2019-08-03: Battle at the Outpost

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  • Log: 2019-08-03: Battle at the Outpost
  • Cast: Margaret, Naelle Sylkirk, White Knight Leo, Ivan
  • Where: Crusader Forward Base
  • Date: August 03, 2019
  • Summary: Members of Althena's Guard respond to a Yevonite attack from underground at a Mi'ihen Highroad outpost.

==========================<* Crusader Forward Base *>===========================

To the west of the Mi'ihen Highroad is found a long, jagged mountain chain that serves as a weather break and help keep both Luca and the Highroad itself safe from vicious storms. A large plateau in this chain, overlooking a wide, sloping beach, was selected as the forward operating base for the Crusaders' Operation Mi'ihen.

The site is now a testament to their folly.

Abandoned equipment and scorched stone mar thesurface of the plateau, and the beach below is riddled with the remains of Crusaders, Althena's Guard, and Al Bhed alike -- and individuals still working to bury them at sea. Only scant Pyreflies remain, after Lady Yuna did a series of Sendings over an entire night.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA2mQV8iXxs
DG: A party led by Margaret is now entering Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
================<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon *>=================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Skirmish from Below *>=====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The Guard has established outposts throughout the southern part of the        
 Mi'ihen Highroad region. The outposts are small wooden towers, sometimes      
 ringed by a palisade, to establish a front. During a routine visit to one of  
 these, you have the misfortune of coming across something that has also       
 proven to be routine:                                                         
                                                                               
 A surprise attack that comes up in the middle of the wooden walls of the      
 outpost. The ground breaks apart with a shudder, pieces of rubble caving in.  
 Then, a score of Guado Guardians leap out of the ground -- and are followed   
 shortly by a group of Warrior Monks, wielding machina rifles! The attack      
 from within the base surprises the Guard here, requiring more directed help   
 without losing the base.                                                      
                                                                               
 The tunnel collapses afterward -- but, once these foes are routed or          
 dispatched, some ranging may be required.                                     
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Injure============================================
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

 
THE HIGHROAD

A FORWARD POST, KNOWN ONLY BY NUMBERS ON A MAP

YET WHICH MAY, THIS DAY, BECOME NAMED AFTER A FALLEN HERO... OR A GREAT VICTORY.

"Another glorious day on the front," says Margaret, the Black Pearl of Neo-Vane. Like every pearl she seems to contain an irritation. Probably she wants to get home and take off her boots and perhaps sunbathe. The outpost is not large, perhaps ringed about the size of two tennis courts; an external space holds some chocobos, which have been impressed for the duration. (Please stop the poaching for chocobo suits.)

Margaret is accompanied by DOLLY, a woman with a staff. She can heal. Staff~ Staff~ She also has a creepy chalk-white face paint on, which makes her look, appropriately enough, something like a doll. (Frequent watchers may also know it covers up some facial marks.) "It's a good position at least," Dolly says. "I looked at the map." Dolly looks at the others who have been brought on this tour. "Kind of on a salient overlooking the road. Good for missile -"

The ground in the middle of the parade space begins to slump inwards gently.

Dolly looks at it.

So does Margaret.

Margaret begins to ask, "is that nor" when THE WARRIOR MONKS BREACH! Vaulting outwards, the huge-handed heroes of Yevon bear machina rifles.

Dolly says, like, three cusses before raising up the oak staff of the Goddess's lands and parrying a rifle butt with a sudden SHING! of magical force. Margaret, while this has happened, has prepared a spell -

"Thunder Road!"
* SPD UP!
* AGI UP!

Margaret then twists her usual naginata around and aims to stab it with one-handed force into the necks of some Guado Guardians.

DG: Margaret has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Skirmish from Below.
<Pose Tracker> Naelle Sylkirk has posed.

Naelle Sylkirk, loyal guardswoman extraordinaire, is standing firm. She is trying to show discipline! She is not doing very well. Her tail lashes back and forth, and she's kind of surprised to see the guns. "Hey no fair these guys, I thought they didn't like machines! Since when did they use NYA!"

The warrior monks do not use NYA, or at least, if they do that wasn't what Naelle was talking about when she said it. What she was talking about was the shot that just barely missed her whilst she was soliloquying about them using guns.

"Okay that is NYAT fair!"

Wrench gripped firmly in both hands, Naelle takes to the field, charging, serpentine, towards these guys who are shooting at the Guard!

DG: Naelle Sylkirk has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Skirmish from Below.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    FIVE MINUTES AGO

    The two-tone call of a signaling horn echoes down the Highroad. A half-dozen riders on chocobo-back approach the outpost, one of them bearing the pennant of Althena. One of them is White Knight Leo, straight-backed and alert atop his avian steed. Things get a lot less sleepy at the outpost proper.

    NOW

    Leo strides through the outpost, scanning his environs with a commander's keen eye. Everyone around him is a little more alert, and maybe also a little more on edge. Guards salute as he walks past.

    "Guardswoman Margaret," Leo says, as he approaches the sorceress. "Guardswoman Dolly. Have you anything to report?" He waits a moment.

    Then the earth trembles beneath his feet. Leo feels it a bit more keenly than most, on account of his Blessing's aspect, and the awareness he's cultivated with it. It is instantly and deeply alarming. "Intrusion!" Leo barks, his hand flying to the hilt of his blade. "TO ARMS!" The White Knight draws his blade, the shing of steel ringing in the air. He lashes out with a boot, trying to kick a Guado Guardian in the throat as he springs out of the hole. The hand that isn't holding the blade flies to his throat, clasping around the White Dragon's Crest. A bloom of pearlescent light erupts from him, spilling outwards to bathe his allies--and when it passes, it leaves behind a lingering sense of certainty, and a potent protective aura.

    Leo throws himself into the fray. He strikes with overwhelming force and blinding speed. Bullets blunt themselves against the aura of the White Dragon's Protection.

DG: White Knight Leo has used his Tool White Dragon Crest toward his party's challenge, Skirmish from Below.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.

Ivan had fallen into kind of a messenger role, spending a lot of time traveling between and ahead of Guard-held areas to obtain or carry information. It was only a matter of time before he got pulled back into the war itself, and today seems to be that day. So now here he is at an outpost that finds itself on the brink of being overrun by Yevonites, who spill shockingly out of the very ground itself!

Ivan is... still technically only involved with the Guard as a cover.

But that's okay! Fighting like hell regardless of his personal opinions about a conflict is basically his comfort zone.

He may lack the speed to literally dodge bullets, but he does his level best to try, firing plumes of flame from his hands to propel himself into rocket-boosted leaps. He crashes down amongst the warrior monks, swinging a warhammer down in a circular arc before vanishing it, and raising his arms to call a ring of flame around himself with a yell.

Ah, the... subtlety... of an assassin?

DG: Ivan has used his Tool Memory toward his party's challenge, Skirmish from Below.
================<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon *>=================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Skirmish from Below *>=====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The Guard has established outposts throughout the southern part of the        
 Mi'ihen Highroad region. The outposts are small wooden towers, sometimes      
 ringed by a palisade, to establish a front. During a routine visit to one of  
 these, you have the misfortune of coming across something that has also       
 proven to be routine:                                                         
                                                                               
 A surprise attack that comes up in the middle of the wooden walls of the      
 outpost. The ground breaks apart with a shudder, pieces of rubble caving in.  
 Then, a score of Guado Guardians leap out of the ground -- and are followed   
 shortly by a group of Warrior Monks, wielding machina rifles! The attack      
 from within the base surprises the Guard here, requiring more directed help   
 without losing the base.                                                      
                                                                               
 The tunnel collapses afterward -- but, once these foes are routed or          
 dispatched, some ranging may be required.                                     
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Injure============================================
===========<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon - Round 1 *>============
======================< Results - Skirmish from Below >=======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret                            0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naelle Sylkirk                      0 --(10)--> 10                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ivan                                0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Memory                              3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
White Knight Leo                    0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
White Dragon Crest                  2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Margaret                    0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Injure(2)|Wound(2)
Effects: Embolden(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Margaret 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> Margaret has posed.

 
INSIDE OF THE MINDS OF THE HOUNDS OF HELL:

DOLLY: 'did the White Knight lead them here...? No, that's ridiculous, but they might have followed him or laid in wait... he's not a man of stealth, even if he's a man of courage. Damn... this is our role, isn't it? We're going to have to be his cunning hand here in this dangerous world. Ah, Jack, I wish you were here to see this...'

MARGARET: 'oh it's Leo, thank the goddess. i wonder if we'll have enchiladas tonight. are those guns? i thought they hated guns. what is going on here.'

The Guado, by sheer chance, surround Naelle. The charging does mean that a number of them whirl around, trying to point rifles at her, but she clobbers several and the others fall back with a shout. There is the crack of rifles, but at this range, she is fortunate - they cannot aim well. At least there is inexperience to work in the benefit of the Goddess's chosen!

It doesn't hurt that Leo charges in and is

A. famous
B. big and loud
C. kind of resistant to bullets?

He draws the - wait for it - lion's share of the fire even as Ivan leaps into the air, flanks round one of the monks, and smashes him down with a hammer and a circle of flame.

There is a momentary tension among the monks as they realize, somehow, they have been surrounded -- and they burst out through the very gate through which Leo had entered just now, shouting and popping off shots as they go. A number of them, though, remain. There was practically a platoon!

Margaret crouches down and squints into the collapsing tunnel. "... Is this what those horrible Filgaians did?" she asks, rhetorically. Dolly, meanwhile, moves over to Naelle, greeting her FIRST with a greenish burst of a Calm Litany, and SECOND with "Are you alright???"

DG: Ivan has drawn a new Challenge.
=================<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon *>==================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Warrior Monks *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The other side also has patrols ranging the countryside, looking to secure    
 the Highroad -- and attack the guard. You find one such patrol: six           
 rifle-carrying Warrior Monks, who notice you first. They take cover behind    
 the broken walls of stone of a ruin on the Highroad.                          
                                                                               
 Then, they start firing. Some of the gunshots clip the stone of nearby ruin   
 fragments -- sending up chips of rock where they hit -- but others are much   
 more likely to find their mark. Despite Yevon's disdain for machina, their    
 Warrior Monks know how to use them.                                           
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Exhaust==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.

With the majority of the attackers driven back, there is a brief reprieve for everyone to re-gather themselves (and for Dolly to make with some healing!)

Ivan looks around to see if anyone he personally knows is fallen or seriously injured, and finds that while he was screaming and shooting fire, Lord Leo arrived! Maybe that's why they cleared those guys out so easily.

It looks like also Naelle may have been hurt? He edges closer to keep an eye on that but doesn't try to call attention to any concern or particular interest he may or may not have in the situation.

"Was there always a tunnel under there?" he asks, instead, not sure if the attackers infiltrated an existing underground tunnel or went to the elaborate trouble of digging it just for a doomed sneak attack.

At any rate, the Guard needs to re-secure the surrounding area, so after everyone has had a chance to rally, they move out onto the Highroad in pursuit of the enemies they drove out, or to discover more who may be lying in wait. They quickly find more trouble, in the form of a group of warrior monks taking potshots at them from behind the cover of rubble, with surprisingly accurate aim. It may very well be those they fought earlier, now fallen back to a more secure position.

The Guardsmen have no such cover, unless they can improvise.

As the first pops of the firearms sound out, Ivan murmurs a spell incantation, summoning a wind full of dancing sparks and sending them toward where the gunfire seems to be coming from. As the sparks fly forward, they detonate into fiery explosions. If they don't hit any of the gunmen, they might at least provide some distraction for others to draw close enough to attack.

DG: Ivan has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Warrior Monks.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

 
Bobby the Fortification Engineer, who is not affiliated with the Hounds of Hell, quickly leans out from behind a crate to answer Ivan. "No sir! We did an initial check to see if we could hit a fresh water seam and we didn't find jack nor - uh - chocobo underneath here. It's limestone I suppose, but..."

"Thank you, Bobert," Margaret tells him.

They move outwards, then. And soon enough --

A bullet hits Margaret!! Dead in the head! So hard that she seems to dissolve and--

--

Illusion?? (Dolly's mouth hangs open with thirteen pikachus of astonishment.) Margaret herself is not immediately obvious until a brief shadow is cast over a passing patch of light stone. Margaret herself descends behind the piece of cover the gunsels are using, naginata-first. There is a sound like someone is hitting a tree with a silent chainsaw.

DG: Margaret has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Warrior Monks.
<Pose Tracker> Naelle Sylkirk has posed.

Naelle, who took a beating, is calmed by Dolly's Calm Litany. It's good, cause she was basically a ball of hissing, spitting wrench-swinging. Now, though, she responds, "I've been better,"

She has.

She steadies herself, bracing her wrench and leaning on it. "Just a moment's rest...Don't wanna look weak in front of the Boss, after all."

The bold face holds through to the moment they're being shot at again.

"Okay, time for a little taste of Naelle's ingenuity!" declares the beastwoman, and, producing improbable bits, bobs, and scraps from about her person, quickly assembles...

"GRENYADE!" she yells, and hurls it at the jerks!

DG: Naelle Sylkirk has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Warrior Monks.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    As the Yevonites break for it, Leo steps away from the hole and takes stock of things. He himself has a small bruise on his cheek from where a Warrior Monk tried to shoot him, only to be grievously disappointed. "AFTER THEM!" Leo shouts. Several of the Guards take after the fleeing Warrior Monks; the archers on the walls nock arrows, and fire a volley in unison. Leo takes a moment to glance into the hole as Margaret voices her suggestion. "Sappers, more likely," he says. He read Bobby's report, after all! Leo spins on a heel, catching the eye of a nearby officer. "Go find Guardsman Rast. If not him, then Beaufort. I want that hole sealed and the bedrock reinforced. Tell Rast I'll even let him lay whatever traps he wants if it gets him to cooperate. Ivan, Margaret, Dolly, Naelle--with me!"

    A FEW MINUTES LATER

    "SCATTER!" Leo bellows. Bullets whiz through the air, biting into the dirt at Leo's heels as he runs for cover. One hand darts for the White Dragon's Crest, while the other reaches out, open, and gestures towards the earth. Clods of dirt fly into the air, followed by a solid wall of limestone--cover. As another wave of light bolsters the Guards' defenses, Leo skids to a stop tops in the shade of his improvised fortification. He letso ut a breath--

    The earth beneath the ruin erupts. Jagged lances of limestone tear through the soil, potentially impaling anyone unfortunate enough to be standing there.

DG: White Knight Leo has used his Tool White Dragon Crest toward his party's challenge, Warrior Monks.
=================<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon *>==================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Warrior Monks *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The other side also has patrols ranging the countryside, looking to secure    
 the Highroad -- and attack the guard. You find one such patrol: six           
 rifle-carrying Warrior Monks, who notice you first. They take cover behind    
 the broken walls of stone of a ruin on the Highroad.                          
                                                                               
 Then, they start firing. Some of the gunshots clip the stone of nearby ruin   
 fragments -- sending up chips of rock where they hit -- but others are much   
 more likely to find their mark. Despite Yevon's disdain for machina, their    
 Warrior Monks know how to use them.                                           
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Exhaust==========================================
============<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon - Round 2 *>=============
==========================< Results - Warrior Monks >===========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret                            0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naelle Sylkirk                      10 --(20)--> 30                Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ivan                                0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
White Knight Leo                    0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
White Dragon Crest                  2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Margaret                    20 --(20)--> 40                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Fright(2)|Injure(1)|Wound(1)
Effects: Embolden(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Margaret 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.

Many things happen in quick succession. One of them -- the illusory Margaret taking a bullet to the head -- draws a shocked stare and a quiet gasp from Ivan, before -- SURPRISE, she comes flying down at the enemy and does something with her naginata which may be best left to the imagination.

Also, a lot of stuff explodes. Magical firework sparks. A thrown grenade. And, once Leo steps in, the ground itself, which erupts into an assault of spikes from below.

What monks were still standing after this barrage scatter, not at all prepared for this level of retaliation.

A beat passes. "Did...anyone get shot for real...?" Ivan asks, a little sheepishly. One of his own arms is a little bloodied, but that doesn't seem to bear mentioning.

DG: Naelle Sylkirk has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon *>==================================
=================================<* CHALLENGE - Rocks Fall and Yevonites Die *>=================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
-------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------------------------
 The Yevonites know the terrain of the Mi'ihen Highroad better than the        
 Guard. This includes the Old Road, the area in the canyons that has more      
 Fiends, but can offer a shortcut for their forces. Today, you find some as    
 you come to where there is a canyon -- and you stand at the top.              
                                                                               
 A couple dozen Yevonite Warrior Monks are moving in formation below. They     
 are not, initially, aware of your presence. However, a series of boulders --  
 and whatever ranged armaments and spells you have -- could make life          
 interesting for them.                                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Treasure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Naelle Sylkirk has posed.

Naelle's looking shaken. She's looking bruised. She's bleeding from a gash on her side, but she's not letting it slow her down as she does her best to keep up with Leo and the others.

Thankfully, there's not another ambush of Yevonites with guns ahead. So that's good.

"Hey, can we--can we stop for a second? I wanna catch my breath--" Naelle says, downplaying her injuries. She leans against a rock, for a moment, and then notices the Yevonites below.

"Oh hey, Boss," she says, "There's guys down there! And I have an idea! Nya ha ha ha ha! If I can just lever this..." She shoves her wrench under the rock, and then pauses. "Let's all go together on this, it'll hit 'em even harder!"

She leaves the counting of three to the Boss, who is, after all, the Boss. That's why he's in charge. He is the keeper of the counting to three.

It's the law.

DG: Naelle Sylkirk has used her Tool Trusty Wrench toward her party's challenge, Rocks Fall and Yevonites Die.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

 
Dolly doesn't heal Naelle again, not right away. You don't want to wear yourself out. Nonetheless she has set the pace and after stabbing the living crap out of the monks, Margaret dash-backflips back and hands Ivan the greatest power of all:

A gun!

"I may have been grazed," Margaret says, looking over her shoulder. "Can you see anything? I don't think this is my blood but you know how it is. That's the danger of dressing like this, but if I had chain mail - well, I've tried that, and let me tell you, it chafes at high speeds."

SOMEWHERE, IN THE AFTERLIFE

Jack, the former love of Dolly, and former team leader for the Hounds of Hell, looks at the camera. "I found that out, myself. Very nasty." His eyes close. He murmurs, for emphasis, "Very nasty."

HERE, THOUGH

Dolly blinks -

And is immediately there next to Naelle. "Yes," she says, her eyes glinting with bloodlust. "On three."

Margaret gives a double-thumbs-up of support.

DG: Margaret has used her Tool Gratuitous Post-Labor Grooming Supplies toward her party's challenge, Rocks Fall and
Yevonites Die.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.

Ivan blinks, reflexively accepting A GUN he doesn't really know how to use. It seems straightforward enough...? But more importantly...

He touches the stone on his ring to it, and there is a small flash from the gun into the ring, as if its soul had been captured. In a way, it has! Or maybe the opposite of that. One (FAKE) GUN has been added to Memory's inventory. ... ... ... This may or may not be useful someday.

As the gun's likeness is captured, the ring seems to eject a corresponding flash, which briefly manifests into a jeweled dagger before vanishing. Ivan sighs a bit. He liked that dagger, but he really wasn't using it, just keeping a copy around because he had to sell off the original.

Margaret casually asks him to help her examine herself for injuries, which Ivan attempts to do and then immediately regrets, his eyes darting off of her as his face reddens. "Um, yes, maybe you have..."

Naelle asks if they can take a breather, and as they pause alongside the road, she identifies a way to smash some Yevonites from above. Assuming Leo gives the go-ahead, Ivan will set down the gun temporarily to give the boulder a whack with his warhammer.

DG: Ivan has used his Tool Warhammer toward his party's challenge, Rocks Fall and Yevonites Die.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Once the Yevonites are routed, Leo raises a hand, clenching it into a fist--the signal to stop and take stock of things. He glances at each of his subordinates in turn, his eyes lingering on the shaken, wounded Naelle. His lips pull tight. "Here," Leo says, reaching into a pocket. A moment later, a small vial arcs gracefully through the air, presumably for Naelle to catch. It's a locally-made potion, and while it might not heal her completely, it should help a little.

    Or it could smash on the rocks and spill everywhere. Either/or.

    A LITTLE WHILE LATER

    Leo nods to Naelle. "Keep a watchful eye out," the White Knight says. His voice is noticeably quieter--he's well aware there might be more Yevonites in wait. As it turns out, there are--sort of. "Wise," he says. As Naelle and Ivan get into position, Leo clasps his hands, amber light coursing through the crystalline nodes on the back of his gauntlets. Rocks start to fall...

    And then Leo thrusts out a hand, and a flood of rock and stone just sort of falls over the edge of the cliff. Things are going to be very unpleasant below in short order.

DG: White Knight Leo has used his Tool Earthgrasp Gauntlets toward his party's challenge, Rocks Fall and Yevonites Die.
=================================<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon *>==================================
=================================<* CHALLENGE - Rocks Fall and Yevonites Die *>=================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
-------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------------------------
 The Yevonites know the terrain of the Mi'ihen Highroad better than the        
 Guard. This includes the Old Road, the area in the canyons that has more      
 Fiends, but can offer a shortcut for their forces. Today, you find some as    
 you come to where there is a canyon -- and you stand at the top.              
                                                                               
 A couple dozen Yevonite Warrior Monks are moving in formation below. They     
 are not, initially, aware of your presence. However, a series of boulders --  
 and whatever ranged armaments and spells you have -- could make life          
 interesting for them.                                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Treasure=========================================
============================<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon - Round 3 *>=============================
===================================< Results - Rocks Fall and Yevonites Die >===================================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret                            0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Gratuitous Post-Labor Grooming Supp 1   Brute   Effects: Cleanse              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naelle Sylkirk                      30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Trusty Wrench                       2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen           
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ivan                                0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Warhammer                           3   Brute   Effects: Rally                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
White Knight Leo                    0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Earthgrasp Gauntlets                3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare              
---------------------------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------------------------
Leader: Margaret                    40 --(25)--> 65                Pass
Conditions: Fright(1)|Treasure(1)|Weaken(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1)
===============================================< Dream Chasers >================================================
DG: The party led by Margaret has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Naelle Sylkirk has posed.

"Hey, that's the Boss's job to count--" Naelle protests as Dolly counts from three, but then it's two, and shortly thereafter, surprising absolutely no one, it is one. And then Naelle's wrench is used as a lever, Ivan's warhammer smashes another rock off, Leo does the Impressive Boss Thing, which Naelle google eyes in hero worship over, and Dolly gets her bloodlust rewarded with smashing showers of rock landing on a formation of Yevonites below.

The spatterings of blood and gore are typically censored but apparently someone installed a chunky salsa mod at some point. It's impressive. And gross.

M-M-M-MULTIKILL.

DG: White Knight Leo has drawn a new Challenge.
=================<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon *>==================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Tunnel Collapse *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 As you walk along the Highroad, you feel the ground under your feet begin to  
 shake. There is a rumble, then a crash of shattering stone -- and a hole      
 opens up under your feet, subjecting you to a twenty foot drop. The           
 particularly agile may jump away. However, others may plunge down some ten    
 or twenty feet... and need help escaping.                                     
                                                                               
 Beyond the danger posed by the sudden hole, however, is something else. Some  
 of the stones at the bottom have flecks of silvery metal on them, and show    
 grooves that suggest the stone here has been worked by a machine.             
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Leo glances over the cliff, his expression grim and tight. Then he turns on a heel, and gestures for the others to follow.

    The group isn't a hundred yards uproad when Leo feels another rumble--and a yawning void beneath his feet. "MOVE!" the Beastman shouts. He tries to plant a hand between Naelle's shoulderblades, and gives her a solid shove if he can--and not a moment too soon. The limestone of the road cracks and crumbles, leaving a gaping pit in its wake. Leo falls backwards, one hand reaching out to grab someone--anyone--before he falls, and the other reaching around behind his back.

    A heartbeat later, a long, hooked length of rope flies outwards, towards the branches of a tree. Leo threw the hook while falling, and it might just help more than just him.

DG: White Knight Leo has used his Tool Rope Ladder toward his party's challenge, Tunnel Collapse.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

 
Dolly feels momentarily hollow within. Was that going to make anything better?

As they move forwards, away from the overlook, Dolly stays quiet. Margaret tosses her hair and says, "It's a little surprising that they have all these weapons. We saw no hints of them. I suppose they might have kept them in strategic reserve... or perhaps they've made common cause with the Al Bh"

> Jump

Margaret immediately vaults into the sky as the ground begins to give way. Dolly does not have the power of a dragoon leap and has been prone to skip leg day, and so

she falls
she falls
she faaaaaaaaaalls

With a rustle of cloak as she yelps in dismay! The staff is stabbed at the rock and she ends up dangling, feet six inches off the ground.

Her lips thin in dismay. "General," she calls to Leo, "General, though, I think I see something!"

Margaret lands exactly one tile west of the tree Leo has grasped onto. She squats down to offer hands up. "Eh?" she calls to Dolly.

"I'm not sure..." Dolly looks towards Naelle, "Doesn't this look like it was worked, by machine, like? I don't know, I didn't go to Filgaia."

DG: Margaret has used her Tool The Hounds of Hell! toward her party's challenge, Tunnel Collapse.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.

Ivan seems... sullen about their success in converting Yevonites to salsa, becoming more withdrawn even than usual afterwards. But he follows along without comment or complaint. It isn't as if he hesitated to help...

As they press onward, the ground begins to rumble, suddenly crumbling away beneath their feet.

Ivan pitches forward, summoning his whip as he begins to fall, and snaking it out to catch on an outcropping. In the rush of catching himself, he fumbles the gun, and goes to some awkward lengths to recover it again before it slips entirely from his grasp, ending up balancing it between an elbow and a knee. ... this thing may be a lot more trouble than it's worth. But he DOES kind of want to try to fire it at least once, dammit...!

...Anyway, climbing back out will be interesting like this...

Apparently Dolly noticed something about the rocks that she's calling to the others' attention. It was worked by machines?

"What does that mean, is that important?" he cuts in.

DG: Ivan has used his Tool Whip toward his party's challenge, Tunnel Collapse.
<Pose Tracker> Naelle Sylkirk has posed.

Naelle's still flagging a little--but not for long. She takes out a bottle of liquid that has a faded label suggesting that the contents are EXTREME, pops the cap, and downs it.

Then there is a moment where there is some falling, and then Dolly asks about machines. "Nya? Oh yeah this could have been bored by a big drill or some kind of drill-like device, I could probably build one up to do that without too much trouble, the real difficulties would mostly be in making sure the alloy on the head was strong enough to maintain integrity through such a long rocky bore and also getting a power source strong enough to power it which I definitely know exist but I am still learning about also that fall was fun wasn't it?"

Naelle's a cat. Cats land on their feet.

DG: Naelle Sylkirk has used her Tool Energy Drink toward her party's challenge, Tunnel Collapse.
=================<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon *>==================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Tunnel Collapse *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 As you walk along the Highroad, you feel the ground under your feet begin to  
 shake. There is a rumble, then a crash of shattering stone -- and a hole      
 opens up under your feet, subjecting you to a twenty foot drop. The           
 particularly agile may jump away. However, others may plunge down some ten    
 or twenty feet... and need help escaping.                                     
                                                                               
 Beyond the danger posed by the sudden hole, however, is something else. Some  
 of the stones at the bottom have flecks of silvery metal on them, and show    
 grooves that suggest the stone here has been worked by a machine.             
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
============<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon - Round 4 *>=============
=========================< Results - Tunnel Collapse >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret                            0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
The Hounds of Hell!                 2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naelle Sylkirk                      30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Energy Drink                        2   Agility Effects: Cleanse and Efficient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ivan                                0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Whip                                2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
White Knight Leo                    0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rope Ladder                         2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Margaret                    65 --(20)--> 85                Pass
Conditions: Injure(2)|Slow(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Margaret 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: Margaret has drawn a new Challenge.
================<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon *>=================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Mapping and Networking *>===================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Your keen eyes and attention to the surroundings catch another of those       
 tunnels, used by groups of Guado Guardians. This one is not particularly      
 large; it seems the Guado used this to move a small squadron, like the one    
 that attacked you earlier. The tunnel leads into a small network of them      
 that ultimately connects to a larger one.                                     
                                                                               
 If you map it out, you might be able to get an idea of where they come from   
 -- and, more importantly, where they are headed to. This could help prepare   
 other outbases for being hit by these Guado strike teams.                     
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Leo's hook catches a branch. The rope pulls taut, biting into the White Knight's forearm--but a sudden, uncomfortable stop is better than a fall into the unknown. Ivan's whip finds purchase on another branch, sparing him the same fate, and a moment later, Dolly joins the trio of Guards on the limestone wall. (Naelle lands on her feet because cats, falling, come on now.)

    Leo looks at Dolly, frowns, and then squints at the wall in front of him. It looks like rock, he thinks, and it takes him a good minute or so to notice the fact that it's too smooth. There's no chisel marks or anything. "Perhaps you were on to something, Margaret," Leo says. He hoists himself up the wall, leaving the rope behind for Naelle and Dolly to use.

    Onward!

<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

 
"This is terribly unfair," Margaret complains as she gives people a hand up and an encouraging pat on the back.

"I was just thinking it was going to be a bit of a thing, you nyow," Dolly says to Naelle, "since they're supposed to hate machines, right? And I know they had that big sports stadium and there's spheres and so forth, but now these are guns, aren't they, real guns. And they're using some kind of digging machine."

"I wasn't exactly eager to study Heresy 101," Margaret says as everyone reaches the top, "and of course, the true Goddess isn't nearly so finicky as this, but maybe they've made a dispensation?"

Dolly thinks: She's so clever. I want to be like her when I'm that age. Especially if it comes with the same kind of skin.

Margaret thinks: I wish I'd brought my pipe. I really want an enchilada.

"I like your whip," Margaret murmurs to Ivan. Then she folds her arms. "Is anyone pointing a gun at us...? No? Well, it occurs to me, that though I am no lunologist, that this rise up here -"

Margaret points at the place from which they dropped rocks.

"Is along the ways from where the post is,"

Margaret points back that way.

"And is of course right near where we just fell into the ground, which suggests that if we walk around THIS RIDGE --"

Margaret does so in an extremely sarcastic way. "OH LOOK AT THIS LEO DARLING IT'S A CRACK IN THE GROUND BIG ENOUGH TO BUGGER A GEAR!"

Margaret gestures at the aperture into the ground, which sure enough looks like a 'natural' sort of crack that has been 'gently expanded' and also has 'some scrape marks in it' and, 'just inside,' a steep 'ramp' down into another 'network' of 'caves'. "Did anyone bring a torch or anything?"

Dolly asides to Naelle, "Sorry about the, nyao thing, it just kind of cameow-- ah, goddess save me I'm shutting up forever now, sorry."

DG: Margaret has used her Tool Travelers Cards toward her party's challenge, Mapping and Networking.
<Pose Tracker> Naelle Sylkirk has posed.

"Nyat a problem, Dolly! Nya ha ha ha!. This looks like a perfect job for a new device I designed in my spare time! Let me just get out the blueprints here, and I should be able to scratch one together!"

Naelle hopes to impress Leo with her ingenuity, you see. Out comes the book of blueprints, and then Naelle manages once again to scrounge improbable components out of her pockets and soon a weird looking little bot with kitty ears is tottering back and forth.

"Behold! They said it couldn't be done but with my brilliant mind I have created the NYAVIGATOR!"

The Nyavigator bumps into a wall, turns around precariously, and totters off down the tunnel at unlikely speeds, like some kind of scrap-bot with kitty ears.

"She'll explore for us and then I just have to have the Cat-O-Grapher ready to turn her explorations into a map for us!"

Naelle may not be the best fighter out there and she may not be the best spy out there but she's definitely good at building implausible things from scraps, gears, and odd bits and bobs on short notice!

DG: Naelle Sylkirk has used her Tool Big Book o'Blueprints toward her party's challenge, Mapping and Networking.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.

Ivan attempts to climb his whip back up to solid ground using only two limbs and somehow has enough acrobatic training that it seems to work. After a false start with an attempt at some aerial silks sort of maneuvering, he just kicks off the wall and flips up out of the gap back onto the ground. Margaret compliments the whip and Ivan doesn't know what to do with that, so he responds, "Yeah, it can do things," and then just kind of stands there regretting his life.

Margaret quickly moves on to reasoning out how the tunnels might be laid out. Naelle gets in on this, too, adding an explorer machina to the mix!

Ivan is not really any help in the discussion at all and his eyes kind of glaze over watching the machina wander around until Margaret asks about torches. "I can be a torch," he volunteers.

DG: Ivan has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Mapping and Networking.
<Pose Tracker> Naelle Sylkirk has posed.

"Nya ha ha ha ha!" adds Naelle

<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Leo blinks. He walks towards the ridge, looks over the edge, and stares down into the rift with a look of increasing concern. "This place is riddled with the damnable things," Leo says. Eryon Rast's to-do list acquires a few new items. The White Knight folds his arms, and looks at Margaret. "Lead the way," he says.

    In this case, Leo's delegation is a good thing, because in no time at all, the White Knight has completely lost his sense of direction. It may be up to Margaret and Naelle to carry the day.

DG: White Knight Leo has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Mapping and Networking.
================<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon *>=================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Mapping and Networking *>===================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Your keen eyes and attention to the surroundings catch another of those       
 tunnels, used by groups of Guado Guardians. This one is not particularly      
 large; it seems the Guado used this to move a small squadron, like the one    
 that attacked you earlier. The tunnel leads into a small network of them      
 that ultimately connects to a larger one.                                     
                                                                               
 If you map it out, you might be able to get an idea of where they come from   
 -- and, more importantly, where they are headed to. This could help prepare   
 other outbases for being hit by these Guado strike teams.                     
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
===========<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon - Round 5 *>============
=====================< Results - Mapping and Networking >=====================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret                            0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Travelers Cards                     2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naelle Sylkirk                      30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Big Book o'Blueprints               2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ivan                                0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
White Knight Leo                    0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Margaret                    85 --(35)--> 120               Pass
Conditions: Stupify(2)
Effects: Enlighten(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Margaret has successfully explored Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon!
================<* Mi'ihen Highroad Battle - Against Yevon *>=================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Mysterious Machina Part *>===================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 4          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Within the tunnels, before you make your way out -- and potentially collapse  
 them -- you catch sight of a shiny piece of metal. When you pull it free,     
 you find a small drillbit. The Guado and Yevon, it seems, used a machina to   
 dig these tunnels -- likely one of the ancient ones supposedly kept under     
 Bevelle.                                                                      
                                                                               
 OOC: You have unlocked the Tunnel Armor optional boss fight. Please send in   
 a +request.                                                                   
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

 
"Oh that's amazing," Dolly says when the kitty-thingy comes out. "That's a mammet or something, isn't it? I don't remember - Oh sweet lady!" Off it goes.

Margaret smiles as Ivan says his whip can do things, but doesn't say anyaanthing in reply. It's probably bad enough that she smiled.

"Absolutely riddled," Margaret complains. "It's like a cheese!"

She puts her hand on a wall and asides to Leo, "Keep a hand on this too. If you lose sight of us, you'll find your way eventually if you keep your same hand on the same wall."

After a period of cavern time which is not even interrupted by a gorlak, Margaret muses, "You're mapping this, Naelle? It'd be risky but we could use this ourselves... Or lay traps."

<Pose Tracker> Naelle Sylkirk has posed.

Naelle looks up from where she's tinkering with the Cat-O-Grapher. "It should be a cinch to get the map plotted once the Nyavigator comes back!"

The Nyavigator comes back, and Naelle picks her up, setting her into the Cat-O-Grapher, which is some kind of stylus and plotter or something of the sort. In short order, it's spitting out a map, indeed.

In the lower right corner, there's a compass drawn, with kitty ears. Sort of a signature.

Naelle beams. "Pretty good, nya? I did good, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.

Margaret smiles at Ivan's blundering comment. He considers the merits of jumping back into the ravine.

But there are caves to explore! What Ivan lacks in being able to provide navigational or strategic input, he makes up for in... being a light source. Sort of. Maybe those things aren't really equivalent. He'd help fight stuff, except they don't get accosted by anything during this leg of their venture.

But anyway, he does help light the way with a small fireball.

There is, meanwhile, a robot accomplishing wonders. How does it do that?? How do machina even work???

<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.

 
"Wonderfully," Margaret says. She thinks: If a little cat-themed.

"Yeah, yeah, this is all terribly clever. You're not using any magic?" Dolly says. (If, she thinks, a little cat-themed.)

<Pose Tracker> Naelle Sylkirk has posed.

Naelle shakes her head. "Nope! No magic, just science!"