2024-05-10: Ghosts In The Depths
- Log: Ghosts In The Depths
- Cast: Anne Aomori, Shige Kiwako, Kanon, Mia Tamaoka
- Where: Underneath Mirapulse, Ignas, Filgaia
- Date: May 10, 2024 (506 PC Filgaian)
- Summary: Anne and Mia go to explore a ruin in Filgaia, joined by the demon hunter Kanon and the ghostly warden Shige. Moods come and go, but memories last.
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
Mirapulse is a town in he Adlehyde Basin, which is in Ignas, which is of interest to Anne primarily because it has old mines and technology and is currenly in a state of upheaval. She has brought Mia on an expedition, and it has nothing to do with the fact that looking at anything on Nede makes her angry at the moment.
It's fine.
Anne is dressed as a researcher, in sturdy clothes with a nice labcoat. Her gray hair is loose, in all defiance of work safety practices, and she has been leading Mia through the town of Mirapulse and down, down, down into the mines. Now that they're here at some sort of complex...
"We'll have to risk the dark. If you break something, don't worry, I can patch you up." Anne smiles at Mia. "...More seriously, do be careful. I can take us across with my Raichu..."
She calls forth Ichi, a Pokeball in hr hand suddenly becoming a huge yellow rodent with a lightning bolt shaped tail. "Rai!" he says, and then is on a surfboard.
"Let's go!"
Raichu and Anne surf across the rocks, as water rushes from the ground out of nowhere!
DG: Anne Aomori has used her Tool Surf toward her party's challenge, Into the Dark. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
A feline has heard of abandoned mines and... well. She's also something of a ghostly guide and these mines are always reportedly haunted. That she showed up on a ghost ship doesn't make the first part true, even if it is currently haunted. She's stopped thinking about those kinds of logistics though.
Shige's wearing a poncho right now. And a bandana, goggles and a mask. She had been out on the deck of the ship while it floated along. Hovered? It doesn't fly fully right now. That's another later problem.
She didn't think anyone would be here though and she's currently having a quiet conversation with a shade wearing a kettle helmet, mask and goggles like herself. There's more armor there too, but.. he's also see-through. And there's a ragged darkness in the armor. Getting close would reveal she's discussing what needs to be fixed with the ship's armaments.
The ghost is pointing things out to her as they walk, but at ths same time she's already trying to step around them. There's some confidence to her that isn't alcohol related for once!
She's also.. not fully paying attention to the others yet. She's engrossed in talk-y time.
DG: Shige Kiwako has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Into the Dark.
<Pose Tracker> Kanon has posed.
Kanon, the Exorcist, the Merc, has arrived. Was she just waiting for a call for guides to this place? Did she have her own designs upon it?
Hard to say. She keeps her own company. Though, she's met Anne before, so that helps things along, and possibly diminishes the cyborg's mystique as she stands stands at the lip of the cavern below, her one good eye gleaming with unnatural light. She has no Gear, and no pets, either. She peers silently. "See you down there," is what she says.
Then her shoes emit a high whine and she just jumps, her long cape flipping up in the wind to show the minidress of a tunic she wears, and the too-long red cybernetic arm too.
DG: Kanon has used her Tool Jump Boots toward her party's challenge, Into the Dark.
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Mia might have a little trouble with subtlety sometimes... Purri, on the other hand, has had...
Well, frankly she's had a tremendous amount of experience attending to Mia's needs, and so she is regarding Anne curiously throughout their trip. And Purri's attention gets Mia's attention, eventually, with the two sharing looks throughout.
Something is wrong, but they're not sure what.
But-- Field trip to Filgaia! With Anne! Mia is all too happy to go with her, even under these circumstances. Filgaia is scary but... she's feeling a bit more capable lately, and of course, she has Anne here, too, for support.
She's dressed in a purple hoodie, fuchsia siirt over black bike shorts, sneakers, glasses, and sparkling light purple nail polish. (Purri has the same color nail polish, too!) Purri is on her shoulder as always, tail swishing slowly.
Risking the dark. "I c-can have Pixi create a light for us..." She nods at being patched up. "O-okay! I know s-some healing, too..."
Mia grins as she sees Anne and Ichi surf across. "Okay, Purri! C-copycat!"
"Purr!" Purri jumps down to the ground, her eyes flicking blue for a moment as she studies Ichi's move--and then her own water and surfboard spring up out of nowhere as Mia hastily hops on to follow her mentor across.
DG: Mia Tamaoka has used her Tool Purri toward her party's challenge, Into the Dark. Fanfare!
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Into the Dark *>=========================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Beyond the town of Mirapulse and beyond the twists and turns of the
abandoned and lightless mineshafts is where you'll find it: a localized
quake had shifted the earth, opening a sizable tear into the earth. With the
help of lights (either lanterns of the external illumination of your Gear or
similar) you can get an idea of what lies beyond it: there's some sort of
complex beyond, glittering in the dark.
Or perhaps, it might be better to say it's below. Not terribly far down, as
these things go: you wouldn't die if you jumped, but you also wouldn't like
it. It's not precisely an unobstructed or straight drop (meaning you'll
likely hit rocks one way or another), for one, and for two...
Well, it's not precisely /stable/ rock either. Any footholds you find -- be
you on foot or otherwise -- are likely to tilt if not outright crumble or
fall away. Good luck.
BGM: Igorrr - Corpo-Mente - Dorma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEbOFVvB_6Y
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Suffer:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
===================< Results - The Lightless Dark - Round 1 >===================
=========================< CHALLENGE - Into the Dark >==========================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anne Aomori 0 --(10)--> 10 Best
Surf Min Agility Effects: Stalwart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shige Kiwako 0 --(10)--> 10 Best
Rush Bsc Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mia Tamaoka 0 --(10)--> 10 Best
Purri Min Agility Effects: Efficient and
Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kanon 0 --(10)--> 10 Best
Jump Boots Maj Agility Effects: Efficient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Anne Aomori 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass
Conditions: Suffer(1)
Effects:
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Anne Aomori 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> Anne Aomori has posed.
Shige's presence is of interest to Anne. She says, "Shige--come on down with us. If you can spare the attention."
Anne doesn't know what Kanon is after, but she doesn't especially care, either; if they fulfill some sinister agenda, it's fine. It's a chance to see her in action. Which is... something. "See you," Anne agrees with Kanon.
But Mia? Yes, Mia and Purri have detected something. But Anne isn't saying what it is for the moment. "Pixi's light would be useful," Anne says, "But a flashlight is just as good in this case. And if I get hurt, I'll rely on your heealing, hm?"
They all head down. Shige doesn't fall despite her distraction. Kanon just jumps it and lands like a badass. Anne and Mia, meanwhile, surf down in style, and the waters of their magic dry up like they were never there at the bottom.
"Heh," Anne says. "...Well, let's see what's down here..."
She seems in a better mood to be exploring, at least.
DG: Mia Tamaoka has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - A Sudden Darkness *>=======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
There are lights that still function in places throughout the complex (and
perhaps you've already encountered a few stretches or rooms at this point).
This is one of them--
Until the lights fail. The lights sputter and flicker before going out
entirely, and you might well have a fairly good idea of the reason why:
chittering and clicking inside the walls suggests that there are Urchin Bugs
mucking around with the wiring!
Worse, from the sound, they're still at it. Are they going to take out the
air circulation next? Or continue on their rampage across other rooms and
hallways as you advance? Maybe if you thump on the walls hard enough you can
encourage them to leave.
Or you could break the walls open and see about giving them a fright (or
fight) of their own.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down! and Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Mia nods resolutely to Anne as she says she might have to rely on Mia's healing, too. "R-right!" She knows she relies on Anne for a lot right now, but... she'll definitely look out for her, too!
She was a bit distracted before getting Purri going, but she blinks as they descend, and then Kanon just... jumps all the way down. "Wh-whoa! How d-did you do that?" Some kind of symbology or technology maybe? Definitely seems like technology--but she can't be sure, with all the different types of magic Filgaia and Lunar have.
She blinks as she spots Shige next, though. "O-oh. Hi, Shige. Um..." She glances off to the side a bit. "Iiiii'm going b-by Mia now, and, um..." She looks to Shige again. "... please refer to me using she/her pronouns."
But they move along, and suddenly the lights go out. "Pixi, go! Please light up the room!"
"Vul," says the small fox-like pokemon as she emerges. She concentrates, and a ball of blue flame appears over her tails, providing slightly off-kilter lighting.
Purri's ear flicks, and she wanders over towards a wall, pressing up against it for a moment. "Purr, purr loin purr."
Mia comes over and listens and nods. "R-right, it sounds like something in the walls... m-maybe we can scare them off if we pound on the wall hard enough...?"
Well if they want to pound on the walls... Purri and Mia step back, and Mia throws another pokeball out. "Tikka, go! Pound on the wall and scare those things off!"
A Tinkatink emerges, brandly a freshly-crafted hammer in her hand. "Tiiiink? She looks where Mia is pointing and nods. "Tink! Tinkaaaaa--!" She charges forward and starts smashing her small hammer against the wall with wild abandon.
DG: Mia Tamaoka has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Sudden Darkness.
<Pose Tracker> Kanon has posed.
Kanon lands neatly. Her shoes piston upwards slightly and vent steam for some reason.
Her gaze sweeps to Mia. In the dark, the fact that one of her eyes is glowing artificially is even clearer. It's faint, not enough to cast a light, but unmistakable. "...modifications," is her simple answer, as her boots slide back into place. "This place isn't like Nede. To hunt monsters here...you have to be ready to give things up."
Onward progress sees them cast into the dark abruptly some halls later, and Kanon waits quietly in that darkness-- "The walls," she says. Her legs and boots emit a shrill sound again, capacitors running themselves up and then draining quickly.
Then she suddenly propels herself forward, bulleting at the walls. She flips forward, the air rippling around her as she DRIVES a double-footed stomp into the walls!
DG: Kanon has contributed a risky Brute Action toward her party's challenge, A Sudden Darkness.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
The feline in question perks up when she's called out. "Why are you here?" She asks. Maybe a little more bluntly than intended. It IS a good question. Especially with some others in tow. She points it out even. "Especially dragging someone you're supposed to be taking care of along."
Not that she wouldn't do the same thing, but she'd justify it! Which is probably the same here. Right?
She's a cat, of course she didn't fall!
Shige checks the light of her lantern, turning it up a bit more for the others since.. well she doesn't need as much light normally.
She does offer a wave to Kanon, a face she's pretty sure she doesn't recognize and then to the other two with a simple nod to Mia.
She whistles though, turning. The kettle helm'd face turning her way and giving her a wry look. Slightly more visible in the ghostlight. She points. "They're acting up. I'm leaving it up to you." Which gets a slow grin. He gets to do more demo work. Who doesn't like doing demo work? She does point away after looking at the gathered group. "He's dead and it's mostly magic, but it still goes boom so.. distance. And maybe watch the pressure."
DG: Shige Kiwako has used her Tool Spectral Sapper toward her party's challenge, A Sudden Darkness. Strengthen! Party Brute boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"Exploring," Anne says. "It's a perfectly normal pastime. But don't worry, I'm looking out for her. If you come with us, we'll both bee lookin out for her."
Modifications, Kanon says. Anne doesn't chime in on this one until after Kanon mmentions 'giving something up'. "She's right about that," Anne says then. "This place is dangerous. Our healing Symbology can help a lot, but don't let your guard down in hre."
The walls. Kanon rushes, and Anne admittedly wishes she could get her hands on those servos, really see what makes them tick. But she doesn't do that. Instead--
"Good work with your Pokemon," Anne says to Mia, "But I think w eneed to send a harder message than that."
She pulls a Pokeball, and from it emerges a large mammalian creature with blue and cream fur, and red spots on his back. He roars, and those red spots erupt into flame.
(He likes being intimidating.)
"That works for me," she says of the ghost and the distance. "Hope he doesn't mind company."
Laqui roars again, and this time the wall just erupts in lava.
DG: Anne Aomori has used her Tool Lava Plume toward her party's challenge, A Sudden Darkness. Strengthen! Party Brute boosted!
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - A Sudden Darkness *>=======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
There are lights that still function in places throughout the complex (and
perhaps you've already encountered a few stretches or rooms at this point).
This is one of them--
Until the lights fail. The lights sputter and flicker before going out
entirely, and you might well have a fairly good idea of the reason why:
chittering and clicking inside the walls suggests that there are Urchin Bugs
mucking around with the wiring!
Worse, from the sound, they're still at it. Are they going to take out the
air circulation next? Or continue on their rampage across other rooms and
hallways as you advance? Maybe if you thump on the walls hard enough you can
encourage them to leave.
Or you could break the walls open and see about giving them a fright (or
fight) of their own.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, and |
| Strengthen:_Brute_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================ ===================< Results - The Lightless Dark - Round 2 >=================== =======================< CHALLENGE - A Sudden Darkness >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anne Aomori 10 --(5)--> 15 Good Lava Plume Min Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shige Kiwako 10 --(5)--> 15 Best Spectral Sapper Min Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mia Tamaoka 10 --(5)--> 15 Good Force Bsc Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kanon 10 --(25)--> 35 Bad Force Bsc Brute Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Anne Aomori 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2) and Fright(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Anne Aomori 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> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Mia's own eyes are a pale silver, and something in them also pops in the darkness... though in her case it's a (mostly) natural-looking phenomenon. She blinks at Kanon as she says 'modifications.'
She frowns and looks to Purri, and then Anne. "L-like... artificial prosthetics? I d-didn't know Filgaia had those..." To hunt monsters... Mia frowns deeply in thought at that. Something about that statement nags at her, but...
"I... see."
But Shige calls out Anne, and Mia folds her arms. "H-hey, I'm capable too, y-you know!" She's got her pokemon. She's actually been training with them, too! She glances aside. "I sh-shouldn't be down here b-by myself, but... W-with Doctor Aomori it should be fine. And w-we both know healing magic."
She looks to Anne. "I'm w-watching out for you, too." She squares herself up a bit as she says that, trying very hard to project confidence. She knows Anne's been wanting to see her be more confident--but also not reckless--so she tries to display it for her mentor.
She yelps as she sees Kanon just go for it--that's more than just a prosthetic, isn't it? And she watches with concern as the ghostly sapper gets set up for some demolition work. And of course, Anne brings out Laqui. "Um... T-Tikka, Purri, let's.... stand back a bit."
Tikka, a steel type, is all too happy to get out of the way of some fire.
But between pounding, explosions, roaring, and the magic of overclocked cybernetics, those bugs are all sent scurrying off, and the lights stop flickering. They're not exactly fixed, but at least the other systems in their path should be safe.
Kanon, however, ends up in a comedically undignified position of her choosing after rebounding off of the wall.
"W-well, I think they're gone, a-at least..." Mia looks over to Kanon. "Um, M-Miss, are you okay...?"
Meanwhile, Tikka scurries over after all of that force and stress has broken off a few pieces of the wall, gathering up some new scraps for her hammer.
DG: Kanon has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - All That Glitters *>=======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You'll briefly get a view of it from above through an opening, also thanks
to the lights that still shine on the floor below: there is a maze awaiting
you down there.
And why would you want to bother with this? Perhaps the answer might be the
room on the other end, the items within it glittering with the promise of a
prize to be had.
The maze, as you saw, is not particularly complex. There even appeared to be
multiple paths through. But here's the catch: getting through the maze isn't
what matters. What's important is getting through the maze /quickly/.
Otherwise, the door to that room will simply snap shut, denying you any
promised prizes.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, |
| Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and Vault:_Exploration_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Kanon has posed.
Kanon's hips make a horrible CRRCK and then she falls to the ground, ass over teakettle, with her cloak gracelessly draped over her upturned behind. ...more concerningly it REALLY doesn't look like her legs are supposed to bend that way.
"....good wall," she declares, flatly. Please don't question the several noises that follow she finishes her flip to put her feet on the ground and then swing herself back upright. "Gonna need to readjust that later," she mutters, and then turns. "We do," she says to Mia. "Though mine aren't the common kind." Changing topic to the present: "...They're gone. We can move on," she says.
It's not so hard. The odd encounter on the way - Kanon ends some poor gob's threat via the expedient of a spin kick faster than the eye can track - before they enter a large room that looks down on another. "...maze below," she says, eyes flicking over it briefly. Twists and turns, but nothing paricularly devilish. "Doesn't look like a trick. Supply cache at the end." Her eye glows brighter, momentarily. "...timed." She doesn't stop to say more before she marches for the stairs and sets up at the starting line.
...then a pair of skates pop out of her boots and she takes off like a shot. She seems to have some trouble with turning...or...any deviation horizontally whatsoever, actually...still, on straightaways, the burst of speed should help a lot!
DG: Kanon has used her Tool Motorized Skates toward her party's challenge, All That Glitters. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round! Liability! Failure will result in extra Exhaustion!
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige gives Mia a withering stare. The ghostly sapper stopping short as he rejoins the group, starting to fade from sight, leaving just the vague shade and a pair of eyes, now also watching. Sober Shige's maybe a little less laid back, though it is in an area she suspects might have haints and other dangerous things.
The shade behind Shige gives Mia a different look though. Suddenly more serious from the previous few moments. He's picked up the mood from the cat and.. he apparently agrees that it's risky! He has a big hole through him though so.
Anne gets a pretty grim look from the feline too.
She does watch Kanon go to work though, particularly with that horrible crack. Shige looks behind her and makes a beckoning gesture. A figure slowly manifesting and stepping forward. A familiar one in a morion who steps forward, offering to help Kanon. He doesn't acknowledge the other two. That crack sounded pretty bad and... well. He's a healer. Shige slowly walks forward, realizing she's probably more machine than not based on the sight though, what with the bends, but not the screaming that usually comes with that.
At least she looks less angry now. There's concern.
Then there's a pair of skates and she's just. "Every damn time." she mutters. Things are weird!
She thinks things are weird even as she steps forward, fading partially into mist. Aided by others to hurry along. Obscured from sight and.. here and there both.
DG: Shige Kiwako has used her Tool Ghostly Passage toward her party's challenge, All That Glitters. Quicken! Party Agility boosted! Sacrifice! The party will take slightly more Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"Filgaia seems to have a wide variety of technology," Anne says to her student Mia. "From rudimentary firearms to quite sophisticated things." Like Kanon's horrible bendy legs. For instance.
But they are gone, at least. "You are," Anne agrees with Mia, also looking out for her. "Watching one another's backs is important."
The odd encounter on the way, Anne is content to let Kanon handle. Bu the large room with the maze... Hmmm.
Annee glances a Shige, for a moment. That's all, though.
Kanon skates off, and Anne says, "Get ready," to Mia. "We have to go fast."
Ichi comes back out--and in short order, Anne is surfing ahead with her Raichu, tearing down the corridor on conjured waves!!
DG: Anne Aomori has used her Tool Surf toward her party's challenge, All That Glitters. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Mia blinks as Kanon has... some very unorthodox jointage, apparently. She can't help but stare for a moment (though Purri quicklyheadbutts her leg to get her trainer to look away), and Kanon rights herself. "W-wow... I d-don't..." She frowns and looks to Anne. "I guess s-so... does... a-anybody on Nede make anything like that...?"
She knows that Nede's technology is vastly more advanced, but... they seem to have pursued some things with more doggedness on Filgaia, perhaps.
She defiantly meets Shige's gaze, though, at least for a moment, untill something else demands her attention. This is a Mia who seems to be more certain--or at least is trying to pretend that she is.
But there's a smile for Anne as she agrees that Mia is also looking out for her. Watching out for each other... "Yeah!"
But they get a preview of a room with a maze. An actual maze with a timed door at the end and everything. "L-look, Purri..." She says to the Purrloin now on her shoulder again. "J-just like our JRPGs..." Mia and Purri seem to be tracing out a path together, with Mia tracing her finger along the maze, and Purri providing feedback.
She nods to Anne. "Right. We're r-ready."
Mia recalls Pixi and Tikka for the moment, then takes her place. Purri, for her part, jumps up on top of the walls... and then she's off, directing Mia from above as they navigate the maze in tandem, with Mia running on foot.
She's gotten a lot faster and agile than she used to be, with Anne's help.
DG: Mia Tamaoka has used her Tool Purri toward her party's challenge, All That Glitters. Fanfare!
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - All That Glitters *>=======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You'll briefly get a view of it from above through an opening, also thanks
to the lights that still shine on the floor below: there is a maze awaiting
you down there.
And why would you want to bother with this? Perhaps the answer might be the
room on the other end, the items within it glittering with the promise of a
prize to be had.
The maze, as you saw, is not particularly complex. There even appeared to be
multiple paths through. But here's the catch: getting through the maze isn't
what matters. What's important is getting through the maze /quickly/.
Otherwise, the door to that room will simply snap shut, denying you any
promised prizes.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, |
| Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, Quicken:_Agility_Up!, |
| Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and Vault:_Exploration_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
===================< Results - The Lightless Dark - Round 3 >===================
=======================< CHALLENGE - All That Glitters >========================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anne Aomori 15 --(0)--> 15 Best
Surf Min Agility Effects: Stalwart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shige Kiwako 15 --(5)--> 20 Best
Ghostly Passage Maj Agility Effects: Quicken and
Sacrifice
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mia Tamaoka 15 --(5)--> 20 Best
Purri Min Agility Effects: Efficient and
Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kanon 35 --(5)--> 40 Best
Motorized Skates Min Agility Effects: Cleanse and
Liability
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Anne Aomori 40 --(30)--> 70 Pass
Conditions: Bad Luck(1), Fright(1), Tire(2), and Vault(1)
Effects: Cleanse and Quicken(1)
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Anne Aomori has passed this challenge! The party gained 30 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> Kanon has posed.
"Spirits," Kanon mutters at the figure's appearance. She brushes past the offering creature, her one eye piercing toward the feline companion that conjured it. "Keep them bound."
Well, she's an exorcist, after all...
Then, it's off to the running. Kanon bashes her face into a few walls on the way since her skates apparently can't stop, but in the end, the group manages to get through to the cache before the door closes, by mistly speed and the precise planning of partners, and the awesome might of Hanging Ten. There there's a few chests with supplies, and perhaps weapons for the daring. Kanon regards everything, but takes nothing. "Take a moment and anything that catches your eye," she says, because several people here are new Diggers and it's just good policy to set standards for the new folks.
For her part, she waits at the exit door, staring firmly into it as if glowering hard enough could reveal its secrets.
DG: Shige Kiwako has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - In Memory *>===========================
| Type: Climax | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Before you there extends a large but shallow pool. Within that pool rests
what might be a familiar shape: the octagonal form of an artificial Medium.
The pool is softly illuminated from below though the rest of the room is
dark.
All at once, as if sensing your approach, it shimmers brilliantly with
light. Power thrums within it as its glow grows impossibly brighter, and
then with one great outward pulse its power is unleashed upon you.
You are not here anymore, at least not in spirit. Your body remains within
the Lightless Dark, but /you/ are somewhere else altogether. You are nowhere
else but within the maze of your own memories.
The place you now stand is a place you will know well, and here you turn to
meet someone you know -- or once knew -- well. Except, this 'someone' is
different. Perhaps this twist around sees them in better circumstances than
you now know them -- or perhaps things are worse off. If they were dead,
perhaps they are alive in your memory, enjoying a better possible present.
Perhaps they are simply different: not better, not worse.
But this isn't reality. This is your memory, your might-have-beens, your
dreams and nightmares. How do you escape? ...Do you want to?
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Madness:_Wits_Down!, and Quicken:_Agility_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige gives Kanon a look too as she steps from the mist, breathing heavier and looking briefly haggard. An ear perks up and she mutters, "No I won't tell her that-" though she does say more audibly, "I assume you explain flight to birds too?" She swats behind her blindly at the peanut gallery.
Brushing herself off and trying to recover without looking so obvious about it she says without looking to Anne or Mia, "You want to act like that, that's fine." Then she stands up straight and continues onward, lantern lifted to light the way. Her shadows are back to behaving strangely. Almost more visible than before in her agitation. Eyes, figures, shapes. Might be a state of mind.
She also might be agitated that trying to help got her and her friends insulted and.. other issues and-
Through the doorway, they enter an antechamber that opens up into the room proper, complete with a pool. There's a certain wry look given. She's not adverse to water persay, but it's one of those raining and pouring moments.
Especially with what she spots ahead. There's a scowl there, reaching back to hold the silver medium at her pack, hidden by the poncho and other things.
The room slowly brightens, a distant hum firing up. Then, just that fast she's ghost walking again. Again. She frowns. "This is the third or fourth damn time isn't it." Talking to no one in particular. Though uh, with everyone being a spirit, that means her friends are a little more visible. And so are the methods of how they died! Who doesn't enjoy a bit of horror. (She's used to it.)
Shige sees something she's not particularly thrilled to see at this point. Her parents, still alive and well, all serving at a bar, or helping dress fish or whatever else they had been doing. "No." She says flatly. "I buried all of you." Even if her claws are out and she's looking somewhere between a level of violence that's only really popped up around the metal demons and sorrow.
The morion-clad figure. Gaunt, older looking still, his exact cause unknown just promptly picks her up by wrapping his arms around her and carrying her off with a distinctly feline sound of surprise.
There's at least one advantage to being a ghost right?
DG: Shige Kiwako has used her Tool Shadowy Advisors toward her party's challenge, In Memory.
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
Anne takes a few things. In particular, a number of small knives, along with a lot of ssupplies that disappear into hr Bag and pockets. "Don't mind if I do," Anne tells Kanon.
Then, "I don't have the patience for it," Anne admits to Shige. "I'm going to give her the chance to see the world for herself, and see if she can't face it, and I don't care if you like it. If she falters, at least she'll know her limits."
But there's a flash of light, and suddenly--
"Mom!"
Sable rushes back into the apartment, and Anne bliinks as she finds herself standing there, turning towards her daughter who comes up to hug her. Anne relaxes, and hugs her back. "Sable," she says. "What's got you in such a rush?"
"I got my Volcano badge, Mom!" Sable enthuses--well, 'enthuses', for a girl who isn't very emotive in the first place. "Ulpi couldn' clear it himself, now that he's also a Steel-type, but with Rain Dance I really put a damper on those Fire-types..."
Anne smiles, and pulls back. "I'm proud of you," she tells her.
"You were right, Mom. With you and Dad together again, I... I don't want to give up my dreams, just so I can fight. I don't want to go away from you."
Anne smiles--but something icy pricks at her senses, as she does. The illusory nature of this 'place' sinks into her mind. And as it does, she sees all the little cracks.
"...And you're happy to let me and, ", this part is inaudible over the sound of something cracking in reality, ", cover it, aren't you?"
"...Yees. I didn't understand at first, but... it's a chance to use our skills, and--"
"And you're not my daughter."
"...What?"
"You were convincing," Anne admits. "You gave me exactly what I thought I wanted. But... it isn't what I want, is it?"
"But..."
"No. I want her to challenge me. I want her to try to win. And that's what we'll see if it happens. Either way..."
"I've got to get out of here."
Anne throws a smoke bomb, suddenly--
And reappears. "Mia?" she asks, looking around. "Where are you?"
DG: Anne Aomori has contributed a risky Wits Action toward her party's challenge, In Memory.
<Pose Tracker> Kanon has posed.
Spirits, ghosts, and demons...the enemies of everything.
Kanon's eye did not reveal to her to expect this, apparently. As they draw near to the pool, Kanon can all but feel the claws of illusion grasping at her, but her metal body has no special defense against it.
A familiar frontier village. A little run down, but home. She knows this place, with its wood and brick walls and unpainted picket fences. The next town over could be seen from here, a mark of the density of civilization in this region of Meria.
This is the place that she died.
A woman at her side stops, and Kanon realizes they were supposed to be talking. She's Kanon's height but with bright blonde hair done up with braids. The attire is nice, maybe a little too nice for this distance from the Castle. The woman gives her a long look up and down, and then smiles at her, dazzling and warm. "Honestly, Aisha. You've left yourself such a mess. That cloak does nothing for a pretty young thing like you."
...ah.
Of course.
Kanon's eye blazes bright, the radar pulling at her as the cyborg warrior grunts and brushes past her mother. "The blood is safe," she says back, marching for the edge of the scene.
"What?" the illusion asks, startled.
"...the blood is all she ever cared about," Kanon breathes to the air, forcing herself to the present and the buzz of cybernetics carefully tuned out of her hearing.
She scoffs at the cold walls, and walks forward as sullen as ever.
DG: Kanon has used her Tool Ocular Radar toward her party's challenge, In Memory. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Mia and Purri investigate the supplies with great interest--though they're leery of handling any of the weapons, of course. (Nina might like a weapon, but the two of them aren't exactly on great terms right now. And Mia doesn't want to give her any more ways to cause her bodily harm.)
But Mia is still taking a lot of pictures, regardless, and the things she does take... well, it's a smattering of various different natural parts of Filgaia. Food stuffs, any plants, things like that.
Like she's collecting samples. She's even got little plastic baggies. (Anne will know who they're for.)
She looks up from her work as Anne comments to Shige, silent for a moment... and then she smiles, quietly. "I wanted to come and explore," she says quietly. "A-and Doctor Aomori and I made a plan, t-to be as safe as possible..." Her smile grows a little wider as she looks at Anne. She doesn't say 'thanks', but... it's in that smile.
But they press on, and as they draw near, Mia stumbles, clutching at her head. She looks a little lightheaded, and she leans heavily against a wall for support. "Sh-Shige... wh-what is th-that?"
The closest analog she has for what she's feeling, is the presence that Shige carries with her. Though it feels different in tone, somehow. Not liked to death. But still spiritually powerful.
Purri nuzzles at her cheek, though, and this seems to help center Mia for a moment. Until they get to a room with a pool, and a medium. Mia has just enough time to lay eyes on it, gasp and point--
And everything goes white.
In the next moment, she is standing in a rather spacious bedroom, decorated in pinks and light purples. She herself is dressed in a rather nice pink sundress. "I'm back home...?" She blinks.
Back? Where would she even have gone?
Something tickles pleasantly at her senses. She knows the feeling of that particular ghost, and she knows the feeling of its particular excitement. The kind of excitement that says they're going for a trip. Mia walks over, and opens the bedroom door.
Her parents are there, smiling down at her. And between them is the family's Houdstone, who barks excitedly upon seeing Mia and pounces her, licking at her face. Mia laughs, giggling happily as she playfully tries to push the ghost dog off. "E-easy boy! Heehee. You're e-excited, aren'tcha?"
"Well, Mia," says her Mother. "Are you ready to go? Cinnibar is simply lovely this time of year."
"Y-yeah!" says Mia. "I c-can't wait!"
"It's so nice," says her Father, "that we get to have one more family outing before you head off to start your pokemon breeding studies."
"D-don't worry! I'll k-keep in touch! A-and I'll visit when I can!"
"That's what I like to hear. Is everything packed up?"
Mia beams up at her parents. "Yep! A-all my bags are packed. L-let me just find--"
Mia blinks. Find what, exactly?
There's a sense that... her shoulder feels lighter than it should. Like something should be there, but isn't. Mia frowns, as she looks about the room.
No, it's a who, not a what.
She glances over to her smartphone, sitting on its dock, and startles.
It's a picture of her and a Purrloin. "A... Purrloin?" She walks over and picks it up, starts to flick through the photographs. "... Purri," she says, suddenly. The pleasant tickle of the Houndstone's presence suddenly turns sharp and scratchy, and she clutches the phone to her chest.
"N-no--" Those aren't her parents. This isn't real. Purri is real, and she must be in danger. And so is...
Eyes shut tight, Mia turns away from the two kind parents standing at her bedroom door. The two parents who never were, and never would be. Tears are running down her face as she opens her eyes again.
Her eyes blaze with a fierce silver light as she reaches out both with a hand and her senses, pushing back against the illusion. Straining, ignoring the pounding in her veins, the itching in her skull, she attempts to exert her will.
"D-Doctor Aomori-- I'm coming!"
DG: Mia Tamaoka has risked with her Tool Smartphone toward her party's challenge, In Memory. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - In Memory *>===========================
| Type: Climax | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Before you there extends a large but shallow pool. Within that pool rests
what might be a familiar shape: the octagonal form of an artificial Medium.
The pool is softly illuminated from below though the rest of the room is
dark.
All at once, as if sensing your approach, it shimmers brilliantly with
light. Power thrums within it as its glow grows impossibly brighter, and
then with one great outward pulse its power is unleashed upon you.
You are not here anymore, at least not in spirit. Your body remains within
the Lightless Dark, but /you/ are somewhere else altogether. You are nowhere
else but within the maze of your own memories.
The place you now stand is a place you will know well, and here you turn to
meet someone you know -- or once knew -- well. Except, this 'someone' is
different. Perhaps this twist around sees them in better circumstances than
you now know them -- or perhaps things are worse off. If they were dead,
perhaps they are alive in your memory, enjoying a better possible present.
Perhaps they are simply different: not better, not worse.
But this isn't reality. This is your memory, your might-have-beens, your
dreams and nightmares. How do you escape? ...Do you want to?
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Madness:_Wits_Down!, and |
| Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
===================< Results - The Lightless Dark - Round 4 >===================
===========================< CHALLENGE - In Memory >============================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anne Aomori 15 --(5)--> 20 Good
Investigate Bsc Wits Effects: Risky
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shige Kiwako 20 --(5)--> 25 Good
Shadowy Advisors Maj Wits Effects: Efficient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mia Tamaoka 20 --(5)--> 25 Best
Smartphone Maj Wits Effects: Resilient and
Risky
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kanon 40 --(5)--> 45 Good
Ocular Radar Min Wits Effects: Enlighten
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Anne Aomori 70 --(0)--> 70 Pass
Conditions: Bad Luck(2) and Madness
Effects: Enlighten(1) and Resilient(1)
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Anne Aomori has passed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Kanon's reaction does get her to add slightly less brusque reaction from Shige, "They're with me as long as is needed before they move on. I'd be a poor shaman not trying to help each do so."
"I'm not your mother. You want to keep digging, I'll take care of the results." You can't save everyone. It's a lesson she's learned a few times, both directly and indirectly. The frustration is there because she'd at least tried and it's twice now.
Shige's response to Anne is a rather dark look. Between Mia being in a criminal organization and this? And the reaction she received. The flash of light interrupts the chain of thought there for the immediate time being.
Dropped back into reality by the ghost. She sits up immediately and lashes out at.. well. Nothing. It was an illusion. She knows it. Doesn't change the mood and she looks grumpier still for it. She reaches into her pack, pulls out a bottle of rum and mutters, "Fuck it." before taking a very long pull. Stuffing the thing back into her pack, she pulls a cigar next and places it to her lips before she stands up and moves to check on the others. Stiff, unhappy and frustrated.
"Get up." Offering a hand out. Trying to get everyone back on their feet. Being dumped on your backside by a ghost is never pleasant though. And she might be getting an earful privately from said ghost.
Though, everyone seemed to have gotten out on good terms with whatever the device had tried to show them. Good, bad, bittersweet.
With everyone on their feet, she points forward and says, "I think I have an idea what Guardian might be leeching from." Though she might be wrong and it might not be the medium's work.
Over her shoulder she calls out angrily, "And if it was that medium I'm going to take another trip to yell at some things again." Though that might just be frustration on her part.
DG: Anne Aomori has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Memory's End *>=========================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
However you escape the reverie, willing or otherwise, you find yourself back
in the antechamber. Water sloshes quietly in the pool in which the Medium
rests. It might be tempting to think of the whole experience as some strange
daydream rather than an imposition of the Medium's will, save for one thing.
The Medium again begins to shine with its strange light. Already, you can
feel it tug on your psyche, as if it were attempting to drag you back into
the fantasy!
There's nothing else for it. You have to stop it from doing that to you
again. Whether you rip it out of the place it's fixed into within the pool
or outright smash it, the time has come to apply force to the equation. For
all its small size, though, the artificial Medium resists being destroyed
/easily/.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, |
| Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Madness:_Wits_Down!, |
| Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
Anne doesn't have timme to react to Shige's dark look before it all happens. Soon, she is back in reality, on her feet, and looking around to the others. Mia is there, and so are the others...
"Oh?" Anne wonders of Shige. "Which Guardian is that?"
The Medium's pool sloshes gently. It sarts to shine again, and their minds all feel the tug of its call.
"Looks like you'll have your chance to shout," Anne says to Shige. "Sorry to call you into water, Laqui, but--"
"TYYYYYYY!"
Laqui is not thrilled about standing so close to water, but she directs him, "Lava Plume that thing! Turn it to slag!"
It might not be enough on its own, though.
DG: Anne Aomori has used her Tool Lava Plume toward her party's challenge, Memory's End. Strengthen! Party Brute boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Shige says she isn't Mia's mother. Mia's expression dours at that, and she looks down. "N-no, you're not." Very quietly she says, "A-and that's a good thing."
It is a blessing(?) that nobody else gets to see exactly what Mia saw... or much worse, how her parents really are.
When Mia's eyes snap open she's unsteady on her feet, but the all-too-familiar sensation of Purri dropping off of her shoulder gets her to lift her arms to catch her, and Mia hugs the feline pokemon to her chest. Tears are running down her face here, too, and her breathing is unsteady and ragged.
After a moment of this she drops to one knee, hunched over.
She grits her teeth as she feels that Medium's power swell again. "N-no..." She grits her feeth as she feels spiritual power starting to flow through her. "No!" she shouts, louder, and forces herself to her feet.
"Sh-sh-shoulder," she says simply. Purri meows at her curiously and then hops up, rubbing her cheek against Mia's.
Mia walks up to the edge of the pool, standing by Mia. She doesn't have a strong, powerful pokemon--not in the way that Laqui is strong.
And now, in the waking world, Mia's eyes blaze with a brilliant silver light as she taps into her spiritual gift. She doesn't really have that much power to command ghosts or the like, not like Shige does, perhaps. But she can pierce veils, peer beyond the mortal coil, and call spirits to her.
Couldn't she also turn that power outward, to push herself through a morass of spiritual power threatening to swallow up her mind?
She holds her hand out, eyes angrily focused on the medium even as more tears roll down her face. She's struggling, teeth gritted.
"I... n-ng... w-won't... let you..."
DG: Mia Tamaoka has contributed a risky Brute Action toward her party's challenge, Memory's End.
<Pose Tracker> Kanon has posed.
Kanon returns to the present, feeling like she's about to crack her own jaw with how tightly she's grit her teeth. She looks fit to stalk past, stalk onward--
The pool sloshes again. The light starts again. She feels it again, the strange sensation of being prized free.
"No," Kanon snarls, and exerts herself to the full. Seams in her body - parts that did NOT look artificial - glow suddenly like they were suddenly filled by an exposed internal light, blue-white radiance rushing out of her before she suddenly flips up into the air, and drops into a kick meant to just punch entirely down into and through the basin and its Medium. A Medium is rare...but Kanon destroys dangerous spirits. This is about an exorcist's pride!
DG: Kanon has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Memory's End.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige is currently fighting with her lighter. Some of the rough edges have been filed off already, mentally speaking with the attack on a bottle. When she gets the flame to spark up, she puffs the cigar a few times and considers taking another pull. She really doesn't look happy.
"Desire. Which is above my paygrade. Odd as it is." She thinks Death, being one of the constants would probably be up there, but she's a shaman, not divine bureaucracy.
Kanon's no is given a funny look. Mistaking it for being pulled into memory. She does.. reach to offer the bottle like she usually does. Stopping short. The other two don't get that offer for some reason. (She's grumpy.)
"No. Not the way you're thinking." That tug at her psyche runs into years of ritual cauterization from the cat at this point and she beckons behind her again, "Let's go. We're breaking it." Which.. the ghost does manifest again, giving her a concerned look. She'd gone a week without trying to trash herself.
He does reach into his pack though. Starting to become more solid. Ragged. And throwing old blackpowder bombs, lit with a handy fuze lighter.
There's a wry comment from Shige, "Think that works on cigars?" as she looks down at the beaten and battered lighter.
Also the bombs go off. She's not worried though. It's routine. "You're not pulling me back into that." She finally states, more firmly. "Buried them before, don't need to do it again." as she flings the mostly empty bottle towards the medium out of spite, to join her ghost's more.. effective methods.
DG: Shige Kiwako has used her Tool Spectral Sapper toward her party's challenge, Memory's End. Strengthen! Party Brute boosted!
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Memory's End *>=========================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
However you escape the reverie, willing or otherwise, you find yourself back
in the antechamber. Water sloshes quietly in the pool in which the Medium
rests. It might be tempting to think of the whole experience as some strange
daydream rather than an imposition of the Medium's will, save for one thing.
The Medium again begins to shine with its strange light. Already, you can
feel it tug on your psyche, as if it were attempting to drag you back into
the fantasy!
There's nothing else for it. You have to stop it from doing that to you
again. Whether you rip it out of the place it's fixed into within the pool
or outright smash it, the time has come to apply force to the equation. For
all its small size, though, the artificial Medium resists being destroyed
/easily/.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Madness:_Wits_Down!, Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================ ===================< Results - The Lightless Dark - Round 5 >=================== ==========================< CHALLENGE - Memory's End >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anne Aomori 20 --(101)--> 121 Good Lava Plume Min Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shige Kiwako 25 --(101)--> 126 Bad Spectral Sapper Min Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mia Tamaoka 25 --(101)--> 126 Bad Force Bsc Brute Effects: Risky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kanon 45 --(101)--> 146 Worst Force Bsc Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Anne Aomori 70 --(15)--> 85 Fail Conditions: Bad Luck(1), Exhaust(1), Madness, and Weaken(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: Anne Aomori is too exhausted to continue! DG: Shige Kiwako is too exhausted to continue! DG: Mia Tamaoka is too exhausted to continue! DG: Kanon is too exhausted to continue! DG: The party has failed this challenge! All party members are now Exhausted. This attempt is over. DG: The party led by Anne Aomori has been fully Exhausted by The Lightless Dark! DG: The party will now draw a conclusion.
============================<* The Lightless Dark *>============================
==================<* CHALLENGE - This Memory Do I Hold Dear *>==================
| Type: Landmark | Dungeon Ability: Conclusion | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Your efforts to find the entrance into the sanctum the Medium had attempted
to ward from you are not rewarded immediately or quickly. There is something
familiar about this space, perhaps, like it's a place you might have
traveled to or seen somewhere before. But you are rather tired from your
exploration of the complex and eager to bring this expedition to a close.
There are consoles within this space, connected to an array of screens. But
all of the screens are black, save for one which displays an equally
impenetrable white screen. It beeps occasionally. Did something happen here?
The little compartments open on the back wall, illuminated with a soft blue
light, suggest that something has. Each displays a niche filled with a
single floating trinket.
They're all something that seems somewhat reminiscent of whatever you'd
faced in your altered memory: something that recalls the place, or the
moment, or perhaps even echoes the person important to you.
How are they here? Why are they here? You'll get no answer from the blank
consoles or even the trinkets themselves.
They have no real use or practical value, these trinkets, but even if they
are recalling a memory of something that never happened, they are objects to
which you may now have a connection.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, |
| Madness:_Wits_Down!, Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and |
| Wonder:_Exhaustion_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"Desire... what an interesting thing to have a Guardian of."
Mia does her best. Anne sees it, as Laqui exerts himself. And Anne watches that effort of Mia's thoughtfully.
Kanon kicks through the Medium. Shige's bombs go off. She speaks in spite. And the lava, of couse, helps.
But there is no way past, once they have desroyed the medium, until they find a single door, that leads them to a space with many consoles, a more modern space than one would expect deep under a Filgaian city. Well, moreso than the Nedians would expeect, at least.
The compartments open, as a white screen shows nothing, and bees occasionally. Anne ssteps forward, to one--
And marvels as she picks up a small emblem. It is a Volcano Badge, the very same that the dream-Sable showed her.
"...I'll wait until you get this for real," Anne murmurs. "Until then..."
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Mia collapsed to her knees once the medium is destroyed, choking back sobs as the light in her eyes finally goes out. Purri drops into her arms again and the two rub cheeks together as Mia does her best to get her breathing--and her crying--under control again.
It takes her a while, and her head is pounding mercilessly.
Even when she finds it within herself to stand again, she stays close to Anne, and keeps holding Purri in her arms.
She blinks curiously as she sees the room full of consoles. Why is this here...? She takes her phone out and wordlessly takes some picture of the various consoles and things, but she looks when those compartments open.
She is drawn to one in particular. She reaches in...
... and pulls out a single hairclip.
It'd go perfectly with a pink sundress.
She stares at it, in confusion and in contmplation, while Purri looks on, slightly confused. There are a few false starts as she attempts to put it back into the compartment, but...
Eventually she takes a deep breath and pulls it to her chest instead, with an expression that is deeply conflicted about the choice.
<Pose Tracker> Kanon has posed.
Kanon skids to a halt as the Medium breaks, eye shut as the cybernetics cycle themselves back to neutral state. She stands. She doesn't ruminate on the memories raised up in her. The only new emotion they raise in her is the certainty that her choices were right.
With her ocular radar, she can eventually find the controls, which do nothing; the screens, that show nothing; and the boxes, that...
She pulls out an ornate pin, staring at the figure of a sword for some seconds.
She hears it creak in her fingers, which is the only thing that stops her from shattering it. She tucks it into her cloak and turns toward the door. "...that should exorcise the danger," she says, and makes to leave.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige brushes herself off and looks at the shattered bottle rather than the destroyed medium. Then up and around the room. "Is there someone controlling that?" Wondering wryly if it's some brain in a jar or something. She's seen enough messed up things in the past few years...
She does follow the rest into the room eventually. After picking up what pieces she could find to look them over. It's a little blurry, but it should be fine right? She keeps a fragment. Something to investigate later. She also.. ashes her cigar on the stand out of spite.
Following the others into the room, she slowly looks around, contemplative. Dour. In her own world at the moment.
She starts to walk around the room.
The trinket she finds is one that does bring her back down to the here and now briefly. "This was slagged the last time I saw it." As she pulls out a small pendant. "It's buried with her body." She doesn't show it off at all. It goes around her neck and gets tucked away under her shirt. She doesn't draw any more attention than she had inavertantly already done. Already heading for the doors now though. She wants out. She wants to go elsewhere.
DC: Shige Kiwako switches forms to Snow's Elegy!