2020-06-06: Quiet Desperation
- Log: Quiet Desperation
- Cast: Talia, Seraph Clarine, Josephine Lovelace, Ivan, Seraph Ragnell, Hiro
- Where: Baskar Village
- Date: June 06, 2020
- Summary: Tomamond heads to the Sacrificial Grounds of the Baskar Village, having heard a rumor that there is Malevolence about. Is this merely a way for them to strengthen themselves in preparation for the Lost Land? Or is it possible that something more sinister is afoot in the Village?
DC: Josephine Lovelace switches forms to The Dedicated Archaeologist!
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
Word spread about problems in the Baskar Village on Aquvy. That, alone, might get Talia to come take a look -- Lydia's a Baskar, and thus it gets on her radar -- but then word got out about a strange corruption. Corruption that, certainly, matches Malevolence. After that, it seemed simple:
They said they needed to try to do something about that, if they wanted to help the Lost Land. That means that Talia is here, walking along the path towards the sacrificial rgounds, at the head of the group that calls itself Tomamond.
Plus one.
She turns around, walking backward, with her hands behind her head. "Ah, so... this could be bad, no?" she says. "It sounded like Malevolence. But it is not usually on Filgaia? Except... when it appeared on Ignas."
Her nose wrinkles. "So, we will need to be careful, no?"
On her shoulder, a little grey squirrel crawls up -- and rests there, solid glowing green eyes looking out judgmentally. Earth Squirrels are like that.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
Problems in the Baskar Village... If they were indeed related to Malevolence, then it was definitely something they needed to look into. It was something they would need to learn how to face. And so, Clarine is here, to accompany her friends and support them however she can.
"Indeed... that is what I hear..." Clarine agrees with a nod. "I was not present for that particular outbreak. I know of it only from hearsay..."
She didn't know the exact details, but it seemed like it might be a good idea to try and get on top of this as soon as possible.
"Yes, indeed..." She says with a nod. Her eyes are drawn, momentarily, to Talia's squirrel friend. Does he see something...? Clarine knows to trust the Earth Squirrel's judgment.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josephine is smoking a cigarette, her gaze turned up to the sky rather than the place into which they are about to enter. Her gaze, at least initially, might put someone into mind of one whose thoughts are somewhere else altogether.
Talia speaks, and the archaeologist returns from whatever far off place she'd been to, cracking a wry smile. "Generally not. But sometimes things just happen, yeah? I could tell you a story or two, I'd reckon..."
But she doesn't break into such a tale here and now, per se. Ashing her cigarette, she casts it down upon the dirt and grinds it under her boot heel.
"Asking me to be careful, now? Now I know you're having a laugh, princess," Josie says, shaking her head as if at a loss.
"Well, come on. Let's do it."
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
Ivan is still not sure he knows how to be careful when it comes to Malevolence. Or rather, he has a general idea of what qualities you need to have to resist it, but since it relates to emotional honesty and consistency between your values and actions rather than stabbing or burning things, it is rather Daunting.
But maybe you can build up resistance to it over time if you start small? He hopes it works something like that.
Ivan makes a face as he notices the squirrel casting a judgemental gaze.
"Don't look at me like that, Pryaniki, I am completely ready for Malevolence. There's been training and everything."
...The emotional honesty is off to a GREAT start!!!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
For her part, after Liath and the other members of Tomamond gave Ragnell a good ass-whuppin', in the style of shounen adventures everywhere, Ragnell agreed to be their friend For Real This Time and help them out with what they're trying to do. And so she came with Talia and the rest, plus one. Maybe someone has explained to Hiro why Ragnell's here; maybe they haven't! It *is* sure that Ragnell hasn't hung with the Vile Fiends in an age, though.
"Sounds good," she drawls to Talia, though she snort-laughs at Josie's remark on caution. "Let's have fun with this."
She snubs the squirrel. Ain't no woodland creature that can judge her. (Well, they can judge. She's just not going to care.) Instead, she gives Ivan a crooked smile and a light *tsk*. At least there's no accompanying jab.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell also glances sideways when Clarine mentions the previous Malevolence outbreak. However, she doesn't remark on that either. "I'm sure we'll smell it if we find it," she says instead.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Hiro was glad to come and help, as he simply crooks a finger by his chin in thought. "You know it's a pretty frequent thing that malevolence shows up in Baskar sacred sites. Yet they don't seem like a people that live with a lot of contradictions..."
Ruby was glad to help until NOW. "Yeah because SOMEONE is often responsible for it."
Ruby indicates, while staring at Ragnell. Stare. Stare. Stare.
Nope.
"Ruby I'm sure it's fine. It's something that needs taking care of right?"
Hiro clears his throat, as if trying to hurriedly deescalate Ruby with distraction, "Anyhow, we'll be-"
Josie's comment causes him to snort laugh, like he can't control himself.
"...Um, yeah. We'll be... super careful. That's us."
He's grinning from ear to ear.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell winks and fingerguns at Ruby, complete with cocking noise.
DG: A party led by Talia is now entering Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
================<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar *>================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - The Strangling Knot *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The off-kilter sense that pervades the entryway to the Sacrificial Grounds is all too familiar to those who are familiar with its sickening, inky touch of contradiction. Malevolence permeates this place, and here, it comes in shades that reek of panic and desperation, bubbling like an overstewed kettle in the heart. And it has settled deep into the bones of this place. Deep enough that, as you enter, the hanging vinework that has settled into the stonework seethes with a violet light before it literally whipsnaps downward, intent to loop and lash the nearest person it can find. Vines attempt to constrict and strangle and otherwise entrap -- unless the ensnared can be freed from this terrible trap. It's time for some brute force. Hurray! Brute force! =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
"I wondered about this, no?" Talia asks, with a glance back at Hiro. "I heard it happened on Ignas, too. Though..." She blinks at Ruby; then, she looks at Ragnell, and flashes her an uneasy grin. She knows, of course, that Ragnell worked with K.K.
She hopes, to be sure, that it is a past-tense thing.
Pryaniki looks over all of them -- and for some reason gives Ivan a longer look -- and then ducks his head under Talia's jacket again, where he seems to practically vanish. "Maybe I am asking a bit too much," she admits to Josie. "Like--ah--"
They come to the entrance, and her words stop, as she sees the inky black Malevolence there. Visible, plainly, for those who can see it. Talia wrinkles her nose, and then starts forward -- and then she pauses at the vines.
She draws out Mirage. The short sword is swung back, and then she hacks at them. The vines bend, but do not break.
"Nnh," she says. "This place... it is not looking good. And it's made these vines tough, too."
DG: Talia has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Strangling Knot.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
Ivan sideyes Ragnell after her exchange with Ruby. "I guess I didn't get that story..."
As they come upon the temple, the atmosphere grows strange and agitated, seeming to carry its own dark emotions that seep around the edges of his mind.
"Wow," he breathes. He knew they'd be able to feel it, but this is really something. He gives it a moment, but it never gets worse than a creeping discomfort. Not something truly existentially threatening, anwyay.
It seems premature to declare victory about not turning into a monster, but he is a bit relieved. They're just beginning, though, and the vines that lay over the entryway are lashing about like they'd like to grab someone. He summons his short sword from his ring and joins Talia in battling the vines.
"At least evil plants are something familiar at this point!"
Maybe he has finally experienced all the super weird stuff in the world and is coming back around to repeat things? ...Wishful thinking, probably.
DG: Ivan has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Strangling Knot.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Hmm, you know, you've got a point there, kid," Josie remarks to Hiro, planting her one good hand on her hip. "Though right as rain--"
She may have slid her gaze leewards towards Ragnell. She's not being particularly subtle about it.
"I see you got your pet with you, Princess," she adds, as they mosey on in to the heart of the darkness.
As it... were, anyway. The way is barred.
"Well, looks like our old friend's work, sure enough," Josie remarks, eyeing the vines. "Try not to touch that shit too much, yeah?"
She may be reckless and careless and all other things that end in -less but she's not a fool.
Not as much of one as some might think, anyway.
"All right then. Let's tear it down, shall we?"
She retrieves from her bag her mattock, anging the pick-side for the Malevolent foliage.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, The Strangling Knot.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell's current status with K.K. is another thing the Lightning Seraph doesn't remark on. It might be worth it to remember that, when she was defeated, she explicitly said she wasn't going to stop working for K.K., she'd just stop obstructing/start helping Tomamond on what they're trying to and maybe not mention to K.K. this change in affairs.
She shrugs off the side-eyes from Ivan and Josie. "Guess you didn't!"
The sense of Malevolence surrounds them almost immediately upon entering the Sacrificial Grounds. Ragnell sniffs, coughs, and bangs a fist on her chest. "Oof! Wow, *yeah*, it's sure here. Clary, you gonna be okay?"
Malevolence-infested vines start to snap towards the group. Ragnell keeps her cool and her distance, opting to hand out tasty cheesecake bites. "These'll help," she says simply before popping one in her own mouth. Anyone who refuses one, well, that's their prerogative. They do in fact help, though, being enchanted with Seraphic magic that keeps one's stamina from depleting, which lets one do brute work like this for longer without getting worn out.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Cheesecake Bites toward her party's challenge, The Strangling Knot.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Every now and then I manage to do that." Hiro says with a sorta cheerful self-deprecation at Josie's comment.
Ragnell fingerguns.
Ruby would be tempted to spit flames at Ragnell. It's just Ragnell is quite capable of retaliating. Very effectively.
"Oh it's a story alright." Ruby says to Ivan.
As the vines grow thick, Hiro begins hacking and slashing, and eating a cheesecake bite. Ruby does NOT take a cheesecake bite as part of her protest as she vents her Ragnell frustration...!
By breathing fire on the vines.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Her body becomes a fast aerial rotating geyser of...
... a tiny tiny stream of flame.
It's very therapeutic for her in this circumstance where the source of her frustration is dangerous to light on fire.
DG: Hiro has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Strangling Knot.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
Clarine doesn't notice Ragnell's sideways glance! Nor does she notice Ruby's accusatory stare. She remains blissfully ignorant.
It isn't long before they reach the temple itself. She can feel it before even entering - an oppressive wall of panic and desperation. She takes a deep breath - a centering gesture, rather than any real need.
"I... will be fine, I think. Let us handle this quickly..." She says with a nod. She does accept one of those cheesecake bites, though, nibbling on it even as the vines come to life. She drifts backward, and with the hand that isn't currently preoccupied with treats, gestures out toward the vines. Sparkles of light spread outward in a fan shape, shearing through any vine they make contact with.
DG: Seraph Clarine has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Strangling Knot.
================<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar *>================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - The Strangling Knot *>====================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The off-kilter sense that pervades the entryway to the Sacrificial Grounds is all too familiar to those who are familiar with its sickening, inky touch of contradiction. Malevolence permeates this place, and here, it comes in shades that reek of panic and desperation, bubbling like an overstewed kettle in the heart. And it has settled deep into the bones of this place. Deep enough that, as you enter, the hanging vinework that has settled into the stonework seethes with a violet light before it literally whipsnaps downward, intent to loop and lash the nearest person it can find. Vines attempt to constrict and strangle and otherwise entrap -- unless the ensnared can be freed from this terrible trap. It's time for some brute force. Hurray! Brute force! =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
===========<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar - Round 1 *>============ =======================< Results - The Strangling Knot >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talia 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Well-Used Mattock 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Clarine 0 --(8)--> 8 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ivan 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiro 0 --(8)--> 8 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Cheesecake Bites 2 Brute Effects: Stalwart -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Talia 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Talia 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> Talia has posed.
"Pryaniki isn't a pet," Talia says to Josie. "He is more of a... partner in crime?" Underneath her coat, there is the little impression of a squirrel-like nod.
She looks at Ivan, then at Ragnell and Clarine -- a little bit of of concern in her expression -- but she nods. "It is... thick, no? Whatever it is, it must be... bad."
Clarine suggests they handle it quickly, and they do. Short swords and mattock hack at it. Buoyed by Ragnell's cheesecake bites (without pepper), they chop through vines coming for them -- and the obstruction. Even when fire doesn't prove as effective as they might hope, the way ahead is opened.
The Malevolence only grows thicker.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has drawn a new Challenge.
================<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar *>================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - The Fear of Loss *>======================= |Type: exploration |Dungeon Ability: combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- There are many lives that have been lost here in the Sacrificial Grounds; some of them intentional, some of them not -- some that were intended to be intentional, but not the way they ultimately lost that life. And the Malevolence here gives horrible life to these trapped, purposeless souls, animating skeletal remains into fearful simulacrums of the lives that once inhabited them. The bony Hellions aren't much of a challenge physically -- but with them, they carry a very real fear of mortality that permeates this place, the frightening auras surrounding them, and their raw numbers, making up for lack of physical strength as they rise up and begin to swarm. Skeleton goons. Just the worst. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josie appears to consider this for a moment.
"Fair enough," is her assessment of the arrangement.
Then there is the situation with the vines. Stuffing the cheesecake bite into a pocket (she may regret this later) she hefts her mattock with onehanded ease, having at the snarling and snagging vines as they threaten the lot of them.
It's still beyond, as if the grounds were a candle cupped under a glass. The quiet is deafening: even a few footsteps seem to carry far longer than they ought, reverberating off the stonework as if it were somehow... more than the bones of the earth.
"Well," Josie remarks, coming to a stop.
She plants a hand on her hip.
"That's new."
They rise slowly, as if the act of motion itself is a foreign country to them. Perhaps it is, coming back to it after so long on the other side of death. But their intent is clear: they converge on the group with purpose.
Their movement is silent across soil, grass -- even rock. Not so much as a click or clatter announces their advance.
The skeletons grin in the way only a skull can.
Josie remains rooted to the spot, watching them as they come closer and closer, her expression distant and difficult, a twin to her gaze for the sky. She doesn't move a muscle.
"...Sorry."
The report of an ARM cracks through the silence. The Reaper's Hand weighs easily in her grasp, drawn and fired so quickly that if someone blinked, they might have missed it.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
"Yes... if left unattended, this will only get worse, I feel..." Clarine agrees with a nod.
Even as the Malevolence thickens, they proceed. She can feel it - this place is permeated with the spiritual poison. It would be dangerous even for a normal human, much less one of the Seraphim. But even so, she proceeds. She has confidence in herself and her friends, and that confidence helps push her forward.
Delicious cheesecake bites help too, of course.
It is not long before they meet further resistance. The very bones of the sacrificed start to come to life. Clarine shudders at the sight of it.
It's a grim reminder of the mortality of... well, mortals. Somehow, it makes her very uncomfortable. So, in response... she draws out a length of silvery cloth and throws it over herself, disappearing from view!
But not to run away - with her Lightbending Veil hiding her, she begins to recite protective spells to protect and fortify the party.
DG: Seraph Clarine has used her Tool Lightbending Veil toward her party's challenge, The Fear of Loss. DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Fear of Loss.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
After she calms down... Ruby flies slowly to Pryaniki just after Talia declares he's a partner in crime, and whispers. "Hey if you can actually secretly talk... blink... twice."
Hiro holds up a lantern, which Ruby ignites, then Hiro hooks it on Ruby's open jaw as if this were a well practiced ritual between the two of them.
The Malevolence of the area is certainly making them tense - but they're pretty used to thick malevolence by now. "Could be just about anything at the end of this." "I think our choices are way narrower than 'anything' Hiro."
The skeletons slowly rises, and Hiro's sword slides out with a hiss of metal. "Skeletal Hellions... shame Boudicca isn't with us."
In the dark, there's a faint glow of a twisted white talisman around his neck, which subtly makes the rigors of battle less... rigorous.
Not for the skeletons though, rigor is the least of their concerns anymore.
Rushing into the fray he slices his blade in a dizzying array of swordwork, moving from here and there to try and back the others up in the swarm. The way he sees it, its his job to wade into it so the others can do their thing. Though that doesn't stop him from tossing a boomerang into it to try and snap fragile spinal columns.
DG: Hiro has used his Tool White Dragon Wings toward his party's challenge, The Fear of Loss.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell nods to Clarine. She doesn't question her; if Clarine's already a little unsure, doubting her won't help. If things take a turn for the worse, she can always take her out of this place herself.
As the group advances, skeletal Hellions clatter before them until the path before them is blocked off. Ragnell narrows her eyes at them, then pulls a grenade and chucks it at the center of their group. In a few seconds, it'll explode with lightning power. It's almost a routine action for her, as if this encounter with a dangerous, potentially deadly enemy bores her.
What surprises her is how Josie apologizes to the enemy. Ragnell shoots her a glance with raised eyebrows. However, for the time being, she leaves it alone.
"Well, anyone with purifyin' powers would be able t' make short work of these. Wouldn't have to be just Bou," she remarks to Hiro, opening fire on what skeletons remain at this point. "But I get what you're sayin'."
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Lightning Grenade toward her party's challenge, The Fear of Loss.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
Oh it's a story alright.
"Talk to me later," Ivan stage whispers to Ruby. But Ruby soon busies herself with turning into a geyser of flame. Ivan can relate to that mood.
Ivan accepts a cheesecake bite and finds himself strangely invigorated by it--which is a good thing, since he has been having an increasingly rough time of it when adventuring lately, and the only thing more humiliating than turning into a monster right at the entrance would be getting winded before they're even inside the door.
He avoids that fate, but what they find inside is... darker, and more densely permeated with unsettling, contagious emotion.
This hits closer to home than he'd like, and he finds himself with flames dancing off his shoulders as his stomach twists with dread.
A swarm of shambling skeletons quickly surrounds them.
Ivan calls to the flames that are already ready to leap from his body, pulling them down his arms until they wreathe his sword in flame. He rushes toward the nearest skeleton, launching into a flurry of strikes with the flaming blade.
DG: Ivan has used his Tool Memory toward his party's challenge, The Fear of Loss.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Ruby stage whispers to Ivan. "Willlll doooo..." And winks at him. Twice.
"... the people with purifying powers that'll work with me is a pretty short list Ragnell." Hiro notes affably.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell laughs at that while Ivan and Ruby conspire terribly behind her back. "Fair."
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
Pryaniki does, in fact, look at Ruby. It blinks once. Then twice. Then... three times.
Talia doesn't notice as she keeps walking.
"Those are--"
Talia grits her teeth, nose wrinkling, as she sees the ground shift. Bones begin to animate, lifting up, and she draws in a sharp gasp. Undead aren't exactly common; she brandishes Mirage, but it's the crack of Josie's ARM that brings her out of it. Her brother's flames shoot out, and then Talia reaches to a bag at her side.
"We could use someone who could purify, no?" she muses. "I wonder how they do it, if they are not Shepherds--"
The last bit ends up clipped. Talia hurls a bomb; a bomb with a green leaf atop it, and it arches up, then falls amidst the skeletons, before exploding with flame (and, yes, rainbow sparkles).
DG: Talia has used her Tool Royal Bomb toward her party's challenge, The Fear of Loss.
================<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar *>================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - The Fear of Loss *>======================= |Type: exploration |Dungeon Ability: combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- There are many lives that have been lost here in the Sacrificial Grounds; some of them intentional, some of them not -- some that were intended to be intentional, but not the way they ultimately lost that life. And the Malevolence here gives horrible life to these trapped, purposeless souls, animating skeletal remains into fearful simulacrums of the lives that once inhabited them. The bony Hellions aren't much of a challenge physically -- but with them, they carry a very real fear of mortality that permeates this place, the frightening auras surrounding them, and their raw numbers, making up for lack of physical strength as they rise up and begin to swarm. Skeleton goons. Just the worst. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
===========<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar - Round 2 *>============ =========================< Results - The Fear of Loss >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talia 8 --(4)--> 12 Pass Royal Bomb 3 Combat Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 8 --(4)--> 12 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Clarine 8 --(4)--> 12 Pass Lightbending Veil 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ivan 8 --(4)--> 12 Pass Memory 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiro 8 --(4)--> 12 Pass White Dragon Wings 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 8 --(4)--> 12 Pass Lightning Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Talia 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Weaken(1) Effects: Cleanse ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Talia 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: Ivan has drawn a new Challenge.
================<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar *>================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - The Uncertain Signs *>====================== |Type: exploration |Dungeon Ability: wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You enter a large, square chamber. The signs of the zodiac are arranged in a circle at the center's chamber, and the surrounding exits seem to correspond to the patterns on the ground. There are inscriptions on these exits, inscriptions that -should- give hints as to the methods of opening them... except that every time you look, the messages change. Perhaps one time they tell you to stand upon the lion's roar; the next time you blink, the message explains that you must 'stand across from where the arrow pierces.' Sometimes, the messages are simply, confoundingly wrong. Every time, Malevolence pulses subtly through this place. Every time, the need to find some answer from the signs grows ever-stronger. So how do you deal with it, when your hint text is being horribly mismanaged? =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
One of the skeletons drops, a bullet hole through its skull.
"Tch." Josie lowers her ARM.
About her, all hell breaks loose, the clamor of melee all the louder for the silence that had come before.
A blazing blade lays low one Hellionized skeleton.
Another, dropped by a series of skillful sword strikes. A boomerang tossed into the mix seens its fellow nearby snapped handily in two.
A detonation of electrical grenades sees another pair blasted to bits.
The last, taken out by a particularly royal rainbow of a bomb.
All throughout, the Hellions are kept at bay by Clarine's shimmering barrier. They can't so much as land a scratch on even Ivan or Hiro, try as they might.
"Well, that's done with," Josie remarks, glancing briefly at the wreckage.
"Let's not hang around here."
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
The skeletons fall away through the combined efforts of the group, and Ivan heaves a sigh. It's unlikely the next area will feel better than this one, but they've got to press on, regardless... eventually they can deal with whatever's at the heart of it.
They come to a room with, well, a lot going on. The ground holds a series of sigils connected with the zodiac. And a number of possible exits surround them, each sealed and inscribed with a hint.
As Ivan approaches one of the hints, before he's finished reading it, he finds it... changing! Again and again!
When the others look, they will find glimpses of instructions -- places to stand, words to recite... if they're quick, they might be able to act out some of the instructions, though some dark force within the room seems almost to be encouraging them to obsess over the words.
"Wh-why is it doing that!" Ivan sputters, seeming offended by the phenomenon. Are they all doing it?"
Is it a puzzle within a puzzle? Find out how to make the hints stop shifting so they can decipher them??
Ivan unsheathes the umbrella that he wears at his side in place of his sword, holding it up in front of his face, closing his eyes and beseeching it for guidance.
Well, whatever that's all about, in the meantime everybody else is on their own...
DG: Ivan has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Uncertain Signs.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Ruby, thoroughly confused by the three blinks, rolls with it. And whispers. "Three times... does that mean... you're being held hostage against your will? Or that you're just hungry?"
The skeletons fall, and Hiro agrees with Josie, "Not a moment too soon either. We don't want to stay here too long if we can help it."
And then comes the Zodiac Chamber. Hiro tries to read an inscription, but it changes mid-blink.
"Has to be the malevolence messing with our perceptions..." Hiro answers Ivan turns to the symbols of the Zodiac he's copied down into his Grandfather's records during his time on Filgaia. Rubbing at his eyes. He uses the journal as a legend of sorts.
"Okay so... the instructions I feel ought to be congruent with what each member of the Zodiac represents? And malevolence ought to distort that. Make it... a contradiction, or just off."
Ruby glances at Hiro's ledger then flies up to the Pisces mark, hovering over it. "So I'm claiming any fish related puzzles. Especially devouring them. See this inscription?" She points to an exit in the distance. "It says right there - plain as day that I should devour three fish for us to progress."
Hiro looks up at Ruby, with a dumbfounded stare. "Why... would there be fresh fish here?"
"Why wouldn't there be in a puzzle dealing with Pisces Hiro? DUH!"
Score one Ruby?
DG: Hiro has used his Tool Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook toward his party's challenge, The Uncertain Signs.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
"Is everyone alright...?" Clarine asks, shedding the Lightbending Veil and stowing it away safely once more. Everyone looks fine - they seem to have handled the skeletons pretty handily. Because of that, they're able to proceed... and they find themselves in a rather strange room, lined with the symbols of the zodiac.
It's... very confusing. The hints and instructions seem to change and fluctuate with every other glance.
"...Perhaps I may be able to be of assistance..." Clarine says. She reaches into her sleeves, and this time she draws out a sphere of pure, clear crystal. She raises it up and it begins to shine, releasing a light that dispels falsehoods and uncovers hidden truths.
It might not be long before the Malevolence overtakes this place again, but in the brief moment before that happens, it might be possible to see the true instructions.
DG: Seraph Clarine has used her Tool Brilliant Sphere toward her party's challenge, The Uncertain Signs.
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
Pryaniki looks out, and blinks once at Ruby.
But, the Earth Squirrel perks up, going upright on Talia's shoulder, as Ivan cries out his dismay. The messages are vanishing -- and Talia whips her head side to side, trying to follow each of the messages. She can't. As she looks at them, they begin to fade away.
Her crimson eyes blink, and she makes a face.
Pryaniki, though, comes to a stop. As light from Clarine's crystal rolls out, his green eyes flash -- and then he points his fingers up at one of the messages, to get their attention.
"I think the Malevolence... it is getting stronger, no?" she says. "I don't know why, but that cannot be good."
She wrinkles her nose, think looks at Hiro. "A contradiction--that makes sense!" Because Malevolence is, ultimately, about contradictions.
She hopes it makes sense, at least.
DG: Talia has used her Tool Pryaniki toward her party's challenge, The Uncertain Signs.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
The skeletons left behind them, the team moves onwards into a chamber filled with strange symbols that, at a glance, are constantly shifting. The hints they give keep changing, too, and they don't make sense besides. Hiro makes a sound point about Malevolence and contradictions, and Ruby makes a sounder point about fish and Pisces. Ragnell laughs, and, because she knows it'll *really* annoy Ruby, claps Hiro on the shoulder and drawls, "She's got ya there, Hiro."
She nods to Clarine, indicating she is indeed fine, as she pulls a harmonica from within her poncho. "Usually isn't," she agrees with Talia, nodding her way.
For the time being, though, she begins to play a soothing melody on her harmonica. It helps sharpen the mind and allow it to focus, even in the wake of all these confusing, shifting messages.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Polished Harmonica toward her party's challenge, The Uncertain Signs.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Got it in one," she says to Hiro, as they venture into the chamber of the Zodiac.
Her gaze skirts the symbols on the floor but doesn't remain there. She turns instead towards the inscriptions.
"Bow down before the sight of the twins..." she remarks, gazing at one of the written verses on the wall. A pace to a different section follows. "The virgin turns her back on the twins... well, she damn well would, that's why she's a virgin."
She paces back towards the previous door again. "Huh. 'The twins dance in the heavens.' Changing text. Don't see that but in a blue moon."
She keeps her eye on the writing as it undergoes another permutation.
"Hmm."
The scent of ozone briefly predominates one section of the room.
Josie takes a puff on another cigarette soon after and leans against the enscription, taking in the whole of the room.
"Take a load off. Something 'bout this place seems fishy," she remarks, watching her smoke drift upwards. "I get this feeling that I've gotta solve this now, right? And frankly, I'm fine taking my own sweet time with stuff like this... so the way I see it, this place's messing with us."
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Pack of Cigarettes toward her party's challenge, The Uncertain Signs.
================<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar *>================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - The Uncertain Signs *>====================== |Type: exploration |Dungeon Ability: wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You enter a large, square chamber. The signs of the zodiac are arranged in a circle at the center's chamber, and the surrounding exits seem to correspond to the patterns on the ground. There are inscriptions on these exits, inscriptions that -should- give hints as to the methods of opening them... except that every time you look, the messages change. Perhaps one time they tell you to stand upon the lion's roar; the next time you blink, the message explains that you must 'stand across from where the arrow pierces.' Sometimes, the messages are simply, confoundingly wrong. Every time, Malevolence pulses subtly through this place. Every time, the need to find some answer from the signs grows ever-stronger. So how do you deal with it, when your hint text is being horribly mismanaged? =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
===========<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar - Round 3 *>============ =======================< Results - The Uncertain Signs >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talia 12 --(8)--> 20 Pass Pryaniki 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 12 --(8)--> 20 Pass Pack of Cigarettes 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Clarine 12 --(8)--> 20 Pass Brilliant Sphere 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ivan 12 --(8)--> 20 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiro 12 --(8)--> 20 Pass Grandpa Gwyn's Notebook 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 12 --(8)--> 20 Pass Polished Harmonica 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Talia 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Fright(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Talia 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> Ivan has posed.
Each of them approaches the quandary in a different way. Ivan meditating upon his umbrella... Hiro following his intuitions to devise his own solution while Ruby opportunistically brings it back to her love of fish... Talia wondering at the influence of the Malevolence within the room... Ragnell stepping back and playing a tune to help the others clear their thoughts.
When Clarine ushers in a brief glimpse of truth, it shows them... no inscriptions at all! Simply blank and empty spaces.
It's not until Josie finally declares it all a prank that one of the doors slides open, the puzzle appeased by their collective ability to disengage.
DG: Hiro has drawn a new Challenge.
===============<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar *>================ ==================<* CHALLENGE - The Illusion of Anxiety *>=================== |Type: exploration |Dungeon Ability: wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The pathways of the Sacrificial Grounds are grimly linear; after all, there is only one, inevitable endpoint to this place, and there is no escaping that simple fact of fate. However, as you walk across aging stoneways, there is a horrifying shriek from much deeper in the altar -- And suddenly, you find yourself facing two, branching paths of stone. Take the wrong one, and two paths become four. Four become eight. Eight become sixteen. Until you are surrounded by a dizzying, impossible degree of branching options, with no clear sign which is the right way -- and nothing but a growing panic of uncertainty that seeps into the soul deeper and deeper, the more those paths and choices open up. What is the right way, when there is no easy way forward? =Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Can only admit when I'm wrong." Hiro grins at Ragnell, as if she'd convinced him. He's liking this, being her ally again. Maybe he knows under the surface that it might not lost, but...
... it's nice having his friend back.
Ruby though glowers, "I've lost my appetite." With a harumph before she looks sideways at Josie, as if wondering if she made a pun. She's so non-chalant that she's not sure.
They make it by though... into a branching Y of two stone corridors, neither with a tell tale sign of which is the right.
"Two paths." Hiro notes. "Let's take the right path." Ruby then flies down the left path willfully. "I'm checking out the left path!"
"Ruby wait!"
As Hiro chases her down.
And suddenly they're in a chamber with four paths. Faced with a sudden enormity of choice, Hiro awkwardly clears his throat and indicates.
"Let's... go back. Start from the beginning..."
"... Y-Yeah."
Backtracking leads them back to where they were...
Except now there's eight paths instead of the original two.
"So I just want to put this out there right now. This is definitely... not my fault."
She then points a pawsie at ... Ragnell.
"It's hers! She knew if she messed with me enough that I'd make mistakes!"
J'ACCUSE.
"Ruby... no. We're not doing this here." Hiro says firmly.
DG: Hiro has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Illusion of Anxiety.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
Up to this point, there has only been a single path forward. But as they proceed now... they find themselves faced with a split. One path becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes eight... it seems the more paths you go down, the more appear.
Clarine can't help but smile a little at the way Ruby accuses Ragnell. She doesn't comment on it, though, instead considering the situation before them. The paths project an aura of uncertainty...
But, situations like this are where Clarine is most confident. Navigation is her specialty, she knows where she's going, as sure as the north star.
"...Do not be alarmed. These paths... they are not quite what they seem..." Clarine says consideringly. "I do not think we have truly gone anywhere at all..."
She brings out the crystal ball again, letting it hover before them to light the way.
"The abounding Malevolence clouds my perception, but... I think I may know which way to go..." She says.
DG: Seraph Clarine has used her Tool Brilliant Sphere toward her party's challenge, The Illusion of Anxiety.
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
"I didn't realize it could get worse, no? The way it did. Pulsing, like that," Talia says, as an aside, to Ragnell. She follows after Hiro, as she walks. And then, she slows to a stop, as she realizes they're facing multiple paths. The options keep expanding.
Her jaw clenches. And then it clenches more when they backtrack, to find themselves facing eight choices, instead of the original two.
"This is..." She scowls, and then she glances sideways at Clarine. She nods her head -- and Pryaniki skitters down, off her coat. He looks up at Ivan--
--and then he starts forward, down a path, after Clarine lights it up. "Ah! I think he has the right idea, no?" she says. "Ruby, he seems very smart, no?"
DG: Talia has used her Tool Pryaniki toward her party's challenge, The Illusion of Anxiety.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
Ivan has grown accustomed to following cats down what may or may not be the right path (don't say that out loud, Ivan), so he seems fairly chill when Ruby leads them to a confounding hydra of a pathway.
"Maybe this time..." he says, whisking out the umbrella once again to try to sense its opinion. Its aura seems so brisk and clear, comparatively speaking.
"... ... it's actually really refreshing in all this Malevolence," he observes, with faint surprise. Ivan forgot he has a holy item again.
He looks up to realize Talia is trying to get his attention.
"Oh, did everybody pick a direction already?"
DG: Ivan has used his Tool Judgemental Umbrella toward his party's challenge, The Illusion of Anxiety.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Well, they've gotten themselves good and lost, haven't they? Ragnell half-smiles when Ruby insists on what turns out to be the wrong way, then outright laughs when Ruby accuses *her* of annoying her into getting them all lost. "Only losers blame other people for their own mistakes, Ru," she says mildly. "You think you can become a respectable dragon by shiftin' the blame onto someone else?" She shakes her head and clucks her tongue. "Not very attractive at all. Am I right, Hiro?"
Now that's just hitting below the belt.
"Oh yeah. The pulsing is one o' th' worst parts, in my opinion," she remarks to Talia. "It's like a living thing like that. Real, real creepy." She looks over and nods at Clarine when she observes they've likely not gone anywhere at all. "Yeah. I imagine we've just been gettin' turned 'round."
She glances at Pryaniki as he heads forth on the path that Clarine indicates. For her part, she brings out her harmonica again and starts playing it anew. The echoes of the cheerful, uplifting melody she plays might reverberate off the walls and give them an idea of which path is right...
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Polished Harmonica toward her party's challenge, The Illusion of Anxiety.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
A door, ultimately, slides right on open.
Josie stubs out her cigarette against the wall, dropping the butt carelessly as she heads on over towards it. "See? Relax," she quips, a lopsided smile on her lips.
Onwards! The archaeologist ambles along amiably enough, until the point where they come to a fork in the path. "Hey, now--"
Hiro isn't the only one to go gamboling off in that direction. "A fourway branch, huh? Let's head on back and see what..."
Eight paths.
"...we have. Huh."
Another spark, another light. She considers the problem in thoughtful silence for a moment more.
Then ashes her cigarette where she stands, until she's left with a nice little pile.
"Let's see if we see this again," she remarks, heading off down one of the pathways.
If there's one illusion, there's bound to be others, perhaps?
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Pack of Cigarettes toward her party's challenge, The Illusion of Anxiety.
===============<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar *>================ ==================<* CHALLENGE - The Illusion of Anxiety *>=================== |Type: exploration |Dungeon Ability: wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The pathways of the Sacrificial Grounds are grimly linear; after all, there is only one, inevitable endpoint to this place, and there is no escaping that simple fact of fate. However, as you walk across aging stoneways, there is a horrifying shriek from much deeper in the altar -- And suddenly, you find yourself facing two, branching paths of stone. Take the wrong one, and two paths become four. Four become eight. Eight become sixteen. Until you are surrounded by a dizzying, impossible degree of branching options, with no clear sign which is the right way -- and nothing but a growing panic of uncertainty that seeps into the soul deeper and deeper, the more those paths and choices open up. What is the right way, when there is no easy way forward? =Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
==========<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar - Round 4 *>=========== ====================< Results - The Illusion of Anxiety >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talia 20 --(4)--> 24 Pass Pryaniki 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 20 --(4)--> 24 Pass Pack of Cigarettes 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Clarine 20 --(4)--> 24 Pass Brilliant Sphere 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ivan 20 --(4)--> 24 Pass Judgemental Umbrella 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hiro 20 --(4)--> 24 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Ragnell 20 --(4)--> 24 Pass Polished Harmonica 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Talia 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Reckless(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Talia 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> Hiro has posed.
Ruby just crosses her arms. "I don't think you'd know what a respectable dragon looks like if you got lit on fire by one Ragnell!" Hiro scratches behind his neck awkwardly at Ragnell's comment, "I mean... attractive isn't the word I'd use..." He's not trying to say it's unattractive just that attractiveness doesn't really have anything to do with the matter.
Ruby though pales visibly as she misunderstands him entirely.
"S-Say... maybe Pryaniki does know the way I go. So I can let it slide - Ragnell. Here I go... correcting my ... ... errors and taking responsibility!" As she flies after Pryaniki hurriedly. Though, she ultimately lands under Ivan's umbrella and takes a perch on his shoulder...
... she needs to cool off a bit.
Pryaniki leads the way, though Clarine's crystal ball helps eliminate some false paths, which better seems to guide the decision.
Ragnell's uplifting melody seems to relax them all amidst the Malevolence, but the strange echoes coming from some paths and down others help eliminate one particularly bad spot they have...
... when suddenly there are sixty four paths.
"Well we're not going around in circles..." Hiro notes, having spotted Josie's cigarette earlier. The marker validating to all of them that they're on the right path.
Between all of them eliminating some of the choices, they pick one particularly tucked away corridor in the maze of them...
... and aren't greeted by one hundred and twenty eight paths.
"Looks like we're in the clear... I mean, besides the Malevolence. That's definitely growing worse."
DG: Talia has drawn a new Challenge.
================<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar *>================= ========<* CHALLENGE - Desperation's Chains ~ The Shades of Sacrifice *>======== |Type: final |Dungeon Ability: combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- There is a crystal here, pulsing between shades of purer red, and polluted violet. Touching it transports you all in a seething flash of ley's light and Malevolent contradiction, deeper in to the heart of the grounds, where the Malevolence thrives thickest. And it is here, in a large, circular chamber, that you find it. An egg. A tremendous, black egg, hanging in the center of a large altar. The eggs surface bubbles like boiling liquid, rippling now and then in rhythmic patterns like the thing was breathing. Every 'breath' makes the very earth tremble, sending liquid fissures of Malevolence gouting like a volcanic eruption from the egg's oval surface. And attached to this egg? A multitude of Malevolent chains, running from somewhere else in the grounds into the egg to hold and support its weight. No -- more than that. They are feeding it Malevolence, like an incubating egg thrives and is nurtured on heat. The platform you arrive on contains one such chain leading towards this egg; surrounding it are countless spectres of the fallen -- sacrifices of the grounds from long past still clinging on by the sheer weight of their burdens and the desperation it was spawned from, the most negative aspects of these sacrifices' final moments given horrible life by the Malevolence afflicting the shrine. These phantasms turn on you, and as whatever is inside the egg shrieks, they wail in turn -- and attack. The first one defeated, the chain trembles. The second, the chain begins to crack like it was rusting. The phantasms are feeding and strengthening the chain's binding, and, in turn, feeding and strengthening the egg. Every one defeated, weakens the chain. Defeat enough of these desperate, lost souls, and... =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
Pryaniki leads them onward. Talia looks at Ruby, and then at Ragnell, and then back at Ruby. "I feel," she says aloud, "that a lot is going on here." She nods, and then she glances sideways -- peering at Josephine's cigarette -- and then she keeps walking. The corridor leads on, but no more strange splits and turnarounds.
There are a few turns.
But it finally leads around to a large, circular chamber. What they find is not what they would expect: on an altar, a massive egg sits there. It ripples, Malevolence blasting up around it like a furnace. It roils off it, as if heating it.
Or, perhaps, feeding it.
The platform they arrive on is one of many. Talia hesitates, as she sees those present: ghosts, fallen souls, trapped here in Malevolence. They turn, ghostly forms twisted and horrible. Mouths open too wide -- and rotting, half-broken Baskar staves are lifted.
Eerily, in utter unison, they abruptly SCREAM.
Numerous bolts of flame rain down on the ground around them, as the phantasms cluster about a great chain leading up to the egg. Talia yelps, diving away from fire that hits the ground and splashes off it.
She pulls out a bomb, hurtling it. It flies into the air, twirling about, and then explodes in a fiery blast in the midst of the phantasms.
DG: Talia has used her Tool Royal Bomb toward her party's challenge, Desperation's Chains ~ The Shades of Sacrifice.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"Just 'cuz I'm not respectable myself doesn't mean I don't know what respectability looks like," Ragnell drawls, shrugging broadly back at Ruby. It's the comment to Hiro that gets to the babiest dragon, though, and Ragnell smiles broadly as Ruby backpedals hard when he seemingly implies that he does not in fact find her behavior attractive.
"So does Lemina still hate me like Ruby does?" she wonders to Hiro as they make their way through the labyrinth and down the correct path, past the other illusions. She scratches the back of her head. "Jean seemed okay enough last time I saw her, an' who knows Lucia's thinkin'..." She shakes her head. "Well, I'm sure they're doin' fine, or as fine as they can be while bein' on the run. Tell 'em I said hi, if you want."
But there isn't time for much more conversation when the group reaches its destination and finds a giant, Malevolence-infested egg on an altar in the center of a circular chamber. Ragnell tenses upon seeing it. The Malevolence has been bad all long, but now... now, it's chokingly thick. She checks on Clarine to make sure she's okay, then draws her twin pistols.
"You wanna go? Let's go!" she snarls back at the screaming fallen souls, dodging and diving out of the way of the flame of rain. A couple times she gets hit, but eventually she finds enough breathing space to fight back. Summoning a glyph at her feet, Ragnell shoots off Seraphic arte after Seraphic arte and drops a quarter dozen spells amongst the undead before finishing by pitching an egg of her own.
The egg is a grenade.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Lightning Grenade toward her party's challenge, Desperation's Chains ~ The Shades of Sacrifice.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.
Ruby temporarily chooses Ivan as a perch.
"Did you want to try the umbrella, too? It's a little snooty, but it's still a nice contrast." He holds it close to her like a fan. It radiates a faint aura filled with certainty and purpose, if somewhat disdainful.
As the group narrowly avoids becoming eternally lost in the labyrinth, they come at last to a chamber housing an egg that pulses with Malevolence. Ivan's grip tightens on the umbrella as they draw near, and the waves of Malevolence close around them. The umbrella's influence is there too, like a trickling current of fresh air running through a deep fog.
Twisted souls fly toward them, bringing their anger, bitterness, and fear in deeper currents of dark emotion.
Ivan holds forward the umbrella, popping it open to simultaneously shield himself and send out a knockback pulse.
Ivan follows close behind the energy wave, sheathing the umbrella and brandishing a flaming blade.
DG: Ivan has used his Tool Memory toward his party's challenge, Desperation's Chains ~ The Shades of Sacrifice.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
The good news is, it's not an illusion and they're not going in circles. The bad news is the rest of it.
"Yeah," Josie remarks, after they fail to be met with one hundred and twenty eight paths before them.
She drops her cigarette and grinds it under a heel. "It's getting much worse. Feels like I've got a bad tooth, or somesuch."
It's just as easy to ignore as one, too.
It's like walking into a blast furnace, in fact, in the end.
"It's 'them' that's behind this, ain't it," she says, gazing up at the egg atop the altar. She doesn't look at Ragnell.
She grits her teeth as the things scream, before her gaze jerks upwards and she bolts forward, dodging a gout of flame.
She doesn't go for a gun. Instead, she goes for a flask at her hip and, uncapping it, sets loose its entire contents for the phantasms as they rise.
It's just rotgut.
It's extremely flammable.
She intones after: "O thou--"
A spray of sparks follows.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Liquid Courage toward her party's challenge, Desperation's Chains ~ The Shades of Sacrifice.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
"I-indeed..." Clarine mutters with a nod, as Ragnell mentions the pulsing of Malevolence.
Still, they manage to find the way forward... until, eventually, they find a giant egg. A giant egg, rippling like a Malevolent furnace, with chains lashed to it.
Clarine takes a deep, sharp breath to center herself. She doesn't look comfortable, but even amidst all this she seems to be managing to hold strong.
"What... is this...?" She asks in disbelief. She doesn't have much time to wonder - the fallen Souls, consumed by Malevolence, have spotted them.
Quickly, she draws out the Lightbending Veil and throws it over herself. It hides even the last of her casting as she begins an incantation.
"Root of all creation, grant us the breath of life... Revitalize!" At her command, a shining Seraphic glyph bursts into being around them, shedding rejuvenating light over the whole room to ease their injuries.
Not only that, while it is not Purification, it may help somewhat to ease the restless souls... and even if that fails, healing spells tend to have quite the damaging effect on the undead.
DG: Seraph Clarine has used her Tool Lightbending Veil toward her party's challenge, Desperation's Chains ~ The Shades of Sacrifice.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"That's putting it mildly..." Ruby mutters at Talia's comment, though she seems pleased at using Ivan to escape from her embarrassment. "Oh my - what a gentleman." Ruby says with a theatrical wave of her pawsie, "Well if you're offering... I accept!" Her pawsie can't grip the Umbrella, so instead she bats at it, causing it to flap at her over and over like a fan. "Ehehehe..." She sounds like she's having fun.
"It's hard to tell with Lemina." Hiro answers as honestly as he can, "If she held a grudge she'd probably forgive you if you'd join her Magic Guild and a few thousand silver pieces. Lemina is... focused, and I think her goals are just part of her way of hiding how she feels..." Hiro rubs the back of his neck, "Or so I think. She's never really let on with me how she feels. It's just... I'm trying to work it out."
Who knows what Lucia is thinking? He wishes he did... he wishes that every day. He stumbles at even trying to mentally bring her up.
"If anyone would forgive though it's Jean. Whoa-! That's..."
The phantasms cut short the conversation though, rising up around that creepy egg of malevolence that causes Ruby to whimper at the sight of it.
And Hiro intones an incantation of his own, the talisman around his neck gleaming. "Oh lightless blades of transience that rain down..." Out of the shadows, six different dagger like blades melt out of the inky floor, reflecting strangely in the light of Clarine's arte...
"...sever! Dark Sword!"
They rush up above, then rain down below over a runic field where they vanish again.
DG: Hiro has used his Tool White Dragon Wings toward his party's challenge, Desperation's Chains ~ The Shades of Sacrifice.
================<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar *>================= ========<* CHALLENGE - Desperation's Chains ~ The Shades of Sacrifice *>======== |Type: final |Dungeon Ability: combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- There is a crystal here, pulsing between shades of purer red, and polluted violet. Touching it transports you all in a seething flash of ley's light and Malevolent contradiction, deeper in to the heart of the grounds, where the Malevolence thrives thickest. And it is here, in a large, circular chamber, that you find it. An egg. A tremendous, black egg, hanging in the center of a large altar. The eggs surface bubbles like boiling liquid, rippling now and then in rhythmic patterns like the thing was breathing. Every 'breath' makes the very earth tremble, sending liquid fissures of Malevolence gouting like a volcanic eruption from the egg's oval surface. And attached to this egg? A multitude of Malevolent chains, running from somewhere else in the grounds into the egg to hold and support its weight. No -- more than that. They are feeding it Malevolence, like an incubating egg thrives and is nurtured on heat. The platform you arrive on contains one such chain leading towards this egg; surrounding it are countless spectres of the fallen -- sacrifices of the grounds from long past still clinging on by the sheer weight of their burdens and the desperation it was spawned from, the most negative aspects of these sacrifices' final moments given horrible life by the Malevolence afflicting the shrine. These phantasms turn on you, and as whatever is inside the egg shrieks, they wail in turn -- and attack. The first one defeated, the chain trembles. The second, the chain begins to crack like it was rusting. The phantasms are feeding and strengthening the chain's binding, and, in turn, feeding and strengthening the egg. Every one defeated, weakens the chain. Defeat enough of these desperate, lost souls, and... =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
===========<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar - Round 5 *>============ ==========< Results - Desperation's Chains ~ The Shades of Sacrifice >========== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talia 24 --(8)--> 32 Pass Royal Bomb 3 Combat Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 24 --(8)--> 32 Pass Liquid Courage 3 Combat Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Clarine 24 --(8)--> 32 Pass Lightbending Veil 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ivan 24 --(8)--> 32 Pass Memory 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiro 24 --(8)--> 32 Pass White Dragon Wings 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 24 --(8)--> 32 Pass Lightning Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Talia 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Reckless(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Talia has successfully explored Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar!
================<* Sacrificial Grounds ~ Desperation's Altar *>================= ================<* CHALLENGE - The Altar's Chains ~ Shattered *>================ |Type: discovery |Dungeon Ability: conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As the last of the obstacles fueling the chain are taken care of, the Malevolence-wrought tether begins to tremble. Cracklines form throughout its gleaming, glowing metallic-purple surface, before the contradictory links of it snap, one by one, and the entire thing breaks apart, swinging dangerously low and wild as it disconnects from the egg it had been so chillingly supporting. It shatters into a thousand little motes of Malevolent light before it can swing into -you-, leaving nothing but the chamber, the remaining chains, and the egg. The egg-like structure sags slightly, and small, glowing fissures run through its surface as the thing rumbles. One chain down. With any luck, others will be taking care of the rest. =Dungeon Conditions: =========================================================
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.
The phantasms are terrible, fierce enemies. Ragnell's lightning blasts tear through them. Hellions already have a way of being fearless and relentless; these are even more so, lunging back in even after spells have torn into them. One of them slams into Ivan's umbrella.
It bounces backward, and then a flaming sword rips down through the midst of it. It puffs away into a burst of Malevolence. More rush in, but a blast of sparks Josephine sends them back. Blades of darkness lash down.
The fight goes on, Hiro's, Josie's, and Ragnell's tearing through their ranks. The twins cut and strike them down -- and Clarine's spells keep them from falling over. At the end, the phantasms are beaten back.
The chain remains, and not for long. It cracks apart and shatters. Talia lets out a shuddering breath, exhausted after all that fighting. She drives Mirage into the ground, then wipes at her sweaty brow. She looks at the other platforms; one has a shattered chain, but others do not.
"It looks like... others have come too, no?" she says. "And there's... whatever that is."
The egg, it seems, is much too high to reach.