2019-11-10: A Fair for the Unfair
- Log: A Fair for the Unfair
- Cast: Kaguya, Yue Rohay, Ambrosius, Fei Fong Wong, Neriah Parringer, Pearl
- Where: Meria Boule
- Date: November 09, 2019
- Summary: Some invited, some there by chance, a group of awful people and also Minder go to the fair. They cheat a lot.
DG: A party led by Kaguya is now entering Meria Boule Festival Games. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
========================<* Meria Boule Festival Games *>========================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Funny Money *>==========================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
"Okay, so, five gella gets you one token, but if you want a bargain, think
about purchasing our fifty gella token pack..."
First things first -- before you can poke around the games at the festival
in Meria Boule, apparently you'll have to buy some tokens to trade to play
the games. That's right, they use their own currency here, and the exchange
rate seems dubiously steep. The good news is, you'll be able to win more and
exchange them for valuable prizes.
One thing's for sure -- if you don't negotiate purchasing (or certain
'discounts') carefully, your wallet is taking a hit.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Finally in Meria Boule proper, Kaguya--Duchess, mad scientist, criminal, and all around goblin--has heard that there is a Festival, and she has found one of her favorite buddies, Pearl, who is very good at violence. So instead of going out for a murder...
She invited Pearl out to the fair, and invited Ambrosius too, and maybe she mentioned it in front of Minder or maybe there was another way but regardless--
Regardless Kaguya has gone up to the booth, and asked about the games, and...
"What."
Pause. "I mean. Oh! That's fine. I just didn't hear you through my mask," Kaguya explains. It should be noted that her facemask covers nose and mouth, being a lovely pale green, leaves her pointed ears completely untouched.
She is dressed though nicely--white button-down, brown slacks, a green asymmetric mantle, nice shoes. There's also a pin bearing the mark of House Alathfar on her green not-poncho.
And she continues, "That's actually super fine, but let me go talk to my friends, and see how we're dividing it up!"
kaguya returns to the group, and then says, "This is such a ripoff on prices I'm honestly impressed. But it's fine--I have a plan." Kaguya pulls...
...A few vials of chemicals? And a file?
"It's cool. We're just going to make these 1-gella coins into 100-gella coins. It's fine!"
DG: Kaguya has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Funny Money. DG: Pearl has left your party. DG: Yue Rohay has left your party. DG: A party led by Kaguya is now entering Meria Boule Festival Games. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
========================<* Meria Boule Festival Games *>========================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Funny Money *>==========================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
"Okay, so, five gella gets you one token, but if you want a bargain, think
about purchasing our fifty gella token pack..."
First things first -- before you can poke around the games at the festival
in Meria Boule, apparently you'll have to buy some tokens to trade to play
the games. That's right, they use their own currency here, and the exchange
rate seems dubiously steep. The good news is, you'll be able to win more and
exchange them for valuable prizes.
One thing's for sure -- if you don't negotiate purchasing (or certain
'discounts') carefully, your wallet is taking a hit.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Finally in Meria Boule proper, Kaguya--Duchess, mad scientist, criminal, and all around goblin--has heard that there is a Festival, and she has found one of her favorite buddies, Pearl, who is very good at violence. So instead of going out for a murder...
She invited Pearl out to the fair, and invited Ambrosius too, and maybe she mentioned it in front of Minder or maybe there was another way but regardless--
Regardless Kaguya has gone up to the booth, and asked about the games, and...
"What."
Pause. "I mean. Oh! That's fine. I just didn't hear you through my mask," Kaguya explains. It should be noted that her facemask covers nose and mouth, being a lovely pale green, leaves her pointed ears completely untouched.
She is dressed though nicely--white button-down, brown slacks, a green asymmetric mantle, nice shoes. There's also a pin bearing the mark of House Alathfar on her green not-poncho.
And she continues, "That's actually super fine, but let me go talk to my friends, and see how we're dividing it up!"
kaguya returns to the group, and then says, "This is such a ripoff on prices I'm honestly impressed. But it's fine--I have a plan." Kaguya pulls...
...A few vials of chemicals? And a file?
"It's cool. We're just going to make these 1-gella coins into 100-gella coins. It's fine!"
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
The Minder has spent a few weeks in Meria Boule, under the auspices of Acacia and ARMS' care; she's made friends with Tony, Scott, Tim and a lot of the other kids around, and has hung around Marina's bakery and generally had...
... well, a good time, honestly.
She has been pretty sad, though, after Yue arrived weeks late -- not because of Yue (t-though hmph, why would she care about her prisoner), but because of the reminder that the Veruni Radical forces probably want her back home in Lailah Belle.
So Yue heard from Kaguya, then heard Ambrosius was going to be here, so she's bringing the Minder out--
And her black, matte helmet blinks out with a :S emoji as she keeps her hand held to Yue's.
She's a child; she's dressed in a tiny environmental suit ontop of which the blue mage's robes and straw hat still sits ontop.
"... ooh?" the Minder looks really impressed with Kaguya. "So, this is how you get them..." A pause, as she gets up and waddles over to the booth. "Hey! I'm with Marina's! You know, from the Bakery! I have a discount!" She flashes a super-special Young ARMS badge. Made out of papier-mache.
Yue rubs at her chin, as she looks to Ambrosius with a soft, amiable sigh. "... I am rather glad to see everyone again," she whispers.
DG: Yue Rohay has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Funny Money.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Kaguya had invited Ambosius to the festival currently going on in Meria Boule. It was true that things had been rather hectic of late - perhaps they could use a bit of a distraction from things. And, come to think, he could see merit in visiting it.
And so, here he is. Minerva is currently accompanying him. It was a prime opportunity for information gathering - there were still things she needed to learn.
Now that he's no longer in an active war situation, he's back to his typical traveling outfit. It's more comfortable than walking about in the armor the whole time.
"This seems...like something of a scam..." Ambrosius considers, as the price is brought up. Trading currency for a different type of currency you can only use in one specific location... He frowns. And when Kaguya brings out her plan... Ambrosius draws his multi-tool from his poncho and passes it over to her.
"This may...be more preeecise..." He says. And then, he looks over toward Yue. He really was glad to see her again - her disappearance and subsequent silence was concerning.
"Iiindeed... I am pleased... to see that you are safe..." He replies. He looks toward Minder, then, as she flashes a badge to the person at the booth. Ambrosius smirks. "It would appeeear...she has had a good time..."
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Advanced Multi-Tool toward his party's challenge, Funny Money.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
The camera pans over to Id. Id is a red haired man with pale skin and yellowed eyes who is wearing a red and black pilot suit with gold trimmings. He also positively radiates chi energy and is hovering off the ground by a few inches.
He was probably not invited to this--how would Kaguya even find this asshole?--but his attention had been seized by Kaguya's bad behavior.
His arms are crossed, giving off the impression of a super powered martial arts master, one who doesn't have time for games or fucking around or even petty villainy but more to the point, he really isn't Kaguya's friend. The one time he really talked to Kaguya he flat out said he was going to take the Veruni out next time.
On the other hand, he hasn't exactly made due on that promise yet because we haven't even visited Veruni territory yet.
But he does say, "Hold it, kid."
He slowly unfurls one hand and points towards the coins. "It's not enough to have those tools. You need a steady hand."
He gestures forward like Mew-Two and a dark energy pulses around Kaguya's coins and supplies, slowly guiding them to Id's hands, radiating evil energy.
"But you are in luck. I am a master of the arts. Replicating a cheap coin is well within my capabilities, hm hm hmm..."
And then he kind of huddles over the coins and delicately engages in this work.
"Yue, you have much to learn when it comes to producing counnterfeit goods." He adds without looking up.
Yue hasn't met this asshole in her life.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Funny Money.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
A high heel descends with a sharp *CLICK.*
"It's been a long time since I've been to a carnival," says Neriah Parringer with a whimsical little smile. It wouldn't do to show up at an event like this dressed in her resplendent robes, so she's gone with something simpler: High-arched strappy shoes with sassily high heels and a little white sun dress that catches in a lazy drift around the tops of her thighs. She flicks her curls back with an idle toss of her head and smiles neatly as she starts forward.
There is a brief conversation.
"Oh, come on. You're really going to make me buy a ticket? You realize I could just--"
Neriah cuts herself off. She sighs, brushing back a few raven curls with the edge of her thumb and pouting sullenly. "Hmph. Fine. But I'm gonna be really huffy about this.... hm?"
That's when it occurs to her there are others here - and she recognizes some of them. "Oho? Is that Ambrosius I see here? And Ambrosius has friends, even! That's wonderful! I haven't seen you in so long." Neriah's smile is wide and genuine, her eyes twinkling with actual warmth. "Are you also going to the festival games?"
Kaguya, at least, has a scheme. Fishing a small lens from her pocket, she leans forward to examine one of the coins. "I'll make sure they pass inspection, if you like."
Then someone else turns up. Neriah blushes a little and clears her throat.
"Hi."
DG: Neriah Parringer has used her Tool Excavator's Lens toward her party's challenge, Funny Money. DG: Kaguya has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Funny Money.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Look, it's been a while since Pearl has been able to meet her violence friend and oft times superior, what with the whole having disappeared for months on end. She is dressed, surprisingly, not in the gi she usually wears, but in casual clothes that... actually... fit in?? A simple grey long sleeved button up shirt, a pale blue skirt, long black socks and some plain leather shoes. She's still going to look out of place, but not beause of her outfit.
What is even more unusual is that Pearl is followed by a young girl- early teens, at a guess. She has short red hair, pale skin, and a green sun dress that she looks entirely uncomfortable in. "...Why are we here?" She asks Pearl, trudging along behind here.
"Because I have been invited by a Duchess, and it is wholly reckless to ignore such an invitation." Pearl responds, flatly.
"That only explains you. Why am I here?"
"Because those are the terms of your continued survival." Those words are hissed quietly before they join the rest. But the girl follows behind. "Duchess Alathfar. I hope it is not an imposition that my student joins us."
There is something familiar about that 'martial arts master that has no time for anyone' impression that Id gives off. Reminds her of home. The redhaired girl tenses noticeably. The both have an innate sense of 'someone who could kill them' there. Interesting.
Pearl can't really contribute much to the science going on. She can contribute coins, though. Certainly ill-gotten gains, throwing a bunch of gella pieces, and maybe some silver and some gil in for good measure. This is science, right? They can work with that.
Pearl watches Neriah as she joins the group. The only other person she knows here is Ambrosius and, well, that's not entirely on good terms. The whole sawing one of her fellow cultists in half with a buzzsaw made of water thing. Pearl's largely over it. But the whole meeting on Spira went well. "Ambrosius." She says with a nod. "Amy. Keep a look out. Ensure we are not disturbed." She says, taking a position to ward off people who might identify fraud. "And make sure you don't draw undue attention."
The girl nods. She doesn't entirely disappear, but all of a sudden she's very hard to see.
DG: Pearl has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Funny Money.
========================<* Meria Boule Festival Games *>========================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Funny Money *>==========================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
"Okay, so, five gella gets you one token, but if you want a bargain, think
about purchasing our fifty gella token pack..."
First things first -- before you can poke around the games at the festival
in Meria Boule, apparently you'll have to buy some tokens to trade to play
the games. That's right, they use their own currency here, and the exchange
rate seems dubiously steep. The good news is, you'll be able to win more and
exchange them for valuable prizes.
One thing's for sure -- if you don't negotiate purchasing (or certain
'discounts') carefully, your wallet is taking a hit.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
===================<* Meria Boule Festival Games - Round 1 *>=================== ===========================< Results - Funny Money >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ambrosius 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Advanced Multi-Tool 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaguya 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pearl 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yue Rohay 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neriah Parringer 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Excavator's Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Kaguya 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Injure(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Kaguya 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> Kaguya has posed.
"That's right!" Kaguya tells the Minder. "The secret to money is somebody has to make it! But don't tell anybody I made it, okay? I'm counting on you!"
At the booth, though: "Um..." The attendant is watching Id for a few moments. He is hovering. He is radiating energy. He's in a pilot suit. And you know what?
She's not going to worry about it. That just seems dangerous. This group is weird, and she's just going to be at peace with that.
"Yes, miss," the clerk says to Neriah, the Sinbringer herself, and nods. "They're necessary in order to play the games; even the King himself would be asked to buy tokens!" Just what? Just seduce the booth attendant??? Yeah she has apparently no spiritual sense whatsoever, so she just thinks, that's not her commission. However...
The peace is especially because--Especially because--
"Oh!" All her business acumen seems to drain out in a moment as she sets her palms on her legs and crouches slightly to get closer to the Minder's level. "Aah," she says. "A member of Young ARMS! Well, in that case I'll have to be sure..." She looks over Minder. She looks over the others. "Yes, this group must be one you're escorting. I'll give them a little more, just this once, for you." She whispers, "I love your outfit!"
She rises, and is suddenly all business again. But meanwhile...
"Still nice to see you're alive," Kaguya says to Pearl, and then looks over her student. She lifts her chin, as if being particularly Thoughtful and Imperious About Studying Her.
Then she grins. "Nah, it's cool. Nice to meet you, kiddo." A beat, as she leans in, "Not the dress type, huh? Me, either. But if you're half as sharp as your teacher, we can get you something better."
The scam, though--Kaguya grins to Ambrosius. "Man, this'll help a ton, I need to start carrying better tools around." And then, "Oh, a friend of Mister Ambrosius? Then by all means--" Inspection... "I like your style," she comments. But then... It's...
Kaguya lifts an eyebrow at 'kid'--those who are aware of 'the energy of someone who might kill you' might feel the pulse of terrifying energy that briefly wafts off of Kaguya--but it fades completely when his dark energy moves for her supplies since--
"Oh man, hey dude! I haven't seen you in ages! Blown up any armies lately? They get mad at you if you do that you know."
And then...! Nobody catches them. The booth attendant doesn't even look hard at the coins!! They pass easily.
"Don't tell anybody I gave you a little better rate," she says. "I have profits to think of. ...But the kid's too cute to ignore."
"That's super fine," Kaguya tells her, grins, and moves with her prize.
DG: Yue Rohay has drawn a new Challenge.
=======================<* Meria Boule Festival Games *>=======================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Batter Up *>==========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
"Hey, batter up!"
Now this is interesting. It's a batting cage -- but this one's featuring a
machine from Guild Galad to chuck balls for the one in the cage. They
provide a bat for you if you want it.
The game's pretty simple: how far and hard can you hit the balls flung at
you? Just be careful -- these things can fly at you faster than you might
expect.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Injure==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
The Minder looks extremely proud to have successfully negotiated a better rate!! Go Young ARMS!! *_*!
While the Minder gets distracted, Yue is approached by Some Jerk while she's next to Kaguya and chatting with Ambrosius, and he speaks her name out.
She blinks a few times, a little ruffled. But brushes a bit of her hair aside (this is an incredibly hard manuever when your arms are bound together), with a quiet chuckle. "You ... know him, Kaguya?"
Internally she's pondering who he is. And wonders if this is how Acacia feels, and if she's experiencing some karma that's well overdue. Well. That's just... fair, really.
"Are you sure you have the right Yue?"
She bobs her head the other way and notices Neriah. She looks her up and down, with a smile. "I love your style, Miss," she compliments. Yue herself has her usual pair of heels on -- glossy black with the mithril silver tips, with little wings on them. High-denier tights, mid-thigh pleated black skirt.
Ambrosius gets a call from the Minder as she holds up some bag of tokens. "Look, Ambrosius! I negotiated a deal...!" She pauses, as she looks to Minerva. "Minerva's looking great!"
Someone's in a really good mood.
She notices the young girl following the woman in the blue skirt, though. She looks curiously as she speaks to Kaguya. Oh, they're friends?
She waddles (lala!) over to Amy and says, "Hi! Do you want some coins...?" B-but then she disappears!
:O!
She tries to recoup as she points towards a nearby batting booth. "Hey, Batter Up!" yells the booth owner... before pausing and looking down to the Minder.
The Minder pauses and starts grumping. "CR-S01! I want to bat...!" she whines while standing right next to the 'You Must Be This Tall To Play' sign.
"Hmm..." Yue bobs her head. Then simply lifts the Minder to hug her as she stands next to her while she retrieves a bright orange bat. Is there a better idea, though?
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
Sometimes you've gotta be low-key when you're The Sinbringer. This is about as low-key as Neriah gets.
Curious eyes dart to Kaguya, and she considers her for a moment, as if gauging the tenor of the energy rippling around her. She clicks her tongue lightly. "Well, I blew one up recently. They kept trying to get their hands on my important body parts. It was very gauche and they didn't even take me to dinner first. Ah well."
Yue draws an arch smile from her, red-violet eyes twinkling as she bats long, smoky lashes across them. "Oh, thank you! And I like yours. It's very chic. Are those heels mithril-tipped? That really is the style - I've got a few pairs like that but I figured they wouldn't go as well with this dress, you know? It's a harder sell with white and with my complexion when I'm doing something casual--"
'Hi! Do you want some coins?'
Neriah pauses and cants her head to one side, drawing her lips into a little 'o' of interest. Strolling up to the batting cage, she rests one hand gently on the arch of a hip. "I never was much for games of strength like this," she admits with a rueful smile and a shrug of one shoulder. "I mean, I think my upper body strength isn't bad - I used to be an excavator, you know, that really builds your arm and core muscles when you're handling a shovel - but, ahh, that was a whole year or two ago and I haven't in awhile, mnn. Gosh. Maybe I should--"
She sighs and reaches for a bat. This probably won't end in glory for the Highly Fashionable Impetus of Valmar.
DG: Neriah Parringer has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Batter Up.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
"Miss Neriah..." Ambrosius greets with a polite bow of his head. "Iiindeed... it has been a while..."
Minerva, meanwhile, takes a moment to assess Neriah. Her expression remains as stoic as ever.
"Ah...I do not believe you have...been iiintroduced... This is... Minerva... my assistant..." He says, gesturing toward Minerva. She inclines her head briefly in greeting.
At first glance she appears to be a normal Veruni - or elven, if one is unfamiliar with the Veruni - but in reality, she is one of the mechanical Scutum sentries sometimes found in certain ruins.
Ambrosius nods to Pearl, then. He's still unaware of her connection to the Shadow Dragon cult, which is, perhaps, best for everyone involved.
To Kaguya, Ambrosius nods.
"I am...glad it is useful..."
He looks toward the Minder, then, as she holds up the bag of tokens proudly. He offers her a smile.
"Iiindeed... Well done, Number Seven..." Ambrosius replies with a polite nod of his head.
And then, they're off! It looks like the first game of the day is a batting cage. The Minder wants to bat...
Ambrosius turns his attention to the machine, frowning considerably. He won't bat himself...but he will keep an eye on the machine. If the baseballs start flying fast enough to hurt, then he'll step in to do something about it.
Subtly, of course.
Minerva, meanwhile, elects to stand off to the side, content to observe her surroundings.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Batter Up.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
One might think an asshole like Id wouldn't give pause at KAguya's own terrifying energy pulse but he does in fact pause because the last time he talked to Kaguya she was practically a corpse.
"Tapped into something, have you?"
Hn." Id adds because he is a total edgelord, offering the counterfeit coins back to Kaguya. "Why would anyone get mad at an army being blown up? If anything, it's a public service. Instead of wasting money on an army, it can be used to support the community. Instead of them being sent off to kill people, they are too busy being blown up to murder."
"You were in Ravine." Id says. "Xichen's kid, right? You are older. What happened to him?"
Id doesn't bother Ambrosius or Minerva, though Minerva does get a couple glances. Pearl gets a brief look as well.
"Neriah." Id continues. "...Use whatever you want."
He steps into the baseball cage.
He takes a bat--
--and he proceeds to disintegrate baseballs by hitting them just that hard. Of course, the problem here is that it might prevent him from getting points if he can't prove he hit them when there's nothing left... but wait is that bat now ALSO radiating intense chi?
Id is not being subtle here.
"Hmph, these games are for actual babies. We demand greater challenges to satisfy our need for sport."
His hand curls up into the shape of a claw and proceeds to monologue in tiny text in the background about the inferiority of limited beings and blah blah blah and yuck yuck yuck. It's pretty easy to drone out.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Batter Up.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Not even the hint of trouble. Surprising, but Pearl doesn't seem to mind it. She nods to Kaguya, "Indeed," is her response to Kaguya's relief. "It would have been a disappointment to die under such circumstances." That's an odd take.
Amy turns back up amongst the gathered crowed, shortly after the transaction is done. She is next to Pearl, where moments ago she was nowhere. Impressive, if you pay attention to such things. Amy looks over towards Minder, and looks up to Pearl. There's a look on her face, that Pearl knows all too well.
The sheer astonishment of children having the gall to be children. In public, no less! Pearl sighs. "Try not to cause a scene. You need to learn to be subtle." Pearl mutters, and Amy gets her expression back under control.
She stops at the gates to the cage. Interesting. The bats look fine and Id is just destroying the balls through sheer powerful strikes. Amy's eyes widen watching him bring that power to bear. "H-how strong is he?" She says out loud, all pretense of being subtle lost.
While this is happening, Pearl pulls a pair of clawed gloves out of her pack, and then tosses the pack to Amy. "Wait, you're playing these games too!?" Amy looks slightly appalled. Really? Leisure time?
"It looks interesting. You are free to watch if you are uninterested." Pearl says, getting into some sort of batting position. Weapons weren't a particular part of her training- neither style relied on much more than your hands- but it would be folly not to take an opportunity. Pearl squares her shoulders, and readies the metal bat. Hm.
Amy finds somewhere to watch ending up near Ambrosius. She mainly watches Id, but her eyes keep flocking to the Minder and Yue. It's such a strange sight. "Hey, is this really how strong people are supposed to spend their time?" She asks somewhat rhetorically, but Ambrosius is close enough to answer, if he feels like it.
Pearl looks over at Neriah in the cage next to her. Pearl's interested to see the capabilities of this flashy young woman, who appears to be Ambrosius' friend. Yue, too, seems of interest. "Let us make this a competition, shall we?" Yeah, okay, Id is going to win, but first to second place?
DG: Pearl has used her Tool Wolf Claws toward her party's challenge, Batter Up.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"Goodness, I didn't realize you had an assistant!" Neriah gasps, eyes wide as she looks back to Ambrosius and Minerva. "Well, it's nice to meet you! My name is Neriah. Licensed excavator, Sinbringer, Impetus. Charmed."
With a soft sigh, she tilts her head back towards Id. Delicately, she bites her lower lip with one incisor. "...I'm glad you're feeling a little better since the last time I saw you."
The last time she saw Id, he was kicking the shit out of a group of people that included several of her sweeties. She was less than happy about it.
For her part, Neriah actually tries to play fair when it's her turn at bat. She just swings at the balls with her normal strength and dexterity.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"Yeah, it would've," Kaguya agrees with Pearl about disappointments. An odd take, but, it's her take too. ....Back on the moon, she might've given Pearl trouble, but here... She's less inclined to bother. "We've got things to do--the game has changed a little now that we're on the Blue Star. I've got important stuff to tell you--while everybody's busy, we can take a minute shortly."
"Oh, yeah," Kaguya tells Yue. "He's a big jerk. I'd tell you who but if one of the people around her overhears it'll start a panic. He's got style, though." Pause. Lean, softly, "Technically our enemy. But not today. And a fight wouldn't be worth it today anyway."
Kaguya, too, is proud of the Minder--and she has to admit, "Me too," on Neriah's style. But Id--
"Yep," Kaguya answers. "Long story. But I've got the power to do what I need to, if it comes up. ...For now." She glances to Ambrosius--she knows that might seem strange to him. Then again, given what he's seen... it might not. However--
"'Cause the people in those armies tend to be somebody's family, too. I got kinda less into the mass destruction after I actually had to make visits to the families of my soldiers when they died."
That's Not Sad Or Anything.
However...
"Minerva's still so cute," Kaguya reflects to Ambrosius, and makes sure to give him back his multitool,naturally. Buuut....
"Hey," she says to the Minder. "Can I see it first?" She pulls a strange device out of her pocket, once she has the bat, and...
Yeah those who know science can recognize the electrical current and the metallic salt she's applying to the bat. She is absolutely turning the bat into an electromagnet temporarily and it will absolutely attract the cores of some of those balls. ...Wait--is that... one of the panels of her bombs???
"There," she answers, and hands it to her--and then laughs over at Id. "We can go a round of something later if I don't feel too much like a--", she considers minder, "Like a butt." Then to Minder, "Hit 'em hard for me, okay? I'm not really up for it at the moment."
Then she helpfully adds to Amy, "He's real strong. Like, okay, I could throw you like thirty yards, but he could throw you into those mountains over there. Cool, huh?"
Then she watches Pearl suggest a competition.... "Hey, this'll be fun to watch."
DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Magnetic Resonance Bomb toward her party's challenge, Batter Up. DG: Yue Rohay has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Batter Up.
=======================<* Meria Boule Festival Games *>=======================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Batter Up *>==========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
"Hey, batter up!"
Now this is interesting. It's a batting cage -- but this one's featuring a
machine from Guild Galad to chuck balls for the one in the cage. They
provide a bat for you if you want it.
The game's pretty simple: how far and hard can you hit the balls flung at
you? Just be careful -- these things can fly at you faster than you might
expect.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Injure==========================================
==================<* Meria Boule Festival Games - Round 2 *>================== ===========================< Results - Batter Up >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kaguya 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Magnetic Resonance Bomb 3 Brute Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pearl 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Wolf Claws 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yue Rohay 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Neriah Parringer 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Kaguya 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Injure(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Kaguya 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: Neriah Parringer has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Meria Boule Festival Games *>=========================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Ring That Bell *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
"Test your strength!"
It's not so much a stall as a tall pillar. On the top of it is a bell. The
goal is pretty simple: hit the lever at the bottom to force the puck in the
pillar to ring the bell at the top. But it becomes clear watching those make
the attempt before you that doing this is... not nearly as easy as it looks.
You're going to need to put real effort in to make this work out in your
favor. But try not to hurt yourself.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
The Minder looks a bit curiously towards Neriah as she takes up stance beside them. She, too, thinks she looks quite extravagant! She asks a bit timidly, "An excavator? That sounds exciting... did you dig up lots of treasure or precious gems, Miss?"
Yue chuckles to Neriah in turn, kind of leaning back and hoping the Minder doesn't smack her on the head. "Nice choice on the strappy heels, at least. And yes -- sadly I have to fight in these, sometimes. I'm Yue Rohay, and this is the Minder."
"Minder Number Seven, Miss, um, Neriah," she answers. A pause. "My mom tells me I shouldn't tell my name outside of Lailah Belle. I hope you don't mind."
Id's calling her out has Yue feeling rather tense in turn, though.
She lowers her head as he asks what happened to him.
"I'm here to have a good day with my minder," Yue answers with a murmur. "What is he to you?"
Pearl cautions Amy away and the Minder pouts very gently; Yue blinks a few times as she tilts her head to the assassin and says, "Strong...?" A pause. "I never claimed to be strong, I am afraid." She looks back to Id with a chuckle.
"Indeed, if I had been strong, perhaps our lives would have been quite different--"
The Minder grumps from where she's literally still being held up. "CR-S01, less moping, more helping me bat?"
Fortunately, Kaguya is there like the cool big sis she is, enchanting the bat with the power of science and attracting the balls to her.
... of course Id then disintegrates some of the balls anyway, but Neriah is playing fair. Pearl offers to make it a competition and-- and--
... well, the literal child makes a really good attempt at it!!
"I had fun...!" the Minder wheezes, by the end. She got one really good hit out of it.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"I'm not nearly as into mass destrction as I get tarred as," Neriah concedes, throwing a look over her shoulder at Kaguya to flash her a faint smile. "Like, I don't want to do it. I'd love a zero body count. But sometimes there are circumstances. Y'know?"
When they do eventually migrate onward, Neriah finds her attention grabbed by the sound of something thudding against metal. She stops, hands at her hips as she watches a couple of fairgoers before a tall pillar surmounted by a bell, a puck tucked into the pillar's interior.
The muscular fairgoer ahead of them takes a swing at the lever at the pillar's bottom, giving it a good crank - but the puck doesn't make it even halfway up. Neriah pushes her tongue into the pocket of her cheek.
Then she smiles neatly, angling her head back and winking towards Id. "What do you think, think you could make this one work like you did with the ball show? I'll bet you one shiny gella that you can't knock that bell out of orbit."
For her part, Neriah steps up to the pillar, hand resting on it even as she smiles lazily back to Yue and the Minder. "I dug up a few nice things - quite a few old relics. And I feel your pain, Yue. I fight in heels all the time."
She clicks her tongue, laying her right hand on the lever. "Number Seven, huh? Well, as NUMBER EIGHT, I say we're Number Buddies now. But you can call me Neriah." She pauses and looks down at the lever. "...Maybe I have too many titles," she murmurs.
Then she focuses for a moment. Her right forearm distorts visibly. Those sensitive to it can feel a surge of something absolutely horrible. For just a few seconds, it looks as if her hand is less a hand than a talonious thing sheathed in layered armour - until it shifts and returns to looking like a delicate hand again.
Neriah casually pushes down on the lever.
The force she exerts will be enough to either blow the bell off the pillar, or tear the lever off.
DG: Neriah Parringer has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ring That Bell.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
"It is a more recent occurrence..." Ambrosius replies to Neriah with a nod. Minerva looks in Neriah's direction as she introduces herself, offering her a polite nod.
She doesn't say anything in response, though - she seems to be the quiet type.
Ambrosius keeps an eye on Id as he talks to Yue. 'Ravine', 'Xichen'... He doesn't comment on this, but he does watch out for Yue to make sure she'll be alright. Minerva, meanwhile, notices those glances in her direction, but doesn't respond with anything more than a glance in return.
Ambrosius accepts the multi-tool back from Kaguya, and chuckles good-naturedly at her compliment to Minerva. Meanwhile, Amy asks a question.
"The truly strong... may spend their time... however they please..." Ambrosius comments. "And reeecognize the importance... of rest...and down time..."
The game is a success, and the Minder managed to hit one! Ambrosius is pleased. But, now it's time to move on to the next game - this one appears to be...yet another game of strength?
Ambrosius is starting to note a bit of a pattern. Still, he takes a look at the machines. Hit the bell to win a prize, hm...
He studies it very carefully - and spots something interesting. It's pretty subtle, but it looks like some of them are made so that the puck gets forced back before the bell, making it harder to actually pull off a win for those possessed of mundane strength.
Ambrosius frowns, and subtly opens up a silvery canister from within his poncho. Water spreads out...and, in a subtle manner, slices these mechanisms to make things a little easier for the rest of them.
...Not that most of them needed it, of course - he notes the way Neriah's arm distorts, suppressing a shudder. It looks like someone's acquired a new power.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Aqua Cutter toward his party's challenge, Ring That Bell.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Id looks away from Neriah. "..." He doesn't know which time Neriah is talking about. He hasn't been making many appearances as of late, what drew him to petty villainy is a mystery. "...You've been changing." He says.
Rather than take a swing at the lever of this next particular event (it's too similar to the last one so Id doesn't participate since he's being talked to by a bunch of people and honestly he doesn't really feel the werewithal to do that event right now.
His eyes slant towards Kaguya. "You as well. It's true. It's difficult work, devoting yourself to destruction. Simple malevolence isn't enough. There are plenty of selfish creatures who could not manage the determination to be a Destroyer. A certain madness is required. The insanity has to be accepted and the logic set aside."
He focuses on Kaguya.
"It is not a path I'd recommend. You should be relieved for turning even a little from that path."
Kaguya offers having a round with him too and Id lowers his head rather than answer that challenge.
"That child," He says. "She needs proper medical care."
He rests a hand on his face. "But... I can't. Destruction is all I'm good for." He lowers his hand after and adds, "But perhaps--" He cuts himself off. "..."
Yue is asking what Xichen was to him.
"...I..."
Id hesitates uncertainly. "...I do not remember. What happened after I died, Yue?"
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Ring That Bell.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Pearl puts in a decent showing with the bat, and nods to herself. She seems happy with it. Still, she emerges and nods to Kaguya. "Of course." They can find an opportunity to sneak off and chat at some point this evening. Maybe in a moment!
"They get to decide, huh?" Amy looks at Ambrosius. "That's pretty true, isn't it?" She's only doing this because Pearl is stronger than she is. She's learned that the hard way. But then she is caught up by Kaguya's description of Id. "No way..." Could someone that powerful exist? Then they'd be stronger than... real concern crosses Amy's face, and Pearl notices it.
"Amy." It's a simple, quiet command. Amy stands up, and runs over. "Don't concern yourself with his power. Focus on your own." As if on cue, there is a strength test. Pearl grins, her metal fang glinting in the light. "This should do. Get past the half way bar."
Amy looks at the display given by the musclebound man, and bac at Pearl. "...Fine. I can do it." She seems a little insulted. Pearl stops, and flings the gloves to her student.
"Wear these. They'll strengthen your grip."
"These are way too big for me." Amy says, catching them effortlessly.
"I know. Consider them a handicap." Maybe Pearl is just a jerk. She leans down and whispers. "And try to talk to the girl. Constant aloofness draws too much attention." Says someone who is constantly aloof. She stands back, content to watch for the moment. Her eyes hover to the conversation between Id, Kaguya and Yue. He IS dangerously strong. If only they could harness that.
After her attempt, Amy looks back towards Pearl, and then towards Minder. "...I'm Amy." She says, with an incredibly clumsy introduction. "You have a mom, huh? What's that like?"
Amy is good at small talk.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Awful," Id says until he actually looks up and sees Amy isn't talking to him.
He quickly looks down again.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"...The strong get to do whatever they want--that's the nature of being 'strong.' Right, or wrong--it's just how it is. The only thing that can defeat 'Strength'... is 'death.'" A few minutes later, she nudges the Minder in passing, a little ruffle type motion. "You did great! +1 Green Magic point."
But, "Oh, yeah," Kaguya agrees with Neriah. "That's true, you can't really avoid it all the time; big changes are just going to mean broken eggs. Omelettes or whatever." She pauses. She... doesn't recognize Neriah at first. She saw her real face only for a moment. But it clicks. "Wait--" She catches it when Neriah mentions Number Eight. "Oh man that's you! Whoa!" A laugh, "I didn't expect to see you again. I should probably thank you--driving off your soldiers got me a noble title." And she did manage to save them, so no foul, right? But something horrible, awful in Neriah--Kaguya blinks--
Kaguya looks at Id, thoughtful when he says she's been changing. "...Maybe I have. It was easier to think on Lunar, without this... pain, pounding in my head, all the time. Even the air hurts to breathe, here." She shakes her head. "Anyway yeah. I mean, i get mad sometimes, but... usually I don't want to wreck everything. Just sometimes."
The path... "Thanks, I... think? It's just..." She trails off again, and then--The child. "Yeah. But let me handle that. I've got... I'm going to find a way. Even if it's too late for me, I'm going to find a way to fix it, for the others."
She grins, though, at the matter of the bar. "That's the way. Focus on your own. You've got this real meditative stuff, huh?"
But with the thing possibly broken... Kaguya doesn't go for it either, just now. Instead she says, "C'mon! Go for it!" to Amy, and then steps around... and walks by Pearl, tilting her head a little away. Her eyes catch Yue's in passing, and she nods to her. She'll be back. SHe can't leave Minder alone, after all.
DG: Kaguya has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ring That Bell.
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Yue watches Neriah try to goad Id into hitting the bell out of orbit and can't help but chuckle; the Sinbringer shares her pain in fighting in heels, though. "I imagine you have had the pain of having them snap at an inopportune moment," she chuckles ruefully. "Even with metal, it isn't as reliable as you'd like..."
The Minder gasps as Neriah introduces herself as Number Eight. "It's like we're siblings..." she muses to herself. "Okay, Neriah!" She sounds rather charmed about nice, old relics. Maybe she's a fan of diggers too?
Yue flits her glance to Ambrosius, as if drawing some strength from her friend. Especially as Id starts talking again.
She sucks in a breath to properly answer.
"His obsession betrayed him. ... the two things that destroyed our family, in the end," she chuckles.
Amy asks what it's like to have a mother. The Minder considers this for a while, and gives an answer which might be a bit surprising:
"Scary. She knows so much more than me. If I don't do as she says, I'll be cursed, she said," she answers.
A pause.
This is said in the kind of tone of a child who fervently believes Santa is real.
Yue presses a hand to her temple, before patting the Minder on the head. "Want to give it a try yourself...?"
The Minder shakes her head quietly, but does perk up at Kaguya, since she does so great at cheering her. "Green Magic? But I'm gathering Black Magic points... hmm... I guess I'll be a multi-disciplinary mage. Because Kaguya's Green Magic is awesome too..."
DG: Yue Rohay has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ring That Bell. DG: Pearl has used her Tool Wolf Claws toward her party's challenge, Ring That Bell.
=========================<* Meria Boule Festival Games *>=========================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Ring That Bell *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
"Test your strength!"
It's not so much a stall as a tall pillar. On the top of it is a bell. The
goal is pretty simple: hit the lever at the bottom to force the puck in the
pillar to ring the bell at the top. But it becomes clear watching those make
the attempt before you that doing this is... not nearly as easy as it looks.
You're going to need to put real effort in to make this work out in your
favor. But try not to hurt yourself.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
====================<* Meria Boule Festival Games - Round 3 *>==================== ===========================< Results - Ring That Bell >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ambrosius 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Aqua Cutter 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaguya 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pearl 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Wolf Claws 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yue Rohay 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neriah Parringer 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Kaguya 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Injure(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Kaguya 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: Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
=======================<* Meria Boule Festival Games *>=======================
======================<* CHALLENGE - A Balancing Act *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
"Come on up and try the rope... /if you dare/."
The setup here is fairly straightforward. A tight rope is strung between two
poles about ten feet up (there is cushioning below, they're carnival
operators not monsters). The goal for the challenger is to walk from one end
to the next and not fall off.
And that is roughly it -- /can/ you walk along a rope and not fall off? Or
can you do one better and really give your fellow carnival-goers a show?
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
Neriah not only manages to break the handle off the pillar, she manages to rip out the entire lever mechanism. The puck drops out of it with a gush of suddenly-depressurized water, while the rest of the pillar crumples, unsupported.
Sighing, Neriah curls her fingers and looks lazily down at her palm. "I see I'm going to have to work some kinks out," she murmurs.
A group of workers rush to cart another column over. As they do, the feeling radiating around Neriah dims and fades after a few more seconds; she doesn't draw on it for too long.
"I have been," she concedes with a slow nod for Id, her tone thoughtful. "In some ways I have you to thank for it. I tried to play things in moderation, but when you broke my face back at Wayside, it showed me that if I kept trying to half-ass things, I'd never be much more than a speedbump. So. You know."
She flicks back a curl, then smiles a tight smile. "Thanks for punching me in my stupid face."
With the new pillar set up, it's easy enough for the group to hit the bell. Ambrosius's trickery easily rigs the machine, and Pearl brings it home with the greatest of ease. The bell sounds with a sweet ding as the puck hits it. The martial artist is the recipient of a big fat stuffed teddy bear with a red ribbon around its collar.
"Aw, that's cute," Neriah says with a neat smile, before looking back to Kaguya with a light touch to one cheek and a soft blush.
"I'm glad I could help you out. Would you believe that my trick on Lunar was kind of just a training run, though? I learned a lot from my missteps there."
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius meets Yue's gaze, offering her a reassuring nod. He can imagine that this isn't easy for her to talk about.
They move on from the test of strength, to what appears to be a test of balance and agility. A rather gaudily-dressed man sits at a booth nearby - where he spots the party.
""Come on up and try the rope... if you dare." He dares.
The rope, it turns out, is a tightrope strung between two poles about ten feet up. There's cushioning below it, and stairs leading up to each pole.
It looks like this particular game has a tendency to draw a bit of a crowd, too. Ambrosius looks upon it with a slight frown.
"...Were I to...atteeempt this challenge...I do not think...the rope would be able...to hold me..." He concedes. It probably wasn't rated for supporting alien invaders. Once again, he elects to step aside and let the others try instead.
Minerva doesn't try, either. She floats, after all, and that somewhat defeats the purpose of the challenge.
...And she's also largely made of metal, giving her a similar problem to Ambrosius.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Balancing Act.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Id didn't rise to Neriah's baiting earlier, largely because he is kind of withdrawing inward right now but when Neriah actually THANKS him for setting her upon the path of supervillainy, Id lowers his head again. His periods of rage are easy enough to understand but strangely in situations like this, Id is quiet and withdrawn. He doesn't gloat or look down at Neriah for changing her path in life because of him by her own admission.
He does not seem happy about it. He doesn't seem angry either. Resigned is a better word for it. Like Neriah's words confirm a suspicion he always had.
And yet by that same token, Neriah's embrace of supervillainy is easily something that Fei can blame himself for. And that loosens the chains around his neck.
"I guess so." Id says. "Does it bring you joy?"
A strange question from someone like Id too.
Yue speaks of her father's fate. Id also hears about Minder's mother. He tenses, that aura of his intensifies briefly, and then he says, "I look forward to meeting your mother."
That is probably not usually the words you want Id to say about your mother, but he does add, specifically to Yue. "Sorry. This world is full of people like that. No wonder why they are represented by a giant whale."
He doesn't comment to Kaguya for the moment. He isn't sure what to say. He is so unused to people stepping back from the precipice like that that he's at a loss for words. At least, not in the way that Kaguya seems to have.
Id looks to Amy once more before making a faint 'tch' noise and floating up to try and walk across the rope like some kind of normal person...walking across rope.
He tries to do this in the most boring manner.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Balancing Act.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"It brings me contentedness," Neriah answers Id. "It means I can look in the mirror every day and see someone who the world can't budge."
But there's a new game! "Oh, oh, oh! This is really cool," Neriah gasps as she clasps her hands together, her eyes twinkling as she looks up towards the tightrope above them. "I bet it takes a lot of balance, doesn't it? Hm hm."
With a toss of her head, Neriah throws back her curls and throws Kaguya a knowing little smile. "How about it?" she invites. "I'll try too. Here, let me see."
Neriah doesn't wait around for someone to preempt her. She jumps up to the top of the first pole and lands neatly on the tip of one toe. Reaching back, she smooths her skirt out with a little pass of both hands, sighing. "I hope nobody's standing right below me."
The alleged Sinbringer sets one hand at her hip and the other at her collarbone in a stance totally inappropriate for walking a tightrope, angling her shoulders back a bit - and she sets one foot neatly in front of the other. Her heel and toe come down on the tightrope.
She brings them down together with startling accuracy. It's almost as if something is holding her up. With a simple smile, she brings her other foot forward - and again, her heel and toe touch the rope perfectly, the arch of her shoe balancing her weight on a shockingly small surface area.
Valmar only knows how Neriah manages to strut across the tightrope in stilettos. Valmar only knows how she makes it look easy.
DG: Neriah Parringer has used her Tool Arched Boots toward her party's challenge, A Balancing Act.
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
"... we can certainly find a game for you to enjoy, Ambrosius," Yue sounds a bit sad that her friend hasn't gotten to play one of the games yet! Even if he's definitely the quiet, steadfast sort.
Yue looks at Id for a moment. "I don't exclude myself in that lot, unfortunately."
The Minder furrows her brow (invisibly) as well, underneath that helmet. "I--I don't want to do it. Heights aren't my thing... CR-S01, you do it."
Yue blinks a few times, before chuckling very faintly as she slips her fingers into her pocket and pulls out--
TODAY'S SCRUNCHIE
Twin silken blue, with faint gold trims
styled in high twintails drawn high
~*~
Lunata stares from where she's cleaning up with the Mithril Chef after their competition. "Someone's cribbing my schtick..."
~*~
Rather effortlessly, Yue leaps up to the top of the pole after Neriah starts her turn. "We can stamp out whoever would dare," she assures.
She doesn't seem to have that much trouble with it, though. She is in Graceful Cucco Stance.
DG: Yue Rohay has used her Tool Cute Scrunchie toward her party's challenge, A Balancing Act.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Obession, and betrayal, and...
"Scary mom, huh?" Kaguya wonders, thoughtfully. "Yeah..."
She doesn't comment for the moment on that. Instead she speaks up on the part the Minder hears, and says, "It's cool! A good Black Mage knows about other fields at least a little so she can plan for them. ...And Green and Black do go super well together..."
In fact, some categorizations include green magic as a subset of black magic!
"heh," she says to Neriah though. "Yeah, I believe you. I've got some experience with test runs."
But after that, she is away from the group briefly. Kaguya is much lighter--dangerously light, in fact, though not actually as light as she has been in the past. So she doesn't comment yet on Id's statement, instead...
"So," Kaguya says to Pearl. "You need to know--I haven't told everybody else yet--that I'm not from Lunar. It's a long story, but I'm from elsewhere, and the reason I'm as strong as I am is partly because I'm what's called a Veruni. I still plan to help out the Guard... But I have some things I'm looking into, and I can make it worth your while if you help me look. Now, I'm going to tell Leo this part myself, so if you want to try to sell me out, we can be enemies instead. But I don't think you will. Because you understand 'strength.' And that matters."
"My plans are... important. So think about something you want, Pearl. Something you can get, for yourself. And maybe I can make that happen. Because I need someone who I can count on not just as a Guardswoman, but for some rough business otherwise."
"Think about it."
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
"Huh. Not that different then." Amy seems kind of... relieved? "The mas-" she stops, and looks around. Pearl is evidently nowhere to be seen. "The... matron at the orphanage was like," she says, remembering the cover she was given. "Always said she'd kill us if we got out of line. A few kids she did." She seems rather calm about that. Like it was normal. "I thought kids with parents had it easier." Amy admits, before she looks ahead at the new challenge.
A rope. A balancing rope. A simple balancing rope. The redhead looks at it. "They really consider this a challenge, huh?" She looks at the rope, and then at the others, and then Id being perfectly boring after floating up. Neriah then starts walking across in heels- a footwear Amy has no experience with because heels and anything stylish are prohibited- and Amy shakes her head. "Alright, if you're doing it that easy, I can't fail." Awful cocky of her. The redheaded girl leaps about halfway up the ladder, and jumps from that ladder rung to the top. Not as graceful as Yue, but it's hardly unimpressive. And then she starts running full tilt across the rope. It's not long, this should only take a moment.
As this occurs, Pearl has followed Kaguya away from the group. She listens, at this moment, as she takes it in. She hadn't had much knowledge of the Veruni- she had heard the name, as some sort of boogeyman. And the pitch is direct, and straightforward. Be enemies, or be allies? Pearl smirks. "...I am intrigued." She says, after a few moments. It's quiet, but firm. "Your offer is compelling. I would entertain it." Pearl seems to choose her words carefully. "You've shown remarkable strength and power. And I am interested to see where it will be focused." She lets out one of her cruel, mirthless smiles. A smile she hasn't shown to Kaguya before. It's as if her whole countenance changes, if just for that one expression. "If you can kill the unkillable, Duchess Alathfar, you will have me at your disposal." Andin a moment, shye's back. Guardswoman Pearl of Althena's Guard, and not whoever she was then. "We had best return promptly. We shall discuss this further later."
Pearl starts walking back, towards the group. And then she sees Amy atop the rope. Far too easy.
And so it is Pearl fires her wrist grapnel at Amy atop the ropes, to see if she can dodge it. That's what you get for arrogance.
DG: Pearl has used her Tool Wrist-Mounted Grapnel toward her party's challenge, A Balancing Act.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
What an interesting smile. "...Then let's talk terms later. This could be even better than I thought."
Then, back with Neriah, "Sounds fun. Just gimme a sec--gotta take some medicine." Kaguya reaches into her satchel, and pulls one of a dwindling supply of pre-mixed syringes, drawing out the medical tool carefully and arranging it in her hand. She takes a step back from the group, where she can turn to the side with enough privacy to shift her belt down just a couple inches, for access to the top of her hip--and she jabs the needle straight into flesh, depressing the plunger.
"Ssss," she mentions, and straightens her shoulders, rolling them as if suddenly energized--or maybe because of shots. "Okay!"
No one is likely to see that unless they watch carefully--but she definitely moves up to the place next. "I can super do this. Just watch out--"
She's so light; using her arms for balance, Kaguya charges along the rope, not bothering for care but instead just going straight for speed--she even hops once to twirl before the end. But does it work...???
DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Formula AM-22X toward her party's challenge, A Balancing Act.
=======================<* Meria Boule Festival Games *>=======================
======================<* CHALLENGE - A Balancing Act *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
"Come on up and try the rope... /if you dare/."
The setup here is fairly straightforward. A tight rope is strung between two
poles about ten feet up (there is cushioning below, they're carnival
operators not monsters). The goal for the challenger is to walk from one end
to the next and not fall off.
And that is roughly it -- /can/ you walk along a rope and not fall off? Or
can you do one better and really give your fellow carnival-goers a show?
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
==================<* Meria Boule Festival Games - Round 4 *>================== ========================< Results - A Balancing Act >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kaguya 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Formula AM-22X 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pearl 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Wrist-Mounted Grapnel 3 Agility Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yue Rohay 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Cute Scrunchie 3 Agility Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Neriah Parringer 10 --(0)--> 10 Pass Arched Boots 1 Agility Effects: Quicken and Fanfare ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Kaguya 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Wound(1) Effects: Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Kaguya 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> Ambrosius has posed.
"...Thank you. For now, I am content with ensuring that the rest of you have a good time." Ambrosius replies to Yue with a quiet smile. "Besides. Even so, this is still a good lesson for Minerva, I think."
As everyone faces the challenge before them, Ambrosius glances toward Kaguya as she divulges a secret - one she hasn't told the rest of the Guard. He doesn't stop her - nor does he suddenly divulge his own identity as a Veruni. Either she can figure it out on her own, or Kaguya will tell her eventually. Either way is alright with him.
In the end, everyone who actually attempts the challenge makes it across quite impressively - except in the case of Id, who intentionally does so instead a defiantly plain fashion.
Seeing how they accomplish it, however, makes it clear to him that he was probably wise to stay out of this one.
The man at the booth is impressed, too, and gives them all some reward tickets for their effort.
DG: Kaguya has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Meria Boule Festival Games *>========================
=============<* CHALLENGE - The Mithril Chef Festival Challenge *>==============
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
"Welcome to... the Mithril Chef!"
You find yourself approached by a booth operator who sees, perhaps,
something they like in your eyes. They'd like to make you a deal. All or
nothing, staked on your success on their game...!
Which is you against other would-be winners against the challenge posed by
none other than... the Mithril Chef of the Meria Boule Festival themself
(Who is Marina, who is not particularly good at disguising herself). Your
challenge is this: craft a festival-friendly meal with only the ingredients
provided to you, in the time allotted!
Do you have a keen eye and the wits to determine how to proceed? A pile of
tickets is waiting on your ability to concoct a meal on a tight deadline!
(OOC: Feel free to have your alt in the opposing group if desired!)
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Reckless========================================
DG: Neriah Parringer has used her Tool Excavator's Lens toward her party's challenge, The Mithril Chef Festival Challenge.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
And then...! The booth operator sees them. They offer... a deal. All or nothing--a perfect opportunity! The booth operator says it--
"Obviously we're super going for it," Kaguya says without bothering to consult literally anyone. Because this is more fun, that's why. And here... The Mithril Chef...!
"Hey," Kaguya notes to Pearl, "The Mithril Chef is kinda cute, huh?"
Yeah she might be doing that on purpose.
"Whoaaa, a cooking challenge--conveniently, I've like, existed alongside Lunies more than five minutes, so I know all about cooking. I mean, cooking is basically science."
Kaguya starts to mess with the ingredients, picking them up and picking them out. "This one... its nature is... salty, and this, sweet. With thse proportions..."
But then a woman in black approaches--a woman in black, terrible as the--
Wait, no. It's Kaguya's maid! The brown-haired woman finally approaches the group, and, "Your Grace. Please--my professional pride is at stake. For your dish, I will bake." So says... Annette, who has made cake for the Heroes themselves!
"Okay yeah cool," Kaguya says. "That'd be great! So uh... What're you guys going to do?"
...If the group looks over, they might happen to see a certain star dancer, Jean, drinking beer at the table.
DG: Kaguya has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Mithril Chef Festival Challenge. DG: Pearl has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Mithril Chef Festival Challenge.
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
SPEAKING OF LUNIES
"What... do you mean there's another group of challengers," Lunata is even paler than she already is. She feels like that faint crack on her face Lily fixed might just burst back open from stress.
"Look you can't just make Marina do double shift on her own, can you?"
Lunata slumps again as she steps forward, still dressed in her lavish chef outfit as the Mithril Chef's Second--
"... that's Kaguya. Oh, and that's Id."
A pause, as she mumbles, "Maybe... maybe if I put something on my face right now, she won't recognise me? I--"
"FEATURING," the booth operator yells, "The Star of the Starfall Saloon, the champion of the Lacour Arms Tournament, Lululu Wait!!!!!"
"oh no," Lunata slumps further. She looks up at Id. please don't let the death waitress hat be there aaaaaaaaaaa
~*~
The Minder pauses in turn as she nods, looking to Amy. Then at Id as well. "It is scary. ... but ... I think she's still looking out for me. That's what I think, anyway."
Yue chuckles as she looks to the Minder. "Do you want to try cooking something together?"
A pause.
The Minder twiddles and says, "Okay... I want to make something I won't regret. Let's do it, Kaguya, Amy...!"
Yue steps back quietly, chuckling as she joins in on Ambrosius' watching. "... somehow I am glad this bizarre turn of fate has led her to have so many experiences."
DG: Yue Rohay has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Mithril Chef Festival Challenge.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
Neriah opens her mouth a little. Then she closes it.
"You know, usually I'd just get someone to do this for me," she grumbles. "There's a reason I have like an entire castle full of people."
With a sigh, she sets her hands on the countertop in front of her. She squints at the ingredients in front of her before pulling out her excavator's lens and peering at them intently.
"Okay," she decides. "I can do this."
Neriah proceeds to begin chopping vegetables. She sorts things out neatly into a little mise-en-place before realizing she has no stove. "Bother!" she grumbles.
With a shrug, she conjures a small flame and begins to sweat off the aromatics. It's not gonna be the prettiest dish ever, but hey, I guess if you like quiche, you can try Neriah's Evil Quiche of Evilness.
Not too far away, there is a show going on near where Jean is drinking. The other star dancer is up right now. There are peacock-feather fans involved. Catenna learned a lot from Jean. It is showing.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"I did not say it wasn't easier." Id mutters.
But now it's time for a cooking contest and Id is quietly wrapping a Death Waitress apron around his waist and sliding on his Death Waitress baseball cap onto his head. Id is a big fan of Death Waitress. He doesn't change his clothes otherwise though so he's still in a pilot suit just now he's in a pilot suit with an apron around it.
"Hey Lunata." Id says. "Still bemoaning the ceaseless agony of your endless existence?" Pause. "Rad.
Id doesn't have cool minions to do things for him so he's going to have to cook himself. He hums to himself as he slices up some shrimp and mixes them into linguine pasta. He also provides a side dish of clam chowder. He's...been making dishe with fish as of late. He dabs on some herbs and spices and slices out his plates to be judged.
That's about all he has time for.
"Don't hold back, Lunata. I know your skills as a chef are as powerful as you in the arena."
Id's eyes narrow dangerously.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, The Mithril Chef Festival Challenge.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
A...cooking contest.
Ambrosius isn't know to cook, at least as far as anyone who knows him know. What is he going to do in a cooking contest?
Meanwhile, Annette approaches! Ambrosius offers her a polite nod of greeting, then looks toward Kaguya.
"I do have some ideas...but I am afraid they may be a little exotic for our judges." Ambrosius considers. "And, the materials on hand..."
He frowns.
"...Well, I shall do what I can." He says. He draws out his multi-tool once more. ...Apparently it can function as a cooking utensil, too.
And together, the two of them work to create...! A pleasant apple dessert, with a bottle of Gounon's famous apple wine at the side.
Nearby, a figure dressed in a dashing outfit, a hooded cloak that helps conceal her face, a hat bearing a long feather, and a domino mask fitted over a pair of glasses observes from the sidelines.
Why, this is none other than the Mysterious Gourmet, who has been asked to help oversee the event on this particular day! ...She also casts the occasional nervous glance in Lululu Wait's direction. And occasionally looks toward the other star dancer up on stage, to see how she's doing.
...It couldn't possibly be just a certain alchemist dressed up, could it? That would be silly, wouldn't it?
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Advanced Multi-Tool toward his party's challenge, The Mithril Chef Festival Challenge.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
"Indeed." Ambrosius replies with a chuckle, glancing toward Yue. "And I hope she has the opportunity for many more."
The Minder looks like she's having fun. Ambrosius hopes things can stay that way for as long as possible.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Amy is suddenly an unexpectedly pulled into the cooking. "W-wait, I don't know anything about cooking!" She looks, pleadingly, at Pearl.
Pearl does not show mercy. "Go. Do not counteract the head chef's work." She remembers that cake. It was a very good cake.
Amy is stranded, and tries to just help where she can. She's helped make dinner, before right? Cut the vegetables, prep the meat, etc. She can do that, right? Right?
She silently curses Pearl's name as Pearl stands back with Yue and Kaguya and- oh.
OH.
Pearl stares across at the table. At the person drinking at the table. How is Jean here? Why is Jean here? Why is her fury at Jean's presence turning into a harsh command. "Do not lose, under any circumstances." Her eyes are burrowing into the back of Amy's head, when they aren't flickering to a certain star dancer.
Amy feels intense pressure to deliver. Can she be an okay sous chef!?
========================<* Meria Boule Festival Games *>========================
=============<* CHALLENGE - The Mithril Chef Festival Challenge *>==============
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
"Welcome to... the Mithril Chef!"
You find yourself approached by a booth operator who sees, perhaps,
something they like in your eyes. They'd like to make you a deal. All or
nothing, staked on your success on their game...!
Which is you against other would-be winners against the challenge posed by
none other than... the Mithril Chef of the Meria Boule Festival themself
(Who is Marina, who is not particularly good at disguising herself). Your
challenge is this: craft a festival-friendly meal with only the ingredients
provided to you, in the time allotted!
Do you have a keen eye and the wits to determine how to proceed? A pile of
tickets is waiting on your ability to concoct a meal on a tight deadline!
(OOC: Feel free to have your alt in the opposing group if desired!)
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Reckless========================================
===================<* Meria Boule Festival Games - Round 5 *>=================== ===============< Results - The Mithril Chef Festival Challenge >================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ambrosius 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Advanced Multi-Tool 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaguya 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pearl 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yue Rohay 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neriah Parringer 10 --(5)--> 15 Fail Excavator's Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Kaguya 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Reckless(2)|Stupify(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Kaguya has successfully explored Meria Boule Festival Games!
========================<* Meria Boule Festival Games *>========================
=================<* CHALLENGE - You May Already Be A Winner *>==================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
"How many tickets do you got there? ...That many? Hey, good job! Here, how
about this one?"
Fresh from your successes at the games you present your tickets to the
person at the prize booth. They mull them over before producing today's top
prize:
Amazing. It's one in the hotly-anticipated, highly collectable Guild Galad
army figurine series (collect all 12!), each representing a class of soldier
within the Guild Galad military. Even for something at a 1/35th scale, the
paint job is exquisite.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
FIRE erupts in the background as Id issues a challenge.
"Al dente linguine hand-rolled, home-made pasta... with a pleasant garlic olive-oil infusion with fresh Tiger prawns!" Lunata exclaims in shock as she clutches a hand to her chest like a prosecutor that just got dealt a serious blow.
"There's no way I could... is this the end?"
But... no!
With that lavish feathered hat, that mysterious black cloak. "The Mysterious Gourmet...!" Lunata exclaims.
(It's still just Jay. She still can't figure out it's Jay.)
"Kgh... that's right... using the techniques you inspired in me in Spira, when I manned the whole wedding proposal party... and the Shoopuf ride too! The spirit of Shoopufs rides in me."
Lunata's gas stove erupts into an inferno. "Id...!!" she exclaims. "This is my answer--!!"
ON THE OTHER SIDE
"One scoop vanilla, one scoop choco, one scoop strawberry," the Minder takes oooooone scoop each of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream into a bowl.
A pause, as she eats from the spoon she scooped out of.
"Ooh! Amy, put sugared jellies on it!!"
*_*!
A cucco flies overhead.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Amy's visibly sweating, despite Minder's calm demeanour. "Which ones are the sugared jellies!?" Oh no, the girl has never seen candies before.
Pearl is still glaring at her.
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
"Aaaaaah."
The Minder has held up a little dinosaur jelly to Amy's mouth, unaware of all the glaring coming from Pearl.