2021-06-27: Small Mercies
- Log: Small Mercies
- Cast: Billy Lee Black, Elhaym van Houten, Fei Fong Wong, Citan Uzuki
- Where: North Calm Lands
- Date: June 27, 2021
- Summary: Passage over Gagazet does not come easily.
DG: A party led by Billy Lee Black is now entering Mount Gagazet. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>=============================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Into the Cold *>========================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You start up the slopes of Mount Gagazet. The first steps are the hardest, too, as you come face-to-face with your constant companion for this trek: the terrible, biting wind. A blast of cold air hits you, a steady wind that sends flurries of snow and ice dust against you. It is unrelenting, chilling you to the bone. Each step is like lifting a great boulder. You must force your way through it, up the slopes, and protect yourself from the elements as best you can. It will not be an easy thing. =Dungeon Conditions: Collapse=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.
The way forward is over Gagazet. Not even their Gears can assist in a trek like this - even getting Gears through the gates is a challenge, to say nothing of the constant storms and tremendous altitude. For this, they'll need to venture forth on foot, first.
Billy is here, the wind blasting his long traveling habit practically horizontal as he squints through the roaring snow. He looks back to the others. "Nothing for it," he says. "Step one is the start. If we're getting to Zanarkand, it's this way or not at all."
And thus committed, he steps forward, one foot in front of the other, until he finally drops a blasting charge behind him, shoots it, and rides the explosion a good few dozen meters forward like he thinks he's in Team Fortress.
DG: Billy Lee Black has used his Tool Blasting Charge toward his party's challenge, Into the Cold.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly has gotten her old Kislevi naval coat back out - the beloved garment she has worn (possibly due to a quirk of Kislevi purchasing order making it fit *perfectly*) in other cold scenarios, combined with a scarf and longer boots than usual.
Oh, and the Gear of eld, but that's not here right now.
"I wonder if the climate changed, or if Zanarkand mostly communicated by sea," Elly says, looking upwards along the high steps. She begins forwards, breathing heavily before long from the simple effort of lifting an Elly-sized object, over, and over, and over, and over, and over again with each and every step.
A moment later, Billy opts to scout by grenade jump.
"..."
Elly's eyes open, close, open again.
"That scared the poop out of me," Elly said mildly, "metaphorically. After all of this..." Elly gets out a paper-wrapped set of frosted cookies, whose fat and sugar content is no doubt perfect for this situation. "I don't want to encourage this, but I will say I'm not going to count them, and if Billy doesn't get one it's just too bad."
Despite these harsh words, Elly only takes half a cookie, so Billy's at least getting one of them. (The cookies have a sort of 'abstract square with colorful streaks' theme with the frosting... not all cookies are representational.)
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Inventory Clutter toward her party's challenge, Into the Cold.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong is grateful to be on a job that isn't fighting for Shevat because, well, fighting for Shevat defensively isn't going to help much. Sure, it will help Shevat but they didn't go to Shevat to save Shevat. They needed help. One cool gear...it's something but--what they really need is a plan to take down Solaris or at least even the playing field. They still don't have one.
But they do have a lead sort of. Go into Gagazet, find Zanarkand, and maybe find a clue as to what Solaris is up to.
Fei is trying to handle the chill with chi. Steam is visibly rolling off his body and he just tries to endure the situation rather than try to get clever about it. Or unclever? Whichever works.
"Yeah that was...." Fei begins, not wanting to say out loud that Billy seems to be taking after dad. "That was a thing."
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Into the Cold.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Some mountains and treacherous terrain can be managed with Gears -- some of it must be so managed. There are places that people can't safely travel, and places that are just out of scale for anything but a Gear or similarly scaled machine.
Mount Gagazet is, to everyone's grave misfortune, not one of those places. The particular pitch of the weather alone would have required some upgrades that they simply don't have the time to make (particularly for Heimdall, the perennial problem child), and that's without taking into account things like the incline (Gears are, generally, not as flexible as biological beings) and the unstable footing amidst the ice and snow. There's no getting around it at present--
They have to go on foot.
Even after having exchanged his usual wear for something much, much warmer, though it's...
A little too cold for the tastes of Doctor Uzuki.
"Goodness," Citan remarks, tugging his scarf up and pulling it a little more tightly about his neck. "I had known what to expect, of course, but this is still..." But he shakes his head and continues on--
Elly and Fei aren't the only ones who stop and watch for a moment as Billy uses a grenade like that.
Citan sighs. "He certainly takes after his father," he remarks. "Why, I remember during one training exercise in our Jugend days... ah, though perhaps another time." He takes a piece of cookie, though he tucks it away (for later?) and then, despite the risk, pulls off a glove and takes out a particular book and flip through it (easier without gloves) to a particular page. "Aha! Yes, I thought so. Now then... perhaps it would be best to get the blood flowing," he says, returning the book from whence it came and replacing his glove. "Do you not think so, Fei? Let me see if this works..."
And he reaches out to prod Fei in a particular place on his back. Just a redirection of chi...?
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Acupressure Guide toward his party's challenge, Into the Cold.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>=============================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Into the Cold *>========================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You start up the slopes of Mount Gagazet. The first steps are the hardest, too, as you come face-to-face with your constant companion for this trek: the terrible, biting wind. A blast of cold air hits you, a steady wind that sends flurries of snow and ice dust against you. It is unrelenting, chilling you to the bone. Each step is like lifting a great boulder. You must force your way through it, up the slopes, and protect yourself from the elements as best you can. It will not be an easy thing. =Dungeon Conditions: Collapse=================================================
=========================<* Mount Gagazet - Round 1 *>========================== ==========================< Results - Into the Cold >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billy Lee Black 0 --(29)--> 29 Fail Blasting Charge 2 Brute Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 0 --(29)--> 29 Fail Inventory Clutter 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 0 --(29)--> 29 Fail Acupressure Guide 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 0 --(29)--> 29 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Billy Lee Black 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Conditions: Collapse Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1)|Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Billy Lee Black has failed this challenge! The party gained 15 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> Billy Lee Black has posed.
Billy's expert mastery of Blast Jumps is, of course, also a skill he learned from the Ethos, and definitely not something he was taught by a dangerous man in a trenchcoat.
Unfortunately, neither one taught him how to handle strong winds, which is why some seconds after he vaults forward, he tumbles back down, ass-over-teakettle, achieving approximately negative ten meters of progress.
Unfortunately, the others fair similarly, with the biting cold slicing through even Fei's boiling chi, even after Citan's minor adjustment. And the cookies....the cookies are already cold and hard....
Billy makes a sound like "buhhh" and forces himself up to his feet, pushing up against the snow with his hands. "Well, I guess that's why we're not using Gears," he says, attempting to swat some snow off himself to absolutely no results. "Oh, cookies!"
DG: Citan Uzuki has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>=============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Narrow Ice Paths *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come to a chasm. No switchbacks seem to lead down -- nor do you spot any on the other side leading up. There are, however, thick cones of ice that reach across the chasm. Some may be brittle, but some look sturdy enough to let you shimmy across. Nonetheless, they are very slippery -- and a fall could be very perilous indeed. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Wound==============================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
The going, as it were, is not particularly great. It's bitingly cold, in spite of their attempts to migitate or overcome the weather, and while they're not at risk (for now) of suffering serious long-term consequences from the arctic temperatures (they have among them three people who can produce some sort of flame if it comes down to it) it doesn't mean that their passage is easy... or indeed, even a certain thing.
Eventually they make their way up what appears to be the path and find themselves facing a chasm. There is no obvious sign of another route, or indeed, that something as vital as a bridge had once been here. The only way across is...
"Hmm," Citan muses, investigating one of the frozen cones of ice. "These appear to be solid. But, crossing these would be... ah, now there is an idea..."
And he produces after a moment of digging in his bag a shining blue sphere. "Perhaps if I were to manipulate the surface slightly..."
The most he might be able to do is add a little more surface area: the sphere he has only makes more ice, rather than permits control over its shape. Still, a wider bridge area might mean that it's a little less likely they'll fall.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Macalania Sphere toward his party's challenge, Narrow Ice Paths.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"... Billy, please warn us before you do things like that... jumpy thing," Elly tells Billy before giving him his cookie. Fortunately, the frosting means it's at least tasty while frozen.
Forward they go. Upwards. Elly ends up snuggling up to Fei as he radiates warmth like some sort of semi-mythological monk. And, you know, in general.
When they reach the chasm, Elly purses her lips - and then shifts round, unshouldering a bag and setting it down with a 'clank.'
"I figured, after all of the times that I did this kind of thing with fishing line, I should just go ahead and do this one for real," Elly tells the others. The bag is opened to reveal--
PITONS!
And...
ROPE!
Like five hundred feet of that gray tight-wound rope you can get in Shevat, which feels sort of like silk and is way thinner than usual rope. It's closer to the weird cables you can sometimes get from ARM-based manufactories.
"I don't think we need a lot of these since they're just for safety," Elly tells the others while putting a piton in the ice well back from where Citan is filling in gaps and cracks. "But better safe than sorry..."
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Climbing Pack toward her party's challenge, Narrow Ice Paths.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei gets a CHI adjustment and...yeah it doesn't work. Maybe wear a sweater, Fei.
"Th.th.th.thanks Doc." Fei stammers anyway because he loves Doc too much to admit that he's still freezing. He winces though when Citan says Billy takes after his dad. Maybe that relationship is mended now? It's hard to know for sure. Fei is honestly juts glad that his own dad isn't Grahf or something. He was seriously worried about that but no! Grahf is someone else, and probably just KILLED his dad.
Wait, that's not much better. Ugh.
He sees a path of icicles and he says, "Er...Yeah, I htink I'll wait for that," He admits to Citan before looking to Elly, smiling, and giving her a one armed hug.
It helps with the chill. FOR NOW.
Fei naturaly tries jumping around a bit to get a feel for how far he can jump before--
--trying to jump it. After Tower of Babel, this honestly doesn't seem so bad.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Narrow Ice Paths.
<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.
"Ah? Oh, sorry." Billy chuckles lightly, scratching the back of his head. "I guess I forget I'm traveling with a group now, sometimes...it's quite a useful skill, though."
He looks up at the imposing mountain. "When the wind isn't against you, I guess."
Billy probably has some kind of heating element in that coat of his somewhere. Symbological, maybe? He doesn't seem too out of sorts, anyway. He does, however, contemplate the ice with visible uncertainty. "Ah...Hm."
Before he has to just attempt to yeet himself across a chasm like a maniac, though, Elly produces pitons and rope. "Ah, excellent," he says, because he did not have a plan B. Or A, for that matter.
DG: Billy Lee Black has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Narrow Ice Paths.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>=============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Narrow Ice Paths *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come to a chasm. No switchbacks seem to lead down -- nor do you spot any on the other side leading up. There are, however, thick cones of ice that reach across the chasm. Some may be brittle, but some look sturdy enough to let you shimmy across. Nonetheless, they are very slippery -- and a fall could be very perilous indeed. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Wound==============================================
=========================<* Mount Gagazet - Round 2 *>========================== =========================< Results - Narrow Ice Paths >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billy Lee Black 29 --(4)--> 33 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 29 --(0)--> 29 Pass Climbing Pack 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 29 --(0)--> 29 Pass Macalania Sphere 3 Agility Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 29 --(0)--> 29 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Billy Lee Black 15 --(20)--> 35 Pass Conditions: Slow(2)|Wound(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Billy Lee Black has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Mount Gagazet *>============================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Bandersnatch Pack *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Your path leads you into a narrow valley, with high ridges on each side. As you walk, you hear baying -- and then black and red furred, hound-like monsters run through. They leap down, snarling. Sharp fangs bite at you, as fiends known as Bandersnatches leap down on you from above. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Injure============================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
It works out well, all told -- between filling in the cracks and presenting more of a smooth surface for the lot of them to cross and Elly adding the all-important rope and pitons (but not too many; it's just as a precaution in case of the worst)...
Well, it's fairly smooth sailing as it were.
Fei's able to hop what gaps do remain (and some jumping is a necessity at points, as this or that icicle becomes too perilous to continue across) with ease and catch Elly when she follows to lay down more of the safety equipment (Citan himself has no difficulty with the jumps).
But there's one critical point when they're close to the other side when a previously unseen bit of icy surface gives way--
And Billy slips. He's able to catch himself on a length of rope, but all it does is prevent him from falling further into the abyss.
"Billy! Take my hand!"
Until Citan reaches down to grab his free hand and haul him up.
"Goodness... that was close," the doctor sighs, once the danger is past and they're on the other side of the chasm. "One moment more and..." He shakes his head, as if unwilling to contemplate it further.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
He's shivering...
Elly is too busy working with ropes and little piton thingies to remark on much on the matter. She leaves the pitons behind once they cross, gasping in shock when Billy almost takes a tumble. But Dr. Uzuki is there.
And soon enough they get on the other side.
"I think I'm going to leave it all there, in case anyone comes up behind us," Elly says, looking at the improved* ice bridge.
After this, Elly looks, first, to Fei. She unbuttons her coat and slides it off - fortunately she has a cable-knit sweater beneath. The coat is summarily put over Fei's shoulders. "I am going to make you pick out a coat from the Karlsefni once we get back there," Elly tells Fei, already making more fog with her breath than she did before. "Once you've warmed up some, you can give it back, if you like..."
And then... Elly approaches Billy.
She puts a hand on his shoulder. "... I'm sorry to be so direct as this," Elly tells him, "but I want to ask you, Billy, before we move on. Are you alright? If you need us to slow down," over Elly's shoulder several Bandersnatches land in the snowy path ahead with a 'pap paff' and look around.
"Or to take a break, or anything, please say so. We promised Tidus that we would be able to help Yuna and her people if they got into a jam, but we didn't have a schedule to beat. I'm just worrying..." The Bandersnatches look around, seem to spot Elly, and approach, clearly fixated on a large red object that smells like a prey animal.
"And, if I'm really being out of line, then tell me -- is something...?" A Bandersnatch leaps towards Elly!
*COMBAT BEGINS*
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool One Woman's Stout Iron Rod toward her party's challenge, Bandersnatch Pack.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong says, "Hey it's okay," to Billy. "Growing pains. It's all good. I'm just glad--" That he's here? Well, kind of, but it feels a bit rude to the orphans all the same. "--That you're around." That feels appropriately like, not TOO exuberant about it.
BILLY FALLS AHHH.
Oh Citan's got him.
Oh thank doc. "Whew, that was a close one. Guess you're a lifesaver in more than one way now, hey Doc?" He cracks a smile. "Too bad we can't take a break here." It's way too cold for that.
Elly starts unbuttoning her coat. Fei's eyes widen in protest. "Oh hey--no, come on." He says. "You need to start warm I can... light myself on fire that usually works."
But Elly assures him he can give it back to her later. "Okay... Don't let me forget and hold onto it for too long."
AND THEN A HOUND.
Fei is too cold to reach for his RPS badge but it doesn't stop him from trying to fight InSCISSORS with his ROCK HARD feet. Which he does by trying to kick the Bandersnatches in the face.
"Hey back off! We're having a moment!" He shouts.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Bandersnatch Pack.
<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.
Billy slips to his extremely inevitrable demise!!
Fortunately, he was holding on to Elly's extremely good pitons and ropes, so he ends up dangling over the abyss instead of falling directly into it. "Hnk!!" he grunts, the muscles in his torso screaming in protest at the sudden jerk. He tries to pull himself up!! But!! It's a difficult task!!
Citan intervenes to reach, and Billy is able to swing himself to catch on and accept the hand up. He slumps hard against the solid ground, huffing for frozen breath. He puts a hand to his chest, unmistakably praying after that near miss.
"I'm fine," he says, starting to stand. And then Elly approaches, and his eyes cut to the side, a little uncomfortably and far more evasively than the young man typically acts. "It's...it's fine. I'm not used to ice, is all. It's better if we spend as little time here as possible."
His eyes cut up, past her, and he barks, "Incoming!" and pushes past Elly while failing to discuss his feelings (he really is like his father, some days) and throws his arms forward, the Ether guns in each sleeve sliding out and allowing him to open up on the beasts with blasts of fire.
DG: Billy Lee Black has used his Tool Ether Rifle toward his party's challenge, Bandersnatch Pack.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
With a grunt, the doctor hauls Billy one-handedly up and over the edge. He keeps watch on him from behind as they advance to the other side of the crevasse.
"It is an unusual environment," Citan remarks once they're safely over, eyeing Billy for the moment, as if to assess whether he is actually fine or just saying that. "Still, perhaps a brief pause may be in order? Let us see if we can find or make a shelter. We should attempt to get our bear-- Elly! Look out!"
The warning may not come soon enough. As Fei and Billy go on the offensive, the doctor falls into a supportive role, drawing out the ambient water Ether about them in a faint and barely distinguishable rippling wave of healing energies.
DG: Citan Uzuki has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Bandersnatch Pack.
=============================<* Mount Gagazet *>============================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Bandersnatch Pack *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Your path leads you into a narrow valley, with high ridges on each side. As you walk, you hear baying -- and then black and red furred, hound-like monsters run through. They leap down, snarling. Sharp fangs bite at you, as fiends known as Bandersnatches leap down on you from above. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Injure============================================
========================<* Mount Gagazet - Round 3 *>========================= =======================< Results - Bandersnatch Pack >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Billy Lee Black 33 --(0)--> 33 Pass Ether Rifle 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 29 --(0)--> 29 Pass One Woman's Stout Iron Rod 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Citan Uzuki 29 --(17)--> 46 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 29 --(0)--> 29 Pass RPS Badge 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Billy Lee Black 35 --(20)--> 55 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Slow(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Billy Lee Black 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> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
DOG!
Fei advances past them and gives the canid Fiend a swift kick in the jaw, which since the animal was in midair causes it to actually do a completely preposterous 270-degree flip and slam into a dusting of ancient snow. The Fiend is briefly stymied at this turn of events. Very few people expect Fei Fong Wong.
Another Bandersnatch surges forwards just in time to get repeatedly perforated. Elly brings herself upright at the third Bandersnatch, having hung back to let its friends, which it perhaps never liked, get the lay of the land...
Vaults upwards -
Elly dives out of the way of the pounce!
The bandersnatch skids out on the smooth floor, moving round as if to make another leap, but the slope is against it and Elly braces herself with her climbing staff (iron, with leather wrappings to avoid, you know, freezing to it). It snaps at Citan and -
- slides back down into the crevasse.
The two remaining Fiends erupt into Pyreflies.
"... Oh, my heavens, I didn't even... thank you, Billy. I'm sorry, my OWN head's just a little fuzzy after... everything. Come on, um, I hope we're getting near the top...!"
DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Mount Gagazet *>============================== ==========================<* CHALLENGE - Bivouac *>=========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The weather on Mount Gagazet is unpredictable and unforgiving. Gale force winds blow in suddenly, and when they do, snow and freezing rain begin pelting you on the side of the mountain. The winds are strong enough that they could blow you right off the side of the mountain. You will need to find shelter -- and secure yourselves and your things -- or the wind will blow you right off the mountain. =Dungeon Conditions: Madness, Exhaust=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
MOUNT...GAGAZET...
Is it actually really unpredictable weather when the range seems to be 'freezing cold' to 'even more freezing cold and also wet'? Nevertheless, the winds suddenly hitting the party ARE sudden and the rain IS new. Fei brings up his bag full of his art supplies and holds it forward, trying to move ahead and just BLOCK some of the rain. It doesn't really work.
But he TRIES at least
"This is really cold!" Fei shouts. "Ack some water got in my mouth. Ack...!"
He hacks and coughs for a bit.
"Okay... Okay. Uh." He pauses. "We need to find ... something to keep going here..."
He looks around. "Or at least to bunker down until... Doc do you have any ideas??"
Please don't look for him for expertise on this subject.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Medical Tricorder Fei Somehow Knows How To Use toward his party's challenge, Bivouac.
<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.
Billy stows his weapons as the beasts erupt into pyreflies. "You're welcome," he says to Elly, and manages his more familiar smile.
And soon...the insistence on finding a shelter becomes more of a necessity, as the wind and rain pick up to levels that might set them all flying. Billy's coat nearly parachutes him completely off the side, forcing him to hunker down to his knees to resist the winds. He covers what he can of his face with the coat, reaching in to produce a familiar small book, which he flips open briefly. "We need to find shelter! The winds will slack off in time!" he calls, tucking the gospel back away. "This can't be the first group that's come this way! There will be something nearby, I think!" A chipped-out cavern, perhaps - something! Sadly, Billy does not have a cool Ethos tent.
DG: Billy Lee Black has used his Tool Gospel of Granasi toward his party's challenge, Bivouac.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"That was... unexpected," the doctor admits, shaking his head. "Though, perhaps, it should have been? We must be more careful. Let us not stand about here. There may be more of them about," he says, and it seems for a time as if the idea of attempting to set up camp and take a breather, as it were, to get stock of where they are and figure out where they might head, has fallen by the wayside.
It's a shame that there doesn't seem to be a map.
But the wind picks up, and with it ice and even freezing rain. Before long they're really struggling as they attempt to ascend the path, and then--
He grabs onto Fei's shoulder as the younger man hacks and coughs, grim. Citan shakes his head.
"Fei-- Elly, Billy, we cannot continue on like this! We must-- yes, indeed! How about over there?" he says, pointing at a spot in the lee of the wind. It's not much of a shelter on its own, though, even with the break it provides from the wind. Hurrying over towards it, the doctor sets down his bag and after some rummaging produces--
*A tarp, waterproofed and intended to sit under some mechanical work.
*A hammer
*One of Elly's pitons, reclaimed on the sly earlier (?!)
It's not a very big tarp. It's not a very heavy one, either. But it's better than nothing, when set up at a diagonal from the rock that shelters them from the wind.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Just The Right Tool toward his party's challenge, Bivouac.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly breathes in and breathes out again, tilting her head against the feeling of *water* coming down now. Ugh! Snow was easier. You can brush off snow. But this is worse. Fei coughs in a way that subtly alarms her.
Elly's arms come round to hug herself for a moment-- before a realization overtakes her.
In a place like this...
Elly moves towards the somewhat less 'directly getting the wind over it' side of the pathway and slaps her palm against the stone itself. The tarp isthere, the tarp will help, the tarp may give them space, but -
Elly squeezes her eyes shut and she pushes outwards. Ether tenses. Curdles. Mt. Gagazet is powerful - ancient - holy -- and what is more, made out of very DENSE stone. And so what Elly makes looks more like a scoop in the side of the ancient stone, widening it in a sort of 'bowl on its side' shape, adding an extra few precious square feet of space.
At which point she sort of curls up and climbs into that space. There is not much else to do. It would seem that in the face of this wind, they may have to cling together.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Bivouac.
=============================<* Mount Gagazet *>============================== ==========================<* CHALLENGE - Bivouac *>=========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The weather on Mount Gagazet is unpredictable and unforgiving. Gale force winds blow in suddenly, and when they do, snow and freezing rain begin pelting you on the side of the mountain. The winds are strong enough that they could blow you right off the side of the mountain. You will need to find shelter -- and secure yourselves and your things -- or the wind will blow you right off the mountain. =Dungeon Conditions: Madness, Exhaust=========================================
========================<* Mount Gagazet - Round 4 *>========================= ============================< Results - Bivouac >============================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Billy Lee Black 33 --(32)--> 65 Fail Gospel of Granasi 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 29 --(32)--> 61 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Citan Uzuki 46 --(12)--> 58 Pass Just The Right Tool 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 29 --(32)--> 61 Fail Medical Tricorder Fei Somehow Knows 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Billy Lee Black 55 --(15)--> 70 Fail Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Injure(1)|Madness|Wound(1) Effects: Cleanse ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Billy Lee Black has failed this challenge! The party gained 15 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> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Yeah...it...isn't going well.
Fei is practically soaking wet and covered in snow and, well, it isn't too different from anyone else. Billy nearly falls to his death for the second time today but is able to juuuust stabilize himself.
Elly has trouble carving open a nice space to curl into, even, but luckily--The Doctor has a tarp.
It's better than nothing. It keeps the group from being flung off the mountain or freezing to death. It's still COLD but... It's a moment to recollect themselves before they're able to move on.
Eventually the wind dies down. Eventually.
DG: Citan Uzuki has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>=============================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Clearing Rock Slides *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Your path up the mountain is halted by a place where a massive rock slide has fallen down. Boulders and pebbles, in artless piles, completely block the narrow ridge ahead. No way around it seems possible, and climbing over it is perilous, for a layer of ice makes it slippery... and broken edges make the rocks that poke through jagged. In the thin mountain air, you will need to break it apart -- and, hopefully, not cause an avalanche in so doing. =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm, Weaken========================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
It's still cold. There's only enough space for all of them, under that tarp, and they're forced to more or less huddle together.
But they make it through it. Eventually the wind dies down, eventually ice stops pelting the tarp. Citan cleans up their extremely makeshift campsite and repacks his things as best they're able.
But they're still not even close to the top of the mountain, and this itself is a problem. Will they be able to make it, or will they be forced to turn back?
Or... worse than that? This has been an ill-omened expedition, the doctor privately reflects, but he's for now unwilling to speak his misgivings aloud.
This isn't over just yet, after all.
And they've found a path again. Perhaps this will prove to be--
"Ah," Citan remarks as they crest the next rise. There's a problem ahead in the form of a rockslide. "It appears we have trouble," he remarks, looking this way and that. There's no way around it. And climbing over it seems dangerous. Unless they wish to backtrack -- and risk running into another storm on the way down -- they will have to...
He's pulled out that book of his again, glove stuffed in a pocket as he rifles through the pages. "Hmm..."
And then he strides forward, jabbing a finger at a particular point in the piled rock.
"We will want to move out of the way shortly, I believe," he remarks.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Acupressure Guide toward his party's challenge, Clearing Rock Slides.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
They are, at least, somewhat warmer when the gust passes. And Elly's sweater has managed to dry out partway. Everyone also gets to find out that Elly used some kind of rose-camellia scented wash in her hair or something like that, but this is probably better than smelling like chocobos.
And when they move up...
"Doctor..." Elly says, as she reaches into her bag again, drawing out what Fei would recognize as a Lucky Chocobo Pattern Fortune Amulet from the man selling garbage at the end of a chocobo ride, "is it... going to start running downhill?" She seems to have the tone of one who hopes for a good outcome, yet expects a bad one.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Inventory Clutter toward her party's challenge, Clearing Rock Slides. DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Bart Jr Doll toward his party's challenge, Clearing Rock Slides.
<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.
Billy nearly goes tumbling off to the side, but this is Filgaia and like everybody has a 'teetering on the edge of a cliff' animation so it's nbd, really, ultimately.
He does however huddle up under the tarp along with everyone else. Even whatever Ethos sorcery he's using to keep himself warm is having trouble keeping up with all THIS. He shivers. "Quick thinking, everyone," he says.
Soon enough, the winds fade, and they clean up their impromptu camp. "To think, the mountains get this treacherous...I don't think Filgaia even has anywhere this cold anymore."
Onwards, they go, but are soon obstructed by a collapse they can't really climb or pass. "We can't stay here for long," Billy notes. "The winds can still pick up in this area, I think." At least, he's seen nothing obvious to say they can't. Citan pokes a rock to release its....momentum....chakra....? Is that how that works? He's unfamiliar with the practice. Billy has a more technological solution.
The technological solution is him producing a blasting package, which he drops next to the rockslide and then steps back. "Ah, watch your ears," he advises, because he is a good boy.
Then he sets it off with a Fire ether blast.
DG: Billy Lee Black has used his Tool Blasting Charge toward his party's challenge, Clearing Rock Slides.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>=============================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Clearing Rock Slides *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Your path up the mountain is halted by a place where a massive rock slide has fallen down. Boulders and pebbles, in artless piles, completely block the narrow ridge ahead. No way around it seems possible, and climbing over it is perilous, for a layer of ice makes it slippery... and broken edges make the rocks that poke through jagged. In the thin mountain air, you will need to break it apart -- and, hopefully, not cause an avalanche in so doing. =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm, Weaken========================================
=========================<* Mount Gagazet - Round 5 *>========================== =======================< Results - Clearing Rock Slides >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billy Lee Black 65 --(5)--> 70 Pass Blasting Charge 2 Brute Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 61 --(17)--> 78 Fail Inventory Clutter 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 58 --(17)--> 75 Fail Acupressure Guide 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 61 --(5)--> 66 Pass Bart Jr Doll 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Billy Lee Black 70 --(20)--> 90 Pass Conditions: Overwhelm|Weaken(2) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1)|Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Billy Lee Black 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> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Only in a select few places, now," Citan answers Billy. Really, only in the lands around Sielje and Arctica, anymore...
But they break camp without incident and proceed along the path that presents itself, only to be faced with an obstacle in the form of that enormous pile of rock.
"Hmm?" he answers Elly, turning his head her way. "It should... Given this angle, its probable weight... we would be best served moving well out of the way." Just in case some of it kicks about some; once objects like this are in motion, there's no telling where, precisely, they're about to end up.
His attempt to unbalance the rock pile leads to nothing much happening. At least, nothing that anyone can see. Tugging his glove back on, Citan shakes his head. "I am afraid this will require more force to budge. They are locked together quite tightly," he remarks, eyeing Billy as he brings out the explosives... and as Fei provides a little more concussive force to particularly recalictrant parts of the blockage.
"Is that a lucky charm, Elly?" he remarks, on the sidelines.
The pile moves once the detonations start without incident.
Perhaps fortune is in their favor, after all.
DG: Billy Lee Black has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>=============================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Into Thin Air *>========================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come to a mountain ledge on the other side of Mount Gagazet. From here, it is a simple climb downward -- there are even stairs carved into the stone, to help -- and you have sight of the end of the summoner's journey: Zanarkand. Its ruined spires tower in the distance, though a smaller peak is between you and the bulk of the ruined city. That one, at least, has a cave. But then you hear it: a massive, terrible rumble. Then, you look up to see a huge wall of snow, ice, and boulders pouring down. An avalanche is falling straight for you. =Dungeon Conditions: Cripple==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.
The pile clears out without too much trouble, blessedly; Billy tucks his gun away. "Well, that worked out quite well," Billy says, brightly.
They come to the final ledge, and Billy steps up to it, the wind seeming to choose a fateful moment to slack off. Ruined spires, towers long-since fallen in the distance...
"Lord..." he breathes, shocked to awe. "Given how everything else about the Pilgrimage goes I half expected...I don't know, something else." One of Rin's rest stops, at least. But no; Gagazet seems to be the boundary and barrier of such comforts.
Well, at least one kindness remains: Stairs. This he accepts with gladness, making his way forward cautiously but without too much fear of plummeting into forever.
Until the rumbling starts. Billy stops, feeling a fully beyond-thermal cold run down his veins, and half-turns to stare.
"Avalanche!" he yelps, and then turns and RUNS because WHAT ELSE DO YOU DO REALLY
DG: Billy Lee Black has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Into Thin Air.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei recognizes the chocobo charm and allows himself a small smile--
--but then, the ledge. Fei looks down. "Oh thank god." Fei says. "STairs."
He breathes a little easy and says, "I guess that it's all downhill from here, haha... Nothing more to worry about--"
He startsr clambering down when--
"...Aw geeze." Fei mutters. He looks to Billy but accidentally sees the snow coming down and just books it instead.
"I spoke too soon!" HE says. "I relaxed too soon! I'm sorry everyone! I'm sorry!!"
He rushes down as quickly as he can!!
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Into Thin Air.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Yes, it seems so," Citan answers Billy, before they pass through the now cleared gap and ascend...
To the other side of the mountain. "My goodness, now this is quite the view!" the doctor exclaims, shielding his eyes as he squints into the distance. "I wonder if I might not... ah, but now is hardly the time," he sighs, regretting that this is not precisely the place to practice his photography chops. After all, they're exhausted, still cold, and there's a long flight of stairs down awaiting them.
"It is a fortunate thing that there are steps carved into the mountainside here. And clear, at that! I suppose they must tend to such things for the Summoners," he remarks, having taken perhaps only a few steps down.
And then the rumbling starts.
"No! An avalanche!" he cries out. At first he starts to run, taking the stairs a few at a time. But he remembers something and draws out again that softly shining orb.
The stairs are transformed into a sheet of ice. Which makes them more slide than stairs. But at least this way, as they slip downwards, they might be able to outpace the falling sheet of snow.
"Take my hand!"
Unfortunately he only has the one to spare -- the other he'll need to continue to use the sphere.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Macalania Sphere toward his party's challenge, Into Thin Air.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"It is," Elly answers Citan, with a small smile. "I bought it before we came back here. It was a fun little shop..."
And then, as they reach the crest...
"Oh!! Oh, it's so beautiful - even from here... It... It's like the capital but it's spread out, on the ground," Elly says, shading her eyes. "From what Tidus said... Dr. Uzuki, whatever else Zanarkand maybe, it might be the largest intact city on the surface of either..."
rumble
Thunder? Elly hopes it's thunder.
IT ISN'T.
Elly starts running down the stairs with the others, staring at the steps before her. After around step #200 she feels one foot jerk slightly out of true and starts chanting something under her breath which Citan at least can recognize: "-don't trip, don't trip, don't trip, don't trip-"
Then the stairs turn to ice. Elly immediately topples forwards, but the sweater makes it so that she can penguin-toboggan downwards, wailing in dismay all the way!!
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Into Thin Air.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>=============================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Into Thin Air *>========================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come to a mountain ledge on the other side of Mount Gagazet. From here, it is a simple climb downward -- there are even stairs carved into the stone, to help -- and you have sight of the end of the summoner's journey: Zanarkand. Its ruined spires tower in the distance, though a smaller peak is between you and the bulk of the ruined city. That one, at least, has a cave. But then you hear it: a massive, terrible rumble. Then, you look up to see a huge wall of snow, ice, and boulders pouring down. An avalanche is falling straight for you. =Dungeon Conditions: Cripple==================================================
=========================<* Mount Gagazet - Round 6 *>========================== ==========================< Results - Into Thin Air >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billy Lee Black 70 --(101)--> 171 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 78 --(101)--> 179 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 75 --(101)--> 176 Fail Macalania Sphere 3 Agility Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 66 --(101)--> 167 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Billy Lee Black 90 --(15)--> 105 Fail Conditions: Cripple Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: Billy Lee Black is too exhausted to continue! DG: Elhaym van Houten is too exhausted to continue! DG: Citan Uzuki is too exhausted to continue! DG: Fei Fong Wong is too exhausted to continue! DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Billy Lee Black has successfully explored Mount Gagazet!
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>=============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Defending Bracer *>======================= |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you make your way towards the cave leading to Zanarkand, you see something in the snow: a woven steel-and-bronze bracer, with a slot for a sphere. This bracer has magical enchantments in it that can enhance one's defense, especially against magical effects. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.
The group TEARS OFF down the mountainside. Elly tumbles down and sort of belly slides down, which works out for her quite nicely. When Citan transforms the stairs into a ramp, Billy hops down, bruises his tailbone, and proceeds to slam into every wall on the way down, but at least he does get down.
Fei, despite being obviously at fault for an act of nature, has no significant issues.
Billy ends up inside the cavern looking somewhat like he would like a nap and a hug, but, small mercies: a small cache of enchanted bracers has tumbled open nearby, and by Drifter Law, if you can form a secure grip on it you are technically allowed to keep it. "Well," Billy mumbles, shaking his heat and then grunting, grabbing at his neck. "Kh. I guess that counts as a successful navigation."
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Good heavens," Citan remarks, once they've more or less 'landed' and gotten their bearings. "I hope that I never have need to try that again! Is everyone all right?" This may be a rhetorical question because, honestly, no, not really after all of that. But they're in one piece and still able to move so that's something.
"Perhaps we should make camp nearby," he suggests. And likely try to connect with Leon's group, because they ought to reconvene after that.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Fei quietly, holds out the jacket Elly gave him and shakes it off. "I'm not sure this is gonna be much help for a while," He admits mournfully.
"At the very least," He adds. "I can get a fire going. That'd be nice." He gets ro rubbing his hands together to get them warm again.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
As she comes back to the others from where her slide has concluded (namely, a snowdrift), Elly is shaking snow out of her hair as best she can before it becomes wet hair, and thence, well, it's a small cavern. That would be rude to everyone else.
"It would be very nice," Elly says to Fei. She gives Billy another small smile. To Citan, she answers, "Just a little scuffed... ...I can see why it deters so many people."
I wonder if 'she' would have made this climb, Elly thinks.
'She' may not have fallen over so much, either, Elly muses.
Elly is incorrect.