2018-09-23: Ruinous Memories in the Ruins of Memory
- Log: Ruinous Memories in the Ruins of Memory
- Cast: Matilda Whitehead, Jacqueline Barber, Erzebet Lefanu, Skylr Paer, Chime Isa, Lydia Seren
- Where: Ruins of Memory
- Date: September 23rd, 2018
- Summary: Matilda leads a group of adventurers into the depths of the Ruins of Memory, in search for whatever secrets this new discovery is hiding...
============================<* 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: A party led by Matilda Whitehead 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> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Matilda... is curious about the rumors of additional tunnels found below the Ruins of Memory, and positively eager to dive those depths. This may change, given time, of course -- but for the moment, at least, she's eager to get exploring. She's put out a call to friends and acquaintances, and encouraged them to *in turn* call friends and acquaintances.
Matilda... actually isn't sure she's been to this particular ruin before, or at least, not very deep. As a result, she has to lean on everyone else a fair bit to actually guide her through the basic dangers -- even if it's simply slimes and modestly-sized pits, she leans heavily on everyone else for assistance.
When at last they approach the door into the depths of the runs, Matilda pauses a moment -- and is pleasantly surprised as they open with no intervention. "... I -- wasn't expecting *that*," she half-stammers.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline had been grateful for Matilda's call to action. She had been in the middle of studies for her Guild certification, and she had reached a point that she just couldn't wrap her head around. She needed to get out there and find something else to occupy her mind with...and rumors of mysterious additional tunnels below were just what she needed.
While she hadn't been through the first floors of the Ruins of Memory herself(at least that she remembered), she had acquired a map from someone that had and referenced it a fair amount. She also provided some potions to everyone - just something to help get them through some of the challenges that still posed some modicum of threat.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
Erzebet Mara Lefanu hasn't been here either. She is also wearing heels and a long coat while dual wielding sawed-off rifles. Much like a certain squirrel, she deals with this by not giving a shit. "Come on come on, Tildy-poo," Erzebet says, airily. "This isn't THAT bad!"
Leap!
Skip!
Duck-roll under collapsing doorway with a huge stone buttress and a predictable cycle of crushery!
Empty a clip - is it a clip? - fire a gun a bunch of times into a cluster of slimes, sending them all aflame!
(People who have seen Erzebet only once or twice might notice she is doing better than she was. Those who have seen her frequently would know she's nowhere near this frenetic. People who have not ever seen her before may be annoyed.)
"Hating - hating - loving~ Dum dee dum, dum dee dum, can't be alive without youuuu," Erzebet sings, which Matilda might know as one of those irritating reconstruction club songs translated in to modern argot. "Watch me do thiiiiiis!" she calls out, contorting herself out into an extreme pigeon-toed squat during hte last few yards, the metal reinforcement on her stupid shoes throwing up sparks on the stones. "Yyyyyaaaooowwww!"
Then she runs out of momentum and flops.
Her ankle makes a loud pop. "It's fine," Erzebet says, though she gets up more heavily. "Oh! Thank you!" she then says to Jay, who, in Erzebet's mind, had just appeared with a pick me up. She immediately bites the top off and downs it like it were a cheap beer.
DG: Erzebet Lefanu has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
<Pose Tracker> Skylr Paer has posed.
Having never heard of a Ruin of Memory, Skylr had done some poking around.
While not armed with a map, it's not too hard to figure out that there is something seriously out there, and besides, someone has a map! Teamwork is a wonderful thing. Some of these people even look vaguely familiar, and that's a relief for the younger Guard, who barely knows a lot of people. Sure, none of them are Guards, but hey... Taking the bottle, she examines it, nods, and then carefully nestles it into her bag after swigging from it, the glass nestled amongst a good amount of wool.
"Runes... they look familar." Skylr says, after taking a very, very long time to get to the door. It's not like she's good at dodging... swimming... athletics... so instead she goes slow. Take things like a sheep does.
Which is carefully, and with little concern for everyone else except the bit of grass in front of her.
DG: Skylr Paer has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.
An invitation to re-explore ruins is rarely turned down by the short elven ARMs Meister drifter. Invitations to explore a new section of an old ruins are never turned down. The cheerfully smiling, happy go-lucky elf has no qualms showing beaming a bright smile at everyone.
Age and experience have some advantages~ Chime hums happily as she almost literally skips through most of the Ruins of Memory towards the location of the new section. A few hestiations and checks here and there, but the red-head has no issues commenting it's been literally a decade and half since she was last in the ruins. And she didn't bring the journal about her trips in so it's not like she can reference her own material on the spot.
The cheerful elf happily stops before the newly opened double doors when reached, examining the runes and the doors before poking her head through them to look inside curious to see.
DG: Chime Isa has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia has, conversely, been here twice already. Is there really anything else to explore or find for her? Or maybe she just is the type that likes replaying FMVs over and over because of that one cool part she liked.
Nevertheless, her pharmacists are coming in on this adventure, even if one of them is starting to feel more like a metal gear solid character than a pharmacist lately, and she should make sure they don't get trapped in an eternal memory.
That said, she doesn't warn them about it either because finding things out is half the fun. At this point in her life, Lydia has a pretty well memorized pattern for firing off portals and making her way down. Of course, that doesn't neccessarily mean she'll make all the jumps so easy.
"Hey I've been meaning to ask." Lydia asides to Erzebet at some point. "Are you....also a cosplayer?" Maybe Noeline can make a new friend, she thinks.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Portal Pistols 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matilda Whitehead 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rapid Remedy 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chime Isa 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erzebet Lefanu 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Portal Pistols 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Skylr Paer 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Matilda Whitehead 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Reckless(2) Effects: Cleanse ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Matilda Whitehead 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: Erzebet Lefanu has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>==========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Cucco Spectrals *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
You enter a vault, where the ceiling is so high that it vanishes in the
darkness above. The torches in the wall sconces flicker. Then, the room
fills with spectral imagery: lines of blue form the outline of buildings
from Adlehyde, including distant Adlehyde Castle. All is still for a moment.
And then, they come.
Swooping down from on-high, with their clucks of challenge and caws of
promised violence, cuccos sweep down one after the other. They scratch,
claw, and peck viciously. Just how clucked are you?!
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Stupify, Injure====================================
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
"I still think it's best to be *cautious*," Matilda says to Erzebet, as she's slightly needled. It doesn't seem to bother her enough to slow her down, though -- she moves swiftly, her new white coat billowing with... well, not every step, but many. It's very dramatic!
Matilda sticks with Lydia almost to Lydia's *detriment*, on the whole; when they get down there, Matilda's done a great job of availing herself of portals excessively. She does clean up whenever they run into slimes, skeletons, and other assorted nasties, though, making up for it on the whole.
As the group heads inside, Matilda gives a slightly annoyed glance to Erzebet, but does not comment on her singing. ... for now.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
"Eh?" Erzebet says to Lydia. "A what now? If you were asking me that question in Middle Nimrod I would ask you if you were asking for yourself or your brother!" She pushes herself upright. "Of course," she continues, "your brother would be any man not your father, grandfather, child, grandchild, or a member of the monastic orders..."
As they move forwards, Erzebet limps a little. Then they enter a dark space, the vaulted ceiling high above... the torches flicker.
"Spooky," she says.
And then, "Oh! Look, it's Adelhyde Castle, Tildy! Remember when we bought postcards second year on our way to Port Timney to see the oysters and"
cucco...
"No, no - it was oysters and tubers, you know, the chowder fest," Erzebet says.
cucco...
The flutter flapping comes.
Erzebet's eyes turn around the area. Every building's vertex is gathering a flock.
"Do these clucks look real to you?" she asks.
Ten thousand pairs of beady eyes narrow.
ACTION TRIGGER START! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NudO-eWHWdM
The flight of the Cuccos of Memory comes. "Oh snap!" Erzebet says, before she slaps leather and pulls out her weapons. The guns' trigger guards seem to tighten and it is probably a blessing now that she is here for all of her annoying habits, because whatever the hell is up with those strange, almost half-melted firearms, they do not seem to have any limit to how much firepower they can put out. Indeed, as Erzebet raises them up like some kind of conductor of a symphony of liberty, she produces a short zone near to her that - unless and until she should fall - is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT CUCCO FREE!
This may be useful who can stand to be right next to her long enough to set something else up.
"TILDY!" Erzebet cries out. "If we're going to die to these birds, I want to know - answer me - did you actually like the cream one best, or were you just saying that to pick a fight?! Tomato chowder was objectively superior!!"
DG: Erzebet Lefanu has used her Tool Haborym toward her party's challenge, Cucco Spectrals.
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.
Chime hums softly in wonderment as the spectral light of the torches flickers. And then the room becomes more a spectral memory she and the others stand in of Adlehyde. One of the stores one the street has a large hanging sign with a picture of a pair of crossed pistols. The door has a sign that reads 'Isa ARMs Meisters' and under that 'Free consultations'. The windows don't reveal anything inside, infact the building might not even exist if you only looked through the windows as the street behind it is all to see. Chime's smile doesn't falter at the sight, but their is a hint of something to her eyes before she's looking else where at all the cuccos.
"Awwww, I love cuccos." she chimes up. "Through..." she continues, tapping her chin as she looks around, "I remember a story from a bar, hnnn, about a town that someone abused one, and well, mmmm, I don't remember doing anything to earn their vengence soooooo..." her voice trailing off at the end right as the cuccos attack!
"Oh dears, it seems we're possibly," she starts, smiling brightening, "clucked~" she finishes. She looks for a safe port in the storm of feather and bird. "Think the Castle is accessible to get out of this feathery storm? Or maybe one of the buildings nearby?" as she draws a single crossbow and uses it to fend off claw and beak without shooting.
DG: Chime Isa has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Cucco Spectrals.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"That's what I'm here for!" Jacqueline replies with a bright smile. It's true - that was one of her specialties! Eventually, they all reach a massive double door. This is where their adventure into the Ruins of Memory begins properly...with something Jacqueline never thought she would see again.
The city of Adlehyde in its unspoiled glory, though formed from spectral lines. Jacqueline's mind fills in the rest.
She may be getting a little emotional at the moment. She stumbles backward, shielding her eyes. Unfortunately for her, however, she doesn't get to appreciate it for long.
"U-um, do you two know each other?" Jacqueline asks curiously, looking between Matilda and Erzebet. And then...
Cucco.
Both the noise and the beast.
"O-oh no...not again!" Jacqueline whines. She had forgotten, but the set-up was exactly like this, wasn't it? Within her bags, a certain red feather pulses ominously...though it does not get any screentime beyond that.
So...the 'Memories', in this case, was not merely a dramatic mention.
"Th-this happened a while back, Miss Isa...I think you were still out of town when this happened." She says with a glance to Chime, rummaging through her bags to draw out a book. She flips to a page and begins to read.
"Anyway...these are cuccos, obviously! These round birds have many fans, both for their looks and their de-" Right as Jacqueline is about to form the next sound, she finds several sets of beady eyes staring at her. "d-delightful personality!"
...Nice save, Jacqueline.
She backs away, reading further.
"A-any way...their talons and beaks are dangerous, but they can also buffet you with their wings. ...Don't get any ideas from that! The more damage you inflict on them the angrier they get, and they have a tendency to call for back-up..." She concludes.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool The Lifeweaver's Codex toward her party's challenge, Cucco Spectrals.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Damn," Lydia says. "Some cosplayers are hardcore.
She is promptly washed away by a fowl flock of birds. She didn't stand a chance. She never saw it coming. Their wings are too fast for her eyes. Will this be Lydia Seren's last adventure?!
"Uwaaaghh--!" Lydia screams as she is carried away past Jacqueline.
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Cucco Spectrals.
<Pose Tracker> Skylr Paer has posed.
Skylr trips over herself.
That's it. That's exactly what happens. The brunette girl hits the ground with a 'oof', but stands up rather rapidly, blushing a horribly bright shade of red out of embarrassment, although the skyline of Adelhyde.... she recognizes that. The town where she ran into those strange demons ... and she doesn't mean Zed annd Kalve. She steps forward, curiously, but freezes. ... cuccoo....
.... cucco ....
"Oh, no."
The Cuccoos come, and they find themselves confronted not with bow, arrow, or magic - instead, everyone else that isn't a cucco finds small patches of astringently-smelling wool. Indeed, a couple of throws even involve boking a cucco with one to drop more handly near someone to get grabbed. As an archer, her aim's pretty impeccable, after all.
DG: Skylr Paer has used her Tool Cleansing Poultice toward her party's challenge, Cucco Spectrals.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
There's a brief look at Jay at the appearance of a spectral Adlehyde -- a *conventional* Adlehyde, an unspoiled one, at that. Matilda doesn't say anything, though -- she just... looks.
Matilda... evaded the Cuccos in their original state -- but just because it isn't your memory doesn't mean it can't haunt you, it seems. Drawing a pistol as the beasts descend, Matilda -- has her attention drawn shortly by Erzebet.
"... Second year? I was *definitely* starting a fight," Matilda admits, with a small, slightly self-conscious laugh, before opening fire. She winds back around to Jay's question, noting, "Yes! We were at the Academy at the same time," pleasantly.
Moving toward the trippd-over Skylr, Matilda finds herself wishing she'd kept the shield -- she was just starting to get good with it...
DG: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Cucco Spectrals.
=========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>==========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Cucco Spectrals *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
You enter a vault, where the ceiling is so high that it vanishes in the
darkness above. The torches in the wall sconces flicker. Then, the room
fills with spectral imagery: lines of blue form the outline of buildings
from Adlehyde, including distant Adlehyde Castle. All is still for a moment.
And then, they come.
Swooping down from on-high, with their clucks of challenge and caws of
promised violence, cuccos sweep down one after the other. They scratch,
claw, and peck viciously. Just how clucked are you?!
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Stupify, Injure====================================
====================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 2 *>===================== =========================< Results - Cucco Spectrals >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matilda Whitehead 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass The Lifeweaver's Codex 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chime Isa 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erzebet Lefanu 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Haborym 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Skylr Paer 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Cleansing Poultice 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Matilda Whitehead 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Reckless(1)|Slow(2)|Stupify(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Matilda Whitehead 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: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>========================= ======================<* CHALLENGE - Torch or Turret? *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Torches in sconces line the emerald hallways of these ruins. Most are harmless. You enter the hallway in which they are not. As soon as you step in, each of the torches begins to glow. Then, balls of blue fire shoot from the torches -- and come screaming down at you, in wild and varying patterns! The door at the other end of the hallway suddenly looks much further away. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
"OH I AM SORRY, I THINK YOU ARE THINKING TOO MUCH ABOUT THINGS," Erzebet shouts at Chime with a sort of abrupt squall of ill-formed hostility. "Excuse me, I mispronounced that." She raises her voice an octave and adds vibrato. "I THINK YOU'RE THINKING TOO MUCH ABOUT THINGS~~!"
"Eh? EH? Now I took the piss after you took it from me, so we're square. But you step again, long ears, and I bring the pain!" Erzebet says. (Parenthetically she explains, "This is regarding the interview attempt in Adelhyde proper, just so you understand where I'm coming from.")
"Mmm," she then murmurs. "Buffet."
A cucco immediately flies at Lydia and claws her in the arm! The claw sinks into her arteries and sprays out her blood! We rule her DEAD! Get out of here, Marcie, YOU'RE DEAD! -- no -- no, none of that happened, except the part where a cucco clawed Lydia in the arm. Fortunately, her cucco-mediated demise is prevented when cthonic reflex leads her to punt a cucco in self-defense. The birds, already activated, are... well, what are they gonna do, cuc harder?
Skyler's deposit of a patch of fragrant wool makes Erzebet pause to scoop one up and sniff greedily.
"Yeah," she finally answers Jay as the storm of memorybirds abate.
"What she said. Whew... I'm a little light headed after all of that... Don't mind me if I'm a little quiet for a moment," Erzebet says then, opening and closing her eyes slowly.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
All this hellacious carrying on, shooting in various forms, even the power of a hidden *na**ma kick - it clears out the cuccos something quick. They're memories, after all. And the threat was never a single cucco.
It was that there's never a single cucco.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Ah, I see! I'm glad to meet you, then, miss! It's always nice to meet a friend of a friend." Jacqueline replies brightly with a nod toward Erzebet.
Eventually, the memories subside and the illusory Adlehyde fades away. Jacqueline stands in the hallway quietly, even after it's no longer in sight.
"...Ah, sorry, I might've gotten a little carried away..." She says with a slight laugh, wiping at one of her eyes. Her eyes soon find Skylr, sending her a polite, thankful nod. "Ah, thanks for your mixtures..."
She wasn't in any condition to provide any herself. But with that taken care of, it's time to move on. They proceed forward into an emerald hallway lined with torches. The flames begin to glow...and then Jacqueline draws a Crest, bringing up a pillar of earth as a barrage of blue flame launches toward them.
"L-looks like this particular hallway is trapped..." Jacqueline says, hunkering behind the pillar. She rummages through her bags, pulling out some potions and passing them around. "Here, these will help with burns. Just in case!"
She tries to get a feel for the patterns involved, but they're pretty wildly. Eventually she decided the best option is to just dart out from behind the pillar and gun it for the door at the far end.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, Torch or Turret?.
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.
Chime beams brightly at Erzebet, saying "Pardon? Ooh. I'd forgotten already~ Don't worry through! I'm sure you'll find someone able to provide you information, don't give up dear~" in a cheerful voice as she reholsters her crossbow as the storm of bird abates.
She looks over herself, slightly scratched up and begins to poke and prod scratches and rips in her long sleeve shirt curiously as if trying to figure out how real injuries occured from unreal things. She looks terribly unconcerned, and vastly interested and amused.
"So Adlehyde the town that happened in?" she askes of Jacqueline as she finishes examining herself. "Hmmm, that part got left out of the tale I heard~ Amusing through." smiling cheerfully at Jacqueline before looking around the emerald hallway they're in now, moving with the group.
"Ooo, another door~" she chimes, just in time for the fireballs to start! "Oh my, things are certainly heating up now~" she giggles as she begins to sprint for the end of the appearently lengthening hallway, confident it seems in her ability to dodge the myriad of fireballs, or draw all of them in on her to give everyone else an easier time~
DG: Chime Isa has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Torch or Turret?.
<Pose Tracker> Skylr Paer has posed.
The wool smells like a cross between a stimulant and a restorative, like a good glass of water after waking up dehydrated with a headache because there was an attempt to outdrink someone who drinks for a hobby, like, say, Lanval. It's expertly crafted, and squeezing it feels like squeezing a bag full of wet marshmallows. Skylr doesn't look like she's expecting to get them back, only recovering ones left on the floor post-cuccoo smacking.
She gives Jay a smile. "You're welcome. Sometimes down here, it's safer for me to use... hand-mades, like that, then try bow and arrow, or my magick; Althena knows what sort of contraptions are down in these ruins, after all."
They make their way into the hallway, and Skylr stops short. "I'm going to die down here, and Leo's not even here to drag me out this time." She murmurs, rubbing her tensed up face with one hand.
Taking the bottle from Jay, she downs it... and then starts walking down the hallway, with about as much speed as someone would expect from her... which is to say, not a lot... and with a extremely wry look on her face...
DG: Skylr Paer has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Torch or Turret?.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
"I really want... ice," Erzebet says as she huddles up in her coat and lurches forwards, drawing in her head and hustling forwards with an aggravated skeletal clacking of the heels. "Can any of you make ice? I'll give you ten gella if you can just give me a big tasty chunk of ice right now. It's so funny, I'm kind of cold but maybe it's the deadly firebaaaaaalls."
DG: Erzebet Lefanu has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Torch or Turret?.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
"It -- *is* a little strange how tales shift and grow in the telling, isn't it?" Matilda reflects aloud, as Chime mentions that Adlehyde never came up in the version of the story she's heard. "I mean -- I suppose just shift, in this case."
Jay mentioning how nice it is to meet a friend of a friend gets a modestly strained smile -- but more than that will have to wait until after they traverse hte halway, apparently.
Jay offers a remedy, and Matilda accepts it without hesitation, knocking it back. ... She finds herself wishing that she had a shield yet again. To Skylr, Matilda offers, "You're not going to die. I'm an excellent medic, and what's more, I don't think anything down here is worth moving on with significant injuries."
Then she bolts through the hallway.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Torch or Turret?.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia's arm is carved up horrendously but though Lydia hisses in pain, she seems more annoyed by it than fearful. Thick streams of silver fluid spill out of Lydia's arm and she swears under her breath as she grabs at her arm tightly with a hand.
"Fuccccck." Lydia says, grimacing deeply. "Nobody wanted to remember the giant death cuccos." The fuuuck is probably more about her arm than the INVASION of DEATH. The Metal Demon invasion is easier to talk about.
Naturally Lydia has portals for this too. Lydia fires a couple just on the ground there to move quickly between safe spots, though with her injured arm, she ends up mostly just clutching her wound in pain. This isn't even in the top 5 of Lydia injuries but the fact that it was a cucco that did it just kind of makes it hurt more anyway.
"Haah? Leo you said? Goddamn. Gooooddamn."
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Portal Pistols toward her party's challenge, Torch or Turret?.
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>========================= ======================<* CHALLENGE - Torch or Turret? *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Torches in sconces line the emerald hallways of these ruins. Most are harmless. You enter the hallway in which they are not. As soon as you step in, each of the torches begins to glow. Then, balls of blue fire shoot from the torches -- and come screaming down at you, in wild and varying patterns! The door at the other end of the hallway suddenly looks much further away. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
===================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 3 *>==================== ========================< Results - Torch or Turret? >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matilda Whitehead 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Rapid Remedy 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chime Isa 5 --(15)--> 20 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Erzebet Lefanu 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 5 --(10)--> 15 Pass Portal Pistols 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Skylr Paer 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Matilda Whitehead 40 --(10)--> 50 Fail Conditions: Injure(2)|Slow(2) Effects: Cleanse ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Matilda Whitehead has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
This particular trap proves to be rather insidious. The torches emit flame at a rate that is, frankly, unreasonable - and it seems they plenty have attention to spare for everyone. No one is going to get through this without getting a little scorched...except for Lydia, who pops up out of a portal right at the very end without a scratch on her...that wasn't already present upon entering a corridor.
"O-oww..." Jacqueline whimpers, making it through the door and slamming it behind her once everyone's through. She can feel the door begin to heat up as the ruthless torches keep firing at it. Fortunately, this subsides.
"I think we could all use a little ice..." Jacqueline murmurs. Ever since she got her earth pillars back she hadn't used this one as much, but she rummages through her pouch of Crest and draws one out and invokes it. The temperature gradually drops in a certain location before eventually forming a large cube of ice.
...Jacqueline doesn't touch it, though, instead taking the salve she had saved herself and applying it to her wounds.
"Let's take a second to recover after that..." She suggests.
DG: Chime Isa has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>=========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Spartoi Spectrals *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
As you walk down the hallway, you see the air before you shimmer. It may
take you a moment to spot how things are wrong: the walls ahead of you have
become the ancient brick of the Ruins of Memory above, except cast in
shimmering blue. This is when you hear noise behind you -- as the same
shimmering blue light coalesces into bones, forming skeletons wielding
blades.
As do some before you. The ghostly skeletons rush you, their blades quite
real and quite sharp. However, the spaces where they appeared still shimmer:
floor tiles that, if pressed quickly, may activate a secret door.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Secret=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.
Chime comes out the otherside singed and smoky~ Her leather vest has a few new char marks. Her sleeves sport burn spots in addition to the ripped fabric and her skin shows a few burns. "Well, clearly I was on the wrong kind of fire~" she quips with a cheerful smile. "Oh well, next time I'll get it right~"
If the amount of fire they took bothers the short elf, it doesn't stop her from forging ahead to see the next view. A view that gets to include a close up of a shimmering blue wall wall cast in the image of the ceiling! Chime barely manages to not walk into it.
"Oh no!" she says in cheer, "It's a 'dead' end~" as she turns to look at the expected ghostly skeletons with a giggle. "Scary stories are the best~" she says with a smile, drawing her right crossbow and snapping a shot off at the head of one of the Spartoi.
"Ooo, the tiles look interesting. Anyone able to reach those?" she askes from the back of the group. "Glowing is always important~ Usually. Unless it's a trap. But it's probably not a trap." her voice amused and cheerful.
DG: Chime Isa has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Spartoi Spectrals.
<Pose Tracker> Skylr Paer has posed.
"I'm a healer.... I'm just not good at moving fast." Skylr explains at the other end of the hallway. The shephardess is pretty singed, and she looks sad, for a long while. So sad. Not even the creation of ice makes her happy, although she does touch it, and swig what was left of that second bottle to help hersaelf out. She twitches, a little, uncomfortably.
Then, towards Lydia, "D-don't curse like that... it's rude. Y-yeah, I said Leo, the... knight... he's my boss." Skylr sounds uncertain, now, and possibly a little forlorn and uncomfortable.
Skeletons and glowing tiles, oh my. Arming herself with more of those wool piles, she again goes to pass those around - these ones are frsh, and less likely to get powder all over ones self, although Skylr does wonder out loud, as she goes to try to step on the glowy tiles...
"Do Skeletons need to see?"
She aims to find out by flicking one of the poultices straight into the face of one.
DG: Skylr Paer has used her Tool Cleansing Poultice toward her party's challenge, Spartoi Spectrals.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Matilda... almost finds it difficult at first to feel appreciably worried about an echo of something they just went through -- but then she sees the tiles. Her intuition quickly strikes; this isn't just a test of whether they can fight their illusory foes -- it's also a test of their *speed*, as much as it is their raw ability to fight.
Matilda draws the sword she's kept since finding it on Lunar months ago -- a prime choice for undead due to its unusual alchemical silver composition -- and starts in.
"On it," Matilda calls to Chime, before starting on her footwork. She adds, for Skylr, "I think it varies!"
Lydia's insistent cursing gets a look, but not much more than that. Matilda's not especially aware of the Guard and what they get up to, so any context on 'Goddamn' is lost.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Spartoi Spectrals.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
"Did you know," says Erzebet as she spots the skeletons and her glasses glint, "that what uses as a curse word varies from place to place? Why, in the Middle Nimrod period, you could talk about the feces or the urine just fine, but if you were to swear on the vestry of the temple - hoooo boy! Them's fighting words!"
Erzebet then strikes a peculiar pose. "Let's see... how many was it... ah yes, I think it's been forty... five."
She fires a gun twice in the air, then the other one twice. "There we go," she says. "SEVEN SQUARED." Twirling them around, she points both of them above her head with sufficient vigor that you can see her armpits in that dress and that too-open outer coat.
The weapons suddenly make a hissing noise. A spiralling binary system of red star and black star appear above them. Leaning back far enough to make a C of her spine, Erzebet says, "HERE WE GOOOOOOOOO-- YEEOW!" And then she pulls the trigger.
The 'stars' rip themselves apart into a beautiful nebula of searing darkling force! It's mostly aimed at the spartoi, though.
DG: Erzebet Lefanu has used her Tool Haborym toward her party's challenge, Spartoi Spectrals.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Once Jacqueline's rested enough she moves on with the others, where they find themselves...in a previous chamber of the Ruins of Memory? The one above them. This one shimmers with blue light...so it's another construct of the ruins, then. It also constructs several formation of bones that seem to be just as real as the cuccos before them.
"Hmm...I think those must be Spartoi? I always seem to run into those..." Jacqueline muses, backing away from the others to draw out her book once more.
"These skeletal soldiers were talented with the sword in life, and they're no less talented in death. Their bones are a little brittle, however, so try to aim past the armor. They're weak to Light, but..." Jacqueline frowns. She doesn't have any Light crests on her. Maybe she ought to correct that next time she's in town. "Well, they're not particularly resistant to everythig else, I suppose, so...go nuts!"
As for Jacqueline herself, she puts the book away and draws out a Crest - her signature earth pillar. She doesn't aim for the Spartoi, however, but herself - pushing out beneath her to send her vaulting out toward those tiles so that she can activate them.
Hopefully they do something useful, and don't activate a worse trap.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool The Lifeweaver's Codex toward her party's challenge, Spartoi Spectrals.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Dude if you're seriously giving me shit for swearing when I have this...!" She shoves her bleeding silver arm right in Skylr's face. "Then I don't know what to tell ya, buddy. You know what I think is rude? Lecturin' someone while they're bleeding from a claw wound!"
She naturally doesn't help at all when it comes to fighting skeletons. She hangs back rather than fight the GHOST SKELETONS so she can nurse her arm. Or at least, that's what it seems like at first. But there's a dark secret to all of this...And that secret is...!
"My best friend is a skeleton..." Lydia mutters (she has many best friends). "Not gonna go rekilling his pals." She pauses. "His maybe pals."
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Spartoi Spectrals.
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>=========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Spartoi Spectrals *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
As you walk down the hallway, you see the air before you shimmer. It may
take you a moment to spot how things are wrong: the walls ahead of you have
become the ancient brick of the Ruins of Memory above, except cast in
shimmering blue. This is when you hear noise behind you -- as the same
shimmering blue light coalesces into bones, forming skeletons wielding
blades.
As do some before you. The ghostly skeletons rush you, their blades quite
real and quite sharp. However, the spaces where they appeared still shimmer:
floor tiles that, if pressed quickly, may activate a secret door.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Secret=============================================
===================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 4 *>==================== =======================< Results - Spartoi Spectrals >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matilda Whitehead 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 15 --(15)--> 30 Pass The Lifeweaver's Codex 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chime Isa 20 --(20)--> 40 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Erzebet Lefanu 15 --(15)--> 30 Pass Haborym 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Skylr Paer 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Cleansing Poultice 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Matilda Whitehead 50 --(10)--> 60 Fail Conditions: Secret(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Matilda Whitehead 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. DG: Skylr Paer 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> Chime Isa has posed.
Despite the reveal that the Spartoi have no specific weakness by Jay, the group is hard pressed to beat down the pair of ghostly skeleton warriors. If not for Erzebet's finishing strike it might've been a quick end to the exploration! Or at least a quick retreat. As it is, most of the group sports a few new injuries or is more fatigued from the fight.
"Well~ Where to next?" Chime askes curiously, glancing around to see what happens with the skeletons defeated, and the tiles presumably activated. A door in the side of the wall opens to reveal a hallway! "Guess there!" Chime says cheerfully, reholstering her crossbow with a loud click as the movement also resets the string and loads the crossbow.
<Pose Tracker> Skylr Paer has posed.
"Well..." Skylr says, taking a few hits here and there, but staggering through the end of the skeleton-creatures pretty well; "That hurt more than I think they should've, but we're all alive and well, and that's all that matters, right?" She winces, rubbing at her shoulder. "Why do these ruins always end up having... strange enemy... creatures?"
Skylr steps into the hallway, cavernous, and with the chimes. Skylr's mouth drops a little, before she finds herself murmuring to herself. She doesn't look entirely comfortable for a moment, but when she starts humming, it's probably a shocker, seeing as she just did admit to being in the Guard by confirmation of who her boss is. She keeps humming, and the tune slowly becomes familiar: a lullaby, very popular all over Meribus about the stars in the sky. A sort of trite piece, but calming. Gentle - comforting.
"... one star on the right..."
"... mallets." Skylr is somewhat short and tense when speaking, but the stout magician pulls up a wooden mallet anyways, and starts testing the chimes tones.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia says, "Huh." as Skylr starts humming. "I guess some folks of the Guard don't mind singing so long as they can stop others from doin' it." She is probably still sore about being lectured about her language while gushing blood. Or, well, whatever that stuff spewing out of Lydia was a moment ago.
A moment ago, of course, because it seems to have stopped now. Huh.
"We always run into this thing." Lydia murmurs. "But I always blank..." She does, however, draw out her metal bat. "But I guess that won't stop me from hitting notes even though that's totally against the rules, eh?" Yeah she's definitely sore about being lectured about her language while she's gushing blood.
"Course this means we're close to the awful thing. Wonder what they'll hit me with this time?" She murmurs to herself.
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ring the Bells.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
"I *did* know that," Matilda says -- though her smile turns a hair thinner as she notes, "because I was *also* in that section of Professor Krasner's introductory linguistics. I sat behind you." That's the last comment she has for a little while, mostly because she just got absolutely, positively shredded by skeletons. Looks like another night of coat-mending.
Matilda... has actually heard the *melody* of this lullaby before, if not its particulars, thanks to her extensive adoption of Lunar norms as co-leader of Oasis. (The version of the tune she's heard is much more ribald.) As Skylr starts to hum it, Matilda raises an eyebrow.
"... Hmmm, all right," Matilda says, quietly. She takes a crack at playing Skylr's tune, having some casual familiarity with musical instruments. ... chimes, however, are not her favorite.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline's plan doesn't quite work out as she had hoped. As far as she can tell, nothing happened when she activated the tiles. It might be something that helps out later on, but for now there's no way to know.
"Ostensibly it's to protect whatever lies within...but in the case of these 'Ruins of Memory', I feel like it may be more of a direct challenge to us rather than anything coincidental..." Jacqueline comments in reply to Skylr.
Why else would it show them Adlehyde, of all places? Jacqueline felt like it was trying to say something there.
Fortunately, no monsters await them in the next room. There aren't even any traps, either - just a locked door and a massive set of chimes. And Skylr...begins to hum?
Jacqueline is a little surprised. A member of the Guard, involving themselves with music? Well, it was unavoidable in this situation, and Jacqueline isn't a devious sort. She doesn't comment on it or even stow it away for later.
"Okay, let's see...I'm not particularly helpful with music I'm afraid, but...!" Jacqueline invokes her earth pillar Crest again, creating platforms to allow others to get closer to the chimes to hit them easier.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ring the Bells.
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.
Chime hums softly to herself as she look saround the room, and decides to take more advantage of lull to treat herself. Some light bandaging, cleaning her wounds. She even offers Lydia some bandage and medience~ Of course, she doesn't stop humming to herself not let the business she's about keep her from watching the rest of the group with interest as if commiting the actions and trip to memory for the time.
DG: Chime Isa has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ring the Bells. DG: Skylr Paer has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ring the Bells.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
In case the door doesn't open the way that's intended, well.
Matilda keeps a bottle of corrosive in her pack for exactly this occasion.
DG: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Bubble Lotion toward her party's challenge, Ring the Bells.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Waaaait you two knew each other??" Lydia asks. Yeah that's what surprises her now the indication that Erzebet's gotta at least be in her fifties.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
Matilda reminds her she too went to college.
"Ha ha ha! Yeah, you were!" Erzebet says. She holsters her iron then and there is a question now. She digs out a cigarette case and presses the tip of it to the barrel of Haborym's left unit as she says, "Ah, why are there monsters. That's a good question."
She takes a deep drag as she keeps speaking. "Many of these creatures are in some ways part of the security system. Some kind of hostile organic life can provide a really long lasting security system if they're able to support their life energies in some manner." Erzebet scratches her cheek with her fingernails then. "In other cases they're opportunistic... they just move into the area and like the environment, the local color. The details really do vary - for instance, in some cases you'll get ARMs that are self-motivated and -"
Her speech is interrupted as she looks at Lydia. "Ehh? Yes! We were in the same course! I think we're the same age. Isn't that right, Tildy? I think it's off by like a year but that's nothing, really, once you've got some hair on you."
"What are we doing?"
"Miss Paer give it to me one more time," Erzebet says as she clicks forwards. She joins the performance afterwards. She was in glee club, she can carry a simple tune!
"I'm reminded of Rhadamanthus on music," Erzebet says. "If I can quote:"
"I cant listen to music very often, it affects my nerves. I want to say sweet, silly things, and pat the little heads of people who, living in a filthy hell, can create such beauty. These days, one cant pat anyone on the head nowadays, they might bite your hand off. Hence, you have to beat people's little heads, beat mercilessly, although ideally we are against doing any violence to people. Hm what a devillishly difficult job!"
DG: Erzebet Lefanu has used her Tool Selected Quotations from V. Rhadamanthus 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 5 *>==================== =========================< Results - Ring the Bells >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matilda Whitehead 35 --(0)--> 35 Pass Bubble Lotion 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 30 --(0)--> 30 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chime Isa 40 --(5)--> 45 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Erzebet Lefanu 30 --(5)--> 35 Fail Selected Quotations from V. Rhadama 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 35 --(0)--> 35 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Skylr Paer 35 --(5)--> 40 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Matilda Whitehead 60 --(30)--> 90 Pass Conditions: Save Point(1)|Secret(1) Effects: Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Matilda Whitehead has passed this challenge! The party gained 30 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> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Rhadamanthus sounds like a dick," Lydia says as she bashes along with her bat, somehow being musical about it.
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.
Chime giggles softly, hanging back as she watches and listens.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
"Really? I think it shows a surprising degree of internal consideration and self-control," Erzebet says to Lydia. "Though that doesn't mean he's not a dick, of course."
<Pose Tracker> Skylr Paer has posed.
"Althena didn't... use to disapprove of music, and dancing, and drinking." Skylr says, quietly, resting a hand on one of the chimes. "Only a few years ago. I grew up listening to the songs, and singing lullabys to sheep..."
Skylr just brute forces her mallet usage, like Matilda. Jay is extremely helpful due to the size of the room, allowing people to crossover to hit the chimes in the correct manner and way. While some of the ones picked aren't correct - indeed, the one Skylr picks makes a deep tone that startles her, and she freezes, half-ready to bolt.
After a few repitions, though... the chimes sing; the doors open, and a soft, refreshing light sweeps through the room, strengthening them all.
DG: Erzebet Lefanu 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: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Schrodinger the Cat toward her party's challenge, Alone in the Dark. DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Alone in the Dark. DG: Erzebet Lefanu has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Alone in the Dark. DG: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Portable Library toward her party's challenge, Alone in the Dark. DG: Chime Isa has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Alone in the Dark. DG: Skylr Paer has used her Tool Book of Notes 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matilda Whitehead 35 --(15)--> 50 Pass Portable Library 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 30 --(20)--> 50 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chime Isa 45 --(20)--> 65 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erzebet Lefanu 35 --(20)--> 55 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 35 --(15)--> 50 Pass Schrodinger the Cat 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Skylr Paer 40 --(20)--> 60 Fail Book of Notes 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Matilda Whitehead 90 --(0)--> 90 Fail Conditions: Injure(2)|Stupify(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Matilda Whitehead 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: Erzebet Lefanu 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===============================================
DG: Skylr Paer has used her Tool Book of Notes toward her party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
Green-litten halls without marks lead them towards a treasure room, and then - Darkness engulfs Erzebet.
She sags to her knees. She falls forwards, as if worshipping something - Althena?!? (no)
Erzebet settles back in her seat.
It's warm. She feels warm at last! Her eyes are shut but she can hear voices speaking nearby. Someone reaches over and shakes her forearm, and she opens her eyes, seeing people - blurrily; her glasses were off.
'Oh - this is rather rude of us, isn't it?' says one of them, probably a man. (The figures are blurry even to third-party viewers. What is obviously a small private study is in a curiously ambiguous, color-smeared-out situation... if you didn't know better, perhaps, you might think it was low-resolution graphics.)
'Getting at you this late.' This is another person - a woman.
'Still though, if you can at least put these on.' 'Yes, if you could at least look.' 'We don't know what's going on with them.' 'It looks like Zeboim script to us.'
Erzebet snuggles in her blanket. "Mm," she says. "You're in an awful rush given the hour. You're not fugitives or anything, are you? You seem more like you're the creatures of the modern day. I think before I make any assessments for you, I should exploint my condition and have you make me a cup of coffee."
'Are you... ill?' says the woman, delicately.
Erzebet grins, crookedly. "I am," she says; "but if you're asking if I"m deathly sick or frail... nope! You just had the misfortune to consult me when I had an ague. I'd had to cancel my seminar for the week. What a nuisance!"
But even if she feels sick, weak, she's warm and safe and flattered. Yes: it's good to be Erzebet, in this moment.
DG: Erzebet Lefanu has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The door opens to a spiral staircase. Jacqueline cautiously follows the steps down, down, down...and the moment she steps into the octagonal, she immediately gets the feeling that she had made a Mistake. The sensation drives her to her knees, and darkness fills her senses.
"E-veryone! Stay ba-" Jacqueline's warning is cut off by an abrupt cry as memories begin to well up and overflow, overwhelming her. Jacqueline collapses to the floor...
...And awakens in a very familiar location.
At the very top of Adlehyde's clocktower, a young girl settled into her favorite spot. The keepers had long since stopped trying to keep her out - she always seemed to find a way inside despite their best efforts. Instead the more dangerous parts of the tower were roped off, which was fine by her - there was still plenty of place for her here.
She liked the rythmic motions of the clock, she supposed. She liked the way they worked in tandem, everyone lending a hand toward a common goal. Some might think it would distract her from her favorite past-time, but far from it.
Today was like most other days - the girl sat cross-legged, reading a book by the light of a small, glowing sphere. It was the first bit of Crest Sorcery she had been able to successfully cast, and maintaining it while reading like this also had the side-effect of helping her concentration.
Nearby, there was a small shelf of books. Most of these she had brought from home herself, but some others were completely new to her.
She knew there must be someone who also appreciated this place - she kept finding her bookmarks in the wrong places, but in a way that indicated they had been read recently.
It was this day, she decided, that crystallized her goal. While she loved her family, she didn't want to rely on them forever. She had no intention of hiding behind the Barber name and resources forever.
She would make a new name for herself, a new business. Eventually, the motion of the clock lulls her to sleep, her book still propped open and her head full of dreams of the travels that awaited her in the future...
It was a warm, pleasant memory. But all the more difficult to let go of for it...
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends.
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.
As the group enters what looks the end of newly revealed section, the ruins make it's final move it seems. Like the rest Chime is forced to her knees by the force of the magic within the room, memories torn unbidden to the forefront of her mind.
For Chime memory pulled is one generally well hidden. Her smile is gone, her eyes look dead. An arm is broken, the shoulder also disjointed. Wounds cover her, and her gear is wrecked. The holsters built into her boots barely hold her crossbows in place as she just seems to wander, lost, through what looks the Gunsmoke desert between the mountains to the west visible in her memory and the town of Lahan somewhere lost in the haze of the horizon to the east the rough direction the broke, bloody elf trudges. And even in this state more memories play ontop, scattered scenes of ruins as old or older than the Ruins of Memory more in line with the Caged Tower. Horrific monsters, three other humans, their slaughter as the four fight together trying to retreat leaving on Chime to get out. An earthquake that ends in the ruin's entrance lost leaving the elf no choice but to her current state, attempting to cross the desert.
The memory is more a nightmare than just a single memory, an entire compressed sequence of unfortunate and horrible events.
DG: Chime Isa has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Yeah," Lydia says. "But you're part of the boot on the throat of music so, you know." She shrugs. "Just wondering how you reconcile that. I mean, I ain't judging the religion or anything like that, just--you know--the obvious contradiction in how you act and how the Guard expects others to act."
Maybe she should blackmail her with the threat of spilling the beans to Leo?
Regardless, Lydia preemptively places Schrodinger (the Cat) on her head. Which memory maze is she going to find herself trapped in this time?!
Lydia finds herself in the Collisea Arcadia, by her lonesome in fact as she finds herself teamed up with a bunch of soccer robots against a bunch of soccer robots. Of course, she is still Asteroid the Kid in this moment. It's a long match, particularly because Lydia doesn't know how to play, but gradually, gradually, gradually...!
Lydia stops. She feels Schrodinger on her head, still. She stops playing as the robots engage in soccer battle.
"Heh..." Lydia says. "I think I beat my time." She grins widely suddenly. "Can't keep using the same trap on me...!"
She snaps directly out of it, awakening on her own this time. No help from Lydia, it seems.
But there's still a Schrodinger who may pop inside and give a faint meow here or there.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Schrodinger the Cat toward her party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
Matilda steps forward --
-- and when she does, it's... surprisingly, perhaps, not with the Freeshooter in hand. Even if that memory so often haunts Matilda... lately it doesn't have quite so many teeth. No, this memory is more recent.
Matilda stands in a small, unadorned room -- the construction is *very* modern, with the gypsum-core paneled walls that mark the owner as someone with no small amount of money.
"We've spoken about this before, doctor," Matilda says, softly. "I didn't expect it to become such a -- personal -- discussion, however, least of all this soon."
"... No," the doctor -- an older man, perhaps fifty-five at the youngest -- offers, "I suppose you wouldn't have been. You were here last time about presentation in Beastmen and elves, after all, not humans. ... well, regardless, Dr. Whitehead, I'll be blunt with you. All the news I have for you is garbage."
Matilda's expression strains slightly, and she offers a slightly pointed, "... All the news everyone's had for me regarding this has been garbage, and all of it has been personal besides. Just say it."
He sighs back at her, shaking his head. "... The patient -- your mother -- said that she'd rather not have you... here, for the end, after what the two of you -- just went through. If you want to say goodbye, now's the time; the last week will almost always be the worst of it, and you're butting up against that as it is."
Matilda... lets out a long-suffering sigh, and shakes her head. Reaching into her pack, she pulls out a large sum of gella. "... We're -- of a mind, on this, then. I'll... see her, then see myself out. Thank you, Dr. North."
"... Keep your money," he says, quietly. "Your mother... agreed to a post-mortem bodily assessment. The value of that for research on Zopt alone will cover the expense of keeping her here a week, and you're going to need that for a funeral if your father's guard benefit won't cover it... and if it will, frankly, you ought to spoil yourself rotten the next day you feel up to it. ... I'll send you anything I find out."
Matilda swallows hard, and after a moment, withdraws the bag of gella, putting it into her pack once again. Stepping toward the doctor, she embraces him softly. "... Thank you, Dr. North," she says, a little less tersely than before. "... I suppose I'm never going to forget this, then. ... But why *this* memory...?" She steps out of the room...
... and into *Erzebet's* memory.
"... So this is the sort of thing you got up to after graduation, is it? Translating strange runes for strange, insistent people in the dead of night?" The corner of one lip quirks up slightly.
"... I'm not sure if I want to chastise you or ask for an introduction. The sorts of people with urgent needs on ancient linguistics... tend to be my sorts of people, assuming they aren't Nisan scholars." There's a pause, before she appends wryly, "... which those *definitely* were not."
DG: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Portable Library 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matilda Whitehead 50 --(0)--> 50 Pass Portable Library 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 50 --(0)--> 50 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chime Isa 65 --(0)--> 65 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erzebet Lefanu 55 --(0)--> 55 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 50 --(0)--> 50 Pass Schrodinger the Cat 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Skylr Paer 60 --(0)--> 60 Pass Book of Notes 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Matilda Whitehead 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 Matilda Whitehead has successfully explored Ruins of Altered Memory!
=========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>==========================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Empty Memory Storage Crystal *>=================
|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. You find a small blue gem
within one of the treasure rooms. When you touch it, you feel a pulse -- and
then nothing. Although it takes some testing and work, you come to realize
that by focusing on a memory, you can put a memory inside of the crystal and
allow others to view it.
This would doubtless fetch a price in Linga. It may also have other uses
besides, should you wish to keep it.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
"Eh? Tildy?" Erzebet says. "Wait - wait wait wait, before you pullme out here -" She rises up, and reaches towards the fuzzy-faced woman. She snaps her fingers twice.
"Give me the eye parts," Erzebet says.
The fuzzy-faced woman puts two... wait, they're just lenses.
Erzebet holds up the slightly gray tinted lenses with some pride to Matilda. "This is the good stuff," she says. "And no," she says, stepping forwards -
She tells Matilda a secret in the space between waking and memory:
"They absolutely aren't Nisan."
THEN
"Bluh!" Erzebet immediately walks into the side of a door. "Whoever made these structures, I hope they all died!"
To Matilda she asks, "Be honest. Too soon?"
A FEW SEARCHES LATER
"Well, I could make earrings out of these," Erzebet says. "I got into doing light wirecrafts after you toddled off, Tildy. You see these glasses? All me. In fact, if you look closely at the lenses, you may spot a continuity!"
EXACTLY TWO ROOMS LATER
"Tildy," Erzebet says as she holds up the blue gem: Mutters, really. "You know what this is, of course."
Shepauses dramatically in case anyone wants to ask.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia, who has seen these before, says, "They're memory storage devices." Lydia holds up one in her hand in fact, a blue gem just like the others. She--she already had one?! That cheat! "You hold it, think of a memory super strongly, and bam--recorded."
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
"That's RIIIIGHT! Slap me five, Seren," Erzebet says, extending her hand NOT holding the valuable item. "- Wait, did you find it before? Did you not want it?"
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.
Chime's eyes narrow, color returning. Wounds healing, gear repairing. "That's a nasty trick." she mutters softly, looking to the side at a cat and then beaming a smile at it as the memory dissolve. She idly stretches, looking around curiously as if nothing happened and loosens her shoulders. Just in time to listen and watch the others search. The ARMs Meister briefly follows along, but it rapidly becomes appearent that beyond a few trinkets to replenish her gella nothing of specific interest exist to her here. Not even the gem when found and explained.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
As the young girl reads her book, she hears a delicate 'mew'. A black cat approaches her, pawing at her skirt.
"...Huh? Hello there...how'd you get in here?" She asked, looking up from her book. There's another 'mew' as the cat started to head down the stairs, but stopped to look back at her expectantly.
...Wait, did she see another cat behind that?
She placed the bookmark back into position and slid it back onto the shelf and stood before following it carefully. It led her down to the door, which she opened. Everything was filled with light...
...And Jacqueline awoke on the floor of the Ruins.
"...Huh?" She murmurs, blinking twice. She hauls herself to her feet, dusts off her dress, and looks around. "Sorry, everyone, it looks like I slept..."
Eventually everyone is awake, and they get to the most important part of adventuring - the looting. In the end, they find something rather fascinating.
"A memory storage device...? How fascinating! That would be rather useful..." Jacqueline murmurs, looking it over. "Can you overwrite it with new memories, or is it used up the moment you record it?"
"Does the memory retain the same clarity? Can you view it from different angles? Can you record, hmm...'false' memories, so to speak?" Jacqueline...sure seems to have a lot of questions!
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.
"... No, about the right amount of soon," Matilda says, with a small, vague wave as the group starts to collect itself in earnest.
A FEW SEARCHES LATER
Matilda takes a peek at the glasses. "Oh, those *are* nice."
EXACTLY TWO ROOMS LATER
Matilda has no idea what this is, and is very glad that Lydia blows through the suspense immediately. Glancing to Chime, Matilda raises an eyebrow at her lack of interest. "... I think I'll need some ARM repair and some more bullets, after the Cucco incident," she notes, perhaps trying to make it feel a little less like a waste of time for the money-minded Drifter.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
"Those are all excellent questions," Erzebet tells Jay. "And I'll tell you the answer."
A beat passes. "I don't know."
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia hifives Erzebet because even if she can be a jerk sometimes, she's not so much of a jerk to leave someone hanging. She isn't quite sure about Erzebet, but not THAT unsure.
"Nah, I mean, I've been down here twice already, but I like hanging around Jay." She pockets that gem of hers again because she already used it and isn't keen on showing it to a number of folks here. Just doesn't know them well enough. And honestly, it's not a very fun memory.
In fact, it's such a not fun memory she hasn't really experimented with it beyond 'saving' it. "Well my guess is if you misremember something, the gem will misremember it too, but other than that I haven't played around with it yet. There's something I didn't want to forget--"
She grimaces at the 'cucco incident'.
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.
Chime beams a bright smile at Matilda, saying almost offhandedly "Consulations are free~ And pity is unneeded. Items such at that are just a different sort of book, and a blank book is such a bore as useful as it can become." her voice warm, even as she nods lightly towards the gem.
"The ruins are most certainly still Elw and not anything older, and the Elw tend more towards sorcery and such forces over mechanical wonders which would've been for me a far more interesting reward. The exploration is a lovely story through." she says cheerfully.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline nods in understanding. Erzebet doesn't know the answer, and Lydia doesn't have much more.
"Hmm...I'd like to experiment with it, if that isn't too much of a problem." Jacqueline comments. One gets the feeling she wouldn't be too upset if she was turned down, though - that's just how it goes sometimes.
She has her own opinions on the matter of 'blank books'...but none of them want to be down here for long enough for her to exhaust that topic.