2019-11-19: Justice For Fried Noodles!
- Log: Justice For Fried Noodles!
- Cast: Avril Vent Fleur, Rebecca Streisand, Kaguya, Dean Stark, Marivel Armitage, Gwen Whitlock
- Where: Desecrated Shrine
- Date: November 19, 2019
- Summary: Avril and her friends -- and others -- head into the Desecrated Shrine in search of the food pilfered by the Gobs. But, is it possible to have an understanding with them? (no, no it isn't)
DG: A party led by Avril Vent Fleur is now entering Desecrated Shrine. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
============================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - Master Of Unlocking *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- According to local lore, the abandoned shrine has stood here for as long as anyone can recall, and save for one brief interlude roughly a decade prior, hasn't been in use in all that time either. That is, until a band of Gobs arrived and made this their headquarters for harassing nearby fields and stealing their food. This may even be why you have come here -- or perhaps it's simple curiosity. Regardless, immediate entry to the shrine is obstructed by a makeshift fence piled across the doorway in. There are piles of scrap stacked behind it, and only one gateway, which, naturally, is locked, barred, and blocked with yet more piles of stuff. When you don't have a key and no other obvious entrances present themselves, then the only answer that remains is the brute force method. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plRLRUyvkJY =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Tire=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
The Desecrated Shrine stands before them; this structure, compared to Honeysday, is unquestionably ancient and old: if Honeysday was at best perhaps a few hundred years old, this shrine could easily be a few thousand.
It certainly looks like it's been sitting around for a very long time, indeed. The walls are pitted, deep cracks line the walls. But still it stands, defiant against the sky.
More to the point of their traveling to the shrine however may the rather recent and extremely makeshift (not to mention extremely sloppy) fencing pinned across the apparent entrance into the shrine. Small footprints mar the mud. A small cracked pumpkin lies sitting by the fence. It's covered in ants.
Gobs. There's no question about it.
Avril, Dean, and Rebecca had come out here as soon as they were able -- crossing paths with a certain young courier as they departed the farming town. With a field of gourds freshly pilfered, there was no time like the present--
Avril gazes up at the gate, and reaches out for it slowly, her fingers curling over the wire mesh that make up the makeshift fence.
She had... just been about to...
But the right time would arrive.
Of this, she's certain-- more certain about her muddied feelings than anything to date.
She's ready.
She feels like some of the weight has been lifted from her shoulders.
But first they need to help the townsfolk...
...who had said something very strange.
"They said... that about ten years ago, someone calling himself 'Johnny Appleseed' had lived in here," she remarks, shifting her hand so her fingers splay out across the mesh of the fence-barrier. "I wonder who that may have been."
Her hand remains resting there as ice begins to spider outwards from her hand, covering the mesh with frost. There's still the junkpile behind it to contend with of course but first things first means getting rid of this.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Master Of Unlocking.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
Rebecca was perhap regretting backing up Dean on offering the Townspeople a hand. Sure - if things keep up, they'll have hell to pay with the Veruni, but it's not their problem. What happens if they go back and they find the Veruni waiting for them? Waiting for Avril? What happens if they drag Gwen into their problems too?
Exhaling as she catches sight of the barricaded shrine, she flips back the cylinder of her ARM, checking to make certain it's fully loaded for the fifth time since they left.
"No time for regret."
She whispers to herself.
"Being an adult just means following through with what you committed to, and dealing with the consequences."
It's strange watching Avril look like that - acting like that. It causes her to wonder if maybe she should ask her earlier question again.
And then - Avril notes...
"Oh."
Rebecca stands still for a moment, as if processing that, and then suddenly she seems a little more enthusiastic about this trip. She's even smiling.
"Well let's see if we can't find out while we're here Avril."
Waiting for Avril to ice over the barricade, Rebecca draws her ARM, spinning the revolver into her hand before snapping it up to pepper the iced over sections with a full clip of shots - intending to set off the reaction to shatter the ice and compromise the barrier.
She skips back side to side after each shot, changing position - and angle each time. She doesn't actually need to do this. She could hit all of where she was aiming just fine before.
DG: Rebecca Streisand has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Master Of Unlocking.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
This ruin... Might hold answers. A ruin, ancient, in a Control Zone. There must be a reason the Veruni chose to keep this site in particular. How old could it be? Could it in fact hold clues...? Kaguya wasn't sure. But when she noticed people talking about strangers in town, she knew it was worth looking. So--
"Johnny Appleseed," Kaguya repeats from behind Avril as she approaches. "Ten years ago, huh? ...I thought I heard them mentioning something, but I missed it because I wasn't really paying attention..." Yeah that's Kaguya, anyway. She steps forward after that, pulling--yep, that's a bomb. But she pops open the panel and snips a few key wires in a particular order, then presses a sequence of buttons within--it's hard to see which, but it's clear she did something--and then opens up the whole casing. "I don't really need the secondary detonation here. I'm going to use something smaller. Once you get past the initial mesh, I can knock the junk pile to the side with a shaped charge."
Kaguya is dressed in a form-fitting bodysuit along the lines of a Veruni containment suit, green, with a few extra buckles and belts here and there--but she doesn't have full seal. Instead of a closed helmet, her hair is loose, long and dusting just past her shoulders. But she wears a mask that muffles her voice--eyes free, a pair of goggles up in her hair instead of over her eyes, and a green mask covering mouth and nose. It muffles her voice, but makes breathing easier.
She looks a little worse than usual.
"Oh, yeah. Hi, or whatever. I'm going along." She pauses, and looks over Rebecca's shooting. "...You are pretty good with this, huh? I agree with you about adulthood though. Also it sucks. But it's definitely that."
DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Magnetic Resonance Bomb toward her party's challenge, Master Of Unlocking.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
If Dean weren't used to traveling every day to the local ruin and digging in search of Golem parts, he might think it a little odd to think of Honeysday as "old" to the tune of a mere couple hundred years in comparison to the Desecrated Shrine's couple thousand. The Capo Bronco boy is used to it, though, and frowns up at the Gob-infested place. He'd heard all about the Gobs stealing from Honeysdale, taking their crops and ruining their fields. That'd been bad enough, but it'd *really* sunk in when they'd gotten plates of delicious fried noodles and, because of the Gobs, *he couldn't get seconds*.
Naturally, this is unacceptable. Justice for fried noodles!!
So with the help of a passing Gwen, whom he'd been thrilled to run into again, he, Avril, and Rebecca have come to take back the gourds, I mean the goods. And also find out something about Johnny Appleseed--since it turns out, there was a clue about them in Honeysdale after all.
"I'm sure we'll find out once we go in!" he declares, pulling out a bag of powdered salt-chalk and dusting up his hands. "But first, I'm gonna take this fence apart piece by piece! Those Gobs have a lot of nerve, stealing from the townsfolk like that!"
Before he can start pulling boards apart in earnest, though, a wild Kaguya appears, commenting on a remark from Rebecca that he himself hadn't overheard. "Kaguya! You're okay!" he utters, smiling. He pauses at her bodysuit and mask, but... if Filgaia makes her sick, it makes sense that she'd wear stuff to keep herself healthy. He guesses. Either way, it's easy to see why she's here. This is Veruni territory, and she's Veruni. "You came here to help the townspeople from the Gobs too?" he says. "Great! Glad to have you along!" He nods firmly to Rebecca and Gwen, then starts in on those boards as Avril and Rebecca tag-team shatter them. There'll be space in a moment for Kaguya to get that bomb in and off, and for Gwen to do her own thing. "Let's do this, guys!"
DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Purifying Chalk toward his party's challenge, Master Of Unlocking.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Avril! Dean! Rebecca! Hold on a second!" A vampire is approaching, carrying an umbrella over her head and a Gear Call Remote in the other. "You need to see this... one of the greatest creations to ever come out from Filgaia! The Qubeley!"
Suddenly... the ground splits open some distance away and a large one eyed golem punches bursts out of the ground! It then proceeds to settle down and land its little legs onto the earth, the drill that forms its head spinning gradually to a stop.
Marivel cackles wildly maniacally. "Well, Dean?? Are you not impressed?? I know, I know, tis amazing... but is it truly a great friend??"
Marivel wraps her arms around the side of Qubeley.
"As you can see, the Qubeley's round shape leads it to be quite adept at being hugged." the Qubeley raises its tiny hands and places them on Marivel's shoulders. "Aww Qubeley...!"
She then looks back to the trio breaking into a shrine.
"...Ah, it seems you are busy. Very well, I will assist you so you can properly appreciate Qubeley."
And with t hat she starts kicking at the debris pile with all the force off a lady not quite 5 feet tall. Discounting Kaguya as an outlier.
She glances to Kaguya but just offers her a brief nod for the moment. She is still kind of coming off her Qubeley high.
DG: Marivel Armitage has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Master Of Unlocking.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Indeed, the moment Gwen got word of missing gourds, she seemed to force herself into their traveling party, a look of complete seriousness written on her face. Now here, Gwen shutters, looking on the gourds. "... Oh Guardians, I was right, they're here too-" Gobs, it is supposed. She laughs nervously, rubbing her neck. "O-oh, right, that'd make sense. Eheh. Gobs, not vegetable go-" She coughs, realizing that _Dean is right here_.
Not that she'd expect the determined young man to stray away from Avril in this very moment. Even for golems made of squashes.
The courier's head whips towards Avril at the mention of 'Johnny Appleseed'. "T'think, you'd be lucky enough t'stumble on another clue after all this time."
Seeing the ice spread from Avril's hand, Gwen visibly shivers, but snaps out of her momentary bit of apprehension upon hearing Kaguya approach. "Oh hey, Kaguya! So you got ported here too?" A forlorn expression creases Gwen's friendly nod of greeting as she notices the way Kaguya looks, as well as her suit. "... I'm certain we could use some hel- Eh?" Gwen looks from Kaguya back to Rebecca, briefly wondering if she missed something.
Then Qubeley appears, and, as Marivel claims, it does look huggable. "I 'spose I could just let you guys do all the work n' just sit back for some relax time," Gwen teases.
It takes Marivel kicking at the debris pile for Gwen to concede it all as a farce, the redhead walking over while rolling her right ARM around in a circle. "Shouldn't take that long. Between the assault all you guys did, it should collapse with a few-" grunt, punch "good-" grunt, punch "punches!"
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool ARM-ored Fist toward her party's challenge, Master Of Unlocking.
============================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - Master Of Unlocking *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- According to local lore, the abandoned shrine has stood here for as long as anyone can recall, and save for one brief interlude roughly a decade prior, hasn't been in use in all that time either. That is, until a band of Gobs arrived and made this their headquarters for harassing nearby fields and stealing their food. This may even be why you have come here -- or perhaps it's simple curiosity. Regardless, immediate entry to the shrine is obstructed by a makeshift fence piled across the doorway in. There are piles of scrap stacked behind it, and only one gateway, which, naturally, is locked, barred, and blocked with yet more piles of stuff. When you don't have a key and no other obvious entrances present themselves, then the only answer that remains is the brute force method. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plRLRUyvkJY =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Tire=============================================
=======================<* Desecrated Shrine - Round 1 *>======================== =======================< Results - Master Of Unlocking >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Purifying Chalk 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass ARM-ored Fist 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaguya 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Magnetic Resonance Bomb 3 Brute Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marivel Armitage 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Tire(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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: Rebecca Streisand has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================ ======================<* CHALLENGE - Gob Gob...Glub? *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- This largely intact chamber appears to have been water storage, or something similar. There are a series of deep wells, most of them -- save one -- filled with water. Steps lead down into each. At the bottom of the empty one there is a large and heavy crate of dried noodles, evidently another item purloined by the Gobs from the village. On inspection, it is weighing down on a pedestal; any slight attempt to move it makes water begin to trickle from the right wall -- to the next well over. It must be a switch! But is there a way to take the crate without getting submerged by water? =Dungeon Conditions: Madness, Vault===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Yes, that is right. They said it was ten years a..."
Avril pauses.
Then she turns, gazing at the appearance of the Veruni woman.
Clad in the garb of those seeking protection from the planet upon which they walk. "Kaguya? What are you..."
She glances sidelong at Rebecca, as if to ask her 'is this okay?' before similarly daring a glance at Dean.
"..."
"If... you are here to assist in clearing the Gobs, the young (?) ruler answers. "They have been stealing crops from the town, so that is our primary goal here."
This may be when her attention shifts beyond Kaguya to the sight of the...
"Marivel? Is that you? ...I did not know you had your own Golem." Another pause. She tilts her head slightly to one side. "Have you been there long?"
...There are times when it may be understandable to wonder whether Avril really is an ancient queen known for her intellect and drive.
She inclines her head in a single nod, glancing over Rebecca's way to smile at her friend. "Yes. Perhaps there may still be some clue within?"
There is a pause yet while Avril regards the fence, taking one step away from it as it gleams in the light. "Hmm. You are right, I do not think the Gobs made this themselves, either..."
Which was likely not what Dean was talking about, but details...
The chill continues to glide across the fencing, streaming deep into the metal--
--Which makes it quite vulnerable to the shots that Rebecca lets off at the fencing. They might not serve to break the barrier outright, but they help damage the weakened fencing.
Which is where Dean comes in. The remaining boards and metal mesh come away in fragments once he hauls on the barrier.
Which really only leaves the junkpile, beyond.
This opens the way for Kaguya to make use of a shaped charge (which very nearly clears the remaining debris), and for Marivel to kick some of the debris (it... doesn't go too far, honestly, but every little bit counts).
Gwen takes the clearing work home from there, soon exposing the way in.. to the ruined Gob-infested shrine.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"What - are - you - doing here!?" Rebecca has what appears like a momentary freakout upon Kaguya appearing, startling her enough to interrupt her firing. She regains her composure - but then loses it again when she lays out what Rebecca had said quietly, "You heard that!? Nngh-" It's the sound of a teenager being embarrassed in real time - that's what it is.
Avril glances at her and Rebecca simply gives her this helpless look now that Dean seems all enthusiastic about it. Instead just pointing at her eyes then pointing at Kaguya.
And then Marivel shows up...!
... and summons the Qubeley. Rebecca's mouth hangs open. Then looks at Avril. Then looks back at Marivel. Then at Qubeley.
"Yeah... here I am... appreciating that another person can summon instant Dean attention grabbers."
There is the longest sigh. This is her appreciating it right!?
Once inside the descrated shrine - or Gob hideout. They make it into a large chamber full of...
"Huh. Wells?"
Rebecca goes from one to the next to the next, seeing the full ones, before she places a palm on the edge of the empty one and leans over to take a glimpse.
At a crate which has been graffiti'd all over.
GOBZ NOODL
STAI AWAI
OR GET SOGGI
There's also a crude picture of a leering Gob staring at them.
"Iiii think I found some of the town's food." Rebecca leans over to the side a little further, "Given what they've written - it's gotta be some kind of trap."
For whatever reason, Rebecca just makes a little hop over the edge, and makes an acrobatic flip down to the bottom of the well rather than taking the stairs, landing on her feet of course.
She then leans down to the side, "Why'd they put it on that thing? Don't see anything else connected to it..."
She makes a circle around it, making sure she has a good view of it. "So. Yep." Reaching into a pack, she takes out a journal and opens it, taking a nub of charcoal out and flipping to a page. "So there's no way Dean is leaving here without these so - let's all carefully look around and figure out a way to thwart whatever mechanism these Gobs have setup. I'll sketch out our observations."
Rebecca starts moving the nub of charcoal across a paper.
What would Dean do for Fried Noodles when Hungry?
1. Commit Crimes???
Okay so she's not actually sketching out observations because she figures they're all smart enough to thwart a Gob trap. She's making a list instead.
Eventually she'll decide there's nothing Dean wouldn't do except destroy a Golem...
DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Rebecca's Travel Diary toward her party's challenge, Gob Gob...Glub?.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"Yeah, I heard that," Kaguya grins at Rebecca. "Right now I seem to be embarrassing you! So, bonus? Nah it was cool, what you said."
Kaguya doesn't stop grinning. But--
"Heeey, super-cute!" Kaguya comments on Quebely. "Definitely friend shaped." As for the matter of the Gobs, she tilts her head about it, looking between Dean and Avril. "Eh? Is that what's going on? Explains a bit. Sure," she says. "I can help out with that. Gobs stealing crops, huh? That's gonna be a headache for the humans. Yeah, I'll do something about it."
A beat, "Since I bet the local governor just didn't think it was worth sending somebody, huh?"
She rolls her eyes and kneels down to plant her bomb. In short order though, it's all success.
"Yep," Kaguya answers Gwen. "Sure did. Which is fine--I meant to come back, anyway, though I wasn't expecting it to be... as bad," she sighs. "Man Dean, nothin'. I want some noodles!" She pauses. The town's food. "......For which I will pay the townsfolk a reasonable rate," she allows, glancing at Avril and Dean. She's trying to be nice.
"So okay. What I see here is we need a way to move it while avoiding getting it wet. So what I'm thinking is, I have some stuff I can rig to absorb water from the bottom..."
Kaguya pulls a green case, opens it, and pulls--yeah, that's definitely a burner of some kind. What is she doing with these powders?
DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Mad Science Case toward her party's challenge, Gob Gob...Glub?.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Marivel literally bursts onto the scene with a Qubeley type Golem.
Dean lets out a scream of excitement and flails his arms while a galaxy of stars shines in his eyes. Is he impressed? Girl. He's already hugging this friend-shaped antiquity. Complete with cheek-rubbing. "Aww Quebeley...!" he choruses.
Then Marivel goes to pick up where he left off in terms of fence-wrecking. That's okay, Quebie. Dean will continue to hug you. (Gwen, you may have been wrong about him. But at least it's not a squash Golem?)
Anyway, Avril explains the situation to Kaguya and Marivel, and then everyone breaks down the fence together, leaving the way in open to all. Dean... Dean *eventually* gets peeled off the Golem to take care of the Gobs inside; he *did* promise to help, and he never breaks his promises, even if there is a beautiful and wonderful and awesome and amazing Golem outside. It can't come in with them, so... they'll just have to reunite soon...!
And so Dean enters with renewed motivation.
"This place is a dump! Can't they keep it clean in here?" Dean complains as they traverse through the hideout, as if he didn't leave named shovels all over the place at his home in Capo Bronco. He pauses at the crate and squints at the writing and picture. "Gobz... Noodles... Stay... away... or get... soggy??" He takes a moment to parse this; then he gets affronted: "What! Hey! These aren't the Gobs's noodles, they're the townspeople's noodles!!" And more to the point, *his* noodles, once he pays for a heaping portion of them after they've been seasoned and fried to perfection!!
Kaguya lays claim to the noodles. "You *are* gonna share, right?" Dean says, squinting at her. When she says she'll pay a fair portion to the growers, he smiles and gives her a firm nod. "Good! Now, how to get this off of here without flooding the place..."
He takes out the Danger Sphere he acquired on Lunar. He peers at it. He still doesn't know why he's trying to use this on Filgaia. "Maybe I can stuff one of those holes with this thing??"
DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Danger Sphere toward his party's challenge, Gob Gob...Glub?.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel seems to be living for Dean's reaction which makes sense sincce that's probably completely why she came here. You see ... the secret ... is that Marivel ... is also a huge golem dork. Maybe not Dean huge but, then again, who is? *bladerunner end credits*
Qubeley somehow gets blush stickers at Dean's powerful hugging.
"Heh heh..." Marivel ALSO enters with renewed confidence despite not really being much help so far (perhaps anti-help if you count the distracting of Dean Stark). She glances over to Rebecca shortly after and adds, "Some people prefer to ride inside their golems, I prefer to stand on their shoulder. That requires extra tech though." She tilts her head. "Say--"
She glances at the crude picture. "Hm." She crosses her arms. "We are here to recover these things? Teach Gobs a few lessons?"
She gestures with a hand and says, "APORT!"
One of the crates teleports out from the water and onto dryer land. Though it also kinda lands heavily since APORT is usually meant for dropping buckets on heads. Luckily the box doesn't shatter or anything.
"It's good to see you again, Avril, though it hasn't been that long." Marivel says. "It brings me joy to see drifters so keen on community service to the small towns. They're often forgotten, even by drifters."
DG: Marivel Armitage has used her Tool Wisdom of the Crimson Nobles by M. Armitage toward her party's challenge, Gob Gob...Glub?.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
The freakout isn't unexpected. Gwen passes Rebecca a sympathetic grimace, her grin somehow remaining throughout. "Hey, Kaguya might be able t'ensure we got an alibi if any Veruni get nosey with what we're doin'."
That is, assuming she wouldn't just decide taking Avril would be a good idea now. After all, Dean is pretty distracted right now by Marivel's pal...
"Hey Dean, timmme for hugs later!" If necessary, Gwen will apply a little tough love. Though, she realizes, there's no need to use physical force, just- "I wanna try those noodles you've been so enthusiastic about. Shame I can't get any..."
'Huh. Wells?'
"Wait, _Wels_?!" Gwen nearly collides into Rebecca at hearing the word, then stills, realizing that:
1. No one makes casual comments on more than one Wel being in the immediate vicinity unless they are especially unaffected by that sort of thing
2. There's wells in here
".... Huh. Wells."
Digging into her satchel, Gwen looks up, whistling as Marivel teleports a crate to safety. ".... Nicccee. A lot better than whatever plan I was thinkin' up."
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Courier Kit toward her party's challenge, Gob Gob...Glub?.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Unfortunately, Rebecca's current situation means that Avril has to manage this sudden-Veruni situation on her own--
Which leads to her taking a more diplomatic route, as such.
"Yes. They appeared to be uneasy about what might befall them if they were unable to present their quota of crops to the Veruni," she explains to Kaguya. "I wanted to ask you something about this region. Do the Veruni come here often? We did not see any signs that they had been here recently," she explains, watching Kaguya closely.
They head on in. The first thing of note that they locate is the... step wells. One of them is empty. There's a crate down inside it. She heads down the steps, following Rebecca's lead (if not her exact route).R
"...Yes, I believe so." Avril has produced the mirror and wipes some condensing frost from its surface. She then tilts it towards the near wall. In the mirror's reflection, the dampened cracks alongside the section of wall are easier to spot. "I believe that if the crate is moved, it will open the wall to our right," Avril explains, pointing at the apparent seams, now easier to see when you know where to look.
"Perhaps if we were to use something heavy, or of a similar weight we might be able to hold down what is beneath the crate and keep the wall from opening."
Or they could go down Kaguya's route and do something to remove all the water from the next well over. That's always a possibility.
Or--
Teleportation.
Avril regards the wall next to where she's standing, which jostles ominously but does not open.
"...Yes. It is good to see you again as well, Marivel."
A pause follows, as she again regards where she is standing which is: inside the dry well.
"Ah, Rebecca? Perhaps we should rejoin the others above..."
Before they end up taking a dip.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Mirror of De Soto toward her party's challenge, Gob Gob...Glub?.
===========================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================ ======================<* CHALLENGE - Gob Gob...Glub? *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- This largely intact chamber appears to have been water storage, or something similar. There are a series of deep wells, most of them -- save one -- filled with water. Steps lead down into each. At the bottom of the empty one there is a large and heavy crate of dried noodles, evidently another item purloined by the Gobs from the village. On inspection, it is weighing down on a pedestal; any slight attempt to move it makes water begin to trickle from the right wall -- to the next well over. It must be a switch! But is there a way to take the crate without getting submerged by water? =Dungeon Conditions: Madness, Vault===========================================
======================<* Desecrated Shrine - Round 2 *>======================= ========================< Results - Gob Gob...Glub? >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Mirror of De Soto 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rebecca Streisand 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Rebecca's Travel Diary 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dean Stark 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Danger Sphere 2 Wits Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gwen Whitlock 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Courier Kit 1 Wits Effects: Resilient and Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kaguya 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Mad Science Case 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Marivel Armitage 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Wisdom of the Crimson Nobles by M. 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 20 --(30)--> 50 Pass Conditions: Madness|Vault(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has passed this challenge! The party gained 30 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Gwen Whitlock has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================= ==========================<* CHALLENGE - Gobsmacked *>========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Perhaps it shouldn't have come as a surprise. And yet: as you crawl your way through the Gob-built structures strung through the shrine, you hear a series of thumps behind you, rattling the catwalk upon which you stand wildly. When you turn, there are a pair of shotel-bearing Gobs -- having just dropped down on the boards from somewhere above to greet you... violently. It's definitely violently. Look sharp. Here they come. =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Injure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"That sounds like a good way to end up like Avril did." Rebecca notes of Marivel's preference to Golem Combat which sounds INCREDIBLY UNSAFE to her. "Falling through the sky while riding a Golem Arm. Though - I'm not saying that's what Avril did! At all. O-Obviously she'd know better."
Great recovery Rebecca.
Kaguya sets down her powders, which is a great countermeasure to have in place...
Dean finds a hollow that's about Danger Sphere sized! He puts it in and...
... it falls back out.
Perhaps... the sphere... is telling him something. Danger Dean Stark Danger.
Rebecca finds herself nodding along with Avril, scribbling something down. "That makes sense... okay..."
2. Plunge his hand in hot coals?
"... what do we have that's heavy enough though...? Maybe the Qubeley?"
And then Marivel suddenly teleports it upward. Rebecca keeps writing.
"Yeah Avril?"
Rebecca doesn't seem to notice the water trickling in. Kaguya's powder starts absorbing it - more and more - to its limit.
3. Shave himself bald.
And then she feels it up to her ankles once her powders have been overwhelmed.
"Oh." Rebecca looks up, sees the crate gone, looks back at Avril. "Yeah let's hurry up and do that-!" As she laughs awkwardly, almost apologetically at Avril.
Holding her travel diary over her head she hastily wades out of the rapidly filling well and up the stairs.
Gwen's plan surely would have been amazing, don't sell yourself short Gwen.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
At a certain point, it becomes clear that, to avoid further detection and inane traps, the party needs to go up, rather than stride through what seems to be a developing Gob settlement. The catwalk isn't that wide, due to it being built for Gobs, not humans, Veruni, or self-respecting Crimson Nobles used to finer walkways than this. Though, it should be noted that Gobs are, for all their rascally ways, pretty good at making structures from whatever they manage to scavenge. Maybe, in time, this could become a proper Gob city, a Gobtropolis.
Gwen, having gone to the back of the group, abruptly stops, feeling the first of many vibrations of the boards beneath her feet. She looks up, and-
It's rainin' Gob
Gobu Gobu
It's rainin' Gob
Oh Gob
A few of the first who did drop down did miscalculate their drop and end up missing the catwalk entirely, crashing into what is undoubtedly some poor Gob's bedroom below, judging by the faint arguing below.
So there's that.
".... Quick, close your eyes!" she whispers behind her, then points her palm towards the landed Gobs. A bright flash lights up the surprised Gob faces, though it's unclear in the aftermath just how many could have been stunned by that trick.
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Full Metal Courier toward her party's challenge, Gobsmacked.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
What, Kaguya? Be opportunistic? Never!
But Avril has a question, so Kaguya thinks about it. She frowns, as Avril mentions what they were uneasy about, shaking her head in something like irritation. "--Honestly? I'm not the best person to ask. But we do sometimes. It's one of what we call the Control Zones, if you didn't know. ...I was in Lailah Belle after I woke up, but I was mostly just recovering from cryosickness until I left, so I haven't made it everywhere we are." Pause. "...But they come often enough that I was able to pick up some supplies here from a compound further into the Zone. I guess they don't bother to leave it much. Wouldn't wanna get sick--Oh man, oops!!"
Kaguya laughs like a pirate at her own joke. She can't entirely help it.
"Yeah though I can probably fast-talk it if a nobody shows up, but better try and hide instead. It could get complicated."
"See I'd rather be in the Golem because then I can like, sit down, and see all my screens and stuff. But then, I can't fly normally, so..."
Drifters and community service... "Yeah," Kaguya agrees. "Small places like this--they're just not important to most people. But a lot of humans live in them." ...She almost sounds like she actually cares about that, though she doesn't dwell on it.
"Super is a dump, though." She pauses, and--well she doesn't look mad at Dean's smile, anyway. In fact she looks a little shy about it somehow. But here, farther ahead, as they walk along--
Up, up, up... And suddenly--
"You are kidding me," Kaguya starts, and scowls. "Hey--" One lands on her, knocking her to the ground with the weight of his fall. "Goooooooooooob!" he shouts, "I gobt one!!"
"Ghsfkghghtht," Kaguya comments, and reaches up behind her back--and yanks the Gob off by the scruff of his collar. "Okay, MINE NOW," she comments, and--
Yes. Kaguya is swinging the gob around by the wrists in an effort to knock more Gobs off the platform without getting close to those blades. Yes, the Gob in question is still alive.
"I'm--I'm gonna gob my lunch," he complains.
DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Loot Abuse toward her party's challenge, Gobsmacked.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Well, that's the point! You are sharing the danger with your golem!" Marivel says before looking to Gwen. "What? Noooo, I'm sure your plan was just perfect. I just am a little trigger happy on teleportation, yes?"
She gives Gwen a pat on an arm.
She pauses for a moment and then looks back to Rebecca. "I'm sorry what was that about Avril falling through the sky while riding a Golem Arm?"
Congratulations Rebecca, you made Marivel doubletake.
Onward and upward! Marivel snaps her mic, opens her mouth, looks at the Gob right in front of her and then bonks the poor Gob in the head with her mic.
*BONK*
Then she quickly covers her eyes with both hands and swings her cape around her like a cartoon vammpire. "Hiss!"
It's wholly unneccessary. But fun!
DG: Marivel Armitage has used her Tool My Mike toward her party's challenge, Gobsmacked.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
If anyone's Dean huge at loving Golems, it'd be you, Marivel. Let's be Golem lovers... together!! *_*
"RIDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS IS EXTRA COOL! THAT'S JUST HOW NIGHTBURN DOES IT!" Dean yells, speaking of which, when Marivel informs Rebecca that standing on a Golem's shoulder is her preferred method of Golem travel.
Anyway, moving forward...
"Oh man, they're really tasty, Gwen! Don't worry, you'll get plenty once we get these noodles back to the townsfolk!" Dean enthuses to Gwen. Sure enough, they retrieve the boxes of dry noodles, so hey, that's a crucial ingredient right there back. Dean smiles to see Avril and Marivel getting along so well, but there's still more food to rescue. Fried noodles would be boring if they were JUST the noodles. There's still the spices, and cabbage, and shrimp, and egg, and... onward!!
He looks over at Avril and Kaguya when they talk about the Veruni Control Zones and where she was when she woke up. "Huh," he says. "Laila Belle's the Golem Hunter capital, right? Man! I've gotta get there sometime...!" He grins in enthusiasm and one-track-mindedness. More to be shy about, perhaps, Kaguya. Good thing neither of you are straight!
Marivel's comment about being happy they're helping the community gets a blink of surprise, though. "Really? Isn't it just natural to help out people who need help, though? Oh--wait, d'you mean it doesn't happen because Drifters don't come out that way? I don't see why they wouldn't, it's really pretty... but then, I guess some people might think it's boring."
Rebecca brings up Avril falling through the sky in a Golem arm, then backpedals and says that's totally not what Avril did. Dean, who absolutely is not reading the mood, says, "What're you talking about? That's exactly what happened! I mean, she probably didn't do it on *purpose*, but that's how we met!" It's too late, though. Marivel has already double-taken at Rebecca. There's no more shock to be had.
Well, except for the rain of Gob (hallelujah).
Dean looks down when they misjudge their jump and crash far below. "....huh." Then he looks up. "Incoming!" He draws Ace of Spades and CLONGS it into the face of the nearest Gob. "Give us back the food, you thieves!!" he shouts.
DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Ace of Spades toward his party's challenge, Gobsmacked.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Kaguya answers her simply and the answer is--
That she isn't the best person to ask. "Oh..." Avril murmurs, glancing down and away. "...Ah? I see, so you think they may come regularly but not particularly often--"
She cuts herself off, paling at the joke Kaguya makes at her own expense. The other Veruni might cackle, but Avril looks away as if discomfited.
"I... yes. We will work to keep from making ourselves obvious, here." Avril somehow manages to keep a straight face despite Rebecca's... about-face.
(The Avril of a couple years ago, nearly, would have likely flubbed things here by pointing out the obvious lie. This Avril now has learned the value of tact. ...At least sometimes.)
But on the other hand there is Dean.
Avril manages to maintain a straight face yet though there are a few 'cracks' in her demeanor now, so to speak...
Down in the well meanwhile--
"Perhaps some of the scrap from the entrance? We would have to go back and get it. ...Or..."
She had just had the thought that perhaps her magic would have been of use here, at least by 'gluing' the switch down long enough.
But a few factors outright negate that as a solution.
Avril waits, seemingly patiently, for Rebecca to realize that they are in a bit of a tight spot and only then does she race for the stairs out of the stepwell and up for the floor above.
A moment of finagling the crates out by the entrance (for easy pickup, later?) may follow, before they onwards. And as it happens, upwards.
"...Hmm, it is almost like a city," Avril murmurs as she takes in the sight of Gob architecture. "I wonder, if they are capable of building something like this, if they might not..."
The big problem with Gob architecture, though...
...is that there are Gobs living in it.
Absolute Zero leaps to Avril's hand; she brandishes the hilt, the blade materializing there with but a twist of her wrist. She leaps into the fray without a word shortly after Gwen's light flares (she of course shields her eyes), setting upon one of the remaining Gobs.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Gobsmacked.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"That's how we met her." Rebecca notes casually to Marivel - she does at least trust Marivel enough not to actually lie on this matter... and Kaguya already knows who she is, "Fell through the sky riding on a gob arm - I mean Golem Arm!"
But as Dean says that, Rebecca starts to clarify heatedly, "No I just meant - she probably wasn't riding on top of a Golem as what caused it Dean! That'd be pretty unsafe of her to do and she has more sense than that! A golem probably just - nabbed her or something!"
On the catwalk, Rebecca tests the catwalk with a foot, "... I'm not sure I'd trust anything they built..." She notes to Avril, as she finally steps on the catwalk.
Rebecca finds herself looking around as she hears the Gobs bragging. Rebecca sees Gob fall and land on the catwalk just ahead of her. Rebecca sees Gob brandish a long dagger threateningly, spinning it at her with a crude flourish - even as Gwen puts some spots in his eyes
Rebecca draws her ARM and shoots him in the chin.
Rubber bullet. Honest.
Dazed from the blindness and the shot, the Gob reels. Rebecca takes out her Medium, and Hexagonal Ley Lines rise up - and suddenly a blast of air sends them screeching over the edge - they crash into the room below and join in the argument going on in short order.
After a moment - Rebecca shrugs as she looks over the edge. "It's raining Gob... Gobu Gobu..."
Rebecca doesn't repeat the line again, instead just humming it to herself.
DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Sky Medium toward her party's challenge, Gobsmacked.
============================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================= ==========================<* CHALLENGE - Gobsmacked *>========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Perhaps it shouldn't have come as a surprise. And yet: as you crawl your way through the Gob-built structures strung through the shrine, you hear a series of thumps behind you, rattling the catwalk upon which you stand wildly. When you turn, there are a pair of shotel-bearing Gobs -- having just dropped down on the boards from somewhere above to greet you... violently. It's definitely violently. Look sharp. Here they come. =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Injure=========================================
=======================<* Desecrated Shrine - Round 3 *>======================== ============================< Results - Gobsmacked >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(7)--> 7 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 5 --(2)--> 7 Pass Sky Medium 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 5 --(2)--> 7 Pass Ace of Spades 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 0 --(2)--> 2 Pass Full Metal Courier 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaguya 0 --(2)--> 2 Pass Loot Abuse 2 Combat Effects: Cleanse and Sacrifice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marivel Armitage 5 --(2)--> 7 Pass My Mike 4 Combat Effects: Efficient and Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 50 --(20)--> 70 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Injure(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Now Dean's got Gwen imagining visions of noodles in her head, with dancing eggs and cabbage and other sorts of goodies. "Aughghg, you're making me hungry, Dean!" .... Then again, that was all Gwen there. Dean just mentioned there were noodles that exist, in the future, and that they'll be really tasty.
Later on, in the catwalk, Gwen huffs out a small chuckle. "Yeah, it sounds pretty unbelievable. But I don't think anyone could make somethin' like that up." Knowing what they know, the thought of Avril falling through the sky in a Golem arm isn't unexpected. There's just no notion of what events sent this into motion. "No wonder you feel a connection to her, Dean. It's like a golem was asking you for help. Though, I have t'wonder... Maybe it's also the other way around?"
The endearing image that brings up in Gwen's mind will have to wait. There's Gobs to smack.
Avril herself springs to action, knocking away some Gobs with a deft swipe of her blade. Kaguya is nearly 'captured'(?) by one of the Gobs, but no proper Veruni would ever allow such a thing to happen. What if someone has to save her? No, Kaguya saves her own damn self, using that very Gob to bowl over a few nearby Gobs off the walkway. Marivel's impromptu performance (sans actual performance) earns her a YELP of a bravo from one Gob, followed by the conked-out Gob she used her mic on. Rebecca does her own performace, but it's just to the Gobs she knocks away.
Gwen looks out nervously over the various roofs that have caved in and clears her throat. "... Well, that does that. Let's... keep movin' before they get back up here."
DG: Kaguya has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================= ==================<* CHALLENGE - Dark Sun Of The Wastelands *>================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You see them the moment you enter this room: Gobs. Two of them, even. This shouldn't be a problem-- And then one of them grins at you with a mouth full of pointy teeth and touches the ominous purple orb resting in the room behind them. Wait, wait a minute-- In a flash of dark purple light, another has joined the battle here: the mysterious monster known as the 'Sol Niger', the dark sun curse. They are strange golden creatures, with wings and spikes adorning their heads and are known to be highly aggressive. But it's said that destroying one can sanctify an area. Can you do it? =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"It's true. That is how Nightburn does it," Kaguya has to say.
...she, too, will have the noodles... though maybe without the shrimp.
To Avril, "Yeah, that's about right," Kaguya says. "Mostly just to keep an eye on things." She waits a beat, adding--since she started talking after she was done laughing--"Hey, I thought it was funny."
"I dunno, the Gobs are proving pretty good at making things. Despite it all being mega ugly and super messy, this stuff is kinda sturdy. I'd be impressed if I weren't concerned that they've damaged an ancient ruin in the process." Pause. "...I mean, separate from the food thing. Obviously."
"Still though. Fallen on a Golem arm... Sounds like something."
"Something that surprises Marivel's gotta be good."
But after the fight, Kaguya slows, and looks at the Gob before her. "It's cool," she says. "I'm gonna take your sword. ...here." She pulls something out of her bag, and presses it into the Gob's hand, while his eyes are still @_@. "Anti-nausea. Might wanna try it."
She pauses, looks to the others. "What? I'm impressed he didn't hurl on me."
However, moving on... they enter a new room--and there are two Gobs. One grins, and touches an orb--"Whoa, hold the f--"
Dark purple light; a mysterious monster, a great big mask head with wings, kind of. Very strange. Very aggressive. And--
Very attacking. Kaguya whirls down and winces as she gets to her feet from the roll, pulling her ARM. "So, not ideal," she says. "Maybe..." Pause. "Actually hold on." Kaguya gathers up some of the junk she picked up earlier in the battle and pulls... a little canister. She breaks some up when it isn't already broken, loads it in, and closes it. "Heheheh..." Then she flips a switch on the ARM, attaching the canister to the top.
"See how you deal with... The Miscellaneous Bullshit shot!!"
She aims, fires, and along with the blast of green energy comes a canister that explodes on impact into what is best considered shrapnel.
DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Loot Abuse toward her party's challenge, Dark Sun Of The Wastelands. DG: Marivel Armitage has used her Tool My Mike toward her party's challenge, Dark Sun Of The Wastelands.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Dean's attention swivels to Kaguya, as she has bought his keen interest. "You're a Nightburn fan, too??" he says, misinterpreting her comment.
She proves surprisingly nice to the Gob, though, giving him an anti-nausea... potion? Pill? Kaguya makes her excuse, but Dean still thoughtfully observes, "That's really sweet of you." Then he smiles. He knew she was a softie, deep down inside!
Onwards they go to the next room, where another couple of Gobs await. However, instead of fighting them, they touch an orb and summon-- "Oh no, not one of *these* guys again!" Dean groans, seeing the Sol Niger. "Watch out, guys! These things are super-tough!"
Good thing he's still got his Devil Arm equipped. He charges the Sol Niger and LEAPS up, raising Ace of Spades high over his head. "Take THIS! HIIIYAH!!" he shouts--and then CLANGS it down right on its mask, conveniently just as Kaguya curses. Will the might of the Devil Arm be enough to crack that mask?!
DG: Dean Stark has used his Tool Ace of Spades toward his party's challenge, Dark Sun Of The Wastelands.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
The cat, it seems, is rather out of the bag. "..." Avril does not immediately say anything, then at significant distance, nods but once. "Yes. What Dean said is true. I fell from the sky in the arm of a Golem. From where, I do not know."
Though she has her suspicions, given what she had learned from Volsung, back then...
After the fight, Avril takes a moment to breathe, then eyes the fallen Gobs. "I hope that they do not harass us further," she remarks, frowning faintly. She glances at Dean and Rebecca, perhaps to ask 'is this the correct course' before trailing along the catwalk, into the chamber that greets them after.
"No--"
But it is too late. The curse of the wilderness is awakened!
"--Dean! Be careful!" she calls out, which is followed up by a sudden wordless shout as she lets fly with an array of frozen missiles, glinting in the light of Kaguya's ARMfire.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Dark Sun Of The Wastelands.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"I admit, I didn't realize the extent of how ancient these ruins are, as well as how many Gobs are here." Gwen peers ahead, trying to get a better idea of what's in the large room beyond. "So, yeah, I'm worried 'bout that too. But the ruins bein' damaged ain't something six of us can repair. What we can do, though, is at least get some of the food they stole."
For all the way she had seemed completely focused on food, Gwen's reply to Kasuya doesn't sound dismissive. In fact, it sounds like she's concerned too.
A ruin with no context or information might as well be a trap, or a bomb waiting to go off if something bad is sealed inside.
Something like that orb. Y'know, the ominous purple orb that those two Gobs are right by.
Purple light explodes from the orb, causing the courier to step back and shield her eyes with her right ARM. When she lowers it, she freezes.
She squints.
She begins giggling. "Guardians, look at this guy! LOOK AT ITS HEAD. And the little legs and the arms, oh Guardians it's too adorable." She wheezes, looks back up as her friends begin their onslaught.
A snort escapes her lips, the redhead's puffed cheeks evidence of just how hard she's trying to not fall into a fit of laughter. "LOOK AT THE WINGS ON ITS HEAD, Guardians, IT HAS HEAD WINGS, look at how it's walking around-"
She'll probably get punched at some point, but maybe this is proving to be a clever attempt at drawing the creature's attention to her.
(In this case, she really is unable to get over how adorable the large monstrous humanoid beings are.)
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Full Metal Courier toward her party's challenge, Dark Sun Of The Wastelands.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
Rebecca still has her ARM pointed at the gob that Kaguya was whirling about, when she gives it the anti-nausea medication.
...
"Should have figured you'd have a reason like that for being nice."
Rebecca holsters her ARM and carries on, though she shares a look from Avril in the aftermath. She tries her best to look reassuring. After all - if this place did teach them anything about Johnny Appleseed...
It would be worth it right?
And then they enter the chamber. And...
"This again!?" And then - Gwen, and all that giggling. "Gwen - ... ... ... I think you're underestimating it a little. Sure it looks silly and has head wings but... these are actually pretty powerful..."
And then she finds herself distracted by Dean rushing into combat with it. Rebecca echoes Avril, "Hey Dean don't just-"
'The Miscellaneous Bullshit Shot!!'
Rebecca pauses for half a heartbeat amidst that as she looks.
"I'm not sure if I should praise you for being resourceful or be mad at you for cursing in front of Dean."
Rebecca raises her Medium, and a blue hexagonal energy rises up in front of her.
Water suddenly geysers upright into the creature - in a move she hopes will become more effective after Avril's freezing missiles.
"Oh well, his danged shovel was probably too loud to even hear it." She ultimately decides, as conventional wisdom says don't pick a fight with a Veruni if you don't have to.
DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Sky Medium toward her party's challenge, Dark Sun Of The Wastelands.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen, probably just before that oncoming beatdown, is still laughing. "Nahnah, Rebecca, you misunderstand. *snerk* Somethin' can be adorable n' still be dangerous as hell, I mean, look at m-"
That's the sound of one of those cutely proportioned fists likely hitting against Gwen's head.
============================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================= ==================<* CHALLENGE - Dark Sun Of The Wastelands *>================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You see them the moment you enter this room: Gobs. Two of them, even. This shouldn't be a problem-- And then one of them grins at you with a mouth full of pointy teeth and touches the ominous purple orb resting in the room behind them. Wait, wait a minute-- In a flash of dark purple light, another has joined the battle here: the mysterious monster known as the 'Sol Niger', the dark sun curse. They are strange golden creatures, with wings and spikes adorning their heads and are known to be highly aggressive. But it's said that destroying one can sanctify an area. Can you do it? =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
=======================<* Desecrated Shrine - Round 4 *>======================== ====================< Results - Dark Sun Of The Wastelands >==================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 7 --(15)--> 22 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 7 --(10)--> 17 Pass Sky Medium 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 7 --(10)--> 17 Pass Ace of Spades 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 2 --(10)--> 12 Pass Full Metal Courier 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaguya 2 --(10)--> 12 Pass Loot Abuse 2 Combat Effects: Cleanse and Sacrifice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marivel Armitage 7 --(10)--> 17 Pass My Mike 4 Combat Effects: Efficient and Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 70 --(20)--> 90 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Save Point(1) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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: Marivel Armitage has left your party. DG: Gwen Whitlock has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================= ========<* CHALLENGE - Five Minutes With The Goblins Is Way Too Long *>========= |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- "Hold it right there, gob!" While making your way through the crumbling shrine, you are approached by a trio of apparent representatives of the most recent occupants of the shrine... the Gobs. These three are just as well-armed as any others you may have encountered during your explorations. But these three seem to want to talk. "What you doing in here, gob? Making all this noise?!" "This private property, gob!" "Was napping, gob!" ...On the other hand, they do seem willing to talk. Is there a chance you could argue the point on the purloined food to them -- or negotiate passage inwards? ...Do you even want to try? BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtnO8w_-wA0 =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer, Stupify, Reckless================================
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"He's a pretty cool guy. I've met him," Kaguya brags, because she can tell Dean loves him and she will absolutely name drop like nobody's business in this situation. However, before she can get too smug... her little niceness interruption gets called out.
"W-what?" Kaguya says, and flushes faintly, turning away--she's already used her best excuse on it. Still--the group as a whole does quite well, as it turns out.
Water makes Ice land more fully--ice strikes with fierce power. The enemy, focused on Gwen as it shouts and make herself obvious, is battered--and now, chilled, is slammed into by Dean's shovel, cracking the ice outright.
As it's knocked back by the force of this, it falls into the fallen pile of shrapnel...
And out of existence thanks to the combined efforts of the group. It takes a little more energy than Avril would like--they all have to deal with that--but it is down.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Nightburn..." Marivel says, returning from her bullshit.
"I'm afraid I don't know who that is." Marivel says. "Is he famous? I'm not suuuuper caught up on modern trends since I was sent TO THE MOON and I'm not big on new media."
She looks around a bit and adds, "Oh--what did I miss?"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen's cheeks are still red from her giggling fit from earlier as she gets up, gravel falling from her red curls. "Okay, okay, uh- Nightburn. He's real awesome." She snorts, then coughs. "Okay, I swear, I got it out of my system. Man, they punch *hard*. But uh, yeah. I grew up readin' stories 'bout him. Cooped up as I was due to bein' sick, it was my first real taste of the world outside. Dean could, uh, tell you more. I'll scout up ahead." ... 'Ill' may be not exactly cover what her condition was, as well as cover the fact that she wasn't exactly forbidden to be outside.
But it doesn't change what effect Nightburn had on her, as did all the stories she heard.
It made her realize there was a world out there, beyond the limits of Little Twister.
The pattering of Gob feet against the battered Temple walkway is Gwen's first clue that they have company. The second is, well, their voices.
She turns, and considers them. She shrugs. "... I'll be frank with ya guys, as I really ain't in the mood t'lie right now," Gwen states, tucking her hands in the pockets of her pants. "We're gettin' the food back you guys stole. AND-" She raises her left index finger as they begin to object.
And there is one of those Super Courier smiles, equal parts sweet and down-to-earth, a perfected tool as any other in her Courier Kit. "Y'think I'd tell y'that if there wasn't a reason for you guys to exactly care? I know, you gotta look out for y'own. Times are tough. But see, if the town here can't make their quota, the folks askin' for that quota will get mighty angry. Heck, they might even come on down and decide it's better if they run this joint instead." She takes a step forward, hands still in her pockets, her smile still radiating that girl next door charm. "Lemme just say- you'll prefer the current townsfolk to them. I guarantee it."
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Courier Kit toward her party's challenge, Five Minutes With The Goblins Is Way Too Long.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"Really?! You did?! That's so cool!" Dean gushes, eyes sparkling at Kaguya. "I met him once, too! But, um. I kinda fanboyed at him too hard and he ran away," he admits sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I still feel bad about that. I hope I can apologize to him one day!" But then Marivel admits she has no idea who Nightburn is. Dean swivels around at her, gaping. "You've never heard of Nightburn Acklund, the greatest Golem Hunter of all time?!" Gwen chimes in too, and he nods vehemently until she tag-teams him back in. "He's discovered more ancient Golems than anyone else! He's had a ton of incredible adventures! They've written a ton of books about them! He's *incredible*! Here, look!"
Cue Dean digging a hand into one of his pockets and then proudly displaying a photograph of a middle-aged man with brown hair, a beard, and a cigar. He is the most middle-aged-man-looking middle-aged man that Marivel has likely ever seen. "This is Nightburn! This photo's a treasure of mine!" he declares, chest puffed out. The photo is not even autographed. "I'll have to find some Nightburn books for you later, Marivel. You'll be a fan too in no time!"
In his enthusiasm, the group entered another room of Gobs. These ones are not too happy to see them, but they at least ask questions first. Dean blinks at them, then carefully puts away his treasure. "We're here to get back the food you stole from the people of Honeysdale!" he says firmly. "You can't just take whatever you want from hardworking people! That's wrong! So give it back!"
Dean Stark: master negotiator.
DG: Dean Stark has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Five Minutes With The Goblins Is Way Too Long.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I have only heard of him through Dean," Avril speaks up, on the subject of Nightburn. "Nevertheless, I know that he is someone of great importance to Dean. Being inspiration to others is a wonderful thing."
In fact, she might even call him -- or to be more accurate, that signed photo of him -- 'Dean's treasure'.
But she's a touch drained after helping to assist with defeating the Sol Niger, and lingers a moment past the threshold to the next room.
Wherein they are soon greeted by the welcoming committee.
Avril pauses, not far behind Gwen.
Then out comes the mirror, frosted with its now eternal chill. Light streams from it softly as she approaches the Gobs.
"You will return the stolen crops," she tells them, steel -- or is it ice? -- entering her voice. "This is not a request. This is an order."
She stares at them, for an instant looking like a different sort of person entirely.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Mirror of De Soto toward her party's challenge, Five Minutes With The Goblins Is Way Too Long.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"He's a pretty big deal." Rebecca admits, even if she's not as big of an enthusiast as Dean is...
... she did think he was pretty handsome when she was younger... maybe...
After the fight - perhaps she notices that Avril is...
"How are you holding up Avril?" Rebecca tries to ask her discretely, in hushed tones, "If you want to hang back a little in any other fights we come across I don't mind covering for you..."
The pattering of little Gob feet cause Rebecca to draw her ARM with a spin, and turn around. However - Gwen starts to talk, and so Rebecca simply lowers the muzzle. And takes out a book.
Rebecca opens her Travel Diary. Rebecca jots down a note - "Now Gwen makes some reasonable points - but Dean's right - you can't just keep what you stole. We saw those holes you dug in the field so there's no sense denying it."
Avril adds all the imperiousness she can muster to her order, and for a moment even Rebecca is given pause... before clearing her throat, "But there's no reason we can't talk this out. And I've thought about why you ought to return the stuff you dug out of the town's fields."
-and tears the page out of her diary. "Here's why - I'm sure you'll find this to be real persuasive."
Rebecca then passes it over to the Gobs like its a note in class.
That girl in the suit?
TINY ANGRY VERUNI.
If you make her mad - don't come crying to me about what happens to you next.
DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Rebecca's Travel Diary toward her party's challenge, Five Minutes With The Goblins Is Way Too Long.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"...He's that famous?" Kaguya asks, surprised. She knew he was a big deal to a lot of people, but hearing that Gwen, too, had grown up reading about him... Well, Kaguya is a little self-centered and hadn't given that a ton of thought when she was grumbling about dealing with him before.
...As Dean fanboys harder Kaguya feels a little of what she would term primitive human guilt. She doesn't comment any further about it. Not even a chance to make a crack about Dean's 'type'.
Instead she looks over at the Gobs. Gwen's line of argument gives her a perfect opening...
But she doesn't take it. Instead, Kaguya steps up to flank Avril, folding her hands before herself at something like attention. She does not know what the note Rebecca handed over is. But she considers--
...No. No, she isn't that kind. Kaguya stays silent, her green case remaining closed.
DG: Kaguya has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Five Minutes With The Goblins Is Way Too Long.
============================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================= ========<* CHALLENGE - Five Minutes With The Goblins Is Way Too Long *>========= |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- "Hold it right there, gob!" While making your way through the crumbling shrine, you are approached by a trio of apparent representatives of the most recent occupants of the shrine... the Gobs. These three are just as well-armed as any others you may have encountered during your explorations. But these three seem to want to talk. "What you doing in here, gob? Making all this noise?!" "This private property, gob!" "Was napping, gob!" ...On the other hand, they do seem willing to talk. Is there a chance you could argue the point on the purloined food to them -- or negotiate passage inwards? ...Do you even want to try? BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtnO8w_-wA0 =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer, Stupify, Reckless================================
=======================<* Desecrated Shrine - Round 5 *>======================== ==========< Results - Five Minutes With The Goblins Is Way Too Long >=========== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 17 --(5)--> 22 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 22 --(0)--> 22 Pass Mirror of De Soto 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 17 --(0)--> 17 Pass Rebecca's Travel Diary 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 12 --(0)--> 12 Pass Courier Kit 1 Wits Effects: Resilient and Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaguya 12 --(0)--> 12 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 90 --(0)--> 90 Pass Conditions: Reckless(2)|Stupify(2)|Suffer(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel listens to the cliffnotes version of Nightburn. Her eyes widen when Dean mentions that he fanboyed too hard at Nightburn. "You? Fanboy too hard? I can't even imagine--you're always a perfectly reasonable amount of fanboy."
Marivel marvels briefly at Rebecca's talent in poetry (she was totally trying to sneak a peek).
"I haven't heard of Nightburn Acklund. Of all time? Perhaps for now... but I see someone who will one day surpass his legacy...!" She points right towards Dean. "...Well, it'd be cool right?"
She lowers her hand, peering at the photograph. She gives off a faint whistle, "He does look like someone who could just stand in for the average drifter. Does he even take the cigar out of his mouth?"
She smiles, "I'd love to read them. Perhaps I will be, but I've plenty of people to be fans of here."
This is considerably less dramatic than claiming dean will be the greatest golem hunter of all time on a lark but, well, Marivel hasn't met anyone who loves golems as much as Dean does. She finds it difficult to imagine Nightburn surpassing it, but she supposes it's possible.
She looks towards the goblins.
"Well everybody needs to eat. Are you unable to farm for yourselves? I can show you some methods that will work on even difficult land such as this--"
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================= =========================<* CHALLENGE - Go With Gob *>========================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- However your negotiations with the Gobs have gone they are interrupted by a call from the crisscrossing catwalks above: "We'll save you, gob!" There is an ominous creak from overhead. ...Are there nets up there? The Gobs to which you were just speaking react to this call from above with alarm. "Still down here, gob!!" But it is too late. A rope somewhere is audibly cut and the nets, laden with heavy debris and stones, are dropped down upon you and the Gob ambassadors. Hurry! If you make a run for it, you should be able to make for the far door and escape being crushed! =Dungeon Conditions: Cripple, Injure, Hesitate================================
DG: Dean Stark has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Go With Gob.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen's points set the stage, but it'd take more than one plea to set things into motion, judging by the expressions on the Gob trio's faces.
First up is Dean, whose earnest nature would make him a better candidate than most for Certain Important Positions. ... Just not this one. The Gobs regain some ground, one of them laughing. "Like we even care! C'mon, we can take whatever we want, gob. We're Gobs, gob!"
Marivel takes the rational approach, giving the Gobs the tempting gift of knowledge. One almost seems interested, but peer pressure wins him over as the other two laugh. "That sounds like work, gob." "Bor-ring, gob!"
Avril repeats Dean's earnest request, adding a chill that seems to slid down all three of the Gobs' backs with her very words. Kaguya standing next to her, so quietly, like she was _planning something_, does not help.
In the end, Rebecca deals the final blow. The three gobs collectively squint their Gobby eyes at the reasonable written plea from Rebecca, looking up at Rebecca, shifting their gaze to Kaguya, then Avril, back to Rebecca, and then _back to Kaguya_.
"WE SWEAR WE DON'T WANT ANY TROUBLE, GOB!"
"Please, have mercy on us, gob!"
"We just wanted those delicious noodles for ourselves, gooobbb!"
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I am... all right," Avril answers Rebecca, though with a self-effacing smile. "I think I may have overdone it, there. I'll let you know if I need you to take the lead, though, all right?" She glances away, still smiling slightly. "...After this, I think we may be due a good rest."
Though...
She lowers her voice to just above a whisper. "There is something I want to tell you both, soon. Perhaps, when we are finished with helping the village..."
She then, collecting herself, strides ahead to threaten some Gobs.
Who then plead in mercy, their cries echoing up to the rafters above.
To the rafters where... other Gobs await.
Who react in the way that only a Gob can:
Poorly planned, unmitigated violence.
Avril glances up, at first not comprehending what is meant by that statement--
--only to realize it far far too late.
"No!"
Mirror trades for Medium; upon Medium Avril then invokes as the ropes above are torn, as netting unfurls its payload of rocks and scrap alike.
"Lucadia! Please!"
Light erupts from the Medium then, and--
(but what of Kaguya?)
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Go With Gob.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Dean, too, looks over in concern at Avril when she stumbles in the doorway--but Rebecca's got it, like usual. He smiles at both of them. "We'll rest plenty. And have a bunch of fried noodles while we're at it!" he tells her with a firm nod. She does get Awful Stern for a moment there with the Mirror of De Soto... but there's no wondering at how her demeanor changes for a moment. He knows exactly what's going on there. And, well... Avril's still Avril, right?
Still, she whispers to him and Rebecca that there's something she wants to tell them--later. He nods again. "Got it," he whispers back.
Unfortunately, the Gobs laugh at him--not just him, but Gwen and Marivel, too. Dean scowls. "Hey, this is serious!" he insists. Fortunately, Avril's imperiousness, backed by Kaguya's pint-sized looming, does the trick. As does some note from Rebecca. He squints at it, then at his best friend. "What'd you write them?" he whispers to her.
But, just as the day seems saved, and the Gobs ready to hand back the food they stole--here comes the cavalry, with nets! And weights! And debris! Dean looks up, then jumps to shield Avril, who just a moment ago had seemed weak on her feet. "Avril, watch out!" he shouts as he leaps to her side. This also puts him on the same hex as her, so Lucadia's teleporting light surely swallows him up too. Surely. Surely.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
Rebecca finds herself flushing at that smile from Avril. "Y-Yeah I'd say we've earned it. A rest sounds... great Avril."
She swallows though as Avril whispers that to her. It's the kind of thing that sounds like it could be ominous. Given all that she's learned about Avril...
... but she finds herself optimistically hoping for the best all the same.
"Okay. Well - once we're out of this and you're ready - I'll lend you my ears. And I know Dean will too."
The Gob threatening though happens, and Rebecca can't help but grin - even if she tries to make it subtle, trying not to make it too obvious what she wrote.
"Glad you all saw reason."
Rebecca for all of the situational awareness she's proud of, is far too proud of herself to notice what Avril does.
The 'No!' causes her to look up, and Rebecca with a swift motion trades her revolver for a pair of another kind of guns she spins out.
"You dirty-!"
Rebecca fires one of her guns up high in the rafters where the Gobs are even as she runs towards Avril.
Just as she reaches her, she fires another portal at the ground.
Just as she hopefully gets touched by Lucadia's light.
Now. One can interpret her portals in two ways.
Certainly it might be a desperate attempt at escape.
However, if she was quick enough and accurate enough on the draw...
... the gobs might find themselves showered by the own debris and scrap metal they intended for them.
That might just dissuade them from releasing more nets.
DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Portal Guns toward her party's challenge, Go With Gob.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel's opinion of Gobs drops like 5,000,000,000 points. "Yes. Living is work," S he huffs, crossing her armms and looking pretty upset.
"Aw jeeze!" Marivel says responding to danger in the way of her people....
By turning into a bat and flying away. from the debris while making 3 stooges noises.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"...?" Kaguya tilts her head at the Gobs suddenly asking her for mercy. "Uh?" She pauses. "...Yeah, sure. Mercy, you can live. Just, give back the food, and i'll spare your..."
Poorly planned, unmitigated violence. "Oh, come on," Kaguya says as she starts looking up, seeing rocks and scrap and all kinda of unpleasant, pointy things. "That's--"
'Lucadia! Please!'
"Wait what are you--"
The light where Kaguya stands next to Avril erupts before Kaguya can even do so much as start shooting back.
So what happened...?
DG: Kaguya has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Go With Gob.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Sensing Avril and Rebecca's exchange behind her, Gwen turns, looking over her shoulder. "Oh, hey, you doin' alright, Avril?" Whatever Avril had to say for Dean and Rebecca remains for just the two of them, fortunately, as Gwen is distracted again by the Gob trio.
What is less fortunate is the buddies that come to their Gob friends' aid.
.... With tons of debris and rocks falling downs towards them.
Blue-grey eyes squint, estimating the distance to safety. Maybe, just maybe, Gwe could make it, if she books it, but the others...
Well, she'd trust that Dean would be okay, as would Rebecca. They're probably quicker than she is. Marivel likely would have some tricks up her sleeve- namely, turning into her tiny bat self and fleeing. Avril and Kaguya are her next two concerns. Dean's on her way to Avril's side, which is fitting, considering. "I'm going for Kaguya!" Gwen shouts, for Rebecca's sake if she's tempted to swing back.
There's a flash, issuing from Avril's Medium.
And when the debris threatens to fall, Gwen is there, standing by Kaguya, with her ARM raised up and deploying its small energy shield.
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Go With Gob.
============================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================= =========================<* CHALLENGE - Go With Gob *>========================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- However your negotiations with the Gobs have gone they are interrupted by a call from the crisscrossing catwalks above: "We'll save you, gob!" There is an ominous creak from overhead. ...Are there nets up there? The Gobs to which you were just speaking react to this call from above with alarm. "Still down here, gob!!" But it is too late. A rope somewhere is audibly cut and the nets, laden with heavy debris and stones, are dropped down upon you and the Gob ambassadors. Hurry! If you make a run for it, you should be able to make for the far door and escape being crushed! =Dungeon Conditions: Cripple, Injure, Hesitate================================
=======================<* Desecrated Shrine - Round 6 *>======================== ===========================< Results - Go With Gob >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dean Stark 22 --(100)--> 122 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 22 --(100)--> 122 Fail Sea Medium 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 17 --(100)--> 117 Fail Portal Guns 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 12 --(100)--> 112 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaguya 12 --(100)--> 112 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 90 --(10)--> 100 Fail Conditions: Cripple|Hesitate(2)|Injure(2)|Reckless(1) Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: Dean Stark is too exhausted to continue! DG: Avril Vent Fleur is too exhausted to continue! DG: Rebecca Streisand is too exhausted to continue! DG: Gwen Whitlock is too exhausted to continue! DG: Kaguya is too exhausted to continue! DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has successfully explored Desecrated Shrine!
============================<* Desecrated Shrine *>============================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - An Untouched Armament *>===================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Ducking into the far room, you find yourself in one of the Gobs' main storerooms for their ill-gotten goods from Honeysday's fields, the shrine, and perhaps elsewhere as well. Most of the contents are food and crops stolen from Honeysday, which the villagers will certainly reward you well with but in an inspection of the items you also find-- Amazing. This firearm-type ARM must be thousands of years old. Was it salvaged by the Gobs from somewhere in this shrine? It looks like it's still in good condition, though it will need some work from an ARMs Meister to get it working properly. What a find. You hear distantly the shouting and thumping of many small feet. It may be a good idea to collect what you can of the purloined supplies and make a retreat before the entire Gob populace is mobilized. =Dungeon Conditions: Vault, Treasure==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
A whole number of things happen more or less at once.
Dean rushes ahead of Avril, intending to shield her.
Rebecca thinks with portals, unleashing a spray of debris back up at the Gobs above.
Marivel makes tracks.
Gwen moves to cover Kaguya, who stares over at Avril.
As Avril calls upon Lucadia's power.
There is a brilliant flash just as the debris, cast upwards, begings its descent downwards again.
Fleetingly, they may all have the impression of water, of a great crushing depth.
Of a sea dragon, swallowing them all whole to bear them all forth from the danger they now face.
It's only for an instant, not even the span of a heartbeat.
In that mighty lurch through time and space (well, mostly just space), they find themselves just beyond the threshold of that door as the supply of Gob junk comes down in a horrible crash.
The Medium in Avril's hands glows a moment more, then as if in protest, begins to smoke.
Avril has one moment to regard the crates stacked about her (she does not notice the ARM) before uttering simply, "Oh."
To her, the room seems to suddenly spin. She feels cold and clammy. She--
Collapses, still clutching the Medium.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
They... they made it!
Through a sea dragon's gullet, but they made it.
Dean staggers, momentarily nauseated, then stands upright, beaming in triumph as he looks around the room. "Hey, it's the stolen crops! We found 'em! Now we've just got to get them back and--" 'Oh.' "--Avril!"
Having already jumped to protect her from the falling debris, Dean's right there to catch Avril before she hits the floor. Her Medium is... steaming... He stares at it, then up and around at his friends. Marivel seems to have flown away, so... "We've got to get Avril out of here," he says firmly. "I'll carry her. Rebecca, Gwen, Kaguya, can you guys grab whatever you can? We'll head straight back to Honeysday from here."
There is a hyper-advanced ARM among the crates and crates of crops. Dean already has his own hyper-advanced ARM. He pays it no mind.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"Yaah--"
Kaguya shrieked a little and it wasn't obvious, at first. Gwen shields her... but can't shield her from what happens, as the instant passes--and then with a lurch, Kaguya finds herself there with the others, stumbling. "I--" She waits for the nausea, for the moment when she throws up, but as she braces herself for it, going stiff with a hand, out--
...Nothing actually happens. There's no wave of nausea, no backlash, nothing. Kaguya blinks, and looks around, hesitating as she sees the others. ...And then she reaches up, and takes off her facemask, letting it hang down around her collar instead of fitted over her face. "That was..."
She stops, and shakes her head. "That's an... interesting data point," she settles on instead, and her eyes are a little glassy, if anything. But she looks physically about as fine as she gets. She looks around the room--and spots the ARM, thoughtful. "Ancient... How old is this thing? It reminds me of..."
She trails off, and looks around. She spots Avril collapsing, and frowns. "...Hey," she says. "I've..." She looks to the ARM--and picks it up. Dean's request comes to mind easily. "Yeah, sure," Kaguya says. "I've got some medicine, too. For... us," she says, of herself and Avril. "I'll leave some with you before I go. I think..."
"I think I have some new information, anyway."
Kaguya sets to work rigging up something to drag crates on out of the door that's now blocked off on the other side. This should help them carry more, anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel comes flying back now that the debris are done and lands on Dean's head.
"Blaaah. I vant agriculture to be an appreciated science. Blaaah!"
Hey she didn't say she was going to leave for good. She just didn't want to get crushed!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
The weight Gwen feels is entirely different from what she was expecting. Instead of the familiar weight of earth, the unfamiliar but not unwelcome pressure of water surrounds her for just that instant, not even long enough to draw in her next breath.
"...!" Time resumes, and that crushing weight falls unstead to their side, with three bewildered and understandably shaken Gobs crowded in underneath a fallen pillar nearby. "Kaguya, you okay?" When the Veruni woman takes off her gasmask, Gwen chuckles nervously. "Hey, uh, don't get too confident, I can't protect you from-
'Oh."
By the time Gwen is able to react, Dean is quick on the draw, in the perfect position to catch the exhausted woman in his arms. "Avril?!" Concern cuts through whatever facade Gwen may have been about to put up concerning her own bewilderment. Eying the smoking medium, Gwen nods to Dean. "You got it. Wouldn't be the first time I'd had to carry a bunch of stuff. Rebecca can help me, if she's up for it." She tries to smile, but still is distracted by Kaguya and Avril. "Yeah, uh, best you take that, Kaguya. I'd hate t'see one of the Gobs figurin' out how to get it to work for them." Spotting Marivel atop Dean's head, Gwen finally lets out a laugh, letting some of the stiffness in her shoulders flow out with the sound. "I think the townsfolk'll be real appreciative of the agriculture we're bringin' back to 'em." She straightens. "Let's get outta here. With a good bit of rest and some fresh noodles, I bet Avril'll perk right up."