2020-12-03: A Grand Day Out
- Log: A Grand Day Out
- Cast: Yuna, Tidus, Lulu, Ida Everstead-Rey, Mariel, Rikku
- Where: The Calm Lands
- Date: December 03, 2020
- Summary: The pilgrimage party, Ida and Mariel explore the Calm Lands.
DG: A party led by Yuna is now entering The Calm Lands - Plains. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=========================<* The Calm Lands - Plains *>==========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Ride That Chocobo *>=======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The Calm Lands are exactly that - a wide expanse of rolling plains, marred
only by the Scar to the north. While one could certainly travel on foot,
it's generally deemed the more expedient plan to travel via chocobo.
...Luckily for you, there's a stable close at hand! For a reasonable fee,
the stablehands will rent you a chocobo to cross the plains in style.
Of course, first -- especially if you've never ridden chocobo before -- you
need to adjust to your feathery steed and its potential quirks. If you're
going to take a spill, you might as well do it now!
BGM: Calm Lands -- oh, wait, it was overridden immediately:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRncf6mcKJI
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.
Yuna having haplessly been charmed out of the party's entire supply of Gysahl Greens by all-too-friendly wild chocobos over the last few days, now that they ACTUALLY want to cross the vast distance of the plains in earnest, they have to rent them from a stable.
She is mildly embarrassed by this necessity, but NOT ENOUGH TO DAMPEN HER ENTHUSIASM at getting to go on a chocobo ride. The flush in her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes... apparently this just never gets old. No doubt as soon as they replenish their Greens supply she's just going to give them all away again. It's the circle of life. Her life, anyway.
Despite being extremely comfortable with the birdbrains socially, she's not a particularly good rider, and looks slightly nervous as she's about to mount.
After a moment's thought, she drapes her favorite set of ropes -- her Kilikan fishing net -- over the vast yellow birdback like a ladder. And then she climbs aboard.
"...careful..." she can be heard murmuring to herself, as she settles in her seat. "...easy..."
DG: Yuna has used her Tool Kilika Fishing Net toward her party's challenge, Ride That Chocobo.
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
At the very least, of the lot of them, Tidus has had some actual experience with training and riding chocobos--from the rental guy himself!--to the point where he actually can ride them with confidence and competence. He's already managed to get through the first set of training courses, and the next set...
Well. One step at a time. The important thing is, Tidus has the basics of chocobo-riding down, to the point that he has a supply of chocobo feathers from the stable for general speeding-up in battle, but also to make himself more friendly-smelling to the birds. Once you get used to them, they're pretty great, huh? Tidus totally understands how Clasko feels now.
"Hey there, big guy," he says to his chocobo, patting its beak and neck before slinging himself onto its back. The chocobo, perhaps smelling the scent of its kind on him, nuzzles Tidus; he laughs heartily and pats its neck again. "Yeah! There we go, buddy! Nice and easy!"
He nudges it forward a bit to circle around the others. "Anybody need any help? I've gotten pretty good at riding since we got here!" He looks in particular at Yuna, and nudges his chocobo over to her in case she needs a hand, but he doesn't interfere directly unless she asks him to. He doesn't want to smother her when it looks like she's got it so far.
DG: Tidus has used his Tool Chocobo Feather toward his party's challenge, Ride That Chocobo.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
It's important to be able to laugh a bit at some things. This is one of those things, to Lulu.
Right now, though, she looks to the chocobo before her, thoughtfully. "You," she says, in utter seriousness, "Are almost excessively fluffy." She pats the chocobo's face before she starts to move up, managing in the space when people look away to rise atop her chocobo into a sidesaddle position. Yes, you can do that with a chocobo. Or Lulu can.
How is Lulu as a chocobo rider? It is a mystery. Perhaps it is to be seen. She shows enough confidence regardless, or perhaps it's just a lack of being especially worried despite the way she picks up the reins thoughtfully.
"I should be fine," she remarks to Tidus. Why is she so sure?
Perhaps because a cactuar doll has just hopped up the chocobo's neck to dangle some more greens to its beak. Cactuar!!
DG: Lulu has used her Tool Swift Cactuar toward her party's challenge, Ride That Chocobo.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
It's a beautiful day to go riding.
Ida's spent a great deal of time operating out of the Calm Lands, but she's only now gotten around to checking out the chocobo stable. Truth be told, she misses Sterling--she knows he's in good hands back at the family manor, but she wants to feed him greens and tell him what a good bird he is. This will have to do.
Ida rounds the corner of the barn, dressed in Spiran adventuring gear and leading one of the larger chocobos in the stable. She's not quite a destrier, like Sterling turned out to be, but the chocobo is both large and even-tempered--crucial traits for Ida, who is both somewhat denser than her build would indicate, and an ARM-user.
Ida pauses, and then smiles warmly at the sight of Yuna and her Guardians. "Lovely day for a ride, isn't it?" she says, with a demure little wave. "Do you mind one more?" She's already given her mount the requisite scritchings and treats, so she simply vaults into the saddle, hooking her bootheels in the stirrups.
"Good girl," Ida says.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Zephyr Boots toward her party's challenge, Ride That Chocobo.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
Mariel had been travelling with Marivel for a time, but she'd wanted to catch up with Yuna and her crew (literally, as well as socially). Physically, she managed that just outside the stables.
Which is why she is here, now, having been coaxed to ride a chocobo.
Mariel knows perfectly well how to ride horses, at least. She just doesn't. It seems rude to her to ask them to carry her around when she has perfectly good legs that will get her to where she's going eventually. She is rarely in so much of a hurry that she feels the need to ride on a mount.
But when she's travelling with a group, she can't be the only one on foot. She'd never keep up! Which is why she is, well...
Mariel is busily making friends with a chocobo. She apparently *did* have some greens on her (and she was happy to pass some around, though she doesn't have a huge supply of the raw material) and she spends some time talking to the bird in friendly-sounding words, including terms of endearment.
Which only leaves the hardest part: mounting. Mariel is short enough that she's not just going to vault on, and she has to coax the chocobo to bend down for her. She appears rather embarrassed by this, judging by the set of her ears and the slight pink in her cheeks. It's kind of a stretch for her to sit on a saddle too, and her legs will probably complain later. Mariel does at least wear a practical pair of pants underneath her green travelling robe.
Once she starts to lift up, Mariel speaks. "I should be okay," she says. Which is true, unless she has to wrestle the chocobo's reins around. She's hoping to not have to do that, and picked a calm one for that reason.
DG: Mariel has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ride That Chocobo.
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.
"I mean... how hard could it be?" Rikku says to Tidus. Which are really famous last words after she'd watch Tidus struggle with it for so long. It's not that she thinks so little of Tidus. It's more that she just has tons of unearned confidence.
Rikku lowers herself down into a squat, and then cocks her head to the side, leaning over lower.
She's trying to get eye level with one of the birds - the one she's rented, that is currently grazing on the handful of Gysahl Greens she's used to lure it into complacency. "You're the one."
Rikku declares, with a certain confidence. "You're a daredevil like me. A real risk taker. We get each other."
How she got that from the fact that it's grazing like any other Chocobo would in this scenario is anyone's guess, but somehow she seems to know-!
... or she's just faking it.
"And so I know to place my life in your hands - as we tear across these plains into the distant horizon."
Rikku suddenly straightens up, then circles around to the side, slowly - slooowlllyyyy... slooowlllllyyyyy towards the Chocobo's flanks.
Until she's behind it. Once there she waves at the others who's already mounted on her bird.
Then cupping her hands to one side of her mouth...
"Hey everyone... watch this!"
The words are ominous enough to register a feeling of dread. The concept may not exist on Spira... but... perhaps elsewhere in the universe it might register
TOP 10 MOMENTS BEFORE DISASTER!
With a running leap... Rikku tries to hop right onto the back of the Chocobo's back...
... guess she's going to be learning to control a Chocobo the hard way.
DG: Rikku has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ride That Chocobo.
=========================<* The Calm Lands - Plains *>==========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Ride That Chocobo *>=======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The Calm Lands are exactly that - a wide expanse of rolling plains, marred
only by the Scar to the north. While one could certainly travel on foot,
it's generally deemed the more expedient plan to travel via chocobo.
...Luckily for you, there's a stable close at hand! For a reasonable fee,
the stablehands will rent you a chocobo to cross the plains in style.
Of course, first -- especially if you've never ridden chocobo before -- you
need to adjust to your feathery steed and its potential quirks. If you're
going to take a spill, you might as well do it now!
BGM: Calm Lands -- oh, wait, it was overridden immediately:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRncf6mcKJI
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
====================<* The Calm Lands - Plains - Round 1 *>===================== ========================< Results - Ride That Chocobo >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuna 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Kilika Fishing Net 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tidus 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Chocobo Feather 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rikku 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lulu 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Swift Cactuar 3 Agility Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mariel 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Zephyr Boots 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Yuna 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1) Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Yuna 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> Yuna has posed.
Yuna glances gratefully at Tidus when he glances over at her, appreciating both his thinking of her and his thoughtfulness in not immediately running her over. She gives the tiniest of headshakes, and gradually, her soft words start being for the chocobo instead of herself.
"...good...yes, so soft...so lovely..."
From chocoback, she applauds Lulu's success, not bothering to hide her smile at her Guardian's appreciation of fluffiness. And since Rikku just PULLED OFF A STUNT WITH APPARENT MAD SKILLZ rather than utter foolhardiness, she is rewarded with flowering stars in Yuna's eyes and a gasp of awe.
"Rikku, I didn't know you were so good at chocobo-riding!"
And then two others approach, two people very dear to the summoner, and her joy is complete. Contentment pours off of her as the group leaves the stable together.
"Ida, Mariel... I'm so glad to see you both again, and safe... and..."
She inclines her head carefully, not wanting to assume. "...well?" she asks, hopefully. She herself seems wonderfully well for someone who recently endured the trials she did. With an audacity that is wholly inappropriate for Spira's Most Wanted, a criminal hated and feared and sentenced to honorless death, betrayed by everything she ever believed in -- Yuna smiles, simply and gladly, at her friends.
DG: Tidus has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Calm Lands - Plains *>==========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Gathers No Moss *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Your initial warning is a rumbling sound. A glance behind you reveals it for
what it is: a boulder, fallen from the cliffs and let loose across the plain
at speed!
It's... it's not actually behind you, though.
But as the sunlight strikes it, you see that it /glitters/. This is no
ordinary boulder -- this one is shot through with a valuable ore! Perhaps if
you were to break it somehow, it would be yours for the taking, but such an
action is not without risk.
=Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Treasure====================================
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
Of course Lulu can ride a chocobo sidesaddle. What is she, a barbarian?
"You sure? If you say so," Tidus tells Lulu. He smiles warmly at Yuna as she just sort of melts into the fluffiness of her chocobo and tells him what a good floofy boy he is. It reminds Tidus of back on Filgaia, when they fed that horse together... She really is sweet.
Rikku declares that chocobo-riding couldn't be *that* hard. Tidus makes approximately this face ( :S ) and says nothing, because he knows Rikku saw him struggle with chocobo-riding for like an hour before *he* managed to nail those racing courses, and if Rikku is that desperate to get owned by a bird, who is he to stop her?
Ida walks up then, and Tidus brightens to see her. "Oh hey, Ida! Yeah, sure, no problem! Mariel's riding with us too, so hey, the more the merrier, right?" He tilts a nod over Mariel's way. "Just, uh, maybe try to mount the normal way instead of..." He trails off as he looks over at Rikku, attempting a running mount of her chocobo. She even succeeds, which is honestly impressive, so Tidus claps for her.
Once everyone's mounted and in motion, Tidus nudges his bird forward into a gentle gait--a gentle gait that is still approximately twice as fast as a human, so, you know. Yuna's already asked Ida and Mariel how they've been, so he guides the group in a spiral out from the chocobo tent, moving to let everyone have room to ride. "You guys at least *look* good," he pipes in after Yuna, "and that's pretty good by itself! The longer we're away from Yevon, the better, right?"
Any answer to him might get interrupted by the sudden sound of an avalanche closer to the entrance of the Calm Lands, back the way they'd come. Tidus jerks around to see a boulder hitting the ground with a great big BOOM, sending up a cloud of dust and sending birds (not chocobos) flying in all directions. Except theirs, thankfully. Stupid GULLS.
"Woah. Wonder what made that happen all of a sudden?" Tidus says aloud as the cloud of dust starts to clear. "You guys wanna go check it out?"
The group's decision might get helpfully made for them by the seductive glitter that sparkles through the dust as the sun hits it *just right*...
DG: Tidus has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Gathers No Moss.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
"...Very bold, Rikku."
This is her only remark on that frankly incredible stunt, as she nods to Ida arriving as she did to Mariel earlier. The black mage manages to look dark and imposing even on the back of a very fluffy chocobo, though she isn't actually frowning.
She watches Tidus watch Yuna for a moment, but only a moment. Instead she rides along with the group in amiable silence at first as Yuna and Tidus talk to their newest arrivals. She focuses on her chocobo for the moment, the Cactuar doll having returned from its journey... and there's the sudden interruption.
"It's all right," Lulu assures her chocobo when the bird complains about the great loud noise. Then she considers the glitter there.
"...We may as well," she allows, and moves towards it. "I think I see something we could use..." When she's a little ways out, she lets Mog down, and the moogle doll bounces along the ground before starting to walk quickly over to the boulder.
She starts to wind up!!
DG: Lulu has used her Tool Power Mog toward her party's challenge, Gathers No Moss.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida watches Rikku's audacious maneuver with wide eyes. For a few moments she wonders if she's going to have to disentangle the young chemist from a kicking chocobo's harness, but Rikku's skill carries the day. Ida offers gentle applause, as is only polite.
"...Well enough," Ida says, returning Yuna's smile. Her mood seems to hit a hitch, though, as she turns to the other newcomer. "Hello, Mariel," she says. She's still polite as ever, but there's something more formal there--more practiced. Like she's falling back on old training in the face of uncertainty. "It's good to see you again."
There seems to be some lingering uncertainty on Ida's part, but only as concerns Mariel. Why?
She doesn't get much time to dwell on it. The sounds of falling rock echo across the plain, and Ida digs in her heels, bringing her mount to a stop. The bird, true to form, doesn't seem that frightened. She even kneels slightly as Ida disembarks. "Malachite," she says, recognizing the distinctive green. A moment's consideration. The prybar isn't going to cut it. Ida clenches her fist, and takes a deep, steadying breath. Heat coils within her fist; her aura ignites around it, her own golden-white around Fafnir's blazing flame. "HAAH!" Ida cries, as she lets loose with a punch that could shatter stone.
Which is, of course, the point.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Gathers No Moss.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
Mariel pauses in the Ascent of Chocobo to watch Rikku do... that. She's honestly impressed that she managed it; she would have expected the chocobo to - wait, *do* chocobos buck? She expect it to not like it very much, at least.
Ida's arrival gets Mariel to remain silent for a moment. She looks at the other woman for a moment, then looks away, back at the others. Without a conscious decision, she steps her chocobo further from Ida, closer toward (as it turns out) Lulu. "Hello, Ida," she returns, sounding a little stiff herself.
Mariel has managed to corral her chocobo, or the chocobo that is temporarily hers to ride, in the right direction. She gets along with animals, which is probably not a surprise to anyone who knows her; her challenges come from not knowing chocobos especially well and the aforementioned size issues.
But she seems to be getting by all right, so there's that.
"I've been well," Mariel says, with a smile. "I caught up with some other people I'd been worried about... we were travelling together for a while, but I came out to the Calm Lands with Marivel. I understand she was trying to make contact with you too, and it's better to travel together than alone..." Which explains why she joined the chocobo ride so quickly.
The sound of falling rocks makes Mariel flinch, though her chocobo seems to realize it's not that close to it, and though her chocobo makes a startled sound, it doesn't bolt. Mariel follows along a little behind. The allure of glitter is only passing, but she is curious what's up with the rock, and she's not inclined to wander off by herself.
There's not much she can do to help deal with the boulder, though. Maybe she could get off and hit it with her bag, but it seems kind of pointless in the face of other people delivering more force than Mariel ever could.
DG: Mariel has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Gathers No Moss.
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.
Rikku surprises herself a bit when she mounts herself and manages to assert control with a quick grasp for and tug of the reins.
"Heehee-! Me and this Chocobo are just on the same wavelenth Yunie-!" Before she takes a bow Tidus' way at the clapping, and keeps on grinning as Lulu praises her.
Spoiler alert: Rikku is not an extremely experienced Chocobo Rider. And this Chocobo is almost certainly of a different temperament than she suspects.
Oh certainly she knows the basics, but if she knew more wouldn't she have lent Tidus more of a hand before.
Once in motion, Rikku proves she's not bad at controlling her Chocobo, but even she struggles a bit at keeping it on track - somewhat. "Yeah for real." Rikku agrees with Tidus when it comes to staying away from Yevon. And when Mariel confirms that she's caught up with others, Rikku smiles, "Hey that's good to know. I was worried that some people were going to get caught fleeing but - looks like we all made it out okay from the soggy death trench!"
She does not bring up Seymour at the end.
And then BOOM. Rikku suddenly pulls back on her reins and looks wildly at the boulder, before taking a deep breath of relief. "Wow - that was so loud I almost thought someone was shooting at us!"
The subtle sparkle of the boulder though catches her eye, and she looks somewhat entranced...
"Suddenly I've never wanted anything more."
That comment is of course untrue, there are things she wants more. She just really likes sparkly and shiny things - and this boulder shows a hint at being lots of sparkly and shiny by volume, even as Ida puts a name to them.
Rikku suddenly moves her Chocobo in for a drive by. Except she doesn't move towards the side of the boulder MOG and the others are striking. Instead she suddenly leaps up off of her Chocobo onto the boulder and scrambles up top.
She then pulls the pin and decisively places another grenade up top and calls down.
"Okay! Wait a few seconds and punch it again!"
There is no earth-shattering Kaboom or anything of the sort. As Rikku hops off...
... the grenade detonates and causes the boulder to take on a greyer sheen.
"Plan petrify the boulder is a go!"
Maybe she's not thinking this through as much as she ought to.
DG: Rikku has used her Tool Far Too Many Grenades toward her party's challenge, Gathers No Moss.
<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.
Yuna, reigning world champion in looking good without necessarily being pretty good, does not allow the pang she feels at Tidus' completely well-meant 'the longer we're away from Yevon, the better, right?' show in any way. She just settles into the serenity of the green grasses, blue skies, and wonderful, wonderful...
...friends...
...who are apparently not on the best of terms anymore...
She looks between them innocently. The question dawns in her eyes, but it stays there for now; she may be attuned to such turbulent emotional undercurrents, but she isn't RUDE.
"Thank... goodness," she says instead, as to their wellness, only the slightest hesitation as she corrects away from 'thank Yevon'. And with a very real warmth. "Yes, Marivel did find me in the end, and I for one have had enough of being alone for a lifetime. I am glad you found us, both of you."
One of the last to make it to the rock, because it took her quite a long while to commune with her upset chocobo, she pauses at Mariel's side.
"Would you like to help me find a good spot to place it?" she asks the Elw, producing Macalania Temple's Destruction Sphere, with pulses with an ancient and violet potential for violence. "You know so much of plants... I'm guessing you know something about the rocks and soil they grow in, too."
One way or another she does gently insert it into the stone, then stands clear. Looking between Rikku and Lulu -- resident masters of brute force -- she smiles gently.
"This can more than pay for the cost of the ride," she observes lightly. "It's nice that things worked out this way."
An extremely boring use for such a windfall, but it does have the feeling of fate.
DG: Yuna has used her Tool Macalania Destruction Sphere toward her party's challenge, Gathers No Moss.
=========================<* The Calm Lands - Plains *>==========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Gathers No Moss *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Your initial warning is a rumbling sound. A glance behind you reveals it for
what it is: a boulder, fallen from the cliffs and let loose across the plain
at speed!
It's... it's not actually behind you, though.
But as the sunlight strikes it, you see that it /glitters/. This is no
ordinary boulder -- this one is shot through with a valuable ore! Perhaps if
you were to break it somehow, it would be yours for the taking, but such an
action is not without risk.
=Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Treasure====================================
====================<* The Calm Lands - Plains - Round 2 *>===================== =========================< Results - Gathers No Moss >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuna 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Macalania Destruction Sphere 2 Brute Effects: Fanfare and Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tidus 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rikku 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Far Too Many Grenades 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lulu 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Power Mog 3 Brute Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mariel 5 --(13)--> 18 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 5 --(13)--> 18 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Yuna 20 --(25)--> 45 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(2)|Treasure(1) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Yuna 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> Tidus has posed.
Did something happen between Ida and Mariel? Tidus looks between the two, sensing some stiltedness but not knowing the source of it. He doesn't get a chance to ask about it, though, because then a boulder falls and folks head on in to punchexplodeblast the heck out of it and get those sweet sweet precious metals. While the others go and handle that, Tidus nods to Mariel as she explains what she's been up to.
"So Marivel's doing good too, huh? That's great to hear! I'm sure we'll catch up with her--" or she'll catch up with them, more likely, "--sooner or later. You're right about it being better to travel in groups, too. We've all got enough troubles to deal with; better to deal with 'em with someone watching our backs."
He pauses and makes another face at Rikku and her use of a petrify grenade. "Are you seriously trying to turn a rock into... more rock?" he wonders. Still, it works out well; between Mog's punch, Ida's martial arts, and Yuna's Destruction Sphere, the boulder blasts to little bitty pieces, many of them glittering with ore. It looks, luckily enough, like Rikku's petrify grenade only turned the ore to common stone a couple inches in, which still left plenty of space inside for the gold to come out.
"Yeah, it *did* work out great like that!" Tidus says brightly to Yuna, completely not noticing that he stuck his foot in his mouth earlier with his Yevon comment. But, well, that's Tidus. At least he's thoughtful most of the time.
DG: Mariel has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Calm Lands - Plains *>==========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Shifting Crates *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Nobody lives in the Calm Lands -- nobody, save the service industry for
those heading towards Macalania or Gagazet, that is. A few way inns dot the
plains, and while you stop off at one to take a rest and check your
bearings, you're immediately approached by the proprietors, who say they
need a little help.
Apparently their usual laborer threw out his back, and they need some
modestly heavy crates shuffled from outside to inside. You're willing to
help, aren't you?
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Tire=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
Mariel seems uncomfortable with Ida, but the actual reason is going to remain unknown, apparently - she doesn't seem willing to bring it up, and as long as Ida doesn't, it will just be lingering awkwardness. At least it doesn't seem to be going any further than that.
'I'm guessing you know something about the rocks and soil they grow in, too.'
Mariel looks momentarily wistful. "Soil, yes - where to find it, how to tell its quality - but about large rocks and ore I know a little less," she admits. "But... my brother was always closer to metal and stone than I was. Most of what I know about it, I learned from him. I think..."
Mariel does indeed help with the petrified rock (really?? she thinks to herself. Would that not make the whole valuable part worthless?), finding a point nestled against its side, near a little groove. It might help a little.
But the windfall seems to have survived the experience well enough, so that's all to the good. "That will definitely more than pay for the chocobo rental," Mariel decides, after giving it a quick eye. She's no expert appraiser, but she can tell that much.
"Marivel was hurt," Mariel says, matter-of-factly, "but she is recovering. I made sure of that. I worry about her." She can talk while gold is collected and the party remounts. "I was too, but not so badly... were you attacked at all, recently? Or have you been able to travel safely? I - was worried about you too, after all."
It's a pleasant day for a ride, and it can go on for a while, but not forever. The party passes a waystop at one point - it's not big enough to be called an inn, and it's early enough the party doesn't *really* need to stop unless they need to repack the gold ore, but that doesn't stop the proprietor from calling for assistance. Supplies need to be moved! The courier and labourer can't do it himself!
If there is one thing Mariel is *not* good at, it is moving large objects, but she can at least move small objects. "I don't think any of this should stay out," she says, "in case it rains... can we stop and help?"
DG: Mariel has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Shifting Crates.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
So Ida and Mariel show some awkwardness--maybe uncertainty. Lulu isn't plannint go butt in, but it's natural that she picks up on it. ...But she is busy handling the matter of the boulder for a little while, anyway.
"Yes, that is handy," Lulu agrees with Yuna.
She listens to Mariel talk about her brother, though, and to the news of Marivel being harmed. Attacked, recently? Well...
In a manner of speaking?
"We haven't run into too much trouble," Lulu says, and leaves it to the others to elaborate if they wish. But the ride goes on, and on a while, until... there's the matter of helping.
Obviously Lulu isn't going to get off and start lifting boxes, but she does send Mog down to handle some of these matters. The boxes are assuredly bigger than the doll...
DG: Lulu has used her Tool Power Mog toward her party's challenge, Shifting Crates.
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.
Rikku finds herself looking at Yunie, and just grins, "Oh Yunie - I have plans for this boulder that go beyond just paying our bill."
"Yep!" Rikku says cheerfully to Tidus' questioning of her methods, "It'll make it more brittle!" In the aftermath she pours a few potions on some of the shell fragments to harvest some more ore shards - at the expense of a few soft potions.
Mariel mentions Marivel was hurt though, and Rikku stops for a moment, to just look Mariel's way...
"It's hard to imagine what could hurt her..." Rikku seems somewhat mystified by the idea of Marivel being hurt, "... I'm glad she's recovering well though. If you see her before I do - tell her I wish her all the best?"
Rikku genuinely does not believe Marivel can die though... not before she...
That thought she keeps to herself, deciding to look at the situation optimistically.
At the next rest stop, Rikku groans at the idea of moving heavy boxes, at the inn. "It's like working for my Dad all over again." She complains, though it feels like it has a sense of good-natured fondness.
She used to work on a salvage ship after all. ... with a crane that didn't work more often than not.
Anyhow, Rikku starts trying assist others in hefting them. She's not super strong or anything but she still lends Mog a hand.
"Hey little guy... on three. One-two-thre-"
Mog probably does not need her at all for this but, she's still helping out because he's adorable.
DG: Rikku has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Shifting Crates.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida lets out a breath, and flexes her right hand. Once she's checked to make sure it's still in working order, she kneels in the remains of the boulder, poring over the pieces and picking out chunks of valuable ore. The lion's share, of course, go to Yuna and her Guardians, but Ida takes a chunk or two for herself. Fascinating moon rock specimens!
Ida turns to Mariel, her brow furrowing in sympathy as she mentions her brother. The past tense does not escape her. "...Was this Harmaus' doing?" Ida asks, "or did someone else try to kill her while she was recovering?" There's genuine concern in Ida's tone. She pauses a moment, and adds: "...That makes at least two of us."
The group moves on--and finds someone in need of aid.
"I think we could be of help," Ida says, as she dismounts again, leaving her bird to graze. She hefts up a crate of her own, and hauls it along, careful to watch her step.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Shifting Crates.
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
"Oh geez, she was? What happened?" Tidus asks Mariel, concerned, when she tells him Marivel was hurt. Still, she immediately follows up that she's recovering, so he doesn't have to worry for long, at least. "We--well, we did get attacked once, but that turned out to be a big misunderstanding. It's actually a pretty funny story, if you wanna hear it," he offers. "Other than that, it's been pretty quiet so far, thankfully." A statement that echoes what Lulu says. At Rikku's complaining, Tidus just shakes his head and grins.
Harmaus? Tidus isn't familiar with the name, but he frowns at it all the same when Ida brings it up. Apparently he hurt Marivel at least *some*, based on the way she says that, at least. He'll let Mariel tell the story, though--and also convince him to help out with moving boxes when the group comes across a mini-inn in need.
"All righty," he says, dismounting. "You might holding on to this guy's reins for me while we take care of that?" Once Mariel says something in the positive, he'll hand them off to her and go help--but while he does, he edges towards Yuna. "Hey," he whispers, glancing from her to Ida and Mariel. "Is it just me, or is there something weird going on between those two? Like, it feels kind of awkward, somehow..."
DG: Tidus has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Shifting Crates.
<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.
"I love your plans," Yuna tells Rikku, honestly.
The summoner isn't a bit hurt by TIDUS. It's the world that hurts her sometimes. Everything has changed so quickly, and everything still feels like it's changing. When he chirps brightly at her, she smiles back at him with all she is -- radiantly, even, to a degree that Mariel and Ida might notice. Something has changed there. They were always cute in one another's company, but now...
...they're cuter. To say the least.
She bends an attentive ear to Mariel's explanation; she is unendingly impressed by the other girl's knowledge of the natural world.
"Your brother," she repeats. There were a lot of 'was'-es in Mariel's statement, and at the end, she murmurs, very gently, "I'm sorry." Only then does she continue, "I saw her... I'm truly thankful she had your help, for she was still in a bad way when she reached me. I can only imagine what she endured." Yuna doesn't know the name 'Harmaus', and inclines her head questioningly to Ida when it's raised.
"We've been fortunate only to be attacked by new friends since leaving Bevelle," a cryptic statement that barely elaborates on Lulu's and Tidus', delivered wholly innocently, even with a soft happiness.
There's no joy in what she goes on to add, though.
"But what my old friends suffered there..."
Her hand drifts over her heart, which is a precarious thing now that she's back on her chocobo. Nevertheless.
'Sorry' is not the right thing to say, she's gradually discovered. "Thank you, Mariel," is, and she says it in complete earnest. "For coming for me."
Ida has already received such gratitude, but she gets it again. "Both of you."
By the time all that's been said they're at the inn. "Yes," she agrees with Mariel immediately, over Rikku's protests. "Let's help!"
She is not SUPER helpful. But she tries.
Bending in when Tidus whispers at her, she nods quietly.
"I wonder if it has to do with Ida's companion," she whispers back. A brief yearning flashes across her face; she hates seeing friends at odds. "I wish we could help them make up somehow..."
DG: Yuna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Shifting Crates.
=========================<* The Calm Lands - Plains *>==========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Shifting Crates *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Nobody lives in the Calm Lands -- nobody, save the service industry for
those heading towards Macalania or Gagazet, that is. A few way inns dot the
plains, and while you stop off at one to take a rest and check your
bearings, you're immediately approached by the proprietors, who say they
need a little help.
Apparently their usual laborer threw out his back, and they need some
modestly heavy crates shuffled from outside to inside. You're willing to
help, aren't you?
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Tire=============================================
====================<* The Calm Lands - Plains - Round 3 *>===================== =========================< Results - Shifting Crates >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuna 10 --(8)--> 18 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tidus 10 --(16)--> 26 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rikku 10 --(8)--> 18 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lulu 10 --(8)--> 18 Pass Power Mog 3 Brute Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mariel 18 --(16)--> 34 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 18 --(16)--> 34 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Yuna 45 --(20)--> 65 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(1)|Tire(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Yuna 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> Mariel has posed.
"It's all right," is Mariel's quiet response to Yuna, though it sounds a little like a polite lie. "It was a very long time ago." Mariel still misses him, though she doesn't want to say it, either; she drops the topic rather than linger painfully on it.
And Mariel certainly notices Yuna and Tidus' behaviour. She doesn't say anything, but she does smile - a little, and just to herself. But it doesn't last too long. Their future must be even more difficult than most, given... what is coming in store. It's enough for her to wonder, briefly, what decisions have been made.
Mariel finds herself moving lighter, more delicate objects, and when those are gone and done with she ends up holding reins. She feels momentarily guilty about not doing more.
The least she can do is answer the questions. "Yes, it was Harmaus. I didn't know you had seen her afterwards... he is a Seraph. A Seraph of light. If I see Marivel before you I will pass that on." Which may explain Marivel's state better than anything else she could say about it. It certainly is all she is about to say about him. Other topics are happier: "You found some new friends? I'm happy to hear it."
If Mariel notices Tidus and Yuna talking about her, she is too polite to say so. (She probably doesn't; she is off some distance when it happens.) But she does respond to Yuna's gratitude: "Of course I would. I wasn't - I couldn't just ignore everything! I'm only glad it turned out well enough..." Well, more or less. She still isn't sure what Yuna has decided to do, but that it is Yuna's decision - that seems to be enough for Mariel.
Meanwhile, boxes get moved. Mog is a big help, especially when working in a team with Rikku; Ida and Tidus' boxes turn out to be much heavier, though, and while they can be moved, they take a lot of effort. More than expected - a good way to wear yourself out! Mariel seems sympathetic enough that she spends the time while she's holding reigns digging out some powders from her bag; she gets some water from the proprietor and mixes them in, ending up with a tangy, slightly revitalizing but mostly just flavourful 'juice' for people to refresh themselves with. Even Ida gets some!
Still, everything eventually gets put away, eliciting quite a bit of gratitude from the proprietor - even with the struggles, it was much faster than he'd get them in himself, after all.
"Should we be off again...?" It took some time, but it's not like it's dark yet.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Calm Lands - Plains *>==========================
============================<* CHALLENGE - Bees!! *>============================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
One moment, you're just enjoying life in general, trotting across the Calm
Lands on chocobo-back. Can't get better than this!
The next minute you hear the buzzing.
Bad luck -- you disturbed the nest of the Calm Lands bee! There is an
absolutely enormous cloud forming behind you.
Now is the time to see how fast this chocobo can run.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida's lips flatten into a thin little line. She's visibly relieved, despite that--the last thing she'd want is for someone else to take a swing at Marivel while she's crawling back from (final) death's doorstep.
And despite the grunt-work--despite the protests of her aching muscles--she can't help but smile as she sees what's transpiring between Yuna and Tidus. It reminds her of those quiet moments she's had with Kalve, where neither of them has to wrestle with deeply-ingrained cultural mores about showing affection in public. She can't help but feel a little twinge of envy, even as she wonders if this love will end in tragedy--like Gusong and Galua.
Does it have to end that way? Or will Yuna somehow pull off a miracle, like she did on the temple roof?
Ida gratefully takes the beverage, gulps it down, and clambers back into the saddle. She glances back towards Yuna, recalling something she thought she heard while they were moving the boxes. Everything is quiet. Ida feels like she should speak--like someone should speak. Then--
bzzzzzz
A low, droning hum rises from a nearby tree. Ida looks back, and sees a dark cloud emerging from beneath the tree's bark. It's growing bigger with every passing second. "...Are those bees," she says.
The swarm surges forward. Ida tightens her grip on the reins, and digs her feet into the stirrups. A sharp gust of wind rises behind her, flecked with green sparks--Ida is trying to disrupt the bee swarm, though it might just make them angrier. "Move!"
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Zephyr Boots toward her party's challenge, Bees!!.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
Marivel, hurt... Lulu can imagine it, but she's glad that she seems to have been recovering after all. She hears of 'Harmaus' and that sounds like a name to look out for.
Mog, on the other hand, works with Rikku quite well, it seems. And she's kind of small so help is good...
Lulu finishes her juice. Mog does not take any.
Lulu mostly appreciates watching Yuna during a lot of this. Yuna and Tidus both; it's nice, actually. But as they move on...
Lulu hears the droning hum, and looks sharp. "Yes," Lulu answers Ida. "Right. Go!"
She considers and discards fighting them; instead she pulls another doll, and presses it to the chocobo's neck in a little motion of Cactuar, letting some of the doll's magic assist the chocobo like it would usually assist Lulu. "Rikku--do you have anything for this?"
Gallop gallop. Chocobo time!!
DG: Lulu has used her Tool Swift Cactuar toward her party's challenge, Bees!!.
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.
Rikku proudly hands Yuna the prettiest shard of malachite for Yuna's swag bag. It's not because Yuna complimented her plans, she just likes giving her fun and interesting stuff... it's like sharing in the joy.
What Mariel reveals about the attack is... disturbing. She remembers Harmaus from the Wedding, but she doesn't want to think about him and what he's up to too much. The idea he attacked Marivel causes her face to spasm slightly with distress before smoothing back out into a more subdued smile.
Once the grunt work is done, she rubs the sweat off her brow, and flexes a bicep, before leaning down to offer Mog a high five.
Eventually though after taking a drink, she clambers back up onto her Chocobo and...
Then the buzzing sound causes her to perk up. "Um-"
Suddenly she spurs her Chocobo onward, and grasps at a grenade, as Lulu asks her to intervene, "MAYBE?! They're really big!" She's jostled about by her Chocobo suddenly ducking its neck low and starting into a panicked run. As she tosses a smoke grenade behind them.
Smoke gushes out... and maybe at least disrupt the swarm a bit.
"Mariel! You don't happen to have like... I don't know! Bee magic? ... Flowers that attract bees! Anything?!"
DG: Rikku has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Bees!!.
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
For all that Tidus whispers a question to Yuna about Mariel and Ida, he doesn't notice that the *others* have noticed that things have changed between him and Yuna. Indeed, the two of them look at each other longer, more warmly, with a greater depth than before. Tidus in particular is more at ease around Yuna, where before there was a slight distance--not so far that they couldn't be friends, but... the kind of distance when one has to look at someone only when they think the other one doesn't know. Now Tidus can look at Yuna as long as he likes, and if she looks back, well, so much the better. That way, he gets to see her beautiful smile back.
But that's a side issue right now; right now, Tidus is worried about his friends, and checking in to make sure it's not just in his head. When Yuna confirms that it's not, he lets out a faint sigh. "I thought so," he murmurs. When Yuna wishes they could help them make up, Tidus brightens. "Well, why can't we? Maybe it's not too serious and we can just get them to talk it out!" He straightens and turns towards the two.
Unfortunately, right then is when bees happen.
Are those bees? Tidus turns towards the humming cloud. "That... sure looks like bees," he confirms. A beat. "Let's get out of here!!" he decides, grabbing Yuna's hand if she lets him and hurrying back to the chocobos with her either way. He tosses up a chocobo feather from his item pocket (a deep and expansive pocket, as mysterious as the universe), which will help speed up the chocobos even further. Maybe those bees are big, maybe they're not, but either way it's best to get their speed out and get out of this area.
"You guys better get out've here too!" he warns the mini-inn folks too before they jet. Of course, the innfolk probably have beekeeper nets or something similar to protect themselves... maybe. Hopefully.
DG: Tidus has used his Tool Chocobo Feather toward his party's challenge, Bees!!.
<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.
Yuna, proud new owner of a pretty rock and recently satiated with juice, who did not press about Mariel's brother and was deeply touched by her words about Bevelle, is still deep in whispered discussion with Tidus next to the Inn.
Satisfying peoples' curiosity about the pilgrimage is just going to have to wait. There are MORE PRESSING ISSUES AT HAND.
"I don't know," she worries. "They aren't petty women... it could be serious."
Suddenly: bees.
Typically, she's more worried about the others than herself -- especially the chocobos. So now she's on a more precarious ride, because she's taken off her net-saddle to use the finer parts of its mesh as net-ARMOR instead. Chocobarding. Her fluffy friend will suffer no stings of outrageous ill fortune on her watch!
"If we work together, we can escape them!" she offers encouragingly, having no such escape capabilities herself.
DG: Yuna has used her Tool Kilika Fishing Net toward her party's challenge, Bees!!.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
It wasn't just (or even primarily) Marivel that he attacked - Marivel just happens to be vulnerable to light in a way that the other targets (or, say, Mariel) is not. Plus, Mariel is pretty sure they know Marivel better.
And as for the drink, the 'juice' powder Mariel used is actually a powdered root that detects impurities in water by changing colour or getting weirdly milky. But it happens to taste nice and be a modest pick-me-up, too. It's one of her secrets.
But... bees?
"Why do you want to attract bees right *now*?" Mariel asks, as she leans forward on her chocobo in hopes of convincing it to run faster. "And no, I do not have 'bee magic'! I don't even know what bee magic would do! I kept bees for a while, but this isn't the same!" Just because you have a deep and abiding connection with flowers does not mean you get bee magic for free. Mariel gets bees for her plants the normal way: with a garden.
Honestly, her chocobo doesn't need much convincing to go any faster, but Mariel doesn't leave it to chance; she reaches into her pack, feeling around until she finds a mushroom bundled in a cloth. She pulls it out, passing it to the chocobo.
Have you ever seen a chocobo run *really fast*? Because now you have. The effect doesn't last too long, but for a few moments, Mariel's really motors. And since it's not carrying a lot of weight, she ends up pulling a little bit ahead. Don't worry, she won't get far.
Meanwhile, the waystop staff has gone inside. And closed the door. And are pulling something over the windows. Don't worry, they'll be fine. Certainly they get it a little easier than the party does.
DG: Mariel has used her Tool Runner Mushroom toward her party's challenge, Bees!!.
=========================<* The Calm Lands - Plains *>==========================
============================<* CHALLENGE - Bees!! *>============================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
One moment, you're just enjoying life in general, trotting across the Calm
Lands on chocobo-back. Can't get better than this!
The next minute you hear the buzzing.
Bad luck -- you disturbed the nest of the Calm Lands bee! There is an
absolutely enormous cloud forming behind you.
Now is the time to see how fast this chocobo can run.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
====================<* The Calm Lands - Plains - Round 4 *>===================== ==============================< Results - Bees!! >============================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuna 18 --(21)--> 39 Fail Kilika Fishing Net 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tidus 26 --(8)--> 34 Pass Chocobo Feather 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rikku 18 --(8)--> 26 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lulu 18 --(8)--> 26 Pass Swift Cactuar 3 Agility Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mariel 34 --(8)--> 42 Pass Runner Mushroom 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 34 --(8)--> 42 Pass Zephyr Boots 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Yuna 65 --(20)--> 85 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Tire(1)|Weaken(1) Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Yuna has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The group outside has ANGRY BEES between them and the nice, sturdy shelter, and is forced to run for it. Ida's wind disrupts the cloud as it starts to charge, buying everyone a few precious seconds to get on their mounts and take off. Ida's chocobo takes off at top speed, and Ida hunkers down like an experienced jockey, minimizing wind resistance. Rikku drops a smoke grenade, further disorienting the cloud; if they were ordinary bees, that would just be the end of it.
But no. These are no ordinary bees.
It's fortunate, then, that the group stocked up on speed-boosting items! The chocobos run like the wind, with Mariel's pulling ahead almost immediately. Lulu's isn't far behind. Yuna's, though, is at the back of the pack, and when the bees recover from their disorientation, she's the closest target. The chocobo is safe, thanks to the improvised barding, but the Summoner herself isn't so lucky.
But it isn't long before the swarm gives up the chase, and turns back. Ida slows her bird to a trot, turns back, and surveys the others. "Is everyone all right?"
DG: Rikku has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* The Calm Lands - Plains *>=========================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Do They Live in a Barn? *>===================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
You can see it now! There, ahead, is the chocobo stable on the other side of
the plains!
But wait, what's this? Past travelers have left their debris discarded all
about the trail leading to the stable -- enough that it's causing some
actual trouble for your bird, which is understandably balking.
Seriously: there's empty potion bottles, discarded papers, broken weapons,
food remnants and packaging, bits of metal, broken spheres, and all sorts of
touristy garbage.
It might not be your mess, but it's still your problem -- it's time to take
out the trash.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Exhaust==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.
"As a distraction!" Rikku calls back at Mariel, "Like - you throw a super enticing flower in the opposite direction or - Oh forget it!"
Eventually when the swarm gives up, and Ida asks if everyone is alright Rikku calls out, "Sting check!" She'll offer to assist with any of the victims.
But it's not too long before they're back underway...!
"Almost there! I think I see the fence posts of..." Squint. "... wait is it just me or does this path look bumpier than it ought to b-"
WARK! Rikku's Chocobo steps on a piece of potion glass and freaks out a bit, gingerly limping forward while it flails its wings.
And that's when it becomes readily apparent. A caravan passed through here.
Several caravans passed through here.
Then it looks like a Hover ran through this area on a joyride further scattering the garbage into streaks and hills and mounds. The road to it is entirely caked with garbage.
"... This is terrible!" Beat, "Why would people just throw all this stuff away!?"
Rikku's hoarder heart is crying a bit... because she decides the only option is, "No time to sift through it all." As if she believes the rest of the party would want to. "We might as well just clean house a bit to keep the path clear."
Priming one of her explosives, she simply tosses it ahead. As it splits, detonating into clusters of smaller explosives that seek to annihilate a goodly amount of the refuses in their immediate area.
Of course there's a lot of garbage, so it's going to take a LOT more than that.
DG: Rikku has used her Tool Far Too Many Grenades toward her party's challenge, Do They Live in a Barn?.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
At Ida's question, Lulu looks about the group, dusting herself off with a few gestures and deciding, "Yes, I'm all right." She is not stung; if anyone is, she's willing to... Well, let the people who are focused on healing handle it. But once they're back underway...
The black mage, too, notices a bump ride. She looks forward and frowns, seeing the ruin and trash on the road. "Rikku..." Well. That's an acceptable lesson, too. Technically, of course, it doesn't have to be their problem. But Lulu knows it's going to be regardless. But as Rikku tries grenades...
Lulu is not going to send Mog down into the trash. No, she is going to keep her up with her. Mog trots onto the chocobo's neck, hanging on with plush legs, and begins to mirror Lulu's motions, both raising their hands as she uses Mog as a focus this time to boost her spell.
A black aura bursts out over the trash, exploding outward and then imploding again, drawing detritus towards the center. That's right. Demi sweeping.
DG: Lulu has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Do They Live in a Barn?.
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
The bees have been appeased. Well, no, they're not appeased, they've been evaded, but that doesn't rhyme. Either way, once the group has made it well across the Calm Lands. Tidus circles around when he realizes that Yuna fell behind. "I'm okay--Yuna, you all right? You didn't get hurt?" he asks, eyebrows knit with concern. He's about to say more when he makes a strange face and sniffs the air. "...what's that *smell*?" he utters, looking around.
Rikku spots it first: a whole heaping mountain of litter. His eyes widen when he sees it. "Are you *kidding*?" he utters. "No civilization for miles in any direction and there's all this *garbage* right here?" He looks back at Yuna, astonished. "Is this normal?"
Probably the better person to ask is Lulu, since she's actually been here before. Been here twice, even. But Tidus doesn't think of that, and it's probably for the best that he doesn't. For the time being, he dismounts his chocobo and, once everyone else has crunched the garbage into a little ball, carries it off to... to...
"Oh, geez. Do we have to carry this all the way *out* of the Calm Lands?" he wonders, alarmed, to the group at large. What else are they going to do? There's no garbage cans around.
DG: Tidus has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Do They Live in a Barn?.
<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.
Yuna will, one day, look back upon this day -- 'I don't even know what bee magic would do!' -- and smile. She was smiling already, at the remarkable speed of the chocobos, as aided by her friends. And she didn't stop smiling once stung. It's a reflexive display of... who she is, and what she does. It isn't that she pretends it didn't happen; it is that she smiles gamely through it, and meekly submits to ministration afterwards, if someone beats her to treating it herself with a touch of white magic.
She's a lot more upset about the garbage. Enough that it shows.
Rikku's mad about the waste. Yuna's mad about the mess.
And Tidus asks. Despite her lack of history here, she has an immediate and fervent answer.
"This is wrong," she declares firmly, exchanging a glance with Lulu, with whom she has a long history of tending natural (9is)land, helping to keep it pristine. "So we will set it right."
She sets to, heedless of any expectations of a summoner's dignity. Hands and knees at times. Scooping things, barehandedly, into a spare sack at other times.
"When it is all together," she adds, as to Tidus' LOGISTICAL question, "I will put the Destruction Sphere on it." A second look at Lulu, softer. "I think the fayth... will bless our endeavor."
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
"Not with me!" Mariel has quite a few plants on her, but apparently not that one - or at least, not in any form but 'seed'. Which isn't very useful for this situation. Bees don't eat seeds!
Mariel's mushroom does a good job of keeping her ahead. In fact, her chocobo leaves the trail for a while; she has to guide it back to the group afterwards.
She looks apologetic. Not for what she did, but for the bees. Poor bees, they probably only wanted to defend their hive, or maybe their plants. It's been a while since she saw a swarm like *that*, granted. "I have salve that will work for stings," she says. See, it's good to bring a healer along.
Mariel becomes occupied with finding the salve in her satchel and applying it to anyone who needs ot, guiding her chocobo forward and back to check on everyone. She hesitates before approaching Ida, but she does it.
The party approaches JUNK. Garbage. Trash. Perhaps it is no surprise that Mariel feels pained by it - not literally, this time. It isn't a deep enough pollution that she starts feeling it inside. But for someone who has spent literally hundreds of years trying to keep a planet green... it hurts.
"Yes, we absolutely must," she says, firmly. And while Mariel wasn't great at carrying things before (and she still isn't) she is determined; knowing that Yuna has a plan to get rid of it afterwards, she does her best to help gather it all up, making sure nothing that won't compost or degrade away is missed. (She is a lot more forgiving of organic mess that can, ultimately, take care of itself. Small food scraps don't hurt the grass - if nothing else the inevitable field mice or birds will like them - and don't leave lingering hazards like chunks of glass.)
DG: Mariel has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Do They Live in a Barn?. DG: Yuna has used her Tool Macalania Destruction Sphere toward her party's challenge, Do They Live in a Barn?.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Thankfully, everyone seems to be in one piece--mostly. Yuna's gotten the worst of it, but Mariel is on the case. While she tends to the others, Ida places a steadying hand on her bird's side. "You're safe," she says. The chocobo still seems agitated, though. What could--
Ida notices a shattered potion bottle lying in the middle of the road. She follows the trail of garbage with her eyes, her frown growing more pronounced as the magnitude of the littering sinks in. "Amazing," she says. "That people would go out of their way to leave their rubbish lying around."
Mariel walks up to her, hesitantly. Ida holds perfectly still, and allows the Elw to do her job. (Thankfully for the both of them, Ida escaped the bees unscathed.)
Once that's done, Ida rolls up her sleeves and starts picking up the trash. She doesn't have sorcery or explosives, so it's time for more old-fashioned grunt work.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Do They Live in a Barn?.
========================<* The Calm Lands - Plains *>=========================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Do They Live in a Barn? *>===================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
You can see it now! There, ahead, is the chocobo stable on the other side of
the plains!
But wait, what's this? Past travelers have left their debris discarded all
about the trail leading to the stable -- enough that it's causing some
actual trouble for your bird, which is understandably balking.
Seriously: there's empty potion bottles, discarded papers, broken weapons,
food remnants and packaging, bits of metal, broken spheres, and all sorts of
touristy garbage.
It might not be your mess, but it's still your problem -- it's time to take
out the trash.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Exhaust==========================================
===================<* The Calm Lands - Plains - Round 5 *>==================== ====================< Results - Do They Live in a Barn? >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yuna 39 --(26)--> 65 Fail Macalania Destruction Sphere 2 Brute Effects: Fanfare and Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tidus 34 --(5)--> 39 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rikku 26 --(5)--> 31 Pass Far Too Many Grenades 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lulu 26 --(5)--> 31 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mariel 42 --(5)--> 47 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 42 --(26)--> 68 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Yuna 85 --(35)--> 120 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Injure(1)|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Yuna has successfully explored The Calm Lands - Plains!
========================<* The Calm Lands - Plains *>=========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - A Slew of Spheres *>======================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
As you dismount at the stables, you're approached by one of the stablehands
who asks if you can do her a favor -- some traveler left off a small cache
of spheres and they really don't have much use for this kind here.
Could you take them off your hands? Yes, yes you could. Even if you don't
sell them elsewhere (they could retail nicely), you could probably put these
empty recording spheres to good use somewhere.
All in all, regardless of whatever travails you might have faced on your
journey, today has been a pretty good day.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.
Tidus raises a good point! There are no good ways to dispose of this. Fortunately, Yuna, Rikku and Lulu offer their services.
Good old fashioned hard labor gets them into piles after Rikku's explosion break up the larger pieces a bit.
Then once in piles... Demi spells compress the garbage down to a more manageable size.
By the time Mog and Lulu have finished compressing and compressing down it's down into far more manageable hyperdense cubes.
Yuna sets off the finishing blow with the Macalania destruction sphere - as the Fayth blesses the endeavour.
It's super effective!
The garbage is utterly disintegrated into dust particles.
"Well... that's an efficient way of dealing with the problem."
Rikku is still idly considering what she might have done with enough of that scrap metal, but that's unimportant.
Soon after, at the stables, Rikku is reluctantly turning over her Chocobo. "Wish you could come with us... but I guess the next part of the journey isn't really Chocobo friendly." She mourns.
One of the stablehands though approaches them while they're in the process of turning them in. "Much obliged on y'all taking care of our garbage problem. Don't suppose we could impose upon you further..."
And that's when the stablehand scoots out a crate full of spheres. Empty spheres. They all look so similar to the kind that Maester Jyscal used to record his final message... or for Jecht to chronicle his journey. As if they were simply full of possibility and potential.
"... these here is just taking up space, but we figure... you might find it useful."