2022-10-12: If On An x's y, n Travelers

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  • Log: If On An x's y, n Travelers
  • Cast: Ethius Hesiod, Avril Vent Fleur, Lan Lilac, Ryoko Mizore
  • Where: Macalania Woods
  • Date: October 12, 2022
  • Summary: Four travelers -- wait, make that five -- meet on a not-at-all-very-wintery-anymore path in Macalania Woods. What sort of tale will be created in their passing? ...Especially when a horde of Fiends and O'aka become involved.


DG: A party led by Ethius Hesiod is now entering Macalania Woods - Becalmed.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
========================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed *>========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Peace, Quiet... Chimera *>====================
| Type: Entry        | Dungeon Ability: Combat          | Challenge Rating: 3  |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
  The way into the Macalania Woods seems straightforward enough: there's your   
  path, and if you're aiming in any particular direction (Macalania Lake, Calm  
  Lands, Bevelle, or the Thunder Plains are the choices available) there's      
  more than enough signage to guide you off on your way. The birds are          
  singing, the sun is shining. It's going to be a lovely day in the woods.      
                                                                                
  ...The birds were singing, that is. Something's up.                           
                                                                                
  The crashing you hear, drawing ever closer, might have something to do with   
  it. A Fiend emerges from the woods, planting itself in your path and          
  releasing a terrible roar! It's a chimera, a strange composite fiend: part    
  wolf, part bull, part eagle, part snake, and wholly mean. To arms!            
                                                                                
  Image:                                                                        
  https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/0/0b/Chimera-enemy-ffx  
  .png                                                                          
============================= Dungeon Conditions:  =============================
|    Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! and Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!    |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    The latest in the silly Ethius and Homer fetch quest chain, which Ethius continues to treat with deadly (and unwarranted?) seriousness: something about a lost heirloom carried by a Guard crusader. This is probably nothing of great consequence in the scheme of things, and these sorts of things end up getting multiple Drifters together anyway.
 
     Macalania Woods is no longer in a state of occupied unrest by Shiva's irritation, allowing everyone to enjoy the stunning sights, the (slightly more manageable) brisk chill, the much more humble-acting Guado who seem a bit afraid to raise a stink about anything these days...
 
     "Hey, have ya noticed?" Homer, a large pig-like extraterrestrial, asks.
 
     "You have asked that several times," says Ethius who is busy going over a sign.
 
     "Birds ain't makin' noise."
 
     "I did not take you for a bird fancier."
 
     "Well, they ain't makin' noise."
 
     Then there's a large crashing noise, with an oddball composite Fiend whose description of 'oddball' undersells that it is a frightening mix of angry ravenous undead creatures made of pyreflies that might be on a recruitment drive for more pyreflies.
 
     "Is that a bird?" Ethius asks without looking up from the sign.
 
     "Nnnnnope--"
 
     Ethius enchants a satchel with his Symbology and hands it to Homer nonchalantly. Homer, less nonchalantly, throws down the smoke cover.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Peace, Quiet... Chimera. Fanfare! 
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    If on a winter's night four travelers--

    Well, it's not night, it's not winter (technically, by Macalania Woods rules), but there are (or will be) four travelers on this particular wooded road, so one out of three ain't too bad.

    "Ethius," speaks a familar voice, not far behind the man in question and his 'companion' of the moment. "Mr. Mecone," Avril continues, coming to a stop on the path. "It is a surprise to see the both of you here."

    Her voice is cool, almost clinical. If someone turns around to face her, she wears quite a pensive expression on her face. Also of note might be the sword she carries in her right hand. It is bloodied.

    "It is not safe here," Avril continues, as if oblivious to the sudden silencing of birdsong about them. "Have you by chance seen a beast--"

    The crashing sound may be her answer.

    "Ah," she remarks quite calmly as the chimera is upon them. "There you are!"

    Avril versus the chimera, round two (apparently??) ensues thereafter.

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Peace, Quiet... Chimera. 
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    It's a lovely day in Macalania Woods! The birds are singing, the chill isn't nearly as bad as it used to be, and Lan Lilac is having a good-albeit-somewhat-nervous time.

    'If you fall off of a horse, get right back on. If you wait, you'll grow hesitant, and it can become a real problem.' Lan's mother Mana wasn't talking about actual horses, which is good because Lan doesn't ride much. That advice is good for lots of situations... not the least of which is returning to the place where she'd been nearly killed by a friend.

    Macalania Woods is on the way to that place, but she needs to stop here first because she left her pack hidden away here for safekeeping several weeks ago. There's a half-finished shawl inside, and her Fire Medium!

    The Fiend charges into the path below her--

    Lan, it should be mentioned, is traveling overhead via the branches. There are fewer Fiends up there.

    --oh, that's Ethius and Homer! They're fun, even if Ethius is weirdly intense. She steps off of the branch and plummets, gravity magic helping her aim a heel-drop for the triple branch of the chimera's spine. "hhiiiIIIIIIIIII-YAA!"

DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Peace, Quiet... Chimera. 
<Pose Tracker> Ryoko Mizore has posed.

Ryoko Mizore isn't entirely sure how comfortable she is out here having seen what's.. well. There's no getting around it, if you want to practice, making it easier on yourself is the way to go. To start. Straining early just frustrates and ends up nowhere.
 
 Which is probably why she wasn't paying attention to the various warning signs. Like voices warning people of the warning signs. However, she does catch on quickly enough. Sort of. And steps back onto the path to look at the others in confusion. Particularly when one of them just you know, sky dives from a tree.
 
 There's a scowl, then her brain catches up and she flings out both hands (One slower than the other) and pelts the chimera with ice. Because that's what she's been practicing. Figuring in some weird way it would be easier out here! "Heads up" she says almost apologetically after. Her aim's... questionable with her magic. Her usual blunt force trauma sticks aren't immediately at hand.

DG: Ryoko Mizore has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Peace, Quiet... Chimera. 
========================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed *>========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Peace, Quiet... Chimera *>====================
| Type: Entry        | Dungeon Ability: Combat          | Challenge Rating: 3  |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
  The way into the Macalania Woods seems straightforward enough: there's your   
  path, and if you're aiming in any particular direction (Macalania Lake, Calm  
  Lands, Bevelle, or the Thunder Plains are the choices available) there's      
  more than enough signage to guide you off on your way. The birds are          
  singing, the sun is shining. It's going to be a lovely day in the woods.      
                                                                                
  ...The birds were singing, that is. Something's up.                           
                                                                                
  The crashing you hear, drawing ever closer, might have something to do with   
  it. A Fiend emerges from the woods, planting itself in your path and          
  releasing a terrible roar! It's a chimera, a strange composite fiend: part    
  wolf, part bull, part eagle, part snake, and wholly mean. To arms!            
                                                                                
  Image:                                                                        
  https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/0/0b/Chimera-enemy-ffx  
  .png                                                                          
============================= Dungeon Conditions:  =============================
|    Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! and Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!    |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed - Round 1 *>===================
=====================< Results - Peace, Quiet... Chimera >======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       0 --(34)--> 34                 Fail
Powder Grenade                      3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    0 --(34)--> 34                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           0 --(34)--> 34                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryoko Mizore                        0 --(34)--> 34                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               0 --(15)--> 15                 Fail
Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Injure(2)
Effects: 
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has failed this challenge! The party gained 15 exploration! If anyone needs to use
party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed *>========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Unstable Light Bridge *>=====================
| Type: Exploration  | Dungeon Ability: Agility         | Challenge Rating: 1  |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
  Bridges of light swirl and twist across some parts of the forest canopy,      
  which is fine, where the enchantment holds (where it doesn't, there's just    
  no bridge at all!).                                                           
                                                                                
  Something is not quite right with this one, however. One section of it        
  flickers in and out intermittently. While it's fairly regular in its          
  appearance and disappearance, and it isn't a particularly over-long section,  
  it's still going to take a bit of timing and footwork to cross this safely.   
============================= Dungeon Conditions:  =============================
|   Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up!, Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, and   |
|                        Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!                        |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Nonchalantly, while a fight to the death happens behind them, Ethius is continuing to observe the sign. Lan hangs off the neck of one of the Chimera heads, while the snake-like tail tries to coil itself around Avril's arm to overcome the threat of the drawn blade.
 
     Ryoko's ice goes wide and digs into the tree just above Ethius' head, who does not seem keen to notice.
 
     "THIS THING'S GONNA EAT US," Homer's all but screaming as he fails to keep the Chimera at bay with a pitchfork. It's a very good pitchfork, by current-point-in-story equipment terms. But the Chimera will not be felled so easily even by physical attack specialists such as Avril and Lan.
 
     "It appears the Guard did go this way." Ethius murmurs as a Chimera head gnashes over his head. "This way."
 
     'This way' happens to be a very good direction to run, so once everyone disengages as they do, or gets thrown aside, or what have you... technically they're all running from the Chimera now.
 
     It's a scenic RUN FOR ONE'S LIFE in the woods! Bridges of light continue to fade in and out across the scenery, and there's one over a key bit of scenery that might let them get away safely. Ethius, for his part, already has the Hot Air Sack's harness around one arm. He decides to enchant it to light up. Homer looks to the other three with a panicked look on his face.
 
     "O-On me! I can carry uhhh... all of ya pro'lly," he says.
 
     However many do, Homer then promptly wraps himself around Ethius and things might get sillier from there.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Unstable Light Bridge. Resilient! Party
shielded from some exhaustion next round!
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    Or, is it perhaps five travelers, if one doesn't count Ethius and Homer as an entire unit? Perhaps it is a matter of pitched debate among future scholars. If on a x's y, n travelers, perhaps...?

    Absolute Zero glints in the light cast amongst the trees. "Now--"

    Things do not go quite as planned. At one point in this particular tale, Avril had been hunting the chimera, but in that classic twist...

    Now the chimera hunts all of them! Pushed into the defensive, and with far more than herself to worry about ("Mr. Mecone!") she is forced to admit defeat for now and turns to flee with the others. But that passage among the trees might be no easy matter to manage.

    "..." Avril wordlessly comes to a stop before the flickering bridge of light. In her hands is the sword no longer, but an octagonal disc, engraved with markings that make it clear that this is not only a creation of a sapient species, but a rather technologically-inclined one at that. And yet, the light from it suggests a rather spiritual power.

    "Please," she asks of the Original Medium, before she seemingly leaps into the void. Lucadia's power might carry her across the gap, but if it does not-- well, Homer might have his work cut out for him.

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Unstable Light Bridge. Quicken! Party
Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    Wow, it's actually a lot tougher than she remembered these guys being. (Lan, the last time you fought one of these was completely different.) At an opportune time she hops off of its back - ducks the wild swipe of a claw - and straight up hoofs it after the others.

    It's just a small problem ahead - like, a sheer drop in between shifting patches of light bridge. Totally normal. Actually one of Lan's favorite types of problem. Which, if the chimera is anything to judge by, is probably a whole new kind of deadly. Maybe there are lasers. Or ghosts to distract you. Or a really obnoxious ticking sound that doesn't match up to the rhythm you actually need--

    She's so engrossed by thinking about the possibilities that she... actually just kind of forgets to stop running until she has to jump for it, and embarrassedly waves at Homer as she sails by on the power of her ribbon. "IthinkI'mgoodbutthankyouuuuuu~~!"

DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Butterfly Ribbon toward her party's challenge, Unstable Light Bridge. Quicken! Party
Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Ryoko Mizore has posed.

Ryoko Mizore is not having a great day with said aim! She didn't hurt anyone at least. She also didn't hurt the fiend and she's pretty sure she strained herself to boot. Oh well! Worry about that later, right now it's time to not get eaten by running away at full tilt.
 
 Which mostly means she's keeping up with the others right now! She does try to at least leave patches of frozen ground behind since she's lagging a bit anyway. She's going to pay for this when the adrenaline wears off she just knows it.
 
 She does try to brush herself off. Checks under her coat for anything bad, adjusts a few bandages, the sort of thing you do when you do stupid things back to back to back!
 
 The glowy lights get a scowl from her. The options of trying to face the Chimera that just chased them off or making a run is a harder decision than it normally would be. She pats herself down, then sighs and steps back before running and jumping! She's not... the most nimble and she's got horrid luck with this, but it's better than being chewed on right?

DG: Ryoko Mizore has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Unstable Light Bridge. 
Lan Lilac (Lan) pages Avril Vent Fleur and Ethius Hesiod: yeah, no worries!
========================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed *>========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Unstable Light Bridge *>=====================
| Type: Exploration  | Dungeon Ability: Agility         | Challenge Rating: 1  |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
  Bridges of light swirl and twist across some parts of the forest canopy,      
  which is fine, where the enchantment holds (where it doesn't, there's just    
  no bridge at all!).                                                           
                                                                                
  Something is not quite right with this one, however. One section of it        
  flickers in and out intermittently. While it's fairly regular in its          
  appearance and disappearance, and it isn't a particularly over-long section,  
  it's still going to take a bit of timing and footwork to cross this safely.   
============================= Dungeon Conditions:  =============================
|     Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up!, Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!,     |
|          Quicken:_Agility_Up!, Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, and           |
|                         Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!                          |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed - Round 2 *>===================
======================< Results - Unstable Light Bridge >=======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       34 --(5)--> 39                 Pass
Hot Air Sack                        2   Agility Effects: Resilient            
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    34 --(5)--> 39                 Pass
Sea Medium                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           34 --(5)--> 39                 Pass
Butterfly Ribbon                    2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryoko Mizore                        34 --(5)--> 39                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               15 --(20)--> 35                Pass
Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Injure(1)|Reckless(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(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.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed *>========================
=======<* CHALLENGE - 99 Red Butterflies And All Of Them Are Problems *>========
| Type: Exploration  | Dungeon Ability: Agility         | Challenge Rating: 3  |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
  You hear... shouting.                                                         
                                                                                
  The cause of the shouting presents itself as a small group of fellow          
  travelers. They are apparently fleeing a host of red butterflies. This might  
  seem a strange thing for someone to flee /from/.                              
  "Run!" one of the travelers shouts, seeing you there. "They're Fiends, not    
  butterflies! Strong ones! Just run!"                                          
                                                                                
  The butterflies are coming for you, too! Time to run for it!!                 
============================= Dungeon Conditions:  =============================
|           Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Quicken:_Agility_Up!,           |
|       Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, and       |
|                             Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!                             |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    There are dramatic leaps of faith. Between a pleading for Lucadia's assistance that goes answered, Lan just gunning it with superb natural grace and agility, and Ryoko just clinging to the ledge the light bridge leads to, it ends with...
 
     Ethius, making a weird face as he's carrying a Homer clutching onto him for dear life, and...
 
     Also the Chimera.
 
     Ethius stares at Homer, then at the Chimera.
 
     Ethius uses Threaten!
 
     The Chimera lets go of Homer and slinks off, and the lot of them reunite on the other side of the bridge of fading light that no one trusts, because pyreflies have given them nothing to trust except for irrefutable evidence of Lord Jyascal's killer.
 
     Pyreflies have a long way to go before they earn anyone's trust.
 
     "Miss Avril. Miss Lan. Miss..." Ethius starts to begin, as he is interrupted by other people screaming and running.
 
     "Run!" Says the person in question. "Butterflies!"
 
     "We're runnin' again?" Homer wheezes. "From butterfl--"
 
     "Fiends! They're Fiends!"
 
     ...So now they get to run all the way back the other side of the bridge. Ethius switches the bag's harness to the other hand and recommences casting to re-inflate it.
 
     "Do not jump on my back again." Ethius asides to Homer.
 
     "Uhhhh," Homer gives a furitive glance, "n-no... promises..."

DG: Ethius Hesiod has risked with his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, 99 Red Butterflies And All Of Them
Are Problems. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    Avril lands, ultimately, on the other side, courtesy of no less than a Guardian's grace.

    "...It is departing," Avril notes, with some small disappointment. Perhaps this is understandable given that she was hunting it in the first place, for unknown (but readily guessable) reasons. She turns towards the others, as if about to inquire after them and their reasons for being here. She gets as far as glancing at the lot of them before the screaming starts.

    "They are not lying," Avril states, furrowing her brow as she regards the distant swarm of butterflies/fiends. "There are far too many," she says, turning towards her companions. "We must return from whence we came!"

    Her Medium is at least still in her hands as she turns to again leap across the gap of the malfunctioning bridge.

    But wait, can't butterflies fly? Couldn't they just--

    However it comes that Avril reaches the other side, she will turn as the Fiends approach the gap and then, as they fly above it...

    ...do nothing more but extend her hand towards the flying mass and flash-freeze the lot. They won't stay frozen: she hasn't put enough of her power into it for that. But they only need to stop flying in butterfly form for a few moments for gravity to utterly ruin their day.

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, 99 Red Butterflies And All Of Them Are
Problems. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    Hey, to be fair Lan really likes pyreflies. Sure, they're really morbid when you think about it, and they tend to turn into Fiends if you get too many in one places, and yes they are absolutely made of dead people, but... but they're so shiny. Seriously, they're prettier than a hundred soap bubbles!

    Absolutely 100% untrustworthy though, on account of the turning-into-Fiends problem.

    "You must be really strong if you can carry Homer /and/ that Fiend on your back," Lan wows at Ethius (while surreptitiously checking Homer for wounds or signs of elder abuse or anything. She may feel just a /tad/ protective of him, for some reason <s>named Ethius Hesiod</s>).

    But their problems are not over yet. In fact, they are many, they are legion, they are fluttering--

    "Man, it is super not fair for Fiends to be so pretty," Lan frowns at the approaching kaleidoscope. Which is a correct term for a group of butterflies, although this one probably also counts as a swarm. Swarm is an ominous word.

    Lan turns right back around and powerfloats over the worst of the bridge puzzle, turning around at the end to raise her hands to start casting. Okay, she can do this - a buckshot blast instead of a cannonball, it's just a little adjustment really--

DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Butterfly Ribbon toward her party's challenge, 99 Red Butterflies And All Of Them Are
Problems. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Ryoko Mizore has posed.

Ryoko Mizore looks at the red butterflies, then back at the bridge and further back where she think the chimera's gone. "Pretty sure this place is cursed" she mutters, determining on the spot that further training should be done in warmer climates after all. Preferably without having to deal with the rampant.. everything here.
 
 "Ryoko" she offers flatly as she psyches herself up on the fly to make that running leap again, vaguely surprised she made it in the first place. As before, she pats herself down, psyches herself up and takes a running leap, trying to rely on momentum as much as anything. And then Avril tries to flash freeze the butterflies. Which. Sure, why not! She twists on her heels, raising one arm up and out, trying to see herself guiding, sort of like how she actually manages to aim... well a few of her staples. Adding to the bitter cold with her own ether! She's still ready to bolt at a moment's notice, but this. This is probably cutting it a wee bit close.
 
 Maybe they should have just frozen over the bridge and ran over. The comment on Homer being carried does get a sidelong look at Ethius though. And a slow edging away just in case. He seems harmless for now though. That said, she does jerk away from the shotgun at point blank and mutters to herself, one hand over a now ringing ear. She bites back her comment. She did about hit some people with her poor aim.

DG: Ryoko Mizore has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, 99 Red Butterflies And All Of Them
Are Problems.
========================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed *>========================
=======<* CHALLENGE - 99 Red Butterflies And All Of Them Are Problems *>========
| Type: Exploration  | Dungeon Ability: Agility         | Challenge Rating: 3  |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
  You hear... shouting.                                                         
                                                                                
  The cause of the shouting presents itself as a small group of fellow          
  travelers. They are apparently fleeing a host of red butterflies. This might  
  seem a strange thing for someone to flee /from/.                              
  "Run!" one of the travelers shouts, seeing you there. "They're Fiends, not    
  butterflies! Strong ones! Just run!"                                          
                                                                                
  The butterflies are coming for you, too! Time to run for it!!                 
============================= Dungeon Conditions:  =============================
|           Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Quicken:_Agility_Up!,           |
|       Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, and       |
|                             Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!                             |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed - Round 3 *>===================
=========< Results - 99 Red Butterflies And All Of Them Are Problems >==========
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       39 --(8)--> 47                 Pass
Hot Air Sack                        3   Agility Effects: Resilient and Risky  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    39 --(8)--> 47                 Pass
Sea Medium                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           39 --(8)--> 47                 Pass
Butterfly Ribbon                    2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryoko Mizore                        39 --(25)--> 64                Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               35 --(20)--> 55                Pass
Conditions: Injure(2)|Reckless(1)|Tire(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(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.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed *>========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Are These Even Native? *>====================
| Type: Exploration  | Dungeon Ability: Combat          | Challenge Rating: 3  |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
  Your first and only warning of trouble is the rustling in the foliage.        
                                                                                
  Then, from nowhere-- it springs out!                                          
  In a flurry of needles, to be precise. Because, yes. Yes, it is some sort of  
  mobile cactus.                                                                
                                                                                
  It looks /different/ from the other Cactuars (and variants) you've seen,      
  though. Tendrils hang from it, each and every one of them covered in spines.  
  There's even a suggestion of some sort of small red fruits, though eating     
  these probably isn't advised.                                                 
                                                                                
  Something shiny glitters from the place from which it ambushed you, but to    
  get to it, you'll have to deal with this... Cactuar? Is that really what      
  this is?                                                                      
============================= Dungeon Conditions:  =============================
|     Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!,     |
| Quicken:_Agility_Up!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and |
|                          Treasure:_Exploration_Up!                           |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    "It necessitates greater output to maintain flight," Ethius says back to Lan at observation of his strength, shaking out the other hand that was once inside the Hot Air Sack. He doesn't quite let it on beyond the gesture and the slight twinge of pain in his voice, but that whole ordeal did a bit of a burn on his hand.
 
     Lan is just able to get to the other side ahead of everyone, and Ryoko... gets caught by the flickering bridge mid-jump in a painful way that doesn't dump her to the ground, at least, as Homer ends up leaping onto Ethius anyway and Ethius has a 'this is my life now' look on his face.
 
     Avril... as she reaches the other side, flash-freezes the butterflies and drops them to the ground. All of them. They are unable to pursue. They cannot do anything. There's also some neat-looking blue butterflies among the gathered too, which are just as pretty and might invite a touch, were they... there.
 
     There is a tall bird-like figure carrying a harp that yells things in vague but insistent rhyme at them while they stand next to a mostly-corporeal treasure chest, but these calls are unheard and unheeded, as the group finds themselves doubling back.
 
     "A setback," Ethius remarks, hand on his forehead as he steps off on the other side and gingerly (read: not gingerly) shoves the much larger Homer off of him. As if he were the only one greatly inconvenienced, even though Avril lost an important target to her.
 
     The Chimera appears again, roaring in anger and pain... and then collapses over, turning into pyreflies as a bunch of needles fall to the ground.
 
     Something comes out with the familiar shape of a Cactaur, but it's got tendrils with lots of spines, and small red fruits. There's something shiny in that mix, but that can be addressed once the gathered works out as to whether or not they're going to fight this thing off, or--
 
     Ethius throws the other satchel at it in a big cloud of dust.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Are These Even Native?. Fanfare! 
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    Avril has, of all things, that there was something important about those blue butterflies -- some nagging sense that feels as if it had come from another lifetime, nearly. But ah, it's there and then it's gone.

    And if she's on this side of the bridge, she has quarry to hunt.

    "Might you assist me? I have been tracking that Fiend from before," she explains, pausing in her quest on this side of the bridge. "I suspect it has not gone far--"

    She whips her head around at that moment. The chimera!

    Which immediately falls over dead (well, as dead as a Fiend can be) and explodes into Pyreflies. Nonplussed, Avril tilts her head to one side, regarding the aftermath. "There are... needles," she says.

    This may be briefly prophetic.

    "Another Fiend!" Though there's something odd about this one, a twist in the familiar shape of the Cactuar.
    (Could it be, perhaps, a fruiting cactus then?)
    "Be wary. I do not believe it shall be any friendlier to us," she speaks, and this time around, she has not gone for her blade. Rather instead, she conjures before her an array of glittering ice crystals with barely word or gesture then sends them on their way towards the target that is this strange Cactuar.

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Are These Even Native?. 
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    While Lan isn't a healer by trade or by nature, even she can manage a few burns. Silver stardust rains down around him (and Ryoko, who looks pretty rough all-round) to take the worst of the edge off of their injuries.

    But the Chimera--!!

    ...isn't going to be much of a problem anymore, it seems. She shoots Avril a sympathetic look, but the ...thing... ambling out of the bushes seems to be an even bigger problem. "...Really wish I had that Fire Medium right about now," Lan laments her lost luggage, before deciding that yes, long-distance fighting is the way of the day.

    Overhead the clouds part in a very nice, suitably dramatic animation as an entire meteorite (why does it have a faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace) enters Filgaia's atmosphere.

DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Are These Even Native?. 
<Pose Tracker> Ryoko Mizore has posed.

Ryoko Mizore gives the bird thing a weird look as she rejoins the others trying to get away from the weirdness that is her training trip turned run for her life. Which is when she promptly trips when the bridge flickets. Landing roughly enough, there's probably lingering injuries, go figure! There are also a number of curses muttered under her breath as she gets back to her feet and rejoins the others to deal with the Chimera. That just died.
 
 "I... don't think that's normal."
 
 Ryoko does in fact look thankful for some healing. She's stubborn and was dealing with it on her own even though she was recently shown the ability to heal via ice magic AND ether to boot! Maybe she should try that. Scowl. "Thanks" She says distracted, off in her own thoughts on both weird cactuar and her inept use of magic!
 
 Still! Arm up, she adds to the mess of things! Trying really hard to focus this time, wanting to get at least one cast right today even if it results in needles, something she's clearly not that afraid of if the sheer amount of ink she's got is an indicator, creating ice boulders to drop on the fiend alongside the (faced, what?) meteor! This won't cause any longterm problems for the area will it? Or upset the giant lady- better not think on that.
 
 As anything else, even focused, her magic is clearly there, but unfocused and untrained. Here's hoping!

DG: Ryoko Mizore has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Are These Even Native?. 
========================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed *>========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Are These Even Native? *>====================
| Type: Exploration  | Dungeon Ability: Combat          | Challenge Rating: 3  |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
  Your first and only warning of trouble is the rustling in the foliage.        
                                                                                
  Then, from nowhere-- it springs out!                                          
  In a flurry of needles, to be precise. Because, yes. Yes, it is some sort of  
  mobile cactus.                                                                
                                                                                
  It looks /different/ from the other Cactuars (and variants) you've seen,      
  though. Tendrils hang from it, each and every one of them covered in spines.  
  There's even a suggestion of some sort of small red fruits, though eating     
  these probably isn't advised.                                                 
                                                                                
  Something shiny glitters from the place from which it ambushed you, but to    
  get to it, you'll have to deal with this... Cactuar? Is that really what      
  this is?                                                                      
============================= Dungeon Conditions:  =============================
|     Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!,     |
|             Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and Treasure:_Exploration_Up!              |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed - Round 4 *>===================
======================< Results - Are These Even Native? >======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       47 --(0)--> 47                 Pass
Powder Grenade                      3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    47 --(15)--> 62                Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           47 --(0)--> 47                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryoko Mizore                        64 --(15)--> 79                Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               55 --(25)--> 80                Pass
Conditions: Fright(2)|Injure(1)|Tire(1)|Treasure(1)
Effects: 
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 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: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed *>========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Caravan Catastrophe *>======================
| Type: Final        | Dungeon Ability: Brute           | Challenge Rating: 3  |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
  You're close now to your desired exit from Macalania Woods, en route to your  
  ultimate destination wherever it might lie.                                   
                                                                                
  But there is an obstacle in your path, however you might want to ignore it.   
  Specifically, a large caravan has overturned, absolutely flooding the path    
  with supplies of all sorts. If you can buy it somewhere in Spira, then here   
  it lies. Blitzballs, blades, shattered potion bottles, crates of produce,     
  Spheres -- it truly is a storm of merchandise.                                
                                                                                
  "Hey, you! Think you could give me a hand?"                                   
                                                                                
  ..Of course this caravan belongs to O'aka, merchant extraordinaire. And like  
  it or not, you're going to pick this stuff up because there's no going        
  /through/ otherwise!                                                          
============================= Dungeon Conditions:  =============================
|       Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, and       |
|                     Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!                      |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Lan's curative, restorative magic is given thanks... from Homer, who mumbles he's had a bad hitch in his shoulder for a while. Ethius just waves a hand, but anyway, Cactaur(?).
 
     The moment a great meteor with a face descends upon the... wriggling fruiting thing, it quickly goes downhill, allowing Avril and Ryoko to help deal finishing blows as it is currently unable to escape from the battle. Ice boulders add to the weight, and Avril cashes in on the continued disappointment and frustration of hunts not quite going the way one desires by tying up thi sloose end - with glittering ice crystals to finish it off.
 
     They're more or less back to where they began in the Woods, after all of that.
 
     "I do not believe we will be making it much deeper into the woods today," Ethius remarks, as it is starting to get late and the Guado Guardians are far fewer in number to help keep Fiend numbers in check, but as they are about to check out...
 
     A large caravan that came in some time behind them has overturned. There are <s>glowy items free for the taking</s> supplies strewn about all over the damned place, some of them improbably in the trees. It is blocking /everything/.
 
     "Hey, you!" That's O'aka! That O'aka. The same O'aka. "Think you could give me a hand?"
 
     "...Don't see why not, do ya think he might've found 'n picked up--"
 
     "I am not in the mood for speculation." Ethius flatly says.
 
     "Great! Help yourselves to," O'aka starts...
 
     "...the pile of the copies of the Life and Times of Lord Mi'ihen I dropped all the way there."
 
     Silence reigns for a bit.
 
     "I can pick up the rest, or else I ain't O'aka the--"
 
     Ethius doesn't heed this and is hurriedly helping scoop up and move the more useful supplies, and O'aka snaps a finger. He was this close to offloading that garbage for good. This close.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Caravan Catastrophe. 
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    It's... it's everywhere. Can a human vehicle even hold this much?!

    "There's just so much of it." It's not a complaint, really! It's more like ...sheer disbelief. But if the only way out is through, then...!

    Unfortunately, Lan doesn't have any special magical abilities that apply to moving lots of small objects that she hasn't spent a lot of time attuning to. O'aka's cargo is not... that. So she gets to work picking up armfuls of books and schlepping them back to the wagon. "How did you even get them in the trees, though??" she just has to ask.

DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Caravan Catastrophe. 
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "No, it is getting rather late, isn't it," Avril remarks to Ethius as she reviews the aftermath of their final little altercation here in the woods. "I must return to the others before it grows dark," she adds, and given that the encampment that Riesenlied's mission has set up in the Calm Lands is still a ways from here, even with the sun still in the sky she'd be toying with fate to linger too much longer.

    And so she's walking with the others when they encounter... a problem.

    "There are so many things scattered about," Avril says, remarking on the patently obvious as her gaze turns hither and yon, lingering on one oddly-placed item after another. "However did the crate end up in the tree?"

    She sounds quite honestly perplexed by this.

    "Mr. O'aka, it has been some time. ...Then, all of these are yours?"

    Avril considers this situation for a moment.

    "Very well. Then let us begin." --Wait, what's that supposed to...

    The fact that she produces Absolute Zero's hilt is a prelude to what is to come. She pulls the trigger embedded in the hilt, whipping it at one of the branches holding a crate in a tight embrace even as the dancing arc of plasma erupts from her weapon.

    In skilled hands, a laser-beam whip can cut quite cleanly, indeed.

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Absolute Zero - Beam Whip toward her party's challenge, Caravan Catastrophe.
Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Ryoko Mizore has posed.

Ryoko Mizore looks at the mess strewn about before her, then at the guy running the cart, giving him a dull, annoyed look. She checks the surrounding trees, picking a few sturdy looking ones and begins to pull tools from her mechanic kit. She gestures to the branches and says, "Loop the rope over the branches, hook them to the cart so we can lift. Lift the cart at the same time maybe?" She pauses, thinking. "Could maybe try other options, the branches are uh, questionable. Probably turn into fiends too." She's done with the day by the way.
 
 Either way, she's stiffly tying weights to some of her support rope and throwing it up and over for now. Then she walks the hooks over to secure them to the cart. She doesn't even steal anything! For now. Depends on the guy's response really.
 
 That's when the next branch she was going to use is cut down. Giving Avril a dull look. She adjusts her stance and aims for the next branch that looks viable enough for... at least pulling the thing back onto it's side. Normally she'd be all about trying to figure out what that sword is. Well. She does once the ropes are in place.

DG: Ryoko Mizore has used her Tool Engineering Bag toward her party's challenge, Caravan Catastrophe. Strengthen! Party
Brute boosted!
========================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed *>========================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Caravan Catastrophe *>======================
| Type: Final        | Dungeon Ability: Brute           | Challenge Rating: 3  |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
  You're close now to your desired exit from Macalania Woods, en route to your  
  ultimate destination wherever it might lie.                                   
                                                                                
  But there is an obstacle in your path, however you might want to ignore it.   
  Specifically, a large caravan has overturned, absolutely flooding the path    
  with supplies of all sorts. If you can buy it somewhere in Spira, then here   
  it lies. Blitzballs, blades, shattered potion bottles, crates of produce,     
  Spheres -- it truly is a storm of merchandise.                                
                                                                                
  "Hey, you! Think you could give me a hand?"                                   
                                                                                
  ..Of course this caravan belongs to O'aka, merchant extraordinaire. And like  
  it or not, you're going to pick this stuff up because there's no going        
  /through/ otherwise!                                                          
============================= Dungeon Conditions:  =============================
|         Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!,         |
|        Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, and Strengthen:_Brute_Up!        |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed - Round 5 *>===================
=======================< Results - Caravan Catastrophe >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       47 --(12)--> 59                Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    62 --(0)--> 62                 Pass
Absolute Zero - Beam Whip           2   Brute   Effects: Stalwart             
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           47 --(0)--> 47                 Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryoko Mizore                        79 --(0)--> 79                 Pass
Engineering Bag                     2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen           
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               80 --(35)--> 115               Pass
Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Fright(1)|Overzealous(2)
Effects: Strengthen(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 Macalania Woods - Becalmed!
========================<* Macalania Woods - Becalmed *>========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Heroic Sentinel *>========================
| Type: Discovery    | Dungeon Ability: Conclusion      | Challenge Rating: 1  |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
  And there you have it. You've made your way successfully to the other side    
  of the woods and overcome the obstacles in your path, however unorthodox      
  your route -- and your solutions -- might have been.                          
                                                                                
  Just as you pass over the boundary leaving the woods, though, you spot      
  something both unexpected and potentially delightful:                         
                                                                                
  A small Cait Sith doll rests propped in the branches of a tree, looking for   
  all the world as if it were just there to stand guard. It even has a little   
  cape and sword, like it would leap to the defense of anyone who fell into     
  the clutches of evil. What a Heroic Cait Sith!                                
                                                                                
  (OOC: For those adept in the arcane, this doll makes for quite the suitable   
  host for enchantments; with the right ones, it can even be transformed into   
  an animate (but non-sentient) companion.)                                     
============================= Dungeon Conditions:  =============================
|         Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!,         |
|       Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, and        |
|                          Treasure:_Exploration_Up!                           |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    "The one in the tree, well, uh," Oaka laughs, "very funny... story."
 
     He stares as Avril produces Absolute Zero and just completely obliterates the branch holding the crate, which has him wincing as that particular crate collapses and lands on the ground nicely enough it doesn't spray its contents everywhere. Nothing's broken, nothing leaks. There's a crate, now in the proper place.
 
     Homer watches as Lan easily lifts up and moves books like it's nothing. He's trying to follow suit, when he sees something even more expensive-looking and in a fit of trying to just be a decent fellow, moves his load of books to someone else. (that someone else is Ethius, who falls over in a pile of things.)
 
     Ryoko won't have any problems using her engineering expertise to find other things to pick up and help get back to the toppled caravan, up to and including the toppled caravan itself! Together, everyone gets everything that's important back into the caravan. Except for some of the books.
 
     O'aka does not seem that broken up about the books just lying about there.
 
     "Great! Thanks a bunch, friends! With that, I'm off!" O'aka doesn't even give them anything! Except for the books left behind, that Ethius is currently buried under. It'll be all right.
 
     However, eyes may spy something else in the branches as the caravan leaves... a small Cait Sith doll, wielding a cape and sword! It is a thing of fine, fine craftmanship, sensitive to sorcerous energies, and it looks like it probably could've taken the Chimera in a fight.
 
     Homer picks it up as the tallest among them. "Wonder whose toy this is...?"
 
     Beat.
 
     "Wait. Where's Ethius?"
 
     who cares, there's a cool doll here