2020-04-01: The Gang Runs With Sharp Objects
- Log: The Gang Runs With Sharp Objects
- Cast: Zed, Claude C. Kenny, Ratatoskr, Hiro, Lily Keil, Ida Everstead-Rey, Gwen Whitlock
- Where: Under Traffic
- Date: March 26, 2020
- Summary: Everyone's best pal, Zed, has been plagued by a terrible curse(d sword) for a while now, and it looks like he's finally found a way to solve the problem! Surely nothing at all will go wrong as the gang delves into the depths of a long-forgotten temple to Equites in search of a solution that may or may not exist. Adventure!
DG: A party led by Zed is now entering Billion Blade Barrow. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>==========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Pedestal Puzzle *>=======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The mouth of the barrow is protected by an ancient gate. Really, it's more
of a guillotine-like slab of bladed metal that bars entry to any who do not
undergo the appropriate rites. While the meaning of any such ritual is a
matter of debate among historians and anthropologists, the implements are
still very much present. A series of six pillars have been arrayed around
the guillotine gate. Each one is made up of a number of rotating, engraved
cylinders. It seems that you'll need to turn them so that each set of
symbols aligns properly.
The rub being that turning one cylinder causes another on a different column
to turn as well.
Figuring out which sequence to turn the cylinders in is a puzzle in and of
itself. Without foreknowledge of the ritual, you're going to have to rely on
your own ingenuity and abilities to unlock the gate leading further inwards.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
It started innocuously enough. Shortly after Mother's defeat at the hands of Filgaia's defenders, Zed had begun to experience a downturn in his already lackluster luck. It wasn't anything particularly noticable, nothing that couldn't be brushed off as simply having a bad day, or having a banana peel end up on the wrong spot of floor at the wrong time. Sure, he was stuck by exactly enough 1-damage needles to exceed his theoretical maximum HP that one time, but that kind of thing happens all the time. It seemed like nothing more than plain, ordinary, bad luck.
And then things started getting... worse.
The cause was easy enough to pinpoint. His sword- his precious Doom Bringer- which had served him so well for so long had somehow become...
Cursed.
Or, rather, MORE cursed.
Cursed enough that it had begun to appear in a tangible form to sensitive enough eyes. Cursed enough that it almost ate Ratatoskr. Cursed enough... That Zed had decided to show it to a Granasian priest working at the Sword Magess Cathedral, accidentally rendered the poor man a gibbering mess for about an hour, and as a result was summarily thrown out into the wasteland as some kind of horrible harbinger of Valmar's baleful power.
...
And then he broke into their library in the dead of night and discovered the location of a place that might actually give him some proper answers.
Zed had put the word out that he was in desperate need of help, and that he would be waiting a good distance from the Merian side of the Under Traffic tunnel.
...And there they find him, standing in a hidden, craggy valley, peering at... What appear to be stone totem poles split up into multiple segments. He taps his chin and turns one, only for two more on two separate poles to turn in the opposite direction. He turns it back again, and... Two different segments turn!
Zed... might need some help here.
His sword is presently strapped across his back, but it's also bound up by far too many layers of cloth to draw properly. And holy symbols from at least three different religions.
+ACt wits
DG: Zed has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Pedestal Puzzle.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny hasn't been around much lately, because he takes his job (bodyguarding Cecilia while she saves the world) seriously. If the Guardians are taking a year off of screaming instructions into her brain, then that's their business; it makes things a lot easier on him. Once Claude managed to get his hands on some goddamn clothes, the whole Spira experience was basically a beach vacation with hours and hours of nothing trying to murder them begging to be filled. She read a lot. He hit hot metal with hammers. They had breakfast each morning and dinner each night.
It was disturbingly domestic in a way that frankly scared the bejeezus out of Claude, who dealt with the stress the way he normally deals with such things: by working out. Between that and the blacksmithing, he is getting jacked.
It is thus a tight-jacketed Claude C. Kenny who arrives on-scene in the company of Zed; much as he's been enjoying the relative lack of danger in his life, when your Official Rival demands your help with some sort of arcane ritual to remove the curse on his sword, thereby probably giving him access to a new level of power, you're basically honour-bound to help him out. Claude is fairly sure he remembers his mom saying something like that in between his 18th and 19th concussions. He stops when Zed does and scratches his chin thoughtfully as he regards the cylinder puzzle. Like Zed, Claude may need some help here, but thankfully he has all the help he needs IN HIS PANTS
(seriously, he has a tricorder in his pants)
"What am I looking at here..." he mutters, as the Federation device sends the results of its inquiry to his contact-lens HUD.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Tricorder toward his party's challenge, Pedestal Puzzle.
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
This is serious business, for a man often defined by his devil-may-care, amicable, self-aggrandizingly goofy nature to send out word through as many channels as he manages. Odessa's been getting itself into a lot of shenanigans related to old Hyadean weaponry and items but the recap on that can wait for another time. Caught up in an endless parade of military spectacle and intrigue, holding the attention of a specific survivor of the Hyadean people for any length of time is... difficult.
Somewhere in Zed's peripheral vision, towards his left, touches down the silhouette of the horned squirrel-man which is further identifiable by the soft glow of solid yellow eyes. He seems to be tracking the thrice-warded cursed sword, and unconsciously the hand that tried to grab said blade shakes.
"For poles...? For poles!" Comes that brash, obnoxious voice. "You wanted me to see some... poles..." His voice trails off as he dashes up towards them, circling around them like one might a rapid flanking unit trying to cut off the escape of something entirely immobile. (He has never been wanting for excess energy to burn.)
"..." His eyes brighten up, as if they resemble something he might have seen before when going on a binge through old data-things that don't get snatched out of his hands by his superiors and peers alike, withdrawing an old rare surviving Hyadean data-tablet.
DG: Ratatoskr has used his Tool Corrupted Records toward his party's challenge, Pedestal Puzzle.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Okay but I'm just saying we should find Ronfar and let him try to mess with Doom Bringer next."
"No Ruby."
"But it'd be hilarious! I bet he'd be all like: Stand back. I can manage any curse. Then ZAP - drooling on the floor for a little while. And hey - what if he manages it?"
"Toning down Lucia's was hard enough on the guy - and besides - we have no idea where he is right now."
And Hiro's also evasive for a reason, because he's got a feeling that not being able to help lift a curse would make him extra gloomy.
Anyhow, Hiro and Ruby are here to help out Zed. And not just because the idea of an Evil Cursed Sword interests him, but because he likes Zed - and wants that rematch some day.
Coming up on the cylinder puzzle alongside Zed, he opens a journal from his Grandpa.
"Alright... let's see..."
-and begins to jot notes in the margins.
Turns one. Notes which one moves. Jots down.
Turns one. Notes which one moves. Jots down.
"Ehehehehe~"
Ruby sits on one of the columns, giggling as she's rotated around by the experiments with the mechanisms.
"Okay do it again!"
Hiro does so, rotating her one way.
"Now back again!"
Hiro does it backwards, sending her back in the opposite direction.
"Wheeeeee!"
"Alright... so I think I at least have it pinned down which cylinder moves which column... if anyone wants to give it a try-?"
Hiro holds up his newly created puzzle cheat sheet for the group.
DG: Hiro has used his Tool Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook toward his party's challenge, Pedestal Puzzle. +OOC oh ruby
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily Keil is interested enough in the curse on the sword that she didn't even charge for her assistance. ...Well, that might not be the only reason she came. Regardless she is here today, walking from the plains into the valley, and noticing the stone poles. ...Right around the same time that she notices Ratatoskr. Her eyebrow only lifts briefly; he is one of Zed's people. She ends up coming to a stop around where Claude has reached, casting her attention about the totems. "Let's see... these symbols, corresponding..."
"Good, Hiro. At least she's having fun." Lily walks over to view the diagram, and starts experimenting with them to see the proper direction. "You see something?" she asks Ratatoskr, as if he weren't an enemy combatant at all.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Pedestal Puzzle. +Camp
==========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>==========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Pedestal Puzzle *>=======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The mouth of the barrow is protected by an ancient gate. Really, it's more
of a guillotine-like slab of bladed metal that bars entry to any who do not
undergo the appropriate rites. While the meaning of any such ritual is a
matter of debate among historians and anthropologists, the implements are
still very much present. A series of six pillars have been arrayed around
the guillotine gate. Each one is made up of a number of rotating, engraved
cylinders. It seems that you'll need to turn them so that each set of
symbols aligns properly.
The rub being that turning one cylinder causes another on a different column
to turn as well.
Figuring out which sequence to turn the cylinders in is a puzzle in and of
itself. Without foreknowledge of the ritual, you're going to have to rely on
your own ingenuity and abilities to unlock the gate leading further inwards.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida and Zed have grown close over the years--closer than Ida is willing to admit to the public at large. As exasperating as the man can be at times, he's helped her through some truly dire situations. Ida doesn't know if she can ever repay him, but she's got to try.
"Alternately," Ida says, "the corruptive energies could break loose, posing a danger to everyone nearby." She shoots the tiniest dragon a dry look as she follows after Hiro. "I may be a touch more cautious after that incident with Mr. Storm's weapon, but--this isn't even Malevolence. We don't know where the damned thing even came from; we are not taking risks without the proper precautions." This may not deter Ruby in the slightest, but Ida has to try.
The heiress stops before one of the pillars, and looks up at it. To Claude's eyes, she looks healthier than she did back during the Photosphere Incident, barring that bizarre and inexplicable change in her life-force. Ida rests a hand atop the stone, gives it an experimental half-rotation, and feels it stick and grind beneath her hand. "A locking mechanism," she explains. "Like a child's toy, but on a much larger scale." Ida reaches into her pack, rummages around, and pulls out an oil can with a long, thin spout. She inserts the spout into the crack, and starts oiling up the dusty old mechanisms.
Lily asks Ratatoskr if he's seen something. Ida turns to the two of them, giving the latter a look that's equal part suspicion and genuine inquisitiveness.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool ARMS Meister's Field Kit toward her party's challenge, Pedestal Puzzle.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen, for all that she seems to give credence to the notion of 'luck' as part of her personality of choice, does not actually really, truly believe in luck.
... That is, in the concept of 'some people possess an innate level of something that allows them good fortune while others continually recieve bad fortune', not the concept of 'you luckily managed to survive being stabbed through the midsection with a sword and left to die'.
But somewhere between Zed just seeming to be the buttmonkey of things and his sword actually visibly scare priests and and some people are saying 'the guy's sword is cursed', Gwen was convinced that maybe something was off.
And well, it's Zed. Zed is a guy who came in his gear to give her a lift when her gear broke down. If he and Ida hadn't come, who knows what would have happened, with all the cows that were there. Being cows. Mooing at her gear.
It would have been terrible.
"Sooo," Gwen starts, eying the cylinders that are already giving her a headache just watching Hiro and Ruby deal with them. "Where did you learn 'bout this place? Like origins, what you think will help you with your sword, all that stuff?"
Her gaze floats over to Ratatoskr, who is there, but she's not too unhappy that he is. He is, after all, someone who simply follows the beat of his own drum. An admirable goal, really. "Mystery is the key here," she answers the Hyadean, holding up a finger as if she just hadn't been asking Zed to dispell all said mysteries a few seconds ago. "What's behind those poles? Could be another puzzle, butttt it could also mean a battle, some trial, stuff like that." She grins, pulling out a piece of chalk. "And now, that Hiro's got a chart, lesseee if we can solve this!"
As she starts using the chalk to mark different combinations, Gwen pauses. "What happened, Ida? With the whole Mr. Storm deal?"
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Courier Kit toward her party's challenge, Pedestal Puzzle. +Act/complete
==========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>==========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Pedestal Puzzle *>=======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The mouth of the barrow is protected by an ancient gate. Really, it's more
of a guillotine-like slab of bladed metal that bars entry to any who do not
undergo the appropriate rites. While the meaning of any such ritual is a
matter of debate among historians and anthropologists, the implements are
still very much present. A series of six pillars have been arrayed around
the guillotine gate. Each one is made up of a number of rotating, engraved
cylinders. It seems that you'll need to turn them so that each set of
symbols aligns properly.
The rub being that turning one cylinder causes another on a different column
to turn as well.
Figuring out which sequence to turn the cylinders in is a puzzle in and of
itself. Without foreknowledge of the ritual, you're going to have to rely on
your own ingenuity and abilities to unlock the gate leading further inwards.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
=====================<* Billion Blade Barrow - Round 1 *>===================== ========================< Results - Pedestal Puzzle >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zed 0 --(3)--> 3 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gwen Whitlock 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Courier Kit 1 Wits Effects: Resilient and Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Claude C. Kenny 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Tricorder 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass ARMS Meister's Field Kit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hiro 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ratatoskr 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Corrupted Records 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Zed 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Tire(2) Effects: Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Zed has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"His trident took violent exception to being purified," Ida says, looking up from the dials a moment to address Gwen's question. "Lord Lanval advised to keep it on his person, but only because every other alternative was too risky."
DG: Claude C. Kenny has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>===========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Requiem for a Blade *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
This place is more than just a temple, it's a graveyard. A tomb for beloved
weapons where smith and warrior alike can pay their respects and give their
beloved blades a place to rest the years away. Once upon a time, worshippers
and adherents of Equites' cult would have come here to honor both the
Guardian and the weapons enshrined within.
Your path leads you to a shrine set up specifically for that purpose. A
weapon has been set in a place of honor amidst long-extinguished incense and
empty offering bowls. Most prominent, though, are the instruments
surrounding it. There are bells, chimes, little metal pot-gongs and other
percussion instruments all arrayed in grandiose fashion. The only light in
the room, other than the eerie glow surrounding the weapon enshrined within,
comes from a handful of candles set up around the orchestra. Perhaps the
spirits of this place are requesting a song in exchange for passage...?
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
Finding good friends is hard enough in this world. Finding good friends who are willing to come out into the middle of nowhere because you claim to have found a cure for your ultrahaunted sword is... Probably nothing short of miraculous? Zed's expression lights up in a genuine grin as the party assembles. "Ahahaha! You all really came! Great! I uh. I wasn't sure everyone would show up...! But here you are!"
"Everything I read about this place--" Because Zed can, apparently, read, "--Tells me this is going to be an adventure! Y'see, this isn't just any old ordinary hole in the wall. This place used to be... Some kind of Guardian sanctuary, one that belonged to that sword-one! So I figured, if there's anywhere that could help me figure out what's going on with Doom Bringer... It's here!"
But! The puzzle! between the tricorder revealing the hidden mechanisms linking the stone totem poles, Gwen's book-keeping and Hiro's helpful map, the party is able to figure out more or less how the pillars are connected. The trouble is that the patterns on the pillars are still something of a mystery-- but what Zed said might just be enough for Ratatoskr to narrow down his search criteria. If this is a temple to Equites, then the diagrams etched into the stone pillars must represent something important to her faith.
It's a good thing the Metal Demons kept detailed logs on their enemies. Soon enough, Ratatoskr is able to pull up legends that match the inscriptions on the pillars. A bit of elbow grease (and some actual grease to help a particularly stuck mechanism turn), and the pillars finally lock into position with an audible *click.*
...Which causes the nearby cliffside to begin to shake, tremble and slide away. Ages of dirt and landslide detritus slough away in a wave as what seems to be an enormous, guillotine-like slab of metal rises slowly out of the way.
"Aha! There we go!" Zed grins, and hops off the top of one of those pillars (because Ruby seemed like she was having fun, and Zed 100% wanted in on that) and hurries over toward the newly revealed entryway. "The book wasn't lying after all! I guess there's a reason they were keeping it in the forbidden archives! Nahahahaha!"
...
There's probably a story there. Hiro seems to have heard at least some of it. But there's probably STILL a story there.
+OOC augh
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
The path through the barrow is tight, winding and cramped - there are no nice even hallways, no levelled floors. The passage from the outer entrance to the interior twists and turns as though the makers were hewing through the softest parts of the earth - no matter which way that took them - rather than according to a plan. At one point the ceiling drops to where Claude - at a few inches over six feet - has to hunch down to make it through. At another juncture, a slab of obsidian juts up out of the floor in the middle of the path, causing people to have to squeeze around it to either side.
The construction itself tells the tale - humans may have carved out a foothold here, yes, but they are far from welcome.
After several minutes of irregular travel, however, the path opens wide into a natural cavern roughly twenty yards around; the makers clearly spent time here smoothing out a sort of floor and evening out the rough spots through hundreds of hours of slow, manual work. The reason for this care lies at the heart of the chamber - an ancient shrine to Equites set atop a leveled-off basalt stone. The shrine is surrounded by scattered, long-forgotten fragments of the Sword Guardian's iconography - little more than a dozen symbols, but each with minor variations that suggest worshippers have been coming here for centuries, even beyond the Collapse.
Claude's first thought is that Tethelle and Cecilia would love this place. His second is: what the hell are all these instruments doing there?
The blonde-haired swordsman drops into a squat beside them, frowning thoughtfully. His tricorder spools information across his eyes, and he confirms the data by lifting one of the bells and flicking it with a fingernail; a melodic tone echoes out in the chamber. "B flat in F Major," he mutters, then starts pointing at others. "So that's probably F, G, and A over here, and C, D, and..." He looks around, frowning. "I don't see the E, but it's probably around here somewhere."
Talents
Originality Dexterity
Writing Ability Pitch
Sixth Sense Sense of Taste
Sense of Design Sense of Rhythm
Love of Animals Blessing of Mana
(dumb space men are like onions, apparently)
Claude stands, brushing dirt off his hands and then wiping them onto his pants like a classy gentleman. "I figure we're supposed to, like, play a song for ol' Swordy up there," Claude says, jerking his thumb in the direction of the altar. "Shame Tethelle's not here, but any of you know any tunes for Equites?"
DG: Claude C. Kenny has used his Tool Tricorder toward his party's challenge, Requiem for a Blade.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Growing up in Guild Galad tends to acclimate one to a certain degree of claustrophobia. Even the upper regions of the city--where the wealthy live, enjoying natural sunlight and fresher air--are fairly densely-packed. As the group makes their way into the earth, Ida ducks her head and pulls in her limbs slightly, as if some instinct were instructing her to take up as little space as possible. When they come to the obsidian slab, she raps her knuckles against it. "I wonder if this was deliberately placed," she remarks, "or if it was left here, as a symbol."
Either way, she needs to get past. Ida turns to one side and scootches past. She feels her ribcage pulling inwards, as Hyadean tissue causes human bone to flex and bend in ways it shouldn't. It should be agonizing, but it merely feels strange.
Ida studies Claude as he studies the instruments. "I forgot you enjoyed music," she says, sounding a little apologetic. "I'm afraid I don't know any invocations, either. I'd guess something martial, but..." She frowns. "Tethelle certainly would know." A moment's worth of rummaging in her pack produces an artifact of a non-musical nature--a small disc with a glassy surface on one side, and a matte surface on the other. Ida affixes the ancient lamp to the floor in front of the altar, and switches it on.
"At the very least, though, here's a little light."
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool ARMS Meister's Field Kit toward her party's challenge, Requiem for a Blade.
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
"See something? See something!" Ratatoskr's excitement builds as Lily asks him calmly as to what it is he's seeing. EDITOR'S NOTE: You are being spared the nerding out by means of the acceleration of time. This is not kindness. This is necessity!
INSIDE
Ratatoskr is so excited about being here that he barrels right out of the cramped path like some sort of horned squirrel-bat from the pits of Nortune's water treatment facilities, except less damp. Much, much less damp. That might not even be a fair comparison any more.
He freezes when Claude lightly touches the bells to figure out their pitches around the ancient weapon whose wielder is now long gone. He takes a moment to take out that salvaged, ancient gun-blade thing to hold it up and give it a look over the old decor as if excited that he might find its original owner here.
(It is not.)
"...Of the Guardian devouts, the Sword Guardian Equites' own sworn defenders were the easiest to find..." Ratatoskr starts. Somehow, he is able to be brash and noisy and be this way in hushed tones. This must be the lingering legacy of Mother's terrible genetic molding of the Hyadean people into perfect soldiers, for the ultimate in combat-muttering. There is an according reverence underlying nonetheless. Claude asks a question, and the eternally grinning sharp-toothed Hyadean's eyes light up ever more.
"Do I...? Do I...!" Hushed exclaiming. Up comes that old data-pad again, old and unreliable records procured and sorted through by means uncertain other than running one's finger across the surface to... some pattern or another. Is there a tapping alphabet?
"...I think I know the sequence for when you want to challenge their finest warriors..."
This will narrow down one possibility, on grounds that probably no one will (or should) allow him to play that sequence.
DG: Ratatoskr has used his Tool Corrupted Records toward his party's challenge, Requiem for a Blade.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Ronfar can't purify - but he does pretty good with curses. He saved Lucia's life right after she got cursed."
Hiro indicates back to Ida, but he's not really defending Ruby or anything here, just passing along information.
"But I agree with you, we don't really know what we're dealing with here."
Ruby is too caught up in the fun to realize she's being admonished.
Hiro grins at Lily and shrugs, "She gets her fun wherever we go."
Ruby swoops by Zed soon enough, as they move on past. "Forbidden is really more like - a guideline I feel? Otherwise they wouldn't just store it away~"
Through the tight barrow path, they follow the group, and Hiro finds himself in awe of the small fragments of the shrine which seem to be part of the greater story of the Sword Guardian.
Every so often he finds himself looking at his sword, wondering if it will one day end up in a place like this...
And then Claude begins speaking of the notes...
"I can't... sing a note..."
Hiro says sheepishly, as he rifles down into his pack and pulls out...
...an ocarina!?
"I can probably play it though if you give me long enough. Hey Ruby come over here?" Oooo you actually brought that out here? You never let me listen when you practice!"
As she lands on a broken stone monolith that's about waist high, he pulls out his Grandpa's journal and props it open on a certain page.
Propping it up against Ruby who holds it at an angle.
The page reads.
So You've Encountered a Music Puzzle:
Fingering Positions for Novice Archaeologists.
And beneath it is a diagram of an ocarina with fingering positions labelled in excruciating detail.
The reason why he never allowed Ruby to listen just became pretty painfully obvious.
Anyhow - whatever song someone brings to the fore, he'll attempt to play along. Just don't expect it to be any good.
DG: Hiro has used his Tool Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook toward his party's challenge, Requiem for a Blade.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
'Shame Tethelle's not here, but any of you know any tunes for Equites?'
".... I..."
All Gwen thinks about is the nonsense songs she'd sing to Gulliver to help pass the time on all those trips, a day's journey or so away from any significant sign of civilization, just her, her horse, and probably a few vultures or coyotes. Some lizards too.
.... And she hasn't been able to do that for a bit, so she's a little out of practice when it comes to nonsense songs she'd make up for Gulliver on long, long journeys across the Badlands.
So then, after everyone else chimes in, Gwen coughs, then raises her voice a little in an unsteady, nervous, singsong voice:
"... Equi-tes, if you please, Equites, be at ease, Equitesss.... Got lots of swordy swords for the swordiest sword, slash slash, snip, swordy sword..."
Gulliver likes her songs.
Gulliver is a horse.
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Requiem for a Blade.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"The Sword Guardian?" Lily restates, musing over the matter, and to her surprise responding, "That's good thinking." Not what she recalls being his strong suit, and yet, here they are. "Sure, though. I'm up for an 'adventure.'"
She actually listens to... part of what Ratatoskr says about the history. Even when it comes to learning things about the past, she only has so much patience apparently.
She doesn't complain about the twists and turns, and shorter than Claude, has little trouble with the ceilings. The obsidian slab does force her to adjust her path, though. And eventually, symbols all over...
"...Huh," Lily answers, looking at Claude as he points out each of the notes. She keeps watching, and then lifts her hands, taking one in the other and pinching, just in case.
Ratatoskr speaks up and everything is real. "Nope," she says to Ratatoskr as he moves to play a song, walking up behind him and just taking his arms to pull him back. "Not today."
Pull, pull. She considers whether she might even need to contribute...
...But thankfully Gwen does the singing instead, so Lily's contribution is preventive in nature.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Requiem for a Blade. @emit It would have been too much to ask for an ancient sanctuary of the Guardians to be a hospitable above-ground affair that doesn't involve wandering through a maze of tunnels into the bowels of the earth. But at least the path is one of flat, hardened stone. Was it made so intentionally, or did it become this way as a consqeuence of the thousands upon thousands of footfalls that slowly wore the stone flat? Certainly, there are other signs of wear- other indications of the age of this place. A thick glaze has accumulated across the tunnel walls, deposited there by the touch of human palms tracing their way through the meandering passage. The offerings arrayed around and upon the altar are a veritable phylogenic tree of worship.%R%RZed's book wasn't lying. Equites' power is strong in this place.%R%RIt's a good sign, then, that neither of the Hyadeans are dissolving into bubbling puddles of living metal. The Guardians' ire has been quelled... But will they be willing to lend their aid to one of their former foes so readily?%R%RMaybe after a little performance.%R%RIt's too bad that Zed didn't pay attention during Metal Demon Music School.%R%R"Uhhhhh, how is a B flat, Claude? That doesn't make any sense. Don't hurt bees, they're our friends. Wasps are fair game, though." No, wrong B, Zed. Wrong B! Ah, but Gwen is singing...! And there is already a rich musical ensemble accompanying her, so what more is there for Zed to contribute?%R%RWell, at the moment, not much. At the moment, he seems a bit preoccupied with... Tightening the bindings around his sword. The moment the music starts, the cloth begins to rustle and shift, its undermost layers darkening visibly even in the relative absence of light. Zed takes the time to secure what he can; he has a feeling that letting them slip /now/ would be... Less than ideal.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
It would have been too much to ask for an ancient sanctuary of the Guardians to be a hospitable above-ground affair that doesn't involve wandering through a maze of tunnels into the bowels of the earth. But at least the path is one of flat, hardened stone. Was it made so intentionally, or did it become this way as a consqeuence of the thousands upon thousands of footfalls that slowly wore the stone flat? Certainly, there are other signs of wear- other indications of the age of this place. A thick glaze has accumulated across the tunnel walls, deposited there by the touch of human palms tracing their way through the meandering passage. The offerings arrayed around and upon the altar are a veritable phylogenic tree of worship.
Zed's book wasn't lying. Equites' power is strong in this place.
It's a good sign, then, that neither of the Hyadeans are dissolving into bubbling puddles of living metal. The Guardians' ire has been quelled... But will they be willing to lend their aid to one of their former foes so readily?
Maybe after a little performance.
It's too bad that Zed didn't pay attention during Metal Demon Music School.
"Uhhhhh, how is a B flat, Claude? That doesn't make any sense. Don't hurt bees, they're our friends. Wasps are fair game, though." No, wrong B, Zed. Wrong B! Ah, but Gwen is singing...! And there is already a rich musical ensemble accompanying her, so what more is there for Zed to contribute?
Well, at the moment, not much. At the moment, he seems a bit preoccupied with... Tightening the bindings around his sword. The moment the music starts, the cloth begins to rustle and shift, its undermost layers darkening visibly even in the relative absence of light. Zed takes the time to secure what he can; he has a feeling that letting them slip now would be... Less than ideal.
+act wits
DG: Zed has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Requiem for a Blade.
===========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>===========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Requiem for a Blade *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
This place is more than just a temple, it's a graveyard. A tomb for beloved
weapons where smith and warrior alike can pay their respects and give their
beloved blades a place to rest the years away. Once upon a time, worshippers
and adherents of Equites' cult would have come here to honor both the
Guardian and the weapons enshrined within.
Your path leads you to a shrine set up specifically for that purpose. A
weapon has been set in a place of honor amidst long-extinguished incense and
empty offering bowls. Most prominent, though, are the instruments
surrounding it. There are bells, chimes, little metal pot-gongs and other
percussion instruments all arrayed in grandiose fashion. The only light in
the room, other than the eerie glow surrounding the weapon enshrined within,
comes from a handful of candles set up around the orchestra. Perhaps the
spirits of this place are requesting a song in exchange for passage...?
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
======================<* Billion Blade Barrow - Round 2 *>====================== =======================< Results - Requiem for a Blade >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zed 3 --(0)--> 3 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Claude C. Kenny 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Tricorder 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass ARMS Meister's Field Kit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiro 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ratatoskr 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Corrupted Records 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Zed 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Tire(1) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Zed 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> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny rubs the back of his head at Ida's comment, reddening a bit. "Yeah, well... I got to try some reed pipes up on the moon there for a while. Was a nice way to kill an evening. Still can't find a decent trumpet, though," he mutters, then shakes his head. "Right. Anyway, uh..." That'll help a lot, Hiro," Claude says with a nod, his hands moving as he picks up the bells and starts handing two each out to Ida, then to Zed. "Just hold 'em up and..."
The blonde swordsman pauses as Gwen sings her song. His mouth opens and closes a few times. "That's, uh..." He smiles happily and offers her a thumbs-up. "That's what we'll go with unless... anyone... uh..."
Ratatoskr steps to the plate with some sort of helpful demon datapad, and Claude breathes a silent sigh of relief. "Okay, maybe we try this one first, Gwen, and then if it doesn't work, we'll go with---" The boy from Earth breaks off, jaw dropping as he stares goggle-eyed at the screen. "Wait, this... how do you even have..." Claude stops sputtering as Lily pulls Ratatoskr away. A faint shiver runs down his spine - how could ancient classical music from Earth end up on a planet a bajillion miles away? Eventually he shakes his head - he can think about it later. "Here, hold these," Claude says, handing Lily and Ratatoskr some bells. "Stand there," he says, pointing to positions in line with Zed and Ida.
He takes a breath, nods at Hiro, and then starts singing and playing the bells, flicking each with his finger in time with the lyrics.
I look and stare so deep in your steel
I touch on you every time and I feel
When I put you away, I'm begging you not to go
Caress your hilt two, three times in a row
Such a funny thing for me to try to explain
How I'm feeling, and my pride is the one to blame
'Cause I know I don't understand
Just what your edge can do that no one else can
Claude draws in a breath, then picks up the pace and volume both.
GOT ME LOOKING SO CRAZY RIGHT NOW
(your sword's)
GOT ME LOOKING SO CRAZY RIGHT NOW
Mercifully, on the far wall, a door begins to slide open from the cavern wall. "Oh thank God," Claude says, turning and marching for the opening.
+OOC I
DG: Ratatoskr has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>===========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Gathering Clouds *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Weapons come in all different shapes and sizes. Egos do too, as do legends,
as do spirits.
At one edge of the subterranean structure, you come across an
innocuous-looking stupa. Whether you pay your respects to the spirit
enshrined within or not, everything seems to be just fine as you turn to
leave...
When suddenly the stupa's spire rips itself free, reveals itself to be a
frankly unsettlingly large blade, and hurls itself forth! The blade crackles
with energy, projecting a semi-physical aura around itself many times larger
than its already too-big form. It comes crashing down in a massive, overhead
strike... As if daring you to try and stop it!
Somehow, you get the feeling that the sword's owner was probably the jolly,
boisterous type...
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
Ratatoskr protests at Lily's attempts to stop him from playing the song that will probably invite all sorts of wrath, but as Claude comes up and has them conduct an orchestral performance of an ancient song of distant and mysterious origin, his discontent is momentarily quelled because that was awesome.
The way takes them further down into the subterranean shrine, and yet, there is the faint scent of fresh rain even though the place is as dry as a bone. The air feels spiritually charged to those with the gift of sensing such a thing. Footsteps echo loudly as everyone makes their way into the chamber. Circular, with stone carved into geometric depressions of import and context long since lost. At the other end of the chamber, an innocuous-looking stupa. Every one of them, in some form, has encountered suspicious stupas. Shifty ones. This one seems cool.
"...Who could be buried here...?" Ratatoskr asks as he takes out the relic gun-blade ARM again to lift it up. "Could it be...?"
The entire chamber doesn't rumble violently. No, from the stupa, the spire rips itself free with a clean, metallic draw of finely-honed steel from its scabbard like it were to meet battle for the first time. There is an unheard laughter in the air, as if joyous and derisive in equal parts, as it shows itself to be much, much, much larger than the thing Ratatoskr is carrying around. As if the very idea of lifting a blade before it were a challenge.
Across its length, energy flares out, patching where time has robbed its blade of form and definition as if to showcase its true form, rise up high and reveal the ceiling is far, far higher than it appears... and come crashing down upon them in one huge, relentless cleave.
CLANG!
Ratatoskr's already down on his knees as he holds up his relic against it horizontally, sparks flying everywhere as it attempts to grind down Ratatoskr. It just might.
"...This is awesome...!" Says someone who is already having droplets of quicksilver escape his elbows from the stress.
Ida Everstead-Rey (Ida) pages Zed, Ratatoskr, Claude C. Kenny, Hiro, and Gwen Whitlock: Zed are you MT
Ida Everstead-Rey (Ida) pages Zed, Ratatoskr, Claude C. Kenny, Hiro, and Gwen Whitlock: You better ace the QTE or we wipe
p Ida=OH NO
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny stares up at a giant ghost sword-demon thing trying to smash itself down onto him. He should feel more afraid, but instead feels a curious sort of detached acceptance. Because he realizes that if you had asked him this morning, 'Claude, do you think that by the end of the day today you'll be in a tomb deep in the earth's butt and a giant ghost sword-demon thing will be trying to smash itself down onto you?' he probably would have answered 'Sounds about right.'
This is the sort of thing that should cause one to re-evaluate one's life choices.
Instead Claude unleashes a shattering war cry, throwing both hands upward, his fingers wreathed in the blue flame of his chi. "DRAG--" he starts to scream, but the impact blows through the draconic visage that was only barely beginning to form, driving the young man downward. He clenches and digs in, pouring more raw power into the energy attack, not quite sure why he doesn't just step right or left instead of trying to block.
(ratatoskr would get smushed)
(again, life choices)
DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Gathering Clouds.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida looks at Lily, silent gratitude on her face. In some ways, corralling Ratatoskr is like handling a six-year-old who somehow never learned not to touch hot objects. The more sets of eyes on him, the less likely it is that he will wander off and get them all into trouble.
The stupa-chamber offers a bit of breathing room after another stretch of cramped catacombs. Ida rolls her shoulders, and breathes in the scent of fresh rain. As anomalous as it is this far underground, it's soothing. "Is there an inscription?" she says, as Ratatoskr inquires about the stupa's occupant. "Perhaps--"
*SHING*
Ida's eyes widen in shock. The blade doesn't give her time to scream out a warning--it just drops like a guillotine, its edge gleaming and deadly. Instinct takes over. Ida braces herself, and raises both arms--a surge of golden-white ignites around her, and quicksilvery tissue surges into place around both arms.
*CLANG*
Ida stands beneath the blade, both arms covered in Hyadean exoskeleton. The forearms are sharpened to a knife's-edge; the sword rests, uneasily, on the point where both of them cross. "Lily!" she grates out, through gritted teeth. "Break it!"
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Gathering Clouds.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
"JESUS CHRIST, IDA, WHAT THE F---"
Claude breaks off as another surge drives him downward; he settles for glaring at the Hyadean exoskeleton and shaking his head.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Huh. Who knew that Gwen was a musician?"
Hiro says unironically, apparently liking it a lot. And it's in that moment that Ruby realizes that perhaps Hiro does not have the greatest taste in discerning musical talent, having lived in a desert for so long.
"... ... ... Hiro we're gonna have a talk later."
Hiro starts puffing along on the ocarina, and it soon becomes clear he's far from an expert. And yet through sheer determination he at least manages to follow along without too many mistakes.
By the end of it, Hiro's cheeks are bright red, as Ruby leans over and asks Hiro."So does Claude have a thing for swords?"
Hiro whispers back with a certain desperate urgency, "Ruby I'm begging you - don't talk about this subject anywhere near Zed." Ruby whispers back. "It's a little kinky..."
Further and further they go. And in the next chamber, Hiro smiles and answers, "Someone who has an incredible story to tell - I bet."
And then the chamber starts to rumble, and Ruby lets out a little shriek, as she lands on Hiro's shoulder and scrambles to hide under his orange scarf.
A massive blade is falling... and Hiro wades underneath it to try to assist Ratatoskr - Ida - and Claude. Crossing his blade against it, and putting his shield arm behind the blade, he tries to shove back up.
He knows right away he's not strong enough to deflect this blade.
Which is why he simply shouts, "FEROCIOUS WINDS!"
And the soft sussurus of a wind current flowing through the shrine suddenly shifts, and drives upwards into the massive blade.
And that is the moment Ruby peeks out and shrieks again.
"OH MY GOSH HIRO WHY DID I TAKE COVER WITH YOU!"
With the wind flowing around her though, she simply tries to hold on with sharp cat claws.
"Lily! Gwen! Think you can discourage it a little??"
DG: Hiro has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Gathering Clouds.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
Zed is stuck with CHIME DUTY. It's kind of like cowbell duty, except there is definitely a limit to how much (JAY) Zed can jam before there's too much jam. Cowbell... Is not nearly so limited.
You can never have too much cowbell.
But it seems that the spirits are satisfied with the performance regardless. Onwards they go!
"Claude!!" Zed gawps, dumbstruck, as the path winds onwards. "I had no idea! Your talents extend to music as well as swordsmanship...! And Hiro, too! Hrm, I'm going to have to catch up somehow. But what kind of musical instrument would suit one such as myself...?" Maybe... A vuvuzedla...?
No.
This world, it is not ready for such things.
Zed's musical reverie is interrupted by a sudden shift in the world. A distinct scent of fresh dew pervades the stale, cavern-air. The jarring disconnect snaps Zed right back to the here and now, and he finds himself wondering whether they could have just rapelled down an easily accessible hole instead of going through that whole (literal) song and dance. But, no. There is no hole.
There is only... A stupa.
A really rather innocent-looking stupa. The kind of mild-mannered stupa that looks like it's only doing its job, marking the presence of the most venerable kind of corpse. Zed blinks slowly at the thing, wondering why it seems so odd to him--
And then, he realizes. 'Oh,' he finds himself thinking, 'It's because the thing on top looks like the hilt of a sword.'
He's halfway right.
It doesn't look like the hilt of a sword. It IS the hilt of a sword. "What--" Zed starts. His hand flies, reflexively, to his own blade, only to hesitate there for a potentially crippling instant. He can't. He can't meet this sword's challenge, not in the way it was meant to be met. Not blade to blade, not edge to edge...
He can't meet it with his own weapon... But he can meet it with someone else's.
"Rraaaaagh!" Zed snarls as he extracts a familiar spiked ball from within his scarf, and slams it hard into the falling sword. He grits his teeth, muscles desperately straining against the spectral weapon. Just keep pushing, just keep pushing. Harder, faster, just keep hammering forward, and they'll be okay!
...Probably!!
+Act berserk
DG: Zed has used his Tool Berserk Hammer toward his party's challenge, Gathering Clouds.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
"It's okay Claude!" Zed yells back, but it's kind of hard to tell because of the DEAFENING ROAR OF GHOST POWER. "It's probably not contagious! Probably!!"
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"I'll explain later!" Ida shouts. As with Zed, it's kind of hard to hear on account of the giant ghost sword.
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
Claude exclaims a name. Ratatoskr's eyes dim, because they cannot narrow. "WHO IS JESUS? WHO IS JESUS!" Ratatoskr shouts. "DID SOMEONE LIE ABOUT THEIR NAME?!" He is suddenly even more livid for being in probable the single most fun thing of his life to recent recollection. He turns his head and looks for the clearest guilty party of maybe having a fake name.
"ARE YOU JESUS?!" He asks of Ruby.
+OOC vuvuzedla, my next combat tool
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Zed..." Lily sighs at the discussion of notes. But abrubtly there is a bell in her hand after Ratatoskr's protests, so she accepts it since Claude seems to have a plan. "Sure."
She contributes by standing. It's much better than many alternatives. "Maybe a trumpet?" Lily asks Zed. "You remind me of the trumpet players in the band at the Officers' Academy..."
Lily nods to Ida on the way through, and while they're there, is not really expecting a sudden blade to rocket out of nowhere. She looks up at it, hands lifting to create a ward of pure darkness to parry the assault, working mostly on instinct. The others are already struggling mightily, and Lily sets her jaw, preparing to just block with them--but Ida brings a good suggestion. A very good suggestion. "...Heh," Lily says. "Destruction..."
She pulls a small metal plate from her things, leaving one hand on the shield, relying on the others. She chimes in, "It's NOT contagious!" as Ida's doctor.
She reads over the inscriptions on the plate, referencing with the sword above, the width of the energy field. "So at this angle, ideal opposing force..." If anyone looks it mostly just looks like a lot of math.
Her shield winks out, and is replaced with an oversized two-handed sword made of blazing nuclear fire that she swings upward to the blade above them. She has kind of a manic look in her eye, and shouts back in proper form to challenge the blade.
Wait, what? Jesus???
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Demolition Formula toward her party's challenge, Gathering Clouds.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"IF JESUS IS A DOPE RED DRAGON THAN YES!"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"I never did say I was a professional at it, but I 'preciate the praise." Gwen grins back at Claude and Hiro behind her as she rushes into the next room. Slowing down to a stop before she reaches Ratatoskr, the courier looks around, a hand reaching up to scratch through her light red hair. "I s'pose so, Hiro. If they're... still around, that is."
Does Gwen believe in ghosts? .... Well, Guardians, exist, but are those ghosts? What *is* a ghost
*CLANG*
..... Such pressing questions will have to wait oh Guardians THAT IS A HUGE SWORD "I'm 'sposed to be the one who does the crazy stunts here!!" Still, with Ida's abilities, it'd probably better that Ida is down there instead of, well, Gwen.
The Mockingbird is pretty indestructible as far as Gwen knows, but her own body? Less so.
Gwen can certainly discourage a sword, however.
"Hold on, I'm comin' in! Lily, get ready!" Gwen breaks into a run, not entirely sure just how to approach this surreal enemy. Electricity might affect those underneath it, while shooting it could reflect bullets.
SO, really, Gwen has no choice but to PUNCH THE GIANT SWORD.
After LIly uses FIRE SWORD(S), Gwen launches forward, leaping into the air with her right fist driving forward towards the hopefully properly heatened blade. "RRAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!"
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool ARM-ored Fist toward her party's challenge, Gathering Clouds. DG: Ratatoskr has used his Tool Derelict Relic toward his party's challenge, Gathering Clouds.
===========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>===========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Gathering Clouds *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Weapons come in all different shapes and sizes. Egos do too, as do legends,
as do spirits.
At one edge of the subterranean structure, you come across an
innocuous-looking stupa. Whether you pay your respects to the spirit
enshrined within or not, everything seems to be just fine as you turn to
leave...
When suddenly the stupa's spire rips itself free, reveals itself to be a
frankly unsettlingly large blade, and hurls itself forth! The blade crackles
with energy, projecting a semi-physical aura around itself many times larger
than its already too-big form. It comes crashing down in a massive, overhead
strike... As if daring you to try and stop it!
Somehow, you get the feeling that the sword's owner was probably the jolly,
boisterous type...
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
======================<* Billion Blade Barrow - Round 3 *>====================== =========================< Results - Gathering Clouds >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zed 3 --(8)--> 11 Pass Berserk Hammer 3 Brute Effects: Strengthen and Sacrif -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass ARM-ored Fist 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Demolition Formula 3 Brute Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Claude C. Kenny 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(13)--> 13 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiro 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ratatoskr 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Derelict Relic 2 Brute Effects: Stalwart -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Zed 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Fright(1)|Tire(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Zed 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: Ida Everstead-Rey has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>===========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - On Knife's Edge *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
If the religious iconography and the surfeit of weaponry didn't make it
clear that this is a shrine to Equites, then the enormous statues of the
Guardian that appear periodically are probably evidence enough. One such
monument has apparently fallen into disrepair. The Guardian's humanoid
goddess-aspect has toppled over, her blades spilling out across the
temple-cavern. They make a sort of network of pathways to travel across,
potentially hastening your advance into the dungeon. But to get to the nexus
of blades, you first need to cross the first bridge.
The problem: It fell edge-up. If you want to cross, you'll literally be
walking along a blade's edge! Over a yawning, but (probably) not bottomless
abyss! Be careful not to slip.
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
There are numerous forces at play, all of which are being put to the ginormous sword. It is unlike any challenges put forth by any other Equites-marked property prior - there is something brutish and playful in equal measure with how it's coming down at them. Ratatoskr's old derelict weapon discharges a briefly-flickering barrier from distress against it. Claude energy-dragons into it. Ida's Hyadean exoskeleton may bare a fresh stream of two-toned lifeblood. Hiro's winds push back, with help of who Ratatoskr will now correctly note for the future that it was the pink pawsies of Jesus that helped stem the tide. Lily meets it with a blazing fire sword after switching out her shield, feeding from the wind. Gwen punches it with all her might. Zed takes out the mace of the biggest, baddest bully he'd ever known, and swings for it.
The sword is thrown up from the mighty deflection, as if thinking twice about coming down on them again. They'll have to put their all into it as it comes down a second time - demanding a repeat performance by all involved. It takes their all, and then more, as the very ground underneath shudders and buckles under all their wills before they repel it a second time. It is pushed up, up, and up again as if representing a rising laughter...
...Where whatever spectral physics dictate its grip seem to slip, as it falls backwards into the wall and cleaves it in explosive twain. Rocks filter everywhere around them noisily, but the way it all collapses is far too clean to be an incidental act of perilous collateral damage - it is as though this dead end were designed to reward those who could repel the blade.
They may want to move quickly through, in case this sword - its aura fading and revealing the old physical form underneath - decides it wants to come up and try again for the fun of just dropping itself on anyone who dares raise a sword at it.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
That was far too close for Ida's comfort. The naturalist takes a moment to patch up the gouges the blade left in her armor--thankfully, all it takes is a few moments' concentration. Hyadean flesh extrudes more exoskeleton, while the tissue beneath seals off broken blood vessels. "Good work," she says, once she's caught her breath. She pauses a moment, perhaps realizing she owes Claude an explanation. "A Hyadean xenograft," she says. "It was a very unexpected surprise."
Onward.
The tunnel begins to widen. Hewn stone gives way to rock that was carved through more natural means--the slow, steady trickle of water. It isn't long before the group emerges into the next chamber, a cavern split into pieces by a series of yawning ravines. The sound of running water emanates from somewhere far below. The most prominent feature, though, is man-made: a massive statue of Equites, which has fallen on its side. The Guardian's hands once held a pair of blades, and markings on the wall indicate where others were mounted, as if forming a halo behind her. None of those blades are in the proper place now.
The first, in fact, is lying, edge-up, across the first gap. What's more, the ground it's lodged in looks about ready to start crumbling. Moving it might send it plummeting into the abyss.
"Well," Ida says, "I suppose now is as good a time as any for the old man's balance exercises to pay off." She focuses; motes of green-white light emanate from the soles of her boots, and the wind picks up. It blows upwards, following in Ida's wake. "Let me go first." And with no further preamble, Ida runs across the blade's edge, the wind at her back.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Zephyr Boots toward her party's challenge, On Knife's Edge.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny just makes a sort of disapproving :/ face at Ida. Federation Navy standard operating procedures on grafting alien technology to yourself are as follows:
1. No.
2. Seriously, no.
3. No, not even if you think it will give you powers.
4. Do you even watch movies?
5. You regret it literally every time.
6. NO NO NO NO NO
7. God damn it, I'll get the flamethrower.
He lets it pass, though, because the inside of an ancient sword-temple is not the place for this sort of conversation. Instead, he shoves his hands in his pockets and amuses himself by teasing ruby. "Actually, Jesus is a cat god from an ancient culture on... well, it was a long time ago," he amends. "Apparently he would sniff you to see if you're good or bad, and if you were bad, you got sent to the special hell." Claude walks calmly across the blade's edge, trusting in his balance to handle it. "A place called...Jer-sey," he rumbles ominously.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, On Knife's Edge.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
The sword is deflected. Almost. It comes in for a second try, and Zed discovers that it is not fun at all to be crushed by a gear-sized sword. What the heck, Stupa? You seemed like such a cool guy! And now look at you! What's your deal!?
(It's all in good fun, of course. Stupa just be playin'.)
Zed is extremely sunny on the subject of alien biomass being grafted to his friend's limbs. Why shouldn't he be? It's not like it's cultural appropriation or anything like that! She's not going around claiming to be Hyadean like some kind of Hyaboo. Just because she has a Hyadean boyfriend and is now equipped with Hyadean limbs and has a Hyadean teacher--
okay so maybe ida's just a bit of a hyaboo
"A cat-god...? Kind of like some of the Guardians? I've never heard of a Jesus-Guardian though. But it sounds more like Granas. Maybe Jesus is... Granas' cat?"
Someone stop Zed before he comes up with more casual blasphemy. Look! That statue of Equites toppled itself over in disgust because of the heresies dripping from this demon's impure lips! At least it had the courtesy to make itself a bridge. With thoughts of his incredibly cursed sword temporarily relegated to the back of his mind, Zed wastes little time in abusing grapple points. It's much easier to walk across a blade's edge when your scarf is anchoring you to a convenient, sword-shaped grapple point.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
As they manage to deflect the sword, Hiro scrambles out of the way suddenly, in a shoulder roll that manages to avoid a desperate clinging Ruby.
They're safe!
And Claude clears things up. Ruby begins patting Claude on the shoulder rapidly, laughing all the while, "Hahaha-ahahahaha- thank you for clearing that up. Because now I definitely know I'm not Jesus. Since I'm not a cat - at all. And anyone who says otherwise might just spontaneously combust and go on a one way trip to Jer-sey. Sayyy just checking - but how flammable are your clothes on a scale of 1 to 10? You know what - no need to answer. I'll ask Lily. She'll definitely know the answer."
What is it about Claude that gets this sort of reaction? It's a mystery...
Ruby simply passes by those who went ahead on the blade edge with a flap of her wings, and the end of a hempen rope in her mouth.
Wrapping it around a monument on the other edge, she ties it through.
On the other end of the sword edge chasm Hiro is holding the other end of the rope taut.
"Safety Rope!" She calls out - chipper. "Just grab it if you start to lose your balance!"
DG: Hiro has used his Tool Ruby Being Helpful toward his party's challenge, On Knife's Edge.
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
Ratatoskr is distracted from a more readily applicable truth about Ida's physiological changes as he follows along Claude's words about this new name that is very interesting. He is also similarly distracted taking note of the statue depiction of Equites and seeing how it has toppled and fallen over. It wasn't long ago that this sort of sight would've been good to the eyes of any Hyadean soldier of Mother, but here - there is a moment of quiet introspection where Ratatoskr grapples with what quiet introspection actually is.
Someone or something toppled this over and didn't think to share who they went through to get to do that. He is at risk of being left behind, which is the opposite of risk for pretty much anyone involved. He might need attention called out to him to be pulled out of that reverie, but that alone is a risk.
Because the moment he realizes he's starting to lag behind, rather than delicately balance and walk on a giant knife's edge, he just takes out a busted crystalline thing-or-another that just up and displaces him somewhere ahead in a flash of barely stable teleportation technology.
You know, startling just about everyone involved who's walking on a knife's edge.
DG: Ratatoskr has used his Tool Teleporter Fragment toward his party's challenge, On Knife's Edge.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily stands up and stretches once the blade is gone, rolling her shoulders. But further along...
"Six. Would burn well, but will take some focus to get burning." Lily indeed has the answer Ruby seeks, and even volunteers it. It's all fine. She considers, though. "Jer-sey... Sounds kinda fiendish," she admits. Pause. "...I don't know, I've never heard of Granas having... a cat."
However, here is a sword blade on which they need to balance. Ida of course is doing lots of martial arts training all the time and has Hyadean flesh mixed in. Lily does not. Lily's approach to Agility challenges is to turn them into Brute challenges as much as is ever possible.
Lily, thanks to Ratatoskr, needs to grab the rope, but at this point she just scowls and resumes her slow moving over. She is scowling the whole time.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, On Knife's Edge.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Lily gets a paw high. "Lily over here answering the important questions!"
+OOC But does she know why kids love cinnamon toast crunch
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
It's not until the adrenaline rush from PUNCHING A REDHOT SWORD begins to seep out of Gwen's veins that the courier realizes the tension between Claude and Ida. And, hearing Ida's explanation, Gwen realizes why.
..... oh right, Claude never found out
"It wasn't Ida's decision." Gwen immediately comes to Ida's defense, regardless of whether or not it was asked for. "I was there. Well, more like, I was outside the place where and when it happened. It just happened. And..." She coughs once, awkwardly, realizing she might be sticking her nose into something that was already resolved. It wasn't as if Claude actually *said* anything. "It is, uh, what it is."
And oh THANK GOD there's a complicated obstacle in their path, oh wait, it's... a sword bridge. Just... not a sword bridge in the way it should be a sword bridge.
Gwen's lips spread in a flat line, her expression containing the inner screams of all those who are woefully not balanced in terms of body weight. Or those who are Lily.
"Oh Guardians, thank you Ruby, Hiro!" Gwen goes to clasp on the rope, then looks behind her, at Hiro. "... Remember, got a lot of metal on me. Just tell me when you're ready n' I'll start walking."
And thus, place her life in Hiro's hands. Which is really better than the alternative.
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, On Knife's Edge. DG: Zed has used his Tool Grapple Scarf toward his party's challenge, On Knife's Edge. +OOC Whoops
===========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>===========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - On Knife's Edge *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
If the religious iconography and the surfeit of weaponry didn't make it
clear that this is a shrine to Equites, then the enormous statues of the
Guardian that appear periodically are probably evidence enough. One such
monument has apparently fallen into disrepair. The Guardian's humanoid
goddess-aspect has toppled over, her blades spilling out across the
temple-cavern. They make a sort of network of pathways to travel across,
potentially hastening your advance into the dungeon. But to get to the nexus
of blades, you first need to cross the first bridge.
The problem: It fell edge-up. If you want to cross, you'll literally be
walking along a blade's edge! Over a yawning, but (probably) not bottomless
abyss! Be careful not to slip.
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
======================<* Billion Blade Barrow - Round 4 *>====================== =========================< Results - On Knife's Edge >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zed 11 --(0)--> 11 Pass Grapple Scarf 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 8 --(3)--> 11 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 8 --(3)--> 11 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Claude C. Kenny 8 --(0)--> 8 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 13 --(0)--> 13 Pass Zephyr Boots 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiro 8 --(0)--> 8 Pass Ruby Being Helpful 2 Agility Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ratatoskr 8 --(0)--> 8 Pass Teleporter Fragment 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Zed 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Secret(2)|Tire(1) Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Zed 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: Zed has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>==========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Beasts of Blades *>======================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Equites is unique among the Guardians, in that they possess not one
manifestation, but two. In one case, they appear as a valkyrie of peerless
strength and ability, a representation of unparalleled skill and absolute
mastery of war. In the other, they manifest as a beast of incredible might
and fury, a creature which levels its invincible blade against all that
might threaten the world and the life upon it.
You find yourselves at the final threshold. Somehow, you can sense that your
destination lay beyond the gate before you. And yet, standing in your way
are a veritable army of ancient weapons. As if sensing your arrival, candles
all around the periphery of the room ignite, casting the chamber in a warm,
fiery glow.
A terrifying presence fills the air, the primordial sense of being watched
by an apex predator surges up from the primitive, basal layer of the brain.
Shadows stretch from each weapon to a nearby wall, creeping there as if in
defiance of the presence or absence of light. They mingle and merge,
combining into a massive, bestial form. A single, massive blade extends from
a reptilian head, as bladed wings unfold from its haunches. The air quakes
as the shadow-creature roars and charges. Equites' Bestial Aspect is an
unstoppable destructive force. To overcome this challenge means surviving
until the candles giving the shadow life finally flicker and die. Each is
extinguished one-by-one, counting down the seconds you must evade the
guardian shadow's wild and unceasing assault.
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
+OOC OH BOY
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida sets her jaw, and meets Claude's eyes. He doesn't question her further, though, so she lets it drop--at least until they're no longer in an ancient, abandoned temple.
Not that long ago, Ida studied under an eccentric hermit in Little Twister. At one point, he made her run back and forth across a length of rusty rebar. Ida's instincts flash back to that training as she runs across that literal knife's-edge. Don't look down. Don't look back. Don't hesitate. Move. Just move. Before she knows it, she's on the other side. Claude joins her a moment later, having walked across at a much more sedate pace. Zed finds a suitable grapple-point--the hilt of one of the statue's blades, embedded in the wall--and uses it for support as he crosses the gap.
Ratatoskr complicates matters. Lily and Gwen are about halfway across when he decides to teleport across the gap. The flash of light is alarming, as is the hideous crackle of static. Suffice it to say, it's a close call, and Hiro's emergency safety rope comes in handy. It might just save some people a fall into the dark unknown!
Once that near-miss is over, though, everyone is on the other side of the cavern, (more or less) safe and sound.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
A more faithful Drifter would have called the statue's presence divine providence. It had to have been carved directly into the stone over the course of centuries, and it had to have fallen in just the right way to connect one end of the cave to the other. The party continues, advancing under the gentle auspices of Equites' goddess-aspect.
But Equites is not worshipped solely as a goddess of victory. She has another face. The other side of the double-edged blade. Just as how this place isn't simply a temple to Equites, it's also a graveyard.
Just, not one for people.
Zed crosses the threshold into the next chamber and suddenly freezes. All his usual exuberance is intact one moment, and then gone in the next. This place was abandoned, wasn't it? The entrance was sealed, the shrine was in obvious disrepair...
And yet, this room is lit by flickering pinpricks of flame, each perched atop one of countless candles. Candlelight illuminates a veritable army of weapons, all in various states of disrepair, all adorned with a filigree of ancient cobwebs that glisten in the fiery glow. The way they're arrayed is almost intimidating, in a way, as if they were standing in judgment. But they are nothing but old swords, aren't they?
No.
"Something's coming," Zed hisses in a hushed whisper, "Get ready--"
There's a rush of wind. The entryway slams shut as another guillotine-gate comes crashing into the floor. The myriad candles suddenly flare, flooding the room with their light... And with the shadows of those numberless, nameless blades. A wave of razor-sharp darkness floods in, up the guillotine-wall. They mingle, merge and combine, dancing and weaving together into a monstrous tapestry of religious art come alive. The bestial aspect of Equites, writ in shadow, bellows a feral roar and spreads its bladed wings wide. Zed grits his teeth in a fierce grin and darts forward to intercept it--
Only for a horn of blackest pitch to slam him into the ground, where the beast's gnashing fangs are free to snatch him up and...
...Consume... His sword...?
"What--" Zed gasps as he rolls free. The beast-shadow erupts, burning with tangible un-light as its power and presence seems to double. Its hollow eyes narrow as if issuing a challenge-- triumph, and it will release the sword.
But how? To attempt to defeat a manifestation of Equites' wrath in its place of power is tantamount to suicide, but...
"The candles!" Zed barks as he hurtles through the air, narrowly dodging another deadly charge by grappling onto a bound blade at the far end of the chamber. "A shadow can't exist without light! So we get rid of the light!"
DG: Zed has used his Tool Grapple Scarf toward his party's challenge, Beasts of Blades. +OOC I keep forgetting ;A;
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny thinks his uniform is fireproof, but on the other hand he's seen Lily do some very scary things. He chooses not to debate the point, for fear she might try to test the hypothesis. But this thought dies on the vine when a sudden primal sense of sheer terror rises up out of Claude's hindbrain and blossoms into his consciousness; a feeling he's known intimately since a young age, when his mother began her training regimen by throwing a car* at him to test his reflexes, and then decade-long sojourn of fear that followed.
Something out there wants him dead.
Claude reacts the way he's trained - by responding to violence with excessive amounts of violence. One of the blades connects with his left shoulder, deflecting off the Federation armourweave; Claude grits his teeth, fights through it, and draws his sword one-handed, whipping it across his body in a half-moon arc. "AIR SLASH!" he roars, and a shrieking vacuum blade whips toward one of he candles... and then through?
"I THINK THEY'RE GHOST CANDLES!" Claude shouts as he rolls under another blade, then gets clipped again by a third. "I DIDN'T BRING A GHOST SWORD!"
* - It was a two-door coupe. Not that bad, really.
DG: Claude C. Kenny has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Beasts of Blades.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
As Ratatoskr flashes across, Hiro is startled himself, and suddenly jerks the rope even tighter to try and keep it steady, shielding his eyes. As he tries to blink away the spots he shouts, "Gwen! Lily! Hang in there!" Fortunately, they keep a hold on it, and he breathes more easily.
In the aftermath, Hiro simply starts walking across the sword edge, shortening the rope with every walking moment.
However when they enter the next chamber, he gets a sudden ominous feeling from the candles.
"Zed!" Hiro hastily draws his blade as Zed gets bowled to the ground, but then he gets a good look at the thing and skids short. "It disarmed you?" He says in shock, as he finally catches the scale of the thing.
Suddenly he's on the defensive, simply trying to stay away from the dangerous shadow beast.
"How do we...?"
Zed provides the answer... "On it!" and Ruby simply beelines in a looping spiral down to a candle and...
...snatches it between two precious pink pawsies. It probably resists but... she can persevere.
Fire resistance really comes in handy sometimes!
"You did bring a dragon though!" She calls teasingly as Claude as she tries to keep her pawsies on that spot and extinguish that candle.
DG: Hiro has used his Tool Ruby Being Helpful toward his party's challenge, Beasts of Blades.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Zed freezes. This in and of itself would be alarming to Ida; as she follows his gaze, her eyes come to rest upon the field of candles, and her heart thumps against her ribs. "I don't like this," she whispers.
'Something's coming. Get ready--'
Ida jumps into a fighting stance. Her hands blur as she executes a picture-perfect quick-draw, aiming both ARMs at the growing shadows. Ida was not raised in a sect that worshipped the Guardians, but she recognizes that image from iconography in the Guardian Temple, and elsewhere. If nothing else, Tethelle gave her a description. This is not Equites in the flesh, as it were, but that doesn't mean it's not a deadly threat.
"Zed!" Ida shouts, as the thing tackles him. She pulls both triggers, sending a hail of lead at the shadow--
And right on through. Bullets bury themselves in stone with a cacophony of crunching sounds. The shadow, it seems, is selectively solid--physical enough to be a threat, but not physical enough to sustain injury. It eats Doom Bringer. Oh, Ida thinks. Oh no. Oh Granas, no.
"MOVE!" Ida hurtles past Zed, sprinting for the candles. The wind whips up around her, roaring, but the sudden gust does roughly nothing to extinguish the flames. Ghost candles, indeed.
The beast rushes Ida in mid-stride. It meets with that same wall of roaring wind, and it's barely enough to blunt its charge. Rather than slamming into Ida's chest, the sword-horn glances off her shoulder. The impact of the blow sends her tumbling. She rolls across the floor, and leaps to her feet.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Zephyr Boots toward her party's challenge, Beasts of Blades.
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
Ratatoskr gets well-earned dirty glances for his catch-up antics. As someone who is notable for wanting, desiring, loving, craving, jonesing for FIGHTY TIME at ALL TIMES, and is thus well-versed in understanding the look of someone who wants to or is fighting him, there is something about the look he is given by at least one of them that seems to fall out of that umbrella of facial recognition. Something that crests towards an awkward zone beyond the pale (...beyond the bloodshot?).
He is quieter for a little while, enough for Zed to pass him by into that next chamber. The looming pressure sees the segmented plates of his tail flare out. Just about every button that can hit the Hyadean brain to go 'fight or fight' is flipped, and he drops into his combat stance. Raised hands, one knee lifted that's slightly bent - to Claude's eyes that would be a more than passing resemblance to a Muay Thai stance.
He's smiling a little broader in spite of this, for what he internalizes - in a way, he is now fighting against the Sword Guardian themselves. Anyone who has really been subject to true disdain by the Guardians knows this is not something you smile at, and Ratatoskr should be glad he has never truly experienced their ire. This is just a primal, unfocused anger of the more bestial aspect of Equites.
And already, he can feel a gash running down his side and his thigh as he darts into a forward flip that sees another scrape running down his back and shearing a plate or two from his very tail.
"Fight the light? Fight the light!" He sounds incredulous about it. Also, his eyes are solid and project light.
...
Ratatoskr's yellow eyes dim as low as they can. Now he can't see where he's going, so he does something even more reckless and silly that only an eighteen-to-twenty-four-year-old can think of doing as he squeezes at the weird kind-of-broken crystalline teleportation device thing.
He is (now rather literally) all over the place and only sometimes anywhere near a candle that needs snuffing.
DG: Ratatoskr has used his Tool Teleporter Fragment toward his party's challenge, Beasts of Blades.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily is not pleased with the passage, but what do you do? For now, she steps into the next chamber, of countless candles with a fiery glow. Zed whispers, and Lily lifts a hand, preparing--
It's very, very big, and Lily immediately wreathes herself in flame. "Zed! Look--" She pauses. She tilts her head at it. "...Heh. That's fine, I like it when they're big ones," she starts, and she promptly does something scary, throwing fireballs immediately down--before she's forced also on the defensive. Fire becomes shadow as she blocks darkness with darkness, having to put forth enough magic that her eyes start to blacken over until they are featureless completely, just to keep up. SHe is not... Fast, not really.
Of course her button is fight, not flight. There's no surprise here.
"Ghost?? I might be able to do something with that, if--" She's knocked backwards multiple yards. "Damn!"
Lily keeps throwing up shields and throwing herself out of the way, blocking and dodging both as best she can. If she can get near any of the candles, she can try to snuff out their life with her magic, but...
Short of that she may just have to deal until they go down.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Beasts of Blades.
==========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>==========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Beasts of Blades *>======================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Equites is unique among the Guardians, in that they possess not one
manifestation, but two. In one case, they appear as a valkyrie of peerless
strength and ability, a representation of unparalleled skill and absolute
mastery of war. In the other, they manifest as a beast of incredible might
and fury, a creature which levels its invincible blade against all that
might threaten the world and the life upon it.
You find yourselves at the final threshold. Somehow, you can sense that your
destination lay beyond the gate before you. And yet, standing in your way
are a veritable army of ancient weapons. As if sensing your arrival, candles
all around the periphery of the room ignite, casting the chamber in a warm,
fiery glow.
A terrifying presence fills the air, the primordial sense of being watched
by an apex predator surges up from the primitive, basal layer of the brain.
Shadows stretch from each weapon to a nearby wall, creeping there as if in
defiance of the presence or absence of light. They mingle and merge,
combining into a massive, bestial form. A single, massive blade extends from
a reptilian head, as bladed wings unfold from its haunches. The air quakes
as the shadow-creature roars and charges. Equites' Bestial Aspect is an
unstoppable destructive force. To overcome this challenge means surviving
until the candles giving the shadow life finally flicker and die. Each is
extinguished one-by-one, counting down the seconds you must evade the
guardian shadow's wild and unceasing assault.
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
The feeling of being watched by something deadlier causes the hairs on the back of Gwen's neck to prickle. The air feels different here. This is still the temple, but she doesn't exactly feel like she's in a place of worship, like before.
This feels more like a place for all the darker side of the deity coin, of sacrifice, trials, the thin line between life and death.
Even Zed feels it, as he freezes, whispers his warning to his friends. As he springs to action, the guileless ninja, meeting the darkness and then be slammed into the hard floor-
"Zed!!"
Why is it... eating... Zed's sword...?
Gwen, ever the optimist, squeaks softly, "Maybe this is a good thing...?"
Well, not entirely an optimist, because she's already slamming cartridges through a loop in her right sleeve, sliding them into her ARM with a steady left hand.
"Hiro, can y'get some wind magic goin', maybe? Or-" Well, Ruby is certainly trying.
She fires some shots at the candles, but her aim proves too unsteady against the flailing of the beast.
Finally, desperate and confident her friends are better able to spring to the challenge, she attempts to grapple with the beast, trying to slow the thing down to give the others a chance to snuff the candles, was well as keep Zed out of harm's way.
She'll wrestle a Guardian for this silly, boisterous, green-haired ninja.
Because he's Zed, and he's her friend.
....
this is going to hurt, isn't it
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Beasts of Blades.
==========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>==========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Beasts of Blades *>======================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Equites is unique among the Guardians, in that they possess not one
manifestation, but two. In one case, they appear as a valkyrie of peerless
strength and ability, a representation of unparalleled skill and absolute
mastery of war. In the other, they manifest as a beast of incredible might
and fury, a creature which levels its invincible blade against all that
might threaten the world and the life upon it.
You find yourselves at the final threshold. Somehow, you can sense that your
destination lay beyond the gate before you. And yet, standing in your way
are a veritable army of ancient weapons. As if sensing your arrival, candles
all around the periphery of the room ignite, casting the chamber in a warm,
fiery glow.
A terrifying presence fills the air, the primordial sense of being watched
by an apex predator surges up from the primitive, basal layer of the brain.
Shadows stretch from each weapon to a nearby wall, creeping there as if in
defiance of the presence or absence of light. They mingle and merge,
combining into a massive, bestial form. A single, massive blade extends from
a reptilian head, as bladed wings unfold from its haunches. The air quakes
as the shadow-creature roars and charges. Equites' Bestial Aspect is an
unstoppable destructive force. To overcome this challenge means surviving
until the candles giving the shadow life finally flicker and die. Each is
extinguished one-by-one, counting down the seconds you must evade the
guardian shadow's wild and unceasing assault.
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
=====================<* Billion Blade Barrow - Round 5 *>===================== ========================< Results - Beasts of Blades >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zed 11 --(10)--> 21 Pass Grapple Scarf 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gwen Whitlock 11 --(10)--> 21 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 11 --(10)--> 21 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Claude C. Kenny 8 --(10)--> 18 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 13 --(10)--> 23 Pass Zephyr Boots 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hiro 8 --(10)--> 18 Pass Ruby Being Helpful 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ratatoskr 8 --(10)--> 18 Pass Teleporter Fragment 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Zed 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Secret(1)|Suffer(1) Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Zed has successfully explored Billion Blade Barrow!
==========================<* Billion Blade Barrow *>==========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Tome of Battle *>=======================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
You triumph over the Barrow's final challenge and won the approval of its
guardians. Beyond the stone gate, you find... Tablets. A room full of
metallic tablets, each one containing ancient Baskar text and a variety of
pictographic diagrams. Even if you can't understand the text, the images
make it clear that these are some variety of martial arts text containing
the secrets of an ancient and long-lost school of swordsmanship...!
To those who might know better, this treasure represents something else
entirely. These tablets are but one part of a greater whole. Translation of
the text would reveal that they were once inscribed by a master of the Sword
Saint Style, and would be instrumental in reassembling and restoring the
ancient martial school.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
Ghost candles would certainly be one explanation for why there are still candles in an otherwise abandoned temple deep below the earth. It could also be that Filgaia simply has a keen sense for the dramatic, and the Guardians are willfully indulging it. The good news, though, is that the candles are apparently physical enough. Claude's air slash scythes cleanly through one of the flickering wicks, neatly extinguishing it-- and any other candles he might be able to aim at.
...While dodging shadow-swords.
Incidentally, the shadow-beast is launching projectile-blades from its wings like some kind of horrifying sword-manticore.
One such blade clips Zed's grapple point and sends him sprawling into a cluster of candles. He groans, smoldering embers burning in the dust plume. "It disarmed me--" he confirms for Hiro, before being cut off by the need to dodge another series of umbral razors. "--I can't expect anything less from Filgaia's living blade...! Hiro, keep moving!"
At least the creature is too busy trying to maul the members of the party actually trying to engage it in combat to effectively stop Ruby or an everywhere-and-nowhere'd Ratatoskr from extinguishing candle after candle. There are far too many for the drifters arrayed here to try and deal with alone-- but with the help of a malfunctioning teleporter, Ratatoskr can literally be in ten places at once. The dimming light, though, seems to have an unforeseen consequence.
Where there is less light, there is more shadow. Where there is more shadow, there is more substance for the beast to draw upon. It seems almost as if every border of light and dark has become a blade-- the boundaries are as sharp as a tiger's claws and as vicious as a hungry shark. Empowered further, the beast-aspect launches itself at both dragon and squirrel...
Only to be intercepted by Ida hurling herself into its path.
The creature's jagged maw opens to roar a silent, angry scream. It diverts as Ida rises, preparing to skewer her atop its bladed horn... And then finds itself intercepted again. A sword of infinite sharpness meets a shield of shadow, blacker than blackest night. Lily Keil puts herself between Ida and certain death, and the beast-aspect is absolutely livid. To be stopped in such a way, to be arrested in its inexorable charge is unthinkable. It bucks its horn to knock her into the air-- and then again, and again and again, wielding its horn with the same deadly grace as a master fencer would strike with their rapier-- and assault that would be deadly...
If not for the dogged, metal ninja who is suddenly there, kicking Lily and her shadow-shield out of the way.
Zed's a sitting duck, lingering there in the air for a single, terrible moment. He's at the beast's mercy-- but why?
The answer is simple.
Because he asked these people to come.
Because them being here-- it's his fault. His responsibility. If they weren't here, he would have had to deal with this creature on his own anyway.
But they are-- they came when he called. They came, even though they didn't have to, put their lives on the line even when they didn't have to. Because they're willing to befriend a damn fool of a demon who can't even bring himself to cast aside a sword.
...But, as it turns out, friendship goes both ways.
A split-second before it can impale its new prey, something else obstructs the beast of blades. A simple courier hurls herself into the frey, wrestles against the might of Equites' unstoppable wrath. For a single, terrible instant, she can feel all the might this mere shadow of the Sword Guardian can bring to bear. And then, just as it might tear her apart, she finds her burden lifted...
Because Zed is still there.
And so is Ida, and so is Lily, and so is Hiro. In that instant, all of them are pushing against a shadow that seems to come from all sides.
...And then, all at once, it stops. Ratatoskr, Claude and Ruby snuff the last of the candles simultaneously, and the chamber is plunged into complete, tranquil darkness.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
"...Is everyone... Alright?" Zed calls through the dark. It's almost jarring, how everything has just gone... quiet. Except for their voices. Except for their breaths. Except for the throb-throb-throb of their beating hearts, and the tangible presence of the Sword Guardian's essence still surrounding them. "I think... I think we did it--"
And then it all goes wron
It feels as though the air is stirring, except it isn't the air. Darkness has fallen, as the last of the candles has been extinguished. Everything has been consumed. Everything stands in the same shadow. It isn't the air that moves, it is the dark. It feels like an undertow, like a tide sweeping inward. Inward? Inward to where?
There.
A shape that feels like a tear in the world, hovering in the midst of the absolute dark. Even in the total absence of light, it is a visible thing- a rift traced by a writhing event horizon of fraying space and time and memory. The last of a shroud of carbonized cloth and molten holy symbols falls away as the weapon and its curse are revealed in full and terrible glory.
The dark rushes into the void like water circling a drain. The rift grows, yawning wider with each passing moment. The presence that has been here since the beginning-- whether the Guardian itself, or maybe just the many spirits that dwell here-- pushes you on. Is it consigning you to certain death, or...?
"Doom Bringer..." Zed whispers as he begins sliding inward, as space contracts and twists. He draws in a sharp, sudden breath. It's been with him ever since the very beginning. But how much has he even learned about the sword? It's a Hyadean weapon, certainly. It's foreign to Filgaia, but... That's it. A loyal friend, as alien as he is. What kind of friend has he been, taking it for granted, and now--
Now... He has to be there for it, just as it has been there for him.
And so he leaps into the flowing dark and reaches out--
Only to disappear into the growing rift.
+OOC Oop
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
"...Is everyone... Alright?" Zed calls through the dark. It's almost jarring, how everything has just gone... quiet. Except for their voices. Except for their breaths. Except for the throb-throb-throb of their beating hearts, and the tangible presence of the Sword Guardian's essence still surrounding them. "I think... I think we did it--"
And then it all goes wrong.
It feels as though the air is stirring, except it isn't the air. Darkness has fallen, as the last of the candles has been extinguished. Everything has been consumed. Everything stands in the same shadow. It isn't the air that moves, it is the dark. It feels like an undertow, like a tide sweeping inward. Inward? Inward to where?
There.
A shape that feels like a tear in the world, hovering in the midst of the absolute dark. Even in the total absence of light, it is a visible thing- a rift traced by a writhing event horizon of fraying space and time and memory. The last of a shroud of carbonized cloth and molten holy symbols falls away as the weapon and its curse are revealed in full and terrible glory.
The dark rushes into the void like water circling a drain. The rift grows, yawning wider with each passing moment. The presence that has been here since the beginning-- whether the Guardian itself, or maybe just the many spirits that dwell here-- pushes you on. Is it consigning you to certain death, or...?
"Doom Bringer..." Zed whispers as he begins sliding inward, as space contracts and twists. He draws in a sharp, sudden breath. It's been with him ever since the very beginning. But how much has he even learned about the sword? It's a Hyadean weapon, certainly. It's foreign to Filgaia, but... That's it. A loyal friend, as alien as he is. What kind of friend has he been, taking it for granted, and now--
Now... He has to be there for it, just as it has been there for him.
And so he leaps into the flowing dark and reaches out--
Only to disappear into the growing rift.
+OOC There