forward out of sheer inquisitiveness of it all...
There is a shimmer of dark green walls, and then all of a sudden... they are in Lastonbell. Lanval looks nonplussed, at first, eyes opening up almost all the way without the shine in them as he falls to his seat. Has he been here before? (Him, no, but...)
Hyland soldiers storm the streets with strange items most unfamiliar at the time, pointing weird 'fire wands' as Rolance forces fold to the overwhelming technological advantage. Everything is on fire. Everything is covered in the purple stuff that isn't actually there - and yet...
"Ish thish... Glenwood?!" Lanval flinches and pops right back into the bottle. "Glenwood..."
A huge orcish Hellion appears. There was one that made the rounds as an emergent figure in that Lastonbell invasion. Reports of a truly frightening man of uncertain allegiance who brought down many men - civilians and soldiers alike, indiscriminately. They are made of a solid blue light - a reconstruction of some kind, rather than the real thing.
The great warhammer in its hands is a great recreation... and then it slams down onto the ground just shy of the bottle Lanval inhabits, sending it flying and bouncing precariously away. So great an illusion that the harm it can do and the recreation of the resulting physics of something heavy hitting the groudn nearby is... not making anyone's chances of getting out alive look great.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Orc Hellion Spectral.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephy embiggens Chauncey, a little tired--she definitely made a point of sketching some things she didn't really technically need to, just to give Lanval time to make it along, but the effort has left her slightly worn out already. Still, some things don't change, and Sephy's enjoyment of having Chauncey romp around an enemy that it's okay to let loose on is one of them. "Give him the chair, Chauncey!" she cries.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Folding Chair toward her party's challenge, Orc Hellion Spectral.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Metal Demons don't age the same way that humans do," Talise says with a crooked smile. "Siegfried's old. Most of the Quarter Knights are. Well. Were - Berserk's kind of... was old."
She grimaces at Layna. "Yeah. It was painful. In the Glumzambor-to-the-face kind of way."
But something else painful comes before them, now. A city Talise doesn't recognize. Banners she vaguely does, burning. "Huh... this is in Rolance," she murmurs, blinking. "How's it here? The ruins didn't do this before...."
The scene flickers around them, but as the hideous Hellion fades into existence, Talise frowns, her eyes darkening. "How can it even know what Rolance is," she asks before the glowing Hellion facsimile starts swinging that hammer. It slams through the space Talise was standing; she lunges to the side, her armour creaking a little as she comes down to a landing with a clank of heels. Whirling Rastaban in both hands, she grunts and barrels forward. Better-defended than most of her team, she faces the monster head-on.
"Bring it down!" she shouts as she swings her blade a few times, slashing across the phantom Hellion's upper body, then for its skull.
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Orc Hellion Spectral.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
"The Day of Collapse was the day Granas and Valmar had their final battle," Rosaline asides to Lanval, recalling their previous conversation. "But that wasn't all-- This was the day Filgaia was scourged by a servant of Valmar piloting a Gear known as Diabolos." And now, almost apropos of nothing, Lanval knows why the planet is so much of a... dustbowl, let's say.
Rosaline follows Lanval and the rest through the door, though the sight within stops her in her tracks.
"Oh no... Oh no!"
She quickly regains her senses, however. Her ears twitch, and she's moving again. "This is an illusion!" she explains, perhaps unnecessarily, well acquainted by now with scenes of the past being twisted by sorcery. This is all too familiar. There's even fake Malevolence. The fact that she's not feeling it was by far the biggest tipoff to what is going on here. "I've been here before, that might be what it's drawing from!"
For all intents and purposes, however, this enemy is very real. Rosaline hisses at it as it appears, extending a hand to incinerate it--
...Darn.
She reaches for a crest instead, incanting for a well-placed fire spell. And right after this? She reaches for her bottle, perhaps working at odds with herself as she makes it rain right on top of the illusory brute's head. "HYDRO STORM!"
DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Holy Water toward her party's challenge, Orc Hellion Spectral.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna steps through the door into what appears to be a recreation of a town. She raises an eyebrow, then glances toward Lanval with a nod.
"...Aye, this looks like Lastonbell. But a lil' more...'on fire' than I remember it. This musta been during the invasion." Layna comments, looking around curiously. She hadn't been here while this was all going down...it was a lot worse than she thought. It seems like Rosaline was, though
Of course, the ruin doesn't let them enjoy it - for certain definitions of the word enjoy. An illusory Hellion soon appears...but its weapon is all too real.
Layna curses as it lashes out, nearly catching her.
"Go back to the past you belong in!" Layna hisses back, rushing in to give it a fist to the face.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Orc Hellion Spectral.
=============================================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>==============================================
=========================================<* CHALLENGE - Orc Hellion Spectral *>=========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
When you enter this room, the dark green walls shimmer. Phantom images of
the city of Lastonbell appear, as it looked during the invasion by Hyland.
Flames lick off roofs; crackling embers can be heard. Then, in the center of
the room, a hulking, green-skinned figure appears -- a Hellion, save made
only of solid blue light. Even the 'Malevolence' roiling off it is, in fact,
an illusion.
However, the hammer in its hands is more than capable of causing real harm.
Which you may discover, as it swings it for you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Injure============================================
========================================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 2 *>========================================= ===========================================< Results - Orc Hellion Spectral >=========================================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 0 --(10)--> 10 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 10 --(15)--> 25 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rosaline Calice 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Holy Water 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talise Gianfair 0 --(10)--> 10 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sephilia Lampbright 10 --(10)--> 20 Pass Folding Chair 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Layna Manydays 20 --(10)--> 30 Fail Conditions: Injure(2)|Reckless(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Layna Manydays 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> Seraph Lanval has posed.
It's not an illusion to Lanval, who contends with a mix of emotions. He's always treated Glenwood as being this very scary place - he might not have been here during the invasion, but he surely must have heard enough to piece together a reasonably scary facsimile of what's going on. It could well be that Rosaline's own familiarity has helped give it the texture to be 'legitimate,' as it were.
Lanval continues to cower uselessly while the ogre seems to feed off of the collective anxieties and/or discomforts of those who can colorfully perceive or even recall the environs, and it emboldens the illusory ogre to impressive feats. Talise and Chauncey seem to largely fight them to a dead standstill, a three-way deadlock between hammer, chair, and Rastaban. Layna gives it a solid smack in the face, and it just doesn't flinch. There is a rain of cleansing holy water that courses through the simulated fiery landscape that should put it all out...
Something of a jolt runs through them. This didn't happen this way, none of this makes sense - the room appears to short out in a way that should signify a victory, leaving them within the dark green chamber by themselves, but there's that lingering unease and disorientation that strikes about as hard as any direct blow that thing could've inflicted.
Lanval is silent.
DG: Rosaline Calice has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>==========================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Ring the Bells *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
When you enter the next room, you discover a cavernous hallway, with a
stairwell leading down to a door at the center of it. The door at the end of
the stairwell is locked.
Over the hallway is a massive set of wind chimes, writ large and far bigger
than any one person. Some large wooden mallets offer one, but not the only,
way to play the chimes. This is when a song from someone's childhood is
remembered unbidden. If the song is played upon the chimes, the doors will
open -- and a soft, refreshing light washes over all.
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
The shock is disorienting. Rosaline loses her footing and takes a moment to regain it as the illusion dissipates. "Well... That's unpleasant," she decides.
Restless, she proceeds ahead, readying her ARMs just in case they get jumped by a phantom K.K. or Alhazred. But the hallways they cross is deserted, save for the gigantic set of wind chimes hanging above them. Rosaline hums, taking note of their presence before dashing down the stairs to confirm that-- Yep, the door is locked.
She returns, shaking her head for the others' benefit. "I'm not very musically-minded, but it seems we need to play a song. And if this place is drawing from our memories..." She looks around. "I have a suggestion to make."
She clears her throat, looking a little bashful, but goes ahead with her 'suggestion'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYIDqzTt0w4
"Nascer do sol, palavras, milagre," she sings, in a lost tongue*, its precise meaning lost to the horrors of time and the conspiracies of jealous elites. Her voice is soft, the notes not all landing quite well-- She's not a trained Songstress like Elena --but it's an hymn she knows well. The first she ever knew, having heard it enough, and at a young enough age to never need to be 'taught' it.
And after a few verses, she stops. "That must be enough... Let's give it a try." As she speaks, she draws her shotgun, possibly ruining the mood entirely.
* it's just portuguese, guys
DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Mother's Mercy - Demolition Rounds toward her party's challenge, Ring the Bells.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
The last thing Talise needs in her life is a phantom K.K. One of those is more than nuisance enough. A phantom Ghaleon would be worse.
Sword in hand, she pushes onward, and there before them, the chimes wait. The tall swordswoman's mouth opens a little as she stares upon at them, realizing exactly what they are. A gigantic instrument, just waiting for them to play.
Play a song she's sure she knows. It dances through her mind, more vividly than it truly has a right to - for she's never heard it before in her life. Stepping forward, she rests a single hand on Rosaline's shoulder.
When the Beastwoman begins to sing, Talise picks up the hammers and plays along. While Rosaline is not a musician by nature, Talise is. She plays the hammers over the chime with surprising grace and ease, not so much hitting them as coaxing them with small taps of the hammer. She closes her eyes and lets the rise and fall of Rosaline's voice, and the shimmer of music in her memory, be her guide.
She somehow even manages to recreate those harpstrum notes. It involves a little sweep of the hammer over the chimes. The taps seem far too tiny to do anything to chimes so massive.
Until one looks at Talise's gloves. They're her ogre power gauntlets, and they're active.
DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Ogre Power Gauntlets toward her party's challenge, Ring the Bells.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna frowns. She can't help but feel a little...uneasy about all of this. She shakes her head to try to clear the feeling as they proceed into the next room - a massive hallway with a stairwell leading down to a locked door.
Over the hallway is a massive set of windchimes. Layna frowns and folds her arms in front of her, thinking it over. Rosaline, however, has an idea. Layna looks to her with a raised eyebrow...and then nods.
"Aye, lass. I'll follow your lead." She says. The suggestion, as it happens, is song. Layna begins to recite an incantation(quietly, so as not to go over Rosaline's voice), stirring up the winds to play around the wind chimes. She's not a natural musician, herself(well, she could sing a mean chanty, but that's...pretty much the opposite of what's going on here), but she can help by making things a little easier.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ring the Bells.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval lingers where he does for a while, as though the whole experience were a little too real for something he did not personally experience. He catches up with the others in time after reflecting upon all sorts of sad things that are a little sadder when you are a centuries-old entity confronted with an abrupt change... and little recourse for what is left behind.
He just shows up sitting down underneath the giant wind chimes, contemplatively already having himself a bit of a bubble-smoke as evidenced by there already being bubbles flitting in the air. Not long ago, he would've been hesitant to let them play music - but he remembers how Talise's sincerity in her singing voice won him over that he'd let her sing before that door. Drinking was okay as long as he was there for it. Now, far away from Her world...
Lanval starts to hum along with Rosaline's song. He's only heard this song in her company, right now, though he may have conceivably heard muffled verses around towns here and there. He hums along like he were initimately familiar with it, which he should not because his very existence is a contradiction of the teachings of Granas.
He has a placid little smile on his face. He doesn't question why he knows this song, just that it sounds really nice... and that he's not helping lift up anything heavy because of course not, but at least his humming might help keep the tune.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Ring the Bells.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia has a big ol' Chauncey! he can help play the song! And he does, with Sephy dancing along to the stately rhythm!
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ring the Bells.
=========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>==========================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Ring the Bells *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
When you enter the next room, you discover a cavernous hallway, with a
stairwell leading down to a door at the center of it. The door at the end of
the stairwell is locked.
Over the hallway is a massive set of wind chimes, writ large and far bigger
than any one person. Some large wooden mallets offer one, but not the only,
way to play the chimes. This is when a song from someone's childhood is
remembered unbidden. If the song is played upon the chimes, the doors will
open -- and a soft, refreshing light washes over all.
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
====================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 3 *>===================== ==========================< Results - Ring the Bells >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Layna Manydays 10 --(0)--> 10 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 25 --(0)--> 25 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 15 --(0)--> 15 Pass Mother's Mercy - Demolition Rounds 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talise Gianfair 10 --(0)--> 10 Pass Ogre Power Gauntlets 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sephilia Lampbright 20 --(0)--> 20 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Layna Manydays 30 --(20)--> 50 Pass Conditions: Save Point(1) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Layna Manydays 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.
Between Talise's hammering (and unlikely harp-strumming), Layna's wind magic, Chauncey's chair-wielding and Lanval's backup humming, the group had the song down on its first try.
"Praise be," Rosaline says, wiping a tear from her eye and putting Mother's Mercy away as the door opens. It seems she won't need to ruin the whole performance with a dissonant BLAM, after all.
As further reward, a healing light shines from the chimes. An echo of Granas' power, perhaps? "So not everything here is harmful to us," Rosaline concludes, looking back at the chimes as they proceed. That knowledge is reassuring.
DG: Talise Gianfair has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>=========================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - The Forest of Pillars *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- The next room that you enter is cavernous, but it is not empty. Pillars of a variety of heights, none quite touching the ceiling, fill the room. In many cases, they are too close together to squeeze through. However, clearing a path does not /just/ require brute force. Instead, you need to carefully carve a path through... lest you be caught in the midst of collapsing dominoes. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Stupify, Injure====================================
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
With a smile, Talise gives Rosaline's shoulder a gentle pat - without her power gauntlets, thankfully.
On they move. "It's different from when I was here before. It seems to be more about... actual memories, and not just obstacles we have to jump over or push around," she observes. "This must just be a deeper part - maybe even the real part, if 'real part' really means much of anything...."
Then they're past the arched exit of a corridor - and the room within seems to have no visible ceiling. But it is full of something.
Pillars. Pillars which have visible tops. They don't touch the ceiling. With a little hiss of breath, Talise holds an arm out. "Don't just rush in," she urges, voice quieting. "If we start shoving these, they'll fall into one another. We're gonna have to be careful to move them without toppling other pillars... or get through without moving them if we can."
With her armour on, Talise's ability to squeeze is limited. She does lower her arm and begin to move forward, finding spaces between some of the pillars to worm herself through - but soon enough they're into a thick cluster of them.
"If this starts to fall, try to catch it," she suggests as she begins to gingerly coax a pillar with little taps of her gauntlets, careful to keep it from wobbling.
DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Ogre Power Gauntlets toward her party's challenge, The Forest of Pillars.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephy nods to Talise, embiggening Chauncey. "We gotcher back, Talise!" she exclaims.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Forest of Pillars.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval is content with the song's completion and Rosaline's maintained faith. It does seem like a lot of faith just frays apart at the edges more often than not. It's good that their... their? He scratches at his beard. Oh, now he notices he shouldn't have known that song!! ...Oh well, no harm done. (And then he misses the implication of having false memories imprinted, but, one step at a time for someone like him...)
They happen upon the next chamber, and Lanval sizes up the pillars as he has himself a sip from his gourd. "Heeeey, Talishe... I can shlip through jusssht fine." He can! It's true. His manifestation is absurdly flexible, his physique aside. Much like water, he can fit through just about anywhere water can pass.
"Shoooo, how 'bout I jusht shlip on ahead 'n let ya know which way ta go... ha ha ha!" Lanval sure seems confident in this plan! Indeed, his near-uselessness at moving huge, heavy objects might actually be a boon in letting him scout ahead, assuming there's no errant cracks in the floor to catch him, or if these pillars are already so precariously imbalanced that the slightest shove could cause problems.
Or that maybe there isn't much of a point in 'going ahead' because of an otherwise obvious route, but, one thing at a time, as Lanval starts to just squeeze himself through.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Forest of Pillars.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna offers Rosaline a smile, then gets to moving. She glances toward Talise, nodding along as she speaks.
"Aye, I get what you mean. Like maybe the other ruin was built over this one, or somethin'." Layna considers. That happened from time to time, at least from her knowledge. When they finally find another room, though, it seems to be completely blocked off by pillars. Layna raises an eyebrow. Talise says they'll have to move them without toppling any of them...which poses a slight bit of a difficulty for her.
Even so she draws out her drill from her coat, affixing it to her arm over one of her bracers.
"Just let me know if there's somethin' we need to smash, aye?" Layna says, keeping an eye out.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Arm-Mounted Drill toward her party's challenge, The Forest of Pillars.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline takes in the pillars ahead, and their peculiar arrangement.
"I think I could probably squeeze between some of these," she assesses. Cats, as they say, are basically liquid dogs. "But for the rest of you... Hm."
She has an idea, making her way through a gap certainly too narrow for most of the group to go through, let alone Talise. Once again, her shotgun is drawn, and she makes sure to load the demolition rounds this time. "This will let me destroy some of the pillars that are ahead, and if we coordinate, we can--"
Her proud explanation is interrupted as her eyes land on Lanval squeezing himself right through. Oh, right, literal water spirit. Her tail sways nervously. "W-Well! If one of them starts to fall, I'm confident I can blast it apart!"
DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Mother's Mercy - Demolition Rounds toward her party's challenge, The Forest of Pillars.
==========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>=========================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - The Forest of Pillars *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- The next room that you enter is cavernous, but it is not empty. Pillars of a variety of heights, none quite touching the ceiling, fill the room. In many cases, they are too close together to squeeze through. However, clearing a path does not /just/ require brute force. Instead, you need to carefully carve a path through... lest you be caught in the midst of collapsing dominoes. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Stupify, Injure====================================
=====================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 4 *>====================== =======================< Results - The Forest of Pillars >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Layna Manydays 10 --(0)--> 10 Pass Arm-Mounted Drill 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 25 --(0)--> 25 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 15 --(0)--> 15 Pass Mother's Mercy - Demolition Rounds 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talise Gianfair 10 --(0)--> 10 Pass Ogre Power Gauntlets 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sephilia Lampbright 20 --(0)--> 20 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Layna Manydays 50 --(20)--> 70 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Slow(2)|Stupify(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Layna Manydays 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.
"Sometimes I forget that you have magic ghost powers," Talise grouses as Lanval just Seraph-spoops his way through the maze without a problem.
Fortunately, Lanval turns out to be far more helpful than he usually is - he manages to glide through and redirect the group's efforts towards a less dense part of the pillar nest. A thick one sitting in the way is disposed of by Layna's drill, while Chauncey and Talise work to move a couple more to one side, Chauncey pushing, Talise guarding against topples. Ahead looms a cluster of pillars.
Or loomed. Rosaline pulls out her gun and annihilates them all. Chunks of marble scatter across the floor. "Damn, Ros'," Talise exclaims with a blink, then she grins, her eyes bright. "That was a pretty great bang, I can't even lie."
With the remnants of those pillars still smoking, the group proceeds on through with no further trouble.
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>==============================================
=========================================<* CHALLENGE - Repeating Entrances *>==========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The moment that you enter this room, you forget that you have ever met your
companions. To the best of your knowledge, you have entered this room to
suddenly find yourself in a room with three lit torches and a locked door
across the way. One of you may have the key -- or perhaps noticed a clue to
unlock the door. However, how will you work with people you do not know to
escape the room?
This effect is dispelled when the next card is drawn.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Tire=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
The raw destruction of the pillars leaves a reverberating feeling to some sensation unfamiliar to the lot of them, as their base adventurer instincts guides them downwards through the gap made by Mother's Mercy. They seem to lose sight of one another through the pillars that are still intact, by some trick of the light. As they all filter through into the next room...
...
Well, that was a close one with that great explosion from moments before, but you made it. You've taken a big risk coming here, but up ahead is an intact locked door of ornate make with shining Elw runes. There's something ahead, you know it. You'll be the first adventurer in modern history to make this discovery! If only your friends were here to witness it... you'll have a tale to tell the lot of them once you get back out! Rounds will be on you, for what must be inside this deep in the Ruins of Memory must be worth a fortune! Something better than the seedy Metal Demon fiction!
Now, how does one get that door open, anyway? There's the three torches aligned in some odd way... and there's also a fat, drunken-looking oaf in aquamarine clothes with a pair of novelty glasses with swirly beer bottle lens lounging up against said door as he runs a fat hand up and down it like he covets the markings themselves. He smells like booze, he looks kind of drenched, his silvery beard is weird and it ends in tangled-up aquamarine tips, and also now he's getting up and stumbling your way like you might not even be there.
Command?
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Amber Tinted Glasses toward his party's challenge, Repeating Entrances.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Honestly, something about this place makes me wonder," Talise muses as she moves into the next room. Stepping forward to try the door, she grimaces as she tests it. "Locked," she mutters.
Then she turns to look at the rest of the group. She tilts her head to one side.
"Oh hey, cool fox doll," she says with a big, toothy grin for Sephilia.
Then she holds a hand out and proceeds around the room to offer up handshakes. "Sorry if I didn't see you all come in! I'm Tal. Listen, I think we're all here in the same place, right? So maybe if we put our heads together, we ought to be able to figure out a way through that door."
Lanval gets a look from her, though. Talise reaches out and gives him a pat on the shoulder. "Hang in there, bud."
Her first impulse is to fish into her cape and come out with a box of cookies. She hands a couple towards Lanval with a warm smile. "You look like you could use something to munch on," she suggests before going on towards the door and hoping to Althena that the cookies will keep him distracted long enough for the rest of them to figure this out. "Okay. First off: Anyone have a key on them? Second off: We ought to check the torches. And if that doesn't work, I can always kick it down."
Despite all she's gone through in the past year and a half, one thing remains true about Talise: She's friendly.
DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Chocolate Biscuits toward her party's challenge, Repeating Entrances.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
A small girl seems to have wandered into the dungeon. She hugs a plush fox tightly to her chest as she sees the others, and despite Talise's friendly greeting, she seems to shrink back a little bit from the assembled strangers.
"Um! I'm...I'm Sephilia Lampbright! I'm a famous explorer! Well...I want to be. My Dad is! Oh, and this is Lord Chauncey of Foxington! He's my bodyguard! Um...maybe the torches are a clue, or need to be lit in a certain combination, or...if none of us has a key, I mean. Do...does anyone have a key? I have one of my Dad's journals that shows all the ways that a three-torch configuration lock can be set up, and..." She shows off her Dad's journal, pulling it out of an overflowing satchel.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Dad's Journal toward her party's challenge, Repeating Entrances.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline, as far as she can recall, is here on a job for the Church to retrieve a dangerous ARM before irresponsible Drifters get their hands on it. She has made it thanks to the power of Mother's Mercy, but the challenges ahead are bound to only get harder... Can she really make it??
Ah! But there are people, she realizes. People who look like... irresponsible... Drifters. Oh.
"Um."
This is how she introduces herself. Talise offers a handshake, which Rosaline answers, though not without blushing. Social interaction.
It's.
The worst!!!
"Let me check..." Rosaline says, going through her bag for a key. Instead, she finds a strange ornate ring with a bell attached? She rings it, absently.
BGM THAT NO ONE HERE HAS EVER HEARD BEFORE, OBVIOUSLY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC59hR6rICM
A Katz squeezes in from the pillars behind Rosaline. No one has met them before, of course, as opposed to have only met them a few weeks ago. They look around, uninterested in the people and proceedings, instead finding something on the ground. Is it A KEY, perhaps? But it may just be a goldfish cracker, because the camera angle isn't cooperating right now.
"Um... Hello?" Rosaline asks. The Katz looks up.
"Oh! Purrdon me. Why, why, you're rather tall for a Katz, aren't you?"
"A... Katz?" Rosaline squinted. Was this a joke?
"Ah, nyaver mind, you're just a beastwoman in a purrple costume-- Oh, hello there!" The Katz turns around to see Lanval and raises a Key Item-holding paw. "It's not every day you see a Seraph on Filganya!"
Rosaline continues to search through her bag, content to avoid talking to anyone and let this strange creature she summoned(?) talk to people in her stead.
DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Katz Kall toward her party's challenge, Repeating Entrances.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna gets separated from the others at some point as they pass through the pillars.
She exits the forest of stone to find herself in a room with three torches, a locked door, and several strangers. Layna eyes the others carefully. She hadn't seen any of their like before. Two beastwomen, a child, and a washed-up old man? What exactly did she walk into the middle of?
Layna massages the back of her neck. Her crew would probably laugh if she told them about this, but right now, the only thing left to do was make her way through.
"I tend to favor option three m'self, lass." Layna says, approaching Talise and the others. "You look like ya've got some muscle on you. C'mon, help me out with this."
Without even waiting for an answer, Layna walks up to the door, and...well, tries to kick it down.
She was clearly speaking literally when she said she preferred option three.
She doesn't really pay the others too much mind - they'll either follow her lead or find their own way through.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Repeating Entrances. DG: You've already acted for this round. Please wait for the round GM to push +act/complete.
=============================================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>==============================================
=========================================<* CHALLENGE - Repeating Entrances *>==========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The moment that you enter this room, you forget that you have ever met your
companions. To the best of your knowledge, you have entered this room to
suddenly find yourself in a room with three lit torches and a locked door
across the way. One of you may have the key -- or perhaps noticed a clue to
unlock the door. However, how will you work with people you do not know to
escape the room?
This effect is dispelled when the next card is drawn.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Tire=============================================
========================================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 5 *>========================================= ===========================================< Results - Repeating Entrances >============================================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 10 --(5)--> 15 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 25 --(0)--> 25 Pass Amber Tinted Glasses 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rosaline Calice 15 --(0)--> 15 Pass Katz Kall 2 Wits Effects: Fanfare and Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talise Gianfair 10 --(5)--> 15 Fail Chocolate Biscuits 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sephilia Lampbright 20 --(0)--> 20 Pass Dad's Journal 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Layna Manydays 70 --(20)--> 90 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Slow(1)|Stupify(1)|Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Layna Manydays 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> Seraph Lanval has posed.
The bearded weirdo seems taken aback, even startled, as he is talked to and even patted on the shoulder. Why? Can't he see them? Is he blind? Maybe that's why he has the dumb glasses on.
"Huuuuuuh? Oh! Uhh... ha ha ha! Helloooo," he falls to his seat, even in taking Talise's friendly handshake. He accepts the snacks. "Aww... thanksh...!" Talise's ploy works, in ensuring he doesn't get in their way as they work at the door. When the Katz arrives and points out how weird it is for a Seraph to be here, his mouth is too full of cookie to protest about how weird it is for a Katz to even be here.
However they all arrived here, their talents pool together naturally. The pirate captain finds the door is too sturdy to be kicked down, so that saves everyone some effort there. The young girl with the stuffed fox companion puts forth some very interesting theories about how this room is set up, allowing the strong half-Beastwoman some good leads on what torches to play with (while the Katz keeps flashing that key item).
The drunk guy babbles about something or another as he chats up weird and esoteric subjects with the Katz after the fact while he seems to be reaching out towards Layna, for some reason (HE'S GOT HIS EYES ON THE BOOZE, OH NO) and eventually the ruckus is as such that the Etone will notice her Katz kompanion's got the cey. Er. The key - so the torches weren't really key to anything at all, whoops.
There is an eye-catching, memorable sequence of Elw runes flashing and going dormant before the door opens with a significantly more humble groan of aged, grinding stone which compels them by instinct to venture further in as unlikely allies by fate.
...Actually, more likely allies than one might think, but shh...
DG: Layna Manydays has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>=========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Alone in the Dark *>======================
|Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 4 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Your trek through the emerald halls of the Ruins of Altered Memory ends in a
spiral staircase. It leads down into an oxagonal chamber, cut of the same
emerald stone as the rest of the room. A hallway leads beyond -- into a
honeycomb of treasure rooms, nooks, and hiding holes. Those are visible
through a shimmering portal, where a blue energy field has risen and blocks
your way forward.
When you step into the room, however, darkness pervades your senses. You are
driven to your knees, as your memories are pulled forth -- and you are
overwhelmed by them. The torches all go out, and darkness overtakes the
room.
You are trapped within a memory. It may be pleasant or unpleasant. However
-- until you succeed this Challenge or are helped in the next -- you are not
aware of reality. It is STRONGLY suggested you OOCly do your +acts and then
draw the next card immediately. It may affect what happens.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Injure==========================================
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Alone in the Dark. DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Katz Kall toward her party's challenge, Alone in the Dark. DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Amber Tinted Glasses toward his party's challenge, Alone in the Dark. DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Dad's Journal toward her party's challenge, Alone in the Dark. DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Chocolate Biscuits toward her party's challenge, Alone in the Dark.
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>=========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Alone in the Dark *>======================
|Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 4 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Your trek through the emerald halls of the Ruins of Altered Memory ends in a
spiral staircase. It leads down into an oxagonal chamber, cut of the same
emerald stone as the rest of the room. A hallway leads beyond -- into a
honeycomb of treasure rooms, nooks, and hiding holes. Those are visible
through a shimmering portal, where a blue energy field has risen and blocks
your way forward.
When you step into the room, however, darkness pervades your senses. You are
driven to your knees, as your memories are pulled forth -- and you are
overwhelmed by them. The torches all go out, and darkness overtakes the
room.
You are trapped within a memory. It may be pleasant or unpleasant. However
-- until you succeed this Challenge or are helped in the next -- you are not
aware of reality. It is STRONGLY suggested you OOCly do your +acts and then
draw the next card immediately. It may affect what happens.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Injure==========================================
===================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 6 *>==================== =======================< Results - Alone in the Dark >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 25 --(20)--> 45 Fail Amber Tinted Glasses 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rosaline Calice 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Katz Kall 2 Wits Effects: Fanfare and Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talise Gianfair 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Chocolate Biscuits 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sephilia Lampbright 20 --(15)--> 35 Pass Dad's Journal 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Layna Manydays 90 --(0)--> 90 Fail Conditions: Injure(2)|Stupify(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Layna Manydays has failed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Layna Manydays has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>========================= ===============<* CHALLENGE - With Some Help from My Friends *>=============== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Finally, at least one of you emerges from the illusory prison of memory. With that, you can enter the other's memory -- and help draw them out of it. You can choose who helps who, based both on successes and desires. The degree to which memories might be seen by others is left to player discretion. =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Together, the unlikely(?) companions find a way throug. Beyond the doorway is a spiral staircase, leading them downward into an oxagonal chamber. Beyond this chamber is a series of various interesting locations, all locked behind a field of blue energy...
But none of them see that just yet.
For the moment they step foot into the oxagonal room, things change.
They find themselves somewhere and somewhen familiar...though for some of them, this may perhaps bring them no comfort.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephy is sniffling. It's dark and scary and lonely, her first time exploring a dungeon without her Dad along. Even though it's one that her Dad says is completely safe for her. She holds onto Chauncey tight and heads down the seemingly endless twisting passageways. She pulls out a journal and starts to draw a map, like her Dad taught her--and then she blinks. This isn't *her* journal, it's her Dad's journal, and she didn't get that until she met Amelia Rose on Filgaia--Filgaia! Her friends!
Sephy opens her eyes, looking around for her friends. "Everyone else must be...sort of stuck in memories too...let's start waking them up, Chauncey..."
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Dad's Journal toward her party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise takes a step into the next room.
And her foot comes down on a creaking wooden pier.
/The girl standing on the dock is no more than ten years old, but tall for her age. She wears her chestnut brown hair down to her shoulders, beneath a green bandanna. She has a little knife belted to her hip. For a girl of ten, she's ready for adventurer.
If not for the tears that stand at the corners of her eyes as she looks up with her hands clutched tightly. Her mouth hangs open a little.
"But... but why can't I come?"
"Because it's going to be much too dangerous." Smiling roughly, the tall woman - at least six foor six or seven, with rough, leonine features and ears like a cat's that knife through her big, wild sandy hair - brings her hand down to tousle the girl's hair gently. "Don't worry about it, sweetie. Uncle Piet will keep an eye on you for a couple of weeks and then we'll be back together again. And we'll probably have something really incredible to show you."
From the end of the dock, a smaller, weaselly-looking man waves towards the pair. "We're ready to roll," he shouts towards the tall woman. "Tal, don't worry about us! We're with Goldhand and Vasey, we'll be fine."
"You hear? Captain Goldhand won't let anything happen to us." The big woman pats the child on the head, then steps forward and pulls her into a rough hug.
Mollified, the child hugs the woman tight about the midsection. "Good luck, Mom," she manages, tears still standing in her eyes.
With one of those infectious grins of hers, the tall woman steps back, then on down the pier. She and the man stroll up the ramp and aboard the ship sitting at the end of it. It's unlike the Ruby Empress, in some ways - the Lunabelle is less belle than her name implies, a long, lean, hungry-looking ship with a darkly-stained hull and simple white sails, looking every bit the shark of the seas she is.
From the stern of the ship, the tall woman and the weaselly man wave. The child waves back as the Lunabelle pulls out from the pier. Drawn by a push of oars and a breath of wind, she sails towards the horizon.
The child waves. The Lunabelle vanishes towards the horizon.
The child waves. The Lunabelle vanishes towards the horizon.
The child waves. The Lunabelle vanishes towards the horizon.
The child waves. The Lunabelle vanishes towards the horizon.
The child waves. The Lunabelle vanishes towards the horizon.
The child waves. The Lunabelle vanishes towards the horizon.
The child waves. The Lunabelle vanishes towards the horizon.
The child waves. The Lunabelle vanishes towards the horizon.
The child waves. The Lunabelle vanishes towards the horizon./
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
That weird drunken bum just follows along like he's got nothing better to do. He accidentally stumbles into the doorframe and shatters one of the beer lenses, but he doesn't seem too bothered by this as he rolls down the stairs and ends seated upright--
/--before gathered people in mourning.
Funeral processions are underway. The deceased had the Goddess-given fortune of looking far younger than their actual years, but it is the actual years that ultimately count. They closed their eyes for the final time not long ago... nothing was wrong then. They weren't sickly, but he didn't quite heed the advice of his kind with the care he might have appreciated having when they found one another. Now, in the present...
Himself, a lithe young man with silver hair and aquamarine clothing of ornate detail - sans shoes, for some reason - sits among others dressed in sanctified cloth as they see to the last rites of an elderly woman who has now left the world given to them all by the Goddess. He took it for granted that she'd awaken the next day for another round of prayer and offerings. The two had so much to talk about - she was the only one that could.
They believed in him, but could not see him, or hear him. It was only her that could - a gift he was told was so very rare. She was gone. She wasn't the first death he ever witnessed, but this was a loss that was.
They carry her away to where her body will rest. He follows.
He runs ahead of the pallbearers, as if wishing to stand in their way. As if wanting to be acknowledged. It is as though he isn't actually there, though they say his name. He calls hers, and she responds with the expected but unwanted silence.
A few other Seraphim stand witness to the scene, but say nothing - whether unable to process what this one feels, or have the tact not to pull him from his sadness as though this is an important experience he must go through.
A pang of loneliness, weighted further by an abrupt introduction to the consequences of time's passing, follows the Water Seraph in mourning as he follows across the fields of the reclaimed wetlands. He is all alone, now, with no mortals among them to keep him company for the duty he sought so fervently to fulfill.
All alone, with no one else.../
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline steps forward, but skids and loses her footing as her bare foot meets hot sand.
/An Etone lies in the desert sand, shot full of holes and already dead. The roguish Brother Gevurah is no more.
A simple small-town nun, having been protected from the ARMs-fire by her now dead horse, is now kneeling by the man, whose still-alive black horse (Rosaline never caught its name) looks on. Her healing spells find no purchase. He is dead, and there is nothing she can do about it. Her hands trembling, she reaches for a book he dropped as he fell-- a bloodied version of the Book of Granas edited specifically for teens.
But more gunshots ring out. She drops the book to see the bandits are still coming. Her hands are bloody, her vision swimming, the wounds of the Hope Springs fire still fresh--
and something
snaps
"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
She grabs the Brother's weapons, Esdras and Judith, and charges right towards the bandits, blinded by rage. Her shriek actually give them pause, and by the time they fire again, she has already closed the gap. She empties a clip into one, tears her glove off to rip into another with her claws, gets kicked into the sand for her trouble, gets back up again--
Kobayashi peers out from behind Brother Gevurah's nameless horse (the Horse With No Name, if you will). Well. This isn't whimsical at ALL.
"Sister Rosanyan?" they call out. "Sister Rosanyan! I'm not supposed to be here at all. This contimewity is all wrong! You're being toyed with!"
Rosaline isn't listening. She empties a clip into bandit, tears into another with her claws, gets kicked into the sand for her trouble, gets back up again. She empties a clip into bandit, tears into another with her claws, gets kicked into the sand for her trouble, gets back up again.
The bandits seem to be endless, running in from God knows where. Luckily, Rosaline also seems to have endless ammo, and a lifetime of frustrations to unload on those poor outlaws./
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
For Layna, the stony emerald walls gradually shift to ruby wood, and the musty ruin scent gives way to the salty scent of the sea. She remembers that scent well - it's harbor in Glenwood, on the Hyland side. This wasn't long after Layna had assumed control of the Ruby Empress. They had left to where the influence of Althena's Guard was not as strong, so they could recover and reconvene while they planned their next course of action.
On that particular day, they had acquired a stowaway, so she went down to check out the room they had been locked in.
Leaning against the wall was Victoria, who had wedged her spear into it such that the door wouldn't be able to open until it was removed.
"Watch yourself, Captain. That one's got a face like stone - and hits like one, too. Nearly took Victor's head off." She warned, jabbing a thumb back toward the door. Layna laughed.
"Alright, lemme through. I'm gonna have a chat with 'em." She said. With a nod Victoria removed the spear and Layna strode on through. She grabbed a chair, spun it around and sat, folding her arms on the back of it and staring into the eyes of the stern-faced woman before her.
She'd clearly seen better days - she was wearing a dented and scuffed partial set of armor bearing the mark of Hyland. Several pieces were missing, as if she had put them on in a hurry by herself and took only what was necessary - and had subsequently gotten into a fight with it on.
'Dented and scuffed' was a good descriptor of her, too. Layna knew for a fact that her crew wasn't responsible for this - it wasn't their style.
"So. Stowing away, aye? You've got guts, lass - stowin' away on a pirate ship. So, what's your story? You kill someone?" Layna asks. The stern-faced woman watches her wordlessly. There was nothing separating them - if she wanted, the other woman could lunge for the door right away.
But Layna had a way of keeping people where she wanted them. Unfortunately, despite this, the woman seemed no less about to talk.
Layna unfolded her arms and shrugged.
"Silent treatment, aye? That's no good. I'm gonna have to throw you out if I can't trust ya, lass. And I've got a feeling you don't want that." Layna says. The stern-faced woman's usually-unreadable expression lowers into a slight frown.
"...I noticed some...inaccuracies...in my lord's books. Missing funds, missing supplies." She began cautiously. "...I alerted someone I thought I could trust. And they alerted my lord. So I ran."
Layna shakes her head.
"Not fast enough, looks like. But you made it here, at least. Lemme guess - tryin' to get outta Glenwood as quickly as you can, aye? Thought you'd hide on a ship goin' to Meribus? And what'll you do after that?" Layna asks.
There is some hesitation - hesitation that is the only answer Layna needs. She grins.
"Well, whatever. That's your business, not mine, aye? But if you're gonna be on this ship, you're gonna have to pull your weight. What's your name, lass?" Layna asks. There is some hesitation...and then the answer comes.
"...Dahlia."
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends. DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends. DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Katz Kall toward her party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends. DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Chocolate Biscuits toward her party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends.
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>========================= ===============<* CHALLENGE - With Some Help from My Friends *>=============== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Finally, at least one of you emerges from the illusory prison of memory. With that, you can enter the other's memory -- and help draw them out of it. You can choose who helps who, based both on successes and desires. The degree to which memories might be seen by others is left to player discretion. =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
===================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 7 *>==================== =================< Results - With Some Help from My Friends >================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 35 --(0)--> 35 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 45 --(0)--> 45 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rosaline Calice 35 --(0)--> 35 Pass Katz Kall 2 Wits Effects: Fanfare and Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talise Gianfair 35 --(0)--> 35 Pass Chocolate Biscuits 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sephilia Lampbright 35 --(0)--> 35 Pass Dad's Journal 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Layna Manydays 90 --(30)--> 120 Pass Conditions: Save Point(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Layna Manydays has successfully explored Ruins of Altered Memory!
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>========================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - Ever-Burning Torch *>===================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The honeycombed treasure rooms cannot all be explored in one trip. Many are empty; others contain only a few scraps and gems. Within one of the treasure rooms, you find a torch -- and this one isn't in a sconce or brazier, but rather embedded on a pedestal. Should you pick it up, you find that its ethereal blue flame continues to burn. The fire can be smothered with a cloth next to it; in turn, though, it lights up again the moment you pull the cloth away. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
To those not poking around in the heads of Fox Company, they appear to be standing where they entered, empty-eyed and unmoving as their minds are elsewhere. The pull of the Ruins of Memory is strong - too strong, for most.
In the end, however, Sephilia's innocent memory allows her to pull through. Memories of her father, Filgaia, and friends pull her back to reality before any of the others - and from there, it is no trouble to shake them out of whatever dream or nightmare they're stuck in.
Layna stirs, blinks twice, and looks around. Her eyes readjust...and then there's a gasp of realization as she remembers where they are, and what they're in the middle of. She grins down on Sephilia, then reaches over to pat her on the head
"Sorry there, lass, looks like I dozed off a lil' bit! Thanks for waking me up, aye? Who knows how long I woulda stood there if you hadn't." She said.
Once everyone is awake and ready they party sets off. Much of the treasure rooms are empty, though they do claim a few scraps and gems. But the real prize is in the final chamber they check - embedded in a pedestal is what appears to be a torch. It's not an ordinary torch -there's a touch of magic to it, the end burns with an ethereal blue flame. Nearby is a cloth with intricate, colorful patterns sewen in. Layna picks it up, and covers the flame experimentally...then removes it, and watches with interest as the flame reignites.
"...I'd say we found somethin' pretty useful here." She says with a grin.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
"That's a REALLY neat torch! I wonder how it works..." Sephy says, peering curiously at it and tapping her nose thoughtfully.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
/"Hey, what'cha doin' out here?"
The girl on the dock gasps and looks suddenly to her right as someone about her height comes walking up. She may not be that tall, but she's clearly a few years older than the girl with the ponytail, and she's carrying a large stuffed animal with her besides. Is it a fox? It might be a fox.
"I'm waiting for my parents' ship to come back," says the Waiter.
The Visitor scuffs her heel a little and smiles a quiet, reflective smile. "I understand. You told me once you were waiting a long time!"
"I did?" The Waiter looks down at herself and up at the Visitor and the Fox with a confused blink. "Are you sure? I don't know you, do I?"
"Of course you do! I'm a famous adventurer and this is my bodyguard, Lord Chauncey of Foxington!" The Visitor holds up the Fox with a warm smile, giving him a little waggle. Then she lowers her voice and leans in as if sharing some deep secret. "He's not much of a talker."
"I see," says the ten-year-old Waiter, who briefly feels like she's older than the Visitor.
"The truth is, I know what it's like to be away from your mom and dad," the Visitor says, scuffing a little heel against the dock as she too turns to look out over the water. "I remember the time I was in a strange place and I had no idea what to do. I didn't even have a way back to my family at all! But I remember meeting some people who kept an eye on me. And I appreciated that even though I was younger than all of them, they never went out of their way to make me feel like a kid. 'Cause, y'know... we go through a lot for our age, right?"
"I suppose so," the Waiter concedes as she scratches one cheekstripe. "...Who were the ladies? They seem like they're pretty cool."
With a smile, the Visitor turns towards the Waiter, reaching out to pull her into a tight hug. It's the only answer she gives.
It's the only answer the Waiter needs. She reaches out, and draws her arms around the Visitor.
It's a familiar feeling.
They're familiar arms. Wrapped in polished steel, hardened by adventures beyond her years. Adventures that took her beyond this dock. Beyond this city. Beyond this pain./
When Talise opens her eyes, she immediately looks towards Sephilia. Her eyes shine with a mix of emotions that light up her smile.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline is caught in an endless dance of death. While the wounds she's taking aren't real, she certainly is tiring herself out. One cannot sustain blind rage for long before crashing down eventually.
Kobayashi keeps peering and waving, trying to attract Rosaline's attention while somehow not being noticed by the bandits. But then, unexpected help arrives--
"Lord Chauncey!" Kobayashi greets the stuffed arrival. "It's a catastrophe! But maybe with your help, we can wake Sister Rosanyan up!"
The two raise their arms, striking a similar pose. "Kitsune-neko staaaaare~" Kobayashi announces, their belly and Chauncey's lighting up with the sort of weird magical contrivance that can only exist in a space fueled by pure imagination.
"--what?" Rosaline turns her head as a wave of innocence (or... whatever this is) washes over her, and the bandits dissolve into thin air. Rosaline's heavy breathing slows down as the rest of the memory follows. That's right, these people are all dead. She isn't in the desert. She's in the present, now. This is far behind her. She doesn't NEED to be there, she only has to be here.
"...Is everyone all right?" she asks after a moment.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
/Lanval's sadness is not unique - her passing is sad for all, as few could lay claim to hold greater devotion than herself. He is to watch over those mortals who dwell within these parts, and it is only their belief in him alone that anchors them to him.
There is a young, carefree girl who seems oblivious to the melancholy air of today. Is she daft? Does she not know of what happened? Maybe she's too young to truly understand loss. Their time is short, he now has to acknowledge. The sort who can't reall think about much other than their own fun days, their own adventures...
Adventures. Why think of adventures? Why think of even going anywhere? He doesn't want to be anywhere but here, like he's been for... hundreds of years? No, it hasn't been that long, has...
Uhhhhhh./
Lanval stirs awake with a back-and-forth roll until he can sit up, a hand tightly grasping the rope to his drinking gourd. One eye opens almost all the way from under the shattered lens of the stupid novelty glasses he has on, whirling it about once as he about-faces...
An awesome torch with a blue flame. Huh.
"...Mmmph." Lanval mmmphs, scratching away at his chin. "That wash a weird dream... kind of." No, that was a memory that he was forcefully reliving. It serves as a reminder that his time with this bunch is going to be far shorter than he'd like. Their existence is but a blink, compared to his...
Wouldn't do him any good sleeping that time all away, would it...?