2018-11-09: The Heritor in the Dark
- Log: The Heritor in the Dark
- Cast: Riesenlied, Fei Fong Wong, Jacqueline Barber, Elhaym van Houten, Noeline, Lily Keil, Leon Albus, Avril Vent Fleur
- Where: Lost Village Fereshte
- Date: November 9th, 2018
- Summary: Riesenlied returns to the lost village of the Fereshte tribe, in hopes of facing her past with her friends standing beside her...but the past is more alive than any of them could have anticipated, and has its own plans for them.
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>========================== A long time ago, the village of Fereshte was one of the most prominent steppe tribes within the Arctican region of Elru - they were nomads and healers, travelling around the frozen wilderness with an open hand and a strong heart. They were vital to the continued survival of the scattered tribesmen of the tundra, for their worship of the Guardian of Life, Odoryuk, allowed them to provide crucial services in such unforgiving lands. Central to this service was the chosen of Odoryuk, called the Heritor, who wielded a Medium of Life and devoted their life to the service of the Guardian. This all vanished when the Veruni descended upon Filgaia. The tribe was reportedly vanquished overnight, their lands and people eradicated. The Heritor was slain, and the Medium reportedly lost. Those that escaped the slaughter were absorbed into other tribes, and the name was lost to the annals of history... ... yet, why does the village stand before you, as if nothing had ever happened? They say "Life will go on," yet... by no means should life continue in this way.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Elru had been a most difficult journey for a lot of people. An inhospitable land blasted with disasters both natural and unnatural; possessed of deep weather that casts a snowy pallor over all its proceedings.
Riesenlied has had quite the series of trials up until now -- first she visited Garlyle, where she was nearly killed by the mysterious red light known as the Demon of Elru. Then she visited New Arctica, where a tense standoff with those who recognised her from Arctica nearly cost her the means to provide the survivors with the goods and supplies they so desperately needed.
But she hasn't been alone. Noeline has been with her, hands clung and with a shoulder to support her; Lydia, Avril, and the rest of the Wayside Outreach have been working hard to get their supply chains up and running, and Jacqueline has been assisting from the Caravan Kinship -- and from the Black Wolves, Lily, Leon and the others have been there to protect and support her through the most trying of times.
Today, they trek through an assuming mountain pass nestled by the jutting roots of ancient, petrified trees. The northern lights paints the skies with their unearthly, surreal colour; it is quite the sight.
"... once we... arrive--" she pants, "--at the top of this pass, we should be able to see the... remnants of the village," Riesenlied breathlessly explains. She isn't exactly of the best physical condition, and the conditions aren't friendly to her either... but she perseveres, the best she can.
"There... won't be much left, but..." She lowers her head. "Thank you, for coming with me..."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
EARLIER
Lydia Seren rushes over to Riesenlied and says, "Mom, I don't think I'll be able to go to Fereshte with you. Because... I gotta look after the other Fereshte. Now that New Arctica is gonna let us deliver supplies I figure I should bring the ship in so I don't have to make ten trips." Pause. "I'm not making ten trips."
She hands Riesenlied a mysterious lunchbox that contains mysterious foods. "Luuuckily I have anticipated this because I'm a genius so I prepared a gift for you and other-mom. It'll be like I'm with you in spirit...don't open until you're ready to chow down though, ga ha ha ha ha ha!"
NOW
Speaking of people who are totally unconnected to that Demon of Elru character...
Fei Fong Wong walks with Riesenlied, compelled to pay in kind what Riesenlied has done for him but regardless of this determination, he slows down as he suddenly sees something of intrinsic beauty.
The northern lights.
At this time of day.
At this time of year.
Localized entirely within this mountain pass.
Fei exhales out a long breath. "It's really something isn't it?" Fei says. "Almost magical, even though it's just a natural occurance of charged particles and solar winds. But even when you try to explain it, it still feels magical."
Fei smiles. "A kind of magic I think anybody can get behind. Have you seen this before? It's my first time," It doesn't sound like it to hear him speak of it, but he says that all the same.
"Almost makes you think you've traveled to another world."
He looks back to Riesenlied. He knows Noeline will help Riesenlied get where she needs to go but he can't help but worry about her condition even if he only communicates that worry non-verbally.
"It'll still be there so let's take our time." He says, no doubt in part to make things easier on Riesenlied. "And enjoy the universe's majesty at work."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Elru...it was hard to believe she was here. It was a little overwhelming, to be honest, but Jacqueline had the support of her friends, both within the Caravan Kinship and without, to help keep her going strong and doing what she could to help.
They were relying on her too, after all. She couldn't back down now, after they'd come this far.
And now, she had come with Riesenlied and the others to this mountain pace. Jacqueline looks up her eyes finding the northern lights hanging in the skies above them. It was a phenomenon she'd never seen with her own eyes before. It gives her pause, though she comes back to reality once Fei speaks.
"...Is that what causes them...? Wow. I would have never guessed. I've read about them, but...I've never seen them myself." Jacqueline says, in awe. Learning what caused them seems to have only increased her appreciation even more. "Nature really is beautiful..."
She nods, then and looks toward Riesenlied.
"Yes, don't hesitate to let us know if you need a break! We're making good time as it is...and as he says, I doubt it'll go run away from us." She agrees, then smiles.
"I'm just glad I can help in some way. Stay strong, alright?" She urges.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"I appreciate it, Riesenlied," Elly says to... well, it's pretty obvious. "But you don't need to thank me. I'm glad to do it." And, she thinks, it's the least she can do.
Elly of course is wearing winter clothing, though she has not replaced the scarf, choosing instead to flip up the collar on her coat. Maybe she's finding that cozier. The glowing lights up high - "Fei," Elly says, with some surprise. "Did you study astronomy?"
She also sneakily moves to grasp his hand for a moment.
BACK IN THE VILLAGE WITH PEOPLE:
"Okay, pass me the note pipe," Prissa tells the guardswoman. "We have to stay on key to get it right. - No, Jham, I am not telling you what the words mean, they do not mean anything. It's like a - a what is the word - the singing where you just make sounds for fun, not for meaning. Scat singing? What, like what an animal leaves?"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline seems very aware of the harsh conditions in Elru, and has come surprisingly well-prepared. Given that she usually traipses around masquerading as a Crimson Noble as a means to reinforce her personal identity, the fact she's wearing a thick winter coat is a remarkable concession, and the boots she's got on are signficantly sturdier and more waterproof than her old ones, better able to cope with the snow and with enough of a grip that she can readily support Riesenlied if she needs to.
The Hyadean has been remarkably silent and quiet since they reached Elru, and particularly since their visit to New Arctica. Nostalgia and regret mingle in her eyes whenever her gaze turns far away; she's even been caught sighing under her breath a couple of times. Still, she's been doing her best to stay positive and determined for her partner's sake, helping Riese along by the arm as they make their way up the pass.
Which is why, when she catches Fei's glance, she breaks into a fanged sort of grin. "You more or less have, in the end. This kind of weather you simply won't find anywhere else, not to mention the bizarre geography. For people who have spent their entire lives in Ignas, this continent can be something of a shock. To be quite honest, I'm surprised you know what causes it," she chuckles to the martial artist in good-natured amusement. "... I would come out to watch them a lot. It was more difficult spotting them in the midst of the city - I believe the amount of light from the streets made them harder to see."
She doesn't suggest a rest to Riesenlied, unlike the others - she just glances in her companion's direction, a thousand words in her eyes, and then closes her eyes as she offers a squeeze of her hand. "... it will be alright," she offers quietly.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
The trip to Elru was one thing; now that they're here, there's a lot to do. The landscape alone is a challenge, but finding the hidden places here, establishing contact with survivors, making use of what resources they can find--
Lily has ranged too far to stay with Riesenlied all the time, but she's made a point of keeping in contact, joining up with her when it's key. Save for her efforts to help in New Arctica, she hasn't had much reason to stick to settlements like that. Now, she walks with the others, taking up the rear. Her attention drifts to Riesenlied now and then, but there's little she can do at the moment but be ready; Riesenlied's condition is not something Lily can wave her hand and improve, unfortunately. At least their connection makes it simple enough to keep track of her. But...
"Of course," Lily says to Riesenlied, about coming with her. "I wouldn't do otherwise."
But as she speaks, her eyes are turning. She looks up to the brilliant lights ahead, and hears Fei wax poetic.
"...Is magic so unnatural itself?" Lily asks, still looking up. "I never get tired of watching it," she says, and probably means these lights. "I would never have expected to see them here, now..."
A glance to Fei. "You know a lot about this," she says. "...More than I do, apparently. Solar wind...?"
Lily has on a long coat, but it is open, revealing a sturdy breastplate. Long pants, rugged boots; thin gloves. Her ARM is holstered inside her coat, for the moment, and she looks thoughtful. Even as the snow has collected, flakes touching her hair standing out against the black, she doesn't seem troubled by the cold.
Dog trails behind, walking up towards Riesenlied. Lily doesn't suggest a rest... but Dog does nose at her leg a little, looking up with big canine eyes, brightly supportive.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon was pleased to find New Arctica. He was less pleased with the reaction -- but he saw no way to avoid some interaction. They needed a safe harbor, and if it came to it, the Kraken was better armed than most ships in there.
He follows after Riesenlied. His eyes are drawn, occasionally, to the undulating auroras overhead. They widen at the sight of them, and then he slows to a stop behind Riese. He frowns, a little, at her labored breathing. It reminds him that she has suffered, in the time since he has known her. There has been a degradation of her physical state, and he can't ignore that.
"It is, Fei," he says. He looks at Lily, then nods. He has seen them before, but he lets her explain. "Still... I never knew about the solar wind. I'll enjoy the sight, nonetheless. It brings back memories."
His breath hangs as mist.
BACK AT NEW ARCTICA
Talia, having come primarily to support Lydia, Avril, Rebecca, and Dean, is near the Fereshte. She waves, idly, at a few people carting things off -- large crates and barrels. She is, at present, riding atop one. "Now, now!" she says. "You cannot be prejudiced at my friend's mother if you are working hard, no? I read this thing in a book!"
She winks at a worker. He does not see it, because he is carrying the crate she is lounging on.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Yes, that is correct."
Avril speaks up as Fei explains the nature of the Northern Lights, her gaze turned up towards the heavens. "Specifically, it is electrons interacting with the upper reaches of the atmosphere, and those electrons are a part of the solar wind... hm."
A frown creases her face. "I wonder why it is that I know this?"
A good question, considering that this now makes Avril a woman who knows about auroras but not marriage.
She's been in a silent, nearly pensive mood since New Arctica. Perhaps while the reaction the residents had had towards Riesenlied was understandable, even expected, it...
Something about it nags her.
It isn't possible for two different peoples to get along, murmurs the voice from the depths. Shaking her head, she steps forward, the ground crackling in the cold night air underfoot.
As those accompanying her to New Arctica might have noted, she's traded her usual gown and accessories. Partially out of deference to the climate, but also because...
Because someone is wanting her 'home' out here, perhaps. Someone who has set a large price to see her so delivered.
Hence the heavy Drifter-worthy jacket, the sweater, the boots and gloves, the long skirt... and the hat.
Her hair is braided and bound with ribbons.
"Would you like to stop and rest a moment, Riesenlied? It has been a difficult trip."
Especially with the Hyadean in such a condition.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied is carrying Lydia's lunchbox in her belongings; true to what she advised, she's not going to open it until she's ready. She inwardsly felt a little guilty about how much she's imposing on her, but she knows that Lydia's smart and can handle the supply lines for New Arctica and few else she would trust for the job.
"Oh, is it a natural occurrence...? I-- honestly thought it was magic. Like a weave of the Leyline..." Riesenlied admits, showing that with enough ignorance, one tends to just prescribe things to magic or an act of divinity. She looks sheepishly at Fei and Avril both. She doesn't know 'electrons'... was that something Cetiri told her? Solar winds? Aah, Lydia knows so much more about this...
"I have seen it before. It's like a guide, to show the path at Elru's most difficult times. A reminder that... there is still beauty out here," she speaks. She nods towards Jacqueline as she expresses that nature is beautiful.
"Thank you," she whispers earnestly to Noeline as she supports her up. That gaze that keeps her going, as she looks into her eyes. She senses Leon's concern too, since he knew her from back when she was more hale. So she reassures: "I'll be okay to make it to the top; the sight of the aurora is best up there. ..." A pause. She smiles towards Avril as she asks if she'd like to rest, too. "I think so -- I remember..."
"Come on! Come on, just a little more!" cries the robed girl as she hangs upside down from the top of the massive branch.
"I--I'm scared, Nasrin... what if I fall?" whimpers a little Dragon Unit as she clings to the bark of the tree.
"...I used to be taken up to the tops of the ancient trees here," she gestures to the large, petrified trees around them, "So we could get the best view of the plain and the aurora..."
But when they arrive at the top...
DG: A party led by Noeline is now entering Lost Village Fereshte. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>==========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Behind the Aurora *>======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The Fereshte were once a prominent Baskar nomadic tribe in the steppes of
Arctica. Those versed in Ellurian history commonly know them as experienced
nomads and traders, and their priests are renowned for their worship of
Odoryuk, possessing healing powers. But the story ends the same anywhere you
dig -- the village of Fereshte was destroyed a long time ago, and no longer
exists now. Central to this service was the chosen of Odoryuk, called the
Heritor, who wielded a Medium of Life and devoted their life to the service
of the Guardian.
Which makes the rumours all the more wild, that the once-lost village of
Fereshte within the Veruni Control Zone now lives on in the present age... a
sheer impossibility in every manner of being.
Whatever the case may be, you have decided to strike out for the village --
and find that the rumours are, bafflingly, true. A bustling village of
perhaps fifty-odd people is visible below you past the roots of a great
petrified tree, its yurts and other buildings surrounding a totem of
Odoryuk, the Guardian of Life.
But something feels quite wrong as you approach -- the air is thick and
suffused with energy.
Those with the means to know feel a strong veil of positive Ley energy
permeating the atmosphere... and it has manifested into a beautiful barrier
that shields entry. You will need power to break through the shield of life
and descend into the village.
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
... the village looms underneath -- bright, resplendent and vigorous. The colour of life is hale within its fields. A soft puff of white smoke emits from a nearby chimney, from a number of its buildings; the sound of whinnying horses and children playing are faint heard from far below. In its centre, the large Baskar-style totem of Odoryuk, the Guardian of Life can be seen.
It is a remarkably beautiful sight.
Riesenlied's face falls. Lily can sense it; that sharp, increasingly harrowing sense of anxiety. A million thoughts and doubts racing. The sense of questioning, of one's memories.
Within the mind, Some Asshole hears a starting groan of pain from that frosted corpse. "Nghh--" she strains.
"I--how...?" she first asks, hurrying near to the edge of the cliff. She tries to think first of sensible thoughts. Another tribe, survivors, another group of refugees from Elluria? But-- no, with the totem there...
"Everything's just... the way it used to be..."
She looks fearfully to the group. "I'm... I'm not lying. I'm not lying...!" she blurts out, and--
-= Riesenlied has left the party. =-
She tears away, frantically hurrying down the sloping path on the other side in her panic. This wouldn't be that much of a problem, given she's not the fastest person with her clumsy footing, but--
The aurora wobbles unnaturally in the skies. A barrier of like colours weaves into existence.
It repels entry, a forcefield composed of --those with the appropriate sorcerous powers can tell-- an abundance of positive Ley energy. A slightly sickening feeling is in the air, as if...
Is it... mocking you, silently?
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline can understand how one might compare it to the weave of the Leyline - it had a similar feel and flow. But the Leyline, too, was a natural occurrence. 'Magic' wasn't a term Jacqueline liked to use often - even Sorcery usually had an explanation for the hows and the whys.
"...I like it. That's a good way to look at it." Jacqueline replies with a smile toward Riesenlied, then thinks. "If the view at the top is best...then let's not keep it waiting."
They eventually make it to the top...but the sight she sees is one that takes her breath away. It's a village. But it is not the ruin she had expected to find. It looks completely untouched - like they're looking directly into the past.
"Riesenlied-" Jacqueline starts, looking for her. She reaches out...but then, in a panic, Riesenlied departs. "R-Riese, wait! We need to...!"
Suddenly, the aurora shifts and a barrier forms in front of them. Jacqueline recoils, pulling her hand back suddenly.
"It's...Ley energy." Jacqueline says, looking up at the aurora in the sky. ...Perhaps this occurrence wasn't entirely natural, after all. Jacqueline reaches into her bags, drawing out some potions and distributing them to the party. "Here, this should help refuel everyone...we need to catch up to her, quickly."
And then, Jacqueline approaches the barrier, flexing her hands. The elemental Crests on the back of her hands begin to light up. These gauntlets...energy manipulation was one of their properties. She's never tried it on something like this, but...
Jacqueline rests a hand on the barrier...and then, very gently, attempts to finesse it open. At least, just enough for at least one of them to get through.
As she does so, she can feel a sickening aura in the air...Jacqueline winces, but tries to power through the sensation. It makes her feel uneasy, though. She's not sure what to think...
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, Behind the Aurora.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"It's just a little further," Noeline answers and encourages Riesenlied with a nod, scooping her hand down to pat at the dog gambolling in the snow as she does so. For all her warmth and currently gentle nature, though, she can't help but look quietly amused at the fact that the most Elru-seasoned member of their party - the one who has lived out on these steppes for so long - is the one that ascribes the sight of the northern lights to that of magic.
But then, she's always been the one who focuses more on knowledge, whereas Riesenlied's forte is in emotions and feelings. She's come far enough that she's not prepared to write either of them off as 'right' or 'wrong'. Sometimes, a little symbolism and belief is the more important thing. So she chuckles to herself as she crests the top, and--
--and stops dead, her eyes wide.
New Arctica was a very personal sort of surprise, but in a way it was understandable to find some survivors. When the city fell a couple of years ago, it was a thriving and populous nation; even with the might of the Metal Demons, it was unlikely that they would wipe out absolutely everyone, and she's well aware that Elru has enough in the way of boltholes and hideaways that they could likely eke out an existence.
This feels completely different. Noeline isn't certain if it's the sheer suffusion of Odoryuk's energy or the persistent feeling of wrongness that cloys at her throat, but the sight of the village below them instantly fills her with a deep uncertainty, and the hairs on the back of her neck rise at the feeling that something is terribly wrong, her senses immediately on alert.
"... is this a test?" she mutters softly to herself as her brow furrows-- but before she can get any further Riesenlied has begun to panic, and Noeline immediately tries to placate the other Hyadean. "Riese! It's alright. I believe you. It's-- Riese!"
That last shout comes as Riesenlied tears away from her; Noeline stands stunned for a moment before she flings herself after her partner, angling herself to start sliding down after the Tainted. Instinctively, she reaches inside herself for a spark of Duras Drum's energy, dragging it to the surface; she can't say for sure whether the wellspring of power beneath them is Odoryuk or not, but every instinct is telling her that it isn't - which means that something else has Riesenlied.
Gritting her teeth at that thought and hissing softly under her breath, she takes the complete opposite tack to the alchemist, ramming a hand against the barrier. Physical strength, mental strength, it doesn't matter - she pours both into the blow, a corona of shadow bursting around her for an instant.
DG: Noeline has used her Tool Trouble toward her party's challenge, Behind the Aurora.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
It's astonishing, Elly thinks. But is that really what 'life' means, she thinks further as she gazes down onto the lively village, improbably vital here in the frozen wastes, at least to all appearances. Is 'living' just persisting the same, or is it --
Her reflection is disrupted by the tension from their friend. Elly mirrors it by squeezing Fei's hand, but her eyes are on:
"-- Riesenlied?" Elly says, as she tightens up and then lunges forwards.
* Riesenlied has left the party.
Elly exhales. "Come on," she says, not eager to break her hand-clasp with Fei as she moves forwards. "She's going to fall or something --"
The aurora descends to earth in a shower of cascading cosmic particles -- no; it's not the literal atmospheric effect, any more than the localized power-infused tornadoes produced by Tolone or herself are 'real' weather patterns on the macroclimatic level. Elly nonetheless skids up short against the field, looking at it in astonishment.
Several weird flashes pop against it. The fruits of Elly's Ether abilities. But it's clear to her that if fire, wind, water and earth won't prevail, there has to be something else. Jay raies the question of it being Ley energy.
Elly collects a potion and pops it open.
"Lily, do you remember how I described how I was taught about Ether? How everything had two states - so it was positive-positive, or negative-positive?"
She sips it. "I'm seeing the limitations here... I think this is just... positive, and positive, and positive. Not positive-positive - that would be wind."
"I don't think I can manage the counter," Elly concludes.
Her eyes turn towards Lily. "... so, I'll have to count on you...!"
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Behind the Aurora.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon doesn't, initially, see the Ley energy. He sees Riesenlied running, though, and he has an outstretched hand after her. It grips naught but cold air. Leon's gloved fingers close, and his eyes widen, as he gets a good look at the barrier of shimmering colors floating ahead of him. He shakes his head once, quickly.
"Riesenlied..."
He trails off, though, and his eyes lock onto the barrier. Leon, as a rule, compartmentalizes: a village that should be dead, yet somehow lives, is deeply concerning. However, there is a barrier between him, his friends, and the person they are here to help. His eyes narrow, and he looks at Noeline. "If it is, I suggest we ace it."
He reaches down to his coat, pulling out a smooth, blue-purple stone with a few runes on it. The artifact is a relic of Lunar, picked up in his time there. He thinks better of it, though, and slides it back in.
"I, er. I'll try ramming my shoulder into it if the magic fails," he says, a little lamely.
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Behind the Aurora.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei tilts his head at Elly. "Hm? Astronomy? I don't think so. Isn't it common knowledge? Sometimes little facts like that just pop into my head." He smiles though, taking Elly's hand. It seems the scarf provides some SAN protection as well as cold resistance because he seems to be in a good state right now. Granted, some of that might also just be getting to see one of the wonders of the world. You can't see stuff like the aurora just anywhere after all, and not just any time of day, and honestly it's often very difficult to see in one's kitchen.
He looks to Jay. "There's only very specific spots you can see them from. I guess this happened to be one of them." He's still smiling.
Riesenlied naturally has a more poetic way to describe the aurora and Fei thinks it's more artful to let that explanation sit. He gives a faint concerned look Riesenlied's way but gives a nod at her suggestion. "Alright, if that's what you want--"
Fei pauses, his gaze drifting downward. "Wait... That's not...possible..." His eyes widen. It's impossible. Isn't it? Or are Riesenlied's memories not quite as accurate as they seemed? Fei raises as hand to his head. Things that make Fei doubt his own senses are rarely good for the man's balance.
???
That Damn Kid looks up suddenly, "Nasrin?" He turns in a direction, but it's just a dark room in a chair, and it's difficult for him to step out from it on a place like Filgaia especially with the spiritual resilliance traversing the Proving Grounds has provided Fei Fong Wong.
"What's the matter?"
Here
Fei is slower to react to Riesenlied's departure thanks to the untimely 'attack'. He straightens up, "Riesenlied, I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to say you were lying...!"
Fei can't rush off, not without dragging Elly alongside him. "R-right.." He tells Elly. Thanks to her hand, he reminds himself that it's probably to keep to a stable pace than try to rush after her.
Fei looks at the brilliant colors. The counterpart element would be darkness, wouldn't it? He just needs to...
He just needs to tap into--
A sudden terror grips Fei telling him to not go down that road and he steps back. He looks to Lily instead.
"We're counting on you, Lily." He says, voice tight.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Behind the Aurora.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Just a little more, Riesenlied says. Just far enough to see whatever remains of Fereshte. Avril's gaze lingers on the Hyadean, as if gauging her, her current status.
But she nods. "Alright. I do not think we have much further to go." Her pace is slow as she goes, as if to encourage Riesenlied to make haste slowly herself.
They crest the hill. One of Avril's hands, gloved, grazes a dessicated tree trunk.
"Oh..."
Her free hand lifts to her mouth. "The village..."
She shakes her head, glancing sidelong over at Riesenlied. "...It's alive."
At which point her attention zeroes in on that totem, to the center of the village.
"...Life Guardian..." she utters, as if temporarily flung into a trancelike state. "Riesenlied--"
Her boots crunch on permafrost. Riesenlied flees, already off and down the slope. But this isn't what stops Avril in her tracks.
The heavens dance.
"Nnh... no, this power..."
It's like staring into the beating heart of the sun: blinding, consuming in its purity and radiance. Avril recoils, draws back a step, only to shout, this time: "Riesenlied! No, wait, you must not--"
As if realizing the impracticality of such a shout, Avril shakes her head and hastily begins to strip off one of her gloves. Warmth they may grant, but fine motor control, not so much.
"Yes. That is one way to put it." The glove is flung away onto the cold hard ground. "It is as if it is composed of the stuff of life itself. Pure vitality, perhaps. I--"
Would even her magic be enough? Would even her blade be able to cut it?
There's only one thing she has left to dash against the wall.
She finds it with freezing fingers. She pushes the button.
The earth rumbles near the barrier. As if tearing itself from its own grave, the massive hand lunges from the ground, clawing viciously in its attempt to near the barrier. Deep gouges rend the permafrost, but even such attempts are not nearly enough. It can't so much as graze the barrier at this range.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Remote Golem Override toward her party's challenge, Behind the Aurora.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily knows very little about Avril. ...She's aware of this. She wonders, about it. So she might be forgiven if someone noticed that her eyes linger on the other woman when she's thinking. ...But as Leon says; the sight of these lights does bring back memories, and for a moment, that is good.
But Avril, Fei--both know the details. ...As Riesenlied doesn't. Lily half-smiles, briefly, shaking her head--blink, and it's missed. "It's a fair guess, I think. As Fei says... there is something magical about it."
It's definitely not common knowledge, though.
Lily looks to the trees, and as they move forward--she sees the village. She hears the village. Surprise doesn't even have time to register on her face before the hard spike of anxiety assaults her mind. "Ah--"
Lily steps back, hand moving to her head, "Riesenlied--"
But she's gone. Lily immediately starts to move forward... at which point she slams into the barrier that weaves into existence, knocked by by the force of impact, hissing out a breath. That feeling of sickening only registers a moment after. "What--?"
"Positive, positive, positive," Lily repeats, in the voice of someone whose mind is only barely in the conversation. Her eyes are locked onto the barrier, her posture utterly still, stiff even. Elly is counting on her. The fear in the air tells her something of Fei; Fei won't. ...Fei, is counting on her. And Riesenlied...
They're counting on her. ...They're all counting on her. Lily is used to that, used to holding the fates of others on her shoulders. Why, then, does a pressure grip her heart? Lily begins to stand, her lips pressing together. "A test," Lily repeats from Noeline, and then looks between Elly, and Fei.
"You won't have to, Leon."
Lily takes the potent draught she's been given and uncorks it, downing the entire thing in the span of moments, throwing the bottle away. Ley energy. Even as she does, the sudden, oppressive presence of Ether becomes obvious. The sorceress reaches to her hands, and pulls the gloves from each of them, discarding them quickly.
Quickly, too quickly, Lily wends the tiny chains she carries over her hands, binding one... And doubling the force of the aura around her immediately. But Lily stares down the barrier. "I need..." she murmurs, as she does the calculations--she doesn't have enough force for this barrier--
Which is when the Golem hand appears. Lily looks sharply towards it--and then nods. "I don't know how you knew," Lily says to Avril. "...We have to be prepared to move quickly."
Lily holds one hand towards the barrier, extending the other to her side, towards the Golem hand. With a deep breath, she draws in--and the Golem's hand begins to crackle with black lightning, seeming to rust and start to crumple before a gigantic arc of red light cascades from it directly to Lily.
The ground beneath her cracks as she puts both hands forward, shifting her feet apart. A tiny speck of darkness in her hands begins to glow, and abrubtly expands. Gritting her teeth, Lily takes the power and forces it forward, letting it erupt into a beam of ruin that explodes forward, crashing against the golden barrier--and impacting it hard. ...But the darkness doesn't disappear.
If the barrier is positive Ley energy, then the beam is its opposite in truth; darkness to light, destruction to creation. Mirrors. And it targets a barrier tampered with by Jay's magic, already stressed by a Guardian's power--
And Lily keeps up the bombardment until the Golem hand collapses in on itself, too long. Blood starts to trickle down her nose.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Rune Chain toward her party's challenge, Behind the Aurora.
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>==========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Behind the Aurora *>======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The Fereshte were once a prominent Baskar nomadic tribe in the steppes of
Arctica. Those versed in Ellurian history commonly know them as experienced
nomads and traders, and their priests are renowned for their worship of
Odoryuk, possessing healing powers. But the story ends the same anywhere you
dig -- the village of Fereshte was destroyed a long time ago, and no longer
exists now. Central to this service was the chosen of Odoryuk, called the
Heritor, who wielded a Medium of Life and devoted their life to the service
of the Guardian.
Which makes the rumours all the more wild, that the once-lost village of
Fereshte within the Veruni Control Zone now lives on in the present age... a
sheer impossibility in every manner of being.
Whatever the case may be, you have decided to strike out for the village --
and find that the rumours are, bafflingly, true. A bustling village of
perhaps fifty-odd people is visible below you past the roots of a great
petrified tree, its yurts and other buildings surrounding a totem of
Odoryuk, the Guardian of Life.
But something feels quite wrong as you approach -- the air is thick and
suffused with energy.
Those with the means to know feel a strong veil of positive Ley energy
permeating the atmosphere... and it has manifested into a beautiful barrier
that shields entry. You will need power to break through the shield of life
and descend into the village.
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
====================<* Lost Village Fereshte - Round 1 *>===================== =======================< Results - Behind the Aurora >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Trouble 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Brewte Force 1 Brute Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rune Chain 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Remote Golem Override 4 Brute Effects: None ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Noeline 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Noeline 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> Riesenlied has posed.
The village, indeed, was a direct window to the past. As Riesenlied departs, Jacqueline distributes some potions to empower them through the still-unforgiving cold, and perhaps through that sickening feeling too. They will need brute force, and the Brewte Force... shall deliver.
She rests a hand on the barrier -- and intrinsically, Ley energy is a fundament power underlying Crest Sorcery... but the rawness of the positive energy here makes it a bit more difficult than those aligned with the four elemental Ley -- with Crests typically having a fine balance between positive and negative.
Still, Jacqueline is no novice, and her gauntlet crackles with power as she works on it with precision...
Noeline immediately feels that something is wrong. The feeling, it seems, is mutual from Duras Drum -- while the presence of Mother has muted the Guardians' presence, the sheer amount of power here is enough for him to warn her: This isn't right.
She angles a spark of Duras Drum's power and pulls it to the fore. Illusion touches against life, a sheer test as her strength is tried. And she cracks it, with a powerful blow bursting with shadow.
Elly does in fact see Riesenlied stumbling, but possessed with a fear beyond reason, she proceeds despite her condition. She advises Lily on what she was taught about Ether. The same fundaments apply; but she needs a counter to the positivity. A negativity....
She counts on Lily.
Leon thinks about using the thunderstone, but also thinks better of it -- perhaps for the better (or worse?), given the difference in Lunar's magic. But his shoulder is powerful!
" ... --" is all the nothingness the frosted corpse gets out over their tether, before the feel of the frosted room fades away completely. That empathic link between them -- feels if it has been subsumed into a greater mass, senses That Damn Kid.
Fei starts to gather... something, but his senses tell him not to. A terror that advises him otherwise. Lily has a safer darkness. 'Safer'.
Avril gazes upon the Life Guardian's totem. Something... something is here. She can sense it. Something... with a sense of fate towards it.
But it is sorrowful.
But then she springs to action -- and the very ground begins to rumble as she presses that button. Surprisingly, something appropriate is actually close -- and as it claws its way out to the surface, the Drifters can see its make for a moment.
Veruni. But old -- battered, consumed by the earth.
And in the end-- Lily drinks the powerful draught, and charges her power of Ether. She winds the chains over her hand, doubling the power over her... and with Noeline's own negative presence, with Jacqueline's precision, with Elly's expert advice to guide them, and with the old Veruni Golem-- the darkness bursts forward and crashes into the aurora barrier... and it disappears.
The Golem's shattered hand falls apart, but not before giving a mysteriously Big Shal-like thumb.
And in the end, it's ok, Leon: we know Lily loves your shoulder.
DG: Noeline has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>==========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - This Inn's a Keeper *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
You come across the innkeeper as you proceed through the village square. She
gives you a warm smile as she greets, "Welcome to our inn, the White Mare!"
She's about to beckon you in, but pauses with a convulsive twitch. Her eyes
gloss over as she regards you with coldness and remarks: "Hey! I know you!
All of you! You haven't paid your room bills in over..." She begins
counting. "One hundred and ten years!"
That would be a remarkable amount of money for anyone to casually part
with... you will have to come up with something clever to stave her anger
and convince her you don't actually owe her... much.
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
The slope downwards poses very little of a challenge afterwards, allowing the Drifters passage to the rest of the village. The snarl of the petrified roots poses a stumbling block here or there, but nothing major. Indeed, perhaps the presence of those ancient trees only makes this time-displaced village all the more jarring...
... but it doesn't make the actual presence of it all the more intimidating. No, the dread and menace here is well below the surface, as a nearby farmhand salutes them and calls, "Welcome, travelers," before pressing on with his day towards the field.
A large octagonal yurt that has been subsumed into an adjoining building advertises its services as an inn: the White Mare.
As the group steps closer, however--
Two spectral children appear before them, the very atmosphere of the village distorting for a moment as if some kind of illusory record was playing.
"Auntie Marzieh's soup is amazing! You've got to try some!" calls the robed girl as she drags a very visibly... horned girl with blonde hair, shy and withering behind her.
"D-don't steal it like last time, Nasrin..." begs the horned girl. The little Dragon Unit. She opens her mouth again--
--and then, nothing. The record itself stops... though 'Auntie Marzieh' steps out of her inn and peers towards the group. "You... I know you!"
She marches onward towards them, pointing at Leon, then Noeline, then Jacqueline -- and the rest of the group. "All of you! You haven't paid your room bils in over..."
She bobs her head left and right. "One hundred and ten years! Don't think you can shirk your tab, missus and misters!"
That long?!
Maybe... maybe some mercantile expertise is needed here, Miss Jacqueline?
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Whether Lily's darkness is safer or not is immaterial. Fei needs to be level 80 before he unlocks casual use of the darkness. Does Fei look level 80 to you?
Fei holds Elly's hand as they make their way down through the barrier. "Nice work, Lily." Fei says with a smile, "Though I feel a little guilty about Mister Hand." But Avril seems to have an infinite supply of Golem Body Parts so he doesn't really ... want to dwell on the ... you know ... science of that nonsense.
As the team makes their way into the village, Fei speaks quietly. "Another dead village. How many does it make now? I can't keep track anymore..."
???
That Damn Kid sits back down in his chair. He places his hands over his bloodied face and then digs his nails into his skin. He doesn't scream, or throw a tantrum or anything like that.
He just sits there and suffers. Maybe that's more unnerving than normal, if anyone were to observe it, but nobody is there to observe it so it may just seem sad.
HONESTLY ALSO KIND OF ???
Fei looks around the village, watching the two ghost girls? No, not ghost girls, Fei thinks. "Is it just a dream...? Or a wicked memory...?" Fei murmurs. It seems that Little Dragon Unit hasn't changed much since becoming Riesenlied. The same girl, but with resolution in her heart. A strength shakened by these ghosts of the past.
His thoughts are stirred by the words of Auntie Marzieh. It seems that these memories look back at you. Fei blinks blankly at her before adding. "Not at all." Fei says.
He reaches into one of his bags, drawing out an already finished painting of the sunset's light reflecting off the sea. He offers it to the woman. "For one hundred and ten years," Fei says. "All I can offer is something priceless."
Please fall for it please fall for it I'm poor, Fei thinks.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, This Inn's a Keeper.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline's steps through the village are careful and measured, her senses open for any hint of what they might be facing. The feeling around the village still cloys at her; she can pick up the sharp tang of Duras Drum's warning in the back of her head, not needing words for it to be conveyed properly, but the rest of her senses feel thick and muted.
She lost sight of Riesenlied in the midst of breaking the magical barrier - or more likely, she thinks bitterly, something hid her presence from them deliberately. Whether this is an illusion, a memory, or a projection: she can't be sure, but if they can find a focal point, or perhaps even manage to find and contact Riese--
--she recoils from those thoughts as reality abruptly distorts around them, her hands coming up as if to shield her gaze from whatever lies ahead. When it turns out to be a couple of familiar young girls, it's all she can do to stare. "... Ri--..." she almost murmurs under her breath, but catches herself, uncertain if she should disrupt the scene in front of them.
Whether that impulse is correct, the world reverts as quickly as it fractured; she's left gasping for breath, stunned at the innkeeper that accosts them with a bizarre question. "... M-- Madame, I assure you," she grasps for time and a handle on the situation both, then does her best to offer an amused smile. "If you know of anyone that might occupy an inn that long, I would love to meet them. Still, we will do our best to pay our dues."
It's an impulse, but she chooses to roll with it - to point out the inconsistency in hopes that it might either destabilize the illusion they seem to be in, or else point the way towards Riesenlied and Nasrin.
DG: Noeline has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, This Inn's a Keeper.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Training that somehow made it into the Jugend curriculum fires. "Oh!" Elly says to Leon. "No, no - you'll be pivotal here. This is a temporary field of effect - it's possible even if Lily and I worked together we could only make a temporary gap, but you'd be able to effect a greater shift by manipulating the landscape. By destroying and moving objects."
Her tone is reassuring.
Somewhere in the heavens, Kelvena nods.
Elly steps out of the way as Lily subjects that barrier to a concentrated infusion of sheer, unalloyed negativity. The air crackles! THe barrier retracts - and perhaps it is good, perhaps it restores balance and power.
Past that aurora - Elly says, "I still see her!"
UNTIL THE HAND RISES! Elly grasps Fei's arm for a moment but then it shatters apart, giving them an encouraging thumbs up for a moment. Breathing out, Elly says, "Goodness."
Moving downwards, Elly is ready for all kinds of things.
An attack. A trap. An eruption of malevolence. The appearance of a known guy who will tell them that caring is for suckers and they should beat people up. The appearance of a new guy who will tell them that caring is for suckers and that they should beat people up.
Instead they get a bill.
Before then, of course, there was that shadowplay, the memory of soup and innocence. That was haunting, gentle. This is a bill.
Elly blinks slowly.
"One hundred and ten years of rent...? ... I'll never have that kind of money," Elly says. "I won't p" fortunately Fei speaks up and covers up her reaction to the very idea of PAYING RENT.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, This Inn's a Keeper.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Working together, they manage to break through the barrier. Jacqueline exhales as the glow fades from her gauntlets. That...was no easy task, certainly. It was a little draining, but not any different than casting normal spells.
"Let's continue on..." She says, stepping through the open barrier. The sense of uneasiness does not dissipate the further in they go - if anything, it just gets all the worse once they enter the village itself.
The sight of the bustling village contrasted unnaturally with the gnarled, ancient roots of the trees surrounding them. Jacqueline suppresses a shiver. But...the village itself doesn't seem actively hostile. In fact, some fellow even offers them a salute? Jacqueline offers a somewhat nervous wave back.
Soon enough, they approach an inn, and are greeted by the sight of a pair of spectral children. The girl in the robes isn't familiar to her, but those horns...
Jacqueline stares for a moment, confused.
"At this point, Fei, I'm...not entirely sure of anything..." Jacqueline admits, massaging the back of her neck. Before she can wonder further, a woman emerges from the nearby inn, claiming that they have unpaid bills.
One hundred and ten years worth.
Jacqueline hasn't even been alive anywhere near that long. ...But, she has a feeling this woman - whether she's an image, a ghost, or something more, wouldn't understand that. So instead, she puts on her finest saleswoman smile.
"I'm so sorry ma'am. You have to understand, a lot has happened. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of money. However...I might have something far more valuable you might be interested in." With a quick gesture of her hand a pillar of earth rises up, forming a pedestal which she quickly throws a cloth over to make it look a bit more fancy. She draws out three bottles, setting them atop it.
"These are some of the finest mixtures I've come up - they'll cure your ills, ease your aches and pains, and even give you the energy you need to make it through the day! People will pay good money for these - either keep them and use them for yourself, or sell them to other travelers. Trust me, their value is incomparable." She says with a wink. Fei follows up by offering a priceless painting! This is a one-two punch that can't be beat!
...Jacqueline hopes that, at least.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, This Inn's a Keeper.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"I can see that," Leon answers Lily, a little drolly as the barrier comes down.
Afterward, he begins to descend. He is careful as he does; footsteps lead him, slowly, down towards the village. He slows to a stop, as he watches the children rush by. His eyes widen as he watches them. This, he realizes, must be some form of sorcery. He steps forward -- and then slows to a stop, as he catches the innkeeper. He stares at her, and his mouth opens for a moment, before it closes.
"You have my sincerest apologies," he says. "But I'm afraid I come from money and would probably seek finer--"
SURPRISE AGILITY CHALLENGE INITIATED
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, This Inn's a Keeper.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong suddenly uses the power of martial arts to suddenly unwrap his scarf from his face and swing it out, wrapping it around Leon's mouth like he's MASTER OF NORTH, EAST, SOUTH, WEST and has become SUPER ASIA.
"But he's heard amazing things about your soup so he's traveled a long way to see it for himself." Fei says with a deadpan expression.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon nods, slowly.
His thumbs-up is not convincing.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
The presence of the totem is, to her senses, almost physical. As if she could even from this point reach out and grasp it, or feel first-hand the warmth that almost certainly radiates from it. "The totem... whatever might be happening here, that totem is real," she murmurs, her gaze fixed, sober upong the distant effigy.
Perhaps the barrier speaks to the reality of the thing's power, too.
The barrier she moves to act against, and swiftly.
Her eyes widen as the Golem claws its way from its shallow grave. Something...
It's not like the other Golems she's called with the button. This one looks... newer.
And had she seen a Veruni Golem, she might know it for what it was on sight.
The Golem's hand tries its best. But in the end, it's fuel. Perhaps it can rest easy, knowing it gave up its life for a higher purpose.
The barrier melts away and, in the next heartbeat, Avril races down the hill, her footfalls taking her towards then into the village.
She manages -- perhaps sighting them? -- to not trip over a single root, though her pace slows as she nears the large white yurt. Then stops altogether as she turns to watch the two small children race by, distorted echoes of memory, perhaps, from long ago.
'I know you!'
Avril whirls about, pointing at herself. In passing, she realizes she's left her glove on the hillside. "Our... room bills? There must be some misunderstanding."
But the woman goes on, explaining how significant their bill truly is.
"One hundred and ten...?" Avril blinks. Something about that number almost -- almost -- feels significant. But even as she chases after it, it slides away. She might as well attempt to tunnel through a sheet of ice, for all that she could hope to pin down the root of that thought.
Perhaps, though, the matter of the bill is more pressing.
Something isn't quite right here. Between the appearance of the village, this insistence from the innkeeper...
"...My sincere apologies, ma'am," Avril says, bowing shallowly before the innkeeper. "I did not intend to be so overdue in paying my bill. However, I believe you are mistaken in the amount we owe. Would you please review the records once more? I am certain that the guard will vouch that we have been gone a spare few days, all told."
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, This Inn's a Keeper.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily, by contrast, unlocked Darkness at level 1!
But when she finishes with the barrier, Lily slumps slightly, breathing heavily--Dog approaches her quickly, looking up to check on her. ...And at that, the sorceress lifts a bare hand to wipe the blood from her nose, the strain of that much power clear. Nevertheless, when Leon replies to her, Lily grins back. "Wouldn't want you to overwork yourself, Captain."
A bit of pain is worth it. She descends with the others, though--sure-footed, stable, though more by sheer stability than any particular dodging of the snarled roots. ...That, and Dog leads the way across the path that isn't broken for her.
Down there? The presence of people is surprising enough. The children, though--"You..." The little horned girl is familiar to her. But the both of them--the both of them stop, and a woman steps out of the inn. As they're 'greeted', Lily turns towards her, and blinks. "What?"
Briefly, Lily considers her plan here. As the others start talking, she looks over the innkeeper. Should she just shoot her? She's probably an illusion, so it wouldn't really be hurting anyone. Maybe the noise would draw Riesenlied back out towards them, she tends to run into danger. Maybe she should use magic, instead; she might be able to break the illusion that way.
...
After about five seconds of thought, Lily decides against violence as Dog nudges her leg. She looks up as if she'd spaced out, and notices the scarf around Leon's mouth. The painting. The potions...
Lily pulls out a small mirror, thoughtfully, looking through it at herself to check her makeup, make sure she got the blood. ...Then she looks through it at an angle, to see if the innkeeper has a reflection.
"..."
She thinks again about how much simpler it would be if she shot someone. Dog whines at her, faintly. Lily sighs, and looks to the innkeepr with a level stare. She looks deeply towards the other woman...
And then turns to literally start walking away. Without saying a word. It's fine.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Mikaia's Mirror toward her party's challenge, This Inn's a Keeper.
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>==========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - This Inn's a Keeper *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
You come across the innkeeper as you proceed through the village square. She
gives you a warm smile as she greets, "Welcome to our inn, the White Mare!"
She's about to beckon you in, but pauses with a convulsive twitch. Her eyes
gloss over as she regards you with coldness and remarks: "Hey! I know you!
All of you! You haven't paid your room bills in over..." She begins
counting. "One hundred and ten years!"
That would be a remarkable amount of money for anyone to casually part
with... you will have to come up with something clever to stave her anger
and convince her you don't actually owe her... much.
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
====================<* Lost Village Fereshte - Round 2 *>===================== ======================< Results - This Inn's a Keeper >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Mikaia's Mirror 1 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Noeline 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Hesitate(1) Effects: Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Noeline 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> Riesenlied has posed.
Technically, I guess you'd need 800 CP by DCMUSH terms to be casual about the darkness, but... that's so adorable, Fei. +vote
Mister Hand doesn't seem to mind terribly, though. Perhaps it knows, intrinsically, that there's no greater honour than to serve Avril. ... eh? But why Avril? It's uncertain...
That Damn Kid sits back down and suffers in silence. He doesn't scream. Doesn't throw a tantrum.
The silence is impermeable...
But Fei, in the present -- so much as this unusual landscape can be called the 'present' when it is so much a cage of the past -- presents (ha ha!) Auntie Marzieh with a painting. She pauses, gasping.
"The use of colours is wonderful!" she expresses with that middle-aged old lady way of trying to BS about knowing anything about art when she clearly doesn't. "I might be convinced to take 10 years off..."
REMAINING BILL: 100 YEARS
Noeline bitterly thinks something hid Riesenlied's presence from them; and perhaps she's onto something, yet the way the village seems to just plainly show an illusion of Nasrin and the young girl...
... again, seems openly mocking in that wordless way something faceless taunts you.
Noeline employs ironic humor, and then Auntie Marzieh huffs very quietly as she says, "Well, I'm in a good mood, so I might be able to take another 5 off..."
REMAINING BILL: 95 YEARS
Elly reassures Leon of the superiority of manipulating the landscape. It may or may not be comforting. But then there is a bill, which is not at all gentle or nostalgic. Elly very nearly says she won't p--
Auntie Marzieh is staring at you disappointedly. The remaining bill counter wobbles.
REMAINING BILL: 9~6~ YEARS...?
Leon employs literal fast-talking with fast-running-- or at least that's the plan before Fei employs scarf-fu like some kind of certain Touhou Fuhai (the one with the smug girls)?!
The thumbs up goes up. Marzieh squints...
REMAINING BILL: 99 YEARS AND RISING--
Avril feels a familiarity, a realness to the effigy of Odoryuk. Something is here. A very familiar thing... beneath all the veils of deception so rendered...
Then, Avril employs Politeness. It seems to be effective! Marzieh chuckles a little more as she says, "My, aren't you a polite young lady? Well, just for you..."
REMAINING BILL: 99 YEARS AND NOT RISING
Lily has a genuinely good plan. Riesenlied does tend to attract herself to danger, whether by want or not, but... in the absence of the usual dog-like waggle of Riesenlied's horns and her doe-eyed gaze, Dog takes up the slack!
Mikaia's mirror comes out. It has special purpose here, perhaps, as it was made by Riese's daughter...
... Lily sees something a bit odd in the mirror. She has a reflection and is not a vampire, but something blue shimmers from the back of her neck. It fades the moment 'it' senses Lily's looking at it.
But what's that noise?
Jacqueline uses her Path Action -- Merchandising!
Up from the earth, a pillar erupts! A stall is set up! Auntie Marzieh's eyes gloss over with all kinds of awe and glee at the exciting sights that she shows over her. These bottles--
"I do ache a lot, dear!" Marzieh responds with a cupped cheek. "My, that sounds terribly good! Maybe I'll... ooh." That one-two-punch...!
REMAINING BILL: 76 YEARS--
REMAINING BILL: 44 YEAR
REMAINING BILL: 3 YEA
REMAINING BILL: FREE
Dollar Combo Finish...
DG: Noeline has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>==========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Once a Curative *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
You come across a large field of bright blue herbs -- botanical lore would
tell you that these are Arctican arnica, a poisonous herb that can
nonetheless be compounded into an antivenom agent.
... but whatever power has suffused the village has made these grow to
enormous size -- and a poisonous cloud starts to roil out of their pods.
You'll need to be quick but careful if you want to cross the field without
inhaling the poison.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
The pathway from the inn descends down towards a fairly innocuous and, frankly, beautiful field of bright blue herbs. Jacqueline and various others can no doubt identify this as the flower of a common Arctican antivenom reagent, arnica; in small doses, and distilled through various alchemical processes, it can become a very potent antidote indeed.
However...
The unsettling aura that has washed over the village has made these grow to an enormous size-- enough that you can see a soft roil of poisonous clouds. You'll need to move quickly, and ensure that nobody inhales the poison. Not like--
"Hurry! This way!" exclaims Nasrin, that robed girl from before. She laughs as she twirls around the field and spreads her arms to either side. She tilts her head. "See? I told you that Miss Atusa's garden is gorgeous!"
Poor little Dragon Unit ambles on behind her as always, coughing profusely. "I feel a bit... weird... Nasrin..." Fortunately, she probably isn't going to die and become a valkyrie without her memories...
--little Unit being both slow and inhaling copious amounts of poison there. Let her error be a warning for you...!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"I knew you were a savvy woman the moment I saw you. A pleasure doing business with you, ma'am!" Jacqueline replies, her smile as bright as ever. "I'll be sure to give your fine establishment another visit next time I'm in town."
As soon as the potions are taken away Jacqueline reclaims the clause and causes the pillar to retreat back into the earth, but...
She knows in the back of her head that this place...no longer existed. No one would visit the White Mare again - no one had in a very long time.
Her smiles fades as she turns away, taking on a more melancholoy expression. She walks without really thinking down the pathway leading away from the inn, though stops in her tracks at the sight of the bright blue field. She recognizes the plants immediately as arnica, perhaps thanks in part to information exchange with Riesenlied.
It was a beautiful sight...or at least it would be, if it weren't for the poisonous fog emitting from their pods.
"Be careful. Arnica is poisonous enough normally, but at this size...I'm not sure what it'd do to a person." Jacqueline warns, drawing out filtration cloths. She takes one for herself, wrapping it over her nose and mouth. But as she does so, she catches sight of the two girls once more.
This 'Nasrin' seemed a little reckless...but unlike her friend, she seems just fine? Perhaps the little girl with the horns had always had a frail constitution...
Jacqueline doesn't dwell on this, instead trying to weave her way quickly and carefully through the field. She tries to avoid trampling them as much as she can out of respect, but her safety comes first in this situation. ...Though in any other situation, she'd probably be trying to retrieve some samples.
Possibly she's just not sure what effect they would have in this state...
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei whistles as Jay manages to talk down a ghost from 99 years to 0 seconds. "Impressive. The way you saw just what she needed. You really are quite the merchant, Jay." He looks to Leon to see if he can behave.
Still skeptical, he lowers the scarf and wraps it around the lower part of his face. Some might call this... an indirect kiss.
Fei's attention is drawn by Avril. "One hundred and ten years?" If she hadn't mentioned it, he would've just not even thought about it, but now that she has mentioned it... "Isn't that when..."
???
That Damn Kid says, "One hundred and ten years ago. That's when the Veruni invaded. They must have been the ones that killed your people, Nasrin. No doubt enslaved those they didn't cut down."
He smears blood against his forehead, leaning back and laughing, "Of course! What more fitting punishment for those that make life their enemy, than a quick death!"
He then looks forward again, shaking his head. "They called me to this continent to wipe it clean, Nasrin. A threat like the Veruni could not be allowed to stand, nor could those that have witnessed it." A smile flickers upon his lips. "But I'm no toy. Did they think I would let their own soldiers watch me play, judging all the while acting like they were my boss, not even knowing they were trash?"
He is just talking to the abyss, letting his own words echo against themselves.
"I should have killed them quick, before she came back. Who knows? Maybe now she'll do it for us."
HONESTLY STILL KIND OF ???
"Did the Veruni destroy this place?" Fei asks. "They might even hate the Guardians more than the Metal Demons and with their...illness...I can see them being particularly affronted by Odoryuk..."
Beads of sweat appear along Fei's face, though, as the two girls wade through POISON. "Maybe it's an exageration from Riese's experiences?" He turns to look towards Elly for a moment, looking worried as is even though Elly isn't exactly frail constitution. But then he manages a small smile. "I guess the scarf is coming in handy even more than I figured. Meet you on the other side?"
He holds the scarf up to his face, trying to keep from breathing in the poisonous fumes. Hopefully he can just move around the clouds but just in case...
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
For all that she allowed herself a moment's levity when facing the innkeeper, it doesn't take long for the light in her eyes to fade back to a serious frown. Something is leading and taunting them forwards, Noeline knows that much - but she doesn't have enough in the way of knowledge to say what she should do other than follow the path and see where it leads.
"... you have lived in an abandoned inn. In its basement," she notes to Leon, unable to stop herself from pointing out that much. "I can hardly believe you'd turn your nose up at a tribe's warm tent."
She doesn't know what arnica are, not by name - but she can dimly remember the warnings of her own 'childhood', as a kindly landlord advised her to get rid of some weeds before they grew dangerously big. These certainly count as the latter, and With a wince, she tugs at the collar of her coat, sinking her neck down into it and nodding quietly at Jacqueline's warning. She may be a Metal Demon, so who can say if she'd be affected, but... better safe than sorry.
She's more prepared for the way her stomach lurches at the sudden vision, this time, and manages to catch herself before she lurches into a bed of flowers and spreads more of the poison around. "Riese," she says aloud this time, because part of her has to wonder if the little dragon unit might be able to catch some hint of their presence - but then it fades again, and she's forced to let out a quiet little sigh of concern.
Fortunately, there is a compeletely different presence at her shoulder; it beeps softly and twirls, hovering down enough to allow Noeline to hop onto it. A wave of her hand directs it to lift upwards, sending her over the clouds that dot the ground below.
DG: Noeline has used her Tool Strife toward her party's challenge, Once a Curative. DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Once a Curative.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon breathes a sigh of relief at the innkeeper.
He resumes walking -- but he does, however, slow to a stop when he sees the flowers and expanding cloud. His head turns, peering briefly at Jay, when she voices her opinion. Then, the former soldier nods his head to her. "I'll trust in your expertise, Miss Barber."
He looks back at Noeline, then he shrugs. He swallows, then, and wonders about the cloud of noxious fumes. He decides, in the end, to trust in his quick movement. Leon bolts forward, holding his coat over his mouth, and tries to dart through it as quick as he might.
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Once a Curative.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
What could the blue thing be? The back of the woman's neck, shimmering... It noticed her. Lily frowns. But--
"...Well, that's a solution," Lily remarks, as the matter of the innkeeper is finished. She seems to find it acceptable, for the moment, as she starts to look back to the others. ...But the vision...
Lily does not recognize the plant immediately; the border of Aveh and Kislev doesn't exactly have a large variety of plants. She sees the vision, eyes lingering on the little Dragon Unit. ...And hasn't compalined about the scarf. Instead, she looks thoughtfully Leon's way. "...There's something here," Lily says. Something... I don't know what."
Maybe the Veruni did do it. Lily couldn't say. But she starts walking anyway. Lifting a cloth to cover her nose and mouth, she moves forward, and... Well.
She's going to get poisoned. That's just going to happen. She endeavors to go anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
'I feel a bit weird...'
"I suppose poison is also part of life," Elly says, a little grimly, before she spreads her hands out and --
There are two aspects to what Elly does, and the really boring one is that she tries to produce downdrafts to keep this horrible blue crap away from people's mouth, nose and exposed mucosal tissues. (She learned the word 'mucosal' from Lily! The Solarish construction is slightly less efficient, possibly because Emperor Cain thought snot was gross.)
"... The Veruni?" Elly asks Fei as she does part 2, which is to hustle her bustle to try to cross the space as quick as she reasonably can.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Expedition Boots toward her party's challenge, Once a Curative.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"One hundred and ten years ago..."
Avril voices the number again as she passes with the rest from the inn and down that pathway further afield into the village. "I would not have known from looking at the settlement. It doesn't seem as if it's been a day, let alone one hundred and ten." She glances over at Fei questioningly, as if to ask silently after what he's getting at. But she continues: "I suppose, then, that none of what we see before us may necessarily be real? As if were were in a waking dream..."
And speaking of a waking dream: again, that pair of girls. "...Riesenlied... where have you gone?"
There's little for it but to scour the village, in the hopes of finding her.
Avril stoops by the outskirts of the field, carefuly investigating one of the errant, smaller blooms. "Arnica... have I heard that before?"
Perhaps Matilda had mentioned it, once?
Jay, resident alchemist, explains. "...This is poisonous?"
It was probably Matilda.
Avril stands, rocking back a step from the delicately blue plant. "It seems a shame that so pretty a flower should prove so dangerous." Taking stock of the field of flowers, Avril appears to be in contemplation of the obstacle before them.
Whereupon she produces the Medium. "We must travel the field swiftly, I believe. Here, take my hand," she says extending her uncovered hand towards Lily.
The Medium shines bright. Even with the (weakened) Guardian's force behind it, Avril will take off like a shot. Perhaps in a place like this there may be a resonance between Guardians...?
(it may not end well for her or Lily, should Lily take her up on her offer of aid)
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Once a Curative. DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Once a Curative. DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Once a Curative.
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>==========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Once a Curative *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
You come across a large field of bright blue herbs -- botanical lore would
tell you that these are Arctican arnica, a poisonous herb that can
nonetheless be compounded into an antivenom agent.
... but whatever power has suffused the village has made these grow to
enormous size -- and a poisonous cloud starts to roil out of their pods.
You'll need to be quick but careful if you want to cross the field without
inhaling the poison.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
====================<* Lost Village Fereshte - Round 3 *>===================== ========================< Results - Once a Curative >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Strife 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Expedition Boots 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Sea Medium 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Noeline 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Fright(1)|Injure(2) Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Noeline 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> Riesenlied has posed.
Indeed, perhaps Jacqueline has cut to the core of the matter. The White Mare only exists in memory, to those who are long lived enough to even be able to conceive of a time when it existed. She identifies the plants well...
She gathers out filtraton cloths, like always. She wraps it over her mouth, watches over the girls... and weaves carefully through the fields. And indeed, what would this possibly unreal herb do, as far as being a sample goes?
That D-Darn Kid grouses on how the Veruni were the ones involved. Perhaps a quick death would be the most fitting punishment. A cutting of life where it has been allowed to linger.
Maybe she'll do it for them. Who is she? It is unknown...
Not even Nasrin knows, silent as she is.
Fei has a scarf that's blessed by love, which may be even more powerful than filtraton cloths. The girls are wading through POISON. Maybe it's kind of like the Filgaian version of a childhood dare. Wobbling over a river and falling into it, wading over poison, same thing, right?
Noeline keeps her guard up as well, which may be for the best. Metal Demon or not, this place clearly is goading her to make a mistake with some kind of unseen subtlety not possessed by conventional Ruin threats; the way even that vision seems to taunt her...
She calls out to her... but... painfully, the little Dragon Unit doesn't turn and call back. She proceeds, on Strife's back.
Leon charges forward with knowledge and experience. It's hard to believe this would be his or Lily's first time through a field of poisonous gas anyway, given the kinds of engagements Kislev are involved in, and it's not even chemically enhanced to be a weapon this time!
The blue mark was too indistinct for Lily to dwell long upon, to get details or markings that would elucidate more information. She marches forward, inexorably. She'll get poisoned. ... and much like a paragraph before, this probably won't be the first time, will it.
Black Wolves!!
Elly surmises that poison is a part of life, which the lifecycle of this arnica herb certainly evokes. Though the spreading of poisonous clouds has its reflection on the way the villagers dwell, long past their time...
She trudges forward, with powerful boots. She creates Wind to keep the poison away as she bustles, which is effective!
Avril comments on how it doesn't seem to have been a hundred and ten years, which... certainly, whatever force has rendered upon this valley and thrown life out of balance has done a great job of winding the clock back. That waking dream comes and goes...
And she procures that Medium of hers. She springs, towards the air with a great and prodigious leap, possibly with Lily in tow. Perhaps it's not so fated that Lily will be poisoned?!
Regardless, it isn't exactly too difficult to conquer the poison fields -- they don't exactly move, like poisonous creatures, and this is meant to be a garden, not a hostile Ruin. On the other side, what awaits them but...
DG: Noeline has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>==========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - 99 Potions on the Wall *>===================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
This yurt belongs to the herbalist, acting as an item store for the village.
There is a traditional sign that advertises its many curatives and sundries
for Drifters and homefolk alike. The herbalist within is hard at work with a
mortar and pestle, as well as a distiller bubbling away...
"I'm busy right now. But take a seat and I'll be right with you, Drifter..."
... and it would seem she's been at this for a while, because the store is
piled high to the brim with various bottles of potions, herbal essences,
protective powders and just about any supplies you can care to mention. She
hunkers down and mumbles:
"Heal berry... peppy acorn... wolfsbane..."
You'll need to be deft and precise if you're going to get through the store
without accidentally dropping and mixing something and producing unpleasant
results!
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Avril and Lily are the first to land, followed closely by Noeline and the others less aided by the prowess of their tools and powers. Rather logically, what awaits them on the other side is...
The house of the herbalist who owns the arnica garden, the so-called Miss Atusa--
"Miss Atusaaa! Nazgul's face is blue for some reason!" Nasrin calls out as the door on the other side you entered swings open. The robed girl cheerfully drags in a blue-faced little Dragon Unit, who indeed appears to not have had a Good Time (tm) in the arnica field.
*BONK*
"What did I tell you about playing in my field, Nasrin?" lectures the elderly herbalist--
.... who does not appear to have aged one bit from that memory, no matter how long ago that must have been. She grinds away at a mortar and pestle, with scents and beakers bubbling away that Jacqueline and others could appreciate in their line at work.
Hard at work, in fact, that the number of curatives, sundries and other consumables appear to just have stacked well and truly high.
The door to the rest of the village is on the other side where the illusory Nasrin and 'Nazgul' entered in that memory, but...
Well, don't step on Hi-Potion... okay? You might get healed 500 HP. And that's... that's terrible, somehow?
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"W-well, thankfully, everything so far seems to be playing to my areas of expertise..." Jacqueline comments with a sheepish chuckle, massaging the back of her neck. She makes it through just fine, and even manages to avoid the temptation to take a cutting.
She'll let it live in peace here, for however long is left for it...
Predictably, what awaits them beyond is a herbalist's house - the 'Miss Atusa' the children spoke of. Jacqueline steps inside, immediately entranced by the sight of it.
Bubbling beakers, stacked curatives and other such supplies...Jacqueline would be lying if she said it wasn't a familiar sight. It reminded her somewhat of her own place. There was something nostalgic about it all...but it's a little cluttered for how many of them they are, so they'll need to be careful.
"Pardon us, ma'am, we're just passing through..." Jacqueline says with a polite nod, trying to carefully make her way through without bumping anything.
...It felt a little insincere to say that about 'just passing through' someone's place of business.
As she walks though she pauses, her eyes drifting to a particular set of ingredients. That placement, it's...a little dangerous.
"...Ah, do try not to bump this shelf. You...don't want to see what happens when these mix improperly." She warns, looking back at the others.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei doesn't clarify further. He seems to have made his point: That maybe it was the Veruni who destroyed this place, not the Metal Demons.
Fei steps into the item shop and takes a look around. "I think we're catching up. We better move quickly...!"
Hurry! Save Fei! And save... yourselves!!
???
That Damn Kid goes quiet again, looking down at the floor. Nasrin's sudden dissappearance, it was fater than he expected and quite frankly--
--he's come to grow accustomed to her presence.
"Where are you...?" He murmurs.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, 99 Potions on the Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"... 'Nazgul'," Noeline whispers softly to herself, her eyes closing as she makes the correction and gives herself the reminder. "I am sorry. ... it would not be fair of me to call you 'Riese' here, would it?" she adds with a soft and lopsided smile.
Somehow, it's something of a relief to hear it - to know for sure that the little Unit that's ambling behind Nasrin has an identity here in whatever past this vision is showing them. Though she's still wary and on edge, it is at least heartening to see it unfold - to know that not every memory is a sad one, as mischievous as Nasrin might make it seem at times.
"Excuse us..." she sounds out gently as she glances to the others, not sure if the apothecary can even recognize their presence. She can't say for sure whether going around the herbalist's shop would somehow break the spell of the place, or disrupt the trail of breadcrumbs they're following, but her instincts are still leading her forwards, chasing after Riesenlied's past in hopes of finding her.
Would breaking the herbalist's stocks tear this vision apart just as quickly? She can't say - but that's why she sends the small profile of Strife forwards to lead the way ahead of her, getting the little robot to watch for any nasty surprises. Thankfully, the ARM pod is much more responsible than its wayward cuccousin, and before Fei can even pinwheel his arms once there's a soft beep and a bump of metal against his back, trying to steady him.
DG: Noeline has used her Tool Strife toward her party's challenge, 99 Potions on the Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Lily's hand is -- odd. Not because it's cold (Avril's is, too) but for the smooth spots -- like ceramic when compared to the rougher texture of the woman's flesh -- where the markings lie. She doesn't have the chance to dwell on it. The magic takes hold.
Fortunately, Avril and Lily do not zip off into the horizon to meet some horrid fate of another. Indeed -- perhaps thanks to the Sea Guardian herself, this time -- they land safely on the other side of the field.
Where the doorway into a house meets the both of them. Releasing Lily's hand. As if to silently question after the other woman, Avril gazes into Lily's eyes.
Before the spectral girls interrupt any vocal questioning. "Oh-- there they are--"
She hurries in after, only to suddenly stop dead once she sees what awaits them inside.
The bolt of realization strikes earth. "Have... has she been making these all this time? One hundred and ten years..."
The shopkeeper barely seems to notice them. Avril tilts her head to one side, her brow deeply creased. "It's... it's nearly as if she's become an automaton," she utters, taking a careful step through the 'aisles' of potions and assorted alchemical wizardry.
...The pathway through them is narrow, and the peril of a stumble is astronomical, as Jay intuits. "Perhaps it might be best to... Jacqueline, are you able to see the way through?"
She, meanwhile, produces the Medium. It almost seems trivial to use it for something like this, and yet.
And yet, there could be a real risk of the entire shop detonating (or melting, or filling with toxic gas, or any number of chemical mishaps), with how densely this is all packed.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, 99 Potions on the Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
That's a lot of potions, Elly thinks.
"It reminds me of..." Elly begins to say, but she lapses into silence. About what? It's not clear, and she doesn't share. Some things are mysteries, and mysteries they shall remain, but there's a certain comfortability to this location.
"The fruits of life... would be in a herbalist's shop, wouldn't they? Because it's their essences that a medical professional would be after. With food, to a certain extent, you're preparing it, turning it into something else entirely."
She may be about to go off on some other thoughtful tangent but "FEI!" is stumbling forwards and so Elly reaches out, leaning drastically to bear him up, one leg rising in counterbalance. It's a dramatic pose -and a stressful one if she has to hold it - but for a fleeting moment she can use those slipless boot soles to support the man she--
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Expedition Boots toward her party's challenge, 99 Potions on the Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon's eyes are, in short order, on the door. This Nasrin, he reasons, must be important. He isn't sure how. His eyes widen a moment, before he looks back at the spectral shopkeep. He nods his head to what Fei says. "We--er, we should be careful, though..."
He reaches a hand out, carefully, to steady Fei. He enters, too, stepping around a potion, and then over a decanter on the floor. He meets eyes with Elly -- and then swallows, at Jacqueline's warning.
"So noted," he says.
His eyes drift to Noeline. "Nazgul... I wonder what the name means?" he asks. "They must have their own language, I should presume?"
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, 99 Potions on the Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily looks to Avril with a brief look of surprise at the offer. ...After a moment, she nods, and scoops up Dog under her arm, reaches out to take Avril's hand. It's true that her hand is unusual to the touch--maybe one of the reasons she so rarely uses them to touch people. ...Maybe.
And--
Yoink. Lily has to hold on tight, and she falls into place, landing on her feet and stumbling a step or two forward. "That..." She turns to look back, "...Went better than I expected."
The next vision explains, "That must be how she lieved through that. ...Children are good at getting into danger," Lily sighs. But here... Here is the herbalist. She looks real, even, and there is a door ahead, but all the things here to fall into...
'Nazgul.' A name; her name? Was she given it here, elsewhere? She is small, here. ...Lily feels a pang of something, but she can't identify the emotion well. She shakes her head.
"...That's good to know," Lily answers Jay quietly.
"That's not..." Lily pauses. "What would have to happen, to make this illusion last for a hundred and ten years?" the sorceress asks. "I would have assumed that whatever this is was more recent, but..."
It's a strange thought. Strange, and somewhat troubling.
Lily relies on the power of Avril's Medium again to make her more graceful than she really is. But she does say one more thing through her conentration: "...I'm sure they do, of course. Do you think it has a meaning? ...Mm..." She looks around. She still can't spot whatever the blue thing is, but she pulls her mirror, checks the herbalist's reflection, too.
"...If we could find some writings..."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Pausing as she watches Strife bump against Fei's back - not wanting to push past in case she makes the problem worse - Noeline has the time to offer Leon a quietly amused smile, her eyes filled with fondness in the wake of her reminiscence.
She glances back behind them; the door is still open, the field of arnica in view as it waves back and forth in a quiet breeze. "It means 'delicate flower'," she quotes quietly, in the manner of one who has only learnt it by rote - by being taught it. "A name she was given, here in this village. ... I'm afraid I don't know any more than that," she adds, and this time her smile is a little more amused as she huffs out a breath. "As such, we will just have to ask her when we find her."
A little extra conviction never hurt, she's learning.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, 99 Potions on the Wall. DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, 99 Potions on the Wall.
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>==========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - 99 Potions on the Wall *>===================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
This yurt belongs to the herbalist, acting as an item store for the village.
There is a traditional sign that advertises its many curatives and sundries
for Drifters and homefolk alike. The herbalist within is hard at work with a
mortar and pestle, as well as a distiller bubbling away...
"I'm busy right now. But take a seat and I'll be right with you, Drifter..."
... and it would seem she's been at this for a while, because the store is
piled high to the brim with various bottles of potions, herbal essences,
protective powders and just about any supplies you can care to mention. She
hunkers down and mumbles:
"Heal berry... peppy acorn... wolfsbane..."
You'll need to be deft and precise if you're going to get through the store
without accidentally dropping and mixing something and producing unpleasant
results!
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
====================<* Lost Village Fereshte - Round 4 *>===================== =====================< Results - 99 Potions on the Wall >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Strife 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 5 --(10)--> 15 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Expedition Boots 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Sea Medium 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Noeline 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1) Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Noeline 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> Riesenlied has posed.
Jacqueline makes comment on how things are playing out to her specialties -- and isn't this natural, given how much of a silver tongue she possesses, when she's out and about in town? From shopkeeps to botanical lore, this place really wouldn't be out of place to any other village save for the... idiosyncracies it possesses...
Jacqueline commits, though, the mortal sin of window-shopping. Passing through, don't mind her... not buying anything-- ah, that there is a mixture that may cause a Door to Tomorrow to become mixed with a Potato Grenade to form... let's not dwell on that.
Maybe it was the Veruni who destroyed the place, Fei. But was it also the Veruni that caused the unnatural happenings to occur here as well? Perhaps Veruni Construction Golem can help you. But then again... he's also destroyed.
That Gosh Kid is quiet again. There's something uncomfortable about the silence, isn't there... the lack of Nasrin--
CROMCH
Fei steps on a potion bottle. Ow!
GS: Fei takes 1 damage!
GS: POTION! Fei heals 100 HP!
THE RETURN OF BILL: oh no
But he believes that they're catching up, and if they can just move through and possibly not upset Miss Atusa that they stepped on some of her medicines...
...
Noeline comments on whether it's fair to call her 'Riese'. Is it? On the one hand, the memories belong to such a name, and yet to linger in the past such...
But there is relief there, nonetheless. It is fine to dwell on it for just a moment.
She excuses herself, and steps on through with grace as Strife props Fei up before he can collapse on more bottles and rack up more debt. Alas, it is not a robo-cucco like Trouble, so no cuccousins will be appearing today...
Avril notices Lily's strange hands, though she has no chance to dwell on it. Circuitry and the power of Lucadia allow them to bound, and she realises that the shopkeeper has been at it for...
A hundred and ten years. That date again.
Perhaps she has become an automaton. Perhaps this entire village has been set on its routine, playing a caricature that resembles life, but...
Not quite. She uses the Medium to increase the alacrity of her movements, given the potentially toxic nature of all the ingredients in the shop.
Elly muses that the fruits of life would be in a herbalist's shop. Indeed, many of the concoctions she devises are curatives; she's distracted, however, as she hurries and helps Fei from collapsing more along with Strife! Phew!
Those boots truly come in handy. Ugg boots. Ugguu boots.
Leon is warned, as Jacqueline advises; Fei gets an extra helping hand (he has so many! How lucky, Fei!), and he muses of the nature of the names. Nasrin. Nazgul. They are joined together by a common surname, at the very least. But as to their own language...
At the very least, he's able to understand the shopkeeper -- if they do possess their own, they also speak the Filgaian common tongue.
Dog gets a ride on Lily's arm, lucky! She arrives at the hut as well. Nazgul... there is a familiarity in that name. Riesenlied has used that name before, as a psuedonym.
But perhaps it is more true than ever before. She checks the herbalist's reflection once more...
And indeed, once again, that blue mark is upon her at an impossible angle.
They proceed through, in the end, with minimal damages. Both to their persons, to their hit points, and to their wallets too. Whew...
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Past the herbalist's hut is a simple passageway -- you've finally come across the heart of the village, though the atmosphere feels even thicker and darker than before. The totem of Odoryuk that Avril looked upon before draws near, and close to it is a large octagonal yurt adorned with the iconography of the Guardian of Life.
FLASH
The little Dragon Unit whimpers and pushes the door open. "N-Nasrin? Are you in there? It's dark..."
The doors swing open. The Drifters are a seasoned lot, and they can smell blood in the air.
FLASH
The little Dragon Unit lets out a timid squeak. "Something smells bad... Nasrin? Nasrin...?" she calls out in the dark. Nobody is with her.
The tent's fabric is shredded; the floor is bloodstained, littered with old, broken furniture caked in frost.
The little Dragon Unit stumbles upon something, letting out a shriek as she surprises herself. She stares down at it. "What... is this thing?" A twisted, coiled sword of crystal, dripping with a red sticky fluid...
FLASH
You've finally caught up.
Riesenlied is laying upon an inexplicable altar, in the midst of the scattered and disheveled household. It looks terribly out of place; it glows with an unearthly light, the same colour as the barrier masquerading as the northern lights.
She is bound, though loosely, with what looks like barbed wire criss-crossing the entire length of the altar. Her face bleeds a little where one of the barbs pricks her. She has a faraway look, as if in one of her trances...
An adult woman in familiar robes stands before her. The iconography of Odoryuk is emblazoned upon her capelet.
She is wielding a blood-soaked sword familiar to most everyone -- a sword made in the same shape as the one Riesenlied has been drawing from her chest, all this time.
The sword, then, whose existence inspired the Fallen Sword deep from Riesenlied's heart.
She looks towards you -- each of you, with a quiet and dispassionate stare. She lowers her head. "... you have arrived."
Riesenlied stares, barely animate as she whispers, "Everyone... I..."
"... shh," hushes the adult woman, bearing the likeness of the spectral child. Nasrin.
"Don't worry about it, Nazgul. Don't worry about another thing more..."
She looks towards the Drifters. "My profound apologies, but you have caught us at an..."
A pause.
"Inopportune time of reflection."
She holds her hand out. A mirror at the back of the room begins to glow, with the shine of the Ley emblazoned upon its surface. Within, what was once a reflection becomes a humanoid figure emerging... then another...
What emerges is...
DG: Noeline has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>==========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Life is too Short... *>====================
|Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Finally, you navigate your way successfully around the lost village and come
towards the most impressive building deep in the heart of the settlement, an
octagonal yurt with large doors adorned with the iconography of Odoryuk.
This place is purportedly the chieftain's hut, and the dwelling of the-once
chosen of the Fereshte's Medium of Life, the Heritor.
When you step in, the chill winds take hold once more. The aurora veils the
night sky of Elru where the tent's fabric is shredded. The floor is
bloodstained and littered with broken furniture. The only object to survive
without even a scratch or tarnish upon it is a wall-length mirror on the
back...
... which shines with the icon of Odoryuk emblazoned upon its frame.
The moment one of you steps in front of it, a humanoid figure emerges from
the radiant glass. One, then another, then another, until there is one for
each member of your party. At first nondescript, the Leyline exhumes power
as it pulls upon the myriad facets of life itself...
... coalescing into clones of yourselves. But these are not dark or
malevolent or memory clones as you may have encountered in the past -- this
clone instead embodies the question that lingers in everyone's minds, at
some point in life:
What could I have become?
This is the you who took risks when you backed away. The you who didn't let
hang-ups and personal pains drag them into a mire of their own creation. The
you who owned up to that painful mistake and learnt from it. The you who
answered tough, lingering questions and made impossible decisions to get to
where they are today. Pure and certain, a beacon of someone who lives their
life to their fullest.
The Ideal You.
That is who your opponent is.
(OOC Note: Round runners, keep the Ideal self around for the Finale, do not
dispatch them in your resolution poses!)
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret, Save Point=======================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
After helping Fei back upright, Elly smiles. "Let's hurry," she says. "I don't know if it's going to be dangerous here for her."
And as they get closer - past that childish vision that makes Elly shiver, past the pleading, past the name 'Nazgul' which means nothing to her - sure enough, Elly thinks. Her fingers reach down to grasp at her rod's handle, gazing at that woman with the blade. The precariousness of Riesenlied's position ripples through her but training and discipline forces her into a tight track of tension and alacrity. "Please," she tells the woman, "Let her go. I'm -"
The reflections form, coalesce, and appear. One approaches Elly - interrupting her view. A distraction, she thinks, drawing out the Lunar Rod: the figure's formation she barely sees -
If others look it is clearer. It is Elly? But not quite. Her hair is carved short into the kind of crop-bob that often gets seen in theatrical presentations from when a woman had to cut off long ladylike hair in incredible haste, albeit with a certain cultivated nature - it is shaved, for one thing, partway up the back of the skull. Another is that while the face is the same as Elly's, even the eyes, there is something that permutes Elly that is utterly absent in this figure.
Elly swings the Lunar Rod as if to pass through what must be a shadow --
And this new figure, call her Elehayym, shoves her hand forwards in a palm strike right upside Elly's jaw! Elly is thrown back, expression covered in sheer astonishment as Elehayym's lip curls back in a sneer.
Elehayym brings back her hand, flicking her fingers. There is a thin gold ring on it. Her overall outfit - short-sleeved jacket, white trousers, a low-slung holster that contains a heavily modified descendant of the self-same gun she had pointed at Fei, next to a scraped-up version of the lucite Gear key Elly uses when it is necessary to activate Vierge, next to (inexplicably) a vial of what might be eau de cologne...
"I could have been here instead of you, you giant wet" and here Elehayym uses a word unfamiliar to all present and probably not nice. "My fleet, the forces of three kingdoms, all that happy shit and what did YOU manage?" Elehayym reaches up to adjust a thin black neck tie, the sneer on her face getting more intense. "You BORROWED one ship."
Around this point Elly, still astonished, lands on her back, like a beetle. Elehayym answers by kicking her in the side hard enough that she slides backwards.
Elehayym glances around the room for a moment - her attention lingers over Fei for some reason, twice as long as anyone else - and then says, "Don't ever hesitate, boys and girls."
She goes for her gun, pulls it out, and slots in one of those big ol' anti-animal rounds Elly last shot at K.K. a couple few months ago. "It'll get you killed," Elehayym concludes as she takes aim--
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Lunar Rod toward her party's challenge, Life is too Short....
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline can feel the weight of this place begin to press in around them; more than ever, she can feel the tang of danger beneath the surface of this apparently-peaceful village, sense the tang of blood and pain and power in the air. Her steps start to pick up in speed; when she reaches the yurt, she places a hand on the tentflap, pushing it open before she can second-guess herself any further.
Immediately, she pays for it - the world lurches around her once again, sending her mind into a disoriented spin. This time, the vision is positively larger than life, taking over her senses; she grits her teeth against the sudden painful thudding in the back of her mind, forcing herself to fight back against the muddled images and do her best to take in every detail of the little Nazgul finding that bloody blade.
There is relief, in a way. She's always hoped that the discrepancy in Riesenlied's memories, the confusion and fear over that moment, would lead them to an answer. She's always found it hard to imagine any scenario in which Riesenlied might have actually hurt Nasrin - even the snatches of Nazgul and the unit that she's seen have been impossibly gentle and quiet. The part of her mind that she tries to keep detached notes that Nazgul only finds the sword--
--but then the world reasserts itself as much as it can, and any dispassion is quickly overtaken by a brilliant spike of red-hot anger at the sight of Riesenlied trapped atop the altar. "Riese!" she calls urgently, and the only reason she takes a step forward is because she's temporarily tunneled into that sight; she catches herself after a second step, watching in horror as a bead of blood grows at her partner's cheek.
Without thinking, she clutches at her hand, at the ring atop her finger, and her brow furrows at the spectre of Nasrin standing so dispassionately in front of them. "... you are not her," she challenges immediately, her voice an angry rasp. She has no proof, and no evidence - but the power swirling around them feels all wrong, and the briefest glimpses of Nasrin that she's seen-- none of it feels right.
Anything more that she could say comes much too late. The mirror across the room blares with light, an almost physical sensation that forces her back the few feet she'd gained. Split between wary and dumbfounded, all of her senses blare an alert as an image of herself shimmers into existence in the glass - and then steps gently through it, the trail of its robes almost catching against the liquid surface before slipping through.
This Noeline... ...
This Noeline looks right at home.
Dressed in a lighter verison of the traditional Fereshte robes, the symbol of Duras Drum is emblazoned on one shoulder. The resemblance to the 'Crimson Noble' is obvious, but this version of her seems to walk a little taller, seems to be more at ease with herself, more peaceful; her hair is down, and the shimmer of sorcery seems to positively surround her, a blaze when compared to Noeline's embers. The double steps forward - and rests a gentle hand on the bound Riesenlied's cheek, carefully wiping that dot of blood away.
At some point, Noeline's sword has found its way into her hand, her knuckles white as she grips the hilt hard enough to leave an imprint in her palm. "... is that supposed to be a taunt?" she mutters, feeling her blood start to boil. "If I had simply been with Riesenlied long ago, look how much better things would be? Is that your point?" Her eyes flash - and before she really recognizes she's done so she's disappeared in a spark of power to slip through the intervening space, the bulk of her sword swung down towards the figure who almost casually catches it in her hand. "We have faced too much - let it shape us, grown from it - to simply cast it all aside! Riese!" she calls again, and presses her attack.
DG: Noeline has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Life is too Short....
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei is helped by Leon and Strife, but this is like cartoonish levels of tripping here. Fei is GOING to fall over and it's just a matter of how. Strife and Leon and up adjusting Fei's trajectory but unless there's something that trumps comic hijinks, then he's going to tumble into a bunch of potions and make a big mess
Luckily Elly is there to catch him since Fate is slightly more powerful than comic hijinks. Fei lifts up his own leg to counterbalance as he finally takes in a few deep breaths and steadies himself.
And then he looks to Elly, their similar position coming off not unlike two people making one winged bird. Or one winged angel. But like, one angel with two wings okay nevermind look his game was going to be Ff7 at some point.
Fei lowers his foot to the floot and adds, "That could've been worse." Fei says.
The world gets to move a little more quickly as they enter the true trauma of the situation.
"This is it..." Fei says.
"This is it." Id agrees.
FLASH
No wonder.
FLASH
Nasrin isn't like him because Riesenlied isn't like him.
FLASH
She feels the guilt, but Riesenlied... was never a murderer like they are. But guilt doesn't have to be logical.
Isn't that right...
Fei?
Fei looks at Nasrin. A boy stands next to him, though he is not in anybody's eyes but the specter herself, the adult Nasrin.
"You've grown." He says. "But this kind of test... is imperfect."
A man starts to walk out of the mirror. It looks just like Fei, but this ideal self looks distorted, like it's trying to be too many things at once and as a result, it looks like a Fei that has been shattered into a million pieces and then haphazardly glued back together.
Fei looks at this Mirror-Fei for a long time but doesn't say anything. In a voice that sounds like a man trying to say a thousand things at once in different languages, the creature says something.
It says something but you can't understand it. Not even Fei seems to understand it.
"We contain multitudes, after all."
Fei slides one foot back but then something draws his attention. His gaze turns towards Elly who seems to be facing down an angrier version of herself, one dissapointed in what seems to be a lack of ... 'Drive' perhaps.
"Elly..." Fei says, quietly. She might not even hear it.
"We only have one consistent ideal and we already live it."
Fei gives one look at his test. Then at the other Elly who is drawing a gun.
FEI HAS RETREATED FROM HIS CHALLENGE
Fei runs towards Elly and slides in front of her, spreading his arms wide, staring down the powerful weapon with his own eyes, his own body. Even this vicious, smack talking Elly is someone he is unwilling to fight, but is also similarly unwilling to let her hurt the Elly that he knows.
"Our ideal is to save Elly, every Elly, and ensure their happiness."
"Stop!" Fei says. "She's you too! You're both wonderful people!"
"Even if it means our destruction."
BANG!
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Life is too Short....
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
The Leon that steps out isn't so different from the one who stands here. He stands the same height; he has the same blonde hair and silver eyes. The difference, first, is in the haircut. Leon's normal haircut is comparatively shaggy, bangs falling down in front of his eyes and altogether longer. The one walking out of the mirror has a Caesar cut, kept short to his scalp. He is also wearing a grey uniform, trimmed and fit, and has a scowl on his face.
His eyes meet Leon's for a moment. Both of theirs narrow, as they look at each other, and then the one still wearing a Kislevi uniform charges. "I won't bother with words," he says. "They not worth the energy, for you."
"Funny," the one wearing a duster over heavier winter clothing says. "I should think the same of you."
Two Argent Dividers clash, in a shower of sparks -- and then again, and again, each one making steel ring on steel.
DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Raid Funnel toward his party's challenge, Life is too Short....
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Window-shopping...Jacqueline will have to comfort herself later by saying that it was necessary. But will she ever be able to forgive herself of that sin...?
...I mean, probably.
But once they leave the hut, they find themselves at the heart of the village. Jacqueline shivers somewhat. She...had a bad feeling about this. Those bad feelings often tended to be accurate. And the closer they get, the keener that scent becomes.
Jacqueline clasps a hand over her mouth at the sight that greets them. A floor stained with blood. And an altar, upon which Riesenlied is bound in barbed wire. And standing before them...a woman, bearing a familiar sword.
When the woman speaks, it soon becomes clear who she is.
"What...are you doing to her?" Jacqueline asks, taking a step forward. "I'm going to have to ask you to step away."
An inopportune time of reflection. The woman holds her hand out, and humanoid figures emerge from the mirror with a pulse of Leyline energy.
...No. Not just any figures. This was...themselves.
Jacqueline backpedals, looking up at the Other Her that emerges. The other Jacqueline...she stands up straighter, with more confidence in her stance. They look very similar, and yet, there's a marked difference in the way she presents herself...
The way she sweeps her eyes over the crowd present, taking everything in.
Her eyes fall on Jacqueline. Her expression shifts uncertainly.
"...Get away from here. If I hurt you...it'll make certain people very upset. I don't want that." The other Jacqueline says with authority, shaking her head. Our Jacqueline - Jay - shakes her head.
"I...I can't. I can't just abandon everyone. Just...stand aside. We don't have to fight." Jay says, standing her ground. The other Jacqueline frowns.
"...That's not an option. Sometimes...you do. And if you don't leave, I won't have a choice." She replies. They eye each other cautiously.
Neither of them wanted to fight - not really. But they both had their reasons why they couldn't just back down, either.
The other Jacqueline is the one to strike first. She thrusts her right hand forward, emitting a wave of concussive force that Jay has to brace herself against. She crosses her gauntlets in front of her protctively, but the sheer force still sends her flying back, putting her conveniently out of crossfire range of the others.
The other Jacqueline follows up with a pillar of earth, aimed right for her center of mass...but Jay swings her left hand, causing a burst of high-pressure wind to crush it before it can reach her. The other Jacqueline retaliates quickly with a gesture of her right, shearing through it with a spear of flame.
With another gesture of her left, a protective barrier of water intercepts it, evaporating with a hiss of steam.
They appear to be at a standstill - the other Jacqueline leads with offensive sorcery, which Jay neutralizes with its opposing element. ...But the other Jacqueline is more practiced. She knows that Jay will tire out eventually - and she knows that Jay won't attack her directly.
It's only a matter of time until this stalemate is broken.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool The Lifeweaver's Codex toward her party's challenge, Life is too Short....
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
It's a scent that Avril finds she knows immediately.
Blood. ...Human?
"Riesenlied?"
Flashes -- just images, snippets -- of what must have once been play out slowly.
A dread realization settles into place.
Moments before they step inside, in here to find a shocking tableau.
"Release her." It's an order, not a request. Medium already traded for blade, Avril takes a step forward towards Nasrin and her captive alike... and then, the mirror glows bright.
A silhouette steps forth.
In truth, that's what the figure could best be termed -- an outline of a person, dark shadows against the illumination of the room. The figure's outline -- lithe, clad in a gown of some sort, bearing a blade, long hair bound into a distinctive hairstyle, leave no question about who this figure is meant to be, but...
Color flickers briefly across the outline of a person, revealing in swatches who this is -- who this is the ideal form of...
It fades to darkness again.
Before again, in spots and patches, there is color and light. An even expression is on this Avril's face, but rather than say or do anything, it simply tilts its head to one side as if puzzled.
Before once more the distinction fades.
Flickers of possibility follow, manifest in a multitude of expressions crossing the mannikin Avril's face as it advances upon her:
A cruel Avril.
A kindly-smiling Avril.
Worry.
Deep thought.
Sorrow.
Which of these is an ideal 'her'? The figure can't seem to settle upon it.
...Perhaps that's the problem -- as a girl with no memories, with little sense of who she should strive to be, what choices could have taken her down a different better route, with no desires except to continue her journey and no obligation save to see its end, the mirrored version of herself struggles to find what it should be.
And thus finds nothing.
Is it frustration that sees the thing of shadows lashing out with its version of her own sword at her? Or perhaps the only version of perfection it can find: if none else, it will be a weapon.
Avril steps, hastily now, out of the way of that swing, drawing her blade to batter aside a further strike.
"You do not know either, do you?" she asks her mirror-self, a dark void that still flickers with color as it seeks a form. "I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you."
She only has glimpses of who she might have been. Hardly enough to assemble the picture. Not enough to know herself, not truly.
"Neither can I permit this," she informs her mirror-self, stepping sidelong as her blade vanishes--
To be replaced with a scouring lash of light.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Beam Whip Mode toward her party's challenge, Life is too Short....
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
The mark. ...Lily sets down Dog. She recalls the pseudonym. And again, she sees blue. Blue, at a strange angle. But here, through the passageway...
Flash. Flash. Flash. Blood in the air; the small Dragon Unit squeaking. ...Blood, all over. And a sword. A strange sword--
Lily's eyes settle on Riesenlied, laying on the altar, covered in light. She is bound, and her blood draws a frown to Lily's expression, as the sorceress looks further, sees--Ah. The woman. ...The woman with the sword, the sword that Lily had hoped she would never see again, demanded to never see. Instead, a familiar adult...
Lily cannot help but notice the appearance of Fei and Elly's silhouette. But she does not stop to contemplate it. Within moments, she has made her decision, and is already lifting her hand.
"Let her go," Lily demands, and there is no mercy in her stare.
...But her hand is not the only one that rises with magic. Her spell dissipates before she can finish it as the Leyline's power suddenly shifts, the magical pull stopping her just long enough that she sees the mirror gleam. One... Again... Again--
What are they?
One of the figures coalesces into a tall woman with golden eyes. Out of the mirror she's stepped, and now she stands beside Nasrin. In this moment Lily can't focus on the others, because she sees her own face staring back at her. ...Exactly her own face. Her hand shifts a little lower, she hesitates.
This mirror-woman's hair is shorter by far, stopping above her chin--but it is still black. She wears a blood red coat, opened, thick with internal armoring and the pockets that hold certain supplies. Pants of the same color, the same material, loose to look at them but in truth lined as well; a black shirt beneath. She does not wear gloves. It is reminiscient of Lily's favored attire, the old duty look for special forces...
But there is no Wolf emblem. And the look in her golden eyes is different. She is not weighed down by the same distance, the same haunted feeling as the Lily the others know. Her eyes are clear, her purpose clear.
...And at her back, held on by a strap, is a long, beautiful rifle: the Rosenwasser, Lily's favored weapon in the war. But she does not speak as her first action; she instead lifts a hand--a clear, unmarked hand--and gestures towards the two Leons.
"...He's holding you back, you realize." Her voice is the same as Lily's, save that if anything it has more life to it. She lowers her hand. "He long has. He's the thing that's weighed you down."
The real Lily takes a half-step back... and rather than replying in words, throws out her hand, a devastating eruption of darkness starting in front of the other. However--
The Red Lily takes hold of it with her bare hand, circuitry flaring once again in gold as she causes it to disappear completely. A shake of her head. "...This. Your anger, your emotion... You let it rule you. But you know the truth. This kindness, this concern for others... It's leading you to focus on individual matters instead of the larger picture. ...And as a result? You hinder your development."
Lily stares in disbelief, and then extends her hand instead, conjuring forth a sword of shadows. "How--"
"...Because when I had the choice, I listened to wisdom," the Red Lily answers, extending her hand down and conjuring an identical weapon of golden, burning light.. Again the marks appear; again, golden, glowing.
"...Because Father is right. This world is dying. You can play house with a boy who let you feel something... Or you can accept your nature. Learn to live in the world--learn to save it. With Father's help, I learned a new level of power. ...And together, we will right the course of this blighted land."
"...I'm the better choice. And you know it. That's why you're looking for him yourself."
The regular Lily narrows her eyes. "...My anger isn't a weakness," she answers, lifting her sword.. "I'll show you."
"...Heh. Come on, then. It's inevitable."
The two rush closer--and brilliant magic crashes between them. Swords clash, sending a brief shockwave, a bizarre color as light and shadow clash.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Dog toward her party's challenge, Life is too Short....
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>==========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Life is too Short... *>====================
|Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Finally, you navigate your way successfully around the lost village and come
towards the most impressive building deep in the heart of the settlement, an
octagonal yurt with large doors adorned with the iconography of Odoryuk.
This place is purportedly the chieftain's hut, and the dwelling of the-once
chosen of the Fereshte's Medium of Life, the Heritor.
When you step in, the chill winds take hold once more. The aurora veils the
night sky of Elru where the tent's fabric is shredded. The floor is
bloodstained and littered with broken furniture. The only object to survive
without even a scratch or tarnish upon it is a wall-length mirror on the
back...
... which shines with the icon of Odoryuk emblazoned upon its frame.
The moment one of you steps in front of it, a humanoid figure emerges from
the radiant glass. One, then another, then another, until there is one for
each member of your party. At first nondescript, the Leyline exhumes power
as it pulls upon the myriad facets of life itself...
... coalescing into clones of yourselves. But these are not dark or
malevolent or memory clones as you may have encountered in the past -- this
clone instead embodies the question that lingers in everyone's minds, at
some point in life:
What could I have become?
This is the you who took risks when you backed away. The you who didn't let
hang-ups and personal pains drag them into a mire of their own creation. The
you who owned up to that painful mistake and learnt from it. The you who
answered tough, lingering questions and made impossible decisions to get to
where they are today. Pure and certain, a beacon of someone who lives their
life to their fullest.
The Ideal You.
That is who your opponent is.
(OOC Note: Round runners, keep the Ideal self around for the Finale, do not
dispatch them in your resolution poses!)
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret, Save Point=======================================
====================<* Lost Village Fereshte - Round 5 *>===================== ======================< Results - Life is too Short... >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass The Lifeweaver's Codex 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 10 --(0)--> 10 Fail Dog 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 15 --(0)--> 15 Pass RPS Badge 3 Combat Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Raid Funnel 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Lunar Rod 1 Combat Effects: Stalwart and Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Beam Whip Mode 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Noeline 80 --(0)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Save Point(1)|Secret(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Noeline has passed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
r "Elly..." Riesenlied whispers, head lulled to one side as Elly brandishes her combat rod. It takes her back, indirectly, to the first meeting they'd ever had in that little weapon shop in Adlehyde. 'Let her go,' she says, and...
An Ideal Elly emerges. Hair cropped, shaved partway up in that way that exudes a different aura; she defines herself -- Elehayym -- socks Elly right back in the jaw! Every inch of her exudes raw confidence and power. The gun, holstered in plain sight to no measure of fear. The Gear key for Vierge, handled much like house keys -- used, and often. A bottle of eau de cologne, to make a lasting statement.
The expletive, too, which Riese hears as a 'Cucco!' sound as some cucco somewhere makes a racket.
"I... I don't..." Riesenlied begs, suddenly, to Nasrin. Nasrin stills herself for a moment.
"Was this not what you were seeking for, all this time...?" questions Nasrin, the woman in the Fereshte robes.
Guilt does not have to be logical.
The memories that Nazgul has shrouded herself in all these centuries... is as much a clot upon her heart as it is a guard. Filled with rife inconsistencies that she herself cannot resolve.
A boy is standing next to Fei, seen only to the adult Nasrin. The spectre.
The test... is imperfect.
"I see..." Nasrin whispers. "With a whole mirror, even a small two of pieces would be enough. But when fractured--"
She casts a glance towards that invisible visage of That Darn Kid. Then, that Mirror-Fei emerges--
"--a million shades of light will refract."
Fei throws himself directly in the path of Elehayym's bullets! But, will it be enough? It is more than just a question of how fast he is. Can he 'live' when the very threat itself has become the very face of Elly?
As that gunshot rings out, so does another -- as Argent Dividers are joined in battle. Leon faces another who bears different hair -- perhaps indicating that, truly, how one wears their hair is indicative of their personality.
This one, with the no-nonsense haircut and garmented in the Kislevi uniform of a captain... or beyond? One can only imagine the kind of path this Leon advanced forward, perhaps without Gryndille... or perhaps exactly because of Gryndille?
The whispers are truly dark...
"What is loyalty... in the absence of betrayal to test it, Captain...?" Nasrin muses as she watches the enactment of the Kislevi Six Hews Style erupting. Does one know more than the other?
She's cut short, as Jacqueline requests that she step away. "Adlehyde," she unusually responds. "You also wanted punishment... for Adlehyde, didn't you? You never can step beyond that..."
But before long, another duplicate of Jacqueline's has emerged. Unlike the others, the difference is not as dramatic. But difference goes further than just being skin deep...
The other Jacqueline, then, is the one to strike forward. A blast that forces the other Jacqueline on the defensive, with her Ideal self pushing forth with offensive sorcery. A boldness in decision, despite staying true to herself... there is a courage there that runs far deeper, speaking true to her identity.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Avril demands Nasrin to release Riesenlied. There is a quietness from the woman, as she lowers her head.
"I cannot," she intones. "I intend to see... a promise through. A promise of the self."
She casts those impassionate eyes on her. "You understand... how important it is to not break promises, do you?"
The Avril that emerges out is in silhouette. Clad in a resplendent gown of a sort, bearing a regal blade, long hair bound distinctly, however...
Who, exactly, is this the ideal form of? The question continues to linger...
The Thing of shadows lashes out at her, and clashes against her. Absolute Zeroes, seemingly threatening to cancel each other out.
Lily catches Riesenlied's gaze. She gazes back. "Lily..." she whispers. There is no mercy in that stare, but there is... nothing in Nasrin's stare in return.
"I recall... she pierced you once, with that great black sword," Nasrin responds quietly. "I wonder... was there a part of you that wished for that punishment...?"
Lily's ideal self pushes through, stepping beside Nasrin. She quietly nods. A blood red coat, armoured... the appearance of Kislevi special forces.
But she is no Black Wolf. No, rather... she announces to her counterpart that Leon has weighed her down.
Red Lily. Circuitry flaring... an emotion that has long ruled her. The concern for others, letting her ignore the bigger picture, listening to wisdom.
The very picture of a Lily whose philosophy aligns with that of Dietrich Keil... and, no -- a Lily whose sights are set upon the world...
Noeline pierces the air with a sharp cry to her name. Riesenlied's eyes light with recognition as she bristles, but fears dragging her arms against the barbed wire.
You are not her, speaks Noeline, and the Nasrin standing above the altar, wielding that crystal sword, speaks directly to Riesenlied once more.
"You wanted someone to punish you. You were weak. That was why you needed me..."
She places a hand to her heart.
"I am but a mere manifestation of this life's desire. And your selfsame..."
This Noeline... garbed in her own version of the Fereshte's robes. Brimming with the light of sorcery, a true shaman of Duras Drum walking amidst the Baskar tribe of the Guardian of Life.
"Noeline abandoned you. For two hundred more years. Look how she regales the children of her tales on the Thames," Nasrin reminds Riesenlied.
A gentle Noeline, wicking away that dot of blood away from Riesenlied. She looks uncomfortable, however. Nasrin's warning has not swayed her. "This is not..." she whispers.
Riled up, Noeline charges her double and joins in the battle; Riesenlied's pupils shrink further as she stares uncomfortably towards the struggle beside her. She trembles, her arms tugging and bleeding.
"What I wanted..." she whispers to Nasrin. Nasrin, who is drawing that crystal sword over her head -- a true sword of Damocles.
"This is... what you wanted, Nazgul."
It descends to her neck...
CRUNCH
DG: Noeline has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>========================== =============<* CHALLENGE - ... to Wonder What Could Have Been *>============== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 --------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The battle is intense. Both you and your Ideal self have been tested to your very limits. And what did you glean upon the mirror in the midst of that battle? Perhaps it was an aspect or two about yourself that you refused to face up until now. Or perhaps, you turned even deeper away from pernicious thoughts that nonetheless have a nugget of truth in your heart. Only you can answer that question. But it is nonetheless evident, at the climax of the battle, that you and yourself are fairly evenly matched... and if you or your Ideal self continues, no one will walk away from this cleanly. In other words, the price is life itself. Battle is not the answer here. The Ley continues to flow throughout the room, the very power of the reflection that has borne manifest here, sourced from the mirror itself. If you gaze deep enough into the mirror, and search deep into the Ley itself... Perhaps it is there that you will find the hint. A seemingly minor clue, but one that could be the first step to resolving the dissonance... =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
...
"... no," Riesenlied whispers, sorrowfully. The blade has stopped. Her metallic Dragon hand has stopped it; it bleeds profusely, flowing with the blood of the Tainted.
"No... this... isn't what I want."
The little Dragon Unit whimpers in terror; the bloodied sword clutched in her hands. A look of genuine ill comprehension of what the red substance even is. She turns--
FLASH
The manifest visage of the Guardian of Life emerges. She lets out a terrified shriek as the butterfly-winged unicorn towers over her little form. "H-hwaa??"
The ill-contained lashings of the Ley wash over Odoryuk. He looks down upon her, with those eyes of his...
"Odoryuk was there. He bore witness to all this," Riesenlied speaks wearily.
... then looks further below. She follows his gaze.
"You were... on the floor," recants Riesenlied, in pain. "I..."
FLASH
There. Laid out under the mirror.
The body of the girl who'd taken her all around town. The girl who took her in, befriended her, who had given her a name... an identity. A sense of belonging. That cheerful and resplendent girl, reckless and teasing at times, maybe even mean like a sister is...
"You held the Medium in your hands."
Her hand, clutching an octagonal object. A Medium, splattered with blood. A long gash opened from her neck, done in haphazard fashion. This was the work of no professional killer. The angle, the amount of force applied...
"And I..."
The little Dragon Unit stumbles onto her rear in fright. "N-Nasrin? Nasrin? Why... why aren't you moving?" She gazes to the still form of the Guardian, as it begins to fade. "Mister Horse... what happened? I... I... w-wah..."
Her clumsy legs and arms throw her up to her feet, barely. She flees into the night... "W-waaaah...!!"
"Why..."
Riesenlied's sobs are plain as she questions, "Why... did you have to die...?"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
B A N G
Fei would feel a sudden huge slash across the top of his head that... in the end, scatters some black strands of hair. It seems that Elehayym was willing to waste his ahoge, but not to shoot through him to hit Elly. From the loud WHACK and the shatter of a floor board underneath the force of a 13mm anti-predator round.
"That's sweet of you," Elehayym says, stonily. "But do you have the slightest idea, my friend, what this dishrag has let go? I have a dream for this planet and it doesn't involve a lot of crying and fumbling around, just because I'm FRIGHTENED. Do you HEAR ME, 'Red'? You think I'M NOT FRIGHTENED TOO?" Here Elehayym slaps herself in the leather-clad chest for emphasis.
Elly bursts into tears. The world is shrinking from her perspective and she feels a clumsy, queasy, clawing futility.
Elehayym stares -
Stares further -
And looks around for a moment. Her brow furrows as she tries to piece things together, covering Fei with the weapon but not firing again. "... What...?"
The woman with the short hair looks round at everyone again. Then she looks at Elly.
Then at her own hands. There is silence there for a moment.
"Oh," Elehayym says, very very quietly.
She turns the hand with a ring on it, and says, in a muted voice, "... I'm sorry."
The gun is holstered and she wrings her hands together for a moment, as if uncertain. It is an unfamiliar, almost unnatural look on a face that was cold where Elly was warm.
Elehayym steps forwards then, reaches down and clasps Fei by the wrist to pull him upwards. She gives him a hearty slap on the hip and tells him, "I think I get it. It's kind of unfair, isn't it? But I guess you have to play the cards you were dealt. I feel like I've met you - and of course," here Elehayym moves towards Elly, who cringes back a little, before she realizes she's being helped upright too, "I know YOU."
Elehayym jerks her thumb towards the dyads around them. "But I don't know any of THESE people. I don't even know what they'd eat for lunch."
But the clumsy Dragon Unit flees and Elehayym's eyes track her.
Elehayym takes a deep breath -
Elly says, "I - E-even if - if this is some kind of -"
Elehayym gently pats Elly's face, where she struck her. "Hey," Elehayym tells her. "Just don't give up, alright? It's gonna be hard. You won't feel like there's any point to it. But don't give up. Even if you end up going out; it isn't all in vain."
"I'm going to go find that little girl," Elehayym then says, looking past Elly's shoulder, "and take her back to the fleet. We'll take care of her. Don't worry about a thing. Do whatever you came here to do! S'not my problem," Elehayym says, as she strides with purpose and resolve. Eventually she fades from view and is not seen again.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Expedition Boots toward her party's challenge, ... to Wonder What Could Have Been. DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, ... to Wonder What Could Have Been. DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, ... to Wonder What Could Have Been.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline's blade strikes home upon her double time and time again in a series of shattering impacts; were it any other opponent, she might even have won her fight by now, but she's well aware that half the time what she's hitting is pure shadow and illusion. Her double's mastery of her Medium is simply more complete, and as much as she tries to stave off the weaving illusions around her with her own spark of power, it's not enough to land a solid, affirming hit on her opponent.
In turn, her sheer resilience is serving her well - she's still standing despite being bruised and cut from a series of slashes from hidden blades, shaped by the Errant Blade that she's used so often herself in the past. It is a glimpse of her original fighting style, the subtle control over her living metal that allows her to form weapons out of her own body, shrouded by the power of the Hades Guardian.
She can't see it, but somewhere nearby is the sound of a sickening crunch; a lump rises in her throat together with a wordless spike of terror, and in a sudden burst of effort she wells into herself for all the power she can grasp, feeling her arms shake with pain as a wrenching sweep carried by her sorcery abruptly dispels the weave of shadow around her. She pays for it dearly - her double grins triumphantly as another sliver of metal lodges itself deeply into her abdomen - but she can gather herself for long enough to raise her sword once more, pummeling the figure away with a punishing strike that sends the alternate Noeline skidding to a halt across the yurt.
Her breathing pained and laboured, Noeline has to take a long moment to try to gather herself, panting hard; she nearly pitches to one side, and only the way she stabs her sword down into the ground to lean on it keeps her upright. "--life-- isn't an ideal!" she rasps in quiet defiance through gritted teeth. The pain in her stomach is nothing compared to the sick feeling of fear; don't look, she reminds herself. Not until you know this isn't an illusion. Not until you know this isn't a trick.
Riesenlied's voice carries softly through; Noeline winces and hisses with pain, but the sound of it alone gives her the strength to pull herself back to her feet and face her double. "... it can be painful. It can be full of regret. It can be unfair, and sad, and confusing. ... but it has made us what we are today. You are not me," she tells the shaman in front of her, and there's even a ring of sympathy in her voice. "... and I am alright with that."
Her hand slips from the hilt of her sword; she leaves it there, embedded in the floor, and turns on her heel to offer her back to her opponent. There is something more important to her - heedless of Nasrin's spectre, she goes to Riesenlied's side as her partner sobs, reaching for her.
DG: Noeline has used her Tool Strife toward her party's challenge, ... to Wonder What Could Have Been.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Light is met with light. Avril's dark doppelganger might be a mute halting shade of herself, but it is by no means unsteady or hesitating when it comes to the arts of war.
This, it seems, is something ground into her on a fundamental level: to fight is to live. To live is to fight. A blade may be gracefully brought against an opponent, but it is still a blade.
Blow after blow rings out in her corner of the room, blade trading with the deadly beams and back again. They mirror one another: both seeking, both bathed in the determination that defines them.
What does it mean to have an ideal self if you do not know your past? Without memory, what defines you?
Finally forcing her dark self into a corner, Avril knocks the duplicate Absolute Zero from its hands with a precision strike.
"...Johnny Appleseed..." utters the shadow. Light, staticky and sparse, reveals again for an instant Avril's own face.
Avril dips the tip of her blade down towards the floor.
She's aware, if dimly, of the scene transpiring on the table beyond her.
But even if her opponent is herself, even if it is unarmed, she will not turn away.
It was the first lesson of the battlefield, wasn't it...?
"You do not remember who you were supposed to be, do you?" she murmurs to herself.
A far cry this shadow is, from the thing she had faced in the depths of the mirror.
And she smiles into the abyss of herself. "It's alright. I do not know what I was striving for, anymore. What my dreams may have been, or what I might have become if I had so chosen. Is it not enough, however, to proceed forward without what was lost? Perhaps I might find it again, or perhaps not."
She reaches out a hand for her other self.
"Right now, however, there is someone I must find."
She does not mean Johnny Appleseed. Perhaps she might not have looked away but she was still aware of a child's cry, of the running of feet.
Or that she cannot guess at what had happened here, once. Long ago.
The shade takes her hand.
The shade vanishes.
And here Avril turns, her gaze turning across the room.
The Medium...?
A child's spirit.
She breathes out, then, and slowly approaches Riesenlied where she sobs on the floor.
"Riesenlied... oh, I'm so sorry..."
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, ... to Wonder What Could Have Been.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
As for the two women named Lily--their battle is flashy, brutal, and fast. But after a moment as they both stand watching one another, the loyalist Lily steps forward, lowering her weapon... and murmurs something into the original Lily's ear, pulling back.
Whatever she said isn't clear, but Lily pauses... and then nods, to her counterpart. Both of them stand, wounde, bloody. And for an instant, they are still.
"...Assumption. Lazy thinking... refusal to look beyond what you find comfortable. These things..." the Red Lily says, "...Remember. I think I've made my point."
Still angry, Lily stares a little longer--and then shakes her head, letting her sword dissipate. "...I understand," she says, grudgingly. But whatever she would have said after that is interrupted by the sound of a sharp, insistent bark--as Dog walks up, looking between both of them.
The Red Lily actually smiles, letting her sword fade, too. She kneels down, scratches Dog behind the ears, and the expression goes neutral as she looks up to the Black Lily. "...Following the first person to show you real kindness is fine, for a dog. Remember what I told you."
She rises again, shrugs with her hands out, and looks to the mirror. "...And let yourself see clearly." After watching the vision of Nazgul and Nasrin with the Wolves' Lily, the copy turns towards her. "...Innocence," she reiterates, and draws a breath. ...As she exhales it, she shimmers, and fades into black and then violet lights, and is gone.
Lily is quiet. And her attention goes to Riesenlied. "...What you wanted," Lily murmurs. But she does not go to her. Not yet.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
So much for Mr. Ahoge. Also so much for hair tie which pulls free and sends Fei's hair tumbling down around his face. Also tumbling down is Fei Fong Wong, who is thrown by the pure force of the shot onto his back. He lays there for a moment, no doubt having expected he would be shot once he heard the bang. He is naturally stunned for several moments. something about Elehayym and, of course, Elly arrests his attention. Also his ears are ringing. He tries to work his mouth but he finds his mouth too dry to speak. Fei isn't afraid of dying, except in so far as one can fear the pain and loss associated with it, but he finds in this moment how sudden it can be, how easy. If Elehayym turned the weapon just a little to the right...
...But she wouldn't. She's still Elly after all.
Fei takes--actually no Elehayym takes Fei's hand and lifts him up. She actually has to support his weight for a moment because his legs are not cooperating, but only for a moment before Fei's senses start returning.
"You're always brave." Fei manages. "Even when you're terrified."
Or is it that boy who says it? Regardless, while he might normally blush at being hip slapped, he had a gun go off near his head. His mindset isn't anywhere near that kind of place.
Elehayym says she's going after the little girl. Fei manages a smile at that. "Always looking after others. Please take good care of her, she's a dear friend."
Fei's heart stops pounding in his throat. He gives Elly a tight embrace. He lets that last for a while.
The Mirror-Fei doesn't interrupt. But eventually, Fei does have to face his own challenge.
"Don't give up," The Mirror-Fei says. "No matter how many tries it takes."
Then the three play a game of Rock Paper Scissors. They both get rock. They share a small laugh and then--the Mirror Fei follows after the mirror Elehayym. Whatever happens to this mirror world, well, that's a story for a 4koma.
Only then can Fei look at Riese. Somehow, he just knew she wasn't actually dead.
The boy approaches Nasrin. He had assumed conspiracy. He had assumed war. Conquest.
But there are some things in this world, he knows more than anyone, that cannot be defeated by hitting it real hard. After all, he is one such manifestation.
"We would've liked you." The boy says. "But in truth, you are not that girl, you are Riesenlied's reflection."
He looks back up. "Are you becoming one now? I am not ready for her to know so..."
He holds up a hand, but it's just a raised hand.
Fei is oblivious to this subconcious drama.
All he can do is watch Riesenlied cry and he can give no answers. The only person who really knows the answer to that right now can no longer speak.
"Elly..." He says. "It's a good question...isn't it...?" Then to Riesenlied, he has no platitudes. Even an apology feels trite in his mouth. How the others can make it feel so natural he may never know.
But he can share some wise words. They don't belong to him, but he can say it anyway.
"It hurts every time." Fei says to her. "But it's a hurt you never want to stop, a hurt you never want to get used to. I'm sure if she could have told you, she would have, and I'm sure she never, ever meant to hurt you. She just couldn't see it."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Adlehyde...that does give Jacqueline pause. This woman knows about Adlehyde.
...Jacqueline can't deny that. She can't deny that a part of her had wanted punishment. A part of her still wanted it, didn't it? Would she be here, in Elru, if Adlehyde had never been attacked?
Jay can't help but consider that.
Meanwhile, the fight between her and the other her self continues to intensify. The surroundings have suffered from their clash...and so have they.
They're both exhausted. The flurry of spells begins to slow...but it still continues. Jay can tell - this isn't going to end until one or both of them can't fight anymore.
"You can't win like this. You won't. Not against me. Not against everything else that's out there. You must understand that, Jacqueline. There's so much at stake. You have to fight!" The other Jacqueline entreats. It's not anger, but...desperation. But even so, Jay refuses. She continues to defend herself. She even starts to lose ground. But as she does so...
Her eyes find that mirror. She thinks. Thinks long and hard.
...The other Jacqueline is right. In the end, she won't win like this. Acting defensively...could only get her so far. It was something she had started to come to terms with. Even though she was here in Elru, ostensibly to fight the Metal Demons, she was still...unsure about fighting them. She would have to, though. If not, the price would be far too great. ...But how far did she truly have to go?
"I know you're starting to slow down. Are you really willing to sacrifice yourself for this? End this now! I know you can! This reluctance is just going to get someone killed!" The other Jacqueline casts her spell. It's one Jay recognizes - she sees the energy starting to tear through the ground beneath her feet. She braces herself rubble is hurled into the sky...but just as the other Jacqueline is about to bring it all down with a terrible peal of lightning, Jay rushes her down.
The other Jacqueline is surprised...but after a moment, she smiles in satisfaction and shuts her eyes, as if awaiting her fate.
"...Have you realized it...? I'm glad. I was afraid you were going to-" She's cut off as Jay...wraps her arms around her, pulling other self into a hug.
"...You did it, didn't you? When I hesitated, you..." Jay murmurs. The other Jacqueline...goes still. She hesitates, but she doesn't struggle.
"...Yes." She admits, shutting her eyes tight. "I...I still remember. I still...see it. But I...I did what I had to. I didn't have a choice. If I didn't..."
There's silence, for a time.
"...I don't want to kill anyone, if I can help it. I appreciate what you're trying to teach me, but..." Jay murmurs. The other Jacqueline sighs, reluctantly returning the gesture.
"...It's alright. It was always a long shot." She says. "But...whatever you decide to do. Whether it's killing, or not, or...whatever. Act decisively, okay? Don't hesitate. For them...and for her, too. There's a lot riding on your shoulders."
...Silently, and without another word, Jay nods as her other self begins to glow...and then fades away into light.
Jacqueline stands there by herself for a moment, considering her words...and then, quietly moves to join the others. Returning to where Riesenlied is.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, ... to Wonder What Could Have Been. DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, ... to Wonder What Could Have Been.
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>========================== =============<* CHALLENGE - ... to Wonder What Could Have Been *>============== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 --------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The battle is intense. Both you and your Ideal self have been tested to your very limits. And what did you glean upon the mirror in the midst of that battle? Perhaps it was an aspect or two about yourself that you refused to face up until now. Or perhaps, you turned even deeper away from pernicious thoughts that nonetheless have a nugget of truth in your heart. Only you can answer that question. But it is nonetheless evident, at the climax of the battle, that you and yourself are fairly evenly matched... and if you or your Ideal self continues, no one will walk away from this cleanly. In other words, the price is life itself. Battle is not the answer here. The Ley continues to flow throughout the room, the very power of the reflection that has borne manifest here, sourced from the mirror itself. If you gaze deep enough into the mirror, and search deep into the Ley itself... Perhaps it is there that you will find the hint. A seemingly minor clue, but one that could be the first step to resolving the dissonance... =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify===================================================
====================<* Lost Village Fereshte - Round 6 *>===================== =====================< Results - Life is in the Blood >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Strife 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 10 --(10)--> 20 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 15 --(10)--> 25 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Expedition Boots 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Sea Medium 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Noeline 80 --(30)--> 110 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Secret(1) Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Noeline has successfully explored Lost Village Fereshte!
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>==========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Life is in the Blood *>====================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
With a loud and harrowing burst, the mirror's lustre fades. The clones give
you one last look, before dissolving into clouds, returning deep into the
mirror's surface. For now, the bizarre artifact has lost its power and must
recover, and you are safe from its strange reflective machinations.
All is left in silence for a moment... and then--
A spark, and another; the mirror ripples like the surface of broken water,
and a blood-stained object emerges from within it.
Palm-sized and octagonal, it is obvious that this is an Artificial medium
like several of you bear... and as it floats before you, a feeling of sorrow
emanates deep from within it. A sentiment echoes throughout the room:
Life must continue, no matter how painful it may be...
You have discovered the Original Artificial Medium of Life.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
It is said, often, that the ahoge is the mark of a true hero. The evidence that someone still bears heart within them. Only those that have truly had all their hair slicked back become blackguards, knaves of the worst sort...
... but that might also just be complete hearsay.
And in the end, Ellehaym purposefully misses her shot. She challenges Elly, driing her to tears. Everything still futiles... but she does not fire again. She has dreams for the planet, for Filgaia, and it doesn't involve crying. Much like the Red Lily...
She holsters her gun. Playing with the cards you were dealt... but she does not know everyone else.
The little Dragon Unit flees, and Elehayym gives chase. She fades from view, a selfsame shadow of the self...
Avril's battle is no less unsteady and fierce; she is in every aspect blessed in battle, having the right to wield that regal blade. To fight is to live... to live is to fight.
Life... is a battle?
The shadow utters that word. Johnny Appleseed... she whispers. The words that set them on their adventure. Still yet a mysterious name whose true meaning is not known. Far beyond the label of a fancy table wine.
What were her dreams, once? Avril has the resolve to proceed forward without what was lost. Perhaps that will have to do...
... just as it must be, for Riesenlied.
Jacqueline's battle has drawn both alchemist to exhaustion. The flurry of spells slows... yet... both of them know battle is not the way.
Even here in her battle against the Metal Demons... what is it that truly makes her 'conviction'?
A peal of lightning strikes. The other Jacqueline is surprised, as Jay charges her. Act decisively, she says. Otherwise...
Much like Riesenlied has...
Perhaps indecisiveness is what has trapped her for so long now... the inability for her to become decisive about her memory.
Fei exchanges a moment as Elehayym takes him up. He compliments her on her bravery... or is it the Boy?
Mirror-Fei encourages Fei as well, and they play a game of Rock Paper Scissors. Of course, they both get Rock. Rock cannot beat Rock. And then the Mirror-Fei follows...
4KOMA: (The three shadow selves would no doubt meet up again in a different tale. Little Unit puts her hands to her waist proudly as she sits on a spaceship throne too big for her, a polkadot blanket cape tied around her shoulders and a little burger king crown on her head.
"Sally forth! With Captain Ellehaym, we'll conquer all of known space! Mirror-Fei, deflect the enemy's attacks!" she speaks%, as Mirror-Fei acts as the main deflector dish because he is a million shards.)
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Noeline's battle is as arduous as it is futile -- the very image of trying to conquer illusion. The other, gentle Noeline of the Fereshte ccontinues to duck, weave and otherwise elude her. Cutting, in turn--
"Noeline... please-- Noeline..." Riesenlied continues begging, as she's worn down. "I don't want to see... any Noeline be hurt!!"
She's thrashed, Riese's eyes widening as she feels that lurch in her stomach at the way her double has pierced her.
"... I'm... all right with that too... I don't fault you for anything in the past. As you've said to me, over and over... we are here, now, together... walking forward to our future..."
She tearfully looks to the other Noeline. Her world fogs further as her tears double, as Noeline joins by her side. By the light of their rings of promise, they are reunited again.
"I'm sorry. I can't... be your Riesenlied..."
...
Nasrin looms over her -- over the both of them. Her expression has scarce changed. She opens her mouth... she glances towards Fei -- no, the boy beside Fei. Then back at her.
"Why... did you have to die?" she asks again.
"... I am sorry, Riesenlied." She pauses. "I don't know the answer to that. Because I'm..."
Riesenlied's eyes narrow. The barbed wires have dissolved into nothing more than...
"... just a memory..."
Her form starts to fracture apart. The crystal sword clatters to the ground, as if returning back to where it once was found.
Slowly, but surely, Nasrin returns to a child-like... a corpse. Her hair frozen and disheveled, her flesh rotted and bloodied.
The Boy moves towards her. He speaks the truth. The 'Nasrin' that stands here is but a mere reflection of Riesenlied's memory... the real Nasrin is lost, buried to the sands of time. Yet...
"... it was nice... to be able to come out and play sometimes. Is this what -he- feels like?"
She doesn't answer who 'he' refers to. But a Boy will know. A Boy approaching her now, even. She looks towards him. He's holding up a hand. She holds him back.
A tear flows from the body of the corpse. She fades...
"... it's too early," she speaks privately to the Boy. "She isn't one. I am not one. We are still fragmented, damaged... but..."
A pause. "Maybe I... can finally become something other than -anger-."
There is a spark, the only disruption of the eventual silence.
Avril is the first to sense it -- undeniably, one of the Originals has emerged. From within the surface of the mirror, it ripples through like waves of broken water.
The Original Artificial Medium of Life, but...
It is... bloodied; something misaligned exudes from its very core. Tainted, with the very trauma of this entire tragedy.
Riesenlied clutches the sword and the tainted Medium both. The only remnants of the Heritor before her. The only remnants of Nasrin. Stricken and overwhelmed with sorrow, she lets it all loose, a wail crying through the tattered walls of the yurt where naught remains but mystery. She gasps and sobs and blurts wordlessly, her head against Noeline's, and with the others in her proximity to bolster her.
A new Heritor is thus born in the dark.
But this is... not a moment of triumph.
No blessing ordained, no herald that proclaims victory in song.
No rite of passage from one chosen to another.
No calling of destiny, nor proclamation of free will unfettered.
Just... the painful resurfacing...
...of...
...A survivor with naught but memories to shield herself with...
.......
...
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
The Boy looks at Nasrin. It's like seeing a child grow up faster than you. Like he's a Peter Pan in a world full of Wendys.
Why did Nasrin have to die? Why does Nasrin have to die? Because people die. Because memories die. Every step away from that scarring moment into the future is like a fresh stab wound.
But in the end, the warmth of themself is all they ever truly desire. It's all they can hope for. Fei may not be real, but Id is. He is a shadow and so long as the coward is a coward, he is the true self as well.
The Boy, of course, has a different desire than to become one once again. Such is the hate he has for the coward, but that doesn't mean he doesn't understand what Nasrin is going through.
Despite Id raising his hand, the tears in his eyes are proof enough that he doesn't intend to follow through on his threat. It's something he can't bring himself to do. Nasrin was his creation. Her existence is proof of his existence. He has to exist. He has to. He needs that proof more than anything.
He lowers his hand but he doesn't look away. "It was fun." He says. "These tears are the only tears I have ever enjoyed shedding since I was cast out. Because this pain... It's mine. It's mine alone. I decided to feel it." He smiles. "Thank you."
They're not ready. Id's expression is complex but he says, "Take your time, but not too much time." He mumbles. "I wish I could tell you what it's like ... but I don't remember. You'll have to tell me."
Something other than anger.
"Sounds nice. I can't promise I won't hurt you in the future, but..."
He doesn't finish it. There is no 'but'. He knows how abominable it is, but he has his own goals and he won't compromise them.
And then he too is gone. Not that he was ever really there. Fei remains clueless, as usual...
...but perhaps his attempts to comfort the Riesenlied out here will reach the Riesenlied in there.