2019-03-15: An Echo of the Past
- Log: An Echo of the Past
- Cast: Josephine Lovelace, Quin Rosenberg, Celine Jules
- Where: Ruins of Arctica
- Date: March 14, 2019
- Summary: Back in Elru, Josie ducks into the ruins of Arctica with some companions before heading southerly. For curiosity's sake.
DG: A party led by Josephine Lovelace is now entering Arctica Castle. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==============================<* Arctica Castle *>============================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Metal Beast Patrol *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Long before you draw near the castle grounds, in the distance, it's evident that the forces unleashed on this place when it fell were phenomenal. Craters the size of houses mottle the fields, glass-edged valleys lie carved through great hills, and stone blocks from shattered fortifications have been thrown for miles. The Arctican people's constant vigilance against Metal Demon attacks were dust before a power several magnitudes greater, it seems. But the pickings are slim outside the castle grounds, as Filgaia's fading forces of nature have worked quickly to reclaim the land. With little more more than knee-high rubble surrounding it, you'll have to make your way inside Arctica Castle to find anything of value. To top everything off, it's freezing cold. Snow falls steadily on swift winds, chilling deep. The front gates have been smashed, but not in any kind of way that affords you entry. A melted, tangled mess of steel bars and boulders is all that remains of the castle's grand entryway. But not all the castle's walls have aged so well, and there lie great shattered gaps in the battlements through which a small group could easily and swiftly pass. Said gaps are also patrolled by panther-shaped beasts of fluid metal, with clockwork precision and overlapping fields of view. There comes a mechanical hiss from the treeline behind the group, and all these metallic heads swivel with one movement. Once these beasts are laid to rest, it should be easy going getting inside. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Can't say I've ever plundered a castle before."
Says the woman who, just a week before, stormed Krosse castle to confront her father -- one of Marze's preeminent Symbologists -- and as a consequence played a role in freeing the castle (and the country, probably) of the Malevolent Domain.
Though to be fair she wasn't really exploring the place with an eye towards 'what she could find' and more towards 'how hard she was going to have to kill her father'.
By contrast, Arctica has been dead and gone for years, one of the first to fall under the vanguard of the newly resurgent Metal Demons, though none had realized it at the time.
...Except for Arctica, naturally.
"Well, looks like getting in's no problem, huh?" the wayward archaeologist comments, spotting the smashed gates. A closer approach, though, shows that it's not going to be that easy. For one thing, the gates are smashed in a way that brooks no straightforward entry.
"Looks like it's gonna be straight on up, kids."
And for two, there are the Metal Beasts currently pouring from the top of the battlement as a sudden sound rings out behind the exploratory group.
"Good news," says Josie, unholstering her rifle and drawing a bead on one of the loping creatures. "That's the best place to get in from anyway~"
She sounds positively sunny as she cracks off a shot; Penelope takes flight immediately from her shoulder to points unknown.
A little violence is good for what ails you.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Metal Beast Patrol.
<Pose Tracker> Quin Rosenberg has posed.
Quin keeps looking into these ruins, for whatever reason. She doesn't know what she expects to find in them. Maybe something that her mentor will be able to call a tangible result? Who knows? Either way, it's pretty fun, even if it has scared the hell out of her on multiple occasions. And sometimes it pays pretty well. Danger money, y'know?
She can't help but give a smirk at Josephine's words. "I broke somethin' in one, duzzat count?" she offers teasingly. Yeah, she went into Krosse. It was a stupid idea to go in solo, since she wasn't that great a fighter, but she did fall in with a group once she got there. And she managed to not get herself dead, so she's got that going for her anyway.
But, well... they call it 'danger money' for a reason -- it's always accompanied by DANGER. Like THIS kind of thing, for instance. Metal Demons of some kind? They sure look like it. There's no sneaking past them, though -- once the party's spotted, there's not much that can be done besides fight them. Carefully, though. Can't let herself get surrounded. That would be a grave error.
"Aw butts," Quin notes to the Metal Beast tide. As she pulls her daggers, she notes, "I'm jus' gonna pretend it's a shower 'a money what's makin' that noise." It could very well be. But a shower of money is dangerous too, if one's caught in it. ('Just... be careful Quin, and keep your mind on your work. Sheesh.')
DG: Quin Rosenberg has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Metal Beast Patrol.
<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.
it had been the end of the world? as they knew it? but Celine wasn't part of it. Some things have different importances.
Not every hero could go out to the front line for free - and Celine was an opportunist, even if she was supposedly a good person. Money and safety are seperate things.
"No? I guess it depends on the size of the castle~. This is quite a sizable castle for a first time expedition... my, it'll spoil you for all the future ones." Celine remarks in thinly veiled remarks, smirking as she does - and striding forth with the others, it's the rather cold as well. Celine should be bothered. She SHOULD be freezing. Yet she has a slight aura of heat within that hoop that floats around her, the cape hoop managing to be a full 10-20-30 degrees warmer than the area around her.
It helps that the fiery crest on her skin, that of Symbology, burns brightly. Oh yes, she's certainly cheating.
"My~! I didn't realize this was going to be so active so soon." She quips, striding forth on her heels.
"Buuuut, I'm really not into brutes~." With that, the staff is thrown outwards, pointed towards the patrol that rushes forth! "Fireball! Fire ball! Fiiiiireball!" She proclaims, once after another, sending glowing orbs of flame burning down across the field, burning away a thin layer of frost as they churn through the air.
DG: Celine Jules has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Metal Beast Patrol.
==============================<* Arctica Castle *>============================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Metal Beast Patrol *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Long before you draw near the castle grounds, in the distance, it's evident that the forces unleashed on this place when it fell were phenomenal. Craters the size of houses mottle the fields, glass-edged valleys lie carved through great hills, and stone blocks from shattered fortifications have been thrown for miles. The Arctican people's constant vigilance against Metal Demon attacks were dust before a power several magnitudes greater, it seems. But the pickings are slim outside the castle grounds, as Filgaia's fading forces of nature have worked quickly to reclaim the land. With little more more than knee-high rubble surrounding it, you'll have to make your way inside Arctica Castle to find anything of value. To top everything off, it's freezing cold. Snow falls steadily on swift winds, chilling deep. The front gates have been smashed, but not in any kind of way that affords you entry. A melted, tangled mess of steel bars and boulders is all that remains of the castle's grand entryway. But not all the castle's walls have aged so well, and there lie great shattered gaps in the battlements through which a small group could easily and swiftly pass. Said gaps are also patrolled by panther-shaped beasts of fluid metal, with clockwork precision and overlapping fields of view. There comes a mechanical hiss from the treeline behind the group, and all these metallic heads swivel with one movement. Once these beasts are laid to rest, it should be easy going getting inside. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
=========================<* Arctica Castle - Round 1 *>========================= ========================< Results - Metal Beast Patrol >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quin Rosenberg 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celine Jules 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Josephine Lovelace 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Fright(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace 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> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Not unless you got to keep it," Josie remarks to Quin, an easy smile on her lips.
A few more days like this and she'll be right as rain. "What did you say your name was again? Quin?"
Meanwhile Celine's comment evokes an out-and-out laugh from the archaeologist. "Well, well, little Celine's become quite the mercenary!" she remarks, before winking. "Not that I'm complaining, mind."
A little more like this and she can get back to where she was.
Metal Beasts nonwithstanding.
She gets one good shot off.
The rest, particularly when the technically-still-recovering archaeologist gets charged by a small group of Metal Beasts and the rifle decides to jam? Not so great.
Fortunately if she has one thing on her side, it is--
Fireball!
"Glad you're on my side, Celie," Josie quips, taking the moment to catch her breath and, more importantly, do some quick maintenance on her rifle.
Between Celine's spells and some well-placed knifework from Quin, the problem of the Metal Beasts on patrol is more than resolved.
"Whew. Well, that's done and dusted. What say we get ourselves inside?"
DG: Quin Rosenberg has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Arctica Castle *>==============================
=============<* CHALLENGE - Forgotten Dogtags, Forgotten Passage *>=============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
A glint catches your eye, hidden between an outcropping of ruined masonry
and snow. A chain of metal dog tags belonging to fallen Arctican soldiers
has been discarded here, slaked with blood and intermittently rusted.
No doubt the denizens of New Arctica will be grateful to pass these on to any
surviving next of kin, but they may yet have a use here:
Not far from the fallen tags is a stone trapdoor in the ground with a crude
mechanical keypad inset into it.
---------
| 1 2 3 |
| 4 5 6 |
| 7 8 9 |
---------
_ _ _ _ _ _
The tags and the trapdoor share identical crests. There are suspicious
strings of characters on those tags, maybe there's a common cipher for a
code which could open the door...?
Or you could just mash the buttons.
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Quin Rosenberg has posed.
Noting Celine is using magic -- and probably seeing all those tattoos -- Quin makes up her mind to ask about it once all these beasties are put down. A dagger might not seem like much against giant metal panthers, but it is when you stick them in just the right spots -- like joints and eyes!
And yes, once the Metal Beasts are dealt with, Quin looks to Celine. "Hey... think I recognize those symbols, kinna. I knew somebody who had a bunch 'a those all over 'im. Are you a Symbologist too?" she inquires.
Josephine's question of her name gets an affirmative sound. And then she grins. "Nah. Didn't much wanna keep it, really. Was that big nasty castle that made everything in the area feel like it was scared," she notes. Yeah, that would be Krosse.
Fortunately once the Metal Beasts are put down they can enter. And once they do... there's a trapdoor blocked by a number thingie. And yes, to Quin, it's a 'number thingie'. That's all it is to her. But she does catch sight of the dogtags, and picks them up.
"...Huh." Yeah, she has no idea. But maybe she can figure something out? So she pulls a magnifying glass from her 'bag 'o tricks' (i.e., the stuff she uses to get into places she really shouldn't be) and starts to examine the tags. She'll pass them to others once she's done, and then go look at the number pad with the magnifying glass too. Maybe she can figure out what's going on.
Hopefully the others can, too. Because Quin really doesn't know what she's looking at, to be perfectly honest, and if she can't figure anything out, that's totally what she's gonna do is SHMASH the buttons!
DG: Quin Rosenberg has used her Tool Thief Tools toward her party's challenge, Forgotten Dogtags, Forgotten Passage.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
'Are you a Symbologist too?'
Dark eyes hood a moment.
"Hmm," Josie murmurs, gazing over at Celine sidelong. "She's got you there, Celie. ...Well, let's get going while it's good going, shall we~" And with a bit of a mock-curtsey, the archaeologist tends to the work of ascending the wall to the battlements. And beyond.
"Well, now, isn't that a pain," she comments, squinting at the panel on the wall. "Tell you what, if this won't open, we should--"
She stops, straightens. Glances back over her shoulder.
"Find something, kiddo?"
Maybe this would have normally been the moment when Josie would have gone over and squinted at the tags herself. But instead what happens is:
The tags catch the light suddenly as Quin finishes inspecting them.
Beating wings are the only warning.
A shape swoops in and snatches the tags away, winging off down the hallway towards the panel. "--Penelope? Hey, now--"
Cue here Josie scrambling after the wayward pigeon. The tags glint in the moonlight.
It may just so happen that when the bird relinquishes her prize at last that the first numbers revealed are quite fortuitous...
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Penelope toward her party's challenge, Forgotten Dogtags, Forgotten Passage.
<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.
"Well, you know the phrase, you get what you pay for~." Celine remarks with a little laugh herself, but a good natured one - and the Metal beasts charge forwards. With Quin and her daggers. "Just keep me safe, deary~."
it seems to work, that's for certain. Celine manages to blast them away with the those fireballs, apparently glowing and growing in intensity as they hit the metal beasts. They are, shall you say, kindling to her! As she winks to Josephine, Celine strides forwards, "Of course! After such a welcome, we couldn't just leave without taking a tour!" The woman notes to her older 'mentor' - but wouldn't it be more for inspiration?
Moving forwards, she follows - a mage has no use on the front lines - and looks on at the metal dog tags all around. Rusted. Fallen soldiers that couldn't make it, with a trapdoor and a keypad inside of it. "... why, that's inconvenient." States Celine, as she looks towards it and pokes at it with the bottom of her staff. "Who'd put the numbers in that order on the ground? I wonder if it was a game." She claims, staring down in consideration.
"Eh?" She perks up, hearing Quin. "Well, yes~!. One of Marze finest, at least now~. I'm sure you might have heard of me!" She beams in a way, but it's the inflection on Marze and not finest that identifies she's trying to live up for the town, rather than herself. "Another one? Well, I imagine there's a few... well, if all goes well, you'll see all of my secrets! ... Maybe if it all goes pear shaped, since I hopefully won't have to." She adds.
Her staff is tapping on the ground as she thinks out loud. She ... doesn't have a clue, honestly?
Then staggers back as Penelope comes out and begins to rustle about, Celine staggers. She looks at it, but then the tags. "... They all have numbers. Do you think they mean something?"
But it may be a 'NAH' moment from Celine.
DG: Celine Jules has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Forgotten Dogtags, Forgotten Passage.
==============================<* Arctica Castle *>==============================
=============<* CHALLENGE - Forgotten Dogtags, Forgotten Passage *>=============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
A glint catches your eye, hidden between an outcropping of ruined masonry
and snow. A chain of metal dog tags belonging to fallen Arctican soldiers
has been discarded here, slaked with blood and intermittently rusted.
No doubt the denizens of New Arctica will be grateful to pass these on to any
surviving next of kin, but they may yet have a use here:
Not far from the fallen tags is a stone trapdoor in the ground with a crude
mechanical keypad inset into it.
---------
| 1 2 3 |
| 4 5 6 |
| 7 8 9 |
---------
_ _ _ _ _ _
The tags and the trapdoor share identical crests. There are suspicious
strings of characters on those tags, maybe there's a common cipher for a
code which could open the door...?
Or you could just mash the buttons.
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
=========================<* Arctica Castle - Round 2 *>========================= ===============< Results - Forgotten Dogtags, Forgotten Passage >=============== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Penelope 3 Wits Effects: Resilient and Liabili -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quin Rosenberg 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Thief Tools 2 Wits Effects: Rally and Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celine Jules 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Josephine Lovelace 20 --(15)--> 35 Pass Conditions: Fright(1)|Save Point(1) Effects: Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 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: Celine Jules has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Arctica Castle *>============================= ================<* CHALLENGE - You Are On The Fastest Route *>================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Embedded within Arctica Castle's walls are once-informational terminals made of translucent blue glass, called Hopedia. Powered by some odd mixture of Symbology, their role was once to guide visitors and the elderly around the halls and ensure they do not get lost. ... at least, that was the idea back then -- the ravages of the Metal Demons' attack have corrupted whatever passes for an intelligence within them, as they aggressively swarm around you in order to chart the nearest distance between you and an untimely defenestration. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Quin Rosenberg has posed.
Quin explains, "The guy that taught me how to fight was a Symbologist. I remember he had all these tattoos on his body, so hers reminded me." Then tilting her head to Celine, to indicate her. As for Celine being one of Marze's finest Symbologists? "Huh. Don't think I been through there. At least not recently. Sorry if I'm pryin'. Like I said, I knew somebody what also had tattoos a li'l like that." They wouldn't have been exactly the same, after all, since... well, different element(s).
Josephine's question of if Quin found something gets a nod. "Yeah. These things. They got symbols like on the trapdoor -- hey!" The 'hey', of course, being in response to the pidgeon taking off with the tags. She'll assist in trying to crral the bird, which probably looks a little funny, the five foot girl all in brown chasing after a pigeon. "C'mon, now... we need those!" she coaxes.
Finally though, they're returned. And eventually, between the three of them, they work out the proper code to open the trapdoor. "Right, good," Quin notes. "Didn't feel like tryin' ta smash this thing outta the way." Pause. "Not that I probably could have..." she mutters as she heads down.
<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.
"Oh, did he? Then you must be well trained... not from Marze though, hmm? My, I wonder what he was like then. Oh no, dear, I'm certainly fine with all of those words~. You have to understands... I'm used to sharing about this, especially my skills~. You have to sell yourself to make a big impact." She remarks, winking, and turning away - and stumbling. She wasn't ... quite helpful in the work to get rid of the puzzle! "Wha?! So it was important!?" She asks, gasping a bit, "Oh don't worry, I have you both covered in smashing things! Why, you'll have to see it to believe it!" She exclaims, "But my, I don't really like to be such a showoff~." She so claims.
The trapdoor opens, and down into the ruins of the castle, it opens up into a larger rom of the castle! The walls and halls are lined with what seems to be dormany translucent blue glass. Celine strides in, first for once, and her heels click against the ground. "My, no, speaking of Symbology... I believe there's a bit of it humming around us~."
It's a bad statement to make.
Soon, it is literatelly humming around them. The walls flicker on all at once, a bit of electrical symbology snapping across the Hopedia's, all the screens facing them on the walls - which begin to all push forwards at once. The larger area slowly becomes smaller, and Celine glances about. All around them, the walls were literately closing in!
"THIS is certainly a rude welcome~. They should really know to treat us ladies better, we're guests... after all!" The staff raises once more, "Oh heavenly bolt, called upon by us to seek our way through darkness, enlighten the path to the future in a flash! THUuuuuuNDER bolt!" She calls out, an incantation! A purple bolt, mixed with yellow, glows about her form on an arm, lighting up under some of her clothing as well.
And hopefully, lancing bolts from inside the castle pierce a few of those metallic bits of the walls.
DG: Celine Jules has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, You Are On The Fastest Route.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"She certainly did take to her lessons," Josie comments, though curiously -- or perhaps not so much after recent events -- she fades into the background as the younger girls chatter, her mind for the moment elsewhere.
She's going to find her father again and...
Until the events with the puzzle lock cause a perhaps much-needed distraction on that front.
Eventually, eventually, Josie catches up to Penelope and snatches the prize away. And in doing so, she gets a good look at the numbers there. "Hmm."
"Hey, kids, give this one a shot," she says.
The door obliguingly opens, even if chasing the bird down costs time and energy. True to form, once Josie offers the dogtag back to the pigeon, Penelope wings off...
Without it.
"Well, be like that," Josie grumbles, good naturedly. Stuffing her good hand in her jacket pocket, she ambles on.
"Hm? Oh, are those Symbology? Huh." Tilting her head to one side, she regards one of those glass panes, as if to take in their secrets. "Pretty sturdy stuff if they're still--"
One of the panes rams her. "What-- oh, so that's it, is it?"
Falling back a step she reaches first for her rifle and then thinking the better of it, palms her flask instead.
The contents of this, she sloshes in the air towards the panes. "There! Zap 'em now!"
It's no water, but rotgut is still a liquid...
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Liquid Courage toward her party's challenge, You Are On The Fastest Route.
<Pose Tracker> Quin Rosenberg has posed.
"He might 'a been from Marze, I dunno," Quin notes to Celine. "I never really knew much about 'im. He didn't like ta' talk about himself a lot. I got the feelin' he didn't wanna bring up bad stuff, y'know?" Oooh, maybe a runaway? A FUGITIVE?! Who knows? Quin doesn't seem to. "He was an all right guy though. Saved me from muggers back home." She doesn't say where 'back home' is, but she might not have to.
Though she pauses, to raise an eyebrow at Celine. "...'Smashin' things'?" she asks. "I dunno if that's good or not." In fact, she really doesn't know what Celine's even talking about. Quin has 'country gal' pretty much written all over her face, though, so that's probably what's going on -- things are getting lost in translation between 'big city' and 'country gal'.
Okay now, this stuff down here? Is utterly blowing Quin's mind. The most sophisticated piece of technology she's ever seen is a single DoC Day of Collapse ARM. And she still has no idea how to actually USE the damn thing. So the Hopedias are being looked at like they're an alien spaceship, and they might as well be. "Whoa..." she mutters, walking close to a panel and trying to poke at it.
Which was probably a stupid thing to do because the panels now... seem like they're trying to zap the three of them! "What the...?!" Josephine's instructions catch her attention, but she can't really 'zap' anything. So instead she just strikes out at what looks like a weak point to her. Hopefully it'll cause the right amount of structural damage to move things along in the right direction...
DG: Quin Rosenberg has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, You Are On The Fastest Route.
=============================<* Arctica Castle *>============================= ================<* CHALLENGE - You Are On The Fastest Route *>================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Embedded within Arctica Castle's walls are once-informational terminals made of translucent blue glass, called Hopedia. Powered by some odd mixture of Symbology, their role was once to guide visitors and the elderly around the halls and ensure they do not get lost. ... at least, that was the idea back then -- the ravages of the Metal Demons' attack have corrupted whatever passes for an intelligence within them, as they aggressively swarm around you in order to chart the nearest distance between you and an untimely defenestration. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
========================<* Arctica Castle - Round 3 *>======================== ==================< Results - You Are On The Fastest Route >================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Liquid Courage 3 Combat Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quin Rosenberg 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Celine Jules 5 --(0)--> 5 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Josephine Lovelace 35 --(20)--> 55 Pass Conditions: Fright(2) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace 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: Josephine Lovelace has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Arctica Castle *>============================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Record of the Past *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You discover a strange black object of metallic origin nestled between frozen blocks of debris. Upon inspection, it's clear that this is no Arctican device -- rather, an ARM, likely of Hyadean origin from your experiences with the Metal Demons thus far. Unscathed by the passage of time, it features a flat-panel screen with several beveled buttons and a host of metallic nodes which the more ARM-savvy among you might recognize as inputs for power. If you could scrabble together a means of getting some juice into this thing and figure out how to turn it on, who knows what you might learn? Should your team manage to rig a solution, the following message plays: A soft female voice, with a weary tone. She struggles to sound professional. "... Yes, we are nearly done. We have... subjugated the citizens here. The lower quarter has no defenses -- no, no, they were not able to dedicate many guardsmen to the impoverished humans, sir. ... sir?" A loud explosion of anger on the other end, followed by shouting. A wince. "No, there is no need to send Berserk there-- Please have Hymir Squad stand their ground and leave it to our contingent, sir. ... yes. It will be done. For Mother's sake... for the sake of Hyades." A click. "Please... be safe..." =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.
"They sure are... but we have other problems~." She so claims, before the panes ram her friend - or at least fellow digger - Josie! "No one likes pushy people, they're always such panes~." She'll deserve what comes next, which involves one of them striking her, causing her to flail about and strke another indirectly - but then another strikes her as well! Which, by the way, works! Especially as the flask and water get all over and actively shorts out the magially inclines panes! The symbology apparently manages to, however missed by Celine, transfer the electricity to the others!
Then, a weak point or two are struck by Quin! The wires, stringy things, boxy things, all of tehm are easily targetted by Quin!
With the two of them making space for Celine, she's able to help out with it - though Quin and Josephine mostly take care of the issue! With the panels powering down and others confused, returning to sleep without power source connections or damage to internal bits and bobs, it leaves the three to continue on, unguided - but not panelized for their actions! "No.. I mean yeah." Celine remarks, nodding her head now that it's all over with. "My, then you'll learn so much with us, darling~." She remarks to Quin, brushing herself off from the slight space that was invaded!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Well, that was unexpected," Josie says, kneeling a moment to pick up one of the fallen shards of panel. "Hmm. I don't suppose..."
She pockets some of the debris.
On a whim, as Josies tend to do.
"Well, let's not hang around here. Looks like we can get out into the courtyard..."
She leads the way. Out here, and at night, it is rather cold. Breath fogs the air.
Josie stops for a moment, taking a nip from her flask.
She spots something wedged between ice and stone, black and glittering under moonlight as she caps the flask and pockets it once again. Something about it jogs Josie's memory.
"Hold up a moment." Producing a screwdriver, she prises it free from the rock.
"Ha! I thought so. This must have been left by the Metal Demons. Now, let's see... does this open?"
A pause, as she seeks out an obvious seam. "Hm. No, I don't think that's an opening, is it?" A wince follows; she pockets the tool and takes another look at the device, holding it now in her good hand again.
Another pause. "...That's a power input. Celie, I don't suppose you could give this one a jumpstart?" She hands the device over to Quin. "Should be a button somewhere or something to poke at. You've got better hands. Go on and take a look!"
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Record of the Past.
<Pose Tracker> Quin Rosenberg has posed.
Quin's more worried about Celine in the ensuing chaos. She's sort of got Celine figured for a ranged-type fighter, and once these things start getting up close and personal with her, Quin figures that means Celine is having a bad day. So yes, she's going to try to make some space for her to do her thing. Once everything powers down, Quin asks the mage, "You a' right?" She'll help out however she can.
Now, the device she's letting the others look at, since she's got no ideas about these things. These ARMs, the technology of times long past -- yeah, that ain't something her simple brain can dissect. However, when Josephine hands the device to her Quin starts digging through her bag o' tricks again. It's basically a loupe, one she fits on her eye by holding it with her eyelids. She's dutifully looking for this power button that Josephine's talking about.
She might not even know it if she saw it, to be honest. But that's why the loupe. That and so she can hold the device and still look at it with magnification. A power button would have to be important, right? So maybe it's a different color, or placed in a prominent place... Hopefully.
DG: Quin Rosenberg has used her Tool Thief Tools toward her party's challenge, Record of the Past.
<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.
Following Josie, Celine is a bit flustered but doesn't show it - my, how rough it has been at times! But always one to look on the bright side, she keeps on going forwards. Out in the open, Celine shivers a bit. "My, it's a bit more energy to keep this field as warm as it needs to be~." The Symbologist claims, her fire symbological crest on her thigh burns brightly as she walks wearing clothing that should ABSOLUTELY kill her in the present atmosphere.
Ah, to cheat fate.
"Hold up? Oh, certainly!" She remarks, eyeing the door. Looking at it carefully, Celine is confused - until Josephine makes it clear. "Just a tiny bit? Ah, no problem. Shouldn't be difficult~." With Quin nearby, she looks closely as well - and that loupe is held carefully, allowing them to see exactly where the charge might be - and the fire symbol goes dormant. It is with a brief moment that others notice Celine goes dormant as well, eyes wide open in miniature shock, like leaping from a hotspring into the snow.
"R-R-right no problem at a-a-all~." She chatters, poking the end of her staff towards the wall - and jitteringly - tries to prop it against that section and let out a small charge. "Thunder j-j-jolt!"
Her concentration may be a little lapse, but Quin and Josie might make up for it. My, she's certainly cold, it seems!
DG: Celine Jules has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Record of the Past.
==============================<* Arctica Castle *>============================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Record of the Past *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You discover a strange black object of metallic origin nestled between frozen blocks of debris. Upon inspection, it's clear that this is no Arctican device -- rather, an ARM, likely of Hyadean origin from your experiences with the Metal Demons thus far. Unscathed by the passage of time, it features a flat-panel screen with several beveled buttons and a host of metallic nodes which the more ARM-savvy among you might recognize as inputs for power. If you could scrabble together a means of getting some juice into this thing and figure out how to turn it on, who knows what you might learn? Should your team manage to rig a solution, the following message plays: A soft female voice, with a weary tone. She struggles to sound professional. "... Yes, we are nearly done. We have... subjugated the citizens here. The lower quarter has no defenses -- no, no, they were not able to dedicate many guardsmen to the impoverished humans, sir. ... sir?" A loud explosion of anger on the other end, followed by shouting. A wince. "No, there is no need to send Berserk there-- Please have Hymir Squad stand their ground and leave it to our contingent, sir. ... yes. It will be done. For Mother's sake... for the sake of Hyades." A click. "Please... be safe..." =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
=========================<* Arctica Castle - Round 4 *>========================= ========================< Results - Record of the Past >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 5 --(5)--> 10 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quin Rosenberg 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Thief Tools 2 Wits Effects: Rally and Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celine Jules 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Josephine Lovelace 55 --(20)--> 75 Pass Conditions: Fright(1)|Secret(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace 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> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Just a dab'll do it." Technically speaking, this is a function that Josie could provide herself...
But while she's far from 'so damaged by the encounter with her father to ever dare use magic again' at the moment she's still more than happy to have Celine do the honors. And with her right hand still in a sorry state...
The most Josie can do is point the younger girls towards the solution -- the device needs power, and then it needs to be turned on. Made for a Metal Demon -- a Hyadean -- it's no wonder that the button is, to a human's eye, less-than-obvious at first blush.
But the device is powered.
The button is found.
And from the device there plays back a recording.
"Sunshine..."
Josie shakes her head and sighs. "No wonder. You weren't cut out for that, huh..."
And then, even more cryptically for her current company, she says: "Sorry. You can cry all you want later, though."
Before, with a gesture towards Quin and Celine, she walks on ahead. "C'mon."
DG: Quin Rosenberg has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Arctica Castle *>============================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Cold Darkness *>========================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come across a massive mechanical elevator deep within the heart of the Castle. It's mounted on a toothed railing that descends on a diagonal slope deep underneath the ground. The elevator looks large enough to have serviced even Gears, which is a curiosity as there are no tales of any mechanised troop regimes in Arctica. You inspect the console, and the elevator proceeds. But as you descend into the dark, a soft shriek rings through the halls. A cloud of blue, bat-like Metal Beasts called Flurities descends upon your party! They must have lingered here ever since the assault on Arctica Castle. Your party engages in combat, but with the high speed of the elevator, and the lack of space to maneuver, it quickly becomes clear that this is a poor idea. But the way the bats flit away from the ensconced torches on the wall suggest vulnerability to bright light. Perhaps, with the proper item or power...? =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Reckless===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Quin Rosenberg has posed.
Quin blinks at the recording. "...That's weird," she comments. She isn't too terribly up on a lot of old lore and history. It's not helping her now to know about the story of the Metal Demons and humans. But she does take away one thing -- it was probably the Metal Demons that did all this horrible stuff to this place. And to the people here. Which really doesn't come as a surprise. Metal Demons are bad. Wow, such a revelation.
More seriously. She looks at Josephine with a blink. "Huh?" though as they're being ushered on by Josephine, Quin doesn't ask again; if it's something Josephine would rather not talk about, then Quin isn't going to poke her about it. Not here and now, at least.
But WHAT-HO! An elevator! A nice, easy elevator that opens without too terribly much prodding? Isn't that a nice, refreshing change of pace! And as soon as Quin gets in, she has something to say about it.
"...Yeah, I don't like this."
It's about then that a multitude of METAL BATS wake from their slumber in the elevator shaft, and SCREECH loudly as they begin to circle and divebomb the three of them! This is incredibly bad, since, well... there isn't really too much room to manevuer in here. This can't be a proper combat arena, but if something isn't done, these things could kill them -- they are very sharp, very large, very angry bats made of metal, after all. If nothing else, the fate of 'Death of a Thousand Cuts' could befall them.
Though Quin notices something. "They're stayin' away from the lights!" she points out. "See if ya c'n use that somehow!" For her part, it's once again into the bag 'o tricks. Because yeah, her daggers are metal... but this nice block of weirdly soft metal makes these really, really super-bright sparks of light that burn REALLY, REALLY HOT when they strike something. She'll be trying to use that and a dagger to ward the beasts away long enough for the others to find a solution.
DG: Quin Rosenberg has used her Tool Thief Tools toward her party's challenge, Cold Darkness.
<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.
"...." For a moment, Celine is silent as the tale is recounted from the device. It's not expected, nor is it fully understood.
"Huh." Celine remarks, forgetting about her cold embrace - or the lack of an embrace from the cold. She doesn't fully get what Josie states either, peering at her, before she continues on - Celine silent as she nods to the gesture - and then shivers, suddenly striding forwards. The symbol on her thight burns brighter than before as she looks upon Quin and Josephine, finally getting her temperature under control.
Onto the elevator Celine goes, standing atop it as she moves on with the others. "Well, this is a nice little ride, isn't it~?" She remarks, but Celine is interrupted before the metal bats come streaking down, screeching, dive bombing! Celine, not wanting to switch from fire for the warmth would be lost, raises her magical staff once more! "Will you leave us alone? Everything ehre is just so pushy!!" She claims - "Fiiiiire ball!" And it streaks towards them AND THEY DASH away quite quickly. "...Ah?" Fireball! Another one dashes, moving before it even is close to them. "Do they just know...?" Celine asks.
'Staying away from the lights'.
"Oh! I've never tried this before, but it might work..." And as Quin raises that magnesium fire to keep things a bit ablaze, celine is hoping Quin and Jospehine can hold it steady. "If I just make the incantation long enough... Oh, ray of light! Pierce the darkness, bright as you are!" A light crest lights up on her chest as she begins to chant. She also shivers, however.
Of course, Celine must make up more and more verabge for the incantation, all while being pelted by bats and the cold, it's .. not easy to do that and focus. "... a-and bathe us i-in your wonderful glow, ... t-that... -!" The staff brightens more and more as she focuses, but one wrong move and it'll go out like a torch!
DG: Celine Jules has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Cold Darkness.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josie's reaction is just to lopsidedly smile. "Heh. Maybe you'll get to meet the owner of that voice someday..."
She doesn't elaborate without prompting, though, instead heading onwards towards whatever must await them within the ruin without looking back. Thus always are Josies.
"Hmm. I'm starting to think I would have liked coming to Arctica," Josie comments, hand on her hip as she regards the elevator up. "Well, outside the 'destroyed' end of things... Well, shall we?"
She starts to step aboard.
"What--"
Her eyes narrow. "Oh, damn. Okay, spread out kids--"
And into that mess, there comes a determined flapping of wings. Penelope, normally opting out of most combat situations... picks now to make her debut?!
"Hey! What are you--"
She's harrying the bats, Josie realizes. "Penelope..."
Which is followed by a sidelong glance at Quin, as the girl notes something important. "Afraid of the light, are they..."
Her lips move. She draws upon her base tattoo -- the first she ever received.
From him.
A single sphere of light blossoms into being in her palm.
"LIGHT FLARE!" she shouts, and that little perfect pearl explodes into a blaze of light, joining perhaps with Celine's own.
"Penelope, you'd better get away," Josie murmurs, furrowing her brow.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Penelope toward her party's challenge, Cold Darkness.
==============================<* Arctica Castle *>============================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Cold Darkness *>========================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come across a massive mechanical elevator deep within the heart of the Castle. It's mounted on a toothed railing that descends on a diagonal slope deep underneath the ground. The elevator looks large enough to have serviced even Gears, which is a curiosity as there are no tales of any mechanised troop regimes in Arctica. You inspect the console, and the elevator proceeds. But as you descend into the dark, a soft shriek rings through the halls. A cloud of blue, bat-like Metal Beasts called Flurities descends upon your party! They must have lingered here ever since the assault on Arctica Castle. Your party engages in combat, but with the high speed of the elevator, and the lack of space to maneuver, it quickly becomes clear that this is a poor idea. But the way the bats flit away from the ensconced torches on the wall suggest vulnerability to bright light. Perhaps, with the proper item or power...? =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Reckless===========================================
=========================<* Arctica Castle - Round 5 *>========================= ==========================< Results - Cold Darkness >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 10 --(100)--> 110 Pass Penelope 3 Wits Effects: Resilient and Liabili -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quin Rosenberg 0 --(100)--> 100 Pass Thief Tools 2 Wits Effects: Rally and Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celine Jules 5 --(100)--> 105 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Josephine Lovelace 75 --(5)--> 80 Fail Conditions: Reckless(2)|Secret(1)|Tire(2) Effects: Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: Josephine Lovelace is too exhausted to continue! DG: Celine Jules is too exhausted to continue! DG: Quin Rosenberg 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 Josephine Lovelace has been fully Exhausted by Arctica Castle! DG: The party will now draw a conclusion.
==============================<* Arctica Castle *>============================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - An Utterly Alien Residue *>=================== |Type: Landmark |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- With the resounding roar of tortured machinery, the mechanised elevator lands in the basement of Arctica Castle. More than the mustiness and dust of deep Filgaia, something alien and putrid cuts through your sense of smell here... Within the dark, your team searches. You discover large, webbed smears plastered across the walls, ceilings and floor, as if a great cocoon had been dragged from here. Chains and shattered locks litter the floor, having once shackled something enormous here in the castle's bowels. The only clue of what this might have been is a label, which reads: "The Arch". The webbed substance is unlike anything you've discovered or interacted with before. It's not metallic in nature, like the quicksilver you've seen from the Metal Demons, but no terrestrial beast has ever spun a web like this... just what on Filgaia could've produced such a material? =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Quin Rosenberg has posed.
There's just too many of them, and too much going on for everyone to keep their concentration up. So many bats, so much shrieking, too many things happening. Quin ends up trying to just pull Josephine and Celine down and cover them with her as much as she can. She may be trying to utilize Celine's cloak to keep all of them as safe as possible. But they're all probably going to get cut up pretty bad before it's all said and done.
Though as the fast-moving elevator finally comes to the top and opens the door, the bats will probably fly away from all the light eventually, now having a way out. Malicious yes, but not stupid. And flesh-beings tend to fight until they die, so... well. Discretion is sometimes the better part of valor. They're probably not going to take anything away from this trip but a lot of really nasty injuries, it looks like!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
The light is, perhaps, not strong enough to repel the bats -- the situation is a bad one for the trio of Symbologists as the bats swoop in.
Or perhaps, it should be said that the light is not enough immediately.
Or for that matter, Penelope's presence. The bats abruptly scatter, just as the elevator begins to grind its way downwards into the depths of the castle.
"Could have gone better," Josie remarks, dabbing at a deeper wound along an arm. "Still, all's well--"
Penelope alights on a shoudler.
"--that ends well. There you are!"
There isn't much down here in the way of gems or coins.
There is, however, a strange webbed substance, gumming from eave to eave.
"...the hell's that?" Josie comments, prodding the material with a gloved finger.
What was down here?
<Pose Tracker> Quin Rosenberg has posed.
Quin goes a little pale under her dark skin tone when she sees this stuff. "Aw man... looks like spiderwebs," she comments. She's actually reluctant to touch the stuff. "I really hope there ain' a big giant Metal Demon spider down here. That'd be just about all we'd need..."
But, well. Quin is still a treasure hunter. Yes, TREASURE HUNTER. Not a thief. And this stuff might be worth something. So she does eventually muster up the courage to grab some of it. Could be worth something. And she's definitely gonna need some funding for when she goes for medical treatment. Ow. So much ow.
<Pose Tracker> Celine Jules has posed.
The light doesn't quite work. As Celine shivers, continually trying to keep up, it's not enough! Struck by a bat, shivering, unable to focus, Celine manages to do little to stop the bats! However, they manage to persist. As the energy flashes out at the end, Celine gasps and shakes her head, "Oh my that... that was a bit more rought han I usually like it~." She claims.
Looking at the mass nearby, Celine shivers and shakes her head. "N-No idea... but I'm n-not going n-near it." The symbologist's crest on her leg flashes... and then goes out. "Oh that's a bit unfo-fortunate~." Celine remarks, glancing over to her own thigh and clasps her arms around herself for the first time since they arrived.
"I think this excursion has w-worn me out~." She coos, teeth chattering as she looks about. Wounds here and there, magic depleted, the symbologist is going to have to rely on Quin and Josie to now lead her back~.