2020-02-15: The Sacred Rule of Dibs
- Log: The Sacred Rule of Dibs
- Cast: Seraph Lanval, Layna Manydays, Kaguya, Lydia Seren, Grace Harvey
- Where: The Cape of Breath
- Date: February 15, 2020
- Summary: An unlikely group of individuals ends up heading to the Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- at the same time, leading to a tense team-up... will they be a bigger threat to each other than the lab itself?
===========================<* The Cape of Breath *>=========================== Stretching from the edge of the slowly-spreading northern desert, the Cape of Breath is the lush southern region of Meria Boule. Farmland and livestock take up much of the hilly region, dotted with the estates and castles of Merian nobles, often at the height of elevation, but across temperate land to the west great forests begin, still part of the great resources of the Merian nation. In places the badlands of the north find mirrors here, hotter regions with accordingly sparser populations... where people could move. To the farthest south and east are the wide coastlines, each marked with large cities. Only the fortress nature of many estates at the hearts of settlements recalls much of Meria's more warlike history, after the great efforts of the late Queen to ensure peace for all Meria Boule, and the spread of knowledge. Nevertheless, the increasing spread of monsters can make travel without caravan or guards a perilous undertaking indeed.
DG: A party led by Seraph Lanval is now entering Ruins of Lab -Tishrei-. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==============================================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- *>==============================================
==============================================<* CHALLENGE - EXPRESS UG *>==============================================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The Ruins of the Laboratory -Tishrei- take you to the coast of Meria Boule's
southern peninsula, far from being an obscure ruin in the midst of
wilderness. There, you all see it -- the wreckage of an ancient, massive
metal building is plainly moored between large crags where the beach ends
and a sheer cliffside begins.
Inside, the air is chilly and still as a panel pops into place as if
detecting your presence. Streams of data filter through the panel monitor,
and you can read the following words--
-DETECTING-
Biosignatures Detected: -Drifter- Designation C2A2
Constructing Appropriate Challenges...
-READY-
--and the very world seems to reconstruct around you, altering data cube by
data cube into a highway from a far-gone civilisation, replete with tall
skyscrapers in the distance. The sky is burning, and spotlights are
everywhere.
Any further awe will have to wait, however. The very highway is also the
scene of a battle -- terrified motorists in cars and trucks are headed your
way, as they flee the incoming bombs of massive mechanical bees!
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Meria Boule sure has had a lot of weird things found and unearthed, lately, like this whole 'Odessa and ARMs' slap-fighting and also a bunch of Drifters suddely showing up in Aquvy's waters just makes weird shit happen! Who knew! There's a big ol' mass of rusted metal of a peculiar but definitely mortal-made make that draws attention, and Lanval remembers that weird and scary place with the yawning maw of a canyon that seemed to grow ever wider as everyone crossed it.
"Mmmm... okay," Lanval says to Layna as the two make their approach, "I don't think there'sh any Malevolence in there... but if we shee shomethin' nice 'n shome bad people are there too," Lanval says, "thish time... I'll make shure anything that looksh like what they'd want getsh in my mouth." That way they will never want to touch it ever! This is foolproof logic.
However the group comes together, there'll be no time for disagreements or arguments because someone or something trips a panel appearing in thin air. Weird streams of stuff - geometric shapes, 1s, and 0s - coalesce and twist around after it detects 'Drifter' (shouldn't it be Drifters? Is that a codeword for something? Ignoring the obvious vernacular here for a moment) and 'constructs appropriate challenges.'
"...That one ain't even in Anceint Tongue," Lanval remarks as everyone involved is dumped onto cold, hard, paved black-ish gravel so smooth and flat as to be unnatural (it's called asphalt), to great towering buildings that climb ever higher into the sky. Something else climbs higher - flames, and smoke. The smoke is winning. Smoke will get its comeuppance in the limbo tournament, though. Stupid smug smoke.
One digresses. Lights fill the sky as if looking for something, and there's a lot of things in the smoke-filled sunset. These 'things' are less important compared to what's on the ground.
Hey, that looks like a lot of CaraKins. Not quite the same as the Carakin, but same idea - huge metal boxes that move without horses, in different shapes and sizes. Some are small! So small they could only fit like four people! That seems like a waste, doesn't it?
They are, however, smoking and on fire and are barreling towards the group away from what look like over-large bees in the distnace. The bees can wait, they're not there yet.
Lanval just stands where he is, dumbstruck, but that's not much of a problem considering his nature.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, EXPRESS UG.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Sure, there's a lot of things going on, but Layna doesn't really care all that much about that. Sure, sometimes they affect her directly and she has to do something about it, but most of the time things are perfectly fine. This leaves plenty of time to just go out and do some exploring, like she's doing today.
"'Atta boy, Lanval." Layna replies with a chuckle as he makes his decision. Indeed, she can't sense any Malevolence at all here. It's kind of strange how sterile the air is, actually, and the chilliness of it doesn't help. She can handle a chill, though - she's used to the sea, after all.
It isn't long, however, until things get weird. The environment around them shifts and changes, forming...a city? It's like November City, but... more. Layna raises an eyebrow, but there's really no time to get concerned about that.
"...Hey, Lanval, get a move on! They're coming right for us!" Layna warns. Despite the urgency in her tone, though, she has no issue with bringing out a bottle of some liquid or another as she moves and downing some of it. She'll even pass it along to one of the others if they express an interest.
Lanval gets it last regardless, however, because she can't expect to get the bottle back if she gives it to him.
...Well, sometimes she at least gets the bottle back. Sometimes.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, EXPRESS UG.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
So many weird things. This weird thing in particular, though, draws Kaguya's interest--by description, it's a facility of some advanced technology, and that means it might be one of the places interesting to Kaguya. It's hexagonal, which is sort of a shot in the dark but makes it still likelier. And if it's just some unrelated high-tech ruin...
Probably fun anyway.
With this spirit in mind, a small Veruni makes her way across the Merian coast, at this point walking rather than piloting her Gear directly here or some such. She is thus visible if anyone looks. She waves, in fact. Kaguya apparently has no shame about being easily classed as bad, though mostly she's talking to a certain cool person who's with her on the way up. "And so like, he was just, 'can you set down the bricks now' and I said sure since he already looked pretty stoned!"
"Hey. Drifter. That's the nicest thing I've been called by a computer that wasn't mine in ages!" Kaguya reports cheerfully. Then, everything twists and changes, and Kaguya blinks. "What kind of weird-ass projector is--"
Oh. Kaguya blinks and dives the way out of a car. "What the--" Kaguya frowns, and mutters something unintelligble and unprintable both, before standing up properly. "This is... not the side of this I'm used to being on," the small Veruni admits of the chaos. "I mean, not lately anyway."
She rushes to the other lane out of the way of another one. "Huh? Oh, sure, Cap'n," Kaguya says, which may be interest enough as Kaguya accepts the bottle and takes a drink. "Oh, I'm not contagious," she says helpfully after, right before--"Hwoo! What's in that, wow!"
It's not a displeased sound either. But Kaguya finds herself rushing upward regardless.
DG: Kaguya has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, EXPRESS UG.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia Seren got a pretty good high score LAST TIME on her adventure up Tishrei. And now she's coming again! This isn't, shockingly enough, because she's super interested in all the TECHNOLOGY of Tishrei--truth be told, it's a bit TOO technology for Lydia who prefers a rougher sort of engineering but she interested in adventure. And Lanval. AND KAGUYA WHERE ARE YOU KAGUYA? Oh okay they actually end up arriving together. Awesome! And Layna's cool. So she's come along.
"I'm just wondering what C2A2 stands for." She frowns a bit. "And how it knows we're Drifters instead of, I don't know, JERKS."
She tries avoiding the bees this time by SKATING. SKATE OR DIE.
"You don't mind us joining in, yeah? Cool. Cool cool."
She looks over to Kaguya. She blinks a bit and says, "Oh, like, 'I'm used to going INFERIOR HUMAN TECHNOLOGY' not 'Woah this human slash human adjacent technology is craaaazy'?"
She can't help but grin a bit at that.
"So what happened after?" She adds, in regards to the prior OFF SCREEN story.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Radical Skates toward her party's challenge, EXPRESS UG.
<Pose Tracker> Grace Harvey has posed.
If you want to talk people turning up in Aquvy. Grace doesn't even have a convenient teleport to explain her presence. But nonetheless, she's heard tell of a ruin in the sea and thought 'hey, there might be something cool there', and bam, here she is. With her three eyes, and her purple hair, and her weird jacket covered with patches with unreadable writing. And her backpack sized hot pink robot. How did she get there? Details.
Needless to say, she makes her way towards the entrance where everyone else is gathered. All three of them. "Aww, crap, have you already gone through this place?" She asks, because it's much harder to loot from a place that's just been cleared out. So much for the freshness of rumours. And then the floor disappears and she's landing on asphalt which is unpleasant. But that's not what takes most of her attention. Instead...
"Oh my god, honest to goodness cars." She pauses to look at them. "Wheels, huh. Retro."
And then the little robot beeps and Grace swings down to pick her up. "Alright, alright, I get it, it's dangerous!" And with that, Grace starts darting and dodgy out of the way of traffic on the highway, or at least trying to.
"So," she asks, mid-dodge, "the three of you a team, or is it just coincidence?"
DG: Grace Harvey has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward its party's challenge, EXPRESS UG.
==============================================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- *>==============================================
==============================================<* CHALLENGE - EXPRESS UG *>==============================================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The Ruins of the Laboratory -Tishrei- take you to the coast of Meria Boule's
southern peninsula, far from being an obscure ruin in the midst of
wilderness. There, you all see it -- the wreckage of an ancient, massive
metal building is plainly moored between large crags where the beach ends
and a sheer cliffside begins.
Inside, the air is chilly and still as a panel pops into place as if
detecting your presence. Streams of data filter through the panel monitor,
and you can read the following words--
-DETECTING-
Biosignatures Detected: -Drifter- Designation C2A2
Constructing Appropriate Challenges...
-READY-
--and the very world seems to reconstruct around you, altering data cube by
data cube into a highway from a far-gone civilisation, replete with tall
skyscrapers in the distance. The sky is burning, and spotlights are
everywhere.
Any further awe will have to wait, however. The very highway is also the
scene of a battle -- terrified motorists in cars and trucks are headed your
way, as they flee the incoming bombs of massive mechanical bees!
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWbvXCKdFrg )
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
=========================================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- - Round 1 *>========================================= ================================================< Results - EXPRESS UG >================================================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kaguya 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Quartermaster's Stash 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Radical Skates 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Grace Harvey 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Seraph Lanval 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2) Effects: Quicken(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Lanval 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> Seraph Lanval has posed.
The collected are no strangers to fast things moving in their direction - by and large they make sport of it by whatever means available. Lydia is far too radical - so radical when it comes to SAKTING vs. DYING that even Lester looks a lot like Poseur Pete. (Who are those two? Never mind that. Let it just be said that the bees will never catch up to Lydia.)
Layna passes around a tasty drink to get everyone with the necessary boost they need to be a touch too drunk to have second thoughts about playing in traffic, as Lanval just stands there awestruck and confused by what he's seeing. By and large, the 'cars' (according to the three-eyed young woman over there) pass him by, because he has the fortune of standing on the dotted lines that they aren't crossing.
Grace is able to put a name to these vehicles and that is her primary contribution - she's going to have to make an AWESOME DODGE ROLL to avoid being run over and she'll get some scrapes, but that's way better than becoming tasty diet road pizza. She also indicates something interesting to Lanval he will internalize moments later - she refers to 'the three of you' when there's four of them there aside from her.
There is a reason for this. It is because in the process of the drink sharing, Kaguya snatches the bottle before Lanval can receive it and just rushes in there without a care, and her dare to defy death sees her still there.
Lanval remains standing there with a look of half-open eyes and a thin horizontal line that is his mouth.
She took his drink. :(
(it wasn't his drink to start with, that was Layna's, but still!!)
Even with her being an enemy to Filgaia's Guardians and thus his enemy, that seems like a far graver sin than anything to come prior. Dun dun dunnnn.
The scenery starts to shift...
DG: Layna Manydays has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- *>=========================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Falling Down *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The mysterious panel chirps and streams data--
Challenge 'YOKU-001': Unfinished
Overdue Date By: 1182 Years 7 Months 3 Days...
--and reconjures the area around you to a cyber-area with a sheer cliff upon
it. The way forward isn't immediately obvious, until--
*BWONG*
A block appears overhead with a distinctive noise. Then another, then a
third, fourth -- oh, then that first one disappears, and then a fifth leads
somewhere completely irrelevant...?
It seems like you'll have to utilise these disappearing and reappearing
blocks to hop up and gain enough height to crest the cliff ahead of you.
You'll have to both be quick and have a plan of where to go next to have a
chance.
... you also get the feeling this challenge has been put off by the
laboratory's intended user for more than a millenia for a reason ...
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBhVO4re_pE )
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Kaguya asks what's in the drink, and Layna chuckles.
"Don't rightly know! That's what makes it such a thrill." Layna replies with a grin as Kaguya asks what's in the drink. It's hard to tell if she's being serious or not.
She glances toward Grace, then, as she asks about the three of them. ...So, she can't see Seraphim, huh? Layna notes that for later.
"Lil' bit o' both." She comments. "We were all goin' the same way, so... why not, right? How about you, lass? What brings you out here?"
Together, they make it out of the highway in more or less one piece.
"Well, that was fun. If they're all like that, I think we're gonna be just fine." Layna says. ...And then, that's when the panel chirps again, detailing their next challenge.
"...Overdue? 1182 years? What is this thing talking about?" Layna asks. And then, the area reconfigures itself into a cyber-area with a sheer cliff ahead of them, and no obvious way to progress. And then, with a distinctive *BWONG*, a block appears with a flash! And then another, and another, and then one disappears!
"...Looks like we've gotta follow the pattern..." Layna muses. She draws out telescope and uses it to get a closer look at the situation. "...So that's what we're workin' with, huh...?"
Layna thinks it over for a second.
"...Alright, so, looks like we just gotta make sure we jump to the right block, but if we wait too long, it's gonna disappear and drop us into the shadowy abyss." She says.
It's all about planning your way forward, and then jumping with skill and accuracy. So Layna, of course...
...bounds forward with a wind-empowered jump to try and skip as far ahead as possible.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Captain's Telescope toward her party's challenge, Falling Down.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval follows up behind the back. He stares at Grace for a while, as if taking in all the weird shapes about her, and the colors, and the everything. She doesn't strike him as 'bad,' but she is 'different' even though she reads a mortal as much as Layna over there does.
Layna takes point and shows off her sight of the abyss, and the weird blocks appearing and disappearing. He eyes Kaguya. Yes, he thinks, for someone who technically does not have a brain, he knows how to fix her wagon. Lanval dematerializes into a ball of aquamarine light, and the ball flits into one of the blocks as it flashes into place.
The block disappears.
The block reappears and the ball of aquamarine light flits out at a hastened pace and rematerializes into a Lanval that is quietly coddling himself with a haunted look in his... well, his eyes can't be seen because he has those dumb novelty glasses on.
They reflect some blocks appearing far overhead, though! More of the route! Plenty more to see.
But Lanval? Whatever he just saw, it was too much.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Amber Tinted Glasses toward his party's challenge, Falling Down.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Kaguya laughs to Lydia. "Right??? Yeah! This is way beyond what humans use these days! It's actually kind of cool!" Kaguya even hears someone else talking as she goes. She was already interested in Grace for the whole three eyes and unreadable writing thing--and hasn't hidden it in her expression--but what she says?
"Hey, you know what cars are!" Kaguya says. "I mean, I guess that's not weird in Aquvy. But you have a little robot! Lydia I think I like her!"
Kaguya would probably not apologize if she knew she'd taken Lanval's turn. As it stands, she doesn't. Either of those things. Doesn't even notice. Instead she laughs back Layna's way, "Okay, that's fair!"
Are they a team...? "I mean, we are for now," the blonde girl answers. "Though Mr. Grumpybottles doesn't like me very much. Me and Lydia came here together though."
Challenge... Overdue??? Wait. Waaait--
"Oh do not TELL me we are at someone's homework terminal," Kaguya complains. "That's so overdue! Is this person just dead?? Don't you clear assignments when someone dies??" She pauses. "On second thought, knowing the Professor, he'd have assigned the overdue work to your next of kin..."
Kaguya kneels down and pulls her bag, withdrawing a green case full of, apparently, tools. She starts to withdraw some junk, including some pieces of the cars that fell off during all the confusion that she just happened to pocket. Tinker... tinker... Pause.
"...Whoa," Kaguya says, seeing Lanval's posture sitting. "Hey, right idea, Cap'n!" Pause. "You think he's OK?" she says to Lydia. "Oh!! Oh yeah you asked. He said..."
"'Please put down the bricks, I can't afford to replace them.' So I mean I did. How was I supposed to know they were important bricks?? Anyway no sense of humor at all."
She finishes tinkering and has a strange... remote of some kind in her hand. "Okay, so..."
"If I jump right while one is disappearing, and click this, then I can make duplicate blocks from the projector, I think. Worth a try, right?" She charges up to take off.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Yeah! I'm kind of jealous but also kinda 'maybe this is too easy'? I don't know. Maybe what happened just makes me a little uneasy about uh 'easy' tech." She taps her feet faintly and adds, "I don't know whose 'homework' it is...It says something about YOKU so maybe it's 'Yoku's' homework?" Her cheeks silver briefly before looking up. "...Anyway, just because it's homework doesn't mean there isn't treasure at the end! It just means the site is still in pretty good condition despite..." She wrinkles her nose. "One thousand and... geeze, I don't even want to think about that."
She starts hopping up all the way up. hop hop hop hoppity hop. She seems to have forgotten she has some flight capabilities. Maybe she just doesn't want to cheat.
She glances towards Lanval a bit. She squints a bit.
"I'm really not sure." She admits t o Kaguya.
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Falling Down. DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Mad Science Case toward her party's challenge, Falling Down.
<Pose Tracker> Grace Harvey has posed.
It's a daring and desperate roll that puts Grace out of danger. Her intention is to roll coolly, and com e to a cool stop with a pose.
What actually happens is she tumbles for a while and comes to a uncool stop, with her tiny robot standing on to of her.
A few seconds later she speaks, face down on the ground. "Bea, backpack mode." B3A beeps, and acquiesces collapsing herself over Grace's small pack. That done, Grace jumps up to her feet. "Okay, let's collectively pretend that didn't happen."
Layna and Kaguya answer the question. "Huh, cool. Like a heist team pulled together for one job..." She sounds quite taken by the idea. "I guess I just heard about this place and wanted to check it out."
"Uh, yeah. I mean cars are cars." Grace seems a bit bewildered by the conversation. "Oh, yeah, her name's Bea! And I'm Grace Harvey!" She pauses. "You, uh, probably haven't heard of me." She says, a little dejected.
She pulls a small device on her pocket, and it contains a picture of Grace with an older, three eyed, black haired woman on the front. It lingers there for a few seconds until Grace swipes it away, and holds it up, looking like she's... taking photos? "Hmmm..."
"So, why do you call her Cap'n? Do you have a ship?" Please let her have a ship, that might mean she can get some parts. A few more photos. "okay...I think I've worked out the distances."
Grace climbs up to take a leap. She still hasn't figured that she should maybe not talk while doing feats of agility. "What do you mean what humans use these days? You mean how everything here is, like, garbage antiques?"
DG: Grace Harvey has used its Tool Precious-Mother Daughter Memories toward its party's challenge, Falling Down.
=========================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- *>=========================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Falling Down *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The mysterious panel chirps and streams data--
Challenge 'YOKU-001': Unfinished
Overdue Date By: 1182 Years 7 Months 3 Days...
--and reconjures the area around you to a cyber-area with a sheer cliff upon
it. The way forward isn't immediately obvious, until--
*BWONG*
A block appears overhead with a distinctive noise. Then another, then a
third, fourth -- oh, then that first one disappears, and then a fifth leads
somewhere completely irrelevant...?
It seems like you'll have to utilise these disappearing and reappearing
blocks to hop up and gain enough height to crest the cliff ahead of you.
You'll have to both be quick and have a plan of where to go next to have a
chance.
... you also get the feeling this challenge has been put off by the
laboratory's intended user for more than a millenia for a reason ...
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBhVO4re_pE )
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
====================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- - Round 2 *>==================== ==========================< Results - Falling Down >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 0 --(10)--> 10 Pass Amber Tinted Glasses 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kaguya 0 --(10)--> 10 Pass Mad Science Case 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 0 --(10)--> 10 Pass Captain's Telescope 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lydia Seren 0 --(10)--> 10 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Grace Harvey 5 --(10)--> 15 Pass Precious-Mother Daughter Memories 2 Wits Effects: Fanfare and Rally ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Seraph Lanval 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Suffer(1) Effects: Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Seraph Lanval 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> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Aye, no problem." Layna says with a chuckle, as Grace says they should pretend that didn't happen. "...A heist team, aye? Yeah, that sounds right."
And then, the challenge, and Lanval tries to enter one of the blocks... and then leaves not long after, looking shaken.
"...P-probably." Layna replies, looking up Lanval. She's... not entirely sure what he was doing, but it didn't seem like it worked too well for him.
As for the matter of whether or not they're doing someone else's homework...
"I can kinda respect that, y'know? If I could make someone else do my work, I sure would." Layna replies with a shrug - and then, she looks back toward Grace, offering her a grin.
"Aye, that I am! Layna Manydays, Captain of the Ruby Empress." She says offering her a nod. "Finest ship on the waters of Filgaia or Lunar."
At least, she thinks so.
Together, they all come up with their own plans to approach the situation. Layna's jump takes her a good way through the maze of disappearing blocks, and a second lets her clear the rest of the way. Grace judges the distances, too, but she takes them one step at a time. She doesn't lose much time for it, either. Lydia, too, hops her way through.
Kaguya, meanwhile, takes a more scientific approach - as expected, her device is able to replicate the blocks when she jumps, giving her a lot more leeway for moving through the blocks.
And the reflection from Lanval's glasses will definitely help anyone who might not be paying as much attention as they should.
DG: Lydia Seren has left your party. DG: Kaguya has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- *>==========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Lightning Unleashed *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The panel proves itself to have quite the caliber of training stages. You
appear on a futuristic power plant not unlike those seen in the Seed Cities
in western Ignas, standing on some terribly unsafe-looking glass cylinders.
As might be expected of a power plant, your enemies use electricity -- in
particular, a small squadron of large machines, the Gun Volts, land from
above! They blast away with missiles and electric balls from their big,
armored bodies -- you'll want to insulate yourself from any errant zaps to
defeat these Azure Strikers!
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCCSdTaXbVg )
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"A heist would be fun," Kaguya admits. "I mean I guess it kind of is, in that none of this stuff belongs to us. Does it still count as stealing?" Kaguya 'hmmms' a little over that. Then she glances back to Lanval. "Y-Yeah..."
But she can't help but think it over and shrug to Layna. "I mean, when you put it that way..."
To Grace, "Nope! Sure haven't. But cool to meet you. Name's Kaguya." She looks over to the little device for a moment, curious. Mostly about the picture.
"Don't worry, Lydia. We don't have to think about it any more than we feel like!"
Once up at the platform, Kaguya looks to Grace again and nods. "...Yeah, actually. That's exactly what I mean." Kaguya has a curious, questioning tone in her voice, there. But before she can immediately press the matter, the stage she just glitcehd fades away, and the panel beeps along until they are in a futuristic power plant, standing on... glass cylinders. And machines land, starting to blast away!!
"Oh, shit!" Kaguya dives to the side to avoid a missile, keeping hold of her weird remote. "Wait a..." She looks at the remote, looks at one of the Azure Strikers, and grins. "I wonder if this is compatible..."
Kaguya suddenly charges one of the enemies, huge as they are, and grabs one, attempting to press the button just at the right time as she's passing through its space to--
Well what is she trying to do???
DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Loot Abuse toward her party's challenge, Lightning Unleashed.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval's okay. Eventually. There are some truths of existence that are not meant for any consciousness to grasp. He doesn't like doing platforming very much, but he will follow suit in time. He continues to hold a distinctly less joyful look as nice is being made among the Veruni and her new travel buddies, but then the scene shifts again and--
It's not just an uncertain sight. He might have seen some sights of a society far beyond anything he's ever known when he was swimming in the psyche of a soul that has endured lifetimes, on and off, of torment, disappointment, and anger, but that's through the lens of another's experience and memory which is an all-encompassing 'feel' you can't put a physical sense on.
Here, though? His waterfall-like beard starts standing on end, as if electrical charges were coursing through the particles his presence has somehow picked up.
"...Thish place," Lanval remarks, "it'sh... it'sh fulla Lightning element." It's more Lightning-aligned than anything he's ever encountered. Even beyond the quantity of it that coursed through November City, remembering when Ida showed him and Boudicca about all sorts of neat things the Blue Star - Filgaia - had.
He feels like he's just shy of swimming in Lightning. It's that saturated! It's passing around everywhere, moving through everything and making everything move--
Electric balls start to rain down from the weird-shaped moving things above. Grace might have herself a bit of a scare. She can't see Lanval grab a shining, white-hued bottle from nowhere. (She might see it if she turns around, but with everything going on above...)
He splashes it above to try and catch the lightning blasts. Pure water gives nothing for electricity to course through - and the machines might short-circuit besides - as another splash of it moves to protect Layna from any barrages of it coming at her.
He doesn't move to protect Kaguya. This enables her to get handsy with one of the Gun Volts. He doesn't internalize that he may be enabling something even worse.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Holy Bottle toward his party's challenge, Lightning Unleashed.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna chuckles.
"Well, this place is still functionin', and it's tryin' to stop us... kind of. So, hey, if you want it to count, I say it counts." She replies with a grin and a shrug.
Before long, they're all through, and they find themselves on top of a power plant of some kind. Layna looks over the area curiously.
"...Makes me thing of those facilities in the Seed Cities. The Plants?" Layna considers. ...But, before she can think on it too much further, it's made clear that they're not alone. A squadron of Gun Volts drop down...and Layna grins at the sight.
"Good, I was looking for a fight right about now." She says, cracking her knuckles. She leaps right into the fray, leaping atop one and looking to slam her fist right through it.
She certainly doesn't make Lanval's job any easier.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Lightning Unleashed.
<Pose Tracker> Grace Harvey has posed.
"I mean, archaeology is just stealing from dead people, and people seem fine with that." Grace muses aloud. "But people complain when it's a dead person's vault for some reason." She casually walks through Lanval like he wasn't here, not noticing him at all. Three eyes doesn't seem to mean anything for seeing spiritual things.
Grace slumps a little. "...Right. On the seas, huh." Can't use parts from one of those. "...Wait, Lunar? Is that another country? Or..." She trails off. It might be too much to hope for.
And then there are Gun Volts. "This calls for some precise shooting." She draws the strange white pistols arms at her belt, and then... The back of one opens up, and she slots the other one into it, and flips up it's grip into a stock. Suddenly, she's holding a rifle, and she opens fire on the Gun Volts, trying to aim carefully and fire.
And then she notices the balls of lightning descend from above and she lets out a yelp. "W-where the hell did that come from?" She looks around, slightly frantically.
DG: Grace Harvey has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Lightning Unleashed.
==========================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- *>==========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Lightning Unleashed *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The panel proves itself to have quite the caliber of training stages. You
appear on a futuristic power plant not unlike those seen in the Seed Cities
in western Ignas, standing on some terribly unsafe-looking glass cylinders.
As might be expected of a power plant, your enemies use electricity -- in
particular, a small squadron of large machines, the Gun Volts, land from
above! They blast away with missiles and electric balls from their big,
armored bodies -- you'll want to insulate yourself from any errant zaps to
defeat these Azure Strikers!
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCCSdTaXbVg )
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
=====================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- - Round 3 *>===================== =======================< Results - Lightning Unleashed >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 10 --(10)--> 20 Pass Holy Bottle 2 Combat Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Layna Manydays 10 --(10)--> 20 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaguya 10 --(10)--> 20 Pass Loot Abuse 2 Combat Effects: Cleanse and Sacrifice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grace Harvey 15 --(15)--> 30 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Seraph Lanval 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Lanval has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Lanval does a great job protecting the party from lightning bolts--unfortunately, because Grace can't see him protecting her and the others (Besides Kaguya), she has to hit the ground hard to try to dodge one that turns out to be protected anyway. Nevertheless, the others don't get through, and one of the robots even short circuits!
Layna, meanwhile, knocks one straight off the platform before she engages another, a further one near her cut off by a blast from Grace's rifle.
But the last one? The last one seizes up and fires a missile off before exploding as Kaguya seems to go partially through it and...
Things go a little staticy before the stage starts to shift...
DG: Grace Harvey has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- *>==========================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Departure *>===========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
A basic stage of panels and platforms is the backdrop of your next
challenge, courtesy of the mysterious panel. And equally mysteriously, you
can sense the flow of gravity altering and shifting, your very body becoming
lighter. The panel chirps...
Challenge: WALL-072 Cleared
Clear Attempts: 182
Glowing arrows point up the walls, suggesting that you climb -- now possible
with altered gravity -- and even hop from one to vertical pane to another.
During some stretches, you can even wall-run for a while, with your newfound
mastery of space!
... You get the feeling this is a favourite challenge of the laboratory's
intended inhabitant ...
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5QvALaSp-U )
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Grace Harvey has posed.
"Ahh!" Grace hits the ground as lightning comes way too close, only for the bolt to not quite get to her. She watches as the others rather expertly fight around her. Jeez, she's getting shown up a lot. Still, as the area reforms and things go staticy she pauses. Arrowsline the walls, and Grace stands up. She stands up easily. "...No way."
She cautiously tests herself with a small jump, which has the effect of a large jump. "Wait, wait wait wait." She pauses. "This place has gravity control?" She looks at Kaguya, about the only person who has 'got it' so far. Grace bounces over to the wall.
"This place says cleared, right? So you'd think we wouldn't have to go through it." She pauses. "...Looks like fun, though."
And with that, she attempts to launch herself against the wall, and kick off it to the next platform. Low gravity is not an unusual environment to Grace, but she's not entirely familiar with the exact gravity here.
DG: Grace Harvey has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward its party's challenge, Departure.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
In the whole picture, Lanval looks taken abakc not by Grace going through him (most mortals do), but how someone who is presumably an experienced Drifter by their equipment doesn't know what a Lunar is.
"Heyyyyy, Layna," Lanval remarks as the scene shifts down to a corridor they need to climb out of, "'m... kinda ushed ta the Drifter type kinda knowin' jusht 'bout everything between one another," Lanval remarks, "how doesh she not know what Lunar ish... mmm." It's weird.
She seems really on the ball with whatever all this is, though. "Did she shay it wash clear?" Lanval asks as he takes this as an invitation to lie down on the ground and do absolutely nothing helpful, which used to be his favorite pastime as Talise could attest (and chide him for).
...Unless taking a smoke break counts as helpful, as he gets out the bubbling pipe and takes a nice, long drag with a peaceful sigh as bubbles start to fill the place. Bubbles that flit up and can help carry Layna up. Grace might not know what's going on, but never fear, Lanval would do his best to ensure it'd help carry her up if she needed it.
Kaguya, though... the bubbles are not for her. If she tries for one, Lanval will be happy to have it pop in mid-air and dump her right back at the beginning.
Kind of like when he tried to subtly sabotage her ability to reach that strange wreckage across the ever-increasing canyon abyss before.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Bubble Pipe toward his party's challenge, Departure.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Somethin' like that." Layna replies with a shrug, as Grace asks if Lunar is another country. Lanval does ask a good question, though to which Layna shrugs.
"Well, she's probably an Aquvy Drifter, aye? Dunno how much they know about Lunar - pretty much everythin' happened in Ignas. ...An', just so y'know, if you haven't picked it up already, she can't see you, either, I don't think." Layna asides quietly to Lanval.
They make quick work of the robots, and on they go to a fairly basic stage of panels and platforms, lined wiht glowing arrows pointing upward.
Layna pops another bottle open, taking a swig before passing it around.
"Looks like it." Layna considers, judging the path upward. She has to agree, really - it really does look like fun. Layna could appreciate a good workout, and with her body feeling as light as it is with the reduced gravity it shouldn't give her too many problems either.
She does a brief stretch before leaping upward, bounding off of wall after wall - with some wind-empowered jumps off of Lanvals bubbles to give her a boost, she doesn't even need to touch the ground again until she reaces the top.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, Departure.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Kaguya appears sideways as compared to the others, and looks around. "Huhh..." She looks around, and finds Grace. "Yeah! Apparently it does! I think I like the weird homework machine!"
A beat later, "Oh, yeah. Lunar. Lunar's one of the moons up there. There are some teleporters scattered around that connect this planet with it, and it's inhabited." A beat, "Cool to get to explain it for once. Though it seems like I'm getting some questions of my own..."
Kaguya sees a beautiful bubble. It is perfect. It has come from Lanval's pipe. She looks at it, and looks at the others making use of them. ...Her next move is to put a hand to her eyelid, pull it down, and stick her tongue out at Lanval. "Like I'd want anything that came from your mouth."
She sure does remember when Lanval looked funny at her before, though nothing seemed to come of it in the moment. She eyes another bubble. "...Does kinda look like... No! This is the guy who--" She pauses. She thinks.
She narrows her eyes at Lanval again. "You... Are trouble." Eyes....!
With that though, she stretches out a little--and starts forward, bounding up to where Layna is, "Hey, thanks!" And taking the bottle for a swig before giving it back. "Ahahah... Yeah you can really feel that one, huh?"
Hop, hop!
DG: Kaguya has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Departure.
==========================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- *>==========================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Departure *>===========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
A basic stage of panels and platforms is the backdrop of your next
challenge, courtesy of the mysterious panel. And equally mysteriously, you
can sense the flow of gravity altering and shifting, your very body becoming
lighter. The panel chirps...
Challenge: WALL-072 Cleared
Clear Attempts: 182
Glowing arrows point up the walls, suggesting that you climb -- now possible
with altered gravity -- and even hop from one to vertical pane to another.
During some stretches, you can even wall-run for a while, with your newfound
mastery of space!
... You get the feeling this is a favourite challenge of the laboratory's
intended inhabitant ...
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5QvALaSp-U )
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
=====================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- - Round 4 *>===================== ============================< Results - Departure >============================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 20 --(0)--> 20 Pass Bubble Pipe 3 Agility Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Layna Manydays 20 --(0)--> 20 Pass Quartermaster's Stash 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaguya 20 --(0)--> 20 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grace Harvey 30 --(0)--> 30 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Seraph Lanval 60 --(25)--> 85 Pass Conditions: Treasure(1) Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Lanval has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 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> Grace Harvey has posed.
Grace takes the offered bottle this time. "Momma'll probably give me hell for taking drinks from cool older women, but what the hey." She takes a swig from the bottle, hands it back, and then swallows the mouthful. "...Huh. Interesting." She's not sure how hard it will affect her.
The low gravity environment seems easy for everyone. Lanval's bubbles float lazily to the top, carrying others who get the assistance to the top. Grace is caught off guard when there is something to briefly stand on, but takes advantage of it. She moves through low gravity like a pro.
Kaguya and Layna also give good showings, moving through the air elegant, even as Kaguya drops some harsh anime taunts on Lanval. Rude.
As they reach the top, Grace pauses. "So, what you're telling me is that you have teleporters to the moon." Her eyes seem to light up. "Really?"
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- *>==============================================
================================================<* CHALLENGE - Crash! *>================================================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
Through the almost-sacred hallway, you come across an ancient laboratory, as
tall as it is wide; hexagonal in shape, it has been tossed into complete
disarray over the ages. Computer panels, server racks and other such
technological apertures are strewn about the room, little better than debris
and junk now.
But before you can examine much in the room--
/
_ _ _ _____ _____ __ _ _ __ _ ____ /
\ \ \ /_____\ \_____\ \\ \ \ \\ \ / / ___
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ --*----
\_/ \_/ \ \ \ \ \ \\ \ \ \\ \___/ \
___________________________________________ / \
/
--a great pistoning noise and a release valve of steam accompanies a
rupturing tremble of the earth. A massive cylindrical chamber emerges, and a
giant, stocky Reaverbot emerges from within!
(Image: https://i.imgur.com/9tfWZiB.jpg )
The Golem's sensors lock onto you. A thin, trailing laser sizzles across the
floor from its mouth to reach distant foes, as it attempts to seize and
throw whoever comes close enough to engage it in melee!
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGM1Qblq_08 )
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
In the bubble, as Kaguya sneers and remembers what sort of character Lanval is, one mocking gesture is exchanged with another.
He blows raspberries.
As he is a Water Seraph, he is so good at blowing raspberries that a not-small portion of the bubble on the inside is filled with water. This is playing with fire, for the Veruni have mastered their environs as such that they could really put any elemental spirit through the wringer.
"Mmmm... that'sh true enough," Lanval says to Layna in concession as he drifts along up and--
Everything disassembles, and they're back in a more familiar environment - it feels a lot like the space they first entered. There's something raw about the way it's all in disarray. Not like an obstacle course simulation. No clear paths, just messed up desks, damanged computer panels in a hexagonal chamber, but then...
In comes a giant honkin' Reaverbot shaped like a golem appears, with soft but huge hands made for graspin' which is not at all threatening unless someone decides they want to arm wrestle it (don't).
Warning klaxons go off. A great big beam appears from the head of the REaverbot - by its mouth - that sweeps across the ground but doesn't seem to leave terrible scorch marks in the environment even though it feels super, dangerous hot in its wake. Weird.
Lanval promptly sets down a Holy Bottle water line that neatly puts himself, Grace, and Layna on one side... and Kaguya and the Reaverbot on another, as if that would put her in mortal danger.
It's mischievous as hell but nothing stops anyone from crossing that line to go punchin', and no matter how scrawny Kaguya may look, well...
Lanval just goes back to sitting down calmly and having a good bubblin'.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Holy Bottle toward his party's challenge, Crash!.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Cool older women, huh? Layna can't help but laugh a little at that.
"Hey, don't worry, it's safe, aye? Probably." She replies, grinning slightly.
As for teleporters...
"Don't get too excited. They're pretty finicky and hard to find, not to mention usually guarded by all kinds of tricks and traps. The folks who made 'em way back when, the Elw... their construction sense borders on 'malicious'." She explains with a shrug.
Past the jumping challenge, the holographic environment gives way to one that's much more real. No computer could build a mess this real, as far as she knew.
Just as she's starting to appreciate it, though, a giant Reaverbot appears. A grin crosses Layna's face. Lanval might put a protective line of Holy Bottle up, but she's not going to miss out on a fight like this.
Machines like this... they usually don't like water, right?" She considers aloud, cracking her knuckles. With that said she charges forward, reciting an incantation under her breath as she moves. She stops just short of the Golem's grab range, punching forward as she does - and, as if following her gesture, a strong geyser of water tears from the ground next to her, punching forward at the Golem as if it were her own fist.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Crash!.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"Well, not exactly," Kaguya answers. "Some jerks have a thing that teleports people to and from the moon, and the others are scattered around and mostly broken and we don't know where a working one is right now. But it's still happened a few times now? Back and forth and all. But just to the one moon. The other one's no go without a craft that can break orbit which, not so much around here." Pause. "Yeah what she said."
"Ew," Kaguya responds to Lanval's countertaunt, pulling a wholly unintentional face as she sees it filled with what is supposedly super pure water.
but this mess, this reality that is surely here...
"Yeah," Kaguya agrees, "Though they usually have a little shielding, if you happen to break through it, water can wreck their entire day." Since Layna asked! She watches Layna shoot forward, and nods in approval. "And it puts someone in the--" She frowns. "Hey, man. That's not cool. I know what those things do, you know. See how you like it--"
Kaguya mysteriously doesn't harm the bottle though. She just glares at it and then pulls her ARM, a thing of white and black and chrome, in the shape more or less of a conventional shotgun but altogether different. "Let's see, what do I have here..." Kaguya fishes through her bag and pulls out-"Aha!" It's... one of the unused missiles from the robot she messed with. Kaguya throws it like a spear at the machine, and then starts blasting green bolts of energy wildly towards it. "Aahahahahah!"
DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Loot Abuse toward her party's challenge, Crash!.
<Pose Tracker> Grace Harvey has posed.
Grace's eyes boggle. "So... you can travel to the moon, but no one can use it because no one knows where they are?" She shakes her head, especially as Kaguya mentions the lack of craft that can go into low orbit. Grace is starting to think she should keep her mouth shut. "But what about all this stuff here?" She indicates the building at large. "How can you have gravity controls, then?" The unspoken assumption being 'you only need gravity control if you're going into space', for those who can make that connection.
Fortunately, the conversation is cut off by a big freaking Reaverbot. Grace steps backwards, as she watches a bottle do something out of nowhere, and Layna goes in for close combat. "Hey, don't get too close! I can't shoot with you in the way!" She says, in a request that's probably going to fall on deaf ears. "Aww, hell."
And then, an idea strikes. "Hey, Bea, jump down!" The pink robot does just that, and Grace reaches into her pack for something. It's a sphere, with a line of lights down the middle. The tetrageniot circles, so she can get both Layna and Kaguya in eyeline. "Okay, so if I just go like this..." She affixes the sphere to her presently rifle like ARM, and fires it in an arc over the Reaverbot. "Be careful!" She shouts, before running back for cover.
And then there is an earth shattering KABOOM.
DG: Grace Harvey has used its Tool A Frankly Inadvisable Amount of Explosives toward its party's challenge, Crash!.
==============================================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- *>==============================================
================================================<* CHALLENGE - Crash! *>================================================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
Through the almost-sacred hallway, you come across an ancient laboratory, as
tall as it is wide; hexagonal in shape, it has been tossed into complete
disarray over the ages. Computer panels, server racks and other such
technological apertures are strewn about the room, little better than debris
and junk now.
But before you can examine much in the room--
/
_ _ _ _____ _____ __ _ _ __ _ ____ /
\ \ \ /_____\ \_____\ \\ \ \ \\ \ / / ___
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ --*----
\_/ \_/ \ \ \ \ \ \\ \ \ \\ \___/ \
___________________________________________ / \
/
--a great pistoning noise and a release valve of steam accompanies a
rupturing tremble of the earth. A massive cylindrical chamber emerges, and a
giant, stocky Reaverbot emerges from within!
(Image: https://i.imgur.com/9tfWZiB.jpg )
The Golem's sensors lock onto you. A thin, trailing laser sizzles across the
floor from its mouth to reach distant foes, as it attempts to seize and
throw whoever comes close enough to engage it in melee!
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGM1Qblq_08 )
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================
=========================================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- - Round 5 *>========================================= ==================================================< Results - Crash! >================================================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 20 --(10)--> 30 Pass Holy Bottle 2 Combat Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 20 --(10)--> 30 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kaguya 20 --(10)--> 30 Pass Loot Abuse 2 Combat Effects: Cleanse and Sacrifice ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Grace Harvey 30 --(10)--> 40 Pass A Frankly Inadvisable Amount of Exp 4 Combat Effects: Liability and Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Seraph Lanval 85 --(30)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Slow(2) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Seraph Lanval has successfully explored Ruins of Lab -Tishrei-!
==============================================<* Ruins of Lab -Tishrei- *>==============================================
==================================<* CHALLENGE - Result of Mission I - E Can Do It! *>==================================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
With your concentrated assault, the Golem stops, then goes 'bweep' as it
announces, "RETURNING TO HOUSEHOLD TASKS..." and disappears down a capsule
chute. A panel nearby shimmers to life and a jingle starts playing:
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80sGO8lJe60 )
= RESULT =
------------------------------------
Mission GREAT! 20p
CLEAR TIME 5'13"27 19p
ENEMY 63 17p
DAMAGE 17 16p
RETRY 7 0p
ELF 0 20p
YOUR CODENAME IS:
While the contents of the screen are largely... gibberish to you (Elf? What
if you brought some elven compatriots with you? Would that have changed
anything?), the machine churns with a crunchy little noise and something
pops free from a deposit chamber underneath.
A blue metal can with a poppable lid rolls out, marked with a giant 'E' on
the side. If you inspect it inside, it's full of some strange viscous liquid
with the consistency of crude oil. This is definitely not a drink for
humans...
But if you bring it to the Ethos or some other Gear workshop, they'd be able
to tell you that this is a highly efficient fluid that could be synthesized
into a Gear's damage mitigation solution, mysteriously enough.
(OOC: You may use the E-Can to apply for a Healing-type deathblow for your
Gear or a mechanical character on your next Advancement Application! Good
flag types include Heal, Hi-Heal, Absorb or Surge.)
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval has a chill time of things. When Kaguya calls him out on what he just tried to do - even if it is ultimately a token gesture - an eye opens half lidded and he gives a knowing, stupid smile. Given the Guardians are actively killing the Veruni gradually and painfully, Seraphim-inspired inconveniences are... well, moving on, Golem would like its share of the narrative pie, so it will have it.
Layna punches forth a geyser and gives the machine a solid deep cleaning, where it tries to defensively raise its hands to push back but doesn't manage - and given it is hovering, it has no traction to speak of and keeps being pushed back, and back, and back.
All the better for Grace and Kaguya to combine forces. Between Kaguya's super heavy duty stolen ammunition and frightening green energy bolts, and Grace's more precision shooting as she unleashes an explosive torrent where the Golem is...
The entire laboratory rumbles underneath the concussive force, and Layna is going to look fan-freakin'-awesome-tastic with the green explosive fireball giving her a sweet (but sickly and kind of unnatural) colorful outline just out of harm's reach...
...
The Golem seems remarkably intact, aside from the damage of its surrounding environs.
bweep
"RETURNING TO HOUSEHOLD TASKS..." It announces in a personable, even cute voice. Household tasks like... cleaning up the mess made by the explosives, as it gathers some of the scrap and disappears down a chute. A panel lights up and gives everyone their... grades?
No elves? Is that good? That seems mean. What does the creator of this laboratory have against elves? Is this the eighth time someone's been here? Has it been just five minutes and thirteen seconds? It's felt like five hou-- ahem anyway!!!
A nearby machine churns a crunchy little noise. Grace can identify it as the sound of a vending machine dispensing something canned, maybe even super-tasty. Maybe this dustball somehow carries her favorite brand of soft drink, and if it does they are in SO MUCH TROUBLE but delicious trou--
Some shiny blue metal can with the letter 'E' on it. Whatever brand that is.
Lanval is suddenly right next to it, lifting the can up into the air.
"Ha ha ha! Shorrrry, ain't gonna be yersh," he mocks Kaguya, "'caushe thish time, I'm puttin' it in my mouth!!" Just like he surmised when they retrieved that weird ARM that Ragnell ran off with! He opens his mouth wide, as the machine behind them starts churning to spit out at least two more cans, and--
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"There's been a lot of explosions," Kaguya explains to Grace. "Like. So many. Soooo many. This stuff is really old and they don't know how to make it anymore, and those of us who could do it don't mostly want to.
But it goes down, and it even cutely moves to clean up. No elves... Kaguya thinks about it. "Hmmm," she says, as she looks to find things, glancing at the screen. "Humanoid Shal of Locus Solus, huh? Well, I--"
"OH NO YOU DON'T" Kaguya exclaims at Lanval next to the energy tank, without punctuation or anything, just like that--
Kaguya reaches out and snatches the energy tank straight out of Lanval's hands, taking the whole big thing in both hands and from one end to the other just giving it a long, long, wet, slobbery lick right up to the edge of the can. "This time it's mine!! See how YOU like it!! Bet you don't want it now!"
She stands up straight in triumph, still holding onto the can. She doesn't even know what it is yet. She hasn't looked.
"Mine!!"
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"It's fine! I won't be mad if you shoot me, I can take a bullet!" Layna calls back as she leaps into the fray. And besides, it turns out fine, thanks to the power of friendship! And ridiculous amounts of firepower.
Layna grins, straightening up as a nearby panel pops up with a fun jingle...and a results screen?
"Huh, I didn't know we were being graded... 'Great!', huh? Sure, I'll take that." She comments with a shrug. And a codename...
"...I like the sound of that." The Speeding Stabber of the Ruby Empress says with a grin. And then, a machine nearby starts making grinding noises, and then, with a 'kachunk', lets out a can!
Lanval takes the first, taunting Kaguya over it, but then more cans start coming out. Layna moves over to grab one and puts it up to her nose, and grimaces a little.
"...Hey, Lanval, you might not wanna-" She starts... and then Kaguya snatches it right out of his hands. Layna blinks, and then chuckles. "...Well, guess it's a moot point, now."
She has her prize already, anyway - she doesn't know what this can does yet, but she'll figure it out well enough.
<Pose Tracker> Grace Harvey has posed.
"Oh no, it's still standing?" Grace shouts, and raises her ARM again only for the golem to start cleaning up. "...Uh." A pause. "So, are we safe now, or what?" It seems a fair question. As the Golem lets them be on their way, she moves over to the screen to see...
"B-Blobby Youth?!" Grace huffs a little. "I'm not blobby! I'm cool and awesome!" Maybe in her own head. She turns around just in time to see... a can? Floating in mid-air?? "Wh-what the hell is that?" She asks, a touch of panic in her voice. "Are there invisible people here?"
Kaguya only causes more confusion. "Who are you yelling at!?" Kaguya, previously the person who got it about this terrible dirtball, is now looking... much less cool and reliable and a lot more dangerous. Grace turns to Layna, but even she's not helping. "Who's Lanval? What's even going on?"
She will grab her share of the E-Tanks in a bit, when everything is a bit less weird.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval's mouth hangs open for a while, and he opens one eye half-lidded, then open all the way without the aquamarine color as he realizes that - once again - he has been given the slip. "Mmmmm... mmmmm." Grunt. Grunt.
"...mmmmmmmmmph. Yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhh... ya licked it, all right..." It seems that even the one who speaks for Schturdark is forced to admit, to some sacred definition of DIBS, that the Veruni has claimed that can of whatever it is fair and square, as two more cans are produced in the slot for Layna and Grace to take.
"...I'll have ya know, though," Lanval says as he starts to amble off, "ya can't lick a whole world."
Lanval looks to the panel. 'LANVAL, LIGHTNING CUCCO OF RYLIA'
"...How'sh thish place know 'bout Rylia?" Lanval asks. That was the name of the place he presided over towards its humble beginnings, before it became... yeah. If he were of a more inquisitive mind he'd wonder why specifically that and not the place it became.
As if that were more interesting than being called a Lightning Cuccoo (he's water, and he seems to have much more in common with cats than those things!).
"'m Lanval," he asides to Grace, who can't see or hear him, "...oh yeah, never mind... mmmmph."
Next time, Kaguya, next tiiiiiiiime...!