2022-01-14: The Ghost in the Deep Dark
- Log: The Ghost In The Deep Dark
- Cast: Gon Guado, Mariel, Seraph Boudicca, Pearl, Ida Everstead-Rey, Avril Vent Fleur
- Where: Guadosalam
- Date: January 14, 2022
- Summary: Gon Guado has chosen to break with tradition for the first time. He guides a group of Drifters into the heart of Guadosalam, towards the gate from which Pyreflies leak. It is a disparate group that enters: A legend of the Veruni, A warrior whose body courses with Hyadean blood, the last Elw on Filgaia, the first Summoner not of Yevon, and the Wind of Moor Gault. What waits them in the heart of Guadosalam?
================================<* Guadosalam *>================================ Guadosalam is an underground that sits on the path from the north bank of the Moonflow and the southern trail of the Thunder Plains. The city is found inside an underground cavern, where the walls and walkways are composed of the twisted roots of the trees of the Moonflow's north bank, giving the entire area the faint resemblance of an underground swamp. Guadosalam is the ancient home of the Guado, a race of Beastman-appearing humans who, until recently, lived outside the grace of Yevon. This changed with the coming of Lord Jyscal Guado, who brought his people into Bevelle's fold; following Jyscal's death, his son Seymour - also a Maester of Yevon - now rules the Guado people both temporally and spiritually. BGM: Final Fantasy X - Guadosalam
DC: Ida Everstead-Rey switches forms to Gentlewoman Adventurer Ida!
DG: A party led by Gon Guado is now entering The Hidden Gate. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=============================<* The Hidden Gate *>==============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Machina Sentry *>========================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Your group approaches the gate. You can see it from a distance: a large
stone gateway built into the natural cavern wall of Guadosalam. The stone
doors have carvings in them -- traditional Guado carvings, with various
faces of fiends engraved into the stone. The doors are closed, though they
seem to be able to be pushed open. There are pyreflies drifting out from the
crack between the two doors.
The plaza between your vantage point and the gate is an open space. You
chose to come later in the day, when there is a smaller guard... but it
seems that guard is employing a machina to keep an eye out: a huge
spotlight, which they sweep across the field in a pattern. You will need to
run ahead of it -- because the Guado Guardians have rifles, and shoot at
whoever they catch in the light. But, if you can cross quickly, you can get
through the stone doors.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Exhaust============================================
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
Gon makes good on his word, and the various parties split up and prepare their approaches. While Gon does not know for sure what lies beyond the door, he can get everyone to the perimeter without issue.
Now, at the perimeter? There is an issue.
The gate's ahead: a giant set of stone doors with traditional Guado carvings, and lovingly rendered likenesses of various Fiends. Most are varieties local to Guadosalam and nearby. There's a few novel ones but now's not the time to delve into Spiran anthropology.
The plaza should be a mere open space they can cleanly slip through, but Gon finds himself squinting and taken aback - there is an extensive deployment of machina down here where Guado Guardians hardly ever use the stuff elsewhere. (For practical reasons, most rifles aren't made with their hands in mind, and there's very very few aligned with Yevon who would make the alterations for them. There were appearances to keep in the hypocrisy!)
Also, a spotlight, being swept in a pattern, as the veteran Guardian turns to the rest. A part of him feels like he just got shown up - again - in his hubris in believing he could completely mitigate this issue. "We will need to be swift," he says as he shakes out one of his gauntlets which - yes - has machina in there. This one has a grappling hook and chain attached! He flings it out towards a stable stalagmite to try and vaunt himself across. Worse comes to worse, he's sure he'll be in position to try and help the others through.
DG: Gon Guado has used his Tool Chain Claw toward his party's challenge, Machina Sentry.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
Perhaps it isn't a surprise that Mariel is here. It's Seymour. She feels...
Well, she has feelings about Seymour, certainly. And Gon, for that matter, but her feelings about Seymour are a lot stronger. In this case, she definitely does not like the feel of what might be going on. Which is why she's come along, with only a brief delay to collect some items that she claimed would be useful.
The items must be in her satchel, because she's brought it and otherwise doesn't seem to be loaded down with anything else. She is a little tight-lipped when she sees a security arrangement. She doesn't want to fight Guado...
...but that's not the plan, anyway. "All right," Mariel says, quietly. Gon may have machina, but she doesn't. Mariel just hefts her bag in both hands and presses it with her arms against her chest so that it doesn't bounce around and off her hip and thigh.
And then she runs, darting from stalagmite to stalagmite to take cover from the spotlight, then a fast run at the end. She seems to be breaking into places a lot.
Mariel isn't quite sure what to make of that.
DG: Mariel has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Machina Sentry.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
The Seraph Boudicca is here, after some conflict over whether she ought to stay above and protect the children and their mother; luckily, there are good hands she can leave them in. Gon has offered his assistance, and Boudicca is willing, at least, to witness what he will do, though -- notably -- she did not ask Yuna or her Guardians to come with their group.
She is willing to give him a chance; she thinks, perhaps, it is better she extend that charity than the people Gon massacred.
If she is wrong, she will have to ask Rikku's forgiveness at a later date. For now --
"Have they... machina..?" Boudicca asks, and concern is her native configuration, which means that it really says something when she sounds concerned on top of all that. She looks to Gon; she looks to Mariel, just in case she's looking to the wrong man. She looks to the others. "Then... pray, be swift."
To aid in that prayer, she reaches into her satchel, and crushes some dry leaves in a gauntlet. The wind magics stored there release in an instant, lending a tailwind to people like Mariel who have to dart from cover to cover -- and to Boudicca, who proceeds to follow her lead.
If Mariel is an expert in breaking into places these days, surely Boudicca can learn something!
DG: Seraph Boudicca has used her Tool Breezeruffle Leaves toward her party's challenge, Machina Sentry.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Pearl has snuck into and out of Zanarkand before. It was to try and kill Seymour that time, too. But this time she has help. And there's a greater goal- saving Guadosalam, and Spira. As they gather into position, she watches. She watches the guard patterns, the spotlight, she is in the zone. Next to her-
Next to her is a small bulb wearing an ill-gotten mask, a bandana, and a black scarf. Pearl does not have time to ask where Leo Jr got these things, now is not the time. He is also an essential component to the operation:
He operates as Pearl's brains for everything that is not sneak and murder.
"There." She says, pointing to a gap in the guard, and channeling her shadow magic into flickering wave over the group. Enough to dissuade an uncertain glance, at least. She nods, and Leo Jr bounces off- without a single audible poik- with the ground team. For her part, Pearl is following Gon.
She fires her grapnel into the ceiling, where she can grab on and get a birds eye view. She's going to play interference with Shadow Magic- Mute, Blind, Blink, all that fun stuff- before following.
She's confident in her own ability to get there.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Where Boudicca goes, Ida tends to follow. This is one of those times.
"Looks... recently-installed," the Seer remarks, from her place at Boudicca's side. Crouched behind a stalagmite, she wears her grey traveler's cloak over her more colorful Spiran garb--today, it's serving as a bit of camouflage. "Similar to the spotlights they use at the Boneyard--and manually-operated, too. See that Guardian?" Ida reaches out and points at a woman next to the spotlight, taloned hands draped over a pair of handgrips. "She has to rotate it in its housing to move the beam."
Boudicca takes out her leaves, and Ida nods once. She taps her heels together, focuses her awareness--and the breeze stirs all the more as additional wind sorcery gets to work. The trail acquires little green motes--easily-overlooked by distant observers, but bright enough for those nearby to follow.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Zephyr Boots toward her party's challenge, Machina Sentry. DG: Pearl has used her Tool Wrist-Mounted Grapnel toward her party's challenge, Machina Sentry.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Avril had arrived with the Outreach, and that was a simple enough situation at least insofar as her reasons for being present here and now had stood. Of course the Outreach would help the Guado. And of course, if that was their decision, then she would help as well.
But it had become more complicated for her in a hurry. She had realized, in those moments before that Fiend had attacked, that everything was alright, that the situation was already well under control.
And it had been. Was that... precognition? Some message from even this planet, and then passed along to her? She had known she was a sensitive to the ways of the Ley, but this seemed... different. Was this some power that the Veruni of old had possessed? There was only one other who might know that answer.
And now was hardly the time to pursue it. Following with Gon and a few of the others as they approached the gate with, she is forced to set such considerations aside as much as she yearns to investigate them ever further, to tease out whatever she might be able to glean. The Guado are in need, and time is short.
"...Are these Machina?" Avril says, remarking directly on the one thing that stands out to her immediately within this space. "But, was such not...?"
There is no time to dither about this, either. Instead, as Gon remarks that they must be quick, if they are to cross the space before them, she nods the once and, producing the metallic Medium, invokes the power of the Guardian it represents. "Lucadia--"
There is light. There is the scent of the sea. And there is movement, as a swift-flowing tide.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Machina Sentry.
=============================<* The Hidden Gate *>==============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Machina Sentry *>========================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Your group approaches the gate. You can see it from a distance: a large
stone gateway built into the natural cavern wall of Guadosalam. The stone
doors have carvings in them -- traditional Guado carvings, with various
faces of fiends engraved into the stone. The doors are closed, though they
seem to be able to be pushed open. There are pyreflies drifting out from the
crack between the two doors.
The plaza between your vantage point and the gate is an open space. You
chose to come later in the day, when there is a smaller guard... but it
seems that guard is employing a machina to keep an eye out: a huge
spotlight, which they sweep across the field in a pattern. You will need to
run ahead of it -- because the Guado Guardians have rifles, and shoot at
whoever they catch in the light. But, if you can cross quickly, you can get
through the stone doors.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Exhaust============================================
========================<* The Hidden Gate - Round 1 *>========================= ==========================< Results - Machina Sentry >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gon Guado 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Chain Claw 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pearl 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Wrist-Mounted Grapnel 3 Agility Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Boudicca 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Breezeruffle Leaves 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Sea Medium 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mariel 0 --(20)--> 20 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Zephyr Boots 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Gon Guado 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Slow(2) Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Gon Guado 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: Gon Guado has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* The Hidden Gate *>==============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Floating Stones *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The cavern opens up into a large room. You find yourself on a ledge, with a
chasm to cross. The chasm is very deep -- but the room is well-lit from the
sheer amount of pyreflies floating all around. Pyreflies, however, aren't
the only source of magic here. Someone with the right senses will realize
there is powerful Ley energy here: the natural elemental energy that
permeates Filgaia and Lunar both.
It is Air-aspected, here.
This allows for various-sized stones to float across the chasm. Some are
boulders; some are smaller. You can jump and leap from stone to stone to
cross the chasm -- but it will be a dangerous undertaking.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure, Exhaust====================================
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
For most, this sort of act is not novel - but there is nothing normal about the situation. Pearl helps run interference with her own mastery of Shadow Magic, and Gon is able to signal to the rest as he's the first one to the door. Boudicca provides a helpful tailwind to minimize the amount of time needed to linger in Pearl's blind spot-creating magics as Ida clicks the heels, Mariel books it, and Avril beseeches Lucadia for help.
Mariel may feel a prickling in the back of her neck, or whatever passes for a bad feeling for her - where a Guado Guardian on patrol looks to where she was a moment ago, only just missing her. It is the only potential 'blip' in the insertion - mitigated by Pearl's assitance - as they all come towards the door.
"It is not how the Guardians are trained," it is Gon's only commentary as to the use of machina here. Pyreflies leak out in no small quantity. As everyone gathers, Gon turns to look to them. "I do not know what lies beyond... only that not even our previous leaders were to approach." Seymour has broken that tradition, but what hasn't he done at this point. Gon's brow furrows as he realizes another important point: the stone doors are not sealed.
They also make no noise at all when they open. Not even a creak. (Despite this, he flinches as it does open.) They make their way, and the tunnels are... strange. Winding. Sometimes there's more pyreflies about than actual discernible surface, and it feels the paths split in ways difficult to discern as a simple 'a to b' route. They manage to keep together.
They come to a ledge in a large chamber, with a large chasm. It is deep, but well-lit. Well-lit enough to know it is very, very deep and not worth careening to the bottom to search for loose change.
Those deeply attuned to the Ley will be able to call it: the natural elemental energy that permeates Filgaia and Lunar, attuned to the winds. It empowers various stones to float about the chasm, and not all of them are viable footholds.
Gon's nose wrinkles again. "We must leap across." He is starting to get up there in years. "I see no Fiends before us. I would have expected at least some who went with Seymour to have set some upon any interlopers such as... ourselves." He was about to say 'you.' He needs time to wring out all of the condescending language.
He sets the grappling claw's chain out towards a promising large boulder to get a feel for how stable it is within the energies here, and then try to pull himself towards it. Fortunately, they are all in the company of at least one here who may be able to tip the scales in their favor!
DG: Gon Guado has used his Tool Chain Claw toward his party's challenge, Floating Stones.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
Ida explains their use of machina; Boudicca is at least not alone in her surprise, judging by Avril's response. Once they're all safe, Gon explains that the Guardians aren't meant to be trained that way, which only raises more questions in the spirit's mind.
This isn't the time for curiosities, though. (Nevertheless, Boudicca sees the tension in Gon's muscles, pushing open that door.)
"Do stay close," she says, as they make their way through the tunnels. She remembers all those theories, on the pyreflies. She wonders what Liath would think of this flooded plain. She continues on.
When they approach the tunnel, though, the pensive expression on her face -- lightens; they step out, and Boudicca floats up a few inches, hands clasping as she looks about the yawning chasm. "Oh, you hid something wonderful!" She says, entirely unwrinkled. "The Earthpulse is aeriform in this place!"
Luckily(?), Gon is here to bring her back down to earth, both figuratively and literally, greaves tip-tapping back down on the rock. "We ought make haste," she supposes, "else we find there were more Fiends than we thought. But please, do not worry! There lies a path." Crunching some of those dried leaves to release some extra wind magic, Boudicca proceeds to encourage the rest of the air in the room to move those boulders closer together -- forming, if not a bridge, at least something able to be stepped across rather than leapt across.
Surely it's much nicer for everyone with smaller legs, or who might be getting on in years.
DG: Seraph Boudicca has used her Tool Breezeruffle Leaves toward her party's challenge, Floating Stones.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
Mariel *is* glad to have some people she knows here. Boudicca, Pearl... she is less glad to see Ida but at least she knows that Ida is on the right side of things. She's just a little uncomfortable with some of the details (though Bou being here ameliorates it a fair bit). Avril she knows less well, but not not at all, and at least she seems to know what she's doing.
Oh, and Leo Jr. She is very happy to see Leo Jr.
Mariel is alert enough to feel goosebumps but not alert enough to do anything about it except try to speed up - and while she might be agile she's not actually that fast; she has short legs and is not really much of a sprinter. Walking all day - she's done that, she usually travels on her own two feet. Sprinting? Not as much.
But she gets there, and smiles a thank you once she's caught her breath. Someone else can get the doors.
Mariel mostly does not interact with the pyreflies. She feels... several things, but one of the things she feels the most is the impending Ley. "It's wind," she says, quietly. "Wind, underground..."
Lots of wind. Enough to support rocks. Mariel's heart sinks slightly; those are difficult jumps, especially for someone short and wearing a heavy robe. She opens up her bag and starts rummaging -
"I don't feel any fiends, but that only means there are no fiends *here*," Mariel says, by which she means she doesn't think one is going to jump up out of the wind tunnel or glide down from above at them. Once they get past it, that's up in the air; most of what she feels right here is Wind, after all...
Bou moving the rocks around gets a grateful nod, but Mariel can't find what she's looking for. She wasn't expecting to need to glide underground. Closing her bag, she takes a couple breaths to amp herself up before hopping from rock to rock - she doesn't quite trust stepping, it's still a little long for her.
DG: Mariel has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Floating Stones.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"...I understand," is what Avril says to Gon, once they are well past that threshold. "There are often secrets to which we are not privy." One might look further afield than Spira's own religious authority and over the seas, for instance, or down to the planet below. Or towards the very woman now speaking of secrets.
Many things are secret, including herself to herself. Recent events prove this.
The gate does not make a sound. Not even a sound, Avril reflects, furrowing her brow as she glances this way and that. Does it speak to some nature of this gate? Or... to the nature of what rests beyond it?
She had heard that the Farplane could be reached in this place -- in Guadosalam. She had never ventured to see for herself.
"Of course," she says to Boudicca, doing just that as they press into the tunnels. It is not long before the tunnel widens, revealing...
"Oh," Avril voices, looking this way and that. "It had felt quite strange, suddenly. As if... no, but that would follow, would it not? This space is aligned to the air."
And so again she draws upon the power of the Guardian resting in that Medium, light and seascent swirling about her as she leaps, trusting Lucadia to permit such to carry her further.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Floating Stones.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
"Bevelle has hoarded Machina for some time, and Seymour Guado has no qualms using all of Bevelle's resources for his own ends. And none of these guardians seem to have the will to go against him." Unlike present company, finally.
Leo Jr is happy to provide stealth help! Mostly morale stealth help.He's surprisingly quick though. He also follows after Mariel, with.... surprisingly springing jumps. More bounces, really. He's very bouncy. He'll be fine, and if he's not fine, people can help. Right.
Pearl looks around, the pyreflies are so dense she could wave her hand through them. Here is where they go when they're sent, right? She grimaces. The farplane is also where Spirans go to visit the beloved dead. Hopefully, there's no one to see here.
Pearl fires her Grapnel, aiming to swing from rock to rock. This is more difficulty, requires more focus. Could go much more badly. "Lady Boudicca is right. Time is of the essense."
DG: Pearl has used her Tool Wrist-Mounted Grapnel toward her party's challenge, Floating Stones.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
As the group reaches the doors, Ida stoops into a crouch, and lowers her voice to a whisper. "Says quite a bit about how much sway he has, hm? Not only breaches something that's lain untouched for centuries, he gets everyone else to look the other way--even the Guardians. The use of machina's positively quaint in comparison." Gon moves to push open the door. Ida braces a palm on the carved stone, and shoves. The door slides open without so much as a faint groan. No one leaps out to ambush them. The way is clear, at least for a while.
Pyreflies. "I've never seen them this dense," Ida says, as she glances around. Gon says he doesn't see any Fiends, for now. "I don't have as much experience, but it feels like the slightest nudge could coax them into taking shape. Stay on your guard." But she does sneak a stealth pet to Leo Jr. She has only the slightest clue what he is, but whatever he is, he's adorable.
And then the tunnel broadens, and Ida looks out on a tiny natural wonder, eyes glimmering. It isn't just the Pyreflies. "Right," Ida says, glancing aside at Boudicca. "You go first, I'll leave the trail." And she does. Green motes drift out from her feet as she leaps up onto the first rock, settling into a lazy, bright path--it's a bit trickier to pick out with all the Pyreflies, but it's there. Ida makes another leap, and then another, following Boudicca like she's known her her whole life.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Zephyr Boots toward her party's challenge, Floating Stones.
=============================<* The Hidden Gate *>==============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Floating Stones *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The cavern opens up into a large room. You find yourself on a ledge, with a
chasm to cross. The chasm is very deep -- but the room is well-lit from the
sheer amount of pyreflies floating all around. Pyreflies, however, aren't
the only source of magic here. Someone with the right senses will realize
there is powerful Ley energy here: the natural elemental energy that
permeates Filgaia and Lunar both.
It is Air-aspected, here.
This allows for various-sized stones to float across the chasm. Some are
boulders; some are smaller. You can jump and leap from stone to stone to
cross the chasm -- but it will be a dangerous undertaking.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure, Exhaust====================================
========================<* The Hidden Gate - Round 2 *>========================= =========================< Results - Floating Stones >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gon Guado 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Chain Claw 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pearl 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Wrist-Mounted Grapnel 3 Agility Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Boudicca 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Breezeruffle Leaves 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Sea Medium 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mariel 20 --(0)--> 20 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Zephyr Boots 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Gon Guado 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Injure(2)|Slow(2) Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Gon Guado 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: Gon Guado has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* The Hidden Gate *>==============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Entreaties of the Dead *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
As you move deeper into the caverns, the pyreflies grow thicker. These caves
would normally be in pitch blackness, but the rooms seem to become well-lit
-- though your eyes have trouble adjusting to the shifting, pearlescent
lights. However, Spirans know that pyreflies are strange things; they can
affect the mind in great concentrations, and there is a mystery to them that
any science would be hard pressed to explain. As you move along, you begin
to hear them.
Whispers.
They're different for each person -- and yet the same, for they are the
voices of the dead. Whispers from people who passed, be it on Lunar or
Filgaia; words of kindness, words of anger; words that reach only you, but
everyone here hears something different. You cannot know if they are real or
an illusion, but they are disturbing nonetheless.
=Dungeon Conditions: Madness==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
With a Wind Seraph among them, the difficulty in traversing these floating stones is all but kneecapped. Boudicca has ever been kind and considerate to those of a briefer, but more corporeal place in creation. The Earthpulse's power can be felt by all as the breeze helps realign the rocks. Even those compelled to hurry or show off (say, Gon) will be able to cross safely.
Mariel can step gently without fear, even for the few times she has to take a short hop. Avril can entrust her fate to Lucadia, as she may have in this exact... context? She does not let her down here. Pearl mentions how none of the Guardians seem to have the will to go against Seymour, a thought Ida concurred about some time prior as she leaves a green mote trail that helps set some sort of magical railing to the bridge of rocks.
None fall down. None fall behind. Ahead, the pyreflies grow thicker. Gon holds a hand out towards them without turning his back to them, eyes closed at contemplation of what was said.
"It has ever been the Guado way for their affairs to stay among their own - to follow after our elders and leaders." The pyreflies swirl ever greater in concentration. Almost blinding. "If Fiends are to form, I will attempt to weave them into lesser manifestations." They may have seen Gon do this a handful of times throughout their time on Spira. To have a Guado guide them should minimize at least one of the greatest threats the land has to offer.
Should.
None turn to Fiends, but voices fill the air. Whispers. Different to each - but all have a single likeness. Voices of the dead. Whispers from people who passed...
And not just here on Spira.
Tut zi tui wyh cimm dner rydnurk?! Msol ert syzehtm! Zna ehi zi dni yrim zny ehi nedit? Dni yrim zny ehi mbed obyr? Ud zucc pi ayo! Ud zucc pi ayo ert zi zucc ceokn! Ayo zucc ryd nefi e bcesi dy nuti wyh ayo wyhsit om dy dnil, ert ayo timdhyait dnil! Dnihi um ryznihi dy ky wyh ayo! These words, to Gon alone, are of fury and sorrow. He cannot understand them beyond the emotion. All but screaming. Even mocking. As if the only thing allowing the owner of the voice to cling to existence is to convey this.
The next words he hears... he can understand.
You would stray from our ways? You, who once made me and your grandsire ever proud for your dedication.
"Keep moving forward." Gon tries to say with a calm voice.
Tries.
DG: Gon Guado has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Entreaties of the Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
Mariel touches down with a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she says, addressing the rest of the group. Even Leo Jr., who she bends down and - well, she can't ruffle his hair as he doesn't have any, but she does pat the side of his bulb. "We *should* move on. The pyreflies feel ... thick? Heavy?"
Her sense of pyreflies isn't the same as her sense of the planet, but they're hard to miss. There's a spiritual denseness to them, a thickness that she doesn't quite have all the words for. She moves on into the colours, behind Gon. "I hope you do not have to do so," she says. It seems, if not wrong, at least unpleasant.
That's when she hears voices. Words that nobody could understand but Mariel, even if they could hear them; none of them speak in a language that has been heard on Filgaia for centuries.
It's enough to make Mariel slow for a moment, and then stop entirely, hunching her shoulders. She's never been sure if what she is doing, staying on Filgaia, is very brave - or cowardice. Is it being unable to move on somewhere new - or is it being someone who takes responsibility? Right now, all she remembers is:
It's lonely.
But after a few long moments, Mariel straightens. Her hand slips into her satchel for a moment, but not to draw something out; only to touch it, as in memory. "<None of you died here,>" Mariel says, quietly - though she speaks in Elw, so it's unlikely anyone else understands her. "<Though you have passed on, this is not where you went; you returned to the planet.>" These are not the Elw she knew. They might be the voices of the dead, but it's not *her* dead.
She starts to walk again, releasing the aged book she momentarily laid hands on in her satchel. She tries not to look back.
DG: Mariel has used her Tool Millennium Diary toward her party's challenge, Entreaties of the Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
"Yes!" Boudicca exclaims, happily, to Mariel. "Wind, underground! Is it not wonderful?" She misses the point of Mariel not preparing for wind entirely. Of course, she is sure to make sure Leo Jr. crosses safely, in case he's hopping over, too. She's sure he is very good at hopping, but he's also quite small!
"It was a marvellous trail," she adds, to Ida, once they're all safely across. She's in good spirits as they leave the chasm behind, and, cosmologically speaking, that simply cannot stand. At first, it's just a matter of returning the the matter of Gon, replying: "I welcome your assistance with the possibility. I cannot help but feel as Ida does... the pyreflies are so dense, in this place."
That should have been enough to bring her back down to sensibility -- the threat still hanging over them. But Bevelle isn't so far from here. Bevelle's pyreflies are not so far from here. A stolen voice --
It surrenders or it dies. Is simple decision, yes?
"That man..!" Boudicca gasps, and has no name for him, the puppet who was never allowed to speak for himself. She does not mean to be so obscure, as she turns in the mists, to try and catch sight of him.
Kssht-- Let the human sacrificed! Another life in a sea of lives!
She turns, hand clasped to her heart, and shakes her head. Her braids fan out around her with the force of it. "No -- I spoke prevencioun!" And Mariel alone may have some insight into what she hears, the oath she asked her to witness.
Much work needs done before we can rest... yet, it can makes it easy for us, yes? It just gives up here! But if it must be hard way, we manages it yet!
Gon tells them to keep moving, and Boudicca stops where she turns, with a shudder. "Ah... it is imprints of the past, is it not? O--of course..."
It's an illusion, she tells herself.
Lying?! LYING?!
The last word he was made to say, and it's an illusion.
It's an illusion.
Ida might be following Boudicca, but she'll find Boudicca beside her soon enough, grasping her hand to make her way out of this place.
DG: Seraph Boudicca has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Entreaties of the Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
This, again, feels only natural to do -- as it has for her so many times. Even in this space, so far removed from Filgaia. But ever has it been: her faith in Lucadia is unflagging.
"Shall we proceed?" she asks of the others, glancing back the once before proceeding ahead.
"It is... strange," she begins to say, pausing in her path as if taken by some otherwordly sensation or another. The air, it feels heavy. And, that scent. Those sounds...!
"And now you are here, alone, pushed to a precipice for the sake of strangers who will not know nor remember the fact that you but briefly extended their fall. Were you discovered now, 'twould be the end of you."
It is not the dead themselves that speak into Avril's ear, as she closes her eyes and shivers, involuntarily. They do not need to speak: she can hear their screams echoing out across another battlefield. The memory of another echoes instead: a memory from the aftermath of a slaughter.
Another attempt, to stave off the defeat of a people. Luca had fallen, and all she had done was extend the inevitable a few moments more.
Perhaps she had helped spare a few lives more, buy time for a scarce few others to escape.
Perhaps she had embolded others to fight on where they may have run.
What good had that been? What good had that done? Bowing her head, it takes all she can muster to keep her tears where they well belong.
"Were it within your will, you could bring swift end to this moment and to me in turn ere this spear so much as kisses your throat."
...She could have stopped it. She could have embraced that part of herself and put and end to it. It was but fear that stayed her hand -- of what she was, what she might become. And she had wavered.
And people had died.
"I will see a decisive conclusion to the spiral of this land, girl."
The tears cannot stay in check forever. They slip from her, splash onto...
"...Ah?"
She has opened her eyes to a mystery. When had she taken the mirror into hand? Faint pearlescent tendrils of light plume up from where her tears had fallen. "Already... I...?"
"But if you cannot find your own in time, I shall deliver it to you as well. One way or another."
"What has been cannot be undone," Avril speaks, gazing into its depths. "I only can move ahead. Are there not still those who can be saved now?"
Let this all come to an end. She is as an etherial bonfire, cast in the light of an aurora. Can this illuminate the way forward from illusion, as well?
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Mirror of De Soto toward her party's challenge, Entreaties of the Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
For some people, the voices might be few and mild. They might be friends lost. They might be bitter enemies. They might be people you knew well or total strangers.
For Pearl.... There are hundreds, and she remembers all of them. They're dying screams. The faces come to mind instantly. How they died. What she did to them. Murders. Assassinations. In combats. Even three accidents, but by then she didn't care.
"You bitch! I would have wo-" "Gh.... Why...."
"Ha ha... Our master will reward this..."
"No! No don't, please-" "Guardswoman Pearl, no one called-"
"TRAI-" "The commander will hea-" "M-mother, where-"
"You.... You said we'd run...." "Why did you let me.... think I had a chance...."
"Pearl! Come back! I don't want to die on these heathen shores! PEAR-"
"No-" "Gh!" "Augh!" "HE-""Hm?""Wh-""I-""Don't be-" "She-""Ghk-""Who?""...""You"You..""You...""You!""You!!""You!""You!""You!""
"YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
"Did you remember who you are yet..."
"My finest pupil?"
There is a problem with learning to care. It's that you care.
Pearl, like Gon, is trying to keep an air of calm. She is not doing well. The voices she hears are loud and screaming and righteously desiring vengeance. And a part of her wants to give it to them, but she said she would face sin.
Leo Jr, his fronds pet, bounces over to his summoner, and nuzzles against. "Pukyuuuu...." He says quietly, and gently nudges her forward.
DG: Pearl has used her Tool Leo Jr toward her party's challenge, Entreaties of the Dead.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"All right," Ida says. She'll hold Gon to that promise. If they end up with another Behemoth bearing down on them, she's going to have words with him. But they don't--at least, not immediately--and Ida allows herself to relax, just a hair. That's when the voices start.
'Do you even get what I'm saying? This war is a joke. FAITH is a joke!'
Ida sucks in a breath; her body reacts even before she puts a name and face to the words she thinks she's recalling. Brother Mathius--an Etone who accepted tainted power from K.K., and threatened November. It wasn't the first time she'd killed a living thing. But it was the first time she'd killed a thinking, speaking person. She shudders, and has to look down at her right hand to confirm it isn't covered in gore.
But it isn't just her. Boudicca cries out, suddenly. Mariel stops in her tracks and draws inward. Even Gon looks spooked. "It must be the Pyreflies," Ida breathes. "Everyone, stay--"
'That's far enough, I think...' Ida's heart leaps against her ribs, and her head whips about, glancing for an ambush that isn't there. That voice belonged to a bandit--one of several who'd waylaid her and Gwen and Cassidy and Morgan in the ruins of Lost July. She'd killed him, too, and it was the first time she'd killed in anger, without any pretense. Malevolence took her, after.
'None of us can undo the past. All we can do is live with it, one day at a time.'
"...Luisa?" Ida's voice is tiny. Boudicca grabs her hand, and Ida's fingers tighten, clinging to the Seraph like she's the only solid ground for miles around. "It's--it's not her." Even though part of her aches for reassurance, hungers for validation--and her late ancestor remains fresh in her mind after her talk with Xantia. But Luisa's voice isn't enough to drown out the sussurus that washes up against her mind like the lapping tide. It's like spiritual infrasound; Ida can feel it if she listens faintly, but she can't hear it.
Because it isn't speaking to her.
He hears it instead. It starts with taunts, with booming laughter. Then, reassurance from two old friends who would one day rise above him. Several of his fellow scouts asking him about humanity. The old voices don't stop--they just change. And then it's like the floodgates open and the screams start and the accusations start and though it all is her voice, her voice, screaming at him and telling him she knows now, really knows, and may one day even forgive him, and it doesn't make any sense.
Ida almost stops in her tracks. She fumbles her multitool out of its pocket and clenches it tight between gloved fingers. She takes a deep breath, and another, glancing about to reorient herself in the Pyrefly maze. Someone's fallen behind. "Pearl!" she shouts, and as Leo Jr. pushes forward, Ida reaches back, still clutching Boudicca with one hand and the multitool in the other.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool ARMS Meister's Field Kit toward her party's challenge, Entreaties of the Dead.
=============================<* The Hidden Gate *>==============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Entreaties of the Dead *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
As you move deeper into the caverns, the pyreflies grow thicker. These caves
would normally be in pitch blackness, but the rooms seem to become well-lit
-- though your eyes have trouble adjusting to the shifting, pearlescent
lights. However, Spirans know that pyreflies are strange things; they can
affect the mind in great concentrations, and there is a mystery to them that
any science would be hard pressed to explain. As you move along, you begin
to hear them.
Whispers.
They're different for each person -- and yet the same, for they are the
voices of the dead. Whispers from people who passed, be it on Lunar or
Filgaia; words of kindness, words of anger; words that reach only you, but
everyone here hears something different. You cannot know if they are real or
an illusion, but they are disturbing nonetheless.
=Dungeon Conditions: Madness==================================================
========================<* The Hidden Gate - Round 3 *>========================= ======================< Results - Entreaties of the Dead >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gon Guado 0 --(17)--> 17 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pearl 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Leo Jr 3 Wits Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Boudicca 0 --(17)--> 17 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(17)--> 17 Fail Mirror of De Soto 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mariel 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Millennium Diary 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass ARMS Meister's Field Kit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Gon Guado 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Injure(1)|Madness|Slow(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Gon Guado 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: Gon Guado has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* The Hidden Gate *>============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Collapsed Tunnel *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- There are signs throughout the caverns that Seymour's agents have been working here. Occasionally, beams are built to support a part of the ceiling or wall. Periodically, markings on the wall can be seen. There are even a few spheres, inside metal fixtures, placed onto walls here and there. Sometimes, this engineering is suspect. When you approach one such wooden brace, the ground rumbles; then the area ahead of you collapses when a beam snaps. You may need to clear the area of rubble -- because otherwise, you will have to double back and find another route. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Stupify==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
All have to deal with their own gnawing, familiar voices. All have to parse what the pyreflies stir up within them. There is little stopping them from progressing other than whatever it takes to pull themselves together to keep moving. Some may need encouragement. Some may need prodding. Gon, himself, makes up one of the last ones to recover themselves from that trial, not speaking his feelings aloud. Knowing what he has enabled, and was narrowly averted from doing...
"No Fiends are yet coming." Gon gives that assurance, and this holds true enough - his voice shaken, quiet, as they find themselves a novel development among these strange cavern passages - which is to say, a new development in the literal sense, as eyes first adjust to the more blue-hued lights of illuminating spheres that stand out among the constant streams of prismatic light and low wailing of passing pyrefly clusters.
Incredulous, the Guado among them cannot help but exclaim: "What desecration has been wrought?"
Not even in the depths of his greatest hypocrisy would Gon ever think of bringing machina and its reinforcing disciplines into a long-forbidden place deep beneath the ancestral home of his people. The more mechanically inclined among them can spy one truth they can state at their leisure before the obvious issue of consequence can come to pass:
This engineering work was done with utmost haste, and is not up to standard. There are not many trained engineers in exotic machina among the Guado. (There may not be any.)
A wooden brace gives way as the ground rumbles by some unknown force ahead, and... luckily for all, it is the path ahead of them that collapses into an enormous pile of rubble. An accident, to the advantage of Seymour's own ahead.
Gon fiddles with one of his gauntlets before flicking it out with his wrist, having it grip onto one of the larger pieces of rubble and then reeling it in with an attempt to pull it aside. Where the Guado themselves are lacking in physical strength compared to their neighbors, machina can fill the gaps.
"I truly know not as to what they intend to accomplish within that they would strike through the land underneath our home," Gon sounds as exasperated as ever, but that's something that should worry anyone and everyone.
What did Seymour find - or know about - that would necessitate the use of heavy industrial machina in such reckless hurry?
DG: Gon Guado has used his Tool Pull Claw toward his party's challenge, Collapsed Tunnel.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
Sometimes it sucks to be a sensitive!
But Mariel isn't the only sensitive here, and it's not the kind of energy she is the *most* attuned to. It's hard on everybody; only when she makes it more than a few steps does she turn back to look at the others.
"I'm glad," she says, and means it. Surrounded by that many pyreflies, Mariel isn't sure she'd notice them if they weren't full of Malevolence or Malice... and while Fiends are fiends they're not *that* kind of fiend.
Only once she's assured herself that everybody is still okay does she continue on at all, into the better-lit area. Mariel had been expecting to pull out a light (which she *had* prepared for) as they got further down, but it looks like instead they're...
"Are they digging?" she asks, incredulous. Mariel has seen excavations done by machine before, of course - ones larger than this. "I would have thought they would use sorcery, or some sort of..." She almost said 'beast' but knowing that these are Guado, some kind of digging Fiend is probably more accurate. Machines? Like Gon, she is surprised, though her feelings about it are different.
It's a very good thing they slowed down, given the collapse. Mariel's first instinct is to bail, or at least get a good distance away in case it spreads, but it appears localized at least. She doesn't have to run away from a collapsing tunnel; it's just the one section. "...He's doing something in there," she says. "We need to see it..."
Mariel does reopen her satchel. She pulls out a tan nut - a large one, as big as both her fists together - and then tugs her mittens more firmly on before she tries to open it. It takes her a moment (and a blunt wedge from her bag) to crack the shell open and retrieve a soft green fruit from the inside. It's faintly gelatinous by the way she holds it, but still stable enough to hold together.
"Pearl," she says, "would you like to help for a moment?" Pearl, because she's not sure it will work on Boudicca or Ida (what with the Seraphim in one case and the metal in the other), and she doesn't know how physically strong Avril or Gon is, while she knows perfectly well Pearl is much stronger than she.
It tastes rather cloyingly sweet, with a weak flavour besides that, but the results are immediate: if she eats it, Pearl grows (along with her gear) to about thrice her normal size. It only lasts for about twenty seconds, but that's enough to do a surprising amount of karate-breaking of loose stone.
DG: Mariel has used her Tool Grow Fruit toward her party's challenge, Collapsed Tunnel.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
Ida, at least, is keeping everyone together, Boudicca thinks. Gon, at least, assures them there are no Fiends to lay in wait.
She does free Ida's hand from her grasp.
Eventually.
Boudicca knows very little about human construction, for all she has recently (it's recent in Seraph reckoning) acquired her VERY OWN TOOLKIT; she doesn't understand the poor quality of what she's looking at, at first. "Was this tunnel not intended..?" She wonders, hearing that incredulousness from her party.
Looking back and forth, she almost doesn't realise the bracing cracks --
"Oh!" Boudicca exclaims, as she throws her arms out to stop anyone behind her from venturing forward into the collapse. She looks down, only to see one of the boulders firmly crushing her foot. "Oh, dear," Boudicca remarks.
And her greaves promptly phase through the rock as she steps back.
Seraphim cheat!
"'Tis what Seymour sought, but..." Boudicca trails off, considering the blockage. She looks back, to her corporeal friends, who don't have the capacity to bypass physical matter like she does. Boudicca shakes her head, and unhooks her clawed torch from her belt, lighting the coal within with a snap of her fingers.
Holding the light aloft, Boudicca says to Pearl: "Moor Gault's flames shall aid you, as well." Of course, they're not just for Pearl! There's enough blessings for everyone! Perhaps even Avril.
DG: Seraph Boudicca has used her Tool Bestial Brazier toward her party's challenge, Collapsed Tunnel.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Her face is still wet when the heaviness of the presence upon them fades, when she crosses her arms to hold the mirror tightly against her chest as if it would otherwise vanish.
"Yes," she says, in an answer to Mariel at length. "We are alright." She brushes at her cheeks as surreptitiously as she may.
"We cannot afford to stop just yet. Let us continue."
There is still much they might yet affect for the better. This time is not the same as the last. It is not over yet.
What desecration has been wrought?
"...I do not know. Whatever it may be, we shall put an end to it. It will proceed no further," Avril assures him, her mien as hard as any marble statue. Indeed, there is in hand as they proceed -- in spite of Gon's remark and her own lack-of-a-warning, Absolute Zero's hilt. In spite of everything, it makes her feel much the better to hold it in hand.
Or perhaps, because of everything.
They've been digging down into the depths, below. She glances the once to Gon, then at the others. "Whatever lies beneath Guadosalam?" she asks, as if Gon would be able to even tell them -- as if he would know. She knows little of Spira's history but what they were willing to tell outlanders, however, and even less of Guadosalam's own.
Indeed, one of those passageways collapses, prompting Avril to actually startle in response. "Must we go through, then? ...Very well."
She bears that empty hilt before her. Her finger finds the trigger. "Please, hold but a moment, Pearl."
Light, cast out in expert lashes, carves at the fallen rock. One, two.
Three.
It's not enough to carve through. But it may be a good start, enough for someone else to finish.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Absolute Zero Beam toward her party's challenge, Collapsed Tunnel.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Sometimes, an emotional support onion does wonders, as does Ida reaching out to her- even if the Multitool is not a great thing to grab. She places her hand on the bulbs head, kneeling down. "...Thank you, Leo Jr, Ida. I shall be alright." She gives him a little scritch. "Those voices will follow me, but most of them died far from here. They should not be in Spira." This is a perhaps... unsettling. Still, she pauses, and pulls out a small satchel, and opens a paper package- several sandwiches, some with meat, some without, and some solid chunks of cheese, along with some dried fish.
"A colleague taught me that after a shaking experience, food can help to settle your nerves. Please, feel free." She offers the food out, taking half of one of the meat ones for herself, and eating it, even as they come up to the structure. If Gon has no idea, none of them do. "I dislike this."
"Mariel grabs her attention, and Pearl nods. "Of course." The fruit is odd, and when Pearl takes a bite, she discovers a first: Food *can* be too sweet. Still, she devours the whole thing and then... grows. The already tall woman towers over the group now, and then the flame of Filgaia's guardians fills her with strength, as Avril weakens the rock. They are trusting her to act for them, trusting her with strength, and aiding her. It feels... complicated. That they trust her, even in these circumstances, is heartening but... Strength and power are dangerous tools.
Still Pearl moves in, striking rock to hopefully break it, or lift and move it out of the way. Leo Jr cheers from the sidelines. And eats a dried fish.
DG: Pearl has used her Tool Hearty Packed Lunch toward her party's challenge, Collapsed Tunnel.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida flicked out the file-blade in her fumbling. The texture is rough, but gripping it won't cut Pearl's hands--and for the few seconds it's out, it might provide grounding sensory input. Ida's quick to pocket the tool once Pearl's back within range, and looking better. It's incredibly useful, but also incredibly precious. She doesn't want to lose it.
"We're here," Ida says, and not 'are you sure?'. She pauses a beat, brow furrowing. "I was hearing people--almost all of them--who died on Filgaia. Centuries ago, in one case."
In many cases, she realizes. But she doesn't know who Fafnir heard, only that his presence is as wide awake as he ever gets, and quaking in the back of her mind like a cornered animal. The rockslide only aggravates things further; Ida literally leaps backward, presses a hand to her heart. It takes a moment to settle.
When Pearl hands out the dried fish, Ida is all too happy to eat it, and while it's salty, it disappears in several bites. She almost misses the mushroom, but its effects grab her attention immediately. Her eyes widen, and she blinks once to be sure she's not seeing a Pyrefly hallucination. As Pearl starts to dig into the bulk of the landslide, Ida busies herself with the smaller debris at the edges. "Shoddy worksmanship," she grumbles, shooting an even, level "I'm all right" look at Boudicca. The warmth of her heart makes her feel she's home, even in this tunnel deep beneath the earth.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Collapsed Tunnel.
=============================<* The Hidden Gate *>============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Collapsed Tunnel *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- There are signs throughout the caverns that Seymour's agents have been working here. Occasionally, beams are built to support a part of the ceiling or wall. Periodically, markings on the wall can be seen. There are even a few spheres, inside metal fixtures, placed onto walls here and there. Sometimes, this engineering is suspect. When you approach one such wooden brace, the ground rumbles; then the area ahead of you collapses when a beam snaps. You may need to clear the area of rubble -- because otherwise, you will have to double back and find another route. =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Stupify==========================================
========================<* The Hidden Gate - Round 4 *>========================= =========================< Results - Collapsed Tunnel >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gon Guado 17 --(0)--> 17 Pass Pull Claw 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pearl 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Hearty Packed Lunch 2 Brute Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Boudicca 17 --(0)--> 17 Pass Bestial Brazier 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 17 --(0)--> 17 Pass Absolute Zero Beam 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mariel 25 --(12)--> 37 Fail Grow Fruit 2 Brute Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 5 --(12)--> 17 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Gon Guado 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Stupify(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Gon Guado 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: Gon Guado has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* The Hidden Gate *>==============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - The Unsent - Wen Kinoc *>====================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The path through the cavern leads you to another plaza -- this one built in
a natural cavern, with a high ceiling -- and another set of stone doors,
like the ones you entered from. These doors are closed, though a faint glow
can be seen from behind them. There are no guards in the room -- it seems
like it should be a simple walk.
As you enter, though, the air shimmers. Pyreflies swirl together -- and take
the form of a battered, bedraggled, middle aged man. He lies underneath an
enormous pile of rocks; like a collapsed mountainside. There are burn wounds
across him. You may recognize him as Wen Kinoc, a Maester who died in
Bevelle.
"Betrayed..." he rasps. "Betrayed by Seymour. Betrayed..."
His form fades. The huge rocks -- spectral and terrible -- do not. They will
need to be removed before you can go through the doors.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Tragedienne has posed.
</poem>
=============================<* The Hidden Gate *>==============================
================<* CHALLENGE - The Unsent - Blue Master Lunn *>=================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The path through the cavern leads you to another plaza -- this one built in
a natural cavern, with a high ceiling -- and another set of stone doors,
like the ones you entered from. These doors are closed, though a faint glow
can be seen from behind them. There are no guards in the room -- it seems
like it should be a simple walk.
As you enter, though, the air shimmers. Pyreflies swirl together -- and take
the form of an older man, silver-haired and with a mustache. He is
well-muscled and strong, but his tattered blue and black clothes are utterly
sodden. More than that, there is a gaping and bloody wound in his chest. The
ghost of Blue Master Lunn looks up.
He rasps out: "No... not... yet!"
And he launches forward, with a flying kick, and then a brutal swing. He
will need to be fought off -- whether he is a true Unsent or merely some
ghostly apparition.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
The whole affair stands to be exacerbated by the fact that everyone here is also in a hurry, that even an errant pull, push, or blast could just make the issue even worse. For all of Seymour's successes towards his ultimate goal, the excavation work reeks of rank amateurism... and perhaps desperation.
There is a brief discussion among those willing to share what they do. "They would draw from the dead of a place as far as Gaia?" Gon asks as Ida reveals what she heard, and he looks puzzled by this, and Boudicca does that strange phase-through thing her people do sometimes to scout ahead and see beyond that there's... a lot more pyreflies. But she can help light the way.
Avril asks the question, to which Gon shakes his head as that's about the most he can manage with his present level of physical exertion. The beam from Absolute Zero helps carve through more of it, loosening up more.
Mariel breaks out a curious fruit, and Pearl moves carefully and decisively to move most the rest of what's there. Ida has a brief scare as she can identify another structural flaw that might cause another collapse, but the tool she held onto for focus through those illusory(?) voices prior can allow her to make the quick save from having issues occur anew...
And the way is clear enough. Everyone can, and should, have a brief snack amongst one another, as Gon's nostrils flare.
"The scent of the Farplane is... overpowering." He is incidentally holding one of the more pungent food/snack items. "...That is the vernacular we use in identifying the Unsent," he explains. "We are either drawing close to the Farplane, or... ahead is a truly powerful Unsent."
They go through to another plaza. Built in a natural cavern, with a high ceiling, and another set of double doors of almost identical make to what led within. They are closed, though there's a faint glow... no guards. No living souls, but pyreflies.
Pyreflies that shimmer, into the form of a battered, bedraggled, middle aged man. Underneath a pile of rocks, collapsed and enormous, with no shortage of burn wounds. The fallen Maester Wen Kinoc, who fell in Bevelle. "Betrayed..." he rasps, lamenting. "Betrayed by Seymour. Betrayed..."
Another appearance. Pyreflies swirl together, to the form of an older man - silver-haired and with a moustache. He is well-muscled and strong, the peak of human conditioning... but his tattered blue and black clothes are sodden in blood. A gaping, bloody wound in his chest, like from a knife. When he looks up, many will recognize them.
The ghost of Blue Master Lunn, rasping with desperate fury. "No... not... yet," he launches forward with a flying kick, scattering the stones and crushing Wen Kinoc's form anew, with a brutal swing.
Gon backs up, instinctually - he was bested and humiliated by this man before him when the Four Heroes of Althena descended upon Luca as a seemingly unbeatable team. He was flung aside, off the scene like he were less than nothing. A feat not exactly exclusive to the Blue Master.
As Lunn comes down from his brutal blow, he locks his gaze upon Pearl with an unyielding stare, as Pyreflies start to gather...
Which Gon pulls back, forming them into a multitude of lesser, trivial Fiends.
"In life, a peerless warrior." Gon speaks. "I know not what keeps you out of the Farplane." He looks to the others, and might catch Pearl's reaction if any. "You stand before a capable Summoner and numerous Otherworlders who have bested all that stood before them but Sin itself." Including himself. Multiple times. Over and over. Swallowing his pride, there is but at least one shred of pride and dignity he could keep.
"As you have labored and learned," he says to Pearl, unaware as of the depths of her connection to them, "Lady Summoner," eyeing the lesser Fiends he has summoned out of pyreflies that might have made that Unsent a little more... problematic.
"Worry not." He faces away from them in order to deal with this stopgap measure to keep the fight... not too tipped in Lunn's favor. "I have never let a Summoner fall under my watchful eye."
"You appear to have found worthy Guardians in your time since Leviathan accepted you."
DG: Gon Guado has used his Tool Pull Claw toward his party's challenge, The Unsent - Wen Kinoc.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
As the fruit stops working, Pearl returns to her normal size. It worked. Go team!
What lies beyond, however, is... not what she had hoped.
"No... Not yet..."
Pearl's body freezes. Visibly. As Wen Kinoc's unsent body is destroyed by Lunn's mighty kick, one can see Pearl start to shake.
The truth about Pearl is she had never been fearless, but rather, she had been so afraid of one person she lacked the capability to be afraid of anything else. And then she conquered that fear, and she could feel fear in the way a normal person does.
And so, with the source of that all consuming fear in front of her, she is that terrified child again, on the night he murdered the parents she can't remember. She wants to run, to flee.
"...Why... Why are you here? I killed you! I drove that knife into your heart and ! How can you be-"
She didn't send him.
In all the chaos, she didn't send him. Fear radiates off her again. How strong would Lunn, Master of the Shadow Dragon, be as an unsent. Seymour was near unkillable.
She continues to shake, staring at him. Her grey eyes are wide open, filled with terror.
And then there's a little 'poik, poik, poik' as the littlest Guardian places himself between Lunn and Pearl, puffing himself and readying himself. "Puuuuuukyu!!" He shouts, as a challenge to Lunn. To get to his summoner, Lunn will have to go through Leo Jr.
Leviathan ROARS inside her, calling her a coward. You killed him, they scream, so you can kill him again! Fight! If even the little one will fight, what's your excuse? How do you expect to kill Sin if you falter at the sight of the ghost!
And then a third voice cuts through fear. Gon speaks of his confidence in her. And his willingness to defend her. "Sir Gon?"
He's right. She does have strong guardians. And strong friends. She's still shaking, but she stands. "Blue Master Lunn, Master of the Shadow Dragon Cult. I don't know if you are a true unsent, or a hateful mockery of a hateful man. But I will not allow you to get free of this place." She stops, swallowing, as she tries the steady herself. "I won't allow you to torment me or any of the others you kidnapped and hurt! When I killed you, it was an act of desperation. But as long as I have the ability to stand against you, I will. I may not be Jean, but..." She looks around. "I do not need to be. Not this time."
She casts an eye to Gon. "...Once upon a time, you said you would serve as my Guardian should I be able to undertake the Pilgrimage. In this moment, I would be honoured to accept." She looks to her allies. "Please. I request your aid in putting to rest a monster in human skin once again."
And then she charges. She doesn't summon Leviathan this time- this time she has to do it with her own two hands.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
It's pretty sweet. Sorry, Pearl. At least it doesn't ruin any other flavours, particularly, since aside from that it doesn't have much of one of its own.
Mariel is not very helpful aside from providing it, granted. She's not really able to move much rubble with her bare hands and she doesn't feel safe deploying an explosive here, which is her other usual method of assistance.
Mariel only takes cheese and dried fruit. No jerky, dried fish, or sandwiches for her. She does appreciate it, though. "Thank you," she says. Then: "I feel it too. Or at least... I feel it's a pressure..." It isn't her kind of energy, really - she is attuned to life, not death. Gon, among others, can feel it with more detail. But they're two sides of the same coin, and there's definitely *something* there.
It's putting her on edge, though there's little she can do about it. They have to move on. Perhaps it is Seymour, but - the last time they met, he felt different to her.
And indeed, it isn't. Two men. Mariel does recognize Wen Kinoc, and frankly wants nothing to do with him. Another, who takes her longer to recognize because she's only ever seen him at a distance; she recognizes him more by his clothes than his face. Blue Master Lunn.
Mariel backs up, too. She might not have the experience Gon has with him, but she knows what she can't handle herself. Someone else rushes in front, though. "Wait, Leo Junior!" Mariel calls, starting to run after him for several steps before Pearl drops a bomb.
"..."
She doesn't know why she would have killed him. She will need to get the story from Pearl later - and she *will* get the story. Mariel can be determined when she wants to be; for all that she looks (and often acts) like a soft, supportive figure, only a will of iron kept her on Filgaia all this time. But this is a ghost, not the real man - even if it was for a bad reason (and 'Shadow Dragon Cult' sounds like a good one, offhand) that doesn't mean she can let him kill them now.
Mariel takes only an instant to decide what she needs to do. Two things: first, she opens her pack and retrieves a cloth bundle, which she opens and throws. Not at Lunn, but at the Fiends Gon is engaging. When the purifying salt touches them, it burns with a colourless flame, starting to disperse pyreflies where it touches. It won't defeat them by itself (well, maybe if she gets a *really* lucky throw) but it will weaken them and prevent them from empowering themselves.
Single weapon used, she pulls out a double handful of bottles and vials and immediately starts to distribute them, applying potions and tonics as needed. Even Leo Jr. gets one, though admittedly Mariel isn't sure if plant food will help him very much right now.
DG: Mariel has used her Tool Grow Fruit toward her party's challenge, The Unsent - Wen Kinoc. DG: Pearl has used her Tool Hearty Packed Lunch toward her party's challenge, The Unsent - Wen Kinoc.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
Boudicca takes a little dried fish, though she does not, strictly speaking, need to eat. Sometimes it's all about the message.
But, the scent of the Farplane...
"I would not have thought to name it thus," says a woman whose relationship with the physical senses is sometimes more metaphorical than literal. "But... I thank you for the warning, Gon."
She's still surprised, to see Wen Kinoc coalesce there -- and more surprised still, to see who dismisses his memory. "Blue Master Lunn..?" Boudicca asks, the words numbed over. Gon was not the only one failing to hold the line, in Luca.
But --
I killed you! I drove that knife into your heart and !
"Pearl..." Boudicca starts, but she knows there's no interrupting that sort of anxiety. She looks to Lunn, troubled. More troubled, as she speaks.
She shakes her head, and reaches out to -- "Ida!" Boudicca calls, and her fingers are flint on steel as they click together. Moor Gault's flame can kindle in her, instead, as they face the ghost of the man the Goddess chose.
DG: Seraph Boudicca has used her Tool Bestial Brazier toward her party's challenge, The Unsent - Wen Kinoc.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida pockets the trusty multitool, and pats the patchwork she put in place--a few screws driven deep into the wood, sturdier and less hastily-employed than the originals. Gon gives his analysis of the spiritual terrain once the job's done. Ida's head snaps to face him, as if drawn by a magnet. "Seymour," she says, without missing a beat. "It has to be him, and God knows what else is down there with him."
They pass through, into the plaza. Ida doesn't have Venetia's expertise, but she knows worked stone when she sees it. "...This wasn't part of Seymour's excavation," she says. "But what is it--?"
Pyreflies. Ida's hand darts towards her ARM as they take shape, but they're not as focused as they should be. This isn't a single manifestation. Stone groans and crumbles, and Ida tenses, hand on the grip, torn between "group of Fiends" and "potential avalanche". It's neither. Her face tightens--then goes cold--as a familiar, loathsome voice speaks, and a familiar, ruined body tries to drag itself out from its rocky tomb. "You deserved it," she says, and she pits at the phantom's face. "You deserved worse."
Worse happens. Ida has scant seconds to process the second phantom's appearance, but Lunn is a very distinctive man. She senses nothing less than killing intent--or whatever passes for it, from this entity--as he looks at Pearl. Pearl freezes. "Pearl, back!" Ida leaps in front of Lunn, arms crossed. In the blink of an eye, pinkish-silver flesh erupts from her skin, pouring down her shoulders, encasing her arms in gauntlets. For a few seconds, she focuses everything she has on protecting Pearl. In these moments of instinct, she barely notices Leo Jr., standing at her feet, steadfast. She flows through defense after defense, her arms twisting and locking and redirecting as much as she can. If she can't, she simply takes it.
And then Pearl claws herself out of the pit Lunn put her in, and speaks damning words. There's no time to process properly, but the look of shock still settles onto Ida's face. Emboldened by this sudden, ferocious anger--and by Mariel's secret weapon--she risks a counterattack. It's a straight punch to the chin, followed by a drumroll of strikes against the chest and abdomen. Boudicca's flame ignites within her, and as Pearl joins the fight, it blazes around her hand. "TOGETHER!" Ida roars, her strike mirroring Pearl's own.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Unsent - Wen Kinoc.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
The way at last is clear. Avril takes a slow breath in, then exhales, as if to steady herself, nearly.
Something is... not right. It is as if she were treading a familiar path, but found that she was not alone upon it -- the sensation of looking up and realizing that another is following not far behind.
In the same direction.
With ill intent.
"There is... a presence," she voices, as Gon notes much the same that she suddenly senses with acuity. She glances at him, and slowly, inclines her head.
At her side is no longer just a hilt, but a blade.
"Not the Farplane, though I know it not. Someone is waiting," she says, before striding ahead. Someone is waiting, and it would do poorly to keep them.
She has seen this man before, she thinks -- though, where?
She has only moments to consider this before another appears. "Two of them," Avril remarks, blade born before her.
Only to blink. She has seen this man, in the company of--
"...One of the Four Heroes?" she voices, and here, her blade wavers. One had fallen--
'...Why... Why are you here? I killed you! I drove that knife into your heart and !'
Avril cannot help it. Slowly, her gaze turns towards Pearl, surprise -- not shock -- in that expression and those eyes.
"The dead do not rest easily in Spira," she remarks, after a turn. "...Very well." The blade she bears holds an edge no longer: she has but a hilt in her hands. One finger loops the trigger.
"I will not ask you your reasons," she says, to Pearl, her gaze on Blue Master Lunn. "Simply, in this moment, do not waver." She pulls the trigger. "Let me see you to your rest," she says to Lunn, the beam whip dancing about her as if caught by some errant breeze.
And thus, there was light.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Absolute Zero Beam toward her party's challenge, The Unsent - Wen Kinoc.
=============================<* The Hidden Gate *>==============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - The Unsent - Wen Kinoc *>====================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The path through the cavern leads you to another plaza -- this one built in
a natural cavern, with a high ceiling -- and another set of stone doors,
like the ones you entered from. These doors are closed, though a faint glow
can be seen from behind them. There are no guards in the room -- it seems
like it should be a simple walk.
As you enter, though, the air shimmers. Pyreflies swirl together -- and take
the form of a battered, bedraggled, middle aged man. He lies underneath an
enormous pile of rocks; like a collapsed mountainside. There are burn wounds
across him. You may recognize him as Wen Kinoc, a Maester who died in
Bevelle.
"Betrayed..." he rasps. "Betrayed by Seymour. Betrayed..."
His form fades. The huge rocks -- spectral and terrible -- do not. They will
need to be removed before you can go through the doors.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
========================<* The Hidden Gate - Round 5 *>========================= ======================< Results - The Unsent - Wen Kinoc >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gon Guado 17 --(0)--> 17 Pass Pull Claw 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pearl 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Hearty Packed Lunch 2 Brute Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Boudicca 17 --(0)--> 17 Pass Bestial Brazier 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 17 --(0)--> 17 Pass Absolute Zero Beam 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mariel 37 --(12)--> 49 Fail Grow Fruit 2 Brute Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 17 --(12)--> 29 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Gon Guado 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Stupify(1)|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Gon Guado has successfully explored The Hidden Gate!
=============================<* The Hidden Gate *>==============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - The Farplane *>=========================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
You make your way through the stone doors at the end of the tunnels. The
doors open up onto a small ledge in an area that, impossibly, appears
outdoors. There is a sky that seems to be perpetually in sunset -- and you
find yourself overlooking a lake or an ocean. In the distance, there are
shores with greenery... and the roar of waterfalls nearby.
But there are also other, more alien things. For one, there is a gaping,
impossible hole in the middle of the ocean; a solid blue sphere, wreathed in
darkness, floats above it. There are also pillars of water that rise up into
the clouded sky.
It dawns on you, perhaps: this is the Farplane.
And Seymour's agents, for some reason, have began digging their way into
it... and it is flooding the caverns below.
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
Gon has the lesser Fiends he summoned under wraps. However many times his ways as a hand-to-hand combatant have been shamed and bested - and as perhaps the foremost warrior of his people, no less! - it remains his way of life to deal with Fiends. He has done so for decades, and he doesn't fail on that front now.
The Blue Master Lunn, in (un)death, is exactly as frightening an opponent as Pearl's lingering anxieties and boiling emotions paint him. She bested him in life, once - and for all his teachings about how the Shadow Dragons value only the strongest and the weak to be killed, discarded, and forgotten, some part of him did not accept his own teachings there.
That he would cling to life to his stated goals as he told Pearl, back then - but with her admissions, all have cause to see him exorcised from this plane for good.
Mariel reinforces everyone's fighting prowess by sparing little as she assists with Gon's Fiends with the purifying salt... and then hands out her peerless potions and top-end tonics.
Boudicca lights the flame that sustains the world within, empowering those gathered around her (and especially her Seer), and as Ida roars - TOGETHER! - they all take their stand.
Avril, coolly, will see to their rest she declares as she pulls the trigger on Absolute Zero as she strikes against lightning-fast blows and seems to do among the best jobs of holding him at bay.
Pearl... strikes forth, with her own two hands, with Leviathan's screaming encouragement and the confidence in knowing that those from all corners of life are on her side in putting a monster in human skin to rest. A rest that may be too good for them, but a rest... and as she weaves through Ida's skillful parries, utilizes Mariel's medicines, has Leo Jr's encouragement, Avril's stoic determination, Boudicca's conveyed blessings of a greater fire spirit, and a veteran Guardian to her back...
Lunn's form dissipates as he looks upon Pearl one last time. That, perhaps, whether he believed the teachings to the very end or beyond it to his final breath, one way or another, she learned something. She succeeded him. She has proven she is stronger than even the strongest among the Shadow Dragons, and... there is naught else to keep him.
At her leisure, he - and the surrounding pyreflies - can be Sent. However much time she needs to emotionally center herself, she is the one equipped with the means to do so.
...They will find that the pyreflies will not be Sent far, as up ahead... Gon comes to recognize where it is they're about to emerge to, and will inform them of such before they set foot out there.
"The Farplane." He comments. "It is ahead... it is unmistakable." Guadosalam already has a well-known, publicized, oft-visited entrance to the Farplane. They have had a handful of incidents where an Unsent somehow willed themselves right out of it (Jyascal, specifically).
Seymour has elected to enter it from deeper underground, and looking out ahead... there's a gaping, impossible hole in the middle of the once tranquil oceans, with a solid blue sphere wreathed in darkness floating above it. Pillars of water rise up into the sky.
Somehow, by whatever quirk of fate, this party's the last one to arrive to what follows - and even through all the troubling sights, Gon still has it in him to feel another blow to his ego that - of all things - it is he who seems to guide his team to arrival here last.
But they are here to stop it, regardless of the order. Stop it, they must.