2019-05-31: The Most Doomed of Treasure Hunts
- Log: 2019-05-31: The Most Doomed of Treasure Hunts
- Cast: Ivan, Lydia Seren
- Where: Kilika - Town Center
- Date: May 31, 2019
- Summary: Ivan invites Lydia on a treasure hunt to help make up for the various ways he has wronged her recently. It's kind of a weird peace offering because he's sure they'll die in the attempt.
===========================<* Kilika - Town Center *>=========================== Kilika is an island off the southern coast of the Spiran mainland, consisting of a small port and village, a large jungle and a Temple of Yevon. The island is renowned for being the hometown of High Summoner Ohalland, who was a star blitzballer before retiring from the game to complete his Pilgrimage and defeat Sin. As a result of this history, the Beasts are one of the most-loved teams in the entire league, and even rival blitz players will stop to pray at the Kilika Temple before a particularly critical game. The port of Kilika was recently ravaged following an attack by Sin, and the surviving residents are slowly rebuilding. They have received unexpected support in the form of the outlanders who serve the false goddess Althena. A few dozen soldiers and craftsmen are using their strange arts - as well as old-fashioned skill - to help with restoration. The Temple of Yevon has put out the word that this assistance will be tolerated so long as the Guardsmen refrain from proselytizing their false creed; an uneasy sort of feeling hangs over the entire village as a result. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXsmMuXLtuQ
DG: Lydia Seren has promoted Ivan to party leader. DG: A party led by Ivan is now entering Sunken Monastery of Gusong. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
========================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>========================
=========<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - Underwater Demolitions *>==========
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The entrance to the Sunken Monastery is above ground, at a place where the
recent attack by Sin caused a landslide and revealed a small section of
worked stone... and tunnel that leads the depths. Following that tunnel,
however, soon leads to a portion that has flooded and filled with water.
Swimming will be required.
The entry tunnel is a long, narrow one. As you begin swimming, though, you
find the tunnel presents a challenge in addition to needing to swim:
A large stone block crashes down from the ceiling, cutting off the entire
way ahead. Blasting through it will be necessary to proceed, but poses its
own difficulties underwater.
Fortunately, there is a door ahead -- and stairs leading to air.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Tire=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
Somehow, Ivan got the idea in his head that he would make up for rejecting Lydia's cake and melting her face off AGAIN by helping her get some treasure. Treasure hunting with someone, he decided, afted much consideration, is a sanctioned avenue of human interaction he is allowed to participate in, on account of being profit motivated. It's basically the pursuit of money plus fighting stuff, which are two of the major pre-approved Ivan activities. Totally transactional and businesslike.
There was only one problem, and he thought of it while telling her the plan, meaning that these actual words came out of his mouth during the invitation delivery:
"...the only place I know of that has any treasure is terrible and will definitely kill us both."
But, it turned out that Lydia had already taken a trip to the Sunken Monastery and remained very much alive, and well, once he had accidentally insinuated that he was afraid of the place, there was no other option than to go, whether Lydia tried to talk him out of it, helped talk him into it, or merely sat back to marvel as he talked himself into going.
And now... here they are.
Ivan stands before the entryway, looking at the place where the path becomes flooded, and over to Lydia, and back at the flooded tunnel, and back at Lydia...
He sighs.
"All right, well, I guess we're here and we have to go in, but there's definitely monsters and falling rocks and stuff down there, so take a really deep breath first. ...uh... if you need air."
He has still not settled even a portion of the mysteries of Lydia's physiology. But for his part, air is definitely a requirement, so he fills his lungs and jumps in.
As the rush of "cold" water hits and he swims forward through the claustrophobic flooded tunnel, he immediately hates life and everything in it. And wouldn't you know it, as they make their way forward, the stupid place greets them with catastrophic danger! The temple shifts, sending rocks careening down to block the opening ahead.
Ivan is not at all thankful and possibly doesn't even notice the lucky break that rocks missed colliding with him, and bubbles angrily at the universe, summoning his warhammer; at least he can take out his frustration with some angry smashing!
DG: Ivan has used his Tool Warhammer toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Underwater Demolitions.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Honestly offering Lydia treasure is probably better than offering her cake since her greedy little heart loves money and treasure and using that money and treasure to make more money (and treasure?). It's not exactly a whole replacement to cake refusal but in several aspects it really is just the superior option.
Does it make up for melting off her friggin' face??? Well, that's another matter and one Lydia honestly isn't sure she can hold over people considering that it happens all the time and has entered the realm of moderate inconvenience versus horrifying traumatizing wound.
You can really get used to anything.
'The only place I know of that has any treasure is terrible and will definitely kill us both...'
"Everywhere that has treasure is terrible," Lydia points out. "If it wasn't terrible then the treasure would no longer be there."
It's hard to dispute that isn't it?
Lydia HAS gone to the Sunken Monastery and Lydia does agree that despite having been there before and making it out alive it A) Is definitely terrible and B) Will probably kill them.
What Lydia is thinking is kept out of the public domain for the moment as Lydia is focused on the path before them. Since it's just the two of them (plus: more treasure negative: they'll probably die), Lydia is being rather more cautious than normal since the odds of someone being around to pull her ass out of the fire is significantly smaller especially since her comrade here seems to have an affinity for the element.
"Well I haven't really tested it for like hours, but I can go a little bit under water. You said it yourself, I'm tough to kill."
She frowns. 'Though uh... I don't really get why."
Plus there's the instinctive part of it. Lydia starts to feel uneasy the more time she spends without breathing. It's in her nature to breath so she breathes regardless of whether it's such a major requirement for her or if she gets oxygen some other way. She jumps in after Ivan, wincing faintly at the sudden hit of COLD and she uh--well it's less swimming and more like jumping along and throwing herself forward. Like Megaman.
Sorry. Like Kamui.
Her eyes widen as she sees rocks tumbling down and reflexively starts smashing them away with her own warhammer!
Which actually looks like a metal baseball bat.
Which...probably looks a lot less impressive than the warhammer. Lydia's cheeks puff out with smash-envy.
DC: Lydia Seren switches forms to The Lightspeed!
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Good Luck Bat toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Underwater Demolitions.
========================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>========================
=========<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - Underwater Demolitions *>==========
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The entrance to the Sunken Monastery is above ground, at a place where the
recent attack by Sin caused a landslide and revealed a small section of
worked stone... and tunnel that leads the depths. Following that tunnel,
however, soon leads to a portion that has flooded and filled with water.
Swimming will be required.
The entry tunnel is a long, narrow one. As you begin swimming, though, you
find the tunnel presents a challenge in addition to needing to swim:
A large stone block crashes down from the ceiling, cutting off the entire
way ahead. Blasting through it will be necessary to proceed, but poses its
own difficulties underwater.
Fortunately, there is a door ahead -- and stairs leading to air.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Tire=============================================
===================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong - Round 1 *>=================== ===========< Results - It's a Water Level - Underwater Demolitions >============ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 0 --(8)--> 8 Fail Good Luck Bat 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ivan 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Warhammer 3 Brute Effects: Rally -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ivan 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Tire(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ivan 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> Ivan has posed.
Ivan finds Lydia's response regarding breathing to be a bit ambiguous, so he will have to go on wondering for a while. In the meantime, the two of them have rocks to smash. The fallen boulders crumble obligingly beneath the warhammer and metal bat, though with cave-ins being inherently unstable, there are one or two perilous lurches where it seems that the wrong thing gave way and maybe the rocks will just fall toward them and smash them anyway.
But, eventually, they clear an opening wide enough to swim (or climb) through, and the stairway ahead leads them to an air pocket in front of a door.
Though Ivan's first priority is to brace against the nearest wall and gulp down as much oxygen as he can force into his lungs, he still spares a nosy glance at Lydia to see if she's doing the same.
DG: Lydia Seren has drawn a new Challenge.
=======================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>======================= =============<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - The Whirlpool *>============= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Many rooms in the Sunken Monastery are thoroughly flooded. When you enter this one, you find yourself over what, at one time, was a refuse pit. Fortunately, the room is not thoroughly flooded, and the door across the way is also at surface level. However, as you swim, you hear a loud rumble... and something gives way, starting an immense whirlpool that threatens to drag you into the current -- unless you can somehow plug the hole. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Slow, Stupify, Tire===============================
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia didn't seem to gulp down oxygen once she reaches the air pocket. Maybe she is just breathing quietly. Or she forgot to gasp for air like she should be in this situation considering how long they were under water. She does start making the 'air intake' noises but it feels like it happened a moment late, maybe? Hard to be totally sure since it's just a quick glance and Lydia's own nature is to 'breathe' whether or not she needs to.
She does say in this moment. "Well we didn't die yet! I wonder what everyone's doing right now. I bet they're freakin' out heh heh heh!"
The two then find themselves in YET ANOTHER underwater lair. Lydia wrinkles her nose in irritation since she really wants to talk to Ivan but it's a little hard to do that when opening your mouth means swallowing a lot of gank ruin water.
Unfortunately this room is even worse. It's not just underwater it's na underwater trash pit. Lydia's mouth screws even more tightly shut and her eyes get as >_< as she can make them, screwing them so tightly it looks like the eyelids might never open up again.
And then--of course--they start getting flushed.
Yeah it's basically like that. Refuse starts battering the duo, swirling them towards a hole in which for the sake of their pride they definitely don't want to be pulled into.
LYdia points towards the hole and swings her bat into it to try and block it like-
--yeah lets avoid the metaphors here. It's for the best.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Good Luck Bat toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - The Whirlpool.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
Lydia's subdued reaction, while technically breathing, is enough to make Ivan suspicious, if only because he kind of already was.
"You don't need to pretend to breathe if you don't need to breathe," Ivan says to her, once he gets enough air to feel like he can say anything. He still sounds a little breathless even then. Was it that long underwater, or is he just kind of bad at this? Who knows.
Their time in the air is brief, though, and all too soon, there's another flooded room to navigate. A flooded room full of ancient trash.
Underwater, Ivan aims an expression at Lydia that says can you believe this shit?! but alas, Lydia has chosen the opposite coping strategy, and is squeezing her eyes shut and can't see him.
He kind of takes hold of her collar to make sure they both keep going toward the exit as he swims onward, but then... the room begins to flush.
Listen, for all that Ivan hyperbolizes in his own mind that he should be thrown out with the garbage, that is still not a fate he's willing to so easily accept in actual life!
Exploding some rubble into the hole might work, but he can't use any fire magic UNDER THE WATER, so instead he grabs a tighter hold of Lydia and summons his whip to try to secure them to a heavy rock and let the water and garbage rush down without them. They still get battered in the process, though, and it's a struggle to hang on.
DG: Ivan has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - The Whirlpool.
=======================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>======================= =============<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - The Whirlpool *>============= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Many rooms in the Sunken Monastery are thoroughly flooded. When you enter this one, you find yourself over what, at one time, was a refuse pit. Fortunately, the room is not thoroughly flooded, and the door across the way is also at surface level. However, as you swim, you hear a loud rumble... and something gives way, starting an immense whirlpool that threatens to drag you into the current -- unless you can somehow plug the hole. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Slow, Stupify, Tire===============================
==================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong - Round 2 *>================== ===============< Results - It's a Water Level - The Whirlpool >=============== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 8 --(23)--> 31 Fail Good Luck Bat 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ivan 3 --(23)--> 26 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ivan 20 --(10)--> 30 Fail Conditions: Slow(2)|Stupify(2)|Tire(2)|Weaken(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ivan 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> Lydia Seren has posed.
Unfortunately Lydia closed her eyes and ends up missing the target entirely.
Ivan grabs ahold of Lydia and (luckily) manages to avoid getting clonked by that swinging bat because HIS eyes, at least, are open. Ivan pushes for the exit but--
--Well, the trick is that he has to actually outswim the currents to get out of that whirlpool.
And as we know Ivan is not fond of being thrown into rivers so he has a clear elemental weakness here.
And ultimately the rope fails to keep clinging on and the two of them end up swirling down the refuse pit hole.
*FLUUUUUSH*
And they end up in garbage heap in the next area covered in refuse and other things that they probably don't want to think too hard about. Luckily it's all SUPER old stuff right? Right???
All this time of these two people calling themselves garbage and now they've been treated like it cosmically speaking.
"Bluh!" Lydia says.
DG: Ivan has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>======================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Opening a Flood Gate *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- While much of the Sunken Monastery was not meant to be flooded, some rooms were built to expect floodwaters. The one that you enter next is one such room. At one end, there is a massive round floodgate, carved with countless inscriptions, and it has been rolled over a large drainage canal that splits the room in half. Though the controls have rusted away, the flood gate could be moved -- or destroyed -- and allow water to drain from elsewhere in the Monastery, helping to open passage for your future exploration. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Injure, Secret===================================
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
Ivan spends a long time coughing and gasping before he is able to contribute an opinion. When he's ready, that opinion is: "How is this even worse than I imagined?!"
He drags himself off the garbage pile, trying to clean off as best he can. "I know I'm supposed to be making up for melting you, but if you want me to cleanse us both with fire, just say the word," he offers. The less polluted watery areas of the temple probably make for a more inviting and less horrifically violent cleanup option, though.
Provided Lydia doesn't volunteer to be immolated, Ivan scouts around with her for some flowing water, finding an area where a waterfall of sorts has formed as water flows from a higher area to a lower. Ivan eyes it for a while, and then starts calling fireballs down into the pool, presumably to either sanitize it or heat it up a bit.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia doesn't have an answer to Ivan's question because she has noticed something, sitting in the garbage while Ivan offers good-naturedly to set them both on fire. Namely, she noticed that shortly prior to them being flushed, Ivan had TAKEN HOLD of her in an attempt to RESCUE HER from being flushed away forever. Now granted, Ivan might be able to provide all sorts of rationales for why he did this and also really it doesn't neccessarily mean anything to save someone who is in danger because they happen to be there and you can do it (well not in this case, but still).
But this is Lydia.
Lydia has a very vibrant imagination. Despite covered in gunk, her cheeks are bright silver and she's not particularly focused on the garbage after an initial 'blurggh'. Back in the day she was not exactly hygenic so this is really a return to old form for her.
She walks quietly for a bit, not proving to be of much help in scouting around.
Eventually she says, "You tried to save me from being flushed."
OHNO.
"Thanks."
She then gives him a big bright smile that certainly is dangerous and unsettling dsepite the apparent innocence behind it.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
Ivan is preoccupied with the task of trying to convert his personal hell into some kind of questionable bathhouse, when Lydia confronts him with gratitude. He is distracted enough that he forgets to vehemently deny it, though his response is still grumbly.
It would've been better if I'd actually succeeded." A few beats later, senses the wrongness he has introduced into the universe. He turns to Lydia to correct his mistake and gets a faceful of BEAMING SMILE.
He backs up in shock and falls into the water. Splash! At least it's warm. And not deep enough to like, drown in, or anything. He pops up again, face only.
"What's that all about?? Come on, was I supposed to say 'Bye Lydia, have fun being flushed, I'd like to wander the rest of the dungeon alone for no reason and probably die!' "
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"It's okay!" Lydia says, still smiling. "Being down here isn't so bad. We're not dead or anything and I'm sure the smell will wash off eventually. Who knows? Maybe this will lead us directly to the treasure too! I bet most adventurers aren't bright enough to take this route!" See she can reframe things too! Of course right now Sin could probably show up and she'd find a way to spin it.
TO S(p)IN IT!
She tilts her head quizzically at the water Ivan's tumbled in, reaching down to touch it. It feels--warm. That's interesting. Could there be some sort of heating system in the temple somewhere? Or heating source?
"And I mean you could've! But you didn't! Can't I be happy about that?" Lydia asks rhetorically before admitting, "Honestly I could think of a few people who would do that."
Like Janus, for example.
"Are you uh--cleaned up? Want to keep moving?"
She looks around a bit hoping to find a path out rather than trying to figure out how to climb out of the world's largest toilet.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
"I... guess you can? If you want to?" Ivan feels like he should be banning her from being happy about it, but maybe he should just focus on imposing his own rules on himself. It's not like he has been having any luck with telling her how to feel, so dissappointing her half the time and telling her to be dissappointed when she isn't for the other half is like attacking her on two fronts.
He ducks under the water again and takes a bit more time to clean up, untying his ponytail so he can get the gunk out of his hair, and then emerges, still waterlogged and downtrodden, but as clean as he's going to get under the circumstances.
"Yeah, I'm good, I guess."
They carry on, finding a room that almost seems like a dead end, except that there are rusted over water valves to manipulate a floodgate. This temple had some sophisticated plumbing features, as they've come to appreciate.
"Do you think if we smash this, something good or bad will happen?" Ivan asks. The question turns out to be rhetorical, because he calls his warhammer and is already smashing it.
DG: Ivan has used his Tool Warhammer toward his party's challenge, Opening a Flood Gate.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Great! Glad to have permission!"
Lydia washes off a bit but honestly seems comfortable enough in grimy situations that she doesn't mean being middling levels of filthy here. It's kind of nostalgic! Takes her back to the time when she had a monster face ALL the time and, well, honestly people were still pretty nice about it a lot of the time but she didn't really feel like she had to tidy herself up all that much when she was already naturally kinda of spooking people away. Or maybe that time when she was thrown off a flying island that she thought was a spaceship for like a year and a half.
Ivan asks her if smashing the floodgate will--
--oh nevermind.
Ivan already started smashing the thing.
Lydia ALSO already started smashing the thing.
It seems like on their willingness to just go ahead and smash things with bludgeons and worrying about the consequences later is at a similar level.
"I'd say about 5 out of 7 times it's good!" Lydia shouts over the banging noises.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Good Luck Bat toward her party's challenge, Opening a Flood Gate.
========================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>======================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Opening a Flood Gate *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- While much of the Sunken Monastery was not meant to be flooded, some rooms were built to expect floodwaters. The one that you enter next is one such room. At one end, there is a massive round floodgate, carved with countless inscriptions, and it has been rolled over a large drainage canal that splits the room in half. Though the controls have rusted away, the flood gate could be moved -- or destroyed -- and allow water to drain from elsewhere in the Monastery, helping to open passage for your future exploration. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Injure, Secret===================================
===================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong - Round 3 *>=================== =======================< Results - Opening a Flood Gate >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 31 --(3)--> 34 Pass Good Luck Bat 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ivan 26 --(3)--> 29 Pass Warhammer 3 Brute Effects: Rally -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ivan 30 --(20)--> 50 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Secret(2)|Slow(1)|Stupify(1)|Tire(1)|Weaken(2)|Wound(1) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ivan 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: Lydia Seren has drawn a new Challenge.
=======================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>======================= ==============<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - Air Sphere *>=============== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Many of the rooms in the Sunken Monastery are flooded, and this one is no different. This room is a long, L-shaped hallway. As you swim through, though, you catch sight of something strange: a shimmering, blue sphere. It is actually a persistent air bubble, made by either machina or sorcery. If you can catch it -- it moves erratically -- it gives you a chance to, literally, catch your breath. =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
"Feels right to me!" Ivan responds, with a tone that could be mistaken for cheerfulness. Bang bang! Bang bang!
After taking sufficient abuse from the two of them, the floodgate begins to creak and groan, giving them warning that it's about to burst, and enough time to hurry out of the way, before it erupts with a stream of water that flows away past them down routes that seem to have been designed to corral it. As the water rushes away, it opens a mysterious (and soggy) path through a new tunnel.
Although they weren't submerged this time, Ivan has to pause to catch his breath again before continuing. Apparently the smashing session -- or just the overall ordeal so far -- has taken a lot out of him. He vanishes the warhammer as well, so he doesn't have to heft it along with him.
"What do you think, treasure next room, or horrible death?"
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
A mysterious and soggy tunnel! Lydia doesn't seem to be out of breath though--well--that's not unusual. She does rub at her arm as if it might be sore though.
"Next room? Not sure we're there yet." Lydia admits. "But in my experience the horrible death and the treasure are really close together, or right on top of each other."
The smile has faded a bit since keeping up a smile like that for very long is probably more creepy than endearing, but the smile IN GENERAL hasn't left her face, it's just sort of relaxed into a more understated position.
She doesn't seem to be able to magic away her knife. She puts it back in a holster along her back.
"I always wanted to be an adveturer," Lydia says as they move through a tunnel. "But to be honest they don't tell you about moments like this in the stories, right? Never read one about giant toilets and whatever."
The room becomes flooded again in a long L-shaped hallway. A blue sphere seems to be shimmering around--another air bubble!
Lydia's eyes widen and she taps Ivan on the shoulder and points towards it.
Then her skates pop out from underneath her feet and she takes hold of Ivan's shoulder and hold on how are skates going to help??
Oh she's blowing bubbles out of her feet or something? And it seems to be boosting her speed as she tries to toss Ivan through the air bubble so he can catch his breath for a moment.
Regardless of how this goes she is smiling widely again like 'THIS TIME I GOT TO HELP!'.
Even if it didn't but hey. She tried.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Radical Skates toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Air Sphere.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
"I've never heard any adventure stories about giant toilets either," Ivan says. "But if there was going to be a giant toilet anywhere in the world, this is where I'd put it, because this place is already awful." Best to concentrate all of the awful into one spot and leave other places relatively un-ruined, he figures.
This is why Ivan should never be put in charge of any sort of city planning or architectural project.
They soon end up swimming again, and this passage a long one. As they come to what turns out to be a bend in the hallway, and not an ending, Ivan is showing some signs of distress, trying to pick up the pace of his swimming despite growing fatigue and a burning in his lungs.
Lydia spies the mysterious orb, and rightly identifies it as an air bubble!! And then, she launches Ivan toward it! As he is propelled toward the bubble and sees that it's some kind of mystical air pocket, Ivan has enough presence of mind to try to lash out his whip in the hope of stopping himself inside the thing rather than quickly passing through, though he'll take whatever bubble time he can get at this point!
DG: Ivan has used his Tool Whip toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Air Sphere.
=======================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>======================= ==============<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - Air Sphere *>=============== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Many of the rooms in the Sunken Monastery are flooded, and this one is no different. This room is a long, L-shaped hallway. As you swim through, though, you catch sight of something strange: a shimmering, blue sphere. It is actually a persistent air bubble, made by either machina or sorcery. If you can catch it -- it moves erratically -- it gives you a chance to, literally, catch your breath. =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
==================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong - Round 4 *>================== ================< Results - It's a Water Level - Air Sphere >================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 34 --(0)--> 34 Pass Radical Skates 3 Agility Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ivan 29 --(0)--> 29 Pass Whip 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ivan 50 --(30)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Injure(1)|Save Point(1)|Secret(1)|Weaken(1) Effects: Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ivan has passed this challenge! The party gained 30 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"I'm honestly wondering who used the giant toilet. Maybe it was Sin's toilet once." Lydia says. She can't say it's wrong for sure! Can you??
Lydia probably shouldn't be in charge of a city planning project either considering how janky her engineering style is.
Lydia beams brightly as Ivan not just reaches the air bubble but uses his whip to hang out inside that mystical air pocket as long as he'd like! He can catch his breath, and just enjoy breathing for as long as he likes.
Lydia will even wait patiently for him (and in fact joins him shortly thereafter. So she can breathe. obviously.)
"I think we're almost there. Usually run into this near the end I think."
She looks over to Ivan. "Wonder what we'll do if a big bad fiend is watching after it or something."
There is a quiet moment from her, at least, before she finally asks, "Hey--why did you invite me to come along?"
Oh yeah she never asked about that yet and just came along upon hearing 'treasure'!
Maybe she didn't think about it until now.
DG: Ivan has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>========================
===========================<* CHALLENGE - Cactuar *>============================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Your descent leads you down to one of the lowest levels of the Sunken
Monastery. Here, you find where Gusong once helped train many Warrior Monks
in his art. There are moth-eaten and faded red tapestries on the wall, and a
large, tarnished bronze gong is on the back wall of the room. In the center
of the room, though, is something most peculiar.
There is a perfectly still cactus-shaped person. It has the tell-tale ridges
and green coloration of a cactus, with spikes covering its body. When it
moves, neither of its arms or legs -- always bent like it is ready to run --
actually move. The whole Cactuar turns towards you.
It makes the following face: :o
It might be cute, but then it fires one thousand needles at you forever
because it is a fiend and incapable of joy.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Fright============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
Air!! Ivan reaches the air bubble and secures himself with the whip, refueling with precious oxygen. He stays in there quite a while when given the opportunity, apparently having reached capacity on exposure to the potential of watery doom. When he finally, reluctantly emerges from the bubble and back into the water and they make it to a genuine air pocket, he collapses in defeat for a while on the ground. While he may have recovered physically, it seems that emotionally is another story.
"Aah, I hate water, I hate it."
Actually, physically is also in question, he looks absolutely exhausted.
Still not bothering to lift himself from being a heap on the floor, he looks up at Lydia.
"...Thanks. You're better at rescues than me. That one was definitely horrible death if you hadn't helped me out."
Ivan, that wasn't even the dungeon final! There is still a doom cactus waiting for you guys!!
Well, Ivan will face the future and any doom cactuses it might hold when he's good and ready!
Lydia has a question for him, besides--why they're even here. Ivan makes a disgruntled noise. Wasn't she listening to the invitation? He agonized over the underlying logic and now he's got to try to say it correctly while his brain is soup.
"I'm helping you get treasure because I made you sad." A beat. "No, maybe not quite that, it was different than that... it was definitely all about money and killing and it was fine and not stepping over any lines."He feels that he's only made it worse, and groans. Maybe she'll forget this explanation, too. That would be helpful.
Whether or not any additional awkward conversation may ensue, it takes him a while to peel himself up off the floor, making his way to his feet in slow motion and kind of dragging his hands over his face to try to snap himself out of it.
"Okay, fine, I can do this, I'm ready," he says, responding more to his own internal pressure to maintain a tough front than to anything Lydia might have said.
As they press on, their path takes them downward and downward, finally stopping at a chamber framed with ancient tapestries which harbors a single, unassuming, and adorable cactus. It appears frozen at first, but then it makes a face of... surprise? Judgement? Fury? And turns toward them. Whatever secret emotions may be driving it, a Whole Lot of Needles comes shooting at the two of them.
Ivan is dipping into the reserves of the reserves of his energy at this point, but killing stuff is what he's here for, so he can't fall down on the job now! He's got to give this whatever fuel is left in the tank. Fireballs race ahead of him, burning some--but certainly not all--of the needles to cinders, and Ivan races after, calling a longsword from his ring, and arcing it down in a heavy swing.
DG: Ivan has used his Tool Memory toward his party's challenge, Cactuar.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia was listening! Truly! But honestly truly catching everything was more of a challenge, especially when treasure got into the mix along with wondering the usual things about Ivan's feelings and what do they mean and what's going on and so on and on and on. She wonders if Ivan's hate of water explains why he's more susceptible to potion because potions are kind of like water right?
Lydia doesn't seem physically exhausted, though she is probably not smelling super great but whatever her physical wounds are it doesn't really compare to the good mood she's in. At least in terms of cheering Lydia up, Ivan has at least achieved truly heroic results. You wouldn't even know how miserable she was before today looking at her now!
But she does reach down to offer Ivan a hand up and doesn't pull it away until either Ivan takes it up and gets up or gets up on his own without taking it.
Regardless she says, "Whatever we find we'll share it. Even if it's a curse, okay?"
She nods once Ivan says he's fine and is ready to move on ahead. Honestly, Lydia doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry to leave. She's having fun here! Periodically she hums a bit when there is no talking to fill in the gap of time, lookingtowards the tapestries as if only actually really looking at them THIS time as opposed to last. Maybe she hasn't been here before or...she wasn't paying attention the last time.
There is a cactus, then. And it's shooting neeldes at them! Both of them! Lydia gets skewered by a few and she winces, but she is as difficult to kill as she is bad at fighting.
She tries to support Ivan as best she can, largely by firing lasers and meteors down upon the Cactuar but--
--as Ivan may have noticed when she was fighting him in the past.
Her aim.
It isn't...
It isn't so hot. Especially not against a tiny cactuar like creature that is shooting thousands of needles in her direction. Eventually she starts making a high pitched squeal of frustration every time the Cactuar avoids her assaults.
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Cactuar.
========================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>========================
===========================<* CHALLENGE - Cactuar *>============================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Your descent leads you down to one of the lowest levels of the Sunken
Monastery. Here, you find where Gusong once helped train many Warrior Monks
in his art. There are moth-eaten and faded red tapestries on the wall, and a
large, tarnished bronze gong is on the back wall of the room. In the center
of the room, though, is something most peculiar.
There is a perfectly still cactus-shaped person. It has the tell-tale ridges
and green coloration of a cactus, with spikes covering its body. When it
moves, neither of its arms or legs -- always bent like it is ready to run --
actually move. The whole Cactuar turns towards you.
It makes the following face: :o
It might be cute, but then it fires one thousand needles at you forever
because it is a fiend and incapable of joy.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Fright============================================
===================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong - Round 5 *>=================== =============================< Results - Cactuar >============================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 34 --(5)--> 39 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ivan 29 --(0)--> 29 Pass Memory 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ivan 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Wound(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Ivan has successfully explored Sunken Monastery of Gusong!
========================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>======================== ===========================<* CHALLENGE - 2000 Gil *>=========================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Even monks have to eat. Inside of the sealed away sconce, you find a treasure chest. Within it are centuries-old coins; they show the images of High Summoners of that time on them, and the gil seems to be in good condition altogether. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
Pre-cactus, Ivan had some concerns about Lydia's plan.
"Wait, no, it's supposed to be for you, though! To repay you for... stuff. All of the stuff."
Her boat. Her face. Her feelings? Or whatever.
While Ivan is barely dragging himself along, he notices that Lydia's spirits have been lifted. Is that what he meant to happen? It sort of was, but he feels like maybe it happened for the wrong reason...
BUT POST-CACTUS...
While some needles find their way into the treasure hunters, and the cactus dances around in its odd frozen form, dancing around many of Lydia's lasers, there is... well... a lot of fire. And an assassin deep into a murder dry spell with something to prove. Eventually, the cactus finally unfreezes from its ready-to-run pose, because it lies in pieces on the ground. The poor thing.
Ivan's longsword goes THUNK into the ground and becomes something for Ivan to lean on as he catches his breath again.
"...ow," he says, because he has forgotten in his fatigue that he supposedly doesn't experience pain.
"Did you get needled? I think I got needled." ...wait, right, bad. "Nevermind. Let's go."
They seem to have reached the end of the downward path, which leaves them with nothing to do now but explore the room and hope it holds something that was worth all the trouble. And that exploration uncovers... ... ... a chest full of ancient coins!
Ivan boggles at it, blinking and looking at Lydia for confirmation.
"Lydia! ...It's treasure! ...Isn't it?" Has he misunderstood? Could they have actually found treasure?
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
CACTUS: MURDERED. It seems Lydia doesn't shed too many tears over monsters that tried to shoot her with thousands of needles even if they do happen to be cute as heck. And honestly, she kind of has a complex about that? Like, she feels she can't ever be as good as Riesenlied because she absolutely would save the cactuar. Lydia doesn't think like that. She worries about dissapointing the woman who gave her a home. Even now.
But honestly right now she's in a good mood. She is wincing every time she pulls a needle out of her body (some of htose look deep) but no matter where she's struck she just drips out that silver liquid that eventually just stops dripping, and eventually even the mark fades.
"That was pretty brutal," Lydia says, grimacing again as she just sees the plethora of needles about. Luckily pyreflies seem to be escaping the cactaur's fallen form. So it was already technically a collection of dead things?
"I can't believe we won that fight. I've never been great at taking out monsters in ruins." Lydia admits. "Sorry you had to cover for me there. And yes! There's probably treasure here because that was definitely danger so we just need the reward now!"
They reach that last room and--
"Huh." Lydia blinks a few times because despite her fatal flaw of GREED she kind of never actually expended to find literal treasure. Usually the 'treasure' in her experience is a long lost secret, literal trash, or not dying.
But this is actual legitimate money. That she could probably sell for modern coin.
"Yeah this is totally treasure! Pretty much the treasuriest treasure that you can snag." Lydia says, beaming.
"Aaaaand..." He grin widens. "Easily shareable too!"
She picks up a coin, studies it, and flicks it into the air, catches it, and then waits a moment.
Another moment.
"Doesn't seem to be cursed either!" Pause. "Uh. That's not why I wanted to share the treasure in case it was cursed. Though I guess I did say either way."
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
"I didn't mind," Ivan says, of taking on the bulk of the cactuar-slaying. "It's what I'm for."
Kind of a depressing answer, possibly, but he seems proud to say it. Ivan isn't sure whether to pill his own cactuar spines out in Lydia's presence. Isn't pulling them out like admitting they bother him? They can probably wait another few hours or until whenever they part ways. He only really notices them whenever he moves. Ow. Ow. Ow.
Then they have treasure to admire--treasure he has theoretically forfeited his share of. But now that it's real, and shining at him, and sitting majestically in a chest like it's from an actual storybook, he finds himself tempted.
"I mean... ... there is a lot. Maybe there's enough for me to have some too."
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"You really--" Lydia begins, about to ask that same old question about whether Ivan actually believes what he's saying.
But this time she just kind of stops herself because Ivan isn't taking out the spines. "D...do you need help with those or...?" She tries to think of the metaphorical analysis within a knife itself being stabbed.
But there IS treasure. And there IS a lot of it. Even Ivan can have some and honestly if Lydia were to really think about it, she might not exactly be super keen on being in debt to others so much either, at least not excessively so. Coming up on top by a reasonable margin is her creed and walking away with ALL the treasure, well, it's tempting but just because she acknowledges and accepts the fact that she likes money--there's a thing as having SOME pride in how you come about receiving it. Charity can be insulting in needless excess.
Luckily Ivan seems to agree and she says, "Yesss!! This was wonderful! Even though it involved getting flushed, but that just makes the coin worth more!"
She pauses.
"Metaphorically speaking it's still going to go for the same rate since coin generally has set values whereas if it was like a painting maybe I could spin the story to get a bit more buck."
"I hope--" one day that we can pal around without dancing around it. But she can't really say that. She imagines it'd bother him.
"--Ahh, nevermind. Let's just enjoy the moment."
And with that--mission complete?!