2018-12-14: As Below So Above
- Log: As Below So Above
- Cast: Loren Voss, Gwen Whitlock, Lan Lilac
- Where: Photosphere - External Defenses
- Date: December 14th 2018
- Summary: En route to a rendezvous, Loren and Lan cross paths with Gwen as they attempt to negotiate the twists and turns of the Photosphere.
DG: A party led by Loren Voss is now entering Photosphere - Alien Catacombs. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - Running the Gauntlet *>===================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The entrance to the Photosphere has been carved, rather than created. A massive blast from the Dragonship Destiny's cannon has tore a hole through the outer shell of the Photosphere. The wall has been carved open, leading to the tunnels on the inside. However, crossing that ground is no easy thing: a veritable swarm of Metal Demons is clashing with representatives of Althena's Guard, the surviving guard members of New Arctica, and some Drifters. The result is a fierce, violent melee outside of the Photosphere. Blasts of energy from Metal Beasts, shots from gunsmoke ARMs, and sorcerous fire and lightning criss-cross that space. To get inside the Photosphere, one must run through the crossfire. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
There had been a confrontation running outside the Photosphere.
'Had' is the operative word. By now the grand melee has migrated inside the breached outer walls of the Metal Demons' home, all courtesy to the many many holes opened in what had once been an inpenetrable shell.
Loren and Lan have found out that the situation has changed. Somewhat.
Which is the understatement to end all understatements. Suddenly the map she had sketched on the wall seems a mere joke, when it comes to navigating a battlefield studded with Metal Demons, Metal Beasts, and worst of all, Drifters.
With high-powered, explosive weaponry.
Clad in the black bodyarmor favored by Gebler operatives, marked with the insignia of the medical division, and his face hidden by the helmet, the young medic might for the moment stand as an oddity in the field of battle particularly when accompanied by a young blonde Baskar girl.
He's carrying quite the good bit of gear, to judge by the size of the pack he's shouldering.
He bites back an oath and stares down the chaos for a heartbeat more.
"Don't let go of my hand," he warns the girl, grabbing for her wrist.
And then focuses, shedding his awareness into the device looped around his wrist beneath the armor and pushing it outwards in a sudden burst of enhancing Ether. The senses are sharpened, reflexes are honed.
It gives Loren a headache, just like always.
Then he bolts for it, hoping for speed if not luck in this endeavor.
DG: Loren Voss has used his Tool Ether Tuner toward his party's challenge, Running the Gauntlet.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
An opportune Metal Demon, a dragonfly-esque shaped being that manages to have more arms than either a human *or* a dragonfly, swoops down to intercept the Baskar girl and her Gebler agent friend, razor sharp silver wings blurring its approach.
A well-placed pulse of laser crashes just to its side, if not directly, causing its descent to angle just behind the two, rather than directly through them.
Gwen lands with a grunt a few steps ahead of them, having leapt from a tall piece of rubble that dotted the battletorn landscape. "I'll join and try to cover for you!"
hello loren she is assuming you are loren because that's the only Gebler(ish) person she's seen with lan, hello, a gwen is here
She's also missing several items of clothing, for some reason. Maybe she had to shed some layers inside?
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Running the Gauntlet.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - Running the Gauntlet *>===================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The entrance to the Photosphere has been carved, rather than created. A massive blast from the Dragonship Destiny's cannon has tore a hole through the outer shell of the Photosphere. The wall has been carved open, leading to the tunnels on the inside. However, crossing that ground is no easy thing: a veritable swarm of Metal Demons is clashing with representatives of Althena's Guard, the surviving guard members of New Arctica, and some Drifters. The result is a fierce, violent melee outside of the Photosphere. Blasts of energy from Metal Beasts, shots from gunsmoke ARMs, and sorcerous fire and lightning criss-cross that space. To get inside the Photosphere, one must run through the crossfire. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
=================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs - Round 1 *>================== =======================< Results - Running the Gauntlet >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loren Voss 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Ether Tuner 1 Agility Effects: Quicken and Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Loren Voss 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Slow(2) Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Loren Voss has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Gwen Whitlock has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= ===================<* CHALLENGE - Malfunctioning Elevator *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Being a sphere, the Photosphere requires navigating the Y-axis, as well as the X-axis. When you enter this elevator and press the button, it rises upward. Then it /jerks/, slamming upward, before it begins to plummet downward in a sharp descent. Metal screeches upon metal in the elevator shaft outside, and you realize that this elevator is direly out of control. Worse, there are no obvious controls beyond the buttons -- and you feel reasonably certain the "Call Help" button will go unheeded. Somehow, you need to find a way to stop the elevator, before it slams down into the bottom of the floor below -- and costs you either precious time or precious life. Of course, if you can manipulate the elevator just so, you may be able to skip past a few obstacles, too... =Dungeon Conditions: Madness, Secret==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
He's aware of Gwen's presence, if but in a very 'in passing' way.
Because right now there are other problems he's currently dealing with:
* The explosive round unleashed by a Metal Beast that looks like someone merged a tank with a camel that goes whizzing just past his head, courtesy of a well-timed and Ether-enhanced sideways lurch on his part.
* Nearly getting clocked by some lady with an oversized and most definitely verbotten ancient ARM of some stripe.
* fire so much fire why is there so much fire
* are those bombs
* those were bombs
* looks like not all the metal demons defected
In short, it's pretty bad out there. So the moment an opportunity presents itself for an immediate exit stage left to a hopefully less maddening section of the battlefield, Loren takes it.
...Still dragging Lan along after him, who, through all that, hasn't taken a scratch.
(technically neither has he, but psychological damage probably counts for something)
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Regardless of whether Loren and/or Lan are aware of Gwen simply inviting herself into their party, when they all find themselves in the relatively quiet sanctuary of an elevator, it becomes very clear that this party of two has just become a party of three. Gwen, for the most part, looks like she usually does, sans parka and all her winter gear, but the woolen undershirt does her no favors outside of 'covering her skin up enough' save for her neck. The fact that there's an old burn scar on one side there is probably not really all that notable as the fact that they are in a complete and utter warzone.
Adjusting her right sleeve, Gwen pauses, trying to find an exit in the other side of the elevator, or, as she's just about to clue in to: 'the strange contraption that reminds Gwen of some of the fancy devices she's seen in Seed cities'. "Oh, wait. This is..."
She looks to Loren with a shrug, and, if Loren doesn't go ahead and press a button himself, Gwen looks at the panel and, after making an educated guess, presses a button.
It seems to be the 'right one', all until the elevator begins to plunge right back down. "EEAAAAAGGHHH!" Gwen, of course, being a -Lamb-, begins slamming her right hand against closed doors. It'll take a moment longer to show she's trying to pry them open, which, well.
At least she's trying. While screaming.
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Malfunctioning Elevator.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Why is there so much fire?!
Fortunately for the both of them, Lan is pretty easy to drag along, and has been fairly docile so far. Her long legs make it easy to keep up with Loren's hurried pace, and she's still a little shocked from Loren actually touching her of his own free will. Layering those on top of that moment of fugue she'd experienced has left Lan feeling... strange.
This doesn't feel real, she thinks, but that's crazy so she keeps it to herself.
Maybe every war is like this...
Something sails past her, silver wings smoking at the edges. "Uh," she begins, fingers spasming around Loren's. "Hey, Loren, that's--" A sudden sharp turn into a metal box (elevator, her brain supplies once she's had a moment to look at the controls) and she's finally doing something besides blindly following - even if it's just 'worrying about another Lamb'. "Gwen! It's so good to see you, are you okay?!"
And then nobody was okay, because gravity happened.
Lan, it turns out, is too scared to even scream. Instead, she freezes, losing valuable seconds before jerkily grabbing for the ribbon in her hair, yanking it free with a sound a little like a snapping whip. She grabs for their hands, the length of silver threaded between her fingers in a last-ditch effort to spread its antigravity magic out as far as she can. "Hold on!"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"I know."
His response to Lan is short, curt almost.
Two has become three.
Well, it works out -- she might now know but he's got good reason to believe she suspected anyway. For now, Whitlock's still a useful resource. He might not invite her as such, but instead moves aside. Grudgingly, like a cat roused from a chair, but he still moves to let her join up with them.
It's an elevator, just about the best possible option for getting away from the fighting outside.
Assuming it works, anyway.
Loren slumps against one wall of the elevator and exhales, gesturing vaguely for Gwen to hit a button as takes a moment to collect himself.
Only to straighten with a start as one thought detonates across his brain:
does Gwen even know what an elevator is or how it works
It's probably not her fault, technically, when the whole thing goes to hell, but it doesn't stop him from barking, "What did you do?"
As the elevator continues to dive.
Pushing Gwen aside, Loren approaches the keypad, gaze skimming it, looking for -- okay, emergency stop, emergency stop doesn't work.
He takes a breath. Steady, steady now. Think--
Floors continue to blur by.
Realization strikes him for the second time. The button had been loose. What if--
So then there follows what at first might look like an attempt for a last meal before death as he pulls out a nutribar, unwraps it...
And smashes it into the control panel. A simple burst of water Ether makes it a gluelike paste.
...They expect people to eat these.
DG: Loren Voss has used his Tool Soylent Nutribar toward his party's challenge, Malfunctioning Elevator.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= ===================<* CHALLENGE - Malfunctioning Elevator *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Being a sphere, the Photosphere requires navigating the Y-axis, as well as the X-axis. When you enter this elevator and press the button, it rises upward. Then it /jerks/, slamming upward, before it begins to plummet downward in a sharp descent. Metal screeches upon metal in the elevator shaft outside, and you realize that this elevator is direly out of control. Worse, there are no obvious controls beyond the buttons -- and you feel reasonably certain the "Call Help" button will go unheeded. Somehow, you need to find a way to stop the elevator, before it slams down into the bottom of the floor below -- and costs you either precious time or precious life. Of course, if you can manipulate the elevator just so, you may be able to skip past a few obstacles, too... =Dungeon Conditions: Madness, Secret==========================================
=================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs - Round 2 *>================== =====================< Results - Malfunctioning Elevator >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loren Voss 0 --(25)--> 25 Fail Soylent Nutribar 2 Wits Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 10 --(25)--> 35 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Loren Voss 20 --(10)--> 30 Fail Conditions: Injure(1)|Madness|Secret(2)|Slow(1) Effects: Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Loren Voss 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: Loren Voss has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Collapsing Roof *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you make your way into the Photosphere, you find that the battle outside has caused some damage to the structure to the Photosphere. More worryingly, though, is the fact that the Photosphere periodically shows intense signs of damage: when it crashed a millennium ago, the damage has made some tunnels buckle and shift. That includes the narrow tunnel that you enter. A loud 'boom' from outside, likely from an ARM blast striking true, causes the tunnel around you to shift. Then, huge pieces of the roof begin crashing down around you. Plates and the occasional structural beam rip through the ceiling, and smash down towards you! =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Injure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Doin' the same thing you're doin' now, n' it's havin' the same effect!" Somehow, Loren's barking just causes Gwen to bark back, despite her pretty much *knowing* more than she did when they first met.
In the middle of Gwen's panicked punching, she does notice the bar being mashed into the control panel. "Isn't that an energy bar...?" While making this expert observation, she's halted her yelling and her punching, which thankfully gives Lan ample time to wrap that precious ribbon around her hands.
And just in time, too.
***CRASH***
When the air finally clears of the dust and debris thrust upwards by the elevator, a crumpled, shattered elevator car lays in ruin.
In the middle of the rubble, three people lay, squished together, having managed to somehow stay alive on account of Lan's antigravity magic.
And lots and lots of luck.
Gwen groans, trying to shift away from the accidental(?) buddy pile in order to hoist up a piece of metal with her right ARM. ".... I think," she says, her voice still rough with dust and all the earlier screaming, "the coast is clear enough for us t'move..."
DC: Lan Lilac switches forms to Helpful Nomad Lan!
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
The button sticks.
The elevator doesn't stop.
That... wasn't it, Loren thinks distantly.
Earth Ether flares, shedding some of its force and stability into them and the plummeting elevator.
It's... better than doing nothing, on his end. At least the Etheric shield absorbs some of the resultant shock and helps to prevent -- in conjunction with the ribbon's magics -- them all from dying messily.
Instead they all end up in a heap amidst the debris of the elevator car.
Loren thinks he still possibly has both legs. And something's under his hand--
oh.
He moves with remarkable speed when given the opportunity, scrambling up and out under the chunk of steel Gwen lifts overhead. He doesn't say anything. He's never saying anything ever again.
Which might be just as well, since this is the moment when another explosion booming out, from above. Hardly the first, since Loren's deployment here and certainly not the last to make dust rain from the hallway ceiling here.
The others, though, didn't make the ceiling start caving in.
He stands a moment, agitation nearly palpable as he gestures for them to run down the opposite end of the basement-level corridor. "Move! Just move!"
To underscore that sentiment he again processes Ether through the device around his wrist, turning his will out amongst them all. The essence of water: grace and speed.
The latter is more important right now.
Headache or not, he books it down the hallway, weighted pack and all.
DG: Loren Voss has used his Tool Ether Tuner toward his party's challenge, Collapsing Roof.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
The elevator continues to plummet. If only they'd had more nutribars...!
There is a great, deafening crash, and then quiet. Lan comes back to her senses on the ground, squished in with Gwen and Loren and a goodly amount of what used to be the elevator ceiling. "Ergh," she groans. Something moves on top of her and she's pretty sure she felt a hand on the back of her shorts - and then it's snatched away, coincidentally at the same time Loren scrambles up and away from her.
Oh.
"You're a lifesaver," she smiles up at Gwen clearing the way for them. She'd rather not hang out in here any longer, climbing out of the wreck of the lift as soon as possible. It's a miracle nobody died...!
Oooor maybe it's too early to be counting their blessings just yet. Lan hastily knots the ribbon around her ponytail again, sprinting forward as soon as it feels reasonably secure. "Come on!"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Thankfully, for Loren, Gwen seems innocent of his.... mishap, having mostly been smooshed into Lan. ... Which only means Loren has to -live with what he's done-.
But not for long. Gwen barely has enough time to recollect her wits, as well as properly appreciate Lan's gratitude, before the ceiling above begins to cave in. "D-damn it, the hallway's beginning to crumble!"
The courier urges her still cramping legs into a full sprint, something that feels *surprisingly easy*. Hardly like she's tugging on a body part that's far heavier than the rest of her. A bewildered glance is sent in Lan's direction first, then at Loren's, realizing its real source. ... Huh.
Will it be enough?
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Collapsing Roof.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Collapsing Roof *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you make your way into the Photosphere, you find that the battle outside has caused some damage to the structure to the Photosphere. More worryingly, though, is the fact that the Photosphere periodically shows intense signs of damage: when it crashed a millennium ago, the damage has made some tunnels buckle and shift. That includes the narrow tunnel that you enter. A loud 'boom' from outside, likely from an ARM blast striking true, causes the tunnel around you to shift. Then, huge pieces of the roof begin crashing down around you. Plates and the occasional structural beam rip through the ceiling, and smash down towards you! =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Injure=========================================
=================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs - Round 3 *>================== =========================< Results - Collapsing Roof >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loren Voss 25 --(2)--> 27 Fail Ether Tuner 1 Agility Effects: Quicken and Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 35 --(0)--> 35 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Loren Voss 30 --(30)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Injure(2)|Madness|Secret(1) Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Loren Voss 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: Gwen Whitlock has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Automated Doors *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- When you enter the next room, there is a shudder from the door behind you -- and the door in front of you. Then, both of them slam shut, descending from the ceiling. This leaves you trapped inside of the room. The good news is that the expected flood of poison gas, sand, or some other terror does not come. The bad news, however, is that the doors do not just slide back open. A few consoles on the wall may offer one way to open the sealed doors. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Slow============================================
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
If no one ever talks about this ever again it'll be too soon.
At least none of his colleagues are here to see this. There would be rumors spreading for days.
Leah would never let him live it down.
But sudden and immenent peril has a way of wiping lesser errors from one's mind.
They're fleet, fleetfooted as the river rapids--
Well, except for Loren, weighed down by his pack.
...The upshot is that Loren doesn't get squished, which is as far as he considers it a definite plus.
The downside though is that he does get bowled ass over teakettle off THROUGH the far wall, flung there by a sudden and possibly final crash of some upper layer down through into the basement.
He lies there for the moment, as if he'd like to stay like that and just not get up again.
The room he's currently lying in is still lit, a fare contrast to the guttering lights of the corridor they had been in... where there are still lights to be had at all.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
They run, and they run, and Loren pays for being the party packhorse by being used to demolish part of the actual Photosphere. Truly, his is a tale that will echo through the hallowed halls of Jugend...!
Probably as a cautionary tale.
Lan leaps over a chunk of ceiling, dashes through the hole Loren made in the wall, and offers him her hand up. "Hey, can't you ditch that stuff?" Just because it's expensive medical equipment doesn't mean it's worth more than their lives!
"Gwen, are you okay?!" she calls, turning back to look for the courier - only to get a great view of the room's two actual exits slamming shut. "No way...!" She digs into her pocket for the folded scrap of oracle paper. "It's got to be one of those panels, right? Which one...?!"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen barely has enough time to *leap* out of the way of the bowling ball that is Loren, who manages to crash *through* the nearby wall, and into a completely new corridor.
Seeing as one corridor is as good as the other, Gwen shrugs and steps through the hole Loren has graciously made for them, holding out a hand in case Lan needs one to get over the jagged metal shards left behind.
Yeah, they should, uh, make sure Loren is okay. Because it *is* Loren. Gwen can tell, even with the mask he has on.
"You okay, Loren?" Ah, she should really go with 'Mr. Voss', but it feels more 'right' to go with Loren right now. Nothing like a narrowly avoiding death over the course of several days (and even before that) to make someone feel like an old acquaintance!
Now, they'll have even more time for all three of them to get to know one another, as walls promptly slam down on all three sides, save the one Loren crushed into, and...
*clank, clank*
".... Oh, hey, I think you managed t'jam the vent when you slammed into the wall here. Good aim! Now, we just need t'get one of these walls open..." Gwen experimentally attempts to, of course, punch at one, but the wall holds firm. "Any luck with that panel over there, Lan? I could try t'make an opening myself, but if we can use a panel instead, that'd be better. These walls are thick."
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Automated Doors.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"No, I can't," comes Loren's response. A good two thirds of what's in this kit is gear that procurement would have a literal fit about, and which of course would probably constitute a large security breach on its own and trigger an audit, probably.
Also they'd just make him go back and get it.
YES, even if the Photosphere is reduced to rubble.
He stands after a moment, thankful for the padding in the armoring, among other things.
Which is when the grating slams down on both sides.
"Oh, wonderful. That's just want I've always wanted to see," he groans, shaking his head. They're trapped. In a place that's due for...
"And I'm fine," he says, hissing out the last word. He's fine. Everything is fine. Everything is great!
There's no one else that could be except Loren.
He stalks over the nearby console as the two women prod at the door.
"Ugh," is his commentary on the current situation before he prods at a likely-seeming series of buttons.
The panel responds by popping out of the wall. ...Attached, mercifully, by its wiring and fortunately caught by Loren, but still sort of a problem.
The sort of problem that he might be able to turn into an opportunity. Maybe with some tweaking of the wiring it might be possible to bypass the need for a code.
...Except he's hardly an electrical engineer even when it's technology he's familiar with, let alone aliens from another planet. Maybe... if he gums up the connection points...
There's another sound of crinkling. ...The nutribars really do turn into an excellent paste with the application of varying degrees of water. He remembers a story about someone using one to seal a hole in a boat. He'd thought it was just a tall-tale at the time, but--
DG: Loren Voss has used his Tool Soylent Nutribar toward his party's challenge, Automated Doors.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Automated Doors *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- When you enter the next room, there is a shudder from the door behind you -- and the door in front of you. Then, both of them slam shut, descending from the ceiling. This leaves you trapped inside of the room. The good news is that the expected flood of poison gas, sand, or some other terror does not come. The bad news, however, is that the doors do not just slide back open. A few consoles on the wall may offer one way to open the sealed doors. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Slow============================================
=================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs - Round 4 *>================== =========================< Results - Automated Doors >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loren Voss 27 --(0)--> 27 Pass Soylent Nutribar 2 Wits Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 35 --(10)--> 45 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Loren Voss 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Injure(1)|Madness|Slow(2)|Stupify(2) Effects: Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Loren Voss 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> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Probably got all his supplies," Gwen offers to Lan. "I'd had a bunch more on me too, but, uh... something... happened."
She lets out a small, strange little sigh, remembering the soft fluffiness of the angry bird's chest feathers. There's a name for those, but Gwen's just going to call them 'soft fluffy ones'. The sigh turns into a shudder.
Ah. Right. "Uh, by the way. I promised, for a friend of mine, that I'd, uh, ask. Have either of you seen any cuccos around? Like, of any size. I told him it'd be kinda silly if there were, but he just was *convinced* his cuccos got in here."
Somehow, Gwen's lie is even worse than the truth, but not by much.
Strangely enough, Loren's mad plan finally worked.
That, or Lan's own prodding at her panel convinced that wall to retract back into the ceiling.
Third possibility is 'a god has taken pity on Loren's plight'.
DG: Loren Voss has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= ===================<* CHALLENGE - Golem Lolithia - Phase 1 *>=================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Deep within the Photosphere, Mother has a sentinel. A cavernous chamber stretches out, providing a final choke point before the control center of the Photosphere can be reached. Filling the chamber is the same Golem stolen by the Metal Demons during the Battle of Adlehyde: Lolithia. This dark blue, armored Golem towers over the room and the many Drifters engaging it in combat. Indeed, as you enter the room, the sound of battle greets you: blasts of energy, gunshots, and flashes of swords all meet the mighty armor of the Elw Golem. The Golem's eyes flash with golden light. Then, it rears back a huge claw, and slams it down into the ground. A moment later, blasts of energy come raining down... and the battle is joined! (NOTE: This card assumes that all of the people running the Dig, and possibly a few named NPCs, are in a massive brawl against a Gear-sized enemy. If you pass this card, you will have Quick and Shield for the final battles. If you fail, you will have Slow and Break.) =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer, Exhaust==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Sheep, boar, seven, bird... Lan squints at her oracle paper, then looks up at the array of consoles. It turns out that Baskar occult symbolism is really lacking in 'computer anything'. She has no idea what this answer even means. "Uh... I think it's going poorly," she answers honestly. In an effort to contribute anything, she presses a few keys at random. See? She's trying!!
"Is it the same thing that happened to the rest of your clothes?" Lan asks, looking up from jamming her thumb into the same button for five seconds, as if the extra emphasis will make something actually happen. "You've normally got more on." This from the woman who runs around with every inch of her legs on display back home!!
"..." There's something that doesn't really add up about Gwen's story. She just doesn't know what. It's just... well, something's odd, is all. The gears turn slowly, until Lan has one of those 'hypothesis' things Loren has mentioned. "Did... a cucco steal your stuff?"
it's not a very good one
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Somehow, it works. Against all odds, it works.
Or maybe Metal Demon systems just aren't made to handle organic (?) materials jammed into the wiring. Whatever the reason, the shutter slowly winches its way open...
"A cucco? Why would a cucco -- any cuccos -- be in--"
A great roar echoes out from above, followed by an explosion. Brilliant light floods down the passageway leading up from the point they now stand. It seems that the basement level leads up here.
To this place perhaps close to the heart of the Photosphere.
Where the stolen Golem Lolithia now stands, busied in combat with a full host of Drifters.
Loren takes a moment to stare.
One massive clawed hand slams into the floor of the Photosphere here. Loren tilts his head back, as if to gaze up at the ceiling.
"I don't suppose either of you is in possession of an anti-tank weapon?"
He exhales, as if to breathe out stress and Ether both at once. Light, hard and sharp like a crystal, manifests about the lot of them in a hemi-spherical dome.
"...Didn't think so."
Light comes down in a hard rain about them, pattering off the shield he raises.
"Great," is his final summation of the situation, before with another burst of Ether -- for power, this time, the wadded up stressors and tensions that rest deep in the planet -- he bolts forward, apparently uninterested in attempting some sort of bunker warfare against the Golem.
The Drifters not laid low by that salvo from the Golem return the favor in kind.
This is war.
DG: Loren Voss has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Golem Lolithia - Phase 1.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"... Lolithia..." Gwen murmurs the name softly, something deep in her gut twisting. So much she's learned about the Golem have only served to raise it from its status as just some weird, giant artifact to something more mysterious, its identity, purpose, and makeup veiled from her ability to understand. Just shades of the story, not enough to understand in full.
".... My ARM's managed to take on a Gear before," Gwen answers Loren, after some consideration. "Maybe if we all try it at the same time? That's what worked then. One of them has got to have the right combo to get through the golem's armor." With a soft exhale, Gwen wills her ARM to begin the seemingly long process of charging. Plates shift, yellow-gold energy thrums and pulses in an ancient rhythm. The Mockingbird, now held rigidly in front of Gwen, resembles a strangely shaped weapon than it does an approximation of her human arm.
And all the while, as it charges, Loren's shield holds against rain of light like a roof against a hail storm. "Yeah, I doubt there'd be any cuccos here. The guy was just probably holdin' on to some little thread of hope. I guess... whatever gets you through, huh...?"
Her stomach twists again.
She hopes Dean isn't here to see this. It'd break his heart, to see and have to act against proud technology of a bygone age, forced by the events to be in the hands of the very enemy it was meant to destroy. And if what beat inside it was laid open for all to see, how different would it look like from Gwen's new heart?
"I'm really sorry," she murmurs, tears welling in her eyes, moments before she lets that aimed barrage of energy free, straight towards Lolithia.
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Full Metal Courier toward her party's challenge, Golem Lolithia - Phase 1.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= ===================<* CHALLENGE - Golem Lolithia - Phase 1 *>=================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Deep within the Photosphere, Mother has a sentinel. A cavernous chamber stretches out, providing a final choke point before the control center of the Photosphere can be reached. Filling the chamber is the same Golem stolen by the Metal Demons during the Battle of Adlehyde: Lolithia. This dark blue, armored Golem towers over the room and the many Drifters engaging it in combat. Indeed, as you enter the room, the sound of battle greets you: blasts of energy, gunshots, and flashes of swords all meet the mighty armor of the Elw Golem. The Golem's eyes flash with golden light. Then, it rears back a huge claw, and slams it down into the ground. A moment later, blasts of energy come raining down... and the battle is joined! (NOTE: This card assumes that all of the people running the Dig, and possibly a few named NPCs, are in a massive brawl against a Gear-sized enemy. If you pass this card, you will have Quick and Shield for the final battles. If you fail, you will have Slow and Break.) =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer, Exhaust==========================================
=================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs - Round 5 *>================== =====================< Results - Golem Lolithia - Phase 1 >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loren Voss 27 --(17)--> 44 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 45 --(10)--> 55 Pass Full Metal Courier 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Loren Voss 80 --(0)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Madness|Slow(1)|Stupify(1)|Suffer(1) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Loren Voss has passed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Gwen Whitlock has drawn a new Challenge.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= ===================<* CHALLENGE - Golem Lolithia - Phase 2 *>=================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- After some time, the battle against Lolithia finally strikes a blow that makes the Golem wheel backward. Lightning explodes and shoots up and down the length of the Golem's body. Then, its shsoulders shudder. The massive blie Golem lists forward. It leans over, without falling over entirely, and it does not stir. A precious opportunity has been bought: the chance to strike at the Golem, and do no small amount of damage to it. Lolithia can be potentially disabled, if everyone strikes now... and with all of the might they have! (NOTE: Lolithia will not be destroyed by this attack, but it will be disabled. If you pass this card, you will have Hyper and a Hi-Heal for the final battles. If you fail this card, you will have Weaken and Disease.) =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"This..." This is all-out war. Lan's never seen so many people fighting at once! And no wonder there are so many... because the thing blocking their way forward is massive. It's not really alive - not even 'alive' like the Metal Beasts, is it?!
What should they do? If they have to go through this... Lan breathes in through her nose, willing herself to be calm and collected. It's just a golem. They have to get past here. An anti-tank weapon??? Lan considers it.
"I brought myself." And her god.
Crossing her fingers in front of her eyes like a warding symbol, Lan stares past them at the bulk of Lolithia, chanting quietly.
As the golem moves, she turns to follow it. Like she's focusing..
Despite no sky being visible, there's a single star visible... and it's getting bigger.
Lan takes a deep breath and shouts. "COME!"
A meteor rockets through the ceiling, aimed for the behemoth in her crosshairs.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Gwen might hesitate out of remorse.
Lan might be stunned at the sight of it.
Loren is simply weary in the face of it, before pressing on as a soldier may.
Well. Nearly so. "A Gear?"
That, it seems, is enough to stop him in his tracks; he glances back over his shoulder.
What face he wears as Gwen readies her arm -- her ARM -- and it undergoes that transformation will have to remain for now a mystery. But he's silent as he watches.
Silent as he draws out that shimmering shield and silent still until he urges that forward charge.
He's support. Perhaps in a Gear or with a group, or not against a Golem, it might be another story. But here and now he uses the talents he possesses in abundance, and draws again and again upon Ether to embolden and strengthen his allies.
And watches. Watches as Gwen discharges that ancient weapon built into her very body.
Watches Lan draw down the stars.
Watches as he shields and enlivens his teammates for the moment, watches as Drifters unleash a torrent of spells and sword and concussive shots against the Golem.
Watches Lolithia begin to list forward like a sinking ship.
But the Golem isn't downed yet. Not at all.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"... I was... covering for someone else." That comment, said offhandedly, seems sheepish enough (no pun intended) to be the truth.
It's not given much more context beyond that, as the battle commences, with Loren standing back to lend support, Lan calling upon the power of the stars above, and Gwen, well, shoots.
It would take a lot more than that to fell a golem of old, but it's enough, when combined with the onslaught of others, to bring it low, but not completely down.
It shudders, and Gwen shudders in turn.
Something flickers in the ARM, causing it to curl and twist briefly, but the moment passes.
"It's now or never!" she cries out and runs in, her right arm at the ready, running towards her fate alongside so many others.
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool ARM-ored Fist toward her party's challenge, Golem Lolithia - Phase 2.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It's an interesting thing, seeing a Guardian summoned.
He remembers when he did it himself. How he'd pleaded with it in a moment of pure, pathetic despiration.
Only the threat on display here in the field at present prevents that memory from being more than a flitting recollection -- he can't afford distraction.
So he buries it at sea, so to speak. He takes a breath.
Jams it deep. Stress. Pressure. When applied on geological scale, rock buckles and fractures. Splits and tears. Vents itself outwards.
As below so above.
The ground trembles. Up from below, into the damaged carcass of Lolithia jams a great spike of stone.
He says nothing. Gwen might shout out encouragement. But he says nothing, continuing to feed his will into the rising rock.
DG: Loren Voss has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Golem Lolithia - Phase 2.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= ===================<* CHALLENGE - Golem Lolithia - Phase 2 *>=================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- After some time, the battle against Lolithia finally strikes a blow that makes the Golem wheel backward. Lightning explodes and shoots up and down the length of the Golem's body. Then, its shsoulders shudder. The massive blie Golem lists forward. It leans over, without falling over entirely, and it does not stir. A precious opportunity has been bought: the chance to strike at the Golem, and do no small amount of damage to it. Lolithia can be potentially disabled, if everyone strikes now... and with all of the might they have! (NOTE: Lolithia will not be destroyed by this attack, but it will be disabled. If you pass this card, you will have Hyper and a Hi-Heal for the final battles. If you fail this card, you will have Weaken and Disease.) =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
=================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs - Round 6 *>================== =====================< Results - Golem Lolithia - Phase 2 >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loren Voss 44 --(100)--> 144 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 55 --(100)--> 155 Pass ARM-ored Fist 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Loren Voss 80 --(10)--> 90 Fail Conditions: Madness|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: Loren Voss is too exhausted to continue! DG: Gwen Whitlock is too exhausted to continue! DG: The party has failed this challenge! All party members are now Exhausted. This attempt is over. DG: The party led by Loren Voss has been fully Exhausted by Photosphere - Alien Catacombs! DG: The party will now draw a conclusion.
======================<* Photosphere - Alien Catacombs *>======================= ==========================<* CHALLENGE - Fall Back! *>========================== |Type: Escape |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The Photosphere has been too much for you. You have been forced to fall back -- whether to a beachhead established within the Photosphere or further, back to the gaping hole torn into the Photosphere by the Dragonship Destiny. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================