2018-11-11: A Dive Into The Dark

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DG: A party led by Kahran Ramses is now entering Leck Mines - Flooded.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
===========================<* Leck Mines - Flooded *>===========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Dive Into the Dark *>======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The entrance to the Leck Mines is found at the end of a long mine track...
 or at least it was, before the mine's entryway was buried under a thousand
 tonnes of stone. Near the old entry, however, a massive hole dozens of yards
 wide has opened in the ground, giving you another way in... provided you're
 willing to dive into a pitch black hole that you're /told/ has water at the
 bottom.

 "Afore ye go, take these," mumbles Drifter Saul, handing out necklaces with
 crude Symbols carved into them - each emits a faint light that provides
 about 20 feet of illumination. "Ain't no way yez can bring torches er lamps
 down 'ere - 'em Symbols is good fer 'bout an 'our, no mer, but yez be out 'r
 ded innat time, so at's alls good. As fer air..."

 Saul snorts and spits over the edge into the hole. "Well, mebbe yez kin
 finds some pockets down 'ere. Good luck, folken."
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Reckless=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.

The Leck Mines were, more than a year ago, a site featuring some mildly intriguing artifacts from the Day of Collapse; worth investigating to keep them out of the hands of -Lambs-, surely, but not worth a significant effort for Solaris's agents upon the surface. The news that the mines had flooded, therefore, was of only mild interest to the commander of Gebler, who had not thought of them in months.

Until, that is, his agents learned that a group containing a particular martial artist had made their way through the mines. It is possible that this was a mere coincidence, but whatever Fei Fong Wong might have been doing in there, Kahran Ramses intends to learn.

Drifter Saul and his ilk are not present, as Gebler's forces come upon the site in the middle of the night. A few floodlights are set up, and a combat team settles in around the entrance, preparing to defend the site from potential incursions from the curious... or something more. Giving orders at the site is a slim, purple-haired woman in a white uniform; she scans the preparations before turning toward a tall, pale-haired man, who is currently in the midst of stripping. "You're sure about this?" Myyah asks.

"Yes," Ramses answers, shucking uniform coat to the ground. His shirt and boots follow moments later, leaving him standing over the entrance in nothing more than his pants. "Reports suggest these -Lambs- found something of note down here. Besides," he says, the corner of his mouth curling in a ghost of a grin. "After all that time in the desert, I could use a good swim."

Myyah rolls her eyes, but otherwise refrains from comment. "As you wish, Commander," she says as she starts handing out small devices - rebreathers - around to the insertion team. "Just... try not to die down there, all right? I'd rather not explain this to high command."

Ramses snorts, then checks his gear - nothing more than a short thrusting sword in one hand, and a maglight in the other. "When you're all ready," he offers laconically, then arcs his body into a plunging dive over the edge.

"He really needs to get out more," Myyah observes to the room at large.

DG: Kahran Ramses has used his Tool Speed Star toward his party's challenge, Dive Into the Dark.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

DOMINIA YIZKOR looks at Myyah, with cordial professional dislike, and accepts her rebreather. "I'll take care of the commander, ma'am," she says, even as she straps it into place.

Dominia is... in her uniform, more or less; the main change is that there are lighter protective sandals instead of the traditional Gebler go-go boots, no doubt in deference to aquatic action. Dominia's great blade is firmly affixed to her back.

Her feet waddle a little as she walks.

With zeal, she leaps in, to follow Kahran Ramses into the dark and the cold and the damp! At least she has moxie (for now).

DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Dive Into the Dark.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    The universe has it out for him.

    This has arguably not been a matter of contention for some time, but today makes it official: there is in fact at least one god, and that god is bent on making his life as uncomfortable as possible.

    Exhibit #37 in a series: the fact that the Commander is currently taking off (most of) his clothing over there.

    Loren has only looked once, his gaze now fixed dead ahead of himself as he similarly strips down -- the glasses, among other things, aren't going to be a very good idea down there in the depths. Out of deference for the fact that he is in fact toting supplies, his outfit is more like a diver's wetsuit, overtop which he hurriedly straps on his kit.

    "Watch where you go," he cautions, a bit too late.

    "...There could be rocks," he informs the air, his expression one of someone long-suffering.

    He reaches over to accept the rebreather. "Thank you, ma'am. I'll report in once we find something."

    With one last wary glance over the lip of the pool, he takes one step forward before diving down into the depths.
    Fortunately, he knows how to swim. His older brother had long ago made sure of that.

DG: Loren Voss has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Dive Into the Dark.
<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.

Those of us paying attention may notice that a situation where Tabitha deVriese is supposed to take off her clothing while observed is possibly not one you want to invite her to.

And yet, here we are, with the Etone candidate traipsing up along with the others, waving a smile and a giggle in the direction of the combat team for basically no reason but a tease. She starts out in her multi-layered Etone gear, looking down at the pool of water thoughtfully. "Hm, getting this whole thing dry again would take basically forever," she declares, and grabs her cloak.

ROUGHLY TWO MINUTES LATER:

It turns out Tabitha found a Gebler-issue leotard swimsuit somewhere, which she's paired with similar sandals to Dominia's. Tabitha straps her telescoping rod to a thigh-strap equipment band, produces a pair of goggles from her equipment and puts those on (got to protect your eyes!), accepts a rebreather from Myyah, straps that on, and then...

Walks into the pool and sinks immediately.

Oh, right, gravity.

DG: Tabitha deVriese has used her Tool Graviton Shackle toward her party's challenge, Dive Into the Dark.
===========================<* Leck Mines - Flooded *>===========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Dive Into the Dark *>======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The entrance to the Leck Mines is found at the end of a long mine track...
 or at least it was, before the mine's entryway was buried under a thousand
 tonnes of stone. Near the old entry, however, a massive hole dozens of yards
 wide has opened in the ground, giving you another way in... provided you're
 willing to dive into a pitch black hole that you're /told/ has water at the
 bottom.

 "Afore ye go, take these," mumbles Drifter Saul, handing out necklaces with
 crude Symbols carved into them - each emits a faint light that provides
 about 20 feet of illumination. "Ain't no way yez can bring torches er lamps
 down 'ere - 'em Symbols is good fer 'bout an 'our, no mer, but yez be out 'r
 ded innat time, so at's alls good. As fer air..."

 Saul snorts and spits over the edge into the hole. "Well, mebbe yez kin
 finds some pockets down 'ere. Good luck, folken."
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Reckless=========================================
======================<* Leck Mines - Flooded - Round 1 *>======================
========================< Results - Dive Into the Dark >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kahran Ramses                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Speed Star                          3   Agility Effects: Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loren Voss                          0 --(10)--> 10                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tabitha deVriese                    0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Graviton Shackle                    3   Agility Effects: Rally
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Kahran Ramses               0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Injure(2)|Reckless(2)
Effects:
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Kahran Ramses 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> Kahran Ramses has posed.

The drop is only about 12 or 15 feet; Ramses cuts into the water and breaks away into a smooth dive, followed shortly thereafter by the others. Loren manages to find one of the only rock outcropping in the pool because, you know, Exhibit #38.

The Gebler commander sweeps his light around, visually confirming the status of each of the other members of the group. Once done with that, Ramses gestures Dominia forward, then begins cutting down into the depths with powerful breaststrokes.

DG: Loren Voss has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Leck Mines - Flooded *>===========================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Sour Smell... But Who Cares? *>=================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Experienced miners know that poisonous gases lay deep in the earth - one of
 the deadliest threats to miners, they provide little more warning than a
 funny smell or a strange odour, after which you've got seconds to evacuate
 before you lose consciousness. And indeed, the chamber ahead is marked with
 a brightly-painted sign indicating the presence of cave gas.

 But there's no gas for you to breathe underwater, so who cares?

 That said, this is a very large chamber and your Symbolic lights don't reach
 the far end... so if you're not careful, you might end up turned around and
 have to double back, short on oxygen.
=Dungeon Conditions: Vault====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    Perhaps Exhibit #36 might be considered Tabitha's choice of attire....

    With a hole this deep, it can be hard to see what's down there. Which, case in point: Loren's dive is technically excellent if a bit out of practice... but it's the rocks that'll get you, every time. There's a choice crash followed by a shout, but some floundering, a little spot-application of Ether as he pushes off his rocky nemesis and he's soon after the others, diving deep into the drowned mine shafts.

    ...Cave gas, huh? Fortunately, that won't be a problem. Swimming upwards towards the surface here -- all three inches gap that remains between the chamber ceiling and the waters within -- he rummages briefly in his bag and pulls out one of the rations he'd brought along with him. Which he then opens and shreds, allowing the pieces to float upwards.

    He watches the direction of their drift for a moment.

    Then points in the direction of the flow: 'that way'. Seems most logical.

DG: Loren Voss has used his Tool Soylent Nutribar toward his party's challenge, Sour Smell... But Who Cares?.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.

Ramses continues swimming through an underground cave, his face relaxed and demeanour content, as though he's simply out for a pleasant swim with a few friends. Which... he is, thus far, actually. Huh.

The big officer takes a moment to inspect the signs, his expression shifting to a mix of curiosity and concern as Voss swims up toward the air pocket. Wondering if the man's rebreather has failed, Ramses starts to swim toward him, but then stops as Loren begins shredding a delicious (?!) snack and using the detritus to measure water flow. Hn, the Gebler commander thinks. Quite well done, actually.

When Loren ducks back under, Ramses gives him a #3 Slightly Stern Yet Approving Nod. That should do it.

DG: Kahran Ramses has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Sour Smell... But Who Cares?.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Dominia, for her part, grunts at Loren's warning. There COULD be rocks - and she will deal with it in the way of Elru's old people, ie not caring about hazards.

Swimming, swimming...

She looks at the others as she goes. Dominia has foregone goggles, perhaps in the interest of not having more equipment for swimgobs to steal. Loren gestures them ahead, and Dominia gives him another nod. Another pause to look towards the Etone.

Clever of him to use his rations that way, Dominia thinks: but he could have used something else. Poor preparation. Yes, it can't be avoided.

Now that they are truly committed, and Hawwa out of easy sight, Dominia lingers for a moment. When Tabitha comes up she begins to swim again. The goal is straightforwards: avoid leaving anyone here to get caught, die, and leave technological contamination for future Drifters.

DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sour Smell... But Who Cares?.
<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.

If we're counting things Tabitha does to Loren for this we'd have left the 30s long ago.

Once Tabitha reaches a depth she finds acceptable she switches the Shackle off and starts swimming like an actual adult. She has the wrong body shape for nimble swimming, though the onepiece does its best to streamline the profile, and she has alright form.

She maneuvers into position along with the rest, making a welcoming sign to Dominia as she comes. She watches Loren move, head tilted with curiosity. Oh. ....ohhhh.

She gives him a big smile when he comes back, which is of course fully disguised by the rebreather. She didn't have any better ideas than just going in a straight line! That works for her a lot.

DG: Tabitha deVriese has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sour Smell... But Who Cares?.
===========================<* Leck Mines - Flooded *>===========================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Sour Smell... But Who Cares? *>=================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Experienced miners know that poisonous gases lay deep in the earth - one of
 the deadliest threats to miners, they provide little more warning than a
 funny smell or a strange odour, after which you've got seconds to evacuate
 before you lose consciousness. And indeed, the chamber ahead is marked with
 a brightly-painted sign indicating the presence of cave gas.

 But there's no gas for you to breathe underwater, so who cares?

 That said, this is a very large chamber and your Symbolic lights don't reach
 the far end... so if you're not careful, you might end up turned around and
 have to double back, short on oxygen.
=Dungeon Conditions: Vault====================================================
======================<* Leck Mines - Flooded - Round 2 *>======================
===================< Results - Sour Smell... But Who Cares? >===================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kahran Ramses                       0 --(25)--> 25                 Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loren Voss                          10 --(15)--> 25                Pass
Soylent Nutribar                    2   Wits    Effects: Resilient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   0 --(25)--> 25                 Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tabitha deVriese                    0 --(25)--> 25                 Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Kahran Ramses               20 --(10)--> 30                Fail
Conditions: Injure(1)|Reckless(1)|Vault(1)
Effects: Resilient(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Kahran Ramses has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    Probably it's best to count Tabitha's contributions as part of a different set entirely.

    Loren gets an approving nod! Is it possible that things might be looking up for once?
    Ever sensitive to even the silent judgement of others, the young man tenses as Dominia regards his work... and finds it wanting.

    Perhaps eager to get a move on and put this behind him (in a manner of speaking), Loren kicks off, cutting through the water back towards Tabitha. He glances her way briefly, only to look off again in the direction the fragments of rations appeared to be drifting. Time to get moving.

    The good news: the current is definitely going towards a tunnel.
    The bad news: the current has taken a turn for the rapid, to say the least. Time to negotiate a difficult swim!

DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Leck Mines - Flooded *>===========================
==============<* CHALLENGE - Bridge Collapse... But Who Cares? *>===============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Many of the chasms in the Leck Mines were connected by long rope bridges -
 incredibly old, rickety, and sure-to-collapse rope bridges of the kind that
 break apart as soon as you step on the middle of the bridge, farthest from
 any kind of safety.

 But you're swimming, not walking, so who cares?

 About the only danger here is getting caught in the ropes, or hitting
 free-floating debris.
=Dungeon Conditions: Vault====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

The current rises...

Past several barrels of TNT, which might have been a hazard were they not thoroughly flooded -- it might still not be wise to disrupt them more than you have to, but at least they aren't like, proximity mines or something ridiculous like that. Dominia keeps on swimming, as if she were a blue tang with a mental disorder.

Tabitha is doing alright. That's good, she thinks, equipping her hand-mounted light to cast additional shafts of white brightness on the situation.

Up ahead...

Dominia's eyes narrow. Rope?

She moves laterally, raising a hand and opening and closing it to draw the attention of the Commander. (Which is different in its specificity from every other action Dominia undertakes.) Having done so, she grips the hilt of her blade and raises her eyebrows, as if to say: yea? or nay?

Why swim when you can cut?

DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Bridge Collapse... But Who Cares?.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.

Kahran Ramses pauses when Dominia raises her hand, turning slowly and then drifting out of the big Beastwoman's wake, trying to spot what she's seen for himself. After a moment, the big officer answers Dominia's question with a firm nod, hovering back to watch her work, his hair dancing around his head with the faint currents of the water.

Ramses' eyes are hard and intent as he watches Dominia with much the same regard he spared for Loren earlier. He has faith in the woman's skill, of course - he'd hardly have let her assume Jessiah's title if that wasn't the case - but he also believes in the value of seeing in combination with believing.

DG: Kahran Ramses has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Bridge Collapse... But Who Cares?.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    The slight mediating effect in play here is simply the fact that while the current's gained an uptick in speed, it's still hardly rapids-quality -- they might need to work against the water's flow with more effort, but it's manageable.

    Though negotiating that and the tangle of ropes -- left from a bridge, now drowned -- ahead might take more doing.

    Dominia and Ramses have brought swords. Loren has... a diver's knife. More than likely he'd have to hang in there and saw away at the ropes to make serious purchase against them, so he attempts to evade the matter altogether and swim around the remains of the bridge. At least if he runs into trouble, perhaps Dominia will have it handled?

    A dolphin he is not, but if there's one thing Engil Voss had made sure of, it had been to impress upon his younger brother the importance of knowing how to swim.
    As an older sibling does, with every bit of implied sibling harassment that entailed.
    Loren learned it well.

DG: Loren Voss has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Bridge Collapse... But Who Cares?.
<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.

Tabitha seems to have no great worry of swimming in weird orientations - upside down, on her sides, whatever works to slip her through. She doesn't worry overmuch about getting caught. She may possibly be assuming that if it becomes a problem she can just make herself weigh a thousand pounds and just drop to the bottom.

Tabitha being Tabitha, she seems to prefer the solution that focuses on her own mobility over knowing how to use a knife.

DG: Tabitha deVriese has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Bridge Collapse... But Who Cares?.
===========================<* Leck Mines - Flooded *>===========================
==============<* CHALLENGE - Bridge Collapse... But Who Cares? *>===============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Many of the chasms in the Leck Mines were connected by long rope bridges -
 incredibly old, rickety, and sure-to-collapse rope bridges of the kind that
 break apart as soon as you step on the middle of the bridge, farthest from
 any kind of safety.

 But you're swimming, not walking, so who cares?

 About the only danger here is getting caught in the ropes, or hitting
 free-floating debris.
=Dungeon Conditions: Vault====================================================
======================<* Leck Mines - Flooded - Round 3 *>======================
================< Results - Bridge Collapse... But Who Cares? >=================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kahran Ramses                       25 --(0)--> 25                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loren Voss                          25 --(0)--> 25                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   25 --(0)--> 25                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tabitha deVriese                    25 --(0)--> 25                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Kahran Ramses               30 --(30)--> 60                Pass
Conditions: Vault(1)
Effects:
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Kahran Ramses has passed this challenge! The party gained 30 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Kahran Ramses has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Leck Mines - Flooded *>===========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Waterlogged Zombies *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Mining is a dangerous occupation - beyond the monsters that tend to infest
 the darkness, there is the constant risk of rockslides, or deadfalls, or
 poisonous gas, or even sheer madness as the things that go creak in the
 dark.

 Whatever the cause, these four miners you swim up upon have died. But
 unfortunately for you, they haven't really stayed dead. As your light comes
 into view, they rise upward, lashing their arms toward you in an attempt to
 grab and smash - a movement that also serves as a crude and awkward doggy
 paddle.

 Zombies like these aren't usually that much of a threat - but the aquatic
 environment prevents you from using the most potent weapon in the
 counter-undead arsenal: fire. This could get tricky...
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure, Fright=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

There is not a lot to be said about a fallen rope bridge network in a flooded mine tunnel except that Dominia seems to tense up - gathering in energy, with a steadily tightening sort of spring-wheel of Ether as she channels her heart, her rage, her fury into her next blow -

And then she strikes!

Swooshing past Tabitha with enough force to upend the buoyant Etone. Nonetheless, this burst-lunge did leave both a big carved path AND a swaying force that widens it in the muck of the flooded tunnel. Victory for the Elements!

<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.

Dominia's Ether-charged sword slash tears open a path forward, though this has stirred up the silt and muck in the cavern, clouding the water and making it more difficult to see. This is part of the reason why, about a minute later, there is no warning whatsoever before the pleasant swim is interrupted.

A cold, bloated hand snaps out of the muck and latches onto the Gebler commander's left ankle; eyes snapping open in surprise, Ramses kicks downward with considerable force. He feels the blow connect, and hear/feels the sensation of bone snapping as he shatters the neck or skull of his attacker...

...but the attacker keeps on coming, moving forward out of the darkness, grabbing at Ramses' thigh, rotten fingers digging in. The big officer suppresses a snarl, mouth reflexively tightening around the rebreather mouthpiece as he begins struggling with the cold corpse.

And just then, out of the muck, another trio surge forward, each marking and moving for their prey.

DG: Kahran Ramses has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Waterlogged Zombies.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    It's an impressive strike, Loren can't help but think, treading water in the span just beyond the remnants of the fallen bridge. He's learned enough of the blade to know that it's not as easy as it looks -- rope often has to be sawed even with a passable sword. Dominia simply obliterates the obstacle in a single expert swing.

    He waits. Perhaps it's out of a need to impress -- the Commander, the Earth Element -- but he's nothing less than obedient at the moment, which only also means that his general anxiety must be at an all-time high.

    Even light doesn't help with the silt in the water. Loren swipes a hand before him as if it could clear the water, for all the good it does.

    But he does sight that moment when a bloated hand lunges out of the muck and grabs the Commander's ankle.
    If he had been able to speak, he would have shouted; as it is, the medic surges forward through the haze of silt towards Ramses--

    And receives trouble of his own for his good intentions. The hand grabs him by a leg; reflexive, Loren kicks at it with his free limb.
    He might have had instruction in hand-to-hand but no part of those exercises ever included 'what to do against the living dead'. At length he pulls free, but only by loosening and thus losing the diver's knife he'd had strapped there.

    His eyes widen, and unwilling to lose equipment and leave it here for someone else to possibly find, he lunges back at the zombie, drawing to hand the first thing he can find from his kit.
    It's a long sharp pair of medical scissors. Not the best tool for the job, but it'll have to suffice.

DG: Loren Voss has used his Tool Solarian Medical Kit toward his party's challenge, Waterlogged Zombies.
<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.

Tabitha's extremely good plan falters when, like a fish, she slips through a hole up to her neck and then some mysterious physical feature projects out too far for her to slip through the rest of the way. She tries to vocalize and of course fails.

Then Dominia jets past and sends her corkscrewing uselessly awayyyyyyy--*

She's fine. She looks grumpy as she forms back up.

And then - ZOMBOS. Tabitha jukes away from the grabbing hand, but soon has a problem of her own, as her hand slaps into the gun holstered to her hip. Which is completely not doing anything at the moment. ....crap. And kicking waterlogged corpses isn't her idea of a good time....so she does the next best thing. She produces her Telescoping Lever, and uses it very much against manufacturers' recommended uses as a big stick.

DG: Tabitha deVriese has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Waterlogged Zombies.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

A warm feeling is kindled within Dominia's breast (in the sense of her torso generally) which fades when the waterlogged entities appear and surge forwards.

What does Dominia do? This is not a hard guess; but, in recognition of the environment, she does not go for slashes, rather for deep thrusting stabs followed by a rupturing draggadocio outwards, to sever and break up the space. Belatedly, Dominia thinks, hopefully this viscera won't spread: but they would have contaminated the water by now anyway, she reasons further even as a human limb ruptures like a fried chicken wing.

DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Lunar Rod toward her party's challenge, Waterlogged Zombies.
===========================<* Leck Mines - Flooded *>===========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Waterlogged Zombies *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Mining is a dangerous occupation - beyond the monsters that tend to infest
 the darkness, there is the constant risk of rockslides, or deadfalls, or
 poisonous gas, or even sheer madness as the things that go creak in the
 dark.

 Whatever the cause, these four miners you swim up upon have died. But
 unfortunately for you, they haven't really stayed dead. As your light comes
 into view, they rise upward, lashing their arms toward you in an attempt to
 grab and smash - a movement that also serves as a crude and awkward doggy
 paddle.

 Zombies like these aren't usually that much of a threat - but the aquatic
 environment prevents you from using the most potent weapon in the
 counter-undead arsenal: fire. This could get tricky...
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure, Fright=========================================
======================<* Leck Mines - Flooded - Round 4 *>======================
=======================< Results - Waterlogged Zombies >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kahran Ramses                       25 --(0)--> 25                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loren Voss                          25 --(0)--> 25                 Pass
Solarian Medical Kit                1   Combat  Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   25 --(0)--> 25                 Pass
Lunar Rod                           1   Combat  Effects: Stalwart and Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tabitha deVriese                    25 --(0)--> 25                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Kahran Ramses               60 --(25)--> 85                Pass
Conditions: Fright(2)|Treasure(1)
Effects: Cleanse
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Kahran Ramses has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.

Dominia's thrusting strike proves more effective, disembowelling the zombie. Loren's scissors prove effective given a lot of time, and Ramses manages to plant his short thrusting blade in the zombie's eye socket and sort of... twirl it around a bit, destroying the brain. Tabitha, on the other hand, will soon discover that smashing things with sticks, underwater, is not anybody's idea of a good time, given water resistance generally.

(This particular mission has been altogether handy for basic physics lessons, actually.)

Still, the zombie runs out of skull before Tabitha runs out of stick, so all's well that ends well.

DG: Loren Voss has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Leck Mines - Flooded *>===========================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Water Falls, Everyone Dies *>==================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 As you approach a junction in the tunnels, you feel yourselves being pulled
 forward, as though the water was flowing of its own accord... which is
 exactly what would be happening if, say, you were approaching the part of
 the mines that water was now flowing /out/ of, possibly dumping into a
 giant, bottomless, spike-walled pit or something.

 /Greeeeeeeeat/.

 The next few seconds are key - if you can power through the current or
 somehow blast part of the tunnel around the corner, you may be able to get
 fast before the current sucks you down... and then out.

 And then waaaaaaay down again.
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer, Tire=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    It takes a little bit to stab a zombie to, er, well, let's call it true death with a pair of scissors, even particularly sharp ones. Still, it can be done.
    Particularly if a good part of your education in Jugend consisted of anatomy classes.
    With a minimum of risk to self, even under current conditions, Loren's able to reclaim his equipment, though he soon finds the strap is broken.

    Great.

    Gesturing to the others, he suggests they move out of the cloud of silt, and as soon as they find a place clear of the muck, conducts a quick spot-check to make sure that no one is injured.

    This takes place, as it happens, a good few minutes from their impromptu battle with the watery zombies and past a crook in the tunnels.

    It becomes evident very quickly why the silt suddenly started to become less of a problem. It's just a gentle drift at first, but the current becomes ever stronger, soon hauling the lot of them along.

    Even under the water the bass boom of a roar can be felt.

    There's... probably a dropoff ahead. You know, judging from the flow, the way that things seem to be bottlenecking, and so on.

    This is the point where Loren probably would have yelled if yelling where an option open to him. Panicking will have to be done silently.

    He finds momentary purchase with a foot against what might have once been a wall. Pushing off it, he makes for the equally submerged far wall and grabs hold.
    And in the next moment, floods his will into the rock, bundling and releasing stress in equal measures. There has to be some weakpoint here -- the water should be eroding the rock -- there should be some way through--

DG: Loren Voss has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Water Falls, Everyone Dies.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.

Hn, Ramses thinks to himself. A waterfall. That's... unpleasant.

The Gebler commander adjusts to this circumstance by turning, lifting his arm, and then thrusting the short stabbing sword downward, piercing the stone easily. He grips the hilt of the sword tight and uses it as a prop to hold himself still against the current. Given Ramses' size and the force of the water, the thin blade likely won't last more than half a minute, he thinks.

It should do.

Ramses lifts his left hand, and begins to gather Ether. It comes like a torrent of water, roaring into the body of the former Wind Element, a sheer mass of power few can equal - and fewer still surpass. The big man concentrates, forcing his will into the mass of energy, giving it shape and form. All the while, still, he continues to gather power, until his body fair seems to glow with the unnatural strength.

And then, as it seems Ramses must have reached his limits, he taps into the crystalline mesh woven in through the glove on his left hand, leylines of light dancing from his fingertips all up toward his elbow. The surge of Ether suddenly doubles, then triples, and then Ramses fires a radiant blast of howling Wind Ether toward the ceiling down in the depths of the tunnel, trying to collapse the roof and stop the flow.

DG: Kahran Ramses has used his Tool Ether Booster toward his party's challenge, Water Falls, Everyone Dies.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

The water is running forwards with increased speed. It takes a look down at the silt - which is naturally where Dominia's earth-aligned eyes tend to fall - to realize what is going on. The fall of the water up ahead is not something that, despite her feelings and heartfelt wishes, she can hit with a sword. So, the weapon is sheathed - which eats a lot of time.

She kicks against the flow. More impressively, it works - she does not so much stop as move less quickly than the others, but relatively speaking she falls behind. Grimacing behind her rebreather, Dominia looks at the flowing water again before -

Like a rising star of ambition, Ramses's Ether rises!

Dominia's eyes turn towards him, glimmering wetly. When she sees he is aiming for the roof, Dominia's eyes turn upwards and she reaches into a hip pouch, risking a flood to open it and draw out - drugs? No: a light-metal stick with a cylinder on the end.

She snaps it out with the same casual-flick that Elly learned in Jugend. Unlike Elehayym van Houten, RIP, she lunges forwards to stab it forwards into the space where the Commander is striving to break stone itself.

The cylinder is a small shaped charge, suitable for murdering sharks.

Or stones!

For is it not said: Sharks and stones may eat my bones, but the Emperor protects us from his heavenly throne?

DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Inventory Clutter toward her party's challenge, Water Falls, Everyone Dies.
<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.

Tabitha forgot about water resistance!! THIS IS A TERRIBLE ENDING

Fortunately sticks can be used for jabbing, as well. This is sub-optimal but still means she doesn't get gross dead guy parts on her naked legs, which are for the touch of alive people only. Well, and alive Lambs, sometimes.

She slips the staff back away into its spot on her thigh belt and then carries on with the rest, kicking legs quickly, with infrequent breast strokes to try and keep up.

Then she notices she's not having to push so hard. It takes her slightly longer than the others to notice what that means because mortal danger isn't as high on her priority list as some people. She spins around quickly, producing her lever again. Need to practice moving these things underwater, she thinks with annoyance, and then forces herself to breathe with calm through the rebreather, and then forces as much gravity ether as she can through her body. She BULLETS down the range, after Ramses' collosal blast - staff stuck out forward to absorb the brunt of the ceiling, so it can drive INTO AND THROUGH it, and then Tabitha can increase her weight downward and hopefully dislodge enough extra mass to complete the cave-in.

DG: Tabitha deVriese has used her Tool Telescoping Lever toward her party's challenge, Water Falls, Everyone Dies.
===========================<* Leck Mines - Flooded *>===========================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Water Falls, Everyone Dies *>==================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 As you approach a junction in the tunnels, you feel yourselves being pulled
 forward, as though the water was flowing of its own accord... which is
 exactly what would be happening if, say, you were approaching the part of
 the mines that water was now flowing /out/ of, possibly dumping into a
 giant, bottomless, spike-walled pit or something.

 /Greeeeeeeeat/.

 The next few seconds are key - if you can power through the current or
 somehow blast part of the tunnel around the corner, you may be able to get
 fast before the current sucks you down... and then out.

 And then waaaaaaay down again.
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer, Tire=============================================
======================<* Leck Mines - Flooded - Round 5 *>======================
====================< Results - Water Falls, Everyone Dies >====================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kahran Ramses                       25 --(0)--> 25                 Pass
Ether Booster                       2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loren Voss                          25 --(5)--> 30                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   25 --(0)--> 25                 Pass
Inventory Clutter                   1   Brute   Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tabitha deVriese                    25 --(0)--> 25                 Pass
Telescoping Lever                   1   Brute   Effects: Cleanse
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Kahran Ramses               85 --(35)--> 120               Pass
Conditions: Fright(1)|Suffer(1)|Tire(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Kahran Ramses has successfully explored Leck Mines - Flooded!
===========================<* Leck Mines - Flooded *>===========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Secrets of the Past (2) *>====================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 After making it past the fateful junction, you force your way against the
 current and through a crack up ahead, from which the water is pouring... and
 then suddenly, you're breathing fresh air! You emerge in what can only be
 described as a river, flowing through an enormous underground cavern -
 almost a mile across, with a ceiling hundreds of yards over your head. Even
 more strange, upon reflection, is that you can /see/ that distance; for the
 first time since you entered the cave, your vision is not obscured at all by
 darkness or water or anything else.

 It is then that you realize /why/ this is - every surface of this cavern is
 glowing, pulsing with light. The effect is not synchronized - different
 sections of the place are pulsing at different rates, with different
 intensities, but the net effect is an omnipresent, omnidirectional aura of
 light... and of power. Whether you rely on senses mortal, magical,
 technological, or spiritual, you can be sure of one thing: something
 enormously significant happened in this place a long time ago... so
 significant that this cave is still bathed in its echo to this day.

 As you step out of the water, something metallic glimmers in the distance.
 Upon closer inspection, it is the remains of a shoulder pauldron, sheared in
 half by some unknown force. The pauldron is sized for a truly massive
 figure, and is forged of a dark, incredibly hard material that anyone
 familiar with Metal Demon technology will recognize as being of their make.

 You should send in a +request about this Discovery!
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    There is no weak point to exploit. Loren realizes this soon enough: the wall here is solid, his attempts to jostle or realign sections end in abject failure. Perhaps the water hasn't been flowing here long enough or perhaps the rock simply isn't as susceptable to the wear and tear of the current. Perhaps both. Slowly, his grip on the wall begins to slip.

    However. There are those making use of far more... direct methods, close at hand.

    Case in point: the absolutely monumental discharge of electrical Ether that Ramses directs towards the roof of the tunnel, where Dominia has helpfully deposited a shaped charge mere moments before.

    The wall very quickly ceases to exist, the few stray chunks of debris slammed aside by Tabitha's incoming charge.

    There wasn't a hole here.
    There is one now.

    Kicking off the opposite wall, Loren's quick to follow the others through. There isn't even time for any of his usual pangs of inferiority.

    Some water comes with them, but it's little more than a short wave, merely adding to the shallow pool filling the chamber beyond the ancient tunnel. There's air here. You can breathe.

    The interior glows with light. The sense of the place is clear -- once, something of monumental importance happened here, enough to stamp its passage onto the very being of the chamber.

    Something metallic glints atop a tiny island in the center of the pool. It's a broken section of a pauldron.

    "Isn't that... Metal Demon make?"
    Thanks to some time tending to a certain Riesenlied ages ago, he spots its tell at a glance.

<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.

Kahran Ramses removes the rebreather once it's no longer needed and just stands there for a few seconds, dripping and shirtless, because hey - fanservice.

In truth, however, he is too busy looking around the cave to notice, his eyes wide open and staring avidly. It's an incredible reaction for anyone who knows him at all - the Gebler commander is both shocked and awed by what he's seeing. "This is..." he mutters, then shakes his head. There is... something here. Like a silver in the back of his mind, something he should be remembering but...

Loren speaks, and the moment is lost. Ramses suppresses his annoyance and walks slowly forward, his eyes narrowing. "Whatever it is, we shall examine it at our leisure back at the Palace." Or in Etrenank, mor elikely, he thinks.