2019-03-29: Luca Out, Watch Where You're Going
- Log: 2019-03-29: Luca Out, Watch Where You're Going
- Cast: Ines Colina, Erzebet Lefanu, Seraph Lanval, Layna Manydays, Lemina Ausa, Cecilia Adlehyde
- Where: Luca - Port District
- Date: March 29th, 2019
- Summary: More strangers to Spira navigate the range of a market most strange. They all deal with their own issues, physical and metaphysical, in adjusting to the realities of this new environ. Well, capitalism is still reasonably the same. As is the reaction as to what happens when you are caught stealing stuff. Before they can take any step forward, they have to find their footing. (Spatial awareness and the concept of personal space, at all, appears to be at a premium.)
=========================================<* Luca - Port District *>=========================================
Luca is the largest port and second-largest city in Spira, located the southern tip of the archipelago's largest island. Its location as the central port for Spira's surrounding islands has turned Luca into a thriving economic hub; Besaid, Kilika, and a dozen smaller islands all send their goods to Luca for sale, and even the Al Bhed are known to trade here from time to time.
The port district is an immense, bustling area. The largest port in Luca brings in ships from across Spira -- from small fishing ships from Besaid to Al Bhed salvage ships to large sailing vessels from Bevelle -- and a massive market to match. A large seawall keeps the waters at bay, with piers extending out past the seawall into the water.
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CIlRCYnZcg
DG: A party led by Ines Colina is now entering The Luca Markets. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=============================<* The Luca Markets *>=============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Capitalism, Ho! *>========================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Welcome to the Luca Markets!
Whether you have found yourself here by a wrong turn, a wrong dimensional
transfer, or quite deliberately, you have found yourself in just the right
place to buy anything you want. When you round the next bend, you find
yourself face-to-face with the bustle at the core of the markets. Tightly
packed stalls, crammed streets, and crowds that threaten to push and shove
you aside block your path.
But, what is that ahead? Is that discounted weapons? Or fresh fish? Is the
discount expiring!? How will you get through the market quickly -- whether
to get through or to get the deal!?
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Treasure=======================================
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
The hustle and bustle of the Luca Markets is the largest of it's kind in Spira, owing mostly to being in the largest city in Spira. Locals and visitors alike swan about, as merchants bellow about the quality of their wares. Sales crop up as they try to undercut one another, and crowds gather and disperse as they do. It's a throng of people, hard to move through and easy to get lost in.
Standing a head above most- but not all- of the crowd is a grey skinned beast woman, casting an eye around the crowded hell. Not that long ago, she had been riding in the waste. Now, Ines finds herself trying to make her way through the crowd. "It can't be that hard to find some feed, can it?" She mutters, attracting a few stares as she does. Even out here, she's not exactly a common sight. She still hasn't adjusted to the warp between worlds, but at least she had been told of such a thing happening. Hard to believe, though. Of course, she's far from the only one in this crowd with such an experience.
Stopping in the heart of the market, Ines stops and pulls up a locket from around her neck. Mother of pearl, with a picture inlaid. She takes a second to calm her nerves and focus. Find a way through, it can't be that hard, right?
Meanwhile, outside the market, hitched to a lamp post, a very large black horse glares at the small crowd of Spiran natives that have gathered around it. As a human approaches, it lets out a snort and stomps his hooves loudly. The human, at that, decides to think better of it.
DG: Ines Colina has used her Tool Family Locket toward her party's challenge, Capitalism, Ho!.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm"
"... are you going to buy anything?"
There is a figure standing at one of the medicine stalls. She has been staring at the wares for some time. This person is wearing a stained white ao-dai style dress that has seen better days and has some kind of a flap-concealed dual sword set up at her hips with a belt that looks new, but like it was deliberately beat on to try and not look new.
She is also wearing:
* A broad-brimmed straw hat with a little blue ribbon tied under her chin (so it doesn't blow off)
* Spectacles
* Gray pants and rugged boots
* A leather satchel similar to that weird "sword" belt
"Well... I was waylaid by... you know..."
"Fiends?"
"Fiends, yes," the woman says, nodding her head. Her hair bounces. It can't be Erzebet Mara Lefanu because Erzebet Mara Lefanu wears her hair up and right now her hair, THOUGH SIMILAR IN COLOR, is hanging loosely down past her shoulders. "Fiends took my money pouch... I could sell you something, though, if you want."
"... Depends what it is."
"This is the finest material of my family's private bottling plant and estate," the woman who is -- okay it's Erzebet, fine -- Erzebet says, as she reaches into the satchel and pulls out a flattish brown glass bottle. She turns it towards the man. It has had its label hastily scraped off and replaced with a new one, which has been hand inscribed with 'Old Lefanu Strong and Peculiar - 501'
"What's the 501 mean?"
"It looks cool," Erzebet says.
"What is it?"
"It's a tincture," Erzebet says. "We call it 'laudanum'."
"Why laudanum?"
"Because it's lauda-nummy. Look, it's like ten percent opium. Try some if you want. I have a second bottle if you want."
"... Do you know what that... thing over there is?"
Erzebet looks. "Oh, the horse? No."
DG: Erzebet Lefanu has used her Tool Call toward her party's challenge, Capitalism, Ho!.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
IN A TIME SPACE BETWEEN 'BIRTH OF A WISH' AND NOW, TO LATER BE ELABORATED UPON IN A CUTSCENE
Lanval spent days inside his vessel with the need to rest, recover, and also quietly familiarize himself with - and meditate further upon - the sheer scope and character of Filgaia's very water as is now a part of his new responsibility.
It starts to conclude, jarringly, with a projection of Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus pontificating into his everything (which was, in itself, a pointed lesson in the relationship between man, land, and Guardian). The next cadence into this moment of reflection coming to an abrupt end comes by the change in environs (which were, true to the previous descriptor, abrupt).
Then a moment of freaking out, surrounded by ethereal lights within the Spiran seas, and a change in the spiritual pressure that feels very much like when what he now understands as being called the Claysmin of Obsession showed up. The Claysmin doesn't show up, but everything is far too quiet - Schturdark goes silent. Nothing untoward happens, and yet that lingering taste of something that could is hard for him to overcome.
He is not there long, for he has made wonderful and loyal friends who found him within a matter of minutes. No ocean is too deep or too blue to find their Seraph friend in a bottle.
NOW
Lanval has projected himself outside of his vessel for the first time in a while, subjecting himself to the unique spiritual pressure in the air. He exhales calmly, borrowing the mortal habit as one of his favorite meditative techniques. He starts down the markets alongside a few familiar faces, his step a bit more lethargic than usual. With his portly physique and weird (by cultural standards) appearance, dressed in aquamarine hues whose exact coloration is not quite replicated by local dyes and long silvery hair and beard that ends in equally oddly colored tips, the locals give him a wide berth. He doesn't quite notice this.
"Mmm... shay... I'll be right with ya," Lanval says with a dumb smile on his face, "juuuuuusht gonna need a drink."
Oh look, there is a stall right there serving beverages that match his tastes. So what does a Seraph do?
Engage in petty larceny, as tends to be a bad habit, as he just saunters on up and swipes a bottle right off the counter of the stall in question, pop it open with the skillful flick of a thumb, and just down the whole thing right then and there.
"...Twenty gil!!" The shopkeeper, a broad-shouldered woman shouts as she slams a fist against the counter.
Lanval's left eye opens half-way. The way she stares at him... no.
The way everyone nearby stares at him.
Both of his eyes open up without the distinctive shine, uttering the same confusion that came to him when Talise tripped over him so long ago.
"...Huh?"
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Capitalism, Ho!.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna is very familiar with this kind of place. The Markets...it might seem like a nice pleasant place on the outside, but on the inside, it's a brutal, vicious battle - fought with words and coin rather than blades.
...Most of the time. Sometimes the blades came out, too.
And so, here Layna is, in the depths of battle - a different battle than she's used to, but a battle all the same. She is currently feuding with a shopkeeper over what she perceives as a terrible increase in price.
One can only imagine how Layna acquired so much gil that quickly. ...She probably stole it. She is a pirate, after all.
She'll probably spot Lanval soon enough - he's hard to miss, especially here of all places.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Capitalism, Ho!.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
Where there are deals -- there is Lemina Ausa.
She's got money with her, because she's *always* got money with her, though finding people who will *take* it has been a bit of a question. On the other hand, she *does* know all the tests to prove that it's real silver, because she memorized those, so she at least *can* transact. It's just a question of... doing so very, very slowly, and making sure to exchange as much as she can for gil at a rip.
Oh, sure, she *could* be marveling at being in Spira -- but after the Blue Star, of *course* there's Spira and of *course* people are basically the same everywhere. Her gaze tracks back toward Ines, first, because Ines is kind of hard to miss.
Then Lemina returns to haggling. "What? No, there's no way I'm paying that much for a staff, I don't care what you say it does," she says, flatly. "Do you even know who I am? I'm Lemina Ausa, of the Magic Guild of Vane!" She crosses her arms and huffs. Her negotiating technique... needs work, in Spira.
At least the glasses are helping her look super cute while she does it.
DG: Lemina Ausa has used her Tool Reading Glasses toward her party's challenge, Capitalism, Ho!.
<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.
Cecilia had....a hell of a time getting here. It involved shrugging into her jacket and hopping down the halls toward where she was reasonably sure Claude should be while a madman lavishly praised her for her go-got-em attitude via the medium of every reflective surface in the building, also known as HER HOUSE. AND CASTLE.
Not to mention her own new powers and responsibilities, voices throbbing in her skull and at her fingertips...
The arrival process wasn't as bad as the time she got force-teleported to Meribia while most of her bones were fractured so that was nice at least. Still....right now, she has a problem.
The problem is that she hasn't eaten properly in hours and this place DOES NOT HAVE CATTLE THAT SHE CAN DETERMINE. What is she to do without hamburgers. WHAT IS THE PRINCESS TO DO WITHOUT THE ROYAL FEAST!?
Cecilia's eyes whip around, seeking fish or something.
DG: Cecilia Adlehyde has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Capitalism, Ho!.
========================<* The Luca Markets - Round 1 *>======================== =========================< Results - Capitalism, Ho! >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ines Colina 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Family Locket 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Layna Manydays 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erzebet Lefanu 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Call 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cecilia Adlehyde 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lemina Ausa 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Reading Glasses 2 Wits Effects: Resilient -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ines Colina 0 --(25)--> 25 Pass Conditions: Reckless(2)|Treasure(1) Effects: Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ines Colina has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
The assorted newcomers have their own levels of success and failure trying to move through the market. Ines, being large and strange enough to warrant a wide berth, has relatively little difficulty finding a stand selling strange greens for something called 'Chocobos'. Unfortunately, convincing a local merchant to take gella is a harder proposition. Still, she comes away from it with some old greens just shy of being thrown out, while the merchant stares at the strange coins he's come away with. Not ideal, but it's something.
Erzebet's offer of strange potion is taken, after a a little more haggling, in exchange for a decent amount of gil, or something off the table. It's not necessarily an easy transaction, but it's better than some people do.
Lanval, having been spotted, has the unique problem of no longer being invisible. It's sheer luck that someone overhears the call of '20 gil!' for the bottle, and there's a sudden small rush on the stand of people after cheap drinks. He might be able to make it a free sample if he disappears into the crowd.
Layna has a harder time of keeping track of Lanval with the sudden movement of the crowd, and there's a small about of getting lost to take place. It's not too hard to find your way through, just slow and crowded.
Lemina and her cute glasses, along with her highly trained merchant skills, gets her staff for a reasonable amount of silver and the better half of the deal. Still, like any crowded market place, this is still a den of mercantile sharks to be wary of.
Cecilia has less luck, converging on a fish stall just as a crowd of others do the same. There's money, there's yelling, there's people fighting over what looks like a sword fish. She might be able to grab something small and raw in the confusion, but it's hardly going to be enough to sustain her.
As Ines comes away from the stall, stashing the food in a string bag from the merchant, she is heartened to recognise familiar faces. "Layna! Lanval!" She shouts, to be heard over the crowd, and starts moving towards them. "Good to know that I'm not the only one here." Yeah, she is taking this fairly calmly, but it might just be a facade.
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================================<* The Luca Markets *>=================================================
=======================================<* CHALLENGE - Shifting the Merchandise *>=======================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The stall in front of you is laden with a little bit of everything. There
are crates full of fresh fruit, brought in from the surrounding countryside
and as far as Kilika. There are crates with dried fish, coming from as far
as Besaid, and they have been peppered and spiced to preserve them and make
them delicious. For those needing to feed chocobos, there are crates of
gysahl greens. There are even spheres for sale.
But what you want to buy... is located on the crate at the very bottom of a
very, very large stack of crates.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Tire, Treasure===================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval's confusion is palpable. Also palpable - the physical sensation of being touched and pushed around as thirsty deal-finders want themselves a piece of that '20 gil a bottle' action. One mortal manhandling him, okay, that's still somewhat novel to him but he'd have the presence of mind to dematerialize back out of view. Multiple, that is such a crazy thing that he's just too stunned by the sheer idea of there being so many that can directly interact with him that he is playing ball with some of the physical laws of nature much more nicely than usual.
It takes the call of an acquaintance, someone familiar, to break him out of the moment as he lies on his seat on the streets. His stupid smile returns.
"Oh... hi! That'sh a face I know...!" He cheerily says to Ines. He looks slightly more dignified than usual. Only 'slightly' because right now he's sprawled on the street which is the opposite of this idea. "Heyyy, ish it me, or... do they all shee m--"
"Get up off the ground, I can't get customers if you're going to lay there!" A dark-skinned man angrily shouts, calling further attention to himself. This isn't a bad thing, because wow, the size of this stall! It's got a lot of product. Fruit! Fish! Potions! ...Globes? Come to think of it there are a lot of globe-like objects about this place. There's also pungent greens that don't seem like they should go in one's mouth (which is fine, they're not for anyone's consumption here).
"Get up!" The merchant shouts angrily again, and Lanval mostly just manages to sit up, giving some time for most everyone to converge on this point of interest. An eye opens half-lidded, seeing something shiny within a big stack of crates. Whatever that shiny thing is, it looks appealing.
"...what'sh that," Lanval asks aloud as he gets up, reaches an arm inside...
Reaches more of him inside...
Until he's, despite his visual bulk, half-way in there, kicking his legs up and down a bit.
"Almosht got it~"
"Hey! Come buy something!" The merchant calls to the rest. "I got everything! Even got fresh things from what in Yevon's name are you doing"
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Shifting the Merchandise.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna handles the crowd the best way she knows how - she pushes through it. That's what crowds do, they push, and Layna is pretty good at pushing. As she moves, though, she spots someone that is very hard to miss, especially when they shout out your name.
"Ines! Good to see you again, lass! I take it you got caught up in all that too, aye?" She says, approaching the beastwoman and offering her a friendly clap on the shoulder in greeting. To the best of her ability, anyway. Layna may be tall, but Ines is still taller.
And Lanval's here, too. Layna moves over to give him a hand up, but it, uh, kind of looks like he already has it covered.
But there's a stall nearby, and she takes note of something located at the very top.
"Hmm..." Layna considers. Subtly, she slides her drill over her right hand. She doesn't activate it - that'd give away the entire game. From the outside, it looks like she's merely looking through the merchant's wares, but in reality, she's subtly weakening the integrity of one of the cracks.
There's a splintering noise. One of the crates breaks, causing the ones at the top to tip over. Items rain down toward Layna, but she manages to catch them expertly - hiding her drill again in the process.
"Whoa, watch it, lad!? What kinda crate-stacking job was that, aye? Coulda knocked me out cold, it could've!" Layna shouts, putting on her angry, authoritative voice. "I'm gonna have to ask for a bit o' compensation here, otherwise I might have to warn some folks about this."
It was kind of a dirty tactic, but to be fair, she is a pirate.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Arm-Mounted Drill toward her party's challenge, Shifting the Merchandise.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
Erzebet considers.
She could get a bunch of gil OR... she could get...
"That's blood tonic, right?" "No, it's -" "Give me that and the change."
Erzebet proudly examines her 23 gil and uncorks the blood tonic, which she proceeds to swig off of without any kind of measurement. She looks to her left then and lets out a gasp. She reaches over with one pallid hand, to pat-pat-pat at Lemina's shoulder. She leans her head closer and says, with that weird health tonic smell, "glasses sisters." Then she grins.
After that other people start shouting. Erzebet does a double take and then says, "You're Lemina, huh. Well... Hm... If you're from the vain guild, I guess this is forward, but can you help me with like beauty magic? Because I have a couple of problems and I'm really trying to fix themmmm so I can look my best -"
Someone is shouting over there. Erzebet oozes in that direction.
"Buy something...? Let me think... I want..."
She scratches her nose with the neck of her tonic bottle. "What I want is... hm... I want... clothes. Do you have clothes in my size? The sizes are -"
The man hastily cuts her off and gestures towards a stack of crates labelled REMAINDERS.
Erzebet studies them. "Hmmm-m-m-m." She drinks more of the tonic. "Yeah... that's a big stack. I guess that's why they aren't selling... though it's funny they say 'Remainders,' since usually that's for BOOKS. But if you think about it, isn't a book just a pretty person in textual form? They even give them jackets."
Erzebet reaches over with her free hand and pushes the crates over, observing dispassionately like a cat.
DG: Erzebet Lefanu has used her Tool Selected Quotations from V. Rhadamanthus toward her party's challenge, Shifting the Merchandise.
<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.
Cecilia ends up taking an exorbitant amount of time to escape with a meal in potentia. Well, at least she made off with a bag.
And then she hears shouting. Cecilia briefly considers completely vacating the area immediately because not being on Filgaia means this is one of the few things that are now not her problem. But she spots...well it's a Seraph, even if she doesn't recall meeting him proper. And she does, at least, remember what happened at Lost Sanctuary. "Ah!" she calls, hustling over. "Come on, let's get y--"
Lanval scampers off.
Cecilia blinks, blankly, then points in Lanval's direction, glancing at Ines, and then at Lanval, who seem to know the Seraph in question. "Is he always like that?" she whispers. Now if she can just get something DECENT to put into her BODY from this PILE OF CRAP, she thinks; Lanval's apparently busy so she starts sifting through for her own self using the power of her human arms.
DG: Cecilia Adlehyde has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Shifting the Merchandise.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
And so, new staff in hand, Lemina heads forward! Seeing Drifters -- both Filgaian and Lunarian -- naturally gets her to gravitate in that direction -- and then Erzebet promptly invades her personal space. She grimaces a little and actually withdraws back from her; this woman hasn't earned the full brunt of her invective, but she *is* noticeably weirded out.
"Sorry, nooooot my specialty," Lemina says, before attempting to disengage to head toward Layna. ... Unfortunately, Erzebet is headed in that direction, too...
Looking at the stack of crates -- and Lanval, stuck inside it -- Lemina takes her glasses off for a few seconds. This newfound long-distance vision (at the cost of reading-distance vision...) lets her spot what Layna's up to.
... But rather than report it, Lemina decides to help her. "Whoa, yeah, this is kind of a mess at *best*," Lemina says. If a grift is gonna happen, she's gonna' get in on it! "I was gonna' dive in after the weird guy to take a peek at some of your stuff, but now it kinda feels... mega-unsafe, you know?"
DG: Lemina Ausa has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Shifting the Merchandise.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
Ines still hasn't gotten her head around the full details of how Seraphs work, but she remembers having a harder time seeing Lanval in the past. "Pretty sure they do." She responds to Lanval's question, judging by the way people are, well, reacting to his presence. The beastwoman is not so tall as to be completely beyond the shoulder clap. "Looks like. Not sure where the hell I am, but I figure there'll be plenty of time to panic after I've got my footing." Well, she knows the name of the town, but the whole world hopping thing is still something to take in.
And then Ines has cause to stare, looking at Lanval clambering over crates, trying to get at... something. "Why don't you just..." She sighs, and starts moving towards the pile. "Just... move the crates, maybe?" To demonstrate, she moves to pull out one of the crates Lanval ISN'T sprawled across, to give him somewhere to place his feet. With any luck, he won't fall over. Layna's sudden crate collapse is... not helping.
Erzebet is... not subtle, and Ines finds herself briefly staring at the woman who is... well, causing a scene doesn't seem quite right. But her behaviour is definitely making her stand out. Still, she is starting to feel for the shop keeper, as Erzebet pushes at the crates. It doesn't take much for Cecilia to get Ines' attention as she follows after Lanval. "Most of the time I've known him," She admits, "though that's only a couple of months. She'd know better than me." Ines gives a quick nod to Layna, as she steps back from the stuff on the ground. Really, she probably should be taking advantage, but she's way too big to be subtle here. Still, seeing Lemina also dive in, she smirks slightly, but goes back to trying to clear a path for Lanval.
DG: Ines Colina has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Shifting the Merchandise.
============================================<* The Luca Markets - Round 2 *>============================================ =========================================< Results - Shifting the Merchandise >========================================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ines Colina 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Arm-Mounted Drill 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Erzebet Lefanu 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Selected Quotations from V. Rhadama 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cecilia Adlehyde 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lemina Ausa 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Ines Colina 25 --(25)--> 50
DG: The party led by Ines Colina has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Erzebet Lefanu has drawn a new Challenge.
============================================<* The Luca Markets - Round 3 *>============================================
=============<* CHALLENGE - Birds of a Feather Flock Together *>==============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The stall you find is a different sort. While some of the people here are
wearing the looser-fitting, flowing Spiran outfits... you catch a couple
ducking into the enclosed back of the shop, and they're wearing trousers,
button-up shirts, and vests that look closer to Rolance fashion than Spiran.
One of them turns, and smiles at you -- a man with brown hair and a goatee,
who waves. "Hey, there. What can I do you--" And he tries, quickly, to slide
a paper-wrapped Orange Gel under the cabinet. "--for?"
The Sparrowfeathers, it seems, have also found their way to Spira. While not
so bold as to openly advertise it, you may be able to buy goods from
Glenwood and Meribius here -- if considerably marked up.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Exhaust, Secret=================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Layna's trickery has itself something of a domino effect, as crates start to fall down and collapse all over the place. Ines' physical strength, incredible as it is, will find her attempts to carefully remove parts of the crate stack momentarily disrupted as stuff just falls down everywhere and it might see her lose her footing.
The shopkeeper is taken aback by whatever's going on there, and then the disapproving looks of a few young women who seem a whole lot paler than anyone else they've encountered, and... is that large one a Ronso? The physique is about a match for one, but...
"I... I..." The shopkeeper, flustered, holds his hands up and crosses his arms. "Of course, no harm meant! No harm meant...! I beg your pardons for the trouble, I... here, please, do enjoy a small taste of the finest, freshest fruits from Kilika," he hastily slaps down some interestingly-colored and weirdly-shaped foodstuffs, "some of the better textiles from--" They don't get to hear where because Erzebet just pushed over a crate.
Lanval sticks out the other side of the stack, kind of surprised he got stuck. He can fit wherever water does. It's like whoever made/stacked these expect them to somehow end up in the water and it's tough to fit through. The shiny thing he wants is about in reach but--
--whoop, there goes a crate falling on him, and the shiny thing - an Elixir, turns out - rolls across the ground near one of Cecilia's feet as the least offensive piece of debris that might have collapsed on her in that whole mess.
"...and whatever that is that just rolled by your feet, miss," the merchant isn't aware that he's just given away one of his most expensive wares for free.
Lanval pulls himself out of there with good-natured laughter. "Hey... free shtuff... mmm, while we're at it, how 'bout--"
"Please leave." The merchant's manner turns more sour towards the oddball man, as though feeling less charitable or beholden to him compared to the rest.
"Mmmph." Lanval was going to ask if he could take another bottle of something with him, but if the merchant's telling him to leave, okay, guess that means he's all right with him taking what comes out to being a Potion with him.
Lemina can stay and forcefully haggle a bit more while she has the upper hand, if she so chooses.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
Erzebet crouches down and picks up what seem to mostly be a collection of poorly sized dresses made out of decorated fabric. "Oh," she says to Lemina, and then she looks towards Cecilia, picking up her conversation where she was. "The thing is," she continues, "I have perniceous anemia with skin involvement... it's really kind of a drag. But other than the dizziness and the constant fear that I'm going to strangle from my blood not having enough in it to carry vital principles -"
She pauses.
She tilts her head left, then right, and then grins widely at Cecilia. She reaches over to take both her hands and put them on Cecilia's hand in what seems like some kind of performative parody of a handshake. "Yes," she says, "to answer your question. I'm..."
Erzebet is silent for a full three seconds. She continues holding Cecilia's hand, as if lost in thought. Her own hands are soft and weirdly, creepily chilly. She finally seems to figure it out, and says, "Tebezre. Call me Tebezre, please, Princess!"
After that she slouches off with her textiles into the stall catty-corner to the put upon crate merchant. And in there -
A man with a dashing hat beams! "HELLO!" he says.
'Tebezre' squints at the woman in a flowing chemise ducking into the enclosure behind the stall. Then she looks back at Mr. Hat. She winks at him, and puts the fabric on the countertop. "I want... a new outfit," she tells him.
"Why, we - ah -"
"I don't have much money so I have to do it in trade," Erzebet says.
"Ah"
"I'll give you this dress too," and now she turns her attention to Cecilia to explain, "Anyway, here, look at my arm - see, inside of it? I mean I have skin that's normalish but it just never tans at all, ever, and hasn't for years! It's really quite something and I really don't like how it makes me look because you see how my veins are popping here, so pale and blue like they're veins in marble instead of skin? Well guess what, sister, IT'S LIKE THAT ALL OVER."
Erzebet puts her hands on her hips.
"Maybe I should just embrace it. Garcon," this back to the man with the hat, "I want something flashy that shows a lot of skin."
The man with the hat stares at 'Tebezre' and then looks towards the others, as if hoping for liberation.
("... how did she know my name?" Garcon thinks.)
She turns, sees Ines - and gives her a genial :D sort of smile, waving at her with one ragged-nailed hand, then looking back at Garcon with that eerie green intensity.
DG: Erzebet Lefanu has used her Tool Call toward her party's challenge, Birds of a Feather Flock Together.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna sends Lemina a subtle wink and nod of approval. Her ability to quickly recognize the situation and capitalize on it was masterful, certainly.
"Well, lad, I'm glad to see you can take responsibility," Layna says, turning back to the merchant. "I can respect that. So if anyone asks, I'll just say it was a freak accident - no harm done, aye?"
Layna gathers up her share of the take(plus a few spares that got lost in the shuffle) and glances toward Ines and Cecilia.
"Ahoy there." She greets the latter with a grin, and then nods.
"Aye, that he is, that he is." Layna confirms with a fond chuckle. "But he has his moments."
That said she walks up to Lanval, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on, lad. Let's get you back to the others, aye?" She says...though pauses, as she notices a certain stall. "Aaafter I check this place out."
She waltzes up the Sparrowfeathers' stall, observing for a brief moment as Erzebet speaks with Garcon.
Layna is not feeling a merciful mood. She does not free him.
Instead, she looks at the other stalltender.
"Ahoy, there! I'm looking for somethin' a little exotic. Tell me, d'you have any..." She lowers her voice. It sounds distinctly like she's asking for something called 'Rolancian Red Wine'.
She'll give it a thorough lookover with her telescope to make sure she isn't being tricked.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Captain's Telescope toward her party's challenge, Birds of a Feather Flock Together.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
Lemina is actually passingly familiar with the Sparrowfeathers -- if only passingly. While 'Tebezre' ties up one of them (in the metaphorical sense... for now), Lemina decides to just scootch to the other shopkeep, just behind Layna.
Layna trying to do 'discreet' business suits Lemina just fine; she needs time to think about what she needs, anyway. New staff, check... she's mostly good on curatives... hmm. She doesn't really have the urge to buy any Glenwoodan or Meribian --
-- wait, no, that's not true. Once it's her turn to request after something, she has an unusual request.
"... Do you have any, uh, Glenwoodan rhea meat?" she asks, looking a little sheepish. "I know it's kinda stringy, but it's mega-cheap and we usually have camp food going for a long time *anyway* so it's not like what the meat started as *matters*."
Yike (singular).
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
Oh, and: The glasses have not stopped being present (being taken off for a few moments notwithstanding).
DG: Lemina Ausa has used her Tool Reading Glasses toward her party's challenge, Birds of a Feather Flock Together.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval comes along, staying close with Layna out of familiarity. The differences in the spiritual 'pressure' of this place are still tough for him to adjust to. For some time, a growing closeness to a world he has newly bound himself to... and then ripped away, off-center. He relies on Layna holding him steady for a bit as he re-centers. It could be as simple as just de-materializing from the sight of the Resonant (read: virtually everyone), but a part of him's decided he shouldn't leave his friends worried for his sake after all that's happened. He could use the fresh air. He knows a good amount of mortals (and some of his own kind) were worried about him after Love's Cradle.
He happens upon this new stall - these people look sort of familiar, he recognizes. It doesn't look like their eyes follow his movement - those from Glenwood are much less likely to have the Resonance - and in that moment, a calm follows. It's sort of funny, he used to feel so lonely from being ostracized by his own kind, and having virtually no mortals able to see him.
Having almost everyone see him is overwhelming. He takes a time to slouch down into a seated position a ways off to the side.
"...Ahh... Shaman." Lanval smiles. This is kind of poorly timed because Erzebet is being highly demonstrative about her off-kilter physical features. "It'sh good ta shee ya."
It was her involvement that helped save him - and in turn, save Filgaia - from its untimely end by the Malevolence corruption.
"Mmmm... there'sh plenty ta do." This is the beginnings of maybe some important plot exposition, but there's one problem.
He's now wearing mood-ruining huge novelty glasses with swirly lens made out of the bottoms of beer bottles, because attachment system abuse. While he may partially relieve Cecilia of the burden of one of the two dozen or so voices that visit her head, he is now replacing that with his own voice as he makes small talk about this and that and maybe even eliciting inappropriate laughter because those glasses look so dumb.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Amber Tinted Glasses toward his party's challenge, Birds of a Feather Flock Together.
<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.
Oh sweet, Lanval knocked some stuff loose. Well, she didn't get FOOD, and therefore suffers, but she does commit a little bit of pillaging and slilp the Elixir away while the shopkeep's distracted. She leaves him some old Silver she still had on hand, which he's gonna find so useful. SO useful.
"Well, if it's normal, I guess that's fine," she muses. "...yeah, pretty sure i've seen one of his moments, actually."
She's about to say more when....a human!? appears?! "Y...yes?! Hello!?" she squawks. "Give me back my hand??"
She is immediately called 'princess' which makes her do the biggest Kermit frump in the surrounding 35 kilometers."I...see these words describe reality!?!?" Cecilia stammers.
She stares at Garcon with an equally totally lost look. She does not think to request books for her sorcerous secondary equipment slot. She has not received a better book than some highly questionable literature in like a year and a half. She has read the good part so many times.
"Ah yes hello!" Cecilia shrills toward Lanval. "Lovely day for whatever this is!!"
DG: Cecilia Adlehyde has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Birds of a Feather Flock Together.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
It is, admittedly, hard to move crates when everything's collapsing, and Ines' own stability is shaken, and she has to try and steady herself against, well, more unstable crates. She finds herself forced to give up, deciding to let Lanval do his thing, and step back from the whole mess. Still, at the merchant's offer, Ines takes her share of the compensation. "Won't say no." She says, biting into the freebie fruit as she turns back to Cecilia. Strange, but not unpleasant. "I take it the two of you are acquainted?" She asks, once her mouth is clear.
Once again, the more mercantile of 'Tebezres wave gets a small, slightly hesitant wave in response. No need to be rude, even if she seems a touch... intense. Unfortunately, Ines has no recognition for the Meribian and Glenwoodan goods, as, well, this is her first time on the moon. Still, she's happy to watch as the merchants are tied up. Her hand goes unconsciously to her locket as Layna and Lemina start haggling . It's probably the only thing she could really trade for gil here, but it's not leaving her neck. The most she can do is be menacing, and that doesn't really seem helpful at this point.
And then she just stares at Lanval, and shakes her head with a smirk. She's not going to be much help here.
DG: Ines Colina has used her Tool Family Locket toward her party's challenge, Birds of a Feather Flock Together.
============================================<* The Luca Markets - Round 2 *>============================================ ===============< Results - Birds of a Feather Flock Together >================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ines Colina 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Family Locket 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Captain's Telescope 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Amber Tinted Glasses 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Erzebet Lefanu 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Call 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cecilia Adlehyde 0 --(13)--> 13 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lemina Ausa 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Reading Glasses 2 Wits Effects: Resilient ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ines Colina 50 --(20)--> 70 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Secret(2)|Stupify(2)|Tire(1)|Weaken(1) Effects: Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ines Colina 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: Layna Manydays has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Luca Markets *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Stuck Behind a Ronso *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The Ronso are especially large, feline Beastmen. Most members of their clan
tower well over the average human, and they have the broad, muscled frame to
match that height. All of Spira's people are common in Luca -- or at least,
not unheard of. As you move through the markets, trying to find your way
through, you end up behind seven feet and four hundred pounds of cat muscle.
He is moving as slowly as Ronso-ly possible.
=Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Injure======================================
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
Garcon stares at Layna for a long moment, and then says, in so many words, "Sure." The wine is brought forth - and the price though inflated is not that much higher! After all, it's prohibited there, and here it's smuggled... kind of breaks even.
* Layna gets a good deal!
The other shopkeep looks at Lemina and asks her, "Are you for rheal? Of course we do!" She snaps her fingers, reaches back, and an entire rhea leg, dripping with coarse salt from the sea voyage, is passed forwards, and then sold to Lemina.
* Lemina gets a mega-average deal!
The same other shop keep turns towards Ines and gives her a respectful nod.
* Ines gets a satisfied feeling...
Lanval has obtained novelty glasses.
* Lanval gets a dizzy feeling!
And Erzebet herself...
"Uh - they told us they had this, someone ordered it and --"
"Gimme," Erzebet says, snatching it out of Garcon's mitt and tossing her bag up onto the little divider that sort of kind of works as a try-it-on booth. About two seconds later she emerges in a completely different outfit -- there's a purple-sunset embroidered triangle wrapped into a halter top, a crimson sarong, some leather shorts... As she reattaches the 'sword' belt, Erzebet contemplates the several strings of beads and miscellaneous shells she's holding loose in her hand.
"I'll figure this out later," she says, stuffing them into her purse. Something falls out, which Erzebet seems to ignore. Something is a thick and paper-bound literary magazine - except it's actually a set of clippings. It bounces on Spiran soil and rises into the hand of the Royal Presence.
That book:
* "Til My Body is Dry"
* A collection of serialized fiction regarding some sort of conspiracy involving the Ignas dry goods/millinery trade and the manipulation of international borders. Features a shallowly written lead character and some really enthusiastic descriptive language. Ends abruptly after the start of what should be the third act.
* By E. M. Lefanu
"I feel so much better," says 'Tebezre.' "Here, let me meet everyone. How do you do," she says to - in order - Ines, Lanval, Lemina, and Layna. For some reason Cecilia instead gets a big conspiratorial wink.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna gets her bottles of Rolancean Red Wine. She doesn't mind the slight inflation - she knows how these things work, so it's pretty good all things considered.
She stows most of them away into her coat...except for one. This one is passed over to Lanval. She figures it'll probably keep him out of trouble for the couple of minutes it'll take for him to get through it.
'Tebezre' looks at everyone, and Layna sends her a nod of greeting.
"Ahoy there. Name's Layna, Layna Manydays." She says, sliding away from the stall to get moving.
Or, at least, that was the plan. But, a large crowd has gathered for something - they're not close enough to see it yet. But this part of the Luca Markets goes pretty thin, thanks to all of the stalls clogging up either side, to the point that a single Ronso - a massive, horned, feline beastman for those not in the know - manages to clog the entire pathway.
He's going nowhere pretty fast. Layna frowns, folds her arms in front of her, and considers this. She liked a good fight, but even she knew better than to pick a fight with someone built like a tank.
So, she decides to do what she thinks is the most appropriate decision to make in this situation.
"...Well, I'll see you lot on the other side! I'll let you know if I spot anythin' interesting." She decides, reciting a quick incantation to jump on top of a stall and lightly and bound over to the other side with the power of wind.
Cheater.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Stuck Behind a Ronso.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
Lemina gets some *meat*. She doesn't want to actually eat it right here and now; instead, she takes a moment to rearrange her pack, cordoning off a second section with some unimportant papers. She is now equipped with meat.
She proceeds along with their little ad-hoc group, accordingly, now heading forward at a fairly decent clip -- at least, until they find a very... catlike... obstruction. Her lips turn down in a frown. "... *hmmm,*, I didn't think they made Beastmen this... blue," Lemina reflects aloud -- not wanting to draw *too* much attention to herself, but unable to stop herself from saying something anyway.
Layna bounds off, and Lemina pouts a bit. "... Well, fine," she mumbles. "I'm -- I'm leaving too, actually!" Lemina promptly attempts to slip past --
-- nope. That's not happening. Instead, Lemina attempts to climb around the Ronso, following a similar path to Layna's but *much* less quickly.
DG: Lemina Ausa has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Stuck Behind a Ronso.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"'m Lanval." Lanval introduces himself as 'Tebreze' invites everyone to introduce themselves by names and not their various physical maladies. He has a stupid smile, a flush face, novelty glasses that look even more stupid than his smile. He smells of alcohol, has the air of a mirthful atmosphere, and the lingering presence of a fresh waterfall whose crashing waters release pleasant mists. Without there being actual crashing waters or pleasant mists, but the very idea of it.
"Shervant ta Schturdark, Guardian of Water." Oh hey one of those Gods that Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus has invited to crash upon and be obliterated by the rock that is Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus, originator of that speech about letting people going into swamps that he occasionally quoted parts of out of context before they forcefully reintroduced themselves onto the world stage. He spent the entire event inside his own vessel contemplating his navel (figuratively, he doesn't really have one) and isn't fully aware of anything beyond her original descriptor of being a barrel that pees itself and the condition of her skin with all the veins and stuff.
"Mmm. Shay--" Layna suddenly takes off. "Hey, waaaait~"
Lanval takes off in a stumbling run. He fails to retain the presence of mind that almost everyone here is Resonant and that he can't easily run through people like that while he's all materialized. There will be a collision. Lanval's manifestation is less than six feet tall and is hella wide.
This will probably not end well.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Stuck Behind a Ronso.
<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.
Cecilia finds...a book! Hooray?? The last few seconds have thrown her for several sequential loops, but she's able to parce the book at least. "Huh," she mutters, and flips a few pages.
Then she slams it shut and tucks it away. HOW INTERESTING. SUCH READING MATERIAL. She stumbles away the color of a tomato.
But her emotive outburst does curb a bit as Lanval describes himself that way. She'd had a sense that was happening, of course, but hearing the words has a different texture than being in the moment, putting everything on the line. Her hand rises up, half-conscious, to her chest, where her pendant hasn't been for years. But even without it, now, the voices of this place are so....unusual. The Guardians all but silent, but the land has its own musicality to it. That she's familiar with: Lunar was like that before. But the song is so different. How is it so different here?
She bumps directly into a cat man's supremely toned back. "Oh! Uhm. S, sorry, I--"
...he's not even noticing. "I'm--!"
Cecilia finds herself contemplating the problem-solving utilities of fire.
DG: Cecilia Adlehyde has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Stuck Behind a Ronso.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
"Look at the size of this lad," Erzebet says, having been, it seems, in no rush to get through the markets. To Cecilia and perhaps anyone else nearby she says, "If Beastmen were this size they'd have called us the shell-eared tribe."
"Also, Manydays is a good name," Erzebet says to Layna.
DG: Erzebet Lefanu has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Stuck Behind a Ronso.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
Well, if introductions are the thing that's happening, Ines is hardly going to refuse. "Ines Colina. Nice to meet you." She decides not to ask if 'Tebezre' is a local or not, even if Ines is hedging her bets on the latter. Still, Lanval's introduction elicits comment. "That's a heck of a title," Ines says, even if she is a terrible lapsed Granasian herself. Though it's hard to deny the guardians aren't around with everything that's happened.
But then the group starts to move, until, well, they are blocked by something Ines rarely sees: Someone bigger than she is. The Ronso has at least 70 pounds on her, and is about her height, if not a little taller. It's honestly kind of impressive. "Well damn."
Ines watches Layna decide to go over the problem, and shakes her head. "Wish it was that easy for the rest of us." She mutters, before making her own decision. She walks toward the Ronso's right side and tries, possibly in vain, to try and shoulder her way through. "'Scuse me, just trying to get past here!" It's... gonna be a squeeze in the best case scenario. Would the she were normal sized. Then she might be able to at least clamber over the stalls instead.
At least she is not trying the Lanval method. That'd just end in trouble.
DG: Ines Colina has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Stuck Behind a Ronso.
=======================<* The Luca Markets - Round 4 *>======================= ======================< Results - Stuck Behind a Ronso >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ines Colina 0 --(7)--> 7 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 0 --(7)--> 7 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 0 --(17)--> 17 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Erzebet Lefanu 0 --(17)--> 17 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cecilia Adlehyde 13 --(17)--> 30 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lemina Ausa 0 --(17)--> 17 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ines Colina 70 --(10)--> 80 Fail Conditions: Injure(2)|Overzealous(2)|Secret(1)|Stupify(1) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ines Colina 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: Lemina Ausa has left your party.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Aye? My 'ppreciations, lass." Layna replies, offering Erzebet a grin. "Picked it out m'self."
Layna only feels a little bad about leaving Lanval behind - she knows the rest will catch up soon enough, though she also knows she's going to have to grab him sometime to chat about this 'Servant to Schturdark' business.
She does, however, make it over the stall with no issues.
The same cannot be said for the others. The Ronso proves to be an almost impassable wall. Some of them might even decide 'well, it'd probably be better to just pick another route'.
In the end, though, he does move - Ines, as the only one who can match him in bulk, is the only one he actually takes note of. He offers her a brief nod, and a grunt of greeting, moving aside to let her pass.
There'll be a brief moment where the others can slip through, too, but it'll be a tight fit in this corridor.
But hey, it'll be worth it in the end, right?
DG: Cecilia Adlehyde has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Luca Markets *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - And the Fans Rush In *>====================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
As you make your way towards the exit, a cry echoes throughout the streets
near the gate. The cry from the crowd is joined by numerous voices; the
young, the old, and the faithful. It may be a case of mistaken identity, or
perhaps she is nearby.
"Lady Summoner!" "Lady Yuna!"
This results in the crowd surging forward to see the alleged Summoner. This
makes getting out of the market -- and not getting pushed aside or underfoot
-- rather difficult, /especially/ if there is a final trinket or bauble you
wanted to buy first!
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.
Cecilia slips through in the stream of people ducking around the big hairy dude. Beastman? Yes, she confirms, from the horn and also the WHOLE sitch, definitely beastman.
Cecilia did not have ot set him on fire, which is nice.
And then, in the distance, a start. "Lady Summoner! Lady Yuna!" Cecilia cannot see well enough over the crowd to tell who this is, although a head of deep chestnut hair yelps as a mob gathers up and starts churning around her.
Cecilia blinks at all this.
Then she looks over to the left, where someone is selling salted fish and other assorted treats, and is having exactly zero luck getting any customers.
She pulls out her Change Staff, and swings it at a leypoint she sees before the man, and with a BWOM of magic, a cube of space clears out in front of the stall. Cecilia scampers up and throws herself on top of it, leaning over to look at the shopkeeper.
"A bag, please!" she says with a big smile. "Of whatever!" SHE WILL TRADE THIS MAN UMBRELLAS. SEE IF SHE DOESN'T.
DG: Cecilia Adlehyde has used her Tool Change Staff toward her party's challenge, And the Fans Rush In.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
By the time everyone catches up...Layna is already leaning up against one of the nearby stalls, one arm folded in front of her and the other bearing a bottle of what is most definitely some variety of alcohol.
Not the Rolancean Red, she's saving the rest of that for a special someone.
"I knew you lot would catch up." Layna comments with a grin, taking a swig. "Care for a drink?"
She doesn't mind sharing. For her part, she's found everything she wanted. Her only interest now was getting out of the market before she winds up losing any of her hard-earned goods or money.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, And the Fans Rush In.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval bounces off the Beastman like a splash of water against a hard surface, and really this statement is kind of true without needing to be a metaphor because he is water. The Ronso ahead of him is none the wiser, and the route that Lanval takes is basically none, left lying in the streets for a little bit.
Everything is weird.
When the one who enshrined him passed away, he felt that loneliness of just not being able to really speak with anyone. For years, the others knew he was there, watching. The worship, the offerings, there was acknowledgement. Over time, less and less. It is possible somewhere in all of that time he may have wondered what it might be like to be truly corporeal enough by mortal perception to be a part of that space. Things like 'hey you're cool for watching over us, here's a pat on the back, let's toast and wrap arms around one another.' The whole thing about where Malevolence comes from aside, it might've been a fleeting fancy.
He has come to the sound decision that maybe he wasn't missing out on much. This comes as at least no less than three people trip over him en route to the call about there being some important person or another (or maybe two of them? A Lady Summoner and a Lady Yuna?)
At some point enough is enough and he just rolls off through a nearby stall which causes a gasp of surprise by one witness and then two more people to pile up where he was. The idea that he now has to be more mindful of people in a physical space at almost all times he's manifested is tough to adjust to.
"Mmm." Lanval plops down in an alley for a bit and has a smoke (...more a bubble) from his fancy kiseru pipe. Breathe in, breathe out. Tiny bubbles escape his nostrils as he blows out even bigger ones. He really ought to calm down, take it in, and remember what it was he was told when the news was given about Obsession living. There'll be a lot to go over again in time.
...
Somewhere in this, he ends up inside one of his own bubbles as he drifts overhead in zen-like contemplation. These bubbles are large enough that if anyone is of the mind, they can just let themselves go inside and drift overhead. In fact, just as Lanval's bubble might pass over Layna...
...of course he reaches a hand out to try and snatch the bottle from her when offered. (He had better be the last one who gets to it, 'cause whatever's in there is soon to be forfeit.)
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Bubble Pipe toward his party's challenge, And the Fans Rush In.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
Erzebet hears a name.
Summoner Yuna.
For some reason this makes her glasses flicker. Her head turns as she looks at Lanval - a few flickers more. Lanval relaxes and bubbles as he appreciates his situation.
Erzebet's glasses track a reflection on him even as she has to scooch her way past the big man. She resists the urge to rub his tummy - which would be a great way to find out if Ronso have sharp claws - and instead emerges on the far end, her 'swords' wobbling perilously.
She puts her hands on her hips, calming it down.
"So I'm calling this shopping trip a big success~!" Erzebet says as she bellies up into the general area of Princess and Pirate. "I think I could really get used to this place."
"For once," she muses, to nobody in particular - maybe the stall owner - "I don't feel cold."
DG: Erzebet Lefanu has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, And the Fans Rush In.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
Sometimes being big has it's advantages. "Much obliged." She responds to the Ronso. She's a touch surprised, to be honest, that no one is throwing stuff at either of them. People here are so far a lot better towards beastfolk than your average Filgaian. She can't exactly 'hold the gate' for those others smaller than her, but at least she provides the opening. She's still a distance from Layna, and doesn't really have a chance to take up that offer of a drink.
That is a very big crowd. A very big, and very hard to avoid crowd. Surging. This is the sort of thing that's a problem for even Ines, there's only so long you can stand strong against a group like that. Especially if you're trying not to hurt anyone. The better option is toget out of the way, but when you're caught in the middle of the path, sometimes a dead sprint isn't enough. Ines undoes her whip from her belt, lashing out at a small arch over the market, and pulls herself up to swing across, aiming to land near the others.
It's possibly overkill, but hey, better than getting trampled.
DG: Ines Colina has used her Tool Runic Whip toward her party's challenge, And the Fans Rush In.
=======================<* The Luca Markets - Round 5 *>======================= ======================< Results - And the Fans Rush In >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cecilia Adlehyde 30 --(0)--> 30 Pass Change Staff 3 Agility Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 17 --(0)--> 17 Pass Bubble Pipe 3 Agility Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Erzebet Lefanu 17 --(10)--> 27 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 7 --(0)--> 7 Pass Quartermaster's Stash 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ines Colina 7 --(0)--> 7 Pass Runic Whip 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ines Colina 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Injure(1)|Overzealous(1)|Slow(2) Effects: Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Ines Colina has successfully explored The Luca Markets!
============================<* The Luca Markets *>============================ =============<* CHALLENGE - The Life and Times of Lord Mi'ihen *>============= |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- One of the market stands near the exit is a bookseller. Books are sometimes rare on Spira, as few cities are large enough to maintain a printing press for long. However, you have found one -- and this book stall had several copies of a well-decorated and well-illustrated tome titled The Life and Times of Lord Mi'ihen. This book details the life of the founder of the Crusaders, Mi'ihen, and includes his speech to the Maesters of Yevon to win his trust. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.
Erzebet feels merry and cheerful which is good because she's not going anywhere in a hurry, owing primarily to Cecilia blocking the lane with her anti-human techniques.
By the time she has finished offloading Rudy's old bandanas on a fish merchant, Cecilia has a bag of various ready-to-eat fish which she is rapidly shoving directly into her mouth. She hops off her platform and dispels it. "It's pretty alright!" she declares.
Ines swings easily over the crowd, and Lanval floats above merrily, and at least one of them gets a good enough look at the 'Lady Summoner' that they will by no means confuse her for the actual Summoner Yuna should they ever meet the woman on the road.
Layna, meanwhile, gets robbed by a Seraph, which she is at liberty to punish him for on her own recognizance.
The group finds themselves gathering together on the far side of the crowd, at...a bookseller!! Cecilia checks her supply of vendor trash briefly and then hustles over, in search of, one, inscrutable sorcery tomes, and two, local trivia.
She walks away with the one, at least. "May as well read up on the locals," she murmurs.
Erzebet's book sits in her pack, as its inventory title ominously begins to turn into ADULT MAG
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
As Lanval drifts overhead to see what everyone's trying to mob, he can see at least one person. That's weird, though, he's heard two Lady people. He sees only one. He wonders if there's something weird going on where there's a kind of person only physically extant individuals can see, because that would make sense as to why that he is seeing either a Lady Summoner or a Lady Yuna, but not both, somehow.
This is a flawless five hundred year old water spirit deduction!!!
He has himself a thirst-slaking drink to calm the nerves, regain the strength, and be gawked at every so often by people looking up at the weird bearded fellow floating along.
He's sure hoping the rest of Fox Company's holding up okay. He knows he's had them worried over the last number of days prior to this when he was just resting up in his vessel by necessity.
<Pose Tracker> Erzebet Lefanu has posed.
Erzebet's writings, while unflinching in realistic portrayal of the human (and near-human) condition as well as the frank explorations of the passions that drive us all, are definitely not suited for young children (unless they are very cool), the elderly, infirm, weakly-conditioned, or for ordained sisters of the Nisan Orthodoxy (except for that one short trilogy about owls, that one's clean)
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
It's okay. Layna is used to Lanval's drink-mugging tendencies by now. She lets him have the rest of it, having finished what she wanted of it - she's gotten very experienced, by now, at drinking quickly.
Instead, her attention turns to a nearby book store. She waltzes in, looking over the selection, and frowns slightly.
"Hm, they don't have a lot, do they?" She mutters, picking up one of the other copies of the book on Lord Mi'ihen. "One o' the others might 'ppreciate this, at least."
At least she'd have a souvenir for them!
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
Ines manages to catch sight of the woman mobbed by the crowd. She can sort of make her out, but still, it's only a momentarily glimps before she lands, and winds up the whip. Whatever a summoner is, it sounds like they might be important. The sort of important that makes it difficult to ask about. Still, she's got places to be.
She picks up a copy of the book, and looks over it. "Don't suppose you'll take gella," Ines half asks, before putting the book back on the table. A bit rich for her blood at the moment. She might have to come back when she's found whatever monsters you beat money out of here.