2024-04-07: What We Were Looking For
- Log: What We Were Looking For
- Cast: Rille Felis, Sable Aomori, Shige Kiwako, Luna Meitner, Seraph Lanval
- Where: Aveh-Kislev Front
- Date: April 7, 2024 (506 PC)
- Summary: A group ventures into the warzone of Aveh and Kislev for their own reasons, and meet up with more besides. A difficult journey ensues.
DG: A party led by Rille Felis is now entering Aveh-Kislev War Zone. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
==============<* CHALLENGE - Into the War Zone - Rough Terrain *>===============
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
This is chaos manifest, without question. The roar of Gears and other war
machines echo across the battlefield into which you have now entered,
punctuated by the occasional crack-thoom of their armaments. The marshalled
forces of Kislev and Aveh have found one another, and here they do battle.
Whether you fight for one side or the other or for none at all, whether you
have come to insert yourself into this battle purposefully or have become
swept up into the proceedings, the complications that those in war may face
quickly make themselves plain:
The weather turns. Perhaps it's a sandstorm should this engagement take
place among the desert. Perhaps a torrential rain falls in somewhat more
hospitable lands. Whatever has befallen the battlefield presents you with no
easy means of escape -- and so you must press on.
BGM: Daiki Ishikawa - Wind on the Plains
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-66oB-YLj6Q
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Collapse:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Rille Felis has posed.
The war between Kislev and Aveh is back on.
Not that it ever really ended, but it went quiet for a while, and you'd be forgiven for maybe thinking that they were ready to move on - but now, perhaps prompted by the rift, it's definitely hotter than it has been for a while.
AND there's a giant death tank rolling round somewhere out there (Rille is still a little vague on the details). Which is *also* a good enough reason for them to start fighting each other, apparently, because everybody wants a Gryndille-class assault tank for their very own.
Well, Rille doesn't; she wants to break it. But that means finding it, and *that* means finding a safe route across all the currently-a-war-zone territory so they can actually get to it when it's time.
Rille put up a rather vague message at the Adventurer's Guild in Adlehyde - vague, because she doesn't want an Avehn or Kislevi soldier to figure it out. She spent hours on it because writing does not come easily to her. The final message indicates that she has an expedition planned across the wastes into Kislevi territory and may need support. People who know about the tank - Drifters who were at the meeting, who have been told since - or who simply want a payday can figure it out. Others may have simply come across the party and tagged along.
*UN*fortunately, Rille's proposed route appears to have gotten hot since the last time she used it.
There's the sound of gunfire, but gunfire isn't what's causing the problem right now; none of it is aimed at her or her group. What is causing the problem is a thunderstorm. It doesn't rain as much as it should in parts of Filgaia, but when it *does* come down, it's all at once, interspersed with the occasional burst of spring hail to go with the lightning.
"Okay," Rille calls back, to any who have chosen to come with her. "I wasn't expecting the hail." A small hailstone bounces off one of her horns, not hard enough to rattle her. She shakes her head, irritated. She's already drenched and not happy about it. "C'mon. There's some cover up ahead, I think, over the next hill!"
DG: Rille Felis has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Into the War Zone - Rough Terrain.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable Aomori has mostly hurried out of the war zone when passing through the portal... but this time she agreed to go into it. She is going to offer support, though if her mother found out she was planning to do this she would ABSOLUTELY not approve. But that's what you do on your journey!
Well, no. Nedians haven't gone into warzones as a matter of course in quite some time until recently.
Sable has been quiet; she's still dressed in Nedian style clothes, jeans and boots and a fur-collared jacket. She startled at first at the gunfire, but since then has grown... not exactly accustomed to it, but getting there.
The hail isn't great, either. But that doesn't bother her as much, despite how bad it is. Rille calls back... "Weather seems mostly unexpected around here," she comments. She is also drenched. Her hair sticks to her face. At least her Pokemon won't mind the weather too much.
Not that she calls them out yet.
"I'm going!" She hurries along after. It's... pretty msierable, but she's a stoic.
DG: Sable Aomori has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Into the War Zone - Rough Terrain.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Where there's war, there's casualties and Shige's chosen to be proactive. Not wanting to leave so many potential spirits without guidance when everything's so bad as it is. If it wouldn't draw so much attention, she'd be on the skiff she's recovered and.. technically crewed. This is probably a better choice though.
She feline in question has taken to wearing something hardier than most of her outfits. Heavier clothing, durable and less prone to being dstroyed by the harsh elements, though with an armband denoting herself as something of a wandering healer. Figuring it's close enough to the truth and might prevent both sides from firing on her and her duties.
There's a wry comment from the cat beneath that hood, "See, this is why we should figure out how to paint the ship in neutral.. markings of some kind." She grumbles, winding as she hides her lantern beneath the coat at the advent of hail.
An ear perks up, obscured partially by the hood and she beckons figures forward. Carrying older looking tower shields. Ghostly light trailing along the surface to try and help with the issue at hand! Pointing forward to the nearby group and it's somewhat familiar faces. "Hey, over here." She calls out, moving to join them, fighting to be heard over the storm and doubling her pace.
When she's caught up there's a simple question, "Why are you out here?" Eyes particularly on Sable as at least the rest are old enough to know better in her mind!
DG: Shige Kiwako has used her Tool Spectral Sapper toward her party's challenge, Into the War Zone - Rough Terrain. Strengthen! Party Brute boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Luna Meitner has posed.
Luna did not see the message Rille posted. She does not, as a habit, check board posts at the Adventurer's Guild regularly. (Nor does she, either, visit the Adventurer's Guild itself.) She has not come across Rille and her motley band, and yet... she is here anyway.
She has a habit, it seems, of turning up at places of conflict. Or places that are hostile to most sane people. And she can't be any older than 15 to look at her, though... given the long, pointed ears she has, or her general demeanor, you might wonder if she is older than she appears.
She is dressed in Ignasian fashions, though the bright red tunic might recall to mind the bright red shirt she wears on Nede. Red tunic, leather leggings, leather gloves and armor up her right arm, a small pack on her back and two small packs on her legs. And most importantly... a spear and a bow and quiver on her back. Her dark red hair is tied back in a simple braid tucked into her tunic, and dark green eyes scan the battlefield with keen interest.
She stands on a hill at some distance removed, surveying the goins on around her. When she feels the hail, she lifts up a hand, and then simply pulls the hood of her tunic up. Without any fanfare she takes a running leap off of the hill, sprinting low to the ground to keep under the bullets and other gunfire.
By some coincidence, she seems to be heading for the same cover that Rille is leading her group towards.
DG: Luna Meitner has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Into the War Zone - Rough Terrain.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
SOME TIME AGO - THE ERA OF CHAPTER 2 EPILOGUE
The Thames has been looking to decommission some of their older on-site maintenance Gears, after having found a whole host of new ones that are largely compatible with the parts they've got on hand. One thing leads to another, and they end up sold off for a real bargain!
(Un?)fortunately, the buyer was a front for Kislevi interests. Kislev is always just a tiny bit behind the technological curve than Aveh, for some reason (...it's Solaris), so sometimes they get the idea to try to sneak by on superior stock of supply. Whether this lot they've bought will pan out... well.
They've been mostly gathering dust since.
JUST SHY OF NOW
Seraph Lanval is up to mischief in Kislevi territory. Well, some of it's duty too, war is a great place for Malevolence to take hold, and he's already seen to a number of emergent Hellions from said soldiers. They're not part of the picture right now.
"I could swear I saw him! A heavy-set man with a long beard!" Shouts someone, and Lanval freezes up. He might've been spotted! He has to think fast. Sure, someone like him wandering around willy-nilly might be a problem if enough actually can see him, so he thinks*. (* Lanval technically does not have a brain)
He sees those huge stomping metal things wander around all the time, and so... he just goes into one of those huge stomping metal things and then walks right out with it because there's nothing weird about Gears wandering around warzones on Filgaia as far as he can tell.
This works, somehow.
NOW, IN THE AWFUL HAIL AND LIGHTNING
Headed towards their direction is a large, bulky, heavy, clunky old maintenance unit! The weight mostly comes from armor because said maintenance unit needs to be sturdy as to not have its fuel tanks rupture. Their movements are... odd. Odd, in the sense that it's like it's being piloted by someone who is operating on a completely different sense of mechanical control than a typical pilot would. It's unsteady, like it might have been put in the hands of a 'pilot' in name only that got assigned to it. It is way, way, way out of position, and has no clear markings denoting it as Aveh or Kislev, as the latter never really got around to repainting it.
What this Gear does see... is a number of people struggling through the weather, and at least one of them might be familiar. And so, booming over low-quality speaker...
"Heeeeeyyyy!" An arm raises slowly, and attempts are made to wave. It is not made for that level of dexterity. Hail bounces off of the hull.
"Shige, that you?" That's her 'Poltergeist' friend! "It'sh me! Lanval! 'n I got a shotry ta tell! Ha ha ha!" A story they probably won't have any time for. He stops as a larger piece of hail bounces off of him. "Mmm. Tell ya all what, jusht get behind me, or under me, or... whatever, 'n I'll cover ya from thish messh~"
You are now being accompanied by a Gear and its incorporeal pilot who always sounds at least three sheets to the wind. At least. (Might be closer to five.)
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Reinforced Frame toward his party's challenge, Into the War Zone - Rough Terrain. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
==============<* CHALLENGE - Into the War Zone - Rough Terrain *>===============
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
This is chaos manifest, without question. The roar of Gears and other war
machines echo across the battlefield into which you have now entered,
punctuated by the occasional crack-thoom of their armaments. The marshalled
forces of Kislev and Aveh have found one another, and here they do battle.
Whether you fight for one side or the other or for none at all, whether you
have come to insert yourself into this battle purposefully or have become
swept up into the proceedings, the complications that those in war may face
quickly make themselves plain:
The weather turns. Perhaps it's a sandstorm should this engagement take
place among the desert. Perhaps a torrential rain falls in somewhat more
hospitable lands. Whatever has befallen the battlefield presents you with no
easy means of escape -- and so you must press on.
BGM: Daiki Ishikawa - Wind on the Plains
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-66oB-YLj6Q
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Collapse:_Brute_Down! and Strengthen:_Brute_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>=========================== ==================< Results - Aveh-Kislev War Zone - Round 1 >================== ===============< CHALLENGE - Into the War Zone - Rough Terrain >================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rille Felis 0 --(24)--> 24 Bad Force Bsc Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sable Aomori 0 --(24)--> 24 Worst Force Bsc Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 0 --(7)--> 7 Best Reinforced Frame Min Brute Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shige Kiwako 0 --(12)--> 12 Good Spectral Sapper Min Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna Meitner 0 --(24)--> 24 Worst Force Bsc Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Rille Felis 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Conditions: Collapse Effects: Strengthen(1) = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Rille Felis 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> Rille Felis has posed.
Another chunk of hail bounces off Rille's shoulder this time, heavy enough she feels it through the scales; it slows her for a moment.
"Well, it's like they say, you can't predict the weather," is Rille's response to Sable. "I'm from Kislev, we'd be expecting slush more than this crap. At least you can hike through slush!" Though given she is bare-footed, as usual, she probably wouldn't like it very much.
Rille struggles on for some distance before she hears more voices. Shige, who she vaguely recognizes; Lanval, who she at least knows the voice of. It's good he called, because Rille's first instinct is to get the hell away from *any* Gear she sees, maintenance or not -
"Lanval?" she asks, incredulous. "And Shige? You might as well stick around, I know there's a cave coming up - "
There is. Rille doesn't walk under Lanval's Gear, leaving it for the smaller and (in her mind) more delicate Drifters to cover in without her taking up valuable space. She just kind of bulls forward on her own.
Luna, who she doesn't recognize at all, beats her to the shelter. "Got caught out in this, did you?" she asks. Luna is old enough that she might be deployed as a scout, but she isn't wearing any insignias, nor the outfits favoured by Aveh (robe-y, flowing, even on their soldiers) or Kislev (heavy, reinforced, padded and warm) so Rille assumes she, too, is independent.
Rille takes a moment, in the cover, to try to wring out her hair. It doesn't work, and nothing is going to un-drench the fur on her legs. "Bah. This wasn't exactly what I planned."
DG: Sable Aomori has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Strategic Collapse *>======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You've found yourself at an overhang below which you can witness the advance
of some troops.
If you're fighting for a particular side, then they're of the opposite
nation. If you fight for no side, then they could be of either force.
Regardless, you're presented with an opportunity. If you let slip some of
the rock (or sand, as the case may be), you can cut off their advance, and
that might just work in your favor regardless of how you feel about the war.
After all, you can tell that they've /definitely/ seen you.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Collapse:_Brute_Down!, Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, and Strengthen:_Brute_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
"Oh. I didn't know they said that." She pauses, when Rille explains where she's from. "I'm from Cinnabar," she answers. "It's very warm..."
Shige comes up!! "I'm helping," Sable answers Shige evenly. "Hello. Are your friends here with you?"
She looks over Luna, recognizing her. But she doesn't wave, because they're in a warzone and running through hail. That's not great. But, "Luna's a warrior," she says. "She can handle things like this."
"I think that machine is following us..." Sable turns her head towards Lanval's Maintenance Gear, and tilts her head. "It talks. ...I didn't think they had machines like that here."
She has gotten the wrong idea. But everyone knows the Gear, so that's nice. "Hello, Mr. Lanval. I'm glad that you're very large." She stays under the Gear for a bit. Luckily, Nedian hairdye is advanced and doesn't run too much.
But then... they reach an overhang, where there are advancing troops. Sable pauses, when she notices that some of them are looking back at her. "They saw us..."
"Artan..." Sable pulls one of her Pokeballs, and a dragon emerges--sinuous but just a little fat, Dratini is a young dragon. And his nickname is Artan!
"Use your Twister to knock the sand into their path."
There may be a more efficient way to do this, but Artan starts to whirl, and whirl, and whirl...
But he could go over the edge if he's not careful!!
DG: Sable Aomori has contributed a risky Brute Action toward her party's challenge, Strategic Collapse.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
The Gear fits into the cave... barely. It'll give them some time out of the elements and to get dry, and Lanval doesn't even get stuck. (Yet? This thing is cumbersome.)
"Mmm. Not normally thish large," he says to the young woman speaking to him. "'m a Seraph! Jusht borrowin' thish... nah. Shcratch it, 'm keepin' it."
There are advancing troops, and Sable points out that they've all been seen, and... oh, one of the Pokemon! It's a small, cute little dragon nymph, who kicks up a twister.
Lanval holds up one of the Gear's arms in consideration, as it cycles through a handful of different nozzles related to certain tools and functions, before deciding - perhaps in foolishness.
"Oh right, I forgot, theshe thingsh're heavy!" Lanval laughs, steps back, and... "'m gonna ram it!"
...These things aren't meant for ramming, and how he builds up speed with such short clearance space or the cumbersome way in which the maintenance Gear takes its steps, well... this 'Lanval' character may not have read the manual. He may not have a concept of a manual. He just has a large Gear body, legs, and a dream!
He moves in to help Dratini by pushing himself into the mass of wet sand and rock to try and knock some of it over.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Reinforced Frame toward his party's challenge, Strategic Collapse. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
The two combat engineers answer Sable's question about friends and all. The offer her a polite wave as they sling the shields back around onto their backs and fade away from sight with the advent of actual cover. Though.. a new engineer steps forward. Dressed in something more akin to advisor's armor. He crouches down and observes.
The shadow behind her gets her to perk her ear up again as she removes her hood. The figure's more visible than most, though without the right gifts they'd appear as silent shades even with the benefit of the lantern's light.
The engineer begins to pull his satchel around. Pulling out sapper charges. Old looking metal things. Planting them before looking to Shige just in case. Do spectral demolitions work?
"It's Mr. Poltergeist driving it if the voice is correct." She does offer Lanval a cheerful enough wave at the greeting. "I left my own ride behind. I think I'm regretting that though." She looks to Sable, "I'd rather not let a kid wander around a battlefield and it would be a faster ride out."
There's a brief scowl at the mention of helping as an aside, "Don't end up one of my passengers please. This isn't the kind of place you can really help.." Even if that's what she's doing. She has a duty, it's different! (And other excuses she's already running past.)
Rille is given a brief check up, "You uh, okay?" Sounding actually concerned. Hail and that big a body and.. hanging out outside of any of the cover from either the gear or her ghosts.. - "Come'ere, let me make sure if you don't mind."
Luna, well. She's tried. And commented on it before. And there's a distinct hunch neither 'kid' would listen to her anyway. There's something.. sorrowful there in a way in her mind. "You two really should be back home with family" She mutters, forgetting she's not talking just to her spectral friends. "I'll keep you two safe. I really can't.. don't want to bring more passengers than I have to."
She nods to her sapper friend who can almost, just barely be heard shouting a warning before turning away with his ears covered as the blasts go off. Distant 'crump' sounds like they're far away go.. but how effective is a dead man's charge using borrowed guardian magic?
DG: Shige Kiwako has used her Tool Spectral Sapper toward her party's challenge, Strategic Collapse. Strengthen! Party Brute boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Rille Felis has posed.
"Kislev's in the direction we're going, so it might get a little cool," Rille admits to Sable. "I'm not going all the way to the icy parts, though. Not now."
"I'm good," Rille lies, when Shige asks her; she's got a new collection of bruises ready to go. But she *isn't* lying when she says, "I've had worse. It's not like the sky was aiming. And a lot of them hit my horns, anyway, ha ha! My head's pretty tough." She raps her knuckles against the spot between her horns, which also seems to have a faintly visible ridge.
maybe she needs a better way to phrase that
But regardless, Rille is ready to go when the others are, if perhaps a little sore. She took a drink of something from a flask and that seems to be helping somewhat. She follows the others out, stretching once there's more room with a faint pop from her back. At least it seems to have cut down on the hail for the moment.
She squints through the still-present rain. Soldiers. And they've seen them -
"I got it!"
When the Dratini and Lanval rush forward, Rille unshoulders a long-handled hammer with one side of its head flat and the other side kind of wedge-shaped: a quarry hammer, designed to break rock. She's never used it on anything but stone before, but she considers for several moments, runs forward while winding up, and with a terrific bellow slams it into the muddy ground.
An eruption of mud, sand, grit and pebbles erupts along a jagged, zig-zaggy line as she tries to aim the crack to aid the others!
DG: Rille Felis has used her Tool Wrecking Hammer toward her party's challenge, Strategic Collapse. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Luna Meitner has posed.
She could be deployed as a scout.
And maybe she is.
She is taking a moment to catch her breath in the cave when the others arrive. Even for her, there some close calls she was not comfortable with, and it's worth taking a moment to recenter herself before proceeding. Luna looks to Rille, scrutinizing her silently for a moment before answering her question. "Something like that."
She turns her eye to Sable next, and there is a moment's delay in responding. Then she nods, just a little. "That is correct." To Rille, she says, "Luna Meitner."
She nods to Shige, who arrives, and says "Hello." Then she looks to the Gear, frowning deeply. Then Sable mentions the name Lanval, and her expression... well, it doesn't soften, per se, but it does get a little bit less intense. "Ah, I see."
"That is a Gear," explains Luna to SAble. "A machine normally controlled by a pilot." Normally?
She looks to Shige, next, narrowing her eyes. "I am more than capable of protecting myself." She's short and terse as ever. But she looks to Sable. "You would do well to exercise caution, however."
But they're spotted, and that is a problem for all of them. Luna contemplates that for a moment, then contributes the but end of her spear as a lever to the efforts to upheave an avalanche.
DG: Luna Meitner has contributed a risky Brute Action toward her party's challenge, Strategic Collapse.
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Strategic Collapse *>======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You've found yourself at an overhang below which you can witness the advance
of some troops.
If you're fighting for a particular side, then they're of the opposite
nation. If you fight for no side, then they could be of either force.
Regardless, you're presented with an opportunity. If you let slip some of
the rock (or sand, as the case may be), you can cut off their advance, and
that might just work in your favor regardless of how you feel about the war.
After all, you can tell that they've /definitely/ seen you.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Collapse:_Brute_Down!, Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, and Strengthen:_Brute_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>=========================== ==================< Results - Aveh-Kislev War Zone - Round 2 >================== =======================< CHALLENGE - Strategic Collapse >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rille Felis 24 --(0)--> 24 Best Wrecking Hammer Min Brute Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sable Aomori 24 --(0)--> 24 Good Force Bsc Brute Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 7 --(0)--> 7 Best Reinforced Frame Min Brute Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shige Kiwako 12 --(17)--> 29 Bad Spectral Sapper Min Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna Meitner 24 --(0)--> 24 Good Force Bsc Brute Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Rille Felis 15 --(20)--> 35 Pass Conditions: Collapse, Injure(2), and Overzealous(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Rille Felis 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> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable nods to Rille. "I'm used to cold too. My brother's dad lives in a snowy area. It's just not my favorite." She does not comment on Rille having a tough head. She just sort of tilts her head for a moment.
Sable inclines her head. "Hello," she says to the combat engineers, and then looks at Shige. "I'm not wandering," she says. "I have to understand war if I'm going to help against the Ten Wise Men."
Lanval... "Oh," Sable answers. "A Seraph..." She nods. "I don't know what that is, but it's nice to meet you." A pause. She remembers to introduce herself with Luna does it. "I'm Sable Aomori. From Energy Nede." She stops, and nods to Luna. "I see."
Lanval is going to ram it!! Artan does not get in the way; he's happy for the assistance.
And Shige, well... "I'm helping her," Sable says of Rille. And when Shige says she'll protect her, "I won't say no to help staying alive. I know this is very dangerous..."
"But this is what I've chosen. I won't run away."
Artan can't tell that the Gear is admiring him, but if he knew, he'd be pleased. Sable as she waits though, says, "I'l be careful. My Pokemon will help."
As it happens, their collective efforts are good. Dratini's Twister helps to solidify the mud, packing it close together. Lanval's Gear pushes it to the edge of the wall. Luna's spear helps with that. And Rille's hammer cracks the ground, sending the whole edge of the cliff tumbling down. Shige has a little more trouble; her sapper is good and cool, but Artan has to scramble to avoid falling, and she is briefly enwrapped by a frightened Pokemon.
"...They won't be able to follow us now," Sable says.
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Tactical Retreat *>=======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You probably didn't intend to encounter an entire platoon of Gears. Neither,
judging by the fact that they don't react immediately, did they.
Regardless of the mutual surprise on both sides, from sheer numbers alone
this is not going to be a fight that you can win as things stand -- or at
least, not win in a way that will matter.
As they say, discretion is the better part of valor. Now is a good time to
get out of here.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Collapse:_Brute_Down!, Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, and |
| Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval's Gear shajkes under the seismic power exercised by Rille hitting something really hard. (Well, part that, part edge of cliff tumbling.) They won't be able to follow, but there's also no telling where, exactly, they're all going.
"Mmm. Well, if the weather'sh shtill bad, don't worry, 'm shure I can get ush shomewhere~"
Their movements do start taking them to more paved, traveled paths that aren't as muddy and awful to go through on foot, and it was a struggle getting the Gear's feet to move through all that too, so Lanval is perfectly happy to get on paved ground.
"Huh."
There's a platoon of Gears, of Kislevi identification. That is a not small number of them. It is a number exceeding five, and only one of them is in a Gear - and that's a Gear not made for combat.
"Surrender!" There is the call, with an electrified rod held by one of the front-most enemy Gears. "Identify yourselves at once!"
Most of them are wielding melee weapons.
"I could if I thought ya would hear me!" Lanval calls from the Gear, as he tries to hold up his arms. "Mmmm. Hold up, I think I remember what kinda thing thish wash... might've even been the one I borrowed on the Thames when we were divin', come ta think~"
...
Weird slurping noise. "Nope."
Another. "Mmm. Oh, 'm gonna get in trouble if I drink all of that." uh what
"...Here it ish~ shmooth finish, 'n all."
One of the enemy Gears does hear this, turning their head like 'what the hell is this?'
"I got iiiiit~!" Lanval calls, as nozzles change in both arms, and then--
Cleaning wax. Cleaning wax everywhere, all over the paved roads. A few move in to strike and immediately slip, meaning this is about to be a cluster right then and there.
"Run fer iiiiiiiit...!"
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Max Wax toward his party's challenge, Tactical Retreat. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round!
<Pose Tracker> Rille Felis has posed.
Don't worry. Rille has called herself dumb (and been called by other people) enough that it doesn't even consciously register that she, completely accidentally this time, did it again.
"Rille," Rille introduces herself to Luna. She's not going to call out her age - children have to grow up sometime - but: "Stick with me," she offers. She's pretty sure can she can keep her safe.
At this rate Rille will be too busy trying to keep everybody safe to do anything else...
Rille reshoulders her hammer. "A Seraph's a magic ghost," Rille says confidently and, technically, extremely wrong, but close enough that she's never been corrected. "I guess this magic ghost is haunting a Gear? Which is pretty wild when you think about it." Rille certainly has never thought they could do something like that before; her brow furrows in thought.
It's a lot easier to walk here. Rille typically goes barefoot - nobody really sells boots that fit over her feet and claws, and her feet are tough enough that it doesn't bother her usually, but she's always hated slogging through mud. She kicks off some of the worst of it and keeps going, tapping her claws a couple times against the pavement to try to clean them off.
'Surrender!'
"Oh fuck that!" Rille can identify a Kislev paint job at a distance, and they'd probably just love to take her in for the reward as soon as they figure out who she is. She reaches for her pack while Lanval flips through options - "Don't drink it," she hisses, as her hand seizes on -
Oh yeah, that'll do.
When Lanval fires cleaning wax, Rille pulls out a pair of spheres about the size of her fist, so bigger than anyone else's. She uses her thumb's claw to pierce some of the outer layer, then winds up and pitches one, fastball-like, at the first Gear to go down -
The ball bursts into a splatter of adhesive gel, coating the outer layer of the Gear. It makes it difficult to move - but worse, since she's aiming at Gears that have already fallen, it makes it damn near impossible to *stand up*. It'll be even worse if they slide into each other and get glued to other members of their squad. And while it won't last forever, it might last just long enough.
She flings the other ball a moment later and then turns and sprints, head down and tail raised up as her entire body leans forward.
DG: Rille Felis has used her Tool Adhesive Ball toward her party's challenge, Tactical Retreat. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round!
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige's eyes go to Luna first, "Yeah. Heard it before. I'd be irresponsible as an adult and as servant of Ge Ramtos to.. try to discourage you punching your own ticket though."
There's another critical look to Sable. That's another one that won't listen. She taps her foot, though sighs a bit as Rille's mentioned. With one aside, "I kind of miss the cold sometimes. You get that right level of bitter cold, but warm commonroom and it's somehow nice." Maybe complete with a somewhat critical look.
Speaking of which, Rille's response is also given a flat look. The kind a bartender gives a regular when they've done something..
"No shame in asking for help." She finally just.. throws her hands up. Just in time for a pokemon to wrap itself around her. She stumbles back, landing on her fuzzy butt and makes a sound distinctly surprised feline. Then she just sits there and reaches around blindly looking for the pokemon's ears.. head? She hadn't looked too close. Trying to help it calm down so it's not choking her or you know, flailing around.
The feline gets to her feet and tries to restore some lost dignities for a moment when her ears perk up and first, starting to say to Rille, "Shige. I don't think I've caught your name before." then there's a call for surrender. Anyone particularly attuned might hear a rather rude comment from one of Shige's helpers that, even if the language isn't clear, the attitude is. "I'm a medic escorting civilians. We're not here to-" she starts. Then frowns. Slowly looking to Lanval, particularly when he sprays cleaning wax all over. "I also help the dead and as you can clearly see, this gear is possessed by a poltergeist and needs my particular attention."
She's trying at least.
"Besides. You're not going to stop me." She might be trying to lean into the fear thing with this as she conjures up spooky mist around herself and.. steps forward. Seeming to become as ghostly as her companions albeit briefly. Stepping over the wax and leaving them behind. She's not sure if the others could follow the magic, but she does hope it scares the soldiers enough!
DG: Shige Kiwako has used her Tool Ghostly Passage toward her party's challenge, Tactical Retreat. Quicken! Party Agility boosted! Sacrifice! The party will take slightly more Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Luna Meitner has posed.
Luna looks to Rille, considering her for another moment. The offer comes to stick with her, and Luna gives a small shake of her head. "If we travel the same way, that is one thing." But she seems disinclined to broadly accept help.
Shige repeats her responsibility as an adult and as a servant of a Guardian. "Not all of us have the luxury of returning home." She states that coldly, flatly, but still with some pointedness to it.
"A seraphim can take an object as a vessel and inhabit it. He... could be piloting it in the expected fashion, but I have my doubts."
She is fine with the rougher terrain, but also will not complain about their path being made easier, taking the time to scuff off excess mud from her boots on the paved road.
The good news is they've escaped one set of gears. The bad news is, they then run into more. Ones who call for their surrender. Under her breath, Luna comments. "I shall not yield for the likes of you."
She says that like she could take them all in a fight, even without a gear. But she does not move to take action yet. She watches the gears carefully, notes how one turns in surprise. "That one is resonant," she mutters. "Though he may not realize it."
But Lanval finally finds the right switch for a massive flood of wax, which drops one gear almost right away. Rille follows that up with sticky bombs, and Shige has a ghostly mist. Luna watches those efforts, her hand going down to grab the top of a vial sticking out of a holster on the side of her bag... but then she removes her hand, reaching behind her to pull out her bow.
She lets loose with several arrows from her quiver, and they're all aimed right for the cockpits--and they all explode in a huge mess of color, to add further confusion and make it harder to navigate the treacherous terrain.
And then she takes off after the others.
DG: Luna Meitner has used her Tool Perfectly Ordinary Bow toward her party's challenge, Tactical Retreat. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
A shaking Gear is concerning! Sable doesn't deal with heavy machinery that much. But she doesn't deal with magic ghosts very much, either. "I see," Sable answers Rille. "That makes sense." To her, it does. She knows magic; she's at least passingly familiar with ghosts. Put them together, and sure, that could possess a Gear.
But for Shige... It's true; Sable is as stubborn as Luna in this matter. "Yes," she says of the cold, "I like hot springs..."
But she is willing to ask for help. And Artan sure is. Artan calms down eventually, and disentangles himself, returning to Sable who extends the Pokeball in which he travels to bring him back. "Sorry," she says.
Sable is attuned enough to catch the comment--and her eyes widen in alarm at the Gears.
Surrender, they say. Rille gives a heartfelt answer, and Sable finds that she agrees. "Go Mr. Lanval!" she calls.
"Go Rille!"
In the meantime, she taps her feet on the pavement, and the runes on her shoes activate. She sprints away, because there's not much she can do about the Gears...
And in fact, she looks at Luna. "For a second I thought you were going to try to fight them..."
DG: Sable Aomori has used her Tool Rune Shoes toward her party's challenge, Tactical Retreat. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Tactical Retreat *>=======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You probably didn't intend to encounter an entire platoon of Gears. Neither,
judging by the fact that they don't react immediately, did they.
Regardless of the mutual surprise on both sides, from sheer numbers alone
this is not going to be a fight that you can win as things stand -- or at
least, not win in a way that will matter.
As they say, discretion is the better part of valor. Now is a good time to
get out of here.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Collapse:_Brute_Down!, |
| Injure:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Overzealous:_Brute_Down!_Combat_Up!, |
| Quicken:_Agility_Up!, and Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
==================< Results - Aveh-Kislev War Zone - Round 3 >==================
========================< CHALLENGE - Tactical Retreat >========================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rille Felis 24 --(5)--> 29 Best
Adhesive Ball Min Agility Effects: Cleanse and
Inefficient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sable Aomori 24 --(0)--> 24 Best
Rune Shoes Min Agility Effects: Stalwart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval 7 --(5)--> 12 Good
Max Wax Min Agility Effects: Cleanse and
Inefficient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shige Kiwako 29 --(5)--> 34 Best
Ghostly Passage Maj Agility Effects: Quicken and
Sacrifice
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luna Meitner 24 --(5)--> 29 Best
Perfectly Ordinary Bow Min Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Rille Felis 35 --(20)--> 55 Pass
Conditions: Collapse, Injure(1), Overzealous(1), and Tire(2)
Effects: Cleanse and Quicken(1)
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Rille Felis 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> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Of all the feats involved in evading capture by an entire platoon of Gears, this... is one of the stories that will be laughed out of even the likes of stage theater. It's a farce, is what it is - but a farce that may well have been ordained by divine forces. (Or, perhaps, by the forces of wax, glue, spookiness, distracting colors, and Symbols.)
Lanval's Gear's arms flail about as much as their range of motions allow as he ambles away at a pace something of that size, weight, and balance shouldn't (not in the sense of 'physically impossible' but in the sense of 'mortally dangerous').
The collapsed Gears is a sign for the others that have ranged weapons (either already drawn, or are otherwise capable of being drawn) to start opening fire, but then there's illusory blasts of color that make it difficult to gather where any of them are, and unlike Lanval, these are professional soldiers who generally aren't keen to waste ammo on targets they can't see.
Shige's pleas aren't heard, but she all but erases her personal heat signature (temporarily) with the help of power borrowed from Ge Ramtos, leading to cries erupting about how they can't see where any of them went - not a single signal on their radar, so this is covering for the rest.
Some are ordered to move ahead, and then... one skillfully steps over a downed Gear only to get caught in the glue that's helping keep the fallen down, and that is just going to become exponentially worse for everyone involved over there.
Sable, with the help of her Rune Shoes, is the furthest ahead of everyone when they break line of sight, and is the first to have the means to look back and realize things seem like they've come right out of a younger child's cartoon over there.
"We're aliiiiiiiive~!" Lanval calls. If he keeps 'piloting' his Gear like that, well... do those consequences even apply for Seraphim? "'n I'm alive! I ain't a ghosht! I jusht don't have my own body!" That's almost interchangeable with the concept of a ghost!
They're running blind out of danger again into perhaps more danger, but that specific brush with death is brushed aside.
DG: Luna Meitner has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Abandoned Fortification *>====================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Perhaps a week or so ago, this was a field site for Kislev or Aveh -- the
chewed up banner on the wall has been damaged by artillery and the elements
badly enough that it's impossible to tell which nation it belonged to.
The doorway is piled with rubble. You can't get in that way. But, if you're
nimble, you might be able to ascend to the top of the lost outpost and find
a way inside that way. It might well be the closest thing you'll get to
respite in this forsaken land.
But even a Gear will find that this is easier said than done: the rooftop
after all is a small and crumbling spot on which to land.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Quicken:_Agility_Up! and Save_Point:_Conditions_cleansed! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Luna Meitner has posed.
Everyone else is sharing about homelands and climes... Luna doesn't exactly contribute to the conversation, but she does remark, offhandedly, in a quiet moment, "I grew up in a desert."
But they get away, and Sable comments that she thought Luna was going to fight them... Luna is, normally, very stoic in how she carries herself. She does not emote much, (the occasional moments of being addressed as 'kiddo' aside), and her expression is normally somewhere between 'disapproving scowl' and 'neutral.'
But at that comment Luna looks to Sable, and for just a moment, the corner of her mouth turns up just enough to form a brief, self-satisfied smirk. It might almost even be a smile, with a hint of mischief in her eyes.
But it's gone in the next moment, as she turns and moves forward.
They come across a fortification, and Luna signals a halt as she moves to a better place to make an observation. "No movements," she comments, and then she steals closer yet, and when she passes the walls... she looks back to the others and waves them forward.
"It's abandoned," she comments. "They may have been driven out- in a rush, since they didn't destroy the site. There may be supplies left inside." The building is tall and mostly intact, but damaged, and the pile of rubble in the way suggests that moving it may awell bring it down on themselves.
Luna scans the outer ramparts and walkways around the main structure, her gaze tracing back and progressively lower until she's mapped a path out. This time she goes for the vial, popping the stopper off and downing a thin orange liquid. Magic infuses her body, and she suddenly takes off running. Off a fallen beam onto the outer wall, then up the wall, and along the ramparts (with several lengthy gaps over sections that no longer exist), and then from the rampart to a tangling rope that a banner probably once held from. She swings once, twice, and then launches herself onto the inner part of the structure and then up a ladder, and then vanishes out of sight.
DG: Luna Meitner has used her Tool Pegasus Draught toward her party's challenge, Abandoned Fortification. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Mmm." Lanval stops and sizes up the fortification that Luna spots ahead of them, and scouts... to say it's abandoned. It looks the part, but there really isn't a way in the conventional way, and Luna's decided to go above and around to get inside.
There is no way that Gear is of the build or dexterity to be scaling much of anything. This Gear should be living tucked away in a maintenance bay somewhere, enjoying a steady lifetime of use in moving things, cleaning things, attaching things, refueling things... a charmed life for one of the greater culminations of scientific research in making huge walking vehicles.
"Don't worry 'bout me, I got a way in!" One could hear Lanval's dopey smile just from that voice, as he considers the reserves of something he can easily replenish with a bit of extra effort, as nozzles on both arms transform into spray nozzles. Then... moments later, he points both arms low to the ground. "'m gonna go riiiiight on over! Look out below, all right...!"
Water expels from these nozzles at ridiculous and silly volume and velocity alike.
Then he gains lift, and tries to go over this mess to follow along inside the structure. (To his credit, to his very partial, 'will not get zero marks' credit, he is able to step down the improvised thrust so he doesn't just collapse in a heap that'd threaten to bring everything down on everyone's heads.)
(This is still a bad idea.)
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Hovering Waterjets toward his party's challenge, Abandoned Fortification. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Rille Felis has posed.
Rille doesn't really slow down until the Gears are out of sight. Glue won't hold them forever, nor will wax and coloured paint and mist. Then she slows to a trot; she has good stamina and she's not going to stop leaving the Gears behind.
"Rille. Rille Felis," the aforenamed says to Shige by way of introduction. She grins, showing teeth for a moment. "Glad to see more beastfolk around anyway." They're not as badly off out here as they are in Kislev and she's glad for it.
The party keeps moving. "Man, hot springs," she says in passing to Sable. "I haven't been to one of those in - it's been a while." She can't remember. She never really had the opportunity. "We made our own kinda thing out of steam, but it's not the same as a hot spring."
But there's a fortification. Rille... well, Rille does not look like she'd be the best at climbing. She's athletic, but she's more strong than agile and she's both big and, ignoring the Gear, the heaviest member of the party by a fair margin.
So it's probably a good thing that she pulls out what looks like a folding crossbow with a grappling... well, it's more a spike than a hook. She cranks it up, takes aim, and fires it; hooks pop out of the spike on impact, holding it firmly in place.
With the aid of the cable and the grapple, THEN Rille starts to climb, slowly and impatiently. Her claws dig into the old fort, and she scrapes out mortar a couple times by mistake, holding on for dear life while she makes sure everything stays more or less stable.
DG: Rille Felis has used her Tool Grapple Gun toward her party's challenge, Abandoned Fortification. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
It's pretty... special. Sable has never run from a Gear patrol before so she has no particular experience to which to compare it, but it definitely feels silly. She is very sure that Lanval's Gear shouldn't move like that.
But they're safe, and that is what counts. "We are," Sable answers, and actually smiles briefly. Just briefly. "Oh.... You're a spirit?" she wonders. "Well, that's good enough. I'll remember you're alive."
But at least Luna seems pleased.
The fortification... Sable looks at it thoughtfully. Then she watches Lanval go over. "...."
"...That looks fun..."
Her shoes's runes glow again, as she hops up, to part of the structure, and up a ladder, and ahead, too. She's very nimble, as it happens, particularly with the hand-grips she puts on. "Saunas are good too," Sable says, "But it's not the same. If you come to Pewter, on Nede, there are a lot of them. Vermillion has some too."
Grappling! Sable does not use a grappling hook. She uses her shoes and her spiked hand-grips.
DG: Sable Aomori has used her Tool Rune Shoes toward her party's challenge, Abandoned Fortification. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige fixes Luna with a glare she rarely breaks out. Grim almost. "I can show you the graves that mark where my home was if you'd like." Luna may have touched a nerve there. One that isn't lubricated with alcohol like it would be usually.
She doesn't look much happier, but she does raise a hand and say sincerely at least, "It's fine. Poor thing was scared." She gets it.
"Poltergeists are like ghosts, but aren't." She's also at least laughing. And she hasn't reached for her liquor stash yet, but she's not where she'd been before the comment either.
She does break out a cigar though. Biting off one end to light it with her lantern. She's working one vice at a time. Or limiting at least.
She does try to offer Rille something of a smile and a thumbs up though. "We're still around. Some of us into more trouble than most." There's probably a cat joke in there. She does add, "Didn't actually have any back home. We used to just heat up barrels with snowmelt."
"Didn't have saunas either.. I think a neighboring village might have at.. one point. I think they're gone too." She's not trying to be melancholy...
The mist around her doesn't seem to let up though. Ethereal in a sense with more figures almost visible in it.
The stuff swirls around her even more, obscuring her as she.. tries to find a way inside. It's hazy and she's clearly getting some otherworldly help, following along without comment on the situation. If there's supplies, she needs them. The abandoned and the dead don't need it anymore anyway. And if there's anything lingering, she can help there too.
DG: Shige Kiwako has used her Tool Ghostly Passage toward her party's challenge, Abandoned Fortification. Quicken! Party Agility boosted! Sacrifice! The party will take slightly more Exhaustion this round!
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Abandoned Fortification *>====================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Perhaps a week or so ago, this was a field site for Kislev or Aveh -- the
chewed up banner on the wall has been damaged by artillery and the elements
badly enough that it's impossible to tell which nation it belonged to.
The doorway is piled with rubble. You can't get in that way. But, if you're
nimble, you might be able to ascend to the top of the lost outpost and find
a way inside that way. It might well be the closest thing you'll get to
respite in this forsaken land.
But even a Gear will find that this is easier said than done: the rooftop
after all is a small and crumbling spot on which to land.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Quicken:_Agility_Up! and Save_Point:_Conditions_cleansed! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
==================< Results - Aveh-Kislev War Zone - Round 4 >==================
====================< CHALLENGE - Abandoned Fortification >=====================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rille Felis 29 --(5)--> 34 Good
Grapple Gun Min Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sable Aomori 24 --(0)--> 24 Best
Rune Shoes Min Agility Effects: Stalwart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval 12 --(5)--> 17 Best
Hovering Waterjets Maj Agility Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shige Kiwako 34 --(5)--> 39 Best
Ghostly Passage Maj Agility Effects: Quicken and
Sacrifice
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luna Meitner 29 --(0)--> 29 Best
Pegasus Draught Min Agility Effects: Stalwart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Rille Felis 55 --(20)--> 75 Pass
Conditions: Save Point(1)
Effects: Quicken(1)
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Rille Felis 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.
Through all of their various machinations, they make it inside the structure. Luna and Sable opt to apply magic in similar ways, Rille uses a grappling spike, Shige seeks otherworldly assistance... and Lanval, much to great relief, manages to find a hole in the ceiling that he can lower himself through, all without flattening or washing away anybody else. (Once inside, they can open one of the other locked gates to get out, so leaving won't be an issue.)
Once inside, Luna continues to follow the conversation at hand without really seeming to participate in it, even when she makes a direct contribution. "The saunas could be relaxing after a long day of training and drills." It is a very small admission, but far more of one than she usually makes.
Luna will not admit to having 'fun' climbing up and over as she does... but it is a bit of a rush.
Shige's challenge, however, is met with one of her own. As noted, most of the time her expression is subdued, and maybe mildy disapproving of the things around her. But there is an intensity and a fire in her as she stares back at the shaman. "Be thankful you could honor your dead."
Left unstated: she didn't get to.
She quickly goes away, though it takes her expression a moment to return to its normal stoicism. Thankfully, for all involved, she chooses to use this time to sift through chests and lockers for abandoned supplies rather than press the point with Shige.
Despite the tension, it's a nice chance to take a break before they continue on their way.
DG: Shige Kiwako has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Restoring the Machine *>=====================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
It's not over yet.
Regardless of your experiences through the war zone, it's not over yet. One
last obstacle awaits you before you can see this trial to its close.
If you're siding with one nation, then the enemy you face is of the opposite
side. Otherwise, what you now face is of either nation, be it Kislev or
Aveh.
Forget troop. Forget platoon. Forget even Gears. You're facing down one
side's aerial war machine, and even if you yourself are in a Gear, you're at
a distinct disadvantage against something of that size.
But what if there was another way?
An abandoned war machine lies not terribly far away. It's not working, but
the fuel reserves should be enough to get it airborne. But what's wrong with
it? And more importantly, can you get it up and running long enough to aim
it (or pilot it, if you're on foot) against the other side's war machine?
BGM: Takafumi Imamura - Blood on the Wind
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Quicken:_Agility_Up!, and |
| Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Luna's given another look. "And you haven't, despite having all the capabilities of doing so." Shige's a bit feisty today. "Rushing off to join them isn't the right way to honor them regardless." Her hood is calmly lifted up by an unseen force and.. yanked over her head before she can say anything else. She's supposed to be better than this. Though there's probably a few things brewing behind those eyes.
That said, the figure that interrupted her also is manifesting clearly enough to also give Luna a look a veteran officer gives any misbehaving soldier. It's a later problem.
Pulling her hood away from her ears, she gives the ghostly, fading figure an equally dark look, but moves on. Dropping it. There might have been a puff of smoke in his direction. Cloying in it's way.
Instead, they've made their way out again. Shige still trying to at least keep on the lookout. Both for those in need of aid and the party. And probably sulking a bit.
And it gets worse. Glancing up as an airship looms overhead. Beams of light stabbing out, sweeping the ground back and forth.
Shige points to the downed warship.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige points to the downed warship, "Cover over there. Don't let it see you." Clearly meaning to avoid the conflict entirely. A flying machine probably isn't going to look for her piddly armband and bluntly, after early it's probably not going to matter.
As she nears the downed ship, figures begin to manifest. Lit by an inner blue light. Flickering there, only briefly visible to most. Shige doesn't recognize the airship or the uniform of the figures of the downed ship, but they're trying to get her attention. Like they want to get the thing flying again. To get revenge.
She's not.. sure she agrees with the idea, but she calls back, "They're saying it can fly again and.. they'll help?" She's not translating it literally. Sable might know what they're really after.
DG: Shige Kiwako has used her Tool Shadowy Advisors toward her party's challenge, Restoring the Machine.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Mmm. I know of a few good placesh on Lunar, if ya ever head that way," Lanval says as he chills out admist the now horribly waterlogged remainders of the outpost (whose fault was that??). It's a nice place to catch their breath, but when they're out... it feels like the entire world around him is suddenly a circular field that feels sequestered from the rest of the battlefield. Metaphorically, with a large flying vehicular weapon, which is clearly not amused with what's going on.
"Mmm. All right, sho, firsht thingsh firsht," Lanval says to the rest, "if they're gonna shoot... they're gonna shoot at me. 'n guessh what! I don't got a body! Shooo... 'm jusht gonna buy ya all shome time, whatever yer doin'." It might be his imagination, but he hears some music playing.
OST: Discord: Imperial - Zodiac Age Ver. (Bozja Critical Engagement)
Drunk Tank (>.<)
(L) 17:42
|||||||||||||||
Defeat Runaway Maintenance Gear: 0/1
As the battlefield lines remain fluid in the war,
it's not uncommon for some equipment to be... lost.
It is, however, not commonplace for a Gear to be
stolen by a mischievous elemental spirit. Show the
incorporeal interloper that even a mere maintenance
Gear is not a toy, lest they make sport of Kislev.
Seraph Lanval waits patiently for the flying war machine to make their move, at which point, it is probably going to be a dreadfully one-sided affair unless everyone is able to get that other war machine flying, and fighting, and everything.
ENGAGE!
Faced with underwhelming odds Kislevi's contingent of fighters has been granted the narrative benefit of the doubt.
(What transpires as Lanval attempts to buy time involves oil debuffs, sliding on the waxy ground, navigating water spray knockbacks, and trying to get into piles of water to wash off the oil before the debuff causes detonation. Or would, if there were like 48 soldiers on the ground flailing wildly and not one flying war machine.)
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a risky Wits Action toward his party's challenge, Restoring the Machine.
<Pose Tracker> Luna Meitner has posed.
Luna tried to turn away, to avoid having things devolve into a shouting match. But when Shige decides to push the point further, Luna freezes from where she's searching, her hands gripping tightly at the lid of the chest she was in the middle of opening.
She slams it shut and then suddenly stands, glowering at Shige as she stalks closer. Where before there was a fire in her response, now it is a barely-contained inferno. Her tone is low and dangerous. "Watch your tongue, shaman. You know not of what you speak. My homeland is lost to me, forever beyond my reach. Do not presume to preach to me."
Her fists balled into fists while she was talking, and it might be a fair question if she intends to take a swing at Shige... but with a disgusted snort she suddenly turns and then pauses, staring at the manifested spirit. Her eyes narrow as she glares at it. "I will not be cowed by a spirit, either." She stalks off, heading for the exit. "I'll keep watch." is all she says.
She might also be sulking, in her own fashion, as they move along.
But there is an airship overhead, and Luna can agree with the sentiment to take cover. Shige points out the spirits of the dead who... want to help.
Yes, because the spirits of dead soldiers with unfinished business have altruistic motives.
She is not the most technically minded, but when Sable calls for lubricants, she nods. "I may be able to fashion something suitable." In a moment she's kneeling, taking out a mortar and pestle, and several other tools while she's at it. She scouts around and finds some plants, mashing the leaves to extract an oil, which she then combines with several other materials in her pack to create a very potent lubricant, which she carefully pours into several spare vials to hand to Sable. "This should suffice."
DG: Luna Meitner has used her Tool Survivalist Toolkit toward her party's challenge, Restoring the Machine. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Rille Felis has posed.
"Hey," Rille says, voice raising as she interposes herself between Luna and Shige. "Let's argue about it *later*. A lot of Drifters can't go home, but this is not the place to talk about it. Sometime when we're not going to have our tails shot off is. Or I will, anyway," she says, turning her head slightly to look over her shoulder. as her alligator (or is it a crocodile) tail sweeps sideways.
At least Luna decided not to press it into violence, because Rille would have *definitely* tried to break it up.
Getting to the downed ship isn't hard, as these things go, but getting there without getting spotted from the air - well, that one is apparently impossible! Rille kind of stands out, and just because she's wet and grumpy from the weather doesn't mean her hair or her build is hidden.
...
"You wanna get this thing working?" she asks Shige, almost incredulously. "I dunno if that's a great plan. It crashed for a reason, probably. But maybe we can at least get some of the guns working, and if it DOES go up for a few minutes, we can use it to get over the ridge - it'll keep the infantry off our asses, at least!"
Rille doesn't know that much about mechanics, ultimately. But she can pick up and move things like a champ if someone tells her where they need to go, and she can lock things into place or, alternately, unstick them from wherever they've gotten buried.
DG: Rille Felis has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Restoring the Machine.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Artan was scared! It's true.
A desert... "I see," Sable says. She nods. But she looks between Shige and Luna. "...You shouldn't argue while we're in danger," she says. But Shige seems to have one of her 'friends' covering it. As for Luna, "I know you feel strongly... but it's important that we work together." She nods to Rille. "Yes."
Regardless, there's an airship there... Sable blinks twice at it. "...Okay," she says, and then then dartss for the downed ship. She looks around thoughtfully. ?The figures, when they appear--SHige hears them, but Sable does, too. "They want revenge... against their enemy."
"They want to fight. ...I don't think we can get around fighting."
But Lanval has a way to keep them safe. "...Be careful, Mr. Lanval," Sable says, and with his heart more than his ears he might detect the worry in her voice. "I'm sure you can do it..."
The ghosts will help. But they're going to need power. ANd--Sable examines the machines a little closer.
"These machines are a bit rusty... Luna, can you make some lubricants? That would help. For me..."
She then pulls two things--a pokeball, and her flask. The pokeball she extends in her hand, and out pops a large yellow rodent. "Varan," she says. "I'm going to need your help."
"I'm not an expert on this kind of machinery," Sable admits. "But I can tell it's out of power and rusty." She pauses. "Rille, if you can work that wheel, you can steer. It's going to require some strength..."
Then she fashions a concoction to give her Pikachu lots of energy. "OK, Varan. Hit the power source wiht your Thunderbolt."
"Piiiikaaaaaaa!"
"CHU!"
Bzzzzzzt.
DG: Sable Aomori has used her Tool Lezard's Flask toward her party's challenge, Restoring the Machine. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Restoring the Machine *>=====================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
It's not over yet.
Regardless of your experiences through the war zone, it's not over yet. One
last obstacle awaits you before you can see this trial to its close.
If you're siding with one nation, then the enemy you face is of the opposite
side. Otherwise, what you now face is of either nation, be it Kislev or
Aveh.
Forget troop. Forget platoon. Forget even Gears. You're facing down one
side's aerial war machine, and even if you yourself are in a Gear, you're at
a distinct disadvantage against something of that size.
But what if there was another way?
An abandoned war machine lies not terribly far away. It's not working, but
the fuel reserves should be enough to get it airborne. But what's wrong with
it? And more importantly, can you get it up and running long enough to aim
it (or pilot it, if you're on foot) against the other side's war machine?
BGM: Takafumi Imamura - Blood on the Wind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhpGAkEvA_M
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, and |
| Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>=========================== ==================< Results - Aveh-Kislev War Zone - Round 5 >================== =====================< CHALLENGE - Restoring the Machine >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rille Felis 34 --(12)--> 46 Worst Investigate Bsc Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sable Aomori 24 --(0)--> 24 Best Lezard's Flask Min Wits Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 17 --(0)--> 17 Good Investigate Bsc Wits Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shige Kiwako 39 --(0)--> 39 Good Shadowy Advisors Maj Wits Effects: Efficient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna Meitner 29 --(0)--> 29 Good Survivalist Toolkit Min Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Rille Felis 75 --(35)--> 110 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2) and Reckless(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Rille Felis has successfully explored Aveh-Kislev War Zone!
===========================<* Aveh-Kislev War Zone *>===========================
=======<* CHALLENGE - Secrets of the Kislevi Forces - From the Shadows *>=======
| Type: Discovery | Dungeon Ability: Conclusion | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Though the odds may have been against you, you have managed to turn things
around: what had been shaping up to look like a potential disaster has been
transformed into an unmitigated success.
Still, there's no sense in staying around here after that ordeal. You're
well past due your time to retreat from the war zone.
It just so happens that your retreat takes you past the abandoned and
shattered remains of a Kislevi outpost.The outpost is a mess when you
inspect it: not much remains amidst the wreckage that seems salvageable.
But it's while poking amidst the rubble and flinders that you find it: its
edges are scorched and the ink is illegible in some places, you can still
make out:
"Development of the Goliath proceeds as planned but additional adjustments
to the battle plan... 'as planned' remains slower than required.
Intensification of Kislevi technological advance needed... experiencing
difficulty balancing excavated Gears in Aveh against the latest Kislevi
hardware... Aveh predicted winner in simulation unless adjustments... Ramses
in Aveh readjusting tactical plans to accommodate our struggles...
accordingly in the interim."
There's one more line you can mostly make out:
"Recommending deployment of Hecht to Norturne; Hecht will provide additional
firepower... if necessary under invasion scenario... nuclear plant in
Nortune."
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, |
| Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, and Secret:_Exploration_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige looks at Luna still clearly annoyed, even if the lingering ghost behind her is now threatening both in his own way. Almost fully manifested even! He is physically steering Shige away at this point. Giving her a shove away, claws actually at the ready herself! Then he's gone. The hint of something of a dark humored laugh left behind.
With the lubricants, the engine can be at least put into something approaching working order. One of the mechanics wearing the remnants of a uniform borrowing from Shige's power to get the thing started with a coughing wheeze.
It's fine. Revenge is a good motivator right?
As for Rille's comment she adds wryly, "Well, it's that. Or we find out if they're feeling charitable up there-" She points upward, "And.. a fancy armband isn't going to go anywhere."
Still, that brief interruption aside, she's guided into helping with getting things out of the way. Or straightening things out, or even crank started at one point by the former crew.
She does reply to Sable's, "I'm used to it. Too many voices around too often anyway." Which might be another reason she was prone to drinking come to think of it..
She does agree with Sable's assessment. She doesn't know how much overlap is there between their particular skillsets.. Maybe a later thing. The crew give the yellow rodent a confused look. Looking to Shige to ask, 'Really?' probably not fully realizing the girl can hear them too, though the feline gives them a thumbs up while she herself is trying to coordinate between the different groups. Relaying where needed to each person!
Luckily though, they have enough time for the engine to fire up. Starting to lift into the air with a groan. It's probably not in the best condition now. It's not huge. But it is well armed and crewed by.. dubious elements. It's fine. The gunnery crew of the other ship were busy trying to figure out how to shoot at a watery figure down below and their lookout's about to get chewed out by a superior officer if they survive as the newly recover ship levels out. Shige still trying to relay orders and.. well they do return fire of course. Scoring something of an ambush despite the logistics of it suggesting it shouldn't happen. Tunnel vision though!
<Pose Tracker> Rille Felis has posed.
"Hey, Lanval!" Rille calls as he runs off. "If we make it, we'll try to meet up with you, uh, let's say thataway! A few thousand sharls!" A thousand sharls is a kilometer, more or less. Rille doesn't know how far this thing goes, but a march of a few miles won't hurt Lanval's gear. "Don't get yourself too hurt!"
Rille is perfectly willing to pull a wheel when Sable suggests she can manage that, and she can; Rille is not good at mechanical repair but has a perfectly good set of eyes and, importantly, can muscle the wheel around even when it isn't in great shape and it keeps locking. She can get it moving again.
She lets out a whoop when the thing actually *flies*. Rille never has, before.
While the ship does return fire, Rille's primary objective is to make a break for it; it always was. She doesn't trust this thing to hold up in a sustained firefight (it already crashed once!) so hit and run is a better plan. A fighting retreat, until they can set down in a Kislevi outpost in more or less the direction Lanval was told about.
"Hopefully he'll figure it out," Rille says, sounding a little worried, once the flying machine is... down. Not crashed, precisely, but she wouldn't want to take it up again without more repairs. "We'd better stay here and wait for him a bit, I don't want to abandon him."
It gives her an opportunity to poke around the outpost, which was of course one of the reasons she wanted to come this way anyway; scouting! Which means she's deliberately looking for orders. "Damn, this place got pretty shot up, huh," she says, levering a wooden support aside and revealing the shattered remnants of a desk underneath.
Well, Rille isn't going to *not* poke around in it...
"Hey, these are..." EXACTLY what she'd been looking for. She's going to have to get these to people, but... "Hey, it looks like they must've gotten lucky, this looks like an Aveh report if they're talking about - wait, no, it's talking about Kislevi stuff too..."
That's because this is a *Solaris* report. Rille looks at it, confused. Maybe she's reading it wrong? She doesn't know what a nuclear plant is, anyway. But one part she's sure of: "Look, they're planning an attack on Nortune! I gotta show some people this," she says, carefully folding the paper so it won't be damaged further. "You mind if I keep these?"
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Shige is used to it. THat's something. But, their plan works! It works, and RIlle takes the wheel, and takes them to the outpost. Sable disembarks with her. "Right," she says. "Mr. Lanval worked hard for us."
But she looks around, and while she doesn't find anything of note, she does hear from Rille.
"An attack on a city?" she asks, and that troubles her. It reminds her of the reason she's fighting.
"Take it," she agrees. "I hope you can do something about it. I'll help if I can."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Thump. Thump. Thump thump thump thump thump thump.
Could it be more enemy Gears coming this way? A flying machine like that isn't hard to track, even in the middle of all-out war like this. They might all be in danger again, and this time, Lanval isn't around to--
"Heeeeeeeey~" It's Lanval's voice! When they look outside, there he is, stumbling along on a machine that shouldn't - and in the vast majority of cases couldn't - be tromping around in these muddy wet environs. The machine looks scuffed up from weapons fire, but the Gear hasn't exploded. It's his now, which... the world is just going to have to deal with.
"'m all right... ya really showed 'em what for! Ha ha ha!"
The joy of survival is a nicely-sized joy that's technically outside of his purview of 'small joys,' but happy is happy, though...
"...Did ya all find anything nice or ish it one of 'em forebodin' thingsh, I can't tell from out here. 'n... maybe I shouldn't shout out loud, come ta think..."
<Pose Tracker> Luna Meitner has posed.
Luna has very little to say to Shige. It's probably for the best that the two of them try to cool off.
But together they get the ship working, and they make an exit, while Lanval uses his stolen gear to distract the airship. Rille worries, and Luna looks ovv in Lanval's direction. "He will be fine. Whether his Gear survives or not will be a different matter."
In a quiet moment, Luna looks to Sable, as if pondering something... eventually she says, quietly (as if she was trying not to be heard), "... you and your pokemon work effectively together."
But Rille finds something interesting, and Luna stops what she's sifting through and comes over to look. "May I read those? I will return them when I am finished." However they arrange it, she quickly skims over the documents. "Neither Aveh or Kislev wrote this report," she says simply, but then hands the documents back.
Speaking of Lanval makes his entrance, and Luna nods to him. "We are unharmed, but we have found dire news, indeed."
<Pose Tracker> Rille Felis has posed.
"Big city," Rille explains. "I grew up in Nortune. It's the biggest city that side of Ignas. If someone is gonna attack it..."
Rille clenches one hand into a meaty fist. "A whole lot of people are gonna die. It's got whole districts they won't even bother to defend because there's nothin' military there. Just people. I don't like the Kaiser one bit - not that someone like me would ever meet him - but that doesn't matter."
At least it looks like Lanval has made it back. And with his Gear, to boot. ...hurray?
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
<poem>Shige Kiwako hesitates, hearing tell of what was gathered. The ship's not exactly in the best condition in the first place. "I uh. We should probably get at a less terminal velocity altitude soon." The spirits are still lingering, though with the defeat of the other ship they seem less.. slightly less wrathful at least.
"If they're attacking it, I'd bet there is something military there. Or they're picking very strange targets." She didn't come up with that on her own. The morion-clad soldier behind her was musing out loud.. not that most would hear it.