2019-11-26: The Guard and the Gourd

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  • Log: The Guard and the Gourd
  • Cast: White Knight Leo, Eryon Rast, Hilde, Kaguya, Pearl
  • Where: Altair's Farmstead
  • Date: November 26, 2019
  • Summary: The Guard have heard tell of terrible monsters haunting a farmstead. They were not prepared for what awaited.


DG: A party led by White Knight Leo is now entering Altair's Farmstead.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
============================<* Altair's Farmstead *>============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Tactics O' Gourd *>=======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 This goes slightly above and beyond 'haunted pumpkin patch.'                  
                                                                               
 The town is nothing short of a warzone. Its residents have holed up behind    
 locked doors and shuttered windows, clutching gunsmoke arms. Piles of         
 pulverized produce and deflated flannel and denim clothes litter the          
 streets. Some of them are even on fire! The damage only gets worse the        
 closer you get to the fields on the far side of town. Surely whatever is      
 responsible for this carnage can be found there.                              
                                                                               
 Of course, getting there will mean getting past warring patrols of...         
 walking, pumpkin-headed farmhands?                                            
                                                                               
 If you move quickly and stealthily enough, you might be able to take          
 advantage of their skirmishes to make your way unscathed toward the farm at   
 the far end of the road. It may be worthwhile to stop at some of the          
 abandoned houses to whip up appropriate camouflage to confuse the sentries,   
 too...!                                                                       
                                                                               
 A sign dangles ominously from a busted-up gate that reads:                    
                                                                               
 'Welcome to Mistress Altair's Happy Family Farmstead~<3'                      
                                                                               
 ((OOC Note: Feel free to use this card as an opportunity to get equipped      
 with COSTUME DISGUISES to assist with your infiltration. You don't /have/     
 to, but this is Halloween and costumes are a thing!))                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Hesitate=========================================
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Things have not been going well for Althena's Guard. Once again, they've been scattered in the wake of a teleportation event--and much like the last time they ended up on Filgaia, the Dragonship Destiny is nowhere in evidence. Leo dearly hopes it's not dangling on the edge of a cliff, again, but he trusts his crew. Wherever they are, they're following the Goddess's will to the best of their ability. The handful of Guards he does have at hand have been pressed to a small but important task. With Adlehyde on the other side of an ocean, they have no base of operations. They don't have the goodwill of the people, either, however tenuous that can be. Most importantly, they need money.

    As to why Leo chose to take his people on this particular job? Well, it's a small farming village. Leo and Mauri grew up in one of those. Raculi still isn't very big or rich, despite the fact that two of its children hold positions of great prestige. Leo knows how easy it is for those tiny little villages to just disappear. Bandits. Hellions. Malevolence outbreaks.

    Animate pumpkin-people, though, those are new.

    Leo hunkers behind an abandoned wagon, watching through the wheel spokes as a patrol of armed pumpkinheads strolls past. "What fell sorceries could have produced these monstrosities?" Leo asks, aloud. He glances meaningfully at Kaguya, known mad scientist, and Eryon Rast, known dark sorcerer. The pumpkinhead patrol marches past, and Leo dares poke his head up above the wagon's sideboards. "Aha," he says. "That garment store appears to be unbarricaded. Move out, but be cautious! There is something foul at work here, I just know it." Yet another patrol walks up to the wagon. Leo unhooks his grapple, waits a moment, and then throws it out in front of the road. The pumpkinheads don't notice until it's too late--the leader trips and falls headfirst into the street, and the others fall after. It's a pumpkin pile-up!"

    "Go!" Leo hisses.

DG: White Knight Leo has used his Tool Rope Ladder toward his party's challenge, Tactics O' Gourd.
<Pose Tracker> Eryon Rast has posed.

ERYON RAST, GRAND POO-BAH OF ARCHITECTURAL PERILS looks affronted at the insinuation that he might have something to do with these pumpkin monsters. He puts one hand to his chest, leaning back a little, projecting an aura of emotional injury that may not be entirely feigned. "I have been in your vicinity," quietly, "nearly," normally, "the entire time! How could I have possibly had the opportunity to make," quietly, "even more," normally, "of these monsters?"

Eryon folds his arms and harrumphs. He is not nearly old enough to pull off a good harrumph. It looks one hundred percent non-genuine.

"...anyway, we just need to get to the other side of town and figure out what did this, right? They don't look like Hellions," Eryon observes. He drifts upwards, cloak fluttering and his portable dramatic shadow coming along with him, so he's always in the ominous shade. "There's usually more purple, and slavering jaws, right...?"

A pumpkinhead suddenly looks up, swinging a vine-decorated lantern high above its head. Eryon flails in mid-air, his ascent suddenly turning into a sharp descent at a steep angle. He dives in through a shuttered window, popping the latch with his bulk and tumbling through the interior of the building. A cat yowls and runs out into the street, diverting their attention away from his new position amidst someone's laundry.

Just as planned.

DG: Eryon Rast has used his Tool Gravity Cloak toward his party's challenge, Tactics O' Gourd.
<Pose Tracker> Hilde has posed.

A job to investigate a farming village that has gone completely silent... that is something that Hilde can stand behind, certainly. They could not allow the innocent to come to harm. And so, she readily volunteers her assistance in this matter, and joins the others behind the cover of an abandoned wagon. But, of all the things she could have expected, it wasn't this.

"...My word." Hilde whispers, shaking her head. "This is worse than I imagined..."

Leo gives the command to rush toward the garment shop and Hilde nods. Be cautious...yes, that would be wise. She waits for him to give the signal and then bolts. As she moves she hurls her Rope Lance, ahead. It lands solidly on the ground in front of the garment shop and she uses it to pull herself forward at an increased pace before ducking inside for cover.

It really is loaded up with all kinds of costumes... Hilde looks over them consideringly.

"...I have an idea. I shall need one that fits over my armor, but..." She chooses a costume and disappears into a changing room and emerges moments later.

She looks very much like a human-sized Gear now, with the costume fitted over her armor. It must be meant to be used for plays. ...She's still wearing a cape, though. And the helmet has an eyepatch, too.

If she knew that a certain pirate had the same idea, she wouldn't know want to think.

"I do not think it quite suits me, but it was the only costume that would fit over my armor." She observes, before reaching into her cape. She pulls out some gella and a note, setting it behind the counter. "I will just leave this compensation here for the owner, when they return."

 She wasn't going to just steal it, after all.

DG: Hilde has used her Tool Rope Lance toward her party's challenge, Tactics O' Gourd.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

Actually, White Knight Leo himself may be surprised at the degrees to which the Duchess Alathfar has been going to meet up with those scattered elements, though until just about this moment, she hasn't managed face time with him. ...Well, he'll certainly be surprised at something involving her soon enough, that much is sure.

But her and the Hero's paths converge here; this is a farming village in need of aid. ...It's a farming village with rumors of unusual flora. The point is, it's of interest--

And Kaguya, too, looks with some interest at the pumpkin-people. "Foul nothing, these are awesome," Kaguya answers. Then she pauses. "Well, awesome in theory. The whole rampaging part and keeping people terrified obviously isn't ideal. But conceptually, you know? Just, being used for... Apparently for messing with a tiny village. Seems a little pointless on the cruelty meter." A beat, "But it's definitely magic," she clarifies for him, "Though the pumpkin is itself a great agricultural achievement. Anyway--My methods couldn't do the glowing face things here, and they couldn't mix the body with the pumpkin this way."

She considers, though--the garment store... Hmmm...

"On it," Kaguya answers Leo--she is, for today, dressed in fairly ordinary Filgaian attire, and she peers over at Eryon after a moment. Then she watches him flail, tumbling into a shuttered window and--

"...Minus fifty cool points," she declares mildly, and goes through the door in all the confusion. "...Wait. Garment store... Hehehehe..."

"Hey great thinking," Kaguya says, hidden behind a couple of racks, and after a few moments--

Steps out in a black bodysuit, armored up a bit, with red accents, and a long white coat with long sleeves and a high collar. She hefts her strange black-and-white ARM and puts it over her shoulder for the moment, blonde hair loose down her back with just a clip styling it out of her face. She looks at the others--

"Nah that's great," Kaguya declares of Hilde's costume. "And should definitely keep them off your trail a little."

She shows herself off, meanwhile, spinning around as the ankle-length coat hangs over her. "...I actually brought the suit, but the coat's nice." The bizarrely advanced ARM is also hers, naturally.

"So... we've got some bad people to squash, right?"

She's grinning.

DG: Kaguya has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Tactics O' Gourd.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.

    Working for money, instead of a noble cause. How very mercenary.

    Pearl doesn't mind, mercenary jobs tend to be significantly more violent and satisfactory, even if the cause allows for some... enthusiastic zealotry.

    As Leo heads into cover, Pearl follows suit. She's remarkably good at this. Also remarkably good at this is the small redhead who is practically shadowing Pearl. Where'd she come from?! Pearl doesn't seem to mind one bit, as she peeks around the corner of the wagon. "Interesting foes indeed." She says, looking upon them. She seems less outraged than Leo, but showing emotions is less Pearl's forte.

    As Pearl returns, the girl following her sneaks a look of her own. "What the hell are those?!" She hisses, much more quietly than some people. She is then immediately distracted by Eryon's protestations of innocence. "...Are you trying to give us away!?"

    Pearl, meanwhile, readies he grapnel. "You wished to learn, Amy. The battlefield will be the best teacher." Oh okay, that's why Pearl is being followed by an actual child. She looks at the path ahead, and a second patrol on it's way. "As you say, commander." She dashes out of cover and fires her grapnel at some stacked barrels, aiming to pull one out of the way and cause a crash, hopefully drawing other patrols away.

    And then she runs full tilt towards the shop, and hurls herself through a window as well. Amy follows.

    Pearl takes a few moments to look around around the shop, then sees something. She walks over to the racks, and hurls something at Amy, before grabbing something for herself and ducking into a change room.

    Amy looks disgusted. "Do I have to wear this!?"

    "You do." Pearl replies, as she steps out of the room. She's wearing... what looks to be a wolf costume, with an elaborate wolf's head styled headgear.

    Amy emerges a few moments later with a little red cloak, complete with hood, and a picnic basket. She glares at Pearl.

DG: Pearl has used her Tool Wrist-Mounted Grapnel toward her party's challenge, Tactics O' Gourd.
============================<* Altair's Farmstead *>============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Tactics O' Gourd *>=======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 This goes slightly above and beyond 'haunted pumpkin patch.'                  
                                                                               
 The town is nothing short of a warzone. Its residents have holed up behind    
 locked doors and shuttered windows, clutching gunsmoke arms. Piles of         
 pulverized produce and deflated flannel and denim clothes litter the          
 streets. Some of them are even on fire! The damage only gets worse the        
 closer you get to the fields on the far side of town. Surely whatever is      
 responsible for this carnage can be found there.                              
                                                                               
 Of course, getting there will mean getting past warring patrols of...         
 walking, pumpkin-headed farmhands?                                            
                                                                               
 If you move quickly and stealthily enough, you might be able to take          
 advantage of their skirmishes to make your way unscathed toward the farm at   
 the far end of the road. It may be worthwhile to stop at some of the          
 abandoned houses to whip up appropriate camouflage to confuse the sentries,   
 too...!                                                                       
                                                                               
 A sign dangles ominously from a busted-up gate that reads:                    
                                                                               
 'Welcome to Mistress Altair's Happy Family Farmstead~<3'                      
                                                                               
 ((OOC Note: Feel free to use this card as an opportunity to get equipped      
 with COSTUME DISGUISES to assist with your infiltration. You don't /have/     
 to, but this is Halloween and costumes are a thing!))                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Hesitate=========================================
=======================<* Altair's Farmstead - Round 1 *>=======================
=========================< Results - Tactics O' Gourd >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
White Knight Leo                    0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rope Ladder                         2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hilde                               0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rope Lance                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pearl                               0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Wrist-Mounted Grapnel               3   Agility Effects: Rally                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eryon Rast                          0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Gravity Cloak                       2   Agility Effects: Resilient            
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaguya                              0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: White Knight Leo            0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Fright(2)|Hesitate(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by White Knight Leo 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> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Leo looks at Kaguya, listening to her hypothesis. He frowns. "Sorcery, then. Magus Rast, it falls to you to deduce wh--"

    Eryon's physics engine glitches. Just as well, because the others are in motion--and Leo joins them. He leaps out from behind the cart, sprints across the street, and ducks around the side of the building. The others make it inside well in advance of the patrol, whether via rope or good old-fashioned footwork. Leo rejoins them a moment later, barring the door behind him. Hilde steps out from the dressing room, and Leo looks at her a moment, the wheels turning behind his eyes. "An ingenious plan," he says, grinning from ear to ear. He rifles through the costume racks, considering bits of clothing and selecting ones that seem to strike his fancy. Once he's done, Leo takes the pile and disappears into one of the dressing rooms. He returns a few minutes later, dressed in...

    Well. It's very blue.

    He's wearing a blue bicorne hat with gold fringe and a white feather, a blue jacket, and blue slacks. Beneath is an equally-showy vest and shirt, and a tie striped with gold, black, and red. It looks like someone put together a naval officer's uniform while knowing only the broad details. Leo's cape is still there, as is his sword-belt, but he's also picked up a cane with a horse's head worked into the grip. Perhaps most important: a blue silk domino mask.

    "They won't suspect a thing," Leo says.

DG: Kaguya has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Altair's Farmstead *>============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Cuccourbita Maxima *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Sitting right there in the middle of what would otherwise be the fastest      
 route forward is... A pumpkin. But not just any pumpkin. This pumpkin is      
 big. Huge, even. A prized pumpkin that could probably feed a family of five   
 by itself! Someone clearly put a lot of love and affection into growing this  
 gourd into the absolute unit it is today. It's even got a bright, cheery      
 face drawn on one side!                                                       
                                                                               
 And for a brief, beautiful moment, that's all it seems to be.                 
                                                                               
 Then, with a sound like a titan rising from the deepest pits of Tartarus--    
 or maybe just the sound of too many feathers ruffling together-- it unfolds.  
 A pair of vermilion wings that fade to white at the tips unfurl from either   
 side of the enormous gourd. A pair of taloned feet follow, then a head that   
 is undeniably that of a cucco many hundreds of times its usual size.          
                                                                               
 And then you notice. The pumpkin is not surrounded by a tough shell of        
 flesh... But a dense layer of bright, orange feathers!                        
                                                                               
 This is... This can only be the legendary...                                  
                                                                               
 Cuccourbita Maxima...!                                                        
                                                                               
 The massive bird gives a great, prideful cuccrowing, its feathers ruffling    
 and fluffing up as it notes your presence. It perceives you as a threat...!   
                                                                               
 There are things that mad agricultural magical science should have never      
 brought into the world. Will you be the ones to put an end to this            
 experiment gone terribly wrong...? Or are you one who would live in harmony   
 with this resplendent lord of cucco kind??                                    
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Secret===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"Okay that's amazing," Kaguya says, knowing full well that Amy kind of hates it. It's plain to her. And yet--"Just, super adorable. I love it." Kaguya makes basically a ':D' face which could be highly inappropriate in this circumstance and yet. And yet.

But she sees Leo's, as well, looks him up and down, and concludes, "...Nice. Very nice. It's good."

But they move on, and for a little while, it works out. They make it to a field, unmolested by the terrible pumpkinheads... until they reach--a gigantic pumpkin. A cheery face. Kaguya blinks. "Oh, I have to see this," she says. "Look at this thing! What did they even do to grow it this big? It's amazing!"

She's showing genuine enthusiasm for this thing--but then, when the strange sound comes, it unfolds... into feathers. Into feet. Into..."

Kaguya vibrates quietly. "...It's--it's beautiful," she says, eyes practically starring over. It fluffs up. it obviously starts to perceive them as a threat. And yet--

"Oh hey I've got some great stuff for you," she says, and approaches the thing that should not be--pulling... Is that--is that scraps of pumpkin from earlier???

.......is that a vial of blood???

"Let me mix these, it'll be super nutritious. We gotta make sure you keep getting bigger! <3"

The Cucco Princess... has met her subject...

DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Loot Abuse toward her party's challenge, Cuccourbita Maxima.
<Pose Tracker> Hilde has posed.

"Thank you, Lord Leo." Hilde replies with a smile and a polite bow as he compliments her idea. She waits patiently and observes as he emerges from his own dressing room in a rather showy outfit.

"No, I suspect not." She agrees with a nod. "It's a perfect disguise."

She looks upon the others, too with a nod of approval.

"Yes, I suspect we will not receive any trouble." She says. Soon enough, they all proceed forward, and there's no trouble! ...But then, they encounter a massive pumpkin.

"My word, the size of it..." Hilde murmurs in surprise...and then, it unfolds into a massive cucco!? It looks upon them threateningly. In response, Hilde draws out a staff bearing the Guard's battle standard, planting it into the ground.

"Hold strong, my allies! We must not let ourselves falter before any foe, no matter how large! We must..." She trails off as Kaguya...actually approaches the Cuccourbita Maxima, gushing over it??

Hilde blinks.

"Ah...pardon?" She says, then looks toward Leo, as if asking...what in the world they should actually do here.

This is not quite how she expected things to go.

DG: Hilde has used her Tool Battle Standard toward her party's challenge, Cuccourbita Maxima.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Leo stops some distance away from the pumpkin, inspecting it carefully. "I must say," he says, "whomever this 'Mistress Altair' is, she certainly has a fondness for gou--" The last word turns into a shout of surprise as the 'pumpkin' sprouts distinctly un-pumpkin-like features: feathers, taloned feet, wings. "Oh," Leo says. "Oh no. It's--it's one of those feathered fiends!" He was not in Adlehyde at the time of The Cucconing, but he's heard stories. "Hold fast!"

    The Beastman touches two fingers to the Crest hanging around his neck, gesturing with his cane for effect. Pearlescent light radiates from within, washing over the party and enveloping them in a shield of blessed protection. Leo then gestures at the cucco, an order to attack on his lips.

    Kaguya strides up to the fowl fiend and starts offering it items. Leo's mouth falls open. "Lady Kaguya," he says. "I do not mean to gainsay a noble, but... is that wise?"

DG: White Knight Leo has used his Tool White Dragon Crest toward his party's challenge, Cuccourbita Maxima.
<Pose Tracker> Eryon Rast has posed.

ERYON RAST emerges from the building, staggering under the weight of glitchy physics engines.

Or possibly cloth.

It's hard to tell, at first, that it's actually him; this is entirely because he's not wearing layers of black upon grey upon black, and instead is in bright, dare I say fluffy white. Rather than cloak, cowl and hat, he's in a big floofy white robe, edged with red triangles and with a big hood that provides plenty of head-cover but refuses to allow him to hide inside of its presumably-shady interior. It is in fact wide enough that his pointy ears are exposed, and stays up through some presumably-arcane means.

He fusses with the hood, the sleeves are so deep that his fingers barely stick out, and the hem falls nearly to the tops of his feet, making him look a lot smaller than he is. It's kind of cute and wholesome, all in all -- which means that Eryon immediately hates it. He raises his crooked rod (also, incidentally, appropriate for the outfit) and waves it vaguely. His mobile patch of shadow slides out of the shop after him.

It stops at his feet. He looks down at it, gesturing. The shadow-him quivers as if in silent laughter. Eryon, now somewhat flustered by his spell going as awry as his physics engine, waves more pointedly. Shadow-him shakes his still-hatted head and takes off down the street, leaving him without the ominous haze he so often enjoys.

"..."

"Shuddup," Eryon mumbles in Amy's direction, for some reason, via some reflex. He trudges along with the Guards, wishing he didn't have such great peripheral vision right now. He can pretend he's roaming around by his fearsome lonesome if he can clearly make out everyone in his vicinity. And it's impossible to badly part his hair like this!

This is a cursed item, Eryon concludes. He'll set himself on fire at first opportunity. Maybe he can find an oil slick to roll in, so it stops looking so bright. It's gotta be impossible to sneak around in this thi-

Eryon bumps into Leo's back. He blinks, looks up, steps back, and sees the Cuccoo. He does not immediately spot Kaguya being 'friendly', and instead panics at the mere sight of the thing. He flails his staff in the air, and there's a FLASH like a camera bulb going off, followed by three more in rapid succession. It's not really harmful, but it's certainly good for startling wild animals.

PROBABLY not into mauling people.

DG: Eryon Rast has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Cuccourbita Maxima.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.

    Amy huffs at Kaguya's compliment, and looks away. Pearl... smirks? "It is a necessity for the mission." Pearl says, in a way that suggests it absolutely isn't essential for the mission.

    Amuy looks over at Eryon, taken aback a little. "I didn't even say anything yet!" She was absolutely going to say something.

    Then there is a nightmare giant pumpkin cucco. Amy's eyes widen. "Is everything here weird!?" She takes stance, similar to Pearl's but... a little off.

    "Keep guard over Eryon Rast." Pearl instructs, and Amy looks at her again.

    "You won't even let me fight it?!"

    "Someone is required to." Ooof. Pearl takes up stance, and watches Kaguya walk towards it, and Leo be caught by fear. Pearl, for some reason, seems to show no fear against the bane of the world. Regardless, she doesn't strike first- she gives Kaguya time to do what she's going to do.

    But she is definitely going to try and murder a giant hell cucco, because she makes bad decisions.

DG: Pearl has used her Tool Striking Shadow toward her party's challenge, Cuccourbita Maxima.
============================<* Altair's Farmstead *>============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Cuccourbita Maxima *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Sitting right there in the middle of what would otherwise be the fastest      
 route forward is... A pumpkin. But not just any pumpkin. This pumpkin is      
 big. Huge, even. A prized pumpkin that could probably feed a family of five   
 by itself! Someone clearly put a lot of love and affection into growing this  
 gourd into the absolute unit it is today. It's even got a bright, cheery      
 face drawn on one side!                                                       
                                                                               
 And for a brief, beautiful moment, that's all it seems to be.                 
                                                                               
 Then, with a sound like a titan rising from the deepest pits of Tartarus--    
 or maybe just the sound of too many feathers ruffling together-- it unfolds.  
 A pair of vermilion wings that fade to white at the tips unfurl from either   
 side of the enormous gourd. A pair of taloned feet follow, then a head that   
 is undeniably that of a cucco many hundreds of times its usual size.          
                                                                               
 And then you notice. The pumpkin is not surrounded by a tough shell of        
 flesh... But a dense layer of bright, orange feathers!                        
                                                                               
 This is... This can only be the legendary...                                  
                                                                               
 Cuccourbita Maxima...!                                                        
                                                                               
 The massive bird gives a great, prideful cuccrowing, its feathers ruffling    
 and fluffing up as it notes your presence. It perceives you as a threat...!   
                                                                               
 There are things that mad agricultural magical science should have never      
 brought into the world. Will you be the ones to put an end to this            
 experiment gone terribly wrong...? Or are you one who would live in harmony   
 with this resplendent lord of cucco kind??                                    
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Secret===========================================
=======================<* Altair's Farmstead - Round 2 *>=======================
========================< Results - Cuccourbita Maxima >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
White Knight Leo                    0 --(2)--> 2                   Pass
White Dragon Crest                  2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hilde                               0 --(2)--> 2                   Pass
Battle Standard                     1   Combat  Effects: Embolden and Fanfare 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pearl                               0 --(2)--> 2                   Pass
Striking Shadow                     4   Combat  Effects: None                 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eryon Rast                          0 --(7)--> 7                   Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaguya                              0 --(2)--> 2                   Pass
Loot Abuse                          2   Combat  Effects: Cleanse and Sacrifice
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: White Knight Leo            20 --(20)--> 40                Pass
Conditions: Fright(2)|Hesitate(1)|Secret(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by White Knight Leo 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.

As a whole, the group has understandable reservations about what is happening. Everything here is, in fact, very weird. And necessary for the mission, in the sense that Amy's adorable red cloak is. So this... is what happens. It's fine.

"It's fine," Kaguya answers Leo then. "I'm an expert on plants."

The standard is placed down! A clear response to the challenge of the great Cuccourbita Maxima! It calls out in its birdy basso. Eryon, next--Eryon, who is adorable now--

But Eryon--Eryon flashes the Cucco. Repeatedly. With his magic. It's not really harmful, but it's very startling.

"CAAAWWW!" the great Cucco cries, its beak bloody and dirty with Kaguya's fertilizer mix. It lifts its great wings, and then--

"Ooooh, there's a powerful girl," Kaguya continues to gush, petting the feathers of the Great Cucco. ...It seems mollified by this. Indeed, there's no accounting for it save that Kaguya must have some strange affinity for the thing, some... supernatural bond...

Or maybe she drugged the fertilizer, for the cynical. Either way she seems delighted.

It looks to Pearl, and the others, next, and leaaaans down. It stares its beady eyes into Pearl's. "...Cluck cluck," it says seriously, "Cluck... Cluck-cluck." The secrets of the Cucco's relentless counterattack for a tantalizing moment may be glimpsed--

As it promptly stomps hard enough to knock Eryon over. The standard waves in the movement--

And the Cuccourbita eyes it, nodding in its wise way. "Cluck," it says to Lady Hilde. its eyes begin to close, and it re-coils itself...

Sparkling light washes over the group, centered on the standard and emitted from the Cuccourbita Maxima. It's refreshing! And... pumpkiny. And--

...Faintly terrifying.

Kaguya sighs, happily, and comes away with a weirdly full glass cup and two vials that she immediately shoves into her coat. "Okay I got some samples. Let's go!"

DG: White Knight Leo has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Altair's Farmstead *>============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Pumpkin Pride *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 A bullet whizzes by your ear. You seem to have stepped right into a blockade  
 manned by pumpkin-headed guards armed with a handful of scavenged             
 blunderbusses and farm tools. One of them is even driving what seems to be a  
 weaponized combine harvester! It seems as though this band of pumpkin         
 protesters has taken offense to your presence on their land, and more are     
 leaping out of the surrounding cornfields by the minute! Fight them off or    
 you might just end up mulch!                                                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Injure===========================================
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    The scent of nutmeg and pumpkin lingers in the air, along with the faintest whiff of cucco feathers. Cuccourbita Maxima is truly a creature of unparalleled might. "Good," Leo says. "Now let us depart, before it changes its mind." The Guards move on, while the eldritch agricultural hybrid sinks back into its dreams. What do cuccos dream of, anyway?

    Murder. Probably murder.

    Leo leads the group through the fields, staying as quiet and inconspicuous as he can while dressed in a costume that does not remotely blend in. "Was it an enchanted field?" he says. "What could have spawned these things?" One thing's for sure, these aren't normal pumpkin plants. The pumpkins themselves look fairly normal, but the vines are shaped strangely. They're a lot twistier, and more angular, too--as if they're tracing out arcane geometries. Weird.

    Of course, the moment someone moves in to try and inspect them, things go south. A spotlight falls upon the Guards: a grinning Jack-o-lantern face, projected from a ghoulish gourd mounted atop a pole in the next field over. The crack of gunshot rifles fills the air a moment later. A bullet whizzes past Leo's horn, clipping the top of his hat. "Down!" Leo shouts. The Beastman hits the dirt as more bullets fill the air. A fresh wave of power courses through the ground, reinforcing the White Dragon Aura. Leo presses both his hands into the turf, focuses...

    Spikes of jagged stone erupt downrange, shredding a group of pumpkin musketeers.

DG: White Knight Leo has used his Tool White Dragon Crest toward his party's challenge, Pumpkin Pride.
<Pose Tracker> Hilde has posed.

Sparkling light washes over the group. Hilde stands there, dumbfounded for a moment. Fortunately, her helmet masks her emotion, so from the outside, it just looks like she's standing stockstill.

"...Ah. Yes, I agree." She says with a nod. She pulls the standard out from the ground and keeps going...but, it isn't long before they come across trouble. A spotlight falls over them, and they're set upon by foes.

Bullets fill the air and Hilde hunkers down along with the others. It was troublesome...but, thankfully, Leo is there, reinforcing them with the White Dragon Aura, and dispersing their ranks with spikes of jagged stone.

"I am moving in! Stay strong, and do not falter!" Hilde says, planting the banner once more. She leaves her shield behind, taking up her sword in both hands. "I shall deal with their machine."

She steps out from behind cover and, as she does, her body is suffused with a blue aura. She approaches the combine harvester as it bears down upon them...and then takes a step forward before swinging her blade downward upon it, looking to cleave it - and its pumpkin pilot, if they don't abandon the vehicle - in two in a single stroke.

DG: Hilde has used her Tool Battle Standard toward her party's challenge, Pumpkin Pride.
<Pose Tracker> Eryon Rast has posed.

ERYON RAST, WOOBIE WHITE WIZARD (even his title card has turned against him!?) stares up into the hateful eyes of the megacuccoo. This is entirely inadvertant, and also accidentally challenging. There's a momentary cut-in, zooming in dramatically on their eyes--!!

BOOM

--and down goes Eryon. He flips over completely, landing flat on his back. Tiny cuccoos circle him from his spot on the ground, the universal sign of being knocked out of a battle where the stakes have never been lower.

When Eryon comes around, he's mildly sparkly. He gets up, brushes himself off reflexively, and... he's still sparkly.

The robe is now sparkly. It gives him a negative amount of menace, when previously it merely dropped it to zero. He also smells pleasantly of pumpkin-based baked goods, which tends to make people relax instead of recoil in fear. Eryon can practically hear the UI decrementing his favorite derived stats as he stands there.

And then ducks before he turns into a colander. Eryon scuttles across the ground, scrambling for cover, then remembers he's a freakin' wizard. He knocks on the dirt with his crook, and with a rumble and a 'FOOMPF,' waist-high cover shaped like turf battlements erupts out of the ground in front of him, and strategically all over the space between him and their dire enemies! It looks like some kind of...

...dungeon... terrain...??

DG: Eryon Rast has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Pumpkin Pride.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.

    Well, so much for fighting a horrifying monster beast that would kill them. Something in that Cucco's eyes tell Pearl something. A terrifying secret. "...Is that how they do it." She says, quietly.

    And then Eryon gets utterly smacked down at the Cucco and Amy watches in surprise in that the shockwave seems to ignore her and send the young wizard flying. She turns behind her... and laughs. "Oh man," she lets out between laughs, "you got wrecked!" Pearl glares at Amy, and she quickly shuts up. "What?" The redhead responds "He's still alive, isn't he?"

    Pearl nods. "Good enough, then."

    And then there's gunfire and Pearl hits the ground quickly, assuming Amy has done the same. "...How do they know how to use these weapons?" She asks aloud, only to see the brand new combine harvester, and someone's given the pumpkin a key.

    Now is absolutely not the time to get together in perfect harmony.

    As Hilde goes for the main threat, Pearl hurls herself towards the pumpkins, Amy following suit. For a supposed new student, the two fight around each other almost perfectly, as though they had been fighting together for years. The moves are kept simple, and Pearl is not slashing around in her normal furious style. Interesting.

DG: Pearl has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Pumpkin Pride.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

Kaguya is still pleased after they leave. But Leo's question... "It has to have been," Kaguya answers. "The size I could account for--the creatures? That doesn't happen by accident. Accidental mutations tend to look a lot less consistent and a lot more... Melty. Or nonviable. I guess it could be someone left magic lying around, but..." She glances at the vines. "Doubt it."

Nevertheless Kaguya does move to inspect--and suddenly--"Oh. Yeah, definitely something intentional," Kaguya says. Suddenly there's gunshots--Kaguya hits the deck, too, and feels herself gaining power. There's jagged stone about...

"Right! I'll get on offense!" Kaguya calls back. Then--"Oh, hey. Instant cover. That's cool. Oh, by the way," Kaguya says. "Take this." She moves behind Eryon's cover and hands him... Uhhh.

Well it's a potion of some kind. It's probably helpful? But it's not labelled and she doesn't bother actually telling him what it is. "Drink it quick," she tells him, "You don't have to taste it that way."

...Where, exactly, did she find this?

Then she pulls another one, and pops off the cork, and--it smells distinctly of pumpkin. "Found this in the garment shop," Kaguya explains. ...She probably didn't mix up the two, as she then pulls a vial of something green, sprinkles it in, applies a cloth, and lights the mixture--

And the flames glow green as she hurls the mysterious cocktail towards the combine. "Bet I can--"

Kaguya pulls her ARM and aims--and as soon as her object gets close to the combine she fires a bolt of green energy from her shotgun. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

She leans to Eryon, "There isn't a hole. That's just what you say. Heheheheheh."

She also watches Pearl and her student. ...And watches them stay out of the way of gunfire too, hopefully.

DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Loot Abuse toward her party's challenge, Pumpkin Pride.
============================<* Altair's Farmstead *>============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Pumpkin Pride *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 A bullet whizzes by your ear. You seem to have stepped right into a blockade  
 manned by pumpkin-headed guards armed with a handful of scavenged             
 blunderbusses and farm tools. One of them is even driving what seems to be a  
 weaponized combine harvester! It seems as though this band of pumpkin         
 protesters has taken offense to your presence on their land, and more are     
 leaping out of the surrounding cornfields by the minute! Fight them off or    
 you might just end up mulch!                                                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Injure===========================================
=======================<* Altair's Farmstead - Round 3 *>=======================
==========================< Results - Pumpkin Pride >===========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
White Knight Leo                    2 --(10)--> 12                 Pass
White Dragon Crest                  2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hilde                               2 --(10)--> 12                 Pass
Battle Standard                     1   Combat  Effects: Embolden and Fanfare 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pearl                               2 --(10)--> 12                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eryon Rast                          7 --(10)--> 17                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaguya                              2 --(10)--> 12                 Pass
Loot Abuse                          2   Combat  Effects: Cleanse and Sacrifice
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: White Knight Leo            40 --(30)--> 70                Pass
Conditions: Fright(2)|Injure(2)|Secret(1)
Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by White Knight Leo 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: Pearl has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Altair's Farmstead *>============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Gourdian Force *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Whoever runs this farm must be a beautiful and peerless sorceress of          
 considerable talent. If the animated vegetation wasn't enough of an           
 indication, then this spectral, Jack o' Lantern-esque barrier dispels all     
 doubt. It's nothing less than a solid, vaguely dome-shaped wall of brilliant  
 orange energy, with a grinning, angular grimace carved into it out of         
 crimson flame. It shimmers and flares defiantly as you approach, its flames   
 producing winding plumes of symbological formulas in lieu of smoke.           
                                                                               
 If you can't break through, you'll need to find another way around. But how   
 could you ever triumph over such masterful magic!?                            
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Exhaust==========================================
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Eryon might look uncharacteristically ~adorable~ at the moment, but his magic is no less effective for it. His palisades give everyone a bit of extra cover, allowing Leo to pull himself upright and take a good look at the enemy. The thresher-ARM is the biggest threat on the field--he opens his mouth to issue an order, but Hilde is one step ahead of him. The knight plants her standard, illustrating to all and sundry that the Guard is not retreating here. Bullets glance off her shield as she strides into the fray. Her blade gleams.

    A gleaming line traces its way down both harvester and pilot. There's a sudden shriek of grinding metal, and the machine grinds to a halt, falling into two neat pieces. With the harvester down, Pearl and Amy are free to lay into the gourds without fear of being mulched. It isn't long before the ground is slick with pumpkin pulp. Leo clenches his fist, and sends more stone spikes tearing through the last holdouts. The field falls silent, save for the smoke wafting from the destroyed combine harvester.

<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    There is also a great deal of smoke wafting from the remains of a cluster of pumpkinheads that had the misfortune to catch Kaguya's grenade. The flames licking around them are still glowing that eerie green. That's... probably okay, right?

<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.

    The battlefield is an orange mess at the end. Pumpkin seed and pulp litter the battlefield. And, naturally, because Pearl is messy when she fights, the two martial artists are also covered in pumpkin bits. Amy tries to wipe the worst of it off. Pearl does not bother. There will likely be more splattering to happen.

    "Everyone is still alive. Good." It's almost like she cares.

    The path leads to... a barrier. A wall of brilliant orange. A terrifying face, of crimson flame. Eyes alight with malice. A foul grinning visage, that bars the way.

    "That's a weird wall." Amy says, as she pushes up against it. She punches it. There is no response, beyond a slight 'ow'.

    Pearl, meanwhile, tries to dig her claws into the wall. There's a lot of resistance, but there's the slightest bit of give. "Commander. I believe this will not yield without all our force against it." She looks back. "I believe you will be of use here, Eryon Rast." She looks over at Amy next. "You as well."

    Amy rolls her eyes lightly at Eryon being of use, because much like Pearl she is mean. "Alright. I'll do what I can." And then, on the edge of Pearl's claws, light glows. It might just give her the edge to tear through.

DG: Pearl has used her Tool Wolf Claws toward her party's challenge, Gourdian Force.
<Pose Tracker> Hilde has posed.

As the combine harvester falls apart in two Hilde straightens up, returning her sword to its sheath. The rest of the battlefield has been cleared of foes, it seems, and she turns to face the rest of her allies.

"Good work, all of you." She says, returning to where she planted the flag and picking it back up.

They continue forward, but their path is blocked by a large, grinning barrier. Hilde looks upon it with a frown. It definitely looks to be magical in origin. She'll contribute her strength to the task in a moment, but first...

"This may be a good time to pause and recuperate our strength, while the enemy is not upon us as of yet." Hilde suggests. "I have taken the liberty of preparing a meal ahead of time."

Hilde reaches into the pouch on her waist, and...draws out an entire cooking pot? It feels as fresh and as hot as if she had just prepared it.

"It is a vegetable stew, sourced from local produce. It turned out quite well, if I say so myself." Hilde says. Fortunately, Kaguya informed her of her dietary preferences the other day so she had been able to prepare accordingly. She'll ladle out a bowl for anyone who wants one and, once everyone's had their fill, she'll take up her blade and help deal with the wicked wall in front of them.

DG: Hilde has used her Tool Magical Pouch toward her party's challenge, Gourdian Force.
<Pose Tracker> Eryon Rast has posed.

Eryon is perfectly content behind his instant cover. He is more unsettled by the production of some kind of bottle of Something Helpful than the incoming attacks, truth be told. Still, the heat of the moment means that he grabs, pops, and chugs the contents, hopefully not imbibing whatever strong spirits were snagged for Molotov making. He makes a face nonetheless.

"I coulda made you a hole to aim for, too," he asides to Kaguya, already-habitually trying to adjust his big doofy hood. "Kind of a weird phrase, though. Only half correct?"

Once the field is cleared, Eryon pops back up. The ramparts remain, probably there to bother whatever adventurer or trader comes through here next. He starts off, hitting the screen transition and walking in place for a second as the entire map shifts to the next tileset--

er

--until the group, uh... gets to the barrier. Eryon keeps mostly to the back, but it doesn't make the meanness any less hurtful; he sort of puffs up his cheeks and pouts, an expression that is probably hidden behind his shadowy mask and largely face-concealing outfit most of the time. "H-hey...! It's..."

Eryon's protests trail off. He makes his way up to the wall, looking up at it and reaching a hand towards it. He whistles a little. "This is some barrier... but it's a dome." Eryon raises and taps his crook against it in a couple spots, around the flaming grimace. "So there's got to be a certain matrix woven in to maintain its shape, or it wouldn't be solid all the way around."

Eryon is talking to nobody in particular. He takes two steps to the left. "The rotational force is directly related to the arcanical current being used to keep the barrier impermeable. So if we counter that force, then it should just unravel, and we can walk right through. Except," he continues, a little more excitedly, "if you do it wrong, you change the flow of local ley energies and it becomes unstable enough that it might just explode, which would be pretty awful, but could you imagine how huge the blast would be for something this big? So you can't just knock on it and hope it goes down unless you want to get burnt to a crisp, you've got to have a certain amount of finesse or --"

Beat.

"Oh, there we go." Eryon sticks out his tongue, squints an eye, and throws a faintly glowing rock at a spot under one of the dome's big eyes.

DG: Eryon Rast has used his Tool Sympathy Stones toward his party's challenge, Gourdian Force.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"Don't worry," Kaguya says of the green flame to no one in particular. "It's not the kind of thing that lingers in the groundwater." She sounds very sure of that, but also, is that something you should have to say? At least it's probably just with Eryon. More loudly she says to Hilde, "You too! Great work."

Eryon, who finds his mind clearing and his magical reserves restored somewhat.

"Well like sometimes there are holes. But I dunno I saw it on TV and I liked it."

She doesn't explain this. "I'll keep that in mind though for next time. Handy ability."

But here--

"Yeah, we're all alive. It's cool. We're good at things! Though..." She pauses. "It does all seem kind of excessive for one village. I don't think whoever is responsible for this is trying to destroy it; there are much, much simpler ways to do that than all this. ...Could it just be experiments...?"

Kaguya looks at the wall, thoughtfully. Punch punch--but that doesn't work. But then--"Oh wow that's the most useful pocket ever I love it. Yeah uh--I'll help out in a minute," she says, and happily accepts some soup. She takes a bowl, and--

"This is delicious! Thanks, Lady Hilde. You weren't kidding about cooking..." It is wonderful and she can even keep it down which is good some days are worse than others. "Super great. It definitely turned out well."

Only after she finishes--which is not... terribly long, though she has decent table manners because--

Well because there was a montage a long time ago about it.

"So," she says after that, "You're seeing lots of cool magic, and it could totally explode. I can super imagine how big the blast would be. So, consider--"

Eryon puts down a stone. Kaguya, instead, pulls out... a bomb. It's definitely a bomb. It has plastic, and it blinks green. Except, she cracks it open at the side, reaches in, snips a couple wires, and--yank.

"Hey so don't get near this stuff, kay? Super dangerous."

Kaguya puts the strange, glowing green material in the mouth, where Eryon's stone is at the eye, and then closes her own before--

Ice starts to stretch forth, and it turns... green, as it begins to absorb the gunk and spread within the barrier.

Surely nothing bad will happen.

DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Magnetic Resonance Bomb toward her party's challenge, Gourdian Force.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Pearl gives her assessment of the barrier. Leo frowns, his eyes narrowing behind his mask. "We must be drawing near to the sorcerer's lair," he says. "Or something else they wish to hide from prying eyes." Why would someone bother to make a magical barrier around something unimportant? As the team's nerdier members start figuring out the exact nature of the barrier, Leo accepts a bowl of soup from Hilde, nodding gratefully.

    Eryon gives his assessment of the barrier. Leo nods, pretending that he understood the parts of it that weren't 'might cause a huge explosion'. "Carefully, then." The odd costume he's wearing has white gloves, for some reason. Leo removes a second pair of gloves--gauntlets, really--and dons them, one at a time, without removing the first. They're made of dark metal with a rough, almost stone-like finish, broken up by bits of polished amber. Leo presses his hands to the earth, and waits. The minute the barrier starts to fade, the earth rises up beneath it, as if shrugging it off.

DG: White Knight Leo has used his Tool Earthgrasp Gauntlets toward his party's challenge, Gourdian Force.
============================<* Altair's Farmstead *>============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Gourdian Force *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Whoever runs this farm must be a beautiful and peerless sorceress of          
 considerable talent. If the animated vegetation wasn't enough of an           
 indication, then this spectral, Jack o' Lantern-esque barrier dispels all     
 doubt. It's nothing less than a solid, vaguely dome-shaped wall of brilliant  
 orange energy, with a grinning, angular grimace carved into it out of         
 crimson flame. It shimmers and flares defiantly as you approach, its flames   
 producing winding plumes of symbological formulas in lieu of smoke.           
                                                                               
 If you can't break through, you'll need to find another way around. But how   
 could you ever triumph over such masterful magic!?                            
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Exhaust==========================================
=======================<* Altair's Farmstead - Round 4 *>=======================
==========================< Results - Gourdian Force >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
White Knight Leo                    12 --(0)--> 12                 Pass
Earthgrasp Gauntlets                3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hilde                               12 --(15)--> 27                Fail
Magical Pouch                       1   Brute   Effects: Cleanse              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pearl                               12 --(0)--> 12                 Pass
Wolf Claws                          2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen           
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eryon Rast                          17 --(0)--> 17                 Pass
Sympathy Stones                     2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen           
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaguya                              12 --(0)--> 12                 Pass
Magnetic Resonance Bomb             3   Brute   Effects: Rally                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: White Knight Leo            70 --(20)--> 90                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Fright(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by White Knight Leo 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> Pearl has posed.

    Pearl starts by trying to rip through, and it's a start, Then Eryon mentions huge explosions, and a pin point to throw at, and she decides it is smarter to back off. The rock goes through perfectly. And then Kaguya decides to apply a bomb, and Leo throws up a wall of stone under the barrier. Hilde meanwhile offers an opportunity for people to replenish before they break through.

    The barrier shatters under the combined effort, an evil laugh cackling away into the night as the pumpkin shield disappears into the aether.

    Then there is a loud slurping noise.

    Amy is downing the stew with vigor. "This is amazing," comes out between mouthfuls. She looks towards Pearl. "Do you get to eat like this every day?"

    Pearl sighs. "We are still on a battlefield."

    Amy pauses, and finishes the last of her stew. "...Battlefields don't stop you being hungry."

DG: Hilde has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Altair's Farmstead *>===========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Teleporter Maize *>======================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 You've been wandering the fields and farmland for long enough now that you    
 almost feel like you've got a hang of how to navigate through it all. You     
 take a step, turn a corner and--                                              
                                                                               
                                    *blip*                                     
                                                                               
 Suddenly you're... somewhere else entirely. Vanished in a flash of orange     
 light. There's a symbological sign underfoot that seems to be responsible,    
 and several more up ahead. Reality dawns on you in all its horrible glory.    
 Yes, indeed, this is no mere corn maze...                                     
                                                                               
 It's... a teleporter maize.                                                   
                                                                               
 And whatever you're after is /probably/ at the end of it all. Now all you     
 have to do is figure out how to navigate it...                                
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Madness==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Hilde has posed.

Hilde looks pleased at the compliments directed to her cooking - and they can actually see it, since she removed her helmet in order to be able to partake of it herself.

"I am glad you enjoyed it!" She says cheerfully. The meals are finished, so Hilde places the helmet back on her head and returns the pot and bowls to her pouch for later clean-up.

"Whenever I am in charge of cooking, at any rate." Hilde asides toward Amy.

The barrier dissipates, and as the energy fades, it becomes clear what it was hiding - it's a maze. A maize maze.

"I would hazard a guess that our destination must be at the end of this maze - assuming this is not an extreme case of misdirection. They went through quite a bit of trouble to obscure it." Hilde observes. She takes up her sword and shield, keeping them both close to her as she moves forward into the maze for the possibility that something emerges to attack.

Except, when they round a corner...they all disappear in a flash of orange light, and find themselves somewhere else entirely within the maze.

"...What in the world...?" Hilde murmurs. Studying the glyph underfoot will reveal it to utilize a form of Symbology...and it's not the only one of its kind. There's more of them ahead.

"I suppose we'd best get moving." Hilde says.

DG: Hilde has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Teleporter Maize.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.

    Amy actually seems a little awestruck that such cooking is on offer. "Wow. The food at the- uh, at the orphanage was always so bland." She catches herself mid sentence, but Pearl seems to be glaring at her again.

    Fortunately that glare suddenly disappears, as does Pearl herself. And Amy finds herself back at the start. Then the others reappear, and Pearl does as well.

    "This is just like in the shrine." Pearl says, flashing back to the statue that sent them back to the start of that dungeon. This bodes ill. "At least this time nothing is chasing us." She pauses, and looks behind them to see if she jinxed it. No giant pumpkin rolling down behind them. They're clear for now..

    Pearl looks to cut a mark in the wall, only to find that the wall is corn. Unless they can remember exactly which stalk of corn was cut out, that's not very useful. "...We can't simply cut our way through, either." She muses out loud. So much for that plan.

    "So, what're we going to do?" Amy asks, and Pearl shakes her head.

    "We follow the others." Yeah, okay, she's not got much to offer here.

DG: Pearl has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Teleporter Maize.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

The evil laugh cackles into the night, and Kaguya has to admit--"...Our villain has a sense of style, anyway. I still don't get why, unless..."

...Unless it's mostly for fun? That would make sense. But c'mon, what kind of cool witch would do all this just for research, or fun, or... giggles, or...

"...Yeah," she says, thoughtfully. "Mistress Altair, huh...?"

She shakes her head, and her white coat continues to fan out a little as she walks forward.

"She's got a point~!" Kaguya says to Pearl about hungry, and beams at Hilde over the food. Then though--a maze...

"Hrmmm," Kaguya says. "I don't fancy just running around looking for the things without any clues, so... Sec.

Kaguya pulls the shell of the bomb she'd dismantled before, and then a green kit, flopping down into a seated position on the ground to put something together. "We've detected the sort of magic doing this already; if I can just check to see if it radiates..."

Tinker tinker. Tinker. Suddenly, something in Kaguya's hands is beeping. It's... some kind of meter?? It looks a little like a metronome.

"Ha! Got it. So this should lead us to new teleporters, more or less. So that's step one."

DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Mad Science Case toward her party's challenge, Teleporter Maize.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Corn is something Leo is familiar with. The sight of it arranged like this beings back memories--memories of playing hide-and-seek with his childhood friends, in the weeks when he returned home. More bittersweet ones, too, like that night when Mauri got laust in the corn-maze and he found her, alone and crying.

    Leo simply stands there a moment, looking weirdly distant and nostalgic as he surveys the field. "Child's play," he says, as Hilde delivers her assessment. He strides forwards.

    *blip*

    Leo reappears behind Pearl. He frowns, turns on a heel, and walks down a different branch.

    *blip*

    Now he's behind Eryon. "Of course, sorcery has to be involved." He steps in behind Pearl, having come to the same conclusion.

DG: White Knight Leo has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Teleporter Maize.
<Pose Tracker> Eryon Rast has posed.

Eryon likes corn. Maize, however, is an affront to all that corn is and can be.

"What a... a... cheap pun!" Eryon sputters, clearly offended. "A teleporter maize?! Really?! As if you could call this a real 'maze' anyway!" He's really full of vim and vigor right now. Whatever horribly disgusting concoction Kaguya thrust upon him has him supercharged, and he's pacing like a madman, almost but not quite passing down the blinking corridors of orange-tinted confusion. He's also speaking very, very quickly. "It's a labyrinth at best. What, do they all go to the same place, but you just cut out the space in-between? I bet it's, like, twelve hundred square feet at most!"

"You can't make a teleporter maze and just reorient people on the same X-axis with differing facing and call it a day! It stops being a maze and starts being an obstacle course with a clear and present exit, broken down by process of elimination! Look, see --" Eryon power-walks down one fork.

        *blip*

"And now I'm over here. But if I go in this way --"

                *blip*

"-- I end up over here, with the same relative spatial coordinates and a varied physical facing. Oh, the conservation of relative velocity is a clever bit of sorcery, I'll give you that, but I'll give you nothing else." Eryon puts his hands on his hips, eyes narrowed. He looks left, then right. "Too easy! Amateur's work! What you need to do is something -- like -- this!" He sweeps his crook into the air.

  1. -1 ARGUMENT MUST BE POSITIVE INTEGER


Huge portions of the maize maze abruptly shoot into the air on stone rises. Plateaus come up, stairs cutting themselves out of the ground, bounded by narrow, vision-blocking walls. Something like a ziggurat covered in locally-sourced pumpkins appears in the middle of it for no readily apparent reason. Eryon makes a complex series of hand gestures, points down a teleport corridor, and strides down it confidently.

            *zort*

He yells from on top of one of the rises. "There! Now we're getting somewhere! This is the beginnings of a real actual maze worth the name! Now you go down, then left, then, up, then right, then forward twice and backwards once to get to the pyramid, which gives you a view of the whole thing and lets you feel really good about completing it! And the entire time it makes it more rewarding because the hapless fools caught in your diabolical clutches can find hints and clues as to the proper order of things based on the adjusted environs! It stops being a labyrinth of guessing and requires actual atttention, intelligence, and guts to clear!! ALL THINGS THAT I, Eryon Raaa... . . . . . . "

*whump*

Eryon falls over in the middle of the maize maze's new antechamber, flat on his face, the questionable potion energy having apparently expired extremely abruptly. But, uh... maybe he said something useful?

<Pose Tracker> Eryon Rast has posed.

Eryon likes corn. Maize, however, is an affront to all that corn is and can be.

"What a... a... cheap pun!" Eryon sputters, clearly offended. "A teleporter maize?! Really?! As if you could call this a real 'maze' anyway!" He's really full of vim and vigor right now. Whatever horribly disgusting concoction Kaguya thrust upon him has him supercharged, and he's pacing like a madman, almost but not quite passing down the blinking corridors of orange-tinted confusion. He's also speaking very, very quickly. "It's a labyrinth at best. What, do they all go to the same place, but you just cut out the space in-between? I bet it's, like, twelve hundred square feet at most!"

"You can't make a teleporter maze and just reorient people on the same X-axis with differing facing and call it a day! It stops being a maze and starts being an obstacle course with a clear and present exit, broken down by process of elimination! Look, see --" Eryon power-walks down one fork.

        *blip*

"And now I'm over here. But if I go in this way --"

                *blip*

"-- I end up over here, with the same relative spatial coordinates and a varied physical facing. Oh, the conservation of relative velocity is a clever bit of sorcery, I'll give you that, but I'll give you nothing else." Eryon puts his hands on his hips, eyes narrowed. He looks left, then right. "Too easy! Amateur's work! What you need to do is something -- like -- this!" He sweeps his crook into the air.

                            *KA-KRAK-RRRRRRRRR...*

Huge portions of the maize maze abruptly shoot into the air on stone rises. Plateaus come up, stairs cutting themselves out of the ground, bounded by narrow, vision-blocking walls. Something like a ziggurat covered in locally-sourced pumpkins appears in the middle of it for no readily apparent reason. Eryon makes a complex series of hand gestures, points down a teleport corridor, and strides down it confidently.

            *zort*

He yells from on top of one of the rises. "There! Now we're getting somewhere! This is the beginnings of a real actual maze worth the name! Now you go down, then left, then, up, then right, then forward twice and backwards once to get to the pyramid, which gives you a view of the whole thing and lets you feel really good about completing it! And the entire time it makes it more rewarding because the hapless fools caught in your diabolical clutches can find hints and clues as to the proper order of things based on the adjusted environs! It stops being a labyrinth of guessing and requires actual atttention, intelligence, and guts to clear!! ALL THINGS THAT I, Eryon Raaa... . . . . . . "

*whump*

Eryon falls over in the middle of the maize maze's new antechamber, flat on his face, the questionable potion energy having apparently expired extremely abruptly. But, uh... maybe he said something useful?

DG: Eryon Rast has used his Tool Prepared Monologue toward his party's challenge, Teleporter Maize.
===========================<* Altair's Farmstead *>===========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Teleporter Maize *>======================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 You've been wandering the fields and farmland for long enough now that you    
 almost feel like you've got a hang of how to navigate through it all. You     
 take a step, turn a corner and--                                              
                                                                               
                                    *blip*                                     
                                                                               
 Suddenly you're... somewhere else entirely. Vanished in a flash of orange     
 light. There's a symbological sign underfoot that seems to be responsible,    
 and several more up ahead. Reality dawns on you in all its horrible glory.    
 Yes, indeed, this is no mere corn maze...                                     
                                                                               
 It's... a teleporter maize.                                                   
                                                                               
 And whatever you're after is /probably/ at the end of it all. Now all you     
 have to do is figure out how to navigate it...                                
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Madness==========================================
======================<* Altair's Farmstead - Round 5 *>======================
========================< Results - Teleporter Maize >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
White Knight Leo                    12 --(30)--> 42                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hilde                               27 --(30)--> 57                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pearl                               12 --(30)--> 42                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eryon Rast                          17 --(25)--> 42                Pass
Prepared Monologue                  2   Wits    Effects: Sacrifice, Enlighten,
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaguya                              12 --(25)--> 37                Pass
Mad Science Case                    2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: White Knight Leo            90 --(0)--> 90                 Fail
Conditions: Fright(2)|Madness
Effects: Enlighten(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by White Knight Leo has failed 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> Hilde has posed.

Hilde studies Amy for a moment.

"...I see. Well, I find that it is important to keep my allies fed well - it keeps morale and spirits high. An army marches on their stomach, after all!" She explains. She notices the brief slip-up, but she doesn't comment on it - it wasn't enough to make her suspicious of anything.

And so, they make their way through the maze. ...Or, they try to, anyway. It's difficult - something about it seems to actively defy attempts to understand it.

Kaguya uses a meter to lead them toward new teleporters, which will definitely be helpful - it'll help them find new ones and keep track of ones that don't lead them anywhere.

Eryon, meanwhile, puts a ziggurat right in the middle of the darn thing. It gives him a clear view of where they need to go...

...But, the entire maize seems to bristle indignantly at him. It doesn't seem to have appreciated his efforts. They'll be able to make their way forward, but the maize doesn't seem to be happy about it.

FOOTAGE LOST

You got: GLASS PUMPKIN

Victory! You turn the tables on your chosen foes (or, you know, both of them) and drive what remains of them off into the cornfields. Before you can pat yourselves on the back, though, you notice as something- No, /several/ somethings begin burrowing out of the soft, loamy soil. They're... more pumpkins!?

No. Not quite. These pumpkins are made of glass... And seem to radiate profoundly spooky energies. Whoever this Mistress Altair is, she is clearly a symbologist and sorceress without pear. Do these artifacts contain a sample of her power...?

((OOC Note: This card is an opportunity to acquire a distinctly witchy sorcery attack with the poison or mute tags to your repertoire, associated with the themes of fire, pumpkins or charm~<3.))