2023-03-19: Strange Journey
- Log: Strange Journey
- Cast: Leon Albus, Lily Keil, Citan Uzuki
- Where: Sin
- Date: March 19, 2023
- Summary: Of the Black Wolves, Leon, Lily, and Citan head further into Sin -- but the very nature of the Clysmian's being fights them every step of the way.
DG: A party led by Leon Albus is now entering Sin - Dream's End. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Barricade of Lost Souls *>====================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The city stretches out before you. It is dark here -- though closer to
twilight than the dead of night -- and the sky is overcast with dark clouds,
lit by the eerie prismatic glow of pyreflies. They break through, sometimes,
and sweep down across the cityscape.
Stone buildings, like ancient temples, are next to dilapidated modern
skyscrapers. There is a patchwork road that you follow -- patchwork because
it has portions that are old stones fused to modern concrete. Rebar pokes
through gravel, in places.
Your first challenge awaits on the road ahead.
Portions of the city date from the Zeboim Era -- or older -- and that
includes some ancient defenses. As you approach, a massive steel barrier --
with ugly spikes facing you -- rises from the road. The barricade has been
changed, though; faces remniscent of screaming fiends, tortured Aeons, and
dying Summoners adorn the wall. To proceed into the city, you will need to
demolish this thing meant to repulse invaders.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Collapse:_Brute_Down! and Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Seymour is fallen... and now, they enter the depths of Sin.
Waiting for them is a city. It is a terrifying, mismatched thing; ancient stone next to polished glass and steel, but all of it is tarnished. It is twilight here, a night sky that is overcast, but lit by the vast seas of pyreflies above.
Leon walks along, eyes on the sky, and then the buildings. "...This isn't what I expected," Leon says, softly. "But I don't know what I expected."
His footsteps slow, as they walk down a stone road -- and it has, rising from the ground, an immense steel barrier. The sort of thing meant to stop a Gear or tank, though the barricade is now sculpted like screaming fiends and adorned with wicked spikes that look almost organic.
"And it will oppose us at each step, too," he says, as he slings his sledgehammer off his back. He swings it back over his shoulder, as he prepares to begin breaking it down.
DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Field Sledge toward his party's challenge, Barricade of Lost Souls. Rally!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Death. Fear. Despair.
Lily Keil has noticed these glyphs, these feelings here; even now, she feels the whispers of countless dead all around her, the murmurings of a great presence's emotions that she cannot entirely ignore. She could not say what she expected, but...
The city stretches out, and Lily looks upon it, coming to a stop next to Leon. She looks to the patchworks and the old stone... And there, there is the barrier.
"It doesn't want us to get through," Lily says. "...No. Sin wants us to. But it's obligated to oppose us. It's a defense mechanism, through all these Pyreflies..."
Lily considers. "But if I align my magic with the emotional resonance of this place, then it may be stronger. So, with that in mind..."
Leon starts to break it down, but Lily starts to wield dark magic. She enchants Leon's hammer; it seems that every swing comes through so much more space and has so much more momentum than it should.
"...It's not an illusion, but..."
"It's in our way."
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Barricade of Lost Souls.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
The inside of Sin is crawling with Fiends. It is for this reason that they had opted to split up after Seymour's end, in the hopes that smaller teams would attract less attention. There were better suited engaging as few of the creatures as possible: there were trials that still lay ahead. Of this, Citan is certain.
Still, he cannot help but worry about the other group. Of course it makes sense that they had split as they had, but...
"Nor I," he speaks, as Leon draws attention to the city that looms in the expanse before them. "Yet, it does... follow, one might say," Citan remarks, pausing but a moment to readjust his glasses as he takes in the city about them. "Are Pyreflies not the lingering memories of Spira? Sin, too, is the endurance of one man's obsessive wish. Naturally, here, it would resemble 'that city'..."
That city, engraved like a scar on Spira's collective unconsciousness.
"...And I see it does not wish us to go any further. Is this 'fear'? Or...?"
Even in spite of that earlier discussion, he is still driven to speculate. This will be an ending, if they succeed.
And a different sort of ending should they fail.
"Regardless..."
He pages through a particular manual, then glances at Lily. "...We must go through. Please me a moment, Lily. A boost may serve us here."
After which he will briefly touch her shoulder, realigning briefly the direction of the ether flowing through her body.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Acupressure Guide toward his party's challenge, Barricade of Lost Souls. Strengthen! Party Brute boosted!
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Barricade of Lost Souls *>====================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The city stretches out before you. It is dark here -- though closer to
twilight than the dead of night -- and the sky is overcast with dark clouds,
lit by the eerie prismatic glow of pyreflies. They break through, sometimes,
and sweep down across the cityscape.
Stone buildings, like ancient temples, are next to dilapidated modern
skyscrapers. There is a patchwork road that you follow -- patchwork because
it has portions that are old stones fused to modern concrete. Rebar pokes
through gravel, in places.
Your first challenge awaits on the road ahead.
Portions of the city date from the Zeboim Era -- or older -- and that
includes some ancient defenses. As you approach, a massive steel barrier --
with ugly spikes facing you -- rises from the road. The barricade has been
changed, though; faces remniscent of screaming fiends, tortured Aeons, and
dying Summoners adorn the wall. To proceed into the city, you will need to
demolish this thing meant to repulse invaders.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Collapse:_Brute_Down!, Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, and |
| Strengthen:_Brute_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=======================<* Sin - Dream's End - Round 1 *>======================== =====================< Results - Barricade of Lost Souls >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Field Sledge 3 Brute Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 0 --(25)--> 25 Fail Acupressure Guide 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Collapse|Exhaust(1) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Leon Albus has posed.
"Mm. I'm inclined to agree. Sin has to try to stop us -- but also wants us to get through. I'll oblige him," Leon says, between rough swings of his sledge. It hits the steel with satisfying impacts, denting and tearing into the metal, bending it around the frame.
He looks sideways, at Citan, and nods at him. "That's my understanding. They certainly can carry memories," he says.
Lily, with her magic boosted through Citan's technique, unleashes a gout of dark magic. It slams into the space that Leon has weakened with his hammer -- and blasts through the steel, blowing a hole through the barricade.
The abandoned yet foreboding city awaits.
DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Teleportation Glyphs *>=====================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The road turns into a concrete one, but narrows too. Tall buildings --
mismatched, from stone temples to petrified wood to once-gleaming glass
towers -- are every side around you. The narrow street becomes an alley,
leading to a dead end with a stone wall ahead of you. It seems like you
might need to turn back, until you notice a pale white light glowing from
that wall.
A glyph.
It teleports you in a flash of light, into an alleyway sealed off by the
walls of buildings on each side. Here, two identical glyphs glow -- and so
it goes. You will need to navigate through a maze of teleportation glyphs,
until you find a place where you can again walk freely.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Collapse:_Brute_Down!, Madness:_Wits_Down!, Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, and |
| Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily indeed waits for Citan; her Ether flows much more freely with his help. That's good. It's useful. "...Both Jecht and this 'Yu Yevon' would have memories of Zanarkand," Lily reflects to Citan, as she looks over the crumbling barrier. "...Whose 'fear' is it? I wonder? Is it meant to be our own? Of those trapped here? ...Or that of the Obsessed?"
"That's my understanding, too. But they're... strange." She shakes her head. "Onward, anyway."
But the road turns concrete, without barriers--but it is narrow. The mismatched buildings from stone to wood to glass are on all sides, and there is an alley. They might have to turn back, except... "Ah?"
Glyph.
"...Gh," Lily says, as she notices the teleportation glyphs. She pulls her knife. "Fine. I guess we do it the hard way."
With darkness edging the blade, she cuts great goughes in the walls to make sure they knowe where they've passed.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Lily's Knife toward her party's challenge, Teleportation Glyphs. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round! Liability! Failure will result in extra Exhaustion!
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Yes... that is the question. Or, for that matter, is what we are looking at now Zanarkand? That would make the most sense. But there were other cities as well. Are these the dreams of Jecht or Yu Yevon, or are they the dreams of Spira? For that matter..."
He pauses, looking around them.
"Are these ruins representative of any one city? Or are they an amalgamation?"
Many cities have been lost throughout Spira's history. All that remained of Zeboim is gone, living only in memory, in echoes.
"..."
They continue on. It is perhaps only natural that in time their way forward is obstructed. "Oh dear--"
Glyph, indeed.
"Well... now, this is..." Citan starts, turning about in the narrow alley in which they have found themselves. "Two ways forward? Perhaps we had ought to split up," he says, producing a screwdriver. His intent is much the same as hers, it would seem.
"I will make one mark by the ones that I try, and carve a line through it should it prove, ah... less than fruitful."
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Just The Right Tool toward his party's challenge, Teleportation Glyphs. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"It may well be both. The collective fear of the one who made it and the ones who've been its victims, for the last thousand years," Leon says. He frowns, as he thinks of it. His brow furrows for a moment.
"An amalgamation... I could see it," he tells Citan. "There is something... mismatched about this place."
He follows after Lily, and then he looks at the glyph. He frowns with her, and then regards the gouge in the wall. Leon, for his part, has no tool or specialty in this; he does commit where the gouges from knife and screwdriver are to memory, and he studies the way the skyline changes.
It isn't his strong point, though. He could end up confusing himself more than anything else. Still, hopefully his eye for detail can help them minimize looping back around.
"Clearly," he says, "the person who designed this place had some pettiness to them."
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a risky Wits Action toward his party's challenge, Teleportation Glyphs.
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Teleportation Glyphs *>=====================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The road turns into a concrete one, but narrows too. Tall buildings --
mismatched, from stone temples to petrified wood to once-gleaming glass
towers -- are every side around you. The narrow street becomes an alley,
leading to a dead end with a stone wall ahead of you. It seems like you
might need to turn back, until you notice a pale white light glowing from
that wall.
A glyph.
It teleports you in a flash of light, into an alleyway sealed off by the
walls of buildings on each side. Here, two identical glyphs glow -- and so
it goes. You will need to navigate through a maze of teleportation glyphs,
until you find a place where you can again walk freely.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Collapse:_Brute_Down!, Madness:_Wits_Down!, |
| and Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=======================<* Sin - Dream's End - Round 2 *>======================== =======================< Results - Teleportation Glyphs >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 5 --(42)--> 47 Fail Investigate 1 Wits Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 5 --(34)--> 39 Fail Lily's Knife 2 Wits Effects: Cleanse and Liability -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 25 --(29)--> 54 Fail Just The Right Tool 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 20 --(15)--> 35 Fail Conditions: Collapse|Madness|Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus has failed this challenge! The party gained 15 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"An amalgamation... yes, I think that makes more sense," Lily agrees with Citan and Leon both. All that remains of Zeboim... "...It doesn't 'feel' unified, either. The dreams of all of those..."
There's definitely something mismatched about this place. And petty.
"Good thinking," Lily says to Citan, and indeed, all three of them make significant efforts. Leon's memory is good, and his eye for detail avoids looping around. Lily is able to confirm that they don't go over the same place too many times, but Citan notices first; they aren't exactly going over the same territory, but the city does go on, and on, and on...
After long enough, Lily finally twtiches and just blows a gigantic hole in the wall, through which she leads the others.
"We don't have time for this," she says, impatient. "Whoever's dream it is, they could use a knock to the head."
DG: Citan Uzuki has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Adamantoise *>==========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You move along a street that becomes an ancient, but uneven stone highway.
It is like an earthquake has turned the ground rough and broken; stones are
cracked and shattered, blocks are raised and lowered, making the ground
uneven. And, ahead, you see the source of that earthquake.
It is a fiend that is an enormous turtle.
The adamantoise has a massive beaked mouth, with a huge shell that is coated
is silvery crystals. Pyreflies drift all around it. It turns, glowing red
eyes looking at you -- and then it belies any illusion that turtles must
always move slowly. It charges straight for you, smashing into a nearby
building; it starts to come down, before its huge jaws snap at you.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, and |
| Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"So you see it, too," he says, glancing over at Leon. "I had been wondering if I might be mistaken, but... no, it does not appear that this is quite in 'alignment' based on what we know of Zeboim-era construction, does it?" He pauses, folding his arms over his chest. "Yet, given the fact that we are contending with the memories of Jecht and Yu Yevon, there are likely to be inconsistencies between the two. Is it not natural that they would also contradict one another? Jecht's Zanarkand may be but a dream, but it is a living dream, to hear Tidus tell it. I do not think the Zanarkand of 'then' is the same as the Zanarkand of 'now'."
And that is before they take into account the various effects and changes the drifting memories of Spira would naturally apply to the echo of the long-lost city.
Whether it's intentional, or simply a side effect of the misalignment (or similar) of memories, they find themselves repeating through what appears to be the same alleyway, time and time again.
And yet, as Citan realizes in time, not once have they revisited their marks.
"I am... beginning to doubt the initial hypothesis," he tells Lily, once they meet again. "Is it possible that the trick here is instead--"
Lily solves the matter handily, prompting Citan to blink and readjust his spectacles.
"Ah. Well then!"
Perhaps when faced with grave pettiness, the correct answer is to be petty in turn.
They stride back out into the memory of a city, but something here is quite amiss. At first, Citan wonders if it might be some result of Lily's spell, but soon realizes that the cracks are spreading...
And the earth is beginning to tremble yet again. The source is close by.
The source, as it happens, sees them.
"Well. I believe we may have found trouble," Citan starts to say.
A turtle would have moved slowly. This does not.
"...Scatter!" Citan shouts, and indeed, the Adamantoise, comes flying through the spot in which they stood and smashes into a nearby building. "Be on your guard...! It moves more quickly than expected!" he calls out, at a remove from the place where it now stands and channels Ether.
DG: Citan Uzuki has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Adamantoise.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"It is," Leon says. "And... with what we found under the ruins of Zanarkand, I'd venture that some Spirans in the past knew Zeboim well."
He trails off for a moment. "I think you're right. A shame we can't see Tidus's Zanarkand."
Then Lily blasts a hole through the wall, after a few too many twists and turns (metaphorically) thanks to the teleporter glyphs. "Well. I can't argue with that method."
He walks along, into the streets -- and frowns as it rumbles. Leon looks up, nodding at Citan's assessment, and sees the huge turtle. The fiend rushes them and he swears -- bolting to the side, and draws out his ARM. Argent Divider fires, slugs hurtling for the adamantoise.
At the same time, the Raid Funnels drop off his belt -- and form a barrier between them and the fiend, shimmering brilliantly and ready to intercept shots.
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Adamantoise.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
It does seem natural to Lily that there would be contradictions. "At least three 'Zanarkands'... on top of New Kasim City." She nods to Leon. "I think some did. ...And Tidus's Zanarkand still spoke the language--it only took a thousand years for that to change, it would seem."
Lily also has doubts about the initial hypothesis. Lily is a little tense. So Lily blew up a wall. It does make her feel a little better.
"...Trouble is right!"
Lily scatters to the side, but it's Dog who goes the other way. "Wait--Dog!"
To Lily's surprise, the black canine does not charge the enemy as one might expect, but suddenly rustles into the gutter, where she picks up a shining object--
An ancient grenade.
"...This'll do," Lily says, and while Leon shields them, she uses Citan's channeled Ether to rush forward, leap towards its face, and--
Hurl the found grenade into its mouth. Why not?
Dog and Lily both meet back up a moment later. "Good girl," she says.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Dog toward her party's challenge, Adamantoise. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Adamantoise *>==========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You move along a street that becomes an ancient, but uneven stone highway.
It is like an earthquake has turned the ground rough and broken; stones are
cracked and shattered, blocks are raised and lowered, making the ground
uneven. And, ahead, you see the source of that earthquake.
It is a fiend that is an enormous turtle.
The adamantoise has a massive beaked mouth, with a huge shell that is coated
is silvery crystals. Pyreflies drift all around it. It turns, glowing red
eyes looking at you -- and then it belies any illusion that turtles must
always move slowly. It charges straight for you, smashing into a nearby
building; it starts to come down, before its huge jaws snap at you.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, and Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=======================<* Sin - Dream's End - Round 3 *>======================== ===========================< Results - Adamantoise >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 47 --(28)--> 75 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 39 --(8)--> 47 Pass Dog 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 54 --(28)--> 82 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 35 --(20)--> 55 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Fright(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Yes. Their impressions are merely the strongest. They have certainly not been the only ones." Who knows how many fading echoes have contributed to the sight they see here?
It isn't Zanarkand proper, anymore. It has become something more than a memory. This is not a scar, as he had thought by way of analogy before.
That would imply the wound had healed.
They emerge into the city to face a portion of its wrath. How else to define the Fiend that sets itself against them? Zanarkand certainly had no Fiends roaming its streets in the distant past -- what they face can only be called a part of its self-defense mechanism.
Though this does little to eliminate the fact that there is a large turtle-shaped Fiend attempting to kill them at high velocity. Shells rebound off its shell, though the funnel's barrier helps to keep the Adamantoise at bay.
Which is a good thing also when Dog comes prancing up with the grenade she found. What a good girl!
"Oh--" is as much as Citan gets out as Lily rockets ahead, using his Ether to further impel her flight forward... and throw the grenade at the turtle.
There is a mighty explosion. When the smoke fades, there is nothing left save Pyreflies taking flight.
"Goodness... that takes me back to my days in Jugend," Citan remarks, only to shake his head.
DG: Leon Albus has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Great Malboro *>=========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The road ahead of you begins to be split apart by buildings that rise,
willy-nilly and without much reason, from the midst of the road. It forms a
sort of confusing mishmash, with the street divided into a complex maze of
smaller paths. This allows for fiends to sneak up on you.
The first warning is the smell.
It is by far the worst odor you've ever smelled. Rank, putrid, like rotting
vegetables and refuse. Then, around the corner, a huge plant-like monster
erupts. It has wriggling, tentacle-like vines -- and a wide, plant-like maw,
with "teeth" that drip with a putrid green fluid. And when it breathes out a
fog of green mist...
...well, the effects may linger for quite some time. It truly is bad breath.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Collapse:_Brute_Down!, Cripple:_Agility_Down!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, |
| Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, Madness:_Wits_Down!, Maim:_Combat_Down!, |
| and Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Indeed," Leon says. "And there's no telling what Sin's coming obliterated. We might never find some of the answers."
It's a sobering thought, but one that he has come to accept. After all, there are questions about his own life and upbringing -- his origins in the Zeboim era -- that may never, fully, have answers.
The ones he found did little to put his mind at ease, too.
Leon makes an alarmed noise as Dog rushes forth -- that is his dog, too, after all -- but then there's relief as he sees what she fished up. Always resourceful, Dog. He nods once in her direction, appreciatively. "They had dogs throwing grenades in Jugend?"
Leon glances sideways at Citan.
Then, he keeps walking -- into a road split by mismatched buildings. He slows, though, as the smell hits him. Then, it comes around the corner -- and he groans, aloud: "Good God!"
The Marlboro, in all of its putrid glory, waves tendrils and opens a mouth with a literal filth cloud before it. The breath explodes out -- and slams into a barrier, as the Raid Funnels move into place and try to hold the worst of it back. Leon is still gagging, though, and only gets a couple of half-hearted shots off.
The Marlboro roars, in a fury, as it ambles forward on its many tendrils.
DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Raid Funnel toward his party's challenge, Great Malboro. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
No, it certainly has not healed. Lily wonders about that. There is much in here that she thinks she could try to understand...
But not now. Now, she must focu. And, as it happens, must pet Dog. She leans down to give the canine some rubs. "Very good girl."
She lifts an eyebrow as she rises. "...That reminded you of your days in Jugend?"
Those have got to be some interesting days. Dog, for now, barks happily at Leo, and moves on.
"Soon, Lily also feels the smell, and she wobbles on her feet. "Ugh, what is--"
Bad Breath happens. She is soon confused and poisoned and blinded, all at once, among other things, but Dog nimbly jumps out of the way. Bark! Bark, bark!
She hops up to Lily's bag and noses out some Physimentsols, which she gives to each party member hurriedly.
Lily takes the item and uses it, and so restored, narrows her eyes.
"This one's going to regret forming into a Fiend."
Ultraviolence ensues.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Dog toward her party's challenge, Great Malboro. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
There are many things that will never have answers, either because of the march of time alone... or the fact that there are those few who have seen fit to ensure that the truth remains lost. He has seen it for himself in Spira... and lands far closer to home.
Citan takes a moment to look at them both as the smoke clears. He sighs, only to smile ruefully. "Well... I would say it was not precisely like this!" he begins. "But perhaps, let us say that Jessie was rather fond of explosives..."
He trails off, only to shake his head again. It had been itself quite the education. He had been able to take that understanding about ordinance forward into his adult life, as a matter of fact...
They don't get more than a few steps ahead when the smell wafts in. "Oh... that is foul," he says, covering his mouth and nose with his hand, for all the good it may do. "...Is that the-- oh no," he utters, because the smell has just gotten worse. His eyes water.
And this is when things become quite bad, indeed. Lily is on hand with Physimentsols, at least and he...
Well, he is well-equipped with Ether to try to stave off -- or resolve -- the status effect cornucopia that the Marbol is delivering with gusto. The air shifts as he pours his focus into the surrounding water vapor and invokes it to realign and cleanse what has been corrupted--
Though this still won't do much to stop the stench. For that, they'll need to kill it.
DG: Citan Uzuki has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Great Malboro.
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Great Malboro *>=========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The road ahead of you begins to be split apart by buildings that rise,
willy-nilly and without much reason, from the midst of the road. It forms a
sort of confusing mishmash, with the street divided into a complex maze of
smaller paths. This allows for fiends to sneak up on you.
The first warning is the smell.
It is by far the worst odor you've ever smelled. Rank, putrid, like rotting
vegetables and refuse. Then, around the corner, a huge plant-like monster
erupts. It has wriggling, tentacle-like vines -- and a wide, plant-like maw,
with "teeth" that drip with a putrid green fluid. And when it breathes out a
fog of green mist...
...well, the effects may linger for quite some time. It truly is bad breath.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Collapse:_Brute_Down!, Cripple:_Agility_Down!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, |
| Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, Madness:_Wits_Down!, Maim:_Combat_Down!, |
| and Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=======================<* Sin - Dream's End - Round 4 *>======================== ==========================< Results - Great Malboro >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 75 --(8)--> 83 Pass Raid Funnel 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 47 --(8)--> 55 Pass Dog 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 82 --(8)--> 90 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 55 --(20)--> 75 Pass Conditions: Collapse|Cripple|Fright(1)|Madness|Maim|Tire(1) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon just stares at Citan for a second. He isn't sure that he understands more about Jugend after that explanation.
Dog is instrumental in their survival. The arrival of a curative helps him get back to fighting form -- and Leon puts a few rounds into the Great Malboro. Ether rains down into it, and its tendril slaps slam into the barriers that Leon throws up.
Citan's spell helps cleanse the corruption -- and then a few shots and sorcery do the rest. It bursts into pyreflies, and Leon sighs. He slides Argent Divider over his shoulder.
"Bloody things," he spits. "We should hurry. I don't want to find out if more of those have nested here."
DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Crystals and Spikes *>======================
| Type: Climax | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The road comes to an end, finally, with a stairway that leads to a platform.
Each step of the stairs is different: worked stone, corrugated steel, worn
natural limestone, chipped brick, and so on. At the top is a circular
platform, covered in mist. There is no way forward that is immediately
obvious.
But then, through the thick mist, there are glimmers. Crystal shines through
it -- some are wicked spikes, and others are glowing eggs. When a spike is
touched, a powerful fiend appears in a burst of pyreflies. When an egg is
touched, it overs about you.
Once your group collects ten eggs, you will vanish in a burst of light. But
they appear suddenly -- and disappear just as suddenly. And, in the mist, it
is hard to discern whether you are touching a spike or an egg.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Collapse:_Brute_Down!, Cripple:_Agility_Down!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, |
| Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Madness:_Wits_Down!, Maim:_Combat_Down!, |
| and Stupify:_Wits_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Well," Lily says, "There's a lot to like about explosives." They were a particular field of concentration for her, after all. She does remember her training in those well. However... Soon enough, there is the very, very foul stench ahead of them and behind them.
"Me, either," Lily agrees, and they move on quickly. Soon, there is the end of the road, and a strange stairway. A circular platform ahead... and spikes and eggs.
"...Hm."
After a certain amount of trial and error, Lily happens to touch an egg--and it hovers over them. "...We need more of these," she thinks. "And fewer of those..."
Lily pulls her knife. "I can cut through the mist some with this to improve our visibility, but..."
But it's not a simple spell, and it'll take up much of her attention.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Lily's Knife toward her party's challenge, Crystals and Spikes. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round! Liability! Failure will result in extra Exhaustion!
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
It is somewhat a result of Jugend being what it is. But mostly, it is his circle of friends being who they were.
Once again, Dog is pivotal for them surviving this barrage. If she weren't here, is it possible they might have been forced into a retreat?
"I agree," Citan says, when everything is done and dusted. "I hope that the others have not met with similar trouble."
Also, that smell still lingers, just a bit.
In time, the road comes to an end. What they need to do next, as the mist swirls thickly about them, is not immediately apparent. "Now... let us see..."
Lily is the one who happens upon it first. It's a matter of finding within the fog the egg-shaped crystals rather than those that are sharp and pointed. Of course, it's hard to spot them in the first place, and touching the wrong one is...
Citan brings that screwdriver to hand once again. "Perhaps..." he begins, investigating a particular spot by prodding into it gingerly with the tool. He can only hope that the eggs are not more fragile than the spikes.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Just The Right Tool toward his party's challenge, Crystals and Spikes. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon follows up to the platform. He looks it over -- and blinks, as Lily touches one of the spectral eggs. He sees it lift -- orbiting about her -- and then he nods.
"I'll take it," he says. "For my part... I'll see if I can keep an eye out," he says. He looks for those spikes -- and he moves along, hand on the gun at his side.
There are still fiends here. And the mist makes it hard to tell what is what.
He glances once at Citan -- and his screwdriver -- and nods. "Hopefully... this will do the trick."
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Crystals and Spikes.
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Crystals and Spikes *>======================
| Type: Climax | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The road comes to an end, finally, with a stairway that leads to a platform.
Each step of the stairs is different: worked stone, corrugated steel, worn
natural limestone, chipped brick, and so on. At the top is a circular
platform, covered in mist. There is no way forward that is immediately
obvious.
But then, through the thick mist, there are glimmers. Crystal shines through
it -- some are wicked spikes, and others are glowing eggs. When a spike is
touched, a powerful fiend appears in a burst of pyreflies. When an egg is
touched, it overs about you.
Once your group collects ten eggs, you will vanish in a burst of light. But
they appear suddenly -- and disappear just as suddenly. And, in the mist, it
is hard to discern whether you are touching a spike or an egg.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Collapse:_Brute_Down!, |
| Cripple:_Agility_Down!, Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Madness:_Wits_Down!, Maim:_Combat_Down!, and Stupify:_Wits_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=======================<* Sin - Dream's End - Round 5 *>======================== =======================< Results - Crystals and Spikes >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 83 --(30)--> 113 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 55 --(0)--> 55 Pass Lily's Knife 2 Wits Effects: Cleanse and Liability -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 90 --(0)--> 90 Pass Just The Right Tool 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 75 --(0)--> 75 Pass Conditions: Collapse|Cripple|Exhaust(1)|Madness|Maim|Stupify(2) Effects: Cleanse ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: Leon Albus is too exhausted to continue! DG: The party led by Leon Albus has passed this challenge! The party gained 0 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> Lily Keil has posed.
"The others have a larger group," Lily points out. "They should be fine."
Leon does keep an eye out. As it turns out, while that smell is gone, the fog and egg-shaped crystals are easy enough to navigate. Between Lily's cutting of the mist and Citan's careful prodding, they mostly escape the Fiends who are still threatening here.
Mostly, but not entirely; there's a battle that takes a lot out of Leon in particular in its ambush.
Buti t does, in fact, do the trick. Soon, they disappear in a flash of light...
DG: Citan Uzuki has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Broken Vessel *>=======================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
After touching the tenth egg, you vanish in a burst of light, and appear on
a large sloped piece of blue-grey metal. It forms a steep ramp upward, but
the footing is slippery... and treacherous, for sections of it curve outward
in strange places. And, more than that, there are places where something has
torn through the metal flooring.
You soon see what. Huge cables tear out of the hull -- and one, then
another, plunge down for you. They try to smash into you, forcing you to
run!
You can see where to go ahead, though: a shattered glass window, which looks
upon a room that, once, was some sort of auditorium. The window leads down
onto a stage; you will need to get there, before those cables crash into
you.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! and Suffer:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Yes, that is true," Citan says, though his expression suggests that it's anything but. It's not entirely their safety against Fiends like this that has him concerned, but...
No, it is something deeper than that. Something he had seen -- for the second time, nearly -- in passing during that last battle with Seymour. Or, had he misjudged it?
He has the sense, again, that something is awry. But there is no denying 'fate'. Come what may, he...
But there is little and less time for such things.
Within the mists, they find Fiends and crystal eggs alike. "Captain--"
The former proves the more treacherous. In the end, though, their count is ten.
And they find themselves elsewhere.
"Where... is this?" Citan manages after a moment, looking this way and that. "This... does not look like their dream of Zanarkand." No -- they had passed through it. Here, beyond the dream's edge, is something yet unknown. "It... reminds me of exterior plating on an aerial ship, or a Gear," he says, kneeling by one of the tears. Are they standing atop some remembered Zeboim vessel, perhaps? Yet, if this is a vessel, it is enormous. It would shadow even Solaris' largest warship. "But what..."
No sooner does he touch his hand to the edge of the 'wound' then does he lurch to his feet. "Wait." He's searching, looking around for something. Something had torn through the metal, with force, and recently. Citan knows more than a few things about tensile strength. The sort of thing that could do this to metal of this thickness is...
Yes, those.
Producing the Sphere he had received from the depths of the water shrine, he breaks into a run; ice coats the way ahead of him. It would be an easy thing for this blessing to become a curse, should he or another slip and fall in the wrong direction. But speed may be all that matters if they are to outpace the cables. If they are struck, they will likely die. It is simple math.
But ahead, he can see a place into which they might escape the cables... if they can only get there.
DG: You risk with your Tool Macalania Sphere against your party's Challenge, The Broken Vessel! DG: Citan Uzuki has risked with his Tool Macalania Sphere toward his party's challenge, The Broken Vessel. Rally!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon is staggering, in the end. As it happens, fighting a behemoth takes a lot out of him. He is following after Lily, with his ARM at his side. The raid funnels are attached to his belt again. He grunts, as he is surrounded in light.
'Where is this?'
"This... looks all wrong," Leon says. "It's not--this isn't like Zanarkand. Or even the Zeboim cities I've seen in ruins..."
He draws in a sharp gasp, as the cables tear free -- and slam down. He looks to Citan, then to Lily, and nods. He starts to run, bolting down the strange hull, with a glance paid at the huge cables.
They better hurry.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily may not be considering those other reasons--but then, they apply as well to her as anyone. Lily has been strange in here, or at least she has felt such. There is much she doesn't yet understand, and much that weighs on her.
Since Krelian... But not only Krelian. Sin itself is strange.
But 'fate' is what it is.
"...No," Lily asys, "It really doesn't." She frowns, looking around. I do't know what it is," she says. "It's too huge to be an ordinary vessel..."
But something happens. Tearing through. They start--Citan breaks into a run, and Lily after him. She is not as quick, however, even with the ice.
"Leon!" she calls. But it isn't like them at all. It isn't like anything familiar to her.
She pulls the gimbaled pendant from her jacket, at her neck, and begins to channel magic into it. Magic, the opposite of natural--nothing wholesome within it. A blue aura surrounds her, and she rushes into it, and she begins to phase through the obstacles before them, rushing forward without hesitation. Copies fall, but they are only shadows, right?
Regardles, Dog is faster still, rushing ahead towards the place of safety to meet them all there.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Impure Pendant toward her party's challenge, The Broken Vessel. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round! Sacrifice! The party will take slightly more Exhaustion this round!
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Broken Vessel *>=======================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
After touching the tenth egg, you vanish in a burst of light, and appear on
a large sloped piece of blue-grey metal. It forms a steep ramp upward, but
the footing is slippery... and treacherous, for sections of it curve outward
in strange places. And, more than that, there are places where something has
torn through the metal flooring.
You soon see what. Huge cables tear out of the hull -- and one, then
another, plunge down for you. They try to smash into you, forcing you to
run!
You can see where to go ahead, though: a shattered glass window, which looks
upon a room that, once, was some sort of auditorium. The window leads down
onto a stage; you will need to get there, before those cables crash into
you.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! and Suffer:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
=======================<* Sin - Dream's End - Round 6 *>========================
========================< Results - The Broken Vessel >=========================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leon Albus 113 --(X)--> X
Effects:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil 55 --(10)--> 65 Pass
Impure Pendant 3 Agility Effects: Stalwart and Sacrific
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Citan Uzuki 90 --(13)--> 103 Pass
Macalania Sphere 4 Agility Effects: Rally and Risky
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Leon Albus 75 --(35)--> 110 Pass
Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Suffer(1)
Effects:
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: Citan Uzuki is too exhausted to continue! DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Leon Albus has successfully explored Sin - Dream's End!
============================<* Sin - Dream's End *>=============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Computational Dreaming *>====================
| Type: Discovery | Dungeon Ability: Conclusion | Challenge Rating: 4 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Once you climb through the window, you enter the remains of a high-tech
facility. It is not, you realize, a theater. The more technically capable
might recognize this as a computer room; countless consoles and towering
machines, flickering and glowing, are all around. Pyreflies drift through
and around them. The technology level is the same as the Zeboim Era -- if
not more advanced.
Somehow, they are still powered.
Monitors all across the room come online, flickering to life. Once, they had
countless readouts and images, to be sure. Now, they display -- flickering
across every language known to humanity and a few not -- the same message.
you shall be as gods you shall be as gods you shall be as gods you shall be
as
gods you shall be as gods you shall be as gods you shall be as gods you
shall
be as gods you shall be as gods you shall be as gods you shall be as gods
you
shall be as gods you shall be as gods you shall be as gods you shall be as
gods
But it is quiet, beyond that endless message.
And there is a way ahead. An open doorway, which leads to a steel staircase
-- and shows the darkened silhouette of a city like Zanarkand beyond.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! and Suffer:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
They run. They make use of what they have, accepting the risks. All the while, behind them, they can feel the rumbling thud as the cables slam into the outer shell of the great vessel. They can hear the scream of the metal as it is punched through.
They do not look back. Before them is the window and behind them is death. As seconds slow to the crawl, they finally reach it and pass through.
The cables sail past over the window, coiling on towards some other destination. The shuddering eventually lessens, then stops entirely.
Leaning heavily against the wall once he can be reasonably certain the danger is past them, Citan takes that moment to catch his breath. He is by no means in poor shape but...
There is a marked difference between his usual routine and 'running for his life'.
But there is light suddenly within this place and he cracks open an eye.
Then he outright stares.
"What is..."
This?
However -- wherever -- he looks, the message is the same.
"..."
He will proceed in silence after the others, once they choose to exit this room.
Ahead, another world awaits them.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"I'm with you!"
Leon calls after Lily, his footsteps stumbling -- but he runs. He grimaces, as they break through the window -- and the cables go past. Leon collapses against a wall.
He realizes, then, that red light is reflecting on his face. His silver eyes look up, peering at the monitors around him. Each is filled with the same text, endlessly. His eyes widen.
"This is..."
He doesn't know. He doesn't understand. It's another question. Another mystery.
"...this shouldn't be here," he finishes.
He starts walking after Citan, though with a final glance back at Lily. He stumbles as he walks; there can be little doubt that he will be of little use against Jecht.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily too runs, until she reaches the end, this strange place, and comes back to 'reality'. She does not lean on the wall. She immediately moves towards Leon, along with Dog, to support him as he stumbles. "Leon," she says, "Don't. Let me heal you..."
She'll be busy, too. But...
But.
As she reaches him, she sees the red light on him, and then looks around to see it. "W-what...?"
As gods...
"Ah--"
Lily stumbles, too, holding her head. "What? What... is it...? What do I know...? Answer me!"
She'll be fine in a moment. But she won't be helping with Jecht, either.
"...Ugh..."