2023-08-25: A Day at the Monster Arena
- Log: A Day at the Monster Arena
- Cast: Ida Everstead-Rey, Margaret, Rixia, Seraph Lanval, Amaterasu
- Where: South Calm Lands
- Date: August 25, 2023
- Summary: A group of people move to attempt to try themselves against the Fiend Arena of the Guado. Amaterasu invites herself to the proceedings.
DG: A party led by Ida Everstead-Rey is now entering Calm Lands - Monster Arena. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
========================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena *>======================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - Pre-Battle Preparations *>==================== | Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- You are hurried into the Monster Arena's ring. It is a dark setting, lit by torches. The floor is sand, and an audience can be heard; the dim lighting, though, makes it hard to see them. As you look ahead, you see a dark grate, which will unleash whatever your first opponent is. How will you prepare for the battle to come? ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up! and Wound:_Combat_Down! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Spira is in a period of upheaval, but some aspects of it haven't changed. The shady Fiend Arena is still in operation, and if anything, it's seen more traffic now that Sin is gone for good. The attendants perform their usual matchmaking duties, constructing teams from pools of thrillseeking combatants--provided they haven't assembled teams themselves. The team for this particular show is one of the former.
The preshow hasn't changed much, either. This team's members are ushered into the ring, one by one, and left to their own devices while the crowd takes their seats.
The first one in is Ida Everstead-Rey, who takes a seat on the sand and starts field-stripping Devil's Due. She could perform basic maintainence in her sleep, at this point--with a cloth spread out to keep the sand from getting into the ARM, she oils, calibrates, and cleans. Within two minutes, the ARM is reassembled. She slips it into its holster, and glances back--who else is coming in?
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool ARMS Meister's Field Kit toward her party's challenge, Pre-Battle Preparations. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
CHAOS! In the realm of the ETERNAL CALM, people vie to build a future for Spira. There are heroes on both sides. MARGARET, the most beautiful warrior across two worlds, journeys to Spira in the hopes of finding news regarding a lost comrade... to bear her bones to their new home, or perhaps... a forlorn hope...
AND YET:
Several pots of strategically positioned material begin to fume and release a faintly prismatic purple smoke in front of the entrance to the arena, known as 'gorilla' for cryptic reasons. The smoke is rich and neutral-smelling, despite some visual similarities with the blend Margaret often ignites.
It rises upwards... seconds pass...
And then...
FLASH! Something streaks through the smoke-screen, another green flicker coming as she lands in the ring, arms spread apart!
Margaret is not wearing her usual outfit. While it's certainly purple, it's more of a leather-armored tankini with her habitual boots and sword belt (fully equipped with four of them today) and with purple dying, along with a hellish hound logo on either pauldron.
Margaret winks at the crowd and blows a kiss~!
"This is cooperative, right?" Margaret asides to Ida, looking at her gun. "All of us against the monsters, share and share alike."
DG: Margaret has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Pre-Battle Preparations.
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
Rixia walks in, through the darkness of the prep tunnel. Her eyes glow crimson now, with the slight tinge of Malevolence that she can barely suppress even through all Ruth has taught her. She exhales once, twice; she's come back here to Spira, to pay respects one last time to the mountain, Mt. Gagazet... and to the elders that've cared for her father's funeral, and the family home too.
But she's now left in need of money, and that's why she's here. And...
And she needs to test her powers out.
When she paces out, she's a regular foxgirl in the silver dress and black leggings Hannah gave her, pausing to stare at Margaret agog and say, "That's... how gladiators dress, right?" It's a bit awkward. Margaret is in semi-Mom territory for her, by virtue of her dating Magilou, okay?
She looks to the crowds, sensing and feeling their bloodthirst and excitement; there's a faint snarl, and--
Then she lets herself out.
Two pairs of horns, wings, claws; the Domain has been kept in a tight perimeter around her, but the suspended state in which the sand that's kicked up around the Arena, the sweat and blood that seems to linger...
"... I need to understand myself."
DG: Rixia has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Pre-Battle Preparations.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
It's one of the few parts of Spira where the Guado are seeing more steady work - at least among those skilled in weaving pyreflies into Fiends of exacting specifications. A skill seemingly unique only to them, and thus, one of the few remaining outlets of tolerance by necessity.
...
Seraph Lanval's there in the crowd today, for reasons obscure but probably important given his station, unless he was inhabiting a purchased beverage that someone left behind which is frankly a lot more realistic a possibility than anything but shhhh let's just pretend there's a greater spiritual grace here.
"Huh." From within a purchased beverage, Lanval's spiritual senses awaken as something familiar asserts itself against a spiritual landscape difficult for it to manifest in. Then, the memory of the lingering heavy Malevolence of stillness when he came by Eleanor's garden to help make sure it was properly cleansed.
Murmurs about the strange 'Dark Unsent' fill the crowds, as Lanval just hurls himself over the edge like a drunkard suddenly stumbling in, which is not exactly a unique thing that happens here!!
Lanval sits up, leaning against the wall, drinking gourd in hand as he looks upon the gathered wearing a very silly pair of novelty glasses with the same beer bottle lens they're always known for.
"Mmmm. Well... don't dishagree with that," he says. No one comes to remove him, raising a hand along to Ida and Margaret alike.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Amber Tinted Glasses toward his party's challenge, Pre-Battle Preparations. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.
Spira is in a state of upheaval. That cannot be denied: in a way, it's no different a land than the one that Amaterasu left at the conclusion of the war versus Yevon's faithful and Althena's own.
But so too is Filgaia, still finding its footing after Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus' fall and Odessa's retreat from the center stage. So too is Filgaia, as Shijie Rohay had seen fit to remind Amaterasu.
Thus goes the direction of the worlds.
And Amaterasu has still yet to find the slightest hint of her sister's passage through Filgaia or Lunar. Is it baseless, then, her approach to the lands of Spira once again?
In every land Amaterasu has visited, there have been those who are willing to fight for sport, and those willing to watch them. Spira is no different in that regard. What takes place here takes place far from the eyes of the gods.
The others have made their entrance at this point: so these are the four challengers who tonight seek to test themselves against the challenges the proprieters of this coliseum of Fiends would set upon them. Four, and no more -- an unlucky number, perhaps?
"Hold."
The voice comes from... above. Amaterasu drops from the very ceiling to land amidst the sand of the arena, brandishing her weapon as she rises from her landing crouch. It burns with a strange, brilliant light.
"I would see your challenges," she says, her gaze sweeping the crowd. "Come! Let your Fiends break themselves against me!"
...As Kaguya would say, Amaterasu is just Like This sometimes.
DG: Amaterasu has contributed a risky Wits Action toward her party's challenge, Pre-Battle Preparations.
========================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena *>======================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - Pre-Battle Preparations *>==================== | Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- You are hurried into the Monster Arena's ring. It is a dark setting, lit by torches. The floor is sand, and an audience can be heard; the dim lighting, though, makes it hard to see them. As you look ahead, you see a dark grate, which will unleash whatever your first opponent is. How will you prepare for the battle to come? ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, and | | Wound:_Combat_Down! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
==================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena - Round 1 *>================== ====================< Results - Pre-Battle Preparations >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass ARMS Meister's Field Kit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Amaterasu 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Investigate 1 Wits Effects: Risky ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Amber Tinted Glasses 3 Wits Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rixia 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Margaret 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Reckless(2)|Wound(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey 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> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
A murmur runs through the crowd as the pots start to smoke and fume. Who is the warrior who set this entrance up? When Margaret makes her flashy appearance, the murmuring turns into applause, and even a little cheering. It's something new and fancy, and if nothing else, she's made an impression on the crowd.
"Yes," Ida says. "The pot's divided up at the end, evenly..." Her brow furrows as she looks past Margaret, towards the next person being shepherded into the arena. "...Rixia?" Ida's lips tighten. The crowd, already excited by Margaret's entrance, seems... divided, by Rixia. Is it a sorcerous act? Is she really some sort of Unsent? Rixia does get some time to compose herself. (Likewise Lanval, who lands on the soft sand and registers himself as a combatant in doing so.)
The lights come up, the announcer takes her place, and--
'Hold.'
A hush falls over the arena as Amaterasu lands. Ida blinks at her, owlishly, recognizing something familiar--that's absolutely Veruni tech in her hand. Who is...
"Then welcome, warrior," says the announcer. "Let the fight begin!"
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena *>========================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Dark Flans *>==========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The large, iron-barred gate opens. A trio of tall, jelly-like slimes move
forward: Dark Flans, colored nearly midnight black and with red eyes. Not a
moment later, Dark and Darkra spells cause blasts of shadow magic to explode
amidst your ranks. The Flans do not move much, but these have resistance to
all but the Light element...
...or, perhaps, a careful application of extreme force to overcome that
pesky, rare elemental weakness.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, |
| Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Mmmmph." Lanval gives a side-glance over to Ida and Margaret, in one of those 'this is going to be one of those days' looks, as behind them in the iron-barred gates, prismatic lights find themselves fused into shapes hidden in shadow before the gate opens with a theatrical grinding and creaking. (They are immaculately maintained at a specific state of disrepair to maximize this effect without losing overall functionality as a gate, it's neat.)
A Dark Flan humorlessly slaps a pseudopod onto Lanval's upper back to shove him aside like it's nothing, large red eyes and large toothy maws gnashing at nothing as they call upon elemental sorceries somewhat rare in Spira.
Dark and Darkra spells bend light into sorcerous blasts all over the field, exploding into chilling vacuums of force. They're not mobile targets, but physical blows don't work very well on their soft, gelatinous bodies, and as Lanval empties some of the contents of a Holy Bottle just as he recovers...
"...Water ain't doin' much," he states, and that minimizes his combat effectiveness as he teeters at the edge of another emergent blast of darkness.
So... how does one banish a gooey creature so sorcerously insulated against harm otherwise?
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
"... it's me," Rixia answers Ida matter-of-factly, in that sotto voce she's been so frequently reduced to, in this Hellion form. There's a quiet gaze over to Lanval, and then a look away, as if she bears some measure of guilt even looking at him--
Then Amaterasu arrives in very grand fashion. ... who is she?
It doesn't matter. The first challenge is a trio of Dark Flans. Creatures of Darkness... vulnerable to Light. Her eyes narrow ever so quietly, as one of them shoves Lanval away. She draws a small curio resembling three stars fixed together and takes hold of it, drawing power from it.
"... not water, but..." she answers, as she raises one clawed hand--
"If you desire respite from your empty existence... you shall have it. Be stilled in the Light!"
Circular ripples peel open at a fixed distance above the creatures, sending columns of fierce, stilling Light that descend with unerring judgement and force one after another.
Rixia's looking at her own palm as she casts, taking control of her breathing. "... the Blessing of Althena didn't go away."
DG: Rixia has used her Tool Three Stars toward her party's challenge, Dark Flans.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
Margaret blinks for a moment at Rixia.
She goes for false bravado. "You look like you've had a bit of a time of it!" she says to Rixia with effortful geniality. She glances back towards Lanval for a moment, even as she scratches at the back of her neck idly.
And they are joined by -- Amaterasu. "Ma'am," Margaret says to her with a nod, and a somewhat fond smile at Lanval, and then--
LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7O5JZNGsdM
No time to socialize! The Dark and Darkara spells ripple outwards. They wash on Margaret more or less mildly, as Margaret, as befits an Evil Sorceress, is definitely <s>Shadow</s> Dark Element, and as such is merely somewhat displeased by such a purely sorcerous attacks. Lanval tries water -
"Right! That makes sense! I think flame would be our best bet. And as I have very little -- I grant all of you my blessing. Move with swiftness and with the wind at your back - THUNDER ROAD!"
After this, one of the puddinglike beings glorps at Margaret, a glorp landing on her face.
"Pardon me," says a somewhat slimed Margaret as she steps behind Rixia. "Hm? Yes, well-- er -- I suppose we haven't caught up in a while but I'm not certain how much of it is a personal blessing, or from, er, the person who we have known, historically, as... anyway, let me get my face back on."
HASTY REPAINTING!
DG: Margaret has used her Tool Field Grooming Kit toward her party's challenge, Dark Flans. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round! Sacrifice! The party will take slightly more Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.
Either she is Veruni, or she is the tallest elf any of them have ever seen who has had an absolute field day looting a Veruni arsenal.
The gate, ominously, begins to grind its way forward. No naked glee or stark terror colors Amaterasu's expression as she regards it intently. Indeed, the only emotion at all that might be read there is a certain... anticipation?
Darkness -- in gel form! -- slips from beyond to enter into the arena and Amaterasu knows at a glance her own element. "Hmm. A foe birthed in darkness," she remarks, neither hastening away or towards the enemy bearing down upon them. Darkness her element might be but it was never hers to use as a blade. No, instead, what she has at hand is--
She steps forward in a flash, intruding upon their opponents with a single gliding arc of her bladed polearm. Her body armor has already hardened itself against in ancipation of an attack: she herself acts as if she barely notes the Flans that set themselves upon them regardless of the strikes that penetrate her defenses or not.
The blade of Valkyrja, her armament, shines like light and burns like fire.
DG: Amaterasu has used her Tool Shielding Module toward her party's challenge, Dark Flans. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
First up: Flans. These are not an unknown quantity; they're in fact among some of the more common Fiends in some parts of Spira. Elementally-aspected, obnoxiously resistant to physical damage. Not the sort of thing you want to fight if you're not prepared.
Ida hops backward as the barrage begins, narrowly dodging the first wave of anti-light. A glob of flan goo whizzes past her head, coming close enough that she can feel the corrosive goo even though it didn't touch her. "Rixia!" Ida shouts--and Rixia's on it. Ida, for her part, draws Devil's Due and ignites the Dragonbreath filament within. A tongue of white-hot flame leaps from the barrel, hosing down the nearest of the Fiends!
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Dark Flans. DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Dark Flans.
========================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena *>========================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Dark Flans *>==========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The large, iron-barred gate opens. A trio of tall, jelly-like slimes move
forward: Dark Flans, colored nearly midnight black and with red eyes. Not a
moment later, Dark and Darkra spells cause blasts of shadow magic to explode
amidst your ranks. The Flans do not move much, but these have resistance to
all but the Light element...
...or, perhaps, a careful application of extreme force to overcome that
pesky, rare elemental weakness.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, |
| Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and |
| Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena - Round 2 *>=================== ============================< Results - Dark Flans >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 5 --(18)--> 23 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amaterasu 5 --(10)--> 15 Pass Shielding Module 2 Brute Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 5 --(18)--> 23 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rixia 5 --(10)--> 15 Pass Three Stars 3 Brute Effects: Efficient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Margaret 5 --(10)--> 15 Pass Field Grooming Kit 2 Brute Effects: Cleanse and Sacrifice -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Reckless(1)|Tire(2)|Weaken(2)|Wound(1) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey 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: Margaret has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena *>========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Bessie the Behemoth is Stuck! *>=================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The large, iron-barred grate opens. Then, with a grunt, it appears: a
purple-furred, nearly-house sized monster known as Behemoth. This legendary
monster is known for sharp horns, terrible fangs, wicked claws, and the
ability to summon down magical meteors that can shatter the landscape.
Additionally, this one has an adorable pink bow on her tail.
Her name is Bessie.
And she doesn't like to fight, and is pushed by two Guado in full-padded
gear. She gets pushed back -- into the door frame -- and then gets caught
there. She cries out. Bessie is stuck; she wants to go back home.
Can't you push her back into the tunnel so she doesn't have to fight today?
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, |
| Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval and Ida are among the first to act, and the first to ultimately establish what can be made up to be as The Problem(tm): water's not working, and enemies that are meant to be taken down by sorcery might be the Achilles' heel of someone who stands to be one of the greatest masters of martial artistry between two distinct species of people. This initial struggle does not come from a lack of trying, as the Dragonbreath filament might flay just a little more from the Flan.
The other three prove stunning in their own ways.
The THUNDER ROAD is invoked, passing a blessing onto everyone and even allowing the less successful of the quintet to at least strike a bit more effectually (a bit), and Margaret's movements are so charming and eye-catching that any actual personal effectiveness on her part can be instead weighed by how much the crowd seems to dig this Evil Sorceress.
Amaterasu, a lady of war and one of the finest of her kind, makes one of the most convincing cases in her blindingly fast movements that maybe there's an X-factor in play that would let her pierce well past these defenses speaking of their seeming mastery over the elements and pieces of a world that utterly rejects them, and at least one Flan looks ready to disincorporate from sheer unrestrained, unmitigated power. (Thunder Road demands credit for assisting. It will get it.)
Rixia, however, here to understand herself, digs into disciplines familiar as she draws from a strange curio as columns of Light fall upon the two-and-a-fraction Dark Flans, and they disincorporate into wailing contrails of prismatic light on impact as sand sprays everywhere.
It's a striking sight, and it takes some of the spectators a moment to regain their eyesight and start to cheer. The worrisome feel that can be picked up from the thick spiritual pressure of pyreflies aside...
It's an exciting warm-up round.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
Amaterasu is able to fall upon these creatures alongside Rixia and burst into them, rending the flans asunder in a sweet treat of defeat. Replete, Margaret retreats, fleet feet bringing her to meet the smashing victor. "Well done, I was preparing that sort of thing myself," Margaret tells Amaterasu, even as
THE NEXT ROUND IS DECLARED
A gate is opened.
A behemoth is pushed outwards... enormous, purple-furred, sharp-horned, terrible, with big wet eyes, fluffy paws, and -
The behemoth makes an enormously imploring sound as she is pushed forwards. (Gender identity can be accomplished from the pink bow at the tail; as well as the announcer using such pronouns and referring to the Behemoth as 'Bessie'.) Two Guado are pushing.
Bessie isn't moving. Indeed, whether by error or by over-indulgence, Bessie can't FIT THROUGH.
"Well, this would be easy, wouldn't it?" Margaret says rhetorically.
She cricks her neck to the side. "... But I don't think this would be good sport. Come then," she says, from her glisteningly lipsticked mouth, "We're all in this together. Push her back and tell them to send us another one, one that's EAGER for the fray!"
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
Rixia quietly hands Margaret a hand towel, in response to her goopiness; she does say, "I... became a hellion. I haven't told Magilou yet." She has the mild tone of a child reporting something they maybe shouldn't have done to a parent, despite the two not really being her official parents, but Rixia has a habit of latching onto anyone who'll remotely fit the bill.
Her eyes regard Amaterasu's moves for a moment. Hardening body armour, a polearm with a wide blade... she's not a Crusader or a local warrior, the way that weapon lights up...
"I talked to Eleanor," she remarks to Ida. "I'm not... going back there anytime soon."
Her eyes flit to Lanval for a moment, as she bites her lip -- then she focuses as she looks to Bessie as she tries to get through. She doesn't look like she wants to fight, but...
"... the crowd is going to get bored," she quietly advises, as she marches towards the gate and starts leaning to one side. "... you don't have to do anything you don't want to," she quietly says.
DG: Rixia has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Bessie the Behemoth is Stuck!. DG: Margaret has used her Tool Field Grooming Kit toward her party's challenge, Bessie the Behemoth is Stuck!. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round! Sacrifice! The party will take slightly more Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Seraph Lanval holds up a hand as an aura generated from his direct connection to the water of an entire world is channeled. He's seen Behemoths before, he knows exactly what they're capable of and how they must be really willing to throw out the biggest, most dangerous guns in the name of bloodsport if...
If.
That 'if' changes everywhting, as there's a distressed, hesitant creature who does not want to go out there and does not seem inclined to violence. He gives a side-glance over to Amaterasu and eventually catches Rixia's bit lip as she explains what's happened to her (she's aware, which is always good) and her seeming resignation that she's not going ack any time soon.
"I know a few people who can help ya with that." Seraph Lanval says to someone who, without the mitigating factor of pyrefly pressure, might harbor a strong enough Malevolent Domain he might need to be outside of the arena s a precaution, but he watches closely as Rixia does not feed into the bloodlust and seems to all but gently try and get Bessie off the hook.
He has to be real with Bessie there, he wouldn't want to get in a straight fight with Amaterasu either. It took him so long to figure out how Ambrosius could make water spin so fast, and he's 'just' one of their scientists. That's one of the top Veruni warriors right there.
Stepping to the side opposite of where Rixia takes to the side, knowing he's not great for pushing things, Lanval reaches into himself and pulls out an Indistinct But Very Tasty Snack Treat(tm), reaching out towards Bessie to let her have it if she likes it.
There is a step two to this plan.
Step two, should step one succeed, is to pull out a second one and roll it along the ground underneath and past her so she's even more motivated to move backwards and go get it.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a risky Brute Action toward his party's challenge, Bessie the Behemoth is Stuck!.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
If nothing else, the flamethrower puts on a good show. Ida contents herself with that as the Fiends dissipate, and the crowd cheers. She opens her eyes, and turns to Rixia. "It's good to see you again," she says. Her voice is hushed, but her tone is genuine. Then she falls silent, letting Rixia explain what happened.
"...I understand." Ida's brow furrows; she nods to Rixia, eyes glinting with been-there empathy. "Do your best to stay safe." But the next round is taking... longer. Ida hears those sounds of distress, and frowns. "No," she says, decisively. "We're not fighting her." As Lanval approaches with his snacks, Ida takes a more... risky approach. Few creatures want to get within reach of a Behemoth's fangs, especially one that's fearful. Exoskeleton wicks up from Ida's skin, armoring her hands, and...
"Hey, there," Ida says, as she reaches out to stroke Bessie's muzzle. This is arguably far more dangerous than simply trying to shove her backward, but... far more humane. Not even a Fiend deserves to be this scared.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a risky Brute Action toward her party's challenge, Bessie the Behemoth is Stuck!.
<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.
They move quite possibly in the same instant, Rixia and Amaterasu. For all her direct focus on the Fiends she flays, Amaterasu has not let the actions of those around her pass unnoticed. Here in Spira, in this place, the strong have gathered in abundance.
Inclining her head in a simple shallow nod, her gaze turns sidelong towards Margaret.
"So I see," she says, plainly. "Come. That was but one. We have others yet to fell." The gate opens...!
It takes a few moments for the beast to show itself.
...Partially.
It would seem that their foe is both too large and to unwilling to pass through the gate.
"Hrnn," Amaterasu vocalizes, frowning as she gazes at the Behemoth that Would Not Fight. She beetles her brow as she strides forward, weapon in hand--
But the blade of light vanishes and Valkyrja collapses in on itself as she makes her way to Bessie's side.
"Indeed. A foe that does not wish to fight is no challenge at all," she states at last, and her armor hardens along her right arm, reinforcing her prodigious strength as she reaches out to push.
DG: Amaterasu has used her Tool Shielding Module toward her party's challenge, Bessie the Behemoth is Stuck!. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
========================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena *>========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Bessie the Behemoth is Stuck! *>=================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The large, iron-barred grate opens. Then, with a grunt, it appears: a
purple-furred, nearly-house sized monster known as Behemoth. This legendary
monster is known for sharp horns, terrible fangs, wicked claws, and the
ability to summon down magical meteors that can shatter the landscape.
Additionally, this one has an adorable pink bow on her tail.
Her name is Bessie.
And she doesn't like to fight, and is pushed by two Guado in full-padded
gear. She gets pushed back -- into the door frame -- and then gets caught
there. She cries out. Bessie is stuck; she wants to go back home.
Can't you push her back into the tunnel so she doesn't have to fight today?
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena - Round 3 *>=================== ==================< Results - Bessie the Behemoth is Stuck! >=================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 23 --(41)--> 64 Fail Force 1 Brute Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amaterasu 15 --(17)--> 32 Pass Shielding Module 2 Brute Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 23 --(41)--> 64 Fail Force 1 Brute Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rixia 15 --(17)--> 32 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Margaret 15 --(17)--> 32 Pass Field Grooming Kit 2 Brute Effects: Cleanse and Sacrifice -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 40 --(15)--> 55 Fail Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Weaken(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey 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> Margaret has posed.
"... I see," Margaret answers Rixia, soberly. "I'm sorry."
She feels obscurely at fault. She looks towards Lanval, who at least is offering -- support? Encouragement? It's not exactly a sentence of death or anything, is it, not if others have been purified, but can they really expect --
Ugh! A problem for the future! The Behemoth brays in dismay as Rixia approaches. Margaret's lips purse as she puts her hands on the great creature's breastbone and simply begins to push backwards, which evokes some bleating of concern but soon enough others are coming in. Lanval provides bribery; Ida provides pets...
And Amaterasu joins in the pushing. Amaterasu's brutal force is sufficient to push Bessie's forepaw back but -- the fiend is wailing in dismay! In despair! Perhaps its peaceful nature is being put to the test! Can a fiend who won't do battle long endure in Spira...?
And then, perhaps, Bessie shows her true colors -- by leaning her head forwards and eating Lanval. Fortunately for the Seraph, he is merely lightly chewed before Bessie's mouth opens slackly and he falls out of it.
Whining, Bessie backpedals now - mission accomplished even if there is a faint distant piteous scream of trod-upon Guado.
"Send us something worth our mettle!" Margaret shouts.
DG: Rixia has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena *>======================== ==========================<* CHALLENGE - Sand Worm *>=========================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- The iron-barred gate opens up. You only get the briefest glimpse of a massive form within -- because shortly after, it burrows into the sand. Only a few seconds later, the sand in your midst explodes upward. This threatens to knock everyone to their feet, as a huge sand worm emerges. Its round, toothless maw opens... and then it starts trying to swallow members of your party whole! ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, and | | Wound:_Combat_Down! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
Bessie backpedals away from the arena, with only a little light chewing courtesy of Lanval. ... he'll probably be okay, right? She doesn't really miss how her presence seems to unsettle the gentle creature, though. That's the kind of thing animals might react like, with their other sharpened senses...
Lanval mentions that he knows a few people who can help her with it... though she's not sure what he means. Purification, or...
"I can't..." Rixia admits. "I can't let go of this."
Ida's tone, of someone who's been there, isn't missed. She quietly nods, and then!!
The entire arena rumbles, and suddenly, the sand that composes the floor of the monster arena erupts! A sandworm burrows out from underneath, and suddenly the ground is less solid than it was before; Rixia grimaces and struggles to stay aloft, before realising she has wings now and takes to the air--
*GULP*
--whoops, she disappears as the sandworm takes another lunge and swallows her whole.
The crowd roars at this unexpected, dramatic plot twist, and Rixia is momentarily going to have to solve puzzles and meet a famed mimic, surely.
DG: Rixia has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sand Worm.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"AAaayayayayayayayayayayyggygghhbllbrhrghl----!!"
A chewed-up Lanval is gently deposited, face-down in the sand with his rear sticking up in the air as he suffers OVERSLOBBER. When he lifts his face up, there is a distant, singular unmoving look.
:)
"Why do teeth exisht?"
There is a moment in which to consider and weigh Rixia's readiness to let go, given he was there for at least a handful of difficult, stressful, conflict-generating events in her life, watching a young woman's world shatter and contort under what was taken, what she chose to give up, what she had to experience, and...
Well as of recent events he has some very particular, well-developed feelings about being eaten as the rumbling ground and uncertainty of where that sandworm will rise and strike next before taking its meal out of anyone else.
"THISH one," Lanval says as he rears himself back up, "thish one. Ya deal with with water."
He's going to wait for them to re-surface again before he just tries to pour a whoooole lot of Holy Bottle contents right into it.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Holy Bottle toward his party's challenge, Sand Worm. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
Lanval's only a little eaten. He's still good!
Margaret's attention remains on Rixia if in a somewhat sidewise way. She doesn't want to intrude, dammit! That's the Hell of it - she may have more empathy into where Rixia is at in the general sense than Rixia might expect. The specifics? No: she wasn't there for that sc-- that moment; but the pattern of life...
And then the ground begins to shake.
The Maker's passage blesses Rixia.
Margaret stares again for a moment.
Her eyes widen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHByERlH2FQ
One hand goes to her four swords - one of them, anyway. "I refuse this," Margaret says. "I *deny* it. I *nullify and abjure* it! I have seen enough people speaking pained words and leaving their agonies raw and wounded, before they pass into the black oblivion of Althena! Perhaps you all knew you had the Farplane," Margaret addresses the crowd, "But we! We were promised only restful sleep -- sleep eternal and nothing more! Doesn't sound so bad, BUT CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVES!"
"But whoever is right and whoever is wrong," Margaret says with steadily heating fury, "is irrelevant. Because I have been given a CHARGE, by all the blighted gods of two worlds, and I'm NOT GOING TO SHIRK IT!"
Her sword is drawn, held backhanded above her. "RUNE BLADE!" Margaret declares. The blade gleams! As do the runes painted upon the solid, refurbished battlefield steel.
"IGNITE! I *AM* THE STARLIGHT!" Margaret bellows, and then a moment later she just sort of-- turns into a light purple streak towards one side of the arena before turning upwards and runs up the back of the sandworm, raising out another sword not yet ignited and declaring with spitting fury, "It's always these god damned THINGS I should have told Veren to KILL them even if the ****ing FERTILIZER sells for a PRETTY GELLY Harhrhrrhhrrhghklgdhjklsjhflakjshdflkjahsdfklhjsadlfhas!!!"!
The un-ignited blade comes down - to hook under one of the worm's rings! To pull it back! The creature rolls so that Margaret remains on top, instinctually protecting unshielded flesh!
"RIXIA!" Margaret shouts hard enough to be heard in the cheap seats. "WHATEVER PAIN YOU FEEL I HAVE *NOT FORGOTTEN YOU!* I will CUT THIS MISERABLE REPRESENTATION OF PATRIARCHIAL AUTHORITY ASUNDER if it doesn't SPIT" stab with burning blade "YOU" stab with burning blade "UP" stab "THIS" stab "INSTANT!!"
DG: Margaret has risked with her Tool Rune Blade - IGNITION! toward her party's challenge, Sand Worm. Rally!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Bessie," Ida says, in between gentle shh'ing sounds and muzzle pats. "It's okay! You don't have to--"
And then Bessie's jaws gape, and Ida is thrown to the sand as violence unfolds upon Lanval. Thankfully, Bessie isn't that aggressive (or maybe she doesn't like how Lanval tastes). Ida picks herself up, brushes herself off, and reaches down to help the distressed Seraph.
'I can't let go of this.'
Ida nods. What can she say to that? What can--
The ground shakes. A giant god damn SANDWORM erupts from beneath, and Ida watches in horror as Rixia disappears into its maw. "Rixia!" Ida shrieks, and she digs armored fingers into the arena wall as the sand starts to destabilize, threatening to pitch her in as well. Margaret's words--her energy, her refusal--steel her, though, and she draws something off her belt. It's a little metal sphere with a cotton wick, and Ida sets it alight...
And then pitches it, fastball-style, into the worm's jaws.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flare Grenade toward her party's challenge, Sand Worm. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.
There are times when a test of one's mettle -- even if they do not wish to fight -- is warranted.
And there are times when another must perish in order for one to accomplish their mission. Amaterasu has grimly set about both of these tasks many times over the course of her very long life.
But there is a difference between both of those circumstances and fighting, in the course of a test bout, something that very much does not wish to fight. Nay, that would scarce put up a struggle should Amaterasu put blade to it!
It would be an insult to her skills and weapon alike. So instead, with all her inhuman strength, Amaterasu opts to push the beast back.
Even if it does incidently eat Lanval on the way.
"Send us a proper challenge," she states, gesturing wide with both empty hands.
The earth trembles. Is this, perhaps, best filed under 'famous last words'?
"Hm."
Lining her brow faintly, Amaterasu stares up at the monster, just after it swallows Rixia whole.
"...No, you are not dead yet, are you?" she speaks, but is it to the worm that she's speaking? "With that strength I sense in you, I imagine you can yet force your way, but... perhaps we might assist you. Very well."
In her left hand she clicks her stopwatch once, starting the timer. "Thirty seconds," she says to the lot of them. "Do not disappoint me."
Valkyrja is again in her hands, extended and blade gleaming. When she flies for the worm, she cuts only once, a streak of light before she touches down in the arena of sand, her gaze only on the stopwatch in her left hand.
DG: Amaterasu has used her Tool Stopwatch toward her party's challenge, Sand Worm. Embolden! Party Combat boosted! Shortsighted! The party will suffer a penalty next round... but not this round!
========================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena *>======================== ==========================<* CHALLENGE - Sand Worm *>=========================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- The iron-barred gate opens up. You only get the briefest glimpse of a massive form within -- because shortly after, it burrows into the sand. Only a few seconds later, the sand in your midst explodes upward. This threatens to knock everyone to their feet, as a huge sand worm emerges. Its round, toothless maw opens... and then it starts trying to swallow members of your party whole! ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, | | Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, Shortsighted:_All_Stats_Down!, and | | Wound:_Combat_Down! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena - Round 4 *>=================== ============================< Results - Sand Worm >============================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 64 --(5)--> 69 Pass Flare Grenade 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amaterasu 32 --(5)--> 37 Pass Stopwatch 3 Combat Effects: Shortsighted and Embo -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 64 --(5)--> 69 Pass Holy Bottle 2 Combat Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rixia 32 --(5)--> 37 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Margaret 32 --(5)--> 37 Pass Rune Blade - IGNITION! 4 Combat Effects: Rally and Risky -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 55 --(20)--> 75 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Wound(2) Effects: Embolden(1)|Resilient(1)|Shortsighted(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey 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> Rixia has posed.
Lanval posits, with wisdom and knowledge, that sandworms are weak to water. And weak to water they are -- especially HOLY water, as spilled from an anti-encounter Holy Bottle, prompting it to SHRIEK and lash and thrash about the arena with reckless abandon, nearly clipping one of the audience stands--
Only for Margaret to streak into existence on its back, drawing underneath its flesh and dragging fiercely as the blade ignites with fury and runes both. Her bold declaration seemingly goes unheard, but...?!
But nothing, Ida hucks a grenade that just simply explodes into a flash of light and discontent into the worm's very own jaw, already breached and hurting from the Holy Bottle, giving Amaterasu the moment to cleave in a flash of light that further rips apart what Margaret already slashes--
--and there is a final rip-and-tear sound as the sandworm's very own belly shreds in half, and Rixia emerges out with a spinning cut, gunblade in hand, grimacing. "That holy bottle... hurts," she murmurs, not breaking her emotionless tenor even as the sandworm collapses.
She looks to Amaterasu again. It suddenly dawns on her who she is. She was the one who challenged her in Alcidamas Village, when she was just cowering and whimpering behind a barrel...
"Before I can force my way... I have to find my way."
DG: Amaterasu has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena *>========================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Malboro Menace *>========================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The crowd is cheering loudly. Your progress through the Monster Arena has
impressed them, and some flowers, gil, and scrips of paper fall down from
the darkened stands. They hush, though, as the iron-barred gate is lifted
one more time.
What emerges is horrifying: a massive plant-like monster, with a dozen
wriggling green and brown tendrils, and a huge, stinking toothed maw that is
open. It spews out a cone of foul breath, which makes the sand begin to
blacken -- and inflicts all manner of ailments. Then, tendrils lash out,
grabbing at you, as it tries to draw you into that huge, fanged mouth!
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, |
| Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, |
| Shortsighted:_All_Stats_Down!, Slow:_Agility_Down!, Stupify:_Wits_Down!, |
| Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.
And just like that, Amaterasu clicks the stopwatch.
"28 seconds... hmm," she comments, furrowing her brow. "Cutting it close. Nevertheless, you succeeded," she says.
Perhaps it's in the same moment that Rixia recognizes her that she recognizes Rixia. "...Ah, I had wondered if we had met before. You have grown," she tells her.
"But there is far, far more for you to grow yet. Come-- if it is your 'way' that you seek, here is the means by which you will find it! Here on this field, show all the world your mettle--"
Flowers and streamers of paper are already falling on the field in which they have fought (and pushed one reluctant Behemoth back from whence she came). The cheers ring out into the arena -- surely, they must be audible even outside this hidden place. But like the tide, a hush descends upon the venue as the last gate slowly begins to open.
The smell will reach them first, seconds before it pours forth into the arena. If anyone has spent much time at all in Spira, they might know this for what it is.
Malboro. Not only fierce, not only strong. Not only adept with inflicting toxins and ailments of all stripes and colors...
...but it smells really, really bad, too.
Even Amaterasu, until this point the picture of warriorly poise, wrinkles her nose and frowns deeply.
"Ten seconds," she says, tapping again her stopwatch. This challenge isn't for them.
No, it's for her. To see if she can kill it before the reek gets worse.
DG: Amaterasu has used her Tool Stopwatch toward her party's challenge, Malboro Menace. Embolden! Party Combat boosted! Shortsighted! The party will suffer a penalty next round... but not this round!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida lets out a sharp breath as the crowd starts to roar. Would they be roaring as loudly if Rixia hadn't cut herself free? She brushes sand off her top, and then takes a swig of water. The ground shifts a little as the Fiend's corpse dissolves into Pyreflies, but the ground crew knows how to compensate. At least it means much less mess.
"Nice save," Ida says to the Hellion. A streamer lands on her shoulder, and she just leaves it. "Looks like this is the final bout, but..."
What's that smell?
Oh. Oh no.
Ida's face seizes into a rictus of disgust as it hits her in earnest. "Malboro," she says, and she feels her throat constricting, as if rejecting the idea of having to breathe or smell or taste in these conditions. Ida pulls a handkerchief free and ties it around her face--as if it would do any good--and then the tremendous Fiend is in the arena. "Flare out!" Ida shouts, and she hurls another of those spheres right towards the creature's eyestalks. She tosses Devil's Due into her right hand, takes aim, and opens fire, emptying the entire mag into the Malboro's body. She's trusting in her comrades to handle themselves, because she's watching for the slightest tell of--
Bad Breath--
Which, if she's heard rightly, lingers on you for WEEKS if you're unlucky.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flare Grenade toward her party's challenge, Malboro Menace. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval has to take a step back as Rixia dramatically emerges out from inside of that sandworm, and it doesn't appear like there's an otherworldly mimic in there to come out and repeat the world around them. Which is good, because no one who willingly goes inside a sandworm ought be repeated or do any repeating, it bears repeating.
...ahem
"It's not comfortable fer many like ya," Lanval says. "...If it meansh anything, 'm not doin' it ta make ya go away." The contents of a Holy Bottle are not particularly selective - just about every 'monstrous' entity hates it, which is a strange but useful trait against a wide swatch of prospective threats to travelers.
Celebratory joy fills the air. Streamers and flowers, all over the place. Seraph Lanval's native Seraphic Domain deals in small joys, watching how the tired, dull Hellion lethargically adjusts to the whole of their situation as they come to grips with themselves and their capabilities.
Amaterasu mentions something about 'ten seconds' as a Malboro shows up. Lanval's not even looking that way. He just throws the Holy Bottle and its remnants over his shoulder to go inside its maw.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Holy Bottle toward his party's challenge, Malboro Menace. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
Rixia listens to Amaterasu's estimation. 28 seconds...
"... a second is a precious commodity," Rixia seems to agree, in her own, almost dream-like way, the way she vaguely alludes to an answer... though it seems like the mention of time seems to intrigue her. "I won't waste it."
Amaterasu tells her she's grown, but there's far more for her to grow into... and how here, she can show her mettle--
The crowd is already throwing flowers and gil and all sorts of things onto her -- the fact that the petals and bouquets and coins are all suspended around her just seem to intrigue them more.
Then, there's a smell...
"... I've become accustomed to these from the Omega Ruins," Rixia quietly remarks, as Ida takes the initiative and throws a flare grenade to cover her approach. Rixia leaps to action, and yet, the uneven ground causes her to slide and uncomfortably descend, where she gets into the path of the Malboro's bad breath--
--2.23 seconds--
Oh no. She's a miniature Frog now, though somehow, the silver dress, horns and little wings still are present even in her very toady form. But... never let it be said that Frogs are completely helpless.
--4.53 seconds--
*ribbit*
Lanval mentions how he's not doing it on purpose, but she's not in form to respond at present. She hops to avoid the Holy Bottle's effects, and is--
--7.23 seconds--
is charging the Malboro Menace?! She's foolish! What could she possibly do in that form?! This is the end of that hellion! Utter madness--
>> junction status-j death
--9.93 seconds--
*bop*
The Frog biffs against the side of the Malboro very, very, very lightly, for 1 damage.
... but it's got instant death riding on it ...
DG: Rixia has contributed a risky Combat Action toward her party's challenge, Malboro Menace. DG: Margaret has used her Tool Rune Blade - IGNITION! toward her party's challenge, Malboro Menace. Rally!
========================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena *>========================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Malboro Menace *>========================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The crowd is cheering loudly. Your progress through the Monster Arena has
impressed them, and some flowers, gil, and scrips of paper fall down from
the darkened stands. They hush, though, as the iron-barred gate is lifted
one more time.
What emerges is horrifying: a massive plant-like monster, with a dozen
wriggling green and brown tendrils, and a huge, stinking toothed maw that is
open. It spews out a cone of foul breath, which makes the sand begin to
blacken -- and inflicts all manner of ailments. Then, tendrils lash out,
grabbing at you, as it tries to draw you into that huge, fanged mouth!
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, |
| Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, |
| Shortsighted:_All_Stats_Down!, Slow:_Agility_Down!, Stupify:_Wits_Down!, |
| Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena - Round 5 *>=================== ==========================< Results - Malboro Menace >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 69 --(5)--> 74 Pass Flare Grenade 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amaterasu 37 --(5)--> 42 Pass Stopwatch 3 Combat Effects: Shortsighted and Embo -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 69 --(5)--> 74 Pass Holy Bottle 2 Combat Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rixia 37 --(5)--> 42 Pass Fight 1 Combat Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Margaret 37 --(5)--> 42 Pass Rune Blade - IGNITION! 3 Combat Effects: Rally -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ida Everstead-Rey 75 --(35)--> 110 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Injure(1)|Slow(2)|Stupify(2)|Weaken(2)|Wound(2) Effects: Embolden(1)|Resilient(1)|Shortsighted(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Ida Everstead-Rey has successfully explored Calm Lands - Monster Arena!
========================<* Calm Lands - Monster Arena *>========================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Enchanted Chocobo Feather *>===================
| Type: Discovery | Dungeon Ability: Conclusion | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You have carried the day at the Monster Arena. The crowd showers you with
cries of victory and cheers -- and some gil, to boot. You are ushered
through a small door to the side, where you stand before a Guado woman who
helps run this place. She smiles at you.
"Well done! Please, enjoy," she says. She hands each of you a yellow chocobo
feather -- with a faint glow to it. It has some magic in it, and, if used,
can make a person much faster for a time. "We hope to see you return, and
try your luck again!"
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, |
| Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, |
| Shortsighted:_All_Stats_Down!, Slow:_Agility_Down!, Stupify:_Wits_Down!, |
| Treasure:_Exploration_Up!, Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Amaterasu has posed.
The clock is ticking. For the sake of Amaterasu's pride as a warrior -- and more importantly, their general personal aroma for the next day and a bit -- will they be able to down such a terrible Fiend before they suffer a cruel fate?
Or, as in Rixia's case, quickly Toaded by an exhalation of the Fiend's breath at close range, a crueler one.
Attacks fly at the Malboro from various angles and by various means: Amaterasu leaps into the fray severing tendrils as the seconds tick down.
Lanval and Ida do their best to fight from a distance, with Ida taking one of the eyestalks out as Lanval opts to simply huck holy water right into its slavering maw.
One eye down. Tendrils severed. And the whole of the Fiend shudders as the holy water seeps into its 'flesh'. But it's still standing.
But it still draws itself up.
But it still begins to inhale.
There's not as much room to maneuver this time. One Breath and it's all over--
--9.94 seconds--
Except the presence of a particularly well-dressed little frog has gone unnoticed. One damage is one damage, but one damage when it has an instant death spell riding shotgun, well...
The Malboro folds in on itself more or less and dissipates into so many floating Pyreflies. It may only be in everyone's theatre of the mind, but is that victory fanfare playing, right now?
The crowd has gone absolutely wild. Someone's shouting about new champions, something about a prize. Huh, a prize. Did someone say that there was a prize?
(there's also free money, for those inclined to pick up the gil getting showered upon their collective heads)
But eventually, eventually, everyone is ushered aside, away from the arena floor and into the backrooms which most of them had entered this tourney from. Here, a smiling Guado woman presents unto each of them their very own magical chocobo feather. It has the power to make someone move more quickly for a time.
"We hope to see you again!"