2017-07-31: What Lies Within the Tomb
- Log: What Lies Within the Tomb
- Cast: Riesenlied, Fei Fong Wong, Linvidia Diargento, Kaguya, Ambrosius, Shalune Amira
- Where: Adelyn Ranchlands - Lolithia's Tomb
- Date: 07-31-2017
- Summary: Pursuing questions arisen from the Temple of Rejection, Riesenlied gathers allies to investigate Lolithia's Tomb. Inside, they find...
===========================<* Adelyn Ranchlands *>============================ The area around Adlehyde Castle is occupied by rolling fields of grass that are the envy of nations more seriously affected by the desertification that plagues Ignas. Most of the continent's cattle and horses are bred and raised in these ranchlands, which are owned by a scattered assortment of families, each with lands and borders carefully marked out by poles and fences. While Adlehyde's soldiers patrol the main trade routes throughout the country, the ranchers are for the most part left to their own devices except during tax season; this has tended to produce an independent and stubborn streak in the people who call this territory home. Folks around these parts are used to looking after themselves, and do so with a brutal effectiveness. The four-footed wealth that covers the ranchlands attracts its fair share of rustlers, bandits, and other ne'er-do-wells; when local posses prove insufficient to the task, a single rider sent to the Adventurer's Guild will generally bring help quick enough.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
If the rumors are true, THE LOLITHIA has remained on Filgaia. If ......
learns of this facility, ... will undoubtedly shut it down. We have thus
equipped the facility with an advanced security system. For the sake of our
planet, we must protect it at all costs...
The message back at the Temple of Rejection has rung true in Riesenlied's mind, even all of this time. It was perturbing. She knew full well the dangers of the Golem, having witnessed such things firsthand, but she doesn't understand what the warning may be pointing towards. It didn't make sense... what link did this Tomb have with the Temple, far away in Gounon? There was only one option -- she must return to the Tomb and investigate it.
It is such that the winged woman is standing atop an outcropping not far from the entrance of the Tomb, draping her arms around her Ellurian cloak as she contemplates the facts in silence. If she's accompanied by an entourage, they aren't making themselves known yet. She has a pensive look upon her face.
"... I will not ignore the warnings of the past. I will discover what the ancients are trying to tell us ..."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"So," Fei says. "You've been to the Temple of Rejection too, huh?"
Fei joined Riesenlied's party for this adventure though he hasn't really made himself all that known until this moment. He's noticed that Riesenlied tends to react strangely when he draws attention to himself and it makes him feel real awkward. Maybe, he figures, she's recovered since then? It's been some time since Old Petra...but Fei knows that doesn't strictly mean much. Fei still feels pangs of terrible emotions when thinking of Lahan after all.
"I guess this will be the second time I'm going on a dig with a Metal Demon." Fei quips (he doesn't count the Battle of Adelhyde adventure campaign booklet as a dig). "I wonder if there really is a connection here..." He rubs the back of his neck for a moment.
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
"Stop looking like you've just had your budget cut!" comes the voice of the supervisor.
In the mind of Linvidia Diargento - who, to be fair, did bring along a wagon pulled by two burros and even a faceless goon to mind them and help with loading - this is her expedition, a prospecting and perhaps claim establishing situation in what is clearly an under-excavated ruin that's on bad times due to local political nonsense.
Marching up on high heels, she points a cigarette in an absurdly long ebony tube at Riesenlied. "If you've time enough to muse, you've time enough to..."
Linvidia trails off and looks towards Fei.
She turns her head and snaps her fingers at the burro minder.
The burro minder trots over.
He hands Linvidia a pickax.
Linvidia holds it out, with difficulty, between finger and thumb, towards Fei. "You'll need this," she informs him.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Rumors, questions, suppositions... Whatever. Kaguya, for one, doesn't especially care about all this about ancient human technology. Oh she might, some days, but not right now. Right now...
She wonders whether this is going to be a problem.
Kaguya has her own wagon, but unlike Linvidia's, Kaguya's is full of flowers. She rode on it herself. She has not had a lot to say to Linvidia so far, which makes sense, because Kaguya doesn't look like she could do hard labor to save her life. As a matter of fact, she looks like it might hurt her to try.
Still, she steps up eventually behind Riesenlied, slightly to the side, and Fei. "What if they ancients were dumb, though? And they're trying to tell us something stupid? I mean, that's possible. You don't have to be smart to write something down, any moron can do it."
A pause. "Right. Metal Demon. Right. That's crazy. You're crazy." Pause. "...I guess he knows about you. Oh well." Not her though, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Rumors, questions, suppositions... Whatever. Kaguya, for one, doesn't especially care about all this about ancient human technology. Oh she might, some days, but not right now. Right now...
She wonders whether this is going to be a problem.
Kaguya has her own wagon, but unlike Linvidia's, Kaguya's is full of flowers. She rode on it herself. She has not had a lot to say to Linvidia so far, which makes sense, because Kaguya doesn't look like she could do hard labor to save her life. As a matter of fact, she looks like it might hurt her to try.
Still, she steps up eventually behind Riesenlied, slightly to the side, and Fei. "What if they ancients were dumb, though? And they're trying to tell us something stupid? I mean, that's possible. You don't have to be smart to write something down, any moron can do it."
A pause. "Right. Metal Demon. Right. That's crazy. You're crazy." Pause. "...I guess he knows about you. Oh well." Not her though, right?
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius is the type that prefers to avoid drawing attention to himself. He stands quietly off to the side, poncho drawn around him.
He was, admittedly, curious about how that name related to his people...was there a deeper connection, or was it merely a coincidence?
He doubted he would find the answers here. However, it had already proven to be a valuable source of historical artifacts once before, so he was as ever willing to lend his aid.
His eyes are drawn toward Fei for a moment, and then toward Riesenlied. He'd assisted the young man on an 'adventure' just the other day, so it was interesting to encounter him yet again.
His eyes are drawn toward Linvidia next, and then to Kaguya. The latter gets a subtle nod of greeting.
It was an interesting group that had gathered here so far...
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Um, speaking of Golems...
The earth rumbles softly at a rhythmic kind of rate, a heavy set of steps to announce the arrival of a certain Big Shal as it begins to crest the hill. If there's a small comfort regarding the Golem's presence, it's that it doesn't exactly rise up very high or look particularly imposing when compared to the Triumvirate of Old, just a touch over twice the Metal Demon's size with rounded corners and big fat hands rather than missile banks and shields. Not to mention, a blob of bobble-hatted pink draped on its shoulder.
"Ohh, is that where the ruin is? Jeez, I thought there'd be enough space for you to help out, but unless we wanna jump right down the shaft... well, I don't fancy our gettin' back out, is all I'm saying," Shalune natters happily-- to the Golem itself, as if the mechanical creature could understand her. "Just hang on here and I'll see if there's anything to find, okay?"
Having made her brief apologies, she'd slipped away from Lacour with a goal in mind - given that the Golems were on display together at the Adlehyde Exhibition, then maybe she can find some more information down here about Diablo, or even a spare part or two that she can bring back to help with the restoration. Now, she pats the Golem happily on the head before sliding down a ladder attached to the scaffolding she's been perched on, jogging up to the crew already there.
"--wah, um, Mr. Fei!" she greets first, then puffs up at everyone else with a cheered expression and a sheepish grin. "Sorry I'm late and all! - um, I knew the Tomb was out in this direction but it kinda took me a bit to get my bearings, y'know?"
Her attention is kind of tugged to and fro for a moment, bowing slightly towards Riesenlied and Ambrosius - because tall obviously means leader - and offering a bright smile towards Kaguya - because small obviously means newbie, like her - and then blinking with surprise at the work crew already in progress. "O-oh. Are we assistin' another dig?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... thank you for coming, Mister Fei," Riesenlied expresses slowly as the martial artist approaches, her hands still laid gently on the brooch at her neck in a contemplative position. "I do not know if we will find a connection or not, but... it seems hardly a coincidence."
She thins her lips as she shares, "I did enter the Temple of Rejection, back when I was trapped in a fit of anxiety... something called to me in there, something -- dire, something that rebuffed me." Well, it's not called the Temple of Rejection for nothing, after all. "It may be harsh, but if I do not uncover the truth behind this, another disaster may yet await us all."
Her eyes widen as she -- stares towards Linvidia and her cart, however, blinking a few times. "E-eh?" An errant sproig of ashen-blonde hair kind of twangs out like a busted spring from her head of hair. "I-- suppose..."
She looks towards Kaguya with a lovely smile as she says, "I suppose it is true that that could be the case, but..." She does give her a look that sort of says 'he doesn't know', at least. She was glad that Ambrosius and Kaguya were both here to support her.
She-- kind of pauses to a dead stop and -stares- as Big Shal... lumbers and... stomps over the hill, however, set on edge just for a moment before she... continues to stare with genuine astonishment. "Is-- is this girl a friend of yours, Mister Fei?"
A pause, as she leans over towards her with a softly growing smile. W-well, she's cute, at least! "Hello... my name is-- Riesenlied."
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
Linvidia eyes Ambrosius.
She looks at the goon.
The goon gives Ambrosius an iron-bladed shovel before shuffling back behind the Isla Delloro Trading Company wagon. (He admires Kaguya's flowers. The burros may too.)
"My name is Linvidia Diargento and I OH BY THE GUARDIANS," Linvidia says, her speech derailing impressively as she gazes up towards Big Shal and also the accompanying Little Shal.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"The ancients were dumb," Fei muttered. "If they were so smart, we wouldnt be on a dying planet with a bunch of..." He pauses. He shouldnt push this point hard around Kaguya. She is one of those dying people after all. Because of some ancient awful mistake, he imagines.
He laughs as Shalune arrives. "Dont worry about it..." He glances briefly at Ambrosius but figures he better not get too blabby or he'll get science lectured again. He takes in a faint breath, though, and adds, to himself mostly, "Another 'Mister' huh..." He says a bit louder, though. "She is a friend of mine. Her name is Shalune." He pauses. "And uh, actually, as we head in I needed to ask... Did you know that Harken attacked the arena?" He frowns. "There's no way that served any purpose or greater goal. That doesn't seem like something Siegfried would..."
And then a pickaxe is thrust into his hands by someone he doesn't know.
"Uh...hi..." He says.
*imagining planting said pickaxe into Linvidia's skull*
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Ambrosius gets a nod back from Kaguya, all clear and dignified and entirely unacknowledging of the fact that she is so, so much shorter than he is. But...
"Could be, but you're not sure? Sure, sure. You're so nice, Riesenlied." It's something between a compliment and a complaint. But Fei's mutter gets a tilt of her head. Did she hear him?? Maybe.
Rumble. Rumble.
Big Shal approaches and Kaguya stares, pale green eyes wide. "What the fuck--"
Language, Kaguya.
Shalune comes down, cute as can be, and offers Kaguya a bright smile. Kaguya stares at her now, rather than at the Golem, and waves back without entirely recognizing what she's doing. She pauses, as she sees Linvidia and thinks--
"You should keep the animals away from my wagon. Some of my flowers are poisonous to them." ...And to everything else.
Back to Shalune, "Right, my name is Kaguya? Nice to meet you?"
"Shalune. Okay. Uhhh." Pause. "Wow you sure have opinions about this stuff. You're not acting like you did at the arena at all, Fie." That is not a mistake. She says Fie, not Fei.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Ambrosius gets a nod back from Kaguya, all clear and dignified and entirely unacknowledging of the fact that she is so, so much shorter than he is. But...
"Could be, but you're not sure? Sure, sure. You're so nice, Riesenlied." It's something between a compliment and a complaint. But Fei's mutter gets a tilt of her head. Did she hear him?? Maybe.
Rumble. Rumble.
Big Shal approaches and Kaguya stares, pale green eyes wide. "What the fuck--"
Language, Kaguya.
Shalune comes down, cute as can be, and offers Kaguya a bright smile. Kaguya stares at her now, rather than at the Golem, and waves back without entirely recognizing what she's doing. She pauses, as she sees Linvidia and thinks--
"You should keep the animals away from my wagon. Some of my flowers are poisonous to them." ...And to everything else.
Back to Shalune, "Right, my name is Kaguya? Nice to meet you?"
"Shilling. Okay. Uhhh." Pause. "Wow you sure have opinions about this stuff. You're not acting like you did at the arena at all, Fie." That is not a mistake. She says Fie, not Fei.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
That sound, that rumble...it could only be a Golem. Of a certain size and weight...he did not recall any units of that size being sent out here, however. So then, it could only be...
Ambrosius's suspicions are confirmed as Big Shal appears over the horizon. There it was again. The Golem he had seen in Lacour. This was not a fluke, then. And, climbing down from it was a small girl.
He watches as she bows toward Riesenlied and himself. Interesting. She was not one he recognized. To possess a Golem...did she have some relationship to his people? This was worth looking into later, but for now he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself.
Unfortunately, not immediately announcing himself as important has resulted in a shovel being...well, shoved into his hands.
He looks down at the tool.
He looks up at the goon responsible.
The shovel disappears into his poncho.
"If we are...introduuucing ourselves...I am...Aaambrosius..." He says, then bows his head. "A pleasure..."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune is about seveteen, maybe eighteen - but looks perhaps a bit younger given the way she's in the centre of a collection of brightly coloured-clothing, hidden beneath a bobble hat. At the very least her grin towards Riesenlied's greeting is open and honest. "Wah, um, hello! I heard you were goin' down into the Tomb - I mean, um, Mr. Fei and I know each other, but I guess we just kinda lucked out to be on this job together," she admits with a sheepish grin. "And please don't mind Big Shal, okay? She'll just wait out here 'til we're done, but if we need any heavy lifting, she'll be there to help out!"
"It's nice to meet you guys too!" she adds towards Kaguya, a sudden pressured wave of 'I want to pat' rolling off of her in the direction of the short Veruni. Maybe one time she'll get to actually do it, but for now at least she's still in introduction mode, and perhaps trying to be on something like her best behaviour. "I guess I'm still pretty new to this stuff, on the whole, but when it comes to golems I'm kinda your girl," she admits, as if that weren't obvious enough from her entrance. The pack on her back seems a little large for ruin-diving, stuffed full and with what appears to be a folded broom stuck in some loops on one side, but she's managing to shoulder it without complaint all the same.
For now, she misses Fei's comments about Lady Harken, because she's calling over to the crew and the woman in charge of it, both hands cupped at her mouth. "Gu~uys, if you need some hauling, just yell, okay?" Above her, the golem signals its agreement with a slow and creaking thumbs up. ... is this really okay?...
DG: A party led by Riesenlied is now entering Lolithia's Tomb. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Out of Service *>======================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The descent into Lolithia's Tomb would be a challenging one in most circumstances. And this looks like it's going to be one of those days. The elevator cards that would take workers down into the dig seem to be out of order, leaving only the cables as a route down into the darkness below. Those bold enough to use the cables to descend need to be careful to not pick up too much speed on the way down, or a rough landing awaits. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
The mental image of Linvidia's over-lined eye sprouting a pickax and blood is not unique to the fermenting mind of Fei Fong Wong. She is still looking at Shalune and her Big Fellow. "That's not actually Loli - oh," Linvidia says, exhaling.
Kaguya speaks up. Linvidia considers, then tells Shalune, "Park it between our wagons, to keep the burros off it."
This seems to satisfy her enough to take a long drag off the cigarette holder and exhale it - not even at anyone! Other than Mr. Sky.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
The way in which Riesenlied's horns perk up in alarm like they're going '!!' at the mere mention of the F-word from Kaguya's lips is adorable, but otherwise understated.
They wiggle up and down just a little as she exhales very softly and looks to Fei and Shalune, and has to kind of agree with Linvidia's assessment. Though she probably wouldn't evoke the Guardians' names. They're kind of jerks. Especially the handsome bishonen unicorn that appears in her dreams to continue tormenting her.
"I do," is Riesenlied's despondent answer with a sigh. "... it is useless for me to apologise, but it is all I can do. Something unusual has happened with Milady, and we are looking into it." She frowns. "What I can say, however, is that neither Siegfried or I approve of it." And she leaves it at that. She can't really divulge more information.
"B-Big Shal? It has a nickname...?" Riesenlied looks like she's totally caught offguard by this, probably as the Golem peers down at her and slooowly gives her one of those ratcheting, patented Big Shal thumbs-ups. "A-ah... mm--" she clears her throat. Don't pat her on the head, don't pat her on the head... "We do have need of Golem expertise, Shalune, so it's nice to meet you!"
She does wonder how Ambrosius would react to that Golem -- or Kaguya, for that matter. "Ah... then, if we are all gathered -- shall we venture forth into the Ruin?" Spoken like someone who's very familiar with gathering the party to venture forth, it seems.
There's a cupped cheek as she looks towards the elevator shaft, and gestures towards Shalune. "Would you be able to assist with Big Shal? If we have her hoist the cable and act as the elevator pulley, we can lower ourselves down gently..." as her wings spread at about that point, large, fluffy and black tapering to a translucent orange gradient, and she descends down to actually fetch said elevator.
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Dragon Wings toward her party's challenge, Out of Service.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
'Big Shal'...for a moment, Ambrosius feels pity for that poor golem. She was 'their girl' when it came to golems, was she? Well, that was a convenient avenue to arrange a conversation later, then...
He spares Kaguya another glance. He doesn't say anything out loud, but he seems to be trying to get across a feeling of 'do you know this one?' ...Though, considering their first conversation, it seemed unlikely that Kaguya would, even if this Shalune had some connection to their people.
Riesenlied gives the call to gather, then, and Ambrosius approaches the side of the drop. Riesenlied was going to fetch the elevator, Big Shal was to act as the pulley...
He could wait for them, but instead he elects to descend on the cables. The last time he had been here, the floor had been very unstable. It would be wise to determine whether or not it had stabilized before they brought the entire party down here.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Out of Service.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Oh--well, if that's what it is." Fei says. "I guess I can't really talk. Maybe I should just assume that if someone does something crazy like that, then something weird's behind it." Because it does seem like it happens a lot. He still has a pickaxe. He shouldn't actually put it inside of Linvidia's forehead. That would probably be...not good? It's not like being brusque is a crime. Unless it is a crime. Apparently digging up gears is actually violating a treaty after all but it's not like anybody actually pays attention to treaties made that long ago.
"Huh?" He asks as he thinks Kaguya says his name. "What?" He pauses. "Oh! It's Fei. F e i, not F i e. Nor F a y e." He looks uncomfortable. "I know it's kind of a strange name."
He looks at the cables leading down and says, "At least there's something to hold onto this time," He mutters and he works on sliding down the ropes.
"He's pretty different when he's not stabbing me," He admits. He wants to tell Riesenlied how he feels, truly, but he suspects if he just says it in front of all these people ranging from actual strangers to friends...It's a mixed bag. Maybe he can think of how to say it without really saying it.
"If he wasn't trying to kill us all I'd probably get along with him," He admits, kind of watering down the sentiment. He looks back up towards Shalune as he slides and gradually feels more and more nervous.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Out of Service.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"Oh." Fei corrects her. "So it's not Fie." She looks at him, seeming to concentrate quite a lot. "So it's..." Frown. "Foe."
Really.
Kaguya actually turns to smile at Ambrosius when he introduces herself. It's a winning sort of smile, if brief, probably happier than she might usually come off.
It fades shortly after. Shalune may be seventeen or eighteen, but Kaguya looks a very scrawny sixteen at best. Her clothes are less comfortable, more muted, except for her tie, though. "Oh, huh," she says to the introduction.
Kaguya blinks and inches away from that wave of pat-desire. "R-right, nice to meet you..." She says she's new and Kaguya admits, "I'm new too." A tilt of her head. "...I like mechanics though." Dubiously.
That is the weirdest Golem.
Linvidia offers a very sensible idea and Kaguya nods in approval. "Don't try and go in, okay?"
She'll leave her wagon and horse in their care. She looks again to Ambrosius after a moment, tilts her head to try and get the message, and then shrugs. She has absolutely no idea.
"Giving nicknames to machinery is weird," Kaguya agrees (but with who??) after a moment, and reaches down to check her... obviously advanced ARM hanging at her belt. "Sure, I'm all about going into dark places where I'll probably die."
That cheerful approach delivered, Kaguya starts to move towads the cables. She considers. "...Uhhh sure, I mean, if we've got an elevator I'll wait for that. That sounds great."
She finally chimes in, "I'd probably take it personally if someone were trying to kill me. I mean, you know, that's the kind of thing that makes you really hate somebody. Really. So much you could spit." She says it offhandedly, but her fingers clench into a fist...
DG: Kaguya has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Out of Service.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"Yessum," the pink haired mechanic actually throws a haphazard salute at Linvidia's command, though-- immediately, her attention is caught by Riesenlied's idea, and both she and the golem turn towards the shaft to take a look. Ever so carefully - and yet, rather fearlessly at the same time - Shalune peers over the edge of the shaft with a kind of worried noise. "Ah, yeah-- I mean, if she didn't have a name, I wouldn't know how to refer to her, y'know? Just calling her 'golem' would be pretty mean, especially after I fixed her all up," she says without any trace of guile or dishonesty, glancing at Riese--
--before ever so carefully peering over the edge and down the shaft, with a noise of worry. Above her, the golem does the same, albeit with the care required to not just bump the girl down the pit. "M-mm... it's definitely a good idea. I'm kinda worried about the state of the cables in general, though - and the whole thing might be a little bit rickety. --well, I can always ferry people up and down if need be!" she adds, perking up with a shrug as she looks to the golem above her. It nods in return, slowly bunching up the ends of the cables in its fist.
"'course, now we just need to actually get the car up-- wah!" she blurts as Ambrosius opts to just action hero his way downwards, and then a second time as the winged woman proves her wings are not for show. This, Shalune obviously decides, is amazing: "Wah, that's amazing! You can seriously fly! Aw, I'm so jealous..." she chimes, not exactly looking the part in her joy.
Talk of 'killing us all' passes her by, and she does bite at her lip, obviously wondering what she's missed; she actually manages to return Fei's nervous glance with her own, but then her expression firms up with determination. After all, if Fei is okay with helping these people out, she's willing to take that on trust in turn.
When the car arrives, she hops on without any fear at all - then holds her hand out for Kaguya with a 'come here come here' kind of encouraging smile. ... s-someone thinks she's a sempai already...
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Out of Service.
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
Ambrosius's leisurely introduction and apparent taciturnisity has drawn Linvidia's attention as she comes in. "So what's brought you out here, anyway," the woman in the fur coat asks him, even as she puts away sundry smoking materials to avoid lighting CAVE GAS and KILLING EVERYONE.
She may be vain and lazy but she's not stupid. Fei lingers in order to clarify his name and spell it out to Kaguya, and that's when Linvidia tells him, "There's no way I can manage this. I'll compensate you for this."
'This' is apparently Linvidia glomming onto Fei's upper torso and wrapping her legs around his thighs while clinging on for dear life as he starts to slide. At least Linvidia isn't that heavy...? She's actually kind of neurotically skinny.
She is also wearing perfume that costs more than Fei did.
"You know, I've thought that the digging situation in Ignas is really quite haphazard," she says, right in Fei's ear. "What do you think? I mean, I assume you're a professional Digger. - What do you do to get these muscles! They're not showy but it's like steel cabling here."
This does mean she ignored Kaguya's suggestion but that's probably going to be a trend.
DG: Linvidia Diargento has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Out of Service.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Before actually sliding down the cables, Ambrosius sends a glance in Linvidia's direction when she addresses him. He didn't really need to respond, but.
"I simply have...an iiinterest in hiiistorical locaaations..." He replies.
It wasn't actually a lie...but a man with a voice like that definitely wouldn't be keeping any other secrets, right?
DG: The party led by Riesenlied has passed this challenge! The party gained 22 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> Riesenlied has posed.
"... I know what you mean," Riesenlied answers as she and Fei worked down the shaft in tandem. She lowers her head. "He has been my friend for centuries. ... it's complicated, because I respect him, what he's taught me, what he's allowed me to become... yet, at the same time, I can't agree with the hatred that has so thoroughly ensconced him." People are complicated. Metal Demons, Quarter Knights, are no exception.
Riesenlied is quite sad of the day that she will inevitably have to part ways.
Meanwhile, while serious talk is happening -- Ambrosius whizzes past the two and finds that the shaft is stable enough, and with Riese and Fei's aid, the two are able to at least get the elevator into alignment. While Linvidia hangs around on Fei's torso like the combination champion that she is.
Eventually, Kaguya's wait is rewarded, and they're all rewarded with a trip down the bottom of the shaft without much fanfare, save for... ... for ...
...
Is that a Golem-shaped shadow coming in from above?
-WHAM- It is indeed Big Shal, who's decided that it apparently wants to come along for the ride! "W-what the goodness?!" is all the genuine exclamation of shock that Riesenlied can muster in response to this.
DG: Shalune Amira has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Ancient Stone Door *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- What is this? Could it be? Who would expect a large, heavy stone door to be in a ruin like this? In this case however, there is an intricate lock that involves turning a number of different stone knobs in order to unlock the door. Trial and error may take a while, but surely such a door will lead to good things? =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
If Shalune was worried by the trip down the rather rickety shaft and the impromptu elevator that uses Big Shal as a counterweight, she doesn't show it, instead fussing over the small Veruni on the way down with a peppered collection of questions - is she okay, the jump wasn't too scary, right? Regardless of Kaguya's brusque answers, she seems determined to be supportive - and if anything, her fretting was reserved for everyone else, given the way that she breathes out a visible and audible sigh of relief when she sighs the team safely at the bottom.
"That was amazing!" she blurts towards Fei and Ambrosius, and then offers a bashful grin in Riesenlied's direction as she rubs at her hair all over again as she bewilderingly adds: "I've got the Little Dipper and all, but there's no way it'd be as good as actually having a pair of wings, y'knaack?!"
She's cut off at the sudden impact of the golem at the bottom of the tunnel, stumbling to one side as a plume of dust is kicked up from under them. "B-Big Shal?! Hey, c'mon!" she whines past a bout of coughing, squinting underneath her bobble hat. "I know-- ugg-- I know you wanted a look around, but you coulda waited 'til we were out of the way a little! U~uu--" she puffs up in a comical sort of pout--
--and with that, it's suddenly obvious that the girl isn't really piloting or directing the golem at all, so much as acting like it's an old friend. Whether there's another control scheme or not is hard to pick out, but she bickers comfortably and one-sidedly with it for a moment before relenting to pat the golem on its foot. "Aw, okay, okay, c'mon then."
It's not like there's far to go, anyway, and their path is almost immediately blocked by a door laden with contraptions. "O~oh," the mechanic hums, already peering around the edge of the doorframe, then lifted up on the golem's hand to take a look at the top edge of it. "Mmm, I guess the mechanism's all internal, but-- you can usually kinda force this stuff by locking one of the dials in place? Once you kinda get a feel for the tumblers," she adds, slipping a wrench and a screwdriver from a pocket of her jacket to begin fiddling with one of them.
DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Trusty Wrench toward her party's challenge, Ancient Stone Door.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Are you...uh..." Fei says, looking over to Kaguya as he slides down. "Angry at me or--" He is pretty sure that one was intentional. He's only pretty sure because really how do you know if anything is real? Maybe we're all just imaginings of the Guardians having a nightmare or something. You don't know it could be true. He can't really say much else to Kaguya in this moment befores Linvidia leapt on top of him and--
--actually it's not that hard lifting her up for Fei and he can slide down just fine but, you know, he has to wonder.
"Nhh...whew, the cable didn't snap," He says as he finally touches down and Linvidia will hopefully dismount. If she doesn't dismount, Fei will help her dismount by hefting her up by the shoulders and setting her down.
"Oh just work out every day, eat healthy when I can, punch the occassional wolf." He says. You can probably assume what the other guy is thinking about this situation. Truth be told though, he doesn't really feel like he should be too picky with teams here. He can learn what Riesenlied would learn whether he was here or not and it does seem like the sort of problem they could cooperate with the demons on.
Fei is more accustomed to Shalune's antics or, more specifically, Big Shal's antics. He accepts these antics as something that he will just have to live with because Shalune is one of the people that makes him feel like a civilized human being rather than a collection of wild emotions threatening to burst out of his skull at the slightest provocation. He's pretty sure like half of this is from Shal's 'review' of Diablo's capabilities.
"Yeah it went a lot better than I expected," Fei admits. "It's a good start! We should take advantage of this."
He reaches into his artist's toolkit and withdraws a chisel and scrapes some stone off of one of the knobs to try and look into the holes at the mechanisms behind it.
"Mm..." He says.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Ancient Stone Door.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied still looks just a little baffled by the energy and wanton power in which the pink-haired girl exudes, kind of giving Fei a look that's... not accusing or anything, just -- 'wow'. "T-they aren't anything too special..." she bashfully says. Her wings wiggle just a little as they furl backwards and press against her sides, as she herself coughs just a little as Big Shal follows suit.
"This door..." Riesenlied looks to Ambrosius, with a little squint of her eyes. "I believe we might have come across it last time?"
She pauses, as she closes her eyes and extends her hand. She tries to sense the mechanism underlying as she tries to turn the dial, rather than follow any other more traditional method.
DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ancient Stone Door.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Kaguya blinks at Fei when he asks his question. "Huh?" A tilt of her head and a frown. "Do I seem angry? I'm not angry with you, Foe. I like you." Like nothing's wrong. "Oh shit you said that wasn't your name, didn't you? Uh... What was it again? Fee?" She looks entirely sincere.
Hmmm. Nicknames. Kaguya watches Shalune again and totally judges what she says about it. But... It's not that harsh a judgement. Just a small sigh, and whatever else she keeps to herself. The talk of the elevator...
Kaguya just waits for it. She gathers herself up as she waits, and blinks when Shalune offers her a hand, all encouraging like. She blinks a couple more times, and then holds out her delicate hand to the other girl's to be taken as she walks up to her and follows along.
She forgets about her warning.
Instead she finds herself fussed over in a way she's entirely unusued to; no pitying glances but just... nice. She's a little brusque but mostly thrown off; not unpleasant, but definitely confused. She's fine sort of, it wasn't too scary...
She has trouble saying anything back.
"Uh yeah, you two are... great," Kaguya says, moving along behind Shalune. But when Big Shal comes down Kaguya tilts and falls straight to the ground. "Oww..."
She starts dragging herself up towards Shalune talking the mechanism, "Oh... Yeah, okay. This isn't my field, but--"
Kaguya crouches before the door and starts trying to help, "Maybe ARM knowhow will help..."
Pause. "Hey uh, guy, are you okay?"
DG: Kaguya has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ancient Stone Door.
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
Linvidia does dismount without help from Fei.
"Do you eat the wolves?" she asks Fei, before she leaps back from the arrival of Big Shal, the entrance of others, with the question of Ahmbrosius's flimsy cover story hanging over her head. (She's interpreted his drawling pronunciation thus; it may give him cover, later.)
She then looks towards their challenge as everyone moves into action. Linvidia supervises.
But that's not all that she does. "Well, I'm not familiar with your Golem tombs and so forth, but it seems to me that a door this size is either going to be powered somehow - which means you're really looking for the motor or the - thingy it slides on, OR it's going to be very carefully balanced so that it CAN turn under motivational force. So I think it would be best to NOT blast it."
Then she says, "Where did you GET those, they're gorgeous." To Riesenlied.
DG: Linvidia Diargento has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ancient Stone Door.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius can't help but smirk slightly at Shalune's compliment...at least until he hears something whistling down from above. He looks up and sees...
Oh no.
He raises the poncho to his face to shield it from the plume of dust, lowering it only once it settles once more. He stares at the Golem that had so brazenly decided to jump on down.
...Well, they had apparently excavated a Golem from this place before, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to get Big Shal out again.
He turns dramatically with a swish of his poncho, turning his attention to the door ahead of them.
"It is...siiimilar in structure...however...I do not beeelieve...this is that door..." He replies, with a glance toward Riesenlied. That one had more gears involved than this one.
So many gears...
This one was a primitive assortment of stone knobs. Technology certainly had progressed since this door had been invented...
He strolls up to the door, glancing toward the others as they attempt their own methods before...
Just kind of turning a few of the knobs. Hey, these are the ones he would've chosen if he was in charge of making this thing.
DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Ancient Stone Door. DG: The party led by Riesenlied has passed this challenge! The party gained 17 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> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Are you...uh..." Fei says, looking over to Kaguya as he slides down. "Angry at me or--" He is pretty sure that one was intentional. He's only pretty sure because really how do you know if anything is real? Maybe we're all just imaginings of the Guardians having a nightmare or something. You don't know it could be true.
"Well, I used to before I had any money. I have a bit more money now so I can eat decent food."
He looks back to Kaguya for a few moments. It's not Fie. It's Fee? Fei thinks it over.
"...Sure, Fee works." Fei says, recalling she used a nickname for Lemina too.
THEN AGAIN, this doesn't mean she's not angry right? He focuses on his work.
He doesn't comment on Riesenlied's words on Siegfried for the moment. He's still thinking it over. It must be rough to know someone for hundreds of years and see them change, right?
He hmms to himself faintly, thinking.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"Oh, that's a good idea," chimes Shalune as Fei starts to work on uncovering the door's mechanism; she starts to do the same, flipping her screwdriver around in her hand before using it and her wrench as a makeshift chisel; the tools allow her to chip carefully at the stone around the upper edge of the door to peer into the crack there, not exactly conventional tools but certainly effective at striking away some of the moss and lichen that covers the edge of the stone slab and obscures the mechanics.
As the others begun to try the different knobs, though, she ends up with her ear against the door, squinting slightly as she tries to listen for the clicks and turns of the mechanisms inside. "--um-- one more turn, then... stop!" she calls to the winged Metal Demon, then offers her a smile of triumph. "I think you got that one - then the other one's got a little way to go--" she mumbles, directing the rest of the tumblers into some semblance of order. One by one, the rest of the tumblers give a satisfying sort of clunk sound, whether due to luck or by intuition and prior knowledge, and then...
... a great deal of nothing happens.
"Um. I'm sure we did it right..." the pink-haired mechanic mumbles, stepping back from the door to give it an uncertain frown and then glance at the socialite hanging back, as if expecting Linvidia to check her work. "Right? There should be somethin' moving the door right about now, but maybe the power's off, or we've gotta reconnect the circuit or something--"
She's interrupted by Big Shal taking a step forward, reaching a finger out above the group, and unceremoniously pushing on one corner of the door. Slowly, and with the rumbling of ages, it rotates on its base. "... well, or that," Shalune adds sheepishly.
DG: Linvidia Diargento has drawn a new Challenge.
===================<* CHALLENGE - No One Expects a Cave In *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Part of the tomb has succumbed to the inexorable power of nature, and has collapsed in upon itself. There appears to be no way forward except to clear away the debris that is covered the door out of the room. The rocks are large, heavy, and unappealing, but there is no way forward but to go through! =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
Linvidia looks at Shalune with a completely neutral expression. As Big Shal advances, Linvidia shrinks away from it a little and reaches under her coat, pulling something from her garters...
It's a metal flask. She unscrews the top and takes a swig.
It isn't a potion. It's not medical. It's not some kind of enhancement tool, or a calculated risk, or an illegal narcotic. It's rum.
Linvidia feels better as the door opens.
Then she sees there's a great deal of rubble inside from where the ceiling gave way and soil and spoils spilled down into the hallway, producing a situation of - "Ugh," Linvidia groans.
"Alright, well," Linvidia says, gesturing with the flask, "... DO IT, but, keep in mind that you'll have to bear up the top too, or it'll just come down again. If any of you are Symbologists or have some other kind of hidden power, just tell me and I'll turn my back so I won't see your evidence of royal heritage." Glug. Has that come up for her a lot? (Yes.)
"Oh," she says. "I'll give you one of these for free, since I'm a generous soul," that's a lie. "Ice works surprisingly well, especially if it's buried in earth."
DG: Linvidia Diargento has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, No One Expects a Cave In.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"They're--" Riesenlied looks a little embarrassed as Linvidia speaks about her wings, and the rectrices at the tips of each of her wings kind of wiggle up and down in consternation, "They're a part of me... I didn't 'get' them anywhere, I was born with them." A pause. Well, that's technically true, except they were stumpy and bony and horrible up until the part Cetiri decided to give them a bit of a facelift so that they're at the very least functional and presentable.
"... this, however, I remember," she comments to Ambrosius.
She places her hands closer to the brooch as she concentrates -- and one of those same feathers detaches in a soft, shimmering burst of light as Fei and some of the others have seen her do. The flying feather moves forward to try to strike and crumble away at the rocks, before turning 'round and slipping back on comfortably along her wingspan.
DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, No One Expects a Cave In.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"Like I said, I'm not angry at you!" Kaguya snaps, sounding like she's a little angry now. It doesn't last that long; she shakes her head quickly, shifting some blonde hair out of her face. "Ugh, I really need to cut my hair..."
A pause, as Fei looks at her, and then Kaguya smiles. "Great." That's a name. For however long it lasts, anyway...
As the door opens, eventually, with Big Shal's help, Kaguya stands up straighter--stands up at all--and looks at Linvidia. She pauses. ...She stays paused.
"Are you seriously drinking down here? Like, in the middle of all this?" She's in disbelief, though not particularly outraged.
"Whatever works..."
Kaguya looks over at Riesenlied for a moment as she uses that light and then steps towards the debris. "It's fine," she says, "Anyway, I've got this." Kaguya pulls out a shotgun, in beautiful white and silver and green. It's an ARM all right. She then pulls a cartridge from an inside pocket, clacking the ammo load open to place it inside and close up her weapon again. Walking right up to the start of the debris, she picks it up. "Watch the TK-38K in action." She aims and fires, and there's a deafening roar as a blast comes out that moves into white waves of energy, almost sonic, to pulp as much debris as she can manage. "Hahaha!"
DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Concussion Rounds toward her party's challenge, No One Expects a Cave In.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius keeps in mind Linvidia's advice. As it happened, he didn't particularly care about showing off his sorcery. He could reasonable sum it up as Symbology anyway, though it was far from it.
"Indeed..." He mutters with a glance toward Riesenlied. Yes, this place was prone to these sorts of issues, wasn't it?
He could use the shovel he had been given...but he elects not to. Instead, water begins to converge and swirl dangerously around one of his hands. As he waits for it to complete, he sends a glance toward Kaguya as she draws her weapon.
It was quite a fine weapon, certainly...it was almost enough to tempt him to draw his own, but he decided to keep it concealed for now. He would have to ask her if he could take a closer look at it later, but for now, there was debris to be handled.
He releases the water as a spinning blade, directing it to slice into and straight through the pile.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Aqua Cutter toward his party's challenge, No One Expects a Cave In.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Squinting through the gloom, Shalune kind of scurries around Big Shal's feet as the pair of them slip through the thankfully large door; the cave-in doesn't seem to really deter her at all, and if anything she looks like she's been expecting something like this from the moment they descended the shaft. "Aah, you certainly get a lot of cave-ins an' stuff down these places, huh?" she wonders to herself, glancing up at Big Shal for a momentary grin before starting to clamber up the outermost areas of rubble to take a better look at the thing.
"Um, so, I think Big Shal can brace most of the ceiling - I can probably shape a couple charges to help break apart one side of the blockage," she adds as she hops back down, fumbling at the side of her pack for a bizarre white-metal pot that - even if it's purpose is not clear - is certainly of Veruni construction, possessed of a distinct metallic sheen that you're not going to see amongst Filgaian native technology.
As the golem makes ahead of her to brace the ceiling, she sets the pot down, neon piping around it already starting to glow as she extracts a little bag of scrap from a jacket pocket and upends it into the receptacle.
A cry pulls her attention upwards, though, as she watches first a set of pinions and then a great deal of shotgun rounds impact against the rocky barrier. "W-wah-- how did you make features do that?!" she blurts at Riesenlied first and foremost, and then her attention catches up to what's going on ahead of her as she neps straight out. "A-and, um-- did Miss Kaguya have a lot of stress to burn off, or somethin'...?" She sounds uncertain, but also trying to give the benefit of the doubt. "I-I mean, as long as she's havin' fun..."
She shakes it away as the interior of her ARM-like device glows; from it, she extracts an odd sort of putty, scurrying up to what's left of the cave in and pressing the stuff into any exposed cracks and corners. It takes a while, but eventually she's broken away, having set up an impromptu version of plastic explosive. "If you've got a light, ma'am, that lot should go up real nice," she claims brightly.
While hiding behind Big Shal's foot, quite hunkered down.
DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Soup of the Day -Shalune Ver.- toward her party's challenge, No One Expects a Cave In.
==================<* CHALLENGE - No One Expects a Cave In *>================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Part of the tomb has succumbed to the inexorable power of nature, and has collapsed in upon itself. There appears to be no way forward except to clear away the debris that is covered the door out of the room. The rocks are large, heavy, and unappealing, but there is no way forward but to go through! =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
"Are you not?" Linvidia asks Kaguya.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"Hey if you're willing to share..." Kaguya glances back at her.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied looks between Linvidia and Kaguya, before, mom-like, she has to insist of the smaller Veruni: "Please don't start drinking!" Gosh, Riese, you're such a teetotaller.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
While some of them talk about drinking, Ambrosius's attention is on that bizarre device of Shalune's. It gets a definite Look from him. It may look as if he's simply interested...but in his mind, he's assessing its construction.
It had to be...
He glances toward Kaguya, wondering if she was taking note of this.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Kaguya isn't making note of shit, she's exploding things while laughing.
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
"I've been drinking this fermented sugar piss since I was the size of one of your feather thingies," Linvidia tells Riesenlied. She then looks at Kaguya.
"Do you have a cup?" she asks, after some explosions fade out.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
At Riesenlied's insistence of her, Kaguya actually pauses in what she's doing and sighs softly. "Okay," she says, in exactly the tone you would expect someone to say 'Yes, mom' while being slightly disappointed. She starts to step back to assess her work and says ovewr her shoulder to Linvidia, "It's fine. Thanks though."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied does look just a little bit shocked and in awe at the TK-38K in action, looking at Shalune sheepishly as she rubs at her ears from where they're still ringing. "I think it may be the case... goodness, Kaguya, but that ARM really does have quite the devastating shot."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune only grins faintly back at Riesenlied as she scoops up her pot, clipping it back to her backpack as if she hadn't just reconstituted a bunch of metal parts with it. "A-aww. Is she your little sister or somethin'? ... um, do Metal Demons have those?" she wonders aloud afterwards, unable to stop herself. Ah, so she was listening a little - but at least her tone is entirely curious, rather than anything else.
She does at least join in the slight fluster, though. "U-Um, I know it can soothe nerves an' all that, but just don't have too much that we have to carry you, y'know? --more?"
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosis...doesn't really have a comment on drinking. He had very particular tastes when it came to alcohol, and since there wasn't any Johnny Appleseed around here he didn't have any intention of partaking in any of it.
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
Linvidia takes another pull off her flask.
"So," Linvidia asks, "what exaaactly dooooes bring you here, Ahmbrosius?" Is... is she making fun of how he talks?! (A little.)
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius sends to disc of water through the pile of rubble a few more times for good measure before glancing back towards Linvidia. He assesses her for a moment. If he realizes that she's making fun of his manner of speech, he doesn't address it.
"It is...as I said...I am a man...with an iiinterest...in hiiistorical artifaaacts..." He replies, the hand that he had been using to manipulate the water disappearing back into his poncho once more.
"I heard there...was a...group gaaathering to...investigaaate this plaaace...so I offered my...seeervices..." He explains. Not incorrect, but there definitely had to be more to it than that. He didn't appear forthcoming, though.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied bobs at her head to remark, "Little sister? Ah, not exactly, but..." she smiles warmly at Kaguya, as if to inquire what the girl thinks about that. If Kaguya was okay with it... well, she certainly would be, herself! Riese with a lot of little sisters...
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"Doesn't it?" Kaguya asks, proudly, of Riesenlied about her ARM. "I fixed it up a lot for this." But drinking... that's fine. It's fine. It's totally fine. But Kaguya takes a breath as she steps back again, looking forward, and hears--ah--
Riesenlied smiles at her, after repeating that phrase. "H-huh?" she asks, and turns bright red, obvious in her usual pallor. "I-I mean... You know... Riesenlied is... really nice, and... I-I mean I'm not..."
She stammers, and blushes, and turns right away, "Y-you know she's great. That's all. It's fine. Fine! Let's shoot something."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"Ehehe. It does kinda look like it, though," Shalune counters both Kaguya and Riese, her eyebrows raised as she peeks around the foot of Big Shal to watch what the others are talking about; she pauses for a second, then a sense of guilt slowly starts to overcome her. "Um. ... uh. I'm not gonna judge you or anything, don't worry, but-- I did kinda sneak this funky emitter thing out of your base..." she trails off as she admits it to Riesenlied, honest to a fault.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Well Fei does have a pickaxe now. He looks towards Linvidia. Was she somehow prescient here? He raises Linvidia's pickaxe and gets to work, but only after removing his shirt. He doesn't want it to get caked in dirt or anything like that. He can get dirt off himself more easily but the fabric takes forever to clean off. He works up a good sweaty mess while working in this fashion. His eyes gradually slant towards Kaguya as he works as a faint feeling of dread passes over him.
"Kaguya...no..." He says.
Kaguya yes!
Fei no doubt drops his pickaxe partway through his strikes and covers his ears while crouching low.
Then, after, he says, "MY EARS ARE RINGING!! ARE YOUR EARS RINGING??" This is how you get tinnitus, Kaguya, and ants.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, No One Expects a Cave In. DG: The party led by Riesenlied has passed this challenge! The party gained 12 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> Riesenlied has posed.
"My ears are ringing..." Riesenlied does fully admit to Fei.
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
And so, as Linvidia drinks rum and watches a handsome Asian man beat the living crap out of a wall with a pickax, progress continues. Wings, explosions, and water-cutters take their toll.
Yet somehow, Linvidia does not feel complete. The criticism of her liquor, perhaps, took her out of her groove. She puts the flask away. "Well, here we go," she sighs, tossing her hair with one hand. (It's a pretty short cut so it's more of a flick.)
DG: Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
===================<* CHALLENGE - Gregarious Gomoratoads *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Unusually large and unfriendly monsters, the Gomoratoad generally is willing to eat just about everything that it comes across. This includes unruly adventurers who have wandered into their underground territory. Looking like giant red toads except with evil little wings on their back, they also cast water spells to make things interesting. Because giant man eating toads were not bad enough on their own. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Gradually, the debris crumbles away. Ambrosius takes point here...and finds himself face to face with a giant red toad. It does not appear to be happy to see them, and lets out a deep croak to alert its allies.
Ambrosius frowns. He draws Conversator with one hand, while the other is already preparing water magic. The toad that noticed them first hops toward them in a menacing fashion and unleashes a barrage of water at the group!
Ambrosius manages to redirect some of it with some sorcery of his own, but it is clear now what his role in this combat should be.
"I will defeeend...against their...sooorcery... The rest of you...focus on offeeense..." He suggests.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Deluge toward his party's challenge, Gregarious Gomoratoads.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied pauses as she stares down at one of the toads. "O-oh dear, what even is that...? Right, Mister Ambrosius," Her breath hitches as she readies herself for battle, but then there is a meaningful, pregnant pause.
A long pause.
Riesenlied stares.
The Gomoratoad stares back.
Riesenlied stares. Harder.
The Gomoratoad... seems to just get... rounder and rounder... in her mind... oh dear... what a wonderfully... round shape!
"Come with us," she suddenly blurts out with excitement, horns perking up and reverberating softly, eyes lighting up with a measure of prowess meant to exert dominance over lesser beasts. The one Gomoratoad lucky (unlucky?) enough to be chosen... pauses...
...and if it's to land, it would... curl up into a strangely cucco-like shape... and then begin to roll. Roll roll roll. Roll over its former allies. Roll all over the walls and floor, and the ceiling too, at one point. And then, roll out the door, and maybe the dungeon itself. Kero-kero, kero-kero, kero-kero.
"It's... so rooooound..."
Please wait warmly while Riesenlied's dignity reboots...?
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Dragon Horn toward her party's challenge, Gregarious Gomoratoads.
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
A dotted, Linvidia-shaped outline reveals just how much Linvidia is going to be contributing against these evil frogs.
DG: Linvidia Diargento has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Gregarious Gomoratoads.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Kaguya yes.
Her weapo is away after her weapon does its job, and she says nothing at the moment to Shalune about what she said in favor of continuing to blush at this asserted familial connection.
Kaguya answers belatedly, "My ears are ringing a lot of the time, Fee." That... doesn't answer his question, exactly.
As Ambrosius takes point, Kaguya walks along, shortest in the group, until suddenly there are giant red toads with wings. Ambrosius does some impressive magic work and Kaguya blinks at them. "What even are--what is with these--"
Riesenlied... is there staring. She's... being strange. Slowly, while staring, Kaguya reaches into a pocket and pulls out a pouch that smells of unfamiliar flowers and a sharp scent. She pulls it up to her nose and takes a deep whiff. "Haah..."
It goes away, and, "Hehehehehehehe..." The smallest Veruni pulls her ARM and starts lining up a shot, "They're pretty round all right." BANG. This is a regular round, which for her comes out as a ball of green light.
She walks into melee and keeps firing, and she's a really good shot. "Heheheheh..." She keeps that... laugh... going up almost the whole time though.
When one bites her, hard, she doesn't even seem to notice.
DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Strange Potpourri toward her party's challenge, Gregarious Gomoratoads.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong looks FEIrly dizzy at this point. Or perhaps Feerly dizzy. or Phirly dizzy. Nevertheless, he isn't actually hurt or anything so he's able to move forward and look about once the debris clears. "Oh right--" He says remembering. "I should put my shirt back on." He throws it back on in short order. Even though his player wasn't here, Fei noticed that Kaguya has both stammered AND blushed at Riesenlied. Don't you worry.
"Well we've got this all we have to--"
He looks towards the Linvidia dotted line.
FLASHBACK
A Yarodbeleedt dotted line flashes before....him?
NOW
These are getting a bit silly, Fei mulls to himself as he proceeds to engage in serious business.
Serious business includes flicking the RPS badge to draw the attention of the toads so they don't look directly at him with their--hypnosis maybe??--and then proceeding to pummel them with kung fu.
"...Uh." He says, midfight. He glances at Riesenlied.
He blinks a few times.
"...Uh." He says. He snaps his fingers at Riesenlied a few times.
"...She's gone." He says seriously because this is serious business time. "They got her."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune nearly draws back from the array of toads at first - but something stops her, and a glance back over her shoulder reveals that Big Shal's put her Big Hand in the way of Shalune's retreat. The golem silently stares at her, offering her a quiet and contented look; Shalune meets it, and something in the mechanic's brain decides to treat it as support. "--r-right-- you're right," she huffs, pumping herself up as she reaches for and grips the metal object kept to one side of her pack as it unfolds out into a... broom.
But at least it's a broom fully reinforced with long strips of metal, with a pair of solid-looking handguards on the side should she wish to use it, and she grips it firmly in her hands.
Just in time for all hell to break loose, and her eyes to become blank circles of white as she watches Kaguya rev up into another round of stress relief and Riesenlied just rev up into a round. "W-wah! They got two down already!? Snap out of it!" she bobbles in place a little bit, then swallows her fears as she steps forward to launch a slicing blow on one of the nearest toads.
At the very least, there's a raw and wiry strength in there, even if there's not much actual technique; she sends one bowling into another pair, just in time for Big Shal's fist to mirror her action and actually send them flying.
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Gregarious Gomoratoads.
===================<* CHALLENGE - Gregarious Gomoratoads *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Unusually large and unfriendly monsters, the Gomoratoad generally is willing to eat just about everything that it comes across. This includes unruly adventurers who have wandered into their underground territory. Looking like giant red toads except with evil little wings on their back, they also cast water spells to make things interesting. Because giant man eating toads were not bad enough on their own. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Gregarious Gomoratoads. DG: The party led by Riesenlied has passed this challenge! The party gained 41 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> Ambrosius has posed.
There is a conversation between Riesenlied and the Gomoratoad. It is not a conversation of words, but of feelings, as the two of them stare deeply into eachothers eyes. Did they both share that profound fondness for roundness? Or was Riesenlied simply abusing her powers for her personal amusement, whether she realized it or not?
The toad tries its darndest to roll up and away, but toads on the whole aren't particularly known for their...rollability. It mostly just curls up and wobbles back and forth.
Meanwhile, Kaguya is over there, laughing to herself, wading into combat, and blasting toads left and right.
Ambrosius is distracted by the sight of two of them. Two people he respected. It was a sad sight, to see them go off the deep end like that. For their sake he averts his eyes, and continues to focus on diverting incoming water magic.
Fei distracts the toads and gives them a fascinating display of martial arts prowess, while Shalune takes a moment to steel herself before wading into battle with the toads.
And, of course, Linvidia accomplishes the most important task of all - not dying, which would have forced the party to walk all the way back out and start the dungeon run over again once she respawned.
In this manner, the party finally manages to wade through the truly prodigious amounts of toads. It seems like the path forward is finally open to them once more!
DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Massive Magtortus *>====================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Deep within the ruins dwells a massive creature that has been draining all the power from the ruins for some time now. The Magtortus is a nasty beast that unleashes bolts of lightning from the crystals embedded in its shell, and it doesn't like the fact that the party is trying to break into its lair! It roars, static filling the room as it prepares to strike! This is the final challenge - the heart of the ruins lies beyond! =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Well this has been ... strangely painless," Fei says. Aside from someone firing a shotgun off at noticeably close range. "I uh." He looks back at Riesenlied for a long time. He's very, very concerned. He seems pleased that Kaguya has at least remembered 'Fee' for the moment and hasn't shifted to another worse nickname.
He glances at Kaguya too but if Fei has learned anything it's that when you actually talk to these people when there isn't a life that can be ended, they're actually really nice! He just has to remind himself of that from time to time while they are laughing like that and being super creepy.
And then they enter a chamber leading into the heart of the ruins. A giant turtle is now their foe. It's a MAGNETIC turtle apparently as it's clearly capable enough to unleash lightning from its shell at the assorted. A blast crashes down right before the party--there's no time to even press A, it's time to go!
Fei grips the RPS Badge tightly and raises it up into the air. He says, "I've heard legends of a badge that can reflect lightning--" He says. "Maybe this--"
A second blast is unleashed and it crashes into Fei, blasting him off his feet.
He slides down the back wall. "...Guess it's not that badge. Ughghh..."
That didn't work but at least it gave a bit of an opening for the others. Fei darts in after, intent on trying to in fact punch this giant monster to death.
It wouldn't be the first time.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Massive Magtortus.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied continues to stare.
She's seated in that dark space again, looking around as the frosted cross ebbs behind her.
"I'm not even real and I'm ashamed of you right now..." the maiden with bloodied clothes complains to her. "Wake up already!"
As if suddenly aware her dignity is at stake, Riesenlied blinks to life, her cheeks scored as the latest ring of Kaguya's concussive rounds echo through the chamber. "Sorry--" she mumbles, taking a deeper breath as she looks onwards. She winces just for a moment as Fei holds the badge up and gets scorched, snapping her fingers as three of the Pinions deploy and form a solid barrier of light in front of him, assisting with his movements to try to cover him.
"Use the barrier to your advantage, everyone -- it'll divert the electric currents away."
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Dragon Horn toward her party's challenge, Massive Magtortus.
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
Linvidia continues to be concealed behind the group. But -
Something goes skidding out into the ground near Fei, fortunately not very heavily attracted by the magnetic force of that extremely alluring turtle. It's a leather bag but falling out of it are - strips of Heal Berry fruit leathers?!
"Go!" Linvidia shouts from a safe distance. "Fight! Win!!"
DG: Linvidia Diargento has used her Tool Odds And Ends toward her party's challenge, Massive Magtortus.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Kaguya lives a stressful life. She needs a little stress relief sometimes.
But when the battle goes, Kaguya is gone with it. She eventually stops firing and stands, wobbling on her feet, lowering her weapon. "Woo..." A beat. "What..."
She glances at Fei after his look, and her ears are ringing. "Oof, ow. Did something bite me?" She wobbles a little more. "What just happened, anyway?"
She stops, unaware of Ambrosius's assessment of her for the moment.
Instead their huge turtle foe crashes down and Kaguya gets blasted with lightning, too, hitting a wall hard. "Ugh--" She wheezes, "That hurt!" It's... something between a whine and rage. The barrier might help, but...
"Fine. I guess..." Another moment where she puts the small pouch to her nose follows, and her eyes go a little bloodshot. ...Then she takes a snack and starts chewing it, readying her weapon with a cla-CLACK as she starts walking towards their foe. "I wonder what's inside the shell?" she asks, distantly, to no one in particular. "Ewww naked monster. Nevermind."
BANG.
She keeps fighting, and the next time she gets blasted, she laughs.
DG: Kaguya has used her Tool Strange Potpourri toward her party's challenge, Massive Magtortus.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
This was a foe Ambrosius remembered. Last time they had dealt with it easily, but there were more people with them this time...pulling it off the way they did then would be a bit more difficult, if they wished to avoid friendly fire.
Instead, water once more swirls around his hand and he sends it off as a blade. With the other hand he draws Conversator and begins to fire at it, aiming for any gaps in the shell he could see where he thought his bullets might be able to pass through.
Additionally, when the blade of water dissipates a relaxing mist will wash over the party. Fortunately not enough to intensify the Magtortus's electrical assault, however.
DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Deluge toward his party's challenge, Massive Magtortus.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
The initial crackle of lightning threatens to set Shalune's hair on end - and there is a lot of hair to go on end there, parts of it starting to dog-ear out even further at the static electricity built up in the cave. Again, Shalune almost shrinks back, the obvious tell-tale sign of someone still new to digging as a whole, but once again her expression firms up afterwards as she takes a deep breath, grips at her staff--
--and pauses, her eyes wide open as the barrier goes up, and as Riesenlied's command both galvanizes her and gives her an idea. "O-oh, I've got a thing for this!" Shalune suddenly realizes, right in time to yelp as Fei goes skidding past her. "Mr. Fei!" she calls out of worry, but just about manages to catch the socialite helping the martial artist out of a bind. Instead, she digs hurriedly in her pockets, and then tugs open a pocket of her bag, as she cowers behind Big Shal's defence. "Ugh, where is it already--" she mumbles to herself, before lighting up in triumph and suddenly launching her hand forwards in an overhead throw.
The item she throws forward is small, and copper - a little spike of metal with a rounded base, to which is stuck a yellow electric symbol. It bobbles once - twice - and spins to a stop.
And then suddenly thrums with energy, a low whine reverberating around the room as the lightning racing across the creature's shell suddenly dissipates away, earthed into what appears to be a portable lightning rod.
"Go! Get 'em!" she calls - and Big Shal responds, seeking to just slap the poor creature to the ground.
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Massive Magtortus. DG: Fei Fong Wong is too exhausted to continue! DG: Riesenlied is too exhausted to continue! DG: Linvidia Diargento is too exhausted to continue! DG: Kaguya is too exhausted to continue! DG: Ambrosius is too exhausted to continue! DG: Shalune Amira is too exhausted to continue! DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Riesenlied has successfully explored Lolithia's Tomb!
========================<* CHALLENGE - Rusted Relic *>======================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Discovery |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The machine the party discovers in the inner sanctum is strange, covered in rust and corrosion and difficult to comprehend. It could be a pile of scrap, or it may be a weapon or mechanical implement of some sort, but it is hard to say. But if the party can't identify it, maybe someone else can? Hauling it back to civilization will definitely net some reward from interested parties, and the Ethos is always willing to pay for strange ancient machines. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong pauses as a sudden... bag passes by him. He takes a look.
It looks like...Yes! It looks like Fruit Loops! Fei doesn't think the trademarked term fruit loops. Instead he realizes this might be just what he needs to finish out this encounter in one piece. He'll never know who gave it to him.
He bites into it and looks like he's feeling a bit better before he gets a clobbering. He doesn't have a chance to answer Kaguya because despite its great size, the Magtortus attacks quickly!
His punches slam into the Tortus, weakening its armor and Riesenlied's barrier makes it impossible for the creature to actually fight back. Of course--it's only punching, right? There's no way it could actually--
CRACK!!
Its shell... huh.
Kaguya's shotgun blasts pepper the creature even as Ambrosius keeps them cool and refreshed throughout the battle. Between this and Shalune's lightning conductor the fight eventually
EVENTUALLY
ends with the Magtortus falling over, unconcious at the very least. It's kind of hard to tell if it's actually dead or just wounded and passed out.
Past that is a chamber and on a pedastal is an item that has clearly been in there for some time. Some water has leaked onto it and rusted it severely.
Fei frowns and says, "Dang. Don't think we'll find much about Lolithia in here. Though uh--I'm not really a mechanist." He looks towards Shalune.
+Vote: Fei Fong Wong has voted for you.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Not just one pedestal - but many, arranged as if this was some kind of armory or parts warehouse. Most of them are now empty, but sat on top of one of them is what appears to be a large sphere, a couple of feet wide. It would be like a marble, if a marble were enormous and apparently filled with a cloudy sort of liquid, covered in moss and growth and dust and rock - or perhaps more accurately like a golem core except not one.
Despite the dulled water inside of it, though, the large gem that rotates slowly inside still seems clear and brilliant, catching what little light is available through the grime and muck every so often. It doesn't look like a precious gem - it would be a boggling amount of money if it were - but perhaps something like a refractor or a prism.
Shalune looks ecstatic, her eyebrows shot up towards the roof as she draws forward - she very nearly lays her hands on it, but stops short as if terrified of breaking it. "Wah-- wah, maybe not Lolithia, but I've been lookin' for one of these like you wouldn't believe! We could really use this!" she beams towards Fei, who possibly doesn't share her enthusiasm.
<Pose Tracker> Linvidia Diargento has posed.
Linvidia leans out from behind some scenery and jingles a coin pouch in the air.
Walking up, Linvidia says, narrowing her eyes, "That's not something I recognize immediately off-hand... from the scale it could be a Gear part. Maybe it was being kept here in case of emergency. Maybe it blows up. Don't drop it," she tells Shalune.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied lets out a little sigh as the creature falls after repeated shotgun blasts, Deluges and Fei's punches. His technique certainly was interesting, and no matter how shy or beleaguered the man may seem at times, it's clear that he's a force to be reckoned with.
"... mm--" she frowns just a little as they step through and glances around. "You... needed one?" she looks a little surprised, placing a hand on her cheek. She rwas rather more interested in information or reports, but... it doesn't seem like there were any corroborating to Lolithia here. "For what?"
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius returns Conversator to its holster. With the defeat of the enemy, they were able to progress, and in the chamber beyond...was something quite interesting.
Ambrosius looks it over, a bit surprised. To think, there was something like this here...
Unlike Fei, he was a mechanist. He knew what he was looking at...or, at least believed he did.
He glances Shalune when she mentions she could use it, then toward Riesenlied as she asks the question that had occurred to him as well.
He does not speak. For now, it would probably be better if he let Riesenlied do the talking here.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Kaguya starts to blink a few times after the haze of battle wears off, her pupils going normal again as she shakes her head. There's a showing of pointy teeth as she takes a breath and gets her bearings.
TK-38K goes back to her hip, and Kaguya continues along, breathing heavily. "That was..." A pause. "I guess we won."
Her eyes linger on the turtle.
She pauses at the idea of all this getting used, and glances around at the others before, "What'll you do with it?"
She knows ARMs, but not really Golems.
"...Eh, whatever, I'm tired." Kaguya steps over behind Riesenlied and slumps, not quite leaning on her.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei blinks. "Huh? You do?" He looks over to Shalune. "For what?"
Yeah he's not exactly the master of intrigue here. He rubs at his neck again awkwardly as he thinks about the artifact. He can think about two things as he mulls over it. Something to upgrade Big Shal or, as the adorable updates have taught him, Diablo.
His eyes widen suddenly as he thinks of it.
"Wait you mean--this is a part for that golem?"
He frowns thoughtfully as he thinks it over. This is the sort of thing they've been looking for, isn't it? He looks back at the artifact.
You ever wonder how those golems survived in such good condition till today? Makes you wonder how powerful they must be if they survived the end of the world
Fei looks pale for a moment but he shakes his head, clearing it. "Well we weren't the only Diggers here so we'll have to work something out."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Poor Shalune doesn't have a lick of guile in her, so when she smiles towards Riesenlied it's with a wide smile and absolutely no evidence that she's hiding her true intentions in any way. "Ah, there's a golem I'm tryin' to fix up," she notes as she rubs at her hair. "It's super old, though, and super weird. It got pretty burnt up, so some of the parts are outright busted, but I can tell what it's missing."
"If it's not, it'd at least give me a chance to learn how to make a replacement myself, but-- yeah, that's true," she admits, her hands lacing together in front of her. "I don't wanna just take it from everyone else, so... um. Hmm... well, let's just focus on gettin' it out safely for now, maybe? We can sort out everything else once we're out of the ruins, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
It's not that Riesenlied shifts, exactly -- it's not like she suddenly gains a measure of guile and meance in her at the topic being broached. She looks sympathetically towards Kaguya, as she lets her lean on her. But she does look towards Fei, then Shalune as she kneels before her and says, "You mean Diablo."
She places her hand to her chest and says, "I was part of those who attacked Adlehyde, if you were not aware. We wished to take the Golems away, because we believe that such weapons of mass destruction are far too dangerous to ever be awakened and used."
There's a tilt of her head forward, as she says, "I have spoken to Leon and Lily. I know what they intend to do with it if it were active once more, if it came down to it."
She pauses. "Shalune. What would you do with it once you repair it?"
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius remains silent. His eyes narrow slightly as he draws the conclusions presented to him.
Diablo, then.
He looms, eyes focusing on Shalune. He continues to let Riesenlied do the talking - she was the one here who was probably best suited for it.
The last time he'd tried to talk someone out of something, he had ended up getting tossed into the stratosphere by the power of the Guardians.
...So, it hadn't gone well.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Once she has unspoken permission, Kaguya does lean on Riesenlied, wheezing softly. She closes her eyes to get a handle on it, listens to the conversation despite it being totally slow and not interesting and....
Stuff she doesn't know much about anyway.
Her lips purse. "Mm."
Riesenlied lays it out there, and Kaguya finds herself somewhat uncomfortable. What should she say?
She goes with nothing. At least she doesn't put much pressure on Riesenlied's arm. She just glances over at Ambrosius and says nothing.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei's head jerks towards Riesenlied. "Huh? They have a plan for it? What do they intend to do with it?" He pauses for a moment before shaking his head, pressing his fingers . "No--nevermind. Don't tell me. I'll ask them myself. It's better I do it that way." He can guess at least in part something they MIGHT want to do with it.
Riesenlied asks Shalune what SHE intends to do with it. Ughh, he thinks, that's the wrong question. Shalune wouldn't do anything bad with it, of course, at least not intentionally. That's not the problem. Shalune could fix the whole thing up and put a million butterfly stickers over Diablo--
--and it wouldn't matter. It's not like the golem is suddenly going to obey Shalune just because she fixed it up. Not neccessarily. Leon, Lily, Bart, hell--it could latch onto anybody, couldn't it?
Aw come off it, fake. You didn't seem upset you had to use ME to protect your ol' pal Lily?
No, Fei thinks back on a small level, no. He wasn't upset. He was thrilled, excited, happy.
This little realization calms Fei down. Instead he looks towards Riesenlied.
"These things are dangerous." He says. "But these are dangerous times. We don't have the luxury to be afraid of it right now. We're not as strong as you." He shakes his head. "But I can say, at least, Shalune doesn't have an ounce of cruelty within her."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune blinks openly for a moment as all eyes suddenly focus towards her; she automatically fidgets at the back of her hair, rubbing at it before she scratches gently at her cheek. "Aah... Miss Lily's kinda focused when it comes to this sorta stuff, huh...?" is all she can think to say at first, the words laced with a sigh as she glances towards Fei with an uncertain frown as she tries to marshal her thoughts. The look isn't just out of sheer nervousness - it's also to take a look at Fei's expression, to gauge how much he trusts Riesenlied.
"... I don't know, really," she admits after a long moment, squinting. "I just-- it's in my nature to try to fix things, y'know? It's sad to see it broken down like that, and I'd like to see it workin' again - and that's about as far as I get as far as thinking about it actually goes. The people who have it - they really helped us out, and I kind of owe them for their help - but at the same time, I wouldn't want them to use it badly!" she exclaims, nodding her head towards Fei as she suddenly firms up in determination. "Just like I wouldn't make Big Shal do anything she doesn't want to do."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
It might very well be the wrong question. It might not be the right line of inquiry. But here in this instance, Riesenlied's weapon to discourage the use of such awful weaponry--
--is one of awareness. Because a lot of people fix things that are actively horrific and harmful without really meaning to. Innocence can be most cruel, after all, and she knows that all too well as she reaches forward and pats the pink-haired girl on her head.
"I know you don't. That's what Leon told me as well," she speaks to Fei, but not looking towards him.
"But keep that well in mind. When you find something, it's natural that you want to fix it. But always consider what it was meant to do, what it was designed for..." as she smiles, encouragingly, then rising up to her feet and helping Kaguya a little more fully now that she's standing.
"Filgaia isn't a desolate world solely on natural causes. Filgaia isn't ruined solely on the actions of those that have come here from beyond the stars. What our ancestors have done... and the warnings they've left us -- like the one in that Temple... do keep that well in mind."
She leaves it at that, nodding at Ambrosius.
It's a curious approach, but it's in line with what Riesenlied usually does. Even if they tried to steal it from them here and now, even if they tried to destroy it, there would be others. And back home, there were R&D fast approaching a way to resuscitate Lolithia as well.
"Ask them, Mister Fei. I would have you hear it from them myself."
She looks at Linvidia as well, nodding. "Thank you for your sponsorship and assistance on this endeavour, Miss Linvidia."
She drapes her cloak a little closer around herself, then to Ambrosius and Kaguya. "I think we're quite worn, and we haven't found any further documentation... I'm ready to leave, if you two are?"
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"Ah-- um--" blurts Shalune when Riesenlied stands up and turns away from her, trying to get her attention again however briefly; the mechanic fidgets, and then for once pulls herself up to her full height, and almost solemnly bows her head. "I'll remember. I promise I will," she insists as she bunches her fists. "And if it ever comes to that, well-- I mean-- I think Big Shal was supposed to be used to build stuff, and instead I've turned her into--"
She pauses to look upwards, and chews at the side of her cheek before she breaks into a quiet smile as Big Shal creaks downwards to meet her gaze. "--I dunno quite what I've turned her into, honestly, but she's my friend first an' foremost, you know? That's what's most important to me, whatever I build."
She pauses again, pointing a light frown in Fei's direction as if to ask: 'Is that okay?'
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Riesenlied...appears to be fine with leaving it in Shalune's hands. Ambrosius shuts his eyes. It's not the choice he would've made. However, if she believed this to be the best thing to do in this situation, then he would respect her decision.
He nods toward Riesenlied and turns to leave, though not before taking one final look back at Shalune and Fei.
"The alluuure of power...it is all too eeeasy for huuumans to fall prey to..." He says. "Reeemember your reeesolve... I do not doooubt...it will be...tested..."
With that said, unless someone stops him he will take his leave.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
This is some social issue beyond Kaguya, and frankly, she's fine with that for the moment. She looks blankly, slightly sourly, at Fei and then shakes her head. She waits through the conversation a little more because what else is she going to do?
She mostly just stays with Riesenlied, feeling sore.
Humans... "Aren't as strong," Kaguya murmurs. "...Yeah, dangerous times all right," the frail girl mutters, watching Shalune and her optimism.
"Fixing stuff's fun," she contributes, but her voice is a little quieter still.
Rather than answering Riesenlied's words at this point, about what she was saying to the others, Kaguya closes her eyes again. "I'm ready to go." Pause. "I'm not feeling well though. I'm not... gonna be as quick as I'd... like." She swallows.
A glance up at Shalune, as Ambrosius speaks. He sounds so impressive. But she just shakes her head. "...It was nice to meet you, Shalune. We should talk again sometime." She doesn't... move, until Riesenlied does; she's really not doing very well.
"...Power..." She shakes her head, and washes her hands of the subject with that.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
One day, Fei will probably wish that he had begged Riesenlied to smash it to bits, or had in fact done so himself. But he doesn't. In this moment, in this point in time, Fei appreciates the present day circumstances. He looks over to Ambrosius as he speaks. He's never really come off as anything BUT smart to him before, but this is the first time he's really felt the man speak wisdom.
"You..." He says. And he leaves it at that. It's strange when people speak about humans as if they aren't one, but it doesn't mean anything neccessarily.
"I guess we'll head out then." He says instead. "Thanks Riesenlied." He adds because, well ... she clearly takes it seriously and even if he's not at 100 percent trust with her, he does appreciate her sentiments here at the very least. For now, at least.
He nods to Shalune. "You did good, Shalune." He gives her a headpat because he's finding himself far more surrounded by children these days. Sure, he's only eighteen himself but between seventeen and eighteen that makes him the adult, however strange as it feels.
Besides, that red part of him whispers very quietly. It's not so bad if it destroys everything.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune squints under the pat - and while she doesn't yet have any answer for the wisdom of her elders beyond a nod of recognition, she does at least remember to add: "Ah-- and-- well, look, any time you wanna sit and talk, the Caravan Kinship are always gonna be open, okay? You can always find me there," she offers with determination, her expression remarkably firm as she adds: "We won't turn anyone away from sittin' down and getting some rest and good food!"
Jay would be so proud.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied nods at Kaguya, and says, "We'll take as much time as you need, unless you want me to carry you out?" She pats Kaguya on the head and encourages, "You did really well. I was surprised at how effective that ARM of yours is."
There may be a time where she wishes she smashed that to bits as well, but from her perspective-- seeing Shalune's resolve to never forget -- was worth the risk. Because the topic of handling dangerous things that are ill understood by many is not something that can be policed by a small group of people alone. She's seen that kind of thinking before -- and it's led to ugly things back home, no doubt.
"The... Caravan Kinship? Okay... I should speak to Jacqueline again anyhow," she nods at Shalune as she rises and helps the younger Veruni out of here, following after Ambrosius.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Kaguya waves at Fei too, a small thing that keeps most of her arm by her body anyway rather than lifting up above her head. She saw him again, after all, and he was...
Sure she was mad at him for something...
Whatever. Shalune mentions the Caravan Kinship and Kaguya is still leaned but stops to stare a moment. "Huh. Okay, I guess." She keeps watching a little owlishly, but not for long.
Instead she doesn't look at Riesenlied, though her head dips a little under the pat with a small smile. "H-hey..." A pause, "You think? Thanks. I can do a lot with it; it's part of why I can run around like this." She bites her lip and then says, "You might need to, but I'm going to try."
A deep breath, before the smaller Veruni, hanging tightly onto Riesenlied, starts out with her and Ambrosius.