2017-12-17: Quite the Curse
- Log: Quite the Curse
- Cast: Fei Fong Wong, Leon Albus, Elhaym van Houten, Josephine Lovelace, Lily Keil
- Where: The Decaying Labyrinth
- Date: December 17th 2017
- Summary: Team Adventure enters the Decaying Labyrinth in search of whatever secrets -- and possibly Statue -- it may hold. Elly demonstrates the terror of subcritical water. Fei shows off the power of rock. Josie does some pathfinding with a friend. Lily assumes a burden. Leon takes the lead.
DG: A party led by Fei Fong Wong is now entering The Decaying Labyrinth. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Eternal Decay *>======================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The Decaying Labyrinth is not found on any map. A squat ruin built into a cliff, it is difficult to spot at a distance, which is probably why it's been overlooked for so long. Finding it is a matter of riding (or walking) along the cliff until it's located. The decay of the soil becomes more obvious as you approach it, with grass giving way to scrubby bushes and rock, and eventually no greenery at all. This is not a healthy place to linger. =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
After what happened in Hadal or, as Fei likes to call it, 'Whatever The Fuck That Was'--Fei had a terrible time and may have said a thing or two in the brief moment of exuberance before getting utterly splattered by the obstacles before them. Luckily, they were able to escape and sometimes survival is the best victory you could hope for.
Unfortunately, Fei is barely healed by the time he hears that Mariel could really use a hand dealing with the source of the decay in the Decaying Labyrinth. Besides, something about working to improve Filgaia's environmental growth speaks to Fei in a way that adventure for the sake of adventure just doesn't and even if it wasn't for that, he is pretty certain of Mariel's origins and if his memories are right (and they probably aren't), humanity owes her people a favor or two.
And of course there's the matter of the statue.
Fei decided that maybe when the safety of the planet is concerned, he shouldn't trust unreliable people to handle it if at all possible. That's why he's kept this crew to Elly, The Black Wolves, and Josephine whom Fei believes will be hardcore enough to push through any problems the rest of them can't manage.
Fei has drawn up a map from what he has heard from Mariel and other drifters which he is following to the site. "They said it was hard to see." Fei says. "And that we shouldn't linger so the faster we can move through this thing the better."
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Eternal Decay.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon had, of course, been worried when Fei, Elly, and Lily (especially) vanished after the battle in Wayside and entered Hadal. Now that they have returned, he is at ease, but not perfectly. The man walks alongside them -- alongside Lily, specifically -- and has his eyes on Fei's back as he does. He considers, a moment, before his nose wrinkles. The decay of the soil stands out.
But that only tells him that they're near.
"Mm," the ex-soldier murmurs. "Agreed, Fei. We'll want to look for anything irregular. Some sign of the entrance. We're... sure that a statue is down here?"
They had lost some. He heard as much -- and it was hard to celebrate the wins, when they didn't know how many failures it took for something to go terribly awry. His brow furrows, before he looks to the rest.
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Eternal Decay.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly van Houten had a rough week. She did not, technically, go into a coma, mostly since 'coma' suggests you don't wake up, but she sure as hell didn't do much of anything for two days after she got back from the horrors under Wayside.
One of those days, of course, her eyes were bandaged, just as a precaution. But no blood came out, and she was able to see through the one that had gone blood red. Inwardly, Elly knows that she ought to see someone about it - Loren, perhaps - when everything's... done, but it is a problem for twenty years from now, not this moment.
By Wednesday she was moving around. On Friday she was doing some squats and practicing the flute. Then Fei came to them, and Elly said, still sounding tired, "Of course."
SO, NOW
The one remaining ampoule of -Drive- Elly has with her is stuck in her purse. Nobody has seen it. Elly has considered destroying it. Even now she feels like warm garbage, although her general demeanor is closer to 'I am getting over a cold'.
"... I thought decay was just part of things... The natural order, recycling, ah, returning things to the soil, and the water and the air," Elly says, before raising a hand to cough into it once. She shakes her head once, blinks twice, and straightens up. "If there is a Statue involved, I hope it hasn't been... corrupted, or something."
"I hope you've been well," Elly then says to Leon, even as she looks into her purse. Having, presumably, identified her spare pot of lip rouge, assorted miscellaneous sundries, four spare Rosesols and a bottle of cucco sauce in case they have to do field cooking, she relaxes.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"So then that girl, Neriah, snapped and started using some sort of darkness magic. Nothing I've seen before -- even your spells aren't like this," Josie says to Lily, explaining the tail-end of her most recent exploits. "But, we downed her and that guy she was with carried her off. And after that the statue was sealed, so that's another one down."
She glances up at the rock wall ahead of them. "I left after that. Down one dress, and I didn't get to drink much, but on the other hand, I got to try out the Reaper's Hand. Seems to work pretty well..."
The archaeologist trails off. Pauses.
Wrinkles her nose.
"...So they weren't just kidding around when they called this the 'Decaying' Labyrinth, were they. Fengalon's claws," she mutters, shaking her head. "...That's what the rumor says." This is what she says to Leon. "It could be what we're looking for, or, who knows? Maybe it's just some ancient hero on a horse. They seem to like that motif, even if horses are more trouble than they're worth."
Lifting a hand, she nudges the bird resting on her shoulder. "Hey, come on. Time to earn your keep, Penelope."
The pigeon seems to ignore this for a long series of seconds, wherein Josie continues to nudge her.
Then, finally, Penelope takes flight, winging off alongside the cliff. Ideally, she should sit by any entryway she finds and not just fly off...
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Penelope toward her party's challenge, Eternal Decay. DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Eternal Decay.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily, for her part, spent her immediate time after the Hadal Temple recovering... and tending to others in need of it, particularly Elly. But part of that process involved reuniting with Leon, of course, explaining what had happened... and maybe, just maybe, taking some of her exhaustion and sleeping it off with Dog. Elly's question about whether anyone had died lingered for her, though, as had been the experience of seeing her on Drive. She couldn't say why; it's a normal thing for a soldier to ask.
Fei asked them to come. Lily did. She would have if it hadn't been a statue, but it is, so she's definitely going. But NOW, well...
"This isn't natural," Lily says to Elly, well on alert in her militaristic attire. "It feels wrong." She pauses, at that, and looks to Josie, sidelong. "...I see," she answers. "From what you described, I've seen that magic before. It's.. Different." Pause. "The statue underneath Wayside, though, broke. Two sealed, one broken, that I know of."
Lily opens her notebook as they go, glancing to Leon. "If it's not down there, then we get out quick. I've got the Rod, regardless." It's hanging from her things, in fact. "Let's see... With this much rot, we can guess the center of the effect..." She does some math in her head. She's good at that.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Lily's Notebook toward her party's challenge, Eternal Decay.
=========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Eternal Decay *>======================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The Decaying Labyrinth is not found on any map. A squat ruin built into a cliff, it is difficult to spot at a distance, which is probably why it's been overlooked for so long. Finding it is a matter of riding (or walking) along the cliff until it's located. The decay of the soil becomes more obvious as you approach it, with grass giving way to scrubby bushes and rock, and eventually no greenery at all. This is not a healthy place to linger. =Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================
====================<* The Decaying Labyrinth - Round 1 *>==================== =========================< Results - Eternal Decay >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 0 --(10)--> 10 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 0 --(10)--> 10 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 0 --(10)--> 10 Pass Penelope 3 Wits Effects: Resilient and Liabili ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 0 --(10)--> 10 Pass Lily's Notebook 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Fei Fong Wong 0 --(15)--> 15 Pass Conditions: Overwhelm Effects: Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei says, "It's only rumors from the Baskar. But they ARE the Baskar," to Leon. "Regardless, we should try to stop the decay if we can too." Hopefully these two things aren't related because that would be awful. Fei has unfortunately been in Hadal Temple so so far, SO FAR, he's kind of just glad there isn't something trying to play around with what he's seeing, what he's saying. "That alone's enough reason to check it out. It might not stop otherwise."
He makes it sound all practical but part of it is just the fact that he wants to do Mariel a favor. She did him a favor after all. His injuries have largely healed from the prior adventure. Most of his wounds were from fighting Dva not further helped from being immediately thrust into escaping a temple of mindgames. He collapsed from exhaustion.
Fei does glance over to Elly with concern, both for her wellbeing and over her words. "...Huh... Can they be corrupted?" He thinks it over. "It's possible it's supposed to be unpleasant but..." He thinks it over further.
But he relaxes as he hears Elly talk to LEon and she keeps on.
Thanks to the map and Penelope they're able to find the entrance in short order, with Lily using her maths and instincts to avoid the worst of the rot in the area.
"There we go...it'll probably only be worse further in..." He grimaces. He worries about Penelope being the metaphorical canary in the mines. "Well," He takes a step in. "Here goes nothing."
DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Snicker-Snack *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you are passing through a hallway in the Decaying Labyrinth, you're attacked - by what looks like nothing so much as a cluster of floating dolls, perhaps two feet tall, wielding giant scissors. Nobody is quite sure what force animates them, or what their goals are, but they're quite happy to come out of the darkness and use those scissors on you! =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"I wouldn't know, but I mean, if they're like engines, or something, and they're trying to break one, maybe someone made one run in reverse, instead," Elly says. It's a long shot. Hopefully not from a minor blood clot!
Their way is revealed, by a bird and by the guidance of their nose. "... Euhh... I suppose we should be careful with fire." Which is probably more on her than anyone present, though Elly isn't sure of Josephine's entire loadout.
Into the gloom. Elly squints. Her eyes adapt slowly. Well, 'eye', though she isn't likely to notice the slowed focus on the still-healing one.
shnk. shnk.
"... Do you hear something?" she asks.
shnk. shnk.
"... I," she says, before then saying "Yeehh!!" as she dives out of the way of a dive-bombing scissor wielding freak-doll with horrible rusted(probably) shears!! She avoids losing more than a stray strand of cinnamon red and is snapping out her combat rod from her purse almost instantaneously. Her eyes having adapted, she gets a good solid eyefull of the floating dolls.
"eeeeEEIIIIAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!!"
Then she starts chaining attacks. That rod isn't just for show.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Snicker-Snack.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"We can't discount that it's some sort of like out-take valve," Fei considers. "And if it breaks it'll just build up until it becomes a bigger issue. I figure the Baskar would've said something if that was possible though." Or maybe they're just as mostly clueless as they are. But what are the odds of that???
...Actually, that sounds pretty likely.
shnk. shnk.
Elly calls his attention to it. Fei narrows his eyes.
shnk. shnk.
The dolls appear, lashing out with their scissors and Fei barely slips to the side to let it past. He shifts into the ready position and smirks, ever so faintly, even what one might call cockily.
"What novices..." He says. "Challenging an RPS Master like this?"
He shows off his badge before slamming his foot into the ground hard enough to send rubble tumbling towards the dolls assaulting them.
"Being so brazen with your choice... don't you know that rock beats scissors?!"
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Snicker-Snack.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Well enough," Leon says. "My apologies for not being here as much, lately. We've been combing a stretch of the Badlands, in search of a site... some personal matters, of course." He looks sideways at Elly. "When the lot of you vanished into Hadal, though, I was worried. I'm glad that you all got out fine."
He tries to listen to Josie's explanation. It isn't easy; some of it is missed, because Leon can't have a conversation and listen to a second easily. He looks to Josie and then at Lily. He nods to them. "That's good enough for me, then," he says. He glances at Fei, and then he nods. "Rumors from the Baskar... like you said. It's the Baskar. Any rumor from them is worth checking into."
He steps in after Elly, and the gloom makes him reach into his coat. He draws Argent Divider out, currently folded up as a shotgun -- and then lets out a shorter shout than Elly's scream, at seeing the doll with its terrifying scissors. "What the hell are those!?" he shouts, and then fires a flare into the closest. It pitches it backward, white sparks exploding out each way, before he turns, and fires more traditional rounds rapidly at them. "Has anyone seen anything like this before!?"
He will feel embarrassed about Fei's relative cool later.
DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Flare Gun toward his party's challenge, Snicker-Snack.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
An engine? Corruption? "...Most things can be corrupted," Lily answers with her usual good cheer. "We'll find out."
It definitely puts the thought in her head. But she looks to the entrance too, and when Elly mentions care with fire, Lily nods. "Noted."
She says little else about the rumors, stepping inside and following along with the others. She does add, "...I'm still sorry to have worried you," to Leon. That she didn't want to do. But well, rumors are rumors. The gloom sets Lily to lower her hands. But...
Elly's scream gets her attention, and Lily's eyes widen at the dolls. "The fuck is that?" she breathes, unaccustomed to this particular kind of creep factor. She lifts her hands abrubtly, and lets loose her magic, aiming to disintegrate the doll closing in on her with its scissors outright in a flash of crackling black power.
From there she looks to the others, and with red light, begins healing what wounds are brought to bear from the scissors. She doesn't answer Leon; Leon knows damn well she hasn't seen anything like this.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Snicker-Snack.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Who knows?" That's Josie's opinion on the subject of whether the things can become corrupted, it seems. "I think you all are the experts on the subject. Me, I'm just here because Tiger over there asked." She jerks her head Lily's way, as if to underscore precisely who she means.
"Besides, even if the Statue's broke, or corrupted, or whatever... better to find out for sure, right? And this is an ancient ruin. Who knows what could be down here?"
Penelope remains perched by the entrance when they find it, the bird hunched up slightly as if she's also ill at ease. "Hmm," Josie murmurs, frowning faintily, but she still whistles. Penelope alights on her shoulder a moment later.
"...Euugh." Once again, Josie wrinkles her nose at the stench, then tugs her scarf up over her mouth and nose.
Hopefully, that part will improve soon.
"If rumors are all we've got, they're all we've got. We're not going to find anything otherwise. C'mon."
There's a sound, not far after.
A regular sort of sound.
And then Elly screams.
Josie has the faint impression of a small thing, bearing a sharp object, something metallic that glints in the light. She doesn't think -- rather, she draws the rifle strapped against her back in a smooth arc and immediately shoots at it, barely taking the time to aim.
"Damn, what in the Guardians' green hells is that?" she remarks, seconds later.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Snicker-Snack.
==========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Snicker-Snack *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you are passing through a hallway in the Decaying Labyrinth, you're attacked - by what looks like nothing so much as a cluster of floating dolls, perhaps two feet tall, wielding giant scissors. Nobody is quite sure what force animates them, or what their goals are, but they're quite happy to come out of the darkness and use those scissors on you! =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
=====================<* The Decaying Labyrinth - Round 2 *>===================== ==========================< Results - Snicker-Snack >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 10 --(12)--> 22 Pass RPS Badge 3 Combat Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 10 --(12)--> 22 Pass Flare Gun 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 10 --(17)--> 27 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 15 --(17)--> 32 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 10 --(17)--> 27 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Fei Fong Wong 15 --(10)--> 25 Fail Conditions: Fright(2)|Overwhelm Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 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> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
A snicker-snack and a snap and a slice and red lines appear on people and the flare SCREAMS and Fei smashes several with a rock but the dolls never say anything, not once. One of them falls, another staggers and drops its scissors, but the dim light in here, the chaos of their swarming, they are prevailing.
Then as suddenly as before, they leave. There is a slicing sound as they retreat, and their path is left clearly seen in the stark light of the flare that Leon put into one. It smoulders, and casts an eerie glow.
Elly looks at her hands. They're red. Lily's ether invocations reach her a moment later, sealing the wounds, but not the blood. Blood. Blood on her hands. She stares, her fists tightening...
"Fei..."
Elly's head tilts forwards.
"... maybe we should have brought Weltall...?"
She looks up, towards him, and smiles as she does. It's effortful, and perhaps not exactly laden with mirth, but perhaps this is a good sign for the morale of the group. After this, she tries to wipe the blood off her forearms with limited success.
"... Ah... I hope those searches are going well," she says to Leon, who may have completely forgotten about that conversational thread, which, in a moment of delicious metaphorical irony, might have been... cut short.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================== ============<* CHALLENGE - So That's Why it's Called a Labyrinth *>============= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- This section of the Decaying Labyrinth is proving extremely difficult to map, with stairs and ramps forming a maze that is subtly three-dimensional, which some of the tunnels looping over or under others. Sometimes it's hard to tell that you're ascending or descending at all, and you're pretty sure some of the paths are taking you right back the way you came. Other times you can take a short cut by jumping down a convenient hole... but some of those go backwards, so it might not be the best plan. Still, you're a Drifter. You can make the hard decisions. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
There's more of the dolls here within seconds of firing on the one. Enough that Josie quickly finds herself overrun, the creatures laying in with merciless scissors. "Let's get out of here--" she shouts, bleeding from a wound to the arm as she glances about for an exit--
And as suddenly as they come, they're gone again. Caprice? Maybe.
"I still think we should get out of here," Josie opines, shaking out her hand (and thus the arm) after holstering the long gun.
The staircase leads up.
This goes on for a time, before the group finds themselves on a landing. There are two staircases ahead. One leads up. One leads down. It's time to pick and choose!
"Hmm. Let's start with the one on the right. I have a good feeling about that one," Josie says.
ROUGHLY FIVE MINUTES LATER
The maze of staircases has somehow only gotten worse. Staircases manage to invade nearly every direction possible by this point at this level platform they've reached, some rising to unseen heights, others plunging to unknown depths and some...
Is that staircase going up or going down? Sideways staircases? ...Is that staircase right overhead the one they were just on?
It's gotten a little bit Escher in here.
And the holes -- here at convenient parts of the platform -- look like they could either provide access to before-now unreachable stairs or possibly just throw a further wrench into their progress.
Josie takes a deep breath, glancing at the various stair-like options available, looks at the holes, and then reaches into her pocket and retrieves a flask, from which she takes a swig.
Sanity-regeneration process completed, she then hands the flask over to Leon and walks about five feet along the platform before carefully pulling Penelope from her perch and lifting the bird to stare intently into her eyes. "Penelope, this is very important," she informs the pigeon. "Let's find the way through here, okay?"
And with that -- and with a little bit of a 'coo' from Penelope as the pigeon takes flight -- she tosses the bird into the air.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Penelope toward her party's challenge, So That's Why it's Called a Labyrinth.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
The fact that the dolls retreat, rather than being beaten back, is especially concerning to Leon. He lowers the shotgun, slowly, and stares at them. His hand rests over his side -- and he looks to Elly, then blinks. It takes him a moment to realize what she means. Then, he shakes his head. "Er... well enough. They've, ah, been time consuming."
And with few results, as of yet.
"We should keep moving," he declares. Which is why he is happy to take the direction that Josephine indicated. He is less happy when he finds that there is a maze of stairwells, moving in directions they should not. He looks at them, incredulous, and then looks at the holes. His frown is a slow-growing thing, but like an oak: it will dominate his face for the next 100 years if not tended to.
"Who built this madness?" he asks, as he takes the flask, and has a little sip of it. Maybe, somehow, the flask will explain the secrets of this place.
Frowning intensifies.
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, So That's Why it's Called a Labyrinth.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong looks towards Elly.
"...Huh..." He says. "...I really haven't used that guy for a while. I wonder how he's doing."
MEANWHILE
A pirate polishes Weltall with a mop. There's a strange noise and he looks around. He frowns. Did Weltall just...sigh?
HERE
"Well if we have to try again we can give him a shot, though it might be a tight fit..."
It probably would be a tight fit.
And now it's a maze again. Last time, Fei's attempts to map the situation didn't help at all but by george this time he's going to map like heck, he's going to map THE HECK out of this.
He scribbles rapidly on his sketchpad, this time biting at his lip as he works. "Not this time..." He mutters. "This time we're finding it. Eheh...hahahh..."
He does look over to Leon though, thinking. They haven't found their true target yet...
How should he feel about that?
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, So That's Why it's Called a Labyrinth.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily and Leon do have their own search, in the backgroup; Lily doesn't talk about it much. THere's not a lot of news to tell. But it's progressing. ...Elly's bloody hands catch Lily's attention, but it seems that Elly can handle herself for the moment. Her eyes are casting out for more of those damned dolls, and the fact that they just retreat bothers her, too. Her light passes over her arms again as she heals herself, shaking her head.
But Josie has an idea, and--it... turns into...
Lily pulls her notebook again, frowning, using her hand to carve with black magic little symbols in the walls so they can keep track of where they're going. It's not exactly archaelogically sound but she doesn't care that much about that.
Penelope goes... That's that. Lily could probably use the flask herself, but she spots Leon's frown--
...Strangely, she seems in lighter spirits about things after seeing it. Almost. "It's fine, Leon," she offers. She keeps writing in her notebook to keep track, standing near Fei so that map and notes can work together.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Lily's Notebook toward her party's challenge, So That's Why it's Called a Labyrinth.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
It's not Weltall's fault this section has no Gear content.
Elly laughs. It's a little rusty and she coughs afterwards, even as she looks towards Josie and then towards the staircases and then she says, brow furrowing, "I may be wrong, but we've gone up enough that we should be back on the ridge surface..."
Lily can probably spot out that Elly did not lose a lot of blood, it just went everywhere. Kind of like how a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce can look really awful if you splatter it around by stomping on it with your big dumb shoe, even if the packets didn't seem that big on their own.
"The Baskar...? I thought the Baskar were um, I don't know how to put it. Semi-nomadic," Elly concludes, which is at least polite and sort of accurate. "Maybe it's somewhere that they've occupied, or kept track of over time...?"
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, So That's Why it's Called a Labyrinth.
==========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================== ============<* CHALLENGE - So That's Why it's Called a Labyrinth *>============= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- This section of the Decaying Labyrinth is proving extremely difficult to map, with stairs and ramps forming a maze that is subtly three-dimensional, which some of the tunnels looping over or under others. Sometimes it's hard to tell that you're ascending or descending at all, and you're pretty sure some of the paths are taking you right back the way you came. Other times you can take a short cut by jumping down a convenient hole... but some of those go backwards, so it might not be the best plan. Still, you're a Drifter. You can make the hard decisions. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
=====================<* The Decaying Labyrinth - Round 3 *>===================== ==============< Results - So That's Why it's Called a Labyrinth >=============== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 22 --(10)--> 32 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 22 --(15)--> 37 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 27 --(10)--> 37 Pass Penelope 3 Wits Effects: Resilient and Liabili -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 32 --(15)--> 47 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 27 --(10)--> 37 Pass Lily's Notebook 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Fei Fong Wong 25 --(10)--> 35 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Fright(1)|Overwhelm Effects: Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong has passed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"You know," Josie comments, glancing over at Leon as he considers the puzzle lying before them, "If you keep making that face, it's going to get stuck that way." And she grins, a little too brightly.
Pacing over a few steps, she approaches Fei as they consider their next steps and peers over his shoulder. "Any luck? I can't make heads or tails of this place." She had thought about trying one of the holes, but that's sort of a high risk high reward scenario if there ever was one. "Between you and Lily, at least we should know if we come back this way again. I can't tell which way is up anymore."
Then she pauses, considering Elly's comment. "Hmm. Maybe. It does seem familiar. But, I've got an idea."
Which is why she apparently turns to the pigeon, nature's finest navigator.
Well, sort of. Good enough, at least.
Penelope takes flight, wings whirring as she goes. A few feathers fall in her wake. The ultimate path the bird takes them is a little convoluted but it does, ultimately, see them free from the staircases maze.
"Whew," Josie sighs, tugging down her scarf. Penelope, from out of nowhere, divebombs down onto her shoulder soon after... and squeezes her way into the woman's scarf at the back of her neck. By all accounts, the bird is settling down now for a long nap.
DG: Leon Albus has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================= ======================<* CHALLENGE - Sticky Situation *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Suddenly, part of the ceiling showers you with dust and grit. Dust, grit... and an oozy, glue-like substance that proves to be a mix of mud, stone dust and a (fortunately long-dead) monstrous ooze. Though it's harmless, in that it isn't hurting you at all, it's hard to move covered with this stuff - you have to really work to get anywhere without getting helplessly stuck! =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Right, right..." Leon sighs to what Lily says, eyes taking in the surroundings and hoping secrets will simply be revealed. Nothing is revealed, and frowning intensifies further.
But, Penelope finds a way through. Leon gives the bird a look -- though he follows the path without further complaint. Down they go, where the stairs lead into a darker and lower path. As they descend, though, the ceiling gives way. Leon yelps and jumps back from the harmless dust...
...and into the ooze that drops down. At first, his blood runs cold, as the whole party finds themselves covered in the remains of a long dead slime. It covers them, coats them, and slows them. Leon starts to wipe away at his lips, shaking himself free. The majority of the ooze has fallen across the area in front of them, making a treacherous path -- with strands of thick webbing that block the wall.
And, of course, simply tearing through it is not an option.
Leon begins yanking thick strands off it. His eyebrow twitches, slightly.
Frowning further intensifies.
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Sticky Situation.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei says, "Well I heard this from the colony, I think those Baskar stick around? Not sure!" He is hardly a Baskar Expert. He does let Josie see the map though it's not going to be perfect because as we know video games don't have to have sensical dungeon design.
Still they do manage to make it out. Right?
Right.
At least until Fei trips over MUD OOZE and onto his face and starts waggling his arms wildly to maintain balance.
He frowns, can he use the guided shot (kamehameha wave) like this?
He tries stomping harder instead because he doesn't want to melt his own feet.
"Woof." He tells Leon. "Think we lost a lot of time." He frowns.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Sticky Situation.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Will she be safe?" Elly asks as she looks at Penelope, a moment before the ceiling drops a bunch of crap, filth, gunge and spoog onto them, caking Elly in dust and then sending the deliquesed remains of a slime onto her, and in fact, onto her HAIR.
Elly's hands spread apart, with thick and ropy trails of this godforsaken combo meal of disgusting garbage trailing between them.
She shakes her left hand off and says, "Everyone, hold on."
Into the purse she reaches. Out comes...
A can of something. It isn't labelled. "It's under pressure," she explains, even as she spritzes the sweet-smelling material onto her hair and shakes her head, causing the crap to, literally, slide off and land behind her with a splut. She gives it a shake and then sprays it on her hands, her arms, her feet...
She passes it to Josie then, purely because Josie is closest. That sweetness has a kind of machine oil smell. "You see the wet point where it comes out? Just... don't use more than you have to, I only have one other can, if we need it. Oh, and don't spray it on the soles of your shoes!"
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Spy Purse toward her party's challenge, Sticky Situation.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily doesn't know that much about the Baskar, frankly, just a bit here and there. What she's seen, what she's heard in rumors. She doesn't worry about it for the moment. Josie asks about their luck and Penelope seems to make it work. Lily lets it go at that, putting away her notebook as they've made their way out. The bird is back, and well...
Leon jumps back, and Lily immediately looks to him--but the ooze drops and and her teeth clench. Slime. Slimes, again. She hates slimes. A spike of that hatred exudes from her, a little spark on her hands, as it... turns out to... be dead, somehow. Dead. ..Hrm...
Elly has a way to get it off of them, and Lily makes use of it after Josie. After that, Lily lets the darkness crackle about her further as she reaches for her bag. "Hold on," she says, and pulls a charge with a longer fuse. "...This is going to be dicey." She cuts off some of the slime with a barrier of ice and throws the bomb--
It ignites just as it touches the slime in the area ahead of them.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Explosive Charges toward her party's challenge, Sticky Situation.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Look on the bright side, things can only get better from here," Josie says, smiling in a way that is, perhaps, not entirely sincerely cheerful. "Hmm? Oh, Penelope. She'll probably be fine. I'd rather keep her close than have her try to find her way out. Don't worry, she's been in worse places than this. She's a tough bird." Lily might remember Penelope attacking (and chasing) a tatzelwurm.
And then they walk into a dark room where the ceiling gives way and something sticky falls with a splat. Josie gets all of one second to backpeddle as they're showered in dust seconds before the slime remains give in to gravity and fall. She shakes some of it off her shoulders and arms, then rather deliberately treads on it as if it could be crushed into the floor and--
"--Oh, it's dead," she remarks a moment later, peeling up her foot with a disgusting squelch. "...Ugh. Can't slimes even die without making a mess? --Huh?" She takes the can and looks at it. "Oh, machine oil! Good idea." She sprays some of that on herself. It helps. Not with her boots, but it helps.
Shrugging off her pack briefly she rummages -- but does not put it on the floor -- through her bag before finding what she's looking for.
"Right. I don't know about you, but I'm not touching anything else in this room." One-handedly she takes a swing at the webs ahead.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, Sticky Situation.
=========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================= ======================<* CHALLENGE - Sticky Situation *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Suddenly, part of the ceiling showers you with dust and grit. Dust, grit... and an oozy, glue-like substance that proves to be a mix of mud, stone dust and a (fortunately long-dead) monstrous ooze. Though it's harmless, in that it isn't hurting you at all, it's hard to move covered with this stuff - you have to really work to get anywhere without getting helplessly stuck! =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
====================<* The Decaying Labyrinth - Round 4 *>==================== ========================< Results - Sticky Situation >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 32 --(5)--> 37 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 37 --(5)--> 42 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 37 --(5)--> 42 Fail Well-Used Mattock 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 47 --(5)--> 52 Pass Spy Purse 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 37 --(5)--> 42 Pass Explosive Charges 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Fei Fong Wong 35 --(20)--> 55 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Overwhelm Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Elly's trusty spy purse, perhaps, saves the day. Her spray makes the slime slough away -- and then secures the place up above, though it does take both cans. Leon finishes wiping some of it off, as he watches the rest take effect -- and glances at Fei. "Thankfully, Elly had that stuff. I think we'll be able to make up for lost time. Or not lose more, by sticking to the floor."
The mattock tears through some strands -- and with the application of the chemical, those strands simply rip away. Then, Lily's ice-encased bomb goes flying in. It goes deeper than it would...
And the explosion roars through the tunnel! The slime is blasted out each way, though not into them. The smoke clears -- and a cleared tunnel awaits.
DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - The Bone Zone *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The Decaying Labyrinth is a nexus of undead and unliving monsters, and this is one of them. A skeletal lizard the size of a horse, it has a huge spiked crest, rather like a triceratops - if anyone here knew what a triceratops was, anyway - and multiple additional horns and spikes. Also, it can breathe huge gouts of scalding steam. Riding it is not recommended. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Things can only get better from here? Lily gives Josie a Look. "You say that," she remarks darkly, dryly, and doesn't bother to finish the sentence. She leaves it there, and likewise doesn't touch much of anything. The explosion roars through, and Lily dusts herself off, frowning at what residue is left. The tunnel awaits, and she glances to the others and leads ahead, stepping forward lightly. Still she feels the strange aura of this place...
And some of why definitely goes through an an instant. The strange lizard with a huge spiked crest moves forward, horned and spiked and breathing steam. It's ugly; it feels wrong; it's bones. It's...
"Of all the problems to have," Lily says, lifting her hands, "At least this time it's something to kill."
Lily's eyes pulse gold as golden power shifts about her hands--and the area about the skeleton explodes in golden, nuclear fire.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Bone Zone.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Let's not give ourselves a curse," Leon says, with a meaningful glance in Josie's direction. Then, he looks forward. He spots the strange, undead lizard a moment after Lily does. He mutters a soft curse underneath his breath -- and then draws Argent Divider out again. The shotgun-like weapon is brandished in a smooth motion, and directed above the skeleton. He fires a flare off that explodes a little before Lily's real explosion.
A distraction, of course.
Then Leon rushes to the side, and pumps off a few rounds with his shotgun. The rounds go flying at its bony exterior; of course, whether those slugs will do much against a skeleton remains to be seen.
"I've never seen one of these before!" he calls out. "Even when it was alive!"
DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Flare Gun toward his party's challenge, The Bone Zone.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Okay, okay. Things might get a little bit worse for a bit," and here she glances up at the ceiling -- and the dust that still falling, bit by bit -- "but they'll eventually get better. Is that good enough for you killjoys?" She sighs overdramatically and shrugs her shoulders. "I can see the attraction every day..."
"Well, that's a new one," she comments, sighting the undead creature before her. "I saw a skull for one of these before, but it wasn't moving at the time."
Josie goes for her gun, then pauses to think better of it. Her lips move briefly.
Which is followed in short order by a snap of ozone and a charge of electricity running down and encircling her left hand. "On three! One, two--"
The electrical spell gathers in her hand and she hurls the javelin bolt of lightning overhand at the rampaging skeleton creature.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Bone Zone.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"I think that's a positive attitude to keep," Elly tells Josie, with a smile. She zips her purse up afterwards (what?) and continues forth, ears only ringing a little. She says to Fei, as they go, "At least we're getting in deep. Have you noticed that there doesn't seem to be much that's living down here...? But, I don't feel too enervated."
Then, they are faced with a skeleton.
Elly stares at it even as Leon gets out his gun.
"A fossil?" she blurts.
Then a bolt of lightning smashes down at the side of the skeletal thing, because Elly, of course, is still not sure just what the methane quantity down here is, and it would be kind of rough to find that out the hard way.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Bone Zone.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
And suddenly, dinosaurs. "Is that a triceratops?" Fei asks, eyes wide. But then it blows out steam so maybe it's NOT a triceratops. Huh. Fei presses his lips firmly together, though, and thinks back to his experiences fighting dinosaurs in the past. He looks towards Elly. Maybe she was right. Maybe he should have brought Weltall. But as he hasn't, that only leaves one option left.
Fei takes in a deep breath, approaches the beast and tries to punch it in the snout in a move reminiscent of a shoryuken.
"This oughta do it...!" Fei says enthusiastically. Maybe too enthusiasically.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Bone Zone.
==========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - The Bone Zone *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The Decaying Labyrinth is a nexus of undead and unliving monsters, and this is one of them. A skeletal lizard the size of a horse, it has a huge spiked crest, rather like a triceratops - if anyone here knew what a triceratops was, anyway - and multiple additional horns and spikes. Also, it can breathe huge gouts of scalding steam. Riding it is not recommended. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
=====================<* The Decaying Labyrinth - Round 5 *>===================== ==========================< Results - The Bone Zone >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 37 --(10)--> 47 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 42 --(5)--> 47 Pass Flare Gun 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 42 --(10)--> 52 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 52 --(5)--> 57 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 42 --(10)--> 52 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Fei Fong Wong 55 --(20)--> 75 Pass Conditions: Wound(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Killjoys. Lily can accept that. So she answers, "I'll allow it." But they're fighting quickly; frankly she hasn't seen one either, and this one is about to not be here to see much longer. They all lay out their assaults, and it sure goes;
Lily and Josie's blasts hit the hard bone crest rather than dealing any damage to its vital parts, making large explosions and burns but little else. Fei's punch cracks off a horn... But it has many more. In the end, it comes down to Leon's flare distracting the monster and Elly's lightning crashing into the side of what could be its neck. After that, it's on its last legs, and the group as a whole can finish matters off... With a few injuries for their troubles that'll heal.
Lily dusts herself off, shaking her head. "Well that was something."
DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Phantom Hazard *>======================= |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- You're at the very heart of the Decaying Labyrinth, in a huge, empty room. There are no decorations. There are no creatures. The air feels oppressively still and stale, as if it hadn't moved in centuries. There is literally nothing but a great sealed chest that seems to be the source of the aura of decay. It looks like the chest should be impossible to open, but on investigation, part of the seal that decorates the chest is chipped; it's unclear if it's faded and worn with time, or if something has intentionally broken it. Either way, the stench of death begins to seep from the cracked chest, a black mist forming into a human shape - the Ring Keeper, a cursed spirit of death and decay. A hulking humanoid with long arms, it strikes with mighty swings and geysers formed of the power of Hell itself! =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"I guess I'm out of dinosaur punching practice." Fei says, rubbing his bruised knuckle.
Luckily it seems like the crew is making good progress. Fei is starting to feel confident in their odds here. Bad news though--as it seems they're hitting the source of the decay. The group comes upon a chest that is incredibly sealed and--of course--the seal is broken by a chip. And that seems to be the source of everything.
Despite it all, Fei brightens as he turns to the team, smiling widely. "This is great!"
Black mist starts coalescing behind him as he addresses everybody.
"I don't think that's the statue, so we don't have to worry about that worst case scenario!"
The mist starts taking the form of a humanoid--but not a human. It looks more like a Wels than anything else, with bandaged arms and...weirdly large feet.
"If we can fix this, we should be able to handle the rest of the labryinth with ease!"
The Ring Keeper screeches into Fei's ear and he slowly turns around.
He stares at the creature and slowly lifts up his RPS Badge.
"On the count of three?" He asks.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Phantom Hazard.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"See, I think so too. But I'll never convince these two of that. Regular life of the party, the both of them," Josie comments to Elly in what a normal person would have voiced as an aside, except it's far too loud for that. "You've got to think positively in this world -- after all, it's not gonna do it for you."
In the aftermath of the skirmish with the animated bag of ancient bones, she's there crouched by the scattered remnants, taking a closer look.
"It's interesting. We haven't found a single living thing in here. Hell, even outside this place. People like to call the desert a wasteland," she says, rising to her feet and dusting off her pants, "But this is the biggest wasteland I've seen, and I used to excavate places like this for a living."
She pauses, as if considering this for a moment, and appends: "Well, I suppose I still do, but the point still stands."
She moves along into the room just beyond and freezes.
Someone behind her might see Penelope slip out of sight and a suspicious lump form somewhere along Josie's upper back. "Wait a minute. Something's wrong in here," she says, slowly sliding her rifle free.
Her gaze finds it a moment later.
And thus Fei will be treated to the sight of Josie pointing a gun directly at him. "Don't move," she tells Fei, advancing a step slowly.
Her breathing slows. Like a great cat, she tenses.
And then, Fei turns around. "I said hold still!" Her rifle's aim readjusts a few millimeters to account for the thing behind him moving before she pulls the trigger and a shot rings out.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Phantom Hazard.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
As Fei declares how great this is, Leon's eyes are locked onto the mist swirling up. Alien, forboding black mist that assumes a humanoid form -- and yet monstrous, not unlike a Wels. He takes a step backward, as Fei turns. He swallows.
"Three," Leon declares, just after Josie opens fire. He swings up Argent Divider. The flare rounds have ran out -- which isn't to his liking -- and that leaves him wielding his ARM. He has to hope that will be enough. The soldier snaps the weapon, with his wrist; the barrel snaps back, and the sword telescopes out, before it fixes into place. Leon leaps a moment later, jumping in to flank Fei.
Then, he rushes forward, and slashes at the Ring Keeper's waist.
"If this is some manner of spirit, maybe we need to... bind it, or something! I'm not sure how these things work, really!" he calls out. Maybe they can slash and shoot it into submission.
After he slashes, his feet skid over the ground, and he quickly turns around to face it.
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Phantom Hazard.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"I don't think I can blame anyone for pessimism... but you have to be prepared to be proven wrong," Elly answers Josephine as they walk.
Elly laughs at Fei, or rather, with Fei, until she stops dead, seeing the creature screaming. It is horrid, a shade of death. Her gut tightens. And yet -
There is a gleam of chromium steel in the back of her mind then. A flashback? Something that got woken up? It doesn't matter because a horrifying living ghost of some kind of free-standing Etheric energy is about to eat Fei. She's faced something worse in the past, and lost, and -
and -
The air's clinging to her clammily.
The air stinks of rot, and flame, and the gases of decomposition. But, Elly remembers a sudden sharp fact - a key number, in fact. One hundred.
Elly's hands raise up in what Leon might identify as a half-assed effort at a defensive posture. She takes a step back, eyes glazed slightly. Lily and Josie may feel the weaving Etheric pattern a lot more readily, and the wind seems to fall inwards, towards the Ring Keeper. No, towards the area beneath it.
People open fire. That breeze seems to be falling downwards. It seems like the water is just kind of... dripping onto the ground. Is she trying to slip the Ring Keeper up? The water forms a bubble, wobbling upwards, steadily fattening up. A cupful of water. A pint. A quart. One point two quarts and that seems to be 'enough' from Elly's view because the flow of wind dies off.
The water forms a loose sphere, then a bulletlike shape pointing upwards. Elly exhales.
The 'thermal cube' appears for a flashing moment right into that mass of water. Naturally enough, there is a sudden bursting upwelling of superheated steam, right into the Mean Ring Keeper Machine, a fraction of a second later.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Phantom Hazard.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Fei... Fei is Fei.
Lily does not smile about the thing taking its form. She narrows her eyes. Josie points a gun at him, and that's fine. Lily hears about binding a spirit, as Leon suggests it, and well--
"Pessimism is usually right," she points out, while she starts her work--and pauses, feeling Ether, feeling the intricacies of Elly's spell nearby. It's quite amazing, really. The steam bursts through, the combination...
Lily eyes it, but then waves her hand, as the shadows about the group start to sharpen on their weapons, swirl around them to give power. It starts with Leon; Lily keeps pointing, one at a time, until they all have it.
She keeps at work with it. "I suggest we just kill it. I'm no priestess."
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Phantom Hazard.
=========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Phantom Hazard *>======================= |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- You're at the very heart of the Decaying Labyrinth, in a huge, empty room. There are no decorations. There are no creatures. The air feels oppressively still and stale, as if it hadn't moved in centuries. There is literally nothing but a great sealed chest that seems to be the source of the aura of decay. It looks like the chest should be impossible to open, but on investigation, part of the seal that decorates the chest is chipped; it's unclear if it's faded and worn with time, or if something has intentionally broken it. Either way, the stench of death begins to seep from the cracked chest, a black mist forming into a human shape - the Ring Keeper, a cursed spirit of death and decay. A hulking humanoid with long arms, it strikes with mighty swings and geysers formed of the power of Hell itself! =Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
====================<* The Decaying Labyrinth - Round 6 *>==================== =========================< Results - Phantom Hazard >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 47 --(25)--> 72 Pass RPS Badge 3 Combat Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 47 --(30)--> 77 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 52 --(30)--> 82 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 57 --(30)--> 87 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 52 --(30)--> 82 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Fei Fong Wong 75 --(0)--> 75 Fail Conditions: Suffer(1)|Wound(1) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong has failed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
The Ring Keeper throws paper.
Fei Fong Wong throws scissors.
Unfortunately this doesn't help the fight too much. Even with RPSupremacy, Lily's buffs, Elly's inredible ether power, Leon's swordplay, and Josie's marksmanship--
--the decay is just so strong it's enough to make even the hardiest of party members ill. Even Fei seems sick and he's a pretty healthy lad! He is coughing and wheezing and looking and more pale.
But eventually the beast is beaten back into the chest. And now...
...well...
There is the chest. Fei is too busy wheezing to approach.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - The Great Escape *>======================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 4 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- With the Ring Keeper defeated, it seems like it should be easy to take the only object in the chest out: a ring that glitters improbably despite being jet black, so dark it seems to eat the light that falls on it. As soon as anyone in the party touches it, though, they find that's not all it absorbs; it eats away at the surrounding dirt and rock, causing small showers of dust to fall from the ruin, and even life itself. This is the Corpse Ring. While your party carries it, it makes you feel vaguely ill and nauseous, intensifying if you're actually hurt after you pick it up. Nothing can heal you, and even minor damage will render you unable to do much. The cursed ring can be destroyed by sunlight. But for that, you need to actually get it out first... which means retracing your steps while it feeds on the life force of everything and everyone nearby, and quickly. You'll have to avoid the monsters while retracing your steps; it'll take guile to plot a course that will keep you safe enough to escape, but you've seen enough shortcuts to find your way out safely... hopefully. (OOC: If you fail from this point on, you had to release the Corpse Ring and escape without it. Doing that makes the Corpse Ring turn into foul-smelling smoke as soon as you put it down, roiling back toward the chest in the center of the Decaying Labyrinth. Whoever tries next will have to start from square one.) =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Wound, Maim, Bad Luck===========================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly feels pretty good right now.
It's a lie.
She approaches the chest, gingerly, and pops out her baton in order to gently open the chest - it's not latched. It creaks... and flips open.
Elly is mostly feeling good because she's had vigorous exercise on several levels and is thus mistaking an improvement in the post-Drive hangover baseline of 'feels like reheated dog turds' for 'good'. So the effect of that ring doesn't immediately stand out to her. Gazing down, she sees the ring.
Elly prods the inside of the chest, gently, with her baton, just in case the Ring Keeper is lurking within. "... Lily... have you ever seen anything like this...?"
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily feels about average, as her feelings go; injured, tired, and ill, but she has dealt with that and worse and kept going before. ...Or so she imagines to herself, but the sheer amount of this feeling, this decay, is enough to make her vision swim before she dismisses the feeling, clenches her hand. Lily looks to ensure the beast is gone--looks to Elly, opening it, and steps over to her, to the chest itself. SHe quiets, as she looks down, sees... a ring. It glitters, yet is dark. So, so dark. It reminds her of something, in that way.
"...I haven't," she says. "But I think..." She listens, to something inaudible, looks to the group. "...I have an affinity for this sort of thing," she announces--justifies. "I think we need to get it out of here before we can continue."
Lily reaches down into the chest--
Her gloved hand closes around it, but the glove dissolves into tatters, revealing strange violet markings on her hand amidst the remnants of cloth. The room covers in dust, the dirt and rock eaten away. Life itself drains from all of them, Lily first as she grows pale, staggers in place--but does not drop the ring.
"...Leon," she says, pulling her notebook and handing it to him. "I marked my place. I left... notes, about what we've encountered."
Lily shakes her head, stands up straighter, clenching her hand around the ring before she opens her palm, shows it to the others. "I have it. Let's go."
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Lily's Notebook toward her party's challenge, The Great Escape.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly looks cutely confused about what's going on exactly.
It may fill you with determination.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Great Escape.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Maybe we can trade off," Fei says after a moment, after managing to steady himself. He is filled with determination by Elly looking cute.
"I have maps too. I noted shortcuts where I saw them. Maybe with this we can get out before this thing kills us."
He also pulls on a breathing mask because...
Wait...
Why didn't he do that from the start?!
"This should help, maybe?" He says hopefully.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, The Great Escape.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon looks down at the chest. At first, it is easy to assume that the worst has passed -- that the creature is forced backward. But, at a cost, and Leon sags as he steps forward. He feels lethargic; the poisons of the Ring Keeper have already taken their toll, and he looks pale as he looks down at the chest. He coughs, then looks sideways to regard Lily for a moment while she approaches.
He listens to her justifiaction, and for a moment, he frowns. Leon nods, though. She does have an affinity for this sort of thing. She survived Malevolence; she has considerable magical power. (He doesn't know what an Antitype or a Contact are.)
He hisses nonetheless, when the gloves rots away in an instant. He feels its effect, sinking in deeply. He feels sicker. He hacks, but he takes the notebook and looks down at it. He scans it, and then looks up at the others. "Let's go. I'll read from it and guide us. We need to move quickly!"
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Great Escape.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
A few rounds later, and the Ring Keeper is destroyed--
But Josie is left feeling decidedly ill, and looks the part. "Ugh... This is making a hangover look good," she mutters, rubbing one hand against her forehead. "You guys holding up alright? I think this place is finally getting to me."
Penelope remains where she was, a slight fidget or two from under Josie's coat at least showing that she's not in too bad shape.
Stepping away from where she'd been lingering, Josie leans over as Elly investigates the contents of the box. Almost immediately, she winces and steps away. "...Whew. Whatever that thing is, I think we've got our culprit for the decay. I dunno how much magic theory you've had in your life," she continues, gesturing at the chest, "but this thing is a mess. I'm not touching it."
Which is probably why -- as Lily volunteers herself and picks it out of the chest -- she shoots the younger girl a dark glance. "But, some of us are fools. You holding up okay there, Tiger?"
Then nods as Leon takes charge. "Yeah. Hanging around in here's not going to do us any good. We gotta go."
But she still glances over her shoulder at Lily as she moves to head out.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Great Escape.
==========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - The Great Escape *>======================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 4 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- With the Ring Keeper defeated, it seems like it should be easy to take the only object in the chest out: a ring that glitters improbably despite being jet black, so dark it seems to eat the light that falls on it. As soon as anyone in the party touches it, though, they find that's not all it absorbs; it eats away at the surrounding dirt and rock, causing small showers of dust to fall from the ruin, and even life itself. This is the Corpse Ring. While your party carries it, it makes you feel vaguely ill and nauseous, intensifying if you're actually hurt after you pick it up. Nothing can heal you, and even minor damage will render you unable to do much. The cursed ring can be destroyed by sunlight. But for that, you need to actually get it out first... which means retracing your steps while it feeds on the life force of everything and everyone nearby, and quickly. You'll have to avoid the monsters while retracing your steps; it'll take guile to plot a course that will keep you safe enough to escape, but you've seen enough shortcuts to find your way out safely... hopefully. (OOC: If you fail from this point on, you had to release the Corpse Ring and escape without it. Doing that makes the Corpse Ring turn into foul-smelling smoke as soon as you put it down, roiling back toward the chest in the center of the Decaying Labyrinth. Whoever tries next will have to start from square one.) =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Wound, Maim, Bad Luck===========================
=====================<* The Decaying Labyrinth - Round 7 *>===================== =========================< Results - The Great Escape >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 72 --(100)--> 172 Fail Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 77 --(100)--> 177 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 82 --(100)--> 182 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 87 --(100)--> 187 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 82 --(100)--> 182 Pass Lily's Notebook 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Fei Fong Wong 75 --(5)--> 80 Fail Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Exhaust(1)|Maim|Wound(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: Fei Fong Wong is too exhausted to continue! DG: Leon Albus is too exhausted to continue! DG: Josephine Lovelace is too exhausted to continue! DG: Elhaym van Houten is too exhausted to continue! DG: Lily Keil is too exhausted to continue! DG: The party has failed this challenge! All party members are now Exhausted. This attempt is over. DG: The party led by Fei Fong Wong has been fully Exhausted by The Decaying Labyrinth! DG: The party will now draw a conclusion.
==========================<* The Decaying Labyrinth *>========================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Echoes of the Past *>====================== |Type: Landmark |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Eventually, you could go no further in the Decaying Labyrinth. The aura of decay seems to be hitting your party, or some members of it, pretty hard. It makes you weak and fatigued; it might not be a great idea to stick around. The magically sensitive are particularly prone to feeling ill at ease in it, but sooner or later, it affects everybody. Fortunately, getting out is easier than in. And while you might feel sick for a day or so, the aura has no long-term effects once you leave it and take a day's rest. During your escape, you passed through a different set of tunnels you didn't see before. These tunnels are slightly more intact than most in the Labyrinth, and have some engravings on the wall - including some writing in a strange language. The scholarly might recognize the language as Elw script, so faded and broken it's hard to make out exactly what it said. Maybe you should come back to the Labyrinth in the future. Anywhere with Elw writing is probably worth a detailed investigation, especially if the curse of decay on the place can be removed first. Who knows where you'll be able to get to then? (OOC: You should let Mariel know how far you got - whether only to the dungeon itself, to the Climax or to the Final. You also may want to run the Dig again after the Statues plot, as you now know it was Elw-made.) =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Tiger," Lily comments to Josie. "You've been calling me that lately." It reminds her of Noah's nickname for her, though for that reason it still suits her eyes. A fool, huh? "Better me than the rest of you," she counters about being a fool. "...I... don't think I should get into any fights like this, but I can walk." Leon frowned at her--but she knows she's right, even if he doesn't like it. THe cough she doesn't like much. "...Right. Quickly..."
Lily's approach is slow but steady, generally; she is not as fast as the others in normal circumstances, and in these it is long discipline that keeps her moving. They make it back through their shortcuts... But in the end, it isn't quite fast enough. Evading monsters is harrowing; sometimes they do it only barely, passing another of those undead lizard creatures along the way and sneaking past.
But they pass through another set of tunnels, and Lily--who has been growing paler and paler, to the point that she wavers closer to Leon as the difficulty grows--stumbles. As Fei asked, she has traded off the ring with him now and then, but in the end they both fail.
Lily ends up retching in front of a set of interesting carvings, losing the contents of her earlier meal and being too dazed to move for a moment.
The ring fades into foul-smelling, awful smoke, roiling back. "...Damn..." She breathes heavily, and won't be the one to point out the Elw writing.
She'll take a rubbing of it though, once she can stand... But she'll have to lean on Leon to get out.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon is stumbling by the time they get through. They have to evade monsters and be careful, and he has to stop to wheeze and cough. He stumbles, once, and leans against the wall. The ring trading helps, but...
It isn't enough. He notes the Elw writing -- and it concerns him how he doesn't show more interest. His mind is foggy, he realizes. The effect of the ring is severe. When Lily keels over, and the ring dissolves into smoke, he grimaces... and then leans against the wall, letting out a long sigh. "Damn... that's going to be tricky," he says. "The blasted thing has quite the curse on it."
He looks back towards the tunnels. "Elw, eh...?"
Something to look at later. He forces himself up, and then shakes his head once. "We should be moving," he says. "That thing took a lot out of us, and this place isn't safe. We're not so far from the exit."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei rushes along but even with his mask, he collapses shortly after Leon, panting for breath.
He glances back to the tunnels, frowning.
"Mariel..." He says. "She must have known we'd see their text... Why didn't she...?"
He coughs repeatedly for a few more moments. Keeping Mariel's secret, he thinks, it didn't put the team in any more danger than normal but--
--maybe Mariel held something else back.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josie shrugs. "I can't go calling you 'kiddo' forever, you know. Besides, I think Tiger suits you. Though if you want, I'm open to suggestions." Her lips curve in a faint frown. "But another time. Right now, we've got to get out of here. Let's get back to the stairs first--"
Drawing her rifle, she moves as if to lead the way, keeping an eye out for any marauders. Granted, right now she's not feeling the greatest anyway, so who knows how well that would play out.
Accepting the ring is, it seems, the one place where Josie draws a line. "It's bad enough being near it. One of us is going to have to drag you home," she'd rationalized it as.
And even not carrying it, she's still decidedly sluggish by the time they see daylight and the curse becomes too much.
"Ugh," she utters, before slouching to lean against a wall. Penelope squirms up out of the back of the collar of her jacket, hops up onto her shoulder, and suddenly wings her way out into the light. "Same to you," Josie says to her departing bird, but she's smiling nonetheless as she straightens and looks at the engravings on the wall her cheek had brushed against.
"Huh. Guess there might be something to this place after all. I haven't come across an Elw ruin in a dog's age."
She holsters her ARM and pushes off the wall, extending a hand to whoever needs it. "Come on. We did what we could. Let's get out of here before I forget what sunlight is like."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"... Lily," Elly says, with a sort of wavering tone, "You aren't - Don't say that sort of thing, it's too sad!" How militarily efficient of her! But then, she's recovering from an injury and also Lily is carrying pure evil.
And yet.
"Ngh - what -" But it can't be the Drive aftershocks coming through her, because it's affecting the others, and, she thinks, if Fei had used 'that' I would know about it. (Here, Elly is probably righter than she knows.) When the ring is eventually abandoned, and vanishes, Elly stares.
And then coughs into her hand again.
She grimaces, swallowing, and then looks to the wall - "The Elw?!" she says, in surprise, looking to Josie.
"... how long is that?"
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josie actually hesitates for a long moment, as if thrown by this question.
Then, finally, "A very long time?"