2022-12-06: Mount Liverfeast (Side D)
- Log: 2022-12-06: Mount Liverfeast (Side D)
- Cast: Ruth Pauling, Shige Kiwako, Magilou, Eleanor Klein
- Where: The Crater Sea
- Date: December 06, 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 fourth 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 Ruth Pauling 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> Ruth Pauling has posed.
December 9th 504 PC
Several different sea vessels converge upon Mount Liverfeast. It took a lot of maneuvering (legal or otherwise) to get here... and they don't have the benefit of a previous, well-remembered equivalent scenario of this threat to Filgaia's well-being to really determine as to whether or not they have any time. This day is as 'now or never' as it's going to get, if only by popular opinion.
It's quite an eclectic crew here, one of whom may have been motivated only because a very strange spirit has been breaking multiple bottles in order to get one sharp enough just right - supposedly - for whatever's going on here. (Perhaps it's a part of handling any 'last business' or whatever conclusion one may have wrought.) That spirit went with another group. The other three are acquainted with one another (for worse or for wonderful or for wonderfully worse, life with Magilou is blursed).
"We're drawin' close!" The captain of the vessel says to Eleanor, who probably commands the most influence here. If anyone else is doing anything to assist or annoy the crew, well, that's on them to determine. (Eleanor can assist or annoy the crew too, if she wants.) "...They ain't kiddin'. If our vessel's gonna make it through, it's... the sort that made me think we oughtta asked for a better price..."
Ruth, for her part, holds some Crest Graphs tight. She is not as skilled a Crest Sorceress as Eleanor, and... let's be honest Magilou has no comparison. She steps forward towards the bow of the ship, as tumultuous winds and water whip about her. She's still within her shell of her former self - for now, with a discordantly placid smile keeping the rest of herself in check.
She does her part to start, finishing the casting ritual for this Crest Graph marked with Muse and Wing, a stream of water behind and before the boat increasing in speed forward to help push it there.
DG: Ruth Pauling has used her Tool Rivercrest toward her party's challenge, Storming the Weather. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round! Shortsighted! The party will suffer a penalty next round... but not this round!
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige Kiwako is in fact, here on the word of an elemental poltergeist. She's pretty sure he's not actually dead by now, but... hey. Might as well look into whatever's got the spirits riled up right? Well. Sort of. Which is how she finds herself on a boat. She looks comfortable enough on the boat, rocking back and forth like she's a natural. Which you know, helps a lot when the weather gets worse.
So, first things first, like any good fishing villager, she pulls a flask and takes a drink before offering it around to anyone in arm's reach. Just.. a bit of liquid courage. Or brandy. Probably brandy.
With that out of the way, she spends the time trying to secure rigging, catch people, whatever might be necessary in such a situation. It would probably be poor passenger ettiquite to break out the ghosts to crew the ship in a bad situation anyway, right?
DG: Shige Kiwako has used her Tool Bartender's Spirits toward her party's challenge, Storming the Weather. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
Magilou is taking a break from the horrors of Lunar by vacationing in the horrors of Filgaia, because she's SO normal. Her presence here has nothing at all to do with a certain recent jaunt to a big tree and any conversations which might have taken place there. Who do you think she is? She's not the type to look out for anyone but herself!
She is also, currently, dressed as a pirate, for unrelated reasons. (The reasons are because she is on a ship and she is easily amused.) Skull-and-crossbones bandana tying back her hair, pistols at her scandalous stripe-stocking'd hips, shoulderless sleeves which are at least half cuff by volume...
It's really remarkable she stays so pale in heatwaves like the ones which have been going on around here.
Right now, though, she's caught in a whip-splickety storm -- her exact words -- grasping a rope and going, "Wheee...!!" She wheels on a clog-heel to grab a drink from the bartender's flask -- "Cheers," she asides, to Shige, with a wink, as she presses it back into her hands -- and proceeds to immediately get tossed ass-over-end across the deck.
"All right, all right! That's quite enough of that!" Magilou declares, grasping the railing of the boat to drag herself up. She calls the minor shikigami spirit possessing a paper doll from her sleeve, and it spins, lazily, beside her hand as a blue Seraphic glyph alights about her feet. "Better watch your step... Flood Wall!"
And where's the Flood Wall? WHERE'S THE FLOOD WALL???
Opening underneath the boat, like a Super-Pop Up Book for its very vast hull, the water jets upwards like a ramp. And the ship -- provided it's not a coward -- will be able to ride that air-time over the reefs which typically make approaching an island so dangerous.
It might get them close enough to shore to be able to moor.
Or it might kill them!
Exciting!
DG: Magilou has used her Tool Super Pop-Up Book toward her party's challenge, Storming the Weather. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
They needed a strong ship with a skilled crew to get out here. Eleanor at least had the foresight to look into this in advance, which made matters a little easier... but that's about it. It's going to be difficult as it is.
"Get us through this safely," Eleanor says very seriously to the Captain, "And I'll double the price we agreed on."
She knew it would be this bad; if she undershot her initial offering in order to make this eventual price acceptable, that's just good negotiating. (It's a generous reward by most measures regardless.)
Eleanor doesn't take a drink from Shige, but neither does she do anything to dissuade the crew from doing so. Ruth works her Crests, and Eleanor sets her jaw, thinking to see if there's anything she can do. These things do not include 'comment again on Mgaiou's outfit.'
"Right!" Eleanor says as Magilou casts, "Stay on this wall, and if you're worried about what's in front of us--"
Eleanor focuses her will, rather than her Crests, and scurres up to the prow of the ship, leaning down to enchant the figurehead. The figurehead's lovely mermaid eyes suddenly GLOW with brilliant light that pierces through the fog and rain!!
...Provided that she can hold on to the ship, anyway. She won't fall overboard, but she might end up very uncomfortable.
DG: Eleanor Klein has contributed a risky Agility Action toward her party's challenge, Storming the Weather.
===============<* 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: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Quicken:_Agility_Up!, Shortsighted:_All_Stats_Down!, and |
| Suffer:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
==========<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart - Round 1 *>=========== =======================< Results - Storming the Weather >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ruth Pauling 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rivercrest 2 Agility Effects: Cleanse and Shortsigh -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shige Kiwako 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Bartender's Spirits 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magilou 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Super Pop-Up Book 3 Agility Effects: Stalwart and Ineffici -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eleanor Klein 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 1 Agility Effects: Risky -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ruth Pauling 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Suffer(1) Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)|Shortsighted(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ruth Pauling has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Ruth Pauling has drawn a new Challenge.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
=========<* CHALLENGE - The Day of Indeterminate Elemental Alignment *>=========
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Your team is here with a purpose and desire to see to it that Filgaia is
saved, and that a certain someone finally coughs up answers as to what the
hell is going on here. It seems as though others are here, far less
optimistic about what's to come... and yet open to theological discussion
concerning the difficult realities in front of them.
Valmar cultists have set up shop where lightning and hail strike the ground
(and each other), currently conflicted as to whether the Day they were
looking for wasn't a new Day of Darkness, but perhaps the Day of Ice, or Day
of Lightning, or whatever this is. This does not stop them from deciding
that sacrificing you to mark these, uh... dark days? Lit days? Icy days?
You'll need to tell them the following: not today. If you've brought a Gear,
they have a trembling horror to match (who remains just as confused by
present events as their unaltered comrades).
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Quicken:_Agility_Up!, Shortsighted:_All_Stats_Down!, Slow:_Agility_Down!, |
| Stupify:_Wits_Down!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
For her part, Ruth doesn't take a drink. She does have her gaze wander a little when Magilou happens by. (Nix the 'by,' Magilou simply happens.)
Who doesn't, when Magilou happens and does her thing, well. The ship's crew doesn't quite compare to the one she may have been acquainted with about a thousand years ago, but who does? The immense Flood Wall gives them an enormous boost, and it makes Eleanor's choice of action much more important as they have to deal with fog and the low visibility of the storm veil they're about to pierce. It's windy! It's watery! And it. Is. Booooonkeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs.
The Captain accepts both Eleanor's offer and also Shige's drink, in these circumstances.
...
The crash landing into the waters beyond is something... strange, even etheral, for how much calmer it is (as a comparison), breaking into what almost seems like a different world entirely. The skies are a bizarre color wher sunlight filters through incorrectly and gets reinterpreted into Guardians know what the hell colors. Heat and chill dance about in a number of bizarre phenomena through the dormant volcano's island of residence, and above... at the peak, a huge gnarled shrubby tree-thing with fractal patterns and colors bleeding through the visual spectrum.
) eVeeErRrrYthiiInG iiiiSsss ImprRRRooOooVvIIiiiNg :D soooOooooOn it wIllL beEeeE haAAappPieERRr :D
The ship has an eerily peaceful docking up near where a damaged Gear - Kaguya's - rests. But when that thing 'speaks,' it's less a sound and more... some sort of sensory strangeness close to the idea. Ruth visibly startles as she steps out and looks up, having previously peaced out of Alcidamas before she could meet Demetrioi then.
"This is terrible." Ruth continues to have a contented look that is completely contrary to her words. It is, and they need to get up to the peak to do anything about it.
_ Crater Sea _
--------------
MOUNT LIVERFEAST
OST: Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness - Under Pressure
...
Lightning and hail strike at great concentrations near where they disembark and begin their journey up, and it's not long before they see others... in cultist robes.
"Blood," Ruth says, "there's blood--"
"Valmar, O have you erred? Is this day we seek the Day of Temepst?!" Yells one of them to the high what-the-hell-heavens, bearing a bloodied dagger because he just got done stabbing someone else over whether or not it's the Day of Heatwaves, and that is the only act of levity to be found here.
Hopelessness abounds those already bereft of hope concerning the way of the world today, as they look to the encroaching party of four. There's call for sacrifices, that maybe the blood offering will darken the skies enough to be the promised Day of Darkness.
Ruth, who bears a Granasian rosary on her forearm, decides the Day of Casting Large Globules of Water is a good enough day via a Crest Graph of Muse and Geo, her nature and character at the moment deeply understated.
As if she were too spooked by the implications.
DG: Ruth Pauling has used her Tool Splashcrest toward her party's challenge, The Day of Indeterminate Elemental Alignment. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round!
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige Kiwako is probably drenched and not too happy. The lantern at her hip never goes out though. Doesn't even sputter. She'd be worried if it did honestly. Still, sleeves rolled up, drenched, whatever, she keeps at it. A practiced enough hand on a ship even if she wasn't likely going to be a full time fisher, one of those skillsets that were useful! When they crash through the water into the other side though, she scowls. Looking around. She also totally puts two fingers to her neck, making sure she's still got a pulse. Would be a bit sloppy to bite it on a ship right?
She eyes the gear once she's confirmed... mostly that she's still alive. Focusing on it rather than the strangeness above. Which changes quickly when all the fur and most of her hair sticks straight out at that voice that is everywhere and nowhere. An undignified cat sound accompanies it that she'll deny ever making if confronted on it. She might stomp on toes if pushed even.
She recovers... kind of and tries smoothing everything back down. Starting iwth her hair and moving to her tails last.
Still, they're on foot and exploring. She's with new people who are probably better at this specific brand of strangeness. She holds a hand up and says, "Bad omens for introductions, but I'm Shige. Call if you need help." She tries to sound confident. She normally is rather confident. This is strangeness beyond dead things though. We won't get into what one views as mundane.
The cultists though, that's something she can deal with. Kind of. They're weird, she doesn't like them and the mention of blood means some innate nastiness most likely. She hooks her fingers through the lantern's looped handle and holds it up high. The shadows cast by it elongating, growing cold. Gaining eyes and indistinct, shifting features. Some moving to try and protect her party, some grasping and clawing at the cultists. Whether it's shadow magic tinged by her thoughts or something else remains to be seen. She's not entirely sure herself really.
Primarily, she is trying to protect the others though, for anyone keeping score at home. She tries to sound spooky when she says, "You shouldn't be here." clearly figuring she can maybe scare them off or something.
DG: Shige Kiwako has used her Tool Scattering Wisps toward her party's challenge, The Day of Indeterminate Elemental Alignment. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
"Yahoooo...!!" Magilou crows, as Eleanor makes sure her outrageous solution doesn't get everyone killed, and Shige helps steel their spirits, and Ruth donates her Crests to the mess.
Magilou's having a great time. She's vibing. She's not nearly shaken enough by the current disasters. Then again, even a thousand years ago, waking the doves who support the world --
'Earth will shift, skies will go mad, seas will swell, volcanoes will erupt... it'll be quite a show.'
-- Magilou isn't afraid of something like this happening.
How interesting, though, that it has. And out here in Filgaia, no less!
"And I," Magilou declares to Shige, a hand to her chest as she strides outwards, "am Lunar's most terrifying evil sorceress, host of forty-nine souls, chronicler of ages! First herald of the Lord of Calamity, she who consumes at the heart of the world! I have seen mountains fall and metropolises rise! Mazhigigika Miludin do Din Nolurun Dou...!"
A beat,
"Magilou, for short."
Oh, thank god.
There's one soul inside her heart right now, though, and the Seraph Bienfu is having a hell of a time in there in the face of that sensory strangeness. "Biiiieennn!!" A voice emanates from Magilou, though it's male, and high-pitched, and habitually tortured. "What did it do?! This is bad-bad-BAD..!!!"
There are also cultists. That's also bad.
"The Day of Tempest?" Magilou remarks, as she hangs back and lets the heroes deal with them. (She takes a moment to admire Shige's shadows.) "Talk about overdramatic... and that's coming from me! Geez, can't these guys handle a little rain?" It is not 'a little rain'. Never mind that.
She shuffles an old deck of tarot, instead, and draws...
"The Seven of Pentacles," Magilou says, to herself, looking down at it with a veiled gaze. "Are you really on the path you want to be on, I wonder..? Well, maybe you'll see results, after all this effort. Who knows?"
DG: Magilou has used her Tool Fortunetelling - Trickery toward her party's challenge, The Day of Indeterminate Elemental Alignment. Rally!
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Eleanor Klein is definitely drenched, but she is reasonably happy because the crew is alive. And the crash is... strange. But the voice they hear sends a shiver down her spine. "That..." She shudders. "Was it always that creepy?" Eleanor wonders. "I feel like it wasn't always that creepy."
Ruth says it's terrible, and... it is. Though at least Magilou is having a nice time. And introduction. "I am Eleanor Klein," Eleanor introduces herself. She pauses, when Magilou does a whole big introduction. She considers. "...I'm with ARMS," she finishes lamely. She needs to get a better introduction.
She looks to Bienfu though, "It's pretty bad," she agrees. And then--
Valmar cultists. "Oh, FORGET this," Eleanor says, as the cultists call for sacrifices. She pulls her gun. "NOBODY MOVE," the sorceress says, "OR YOU GET SHOT WITH SACRED LIGHT!"
Eleanor's eyes glow golden, and she begins to rise from the ground. Between Shige's shadows and Eleanor's light and Magilou's creepy predictions, it might even work!
If it doesn't, they are in fact holy bullets.
DG: Eleanor Klein has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Day of Indeterminate Elemental Alignment.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
=========<* CHALLENGE - The Day of Indeterminate Elemental Alignment *>=========
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Your team is here with a purpose and desire to see to it that Filgaia is
saved, and that a certain someone finally coughs up answers as to what the
hell is going on here. It seems as though others are here, far less
optimistic about what's to come... and yet open to theological discussion
concerning the difficult realities in front of them.
Valmar cultists have set up shop where lightning and hail strike the ground
(and each other), currently conflicted as to whether the Day they were
looking for wasn't a new Day of Darkness, but perhaps the Day of Ice, or Day
of Lightning, or whatever this is. This does not stop them from deciding
that sacrificing you to mark these, uh... dark days? Lit days? Icy days?
You'll need to tell them the following: not today. If you've brought a Gear,
they have a trembling horror to match (who remains just as confused by
present events as their unaltered comrades).
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Slow:_Agility_Down!, |
| Stupify:_Wits_Down!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
==========<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart - Round 2 *>=========== ===========< Results - The Day of Indeterminate Elemental Alignment >=========== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ruth Pauling 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Splashcrest 2 Combat Effects: Cleanse and Inefficie -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shige Kiwako 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Scattering Wisps 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magilou 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Fortunetelling - Trickery 3 Combat Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eleanor Klein 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ruth Pauling 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Slow(2)|Stupify(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ruth Pauling has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Ruth Pauling has drawn a new Challenge.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Fight Like Hail!! *>=======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Though you may have already run afoul of unsavory elements along the way,
the weather itself remains the biggest enemy - and what an enemy it is, as
enormous hail strikes down into the rocky paths. Their shapes are
unnaturally sharp, almost as if intended to be weapons. The wind itself
whips them about with (enough) precision they may well be.
Do you wait? Do you sneak? Do you prepare to carefully move it? Heck no.
You've had enough and you just barely met this situation.
You're not going to wait to let this hail accumulate. You're not going to
try and find some safe way around it. You are not playing nice with ice
today. You are going to fight it, because the sky has given you enough crap
today. (It has also given you enough ice today.)
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, |
| Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
Long story short, yes. Eleanor will be shooting. They are holy bullets, and they are servants of an unholy God of Darkness. Between Ruth's own contributions of a Crest Graph'd giant globule of water and Shige clawing at them with shadows, they don't put up much of a fight. Magilou doesn't even have to raise a finger! But she does, technically, for drawing a card. It counts, IT COUNTS - though the comment about the Seven of Pentacles is indeed cryptic.
The cultists all flee from the fracas, leaving Ruth to chase for all of a few steps before the immensely strange pressure of this place just bears down on her again. (The latest scream is something about it being a "Day of Inverted Luminosity" following Eleanor's contribution with Bullets of Light and Holiness but... that's someone else's problem, now. Another screeches at the fully stretched range of the altered shadows, and that one might have quit the cult on the spot.)
"I'm Ruth," she says to Shige, not pointing out the rifle at her back or her affiliation with ARMS outright. She tries to keep a polite smile for the circumstances, but eyes don't meet. Together, the group can ascend up a mountain path that appears to have a stream going down it, weaving past some stone boulders - like another group helped dislodge the path of former huge boulders of hail with some quick-thinking civil engineering.
o iSs someoOooOnnEee leeAAavvIiiinG :) iiiIT iIs okAaaay cOmeee bAAaack :)
...It's probably nothing?
As they get further up, it gets much colder. Ruth casts a gaze over Magilou again to get a feel for whether the environs are uncomfortable for her, at least aware by context clues that right now it's 'yes cold.' While they keep moving forth...
Suddenly, a huge boulder of hail comes crashing down behind them, which would prompt running for cover somewhere, anywhere... but wait, another boulder! And another, and another. It's like they're being shelled by the sky itself, and...
Ruth casts a look to Shige, who doesn't know. A gentle smile, as her heart starts to race. "Be as scared as you want."
The particulars need not be detailed, but let's say in the following ten seconds... Ruth was not a single-winged gargoyle-like creature five seconds ago, as she hoists her rifle and goes to town in shooting the hail out of the sky. Four deafening booms. An inky-purple miasma with faint colorful undercurrents reminiscent of a (normal) rainy sky comes from her.
There's way more hail where that came from.
It is time... to fight like hail!!
DG: You risk with your Tool Gae Buidhe/Dearg DC4 against your party's Challenge, Fight Like Hail!!! DG: Ruth Pauling has risked with her Tool Gae Buidhe/Dearg DC4 toward her party's challenge, Fight Like Hail!!. Rally! Liability! Failure will result in extra Exhaustion!
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
The title Magilou gives is met with a flat stare from the creepy cat. "Guess I should lead with Shaman of Ge Ramtos and guide to the dead and damned if we're being dramatic." She waves the train lantern for effect. She's totally having fun with it though if the way her tails swish is anything to go by. Who doesn't like being silly from time to time. Also that means she totally didn't take most of that title seriously because no one else did. She does offer a polite nod to Eleanor though. "I've heard of them, but I don't think I've run into any of you before. Probably wouldn't be happy to hear if I had most of the time." There's a brief, awkward laugh. Gallows humor.
Ruth's greeting after chasing after the routed cultists is met with a simple wave. "Nice to meet you too." Not the talky sort. She knows the score. Then with the situation at hand, she lowers the lantern back to her belt. Simple!
Being warned about scariness gets a confused cat look. You know the one. Just color inverted. Then there's a gargoyle punching boulders. She'll worry about that purple miasma, keeping some reasonable distance from it for now while shooting the other two a look of.. maybe confirmation? Still, the lantern's back, the shadows are long and spooky at first, then solidify into something like ancient soldiers. Or the hints and shades of them, a faint glow from their eyes. The only really clear part. More shadowy magic, more proteciton. More strange lights. Just a typical day for the nekomata.
As for the cat herself? With her focus mostly on the lantern itself, guiding the magic granted to her, she's mostly just innately trying to avoid being hammered by giant ice chunks. Ears twitching, muscles tensing and dodging out of the way, feline things. Assuming she doesn't slip, get hit or you know, other stupid things since she may or may not be trying to play things up since she's got an audience. Also you know, the shadow that tries to keep up with Ruth is probably even less defined than the others. An important distinction. Still a semi-shield thing though. Somehow.
The last thing, when there's even a little breathing room though. "What IS that creepy voice?" She asks, her tone less serious than it was before. Probably her conversational voice. "Doesn't feel like what I'd have guessed it to be."
DG: Shige Kiwako has used her Tool Scattering Wisps toward her party's challenge, Fight Like Hail!!. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
"Hahaha...!" Magilou laughs, as Eleanor displays her most sacred power: gun.
She's having a great time, inclusive of the finger-guns she flashes to Shige at her own introduction.
Or at least she WAS having a great time, until they decided to go somewhere THIS COLD. All Magilou's cheer is sapped out with her warmth, as she hugs her hands to her arms. "Ugh! It's freezing! The chill keeps increasing! It's unceasing, and it's still not easing..?!" She yells, at the top of her lungs: "THIS SUUUUCKS!"
The sky itself takes offence.
Magilou yelps, and just starts running. "Hate this! Hate this the most!" She complains, mightily, even as she introduces some shooting stars -- themselves icy comets -- to knock the horrific hail away from her path.
She's far more disgruntled when she gets a moment to reply to Shige: "Oh, that's just the interstellar horror who wants to help everyone around them. Cute kid! Probably gonna destroy the planet."
"IT'S NOT CUTE!" That pipsqueakish male voice wails, from inside Magilou.
"Me and the Seraphim have an ongoing disagreement vis-a-vis how cute the interstellar horror is," Magilou explains, calmly.
DG: Magilou has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Fight Like Hail!!.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
"Ruth is also with ARMS," Elean explains eventually. Once the cult has been dispersed. But they can ascend from there, and Shige's introduction gets, "Ah, a follower of the Guardians? That should be helpful. It's an honor to meet you, Miss Kiwako." Pause. "She's dramatic, but don't underestimate her," Eleanor warns of Magilou. Which might ruin some of Magilou's fun
She smiles, at the gallows humor. It's fine.
The creepy voice, well... That's a problem because HAIL.
"I used to think they were cute," Eleanor admits of Demetrioi, but for the hail she just throws up a barrier now and then to try to knock the gigantic hailstones out of the way. It's fine!
"I don't like this very much either," she admits parenthetically to Magilou.
DG: Eleanor Klein has contributed a risky Combat Action toward her party's challenge, Fight Like Hail!!.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Fight Like Hail!! *>=======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Though you may have already run afoul of unsavory elements along the way,
the weather itself remains the biggest enemy - and what an enemy it is, as
enormous hail strikes down into the rocky paths. Their shapes are
unnaturally sharp, almost as if intended to be weapons. The wind itself
whips them about with (enough) precision they may well be.
Do you wait? Do you sneak? Do you prepare to carefully move it? Heck no.
You've had enough and you just barely met this situation.
You're not going to wait to let this hail accumulate. You're not going to
try and find some safe way around it. You are not playing nice with ice
today. You are going to fight it, because the sky has given you enough crap
today. (It has also given you enough ice today.)
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, |
| Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
==========<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart - Round 3 *>=========== ========================< Results - Fight Like Hail!! >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ruth Pauling 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Gae Buidhe/Dearg DC4 4 Combat Effects: Efficient, Rally, Lia -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shige Kiwako 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Scattering Wisps 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magilou 5 --(27)--> 32 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eleanor Klein 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Fight 1 Combat Effects: Risky -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ruth Pauling 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(2)|Reckless(2)|Weaken(1) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ruth Pauling has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Ruth Pauling has drawn a new Challenge.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Rooting Around *>========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
As you continue your ascent of Mt. Liverfeast, you find something that
appears to be taking a feast of its very own: large, tangled masses of
tendrils and roots whose color can be perceived but is just out of the usual
human range of color. It hurts to look at, and you know they're not natural.
They're not only unnatural, they are in such numbers that the mountain path
is choked in them.
This doesn't belong here... as a certain someone might say. It might be the
only declaration that everyone would unanimously agree with. They must be
eradicated with... no, your hearts are too good to have prejudice. Instead,
they must be eradicated with extremely polite urging. (In the form of
nuclear fire, if available.)
Someone appears to have already tried to do so, with the presence of
massive, distinctly green-hued scorch marks.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, |
| Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
It's way, way, way too much hail to hail with bullets alone, but Eleanor is able to shore it up with the key creation of some barriers. Barriers that will be tested against the might of the Sage of Light... but they hold. Some maintain size and roll past. Others fragment and shatter into smaller projectiles that remain mortally dangerous, and Magilou is able to catch most of them with her shooting stars while Ruth is between reloads. (Magilou does not fail her part of the defense. It's just cold and that's extra exhaustion damage.)
Shige produces her lantern again, and the strange, shadowy help moves forward. There are moments where it seems some of the remaining enormous rolling hail boulders just... stop, before the shadowy warriors, turning them into partial cover from the smaller detritus that she can use to protect herself.
Soon, she can lead the charge with them outright, and she'll be the one up front with the help of her shadowy lantern while the others follow past the edge of the storm and into a less... hailed part of the path.
o iIiii almOoooOsttt haAAvvEEEee iIiit :) i canNoT waaaIiit foR neeeEEewww FrrriIIeeenDs to SeEee :D
For Magilou, who was screaming her frustration with how cold it is... in the wake of the hail's cessation of hailstilities (UGH), Ruth extends her right wing to let Magilou close if she wants. Despite appearances and that unsettling miasma, she remains a warm-blooded creature in enough layers of clothing. (Failing that, Ruth will continue to vibe off of Bienfu's torment.)
Ruth's serpentine tongue flicks along the uncertainty and concern among others, using that to anchor herself where destroying hail doesn't quite do it. (Hail has no feelings or ability to be wounded.)
The weather doesn't 'clear' so much as 'vibes strangely in a way it's not hurling stuff at them,' but as they come up the bend... large, tangled masses of tendrils and roots has Ruth doing that hissing shriek business to something she has no experience or frame of reference with. No one does, really - their colors are strange and headache-inducing to look at, veering in and out of the normal range of color vision.
They at least are not aggressive, they're just there, squeezing and choking at the land and... those sensitive to Ley would know that this is not playing nice with any of it.
Clutching a Crest Graph that will need Purification or replacement later (guess where most of Ruth's ARMS salary tends to go? it's not new boots), a Malevolence-infused mist disperses forward that... it's hard to say if these roots and tendrils really react to it, but they're squeezing and holding the land a bit less? Maybe? It's not dense enough after a few seconds to endanger the others.
"What are thossse," Ruth trails off in mildly distressed hissing.
DG: Ruth Pauling has used her Tool Mistcrest toward her party's challenge, Rooting Around. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round! Sacrifice! The party will take slightly more Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige Kiwako reaches into her pack, the one that isn't mentioned in a desc because she wouldn't always have it and pulls out a shawl. It's... better than nothing. She dresses arm as is and she's used to bitter colds to boot. Still, the scantily clad talky one is offered something of protection during that little dance before the whole boulders of doom thing. There's also an offer of drink again. Sure it doesn't actually make you warmer, but it'll help. Especially with the weather weirdness that she's patently trying not to focus on. Or at the very least she's trying to internalize as being no weirder than hanging out on dead trains with ghosts.
Kinda different territories of weird really.
Ruth's offer of kindness is a good sign too, admittedly. She nods again to Eleanor though, about following guardians and all. "I have no idea what kidn of creature or thing has this much control and uh. That." She points up, "But I get the feeling the poltergeist that trigg- he's not a poltergeist, I think. Whatever. What kind of guy has that power though?" Might as well find out who it is and all that. Helps to know a name when you've got to break things.
Still, post hailstorm, they instead come across a weird tree and lots of roots. Which gets a huff from the feline. She checks the same pack as before before coming up with a bottle. She pops the cork and sniffs at it. Then places it back and sighs. Wasn't flammable. Instead she taps the lantern at her side and summons those shadows again. Using it to try and help her tear at the roots. There's not much else to be done for this in her case. Maybe she should carry more traveling supplies. She was kind of expecting other things though. Maybe a shovel? That would help.
"Weird" She answer's Ruth's question. "And I'm thinking not-cute's the right answer by the way." Not because of the vines on their own. Just you know, overall creepy vibe. "Who's the other voice?" She remembers to ask to Magilou after though. Seraphim. That was- she snaps her finger, "Damn. So he wasn't a ghost." pretty confident in her vibe now. Late. Very late.
DG: Shige Kiwako has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rooting Around.
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
Magilou totally took that drink, and the cloth. But even though she's equipped with a shawl thanks to Shige's intervention, she still latches onto Ruth with ZERO shame, and, in point of fact, zero flinching over a Hellion's Malevolence. "Gods, these things are so handy," she remarks, on her wings, failing to swear by the Goddess. "And quite striking, at that!"
No, she's not ever going to stop flirting, no matter how many partners she collects.
Magilou will take the colour out of space over the freezing hail, though. Someone who can weave her way through the Earthpulse is... at home with madness, perhaps.
"Interstellar horrors playing hell with the Ley," Magilou explains, to Ruth, without much horror at all. A marked lack of horror, in fact.
"STOP IT STOP STOP IT!!" That pipsqueakish voice wail-yells, from inside Magilou, with all the horror carved out of her -- and she sighs, shrugging a shoulder as she looks over to Shige.
"That's just Bienfu," she tells her, with a lopsided grin whose teeth are set a little too firmly. "He's a Normin Seraph I've bent to my will... but don't expect him to come out in an environment like this."
She adds, wagging a finger: "A ghost is a pre-etty good guess, but Seraphim are more like nature spirits, really! They're native to Lunar, so I imagine even a guide like yourself may not have run into too many here." From one channeler to another, Magilou is happy to offer a charitable explanation.
Magilou proceeds to take the shawl Shige leant her and drape it over the roots. "Fixed it!" She opines, cheerfully. Out of sight, out of mind!
DG: Magilou has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rooting Around.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Eleanor keeps an eye on Magilou, because she's rail thin and in skimpy pirate clothes, and it's cold and wet! ...But she isn't too worried. It is Magilou, after all. Still, as they charge through, Eleanor mostly just kind of deals with the cold and the wet. It's fine! "I think we can identify your poltergeist later," Eleanor says. "I'd be happy to help, even. But the entity we're dealing with now is a machine called 'Demetrioi.' They were able to bring prosperity to a ruined area, but now... as you see." She glances at Magilou and is not surprised at her lack of horror, because Bienfu has a lot of it. That's just Bienfu. It's... fine?
"Yes, it's really rather a problem."
As they reach the vines, though, Eleanor sets her jaw. They are... very hard to look at, actually. "Just a moment," she says, and approaches them carefully. Then she shakes out her arms, a red bracelet at her wrist beginning to glow faintly before YOINK. She bundles them up in Magilou-Shige's shawl to avoid touching them directly and HEFTS and LIFTS them out of the way!!
"I have only speculation," Eleanor answers Ruth, "But I assume the're additional horrors. So I'd prefer not to touch them directly. I'll replace the shawl if necessary."
DG: Eleanor Klein has used her Tool Power Bracelet toward her party's challenge, Rooting Around. Fanfare!
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Rooting Around *>========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
As you continue your ascent of Mt. Liverfeast, you find something that
appears to be taking a feast of its very own: large, tangled masses of
tendrils and roots whose color can be perceived but is just out of the usual
human range of color. It hurts to look at, and you know they're not natural.
They're not only unnatural, they are in such numbers that the mountain path
is choked in them.
This doesn't belong here... as a certain someone might say. It might be the
only declaration that everyone would unanimously agree with. They must be
eradicated with... no, your hearts are too good to have prejudice. Instead,
they must be eradicated with extremely polite urging. (In the form of
nuclear fire, if available.)
Someone appears to have already tried to do so, with the presence of
massive, distinctly green-hued scorch marks.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, |
| Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
==========<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart - Round 4 *>=========== ==========================< Results - Rooting Around >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ruth Pauling 10 --(22)--> 32 Fail Mistcrest 2 Brute Effects: Cleanse and Sacrifice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shige Kiwako 10 --(22)--> 32 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magilou 32 --(22)--> 54 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eleanor Klein 10 --(10)--> 20 Pass Power Bracelet 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ruth Pauling 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(1)|Reckless(1)|Weaken(2) Effects: Cleanse ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ruth Pauling has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Ruth Pauling has drawn a new Challenge.
===============<* 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: =============================
| Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up! and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
"I like my wing too," Ruth mentions quietly as she mugs Magilou's moment of vulnerability for all it is worth in about the most pro-social way imaginable. All Hellions, at least those conscious of themselves, always have something about their 'true' selves that unsettles or discomforts. Her large, single wing is not one of them. She seems to play the flirting cool, but --
There's something about the mist that bends, contorts, and disappears into the roots - whatever Malevolence content is there doesn't really seem to do much of anything, and that gets Ruth silent and unsettled.
Magilou ultimately throws a shawl on it, which does not put it out of mind at all. Shige tries to summon her
shadow servants, only to find... they're not touching it. There's some force that seems so foul, so strange to spiritual
manifestations that they might be going /nope, nuh-uh/.
Eleanor just deals with this by wrapping up all of the roots and tendrils and... she has to squeeze and compact
them. She has /zero problems/ in doing so, hurling them aside and out of the way like light, fluffy pillows.
"So, they were kind," Ruth somberly mentions to the summary of what this 'Demetrioi' was as Eleanor just /flings/ the roots away. She only remembers having left Alcidamas to avoid exacerbating conflict between herself and some former Celesti soldiers. To think something like this was the reason so much tragedy and loss were erased...
Demetrioi doesn't talk, in the moment, as they come up towards a cavern that takes them inside the mountain
path, towards the peak. They've made good time, and others aren't far away. (Shige will even meet Lanval, who will ask:
'Y'shee what I mean? Gonna shtab it with thish bottle!' Then he promptly has to deal with some displaced eels that got
pulled out of the waters by the storms.)
The cavern terminates in a welded piece of sheet metal shorn from a vehicle of Gebler make, and it's still quite
hot around the edges. The application was recent, meaning... whoever's beyond - and Eleanor has an excellent idea of who
- just put it up not long before.
Ruth, for her part, does the same as she did prior with the roots, clutching that Crest Graph though her present
form allows her far easier access to fell powers equivalent or greater, because all this Ley stuff is kind of pinching
on a nerve of desperation in keeping hold of what talent she has there for... reasons.
She remembers the tact she's supposed to give in regards to Eleanor's abilities, bowing her head to her and then
moving out front to keep watch for others and... sneak in some rain to vibe in, as the Malevolence-fueled mist disperses
into a character of 'mildly unsettling but not yet at curse-inflicting levels.' Whether that gives this barricade the
heebie-jeebies, well.
They can't stop here. The others will come help, if need be.
DG: You risk with your Tool Mistcrest against your party's Challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance! DG: Ruth Pauling has risked with her Tool Mistcrest toward her party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round! Sacrifice! The party will take slightly more Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige Kiwako gets an explanation for what she saw, adding, "Well he did say something about water. He was also throwing bottles around and scaring the locals. Figured I'd find something-" she looks for the right word and sighs, settling for now, "Something more mundane? You know, bar that threw a drunk out and he's still angry about it sort of thing." She does offer a hand up to Bienfu though, "Hiya." Being cheery enough and distracting herself from trying to tear at otherworldly plant roots with her bare hands. Because you know, she didn't think this through.
There are other explanations that she accepts happily. And files away under 'Look this up later. It's weird.'. Maybe even just track down the ARMs people and talk to them what with so many of them being preesnt.
Eleanor's explanation of it being a machine gets a surprised look, "Really?" Sure she's seen some tech, but breaking the world into other dimensions is a bit rich right? Though-... bad memories there. Nevermind. As for the warning of not touching them, she admits, "Too late."
She also couldn't get her magic, or the spirits if that's what they are to cling to the roots and honestly, she can't blame them. It's weird, it itches and she ends up pouring some of the alcohol from the earlier bottle over her hands and trying to rub whatever nastiness that was off. She also leaves a small smudge stick burning behind where Eleanor hulked out and tore it all free, saving them a lot of headache. Somehow. "That's uh. That was cool. You're not a machine too, right?" Hey things are weird enough.
As for meeting Lanval again. She gestures with both hands, presenting him as "The poltergeist in question" before shooting him a look, "I realy don't think stabbing a machine with a bottle will help." Right? Maybe. He might know better. She shrugs that off.
Also, you know, she's using her lantern to light the way. The shadows mostly stay normal. Mostly. Her ears seem to twitch at the odd ones though. Ruth's given a concerned look, albeit from behind. That kind of concentration, she wants to see if she could use some help, but she doesn't want to ruin anything. She'll try to avoid the miasma, but she will move to get a better look at her just in case.
As with the prior challenge, she doesn't really have the toolkit for this and instead tries to supervise. The creepy shadows try to help the others though! With their hulk out things and better tools for this situation.
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
"STAB IT!" Bienfu wails, to Lanval, on their incidental meeting, and Magilou just shrugs and grins to him before the eels claim the meeting. "It'll make him feel better," she supposes, to Shige, on whether stabbing it will help.
Magilou hangs back, as welded metal comes into play. "Looks like we can't go any further," she remarks, idly. "It's too bad there's no one here who can help us," even though Eleanor is standing right there. "Lo, our quest is foiled!" She bemoans, even as the Malevolent mist roils.
"Well, let me know when you figure out there's no point to anything!" Magilou remarks, cheerfully, leaning on the edge of the metal sheet.
This may shortly result in hijinks.
DG: Magilou has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
It is a nice wing. Eleanor... well. She doesn't interfere in flirting. Hellions seem to be Magilou's 'type'! Well, one of her types. It's not Eleanor's business anyway!! When Shige comments about her cool strength, Eleanor beams cheerfuly. "I'm not!" she answers. "I have a magical bracelet that lets me lift things. It's very fetching too, isn't it?" she asks, showing off the Power Bracelet on her right wrist. Sheis always happy to be using it.
Lanval gets a wave. "That might not be a bad idea," she says. It may not help, thugh. It could be either.
Lo, our quest is foiled!
Eleanor grins at Magilou as she leans on the metal sheet. "Let's see, wth all these other people loosening bits of it, I think..."
Eleanor will RIP and TEAR huge METAL!!!!
And pick up Magilou while she's at it. "Hee hee, now you're at my mercy!"
...It's a little bravado. Being this close to Demetrioi is making her skin crawl, as Magilou probably notices.
DG: Eleanor Klein has used her Tool Power Bracelet toward her party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance. Fanfare!
DG: Shige Kiwako has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance.
===============<* 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: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ruth Pauling 32 --(101)--> 133 Pass Mistcrest 3 Brute Effects: Cleanse, Sacrifice, a -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shige Kiwako 32 --(101)--> 133 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magilou 54 --(101)--> 155 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eleanor Klein 20 --(101)--> 121 Pass Power Bracelet 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ruth Pauling 80 --(15)--> 95 Fail Conditions: Overzealous(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: Cleanse ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: Ruth Pauling is too exhausted to continue! DG: Shige Kiwako is too exhausted to continue! DG: Magilou is too exhausted to continue! DG: Eleanor Klein is too exhausted to continue! DG: The party has failed this challenge! All party members are now Exhausted. This attempt is over. DG: The party led by Ruth Pauling has been fully Exhausted by Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart! DG: The party will now draw a conclusion.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
=========<* CHALLENGE - Influence of Truth Appearance (v. Landmark) *>==========
| Type: Landmark | Dungeon Ability: Conclusion | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
It takes some effort, and some of it via help by other parties that show up
at about the same time, but together you're able to get the barricade
removed. The way ahead is too small for Gears, but nonetheless, your party
is ready to deal with what's ahead.
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 Landmark bonus, should the character you send have gotten that result,
you start the following Gunslinger scene with an extra 25 FP!)
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, |
| Treasure:_Exploration_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
It takes a bit. When Shige decides to check out and watch Ruth, Ruth is... still a monstrous single-winged gargoyle, but now she's keeping watch for the others arriving and waiting for some semblance of the rain. The miasma continues to generate from her, and it's eerie and uncomfortable - especially to someone who hasn't ever experienced that phenomenon - so maybe it's best to just leave her be. She's not the focal point of interest here.
Eleanor and Magilou get up to antics, but in the end the other parties that converge will have to help seal the deal in removing the barricade. The important thing being... this barricade might have been put up by a single individual, but he is being matched against many different wills who want to reach the summit, see Demetrioi, and put a stop to all of this. (Eleanor will get her fun, though. Magilou will get into physical comedy with a large sheet of metal. It'll be fine.)
That barricade falls, and beyond is an incredible pressure of alien make and feel - a face on a screen is strained but trying to keep a smile, placed on the trunk of a large shrubby tree thing that's become ever larger, gnarled, and with leaves and fruits generating fractal patterns that aren't coloring within the three-dimensional lines... to say nothing of its colors at all, which are strange, headache-inducing, and not staying completely within the visible color spectrum.
) iiiIiiII seeEeeEEEE aaaaLLll ooOoOf yoooOOOOouu :D yOurRRr happInneESSSS canNnot HiiiiDDDee :)
That's to... Shige?
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
o iTT wiLl alwAAaaayS be nIIiiiCcceee oooUuuut :) IiinnnN anD oooUuuuuT wIll bEee thEE saAaaAmE thIIiinG :)
That's to Ruth, who is not looking back towards them.
) yoooUuu reAAAllly arrREee haaappyyyy :D yoU do noOOOT neeEEed to trrrRRrrrry that iIIss myyyY jooobbbBbbb :)
That's for Magilou, and not Bienfu. Thankfully. Bienfu is spared.
o whaAAAAtt iiiSSs iiiT thAAAatt yooou seeEeee friIIeeend :) iiIis it meEeee a FrriIIIeeeenD :D
To Eleanor? Nonetheless...
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
"Turn back." that is the demand of a voice belonging to Ethius, who stands as one of the two before Demetrioi, just as... Eleanor told some people in advance. (She is not credited with this by others in the strictest confidence, but what she sees is exactly what she foresaw.) To his side... Kaguya, who is much more easily identifiable compared to Ethius obscuring himself.
Dressed in a heavy white overcoat with an upright quarterstaff in hand and planted, he looks over his shoulder to reveal a partially dented bird mask... of some kind? It resembles it.
"I'll not tolerate further interference."
"H-Hey, hold up..." Homer staggers forth from another team, and after taking a moment, clutches his pitchfork in terror. "That day! That day we were handin' off Demetrioi... somebody in that damn mask killed everyone there... managed to take it off that guys' face as I ran, th-that was..."
Ethius' story was that he was sent after Homer in pursuit of the stolen merchandise from a deal gone bad, as if it might be part of some greater galactic crime cartel turf tussle or something. That seems to have been a lie: he was after Demetrioi from the start, if that's true, which means... what?
"You've caused years of grief." Ethius more or less shows Homer's thoughts to be true, as he starts forward. "But I will not put off what needs to be done."
"Get the hell away from DEmetrioi!!" Homer snarls, trying to put all of his porcine might to bear! "We're here, DEmetrioi, we ain't gonna let--"
This heroic moment is denied, as Ethius floors Homer with a quick movement of his weapon. Above, another Gebler ship tries to brave the endless storms, smoking and on fire as it approaches... oh, bother, right where everyone is.
TO BE CONTINUED...