2019-12-22: Like A Natural
- Log: Like A Natural
- Cast: Ida Everstead-Rey, Rebecca Streisand, Fei Fong Wong, Citan Uzuki
- Where: Mount Colshrie
- Date: December 22, 2019
- Summary: A small group heads up Mount Colshrie in Gears, interested in what secrets the rumored Demon Tower may hold. At the summit they find a mystery...
DG: A party led by Ida Everstead-Rey is now entering Mount Colshrie. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==============================<* Mount Colshrie *>============================== ================<* CHALLENGE - The Storm - Through The White *>================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- It is said that at the peak of Mount Colshrie in the Sielje region are ruins named by some 'Cythraul the Demon Tower'. Scholars believe that the tower dates back to the Metal Demon War. The ruins are poorly explored and in a dangerous location, and as such, the interest in them is high. You arrive at Mount Colshrie in the early evening, just as the stars would be coming out. They are of course invisible to you since there is, as there is so often, a storm swirling about the mountain base. Between the weather and the terrain, the mountain is near certain death for a traveler on foot. For someone in a Gear or similar, though... But even a Gear only gives you a slight chance: the storms on Mount Colshrie are known for their ferocity, and soon the world has gone white. Even the glittering crystals that dot the mountain are lost to your sight. Can you determine which way is best to proceed? A storm like this conceals the mountain's hazards: a wrong step could be dangerous. You will have to reckon with mountain and storm both as you begin your ascent. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-sgn7QLVP4 =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Tire, Injure====================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The Sielje foothills are unforgiving at the best of times. Now, as winter grips Filgaia, they rival Arctica in their hostility.
A party of Gears makes its way through the blinding snow. At its head is the Dust Dragoon, a blue-and-gold machine that looks like it started life as an Aveh Trooper. It traverses the snow much like it would the desert--in brief, gentle bursts of its jumpjets. Each leap stirs up the snow.
In the cockpit, Ida pulls down her scarf, and takes a sip of hot tea. "I'm glad I had that weatherproofing installed," she says. "I'd hate to think of what would happen without it." The path narrows. Ida frowns, thoughtfully, and reaches for a button on the Dragoon's control panel. Part of the machine's skirt armor slides open, and something emerges from the compartment inside--a small quadrotor drone, which flits up, and starts scanning the terrain ahead.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Reconaissance Drone toward her party's challenge, The Storm - Through The White.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
Among the party is a gear that looks so light of frame that it must have been some kind of scouting - or recon gear before it was reappropriated. You'd think that except it has no actual scanning tech built in.
Rebecca only knows it came from the bottom of the sea.
It's been repainted in Purple and Dark Red and refurbished enough that it looks relatively new.
Flipping a switch, she hits the comm.
"It won't be so bad. Fei and me have been up the Mountain before."
The Eurydice hops out of a snow drift, landing and scattering snow.
"... Gosh we all look like a bunch of snow hares right now - hopping around out here. Pretty cute..."
A beat.
"... ... I didn't realize this comm was still sending." She mumbles, "Sorry."
She's gotten better at piloting a Gear but sometimes she makes some real basic errors. Right now she's following the others on up.
DG: Rebecca Streisand has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Storm - Through The White.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Heh! True! We have!" Fei isn't sure what he's going to do with yet another medium but it's not like he's going to complain about it. "It's a rough trip but I think a worthwhile one. If we get lucky."
Unfortunately, Weltall is made for one thing pretty much and that's 'Blowing Shit Up'. As such, its sensors are pretty standard as far as a Gear goes (at least for THIS Weltall). He stretches his arms out behind him and shakes his hands out to keep them warm though he is pretty firmly dressed in a sweater that has a pink heart on it as well as a Phoenix Wright style Beanie (minus the PaPa....For now).
"Do you know where we're going, Ida?" Fei asks. "I don't remember it being this tough to see last time... but I'll follow your lead."
Rebecca apologizes and fei smiles. "Hey it's fine. You've nothing to apologize for, y'know?"
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Storm - Through The White.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Ah, have you now? In that case, it seems as if I will be the one relying on you two," speaks the good doctor over the communications line. "I am curious to know if the rumors have any basis in fact," he adds, after a brief moment's consideration.
The one thing that can be said about the Heimdall is that it's old. It was dug out of the sands of the Aveh desert by a certain band of pirates, before being borrowed during the wake of the attack on Bledavik.
He had not, technically speaking, actually ever personally returned it. Though perhaps Sigurd knew a losing battle when he saw one, which is why it had found its way over to this side of the globe.
However, one of the downsides -- despite the work the Yggdrasil crew had done for it -- of a Gear refurbished by sand pirates is that it's more keyed for desert operations as compared to the snow. Which means dressing for the weather. For Citan, this means a heavy coat and a scarf wound around his neck in addition to the important things like, say 'a sweater', as well as gloves. ...Which are failing, really, at their task. He winces and stretches his fingers, then squints at the screen in front of him.
The storm's whipped up, cutting out their visibility almost utterly. He hits the external lights, for all the good it may do them. At least it might prevent any collisions.
"Proceed with caution. We must take care to avoid any deadfalls or gaps that may be lying ahead. Ms. Everstead-Rey, it seems that we will be relying on your drone."
DG: Citan Uzuki has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Storm - Through The White.
==============================<* Mount Colshrie *>============================== ================<* CHALLENGE - The Storm - Through The White *>================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- It is said that at the peak of Mount Colshrie in the Sielje region are ruins named by some 'Cythraul the Demon Tower'. Scholars believe that the tower dates back to the Metal Demon War. The ruins are poorly explored and in a dangerous location, and as such, the interest in them is high. You arrive at Mount Colshrie in the early evening, just as the stars would be coming out. They are of course invisible to you since there is, as there is so often, a storm swirling about the mountain base. Between the weather and the terrain, the mountain is near certain death for a traveler on foot. For someone in a Gear or similar, though... But even a Gear only gives you a slight chance: the storms on Mount Colshrie are known for their ferocity, and soon the world has gone white. Even the glittering crystals that dot the mountain are lost to your sight. Can you determine which way is best to proceed? A storm like this conceals the mountain's hazards: a wrong step could be dangerous. You will have to reckon with mountain and storm both as you begin your ascent. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-sgn7QLVP4 =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Tire, Injure====================================
=========================<* Mount Colshrie - Round 1 *>========================= ==================< Results - The Storm - Through The White >=================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Reconaissance Drone 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 0 --(13)--> 13 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 0 --(13)--> 13 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Stupify(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey 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> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida chuckles good-naturedly at Rebecca's little slip. "We've all done it," she says. "Is this your first Gear? You're piloting like a natural." As she speaks, Ida maneuvers the drone around--she can't raise it above the storm, of course, but it's always good to have a second pair of eyes in situations like this. After a few minutes of fighting with the wind, the machine finally reaches a vantage-point where it's both sheltered and able to survey the terrain ahead. A few keystrokes, and the joystick switches over to control the drone's cameras.
"The Doctor is right," Ida says. Data flows across one of the Dragoon's screens, forming a topogrpahical map. "I can gather data, but there's no substitute for firsthand experience. --aha. There's a deadfall up ahead. Stay light on your feet. I'm transmitting the map now."
Data packets fly across a wireless link. Ida's map appears on the others' screens--but even with its help, it's slow, dangerous going.
DG: Citan Uzuki has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Mount Colshrie *>============================== ==============<* CHALLENGE - The Clear Sky - Bandit Gear Ambush *>============== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The sky is clear; for now, the storm that reigns atop Mount Colshrie troubles you not. If there can be peace on the storm-ridden mountain, perhaps this could be it. But it doesn't last. They come in fast, from just ahead. A group of Gears -- standard excavated models, no tags of note. And they are not friendly, neither in their actions or their communications towards you. Were they waiting for you? Were they here for other reasons and this was merely an attack of opportunity? In the end it probably doesn't matter. =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm, Fright========================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Perhaps you have the gift for it," Citan remarks on the topic of Rebecca's ability with the Gear. "Some take to it more naturally than others. I dare say you may be a match for me as it stands -- I have gone far too long without practice!" he adds, shaking his head self-effacingly.
Which in the end was one of his professed reasons for coming along: aside from a few jaunts, until a month ago or so he has barely touched a Gear's controls in about six or seven years.
The rest of it is a mix of academic interest (allegedly) and accompanying Fei and Ida.
The map comes in not long after: a glance tells Citan all he needs to know. "Understood. Thank you. If we stick to the left path, I believe we should evade the worst of the terrain."
But it's still slow arduous going as they make their way along this slope of the mountain, their sensors clouded by the storm.
Until the storm begins to abate, revealing a starry sky above.
And too quickly, the sound of other Gears.
Their hostile intent is made clear immediately:
"Awrite, kids, stand yerselves down and none've yer will get hurt none. ...Probably!" shouts the pilot of one of the Gears. Her partner makes the ambivalence of the last plain when they come in with a blade a quarter size of the Gear itself.
"This is not good--" Citan barks, interposing his Gear with the blade-wielding one, using the heavier armor plating on Heimdall's forearms and hands to catch and hold the weapon. "I will handle this one! The rest of you, see to the others!"
And indeed, it seems that this group is not merely a party of 'two'. There are more of this bandit brigade that swoops in from the path ahead.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Insulated Armor toward his party's challenge, The Clear Sky - Bandit Gear Ambush.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Mm, the tower itself..." Fei begins. "Its, uh... seen better days. You'll see." He pauses. "Oh but I bet you'd get a kick out of it too, a ruin like this. Hopefully we don't run into the giant murder bird again."
The what now? Fei doesn't explain the giant murder bird. But what are the odds there'd still be one fluttering about?? Probably pretty unlikely!!
"Aw don't sell yourself short, Doc." Fei says. "I don't know anybody who knows as much about anything as you. You even handled the Land Crab really well, and that's an entirely different kind of machine!"
Fei thinks highly of Doc and for some reason thinks the Doc needs some encouragement??? Regardless, there's a random encounter... enemy gears! Some kind of..bandits? Of their vanguard. Vanguard bandits...
"Well this at least I can do..." He bobs his head towards Citan. "Got it!"
He throws himself into the fray, swinging mechanical limbs in a series of quick palm thrusts followed by a jump kick. He is, however, trying to uh... not knock them off the mountain or anything. He doesn't know their story! They might just be trying to...feed their families or something so he's hoping to scare them off rather than destroy them.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Deathblower toward his party's challenge, The Clear Sky - Bandit Gear Ambush.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"Y-Yeah." Rebecca stammers out, "Alright." Answering both Ida and Fei. "I... I guess I got the hang of it pretty quickly - once I figured out how to move. Maybe how I trained before helped."
Before she sits up straighter in her seat, "You've got nothing to worry about, Doc. You can definitely count on Fei and me."
And then - Gears, "You know that's a mighty fine offer. I've got a counter offer though." Rebecca says as she has her Gear put its fingers around the grip of the cannon sized gun at her side. "You turn tail now and you won't suffer more than disappointment."
And then she presses a button. <Orpheus System Active>
Targetting reticles begin to blip into place on her display. Each one locking onto the optical sensor of each gear. Four compass points begin to slowly converge on the center of each reticle, as if each was a timer. Until each one blips into place.
"Don't blink."
She says to herself, a little wryly, given that Gears don't, just as the final reticle lines up completely, and blips that its ready.
"Draw." She may be just talking to herself now...
The Gear suddenly takes a knee, just as it withdraws a Revolver like cannon from its holster. The arm sweeps the ARM to the side, spitting fire as it goes. one shell at each gear more rapidly than one might expect. And with frightening accuracy.
Six shells sail out, leaving purple streams of energy tracing a line from the ARM and seeking to impact each of the Gear's heads that aren't engaging either Citan or Fei.
DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Orpheus System toward her party's challenge, The Clear Sky - Bandit Gear Ambush.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida frowns at Fei's explanation. "...'Giant murder bird?'" she says, arching a brow beneath her helmet. "Some manner of Metal Beast, perhaps? It was said to date back to the first War..." The Dragoon leaps up the mountainside in swift, measured jumpjet bursts. It's no Weltall, but it's surprisingly light on its feet for something that was not built for speed. As the storm clears, Ida takes a moment to look up at the starry sky. "It's beautiful," she says.
The AWACS interrupts her moment of introspection with a loud, insistent beeps. Ida glances at its display, and sees a handful of yellow markings--the signatures of unidentified Gear reactors. "We have visitors," Ida says, flicking her radio over to a tightband broadcast. "Let's set the tea out." Her wariness ends up working to her advantage--those are definitely not friendlies. "Understood!" Ida says. The Dragoon steps back, tucking itself behind a pile of boulders and sinking to a knee. It raises its arm, and something fires out from beneath--something that's quickly lost in the din. Overhead, another bandit Gear takes aim with a machine gun, and sends a flurry of lead downrange. Bullets slam into Ida's cover, and into the Dragoon's chest armor. The Gear reaches back, and draws a weapon of its own--a long-barreled cannon, sleek and streamlined and marked with the distinct patina of Dragonbone. A high-pitched electrical whine splits the air as Ida powers it up. Fortunately for her, Rebecca provides all the cover fire she could ask for, and then some.
"Opening fire!" Ida shouts. The Three-Dragon Cannon roars. A tongue of lightning leaps through the air, slamming into the enemy Gear and crackling across its surface. The Gear staggers, stumbles, churns up a landslide. Boulders and ice stream down the mountain.
A few moments later, an explosion rips across the mountain--the anti-Gear mine Ida planted cooks off. The bandits now have a landslide to deal with, on top of the Gears!
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Anti-Gear Mine toward her party's challenge, The Clear Sky - Bandit Gear Ambush.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei who was kind of trying to just fend them off, looks increasingly alarmed.
==============================<* Mount Colshrie *>============================== ==============<* CHALLENGE - The Clear Sky - Bandit Gear Ambush *>============== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The sky is clear; for now, the storm that reigns atop Mount Colshrie troubles you not. If there can be peace on the storm-ridden mountain, perhaps this could be it. But it doesn't last. They come in fast, from just ahead. A group of Gears -- standard excavated models, no tags of note. And they are not friendly, neither in their actions or their communications towards you. Were they waiting for you? Were they here for other reasons and this was merely an attack of opportunity? In the end it probably doesn't matter. =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm, Fright========================================
=========================<* Mount Colshrie - Round 2 *>========================= ================< Results - The Clear Sky - Bandit Gear Ambush >================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 3 --(8)--> 11 Pass Anti-Gear Mine 1 Combat Effects: Rally and Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 3 --(8)--> 11 Pass Insulated Armor 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 13 --(8)--> 21 Pass Deathblower 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 13 --(8)--> 21 Pass Orpheus System 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Injure(1)|Overwhelm|Stupify(1)|Tire(1) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey 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> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"A giant bird? Hmm, I see. Then we will need to take caution as we near the summit, just in case," Citan remarks at Fei's advance knowledge.
His response to Fei's apparent concern over his self-deprecation runs more lightheartedly: "Ha ha, there is no need to concern yourself about my ego, Fei. In fact, I believe Yui would say that you would be doing me a favor to ensure it remain punctured more often."
There are certainly more of them. Some of them have ranged weaponry, making the situation rather dire for the moment--
Particularly for those locked in more close-quarters combat.
Still: Weltall is more than their match and it shows. Fei pulls his blows, sure enough, but it's still enough to leave its mark. Perhaps looking for easier prey, the Gears engaging him fall back. Or perhaps, to leave it to those with the ranged weapons.
The struggle between the Gear Citan is facing off against lasts until that moment he's able to drive a kick at the opposing Gear's midsection; momentum takes it away from him and more importantly, sends the bladed weapon off into a bank of the snow. A shot rings out, grazing just past Heimdall's head.
This is the point when Rebecca's gunnery shows its strength, and a flurry of well-placed shots send a number of the other Gears into disarray as tanks explode or electronics snap and sizzle. Among them: all of the ones with the ranged weapon.
Into this comes the Three Dragon Cannon's shot, roiling across the apparent leader of the troupe. Rock and snow come tumbling down the mountainside--
And are soon answered by an explosion that nearly shakes the mountain itself, bringing down a tide of rock and ice and snow in an avalanche. Some of the bandit Gears scatter. Others are swept away by the tide of snow, downwards along the mountain.
"Is everyone all right?" Citan asks over communications, once the furor has quelled.
DG: Rebecca Streisand has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Mount Colshrie *>============================= ==================<* CHALLENGE - The Storm - The Monolith *>================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The storm picks up as you negotiate the mountainous terrain, obscuring your ability to see particularly far into the distance. Still, progress is made, if bit by bit. Until, that is, you encounter a large monolithic boulder that blocks your ascent up. Getting around it is just about impossible in current conditions -- if it was even possible normally. You're going to have to do something about it if you want to progress this way at all, and of course turning back would be a drain on your fuel. =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm, Overzealous===================================
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"That 'giant murder bird' hit us so hard that Fei forgot Weltall could fly for a while." Rebecca teases a little over the comms.
"Yui - is she your wife?" A beat, "Sounds like someone I'd get along with..."
However, as the bandits are defeated, Rebecca whistles, "Guess we're more than a match for a few bandits." Rebecca notes as the cylinder of her Gear's ARM snaps out, and the Eurydice's abdomen opens to reveal more shells arranged in clips. The Gear reloads it in, then she places it back in its holster.
"Yeah I'm good."
Rebecca notes, trying to simply think that there were probably more survivors from that than it looks. Gears are armored after all.
And she's an adult. So - so what if a few did? It's just how it is...
"Let's keep moving before that storm rolls back in."
Rebecca shifts her Gear forward and hops over the bandit wreckage.
It's not long however until the obvious path upright up begins to fade, until a sheer cliff. There's one way up - or at least looks like there's one way up - beyond a giant jagged boulder that's easily twice the size and four times the mass of any of their Gears.
"Fei you remember this being here last time? Maybe there was an avalanche or something..."
Either way, Rebecca places her hand over her Artificial Medium - which is already loaded into her Gear's amplifier.
Suddenly two shoulder protrusions come up with orb like emitters. And hexagonal energy rises about her. "Well whatever - you martial arts types like breaking rocks right?"
Rebecca Doesn't try to do this the traditional way. Her Gear's Medium Amplifier seems to be concentrating on the boulder. Then strangely it sprouts a leak from one direction - a trickle which flows in a spidery crack across it, more and more water trickling out.
Apparently her plan was to create water from the inside of it until it shatters from the inside out.
DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Medium Amplifier toward her party's challenge, The Storm - The Monolith.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Hey now," Fei says. "I remembered I could fly." He pauses. "Eventually."
Rebecca asks about Yui. "Oh!" He adds. "Yeah, Yui is incredible. I've been all over the world and I still haven't found such an incredible cook." Of course Fei would go to that first. He thinks with his stomach sometimes. "And then there's Midori. She's a kind kid. Quiet, but thoughtful in all the right ways. I hope they're doing alright."
Of Citan's ego, Fei admits, "Heh, you might be looking to the wrong guy for that, but I'll keep it in mind, doc."
This is nice, Fei thinks, taking his mind off the bandits. He is sure Citan misses his family. After all, even Fei misses them. He wishes to apologize to the rest of Lahan properly too, but he misses those two. And Lucca. Lucca was always very helpful with her longwinded explanations and exclamations of her own personal genius. Hopefully she got out okay.
"It was ... I don't really know how to explain it any other way," He asides to Ida. "About the bird, I mean."
Fei doesn't remember the monolith. "Perhaps it's softer than it looks?" He knocks the boulder lightly with his fist. "No. This is not a Soft Monolith, it's a Hard Monolith." He says. "Monolith Hard. Yep."
Kock knock.
"But maybe..." He channels Weltall's power, intending to give it one real solid punch!
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Black Box toward his party's challenge, The Storm - The Monolith.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Ah, I see. Then we will need to take care. Perhaps it has a nest somewhere up here. I recall being under attack by a similarly furious bird once near my home," the doctor muses. Then Rebecca asks about 'Yui'. "Yes, she is," and there may be a note of pride there in his voice a moment, particularly when Fei similarly sings his wife's praises. "I am very lucky to have met her."
...Possibly, particularly because of his cooking skills.
A pause more passes when Rebecca remarks she might get along with her. "Ha, perhaps you may get the chance to meet her someday..."
He trails off when Fei wonders if they -- his wife and his daughter -- are doing okay. His silence is for a moment more weighty than before.
"I... trust that they are," he says after a moment more. In the cockpit, his hands tense over the controls then ease.
"..."
But with the bandits routed -- fortunately without significant issue or destruction (the mountain is still standing after all) -- a new obstacle soon presents itself:
An enormous rock that blocks their path.
"According to my instruments, it would be costly for us to seek another route. We may be able to move this or fracture it," he says, moving into position alongside Fei. Activating certain subsystems in Heimdall to increase the Gear's fuel economy, he follows up with a strike soon after Fei's own--
"Is that a spell converter?" he remarks, of Rebecca's spell put to use here and now.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Energy Saver toward his party's challenge, The Storm - The Monolith.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The Dragoon snaps its cannon back onto its mount, and takes to the air. It clears a hundred meters in a single, graceful jump, landing beside one of the damaged bandit Gears. In the cockpit, Ida tenses up, ready to strike back at the first sign of trouble. The Dragoon reaches down, and rakes snow away from the fallen Gear's cockpit hatch. It isn't much, but...
Having tended to the fallen, Dragoon rejoins the rest of the team as they survey the obstacle before them. "This needs to be cleared delicately," Ida says. "As demonstrated, the snow here can be very unstable." Ida glances at the munitions readout, considers the demolition charges, and thinks better of it. The last thing she wants is to trigger a landslide and bury everyone. The Dust Dragoon steps forwards, grips the boulder with both hands, and starts to pull. As Rebecca forces the boulder apart, Ida starts to work at the cracks. "Clever," she says. "That isn't 'Ether', is it?"
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Storm - The Monolith.
=============================<* Mount Colshrie *>============================= ==================<* CHALLENGE - The Storm - The Monolith *>================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The storm picks up as you negotiate the mountainous terrain, obscuring your ability to see particularly far into the distance. Still, progress is made, if bit by bit. Until, that is, you encounter a large monolithic boulder that blocks your ascent up. Getting around it is just about impossible in current conditions -- if it was even possible normally. You're going to have to do something about it if you want to progress this way at all, and of course turning back would be a drain on your fuel. =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm, Overzealous===================================
========================<* Mount Colshrie - Round 3 *>======================== ====================< Results - The Storm - The Monolith >==================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 11 --(5)--> 16 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Citan Uzuki 11 --(0)--> 11 Pass Energy Saver 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 21 --(0)--> 21 Pass Black Box 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rebecca Streisand 21 --(0)--> 21 Pass Medium Amplifier 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Fright(1)|Overwhelm|Overzealous(2) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey 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: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Mount Colshrie *>============================= ================<* CHALLENGE - The Storm - Seeking Shelter *>================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The storm intensifies rather suddenly, darkening even the nearby crystals that jut through the ice and snow -- it becomes impossible to see more than a few feet ahead of you, making the approach across the mountain particularly dangerous now. But a solution of a sort presents itself: you near a side of the mountain with a sizable gap, half-obscured by debris. This looks like a cave! If you could clear the rubble out, you could shelter inside until the storm's intensity has calmed and you can see where you're going again. =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"I'd like that." Rebecca tries to picture that. Meeting someone's wife and daughter as if they were all neighborly.
It's a nice thought - for a nice future, isn't it?
Rebecca finds herself tensing on her own, wondering if she could even think of having such a future given all they're up against.
Fei and Citan strike the boulder with force that shakes the Monolithic sized thing - and more and more cracks form all over.
And then ... Ida's Dragoon pulls.
And suddenly there's a blast of pressurized water that soaks her Gear as the Boulder splits further and further apart. "S-Sorry!"
Eventually it cracks to pieces, it's structural integrity compromised until there's nothing left.
"Yeah." She answers. "The Thames offered me a Gear that had one on board."
Ida had asked earlier though, if it's Ether.
Considering how to respond, both little shoulder attachments sink back down into the Eurydice's frame. "I barely even know what Ether is. I use a Medium - but this medium of mine is... well it's artificial. Not stone. I guess that allows it to interface with a Gear. I don't know how - all I know is that if I load it in - my Gear's sensors can find out where leylines are. Like - right here was a water Leyline."
A beat.
"Sorry again Ida - anyhow let's keep moving up."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei senses--something. "Doc, I--" He begins, but the boulder shattering interrupts him and he doesn't have the COURAGE to bring it up again. He is, after all, still a coward. Still, if Fei's next goal is 'Shevat', unbeknownst to him, he might end up running into said family again completely by accident. Fei steadies himself and cotinues moving ahead.
"An artificial medium..." Fei murmurs. "I wonder if they're safe to use. For the planet I mean. Though I've seen shamans fight against one another so maybe they're just sort of emulating the normal mediums and it isn't really such a big deal...?"
He shake his head, working up his courage "Anyway I--"
Unfortunately he is interrupted again by a sudden increase of intensity from the storm. "Aw geeze!" Fei says. "Give me a break!" Weltall's head jerks towards Ida. "Ida, I think we should take a break until the storm calms down otherwise we won't even know where we're going like this."
He looks around a bit before spotting it. "There! I think that's a cave...! If we can clear it out...!"
He trots forward and throws a kick at the rubble...!
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Black Box toward his party's challenge, The Storm - Seeking Shelter.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"...It is fine, Fei."
He remarks no further on the subject, content enough apparently to let it go.
"I thought it might have been a Medium, channeled through that mechanism," Citan remarks, running a quick diagnostics of Heimdall's parts. "An artificial Medium, you say? ...That, I have only heard of in passing. I know very little of them save that they somehow emulate the power of those tablets used by the Baskar Shamans." He pauses a moment, before continuing: "Spell converters are standard issue for Solaris Gears, but they are less common in others. The Thames must have been impressed with you or your performance to offer you a machine with one on board."
The storm kicks up about then, the more perilously so for their current position atop the mountain. "The wind sheer is-- Fei, if you have found a shelter, I advise that we take it! Our Gears are not optimized for this sort of weather!"
He too joins in the attempts to dig the cave opening open again, once again making good use of the subsystem to save on fuel.
...Because it's starting to get cold in here, even taking into account the fact that it was cold to begin with.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Energy Saver toward his party's challenge, The Storm - Seeking Shelter.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Water drips down the Dragoon's torso, but only for a few seconds--in this harsh weather, it flash-freezes, leaving a layer of ice clinging to the machine's armor. Ida presses a few keys, closing some heat vents and opening others. "It's all right," she says, to Rebecca. "I had this machine thoroughly waterproofed before I even thought of taking it on-assignment." She emits a soft, interested 'Hm' as Rebecca explains her machine's capabilities. "Oh no, don't apologize. We got through, didn't we?"
The sky darkens again--thick, slate-grey clouds blot out the stars as the wind picks up. Ida can hear it howling through her machine's armor. She shivers. The Dragoon's heater is running at full blast, but it can't quite keep the chill out of her bones. "A wise plan," Ida says. The machine takes a knee next to Weltall, while Ida scans the rubble pile with its sensors. She frowns beneath her scarf as she considers her options. "I think I can deploy a charge," Ida says. "But please stay alert." Part of the Dragoon's torso armor slides open, revealing a parcel-like object about five feet across. The machine plucks it out of its housing, plants it on the rubble, and steps back.
Once everyone is clear, Ida hits the detonator. The charge erupts in a bloom of fire!
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Structural Demolition Charge toward her party's challenge, The Storm - Seeking Shelter.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"Yeah - guess we did Ida." Rebecca sounds a little more cheerful afterwards after being told not to apologize for it.
"Dunno. Old man Tony from my hometown gave them to Dean. The Guardians don't seem to mind us using them though. I have a feeling if they didn't like it - they could have made us stop real easily."
She doesn't add - that maybe some of them have a problem with Avril, given how they chewed her out at the Guardian Temple.
Lucadia and her seem to be on good terms though.
"The Captain seemed to really like us after Avril killed a Deathscythe basically by herself." Rebecca sounds pretty proud of Avril for that. "And other things too. But anyhow - I'm sure not complaining about how the Eurydice came into my hands."
Then the weather shifts - violently, winds buffeting her light gear. As Rebecca flips several switches to kick on the booster.
"Ugh - it was like this last time too. The weather changes up here too often."
Rebecca tries to fight against the wind long enough to hit a Leyline, waiting for everyone to get clear of Ida's charges, then she places a hand upon her loaded medium.
Red hexgaonal energy rises around her. And then suddenly purple fire rip roars within the remaining rubble, the sudden burst of heat energy causing a blast wave to pulverize the rubble a second time.
"Let's see if we can squeeze into shelter now!"
DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Medium Amplifier toward her party's challenge, The Storm - Seeking Shelter.
=============================<* Mount Colshrie *>============================= ================<* CHALLENGE - The Storm - Seeking Shelter *>================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The storm intensifies rather suddenly, darkening even the nearby crystals that jut through the ice and snow -- it becomes impossible to see more than a few feet ahead of you, making the approach across the mountain particularly dangerous now. But a solution of a sort presents itself: you near a side of the mountain with a sizable gap, half-obscured by debris. This looks like a cave! If you could clear the rubble out, you could shelter inside until the storm's intensity has calmed and you can see where you're going again. =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
========================<* Mount Colshrie - Round 4 *>======================== ==================< Results - The Storm - Seeking Shelter >=================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 16 --(0)--> 16 Pass Structural Demolition Charge 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Citan Uzuki 11 --(0)--> 11 Pass Energy Saver 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 21 --(0)--> 21 Pass Black Box 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rebecca Streisand 21 --(0)--> 21 Pass Medium Amplifier 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(1)|Save Point(1) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey 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> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Between everybody's efforts, getting into the cave isn't all that difficult. Fei and Citan smash rocks with ease and fire softens that which they can't just clobber allowing Ida to just...blow the heck out of the rest of it. LUCKILY that doesn't cause a cave in or anything and everybody gets to huddle in the cave in their gears for a bit while the storm blows over.
"Whew." He says. "I know they're water proofed but I was still feeling wet all the same...!"
He hears the story of Avril killing a Deathscythe by herself and Fei swallows faintly before adding, "Avril's really impressive huh..." He says. "Man I haven't talked with her much. I hope she's making progress on her amnesia." He thinks it over a bit before adding, "The Captain...he's really inspiring. The way he talks about being a man of the sea. It's kind of infectious...!"
Eventually the storm seems to calm down and Fei says, "I think we can give it another go for the rest of the way. I think we're almost there."
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Mount Colshrie *>============================== ======<* CHALLENGE - The Storm - Flight From The Terror Of The Mountain *>====== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You must be nearing the summit. If the rumors are true, there is an ancient ruin lost up the inaccessible mountain. Perhaps it won't be long now-- A scream from above interrupts that thought rather thoroughly. Your sensors pick up a hostile presence approaching, swiftly, and from behind. Just as the storm begins to pick up, completely hiding the form of the enormous and utterly hostile brightly colored avian creature known only as a hraesvelgr. It has the advantage. The storm is terrible. Perhaps the best plan is to try to lose it in the storm and make haste for the summit. But here of all a slip could be /very/ unfortunate. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOeb7StJlRc =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Fright, Injure=====================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"He's quite the character," Ida says, with a smile. "I only encountered him once, but he left quite the impression." An impression that involved the Captain slapping Ida on the back and declaring her the very spitting image of her mother, which Ida has mixed feelings about.
The Gears file out of the cave, and resume their upwards trek. Ida glances at the barometer, and nods. "I think so, too. We're well above sea level, and--" The wind begins to howl. "Ngh," Ida says. "Look alive, the storm's picking up--!"
And that's not all.
The Dust Dragoon leaps into the air, half-disappearing into the blizzard. Steam wafts up from its jumpjets as Ida maneuvers it to a landing point that she can see on the map, but not with her eyes. The Dragoon touches down with a shuddering thump. As it does, something echoes through the air, rising above the storm--a hideous avian screech, carried on the wind. "Damnation," Ida growls. "Fei, Rebecca, your friend is here!" This is not a good place to pick a fight. Even with its extensive sensor suite, the Dragoon is half-snowblind, and its pilot is feeling her way forward with a mixture of radar and drone camera data. "We need to throw it off the scent!"
Ida hits the jets again. The Dragoon rises from its perch, trailing steam as it races up the mountain. Thermal monitors begin to report heat buildup, but she doesn't dare stop until she sees a safe place to land.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Storm - Flight From The Terror Of The Mountain.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Hmm. I would have to look at one of them to know more, most likely," Citan remarks, on the subject of the mediums. Stone Mediums he has seen before, but 'artificial'...
He clears out once the charge is set, urging Fei in the Weltall after him.
The demolition is short but effective. It's a welcome respite after from the howling winds and snow once they clamber inside.
"Yes, though I think in the Heimdall's case there may be, ah, an issue with the temperature controls. There is little that I can do now, of course," he remarks, shaking his head. He really needs to do a little work on the Gear.
Being out of the winds helps with that.
"I do not think it is much further to the summit," he says, once they emerge out into a briefly stiller mountainside. "I can see the tower from here."
Famous last words -- the storm soon whips up again.
And with it comes the aforementioned bird of the mountain.
"I take it that this is yours and Rebecca's old friend!" he remarks over the channels, hurriedly rerouting power across one of the redundant motion systems. Given current conditions, he'll need it. "However, given current weather conditions, I believe it may be best that we follow Ms. Everstead-Rey's advice and move quickly. We may be able to lose it in the storm!"
With that, he charges ahead into the white, in the direction he recalls the tower standing.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Motion Guard toward his party's challenge, The Storm - Flight From The Terror Of The Mountain.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"I don't know if I'd call it a friend, more like an acquaintance!" Fei says. He remains oblivious to Ida looking like a walrus's mother and, to be fair, what would he even say to that? Even he doesn't know.
Luckily this time, uh, well... Fei remembers he has his flight engine at the very start! Because ... well, he was talking about it earlier! Rebecca teased him for it! His memory isn't great but he is doing his best. He's doing his best!!
As Fei flicks his flight engine on, the thrusts burning away snow and mist, Citan...also calls the bird their friend. Fei hangs his head a bit.
Maybe... I should've mentioned the bird earlier...?" He murmurs to himself. "Or..skipped mentioning it...?"
But really it's probably for the best. Weltall does its best to push through the storm, hoping to follow Citan's lead--and maybe even provide Doc with some cover with the help of Weltall's flight capability.
Wait--can Heimdall fly too?
H....He never thought to ask.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Remembered Flight Engine toward his party's challenge, The Storm - Flight From The Terror Of The Mountain.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
Rebecca doesn't comment much more on the idea of the Artificial Mediums because Fei's comment still was a little disquieting.
"... She's... more than impressive." Rebecca shifts in her seat, trying to hold back, else she's afraid she might start gushing about her over the comms. "She's learned some things... I'm not sure she's making progress on her amnesia just yet."
Rebecca answers Fei, "But she's moving forward all the same. And she's resolved to keep going - no matter what she finds. So even if she's not making progress, she's still... progressing, if that makes sense."
Then Fei talks about the Captain, and Rebecca's glad that her facial expression doesn't carry. "I mean infectious is a word for it..." Before answering Ida, "Oh - I can imagine he did."
As the Gears file out of the cave one by one.
... and the wind begins to howl, "Again!? Think we should take shelter?"
And then the Dragoon jumps away into the Blizzard.
And then... an Avian Screech.
"Dangit! I thought we'd killed the thing! Right Ida - I'll see what I can do!"
Rebecca begins to flip switch after switch on the console above her until the display says...
<Activating High Speed B Circuit>
"Should be the right circuit for this terrain..." Rebecca mumbles to herself.
And then Rebecca shifts the Eurydice into high gear, leaping into the Blizzard herself. As she twists and jukes the movement controls rapidly now under their increased responsiveness.
The Eurydice suddenly begins leaping about like a bunny on speed. Taking one perilous ledge after another - scattering snow in a manner that might confuse the creature since by the time it checks out the movement - she's already somewhere else.
She's not showing off or anything yet, she's not comfortable enough with Gear piloting yet to really cut loose.
... but part of her wonders. Which acrobatic feats she does on a regular basis could the Euyridce pull off like this?
It's just the sort of thing you think of while you're being pursued by a giant bird.
"Yeah I think old friend is probably stretching it a little."
SCREECH
"More'n a little."
DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Acrobatic Piloting toward her party's challenge, The Storm - Flight From The Terror Of The Mountain.
==============================<* Mount Colshrie *>============================== ======<* CHALLENGE - The Storm - Flight From The Terror Of The Mountain *>====== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You must be nearing the summit. If the rumors are true, there is an ancient ruin lost up the inaccessible mountain. Perhaps it won't be long now-- A scream from above interrupts that thought rather thoroughly. Your sensors pick up a hostile presence approaching, swiftly, and from behind. Just as the storm begins to pick up, completely hiding the form of the enormous and utterly hostile brightly colored avian creature known only as a hraesvelgr. It has the advantage. The storm is terrible. Perhaps the best plan is to try to lose it in the storm and make haste for the summit. But here of all a slip could be /very/ unfortunate. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOeb7StJlRc =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Fright, Injure=====================================
=========================<* Mount Colshrie - Round 5 *>========================= ========< Results - The Storm - Flight From The Terror Of The Mountain >======== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 16 --(10)--> 26 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 11 --(0)--> 11 Pass Motion Guard 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 21 --(0)--> 21 Pass Remembered Flight Engine 3 Agility Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 21 --(0)--> 21 Pass Acrobatic Piloting 2 Agility Effects: Resilient -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Injure(2)|Slow(2) Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has successfully explored Mount Colshrie!
==============================<* Mount Colshrie *>============================== ===========<* CHALLENGE - Cythraul Tower Ruins - Ancient Mysteries *>=========== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You approach at last the ruins of Cythraul tower, the rumored structure well-hidden on the storm-ridden peak of Mount Colshrie. To call what remains a 'tower' is a bit of an overstatement -- and yet you can still see that this place once reached to the heavens. When you disembark, you're able to explore what remains. Much of the tower is in ruins; there is little that seems to be intact. The storms on the mountain and the ages have taken their toll. Just when you have given up on finding anything noteworthy you happen upon a small side room. The walls light up with a brilliant blue light as you enter, swirling and converging on the far wall. It's a screen! Diagrams of something -- a structure? A vehicle? ...A garden? -- spin across the screen in rapid succession. It's hard to tell at first what it is that you're supposed to be looking at. Until the screen pans back and you have at last your first good look at the thing in its entirety. A building. That... floats above a planet? A single line of text prints below the visualization of the building above the world: Marduk. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_pggmF8Wks =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
They make good progress, rushing through the snow and ice upwards towards where the tower had been, hoping against hope to reach it, to not damage their Gears, and most of all, to escape the fierce bird that dogs their every step.
Until, with a sudden rush of wind -- perhaps fed in part by Weltall's engine as it launches itself partially skywards in the whirling white -- creates a much-needed gap; the bird falls behind steadily, its shrieks of indignation growing ever distant.
They reach the tower as the storm begins to abate.
Once the sky clears, the way to the tower is open, permitting now more of it open to search.
Little remains within, as Fei had remarked before. Citan still lingers over some of the ruins here and there -- even the sections of broken wall -- as if they were fascinating.
Rebecca, as it happens, is the first into the room with the panels. They burst into life before her eyes, displaying a series of schematics--
For a place.
A place above a world.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"We made it." Rebecca says in relief. "And I think we lost the bird..."
Before... squinting at the cockpit display... as the storm starts to clear... revealing the tower.
"Hey Fei - correct me if I'm wrong - but that looks nothing like the Guardian shrine we found last time."
-=-=-
Rebecca is in a warmer version of her usual gear, as they disembark on the search. It's not a very distinct variant other than it's fur lined, and she's wearing pants and longer sleeves.
She has her travel diary out, intending to write on their findings. Yet she finds herself keeping it closed most of the time.
"It's a whole lot of nothing up here."
She says to herself, disappointed, with a sigh, as she wanders into a certain room. "Was hoping to have something exciting to tell Avril and Dean about..."
And then suddenly she steps into a side room. And it lights up.
Rebecca stands stock still, stunned. And then she takes a step back - like she was going to run out and inform the group.
But she's been in ancient ruins enough to know that maybe this is a one time thing. Maybe these panels will sputter out. Maybe the lights will go dark, and maybe they'll lose their chance if she leaves to get them.
"Hey everyone! Get over here if you can hear me! Pretty sure I found something!"
Opening up her Diary, she takes a page, and starts to use the charcoal to try to sketch things out.
She's not the greatest artist, but she can at least manage some really rough sketches of the bright schematics on the screen.
As she sketches it out further and further though, the outer part of the structure - she realizes something about how it orients in comparison to Filgaia.
"Is that place flying? Floating... but wait-"
The charcoal nub in her hand points towards it, "-those would have to be mountains... and they're that small."
Rebecca's eyes shoot up to the ceiling despite herself - as if she were trying to look above - to something unseen.
"... No way." She whispers to herself - with a certain amount of undisguised awe.
Maybe she'd have something to tell the two of them after all.