2018-10-22: My Little Nemesis Can't Be This Cute!

From Dream Chasers
Jump to navigation Jump to search
  • Log: 2018-10-22 - My Little Nemesis Can't Be This Cute!
  • Cast: Ida Everstead-Rey, Lady Harken, Kalve, Lily Keil
  • Where: The Glint Mirage
  • Date: 10/22/2018
  • Summary: Kalve needs to shut things off in the Glint Mirage, and a still-recuperating Harken comes to 'help'. They find a still-radioactive Lily Keil and Ida, who is searching for her. A surprisingly civil time is had by all.


DG: A party led by Ida Everstead-Rey is now entering The Glint Mirage.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=============================<* The Glint Mirage *>=============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Crossed Paths *>=========================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< 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 looks like it's going to be your first challenge, though a       
 steep slope with mine tracks that runs through the abandoned town seems an    
 easy enough way to go. Unfortunately, you aren't the only ones to think of    
 it: a group of opportunistic Geohounds prowl through the ghost town, looking  
 to scare off any drifters who'd try to jump their 'claim.' Drive them off     
 and get on into the valley!                                                   
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida is looking for Lily. She hitched a ride with the Caravan Kinship, stopping at a settlement along the way; as soon as she hit November, she retrieved her Gear from its berth, set it on autopilot, and started combing the wastes for anomalous Ether signatures. It isn't long before she finds traces. They lead directly to a certain overgrown valley.

        Ida weighs her options. After some debate, she leaves the Gear in a shallower ravine, crouched to reduce its profile, and thoroughly locked. The smell of smoke drifts over the sand as she walks towards the town. Embers still smolder in one of the ruined buildings. The panicked shouts of a group of bandits echo in the distance, along with gunshots--Ida can't see what they're shooting at, but she can guess.

        Ida ducks low, approaching the building most of the gunfire seems to be coming from. They don't notice her. This is a grave tactical error. As several of the bandits reload, a flare grenade flies through a long-shattered window and explodes with brilliant, stunning force.

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flare Grenade toward her party's challenge, Crossed Paths.
<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.

Lady Harken is not taking anyone's advice, or orders, because she listens to nobody other than Siegfried and he is busy trying to unfuck his entire race's strategy as it comes from the mouth of an angry, immortal alien baby that wants to eat pure suffering. So she's gone in search of the woman who has bested her several times with terrifying sorcery, in flagrant disregard of her physician's wishes.

Soon after Ida tosses a flashbang at a nearby group of threatening Geohounds, there comes a crackling of scarlet energies from the Heavens! What the hell could it be!?

A Quarter Knight literally Megaman-teleports into the middle of the valley, surveying the surroundings with a tired look on her face. Well, it's Harken, what can you say? She isn't wearing her powered armour, and instead looks kind of chic in a scarlet robe and doublet with silver trim. Big boots, though. Also, she's still gigantic.

The welfare and safety of these opportunistic raubritters is not something at the forefront of Harken's mind. She scowls and hefts a familiar polearm in one hand. A foul scythe's blade unfurls from the shaft. "I am tired," she addresses the largest of the Geohounds. "And I hunt your Kings for sport. You could not harm me with a company of Gears. Leave."

To make her point, the Quarter Knight sternly taps the base of her polearm against the ground once. It creates a splintering network of cracks that runs under the brigands' feet. The shockwave sends ripples up their legs. Maybe this crazy broad and her accomplices are bad news.

That's when she turns and regards Ida with total clarity, sea-green eyes focusing on her. "Oh, it's you. It's good that you still live, isn't it?"

Is... it?

DG: Lady Harken has used her Tool Azrael toward her party's challenge, Crossed Paths.
<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

Kalve is Harken's physician, in case you were wondering.

He doesn't teleport. He advances from the desert, chasing Harken towards the settlement with the long, loping strides characteristic of the Manipule Array's long-legged travel configuration. The presence of smoke makes him think that she got even further ahead of him than he thought, but a second's consideration makes him rethink that. He gives chase to the edge of the town, using the falling night to cover the huge amount of dust he kicks up in his approach.

Kalve ends up in position to provide neat crossfire, standing slightly off the ground on the extra legs instead of arms. He leans out from an upper point on a building that hasn't yet caught, brandishing a heavy pistol that seems to be made of fused fragments of broken glass. The report of the coilgun is like sharp thunder. He's trying to drive them away, but he won't shy from actual body shots, either. "You have had a moment of good fortune this day," Kalve calls. "I recommend taking the Lady's offer."

Kalve's unoccupied left (real) hand waves at Ida from his position. Hi, Ida. We should really stop meeting in this specific place.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

There is, of course, a reason that the bandits here are already shouting, and a target for them to shoot. Accordingly, there is also suddenly a bright flash of light as a store of ammunition outright explodes from within... just after Harken appears into the middle of the valley. As she surveys, she can see--

There is a wide crater near the center of the town. The ground within is cracked, torn, and suffers no life; everything that was there is rather thoroughly scorched and melted. In the center of that crater, however, is a woman with black hair radiating sorcerous power. The jacket that she had been wearing is in tatters on the ground beside her, and her ARM is holstered at her side. The strange circuit markings running up her now-bare arms turn from brilliant orange-red to a deep purple, however, as she points towards one man and half of his face stops existing in an instant. ...Maybe more screaming than shouting.

Another that was sliding in close with a bizarre-looking sword gets closer to Lily, and with a blood-crusted palm (thanks Harken!), Lily reaches out, grabs him by the throat--and in a flash of red, seems to just draw the life completely out of him, his eyes flashing before he crumples to the ground.

She doesn't appear to... notice anything, at first. The new arrivals; people around her; the concept of stopping. She just mutters something in a bizarre language and then--

Pauses. The shockwave seems to be what did it, as she pauses, turns, and tilts her head, seemingly staring without understanding, at first.

...Staring with two eyes; one gold, the other, that just earlier was an empty socket, a brilliant blue.

"..."

There's more light. One of the fleeing bandits gets a spear of ice thrown at his back while Lily is still looking at Harken. She appears to be waiting for someone else to say something first.

DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Dog toward her party's challenge, Crossed Paths.
DG: Kalve has used his Tool Optimized Array toward his party's challenge, Crossed Paths.
=============================<* The Glint Mirage *>=============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Crossed Paths *>=========================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< 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 looks like it's going to be your first challenge, though a       
 steep slope with mine tracks that runs through the abandoned town seems an    
 easy enough way to go. Unfortunately, you aren't the only ones to think of    
 it: a group of opportunistic Geohounds prowl through the ghost town, looking  
 to scare off any drifters who'd try to jump their 'claim.' Drive them off     
 and get on into the valley!                                                   
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
========================<* The Glint Mirage - Round 1 *>========================
==========================< Results - Crossed Paths >===========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lady Harken                         0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Azrael                              1   Combat  Effects: Cleanse              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ida Everstead-Rey                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Flare Grenade                       2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kalve                               0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Optimized Array                     2   Combat  Effects: Stalwart             
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Dog                                 2   Combat  Effects: Stalwart             
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey           0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Injure(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to
use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Lady Harken has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Lethani Lethality *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 This section of the metallic jungle seems to be deliberately arranged. Neat   
 rows of unusual trees are perfectly spaced out ahead of you, a wide           
 rectangular orchard that seems easy to pass through. Their low-hanging        
 branches sway and jostle in a gentle breeze, dim light glinting off of        
 sharp-edged leaves that resemble nothing less than blades of different        
 shapes and sizes. The sound they make is vaguely musical, rising in volume    
 and urgency as the wind picks up.                                             
                                                                               
 Unfortunately, this also sets the tree branches into a whipping frenzy,       
 whirling and sweeping past one another's outstretched branches, then          
 swinging back again. They seem rigid enough that the wind makes them sweep    
 in a somewhat predictable pattern, but you'd better watch out for those       
 leaves!                                                                       
=Dungeon Conditions: Maim=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        It's over in less than a minute.

        The bandits, who were enjoying the secluded nature of their new home, were not prepared to deal with well-armed Drifters, much less a pair of Metal Demons and some sort of sorcerous thing that kills as easily as most people breathe. After the first few fatalities, the remainder see the wisdom in Kalve and Harken's words, and run. None of them stick around to try and retrieve their valuables. Even the disoriented ones stagger off as fast as they can.

        Ida has gone completely still. Harken looms over her, and her hands still ache from the fight with Siegfried. Lily, who came into view during the fight proper, is still in that... bizarre and terrifying other form of hers. (Ida was at the wrong angle to see her disintegrate half of a man's head, but could piece things together.) "Lily?" Ida says. Her eyes are wide. She is very studiously not looking at Kalve. "Are you...?"

<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.

"Oh. The eye wasn't missing, after all? I'm glad, I didn't recall dealing that kind of a wound." Harken muses upon sighting Lily. It wouldn't do if someone else got to her prey before her, would it? The silent treatment doesn't upset her, either. Nor does murdering the men with fel magics. "Come, this is hardly a place to stay. Not for one so interesting as you."

To Kalve, Harken strolls closer in turn and folds her arms. "I'm unharmed, but if either of these two need medical attention, I don't see why not." harken one of them--wait, both of them are technically your enemy AND... and I guess she doesn't really know about Ida and Kalve. Hah.

Past the slope and down the hills, beyond the touch of doofy bandits who don't know better, lies a beautiful orchard of twinkling metal. Geometrically perfect in arrangement, the feng shui of this place would knock your socks off if you knew. Unfortunately, the world does not exist in perfect stasis. The stifling hot breeze of the valley begins to blow, as it tends to, and the trees shed their priceless leaves. Their razor-edged leaves. The wind grows blades.

"Tsk. Dangerous," rumbles the still-towering inhuman giant as bladed leaves soon dig into the valley walls and floor around them. She catches a few more of these strange leaves between two fingers and studies them up close, squinting. "And I have already found what I came looking for, have I? Let's celebrate this reunion someplace safer." and something in the Quarter Knight's eyes glow. She walks forward into the storm with her senses cranked up to 22x normal speed, because that's definitely the sane way to navigate this.

DG: Lady Harken has used her Tool Harken Booster toward her party's challenge, Lethani Lethality.
<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

Oh, right. Kalve remembers that maybe he shouldn't consort with the enemy in sight of his boss, even if she's kind of the Cool Boss. Good call, Ida.

Lily, though... Kalve doesn't even know where to start with Lily. He looks between the sorcerously furious figure and the cool, calm (isn't that a wonderful thing, though?) and carnageriffic one he chased down here cautiously. Kalve is carrying what looks like a backpack, presumably full of supplies, split down the middle and hanging behind either shoulder. He's also lowering himself to the ground and letting the spidery leg-things retract and return to arms, hanging down below the bottom edge of his loudly-colored poncho. Nobody here is going to be surprised to see that.

"I... would be fine with offering such aid," Kalve says slowly, "if they desire it." He's still keyed up to a tension level of 'alarmingly.' That sort of magical muscle being casually flexed bothers him for reasons that have little to do with its amazing efficiency in reducing people to their component atoms and a lot to do with personal trauma. Ah, memories...

But Harken carries on, so he has to, too. He hustles down the slope after her, raising his auxiliary arms as shields against the bladed leaves. "They have been shedding since last I was here," he remarks grimly. "Be careful of --" SHUNK. One sinks into a rock nearby, slicing through it like it was a loaf of fresh bread. Kalve doesn't finish his sentence.

DG: Kalve has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Lethani Lethality.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Lethani Lethality.
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Lethani Lethality *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 This section of the metallic jungle seems to be deliberately arranged. Neat   
 rows of unusual trees are perfectly spaced out ahead of you, a wide           
 rectangular orchard that seems easy to pass through. Their low-hanging        
 branches sway and jostle in a gentle breeze, dim light glinting off of        
 sharp-edged leaves that resemble nothing less than blades of different        
 shapes and sizes. The sound they make is vaguely musical, rising in volume    
 and urgency as the wind picks up.                                             
                                                                               
 Unfortunately, this also sets the tree branches into a whipping frenzy,       
 whirling and sweeping past one another's outstretched branches, then          
 swinging back again. They seem rigid enough that the wind makes them sweep    
 in a somewhat predictable pattern, but you'd better watch out for those       
 leaves!                                                                       
=Dungeon Conditions: Maim=====================================================
[OOC] Lily Keil says, "Lily doesn't actually--you know what, bluray* that's out"
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"<My eye...?>" Lily speaks in an unfamiliar language again at first, and then blinks, shaking her head. Ida is asking her something. So, still wreathed in power, strange spectral wings behind her, Lily looks up.

"..."

In an instant, the sense of Etheric pressure winks out; Lily's strange black eyes, with irises of multiple colors and radiant pupils, become more or less human again. ...The iris of the one on the left is blue, rather than gold, but the markings recede as well, her hair normal, her wings gone. ...Her jacket doesn't come back, though, and the circuitry still traces partway up her throat, if not aso far as before, down her sides.

"...My eye... was gone," she murmurs, frowning, and looks again at the others. "Why would you...?"

She makes a decision quickly, glances to Ida. "I'm fine," she answers, and looks over the men thoughtfully. The truth, of course, is that even without the oppressive sense of magical pressure, Lily still basically exudes power.

"...Sure." Lily looks to Kalve again, shakes her head. "But I don't need assistance." There is red power again; this time, what looks like it must have been a gunshot wound to her shoulder begins to seal up; the lead slug inside her flesh simply pops out, onto the ground, and her arm is whole.

"You're familiar with this place?" she asks Kalve.

She isn't that agile, frankly. The strange music, the frenzy of the leaves...

From her left side, a terrible gash slices partway through her cheek; in surprise she makes a noise of irritation. ...It's like she didn't actually see it out of that eye. "...Whatever," she murmurs. "Where...?"

She doesn't wait for her answer. Instead, she ducks down, and gets moving.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida's arms are bandaged from the elbows down. It would fit the pugilist aesthetic if she weren't doing everything in her power to keep from using them more than necessary. She did think to strap on the ARM-gauntlet, though, even though wearing it is uncomfortable at the moment. Presented with both Lady Harken, a known and extremely dangerous quantity, and Lily, who may or may not recognize her--

        And then Harken does something that reminds Ida more of that strange encounter in the coliseum hallway than the more standard one on the coliseum floor. She stares at the Quarter Knight as she walks into the forest without so much as a glare thrown Ida's way.

        Ida's stare turns to Kalve. She doesn't linger for long, though--she hurries into the thicket after Lily, once more flowing into a form Kalve might recognize. There's a certain fluidity to it, now, despite Ida's fear. She steps out of the way of some of the leaves, and uses the gauntlet to block others. "Are you...?" Ida asks Harken, about halfway through. Then she seems to choke on whatever else she was going to say, and doesn't finish the thought.

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Line Launcher toward her party's challenge, Lethani Lethality.
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Lethani Lethality *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 This section of the metallic jungle seems to be deliberately arranged. Neat   
 rows of unusual trees are perfectly spaced out ahead of you, a wide           
 rectangular orchard that seems easy to pass through. Their low-hanging        
 branches sway and jostle in a gentle breeze, dim light glinting off of        
 sharp-edged leaves that resemble nothing less than blades of different        
 shapes and sizes. The sound they make is vaguely musical, rising in volume    
 and urgency as the wind picks up.                                             
                                                                               
 Unfortunately, this also sets the tree branches into a whipping frenzy,       
 whirling and sweeping past one another's outstretched branches, then          
 swinging back again. They seem rigid enough that the wind makes them sweep    
 in a somewhat predictable pattern, but you'd better watch out for those       
 leaves!                                                                       
=Dungeon Conditions: Maim=====================================================
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Lethani Lethality *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 This section of the metallic jungle seems to be deliberately arranged. Neat   
 rows of unusual trees are perfectly spaced out ahead of you, a wide           
 rectangular orchard that seems easy to pass through. Their low-hanging        
 branches sway and jostle in a gentle breeze, dim light glinting off of        
 sharp-edged leaves that resemble nothing less than blades of different        
 shapes and sizes. The sound they make is vaguely musical, rising in volume    
 and urgency as the wind picks up.                                             
                                                                               
 Unfortunately, this also sets the tree branches into a whipping frenzy,       
 whirling and sweeping past one another's outstretched branches, then          
 swinging back again. They seem rigid enough that the wind makes them sweep    
 in a somewhat predictable pattern, but you'd better watch out for those       
 leaves!                                                                       
=Dungeon Conditions: Maim=====================================================
=======================<* The Glint Mirage - Round 2 *>=======================
=======================< Results - Lethani Lethality >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lady Harken                         0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Harken Booster                      3   Agility Effects: Rally                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ida Everstead-Rey                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Line Launcher                       2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kalve                               0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey           20 --(20)--> 40                Pass
Conditions: Maim
Effects: Quicken(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey 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> Lady Harken has posed.

Kalve will learn, in time, how much leeway he really has so long as Harken remains his immediate superior. But for now, maybe his assumptions are a good starting point. Best to be cautious, especially with the Photosphere generally being operated by xenophobes who want to conquer the globe.

"You did mention something was a little amiss with the garden," Harken muses as she stalks through the blizzard of razors. A monofilament leaf scythes through a mane of hair the colour of bloodclots as she says this. "This is still more relaxing than trying to recover at home, though. A potted plant you could cut yourself on would be appropriate."

The terrifying sense of oblivion fades from around Lily, and that in itself draws the Quarter Knight's attention for a moment. When she asks whether they're familiar with this place, the woman in scarlet stops to think. Which is not a great idea, here. "This is the work of my companion, here," she gestures with one hand to indicate Kalve, who fends off the hundreds of lethal projectiles with his many extra limbs and superb reflexes. "But I've never laid eyes on it before. It seems a dangerous place to flee. Though, I do like it."

Ida glowers at Harken as the lot of them skip through the hailstorm of blades. And fair enough, that. Harken must have eyes in the back of her head, as she turns to meet this stare mid-stride without the faintest spark of aggression on her face or in her tone. Is it because she feels utterly unthreatened? Or something deeper? She even pauses upon being spoken to--Ida's unfinished sentence does not go unnoticed.

"Am I?" she asks in a sense that encourages the sentence to be finished. She also moves Azrael's shaft a half-inch to prevent a leaf from cutting her own head in half.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        "Are you well?" Ida finally squeaks out. A leaf comes a little too close, tracing a line of red across Ida's brow.

DG: Kalve has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================================<* The Glint Mirage *>======================================
=================================<* CHALLENGE - Trailblazing *>==================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
-----------------------------------< Challenge Information: >------------------------------------
 Traversing the forest within the valley is a risky proposition. Not only is   
 it difficult to navigate at night even with the reflected starlight, but the  
 actual tangle of plants in the undergrowth you'd expect in a place like this  
 are all wire and mesh, grown together into increasingly dense lattices of     
 familiar-looking and silver-hued plantlife. One of these natural barriers     
 stands between you and the path forward, but picking your way through it      
 carefully when all the leaves have sharp edges is a much riskier proposition  
 than just cutting it down. Get to it!                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.

Harken thinks of her short lifetime until now: one where agony flows through her veins with every waking moment, where dark memories of death and dying bubble to the surface in her mind with every cycle of sleep, where her ultimate leader's right-hand talks to her to like a plaything and a toy.

She also thinks of how few of these things occur now.

"I am well." she confirms for Ida. Perhaps she confirms for herself, too. Should your race's sworn nemesis be this pleasant?

<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

Kalve is about to answer Lily (whom he is this close to asking to stop to examine for a (less obvious) head wound) when Harken handles that. He jerks his head in a nod as he raises his arms, swatting down the incoming leaves. They seem to come apart mid-swing in several places, turning to thinner, more agile appendages that divided at the elbow. It makes it more efficient for him to just... deflect blown leaves, that way. "Yes. It was intended to be a more contained experiment, however."

The far side of the trees is full of dense foliage. It ends up looking like a fence made of razorwire, if the razorwire was in the shape of pricker-bushes and spider-plants, running between tall tree trunks of silver hue. The wind is blowing between gaps in it, making the whole mass rattle and shake with a mix of wire-plucking sounds and chimes from metallic leaf formations higher up. It's a low roar of background noise.

Kalve summons up a yellow-glass polearm with a crescent-shaped blade and gets to work hacking at the wall of plants. Considering they're metal, it's only middlingly effective. "I am glad to hear that," he tells Harken. "I admit to some concern over your recent engagement." Kalve's sub-arms do the hacking. His primary ones fish out a hexagonal box from his poncho somewhere and offer it to Ida. She might recognize it as a compact medical kit he carries everywhere.

DG: Kalve has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Trailblazing.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"...I didn't leave for my safety," Lily answers Harken eventually, though it's not hard to link the statement to the talk of fleeing. The words are a little distant, but it's more the kind of distant of someone who woke up with a bit of a hangover and is still reacquainting herself with the world. A closer look at her will reveal that perhaps she should've been bandaged at one point... but while there's blood as if from cuts in places all over her body, none of them are still open--none of them even seem like wounds. It may or may not be her own blood, frankly; the only one that surely must be is the one at her cheek.

Lily glances to Harken again after that. "But he made it, huh? ...It definitely doesn't look very contained," she points out to Kalve. Truthfully she does show the signs of an invisible head injury; her left eye is unfocused, she seems a bit dazed...

"...Metal," she murmurs after a moment. Kalve starts hacking at the wall of plants, though. Engagement--

Ah. "Are you well?" Lily asks Harken, skeptical. "I can think of at least one thing that suggests otherwise."

She steps forward towards the foilage, though; the mass rattles, shakes... There's formations all around. They could fall any way. Not being trees, they're unlikely to burn; freezing them might make them more fragile... or...

Lily checks the chains about her right hand; it could be fairly innocuous, if unusual, jewelry. But there are strange runes inscribed in the metal. ...Those who can feel the pulse of Ether do; those who can't will simply see the circuitry on Lily's arms begin to glow golden. "Mm..."

She holds the spell; she lets it build, and build, without doing anything with it, a faint whine beginning to pierce the air as a terrible sense of pressure indicates something must be here. She waits, until it is bothersome to her; she waits longer, until it is painful. Then, abrubtly--

The feeling grows, and Lily lifts her palm to the sky--and drags her hand down all at once, twisting such that the back of her now-fist points in front of herself. At the same moment, there is an eruption of golden light, of nuclear fire that crashes from the ground and hungrily devours even metal, a tower of devasatation that reaches to the sky, that takes all heavy defenses and turns them inward.

It's hotter than hot, but only for an instant; there is no shockwave of pressure outside the area of the spell at all.

DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Rune Chain toward her party's challenge, Trailblazing.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        "Good," Ida says. What else is she supposed to say? She wants to ask Kalve what the hell is going on, but Harken is literally right there, and doing so would be extremely dangerous for the both of them. (Rude, too, but mainly extremely dangerous.) She emerges from the sword-trees unharmed, save for the wound across her forehead--and immediately, another obstacle presents itself.

        "I--need a moment," Ida says. She takes the offered medical kit and immediately goes for the disinfectant, applying it to her forehead with a square of gauze and wincing at the pain. If nothing else, the pain reminds her that this is in fact really happening. She wraps some bandage layers overtop the cut, and very studiously looks away as Lily does something that makes the world turn gold, and then white.

        When Ida finally looks up, she blinks, and focuses on Kalve. "Are you... treating her?" she asks.

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Trailblazing.
<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.

What Kalve does here is quite smart, whether intentional or not. Keeping Harken from asking any dangerous questions about this gigantic, out-of-control experiment or possibly making things worse than they already are is his reminder about her picking fights while being under the weather. That's the one that needs answering.

"The worst of it is the fatigue." Harken explains, only slightly feeling like she's justifying a reckless outing to a wiser parent. "Zed might have put a lot of passion into his swings, but there wasn't much killing intent behind them." her gaze does swivel to Lily, though. "The Black Wolf over there was much more difficult to deal with, as was the blonde princess. I was recalled before their sorceries could destroy me, anyway."

Also, like Kalve, Harken brings her scythe to bear. But for once, the implement actually isn't designed to reap plants, it's supposed to harvest souls. So it doesn't fit the bill for the tool in this equation for once. Still, she has a lot of superhuman brawn to bring to bear on the wall of overgrowth. Maybe brute force can win the day.

What Harken doesn't do is cover her eyes before the atomic detonation, but thankfully, her physiology still isn't back to 'baseline human' or really even 'elevated human'. She regards the wielder of such force with raised eyebrows, especially when Lily leans into Ida's line of questioning. "Believe me when I say that I am better than I have been." she clarifies, again, terribly politely. A noblewoman speaking instead of a ravenous beast. "Whatever else you may think."

Not that she corrected her.

Harken also patiently waits for Ida to finish tending to the nasty cut on her forehead before continuing. She has a huge handful of ferrous vines in one hand and all the metal is screeching softly as she pulls it apart, as if this were just an average day in the nuclear-fired garden. "Yes." she confirms for Ida because why wouldn't you? If you can't politely tell the truth to someone, you probably don't deserve to kill them later. "A world of difference from how things used to be. For the better."

DG: Lady Harken has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Trailblazing.
=====================================<* The Glint Mirage *>======================================
=================================<* CHALLENGE - Trailblazing *>==================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
-----------------------------------< Challenge Information: >------------------------------------
 Traversing the forest within the valley is a risky proposition. Not only is   
 it difficult to navigate at night even with the reflected starlight, but the  
 actual tangle of plants in the undergrowth you'd expect in a place like this  
 are all wire and mesh, grown together into increasingly dense lattices of     
 familiar-looking and silver-hued plantlife. One of these natural barriers     
 stands between you and the path forward, but picking your way through it      
 carefully when all the leaves have sharp edges is a much riskier proposition  
 than just cutting it down. Get to it!                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
================================<* The Glint Mirage - Round 3 *>=================================
===================================< Results - Trailblazing >====================================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lady Harken                         0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ida Everstead-Rey                   0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kalve                               5 --(5)--> 10                  Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
Rune Chain                          1   Brute   Effects: Cleanse              
--------------------------------------------< Party >--------------------------------------------
Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey           40 --(20)--> 60                Pass
Conditions: Injure(2)|Maim
Effects: Cleanse
========================================< Dream Chasers >========================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to
use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* The Glint Mirage *>=============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Warning Willow *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The trees down in the valley are shaped like other Filgaian specimens, but    
 placed with no regard for what species should be where. The biggest you've    
 encounter thus far looms ahead of you: a weeping willow, draped over the      
 depression in the dry riverbed where it should almost reasonably exist.       
 Glinting branches sway gently, and, despite the danger of the rest of this    
 place, it seems peaceful and beautiful in the reflected starlight.            
                                                                               
 Until someone angers it. Whether by accident or not, disturbing the tree      
 results in the hanging branches and vines suddenly retracting, pulling in on  
 itself -- and dragging in anyone unfortunate enough to be underneath it,      
 pinning them to its trunk with crushing strength. Get them out!               
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Slow=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

Kalve eventually stops trying to cut wire with sharp things. He makes a few gestures, turning the bladed weapon into an orb of yellow light that he manipulates like some kind of control device. "It is not as contained as I would have liked," Kalve admits, "but it is still somewhat contained. The terrain was a suitable secondary stop-gap in the event of a massive and unexpected spread of ferroflora during my absence."

Beat.

"But I am glad you like it," he asides to Harken.

Regardless of their quality, scythes are better at reaping things than glaives. Kalve steps away to help Ida with her injuries, finding a second set of hands and eyes generally more useful on head wounds than having to do it yourself. He gives her a look that he hopes is reassuring while he does that, helpfully with his back to the boss-lady.

Also to the nuclear explosion. Cool guys don't look at explosions.

Kalve half-turns towards the fading light, clearly alarmed. The surface of the yellow orb in one hand ripples like a sound visualizer, making a quiet ticking noise. "That is... alarming," he murmurs. Harken's further ripping and tearing is less so, even if the casual manner might be. He raises his voice a little more. "Zed is more fond of the thrill of the fight than the kill at the end." Lily, he thinks, seems more into putting someone in the ground very permanently.

The path, though somewhat hot and also somewhat hot, is cleared. Kalve waves a hand at it and then waves everyone through once he's sure it's only slightly dangerous. "There is still work to be done," he says, regarding Harken's condition, "but the improvements have been remarkable."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Kalve, Harken's physician. That's an interesting thing. ...Sort of funny, in a way. When Harken looks to her though, Lily looks right back. "Destruction is something that comes naturally to me," she answers simply, with a light shrug. This is even before she proves it, with the column of... some kind of magic. Brute force.

"...Honestly?" Lily answers Harken after that. "I can't complain. Your behavior is unusual, but I'd rather deal with a calmer, more dangerous opponent than the alternative. If you say you're feeling better... So be it."

Is Kalve helping them, in that way? Maybe. Lily isn't quite 'present' enough to consider lying and sneaking about that concept. But, she does consider, "...Anger doesn't help the Princess much, in battle. It makes her sloppy."

"It does, however, empower my magic. Consider it a free piece of intelligence, as my contribution to this... brief parley."

Is it alarming? Reasonably it should be alarming. Lily doesn't comment on Zed, for the moment. ...She does, however, pause to take the time to apply a hand to her cheek; in a flash of red light, the wound begins to seal. ...Absently, she steps forward.

"Ordinary flora tends to spread more than you'd like, too, given the chance. ...Not out in the wastes, though."

She does not walk especially quietly. In fact, she steps on a branch, a good ways' down the rest of the path... and abrubtly, what was a beautiful, noble tree reaches straight out for her in an instant. If it had an expression, it might be one of rage; if it had emotions, those emotions might be hatred of anything resembling life.

Within an instant Lily is gone, and its limbs are close to its trunk; the main sign that Lily is still even there, given that she didn't make more than the sound of the wind being knocked out of her, is the vague purple glow that starts a moment later.

...She might have this. She might not have this. It is not really a good idea to wait and see.

DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Rune Chain toward her party's challenge, Warning Willow.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        "And who, may I ask, was treating her before?" Ida already has an inkling of the answer, but perhaps it's best to be on the safe side. "...Though yes, if you yourself feel calmer and more lucid, that's an improvement." Should she say things like that about Harken? "Anger has a place. To work with it, though, rather than blindly accept what you think it's trying to teach you... Well.

        Snap.

        Ida sees the willow a second too late. Lily disappears into its branches, and Ida hesitates, because even though her heart is jumping about in her chest, she knows Lily's first instinct may be to blast her way out. "Lily!" she shouts. She reaches into a pocket, pulls out a metal tool-grip, and extends the sawblade. "Please be careful! We're right next to you!" She starts trying to hacksaw through the limbs binding her friend in place, though it's slow going.

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Warning Willow.
<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.

The path cleared, Harken rights herself to full height with a satisfied look upon her face. She brushes an errant lock of hair behind her ear as her scythe's blade disappears back into the liquid metal polearm shaft. She resumes discussing Zed with her provider of primary care, to boot. "Well said. His current predicament seems to do more for his focus than a century of being mercilessly beaten." she surmirses, scowling lightly. Her (fading) programming instructs her to respect Berserk, but the more she thinks about it--you know, Quarter Knight status aside--fuck that guy and she's glad he's dead.

Also, the woman in scarlet is glad Lily meets her gaze. And doesn't let their status as nemeses get in the way of being genial, it means she can generally count on whichever of them finally gets the upper hand to make it fairly swift and merciful at the end of the day. When your whole life has been war, you can't ask for a better friend than that. "Oh--you noticed, too?" Harken echoes after Lily's observation about Cecilia. "The power that little princess commands is problematic. But as you say, she loses her head entirely. She's not trained to fight." a pale finger taps a pale forehead. "Not trained to think about the fight. And when you stop thinking about the fight, you lose it."

Now, watch, as Harken's attention turns to Ida. Like a Lion remembering the Lamb is talking. (At least, maybe that's how it feels to Ida, Harken probably doesn't think that arrogantly.)

"The Quarter Knight, Alhazred." she answers the question because this placid foe of all Humanity sees no reason to withhold answers, and also silently wishes Alhazred would die. "It's very unpleasant to recall. Not at all like Kalve's manner." Harken lifts her gaze once more. For a moment. She's definitely noticed something about the way Kalve treats this human, what with her annoyingly sharp senses and the lack of murderous rage clouding her judgement 24/7.

Luckily, Ida is saved by Lily's predicament. Those pallid eyes track Lily's sudden disappearance into a metallic limb, watching the beautifully deadly tree pluck her from where she stands. "Kalve, I don't like this one quite as much." she advises him after a moment, "The orchard back there was perfect. This... is rather lacking something."

There's a sound like a jet engine spooling up shortly before Harken gives everyone zero warning whatsoever and mule-kicks the willow in the trunk. Maybe if the whole thing explodes, the problem will go away. That's fair, right?

DG: Lady Harken has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Warning Willow.
<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

"Something we could all learn from, I think," Kalve opines at Harken about Zed, in his usually vaguely-circumspect sort of way. He very frequently walks circles around a topic before he actually attacks it.

"Someone unqualified," Kalve tells Ida about Alhazred, in a more brusque and abrupt manner than usual about a second before Harken lays out the name. He very frequently takes the opportunity to verbally express a roundabout desire to punch Alhazred in the schnoz, too, when Harken is around and he comes up. Not much dancing around that one.

Lily gets abruptly eaten by a tree. Kalve stops and looks at it for a long moment. Deciding that he probably shouldn't let her just explode her own way out, he moves up next to the trunk and goes to help Ida peel back parts of the willow that she's weakened with an actual useful tool he definitely does not recognize shut up Harken.

"Do you disapprove of the surprise," Kalve asks while he struggles against the wood, "or the asymmetry, or perhaps the lack of general peril instead of specific danger?" That last one is surprisingly relevant let me tell you.

DG: Kalve has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Warning Willow.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        "I had the displeasure of encountering him," Ida says, through gritted teeth. The multitool saws obediently through the branches, but it's starting to dull. "Horrible creature."

=============================<* The Glint Mirage *>=============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Warning Willow *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The trees down in the valley are shaped like other Filgaian specimens, but    
 placed with no regard for what species should be where. The biggest you've    
 encounter thus far looms ahead of you: a weeping willow, draped over the      
 depression in the dry riverbed where it should almost reasonably exist.       
 Glinting branches sway gently, and, despite the danger of the rest of this    
 place, it seems peaceful and beautiful in the reflected starlight.            
                                                                               
 Until someone angers it. Whether by accident or not, disturbing the tree      
 results in the hanging branches and vines suddenly retracting, pulling in on  
 itself -- and dragging in anyone unfortunate enough to be underneath it,      
 pinning them to its trunk with crushing strength. Get them out!               
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Slow=============================================
========================<* The Glint Mirage - Round 4 *>========================
==========================< Results - Warning Willow >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lady Harken                         0 --(15)--> 15                 Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ida Everstead-Rey                   5 --(20)--> 25                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kalve                               10 --(20)--> 30                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           5 --(15)--> 20                 Pass
Rune Chain                          1   Brute   Effects: Cleanse              
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey           60 --(10)--> 70                Fail
Conditions: Slow(2)|Weaken(2)
Effects: Cleanse
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey 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> Lady Harken has posed.

Mid-kick, hair aflutter, Harken looks like an immortal princess of battle. A beautiful terror from another world. A valkyrie amidst a thousand shining metallic petals.

Then she opens her mouth. "He's a real waste of space. Fuck him."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"He does seem to have found something of himself," Lily finally admits about Zed. Thinking about Zed remains strange; Lily wonders, for an instant, if she does have a head injury. However... Speaking to Harken directly, enemy to enemy, civil enough--

"Power, she has. Commitment, she has. ...But teaching her to be a woman of war has been slow going. Until you arrived, Adlehyde was a nation at peace--had been for some time. ...Not like Kislev, where I come from."

A slow shrug, "...But I don't aim to let your forces have her, either. If I can't teach her to change her nature, then we'll just have to rely on those who can guard her."

Is it revealing something? No, Lily doesn't think so. It's not actionable intelligence, really, nothing they haven't seen themselves. It's trading information they already know, feeling one another out.

The Quarter Knight, Alhazred, though... Lily will have to remember that name.

She doesn't get a chance to think about it much, though. She's in a tree. Kalve and Ida get to work peeling away parts of the tree, though, which is slow, but effective. ...Harken takes a more direct approach, however, and hits the damn thing hard enough that the entire thing shakes and metal branches start to fall out of it.

The tree shrieks, and its vines start uncoiling, revealing Lily beneath, eyes closed, circuits glowing red. ...Nothing explodes.

The tree, however, rips itself out of the ground and starts attempting to flee... and fails. The whole thing is really, grotesquely ugly as a scene, and the resultant razor-sharp debris storm is too quick for the group to evade quickly. They can move on...

But that one cost them more than the others.

Lily just glances past it, glances down at her hand. "...Thank you," she says simply, and turns towards the path. A beat, "If you're still talking about the other Quarter Knight, let me know if you decide you're better off without him. I could help you with that."

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* The Glint Mirage *>=============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Feed Me Seymour *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The things growing within the valley of metallic plants are strange and       
 sometimes beautiful. Even the flowers are rendered in gleaming metal,         
 growing in patches of muted color that shine in the starlight. They're also   
 distracting, as it turns out: a potential danger quite literally rears its    
 questionably-ugly head as a plant big enough to qualify as some kind of       
 monster rises up out of the dense vegetation, opens its maw, and tries to     
 swallow one of you whole! Turn it into lawn clippings!                        
                                                                               
 ...Or, you know, don't. Everybody brings an expendable guy, right?            
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida doesn't talk about Cecilia. That relationship, while scabbed over somewhat, still feels raw--especially in the wake of the second Battle of Adlehyde, and Cecilia's rage at the Metal Demons renewing itself. To say she sees pieces of herself in the other woman is an understatement.

        The tree rips itself out of the earth. Ida tumbles backwards, dropping the multitool and shielding her face with her arms. Those horrible, razor-edged fragments rake lines across her forearms, adding fresh cuts to the misery there. She lowers them, and is about to speak when a tendril like steel cabling erupts from the plant life behind her. Something rears up--a metal-jawed thing like a Venus flytrap grown to gargantuan size. Tendrils seize Ida's legs, right wrist, chest. She jerks her left arm out of the way, fumbles for a flare, throws it unlit at the plant in hopes of giving it something more suitably metallic to chew on. She's terrified. Lily can sense it. But oddly, she's so terrified she doesn't even scream.

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flare Grenade toward her party's challenge, Feed Me Seymour.
<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.

Persuaded by being kicked with the kind of force that usually is reserved for destroying stray Gears, the metallic willow mostly unhands Lily. Despite the fact that she is glowing red, too, the Quarter Knight offers her a hand out of there. It'd be rude not to offer. "The asymmetry is a big one, Kalve. Nature favors symmetry." she dusts oxide powder from her boots. "But it's somehow inelegant despite its beauty. Like it stands out here, somehow."

Lily's offer to assassinate Alhazred is maybe the finest gift anyone has given Harken in a long while, and it is with great regret that she declines with a shake of her head. "Whatever fate befalls my glorious compatriot will be his own doing." Harken puts it very tactfully. "But he's smarter than to put himself in harm's way. Best save him for your victory lap, if that is how our conflict's balance looks in the long-term." and then in the same breath, "Come prepared to counter spatial dislocation, if you can."

While all of this is going on, it looks like Ida has slipped from Harken's sphere of cognition. Maybe that's merciful, given their rather frank discussion of Cecilia and the fact that the monstrous lady split King Justin in half and, most likely, Azrael drank at least some fraction of his soul. But was that Quarter Knight Lady Harken, or This Harken? Is there a difference? Shit, probably not.

The sound of struggle, though, Harken is trained to react to. Her ears perk once. "Hm?" and she turns as Ida is captured in the vines. For one, she comments again to the mastermind behind this whole place: "Kalve, this one is very practical. Well thought-out." and pitches her horrible soul-drinking scythe at the slavering, metallic set of jaws trying to kill the Human. Thrown like a javelin, it departs from her grasp with a noise like an incoming dive-bomber.

"Come now, don't panic." the Quarter Knight advises Ida as her rather sizable form follows after the weapon. All she needs to do is rip it in half with her hands, if it's still alive after everything else that's soon to happen to it. "You've faced down worse. I'm right here, aren't I?"

god you goofy bit--

DG: Lady Harken has used her Tool Azrael toward her party's challenge, Feed Me Seymour.
<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

Kalve isn't sure precisely how to feel about people talking about murdering the hell out of one of his more... controversial superiors. On the one hand, seriously, fuck that guy. But on the other... well, loyalty to the cause, right? He's part of that. Usually. When he's not too busy getting unfortunately excited about someone screaming or something.

Ugh, fuck that guy.

The tree trying to get away causes a huge mess. Kalve gets grazed, or so it seems; the fragments leave gleaming silver wounds across one side of his face, and many more catch in his poncho. It looks like he got shot with an exploding silvery mirror. "...tch." He picks the pieces off and drops them to the ground. His wounds don't bleed beyond the first trickle. They just sort of... stop.

"I will take that under advisement," Kalve tells Harken. "Though the floral specimens replicated here represent a number of possibilities; it may very well do better in a different environment, or be a holdover from a prior generation of development." He's thoughtful about it -- right up until Ida gets snagged.

Kalve abruptly goes from 'walking and talking' to 'demonic blender' in the span of a blink. His many limbs sprout yellow-glass blades, heavy-bladed swords that lack guards, hacking and slashing with the kind of weird precision that comes from lots and lots of practice -- and the speed that comes from being genuinely concerned about what might happen if they don't step in as one. "Yes, thank you --"

DG: Kalve has used his Tool Optimized Array toward his party's challenge, Feed Me Seymour.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily Keil has had ample opportunity to demonstrate her feeling for Cecilia Adlehyde; she's put herself at great risk to help the Princess accomplish her missions, and has gone farther than she needed to in attempting to help her. It's not as if she owes any oaths to her family or land. ...Maybe that's why she remains confident in Cecilia despite the fact that she can point out difficulties, flaws. Or maybe that's precisely why she's willing to complain a little.

...Because she recognizes the ways the girl is separate from the title.

When Harken sighs, Lily shrugs widely, hands beside her. "Worth a try. ...But I'll keep that in mind. Spatial dislocation..." Lily considers, thoughtfully. "Yes, I may have something for that."

But--well, Ida goes under, and Lily is at least alert enough to feel the sudden spike of terror, her expression going neutral as she looks quickly--finds Ida. "Hang on," Lily says to Ida, and she is not... the fastest of those responding. She doesn't as quickly throw a weapon, or move in like a blender. Maybe if she were the joking type she'd stop to appreciate Harken's quip. However...

What she does do is shift up, on the side opposite Kalve and Harken, and simply lay her hand on the creature's bulk. There's a flash of violet at her hands--and then a black aura surrounds her hand, malignant, a hole in the very world that exudes nothing but death, that is the antithesis of motion.

...If it works, it just starts to outright die under her touch, withering, breaking.

"...It's a nice chance to practice against metal-based life," she admits, though she glances to Ida a second later in some concern again.

DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Dog toward her party's challenge, Feed Me Seymour.
=============================<* The Glint Mirage *>=============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Feed Me Seymour *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The things growing within the valley of metallic plants are strange and       
 sometimes beautiful. Even the flowers are rendered in gleaming metal,         
 growing in patches of muted color that shine in the starlight. They're also   
 distracting, as it turns out: a potential danger quite literally rears its    
 questionably-ugly head as a plant big enough to qualify as some kind of       
 monster rises up out of the dense vegetation, opens its maw, and tries to     
 swallow one of you whole! Turn it into lawn clippings!                        
                                                                               
 ...Or, you know, don't. Everybody brings an expendable guy, right?            
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
========================<* The Glint Mirage - Round 5 *>========================
=========================< Results - Feed Me Seymour >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lady Harken                         15 --(0)--> 15                 Pass
Azrael                              1   Combat  Effects: Cleanse              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ida Everstead-Rey                   25 --(0)--> 25                 Pass
Flare Grenade                       2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kalve                               30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Optimized Array                     2   Combat  Effects: Stalwart             
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           20 --(0)--> 20                 Pass
Dog                                 2   Combat  Effects: Stalwart             
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey           70 --(20)--> 90                Pass
Conditions: Fright(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to
use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Lady Harken has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Caught In The Press *>=====================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< 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.                               
                                                                               
 Unfortunately, you're seeing it through the grating in the floor. This hole   
 leads down into a cramped space in the ceiling, with metallic floral growths  
 creeping in through the plant-eaten roof. Massive collections of gearworks    
 fill most of this space, primarily concentrated above the hanging arms over   
 the lower chamber, and move across it as they hum to life... and start to     
 roll towards you.                                                             
                                                                               
 Stop them and get out before you get crushed!                                 
=Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Bad Luck====================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        The plant doesn't stand a chance, really. Ida's grenade distracts it from the larger but less-metallic prey item in its tendrils--she struggles against it a moment, but then goes perfectly still as Kalve moves in. His blades slice ruthlessly through the vines holding her in place, while Azrael cleaves through half the roots holding the 'plant' monster to the substrate. The thing reels back, in pain, and that's when Lily touches it.

        Life--or whatever facsimile of life this ARM has--flees. The monster shrivels up, its metallic flesh withering into an oxidized husk.

        Ida all but falls into Kalve's arms. She grips his shoulders tightly, and clings to him a moment, breathing. Steadying herself. Once she's regained composure, she picks up the multitool and stows it without commentary.

<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.

And here lies ground zero for the whole ferroflora biosphere, the seed from which this whole mess grew. In the heart of the valley enshrouded by mirages, a great coccoon of stone sealed with steel. No doubt the ground itself has had any strength and life siphoned away by the alien, living metal that has stymied the gang thus far: dirt crumbles pathetically underfoot, and an errant footfall from Harken causes a noise not entirely unlike the snapping of rotting wood, and a part of the ground simply falls away beneath her.

"Hm." rumbles Harken, musing on the dilapidated state of things. "It's gone slightly out of control, I suppose. We'll reset it and take it back with us?" she asks of Kalve, since it's his gig. But as is often the case, there is seldom time to come up with a good and robust plan before things go awry. The Quarter Knight pauses, looking over her shoulder as great wheels of machinery whir and spin to life, and the scale of the controlling mechanisms become truly clear. "I'll -try- not to break it."

That seems a hard promise to keep. Especially as the big girl grabs a metallic vine and hauls on it, ready to gum the gears up entirely here with her newfound tool. "But no promises." ah, there we go.

Luckily, there's plenty more delicate machinery for the rest of her accomplices to recklessly lay waste to.

<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.

Before EITHER of the secret lovebirds go thinking any of that went unseen, Harken locks eyes with Ida and then Kalve in turn when the former lands in the latters arms and Lord, I can't do that smile justice. Equal parts smug satisfaction and the delight of someone who just read a REALLY good (trashy) light romance novel.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

It's an interesting display. As the ground begins to cave in, Lily looks down at the level, the cramped space and gearworks, that lead to the arms--

"...Ida, keep back," Lily suggests of her. The gleaming, beautiful metal is all over. It's... strange, to Lily, really. She considers it for a few moments, making calculations by the second; how quickly they're moving, what they must weigh...

Harken says she'll try not to break it. That's nice. But:

"I'm going to break it," Lily answers that instead. She doesn't grab vines; she doesn't pull out a set of tools. She just checks the chain at her wrist, the connections at her fingers...

And lifts her hand. The temperature drops precipituously around her as frost begins to collect along the arms, along the gears, and what starts as chilly becomes frigid becomes worse altogether too quickly; it's the level of cold that makes solids brittle, that flash-freezes tears, that rips apart the ground.

"...I never did have much troubling breaking the ice on missions."

DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Rune Chain toward her party's challenge, Caught In The Press.
DG: Lady Harken has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Caught In The Press.
<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

It's an almost touching moment. Kalve catches Ida and holds her firmly in his arms while she catches her breath and regains her composure. It is absolutely like something out of a trashy romance, albeit one of the ones where all the juicy bits are totally an excuse for the author to insert more elaborate worldbuilding instead of actually getting to the titillating parts. Seriously, 'ferroflora'? Who comes up with these things?

But then he puts her on her feet, quietly clears his throat, nods once, and steps away. Kalve glances between Lily and Harken -- and then sees that look. He does not break into a suspicious sweat. This may only be due to the fact that he is actually amazing at body control artes and is making all the sweat come out through the bottoms of his feet. There might be mud down there now. You don't even know.

"Recovery of the data core would be ideal," Kalve tells Harken, looking over the expanse of treacherous ground. "There is a second component we have thus far been fortunate to evade that I would prefer to disable and retrieve as well." He looks up and around. "I suppose that will depend on the damages done." He's absolutely sure this place has had more than a couple other drifters poking around in it.

"There is an emergency shut-off," Kalve says. "It is in the far corner, that way." He points. "I will activate it once the path has been sufficiently cleared. Destruction of components will only temporarily set the attached equipment into recovery mode. ... It was more efficient than manually doing maintenance," Kalve adds, probably necessarily.

A moment later, Kalve descends. He isn't exactly the best at brute strength, but he knows how to move through the mess. Once it's been sufficiently broken, anyway.

DG: Kalve has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Caught In The Press.
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Caught In The Press *>=====================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< 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.                               
                                                                               
 Unfortunately, you're seeing it through the grating in the floor. This hole   
 leads down into a cramped space in the ceiling, with metallic floral growths  
 creeping in through the plant-eaten roof. Massive collections of gearworks    
 fill most of this space, primarily concentrated above the hanging arms over   
 the lower chamber, and move across it as they hum to life... and start to     
 roll towards you.                                                             
                                                                               
 Stop them and get out before you get crushed!                                 
=Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Bad Luck====================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida's eyes meet Harken's, and go almost perfectly round. She has been caught completely flat-footed, and has no idea how to react. She lets go of Kalve, though, and in an interesting coincidence, the ground gives everyone something more important to worry about. "Again!?" Ida squawks, her voice dopplering ever-so-slightly as she falls.

        Lily recommends she stay back. Ida obeys. She rushes through the narrow crawlspace, moving to stand behind the sorceress as she unloads on the machinery. "Oh. So that's why it's still functional?"

DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Caught In The Press.
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Caught In The Press *>=====================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< 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.                               
                                                                               
 Unfortunately, you're seeing it through the grating in the floor. This hole   
 leads down into a cramped space in the ceiling, with metallic floral growths  
 creeping in through the plant-eaten roof. Massive collections of gearworks    
 fill most of this space, primarily concentrated above the hanging arms over   
 the lower chamber, and move across it as they hum to life... and start to     
 roll towards you.                                                             
                                                                               
 Stop them and get out before you get crushed!                                 
=Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Bad Luck====================================
============================<* The Glint Mirage *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Caught In The Press *>=====================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< 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.                               
                                                                               
 Unfortunately, you're seeing it through the grating in the floor. This hole   
 leads down into a cramped space in the ceiling, with metallic floral growths  
 creeping in through the plant-eaten roof. Massive collections of gearworks    
 fill most of this space, primarily concentrated above the hanging arms over   
 the lower chamber, and move across it as they hum to life... and start to     
 roll towards you.                                                             
                                                                               
 Stop them and get out before you get crushed!                                 
=Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Bad Luck====================================
=======================<* The Glint Mirage - Round 6 *>=======================
======================< Results - Caught In The Press >=======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lady Harken                         15 --(100)--> 115              Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ida Everstead-Rey                   25 --(100)--> 125              Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kalve                               30 --(100)--> 130              Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           20 --(100)--> 120              Pass
Rune Chain                          1   Brute   Effects: Cleanse              
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey           90 --(10)--> 100               Fail
Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Fright(1)|Overzealous(2)
Effects: Cleanse
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: Lady Harken is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Kalve is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Lily Keil is too exhausted to continue!
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey 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> Kalve has posed.

[...]

The only door you can get open leads to a smaller chamber, this one with what looks like a salvaged wooden workbench inside. Scattered around the room is the real haul: a bunch of objects made out of this ferroflora stuff, laid out and labeled. A cloak of something called 'ironcloth,' woven from strands of one of the plants, armor-tough and lightweight; metallic rope like woven steel cable with an inset ring and a switch to make it go rigid and back on command; a small box containing a tiny filigree bird on a thin tether which sings in harmonica notes when it sees danger, water, or who-knows-what else...

<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.

It's easy to put a stop to out-of-control machinery when you have the person who invented most of it here, a freak who throws freight trains for weight training, a living embodiment of physics-controlling power, and a resourceful martial genius who has at -least- survived screwing around with 2/3 of the former.

So, to summarise: Lily introduces the concept of death to the materials of the machine, Harken wades forward into the thick of them and puts her fists through things until they stop moving, Ida (basically) jams the mechanisms before they can smush Lily in the first place, and Kalve very logically explains what it is that needs to actually be done, possibly only a small percentage of which is -actually- done. What's certain is that everything grinds to a silent halt, and all goes still. That's what counts.

"I didn't destroy any core." Harken pre-emptively reminds Kalve, fragments of steel still falling from her ungloved hands. "That means it should all be fine?"

Kalve is assumed to be fine, because he isn't made of flesh. Lily and Ida, on the other hand, get a moment's scrutiny to make sure they haven't been caught between a pair of gears and squished or anthing.

"What a refreshing sojourn. Do you have any other hideaways like this?"

please, boss, no

<Pose Tracker> Kalve has posed.

Kalve very logically explains what it is that needs to actually be done, and pretty much just gets to saunter through the shattering pieces to get to the far side. There's a descending whine a moment later, and the distant components -- smaller pieces that seem to be crawling out of the wood(metal)work -- reverse direction and go still. "Yes," he calls to Ida, a touch belatedly, "that is why."

He comes back. Kalve gives Harken a slightly exasperated look. "It should be. I will check the machinery when we've ascended."

He leads the way up, and... into the building. It was a lab, once. Kalve goes to the middle of the room and reaches towards the ceiling. He puts five hands into slight indents, pressing and twisting to unlatch a panel. Inside is some kind of metallic cylinder with a faint yellowish glow behind a tight grille. He decouples it from it and stows it somewhere, looking relieved. Until Harken asks that question.

".........................perhaps," Kalve eventually says.

oh no

<Pose Tracker> Lady Harken has posed.

The Photosphere
Some Time Later

Kalve's laboratory is spacious and airy and nice, unlike Alhazred's spare closet that was Harken's regenerative home until recently. She sits in a hospital bed in a plain crimson smock, undergoing dialysis and a much less aggressive medication regime. She's also reading a tablet while he works.

Apropos of nothing, she speaks up. "You two are cute."