2021-07-08: Climb Towards the Future

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  • Log: Climb Towards the Future
  • Cast: Loren Voss, Seraphita, Lan Lilac, Azoth
  • Where: Mount Gagazet
  • Date: July 08, 2021
  • Summary: While searching for Azoth, Seraphita and Loren find an unexpected party member.

==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>===============================

This snow-covered series of peaks is the northernmost location on Spira... save one, whose name is not to be mentioned. It represents the last settled land on a Summoner's Pilgrimage... and, for many Summoners, its end as well.

Mount Gagazet has been christened as a holy place by Yevon, and as a holy land it has guardians in the form of the Ronso - fierce fur-clas Beastmen with powerful bodies and a single, spikelike horn atop their head. Ronso are known for three things - their raw power; a deep, abiding faith in Yevon's teachings; and strange techniques which allow them to copy the fiends' way of fighting.

They also like Blitzball. Because who doesn't.

BGM: Final Fantasy X - Servants of the Mountain
DG: You need to be in a party to load Tools.
DG: A party led by Loren Voss 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> Loren Voss has posed.

    Loren had thought that Macalania was pretty bad, as far as low temperature extremes went. Surely, this was the worst that it could get in Spira.

    He had been completely, woefully wrong on that front.

    There had been a rumor about how bad it got on Mount Gagazet from a few of the recon guys, but he'd figured it wasn't his problem -- it wasn't like they needed to climb the mountain. If they needed to get around, surely there were other options.

    But then one of their assets (re: Azoth) had not returned from an excursion to the region. And the higher-ups apparently did want to investigate if there was any viable route across the mountain. Worse: it must actually be important because he's been tapped to accompany one of the Elements.

    Worse still: it's absolutely freezing. He'd layered up, but that wind that's come rolling down the mountain makes him seriously entertain turning around and leaving.

    Except then that's his ass on the line for insubordination and the rest of it.

    So instead the young officer, fumbling in his pocket for a particular smooth stone (not that he can feel its texture precisely through the glove but if he squeezes it in his fist hard enough he can feel its pressure and that has to be good enough) and tries to focus, drawing Ether up through him as if he's become a conduit. He has to tough this one out, or...

DG: Loren Voss has used his Tool Worry Stone toward his party's challenge, Into the Cold.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.

The Element assigned to come along with Loren (or vice versa) isn't Tolone, even though it might make some sense to deploy someone immune to frostbite on a mountain; it isn't Kelvina, who might be able to do something with the snow; and it isn't Dominia, whose roots are already deep as a mountain.

It's Seraphita, Element of Fire. And one thing is very clear about this: Solaris has finally, finally found something that convinces Seraphita to put some god damned pants on.

More than that: she is entirely dressed for warmth despite being able to produce flame with a flick of her finger. She has a long Solarian coat, a sturdy Solarian pair of boots, a thick pair of Solarian gloves, and... an extremely out-of-place bobble toque that is definitely *not* Solarian.

It is pink. The bobble is also pink. Neither is the same pink as her hair, or her ears, which don't fit under it.

Seraphita had a busy week after a bad operation but she's still showing her usual amount of cheer and energy: far too much of both, though in this case the constant movements probably help keep her warm.

"Wow! It's really cold! Why is it this cold here?" she asks the air, loudly, from about ten feet away from Loren. "Home isn't this cold and it's up higher!" Seraphita rubs her gloved hands together and completely fails to light anything on fire at this point. She still radiates heat. It's not enough to fight the chill single-handedly but it's helping. Falling snow doesn't settle on her.

DG: Seraphita has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Into the Cold.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    In the end, she'd had to wait to hitch a ride down Babel.

    Unlike Gwen and most people who range further north than Lan's travels usually take her, the Baskar girl isn't particularly well-suited to the cold... and hasn't really had a reason to buy new cold-weather clothes until now. She's hoping that a pair of wool pants and a coat on top of her usual adventuring togs will be enough. It's not like she has a lot of experience with snow, but the folks she'd talked to before starting her trek up the mountain had maintained that it was going to be a long journey, and the more layers she had on the better.

    So Lan had added a sweater and even purchased some boots and socks and gloves. It's literally the most clothing Lan has ever worn in her entire life. That's surely enough, right?!

    Spoiler: it is not enough clothes.

    Well it's fine, right? She has to get up there, and if she keeps moving her temperature will stay up. As long as her clothes stay dry Lan ought to be fine. It's a shame she left all of her things behind when she fled Damzena Base. That ring would have really been good to have now...

    Well, it doesn't matter. She doesn't have it now.

    Ahead of them, further up the slope's path, someone with long, pale hair is braving the road alone.

DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Into the Cold.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Mercifully for Loren, the missing asset part of his scouting mission is about to solve itself.

Azoth was not trying to be uncooperative. That was a lie -- he was constantly, desperately trying to find every loophole and exploit that would allow him to be uncooperative. But in this particular instance, he hadn't found it. It was his objectives, as given to him by Solaris, that drove his behavior.

Odd as it was.

"User Loren. User Seraphita," Azoth greets, and he makes no other attempt to announce himself. He is just THERE, in the snow, suddenly moving where he wasn't moving at all, otherwise blending in with the lifeless, cold environment.

He catches sight of the stone in Loren's hands, and his eyes brighten.

"...Objective re-prioritizing. Providing assistance in current mission. Input request-- ed."

For as robotic as his voice is, it still faces the strange interruption. He looks up the path, eyes giving a whirr as he zooms in, and then taken on an even brighter glow. Azoth hurries away from the two of them toward Lan, his core temperature rising rapidly, with a Gebler photon hilt in his hand as he siphons the power from it for himself.

"Lan." Not 'subject Lan', though his voice remains as monotone and robotic as it was for Loren and Seraphita. "This is not your optimal environment. I will operate at a high core temperature. Permission to maintain close proximity granted."

DG: Azoth has used his Tool Falk's Photon Blade 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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loren Voss                          0 --(12)--> 12                 Pass
Worry Stone                         2   Brute   Effects: Stalwart             
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Azoth                               0 --(12)--> 12                 Pass
Falk's Photon Blade                 3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraphita                           0 --(24)--> 24                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           0 --(24)--> 24                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Loren Voss                  0 --(15)--> 15                 Fail
Conditions: Collapse
Effects: 
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Loren Voss 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.
DG: Lan Lilac has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>===============================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Ever-Changing Landscape *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Before you set out, a Ronso provided some advice about an ice field on the    
 slopes. The ice field has large pillars of ice that make a maze, which is     
 dangerous to cross. It seems that your advice on how to move through it,      
 though, is potentially obsolete. You see that an avalance has fallen through  
 it, and spilled through the maze-like paths through the ice. You will need    
 to navigate it, carefully, and not lose your way. The notes you were given    
 might help.                                                                   
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Wound===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    "How should I-- er," Loren stutters, reorienting himself from 'distractedly crabby' over to 'in the vicinity of appropriate address towards a superior officer' in a heartbeat, "Well... ma'am, I don't know. Something about... atmospheric currents?"

    He pauses, squinting as he gazes up at the mountain. "Or maybe it's just magic. ---Gah!"

    That's one problem solved, though it just about makes him jump in the solving of it. Azoth, at least, is one asset that's no longer unaccounted for. But that means they still have to complete surveillance.

    "Maybe you should use some fi-- actually, no, that's a bad idea," Loren corrects, aware of the fact that they should try to keep a low(ish) profile. Seraphita meanwhile will find that her low-key use of her power at least staves off the worst impact of the cold, if not the sensation altogether. It's going to be a difficult slog, even with her bright-pink hat.

    "You're functioning okay, right?" he asks of Azoth, and there's a pause here when he's asked for his input. "Well... we're currently..." He trails off.

    There's someone ahead of them in the cold, blurred at this distance by a puff of snow plucked off the mountainside. Loren can tell two things: they're not really dressed for the weather and they have long blonde hair.

    He's already thinking it but Azoth says it first. He's not sure whether he should be mad about this, upset about this, or completely unsurprised about this. He's... he's cursed. That's the only explanation.

    And then the figure trips.

    Azoth is on the case; Loren manages to conquer the elements (for now) and arrives at delay.

    "Why," is his only remark to her, once he catches up.

<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    It's strange enough to walk on snow. Loren might remember how she'd seemed so uncertain on her feet in Sielje whenever they'd walked through the stuff. For a girl who can run so easily on sand, snow is still a relative unknown.

    Particularly when her foot, encased in uncomfortable leather, catches on a rock that's frozen in place and sends her tipping into a snowdrift with a shrill squawk and the whumpf of snow compressing.

    Lan is pulling herself back to her feet when she hears her name called. "Huh-?" Oh thank goodness, even if the cold is miserable and the trek's going to be long, at least she might have company on the way--!

    "Oh, Az...oth." And Loren. And that Element, the one Lan is pretty sure is named Seraphita, according to base gossip. It's not too late. She can still run...

    ...Except that the way forward is an entire field of slippery ice, and why does it stand up in pillars like that? She knew it was going to, but still just seeing it makes her want to stare like a little kid. She looks out across the vastness of the ice plain with palpable dismay as Azoth catches up with her, the snow already starting to melt around his feet. "...Are you...?" she begins to ask the robot, before appearing to realize that maybe, just maybe she shouldn't be asking questions about his current state of mind in front of a boss fight. Even if the boss fight does have an adorable hat.

    Why, Loren asks. "I did plenty of research!" Lan protests, taking an unconscious step closer to Azoth's warmth. "I even asked the local Ronso tribe for advice on getting there! I just have to skirt past the first three pillars, and then... uh..." Lan holds the map where everybody can see it, because she's just like that. Unfortunately... the three pillars on the map don't match the four pillars on the icefield. "...Okay, you know what, hold on a second," she mutters, and holds out the map for someone to take so she can dig in her backpack for a folded up bit of paper.

    Tied securely to one side of her bag, a long and slender shape is wrapped in cloth.

DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Paku-Paku toward her party's challenge, Ever-Changing Landscape.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.

Nothing will keep the sensation of cold out. About all Seraphita can hope for is that she remains unfrozen.

"There's nothing to burn," Seraphita says, sensibly. "It's all rocks and ice. I could make a fire! But if I wanted to keep it, then I'd have to keep feeding it myself and then I'd be tired and no good at mountain climbing." Sure, a fire Ether-user can make a fireball follow along, but that takes energy. It's not like there's a convenient tree for her to light.

Nor does she really want to burn down any trees that do make it up here. If they manage to live this high up, in the cold, they deserve it.

Seraphita can find no real comfortable way to get her hat on in a way that it keeps her ears warm. And while they have fur, it's not *that* thick. She's feeling pretty miserable for her cold ears when Azoth just... pops out of nowhere.

"Aaah!" She wasn't expecting that, but: "Oh! Well that makes it easier. Now we don't actually have to go all the way over at all - I mean, we *should*, but at least we found you!" Seraphita was more concerned about leaving people behind than anything else.

And speaking of leaving people behind...

Seraphita does not know Lan, at least not personally. But she doesn't need to to recognize a cold person who has just fallen in the snow. Azoth is already providing as much heat as Seraphita is (though the airspace around her remains at least a little warm, too) but Seraphita looks at her own warm clothes, looks at Lan's, and then very firmly removes her hat and attempts to put it right on Lan's head.

"It doesn't fit on my ears anyway! Maybe it will help you more." Honestly, Seraphita's hair is so thick and fluffy it's probably doing a pretty good job of keeping her head warm on its own.

A few moments later: "Wow, you have a map?" Seraphita takes the map when it's offered by Lan. She turns it around a couple times and counts the pillars she can see. She does it twice to be sure. "...for... not here? Maybe we can draw a trail?"

She just kind of assumes Lan is coming with them. Azoth and Loren clearly knows her, so it's OK. But she gives them A Look because now someone has to do introductions. Because if nobody else does, she just has to go, "Oh, I'm Seraphita! What's your name?"

Wait, she did that anyway.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

"Physical integrity within acceptable parameters," Azoth reports to Loren. But he pauses, glancing downward a moment. "Primary objective detected in this region. Current data suggests point zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero--" he's going to be at that a while, "--three percent chance possibility objectives are located off of Filgaia. ...Troubleshooting navigational systems."

That's a lot of robot for he doesn't think there's any way he's going to find what Solaris sent him after here, in Spira.

With a small glance to the stone again. "Has the mineral mass proven beneficial?"

Once he's with Lan, he reaches to steady her, but hesitates when she finds her own footing. To attempt physical contact might make her feel alarmed for her safety in current company. "I am not in full combat mode," he tells her. Then he glances back to the other two. "...Would you prefer my more personable operation?"

It is something of a lie, Azoth had said before, and Lan seemed to prefer the idea he wouldn't have to use it. But he wonders now if she might not feel more at ease with the illusion -- and less alone with Solaris. ...But with Seraphita giving Lan a hat, maybe...? Azoth tilts his head to one side as he observes that. That is... not terribly Solaris-like. (But then, neither is having a high ranking pink bunny in the first place.)

"Exercise caution. A significant drop in your ear temperature would be hazardous to your overall health." Why does he know that.

He looks up at the ice puzzle with a... rather excited sounding beep. "I have traveled through this area before. Evidence suggests the path may alter itself over time. Using the decreased friction to traverse it with increased velocity is recommended for maximizing rewarding feedback as we determine the appropriate path."

And Azoth just... steps out to slide along and do this by trial and error, as is his way. Wheee! But robot calculations make that less reckless than it sounds.

DG: Azoth has used his Tool Oculus ex Machina toward his party's challenge, Ever-Changing Landscape.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    That's the problem, isn't it -- without something to keep the fire going, it'll get snuffed out in this kind of weather. Loren slouches his shoulders and sighs. "I have some Rosesol if it becomes necessary." But not enough to keep Seraphita fueled to empower a comforting warmth all the way up.

    "Uh," is his immediate reaction to Azoth. His eyes might glaze over a bit. "Okay." He might have just written it all off as 'some sort of robot nonsense' if the robot didn't then turn around and ask him about the stone.

    Loren, caught off-guard, almost drops it. "What? Er, what, do you mean, uh," he says, shoving it back securely into a pocket. "It's... fine?" he finishes, caught entirely at a loss.

    The cold, though, becomes a lesser concern.

    With Lan here, he's just ended up with a massive problem. Azoth, he can probably work with on this. With Seraphita, though...

    If his superior officer says that they have to take her into custody, is he really going to be able to argue for anything otherwise? Or, for that matter, is he... does he really have it in him to...

    He doesn't, and he knows that all the way to the pit of his stomach.

    For a moment it might even seem to her that it's all gone back to normal between them. He rolls his eyes and sighs, shaking his head at her... her. "You're not even close to appropriately dressed. Do you have any idea what the average temperature... listen, just stay close to Azoth," he settles for, shaking his head. The fact that Seraphita has just given her her hat might at least help somewhat.

    But it's the sight of that blade, well wrapped and secured to her bag, that sends a jolt through him. She still has it. He could just reach out and take it.

    But...

    Grimacing, he turns away, gazing down instead at the maze that awaits them. He can see that a few paths are going to be bad ideas to take even from here and so, fumbling in his bag, he pulls out an energy bar. It's not easy to tear off a few good-sized chunks, but they should help once they're down there.

DG: Loren Voss has used his Tool Soylent Nutribar toward his party's challenge, Ever-Changing Landscape.
DG: Seraphita has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ever-Changing Landscape.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>===============================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Ever-Changing Landscape *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Before you set out, a Ronso provided some advice about an ice field on the    
 slopes. The ice field has large pillars of ice that make a maze, which is     
 dangerous to cross. It seems that your advice on how to move through it,      
 though, is potentially obsolete. You see that an avalance has fallen through  
 it, and spilled through the maze-like paths through the ice. You will need    
 to navigate it, carefully, and not lose your way. The notes you were given    
 might help.                                                                   
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Wound===========================================
=========================<* Mount Gagazet - Round 2 *>==========================
=====================< Results - Ever-Changing Landscape >======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loren Voss                          12 --(5)--> 17                 Pass
Soylent Nutribar                    2   Wits    Effects: Resilient            
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Azoth                               12 --(5)--> 17                 Pass
Oculus ex Machina                   1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraphita                           24 --(17)--> 41                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           24 --(5)--> 29                 Pass
Paku-Paku                           2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Loren Voss                  15 --(20)--> 35                Pass
Conditions: Collapse|Stupify(2)|Wound(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Loren Voss 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: Seraphita has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>===============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Falling Serac *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You hear a terrible whistling from above. Then, several small chunks of ice   
 fall down -- shattering with violent, icy explosions -- amidst you. Then, up  
 above, you see it: a house-sized chunk of ice, called a serac, that comes     
 crashing down down towards you. You will need to run to dodge it.             
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Exhaust========================================
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    Lan works the paper between her fingertips, mumbling what is guaranteed to be a sacred chant in the Baskar tongue and not in any way, shape or form a rhyme that kids use. "Eenie, meenie..." Three. Four. Three. Snowflake. Skull?! She didn't draw a skull on this paper. She never draws skulls! They seem perfectly happy to appear on their own, though.

    Of all the people Lan feels safe with and who are also present, Azoth might be surprised to know that he's currently in the top two. Lan nods to him though, when he tells her that he's not geared up to be a killbot at the moment. But... it's a bit heartwarming, even in all this cold weather, to see him get excited about ice skating. She didn't know robots did that! (Lan, that's racist.)

    It must be the cold weather that makes her seem so stiff when Seraphita reaches out to tug the hat firmly down over Lan's head. "!!" But.. it's warm. "T-thanks," she manages, feeling... well, she just wasn't expecting such a kind gesture, even from someone with as friendly a face as Seraphita's. "I'll give it back when we get to the top, okay...?" Maybe she can knit a hat with earholes. "Oh, I'm Lan. Nice to, uh, meet you-- Hey," she protests again, as they begin to follow Azoth between the pillars, "I'm from the desert! You know that! I thought I was being extra careful..."

    Between Azoth's superior spacial awareness, Loren's nutribar, and Lan's... righteous complaining??? They somehow make it to the other side. But poor Seraphita's ears are still cold. Isn't there anything that could fix that...?

    Oh, of course! Lan thinks, very reasonably. "Hey, Loren," she says, as they regroup. "I left all of my things behind... do you still have the ring you gave me back then?"

    She is in fact talking about a thank-you present he gave her once, that ring from Macalania Forest that was magicked to ward away extreme temperatures. not any other kind of ring.

<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.

If Seraphita realizes that Azoth has judged her for being un-Solarislike, she doesn't let it show. She's more excited about the possibility of skating, something she has never done before or even really considered as a thing you can do.

Seraphita cannot skate. But she can skid.

So this is Lan.

Seraphita almost - *almost* - says that out loud. But even she realizes that she probably shouldn't say things like that. She does read reports, she has at least some knowledge of who Lan is even if she doesn't know all the details, but she doesn't *know* her.

She gives Loren another look. He might be (sensibly) worried that he's going to get an order. But instead, Seraphita's face splits into a big smile. "It's okay! I can get it back later. My grandmother always says, you should do kindnesses when you can because you never know when you'll get another chance. It's good to meet you! I know you know Loren and Azoth..."

Lan says something about a ring. Seraphita looks at Lan. Then at Loren again. Her expression starts to slowly side toward something best described as :3.

Except...

There's a little creaking sound, from up above. It's easy to miss if you don't know what it is, and Seraphita at least doesn't. The popping followed by the terrible whistling a few moments later is a lot harder to miss, and Seraphita aborts trying to tease Loren in favour of looking straight up, ears perking.

And *then* she moves.

Seraphita, when she wants to move, can really motor. In this case she *really* wants to motor, and she demonstrates at least a little bit of why she's an Element while she does; she pulls a handful of something that looks like dust from her pocket as she moves and throws it backwards, pushing just a little bit of Ether against it. "Jump!"

The sand pops. It explodes as the fire Ether snakes through it, activating it all from behind - so it doesn't explode in a normal blast. It's more like a shove of force, aimed in one particular direction; if people jumped, it will give them a bit of a push. Seraphita, who is still holding some of the dust and also is the one activating it, practically glides for about twenty feet before she hits the ground again and runs.

She managed to not drop the map, too.

DG: Seraphita has used her Tool Rocket Sand toward her party's challenge, Falling Serac.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

"User Loren," Azoth says, eyes giving a brighter glow toward him. "Are you functioning okay?" A deliberate echo, but one that intends genuine concern... for all Azoth's face refuses to show anything of the sort.

Unless your name is Lan. Azoth offers her the smallest of smiles with her nod of acknowledgment. "Ensuring your safe passage through this area does not contradict my current objectives. It is currently among my highest priorities." This is the best assurance he can give her for now.

Which would have him surprised at her feeling safe. But that seems to be Lan's way -- and Azoth is beginning to understand the advantages of such behavior.

One enjoyable skate later, Azoth ends up on the other side, beeping a victory chime. This way everyone knows they have succeeded and they can cease their efforts in searching for a solution. It's practical.

"A ring?" Azoth looks directly at Loren. The only change in his face is those bright eyes of his, forever dimming and brightening with the thoughts that go on inside of him. "...Data acknowledged. I had hypothesized the nature of your relationship may have once been romantic."

In this world of hypotheticals, Azoth also hypothesized Lan metaphorically scooped Loren up and hurled him into a dumpster at some point. Or literally. It is not a difficult visual to picture.

A horrible creak above them puts Azoth on a new kind of alert. His eyes turn bright red in a flare of warning, beeping an alarm as he makes to bolt out from under the calculated area of the crash.

DG: Azoth has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Falling Serac.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    "Me? What-- no, I'm fine!" Loren protests, perhaps a little over-eagerly. "Just dandy! ...Uh." He gestures vaguely, inwardly willing himself to attempt death here on the spot.

     "You still should have added at least a couple more layers," Loren grouses. "Do you want to lose a finger?" Because that's how you lose a finger, he doesn't say, even his crabbiness overlain with a sense of... well it's like he's distracted by something.

    It's Lan, of course. Or to be more accurate, it's all the complicated feelings she's dragged along with her. Shame and guilt and regret and...

    It's his sword and it still feels like he'd be stealing.

    He marks the intersections he'd seen from higher up. "Not that way," he explains to the others. "Dead end." Or whatever the hazard ends up being. Eventually, though, they reach the end of the maze and Lan...

    "Uh," he starts, not immediately seeing the problem in what she's just said, "I don't have it on me. I think it's still at..."

    And he has a moment to regard Seraphita's expression.

    And hear Azoth's statement.

    "Wait! It's not like--"

    Is it a blessing or a curse that the mountain then attempts to smite them all?

    A pulse of Ether guiding him, Loren attempts to book it lest he die here, in this land least-loved by Emperor Cain.

    The sand might help with this.

DG: Loren Voss has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Falling Serac.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    Lan is mostly just hoping that Seraphita might not know who she is, and that Loren's habit of referring to her as 'Unit Spicule' in most of his reports might actually work in her favor for once. Because she's not going back. Even with Loren and Azoth here. She'll fight, even alone, even against an Element...!

    And it seems that Seraphita must not know who she is, because nobody issues an immediate order to take her back to Myyah Hawwa or tries to space arrest her or anything. Safe...?! A thread of that awful tension leaches out of her spine, and the smile she's giving the other girl seems a bit more natural.

    A ring, Azoth asks. "Hmm?" Is Azoth into jewelry? Maybe if she finds one, he'd like it. It'd be nice to give him something to thank him for carrying her to safety. He'd spent a lot of energy doing it, and stayed until she woke up to comfort her. "Yeah, I thought we could give it to Seraphita to--" And then there's a crackle, and a crunch, and Lan doesn't know what that sound means but she knows when other people are alarmed about something. Her gaze follows theirs - up, up, up - to the sight of something pale, and large, and growing larger.

    Jump! Seraphita calls, and throws something behind her--

    Lan jumps, threading a jolt of magic through her ribbon. And jumps again, kicking off of the very air beneath her feet and twisting in midair. The ice comes for the others and Lan goes for the ice -- driving a heel into the center of it with a forceful shout before kicking off. If she can just knock it away, it'll give the others more time to run!

    Alas, she didn't hear Azoth and now Loren has to explain it all himself.

DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Butterfly Ribbon toward her party's challenge, Falling Serac.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>===============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Falling Serac *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You hear a terrible whistling from above. Then, several small chunks of ice   
 fall down -- shattering with violent, icy explosions -- amidst you. Then, up  
 above, you see it: a house-sized chunk of ice, called a serac, that comes     
 crashing down down towards you. You will need to run to dodge it.             
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Exhaust========================================
=========================<* Mount Gagazet - Round 3 *>==========================
==========================< Results - Falling Serac >===========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loren Voss                          17 --(17)--> 34                Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Azoth                               17 --(0)--> 17                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraphita                           41 --(0)--> 41                 Pass
Rocket Sand                         2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           29 --(0)--> 29                 Pass
Butterfly Ribbon                    2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Loren Voss                  35 --(20)--> 55                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Hesitate(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Loren Voss 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: Azoth has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>===============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Torn Clothing *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Dressing warmly while climbing Mount Gagazet is a necessity. The cold can     
 cause real damage. Unfortunately, while you're climbing, one of you catches   
 a garment on a rock and gets a big, nasty rip. You will need to find a way    
 to mend it -- in the cold, with snow blowing by -- and do so thoroughly.      
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Injure==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.

Seraphita, with the power to control her jump and the blasts involved, gets quite a ways ahead of the party. She realizes this but it is dangerous to slow down, and so she doesn't - much, anyway. She doesn't want to get out of range to help!

And that's for the best. The serac falls, falls - it's slower than it would be straight down because parts of it are hitting the edge of the mountain, causing the ice to grind and bounce, but it is going *down* and nothing is going to stop it.

Azoth isn't going to stop it, but then again he doesn't try; getting out of range of the crash is the smart thing to do and he does it, getting nothing but a spray of dislodged snow landing on him for his trouble.

Lan isn't going to stop it either, but she can angle it, a little bit - and once Seraphita realizes what she's doing she sets off another wave of blasts in a different direction to aid her. Lan bounces off the chunk, rocketing forward - Seraphita moves to catch her in case she needs it, but she's probably okay.

Loren is a little less so. Maybe Seraphita should have caught *him*. As is, he's at risk for landing in a snowdrift of his own. At least it's soft-ish...

"Oops," Seraphita says, afterwards. "Is everyone okay...? Azoth? Loren? Lan? I can warm people up!" Maybe then her ears will thaw out again. (Not literally. They are not *actually* frozen. She just keeps telling herself that, and it's true.)

As for Lan, Seraphita doesn't give any orders at all. Maybe Seraphita really doesn't know... or maybe she does, and is choosing not to. It's really hard to tell, even for people who know her well. She looks so guileless! And, most of the time, she *is* so guileless. She's smiling, though...

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

In escaping the serac, Azoth managed to avoid getting crushed...

But in the blinding slowcloak and the rush of the moment, he had severely miscalculated his steps. In exchange for escape, a jutting rock caught against his arm, the crunch of metal and distressed beeping lost in the crashing ice.

Once the dust -- flakes -- settles, Azoth responds to Seraphita's call only with a broken beep. It might sound pained, if you didn't know better. (It assuredly sounds pained if you do know better.)

"Function compromised," he reports, hand reaching to his right shoulder, sleeve tattered and torn... with no arm attached to it. Wires poke from the stump, frayed and sparking, with other snapped cables dangling out of him. He looks down, refusing to meet the others in the eye, but perhaps in part because he's gazing over the snow for his missing arm, eyes brighter for it.

"Requesting assistance in relocation and reattachment." His voice has dropped in volume, not with the same hush as a whisper, but with the softness of one. Finally, Azoth looks back at them. "...Please."

Azoth is a Solaris Asset, and losing a limb doesn't put him in shock or threat of death. He has the capacity to continue basic functions with a missing arm -- and they have every ability to deny him this to push ahead.

DG: Azoth has used his Tool Oculus ex Machina toward his party's challenge, Torn Clothing.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    It's not the greatest next few moments of Loren's life. But the good news is--

    "Ugh," Loren utters as he extracts himself from a snowdrift. "Let's never do that again."

    He has at most a few bruises for his pains, and he's in the process of shaking out some of the snow that's gotten packed up inside his jacket that Azoth says something that stops him dead in his tracks.

    'Function compromised'.

    He looks then, not entirely sure what it is that he's going to see when he looks.

    Loren's immediate reaction is to utter a word in Solarian that most (all?) of those present will know to be a very potent oath.

    He pats himself down, searching for his, oh good, there it is, there's his bag. It didn't get opened in the--? No, fortunately not, it was sealed. Okay.

    He takes out his medical computer. It's true, Azoth isn't even remotely a flesh and blood organism, but there various scanning protocols built into the computer which, with a little creative application...

    ...should be able to get a ping on an extent of metal as long as an arm. After that, though, is the tricky part.

    "I'm not equipped to do it right," he says, trying to spot where or what it was that had taken his arm off -- definitely not the weight of the serac itself. A rock-- bingo, there's one. Looks like a real asshole, too. Lucky he didn't hit it. "So you'll have to go easy on it. But..."

    He's not looking at Azoth. Or Seraphita, or Lan, really.

    "...It's for the Major. When she needs... Anyway, it should work. For now. Just... don't do anything crazy."

    If they can find the arm, first.

DG: Loren Voss has used his Tool MediScan v7 toward his party's challenge, Torn Clothing.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    Once she's made contact with the falling miniglacier, Lan can only hope for the best. She's riding the last dregs of the energy she shoved into her ribbon when the rebound sends her sailing towards the others, and manages to land delicately in Seraphita's arms... before her own personal gravity comes back into effect, along with her weight. "Oof... thanks!" But since Sera works out, she at least won't find Lan unreasonably heavy.

    The blonde hops down, feet crunching in the snow, and turns to look for the others--

    That...

    Lan doesn't look at Azoth and see 'damaged robot'. Lan looks at Azoth and sees 'wound that could kill just about any creature', and doesn't recognize the difference. "AZOTH!"

    She bolts through the snow toward him, skidding to a stop on her knees next to him and hands fluttering inches from the sparking ends of the wires jutting from his shoulder. "Oh no, oh no--"

    It takes a few moments and some reassurances to convince her that he isn't going to die from this, but once Lan understands it, she's back on her feet and searching -- breaking the oracle paper back out with fumbling, gloved fingers. "Come on, come on... where are you..."

    She watchs the others search as well, distracted by the shapes flashing past her eyes and the sharp sounds of sparking electricity. "...Seraphita, can you... melt the snow or something? What if we can't find it..."

    Loren mentions the Major, and Lan's hands still for a moment. "...How is Leah?" she asks softly, gaze still on the snow.

DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Paku-Paku toward her party's challenge, Torn Clothing.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.

"Any time!" Seraphita sets Lan back down, carefully. Seraphita is stronger than she looks - she's no bodybuilder, she's mostly speed and stamina, but picking up someone for a few moments isn't too bad.

That is a bad beep if Seraphita has ever heard one. A sad beep, a depressing beep; it has a tone all its own that is immediately familiar to her even if she's never heard Azoth make quite that sound before.

She looks concerned even before she turns to look at him, and when she actually *does* look: "Aah! Arm, arm - " She immediately starts looking around, not quite in a panic but definitely excited, and not in a good way.

Leaving Azoth with his arm off and forcing him to go on without it never even occured to her.

"You can put it back on, right...?" Seraphita isn't sure whether she's addressing Azoth or Loren; both of them are more familiar with mechanical attachments than she is. "I've seen Tolone put *hers* back on but they're supposed to come off so that's a little different, isn't it?" She tends to get chatty if she's nervous or uncomfortable, as it turns out.

Melting the snow... Seraphita looks at it. There is a lot of snow. And while she could summon up a firestorm, it probably wouldn't be great to stand in, it might cause another avalanche, *and* it might do unpleasant things to the arm. "I have an idea!"

So instead she tries something else. Seraphita starts from the rock Azoth probably hit and pushes her Ether down, low. She can't melt all the snow (though some of it is melting a little bit, like a long day in the sun), but she can feel around for something metal. Metal heats up differently than snow, ice, or rock. If she pushes heat into something and it acts like *metal*, then...

Maybe it's what they're looking for.

DG: Seraphita has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Torn Clothing.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>===============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Torn Clothing *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Dressing warmly while climbing Mount Gagazet is a necessity. The cold can     
 cause real damage. Unfortunately, while you're climbing, one of you catches   
 a garment on a rock and gets a big, nasty rip. You will need to find a way    
 to mend it -- in the cold, with snow blowing by -- and do so thoroughly.      
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Injure==========================================
=========================<* Mount Gagazet - Round 4 *>==========================
==========================< Results - Torn Clothing >===========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loren Voss                          34 --(5)--> 39                 Pass
MediScan v7                         3   Wits    Effects: Rally                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Azoth                               17 --(5)--> 22                 Pass
Oculus ex Machina                   1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraphita                           41 --(17)--> 58                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           29 --(5)--> 34                 Pass
Paku-Paku                           2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Loren Voss                  55 --(20)--> 75                Pass
Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Injure(2)|Stupify(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Loren Voss 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> Azoth has posed.

Azoth's property in Solaris, not a person, and he hasn't been making the effort to act particularly person-like. And it isn't Loren's fault, or Seraphita's fault, that there's so much data that put doubt into Azoth's calculations.

They're just a part of the thing that is at fault.

Loren's curse brings the question if it's over the situation or the failure of a machine about to get some percussion maintenance out of frustration -- but Loren addresses Azoth with a far more gentle manner. Seraphita's enthusiasm might have been disconcerting if not for how instantly she leaps right into it.

But even Lan's shock becomes surprising when it reaches the level of panic that it does. "Compromised, not critical. I am not in danger of shut down -- permanent or otherwise." He pauses, realizing his vocabulary might not be making things better. "... I will be all right. But I prefer to have it."

Between the three of them -- scans and oracle papers and melted snow -- they manage to find Azoth's arm. Thankfully, it's still in one piece, making it easier for Azoth and Loren to conduct their makeshift repairs with emergency repair functions and what little materials they have.

When it's all over, Azoth twists and turns his arm, then opens and closes his fists a few times to confirm its operation. "Arm function restored to 82% capacity." He looks to the others, almost... hesitant, for a robot that isn't emoting anything.

"...Thank you." For their assistance -- but perhaps more for their concern.

DG: Loren Voss 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> Loren Voss has posed.

    "I think so," is what he has to admit. "But even if I-- forget it. Just look for his arm," he tells Seraphita, and later in the day he'll realize he was basically ordering her around like that and have a minor meltdown. But it's not happening now, so it's not his problem just yet.

    "...She's fine," he answers Lan after a moment, not meeting her eyes. "She's been busy. I haven't seen her in..." He exhales a breath. "...She's fine. She's always fine."

    Unlike him, anyway. Doesn't she have something she believes in? Something big, something grand? All he's trying to do now is...

    Hope he's not wrong.

    "Found it! Sera-- Ma'am, please carry over, I'm-- give me a moment."

    He hurries over to Azoth's side and tries to make some space, laying out everything he needs.

    This is... going to put his skills to the test, huh, he thinks distantly, looking over his bare-bones kit for cybernetics field repairs. And, he's just assuming that everything's...

    Well, fine, he decides, picking up the first of the tools he'll need. He's going to have to try, since he's the only one even remotely qualified for the job. "Ma'am, hold it in position -- right there will do. I'm going to connect the, shit. Lan-- keep an eye out. Please."

    For monsters? Or for something else?

    It's not perfect. But it's good enough. "Try not to use it too much. It shouldn't fall off, but you'll have to get a tech look at it later," is what he says to Azoth, not really looking him in the eye (or even at him) as he packs up his kit. "I'll call in," and he doesn't look at Lan either when he says that, hoping instead that...

    That what, precisely? Even he's not sure what his heart really wants.

    "...It's my job," Loren answers Azoth as he stands up, shouldering his pack. "Come on. We should see how much further we have to go," he says to all of them. He doesn't want to risk Azoth losing his arm again, for one, and for two...

    The answer, as it happens, is they've managed to come much closer to the other side of the mountain than might have been expected. Just over there --

    "That's Zanarkand, huh," Loren muses, taking one step down onto the staircase carved into the mountainside. "Guess we just have to get down here."

    This is 'famous last words'. Perhaps that earlier spill of ice and snow had destabilized something. But there is a low rumble, and despite knowing in his gut what he's going to see when he looks back, Loren still looks.

    He makes an expression that more or less exemplifies 'I should have realized'.

    "RUN!" he shouts, trying to take the stairs two or three at a time down. This might be a dangerous game to play with a set of stairs covered in ice and snow, though.
    While trying to outrun an avalanche.

DG: Loren Voss has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Into Thin Air.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.

This isn't the first time Loren has given Seraphita an order, or a request, without thinking about it. And he might have a meltdown about it later, but Seraphita won't, for a couple reasons. It's a stressful time for everybody. She likes Loren (though to be fair Seraphita likes pretty much anyone).

And, of course, in a medical emergency, the doctor is in charge, which is how she'll justify it if she ever needs to. But she won't.

"I'm glad you can get it back on," Seraphita says, still rambling. "Maybe - no, that wouldn't work..." Seraphita considers for a moment. She is very experienced at working with mechanical beings - Tolone's her partner, and Tolone is cybernetic enough that you'd never know she wasn't a machine to begin with by looking at her if you weren't told. But she's not experienced with *Azoth* and it makes a difference.

Seraphita also has sharp ears. Terribly sharp ears. They are not for show. She hears what Lan asks Loren, and though part of her wants to butt in, she doesn't - she doesn't want to interrupt, and she doesn't know how Leah is anyway, having had limited personal interaction with her lately.

"Be careful!" she directs Azoth, once he's repaired-ish, before turning to look at the view. It really is an impressive view. "...wow! This is where they all wanted to go? It's all ruined... but look, some parts of it still are standing. Look over there..." Seraphita stands on tiptoe, shading her eyes to get a better view of some of the still-upright spires. Not intact, but in better shape than anything really old on Filgaia usually is without being buried.

Her sharp ears pick up the rumble, too. This time Seraphita doesn't even look back. She bounds - and Seraphita can jump like a rabbit, apparently - down the stairs. She drops some of the 'sand' as she goes, triggering it for added height; other people can hitch rides, though Seraphita is not as good at helping people with the landing as she is at the liftoff.

DG: Seraphita has used her Tool Rocket Sand toward her party's challenge, Into Thin Air.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    She's always fine, he says. Lan doesn't know what to say to that, because Leah had always seemed okay. Even in the hell of Gethsemane, she hadn't been scared. She had known exactly what she wanted to do, and she did it.
    But then they find Azoth's arm, and things get less contemplative and much more physical for a time. "Right," she nods, and circles behind Loren and Seraphita to watch out for anything that might interrupt the crude operation. Aside from a distant family of snow hares too far away to even count properly, there's nothing but the hushed creaking of ice, and the utter stillness of snow.

    She'd thought that they would've run into more Fiends on the trip. Lan had been prepared to have to fight, even on her own, but so far it's only been the mountain itself that they've had to battle.

    Maybe even Fiends can't live here.

    Once the delicate task is complete, Lan feels a little safer about checking on Azoth. "Are you sure you're okay?" she dithers a bit, but he's already looking... well, more 'in one piece'.

    Loren says he'll call it in. Call what in, the accident? Lan glances over at the medic, not comprehending just what it means - until she actually gets it. "Backup?" she murmurs, a thread of disappointment in her voice. "They'll fix Azoth for real, though?" If so, then she'll just have to be okay with bowing out. And... and she came here to reunite with Gwen and the others anyway.

    She can be sentimental on her own time. And they're so, so close...

    Ahead of them, the ruins of Zanarkand spread peacefully. "Oh, wow..." No wonder this is a holy site. Even Yevon can get that much right, she supposes, and Lan tries not to think about the Via Purifico. Surely they're not all like that...

    She's so busy enjoying the sight of it that the rumbling takes an extra moment to penetrate her brain. "Hmm-- oh, oh no!" There's no time to think, only to move -- and Lan does, leaping after Seraphita. "Come on!!"

DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Butterfly Ribbon toward her party's challenge, Into Thin Air.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

They speak of Leah, and Azoth does not offer so much as a flicker of recognition. But he wishes they would say more. He wishes he could understand her -- what she wants, what she's doing, who's involved... It remains as mysterious as ever.

Azoth's still as a corpse for the 'operation', without flinching as a human might, and without breath to wisp in the cold mountain air. It is fine. It will be fine. Loren's work can get Azoth's arm, well, working. Azoth doesn't rely on it for combat, and that will make it easier to keep its use from excessive stress.

"Yes," he tells Lan. "This level of operation will be sufficient." For what he does not say. He does not precisely know -- he only has the confidence that he can manage, come what may. "...You do not need to worry about me."

I'll call in.

"Do not." Azoth is far less concerned than Loren is in sounding like he's the one giving orders. But it's because they have more power over him than even they may realize. "...It is unnecessary. I will be able to complete my objectives in this state." And without putting Lan in more danger, he hopes.

But he has no way of stopping Loren, either. Azoth needs to re-evaluate possible loopholes just in case. How can he better apply what Ragnell's taught him?

Seraphita tells him to be careful. "Acknowledged." It's still a little strange to him how she speaks to him like anything else, despite her status. But with her being beastfolk... Ovelia was -- is -- treated no better than he was. Who and what is Seraphita, to have the place she does?

...Especially behaving so informally, as she observes Zanarkand. Azoth turns his gaze to it himself, running a deeper scan than he could have in the company of other Drifters. His eyes flash, not red in error, but in a mix of that bright blue with brilliant pink. Why? Why is he getting a reading here?

There is no time for further consideration, useless as it would be. Mount Gagazet is an unstable place, and somebody should put that in a report somewhere.

He lets out a sad beep-woooop as the rumble of incoming snow begins, and does not bother to look back at all before he begins to run. Having observed Seraphita's use of the sand before, he may just need to take advantage of it himself to avoid being buried...!

DG: Azoth has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his 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 5 *>==========================
==========================< Results - Into Thin Air >===========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loren Voss                          39 --(101)--> 140              Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Azoth                               22 --(101)--> 123              Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraphita                           58 --(101)--> 159              Fail
Rocket Sand                         2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           34 --(101)--> 135              Pass
Butterfly Ribbon                    2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Loren Voss                  75 --(15)--> 90                Fail
Conditions: Cripple
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: Loren Voss is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Azoth is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Seraphita is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Lan Lilac is too exhausted to continue!
DG: The party has failed this challenge! All party members are now Exhausted. This attempt is over.
DG: The party led by Loren Voss has been fully Exhausted by Mount Gagazet!
DG: The party will now draw a conclusion.
==============================<* Mount Gagazet *>===============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Mysterious Rock *>========================
|Type: Landmark    |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 As you make your way towards the cave leading to Zanarkand, you find that an  
 avalance turned up something strange: a mysterious rock. While worn smooth    
 with time and age, you can see that the edges were once a perfect cube that   
 have been weathered down. There are the faint impressions of lines in it.     
 Additionally, some parts appear to be metallic. How odd!                      
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    And they'll fix Azoth for real?

    Loren looks at Lan, if only sidelong. "Yeah," is what he tells her, all the while hoping she can read his mind. Or at least understand the thing he's not really saying.

    When he calls in, she shouldn't be here anymore, really.

    But Azoth tells him not to call in. There's no word for the expression that crosses Loren's face except 'startled', as if he'd been caught in the act somehow. But-- that wasn't his intention. Right? What he wants is for Lan to get out of here, before anyone else comes... right?

    Loren doesn't say anything at all for a long moment.

    Then at last: "...Fine. But I should still let them know about what happened. They just moved in someone with their full certification into the Macalania Outpost."

    Which can really only mean one or two things, and neither of them presage a quiet posting out here in Spira.

    But he's apparently oddly unwilling to press the matter, should Azoth protest.

    "Yeah," he says to Seraphita, as they stand atop the steps. "Kind of a mess. But it makes me wonder. How old is it, anyway?" It's in a lot better shape than most similar ruins on Filgaia -- on this him and the Element are of like minds.

    It all happens quickly. Loren gets an initial boost from the sand, but even that doesn't propel him far enough to escape the mountain's wrath; he vanishes in a plume of white. Suffocation, they'd said, was the danger in these sorts of incidents, and so as he's carried down the mountainside, he draws energy from the ice and the mountain themselves.

    Azoth similarly has a good first start from the sand and after that--

    After that, with the aid of that silvery ribbon, he and Lan are both surfing the wave of snow and ice as it descends down the mountain.

    Seraphita beats them all down there. The explosive sand carries her well. ...Perhaps a little too well.

    Eventually everything stops. The world is still and white just outside a cave near the foothills of the mountain.

    A hand eventually erupts from the snow beneath them all. It's followed by an upwards geyser of ice and snow, after which Loren heaves himself up onto the drifts and flops onto his back.

    "Never again," he swears to the blue sky overhead. Unfortunately, this is an oath he's likely to soon need to break.

    (Azoth, meanwhile, will find a really interesting cubic rock. Did the avalanche carry it down from the mountain, or did it get knocked off from down here? MYSTERIES.)

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Detached arms and threatened call ins, with so much to dread and fear, with uncertain futures, and the immediate danger of crashing ice and snow... at the end of it... a rock.

Azoth holds it in both hands, happily beeping to himself with this glimmer of joy amidst it all.

<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    Ugh. Why snow? Is this why her ancestors didn't set up anywhere near cold weather?!

    Be fair, Lan. It's not like the ancestors knew that the Badlands were going to keep expanding.

    Once they've all been accounted for, Lan helps dust some of the snow off of Loren's shoulders. The cloth-wrapped sword has, somehow, managed to make it all the way here with her. She ought to give it back, shouldn't she? It isn't hers. Engil would surely want her to give it back to his brother.

    So why... does the thought make her uneasy? Is it because she can still remember how he'd looked, chasing her through the dark?

    "..." In the end, maybe she's a coward too...