2018-09-28: Be Kind, Remind
- 2018-09-28: Be Kind, Remind
- Cast: Xantia, Avril Vent Fleur, Ethius Hesiod, Fei Fong Wong
- Where: Ruins of Memory
- Date: September 28th, 2018
- Summary: A number of people with missing memories that previously came together may yet have a new means to recover them, deeper in the Ruins of Memory. Is there truth to what they are made to recall, as the halls see it fit to project them with no rhyme or reason?
=================================================<* 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
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia has a Thing about memory. She's lost hers, of course, that's true for many others aside from her. But her focus on memories, her own as well as others, borders on obsession. Unable to let be what will be, she's always actively seeking leads that might lead to discovering lost memories. Preferably her own of course, but if she can help others recover theirs, that would be the next best thing.
One of her previous leads was the Ruins of Memory, assuming pretty much from the name alone that there would be something helpful to be found in that regard. She even brought together a team of everybody she knew who'd lost their memories, to maximize the odds that at least one of them would come away with something of worth. While that expedition was a success on paper, it didn't exactly lead to the kind of discovery she'd been hoping for.
But of course, that doesn't mean that this kind of discovery doesn't exist. All she needed was a reason to reinvestigate. So when rumors of a deeper level reached her, there was only one thing to do: get the gang back together. Xantia promptly sent out a message by Memory Cube.
"Hi, it's me, Xantia! Have you heard about the lower levels people discovered in the Ruins of Memory? People say there's old magic and technology down there. Doesn't that sound interesting? We should go back there, all of us, and see if anything in there triggers our memory, or can help to recover them. They have to called Ruins of Memory for a reason, right? I'm sure there's something important there!"
She left the date and time she was planning to go there at the end of the message, asking to meet in front of the Ruins. She didn't even check for responses, so she has no idea if any of them even can or will show up.
'Them' being Avril, Ethius and Rudy. Fei didn't receive that message. That would be silly, since, well, she's around him pretty much all the time. Of him, she simply asked, "I helped you find something you wanted to find, so can you help me find something I want to find?" She avoided talking about the specifics too much, since the last time she brought up that stuff went too badly, but... this is Xantia, her thought patterns aren't too difficult to guess. She wants Fei to feel the same way about memories as she does, and believes this could be the perfect way to get him to care more about recovering them.
The only thing other than where they'd be going that she told Fei is that she'd take care of getting a group together. So the identities of those Xantia contacted might be a surprise to him - again, unless you follow Xantia's obvious thought patterns.
And so we find ourselves in front of the Ruins of Memory, Xantia and Fei having traveled here together, while they wait for the rest of the group to arrive. Xantia is, of course, in particularly high spirits about this reunion. High enough for the two of them, in the likely event that Fei isn't feeling it so much. "This is so exciting! I just know we'll find something incredible this time!"
For the others, once they arrive, after the initial pleasantries Xantia will have a question ready for them: "Have you managed to remember anything about your past?" She won't pry for any details, she's just really interested in knowing if they made any progress in that regard, so she can be happy for them!
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Avril has, in fact, some prior familiarity with the levels deeper in the Ruins of Memory. It was not terribly long ago that Talia had asked them there under certain auspices (specifically 'sorry for trying to kill some of you') and while venturing into the depths they had found something quite interesting.
Well, several 'quite interesting' things, if we're being completely honest.
But as they say, to know one side of things is to know just one side of things. It in no way grants mastery or even a more partial understanding. For that and for the sake of the favor owed, then, Avril had agreed.
"It's almost a little nostalgiac, is it not?" she states, gazing up at the silhouette of the ruins, dark against the sky.
"Perhaps, this time you may recover something, Xantia."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius keeps thinking he's further out of reach of people than he really is, because he's always been a silly man like that. Xantia says the right words to get his interest... and there's a small Caravan Kinship show he has no part of setting up or helping run, which is admittedly the norm. Ethius has never given them any help in their marketing prior, and doesn't make or sell anything (unless he might be, in secret, a dealer in ash, soot, and sand or something weird like that). It's easy enough for him to disengage from the festivities.
A part of him recognizes that what he might find, if her intel holds, it would be best if it's not in their company. This may be the opportunity he's looking for.
It turns out that he's at the Ruins of Memory in advance, sitting before a well-hidden campfire which is total bull because how can you have a functional campfire that's hard to notice? (He found a way.) He is finishing the consumption of what was meat but is now maybe one step shy of charcoal that cannot possibly be delectable to anyone but himself as the bubbly martial artist arrives with her friend, Fei - and the mysterious white-haired young woman, who waxes nostalgic.
"I cannot say." Is his response, hand to his forehead.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Maybe one day Fei Fong Wong will appreciate 'sorry for trying to kill all of you' adventures and engage in them himself, but right now he's largely here to lend his fellow amnesiacs a hand. So far, Fei has had negative incentive to find out the truth about his own past aside from hoping to find a clue that will save the world rather than doom it but so far it feels like any secrets he's found are usually of the dire kind. He makes these voyages because he feels like he has to more than because he desires it.
Besides, the last time they came here they found books. He's sure this will be fine! It's fine. It'll be fine. It's fine.
Besides--he owes Xantia this much. It's fine. It's fine. It's all fine.
It's fine.
One nice aspect of being asked to come along is that he doesn't have to gather the party forth. He is fidgeting with his wrist...uh...what are those anyway? Anyway he's fiddling with them. Despite not being enthused over memory investigation, Fei smiles at Xantia because she seems to be in a good mood.
"Simpler times." Fei says to Avril. "After a fashion."
He looks over towards Ethius. "Do you still have amnesia, Ethius?" Judging from some of his behavior, he isn't entirely sure.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"Yes." Ethius remarks, not looking Fei in the eye, or really anyone, as he looks ahead into the depths while still in the throes of his stock 'hand to head' animation.
DG: A party led by Xantia 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> Xantia has posed.
"Hi Avril!" Xantia sends a simple but enthused greeting Avril's way, before her expression turns to mild confusion, questioning, "Is it? I'm not really sure how you know when something is 'nostalgic'." It's not a concept she understands very well. Of course, it could also be that such feelings get drowned out by her overpowering enthusiasm. Whether it's someplace she's been before or not, she seems to be equally hyped up for just about any venture.
Though surprised to find Ethius already waiting closer to the entrance of the ruins, it's the food that draws her immediate attention. That causes some mixed emotions. She wants to eat all the food she sees by default, but this... well, this looks almost ruined. Eating it raw would've been better. Of course, the inevitable conclusion is that she'd still eat it. But this is not her food anyway, so no point in staring at it any longer than she already has been. Maybe she should actually, gosh, say hello to Ethius?
"Hi, Ethius!" There we go. She cants her head at the way he's holding his head. "Do you have a headache?"
Misunderstandings aside, it seems like all of them are still very much members of the Amnesiac Club. Which is unfortunate, but at the same time makes Xantia feel a special kind of bond - which may or may not exist outside of her own mind. "Well then, maybe we'll all recover something!" She has positivity enough for all of them.
Especially with Fei seeming... well, fine. She had some concerns about how he'd take all this, but it seems like she's made the right call. He didn't make any objections all this time, and he's smiling again! That's always a good sign!
There's one downer, though. If Xantia wore a watch, she would glance at it right now, even though she's pretty sure this is the right time. "...I guess Rudy couldn't come." She looks sad for a fleeting moment, but then shakes her head and pumps her fists. "We'll just have to tell him all about what we found later. Let's go!" Focus on the positive, that's how she deals with everything that comes her way.
And with that, the adventure begins! As adventures go, this is a fairly uneventful one. Xantia, as it turns out, remembers the route they took last time in minute detail, as ironic as that is for an amnesiac. Everything that they encountered previously is easily dealt with, if it still has to to be dealt with at all. That is, right until the very end, when...
"Why is it back again?!" Xantia shouts while running from a giant rolling boulder. She knew the trap was there before, she just thought 'we've already sprung this trap, and then broke the giant rock into a million pieces, why would there be another giant rock'. And yet, here we are. Not being in such a great position to turn the Agility challenge into a Brute one again, running seems to be the only option this time around!
DG: Xantia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"...I am fine." He is either not fine, or just prepared to get on with whatever is in there. It's hard to say with him, what with how borderline monotone his voice can be, and how he hides the lower half of his face from everyone, as he joins the downward dive.
One important difference: Ethius didn't have the Hot Air Sack when he first came through here, as he obtained that back over at Gob's Hideout in the Badlands. There are doubtlessly some ledges with hidden treasures over pits he couldn't access prior. Any delays on his part are due to him scoping out any last missing loot that for some reason has not been picked up by other people who had similar capabilities prior.
Maybe he really wants the small gaggle of Potion Berries and decent new equippable weapon for Chime Isa, for some reason.
This thorough retreading aside, he adds nothing to the immediate need in which to run away from a great big boulder which is busy trying to regain its memories as to why it was shattered before, or something. An amnesiac rock that has forgotten that it's already shattered... what a peculiar foe...!
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong says, "Maybe he forgot." absently and not intentionally making any kind of joke there, but sometimes it happens naturally like that. He is, at least, not in any position to give Ethius shit for random headaches because Fei gets them too. Sometimes his headaches are so bad he forgets where he is and who he is. Sometimes his headaches are so bad he passes out and wakes up somewhere later, like in one example in the middle of the Aveh Desert surrounded by hob gobs.
Fei runs the circuit, vaguely remembering how they managed to do this last time. At first it was a jog but then, well, the giant boulder. "This happens a lot..." Fei murmurs under his breath.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Speed-Running Old Content.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Simpler. Perhaps," she echoes Fei. Before she had 'remembered' -- or whatever you could call this gaining by the body, of old well-walked routine rather than the mind, rather than clarity.
"'Nostalgia'? Hmm... I suppose it is a strange concept without many memories to draw from, isn't it? Nevertheless, I do feel like this is a warm, comforting place. It was difficult when we ventured here before, but it's still become a fond memory of mine. Perhaps the quantity is not of much of importance when set alongside the quality."
Here she pauses.
"...Are you all right, Ethius?"
He insists he is, and though a slight frown might color Avril's expression, she...
Still nods, apparently willing to take this as presented.
"...Yes, it does seem as if he is not. Perhaps he became waylaid. It is not safe away from the cities, particularly with Adlehyde so damaged."
She lingers a moment more before voicing: "Shall we?"
And shortly after that--
A MONTAGE MINUTE:
Avril narrowly dodging traps.
Avril ducking out of the way of a Gob blade.
Avril leaping over a short pit.
Avril running ahead of a huge, rolling boulder.
Two huge rolling bolders.
Three?! Who designed this place!
And of course, Lucadia's Medium shining bright throughout the gauntlet.
At least they should get there in record time...
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Sea Medium 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Xantia 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Reckless(2) Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Xantia 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> Xantia has posed.
Xantia nods at the explanation of nostalgia, thought her expression shows that she hasn't understood all that well. Might have been a bit too complicated for her. Still, focusing on the positive, she can agree, "The quality of the company improves any venture!" Because that's a literally quoted phrase from her Guidebook that's easy to agree with.
Headaches seem to be a common theme with amnesiacs, don't they. It's just not one that Xantia has noticed, because she doesn't really get those herself unless she's been seriously overexerting herself. As far as she remembers, anyway. Being discovered in the middle of the Aveh Desert is how her journey started, so maybe...
Though keen to move on and not really a fan of Ethius's hunt for optional items, she doesn't try to stop it or anything. Ethius just does weird things sometimes, it's fine. She's not about to worry about that overmuch, though she's certainly called his name a few times to try and get him to hurry up.
Though Xantia hasn't noticed it, the power of Avril's medium has been helping a lot in safely traversing the 'old' sections of the ruins. The giant boulder is eventually led astray by the simple act of turning a corner, and letting the rock shatter against a wall. That was a bit harrowing... or well, maybe it was for others. If anything, Xantia looks as if she's only gotten more energy from that forced jog. And that's at least partially because...
"...there!" All too keen to move on from bad, giant rock-shaped memories and onto new ones waiting beyond, Xantia is quick to rush the Elw rune-covered giant door ahead, the one that wouldn't open last time. If the rumors are true, then...
Sure enough, getting close to the door causes it to open on its own this time. And beyond, a promisingly shiny new hallway. It may be a trick of the mysterious blue torchlight, but the green walls up ahead seem to sparkle, beckoning for further investigation. "This is it, this is the entrance! We just have to go further down from here, and..."
Xantia pauses, then decides to finish that sentence with, "And who knows what we'll find!" She nods to herself, seeming to consider this a positive enough statement to end that note on.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>==============================================
========================================<* CHALLENGE - Build Your Own Bridge *>=========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
Some portions of the Ruins of Altered Memory seem unfinished. The walls
become rougher hewn; the ground is more littered with rubble and debris. As
you enter this room, you find a chasm; you also see a door across that
chasm. However, the ancient construction crews that built this place left
three huge, long lengths of stone here.
These could be slid across -- and secured, which may take explosives or
other Tools -- and then create a bridge to cross that chasm.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Tire=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius is thorough, if anything else. The random garbage he finds had better be worth it. There might even be roadblocks later that require another Tool but let's not get too far ahead, that's what the Prima guide is for. Go buy it!!
(legal disclaimer: no that doesn't exist)
Ethius takes point abruptly as they enter the dark emerald green depths... and throws his arm back.
"There is no floor." This is true. There is no floor. The hallway is proportioned as such that there isn't much room to maneuver, so there's not much room for fancy movement tricks. There is just no floor - nothing but a chasm that leads to oblivion, or at least a place without any of the oddly hued torches that otherwise light the way. There happens to be a door on the other side, so the architects sure must have designed a way back then... or was their work interrupted?
"It would appear our way forward does not yet exist." Ethius seems to be of the latter thought. The walls here don't seem to be... finished being carved? The whole place looks barely worked upon, without the weird runes or patterns on them.
There are, at least, some huge segments of stone here. The stone is incidentally of the same strange dark green hue as the rest of the walls. What is it even carved out of?
"I do not believe I am capable of drifting across," Ethius remarks, "and I scarce spot any mechanism that would govern a drawbridge or architectual equivalent as such..."
He stands with a hand to his forehead, once more. He doesn't seem to hold any immediate plan.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Build Your Own Bridge.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong is trying not to worry about what Xantia might find in her own head. Unless she is completely different from her past self, he doubts it was anybody too bad. Of course, maybe there are no memories to find but he can cross that bridge if it's ever built by the taxpayers in Fei's head.
"Well this one seems familiar," Fei murmurs, nodding to Ethius as he mentions that a sack of hot air will not be enough to solve this latest problem. They might need to use... BRUTE... FORCE!
This is probably not the kind of problem summoning his dark hadou can solve either. Fei says, "Guess it's the old fashioned way."
He gets to pushing blocks. This may be comically ineffective.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Build Your Own Bridge.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia is surprised to see Ethius suddenly rushing right past her after the door to the depths opens. Now he's suddenly in a hurry to move on? Ah well, she'd better follow close--
Xantia runs directly into Ethius's outstretched arm. Before she can even ask what he did that for, that information is volunteered, prompting her to suggest, "Are you sure? Maybe the floor's invisible!" Thankfully she knows better than to test that theory the hard way, and instead kicks some rubble over the edge. Since it falls waaaaay down before making a barely audible sound of impact somewhere in the pit of darkness, Xantia has to conclude, "Or maybe not. Probably not the best way to get to the lower levels."
She scratches her head when Ethius suggests this route was never finished. "That's weird. Is this a different door than the one from the rumors?" It would have to be, there's no way nobody would have finished building this bridge before they got here. This isn't a bad thing, that means less risk of finding whatever's down here already taken by someone else!
Using brute force is of course fine by her, it's just a matter of... how? While she looks around for something she could smash to possibly bridge the gap somehow and coming up empty, Fei sets an example, starting to move blocks in place to form the first pillar of a bridge.
"Oh, I get it!" With that, Xantia casually lifts a giant stone slab that was probably actually meant to form the bridge before this work was abandoned, carrying it over to the block pillar to bridge it with a pillar placed further in the pit. It's not a bad idea. Xantia talents are more in breaking things than building things though, so hopefully people can give her some directions or where to place which part, exactly.
DG: Xantia has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Build Your Own Bridge.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Even weakened, Lucadia's power continues thanks to the mechanisms of the Original Artificial Medium itself -- and here at least does not falter. They eventually reach the ends of the well-traveled upper reaches...
And find that the first obstacle awaiting them within the walls is a chasm, splitting the ancient stone of the Elw.
"It would appear there is no hidden bridge." So she says, after the sound rubble rattling along stone echoes up from the abyss.
The creators thus is a matter Avril speaks to:
"From what I have been lead to understand, these ruins were constructed by the Elw." She pauses, for the moment lingering on the edge of the abyss. "It is strange here, however. It almost appears as if they did not complete construction. Hmm. I wonder for what purpose this place was built?"
Her gaze turns for the moment towards the blocks.
Then back down at the depths of the chasm.
Then back again over at Ethius, Fei, and then Xantia.
"I wonder..."
She retrieves a certain device from beneath her wrap... and presses the button.
The ruins rumble. But will there here be a Golem--?
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Remote Golem Override toward her party's challenge, Build Your Own Bridge.
=============================================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>==============================================
========================================<* CHALLENGE - Build Your Own Bridge *>=========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
Some portions of the Ruins of Altered Memory seem unfinished. The walls
become rougher hewn; the ground is more littered with rubble and debris. As
you enter this room, you find a chasm; you also see a door across that
chasm. However, the ancient construction crews that built this place left
three huge, long lengths of stone here.
These could be slid across -- and secured, which may take explosives or
other Tools -- and then create a bridge to cross that chasm.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Tire=============================================
========================================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 2 *>========================================= ==========================================< Results - Build Your Own Bridge >=========================================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 10 --(5)--> 15 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 10 --(5)--> 15 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Remote Golem Override 4 Brute Effects: None -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Xantia 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Injure(1)|Reckless(1)|Tire(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Xantia 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> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Before Fei can put his back into the weight pushing, Xantia just up and weight lifts it. Ethius' stride is broken mid-thought as he has to dodge out of the way of an eager young super-strong, super-hungry, super-amnesiac woman with a mission! A mission to lift super heavy slabs as she indulges in the beginnings of her own engineering career!
The ruins rumble. Ethius already defensively puts out a palm as if ready to melt/electrocute/stuff a whole lot of dust/all of the above to a Golem that emerges...!
...Which gets clonked in the head, accidentally, by Xantia's carried slab. Its cranium caves in and ruptures before it collapses forward in such a way that its bulk forms a stable bridge across the exact length that it needs to.
...
"...It is inert." Ethius declares. And so, a way forward was made.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Well..." Fei says after a moment. "It worked."
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>========================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Ball of Crushing *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- After you step into this hallway, the door behind you slides down and locks shut. That 'click' noise, alone, might be worrying to a veteran ruin explorer. More concerning, however, is the way that a massive stone ball drops down on the far side of the hall. It fills it almost completely, and begins rolling towards you! Outrunning it isn't an option -- but obstructing or destroying it may yet be. =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
From beneath, a smallish (relatively. relatively. it's still pretty big) Golem emerges from the depths of the chasm, grasping the edge of the gap and hauling itself up--
Just in time for a stone block to smash its head in. It cracks like pottery and slumps, forming a quite effective bridge.
"Oh, I see. So that was the bridge," Avril comments, tilting her head to one side.
"...My apologies," she informs the broken Golem as they step over the gap.
After all, this one is more complete than some of the others they've encountered.
But the way forward is straightforward: once they cross the bridge it's through the only door that beckons them.
The only door, which slams shut behind them.
'click' is never a good sound to hear in a ruin.
"Oh..."
Avril's gaze lifts. She, briefly, runs in a dash towards the heavy stone ball that has crashed down on the opposite end of the hallway and has begun its inexorable roll towards them.
The door behind them is unlikely to open. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
And she, reaching the end of her dash lashes outwards with a frigid burst of the sorcery she learned and honed on Lunar.
It's her own, of course. No blessing of Althena this. In fact, it's remarkably like...
Ether, isn't it?
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ball of Crushing.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius takes up the rear, still looking to the Golem bridge like it might yet reawaken and cause them issues. He does not stop to consider what its noble sacrifice - however unwitting - may have given to the lot of them.
He damned near loses his outstretched hand when that door slams shut behind him, drawing it back in the nick of time as he looks ahead. Basic instinct - and a distant clicking sound ahead - dictates there's something about to come down from ah-- yes. A giant boulder, positioned as such so that there isn't any running away to it. It's facing down an inevitable death by crushing.
"Mister Fei," he warns, "I am going to be applying heat." He remembers some basic decency!! This means he's lying about being an amnesiac at all! (Ha ha.)
Ethius, having grown a bit more familiar with Avril's attunement to the element of ice - and having noted how it seems to lack some of the prerequisites in spellcasting he's witnessed among Symbologists, Crest Sorcerers, and even those of Althena's Blessing - flutters his fingers and chants the appropriate syllables to prepare a heat spell of appropriate yield in tandem with Avril's ice - rapid heating, rapid cooling, which should make it brittle.
He suspects Xantia might take care of the rest from there, if her penchant for hoisting heavy things that should not be possible were any indication.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Ball of Crushing.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia doesn't mind puzzles that allow her to use her strength instead of her mind. Once she understands what she needs to do, she sets to her task with full enthusiasm, waving slabs of stone around in ways that are entirely unsafe around a giant pit, but at least any major accidents are prevented.
Until a Golem pops up from the pit out of nowhere, causing Xantia to turn sharply, and the slab she was holding to violently shatter upon impact with the thing's head. Ruining a piece of the puzzle would have made it difficult to finish the bridge... were it not for the Golem's remains to solve that little issue. Xantia stands confused for a moment, then shrugs and agrees, "I guess that did work!" And cheerfully crosses the golem's carcass like nothing out of the ordinary just happened.
Leave it to Xantia to accidentally find a way to create something by breaking something. Good thing Dean wasn't here to see this.
Xantia's cheer lasts about as long as it takes for her to hear that click, prompting her to groan and whine, "Not agaaaain..." Every single time she heard that particular noise before, it caused a giant boulder to fall. Looks like it's time to start running again--
Wait, this is different. The rock is in front this time. And a quick look behind her as the door slams shut leads to the quick realization that there is no way to run. That narrows down the options to those that Xantia prefers anyway. The only choice is whether to try and bring it to a stop by grabbing it, or trying to smash it.
Avril brings ice into the equation, which makes up her mind for her. She's not about to grab that thing now that it's bound to be super cold. Ethius then adds heat, which... she might have less trouble with, but the correct answer still seems to be 'settle this by punching'. Not an ordinary punch, of course. When Xantia dashes forward with a loud yell, her right fist glows with a soft white light, causing an explosion of energy on impact with the ball of stone.
Despite using Ether herself to do this, she's not quick to notice when something is or is not Ether, so she doesn't draw any particular conclusions in that regard. Nor does she have any idea of the 'ice and fire makes brittle' plan. She's just here to do what she does best: punch things.
DG: Xantia has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ball of Crushing.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei just kind of spontaneously makes magical effects happen too sometimes so he doesn't ask how she can do strange sorcery. To be honest, despite all the questions Fei does ask, he rarely asks questions that seem to be, well, obvious. Like 'why can Avril do this weird magic?' 'why is Ethius so detemined to destroy ancient tech in some cases, but doesn't seem to care in others?'. Instead he's wondering if there's any truth to him having a connection with Xantia in this moment and if it's not true, what that means in the future? Will Xantia just vanish one day to follow a lead? He supposes he shouldn't fret too much.
"Huh?" Fei says to Ethius, stirred out of his thoughts by the warning. He blinks a few times in shock. "Ah." He says.
FEI PSYCHO DOWN
"...Wow, thanks for the warning." He feels like he's about to cry. Today, perhaps, he won't be accidentally set on fire! The world does change, if you just give it a chance and some time...! Everything isn't doomed forever, just most things!!
He's in such a good mood he fires a death beam from his hand at the giant ball tumbling towards them.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Mother's Cross toward his party's challenge, Ball of Crushing.
=========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>========================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Ball of Crushing *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- After you step into this hallway, the door behind you slides down and locks shut. That 'click' noise, alone, might be worrying to a veteran ruin explorer. More concerning, however, is the way that a massive stone ball drops down on the far side of the hall. It fills it almost completely, and begins rolling towards you! Outrunning it isn't an option -- but obstructing or destroying it may yet be. =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
====================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 3 *>===================== =========================< Results - Ball of Crushing >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 0 --(33)--> 33 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 15 --(33)--> 48 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 15 --(28)--> 43 Pass Mother's Cross 4 Brute Effects: None -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(33)--> 33 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Xantia 40 --(10)--> 50 Fail Conditions: Suffer(1)|Tire(1)|Weaken(1) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Xantia 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: Fei Fong Wong 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> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
As she faces down the fall of slowly grinding forward doom, Avril bears nothing less than the proverbial 'game face': eyes narrowed, lips pressed thin, all of her focus engineered towards the annihilation of the inescapable obstacle.
As once before, she joins spells with Ethius, flash-freezing the rock as he prepares a detonation.
As once before, her spell is followed up by a purely destructive burst of chi from Fei.
And newly, as she casts her spell she joins forces with Xantia, perhaps using a bit of her own secret technique upon the rolling rock.
The rock explodes.
So does part of the hallway. Possibly a good section of the ruin.
"...Was that too much?" Avril asks in the wake of the destruction.
Probably. They're not squished any, but they will have to pick their path through the rubble.
It slows things down.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius rises up from the rocky explosion, clutching his head again. There's red starting to come down from under the hand clutching it. (Even if the hand wasn't there, the red getting in his white hair would give it away.)
That's one important quota fulfilled.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei manages to avoid serious injury but he does, quickly, see that Ethius is bleeding. "Ethius...!" Fei says with wide eyes. He rushes over and says, "Hold on, we need to bandage that up." And probably clean the wound as soon as possible but Fei doesn't carry around disinfectant with him. He usually has Lily or Citan or hell Elly around to help in that kind of scenario. REgardless, Fei isn't gonna let the group move on until Ethius's wound is handled in some capacity. And then...
Finally! A mindscrew!
Once the group finally pushes away the rubble the team finds themselves in a carvernous hallway. At the end of the hall, there's a stairwell and door. But hanging ove the hallway is a massive set of wind chimes. Fei looks up at them for a long time. He is hearing something. It isn't exactly from his childhood, exactly, but it still sounds as far away as one's childhood might be. It still makes tears tumble from his eyes unbidden as he looks right on up at those chimes.
BGM INTERRUPT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEmTH7-nQUM
"That song..." He murmurs. "It's the same song as from the music box. I wonder...if it's still at Doc's place." He exhales faintly. "Why is it, when I listen to this song...I feel warm inside..?"
He picks up a mallet, curling it up into his arms. What was it citan had said when he asked that question?
That just may be because you have someone living inside of you... And he too must have liked this music a long time ago before he became a part of you
But that person who became him, fei wonders silently to himself, is that someone I want to be a part of me at all?
Fei approaches the chimes and begins to play the melody from his heart. Does he want to remember? If he remembers, maybe it won't be a warm melody anymore.
But sitll he plays.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Ring the Bells.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Are you all right, Ethius?" Avril voices, her expression betraying some dismay. Fei might be the one better with the bandaging, but she can at least offer her assistance in the form of the Sea Medium's healing power -- another gift that maintains, even if Mother has awakened.
Again, there's a song. Different from before. It's...
"Oh... it's beautiful. Is this... from your childhood--"
No, she realizes, a second and a half later. No, it's not from his childhood. It's more recent than that, but still something that appears to strike the young man she's come to know to the quick.
"...Oh," Avril murmurs, her gaze turning away, towards the chimes.
It's not a song that Avril knows -- she remembers nothing of her own childhood, whatever it might have been like. And yet, there's something familiar about it.
"It's a nostalgic song... isn't it."
Carefully, she picks up one of the small hammers and lets ring a single note into eternity.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ring the Bells.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius does allow assistance, but he does seem to be a bit squeamish to let people touch his blood at all. It's weird. It's not like it's a weird color or anything. He's a weirdo in general. Withholding his name for a long time, hiding the lower half of his face, no touchy on the blood (come to think of it there tends to be a lot of things he doesn't like people touching in general around the world that doesn't involve his body).
Moving on to the present...
It's a pleasant song. It's not his song... is it? No, it can't be. Why would he remember a-- he eyes the tears coming from Fei's face. That must be his, then. It makes Ethius reflect upon the journey here so far. Was that hallway with no floor his? The way he reacted to the Golem's emergence... no, that can't be out of the ordinary, almost anyone would be alarmed by it. The boulder? They've all encountered the boulder. Ethius closes his eyes as he steps away from the chimes, off into one of the corners of the hallway.
He doesn't move to assist with the playing of the chimes, as he occasionally clutches his forehead. He evades matching any glances one may yet make in his direction...
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Ring the Bells.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia remains standing in the wake of the explosion of rock directly in front of her. It's pretty dramatic, just... not very smart, as she quickly gets covered in rubble coming back down from both the rock and the walls on either side. Her head pops out again soon enough, sneezing and coughing all the while Xantia frees the rest of herself from the mess they've made.
To Avril's question, she replies, "It wasn't enough! Should've blown up the entire thing, rather than blowing it into bits..." If only Id were here, he'd have disintegrated that rock good and proper. And probably destroyed even more of the ruins than they just managed to do, but Xantia sees no downsides to this.
She just kind of... watches the concern over Ethius's head wound. She's not exactly proficient in conventional medicine, there isn't much she can do here, unless... No. She shouldn't, not if this treatment will suffice. She's still too concerned over what might go wrong if she tries to use her powers for that purpose again. She just can't help but wonder if this happens a lot. That would explain the headaches.
And then, the group enters the room of wind chimes. The song is pretty, certainly, but it doesn't hold any kind of particular meaning to Xantia. But Fei... when she watches him, it's clear how deeply it affects him. 'Nostalgic', Avril invokes again. Now she understands a little better how powerful a sensation that can be. In the end, this is the power of memories at work, isn't it?
Xantia isn't any good with music. Even if she was, it just... doesn't feel right to interrupt this moment. Instead, she places a hand on Fei's back, as a wordless gesture of support. She's not sure if Fei needs it. But it's the best thing she can think of to be of help to him right now.
DG: Xantia 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 4 *>==================== =========================< Results - Ring the Bells >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 33 --(20)--> 53 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 48 --(15)--> 63 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 43 --(20)--> 63 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 33 --(20)--> 53 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Xantia 50 --(10)--> 60 Fail Conditions: Save Point(1) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Xantia 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> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
It's more recent than that.
And far far longer ago than that.
The melody is played flawlessly. Fei has a perfect memory of it, as if he'll never forget it. If he hasn't forgotten it after this long it seems unlikely he ever would forget it, reallly. It's more that sometimes the melody just hides away elsewhere in his mind when it's not needed.
When it's done....the door opens. Fei seems surprised by this, as if he didn't think it was supposed to work. He frowns faintly, cutting the melody just a bit short as he lowers the mallet. Yes, that's the problem. The door opened before he finished the whole melody. That's weird.
He rubs at his face. "I didn't expect to hear that again." Fei says. "But whomever it belonged to..."
He walks through the doors. "It wasn't from me..was it?"
And then, after everybody has left through to the next area...
BGM INTERRUPT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtbFwHSZaQ0
The chimes shimmer faintly...
...and cracks start forming along the surface, spreading rapidly before...shattering into a million shards.
DG: Xantia has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>=========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Remembering the Dance *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
As you set foot into this next room, two people appear: a man and woman,
wearing the finery of a ball in Rolance. They take one anothers' hands, and
then begin to waltz. You may remember the waltz; it bares shocking
similarity to couples who danced at the ball at House d'Armagnac, where La
Fille du Temps first struck.
However, each tile that they step on lights up blue. The remaining floor
tiles do not -- and when the couple begins to spin, sometimes there are gaps
in the lit up tiles. The result is a twisting, treacherous path across the
room. It leads to a platform with a doorway... and a locked chest.
The couple turns and bows to you. Which is when every tile /not/ lit up
explodes in columns of flame. Then, the tiles all grow dark. Your memory and
your surefootedness will be tested today.
=Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm, Treasure======================================
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia doesn't have the faintest idea what exactly happened in that room. She could tell that it greatly affected Fei, on a level which she probably doesn't have any way of possibly understanding. All else that she can tell is that the door opened, so that means playing the melody was a success! No reason not to be happy about that result! "Great job, Fei!" She gives him one last pat on the back before removing her hand from it.
Strange. Fei doesn't seem that happy about it. And he's saying stuff that doesn't make any sense to her. She blinks, and frowns a bit. "What are you talking about? You remembered it, right? That was a memory, so that proves this place does things with memories! I knew there had to be a reason why it was called that!"
In Xantia's mind, things tend to be a lot simpler than they tend to be for most people. This can arguably be a good thing sometimes. But that's not going to help her with what lies just ahead, in the room beyond.
"This is... from the time when...!" Xantia recognizes the scene before her instantly. She was there, to stop the infamous Phantom Thief's heist with Metal Digger Locus. Her big public debut as Mystery Hero X. When Carina convinced her to blend in, so she wore a dress for the first time, and then ran straight into...
She glances at Fei, reddening slightly as she remembers her embarrassment in that moment. Then she shakes her head violently. "No no no, why, why is it this? I remember this already, I need... I want to remember things from further back!"
No amount of complaining is going to alter the reality, however. In the end, this is still a ballroom, with two figures showing the only safe path through by means of a dance. Xantia also remembers seeing that dance before, but...
"...It's not expecting us to dance, is it? I've never... I don't know how to dance." She scuffs her foot against the floor, feeling like she's going to be useless here. Unless someone else has any bright ideas about how she could help.
DG: Xantia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Remembering the Dance.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"Perhaps, Miss Xantia, it only matters that feet touch where they do." Ethius speaks up from behind. It's always so weird how Ethius can maintain that tone of voice of his, even when he does not seem to be holding up as well as he may outwardly appear. That was a nasty head boo-boo. He didn't look too peaceful to be in that room with the chimes, which is weird because that wasn't his song.
Ethius finishes getting the harness for that once bandit loot sack back around a wrist, and Symbologically casts forth more heat to inflate it. He tries to follow the steps, which... he doesn't need to hover for? It's more of a safety measure to make sure he keeps his balance, and can also lift both his feet off the ground so he doesn't accidentally tap a foot he doesn't mean to at any point. So long as his concentration holds and the balloon doesn't drift off-course unexpectedly...
...after all, there may have been a dramatic breeze at some point. He wasn't there for it, and can't anticipate it.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Remembering the Dance.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Don't fret, Xantia. We can always return if we need to. Perhaps the ruins are having difficulty because of our unique situation." Fei tries to reassure Xantia. Maybe he's trying to reassure her because she just tried to reassure him. His smile looks a little vague as he turns his attention to the dancefloor, his eyes widening as fire bursts out of the floor. "Oh no." He says, "I think we'd be better served trying to find another way around."
He turns around and tries the knob on the door.
THE DOOR IS LOCKED
It seems mysterious shattering of a puzzle has made this particular exit route unfeasible.
Fei frowns deeply, exhales, slaps his face twice with both hands and slides onto the dance floor dramatically and...!
*FWOOSH!*
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Remembering the Dance.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Was it from him?
"I do not know," Avril says, setting down her mallet. She follows after, through the door.
The chimes shatter. Their destruction is not known to her.
"Perhaps."
It's as much as she can offer.
What lies in the next room is a familiar tableau. No, not because she had seen the original from whence it percolated, but from the last time she ventured into these ruins. She watches the figures as they swirl off into the darkness, watching only where they go and paying little heed to what they do.
"Xantia," Avril says, drawing out her Medium which is already aglitter with light. "Would you like to dance?" She extends a hand.
"After all, two together is better than one alone. They showed us which way we should go. Now, let us follow it."
The light burns around her. "Shall we?"
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Remembering the Dance.
========================<* Ruins of Altered Memory *>=========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Remembering the Dance *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
As you set foot into this next room, two people appear: a man and woman,
wearing the finery of a ball in Rolance. They take one anothers' hands, and
then begin to waltz. You may remember the waltz; it bares shocking
similarity to couples who danced at the ball at House d'Armagnac, where La
Fille du Temps first struck.
However, each tile that they step on lights up blue. The remaining floor
tiles do not -- and when the couple begins to spin, sometimes there are gaps
in the lit up tiles. The result is a twisting, treacherous path across the
room. It leads to a platform with a doorway... and a locked chest.
The couple turns and bows to you. Which is when every tile /not/ lit up
explodes in columns of flame. Then, the tiles all grow dark. Your memory and
your surefootedness will be tested today.
=Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm, Treasure======================================
===================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 5 *>==================== =====================< Results - Remembering the Dance >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 53 --(5)--> 58 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 63 --(10)--> 73 Fail Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 63 --(5)--> 68 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 53 --(5)--> 58 Pass Sea Medium 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Xantia 60 --(25)--> 85 Pass Conditions: Overwhelm|Treasure(1) Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Xantia has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
"Huh? Well, maybe... do you think it's that easy?" So Xantia says when Ethius makes his suggestion, though she probably meant the word 'simple' rather than 'easy'. It's not easy at all to traverse that complex floor pattern without any mistakes. There's quite a few close calls when Ethius and Fei try their approaches, not helping Xantia's confidence that she can do this. Especially after Fei pretty much made it entirely clear that he doesn't think he can do it either, THANKS FEI
This is when Avril suggests the exact thing that Xantia was dreading. She just sort of stares from Avril to the sparkly Medium and back to Avril, blinking twice before making sure that she made herself clear before. "But, I just said, I don't know how..."
Avril extends her hand. Xantia takes it, in spite of her objections. She makes raises new ones, however. "I... we really shouldn't, I'm going to mess up all the time and trip all the traps, you'd have a better chance by yourself."
As she's lead into the initial pose before the dance truly commences, she tries one last time to stop this horrible mistake from happening. "I'm telling you, this is a really bad idea!"
Then the dance begins, and, somehow... it's practically flawless. No one is more surprised about this than Xantia, who finds she has very little trouble following Avril's lead. As if she knew how to dance all along, but just... forgot. Xantia may have just recovered a memory she would never have expected she had.
The chest at the far end opens on its own once the path is correctly travelled, though it's actually empty, save a card from La Fille Du Temps, proclaiming that she already took the treasure. Xantia doesn't care in the slightest. She's just... stunned after that experience. It takes her a while to find words again, and when she does, only manages an emphatic, "Thank you, Avril." This one's going to take her a while to process.
DG: Ethius Hesiod 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: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Alone in the Dark. DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Alone in the Dark. DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Alone in the Dark. DG: Xantia has used her Tool Guide to Dungeoneering toward her party's challenge, Alone in the Dark.
========================================<* Ruins of Altered Memory - Round 6 *>========================================= ============================================< Results - Alone in the Dark >============================================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 58 --(17)--> 75 Fail Guide to Dungeoneering 1 Wits Effects: Rally and Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 73 --(17)--> 90 Fail Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 68 --(17)--> 85 Fail Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 58 --(17)--> 75 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Xantia 85 --(0)--> 85 Fail Conditions: Injure(2)|Overwhelm|Stupify(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Xantia 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: Ethius Hesiod 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> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius moves on ahead, hurriedly, outside of the ballroom. He is seeing patterns. He does not like these patterns. He gets out the eyeglass of his, casts that electrical spell to give it light, and starts down a spiral staircase with it up to one of his eyes. He sees no connections between devices between here and there... is this staircase empty? The room ahead is a total blank to it...? He stows it away, and continues out into an oxagonal chamber. Its condition almost appears pristine, compared to what precedes it. He heads out into the hallway...
Then, darkness. Nothing. Others who follow will feel this sudden sensation of cessation. Death?
...
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
UNKNOWN
The fields are green. They are greener than anything on Filgaia. One would be hard pressed to find a larger continuous field of grass. It almost looks like it could be a field from Lunar, but... Lunar's fields aren't as... controlled? The blades of grass are of uniform, short length. The blades themselves don't seem positioned in a way that reflects how nature would distribute their seeds. The grass blades are uncomfortably orderly in their appearance. The sky is blue in a way that seems weird. Is that a sky at all? There's no visible sliver of a planet that would answer where this is taking place - no Blue Star in the sky, not even the Silver Star. Even the clouds lack much variance in their shapes.
A white-haired, dark-skinned young man - no older than sixteen, if even that - stands with his back turned. His hair is unkempt, and much due for a haircut. He wears a loose-fitting maroon shirt with... numbers on it? There is something in white text above it, but his hair is obscuring it. He is wearing a matching pair of shorts and cleated white shoes. The white is too bright, like it hasn't been subject to the rigors of the world's dust and dirt. Under his left, dark-skinned arm is a dirty, soft, spherical object with pentagonal-shaped patches in two colors: white, and black. The black pentagons are much fewer in number. This ball, too, looks... too clean.
"You can't be for real?!" Calls out an older male voice. No, that needs to have a question mark on it, there's a reverb to it that doesn't make it sound like it comes out of the throat of a person. "You're going to leave this all behind?"
"..." The teenager is stone silent. What is he looking at? There's nothing in the sky. It sounds animated behind him, with murmurs and shuffling feet. Maybe he's looking away, then. What is he looking away from?
"Ethius!" Huh. That is Ethius' name, but it has a mildly different pronunciation than what one may have heard. An accent thing? A stand-out detail, however small. The footsteps grow louder-- wait. That's not a crowd, that's a... set of feet? Someone or something that is not bipedal, but a quadruped, walking on all fours. The shape suggests something canine, but their appendages don't end in digitigrade form. They terminate into shapes like human hands, if human hands had thumbs on both sides of said hand. They are wearing similarly colored fabrics, which in turn have a sheen unseen anywhere on those two worlds. It's bright. It's clean. It's nothing like what anyone wears.
"I made up my mind." The teenager replies coolly. It's an eerie mirror to how a certain grown-up speaks right now - almost without emotion. "I leave tomorrow."
"Ethius! Tomorrow?! What the hell? Tomorrow, you're going to throw this away? The best thing any of us could've asked for?!" The quadruped stomps their foremost right hand a few times into the ground, curling their hands against it. No dirt accumulates, or disrupts the turf's arrangement.
"I have to."
"You don't!"
"I want to."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
The quadruped is furious... stunned. Their posture slackens until they rest upon the ground. Their neck - or torso? Some kind of centaur? - extends far beyond what can be seen. It's like they've decided to sit in front of the 'camera,' as if almost aware someone might be watching some time in the future.
"You have got to let all that go. I'm... I don't know everythin--"
"You don't need to know anything." The teenager interrupts, brushing them off.
"It's not too late... you know, Ethius, you really took to all this a lot better than, than... gosh. Even after all of... y-you know, it's like this is what you were put into creation fo--"
"It isn't." The teenage boy lets the white-and-black sphere drop to the turf, where it rolls poignantly at a slow - even glacial - pace to a raised double-sided-hand to catch.
"Ethius... you've already made quite the name." The ball is pushed back towards him. "A-At your age...! You'd be a match for anyone already in the highest levels... an hour ago, just an hour ago, Ethius! I wanted to keep it a surprise, but--"
"It's meaningless. I already decided." Ethius tries to cut him off. He doesn't respond to the ball, as it lightly taps his heel. It is as though he has decided it is no longer part of his world.
"You're not looking me in the eyes, Ethius." The quadruped says, voice lower. "You don't look anyone in the eyes when you're troubled." Beat. "That's what your mother told me."
"My mother." Ethius repeats those words with less emotion or reverence than one might when referring to a parent. He's still a child. "She did not."
The quadruped brings one of their hind legs up... huh. If one's to put a hand on their face, why a distant one? Maybe they should ask one of these quadrupeds if they find them. "Come on. You can see it now, can't you? The rising flame who sets the field alight to carry the torch to victory, Ethius--"
"Hesiod." Ethius cuts him off. His voice becomes sharper, as he turns his gaze over his left shoulder. That glare. That's his - though it's still impossible to make out the rest of his face from this angle. "Ethius Hesiod."
"..." The quadruped rises. "Ethius, that's-- that name, you... you're doing it under that nam--"
The young Ethius whirls back, taking his shirt right off of himself - his torso almost bare, save for a few markings. Tattoos? Are they Symbological? They don't look like it. Text doesn't do justice to how brief the window of opportunity is in which to peek, as the young Ethius hurls this shirt at the 'camera,' with one closing loud shout.
"It's Ethius Hesiod!!"
The raw emotion seems unthinkable of him. It is furious. It is desperate. It is sad. It is also resolute, for a name they are choosing not to hide.
Unlike someone else they know.
The young Ethius walks away - he appears to be leaving, no, have left something behind.
There may be someone who is not going to leave him behind.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
What a way to recover a memory that was. Honestly, Xantia would have been satisfied coming away with just the memory of dancing skills she didn't know she had. Even though it makes absolutely no sense to her. How does that fit with everything else? She always thought all she was good at was fighting, heavy lifting, that sort of thing. Dancing doesn't fit into the limited picture she painted for herself. Is that something she used to be interested in? But why? She doesn't understand what practical purpose a skill like that could possibly serve. There is much she needs to think about.
Xantia's thoughts continue wandering, right as she steps into the next room. A sense that something terrible is about to happen intrudes on her thoughts then, and she casts a look around at her companions-- when darkness overtakes her.
The thought of 'companions' still lingers when she opens her eyes again. Why was she thinking about that just now? Wishful thinking, she supposes. If only there was someone else with her. Someone who could tell her something, anything.
But she has no one like that. And there's no way she's going to meet anyone around here. There's no way she can believe that anymore. Not after walking through all this sand for what seems like forever.
Everything around her looks the same. Nothing but sand, as far as the eye can see. No landmarks, no end in sight. No idea where she is, no idea where she's going. Or who she is. Xantia, yes, her name is Xantia. But who is she?
It's not even the blistering heat that's bothering her the most, nor the exhaustion from walking for however long it's been. It's the hunger. Hunger so overpowering that it hurts. She'll eat anything at this point. But she'll have to find something first. So she can't stop. She'll surely die out here if she doesn't keep moving.
The only thing she feels absolutely certain about is that she was supposed to do something... something very important. What was it? If only she could remember that, maybe she'd have some inkling of where she should be going. But no, no time for that now. Focus on surviving. Surviving at any cost. Then she can worry about who she is.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed. <SoundTracker> Manami Kiyota : The Spiritual World - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pltfrCqMWCo
"It's alright," Avril says, continuing to offer her hand. "I shall show you how. Follow what I do, now."
And she smiles, once, as Xantia takes it. "I cannot dance alone like this. This dance requires two. Is that not so?" She glances to the men as if to request their input, but proceeds even should it not come.
Medium tucked into the crook of her arm, she draws Xantia to her, pulling her along in a near-perfect mimic of the phantasms that had passed just before into the darkness. "You are doing well. Keep following my lead."
It feels like an hour dancing.
It feels like seconds dancing.
They cross, and here, Avril's hand slips from Xantia's, before she dips in a shallow bow, silver hair cascading over her shoulders.
As if they had just attended some grand ball, and had just danced a stunner across the floor, to the eyes of all in attendance. "Thank you, too, Xantia. Shall we continue on?"
She should have expected the darkness.
Sooner or later.
She stumbles. Staggers for a moment, shoulders hunched.
The lighting is low, a dull pale blue. It barely illuminates anything at all as she walks the dark corridor, alone.
Should she walk these steps more quickly?
But to proceed is only to thrust herself once more upon the blade.
Whether she is eager or reluctant in this moment... even she cannot speak to the heart of her emotions. Not now. Not ever.
But so long as her heart still beats...
The lighting is getting darker. Here and now it flickers, as if nearing its own point of extinction. She pays it no heed.
No matter how many times she sees it, it's the same.
Even here, it's become cold.
For a moment there she stands before the dark shape of the sarcophagus, as if lost in thought, as wondering, pondering, if this time she might instead...
Instead...
"..."
She straightens, as if to push back against the image.
In the memory her hand slides against the surface and this time, the coffin closes.
"...It's a memory. You must not let it take control."
Her voice lifts. "Our memories are important to us, us who have so few to bring hither, but we must not let them rule us. We must press onwards, to the futures that await."
"Wake up."
"Open your eyes!"
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei follows after Ethius, similarly eager to escape that particular death trap. He is still a bit singed from where the fire erupted around him though it doesn't seem to have done major damage. Fei has fought the Black Ties enough times to get very good at adapting to being on fire and countering it with adaptive chi.
But as he pats out the fire on his shoulder, suddenly he's in darkness. It's like a whole bunch of stage lights suddenly shut themselves off. He turns around rapidly, gazing from side to side in horror, and then he a spotlight shines down on a chair. Just a chair in the middle of nowhere.
"No..." Fei grabs at his head. "not now!"
A projector screen lights upand he sees an old video. A child and his mother passing the ball back and forth to one another. Every few seconds it clicks back and starts over from the beginning. It's impossible to conceive of somebody to find interest in it for more than a minute at most.
But a child watches that video over and over again.
"I don't care." The kid says. "You handle it."
And then the child is gone. Then the projector screen is gone.
And then he walks forward some more, only to find another screen entirely. Fei reaches out to touch it and it flickers on.
It reveals a green field. Greener than anything on Filgaia. A soccer field, Fei thinks.
What's a soccer field, Fei thinks.
I know
The young Ethius walks away from his teammate? Friend? But he finds that a boy in a white shirt is standing before him.
"You're not from Filgaia." The boy says. Somehow, despite being far smaller than Ethius, there's a strange presence around him that makes it difficult to just walk on by. Even in your dream, he has power. "Are you from Earth? It's been so long, I can't be sure."
The boy turns his head and sighs. "We are a people of drifters. We sail the ocean, we climb the mountains, we fly through the skies and space and beyond. We are never satisfied."
The boy walks closer to Ethius Hesiod. "But we're a curse, a plague. We do not belong in this world. All we do is bring is death, pain, and distortion. Endless cycles of this world have passed, failing to break beyond their corrupted fate. I can't go back any more. This is my prison. And I'm afraid that I don't think you can leave either. It's unfair, but I have to ask you...because in your actions, I can tell...you are like me. You wish to destroy this corruption, don't you? Free this world? Remember nothing but this..."
The power presses against Ethius's dream, his mind. "There is a weapon on this world you must destroy. You will know it when you must."
SIMULTANEOUSLY, 4D THOUGHT
Someone appears in Xantia's dream too. Someone who certainly doesn't belong in Xantia's memories. It, too, is a boy but there isn't that kind of ageless strangeness as there was in the one that had met with Ethius.
HE is just sitting there, in the desert. He is crying, of course, desperately, helplessly. "Don't...don't leave me here...!" He cries out to some strange figures in the distance but they fade shortly after Xantia can spot them. The boy curls in on himself and sobs to himself. In the sky, meteorites fall towards Filgaia. that's right. This is Filgaia.
He hasn't noticed Xantia yet.
Avril speaks to the party, encouraging them to wake up.
But the children do not hear her
Fei, in the projector room, does--however. He turns around and says, "Avril?" He walks around a bit and then growls in frustration. "How do I...how do I open my eyes? I used to know how but..."
Fei grabs at his head, even inside this mindspace, and hisses in pain. "I can't...control it Avril."
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Where is the young shirtless boy going? It seems to 'end' into nothingness.
What's on the other 'end' is something entirely different. The shirtless youth is stunned into (further) silence. A fundamental disconnect. Something that did not happen is happening now?
As the quadruped says, they try not to look the boy in the eye when worried. They are very worried. They are frightened.
They can't escape him, no matter where he looks away. Paralyzed, to hear complicated words unsolicited. His feet don't move anywhere. He can't go backwards. He walked away from this, he didn't walk back - somehow, this truth provides that place for them to appear, to speak, to be heard.
Ethius the boy does not know what to think or say, because he did not think or say anything related to anyone at this point in time. He can only listen. Destroy this corruption, free this world. What corruption? What world?
There is a weapon on this world you must destroy. You will know it when you must.
'It's a memory.' A woman's voice comes out. He didn't hear a woman's voice then either. What did he do then?! 'You must not let it take control.'
The shirtless youth's eyes go wide, hands clutching his head. He falls to his knees. Does he want to remember? Something's important. It's imperative-- but he has to wake up?! Can he go forward without knowing for sure? Trapped within this memory... the shirtless youth's breath quickens.
'Our memories are important to us, us who have so few to bring hither.' He's Ethius Hesiod. What does it mean to be Ethius Hesiod? Hesiod. The emphasis was on Hesiod. Why?!
'We must press onwards, to the futures that await.' We? We? We. We, we, we.
The shirtless youth remembers something? In the future, the present. A hand goes to where a satchel would be. He grabs thin air. He holds thin air. His free hand twists his fingers as he loudly chants something, stammering. He has to re-do it five times.
'Wake up.' That voice comes in on try number three.
'Open your eyes!'
THE RUINS OF ALTERED MEMORY - PRESENT
Aaaaaaaaaaaand that's a Powder Grenade smoke cloud.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed. <SoundTracker> Yoko Shimomura - Land of Memory - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjGZuRb4h88
It... isn't possible. It's an illusion. She's seeing things because of hunger and thirst. So Xantia thinks when she sees what might be other people in the distance. She stretches out her hand, about to cry out for help... but someone else does it first.
A boy? What's a little boy doing way out here? She looks back to the figures he was crying out to, and finds no evidence that they were ever there. But that hardly matters. Not now. Someone needs her. As long as there's someone who needs her, she can put her own needs aside, just for the moment.
Afraid that the boy might vanish also, taking away the only semblance of hope she's had since... possibly ever, she taps into strength she didn't know she had left to break into a run. Though she'd intended to kneel next to the boy, it's more of a collapse once she gets there, unable to control her body very well in her weakened state. But she made it. The boy is still here. This is real.
"Hello there," she begins, immediately taken aback at the unfamiliar sound of her own voice. Even if she would have recognized it normally, her parched throat now makes it sound almost unnatural. Not exactly the kind of voice she would have wanted to use to try and comfort somebody. But it's all she has right now. So she'll have to make do.
"...My name is Xantia. Did you get seperated? Don't worry, I'll help you. We'll find what you lost, together."
She feels a little bad, making promises she quite possibly can't keep. But... she needs this. A purpose. Something to make her feel needed. Something that will keep her going.
Xantia freezes. She just caught herself thinking 'Is this how it happened?' Why did she think that all of a sudden? She raises her head, straining her ears to listen. The faint voice she hears isn't familiar to her as Avril's in this moment, but it speaks of memories.
She suddenly remembers a saying. 'Memories are the keys not to the past, but to the future.' She read that... somewhere. But when was that?
Xantia looks down at her hands, wrapped in red fingerless with a star on them. Her feet, wearing the matching boots. The red shirt with the white X. The denim shorts she created by ripping the legs off of a pair of jeans.
"...This is... wrong. This is all wrong. I wasn't... wearing this." How could she have been? She picked these clothes out for herself... in a time that hasn't happened yet.
She looks to the boy, quizzically, now very sure that he's not supposed to be here either. She doesn't know if he has the answers, but she has no one else to ask. "What's... going on?"
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Guide to Dungeoneering toward her party's challenge, With Some Help from My Friends.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed. <SoundTracker> Shinsekai Yori - Traditional Song of Shadows -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxke2YUjBcM
Land of Grass? and Ethius
The moment that Avril connects with Ethius, the boy that was there is gone. If he listens to this buried mission, this insistent demand...then perhaps he will be walking straight into his own demise. But though it wouldn't be ideal, it too would serve
Land of Sand and Xantia
The boy is unguarded. He looks up in surprise. Someone did come to rescue him that day, but it is not the woman who is offering her hand. He wipes his tears from his eyes and flops into giving Xantia a hug.
"I can't... I can't find my mom..." The boy says to Xantia, squeezing tightly. "I can't find my friends..."
He doesn't seem to mind the recklessness of the promise. He squeezes tightly. She wasn't wearing what she was wearing but he doesn't care about that either. All he cares about in this moment is the companionship Xantia's presence gives. He thought he was going to be alone forever.
"I won't ever find them again." The boy sniffs faintly, and then sniffs again. A sob wracks through his body.
"Because..." And this seems to be hard for him to manage. "Because I killed them all..."
Land of Fei and Fei
Fei feels that close sensation. No, he thinks, he has to let go. If he doesn't let go they will get hurt. He can't open his eyes so he rushes to the edge of the room and starts slamming his head against nothingness. Surprisingly, it works. He keeps banging it, that grip losening.
Hisnd then...
Fei in the Ruins of Memory
Fei snaps his eyes open. Blood has spilled from his nose, but he seems to be otherwise okay. He sits himself up and looks at his hands for a while.
"Let's move on." He says.
=============================================<* 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 75 --(10)--> 85 Fail Guide to Dungeoneering 1 Wits Effects: Rally and Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 90 --(10)--> 100 Fail Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 85 --(0)--> 85 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 75 --(10)--> 85 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Xantia 85 --(35)--> 120 Pass Conditions: Injure(1)|Overwhelm|Save Point(1)|Stupify(1) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Xantia 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> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Everyone awakens. There is no death trap to be had. Looks like they all just had themselves a nap with their initimate pasts to keep them company. It may not be a good idea to stick around, in case whatever mechanism governs this sends them into a deeper memory.
Ethius sure hasn't. When the smoke clears, he isn't there. (For the reader, he appears to have retreated further up the spiral staircase with extreme haste, eyes still widened to the point his eyes are pinpricks. He is... spooked? He proves evasive when he hears footsteps.)
Through the lowered barrier is a homeycombed chamber that holds a torch with a blue flame. If one picks it up, they'll find it just keeps on burnin'. No wick to expend, no oil to consume, it just burns. If anyone tries to put out (smother it, etc.), it comes back! It's an interesting little novelty. Maybe even a building block, if one decides to create some unholy labyrinthian ancient techno-dungeon, they'll need a lot of these.
Also makes a fine nightlight... a curious item, for sure.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Back in the Ruins of Memory, Xantia suddenly sits straight up. That was... she isn't at all sure what to make of what happened. But she remembers it all exactly how it played out, even if not all of it made sense in her head.
Isn't she lucky? She got her wish granted twice over. How ironic, that she would remember events from a time where she remembered nothing. A time before she was found collapsed in the desert, before what used to be her earliest memory, of waking up in a bed to a pair of concerned faces.
There she remains, sitting in a daze for some time, needing quite a bit of time or the help of others to snap out of her jumbled thoughts. Even then, she seems very tired, and very confused.
The first words out of her mouth are, "...I need to talk to grandpa."