2022-12-07: Mount Liverfeast (Side E)
- Log: 2022-12-07: Mount Liverfeast (Side E)
- Cast: Ethius Hesiod (as GM), Ida Everstead-Rey, Yue Rohay, Ambrosius, Gwen Whitlock, Avril Vent Fleur
- Where: The Crater Sea
- Date: December 07, 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 fifth 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
DC: Ida Everstead-Rey switches forms to Command Gear Dust Dragoon! DC: Yue Rohay switches forms to Lifelong Convict Yue! DC: Avril Vent Fleur switches forms to Skyfallen Gear Skadi! DC: Gwen Whitlock switches forms to Halcyone!
DG: A party led by Yue Rohay is now entering Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart.
===============<* 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> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Something is unfolding in the Crater Sea, and it has the potential to make Harmonde look like a light spring rain.
A Gear-ferry from the Thames braves the relentless storm. Its bow cuts a path through the chop, but it's fighting for every meter of progress. The surf pounds higher and higher; the wind shrieks and howls as hot and cold fronts rip past within feet of each other.
"This is as far as I can take you!" says Isabel Eco, her voice staticky over the short-range radio. "Be safe."
"We will, Aunt Anna," says Ida, currently within the relative safety of the Dust Dragoon's cockpit. Rain sheets off its hull as she hits the jets, rising through a cold front that threatens to turn that rain to ice. Ida grits her teeth, turns her Gear into the wind, and presses the jumpjet pedal in smooth, rhythmic pulses.
"This has to be where it's holed up!" Ida says, half-shouting as if that would cut through the static. "What else could do this?!"
The Gear-ferry remains where it is. Isabel is a thorough sort, but she left in a hurry, and didn't have time to check for stowaways. Like... certain Veruni who might be interested in this hell on Filgaia.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Storming the Weather.
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Not terribly far from the Gear-ferry and the Dust Dragoon deploying from within is... is... it's a familiar sight.
It's a Friend-shaped kettle Golem, with her unmistakable bronze patina! Her kid-friendly chauffeur gloves! The cute yellow lines for eyes! And... and, a big floatie, coloured red and white with stripes? And a long yellow snorkel?
It's Big Shal, and she's ready for swimming. On her rafters behind her is... Yue, curled up with her hair tied up so the sea salt doesn't catch (as much) onto it. How did she get here?
HOURS AGO
"Something bad's going on and I want you to help them!" Minder hops up and down. "It's bad. I know it. Help Kaguya, if no one else!"
Yue slumps where she is on Acacia's apartment couch to ask, "What can I do about it...? I-- ow, ow, ow!"
"You big DUMMY!" Minder starts pulling on her ears.
"Anything but the ears! Please! Please!"
NOW
Big Shal is a powerful swimmer, despite not being particularly shaped to cut through water. What is her secret? Dog paddling, apparently. Some ancient relics are just that powerful.
DG: Yue Rohay has used her Tool Cute Scrunchie toward her party's challenge, Storming the Weather. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius has lost contact with Kaguya. Worrying enough on its own, but combined with the rumors of mysterious phenomena occurring on Mount Liverfeast... he thinks he has an idea where she went, and what may be occurring. If he can provide assistance in some way, he will - but first, it is a matter of getting there.
His Golem, Nimue, may possibly be able to brave the storms... but he would prefer not to risk her on this endeavor. It is enough that he put himself at risk for this. Still, there is the issue of finding a vessel. His attempts to requisition one were rejected, and given his known allegiances, it may be difficult to charter one legally.
It's stowing away, then. Not ideal, but he will do what he must.
The vessel approaches the island, but it comes too difficult for them to get too close. That's fine - and... it seems there are Gears departing for the island. Ah. He can use this. He slips away from his hiding spot and leaps off the sides, drawing upon his ether. He twists the water around him and uses it to propel himself forward, attempting to brute-force his way through the storm using the water and the slipstream of the Gears for protection.
But as he travels, he sees... Is that Yue? How auspicious. It is good to know he will have at least one ally here.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Storming the Weather.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"... Y'don't mind if I nap in the Halcyone until we get there, right?" Gwen audibly yawns over her speakers. "..... The waves are makin' me feel sleepy." This was before the storm really picked up, of course, but it's the first indication that Gwen is still recovering from her recent kidnapping; she's otherwise kept silent that she's affected in any way. "... Y'can just call me when we get closer."
..... Eventually, it wasn't like they really needed to, as the waves and wind picked up. "Was hopin' I'd have a few more minutes, but it is what it is." Gwen stretches her arms and rubs her neck, her words still full of nap snooziness and static. "... H'okay, so, everyone locked n' loaded? Let's gooo."
Gwen's relaxed demeanor is well-placed, for while she isn't the fastest thing on two feet, the Haylcone.... is not bad, displaying a scrappy resolve against wind and rain that would call the bluffs of many a courier. *KSHISH* When the mountain seems to be close enough in view, a loaded spear shoots out to try to hook into a crag or nook, giving the Halycone a better chance of not overshooting its mark. ".... Steady...... whew, this storm's a real doozy... Anyone confirm if that's Big Shal I saw over there? Could've sworn... Think I saw somethin' else, too..."
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool By Hook or by Crook toward her party's challenge, Storming the Weather. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Yes. That was Big Shal, without question," reports the pilot of the Skadi.
It's unlikely that anyone would have questioned Avril's involvement in the first place, but she had been adamant about traveling along with. Not only had there been that unsettling sense that there was something she had to resolve with this... well, frankly that had fallen somewhat to the wayside, considering her people were involved.
And that this involved Demetrioi and Ethius, at that.
"I wonder..." Avril muses, once Big Shal's shape is well and truly lost to the storm. "It is my understanding that Kaguya had been able to speak to Demetrioi and convince them to desist. This, however..."
Is Big Shal here as a part of the Veruni contingent? Or is something else afoot?
"...We must not delay," Avril concludes. Placing a hand upon her machine's 'dashboard', she focuses for but a moment, discharging a fraction of her power into the storm around them all. It might become easier to progress if the wind and especially the rain are forced into a particular form--
In this case, snow.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Spell Converter toward her party's challenge, Storming the Weather. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
===============<* 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yue Rohay 0 --(13)--> 13 Pass Cute Scrunchie 2 Agility Effects: Efficient and Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(13)--> 13 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gwen Whitlock 0 --(13)--> 13 Pass By Hook or by Crook 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 0 --(33)--> 33 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(13)--> 13 Pass Spell Converter 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Yue Rohay 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Suffer(1) Effects: Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Yue Rohay 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: Yue Rohay 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: =============================
| Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, Quicken:_Agility_Up!, and |
| Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
As the latest Drifter team pierces the storm veil to what lies beyond on Mount Liverfeast... if it were only just strange, swirling colors, and clouds, it might have made for a harmless surrealist landscape on someone's painting. Here, live and unchained, heat and cold and all other sorts of related forces conspire to fill the space with bizarre, alien phenomena that cannot sustain life as one knows it long term.
Sunlight seems to pass through only a rigorous set of processing, bent into strange but functional illumination that at least Marivel wouldn't melt under. It's enough to look to the peak above, where the sight of fractal patterns unable to be fully contained in 3D space and colors bleeding in and out of the visible spectrum reveal a distant but familiar figure.
) heeEeelloooOOoo annnD weeeeLcoooooMmmeee :) sooooOoooooOOn so maAaaany neEeew frienDssss :o
The climb promises to be perilous... but with the guarantees of someone blessed with foreknowledge of the current events, at least two have already gone on ahead - both of whom are people of interest in a time with too many questions and not enough answers.
And so interest will be collected.
_ Crater Sea _
--------------
MOUNT LIVERFEAST
OST: Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness - Under Pressure
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"I don't think this is the time, Gwen," Ida says. There's sympathy in her voice, but this is already shaping up to be a terribly risky mission. As they get closer, Ida frowns; the Dust Dragoon's IFF confirms Avril's suspicions. "I don't think that's Shalune riding her," the heiress says. "If she's not, then who is?"
Ida has to fight the storm every inch of the way. The Dust Dragoon is not made for fine aerial maneuvering, but its pilot is experienced; Ida took her to the top of a mountain and the bowels of a volcano, and fought Solarian Gears atop Shevat. Avril's spellwork helps immensely in turning the churning tempest into something uniform. Snow is not the best thing to drive in, but it beats unpredictable air currents. The three Gears touches down on the shore, with Halcyone reeling itself in via its anchor line. Gwen doesn't have the luxury of sleep, but she does get a smooth landing.
Further down the shoreline, Big Shal's tenacity sees Yue safely(?) to solid ground. Hail rakes across the cliff face above her, but it's nothing Big Shal can't handle. Ambrosius comes in behind, but the surf is extra choppy thanks to the horrible winds, and he might have to take a bit to compose himself before continuing. Still, he made it.
And then:
"Demetrioi!" Ida shouts, over the Dragoon's loudspeaker. "What are you doing?! This isn't making anyone happy!"
But inside, Ida knows that might not be the logical conclusion anymore. Demetrioi's voice isn't right. It reminds her of Azoth when he's glitching out.
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Yue's not immediately familiar with the Dust Dragoon or the Halcyone, but the sight of the Skadi instantly has her heart on pause for a moment, prompting her to scratch her head and lower it... at least, until she sees Ambrosius attempting to weather the storm all on his own power.
"Ambrosius. Come take a ride," Yue offers, "Conserve your strength for later."
Big Shal, meanwhile, is terribly happy to wave towards the Dust Dragoon, Halcyone and Skadi, giving them a big Thumbs Up.
The bizarre and alien phenomena that awaits them, however... Yue's programming-minded brain is already thinking about the ways in which this could be rendered, and the levels of technology that would have to be involved in this. Truly exceeding all expectations, indeed.
They're buffeted next by horrendous hail, however; there's no particular way around it, with the wind itself bringing the unnaturally sharp, almost weaponlike jags of ice their way.
"... Kaguya ... I wonder what you discovered in the end," Yue murmurs. "Is this the shape of success? If so, what did we all suffer for..."
A pause, as she shakes her head. This isn't the time to think about the TF System. "Promme."
Big Shal bravely faces the hail by... by...!!
Holding up a bright blue polka dot parasol and holding it up against the hail. (You can tell it's Effective vs. Ice because it's blue, with white dots, and there's also a picture of a snowman on it with a >=) face).
DG: Yue Rohay has used her Tool An Old Golem Core toward her party's challenge, Fight Like Hail!!.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Big Shal gives a thumbs-up. The Dust Dragoon returns the gesture with a little finagling (a program Ida made to enable hand gestures, when she had some downtime and wanted to try and learn Gear Motive and Balance Script). "That's... is that Yue? And Ambrosius?"
But there's no time to waste. The team advances, and the sky opens up with a terrible hailstorm; Ida frowns, but her reaction is otherwise instinctual. It's been a while since she deployed the Dragon Spine, but it still functions as it should: tendrils of Hyadean flesh snake out from beneath her pilot's helmet, merging with their counterparts in the Dragoon's systems. With fluid, careful movement, the Dragoon reaches for the massive cannon strapped to its back, pulls it free, and draws it to its shoulder. A moment later, a gout of fire erupts from the muzzle, aimed right at the oncoming hail.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Dragon-Spine Uplink toward her party's challenge, Fight Like Hail!!. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Weathering the storm is difficult... but thankfully, Ambrosius isn't alone here. Yue offers her assistance and he gratefully accepts, adjusting his course to take him closer to her and Big Shal.
"Thank you, Yue." He says with a polite bow of his head. "It is good to see you again."
Finally, they have made it to the island. Here, things have become very strange indeed. It is difficult to comprehend what, exactly, they're looking at - and Ambrosius gets the sense that what they see may not be the full extent of what's happening.
Yue wonders what Kaguya discovered... and Ambrosius can only 'hm' uncertainly as he takes cover under Big Shal's umbrella. It's quite adorable.
He looks up, then, to the Gears. It seems they've noticed them, but... they don't seem opposed to their presence. And so, Ambrosius raises a hand briefly in greeting before turning his mind back to the situation at hand. Big Shal has the hail well enough in hand, so... Ambrosius reaches into his poncho and draws out a silver canister. He opens it, releasing a warm, pleasant mist. It might not last long, but while it does it at least might be relaxing.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Mist Canister toward his party's challenge, Fight Like Hail!!. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"I know, I know," Gwen replies, chuckling. "I'm a master at the catnap, tho."
Trying to revert things to a casual context has always been a mainstay of Gwen's back of tricks, but she doesn't push. In fact, she's been more or less quiet outside of that.
Now that they're on the shore, the top half of the Halycone pivots just enough to look towards Yue and Ambrosius. "... Oh hey! .... you're here t'help, right? As in, 'help make this stop in a way that works out for everyone', that is, since..." Gwen, in the cockpit, sighs and rubs the back of her neck. "... I don't know how we can convey to Demetrioi that... well. Their whole deal is 'make people happy', but even that's a problem, y'know? Like givin' a newborn the powers of a god n' askin' them to make people happy. I'm sure Kaguya did a better job of it than most of us could, but..."
The silence Gwen trails off to is pierced by the sound of hail. It hammers against the Halycone's armor, making dents and chipping off blue-green enamel paint. The generally tapered design does help, as does the Halcyone lowering down to make its mass more centralized, but it's not that effective in reducing the effects of the hail completely. Her harpoons aren't great in situations like these either; if she stays were she is, she'll become a sitting duck, more or less.
Kartikeya had mentioned it again, how her Auntie Frea collaborated with the Veruni to make Gwen's own surgery a success. Just how much of that success is tied up in violet failures like this?
"... I'm gonna start making my way further in. Not gonna chance one of these hittin' the windshield and crackin' through. Ambrosius, Yue, is that parasol holdin' up? I can fit you in if you can't move, but I can't promise it's gonna be any better protection for long."
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Fight Like Hail!!.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"No," Avril answers Ida, if a touch distantly. "I had not thought it was."
She can't point to a single piece of information that had driven her towards that conclusion, simply that she had realized that it couldn't have been Shalune. Some way in which Big Shal had been moving, perhaps? Some other clue that had bypassed her conscious mind that her unconsciousness that yet recognized and flagged?
It isn't a surprise, in the end.
What is rather more a surprise, in spite of her knowing what's well and truly here, is Demetrioi's appearance (after a sense). It sends something of a cousin to a shiver running down Avril's spine, as if she had seen and walked over her own grave. "...!"
But she catches herself on her third breath, and calls out, "Demetrioi! You must stop!"
But there is hail, and it is not even remotely akin to the snow she had conjured from rain. This escapes her control even as she places a hand atop the console, its chaos rejecting the pattern she attempts to overlay atop it. Settling back on her seat, she reports to the others, "...I can do nothing about this. We must find another way. --Oh!"
A large chunk has just taken out an auxilary camera.
"I wonder if this is excessive?" Avril muses. To the view of the rest of the world, her Gear reaches for its blade and she...
...comes out swinging through the storm. The overly-large hunk of metal at least makes for an excellent shield.
As well as, if she keeps this up, one part of an oversized snow ice machine.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Gear Blade - Gambanteinn toward her party's challenge, Fight Like Hail!!. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
===============<* 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: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, |
| Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, and |
| Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
==========<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart - Round 2 *>=========== ========================< Results - Fight Like Hail!! >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yue Rohay 13 --(5)--> 18 Pass An Old Golem Core 3 Combat Effects: Efficient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 13 --(5)--> 18 Pass Dragon-Spine Uplink 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 13 --(17)--> 30 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ambrosius 33 --(5)--> 38 Pass Mist Canister 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 13 --(5)--> 18 Pass Gear Blade - Gambanteinn 2 Combat Effects: Resilient -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Yue Rohay 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(2)|Reckless(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Yue Rohay has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
o thEEere iiiiIis No nEeeddd fOrr cOncEeRRRn aaaS Ii wiIll bEeee HerRRee forEveEEERrr :D I wiLL trRrY haAaardEeerRRr uNtiIIlL it IiiSs juuuuUuuUusSSt riIIghT :)
One could suppose this whole hail thing is their attempt to hail Ida back, but there's no way a deeply frustrating life-and-death situation for Filgaia (again) is going to be staked on a simple forced pun, now is it.
It does seem to keep coming back to that - happiness, and escalation, even as one who bears great significance and influence over the Veruni themselves begs Demetrioi to stop. Could the strain be desperation? What, exactly, could have transpired between their capture from Alcidamas until this moment? Was it something the Veruni did?
Only one of them might know the answer to that, and the only way to know is upwards and onwards.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey 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!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, and |
| Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
The hail is a lot to handle, but Ida has sheer firepower to handle it; the Dragoon's cannon cuts a path for them.
Ambrosius accepts the help, and Ida and Gwen both hail them, but Big Shal doesn't have a radio. ... at least, until it starts to discombobulate a bit of its back and suddenly out comes an Old Timey Telephone with an oversized receiver that Yue holds onto. "... yeah, it's me, Ida." How's the parasol holding up? "... looks like it'll hold, thanks to Ambrosius," referring to his pleasing mist that's patching up the umbrella too.
The Halcyone gets hammered by the hail, paint and bits of armour getting chipped out, but enough of a path has been cut through that shhe's not lost. And finally, with one swing of Gambanteinn (gambare, gambanteinn), the hail is conquered.
Gwen asks if they're here to help. With an expression that's best summarised as 'Samurai Calibur-like', Yue droops her head for a moment to say, "... yeah, we'll help. Need to find Kaguya."
Demetrioi cuts in, however, and Yue lifts her head up again. "... you're working really hard. You should take a break once in a while."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Could you explain what you're doing, then?!" Ida cranks up the external loudspeaker with a thought, even though part of her wonders if it would make any difference--if Demetrioi would just obfuscate further. The good news is that the hail seems to be thinning out, and that Avril has identified the two parties with Big Shal. Veruni being here... well, it makes sense, given who last had Demeitroi in their custody.
That raises a question, though: are they malfunctioning, or is this deliberate?
"Sensors are reading... something up ahead." Ida glances to her HUD, and feels more than reads the ambient wrongness in the air. It's causing a sluggishness in the Spine; the Dragoon's movements grow a bit more labored as it rounds the bend, and...
"Damnation," Ida whispers, her eyes going wide. "Their roots. These are their roots. It's like what was beneath Harmonde, but--" How deep are they? A certain familiar decisiveness enters the Dragoon's body language as it strides purposefully towards the cluster. It's like walking underwater, but Ida manages to pull a charge free from her Gear's skirt armor and plant it in the heart of the root cluster.
"I'm sorry," Ida says. "We're--we have to do this."
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Structural Demolition Charge toward her party's challenge, Rooting Around. Strengthen! Party Brute boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
"I am here to assist Kaguya." Ambrosius replies, leaving it at that. He doesn't know if Gwen can hear him from her Gear, but he responds all the same. He is quiet, though, to the rest of what she says. And, Avril is here, too... Interesting.
Demetrioi speaks, and they can all hear them now. Ambrosius looks sad, for a moment, hearing the state of their voice... but he continues to push forward.
There's an obstruction before too long, however, in the form of a series of large roots and tendrils filling the mountain path. Their color is... the more he tries to grasp it the more his head hurts, so he elects not to dwell on it. Instead, his attention turns toward the green scorch-marks. A hint of urgency appears in his movement as he strides forward, drawing some sort of handle, or perhaps the hilt of a blade, from his poncho. He focuses his ether into it and it emits a blade of water, swirling at great speeds to form a high-pressure blade which he uses to try and slice through the roots in his path.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Aqua Cutter toward his party's challenge, Rooting Around. Fanfare! <Support> Marivel Armitage hugs :(
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Whoah..." Gwen can't hide her giddiness at seeing Avril's Gear reach for her sword and swing through the storm with an ease the Halcyone can't match.
Not that the Halycone needs to; its primary mission is to deliver mail. It'll get slowed by rain, snow, or hail, but it'll get through it, at least, just like it does here. There is, however, a small crack on the windshield, a small spiderweb that will certainly spread as more pressure gets applied to it. "Hey, uh, Demetrioi? I think Yue is right. How about taking a break? I think all this overwork's been messin' with your parameters a bit; we just got a load of heavy nasty hail."
Lowering the volume on her loudspeaker, Gwen redirects her radio to Ida and Avril's own. "... We might need their help, 'specially if there's any Veruni tech up ahead. Avril might have some luck with it, but... they'd have an easier time of it. I'll go along with whatever you two decided, of course, but that's my vote." Of course, this is Gwen; her idea of 'acceptable teammates' can be a little too wide.
Ida comments her sensors are reading something up ahead, and Gwen cautiously scouts ahead, making a leap ahead of the ground, until the roots come into view. "..... Ow, yeah... this is... definitely somethin' of Demetrioi's makin'."
Their roots, in fact, Ida comments.
".... Oh yeah... they were a tree back in that town..." Ida's Gear strides past, as does Ambrosis. "... Wait, maybe we should-- uh."
She frowns, and flips on the loudspeaker again. "Demetrioi, there's roots in the way of our path, We're gonna remove them, okay? Just enough t'get through this part." It's the sort of words she dealt with as a kid, from people who meant well, but didn't always have all the tools they prefered. They didn't always tell the truth, but it wasn't like there was any other way to handle the process of grafts and scar tissue. Pain was going to happen. "We're gonna be as quick as we can."
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Hit the Lever toward her party's challenge, Rooting Around. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Ambrosius," Avril says, not more than a few moments more after he accepts Ida's assistance. Without missing a beat, she continues, "Yue. It has been some time. ...So this is not our will?"
Not 'his' will, she should say. But even now, she can see those eyes if she closes her own, and it still provokes a shiver. Even the heart of winter would not be as cold as his eyes had been then.
They're here to find Kaguya, Yue says, and here, as they press on through the storm, Skadi actually pauses for half a moment. "Kaguya... is here? Is she alright?"
Gwen radios something far more privately, and Avril's own response is swift. "I agree. It feels as if what is happening here is not at all natural. Besides which... they are my people. What is happening is my responsibility."
She pauses. "As are they."
But something isn't right, just ahead. "Whatever is it? Are you able to determine anything, Ida?" Avril has sheathed her blade against Skadi's back, peering ahead at the...
Roots. Those are certainly roots. "I am reminded of those metal trees," Avril muses, frowning at the tangle. "Everyone, please-- Ambrosius, please move further back than they do. ...Everyone must move."
She'll wait for them to do so before touching the one other thing she has slotted into the spell converter system.
The stone Ice Medium.
"Aru Solatu--"
Summoning a Guardian on a Gear-size scale is something else, unquestionably.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Stone Ice Medium toward her party's challenge, Rooting Around. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
As they approach further, Yue spots the oversprawl of roots and tendrils emerging; it doesn't take long to realise these, in a way, are the roots of Demetrioi. Though will damaging them harm it? The unnatural colour...
Yue's eyes spot the green scorch marks, more than anything, however. "I wonder if this might have been..." Kaguya? It's all terribly uncertain at this point, but as Ambrosius says... they're here to help her.
Ambrosius is already approaching with a blade of water, though, and she's all too happy to let him take point. She could exert energy to cut, but... something about cutting this... ...
Avril asks if this is not 'our' will. Yue hesitates, as Avril says it's been some time. The way she always says that, every time. It makes her squirm, become anxious, restless... no, get her out of her head. Don't let her occupy your headspace.
"I don't know... but she's very capable, so I'm not too worried."
She huffs aloud. "... all I wanted to do was cut work today, and I wasn't allowed, so I'm not in the mood to cut anything today," Yue resolves, as if it were very plain logic.
Yue looks over to Big Shal, who's suddenly seen wearing a surgical mask and has a drill and a set of dentistry tools at the ready. She slowly shakes her head. "It's not a root canal, Promme. Let's trust in the others' work."
... Avril summoning Aru Sulato has her clutching her own Ice Medium underneath her jacket pocket, though. Calm yourself, Yue...
DG: Yue Rohay has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rooting Around.
===============<* 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: =============================
| Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, |
| Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=========<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart - Round 3 *>========== =========================< Results - Rooting Around >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yue Rohay 18 --(0)--> 18 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 18 --(0)--> 18 Pass Structural Demolition Charge 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gwen Whitlock 30 --(0)--> 30 Pass Hit the Lever 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 38 --(0)--> 38 Pass Aqua Cutter 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 18 --(0)--> 18 Pass Stone Ice Medium 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Yue Rohay 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(1)|Reckless(1)|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Yue Rohay 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: Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Avalanche? 'Ave Another Free *>=================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
As you're trying to scale Mt. Liverfeast, an ominous rumbling heralds the
sort of thing you've come to expect when trying to climb up mountains with
snow: avalanches. This first one, your group finds themselves prepared for
and are able to flee and/or redirect it appropriately. For most Drifters,
it's not their first rodeo with one.
Then, there's more ominous rumbling, drawing from the strange localized
blizzards from above, as a second and even larger one starts to bear down
upon all of you while you're already worn out from the first one.
Any complaints fielded may earn you a third, if one would like to cash in
their deepest frustrations while they can.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
o theEeRrReee iS noOO stoppIiing thaAAaat woooUlld be MeeeAAaan to AaaaLL my friiiiEeenDsss likkEe YyyoooOOooUUuu :) dIiiD yoouU waAaanT tooO coMe ClooSsSs-- (unintelligible, in glorious regular text colors) :S
...
There is blessed 'silence,' which is to say an absence of commentary as whatever sort of 'sound' is going on is weird.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Here to assist Kaguya. On one hand, that is a deeply ominous statement. On the other hand, given what she saw out of Kaguya at Harmonde, Ida isn't sure that 'wreaking havoc' is her intention here. The Dragoon's head tilts to look at Ambrosius for a moment.
It doesn't go any further. Ida makes a judgment call, and that judgment call is to trust in Kaguya. If she's proven wrong, she will have plenty of time for anger later. If there is a later.
Ida sets the charge off, and a thunderous BOOM echoes down the mountainside. The good news is that Demetrioi's root mass stops an avalanche. The bad news is that there is still plenty of mass left to clear out. Halcyone does things the old-fashioned way, ripping out chunks of root with manual labor. Ambrosius' Ether cuts through some of the smaller bundles that are too thin for Halcyone to get a grip on. Yue lounges in relative safety as the others work. A path starts to take shape, instead of the rough hole Ida's charge made.
Avril fires up the spell converter. There is a stillness in the air, like the surface of a pond. For a few, precious seconds, Demetrioi is faced with the presence of a Guardian's fleeting manifestation. Something that could, hypothetically, safeguard this little patch of Filgaia.
There is a snap, and the remaining tendrils give, as one. The path is clear.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"...God," Ida breathes, "what happened to them?" A pause. So, so much like Azoth. Azoth might know what to do.
Or maybe this is how he feels, beneath the smile.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
"...Indeed. You seem well." Ambrosius comments, as Avril acknowledges them. Her question... he doesn't answer, but his silence might speak volumes. He is here, after all, without any assistance - and it was only a stroke of good fortune that he ran into Yue.
"...I believe so." Ambrosius agrees with a nod toward Yue, answering the question left unasked.
The Dust Dragoon looks down at Ambrosius, and he looks up at it - perhaps thought it, to its pilot. But then he turns and continues his work - though when Avril warns him, Ambrosius does as she asks.
Through this they're able to succeed and push forward, continuing up the mountain trail. It would be nice, were the rest of the ascent be uneventful. It would be nice, but it doesn't happen. There's an ominous rumbling, the sort they all know and dread.
"...Avalanche." Ambrosius warns. He reaches into his poncho once more, drawing out his helmet and putting it on. He may need the extra protection. And then he casts both arms out wide, forming a pair of barriers made of water. Combined, these barriers form a wedge to part the avalanche around him. He'll need some assistance, but they'll be able to endure it well enough...
...Up until the rumbling resumes almost immediately, heralding the arrival of a second, even larger avalanche.
"...Absurd...!" Ambrosius mutters. He puts up his barrier again once more, but holding back the first one was difficult enough. He might need bailing out this time... But then again, they all might.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Avalanche? 'Ave Another Free.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"... Demetrioi? Hey, you okay?" Gwen sighs, sticking to the speaker for Ambrosius and Yue's benefit. ".... I don't know if they understood. That, or maybe we're not able to understand them now. Let's keep on it for now." As if that wasn't obvious; they might be closer to the top than to where they started, though with the wind and the hail, Gwen's estimate may be off.
They just have to dodge a few avalanches. No biggie.
The first is too sudden to offer much help beyond just making sure Gwen herself isn't sent tumbling away, as the Halcyone jabs two harpoons into the ground.1.
After the first avalanche, Gwen frowns. She's not going to put much trust in there not being another one.
The hatch opens, just enough, with Gwen ready to stick out her hand help Ambrosius up. "Ambrosius, get in here or on Big Shal! Yue, are y'holdin' up too? Avril, you got anythin' in your bag of tricks for this, maybe? Or you, Ida? Open t'ideas."
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool By Hook or by Crook toward her party's challenge, Avalanche? 'Ave Another Free. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Yue looks like she's just slacking off, but she isn't, really... she's listening well to Demetrioi and digesting what he has to say to them. (So, really, she's slacking off.)
But as Ida asks what happened to them...
"... everyone just... got a little too invested, didn't they. From the start it was always, Demetrioi, who can fix the barrenness of Filgaia... Demetrioi, who can bring a paradise to this world... I only heard it secondhand, but... everyone wanted it, didn't they, for that reason..."
She lowers her head.
"That kind of relationship... where you're only known because of 'something' you can do... it never works out well in the end. Either the moment you lose the capability to do that 'something' you get tossed away, or you get consumed in the obsession of validating yourself doing that 'something' until it all spins out of control..."
Yue's shoulders sag, but there's no time to waste. There's an avalanche on the way, and Ambrosius buys them some time with a pair of barriers made of water. "Give me a moment."
That moment is spent reconfiguring her hair into -- into -- twin drill hairstyle? Somehow?? With just two scrunchies and no curling iron?
"Promme, Twin Drill Mode," Yue declares, as if turning her hair into drills was the all-important key. In response, the Golem transforms its lower body until it's a snowmobile, complete with a domed sitting compartment for both her and Ambrosius, and... most importantly, giant drills to plough through the snow and avalanche with.
It also comes with a cute beanie for Big Shal.
"... this takes me back," she muses.
DG: Yue Rohay has used her Tool Cute Scrunchie toward her party's challenge, Avalanche? 'Ave Another Free. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"I don't know if it would make a difference," Ida says, to Gwen, pain in her voice. She listens--really listens, with the Dragoon's head angled down to hear--as Yue speaks. "No one gave them agency." Anger seeps into Ida's tone. "Not even their creator. Especially not their creator. Who creates life, tells it happiness is the yardstick by which all its work is measured, and then fails to teach it anything about it?"
The avalanche puts an end to Ida's righteous indignation, for now. The Dragoon leaps, grabs hold of Halcyone's back, and then leaps again. The booming roar of its jumpjets echoes across the mountainside.
In the cockpit, Ida feels the beginning of a headache behind her eyes.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Avalanche? 'Ave Another Free.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Yes," she answers Ambrosius, plainly enough. "You, as well." She might not be able to confirm it as such, but... he does not sound as if he has taken a turn just yet.
Though it may be only a matter of time, in the end. Will all the Veruni now alive die before the turn of the next century (or sooner)? Or...
"Yes," she says again, when Yue gives some explanation as to what happened. "I understand."
Or they'll find some solution to their predicament, one way or another.
"Other concerns cease to matter when it is a question of whether or not one might survive."
Perhaps it was more Kaguya's illness than any true wide-spread weakness among the Veruni, but Avril had noticed well Kaguya's 'allergy' to summoned Guardians -- best to be both judicious and cautious when it comes to summoning them in their presence.
That is, when her goal is not something far more ruthless than a cooperative delve into the mystery of a terraforming machine amidst a storm of abnormal weather.
Which, speaking of.
"I understand," she says, when Ambrosius warns of a coming avalanche. "Then please let me attempt this."
Fleetingly, Skadi burns with a brilliant pale-blue aura before stretching out one hand towards the oncoming side of snow and ice.
"Move," she tells the avalanche, as if she expects it to obey.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Spell Converter toward her party's challenge, Avalanche? 'Ave Another Free. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
===============<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart *>================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Avalanche? 'Ave Another Free *>=================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
As you're trying to scale Mt. Liverfeast, an ominous rumbling heralds the
sort of thing you've come to expect when trying to climb up mountains with
snow: avalanches. This first one, your group finds themselves prepared for
and are able to flee and/or redirect it appropriately. For most Drifters,
it's not their first rodeo with one.
Then, there's more ominous rumbling, drawing from the strange localized
blizzards from above, as a second and even larger one starts to bear down
upon all of you while you're already worn out from the first one.
Any complaints fielded may earn you a third, if one would like to cash in
their deepest frustrations while they can.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Quicken:_Agility_Up!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=========<* Mount Liverfeast - The Sky Is Falling Apart - Round 4 *>========== ==================< Results - Avalanche? 'Ave Another Free >================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yue Rohay 18 --(8)--> 26 Pass Cute Scrunchie 2 Agility Effects: Efficient and Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 18 --(8)--> 26 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gwen Whitlock 30 --(8)--> 38 Pass By Hook or by Crook 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ambrosius 38 --(33)--> 71 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 18 --(8)--> 26 Pass Spell Converter 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Yue Rohay 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Injure(2)|Tire(2)|Weaken(1) Effects: Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Yue Rohay 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: Ida Everstead-Rey 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: =============================
| Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, |
| Quicken:_Agility_Up!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius listens as Yue laments Demetrioi's situation - having so many responsibilities and expectations placed on their 'shoulders'. And Ida points out how no one gave them agency.
"...Hm." is Ambrosius's only vocal response. But he thinks back to Minerva, his assistant. He had repaired and reprogammed her initially as a weapon, to be deployed on the front lines of the battle for the Photosphere... but in the end, he had not been able to go through with it, and never did so.
If he had, would she be in a situation much like this? She would never have become the person - and he sees her as a person, now - she is today.
...He doesn't speak further. Instead he starts toward Gwen with a nod of thanks as she offers to give him a ride - but instead, with the avalanche baring down on them, elects to go with Yue and Big Shal, due to their closer proximity.
They can weather the storm like this - Gwen's Halcyone braces itself while Ida's Dust Dragoon takes hold of it and leaps out of the path of the avalanche.
Big Shal, meanwhile, transforms into her adorable Twin Drill Mode, boring right through the avalanche.
And Avril, simply draws upon her power... and tells the avalanche to move. There are many different powers at play here, but she holds enough authority that when she issues a command, the avalanche obeys. It does, indeed, move - and her command may also forestall a potentially inevitable third, giving them an opportunity to proceed.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Yue thinks aloud on Demetrioi's 'relationship' with the world, and Gwen makes a sound of agreement. "... That's why I compared Demetrioi to a newborn. Not to make them seem helpless or anythin', but because their relationship with the world hasn't been allowed to expand beyond this sorta stuff. It woulda been nice if they could've... just been able to travel the world on their own, bein' a part of it before they were forced t'try to fix it. Maybe, they still can be."
Scouting ahead after a break develops in the cycle of blizzard and avalanche, Gwen whistles, then discreetly points to an open cavern, stiffly beckoning with a three-pronged hand to go in. She doesn't want to risk dislodging more snow.
She should have kept quiet earlier for that reason, Gwen realizes belatedly. Oh well.
Further in lies the most ancient of foes for all Drifters since the dawn of the first Drifter to ever Drift: a door.
"..... Really takes ya back, doesn't it. All the doors I've had to bust down... the soldering looks recent too." A pause. "... Y'think Kaguya had a real good reason t'do this? Like, we're takin' off the cover of Pandora's box? Course, if I remember the tale, it ain't like Pandora's box was leakin' like an old outhouse on its side in a windstorm. So. Sorry Kaguya. You should've known a door just makes people wanna get in even more."
*BAM* The Halcyone draws back one hand and slams it against the metal door, making a sound like a gong. "... Oh, hey, you *did* know! This'll take a few tries."
DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Hit the Lever toward her party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I wonder if that would be so," Avril remarks to Gwen without even thinking over the response -- it just tumbles forth.
Like tears.
Perhaps there won't be time to dwell on that strange response overmuch. The avalanche listens, and at least in part, shifts aside.
She settles back into her seat after a moment more and exhales a soft sigh, mentally pushing off from that darker crack within her mind. It's exhausting, letting go -- or rather, pulling back. It's as if she were attempting to escape the gravity well of Filgaia under her own power, the planet reaching all the while to pull and drag her down into its embrace. That part of her... does not wish to let go.
She does not wish to let go. And yet, she has not forgotten the warning.
'Do not return', her own mind had told her, and she had ultimately paid the warning no heed as she plunged onwards into the dark -- at least for a distance, at least for a time. This far, and no further.
Every time she disobeys herself more.
"...I am alright," she says after a moment more, perhaps aware that she has fallen silent and Skadi fallen still, massaging all the time her temples with her forefingers. She ought to rest.
But they haven't the time.
"We are near, I believe," she says, and her gaze falls on the same thing that everyone else has, that point that rests not far behind the blizzard and avalanche that sought to delay and cast them aside.
This is not the typical sort of door. But it is a door. "...Ethius has done this," Avril says simply after a moment's study of the gate barring their path. "I shall destroy it."
Her hand finds the Medium that has become a part of Skadi, and beckons forth the bestial Guardian of ice once more. Let ice tear even metal asunder -- none may defy the glacier.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Stone Ice Medium toward her party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"...I don't think Kaguya did this," Ida says, as the Dust Dragoon steps forward to survey the door. "It's not her style. She would've caused a cave-in and called it a day." A pause. This time, the Dragoon doesn't look down at the two Veruni on foot--Ida hit the Spine's manual release, and it's pulling away from the back of her neck, strand by strand--but the intent is there. "She sent for you, didn't she? She wouldn't send for you and then put a wall in your way. No. This... feels like someone who doesn't want anyone interfering. Someone who has been deeply cagey ever since he turned up in Adlehyde."
The Dragoon pulls the second of three demolition charges from a shockproof compartment on its skirt armor.
"HESIOD!" Ida shouts, as if he could hear her over the din. She slams the charge into place with a satisfying CLUNK. "You too, hm?" she says, to Avril.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Structural Demolition Charge toward her party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance. Strengthen! Party Brute boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Gwen asks if Yue's holding up, and she quietly waves towards Gwen with a rattle of chains, given her cuffed hands, after they survive the avalanche. "All right enough, thank you."
She notices Ambrosius' reticience, and decides to be polite enough to not inquire him about it -- she has an inkling of what it might be about. "... if nothing else, it can be a lesson to us. Whether there's any happy ending waiting here, though..."
She listens to Gwen comparing Demetrioi to a newborn. That people should be let to grow and learn on their own. "... sadly, and not even just machines, some people are just created with a role in mind since the very beginning of their birth. It's not even limited to the Veruni... humans do that all the time too. Does it ever really bring happiness to them? Heirs to kingdoms, or family businesses, for instance..."
She's being a bit more chatty than normal. They come onto a break where there's a cavern with...
"Hmm... that's a Gebler vehicle," Yue remarks. "Interesting... what are they doing here?"
Avril mentions that Ethius has done this. Oh? She's not certain how they came to that conclusion, but...
"... mmm. All right. I told myself I wouldn't cut today, but this is... really cutting it close." She hops off from Big Shal, who bobbles to one side and huddles behind a rock comically half of her size.
"You cut the last obstacle, Ambrosius, so I'll return the favour."
She rears back, and in one feat of rather incredible athleticism, the sharp edge of her heel is, well, brought to heel as the screen teaaaaars in half--
DG: Yue Rohay has used her Tool Zantetshoeken toward her party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
"...Indeed." Ambrosius murmurs in agreement, saying nothing more.
They make it, finally, to a cavern. Unfortunately, their path forward has been sealed off by a sheet of thick metal welded in place to prevent entrance. Ambrosius frowns, studying the handiwork. Avril and Ida blame Ethius. He is inclined to believe them.
"...Ethius Hesiod." Ambrosius mutters. He nods to Yue. "Very well."
He'll accept the help, though he'll provide help in turn. If Ethius does not wish them to proceed further, then that is all the incentive he needs to go forward anyway. Ambrosius draws out the ether-channeling handle again, once more producing a cutting blade of water. By fire it was sealed, so by water he shall see it re-opened.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Aqua Cutter toward his party's challenge, The Last Line of Willful Ignorance. Fanfare!
===============<* 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: =============================
| Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, |
| Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, Tire:_Exhaustion_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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yue Rohay 26 --(8)--> 34 Pass Zantetshoeken 3 Brute Effects: Efficient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 26 --(8)--> 34 Pass Structural Demolition Charge 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gwen Whitlock 38 --(8)--> 46 Pass Hit the Lever 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ambrosius 71 --(8)--> 79 Pass Aqua Cutter 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 26 --(25)--> 51 Fail Stone Ice Medium 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Yue Rohay 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Injure(1)|Overzealous(2)|Tire(1)|Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Yue Rohay 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: =============================
| Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, |
| Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, Vault:_Exploration_Up!, and |
| Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"..." Even if the Halcyone's bulk hides it, Gwen has turned to Yue, her eyes lidded thoughtfully. ".... I guess that's... not something I've ever had to deal with. I've always had the ability to choose, just not always the idea that there was somethin' worth choosin'."
Even as a child. Her coin flip was the one that netted her that ticket out of Little Twister, one that guaranteed her life would continue on instead of sputter out as a hapless nun.
Push those dark cracks back, there's still one final push before they're all the way on the other side. And oh, what will they find?
"..... Ethius...?" Gwen rubs her face. She should have realized it, but the man has always been an enigma: an ally, to be sure, but someone she still always placed on the veil of 'could kill her'. He had helped them, but something always held him as somehow "... He was really involved in a lot of this, come to think of it... Just... I never know... how to react to him, you know? But, he's helped us out, too. Is this really somethin' t'do with him specifically?"
A punch becomes a rip of glacial ice, three charges of explosives, a blade of water, and lastly, Yue's sharp heel. Inside, Pandora's box reveals Demetrioi, Kaguya, Ethius, and Homer.
Gwen still remembers, years later, gasping for breath, feeling like a fish out of water. Or a young girl, collapsed aside a stove, her lips turning blue as Frea kneeled beside her, calling her name.
Or a Kaguya, right over there. "KAGUYA!" Gwen isn't sure why Kaguya's name fell out like that, but it may be in how she feels she exactly knows just how it feels, to be in Kaguya's shoes just right. "Hold on, Kaguya, we'll get you to Lunar!"
However, a crashing Solaris ship may have better ideas.
".... Ida, I'm gonna try to power up!" Gwen yells, over her shoulder, grey blue eyes wide. "If things get bad, knock me out!"
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
As the collective joins together beyond the barricade, they can see Demetrioi's face. Strained, but still smiling. Trying to. The shrubby-tree thing is bigger, more gnarled, and its appearance is continuing to play not-nice with the visible color spectrum and the fractal patterns on its leaves and fruits, and again... they speak.
o heEeeellooo theEErrrEee aGaaaiN :o aRrrEee friEEends of kaGuyAaaa happYyy nooow :o
To Ambrosius, it would seem, recognizing they are like Kaguya.
) iiiT iiiSsss OkaaaAAaay i ammm almOoooSt thEeerrE :D yOoouU wiLl bee hAAaapPier :D
That's to Yue, who even now Demetrioi wants to see happy, and yet...
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
o yooOOouu dooo noTtt neeEEed tO dooO anyThiiNg nooWw :D buUUt teLl theEEseE tWooo iItt iis FiiInE :o
To that busybody, Gwen.
) IiiT iIisSs haaAaarD wooOoRk fOooR a WooRld weE alL liiiIve Iiin :o hAppY iS haPPy eveeEn iF tWoo arrrE diFfEereeeNt :)
That's to Ida. Is Demetrioi aware, or is Ida just the audience to this musing?
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
) . . . . . . . . . . . :o iiT feEelS liiIkE it Is aLmoOosT tIiiiMe fOOrrR thIIs evEnnn beTterr modEeell :D
They speak to Avril, completely innocent of their burden. She is not. Everyone should be here, as... well. That's all there is to say from Demetrioi to this part of the crowd.
...As regards the scene playing out in front of them, based on Homer's fear... the assumed story at the time was that Ethius came to Filgaia on behalf of Demetrioi's proper buyers after the deal went bad and Homer fled with the inactive Demetrioi. Here at the moment of truth, it appears Ethius was - once again, unsurprisingly, disappointingly, predictably - dishonest. It sounds like he was there to interrupt the sale of Demetrioi to start with, and chased them here to Filgaia.
With another damaged small Gebler transport craft about to come screaming down on them... it seems it's now or never if they want the truth. The truth that may resolve this whole crisis.