2019-10-07: A Mystery Called The Tomamond

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  • Log: A Mystery Called The Tomamond
  • Cast: Talia, Seraph Amaranth, Seraph Ragnell, Isolde, Josephine Lovelace, Seraph Clarine
  • Where: Shrine of the Water Trial
  • Date: October 08, 2019
  • Summary: A scattered group of unlikely comrades fall to find themselves within the shrine of water in the depths of the lake under Macalania Temple. With no way to proceed but forward, they make the best of the situation... and uncover something unexpected.

DG: A party led by Talia is now entering Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
====================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>=====================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Bubbled From Harm *>=======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You fall.

 Fall, fall, fall... into the shadowy, sapphire depths of Macalania Lake.

 Perhaps it was the unending numbers of Odessa's rank and file, filtrating
 through portals in endless waves. Perhaps it was the tidal wave you scarce
 outran at the apex of the battle between Lombardia, Queen of the Metal
 Dragons, and Sin itself. Perhaps the fierce fighting in Macalania Temple has
 sent you plummeting down to the depths below.

 Whatever the case may be--

 You do not meet a frigid, wet end in this abyss.

 (BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKOJbeymd4M )

 There is a blue light from below.

 Slowly, but comfortably, a round sphere of water cloaks itself around you.
 You find yourself dry and with air to breathe, as you descend to the
 structure of an ancient shrine hidden underneath the frozen surface of
 Macalania Lake.

 The bubbles are pliant and sturdy, but impede your movements a little. Try
 to coax yourself to float down towards the shrine... and keep tabs of who
 you're with--

 So that you do not risk losing each other again.
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

Even outside Macalania Temple...

...people fell down.

Talia descends with a yelp as a chunk of Macalania Temple, thrown free and arcing high, smashes into the glacier next to her. The ice shatters under her feet -- and then she tumbles, down and down, into the darkness. "This--this is not good!" she yells. "This is..."

*blorp*

Talia finds herself in a ball of water, bobbing side to side, and then she blinks a few more times. Slowly, she goes down -- and looks about. She looks for anyone nearby.

Ivan isn't here. Lydia, either. Hopefully they found each other. She wrinkles her nose, before she cups her hands around her mouth and calls out:

"Hello, fellow bubble friends! You should wobble towards me, no?" she says. "Maybe we can stick together! Maybe--Ammy, is that you? And--Ragnell? And--"

She spies Josephine Lovelace. "Awkward..."

She tried to murder her the one time.

DG: Talia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Bubbled From Harm.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Amaranth has posed.

    Amaranth is in many aspects a pacifist and hates battle and war.

    Which is why she's pondering to herself, as the Festina Lente boings along Macalania's surface, why she's headed to what's possibly the biggest war she's ever been in recent memory -- probably bigger than Meribia, and she wasn't in the Glenwood one.

    The biggest one she remembers, at least.

    Talia's fallen ahead, her eyes widening as she exclaims, "T-Talia!" Oh no.

    She sucks in a deep, deep, deep breath as she focuses on her magic. Outside, the Festina Lente -- a two-storey magic house that's kind of served as a base for a lot of the Seraphs as well as a home for many of their friends --

    *POOF*

    Gets goggles over its second storey windows. And its chimney pops up in the shape of a big snorkel, the rebreather stuffed onto its doorway. And the little brick base gets zipped up with something that kinda resembles a short, squat and square wetsuit.

    "Here goes!"

    An Odessa Moblin quietly stares in disbelief as he watches an animated house jump into the lake and then realises he's from a theme where that's definitely not the weirdest thing that happens in it.

    *SPLOOSH*

    The house gets its own extra-massive bubble as it sinks like a-- well, like a house. Ammy shout, " "

    then realises that she pulled the windows down to prevent drowning and just knocks on her windows instead. Hopefully some of the Seraphs can swim close and latch onto the house if they need it...

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    A short while ago, Ragnell had been engaged in battle on the bridge to Macalania Temple. Then Sin had showed up. And she would have opted to retreat, except Liath had decided to hurl herself directly *towards* the two behemoths engaged in battle, and Ragnell can't tell what she's madder at: Liath for doing that, or herself for not seeing it coming a mile away.
    
    Fast forward to now. Ragnell dives into the heavy waters that bubble around her. She doesn't need to breathe, but it's easier to talk through air than water, so the bubble is useful in that respect. She sinks, then floats, and looks towards Talia when she hears her voice.
    
    "Oh, hey, Tali," she says. She looks around at the other bubbles bobbing about the place, then pops a chocolate rusk into her mouth--she'd been using cheesecake bites lately for her dungeoneering snacks, but she'd been in the mood for these--
    
    SPLOOSH
    
    hey it's the festina lente
    
    With an effort of will, Ragnell surges through the water towards her sister's house. Soon their bubbles merge! Now she can hang out on the windows where Amaranth is knocking. It'll... maybe make it easier to spot...?

DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Chocolate Rusk toward her party's challenge, Bubbled From Harm.
DG: Seraph Amaranth has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Bubbled From Harm.
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.

Isolde might, if pressed, want to claim that she was just sauntering around or that she was just in the area or something equally cool and stylish, something that suggests she's just a hustler on the road, but the truth is that she was fighting too. Sometimes you don't have a choice. Sometimes you don't even want one. And that heavy sword she's gotten locally - though it is only single edged, which has caused her the occasional 'whoopsie!' moment - is not for show.

When she hits the water, Isolde lets go of the sword - but she's falling some distance. She's going to have to figure out where to - hm.

There is a heartbeat.

Isolde reaches out, touches the fringes of a bubble.

She can hear someone calling to her.

Her head turns. She tsks lightly. Then she reaches into a blouse pocket, produces a wooden whistle, and blows a short, SHARP lesson in-- series of trills on it.

"Good plan! Keep talking," Isolde calls to Talia. A few pokes and prods and her own bubble drifts towards the others. (The sword is resting on the bottom of the bubble. The sharp part is pointed upwards.)

DG: Isolde has used her Tool Enigmatic Whistle toward her party's challenge, Bubbled From Harm.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    NOT TERRIBLY LONG AGO

Josephine Lovelace arrives at the Temple, courtesy of dragonback, shortly after Lombardia struck out against Sin one last time. The upside of this is that she arrived dry and in one piece, and didn't, say, have to do the after-use maintenance on the cannon while standing out in the cold. Sure, there was a commotion, but something wasn't functioning right with the cannon, which took priority where she was concerned.

    She'd been well into the guts -- or as far as she dared -- of the Nostos Cannon when the whole structure had started to shake.

    And then the whole thing had fallen apart, dumping her down in the abyss below.

    NOW

    She doesn't hit the water. Encased in a particularly large bubble, she finds herself crammed up against the opened cannon. A poke determines what she'd already worked out: that whatever she's encased in, it's sturdy enough that neither she nor the cannon have ruptured it. Or should rupture it.

    Also, she's not the only one down here.

    She leans against the membrane. "Princess? ...Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle." She pats down her vest and locates her screwdriver and, as she delivers a kick to the wall of her bubble, begins reattaching the plate to one side of the cannon. Might as well make the best use of her time and close it back up.

    "You'n me have got a thing or two to talk about, I reckon."

DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Bubbled From Harm.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Clarine is much, much lighter than a human of her size would be. Normally, this was to her advantage - allowing her to hover about with little concern for the pull of gravity thanks to her magical nature.

This does, however, occasionally turn out to be a detriment.

That occurs for Clarine today. As ARMS makes their way toward Macalania Temple...the earth shakes and Clarine, perched atop the Guts-Dozer, ends up being ejected from the vehicle entirely she goes sailed and, with a splash, finds herself drifting down, down, down, into the depths of Lake Macalania.

As a Seraphim, she doesn't need to breathe...but, as a being of light, moving through the water is difficult. It's slow. Would she even be able to swim all the way back up in time to rejoin her friends? She has only her thoughts as she sinks...

...But, before she sinks too far, she sees a blue light. Her eyes open wide as she spots it...and then, sphere of water surrounds her. It makes it easier to move. And not only that...the blue light illuminates the depths, and allows her to catch sight of the last thing she expected to see here.

The Festina Lente.

And...the Festina Lente meant Friends, and that's almost enough to make her tear up a little in a bad situation like this.

She's concerned, of course - this place was dangerous, why would Ammy come here...? But, she can save the questions for later. With some difficulty she forces her bubble over toward the Festina Lente's. Much like with Ragnell, the bubbles merge and Clarine latches onto the house in a tight hug. And as she does so...!

"Ah!" Clarine gasps. She's not alone - there are others, here, too. Talia, Isolde, Ragnell... she doesn't recognize Josie, but right now, she was just glad she wasn't sinking into these depths alone.

DG: Seraph Clarine has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Bubbled From Harm.
====================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>=====================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Bubbled From Harm *>=======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You fall.

 Fall, fall, fall... into the shadowy, sapphire depths of Macalania Lake.

 Perhaps it was the unending numbers of Odessa's rank and file, filtrating
 through portals in endless waves. Perhaps it was the tidal wave you scarce
 outran at the apex of the battle between Lombardia, Queen of the Metal
 Dragons, and Sin itself. Perhaps the fierce fighting in Macalania Temple has
 sent you plummeting down to the depths below.

 Whatever the case may be--

 You do not meet a frigid, wet end in this abyss.

 (BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKOJbeymd4M )

 There is a blue light from below.

 Slowly, but comfortably, a round sphere of water cloaks itself around you.
 You find yourself dry and with air to breathe, as you descend to the
 structure of an ancient shrine hidden underneath the frozen surface of
 Macalania Lake.

 The bubbles are pliant and sturdy, but impede your movements a little. Try
 to coax yourself to float down towards the shrine... and keep tabs of who
 you're with--

 So that you do not risk losing each other again.
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
===============<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial - Round 1 *>================
========================< Results - Bubbled From Harm >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Ragnell                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Chocolate Rusk                      1   Agility Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talia                               0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Clarine                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Amaranth                     0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isolde                              0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Enigmatic Whistle                   2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Talia                       0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Hesitate(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Talia 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> Talia has posed.

"It is you!" Talia says, a little brightly, at Ragnell. Nevermind that, a minute ago, she had been sending spells at Odessa soldiers. (She doesn't know, but would not be shocked, to learn that Ragnell helps Odessa.) The bubble floats along -- and then she nudges herself to the side. Her bubble wobbles over, until it comes near the Festina Lente.

She turns -- and then she blinks as she looks at another bubble floating into view. She knows Isolde, if not well. When she sees her, she waves. "Isolde! Move towards the Festina Lente--the house, no? It will bring us to safety!"

Then, she looks back at Josie. She considers, for a second, pretending that she is someone else. She decides that sounds like something Ivan would do, and it did not work out well. This is what, Talia thinks, twin brothers are for.

"I... suppose so, no? Try to not shoot me, please?" she asks, trying to sound innocent about it. Her bubble bobbles against the side of the Festina Lente. It sticks there, and she sees a glimpse of Clarine -- and blinks. Then, she smiles.

"Down we go!"

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Relax," Josie says to Talia. She smiles at her, winningly.

    "I'm out of bullets."

<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

"This is not a thing that makes me feel better, no?" Talia says, flatly.

DG: Seraph Clarine has drawn a new Challenge.
===================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>====================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Eye for an Eye *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Darken Eyes blot the airspace above your party, harrying you with strikes
 and minor spells. Just as combat breaks out, the most astute amongst you
 notice the trap-laden hallway, with yet more eye contraptions (eyes! It's
 always eyes!) embedded in the walls.

 Done wrong, an annoying encounter could become deadly if you split amongst
 yourselves.

 So be quick and decisive. Bring these flying monsters to stare at the walls,
 and send them packing. Keep abreast of one another.

 Because you cannot afford to lose each other again.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.

"That's a house?" Isolde asks.

"Why, though," Isolde asks - probably of the goddess.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

"P-Please do not shoot at Talia!" Clarine pleads, as they descend.

And, eventually, they land, setting down somewhere in the stone hallways of Lefay.

Clarine remains hugged tightly onto the side of the Festina Lente for a moment longer before she, finally, lets go, touching down on the ground for a brief moment.

"I am...glad to see everyone is alright... I was afraid I might end up alone again..." Clarine murmurs, clasping her hands in front of her nervously. Her eyes stray toward Ragnell for a brief moment, as if to judge her reaction.

And then, she looks around.

"...This place, it looks...different." Clarine notes. "I can feel a form of...spiritual power, from it, faintly..."

There's not much time to discuss it, however, as their descent has not gone unobserved. Awakened by the sudden presence in their midst, creatures begin to appear above the party. Some strike at them physically, while others unleash minor sorcery.

Individually, they aren't much, but combined, they might prove a problem even for experienced fighters like this group.

Clarine looks about, with a hint of worry...and then, takes note of the eyes lining the walls.

More eyes, of course. But...it isn't the first time she's driven away a creature by reflecting its own gaze back at it - maybe she can do the same, but with a different gaze...?

"Everyone! Please, be wary! This place is lined with dangers... Do not meet their gaze!" She warns. With her back pressed against the house behind her, Clarine reaches into her sleeve, and draws out a prism that might be familiar to some. She directs it to float ahead of her, and with some channeled light magic, it projects a shimmering barrier of rainbow light.

It may just be enough to overpower some of the Darken Eyes and force them to look away, and toward the wall...

DG: Seraph Clarine has used her Tool Prismatic Projector toward her party's challenge, Eye for an Eye.
Seraph Clarine
Clarine stands at about 4'10"(around 147 cm). Her hair, a very pale blonde that turns white near the tips, is very long,
streaming down to around the back of her upper leg. She has round features and golden eyes.

She is rarely seen without a golden necklace, bearing an amulet with a design remniscent of a star and set with a
prismatic gem that shifts between all the colors of the rainbow depending on where the light hits it.

As a Seraph, Clarine largely does not need to worry about overheating. Therefore, Clarine tends to wear her clothes in
layers.

The bottom layer is a comfortable black tunic with matching leggings, simple in design. Over this she wears a long white
dress with a pale yellow silk sash around her waist to add a splash of color. The sleeves are long and wide, practically
covering her hands, and she can often be seen pulling various items out of them. Around the hem of the skirt and her
sleeves is a silver design remniscent of twinkling stars. When they catch the light just right, they shimmer with
various colors.

She also wears a pair of comfortable walking boots due to her tendency to travel...even though she doesn't technically
need them.

Her primary weapon is a set of mirrors that unfurl from a single one much like a fan. They all bear a similar silver
design with a clear surface, but each one has a different phrase in the Ancient Tongue on the back. It might make one
think of these are culturally important artifacts, but in reality they're all just various motivational phrases.

...Which, in their own way, are still pretty important.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Heh heh. I suppose not," Josie says and has the audacity to wink.

    Then she sighs, shaking her head, shortly after she works the last screw into the section of plating. "Anyway, Princess -- Golden Girl," she adds, sighting Clarine as the woman makes her fellow plea, "relax. If I was gonna, I would've already done it. You'n me still need to have words, mind. I'm still not exactly the forgive and forget type..."

    She touches down on the underwater temple's floor just about then, awkwardly shouldering the cannon.

    This is, perhaps, when she sights Ragnell. Her eyes narrow.

    "...But I tell you what, you're not the only one I've gotta have words with. Hey! You! Ain't you supposed to be dead?"

    There may not be, precisely, a whole lot of time to follow up on that particular avenue. Clarine isn't the only one who sees the things.

    "...Well now, that's a right old mess. C'mon. Let's get moving and then we can do the thing where we talk, or what not."

    Hefting the cannon up with her one good hand (with difficulty) she heads onwards, keeping her head down as recommended.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Eye for an Eye.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Amaranth has posed.

    *BWOMFFF*

    "..."

    The Festina Lente has a kind of bouncy landing down at the base of the lake not terribly far from the Shrinegrounds, and you can tell it's dizzy because its windows have turned into @_@ and a circle of stars and cuccos hover over it.

    Amaranth opens the front door and immediately gives her sister a brief and needy hug.

    "I just dropped our house into a lake," Amaranth stammers as she looks behind her. She spots Clarine and gives her a hug too, before approaching closer to Talia and--

    Oh no, enemies.

    "Uh--"

    Clarine starts warning them about how the place is lined with danger. Don't meet their gaze. Uhhhh.

    She doesn't know who Josephine is but it seems like the others do? She looks to Isolde as well with an awkward wave before a Darken Eye gets a little bit too close for her liking. "Y-Yikes!"

    She sucks in a deep breath and kind of just haphazardly tosses out a small pile of shurikens, since she's still wearing her shinobi outfit kind of out of a timid recognition that going into a battlefield means combat.

DG: Seraph Amaranth has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Eye for an Eye.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    "Really? It should," Ragnell remarks to Talia.
    
    She looks over at the others now swimming close to her sister's house. There's Josie--long time no see--and Isolde--long time no see in a different sense--and Clarine, who Ragnell had just seen, uh, a short while ago on the bridge. She half-smiles at her, noting her tension and returning it with relaxed nonchalance. Same as usual, see? Nothing to worry about.
    
    "I see you made it through in one piece," she comments to her. "Good t' see." She doesn't see Liath, but... well, she's a big girl. Ragnell has faith that she's all right. More or less. She pauses, though, when Josie gives her the stinkeye. Ragnell swallows a sigh and looks her in the eye. "Actually, I *am* dead. I'm a spooky ghost, back from the grave, here specifically to spite you," she replies matter-of-fact.
    
    Eventually, the group lands before the Water Shrine. She stands, looking up and around. What's with all the eyes? Kinda freaky. Clarine shouts out a warning, so Ragnell tosses around a bunch more snacks. "These'll keep ya from gettin' slowed down. Eat 'em if you want, or don't." She noms on another one, and starts luring the Darken Eyes around so they meet the "eyes" of the temple instead.

DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Chocolate Rusk toward her party's challenge, Eye for an Eye.
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

"The way she says it, Ragnell!" Talia whines.

"It is the Festina Lente!" Talia tells Isolde. "It is a wonderful place, no? It is Ammy's--it is our house!" That, she thinks, still feels a little new to tell someone. But... nice, too.

When they set down, she breathes a sigh of relief. She steps off -- and then she blinks, as one of the flying eyeballs appears overhead. A flying eyeball, but not a fiend -- she sees no pyreflies, there. Her eyes widen a little, before she steps backward. "W-We certainly wouldn't leave you alone, no?" she tells Clarine.

'Don't meet their gaze,' Clarine suggests.

She nods -- and then she lifts up Mirage. The short sword gleams, and she holds a hand out for Amaranth, if she wants it (with an eye on those shurikens). "Shall we?"

Then, she throws the weapon -- and vanishes, bursting apart into strands of shadowstuff. Those fly out, then recombine across the way.

Talia is standing there, safely away from those quite creepy eyes carved into the walls.

Possibly with Ammy, too.

DG: Talia has used her Tool Mirage toward her party's challenge, Eye for an Eye.
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.

As they rendezvous together, Isolde puts a hand on the eaves of Festina Lente. "My good heavens," she says. "It IS a house."

She laughs. "How marvelous! Does it walk? That would be handy."

And then Clarine warns them. Isolde turns her head and listens, alertly, and with sympathy. Then she straightens up and as she takes up her sword, longer than her previous one, she says, "Is that so? Intriguing." The blade is slid into a scabbard of lashed hide with a cheap metal lining, and she settles inwards, before she reaches into her blouse again.

For that selfsame whistle! Isolde begins to back away from others, facing towards them - and also, indirectly, the Darken Eyes. TWEET TWEET TWEETWEETWEWYTWEEEEEET.

Isolde then runs in a loose circle, as if to turn their backs to the group - to guide them to face towards -- you know, Isolde thinks, this would be a good thing to avoid. "Tell me which way to point them!" she calls to the others. "Relative to me if you please!"

(A rusk bounces off her forehead; she catches it before it hits the ground)

DG: Isolde has used her Tool Enigmatic Whistle toward her party's challenge, Eye for an Eye.
===================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>====================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Eye for an Eye *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Darken Eyes blot the airspace above your party, harrying you with strikes
 and minor spells. Just as combat breaks out, the most astute amongst you
 notice the trap-laden hallway, with yet more eye contraptions (eyes! It's
 always eyes!) embedded in the walls.

 Done wrong, an annoying encounter could become deadly if you split amongst
 yourselves.

 So be quick and decisive. Bring these flying monsters to stare at the walls,
 and send them packing. Keep abreast of one another.

 Because you cannot afford to lose each other again.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
==============<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial - Round 2 *>===============
=========================< Results - Eye for an Eye >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Ragnell                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Chocolate Rusk                      1   Agility Effects: Cleanse
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talia                               0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Mirage                              3   Agility Effects: Fanfare
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Clarine                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Prismatic Projector                 1   Agility Effects: Fanfare and Quicken
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Amaranth                     0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isolde                              0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Enigmatic Whistle                   2   Agility Effects: Quicken
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Talia                       20 --(20)--> 40                Pass
Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Injure(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Talia 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: Isolde has drawn a new Challenge.
===================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>====================
=================<* CHALLENGE - The Aquaphant in the Room *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 In the myriad hallways and twists of the Shrine of the Water Trial, you
 encounter an unusually sorry sight.

 One of the Fiends that patrol this temple, the Aquaphant, has fallen into a
 large break on the floor. It doesn't appear able to escape its fate. On the
 one hand, that is quite advantageous -- you could sneak around the creature
 and save yourself an unnecessary fight...

 But the glint of treasure underneath the floor offers a different scenario.
 Perhaps support and kindness can help the Fiend free. But what awaits at the
 end of this? A random encounter, or the first step to being best friends
 with a mythical water creature?

 What will you do?
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Clarine relaxes, just a little, when Josie says that she isn't going to shoot Talia - and when Ragnell just sends her that half-smile. She nods, just for a moment, and then is distracted as the owner of the house they've descended with emerges.

"Ammy...!" Clarine greets, eagerly returning that hug...and then, fixes her with a worried look. "I-I am...very, incredibly glad to see you, but...what are you doing here? This was a dangerous place even before the land began to fall..."

She steps away, then looks toward Talia, managing a smile as she assures her that they wouldn't leave her alone.

But, there's little more time for that - the eyes are upon them. But, they're not unprepared for this happening, either.

Amaranth tosses a handful of shurikens haphazardly, but as she does so, several more eyes attack from behind in an ambush...but, thankfully, Talia is there for her, and with a toss of Mirage the two of them vanish, reappearing in a hallway that is, thankfully, free of eyes. The Darken Eyes track their movement...but doing so turns them directly toward the eyes on the wall, causing them to vanish abruptly.

Isolde, meanwhile, has an idea. She blows on that whistle and several of the eyes turn toward her. Clarine gasps in alarm...but, then she hears Isolde's call.

"Ah...approximately seventy-five degrees to your left!" Clarine calls out. That way lies several eyes, eyes which cause their enemy to meet the same fate as the others.

Ragnell, meanwhile, dispenses snacks. Clarine accepts one thankfully - though she very rare ate food of any kind, she made exception for that which friends gave her.

Ragnell herself, meanwhile, is more than quick enough to outpace them by herself.

And Josie...though she might be weighed down by a cannon, everyone else is making enough of a commotion that she'll be able to pass through without difficulty. Eventually, one way or another, everyone will have made it through in one piece!

<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.

Isolde has to think a little at that one, but she scuttles back happily enough, though she's really moving more like sixty degrees. In the end, it works out. Magical effects don't have super tight boundaries.

Afterwards, they have a moment of respite. Isolde wipes off her forehead with one sleeve. "So," she asks, "it's good to meet you all again. I believe all of you, anyway - I think the only one of you I haven't ever chatted with is..." She regards Josie, as Amaranth is probably also in this club but is more numinous.

"I'm Isolde," she says, proffering a hand.

After this it is time to move forwards. There is room here for some conversation -

"Frankly I'd gone into caravan guarding again. I believe it was a delivery of some kind of gift for the engaged couple. I hope they're doing well. Do you think it will be a happy - hm - I can hear your frowns."

- and then there is a mournful trumpeting before them.

Isolde stops dead.

She clucks her tongue. "Oh, no," she says, "I know this one."

The Aquaphant, who has not heard the parable that Isolde has had brought up to her many times, waggles its trunk at the group with irritation. Its great forelimbs have gotten trapped in a crack, leaving it hunched over with its big ol' elephant backside half stuck in the air. It has sunk to a kneel, by necessity.

It trumpets hard enough to make Isolde wince, but the trumpet makes her think - "Well, then, at least this is a stroke of luck." She moves to hug the left hand side of the corridor, which puts her well outside of trunking distance for the Aquaphant.

Of course, in the crevasse... there is more than meets the eye. Two twinkling Spheres - no, they're not spheres, merely spherical chests. One of them has been jarred partway open and gil can be seen. The other remains unplundered. What wealth remains?

"*trumpet*" the Aquaphant proclaims. Its legs are in the way.

DG: Isolde has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Aquaphant in the Room.
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

"The Festina Lente can move, no?" Talia answers Isolde. She winks. "It is a very versatile house. Though... it has taken a bath, which is not expected."

She takes her hand away from Amaranth's -- after squeezing once -- and then pats the Shadow Seraph on the shoulder.

She keeps walking, but slows as she hears the trumpet of... a creature? Talia blinks her eyes a few times, and then she looks at the Aquaphant. Her first thought, really, is to wonder if the creature is dangerous.

She sighs, though, and nods. Then she moves forward, closer and closer, to the Aquaphant. "Eaaaaasyyyyyy," she says, holding both hands up. "We will get you out, no? But we will be very cross if you try to eat us. Uh, Clarine, can you do the... calm, serene, befriending thing? You are good at this, no?"

Talia slinks over to the crevasse -- and then gives a firm yank on the rock.

DG: Talia has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Aquaphant in the Room.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Amaranth has posed.

    Amaranth is incredibly un-ready for a fight and it shows; her aim is wild and doesn't do much more than make some of those Eyes swerve, but fortunately Talia is there to protect her and teleport her away to safety with Mirage's blink-properties. There's a quiet sigh of relief as she squeezes her hand.

    She looks guilty to Clarine as she mumbles, "W-well, I thought you were all in danger..."

    She looks towards the house again and says, "Um--"

    The Festina Lente can move, no?

    "Well, normally it can, but... we might want to let it rest for a while..." Amaranth quietly murmurs. Besides, it's not like she can squoze the house through the narrow corridors of Lefay, the Shrine of the Water Trial.

    "I'm, um, Katherine Weaver," she answers. "I'm a seamstress. I support these people." With a bouncy magic house.

    She arrives with the rest to the sound of mournful trumpeting, though, and Isolde says she knows what's going on. She looks back towards the Aquaphant. "That is a Fiend, is it not? Yet..."

    She winces as trumpeting intensifies.

    "... let me try... with the Anywhere Door!"

    A seamstress, she says, before she rummages through a purse and literally takes a door out of it and slaps it on the ground. She opens it and where there was floor there... isn't, anymore, like some kind of portal.

    She hops through and looks up towards the crack (and elephant derriere). "Um! If you aim towards the left side of the ground, that looks less sturdy!"

    She steps away before the gets squished by the aquaphant.

DG: Seraph Amaranth has used her Tool The Anywhere Door toward her party's challenge, The Aquaphant in the Room.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Once they're all safe, Amaranth explains why she's here. She thought they were all in danger...

Clarine offers her an awkward smile.

"...Well, I cannot deny that was the case..." She admits. "I had to call upon a power I have not used in ages, and it very nearly exhausted me completely... I have recovered a little, but I am still not quite at one-hundred percent..."

"But...thank you, for thinking of us. I am glad...and if you were not here, we might have remained separated! The Festina Lente acted as a beacon to bring us all back together..." She says, trying to cheer her up.

She looks toward Isolde, then, as she speaks, greeting them.

"Yes! I am pleased, as well..." Clarine replies with a smile. She listens as Isolde explains why she was there. Caravan guarding.

But, before Clarine can respond...there's the sound of trumpeting. And up ahead, there's an Aquaphant. Clarine isn't sure if it fell from above or if it was always here, but it's gotten itself firmly trapped in a crevice.

"O-oh dear...um, what should I..." Clarine pauses, as Talia suggests she do the 'calm, serene, befriending thing'. Clarine blinks, her head tilting. "U-umm...I shall try!"

With a resolute nod, a pump of her fists, and a deep breath as a centering gesture, Clarine floats over to the Aquaphant, rising to its eye level. She focuses for a moment, emitting a warm, relaxing aura.

"Please, do not be alarmed... we are here to help you. We can help you, if you let us..." She says, in a soothing tone. "Remain calm, and we shall have you freed in but a moment..."

DG: Seraph Clarine has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Aquaphant in the Room.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    Josie appears to consider this for a moment. "My very own little ghost, huh...? I was wondering when I'd finally get haunted," she remarks at last.

    Then she shakes her head. "You'n me have a score to settle, sure enough, but I'm not so far gone I'm gonna have it out here and now." She pauses, regarding Ragnell for the moment.

    "Just answer me this: you still trying to destroy the world with your buddy?"

    After that the time for talking is cut short of course. There's a need to move onwards -- an act made the more difficult for the weight she has to bear in the form of the cannon. Still -- no doubt because of the collective effort -- she's able to schlep it onwards without trouble.

    It's after that that Isolde presents her with a name and... a slight conundrum.

    "Josephine Lovelace. But to you, it's Josie, right?" She pauses, considering her options, and with a grunt, sets the cannon down.

    Then Isolde gets a hand. It's the left one. It may be awkward. "Bad right hand," Josie explains in passing.

    She glances at the others. "A few of you kids -- well, some of you ain't kids, are you -- I've seen about. Or know even, maybe," she amends, glancing at Ragnell. "Anyway. Archaeologist by training, mercenary by trade. ...The way of the world, I suppose." She shrugs, loosely. "Now, give me a right moment--"

    She lifts the cannon again with a grunt.

    And likely doesn't get more than a few yards before she sets it down again, frowning at the Aquaphant. She rests a hand on her hip. "Now that's a right problem," she observes, gesturing stiffly with her right hand. "And poor little old me, out of ammo."

    ...seriously?

    "But I'll tell you what."

    From her pack she pulls free the archaeologist's best friend, the well-used mattock. It's a pick-mattock, if it matters.

    "I heard there was a dining course on the Moonflow with a tame Fiend. Maybe this one'll feel friendly-like."

    With her left hand guiding -- right bracing -- she brings down the mattock on the left side, as indicated.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, The Aquaphant in the Room.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    "Yeah, nice meetin' you again," Ragnell says to Isolde, though she doesn't try to shake her hand. She leaves that to the others. She soon comes to a halt, though, when the group happens across an Aquaphant that's... stuck in the floor. Ragnell stares at it a moment. Then she bursts out guffawing.
    
    "Yeah, yeah," she drawls to Talia and Amaranth, waving a hand. "Best not t' try to make a house into a party member. It'll make sneakin' past any more o' those eyes pretty difficult, y'figure!"
    
    She pauses as Clarine talks about having to use an old power. While she gives her a long look, she doesn't remark, opting instead to let Clarine do her befriending thing. Instead, she looks over at Josie, blinking once when she mentions having a score to settle. "Huh. We do?"
    
    ragnell pls
    
    "Well, whatever," she concludes. "Anytime you wanna have it out is fine by me, 'nless I happen t' be in the middle o' somethin' at the time." Now is, indeed, not the best time. Especially with that cannon Josie's carting around.
    
    Another pause when Josie asks that question. Ragnell smiles in return. "If I weren't, would you suddenly not have a score to settle with me anymore?"
    
    And she leaves it at that, unless Josie wants to press the issue. For the time being, as the others work on trying to free the Fiend, Ragnell... leans on a wall, arms folded behind her head. It'd be a good idea, she figures, for *someone* to hang back and be ready to shoot if the Fiend proves less than appreciative of their efforts.

DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Aquaphant in the Room.
===================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>====================
=================<* CHALLENGE - The Aquaphant in the Room *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 In the myriad hallways and twists of the Shrine of the Water Trial, you
 encounter an unusually sorry sight.

 One of the Fiends that patrol this temple, the Aquaphant, has fallen into a
 large break on the floor. It doesn't appear able to escape its fate. On the
 one hand, that is quite advantageous -- you could sneak around the creature
 and save yourself an unnecessary fight...

 But the glint of treasure underneath the floor offers a different scenario.
 Perhaps support and kindness can help the Fiend free. But what awaits at the
 end of this? A random encounter, or the first step to being best friends
 with a mythical water creature?

 What will you do?
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
==============<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial - Round 3 *>===============
===================< Results - The Aquaphant in the Room >====================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Ragnell                      0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talia                               0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Clarine                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Amaranth                     5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
The Anywhere Door                   3   Brute   Effects: Rally
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isolde                              0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Well-Used Mattock                   2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Talia                       40 --(20)--> 60                Pass
Conditions: Weaken(2)
Effects: Strengthen(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Talia has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has drawn a new Challenge.
====================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>=====================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Aquaphant *>===========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 (IMG: https://gamefaqs.akamaized.net/faqs/57/72557-86.jpg )

 The very ground shakes each each step of this elephant-type Fiend's arival.
 Colour-coded blue with shimmering crystalline tops, you can distinctly
 recognise this as a Water-elemental Fiend... but, ah, which rules apply
 here? Does Earth trump Water as in some cycles, or is it Lightning?

 Make your decision fast!
=Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.

"I know how it is," Isolde says, returning the handshake. It's more of a strong clasp than a shake but that's life for you. BUT THAT WAS A MOMENT AGO...

People are lingering. Isolde loops back. "It's a pleasure to meet you... Katherine. Your support's quite worthy. And - is it a Fiend? I wonder what it's doing here... we're in the Temple, aren't we?"

She frowns in thought, including a raising of the head as Josie brings up that little itty bitty issue of ploding-exay the orld-way, which Isolde, for her part, seems to find surprising. And yet, they have a bigger issue.

Talia pulls on the rock -- it is somewhat friable, especially when the Anywhere Door gives the Aquaphant something to shift against. It trumpets but it does not resist. A Fiend's hostility may be legendary but perhaps this one is tamed - or simply glad to be freed - they are a little like animals, aren't they? How long has it been stuck here?

Did Biggs do this?

But Clarine's soothing aura is likely part of their recipe for success. The Aquaphant raises its trunk, nuzzling the flat pad of it against the Seraph - or at least towards her. Then the mattock comes down. The crevasse widens, the Aquaphant pulls back and trumpets in apparent triumph, shakes its great head with a flappiness of ears --

And then stomps past the group back towards the entranceway as if it has just remembered some urgent pachydermal business.

"Well done, all of you," Isolde says, smiling. "I'm sorry I couldn't be more help." There is a distant trumpeting, from round a corner. Maybe the Aquaphant found other people. Maybe it's trying to make friends.

"Now, though, what was it stuck in? I mean, I really admire that you were willing to take your time to help out what must have been quite the dreadful Fiend... I just hope that it doesn't," Isolde says, as the trumpeting seems to come in stereo.

Isolde tilts her head.

And then she hastens to the right side of the corridor, which is foresighted as it turns out, for soon enough the Aquaphant they had just helped comes stomping back, gallivanting with an energetic level normally seen in steam trains or the legendary Shoopuf Party Season. The ground itself shakes - but why is it...?

There is a deeper, furious trumpeting as another Aquaphant - this one about fifteen percent larger, with visible tusking - comes round the corner, smashing into the flooring with those tusks and seeming utterly irate at all existence. It comes up towards the collection of Seraph and mortal alike, finding that crack in the ground, digging tusks into it...

Flipping over a piece of flooring the size of a large dinner table and violently stomping on it! STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP.

After reducing this rock to gravel, the Aquaphant wheels round to face everyone. (The bad Aquaphant, mind you. The good one has vamoosed, probably to avoid getting tusked.)

"Well," Isolde says, "damn," and then she draws her blade--

DG: Isolde has used her Tool Travelling Sword toward her party's challenge, Aquaphant.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Clarine doesn't acknowledge Josie's introduction to Isolde just yet - she's busy with the Aquaphant, and she has a feeling that breaking its attention now while she's trying to soothe it may be disastrous. She does note, however, the words she has for Ragnell.

But, it seems to do the trick, and she smiles as the Aquaphant gives her a brief nuzzle and, eventually, departs.

Only once she's done does she lower herself back to the ground - though she still floats just above it, the toe of her boots just barely not brushing the ground - and offer her a slight smile and a polite bow of her head.

"Ah...my apologies, I have not introduced myself, either. I am the Seraph of Light, Clarine. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." Clarine says.

She looks toward Isolde, then.

"Ah, well...it is better to avoid fighting, if we can help it..." She says. "And not just because we all must be quite exhausted and out of resources, too..."

It's about this time, though, that the Aquaphant comes...charging back? For a moment, Clarine is afraid it might have changed its mind about fighting them, but soon enough, the reason for its charge is revealed as another, larger one appears.

A frown crosses her face.

This time, fighting can't be avoided - and so, she reaches into her sleeves, drawing out a lenght of silvery cloth that she drapes over herself. The moment she does, she vanishes from view.

But, she hasn't abandoned them - her influence can still be felt in shielding spells tossed at the party to limit the damage the bigger Aquaphant will be able to do to them.

DG: Seraph Clarine has used her Tool Lightbending Veil toward her party's challenge, Aquaphant.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Amaranth has posed.

    Katherine, then.

    It's been a while since they've met anyone new, but in a way she's kind of relieved to be able to wear the seamstress name a bit more... even if she's blatantly wearing the shinobi garb at the moment.

    She looks incredibly happy as she happy-claps and returns with the Gil and the Spheres, since she kind of bypassed the challenge to the treasure anyway. Maybe someone will be able to make use of the Spheres.

    "That was really heartwarming," she muses to Talia. "Great job, Clarine! I can't believe we were able to tame a Fiend, but if anyone could do it, it would be you...!"

    She's so happy she nearly misses the Aquaphant choo-chooing away from them.

    Oh no, there's a second Aquaphant!

    "O-oh. I guess this one's a Phony Phanty, isn't it..." Amaranth twiddles her thumb. "I was feeling so good too."

    I--it's bigger, even! It's smashing and whamming all over the place and they're going to fall down if this keeps up. She takes a deep breath and focuses, her fingers slipping into a series of mudra. One by one she goes, shifting into a transcendent concentration as she channels the ancient ninth form only known to the senior shinobi of the hidden village--

    *POOF*

    Oh, it's Frog again! Ammy is riding her Frog Familiar.

    Who jumps high into the air and tries to do a Froggy Squash on the Aquaphant.

DG: Seraph Amaranth has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Aquaphant.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    Straightening, Josie regards Ragnell in silence for a moment more. "If you ain't... I think I'd be willing to settle for giving you a little kick or something like that, just the once. And an apology. I can't just let that whole business in Love's Cradle slide, you know. Now, your buddy on the other hand..."

    Josie would argue she has more of a bone to pick there.

    Still -- there are more important matters than past grievances, however they might be settled. Such as:

    One poor trapped Aquaphant. Down comes the mattock -- and it does well what it was meant to do, vis a vis, break rocks.

    "There. That should do it," Josie says, getting back up onto her feet and making room just in case this fella decides to get hostile anyway.

    Much to her surprise -- in spite of her willingness to give it a go anyway -- it heads on off, trumpeting as it goes.

    "Huh. Guess even they're basically just animals," she remarks, folding her arms over her chest. "Well, that's done and dusted--"

    Here it comes back again.

    "Does it got something to show us?" Josie wonders, glancing at it as it... races on past. "Huh."

    She freezes like that. A dull, dawning realization paints itself across her features. Oh yes. She has realized what's going on.

    Fishing in her pocket, she brings out a flask, downing a mouthful of its contents.

    "Guess even Fiends don't get along," she remarks as the bigger badder Aquaphant comes tromping in.

    She sighs next and pockets the flask.

    "O thou lightning," she begins to mutter, electrical power rolling down her left arm.

    Which she then hurls, overhand, at the bad old Fiend.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Liquid Courage toward her party's challenge, Aquaphant.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Briefly, before the fight begins...

"Ah, thank you...!" Clarine replies with a smile at Amaranth's praise. She brightens up, literally - the faint glow around her becomes that much brighter.

<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

"It is true... with how hard the Lente has been working, she deserves a break, no?" Talia says, with a big grin. She is pleased as she yanks the rock free, easily. Then, she looks up at Clarine. She nods, in an encouraging sort of way, and then looks at Aquaphant. She waits, expectantly.

And then she turns her head -- staring at the second Aquaphant. She watches it smash into the crevasse, battering it with hoof and tusk. She steps backward, a couple of times. Her mouth begins to open, and then sees the look in its eyes.

"I, um, I do not think this one is going to be so nice," Talia opines. "Which is why..."

She reaches into her things. Bombs can get wet; the fruit of the bomb flower, however, do not get go inactive when wet -- there is no fuse to ruin, no gunpowder to soak. She holds up an iron orb, with a leafy plant on the end, and then calls out:

"Queen Anastasia does not approve of your shenanigans, Aquaphant! You shouldn't interrupt friendship!" she yells. She throws it.

It explodes in a burst of confetti, of rainbow lights, sparkles, and... and also fire, because it is still a bomb. But, over this, in a bubble, one word appears:

    KA-BOOM!

DG: Talia has used her Tool Royal Bomb toward her party's challenge, Aquaphant.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    "Ahahaha! Is that all?" Ragnell drawls, grinning slowly at Josie. "What about K.K., though? What, did they kick your pigeon? Torment her t' death with a salt shaker?" She shrugs broadly. "I'm jus' kiddin', o' course. K.K.'s the type to make enemies. We all know that." She winks and fingerguns at Josie. "Anyway, to answer your question: yes, I'm still workin' for them. So I'm guessin' a kick an' apology's out o' th' question."
    
    Meanwhile, the trapped Aquaphant goes free and trundles off. In return, a bigger, meaner Aquaphant shows up, tramples a piece of flooring into splinters, and then gets ready to charge the rest of them. Ragnell sighs and shakes her head as she pulls a lightning grenade from her travel pack. Well, she was right and wrong, in any case.
    
    "Eat this!!" she calls, chucking the ticking grenade directly for the Aquaphant's mouth. Now that will be one spicy meatball.

DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Plasma Grenade toward her party's challenge, Aquaphant.
====================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>=====================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Aquaphant *>===========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 (IMG: https://gamefaqs.akamaized.net/faqs/57/72557-86.jpg )

 The very ground shakes each each step of this elephant-type Fiend's arival.
 Colour-coded blue with shimmering crystalline tops, you can distinctly
 recognise this as a Water-elemental Fiend... but, ah, which rules apply
 here? Does Earth trump Water as in some cycles, or is it Lightning?

 Make your decision fast!
=Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
===============<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial - Round 4 *>================
============================< Results - Aquaphant >=============================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Ragnell                      5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
Plasma Grenade                      3   Combat  Effects: Embolden and Liabilit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talia                               5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
Royal Bomb                          3   Combat  Effects: Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Clarine                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Lightbending Veil                   2   Combat  Effects: Stalwart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Amaranth                     5 --(5)--> 10                  Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isolde                              5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
Travelling Sword                    3   Combat  Effects: Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Liquid Courage                      3   Combat  Effects: Rally
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Talia                       60 --(15)--> 75                Pass
Conditions: Overwhelm|Weaken(1)
Effects: Embolden(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Talia has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Penelope can handle herself," Josie shoots back, and then she visibly pauses.

    She had... left her behind in Guadosalam.

    ...it's probably fine. Probably.

    Particularly when Ragnell continues on to explain that, no, Josie's not getting her kick in the shins and her apology in anytime soon.

    "Tch. Guess I'll have it out with you and them, then," she mutters, rolling her shoulders. "But not here and now." She pauses.

    "I'm out of ammo, remember?"

    The Aquaphant quite honestly doesn't know what hit them.

    And frankly, between the variety of attacks unloaded on it, it's not particularly likely they're going to tease out an exact weakness from this go-round either. Between Clarine setting up a protective veil, two rounds of electrical attacks, a ROYAL RAINBOW of a bomb, a trusty sword with a keen edge...

    Suffice to say, there are Pyreflies left.

    Amaranth lands, on froggy-back, amidst a cloud of Pyreflies. Well, at least it's pretty...?

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Amaranth has posed.

    Amaranth pats the Frog on its grumpy, puffy cheek. "It's okay. Even if you had a small effect on the battle, you have a large effect on my heart."

DG: Talia has drawn a new Challenge.
====================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>=====================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Your Very Own Tales of Skit *>==================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Your party arrives at an antechamber anchored by a mystical point of power.
 It provides protection from nearby wandering Fiends. It is also mysteriously
 designed for camping equipment like Tents to be pitched and set up with
 ease, just as the light-warriors of old once did.

 ...

 So much has happened.

 Odessa. The last-minute miracle of the Guts-Dozer. Lombardia. Sin. Maester
 Seymour. Jyscal's sphere. And his once-assistant, Krelian.

 ...

 There is time.

 Time for you all to mentally digest everything that has happened.
 Time for you to start to pick yourselves up and rebuild what has been
 broken.
 Time to you to affirm what you must take back. What you can't lose again.

 There is time now. Take it.

 Because you are all /worth/ this time.
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

Talia applauds when Ammy lands amidst the Pyreflies. "Bravo, bravo!" she calls out. "Good job!" Then, she puts her hands on her hips and lets out a sigh. "I hope there is not too much further to go! It has been quite the day, no?"

She is pretty sure -- between the party, fleeing the Temple, Lombardia, and fleeing back to the Temple -- that she pulled a muscle in her leg. She needs to rest some. She kicks at her leg, once. She starts walking, and finds the way the tunnel arcs around. Her eyes drift upward, as she does.

She pauses, her eyebrows knitting. "Mm... Katherine," she says. "And Ragnell and Clarine--" Because Isolde can't see. "That statuary, up there... it almost looks Althenan, no?"

But that seems impoossible.

She leads the way, into an antechamber. She stops for a moment as she enters -- beaming at the camping equipment. The tents, propped up for a moment to rest. And, Talia notices, a few crates. Some have a little water stained on the side. She walks to one -- then kneels down, and cracks it open.

She expects to find food. Instead, she finds a crate filled with odds and ends. "Hmm," she says. "Someone was here before, in the past. Ah--I see... there is a list in here, and--" Her nose wrinkles. She pulls out a pendant, and her eyes widen. There is a little crest engraved into it.

Ragnell and Amaranth may recognize it. House Yemelin's crest, headed by Duke Lubov, is engraved on the pendant. However, the pendant is tarnished... and ancient.

"This is..."

DG: Talia has used her Tool Golden Hourglass toward her party's challenge, Your Very Own Tales of Skit.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Amaranth has posed.

    Amaranth rides with the group for a bit longer, helping Talia up to her familiar since she seems to be having some issues with her leg; once they arrive towards the antechamber, though, Talia points out a statuary...

    A pause.

    "Oh, yeah? What of it?"

    A longer pause. It seems to be clicking.

    "Oh-- wait-- Spira," she corrects herself. She helps prop up the tents and start a fire and at some point she's also procured a picnic basket with some food and lovely treats because she's kind of harrowed at how much combat she's been exposed to in a very short amount of time and needs to stress-eat.

    Don't tell anyone.

    But Talia finds a crate, and a pendant with a crest...

    "Oh..." Amaranth blinks. "Is that...?" she chimes. A pause. "No, it's far too old, isn't it?"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    "You're such a nerd," Ragnell remarks to Amaranth, grinning in affection. Still, that's a hell of a landing. Kudos there.
    
    The group moves onwards. Talia points out the statuary. Ragnell looks up at it, and her good humor fades. "Huh," she utters. "Yeah, it *does* look Althenan." She rubs her chin. As she recalls, Sin started showing up around these parts a thousand years ago. That's before her time, but--well, a lot of things happened a thousand years ago. Hm. Is it possible that Spira wasn't cut off from the rest of Lunar before then?
    
    Hm.
    
    Then the group walks into an antechamber. There's tents and crates inside. Talia pops a crate open and starts rummaging around in it. Ragnell strolls over, but pauses when she sees the crest. "Hey, that's..." She pauses, then looks over at Amaranth. Then she folds her arms and holds her chin. "Well, how old is the Lubov family?" she wonders. She pauses, then looks around at the other crates. "How 'bout we crack some more of these open, see what else is good?"
    
    As she helps with this, Ragnell pulls out her harmonica and plays a soulful, bluesy tune. It's perfect for reminiscing and retrospecting. A lot has happened to them lately, and now it even seems like the past is pulling itself forward.

DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Tarnished Harmonica toward her party's challenge, Your Very Own Tales of Skit.
DG: Seraph Amaranth has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Your Very Own Tales of Skit.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Clarine doesn't reappear until the Aquaphant vanishes. She removes the Veil from herself, stowing it away carefully once more into her sleeves.

She follows the others, then, and pauses when Talia points out something to them.

"...Ah, hm..." Clarine murmurs. She reaches into her sleeve, drawing out a sleeve of pure, clear crystal. With a bit of focus, light begins to flow from it. She sends it drifting over, to highlight the statuary so they can get a better look at it...

...And, what she sees causes her head to tilt in confusion.

"...It is...perhaps, a bit older in style, but...I think you might be right. But...how?" Clarine asks. This thought filling her head she moves forward, into a place that feels...safe.

She feels a bit more at ease, like she can relax. Before she can settle in, though, Talia finds something of interest. A pendant? Clarine moves in to get a better look.

"...What is it?" She asks, looking between Talia and Amaranth. Ragnell says 'Lubov family', but...that name doesn't hold much meaning for Clarine.

DG: Seraph Clarine has used her Tool Brilliant Sphere toward her party's challenge, Your Very Own Tales of Skit.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    Josie heads on back to collect the cannon and then pauses, hearing Talia's statement regarding the need to take a good old breather here.

    "Yeah, count me in on that one. Hauling this thing around's a slog and a half. I think we can take rest," she says, fishing a bundle of hand-rolled cigarettes of a pocket as she plops onto the floor alongside the cannon. She leans against it and there is a brief arc of electricity between her fingertips.

    She takes a good long drag after. Her gaze tilts upwards.

    "Huh."

    One puff more and she drops the cigarette as she stands, grinding it underfoot. The cannon comes along for the ride, at least as far as the antechamber.

    "Looks Althenian-like enough to me," she remarks, glancing at the statue. "I'd be surprised if it was Nisan Orthodoxy or what up here, anyway, and it don't look the type." She plants her hand on her hip and strides forward. "What's all this?" Her gaze settles on the pendant. "Looks pretty. Are you thinking of keeping it?" She takes a look into the crate, afterwards.

    There are a lot of odds and ends within. Assorted junk and artifacts, to her eye -- and honestly they're about one and the same for any archaeologist worth their salt.

    She glances at Ragnell. "Seems like plan enough." Retrieving her mattock, she sets about prying open one of the others.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Pack of Cigarettes toward her party's challenge, Your Very Own Tales of Skit.
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.

Isolde's strike at the creature's body is picture perfect. She twists the blade up, as if to salute, raising the long and heavy blade with one hand.

The blade then goes on her shoulder. Her other hand on her hip. "You're telling me," she answers Talia, a little wry in her tone.

Then - "Oh?" Isolde turns towards the indicated area. "Does it really...? I suppose a Goddess statue could have come all the way out here. There were shipwrecks, but... hm."

Isolde isn't in a great hurry to get here. She raises her hand to her lips as if to veil them in thought, at least after she has stowed her blade.

She is still for a few moments. She listens to what other people say. Lubov. Old things. An Althenan statue. They're surrounding a crate. Isolde steps forwards, as if with abstract and distant curiosity, until - it is not clear why exactly but she abruptly lunges inwards, thrusting her hand into the box and scrabbling around for -

She sinks to her knees and rummages more, because whatever it was must have moved. What 'it' seems to be is an old paper envelope, heavily waterlogged and with a wax seal on the back, still intact other than a chip missing. The wax itself has a very prominent representation of two fountains over a twisting vine with a bunch of grapes dangling from it. (It is red wax, though time has made it somewhat brownish.)

Isolde runs her thumb - very slowly - over the wax seal. She has always tended to smile, at least a little. When she asks, still polite and warm, "Could someone open this envelope and tell me what is inside?" she is not smiling at all.

Unfortunately (?) while there is a sheet of paper inside, along with a withered stem of what might have once been a wildflower, the water damage has rendered the paper entirely illegible, a few blobs and smears of ink blotched out into meaningless forms.

DG: Isolde has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Your Very Own Tales of Skit.
====================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>=====================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Your Very Own Tales of Skit *>==================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Your party arrives at an antechamber anchored by a mystical point of power.
 It provides protection from nearby wandering Fiends. It is also mysteriously
 designed for camping equipment like Tents to be pitched and set up with
 ease, just as the light-warriors of old once did.

 ...

 So much has happened.

 Odessa. The last-minute miracle of the Guts-Dozer. Lombardia. Sin. Maester
 Seymour. Jyscal's sphere. And his once-assistant, Krelian.

 ...

 There is time.

 Time for you all to mentally digest everything that has happened.
 Time for you to start to pick yourselves up and rebuild what has been
 broken.
 Time to you to affirm what you must take back. What you can't lose again.

 There is time now. Take it.

 Because you are all /worth/ this time.
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
===============<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial - Round 5 *>================
===================< Results - Your Very Own Tales of Skit >====================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Ragnell                      5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
Tarnished Harmonica                 2   Wits    Effects: Stalwart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talia                               5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
Golden Hourglass                    1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Clarine                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Brilliant Sphere                    2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Amaranth                     10 --(0)--> 10                 Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isolde                              5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Pack of Cigarettes                  1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Talia                       75 --(0)--> 75                 Pass
Conditions: Overwhelm|Save Point(1)
Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Talia has passed this challenge! The party gained 0 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> Talia has posed.

"The Yemelins... they go back at least a couple of centuries," Talia says. "The truth is... I do not know much, no? My father was not really the sort to share much about what my family did, or where they came from."

She takes the pendant, then slides it into her pocket. She plans to keep it, it seems. Then, she looks back at Clarine. "Something of... ah, my father's family. But... much too old to be his." The way her voice falters at the word 'father' might speak volumes.

She helps crack open another one, and then looks back at Josie. "I think so. I should show my brother. Let me see..." She looks into a second box. "Papers--hm." She pulls it out, flipping through a leatherbound book. "This is... a shipping manifest? It is language I recognize, though the handwriting is hard to read--"

She frowns. "The ship was called the 'Tomamond.' From..." Her nose wrinkles, and she squints down at it. "...Lyonesse? Does anyone recognize that?"

She frowns, for a moment. Should they linger here, though?

<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

"Isolde?" she asks. "Did you find something?" She looks up from the shipping manifest, but doesn't move to the woman holding the envelope. She figures someone else should; this paper feels like it could break apart in her hands if she moves it too much.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    At the sound of the name 'Lyonesse,' Ragnell's back and shoulders stiffen. So, too, does her song. "...."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Amaranth has posed.

    Amaranth also quietly turns her head away at the mention of the name 'Lyonesse.' She stares towards the fire for a longer moment...

    Then stuffs an entire triangle of fruit salad sandwich into her mouth. Tick a Stress box!

<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.

Isolde doesn't answer Talia right away.

She sniffs, deeply, as if suppressing a sob. "Well," she says, her voice vivid in a way it usually isn't. "I."

Another pause.

"I was married," she says, "when I was younger. Before everything happened. I recognized the seal - I can see a tiny sliver out of my left side, here, you see, just enough that I don't stumble into things."

"I'd never forget it, and I could tell it was the same," Isolde says. "Down to the veriest grape."

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Your family's crest, huh." Josie appears to consider this turn of events thoughtfully, lifting her hand to her chin. "Yeah. It's a pretty weird thing to find in a place like that."

    Before she goes over to crack a completely separate crate open.

    Lyonesse?

    "Never heard of it. I think."

    She reaches inside and...

    Draws out a metal box. It rattles, like something is inside. But there is no hinge or catch or anything of the sort. In fact...

    "Huh. That's weird."

    She displays the box to the others.

    "See that? That's a good luck mark used by some of the Aveh desert tribes." Her brow crinkles. "...Now what's a thing like that doing in here..."

    Aveh, after all, is a very, very long way from Spira. Considering the tablet she found in Almaryyt, though, she's starting to get a general shape of how things might have gone in the most distant past.

    This is when she attempts to open the box. It staunchly refuses to do anything of the sort. "Fengalon's balls, this is one of those trick boxes..." she mutters. "It's going to be a dog's year before it'll... damned thing..."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Clarine listens as Talia explains - the Yemelins, her family. And this pendant had their crest?

"That is...very curious..." Clarine murmurs. How could that be possible? Talia continues, then, and mentions a name.

Lyonesse.

Clarine goes quiet for a moment, but busies herself by bustling over to help Isolde, if no one else does. She has a very delicate touch - perfect for things like this.

But Isolde's response...Clarine looks upon her with sympathy.

"Oh, Isolde..." Clarine murmurs, resting a gentle hand on one of Isolde's own, if she seems okay with that.

She looks toward Josie, briefly, but she doesn't have a comment on the box - though it is certainly an interesting note.

Somehow, there were a lot of things in this one place that seemed as if they shouldn't be...

<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

Talia blinks when the song stops. She looks at Ragnell for a second -- confused, head tilted, and then she feels a little flash of frustration when she realizes Ragnell won't explain. She turns to look at Amaranth, and sees the way she turns her head, staring into the fire. Clarine pauses, too.

Clearly, they do.

She looks down, and then she nods at what Isolde says -- with a blink of surprise. "Married?" she asks her. "Then--it is from... where you came from?" she asks Isolde, turning to look at her. "It is... I wonder how it got here, then. All the way from Glenwood... and that--"

A crest from Filgaia. Talia's eyes widen, a little, for a moment. "...this seems confusing, no? I--I wonder how these ended up here. This--this says it was from a ship, but..."

She motions around them. "I do not see a ship here, no?" She tucks the manifest into her bag, then, closing the ledger carefully. "We should go over this more. And we try to find the ship. But... after we get out of here, no?"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    "Aveh, huh?" Ragnell says, pocketing her instrument and wheeling around to walk over to Josie, as if she could march away from her feelings. She peers, leaning, at the metal box. "That sure is weird. Not totally unsurprising... We've seen a lot o' ways to travel between the Blue an' Silver Stars so far. It wouldn't surprise me if some shit from Filgaia ended up here sometime in the long-ago."
    
    Josie curses. Ragnell snorts in amusement. Then she looks over at Isolde, smile fading as she brings up an old marriage. She also pointedly doesn't meet Talia's eyes when she looks over at her, which is easy, because she has good cause to stare at Isolde for a while. "You used to live in Lyonesse?" she asks, tone neutral with a strange little vibe.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    
    *Then* she looks over at Talia. A ship. She looks up, around, and down. "Sure don't," Ragnell agrees. "Mm. Yeah. We should get outta here, first an' foremost."
    
    Then she'll have to give a lot of thought to what they've discovered here. How did a Lyonesse ship end up all the way over here, at the bottom of a frozen lake in Spira?

DG: Seraph Amaranth has drawn a new Challenge.
===================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>====================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Asura's Wrath *>========================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 An enormous Hellion awaits you at the end of Lefay, the Shrine of the Water
 Trial.

 This is Asura.

 (IMG: https://gamefaqs.akamaized.net/faqs/57/72557-207.jpg )

 Asura, shelled in armour and bearing three pairs of weapons -- paired battle
 forks, twinned gear-like warhammers, and matched glimmering greatswords of
 water. He wields each of these enormous weapons one-handed, seemingly
 unencumbered.

 His howl shatters the very chamber you engage him in, and combat soon
 follows--

 --and after several rounds at it, it's clear his six-armed guard is
 impeccable.

 You'll need the brilliant in your team to stop his movements.
 You'll need the powerful in your team to breach his defence.
 You'll need the adroit in your team slip through and deal lasting damage.
 You'll need the soothing in your team to tie this plan together long enough
 to work.

 But that is why you are all here together now.

 Past all the horrifying hardships you've survived together.

 Overcome this Water Trial together.

 Because you all can /do/ this.
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Amaranth has posed.

    Amaranth does look a bit more contrite when she hears Isolde's admission, nodding very quietly as she listens to her tale. Josephine's also sounds particularly surprising to her, the way there is a relic from the Blue Planet. Talia mentions a ship, though, but... there's nothing that looks like a ship.

    "Maybe it sunk a long time ago...?" A pause. "The eclectic mix of items makes me think there was a group of adventurers not unlike us..."

    She looks to Isolde, however, as she remarks, "I'm sorry, but... I don't think we can read any of the text. There is something that might be a pressed flower or something... a wildflower? I--"

    *THOOOOM*

    The noise is almost enough to get Amaranth to run.

    The sensation of Malevolence is almost, almost, almost enough.

    An enormous Hellion the likes of which... well, okay, Amaranth hasn't really seen before -- save the Saint of Sinners perhaps, but that's on a world-class of its own -- stomps into the antechamber. Six-armed, wielding paired weapons in the shape of two hammers, gleaming greatswords and tri-tipped forks, with a brilliant golden mask-like face.

    "Uh-- ah--"

    Amaranth looks rather petrified at this. Move! Why can't you move...? You coward...

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    Ragnell watches Amaranth and Isolde, arms folded, as they discuss the text. That discussion comes to an abrupt THOOOMing end. She snaps her head over to see the Hellion barge into the antechamber, swords in each of its six arms. This one's clearly a strong one. Maybe it was once human? Hard to say; it certainly doesn't seem like it's up for talking.
    
    When Amaranth freezes up, Ragnell dashes forward to place herself between Amaranth and the Hellion, both pistols drawn. She opens fire on the creature with a series of sharp gunfire; then she casts a combo of Seraphic artes: Blitzstrahl leading into Shock Lancer leading into Thunder Blade cultimating in Divine Saber. Looks like she's not messing around--but will even that be enough, against an enemy of this caliber?

DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Asura's Wrath.
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

The noise makes Talia look up, sharply. Her hand goes to her side, drawing out Mirage again. The blade, with its whorled surface, glints in the light. She hesitates a moment, the ground under her feet shaking. A six-armed, towering Hellion. The human takes a step back, wincing at the not unfamiliar sensation of Malevolence.

Just, she hasn't felt it in months. Her lips part into a frown -- and then she looks over those weapons in its hands. She reaches into her bag, drawing out another flower-bomb -- and hurls it. It flies up, over Asura's head, and explodes with force, fire, and rainbow sparkles.

"Ammy," she says. "It will be okay, no? We'll take care of this. Together, right?" She flashes her a brief, small smile. Then she sends an ice crystal flying at its side. Talia runs, after that. She drops down low, before throwing Mirage.

She vanishes into shadowstuff -- and reappears next to it. Mirage lashes out, and she tries to hamstring the masked Hellion with her blade.

DG: Talia has used her Tool Royal Bomb toward her party's challenge, Asura's Wrath.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Of course a place like this would have a guardian. At the end of this mysterious shrine, they're opposed by an enormous Hellion, with multiple arms. Clarine stares in shock and surprise.

After going for so long without feeling the touch of Malevolence, it's all the more intense here and now. And here she is, separated from her vessel.

But...she won't give into the Malevolence here. Even so, it's large, and more than that, it's skill is...impeccable, she can tell that much. They have a long, difficult fight on their hands. And Amaranth...appears to be frozen. Clarine is about to dodge out of the way, but the sight of Amaranth staring there...

"H-here, take this...!" She calls over to her, drawing out the Lightbending Veil and tossing it over to her. And then Clarine glides to the side, firing out a few beams of light toward the Hellion. They glance off, but her goal was really just to try and distract it away from Amaranth as Ragnell moves to protect her, and then...

"Converge and contain! Photon!"

With an incantation, runic rings of golden light burst into existence, converging toward the Hellion and looking to bind it, to limit its ability to defend itself.

"I will halt its movements! Please take advantage of this opportunity!" Clarine calls out. It won't be long before the rings of golden light detonate, but will everyone have enough time to do what they can?

DG: Seraph Clarine has used her Tool Lightbending Veil toward her party's challenge, Asura's Wrath.
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.

Isolde doesn't answer Talia quite directly. The memories may be painful. She takes a deep breath. Then she half-laughs.

"Yes," she says, "if you can call it living."

After this she pushes herself upright and her attention drifts in the direction of Ragnell for a moment, lips pressed thin. Her fingers curl loosely, then relax. She squeezes Clarine's hand and tells her in a low voice, "I'm alright, really. Just... Well! Hah. I didn't expect any of this."

"If that seal was on that envelope," Isolde continues, "then I want to know who was on that ship. Perhaps it ran aground and the clerics brought what they could salvage here; it seems like something they'd -" She pauses then and asks Josie, "I'm sorry, did you say AVEH? You mean the place on Filgaia, not Avery, the town that makes the white wine mustard?"

Amaranth makes her startle, again, and she asks with sudden raw intensity, "A wildflower?? Could you tell which --"

And then comes the presence of that sudden wave of Malevolence.

No, Isolde thinks. She reaches to her hip - but it's behind her now. A half-second's delay, at most, as she draws out the blade.

Not when I'm this close, she thinks.

Of all the d____d places!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsOt4riwxog

Isolde pivots round to face the thing, leaning back for a moment, as if to feel out the air. She breathes in deep, lets most of it out -

Then she leaps forwards, kicking off the ground as she closes with the HELLION - yes, it's a Hellion, somehow, and perhaps some other things are becoming clearer to her, but there isn't time to think about it, not now. She swings round the great blade, chopping with strikes that throw rainbow-hued sparks: Parrying, weaving, getting a gash in the side that makes her suddenly bellow before executing a sharp and abrupt backflip, the blade held out as if to dig into the Asura, to be an ANCHOR for the motion.

DG: Isolde has used her Tool Travelling Sword toward her party's challenge, Asura's Wrath.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    Tomamond, huh.

    Her attention tilts Isolde's way, though she says nothing. For now, she is only listening.

    "Not just recently, neither," Josie remarks, giving up on her attempts to get the puzzlebox to open. "Seems like things, maybe even people were going to an fro in the distant past."

    Or something like it, she considers, looking at the mark again. "Av-eh," Josie enunciates for Isolde. "Filgaia, yeah. Look, I'd know. It ain't how my auntie used it -- you use paint, not engraving -- but it's the same thing. No question about it. Though," she says, her lips splitting into a lopsided smile, "it's raising more than enough questions on its own, eh?"

    But it's a question that will have to wait.

    There, wafting into this chamber, is the redolent pressure of Malevolence.

    "In all of the Guardian's green hells," she sighs, slipping the box into her bag.

    She straightens, watching the thing's movements for a hot second. "Oh, this is going to be a fun one," she sighs, then, as if to make the best of it, fishes out the flask from her pocket and downs the remainder of its contents. "I've been far too sober for far too long today," she remarks before staring down the Hellion.

    "Let me add to that, kid!" she says, in the wake of Clarine's arte.

    "May your eyes--"

    The sphere of light dances above her palm. She tosses it for the Hellion.

    "--Light Flare!"

    And it explodes into a flash of brilliant light.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Liquid Courage toward her party's challenge, Asura's Wrath.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Amaranth has posed.

    Ragnell, ever alert, comes up and instinctively places herself between her and the Hellion. She opens fire; bullets and a combo of Seraphic Artes cast one after another, lightning striking and forming into lances and then a literal blade made out of divine thunder, all of which CRASH into the creature with a 'THOOM' no less impressive than the creature's own.

    It gives Talia the time to reassure her, as she whispers, "I--it will ... it will be okay..." Mirage lashes out, and the sellsword vanishes to strike at the Hellion at its calf--

    And cut she does, as it lets out a cry and a swing that shatters earth goes wide instead of pancaking someone.

    Clarine gives her comfort as she throws the Lightbending Veil, and her instinct is to pull it over herself to hide.

    She watches Clarine, however, as she focuses her power and creates Photons to SLAM into the creature, further giving it cause to defend and be distracted...

    Then it detonates -- and Isolde performs the perfect strike at that moment. She's parried and weaved and bobbed her way past its hampered footwork and delivers another powerful gash into the creature.

    Isolde looked so interested on the mention of the wildflower... she can't let her down here!

    Amaranth grimaces as she draws the grimoire out, and the lock snaps upon it. She breathes, withered. What she channels is not the mudra that has been taught to her as part of the Shadow Dragon, nor a trick of fancy as when she happily brings wonderful illusions to make people happy.

    No, for once, she is... actually answering the call Seraphs must, when a Hellion is in front of them.

    Answering the call, as a Seraph of Darkness--

    "Oh twisted door of distortion... Negative Gate...!"

    A dark portal erupts underneath as the Darkness-aligned arte flares to life; a morass of clawing hands try to grapple and seize at the creature, but her hold is wan and imprecise. The Hellion manages to tear out of her gate, seemingly inexorable.

    Come on-- come on... you can't let them down--

    She winces further as something surges in her and her spell extends; the hands converge into a rippling sphere that more effectively entraps the Hellion, and perhaps more importantly, seems to suck the errant explosions of Clarine and Josephine's both into a convergent blast of light and darkness.

    "Extend -- Evil Sphere!!"

    Sufficiently weakened, Isolde and Talia find little difficulty in mopping up their foe, with a final Divine Saber slamming into the heart of the very Hellion.

    It falls... and lays inert, as Amaranth drops her grimoire in turn, shaking and breathing aloud, the Lightbending Veil still clung around her shoulders.

DG: Seraph Amaranth has used her Tool Le Theatre du Grand-Guignol toward her party's challenge, Asura's Wrath.
===================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>====================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Asura's Wrath *>========================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 An enormous Hellion awaits you at the end of Lefay, the Shrine of the Water
 Trial.

 This is Asura.

 (IMG: https://gamefaqs.akamaized.net/faqs/57/72557-207.jpg )

 Asura, shelled in armour and bearing three pairs of weapons -- paired battle
 forks, twinned gear-like warhammers, and matched glimmering greatswords of
 water. He wields each of these enormous weapons one-handed, seemingly
 unencumbered.

 His howl shatters the very chamber you engage him in, and combat soon
 follows--

 --and after several rounds at it, it's clear his six-armed guard is
 impeccable.

 You'll need the brilliant in your team to stop his movements.
 You'll need the powerful in your team to breach his defence.
 You'll need the adroit in your team slip through and deal lasting damage.
 You'll need the soothing in your team to tie this plan together long enough
 to work.

 But that is why you are all here together now.

 Past all the horrifying hardships you've survived together.

 Overcome this Water Trial together.

 Because you all can /do/ this.
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
==============<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial - Round 6 *>===============
=========================< Results - Asura's Wrath >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Ragnell                      5 --(10)--> 15                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talia                               5 --(10)--> 15                 Pass
Royal Bomb                          3   Combat  Effects: Rally
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Clarine                      0 --(10)--> 10                 Pass
Lightbending Veil                   2   Combat  Effects: Stalwart
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Amaranth                     10 --(10)--> 20                Pass
Le Theatre du Grand-Guignol         4   Combat  Effects: None
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isolde                              5 --(10)--> 15                 Pass
Travelling Sword                    3   Combat  Effects: Rally
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(10)--> 10                 Pass
Liquid Courage                      3   Combat  Effects: Rally
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Talia                       75 --(35)--> 110               Pass
Conditions: Suffer(1)
Effects:
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Talia has successfully explored Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial!
===================<* Lefay - Shrine of the Water Trial *>====================
============<* CHALLENGE - The Proof of Spiritual Power - Lefay *>============
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 It is a long and hard-fought battle, but in the end, your team has managed
 to overcome Asura.

 Dissipating into motes, the Hellion gives you an approving expression, as if
 it has been lifted from a great burden. At long last, you can feel, a great
 and ancient anger has finally found peace at your hands.

 A great, bright blue light erupts from a nearby altar and suffuses the
 entire room with a feeling of power -- a feeling not dissimilar from another
 trial of spiritual power you may have visited before in your travels, Uzda
 il-Jam. It envelops your person for but a brief moment, but you feel your
 spiritual presence strengthening further...

                                    Acquired

                       Proof of Spiritual Power -- Lefay!


 When the light subsides, you discover that great stone tablets have taken
 their place. Engraved upon them are the secrets of powerful water and ice
 magics only known to some of the most powerful mages in Lunar. If you are so
 inclined, reach out and absorb the knowledge the ancients in your travels...
 or if you do not possess the Gift, reach out with an object or weapon -- and
 suffuse it with the power of water!

 (OOC: You have discovered the spells of Waterga and Blizzaga! A character
 with the Gift of Althena's Black Magic may apply for these in their next
 character advancement! Alternately, if you lack the Gift, you can opt for a
 water or ice enchantment on your weapon or tool.)

 ---

 A shimmering portal erupts from the ground once you've finished your
 business with the tablet. It expands further and further, until it
 overwhelms your senses...

 And before you know it, the scent of salt and the noise of gentle waves has
 replaced the ancient ambience of the Shrine. You and your companions are
 standing on a large, rusted aircraft carrier inhabited by varied folk -- the
 Thames.

 You have arrived in Filgaia!
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================