2018-10-04: Just a Little Glint

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<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna had tried to get a solid look at Glint Valley in the morning light, but the blinding beacon it had become frustrated her attempts to get a clearer picture of what it was.

Layna was curious, of course.

If it wasn't for the current goings-on, no one would think twice about Glint Valley. It was one ghost town in the Badlands amongst countless ghost towns. There was nothing outwardly special or unique about it...until it began to light up like a beacon as if to say 'come find me'.

Maybe it was bait, or maybe it was just coincidence. Either way, it wasn't something she could just leave alone. And that's why she's here with reliable friends and allies, people who had either come here with her or followed the rumors on their own initiative...or both!

And now, night falls. Without the blinding Badlands sun shining down on it, creating a mirage that misled or struck blind those who looked upon it, it was easier to see it for what it was - what was once a ghost town was now a jungle of metallic flora gleaming faintly in the light of the stars.

"...What the hell? I'm not the only one a little disturbed by this, aye?" Layna says, looking out at it through her telescope. She offers it to anyone else who might want to take a look, and eventually a consensus is reached.

They needed to get a closer look.

The party approaches it from a cliff overlooking the valley. The metal trees grow even to this height and vines, like thick steel cables, hang down from their canopies.

"...Well, guess there's nothin' else for it." Layna comments. She reaches into her coat, draws out a bottle, then takes a swig before passing it around. Then she reaches out to grab a vine...and begins to swing!

...She might be having more fun with this than she should.

DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, Risky Ride.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Nope.

Nope nope nope nope. There is nothing about this that Cyre likes at all. He came because of the rumors but wow he is going to stay until this place forces him out, because literally everything about this place is filling him with righteous indignation.

"I," Cyre says succinctly, "Am going to tear as much of this down as I possibly can." And so he does just that! Rather than wasting time with his parachute, the shaman just dives right in, wind surging around him like a veritable storm in miniature. He roars as he tears into the metal foilage with claws of swirling storm, seeking to carve as large of a path of destruction as he possibly can in as little time as possible.

...What's got him so riled up?

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Risky Ride.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Althena's thong," Talise hisses as she stares into a forest of metal.

Gripping her sword tightly, the well-armoured swordsinger looks up at the metallic canopy, her normally tan cheeks having lost a little of their usual colour. As much as her time on Filgaia has acclimated her to technology, this is ridiculous. And it can only be the work of one bunch.

Talise huffs as she sheathes her sword, beginning to move along the edge of the drop in search of a ramp down. "I bet any money the damn Metal Demons are behind this. Probably that creepy robe one," she mutters acidly.

Cyre's temperament, though, startles her a bit. She blinks, once, then again. "Wow," is all she says.

Cyre goes leaping down. So does Layna. Realization begins to dawn on Talise. Clicking her teeth together, she reaches out and grabs ahold of one end of a metal vine, looking down at it.

"Of course it would be the fuggin' ropes," she sighs, before she jumps off the edge and swings.

DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Risky Ride.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval doesn't quite have a full understanding of what's considered right/normal or not. Super bright spot? Maybe the work of Light Seraphim... oh, yeah, Filgaia doesn't naturally have those, do they. Come to think of it, he's never remembered hearing about a place being so eye-searingly bright as to blind passers-by just by being. Maybe the Light Guardian statue's there? (Strike that, Stare Roe's statue was busted a long time back.)
     Whatever the reasons as to how or why, Lanval's along for the ride at nightfall. He materializes by Layna's side, rubbing away at his beard with one eye open half-lidded. He mumbles something and shrugs.
     "Don't mind if I d--" Layna wisely ends up passing the bottle to someone other than Lanval first, which is smart, because he would totally drink the whole thing. He's bad about that. But he'll get his share, in the end (at the end, end^2).
     "Ya think sho, Talishe?" Lanval asks. That'd explain why Cyre seems so hell bent on 'tearing it down.' Lanval sits on the edge, and as he is water, will just roll down the edges in a way that looks beyond injurious to the Resonant who have to comprehend an anthropomorphic figure tumbling down a surface and not think about every bone in one's b ody being ground to a fine paste.
     He has no bones! No bones about it.
     Also probably no brain.

DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Risky Ride.
<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.

Digger, or rather treasure hunter, by trade - the rumours swirled around of a jewel in the desert. Soon, there would also be Jules in the desert!

Actively seeking out an expedition group, it was with at least one of the previous members that Celine has ventured out with. At least the one that she sees, Layna. "Why, it's quite a pleasure to be out and about again~ - but especially with someone familiar~." Celine so claims, following after Layna and the others, less familiar as they are! Strutting on her platform heeled boots, her hips sway back and forth as she arrives with the others in the middle of the night - and her eyes widen!

"Oh, it's just absolutely stunning..." Nevermind the negative connotations that is involved with a giant jungle of metallic flora! "...Well, yeah, it's probably not a good sign... but it's sparkling." Celine offers in a response - however unhelpful it is! Even closer, Celine now gets to look down from the cliff with the others, leaning over - down the valley. Thick metal cables for vines, and canopies.

With Layna grabbing the bottle and passing it over, Celine raises it. "Oh - you certainly know how to treat a lady~." Last time, she nearly faceplanted into spikes. This time... As she takes a swing, turning it upside down for a moment, before passing it over, Celine looks at the vine. "Another one of these... ah, well~. I'll meet you down there!"

The staff is placed over it.
    Celine's hands, on the sides.
        Then she descends, diagonally sliding~.

Hopefully the vine holds! "My, when we're done, I could always try to melt some of it for you, dear~." Celine calls from above as Cyre digs in like a living asteroid, to crash down into the metallic world! Talise also hangs on - and halfway down, Celine has to twist her legs to have the boots also hang a bit on the vine. As they're keeping her from vine?burn, it might help enough!

DG: Celine Jules has used her Tool Fashionable Boots toward her party's challenge, Risky Ride.
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Risky Ride *>=========================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Approaching Glint Valley without the brilliant light of the mirage in your    
 eyes makes it easier to get to, but night has fallen by the time you arrive.  
 Starlight, however, makes it very clear what the source of the blinding       
 light was:                                                                    
                                                                               
 Glint Valley has become a metal jungle.                                       
                                                                               
 Towering trees of all types stand tall in what should be a desolate,          
 rock-walled basin, making a canopy of gleaming metal leaves that seems to     
 cover the valley in an uneven dome. Starlight alone is enough to make the     
 whole valley light up at night, set faintly aglow by the reflected            
 luminescence. Occasionally, trees shake and sway without so much as a         
 whisper of wind blowing through the valley.                                   
                                                                               
 Getting down might have been easier if you'd arrived at the old town, dimly   
 visible on the far side of the valley. As it stands, the drop is off a sheer  
 cliff into the dark unknown... but it looks like vines, resembling nothing    
 less than steel cables, have crept up the cliff and anchored to something     
 below. Several of them are angled downward and taut, disappearing into the    
 metallic foliage; maybe you could slide or swing right down? Just watch out   
 for those trees!                                                              
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
=======================<* The Glint Mirage - Round 1 *>=======================
===========================< Results - Risky Ride >===========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Quartermaster's Stash               2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talise Gianfair                     0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Celine Jules                        0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Fashionable Boots                   3   Agility Effects: Fanfare              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Layna Manydays              0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Hesitate(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Layna Manydays has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use
party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

"...Aye." Layna says, agreeing with Talise and Lanval as she watches Cyre just leap right off the cliffside, crashing down toward the surface like a comet of wind and fury. Celine's comparison was quite accurate, there.

With that, everyone begins their own descent.

Cyre finds no obstruction as he makes his way to the surface. The winds of the Guardian tear through metallic flora, crashing down onto the ground with enough force to leave a small crater.

Layna, meanwhile, takes it in a rather reckless fashion, slinging from vine to vine as she makes her way to the surface. For Talise, it's rather jarringly sudden - the vine she grips proves to not be formed properly and snaps before she reaches the ideal height. It'll be more startling than painful - there's enough time to grab onto something and slide down safely.

Celine, meanwhile, utilizes the power of ~fashion~ to aid in her descent. Those boots catch on the fine just right, allowing her to slide down no problem!

And then, there's Lanval.

He's the last one to make it down. Rolling leisurely down, letting gravity take it where him will. Eventually, with a dainty 'plop', he slides off a leaf onto the floor of the metal jungle.

"Everyone here?" Layna asks, looking around before glancing toward Celine. "You'll get your chance before this is all done, I'd wager. Look sharp, me hearties! No tellin' what else is waiting here."

And with that, they begin to move...

DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================================<* The Glint Mirage *>=================================================
==========================================<* CHALLENGE - Varmint Vegetation *>==========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 While the strangeness in the valley is mostly concentrated in the material    
 all the local flora is made of, it is far from the only thing. Case in        
 point: the shrubbery just ahead, which reacts poorly to the presence of a     
 bunch of lumbering two-legged beasts in its presence. There's a loud,         
 familiar 'crack,' and something hits the ground nearby -- and then you        
 realize that the bushes are full of bullets instead of berries, and they're   
 turning them on you!                                                          
                                                                               
 Bullet bushes sound like a pretty good place to stock up on ammo for          
 yourselves or the open market, though...                                      
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Hesitate, Treasure==============================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    When Lanval comes down from off the metal leaf, he looks really perplexed. He reaches up and gives the metal leaf a touch, and comes to a conclusion virtually everyone else already has. "Thish ain't natural at all..."
     DUHHHHHHHH.
     Slow to the uptake (or getting up) as Lanval may be, he staggers along ahead. "Mmmm. There ishn't much wind, err, ashide from him," Lanval muses, "but there shure ish a lotta movement..."
     There is. The shrubbery up ahead rustles ahead of the displaced breeze of the Nahual of Fengalon, and that's the only warning they get. No, addendum, there's another warning. Something being cocked, like a shotgun. This next part doesn't count as a warning because it is the culmination of all warning signs - a loud 'crack' like a gunsmoke ARM going off, and the dust of the earth kicks up with a faintly metallic scent that maybe no one here should breathe in, to be safe.
     It disperses widely to the winds of the Nahual just tearing stuff up, but now, the stuff he's tearing up is shooting back. Cyre's the primary target, but these shrubberies are lacking in eyesight. They are not lacking in enthusiasm, and also bullet seeds.
     Lanval flops down on the ground, to watch them fly overhead. They have neat-looking tracers that glisten in the moonlight.
     "Ha ha ha! They're goin shooooo fasht," because they're bullets, Lanval, like from an ARM!!! It's all sort of tense, watching his acquaintance Cyre get all angry about it. He decides it's time to relax. It's a bad time to, a very, very bad time to, as he gets out the kiseru-style pipe and starts smoking.
     Smoking bubbles, that is. Big, floaty bubbles, but there is an interesting facet in all of this. The bullet shrubberies seem to be shooting in the direction of disturbances of both footsteps and the direction of wherever foil-covered foilage is being destroyed. Oddly enough, floating in bubbles may be one way to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
     On the other hand, who would jump into slow-moving bubbles while super-fast bullets are flying everywhere?! As Cyre fights on to obliterate every trace of this crazy metal jungle, everyone's going to have to make their own way somehow.

DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Bubble Pipe toward his party's challenge, Varmint Vegetation.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Of course," Talise says utterly blandly as her vine snaps.

Then she lets out a yelp. She flails for another vine, but it's all she can do to grab one before landing with a crash of metal in a crabwalk position. She practically vibrates.

"Mother," she says in a tiny, squeaky, pained voice.

With a wince, she manages to shake herself out of that jarring landing. Onward she goes, falling in behind Lanval, moving stiffly.

And then something pings off of her armour. Talise gasps and staggers back, shielding herself with both heavily-armoured arms as another bullet hits her shoulder plate and glances off. "What the hell, why do the bushes shoot bullets!" she vents as she just rushes forward, trying to charge through as best she can and hope she doesn't get hit anywhere important. As she goes by, she does at least swing her sword at one of the offending pieces of foliage.

"LANVAL," she shouts over the sound of bushfire. "Those will kill you if too many of them hit you, please don't dilly-dally!"

DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Varmint Vegetation.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Cyre realizes that he's perhaps causing a bit of a commotion with the manifest fury that presently overshadows pretty much any other expression that might otherwise have found its way to his face. But can you blame him? For a shaman to witness this kind of thing, to know what this must be, means that they must dedicate everything they have to uprooting as much as they possibly can.

And to his credit, the genius locus of this place seems ready to identify him as a threat.

Cyre roars as he leaps toward the bullet bush. He bounds up and around, leaping off one of Lanval's bubbles to come in at a strange angle, winds screaming all around him as he goes to try and shred that metal shrub into so much scrap...!

<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.

With FASHION not causing her to suffer and instead, this time, actively making her less likely to, the Symbologist gently travels down, as if she was as light as a feather~. Well, not really. Yet the billowing shower curtain cloak and her outfit certainly make her seem to have planned it from the start!

Landing down with the others, Celine strides forwards with a grin, slightly red in the face. "Mhmm. Well, I'd just like to help make him feel better, you see? He certainly seems a bit worked up on something~." As Talise lands, Celine winces - and then crouches as the gunfire begins, grasping her hat. "That is NO way to treat a lady, especially not a few of them!" She exclaims, glancing over at .. a ...

It's a bush. A shrub?

Bubbles seem to be taking off the ground, as well. It is .. it's strange is what it is. As Talise seems to be a rather wonderful target, Celise attempts to hide... rather, move with Talise carefully forwards, trying to measure her steps along-side the armored woman. "Don't mind me~." The mage sings a bit, attempting to put up a slight defensive wall around Talise as well, with her symbology - to help them both get through, "A woman like me needs a bit of protection now and again. I'm sure you understand~." At least she... is helping?

DG: Celine Jules has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Varmint Vegetation.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

"...Aye, there isn't." Layna remarks with a frown. No wind, except for what Cyre was producing. But as Lanval said, it was all reacting as if there were...

Yeah, this was more than a little unnerving.

"You alright, Talise?" Layna asks, looking back at her friend to see if she needs a hand up. Fortunately she seems to be handling herself just fine so she begins to move on...at least until one of the plants starts spitting bullets at them.

"Chalk it up to good ol' Metal Demon ingenuity, where even the plants are made to kill ya. ...'Course, Filgaian plants are much better, but..." Whatever Layna was about to finish with is interrupted as she ducks to the side to avoid of flurry of (possibly indignant?) bullets from a nearby bush.

Still powered up thanks to her earlier beverage Layna recites an incantation to whip up a curtain of wind around them, hopefully sending some of the bullets off course.

If that doesn't work, well...there's always Lanval's bubbles!

DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, Varmint Vegetation.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Varmint Vegetation.
=================================================<* The Glint Mirage *>=================================================
==========================================<* CHALLENGE - Varmint Vegetation *>==========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 While the strangeness in the valley is mostly concentrated in the material    
 all the local flora is made of, it is far from the only thing. Case in        
 point: the shrubbery just ahead, which reacts poorly to the presence of a     
 bunch of lumbering two-legged beasts in its presence. There's a loud,         
 familiar 'crack,' and something hits the ground nearby -- and then you        
 realize that the bushes are full of bullets instead of berries, and they're   
 turning them on you!                                                          
                                                                               
 Bullet bushes sound like a pretty good place to stock up on ammo for          
 yourselves or the open market, though...                                      
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Hesitate, Treasure==============================
============================================<* The Glint Mirage - Round 2 *>============================================
============================================< Results - Varmint Vegetation >============================================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Quartermaster's Stash               2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talise Gianfair                     5 --(15)--> 20                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Bubble Pipe                         3   Agility Effects: Rally                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Celine Jules                        0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
-------------------------------------------------------< Party >--------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Layna Manydays              20 --(25)--> 45                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Hesitate(2)|Treasure(1)
Effects: Quicken(1)
===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Layna Manydays 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> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    There are so many bullets. These 'natural' bullets are ready to burrow through soft flesh at a moment's notice, but there is at least one here who is not made of soft flesh. Talise's newer armor from the depths of Azado serve her very well. Accompanied by Celine's shielding spell, she is able to be the bulwark against all these seedy bullets. In fact, once she's close enough, she can just reach on in and tear away the flower buds that house these seeds. These bullets aren't uniform in form and appearance.
     Some of them might even work in her shotgun!
     Between Cyre's and Layna's wind sorceries, the vast majority of the bullet fire goes stray. A suspension of disbelief-stretching number of bubbles continue to flit through a forest full of pointy sharp metal things without yet being popped into tiny shiny droplets of water, as Lanval has to come and heed Talise's very reasonable advice on the matter.
     "Mmmm... okay... I get ya." He rolls along the ground after them, losing distance compared to the others due to his lesser rolling speed. The bullet plants don't pick up his presence at all, he's just water flowing all weird.
     Cyre's rage will not be quelled by these 'defenses,' and once he's 'done' - in so much that this brush becomes an open clearing by Fengalon's power - there's more bullets scattered around everywhere to pick up.
     "Heeeeeyyy, don't theshe go into your fire wandsh...?" Sigh.

DG: Talise Gianfair has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* The Glint Mirage *>==============================
===========================<* CHALLENGE - Taste Test *>===========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 A path leading back towards one of the valley walls finds a shallow cave      
 immediately off the trail. The cave itself is cut out of the cliffside, and   
 full of... berry bushes? They sure look like the kind found in the Berry      
 Cave, except in metallic shades instead of natural colors. They even have     
 actual berries! Are they heal berries?                                        
                                                                               
 Do you want to find out?                                                      
                                                                               
 Of course you do.                                                             
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Treasure========================================
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise blinks at Celine quickly. "This is the first time someone has actually used me as a human shield in so brazen a manner," she remarks.

Then she smirks and gives Celine a little pat on the head. "Smart girl."

They make it past the berries, at least, though more than a few hit Talise in the armour before she could make her way through. With a huff, she collects herself, briefly checking her armour for dents.

Again, she reaches out. It is not for Celine this time. Her armoured hand falls on Cyre's shoulder. "Hey," she says levelly, her smile tight. "I get that you want to annihilate this stuff, man. But we need to be strategic about it. Call your spots and we'll get to the heart of this and figure out the best plan of attack." As she's advising the catman on this, she's moving down a side path, to where a cluster of bushes clings to the sides of a shallow cave.

They look an awful lot like Heal Berry bushes.

Immediately, Talise pulls out a box of chocolate cookies and hands several to Lanval. "Hey Lanval, how about some chocolate," she invites him. If he's munching the chocolatey distractions, maybe he won't eat the berries!

Leaving the cookies to the team's resident ghost, Talise moves to crouch by a berry bush, frowning deeply. "...I think these are blocking the cave. We could probably cut through it past those thicker trees over there. The weird thing is, why would there be metal Heal Berries that I bet any money don't heal?"

DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Chocolate Biscuits toward her party's challenge, Taste Test.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    "Mmm! Don't mind if I do... ha ha ha!" Lanval cheerfully agrees as he does not appear to at all suspect the amount of generosity he is being given. He's used to the idea of being left all the food and snacks (or, as seen recently deep in the Ruins of Memory, consuming leftovers and deciding they count - and even calling them leftovers was stretching that definition) and Talise is a great mortal friend of his. And so, he indulges in the chocolatey distractions while Talise works out the plan of attack as to how to best deal with these berries on a bush that looks like it's made of bismuth and not... actual leafy matter.
     He munches happily on the side, not at all getting into any mischief whatsoever as the moonlight glistens an amber hue upon the rest, which is... oh no. There he is in the dumb novelty glasses again.
     "Heyyyy, Talishe, y'know the liquor made outta Heal Berriesh?" Oh no. The metal bushes bristle and glean as he leans up against it. DID HE FINISH THE COOKIES THAT FAST? (yes)
     "Come ta think of it, mmmmm... don't think I've ever had any Heal Berriesh..." He says as he takes one in hand. Oh no. "Ha ha ha... takesh me back! Ushed ta shneak in a tashte of the hopsh... 'n the grapesh," he sighs contentedly. This is less goofy and dumb than he usually is when he bears those mood-ruining attachments to destroy the gravity of all the cutscenes that feature him.
     This may not be a terrible idea. He's not an organic being like they are, and... his analysis may be predicated on whether or not he realizes that metallic tastes are kind of bad, but if anyone's going to put stuff like that in their mouths, might as well be him.
     He washes out the taste of the chocolate biscuits with a drink from his gourd, like a professional taster (unless the gourd's present drink configuration is anything other than water, it's hard to say), and just pops the Heal Berry(?) in his mouth.
     "..."

DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Amber Tinted Glasses toward his party's challenge, Taste Test.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

With the bushes slain, Cyre rears back and roars a cry of (temporary) victory into the steel canopy. His voice carries with the wind, transforming into a shockwave that tears open a path to the sky above... And then he staggers and leans hard for a moment against his staff. "How could this have grown so quickly? Who is responsible for all of this--?"

He feels a hand close around his shoulder. The shaman glances back with furious, fearful eyes. "...This. You don't get it. This is a threat to all of Filgaia. If it's allowed to spread--" Cyre shakes his head and pushes himself upright, "Precision isn't... An option. Everything needs to be burnt to the ground. Of all the times for Ethius not to be here--"

But then he pauses, looking back at Talise again, "...Sorry. I'll... I'll explain."

"Under the Cage Tower, we found... Evidence. That someone, or something, was experimenting with Hyadean-Filgaian hybridization. And there was a sandworm near these... metallic berries. And it was covered in a cancer of living metal. They weren't just fruit, they were... some kind of seeds for the stuff."

Metallic berries that, as it happens, are not so dissimilar from the ones growing right over there.

Cyre's expression darkens further, if such a thing is possible. All around him, apertures of light wink open. "Step back," he says to Talise-- and anyone else approaching the bushes-- before unleashing a veritable torrent of prismatic energy at the wall of berries.

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

And then Lanval goes to eat a berry and OH GOD THERE IS SO MUCH LASER. Like, if Cyre can, he'll just blast that right out of the poor Seraph's reach. Because HOLY CRAP there's no better way to trigger Cyre's protective response than 'fate worse than death metal cancer.'

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Taste Test.
<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.

One look at Celine would confirm about how brazen she might be. It's not a ploy, either! The blink is met with a wink and a peace sign in response! Before her head is patted by the beastwoman, that is. "Well, dear, I know when I'm beat, and bullets aren't something I really want to test~." She agrees, "You really have the knack for it!" She responds after they're through. "I'd have faired far worse than you with your armor, so I owe you one~." And with those heels it's not like she'd be making record time in the sprint!

As she strides forwards with the others, Talise plants a hand on the angry shaman, and Celine looks back. "My - she's right, it could all grow back, and then... where would you be?" Celine notes, nodding her head and carefully walking forth. Berry bushes. Metallic Cave. Heal berry bushes. "...I .. do you think two would hurt?" Celine asks.

Of course not." She would reach out for them - and the Cyre would be getting into position, "You're seriously going to -!" Leaping back, Celine pinwheels her arms as the prismatic energy at the wall of berries is unleashed, torrenting towards it! Meanwhile, Celine looks sad. "I thought they'd look amazing as earrings..." Alas.

Pause, "Oh, last I went there was a giant generator covered in living metal~. Some kind of freak horror-show!" She exclaims, "Aaaand it's still there, actually~." Well, not every outing is a success! Pause.

"Oh, do we have a spectral friend with us here again? Sorry about not saying hello earlier!" Celine exclaims. She's not overly hungry - she thinks. She has a figure to maintain!

DG: Celine Jules has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Taste Test.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Thankfully, they get throw the bullet bushes without any severe injuries. Layna might just collect quite a few of those fallen bullets, to either sell them or take them back and distribute to those of her crew that have taken to using ARMs.

Talise gives some good advice, but Cyre provides some good reasoning, too. Reasoning that becomes all the more relevant when they come across a series of what appears to be berry bushes. Unlike the one they encountered before these don't shoot off like bullets...but they do seem to have a more sinister purpose.

"Damn, is that what you found out in that meeting?" Layna asks, glancing toward Cyre. "Sounds like I missed quite the revelation, aye?"

She then nods toward Celine.

"Aye, Lanval's here. You remember 'im from before, I hope?" Layna asks. As for the berries, though...well, it looks like Cyre has them covered, so she takes a step back, draws out her telescope, and uses it to try to scope out any potential threats on the path forward.

DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Captain's Telescope toward her party's challenge, Taste Test.
==============================<* The Glint Mirage *>==============================
===========================<* CHALLENGE - Taste Test *>===========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 A path leading back towards one of the valley walls finds a shallow cave      
 immediately off the trail. The cave itself is cut out of the cliffside, and   
 full of... berry bushes? They sure look like the kind found in the Berry      
 Cave, except in metallic shades instead of natural colors. They even have     
 actual berries! Are they heal berries?                                        
                                                                               
 Do you want to find out?                                                      
                                                                               
 Of course you do.                                                             
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Treasure========================================
=========================<* The Glint Mirage - Round 3 *>=========================
=============================< Results - Taste Test >=============================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Captain's Telescope                 3   Wits    Effects: Fanfare              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talise Gianfair                     20 --(0)--> 20                 Pass
Chocolate Biscuits                  1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Amber Tinted Glasses                3   Wits    Effects: Fanfare              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Celine Jules                        0 --(15)--> 15                 Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Layna Manydays              45 --(25)--> 70                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Hesitate(1)|Treasure(1)
Effects: Cleanse
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Layna Manydays 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> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Yeah, Old Man Ettlesbury's Olde-Fashioned Heal Berry Liqueur. Proud sponsor of the amazing heroine Lady Chloe Alexandre," Talise says as she looks back at Lanval.

Oh good. The glasses. "I wouldn't do it, Lanval," she begins.

He does it. Talise stares at him.

Then she stares at Cyre, too. She presses her lips together firmly. "So basically we're going to have to kick the Metal Demons square in their faces, is what you're telling me. Pleasant." She does step back, but it's mainly to move towards Lanval. She can't get to him in time. He swallows the berry.

And it falls through his Seraphy ghostbody and hits the ground below him with a thump.

Talise blinks down at the berry. "Food... food doesn't normally do that to you, does it?" she asks.

The only casualty is Celine pinwheeling her arm so hard that it flies out of her hand and lands in the bushes. She has to retrieve it. Woe. :(

DG: Celine Jules has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 A break in the treeline opens to a section of churned-up ground. Torn rows    
 of earth and displaced stones are arranged with apparent deliberate care.     
 Chunks of rock glinting with metallic veins have been shoved into the rows,   
 leaving gaps between them. It looks like nothing less than a strange garden   
 on an enormous scale.                                                         
                                                                               
 Then the earth shakes, and the gardener appears.                              
                                                                               
 The figure is huge, easily a match for any Gear. Its silhouette suggests an   
 armored body, and a dozen irregularly-shaped points glow white across where   
 eyes should be on its head. It carries an armfull of stones, and moves with   
 plodding deliberation across the rows... and right over you. You're like      
 bugs to this thing; don't get stepped on!                                     
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.

As Cyre causes the metal berry bushes to disitigrate in that prismatic wash, the Symbologist wasn't standing far enough away! Her boots, and a bit of her gloves - and even her main robe curtain!!! - are suddenly slightly splotched in exactly three places. "Ah!" She exhales, as if there is something wrong! "...It's not going to be easy to get that out."

At least it wasn't a real worry!

The berry is thrown to the side as she watches Talise retrieve it! At least... they have a sample, right? "Well, we just have to continue on right? We've got to be getting close after all, we've gone in pretty deep." Celine can't help it, she isn't making these cavernous puns on purpose. She had a berry catastrophe with Old Man Ettlesbury - it would set off the strongest willed woman!

Striding with the rest, Celine walks ahead for once, into the tree-line after passing through the pass with the Metal Berry bushes! "Oh my. I feel a bit like a ra-" THRUM. Celine is silenced immediately as the earth shakes. "Hwha!?" She emotes, looking around - before the head peeks through first on the dark horizon, like the moon sliding from behind a cloud. An odd metallic giant, striding across the rows, rocks and stones, the size of them and then some, travels in it's single path forwards. The darkness that had 'hid it' does little to after the starlight strikes it. Multiple odd white pointed eyes make it's face like a continuation of the stars above!

Unlike them, it's here - yet it's still quite expansive. The foot drags upwards, smaller rocks, dirt, and such showering the group as it swings forwards. "Oh no nonono." Celine is heard to remark, wincing as a small stone bounces off her head, "Guess I'll see you on ahead!" She remarks, and then, holding her hat, begins to 'dash' on her high-heeled boots. Oh, this is absolutely the worst she thinks, as she staggers and almost trips a couple of times.

Of course, what would be worse is the fact that the light above is vanishing - because the foot is eclipsing it, and coming down fast.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Tucking the berry into a small pouch for later study, Talise draws her sword and continues onward. She'll have to find someone smart enough to figure out how this stuff works. Riese, maybe, or someone like Matilda.

The plot of land they discover sends an icy chill shooting down Talise's back. Looking towards Celine, she tenses ever so slightly. "Then this must be someone's... someone's garden," she realizes with growing horror. "The place must have been put here deliberately. If this is part of the Metal Demons' plan...."

Only then does she follow Caline's gaze. Talise stares up at the huge, distant figure, lights glowing in places that lights good not show.

"Althena's thong," she curses.

Then she scrambles into a dead run. Steel arour clatters as she tries to rush out from under the menacing penumbra of that descending foot. "Shit shit shit shit!" she gasps as she moves as fast as her legs will carry her, actually lunging towards a spot she feels is halfway sheltered.

DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval's face gets all weird as the berry passes through him and hits the ground. "Huh. That'sh a new one." Lanval starts to pick it up and put it in his mouth again (why) but Cyre puts a stop to that silliness decisively as one of the lens on the novelty glasses crack and fall off, revealing a half-open eye underneath. "Mmmm... that sherioush, huh... all right. I get ya." Does he? He's been kind of treating this like a leisurely stroll with friends.
     "Ahh, it'sh fine, ya can't shee or hear me anyway," he says to Celine, not quite catching why it's so silly for him to say it as he waves an arm in the air as his mind drifts towards the idea that maybe he shouldn't be taking all of this so lightly. He notices her struggle with being splattered in Not-Heal Berry goo.
     "Mmm... all right. I got it... jusht tell her ta hold shtill 'n not worry." Lanval puts on a dumb smile as he recites a Seraphic Arte. Moments later, Celine will stand to be doused in cleansing water that'll get the not-Heal Berry stains right off! This may be a matter of her well-being depending on the actual nature and character of the berries in question.
     Some time later, the ground rumbles, and Lanval turns around. He takes the dumb glasses off his face in a way that's almost cool in an action hero way. He peers upwards, the night sky darkness growing ever darker.
     "Mmmm. That'sh a big one." Lanval remarks, no duh. "Ahhh. It'sh no big, that one." He just said it's a big one! He plops down on the ground, taking out the kiseru-style pipe. Now's not the time for a smoke. Bubbles can't possibly carry them along faster, or away. He should run from being stepped on, but he's not a flesh and blood creature.
     He inhales and exhales deeply, the weird habit he's picked up off of mortals just by being around them for so long. (It's not the worst habit to pick up, just the weirdest - Seraphim don't need to breathe!) As he sighs outward, bubbles escape his nostrils in small size but great quantity. Those won't do anything.
     How about the one that's building at the end of the pipe? It grows in size. Soon it's Talise-sized. Then it's even bigger. It might be the biggest damn bubble they've seen Lanval blow yet, as it ascends upward and...
     Pushes up against the giant gardener's foot?!
     "Be mindful of where thee treads," says Lanval with a bit of extra prescence in his voice as he looks upon the encroaching giant with a growing smile and open aquamarine eyes, trailing off into good-natured chortling of a mirthful sort.

DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Bubble Pipe toward his party's challenge, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Fortunately for everyone, Cyre doesn't notice Talise tucking that berry away! He can't really. His eyes are busy NOT BEING OVERWHELMED BY LASERS. After a moment, though, the berry bushes are no more and the party is free to proceed, to...

...This... Place.

"...Yeah," Cyre growls. "This looks like we're going to have to deal with this place before it becomes a problem. But what the hell is planting a garden this size--"

THUD.

Cyre looks up and finds a giant gardening robot.

"Oh," he says. "Oh," he says again as Lanval produces the largest bubble he has ever seen. "Well."

Cyre thinks for a moment, as if trying to figure out if he can maybe wind tiger that thing to death.

Well. Maybe it's worth a try if they can dodge its feet.

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

While the others were dealing with berry fallout, Layna was off looking for danger. ...And she definitely found it. As the others emerge from where they found the berries, Layna looks back at them.

"Careful, me hearties. I spotted somethin' up ahead. It's...pretty big." Layna says...right as there's a massive THRUM as something stomps. Layna sighs, massaging her forehead as the massive metal monstrosity appears. "...Yeah, it looks about like that, aye. Kinda wish I brought the Corsair with me."

Layna does the smartest thing she can think of in this situation. That is to say...

She runs. Quickly.

DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum.
DG: Celine Jules has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum.
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 A break in the treeline opens to a section of churned-up ground. Torn rows    
 of earth and displaced stones are arranged with apparent deliberate care.     
 Chunks of rock glinting with metallic veins have been shoved into the rows,   
 leaving gaps between them. It looks like nothing less than a strange garden   
 on an enormous scale.                                                         
                                                                               
 Then the earth shakes, and the gardener appears.                              
                                                                               
 The figure is huge, easily a match for any Gear. Its silhouette suggests an   
 armored body, and a dozen irregularly-shaped points glow white across where   
 eyes should be on its head. It carries an armfull of stones, and moves with   
 plodding deliberation across the rows... and right over you. You're like      
 bugs to this thing; don't get stepped on!                                     
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
=======================<* The Glint Mirage - Round 4 *>=======================
=========================< Results - Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talise Gianfair                     20 --(5)--> 25                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Bubble Pipe                         3   Agility Effects: Rally                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Celine Jules                        15 --(5)--> 20                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Layna Manydays              70 --(15)--> 85                Pass
Conditions: Bad Luck(2)
Effects: 
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Layna Manydays has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 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> Celine Jules has posed.

The Heal Berry Goo? status is removed, or perhaps further inflicted on the outfit as the Cleansing waters douse her. It's a nice, cleansing dousing. It doesn't leave her dripping wet, but it's certainly like being spritzed by a spring drizzle on all sides. "My~, that's so refreshing!" She declares. In a happier time.

Because right now, she's running with the rest. The foot is coming down - and Celine moves to leap out of the way! She really, really hates to do this, but she has to! Well. She'll be happy to know her heel gets stuck in the dirt and causes her to tumble downwards - so instead of a nice dive, she tumbles and crashes, face first, into the ground - thankfully outside of the range of the giant foot!

Layna is able to outpace it as she runs - as is Cyre, both of them quick enough to dodge it's feet! The massive THRUM should send a shockwave out as it touches down would cause Celine to tumble a bit as well - and Talise, just as unlucky as Celine, may suffer a bit - if it wasn't, of course, for Seraph Lanval's minimization to that failure. For as the massive THRUM is expected, there is a soft billowing of bubble, spreading outwards as it touches the ground and manages to hold the weight of the giant for a few scant moments.

The metallic foot finally crushes it - but it would not crush Talise or Celine either, because of the time bought!

With a bit of a wrenched leg, Celine gets up and follows the others. "Well, that.. was a change of pace." From walking to running, you see. "Tell our spectral friend I owe him twice now." Wait, didn't she just directly?

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Material Reclamation *>====================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 It's all led here.                                                            
                                                                               
 The center of the valley contains a building: a low-roofed cylindrical        
 structure made of stone carved from local rock, sealed with a metal door of   
 alien construction that resembles a ship's bulkhead. The plants grow up and   
 over it but not through it, ignoring whatever it may have inside in favor of  
 draping it in steel-colored ivy and moss.                                     
                                                                               
 Approaching it reveals how weak the ground here is in the worst way. Any      
 weight makes it crumble to dust, opening a hole into a cavernous              
 subterranean chamber just beneath the surface. A scattering of flickering     
 artificial lights come on as soon as something falls in, revealing a lowered  
 level big enough to house a Gear and a mass of mechanical arms curled up to   
 the walls and ceiling clearly meant to use whatever devices they have         
 attached to them on something of the same size.                               
                                                                               
 The hole deposits you on a catwalk overlooking the otherwise empty space.     
 Behind you, a series of control panels light up and a low humming fills the   
 room. The mechanical arms start to unfurl, sweeping outward and approaching   
 you with purpose. Unfortunately, that purpose is to take you apart, piece by  
 piece. Worse, they seem to be capable of repairing one another, making        
 blowing them apart a less than ideal solution!                                
                                                                               
 Get to those controls and see if you can shut them down!                      
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Cyre stares after the retreating giant for a long, thoughtful moment. If only Ethius was here, they could just... Set the whole thing on fire. Fire and wind magic amplify one another, right? They could blow this entire place into a crater. But...

Not today. He could be back some other time. But not today.

"Come on," Cyre murmurs as he turns toward the direction the machine marched out from. "This way. I want to know where its base might be."

And to his credit, Cyre's adventuring instincts prove entirely accurate. Within a few minutes of walking, the party finds itself approaching a simply massive cylindrical structure. If anything around here might be used to maintain that giant gardener, it's this thing. Cyre frowns, steels himself, and takes a step--

Right into a patch of dry earth that gives way beneath him. The shaman yelps in surprise as he falls, the ground around him crumbling away underneath the rest of the party, depositing them...

On a catwalk?

Cyre frowns, his eyes adjusting to the darkness in that way a cat's eyes just do. "Everyone alright? I think I hear--" The grinding of gears, the whirring of motors, the unfolding of enormous metal arms. "Ah, damn," Cyre mouths as a set of enormous mechanical limbs begin snapping and snipping at the party, looking to break them down into their base components!

At least there seems to be a control panel nearby, but does anyone here even know how to operate Metal Demon Technology!?

"You guys handle that!" Cyre yells as the wind surges to life around him. "I'll try and distract this thing as long as I possibly can!"

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Material Reclamation.
DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Chocolate Biscuits toward her party's challenge, Material Reclamation.


<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

As Lanval blows up that enormous bubble and starts speaking in teal, Talise stares at him. She's seen this side of him before but it never fails to impress her.

They continue on - and Cyre's instincts do indeed turn out to be right. Immediately Talise draws her sword and scowls, completely prepared to tear this place down. She starts forward --

"Yeek!" she squeaks as the ground crumbles under her. She lands on the catwalk below with a heavy clatter. Groaning, she rolls to her knees and then up -

And she gazes on the metallic horror of this place. As much as her exposure to Ida (and Lynnai, earlier) has taught Talise a lot about Filgaia, she isn't prepared for something as sterile-seeming and futuristic as this. The sight of those unfolding arms unnerves her in a way Filgaia hasn't to date. "What," she begins, but Cyre urges her on.

Talise swallows her anxiety and nods to the Beastman. "Right," she snaps as she rushes for the control panel. She snaps Rastaban back --

You'll get electrocuted, she reminds herself.

She sheathes her sword. "We need to shut this stuff down," she growls as she pulls out... her cookie box. Wrenching several chocolate biscuits from it, she slams her fist into a part of the board in front of her that's most riddled with levers and switches. And she grinds her palm down.

She's jamming cookie crumbs into every opening she can find on the console in the hopes of frying the damn machine.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval doesn't dodge the giant foot. He sits in a way where he fits just so under the giant metal boot, and he does not look any more perturbed for the near miss. Not that it really matters, for him, as he rises up and hums a monotone hum... which gains some melody to it as though remembering that he's on the Blue Star now, and it's okay to hum music. His eyes close, his face flush as he's got the mood-ruining novelty glasses on again...
     The following fall happens so fast he can't break out the bubble pipe in time, but he tumbles gracefully into the bottom catwalk.
     "What'sh that noishe?" Lanval asks. He's answered by the snapping limbs of some great many-armed... inside-out centipede? Like they're inside a hollow centipede and it's got so many arms and... he doesn't have words or descriptors for it. He does have a drink, though.
     Cyre can see a flash of aquamarine from where a beer bottle lens used to be. It looks even sillier in this context. "Ha ha ha...! O, hollow centipede!" That's total nonsense but that's the closest thing he can call all of this. "These mortals will not be thine meal today!" Okay, so, he's on board and understanding this is a problem, and is also in Cooler Aquamarine Lord of the Land Mode, this fight's in the bag between the righteous winds of Fengalon through Cyre, and one of the more powerful Water Seraphs of his age (and of this age). Lanval holds his drinking gourd in the air as a tremendous upswell in moisture begins to build. Truly, a magnificent display of water magic is upon them...!
     Then Lanval gets snatched up by one of the claws, and... it goes downhill right quick. Shaken, pulled about, battered, thrown against the wall a few times. He's laughing all the while, but for all his might, it is certain that this sort of thing is out of his league - this isn't a singular entity, it's a complex thing beyond his recognition and comprehension, and what might have been a reassuring sight for those familiar with Lanval when he pulls his weight... it's looking a bit more dire.
     Until he gets flung into the control panel, where he slides down the wall and into the delicate mechanisms. Talise may be reminding herself that this could electrocute her. Hey, what'll happen if it gets wet?
     Lanval may be reminded about the time in that November City hotel where he decided he really, really, really wanted to touch the tiny little set of slits set low in the wall. It's not going to be good times, but if anyone can short it out by virtue of being, it's him.
     "Hiiii Talishe," Lanval slurs, punch drunk from the assembly line ass kicking.

DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Amber Tinted Glasses toward his party's challenge, Material Reclamation.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna manages to make it all the way through without getting stepped on, or otherwise tossed about the steps of the massive gardener. She quickly checks to make sure everyone's gotten through alright, before sending Cyre a nod as he decides to try and find the base.

They do - though not quite in the manner they expect. The ground gives way underneath them, depositing them on a catwalk inside what appears to be some sort of facility.

"Aye, lad, I'm fine. But where the hell are we?" Layna asks, looking around. There's not enough time to decide. Metal arms start going for them, and Layna retaliates by punching one clean off its base.

At first, that seems like it's done something...but one of the arms picked up the one she destroyed, reaffixing it and repairing it so that it can assume normal function.

Cyre volunteers to distract them. Layna hesitates for a moment...and then sends him a nod.

"...Aye, lad. Give 'em hell." She replies, then uses her own wind magic to rush off to the control panel. Where Talise (and Lanval unconsciously) tries to short it out, Layna approaches it from a different direction.

She looks it over, eventually spotting a beam of light connecting two pieces together. Layna frowns, studies it...then draws a knife from her coat and sets it up to block the light. It doesn't seem to be melting it...and one of the arms starts to move about strangely as this happens, too.

"...I think I've got an idea." Layna says. She draws out her telescope and sticks it into the light, then begins to adjust the lens. It's clearly having some effect on the arms...maybe she could find the right positioning for it to do something useful.

Or maybe not! She doesn't actually have any idea if this will work.

DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Captain's Telescope toward her party's challenge, Material Reclamation.
DG: You've already acted for this round. Please wait for the round GM to push +act/complete.
<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.

Follow Cyre, Celine is happy to do so - even if she's limping a bit. The trek isn't much longer! However, what they find makes it even more quesitonable! A building? So small? Out of everything? Celine tilts her head at it, scratching her head. "My, in the middle of a garden? I wonder why the giant didn't clean it up a little..." Celine remarks with a slight peering - and walks forwards.

Her heel slips, and eyes widen, "Huh!?" It's not that important if her heel slips however - though sinks is a more correct term. Her eyes widen as the ground departs from underneath her, depositing her upon a catwalk!

Clacking down as she lands, Celine grasps the railing of the catwalk and shakes her head a bit, looking around. "It's quite a find, isn't it?" She idly remarks, "And what a way to find it, too!~" Of course there's a problem. The pitch black becomes a bright burning light. Metallic arms around all of them, endless it may seem!

"I liked it better in the dark." Celine remarks with a slight sigh at the end of it, shaking her head and shrugging. . . . "Because this is terrible." Celine decides to put it to words for once, eyes widening as she sees all of this moving. "Iyah!" Celine so cries out as she staggers back, just out of reach of one of the claws. The claws eem to have ... something in them!? As she watches, or sort of wtaches, Lanval be tossed back and away - at least, that's what the claw is doing! Or malfunctioning.

The plan really does seem to be about destroying the controls, however. "If we're going to focus on disabling it - oh, just keep your heads down!" Is that water on the console?

The staff is raised as Celine stays still, letting Cyre play distraction. A specific symbol on her body glows brightly. Yellow and jagged, as she mumbles the specific chant that goes with it. Well, it may not be a mumble - but under the roar of the machines and the rampant ongoings about them, it's hard to hear the specifics. Until she raises that staff up high, and her voice along with it.

 "... and let forth the judgement of the heavens! Thunderstorm!"

Layna and Talise may find something useful, and Lanval may be something useful there - but Celine is taking their plan to an extreme. The crackle and rumble of thunder fills the air as lightning bolts lance from the 'sky' above them, towards the arms all around - it may only delay them, ut if there's enough of a surge of electricity running through the systems as they mess with it in other ways... maybe they can trip the power back to the 'off' state?

DG: Celine Jules has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Material Reclamation.
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Material Reclamation *>====================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 It's all led here.                                                            
                                                                               
 The center of the valley contains a building: a low-roofed cylindrical        
 structure made of stone carved from local rock, sealed with a metal door of   
 alien construction that resembles a ship's bulkhead. The plants grow up and   
 over it but not through it, ignoring whatever it may have inside in favor of  
 draping it in steel-colored ivy and moss.                                     
                                                                               
 Approaching it reveals how weak the ground here is in the worst way. Any      
 weight makes it crumble to dust, opening a hole into a cavernous              
 subterranean chamber just beneath the surface. A scattering of flickering     
 artificial lights come on as soon as something falls in, revealing a lowered  
 level big enough to house a Gear and a mass of mechanical arms curled up to   
 the walls and ceiling clearly meant to use whatever devices they have         
 attached to them on something of the same size.                               
                                                                               
 The hole deposits you on a catwalk overlooking the otherwise empty space.     
 Behind you, a series of control panels light up and a low humming fills the   
 room. The mechanical arms start to unfurl, sweeping outward and approaching   
 you with purpose. Unfortunately, that purpose is to take you apart, piece by  
 piece. Worse, they seem to be capable of repairing one another, making        
 blowing them apart a less than ideal solution!                                
                                                                               
 Get to those controls and see if you can shut them down!                      
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
=======================<* The Glint Mirage - Round 5 *>=======================
======================< Results - Material Reclamation >======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Captain's Telescope                 3   Wits    Effects: Fanfare              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talise Gianfair                     25 --(5)--> 30                 Fail
Chocolate Biscuits                  1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Amber Tinted Glasses                3   Wits    Effects: Fanfare              
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Celine Jules                        20 --(5)--> 25                 Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
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Cyre H. Lorentz                     0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Layna Manydays              85 --(35)--> 120               Pass
Conditions: Bad Luck(1)|Save Point(1)
Effects: Cleanse
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Layna Manydays has successfully explored The Glint Mirage!
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Prototyping Prototyping *>===================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The machinery is stopped. The underground facility goes still. The sense of   
 danger gradually lessens, until all you are left with is the quiet and calm.  
 After that... well, there's not much left to do but search the place!         
                                                                               
 A lift leads up to the building above. The inside is a mass of metallic       
 vines and roots, having overtaken a circular workspace completely. They have  
 torn apart and consumed anything metallic in the room, which is most of it,   
 leaving bare stone and dust. Several clear specimen containers holding        
 fist-sized spheres marked 'ferroflora generis' are left intact; the rest are  
 broken open and empty.                                                        
                                                                               
 The only interior door you can get open leads to a smaller storage room,      
 this one bare except for a cluster of basketball-sized metallic spheres       
 resting in indents on a lab bench. They look like larger versions of the      
 ones found in the main chamber, bearing a more intricate pattern of filigree  
 and subtle changes in coloration on their surface. They're faintly warm to    
 the touch, but seem inactive.                                                 
                                                                               
 Notes scattered across the table refer to them as "echo seeds," capable of    
 replicating objects touched to them by growing them like the metallic         
 oddities out in the valley. It notes that while they can repeatedly           
 replicate even complex objects, the output is always made up of the same      
 metal as the ferroflora. Particularly huge things (such as large vehicles or  
 buildings, for instance) may require more than one seed to build it in        
 tandem, as the current iteration of the prototypes burn out after extended    
 use.                                                                          
                                                                               
 So, they've got some flaws... but they're probably good for something,        
 right?                                                                        
                                                                               
 (OOC Note: There are enough seeds for everyone of both the generic and echo   
 varieties! Generic seeds may be planted in metal-rich places to create small  
 garden plots of harmless, aesthetically-pleasing ferroflora, but do not       
 produce further seeds. Please feel free to ask Kalve if you have any          
 questions!)                                                                   
=Dungeon Conditions: Vault====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

It's okay you guys, Cyre's got this. Cyre even flashes a thumbs up, is how much he's got this. The shaman leaps up and into the viper's nest of gnashing mechanical limbs, his arms surging with hurricane-force winds. But he is not alone. Not at all in the least. Because Lanval is right there in the thick of it with him. The Seraph and the Shaman do battle with this mechanical hydra while all the others try to make heads or tails of the computer console.

It's...

Complicated.

Talise tries to stuff various orifices (on the console) full of chocolate biscuit, which unfortunately doesn't accomplish very much (on its own). After all, most of those are I/O ports and not really vital for the operation of much of anything at all. Layna notices something interesting, however, and uses her telescope to begin messing with the delicate optical signalling this device seems to use to communicate. That is, perhaps, the only reason Cyre does not end up being torn to shreds. The brief confusion is enough for the shaman to pull out of a mechanical grip and resume the assault, but...

Lanval... Is not so lucky.

He gets whacked right into the computer console, quite literally leaking through the cracks. Sparks begin to fly and hiss, which is perhaps only a precursor for the massive lightning spell that Celine unleashes, blasting the console with more current than it was made to contain. The mess of water conveys that to the interior circuitry, while the chocolate in the biscuits that Talise had jammed in there earlier melts, runs, and then suddenly flash-carbonizes over important conduits. With a sudden hiss and the noise of a dozen failing hard-drives, the mechanical arms finally grind to a halt. Right on time, too. Cyre is sent flying...!

Right into a door hatch?

Hm. Interesting.

What they find in the room beyond is... Interesting, if not also horrifying. It's a laboratory, one which seems to have been abandoned quite hastily as the surrounding flora grew to consume in entirely. The vines have devoured the metal utterly, leaving nothing but bare stone, a few notes scratched on paper, and...

Strange... metal spheres, containing various types of seeds.

Metal seeds.

Cyre stares at them for a long moment, as if gauging whether or not he should just set the whole place on fi--

Damn, is this what Ethius feels? Wow. He has a new appreciation for the guy.

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

"Take whatever we can carry," he decides after a moment. "If nothing else, I can bring this stuff back to Linga and we can figure out a way to contain the spread of these... These things."

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Frigging technology," grumbles Talise as she wolfs down a biscuit of consolation.

Where Cyre goes, so does Talise. Clattering after the catman, she moves quickly to kneel by them, briefly checking if he's alright. "Hang in there," she urges, giving him a quick scan from tip to toe and sizing up the extent of his injuries. Only then does she look up.

At something that should horrify her. Ferroflora. Metallic plants - seedlings for countless more. She opens her mouth to say something.

Then she frowns, scratching at her cheek with a quizzical look towards the ceiling. "...You know, I kind of wonder if this isn't some horrible misunderstanding. Some kind of effort on the Metal Demons' part to really, honestly try and make some kind of metal-based life that can live on Filgaia. I mean, this planet rejects their very nature, by my understanding. Maybe, just maybe, some clever Metal Demon found a way to bridge the gap between Filgaia and Hyades, and they're just not ready for prime time yet."

She frowns. "Either that or these grow into hideous monstrosities that replace the biosphere and I'm actually naively feeling bad for Alhazred."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval is comically (but also painfully) ejected from a short-out explosion, where his form de-rezzes into a bright aquamarine light that disappears into his vessel (which is, naturally, a bottle). By Seraphim standards, wooooow, did that hurt. What a strange and frightening creature that hollow centipede is! He doesn't hear any more of the grinding or the banging or the gnashing.
     "Did we wiiiin?" His voice is somewhere between a yawn and a whimper. He might actually be kind of shaken, right now, because he has no reference whatsoever about what it is he just went through.
     This keeps him out of goofing around in a serious moment of figuring out what to do with seeds that may or may not grow into whatever it is they just saw and/or dealt with. In a moment where he believed he had the issue handled in a moment of righteous awakening, this was beyond him! A truly worthy and mighty foe, the hollow centipede.

<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.

Following along with the others, Celine wipes her brow. "That could have went far worse~." She happily declares - but then, she was also not the unfortunate member to be dribbling all over the inside of the machinery!

It's not something she'd really like to experience, either, though!

Wandering in after the others, Celine is treated to a laboratory! Just like the others. "My, I certainly would love to do so! They look so very pretty, I'd love one for myself~." However, the documents talk about 'Ferroflora'. Odd! She's not sure what that could be. Listening to Talise talk along with the others, Celise is still firmly lost in the whole of it all. "Metal Demons, huh? Well, with a name like that, they're probably not too friendly~." She confirms for herself, taking one of the spheres and then some of the seeds as well for her self. "I've never had much of a green thumb, but that just means they'll be perfect, I think!"

She doesn't fully understand the implications, but as a woman of taste, metallic plants sounds like something that would be an amazing room filler and might make for some wonderful jewelry if she can manage!