2018-11-03: Catacombs of the Nahual
- Log: Catacombs of the Nahual
- Cast: Cyre H. Lorentz, Claude C. Kenny, Catenna, Ethius Hesiod, Lydia Seren, Jacqueline Barber
- Where: Xibalba
- Date: November 3, 2018
- Summary: Seeking to bring peace to Wehaca Village, Cyre leads his friends into the ancient catacombs of his people....
==============================<* Gunsmoke Desert *>=============================== The Gunsmoke Desert occupies the northwestern portion of Ignas. This desert is different from Aveh's. Instead of rolling dunes of sand, it has dry and cracked ground, and the mountains that rim it also intrude into the interior, forming stunning rock formations that can look as beautiful as they look impossible. The settlements here are hard-pressed to survive, consisting of countless small towns. The lucky few are connected by railways to the Seed Cities scattered about the Gunsmoke. Many are lost to the sands, which cover them and a tremendous concentration of ruins from Filgaia's past. This makes these badlands the heart of Drifter activity in Ignas. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z_CxmE0AkA
DG: That's not a valid party leader. DG: A party led by Cyre H. Lorentz is now entering Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
===================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual *>====================
================<* CHALLENGE - Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground *>================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
There are many mausoleums in these hills. Generations of Baskar slumber
within this valley of the sacred dead in eternal communion with the planet.
However, this one is different; the murals on the weathered stone speak of
no storied warriors, no glorious battles or any such things. Instead, they
are all warnings and wards, sacred art and prayers beseeching the Guardians
for protection.
There is something else hidden here, something more than old, desiccated
corpses. The awful feeling in your gut tells you for certain that what
you're looking for lies within-- as if the deep, bestial scars marring the
stonework weren't enough. But even as you search the ruins for a way into
the catacombs they conceal, you can't help but feel as though something is
watching you--as if some terrible predator were stalking you from the
shadows. Best hurry, lest you find your fears confirmed.
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Wehaca has suffered enough in the past few months. To have malevolence once more cast an ominous shade across the Baskar hamlet so soon after the near-disaster that wiped it from the map is as ill of an omen as they come. But aside from the threat to his hometown, Cyre's interest in getting to the bottom of this mystery is much more personal.
Especially considering who might just be responsible for its recent resurgence.
Isaac pointed the Carakin to the sacred burial ground of the Wehacan people, and immediately it's obvious that something isn't right here. The unsettling but by-now familiar chill of Malevolence creeping through the air grows ever more pervasive as the group moves deeper into the burial ground. But there's something else as well. An undeniable unease that's settled amidst the collection of shrines and chasms carved into the cliffsides. Cyre would point out that they're all Nahuals in those holes-- mummified, in the belief that they might someday need to rise again to defend the world.
Hopefully that day isn't today.
"It's stronger this way," Cyre murmurs as he turns a corner and approaches an otherwise inoccuous set of graves. He frowns as his fingers brush across a series of great gashes carved into the stone murals, as if raked there by some massive beast. "...He's hiding around here somewhere. There's probably a way in somewhere. See if you can't find anything that might be hiding a cave or something."
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny is heading out to explore some sort of dark, dank, probably-murderous ruin with a person he knows pretty okay, a few people he knows well enough, a couple people who creep him out, and a drinking buddy. (Some of these are the same people, so have fun with that.)
All of this seems like the sort of thing that a technically-married man should not be doing, which raises the question - why is he doing it?
Mostly it's that his technical wife and actual boss is back supervising ship-doings, which means she can't go check out rumours of Baskar ruins or whatever. And when Cecilia can't go answer the voice of the world, her usual response is to send in the cannon fodder.
Married life is great.
Claude looks around and gives a bit of a shiver, which might seem odd given he's less magical than any of the alcoholic beverages Jay is packing. But while the young man from totally-not-space may not be able to sense Malevolence, the sense of a vicious creature stalking him, threatening to pounce and destroy him, is one he's all too familiar with.
"Thanks, mom," he mutters, which is a bit of a nonsequitur; sighing, Claude draws a short-hilted sabre from a sheath at his hip, which produces a curved cavalry saber. Said cavalry sabre ignites when raised, thanks to a Symbol carved into the ruby pommel stone, providing a bit of illumination for other, smarter people to do their thing. If you're expecting him to be much more help than that, well, nope.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
To see a burial ground like this would defy imagination if not for the fact that Catenna's come to expect Malevolence to behave this way. It defiles that which shouldn't be defiled and makes a mockery of the sacred. It turns peaceful places into the stuff of nightmres.
And now it's doing the same to the burial ground of Xibalba. Clutching her shortbow tight in her right hand, Catenna tries to find some comfort in the fact that she's both armed and has her friends and her Guardian's Medium with her. But it doesn't help. There's still that sensation.
The pressure, like lion's eyes.
"Cyre... we need to hurry," she murmurs as she moves up beside him, free hand briefly touching to his elbow. She looks at him with her eyes slightly wide.
Trying as hard as she can to shuttle that paranoid nagging sensation into the back of her mind, the Moon Shaman takes an intent scan of the area. Not that she's expecting to find the watcher. But a path forward would be nice.
DG: Catenna has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius is among the expedition group. Not too long before, he was insistent that he go to the Stone Forest for some reason. It continues to be unclear what actual business he had there during its storm season. He hasn't spoken of it again since leaving, but at least one present might have cause for concern about bringing him into a Malevolence-blighted burial ground.
So far, he seems to be all right. He mostly keeps his distance while Cyre takes point, calmly staring along through the purple haze. He keeps his movements as such that his back is to something at all times, as much as possible, in order to limit the number of angles in which there is anything that could leap out at him. (This is generally how he moves even in less stressful environments.)
Cyre would likely have the knowledge of any safeguards or mechanisms that may be present to keep those out, but if there's already an intrusion here, Ethius can't take that for granted. The exotic monocle-eyeglass-whatever he uses frequently in these environs is presently activated following a low-yield electrical Symbology spell, letting him keep an eye out for any weird devices or mechanisms that may yet be linked to their movements or other objects. If something seems wrong or dangerous, he'll call it out.
He casts a glance in Claude's direction for a few seconds as he holds out the lit cavalry sabre. Usually three seconds is enough to ascertain what it is, but that gaze lingers for at least six seconds before he settles back to minesweeping the environs.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia can't believe Claude married a princess instead of his true love: Cheeseburgers!
Nevertheless, Lydia promised this time to help out Wehaca and is almost more here for that then to help out her pal, Cyre! Lydia cares very deeply about following through on her own vows. It's a pretty spooky area, of course, but Lydia has gone into these areas enough times that she just honestly kinda shrugs it off lately.
She says, "'K." to Cyre. "I can't realy do much with tracking or anything but..."
Her eyes narrow, plucking Schrodinger off her head and setting the kitty down on the ground.
"It takes cat, to catch a cat..." Pause. "Not that I'm saying he's a cat of course but you get the idea."
She glances to Claude's sword for a moment and then sneaks over to him and says, "So whatcha think?" with a big smile as Schrodinger trots off in a possibly entirely random direction.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Schrodinger the Cat toward her party's challenge, Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny looks at Lydia, who looks different. Not so much different as when she had an asteroid for a head, but, y'know.
...
It says something about my life choices that I can use phrases like 'not so much as when she had an asteroid for a head' and not feel weird about it, Claude thinks to himself, then looks around. "There's something out there for sure," he mutters, sotto voce. "I'ma let the magic people to the magic stuff and keep an eye out for monsters."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Wehaca was Cyre's home. Even if it meant descending into an ancient, creepy burial ground, Jacqueline was willing to do what it would take to help them out.
But even so...the further the proceed, the more awful that feeling deep within her stomach gets. The Malevolence certainly doesn't help, but that's not the ultimate source of her unease.
Something is watching them.
Or, perhaps, someone.
Better to take care of this quickly, then.
Jacqueline stays close to the others as they travel. It would be unwise to split up more than they necessarily had to.
"I agree with Catenna...the longer we stay here, the more likely we'll fall into some kind of trap." Jacqueline agrees. She slips a Crest Graph into a slot on one of her gauntlets and brings out a sphere of light. She floats it toward places that would be difficult for Claude to reach and light up with his sword, just in case.
She was a...'magic person', as Claude said, but her sorcery was different than the kind that would likely be useful here. That didn't mean she didn't know a thing or two about secret passages, though.
"We want to be looking for unusual airflow, or perhaps stone that's a bit uneven..." Jacqueline suggests, studying the walls carefully.
Honestly, if it wasn't for the terrible sense of foreboding and imminent doom weighing down upon her, this place might've been interesting to visit. There's an undeniable sense of history here.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground. DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground.
===================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual *>====================
================<* CHALLENGE - Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground *>================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
There are many mausoleums in these hills. Generations of Baskar slumber
within this valley of the sacred dead in eternal communion with the planet.
However, this one is different; the murals on the weathered stone speak of
no storied warriors, no glorious battles or any such things. Instead, they
are all warnings and wards, sacred art and prayers beseeching the Guardians
for protection.
There is something else hidden here, something more than old, desiccated
corpses. The awful feeling in your gut tells you for certain that what
you're looking for lies within-- as if the deep, bestial scars marring the
stonework weren't enough. But even as you search the ruins for a way into
the catacombs they conceal, you can't help but feel as though something is
watching you--as if some terrible predator were stalking you from the
shadows. Best hurry, lest you find your fears confirmed.
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
==============<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual - Round 1 *>=============== ==================< Results - Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground >================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Schrodinger the Cat 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Claude C. Kenny 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Cyre H. Lorentz 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Reckless(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Cyre H. Lorentz 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: Claude C. Kenny has drawn a new Challenge.
====================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual *>=====================
====================<* CHALLENGE - God's Blood And Burial *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
These tunnels have been here for unspeakable ages, it would be unusual if
they were completely stable. As you pass over a yawning precipice, darkness
all around you and unsure footing beneath, the world suddenly fills with a
flash of light... and in the distance, you hear a sudden roar of
subterranean thunder. But it doesn't go away. It builds, growing louder with
each moment. Weathered stone falls from somewhere overhead, followed by
larger flagstones, and finally a great surge of earth. The cavern is
collapsing, and the ruined ceiling threatens to sweep you into the abyss
below!
As you scramble to hold on, an image enters your mind, unbidden--a thought
of satisfaction and brief satiation, as if a deep hunger was being filled.
But to allow yourselves to be distracted now would mean almost certain
death... If not simply incredible discomfort and a newfound sympathy for the
dead and buried.
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
It's impossible to shake the feeling of being watched. Maybe it is the eyes of the terrible beast that Cyre fears that his brother has become. Maybe it's the glare of the honored dead whose sleep this corruption and these interlopers have disturbed. Maybe it's something else. Cyre offers Catenna an uneasy smile as she urges him forward, "Yeah. I know, let's keep an eye out."
Ethius' lens is reliable as always, except for the plumes of vile energies that occasionally flit across his field of view. Still, he can easily point them in the right direction; the relative density of the wrongness is subtly greater closer to the center of a particular collection of carvings and stonework. Cyre frowns as he examines the etchings. "That's weird," he murmurs. "These are usually written about whoever might be buried here, but all these are... Prayers of protection? What?"
As Cyre is absorbed in examining the lore, Lydia looses her favorite cat-- who immediately begins yowling and hissing at a particular carving in general. Schrodinger is usually hard to spook, so that's a mild concern-- as is the fact that there's the slightest hint of a draft coming from behind the stone wall. But for some reason, it almost seems to be... sucking in air, rather than pushing it out.
Just as the party moves to go open it, Claude would detect something just out of the corner of his eye. Likely, his well-honed martial instincts would result in a sword being jammed right into the nightmarish flicker in his peripheral vision. But instead of meeting a stalking beast, there's just... An unsettling face there, carved into the stone.
Weird.
"Careful," Cyre cautions. "I'm glad you came along with us, but we should probably avoid... Damaging too much of this." At least Ethius is able to find the hidden lever that opens this particular door. It swings open, and the wind seems to wail as it's sucked into the cave, which seems briefly to resemble some kind of great maw of earth and stone.
"...Come on," Cyre murmurs, "This looks like what we came here for."
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny's burning sword appears to be the sort of magic you get when way, way, smarter people than you decide to help out with your crafting (thanks, Celine). The blade appears well-made enough to withstand the stroke against a stone face, and so he shrugs and starts leading the way forward, holding the light aloft as he moves into the revealed door, advancing down a descending, spiraling ramp.
and then
all the walking
"Holy crap, did the Baskar never hear of a fireman's pole?" Claude grumbles manfully, his voice echoing out behind him. "This is bullsh--"
Claude's sentence is cut off as a dull roar echoes out from the depths, sound waves visibly rippling forward, passing the party by, bringing with them a faint scent of sulphur, and a shivering that starts the stone shaking. A pebble bounces off the Boy from Earth's head, and he doesn't waste time looking up - he's had this happen once before. "TEEEEEEAR INTO PIECES!" Claude roars, slamming his foot down into the ground, causing stalagmites to shoot up from the stone beneath. This provides some cover from the falling ceiling pieces, but it also makes the way forward a lot more awkward.
He is helping!
"God damn it, that made sense in my brain!" he shouts, popping the cork from a bottle of MAGIC WHITE PILLS that everyone should definitely take because what could go wrong
DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Pla-C-Bow toward his party's challenge, God's Blood And Burial.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna's face is a little more pale than usual as she smiles back at Cyre, touching his elbow again as if to reassure him that, yes, she's there with him.
And then the ceiling begins to cave in on them.
"What!" Catenna yelps as she throws her arms up above her head to try and shield herself from the worst of the debris. Pebbles and rocks pelt down around her, hitting her in the shoulders and back. She doesn't have much that can pull her out from beneath this, nor any time to cast.
Rocks fall, and she vanishes from view for a moment as the plummeting debris simply swallows her up. She struggles to try and push rocks out of the way as best she can.
DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, God's Blood And Burial.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline is pretty sure she doesn't need to tell anyone who ominous it is that the carvings have been replaced with prayers of protection. In fact, things just get worse the further they go. She doesn't like this one bit.
Eventually, however, they find what they're looking for. As they descend down into the great maw, Jacqueline passes out potions for everyone just in case. And then as the last one is distributed, there's a dull roar proceeded by the cavern beginning to shake and begin to crumble apart.
There's no time for her to say anything. She just yelps in surprise and casts her left arm out. A glow surrounds the party, which should help protect them from the falling rubble somewhat. She'd have to thank her mother for recommending she carry more support-based Crests...assuming they all survive this.
"Everyone! Find something and hold on tight!" Jacqueline urges. It's all they can do right now.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, God's Blood And Burial.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia says, "Cool, I'll let you do the stabby stuff then." At least she isn't throwing guardians at Claude anymore so there's that. Maybe she still feels a bit guilty about that. She was not asking about what Claude thought about the situation, but she accepts it, exhales faintly, and says, "Does Rena know yet?" instead.
She is about to say more when Schrodinger starts hissing at a carving. Lydia jogs towards kitty and picks him up. "Ssh ssh, it's okay. It's fine it's yaagghh--" She looks at the spooky face. "as this place always creep A-F?" Lydia asks, pronouncing the letters as if it were an acronym.
"What's a fireman's pole?" Lydia asks, glancing over. "I'm guessing the reason most of our ruins are so dangerous to explore is 'cause we had to fight the metal demons for a long time and we probably set the traps up to stop them and then had to leave them up when we were eventually pushed out of our homes."
Pause.
"But that's kinda a guess I guess."
Claude shouts 'TEAR INTO PIECES' as the cavern collapses above them.
"THIS IS MY LAST RESORT!" Lydia shouts as she bashes about falling debris with her bat. "WE'LL BE OKAY!" Lydia tells Claude. "THIS BAT IS GOOD LUCK!"
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Good Luck Bat toward her party's challenge, God's Blood And Burial.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"Haven't you heard?" Cyre mutters, sarcasm positively dripping from his voice. "The only poles we care about are totem poles."
He might be feeling a bit... on-edge today.
For good reason, at least.
But that at least gives him ample opportunity to notice that something is dreadfully amiss. His ears flick this way and then that, as if twitching to focus in on some distant noise. Maybe Lydia is right. Maybe the Lorentz brothers really are just big cats!? "Something's wrong," he says, glancing nervously into the dark. "This doesn't feel right--"
And then the earth begins to shake. The ceiling and the cave begin to crumble. "Catenna!" Cyre yells, lunging to wrap an arm around her midsection. He grunts, swinging his censer up and around one of Claude's man-made land-spikes. "Hold on!!"
Is this even a trap?
It feels less like an intentional function of the dungeon and more... Of a really awful accident? These tunnels are pretty old, after all.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Invigorating Vapors toward his party's challenge, God's Blood And Burial.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
With a gasp, a somewhat battered and dust-covered Catenna sweeps into Cyre's arms. She pulls herself against him, curling her fingers tightly to grip him for dear life. "Cyre!!" she calls with alarm. "Be careful!!"
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius gives a severe glare through Claude's complaining, that is likely missed in the bedlam that soon follows that dull roar and soon shaking of the earth - and what seems to be an inevitable collapse of the chamber in question as Claude stomps up a support stalagmite to either offset the beginning of the collapse or put up support, he doesn't have time to scold or do much of anything other than throw a hand up as he gesticulates rapid-fire with another, doing a series of repetitive chants as he casts not one heat-aligned Symbology spell - but the same one, over and over, as a much more precise application of heat tries to weld the collapsing ceiling back into a (temporarily) stable ceiling. It is extremely MP-inefficient, but that he's able to hold his composure at the intensifying environs is commendable. If it looks like a losing battle, he's not far out of arm's length of something to hold onto.
(He's also not wearing a helmet, though.)
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, God's Blood And Burial.
====================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual *>=====================
====================<* CHALLENGE - God's Blood And Burial *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
These tunnels have been here for unspeakable ages, it would be unusual if
they were completely stable. As you pass over a yawning precipice, darkness
all around you and unsure footing beneath, the world suddenly fills with a
flash of light... and in the distance, you hear a sudden roar of
subterranean thunder. But it doesn't go away. It builds, growing louder with
each moment. Weathered stone falls from somewhere overhead, followed by
larger flagstones, and finally a great surge of earth. The cavern is
collapsing, and the ruined ceiling threatens to sweep you into the abyss
below!
As you scramble to hold on, an image enters your mind, unbidden--a thought
of satisfaction and brief satiation, as if a deep hunger was being filled.
But to allow yourselves to be distracted now would mean almost certain
death... If not simply incredible discomfort and a newfound sympathy for the
dead and buried.
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
===============<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual - Round 2 *>================ ======================< Results - God's Blood And Burial >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Invigorating Vapors 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catenna 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Brewte Force 1 Brute Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Good Luck Bat 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Claude C. Kenny 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Pla-C-Bow 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Cyre H. Lorentz 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Reckless(1)|Suffer(1) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Cyre H. Lorentz 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> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny sputters incoherently for a good five seconds when Rena's name is mentioned, because, uh, well, y'know, what... er...
RIGHT, MORTAL DANGER! he thinks, popping the white pill and moving forward, punching his way out of this problem as best he can, joining Lydia as she smashes rocks into much smaller rocks. Jacqueline's Crest Sorcery stands the group in good stead, the force barrier dissipating the worst of the impacts, shrugging off smaller ones entirely.
In the end, however, Ethius's Symbology fuses the crumbling stonework overhead back together, giving the roof of the path a faint red glow, with little drops of molten rock slowly dripping from the ceiling. "It's a pole for people who put out fires," Claude says as he clambers his way out from the damage he created and also the damage the challenge did. "You just zip down and stuff. Because..." Claude frowns. "Fires don't go... down?"
Huh, why do they have fire poles, come to think of it?
DG: Catenna has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual *>====================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - The House of Flying Razors *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- A single misstep can mean the difference between life and death. Something underfoot flickers with a dim glow. Soundlessly, an obsidian blade whirls through the air and cuts a thin, red line across your cheek. Blood drains from the wound as if siphoned away by the hungry black glass. Dozens if not hundreds more follow. Little dark razors dart from the chamber walls, its ceiling, its floor, transforming the air into a veritable storm of bloodletting blades. Only the most agile will emerge from this ordeal unscathed--falling behind not only means being cut to ribbons, but the blades and the room itself all seem hungry for the vital fluid that pumps through your veins. =Dungeon Conditions: Maim=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Stepping down out of Cyre's embrace, Catenna sighs with a touch of relief. She gives the Nahual's cheek a soft kiss before brushing herself off with both hands. "That was close. We need to be careful," she says as she gives her dress a quick straighten. "I get the impression that something is not only watching us, but it is quite hungry." As she's speaking, she's taking a couple of steps back, beginning to move.
And then, all of a sudden, there is a flash of black - and fabric tears away. A slash is cut into Catenna's dress, across her upper arm. She hisses and jerks her arm away, but the shallow cut left behind begins to bleed slowly and thinly.
"What in Celesdue's name," she breathes.
She has no time to say anything else before dozens of obsidian blades come slashing out of the walls and floor of the chamber.
There are too many of them to count. Like tiny razors, the blades whirl and slash everywhere, practically hungering for the group's blood. Darting away from one, Catenna clenches her teeth and whirls out of the path of another. She hasn't learned a ton from Jean yet but she puts what little advice she's collected to good use, weaving through the blades with the smoothness of a dancer - and reaching for something.
Blades begin to suddenly glance away from her as Catenna whirls her rope and grappling hook about her like a shield, deflecting some of the attackers away. She's breathing heavily, the acrobatics taking an enormous amount of exertion.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Grappling Hook toward her party's challenge, The House of Flying Razors.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
A thin line of fire lights its way across Claude C. Kenny's left cheek, a flickering blade hissing past him. "Holy," he manages to get out before a second one connects with the fabric of his thin tan jacket - and stops, the Federation armourweave hardening in response to the low-velocity impact. Claude fights down a grimace and squares his shoulders; barring a head or neck shot, he's better protected than any of the other people here, so the first part of his plan is simple.
"Back to back, so we can defend each other!" he shouts, an odd authority in his voice as he barks orders to a small unit. "Stay behind me if you can!"
The second part to Claude's plan is as simple as the first, his left hand flickering out to snap one of the obsidian blades away before it can embed itself in his eye. Blue and yellow light dances around Claude's fingers as he burns chi, accelerating his movements, trying to cover as much of his forward arc as he can, slapping blade after blade toward the roof and floor.
Claude winces as a razor carves flesh from the third finger of his right hand; not for the first time, he wonders why the Federation thought fingerless glove were a good idea.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The House of Flying Razors.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
It takes some effort to keep the spell going through all of that. She's a little tired, even with her potion...but she'll have to power through it. It's not enough that it affects her ability to progess...which is good, because the next room turns into a storm of flying black blades each thin but no less dangerous for it.
"It's like the catacombs themselves are fighting us every step of the way..." Jacqueline murmurs. She rummages through her pouches for some more potions, passing them out to everyone present. That should help mitigate the wounds inflicted by the obsidian razors, but she'll still have to find a way across.
She takes a deep breath and nods as Claude offers a suggestion. They'll defend each other.
"Right!" She agrees, quickly following suit. She casts her right hand out, calling up a pillar of earth to offer them protection...at least from one direction.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, The House of Flying Razors.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Cyre gets: x1 cheek-kiss. If the circumstances weren't so dire, his blush might have lasted a little bit longer. "It does, doesn't it?" Cyre answers, pulling himself out of the remaining rubble. "Wonder if all this Malevolence has woken the ancestors up. I don't... particularly like the idea of having to fight any of them, but--"
*fwip*
"--What the fuck!?" Cyre curses, a red line carving itself across the breadth of his shoulders. "Damnit. If my ancestors ARE out there, they have a hell of a way of saying hello!" Flying obsidian razors are NOT good grandparenting material. "Claude's right! The more directions we're covered from, the better! Cover your eyes and necks, and just keep moving!"
To that end, Cyre... Begins conjuring a wall of wind. It doesn't seem like much, necessarily, but the rushing pressure should at least be enough to turn several of the blades away before they can come close enough to cut.
Whatever wounds they do suffer, he hopes Jay's medicine will be able to take care of.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The House of Flying Razors.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Oh shiiiit," Lydia says as Cyre makes that quip about totem poles.
Of course tiny thousands of blades can be a problem. Lydia isn't so inclined to get sliced to pieces. But she is inclined to show off like an idiot so she says, "Oh man, oh maaaan!" She slides back frofm an obsidian slicing blade that nearly carves through her neck. "This shit! Looks like it's a time for Jean's lessons to come in handy...! Analyzing the pattern and..."
Roller blades pop out from the bottom of her feet as she skates through the obsidian blades,taking lots of near misses but not, likely, taking any hits. At least--not at first.
She spins around on one foot, bowing her had low to avoid another swiping blade. But can she keep this up the whole time? That's the question.
"Anndd..." Lydia swings her arm suddenly AT one of the obsidian blades but this time a blade rips out of her arm and slices it away from her body. "Is this all you got?? IS THIS ALL YOU GOT!?" Lydia tempts fate. "Ha ha ha! You'll have to do better than that against the HIGH PRIESTESS OF RIGDOBRITE!"
Yeah Mariel told her that since she just found it it probably doesn't need to mean that but she's taking the job now. At least, unless she gets decapitated from showing off arrogantly. Losing an arm is fine, but she probably still needs that head!
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Radical Skates toward her party's challenge, The House of Flying Razors.
=====================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual *>====================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - The House of Flying Razors *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- A single misstep can mean the difference between life and death. Something underfoot flickers with a dim glow. Soundlessly, an obsidian blade whirls through the air and cuts a thin, red line across your cheek. Blood drains from the wound as if siphoned away by the hungry black glass. Dozens if not hundreds more follow. Little dark razors dart from the chamber walls, its ceiling, its floor, transforming the air into a veritable storm of bloodletting blades. Only the most agile will emerge from this ordeal unscathed--falling behind not only means being cut to ribbons, but the blades and the room itself all seem hungry for the vital fluid that pumps through your veins. =Dungeon Conditions: Maim=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
One such obsidian blade grazes across Ethius' cheek. It is his automatic reflex to pull the cloth of the bandanna up higher as if to catch the blood. It's not even a bad wound. He just seems to be really protective of his blood. (It's not a bad habit to be protective of one's own blood.) His eyes dart about the subtle changes in lighting that give away the wheres and whens of flying obsidian knives. Claude makes some authorative calls, and Ethius dive-rolls to an appropriate position in which to cover whatever Claude's weaker side is.
Ethius' path does take him over a small pit in the chamber, in which he does notice that the knives don't seem to be flying from. One quick tie of the Hot Air Sack harness later, he smoothly keeps formation even if he has to float over the pit with a quick Symbological cast to fill the thing with hot air (at risk of scalding his hand with how intense the spell has to be for it to provide said hot air in time).
There is additional risk if the knives puncture it, but he is confident of his movements.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, The House of Flying Razors.
=====================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual *>====================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - The House of Flying Razors *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- A single misstep can mean the difference between life and death. Something underfoot flickers with a dim glow. Soundlessly, an obsidian blade whirls through the air and cuts a thin, red line across your cheek. Blood drains from the wound as if siphoned away by the hungry black glass. Dozens if not hundreds more follow. Little dark razors dart from the chamber walls, its ceiling, its floor, transforming the air into a veritable storm of bloodletting blades. Only the most agile will emerge from this ordeal unscathed--falling behind not only means being cut to ribbons, but the blades and the room itself all seem hungry for the vital fluid that pumps through your veins. =Dungeon Conditions: Maim=====================================================
================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual - Round 3 *>================= =====================< Results - The House of Flying Razors >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catenna 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Grappling Hook 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Rapid Remedy 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Radical Skates 3 Agility Effects: Fanfare ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Claude C. Kenny 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Cyre H. Lorentz 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Maim Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)|Resilient(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Cyre H. Lorentz 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> Catenna has posed.
The blades fly. They blur through the chamber in a wave of glinting black glass.
Their hunger is not sated. Not by a mile.
One by one, the group weaves through the bladestorm with incredible speed and skill. A few more blades glance from Catenna's rope as she darts to the far side of the room, sheltering herself inside a cave mouth there. Claude, meanwhile, marshals the troops; he's able to slap blade after blade away, giving Jacqueline enough cover to call up the earth and hand out potions. With each sip, everyone gets a little quicker.
The Nahual of Fengalon calls his wind. Blades billow away from Cyre, scattering against the walls - and when he reaches the end, Catenna holds her hands out to pull him in. Not far behind him comes Lydia, skating through the blades, nearly getting cut a few times but always one blade ahead.
Bringing up the rear is Ethius - good, inscrutable, stoic Ethius. He floats over the room - and through sheer luck, none of the blades rupture the Hot Air Sack!
By the time he touches down, Catenna's ushering everyone onward, looking up towards Cyre again. "...I hope it has not woken them up...."
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude, still sucking on a bleeding finger, picks up a few of those obsidian knives and shoves them into a jacket pocket. He's got an idea about them...
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
===================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual *>====================
====================<* CHALLENGE - One And Seven Deaths *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Your path leads to a ritual altar, bloodstains on the obsidian slab are
ancient and long dried, but somehow still gleam and shimmer in the
firelight. Behind it, a grotesque idol looms, adorned with brilliant golden
jewelry and a fierce, decaying headdress crafted with the with what were
once the pelts of mighty beasts. Arrayed around it are withered,
multitudinous limbs outstretched and clutching a variety of funerary
implements-- knives, picks, eerie flames, bottles filled with putrid fluids
and worse.
As you pause to catch your breath- or simply perhaps recoil in horror- the
thing begins to move. Unnatural energies infuse into the mummified husk,
stirring it to life once more. The thing screeches a battle-cry from lungs
that aught to have turned to dust long ago and scrambles over the altar, its
limbs flailing in a storm of rusted blades and vile, life-draining grasps.
Shatter this grotesque idol before it adds your names to the books of the
dead.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Catenna ushers everyone forward, and they have a chance to catch their breath. The potions certainly help, and once they're all patched up from the injures inflicted on them, they can progress into the next room.
Contained within it is an obsidian altar, coated with stains of blood that look far too fresh for how ancient they must be. Behind it an idol looms, with a multitude of limbs outstretched behind it.
"What...is this place...?" Jacqueline murmurs, almost not wanting to breathe too deeply here. Something about this chamber unneerved her, and she did not want to stay here longer than she needed to...
It is just as she about to turn to leave that the idol begins to move. Infused with unnatural energy it stirs, its limbs twitching and contorting at grotesque angles as horrid unlife fills the mummified husk, animating it once more. Empty eye-sockets glow with Malevolence.
It steps toward them and lets out a fierce battle cry that causes Jacqueline to recoil backward as it clambers over the altar, the movement of its many limbs more like a monstrous spider than a thing that was at one point a man.
It swings its implements at the party - knives, picks, eerie flames - and, with one limb, tries to grab Jacqueline by the head.
She dodges it just narrowly, but even in its passing she feels more exhausted.
"Don't let it touch you!" She warns, backing away even further as she gestures toward it with her right hand. Light surrounds the husk before erupting in a pillar.
Whatever it was, there was no choice but to fight.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, One And Seven Deaths.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
While Claude C. Kenny has a better sword now, made by an actually competent blacksmith to boot, he tends to bring his flame sabre into dungeons like this; first, because it doubles as a handy source of light. And second, because...
Half a steak sizzles from its position on the bell guard of the burning sword; the other half is being chewed noisily by a blonde swordsman trying to replenish some of his energy after that encounter. The smell of meat wafts out, perhaps emboldening the others. Or perhaps attracting some sort of weird idol monster.
"Dude, what is up with narwhals?" Claude asks. "You guys have the weirdest shrines." He steps forward to engage... then immediately halts when Jacqueline cries out her warning. Well, Claude thinks, pulling his sword back. He can fight from a distance too."
"AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!"
DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Pocket Steak toward his party's challenge, One And Seven Deaths.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"Oh no," Catenna breathes as she realizes what's waiting for them here.
The stench of the mummified idol is bad enough - but the fact that it's here, and that Malevolence is beginning to pour into it and animate it before their eyes, is even more sickening. Covering her mouth and nose with the crook of her arm, she recoils visibly, trying to keep out of the grasp of the being - whomever it once was.
Those horrible weapons fly - far too many of them for her to count. Jerking backwards, Catenna shields herself with her bow as best she can as she falls back, dropping to a knee at the back of the room. Attacking it herself is out of the question.
For all she knows, it could be Cyre's ancestor. And she can't defile the dead any more than the dead have already been defiled.
"Try to weaken it somehow," she calls out as she grips her Medium tightly in her hand - and then pales at the sight of Claude hacking at it repeatedly. With the air. Biting down to her bottom lip, she lowers her head and moves the Medium close to her chest, beginning to pray over it. A soft silver light begins to radiate out from her hands.
The animate idol is likely too powerful for Catenna to purify right now. But perhaps if the others can wear it down, there's a chance for her to save it - to return it to being just a dead body, instead of dismembering the remains of Cyre's ancestors.
DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, One And Seven Deaths.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Wellp," Lydia says.
She promptly ducks behind Claude. "It's time to let you do the stabby stab!" She covers her ears with both hands so that the AIR SLASH AIR SLASH becomes (air slash air slash) but even that is not enough to make it a little less irritating so she starts shouting as well in irritation.
"AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!" "AIR SLASH!"
But notably, she is not unleashing air slashes at all! Is this just a bug in the audio!?
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, One And Seven Deaths.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
The moment they reach safety (as defined by 'lack of obsidian knives flying at them,') Ethius pats himself down for any additional wounds that he might have let slip in the excitement. He seems to be overly attentive to the idea about suffering these mostly negligible wounds at all, which is kind of weird? A muffled exhale follows as he closes his eyes, tugs the fabric of his face-obscuring bandanna up a bit, and starts to get out the Spectral Lens in case they're about to step out into another room full of traps such as this.
He is stopped shy of casting the respective spell he uses to empower it as the idol comes to 'life' and moves to attack. His eyes narrow as he throws an open palm out...
He stops. The tension doesn't leave Ethius, in so much that the man looks and generally comes off as being ready to reach out and kill someone or something at a moment's notice - and sometimes less than that. He looks to grab at one of the satchels on his belt, which is standard fare for a surprising combat situation. The usual preparations that the CaraKin know, where Ethius often prepares some smoke bomb analogue in which to give them cover to get away or further attack.
The husk lunges for Ethius. He completes the Symbological spellcast needed to activate it in the nick of time, hurling it face-level in a distracting cloud of dust. Ethius tumbles and rolls across the catacomb floor with aplomb. Those who came to Wehaca may remember back during the days of the Guardian Statue sealing rituals as to how severe the man was with the environs - attempting to strike down the Blade Dancer with a Solar Storm. Something that could have taken the Noua Shax statue with it. They have no reason to expect anything less than uncompromising force. He went and completely destroyed at least one chamber of Krosse's own royal katakombs... catacombs, sorry, which was itself saturated to the brim with Malevolence at the time.
They have no reason to expect anything different as of now.
"Far Point!" Ethius calls the technique name out as he takes his quarterstaff in both hands, lunging out with his superior reach as he extends himself at the very limits of his wingspan and flexibility - attempting to push the husk at bay.
This is poorly-timed, in a sense, because it's like he's trying to push the attacking mummy out of the way of the rapid Air Slashes?! What the hell gives?
"Miss Catenna," Ethius says as he tries to push in further, to keep pushing the mummy back with a narrowed glare and a focused clarity on what he is exactly doing, "you have my full cooperation."
He appears willing to minimize damage to the actual corpse and environs... out of understanding of Catenna's own powers of Purification, or something more?
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, One And Seven Deaths.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Well.
Cyre did just complain about his ancestors. And now look what's staring them in the face! One of his ancestors. This place really is out to get them, isn't it? It knows about all the things he did that he shouldn't have done, and is looking for all the possible ways it can make Cyre's life difficult. The almost poetic appearance of what might be his great(-great-great-great-great-...-great-)grandfather has Cyre's face go stark white at the sight. The multitudinous limbs, the position it holds, looming ominously over the altar. This can only be...
"One of Ge Ramtos'--" Cyre whispers, then cuts Claude a glare. "Nahuals, not narwhals! There are no narwhal guardians, Claude! Didn't your wife teach you anything!?"
But. Jay raises a good question.
Blood stains the altar. The stench of malevolence is strong here. What has happened here, what is this place, really...?
"Xibalba," the shaman mutters. "Is what it has to be. The Place of Fear that they speak about in the old stories. But it was supposed to just be a legend. This is..."
Everything goes wrong.
"Damn!" Cyre curses. The thing's withering aura only seems to reinforce Cyre's assumption as to this creature's identity. His hand goes to his medium, but...
No. Not now.
He'd need to engage this thing in melee if he did-- and he needs his strength to deal with Leon. Instead, he focuses on the storm of AIR SLASHes hurtling toward the idol and extends a hand toward them. Suddenly, the shockwaves seem to double in intensity as the wind shaman uses his connection with the elements to amplify their effects.
He doesn't seem... too concerned about not maiming this thing. Or maybe Cyre just knows that mummified and reanimated ancestors are way more durable than they seem?
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, One And Seven Deaths.
===================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual *>====================
====================<* CHALLENGE - One And Seven Deaths *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Your path leads to a ritual altar, bloodstains on the obsidian slab are
ancient and long dried, but somehow still gleam and shimmer in the
firelight. Behind it, a grotesque idol looms, adorned with brilliant golden
jewelry and a fierce, decaying headdress crafted with the with what were
once the pelts of mighty beasts. Arrayed around it are withered,
multitudinous limbs outstretched and clutching a variety of funerary
implements-- knives, picks, eerie flames, bottles filled with putrid fluids
and worse.
As you pause to catch your breath- or simply perhaps recoil in horror- the
thing begins to move. Unnatural energies infuse into the mummified husk,
stirring it to life once more. The thing screeches a battle-cry from lungs
that aught to have turned to dust long ago and scrambles over the altar, its
limbs flailing in a storm of rusted blades and vile, life-draining grasps.
Shatter this grotesque idol before it adds your names to the books of the
dead.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
==============<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual - Round 4 *>=============== ======================< Results - One And Seven Deaths >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 5 --(0)--> 5 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 5 --(0)--> 5 Fail Celesdue Medium 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 5 --(0)--> 5 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Powder Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Claude C. Kenny 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Pocket Steak 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Cyre H. Lorentz 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Cyre H. Lorentz 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> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"One of Ge Ramtos's...?" Jacqueline whispers, in response to Cyre. The situation was different than Lunata's, of course, but a part of her couldn't help but make that connection. Did they go through the same things she did? She falters. With that in mind...she can't really fight it properly.
She is forced onto the defensive as the creature wades into battle, unable or unwilling to strike back as it lashes at them with its many weapons.
Catenna, meanwhile, decides to try to purify it. But it is powerful, and so is the Malevolence animating it. It will take time and energy to do so, and those are very precious resources in these catacombs.
Claude, meanwhile, aims to attack from a distance with a flurry of air slashes - excuse me, AIR SLASHes. Several of them miss narrowly - not due to any lack of accuracy on his part, but it's as Ethius's manipulations with his quarterstaff cause them to merely clip it. Lydia also shouts AIR SLASH along with him, but...doesn't actually AIR SLASH? Well, she's out of the husk's line of fire, at least.
As for Ethius himself, he launches a distracting cloud of dust into its face. This idol, as a rule, does not need to see. It can sense them, sense the warmth of life that is out of place in this house of the dead...but sight certainly helps.
It focuses on Ethius, bearing down on him with a grim intensity and a single-minded determination to end all of them. It either does not notice or does not care about the storm of constant AIR SLASHes being thrown at it by Claude. The notion of self-preservation seems completely foreign to it. Ethius, however, is able to keep it and its many limbs at bay. His quarterstaff gives him a slight range advantage that proves crucial in this encounter...up until the point that Cyre calls upon Fengalon's power to enhance Claude's already potent AIR SLASHes.
The blades of wind intensify, the concentrated air pressure shearing withered limbs from its frame, and sending it crashing to the floor. It attempts to lunge at Ethius in one latch-ditch attack...but suddenly, the soft, silver light of Purification shines upon it.
The party's combined efforts had finally weakened it enough that she could take hold of it. The light forces the husk to its knees and its head turns, briefly, to look at Catenna. It is impossible to read any emotion into its gaze, but soon enough the glow of Malevolence leaves its empty eyes and it falls to the ground, going still once more.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has drawn a new Challenge.
===================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual *>====================
===================<* CHALLENGE - The Lungs Of The World *>===================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Finally, the throb of corruption reaches a grotesque crescendo. A putrid
gale pours out from the path ahead, finding a home in your nostrils and
lungs and staining both with the fetid scent of rotting flesh and decaying
earth. The scent is overwhelming and the wind only grows more intense with
each step, but pressing through the roaring, disgusting storm-wind is the
only way forward. Only the rhythmic ebb and flow of air through the tunnels
brings relief, but for some reason, you find yourself reminded of the heavy,
unsteady breaths of some sickly beast. But surely, that can't be right-- can
it?
The path splits ahead, and every ounce of intuition screams at you to
divert, to turn away from the putrescent breath and escape down into the
safe, silent depths of the earth. In the distance, you can see flashes of
light and the pulse-pulse-pulse of a sickly heart. Your goal is near. And
yet, though the unnerving buzz of malevolence is stronger than ever,
something else cuts through the static. Something... hungry.
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Overwhelm======================================
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
The ancient goes still as Catenna's magic washes over it. Somehow, Cyre can't help but think that it looked... Thankful, at the end. Or maybe a bit regretful as well. "...We don't have time to put him back together right now," Cyre says, moving to pass behind the altar. "If we come back this way, we'll do... something about this. But I'm sure his spirit is glad to have been released. Let's... Let's go, huh? There's a way forward here."
Beyond the withered husk of what was once a Nahual of Ge Ramtos, the party finds another dark corridor. The murals decorating the walls are disturbing, terrifying things-- depictions of human figures desperately fleeing from some manner of ravenous beast. Images of monstrous faces closing around victims desperately trying to escape. Cyre whispers a quiet curse in commentary. What IS this place? He'd heard the legends countless times, of course, but...
But the reality is just so much worse.
"The stories said that... A long time ago," Cyre begins as an eerie wind begins beating against their faces. "My ancestors settled in these lands to walk the path of the guardians, to help them protect this world against whatever might threaten to destroy it. We buried ourselves in the land so that we might someday return from the dead, if we were needed. But others volunteered to go... Elsewhere. Xibalba. Our great and holy vault. But..."
"What the hell are we keeping down here?" Cyre mutters. The wind howls more and more with every step forward-- but more than that, the raw sense of wrongness has reached its peak. The air is putrid and vile, reminiscent of the stench of a mass grave in the summertime. Cyre whispers a curse and draws his robes up and over his nose and mouth. He reaches down and ignites his censer, its fumes and the shaman's own magic pressing desperately against the corrupt wind.
The path splits ahead. It'd be so easy to switch over, to take the road that isn't the source of this... awfulness. But...
There, in the distance. Light. No, not just light. Lightning...!
"He's here," Cyre hisses. "Leon's this way. We have to keep going...!"
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Invigorating Vapors toward his party's challenge, The Lungs Of The World.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
How can Catenna possibly hold that gaze? By the time she has completed the spell, her face has grown pale - at least for her. She collects herself with some effort, trying to find s comfortable place to put her eyes and ending up simply darting her gaze about the caverns as if uncertain where she can safely look.
Keeping close to Cyre, she pressed onward - and yet, the further she goes, the more overpowering the scent of decay becomes, and the more heavy the wind grows. That sense of hunger nearly overwhelms her. Wrapping her arms tightly around herself, she presses her lips firmly together, nodding up to Cyre without a word.
Those murals -- Catenna listens to what Cyre tells them. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she tightens her little self-embrace, tensing visibly. "...More to the point, what has gotten down here," she murmurs. "What is down here may resemble nothing that was put down here aeons ago...."
The path splits - but Catenna keeps close to Cyre. She reaches down to take his hand for a moment, and squeezes tightly. Leon's ahead - but if nothing else, she's with him.
DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Lungs Of The World.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Standing in the wake of Cyre's shielding winds, Claude C. Kenny crunches another of those little white pills between his teeth, shoving the bottle back into one of his pouches. Squaring his shoulders, he plants one hand on each of Catenna and Cyre's backs, then starts pushing them forward, leaning into the pressure.
"...wait, Leon?" he calls out over the din of the winds. "What is he doing here? Does Lily know?"
People shouldn't have the same name, okay, it's weird.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Pla-C-Bow toward his party's challenge, The Lungs Of The World.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Different Leon!" Lydia shouts at Claude.
She isn't really sure on Cyre's personal village history. She knows Baskar sure but Cyre's tribe is a minor offshoot so she's not much more informed than Claude-----not much more informed than Jay here.
Lydia would be all too happy to leave but Cyre sayys that Leon's further along the path. Lydia vowed to help him if she could so she says, "Alright... I guess..." She looks towards Claude. "We only have one choice."
She advances, swinging her bat wildly in front of her as she shouts, "AIR SLASH! AIR SLASH! AIR SLASH! AIR SLASH! AIR SLASH!" and you get the idea. Aside from a faint wooshing noise, nothing happens beyond the bat swinging from side to side though.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Good Luck Bat toward her party's challenge, The Lungs Of The World.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"S-sorry I wasn't much help..." Jacqueline murmurs. She had been pretty...tense, during that entire encounter. But it was hard to strike out at it once she made that connection...
She manages to recollect herself and they continue on. Cyre's right - they don't have the time to put the idol back together again. They have to do this quickly. She listens quietly as Cyre speaks, frowingly pensively.
Well, if he doesn't know, there's no way she'd know. What were they keeping down here? There was only one way to find out, assuming Leon didn't get to them first.
The air that reaches them as they progress causes her to gag and recoil, though. Covering her mouth she draws out a series of filtration cloth which she passes out to the rest of the party alongside a potion to help fortify them against the sense of sheer wrongness.
...It doesn't help too much. There is little she can do against that sensation but try to ease their feelings.
"Just keep pushing forward..." She murmurs to herself, as if trying to urge herself more than the others.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, The Lungs Of The World.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius stands vigil over the attacking husk even as it keeps trying to reach out and take his life, even as his physical strength and endurance are pushed to the limits just holding back the remains of a once mighty warrior of ages past. His gaze never wavers. He stares them down to its very end, until Catenna's Purification ensures that it will once again go rest. The white-haired Symbologist allows most the rest to go on ahead. He pushes any detached parts gently towards the deceased with gentle care via the tip of the staff.
There are no other reconcilatory nor religious gestures made on the man's behalf. He just makes sure all pieces of it are in the same place as Cyre signals that they will tend to this Nahual of Ge Ramtos later. Why Ethius - who looks like he might hail from the region by his colorations but otherwise carries no other likenesses to the locals - would decide to give care to something like this is strange.
He follows along, politely listening to Cyre's read of the situation as regards his teachings with the same patience. His stride maintains the usual rhythm that seems mechanical in nature. Unwavering, certain -
The bandanna that covers the lower half of his face is as though it is no longer there, even when it is physically present, as the rancid gale blows. Ethius brings a hand over his already covered mouth, and that doesn't so much as slow its infiltration. This could just be an inflammation of whatever fell sorcery may have been within the hold of the reanimated Nahual of Ge Ramtos, having put much of himself into holding it at bay. Death is an inevitability for all. He may have risked the rest of his days just standing so defiantly against it.
It is rare for Ethius to ever feel truly dissuaded. His unceasing march grinds to a halt until Cyre can light the censer. He closes his eyes again, letting the words of Cyre reflect upon his comprehension of where he is and what's going on.
"Miss Lydia..." Ethius starts, as she screams for Air Slashes. He ceases. "Pay me no further mind." Huh? He's not going to lecture her about how she treats a holy site of Cyre's people?
He exhales as he stands to fall behind. Is the pressure that immense? The others struggle to push through themselves. Only one thought helps keep Ethius' feet moving again. Cyre's devotion and understanding of the ways of his people reinforce that thought that seems to be his ultimate security blanket when he stands against things he does not remember, understand, or have any sort of reference to compare said experiences with.
This doesn't belong here.
This thought may yet serve as his own shield as he trails from a distance, straddling the line between being the rear guard, or a mere neutral spectator to what stands to transpire.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Lungs Of The World.
===================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual *>====================
===================<* CHALLENGE - The Lungs Of The World *>===================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Finally, the throb of corruption reaches a grotesque crescendo. A putrid
gale pours out from the path ahead, finding a home in your nostrils and
lungs and staining both with the fetid scent of rotting flesh and decaying
earth. The scent is overwhelming and the wind only grows more intense with
each step, but pressing through the roaring, disgusting storm-wind is the
only way forward. Only the rhythmic ebb and flow of air through the tunnels
brings relief, but for some reason, you find yourself reminded of the heavy,
unsteady breaths of some sickly beast. But surely, that can't be right-- can
it?
The path splits ahead, and every ounce of intuition screams at you to
divert, to turn away from the putrescent breath and escape down into the
safe, silent depths of the earth. In the distance, you can see flashes of
light and the pulse-pulse-pulse of a sickly heart. Your goal is near. And
yet, though the unnerving buzz of malevolence is stronger than ever,
something else cuts through the static. Something... hungry.
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Overwhelm======================================
==============<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual - Round 5 *>=============== =====================< Results - The Lungs Of The World >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 5 --(5)--> 10 Fail Invigorating Vapors 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catenna 5 --(5)--> 10 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Brewte Force 1 Brute Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Good Luck Bat 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Claude C. Kenny 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Pla-C-Bow 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Cyre H. Lorentz 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Overwhelm|Reckless(2) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Cyre H. Lorentz has successfully explored Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual!
===================<* Xibalba - Catacombs of the Nahual *>====================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Coming Storm *>======================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Finally, you overcome the vile breath and your own animal fear. The
wandering passageways deposit you before a closed, stone gateway. At either
side are statues of a pair of sacred beasts- statues of Noua-Shax and
Fengalon, the so-called Brothers Storm. They are pristine, seemingly
untouched by whatever evil has corrupted this place. The gate and the path
leading up to it are decorated by intersecting wings and symbology that any
Crest Sorcerer would immediately recognize as representative of the element
of Wing.
As you draw nearer, the statues begin to glow, shining brighter with every
step until at last draw close enough to touch the stone gate. Light floods
the chamber, pulsing out from within the twin statues. You feel your
strength returning, your vitality restored, as if the Guardians-- or perhaps
just the magic stored within the stone-- have infused you with strength.
When the light fades, you find yourselves standing on a stone platform set
atop a massive pillar. Arteries of malevolent light pulse outward, creeping
across the stone and into the living leyline of the planet. Carvings writ
across the slab's surface twist like the branches or roots of a gnarled tree
all radiating from a frenzied, grinning maw carved into the center of the
platform.
There, sitting cross-legged near the center of this nightmarish mandala, is
a being somewhere between beast and man. It's a leonine figure, fur a
glorious gold, with electricity coruscating across its body and mantras
simultaneously profane and sacred writ in purple light across its limbs.
This is the Nahual of Noua-Shax himself, straining mightily against
something you cannot see, but which you can sense.
It is hunger, deep and undeniable.
Before him, hovering over the center of the pillar, a halo of violet light
struggles against the growth of a terrible, chartreuse star.
This is what you came here to find. But... What is it you have found?
(You've found the boss fight! Let Cyre know that you've found this card and
fill out your names in the appropriate row of the sheet linked below:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gZR6xQzBnl7vuJWybrJMLxOmJITvtGsFXv_W
TFEzFWk/edit?usp=sharing )
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Maybe it's a sign of how much Cyre has grown over the months he's spent out in the world, or maybe just a symbol of how people can push one another forward, in spite of their own limits...? If he were not here with the others-- if Catenna wasn't here to clasp his hand, and Claude weren't here to literally push him forward, and Jacqueline wasn't here to try and buoy their courage in spite of her own fears, if Lydia wasn't fighting with all her might even if it doesn't necessarily amount to much, if Ethius wasn't being as stoic and mysterious and aloof as always-- he would never have had the strength.
He wouldn't have ever have pushed to see what had laid further beyond.
The change is sudden and abrupt. One moment, they're still struggling against the putrid storm-winds and their own fears and apprehensions, and the next the air is clear and clean. The twisting, rotted corridors give way to an antechamber and a gateway beyond. Standing watch at either side are familiar stone monuments-- the figures of Fengalon and Noua-Shax, each one untouched by the corruption that has claimed so much of Xibalba. The gate they stand guard over is a magnificent and ornate thing, depicting a variety of protective glyphs and symbols, but chief among them all is a primitive but glorious rendition of the Crest of Wing.
This... Must be their destination...!
Cyre emerges into the chamber with a gasp, sucking in lungfuls of fresh air in-between racking coughing fits. The less of that stuff stays inside him the better, at this point. As he looks up, he stares bewildered at the gate. "This... I thought I saw light...? What's this doing here?" Did they make a wrong turn? Did the Malevolence lead them astray? Cyre goes silent as he approaches, turning his head to wonder at the twin statues... Even as they begin to pulse and glow, their power filling the room. His eyes widen with sudden realization, "...Did they lead us here...? The brothers, they know. But then--" The shaman reaches the gate, brushes his fingers against the stone, and suddenly...
LIGHT swallows the room.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia Seren is told not to mind Ethius but since Ethius isn't her dad she gets to mind him all she wants. She ends up backing up a bit and swinging the bat before them to keep the air clean so they can arrive at...
...uh...
Well! The air is clean at least. Lydia looks around a bit and says, "Cyre, I'm still sensing the malevolence so maybe we should take a moment to make sure we're all--"
LIGHT SWALLOWS THE ROOM.
You can vaguely hear Lydia say 'shit'.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline pushes forward against the putrid winds. It's all she can do - it's all they can do, any one of them. Eventually, those give way, and she finds herself in an antechamber with the others.
It's certainly a relief to have some proper fresh air. She takes a deep breath and then looks around. The statues of the Guardians are fascinating, certainly, but the thing that draws Jacqueline's attention is that Crest.
"That's...Wing, the Crest of Wind!" Jacqueline says, surprised. Indeed - though the Crest inscribed on the wall is somewhat primitive, it is unmistably the same Crest found on Jacqueline's gauntlets, and on her Graphs.
That had to be significant. But then, Lydia gives a warning, but before any of them can act on it...
Light swallows the room.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Whoops.
On the bright side, it seems Cyre's recklessness isn't immediately punished. The light that fills the chamber seems to reinvigorate the body and cleanse the spirit, stripping away the lingering unease that has been settling over the party since their arrival to this place. But when it fades...
When it fades, they are not where they were.
They're somewhere much, much worse.
Instead, the party finds itself on... To call it a mural is probably too generous. It's a stone platform upon which a vast and twisted mandala has been carved. Each of the symbols in the halo are worn and many have decayed utterly, but those that remain are each in some way dedicated to containment, imprisonment and stasis. They spiral and twine, carved by ancient hand across unchanging stone in imitation of chains, bindings or roots... All around an enormous, frenzied, grinning maw which even now seems almost ready to burst from the stone.
And there, in the center of it all, sitting at the nexus of great veins of raw malevolence which crawl across and into the stone platform, is...
"LEON!" Cyre screams, already breaking into a run. "Leon, what have you done!? What IS all this!?"
The figure is a somewhere between beast and man. The Carakin would immediately find it familiar. This is the form of a Nahual, brilliant and golden and covered in runes that speak blessings and profanities at like into the world. Lightning pulses across his leonine body, muscles tensed and strained as if struggling against... something. There, behind and overtop of him, pulses an enormous chartreuse star, its expansion barely halted by the wreath of violet energies clasped around it.
Perhaps the most disturbing thing here is not the familiar pulse of malevolence that fills the chamber, but instead... Something else. The hunger deep and primal and even more overpowering than its counterpart.
Cyre draws near, his eyes only on one thing now. The golden nahual creaks one eye open to glare at his brother...!
But...
What is all this!?
Is this all Leon's doing?
Were the ancient Nahuals of Wehaca up to something far more sinister than any of their descendents could have ever considered?
What is the source of this overwhelming sense of hunger and consumption...!?