2024-06-01: Ashes to Ashes, Scraps to Scraps
- Log: Ashes to Ashes, Scraps to Scraps
- Cast: Mia Tamaoka, Meng Wu, Josephine Lovelace, Lily Keil
- Where: Scraphaven
- Date: June 1, 2024
- Summary: Josie needs to get her cannon fixed, and to do that, she and Lily need some rare parts. To that end, they venture into Scraphaven, but not by themselves. Along the way, Josie crosses paths with the not unfamiliar Wu (for Lily) and meets Mia under her new name.
DG: A party led by Josephine Lovelace is now entering Scraphaven. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Critters and Constructs *>====================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Welcome to Scraphaven: an underground city cobbled together from ancient
technological wreckage. Every piece of architecture in this junkyard
civilization is a patchwork quilt of welded metal and active machinery. The
population is exclusively made of rabbit-like beastfolk with large ears and
tiny bodies, though some have other animal features in the mix. The tallest
of them might be half the size of the average human.
And they are a lively bunch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5PzT2zDlU
Song and dance fill the streets, the diminutive locals of Scraphaven freely
playing bizarre amalgamations of musical instruments fitted with too many
buttons and levers. Mechanical automatons with mismatched bodies mill about
to their own uncanny rhythm and assist in the city's general maintenance,
while those not participating have no problem navigating the busy streets of
their home by running across wires of electric lights strung above.
If you wish to explore deeper into the junkyard ruins, your first task is
getting past this impromptu parade.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
The Journey, on Energy Nede, is a tradition that many youths undergo. Children as young as 10 regularly leave home without themselves, with only a magically-powered animal companion at their side for protection. Mia, thus, doesn't really think much, at least in concept, of travelling to Filgaia and Lunar on her own.
Granted, Energy Nede is much safer... or at least it used to be. (It still is, but it is also a little bit more dangerous with the Ten Wise Men, Solaris, that weird spear-wielding girl, and whoever else running amuck on Nede now.)
Mia has run into that danger firsthand... but she's also learning how to better protect herself in a variety of ways, and besides... word is Scraphaven isn't actually that bad, as far as Digs go. So she's made her way here to check the place out and see what it has to offer.
She's looking quite different from the last time Josie and Wu saw her--she's still got the hoodie, but she's swapped out the loose shorts for a bike short and skirt combo, sparkling light purple nail polish (Purri has the matching claw polish), and she's wearing her hair down to frame her face, with it coming down to about her chin.
Her eyes light up when she makes her way in. Sure the rabbit-like beastfolk might make for an unusual sight compared to the more-common human population of Filgaia... but anthropomorphic animals are not at all rare on Energy Nede, and Mia doesn't give it a second thought. (Though she does check with PokeSnap, just to be absolutely sure.)
And it's a parade! Mia finds herself easily humming along with the music... and then she gets a flute out of her backpack. It's not a fancy concert flute, much more compact, with fewer moving parts and thus, more suitable to travel. But despite that she plays it masterfully as she joins in, picking up the melodies and harmonies as she joins in the parade.
Purri, riding on her shoulder, will give her a nudge when it's time to move on.
DG: Mia Tamaoka has used her Tool Purri toward her party's challenge, Critters and Constructs. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Meng Wu has posed.
Wu has come to scraphaven for one very valid reason. Her gear is still in the shop. Still under repairs and there's a realization that while she's out of practice, her gear is also.. a few generations behind even counting it's higher tech origins.
She's also just a pragmatist and... will see if she finds anything worthwhile. Or anything worth stealing ideas from. The usual sort of thing.
She's currently sitting, just watching the parade go by though. She's in no rush and.. has kicked back, legs crossed and lounging with a lit smoke.
Everyone needs down time.
That's when she spots a kid without a wrangler. An eyebrow goes up, hidden behind the sunglasses perched on her forehead. She just turns her attention back to the parade. Not her lambs, not her problem.
Eventually she makes a sound somewhere in her throat between annoyance and acceptance as she gets to her feet. She.. also speeds through the rest of her cigarrette. A thing she won't recommend to most, though she puts it out against her heel and stashes the remnants. Heading after, clearly intent on making sure said kid doesn't get squished in machinery or something.
She.. also just tries to step through the parade. Single minded in a way.
Also tearing up the area just to walk around seemed ruder, all things considered. She at least tells the beastfolk 'Excuse me' and 'Pardon' as she goes.
DG: Meng Wu has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Critters and Constructs.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
The battle hadn't gone well... for Josie, that is. Yet, when she'd come to -- not terribly long after, as these things go -- it had seemed as if what the Prophets had been up to had been put to an end. Even better, the cannon hadn't been taken by Asgard or anything like that. She had her concerns! And yet, it seemed like all was reasonably well, considerin what had happened.
Which is to say, she still needs to get the cannon repaired because some of the exterior plates took serious damage. And she ought to check the wiring and the like. And considering that she's rather out of Zeboim-era parts and lacking a good source to get new ones, well...
Fortunately, being out of parts doesn't mean out of options. She's heard tell of a particular place in the desert that just might have what she needs.
And so she's come down to Scraphaven, cannon in tow.
It's not an easy thing to move. It's also not been an easy thing to get past the people who live here. They're very interested in the cannon and how it works. And so, there is a bit of a delay for her and her group at the entrance--
"But you're not sure, eh? Well, fair enough. Just let us on past here and we'll have a look-see for ourselves, like," she says, finally trying to get a move on after a bit of questions and answers go nowhere (quickly, or at all).
And she rounds the bend, lugging along the cannon, and has herself a pause. "...Well."
This is the mother of all traffic jams.
"Ain't this a how-de-do," she remarks to her companion, shooting her a glance over her shoulder. "Don't suppose you've a way through this?"
She's not fancying her odds of trying to ram herself and the cannon on through, anyway.
That girl up there, though... looks a sight familiar. Now, where's Josie seen her about before? ...Wait, that Team Rocket kid didn't mention a sister, right?
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Critters and Constructs.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily Keil had an additional Wounded to attend in the aftermath of the battle with the horrible dragon fossil thing at the Kislev-Aveh front. Namely: Josie and the cannon! ...The cannon Lilly can help with; if they can get parts, Lily can machine them into somethiing appropriate, now that she has the memories of Sharon Wyatt.
Lily lets josie do the talking, at first. Until thy arrive at this traffic jam, and...
"...Excuse me," Lily says first. She clears her throat. Nobody listens.
But Lily follows josie's gaze to a girl there and--
"She has a Pokemon, too..."
Lily considers, and then, "Well, it's fine. We'll just go through."
"EXCUSE us," Lily says mmore loudly, and surrounds herself with an aura of uncomfortable ice that should serve to part the crowd.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a risky Agility Action toward her party's challenge, Critters and Constructs.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Critters and Constructs *>====================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Welcome to Scraphaven: an underground city cobbled together from ancient
technological wreckage. Every piece of architecture in this junkyard
civilization is a patchwork quilt of welded metal and active machinery. The
population is exclusively made of rabbit-like beastfolk with large ears and
tiny bodies, though some have other animal features in the mix. The tallest
of them might be half the size of the average human.
And they are a lively bunch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5PzT2zDlU
Song and dance fill the streets, the diminutive locals of Scraphaven freely
playing bizarre amalgamations of musical instruments fitted with too many
buttons and levers. Mechanical automatons with mismatched bodies mill about
to their own uncanny rhythm and assist in the city's general maintenance,
while those not participating have no problem navigating the busy streets of
their home by running across wires of electric lights strung above.
If you wish to explore deeper into the junkyard ruins, your first task is
getting past this impromptu parade.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
=======================< Results - Scraphaven - Round 1 >=======================
====================< CHALLENGE - Critters and Constructs >=====================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace 0 --(5)--> 5 Good
Rush Bsc Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil 0 --(5)--> 5 Good
Rush Bsc Agility Effects: Risky
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meng Wu 0 --(13)--> 13 Bad
Rush Bsc Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mia Tamaoka 0 --(5)--> 5 Best
Purri Min Agility Effects: Efficient and
Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Josephine Lovelace 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass
Conditions: Hesitate(2)
Effects:
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace 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.
It's a busy, hectic street right now, with a parade in full swing. Everybody is having a good time, though--Mia included--playing the lively parade music. That is, until Lily and Josie make their entrance. And until Lily quite... insistently asks that they be allowed through.
That parade wasn't due to let up any time soon, and it almost doesn't when Lily summons an aura of rather intimidating ice... at first only a few people notice, but as they nudge or elbow their fellows there is a ripple effect that spreads through the parade, and little by little the music is interrupted as more and more people take notice.
And they all back away as far as they can from Lily, which unfortunately means there's a crush of boddies pressing against Wu and making it harder for her to progress or get to Mia.
Mia, meanwhile, snaps her head around as Lily summons that aura. She flinches back a little, then slowly turns her head to eye that cannon, which is quite worrying... and then she spots Josie. Mia shares a glance with Purri, handing her the flute, which Purri slips into the backpack. Mia steps away from the crowd and makes a praying gesture, mumbling something under her breath... and suddenly a surge of wind lifts her up onto the roof. In tandem, Mia and Purri make their way on those crosscrossing wires to get to the other side of the parade in a far more expedient manner...
... only to be stymied by a second traffic jam of people moving large cargo crates that isn't going to let up until everybody else catches up with her.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Metalspeaking *>=========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
A quadruped construct with a crane for a head hovers over the edge of a pit
of scrap, perfectly designed for pulling up prizes.
"ERROR. COMMAND INVALID. PLEASE REPEAT. ERROR. COMMAND INVALID. PLEASE
REPEAT."
...Maybe. There's a scrawled note stuck to the side of the machine:
'Remember! Beseech the spirits of metal gently. They only do EXACTLY as
prayers request. No more. No less.'
It seems you'll have to be very specific in your commands, or else this
particular piece of machinery will take you too literally... if it ends up
understanding you at all.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up! and Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
It was almost like old times again, getting scraped up off the battlefield by Lily.
It's almost like old times again now. There's Lily, using her magic to get them out of a fix, while Josie does what she does best and hauls ass, following in Lily's wake. But it means that they get through the parade without incident (well, except for the suckers who get too close and get a little chilly for their pains). When she turns her head to look back, though, Josie notices that the girl seems to have disappeared.
That is, until Mia, delayed in her transit ahead, makes her landing just at their side.
"You're from Energy Nede, yeah? We ain't met, right?" Josie asks Mia. "I met a kid who looked an awful lot like you there, see. You ain't got a--"
Is it a small mercy that they've found themselves not far from a pit, and that pit is managed by a construct with a crane-for-a-head? And that it's loudly bellowing (on repeat) its request for a proper command?
Josie, leaving the cannon behind, ambles over to investigate what's in the pit, shading her eyes as she squints down into its depths. "...There's a lot of scrap down there. So, Rose-of-Sharon, what d'ya think? Care to give this guy a spin? Seems like we gotta give 'em the right command..."
She's not the least bit surprised by the construct, it seems. But then, she's seen, as they put it, a lot of shit in her time as Drifter (criminal, terrorist, etc).
Heading back over to the cannon, she hums tunelessly as she crouches down alongside it and fiddles with a few switches. "Sometimes these things respond to light sequences and the like," she explains, gesturing vaguely at the construct as the Nostos cannon begins to flash R-G-B. "Zeboim tech shit's strange like that." She pauses. "...Of course, that assumes this little guy," it's not little, josie "is Zeboim make..."
At this point, it's honestly hard to tell where the crane construct originates from, technologically!
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Superfluous Lights toward her party's challenge, Metalspeaking. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Meng Wu has posed.
Wu's really not too bothered by the pile up, it's just slowing her down more than anything. She's just going to pick her way through the crowd either way and deal with any problems later. There is some talking behind her though. And mention of Team Rocket. That's..
She scratches the back of her head. Turning to walk backwards (And really not helping with the initial traffic flow. She knows the name, but do they really recruit child soldiers? She looks back over her shoulder. She'd said sister. Maybe it's fine.
Also she wasn't at the fossil dragon thing and missed the destruction and wild magic. She'd actually be kind of sad if she'd found out. Never show it though.
A hand does go up to Lily and she calls out, "We have a party going." She means that literally. "The market stalls are nice. Get the kebabs." She doesn't smile at all the entire time. It's hard to tell if she's joking.
There's a focus on Mia, but the kid's not about to touch live wires so she focuses elsewhere after. Particularly looking into the pit. She had.. been here for more constructive uses of her time than watching a fuzzy bunny parade.
"I haven't had prayers in a long time." She suggests, still monotone. She does pull a nice little packet out of her coat and walk over to the crane though. Looking it over up and down. Then back into the pit. Maybe cracking a panel wouldn't work. She's just kind of sorting through her tools.
Looking to the others, she suggests flatly, "Maybe just ask it to go fishing and see what it reels in?" It's still hard to tell if that's a joke or not.
DG: Meng Wu has used her Tool B&E Kit toward her party's challenge, Metalspeaking. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted! Liability! Failure will result in extra Exhaustion!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily just keeps walking. It's fine. ...But she notices more magic coming, from Mia and Purri. That's interesting. And--
"I do like kebabs," Lily admits to Wu. "Energy Nde," Lily adds. "yes, that's..." Hmmm. There's a cosntruct there. A llot of scrap. "Yes," Lily says, successfully distracted by a whole bunch of machinery. The Nostos Cannon flashes, but whether or not it's Zeboim make....
"I have the full memory of a roboticist," Lily says. "Sure, I can do it."
Dog barks happily and approaches Mia, meanwhile. She barks again, and takes a seat before the girl and her Pokemon. She tilts her head, and wags her tails.
"Prayers aren't what a machine needs," Lily says. "What we need is computer science. And conveniently..."
Give Lily a minute. She's got some logic to work out.
Dog will be moral support.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Dog toward her party's challenge, Metalspeaking. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
"Awww, c'mon..." complains Mia as she gets blocked by the second traffic jam. "I k-kept my balance the whole time, too..."
"Purr, purr." Purri pats her on the head. "Loin purrloin!" It's okay, she noticed, and she's proud.
"Th-thanks," says Mia with a smile.
She starts a little as Josie catches up and addresses her. Is she from Energy Nede? "Yeessss?" she says, with some initial confusion. They've met. Why would she need to ask that?
'We ain't met, right?'
Mia is pretty sure she knows the answer to that, and reflexively opens her mouth to answer-- but suddenly has doubts.
One of her best friends, Alice, is a member of the Joy family, which all have a remarkable similarity to each other. The Jennies are a significant part of the Kanto police force. Nina is one of triplets.
So maybe this person who looks exactly like Josie isn't actually Josie after all.
"... No?"
A kid that looked an awful lot like her? But Josie gets distracted before she finishes that question, and Mia looks to Purri with a quizzical look.
"Purr, loin purl purrloin," says Purri quietly.
Mia's eyes widen, and she whispers back. "Y-you really think s-so...?"
Purri nods.
Except Mia did run along the wires, Wu. But her shoes are insulated for it!
Dog approaches, and Mia looks down at her. "Oh! Hello there." She quickly brings her camera phone out to snap a picture, then kneels down and offers a hand to sniff. "Wh-what's your name?"
But she overhears 'computer science' and gets up, wandering over to inspect the machine. "I've got a c-computer..." she offers, and Purri goes fishing in Mia's backpack for both a laptop and some kind of cable to try and find an interface to hook up to the machine to get some information on it.
"... Are th-there actualy spirits of metal, th-though...?" she wonders aloud.
DG: Mia Tamaoka has used her Tool Smartphone toward her party's challenge, Metalspeaking. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Metalspeaking *>=========================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
A quadruped construct with a crane for a head hovers over the edge of a pit
of scrap, perfectly designed for pulling up prizes.
"ERROR. COMMAND INVALID. PLEASE REPEAT. ERROR. COMMAND INVALID. PLEASE
REPEAT."
...Maybe. There's a scrawled note stuck to the side of the machine:
'Remember! Beseech the spirits of metal gently. They only do EXACTLY as
prayers request. No more. No less.'
It seems you'll have to be very specific in your commands, or else this
particular piece of machinery will take you too literally... if it ends up
understanding you at all.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Hesitate:_Agility_Down!_Wits_Up!, |
| Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, and Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
=======================< Results - Scraphaven - Round 2 >=======================
=========================< CHALLENGE - Metalspeaking >==========================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace 5 --(8)--> 13 Best
Superfluous Lights Min Wits Effects: Enlighten
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil 5 --(8)--> 13 Best
Dog Min Wits Effects: Enlighten
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meng Wu 13 --(8)--> 21 Best
B&E Kit Maj Wits Effects: Liability and
Enlighten
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mia Tamaoka 5 --(8)--> 13 Best
Smartphone Min Wits Effects: Resilient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Josephine Lovelace 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass
Conditions: Hesitate(1) and Tire(2)
Effects: Enlighten(1) and Resilient(1)
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace 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> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Could use a kebab," Josie remarks, glancing back the once over her shoulder. "Maybe once we're finished, though, eh? I've a lot that needs doin' before I can sit down and have lunch. ...What d'ya suppose they put in their kebabs?"
One assumes, given the natives, it's not rat or something like that. Maybe it's desert lizard? Or witchetty grub? Or did they steal and butcher a tomas?
No? Josie crinkles her forehead as if putting this one to the test. "Huh. Well, fair enough. But you look like you coulda been his sister or the like. Cousins, maybe? ...Second cousins?" She is reminded that a lot of the Pokemon Center nurses looked a like, as did the police officers... Maybe that's one of the downsides of Energy Nede being so constricted for millennia...
The Nostos flashes its lights as Josie tries a few combinations thereof. Fortunately, there's Zeboim tech in there-- somewhere. Thus! The crane-construct goes rigid, its eyes briefly flashing blue.
"ENTERING. REBOOT. PLEASE STAND BY..."
A rather pregnant pause follows.
"SAFE STARTUP. COMPLETED. NOW ENTERING ADMIN MODE."
"Well, ain't this our lucky day! Tiger, give it the what-for," Josie says, gesturing towards the decidedly-receptive-to-commands construct. "Looks like you'll be able to do your whatever with it like that, eh?"
Lily isn't the only one able to do what she pleases with the construct, of course -- while the hardware is different from anything on Energy Nede, there is a port and she is able to make a connection, and...
...the computer can talk to it, with some difficulty? Maybe Lily can give Mia some pointers on what they want to do next.
And if she needs them, Lily's got an assortment of tools at the ready, courtesy of Wu.
And so, before too much longer...!
CLANK! CREAK CREAK CREAK~
"OBJECT. RETRIEVED. PLEASE HAVE A NICE DAY," chimes crane-bot.
>You got: Zeboim-era Wiring: Military Grade!
DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Robots Recycle YOU *>======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Before you were given permission to enter Scraphaven, you were told not to
destroy any metal friends that were still operational, no matter how grumpy
they acted. Working constructs from the past are sacred beings to these
people, but so long as you preserve their 'souls' -- whatever the core of
their operation is -- you can probably get away with roughing up a machine's
chassis.
It's an important fact to remember when the next heap of junk contains
dozens of red lights flickering to life like so many hungry eyes. You are
waylaid by glitching repair drones flying at you with buzzy wings,
screeching in broken tones and trying to dismantle your flesh with
tool-based limbs.
Individually, they're not sturdy. But they're fast, precise, and /numerous/.
They have to be dealt with carefully to preserve your reputation, but
they're not about to be careful with you!
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, |
| Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, and Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Well, we have't met," Lily says to Mia. "My name is Lily Keil. I try to go easy around Energy Nede on my power... but you might see some things you're not used to around me, here. What's your name?"
Dog barks happily at Mia, meanwhile. She does not share her name, unless her name is 'bark'. But Lily supplies, "Her name is Dog."
Dog sniffs!!
She could also use a kebab.
When they finish with the machine, Lily hands the wires over to Josie. "These could be useful. And anythinng you don't use, I can find a purpose for." A pause. "But we can share, if you two... three? Wnat any." Purrloin, too. Lily tries to be nice about that.
But Lily proves remarkably good with technology for a Filgaian, though certainly Wu does in her own way, too. But soon... Soon, there is a heap of junk that lutters to life with many eyes, and suddenly--
"Ah," Lily says, as she looks down at a drone trying its hardest to disassemble her arm. "This is inconvenient. They asked us not to dismantle wworking machines..."
She considers. "....Charmander," she says after a moment. "You're up."
An adorable lizard emerges from his Pokeball, orange and yellow with a fiery tail and big eyes. "Char!" he declares, and stands up proudly. "Char!"
"No," Lily says. "You won't be destroying them. Instead, use your Smokescreen to overwhelmm their senses."
"Char? Char! Char!"
"Now," she reiterates. "Berries after you perform your work."
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Robots Recycle YOU.
<Pose Tracker> Meng Wu has posed.
Wu considers and says, "It really does sound good. Just ate recently too." She glances down and makes an idle comment, "I wonder if I'm getting too active." That is, if she's burning that- nevermind. Don't worry about it.
"I can cover." She offers. Still monotone. Don't worry about that either.
She crosses her arms as the machine retrieves their prize. Good wiring. This is actually a nice thing and she reaches out to try and pull as much as she can. Then she quietly begins filtering through them and.. unless stopped, throws a few over her shoulder.
Then she splits them into even amounts from there to offer them out. She's not going to complain if anyone goes through what she discarded for whatever reasons she had. (Mostly bad insulation or obvious breaks.)
"Are they really that strange in the grand scheme of things?" She asks Lily, actually curious. Yes it's strange. She's just being philosophical. Somehow. "I know we have had a few strange powers rear their heads lately. Or I'm paying more attention." Or she's not being deployed to suppress them at least.
Mia's question is met with a shrug. "In some machines, possible. If you define the soul as something less tangible and more indicative of independent thought and beliefs or idiosyncrasies." There's absolutely no passion in the words. She's clearly actually putting effort into the thoughts and.. is more verbose than usual as she gets into minutia. Which is probably some weird local belief of her own used to fill the gap left behind by her previous employment.
She actually DOES look annoyed when machines interrupt an interesting topic. And she puts her foot down, creating a neat line in the earth. It starts to rumble before she remembers she's not supposed to can crusher things here and with a sharp swing of her arm, the earth suddenly stands up like some monolith and then.. just collapses forward.
Damaged counts right? Buried is what she's going for as she manipulates terrain to try and create a containment cavern.. of sorts. It's improve. She was very obviously about to squish them.
DG: Meng Wu has used her Tool Barricade toward her party's challenge, Robots Recycle YOU. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"I'm Josephine Lovelace, by the way," Josie adds, as Lily does introductions. "But call me Josie, yeah? No one calls me Josephine."
FLASHCUT TO THE PREVIOUS DAY
"'Josephine Lovelace'," says Asgard like, a million times.
NOW
Josie, for reasons known only to her, frowns, discontent.
Once they finish with the machine, Josie takes a look at the wires. "Looks pretty good. Might be the right stuff for fixing what this poor baby blew, I reckon," she says, giving the cannon an absent pat. ...Granted, it is her fault for pulling out all the stops and letting it rip, as it were. But she's still kicking and she still has the cannon, so it's a fair enough trade.
She just has to get the wiring fixed before she uses it like that again. Or in a way even somewhat like that, again.
"I've always had the feeling even your basic ARM's got a personality," Josie opines. "Ain't a rare feeling, neither. Call it Drifter superstition or what-have-you, but I'm up for feeling like there's someone at home, right?" She reaches over to give Nostos another pat when, shock!
They're set upon by rogue machines!
"I think this guy's got enough juice left for this--!" she shouts, crouching alongside it to key in the code into the pad, and when the trigger is exposed after--
"Fire in the hole!" she shouts.
For Charmander's benefit.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Cannonfire toward her party's challenge, Robots Recycle YOU. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Mia blinks at Josie's comments, and looks to Purri again. They share a look, and Mia looks back to Josie. She's uncertain... but then Josie introduces herself properly. "Oh!" So it is her. She reaches up to rub the back of her neck. "I w-wasn't sure if it w-was you, or s-someone who looked like you, b-because that happens and I d-didn't want to make that mistake b-but I didn't know how to ask or if you'd g-get it if you didn't know--"
"Purr!" says Purri insistently, nosing Mia's cheek. "Purrrrr..." She pantomimes taking in a deep breath.
Mia nods and inhales deeply, and then slowly lets it out. "Thanks," she says to Purri. To Josie she says, "Um, that kid is me. I'm going by Mia now, a-and I'd like you to refer to me with she/her pronouns." She might be stammering a little (but less than before), but her voice is quite firm as she says this.
But they manage to get wiring from the crane automaton, and Mia places her hand on its side and says, "Thank you." The residents treat them like friends, and consider them to have 'souls', so... Mia treats them that way too. There's plenty of mechanical pokemon, after all.
Mia looks to Lily and nods. "N-nice to meet you, Miss Kiel." Strange powers... "Th-that's okay. I know the magic on Filgaia and Lunar is d-different than Nede's. I'm Mia. Mia Tamaoka. And th-this is Purri. She's a Purrloin," she says, indicating the feline perched on her shoulder. "N-nice to meet you, Lily, and Dog. Um, she's an... animal, right? What kind is she?"
"I think we're g-good," she says to the offering of wires. She can get that back on Nede.
She looks to Wu, who offers a somewhat philosophical take on her question. "W-well, we have pokemon who look machine-like, and th-they have souls..." She knows. She's dealt with some of them. "I heard Filgaia has... spirits? Um... Guardians? But I don't know all the varieties they c-come in..." Josie comments that ARMs have a personality, and Mia considers that, too. "R-really...?"
She's probably not going to be able to get her hands on a gun to check.
Lily summons--a charmander. Mia's eyes go wide. "Whoa, cool! How'd you g-get a charmander? They're really rare!"
Oh right, Lily is being accosted by a drone mangling her arm. She considers for a moment, then tosses out a pokeball. "Pixi! Use Disable!"
"Vul." The Vulpix stares intently at the drone, a spooky aura rising up at her, which suddenly focuses on the drones to--hopefully--stop them from hurting anyone without damaging them.
DG: Mia Tamaoka has used her Tool Pokeball Belt toward her party's challenge, Robots Recycle YOU. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Robots Recycle YOU *>======================
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Before you were given permission to enter Scraphaven, you were told not to
destroy any metal friends that were still operational, no matter how grumpy
they acted. Working constructs from the past are sacred beings to these
people, but so long as you preserve their 'souls' -- whatever the core of
their operation is -- you can probably get away with roughing up a machine's
chassis.
It's an important fact to remember when the next heap of junk contains
dozens of red lights flickering to life like so many hungry eyes. You are
waylaid by glitching repair drones flying at you with buzzy wings,
screeching in broken tones and trying to dismantle your flesh with
tool-based limbs.
Individually, they're not sturdy. But they're fast, precise, and /numerous/.
They have to be dealt with carefully to preserve your reputation, but
they're not about to be careful with you!
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, and |
| Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================ =======================< Results - Scraphaven - Round 3 >======================= =======================< CHALLENGE - Robots Recycle YOU >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 13 --(0)--> 13 Best Cannonfire Min Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 13 --(0)--> 13 Best Fight Bsc Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meng Wu 21 --(0)--> 21 Best Barricade Min Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mia Tamaoka 13 --(0)--> 13 Best Pokeball Belt Min Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Josephine Lovelace 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Fright(2) and Tire(1) Effects: Embolden(1) = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace 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> Lily Keil has posed.
"Strange to Nede," Lily supplies for Wu. "...Though probably strange for us, too. Though you're right, we get a lot that's not usual these days."
A nod to Josie. "I think so, too."
But ARMs, machines, and their 'spirits'... Lily considers Azoth. "Some do," she says with certainty. "And even those that don't should be treated with respect. They're designed to do something. That matters."
But Mia explains her transition, and LIly tilts her head. "Huh," she says. "Didn't know you could do that." She doesn't sound bothered. Just a little surprised. "All right then, Mia."
But Filgaia does have spirits, "A variety of spirits. The Guardians are sort of the biggest spirits."
But Mia comments on her Charmander and, "This woman named Jenny gave him to me. She said she'd rther I not use my powers openly in Nede, and try to do things their way instead." Pause. "...To bbe fair to her, when I came in I wasn't expecting... air," she admits. "So I might've alarmed her and the others."
As it happens. The spooky Pixi is able to help! The drones are disabled from their actions. They also can't detect their targets thanks to the smokescreen, and a number of them are abrubtly buried before--
Boom. ...Well, it's probably fine that those ones go flying into the horizon. Probably.
But Charmander indeed ducked at Josie's warning. "Charmander char..."
Dutifullly, Lily hands him a Berry. "Good work, Charmander." Dog barks.
DG: Meng Wu has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
=============<* CHALLENGE - 0 Days Since Last Divine Retribution *>=============
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The people of Scraphaven have little understanding of currency. They don't
use zenny or have any idea what gella is, and would probably try to eat it.
Only one form of wealth holds any sway over them:
Snacks.
Like all wealth, it can drive even the purest soul to the darkest greed. A
profane experiment awakens. Beastfolk scamper from an explosion of junk,
screaming their dismay as a hovering vending machine sparks and sputters
with spinning lasers and projectile candy bars. "Hubris!" one cries. "We
have played in the domain of the gods and now we suffer!" cries another.
You will also suffer if you don't defend yourself from this ambition gone
awry! Panels open up on the vending machine's sides as it fires out a myriad
of rockets. They explode into pretzels. Salty pretzels, for all your wounds.
Amidst the chaos, a nonplussed beastfolk resets a counter back down to zero.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, and |
| Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Meng Wu has posed.
"Your pokemon also still come from eggs which complicates the idea of something built as opposed to something growing." That's Wu's take on the idea of mechanical pokemon. She shrugs though, now that the fight is resolved pretty decisively. Brushing herself off and adjusting her coat. "I'm not Guardianist. You'd want to talk to one of the locals." She doesn't view herself as Filgaian despite time spent and.. technicality. Not out of pride mind.
Wu won't be handing her guns over. "Charwhat?" At least she hasn't sat and learned the pokerap clearly.
At the mention of the cannon being, well, in a bad spot. She twists to get a better look at it, even pulling her glasses down briefly. "You should check the contacts, not just the wires." She states simply. "And they do. Though some of that is habit, maintenance and manufacturing quirks."
And there's a smoke screen from the fire breathing lizard. There's a moment of consideration. Of carrying one under her arm to both pet and use as a flamethrower. She has odd priorities.
"Wu. Still just Wu." She waves dismissively. It's a label. It works. That was also a bit late. Totally doesn't always pay attention to that. Especially since her and Josephine share something in common with Azoth using the wrong name in public!
"What isn't strange on Nede?" she finally asks, regarding Lily. "It's like back home, but full of costumed gangsters and happy cheery veneers almost like back home." She says this using her fingers to force a smile. She.. might not actually be able to smile. Did she forget? Or was it for effect.
There's a pause though. "So no ether and no smoking. I really should delegate more. Ugh."
A cry of panic, fear and a digitized voice announcing it had enough pretzels for everyone does get a briefly puzzled look on her face. She looks to Lily. That's her territory right? She had mentioned weirdness.
A pretzel zips past her head and she glances back and frowns. "I can't break this one either can I." It's a statement. She sounds sad at it.
With the philosophical talk, she does seem confused as a beastfolk zips past stating they were playing god. "Huh?" There's actual confusion there!
Either way, ignoring the beastfolk marking something as zero (She'll find out later) she puts the barriers up and draws her pistols. She has two of them! And provides cover for the party. And maybe takes a few aimed shots at the machine to disable it. Just no squishing and no complete destruction.
She knows how to shake her products loose from vending machines.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
But what's this? The kid recognizes Josie after all! Because she's--
The stammering in the moment is familiar enough. And come to think of it, isn't that Purrloin...?! "Huh. Don't that beat all," Josie remarks, glancing down at Mia, then over at Purri. The shift in personality alone is telling. She nods, as if in agreement with some inner assessment of her own. "Ha, you sure had me fooled! Well, then, let's start again, like. Mia! Kiddo! Good seein' you again!" Josie says, extending her left hand towards Mia in greeting. "There! Now that's all done and dusted. We've got some parts to scounge!"
"Sure are," she chimes in, as Lily speaks of the Guardians. "But don't you try 'n catch 'em or none."
Charmander, fortunately, gets out of firing range as Nostos lets loose a few potshot beams of light. Hissing gently, the cannon cools off. "Hope they didn't mind that one or none," Josie remarks, drawing out a cigarette and lighting it up. "But I reckon those lot weren't exactly the most welcoming sort..." Exhaling smoke, she takes five.
She doesn't get to relax long.
"Oh, what the--" Josie says, ducking a package of gummies narrowly. "What's all this about? ...Tch, guess I can't hit this bastard with this," she grumbles, ducking down next to Nostos (and conveniently, another pack of pretzels). "Okay...! Let's try this one," she says as Nostos begins flashing its lights again and... emitting a low-frequency hum?
It's kind of soothing, actually.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Biomimetic Therapeutic Frequency toward her party's challenge, 0 Days Since Last Divine Retribution. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round! Shortsighted! The party will suffer a penalty next round... but not this round!
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Mia looks to Lily as she chimes in on machines with spirits, and nods. "Some do, huh..." Mia seems to be considering that thoughtfully. She looks back to the crane, and there is the faintest glimmer to her eyes for a moment as she looks at it a little more intently.
"Sorry, I w-wasn't trying to fool you!" Mia tells Josie. "But you d-din't recognize me, and I w-wasn't sure it was you, a-and..."
"Rrr..." says Purri slightly sternly.
"--right," says Mia, cutting herself off. She beams at Josie at being called Mia and then Kiddo, momentarily extending her right hand by reflex and then quickly switching to her left. "Nice seeing you, too!"
Then she looks back to Lily. Mia tries to stand a little straighter (sadly she's still only 5' 1") and her voice gets more defiant for a moment. "D-didn't know I could do what?" But Lily seems to accept it, and Mia relaxes, and nods. Mia it is, then.
"An Officer Jenny g-gave that to you...? Well I guess it is a starter, s-so that kinda fits..." Mia blinks. "Wait w-why wouldn't there be air?"
Mia looks to Wu next. "W-well of course you wouldn't build a pokemon..." She pauses, remembering Shige's difficulty with the concept of a Ghost-type pokemon that still needs to eat. "... I g-guess that might seem strange to you all, to be f-fair..."
Mia knows the pokerap! She's watched videos of people attempting to do the full National Pokedex Rap. It's... quite a feat.
She's silent on the subject of costumed gangsters, though.
But as they proceed along... "Oh look, a vending machine!" Then a missle is fired at them. "Ahhh! A vending machine!" Purri dismounts from Mia's shoulder right as she goes diving to the side , though she can't quite manage a roll with her backpack on.
Pretzels land on her a moment later, which just adds to her confusion. She takes one and sniffs at it, then takes a bite. "Mm... not bad..." But that vending machine causing havoc might be a problem if it fell on anyone. "Purri! Use Knock Off!"
"Purr!" Puri darts in, ducking this way and that around the missles and circling around back--then she leaps, swapping at a vital component or two to try and shake them loose, and bring the vending machine to a stand still.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Yeah. Don't try to catch the Guardians. I'm pretty sure that would be bad."
Very bad.
But, "Charmander!" the Pokemon supplies for Wu. And then, she says to Wu, "It's strange to us, but not to them. For them, their lives are normal. There's no need for us to upend that without cause."
A ause. No air. "Officer Jenny, right." Pause. "It was a portal to who knew wwhere, to us. We didn't know if there would be a livable world on the other side until we went through." But Josie mntions welcoming, and Lily says, "It's probably fine. ...We're being 'nice'."
Mia is shorter than Lily, but Lily lifts an eyebrow when she says she didn't know. "Change your way," she says.
Then suddenly--
Pretzels. Lily is hit in the face. She frowns, at this. "...What?" she asks, and then narrows her eyes too. She considers...
"Well," she says, "I can't attack this thing without disintegrating it. So I'm just going to heal all of you until you take care of it."
"Chaaaaaar," Charmander complains. Dog tries to catch the pretzels in her mouth.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, 0 Days Since Last Divine Retribution. DG: Meng Wu has used her Tool Barricade toward her party's challenge, 0 Days Since Last Divine Retribution. Embolden! Party Combat boosted! DG: Mia Tamaoka has used her Tool Pokeball Belt toward her party's challenge, 0 Days Since Last Divine Retribution. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
=============<* CHALLENGE - 0 Days Since Last Divine Retribution *>=============
| Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The people of Scraphaven have little understanding of currency. They don't
use zenny or have any idea what gella is, and would probably try to eat it.
Only one form of wealth holds any sway over them:
Snacks.
Like all wealth, it can drive even the purest soul to the darkest greed. A
profane experiment awakens. Beastfolk scamper from an explosion of junk,
screaming their dismay as a hovering vending machine sparks and sputters
with spinning lasers and projectile candy bars. "Hubris!" one cries. "We
have played in the domain of the gods and now we suffer!" cries another.
You will also suffer if you don't defend yourself from this ambition gone
awry! Panels open up on the vending machine's sides as it fires out a myriad
of rockets. They explode into pretzels. Salty pretzels, for all your wounds.
Amidst the chaos, a nonplussed beastfolk resets a counter back down to zero.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, |
| Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, and |
| Shortsighted:_All_Stats_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
=======================< Results - Scraphaven - Round 4 >=======================
==============< CHALLENGE - 0 Days Since Last Divine Retribution >==============
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace 13 --(5)--> 18 Best
Biomimetic Therapeutic Frequency Min Combat Effects: Cleanse and
Shortsighted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily Keil 13 --(5)--> 18 Good
Fight Bsc Combat Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meng Wu 21 --(5)--> 26 Best
Barricade Min Combat Effects: Embolden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mia Tamaoka 13 --(5)--> 18 Best
Pokeball Belt Min Combat Effects: Embolden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Josephine Lovelace 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass
Conditions: Bad Luck(2) and Fright(1)
Effects: Cleanse, Embolden(1), and Shortsighted(1)
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace 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> Meng Wu has posed.
Wu hasn't lit up herself. She isn't that far off from her last smoke! Even if Josie's encouraging bad behavior in herself in a roundabout way. Wu glances back, then to Mia, then back again. "Are you her wrangler?"
They're called guardians, supervisors or responsible adults Wu.
She looks over at Mia's comment and says flatly, "It's no different than building a chimera or a cybernetic organism in the long run." She pauses. Then mutters, "Shouldn't scare a kid that way." She then uses her magazine to scratch at her cheek. She's not someone you should take after.
"I think they'd just squish you if you tried to catch them." Is Wu's response to the idea of capturing a guardian. "Literally." And she means that!
Lily's a little more optimistic than Wu on that note. "Sometimes you got to sleep, everything's good. Then it's on fire." She knows this from firsthand experience! She does hesitate again. "Later. Might be a fun topic." She doesn't sound it, but she probably means it.
Of course, there's a fight on. And Wu's not sure how, or why a pulsing light soothes the robot, but she's not going to complain. The machine is no longer bouncing around and firing at random! It's just at them now! This is an improvement. Technically. They do have cover though!
The gangster is still going to shoot at it however. Putting a shot into a sensor so it can't aim as well at least. Which is a good start!
There's no convenient power plug to knock loose, but Purri does knock a few key components around, preventing it from launching at them! Also meaning someone's not getting their money back if they forget to put an out of order sign up.
And.. well. All of them are healed by Lily. Complete with a thumbs up from Wu who appreciates it. "I won't tell if you won't." She does admit, to the idea of just disintegrating it. Thing's clearly a problem if there's a tallymark system in place.
DG: Mia Tamaoka has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Gear Graveyard *>========================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Deeper and deeper you travel, until the pathway underfoot gives way. You
fall, sliding through old tunnels at worrying speeds, out of control and
slipping into depths Scraphaven's markers and maps do not account for.
You will need to provide your own lighting to brighten the chasm you land
in. Giant arms and legs. Crushed heads. Shattered torsos. The occasional
tail or wing. Broken weapons befitting their size. You stand surrounded by
the remains of giant metal bodies. Gears. Decrepit and beyond any reasonable
repair, but with designs not matching any modern construction. These are
creations from an ancient time.
The wreckage and scrap you've been sorting through until now... could it all
ultimately come from relics like these?
If you want to get out of here, you'll have to be clever about how you scale
the wreckage. It's dangerous to be using damaged parts as platforms, and not
a fragment of power remains in this dark, silent place. You are free to take
your time and plot your course -- and you should, lest you fall into an
abyss you cannot see.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, |
| Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, and Shortsighted:_All_Stats_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Don't try to catch the Guardians. "Oh, I w-wouldn't!" She's not about to go tampering with the spiritual ecosystem of a whole other world.
For... many, many reasons.
Lily explains about the portal. "Ohhhh, th-that makes sense."
'Change your way.' That's... a nice, euphemistic way to put it, but Mia doesn't mind that characterization too much. "Oh! W-well... a lot of people d-do, on N-Nede..." Mia shrugs a little. "Though... I kinda th-think of it as less changing and m-more... finding."
Mia looks at Wu and blinks. "... Wrangler?" See, you've confused the kid now, too.
And then she blinks at the comments of chimeras and cybernetic organisms... "chimera...?" She frowns. "I m-met a woman with cybernetic parts... they k-kinda seemed more advanced than Nede's? B-but maybe because we d-don't build them for combat it j-just seems that way..."
But Wu's comment about not telling about disintegrating the vending machine gets an objection by Mia. "H-hey! You shouldn't k-kill it if it has a s-soul, or a spirit, or if it's alive even w-without one."
But they've disabled it, and Mia nods in satisfaction at that. "Good job, Purri!" Purri returns to her shoulder, and the two share a nuzzle before Mia proceeds forward down the path, seemingly not waiting for any of the adults to take point.
Because that's how Pokemon Trainers do things.
"I w-wonder what we'll find next..." Muses Mia...
Suddenly, the ground--well, it was really scores of overlapping metal sheets, plates, and pieces--gives way, sending them all tumbling down a series of dark tunnels into an abandoned and still dark canyon. Mia is yelling for a moment, but midway through takes a deep breath, focuses, and makes that praying motion again--a burst of wind beneath her feet braces her fall, and she comes to a soft landing.
The cavern is large and vast, and Mia quickly throws out a pokeball. "Pixi, go! Can you light up the room?"
"Vulpix." The little fox pokemon concentrates, and eerie blue flames spring into existence all around them.
Mia stares in awe. "Whoa... those... a-are those all gears...?" She's heard about them, but she hasn't seen one, yet... She quickly takes her phone out and starts snapping pictures. Of the gears, yes, but also of anything they might use to escape.
"Okay, Purri... l-let's find a safe way up."
"Purr, purrloin!"
Working together, the much lighter Purri explores the various pathways and ledges, while Mia tracks her progress on her phone, marking things on the photos she's taken.
DG: Mia Tamaoka has used her Tool Smartphone toward her party's challenge, Gear Graveyard. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"I ain't anyone's wrangler," Josie remarks with a good-natured grin. "Tiger here can attest to that, like."
She's arguably not even Penelope's wrangler.
I wonder what we'll find next?
"Hopefully some solid plating," Josie remarks, right before it so happens that what they find next is a pit!!
Unfortunately, it's a pit that has begun to spread right at their feet. Josie, for a lack of anything else she can do in the moment, yells as she plummets.
She lands heavily amidst the rubble below, and fortunately after the cannon impacts the ground. The other way around could bave dangerous, not to mention lethal if she had ended up under it or something like that. But everyone appears (Josie conjures a small bright ball of light -- Symbology! -- that hovers close at hand) to have all their bits and pieces together, which is fine and well.
Her cigarette, however, is lost. Patting herself down, she soon realizes that the rest of the pack's gone, too, slipped from her pocket in her descent. Bereft, Josie sighs.
"Well, let's not lollygag 'round here, right?" she says, glancing around their merry band. "There's bound to be a place we can use to get on up, like. Eh... Tiger, I'm gonna need a hand with this, though!"
But at least she can make one thing very, very easy for them all, and that is to activate Nostos' lights and keep them on. If the pit gets lit up like a disco (what's a disco), so much the better for them either a) getting out of here, or b) getting found by someone who does know how to get out of here.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Superfluous Lights toward her party's challenge, Gear Graveyard. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"She really isn't," Lily agrees with Josie.
Squish! But Lily is occasionally on fire. That hapens, too. "Heh," she says of disintegration. "Better to play nice for now."
For Lily, it's just--well, it is whwat it is. It's a change of one's self. Or a finding. Either way, "I see."
"Cybernetics..." Lily trails off, and oesn't say anything for now. Instead--well, the ground gives way. Lily hits the grouund, but doesn't seem terribly damaged by it. Instead, she just--gets up. Purrloin and Mia have an approach already, of course, but...
Lily recalls Charmander at some point, but Dog has no Pokeball. There must be a way, but...
Dog barks once, and then starts sniffing along the bath. Bark, bark!
"...She's got a nose for getting out of trouble," Lily says. "We'd do well to listen."
She does give Josie a hand, though.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Dog toward her party's challenge, Gear Graveyard. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Meng Wu has posed.
Wu looks to Mia once more. There's that long suffering look. She knows it's not the most hip language, but is wrangling that obscure a word? She looks over towards Josie after that though. "Tiger?" She shakes her head and clears her mind. There are other problems going on!
As for Mia's objection to killing a machine? She just shakes her head and adjusts her glasses. "If you want to discuss whether it has a soul or not, I'm game, but that's never stopped me before." She's probably not the right person to be around impressionable kids with hopes and dreams.
She does offer a replacement cigarette to Josie at the familiar pat down. She knows the drill well enough. She even offers to light it if it's taken.
She does look back to Lily at the mention of cybernetics and actually almost looks apologetic. Briefly. There are hints of whatever bright and cheery kid had been within her at some point surely.
There's Dog the Dog and- "Is your lizard called Charmander or is it both?" She assumes that makes sense.
Also there's the act of trying to get out of the pit. Which she's fine doing after a bit of work herself. Checking for chips, panels and a few other things like she's got an eye for certain parts at least.
As for getting out? She generates some platforms and points of stability with creative use of ether. Which she still doesn't explain, but it's definitely not symbology or crest magic!
DG: Meng Wu has used her Tool B&E Kit toward her party's challenge, Gear Graveyard. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted! Liability! Failure will result in extra Exhaustion!
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Gear Graveyard *>========================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Deeper and deeper you travel, until the pathway underfoot gives way. You
fall, sliding through old tunnels at worrying speeds, out of control and
slipping into depths Scraphaven's markers and maps do not account for.
You will need to provide your own lighting to brighten the chasm you land
in. Giant arms and legs. Crushed heads. Shattered torsos. The occasional
tail or wing. Broken weapons befitting their size. You stand surrounded by
the remains of giant metal bodies. Gears. Decrepit and beyond any reasonable
repair, but with designs not matching any modern construction. These are
creations from an ancient time.
The wreckage and scrap you've been sorting through until now... could it all
ultimately come from relics like these?
If you want to get out of here, you'll have to be clever about how you scale
the wreckage. It's dangerous to be using damaged parts as platforms, and not
a fragment of power remains in this dark, silent place. You are free to take
your time and plot your course -- and you should, lest you fall into an
abyss you cannot see.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, |
| Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, and Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
=======================< Results - Scraphaven - Round 5 >=======================
=========================< CHALLENGE - Gear Graveyard >=========================
Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail
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Josephine Lovelace 18 --(5)--> 23 Best
Superfluous Lights Min Wits Effects: Enlighten
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Lily Keil 18 --(5)--> 23 Best
Dog Min Wits Effects: Enlighten
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Meng Wu 26 --(5)--> 31 Best
B&E Kit Maj Wits Effects: Liability and
Enlighten
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Mia Tamaoka 18 --(5)--> 23 Good
Smartphone Min Wits Effects: Resilient
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Leader: Josephine Lovelace 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass
Conditions: Bad Luck(2) and Reckless(2)
Effects: Enlighten(1) and Resilient(1)
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Josephine Lovelace has successfully explored Scraphaven!
================================<* Scraphaven *>================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Tiny Metal Friend *>=======================
| Type: Discovery | Dungeon Ability: Conclusion | Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
Your collection of scrap, salvage, and spare parts are brought before the
Widgetmancers, who gasp simultaneously in shock upon discovering you've
rescued a metal friend. They fly into a whirlwind of tinkering to 'mend' the
remains of the machine you've found.
They manage to give it a small, spindly-legged chassis with a single light
for an eye. When dormant, this little robot can fold up into a convenient
egg shape -- about the same size, too, making it low maintenance and easy to
carry. The Widgetmancers inform you that without a Metalspeaker they only
know how to ask it to perform a single simple task, and it'll only be able
to communicate in beeping.
You may choose: will it shoot supportive laser fire to help you in Combat,
augment your Wits by scouting for clues, release charged energy in Brute-al
explosions, or spit out energy webbing to facilitate feats of Agility?
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, |
| Reckless:_Wits_Down!_Brute_Up!, Resilient:_Exhaustion_Down!, and |
| Treasure:_Exploration_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
It might not be an obscure word, but... Mia isn't familiar with it in the context Wu is using it.
It's never stopped Wu bfore... Mia looks saddened by that. "... Oh."
"That's th-the species of Pokemon it is!" explains Mia cheerfully. "A lot of people j-just call their pokemon by their species name instead of coming up with one. B-but I think it's fun to d-do."
"I th-think we found some not-solid plating..." Mia comments to Josie upon picking herself up...
But Josie summons a small ball of light, and that definitely gets Mia's attention. The idea of it seems familiar-- "Josie? Is... that Symbology?" She perks up. "Oh! Are you using the tattoos? That's kinda cool if you are!"
So retro.
Mia isn't sure she could stand getting a tattoo.
But Josie's lights do a fantastic job of lighting up the area, and Mia recalls Pixi with a "Great work, take a break!"
But Dog has a lead on a scent, and Mia is, for understandable reasons, completely fine with following the instincts of an animal companion. "G-good work, Dog! Purri, try s-searching over that way!"
Wu's Ether--which Mia hasn't heard of yet and doesn't know to comment on, however is also helpful.
With lighting to provide the way, a Dog to sniff for the start of a path, a Purri to test it and a Wu to reinforce it, in very short order they can all may their way up out of the pit.
And a way out, apparently, is not all they've found. Josie and Lily came here to find parts to fix her Gryndille canon, and they can certainly find an ample assortment... but as they trudge back up to the upper levels of Scraphaven the Widgetmancers assess what they've found...
And soon present the group with options to take home a new friend or two.
Mia picks up the egg-shaped standby mode of the robot. "Awwww, it's so cute!" She taps it to activate it, as shown, and it unfolds itself into a little spindly-legged form, turning its one eye up at Mia.
"Hi there! We'll h-have to come up with a name for you... But w-welcome to the party!"