2024-02-17: Welcome to Scraphaven!
- Log: Welcome to Scraphaven!
- Cast: Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna, Seraph Lanval, Holly, Avril Vent Fleur, Luna Meitner
- Where: Adelyn Ranchlands
- Date: February 17, 2024
- Summary: Venturing into Scraphaven, a group meets with the many hazards of the underground junkyard -- but not without recompense.
DG: A party led by Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna is now entering Scraphaven. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Critters and Constructs *>====================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Welcome to Scraphaven: an underground city cobbled together from ancient
technological wreckage. Every piece of architecture in this junkyard
civilization is a patchwork quilt of welded metal and active machinery. The
population is exclusively made of rabbit-like beastfolk with large ears and
tiny bodies, though some have other animal features in the mix. The tallest
of them might be half the size of the average human.
And they are a lively bunch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5PzT2zDlU
Song and dance fill the streets, the diminutive locals of Scraphaven freely
playing bizarre amalgamations of musical instruments fitted with too many
buttons and levers. Mechanical automatons with mismatched bodies mill about
to their own uncanny rhythm and assist in the city's general maintenance,
while those not participating have no problem navigating the busy streets of
their home by running across wires of electric lights strung above.
If you wish to explore deeper into the junkyard ruins, your first task is
getting past this impromptu parade.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has posed.
Not too long ago, a Paladin of Eluria by the name of Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has arrived in Ignas, after spending entirely too long in Eluria fighting a Fell Dragon. News of what's happened in Eluria has slowly trickled from her account, as well as those of some of the purified survivors of Eluria...
And now, having arrived in Ignas, what is a Hero to do?
( ! ) Welcome to Scraphaven!
SFX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1vemeJOjJM
... ... yeah, she's taking a Quest on, because that is the Hero's prerogative, when they don't have any other pressing needs. By the time Caoimhe arrives in Scraphaven, after entreating several other Drifters.
And perhaps having some hangers-on mysteriously lurking in the darkness, because what is a Paladin without a possibly treacherous, dark-clad, Dragoon-adjacent foil?
...
A parade is the last thing Caoimhe expects, given that the assigner of the quest largely spoke of the junkyard ruins. She looks incredibly out of place, being much taller than the average rabbit-folk here, and also armoured and in her sandy-yellow cape.
But the music...
"I have not heard of such instruments before. There is a certain... effort to their construction, and a modest timbre, but the composition is much too... fulsome."
That's what she's latching onto?
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Ha ha ha!" There's familiar laughter, of a mirthful quality, give or take a few notches on the RGB hex values. Slightly more red, bit more green... about there. Ahem.
Seraph Lanval has been missing for a period of time that is far too short to be of any sort of grave concern, but long enough that someone probably handed out a quest marker to find him, because... well.
"Heyyyyy~" Lanval's voice calls to the gathered. "Ya all oughtta join in on thish~" He's just ambling along with the parade without a care in the world. Are they still in the world? Does Filgaia contain such bountiful joy in places, sometimes?
He stops in place at one point, one eye opening half-lidded as he considers the knight of a distant, fallen land, looking up and scratching at his chin as those voluminous beard hairs part like that of a waterfall.
"...That'sh... kinda the fun of it. Shometimesh, ya jusht wanna make a li'l noishe 'caushe ya feel it. Or a lot!" That is the sage advice he gives Eluria's Paladin, as a mutual stranger. He's not sure if she can hear him, but he's become a bit too accustomed to people being able to do so sometimes.
Whatever the case, there is a joyful presence among them, and... maybe he should probably pack it up and go with the lot that's arriving here now before too long.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Critters and Constructs. DG: Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Critters and Constructs.
<Pose Tracker> Holly has posed.
Holly is.. doing her usual thing. Getting into trouble because natural curiosity will be her bane eventually. Again.
Rumors of a hidden tech city and her own history have gotten something of a spark going though and she's finally managed to find it! And she's been poking around quite a bit, documenting things in an itty bitty notebook.
The distant sound of a parade is.. not what she was expecting. What was she expecting though? She drifts that way. High above the height of most people. Drifting, exploring, maybe not paying as much attention as she should be.
As she nears, she hears at least one familiar voice at least. "When don't you like making noise though?" She calls out in a teasing tone. Still floating high and above all lazy-like. Watching the parade on one side, then turning her head to focus on the others as they speak.
"I figure it gives good acoustics when you've got the big ears like that." She holds her fingers up to mimic the bunny ears. "Used to try and set up similar things back home in some of the teaching rooms. Just.. not with instruments like this in particular."
DG: Holly has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Critters and Constructs.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Are they always so lively?" Avril wonders, one hand resting against the side of her face. "...It is rather loud, isn't it..."
She had come to a decision with her friends just days prior, and the time will soon come when the lot of them head east. But first, there are things to see and do on the Ignas continent, and among them--
Well, she had heard a rumor about Scraphaven and their request for assistance, so of course she had ventured forth. Machines and tinkering were interests of hers after all. But it appears that what she had expected and the reality of the place are rather... different.
"Oh! Lanval!" Amidst the cacophany, she has spotted a familiar face. "Have you come to assist as well? --Oh, well... Actually, I had thought to come and see what it was that we could do to lend them our aid," she says. "It appears they would like some outside assistance repelling monsters."
Besides, it really is rather loud.
"...That paladin..." She turns her head, spotting a familiar form amidst the cacophany. "Oh--"
The parade stops for no one, as Avril finds. At this rate she'll get swept up in it and then where will she be? Well, yes, in a parade, sure, but besides that! "Lucadia--!"
It's a strange place to apply the power of the Guardians, but, well.
Avril is a strange girl.
Leaping to a sheetmetal overhang, her Medium in her arms, she makes to try to cover ground above the meandering parade along the overhead wires.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Critters and Constructs. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Luna Meitner has posed.
Now what could possibly be treacherous about the young, 15-year-old girl with a spear and an overly serious demeanor, who apparently wandered into Eluria alone (and survived), who is Resonant, a self-proclaimed warrior, and who has boldly declared that she 'serves no gods' on at least two occasions.
(She also almost lost her temper at being called 'Kiddo' some few nights previous, but nobody in the vicinity was in attendance to witness that lapse.)
Luna seemed to have a habit of drifting back and forth at her leisure, not tending to stick around in a large group for too long before splitting off to take care of her own business. And so it has today that she has shown up, seemingly out of nowhere and by a different path, to witness...
A parade.
Her normally stoic frown deepens just a tad as she observes it. She nods to Caoimhe, briefly. "Greetings." Then she looks to Lanval--and yes, she is looking directly at him, and considers his words. "I think not."
There is a glance cast upwards for Holly, and a momentary, scrutinizing stare before she looks back down at the parade. She gives a nod to Avril, as well. "Hello."
From a side pouch she pulls a vial with an orange liquid, pops the cap off, and imbibes it. Magic flows through her, and then she's off, jumping lightly up several crates and machinery to get to a string of lights, and then somehow manages to run along them, high above the procession, leaping nimbly from one strand to the next with only the barest moment needed to find purchase.
DG: Luna Meitner has used her Tool Pegasus Draught toward her party's challenge, Critters and Constructs. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Critters and Constructs *>====================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Welcome to Scraphaven: an underground city cobbled together from ancient
technological wreckage. Every piece of architecture in this junkyard
civilization is a patchwork quilt of welded metal and active machinery. The
population is exclusively made of rabbit-like beastfolk with large ears and
tiny bodies, though some have other animal features in the mix. The tallest
of them might be half the size of the average human.
And they are a lively bunch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5PzT2zDlU
Song and dance fill the streets, the diminutive locals of Scraphaven freely
playing bizarre amalgamations of musical instruments fitted with too many
buttons and levers. Mechanical automatons with mismatched bodies mill about
to their own uncanny rhythm and assist in the city's general maintenance,
while those not participating have no problem navigating the busy streets of
their home by running across wires of electric lights strung above.
If you wish to explore deeper into the junkyard ruins, your first task is
getting past this impromptu parade.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! and Quicken:_Agility_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================ =======================< Results - Scraphaven - Round 1 >======================= ====================< CHALLENGE - Critters and Constructs >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 0 --(8)--> 8 Bad Rush Bsc Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Best Sea Medium Min Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna Meitner 0 --(0)--> 0 Best Pegasus Draught Min Agility Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Holly 0 --(0)--> 0 Good Rush Bsc Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 0 --(0)--> 0 Good Rush Bsc Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2) Effects: Quicken(1) = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 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> Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has posed.
A being of revelry, so ensconced in the waters of the world, is here. Caoimhe's reaction to Seraph Lanval's advice comes with a tightly stuttered noise, before she remarks, "... there was once someone who held that opinion too. Someone who did truly enjoy the world."
A long pause, and then she turns her head... not in the right direction. "You are a... spirit. The scent of the dusts of Ignas pass through you... yet I can breathe in everything from fine wine, to moonshine, to petrichor in your being."
Holly points out that their big ears want big noise, and Caoimhe is forced to consider this. "... I see. Perhaps my worldview is limited." There is a consideration. "You have the scent of magic and script about you... you must be a Faerie. How long has it been, I wonder... ah..."
While the Paladin gets distracted by past thoughts, though, the familiar voice of Avril draws her attention. "Lanval. Lady Avril, is this an acquaintance of yours?" But then Avril calls for Lucadia, and easily springs over the awnings and passes through with no effort.
And also...
"... Luna Meitner," she calls out, before she even turns to face her. "So our paths cross again." Luna, too, flees across using the rooftops and crates as her chosen path, her orange liquid invigorating her.
Caoimhe, meanwhile...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N4VSqahWCM
The Paladin has finally waded through the crowd, having no particular capability or desire to just leap through the rooftops despite... showing such prowess in Eluria.
"... the heat and noise... the cold comfort of night this is not... ahhhh... oh, blackened Sun..."
She's not doing *terribly* well.
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Missable Item *>=========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Some of the automatic machinery here is miraculously still in operation
without being maintained. Mechanical arms dig through a pit of scrap like a
crane game to pull large, chunky prizes into a crusher, chomping down with
ear piercing, grinding screeches. It looks like a giant mouth... no wonder
the locals won't go near it.
The collection it's working with has thinned over the years, so it's often
/re/crushing metal. ABC scrap! Or crushing rocks. Sometimes, it crushes
nothing.
Right now it's crushing something -- something that, upon a second glance,
is still valuable. There's a working power cell within the debris the
machine will smash, and if you don't grab it fast, it'll be destroyed for
good!
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up!, |
| Quicken:_Agility_Up!, and Treasure:_Exploration_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Avriiiil~" Lanval calls. "Yep! Shomethin' like that. But they were havin' sho much fun, I decided ta join it~"
He laughs when Holly points out he just likes it. There is a reality out there where Lanval was a Wind Seraph and completely insufferable about it. It is a terrible reality. This one's better.
"...Mmm." He looks up as Luna just tries to play it cool, and then taking in Caoimhe's vocabulary and descriptors of him, he's nodding along, and... he steps away from all of that once Caoimhe's out of the crowd.
"...Well, if it meansh anything... glad yer here, though we jusht met. 'm Lanval, a Seraph!"
For the most part they're ushered along in directions. Which direction? Sometimes the scrap tunnels start to scrape against violations of the laws of space, but they're going somewhere, getting to see the sights of ancient machinery still chugging along their tasks. They do seem to present at least some need to do so, with huge mechanical arms pulling junk into a crusher on a belt.
The locals don't want to go too close, and with the sounds things being crushed makes, uhh... their ears must be that sensitive because yikes, that is loud and screechy and awful.
"Mmm," Lanval leans forward, squinting. "Y'know, I got some good friendsh that might like the shtuff they're 'bout ta throw away," assuming some of these scrap feeds are even being utilized directly by the population here, this scrapper's just kind of... going, like an animated .gif that will never know a deviation from its loop.
He sits down and starts to blow some bubbles off a kiseru-style smoking pipe, blowing bubbles, that can catch some of the worthless garbage and scrap that starts to get dropped to the belt feed into the crusher, but... isn't that something shiny that might already be on the way? Very, very shiny, like--
At least one person here might recognize it's actually valuable and worth reaching out to grab it ASAP!
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Bubble Pipe toward his party's challenge, Missable Item. Rally!
<Pose Tracker> Holly has posed.
Holly hesitates, having been asked how long it's been. After the suggestion she must be a fairy causing a double take. Looking down at herself, arms outstretched, then behind her with a twist. She won't admit for a moment she thought maybe an illusion had been left or something.
"Been a long while I'm sure." And leaves it at that. Nope. Don't think too long on it all. Not at all. Nope! There is a pause though as she watches the strange woman. Then she slowly drifts that way, trying to get a feel for the armor as much as anything.
Luna's scrutiny is met with a bland look. "Yo." She offers with a wave.
She returns the favor towards Avril though. She spotted something familiar..ish. She'll poke about it later. Maybe take notes. Scribble things down. Talk her ear off. The usual.
Lanval calls out that there's kit that's recoverable. She looks over, interrupted in trying to place the armor design and.. well. She's small and fast and she's got magic to boost it further! She flits over with a, "One sec-" and uses a bit of that innate fairy goodness to dart along. She might have forgotten about heals, but going faster.. well.
DG: Holly has used her Tool Strange Wind toward her party's challenge, Missable Item. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round!
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I see..." she remarks, when Lanval explains that he just got caught up in the celebrations, so to speak.
"Yes," Avril says of Lanval, "he is. Lanval, this is Caoimhe. She is a 'paladin'," she explains, phrasing the word as if it were exotic or unusual in some regard.
She is still wrapping her mind around holy warriors being a real, actual thing and not something from a storybok it seems...
There is one key thing to mind about running along a wire: that is to not stop moving, no matter what. With Lucadia's grace enhancing her footfalls, along with her own steady and well-balanced approach, Avril soon crosses over the extent of the parade to find herself--
Well, beyond the parade.
"I wonder... is there not someone to whom we might speak?" Avril muses, glancing back at the retreating tail-end of the parade. "Perhaps there is somewhere we might best apply ourselves."
But there's no guidance save for the tunnels that lead ahead, and so forward they go.
Eventually, they find before then a grinder, breaking down rubble and debris. "So this is what happens to waste," Avril muses, regarding the crusher for one long moment before the sudden SCREEEKRUNCHKRUNCHCRUNCH of something getting smashed to bits makes her step backwards in alarm. "Oh--"
Something shiny is descending towards the crusher, though. It almost seems like it might be valuable, because it's very, very shiny.
This is a moment where Rebecca would have probably said something along the lines of 'absolutely not. no. never'. Dean, on the other hand...
Unfortunately, Avril shares some traits in common with Dean and suddenly races towards the belt feed to try and save the shiny, shiny object.
Fortunately, she still bears in her arms the artificial Medium, which shines with an inner light.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, Missable Item. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Luna Meitner has posed.
Their paths cross again. "So it seems," Luna acknowledges quietly.
Holly's 'Yo' is met with a simple nod. "Hello."
She makes her way quickly over the parade, jumping from one string of lights to the next and somehow managing to avoid all of the rabbit beastfolk that might also be traversing them at the same time. Once she clears the parade she lands with a flip into a crouch, and then looks to Avril. She doesn't say anything, but she is considering that the other woman did the same thing, but with the power of the Guardians.
Though, despite her propensity to strike off on her own, she does actually see fit to wait for Caoimhe to catch up. She simply finds an out of the way spot to sit, cross-legged, and seems to meditate to pass the time.
She does look to Lanval as he introduces himself to Caoimhe. "Luna Meitner," she says as she gets up, which must be her own name.
They proceed, and eventually come along a scrapping machine that seems to be eternally chewing through scrap. There is a very lightly puzzled expression on her face as she looks over the machinery at work. "Surely most of this is already in a ruined state. Does it serve a purpose to destroy it further...?"
But there is something of value in all the mess, and once identified, Luna frowns as her eyes trace over everything that's happening. There's a lot of moving parts, but... Luna reaches behind her, grabs both her bow and an arrow in a smooth motion, and takes aim. She looses several arrows, and and they explode on contact with several gears into a sticky, gooey mess taht quickly dries into a hard gel.
The machine hitches, but the gel is already cracking. There won't be much time.
DG: Luna Meitner has used her Tool Perfectly Ordinary Bow toward her party's challenge, Missable Item. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has posed.
Caoimhe's armour is not an ancient relic of the past, even if it bears the magnificence of crystal that might make one think it's a priceless heirloom; the heraldry of Eluria is on her standard, but that may not mean much to Holly.
"A Seraph... I do not know that word," Caoimhe admits, perhaps this time not brooking complaint of 'paladin' being a strange word to Avril.
They arrive at a room with an agonising noise -- a machine that pulls junk into a crusher on a belt. Caoimhe seems offended by this. "... such cacophony."
Lanval points out that he has friends interested in such items, but Caoimhe... does not move to pursue. It would be terribly dangerous for someone like her, after all.
That's right, folks, the evil truth has come out.
Caoimhe is an antagonist... because she's a Hero who doesn't find every item in a dungeon!!!
Rather fatigued from the onset of the parade, the Paladin takes a moment to draw a waterskin -- which has been adjusted with a strap to be usable one-handed -- and hydrates.
"Lady Avril. Are you a Baskar Shaman?" she inquires, out of the blue, perhaps reminded of Lucadia because of water. "I know Lucadia... the Guardian of the Sea." And just like that, Avril shows the power of Lucadia once more, as she bolts towards the object.
Feeling a rising tension inside of her, Caoimhe steps forward at the ready -- Holy Sword over her shoulder. No, she's not going to attempt to save the item, but... if it looks like Avril might misstep, she'll intervene -- by destroying the crusher, as a precaution alongside Luna's sticky arrows.
DG: Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Missable Item.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Missable Item *>=========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Some of the automatic machinery here is miraculously still in operation
without being maintained. Mechanical arms dig through a pit of scrap like a
crane game to pull large, chunky prizes into a crusher, chomping down with
ear piercing, grinding screeches. It looks like a giant mouth... no wonder
the locals won't go near it.
The collection it's working with has thinned over the years, so it's often
/re/crushing metal. ABC scrap! Or crushing rocks. Sometimes, it crushes
nothing.
Right now it's crushing something -- something that, upon a second glance,
is still valuable. There's a working power cell within the debris the
machine will smash, and if you don't grab it fast, it'll be destroyed for
good!
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up!, Quicken:_Agility_Up!, and |
| Treasure:_Exploration_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
=======================< Results - Scraphaven - Round 2 >=======================
=========================< CHALLENGE - Missable Item >==========================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 8 --(21)--> 29 Worst
Rush Bsc Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(21)--> 21 Bad
Sea Medium Min Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luna Meitner 0 --(5)--> 5 Best
Perfectly Ordinary Bow Min Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holly 0 --(5)--> 5 Best
Strange Wind Min Agility Effects: Cleanse and
Inefficient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval 0 --(5)--> 5 Best
Bubble Pipe Maj Agility Effects: Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 20 --(25)--> 45 Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1), Hesitate(1), and Treasure(1)
Effects: Cleanse and Quicken(1)
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 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> Seraph Lanval has posed.
If that 'something shiny' is crushed... well, there might not be anything else like it ever again. Is the value of something determined by how it glints against what lighting is available? (contemporary game design says yes)
Luna sets things up by hitching the machine with that quick-drying gel, buying everyone else some time to rescue the... shiny thing. Holly engages in her fairy magic to help close the distance (and help the others involved do so).
It is Avril that makes the move, drawing on her inner Dean to run forth and rescue the item of interest, and it's looking close... closer... very close... one might be playing with fate here... perhaps there is a thread that will come to an end, tonight.
Caoimhe steps forward, for she bears a blade that slays evil. One would say a crusher is an ultimately neutral force of nature, done only to do what is designed without any sense of morality, right, or wrong.
But she moves forth, all the same, just as it seems like Luna's handiwork will fail.
The crusher is destroyed in a simple, clean gesture, and nudging off the belt by Caoimhe's feet...
She bravely saves a little toaster, which falls into a pile with an electric blanket, a charming old lamp, a vacuum cleaner, and whatever the hell the thing with the rod and the dials is. (Holly would be hard-pressed to name it.)
Avril can claim the prize, something... very shiny, unique, and great to have that everyone will celebrate picking up but then maybe forget ever having alongside a pile of other items acquired of similar means.
(In the background, the natives cheer. The crusher is no more! They're all heroes!)
Lanval, meanwhile, enjoys a range of prizes that are of zero value and aren't shiny, because he thinks they look neat.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Robots Recycle YOU *>======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Before you were given permission to enter Scraphaven, you were told not to
destroy any metal friends that were still operational, no matter how grumpy
they acted. Working constructs from the past are sacred beings to these
people, but so long as you preserve their 'souls' -- whatever the core of
their operation is -- you can probably get away with roughing up a machine's
chassis.
It's an important fact to remember when the next heap of junk contains
dozens of red lights flickering to life like so many hungry eyes. You are
waylaid by glitching repair drones flying at you with buzzy wings,
screeching in broken tones and trying to dismantle your flesh with
tool-based limbs.
Individually, they're not sturdy. But they're fast, precise, and /numerous/.
They have to be dealt with carefully to preserve your reputation, but
they're not about to be careful with you!
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up! and Quicken:_Agility_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I am no shaman," Avril answers, direct as always. "Nearly any person may use a Medium such as this," she adds by way of explanation, and indeed, the Medium she bears is octagonal and looks to have been forged from metal -- a technological innovation rather than any true exemplar of the Baskar approach. "This is an artificial Medium," she adds, if to add further context to the item she uses. "It... is similar to a Baskar Medium, yet they have had no hand in creating one."
That is the simpler explanation to start, at least, without getting well into the weeds regarding how it works. Or why it was created.
There's something about that small shining thing. Something that provokes Avril to go for it (in other circuits of the loop, it was missed and dearly felt for its absence in time).
But this grasp for something important doesn't come without its costs. For a moment, fate itself dances on an knife's edge as Avril seizes the item, cutting close to becoming swept up into the crusher itself. And yet, it is the edge of a sword that sees a terrible fate averted.
Avril takes a step back, the small shining object held close in her arms and takes a good long look at the ruined crusher. "Oh... I did not realize," she says, perhaps gleaning her own near miss. "Thank you, Caoimhe."
She bows her head, as if to thereby further express her thanks. With care, she tucks away that small innocuous thing.
A cheer rises up close at hand. They've destroyed the fiendish crusher! The cheering is suddenly punctuated by a shout of, "Oh no! They're back!"
The cheering is replaced by screaming, and the sudden departure of very many tiny feet! The reason for such dismay will be found just over the next hill of trash and scrap in the form of some very aggressive and not at all nice repair drones. They're in the fritz! That's bad!
Throwing her hand out before her, Avril summons forth a five-point array of hovering darts of ice. One after the other, they fly through the air for the drones.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Robots Recycle YOU.
<Pose Tracker> Luna Meitner has posed.
It is hard to tell if Luna is relieved that the shiny object was saved without any loss of life or limb. At the very least she is not disappointed, so perhaps that's the most one can ask for in this situation, as she regards the results with a stoic expression.
She does mutter something under her breath about 'boil the babble for longer', though.
She turns, when the inhabitants cheer for the destruction of the crusher. "... Why do they celebrate that which they could have accomplished themselves?"
She regards the object Avril rescued for a moment, but turns her head quickly enough when shouts 'f Oh no, they're back!' ring out. She is quick to take up her spear in hand, following Avril to the danger.
Out of control repair bots. She has no great love for machines, but she did hear that warning. (Whether she entered the normal way and thus was given that lecture directly or she bypassed it by some mysterious means and just happened to hear it being given to someone else is left up to the imagination of the viewer.)
She charges forward, right towards the automata. She springs up, high in the air over the group of automata, and then--comes crashing down at the ground and sending out a shockwave from within the group. From their her spear flicks out in several precise cuts, going for arms and legs, non-critical parts that will nonetheless disable them without rendering them nonfunctional. (Aside from the need to replace a limb, of course.)
DG: Luna Meitner has used her Tool Perfectly Ordinary Spear toward her party's challenge, Robots Recycle YOU.
<Pose Tracker> Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has posed.
Caoimhe's blade is careful to not utterly destroy the crusher -- owing to the warnings of the denizens of Scraphaven. Rather than shattering it entirely, the Holy Sword slices the mechanism just so that its function is ceased, but entirely able to be repaired later.
"... it is my duty, my Lady," Caoimhe bows quietly.
Avril explains how she bears an artificial Medium, and a noise of confusion and surprise comes from the Paladin. "Artificial?"
Unfortunately, well, Caoimhe can't see the artificial Medium herself, but-- "... it is as you say. It bears the scent of tempered metal, not worked stone. She never spoke of this... I wonder if she knew..."
Before she can elucidate as to who she speaks of, though, the crowd disperses as they scream of something terrifying having come back. A numerous amount of repair drones have arrived, and they look strangely hungry, and seek to dismantle flesh.
"... the petitioner sought for us to disable, and not destroy. The Holy Sword is ill suited for a task such as this."
It is a huge sword that largely can only crush and shatter what it touches. But for some time now, several coloured ribbon have existed underneath Caoimhe's right shoulder plate, sneaking into her cloak. She reaches her head down and bites down on one of them -- royal blue in colour -- and yanks with her teeth, drawing the blue ribbon...
...and out pops... a Crest Graph!
Taking hold of the Graph to her lips for a moment, the Paladin adopts a spellcasting stance, the skirts around her lower armour fluttering with the power she's manifesting.
"Geo and Fray are abundant here..." The symbols for the Ley gather around her, as fire and earth pulses swirl in bands and collapse into the graph in her hand.
"Eraser."
The spell manifests, and several motes of light emerge from the Paladin -- and several rays of light play around the field, taking precisely ninety degree angles as they seek to carefully dismantle the drones.
DG: Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Robots Recycle YOU.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Perhaps, they are about to be haunted by the souls of those who were felled by the terrible metal friend cannibal that was the crusher, but the theology of the residents of this place can be a riveting discussion for another time.
"Heyyy, what givesh," Lanval calls as one of the scrap things he was playing with comes to life - it's one of the repair drones in question - as they start flailing towards the more corporeally inclined with their limbs.
Lanval's eyes open half-lidded as a pitched battle to save oneself, life and limb, from malfunctioning repair drones goes in earnest as a Paladin relies on what means are available to her in circumstances where her sword cannot be brought to bear.
To the side, Lanval pulls out a shining bottle of sanctified water, an all-purpose repellant of Lunarian make, and as the action swivels and swerves about everyone's attempts to protect themselves...
Lanval somehow has found a spray nozzle to attach to it, starting to spray down one such drone like one might a misbehaving pet.
"No." Spritz, spritz.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Holy Bottle toward his party's challenge, Robots Recycle YOU. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
<Pose Tracker> Holly has posed.
Holly might actually know what the thing is. It's that one thing. Don't worry about it.
The fact that the medium isn't a normal medium is actually something she's curious about to boot. Even if they've been around long enough.
As for Caoimhe's armor, well even if it's newer she's still fascinated by it. There's advancements and tradition blended in. And she's probably taking some notes with the idea of finding more resources on it so that it can be added to the pile of information. It's cyclical! Though she does want to offer to help with maintenance. Because it's a better chance to look at it.. she doesn't speak up right away. Surprisingly.
They do have a haul though, and she steps around it looking all curious at everything. Nudging at it occasionally. Clearly curious about the details. Finally she shrugs and looks to the others, "Too heavy for me. All yours." And holds her hands up for emphasis. She's a noodle.
With the celebtration happening, there's a call of 'They're back' and she spins to look at what they are. "Who killed Fritz?" she asks, clearly having misheard it. She conjures up streaks of ink to either side of herself. "See, this kind of stuff is neat, but when you don't get in and clean all the odd bits and bobs out they get erratic-" not that she's seen a lot of mobile machines. There were a few examples in the displays that weren't operational, but maybe they had been at one point?
The ink streaks out, far more than the swirls would suggest. Clinging stuff full of all sorts of debilitating curses and hexes. It's what she does.
DG: Holly has used her Tool Withering Curses toward her party's challenge, Robots Recycle YOU. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Robots Recycle YOU *>======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Before you were given permission to enter Scraphaven, you were told not to
destroy any metal friends that were still operational, no matter how grumpy
they acted. Working constructs from the past are sacred beings to these
people, but so long as you preserve their 'souls' -- whatever the core of
their operation is -- you can probably get away with roughing up a machine's
chassis.
It's an important fact to remember when the next heap of junk contains
dozens of red lights flickering to life like so many hungry eyes. You are
waylaid by glitching repair drones flying at you with buzzy wings,
screeching in broken tones and trying to dismantle your flesh with
tool-based limbs.
Individually, they're not sturdy. But they're fast, precise, and /numerous/.
They have to be dealt with carefully to preserve your reputation, but
they're not about to be careful with you!
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, and |
| Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================ =======================< Results - Scraphaven - Round 3 >======================= =======================< CHALLENGE - Robots Recycle YOU >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 29 --(5)--> 34 Best Fight Bsc Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 21 --(13)--> 34 Bad Fight Bsc Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna Meitner 5 --(5)--> 10 Best Perfectly Ordinary Spear Maj Combat Effects: Efficient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Holly 5 --(5)--> 10 Best Withering Curses Min Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 5 --(5)--> 10 Good Holy Bottle Min Combat Effects: Resilient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 45 --(20)--> 65 Pass Conditions: Fright(2) Effects: Embolden(1) and Resilient(1) = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 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> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Yes, artificial. They were made in the ancient past," Avril explains. "They utilize the same principals as a Baskar Medium, yet their origin is quite different." It suggests they are not, precisely, religious items in the same way as the Baskar's are, for one.
"One of the petitioners..." Avril echoes, the slight blankness to her expression suggesting that she had not, in fact, encountered anyone from Scraphaven to this point who had given her direction. It actually rather begs the question of how she got down here in the first place, but never mind that!
"I see. Then I shall take care not to damage them."
The thing about Avril's magic is that, largely, it's not terribly good at precision work. This is well-demonstrated when Avril's attempt to disable -- that is, target points of the drones instead of annihilating them wholesale -- ends up with her barely scratching them. She might have overdone the part where she was trying to pull her hits...
Fortunately, the others have better luck at this tricky task.
Luna, for one is able to put her spear to effective use and takes out the drone rotors to drop a few of them.
Caoimhe's magicwork proves better at careful precision than Avril's, dismantling a few keep motor components to render a few drones immobile but perfectly safe.
Misbehaving drones dislike holy water -- or maybe just dislike water in general! They make themselves scarce and become easy pickings for a few well-placed hexes courtesy of Holly.
No sooner than the last disabled drone hits the junkpile twitching than the cheer goes up again.
"Hooray!"
DG: Luna Meitner has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - No Glass Big Enough *>======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Well, this sure is a room filled with centipedes.
Or some sort of monster resembling a centipede with bladed legs, which might
be worse. They're also a 'you should start worrying about house cats' kind
of large -- or a tiny beastfolk, as the case may be. But they appear...
docile? They gather around strange mechanical contraptions with massive
hands, collecting almost entirely within the palms thanks to smelly, gooey
bait that lulls them into an unaggressive stupor.
There is a colorful sign scrawled in messy wax pastel nearby: 'Scraphaven
Catch and Release Program!!!!!!!!!'
Judging by the operation diagrams, you realize these are catapults with a
literal take on the designs for the arms. Unfortunately, the controls are
stuck! They need a good, hard whack to launch the centipedes to their, um,
natural habitat? That must be how this works.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, |
| Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, and Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Luna Meitner has posed.
Once the battle ends, Kalisa stands up slowly, stowing her spear behind her. She regards Avril curiously. "An artificial means to channel the power of the Guardians. Curious that they would allow such a thing."
But she looks to Caoimhe next, and observes how she tugged on a string to withdraw a crest graph. "Resourceful. You have adapted well to your condition."
Lanval's application of Holy Water through a spray nozzle earns a small tilt of her head. "That is a curious way to apply sanctified water."
And finally, Holly gets a most curious stare. "Is that... ink? That is an unusual choice of manifestation."
But they get another cheer, which only makes Luna frown once more, and she turns, wordlessly, to continue on the path. She's not waiting to get thanked personally, it seems. But in short order they come across another set of odd mechanical creatures, and she is very quick to bring a hand behind her to place it on her spear, half-ready to draw it before she notices--
Oh. They're docile.
Annnnd this is some kind of... catch and release program? Luna frowns deeper as she studies the catapults. She is not well-versed in technology, but a catapult is a simple enough contraption. "I think the difficulty is that these controls are stuck..."
There is a giant lever next to a catapault that would seem to release the mechanism holding the tension, and it does not budge when she squeezes the handle and tries to move it. Luna circles around it, to stand on the lever side of the handle... and then winds up and delivers a massive kick to try and force it to move.
DG: Luna Meitner has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, No Glass Big Enough.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"There ain't no wrong way ta do sho." Lanval points with a finger upwards. "'m a leadin' expert in the field of that!"
...Anyway.
He watches for anyone that might've been hurt after that. With Caoimhe... he wondered why it looked like one of her arms wasn't moving at all. It must be an older wound, he reckons, but one she must be accustomed to. (He spares a look and thought for Avril too, as she's had at least one close call already.)
He stops moving as they come across a large bunch of centipede-like creatures, as if ready to make use of the Holy Bottle again but... no, they're unaggressive at all.
"Mmm. 'Scraphaven,' 'Catch,' 'and,' 'Release,' 'Program.'
Lanval stares at the exclamation marks. "I can't make 'em out."
Anyway.
The Water Seraph ambles along to the giant lever that seems like it should make 'the thing' work, but Luna's struggling to make it work. "'m not good at pushin' shtuff," he says, sitting down and contemplating the drinking gourd on his person.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, No Glass Big Enough.
<Pose Tracker> Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has posed.
"How... mysterious," Caoimhe speaks of Avril's artificial Medium. "Yet I do not think the power is artificial."
Caoimhe's armour has certainly seen better days; especially on her disabled right arm, where it's all but pretty much shattered. Perhaps she just hasn't found the right kind of skilled armourer that can fix crystalline mail.
"Ser Lanval. You say you are a Seraph... does that pertain to a certain faith?" Caoimhe inquires.
Luna complements her, saying that she's adapted well to her condition. "... hmm. I have, in that way... I learnt their magicks, in the end."
In the next room, Caoimhe senses the presence of creatures, as well as the sound of blades -- but somehow, there's no animosity to be had there. Lanval, fortunately, explains what the sign says.
She hears the tension and tautness of something Luna is trying to move -- and then kick. "I see..." she sniffs further. "The scent of grease and bronze suggests this is a mechanism, and the sound of the tension that it holds at present suggests... that level of torque..."
The Paladin stops for a moment and reaches to a pouch, easily reached at her side, and takes out a small, black cylinder from which emerges... ... ...
...
Lipgloss?
She applies some to her lips. It's mostly translucent in colour, with a light, glossy shade. "... my lips were chapped. Would you like some? This is my favourite."
It's a mysterious action, indeed. But after applying the lipgloss, she reaches for the lever to simply drag it down with newfound, cosmetic-powered strength.
DG: Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has used her Tool Waxing Crescent Gloss toward her party's challenge, No Glass Big Enough.
<Pose Tracker> Holly has posed.
Holly tilts her head and smiles at Luna's response to the the question as the robots are suppressed. She claps her hands and says, "Water infused with a lot of magic and secret ingredients. Also occasionally just ink." She shrugs. She swings back and forth in the air while doing so. Someone somewhere might suggest she has an innate element, but she won't admit to it. Or forgot. Maybe. "What would you suggest hm?" She she's rotating slightly between teasing tone and actual question.
"I think they're using this to lure them in without just.. eating them?" She pauses. "Or killing them. I don't know. I like them, they're crunchy with a bit of spice." Which... they weren't. There's a reason she was so excited that Cirea used pepper on fish.
"I can try hitting it?" She offers. Not that she expects it to work or to be taken up on the offer. She's tiny. It's not going to help much.
"You have any more neat crests? Could help with those too-" She pauses, "Like.. adding to them if you don't. Later. Not here. Later." She nods. She's talking a bit fast, but she's not motoring off at least!
"Uh. Oh I'm Holly. Haven't met some of you before." She bobs in a bit of a bow. Now why she was following them? She wasn't thinking about it. Also there were some familiars and all.
As for.. Avril's aim, she does add to the prior statement, "I need some practice too if you want to uh.. that's rude isn't it." She scowls. "Looking for practice buddies for magic. I may have gotten lazy over a century or two of uh.. lazy. Just brute forcing and." She's getting a bit worse. Stumbling awkwardly before quieting up again
DG: Holly has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, No Glass Big Enough.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Avril shakes her head at Caoimhe's statement. "No, it is not. This is their power, lent to me."
Luna remarks that she's surprised that the Guardians would permit such a thing to work. Avril tilts her head slightly to one side as if to consider what she's saying. "The Guardians reflect the wishes and hopes of the people of this world," she says at last. "From us, they are made manifest and in return, we borrow their power. It does not seem strange to me."
The business with the drones could have gone better. But it also could have been worse: Avril could have accidentally obliterated one of them. At Holly's remark, she shakes her head. "No, but thank you. This was an unusual circumstance, I think." Normally, it's just fine to break things with her magic! Who knew.
From there they advance across the mass of scrap before long they find--
Centipedes! Metal ones! Big metal ones!
And the traps that are meant to fling them far, far away from here.
"Hmmm," Avril muses, regarding the trap and the lever. "I believe they meant to eject them from this place."
...yes, avril.
But attempting the lever of this particular trap reveals that all is not... right. This lever is stuck! In fact, it's rusted over. "What if I were to..." Avril says, trailing off as she produces her ARM: it looks to be nothing more than a hilt with a trigger built into it.
She pulls the trigger; from the end there leaps forth a whip of plasma!
And with this she aims for a particular part of the catapult mechanism: if she's right, this will circumvent the need for the lever and make the catapult hurl the offending mechapedes far, far from this place!
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Absolute Zero - Beam Whip toward her party's challenge, No Glass Big Enough. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - No Glass Big Enough *>======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Well, this sure is a room filled with centipedes.
Or some sort of monster resembling a centipede with bladed legs, which might
be worse. They're also a 'you should start worrying about house cats' kind
of large -- or a tiny beastfolk, as the case may be. But they appear...
docile? They gather around strange mechanical contraptions with massive
hands, collecting almost entirely within the palms thanks to smelly, gooey
bait that lulls them into an unaggressive stupor.
There is a colorful sign scrawled in messy wax pastel nearby: 'Scraphaven
Catch and Release Program!!!!!!!!!'
Judging by the operation diagrams, you realize these are catapults with a
literal take on the designs for the arms. Unfortunately, the controls are
stuck! They need a good, hard whack to launch the centipedes to their, um,
natural habitat? That must be how this works.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down! and Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================ =======================< Results - Scraphaven - Round 4 >======================= ======================< CHALLENGE - No Glass Big Enough >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 34 --(0)--> 34 Best Waxing Crescent Gloss Maj Brute Effects: Efficient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 34 --(0)--> 34 Good Absolute Zero - Beam Whip Min Brute Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna Meitner 10 --(0)--> 10 Good Force Bsc Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Holly 10 --(0)--> 10 Bad Force Bsc Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 10 --(0)--> 10 Good Force Bsc Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 65 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2) and Fright(1) Effects: = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 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> Luna Meitner has posed.
Lanval is the leading expert in the application of sanctified water. Luna simply nods. "I suppose you would be, at that." She says nothing as Lanval sits to contempalte the lever, though.
"'Their' magicks? Of whom do you speak?" Luna asks Caoimhe. She's tried a few kicks of the lever by the time that Caoimhe takes her turn at it, and Luna steps back to give her the space to do so. "There is a lever of sorts that must be pulled closed to allow the lever to move, I believe."
Holly asks her for suggestions, and Luna gives a small shake of her head. "It is your magic, do as you will. I do not rely on magic, myself." The next comment gets a "We have not met before." She doesn't complain or object, however, when Holly attempts to take her turn.
There is a long considering look for Avril as she explains the nature of the Guardians lending their power. There is probably a sense of skepticism, or dubiousness, but in the end she simply nods. "Perhaps you know their will better than I."
But Avril contributes a plasma whip to the efforts, and it turns out this is the last piece of the puzzle. There was some rust or debris clogging the lever that kept it from moving, but there was a second blockage in the mechanism itself. With the combined efforts clearing both of these jams, the lever finally moves with a heavy mechanical *ka-thunk*, and with a slow, winding build-up of gears and the sudden release of a spring--
There go the mechanical centipedes, which all curl up into little balls as they're sent flying off to...
Somewhere.
Luna frowns. "We have accomplished... something of worth." She doesn't sound entirely convinced of that, however.
DG: Holly has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Gear Graveyard *>========================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Deeper and deeper you travel, until the pathway underfoot gives way. You
fall, sliding through old tunnels at worrying speeds, out of control and
slipping into depths Scraphaven's markers and maps do not account for.
You will need to provide your own lighting to brighten the chasm you land
in. Giant arms and legs. Crushed heads. Shattered torsos. The occasional
tail or wing. Broken weapons befitting their size. You stand surrounded by
the remains of giant metal bodies. Gears. Decrepit and beyond any reasonable
repair, but with designs not matching any modern construction. These are
creations from an ancient time.
The wreckage and scrap you've been sorting through until now... could it all
ultimately come from relics like these?
If you want to get out of here, you'll have to be clever about how you scale
the wreckage. It's dangerous to be using damaged parts as platforms, and not
a fragment of power remains in this dark, silent place. You are free to take
your time and plot your course -- and you should, lest you fall into an
abyss you cannot see.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down! and Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Holly has posed.
Holding her hands up, Holly nods and says, "Wasn't.. trying to. Uh." She shrugs at Avril's response. Maybe she thinks she overdid it somehow. "I'd assume so though, yeah." She admits. Then nods to the 'Catch and release' part.
"Alcohol mostly from what I've seen." She's teasing Lanval a bit there, answering the religion question, though she adds, "He's better to fill in the real answer though." She couldn't resist! There's.. an odd look at the lipgloss though.
"I know we hadn't!" Then she pauses. Had she mispoken? Oops. "Pretty sure we're at least mostly magic. Rely's an odd word at that point." She spins in the air, spreading a few fairy sparkles. "And I planned on it. So dour so dour.." She gives the serious young woman a strange look. She knew researchers like that. Her opinion of 'You should relax a bit' hasn't changed!
Still, the lighting is getting worse and.. well. The footing is getting worse. She darts ahead, manifesting some fae magic. The stuff she saves for healing! It means she's glowing though. (Green!) Acting like a convenient guide! "Hey listen for your steps, if it starts to groan slow down and back up. I'll try to spot anything too bad and I can also keep an eye out for what looks like structure problems or.. you know, rot or whatever." She's rambling a bit, but it keeps it easy to track! And then off the fairy goes. Just far enough ahead the path ahead is lit.
The path loops over scraps and pieces and as she bobs left and right, it's clear she's checking for other safe places. All while talking about the different machines she's spotting. What she thinks they are, what they might have been. Why this place is so dark.
There might be a concerned look to Caoimhe. She hadn't seemed the swiftest and the armor.. She might tighten her flight so she's closer. Not that she's not looking out for the others as they pick through the darkness!
DG: Holly has used her Tool Librarian's Recitation toward her party's challenge, Gear Graveyard. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted! Shortsighted! The party will suffer a penalty next round... but not this round!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
The centipedes go flying. Lanval gives them a wave and a smile, though it's not clear where they're going, or... maybe it's not their problem. This catch and release program seems to be working well for the residents here, and so it goes.
"Mmm," he looks to the Paladin with her questioning. "...Kinda. My kind come from Lunar - or what ya might've called the 'Old Moon' - ash children of Althena, revered ash the Goddess of mosht of Lunar. Theeeeere'sh a lot ta go over, but... ash pertainsh ta me, Lanval, 'm a direct shervant of Schturdark, Guardian of Water here on Filgaia. That one'sh a long shtory too, but."
He takes a sip from his gourd, taking that small piece of the Water of Filgaia itself into his person in contemplation.
"Short of it ish, 'm a friend. ...I'd like ta think!" He has gone on record as saying he doesn't have a brain, which is physically true but... they're startin gto head into dark territory with uneasy footing, at which point, he's now wearing some silly novelty beer lens glasses which reflect some of Holly's guiding lights in very silly, bright, garish ways off the lenses.
They might highlight viable ledges in bright yellow, as per contemporary interactive architecture trends!
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Amber Tinted Lens toward his party's challenge, Gear Graveyard. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has posed.
"I only have... several," Caoimhe explains to both Holly and Luna, since the topic of the crests have come up. "There was a particularly hard-headed individual that was a savant of the Crest Magicks... and that 'Eraser' spell was one of their favourites. Hm hm... ahaha. No, please pay me no heed."
Her head lulls a little at that memory, her little chuckle drifting off, and then she slides the Crest back into her cape, still attached to the ribbon.
Avril confirms that the power is one granted by the Guardians, to her. "To be chosen is both a great boon and a responsibility."
But Avril manifests a sword that is unlike anything she has felt -- the hairs on her stand a little as she senses the seeming heat that the beam whip creates. "Your talents are, indeed, peculiar... but effective."
Holly introduces herself, and Caoimhe realises that she, too, hasn't introduced herself. "I am Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna, devotee of Granas... Paladin of Eluria."
Lanval's explanation is a revelation, to her, though she's rather adept at hiding the surprise from coming across to plainly. "A being from the Old Moon, who has become a servant of Schturdark, Guardian of Water... I have truly missed too much, in only battling the Fell Dragon in Eluria for the last few years."
She's not aware that the Fell Dragon would have such an intimate connection to the Seraph.
"A friend. ... I have no objections."
They proceed, but then suddenly she starts to slide, and the Paladin immediately attempts to grab hold onto something -- but ultimately just tries to keep herself upright as she crashes down onto the depths. There's no lighting here, but...
That's not necessarily an issue for Caoimhe, who, in a sense, might function best in the dark.
She takes a moment to breathe the room in. "There is a truly extraordinary amount of metal here... ancient metal, corroded and rusted. They... they take the form of humanoids. ... Gears, I would surmise. The footing here will be truly treacherous. But..."
Caoimhe reaches for that same pouch again, which at this point is probably a cosmetic pouch (??), but this time... Luna's seen it before -- the salts she used last time, which she starts to scatter around the area.
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4mPHUWdgXY
The salts begin to rise and exude a faint aura, constructing a faint image of several of the rabbit-folk who fell down here.
The two rabbits look concerned, but one seems more reassuring, and begins to climb up in the same general direction as Lanval's bright yellow highlights, which sadly aren't of much use to her.
"... the salts reveal an incident that took place here, from last Thursday," Caoimhe explains -- even if she can't see the aura, she can clearly smell it.
DG: Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has used her Tool Thursday-Echoing Salt toward her party's challenge, Gear Graveyard.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
At Holly's continued apologies, Avril but shakes her head. "It is quite alright," she says, apparently inclined to set the matter behind her. Years ago, she had spent some time practicing magic on Lunar, but that had largely been to hone her ability to use it for demonstrations of force, which she had of course aced.
It's just that force isn't the best answer, sometimes.
Besides, she has other talents, which are--
"Thank you," Avril says, when she's told that her talents are peculiar.
But effective.
Caoimhe mentions the Fell Dragon and immediately, Avril's attention turns to Lanval, as if to take stock of his own reaction. A Fell Dragon, after all, is--
But perhaps that is best addressed presently by the Seraph himself.
In the meantime, they still need to negotiate the trap that the junkyard through which they have traveled has threatened to become. Avril, regarding the path ahead of them, gazes thoughtfully up through the debris for a moment more before she carefully draws out her mirror.
It's a largeish mirror, round, its back covered with engravings while its glassy surface is as smooth as a quiet pool. Holding it before her with both hands, Avril gazes into its depths as light tinged with the pearlescent pinks and violets of dawn shimmers faintly from the glass.
As if in a trance, Avril begins to tread forth on a path, as if lead hence by what she sees or feels within the mirror.
"I believe... it was in this direction," she murmurs, her gaze unfocused. Does she see in some way some echo of what Lanval's lenses and Caoimhe's salts have revealed?
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Mirror of De Soto toward her party's challenge, Gear Graveyard. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round!
<Pose Tracker> Luna Meitner has posed.
There is a single raised eyebrow directed at Holly's declaration of her being 'so dour'. "You may be 'mostly magic', but not everyone who isn't relies on the skill." One might argue that alchemy can be a form of magic, but that's possibly splitting hairs at that point.
"I see," she answers Caoimhe as she explains about the one who was a savant. There is a curious look as her attention seems to drift off, but it is one of only curiosity, not alarm. Maybe she's seen that before, as well.
The way forward becomes very unsteady, and Luna reacts instantly, correcting her stance so that she can catch herself when she hits the bottom. Holly provides illumination through fairy magic, and...
They find themselves in a gear graveyard, in a place with uneven footing. "Fascinating..." she says to herself as she takes in the dim illumination provided by the fairy. A Gear graveyard... though she is no expert with the mechanical, she does surmise that most, if not all of what they see, is beyond repair.
She kneels in place in a spot that seems to have relatively sturdy footing and starts pulling things out of her side pouches. A mortar and pestle, a flask of water, a root of some unkown plant, the petals of a different one, the claw of an animal (a feline of some kind), and a few others, and she quickly works to mash them up together. The resulting concoction is thin and a pale yellow. She sips of it, and a light sheen comes to her eyes.
All around her, in the parts not touched by Holly's light, the rest of the graveyard reveals itself in dim, mostly-grayscale tones. It is enough to see by, at least, and more of them being able to perceive the danger can only be a boon. She holds the pestle up to Avril and Holly. "There is enough for two more draughts." Caoimhe clearly won't benefit from it, and she isn't certain that Lanval would derive any benefit from it.
If there are no takers, though, she simply pours the contents out into two more vials and then packs everything away.
She regards the efforts of the others, studying them curiously. Lanval's lenses, Caoimhe's salt, and Avril's mirror. She seems content to follow along, however, instead of going her own way despite her enhanced sight.
DG: Luna Meitner has used her Tool Survivalist Toolkit toward her party's challenge, Gear Graveyard. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval blinks with half-lidded eyes at mention of the 'Fell Dragon in Eluria,' and those who look to him are right to know that yes, that gets a reaction.
"...'m glad ya told me," he says while they walk (and he admires the recreation of last Thursday, momentarily), "a 'Fell Dragon' ish... shomethin' a Seraph can become if they take in too much of shomethin' called Malevolence. Which... a Fell Dragon putsh out a lot of, sho yer already probably aware 'bout what that can do to... a mortal, or a place, when there'sh enough of it around."
It's a measured response, but he also knows Eluria is - or perhaps 'was' - fairly close to a place Ida has a lot of contact with, so he's assuming (correctly) that she might have already gone over it somewhat if Caoimhe met with her.
That's another problem for the pile atop the inevitable run with destiny as the Vile Fiends move forth to reclaim the power of the Four Dragons.
"Thanksh fer tellin' me 'bout them," he says to the Paladin as he has another sip. There's more he can say about himself and his Seers, but that's for another time.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Gear Graveyard *>========================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Deeper and deeper you travel, until the pathway underfoot gives way. You
fall, sliding through old tunnels at worrying speeds, out of control and
slipping into depths Scraphaven's markers and maps do not account for.
You will need to provide your own lighting to brighten the chasm you land
in. Giant arms and legs. Crushed heads. Shattered torsos. The occasional
tail or wing. Broken weapons befitting their size. You stand surrounded by
the remains of giant metal bodies. Gears. Decrepit and beyond any reasonable
repair, but with designs not matching any modern construction. These are
creations from an ancient time.
The wreckage and scrap you've been sorting through until now... could it all
ultimately come from relics like these?
If you want to get out of here, you'll have to be clever about how you scale
the wreckage. It's dangerous to be using damaged parts as platforms, and not
a fragment of power remains in this dark, silent place. You are free to take
your time and plot your course -- and you should, lest you fall into an
abyss you cannot see.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, |
| Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, and |
| Shortsighted:_All_Stats_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
=======================< Results - Scraphaven - Round 5 >=======================
=========================< CHALLENGE - Gear Graveyard >=========================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 34 --(5)--> 39 Best
Thursday-Echoing Salt Maj Wits Effects: Efficient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur 34 --(5)--> 39 Best
Mirror of De Soto Min Wits Effects: Cleanse and
Inefficient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luna Meitner 10 --(5)--> 15 Good
Survivalist Toolkit Min Wits Effects: Enlighten
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holly 10 --(5)--> 15 Best
Librarian's Recitation Maj Wits Effects: Shortsighted and
Enlighten
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval 10 --(5)--> 15 Best
Amber Tinted Lens Maj Wits Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass
Conditions: Bad Luck(2) and Reckless(2)
Effects: Cleanse, Enlighten(1), and Shortsighted(1)
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Caoimhe ni Maoilgrahna has successfully explored Scraphaven!
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Scraphaven Special *>======================
| Type: Discovery | Dungeon Ability: Conclusion | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
At first, you may not be sure the scrap you've collected can amount to much
of anything. Most everything in the junkyard seems well beyond repair. But
after some excessive chittering and explosive tinkering, the Widgetmancers
of Scraphaven spin around and strike triumphant poses, letting out a sing
song, "Ba da da daaaa~!"
A spotlight shines on their latest ARM creation as you are showered in
confetti.
You obtain a foldable laser cannon, the favored weapon of Scraphaven's
locals, though it appears to only fire basic energy beams.
"You gotta be nice to it!" and "Yeah, yeah, being pure of heart means bigger
explosions!" is the only advice they give regarding it, which is a bit
strange. They couldn't be implying this ARM is capable of synchronization,
could they? Even so, whether it will synchronize to /you/ is another
matter...
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, |
| Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, |
| Shortsighted:_All_Stats_Down!, and Treasure:_Exploration_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Holly has posed.
Holly gives Avril a funny look and says, "That's why I was looking for a practice buddy. I about left a crater stripping magic from someone!" She grins. Lot of magic in a small package.
She does offer Caoimhe a proper polite bow! Mid air of course. Brief though, since she is acting as a light source at the moment. And chattering. "Nice to meet you. I'm just a librarian." Which she's proud of, but it doesn't sound as grand to as many people as a paladin would!
Lanval's choice of eye wear gets a.. concerned look. "H-hey I know you're not uh." She about said normal. Which is probably rude. Not what she meant either. "Just.. be careful?" She doesn't know.
The oddly specific magic on display from Caoimhe gets.. "Specifically last Thursday?" She's going to question that. Later. There's a pause. Then a frown. She's been stumped. Oddly specific is strange! (This isn't a bad thing inherently)
Luna's response is just given a strange look, particularly when she breaks out the chemistry set. It's a thing!
She glances over when Lanval actually takes something serious though. That's probably a bad thing. "I should.. go look at this fell dragon." Or not. Probably not, but she's going to anyway. Or the area at least.
Either way, with the conclusion of it all, they've made their way through the wreckage and graves. Illuminated by magic, chemical magic and legally distinct moon hares from a Thursday past.
Finding the way through and back wasn't the worst thing ever right? Other than the giant machine bugs which aren't edible despite her earlier joke.
She does sort of pick through the various bits and bobs, trying to identify anything useful since oddly, she does know a chunk on ARMs. In a way. (Old ones. Very old ones.)
Pointing it out so that the others can scavange. (It's not like she's carrying much.) The haul is carried back through the scrapyard. Holly chattering, but at least in limited quantities. She's excited to see what might get made with the stuff.
Still, with the return the group hands over their haul and the beastfolk get to work on creating something useful with the scrap. The sudden confetti is.. charming. Holly smiles at least. She doesn't understand why, but she had been intently watching.
"So. I'm too small for the idea of shooting light at things, but I'm also tempted to try." Which. Is a worrying prospect and there may be thoughts that Cirea's rubbing off on her in some ways. "Probably should go to one of you tall folk though." She holds a hand out for emphasis. Even if she's pouting a bit. "You'd be better suited for it."