2022-12-05: Mount Liverfeast (Side C)
- Log: 2022-12-05: Mount Liverfeast (Side C)
- Cast: Ethius Hesiod (portraying NPC Homer Mecone), Azoth, Lydia Seren, Jacqueline Barber, Ethius Hesiod
- Where: The Crater Sea
- Date: December 05, 2022
- Summary: To the west of Mount Liverfeast, a terrible storm brews - rapidly expanding by the hour. It is a risk to pierce the veil of storms about the dormant volcano, but two individuals already have. Once more, Drifters are called to find answers for what's going on... and, if they're lucky, get some key ones another has withheld. The third of six runs of Mount Liverfeast. (NOTE: Every Mount Liverfeast scene ICly takes place on December 9th!)
==============================<* The Crater Sea *>============================== The Crater Sea rests at the center of Southern Aquvy. Rumors abound that ancient cities and other ruins are submerged underneath the sea, and in the shallower portions, Diggers have reported that great expanses of submerged glass have been found. The people of Southern Aquvy know that Crater Sea is not just a name. In the past, some great calamity shattered the ancient continent of Greater Aquvy, and in doing so, left the many smaller islands of the south. These waters are well-traveled, though not as much as they once were, after the fall of Celesti. BGM: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - The Great Sea
DG: A party led by Homer Mecone is now entering Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Storming the Weather *>=====================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Whether you are going by boat or by air (if you are so fortunate), one thing
becomes clear on the approach: there is no safe way towards the churning
cauldron of uncontrollable weather at Mt. Liverfeast.
The tides are out of control, threatening to batter nearby islands with
crashing waves. The winds are something else, frequently changing direction.
Lightning and hail join the 'fun.' Heat waves sap further at visibility and
just make it hard to breathe. Living bodies simply are not made to withstand
these conditions at length.
The problem is, you don't have any other way... and there's no time to wait
it out, because it's just getting worse. Breach the storm, and pray there is
an eye within so that you may scale the mountain and claim the truth from a
certain someone who doesn't believe you deserve it.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure! and Suffer:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Homer Mecone has posed.
December 9th 504 PC
Whatever resources one has at their disposal to rent a boat (or refit a beloved vehicle into a proper boat)? A few days ago was the time to do it, because... there's no telling when it'll be 'too late' to deal with what's going on, but the general estimate comes out to 'today, right now,' and after a handful of days for travel at sea and other coordination...
Whatever vehicle of choice the CaraKin and friends have commandeered - a rented boat, or maybe even the CaraKin itself - the landscape west of Illsveil Prison is a tempestuous storm that even might make Sin go 'wow, effin' sick brah!!'
They have no choice but to breach it in order to make landfall at Mount Liverfeast proper, and it is a good thing its location is well-documented.
Homer Mecone steps out into the open, wind whipping about him violently as he holds onto some sort of grenade-like thing in his hand. "...Welp. Ain't got much left on me from beyond here," he says aloud, "but I ain't gonna let Demetrioi suffer."
He calls to the others on foot. "Heyyy! I might have a li'l somethin' fer openin' the storm there, uhhh, a bit." He holds it up. "Where 'm from, they're... uh, really high-end forcefields that're meant fer places of high radiation." He looks out at the storm and gulps loudly. "I dunno if they're rated fer this, buuuuuuut we're gonna find out. Already modded it ta really push out the range, so... whatever anyone's got ta get through that...!"
Ethius and his whereabouts related to this are of great concern - he even outright ditched Homer! But right now, the bigger worry is getting inside, and Homer's thrown forcefield-grenade will do exactly as advertised when it goes off - push open a big, very short-lived hole in the storm to help get people through.
If they can get through intact...!
DG: Homer Mecone has used his Tool Diposable Work Forcefield toward his party's challenge, Storming the Weather. Rally!
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Lightning in the distance puts an uneasy smile on Azoth's face. "This'll be delightful," he says with the appropriate edge of sarcasm. But even Homer, the most living among them who isn't currenlty encased within a larger robot, is determined to venture the storm. For Demetrioi.
And how can Azoth not respect that?
Azoth vaults from the vehicle and waves up at Issachar with a cheerful beeping (technically Jay as well). He heightens his voice volume to make up for the raging winds around them as he calls back to Homer.
"Best I can do is distract the lightning! But if it hits me you might just have to leave me here to die."
He's joking! Probably! But Azoth isn't especially equipped to rush through a storm. The best he can do is hold up a veil of light above his head, forming a buckler-like energy shield to help guard him from the rain -- and anyone else who wants to stand near him -- as he pushes through the awful weather.
They need to act fast for Kaguya's sake... both for whatever may have happened, and whatever Ethius might be planning to do and possibly could regret. Though Ethius Hesiod strikes as a decisive man. He may not be one for regrets...
DG: Azoth has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Storming the Weather.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"I'm not sure Demetrioi suffers exactly," Lydia says. "I think 'Trying Harder' is what they do instead of suffering." HOnestly, Demetrioi reminds her a lot of her own erstwhile weird AI that causes a lot of trouble for everybody because they aren't programmed well enough to comprehend basic truths.
"Anyway," Lydia says to Homer. "I'm gonna stay outta a gear because... I don't gotta gear. But I'm a lot tougher than most folk."
So is Azoth, of course. A thought occurs to her though as she activates her Icarus Wings and wonders to herself. OS and Demetrioi are both enby, does that mean all robots are enby? Well she's met Emeralda but she hasn't asked her and she might be a different kind of robot, ditto with Gami and Kamui. Azoth, though, seems to feel a particularly strong connection to AIs more like OS and Demetrioi though. Does Azoth see himself as a guy or does he just perform as a guy because that's what he was designed as? That's not what Azoth actually sees himself as looking like, right? Azoth's real body... IS BIg. Was she just ASSUMING the whole time??
"Hey Azoth," Lydia asks. "I've been wondering and you can tell me to buzz off if you want, but... Do you see yourself as a guy or do you just present as a guy cause that's the kind of body they gave you?"
She starts a-flying through a death storm. Maybe not the best time for her to ask, honestly.
"Also if you die here, how do you want us to handle your remains? I was thinking like a cool shrine and we prop you up like a cool statue and put in a commerative plaque talking about all the cool junk you've done."
"Like your rock collection."
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Icarus Wings toward her party's challenge, Storming the Weather. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
It has been some time since Jacqueline last brought out Issachar. As powerful as it is, she doesn't want to rely too much on the Omnigear's power. But some situations require the use of a Gear. Situations such as this, which require breaching a storm of great proportion. Issachar flies ahead of their ship - the Carakin, though a vehicle capable of water travel, isn't quite suited for storms like this - to provide it with some protection.
"Oh, do you have a plan?" Jacqueline, sitting back in her pilot seat with her arms crossed, asks. Her voice can be heard clearly. Issachar shifts aside to let Homer aim - though, when Azoth waves up at her, Issachar waves back.
One advantage of a vehicle directed by the mind is the ease with which one can perform such gestures.
"If you don't think you can get through on your own, stand close to me. I'm going to Jump us through the gap." Jacqueline says, reaching into her bags and drawing out her Copy Sea Medium. She focuses its power, charting out a mental course to her destination... and the moment Homer creates that gap in the storm Jacqueline invokes the power of Jump to teleport Issachar and everyone in its immediate vicinity to other side.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Copy Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Storming the Weather. Fanfare!
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Storming the Weather *>=====================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Whether you are going by boat or by air (if you are so fortunate), one thing
becomes clear on the approach: there is no safe way towards the churning
cauldron of uncontrollable weather at Mt. Liverfeast.
The tides are out of control, threatening to batter nearby islands with
crashing waves. The winds are something else, frequently changing direction.
Lightning and hail join the 'fun.' Heat waves sap further at visibility and
just make it hard to breathe. Living bodies simply are not made to withstand
these conditions at length.
The problem is, you don't have any other way... and there's no time to wait
it out, because it's just getting worse. Breach the storm, and pray there is
an eye within so that you may scale the mountain and claim the truth from a
certain someone who doesn't believe you deserve it.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Quicken:_Agility_Up!, and |
| Suffer:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
==========<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart - Round 1 *>=========== =======================< Results - Storming the Weather >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homer Mecone 0 --(13)--> 13 Pass Diposable Work Forcefield 3 Agility Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 0 --(13)--> 13 Pass Copy Sea Medium 3 Agility Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 0 --(13)--> 13 Pass Icarus Wings 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Azoth 0 --(13)--> 13 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Homer Mecone 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Suffer(1) Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Homer Mecone 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: Homer Mecone has drawn a new Challenge.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Pro-Social Engineering *>====================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Your team has obtained a solid foothold up ahead on Mt. Liverfeast against a
heavy but cool rain. This next stretch should go without all that much
issue. Your footing is solid, the rain is pooling and draining off to the
side further down, and no one is here to accost you. You're in no place to
relax... but then an idea comes to mind.
There are obstructions further down, in the form of hail and stone, that are
presently in the way of another route up. Your group is a team, bound by a
shared goal... and whatever's going on here, everyone shares the goal of
getting to the bottom of this (at the summit).
Some way, somehow, you may be able to redirect all this rainwater in a way
it can help wash away the obstructions down below for another party. The
ground is soft, and there's some strewn wreckage available to repurpose into
a dam or drains if one is creative and resourceful enough. After all, you're
all in this one together.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hope:_Exhaustion_Down! and Quicken:_Agility_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Homer Mecone has posed.
Homer's an old man, by the measure of his species - but you don't get to that age in his line of work without being a piece of work. Whatever this all is, it means that much to him.
"Whatever's goin' on, Lydia," Homer asides, "I'm makin' sure I save 'em--"
Azoth makes an excellent call when he offers to draw lightning, because that is what he does - eats a lightning bolt that could've put an end to their ride then and there. (Azoth is fine, the shield caught it!)
From there, Lydia takes flight, and Jay - from within her Omnigear - hits the Jump. It's a scary, close thing as the 'over-clocked' forcefield grenade thing sees its window of opening shrink rapidly. With the Jump hit... the ride, her friends, only just make it through that hole unscathed until they close in towards Mount Liverfeast, and what they see here...
Is eerie. Dangerous weather phenomena, many typically incompatible with one another, can be seen dancing about in the spaces ahead. Sunlight is weird, filtered through into rays of unseen and undiscovered color spectrums. At the peak, though... strange fractal patterns, colors bleeding in and out of the visual spectrum, and... the 'sound' of Demetrioi's voice.
:o there are so maNY friENds heeeerRRe :) heLLo eVeRyoooNnnEee :D
"Demetrioi!" Homer calls, having only just held onto his wits through that killer turbulence via Jumping through. "We're comin'! Hang in there!" Beat. "...He can't hear me from here, huh..."
They find a coast that has at least one beached ship there, which is about as safe a place as they can hope to dock and throw anchor as a journey up to the top beckons them - for that is where Kaguya and presumably Ethius are.
_ Crater Sea _
--------------
MOUNT LIVERFEAST
OST: Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness - Under Pressure
Lydia, on virtue of being a lighter, smaller flier, will be the first to spot a clear path ahead that is currently being pounded by heavy but cool rain. ('Cool' as in 'not too cold,' not 'is awesome and sweet.') It's a long stretch of path that goes straight up, and the rain is draining off the side and further down. Nothing leaps out at them to demand a fight while the world may or may not be ending (again).
But there are obstructions, further down. Large boulders of hail and stone have collected at a lower route, blocking off further climbing for any poor teams that might be going up that way instead, but yet...
"Psst!" Homer calls. "Thinkin' I got a plan... that pile there ain't lookin' too stable. If we can set up a dam or somethin' ta redirect all the rain down there," and there's ample wreckage and soft ground to repurpose for just that. "I know we got other people concerned 'bout Demetrioi comin' up... 'n... I think it's fer the best we get as many friends of 'em up there as possible."
Homer gets out a pair of cool looking goggles. For those who remember him and might recognize a likeness, they're not far off from a pair of specialized glasses lens Arleph Ardan had.
If it ends up too much of a hassle, they can just keep going... but this would be a huge boon to other parties.
DG: Homer Mecone has used his Tool Electrical Lenses toward his party's challenge, Pro-Social Engineering. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Issachar waves back! Azoth lights up with a cheerful beep.
"I guess it would depend on the type of negative feedback Demetrioi is programmed with in their learning algorithms..." Azoth frowns. "And how one defines suffering."
Azoth gives a curious beep toward Lydia with her question, then smiles. "It was actually my voice that had people assuming I was a guy. I think they thought calling me that sounded nicer than 'it', but 'it' is the most accurate."
OH HEY THAT'S LIGHTNING. Azoth jumps, cowering, still a second as it registers the shield managed to defend him from overloading his systems.
Then with a shrug he's back to smiling as they march through the storm of death and chaos. "But being referred to as a guy instead makes it easier to integrate socially, so it's ideal in most situations. Like having a word for a name instead of a number. Far as I know, my body itself was designed to be able to adapt to whatever aesthetic I might end up choosing, but I've never tried being a girl, or anything else for that matter. It didn't seem necessary."
Ovelia was not happy about the way Falk had already applied masculine assumptions, but there's a lot Ovelia isn't happy about these days. Azoth wasn't programmed to care about it.
With sing-song cheer, Azoth grins at Lydia for her next question though. "That sounds perfect! And make sure to mention I almost became good at cakes. Or is that too tragic...?"
But they survive, and Azoth has a moment to live without fear of lightning until Demetrioi's adorably horrifying voice sends a chill he can't feel up a spine he doesn't have. Even so, he's not without empathy for Homer's calls. He wonders if Demetrioi misses Homer, too, or if their programming grasps that.
Azoth nods with Homer's suggestion. "I get the feeling we're going to want all the help we cna get. Your plan, then." His eyes softly whirr and brighten as he scans the area, scanning for the ideal wreckage to shift and move into place to help tetris a dam together.
DG: Azoth has used his Tool Oculus ex Machina toward his party's challenge, Pro-Social Engineering.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
It's close - they may have only had seconds to spare - they all make it through. And in so doing, they find themselves witness to the strange occurring on Mount Liverfeast.
"The weather here is... out of control. It shouldn't be able to do this." Jacqueline says, shaking her head in disbelief. She hasn't seen anything like this before. It's... concerning. It's a testament to what Demetrioi is capable of - will they be able to make them stop...?
"...Let's get in closer." Jacqueline says.
They bring their ship in and dock it before moving further in, eventually spotting a clear path. They don't face many obstacles themselves, but... Homer takes note of something interesting.
"A dam, huh... That's a good idea, actually. Hold on." Jacqueline says. Issachar alights briefly as Jacqueline leans over. She is an avid reader, and as such her Gear is equipped with many books. Most of them are ones that might have useful situation for any given situation. She brings out one of those now, flipping through the pages.
"Let's see... I have some instructions on building a proper dam here." Jacqueline says. It's a book on farming. Why does she need that in a Gear? "There are a few things we'll need to consider..."
Jacqueline then begins to read from the passage. She will also contribute some of her earth sorcery to the efforts, to help keep everything in place once they have it built.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Onboard Library toward her party's challenge, Pro-Social Engineering. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Heh, well I can't fault you for that." Lydia says to Homer. "I don't want to give up either, even when I'm giving up! Leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
She glances to Jacqueline. Do they HAVE a plan? Lydia doesn't have a plan. All she brought with her besides her body was a bottle of mustard and the only robot here she can feed it to is Azoth. "I'm probably just going to cry and beg a lot unless I have to fight Ethius in which case crying, begging, and maybe clobbering him a little?" She sighs. "... I hate doing that shit but sometimes it feels like that's the only thing that gets through to him. Being loud and big and occassionally violent."
LYDIA'S CONDITION HAS CHANGED TO MOPING.
She does, at least, find a clear path ahead and drops down on it, gesturing to the others that it's safe once se touches down.
It hasn't occured to her that Jay was talking about a more immediate plan rather than an overarching plan here.
She considers for a minute.
"Could maybe make a dam with some of that junk...?"
She starts working on setting up a real impromptu thing going on. "Hopefully nobody's behind us though."
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Pro-Social Engineering.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Pro-Social Engineering *>====================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Your team has obtained a solid foothold up ahead on Mt. Liverfeast against a
heavy but cool rain. This next stretch should go without all that much
issue. Your footing is solid, the rain is pooling and draining off to the
side further down, and no one is here to accost you. You're in no place to
relax... but then an idea comes to mind.
There are obstructions further down, in the form of hail and stone, that are
presently in the way of another route up. Your group is a team, bound by a
shared goal... and whatever's going on here, everyone shares the goal of
getting to the bottom of this (at the summit).
Some way, somehow, you may be able to redirect all this rainwater in a way
it can help wash away the obstructions down below for another party. The
ground is soft, and there's some strewn wreckage available to repurpose into
a dam or drains if one is creative and resourceful enough. After all, you're
all in this one together.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, and |
| Hope:_Exhaustion_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
==========<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart - Round 2 *>=========== ======================< Results - Pro-Social Engineering >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homer Mecone 13 --(0)--> 13 Pass Electrical Lenses 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 13 --(0)--> 13 Pass Onboard Library 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 13 --(2)--> 15 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Azoth 13 --(0)--> 13 Pass Oculus ex Machina 3 Wits Effects: Efficient -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Homer Mecone 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Hope Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Homer Mecone 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: Homer Mecone has drawn a new Challenge.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Rotten Gratitude *>=======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
A warm rainfall has started, pounding heavily against the cavern walls your
team has ducked into for temporary shelter. Along the way, you see
burned-out torches of complex make (Veruni ones, in fact) until you come up
to a collapsed shaft filled with red stains.
Red stains belonging to large, gnarled, mutated tomatoes that gave their
lives to the cause of excavating a tunnel, and it so happens one is still
alive. It is a desiccated, dried husk that barely clings to life, and is
currently no threat to you, for it is trying and failing to breach the wall.
Someone among you gets an idea.
What if it were taken out into the flooding rain to rehydrate? This will
work, if you get it out there in time. It is then compounded by a newer,
just as interesting problem: will you then be able to outrun it all the way
back to the wall, and lead its attacks into it? (An allied Gear may be able
to help aggressively nudge it, perhaps.)
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Hope:_Exhaustion_Down!, Stupify:_Wits_Down!, |
| Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Homer Mecone has posed.
Damn it, some days, you gotta build a dam! As Homer shared prior months ago, as he started getting into his later years he blew his savings into picking up useful engineering skills. This may not be that kind of engineering, but with Jay's documentation and Azoth's logical scanning, there's the beginnings of a plan - and Lydia at least can help fly up and get some debris pieces.
Even if she's MOPING, this idea at all reinforces that everyone climbing this mountain is, one way or another, in this together. Jay's earthen sorceries help put forth the finishing touch, and it works - the rainwater is now draining down into the obstruction, hastening the melting of the hail and dislodging at least one stone so that they are no longer a stack. It's possible for on-foot individuals to shimmy through, and if they have to break the rocks down further anyway... it won't be as dangerous for them.
"Lemme tell ya, if Ethius so much as lays a freakin' finger on Demetrioi, I'm gonna lay 'em flat," Homer might be speaking from a place of emotion as just about any time the two got into a disagreement, Homer... did not win. (He managed to tackle him successfully once. Once! During the Alcidamas attack.)
"Still," Homer coughs, playing civil engineer's hard enough in these conditions as he looks to Azoth, "yer a good one. Dunno what they built ya for, but, 'm glad they did," he reaches out to pat Azoth's shoulder as he gives the thumbs up to Jay, and they can move onward knowing they've done their part to help one another save the day.
) thErE wiLL beEee MoooOoooRrrRe :D anD thEY wiLl bE soOooo haAaaappYY :)
"Th-they will! They will!" Homer calls out, unaware if Demetrioi can really hear them, but the rain is getting a lot warmer. Also heavier. It'll accelerate the removal of the hail down there, so that much is good, but they need shelter - now.
They find it! It's large enough for the Omingear to follow into a long cavern. And not a moment too soon, they can hear the rain slamming it. It might have been outright dangerous for even a Gear to be out there.
"Whoa," Homer might not be the first to see it but he's the first to jump back when he sees the red stains, and... he snorts-sniffs. "Whew. Just tomatoes... gah ha ha hah! I was almost worried 'bout... wait. What're tomatoes doin' here--"
There's several burned-out torches of Veruni make along the way to the terminus of a collapsed shaft where something... is trying to slam into the wall. It's surrounded by large, gnarled, mutated tomatoes that have all passed on except for this last one. It's dehydrated and - while brutish - can easily be taken aside and pulled around by anyone here.
"...'m thinkin', if they've been bashin' walls," Homer has another idea, "maybe if we take 'em out in the rain 'n let 'em rehydrate..."
THREE MINUTES LATERRRRRRh
"THIS AIN'T THE BEST IDEA I HAD!" Homer screams in fear as his older legs are at the limit, running back from a huge killer mutated tomato who has been brought back from the brink. He has a conspicuous harness extremely similar to what Ethius has. Maybe that's a funny little cheat sheet thing space people have, their own personal conveyance hot air sack?
Time to avoid an oncoming rampaging tomato to guide them into the wall.
DG: Homer Mecone has used his Tool His Own Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Rotten Gratitude. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
"Does Demetrioi even 'want' this weather...?" Azoth muses as Jay points out how impossible this ought to be. "It seems counter to their goals."
But Lydia offers advice for a different possible advesary. "Does that work on him well? Crying and begging? I don't know that it would work if I tried it..." Or Azoth's approximation of crying, anyway. He grins nervously. "Laying him flat would buy us some time, at least."
But then Homer's hand is on Azoth's shoulder, and Homer has to go an say that. Azoth stares back at him, his lenses shinier in that approximation of near tears he's capable of faking. But the display is meant to communicate something that isn't. Azoth's smile is pained for that look in his eyes. Homer might change his mind if he had all the facts.
Then again, a lot of people don't.
"...I try," is all he can say to that without venturing into wildly deceptive territory.
His eyes flicker a few Wrong Colors with Demetrioi's voice. But if they could learn to coexist with Demetrioi, maybe there really is hope.
Azoth shakes his hair dry with his fingers within the shelter, beeping in low, waterlogged tones. He goes silent as the rain grows loud, blinking out from the shelter's mouth. "That sounds like it would dent me. ... Tomatoes?"
Tomatoes. "Aww, they're thirsty...!" And Azoth isn't about to object to a spot of Mischief...
...Even if that mischief becomes a bit of his own problem as Azoth bolts from their new, rehydrated mutant friends, beeping in panic all the while.
DG: Azoth has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Rotten Gratitude.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Demetrioi... Inside Issachar Jacqueline frowns consideringly, folding her arms and leaning back in her seat.
"...I'll try talking some sense into Ethius, if it comes down to it." Jacqueline says. It might. But there are a number of other factors to consider, too. And then there's the matter, as Azoth says, of whether or not Demetrioi wants this.
"Hmm... I don't think it's a matter of what they want. For some reason, they seem convinced that this is what everyone wants, what will make people happy." Jacqueline considers. "So they keep doing it."
Still, they've managed to successfully construct a dam. That should aid another group. Issachar nods down to Homer and continues forward. They reach shelter... but, it looks like they aren't the first ones here.
"Those torches..." Jacqueline murmurs, zooming in. If that wasn't enough of a giveaway, the giant tomato monsters surrounding a wall are. "Kaguya must have gone through this way."
They decide to rehydrate the mutated tomato... but it, unfortunately, seems aggressive.
"...Well, it was worth a shot..." Jacqueline considers as Homer laments that this wasn't his best idea. Issachar, thankfully, is a rather agile machine. It can zip in front of the tomato and out of the way at the last moment - and at times, appears directly behind it to redirect it.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rotten Gratitude.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
After having thought about it for a bit, Lydia pipes in again.
"Culturally speaking, yeah, I think most people on Filgaia and Lunar would see 'it' as an insult." Lydia admits. "If someone called me 'it', I'd assume they were saying 'Hey you aren't a being who should be given basic dignity', you know?
She knows that Azoth sometimes sells himself short but she shouldn't just...assume that right?
"For nongendered folks I know, a lot of them like to use 'they/them'. But if you prefer 'It', I mean, I can stomach the weird cultural thing if you want but only if you're like sure sure you want to be referred to that way? I mean, not caring is also totally legit."
Lydia looks to Azoth. "Does crying and begging work on Azoth? I think it worked...sometimes? Honestly, results were pretty inconclusive. But he does seem to ... care about me sort of? When I was suffering from HEARTBREAK he tried to reassure me some and like he didn't have to as part of some mission or anything. And he told me..."
"His dark secret." His dark secret... Is that he has at least one thing in common with DEAN STARK.
"But all this other space junk seems to be the big thing for him and I don't...get why? I mean, a lot would have been avoided if he just explained things coherently but it feels like he's pretty hesitant to do tat sometimes... But I think he's a good person. He's just..."
"I don't know." She looks to Homer. "And honestly talking to his old buddy hasn't helped clear things up AT ALL??? And that's super annoying. Even if it's not really his fault I guess. I mean honestly for a while I thought he might be a robot too."
Demetrioi speaks up about wanting to make folks happy and Lydia rubs at her neck since she isn't sure what else to--
"HOLD UP KAGUYA??? YOUR TOMATOS. WHY? WHY ARE THE KILLER TOMATOS BACK?"
Lydia runs over to the fallen killer tomato.
"How are you even dehydrated in all this storm my dude? Hang in there.. You can be... a good killer tomato. We're gonna... help Kaguya."
She aims to help scootch the Tomato out into the rain and then probably without even meaning to stand in between it and the wall.
She might not realize it's about to charge but she is pretty quick on her feet. MAYBE IT WILL WORK OUT?
DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rotten Gratitude.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Rotten Gratitude *>=======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
A warm rainfall has started, pounding heavily against the cavern walls your
team has ducked into for temporary shelter. Along the way, you see
burned-out torches of complex make (Veruni ones, in fact) until you come up
to a collapsed shaft filled with red stains.
Red stains belonging to large, gnarled, mutated tomatoes that gave their
lives to the cause of excavating a tunnel, and it so happens one is still
alive. It is a desiccated, dried husk that barely clings to life, and is
currently no threat to you, for it is trying and failing to breach the wall.
Someone among you gets an idea.
What if it were taken out into the flooding rain to rehydrate? This will
work, if you get it out there in time. It is then compounded by a newer,
just as interesting problem: will you then be able to outrun it all the way
back to the wall, and lead its attacks into it? (An allied Gear may be able
to help aggressively nudge it, perhaps.)
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hope:_Exhaustion_Down!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, Stupify:_Wits_Down!, |
| Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
==========<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart - Round 3 *>=========== =========================< Results - Rotten Gratitude >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homer Mecone 13 --(0)--> 13 Pass His Own Hot Air Sack 2 Agility Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 13 --(2)--> 15 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 15 --(2)--> 17 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Azoth 13 --(0)--> 13 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Homer Mecone 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Hope|Stupify(2)|Weaken(2)|Wound(2) Effects: Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Homer Mecone 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: Homer Mecone has drawn a new Challenge.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Hot Rivers *>==========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Your team lucks out and finds a large cavernous route away from the weather,
and maybe a bit more than that. Mt. Liverfeast could have been a great place
to set up some relaxing hot springs, but that time is not now.
Part of it is because the hot springs have overflowed and have become
outright hot rivers, which are now a thing. They're also flowing in the
opposite direction one desires to go, with three distinct bodies of water
all leading ahead (one which is deep enough a Gear would be needed to cross
it).
Should your team fail to all make it to the other side, well, at least it's
somewhat relaxing compared to the rest of the route. A cold comfort, should
the worst happen. (A warm comfort?)
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hope:_Exhaustion_Down!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, |
| Save_Point:_Conditions_cleansed!, Stupify:_Wits_Down!, Weaken:_Brute_Down!, |
| and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Homer Mecone has posed.
STUFF FROM BEFORE THE FUNNY TOMATO CHASE (because it deserves it)
Homer does catch the sadness that Azoth is capable of attempting to present, and he's giving back a look to the others as if to say 'is it something I said?'
"Good luck with that," Homer grumbles to Jay as he starts on pulling the near-dead mutant tomato with him. He doesn't have to wrestle it too much, "he never really listened ta me 'bout much--"
He hears Kaguya's name. He has complicated feelings. Whatever Demetrioi's doing is because of something the Veruni did, right? He doesn't say it out loud, but... Lydia does bring up an important thing.
"C-Come ta think of it," Homer says as Lydia talks about pronouns, "never really did ask Demetrioi 'bout how they saw themselves... I kinda been goin' between 'he' and 'they' 'n they never spoke up or minded much. Though... now, might just be me, it did sound kinda... feminine, in retrospect?" Homer notes to be sure to get Demetrioi's pronoun preference correctly identified once they rescue them and get them back to normal. They have to!
"I dunno if we'd say we're... any age of buddies," Homer grunts while pulling the tomato out with Lydia's help.
NOW
It's a cartoonish chase sequence through and through. Jay finds that even in her Omnigear, something that is ostensibly a higher scale than a mutant tomato, is hard pressed to play matador in this space, and Lydia is standing in the way it's going to run. This is important in a few moments.
Azoth and Homer end up doing most of the matador work, even if it's like a page right out of Scooby Doo at times - and Lydia has only scant moments before the angry rmpaging tomato...
Crashes into the wall behind her (or through her? Her choice), causing the cavern ahead to collapse and reveal, improbably but not unwelcomly (now a word!), a most wondrous sight.
But first, a word from our sponsor.
<Pose Tracker> Homer Mecone has posed.
o it WiLl bE okaaaaAaaaY yoU tWwwwWoooo :) no mOrE neEed tO be unHappY foR what eVeRYOne is geTTttIiiiiNng :)
...that's not our sponsor.
The cavernous route ahead is even larger. They may be descending some ways, but what they see ahead is wondrous - these are natural hot springs! All sensors reveal it's absolutely perfect and safe for the enjoyment of... Homer, at least, but probably the others too. However, they're overflowed and now they're more like... hot rivers, which are also a thing. There's three of them, and one of them goes deep enough that Jay migh tneed to ford that one with her Omnigear. The other two are shallow enough.
Homer's looking up to where sound should not be coming from, what with all this rock in the way, but nonetheless. "Which two're they talkin' 'bout... it sure seems like a buncha people've been fightin' over it."
Still.
"...Once we get Demetrioi back, definitely gonna book a week or two here, lemme tell ya," he says as he dips a foot in the water. It's perfect. It's relaxing. It's also flowing against them so it'll be an effort to swim against the current.
"If yer worried 'bout water damage, I know how ta get that out safely," he offers to Lydia and Azoth as he starts to ford it. "Now, I ain't lookin' the type, but I can swiiiiii--- aaahhh."
The current's kinda tough. Relaxing! but tough.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Ethius is... a complicated subject. But then again, he's a complicated man. Jacqueline can't really comment. She has a lot of thoughts in her head but she isn't certain about a lot of things, so she elects to keep quiet for now.
Besides, she has more to worry about right now. If it just a matter of fighting the tomato she'd be fine, but it's not the easiest thing, avoiding it without hurting it in a tight space like this. But they get through and... they're still in a cavern system at this point so flying is still out - though it's larger, at least, than the one from before, so there's a little more room to move now. But there's rivers to go through...
...And a voice. Demetrioi again. Jacqueline frowns, considering what Homer says.
"...You don't think Ethius and Kaguya ran into each other...? We might want to pick up the pace a little." Jacqueline says. Issachar pushes forward, dipping into the deepest of the rivers. It'll be easier than trying to fly over it, even if it means pushing her way against the current. Who knows, maybe it'll help take care of some cleaning.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Hot Rivers. DG: Homer Mecone has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Hot Rivers.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth's grin turns just slightly ever so a little bit... sinister. "That's just because they don't like the idea of an 'it' coming to life, right?"
Sometimes Azoth does sell himself short. Sometimes Azoth enjoys antagonizing the organics. But it is an extremely fair hesitation to not want to inadvertantly feed into Azoth's own shakey sense of personhood.
"It's not important to me. Continuing to refer to me by my presenation is fine." He smiles as Homer chimes in about Demetrioi. "I've observed a masculine leaning tendency with this sort of thing. Although in my case, learning what I have about the concept and the way my voice used to sound... I find it difficult to blame anyone. But maybe Demetrioi is like me, and doesn't see it important to most base functions."
Lydia exposes more Ethius Clues and Azoth gives a soft, 'aww' at the thought of Ethius comforting Lydia after her breakup. "A dark secret, huh? It does sound like he trusts you." Azoth frowns. How is this all going to end...? Ethius, Kaguya, Demetrioi... Homer, too. Can it all work out?
"There's a lot of missing data," Azoth laments. "Maybe you can get more of it out of him once we catch up."
This was before tomatoes, and before not-sponsors who send awkward feedback all through Azoth's circuitry. What an incompatibility...
Azoth dips his fingers into the hot river, taking a temperature reading with a surprised face. "Ideal for organic comfort. Wow." Homer confirms he'd like a vacation here, but then Homer perhaps immediately experiences something that changes his mind. Azoth winces and hurries into the water himself.
"Ethius did have a head start. But if that's Kaguya... then at least she'd be in condition to speak." For now?
How, exactly, does one use a photon blade to wade a hot river's currents?
"Wharrgarbeepl?!"
...By using it as a flashlight and beacon when the current rips Azoth off of his feet and drags along the bottom instead.
If someone could follow the light and nudge him with a foot or something when they arrive, that would be great.
DG: Azoth has used his Tool Falk's Photon Blade toward his party's challenge, Hot Rivers. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"I don't know," Lydia says. "Maybe for some folks." Azoth can get as sinister as he, it, or they like but Lydia loves him a bunch and she's here to help Kaguya who has also had her share of sinister moments. "Well if you ever change your mind, let me kno--WAAGH"
The WAAGH is Lydia being run over by a tomato. She believed in you Toma-Tan... She believed...
Luckily that's the kind of punishment she can pretty readily tolerate. She stands herself up, dusts herself off, and glances to Homer.
The origin of Demetrioi's name is all greek to Lydia so she doesn't really have a clue about their gender identity either. "Well, I usaully find 'they' is pretty safe if you don't know." Lydia says. "Honestly, I'm Trans and even I muck it up sometimes. Just gotta do your best to be respectful-like cause that's what it's really about, imo. And if folks don't have a preference one way or the other, well, you still gotta respect 'em right?"
Not that she thinks she knows anyone who doesn't respect Demetrioi even if only because of the apocalypse they're about to release. Terror is a good way to get respect sometimes.
Homer seems to be so certain about saving DEmetrioi. Lydia kind of envies him that. She thinks of the whole world just for different kinds of beastfolk and that identity being somewhat more free of the troubles of Filgaia.
"Maybe I'll move to Lunar someday. Safer community." She says despite there being POISON AIR.
Then she flinches. Does that make people think she wants to escape? She rubs at her forehead awkwardly.
And then---HOT RIVER. Lydia can proabbly endure that pretty well but she intends to use her hammer as a kind of piston to push herself along and stabilize herself--occassionally as a rowing device when she needs to.
"Water doesn't seem to bug me but I do si--"
Lydia promptly sinks to the bottom. She keeps on moving, though a bit more grumpily.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Tiebreaker V 2.0 toward her party's challenge, Hot Rivers. Rally!
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Hot Rivers *>==========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Your team lucks out and finds a large cavernous route away from the weather,
and maybe a bit more than that. Mt. Liverfeast could have been a great place
to set up some relaxing hot springs, but that time is not now.
Part of it is because the hot springs have overflowed and have become
outright hot rivers, which are now a thing. They're also flowing in the
opposite direction one desires to go, with three distinct bodies of water
all leading ahead (one which is deep enough a Gear would be needed to cross
it).
Should your team fail to all make it to the other side, well, at least it's
somewhat relaxing compared to the rest of the route. A cold comfort, should
the worst happen. (A warm comfort?)
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hope:_Exhaustion_Down!, Save_Point:_Conditions_cleansed!, |
| Stupify:_Wits_Down!, Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
==========<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart - Round 4 *>=========== ============================< Results - Hot Rivers >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homer Mecone 13 --(0)--> 13 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 15 --(0)--> 15 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 17 --(0)--> 17 Pass Tiebreaker V 2.0 4 Brute Effects: Efficient and Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Azoth 13 --(0)--> 13 Pass Falk's Photon Blade 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Homer Mecone 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Hope|Save Point(1)|Stupify(1)|Weaken(1)|Wound(1) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Homer Mecone 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: Homer Mecone has drawn a new Challenge.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
==============<* CHALLENGE - The Last Line of Willful Ignorance *>==============
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You are fast approaching the summit of Mt. Liverfeast. Your team finds safe
passage through a cavern that has weathered the weather intact... and it
becomes evident that you're not the only one who found it.
In your way is a sheet of metal shorn from a vehicle of Gebler make that had
the misfortune of trying to brave the storms directly. It has been welded
directly in front of the way out, and is smoldering as if its application
were recent. You know whose handiwork this is. They've taken an effort,
however token, to keep you at bay.
This isn't going to stop you. No door - or door-equivalent obstruction -
will keep you. Not from the summit. Not from answers... if you're ready for
them. (A certain someone doesn't think so.)
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hope:_Exhaustion_Down!, Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, and |
| Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Homer Mecone has posed.
Homer makes a belated comment on Ethius comforting stuff. "...'d believe it when I see it, some of what I've been hearin' makes him out ta sound like some other kinda guy... how much did he hit his head?" (no comment -mgmt)
"Y-Yeah, that's... true enough. Where I'm from, though, ships, cars, lot of 'em are always 'she.' Planets, too, sometimes," he mentions to Azoth's thoughts about presentation.
"Yeah, that's true too," Homer says about matters of presentation, "that's a real big deal where we're from." It does sound like in some ways, even in the awful super-awesome-space-world of smugglers and pirates, there are at least some things that are noticeably progressive. Some. "Well, Lunar up there is kinda nice, ain't it, but it'd be awful if I were dealin' with... well, won't go inta details, but I'd be givin' up a lotta health stuff." He already is, living on Filgaia.
They wade!
The currents do play a bit rough with Issachar, but it will indeed do a good job of washing and cleaning off some of the grime, like tomato bits. In truth, it's great that Jay's the one fording this, because it is too strong and too deep for the on-foot organics to deal with. She'll make it to the other side - her will is too strong to be swept away by it.
Azoth and Lydia both have zero fear of drowning. If they think being submerged in hot river water is comfortable, this is the best deal ever. Homer's going down the same river Azoth is, and Azoth's light helps him follow as they all fight against the current.
Lydia can row along the bottom and be grumpy about it. When she gets up on the other side, despite how much she weighs due to being a nanobot cluster - and this perhaps being the sort of thing Homer should be afraid of touching in case of accidentally being consumed in some form - he holds out a hand on the other side to try and help her out of there. Same for Azoth, too, and as promised - if they want, he'll cast a Symbological heat spell meant to help vacate any waterlogging.
They are briefly back out into the open air when they get out, and wow, don't look back, some of the shit there is weird. Real weird. Strange sky colors, heat mirages, seismic events pretending they're sound visualizers. There's another cavern ahead that's just large enough for Gears, but if it gets any tighter they'll have to be left behind.
"...Someone welded us in," Homer murmurs as he steps up front towards a large sheet of metal shorn from a vehicle of Gebler make. It must have been wrecked trying to brave the storms directly, and it is welded in the way of what's ahead. The smoldering suggests it's very recent. Homer looks back to the others. "Yeah, this kinda weldin' is Symbological."
That can mean only one person.
"..I think I can undo it, but 'm gonna need help," Homer says. "Hey, since we helped some people way back, bet they'll be catchin' up right 'bout now, too...!"
So far, there's no weird things being spoken by Demetrioi, as Homer goes about flitting his fingers and then going about the chanting syllables to start... welding, with his hands, to try and get the sheet of metal loose and down.
One last door between them and Demetrioi.
One last door between them and the truth, whatever it is, however it is.
The door's opponent: everyone who cares to save Filgaia.
They are many, and they are capable - the Caravan Kinship is only one such kinship present.
DG: Homer Mecone has contributed a risky Brute Action toward his party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
"Of cour-- ah! Lydia!" Azoth almost responds before wincing. Tomato betrayal... But hopefully they're on the same page now. No need to worry about offending Azoth on this matter.
His eyes brighten with fascination as Homer describes a world of more feminine assumptions on certain vehicles. "Huh. Maybe I don't understand this as well as I thought..." He has the idea he might be able to present feminine if ever there were a practical reason to, but now? Not so sure!
Where Azoth may not be too concerned about these matters for his personality comfort, he is now very concerned with water. He is not programmed for the type of sensation that would make hot water pleasing for himself, and so mostly, it is an inconvenience. Mercifully, Homer's Symbology is there to assist. Azoth slumps with warbled beeps that grow clearer as the water vacates, a helpful indicator of its success. "Thanks..."
That makes the next segment easier than it would have been otherwise, until they reach welded metal. Azoth's eyes brighten, and he squints at the metal's origin. That is... not good news for Azoth. Hopefully it'll be a chore to follow up on after this situation is dealt with.
"That's what we're here for," Azoth says to Homer in sing-song, producing the photon blade again. He gives it a few smacks to get the excess water out, but this well worn piece of tech -- of Gebler design as well -- is durable enough to keep on going. Azoth connects to it, eyes brighter while he charges up the blade and uses it to help Homer loosen the metal, starting from the other side.
He keeps to the side, and expects he'll need to get out of the way for Lydia and especially Jay's Issachar.
There are a hundred calculations running about what they might find on the other side, and trying to pre-emptively forge possible reactions. But the truth is rarely so cooperative... and the only way to get the necessary data is to force their way through.
DG: Azoth has used his Tool Falk's Photon Blade toward his party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
They proceed through the water and, eventually, out of the cavern. Things are no less under control here than they were at the foot. Up ahead they find another cavern, but partway through they find their way obstructed by a large sheet of metal, welded in place through symbology.
"...Ethius." Jacqueline says with a sigh. Issachar retreats back to give everyone room to move in and draws out its spear.
"I can lend a hand, too. Watch out." Jacqueline says. She begins preparing a spell, channeling energy into the tip of the spear. Several of the metallic pinion feathers detach from Issachar's wing unit, circling around the spear. They help focus and direct the energy, and then Jacqueline points it forward. The pinion feathers fan out, and a concentrated beam of lightning erupts from the spear, looking to melt right through a section of the metal wall.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a risky Brute Action toward her party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia slooshes along the river floor for a while. Eventualy she looks up and sees Homer fearlessly reaching down for her hand. Unfortunately, Lydia is taller than the average lady but she ain't GAMI TALL and honestly the river is deep enough even Gamis might have to Mega Man Jump up to get that hand. Lydia doesn't have that kind of water lift so thinks for a moment.
Maybe she could...
Homer feels something curling around his hand in thin strands, then thicker strands as it pushes up along his arm. He doesn't feel like he's being consumed--that would probably be very painful--but the sensation is just an odd one in of itself. The thin wet and coldsteel tendrils grip tightly along his arm and he's able to pull it up.
Slowly. Lydia is a lot heavier than a fish. Lydia can be felt moving closing, closer up the bank itself, kind of using Homer's arm as a kind of grappling hook as she climbs vertically up the side of the riverbank inner wall.
Eventually a hand and limb twisting at a strange angle grasps at the surface. The tendrils around Homer's arm retract, snapping back like a rubber band before Lydia pulls the rest of her body out via her arm.
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpYqlKaUQEY&ab_channel=firstother
o~ Sometimes I lose track of whether this body of mine is feeling happy or sad... I lose track of whether what lies beyond the mirror is the truth or just light. o~
The arm that had been grasping Homer's arm no longer exists. It has become a swirl of thin circular metal wires with little drills on the edge that kind of look like springs. The other arm is still mostly a limb, but has broken and twisted itself in the sort of shape you might expect from bone if it had been twisted in four different directions and yet still somehow maintained cohesion. The limb snaps and cracks itself back into a more normalized shape but the sound is like nails scraping against steel.
Lydia turns and looks to the debris shorn from a Gebler vehicle. She frowns faintly. Her eyes, having bugged out like that of a fish's slowly slit themselves and snap back into her skull. She squeezes them tightly shut and wraps the cloth that Rachiel gave her around her head once more. Her head turns to Azoth in concern but ultimately she moves on forward ahead towards the welded steel. "Gebler doesn't usually do symbology. This must've been Ethius's doin'."
She straightens up and aims her drillfingers towards the shorn metal--
--they lash out, stabbing into the metal and rapidly thick swaths of it start dissolving into the very grey goo that Juni would worry about. The goo itself pulses and pulls itself towards Lydia's body alongside those strangely shaped fingers and into her body.
Lydia's getting more and more comfortable with her body.
Even as that very same body becomes more and more inhuman. Alien.
Solaris taught her well.
DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Tiebreaker V 2.0 toward her party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance. Rally!
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
==============<* CHALLENGE - The Last Line of Willful Ignorance *>==============
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You are fast approaching the summit of Mt. Liverfeast. Your team finds safe
passage through a cavern that has weathered the weather intact... and it
becomes evident that you're not the only one who found it.
In your way is a sheet of metal shorn from a vehicle of Gebler make that had
the misfortune of trying to brave the storms directly. It has been welded
directly in front of the way out, and is smoldering as if its application
were recent. You know whose handiwork this is. They've taken an effort,
however token, to keep you at bay.
This isn't going to stop you. No door - or door-equivalent obstruction -
will keep you. Not from the summit. Not from answers... if you're ready for
them. (A certain someone doesn't think so.)
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hope:_Exhaustion_Down!, Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, and |
| Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
==========<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart - Round 5 *>=========== ================< Results - The Last Line of Willful Ignorance >================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homer Mecone 13 --(0)--> 13 Pass Force 1 Brute Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 15 --(10)--> 25 Fail Force 1 Brute Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lydia Seren 17 --(0)--> 17 Pass Tiebreaker V 2.0 4 Brute Effects: Efficient and Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Azoth 13 --(2)--> 15 Fail Falk's Photon Blade 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Homer Mecone 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Hope|Overzealous(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Homer Mecone has successfully explored Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart!
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
=========<* CHALLENGE - Influence of Truth Appearance (v. Discovery) *>=========
| Type: Discovery | Dungeon Ability: Conclusion | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The obstruction doesn't stop you. Among the gathered parties, you're among
the ones who manage to get the hastily made barricade down... but the way
ahead is much too small for any Gears, so you'll have to disembark.
Emboldened and determined, you press on...
It's the furthest thing ahead that first draws the eyes, in ways deeply
uncomfortable. Those who visited Alcidamas Village will know that the
shrubby, tree-like... entity... that has become an even larger,
gnarled-looking tree is Demetrioi. Non-euclidian geometry dances on its
leaves and fruit, all wreathed in a color bleeding just outside of the
visual spectrum. Their friendly smile has given way to frustration behind a
completely different (forced) smile. They stand at the epicenter of all of
this...
...But before one can say anything, ahead there's two figures much closer to
you. Though the weather continues to rage, they can be seen... and heard.
One can be identified as Kaguya, who struggles to draw breath and is in a
losing battle to stay upright. The other is in a heavy white coat with a
quarterstaff in hand, planted upright. They look over their shoulder just as
you arrive, reaveling they're wearing a partially dented mask that sort of
resembles a bird's face.
"Turn back." That voice can only belong to one man - Ethius - as he speaks
against the maelstrom about him. It's as though the hail and the striking
lightning avoids him. "I'll not tolerate further interference."
Homer Mecone, the pig-like former mayor of Alcidamas Village, has arrived
here at about the same time (likely by another party). "H-Hey, hold up...
that mask," and with that statement, mortal terror spreads across Homer's
features as he clutches his pitchfork. "That day! The day we were handin'
off Demetrioi... somebody in that damn mask killed everyone there... managed
to take it off that guy's face as I ran, th-that was..."
"You've caused years of grief." Ethius all but soft confirms as he lingers
upon Homer for several moments as advances towards Demetrioi. "But I will
not put off what needs to be done."
"Get the hell away from Demetrioi!!" Homer snarls and takes off running.
"We're here, Demetrioi, we ain't gonna let--"
It ends in a flash, with Ethius flipping Homer right into the ground. Above,
another Gebler ship tries to brave the endless storms, smoking and on fire
as it approaches everyone's position.
TO BE CONTINUED...
(As a Discovery bonus, should the character you send have cleared the Dig,
you start the following Gunslinger scene with both Hyper and an extra 25
FP!)
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hope:_Exhaustion_Down!, Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, |
| Vault:_Exploration_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Homer does flinch some as Lydia comes out of the water. He was aware that her arm could become a blade, but the extent in which she transforms and warps... he should be given a medal for his poker face. He has to roll his shoulder and stretch out his back something fierce after she's out, though (same with Azoth).
He's a big and strong guy but he's up there in years and helping two heavy robots up is... pushing it.
They get to work. Homer, who knows what kind of Symbology is in play here for welding it, is able to determine the spots best used to get it loose. He could do it on his own if he had more time, and plenty of snacks.
Azoth draws the blade and takes his strikes, though there are moments where the strikes end up re-fusing the barricade, but that's a temporary issue.
Lydia, growing more comfortable with the nature of her body beyond her freedom to choose what presentation suits her, applies drillfingers to start dissolving things into goo - something that does get Homer looking a bit worried as he's also aware of that whole grey goo thing.
Jay's sigh isn't of a singular event. For years, she extended kindness, gratitude, and patience - heaps upon heaps of the stuff - to a man that rarely ever explained himself while continuing to overdraw and exploit those resources and kindness. There's cause to wonder if the times it's paid off actually did, if it's led to this.
That spell she prepares follows the heavy set-up work Lydia completes, and the pinion feathers fire their lightning through just about the time everyone else gathers and helps. Jay, who has often come off as unassuming, meek, and regular... will not be denied a truth she deserves to hear. From what started at the vicious murder of a surrendering bandit in the Sacred Grounds of Linga and may yet come to a head here... she will have that answer to the question.
That question: 'why?'
The barricade falls, revealing a strange and overwhelming pressure of that shrubby, tree-like... thing... that has become even larger, gnarled, and strained in their face as their reality-defying features continue to dance at greater intensity.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
o the fiIiiRRrsssT frieEeeend :) buuuT yoU areEeee not haaaAppYY :o
That's to Homer?
) thIs fuuuunctiiOoooon is beEeeeing HandlEEEd friEeend :D yooouuuU wiiiiLllL sooN Be rElieeEEEveeeD :)
They say this in the direction of Azoth.
o iiiFff yoU caNnoTT staaaAAay it iiIS okaaAay :) it WiLLL beEEe sOOo muuuUcH happPieRRR rEgarDleSSsss :D
That's to Lydia, and lastly....
) yOoooU workeEEed sooOoo haAAarrrD :D bUuuuT thEee friEEEendS thAt folloWWw wilL noT neeEEeeed to :)
To Jay, but then...
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"Turn back." That voice belongs to only one man - Ethius - who stands as one of two figures before Demetrioi. The other is Kaguya, without ambiguity, and she is not in great shape. Breathing is not coming easy to her, let alone standing upright at all. Ethius, in comparison, seems to be standing as tall as ever, dressed in a heavy white coat with a quarterstaff in hand, planted upright. When he looks over his shoulder, he's wearing a partially dented mask that sort of resembles a bird's face.
"I'll not tolerate further interference."
"H-Hey, hold up..." Homer staggers forward, pointing a finger... and then clutches his pitchfork, in mortal terror. "That day! That day we were handin' off Demetrioi... somebody in that damn mask killed everyone there... managed to take it off that guy's face as I ran, th-that was..."
Ethius claimed he was sent by someone to retrieve Demetrioi after Homer escaped with it from a bad deal. This appears to have been yet another lie. To what end? What was he hoping to conceal by claiming that, if... he was after Demetrioi from the beginning?
"You've caused years of grief." Ethius soft confirms his identity there, lingering on Homer for several moments before advancing. "But I will not put off what needs to be done."
"Get the hell away from Demetrioi!!" Homer snarls, taking off running. "We're here, Demetrioi, we ain't gonna let--"
Ethius doesn't let Homer not let Ethius do anything. He flips Homer over like he's a pushover with a quick flowing movement. Above, another Gebler ship tries to brave the endless storms, smoking and on fire as it approaches everyone's position.
TO BE CONTINUED...