2019-05-10: If You Can Keep Going
- Log: Follow The Hero's Path
- Cast: Racca, Emeralda Kasim, Elhaym van Houten, Fei Fong Wong, Xantia
- Where: Crusader Forward Base
- Date: May 10, 2019
- Summary: The Black Wolves arrive to assist in the aftermath of Operation Mi'ihen, for which the Crusader Racca tags along.
DG: A party led by Racca is now entering Mushroom Rock Road. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
============================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>============================ ======================<* CHALLENGE - Sudden Triage Unit *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The wounded are in no small supply along Mushroom Rock Road. Be it at the entrances to the winding mountain pathway or the beach where Sin was battled, injured Crusaders are not uncommon. To make matters worse, the fiends have grown far more common since Operation Mi'ihen, as the Crusaders lack the numbers to clear fiends out regularly. As you start your journey, you come across over a dozen people with various types of wounds; some are severe, some are minor, and a couple are mere scratches that still have the unfortunate in a lather. It will take some work to decide who to treat first, and who has to wait until the truly dire wounds are tended to. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Tire============================================
<Pose Tracker> Racca has posed.
Suffice to say, the situation at the site of Operation Mi'ihen is far from ideal in the wake of Sin's attack. Heavily injured people -- Crusaders and members of Althena's Guard and still others alike -- have set up in a sort of slapdash medical camp, but it's clear that those here and providing assistance to the wounded warriors have a greater task than they can manage. Several peoples still stand or lie about, unattended, while those providing immediate medical care tend to earlier arrivals with dangerous wounds.
The Crusaders, at a glance, have clearly taken the worst of the damage -- at least of those you can immediately see here. In fact, the only one here who looks uninjured is a tall woman in a set of red lacquered plate. She kneels by an apparent comrade, inspecting an injury that doesn't look bloody...
....but do legs normally bend like that?
(Generally speaking, no.)
A beleagured young white mage rushes up to the Black Wolves once they arrive. "Are you here to help?" His expression turns a touch desperate. "Please say yes."
Can you say no?
<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.
Emeralda is here! Nobody is surprised!
Emeralda was not directly involved with Operation Mi'ihen, which is also probably not a surprise; everything Emeralda knows about war can be written on a single piece of paper (you don't even need a big one) and, for all her eagerness as to exploring, or even fighting monsters, she didn't have that same kind of interest in war.
It's for the best.
But helping with the aftermath - she can do that. And, as soon as the Black Wolves arrive, she makes puppy-dog eyes at the rest of the party, because she really wants to help.
Even if, as it turns out, she's not very good at it, having precisely zero knowledge of medical treatment (she can't even look at how her own body works, because... well) she can pick up and carry things for people. Fetch water! Fetch bandages! Carry entire stretchers on her own! The options are endless!
Just so long as she gets some supervision, anyway.
DG: Emeralda Kasim has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sudden Triage Unit.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Sometimes Elly wonders if these disasters follow in her wake, if she is somehow cursed or vexed, like a storm crow or a dead albatross. The truth is of course far more complex than this. But on her day to day reality, she can often dismiss these thoughts.
Elly and Fei had gone up the highroad and nearly been killed by bandits (whoopsie doodle!) which had led, of course, to a willingness to have a layover at the travel agency. No doubt Elly befriended a chocobo. But that bird is not here now. Only war. Only devastation.
Elly takes a deep breath as the man in the bloody-toothed robe asks her a question. She raises her hands to slide her fingers together for a moment. And then: "Yes, of course!"
And with a brief look at Fei, which does not quite become a smile, she moves to join in the turning over of small tasks. (Including counterbalancing Emeralda. Single-person stretcher ops are more a travois operation, and that isn't great)
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sudden Triage Unit.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
It seems like Elly is starting to wonder the same things Fei has wondered in the past and, no doubt, still wonders if less loudly at the moment.
Uh. Are they here to help?
Fei just kind of wanted to have a vacation and spend time with his family and maybe fight an occassional bandit or two. He is a little slow to respond but he does say, "Oh--uh...Yeah, of course, of course." He isn't exactly a sociopath either and he supposes that as far as vacations go, the recovery is going really well and he might not need to hover around as much as he has been either.
"Sorry, uh, just caught me off guard." He considers Operation Mi'ihen less a war and more like fighting a natural disaster with bullets but he does not say this in front of the wounded.
Fei reaches into his bag and draws out a variety of tools as if he intends to make an impromptu split.
"Maybe..mm... I think Citan would...uh...if he were here..."
He sweats faintly.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Sudden Triage Unit.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia was actively involved in Operation Mi'ihen herself, standing with the Crusaders as if she actually were one herself. Instead of just kinda sorta pretending to be one, as she's known to have been doing in order to blend in. Her presence there may come as a surprise, as she didn't actually tell the rest of the Wolves that she was going to participate in the Operation. She probably has her reasons. Whether or not those reasons would make sense to anyone else is anybody's guess.
Whatever the case may be, she might be considered one of the lucky ones, as she managed to get to safety before Sin's gravity blast sundered the battlefield. But Xantia is just kind of used to that, somehow surviving things that many others would not. She doesn't exactly feel great about people dying or getting seriously hurt around her all the time while she's just fine, but... that just seems to be the way things always turn out. At least she didn't escape entirely without injury this time. That makes her feel somewhat better, odd as it may be.
Yet Xantia didn't stay among the injured. Leaving those trained for treating the injured to tend to those who she felt needed it more, she just had them bandage up her wound and left almost immediately. There were Fiends out on the Road, and, even with only one good arm, she still felt in good enough shape to handle them, and keep them away from those in no shape to defend themselves. 'To a Hero, injuries are but a badge of honor', as her trusty phrasebook would say. This way, she could do something that she knows she's capable of doing well. Besides, she had some frustrations to vent.
Upon returning from this venture, she is surprised to find a number of familiar faces back at the makeshift camp. She stops dead in her tracks as she sees, "Fei? Elly? Emeralda?" Josie isn't actually here, clearly. Xantia's own injury is easily visible - the bandages on her left arm, just beneath the shoulderpad, are thoroughly soaked with blood on both sides.
Since she arrived late, she isn't helping the injured directly, but fighting off those Fiends back there also counts as helping them, right?
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Hero's Phrasebook toward her party's challenge, Sudden Triage Unit.
<Pose Tracker> Racca has posed.
Whoever she is, the Crusader doesn't seem to be doing a good job of it with the warrior over there. An attempt at rearranging the leg leads to the person she's attempting to treat crying out; that seems to give her pause. Remaining in a crouch, she appears to be considering her options.
A familiar (perhaps) beating of wings enters the immediate area. The owner will swiftly become apparent.
Fei will find himself soon the perch of the one and the only Penelope: she alights on his shoulder. Dark eyes, as black as the depths of space and with exactly as much mercy gaze into his own. She tilts her head to one side as if to inquire after something that cannot cross the gap between species.
Into this the woman in red armor rises at last, giving one parting comment to the injured warrior--
'Try not to walk on it', it sounded like.
She turns towards the small group that's gathered here, pauses as if to take them all in, and, turning her head as she passes the white mage, offers the group of Outlanders a nod in greeting.
"Racca, of the Crusaders. ...Guess you're getting press-ganged into it now, huh?"
Penelope tilts her head and in doing so at last takes her eyes off of Fei.
She also takes her leave of Fei, winging over to abandon him for the... Crusader.
"Well now, aren't you a pretty bird," the Crusader coos.
With that helmet on, it's difficult to read her expression; only her lips, currently quirked into a lopsided smile, are visible. "Don't suppose a pretty bird like you brought these kids here so we can get a real doctor over here?" She jerks her head towards the wounded warrior.
DG: Racca has used her Tool Penelope toward her party's challenge, Sudden Triage Unit.
============================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>============================ ======================<* CHALLENGE - Sudden Triage Unit *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The wounded are in no small supply along Mushroom Rock Road. Be it at the entrances to the winding mountain pathway or the beach where Sin was battled, injured Crusaders are not uncommon. To make matters worse, the fiends have grown far more common since Operation Mi'ihen, as the Crusaders lack the numbers to clear fiends out regularly. As you start your journey, you come across over a dozen people with various types of wounds; some are severe, some are minor, and a couple are mere scratches that still have the unfortunate in a lather. It will take some work to decide who to treat first, and who has to wait until the truly dire wounds are tended to. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Tire============================================
=======================<* Mushroom Rock Road - Round 1 *>======================= ========================< Results - Sudden Triage Unit >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Racca 0 --(15)--> 15 Pass Penelope 3 Wits Effects: Resilient and Liabili -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emeralda Kasim 0 --(20)--> 20 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 0 --(20)--> 20 Fail Hero's Phrasebook 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 0 --(20)--> 20 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 0 --(15)--> 15 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Racca 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Conditions: Stupify(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Racca has failed this challenge! The party gained 5 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> Racca has posed.
It does not, in fact, go very well.
It may well be that -- for some mysterious reason -- Fei is the only one in the group with any sense of what approaches appropriate medical technique.
In the end the beleagured white mage politely -- if tersely -- asks them to go look for other survivors.
Please.
"How about I come along? I'm not very good at this kind of thing," the red-armored Crusader suggests, a faintly amused smile on her lips. The blade at her hip suggests that she maybe might be better in a fight than in the infirmary.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>============================ ======================<* CHALLENGE - Breaking Mushrooms *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The path through Mushroom Rock Road is subject to landslides and avalanches, after Sin's blast tore through the land here. You come across where one of those mushroom-shaped rocks has collapsed... creating a massive, mushroom cap-shaped pile of rubble that must be cleared to advance. =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Tire========================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly can apply bandages and move stretchers and give directions. But this is about the most she can do, beyond smiling at people, beyond trying to be reassuring, beyond helping people out of the sand. It is tiring. Already she feels half-dead and she can tell that this was a drop in the ocean.
Strange, some part of her thinks. Is this what it was like at every battle I saw or came near? Is this the real face of a war?
What does Emeralda think?
Why is Penelope here?
Why is Penelope -
Elly blinks, focusing a little more, and turns her attention to Penelope as Penelope flutters over to land on the shoulder of the Crusader. Elly looks at the Crusader in sober silence for a good three seconds, takes a deep breath, and tells her, "I think if we can't do much here, we should try to find a - a way for others to get through. The wounded will need to be transported." Or the dead moved, she doesn't say, but totally thinks.
She leans her head forwards while looking at Racca for a long moment... but seems to relent on the idea, breathing out and looking towards -- "Xantia!" Elly says. If Xantia does not resist it, Elly advances for a brief hug. "Oh, goodness. Were you in the actual fighting?"
Anyway, up the shore, where there's less pretty red swirls in the sand. Elly's attention turns back to Emeralda in particular, and Elly even offers her a hand, though it may be unnecessary.
Less unnecessary is the half-a-Gear sized piece of (mushroom) rock that has fallen in front of them. They had, at this point, moved into a short rise, partially away from the beach - there is a clifflet, perhaps ten yards, and underneath it a little curlicue of sand that does not have any suffering or dying people on it, just a single box of some kind, which had, to boot, been opened by someone.
"I suppose if we can move this, we'll at least have cleared the road," Elly muses aloud. She contemplates the rock again. This would be an excellent place to blast it with her mutant witch powers. She does not, of course; though this may be a minor wonder to...... Racca.
Instead Elly produces a small glass bottle labelled '4-in-1 Patent Miracle Oil - Entirely Mineral and Snake Derived - Cures What Ails You And Lubes Up What Don't So's It Comes Out'. She walks to the place where the rock has come to rest and begins to lubricate the space, carefully clearing out debris with one hand and generously doping it with the mineral oil along the way.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Inventory Clutter toward her party's challenge, Breaking Mushrooms.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei looks slowly at Penelope. He opens his mouth and he lets it hang open for a moment. He looks into Penelope's eyes. He looks into the space in Penelope's eyes. He remembers, in this moment, that he has not seen his dear friend Josepine since arriving on Lunar and that she might not even be on the same planet anymore. He sniffs faintly, eyes going wet as a tear drips from his eye. "Penelope... Penelope made it to Lunar..." He whispers. "Oh no...what if Josie hadn't made it? I don't know what she'd do without Penelope..." He shakes his head vigorously. "Don't worry, Penelope! Until we find Josie again, I will make sure that you are safe...!"
The bird then promptly flies off Fei's shoulder and towards the Crusader.
WATCHMOJO'S TOP TEN MUSHING BETRAYALS
Fei hangs his head. He looks towards Elly and exhales out a long sigh as he makes his way back towards her. He doesn't say anything for a long while.
And then he says, "Do pigeons really have usch a short memory?" He asks of her. "She was inseperable from Josie back when she was traveling with us. Well, except for all those times Penelope left us to die in some deathtrap or maze or whatever... but aside from those times, Penelope was an invaluable companion and loyal ... bird of Josephine's." He looks at the floor. "I ... I hope she's okay without us. I know she can take care of herself but..."
He crouches down and starts chucking rubble away as he stews in this mood for a bit longer before looking over to Xantia.
He frowns at her wounds and says, "You were fightin' here too, sis?" He asks of her, concern deep on his features.
Maybe this isn't a conflict he can utterly avoid either. But what could he have done?
<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.
What does Emeralda think? Emeralda doesn't think this is great! But she wants to help, she's so eager and it shows...
...but eagerness doesn't actually help with medicine, and Emeralda can't do anything but untrained labour. It's easiest to send her away after a while, which is what actually happens. Fortunately, Emeralda is not offended - she's probably more useful doing this anyway.
"Xantia!" Emeralda bounces on her feet, waving at the other girl. "I found Fei and Elly, see? After you told me where to look it was easy!" She does not seem to recognize Racca, though she does look at Penelope for a slightly awkward amount of time when she thinks nobody is looking.
Emeralda looks at the pile of rubble, too, where Elly is working. "I can help," she says, reaching behind her and pulling out a crowbar, in surprisingly good shape despite the abuses Emeralda puts it through. This is because it's Gear material; she salvaged it from Crescens before coming to Lunar.
Emeralda wedges part of it under the rock so that the other end sticks up at an angle, and then hops up, attempting to literally jump on the other end to use it like a lever. When she touches down, there's a metal-on-metal *clang* as Emeralda presses down with all her not-inconsiderable weight. Maybe it will lift and slide, with Elly's oil and some more assistance? That's her hope, anyway.
DG: Emeralda Kasim has used her Tool Reinforced Bar toward her party's challenge, Breaking Mushrooms. DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Breaking Mushrooms.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
"You and me both," she answers the other 'Crusader' with a wry smile of her own, totally ready to go do... anything else, as long as she's better at it than caring for the injured. There's no particular recognition from Xantia - if she's run into Racca before, it'd have to have been in passing. She's less good at impersonation, so most Crusaders by now would be aware that she isn't one, and she has promised to stop pretending. She's still on good terms, all the same. She did stand with them, after all.
Xantia doesn't resist Elly's hug, although she returns it using only her right arm, grimacing a bit due to pressure put on the injured opposite arm. Far be it from her to actually discourage a hug, responding to Elly and Fei's question with a slight tinge of sadness, "Yeah... I fought in the Operation. Sorry it ended up like this. I tried my best. Everybody did." No apologies or explanations regarding her doing something so dangerous in the first place. It's pretty much a Xantia thing to do when you think about it, isn't it?
It's also a Xantia thing to seek to quickly shift focus back on the positive. Don't think about what you can't do, and don't just think about what you can, actually go and do it. That's what she intends right now. And when Emeralda is there all excited, it's especially easy for her to find her smile again. "You sure did find them, good job! I'm glad it worked out!" After a moment, she adds, "Ah... we should talk later, okay? About... stuff." Way to be all needlessly mysterious, Xantia.
In any event, right now the group has to deal with heavy things that need to be cleared out of the way. This is more Xantia's speed. She grins, and raises her right hand, adorned with something new: what looks to be some sort of fancy set of spiked knuckles. "I can handle this," she states confidently, moving to just simply smash her fist into the biggest rocks to pound them into rubble.
Notably, she's only using her right arm. Her left arm remains limply at her side. That wound may be a little more serious than she was letting on.
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Buster Claw toward her party's challenge, Breaking Mushrooms.
<Pose Tracker> Racca has posed.
"So you fought too, huh..." This is to Xantia's admission. "Hey, listen, kiddo... you did your best," the Crusader sighs. "I don't think a single person could have turned the tide of that one..."
She gazes up the sky above for a moment, before certain turns of event put her in the same trajectory as the lot of them.
Racca's smile only increases -- if by millimeters -- when Elly gives her a good, long look.
"Sounds like a good enough plan to me, redwing," the Crusader comments, before falling in with the rest. "A lot of these guys are in bad shape, and with them laid up, the Fiends have only gotten worse. ...I might be one of the lucky ones," she says, gesturing towards herself with her left hand, "but there's only so much I can do. The sooner they're in fighting shape again, the better."
She turns her head as if to take in the others. Xantia, Fei, Emeralda.
"...Let me guess. You're all Outlanders?"
"No problems there."
And it's onwards into the twists and turns that make up this section of land, now ravaged by Sin.
Which might be the reason behind that big old rock in the way. Racca, for her part, watches Elly as she makes her approach.
...Tilts her head slightly to one side when the young lady merely retrieves a bottle of oil and sets about a more mundane path to removing their obstacle.
"Don't suppose you know the bird?" Racca asks the others, gesturing towards the roosting Penelope on her shoulder. "Maybe you should hold her."
She plucks Penelope from her perch and offers her over to... well, whoever will take her.
Because her next step is to unhook a tool that she's certainly been using to dig out debris over the last short while and has never used for anything else, nope.
This she introduces to this particular set of debris, joining in where Elly applies oil and where Emeralda makes good use of a certain crowbar.
And where Xantia just straight-up slams her fist into the rock. Notably, Racca pauses to take in Xantia's dangling arm, as if to gauge some facet of it.
DG: Racca has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, Breaking Mushrooms.
============================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>============================ ======================<* CHALLENGE - Breaking Mushrooms *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The path through Mushroom Rock Road is subject to landslides and avalanches, after Sin's blast tore through the land here. You come across where one of those mushroom-shaped rocks has collapsed... creating a massive, mushroom cap-shaped pile of rubble that must be cleared to advance. =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Tire========================================
=======================<* Mushroom Rock Road - Round 2 *>======================= ========================< Results - Breaking Mushrooms >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Racca 15 --(0)--> 15 Pass Well-Used Mattock 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emeralda Kasim 20 --(0)--> 20 Pass Reinforced Bar 2 Brute Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 20 --(0)--> 20 Pass Buster Claw 1 Brute Effects: Rally and Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 20 --(0)--> 20 Pass Inventory Clutter 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 15 --(0)--> 15 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Racca 5 --(20)--> 25 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1)|Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Racca 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> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"..." Elly replies to Fei, about avian treason. (To herself, she thinks with sober and painfully earnest love: He knows, doesn't he? He's just trying to spare her feelings...)
Between crowbar, mattock, and raw strength - however one-handed it may be - the rock rises upwards... and it is not much of a rise. The combined force of two strong women and one strong girl are enough to raise this rock on top of its fulcrum by a grand total of six inches.
And yet.
And yet it is enough. The mattock had cleared the way. The dirt and rubble is heavily lubricated by a mixture of lizard grease and low-grade petroleum. The rock skitters - slips - and begins to fall downwards. It is a long, slow, leisurely thing and the stone bumps against the opposite space of that little gully, dislodging some looser, friable rock slightly. If you had a bomb --
And were willing to walk down this fallen --
But not every link in every chain can come this day. Elly turns away to say with a small smile, "Well, it's not perfect--"
The overhang of the rock still occuludes part of the path to the beach, but you could walk underneath it -- perhaps in the future you could place a bench here, if you were brave -- and a wagon could pass through with merely caution, not terror.
"But it's progress, isn't it?"
DG: Emeralda Kasim has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>============================ =================<* CHALLENGE - Climbing to Greater Heights *>================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Sometimes, the platforms on Mushroom Rock Road have some ancient magic to assist one in getting higher. Little glowing circles, engraved with runes, which may -- in fact -- be Symbological, provide a burst of air that one can use to leap up twenty or thirty feet. Except that controlling them is hard. Sometimes, when you step on them, they can propel you up into the rock... or not quite at the right angle. But, it's fun to get to jump like a dragoon, right? ...what's a dragoon, anyways? =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Injure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.
Emeralda jumps on the crowbar a couple more times before the rock starts to slide, which means the crowbar no longer sticks up at an angle.
She ends up landing with a thump and having to pick herself up. But it doesn't seem to bother her. "It's good!" she agrees with Elly, and perhaps it is enough.
"Sure, we can talk," Emeralda says to Xantia, seeing nothing wrong with the request to do so later. She ends up accepting Penelope, at least for the moment, which is fine by Emeralda - "Hi, birdie!" - okay, maybe more than fine.
Thus armed, she leads the way further onward, ducking under something she doesn't actually need to duck under to get to a more open area, with platforms, and strange runed platforms. Something about them seems familiar...
Hesitantly, Emeralda puts a foot on one, eliciting a gust of air. She doesn't actually move anywhere - with only sticking one foot on it, it's enough for her to feel the force but not enough to lift her. But she seems delighted by this too. "Oh! Let's go up! That would be faster, right?" It's not like the party has a choice; it's either go over this section or around a very, very long route.
Emeralda jumps on the platform. It still might not have lifted her, except for one thing: her hair. It shifts as she steps, lengthening and straightening to a nearly waist-length mane that's less bulky and shaggy than its normal configuration; it probably has no more hair, but it's all stretched out and down instead of its natural expansiveness.
It splays out behind her, something between wings and a parachute, and it's enough for Emeralda to catch the updraft and jump with it, gliding slightly heavily to the next platform. Penelope might want to get off and fly by herself at this point.
"Whee!"
At least someone's having fun.
DG: Emeralda Kasim has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Climbing to Greater Heights.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
SPOILERS: He doesn't. If Racca was secretly Josie she'd have said something by now right? RIGHT??????? So obviously Racca is not Josie.
Fei smiles at Xantia. "Hey, it's okay." He may have been holding off on hugs due to the wound and associated Josie sorrow but he does add, "I'm just glad you made it out of there. I'm sure that you did your best, and that thanks to you some folks made it out who wouldn't have made it out otherwise." Least, that's what he'd like to think and unless there's evidence to disprove it, he can live in the reality that as sad as things are, Xantia managed to help. And who knows? Maybe she did save someone's life! Like Borgan's!!
"Thanks for sending her to us, Xan." He adds. "I was really worried but I guess we just kept missing each other."
He nods once to Racca. "She's a bird who belongs to a dear friend. Saved my life once. Maybe more than once. I hope she's okay." He shakes his head. "But right now we should probably see about who we can help in front of us."
He then steps on a floating platform and is sent spinning into the air. "Ahahaha---this is amazing...!" Fei says before landing and jumping into the air again.
"Having fun Emmy?" Fei shouts before--
*the disk starts spinning noisily*
Fei's eyes widen with concern.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Climbing to Greater Heights.
<Pose Tracker> Racca has posed.
If it helps, Racca has been struggling to maintain a straight face this whole time. Fortunately, she only has to worry about the lower half; the helmet is mercifully concealing for the rest, including, of course, her eyes.
"Thanks, kiddo," she says to Emeralda, once she takes Bird Duty. "I figured she might get in the way when I started swinging," she adds, as if by way of explanation.
Still, that's one pile of debris sorted.
"Now where?" she voices aloud, slinging the pick again at her hip.
Only to turn her head when Fei speaks to Penelope.
"Oh? The bird, you mean?"
She is struggling very hard now not to smile or grin too much.
And in fact she turns her attention Elly's way, holds her gaze (...probably? again, helmet) and then gives the young woman a slow and rather cheeky thumbs-up.
...Does she know? Or suspect? Or--
"Oh?"
Emeralda has made a discovery.
"What did you find? It looks like--"
Racca reaches out, here, for one of the markings. This activates it.
Racca is sent on a sudden and very much one-way trip upwards, punctuated with a shriek of surprise.
DG: Racca has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Climbing to Greater Heights.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Racca's question regarding Outlanders is only responded to by one word: "Drifters." That's the proper term for what they are, isn't it? She's pointedly not looking at Penelope, as she admits when the topic of the bird comes up, "I... probably shouldn't hold her." She can't help herself from thinking of birds as food. But she doesn't want to eat a friend's pet. Or risk this particular pet's wrath. She's seen the things it does.
Of course, she doesn't suspect a thing regarding Racca. Racca said she was Racca, so who else would Racca be but Racca? There's no need to think about it. It's like she's Fei's sister or something.
Xantia only nods at Racca and Fei's judgment on her actions. As much as she would've liked to somehow make the Operation succeed, this was bigger than she is. Though she doesn't respond verbally, she does give Fei an apologetic look. And, at the same time, give Id an apologetic look. Fei for worrying him. Id for failing him. She doesn't feel like she needs to say any of this with words. She's especially torn on whether or not she wants Id to realize that part of the reason she did this was for his sake, knowing how he feels about Sin. If he doesn't already.
She can at least manage a smile in response to Fei's thanks. "You're welcome. Emeralda's very brave, isn't she?" As if to prove her right, Emeralda proceeds to demonstrate how to 'go up'.
"Oh hey, that looks fun!" With all due enthusiasm, Xantia follows suit, hopping onto a runed mushroom. And, having failed to consider the differences between her an Emeralda, promptly goes flying in a far less controlled manner than Emeralda exhibited, prompting an alarmed "Waaaaah!"
Hopefully her less than graceful flailing will afford enough control to make it across safely...
DG: Xantia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Climbing to Greater Heights.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly sees this strange object and wonders if this is something the Crusaders built, or found - perhaps the Al Bhed? It reminds her of symbology, but not in enough detail to really make her think deeper about it.
Emeralda uses it to leap up. Elly takes a deep breath, and then tells Xantia, "You should ask Emeralda about the turtle, some time. Ah. Will your arm...?" She lingers for a moment on the question that can't quite be answered, and then she steps into the disk --
And here Elly has a small problem, because, despite her growing affection for Emeralda, she has not internalized the differences in density.
Also Elly is pretty light weight. A lot of it is her hair.
*fwoosh!* "Wah--"
Fortunately the sandals should keep her from falling off whatever ledge she comes to light on.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Traveler Sandals toward her party's challenge, Climbing to Greater Heights.
============================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>============================ =================<* CHALLENGE - Climbing to Greater Heights *>================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Sometimes, the platforms on Mushroom Rock Road have some ancient magic to assist one in getting higher. Little glowing circles, engraved with runes, which may -- in fact -- be Symbological, provide a burst of air that one can use to leap up twenty or thirty feet. Except that controlling them is hard. Sometimes, when you step on them, they can propel you up into the rock... or not quite at the right angle. But, it's fun to get to jump like a dragoon, right? ...what's a dragoon, anyways? =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Injure=========================================
=======================<* Mushroom Rock Road - Round 3 *>======================= ===================< Results - Climbing to Greater Heights >==================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Racca 15 --(12)--> 27 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emeralda Kasim 20 --(2)--> 22 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 20 --(12)--> 32 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 20 --(2)--> 22 Pass Traveler Sandals 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 15 --(12)--> 27 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Racca 25 --(10)--> 35 Fail Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Injure(2)|Overzealous(1) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Racca has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.
"This is great!!"
And, indeed, for Emeralda, it is. With her... wings? Cape? Parachute? Whatever her hair is doing, it helps her control her descent, and she has no problems aiming herself in the direction she wants to go. Elly manages a successful double bounce too, moving from one platform to another. Those sandals really do help!
Everyone else, well...
Eventually, the party can manage the rocky, multiplatform ascent. But there's a lot of false starts and a lot of going up only to be deposited right back where they started to give it another shot.
Emeralda, who gets up to the top the fastest (along with Elly), ends up waiting for a while at the top, looking over and watching the ascent. "You can do it!!"
DG: Xantia has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>=========================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Plotting a Course *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Sometimes, the damage caused by Sin is akin to an earthquake. When you round the next bend, whether to look for survivors or to simply make your way through, you find that the road here has become a tangled mess. Moreover, you can't be sure that the road actually leads where it should; landfalls and damage may have made it lead into dead-ends. It may help to take some time and plot a course, both for your own safety and to help others in the future. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Slow============================================
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Turns out, it's really hard to control one's flight without being able to move both your arms. Xantia's left arm doesn't match the rest of her limb-flailing at all, just sort of going with whatever flow is currently going, likely providing the definitive answer on how functional it is right now. It takes a number of tries going up and down on the same mushroom before she can maneuver herself properly. It's a small miracle that she manages to eventually make it at all without hurting herself.
Even the final landing is solidly adequate, as in she lands awkwardly on her feet, sinks through them, and rises again quickly. She brings her right hand to her head for a moment, fighting off the dizziness that resulted from that little ordeal. "That was... maybe not the best." Not about to use her handicap as an excuse. She doesn't feel like she'd have done much better without it anyway.
It was wise for Emeralda and Elly to wait, because going much further would have been a good way to get hopelessly separated. If there was ever an obvious path here, it's now obscured by the heavy damage done to the surrounding landscape. There's no clearing away this amount of debris, the only way is over it, and hope that it's leading in some kind of useful direction.
The direction that looked like the most obvious certainly didn't, leading only to a steep cliff with no helpful mushrooms or anything else to possibly get across. Xantia scratches her head. "Well, this leads nowhere. I guess it was the wrong path. Or, rather..." She clears her throat, and does her best to sound heroic. "No need to feel bad about retracing your steps! A hero's path is always correct, even if you're threading the same one twice!"
Seems like her new choice of reading material to quote from is about as questionable as the last one was.
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Hero's Phrasebook toward her party's challenge, Plotting a Course.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei hits the ground rather heavily, punching off a fiend that had attached itself to his arm in the interim mid jump combat sequence. He looks a little sour after that but that sourness soon melts when he sees Emeralda's continued optimism.
Id has no idea that Xantia went after Sin for his sake and if he did he'd probably not be very chipper about it. He has just assumed that Xantia went after Sin because she is a 'hero' who does 'hero things' and 'hero things' include fighting a giant death whale even if it's a 'really bad idea'. At the moment, he is stewing because of Xantia's wound. Fei seems to be trying to not dwell on it so much but he keeps glancing over when he thinks Xantia is't looking. "Sure is, Xan."
Fei draws out his sketchpad (honestly he is on his like 8th one now since becoming a digger) and starts sketching out a route to take along the route--and at the very least keep track of where they've been, Etrian Odyssey style. This means that, yes, he has to draw in the lines too rather than hope they appear automatically.
He then laughs a bit into his hand at Xantia's quote. "Hey, if we know about dead ends we can remember them for next time. Not a bad thing." This sounds like he's agreeing with her, dangerously so!!!
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Plotting a Course.
<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.
Emeralda is very optimistic. This hasn't changed.
She has also spotted how badly Xantia's arm is actually damaged, and now she's increasingly unsure of how hurt Xantia is. She assumed it wasn't *too* bad if she was out and about, but... well maybe it is. She's not going to be the one to bring it up right now, though. She doesn't want to look stupid!
Even if she kind of missed that they were walking toward a dead end.
"Well," Emeralda says, thoughtfully, before trailing off. She looks at Penelope. Then she looks at the rocks. "I wish Birdie could tell us which way to go." That with a sigh. Sadly, Emeralda cannot ask a bird for directions (well, she can, but she's not going to get a useful answer back).
There's nothing for it but to keep checking different routes. "Yeah!" she agrees. "And maybe we'll find something neat in one of them!"
Only if you like rocks, probably, but hey. Optimism.
DG: Emeralda Kasim has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Plotting a Course.
<Pose Tracker> Racca has posed.
Racca, tragically, doesn't even land anywhere close to the top. It's a long, hard, and very sad ascent to the top. But she does, eventually make it.
Even if it means that she has to take a moment to have a bit of a breather.
Though the Crusader doesn't stay put for long. Coming in alongside Xantia once she spots the girl, she again apparently regards her for a moment.
"...Need a hand?" she murmurs, jerking her head as if to indicate towards Xantia... and her apparent injury or similar.
Her head turns, if slightly, to the path ahead. Or perhaps what remains of it.
"What a damn mess," she mutters, her left hand resting on her hip.
It's Penelope who provides slightly more assistance... of a sort. Still in Emeralda's arms -- even as she wishes that the bird could help them -- the pigeon tilts her head as it to read the terrain lingering ahead.
And then abruptly takes flight towards one path in particular. Is this a sign?
...Or could it be a trap.
DG: Racca has used her Tool Penelope toward her party's challenge, Plotting a Course.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly is able to catch up with others. That's a relief. Less of a relief is the wreckage of what might be the stretch of road down which they would hope for people to bring chocobos. Chocobos, unfortunately, are not able to blast through wreckage... as far as elly knows anyway... kweh
She smiles a little at Xantia's catchprhrase - slogan? She isn't sure. Looking towards Fei, she says, "I suppose the paper's rather precious... but do you think we could put up... signs, I suppose? Just to warn people from dead ends?"
Elly looks at the wreckage, and then, forth. "It's true that Penelope could get a view from above, but it's hard for her to communicate that sort of thing with us..." Elly eyes Penelope after saying that as if to say: Right?
"I can't imagine," Elly then says to ''Racca', "What it was like. I..."
Elly takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
"... the only time I've seen... that creature... it was through the cameras of a Gear. Now you've seen it in person, I suppose..."
"... you're brave. All of you.."
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Plotting a Course.
===========================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>=========================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Plotting a Course *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Sometimes, the damage caused by Sin is akin to an earthquake. When you round the next bend, whether to look for survivors or to simply make your way through, you find that the road here has become a tangled mess. Moreover, you can't be sure that the road actually leads where it should; landfalls and damage may have made it lead into dead-ends. It may help to take some time and plot a course, both for your own safety and to help others in the future. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Slow============================================
======================<* Mushroom Rock Road - Round 4 *>====================== =======================< Results - Plotting a Course >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Racca 27 --(0)--> 27 Pass Penelope 3 Wits Effects: Resilient and Liabili ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Emeralda Kasim 22 --(0)--> 22 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 32 --(5)--> 37 Fail Hero's Phrasebook 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 22 --(0)--> 22 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 27 --(0)--> 27 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Racca 35 --(15)--> 50 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Injure(1)|Slow(2)|Stupify(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Racca 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: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>=========================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - Falling Mushroom Rocks *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- When you walk down the next stretch of road, you hear a loud CRACK above you. Then, one of the stacked lengths of rock -- like stacked mushrooms, giving this area its name -- comes falling down. It cracks into numerous large pieces, all of which come raining down on your head! =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia doesn't fail to deduce that the offer of 'a hand' is in regards to the fact that she doesn't have use of both of her own. It's easy to see, given how her eyes turn towards her left arm when the offer is made. Still, she shakes her head to Racca, smiling faintly as she claims, "I'm fine. It's not so bad."
Xantia doesn't tell lies - that is exactly how she feels about this. Her definition of 'not so bad' is evidently one of the many things that doesn't match the way most people would think. She probably figures it'll sort itself out. She does tend to heal rather quickly.
Blissfully unaware of how that makes certain people who can't express themselves right now feel, she's perfectly capable of keeping her spirits up, only further emboldened by the encouragement of others.
With a makeshift map and watchful eyes, the group is at least capable of never making the same mistake twice. But with Penelope taking off, and the decision to follow the bird on the off chance it's doing exactly what Emeralda suggested, the way through towards a more obvious path is quickly discovered. Amazing! What are the odds, without Josie even being here to provide instructions!
Naturally, the only lesson Xantia will learn from this is that this much concentrated optimism can't possibly fail. "There we go, that was easy! See, I told you, you just need to follow the Hero's Path and everything will be fine!"
That's totally what just happened.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei has honestly never seen Xantia so physically beat up as far as he can remember. It worries him but if it was anybody else it would feel like a pretty reasonable injury for someone who fought Sin and he'd be glad she had all her limbs to begin with. He tries not to telegraph his concern too much.
"Even Id's scared of it--at least without the Gear. Even the Guardians are." Fei says. "And that scares me. At least until we have some better idea of what Sin is, I don't know if I'm really comfortable trying to fight it." It'd be like trying to punch Solaris out of the sky, Fei thinks, not very likely.
"Hm... Not a bad idea." Fei adds to Elly. "But I don't know if I have any adhesive."
There is suddenly a loud CRACK above Fei.
Fei looks up.
His eyes widen.
And he says, "Watch out!" as he dives for cover. His allies are likely faster on their feet than he is otherwise he'd be trying to tackle them out of the way of the giant falling rocks suddenly coming down upon them!
<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.
"Thanks, birdie!" Emeralda will learn Penelope's name sometime. That day is not today.
It seems to have worked, anyhow, in that they have found their way into a tunnel that is going the right direction. Enough for them to walk for a few moments in peace, anyway.
Emeralda, unlike most of the others, has limited experience with Sin. She has never seen it in person, only its fiends; she wasn't at Mi'ihen, and she wasn't at Azado. She doesn't feel that she's particularly brave for not seeing it, so she doesn't join in with the conversation on that topic. She's not sure what she feels about it, anyway...
*crack*
"Ah!" Emeralda doesn't need to be warned by Fei, but she appreciates it nonetheless. Or she will, later, when she thinks about it; right now she's running on instinct, throwing herself forward to try to avoid a particularly chunky rock falling right for her. "Why are the rocks falling! They were stuck there before! Nobody moved any!!"
DG: Emeralda Kasim has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Falling Mushroom Rocks. DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Falling Mushroom Rocks.
<Pose Tracker> Racca has posed.
This day, Penelope is as a guide.
Tomorrow may be different.
Swooping back on the return, she alights on Racca's shoulder once again, almost insistantly so, and settles down as if to take a nap. She seems pretty comfortable with the Crusader...
"Don't suppose anyone ended up here?" Racca comments, once they venture down the path which Penelope has lead them.
Then the rocks come loose.
Maybe this was a trap...?
In any case, Racca's first action is to attempt to grab for Emeralda, no doubt intending to haul her to safety.
In a somewhat different incarnation, 'Racca' had hauled a large ARM with difficulty, but she had been expecting it then, and the thing had undergone some work to ensure it was as light as it could be and still function.
She's certainly not expecting what looks like a little girl to weigh as much as a piece of artillery. Racca makes a sound that's one part yelp and one part grunt, and, cradling her overstrained arm against her in the next heartbeat, rushes forward.
...Without Emeralda.
DG: Racca has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Falling Mushroom Rocks.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia's wound is certainly among the worst she ever incurred, but she's not about to let it keep her down. And as long as the concern isn't super obvious, you can rest assured that she will not take notice of it.
She does grow a little quiet when the subject turns to Sin and how scary it is. Back in Azado, Xantia went right up to Sin and tried to punch it in the anything she could. She doesn't feel particularly brave for doing that. It's a big monster, that's just what you do, right? She looks a big sheepish when the subject is being discussed, but she doesn't weigh in. She probably doesn't need to for people to know where she stands on this. And it's not like has a complete explanation for her behavior. She's not incapable of fear or anything, she just doesn't always feel any when it would make sense.
Lost in thought for a moment, this could have ended pretty badly if it weren't for Fei's warning. Xantia doesn't even look first, her instinct is to just leap away from where she was, and keep on going. Hopefully that was the right call, she doesn't feel like she should pause to ascertain the exact danger zone.
"Everything will be fine!!" she insists once again. Saying something out loud enough times will make it true, right?
DG: Xantia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Falling Mushroom Rocks.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
SUDDENLY: ROCKS FALL!
It is a sad thing for the story of a heroine to end here, half finished and wounded. Then again perhaps this overstates the matter. Elly dives, as if to cover Fei -
And this happens just as Fei moves as well. The two of them are on overlapping vectors. Fortunately, Elly's dense red hair puts some buffer between what would otherwise be a rather resounding clonk between forehead and forehead. Instead, it just makes her sway backwards a step -- balancing on one sandaled foot --
She smiles at Fei for a moment, cheeks reddened.
Then her eyes snap towards Emeralda, thankfully just narrowly missing 'Racca' putting her down. Elly lunges forwards as if to cover her with her body, which isn't much of an answer to her question!
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Traveler Sandals toward her party's challenge, Falling Mushroom Rocks.
===========================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>=========================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - Falling Mushroom Rocks *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- When you walk down the next stretch of road, you hear a loud CRACK above you. Then, one of the stacked lengths of rock -- like stacked mushrooms, giving this area its name -- comes falling down. It cracks into numerous large pieces, all of which come raining down on your head! =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
======================<* Mushroom Rock Road - Round 5 *>====================== =====================< Results - Falling Mushroom Rocks >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Racca 27 --(2)--> 29 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Emeralda Kasim 22 --(12)--> 34 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 37 --(12)--> 49 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 22 --(2)--> 24 Pass Traveler Sandals 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 27 --(12)--> 39 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Racca 50 --(10)--> 60 Fail Conditions: Injure(2)|Slow(2) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Racca 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: Racca has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>============================ ========================<* CHALLENGE - Floating Eyes *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Among the fiends that roam Mushroom Rock Road are Floating Eyes. These fiends are enormous eyeballs, with a leathery body and lid around them, with small legs, arms, and huge bat wings. This time, they descend from on high -- and shoot down beams of energy that can make one freeze-up with paralysis when struck! Worse, the creatures are especially agile. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Stupify==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
BONK x BONK.
Luckily the party is not ACTUALLY crushed by falling rocks, but the falling rocks do end up dislodging several smaller rocks that do bash some skulls on their way out. Fei gets a bruise along his temple. Emeralda WAS going to get clobbered by rocks but Elly is there protecting her from rocks and, well, at least it doesn't hurt Elly too much and Emeralda is safe. Fei gets himself up onto his feet after, holding his head with his hand.
"Everybody okay?" He says. "Oof, wasn't expecting that."
He looks to Emeralda and Elly with concern.
At which point one of the larger rocks CRASHES DOWN right next to Xantia (Racca, at least, is able to avoid them utterly even though it did mean leaving Emeralda behind).
"Seems we're all in one piece at least."
<Pose Tracker> Racca has posed.
Racca, it seems, has little to say on the subject of Sin. Her lips press thinly, her jaw sets.
And that's about all that anyone can see of the woman's reaction.
And shortly after that, Emeralda's size forces her to abandon the girl and dart ahead in an attempt to save her own skin. In this, she's successful.
"The rest of you kids alive?" she calls back.
She's answered, soon enough, by Fei's voice in the semi-darkness.
"...You all seem lively enough. Come on. I can see daylight."
And so it might have been, if not for
SUDDEN TRANSITION TO FIGHT SEQUENCE
which is to say, a winged eyeball and its friends swoop down out of the shadows to harry the group. Racca, Crusader and defender of Spira, falls back. Whereupon she then pulls a bottle out of one of the pockets at her hip. She takes a swig from its contents. ...It's probably a healing potion. Right?
"I've had just about enough of you things," she says to the Fiend. Her lips move soon afterwards.
A bolt of lightning -- coursing first down her right arm and into her hand -- is hurled for the leathery flapping monster.
Black magic, right?
DG: Racca has used her Tool Liquid Courage toward her party's challenge, Floating Eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.
Emeralda is not pulled along by Racca.
Fortunately, she is quite capable of moving herself. Unfortunately, it's almost not fast enough; she doesn't get squashed, but she does take a particuarly pointy rock right on her hair (which hardens into enough of a helmet that the point is less of a problem than the weight of it).
So she's a little sore when she comes out of the narrows, just in time to see FLOATING EYEBALLS. Emeralda's response is immediate; she's not quite a hair-trigger but she has certainly learned that you should blow up fiends as soon as you run into them.
That explains the tiny fireballs that shower from her fingers from one hand while her other hand clenches onto a blue crystal, a channeling stone left over from Crescens' Ether Amplifier. If black magic is good enough for Racca, it's good enough for her!
DG: Emeralda Kasim has used her Tool Large Etherstone toward her party's challenge, Floating Eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Well, she couldn't claim to be hurt a terrible lot by the rain of small rocks that she ended up running through, but it's hardly the most pleasant thing Xantia's ever experienced. She takes a breather once the coast seems clear, and about to respond to Fei, "I'm--"
When a huge rock falls next to her, making her hair stand on end with surprise. Slowly turning her head, a bead of sweat falls down the side of her face as she fully realizes just how close that was, and how much of a pancake she would be if that had landed on her.
"Y-yep, all in one piece here!" She laughs a little, awkwardly, and without much amusement. The sooner moved on from this, the better.
Thankfully, there are Fiends about. Yes, thankfully, Xantia is definitely thankful for this. Nothing better to get your mind of a recent stressful situation than beating up some monsters.
Taking a one-armed combat stance, Xantia activates her ARM, producing the familiar red energy blade. She doesn't need two arms to take care of this. All she needs is her legs to evade those beams, then propel her up to the flying nuisances, upon which she can slash at them by swinging her good arm. Simple!
DG: Xantia has used her Tool ARM Blade toward her party's challenge, Floating Eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"... It's... what... J-- Racca, what is that thing?"
SOMEWHERE
Judecca Ducet looks up for a moment, as if about to sneeze.
HERE,
Elly is momentarily aghast at the sight of these things. She then breathes out, reaches down for her staff, unfolds it with a twirl of the wrist and snaps it into a straight line before advancing forwards to -
Can it be?
Will it be this simple?
Elly does not know these beasts or their habits or their ways. All that she knows is that she sees before her an eye, and a creature that has only ONE eye.
So that is where she jabs her staff.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Three-Section Staff toward her party's challenge, Floating Eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei seems so devoted to staying chill that even Xantia nearly becoming a pancake refuses to budge him besides a concerned frown. It's hard to tell how much of this is natural and how much is Fei trying to avoid instantly freaking out and loosening what restraints his inner demon even has. He may be on better terms with Id right now, but he's not exactly ready to tempt fate.
Fei tilts his head curiously as Racca takes out a mysterious bottle from her hip. Like some kind of hipflask. And drinks from it. He rubs his chin in deep thought, squinting at Racca.
....But no, he doesn't make the connection.
Fei stalls as Emeralda unleashes her own firepower. It kind of makes him think of Elly's own ether talent. Ether talent that is presently locked to her due to the circumstances of her present PT regimen.
Elly jabs her staff for a creature's eye and, honestly, as far as the principles of RPS go that's pretty much a no brainer.
Fei looks at another Floating Eye and holds out his RPS Badge in one hand, drawing its gaze--
--then throws out his fist for the creature's eye.
He's never seen Xantia frazzled from near squash either before. He resolves to check in with her later.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Floating Eyes.
============================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>============================ ========================<* CHALLENGE - Floating Eyes *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Among the fiends that roam Mushroom Rock Road are Floating Eyes. These fiends are enormous eyeballs, with a leathery body and lid around them, with small legs, arms, and huge bat wings. This time, they descend from on high -- and shoot down beams of energy that can make one freeze-up with paralysis when struck! Worse, the creatures are especially agile. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Stupify==========================================
=======================<* Mushroom Rock Road - Round 6 *>======================= ==========================< Results - Floating Eyes >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Racca 29 --(0)--> 29 Pass Liquid Courage 3 Combat Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emeralda Kasim 34 --(0)--> 34 Pass Large Etherstone 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 49 --(0)--> 49 Pass ARM Blade 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 24 --(0)--> 24 Pass Three-Section Staff 1 Combat Effects: Stalwart and Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 39 --(0)--> 39 Pass RPS Badge 3 Combat Effects: Rally -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Racca 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Injure(1)|Slow(1)|Stupify(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Racca 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: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>============================ ===============<* CHALLENGE - Lizardmen Hellions and Funguars *>================ |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Finally, you start to see clearing skies -- and no more towering cliffsides -- as you reenter the main part of Mi'ihen Highroad. Before you do, however, you come across the sounds of battle. There are shouts from soldiers ahead, and a clash of steel. A trio of Althena's Guard are on the ground, all badly wounded. There are two human-sized fungus fiends there, with mouths on the ends of their stalks. They snap and bite down at a pair of soldiers wearing Rolance red, but altered into lizardmen Hellions. They bleed the thick, cloying violet light of Malevolence... which is batted back, and in turn keeps at bay, the pyreflies swirling about the fiends. While you might be tempted to leave them alone, the wounded Guard will be the victims of whichever side wins this bout. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Racca has posed.
What is that thing?
"A Fiend. Let's eliminate it," is the alleged Crusader's statement on the matter.
In the end it's really not the Fiend's ideal day out. It's burned, shocked, slashed at, poked right in the eye, and when it's spinning there stunned, it then receives a short sharp jab that prompts it to explode into Pyreflies.
Perhaps the Floating Eye...
...never saw it coming.
"Let's keep going," Racca says. "I'll wager there are more those around."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
And as the sun grows more prominent and more sky can be seen...
'G-guh-laciar-- urrghk'
What a three-way fiasco.
The group of Guards are not just any guards, but Hounds of Hell! Which mostly means they don't have attack magic. This theme commitment seems to be causing them trouble. Two bloody women with pikes are trying to stay around the staggering, visibly poisoned man with a leather vest. His muscles and the ice sheathing on his arms aren't helping them.
Elly gasps.
The Guardsfolk look towards them.
The others are, of course, still tussling, distorted fungal creatures wrestling with the lizardly hellions, violet fog oozing from the latter, sparkling against the pyreflies of the former. They struggle, ink-in-a-glass against motes of light.
Griz tries to say something. He throws up instead. One of the pikewomen shrieks, "HELP!!"
Elly looks round for a moment. Because there is one other advantage they have --
The entire cluster of combatants is about twelve feet down-slope from them.
They have the high ground.
Elly meets Xantia's eyes in particular for a moment, then Emeralda's. Then she snaps down her three-section rod. "Haa---"
AP: 19
Running downwards, Elly proceeds to do a somersault double-kick into the side of one of the Hellion Rolancians, kicking off and up into the air in order to twist round the sectioned staff and smash it down like an enormous flail!
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Three-Section Staff toward her party's challenge, Lizardmen Hellions and Funguars.
<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.
Fire works. Emeralda lowers her hand (her fingertips are smoking). "I don't like them," she says. Something about the Fiends gives her the creeps and she doesn't really know why. Maybe because they look so weird.
But then: "...?"
Emeralda has rarely seen Malevolence and never a Hellion. She knows what Fiends are, in that they are monsters and menacing, and as far as she's concerned Hellions are more of the same. And there are *definitely* wounded Guard there.
"We have to save them!" Emeralda means the Guard; she's not sure which of the monsters is winning, but she knows they are both monsters and neither will end well. Her approach is to use the Etherstone she's still carrying, to reach deep inside, catch the flow of energy -
Not one but two geysers erupt from solid stone under the fight, one closer to the Hellions and one closer to the Fungaurs. They blast upward for yards before petering out, the mist they leave behind enough to make a short-lived miniature rainbow.
The rainbow does not lead to a pot of gold. It DOES make Elly look really cool, though.
DG: Emeralda Kasim has used her Tool Large Etherstone toward her party's challenge, Lizardmen Hellions and Funguars.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Never saw it coming...
Fei blinks at the hellions? Are they hellions? No wait it seems like the pyreflies are beating back the malevolence. He tilts his head thoughtfully. Pyreflies can fight malevolence? Is that their design? What's going on here exactly?
"Hang on! We're here to help!" Fei shouts. He decides to go for the fiends first. Hellions can at least be fixed up eventually. He decides the best RPS wisdom method for dealing with a fungal problem is to--
--BURN IT TO A CRISP.
Which Fei does by unleashing a wave of flame out from his body and towards those fiends!
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Lizardmen Hellions and Funguars.
<Pose Tracker> Racca has posed.
They emerge into the light.
But it is immediately clear that all is not at all well out here.
In particular, a group of Guards are experiencing a spot of trouble. Racca purses her lips, her gaze perhaps on the purplish haze clinging to the form of the no-longer-entirely-human soldiers.
Her gaze turns sidelong, to watch as Elly leads the charge. One hand dips again for the flask in the bag at her hip; she takes another mouthful of 'potion'.
"You know what," the Crusader says at last, to no one in particular.
"I've had my fun." She reaches up for the helmet with both hands.
Slides it off.
Casts it to the ground with a clang and rattle.
"Now-- heads up, kids!" shouts Josie, wind catching momentarily at a few stray locks of white hair that have slipped her braid. From her bag she has already freed one of her sidearms -- the Aveh military one -- and draws a bead on one of the lizardmen.
A shot rings out soon after.
For Penelope, still nestled on Josie's shoulder, it's just business as usual.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Liquid Courage toward her party's challenge, Lizardmen Hellions and Funguars.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei's face turns towards Josie.
He blinks several times.
He makes this face from Leorio here: https://66.media.tumblr.com/b6a429ce57df275b104e545b8351d579/tumblr_inline_onglhlO4kE1tmm8sd_500.gif
Yeah he...really had no idea.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia would dust off her hands after a job well done, but... you know.
But lucky her, looks like the fighting isn't done quite yet. Just up ahead are more sounds of battle. She doesn't quite have the gist of the situation just yet when Elly gives her... a look. She regards the indicated slope. Then she smiles, and nods. She's understood something is expected of her here.
It takes some time to find out if she's understood this correctly, as Xantia is, for once, not immediately charging into battle. Instead, she's retreated back to where the group just came from. And when she returns... she's pushing along the big, mostly round rock that landed just next to her earlier. Pushing it with her shoulder may not have been the most convenient way, but strength-wise it wasn't a problem, of course.
Then, with the simple announcement, "Here goes!" she sends the thing rolling down the slope, hoping to bowl to strike.
In case this fails, she hops down after the rock, sliding down the slope with her ARM active, ready to cause some more damage with the weapon if need be.
"Hi Josie!" she calls out in passing, as if there was nothing unusual about her fellow Black Wolf's sudden appearance. Pranks are just a wasted effort on her, she never figured out one happened to begin with, it's just 'now Josie is also here, that's nice'.
DG: Xantia has used her Tool ARM Blade toward her party's challenge, Lizardmen Hellions and Funguars.
============================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>============================ ===============<* CHALLENGE - Lizardmen Hellions and Funguars *>================ |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Finally, you start to see clearing skies -- and no more towering cliffsides -- as you reenter the main part of Mi'ihen Highroad. Before you do, however, you come across the sounds of battle. There are shouts from soldiers ahead, and a clash of steel. A trio of Althena's Guard are on the ground, all badly wounded. There are two human-sized fungus fiends there, with mouths on the ends of their stalks. They snap and bite down at a pair of soldiers wearing Rolance red, but altered into lizardmen Hellions. They bleed the thick, cloying violet light of Malevolence... which is batted back, and in turn keeps at bay, the pyreflies swirling about the fiends. While you might be tempted to leave them alone, the wounded Guard will be the victims of whichever side wins this bout. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
=======================<* Mushroom Rock Road - Round 7 *>======================= =================< Results - Lizardmen Hellions and Funguars >================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 29 --(0)--> 29 Pass Liquid Courage 3 Combat Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emeralda Kasim 34 --(0)--> 34 Pass Large Etherstone 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 49 --(0)--> 49 Pass ARM Blade 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 24 --(0)--> 24 Pass Three-Section Staff 1 Combat Effects: Stalwart and Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 39 --(0)--> 39 Fail RPS Badge 3 Combat Effects: Rally -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Josephine Lovelace 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Fright(1)|Stupify(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace has successfully explored Mushroom Rock Road!
============================<* Mushroom Rock Road *>============================ =====================<* CHALLENGE - Hi-Ether *>====================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- On your way out, you come across a group of pilgrims. Some are civilians, finally braving the road to head towards Djose; some are Crusaders, traveling to seek redemption. As you approach, a downtrodden ex-Crusader approaches. Wearing battered armor -- some of it cracked and broken -- he approaches, and then hands over a potion bottle with a violet fluid inside. "I've no use for this anymore." =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
One of the Fungaurs turns around just in time for Fei to demonstrate that he is in fact a pretty fun guy, especially when it comes to a sudden surge of red fury that fills the air with the sweet scent of mushroom.
Elly smiles at Josie a little even as the Rolancian Hellion collapses. Emeralda's focus smashes the other Hellion down and the water falls down onto the Fungaur, leaving - wait - one Fungaur was on fire. Now it isn't. It burbles as if about to sporulate -
Xantia smashes into it. This kills the Fiend.
As they collapse into their constituent materials, at least in part, Griz finishes throwing up. "Do any of you have an antidote or anything," asks one of the pikewomen.
Elly digs in her hip bag and tosses over a small bottle. It is given to Griz, who promptly stops being purple and greenish.
Leaping to his feet, he grins.
Then he sways.
"Okay," he says. "OKAY. Thank you," Griz says, taking a moment to say that to everyone while looking intensely into their eyes. His hairstyle remains greased-back and immaculate.
Then he raises his voice. "ALRIGHT FOLKS COME OUT HERE."
A cluster of pilgrims emerge. One of them, a crusader who has abandoned all armor save his breastplate, approaches Josie. "... I don't have any use for this any more, sister. If you can keep going -"
Elly opens her mouth.
"- Then... use it, with my blessing."
The ex-crusader makes the sign of Yevon.
Elly closes her mouth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMNRPmX5Eng