2020-02-01: Call It An Opportunity

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DG: A party led by Leon Albus is now entering The Lifeweaver's Whorl.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>==========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Feywild Guardians *>=======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The Feywilds are not a friendly place on the best of days. The fog is thin
 today, the strange magic infusing this place does not pull at your footsteps
 as strongly as it normally does. This is all well and good. Your approach
 would be absolutely perfect... If it wasn't for the constructs literally
 pulling themselves out of the ground to get in your way. The homunculi of
 knotted wood and sporing mycelium groan as they rise. Other beasts join
 them, emerging from trees, decanting out of the canopy, bursting from sacks
 of fluorescent, orange fluid, all to stall your advance in its tracks...!

 But you will not be denied.

 There, in the distance, is your destination: A shattered facility buried
 halfway in a ravine and hidden by layer upon layer of knotted canopy. The
 architecture is unremarkable only because of how much damage it has
 incurred. It is as much wilderness and woodland as it is manmade
 construction, now. Flora and fauna that can only be described as
 'engineered' are prolific. Your bloody swath will lead inevitably to the
 front door, which even now has been left ever so slightly ajar. Getting in
 won't be a problem-- getting there might be, though.

 ((OOC Note: Welcome to the Lifeweaver's Whorl! The actual dungeon is split
 up into indoor and outdoor challenges, each of which will be noted in the
 card itself. Each card will also contain some commentary from someone who
 has clearly been here before you. Feel free to find his half-eaten journal
 notes lying nearby, or perhaps recorded on half-broken consoles...))
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

The Black Wolves have not been utterly quiet since finding the Karlsefni. The sleek black ship is docked off the coast of the Cape of Breath, being watched by some of the other Wolves -- and Hammer and Argus, who have already started making the place better. Leon, for his part, wants to have a look around and stretch his legs. This is why he has led an expedition out to this newly uncovered ruined.

The Wolves aren't alone, though. As he steps forward, he glances sideways at Hiro, then rests his shotgun over his duster-clad shoulder. "Hiro," he says. "It's been awhile. Thank you for meeting us here. Now..."

He looks into this strange, dark forest. The Forest of Moore, the locals call it. Word has spread of something dark and terrible within. He calls it an opportunity.

"Shall we?"

Leon leads the way, stalking into the woods. His eyes narrow, as he sees the facility in the distance. His eyes widen -- and then he sees the monsters emerging. A number of sleek, feline-like creatures with scales land. Leon scowls; he presses a button for the devices on his belt.

A trio of flying drones appear -- unfurling to show flat, triangle-shaped things. One cat leaps--

--and slams into a barrier of light that appears. It is forced back, before Leon levels his shotgun at another, and fires a gunshot into it.

"Bloody irritating," he states.

DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Raid Funnel toward his party's challenge, Feywild Guardians.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily Keil by now has found more of the environmental and comfort controls aboard the Karlsefni, and indeed has been spending a lot of time there in the intervening period--but not only there. There are other places that have parts she needs, matter of interest, and one of those is here. Opportunity, Leon calls it, and she's inclined to agree.

"Hiro," she also greets, and she is in travelling attire, but with a few pieces of strange metal that resemble plates on her upper arms, on her legs, curled about her limbs. ...As a rule, she is not concerned with dark and terrible things. Today is no different.

Lily has more than a passing interest at this point in constructs, but these aren't the kind she's been studying, even if they might be interesting. But that doesn't mean she plans to wait around for these to get their way and drive them off. Walking at Leon's flank, she moves to offense as Leon activates his shield, pulling a disc-shaped Medium that blazes with force as she invokes its power. "Gather!"

Three cats are drawn together as if by an unseen force, which Lily spins towards, golden fire blazing from her outstretched hand to move to engulf them all at once. "Think of it as exercise," she says lightly.

DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Moon Medium toward her party's challenge, Feywild Guardians.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    Josie, as so often is her nature, had vanished a time shortly after they had secured the Karlsefni, and had only made a return to the ship in relatively recent days, bearing fresh wounds at that.

    She hadn't spoken much after, save to remark about 'that bastard' if pressed, and had otherwise set to attempting to delve into the ship's records.
    It hadn't come to much. She had as much success as she has had opening the strange cube from the Tomamond, another puzzle that eludes her still.

    So when Leon had suggested they venture out to investigate a newly-discovered ruin--

    She had been there with bells on.

    "Hey, kid," she greets Hiro, coupling the remark with a lopsided smile. "Come on. No time like the present if we're gonna take a look-see in here."

    And then it's onwards, inwards, to the forest.

    Something's coming. Drawing the rifle, she cracks off a shot for one of the advancing creatures still a distance off, aiming to take it right between the eyes. "Look sharp, and keep out of my range!" she calls out, drawing a bead on another.

    "Ha!"

DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Feywild Guardians.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


"Far too long." Hiro agrees with an affable smile to Leon and Lily and Josie, "Even if it wasn't too long ago that Lily and I went into that shrine. Glad to see you recovered well from your battle against Vinsfeld Leon."

He gives him a pat on the shoulder. "Well, time to show you that I haven't been idle since last time we crossed paths."

"Oh if only that were true." Ruby says meaningfully as she floats in the air. While in the background Hiro says to Josie, 'Don't have to tell me twice. Looking forward to whatever we might find in there.' Ruby on the other hand keeps going, "I can think of a few things you've been idle o-"

Where Hiro once stood is a dotted line. And he's already past the tree line with Leon.

"HEY DON'T USE THE THRILL OF ADVENTURE TO DODGE THE SUBJECT!"

Hiro tosses a boomerang as a feint as they encounter the fey felines, before he thrusts out a hand. "Oh twisted door of distortion, open wide!"

Purplish runes appear on the ground, conjoining with rapidly appearing lines as the magic takes shape.

"Negative Gate!"

Energy appears from the runes, swirling up into a coalescing orb of umbral energy that seems to batter the creatures spiritually.

A faint glow of a pendant around his neck makes the going a little bit easier, despite the conflict.

DG: Hiro has used his Tool White Dragon Wings toward his party's challenge, Feywild Guardians.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

The Karlsefni...

It's nice to Elly in some ways. In others, too familiar to home. It has been nice, at least, to not be living out of a duffel bag, for better or worse. And to be able to sleep somewhere where there isn't a draft.

Elly has come now ashore in order to aid Leon, as befits a member of this organization. She has somewhere along the line found or replaced the Kislevi-surplus naval coat she is wearing, in a blatant show of asset recyclin-- er-- a sign that this too was something familiar, even comforting.

But here, right now, as Elly snaps out her tri-section staff, she speaks to Ruby -- she'd smiled at Hiro, said hello, all of that earlier -- but to Ruby she has something WITTY to say:

"They're stealing your image..."

And after that comes the striking. With only the occasional punctuating burst of Ether.

DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Three Stick Nunchucks toward her party's challenge, Feywild Guardians.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Huh? What is Hiro idle on? He seems like a real hard worker." Yeah it's Fei.

He smiles over to Ruby shorlty after his arrival. "Hey Ruby. Glad to see you again." He raises a hand in her direction. His expression is strangely peaceful. For the moment, anyway. It's actually been a long time since he was clearly on edge.

He wonders for a moment himself if maybe he himself uses the thrill of adventure to dodge difficult questions but he sets aside the thought for now. "Good to see you too, Josie."

And then he darts towards the fighting. One nice thing about it? He totally has a lot of experience beating up aggressive wildlife with his fists and feet.
%rHe looks to Leon briefly before his cheeks redden and he focuses on the fighting. HE WANTS TO MAKE YOU PROUD, LEON! But well, he's still kind of embarrassed about his earlier panic attack.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Feywild Guardians.
==========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>==========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Feywild Guardians *>=======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The Feywilds are not a friendly place on the best of days. The fog is thin
 today, the strange magic infusing this place does not pull at your footsteps
 as strongly as it normally does. This is all well and good. Your approach
 would be absolutely perfect... If it wasn't for the constructs literally
 pulling themselves out of the ground to get in your way. The homunculi of
 knotted wood and sporing mycelium groan as they rise. Other beasts join
 them, emerging from trees, decanting out of the canopy, bursting from sacks
 of fluorescent, orange fluid, all to stall your advance in its tracks...!

 But you will not be denied.

 There, in the distance, is your destination: A shattered facility buried
 halfway in a ravine and hidden by layer upon layer of knotted canopy. The
 architecture is unremarkable only because of how much damage it has
 incurred. It is as much wilderness and woodland as it is manmade
 construction, now. Flora and fauna that can only be described as
 'engineered' are prolific. Your bloody swath will lead inevitably to the
 front door, which even now has been left ever so slightly ajar. Getting in
 won't be a problem-- getting there might be, though.

 ((OOC Note: Welcome to the Lifeweaver's Whorl! The actual dungeon is split
 up into indoor and outdoor challenges, each of which will be noted in the
 card itself. Each card will also contain some commentary from someone who
 has clearly been here before you. Feel free to find his half-eaten journal
 notes lying nearby, or perhaps recorded on half-broken consoles...))
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
=====================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl - Round 1 *>=====================
========================< Results - Feywild Guardians >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leon Albus                          0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Raid Funnel                         3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiro                                0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
White Dragon Wings                  1   Combat  Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Moon Medium                         2   Combat  Effects: Stalwart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Three Stick Nunchucks               1   Combat  Effects: Stalwart and Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(0)--> 0                   Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Leon Albus                  0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Fright(2)
Effects: Cleanse
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Leon Albus has posed.

Leon has learned better to press Josie. He can only guess who 'that bastard' might be, and doesn't try to push the idea further. He looks at Hiro, then nods. "I have," he says. "And glad for it. I've got something new to show him, but that's for another time."

Once he has figured out some of the mechanical things uncovered on the Karlsefni. For now, he has his shotgun. The cat-like creatures are not long for this world; some are shattered by shadow energy. Some are shot. Some are crushed by gravity. Martial arts and ether take the rest out.

Leon looks pleased, at the end of this, and then slides his shotgun into its holster, and begins to walk again. "Well!" he declares. "That was quite effective, hm? Good job, everyone."

He gives Fei a nod, in particular. It seems like he could use it.

DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>==========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Helicopter Seeds *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 3          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 ...down an unintended evolutionary pathway. Propagation was never a
 priority, but may have applications in establishing defensive perimeters.
 Caution must be taken to avoid dangerous cross-contamination...

 OUTDOOR CHALLENGE: Years of neglect and the rampant proliferation of
 vegetation has caused entire sections of the facility to separate from one
 another. While they're often linked by rivers of huge, thorny vines,
 navigating such hazards means exposure to razor-sharp barbs and whatever
 toxins that might be covering them. Growing near this one, however, are
 enormous seedpods with propeller-like growths sprouting from one end. You
 might be able to hitch a ride on them to bridge the gap, but mind stray
 gusts and try to avoid getting too dizzy on your way down...!
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"You have been making use of that book," Lily comments once the battle slows, looking over Hiro appraisingly. "Negative Gate--I recall reading that one... You made it work, then. Well done."

Lily has never once used the thrill of adventure to dodge questions. Not even once.

But Elly has a point about Ruby...! Lily grins faintly. She definitely is using more Ether than regular fighting, though. Once it's over, however, "So do I."

She walks on with the others, though, putting away the Medium and instead drawing her knife. Now and then, she makes use of it to cut through undergrowth, dealing with spaces that she can't just bull through with the power of ingenuity. But as they reach a place with bizarre propeller-like growths that could link across a chasm....

Lily finds a stray notebook, and picks it up. "...down an unintended evolutionary pathway. Propagation was never a priority, but may have applications in establishing defensive parameters. Caution must be taken to avoid dangerous cross-contamination..."

She looks up, putting away her knife as she eyes the chasm. Her way across won't be simple or terribly safe. "The question becomes, is this once it's contaminated? Or how it's supposed to be?"

DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Helicopter Seeds.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Good to see all you kids, well enough," she remarks to Fei -- and the others she hasn't greeted just yet.

    Naturally, Josie is an open book of an individual and never dodges or evades questions, ever. Particularly not with the help of an expedition or another.

    She seems to almost take a little too much pleasure in the various kill shots she makes--

    And her frustration is just about palpable when she misses the last one, forcing Lily to come in for the save. But whatever's on her mind, she doesn't speak of it, instead pulling out a cigarette and lighting it with a snap of her fingers; ozone's scent wafts in the air for a few moments.

    "So what's the plan? Take it as it comes, Captain?" She pauses, collecting her things. "Suits me fine. Come on."

    Lily soon finds a book, just as they reach a chasm in the woodland. "Huh," she remarks, leaning over the woman's shoulder as she reads aloud. "So... what's that mean? This stuff here was made, or they talking about something else?"

    Her good hand plants on her hip as she regards the chasm and the strange plants alike.

    "...Good question. Bad luck for us regardless, looking at this," she says, gesturing vaguely with her bad hand at the seedpods.

    She takes one last long drag on her cigarette, then drops it to grind it out underfoot. "Well, no time like the present. Let's get it over with, yeah?"

    She heads for one of the pods, apparently seeking a lift the hard and manual way.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Helicopter Seeds.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


"Feiiii! You've been taking care of yourself right?" Then middle battle, Ruby harumphs and crosses her pawsies in midair. "Elly I have no idea what you mean! These things are obviously flying cats - not dragons! Fei back me up here!"

Hiro chuckles as he catches his boomerang on the return, "Hey - praise me more why don't you?" He solicits teasingly Lily's way, before rubbing the back of his neck, "Yeah it's one of the spells I picked up. I couldn't wrap my head around most of the rituals yet. But some what I read helped me learn how to control that aspect of my magic a lot better. It's really new to me compared to wind magic. I bet you're getting way more use out of it though - you're already a top notch Sorceress when it comes to Shadow Magic."

The seed pods over the deadly chasm cause Hiro to pause in consideration, before starting to unravel a rope, "I can't really wrap my head around it Josie but... it sounds similar to some of the things I've heard in Elw ruins..."

He then offers Ruby an end of the rope.

"Hey Ruby think you can link two of those weird flying seed pods. That one high up - and that other one a little lower."

"Huh? Whatcha thinking?" "Something fun." "Well alright-!" Ruby begins to loop one end solidly around a pod, before she comes back, and does the other - causing a taut linkage between two of the floating platforms.

"Alright - here I go!"

Holding up his boomerang, he leaps - and mid leap shouts out, "Ferocious Winds!"

A sudden burst of wind magic causes him to double jump higher and reach the rope. As he reaches it - he suddenly brings down his boomerang on the rope, gripping the other end with his opposite hand.

And ziplining straight down, using the boomerang. The moment he reaches the next seed pod, he lets go with one hand, and over-balanced, begins to fall.

"Ultra Ferocious Winds!" He calls out immediately, using the momentum of the impromptu zip line combined with another wind current to attempt to buoy him all the way to the other side.

It's more than a little reckless, but... sometimes that's just how this kid operates.

Ruby watches this all, as she comments, "I still don't get why he doesn't call out something cooler for his wind magic..."

DG: Hiro has used his Tool Ruby Being Helpful toward his party's challenge, Helicopter Seeds.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"Take it as it comes," Leon confirms.

He keeps walking -- and slows, as Lily reads from a book. When she finishes, he frowns. "I can't think any of this is what nature intended," Leon says. "Quite hideous, really. Altering life to look like this. I've a mind to have a talk to whatever madman concocted a place such as this. Still..."

He sizes up those propellor-like plants. Then, Leon pulls out a coil of climbing rope, and fastens a loop -- then throws, getting it around one. He tugs.

"...They might be further corrupted," he admits. Then, he lifts into the air -- flying on his. He watches Hiro with concern, then glances down. "Quite a height..."

DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Climbing Rope toward his party's challenge, Helicopter Seeds.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

The group presses on, unslain by beasts. Elly is relieved, and when Fei gets the approval of their leader, she is there to be by his side and share some of that reflected pleasure, delight, whatever it may be. "I suppose we've all learned to work well together," Elly states.

Soon, though, they find the overgrown situation of this wide open space, and Elly's brow knits. It seems this is a place where for once, her magical powers - considerable, even if her injuries seems to have tanked her spell speed - are availing her not. You can almost see the thought crossing her face: I could set this all on fire, but then what?

Scratching the tip of her nose, Elly calls out, "Ruby!"

Elly reveals and explains her plan -

"take this fishing line across - it's thin but it's strong, and it'll be something people can rest a hand on, for balance. And if it does snap then there will be two ropes involved, not one - it's less likely that both would... snap...?"

You can spot the point here, too, where Elly sees Hiro take the ULTRA FEROCIOUS LEAP OF FAITH.

"... well," she says, "it's still a decent plan! See, Leon's thinking this way too. At this rate we're going to be bringing peace and a walking path through... through whatever this place is."

Elly glances at Josie with some concern, but perhaps she too wants to hard-way it. Finally, to Lily, she asks, "Is that hand written or printed...?"

DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Fishing Tackle toward her party's challenge, Helicopter Seeds.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei gives Leon the kind of big smile that you kind of expect from someone you nod to when they really could use a nod. He nods back, looking terribly relieved and completely ignorant as to how it looks.

"Heh, well, Elly has at least." Fei admits. "But you know, one day at a time. It does wonders." He cups his chin thoughtfully as he considers the flying cats and/or dragons and says, "Well, you're obviously a dragon, but I gotta admit--I've never seen anything like those before. Which I suppose, since I've met you, they're probably not dragons? Seems logical to me." He nods a few times though this kind of disregards why Fei believes Ruby on being a dragon in the first place.

Maybe he just has no reason to disbelieve.

He adds, "How about you, Ruby?" thoughtfully. "Everything that happened--it must have been pretty tough sometimes, right?"

He tries doing the platforming but lets be real here--you just know he'll get into a fight in midair and probably miss a jump and have to do everything all over again.

"I think this is my third evil forest." Fei reflects. "Or fourth..." He does, at least, give Josie a smile.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Helicopter Seeds.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"Do you count Blackmoon as an evil forest?" Elly asks Fei. Her cheeks flush at the words.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Well we did get attacked by a dinosaur and wolves. And got shot by arrows..." Fei thinks it over. "But the first evil forest is always the most special."

Fei gets lost in Elly's eyes midjump.

==========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>==========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Helicopter Seeds *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 3          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 ...down an unintended evolutionary pathway. Propagation was never a
 priority, but may have applications in establishing defensive perimeters.
 Caution must be taken to avoid dangerous cross-contamination...

 OUTDOOR CHALLENGE: Years of neglect and the rampant proliferation of
 vegetation has caused entire sections of the facility to separate from one
 another. While they're often linked by rivers of huge, thorny vines,
 navigating such hazards means exposure to razor-sharp barbs and whatever
 toxins that might be covering them. Growing near this one, however, are
 enormous seedpods with propeller-like growths sprouting from one end. You
 might be able to hitch a ride on them to bridge the gap, but mind stray
 gusts and try to avoid getting too dizzy on your way down...!
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
=====================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl - Round 2 *>=====================
=========================< Results - Helicopter Seeds >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leon Albus                          0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Climbing Rope                       2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiro                                0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Ruby Being Helpful                  2   Agility Effects: Resilient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Fishing Tackle                      2   Agility Effects: Stalwart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Leon Albus                  20 --(20)--> 40                Pass
Conditions: Fright(1)|Tire(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Lily Keil has posed.

The first evil forest... Well. "As it comes, naturally," Lily agrees with Leon. But she glances Hiro's way and laughs faintly. "Don't get used to it. ... A new element always takes a certain amount of exploration. Though... You'd think, but the format and the way they use their magic is pretty different from how I do it. I have picked up a few new tricks, though. Using darkness more directly on life force... if I meld it with healing..." She trails off, realizing she's starting to go on a tangent, and shakes her head. "Later."

"Heh. Fair, Ruby."

But hmm. "You think?" Lily asks Leon thoughtfully. "It's very functional, in its way. I wonder what kind of methods would lead to this sort of result..." She might have a different idea for now. But... the line--

As it turns out, the twin lines--rope and linefrom Leon and Elly --are both very helpful in getting across. Some of them are just naturally that graceful and good at this in the first place, like Hiro's ziplining, but Lily for instance makes use of the lines, and Josie's hard work approach benefits from them, too. Fei even manages to do the platforming outright, despite the distraction his look at Elly. How?? Well, maybe it's the power... of love...

Maybe.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"Oh, the page?" Lily replies to Elly. "Handwritten. Here."

DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>=========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Lousy Leyabout *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 ...more dire than expected. Natural energies are stagnant or in decline and
 standard remediation is untenable. Over impractical time scales, certain
 methods may achieve limited efficacy. Perhaps accelerated biomass cycling...

 OUTDOOR CHALLENGE: An oasis like this should not normally be possible on a
 world like Filgaia. Any ecological symbologist worth their salt would be
 able to tell you that the world is in too poor a shape to support so much
 life in one place. But here in the undergrowth of the vast forest above, you
 may have found an answer. Hidden under layers of lichen and mulch is a
 distinct pattern of glimmering lapis lazuli crystals. Parts of the array
 have been disturbed over the years, but the tell-tale thrum of spiritual
 energies suggest that this might play a role in the lushness of the
 surrounding ecosystem. If you can repair the array, perhaps its full
 functionality might afford an opportunity to rest and recuperate...?
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly smiles at Fei. Something spins in the background -

The landing is a little clumsy, but they laugh together, or at least Elly does -- and that's enough for everyone. Pushing up, she dusts herself off, rising upwards as everyone makes their way across, and she reveals a truly shocking secret: Elly is, for the first time in forever, wearing pants. (This is the peril of the loss of ballistic stockings. If she should ever have access to Gebler stores again, she will be stealing Hammer's weight in Size M DuraNylons.)

After this Elly looks down at the notebook once Lily passes it over. She turns the page.

"More dire than expected..."

The oasis in front of them is beautiful, rich, and vibrant. It exceeds the vibrancy in even places where life remains strong and vital, such as the Blackmoon forest just under discussion. It would be remarkable even in Spira, although perhaps the subtle blue-green glow might suggest Spira itself...

But this place doesn't feel healthy.

"Natural energies are stagnant... or in decline. Standard remediation is untenable... Over impractical time scales, certain methods may achieve limited efficacy... accelerated biomass...? This is certainly a discouraging thing to read about. Was this some kind of experimental station, trying to make..."

At this point, probably, someone knocks enough lichen loose to reveal some of the ley crystals. "Oh!" Elly says.

"Um," she continues.

She looks with hope at the others. Particularly Hiro. This is, to a certain extent, a process of elimination between

* JUDASINA MCREDHEAD* KILLER KEIL
* LEON VON ALBUSWULF, FELDMARSCHALL OF PRUSSIA
* THE DRAGON-SLAYING SLACKER
* DELIGHTFUL JOSIE THE SLAYER OF GODS
* THE RED DRAGON (UNRELATED TO THE DRAGON-SLAYING SLACKER)

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly smiles at Fei. Something spins in the background -

The landing is a little clumsy, but they laugh together, or at least Elly does -- and that's enough for everyone. Pushing up, she dusts herself off, rising upwards as everyone makes their way across, and she reveals a truly shocking secret: Elly is, for the first time in forever, wearing pants. (This is the peril of the loss of ballistic stockings. If she should ever have access to Gebler stores again, she will be stealing Hammer's weight in Size M DuraNylons.)

After this Elly looks down at the notebook once Lily passes it over. She turns the page.

"More dire than expected..."

The oasis in front of them is beautiful, rich, and vibrant. It exceeds the vibrancy in even places where life remains strong and vital, such as the Blackmoon forest just under discussion. It would be remarkable even in Spira, although perhaps the subtle blue-green glow might suggest Spira itself...

But this place doesn't feel healthy.

"Natural energies are stagnant... or in decline. Standard remediation is untenable... Over impractical time scales, certain methods may achieve limited efficacy... accelerated biomass...? This is certainly a discouraging thing to read about. Was this some kind of experimental station, trying to make..."

At this point, probably, someone knocks enough lichen loose to reveal some of the ley crystals. "Oh!" Elly says.

"Um," she continues.

She looks with hope at the others. Particularly Hiro. This is, to a certain extent, a process of elimination between

* JUDASINA MCREDHEAD
* KILLER KEIL
* LEON VON ALBUSWULF, FELDMARSCHALL OF PRUSSIA
* THE DRAGON-SLAYING SLACKER
* DELIGHTFUL JOSIE THE SLAYER OF GODS
* THE RED DRAGON (UNRELATED TO THE DRAGON-SLAYING SLACKER)

DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Lousy Leyabout.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"Well, it seems like it could go terribly awry. After some of the things I've seen, I'm skeptical of things like this," Leon answers Lily, as they both set down on the other side. He rolls his shoulder, then brings in the climbing rope, and clips it back onto his belt. He follows after them, peering at the oasis. The smell of lichen...

He looks disturbed. He glances at those light blue crystals -- then he looks about the group for a moment. He knows some technology; he does not even begin to understand how life-giving crystals might function.

"Well," he says. "This is a hard one. Maybe..." He looks down. "...There's something broken, that some of these slot into?"

He kneels down, at the edge of the water, and peers to get a better look.

DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Lousy Leyabout.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei laughs along with Elly, finding it to be rather contagious. Naturally, as they seem to be heading into a calmer area, Fei draws out his sketchpad and gets to drawing the ley crystals and the like, though really he's kind of doing an approximate visualization of the entire area they are in, even kind of turning around to get a pseudo-3d effect going. He's getting better at drawing what he sees rather than the impressionistic stuff he started out with.

"It is pretty strange." Fei says. "But at least nothing is trying to eat or spike us here."

He can appreciate that.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Lousy Leyabout.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


"Yeah I'm trying to take it slow as I explore what I can do. I could only manage you know - making the shadows move a little at first, and that tired me out." Before he whistles, clearly impressed at the other tricks that Lily has picked up. "Dang. Guess that just shows the difference between where you and me are at."

"See Fei gets it! They're definitely cats - of which I am definitely not! Anyone who says otherwise I'll burn for slander!"

"Yeah she does do that." Hiro adds pretty cheerfully, in warning to the group about Ruby's willingness to carry through on the threat.

At the chasm though, Elly suggests.

"Sure thing Elly! I'll have it done in a snap! ... ... ... Or wait we don't want a snap. Anyhow I'll get it done!"

When the deed is done though, Ruby comments to Fei. "Oh you know - it was pretty tough on Hiro after the Dragonmaster died and the Guard invaded Spira. He's doing alright now I think. It's just... you know. ... As for me, it has been tough! I'm still really sad over the fact that I didn't get to watch Lombardia kick Sin's butt - which she obviously did, since she's the coolest."

However - then they come upon the oasis and Hiro seems taken by it. "I kinda wish we could stay here for the night. Can you imagine looking up at Lunar in a place that shines this blue?" He offers this little sigh, "Maybe one day I can show it to Lucia."

The Lapis Lazuli arrays cause Hiro to suddenly consider the Ley arrays. "Huh... Lapis Lazuli..." Hiro reaches into his pack to take out his Grandfather's journal. Opening it to a certain page about Symbolism within various ruins.

"So Lapis Lazuli back where I come from often represents the Blue Star in our ruins..."

He considers the patterns, and begins trying to adjust the crystals to fit them.

"... maybe this is another thing that Filgaia has in common with my world."

Hiro starts trying to adjust the crystals to fit various drawn patterns in the book that at least seem passingly similar to how the arrays are arranged to see if any of them might cause it to fix it.

DG: Hiro has used his Tool Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook toward his party's challenge, Lousy Leyabout.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    Josie nods as Hiro remarks on the ruins themselves. "Can't say I'm all that familiar with the Elw," outside Pleasing Garden, "but I dare say you're likely on the right path. Maybe I should diversify, eh? Branch out from Zeboim. After all, looks like I'm right about to get knee deep into Lunar history..."

    Maybe this might clarify, somewhat, the reason why she's been in a restive mood since returning to the ship, in a round-about way.

    "Reminds me some of the Feral Menagerie," she remarks, when Leon comments on the corruption in this place. ...Though Leon hadn't precisely been there, now, had he?

    "Keep it up, Junior, and soon you'll have your fifth or sixth under your belt!" she calls, before hitching a ride on one of the drifting seeds with a whoop.

    In any case, she makes it across without incident, though she pauses a moment on the edge to shake her head and get her bearings once she drops off the seed pod.

    "Whew. Maybe with a net or something under that'd be a treat, but I dare say I've got better ways to risk my life, eh? Still, what's done is done. Let's see what we've got..."

    Elly, perhaps, might have the answer there. "Find something, kiddo?" she says, ambling on over to the younger woman and the text she's uncovered.

    "...Huh. Sounds like it, or something near enough. So what do we got here?"

    A platform reveals itself. Along with a shining crystal. "Well, ain't you lovely," Josie remarks, crouching to investigate the thing. Out comes her screwdriver -- though luckily it seems not to try and pry out the gem. She scrapes at some more of the lichen, revealing more of the sparkling things.

    "Looks like a device or something," she says, continuing to scrape several generations of hard-working lichen off the array. "Anyone got an idea what's busted? I can do the fixing, sure enough," she adds, brandishing the screwdiver triumphantly.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Lucky Screwdriver toward her party's challenge, Lousy Leyabout.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"I was clumsy with ice, at first. To say nothing of how much I had to practice precision even with fire. It just takes time." ...Lily won't argue with being a top-notch spellslinger, naturally. SHe just nods at Hiro. "I'm interested to see you continue to improve."

Meanwhile, "I can't argue there," Lily answers Leon. "It's clearly gone awry here." She gestures about the strange plantlife all around them, what she thinks is some facility in the distance; no facility plans to become an overgrown ruin.

It is notable to Lily that Elly is wearing pants. It almost seems strange, in fact. But perhaps not as strange as this... oasis.

No, stranger. But the oasis is weird too.

"Impractical time scales? How old is this place?" Lily wonders aloud. "I wonder that, too. Was this an attempt to combat desertification? Was... Oh."

Lily kneels down to examine the crystals, thoughtfully. "I can feel an energy in these. I wonder..." KILLER KEIL reaches up to the pendant she wears, with its strange gimbals and its ancient Zeboim script. "It's a nice thought," Lily says to Hiro about watching this with Lucia. "But it's not quite romantic for me..."

She glances at what Hiro's doing--and closes her eyes, focusing her magic through the ancient symbol and its resonance of Death ages from this point. She shimmers, lightly--and it becomes difficult to look at what she's doing, as if she isn't quite... there, in the moment, reality creaking as she does a little trial and error that doesn't quite seem to take; a break that doesn't stay broken, a rearrangement according to one of Hiro's pages...

But it's relatively minor, this time. "...Here," Lily suggests after a moment to Josie, with some effort. "There's something that doesn't belong.. I think it's just debris, over some of the slots."

DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Impure Pendant toward her party's challenge, Lousy Leyabout.
=========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>=========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Lousy Leyabout *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 ...more dire than expected. Natural energies are stagnant or in decline and
 standard remediation is untenable. Over impractical time scales, certain
 methods may achieve limited efficacy. Perhaps accelerated biomass cycling...

 OUTDOOR CHALLENGE: An oasis like this should not normally be possible on a
 world like Filgaia. Any ecological symbologist worth their salt would be
 able to tell you that the world is in too poor a shape to support so much
 life in one place. But here in the undergrowth of the vast forest above, you
 may have found an answer. Hidden under layers of lichen and mulch is a
 distinct pattern of glimmering lapis lazuli crystals. Parts of the array
 have been disturbed over the years, but the tell-tale thrum of spiritual
 energies suggest that this might play a role in the lushness of the
 surrounding ecosystem. If you can repair the array, perhaps its full
 functionality might afford an opportunity to rest and recuperate...?
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
====================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl - Round 3 *>====================
=========================< Results - Lousy Leyabout >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leon Albus                          0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiro                                0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook             2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Impure Pendant                      3   Wits    Effects: Rally
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Artist's Toolkit                    2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Lucky Screwdriver                   2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Leon Albus                  40 --(20)--> 60                Pass
Conditions: Save Point(1)|Tire(1)
Effects: Enlighten(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"I think the only problem is that... if there's something wrong with the flows of energy on Filgaia," Elly says, straightening up, "then developing new plants will only amelorate the problem. It's just strange of me to think about it."

Solaris, of course, has the Soylent System, which provides a hydroponic baseline to the surface imports. Elly thinks: We don't take THAT much - and even if we did, it all has to get recycled.

Perhaps Elly underestimates the footprint of TYRANNY. Either way, Leon takes a look, finding some crystals that were jogged out of place. They lay in shallow water, still pretty and clean, and Elly asks Ruby, "Really?" in a curious tone.

The overall pattern becomes clear: Something or someone blundered through here. They probably did not take or break many of the crystals, but perhaps they monkeyed with the machinery - it wasn't sabotaged so much as partially damaged, causing the rest to be strained, like a man with a broken arm who is overcompensating with the other.

The diagrams work - on the fourth try - as the crystals abruptly flare up with light. Elly tenses...

But she is the only tense thing. It is hard to put a finger on exactly what it is, given the nature of Ley and the flow of energy, but the place seems more peaceful now.

Calmer. More natural.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>=========================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Snaking Through the Grass *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 3          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 ...sensory capabilities must be maintained. While there are advantages to
 eliminating unnecessary input to preserve mental integrity, too much
 necessary functionality would be lost if...

 INDOOR CHALLENGE: This facility must have been something amazing, once upon
 a time. So many of the laboratories and greenhouses have been taken over by
 runaway, unmitigated growth that several sections of the place are nothing
 more than complex mazes of interconnected corridors. This would not normally
 be a problem, but your party seems to have found itself in the middle of a
 pack of hungry, chimerical organisms. The strange hybrid of plant and animal
 stalk the hallways, seeking out the prey that they know are nearby. Sneaking
 past the hunting pack will take ingenuity and a healthy amount of stealth
 and misdirection. Use your head and you might just get to keep it.
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Huh." Fei says. "Yeah... I hope she's okay. I feel like I made a bad first impression but maybe helping her fight a little helped that?" He isn't really sure how to say 'Sorry that my past life or whatever was an asshole though it's hard to really apologize because I don't 'remember' anything you were talking about or really anything past a few years ago because my mind is just that broken' and honestly he hopes they can just sort of get that empathetically like Riesenlied or something. "But I guess..mm...I'm wondering if anything else is bothering you?" He seems to have this feeling that Ruby is being quiet about some such thing though the way he stumbles into it, he is probably willing to back off at least,

His cheeks redden a bit at Josie's quip.

But the next area seems to be some manner of greenhouse. Or laboratory? Or at least it was. Now it is essentially a death trap as indicated by the faint growling and slithering noises--just out of reach--of vines twisting as they try to cut off escape.

"Shit, let's move, I'll keep track of our route so we won't get turned around!"

Heruns, looking towards Lily with some worry--she is, sometimes, Rico slow after all.

Luckily this is a wits challenge! But Fei doesn't know that yet.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Snaking Through the Grass.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "It might be a damn mess and not how this one's supposed to be," Josie says, as she scrapes off the overgrowth, "But... it's pretty. Kind of makes me wonder if the whole world looked like this once."

    She pauses a moment.

    "And here the whole thing's just on a long slow drain down. Someday kids are gonna look at stuff the way it is now and wish Filgaia was still like this, huh..." She huffs out a breath, here expression strange and difficult.
    Then she gets back to work, her mouth twisted in a pensive frown.

    The array, as it happens, just takes a bit of cleaning -- well, and a few little adjustments, and some good old fashioned trial and error.

    "Seems... better in here now, somehow," she remarks, straightening and dusting off her good hand on her pantleg. "Heh... wish she could see this." Josie pauses, then shakes her head. "...Useless..."

    She moves on after that; she doesn't linger.

    It isn't long until they reach one of the structures.

    Less long yet when they head inside and explore a distance... and hear a sound.

    "Ain't this a problem," Josie drawls, once it becomes clear that they aren't precisely in here alone. "Hey, one of you kids buy me a little time. I'm gonna give them a problem to handle," she says, turning towards one of the supports and shimmying a short distance up. Using the crook of her elbow on her bad arm as a sort of 'hook' she starts the slower process of working some of the screws loose.

    "If this works, you all are gonna want to get out of here quickly-like," she hisses down as she works.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Lucky Screwdriver toward her party's challenge, Snaking Through the Grass.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Leon scowls, as he enters the next area. A laboratory, he thinks. His eyes scan about -- he looks hesitant -- and then he nods, once, at what Josie says. But, that is when he catches the vines moving -- and then hears the slithering noise. He looks at Josie, and nods his head. "We'll buy you time," he says.

He reaches into his bag, finding a couple of old flares. Leon lights them; the fuse begins to track down, and then he hurls them. They fly far and fast enough that they hit the opposite wall...

...bounce, with a metallic clank...

...and then begin spraying sparks every which way. Leon lets out a sharp gas, before he turns, and starts moving. "Let's hurry," he says in a whisper. "Soon as Josie is done."

DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Snaking Through the Grass.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"Hmm..." It is strange to think about it. "How, then, would you go about changing the energy flows directly?" Lily wonders, though it seems idle for the moment. But maybe that's just because she doesn't linger on it for now, instead watching Fei talk to Ruby and the laboratories come into view. Fei mentions moving--

Lily is indeed much slower, but at least she's aware of this, and knows how to accomodate it. Wait for a distraction, naturally. "Inclined to agree," Lily says to Leon, and as the flares bounce, she instead starts up with the rest of the group, checking her knife--but conjuring instead a larger blade of darkness with a flare of violet circuitry. "I'll cut us a path if it comes down to it." She keeps her voice down. Sometimes, being slow... just means letting your friends make the distraction and moving.

DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Snaking Through the Grass.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


"If you ever make it back to our neck of the uh woods on Lunar. Then look up my Grandpa. He's be delighted to talk to you about history and archaeology for hours. Has a pretty good personal library too." Hiro relays to Josie as she talks about branching out to Lunar history.

Whereas Ruby reassures Fei, "Oh yeah she's gotta be finnnee. She's Lombardia after all! And hey I'm sure your first impression was okay - she's gotta realize not everyone can be a rad dragon Fei since she's one."

Once in the greenhouse, Hiro takes cover the moment Fei indicates the plant/animal hybrids.

Moving from one path, to another whenever Fei tells them to go. And anxiously tries to help cover Josie while she works on a 'problem' for them. "Got it." He replies to Leon, "Soon as Josie is done we move out of here."

However, when he notices a patrol getting too close, he slowly rips out a page from the back of his journal, and tosses it down a hallway as a distraction to try to draw the plant animal hybrids away.

As they go to investigate, he twitches a finger, and a little puff of wind blows it even further to keep it just out of their reach.

DG: Hiro has used his Tool Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook toward his party's challenge, Snaking Through the Grass.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Snaking Through the Grass.
=========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>=========================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Snaking Through the Grass *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 3          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 ...sensory capabilities must be maintained. While there are advantages to
 eliminating unnecessary input to preserve mental integrity, too much
 necessary functionality would be lost if...

 INDOOR CHALLENGE: This facility must have been something amazing, once upon
 a time. So many of the laboratories and greenhouses have been taken over by
 runaway, unmitigated growth that several sections of the place are nothing
 more than complex mazes of interconnected corridors. This would not normally
 be a problem, but your party seems to have found itself in the middle of a
 pack of hungry, chimerical organisms. The strange hybrid of plant and animal
 stalk the hallways, seeking out the prey that they know are nearby. Sneaking
 past the hunting pack will take ingenuity and a healthy amount of stealth
 and misdirection. Use your head and you might just get to keep it.
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
====================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl - Round 4 *>====================
===================< Results - Snaking Through the Grass >====================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leon Albus                          0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiro                                0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook             2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Artist's Toolkit                    2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Lucky Screwdriver                   2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Leon Albus                  60 --(20)--> 80                Pass
Conditions: Hesitate(2)
Effects: Enlighten(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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: Hiro has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>=========================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Benediction of Archgenesis *>=================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 4          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 ...all that I can do. And yet, the truth I have been running from for so
 long is so painfully obvious. Even if I find my answer, someday, who will
 bring it to those who need it most? I will die here, so far from home... or
 else I will be bound to this place, never to see them again. When it is
 done, will I even remember what I did all this for?

 INDOOR CHALLENGE: You've finally drawn near to the heart of this place. The
 vines creeping across the facility walls pulse with light and energy, and
 grow so thick that it's impossible to tell that you're in an artificial
 structure at all. Whatever is going on in here, whatever treasures might be
 hidden here, they're very close by.

 The problem is, you're not the only ones who realize it.

 The corridor suddenly shudders as a cascade of roots and vines erupt from
 the walls to bar your path. Saplings shoot up from the floor, expand into
 fully grown tree trunks, and then rapidly die and petrify to bar your way.
 The life-force filling this place surges to keep you at bay. Whatever lies
 in wait knows that you are coming, and it's doing all that it can to stop
 you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

BGM: Yakkety Sax

Fei glances towards Josie,then lowers his head a little. He has been so subsumed with his own mental health care--maybe he lost track of Josie's needs. They haven't even killed her dad yet, he thinks, and she probably would really like to. Where has he even gone since the battle in Krosse?

Josie starts unscrewing a support and asks for some time. Leon tries to lend a hand by throwing some flares but unfortunately one of the ones he throws out turns out to be a dud. Or perhaps just worn down due to its age. Hard to tell!

Perhap due to paper being once made from tree, Hiro's journal page successfully draws some aggro off of Josie when the chimaeras notice it. Lily summons her blade at the ready but, perhaps due to being RICO SLOW, doesn't really have a chance to use it before Josie is done with her work--

--and the support beam collapses in the chimaeras.

"Ok bye time!" Fei shouts as the team flees to a hopefully safer area.

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


The writing within the journal grows darker and darker. The author being increasingly crushed by existential despair.

As Bye time occurs they find themselves out of the greenhouse and in a place that feels pregnant with spiritual energy. The walls pulse with light and life and Ruby flies up to bat at it with a vine tip with a pawsie. "Oooo!"

Bat bat.

Bat bat.

Suddenly the vine tip doesn't move when Ruby touches it.

"Uhhhhh - huh? Hey this thing... hardened?" Taking a deep breath, Ruby breathes a puff of flame on the petrified tip of vine.

Suddenly the whole place flares with light. A tremor wracks the place. Suddenly fauna is erupting out of the walls - creating an instant natural disaster of deadly overgrowth. "RUN RUN! THE PLANTS ARE REBELLING AGAINST THEIR DRAGON OVERLORDS!"

Buds become saplings. Saplings become trees. Trees expand and swell to be larger than anything that could possibly be natural. And then - they begin to harden, flaking in a rapid nigh instant petrification that spreads over them.

The group instantly finds itself caught in a mad-rush to avoid the plant life of the place from crushing them, and pinning them into a position that would surely entomb them.

Hiro, does what is obvious to him. He draws a sword and starts hacking and slashing as he attempts to make a desperate forward progress, trying to cut at any angle he sees them threatening a member of the group.

"DODGE THIS - DODGE THIS!"

"I THINK SOMETHING DODGING YOU IS THE LAST THING YOU HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT HIRO!"

Yeah this is going to get deadly rapidly unless someone does something...

...fast.

DG: Hiro has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Benediction of Archgenesis.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"I am having concerns about our travel guide's state of mind," Leon conffesses, quietly, as they hurry along. He steps into the next room -- near the center -- and slows to a stop. His eyes widen -- and he turns in time to see a surge of saplings. A shotgun blast rips out from his ARM, freshly drawn, and fired into their midst. It is blown backward.

Ruby shouts against the tide. "I think they're rather rebelling against all of us, Ruby!" the captain yells. The Raid Funnels activate -- swirling out to catch a tree and push it back. Then, the triangles twist up.

Light sparks across them -- and beams fire, slashing through their ranks.

Leon fires another blast of buckshot into the midst of another set of them. "We must be near something, though! With this many of the bloody things!"

DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Field Sledge toward his party's challenge, Benediction of Archgenesis.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"I do hope she's alright," Elly says about Lombardia. "I..."

The memories drift through her mind again. Are they really hers?

Sin is a mighty peril. Would Lombardia truly SLAY the great monster? Or would she simply keep it at bay for a while? A single mistake - the scales magnify, in some ways, on such levels. Gears do not simply fall over; they shatter, crash, rip apart. Elly thinks for a moment of the brother of a man who hates her. That brother is dead.

These are what worries haunt Elly as she moves with the grass. She also trips and falls on her face. "Wah -!" Which is when a creature lunges past her, having aimed to hit her back before she tripped. What excellent luck!

RUN AWAY

HERE

The plants grow.

"They're working so hard," Elly says. She says this as she reaches into a hip pouch. "Everything that was made here... I wonder if it's like a mirror oven. Do you ever make them down on the surface, Fei? I don't know if they'd work well here, but they were something for a novelty... the idea is that you could make mirrors that would focus sunlight on a little oven space, just big enough to heat up a pod of soup or something..."

She's wistful. Is that good?

Elly brings out a package of - hot dogs?

No. Not hot dogs. Elly wads up the detonation clay and attaches the electrical timer, though she doesn't trigger it yet. She contemplates, and wads on a SECOND unit of the material, and THEN she punches the fuse, hurling it forwards and stepping back. "Everyone breathe out!" Elly says.

Because when the fuse fires... Well, it's going to be messy.

DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Undersea Explosive Pack toward her party's challenge, Benediction of
Archgenesis.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily doesn't have to cut something. That's fine. She saves the energy. Surely she won't soon need it...?

She continues to note the author's words. What is the nature of this place? What is here? Lily is certain, now, that whatever it is, it's something notable. Dark, and dangerous, sure. But notable.

"Running from the truth," she repeats, as Ruby bats away at a vine. "Yes, I think our author met something unfortunate here..."

Lily sees the vines coming up quickly. Lily shifts backward, behind Leon and also Hiro for a moment as she examines the source, looks for a place to spot--"I see it! The source--it's all over!"

Gritting her teeth, Lily reaches into her things, and pulls out an etched metal plate that she holds in hand, eyes scanning its surface. "Here's to see if this works... All right... Air pressure... Energy coefficient..."

The Witch adopts a stable stance, then, eyes flashing as she lifts her hand upward. "Don't get caught in this," she cautions, and makes use of the magical assistance to begin casting a spell that makes the air itself seem to hum and shimmer around her, even as gold cascades across the once-invisible circuit patterns on what shows of her skin.

Her eyes turn blazing gold with them. "<Initiating countermeasures.>" She breathes out, as Elly directs suddenly--and holds her blast long enough to go off with hers.

The explosions of nuclear fire start, and they start getting bigger. But none of them fire backward into those of the group.

DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Demolition Formula toward her party's challenge, Benediction of Archgenesis.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Huh?" Fei asks of Leon. "Really?" He considers. "...I don't know. It seems more uh... more sad, I guess?" He frowns faintly and shakes his head slowly. "Devoted to whomever he came here for, but ... never able to return to them." He lowers his head again. "Never... Able to return home."

He places his hand for a moment on his forehead, closing his eye.

Then he smile and says, "Well, hopefully he was able to make his peace with this land."

He frowns a little, concerned, about the swelling trees and Ruby's shouts. "Well.." He says, eyes flashing yellowed as he looks to Ruby. "We can't have that."

He straightens up, cracks his knuckle, and then gestures forward with a hand.

"Um." He says. "Don't...be in front of me?"

And then a hefty eruption of red energy explodes out of Fei's hand and barrels for the trees, scourging through anything in its way.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool The Other Guy Lends a Hand toward his party's challenge, Benediction of Archgenesis.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Oh yeah? Your gramps? Got a place I should head if I end up there again?" she asks Hiro, hand on her hip. "Maybe he knows a thing or three about 'Lyonesse'. Figure it can't hurt if I pick his brains some... assuming he's got something good. Maybe even a history lesson'd be worthwhile."

    Knowledge is power after all. It can't hurt to learn something...

    Especially if the Trial Knight will continue to get in her way.

    All this, before they enter the greenhouse and before she drops a part of the roofing down to block (and/or squish) some of the critters in. She slips free shortly before the whole thing goes to pot and racing after the others, soon catches up with them out of the greenhouse.

    Out of the greenhouse and into a separate but connected structure.

    "..."

    Josie narrows her eyes.

    "Don't like this," she murmurs, investigating one of the walls more closely--

    As the whole place lights up.

    As plants themselves begin to rise up in an explosion of overgrowth.

    "Shit!" Josie barks, backing away from a rapidly swelling tree. "This ain't good! We're about to get--" She's quickly backed into tight position with the rest of them, and goes at first for her sidearm--

    Until settling instead for the mattock at her hip. Slamming the pick end of it into the nearest tree, she does her best to RIP and TEAR.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, Benediction of Archgenesis.
=========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>=========================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Benediction of Archgenesis *>=================
|Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 4          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 ...all that I can do. And yet, the truth I have been running from for so
 long is so painfully obvious. Even if I find my answer, someday, who will
 bring it to those who need it most? I will die here, so far from home... or
 else I will be bound to this place, never to see them again. When it is
 done, will I even remember what I did all this for?

 INDOOR CHALLENGE: You've finally drawn near to the heart of this place. The
 vines creeping across the facility walls pulse with light and energy, and
 grow so thick that it's impossible to tell that you're in an artificial
 structure at all. Whatever is going on in here, whatever treasures might be
 hidden here, they're very close by.

 The problem is, you're not the only ones who realize it.

 The corridor suddenly shudders as a cascade of roots and vines erupt from
 the walls to bar your path. Saplings shoot up from the floor, expand into
 fully grown tree trunks, and then rapidly die and petrify to bar your way.
 The life-force filling this place surges to keep you at bay. Whatever lies
 in wait knows that you are coming, and it's doing all that it can to stop
 you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
====================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl - Round 5 *>====================
===================< Results - Benediction of Archgenesis >===================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leon Albus                          5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
Field Sledge                        3   Brute   Effects: Rally
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiro                                0 --(10)--> 10                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
Demolition Formula                  3   Brute   Effects: Rally
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
The Other Guy Lends a Hand          4   Brute   Effects: None
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   5 --(10)--> 15                 Fail
Undersea Explosive Pack             3   Brute   Effects: Rally
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Well-Used Mattock                   2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Leon Albus                  80 --(0)--> 80                 Pass
Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Overwhelm
Effects: Strengthen(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus has passed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>=========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Galem the Gazer *>=======================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 3          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 ...I meet my end, I have prepared a guardian to ensure my work does not fall
 into the wrong hands and to shepherd the creations I have left behind...

 FINAL CHALLENGE: You emerge from the walls of vine and wood into a dimly lit
 grove nestled between the roots of a massive tree. The only illumination you
 can see in this place is that which you bring with you, and the gentle glow
 of the moss and fungus of the forest understory. The air is damp and smells
 faintly of fresh loam. Just as you think you're in the clear, however, a
 brilliant beam of light sweeps across the boughs and bushes. Its source is
 obvious; there's some kind of leafy orb floating there, a rat's nest of
 tendrils trailing underneath it. It possesses a single, unblinking eye that
 acts as a botanical searchlight. It sweeps the zone again before moving on
 with its patrol. You can see several more patrolling in the distance,
 walking a vigilant orbit around a huge, floating, one-eyed seed.

 You seem to have eluded its notice for the time being. Maybe if you can
 evade its sentries, you'll be able to reach your goal without being
 embroiled in an unnecessary fight?
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


"Not impossible. I should know for sure but... I wasn't his best student. I was more of a hands on kinda guy." He'd said to Josie back then.

Now though...

Ruby shouts back at Leon. "I CAN SEE THAT! MIND IF I HIRE THE BLACK WOLVES TO PUT DOWN THIS COUP?"

Hiro rapidly finds himself overwhelmed by just the sheer amount of mass to cut through. Cutting through trees? Fine. Cutting through a huge number of petrified trees he's finding himself more battered and bruised by the second.

Leon though manages to blast them a path at a critical juncture with his raid funnels. Allowing them to run on before they'd get pinned down for too long.

Elly throws a package of detonation clay. Though unfortunately for her, a tree snaps clean through the timer and the fuse, preventing the explosives from firing.

Lily begins nuclear armageddon though before things would get too bad. Each blast seeming to cauterize away the growth and managing to stunt it for a little while...

...unfortunately, the surface of each one starts to bubble, like it's attempting to regrow the carbonized plant matter anyhow. What jerks, don't they know carbonized plants don't regenerate?

Anyhow. The Other Guy in Fei's head lends a hand with an eruption of crimson energy, scourging them a path, as they keep running faster and faster, trying to make it beyond this place's ability to affect them.

And just as they reach the end. A huge shrub forms. And starts growing larg-

It's fine, because Josie got her mattock into the tree. She rips it out by its roots before it can finish blocking their path, and as she heaves it to the side - it petrifies and shatters.

The group is clear - just as the path closes up behind them again - hardening instantly.

There will be no Blanks here among them today, and no late game side quests to find the Supersoft, congratulations!

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

They make their way.

"I don't like this a lot," Elly confesses, quietly, to Fei. "I feel like we're just carving our way through. Do you think we're going to find something worthwhile here? It would be awful if we're just... just destroying rare plants.."

And then they're locked in.

"..."

Elly is about to say something when a streaking beam of LIGHT flashes. Elly reflexively ducks down, almost face-down on the ground. The light swings past them...

"... is it... a guard?"

OVERVIEW!

This entrance has a slightly commanding position, as do many sites that Diggers have to deal with. Oh yes, folks, the big difference between some of the Digger classification systems often boil down to 'are you going up or are you going down,' and you will always find it harder to go up.

But from here, four different floating sentinels can be seen. Their patterns are discernible. "... They're like security drones," Elly says, with a sort of dull surprise. "I wonder what would happen if one saw us."

PROBABLY NOTHING GOOD.

"I suppose that seed at the bottom must be 'the work'..."

DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Galem the Gazer.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"I don't know... something about it bothers me. Maybe I'm not in the best state to judge things, when they're trying to kill me," Leon admits to Fei.

He flinches at the light, as the last of them fall. Through the vines, he sees it -- the eye in the orb, scanning and sweeping about. He swallows; then his eyes turn to Elly. "They are," he says. "I think we better be careful. Eerie, seeing an eye on a plant."

He sets his jaw -- ducks low -- and starts to edge along. When Leon reaches a break, he glances at the others, and motions them to come. He keeps an eye on the watcher all the while.

DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Galem the Gazer.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Impure Pendant toward her party's challenge, Galem the Gazer.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Galem the Gazer.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


"Yeah sorta makes me worry that it's like the water shrine back on Spira." Hiro whispers as Leon talks about the eerieness of seeing eyes on a plant.

"The eyes... the eyes..." Ruby didn't enjoy the water shrine.

Hiro takes a moment to reflect on the chapter his Grandpa wrote about Alarms and Sentries.

'Reflect on the many ways you can prevent yourself from being in direct sight line with the cause for concern.'

He reflects on this by using his blade as a literal mirror so he never has to actually stick his head out to check on the creepy plant eyes before moving from one position to the next.

DG: Hiro has used his Tool Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook toward his party's challenge, Galem the Gazer.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "A man after my own heart," she says, to Hiro. "You can theorize all you like, but hands-on work gets the job done. Tell you what, I find myself up there, I'll give him a call..."

    So she had said then.

    Funny, how fast things can change: easy conversation is an afterthought as the entire room they're in has a go at them.

    It's a tight, panicked situation. Josie is at best distantly aware of explosions, of the various degrees of violence set upon by her fellow Wolves. Her focus is entirely on the problet before her, and that problem is in the form of an expanding shrub.

    Which she rips into, tearing it aside just in time for them to--

    To reach the space beyond.

    "Think of it this way, Red," Josie remarks to Elly, before ducking as the beam of light passes their way. "...They ain't normal plants. Imagine this stuff getting out there. It'd be pretty, sure, but also pretty bad." She snickers, unhelpfully, at her own wretched joke.

    "Seems like a guard to me. C'mon. Let's either out a distraction--"

    Her gaze casts around for something good.

    "--or some cover. --aha, there we go," she says, spotting something. She crawls over and gets up on her knees, reaching for a panel. "Lemme know if that thing comes round again. I'm gonna try to get this thing loose."

DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Lucky Screwdriver toward her party's challenge, Galem the Gazer.
=========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>=========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Galem the Gazer *>=======================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 3          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 ...I meet my end, I have prepared a guardian to ensure my work does not fall
 into the wrong hands and to shepherd the creations I have left behind...

 FINAL CHALLENGE: You emerge from the walls of vine and wood into a dimly lit
 grove nestled between the roots of a massive tree. The only illumination you
 can see in this place is that which you bring with you, and the gentle glow
 of the moss and fungus of the forest understory. The air is damp and smells
 faintly of fresh loam. Just as you think you're in the clear, however, a
 brilliant beam of light sweeps across the boughs and bushes. Its source is
 obvious; there's some kind of leafy orb floating there, a rat's nest of
 tendrils trailing underneath it. It possesses a single, unblinking eye that
 acts as a botanical searchlight. It sweeps the zone again before moving on
 with its patrol. You can see several more patrolling in the distance,
 walking a vigilant orbit around a huge, floating, one-eyed seed.

 You seem to have eluded its notice for the time being. Maybe if you can
 evade its sentries, you'll be able to reach your goal without being
 embroiled in an unnecessary fight?
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
====================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl - Round 6 *>====================
========================< Results - Galem the Gazer >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leon Albus                          10 --(10)--> 20                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiro                                10 --(5)--> 15                 Pass
Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook             2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           10 --(5)--> 15                 Pass
Impure Pendant                      3   Wits    Effects: Rally
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
Artist's Toolkit                    2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   15 --(10)--> 25                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
Lucky Screwdriver                   2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Leon Albus                  80 --(35)--> 115               Pass
Conditions: Overwhelm|Stupify(2)
Effects: Enlighten(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Leon Albus has successfully explored The Lifeweaver's Whorl!
=========================<* The Lifeweaver's Whorl *>=========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Fruits of Knowledge *>=====================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 It is said that the transmission of knowledge is one form of immortality.
 Sometimes I wonder if I should have taken another path. Taken a student,
 perhaps. That would have been nice...

 Beyond the guardian, hidden in a nook beneath a bough of the great tree,
 there is an innocuous path forward that terminates in an unusually
 unentangled doorway. It slides open with a quiet hiss and allows you to
 enter what looks to be a personal laboratory. Meticulously recorded notes
 are piled in stacks alongside tomes carefully detailing experiment after
 experiment, both their methodologies and their results. But the most
 valuable find in all of this is the contents of the computer console at the
 far end of the room. It's a compilation of a man's work over the course of
 untold ages. A veritable mountain of observations on Filgaia's slow decay
 over the past few centuries, as well as a veritable encyclopedia of
 botanical, zoological and ecological insights straight out of the mind of a
 master in all three fields. There's a data storage device nearby, as if the
 author had intended for someone- anyone- to take his work and do something
 with it.

 Of course, the problem then becomes finding a means of transcribing it
 all... But perhaps there are some people out there who might be able to
 help.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

The group creeps forward. Fei's improvised maps and discreet use of pigment helps them stay covered. Lily burns a hole through a particularly difficult obstacle, letting folks keep low.

Leon leads the way. There is nothing here more aggressive than an unusually large beetle. One lands on his nose, in fact, and has a shell durable enough that it cannot be swatted. Fortunately, it is specialized to eat tender leaves - and cannot break his skin with its mandibles.

Hiro and Ruby stay close together. Hiro's sword reveals the motion of the guardians. This is the way. Perhaps later, Ruby can sip a cup of tea, and hold it with both pawsies.

Josie, of course, has her screwdriver. And it really must be lucky - and it's strange how quick time can seem to pass, because - "Wait," Elly says.

ZOOM OUT. An arrow points to where the group is clustered. (A smaller arrow points to Ruby and is a rotating gif saying 100% CRAZY BEAUTIFUL 4/lYFE)

"Did we already reach the center?"

The laboratory is small, a little cramped, but there are seats, sort of. The computer console flickers and responds slowly, but the data has been stored on a data storage medium - a Zettaquad Information Portability disk.

Where will this data be of use?

If only the group had a reliquary mobile naval station with advanced computer technology.

LATER:

"... I think I found an error," Elly says, reviewing the zoological data. "This is a 'meter' but it's clearly meant to be 'centimeter'." On the screen is a very round rodentlike creature, approximately bipedal.