2022-01-03: Tales from the Thunder Plains

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  • Log: Tales from the Thunder Plains
  • Cast: Ethius Hesiod, Seraph Harmaus, Matilda Whitehead, Lily Keil
  • Where: Thunder Plains
  • Date: January 03, 2022
  • Summary: Plains of Thunder, Plains of Lightning; when the skies flash, your fear will be heightening. ...Or so goes another one of the rhymes about this place. Crossing the Planes is never without incident, least of all now. Particularly when the situation involves Cactuar. Or Qactuar.

DG: A party led by Ethius Hesiod is now entering Thunder Plains - Wild Road.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
========================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road *>========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - But We Just Got Here! *>=====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 There is no other way between Macalania and Guadosalam on foot save for the
 Thunder Plains. Wracked by an eternal storm, the route is a treacherous one,
 but fortunately the presence of the lightning towers makes the passage
 somewhat easier on travelers.

 Once a lingering battle here between Yevon and Althena's forces had made the
 passage impossible for the average Spiran, but the way is now clear--

 Or rather, would be clear if there weren't a crowd of pilgrims and merchants
 blocking the transition area into the Thunder Plains proper. There has been
 a disagreement about which group gets to head in first with the guide and
 everything has ground to a standstill.

 Unless you can resolve this somehow, you're probably not going anywhere in a
 hurry, either.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Exhaust=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Normalcy has yet to return to Spira. It never will, as they once regarded it so - the destruction of the Final Aeon was a statement by Yuna and her closest allies that they will no longer be allowing this land to continue its cycle. Also, the forces of the Guard have left an unforgettable mark on the culture, history, and available tools and technologies to those who would brave them.

     There is one constant that will be remaining such for the foreseeable future: there is no other way between Macalania and Guadosalam on foot, save through the eternal storms of the Thunder Plains. It's made all the more precarious as the crusades shortened the number of viable, reasonably safe paths through - even with attempts to restore salvageable towers here and there.

     This has expected consequences with the increased foot traffic of those no longer having to dodge volleys of sorcerous artillery - the way is utterly crowded, and no one is there to direct what traffic there is.

     However our group has come together, one thing is for certain: Ethius and his staring - even through the 'filter' of him being occupied with something on the softly glowing eyelgass thing he carries around - is not going to accomplish anything.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, But We Just Got Here!.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    "Ah. Is problem," rumbles the hooded figure that looms near to the mob of people near the entrance to the Thunder Plains. They sway slightly -- are they, perhaps, drunk? Whatever their apparent state, the majority of those close at hand appear to pay the figure little heed. ...Likely, this is because they appear drunk.

    And because many of them have other problems on their mind.

    "I can't believe this!"
    "What's the big idea?!"
    "I was here first!"

    "Mmm..." muses the hooded figure, just in earshot of one of the angrier members of the crowd. "It tries taking its due, yes? Was here first, yet, this how it treated! It tolerates this not. Else, it but..."

    The last word comes as a hiss.

    "Foolish."

    This may not precisely help the situation, at least, not for the crowd at large.

DG: Seraph Harmaus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, But We Just Got Here!.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

Matilda's had weeks to recover from her recent ordeal with Judecca; she's finally mostly-to-entirely fine, at least. Her leg still aches a little when she wakes up in the morning, but such is life. She's an expert in pain medicine, anyway... and she has a *lot* of different formulations to cycle through to avoid it being habit-forming.

Crowds. Matilda hates those, actually. This is not what she expected coming here, and under normal circumstances, she'd be inclined to wait. ... But, frankly, *she* at least is on a schedule and doesn't really want to deal with it.

She frowns, and disappears into the merchant group for several moments. Her inclination here is to get the merchants, who will be easier to broker a deal with, to agree to go second by offering them a variety of small perks, goods, and services of her own. She can't overextend herself *too* much here -- she doesn't have the raw resources -- but she can offer little breaks.

She pulls out a notebook and starts writing down what she's going to end up owing people. Just in case.

DG: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Portable Library toward her party's challenge, But We Just Got Here!.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily Keil is not the most concerned with normalcy as a rule... but neither does she take issue with the idea of Spira finding a 'new normal', as frankly how Spira runs itself is little of her business, and where she does find it to be her business she'll step in. ...That's not most. But here, in the Thunder Plains, there's a lot of old parts and a lot of energy...

And it's a perfect place to train for containing and dealing with significant energy.

...The attempt to restore the path is also a reasonable one, but Lily's main priority is preparation to deal with certain threats upcoming--including Xenia. And here, and now...

She's wearing sunglasses despite the rain, to conceal her black sclera and prismatic irises and pupils, and thick armored clothing against the rain and whatever dangers there are here. And... well. She's watching the crowds. She doesn't like crowds much herself, but Matilda seems to have a good idea, so Lily decides to take an alternate tack: she walks up to the guide.

"I'm going the same direction as you; I'll get your second group out with your first, if you'll tell them to listen to me. I won't stay and take your place, so don't worry you have to share the pay. Just getting them out of my way is good enough for me."

Her knife is prominent, though sheathed; she rests a hand at the pommel, not quite putting her hand at the grip but implying that she knows what she's doing with danger.

DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Lily's Knife toward her party's challenge, But We Just Got Here!.
========================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road *>========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - But We Just Got Here! *>=====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 There is no other way between Macalania and Guadosalam on foot save for the
 Thunder Plains. Wracked by an eternal storm, the route is a treacherous one,
 but fortunately the presence of the lightning towers makes the passage
 somewhat easier on travelers.

 Once a lingering battle here between Yevon and Althena's forces had made the
 passage impossible for the average Spiran, but the way is now clear--

 Or rather, would be clear if there weren't a crowd of pilgrims and merchants
 blocking the transition area into the Thunder Plains proper. There has been
 a disagreement about which group gets to head in first with the guide and
 everything has ground to a standstill.

 Unless you can resolve this somehow, you're probably not going anywhere in a
 hurry, either.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Exhaust=========================================
===================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road - Round 1 *>===================
======================< Results - But We Just Got Here! >=======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matilda Whitehead                   0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Portable Library                    1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      0 --(21)--> 21                 Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Stupify(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod 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.

    Matilda, the first to deal with the crowd directly, finds out that some of them really don't want to head out this way at all and would be happy to pay for someone to deliver information and messages to someone else beyond this way (and gets a good heads-up that most people avoid Guadosalam now). Some of which she can just up and forget to do, if it suits.

     Lily has an intimidatingly confident enough character to her offer that the guide just goes with it, and that helps thin the crowd out even more. (Some resort to arguing aloud with the strange swaying 'drunk, question mark' cloaked stranger, one of whom bears a suspicious resemblance to a Besaid Man, but let it not be said there was a Blitzball thrown.)

     Ethius mostly succeeds in staring. He must find some sort of self-satisfaction in doing so, because he keeps doing it, and wins by achieving very little effort as the way clears enough for the lot of them to pass through.

     "...We are going the same direction, then," as if he just noticed that fact.

DG: Seraph Harmaus has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road *>========================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Qactuar Stones *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 There is a story about High Summoner Gandof that speaks of the Qactuar --
 legendary creatures that are said to have been sent to the Thunder Plains by
 him and sealed away into special stones he constructed.

 It's said that the stones still stand somewhere in the Thunder Plains.

 It's also said that they each point the way to some secret or another.

 You've found a stone carved with the worn image of a cactus-like creature.
 Is there something about the carved stone's image or additional faded signs
 of inked Yevon script that suggests in what direction you might want to
 head?
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    If Harmaus had expected his words would have led to a favorable outcome (for him, at least) then he's about to be sorely mistaken.

    "Ah? It understands me not my meaning? It cleans out ears and listens again! --What? What is 'Guba'?"

    ...Ultimately, in the face of such unmovable objects, a retreat is preferred. Fortunately, by that time, the traffic at the gate is moving again, and the strange (bobbing and weaving) cloaked figure with the lot.

    But their trek takes them off the beaten path, out a short distance into the wilderness.

    "Ah... here," remarks the hooded figure, crouching by a particular stone in the wastes. There is the faded image of a cactus upon it, with the traces of paint suggesting that once, the face had included writing upon its surface as well.

    "It wonders me," rumbles the figure, laying a hand upon the surface as if to trace out and thus attempt to decipher the writing.

    ...'Hand' may be a loose definition for the appendage in question. 'Tendril' or 'vine' would be more accurate, particularly given that it's as green as grass and has a few leaflets.

DG: Seraph Harmaus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Qactuar Stones.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    The second-strangest individual in the lot (though this may be hotly contested on some fronts), Ethius, isn't that far off when he watches that cloaked figure with the somewhat familiar verbal cadence come towards a carved stone. He himself doesn't come up close to touch it or otherwise risk doing much to it, doing his best to dry his hands and the lens he was holding with one of several towel-like cloths he's carrying on him today. When he sees what leaves the sleeve in that faint flash of green and shapes, well.

     ...

     He stares for a while longer as he continues the drying process, before going through the spellcasting processes again for that same lens - as if under the quiet assumption it might be 'linked' to something, which he intends to find out once he sends a small zap of electricity through the lens to look through anew.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Qactuar Stones.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily doesn't notice the trouble Harmaus has at first. Indeed, she doesn't seem to notice Harmaus at first. She is focused in the moment on Matilda and then on Ethius, both of whom she knows. "Looks like," she answers Ethius, and then starts forward. She then notices that there is a fourth, and keeps part of her attention on him. Until... the stone. And--

That's... something like a hand.

"...?" Lily tilts her head, and takes off the sunglasses, since it's too dim for her to see through them. This reveals her strange eyes, but lets her look to the writing. "...Hold on," she says, and steps forward, pulling her knife.

She uses it to trace out a line in the dirt and rock, moving towards whatever it points at.

DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Lily's Knife toward her party's challenge, Qactuar Stones.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

Courier is one of Matilda's favorite jobs, if it involves little from her that she wasn't going to do on her own. It's not her *favorite* favorite, but she's perfectly content to do it, and actually intends to follow through.

"... We are indeed," Matilda replies to Ethius, lips a little pursed. "Best of luck to both of us, then." She glances to the hooded figure for a moment, but elects not to cause trouble of any kind. She's... cautious, but tempers that caution with a *little* more trust than she used to.

"Hm... let's not be *so* hasty," Matilda says, as people draw lines. "I want to make sure we don't --" She moves toward the stone itself. "It's worn enough that I want to take a rubbing before we commit... sometimes these look like they're pointing a different direction than they actually were when intact. Your initial trace may well be right, but..."

It's better to be cautious, Matilda thinks, as she fumbles with her notebook, carefully pulls out a page, plants it on the rock, and begins to rub. "Please don't collapse," she mumbles.'

DG: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Portable Library toward her party's challenge, Qactuar Stones.
========================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road *>========================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Qactuar Stones *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 There is a story about High Summoner Gandof that speaks of the Qactuar --
 legendary creatures that are said to have been sent to the Thunder Plains by
 him and sealed away into special stones he constructed.

 It's said that the stones still stand somewhere in the Thunder Plains.

 It's also said that they each point the way to some secret or another.

 You've found a stone carved with the worn image of a cactus-like creature.
 Is there something about the carved stone's image or additional faded signs
 of inked Yevon script that suggests in what direction you might want to
 head?
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
===================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road - Round 2 *>===================
==========================< Results - Qactuar Stones >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
Spectral Lens                       2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
Lily's Knife                        2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matilda Whitehead                   5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
Portable Library                    1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      21 --(13)--> 34                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               20 --(20)--> 40                Pass
Conditions: Secret(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use
party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    The painting is far too faded to make out by tracing alone. With a discontented noise, the hooded figure withdraws a distance from the stone, loping about it to the other side as if to there check for any further elucidation as to its meaning. This may be a good thing for the other parties concerned: it gives them access to the face without getting in the way of... whoever that is.
    Whatever that is.

    The paint is nearly worn off, yes. But traces remain.

    It had been red paint, shade earned through hematite. The electrical spark can retrieve a ghost of the painted lettering.

    As can Matilda's careful rubbing. The paint had been applied over carving, and though the elements have taken their toll, she can find the shape of what had been.

    And it becomes all the more clearer when Lily repeats the markings onto the sand with her knife.

    SOUTH the markings on the stone can be understood to mean after a turn or two of deciphering the lettering. They're very similar -- if not precisely -- to the same used in modern Spiran writing. By now, they all likely have some basic understanding of the writing system, particularly to work out a simple word like that.

    "It finds words?" asks the hooded figure, looming over the stone to (presumedly) squint at the etching in the sand. "South... We finds what hides it."

    Something about it -- his -- face looks... reddish in the shadows, where the light from the constant storms illuminates just enough.

    Red-red. Bright red, like a barn.

DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road *>========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Battlefield Debris *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You've come across the remains of one of many battlefields left by the
 conflict between Yevon and Althena's faithful. Much of the debris has been
 buried by mud or claimed by others, but some weapons and other items still
 look salvageable.

 It's the weapons that are the problem. Said weapons are, of course, largely
 metallic.

 The storm that rages across the Thunder Plains is, of course, still very
 much in play.

 If you want to claim anything left behind here, you're going to have to do
 it /quickly/.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Treasure===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"All right," Lily answers Matilda. "I'll wait." And she does! She waits, and in so doing, has a chance to look upon the red-red shadowed face of Harmaus, and... tilts her head a little again. But it would be throwing stones from a glass house for her to comment on oddity at the moment, and she's not sure she sees something unusual.

"That's a handy device," she says to Ethius, as she considers the sand, and then the markings. "Let's see..." And south they go. South, towards the remains of a battlefield, and a chest half-buried in the rock and mud. Around it are various bottles left behind, a few weapons stabbed into the ground, some of which might even be useful. Lily eyes in particular a sword she sees there. But that chest...

"...I think I can get it," Lily says, and reaches into her jacket, to pull a pendant at her neck; she focuses on it, and suddenly--is hard to look upon. A blue shell of magic grows around her to a distance of a couple of feet, and then suddenly more Lilys step out of her spot. Many of them are struck by lightning and disappear, and some more head forward towards the weapon--towards the chest.

...It should help draw off some of the lightning, anyway. But it certainly feels unnatural.

DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Impure Pendant toward her party's challenge, Battlefield Debris.
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

Matilda is actually not super well-read in Spiran-adjacent languages; she's managed to get the gist, but she has to defer to the others on her findings to be utterly sure.

She takes a few moments to slip the rubbing back into her notebook before she starts moving; past that, though, she mostly just follows. Once they happen upon the weapons and items, though, her eyes light up and she's off like a shot. Her first inclination is to just move as fast as she can and not get shocked, but that's... more than a little risky; after a moment, she decides to play it a hair differently.

She waits for Lily to work her magic, *then* does that. She has no grand tools for this sort of sustained lightning; there's a couple of neat tricks she has for lightning she knows is coming in the middle of a fight, but... here she just kind of has to go for it and hope things work out.

DG: Matilda Whitehead has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Battlefield Debris.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    It is hard to be sure. Could it be the lighting from the lightning on the plains, somehow?

    Or is this person -- this man (?) -- really possessed of that shade of red on their face?
    Their 'hands', after all, had appeared to be viney tendrils.

    Which are put to good use once they sort out the matter of the remaining treasures cast aside by those who had fought on the plains. But before that can take place, the robed figure regards Lily as she advances. Or, to be perfectly accurate about the situation, as so many of her advance.

    "A trick of light," remarks the figure at last, lingering there on the periphery. "There and not there. Motes driven this way and that! I sees it... and I sees it not."

    They lurch forward at an odd angle themselves in the next heartbeat instant, and from one long sleeve there erupts a lengthy snaking vine that lances out to snag at something oddly-shaped and glittering in the sands.

DG: Seraph Harmaus has used his Tool Vine Whip toward his party's challenge, Battlefield Debris.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    To the south they go, as Ethius once again stares at the backside of the red-faced green-handed swaying figure. He is brought out of whatever sort of things turn in his head by Lily addressing him directly.

     "Yes," he concurs, and goes back to-- no, seems contented enough that one of the few ancient landmarks not destroyed in the war survives its investigation, and off they go to the field of weapons.

     "I recall this location." Ethius remarks, having had to brave the Thunder Plains multiple times throughout the course of the war. "This was the site of one of the larger skirmishes to have come from the crus--"

     LIGHTNING DOES NOT WANT HISTORY LESSONS.

     LIGHTNING ONLY WANTS A PLACE TO CRASH AND SNORE LOUDLY.

     Lily provides a solution that is difficult to look into. Instead, Ethius draws a staff on his person - a gnarled, old thing that he slams the butt of into the ground with a deafening echo, and the trailing jingling of attached bells - an unspoken summons to the natural elements of the world to stop, listen, and hear what the holder has to say.

     This exact nuance continues to be lost on him, which he has found to be an effective 'pause' button on a lot of natural phenomena as he comes to the first item in reach.

     "I have interest in anything left behind by Althena's Guard, given--"

     thwimp, goes the vine nearby - and gives Matilda the opportunity to swipe a prize from him because he has a Track Record and Reputation.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Staff of Audience toward his party's challenge, Battlefield Debris.
========================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road *>========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Battlefield Debris *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You've come across the remains of one of many battlefields left by the
 conflict between Yevon and Althena's faithful. Much of the debris has been
 buried by mud or claimed by others, but some weapons and other items still
 look salvageable.

 It's the weapons that are the problem. Said weapons are, of course, largely
 metallic.

 The storm that rages across the Thunder Plains is, of course, still very
 much in play.

 If you want to claim anything left behind here, you're going to have to do
 it /quickly/.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Treasure===========================================
===================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road - Round 3 *>===================
========================< Results - Battlefield Debris >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       10 --(8)--> 18                 Pass
Staff of Audience                   4   Agility Effects: nothing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           10 --(8)--> 18                 Pass
Impure Pendant                      3   Agility Effects: Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matilda Whitehead                   10 --(8)--> 18                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      34 --(8)--> 42                 Pass
Vine Whip                           2   Agility Effects: Quicken
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               40 --(35)--> 75                Pass
Conditions: Secret(1)|Tire(2)|Treasure(1)
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has passed this challenge! The party gained 35 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.

Between them, our four come up with a reasonable set of solutions to the lightning--no, that's not true. They come up with completely unreasonable solutions that all work. Lily's strange magic that Harmaus comments on draws away some of the lightning to start; as her duplicates begin to thin, however, Ethius brings forth the great Staff of Audience and halts the lightning mid-air, pausing the Thunder Plains' eternal storm for a few moments. From there, Matilda is able to slip across the ground and pick things up, and Harmaus's strange limb can snake across unmolested.

They find a lot of useful things, including the contents of the chest--but some highlights include a couple of firearms for Ethius, a few particularly potent varieties of Potion for Matilda, the sword for Lily, and...

What did Harmaus find? It is a mystery.

Regardless with the chest opened, they found It, and now they can move forward.

DG: Matilda Whitehead has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road *>========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - One Million Needles *>======================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 There it is! At last, the other side of the Thunder Plains. The rain is
 already beginning to thin out and the cracks of lightning have become far
 less frequent. It won't be long now before you reach the border to one of
 its bordering regions.

 Something green hops into your path. It looks like a little ambulatory
 cactus, its limbs bent at odd angles. It tilts towards you, inquisitive. You
 realize it's not alone.

 It... has an awful lot of friends all of a sudden, doesn't it.
 Wait, aren't these things known for a particular attack?

 oh no
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Fright============================================
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

Matilda sticks with the potions, because, honestly: they're local and she doesn't want to have too much of a fight with Ethius over things. She's very happy with the find, to boot -- and seems very happy, in turn, to move on before this mass of metal gets them struck by lightning.

Quite frankly, the party has made *exceptional* time. The route is a little *unusual*, and probably not suitable for a caravan, but for an adventuring party? Solidly nice.

Matilda glances to the mystery person and the mystery person's vines yet again. She feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, but chooses not to press the issue. They have more important things to deal with, like --

-- an ambulatory cactus. And another ambulatory cactus. And another ambulato --

Matilda takes a deep breath and reaches into her long coat. "... The rest of you will be more suited to this than me," she says, drinking a vial of something-or-another. "I'll provide support!" And then, she does just that.

Granted, until people start actually getting needled by the growing army of ambulatory cactuses, her idea of support mostly involves shooting things with *remarkable* efficiency.

DG: Matilda Whitehead has used her Tool Lilith Tonic toward her party's challenge, One Million Needles.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    What did Harmaus find? Whatever it is, it is deposited into a pocket of that dull brown robe after a moment's careful inspection; one would have had to have a quick eye to catch even the slightest glimpse of what it had been. Nor does he speak of his findings, simply humming to himself as if pleased, before straightening and continuing on, angling back towards the road.

    Lightning crashing in the distance and constant wind and rain aside, it's almost a pleasant, easy trip. They've made very good time, indeed: perhaps that symbol on the stone had indicated more than simply the source of a mystery.

    Into their path strides an ambulatory cactus.

    "I sees this before," murmurs Harmaus. "Caution! Is more dangerous than appears, yes? It must..."

    And he turns, taking into the swarm that has descended upon them all.

    "Jaeja," utters the embodied Seraph, throwing up his 'hands'. "I deals with it. Now!"

    And there, dangling on a red cord from the end of an unfurled tendril, is a pretty little silver bell.

    "Shh shh shh," utters Harmaus. "It stops now!"

    The little bell chimes out in a single seemingly unending note.

    Be still, it sings. Be quiet.
    And stop.

DG: Seraph Harmaus has used his Tool Amulet Bell toward his party's challenge, One Million Needles.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    The way Ethius bundles together the taken ARMs borders on comical and even desperate, like he's carrying more than he should - as though he deeply, strongly needs them despite present common sense saying he should maybe not do that!! But he's always been a weirdo there.

     Whatever it is, it is Serious Business(tm).

     He has to peer out from the side of his collection when he sees that green, angular thing standing at precarious balance... and then others... lots of others.

     He considers the possibilities for all of a fraction of a second - blatantly throwing the pile of ARMs into the morass of ambulatory cacti, removing a satchel he hopes has stayed dry enough, enchanting it proper, and throwing it there to explode in a cloud of dust and grime that he hopes will get exploded and take his formerly precious cargo with it.

     Of course that was what he was going to do with it all along.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, One Million Needles.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

It's very quick, their route; Lily hasn't exactly got a place to be on the other side--Guadosalam is not exactly taking visitors--but it's better not to stay in the open for too long out here. Given all the lightning.

"Have you?" Lily says. "...does it have anything to do with those vines--"

Pause. There's a swarm of them. Matilda is going to do support. That's fine. Lily will take some Ethers, because her solution is...

Fire. Lily takes up the sword she grabbed before and holds it out before herself--before Ethius tosses his satchel for dust and grime...

"Nice thinking," Lily says, and extends her hand. Her solution is fire. A ball of it erupts from her hand and rushes forward towards the ball of ARMs and grime and dust, exploding in a massive inferno that will shortly be put out by the rain... but not before, possibly, taking some cactuars with it.

DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, One Million Needles.
========================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road *>========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - One Million Needles *>======================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 There it is! At last, the other side of the Thunder Plains. The rain is
 already beginning to thin out and the cracks of lightning have become far
 less frequent. It won't be long now before you reach the border to one of
 its bordering regions.

 Something green hops into your path. It looks like a little ambulatory
 cactus, its limbs bent at odd angles. It tilts towards you, inquisitive. You
 realize it's not alone.

 It... has an awful lot of friends all of a sudden, doesn't it.
 Wait, aren't these things known for a particular attack?

 oh no
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Fright============================================
===================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road - Round 4 *>===================
=======================< Results - One Million Needles >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       18 --(8)--> 26                 Pass
Powder Grenade                      3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil                           18 --(8)--> 26                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matilda Whitehead                   18 --(8)--> 26                 Pass
Lilith Tonic                        3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      42 --(8)--> 50                 Pass
Amulet Bell                         2   Combat  Effects: Embolden
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               75 --(35)--> 110               Pass
Conditions: Fright(2)|Tire(1)|Wound(2)
Effects: Embolden(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has successfully explored Thunder Plains - Wild Road!
========================<* Thunder Plains - Wild Road *>========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Remnants of War *>========================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 At last! You've made it to the other side of the Thunder Plains. Clear of
 the eternal stormclouds, you can see again finally blue skies overhead. It
 promises to be good weather the rest of the way, wherever you're going.

 ...But you catch to one side the signs of the recent war. Once, Althena's
 Guard had brought a war machine to this place. All that are left now are
 pieces of the mighty machine.

 Still, waste not want not: a tinkerer could make something of this stuff.
 And if you're not the engineering kind, you could always sell the pieces for
 money, somewhere. They're in pretty good condition for being in... pieces.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

The horde of ambulatory plants... *mostly* stays suppressed long enough that there's no real *damage* done to the assembled party. The real issue is, of course, that if anyone had been off their game even a tiny bit -- if Ethius and Harmaus hadn't kept them totally locked down while Matilda and Lily handled it -- things could have gone very much the other way very quickly.

The path is clear, and Matilda offers a, "Let's keep moving before *more* of them show up," gesturing forward. She virtually always keeps her head on a swivel, though, which means she very quickly notices the leftovers of the war...

... and considers them thoughtfully, moving closer. "Hm," she reflects, moving in that direction. "There's a lot of this that could be useful -- there's..." She winces. "I'm not sure how our stock of this sort of thing is, after..." She takes a breath. No, she reminds herself -- someone trying to hurt you isn't actually your fault. "... Well -- I won't belabor the point. There are some things here I could use..."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    The bell-holding tendril snakes back into the confines of one of those sleeves, the bell itself vanishing without so much as the slightest further ring.

    "Was no matter," Harmaus remarks, surveying the damage all have wrought. "Settled, yes? I parts now, going own way."

    The robed figure turns away, whatever secrets he had plucked from the sands secreted as well as the truth of his current form within those robes.

    He pauses, for just the moment.

    "It was... helpful to me."

    And that's all he says before he continues on, abandoning even the lucrative remnants of war machines to the others.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

     Ethius, ever the boogeyman, isn't far off when Matilda murmurs to herself about whether some of this stuff could be useful.

     "Whatever removes them from Spiran soil," is about the closest to an endorsement of 'take it/I won't try to rip it out of your hands' that it gets, as he comes up the rear from a near-miss of a crapton of needles that could have perforated them well over seven-hundred-and-fifty times each. He turns a gaze as the strange bell-holding ambulatory plant-person(?) ambles off - but says nothing to them to dissuade them or challenge them.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily, too, watches the strange robed figure leave, before she turns to the others.

"Right. I'm happy to get some of this stuff away from Spira," Lily says, because there's a lot of potentially useful parts here. Maybe something she could use to help fix up some things she's found otherwise...

"I figure there's enough for both of us," she says to Matilda. "But I'm looking for general parts--if you see something you need, by all means."

<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

The mysterious figure leaves, and Matilda elects not to pursue. She offers a slightly stilted, "It's... welcome?" with an awkward laugh, then looks to Ethius, then to Lily -- and nods. "Then let's get to it."