2020-07-19: A Day on the Thames
- Log: A Day on the Thames
- Cast: Citan Uzuki, Jean, Ashley Winchester, Isolde, Seraph Lanval
- Where: The Thames - Upper Deck
- Date: July 19, 2020
- Summary: Several Drifters lend a hand in the many day-to-day challenges on the Thames. It's all in a day's work!
DG: A party led by Citan Uzuki is now entering The Thames. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
================================<* The Thames *>================================ ==================<* CHALLENGE - Beat It Up and It's Yours! *>================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- "Gahahaha!" A Walrus beastman of impressive stock, dressed in a royal red Captain's coat and tricorne hat, walks up towards you. He appraises you and your team appreciatively and bellows in a hearty manner, "So you're the new Drifters assistin' us today, huh? Welcome aboard!" He gestures and says, "If you fine folks aren't strapped up with a Gear of your own, you'll want to check in with engineerin' and see if they can give you a loaner! Maybe I'll even let you keep it! Hahaha!" Indeed, he has a point -- a lot of the tasks around the Thames require the use of a Gear with the usual scale of their operations. Whether or not you own one, you head down to the engineering hall and discover some terrified mechanics hiding behind some crates. A fallen Gear is just around the corner, where some... aquatic Fiend is squirming out of it. "Oh... w-welcome!" speaks a penguin Beastman. "I'm Hans, the first officer-- but you've come at a heck of a time! We salvaged that Gear there, but there was a monster inside! You've got to help us!" Where the monster came from, you don't /quite/ know. But it's clear you'll have to beat it up to claim access to the Gear again. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Citan, as it happens, was more or less minding his own business when the call went out for some urgent assistance needed in engineering. ...Which is to say, he was purchasing pieces of junk in the open-air scrap market again. How many obscure 50-year-old salvaged machinery parts does one man need?
Perhaps the doctor had been expecting something more mechanical in nature when the call comes out, for he seems somewhat taken aback by the sight that unfolds before them once they collectively enter engineering.
There are a number of Gears in here, some of them recently pulled from the sea's embrace. One of them is tipped over on its side. There are tentacles waving menacingly from within it. Around the fallen Gear there is a wide area of destroyed crates and tipped over equipment and scattered debris that seems to have been the result of the monster's initial emergence.
The engineers are currently cowering behind whatever cover they've managed to locate.
This is certainly A Situation.
"Hmm... this is not good," surmises Citan, rubbing his chin as he takes in the scene before him. "With those arms, it has considerable reach on its side. I do not suppose that any of you might be able to strike at it from range? If we must advance to engage it, however, perhaps we might make use of a distraction of some sort..."
And his gaze turns to a nearby forklift thoughtfully.
DG: Citan Uzuki has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Beat It Up and It's Yours!.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
Periodically, even DOUBLE HERETIC JEAN needs basic things like money. This is one of those times; when the calls goes out for assistance, she's willing to see what she can do, knowing how things work around here, but admittedly not expecting much given that it's an engineering problem. What's she going to do for that?
As it turns out, however, this is rather more up her alley after all.
"Wow," Jean says. "All through those big machines..." She is dressed in an outfit more suited to the stage than battle, but she regards the monster ahead calmly. "...Distraction, huh?" Jean offers. She winks. "Leave that to me."
Drawing her fans, Jean shifts forward, calling out to the monster and starting to dance. It is apparently a mystical dance, because shadow starts to gather around her limbs and--
SUDDENLY BEES.
DG: Jean has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Beat It Up and It's Yours!.
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
Sometimes, you need to take a trip to the market just to destress, see what's on sale, and maybe get caught up in one or two brawls for discount oven parts. Sometimes, the shady paramilitary organization you work for has a shipment coming in from a floating pirate junkyard in the middle of the ocean and needs someone to go out and make sure it doesn't get hijacked by an even shadier paramilitary organization. Rarely, these two factors converge and produce a handy and convenient coincidence that sees one Ashley Winchester taking a bit of a boat trip for a couple of days.
What was not expected: that the super awesome instant-pot-type breadmaker that he had his eye on cost more than what Ashley Winchester, baker, musketeer and vessel of the apocalypse, makes in a month! Thus, he is here.
Staring at... a writhing mass of tentacles wriggling out from the inside of a waylaid gear. At least he's not alone! But how, he asks himself, does a lady conjure bees with fans? "Uhhhh, if I remember right, these kinds of sea creatures don't like being lit up, right?"
With light or fire?
Trick question. Ashley is firing a magnesium flare right into the aquatic horror's face.
DG: Ashley Winchester has used his Tool Flare Gun toward his party's challenge, Beat It Up and It's Yours!.
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.
Why is Isolde here?
She needs money.
She has her cocktail dress+greaves and gauntlets on AND her hair pinned up. (Why is she always in that dress? Did she buy a prestige outfit? (No. She does not own other clothing. She has a real problem.)) "I don't know about range," Isolde answers the good doctor as she unsheaths her outsized katana, resting it over her shoulder casually like some sort of bad uncle. "If you can give me an idea - if you can see eyes -"
Bees... my Goddess.
Isolde puckers her lips playfully and then steps round the side of the creature as the bees engage it. As she does she brings the sword round, swinging it with soft metallic whooshes over her head before she walks up towards the side of the Thing and aims to SLAM TWENTY POUNDS OF SHARPENED STEEL INTO ITS SIDE!
* Dress quality down.
DG: Isolde has used her Tool Sword of Questionable Heritage toward her party's challenge, Beat It Up and It's Yours!.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE WRIGGLING MASS OF TENTACLES
One of the fell suction cup-covered appendages has a bottle. This is normally not very noteworthy, for deadly aquatic monsters of that particular ilk like to wriggle around and get things stuck to them. A lot of the time it's something approaching food, a concept which is approaching greater and greater scarcity over time upon this battered star. They tend to pick up things that are not food, too, but are still intellectually stimulating to manipulate.
There also happens to be a hefty, bearded-looking fellow being flung around with it, who appears to be contesting this claim! Why, it's none other than...
"Heyyyyy, c'mooooon," tiredly wheezes none other than Seraph Lanval, who has been thrust against a nearby wall a few times. "I already shared ya a ship~"
Slam, slam, swing, whirling, it would be a horrific sight were the individual in question being inconvenienced actually made of typical corporeal flesh and blood.
"...I'll trade ya," he offers. It's not really 'offer' when the 'trade' involves the use of a shiny bottle of sanctified water whose contents are expelled at high pressure like a shook-up bottle of seltzer, drenching the wriggling thing in a universal monster repellant across the two worlds.
All this over a drink!
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Holy Bottle toward his party's challenge, Beat It Up and It's Yours!.
================================<* The Thames *>================================ ==================<* CHALLENGE - Beat It Up and It's Yours! *>================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- "Gahahaha!" A Walrus beastman of impressive stock, dressed in a royal red Captain's coat and tricorne hat, walks up towards you. He appraises you and your team appreciatively and bellows in a hearty manner, "So you're the new Drifters assistin' us today, huh? Welcome aboard!" He gestures and says, "If you fine folks aren't strapped up with a Gear of your own, you'll want to check in with engineerin' and see if they can give you a loaner! Maybe I'll even let you keep it! Hahaha!" Indeed, he has a point -- a lot of the tasks around the Thames require the use of a Gear with the usual scale of their operations. Whether or not you own one, you head down to the engineering hall and discover some terrified mechanics hiding behind some crates. A fallen Gear is just around the corner, where some... aquatic Fiend is squirming out of it. "Oh... w-welcome!" speaks a penguin Beastman. "I'm Hans, the first officer-- but you've come at a heck of a time! We salvaged that Gear there, but there was a monster inside! You've got to help us!" Where the monster came from, you don't /quite/ know. But it's clear you'll have to beat it up to claim access to the Gear again. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
===========================<* The Thames - Round 1 *>=========================== ====================< Results - Beat It Up and It's Yours! >==================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 0 --(8)--> 8 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Holy Bottle 2 Combat Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ashley Winchester 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Flare Gun 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jean 0 --(8)--> 8 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isolde 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Sword of Questionable Heritage 3 Combat Effects: Rally -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Citan Uzuki 0 --(25)--> 25 Pass Conditions: Treasure(1) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"No-- did it snare one of the workers?!" There is a sickening thud as the poor man is slammed into the floor -- but as Citan cracks open an eye in the aftermath, he can see that the man in question is...
...just fine.
And that none of the workers in here seem to have noticed that the creature has snagged someone. Citan comes to a quick conclusion: "...I see... so he is one of..." muses the doctor to himself.
As it happens, there's no need for Citan to put his driving skills to the test... as Jean steps up to the plate. "A distraction? What do you intend to do, miss...?"
She shows him, as a matter of fact. She dances a mystical dance that...
Well, those are definitely bees. Definitely, definitely bees. While the bees themselves don't quite serve for taking on the creature itself, they do just fine and dandy as a distraction.
The application of a magnesium flare is more effective, particularly in conjunction with the holy bottle that the Seraph sprays all over the monstrosity. It comes crawling right out of the Gear -- Lanval in tow -- whereupon Isolde is right there and--
"To your left, ma'am!" calls Citan. "Its eyes are now visible!"
Perhaps calamari will be on the cafeteria menu tonight.
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* The Thames *>================================ =================<* CHALLENGE - It's Grape Juice in English *>================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- "Beer! Beer! Beer!" Ah, it's that time. If there's something that really keeps the Thames fuelled and going, it's undoubtedly the steady supply of beer, ale and other alcoholic beverages that the sailors and salvagers of this carrier have taken such a liking to. Yet when you head for your meal... "N-no! The door's stuck!" The intense wave of despair rushes over the hallway as people look longingly into the mess hall. If this keeps up, morale will be at an all time low. P-perhaps you can give them a hand...? =Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Tire=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval spins across the ground with the retrieved bottle in question as the monstrosity is summarily dealt with. He raises a glass to it in quiet and downs the rest of the bottle.
LATER
It's supposed to be hush-hush. You know, because it's a surprise. It's the sort of thing everyone talks about enjoying, but the moment there's a whiff of any of it on board everyone drops what they're doing just so they can have it. So, herein lies an excellent (on paper) idea: broker the Deal of All Deals for modern day Filgaia, blow a whole load of gella on the import costs involved (insurance, bribes to relevant Kislevi military figures overseeing the territory it has to pass through, any number of shady weapons purchases to dissuade the few Metal Demon holdouts failing to understand there is no longer a barricade they need to uphold). End result: enough eastern Ignasian beer for the entire crew for maybe an hour. The entire crew. All at once.
It was going to be a fun surprise when they finished up work for the day, but then someone overheard the code word 'Grape Juice.' Then they mention it off-hand to a purser, who in turn accidentally leaves the ledger out for one of the cargo loaders to see, and...
NOW
"The door's... stuck." Those words are whispered by a beaver-like Beastman who Has The Keys(tm), and yes, he's tried every last one of them. "Sorry, lads, can't do anything about--"
"Door's stuck!" One yells.
"DOOR'S STUCK?!" Another one yells.
"DOOR IS STUCK!!" The call echoes like a ritual chanting, and a dread air fills the entirety of the Thames.
Seraph Lanval plasters himself up against the door with the longest face one could see (if it weren't being plastered against the wall). "...It really ish shtuck...!" He slumps down in growing despair.
Normally the on-board locksmith would be on hand, but thanks to the incessant cries of the door being stuck happening everywhere on the Thames, they're on like the seventh or eighth falsely identified stuck door and this seventh-or-eighth door is currently on the opposite side of the mess hall door in question.
This matter becomes increasingly pathetic and petty by the second and may require an element of condescending behavior to resolve! (Or vandalism.)
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, It's Grape Juice in English.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
The group she's fallen in with seems pleasant enough to Jean. Ashley with a gun, Isolde with a great dress and a huge sword, Lanval with...
"You okay?" Jean wonders of the wheezing Seraph. But she sees he has something in the bottle. Hmmm. Curious.
Jean returns to the group once it's all done though and bows. "Distraction is easy," Jean offers Citan as she walks back, and follows through the halls at...
"Ah, this'll be..."
Pause. "What?" Jean asks. She stares at Lanval, for a moment, as it turns out the Door is... Stuck. She consiers him, and the beaver-man with the keys. Then she looks thoughtful and, as she's thinking, pulls a flask idly. She untwists the cap and sets it up to her lips, downing a drink. She puts it away at that and steps forward. "Okay. For a stuck door..."
Jean will believes in the direct approach sometimes. Force!
DG: Jean has used her Tool Emergency Flask toward her party's challenge, It's Grape Juice in English.
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.
On Isolde's end -
There's a chopping. A brutality. And then she walks out, dripping and beaming. "No need!" she calls to Citan. "Maybe we'll see something else, though, along the way?" She flicks the sword and stamps it a little on the ground before sliding it back into its sheath. Grisly!
Then, forwards.
Isolde's lips purse to the side as she hears this complaint. She glances towards Jean then, and observes to her, "I think I can hear your 'Potion Bottle' there... perhaps you should share with them, just to keep them from drying out before -"
She raises one foot. "On three?"
ISOLDE HELPS WITH KICKIN
DG: Isolde has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, It's Grape Juice in English.
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
Mmmm calimari. Maybe Ashley can help make some kind of delicious, octopus-based, breaded snack sometime down the line. Does Ashley know the recipe for takoyaki? Maybe not. But he sure knows how to bread and fry octopus. It's just the thing after a long day's work, served alongside a nice red wine and--
'DOOR'S STUCK'
"O-oh," Ashley frowns, the cacophony telling him exactly what terrible secret is hidden behind the cry of anguish. (That is: the booze is gone. Because it's behind a locked door. Oh no...!)
Jean pulls out a bottle. Ashley's gaze flickers toward the shiny little flask. Reflexively, he shouts, "GOOD THINKING, REHYDRATING BEFORE BUSTING DOWN A DOOR. WATER is IMPORTANT."
He pauses a moment to make sure nobody is bowling down the dancer, and then goes to help the others with kicking down the locked door. Gotta protect your <s>muscle</s> fellow digger-pals
DG: Ashley Winchester has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, It's Grape Juice in English.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"I see... You do appear to have the situation well in hand, miss...?" he says to Isolde, once the deed is done.
Once the situation in engineering is dealt with, it isn't as if Citan himself has anything better to do (other than muck around in some spare workroom or another) and so he seems inclined to tag along.%R After all, there are a few rather singular people present here, if he's to be any judge.
"Yes, I would say that your dance did suitably distract it," remarks the doctor. "I do not believe we have met? I am Citan Uzuki, pleased to make your acquaintance, and you as well--"
Pleasantries may need to be cut a little short, however.
"Oh, I see... the door is stuck."
In the middle of a growing panic, Citan draws out a... book. He flips through a few pages. "Hmm... yes..."
Before snapping it shut.
"Please, if you would pardon me," he says.
Before delivering a pinpointed pair of fingers for a particular place near the lock.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Acupressure Guide toward his party's challenge, It's Grape Juice in English.
================================<* The Thames *>================================ =================<* CHALLENGE - It's Grape Juice in English *>================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- "Beer! Beer! Beer!" Ah, it's that time. If there's something that really keeps the Thames fuelled and going, it's undoubtedly the steady supply of beer, ale and other alcoholic beverages that the sailors and salvagers of this carrier have taken such a liking to. Yet when you head for your meal... "N-no! The door's stuck!" The intense wave of despair rushes over the hallway as people look longingly into the mess hall. If this keeps up, morale will be at an all time low. P-perhaps you can give them a hand...? =Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Tire=============================================
===========================<* The Thames - Round 2 *>=========================== ===================< Results - It's Grape Juice in English >==================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 8 --(12)--> 20 Pass Acupressure Guide 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 8 --(12)--> 20 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ashley Winchester 8 --(12)--> 20 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jean 8 --(12)--> 20 Pass Emergency Flask 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isolde 8 --(12)--> 20 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Citan Uzuki 25 --(20)--> 45 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki 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: Isolde has drawn a new Challenge.
===============================<* The Thames *>=============================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - Hybrid - Bonne Chance *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- In the midst of cleaning up after your last job, you spot trouble -- an echelon of pirates are fast streaming in on the Thames' territory. "T-that skull logo! It's the Bonnes!!" Sure enough, it's the Bonne family logo -- and the combination of flying Drache machines and Such Gerät hovertanks are a force to be reckoned with. (Drache: https://i.imgur.com/HD795Cp.jpg ) (Such Gerät: https://i.imgur.com/F7z0ncX.jpg ) The citizens of the Thames are gearing up in response -- but they'll need help from a swift force of Drifters. You'll need at least a Gear to get in close and keep them tied up, but boarding actions are perfectly valid and fair in an ocean battle like this one! Just don't be too in awe at the Lego-like occupants you find in their war machines... =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval can't do anything because the door... is water-tight. (dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnn)
For the more corporeal among them, all of them take whatever preparations are necessary in which to force it open. After all, they're all experienced ruin excavators! What's another door to them, after a drink, a count of three, or a quiet level of acceptance about the need to hydrate prior to applying THE BOOT to the door that is stuck?
The simple country doctor puts himself into the formation somewhere around the count of two and three (one would hazard about two and three-fifths if a specific mathematical label had to be applied to their timing), poking those fingers near the lock. Their collective inputs together...
There is a loud SLAM noise followed by the jostled door swinging open and lightly shoving most of them aside as a deafening roar of cheers fills the air. The mess hall is open! The beer is there! There is so much beer! This may be one of the greatest modern accumulations of alcohol in a single place since the celebratory feast following the fall of the Photosphere! It's rowdy! It's way too many exclamation marks in sequence!
"Ha ha ha!" Lanval laughs as he wobbles along back up. "Mmmm. Thanksh," he slurs his thanks to the rest as he staggers along in, where several Thames crew members pass right through him. Whether Eastern Igniasian beer fare is their thing or not, there's plenty enough to go around and they aren't really doing a great job of tracking who has or hasn't already gotten their hands on some.
It's a wild time where nothing productive will be done for at least the next hour (plus or minus willingness to work through hangovers).
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.
Isolde's nose twitches as the great door to the Stash is breached. "Well, well," she says. "This does seem like quite the heretical store. I suppose I shall have to inform the General and have it all sadly... hmmm.........."
She covers her mouth with one hand. "Or not. Uuuhuhuhu--"
SOON: DRINKS.
MUSIC INSERT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVvdjlgHAag (stop at 3:25 tho)
During that hour where nothing in particular is happening, Isolde has gotten hold of a bottle of wine as well as a very small glass, which has let her have, technically, thirty glasses of wine - though really, it's much less than that in the absolute volumetric sense. "So, then," she addresses Ashley, "If I overheard you - you are a baker? That's fascinating - I haven't baked in aeons, if you'll forgive the term. What's your favorite thing to make?"
She takes a deep breath and --
MISSING REEL
MUSIC INSERT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85cNuM2Xzl8 (loop it)
THE THAMES IS UNDER ATTACK! The neighboring ship, having come seemingly out of nowhere, has clamped on! Drache aircraft swoop around, with the very tiny occasional round of 'whee!' from the mysterious pilots within. And standing atop the Such Gerat...
A figure of imposing size.
A figure of armor of proof.
A dauntless warrior!
A hero of crime!
"Baboooooo," says Bon Bonne, nod-bobbling once.
(Subtitle: The Thames, our eternal rival, our opposite number. Which of us is thesis and which of us is antithesis, I wonder? Nevertheless we must strive; my brother's pride, my sister's vanity, demand it!)
The dining hall is on fire.
Isolde downs the last of wine from the bottle (it was a magnum) and says, "Well, now, this is a problem, isn't it."
DG: Isolde has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Hybrid - Bonne Chance.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
"My name's Jean!" The dancer answers Citan with a smile. "I don't think we have, either..." It doesn't bug her to take a moment to finish an introduction. It's super fine. But--
In short order there are things to do. Ashley's deception gets a grin from Jean as she... definitely lets him go with it, "Yep, gotta love that water!"
She winks.
Once everything is handled, Jean happens to take a mug herself, and she kind of appreciates Eastern Ignas beer now that she hasn't been there in a long while. It's novel! Has a certain appeal... "Haha," Jean answers Isolde about 'informing the General.' "Right?"
"A baker?" Jean asks with interest. She's wondering about that too--
Until suddenly the Thames is under attack!!! Wheee, from within, and... well. There is fire.
Jean sighs. "I think we'd better get to it..."
She doesn't have a Gear in functioning condition, but maybe one of them borrowed one to get them over? Either way, combat! Jean... will try not to feel too bad about beating up Servbots.
DG: Jean has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Hybrid - Bonne Chance.
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
The beer is liberated. Crisis is averted. The Thames and all those who live upon it are safe for another day. But Ashley does not partake in libations himself. One does not simply get crunk when one is still technically on company time. Besides, he has more important things to deal with!
There is... Baking-talk afoot.
"Oh, yes!" Ashley brightens at least three orders of magnitude. "I work at the Irington Bakery back in Meria. We do... All kinds of things. It's so rare running into someone else who really appreciates the act of baking instead of just the bread. But 'what' my favorite thing to make is... That's a hard question to answer! I enjoy making cake for the challenge of it, especially when you incorporate some really interesting ingredients. Did you know you can make a cake entirely out of ground up cashews, buttercream and meringue?"
There's a pirate attack. Ashley... appears to be operating largely on autopilot, as he seems to be lackadaisically launching ACTUAL NAPALM SHELLS into the invading pirate vessels without really paying much attention to the fact that said invading pirates are adorable little lego-men. He has OTHER THINGS on his mind. "But if you're just talking about day-to-day stuff, then I guess it's a toss-up between the simultaneous superficial simplicity and subtle complexity of the croissant and the raw flexibility and irresistable fluffiness of the yeast donut. What about you? If you want, we can swap recipes later!"
Oh no.
Isolde has found... a baking maniac...
DG: Ashley Winchester has used his Tool Flare Gun toward his party's challenge, Hybrid - Bonne Chance.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Really!" says the doctor to Ashley, once the situation has settled down and they've all had (alcoholic and nonalcoholic) drinks. He, himself, appears to be abstaining; in his youth he had already overindulged enough to make up for any future teetotaling. "I had not known that. I admit I do not often bake myself," largely because he's atrocious at it and anyone who has eaten anything he's made typically strives to prevent further occurrences, "but my wife is rather accomplished. Still, there is a difference between a skilled baker and a professional," Citan muses.
Then he glances over at Jean. "And you are... a dancer, Miss Jean? And yourself, Miss Isolde?"
And then, of course, there is a pirate attack.
"Oh, do be careful, Mr. Winchester -- oh dear," remarks Citan absently, as he is set upon by an (adorable) pirate. Crouching low, he delivers a sweeping kick to the tiny yellow lego-man with the grace and ease of a dancer. Yes, perhaps present company included. "Hmm, now that I think on it, were these not the ones that attacked..." he muses upon rising, pausing a moment atop the deck of the vessel.
DG: Citan Uzuki has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Hybrid - Bonne Chance.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval, as per his native Seraphic nature prior to the whole Oracle thing, had always been about amplifying the small joys in life. (This translates in more practical terms, historically, towards 'get druuuuuuuuunk.') It's a great hour! He likes it when people are content, and this being Filgaia and all - on top of the things he's sworn to do - moments where people in general are happy and content are precious. About as precious as the volume of alcohol he has managed to consume. Liquid, highly tinged with fire-aligned energies... an ideal catalyst for a Water Seraph to convert and focus their own strength through. Also it's delicious, which is the important part.
He's so caught up in the atmosphere of it that the actual pirate attack doesn't quite register correctly in the heat of the moment. He's part of a boarding party in so much that he's following a handful of experienced boarders, and that virtually none of them can see or hear the ghostly visage of a portly, long-bearded barefoot guy just allowing himself to flop into one of the near-flying Drache (courtesy of falling off of a raised platform intended for DRAMATIC BOARDING DIVES).
KEY SECONDS LATER WITHIN THE FOG OF WAR
Lanval dangles out an open hatch of a Drache as the bottle of Holy Water that seems to contain way, way more liquid than seems physically possible pours down on some of the other machines mid-flight. The Drache he's on is out of formation and wildly swerving everywhere, as if... somehow.
He has managed to introduce a once innocent Servbot into the wild, wonderful, wacky world of beer.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Holy Bottle toward his party's challenge, Hybrid - Bonne Chance.
===============================<* The Thames *>=============================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - Hybrid - Bonne Chance *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- In the midst of cleaning up after your last job, you spot trouble -- an echelon of pirates are fast streaming in on the Thames' territory. "T-that skull logo! It's the Bonnes!!" Sure enough, it's the Bonne family logo -- and the combination of flying Drache machines and Such Gerät hovertanks are a force to be reckoned with. (Drache: https://i.imgur.com/HD795Cp.jpg ) (Such Gerät: https://i.imgur.com/F7z0ncX.jpg ) The citizens of the Thames are gearing up in response -- but they'll need help from a swift force of Drifters. You'll need at least a Gear to get in close and keep them tied up, but boarding actions are perfectly valid and fair in an ocean battle like this one! Just don't be too in awe at the Lego-like occupants you find in their war machines... =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
==========================<* The Thames - Round 3 *>========================== =====================< Results - Hybrid - Bonne Chance >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Citan Uzuki 20 --(8)--> 28 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 20 --(8)--> 28 Pass Holy Bottle 2 Combat Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ashley Winchester 20 --(8)--> 28 Fail Flare Gun 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jean 20 --(8)--> 28 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Isolde 20 --(8)--> 28 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Citan Uzuki 45 --(20)--> 65 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Injure(1)|Tire(1) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki 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> Isolde has posed.
"CAN you," Isolde says, about the cake. "As for me, I never really did much, but I always really appreciated the crisp, firm texture of a fresh"
THAT WAS THEN
NOW:
"Loaf!!" says a Drache's pilot as she jump-kicks a wing fin off. The flying thing wheels round and aims towards the water. "Wahhh I'm hit! I'm gonna have to ditch! I can't bring it around and make a landiiiiing!"
The Drache hits the water exactly five yards short of the actual landing strip on the big Bonne mothership.
Ashley opens fire with his flare shells, distracting and dismaying the other aerial Draches, even as Bon Bonne works his big old soother mouthpiece.
(SUBTITLE: So it seems that this affray goes poorly. Drifters... where do they come from, where do they go? Ah, this world... even in its decay it shows us so many beauties."
"Babuu."
Bon Bonne pivots round, turning his cephalous torso to face towards Citan for a moment.
His big, innocent eyes narrow slightly.
Citan, perhaps, knows why. He sends a Servbot flying--
"WHEEEEEE" says another Servbot who has now learned the power of BEER. "High two!" the Servbot says, holding up one of its dreadful nipper claws to the Seraph. ... Can it see Seraphs? Can all Servbots see Seraphs?
Bon Bonne sucks on his soother. Probably.
He raises one stumpy arm.
"Babuuu!"
(SUBTITLE: Let's blow this Heal Berry Freezy Pop stand. Put it in reverse, my faithful minions!")
MUSIC REPLACEMENT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcPqr87sSRc
And so the Such Gerat pivots backwards like a startled lobster, disengaging from the Thames. What few Draches remain pivot round and sail outwards, wobbling violently, even as a couple of stray cannons fire upon the Such Gerat, creating a great racket and chaos and putting dents in the hovertank's armor, but -- the clash is indecisive!
Bon Bonne stays on deck.
(Subtitle: Ever will it be thus until the end of this era. But perhaps a new era will arise... if these Drifters are able to seize their dreams... and make them into reality. But the path was never easy...)
"Babuu...."
"Did we win?" Isolde asks.
YES.
(A stray Servbot jumps into the ocean, wearing a ducky float ring.)
DG: Jean has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* The Thames *>================================ ===================<* CHALLENGE - Hybrid - Above and Below *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come across a heron Beastwoman who's scratching her head with her leg, pecking away at a shipping manifest with confusion in her eyes. Then she turns towards you. "Oh! Hello there. Do you have a Gear? I've got this fresh batch of cargo from Ryship Island and my coworker called in sick, so I'm stuck with my work..." There's a large stack of Gear-sized containers sorted by colour, and they're in a right mess of a state at present. You will need at least one Gear to lift them, but it'll be slow going with no eyes to oversee the task... Fortunately, the heron points you to a control room above, equipped with radio comms. With some Gears below, and some people organising traffic above, you should be done in no time. =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Weaken======================================
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
Jean is good with jump kicking. But admittedly, it's nicer than jump-kicking to get to talk about her preferred vocation instead of the one she can't leave behind. "Yep! Until I took up with the friends I'm hanging with now, I was with a travelling caravan. I don't get to dance as much these days... But now and then!"
The staaage.
Jean, perhaps, is a kindred spirit in her way to Lanval. She is also all about small joys. And drinking. ...A lot of drinking, frankly.
AFTER THE BATTLE:
The cargo, because of the attack, is a mess, and guess who's been persuaded to help sort it out by the nice bird lady? That's right, it's this crew. So...
Jean at least appreciates the chance to sit down. In a Gear cockpit though; it's kind of more fun this way, when it's not primarily for a battle, so she brings her borrowed Gear to pick up a giant container and then--
"So which way does this one go?" she wonders, and eyes the flask she's got out on one of the boards.
...She decides to wait until she's done to have some.
DG: Jean has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Hybrid - Above and Below.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Once the battle is done, Citan dusts himself off. "I have heard that the Bonne family is a nuisance in these parts. Indeed, I was present myself during another one of their attacks," the doctor remarks, as they head back to the Thames.
Where they find themselves tasked with another problem that has arisen on the ship. Specifically, because of the attack, the cargo is in disarray. And since they're being paid for this (or, in Citan's case, tagging along out of a mixture of interest/potentially genuine helpfulness)...
"Over there, Miss Jean," Citan remarks, from atop the catwalk. He gestures with the acupressure handbook, its bright cover making it a useful makeshift guidepost for the dancer in the Gear. "I say, have you piloted one of these before? You appear to be doing quite well for yourself!"
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Acupressure Guide toward his party's challenge, Hybrid - Above and Below.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval isn't entirely sure what happened, what with all the noise and the things moving about in the sky in and around him, and feeling the weird sense of touch with that tiny thing with the yellow crab claws and... well, he had a lot of fun! But even he's not oblivious to the come-down descent from alcoholic euphoria when the people of the Thames come to grips with the bad timing of it all and the mess that results.
As it is, he is currently sprawled on top of one of the boxes and not being that great of a help on the cargo. "Mmm... yeah, 'm not... shuuuuuuuurrrre...."
Beat. One eye opens up half-lidded to a great metallic arm, up ahead, as the various people around take their places. He slinks off the box, staggers along and has trouble getting up the steps (part of it is that he doesn't like climbing unless he has to, the other part of it is that the steps are those where the spaces in-between aren't boarded up and that is its own challenge), up towards the control room...
"Mmmm. All right. Shooo... 'm gonna try 'n..." He leans forward, tilting his head. "...puttin' myshelf in there." His manifestation becomes but a sweet bright aquamarine ball of light, which drifts away from the bottle he likes to inhabit and then puts itself inside a currently unused metal claw.
There is a groan of metal as the arm tilts, and the claws open and close of their own volition. There is something distinctly uncoordinated about the way it sways, lowers, and scratches and struggles to get its grip around a box!
"...'m not good at bein' a crane," Lanval's disembodied voice grouses.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Hybrid - Above and Below.
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.
Isolde seems to be bearing up through the fire and the flames and the chaos pretty well, although it helps that she DID NOTHING TO HELP.
But she probably had a pretty good reason to just hang out and, at most, radiate intimidation. Beyond the obvious. If she started hewing everything that looked like a shady mariner on the Thames, where would you stop?
"Oh, so that's who those were. I thought it had the air of children attacking," Isolde answers Citan, "but I felt that there was some sort of organizing intelligence behind it all - something not unkind, not malign exactly, but perhaps not of a nature we can easily understand."
babuu.
Isolde continues her previous trend line by sitting on the edge of a crate out of the way and letting her hair down so she can shake it out and pin it back up, which classes up the joint.
DG: Isolde has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Hybrid - Above and Below.
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
"The loaf is the humble but ever-respectable origin of all breadmaking," Ashley says between blasts of incendiary gunfire. "Incredibly flexible, simple to learn, difficult to master. We sell some very tasty cinnamon raisinbread loaf, but in my opinion our best loaf is the simple molasses-infused black multigrain--"
KABLAMMO
It was his fault to begin with, honestly. This is what he gets for fighting on autopilot! A bomblet cooking off right in his face! Or near enough that he's sent flying with a few more comically charcoal-colored burns than he had just a few moments ago. "Oogh," Ashley groans as the pirates beat a hasty retreat. "Serves me right, going into Bread Mode in the middle of a gunfight... Oh well! There'll be time later! Maybe you all could stop by the bakery back in Meria one of these days!"
A FEW MINUTES LATER.
"Those were the Bonnes, huh...?" Ashley's expression turns thoughtful. "...But why would the Bonnes send a giant robot baby after the Thames...?" Ashley apparently cannot speak Baboo. But that's fine! Such... is Bon Bonne's fate...
"--Oh, right, boxes!" Ashley waggles a pair of bright orange signal rods, "A little to the left, miss Jean! You've still got enough clearance on this end!"
DG: Ashley Winchester has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Hybrid - Above and Below.
================================<* The Thames *>================================ ===================<* CHALLENGE - Hybrid - Above and Below *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come across a heron Beastwoman who's scratching her head with her leg, pecking away at a shipping manifest with confusion in her eyes. Then she turns towards you. "Oh! Hello there. Do you have a Gear? I've got this fresh batch of cargo from Ryship Island and my coworker called in sick, so I'm stuck with my work..." There's a large stack of Gear-sized containers sorted by colour, and they're in a right mess of a state at present. You will need at least one Gear to lift them, but it'll be slow going with no eyes to oversee the task... Fortunately, the heron points you to a control room above, equipped with radio comms. With some Gears below, and some people organising traffic above, you should be done in no time. =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Weaken======================================
===========================<* The Thames - Round 4 *>=========================== =====================< Results - Hybrid - Above and Below >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 28 --(4)--> 32 Pass Acupressure Guide 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 28 --(4)--> 32 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ashley Winchester 28 --(4)--> 32 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jean 28 --(4)--> 32 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isolde 28 --(4)--> 32 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Citan Uzuki 65 --(20)--> 85 Pass Conditions: Fright(1)|Overzealous(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki 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> Jean has posed.
"Oh, yeah?" Jean wonders of the Bonnes. "I guess I'll have to remember that..." Pause. "I guess they were kind of like kids, huh? They were definitely weirdly cute. You don't expect piratess to be that cute." Pause. "Bakery? That's all I needed to hear!"
At least, Jean doesn't. But then, she's...
Regardless, amidst the boxes, the group is... Well. Some ofe them are definitely working. Some of them are definitely... trying. And some of them have great hair.
Isolde has great hair. She can finish pinning it back up very nicely by the time the task is finished.
Lanval is... not very good at being a crane, no, but Jean is going to hand him a beer for trying. It sways, and lowrs, and scratches and struggles as Lanval grouses, but he definitely demonstrates that drinking and possession don't always go together.
"Over here? Ah, okay," Jean answers Citan and Ashley both. "Oh, really?" she says. "No, I've never really used one of these, though it reminds me of some of the attractions at the caravan..."
No answer to the matter of giant babies comes, but Jean catches herself on a close call.
DG: Ashley Winchester has drawn a new Challenge.
===============================<* The Thames *>=============================== =================<* CHALLENGE - Hybrid - Fuel in the Fire *>================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The day has come to a close. A bell soundly rings out in the direction of the cargo bay -- it's feeding time for the Gears! There's a hearty laugh from the workers, salvagers and deck crew all cheer resoundingly as they steer their rides towards the hangars and dismount. There's a jolly sensation as people work, whistling as they scrub armor plates, clean inner joints and-- "WHOA!" A pelican beastman gets knocked off his feet as an errant Gear fuel hose springs loose from his Gear's fuel feed. A crew member attempts to arrest the snake-like hose, but gets smacked on the nozzle and falls flat on the gas! "Help!!" The hose itself is far too large for any Drifter to arrest on foot -- you'll need your Gear for that! But while the Gear's reigning in the pressurised hose, there's lots of crew members to save and evacuate! =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
Jean might have caught herself on a close call, but Ashley is doing some precarious work himself-- and isn't so lucky! He stumbles into a divot in one of the Thames' deck-plates and falls right onto his butt with a surprised yelp! This sets off a Rube-Goldberg-like series of unfortunate events that begins with a sudden squawk of beastman noise, causing yet another deckhand to drop a box full of parts, one of which rolls underfoot of a gear mechanic, who flails and smacks his wrench into the shoulderblades of a burly fuel supplier...
...Whose accidentally tears his hose loose from the gear's feed, spraying volatile, high-pressure fuel all across the Thames' busy primary deck...!
- -1 ARGUMENT OUT OF RANGE's only because Ashley's stumble conveniently coincided with the Thames' end-of-workday bell that nobody connects his fall with a potentially costly and definitely dangerous workplace accident. That doesn't help Ashley's guilty conscience, though! "Loose hose-- loose hose!" Someone in the direction of the gear hangar shouts. "Ahhh dangit, that was probably me-- we need to help them! Come on!" Ashley scrambles to his feet and rushes to the aid of an unfortunate pelican-man. The fuel hose whips around like a living thing, crashing into people and machinery alike, and Ashley narrowly misses getting beaned by the thing by cleverly hurling weighted, silvery knives at key locations, penning the hose in... slightly.
It's still a gear-sized hose and Ashley's knives are... Ashley sized.
He'll need some help with this...!
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
Jean might have caught herself on a close call, but Ashley is doing some precarious work himself-- and isn't so lucky! He stumbles into a divot in one of the Thames' deck-plates and falls right onto his butt with a surprised yelp! This sets off a Rube-Goldberg-like series of unfortunate events that begins with a sudden squawk of beastman noise, causing yet another deckhand to drop a box full of parts, one of which rolls underfoot of a gear mechanic, who flails and smacks his wrench into the shoulderblades of a burly fuel supplier...
...Whose accidentally tears his hose loose from the gear's feed, spraying volatile, high-pressure fuel all across the Thames' busy primary deck...!
It's only because Ashley's stumble conveniently coincided with the Thames' end-of-workday bell that nobody connects his fall with a potentially costly and definitely dangerous workplace accident. That doesn't help Ashley's guilty conscience, though! "Loose hose-- loose hose!" Someone in the direction of the gear hangar shouts. "Ahhh dangit, that was probably me-- we need to help them! Come on!" Ashley scrambles to his feet and rushes to the aid of an unfortunate pelican-man. The fuel hose whips around like a living thing, crashing into people and machinery alike, and Ashley narrowly misses getting beaned by the thing by cleverly hurling weighted, silvery knives at key locations, penning the hose in... slightly.
It's still a gear-sized hose and Ashley's knives are... Ashley sized.
He'll need some help with this...!
DG: Ashley Winchester has used his Tool Weighted Knives toward his party's challenge, Hybrid - Fuel in the Fire.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Oh -- I am foolish!" the doctor exclaims, as they make their own retreat from the battle. "In Meria, you say? I believe I have visited that very bakery! I should have realized when you had said 'the Irington Bakery'," Citan remarks, shaking his head. "But, yes, I can vouch for the quality of the bread, at very least..."
Still signaling to Jean, he glances over at Isolde as she remarks on the pirates. "Yes, I believe so. Some of their number attacked Kattelox a couple of months ago," Citan explains to Isolde. He smiles, perhaps a touch sheepishly. "I am afraid I had the misfortune to be there at the time, but fortunately they were repelled successfully, and without too much damage to the city. But, hmm, that is an interesting impression you had, Miss Isolde..."
Jean places the rest of the boxes without incident (Lanval has a little more trouble, but it's still a trick that Citan watches with some interest) which, once she remarks that she indeed has not, provokes him to nod. "Then you must have some natural talent for it. Of course, the finer maneuvers will take practice, but we must all start as a novice at some point," he continues, and may have well have continued--
--if a tragic series of events had not taken place.
His gaze lingers on Ashley for a moment.
Then, shaking his head at the disaster under way, shouts, "Miss Jean! Please hurry!"
Because she's still in the Gear, right?
As for Citan, he digs for a moment in his back before producing a sphere of a particular blue shade, with a glyph on one side. "Now, let us see if this will work here," he says, kneeling to touch the sphere to the deck.
Ice begins to spread, gliding across the deck's surface at speed. It would be an unusual escape for those close to the hose, but all they would need to do would be to... slide along it to safety.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Macalania Sphere toward his party's challenge, Hybrid - Fuel in the Fire.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval tries his best as a crane! His stint as a crane will not be long-lived. It puts serious doubt into the legitimacy of the folklore surrounding cranes! (...what does one mean by 'not those kinds of cranes?')
The ball of light leaves the crane after a brief struggle to get it back to an upright position, due to a misunderstanding that 'at rest' does not mean 'its head is now on the floor' and looks kind of sheepish about it once he projects his appearance again from back in his usual vessel of choice.
"...'m shorry," Lanval bows politely to those still trying to direct from the upper deck, "'m not shure how I'd clear yer name, if they think one of ya did i--"
Then there's a crazy loose Gear fuel hose running amok. He remembers his misadventures in trying to drink Gear fuel (he has learned that this is a terrible idea - moreso than it normally would). Panic and disarray fill the air, and Lanval just...
Plops himself down against the fuel-slick ground. His manifestation is just going to suffer with having a whole lot of iridescent shine to it for a while, but he can enjoy the humor of that later as he gets out that fancy-shmancy pipe of his and takes a nice, long drag.
Of bubbles. They're not large-sized, they just sort of flit about and then pop, as bubbles do. Then, as per his hobby of doing so, he takes in a breath. Mortals have a limit to how deep a breath they can take, because they have lungs. He doesn't. He just breathes for fun! So he can inhale for as long as he wants! It's silly and unto itself does not do a whole lot to stop the whirling fuel hose. In fact, it's about coming his way.
...at which, at this point, a bizarre miracle is underway - where he exhales a huge damn bubble that tries to envelop the mouth of the house and its spilling fuel. He continues to exhale to make the body of the bubble expand, even as it should long struggle to carry that much accelerating mass within. Anything, to try and get its wild whirling to stabilize.
It's going to suck once it pops, but Lanval seems to be banking on the idea that the hose will get under control before long.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Bubble Pipe toward his party's challenge, Hybrid - Fuel in the Fire.
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.
"They seem to be persistent figures, then. Do they have some sort of little principality they command or something, or are they just exploiting the chaos to build their power base?" Isolde asks Citan as they move along and -
Fuel pipeline.
Isolde's nose twitches, like a rabbit's. Is that what that smell is? She had never known what it is. It isn't like the lamp oil distillates that would sometimes provide a certain sharp chemical fragrance in -- but that was long ago; and it was a novelty then.
Isolde purses her lips and sucks in a huge breath. She cups her hands to her mouth - then thinks better of it and brings out a slightly curved wooden whistle. She uses that greatly gathered breath to blow a truly majestic TWEET - the kind of huge, shrill noise that makes you learn that your ears can, in fact, twitch - before shouting over it, "All of you! To me!"
Another huge blast as she steps back, feeling behind herself with her sword for the entrance through which they entered. After this the blade is held over her head, an easy to track object when combined with the regular loud blows.
DG: Isolde has used her Tool Echolocatory Whistle toward her party's challenge, Hybrid - Fuel in the Fire.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
Jean at least doesn't mind a compliment now and then, particularl at something she's new at--but she doesn't get to respond very well to what Citan says there because of the terrible squawk that occurs along with many other events, volatile fuel going all over! But the end of workday bell and there's a loose hose nd--
"Right, I'm coming!" Jean answers, and while the turn is a little jerkier since she's trying to hurry, she still gets it over there. She is going to reach out her Gear's hands and, while the others get people clear guide them away and bubble up a bunch of fuel and all...
Hmm. The first grip doesn't quite work, the stick slipping under her hand. Jean pulls something from her things--a big tangle of ropes--and sets them down, curling one around a control stick to improvise a better grip since it was slipping. This one may need servicing.
"There!"
DG: Jean has used her Tool Rope Ladder toward her party's challenge, Hybrid - Fuel in the Fire.
===============================<* The Thames *>=============================== =================<* CHALLENGE - Hybrid - Fuel in the Fire *>================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The day has come to a close. A bell soundly rings out in the direction of the cargo bay -- it's feeding time for the Gears! There's a hearty laugh from the workers, salvagers and deck crew all cheer resoundingly as they steer their rides towards the hangars and dismount. There's a jolly sensation as people work, whistling as they scrub armor plates, clean inner joints and-- "WHOA!" A pelican beastman gets knocked off his feet as an errant Gear fuel hose springs loose from his Gear's fuel feed. A crew member attempts to arrest the snake-like hose, but gets smacked on the nozzle and falls flat on the gas! "Help!!" The hose itself is far too large for any Drifter to arrest on foot -- you'll need your Gear for that! But while the Gear's reigning in the pressurised hose, there's lots of crew members to save and evacuate! =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
==========================<* The Thames - Round 5 *>========================== ===================< Results - Hybrid - Fuel in the Fire >==================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Citan Uzuki 32 --(18)--> 50 Pass Macalania Sphere 3 Agility Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 32 --(18)--> 50 Pass Bubble Pipe 3 Agility Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ashley Winchester 32 --(18)--> 50 Pass Weighted Knives 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jean 32 --(18)--> 50 Pass Rope Ladder 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Isolde 32 --(18)--> 50 Pass Echolocatory Whistle 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Citan Uzuki 85 --(35)--> 120 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(1)|Suffer(1)|Weaken(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 Citan Uzuki has successfully explored The Thames!
===============================<* The Thames *>=============================== =================<* CHALLENGE - Don't Harp Oon It Too Much *>================= |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- "Gahahaha!" The Captain of the Thames appears again as you finish up for the day. He takes a long drag from his pipe and winks (given his really fuzzy appearance as a walrus, it kinda looks more like blinking). "You and your folks have been a real great help. I hear you're on some real difficult journeys ahead of you. Here, have this as gratitude from all the crew of the Thames!" You obtain the keys to the Gear you helped refurbish at the start of the day -- it's yours now! Give it a great name if you haven't yet already. Or if you already own your own Gear, perhaps you can hand it off to someone who sorely needs a new ride. In addition, the Captain commissions an underwater-use weapon to be sent with you -- such as a large harpoon ARM or a cannon fitted to fire torpedoes. Perhaps these weapons will be useful if you ever catch yourself in an ocean skirmish. (OOC: If you don't already possess one, you obtain a Gear, whose shape, functionality and design is up to you! You can apply for a new form in your next Advancement Application.) =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
"Oh! You've already been there!" Ashley is quite pleased at this revelation from the Ordinary Country Doctor. So pleased, in fact, that his next quartet of silver knives hit their targets with absolutely unerring aim! Which is good, because if they didn't, Jean would probably have had a bit of trouble with her improvised grip. That split second loss of control would have made it impossible for her to maintain control...!
But even without that help, she's not exactly alone in her efforts. There are others there as well. For example, Lanval, who manages not only to buy an abundance of time by bubbling up the business end of the fuel hose, he also saves a few dozen unfortunate sailors! They all look quite perturbed, except for some reason the one frog beastman who seems oddly content with being (back) in a bubble.
The ones who aren't swept up in the bubble swarm are carried to safety by... a wave of frost? In the middle of the tropics!? It's more likely than you'd think! Those who are missed by even that are drawn to Isolde's signal and out of the line of fire.
It takes some doing, but Jean is soon able to secure the hose back into the fuel line, and the tension in the air audibly disperses.
"You saved us!" One of the beastmen cries, "Hooray! And it's quitting time! FORTIFIED BOOZE FOR EVERY--"
"NOT YET YOU LUBBERS," shouts... The one and only MAN OF THE SEA himself!! "Nobody is gettin' ANY suchlike breaktime until my deck stops bein' a FIRE HAZRD!"
"Awww," comes the contrachorus, "Caaaptaaaain~"
The Cap'n of the Thames puffs ominously on his giant corncob pipe. His eyes narrow... The stare of a man... (of the sea) who isn't afraid to suspend booze privileges until his deck stops being (as much of) an OSHA violation.
Ashley, for his part... stays to help clean up, because he's really guilty about this whole thing.
"And as for you all," the Cap'n sniffs, slapping Ashley with a jolly back-smack. "I appreciate hardworkin' youngsters like you all! Come down to the hangar once ye're all done here. I've got some presents for our heroes of the day...!"
Said presents being... GEARS! Sure, they're salvaged things, but they're still gears...! AND weapons FOR those gears. Underwater-use weapons, in fact. Harpoon guns, torpedo cannons, depth charges, all kinds of stuff...!
What Ashley does not know... Is that this, too, may have in fact been a Valerian plot. After all, securing a new gear is a major boon for ARMS' battle power! Nobody could have predicted that the Captain was feeling especially generous, though...!
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Indeed, I have! And, if I am correct, I suspect that a few of my acquaintances have been as well." If he knows Fei, after all... then Fei has definitely found his way to the Irington Bakery at least once, even if Citan himself wasn't present at the time.
"That, I cannot say," Citan replies to Isolde, on the matter of the Bonne family. "Perhaps time will tell."
And then chaos, panic, disorder...!
Fortunately, the hose is brought to heel and the workers nearby are brought to safety, and everything is (nearly) back to normal (for the Thames).
"Well done, all of you," remarks the country doctor, glancing over at the rest of them. He, of course, already is in possession of a Gear, which is to say that he borrowed it from the Yggdrasil several years ago, 'forgot' to return it, and then eventually Sigurd gave up and let him keep it. But additional weaponry, and at the fair price of 'free' is always quite useful.
"Hmm... I wonder," the doctor remarks after a moment's contemplation of the weaponry on display before them.
He breaks off after a moment more, apparently to speak to the Captain in private.