2018-12-02: I Won't Give Up
- Log: I Won't Give Up
- Cast: Avril Vent Fleur, Dean Stark, Riesenlied
- Where: Photosphere - The Gutter
- Date: December 2nd 2018
- Summary: ICly takes place December 1st. Dean and Avril rush into the Photosphere and down into the Gutter. In the depths, they find...
DG: A party led by Avril Vent Fleur is now entering Photosphere - The Gutter. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>========================= ======================<* CHALLENGE - Veterinarian Care *>======================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Your team has descended to the depths of the Photosphere's infamous Gutter, in the midst of the fierce battle ensuing overhead. The conditions are beyond deplorable - the only buildings that could be called homes are scrapheap shacks resting against the canyon wall that the spaceship has nestled against. Haphazard streets are largely carved out over the centuries from various community efforts. Something bulky collapses in the distance, the noise of twisting metal crunching the sheds below. "Help, please...!" Underneath a collapsed Metal Beast, you encounter a group of Tainted Hyadeans who implore you for aid. One of them severely bleeds from the calf, and another suffers a large gash of frayed wiring, quicksilver blood flowing out of their torso. It seems that the erstwhile Beast fell on them. They don't possess the strength to push free on their own! =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous==============================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed. <SoundTracker> Michiru Naruke - Holy Mother of Darkness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygpjMbQeBas
When the wall of light parts--
There is no time to waste. Grabbing Dean's hand, Avril joins those racing into the heart of the Metal Demon presence here on Filgaia.
There is violence, here.
Much of it, as the Metal Beasts fight to the last -- and the Drifters, and the rag-tag armies, and everyone and everything Filgaia saw fit to offer presses back against them. ARMs discharge in cracking roars. Blades flash in the cold light of the Photosphere. Sorcery scorches the air.
It's an easy thing for a boy and a young woman to slip past amidst so much chaos.
To follow both what she had seen... and the pulse she senses.
The Medium. She can feel the distant beat of the Medium.
As they descend into the dark cavern of the Gutter, it is quiet. The chaos from above seems but a distant roar.
The streets are empty. Decaying. Yet, people once lived here--
A shout breaks the silence shortly after a sickening crunch echoes through the rotted avenue.
No. People live here. They're still here now. And a group of them are in grave peril.
"Dean, they're still alive," Avril says, rushing over to the trapped Metal Demons. She, briefly, fumbles for the Medium, only to pause. Would that... help a Metal Demon?
"..."
"...It'll be alright," she murmurs, placing one gloved hand flush to the street. There is a deadly chill in the air.
She had grabbed Elvis and...
Without a word she channels her power: ice starts to erupt from the street to attempt to lever the fallen Beast up.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Veterinarian Care.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Dean's hand really does need grabbing. All the way into the Photosphere, he doesn't stop gushing about Asgard and how absolutely, utterly cool the Golem had been as it charged into the barrier and ripped it apart like wet tissue paper. At least he runs while he fanboys, and is happy to let Avril take the lead. Dean trusts Avril implicitly--she's never lead him wrong before, and even if she did now, everyone makes mistakes from time to time.
She doesn't make a mistake here. The two descend into the Gutter. As they gain distance from the Golem, Dean gains some semblance of paying attention to his surroundings and the immediate situation, much as cat lovers gain more of their wits the further away they get from a feline. It helps that their surroundings are... dreary. At best. And then there's that *crunch*, and Dean startles over in that direction, and there are people trapped under a Metal Beast...
"Yeah, we've got to help them!" he says without hesitation, racing with her over to the Metal Demons. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of there in a jiffy!" As Avril grabs her Medium but rethinks her decision, Dean pulls out his shovel and starts using it as a lever to push the Metal Beast up. Between that and Avril's ice, perhaps they can lift the whole thing off--or at least enough to give those trapped underneath a hand and pull them out.
DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool The Trusty Shovel toward his party's challenge, Veterinarian Care.
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>========================= ======================<* CHALLENGE - Veterinarian Care *>======================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Your team has descended to the depths of the Photosphere's infamous Gutter, in the midst of the fierce battle ensuing overhead. The conditions are beyond deplorable - the only buildings that could be called homes are scrapheap shacks resting against the canyon wall that the spaceship has nestled against. Haphazard streets are largely carved out over the centuries from various community efforts. Something bulky collapses in the distance, the noise of twisting metal crunching the sheds below. "Help, please...!" Underneath a collapsed Metal Beast, you encounter a group of Tainted Hyadeans who implore you for aid. One of them severely bleeds from the calf, and another suffers a large gash of frayed wiring, quicksilver blood flowing out of their torso. It seems that the erstwhile Beast fell on them. They don't possess the strength to push free on their own! =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous==============================================
====================<* Photosphere - The Gutter - Round 1 *>==================== ========================< Results - Veterinarian Care >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass The Trusty Shovel 2 Brute Effects: Stalwart -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
As she does many things, Avril takes his gushing in stride as she navigates through tight hallways and finally to the abandoned entrance leading down into the Gutter's depths. She doesn't respond or comment on it, her thoughts largely hinging upon following that ghost of a trace she can sense. Is it because of the Mediums -- both of them, both Originals now in her possession -- that makes this possible...?
Though, in truth, his excitement is a bit of a ground for her, after her earlier slip back into that strange pseudo-fugue state she's found herself in under duress time and time again.
She had been cruel, unrelentingly so. If she had still any doubt remaining, this would end it.
Dean, meanwhile... this is normalacy. Some things at a time like this can remain normal. This world remains worth struggling for, no matter what she...
And all such things fly from her as they sight the trapped Metal Demons and do their best to try to free them.
"Please... help us..." one of the Demons begs, writhing as they attempt to free themselves from where they're pinned. It's in vain: they are frail, far too frail.
She focuses on her spell as Dean hefts at the fallen Beast with his shovel. The Beast is already gone -- the gunshot wounds in its side suggest that an ending had come to it due to the invasion underway above -- so at least it's but a question of freeing the Tainted.
The look in Elvis' eyes--
Avril gasps, drawing her hand away from the ground. With a sound like breaking glass, her spell fails, the pillar of frost shattering then evaporating into the air.
But Dean, with the leverage his shovel grants him, is able to see this one through: he hefts the fallen Beast aside, leaving the wounded Tainted to struggle to their feet... where such a thing is possible.
"Here..." Perhaps magic might not be able to help, but Avril sheds her heavy coat, makes short work of it with her blade. At least she can create bandages.
DG: Dean Stark has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>========================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - Empty Nest Syndrome *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come across a dramatic perch upon the canyon wall, overlooking the rest of the Gutter underneath. The facilities and bedding seem sized for Metal Dragons, albeit smaller than the ones joining the battle above you. A nearby sign indicates that this is the Ebon Roost, former headquarters of the now-defunct Ebony Wings. A certain commander's office is right next to you, albeit collapsed. Inbetween numerous files on various operations, there are crayon drawings of cuccos. ...There may be some documents for you to investigate should you take the time. The debris in the office serves as a ramp for you to take the refugees further up and away from the destruction happening within the Photosphere... ... but it is slick with Arctican frost, so you'll have to be careful. (NOTE: @mail Riesenlied if your group succeeds on this challenge!) =Dungeon Conditions: Vault====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Some things have to remain normal, for a relative value of 'normal.' Some things have to stay the same, no matter how much everything else changes. If everything can change, anything can be lost, so there have to be some things that you hang onto no matter what. Dean doesn't think of it in such nuanced terms, of course, but he's the type to never give up on what he loves. If you do, what's even the point of going on a journey?
Together, Avril and Dean manage to lift the robot up--or at least it seems that way at first. Avril flinches away from her own magic. "You okay? What's wrong?" Dean asks her, even as he redoubles his efforts to cover for her. The wounded Tainted manage to escape, and he helps with the efforts to heal them, doling out precious Heal Berries (those will *probably* work, right?) and wrapping bandages.
Once everyone's settled enough, Dean nods to Avril, and the two of them move deeper into the Gutter, guiding the injured further within. (Actually, they probably give Dean and Avril directions, but the two Drifters take point in the event of a fight.) Before long, they find a perch on the wall that overlooks the rest of the Gutter. It's quite a view, or would be if there were anything to look at besides ordinary facility stuff. Dean looks up at the sign that reads 'Ebon Roost,' then inside at the crayon cucco drawings on the half-collapsed walls. "Do they raise chickens here?" he wonders.
...He's not entirely wrong, you know.
"Anyway, we should be able to get across over that mountain of junk," he says, pointing at the debris. He doesn't pay the scattered files any mind, but if Avril wants to pick them up, he'll stop and wait for her. "Lemme see--it's already pretty frozen, so let's just lock it all together and..." Twin Fenrir flash into his hands, and he fires the Freeze Ray so that that frost becomes more than a slick hazard and instead holds the debris together. It's still slippery, but at least now their footing will be sure.
DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Freeze Ray toward his party's challenge, Empty Nest Syndrome.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Sometimes, you rely on those few little things to balance a life otherwise tipping. Avril may proceed as calmly as she ever does, but like a swan glides across a lake, things are not so still beneath the surface.
Case in point, the moment her spell outright fails due to her unsettled thoughts. At Dean's question, she shakes her head, though the look in her eyes may speak volumes on their own. "I... perhaps, later," she demures, glancing down at the street. At her hand. Her fingers curl inwards to her palm.
They must lead the injured Metal Demons along with them -- sending them up above into the firefight would be a death sentence. If not by a Drifter, then by a Metal Beast... or perhaps even the Photosphere itself might prove a hazard.
And so it goes: between proffered directions and the faint pulse that Avril still senses, they venture onwards through the rift of the Gutter.
"The Ebon Roost..." Avril gingerly reaches out a hand, as if she could take a reading of the content of the room by touching the wall itself. "Dean, I..."
She hesitates, before venturing inside.
It's one drawing in particular that catches her eye atop a half-shattered desk, settled amidst the scattered files, a few of which Avril gathers together.
It's a cucco.
"Dean... I think... this may have been Riesenlied's office."
How can she tell that? ...Perhaps it's just common sense at this point.
Which, speaking of, brings her to a certain, particular point:
She draws out first one Original Medium, then the other, setting them next to each other atop the part of the table that still functions as surface area.
Sea. Mountain.
With but a touch, Sea burns with a soft blue light. Picking up the Mountain Medium, she closes her eyes a moment. Exhales.
Light flares, bathing the room for an instant; the Medium hovers in the air before her, held aloft only by the power now awakened from within what had slumbered.
"I can feel Riesenlied's Medium even now," she murmurs, her eyes cracking open as she gazes at the thing hovering just out of her grasp. "Perhaps, with this Medium now awakened, you may be able to also, Dean. ...This is not something that should be entrusted to me alone."
The brilliant light from the Original Medium fades; the Medium slowly settles back into her grasp.
She offers it to him.
"No, I know it is so. This belongs to you, Dean. I can feel it in my heart." In spite of everything, her lips curve in a slight smile. "After all, aren't you the legendary hero?"
Once it is in his possession, she returns to the still glowing Sea Medium. Holds it to her chest, silently calling upon its benedictions. "Here."
"We should be able to find her, together."
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Empty Nest Syndrome.
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>========================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - Empty Nest Syndrome *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come across a dramatic perch upon the canyon wall, overlooking the rest of the Gutter underneath. The facilities and bedding seem sized for Metal Dragons, albeit smaller than the ones joining the battle above you. A nearby sign indicates that this is the Ebon Roost, former headquarters of the now-defunct Ebony Wings. A certain commander's office is right next to you, albeit collapsed. Inbetween numerous files on various operations, there are crayon drawings of cuccos. ...There may be some documents for you to investigate should you take the time. The debris in the office serves as a ramp for you to take the refugees further up and away from the destruction happening within the Photosphere... ... but it is slick with Arctican frost, so you'll have to be careful. (NOTE: @mail Riesenlied if your group succeeds on this challenge!) =Dungeon Conditions: Vault====================================================
====================<* Photosphere - The Gutter - Round 2 *>==================== =======================< Results - Empty Nest Syndrome >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Sea Medium 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Freeze Ray 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 20 --(30)--> 50 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(1)|Vault(1) Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Avril certainly may have been onto something, the way she speaks of how this used to be Riesenlied's office. Many of the documents are penned in her penmanship, and signed in her name, dating back variously from several years ago to decades.
The drawings of the cuccos seem much older, as if they belong to a time before she was indentured to the Photosphere's service. There's a child-like wonder to them, much like many of the Wayside pictures Avril and Dean have seen and helped pin up in the past. Perhaps they would be of use, to reach to her?
But aside from that... a particular document with a confidentiality marker stands out. Avril is probably the one to root through it-- a description of an old dig site far off in the ranges of the Ellurian heights. An old mining drift that has fallen out of favour, the most recent update of which describes how it has been affected by the natural(?) earthquakes that have affected Elru as of several years ago.
Riesenlied's memo is written up on it:
-'Signe Drift #17 - Please check that our ancestors' rest have not been disturbed.'
Deeper into the files, a map of the area indicates how to reach this area... but that will have to wait until they're not in the midst of the battle for their lives.
-= You've discovered a future Dig! =-
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"...Okay. If you're sure," Dean tells Avril of leaving it for later. He doesn't sound convinced, but as usual, he trusts her.
They venture in further, eventually finding the Ebon Roost. Avril observes that this may have been Riese's office. He blinks, takes another look inside, and follows her over to the files. "You might be right," he muses. Then he takes a few of the crayon drawings from the walls. "Aww, hehe, look at this. I'll take them with us. I'm sure Janey and Mikaia will be happy to see their old drawings again."
Poor Riese.
He folds them up and tucks them away, leaving the Signe Drift file to Avril, as there is indeed no time to read it closely at the moment--but before they move on, Avril sets two Mediums on the table. One hovers of its own accord, and Dean pauses, gazing upon it in wonder. "Woah..."
Then he looks back at Avril and listens. When she's done, he laughs, a little embarrassed. "Awww, c'mon, that was just a coincidence," he protests, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile. Still... Somehow, he knows it too. If there was any doubt, it evaporates the moment he takes the Mountain Medium from her; there's a *rightness* to its weight, its heft, that suits him as perfectly as Twin Fenrir does. He holds it close and feels its warmth, blinking curiously down at it.
Then, giving that matter precisely as much thought as he did the aforementioned Twin Fenrir, he tucks it away in a jacket pocket. He still has his copy Sword Medium equipped, and right now isn't a good time to futz with his Medium settings. He'll have to mess with it later, find the way to use it that's just right.
"All right," he replies, stepping close to Avril, and gesturing towards the injured Tainted to do the same. "Let's all get going and find Riese together!"
Light shimmers, blue and white, sea and ice, and soon they all make it to the other end of the bridge of rubble. And there, they find...
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>=========================
==============<* CHALLENGE - Products Well Past Their Lifespan *>===============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
-=<WARNING>=-
-=<WARNING>=-
-=<Atmospheric Breach detected: Sealing Airlocks>=-
Your group jukes onto what appears to be one of the Photosphere's original
hallways, back in the days when it still served as a starship. However, the
instruments therein appear to have had better days, for it detects some kind
of dangerous leakage... that results in the caution-marked metal doors
sealing shut.
There are no terminals to access around, so you'll have to blow through them
to proceed.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
She should say something.
She should say something now.
But they don't have the time. Between the condition of these Metal Demons, between what has been begun and cannot be stopped, between what has become of Riesenlied and what she might do, there's no time left anymore.
Once they've settled things, then...
So it is that Avril keeps on moving ahead, into the office where she collects the files and tucks them away.
And the drawings, too.
"..."
The silence is for a moment palpable. But Avril senses this is the moment to say nothing. Yes. Janey and Mikaia will be happy to have those back.
Before she awakens the Medium, finally in this place sensing where it must go and to what end it should be applied.
Without enough time with it -- time, the most fleeting of resourses still -- perhaps he can't use it quite yet. Still, it may be enough for him to have it in his possession.
Faint, familiar amusement winds its way into her smile at his protest. And then she gathers her own Medium, and together, they create a path past the debris.
In this state, the passage leads them into a hallway--
As alarms blare and lights flash, and a whole series of metal doorways ahead of them slam shut one after the other.
No panels or means of access present themselves.
"We... cannot stop here. Riesenlied... forgive me," Avril utters, before producing a certain device from a pocket in her skirt. Flipping it open, she presses the button.
The debris pile beyond them rumbles ominously. Could... it be that there is here buried a Golem?
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Remote Golem Override toward her party's challenge, Products Well Past Their Lifespan.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
The uncollapsed hallways at first seem like a blessing. Here's a part of the Photosphere that isn't full of rubble, that everyone can walk through easily! But naturally things can't be that easy, and when they walk in too far, an alarm blares, saying something about a breach, and then SLAM--down come the airlock doors. There's no indication of any way forward or back, either.
"Argh, come on!!" Dean protests. "We can't get stuck here!" He nods to Avril, then runs on ahead to the next door, retrieving his shovel again. "Lemme just try to--hrrrngh!!" And so he attempts to lever the door up with White Fenrir. So absorbed as he is in his task, he doesn't see the remote in Avril's hand...
Which is just as well. The injured Metal Demons, meanwhile, stay out of the way. Hurt as they are, they'd just cause problems if they tried to help. Sometimes, you need to know your limits.
DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool The Trusty Shovel toward his party's challenge, Products Well Past Their Lifespan.
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>=========================
==============<* CHALLENGE - Products Well Past Their Lifespan *>===============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
-=<WARNING>=-
-=<WARNING>=-
-=<Atmospheric Breach detected: Sealing Airlocks>=-
Your group jukes onto what appears to be one of the Photosphere's original
hallways, back in the days when it still served as a starship. However, the
instruments therein appear to have had better days, for it detects some kind
of dangerous leakage... that results in the caution-marked metal doors
sealing shut.
There are no terminals to access around, so you'll have to blow through them
to proceed.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
====================<* Photosphere - The Gutter - Round 3 *>==================== ================< Results - Products Well Past Their Lifespan >================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Remote Golem Override 4 Brute Effects: None -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass The Trusty Shovel 2 Brute Effects: Stalwart -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 50 --(20)--> 70 Pass Conditions: Weaken(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
The rumbling quickly reaches its zenith.
A realization strikes Avril dead-on, her eyes gone wide in horror. "Dean! Look out!" Avril cries, rushing down the hallway to grab one of his shoulders and pull him aside, just after White Fenrir tenders a serious crack into the first metal door.
And before what she has summoned comes forth.
It comes in, indeed, like the proverbial wrecking ball. A Golem's fist, ancient and decaying.
But no less the powerful or even deadly for the time that has passed. It shatters right through that first door, slams into and through the next, then the one after that, and after that...
Until all that is left is a clear hallway... and the trail of Golem remnants running down it.
Avril in this moment looks at Dean as if she's about to cry... and settles for a brief embrace instead.
They can't afford to linger, even so.
DG: Dean Stark has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>=========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - To the Hallowed Halls *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The dramatic roar of a Metal Dragon overhead prompts you to squeeze into a
back alley to avoid needless confrontation--
V4L-H4LLA
H4PPY H0UR ALL H0URS
--where you discover a rather unusual bar studded with neon signs. The sign
V4L-H4LLA is familiar to those who've visited Val's bar in Wayside and New
Petra both -- this must be the original location, where the concoctions of
the now-renowned refrigerator lady who made the Badlands' famous Demon
Potato Vodka once started.
Unfortunately, it seems Val was acting responsibly, and the back door is
locked. A note on the door reads: 'KEY IN USUAL PLACE - 172 PROOF, OAK
NOTES, TOBACCO AFTERTASTE'.
With that... hint... in place, a full shelf of curious Hyadean and
Ellurian alcohol and spirits, along with several more creatively labelled
bottles of moonshine, becomes more relevant. The key is probably somewhere
amongst the bottles, and perhaps if you're so inclined, the bottle fairy
can also pay a visit... for later, of course.
There's people to rescue now.
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Avril grabs Dean and pulls him back out of the way just in time for a Golem fist, decayed to the point that it falls apart upon impact, smashes through the floor, sending ripples in the hallway to wreck the floors but also move the doors enough for everyone to squeeze past. "You used the button!" he says in delight despite his close call, turning to Avril--who squeezes him close.
Ah. Right.
After a moment of realization, he gives her a quick, comforting hug back. Then he nods to the Tainted, and together, they move onwards.
Once they're past the Golem rubble, which Dean looks back at wistfully with a mouthed, 'Good work, big fella; thanks for everything,' the group reaches what looks to be the... social area of the Photosphere? Before they can look too closely, a Metal Dragon's roaring rumbles the area, and Dean ducks into a back alley, gesturing for the others to follow and go on ahead so he can cover the rear. There, they find a neon sign overtop a bar...
"Oh, hey, an hour for being happy!" Dean says brightly, reading it. "That's really nice! This must be Val's place. I bet we can get some supplies for everyone in here!" And so inside he goes, holding the door for the others. "This oughtta be a good shortcut, too--"
Jiggle jiggle. That's the back door's lock not turning.
"--oh." He looks around, then settles his gaze on a note on the door. "Key in usual place. 172 proof, oak notes, tobacco aftertaste." Dean pauses. "What the heck does that mean?" he wonders, baffled.
"Oh, uh," one of the Tainted speaks up, "it refers to, ah, alcohol. Val did a lot of experimenting with it..."
"We'll help you look," says another one quickly. "And get supplies. And medicine. At the same time. Don't worry about it."
Dean perks. "Oh hey, thanks!" he says. "I'll leave it to you guys, then. That note went *way* over my head!" He looks at Avril in curiosity. "Did it make any sense to *you*?"
"Also we might need you to, uh, shoot open some casks," interrupts a third Tainted, who is heavily favoring one leg and looks to have been enduring quite a bit of pain up until now. "To find the key. And get the medicine. If, ah. You don't mind."
"Oh sure, no problem!" Dean says without a second thought.
DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Standard Cartridge toward his party's challenge, To the Hallowed Halls.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Fortunately for Dean, this time, the tears don't come. Once she lets go, she continues onwards through the hallway they've opened up, her mood decidedly on the precipice between 'reminded of the need for care' and 'grim'.
It's then with little fanfare that their route through the tunnels is interrupted by a display of rainbow-colored neon.
"V4L-H4LLA," Avril reads aloud, before they step on in. "This must have been where Val had shop, before..."
Before Old Petra, Wayside, and the rest of it. Ushering the Metal Demons in -- and hoping for an easier passage than this tunnel leading forward and its absence of any good place to shelter or fall back assuming they encounter troubles on their journey to the bottom of the Gutter -- she too has a similar realization as Dean.
That's right. The door in back won't open.
"172 proof. I think..."
Avril thinks on this for a moment.
...Nope. She's got nothing.
This is one of those things where, if Rebecca were here, she might be able to explain. Beyond the part where it's about alcohol, at least.
Well, and one thing more: "Perhaps it means that the key is in the associated cask. ...However, I... do not know to what the rest could be referring. Might it be the taste?"
At least they have some willing taste-testers. "Please, help yourselves. I would be in your debt," says the young woman who at best has some understanding of certain wines.
Particularly the kind called 'Johnny Appleseed'.
The most Avril can do right now -- beyond sampling some alcohol herself -- is check which casks are empty and thus worth avoiding.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, To the Hallowed Halls.
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>=========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - To the Hallowed Halls *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The dramatic roar of a Metal Dragon overhead prompts you to squeeze into a
back alley to avoid needless confrontation--
V4L-H4LLA
H4PPY H0UR ALL H0URS
--where you discover a rather unusual bar studded with neon signs. The sign
V4L-H4LLA is familiar to those who've visited Val's bar in Wayside and New
Petra both -- this must be the original location, where the concoctions of
the now-renowned refrigerator lady who made the Badlands' famous Demon
Potato Vodka once started.
Unfortunately, it seems Val was acting responsibly, and the back door is
locked. A note on the door reads: 'KEY IN USUAL PLACE - 172 PROOF, OAK
NOTES, TOBACCO AFTERTASTE'.
With that... hint... in place, a full shelf of curious Hyadean and
Ellurian alcohol and spirits, along with several more creatively labelled
bottles of moonshine, becomes more relevant. The key is probably somewhere
amongst the bottles, and perhaps if you're so inclined, the bottle fairy
can also pay a visit... for later, of course.
There's people to rescue now.
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
====================<* Photosphere - The Gutter - Round 4 *>==================== ======================< Results - To the Hallowed Halls >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(20)--> 20 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 0 --(15)--> 15 Pass Standard Cartridge 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 70 --(10)--> 80 Fail Conditions: Reckless(2)|Weaken(1) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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. DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>========================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - A Quiet Moment *>======================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come across an altar. The air is mysteriously quiet here... as if the din of battle and the roar of violence cannot reach. Criss-crossed upon the floor are lines the colour of the Ley, leading to a central point upon the dais itself. Those with a Medium on their person can feel it reacting gently, as if the powers that sustain the world themselves are lamenting -- a clear oddity, given how muted the Guardians have been lately. There is something here to do with the Guardians, but what? You could spare a moment to investigate further, but you don't have long -- you have a duty to proceed onward with the refugees after you all catch your breath. (NOTE: @mail Riesenlied if your group succeeds on this challenge, along with what Medium(s) were present throughout your Group. This will grant you a little information pertinent to the Finale on December 8th!) =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point, Hesitate, Overzealous========================
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
The tears definitely would have made things awkward and uncomfortable at a time when they can't afford to get caught up in things like that. Dean hates to see people cry, and Avril's tears in particular always cut to the quick for him.
"Isn't tobacco something you smoke, though? Why would you want something to taste like smoke?" Dean wonders as the Tainted settle in at the bar to take down the many, many drinks and imbibe them. "Oh well. With all of us looking, I'm sure we'll find it soon!"
They do not find it soon. And, in fact, by the time it *is* found, the wounded Tainted are all *suuuuuuuuuper* drunk. But hey, at least they're not wracked with pain anymore! For now!!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
With the impromptu feast dealt with, someone finally finds the key. Past the backdoor to V4L-H4LLA, Dean and Avril come down towards a slope that leads towards a particularly large clearing. It's slightly unusual amongst the Gutter, here where there's so much scrap heaped into meaningless piles where junk has gone to become forgotten... but now--
The purpose is made clear.
Both the Original Artificial Sea and Mountain Mediums throb particularly keenly as they sense, as Avril mentioned before, Riesenlied's Medium. There is a sense of lament from the Guardians... but beyond that, a circular dais raised with the flow of the Ley running free towards a central altar where enormous energy can be felt. Avril is certain that a Ley Point rests beneath the earth here... and where it gathers...
... the white and blue Ley Dragon, also, is present.
Looming over the altar, Riesenlied is slightly hunched over as she lets out a pained low wail. Smoke escapes from a breach on her chest where Lily's dark axes, Ethius' conflagration and Jacqueline's solvent had breached before; but above that, she appears to have endured various bullet, blade and spell damage from the various skirmishes she's been forced into since the battle for the Photosphere had begun.
Several of the Tainted pause as they whisper, murmuring in concern and drunkenness. "Miss Riesenlied..."
"No, it can't end like this... we were gonna leave here together!"
Morale is rather low... Riesenlied seems to detect the both of their presences, letting out a strained little noise. She's huddled close towards the Ley, as if nesting over it to harbour its generation. If it is left unchecked...
Mother would be able to sup upon the lifeblood of the planet. The tick which has so venomously devoured the life out of their world... The tick which has conspired to turn Riesenlied into a battery and a weapon so disposable for her.
...dean...avril...
...the...please...
...help...them...
A wisp of consciousness seems to echo out of her, for a scant moment. It touches warmly in their thoughts, empathically-- then the Dragon cries again as something black and vile pulls her thoughts back, cruelly sealing her from reaching out to them. She doesn't want to give up... she believes she can do anything if she doesn't...
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
It... takes a while to find the key.
A good, long while.
This may become a problem later. Still, for now, they've located the key, and the door opens, revealing the way forward to the downward slope of scrap.
Down into the depths of the Gutter.
Towards that point that is so rich in the power of Filgaia that even the Mediums -- even with the Guardians' voices stilled by Mother's awakening -- shiver in recognition of what has been done here.
For it's here that the Ley is damaged.
And it's here that Riesenlied has alighted.
For it is this place that she is bound, tethered by what Alhazred and Mother have done to her, transformed into a conduit -- and protector -- for this Ley Point.
Avril's breath catches in her throat. Slowly, she draws the Medium out. Her expression remains stricken even after she closes her eyes, finally exhales, and wills the Medium's power forth.
It's but a blue flickering flame. Or, perhaps, a wisp of sea air. Itself reaching out for the Medium bonded to Riesenlied, as if it were a thing it were meant to do.
But the connection is frail, especially here. The Guardians are weakened.
Still, for a moment, it's as if Avril can hear Riesenlied's voice.
Silent tears wick their way down her cheeks.
"The rest of you... please, stay here," she whispers, her voice hoarse. "We shall go to her. We..."
The Medium trembles in her hands.
Always serene. Always assured. As if nothing could touch her.
But even ice melts.
She opens her eyes, clutching the now stilled Medium to her chest. "Dean... are you ready?" she asks him at last, turning her face away to wipe away the traces of tears.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Quiet Moment.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
It's a strange and not wholly pleasant feeling when the Original Mountain Medium throbs, sending that same palpitation through Dean's chest like a heart murmur. He stops as they all come to an altar, a Ley Point, and...
"Riesenlied," he whispers, eyes wide.
It hurts Dean to see other people's tears. While Riesenlied might not be able to cry in dragon form, her low wails make it clear she would if she could. She has so many injuries... and she sounds so sad... His shoulders tense when he thinks he hears her voice, and he shoot a look to Avril. "Did you hear--?"
He knows, just looking at Avril, that she did. And it's now that she weeps for their friend.
It hurts Dean to see other people's tears. But he wouldn't ever deny her the right to them. He wants to cry to Riesenlied, too.
Pulling the Mountain Medium from his pocket with one hand, he reaches out with the other to still the tremble of Avril's hands. "Always," he says quietly. "Let's go."
And so Dean advances towards the Ley Dragon, a gun in his heart, if not necessarily his hands, aiming to convey that same will to fight to his poor friend.
DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Standard Cartridge toward his party's challenge, A Quiet Moment.
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>========================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - A Quiet Moment *>======================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come across an altar. The air is mysteriously quiet here... as if the din of battle and the roar of violence cannot reach. Criss-crossed upon the floor are lines the colour of the Ley, leading to a central point upon the dais itself. Those with a Medium on their person can feel it reacting gently, as if the powers that sustain the world themselves are lamenting -- a clear oddity, given how muted the Guardians have been lately. There is something here to do with the Guardians, but what? You could spare a moment to investigate further, but you don't have long -- you have a duty to proceed onward with the refugees after you all catch your breath. (NOTE: @mail Riesenlied if your group succeeds on this challenge, along with what Medium(s) were present throughout your Group. This will grant you a little information pertinent to the Finale on December 8th!) =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point, Hesitate, Overzealous========================
====================<* Photosphere - The Gutter - Round 5 *>==================== ==========================< Results - A Quiet Moment >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 20 --(20)--> 40 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 15 --(15)--> 30 Pass Standard Cartridge 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 80 --(0)--> 80 Fail Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Overzealous(2)|Reckless(1)|Save Point(1) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has failed 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. DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>========================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - A Breach of Protocol *>===================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- A gigantic Breach tore the Photosphere's underside open centuries ago when it first crashed into Filgaia. Fortunately for the Hyadeans, this breach was not obvious from the outside, buried against the thick Arctican snowfield and shielded by the barrier that surrounds it. Since then, the Breach has served as an impromptu entrance and exit for the Tainted and others unfit or not honoured to use the passages above. It leads to a shallow cavern system in the mountain ranges of Arctica, and with enough persistence, you should be able to hightail the refugees out of here and to safety. Before you can even access the cavern, however, an enormous Metal Dragon descends and blocks your path. The Dragon is rent from head to toe with massive tears and injuries from scraps with other Drifters and allied forces. In the state it's in, you could probably take it down... but do not underestimate a wounded Dragon in the slightest! =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Avril and Dean both stand before Riesenlied. Their Mediums are clutched, Avril's to her chest, Dean in his hand, trembling.
There is a painful little moment in which the both of them can feel it -- first through the din of the Mediums' pulse, then through their hearts and minds...
...but the cruelty of Alhazred's solution restrains her. Her straining gets harder, and more painful--
As she feels Avril's tears silently flowing to her cheeks. As she feels the ice melt.
As she feels Dean's will, manifested almost like an ARM within his heart... yes, it was like that, wasn't it? Loaded into the chambers of his heart...
Then there's a ROAR.
It isn't Riesenlied's -- the Tainted cover themselves as a second Metal Dragon, rent from head to toe with wounds and injuries in the scraps it's had from skirmishes from other Drifters, descends. It has a red gleam on its eye that's much more violent, looking towards Avril and Dean--
--no!
The Ley Dragon suddenly pounces on its brethren, both of them battered and injured; the Ley Dragon's red tainted blood intermixing with the others' quicksilver. They grapple and wrestle, howling at each other's faces as Riesenlied gets another tear across her chest--
...hurry... please-- get them...
...out of here...
...i trust you...
i believe in you....
...
...i won't... give up...
The way out is evident, a giant Breach that's served as an impromptu exit just slightly past where the combat has broken out. Still... in her condition, Riesenlied is probably not going to get the clear upper hand without some assistance.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
He takes her hand. It's enough of an assent as any on its own. She nods at his words and begins her descent.
Perhaps... with what they have in their hearts, and what they have found here, it might be enough to reach her.
Perhaps there's still a chance.
Right now, they can't give up.
In silence they approach the point at the bottom of the incline.
When out rings a roar from above. Releasing her grip on Dean's hand, Avril takes one short step back, her gaze swinging up at the descent of the dragon, only to emit a horrified gasp as Riesenlied lunges to grapple with it. "No! You mustn't!"
But even like this, Riesenlied has made the only decision she could have, with the heart that beats in her chest. Gritting her teeth, Avril swings a glance back at the massed Metal Demons, then gestures to them. "This way! Hurry!"
But she knows Riesenlied -- already wounded -- can't manage this long.
And so, one hand cradling the Sea Medium, she closes on the Dragon.
In her other, she grips the hilt of Absolute Zero.
Like a spectre of death, she drives in. Pulls the trigger.
Let there be light.
She'll take its wings. A leg. Its tail.
Whatever she may reach first.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Beam Whip Mode toward her party's challenge, A Breach of Protocol.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
At first, it seems like things will be all right. Not 'might,' but *will*, because Dean has that kind of faith in himself and his friends and their future together. But then there's another roar, perhaps from the same Metal Dragon as before, and the creature BURSTS into the chamber, rent with injuries from head to toes. Dean whirls, eyes widening--but then the Ley Dragon leaps upon it, holding it back, abandoning the Ley Point and revealing the breach beyond that her mass had previously hidden. He hears that voice again, beseeching them to get the others out of here, promising she won't give up.
And of course, he won't either.
The Tainted Metal Demons cluster above, frightened, their buzz already thoroughly ruined. "C'mon! Hurry, this way!" he shouts to them, echoing Avril as they both wave them forward. Fortunately, they listen and hurry down towards the breach. "Now keep going! We'll be right behind you!" he tells them, urging them forward. They listen, thankfully. Once they're all past into the Breach, Dean turns, trading Medium for ARMs.
Avril charges into the thick of the fray as Riesenlied and the Metal Dragon grapple each other, red and silver blood splattering in all directions. Dean is no less courageous, charging for one of those tears in the body of the attacking Metal Dragon. He leaps into the air, and with a great battle shout, he slams his combat rods *hard* into the sparking circuits within.
Here's hoping they're something important.
DG: Dean Stark has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Breach of Protocol.
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>========================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - A Breach of Protocol *>===================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- A gigantic Breach tore the Photosphere's underside open centuries ago when it first crashed into Filgaia. Fortunately for the Hyadeans, this breach was not obvious from the outside, buried against the thick Arctican snowfield and shielded by the barrier that surrounds it. Since then, the Breach has served as an impromptu entrance and exit for the Tainted and others unfit or not honoured to use the passages above. It leads to a shallow cavern system in the mountain ranges of Arctica, and with enough persistence, you should be able to hightail the refugees out of here and to safety. Before you can even access the cavern, however, an enormous Metal Dragon descends and blocks your path. The Dragon is rent from head to toe with massive tears and injuries from scraps with other Drifters and allied forces. In the state it's in, you could probably take it down... but do not underestimate a wounded Dragon in the slightest! =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
====================<* Photosphere - The Gutter - Round 6 *>==================== =======================< Results - A Breach of Protocol >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 40 --(5)--> 45 Pass Beam Whip Mode 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 30 --(5)--> 35 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Overwhelm|Overzealous(1) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has successfully explored Photosphere - The Gutter!
=========================<* Photosphere - The Gutter *>========================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - Towards a New World *>====================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- "Just... a little more..." The noise of propellers and the low whirr of Kislevi slave generators echo at the mouth of the frosted cavern as you exit through to the other side -- The Fereshte is here! Overjoyed hollers and shouts echo through the snowfield as the Tainted reunite with their long lost friends; the Wayside Outreach's medics and first responders take the refugees from here, loading them up to the cargo bay which is currently acting as an emergency clinic. The Outreach thanks you for your hard work and efforts, and provides healing and restorative services so that you can head back. You've succeeded in rescuing a group of Tainted! But the battle is not yet over. Mother awaits, as do more refugees within the Gutter... (NOTE: Your efforts have contributed to the total Exploration of this Dig! After a certain point, the rescue efforts will be deemed a success!) =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
The Daring Boy is not a title lightly bestowed -- and Dean shows courage as he charges in and lets out a hard *strike* towards the rent evident in the breaches of the Metal Dragon's armored chest. It lets out a loud howl...
...and glances too late as Avril comes in, a low thrum prefacing the flash of light as the beam whip lashes out. The sound of metal grinding is heard, and then one of the Metal Dragon's wings collapses in a spray of quicksilver, letting out a louder and more pained snarl still as it shoves the Ley Dragon backwards and onto its side. Just as it seems as if Riesenlied's been thrown onto the back foot--
It collapses.
The Ley Dragon lets out a sorrowful noise, just for a moment longer... but Dean and Avril are now in the clear. Pretty soon, past the breach, as they run, as the Tainted run until it feels like their lungs are going to burst and their legs are going to fall apart (in the cases where they haven't already fallen apart and have been replaced with, idk, a dough mixer), they hear it.
The sound of propellers and the thrum of engines.
The Fereshte rises in the distance as it sweeps through its patrol, and several familiar faces point. "There they are! It's Dean and Avril, they've got more refugees!" shouts Dva.
The Outreach's medics are gathered immediately; Dean and Avril can see relieved faces as families of Tainted are reunited for the first time in what must be at least a year. A father embraces and weeps as an armless child wails into his shoulder. Val is exploding confetti in the background, before getting whapped and ordered to help carry a gurney.
Their Gears, too, are ready, whatever they need, thanks to the works of Hammer and the like. It seems like the other Drifters are ready to finally finish this once and for all...
The Photosphere and the Gutter still awaits them.
Riesenlied awaits them.