2021-11-18: Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky (Side G)
- Log: 2021-11-18: Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky (Side G)
- Cast: Ruth Pauling (also GM), Yue Rohay, Seraph Yvain, Rebecca Streisand
- Where: Celesti Wastelands
- Date: November 18, 2021
- Summary: A handful of Drifters journeys to determine whether there is a thriving community in the wastes - especially when one is personally aware of what happened to that patch of land years prior. Could the truth be more unsettling than that...? (Final of seven runs of the one-shot Alcidamas Village Dig.)
======================<* Celesti Wastelands *>======================
Decades ago, the nation of Celesti ripped itself apart in a vicious civil war. Outside of a handful of settlements, its former territories are lifeless. The remains of trenches, bunkers, and barbed wire lines serve as lingering reminders of the conflict--scars that have yet to heal. The earth is dry and barren, and much of the groundwater has been contaminated by biological or chemical weapons.
Travel through the Wastelands is treacherous. The roads are pockmarked with shell craters, and Reapers have been known to haunt its blasted plains. A handful of functional rail lines cross the wastes, but these travel directly to their final destinations. The shattered remains of ghost towns dot the landscape. Some may yet hold things of value, but experienced travelers know better than to go treasure-hunting on a whim. The war-dead of Celesti do not rest.
Ghosts aren't even the strangest things one can find here. As the war dragged on, both the Congressional Knights and Aquvy Union dug up ancient weapons to aid their efforts--including, it's rumored, ARMs from Zeboim. These rumors draw both the daring and desperate into the wastes, and more often than not, to their end.
BGM: Shin Megami Tensei IV - Blasted Ichigaya
DG: A party led by Seraph Yvain is now entering Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Coming and Going *>=======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Alcidamas Village, as it's called - it's more of a proper town by now - is
easy to approach by foot. Skilled warriors have come together to help patrol
the roads and keep it safe from ne'er-do-wells. All remarkably cheerful, if
cautious. They're happy to give you directions to the place. The grass gets
greener and the sky clearer the closer you approach.
You pass by a leaving caravan shortly before coming across someone shouting
for them! They're out of breath, and ask you for help in hailing down the
caravan. It seems they forgot something! You'll need to chase them down on
foot and hope they get your attention.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
The rumors - the earliest being from half a year ago and then outright exploding from there - speak of a veritable paradise where once was just mere ruin and decay from the Celesti Civil War. The rumors are consistent as to the 'where,' and the Adventurers' Guild and other parties would really like to confirm the veracity of this. (Or rather, the lack thereof - enough people with money and power think this kind of foolishness is dangerous and would like to put this ridiculousness to rest.)
(But of course they'd pay Drifters to go out and do that for them.)
What is also consistent - the wasteland that remains, still vast and only hospitable by technicality of 'will not kill you by itself.' The trip there, by however means they manage to get there together, remains as dangerous a journey as any. Raiders, hungry monsters, and the increasingly common encounter with something emanating Malevolence... it should be enough to beat the optimism out of anyone.
Until they see blades of grass, growing defiantly alongside a well-traveled road - and a caravan with four kind of familiar guards riding along.
"Oh, you must be here for Alcidamas too?" Says a smiling guy missing a few teeth.
"Why else would anyone be out here? Why are we even asking these things?" Asks a heavy-set fellow.
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmdunno," a gazelle-type beastfolk shrugs.
A bat-like(?) beastfolk(?) remains silent but is rolling his eyes about it all and just gestures with a hand that-a-way.
...The closer they get, the greener it is. It's like stepping outside of the endless swirling morass of dust and sadness and into a different place entirely. The air is cleaner, the wind gentler, the earth more fertile... and the armed guards, though momentarily wary, wave in a friendly enough fashion and invite everyone in.
Ruth, one of those gathered, tightly clenches a gloved hand, having hid her head in a hood and wrapped her rifle up in multiple layers of cloth like she doesn't want to be identified. She is dressed way too much for the scorching hot world out there. "...I've been here before. Durin--"
"Oh noooo! They left without... EVERYTHING!" A villager yells as he runs up, panicked. "I don't know how but the caravan up ahead just left without any of their things!" A villager says to those approaching. He's winded, panting, and out of breath. "Pl-please, flag them down, do something...!"
The (former) elf takes a Crest Graph in hand and focuses intently on a distant hill. Not too distant to conjure a flow of water to cross the path of the leaving caravan, which is... kind of rude, but that is one way to slow them down and give everyone else time to shout and flag the caravan leaving.
DG: Ruth Pauling has used her Tool Rivercrest toward her party's challenge, Coming and Going.
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Yue Rohay is here in the Celesti Wastelands because it's an incredible place to be if you're chronically, dangerously depressed and are helpless to fix yourself to being less depressed and instead want to be MORE depressed!! It's an incredible, foolproof, Veruni-brained plan.
She's quietly pacing next to Ruth as she explains how she's been here before, during... the war? The comment's cut off, though she does see that the air is cleaner, the wind gentler... everything about this place doesn't look like it's been shredded by war.
A villager points out the caravan just left without their things. Oh... hmm...
"... okay. Leave it to me," Yue murmurs with slumped shoulders, before squatting and... taking out a cute midnight blue scrunchie with gold trimmings. A sidetail today.
Then the Veruni's off three steps, before she soars through the air to just leap the entire bound of the road and land in front of the Caravan.
"You left... something," Yue points out.
DG: Yue Rohay has used her Tool Cute Scrunchie toward her party's challenge, Coming and Going.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Yvain has posed.
Yvain is exploring Celesti because he is hoping to see it improved, and hears that it is growing nicely. The wasteland isn't a big problem for him; he doesn't really need things like 'food' and 'clean water', though of course it's uncomfortable to be in such a blasted place. But the lingering fires are familiar in their way. What isn't familiar is... This.
"You have?" Yvain asks Ruth, thoughtfully, and then suddenly--they left. Yue... soars through the air to just leap it ahead.
Yvain figures they probably can't see him anyway, so he instead just turns towars them and watches for the moment. "Nice work," he says to Yue and Ruth, and then finally does decide to help, by throwing his magic boomerang that direction. Maybe they'll see it spin around and think to look back at where it goes...
DG: Seraph Yvain has used his Tool Magic Boomerang toward his party's challenge, Coming and Going.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"Plenty of reasons that folks might pass through these parts."
Rebecca Streisand answers guardedly to the beastfolk, because her business is her own.
"Not just that. Drifters get put on monster hunting contracts all the time."
However, then she looks beyond them where they're gesturing. "Huh. Seems..."
Out of place? All this Green out here that is.
Somehow, she converges over with the rest at about the same time, "So you're out here too..." Rebecca says to Yue, and she probably intended to say something else... when...
A panicked yell interrupts things. "Huh? Really?" She sighs, "I guess we can take care of it."
Rebecca casually watches the Elf use a Crest Graph, and Yue switch to a side tail... before leaping, and soaring.
When she just pulls out a strange looking gun and points it off in the distance, blind firing it at the hill, before unceremoniously popping a shot down at her feet.
And just dropping through, to roll out of her portal right near the Caravan.
"Hey! Stop the ca-"
A boomerang flies by, and Rebecca squints as she suddenly veers back to avoid it... and look at the source, the Seraphim in the distance.
She has a silly smile as she says, "We're all so enthusiastic ... ... chances are we're gonna spook them to take off at this rate."
DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Portal Guns toward her party's challenge, Coming and Going.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Coming and Going *>=======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Alcidamas Village, as it's called - it's more of a proper town by now - is
easy to approach by foot. Skilled warriors have come together to help patrol
the roads and keep it safe from ne'er-do-wells. All remarkably cheerful, if
cautious. They're happy to give you directions to the place. The grass gets
greener and the sky clearer the closer you approach.
You pass by a leaving caravan shortly before coming across someone shouting
for them! They're out of breath, and ask you for help in hailing down the
caravan. It seems they forgot something! You'll need to chase them down on
foot and hope they get your attention.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
=======<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky - Round 1 *>========
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>============= =========================< Results - Coming and Going >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Yvain 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Magic Boomerang 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Portal Guns 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ruth Pauling 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rivercrest 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yue Rohay 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Cute Scrunchie 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Seraph Yvain 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1) Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Yvain 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: Ruth Pauling has drawn a new Challenge.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
===============<* CHALLENGE - Passing the Time (and the Ball) *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Your party comes across a number of children - mixed human and beastfolk
alike - playing a game involving the manipulation of a round ball with one's
feet. (Some of you may already be familiar with this from a strange metal
shrine in the Ignas region that appeared dedicated to this ancient
gladiatorial contest of sorts.)
"Want to play football?" One child asks. "The mayor, Mr. Mecone, taught us
how to play it! It's a lot of fun! You can't touch the ball with your hands
unless you're placed in front of the goal." They are insistent that you come
play! It's a great day for it.
There's never been a better one in recent memory. The weather is perfect for
a game.
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
The hired help is on edge when a river cuts them off and a woman in manacles just up and leaps in front of them - and when Rebecca comes from literally nowhere (other than portals, they should think with them). The bat-like(?) one is giving Yvain a glance when that boomerang goes flying, but that one seems the sort who sort of looks at the entire world with a quiet disdain for their surroundings. He's the only one that seems to react to Yvain's presence.
Rebecca's voice carries the best of everyone, and she'll be able to clarify why there's a sudden stop if Yue's punctual delivery doesn't do it for them. (Not that they have much of a choice, that river-like stream of water is holding them in place.) Once they're all able to get things in order and clarify that they left behind everything...
Everyone heads back to the village together. The grass teased the idea of the wasteland recovering from all war has done to it... but as they step further in, they see it's more than a tease - it's like stepping into a place straight from Lunar, from how... healthy, it all feels, and is.
There's some light greeting here and there by the villagers, until a beastfolk child comes up and asks the lot of them if they want to play football. Their mayor, some 'Mr. Mecone,' taught them how to play it. A large field, two 'goals,' and an inability to touch the ball with one's hands unless you're the one assigned to the goals. They are most insistent to Rebecca for reasons that may be patently obvious.
"...Ma'am?" A young boy asks of Ruth. "Aren't you hot in there?"
The elf (that she once was) should have melted long, long ago along the way. She shakes her head gently.
When the child leaves with their curiosity sated, Ruth looks to the others. She doesn't speak too loudly, grasping at the layers of clothing over her left shoulder as the beads of a Granasian rosary glisten in the joyful sunlight. "There were no less than three engagements in this part of Celesti. Every time... it burned."
She sits down somewhere on the side, as if to try and sort out her own feelings about this recollection. (That she's keeping the worst of that inside for now is a 'not bad' sign, at least.)
DG: Ruth Pauling has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Passing the Time (and the Ball).
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Yue remembers Yvain a bit from the last time she went on an excursion and met him -- up in Mount Zulan. She remembers the food he cooked, the wolves... ... it was a pretty good dish, she has to admit. A boomerang, huh? She wouldn't have expected it of him.
Rebecca, though, is a more immediate concern -- and she looks towards her as she cheerfully says that they're so enthusiastic. "... mmm. My bad," she remarks quietly. "I suppose... Avril is not around today?"
She has that look on her face as if she's on edge just waiting for the person that simultaneously attracts and terrifies her most (sorry Acacia) to appear. "Not that... I mean, it's... you seem... well." Absolutely tripping on those words there.
Before long, though, they're in the village, and... it's as if hundreds of years of Filgaia's history has not happened. There's a quiet frown on her face.
"<... it's just like back then,>" she comments to herself.
Ruth gets some attention from a boy asking her if she isn't hot under all her cover, and there's a raise of her eyebrow as Ruth herself explains there's been no less than three engagements in this part of Celesti... and it burned every time.
"... who can blame them ... for just wanting to forget about everything bad?"
A child asks her if she wants to play football. "Ah... football, huh...? Here... let me show you a trick or two." A pause, and she suddenly slips the ball to her inner heel and bounces it up, then against her knee, over her head, headbutts it, kicks it behind her...
It's just like back then...
DG: Yue Rohay has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Passing the Time (and the Ball).
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Yvain has posed.
Yvain is very interested in the bat-like man who seems to be able to see him. He also grins at Rebecca as she looks over at him, waving before he catches his boomerang. "Maybe," he allows.
The boomerang he got from a ruin, in fact. And he steps over to meet the others as they all assemble, looking to each in turn. "Good to see you," he says, and then soon there is a young boy asking of Ruth, and...
And a game. Yvain won't be part of it, but he can enjoy watching a little play. And he can hear Yue--
"-How long ago?-?" he wonders of her in the same Ancient Tongue.
"...I wonder what changed?" he says, and then watches Yue with the ball. It's fun. He mostly just steps out of the way, for the moment. "Those are intersting ARMs you have," he comments to Rebecca in the meantime. "But you should join them, too."
DG: Seraph Yvain has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Passing the Time (and the Ball).
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"Not today." Rebecca says casually to Yue, "Sorry to disappoint." The expression on her face is all smiles, as if Yue had asked a simple question. Yet there's an intensity in her eyes that might be offputting as Yue fumbles through.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it. Today we're just two Drifters who happened to cross paths."
That line sounded cool in her head at least - though she might be sweating a bit, she doesn't really want THAT kind of confrontation right now.
Rebecca puts a hand on her hip as the kids ask her to play, "Eh? Well... I suppose..."
Rebecca internally: 'I literally don't know how to play this game.'
The rules however soon become readily apparent... anything goes if she can't touch it with her hands? Watching Yue juggle the ball-!
Yvain encourages her, and she looks his way. Well... she suddenly has a smile. A wide grin suddenly spreads on her face. "Sure. Be happy to even out the teams for you."
-=-=-
Rebecca juggles the ball with her knees and heels as she keeps it aerial. "Ready or not! Here I come!"
Rebecca suddenly kicks it aerial!
The ball soars overhead, and Rebecca leaps up to it in a somersault to bicycle kick it down to...
"Passing to you Patty! Get it past Yue!"
As he kicks it down to a Beastfolk girl!
But can Patty pull it off!?
DG: Rebecca Streisand has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Passing the Time (and the Ball).
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
===============<* CHALLENGE - Passing the Time (and the Ball) *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Your party comes across a number of children - mixed human and beastfolk
alike - playing a game involving the manipulation of a round ball with one's
feet. (Some of you may already be familiar with this from a strange metal
shrine in the Ignas region that appeared dedicated to this ancient
gladiatorial contest of sorts.)
"Want to play football?" One child asks. "The mayor, Mr. Mecone, taught us
how to play it! It's a lot of fun! You can't touch the ball with your hands
unless you're placed in front of the goal." They are insistent that you come
play! It's a great day for it.
There's never been a better one in recent memory. The weather is perfect for
a game.
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
===============<* CHALLENGE - Passing the Time (and the Ball) *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Your party comes across a number of children - mixed human and beastfolk
alike - playing a game involving the manipulation of a round ball with one's
feet. (Some of you may already be familiar with this from a strange metal
shrine in the Ignas region that appeared dedicated to this ancient
gladiatorial contest of sorts.)
"Want to play football?" One child asks. "The mayor, Mr. Mecone, taught us
how to play it! It's a lot of fun! You can't touch the ball with your hands
unless you're placed in front of the goal." They are insistent that you come
play! It's a great day for it.
There's never been a better one in recent memory. The weather is perfect for
a game.
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
=======<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky - Round 2 *>========
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>============= =================< Results - Passing the Time (and the Ball) >================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Yvain 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ruth Pauling 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yue Rohay 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Seraph Yvain 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Save Point(1) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Yvain 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: Ruth Pauling has drawn a new Challenge.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Good Game *>===========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
One of the benefits to the restoration of the local flora is that the fauna
have responded in kind. Though the environment can now support their numbers
just fine, it may not be a bad call to help keep some of it in check. Your
party has been called upon to help hunt some game.
Alternatively, if your party is not into that, you can still be tasked with
helping bring some economically useful creatures into captivity.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
While Yvain may not be able to play directly, he can see that the young mortals here are truly happy. Malevolence has been making the rounds around Zoara, but nobody there seems to be exhibiting signs of it. (...Present company notwithstanding.) Ruth mostly sits over there to herself, as Yue and Rebecca go in there - and they have themselves a time!
Patty, receiving the ball, tries to make a play past Yue - whether she succeeds or not is... not in her hands. (Or feet.) How much does Yue feel like sharing?
The children coo and show awe at how Yue's skills are throughout. Whether or not she's subject to the same issues other Veruni have, the world here feels perfect. Healthy, just the right climate to support life and a wonderful bounty in crops and plantlife, and hey, there's so many animals roaming around here.
'Who cam blame them... for just wanting to forget about everything bad?' Ruth lets that question rest, as another villager comes up to the three of them (and Yvain, who they can't see).
"...Hm, say, all able hands are currently working on moving lumber about one of the back roads here," this is an older gentleman speaking. "Animal populations have been booming these last two years... there's enough food to go around for everyone, and, uh... at this rate they're coming back..." He shakes his head. "...We should thin their numbers some. Don't worry! We'll cook 'em up for you, too."
Ruth is ahead of the rest with a sudden haste in her step, sitting down on top of a shallow hill as she sees a variety of critters across what she claims was a thrice-blasted battlefield. Trees have grown strong and healthy in record time. Birds chirp. Deer frolic. Vermin sue for defamation. (what? No.)
"...Yvain." Ruth says to the Seraph. "I remember seeing these animals... long ago. I remember seeing them..."
She doesn't finish the sentence. She's closing her eyes and trying to look away from it out of guilt. "Why is it so nice here... everyone is happy. They're..."
She's holding another crest. One marked with Muse and Geo, giving it a tense squeeze as she invokes it rather than the kind of sorcery that's easier for her to do now and, uh, a lot messier. This is for the best. It produces a large, splashing ball of water that sees some of the gathering wildlife scatter in their direction. It should make for easier hunting.
There's something weird about the way the water forms and moves. It is water that is conjured, but it feels as though... some process got circumvented, or rearranged, in getting from point A to 'magic it to existence' to the point B of 'happening.'
Something an elemental spirit may soon be keenly aware of - there's something weird.
For now, though, it's time to hunt and/or shoo some of the local wildlife.
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Yue blinks a few times as she gets caught out on her usual habit again by a Seraph -- and that lets Patty make a play past her, even though she was obviously going to take it easy on her anyway. Rebecca's pretty good at football too, huh...?
She turns to Yvain with a sad smile. "<Far too long ago now. Far longer than any of these people would remember...>"
After the game, though...
"A-ah... no, I was thinking..." Yue pauses at Rebecca, scratching her cheek. "... no, I suppose it would be best to leave it at... two Drifters crossing. Yes." She looks a bit crestfallen about it.
The world feels perfect. A healthy climate, with a warm and shining sky, with a wonderful bounty of crops and plantlife and animals roaming around...
...
It's so fake.
She succeeds in not letting that spike of emotional bile leave her throat. Ruth is pondering similar things. Why is it so nice here? Everyone's happy...
... are even the people fake?
"I'll leave the game to the experts... I can't hold a gun steady anyway," Yue muses, perhaps mildly keen to see Yvain, Rebecca -and- Ruth perform some gunplay. ... she's the only one here who can't handle her firearms worth anything, she realises.
DG: Yue Rohay has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Good Game.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Yvain has posed.
It's nice. It should be nice. The people who are here are happy, the children are happy.... But there's something wrong. Ruth pins it. No, Ruth is the key, in fact.
"Hmm. Well, I'm happy to help with their food stores," Yvain admits to the others. But Ruth saw them... and she wonders. And then she uses her Crest--
He frowns, as the water moves. Something is... Strange. Something tugs at his senses, at the edge of his awareness. Something... wrong.
"-Long ago, then. The weight of the ages can be heavy.-" He sees it in her. She is not a Seraph, and yet... she speaks the old tongue.
He smiles at Rebecca at her playing, though. "I'm interested to see how you handle other ARMs," he admits, and pulls his rifle, stepping out into the woods. "I'd like to see what the meat is like in these animals anyway. Though if you just want to scare some of them off, that'll be good enough for today; we don't need to take many."
He nods to Yue. "Hunting at least is something I don't have much trouble with."
DG: Seraph Yvain has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Good Game.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Good Game *>===========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
One of the benefits to the restoration of the local flora is that the fauna
have responded in kind. Though the environment can now support their numbers
just fine, it may not be a bad call to help keep some of it in check. Your
party has been called upon to help hunt some game.
Alternatively, if your party is not into that, you can still be tasked with
helping bring some economically useful creatures into captivity.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
DG: Ruth Pauling has used her Tool Splashcrest toward her party's challenge, Good Game.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"Sounds like the wisest course to me."
Rebecca replies guardedly to Yue, about her acquiescence to her own recommendation. Thinking the conversation might devolve in ways neither of them could take back.
It is a nice village, not too unlike where she grew up, except with more kids... she's skeptical perhaps, just on such a nice place existing out here.
But she's not questioning it too much, it's just a small niggling doubt.
As they get asked to get some Game... Rebecca half expects Yue to charge down some giant buffalo and wrestle it to the ground with her superior strength...
But what she deicdes instead sends a clear message...
"Fine by me." Rebecca says as she snaps open her cylinder to check her ARM again. "Hey kids, be back later. Patty - be sure to ask your Mom if it's okay for me to teach you how to shoot while I'm gone! I mean it!"
Apparently she's been bonding with the kids even more!?
There's nothing unusual about her offering to teach kids to shoot though, in her village it was tradition that anyone who made it to twelve years got their own ARM.
At Yvain's offer. "Heh, yours is more suited for hunting game, but... bet you haven't been shooting that ARM for too long."
There's a hint of a competitiveness in her words, not that she's looking down on him or anything.
Either way though, Rebecca aims to prove in a game hunt against him that just having a Revolver is no handicap against a rifle with more experience.
(Before long they're likely bringing back the bacon. Perhaps literally, if there are any wild hogs out there.)
DG: Rebecca Streisand has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Good Game.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Good Game *>===========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
One of the benefits to the restoration of the local flora is that the fauna
have responded in kind. Though the environment can now support their numbers
just fine, it may not be a bad call to help keep some of it in check. Your
party has been called upon to help hunt some game.
Alternatively, if your party is not into that, you can still be tasked with
helping bring some economically useful creatures into captivity.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
=======<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky - Round 3 *>========
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>============= ============================< Results - Good Game >============================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Yvain 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ruth Pauling 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Splashcrest 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yue Rohay 5 --(21)--> 26 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Seraph Yvain 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1) Effects: Cleanse ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Yvain 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: Ruth Pauling has drawn a new Challenge.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
======================<* CHALLENGE - No Pause For Alarm *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Everything is going fantastic in this village. Spirits are at an all-time
high, and odds are you have never seen a happier, more optimistic bunch of
people in all of Filgaia. They have been nothing but kind and accommodating
to everyone who has come to visit.
Some of the volunteer militia have experience dating back as far as the
Celesti Civil War. A handful of such individuals approach you and express
doubt in your good intentions, for this is the closest they've ever seen to
hope for this region. They want to believe you're not here to spoil it, but
they have been wounded too much to let their guards down before strangers.
(Worst case scenario, someone will come by to cool down hostilities before
it gets too heated.)
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
"Okay...! I will, Miss Rebecca!" Patty says, enthusiastic about the idea of it, because Rebecca looks cool and makes it look easy, and Patty like the vast majority of children is deeply impressionable.
They're ordinary wildlife. They don't stand a chance when the ARMs come out. Rebecca makes a game of the game, and it's game over for a handful of them. The bacon will, in fact, be brought back - wild hogs are notoriously tough but she shoots true.
Yvain won't be able to shake off that feeling. His ARM still works as it should, but as a fire spirit, the way it discharges... it 'gets' to the place it should in making it do its thing, but it's like the physics are taking their own detour there. It's tough to describe. It's a mock-up that's correct but also wrong, by some force only he could intuit among them. It doesn't stop him from catching a pheas-- oh, no, that's a cockatrice. Their meat is tough, but Yvain's been around long enough to know how to cook them into something softer.
Noticeably, Ruth doesn't take the rifle off her back - nor does she draw her revolver. A rabbit bounds up to her, if only for lack of a clear idea where to run in its panic when ARMs fire goes off.
The spike of fear that runs across the simple creatures tugs at her as she comes down to a kneel before that frightened rabbit in her shadow. Both hands rest over her heart, before letting her left hand drift down to a knee.
To be the sort of person who is attracted to fear, pain, and distress on an instinctual level, this hunt is Ruth's first taste of it since setting foot inside Alcidamas. There would be more if she drew an ARM - but she seems contented to let that fear 'bleed' out.
There's a gentle smile under the hood, as she doesn't look Yue in the eyes. "They're scared." She speaks of those who scatter. "...As... they should be."
"Is that what I think it is?" Calls a voice, and Ruth feels that spike in tension as the rabbit in her shadow flees for their life. "The yellow and red spear sniper?" That is what the model name of Ruth's rifle means.
Three men approach - local militia, but one is at least wearing a salvaged uniform of the Congressional Knights from the Celesti Civil War, flanked by two others (one who is wearing a torn Aquvy Union coat).
"Death's Door?!" Says the one with the Aquvy Union coat. Ruth's rifle model had a very limited run, and it is her name alone that is attached to its 'triumphs.'
Ruth is motionless... but Yue can see a widening grin that does not look reassuring.
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Sounds like the wisest course to me.
"Um. Yeah..." Yue tries to not push herself on that line of thought further before she gets sucked even further down the self-vortex of her own depreciation, instead watching them fire -- she did swear she wouldn't handle another firearm, since that time...
"<... more than any one person can imagine, I think,>" Yue remarks to Yvain, in the midst of a lull between shots.
Huh. That's a cockatrice. Is Yvain able to... turn it into a cookedatrice? Sadly, the punning isn't in her heart. She notices Ruth not firing at all, though, hanging back like she is... a rabbit comes to them, and then seemingly runs off.
"... that's right. In the end, no matter how hard you try... you can't change a thing," Yue remarks offhandedly to Ruth.
A blink as several voices call out, and three men approach, asking about her. She notices that grin on Ruth's face... and turns back towards the three men again.
This promises to go south pretty darn quickly...
"We should... probably not try anything too rash," Yue remarks to Ruth. She doesn't really expect it to change a thing, however.
DG: Yue Rohay has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, No Pause For Alarm.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Yvain has posed.
"-Yes, I think so. But none of us has to bear that weight alone.-" Yue is... concerning, to Yvain. Especially since she may well be older than he is, from th way she speaks, the way it hangs on her.
But Rebecca..."Hmmmm. I may be new to the gun, but I won't lose so easily," Yvain answers Rebecca gamely. He doesn't want to let on his discomfort to the others and ruin what's a nice place... though that's not the only reason he keeps it to himself for now. But Rebecca may notice that he seems distracted with each shot, despite his successes; she probably wins this round.
"Ruth..." Yvain starts, as she tends the bunny, and then suddenly--that voice calls. Yvain turns towards the local militia. "...Ruth," he says, "Be cautious." Not just her--but maybe especially her. Then he says to Rebecca, as she's closer, "...Offer them some of this cider. It might make them more inclined to talk calmly if they have something to drink over it."
Then to Yue, "...Let's be ready to get out of here if it goes badly. I don't want to hurt these people."
DG: Seraph Yvain has used his Tool Cider Jug toward his party's challenge, No Pause For Alarm.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
They're dragging back their kills, when suddenly the townsfolk come up on them.
And call out Ruth for her ARM.
Now, Rebecca doesn't know anything about Ruth. Not the first thing, but she can sense the tension in the air. And from her time on the road, she has numerous bad feelings about where this is going based on just... instinct... even if she doesn't see her grin.
Looking sidelong at Yvain, she takes the jug of Cider under her arm. And suddenly she holds up a hand. "Hey. We're all tired as we just got back from hunting all this game on your behalf. The kids are all waiting on us for their supper. Can't we just set this aside until we get back, talk about it over a cup of cider?"
She pats the side of the held jug, in an attempt to further diffuse hostilities.
Thinking on her feet though, Rebecca suddenly points to her badge, "And while we were out there... I heard this badge chime. It tones whenever there's something worth noticing out there... I bet I could find it again in no time. We dig it up... could be something that really helps stretch out this town's prosperity, you know?"
She says with a certain casual tone, trying to keep things calm and on the level. It may be a bribe in a way... but that's just how the world works.
Noone gets something for nothing. And getting them to look the other way... well that requires an equal trade.
DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Treasure Tone toward her party's challenge, No Pause For Alarm.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
======================<* CHALLENGE - No Pause For Alarm *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Everything is going fantastic in this village. Spirits are at an all-time
high, and odds are you have never seen a happier, more optimistic bunch of
people in all of Filgaia. They have been nothing but kind and accommodating
to everyone who has come to visit.
Some of the volunteer militia have experience dating back as far as the
Celesti Civil War. A handful of such individuals approach you and express
doubt in your good intentions, for this is the closest they've ever seen to
hope for this region. They want to believe you're not here to spoil it, but
they have been wounded too much to let their guards down before strangers.
(Worst case scenario, someone will come by to cool down hostilities before
it gets too heated.)
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
DG: Ruth Pauling has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, No Pause For Alarm.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
======================<* CHALLENGE - No Pause For Alarm *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Everything is going fantastic in this village. Spirits are at an all-time
high, and odds are you have never seen a happier, more optimistic bunch of
people in all of Filgaia. They have been nothing but kind and accommodating
to everyone who has come to visit.
Some of the volunteer militia have experience dating back as far as the
Celesti Civil War. A handful of such individuals approach you and express
doubt in your good intentions, for this is the closest they've ever seen to
hope for this region. They want to believe you're not here to spoil it, but
they have been wounded too much to let their guards down before strangers.
(Worst case scenario, someone will come by to cool down hostilities before
it gets too heated.)
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
=======<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky - Round 4 *>========
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>============= ========================< Results - No Pause For Alarm >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Yvain 10 --(0)--> 10 Pass Cider Jug 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 10 --(0)--> 10 Pass Treasure Tone 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ruth Pauling 10 --(16)--> 26 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yue Rohay 26 --(0)--> 26 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Seraph Yvain 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Yvain 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> Ruth Pauling has posed.
Yue has an excellent read of this: this can go bad, very quickly, but maybe her advice does manage to go through. Ruth hasn't moved to draw her sidearm. One of the men look at how a jug of cider seems to move in a way to Rebecca that seems believable like it was held strangely to her belt or something, but if so, when did she get that jug? He watched her play with the children not long ago and she didn't have it.
Rebecca, who takes point in communicating among the party when two of them are (rightfully) wary about what one among them just might be about to do - has the Aquvy Union uniform-clad man shake his head.
"We've been through so much thanks to-- a chime?"
"What if it's a mine?" The third, somewhat non-descript one interrupts, hand on the shoulder of the one about to just verbally unload. "Young lady. You heard a chime?" Rebecca provides the ticket to change the subject, owing to another emergent fear of one of the men. "I thought we swept the entire town for 'em alread--"
Ruth stands up and looks over at them. Just this gesture alone strikes fear. The hood's over her eyes, but any movement - if this is who they say it is - in their direction is the sort of thing that strikes any of them as 'last thing one sees before death.'
"Fall back, get the mayor!" They run off. Everyone gets to keep the cider. Hey, maybe they can share it with the mayor - thanks to Rebecca's gambit, they might be getting somewhere as to the hows and whys of this place.
"Death's Door was a heartless monster." Ruth looks away from the rest of them as the men leave. "You're right, Yue. I can't change a thing about... that."
"This place... free of fear, pain, misery... that would allow the very idea of a child holding an ARM in their hand like a thing of wonder!" That grin never leaves her as it sweeps to Rebecca and give her a look at someone who just might act on that description like it were something intolerable. Her gloves tense as fists clench.... and starts off, away, at her own pace as the usual things go through her mind in her own voice like a self-fulfilling prophecy, gradually draining them down to her chest with the help of guilt to ground the worst of it - terminating in a laugh.
"...I'm going to keep it that way," she leaves with those words, the laughter dying into fatigue. Yvain won't pick up the scent of Malevolence in her wake - whether she's keeping it held down, or there's just something else... there's fundamentally something that might be more attention-grabbing.
Some moments later, there's a large, pig-like Beastfolk (huh, is hunting that boar going to make this awkward? He doesn't look at it much, so guess not) wandering up to them. He looks like he could knock anyone flat, but... not a single mean bone in his body as he looks over Rebecca and Yue. "...Neither of you look much like a Death's Door, or nothin'. Whoever that is! First I've heard of anybody like that"
"'m the mayor, Homer Mecone," he introduces, "I see ya caught us supper... 'n if I'm not mistaken, brought cider too." He breathes deep, if the jug's open. "Smells great! Gah ha ha hah! But first... I wanna show ya all a li'l somethin', since I bet ya have questions."
He starts to lead them towards a hill.
DG: You have left Seraph Yvain's party. DG: Ruth Pauling has left your party. DG: Seraph Yvain has drawn a new Challenge.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
======================<* CHALLENGE - Everything Is Fine *>======================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
"So you're the travelers I'm hearin' so much about!" The voice belongs to
large, aging (60's?) beastfolk of a vaguely pig-like form who still looks
strong enough to knock just about anyone flat. Not that there appears to be
any mean bone in his body, as he approaches your group. "Thanks for stoppin'
on by Alcidamas. I'm the mayor, Homer Mecone! You can just call me Homer. I
sure have been sayin' this a lot lately to people like yourselves! Gah ha ha
hah!"
After a brief chat, he makes a peculiar offer. "I bet you're wonderin' how
we've been doin' so well, and... hey, I figure the cat's outta the bag. I
warn you... you ain't never have seen anything like what you're about to."
That sounds ominous, but he waves it off. "Ahh, don't worry bout nothin'."
Homer takes you to see a large shrub-tree... thing, atop a hill. It seems
colored a hue that just bleeds outside of the visual color spectrum. It
seems to be on fire in an equally improbable color, surrounded by leaves and
fruits making fractal patterns that come shy of breaking three-dimensional
comprehension. Though utterly alien, there is nothing untoward about its
surroundings. Around it, the air is at its freshest. The ground at its most
fertile. It also happens to have a horizontal, glassy 'window' with a
smiling face that seems to lean forward to look at you in a way that doesn't
involve any part of it moving.
"Meet Demetrioi!" Homer introduces them. "Friendliest li'l... uh, maybe not
so li'l? Friendliest... Demetrioi you'll ever meet!" Homer seems to struggle
to describe it, but doesn't linger there. "Brought it with me here from
further out, some time back." He doesn't say where, and abruptly changes the
subject. "B-But as you can see... Demetrioi here gave em clean water, fresh
air... brought the soil back to health... and all it seems to want in turn
is to have friends." What a bargain, his grin says! "Go on! Say hello!"
:o hello and salutations i am demetrioi :) today is a wonderful day :D
Its voice is difficult to describe, but it is outwardly friendly and in good
cheer. Aside from its unsettling appearance, there is nothing untoward about
its actions or manner.
Go on, make a really freakin' weird friend today. (Unless you'd rather
disengage, politely or otherwise.)
BGM: Star Ocean Faithlessness and Integrity - Like a Lost Child
=Dungeon Conditions: Madness==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
"So you're the travelers I've been hearin' so much about!" Homer says, and he starts counting on his fingers. Hey, he has fingers! He does! "...Seventh... time I said that? Well, I'll repeat the rest! Thanks for stoppin' on by Alcidamas! I'm the mayor, Homer Mecone! Like I said before... you can just call me Homer. I sure have been sayin' this a lot lately to people like yourselves! Gah ha ha hah!" Beat. "Yep! Even that part too..."
He gives the warning that nobody's ever seen anything like they're about to... but to not worry about anything. Which is ominous, and to at least one among them... there's a feel in the air where those words just do not reassure.
This may apply to all of them when they see it. A large shrub-tree... thing, on a hill. It is colored like it shouldn't be on the visible color spectrum to mortal eyes. The fire that seems to painlessly 'burn' around it is also a strange color. The leaves and fruits... they don't seem like they're going to hold into three-dimensional space for that long. To look at it is to look at something unknowable. To look at everything around it is to know something knowable and even incredible: the air is at its freshest. The ground is at its most fertile. Everything about the world around it is fine, more than fine, perfect! ...It's just that this exists.
A horizontal, glassy 'window' with a smiling face that seems to lean in (actually: zoom in) as the name is given. Demetrioi, who is the... friendliest Demetrioi they've ever met. It's the only one. "Brought it with me here from further out, some time baaa... aaaah, but as you can see... Demetrioi here gave 'em clean water, fresh air... brought the soil back to health, and all it seems to want in turn is to have friends." He's grinning. "Go on! Say hello!"
o hello and salutations i am demetrioi :) today is a wonderful day :D
That is... sound? It parses as sound, but is it? It's weird, it's... wrong, but beyond its mere existence, nothing about it suggests untoward behavior or malice. It is a thing, currently existing, saying hello.
Ready to make a really freakin' weird friend?
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Yue pointedly doesn't answer Yvain when he says none of them have to bear that weight alone. No, some things...
It looks like Rebecca and Yvain have them well handled, however; they're on edge for land mines. Yue can't help but sympathise with their worry for a moment. It reminds her of older days... like so many other things...
But Ruth gleams over them, and they-- yell, and perhaps that's the end of that. Perhaps they have to get ready for a confrontation.
"... that's right," Yue answers. "They'll hold you to task for it, for as long as you live..." But the boar-like Beastfolk arrives shortly, and introduces himself as the mayor. And pointedly... doesn't know who the Death's Door is. Or is he deliberately playing a ruse?
And... it doesn't take long for Homer to introduce them to--
What... is that?
It's a... thing. Shaped like a large shrub-tree, on fire, coloured a hue that bleeds outside the visual colour spectrum... and on fire in an equally improbable way, surrounded by leaves and fruits that push on the edge of three-dimesional comprehension.
Maybe it's a 4D Being and we're all videogame characters to it...
It chirps in a way that is difficult to describe, as if it is oozing forth rainbows and good nature.
Yue pauses, and draws a deep frown across her face. "I'm too tired for this... I'd rather go back to the depths of the wasteland and hang out in Guara Bobela again rather than handle this..."
There's a faint snort and an extremely sullen sinking of her head between her shoulders.
"... no, actually, I don't even feel like this anymore today. Not in the middle of all this... this... ... honestly, Rebecca, if you want to just shoot me now and save Avril a lot of pain later..."
Demetrioi has managed to soundly defeat Yue just by existing, today, it seems.
DG: Yue Rohay has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Everything Is Fine.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Yvain has posed.
Yvain is pretty concerned over this whole matter, for clear and understandable reasons as well as some that are more mysterious. But he gives Rebecca an approving look at her fast-talk, even if it doesn't immediately settle everything. As for Ruth, well...
"Ruth..." He pauses, and watches her, before she starts to leave. "...Take care." There is nothing he can do for that in this moment. However, Homer Mecone--
The jug is indeed open! And Homer doesn't seem to see him, though that's fine. It gives Yvain a chance to consider what that feeling is, as he looks towards the thing that they see. A large... color--
"What...?" Yvain stares at it, but it is like staring into the sun, and even he is forced to glance away after a moment, with vertigo threatening. Demetrioi. And yet... What?
"What... are you?" Yvain wonders, staring. He keeps his composure, perhaps surprisingly to some, but he looks at Demetrioi like it's--well, like it's a thing with branches and leaves and colors that shouldn't all exist.
Homer gets less of Yvain's attention than Demetrioi. "Good... day," he manages, and continues to stare. He should look away; it burns his vision, and yet, he cannot entirely.
"...No one should be shooting anyone," he says absently, and perhaps the surest sign that something is wrong is that he barely responds to Yue for the moment.
There is no proper analogy to how he looks at it; in all his days, Yvain has never seen something quite like this.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Yvain has posed.
Yvain is pretty concerned over this whole matter, for clear and understandable reasons as well as some that are more mysterious. But he gives Rebecca an approving look at her fast-talk, even if it doesn't immediately settle everything. As for Ruth, well...
"Ruth..." He pauses, and watches her, before she starts to leave. "...Take care." There is nothing he can do for that in this moment. However, Homer Mecone--
The jug is indeed open! And Homer doesn't seem to see him, though that's fine. It gives Yvain a chance to consider what that feeling is, as he looks towards the thing that they see. A large... color--
"What...?" Yvain stares at it, but it is like staring into the sun, and even he is forced to glance away after a moment, with vertigo threatening. Demetrioi. And yet... What?
"What... are you?" Yvain wonders, staring. He keeps his composure, perhaps surprisingly to some, but he looks at Demetrioi like it's--well, like it's a thing with branches and leaves and colors that shouldn't all exist.
Homer gets less of Yvain's attention than Demetrioi. "Good... day," he manages, and continues to stare. He should look away; it burns his vision, and yet, he cannot entirely.
"...No one should be shooting anyone," he says absently, and perhaps the surest sign that something is wrong is that he barely responds to Yue for the moment.
There is no proper analogy to how he looks at it; in all his days, Yvain has never seen something quite like this.
"This... should not be." He is certain of that much.
DG: Seraph Yvain has used his Tool Cider Jug toward his party's challenge, Everything Is Fine.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"Could be. It sometimes chimes over deposits of precious metals."
Rebecca sounds, but... Ruth... sends them all into a panic.
Rebecca puts a hand to her forehead in a gesture of frustration, "You could have just... stood down you know. Would have gone a long way." Rebecca then gives her a look as she seems to call out the peacefulness of the village, and says she intends to keep it away.
There's just... something creepy about the way she's acting. Rebecca figures that she doesn't have the whole story, that something more is going on, but all the same...
These are just small town folks who are scared of something disrupting their prosperity. "Yeah... might be a good idea right now." She says quietly.
Then the pig like Beast folk runs up and declares. "Oh hey! Pleasure to make your acquaintance your honor. And yeah... maybe a few I reckon."
But then he brings them all up a hill. To a shrub, with colors that don't... exist.
Looking at it gives Rebecca a bit of a headache.
"What is... wait, this is the reason your town is..."
This doesn't explain EVERYTHING though, and that starts to give Rebecca this strange, niggling sensation. Sure it makes the air fresh and the water clean, but does it keep the beasts away?
And if so, how?
Then there's something like sound but not... in her head.
"Uh. Hello. Reckon I've never spoken to a weird tree before... regular trees maybe."
Regular trees when she was alone and feeling lonely maybe shut up!
Holding up her treasure tone, she tries to examine whether it chimes or not nearby it. "Good on you... uh, making like... a tree... and you know... leaving the place better for you being here."
Yue though announces her departure, and at first Rebecca pays no attention... until...
Now she turns her head, at Yue saying that.
"You make an interesting point. I may have to take you up on that one day. But tell me one thing Yue. Just one thing..."
Rebecca steps up to her, and has to stand on her tip toes... to whisper right beside her ear.
"... since when has Avril ever wanted to be spared of something because it was painful?"
Shifting her weight back on her heels, she turns her back to her and steps off, "I'm not into preemptive murder. You come for her life or her freedom, I'll shoot you plenty then."
DG: Rebecca Streisand has used her Tool Treasure Tone toward her party's challenge, Everything Is Fine. DG: You have to be in a party to use that.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
======================<* CHALLENGE - Everything Is Fine *>======================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
"So you're the travelers I'm hearin' so much about!" The voice belongs to
large, aging (60's?) beastfolk of a vaguely pig-like form who still looks
strong enough to knock just about anyone flat. Not that there appears to be
any mean bone in his body, as he approaches your group. "Thanks for stoppin'
on by Alcidamas. I'm the mayor, Homer Mecone! You can just call me Homer. I
sure have been sayin' this a lot lately to people like yourselves! Gah ha ha
hah!"
After a brief chat, he makes a peculiar offer. "I bet you're wonderin' how
we've been doin' so well, and... hey, I figure the cat's outta the bag. I
warn you... you ain't never have seen anything like what you're about to."
That sounds ominous, but he waves it off. "Ahh, don't worry bout nothin'."
Homer takes you to see a large shrub-tree... thing, atop a hill. It seems
colored a hue that just bleeds outside of the visual color spectrum. It
seems to be on fire in an equally improbable color, surrounded by leaves and
fruits making fractal patterns that come shy of breaking three-dimensional
comprehension. Though utterly alien, there is nothing untoward about its
surroundings. Around it, the air is at its freshest. The ground at its most
fertile. It also happens to have a horizontal, glassy 'window' with a
smiling face that seems to lean forward to look at you in a way that doesn't
involve any part of it moving.
"Meet Demetrioi!" Homer introduces them. "Friendliest li'l... uh, maybe not
so li'l? Friendliest... Demetrioi you'll ever meet!" Homer seems to struggle
to describe it, but doesn't linger there. "Brought it with me here from
further out, some time back." He doesn't say where, and abruptly changes the
subject. "B-But as you can see... Demetrioi here gave em clean water, fresh
air... brought the soil back to health... and all it seems to want in turn
is to have friends." What a bargain, his grin says! "Go on! Say hello!"
:o hello and salutations i am demetrioi :) today is a wonderful day :D
Its voice is difficult to describe, but it is outwardly friendly and in good
cheer. Aside from its unsettling appearance, there is nothing untoward about
its actions or manner.
Go on, make a really freakin' weird friend today. (Unless you'd rather
disengage, politely or otherwise.)
BGM: Star Ocean Faithlessness and Integrity - Like a Lost Child
=Dungeon Conditions: Madness==================================================
=======<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky - Round 5 *>========
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>============= ========================< Results - Everything Is Fine >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca Streisand 10 --(0)--> 10 Pass Treasure Tone 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yue Rohay 26 --(0)--> 26 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Yvain 10 --(8)--> 18 Fail Cider Jug 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Seraph Yvain 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Madness Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Yvain has successfully explored Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky!
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
===========<* CHALLENGE - Best Friends Forever For a Day (3 of 4) *>============
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Everyone gives their greetings, however earnest or otherwise, and
Demetrioi's face smiles a little wider. (Is that a good thing? It doesn't
seem like a bad thing, but...)
:) nice to meet you :D be happy and healthy and harmonious world okay :)
Somehow, even if you were hostile or even attempted to strike it, Demetrioi
comes off as pleased. (Homer might be a little less accepting but doesn't
bring the mood down.)
Soon, you're joining Homer for a walk about the village where you can see
everything continues to go perfectly fine without a hint of irony or
disturbing subtext (no, really, Alcidamas is a nice place). "It's nice a
whole bunch of folks found a place to call home, 'n not feel like they're
settlin' for less... just, real nice 'n far off from everything."
"There's some places out there ya can't go back to," Homer says as he looks
up towards the sky - notably not towards Lunar, "places that'd be a real bad
idea to try to. Between you 'n me, I don't think I'm alone thinkin' that."
His mood brightens. "So! If you're all enjoyin' Alcidamas... I say stay the
evenin', have a good meal or two!"
It's about time for supper. You see other villagers come by and give
Demetrioi love and attention, which it equally appreciates. Nothing seems
off about the villagers or their behavior otherwise, and supper is tasty.
Everyone parts on amicable terms. Hey, maybe everything's fine after all,
even if you might not be sure what to make of... you-know-who.
Homer has to excuse himself from further discussion to continue with mayor
business, and sees your friends off.
Your team leaves with a pile of older gunsmoke ARMs and other weapons of
middling to low quality, leftover after the local militia consolidated and
updated their arsenal. They're not up to modern specs, but you may be able
to refurbish them... or salvage a good pile of extra parts.
BGM: Star Ocean Faithlessness and Integrity - Spending Time With You
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
o if you are tired you can rest here :) is it even better out there that sounds nice :o
The... thing says to Yue as she turns and leaves, with Homer kind of scratching his head. "Well... 'm pretty sure at this rate they'll be just as nice as here... you're still doin' great!" This seems to please Demetrioi enough they don't dwell over-much on Yue's negativity and resignation.
) i am demetrioi that is who i am and what i am and all i am :D no no no not good day best day to you :D
They see Yvain. They talk to Yvain. Homer seems non-plussed, but he came to a realization that maybe there's some... things people here can see and interact with that he can't, like when there was that time with that human(?) woman wrestling with thin air. Things Demetrioi can see? That could explain the occasional weird blips in simple arithmetic like 'how many people are talking.'
:) hello it is nice to meet you are you friends with lots of trees :D do not worry about being unhappy any more okay :)
Demetrioi seems to work their way around some of the heavy subject matter just well enough, and Homer eventually gets everyone still present to come along.
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
To come along on a nice walk, where everything's going nicely. People are being nice to one another - this place is batting way higher than the average for being decent to Beastfolk, no one so much as shows a hint of contempt for when Homer walks by - the food looks and smells fresh, the animals are frolicking, the water is clear, this place really does seem idyllic... except for that, on the hill. "It's nice a whole bunch of folks found a place to call home, 'n not feel like they're settlin' for less... just, real nice 'n far off from everything."
"There's some places out there ya can't go back to," Homer looks up towards the sky - and not towards Lunar, "places that'd be a real bad idea to try to. Between you 'n me, I don't think I'm alone thinkin' that." He goes from contemplation to smiling. "So! If you're all enjoyin' Alcidamas... I say stay the evenin', have a good meal or two!"
Supper, if taken up, is good - it's free of anything untoward. No poisons, no chemicals, just good food (their cooking isn't the best, but they haven't learned how to bring out the abundance of ingredients at their very best). Other villagers walk up and visit Demetrioi, who enjoys their attention - and at the end, there's people willing to trade older gunsmoke ARM parts for the game they helped hunt. Stuff that can be good for extra parts, or maybe worth refurbishing if it interests or entertains.
) it is :o it is :D
Demetrioi repeats once, well after percolating on words Yvain said earlier...
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
MEANWHILE
Outside of Alcidamas, away from the grass, a grotesque, single-winged demonic(?) figure broods atop a ruined, bombed-out structure. Their glowing eyes look on ahead, as fell drops of rain conjure themselves from their complicated feelings.
They notice how they seem to evaporate completely at strange angles against what appears to be thin air, and they aren't sure how to feel about that. Indeed... it's like not a single trace of what that stuff is made of manages to get 'inside' whatever that is.
It doesn't take more than an hour for that figure to simply leave and never return to that place.