2021-08-27: Raw Red Power
- Log: Raw Red Power
- Cast: Citan Uzuki, Ethius Hesiod, Lan Lilac, Lily Keil, Jacqueline Barber
- Where: Ruins of Azado
- Date: August 27, 2021
- Summary: In the ruins of Azado, there is a teleporter leading back to Filgaia. Unfortunately, getting to it can sometimes be trickier some days than others, as a particular group finds.
DG: A party led by Citan Uzuki is now entering Ruins of Azado. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================== ========<* CHALLENGE - Lighthouse Ruins - An Ever-Burning Flame Askew *>======== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The safest way to approach Azado is to take a boat from the nearby shore, then come to the island that once held its lighthouse. That island is adjoined to the mainland by the lighthouse, which collapsed during Sin's initial attack. It forms a makeshift bridge to the ruins of Azado proper. You found a doorway, which led into a separate shaft that was once used by crews maintaining the light at the top. This is a mercy, at first, for there is an emptied shaft with a now-broken ladder on the floor. As you near the end of the tower, though, there is a bright light ahead. Azado's lighthouse was powered by an ever-burning flame. That fire has fallen into the shaft -- and the stones of the shaft are blackening, with the ladder nearby burnt away. Crossing by it is dangerous -- you will need to slip by without getting so close to be immolated, and it fills most of the hallway. Moving the fire could be dangerous -- or perhaps disastrous for the tower. If you can find a way to shield yourself from the fire, that may also help you. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Suffer==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Some things are easier done heading one way than they are the other way. Take a hill for example, a prime case of 'much easier to walk down than to walk back up'.
Citan Uzuki gazes up at the eternal flame of Azado, occupying much of the space within the remains of what had been a lighthouse and rubs his chin. It's not so much 'thoughtfully' as it is 'well, now this is a problem'.
If only they had been able to take the route back that he'd taken out through Azado in the first place, but that -- thanks to a mixture of the current 'local color', the tides, and the crumbling of what's left of the city, has been made at least temporarily impossible.
This is arguably not much of an improvement over the 'situation' down the other path, though.
"Well... I must admit, the enchantment certainly is an impressive one...!" the doctor opines at last, throwing his arms wide as they continue to regard the flame. "But I do not think we should get very close. It does not appear to be 'flame without heat'. Hmmm... perhaps there may be some way to negotiate our way around it instead?"
As bad as the situation in here is, as Lily would know, it's a worse proposition for them to attempt to other route. It's part of the reason they'd doubled back and thus met with the others approaching here in the first place.
Citan produces his camera, frowning as he considers the device. He still hasn't had the time to undo what he'd done to it in Zanarkand, which means that--
He takes a few shots of the flame anyway. It isn't as if he's tried to use it for the purpose for which it's intended since then. Perhaps he will experience some good fortune after all.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Strauss Camera toward his party's challenge, Lighthouse Ruins - An Ever-Burning Flame Askew.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Arrangements have been made in whatever capacity they have, and Ethius is present within the Aiguille unit - the lanky long-distance attacker unit whose lighter frame and better ability to grip difficult terrain may yet prove handy in a place so thoroughly collapsed and ruined.
From within its cockpit, Ethius gets out the famliar eyeglass and gives it the usual enchantment. There is a hiss (not carried across comms) as he recoils, blinking a few times. A prolonged silence follows for a good twenty to thirty seconds after the usual time where such coordination of duties or ideas would be traded about.
"I nearly blinded myself by accident looking at the flame proper," Ethius remarks, "but I may be able to ascertain where the flame's power flows." Emphasis on 'may.' There may not be a route that is free of the coursing power of the eternal flame for those who are navigating the ruin on foot.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Lighthouse Ruins - An Ever-Burning Flame Askew.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"It's way more intense than anything we have back home, but the same kind of spell is what lights up our village lamps." Lan is already moving to tie her long, flammable hair back into a tight braid, which is then stuffed down the back of her top for good measure. Listen, a maiden has her pride, all right??
Next, she gets down to business - by pulling a folded bit of paper from her shorts pocket. "Okay, so there are lots of things we could try. Um, eenie is for trying to starve it of air, and meenie is in case we want to try just running past really fast and hope we don't fall--"
She's still mumbling to herself as she manipulates the fortuneteller, staring into its shallow depths. "Hmm. --Oh hey, we could always just try to change the shape of the fire, right?!"
Lan draws out her least-used Medium, a stone tablet of Moor Gault, and waves it cheerfully. Where was she keeping it? Her halter top isn't that voluminous. "Make it really tall and narrow, and just... slip right past!"
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Paku-Paku toward her party's challenge, Lighthouse Ruins - An Ever-Burning Flame Askew.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
It is definitely a problem. Lily looks to the fire with some interest, but also caution. "Yeah. We don'thave another good route," he agrees. Ethius mentions he nearly blinded himself, and that he can figure out where it comes from--maybe. "That would be helpful," Lily answers him, and then glances to Lan as she mentions the spell. Hmmm.
"Change the shape of the fire... yes, if you do that, then I can redirect the heat from around us," Lily says. "...Probably." She pulls her knife, and moves to use it as a focus, channeling fire and then ice into a barrier that she puts up around the group. "...This should blunt the impact of the flames a little to let us past. Cool us down. It's the same principle I use in hot weather."
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Lily's Knife toward her party's challenge, Lighthouse Ruins - An Ever-Burning Flame Askew.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The Ruins of Azado... it was terrible, what happened to that city. It's hard to look at it now but there's something here they need, and so Jacqueline joins the others on the approach. She knows the terrain can be dangerous, and judging from rumors, so can some of what's taken residence here, so she follows behind in Issachar.
What her research hasn't told her, however, is that their first obstacle would be the flames of Azado's light house.
"...It really is." Jacqueline agrees. "I'm kind of curious how they made it work. I have a few theories, but..."
...But, this is hardly the time or the place for that! Jacqueline reaches into one of her bags, drawing out a guidebook on the maintenance of Gears and flipping through the pages. One eye is kept on the pathway ahead, guiding Issachar carefully ahead even as she reads.
"I think I can make a few quick tweaks..." Jacqueline considers, before reaching ahead and tapping something out on Issachar's keyboard. After a moment, some thermal maps pop up on the screen. "Okay. If we combine this information with the Aiguille's, we should be able to find the best path through..."
And from there, she watches Lan and Lily with interest, curious to see that plan of theirs put into action.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Maintenance Guidebook toward her party's challenge, Lighthouse Ruins - An Ever- Burning Flame Askew.
==============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================== ========<* CHALLENGE - Lighthouse Ruins - An Ever-Burning Flame Askew *>======== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The safest way to approach Azado is to take a boat from the nearby shore, then come to the island that once held its lighthouse. That island is adjoined to the mainland by the lighthouse, which collapsed during Sin's initial attack. It forms a makeshift bridge to the ruins of Azado proper. You found a doorway, which led into a separate shaft that was once used by crews maintaining the light at the top. This is a mercy, at first, for there is an emptied shaft with a now-broken ladder on the floor. As you near the end of the tower, though, there is a bright light ahead. Azado's lighthouse was powered by an ever-burning flame. That fire has fallen into the shaft -- and the stones of the shaft are blackening, with the ladder nearby burnt away. Crossing by it is dangerous -- you will need to slip by without getting so close to be immolated, and it fills most of the hallway. Moving the fire could be dangerous -- or perhaps disastrous for the tower. If you can find a way to shield yourself from the fire, that may also help you. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Suffer==========================================
=========================<* Ruins of Azado - Round 1 *>========================= ==========< Results - Lighthouse Ruins - An Ever-Burning Flame Askew >========== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Strauss Camera 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Maintenance Guidebook 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lan Lilac 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Paku-Paku 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Lily's Knife 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Citan Uzuki 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Stupify(2)|Suffer(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
The shots come out strange, to say the least. Glowing distorted lines sketch up and down the edges of the flames and other borders of note before them. But while good photographs they may not be they do draw certain things into further clarity:
Such as how much space there actually is between the (very bright and hard to look at) flame and the wall.
"...Hmm, I do not think we should attempt to skirt by it," Citan remarks, judging the space available from the photographs. "Even with speed on our side, it may be, ah... a little too risky."
But it's not the only option they have, fortunately--
After all, they have mages in spades.
"Reshape the flame..." he muses, as Lan makes that suggestion. "Yes, perhaps that may work! Fire magic is hardly my expertise, but I shall see what aid I can lend. Mister Hesiod, if you could ascertain from where the power originates? Then, if Miss Barber could lend aid with her Gear, Lily and Miss Lilac may be able to coordinate their respective powers..."
With a little help on his end, as he'd promised.
"My goodness...!"
There is soon a narrow pillar of flame, stretching up towards the ceiling. "I admit, I was not entirely certain myself, but it appears that this has worked quite well! Now, I do not think we should stand about!"
More than likely, the flame will revert to form in time, particularly after their focus on reshaping it has been turned away.
"By the way, Miss Barber, how are you managing with that Gear of yours?"
It won't stop him from idle conversation, though.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================== ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Phantoms *>=========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you come to a plaza, you find a desolate scene: greyed and dead trees, killed by saltwater from the initial flooding, and no grass in the squares for it. There is Malevolence here: rising motes of blacks and violets, and the telltale sign of shadows and lights doing strange things. There are also low, moaning wails. There is no one alive in Azado, but the dead can leave something behind: ghost-like Hellions known as Phantoms. They look like a spectral form, a threadbare black sheet over a violet glow, and pale golden eyes look out. It is with skeletal hands that they reach out -- and send arcane bolts of light flying at you, when they see you. Several begin to sweep through the plaza, rushing to do battle with you. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Exhaust===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
The path comes out to something recognizable as having been a plaza. It still is one, in form - but the desolation from the initial flooding has seen saltwater annihilate the plant life. Nothing new has grown since, and only the withered and greyed trees are proof they were ever there. Only concentrated Malevolence 'lives' here now, motes of black and violet sweeping across the length of the plaza as the team steps out to solid, stable ground like this.
"There is Malevolence here." Ethius says the obvious. Those on foot can feel the sorrow, anguish, and helplessness of those who had conflicted feelings in their final moments. Althena couldn't protect us, it may as well have said. Althena abandoned us to die, some darker thoughts might have coalesced alongside the notion such simply couldn't have ever happened. That flavor of despair permeates the plaza.
Violet glows collect underneath threadbare black sheets, and pale golden eyes look up to see the living and a pair of metal giants come through. Playing on instincts and lingering sentiments that give texture to the conflicting emotions, they reach out with their skeleton hands, scream, and bolts of light(ning? it can be vague) with more emphasis on the Gears.
Like they come closest to the thing that took the lives of those where this Malevolence originated - but they are growing in number as others of that kind appear, enough that it's a problem for those on foot.
"From all sides," is about the best Ethius can get off before the Aiguille suffers a light(ning?) blast across its left leg. Normally he would stop to announce what he's going to fire off, but they're getting overwhelmed from the jump - the Aiguille fires off a little circular grenade thing that bounces for a bit before exploding in a pulse of chaff and other disruptive things in an attempt to thin the herd some.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Scramble Pulse toward his party's challenge, Phantoms.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"O you of the hearth," Lan invokes, holding the stone plate to her chest in a hug. "O you of rising cinders." It's not the same as with Rigdobrite, a power that she can call on in her sleep. It's more work, though not in the way most people probably think of it. When Lan thinks about the difference, she's reminded of something her mother told her once - that every person in your life will be different, that you will never feel exactly the same way about two different people, no matter how strongly you love them.
She supposes that for some, it just comes easier...?
But she doesn't have any trouble matching her magic to Lily's! Lan has had lots of practice at working with Ether-users.
The dead trees in the plaza ahead make her feel a bit less like celebrating their first victory. The Malevolence seething underfoot finishes the job. She's learned that her clear water does a fairly good job of helping to dispel it, and before the first blast sparks across Aiguille's leg, she's already tugging the cap free. There's no lake to pour it into, so Lan douses her own hands, recaps the bottle--
--and darts ahead, slipping into the midst of a crowd of phantoms to strike out with holy-ish, soaking-wet knifehand strikes. "HAA!"
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Clear Water toward her party's challenge, Phantoms.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily for her part is very interested in Lan's magic; she watches carefully, and molds her Etheric constructs for use with them. It's work, all right--Lily can figure that out. What surprises her more is how well Lan adapts to her magic... though maybe it shouldn't, considering. "...Fascinating," she mentions. "Moor Gault, right? The Flame Guardian."
But once they step inside... There is Malevolence here. Lily recognizes it easily, and frowns, looking about seriously to the violet glows collecting here and there, to the things that reach out. From all sides--true. Lan starts forward, and Lily puts out her hands, conjuring more flames about her hands that become whirling orbs which cascade around her limbs. She starts forward, putting out an arm to direct the first two towards a Hellion, and then a second, flowing next into a blast of golden light to blast apart another.
"I'm interested in your theories later," she says to Jay, "But it seems like this won't be a nice trip."
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Phantoms.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Impressive! Good work, you two!" Jacqueline beams, as Lan and Lily reshape the flames into a narrow pillar. There's plenty of room for them to move by. And then, Citan asks her a question!
"I think I'm getting the hang of it. It was a little strange getting used to the lack of a physical control system, but I've come to appreciate it, I think." Jacqueline replies. "Lunata was a big help. We went flying together so she could catch me with the Rephaim if I started to fall, since I was still learning... It was nice. Though it was a little hard at first, since I kept getting distracted..."
She pauses, laughs sheepishly, and clears her throat before moving on, guiding Issachar through and out into the plaza.
Here, they come into immediate contact with Malevolence. Jacqueline frowns slightly, gauging their surroundings. Ethius is the one who notices them first.
"All around us? Thanks for the heads-up!" Jacqueline replies. From her seat she draws out a Crest Graph. Unlike the Jaeger, Issachar doesn't need a special Crest Graph reader - she invokes the spell, and a light begins to settle onto the Gear's wing unit.
"I'll keep them busy - finish them off!" Jacqueline says. With a gesture, then, bladed feathers fire forth from the wing unit. They flit all about the plaza, seeking out and slashing at phantoms as Jacqueline guides them mentally, the sorcerous light she's infused them with allowing them to cut even the incorporeal.
"Seems that way... but, I had a feeling it'd be like this when I heard the reports." Jacqueline replies to Lily. "We'll have to save it for later."
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Wing Unit toward her party's challenge, Phantoms.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"I see! I am glad to hear that you are understanding how to use that Gear. It is certainly no mean accomplishment," the doctor remarks as they move along, past the flame. "It should be a great benefit to you moving forward," he continues, pausing just long enough to glance back behind them all at the pillar of flame. It's beginning to tremble, as if it were starting to revert to its usual form.
"It is a good thing that you have such a good friend," he adds, as he starts moving again, venturing further into the ruins of the city.
"Fei had told me some of what had happened here," Citan says as they approach the plaza, dead trees and all. "There had been some... circumstances within the city, requiring a rescue operation, I believe? But not long after that there had been..."
The Malevolence is thicker here. It leads to a particular unavoidable set of circumstances.
"Ah," murmurs the doctor. "I had hoped to avoid more of them... but it cannot be helped, I suppose."
After all, it had been (among other things) a sizeable population of Hellions that had kept them from the other route.
"Ah-- and they are coming from behind as well!" he says, turning as Ethius remarks on the Hellion advance. "Then there truly is no helping it!" shouts Citan, delivering a knife-handed blow of his own for one of the nearby spirits.
"I as well! But perhaps now may not be the time!"
DG: Citan Uzuki has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Phantoms.
==============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================== ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Phantoms *>=========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you come to a plaza, you find a desolate scene: greyed and dead trees, killed by saltwater from the initial flooding, and no grass in the squares for it. There is Malevolence here: rising motes of blacks and violets, and the telltale sign of shadows and lights doing strange things. There are also low, moaning wails. There is no one alive in Azado, but the dead can leave something behind: ghost-like Hellions known as Phantoms. They look like a spectral form, a threadbare black sheet over a violet glow, and pale golden eyes look out. It is with skeletal hands that they reach out -- and send arcane bolts of light flying at you, when they see you. Several begin to sweep through the plaza, rushing to do battle with you. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Exhaust===========================================
=========================<* Ruins of Azado - Round 2 *>========================= =============================< Results - Phantoms >============================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 5 --(25)--> 30 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Wing Unit 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lan Lilac 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Clear Water 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Scramble Pulse 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Citan Uzuki 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
There is a vast quantity of them - but the Issachar, in the process of being put through its paces, has shown that it sure as hell can sprint (...metaphorically). The bladed wing units do the heavy lifting in terms of thinning the numbers of Hellions looking to hurl themselves at the objects of their undying sorrows, dispersing some of them to rejoin the mass of Malevolence that has taken hold of the former plaza.
It helps trim everything down to a manageable number for those on foot.
Lan takes matters into her own hands (and also sanctified water, also in her own hands) and just goes in swinging. Pure water, for whatever reason, makes hostile enemies across multiple spiritual wavelengths give pause, and giving pause is all the time they need to give up for Lan to help clean house. (plaza. clean plaza.)
Lily lets out her sorcerous might, dispersing explosive waves of flame with such power and precision that it might make it seem like Ethius (who is now following up by firing at Phantoms with the rifle-staff) is the one fighting from foot, not Lily, as the golden light blots out the purplish-black for as long as the radiance lingers after discharging.
Citan only gets to have to deal with more of them by chance, and they are not small of number. Even an impressive martial artist of an ordinary country doctor would have their work cut out for them. While swipes of skeletal hands might try to grasp at his life force and the raw Malevolence-fueled light(ning?) blast sting, he is too hardy of body and soul for it to linger or slow him down much.
Soon, all that's left is just the pervasive conflicting emotions that rule this place, fading whispers of lamenting a tragedy that cannot have happened to them.
"Clear." Ethius says with an even keel, choosing to move on with the task at hand rather than stop and reflect upon the tragedy of Azado and the resultant narrow escape through the sewers a long, long time ago. They need to keep moving.
One day the Shepherd and his entourage will find cause to stop by here and see the Malevolent echoes of the dead off. One day sooner than later, is all one can hope for.
DG: Lan Lilac has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================== =========================<* CHALLENGE - Broken Tower *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The road you take has led you to where part of the city's wall once stood. Much of the wall is collapsed. The same is true for some of the towers that once stood atop it. One of those stone guard towers has collapsed across the street, making a high and dangerous rubble pile. Forging your way ahead will involve breaking your way through the rubble pile -- or at least clearing enough to make it easy to cross over it. This is made harder by the motes of black and violet drifting up. Some unfortunate souls perished when the tower collapsed -- and a Malevolent Domain is nearby. The Malevolence in the air is not so thick as to be dangerous, but it has a way of enervating you as you work. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Tire=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
This isn't really how Lan likes to deal with the restless dead, but Malevolence makes her usual process of ritual and offerings... well, worse than useless. She never used to get attacked with her own offering bowl before all this purple-black spiritual gunk came along...!
"...So, Issachar is an 'Omnigear', right?" she asks, once they've put all of the phantoms down for a little while longer. "Is it really unusual for a Gear to be controlled by, you know, thoughts and feelings? Instead of buttons, I mean." It's true that Gwen and Loren had always controlled their Gears with buttons and levers and things, but it hadn't occurred to Lan that every Gear must truly be like that. How could anybody ever learn to do it easily? Is there anybody who can move a Gear like they move their own body, easy and thoughtless?
It must be hard, to move a Gear like that. The heaviness of a limb would translate to the brain, and it would feel like your own leg weighed tons, wouldn't it? That's no good at all! It makes Lan tired just thinking about it--
Her toe hits a stone and she looks up from her musing to see that the path before them has been blocked by a fallen tower - or the wreckage of it. "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh," the blonde whines valiantly. "That's so many roooooocks..."
She is tired. "Try not to get too deep into the Malevolence, okay?" Lan backs up a few steps, to where her head feels a little clearer, and shakes her head. "Let's just... blast at it or something instead." Raising her hands in a circle, Lan peers through it and channels her patron. "O you of fragile wishes..."
Silvery meteors stream toward the rubble, blasting holes in it.
DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Broken Tower.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily totally gets the message about Moor Gault. It's fine. But here with all this Malevolence, she's busy dealing with violence. Soone nough they do finish, and while Lily has no facility for purification, she can at least drive Hellions back. "...Thanks," she says to Ethius, noting his backup--and glad that they had the Gears here for that battle instead of doing it all on their own.
"Right," Lily answers Lan of the Omnigear. "...I think it's pretty unusual; I can direct mine with magic, but it takes all my concentration to do it, and a lot of power."
But there are... collapsed rubble piles, and motes of black and violet. It's enervating, all right...
"I'll try," Lily says of not getting too far in. "...Blasting? Blasting I can do." Silvery meteors stream down, but Lily pulls a small metal card from her jacket, looking down at it thoughtfully and judging difference. "With these calculations..."
Lily is going to blast with dark power. A lot of dark power.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Demolition Formula toward her party's challenge, Broken Tower.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"The infrastructure can be expected to have been destroyed." Ethius says from the Aiguille, to Lan's whining about the situation. It is a lot of rocks. The Aiguille might be able to scale it and cross over, but that wouldn't serve much purpose. He doesn't linger overmuch on the feeling of enervation and fatigue from the runoff of a nearby Malevolent Domain.
"There may yet be more hostile entities in wait," Ethius remarks as the Aiguille takes a nearby pile of rubble as a raised vantage point, rather than contribute to the 'move heavy things' effort. Or, uh, the 'blast heavy things' effort. Or even the 'unmake anything in our way' effort, as tends to be the case when Lily is motivated.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Broken Tower.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Thank you! I think so, too. I still find myself missing the Jaeger sometimes, but... I can't deny Issachar feels a lot more smooth." Jacqueline replies, and smiles at his addition. "It really is. I'm... extraordinarily lucky to have her. And Shalune too, she helped as well."
Working together, the phantoms are quickly dealt with as Ethius sounds the all-clear. Jacqueline relaxes a little, recalling the wing unit's feathers. Lan asks a question, then, which Jacqueline has to take a moment to consider.
"Yeah... it certainly took a while to get used to. It can be... difficult, especially if you need to do multiple things at once, while holding a conversation." Jacqueline explains. "But on the plus side, it's nice to have my hands free. And it's a lot more responsive."
She listens as Lily explains that she can control hers with Sorcery, with a lot of effort.
"It's impressive that you can do that much, honestly. If most people tried, I don't think they'd get anywere." She replies with a smile.
As they proceed, they find themselves blocked by a pile of rubble. And as Ethius points out, with the Malevolence here, there might be more enemies.
"Right, good call. We'll try to make this quick." Jacqueline replies. The proximity to the Malevolent Domain is... draining, but she tries to power through it. She draws out a Crest Graph and invokes its power through Issachar, trying to shift the rubble with the power of earth to help clear a path.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Broken Tower.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
It's a bad situation, truth be told. For an instance, it might seem that he's about to be overwhelmed by the number of Hellions. But he's no slouch in fighting, for one, and for another, there is backup to be found. Having a healthy and fit body hardly hurts, either.
"Yes, that does seem to be the end of them," Citan reports, dusting himself off. "Goodness... I hope that we do not encounter any more like those ones..."
They press on from the plaza proper. "It is," Citan answers Lan. "Most Gears are limited by their 'reaction time', you might say. Even within your own body, there is a period of 'lag' between when you have received a stimulus and you react to it. With a machine, the connections are far cruder than nerves, of course! So there is a greater period of 'lag' between when you issue a command and when it is carried out. Even in a high-level Gear such as one created by Solaris this is the case. Even the best connection can only transmit so quickly. Then, to add to that, the time it takes for you to realize a course of action and then order the Gear to carry it out..."
He continues on like this. It appears to be a subject of some interest to him.
"...But needless to say, if you were able to transmit your intent via your thoughts... it still would not be quite 'instant' but it could potentially become nearly so!"
He pauses here and readjusts his spectacles, seemingly taking in the obstacle that is before them properly as Lan voices her displeasure.
"...My, this is quite the mess. And it is not simply the fallen tower that is the problem," Citan adds, indicating where the Malevolence bubbles up from within the ruins. Pulling out a paperbound manual, he pages through its contents a moment. "Perhaps if we were to apply some pressure here," he says, approaching the rubble where it seems particularly cracked and jabs a pair of fingers just to the left. If all goes as planned, it should weaken the stone somewhat.
Perhaps this might help along some of the attempts to clear the worst of the rubble out of the way.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Acupressure Guide toward his party's challenge, Broken Tower.
==============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================== =========================<* CHALLENGE - Broken Tower *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The road you take has led you to where part of the city's wall once stood. Much of the wall is collapsed. The same is true for some of the towers that once stood atop it. One of those stone guard towers has collapsed across the street, making a high and dangerous rubble pile. Forging your way ahead will involve breaking your way through the rubble pile -- or at least clearing enough to make it easy to cross over it. This is made harder by the motes of black and violet drifting up. Some unfortunate souls perished when the tower collapsed -- and a Malevolent Domain is nearby. The Malevolence in the air is not so thick as to be dangerous, but it has a way of enervating you as you work. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Tire=============================================
=========================<* Ruins of Azado - Round 3 *>========================= ===========================< Results - Broken Tower >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 30 --(20)--> 50 Fail Acupressure Guide 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 10 --(20)--> 30 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lan Lilac 10 --(8)--> 18 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 10 --(20)--> 30 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 10 --(8)--> 18 Pass Demolition Formula 3 Brute Effects: Rally -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Citan Uzuki 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Tire(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"Sort of like how it's hard to do two other things at once. The more complicated they get, the more likely you'll make a mistake." It makes sense. But the idea that someone out there is already piloting theirs with magic seems to confirm something for Lan. So it is doable! And Lan is good at magic!
With Ethius standing as lookout, the rest of them can apply their various modes of firepower... uh, earthpower... rock-go-away power! Yeah! with some success. "But that makes sense too," she nods to Citan, stepping a little further to one side as he scientifically pokes something inside the ruins. There's a puff of rock dust, and suddenly the rocks are moved much more easily. ...Was that a tenketsu???
"-Uh, I mean that when you learn a style, you're teaching your brain and body to go ahead and override part of the 'make a decision and then do the decision' process! So you don't have to think about blocking a punch, you just do it."
With the rubble finally cleared enough to get past, Lan stretches the kink out of her shoulders and follows along.
DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Couerl vs. Breed Wolf *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Pyreflies and Malevolence are like oil and water. It is rare to see them meet, and when they do, they tend to repulse each other. As you come to a large stone plaza, where an open air market once sat, you can see this. Motes of violet and black are driven back by swirls of prismatic light. Pyreflies and Malevolence push and drive each other away, making a swirl of warring colors in the air. In the plaza, another war is being fought. The pyreflies are thick enough here for a fiend to take form: a large cat-like one, with two twisting, barbed tendrils from its back. The Couerl snarls, its jaws snapping down into a Hellionized dog -- and tosses the glowing, purple hound to the side, smashing into a wall. The hound looks up and sees you -- then howls. Several of the others in its pack rush for you. The Couerl, too, strikes with a piercing strike from a tendril. You soon find yourself in a battle between Hellion and fiend. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Exhaust, Overwhelm================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily is all about damaged infrastructure. And interested in Gears! Unlike her friend Fei, she does not hate Gears or fighting. "It's pretty fascinating," Lily admits of Jay's Gear. And then that smiling reply.. Well. Fair point!
"Thanks," Lily says. She appreciates it when people appreciate her terrifying magic power.
She actually listens to Citan's lecture! She does that. But eventually it ends, and Lan continues the conversation--she has a point about the style thing. Rock-go-away-power....
But that aside, Lily leads the way into the next area--a large stone plaza, once an open air market, and the sight before them is beautiful and dismal, Malevolence and pyrflies warring with one another in swirls of incredible light.
...and then there's the fiend and the Hellions, and Lily narrows her eyes. There's a howl--
Lily darts forward, Dog rushing to block one of the Hellion hounds from hitting Lily as Lily follows up with a flash of her knife and a rush of darkness.
"No getting around it!"
Everyone is going to have to deal with terrible spells from the Coerul and terrible teeth from the hounds.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Couerl vs. Breed Wolf.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline listens with full interest as Citan goes on. She can tell he's interested in the subject.
"It's really quite interesting." Jacqueline says once he's finished, and nods at Lan's reply. "Oh, that makes sense. I didn't think about it in that regard..."
She's not a martial artist herself, after all - she doesn't have that kind of learning.
Lily leads the way and Issachar follows, as they find themselves in another plaza. Here, they find a place where Malevolence meets a swarm of Pyreflies, each warring against the other for dominance.
"...It's... strange to see them together in one place like this." Jacqueline admits. "Malevolence can't take root in Spira, so there aren't any opportunities to seem the interact like...this."
Part of her is horrified at the thought of what it means, but the scholar in her can't help but be curious. But before she can think any further, Fiends and Hellion both arise. They fight... but it isn't long before they're spotted, and suddenly it becomes a three-sided battle.
"Right..." Jacqueline says. "Even with Hellions and Fiends, there's usually a leader. Try to identify which ones are calling shots!"
Against the Hellions, she takes a more defensive approach. She's less enthusiastic about harming them directly so instead she disperses her wing feathers defensively, guiding them to intercept incoming attacks for those on the ground.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Wing Unit toward her party's challenge, Couerl vs. Breed Wolf.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"I'm picking up movements ahead," is about the only warning Ethius can give before they step out into a turf war between two different makes of spiritual creature, the Panic Eye mechanism within the Aiguille going off like mad - and sometimes there's false positives. He listens to the lectures at hand without adding much himself, but that's normal for Ethius. He's someone who has, in the years that have passed, been someone who is largely... there.
It's when he picks up visual confirmation of some of these signals - by watching opposing colors of violet and black against the prismatic light. The machine isn't actually attuned to Resonance-sensed enemies - the mechanism is just overtuned and they're doing enough damage and action about the world around them that it's picking up those disturbances anyway.
Just as the Breed Wolf howls, there's a few other scattered signals from a specific direction, which he's going to take as gospel.
"Movement coming in from the southwest," Ethius says as he orients the rifle-staff towards the oncoming horde and getting off pot shots. "I will attempt to hold them off."
So long as he can be covered from the ire of Couerl and Breed Wolf alike, he should be able to help keep them from being overwhelmed.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Panic Eye toward his party's challenge, Couerl vs. Breed Wolf.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
In another circumstance, or on another world, it might have been beautiful. Even now, it's still breathtaking.
Even knowing what pyreflies are, Lan isn't alone in finding them enchanting. She watches them flow and surge, spattering against a bulwark of Malevolence and regrouping. They move even more smoothly than water. They shine more elegantly than stars.
The glow of them reflects in her eyes as Lan watches, enthralled. It's so
A whiplike tendril cracks against her suddenly-raised forearm, raising a bloody welt on the skin. Lan hisses out something akin to a curse and clumsily uncorks her water bottle again. She'd been so close to something. It was right there and she almost had it.
But that means she can reach out and grasp for it again. "Let's go!" she shouts, leaving the others behind to dart out into the battle yet again, leaping over a pawswipe from the couerl. Her body twists in midair and Lan brings an elbow down with a crunch of might-be-bone into the Fiend's neck.
Not content to stop there, she flings out an arc of clear water in a sparkling circle of purification.
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Clear Water toward her party's challenge, Couerl vs. Breed Wolf.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Machinery in general seems to be a major interest of his. So when it comes to Gears... well, it stands to reason that someone like him might be a bit of a 'fanboy', so to speak.
"...Something like that, yes," runs his answer to Lan. He cannot help but smile slightly, though. "If you were to attempt to rub your belly and pat your head at the same time, I believe it would prove to be a difficult challenge! Now, just think of how many simultaneous operations become necessary when you are piloting..."
It can be easier to think about doing things than actually doing them, sometimes.
"There, that is dealt with. I wonder if we are getting any closer to the teleporter?"
But he stops then, halting in his tracks almost as if he's caught something on the wind.
Ethius provides a warning.
"--Pyreflies? Here? ...Left behind by Sin, then!" the doctor shouts, glancing between the two opposing forces doing battle. "And of course, they oppose each other here as well! I wonder what it is about their natures that causes--"
He cuts himself off, dodging a Couerl tentacle.
"--Perhaps we had best save this discussion for later! I will deal with with the rest of that beast's pack!"
After all, the major problems right now are the cat-like Couerl and the leader of the Hellion hound pack!
DG: Citan Uzuki has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Couerl vs. Breed Wolf.
==============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Couerl vs. Breed Wolf *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Pyreflies and Malevolence are like oil and water. It is rare to see them meet, and when they do, they tend to repulse each other. As you come to a large stone plaza, where an open air market once sat, you can see this. Motes of violet and black are driven back by swirls of prismatic light. Pyreflies and Malevolence push and drive each other away, making a swirl of warring colors in the air. In the plaza, another war is being fought. The pyreflies are thick enough here for a fiend to take form: a large cat-like one, with two twisting, barbed tendrils from its back. The Couerl snarls, its jaws snapping down into a Hellionized dog -- and tosses the glowing, purple hound to the side, smashing into a wall. The hound looks up and sees you -- then howls. Several of the others in its pack rush for you. The Couerl, too, strikes with a piercing strike from a tendril. You soon find yourself in a battle between Hellion and fiend. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Exhaust, Overwhelm================================
=========================<* Ruins of Azado - Round 4 *>========================= ======================< Results - Couerl vs. Breed Wolf >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 50 --(25)--> 75 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 30 --(5)--> 35 Pass Wing Unit 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lan Lilac 18 --(5)--> 23 Pass Clear Water 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 30 --(25)--> 55 Fail Panic Eye 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 18 --(25)--> 43 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Citan Uzuki 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Overwhelm|Tire(1)|Weaken(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Neeeeeeeerd.
"It is strange," Lily agrees with Jay. But soon, they have the chance to try to do exactly what she suggests--Jay's defensive efforts provide an opportunity for the rest to single out the 'leaders' of the group, so they can keep getting toward the teleporter. Lan takes care of the coeurl itself with a nasty strike of elbow to bone, and her circle of purification does a lot, too. Ethius's warnings let them continue to manage the foes around them, and Ethius is quite able to hold off the others--but he has to take a number of hits to do it effectively. Citan covers the rest of the beast's pack, and Lily herself does a lot of tanking of their foes with Dog, but all three of Citan, Ethius, and Lily are a bit worse for wear when it's all finished.
...But it is all finished, and Dog barks in triumph once before sitting down to wag her tail at Lan.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - The Floodgate *>======================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Azado once had a complex system of floodgates. These all failed after Sin caused enormous damage -- some from a rush of water beyond what they could have. Some are like the one in front of you, where water diverted elsewhere. You find a dry channel, leading to a huge stone floodgate. Beyond it, there is a foot path down into the ruins underneath the city. Getting to that path, however, requires getting through one of these enormous floodgates. Carved of stone, with the stylized form of the Blue Dragon on it, these huge slabs of worked stone will take some work to lift -- or blast through -- but this is necessary to continue. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Injure, Tire=====================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Both sets of foes are defeated. Jacqueline breathes a sigh of relief.
"...I guess it's to our benefit that they're fighting each other. I'd hate to think of what would happen if they were able to cooperate." She considers, and then frowns. "...Though I hope all the fighting doesn't end up making them stronger."
She shakes her head and guides Issachar forward, tapping away at the dashboard as she does.
"I think... we should be close. If I recall, we're nearing the floodgates. I remember they evacuated everyone they could into the ruins for safety..." Jacqueline considers. "Are they still standing...?"
Sure enough, as they proceed forward they're treated to the sight of a massive stone slab bearing the stylized form of the Blue Dragon. Jacqueline frowns consideringly.
"...This is going to take some effort. But I guess this time we don't have the threat of Sin hanging over our heads." She comments with a frown. And closing is easier than opening, but besides that...
Issachar can do a lot of things... but it doesn't have a lot of raw, destructive power outside of what she personally is capable of as far as she knows, and that's never been a specialty of hers.
"I think even our Gears might have trouble just lifting it open..." Jacqueline considers. "But if we can get it open somehow, I can put some pillars underneath to keep it open. Unless you can destroy it outright, that is."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
The Aiguille takes not just one beating, but three distinct ones. Hellions do not care about whether they 'can,' but whether they 'will,' and if a bunch of angry Breed Wolves decide they want to rip some plating clean off and leave gashes with claws that should not be logically sharper than steel... the Aiguille itself is not possessed of a hardened will against that sort of thing, and there's a notable opening in the flank that might prove serious in another encounter like that.
Ethius himself is fine, sticking to the physical readouts of the damages. "It does not appear the forces combine," he lingers on the point already noticed and discussed, "so I would not see either of them growing stronger between one another." They were plenty dangerous enough. After cursory attempts to ensure one of the legs is still functional proves fruitful, the Aiguille continues along towards the lowered floodgate.
Like Jay and the Issachar, the Aiguille is not a heavy earth-moving unit, and its weapons are not that destructive for the purposes of leveling structures. (The idea of coming outside of there for a few minutes and then applying his own sorcery does not cross him.)
"This floodgate appears remarkably intact, for the environs." Ethius considers, bringing his eyes up to the stylized form of the Blue Dragon upon it. An enchantment, he wonders? ...After the near-miss with potential blindness from trying to look towards Azado's fire with the Spectral Lens, though...
"I will keep watch," Ethius once again volunteers as he finds another pile as raised ground for the Aiguille to keep vigil and snipe at anything that looks dangerous.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Floodgate.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Naturally, Lan immediately kneels down to pet Dog and basically embarrass herself all over the place. Dog!! "Who's a good Dog? Is it you? Is it you? YES IT IS."
Once they're to the floodgates, Lan stares at them rather critically. "They look... really, really tough. Lily, wanna just hammer the crud out of them?" If they both hit the gates with everything they've got...
Well, it might end in hellacious property damage, but it's not like the Malevolence all over the place is really doing the ruins of Azado any favors either.
"I'm gonna give it all I've got," the shaman declares, planting both sandaled feet at shoulder width and starting to cast. "O you of infinite chances, o you of the thousand tears!"
Funny, Lan usually has her hands up in a circle for this one, doesn't she? Why's she got both of them raised to the sky?
...What's that speck in the sky, growing larger and larger?
why does it have a face
"MATERIAL!!"
DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Floodgate.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Goodness... that was quite the encounter," Citan remarks, rubbing at a forearm briefly as he grimaces. "But I agree, Miss Barber. As long as they are in opposition... perhaps that may be to Lunar's benefit. Still, it is hardly a pleasant situation, and if the balance here were to be disrupted in any fashion..." He shakes his head. "I should not like to see either spread."
They may be close, Jacqueline says. "Yes... I think I had seen these on my previous passage, though I did not come over this way," Citan says. "It is unfortunate the alternate path was untraversable. It seems that Azado's state is a precarious one indeed."
But it means they'll have to go through the gates in order to get any further.
"I wonder," he muses, regarding that manual once again, pausing but a moment to let one hand linger over the closed gates, as if seeking out a particular spot for a moment.
And then he simply presses his hand, palm-first, against the floodgates and steps to the side. A prudent move, given what's incoming.
The right amount of pressure in the right place -- it should work in theory for floodgates as well as it works for backaches.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Acupressure Guide toward his party's challenge, The Floodgate.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Dog is very happy. Lily doesn't even call her over for now! She allows Dog to enjoy pets in the aftermath of the battle instead, and considers. "Yeah... If they got stronger it would be a problem, but it looks like they're just keeping each other in check for now." A pause. "We should be careful about upsetting the balance--" Citan has the same thought. "I wouldn't, either. Think we can borrow a Summoner to take care of these fiends?" She is probably kidding.
But the floodgates... Lan speaks Lily's language. "Yes," she says, "That sounds ideal."
As Lan plants herself, Lily spreads her own feet apart and breathes in, focusing on the amount of force she needs to summon, the density of the material around them....
"...Nice," she comments first, and then puts out her hands--and golden nuclear fire crashes out towards the floodgates in an effort to turn them into ex-floodgates. Focused right on the point where Citan applied his pressure.
"Boom." It should reach its apex at about the same time as Lan's Material summon happens.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Demolition Formula toward her party's challenge, The Floodgate. DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Floodgate.
=============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - The Floodgate *>======================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Azado once had a complex system of floodgates. These all failed after Sin caused enormous damage -- some from a rush of water beyond what they could have. Some are like the one in front of you, where water diverted elsewhere. You find a dry channel, leading to a huge stone floodgate. Beyond it, there is a foot path down into the ruins underneath the city. Getting to that path, however, requires getting through one of these enormous floodgates. Carved of stone, with the stylized form of the Blue Dragon on it, these huge slabs of worked stone will take some work to lift -- or blast through -- but this is necessary to continue. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Injure, Tire=====================================
========================<* Ruins of Azado - Round 5 *>======================== =========================< Results - The Floodgate >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Citan Uzuki 75 --(37)--> 112 Fail Acupressure Guide 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 35 --(37)--> 72 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lan Lilac 23 --(20)--> 43 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 55 --(37)--> 92 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 43 --(20)--> 63 Pass Demolition Formula 3 Brute Effects: Rally ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Citan Uzuki 80 --(0)--> 80 Fail Conditions: Injure(2)|Tire(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: Citan Uzuki is too exhausted to continue! DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki has failed this challenge! The party gained 0 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> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"They're quite ancient, I understand. It must be a sign of their level of reverence toward the Blue Dragon..." Jacqueline considers. "...It's kind of a shame we have to destroy it, but I don't see any other way."
Once again, Ethius elects to keep watch. This is probably for the best, considering the level of power being leveled against it.
Citan presses a hand palm-first against the floodgate, applying pressure in just the right place. This is soon followed up by Lan and Lily employing their respective talents - golden nuclear flame and the Star Guardian crash into the floodgate at approximately the same time. The result is immediate and destructive, a loud CRASH followed by an explosion of rubble as pieces of the destroyed floodgate are sent flying in all directions. When the smoke clears, the way is open... but it might not exactly be pleasant for everyone.
"Is everyone alright...?" Jacqueline asks, concerned.
DG: Citan Uzuki has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================== ==============<* CHALLENGE - Elw Catacombs - The Forbidden Door *>============== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You make your way down into the ruins underneath Azado. The pathway you find follows the crater carved into the city, spiralling along its rim until it comes to the stone floor at the center -- though it is now filled with debris fallen in from Azado. There are several hallways leading into the catacombs, but there is one large way forward that leads to a teleporter. It is blocked by a door. The huge stone slab has no handles nor buttons. There is a faint glow coming from it, though -- from a symbol for each of the elements of the Ley: Geo, Wing, Fray, and Muse. They respond to the slightest magic -- and by finding a way to use magic in the right order, you can open the door. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
The gates open, yes, but at what cost?
Coughing into his hand as the dust clears, Citan waves a hand through the air before him. "Goodness, that was... unprecedented, perhaps," he says good-naturedly. "It was not about to budge easily, however."
The ruins are much as he'd seen upon his exit from this very location, but...
He lags behind after a a bit, hanging back towards one of the bends in the ruins under the city. "The rest of you should go on ahead. I will be right behind you. It seems that I need to, ah, take a breather for just a moment," he says, smiling goodnaturedly as he shakes his head. "The teleporter should be just ahead. It will simply be a matter of activating it!"
And if while he's taking that breather he's taking a closer look at the architecture, well...
The fact of the matter though is that while the teleporter might in fact be just ahead (down the hall a distance, that is) there is the matter of the door.
It's not a door that opens readily. In fact, it doesn't move at all when it's pressed, and it has no handles or pressplates or buttons or anything that would suggest how it's meant to be opened. What it does have, though, are symbols for the four elements of the Ley.
Was this standing there when Citan last came through?
They react to magic. Any sort of magic, in fact. But appears that each symbol needs to be activated in turn. So, and this is the problem at hand--
What's the proper order?
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius turns to another external view when there's the sound of a lot of crashing and collapsing, as if to make sure they weren't all being blindsided by a beast of some persuasion - but no, it's just the gate collapsing. When Citan chooses to take a breather...
"Understood." Ethius gives that acknowledgement as the Aiguille traverses along into the ruins with the rest - towards a door that seems to lack much of any conventional means of saying, 'touch this in some fashion to open.'
From within the cockpit, the Spectral Lens is brought in hand. With a low-yield electrical spell, its faint glow illuminates the cockpit...
And causes the Wing and Fray marks to light up in unison, as Ethius gives it the look-over.
"Did someone touch anything?" He asks. "I see two symbols are lit up of... four. They all appear to be connected to the door."
When the Spectral Lens' charge fades, so too do the markings. He has not put two and two together.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Elw Catacombs - The Forbidden Door.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
When the smoke clears and the dust has settled, the gate is gone. Er, no-- there's a piece of it. And another piece over there. And another over there--
Lan swats some of the dust out of her clothes. "Uh. Well it worked!"
Inwardly, she ought to be a little ashamed to have invoked her patron for something like this, shouldn't she...? But it was so nice to see them again! Even just for a breath, even hurtling hundrds of miles an hour into a gate.
"Are you sure, Doc?" she asks after him, but he seems to be just fine. Maybe just a bit winded.
The symbols they find, however, are familiar. And there are only four of them. "Oh, Ley symbols? So... I don't see any place for a key or a Crest graph or anything to go. Maybe if we just kind of..."
Wing and Fray light up.
"No, I didn't do anything! Did you do something? Hang on, let's just ask someone--" Lan's digging in her pockets again, and drawing forth her beloved children's fortunetelling toy. "Spirits, please - what should we do?"
She really hopes they get a helpful wind spirit and not an angry, unhelpful dead-person spirit.
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Paku-Paku toward her party's challenge, Elw Catacombs - The Forbidden Door.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
They make their way down into the ruins, to find... a door!
"...I don't remember this from last time." Jacqueline comments. "Those symbols... those are the elements of the Ley. Muse, Wing, Geo, and Fray... In that case, I imagine the Ley must be involved - perhaps it's tied to usage of the elements?"
Thanks to Issachar, Jacqueline is able to zoom in and get a closer look, which she takes advantage of to then draw out a notebook and begin taking a sketch of the door.
"But... we probably need to figure out the right order..." She frowns, 'hmm'ing pensively to herself. "We could try activating them in order of affinity - Geo overcomes Muse, which overcomes Fray, which overcomes Wing which, in turn, overcomes Geo... But the Elw might have had a different plan... there's no guarantee we need to use every single one of the elements, and some might be repeated."
She 'hmm's to herself again.
"I could just try casting everything, I suppose." She considers. She has spells of all of those elements, she can do it if she has to. "For now... I'll's try lighting them all at once!"
She casts two spells in quick succession through Issachar - one spell brings a bolt of lightning down nearby, formed from Wing and Muse, and the next is a spell of protection, formed of Geo and Fray.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Maintenance Guidebook toward her party's challenge, Elw Catacombs - The Forbidden Door.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Unprecedented? Maybe. But importantly, "Of course it worked." Lily seems pleased. Dog follows along.
Lily considers the symbols, channeling fire into Fray and... well, that's about it. She can't actually do water, earth, or wind, though it's an interesting debate whether her other elements would 'count' as distinct elements for certain magical constructs. For this one, it seems not though.
Fire.... "Hmm," Lily says, examining the markings as they light up at her hand and at others. Then she considers, as Lan looks to the spirits, and instead pulls... her knife. From her boot. Lily glances at the blade, and points it at the door.
"That's all well and good," Lily says to Jay, "But what if we just put in so much magical force that it overwhelms the whole system and lets us in anyway?"
She seems fine with this plan, and breathes in, starting to focus raw red magical power straight for the door after Jay's efforts.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Lily's Knife toward her party's challenge, Elw Catacombs - The Forbidden Door.
==============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================== ==============<* CHALLENGE - Elw Catacombs - The Forbidden Door *>============== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You make your way down into the ruins underneath Azado. The pathway you find follows the crater carved into the city, spiralling along its rim until it comes to the stone floor at the center -- though it is now filled with debris fallen in from Azado. There are several hallways leading into the catacombs, but there is one large way forward that leads to a teleporter. It is blocked by a door. The huge stone slab has no handles nor buttons. There is a faint glow coming from it, though -- from a symbol for each of the elements of the Ley: Geo, Wing, Fray, and Muse. They respond to the slightest magic -- and by finding a way to use magic in the right order, you can open the door. =Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
=========================<* Ruins of Azado - Round 6 *>=========================
================< Results - Elw Catacombs - The Forbidden Door >================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
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Citan Uzuki 112 --(X)--> X
Effects:
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Jacqueline Barber 72 --(5)--> 77 Pass
Maintenance Guidebook 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse
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Lan Lilac 43 --(5)--> 48 Pass
Paku-Paku 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten
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Ethius Hesiod 92 --(5)--> 97 Pass
Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten
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Lily Keil 63 --(5)--> 68 Pass
Lily's Knife 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Citan Uzuki 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass
Conditions: Injure(1)|Stupify(2)|Tire(1)|Weaken(1)
Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Citan Uzuki has successfully explored Ruins of Azado!
==============================<* Ruins of Azado *>============================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Diary of a Lost Girl *>===================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You move through the now-opened doorway, into a long hallway. There are several recesses you check, as you move down them. One of the ones you look into seems empty, but you catch something on the floor. You find charred and burnt pages from a diary. Due to the damage, some of the pages are too difficult to read but others aren't too difficult to discern the contents. Most of the entries are from years ago. The pages aren't dated making it difficult to discern the order but it seems to be in this order with some pages written much longer ago than others. PAGE 1 If your name is Leo and you're reading this I'm gonna tell mommy and you're going to be in SO MUCH TROUBLE...! >:O!!!! If you're Ronfar... you won't get off so lightly!! PAGE 2 Dear Diary, big brother's so strong and Ronfar's so kind. And cute. And has a nice butt (I warned you Leo!). I'm sure they'll do great in Althena's service, maybe even become one of her Heroes! Ronfar's healing ability is so strong, Althena must really care for him. I better confess before she steals him away, hehehe! With loved ones as capable as this I'm sure Raculi will be safe for a long time. ...But if I might be a little honest, diary, I feel like I don't measure up. I wish I was a little stronger so I felt worthy of them. PAGE 3 AHHHHHH I JUST HAD A DREAM THAT HE WAS ACTUALLY INTO LEO AND I MISREAD ALL HIS SIGNALS AND PROMISES WHAT IF HE SAYS HE JUST SEES ME AS A FRIEND??????? I can't today I'll be too nervous...! Maybe tommorow. Don't steal my true love away from me before then, Leo!! PAGE 4 Okay. Today's the day...! Wish me luck, Diary! .....................He already thought we were officially a couple since we were like 5. All that stress and worry for nothing... *drawing of an exasperated looking chibi mauri face* PAGE 5 My priestess training is going really well! I feel stronger than ever! Althena must be happy to see love flourishing between us. The bad guys better watch out...! Between the three of us, they don't stand a chance! Hehehe...though honestly I hope the bad guys don't show up. I don't want anything threatening our happiness. You hear that? I'm saving this page for you, infidels! Hehe... PAGE 6 I'm feeling a little under the weather today. I must've caught something. I think I'll turn in early... My face feels hot... The rest of the pages are too burnt to discern anything from. Before you can file the pages away, a breeze catches them and blows them from your hand. Perhaps for the next Drifter to find. When you continue to the end of the hallway, you find something you may have seen before: four floating crystals, with metal upon them. They pulse idly with light. The Elw teleporter here is already active; with the Reflector Key you have, you can attune to it (if you have not), and then use it to travel to other Elw teleporters. =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Is it the case that this is actually some sort of benighted light puzzle with Ley elements?
It certainly seems like it might be that way -- a pair light up with Ethius' application of a particular spell, but the door remains closed, even when they're followed with additional spells.
It might be Lan who can confirm the path that Lily and Jacqueline are already beginning to tread: as she toys with her fortune-teller, she will find it presents her with a particular answer in time:
ALL
She didn't write that, did she?
And as Jay and Lily proceed--
The doors fly open with a bang, the force sending scraps of burnt paper flying from within the chamber they had sealed. They have writing on them. They look like they were once part of--
They'll have enough time to read the pages, but no more. They're torn from hands and flutter away down the hall, caught by some strange Filgaian breeze.
That's the teleporter over there.
"My apologies, I hope I did not keep anyone waiting," Citan says, hurrying on over to join the rest of them. He looks between all of them, then over to the teleporter.
"Well, shall we?"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
With a mix of all the spells and a burst of raw, red power, the door opens! After this, several pieces of burning paper fly through the air. Jacqueline presses a quick procession of buttons to capture the image on screen.
"...That's... Red Priest Mauri must have written this." Jacqueline comments with a frown. That's someone she has... bad experiences with. It's because of her that she's wanted by the Guard. She was very... intense, so it's a little strange to see her writing like this. It makes her feel... a little sad, actually, to think of how different the Mauri she encountered is. What changed?
"...Right, yes." Jacqueline. She rummages through her things, drawing out her Reflector Key. This should make travel easier, at least...