2020-12-10: The Prototype

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DG: A party led by Kaguya is now entering The Shipboard Laboratory.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=========================<* The Shipboard Laboratory *>=========================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Razor Vines *>==========================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 3          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The ship ahead has seen better days. Drifting off the coast, it bears the
 markings of rocks and Fiend attacks, as well as a strange quantity of
 overgrown plantlife coming apparently from inside. What it was once was a
 great ship in the style of Althena's Guard. What it is now... is a ruin.

 There's a ladder and a clear space up on deck that should be eminently
 reachable. Unfortunately, between you and it is a horrible tangle of vines.
 All over the railings, coiled around the ladder, and all down the side of
 the ship is growing greenery. All over the growing greenery are razor-sharp
 thorns and terrible barbs, ready to cling to would-be explorers. Try not to
 bleed too much into the water!
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"Are you kidding me? I thought that thing had sunk. Uuuugh. C'mon, Lydia, and you found what there?" Pause. "Oh come on it's where I was making bombs of course there are bombs there."

This is Kaguya's rough reaction when she is informed that the Shipboard Laboratory exists, a spooky rumored facility aboard an Althena's Guard ship. There are mysteries about it--where did it come from? Why is it here? Where is it going?

But at least some of those mysteries are here to be solved, as the group approaches in a small boat. Kaguya is at the head of the boat, peering at the ship with some irritation as she notices where they've found the ladder... and what's on it. "Oh, great."

More to the point, how did each person get here? Well, that varies. Some of them, Kaguya specifically brought. Some might've just shown up. Some might've gotten hired because they looked interestingly sciency.

But here and now, Kaguya swings a rope to attach their boat to the ship, anchoring it heavily as she eyes the vines and the ladder. "No guarantee we'd find a better entrance in time... Eh, forget it."

"So this probably isn't poisonous," Kaguya says, and starts putting on her metal gloves for climbing.

Why? Well, because the ladder, all down the sides, the railings, they're all covered in greenery. Strange greenery, not native to Spira, for that matter, though that isn't so obvious to a group of non-Spirans. And... it's thorny. So, so thorny.

DG: Kaguya has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Razor Vines.
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

Juni Vandrer was already on site. She's made an effort to come back when she'd noticed reduced activity. Or so she thought. Her big ears twitch and cant, following footsteps matched against a bit of muttering under her breath. This means even if she finds what she's after she'll have to try later. She pauses, considering an idea of stealing all of the equipment rather than just trying to use it, but instead, breaks into a practiced smile and waves to the others also here. To the comment, she replies without thinking, "Just sharp as best I could tell, based on the last trip." ... "Uh. Definitely be careful climbing I mean?" She manages something of a whistle and hurries towards the ship, climbing as nimbly as an arboreal is prone to doing. That confidence always brings the chance of stupid mistakes though. Especially since trees and razor vines are deffinitely different things.

DG: Juni Vandrer has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Razor Vines.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    Ragnell is draped out in said boat, arms folded behind her behatted head, legs crossed with one booted foot tapping the air. She doesn't get along with everyone on this boat, but that's true of basically the larger Drifter community, and she can deal if it means taking a look at this spooky laboratory for herself. Sure, she could've come by herself on her own time, but then she'd have to have turned down Kaguya's very kind and generous invitation, and who could ever do that?
    
    She looks up when Kaguya anchors the boat to the ship, then eyeballs the ladder full of vegetation. "No guarantee there *is* a better entrance," she agrees, swinging herself up to stand. "An' yeah, I agree, probably not poisonous. No need for poisonous when you got thorns an' barbs out the ass. You'd have to be *real* pissed about predators to double up on defense mechanisms."
    
    For all that she says this, Ragnell begins the climb with no particular protective gear beyond her usual gloves and boots. Looks like she's going to rely on her natural agility, and her semi-corporeal nature, to avoid getting shredded. She does pause when she spots Juni and gives her a crooked smile. "Oh, hey, it's you," she says. "Havin' another look-see 'round dangerous places, huh?"

DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Razor Vines.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    One of those present had been specifically asked by Kaguya.

    And why had he come? Well, because the subject had sufficiently interested him.

    The increasingly infamous Seraph stands in the boat, swishing his long fluffy tail from side to side. At a glance -- to anyone who hasn't met the Seraph before that is -- it appears that a silver-grey house cat has ended up in the group's company. At least, until he starts talking. "Ah, I sees its ship is interesting, more interesting yet than I thinks," rumbles the cat, narrowing his amber eyes as he gazes up the entrance.

    "Vines is problem, yes?" muses the cat-shaped Seraph, almost thoughtfully. He glances back at Ragnell, as if to acknowledge her for the first time. "...Maybe. Maybe! Is problem not for me," he states, then shakes his head. One of the bells on his red-cord collar tinkles prettily.

    It's a delicate thing, this bell. It looks to be made out of porcelain and is painted such an etherial shade of blue. It scarcely seems real.

    "The form has limits," Harmaus observes. "Problems and problems yet, when compares it with flesh and blood. But," he says as he leaps upwards -- flying, nearly, for the moment, bouyed by that bell's enchantment along with his own powers -- "It has too benefits and blessings!"

DG: Seraph Harmaus has used his Tool Fairy Bell toward his party's challenge, Razor Vines.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius is also here to help out Kaguya, naturally. It doesn't take much to convince him - he's free, and so he tags along. He takes a moment to silently observe the ship and, without complaint, begins to make his way up the ladder.

He could try to agilely avoid all of the needles, and thorns, and barbs... but, that's never really been his style, so instead he's just going to tank his way through all of it on the way up.

He'll be fine. He's been through worse, and as they've said, they're probably not poisonous!

DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Razor Vines.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia facepalms loud enough that the Sphere picks it up.

"Okay but the rampaging vegetables?" Lydia is asking. "Why did you make veggies that bite back? Or are tomatos a fruit? I forget."She glances around a bit and adds, "I mean, I guess it's efficient to make rampaging tomato monsters and bombs in the same lab but..."

She grimaces when Kaguya says something is not poisonous. She decides to just...float up with her wings rather than tryingto actually make use of the ladder. She probaby can't be affected by poison but this is kaguya plants--maybe there's a metal eating corrosive. She can't be sure.

"Oh dang! Ragnell is here! Hi Ragnell!" Lydia looks back to Kaguya. "Ragnell is great."

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Icarus Wings toward her party's challenge, Razor Vines.
=========================<* The Shipboard Laboratory *>=========================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Razor Vines *>==========================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 3          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The ship ahead has seen better days. Drifting off the coast, it bears the
 markings of rocks and Fiend attacks, as well as a strange quantity of
 overgrown plantlife coming apparently from inside. What it was once was a
 great ship in the style of Althena's Guard. What it is now... is a ruin.

 There's a ladder and a clear space up on deck that should be eminently
 reachable. Unfortunately, between you and it is a horrible tangle of vines.
 All over the railings, coiled around the ladder, and all down the side of
 the ship is growing greenery. All over the growing greenery are razor-sharp
 thorns and terrible barbs, ready to cling to would-be explorers. Try not to
 bleed too much into the water!
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
====================<* The Shipboard Laboratory - Round 1 *>====================
===========================< Results - Razor Vines >============================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaguya                              0 --(13)--> 13                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           0 --(13)--> 13                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Icarus Wings                        2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Fairy Bell                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Juni Vandrer                        0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Ragnell                      0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Kaguya                      0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Hesitate(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Kaguya has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"'Interesting' in this case might mostly just be another word for 'a pain in my ass'," Kaguya says of the ship as she looks dubiously at the ladder. "Well, I guess it's probably better if it's discouraging people," she admits, and then grins at Ragnell. "I like a plant with a good defense mechanism or two." Pause.

"Tomatoes it depends on who you ask. Nutritionists would say it's a vegetable, but they're wrong, because they're technically fruits." Pause. "Also I dunno I was thinking of countermeasures for Sinspawn, y'know? It's got big ol' creepy scales, we've got... tomatoes."

"Okay it didn't actually work out that great."

"Hm, you've been here before?" Kaguya says. "That's handy." Juni already seems to want to come along, so Kaguya just keeps an eye out for her and lets that be that. "Name's Kaguya," she introduces herself. Then, "Oh, you two met? Cool." Pause, look to Lydia. "Yeah I thought it'd be cool to have her along."

But Kaguya's many words aside, the group has their own efforts. Kaguya makes a sour face as Harmaus is able to just jump right up onto the deck and avoid the problem completely. Lydia has a similar approach, in that nflying is very much like jumping, and frankly this is probably for the best because it is a Kaguya plant.

Ragnell makes use of a natural grace and ability to get around, paired with the fact that she is a spooky elemental spirit. This works out for her, just as much as Juni gets up very very nimbly indeed.

Ambrosius and Kaguya, though, are slower, and pretty much just have to tank the whole way up. Their protective gear gets very scratched up. It's kind of tiring.

"Well that was annoying," Kaguya declares once they're on deck. "Let's... see..." Pause. "...Nice climbing," she says to Juni. She's still sizing her up a bit.

DG: Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* The Shipboard Laboratory *>========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - An Obvious Solution *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Numerous chemicals in glass jars and beakers line the shelves in this room.
 Some of them bubble ominously, and their colors go from blue to red to
 orange to pink. What's in them? Well, that's hard to say, because the
 handwritten labels are peeled and fading by now, soaked in the remnants of
 what one assumes was in the broken one on the left.

 The door is connected to the fume hood somehow, though--investigation proves
 that some kind of reaction is necessary to open the door. ...Or maybe
 there's a good enough acid in there to just melt through. Options!
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

"Indeed..." Ambrosius mutters with a nod of agreement toward Kaguya. Now that they're on the deck, they can make their way into the ship itself. Several doorways have been blocked off by vines and plantlife, but there's one that seems promising.

Inside is what must have been, at some point, a chemistry station. There are shelves of chemicals in various containers lining the room... but, several of them have been damaged in whatever event lead to this state. Some have been shattered, their contents staining the shelf and the surrounding containers, some have begun to bubble ominously, and for some damage has allowed outside interference to seep in, contaminating the contents. And the labels on all of them are missing or damaged entirely, complicating things even further.

Ahead of them is a locked door connected to a fume hood for the mixing of chemicals. Maybe they need to mix something to cause a reaction to open the door, or maybe they mix something to melt through it - the door seems otherwise resistant to attempts to open it, through force or manipulation.

"Hm. I shall begin analyzing the chemicals." Ambrosius says. He reaches into his poncho and draws out a silver device. With the press of a few buttons, a sensor appears at the end, which he approaches the containers with and begins to study.

DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Advanced Multi-Tool toward his party's challenge, An Obvious Solution.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    "Yes, yes, so says it," Harmaus sighs, shaking his head. "Where it sees problems, I sees secrets," the Seraph remarks, seemingly careless of the sea lapping at the side of the boat. "What has it lost? What has it forgotten? Even the starborn child is flesh: it loses, loses, with time! Ah. But I means not mockery," the Seraph says then, as if to mollify. "Is nature only of flesh."

    Without much further ado, the feline Seraph leaps upwards for the side of the boat, just about flying up onto the deck. Indeed, he's washing his face by the time anyone else makes their way up there, the picture of indifference.

    "It goes ahead. I follows," he says to Kaguya, and indeed, will trot on after the lot of them, bells jingling all the way.

    Until, that is, a door blocks their way. Down on the floor, Harmaus tilts his head upwards at the fume hood.

    "Chemicals... tinctures? Ah, the alchemist's art," muses the Seraph, his tail twitch-twitching as he does

    well

    nothing at all to help.

    (Was... anyone expecting any?)

DG: Seraph Harmaus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, An Obvious Solution.
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

Juni Vandrer finishes her climb up, possibly showing off by flipping herself up onto the deck. She's gotten away with it twice now with a mixture of evolutionary benefits and actual skill, she's got a reason for it! In her head. For these strange aliens. That sucks some of the fun out of it.

 Tilting her head, she glances over her shoulder to Ragnell, "Dangerous-ish. Not quite as bad as stumbling into the middle of a battle involving ordnance." She almost makes another joke, but stops short and shrugs. "Good seein' ya."

 This is as good an excuse as any to do a few things as she looks around the room. First, chemicals, fume hoods, her goggles go on. Mostly so she can hide the fact that she's getting a better look at more than a few people in present company. Also a talk-y cat. Which isn't the strangest thing she's seen to be fair. Also she's checking the chemicals out and examining the room to see if she can bypass the system, especially if she has to come back again. Being able to short circuit it would save time. And take less time to clean the smell out. And result in fewer chemical burns. It's a good idea.

 The various devices are given a sidelong glance. Once again, she's starting to wonder just what's really going on. She keeps he concerns to herself though. Though with a cursory look around, barring finding a bypass, she starts to examine the chemicals too.

DG: Juni Vandrer has used her Tool AR Goggles toward her party's challenge, An Obvious Solution.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia is starting to worry for her sisterfriendpossible future nemesis but she supposes that at least in concept, finding a way to combat Sin is just a good thing. Maybe if it doesn't release killer tomatos in its place, though.

"Wait, starborn child? Who what? What? Huh? Do yoou need uh--help with the language? I know how that's like, I used to have this big lisp because of my sharp teeth and I kept stabbing my tongue it was real something--"

She doesn't help much in this scenario since her plan is...

"Hey Kaguya, you made all this stuff right? Can you just...figure it out for us?"

LYDIA SEREN: LATERAL THINKER.

DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, An Obvious Solution.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    "I've *been* here, Lyds," Ragnell says laughingly when Lydia gushes at her presence. She reaches out and ruffles her hair affectionately, assuming Lydia lets her, which is a fairly good bet. "Nerd." To Kaguya, she smirks. "You would." To Harmaus, she shrugs. "Well, yeah."
    
    Once everyone's up top and inside, Ragnell takes a look around. Chemicals line the walls everywhere. "Is this really a good place to store this kinda shit? What would they do if this shit pitched over in a storm?" she wonders, tone dubious. Hell, some containers are *already* broken and clearly eating away at their nearby surroundings. Ragnell presses a pair of fingers to her forehead, then rolls her eyes and heaves a loud sigh. "This is probably exactly the reason this ship ended up crashin'. Stupid humans."
    
    This might be an odd statement to Juni, considering that Ragnell looks exactly like a human on the outside. She glances over at her, then chuckles. "Well, these are dangerous worlds. No matter where you go, it's gonna be risky, whether it's a battlefield or a creepy wrecked ship."
    
    As far as solving the problems herein are concerned, Ambrosius seems to have it covered, and Lydia just dropped that Kaguya apparently made all this stuff anyway, so Ragnell raises her eyebrows at Kaguya, then pulls out a harmonica. She then leans on the stablest wall in the room and starts playing a chill tune that will help the others focus and concentrate or at least keep calm. Otherwise, she's as overtly helpful as Harmaus is.

DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Polished Harmonica toward her party's challenge, An Obvious Solution.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"Hmm." Kaguya waves a hand vaguely, at the matter of losing. "I guess that's true. Maybe it'll be educational." It's a little more subdued as a reaction, though. She lights up a little more when Lydia talks though, and laughs. "Oh, he just talks like that."

"Yeah," Kaguya answers Ambrosius. "That's a good idea." She starts to pull a small green case that has her various tools in it, and pulls out something to find electricity while she's at it, rigging up a small tool in short order. She moves for the fume hood and the door, looking for a mechanism. "Objectively," Kaguya says, "It looks like it wasn't a good way to store this shit. I was improvising! Someone had to basically rediscover 'all of science' for this, okay?"

Pause. "Actually there is some ordnance around," Kaguya admits to Juni, just as a by-the-way sort of statement.

"Anyway I can't figure out this thing because the labels are all gone and I think people have already messed with it. Or, I mean, I could, but Ambrosius can do it at least as well as I could. I'm just gonna work on finding the door mechanism..."

"Anyway I thought it had crashed and sunk."

DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Mad Science Case toward her party's challenge, An Obvious Solution.
========================<* The Shipboard Laboratory *>========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - An Obvious Solution *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Numerous chemicals in glass jars and beakers line the shelves in this room.
 Some of them bubble ominously, and their colors go from blue to red to
 orange to pink. What's in them? Well, that's hard to say, because the
 handwritten labels are peeled and fading by now, soaked in the remnants of
 what one assumes was in the broken one on the left.

 The door is connected to the fume hood somehow, though--investigation proves
 that some kind of reaction is necessary to open the door. ...Or maybe
 there's a good enough acid in there to just melt through. Options!
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
===================<* The Shipboard Laboratory - Round 2 *>===================
======================< Results - An Obvious Solution >=======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaguya                              13 --(5)--> 18                 Pass
Mad Science Case                    2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           13 --(5)--> 18                 Pass
Advanced Multi-Tool                 2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      5 --(21)--> 26                 Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Juni Vandrer                        5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
AR Goggles                          2   Wits    Effects: Quicken
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Ragnell                      5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
Polished Harmonica                  1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Kaguya                      20 --(20)--> 40                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Hesitate(1)
Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)|Quicken(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Kaguya 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> Ambrosius has posed.

The party gets to work on figuring out how to move forward. ...Well, most of them, anyway, with the exception of Harmaus who intentionally does nothing at all to help. He does a very good job of not helping!

Ambrosius and Juni get to the task of studying the chemicals on hand. By splitting up the work, they can analyze the room in half the time, making things much easier. Lydia requests Kaguya's help, who gets to work on finding the door mechanism. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to locate! With this found, they can get to work on brewing up the appropriate mixture to cause the door lock to release. All of this is accompanied by a chill tune from Ragnell, which helps keep the tension low.

With the appropriate mixture made, it'll be a simple matter to place the sample in the right location and open the door leading deeper into the ship.

DG: Seraph Harmaus has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Shipboard Laboratory *>=========================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Light Mines *>==========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Before the assembled Drifters or otherwise stretches out a long room with
 numerous tables and bits and pieces of what could be ARMs scattered about
 them. The lights are low; the ceiling is low. But there are lights;
 beautiful lights, bright green, that shine along the ground haphazardly, as
 if fallen from the shelves and worktables in the room.

 Approaching within a foot any of these lights causes a small explosion that
 isn't enough to break down the walls but is more than enough to throw the
 average Drifter on their burned ass.

 You'll need to be light on your feet to claim the ARMs and avoid the
 explosions.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Treasure========================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    It might be strange, to some, that Harmaus can himself go from being at odds enough with Ragnell to be attempting to destroy her (just about; and her likewise returning the favor) to tolerating her presence in the here and now.

    But if there's anything that can be said about the Seraph, his fanatic attachment to the concept of truth aside, he has his own agenda, and it's the pursuit of that which seems to take precedent above all else. This place has some promised secret or mystery enough, it can be surmised, to stay his hand.

    ...er, paw.

    Help does not precisely come from either corner of the Seraph contingent, though perhaps somewhat less so from Harmaus than from Ragnell. At least Ragnell is inspiring. Still, the door does open.

    "So," remarks the Seraph, as they head on through the open portal, "It works with explosives and plants here, yes? And others works this also?"

    The room beyond is darkened, the only light coming from the green orbs that seem to be scattered about the floor here, near the tables.

    "Is ARM parts," says the cat-shaped Seraph, after rising up onto his back legs to stand and scout for a moment before his form requires a return to the four-legged stance. "The lights... mm, it remembers me," he muses, as if troubled by something.

    One of the bells on his collar jingles softly as he skulks over to investigate. It's the porcelain one, the little one.

    He's about a foot away when the light explodes. Even an ordinary cat has excellent reflexes. A Seraph with a form like Harmaus is better yet. Under the auspices of the bell, the Seraph's are even greater still.

    But will it be enough to nip one of those parts off the table, like he's attempting now?

DG: Seraph Harmaus has used his Tool Fairy Bell toward his party's challenge, Light Mines.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia lets Ragnell ruffle her hair though Ragnell gets countered with a big hug. Lydia adores Ragnell and is totally okay with being like 'OH WOW RAGS' even if she has always been there. This may not be the first big hug either.

She nods to the phrase 'Stupid humans' too even if she knows some really cool and smart humans but to her it's a pretty innocent dig. Most humans she knows would agree that humans are pretty stupid sometimes.

"Oh okay." Lydia says, narrowly avoiding spearing her tongue in the process.

Lydia has pretty good reflexes herself. Lydia, always eager to make a living, is certainly willing to take a risk to collect some goods. She has friends she can give them to sell anyway in the area. The Kinship Alliance has been quiet but, well, it IS here.

She steps moments before steppning on a mine however and she pulls her foot back and---kind of aims to rocket jump over to the ARMS instead of risking it. Sure, she CAN explode but does she want to? No.

"I never met a beastman seraph before. Or beast seraph. Except for Beast, I guess. It's pretty cool." Kat says even though it is just a cat but, to be fair, sometimes a slightly larger penguin counts as 'beastman' so she's really not entirely sure.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Icarus Wings toward her party's challenge, Light Mines.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    Likewise, despite Ragnell considering Harmaus an enemy, well. In many senses, the entire world of Filgaia is her enemy, yet she manages to get along with most of its denizens on a day-to-day basis. She's used to having an "on" switch and an "off" switch. In Harmaus's case, it's more personal, but as far as she knows, Harmaus hasn't harassed her sister again *yet*--and if he has, Amaranth hasn't deigned to tell Ragnell about it. If and when that happens, Ragnell's attitude might change, but for now? It's not like shooting Harmaus would get this place explored any faster.
    
    Lydia meanwhile gives Ragnell a great big hug. Ragnell laughs wryly and lets it happen, and even gives her a brief one-armed hug back. As for the dig on humans--well, Ragnell knows some smart humans herself. This doesn't stop her from saying it.
    
    "Beast wasn't a beast-type Seraph, she just was usin' a statue that looked like a beast as her vessel," Ragnell explains to Lydia. A beat, and she adds, "You know she's Boudicca, right? Just checkin'."
    
    The lights in the room are pretty, sure enough. Green's a nice color, though gold and indigo are better. Just, objectively, in Ragnell's totally non-biased opinion. She watches Harmaus as he goes to investigate said lights, and so is back a ways when the light *explodes*. That's honestly a surprise, and Ragnell reflexively backsteps out of the way of the blast. That won't do if they're going to collect ARM parts, though, so when she lands, she quickdraws one of her pistols and taps the back of it to rapid-fire several more of those lights to attempt to set them off early and make it easier to grab parts once the explosions are extinguished.
    
    Of course, that could mean that the room just gets *more* exploded, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Right.

DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Light Mines.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

The room beyond the lab is dark, lit only by the occasional sphere. ...Spheres that, from the caution of the others, appear to be dangerous. Ambrosius frowns. This certainly complicates things.

He lacks the agility of the others. Being a tall, gangly fellow, he runs the risk of accidentally grazing one of those explosives. He could probably survive it... but the biggest concern, to him, is the structural stability of the ship.

It might be wisest to avoid unnecessary risk. So, despite his curiosity in regards to the ARM parts, Ambrosius elects to stay back and let the others risk exploding instead.

DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Light Mines.
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

Juni Vandrer has no idea what a human is. Sure she's heard the word, but she's never touched the word and the people she's been seeing together. Not a thing that comes up a lot. She half wonders if she shouldn't be using it as a stand-in for her usual cursing and bad mouthing.

 Then there's landmines and those do a good job of grabbing her attention. Not a make she's familiar with, but the cat helpfully detonates one. She helpfully notes out loud, "Well, flshy, but they're not blowing your boat up. Could detonate in place and clear them out that way. Shouldn't... break too many important things right?" Well, it's that or maybe throwing bits and bobs at them. Which she decides might arguably be safer. You know, setting off only a few rather than all of them. As such, a conveniently placed bolt gets thrown at one of the spheres to test the theory. Either way, she's happy to fire an explosive round into the room to try and cook them off or just throw things at them. She at least can see where a lot of them are, theoretically, assuming her headset's not missing them. Which she makes a note to point out. The mines, not that her goggles let her cheat.

DG: Juni Vandrer has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Light Mines.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

To Kaguya it's not at all strange to go from fighting someone to hanging out relatively amicably. That's just her life!

"Yeah but it's cool of you to offer," Kaguya says as Lydia doesn't spear her tongue.

When Kaguya sees the green orbs spread about the floor, she pauses. Then, she opens her mouth, and closes it. "Uh, Harm," Kaguya starts to say, but she doesn't quite do it in time to prevent his Plan. Which is probably a good plan.

"...Okay," Kaguya admits to Lydia. "Maybe too many bombs."

Maybe. A little.

But Kaguya steps up after the others, not inclined to go explode her mines before the others do this time. "See these were actually a pretty useful design," Kaguya says, "But in testing they apparently look more like healing magic than terrible bombs, or something, and the materials are sort of hard to get here anyway."

"But they were a lot of fun to make," Kaguya admits as she palms some parts in passing. "But you've got a good eye for these," Kaguya notes to Juni. "Anyway these wouldn't affect the structure of the ship in normal circumstances, but as shitty as it is now..."

Mostly though, she'll hang back with Ambrosius for this one.

DG: Kaguya has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Light Mines.
=========================<* The Shipboard Laboratory *>=========================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Light Mines *>==========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Before the assembled Drifters or otherwise stretches out a long room with
 numerous tables and bits and pieces of what could be ARMs scattered about
 them. The lights are low; the ceiling is low. But there are lights;
 beautiful lights, bright green, that shine along the ground haphazardly, as
 if fallen from the shelves and worktables in the room.

 Approaching within a foot any of these lights causes a small explosion that
 isn't enough to break down the walls but is more than enough to throw the
 average Drifter on their burned ass.

 You'll need to be light on your feet to claim the ARMs and avoid the
 explosions.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Treasure========================================
====================<* The Shipboard Laboratory - Round 3 *>====================
===========================< Results - Light Mines >============================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaguya                              18 --(5)--> 23                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           18 --(5)--> 23                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         10 --(5)--> 15                 Pass
Icarus Wings                        2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      26 --(5)--> 31                 Pass
Fairy Bell                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Juni Vandrer                        10 --(5)--> 15                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Ragnell                      10 --(5)--> 15                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Kaguya                      40 --(25)--> 65                Pass
Conditions: Stupify(2)|Treasure(1)
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Kaguya 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> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    There are, in fact, exactly zero humans exploring this ship at the moment. Funny how that works sometimes!

    "Ah?"

    That remark earns Lydia Harmaus' full attention. "Not beastman. Seraph," corrects the cat-shaped Seraph. "Beastman is... eh..." he pauses for a moment. "Flesh," he affirms, ultimately. "Is flesh. I am not."

    Across the board the lot of them are able to brave the gauntlet of explosives and come away with even a prize apiece (even Ambrosius, who is able to claim one easily once the path is clearer); thanks in particular to Ragnell's actions, several of the mines are detonated, perhaps making this area a little safer for those who come after. ...Maybe.

    For Harmaus, his prize comes in the form of a small energy cell of some part which he deposits at Kaguya's feet. "Is safe, now." After which the Seraph chuckles. "I has not ARMs like this, yes? Or arms! Is problem, problem, yet. I speaks of this to it before," he says to her. "Perhaps it has idea? For now, it has part. I not able keeps it now."

DG: Seraph Ragnell has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Shipboard Laboratory *>=========================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Sealed Door *>==========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 This corridor terminates in a metal door set into the wall, with heavy bars
 over each segment for stability and security. The lock pad, unfortunately,
 is a blasted lump of metal that must've stopped smoking ages ago at this
 point, entirely ruined. However, there's a lot of rust on the hinges. It
 won't be quick or easy, but there's at least one way through.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    Ragnell snorts when Harmaus says that he has neither ARMS nor arms like this. "That must be so *paw*ful for you," she jokes dryly, because she really can't resist a pun. Blame Lailah's influence. For now, she'll grab some ARM parts for herself, though whether they'll be useful to her or she'll end up selling or trading them off later is yet to be seen. "Good thinkin'," she adds to Juni, because Juni's idea was basically the same thing Ragnell did without anyone's input. Kaguya's admission that maybe there might be *too many* bombs gets an outright laugh. "It's only too many 'cuz now it's inconveniencin' you, am I right?" she drawls.
    
    Regardless, the path has been cleared enough that the group can advance. They don't get far; there's a big metal door at the end of the corridor, and the lock is a melted lump that is impossible to open now. However, the *hinges* are awfully rusty, so it's possible they might be able to open it the opposite way...
    
    Ragnell gives it a thoughtful look. "Hmm... Don't think this is gonna open the normal way. But if we knocked that rust off, then maybe..." Then she produces a small bag of homemade spicy meat jerky from her travel pack and offers pieces of it to the group. "It's a special treat. It'll erase your fatigue as you work, make it easier to work harder an' longer," she explains as she hands it around. Then, chewing on a piece herself, she moves out of the way. "Well? This door ain't gonna bust itself down." She smacks Ambrosius in particular on the shoulder, assuming he doesn't move out of the way and largely to be a jerk, since last time around he hung back and let the others do the work. Yes, this is totally ignoring that Ragnell can, has, and recently did do precisely that thing. "Hop to it!"

DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Spicy Jerky toward her party's challenge, Sealed Door.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

The path is cleared! Even Ambrosius is capable of grabbing something - which he will. It would be a shame to let good ARM parts go to waste. Just as important as that, though, is that they're able to move forward... though not for long, as they soon find their way barred by another door. Unfortunately, there's no chemicals to mix to open this one - and even if there were, the locking mechanism is completely ruined. They'll have to do this the hard way.

Ragnell makes a pointed comment and smacks Ambrosius on the shoulder. At this, he glances in her direction, lets out a 'hmm' of disapproval... but approaches the door anyway.

He reaches into his poncho again for another device - this one similar to the one he produced before, but with a different function. With a brief moment of focus the water in the air around them begins to converge, swirling around the device until eventually forming into a swirling blade at the end of it. The device not only acts as a focus, but as an emitter to keep the high-pressure blade swirling. This lets Ambrosius take his concentration off of the spell and onto the task at hand. He sizes up the door, and then gives it several quick, precise swings of his watery blade. On a good day, it can slice right through steel without issue.

DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Aqua Cutter toward his party's challenge, Sealed Door.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"Yeah but I met her as Beast," Lydia tells Ragnell. "So at the time I thought 'oh cool, a Seraph Beast lady. But then it was like Boudicca and she's still pretty cool but it hits different."

"Gave me a ride." Her eyes sparkle.

She grins at Kaguya. "Yeah it's important to moderate!" Lydia insists. "Occassional bombs. Keep people guessing...!" Despite the banter, it's friendly in tone.
Lydia splorts out her warhammer out from her hand and grips it tightly upon seeing the door. She's adventured long enough to know what to do about big doors that are in the way. She swings it back--

--and then drops it to the ground to take some jerky from Ragnell, "aw hell yeah! Jerky!"

She munches on the jerky for a while before plucking up her hammer and rocketing towards the door with no warning whatsoever and slamming it against the door while screaming like a complete maniac.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Tiebreaker V 2.0 toward her party's challenge, Sealed Door.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"Heheheh, I get it," Kaguya says when Harmaus mentions arms and ARMS. But then she thinks about it a little more. "Hmmm, yeah," Kaguya says to Harmaus as she takes the part and puts it in a separate pocket from the bits she acquired on her way through. "I've got some ideas. Especially if I can find the right lab."

Ragnell mentions why it's too many and Kaguya answers back, "Exactly!! That's exactly it."

She... might be joking. Maybe. But she follows up with Lydia, "I guess I could mix it up a little more..."

"Oh, COME ON, that was a cool door!" Kaguya complains about it, naturally. "But it's good--I think I left something cool past there." Pause. "With only the normal amount of teeth, maybe."

But Ragnell offers the jerky, and Kaguya puts up a hand. "Thanks, but I can't do meat. I got something for this, though." Kaguya pulls something from her bag--which turns out to be a syringe that she pops a cap off of and turns around to jab into herself, depressing the plunger and breathing in. "Hoo. Okay. All right." She rolls her shoulders, and suddenly looks less pale and more energetic after only a few moments.

When Ambrosius starts hacking at the door, she waits. When Lydia swings her hammer like a maniac at the door, she waits.

She'll just go in and move the debris out of the way with her gloved hands, like some kind of super-strong scientist.

DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Formula XKV-27 toward her party's challenge, Sealed Door.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    "Ideas? I would sees its ideas," says the Seraph, suddenly all ears for Kaguya's plans.

    Ragnell cracks a joke when Harmaus laments about the status of his body, which results in a blank look from the other Seraph. As in, a more blank look than usual, considering he is cat-shaped. "Paw... ful?" He lifts a paw and glances down at it. "Full of paws? ...Yes, I has many paws," Harmaus surmises. "Paws but not hands! Is problem, in Spira."

    Being forced to be physical means that suddenly you have to deal with issues like... doors, even if the primary reason he'd taken a body on Filgaia was for other reasons.

    Still, he trots on through the ship, until a particular obstacle blocks their way. A... door-shaped obstacle.

    "Jaeja," murmurs the Seraph, eyes slitted. "...Yes, yes. It gets out of way first, then! Unless I hits it again?"

    This may be an oblique reference ('oblique') to their previous altercation. Which...

    One of the bells -- a glass bell, it seems -- begins to chime at his throat. The delicate object glows with a soft inner light, one that is reflected about the Seraph as he begins to float in the air. It's no more than a few inches, but still noticable--

    Particularly when white light beams from him for the busted door.

    Let us say that he passes on the jerky, perhaps?

DG: Seraph Harmaus has used his Tool Prism Bell toward his party's challenge, Sealed Door.
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

Juni Vandrer flattens her ears at the jokes from both of the Seraphs. Some awful puns on display really. Regardless, she's got the right tool for the job. Even better, she doesn't have to improvise with it. And she's at least 70% sure most of them are aliens and- "Hey look away, it's a safety thing." she says. That'll work, it's true after all.

 Fishing her torch from her bag, a thing she'll insist she found on a dig, but fits far too conveniently in her strange little hands.

 Of course, there's a water tool also doing the same thing, so with a bit of angling, she mostly goes to work, covering up the brightest part of the light with herself. Hopefully. Either way she's keeping the work quick and out of sight as best possible.

DG: Juni Vandrer has used her Tool Plasma Cutter toward her party's challenge, Sealed Door.
=========================<* The Shipboard Laboratory *>=========================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Sealed Door *>==========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 This corridor terminates in a metal door set into the wall, with heavy bars
 over each segment for stability and security. The lock pad, unfortunately,
 is a blasted lump of metal that must've stopped smoking ages ago at this
 point, entirely ruined. However, there's a lot of rust on the hinges. It
 won't be quick or easy, but there's at least one way through.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
====================<* The Shipboard Laboratory - Round 4 *>====================
===========================< Results - Sealed Door >============================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaguya                              23 --(5)--> 28                 Pass
Formula XKV-27                      1   Brute   Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           23 --(5)--> 28                 Pass
Aqua Cutter                         3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         15 --(5)--> 20                 Pass
Tiebreaker V 2.0                    4   Brute   Effects: Efficient and Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      31 --(5)--> 36                 Pass
Prism Bell                          3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Juni Vandrer                        15 --(5)--> 20                 Pass
Plasma Cutter                       3   Brute   Effects: Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Ragnell                      15 --(5)--> 20                 Pass
Spicy Jerky                         2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Kaguya                      65 --(20)--> 85                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Stupify(1)
Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Kaguya has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    Ragnell gives Ambrosius a smile of approval when he grumps at her but moves to help take the door down anyway. She appreciates people who can read the mood. She laughs at Lydia's reply. "Yeah, I bet a ride woulda charmed the hell outta ya," she remarks.
    
    Kaguya refuses the jerky, and Ragnell blinks. "Oh yeah? Why not?" she asks--no judgment, just curiosity. "Maybe I'll start bringin' a mix o' snacks to dungeons, then... Hm." She cocks her head as Kaguya doses herself and turns healthy and energetic, and wonders what the side effects of that dubious medicine might be.
    
    Harmaus fails to get the joke. Ragnell opens her mouth; shuts it. "Yes. That's exactly right," she says with a decisive nod, because there's nothing worse than having to explain your own jokes.
    
    Juni brings out that blowtorch again. "More dangerous items from dangerous dungeons, huh?" she says dryly. Still, she otherwise leaves it at that.
    Between Ambrosius's water blade, Lydia's hammer, Kaguya's drug-borne super-strength, Harmaus's glass bell light magic, and Juni's torch work, the door is as nothing. In mere minutes, the way before them is clear. "Nice work, folks," Ragnell says around a mouthful of jerky. She strolls forward. "Let's get goin', huh?"

DG: Kaguya has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Shipboard Laboratory *>=========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes *>=================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Ominous bouncing echoes from the darkened other side of the room, something
 large shifting forward. The chamber is large, but the lights have largely
 given way, except for what filters in from outside. Soon, though--soon it is
 visible, gleaming in the low light... red.

 The first of many giant tomato monsters bounces into view, with vines
 stretching from the top of its head, great big teeth and glowing golden
 eyes. They're here to turn the party into lunch. If there's only one person
 in the lead, the others had better...

 Ketchup.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Fright============================================
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

Ragnell asks Kaguya about meat!! And why she can't do it. "Messes with my system," Kaguya answers, making a vague gesture with a 'bluuugh' kind of expression that suggests it would make her sick. ...Er. Sicker.

But indeed they succeed, and when Ragnell says let's go, Kaguya makes to go along with everyone else, through the heavy door-that-was and into another room, one darkened...

Darkened, and full of equipment. There are tanks on one side of the wall, mostly shadowed; a few are broken. And there is an ominous bouncing...

"...Aw, man," Kaguya says, and sighs so thoroughly that it makes the little manga puff of air. "I bet that's..."

Tomatoes bounce into view on a gigantic scale, each larger than a human child. They have eyes and toothy mouths, their faces... hungry and angry. Hangry.

"Yeah," Kaguya says, "It's these. I think I've got a defoliant in here..." She reaches into her bag, and pulls a couple of special gas bombs instead of regular grenades. "They've gone feral. The problem with these is that they're uncontrollable. Well, that, and the special models I couldn't quite make work..."

Boom! Green smoke happens. The first of the Tomatoes starts to wilt...

As Kaguya eyes the back of the room, where she knows there's an intact tank.

DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Loot Abuse toward her party's challenge, Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    "Huh," Ragnell utters, tilting her head at Kaguya in curiosity. "Oh yeah, that's right--humans an' beastfolk an' other mortals have stuff called 'allergies,' right? Things you can't eat or be around or it'll make ya sick. Hmm. Well, that's too bad for you." She turns forward past the busted-down door into a darkened room. But there's something in here... something red, and round, and bouncy.
    
    "What the fuck," Ragnell utters when child-sized tomatoes boing into view, bare their fangs, and fix a vicious, hungry glare on the incoming explorers. She looks over at Kaguya. "'Feral'??"
    
    Well, whatever. It's not as though Ragnell hasn't encountered malevolent (and even Malevolent) plant-life before. She shakes her head, pulls out a handmade hand grenade, unpins it, and tosses it into the thick of angry killer tomatoes. "Marinara!" she shouts, just before the grenade explodes with lightning, pulsing out in a three-dimensional orb.

DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Lightning Grenade toward her party's challenge, Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes.

<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius follows quietly after the others. He glances from side to side occasionally, taking in the interior of the ruined ship. There's equipment, and it's darkened...

...And, a strange, ominous bouncing? Ambrosius frowns.

"...Hm." Ambrosius notes, as a series of tomatoes bounce into view! "I see."

He backpedals away from them, reaching into his poncho and drawing out a silver canister. He flips a switch on the side and it opens up, releasing a pleasantly-cool mist. It eases wounds and fatigue, and feels generally quite nice!

"It is a shame they are so unruly. They seem quite high quality." He notes with a hint of disappointment. He still has his aqua cutter out so he steps forward, swinging it to chainsaw through the nearest tomato.

DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Mist Canister toward his party's challenge, Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    "Ah?" Harmaus questions, as Kaguya hesitates at the source of the sound ahead. "What thinks it?"

    It's a question that answers itself on its own! Large animate tomatoes bound into view. Large fanged animate tomatoes.

    ".......Jaeja," the Seraph finally utters, sighing. "I sees it works hard. Never sees feral vegetable before," Harmaus summarizes. Without moving a muscle, he stares down (or up...?) the carnivorous tomatoes, even though they would be perfectly capable of swallowing him in one bite. Instead, he shakes his head, rattling a single bell of the set on his collar. It chimes out a long, sustaining note.

    Stop, says the bell.

    Be quiet. And cease.

DG: Seraph Harmaus has used his Tool Amulet Bell toward his party's challenge, Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Rachiel Medry Is Doing Her Best toward her party's challenge, Attack Of The Killer
Tomatoes.
DG: Juni Vandrer has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes.
=========================<* The Shipboard Laboratory *>=========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes *>=================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Ominous bouncing echoes from the darkened other side of the room, something
 large shifting forward. The chamber is large, but the lights have largely
 given way, except for what filters in from outside. Soon, though--soon it is
 visible, gleaming in the low light... red.

 The first of many giant tomato monsters bounces into view, with vines
 stretching from the top of its head, great big teeth and glowing golden
 eyes. They're here to turn the party into lunch. If there's only one person
 in the lead, the others had better...

 Ketchup.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Fright============================================
====================<* The Shipboard Laboratory - Round 5 *>====================
==================< Results - Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes >===================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaguya                              28 --(0)--> 28                 Pass
Loot Abuse                          2   Combat  Effects: Stalwart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           28 --(8)--> 36                 Fail
Mist Canister                       1   Combat  Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         20 --(0)--> 20                 Pass
Rachiel Medry Is Doing Her Best     3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      36 --(0)--> 36                 Pass
Amulet Bell                         2   Combat  Effects: Embolden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Juni Vandrer                        20 --(0)--> 20                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Ragnell                      20 --(0)--> 20                 Pass
Lightning Grenade                   3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Kaguya                      85 --(35)--> 120               Pass
Conditions: Fright(2)|Wound(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Kaguya has successfully explored The Shipboard Laboratory!
=========================<* The Shipboard Laboratory *>=========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - An Unusual Harvest *>======================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 This room is overrun with greenery, but none of it immediately wants to kill
 you. Indeed, this place looks more intact and cultivated than the rest, and
 there may be something useful in here.

 In the back of the room is a set of pots of vines, each wound around a small
 structure of wood. It's a little unwieldy, but looking at it, the vines are
 incredibly hard, and have bladed thorns sharp enough to work through leather
 easily. They could easily be grown around a fence, or pruned for use in
 weaponry or particularly sturdy rope... if one takes care of the thorns.

 They also have fruits, but it might not be wise to eat them. They look like
 tomatoes!
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

'What the fuck?' is a pretty appropriate reaction to these things. "Aw, thanks," Kaguya says to Ambrosius. "Yeah if I thought I could get them not to eat everyone in sight I'd do that, buut..." She isn't thrilled about it. Ambrosius's mist does help though--it helps her, and others. And the impending doom of the tomatoes is certain and swift.

The long, sustaining note says stop. A chainsaw also says stop, in its way. And a Seraph says 'Marinara'.

They will probably not make a very good sauce, but in short order they are gone, dazed by Kaguya's chemicals and then destroyed by the efforts of the group as a whole.

"..." Kaguya looks around at the remains and shakes her head. "...Fruits," she says. "They were fruits." She sounds sort of sad when she says it. But then, she starts forward again, towards the back. "So there's something else back here, Harmaus," she says to him in particular, though also to the others. "I wasn't sure if it would still be intact, but..."

She turns, at a console, back to the others. "Looks like we got lucky."

She gestures first to the tank, and inside--a humanoid form, though inhuman, made of plant matter. Its 'eyes' such as they are are closed, and it floats in the tank.

"I was able to sculpt the body, but there's nobody home, so to speak. If it had worked out right, it might've given the tomatoes limbs and hands to use weapons."

"...Luckily for everyone involved," Kaguya says, "It didn't work out."

She gestures towards the 'release' button. "But it's got hands."

She then gestures nearby, to a set of pots with vines and plants in them. "...These vines should be useful, though. They're hard, and sturdy, and sharp. You could make them into stuff. These at least were a success."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    Ragnell raises an eyebrow at Kaguya when she says they were fruits. "Does that matter?" she wonders. She falls silent when Kaguya indicates something special deeper inside--something for Harmaus, for some reason--and follows them with her eyes. There's a humanoid tomato inside...
    
    "The hell is with you an' tomatoes?" she wonders of Kaguya. She otherwise doesn't approach. Quite honestly, she thinks this humanoid tomato is creepy as hell. Someone else can have it.
    
    ...Though she has to wonder why she specified Harmaus when she told the group about it. Ragnell eyeballs the other Seraph to gauge his reaction.

<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

The tomatoes are dealt with rather quickly thanks to the power of teamwork and explosives. With them out of the way they're able to move on. There's something else here, according to Kaguya, and Ambrosius is curious to see what that is.

Among them, a tank with a humanoid form made of plant matter, suspended in liquid. Ambrosius pauses, studying it for a moment, before glancing toward Kaguya.

"...What is it?" He asks. He notes the vines she points out, as well. They could certainly be useful at some point.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    "Fruits is vegetable. Vegetable is fruits. It matters me not," replies Harmaus, on the subject, once the tomatopeople have been reduced to so much pulp. As a matter of fact, the Seraph shakes off a paw as if it were coated in something disgusting, before trotting along after Kaguya.

    He takes care where he steps.

    "Ah? What finds it?" he voices, as she approaches something in the back. A console, still intact. Wherein something slumbers.

    "Ah..." breathes out the cat-shaped Seraph. "Will suit needs nicely. It comes out of tank first," he says to Kaguya, lashing his tail from side to side.

    No one would mistake it for a human in good light. With some clothing -- concealing clothing -- and perhaps some dim lighting on the side, though...

    The most important thing is that it has hands.

    "Will need clothing," muses the Seraph, thoughtfully.

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"The nightshade family is very flexible," Kaguya answers of tomatoes. A beat, "Many of the plants in the family are highly, highly toxic. It contains vines, shrubs, trees... Practical food crops and ornamental varities. It's really ideal for a lot of purposes."

"...Also, I like tomatoes. We had a few varities of them when I was younger."

It is absolutely creepy, not least because it just hovers there. Ambrosius, though, asks what it is.

"It's a prototype," Kaguya says. "...More properly it's just a collection of plants in the shape of a body. It was the next step in the project, but I didn't get to finish before I lost the ship. The individual components work, but I hadn't figured out how to splice one of the living fruits to the body, yet. Let alone make it grow that way."

She hits the 'release' button and walks over to catch the body, setting it gently on the ground, and getting soaked in the process. "You'll have to water and sun it to keep it living, and it would help to get some dirt now and then."

"I think it'd be nice if it got to get some sun instead of just rotting away down here when containment fails."

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

FRUIT!!!! VEGETABLES! NO SAFETY! NO LIFE! NO HOPE!

Lydia naturally shrieks and starts stabbing the monster veggies and says, "I'm an adult now!! You can't make me eat tomatos unless I wanna! That is the free drifter life!"

Look not every parent child conflict in Lydia's earlylife was bigotry centered. Some of it was appetite centered!

LATER

"You aren't gonna eat them are ya, sis?" Lydia murmurs in horror. "It reminds me of Tilde's place."

She shivers visibly.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    Blue lines of revulsion smear down Ragnell's face when she gauges Harmaus's reaction. "What... exactly... are you planning on using that thing for?" she asks slowly, because she has a sneaking suspicion she already knows and she really, REALLY wants to be wrong.
    
    Kaguya then explains what's up with tomatoes. Ragnell peers at her for a long, long time. Her explanation about the nightshade family makes sense. It's even sensible, really. If you're some kind of mad botanist, then flexibility is a good thing.
    
    "Fruit fetishist," she mutters, looking away.

<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius glances in Harmaus's direction as he speaks. His gaze lingers on him for a moment longer than normal. It may have only just occurred to him that he was in the company of an Actual Talking Cat, so focused as he was on the task at hand. He says nothing about this, though, instead turning his attention back to Kaguya as she speaks.

"Hmm... most fascinating." Ambrosius comments, nodding to himself. "I do hope the project is salvageable."

Ambrosius is supportive, even of mad science endeavors.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    Perhaps it's fitting that the body, as it were, also has a singular round red fruit as its head...

    "Yes, yes. I knows it is 'proto type'," Harmaus remarks, twitch-twitching his tail as he continues to take in the sight of the body. "Enough it has the parts I needs. So I waters it, suns it. That is all?" A pause trends out. "Other body, more the trouble. Must feed, bathe, sleep! Jaeja. Yet, useful, useful..."

    Ragnell then asks him what he's intending on using it for.

    "I needs body. Needs what form cannot provide," he says, squinting up at her. "It troubles it? Without body, communication worse. Eh... no, is not word. Is 'trying', yes?" he says, baring his teeth. "Is difficult. Needs better body for next parts of work!"

    He turns his gaze back on the figure resting in the vessel. "Will suffice. I claims it now!"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    Ragnell looks downright ill.
    
    "I hate always being right," she mumbles.

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"Nah, I'm not gonna eat them. That would be weird."

She pauses, though. Reminds her of... "I guess it does, huh?" The farm, back then, with all the overgrown plantlife. Kaguya remembers it pretty vividly, considering what all happened there.

"What???" Kaguya says to Ragnell. "Hey I assure you my appreciation of fruits is strictly platonic."

She then laughs a little to Ambrosius, a brash kind of noise. "Oh, no. This was probably the worst idea I've had. Can you imagine growing a whole crop of soldiers for somebody that they don't have to worry about bringing back alive? I was so naive."

But a look to Harmaus, twitch twitch his tail. "Well, this should do you, and it doesn't require doing whatever you did to that other guy 'cause there's no mind in it."

Kaguya steps back from the body and stands up the rest of the way.

Like Matilda's place... "Yeah."