2018-04-20: The Spire With No Name
- Log: The Spire With No Name
- Cast: Riesenlied, Leon Albus, Noeline, Lily Keil, Xantia, Josephine Lovelace
- Where: The Nameless Spire
- Date: April 20th 2018
- Summary: At Riesenlied's request, some of the Black Wolves set forth for The Nameless Spire to explore its depths and learn more about the tale of Bradamante and the Hellion that makes the Spire its home.
DG: A party led by Leon Albus is now entering The Nameless Spire. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
============================<* The Nameless Spire *>============================ =========================<* CHALLENGE - Self-Sealing *>========================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- There's actually a door here at the Nameless Spire today, massive, barogue, double-doored with immaculate sculpting. Very nice doors indeed. And, they're completely open! What luck! ... Until you approach them, and the black stone of the tower starts to just sort of melt over those opened doors like reality was deciding it just didn't exist anymore, shutting you out entirely via a wall of stone. You know there's an entrance there, probably, and a room beyond, maybe, so get smashing! And hope the room beyond hasn't become some sort of endless pit or something in the meantime. That would suck. But your luck isn't that bad, right? ... Right?? =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied had spent some time selling the artworks of Shepherd Bradamante within the last couple of weeks, but...
... the problem still remained at its root.
It was at Biroclef Ridge, in the depths of Glenwood, that the enormous spire choked with Malevolence rests. A looming, dark tower of baroque proportions and awe-inspiring history whose presence Riesenlied informed the Wolves of... and how she struggled there in her last visit, due to the presence of the Malevolence within.
"Thank you, everyone..." Riesenlied expresses when they rise up the footpath towards the entryway of the tower. "It will be dangerous -- but the voices within still call to me. I know there is a Hellion within, who controls the space of the tower -- so please, be on your guard. I will assist as long as I can."
And just immediately, the tower detects their presence -- and the double doors of the archway of entry meld back into obsidian stone. It doesn't want you inside.
"... it detects us already ..." Riesenlied whispers, and closes her eyes. She draws a lightly shimmering green flute and plays a six-note tune on it--
--and a familiar (to some people) rotund bird of large proportion lands from above. It looks kind of terrified of the Spire. "I need your aid again, Loccy...!"
Loccy the Totally a Cuccobo sweats a bit more, then nods as it rolls sideways and 'thooms' against the side of the tower.
...
Where... where did you meet such a creature, Riese?
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Flute of the Cucco Queen toward her party's challenge, Self-Sealing.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon Albus still can't see Malevolence.
If he was a more poetic sort, he would muse on the irony that something he cannot see can cause him so much trouble. He steps up a little after Riesenlied; he is clad in the same basic leathers, tunic, and gear that makes him look like a run-of-the-mill mercenary on Lunar. Argent Divider, unfurled as a sword, is sheathed in his over-the-shoulder scabbard. He stops behind her, his eyes locked on the entrance of the Spire -- and the way that the doors meld together. His breath catches. But, he looks at Riesenlied with something closer to calm. It is half-feigned. "We're all Black Wolves," he says. "If you need our help, we'll be here. I'll do my best against this... thing."
Leon steps towards the side of the tower, and then pulls out a small, oval-shaped stone. It is a deep, dark purple with an angry yellow rune carved into it. "I bought this in Vane. Curious little thing," he says. "But, if it works like that merchant said, then..."
He puts it against the place where the door was. It sticks. Then, Leon takes a quick jog backward -- and it suddenly begins to vibrate, sending powerful pulses through the structure of the tower. It makes quite the racket, too. "I didn't think it would be so loud!"
DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Thunder Stone toward his party's challenge, Self-Sealing.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
By and large, Noeline has left the issue of artwork selling to Riesenlied; it's not that she's not interested, self-proclaimed historian that she is, more that she's not really certain what the line of enquiry is building towards and is willing to trust Riesenlied's discretion and direction on the matter.
When she talks about revisiting the tower to find out more, though, that's when Noeline starts to quietly worry. Her partner's health being what it is, she's not entirely thrilled about leaving Riese to go gallivanting off on her own, no matter how much she trusts the Wolves; fortunately, the Carakin are around Vane, so it's really just a matter of hiring a certain pink-haired babysitter to try to keep Janey from running off.
"So this is the famed Spire," the twintailed demon wonders, casually lifting the slim spear she's started to use on Lunar to dink-dink-dink it against the newly created wall. "It seems a little rude, don't you think? Very unsporting, to have a ruin refuse all entry and then beg to be climbed."
She catches herself when Leon's device begins to pulse, grimacing as she squints against the noise; her half-step back is almost a dancing step, then she's flicked a hand forward to let the familiar rounded form of Trouble zig-zag forwards. The pod's flight seems more erratic these days, like it wishes it had wings - and it only gets more erratic as the pod dutifully traps the disc in place, ensuring it's not going to fall off prematurely.
DG: Noeline has used her Tool Trouble toward her party's challenge, Self-Sealing.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
The depths of Glenwood--where Lily has been staying near of late, the continent on which she's been camped since before she met up with the group again.
But now, she's here, and Lily Keil is dressed for battle as well. She is hardly run of the mill in her plate armor and magic staff, of course--the staff golden and white, with a vivid green line down the side, a hollow up top for ammunition to throw. ...She leans on the staff a little. But mostly? She has enough energy to get by. ...There's something a little off about her eyes, though; she's alert, but they're bloodshot.
...And as Riesenlied mentions--"A Hellion," Lily says darkly, looking up to the door ahead. "...Does it?" A pause. "Guess there's no way around it."
The armored sorceress steps forward, kneels at the base of the door. ...The pulses start, and Lily grimaces very obviously--"Loud..."
She doesn't have much left, by way of explosives, but she can place these at the side of the door, where it meets the wall, and move back in an effort to--
Well, blow them up.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Explosive Charges toward her party's challenge, Self-Sealing.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Contrary to her more usual drifting in and out back on Filgaia, Xantia has mostly stuck around the Wolfsbane ever since chancing upon Leon and Lily and taking the opportunity to join the Black Wolves on the spot. She spent enough time wandering around lost and alone as of late, some semblance of stability is nice for a change. There have been some reports of a mysterious hero who looks just like Xantia wearing a domino mask around Vane, but she wouldn't know anything about that.
Exploring with friends though, that's a whole different matter. Always glad to help, she didn't need to think twice about agreeing to come along on this venture to an unknown place. The company matters more than anything, really. While the notion of danger never seems to mean much to her at all. Just happy to be here!
Actually, a place rife with Malevolence isn't exactly something that sounds like a lot of fun to her. She can't usually see it, but she's certainly felt what a large concentration of it can do. Still, you wouldn't think she has any concerns just looking at her. "Of course, of course! We just have to beat it up, right? No problem!" Same old Xantia.
The doors just sort of melt as they get close, which gets less of a reaction of Xantia than the appearance of Loccy does. One could forgive it from sweating up a storm given the hungry look that she casts the plump bird's way. Whatever it is, it doesn't parse as a Cucco to her, just... food. But the loud noise Leon makes snaps her out of it, and she refocuses on the task at hand. This problem has a simple enough answer.
"...Right, okay, so! If there's no door, we'll just have to make one!" This is where she'd bring out her hammer, if she'd taken it along. But she doesn't really miss it. Just means that she smashes her fists into the wall instead. It's fine, sometimes her fists are enough on their own to break through solid rock. It doesn't seem to be causing her much in the way of discomfort.
DG: Xantia has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Self-Sealing.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
As for Josie, in the last couple of weeks, she's been by large out of touch. The most anyone would have heard from her would have been a mention of 'investigating this or that promising ruin' (not... precisely the way she'd put it though) arguably in search of the Fereshte, but there's similarly been no claim to victory. She's always come back empty-handed.
It's an interesting side note, perhaps, that Josie has always -- as far as she's aware, since the time it first appeared in Filgaia -- been able to see and sense Malevolence.
"See? He's got the right of it," says the until-now wayward archaeologist, shading her eyes with her right hand. "What do they say about dogs? They come callin' when someone whistles, right? Heh heh..." She cracks a grin, in spite of the comment's arguable applicability to herself as well. "So what were you saying about this place? ...Looks a good sight better than that shack Red and Junior lugged me off to. ...Well, would you look at that?"
She points, indicating the open doors. "Now there's a welcome committee if I ever saw one--"
She may, in the end, have spoken a little too soon.
"..." Josie purses her lips and delivers a glare to the spire wall.
"Well, what say we make a door if it's going to try to show us the boot, eh?"
Penelope, perched upon her shoulder, settles in, closing her eyes.
Josie in the meantime draws forth the well-used mattock from the depths of her back. "Got explosives, huh--"
"And that bird again. And--"
She shoulders the digging tool for a moment, regarding the wall and considering her options, before Xantia approaches, fists at the ready. "--Here, let me give you a hand, kiddo--"
And she swings, right for the wall.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Well-Used Mattock toward her party's challenge, Self-Sealing.
===========================<* The Nameless Spire *>=========================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Self-Sealing *>======================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- There's actually a door here at the Nameless Spire today, massive, barogue, double-doored with immaculate sculpting. Very nice doors indeed. And, they're completely open! What luck! ... Until you approach them, and the black stone of the tower starts to just sort of melt over those opened doors like reality was deciding it just didn't exist anymore, shutting you out entirely via a wall of stone. You know there's an entrance there, probably, and a room beyond, maybe, so get smashing! And hope the room beyond hasn't become some sort of endless pit or something in the meantime. That would suck. But your luck isn't that bad, right? ... Right?? =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
======================<* The Nameless Spire - Round 1 *>====================== ==========================< Results - Self-Sealing >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Thunder Stone 4 Brute Effects: Efficient and Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Flute of the Cucco Queen 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Well-Used Mattock 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Trouble 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Explosive Charges 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Leon Albus 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied nods with some comfort when Leon encourages her, but curiously looks towards the stone he produces. "A merchant in Vane? I-- ah--!" she winces and drops nearly to her knees as she holds her ears. "It-- it is rather loud--" she gasps aloud.
With the Thunder Stone at work, Noeline gets to work with Trouble bonking against it and hopefully not getting vibrated into pieces (poor Trouble!!), and Lily setting up charges at the sides of where the door used to be.
Loccy stares back at Xantia, and--
--she stares back like he's... he's... well, the only polite phrase is 'emergency survival rations'. Loccy sweats a bit harder. Please don't eat me please don't eat me.
"Yes... I unfortunately still have no ability to purify it, but..." Riesenlied frowns as she answers Xantia. "Perhaps if we were to go back to Elru..."
Riesenlied's been very grateful for Josie's aid in the search for the Fereshte, but the fact that they've come back empty-handed has had her more and more worried...
With Josephine and Xantia helping chip away and creating fractures within the stone, thanks to Leon's thunderstone, Lily's charges finish the rest as they blow clear a way inward into the opulent halls of decadence.
Lily gets Riesenlied to glance at her for a moment, as she bites her lip gently. She places a hand on her shoulder softly to express, "... are you all right...?"
DG: Leon Albus has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* The Nameless Spire *>=========================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Work of Art *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The room you come to has no exits. Literally. The door you went through? What door? There's definitely no door there anymore. All there is here is one giant painting of what looks like a battlefield in what looks vaguely like the wide, green plains of the Meadow of Triumph in Rolance. However, it seems some key players are missing -- empty splotches of white dominate certain portions of this paintings where people should be. Soldiers, lords, fighting combatants. The missing portions are always random, but what is consistent is where they can be found: floating all over the room, like paint brought to life, two-dimensional slips of painted people flit about from here to there, like a fitful tempest of art. When applied to the painting, they'll merge where they belong -- but not all of these living paintings belong to -this- painting, and you'll also have to actually catch them first before you can force them back to where they belong. Once complete, the painting will play out the scene of its battle and disappear, leading to a way forward. You just have to wrangle a bit of art first. Not too tough, right? =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon looks back at Lily. His expression is worried, for a moment, at something bout the armored figure -- and maybe, the way her eyes are bloodshot and she leans into the staff despite her (sometimes unnatural) vitality.
"Violence does seem to be an imperfect solution to Malevolence," he tells Xantia. "But, imperfect solutions are the bread and butter of the hurried and the desperate."
He steps forward, as the portion of wall collapses, and then leans down to scoop the Thunder Stone out of the rubble. He slides it into his bag, and then steps in ahead of them all. His brow furrows, though, as he looks around -- finding nothing in this room save for flat walls, without a sign of an exit. There is, of course, the gigantic paintinng.
He turns -- and then he gasps. The way behind them has shut, too. "What in the--this is no ordinary place." He grits his teeth, and he looks up, as the first two-dimensional knight on horseback charges by. His eyebrows knit.
"Josie," he declares. "Did Penelope come with you?"
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Work of Art.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline seems upbeat and quietly amused at the way the group slowly bash their way into the tower, finding it a great deal more direct than most possible entrances; there's something almost refreshing about such a straightforward approach, and she chuckles to herself as she watches it work. Still-- her eyes briefly alight on the way in which Leon looks at Lily, and in a moment of slight sympathy that she'd never ever admit to, she pats the man on the shoulders.
"Take it from someone with a great deal of history - if you feel you have something to say, it's usually better to say it," she notes rather laconically, with her own glance to where Riese is encouraging the cuccobo onwards.
Once they're inside the tower, though, Noeline stops and looks terrifically impressed. "My, you were not kidding about this place. What an interesting sight," she hums, immediately trying to run her fingers through a floating watercolour river; the 'paint' fragments around her fingers, flowing through and around her gauntlet then just sliding straight off as it reforms itself. "I hope you haven't been selling paintings like these, Riese-- or perhaps I do," she adds, her hand going to her hip instead. "It would certainly make for a much more interesting gallery experience."
"Miss Xantia, I wouldn't try to use too much strength here, hm, lest you simply tear and scatter them? Perhaps something like this," she adds brightly, as she hops up to 'push' the piece of landscape by means of both palms, more using the force of the motion and the way it displaces the air rather than an actual impact.
DG: Noeline has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Work of Art.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"There we go. See, a piece of cake. Now, let's see what's tucked inside." Stuffing the mattock away into her bag, she slips into the shadows within the tower.
In an eyeblink, things have changed.
Josie turns herself right round, as it were, gazing into the continuous expanse of this chamber and the picture within it.
There is no longer any such thing as a door.
She slowly tilts her head to the right, as if to make some sort of sense of it, only to ultimately shrug her shoulders. "Starting to see why you asked for assistance, Sunshine..." she murmurs.
She sights something out of the corner of an eye. "Huh," she voices, dark eyes landing on a floating fragment of picture as it drifts on by. "That's sure strange." One gloved finger reaches out to prod at it, an expanse of grasses rustling then trampled as she does so.
"...She did, yeah," comes the answer to Leon's question. "Why do you ask--"
Penelope, previously perched on Josie's shoulder, does not do so much longer.
In a blur of black and white, the domestic bird takes to the air, wings whirring as she sets out on her mission. To seek and--
...and hopefully, not destroy.
The look in the bird's eyes certainly are intent on something, though.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Penelope toward her party's challenge, Work of Art.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Yeah," Lily says distantly, "We beat it up."
As the way forward is opened, Lily keeps looking forward... until she blinks, flinching lightly at the hand on her shoulder that she wasn't expecting. "What--" Her voice is soft, and the word cuts off before she even finishes it, looking to Riesenlied... and remembering the look from Leon a few moments ago.
"...I'm fine," Lily says, shaking her head. "I can fight."
She steps forward, misses Noeline's statement to Leon, and looks to the painting thoughtfully... before she pulls her notebook. "Mm, let's see..." She looks at it thoughtfully, looks to the floating art...
And starts to focus, holding out the staff in her other hand, and with a crackling of violet energy--
...Tries to get pieces of art to rocket straight into her book where she can close them up.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Lily's Notebook toward her party's challenge, Work of Art.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Hellions and those influenced by Malevolence often turn violent, so martial prowess is often necessary..." Riesenlied does at least encourage Xantia and Leon, "But you're right. ... I've been trying to research the means to learn how to purify it using the Medium, as Princess Cecilia has discovered..."
Her eyes widen as she gazes towards the painting and holds her hand to her head for a moment. There's a faint gasp.
"No, this is not a work depicting the maiden Bradamante..." Riesenlied answers Noeline, as she holds the Dragon's Tear to her palm. She looks at Lily with a quiet nod, though she still has clear concerns. She deeply breathes as she concentrates--
--and a coalescing spiral of those familiar photons start to band around the room, loosing about the fragments of the paintings. "... I won't let you bandy about within this space, Hellion. Begone!"
Someone's really gotten used to the exorcising miko role, haven't they...
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Dragon's Tear toward her party's challenge, Work of Art.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia scratches the side of her face sheepishly as she's reminded that oh yeah, it would probably be best if they could purify the Hellion. "Y-yeah, I suppose..." It still feels weird, these problems where the best solution isn't to punch it until it goes away. As long as it's a valid solution nonetheless, she supposes...
It worked fine to help deal with the wall, at least. But a problem like this... "Oh no, this is a puzzle, isn't it?" This one's obvious enough for even her to realize this immediately. Not her strong suit, as most anyone who knows her at all could tell. And no exits either. "Can't we just... break down another wall?" This hopeful suggestion might be the most helpful one she has.
Of course if punching a wall isn't an option, she's still inclined to apply force to the problem somehow, as Noeline correctly guesses. And yet still she looks surprised that it was that obvious, as evidenced by her shocked expression. "I wasn't going to break anything! ...well, not on purpose..." She watches the example displayed to her, before she hmms, and reaches into her cloak's inner pocket. This is definitely a job for a tome of questionable wisdom.
Leafing through her guidebook, she quickly comes across some words that seem relevant enough to the situation. "'When life runs away from you, you're not running fast enough to catch it.' ...I see!"
It's not really made clear what she sees. Though one could guess she'd take it in the most literal way possible. Which in this case means that she starts running after the various floating figures, trying to catch them and hold them still. She's not going to be the one to figure this out, but maybe this'll help others to complete the puzzle.
At least she's not breaking anything. Or chasing Josie's equally tasty-looking bird around.
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Guide to Dungeoneering toward her party's challenge, Work of Art.
===========================<* The Nameless Spire *>=========================== ========================<* CHALLENGE - Work of Art *>========================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The room you come to has no exits. Literally. The door you went through? What door? There's definitely no door there anymore. All there is here is one giant painting of what looks like a battlefield in what looks vaguely like the wide, green plains of the Meadow of Triumph in Rolance. However, it seems some key players are missing -- empty splotches of white dominate certain portions of this paintings where people should be. Soldiers, lords, fighting combatants. The missing portions are always random, but what is consistent is where they can be found: floating all over the room, like paint brought to life, two-dimensional slips of painted people flit about from here to there, like a fitful tempest of art. When applied to the painting, they'll merge where they belong -- but not all of these living paintings belong to -this- painting, and you'll also have to actually catch them first before you can force them back to where they belong. Once complete, the painting will play out the scene of its battle and disappear, leading to a way forward. You just have to wrangle a bit of art first. Not too tough, right? =Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
======================<* The Nameless Spire - Round 2 *>====================== ==========================< Results - Work of Art >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Dragon's Tear 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Penelope 3 Wits Effects: Resilient and Liabili ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 5 --(5)--> 10 Fail Guide to Dungeoneering 1 Wits Effects: Rally and Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Lily's Notebook 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Leon Albus 20 --(15)--> 35 Pass Conditions: Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Leon Albus has posed.
"Well... yes," Leon agrees with Noeline. He stops, looking around -- and then his eyes move to Penelope. He looks at her warily. Then, he answers Josephine: "Equal parts hope and terror, mostly."
He follows Noeline's instruction. He reaches out and grabs towards one of the floating two dimensional pieces, with a glance at Lily. Later, he thinks. The middle of a dungeon is not the time. He looks at Riesenlied, and then he nods, once to her. "I see. Ah, so--this Shepherd Bradamante is a historical figure?"
Working together, it isn't so hard. For one thing, Noeline and Lily -- with her notebook -- can direct them. For another, though, the Dragon's Tear sends those photons of light that cast back most of the less-than-lucky pieces. In the end, they have a complete painting, with one odd piece placed by Xantia. In the midst of a scene of somber battle, of broken knights and shattered faith, there is an immense...
...extremely fat foreign yellow bird?
But a door opens.
"Well," Leon declares. "Whatever works, I suppose."
DG: Josephine Lovelace has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Nameless Spire *>============================ ====================<* CHALLENGE - (Don't) Be Our Guests *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come to what looks like a lovely little lounge, a nice place for the noble who no doubt once owned this territory to convene and ruminate about their day in peace. The furnishings here are lovely, comfortable. The room is even oriented horizontally without any weird shifts of gravity or anything. Nice. Relaxing. You could stay here and sit a spell. Rest off a hard day's work. Until the love seat decides it's not so loving and attacks you, anyway. And that's when -all- of the furniture comes to life. Each and every one of them, from the clock to the candelabrum, seething with Malevolence. Hellionized furniture. Trying to kill you. Welp. At least it was relaxing while it lasted?? =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Hmm. Well, you know what they say -- always look on the bright side of life, eh, Lion?"
As it happens, Penelope actually buffets down one or two and captures a couple more of the painting fragments, but...
...They are somewhat scratched up. The painting might just have to have its auction value dropped for this...
At least any further shenanigans are ended when Josephine captures the wayward bird with both hands.
She does regard the painting a moment, looking it over. Only to shrug and step on through the door that manifests itself.
What waits beyond is... well, a waiting room. It's almost defiantly normal, compared to the wall that sealed itself, and the picture puzzle just prior. "Hm. A little suspicious, but who am I to judge?"
Josie sets down Penelope on a nearby teatable, plants one hand on her hip, then just simply plops into one of the nearby armchairs.
She does, in defiance of all decorum ever, prop up her feet on the table.
"Might as well take a breather, eh?" she says, gesturing to the nearby chairs and assorted furniture. From a pocket, she extracts a flash and takes a nip from its contents, as if they weren't in the midst of an excavation.
"...When in Kislev, do as the Kislevi do, right?" she prompts.
In the heartbeat that ensues before the chair she's seated upon suddenly attempts to eat her alive
An immediate burst of profanity ensues, as she struggles to free herself from a plushy maw. Her predicament isn't the only one such: all around the room, the furniture has come alive, aglitter with Malevolence and ready to cause what can only be termed 'a very bad time' for everyone involved.
For instance: Penelope takes to the ceiling as the table, like a Venus flytrap, snaps shut where the pigeon once sat.
And Josie continues to try to pull her leg out of an animate armchair intent on gumming her to death with felt.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Liquid Courage toward her party's challenge, (Don't) Be Our Guests.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied places her hand to her cheek as she gazes upon the painting. While some part of her would absolutely love to gush about how any painting is markedly improved by the addition of adorably fluffy, perfectly round birds, it... it might not be the right place for this.
She returns to Leon's question.
"As I understand it, Bradamante was a very devout and loving maiden from the village of Leonois -- who was a hero to her country, some eight hundred or so years ago. But..." she furrows her brow. "Her name has been tarnished by history -- in no small part by the pettiness of the Hellion noble that has dwelt within this spire, transcending life into undeath. The works I have gathered were all vandalised, particularly around her face."
She shakes her head. "I have no sympathy or patience for one who would drag another's name down in history like that..."
She gasps as Josephine suddenly gets devoured by the chair, though, and is about to reach forward when--
A pile of pillows attempts to drag her down and smother her to death!
Help, Noeline, Riese is getting kidnapped into a pillow fort! It looks comfy af!
DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, (Don't) Be Our Guests.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"...Has she," Lily says to Riesenlied about purification. "...Mm."
Something doesn't quite catch up with her there, and she shakes her head, continuing along. She can see--rather, feel--Riesenlied's concern without much trouble. She might've been fine with breaking down another wall... But not today. Instead, she waits until they have this set up, and sees... the...
"..."
Lily keeps going, leaning on her staff now and then, and as they arrive in the new room, she looks around. "...I guess," LIly admits. "Kislev, though?" she asks, lifting her eyebrow. Whatever, she's too tired to care. Hearing about Bradamante, Lily takes a seat, sighing. "...So Hellions live longer than most people," Lily concludes. "That--"
The loveseat she's on tries to eat her too, snapping up in an instant around her. "What the--"
Crackling power erupts around her as Lily starts to... well. Her magic starts to eat the couch that's trying to eat her. It's a little recursive. It's also very violent.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, (Don't) Be Our Guests.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Er. Does someone actually say that?" Leon asks Josie, glancing at her. He doesn't remark on the nickname.
He frowns, though, as he enters the next room. He looks around like he expects some sort of trap. Maybe, he thinks, an explosive planted here. A ghost that comes from the wall. A pit in the floor. But, Josie sits down on a chair, and everything seems fine. His shoulders slump for a moment.
He looks sideways at Riesenlied, and his brow furrows. "...That's horrible," he says. "Not unexpected, though. What's the saying? The victor writes history? I suppose whoever owned this infernal place decided to make a monument to pettiness. But--"
The chair attacks Josephine, and then a table flies up into the air and spin kicks (because a table, after all, has legs) Leon in the face. He stumbles backward with a yelp, then calls out: "Xantia! You're cleared for smashing!"
Argent Divider comes out. The blade swings down, as he tries to bisect the offending end table.
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, (Don't) Be Our Guests.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
For a moment, Noeline is forced to look askance at the painting's new addition, an eyebrow distinctly furrowed as she tries to figure out exactly how that works; it perhaps bodes badly for their general sense of the place that Riesenlied's feathered friend can apparently get sucked into a painting, but all she can really do is wait and see if that happens to be final. The bird has managed to get through tougher scrapes, after all.
It's with a sort of a relieved and appreciative sigh that Noeline comes across the sitting room, however. It does rather speak to her own sensibilities, and she looks pleased at the sight of it, humming brightly to herself as she pokes at some of the furnishings. What she doesn't do... is launch herself immediately into a loveseat, no matter how much she might typically act the part of a lounging Crimson Noble. She's learnt to trust her instincts, and after a couple of instances of the Spire warping the world around them, there's a nugget of certainty at the back of her mind that suggests this is a time to be wary.
That's proven to be correct with the cushions leap for Riesenlied; immediately, she springs into action, grabbing for the blonde's arm to try to pull her back. "Riese! What a ridiculoummf--" Whatever disparaging words she was about to let out are muffled when a comfortable-looking throw decides to throw itself around them, gagging her for a disorienting moment; the already comfortable cushion trap is made even more so when she and Riese are trapped in a bundle together, arms caught by the fabric.
Fortunately, Noeline doesn't necessarily need to move her arms in order to fight back; she concentrates instead, willing her metal into motion. Whatever moral restrictions she placed around her use of the Errant Blade, the potentially rather sadistic ability to form and control whiplike blades of metal, they apparently do not apply to sentient furnishings - a tendril suddenly tears through their bindings as Noeline pushes her way out, grimacing as she twists aside to make space for Riese to breathe.
DG: Noeline has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, (Don't) Be Our Guests.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Looks like the puzzle was solved, somehow. Don't ask Xantia how that happened. However the others figured it out, she's just glad it worked. She does take a moment to look over the completed painting, duly impressed. "Whoever made this had good taste," she remarks. No, she's not suddenly an art critic. She's talking about the tasty yellow bird in there, of course.
She might think this a conspiracy, all these birds popping up making her think about food. But let's not kid ourselves, she thinks about food all the time anyway. No prompting required.
Listening to the story of Bradamante, she frowns deeply, commenting, "That's terrible! Nobody should have to be remembered wrong." Or not at all, she adds inwardly. Though she'd be hard pressed to decide which is worse.
The next room is... confusing. Xantia looks around, not finding the collection of furniture suspicious so much, but it does seem unusual to find something so... normal-looking, especially after such a bizarre puzzle. Is there a hidden puzzle here that she's not seeing?
At least she feels no impulse to sit down, bursting with energy as she is, which saves her from getting into immediate trouble when the seats start trying to eat people. She has plenty of time to figure out what's going on, a footstool almost comically hopping up to her, trying to bite her ankle, only to be unceremoniously punted across the room. "Oh no you don't!"
Leon clears her for smashing, which is all the prompting Xantia needs. She sees no reason to hold back here, because... well, when does she ever? Activating her ARM, a red energy blade springs into existence, the perfect tool for chopping wood, in her experience. It probably doesn't matter if the wood is also a monster. The only complaint she has as she starts slicing up seats, tables, cloaks and whatever else she can get to is: "You're the worst, trying to eat us when we can't eat you, that's just not fair!"
DG: Xantia has used her Tool ARM Blade toward her party's challenge, (Don't) Be Our Guests.
============================<* The Nameless Spire *>============================ ====================<* CHALLENGE - (Don't) Be Our Guests *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- You come to what looks like a lovely little lounge, a nice place for the noble who no doubt once owned this territory to convene and ruminate about their day in peace. The furnishings here are lovely, comfortable. The room is even oriented horizontally without any weird shifts of gravity or anything. Nice. Relaxing. You could stay here and sit a spell. Rest off a hard day's work. Until the love seat decides it's not so loving and attacks you, anyway. And that's when -all- of the furniture comes to life. Each and every one of them, from the clock to the candelabrum, seething with Malevolence. Hellionized furniture. Trying to kill you. Welp. At least it was relaxing while it lasted?? =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
=======================<* The Nameless Spire - Round 3 *>======================= ======================< Results - (Don't) Be Our Guests >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 10 --(5)--> 15 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Riesenlied 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josephine Lovelace 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Liquid Courage 3 Combat Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Noeline 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass ARM Blade 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 35 --(20)--> 55 Pass Conditions: Save Point(1) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Hmmm." The name of the maiden in question, the circumstances surrounding her life, what became of her legacy... "That's what happens, sometimes. ...Got it in one, Leon," she says, apparently opting for his given name for once, jabbing a finger his way as she loosely swirls the remaining contents of her flask. "'History is written by the winners'... which is why my profession's important, right? The past can stay buried, but as long as someone's around to dig it back up again..." She grins, showing far too many teeth. "The truth won't stay buried forever, at least, not if I have anything to say about."
Thus runs her commentary on the subject before the sitting room turns rather volatile.
It's a testament to... something that Josie avoids dropping her flask while simultaneously working her leg out of the armchair that's somehow gobbled it up (partially, with a lot of fabric rather than teeth or anything sharp). One turn of wrist -- flask closed, flask back in a pocket, sidearm drawn -- and a pull of a trigger later and there's instead a rather sad pile of wood and cloth on the floor of the room, the barrel of her gun a'smoking.
Others present have encountered similar perils. A pile of pillows leaps at Riesenlied about the same moment a throw flings itself headlong at Noeline to bind and attempt to smother the pair of them in their soft embrace -- the good news is that neither cloth object puts up a terrible fight once Noeline brings the full force of that whiplike blade to bear against the plushy menaces.
Naught but fabric scraps remain.
In the meanwhile, a couch attempts to consume Lily alive as she attempts to take a breather.
The joke, however, is probably on it in the end -- it's reduced swiftly to a fine ash as it twitches and writhes while her fell magic eats it alive (??).
The end-table, though broken right in half, still menaces its way forward -- is this to be a situation where each swing of Leon's sword only generates ever more opponents for them all to struggle against?
Well, no.
Xantia rushes in. The energy blade cuts and smashes, reducing what remains of the end table into woodchips, and it seems even horrible Hellions have a lower size limit at some point.
After this point, it's just a matter of taking out one's frustrations on the remaining furniture. It's not a fair fight, but perhaps all's fair in love(seats) and war...
DG: Xantia has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* The Nameless Spire *>=========================== =============<* CHALLENGE - When Your World Turns Upside-Down *>============== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Gravity doesn't really behave how it should in this place. Architecture and structural integrity, either. This probably couldn't be any more clear as the entirety of the room you're in suddenly just spins around, groaning as it literally turns within the tower itself. And it doesn't matter -how- gravity was behaving when you got here, whether you were walking across the ceiling or the walls or the floors like some boring normal person, because very suddenly, that gravity -reasserts- itself and you find yourself falling. That you might be falling UP really makes no nevermind, does it? It's still a long drop. Or ascent. Whatever. You're the one doing it, call it whatever you want!! =Dungeon Conditions: Cripple, Bad Luck========================================
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Few people probably enjoyed the furniture room when it's all said and done, but Xantia's spirits weren't dampened in the slightest. What's to complain about, that room was great, she got to smash everything in it! In her judgment, "That wasn't so bad!" Eager to move on, she hums a happy tune to herself as she wades through the corpses of wooden constructs towards the door on the opposite end.
Which she then also smashes. Better safe than sorry! It was wood after all, good odds that it was a monster too.
Xantia makes to stride confidently through the door opening, when... "Ow!" ...she runs into a solid wall where the door used to be. She rubs her nose, complaining, "Why do these doors keep vanishing?!"
Except the door didn't vanish. It's just abruptly higher up than it used to be, now level with the ceiling. Or rather, still level with the floor, it's just that from one second to the next the floor become the ceiling, and vice-versa. There's no logical sense to be made of this sudden occurance. Xantia only starts to figure it out when she looks up, possibly prompted by other people's reactions.
And fittingly enough for a situation you might see happening in a cartoon, the very moment she realizes that she's now standing on the ceiling, gravity reasserts, causing everyone - and everything - that used to be on the floor to abruptly fall down. Or... fall up. Whichever. Directions have ceased to have any meaning.
Now, it's suddenly much less of a good thing that all the furniture was smashed into splinters, as all that mess goes crashing right along with the party. All Xantia can really do is try her best to try and at least land on her feet, and cover her head as the Hellion-possessed objects take their revenge from beyond the grave. What is even going on anymore?
DG: Xantia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, When Your World Turns Upside-Down.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied yelps and coughs a little from her not terribly pleasant smothering, though Noeline's whip-like blade is there to rescue them before too long. At least they got to softly embrace each other, which is always nice even when you're in a Malevolence-choked place in the midst of danger.
"I suppose... it is more that history is only but one viewpoint into the past," Riesenlied expresses. "After all... my brethren were known for centuries as boogeymen and ancient killers." Yeah, there's a little bit of a personal drive there.
"As for Hellions... it just so happens that the hatred that binds this one-- fuelled him far beyond life," Riesenlied sighs. "And feeding upon negative emotions... the Malevolence just helped sustain him. It's a dangerous cycle."
Her eyes widen gently as she says, "Ah, careful, Miss Xantia..." as the martial artist hurries on-- eyes widened as she looks up and flails, letting up a yelp as she tries to spread her wings--
--and finds that wings that have all kinds of gun and blade gashes don't actually work very well to keep herself afloat.
DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, When Your World Turns Upside-Down.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"That's--"
Leon is abruptly falling towards the ceiling. His silver eyes shoot wide open -- and he flails his arms, before he thinks better. He has enough control to sheathe Argent Divider, to not cut into someone by mistake. He shouts as the gravity reasserts, and he goes crashing down towards the floor. He reaches an arm out, though, hand grasping.
He has an idea. He wishes he hadn't left his climbing rope back in Vane. Instead, he has to use his fingers to grab for a torch-mount on the wall, trying to clutch at it and arrest his all.
"We need to make our way to the door!" he calls out. "Somehow!"
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, When Your World Turns Upside-Down.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"You've got a point there, Sunshine. Still, the more of history's dark little secrets getting dragged kicking and screaming into the light the better, right?"
So it goes before they get assaulted by a full set of furniture (and matching decor).
"Not a bad idea, honestly," Josie opines, as Xantia opts to smash the door at the end as well. Down from the rafters, Penelope swoops after them as they make their way through the now quite open portal and into the room beyond.
It's the upsidedown chandelier that first draws Josie's attention. That, and the way that Penelope plummets... upwards in a... rise towards the...
She gets a moment to stare at the room below (above? relative to herself?) before gravity, or sanity, or logic reassert themselves rather suddenly.
The most she can do as she starts to fall (rise?) is prepare herself for a crash landing, on whatever sort of surface awaits.
Penelope, notably, does not help even the slightest, gliding gently downwards -- or is that rising gradually?
Maybe it's just semantics in the end.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, When Your World Turns Upside-Down.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Dusting herself down after the altercation, Noeline frowns to herself quietly; when she looks back to take in the room behind them, furnishings torn and battered, she can't help but feel it's a little wasteful, and she lets out a rather pained sigh at the sight. "Really, now... what a mess. You know, I'm sure the bar could have done with a few bits and pieces like this." Is someone still sore about trading in the Starfall Saloon for a place in Vane? Oh well.
Ultimately, the metal demon spy tends to be a bit cattish in nature - and that much is proven when their sense of gravity lurches and twists, and instinctively Noeline twists with it. Reorienting herself isn't much of a problem, but the fact they're still rather high up is something of a concern; for an instant, she tries to tap into the power of the Medium inside of her, wondering if this might just be all an illusory space she can dispel in the blink of an eye.
No such luck; Malevolence doesn't exactly play by those rules, so instead she's forced to stretch for Riesenlied's hand, summoning her pod to her with a call.
"--Strife!-- what are you--" she blurts immediately afterwards, looking rather annoyed when it turns out the pod, being a purely mechanical creature, appears to not give a slightest damn about the current situation in the room, flying upwards to meet their downwards fall. Catching a hold of the pod's handle is a little strange when it's obeying completely different gravity to the rest of them, but Noeline lunges for it anyway.
They're left dangling, as the robot makes a very confused beep at the orders to fly up, instead of down. "... Filgaia has problems with dark little secrets and lost histories," she grumbles to Josephine as they go up-- down-- as they travel. "And from what we've seen, Lunar is exactly the same way."
DG: Noeline has used her Tool Strife toward her party's challenge, When Your World Turns Upside-Down.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Now there is ash all over Lily's armor.
...And she can't help but notice Josie's intensity about this subject. In the midst of that, she... doesn't say much, of course, but does start dusting herself off with a scowl. "Should've known. I shouldn't sit down anyway..." Lily shakes her head. She looks--well. She looks tired. Xantia of course, "Yeah, we walked away from i--"
The door's gone. And suddenly they are in gravity, except, the wrong kind of gravity, and Lily falls upward and hits what's left of a table. "Ugh--"
"Dangerous... cycle. So you don't think it usually happens? I've seen some--"
Lily is falling in a different direction now. It's not great. "History--kind of--"
The sorceress throws out her hands and reaches out--
...She does not get hold of a torch mount. Instead, she ends up throwing out a blast of fire to try to rocket herself towards the door at Leon's direction.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, When Your World Turns Upside-Down.
===========================<* The Nameless Spire *>=========================== =============<* CHALLENGE - When Your World Turns Upside-Down *>============== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Gravity doesn't really behave how it should in this place. Architecture and structural integrity, either. This probably couldn't be any more clear as the entirety of the room you're in suddenly just spins around, groaning as it literally turns within the tower itself. And it doesn't matter -how- gravity was behaving when you got here, whether you were walking across the ceiling or the walls or the floors like some boring normal person, because very suddenly, that gravity -reasserts- itself and you find yourself falling. That you might be falling UP really makes no nevermind, does it? It's still a long drop. Or ascent. Whatever. You're the one doing it, call it whatever you want!! =Dungeon Conditions: Cripple, Bad Luck========================================
======================<* The Nameless Spire - Round 4 *>====================== ===============< Results - When Your World Turns Upside-Down >================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 15 --(15)--> 30 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 20 --(20)--> 40 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 15 --(15)--> 30 Pass Strife 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Leon Albus 55 --(10)--> 65 Fail Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Cripple Effects: Cleanse ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Xantia has posed.
There isn't much you can really do when gravity itself ceases to make sense. Noeline has a convenient way to assist in not actually slamming into the ground, and Leon succeeds in grabbing hold of a thankfully solid wall-mounted torch to prevent the same. Everyone else... well, they take the full tumble, landing hard on the same floor they were still standing on mere seconds ago. Does this count as the ground or ceiling now? Are you upside-down or right-side up? Does it even matter at this point?
For the majority, the pain may too distracting to think about it much. Or they just don't commonly think of this sort of thing at all, like Xantia. She only complains, "Ow, ow, ow... what is up with this place?" Knowing her, it might be correct to interpret what she said as literally wondering about the direction.
At least the door is in easy reach now. "Let's... let's just go before something else happens," is the best suggestion she has. "I'm sure the next room won't be so bad!" Aaaaand now she jinxed it.
DG: Noeline has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* The Nameless Spire *>=========================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - The Endless Hall *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- You see before you a simple, short hallway. Pretty, but short. Except when you try to walk across it, the door at the end never quite gets within reach. In fact, it seems to be getting further and further away. In fact, the entire hall seems to be stretching out swiftly, growing longer and longer until it feels like it might have no end if you don't outrun it. Can you outpace old, haunted architecture? Well, now you get the chance to find out! Hurray! =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Of course, with situations like this, it isn't just the start of it you have to watch out for - it's the end, as well. Right before Strife crosses through the threshold out of the gravity defying room and into the corridor beyond, a thought strikes the Hyadean - and with an effort, she pushes herself upwards in a 'jump' towards what used to be the floor. That turns out to be an important bit of foresight, as gravity abruptly reverses again to bring them back down to ground - and it's a simple matter for Noeline to brace herself for the shorter fall, Riesenlied momentarily perched in her arms.
"--well, then," she mutters, squinting at the decor around them; they must be on the edge of the tower, because there's a slight curve to the corridor, and a series of windows that look out on the landscape below to provide a stunning view. Now wary of the architecture in general, Noeline begins to pace forward slowly, but-- well, nothing much seems to happen. It's just a pleasant walk along a curving hallway, though it's surprising how wide the Spire must be for it to have gone on this long.
The spy's brow is furrowed, though, and her concentration has been on the view from the windows for some time. Of course, why wouldn't you just check out that view, with Filgaia hanging motionless in the air, and the bay peeking out from behind a brace of forests in the distance--
It's not moving at all.
"--I believe we are being messed around with yet again," Noeline snorts once she's realized it herself, and looks ahead to where the curve continues along their path; a flick of her arm, and Strife goes winging down the path ahead with some speed, only to come careening around the corner behind them and nearly bonk into the back of Noeline's head.
She catches the little machine easily before it can do so, thankfully, and instead heaves out a breath as she turns towards the rather prominent windows, leaning over to peer out - and then look above, to the floor above them. "Time to think outside the box, I suppose," she adds as she hops onto the pod's back, nudging it out into the open air. "If anyone has a rope, I might be able to provide a bit of a shortcut."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Last time, the Hellion's powers pretty much threw her for a loop as well, and it's because of this kind of incident that Riesenlied needs help. She's just not in a condition to be able to really cope with this kind of malevolent (as well as Malevolent) architecture anymore, and she knows it.
There's a sigh of relief and gratitude as Noeline sets her down, and they keep pacing... and it's with a quiet frown that she remarks, "This twist of space..." Noeline suggests trying to climb out over the windows and peers over with some uncertainty.
"You're right, of course, Josie," Riesenlied nods. "... these two worlds' fates are connected, and I want to know how. There is too much grief borne of ignorance, and I won't let places like these perpetuate it further."
Rope... Riesenlied doesn't really have rope, but she does try to flutter out and strain her wings as she holds out for Noeline. "As long as it's not too far..."
DG: Riesenlied has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Endless Hall. DG: Noeline has used her Tool Strife toward her party's challenge, The Endless Hall.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
When Xantia steps through the door opening, she does so cautiously, no longer convinced it's going to stay put like it should. But it does, phew, she can breathe easy. After all, up ahead there seems to be nothing weird and/or trying to kill them. Looks like things are back to normal. Yes, she really is naive enough to think that physics stopping to make sense could be just a one-time fluke, rather than that being a Thing this place does.
During the leisurely stroll through the corridor, Xantia puts her hands behind her head, adding to what Riesenlied is speaking of close by. "Connected... fates? That sounds complicated. But I guess it'd be a pretty big coincidence for all those people from Lunar to suddenly appear on Filgaia all at once." Despite calling it complicated, it seems she might actually understand this claim just fine. Even that can happen sometimes.
What she doesn't pick up on is that they're being duped again, not noticing how oddly long of a hallway this is until Noeline points out they're not actually getting anywhere. With an indignant "Whaaaat?" she stares down the far end of the corridor, the actual end of which she can't see from here. And apparently won't see, as it must be moving along with them, that's the only way this would make sense. ...Sort of make sense. So the solution is obvious!
"Then we'll just have to be faster than the corridor! Come on, let's run!"
As usual, the simple, straightforward approach. Why not, she has enough energy to attempt this for a very long time... and probably will, unless she's stopped, or gets dismayed if she ends up somehow lapping people as if this was all a giant circular racecourse. Or who knows, it might even work. Stranger things have happened.
DG: Xantia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Endless Hall.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
It doesn't really matter much to Lily whether she's on the ground or the ceiling. She remains in a heap for a moment as she starts to drag herself upward. "..." The other room won't be so bad? Lily sighs. But onward, anyway, propping herself up with her staff, obviously fatigued as she steps forward. "Is everyone all right?" she asks, as they continue walking. ...and walk Lily does. Right until Noeline mentions that they aren't moving, and she finds that she can see the same thing. "There's a connection, all right," Lily agrees, and shakes her head. "I'm not very interested in..." She trails off, skips what she's saying.
"Faster? That's not exactly my approach..." Lily does keep moving forward, but--
Now that she's here, she lifts a hand and--
Ice starts to crackle along the wall, as if she can slow down the expansion as she walks. It's worth a shot.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Endless Hall.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
The landing -- floor, ceiling, wall (??) -- doesn't go so well for Josie; she lands in a tumble to sprawl out onto the... surface she's fallen upon, a briefly dazed look crossing her face.
As if to add insult to injury, Penelope completes her slow lazy descent to perch atop the fallen Josephine's head.
"Coo," the bird announces, before taking a moment to preen.
A short time later, once the archaeologist has collected herself and exited through to the hallway beyond, she's to all appearances already left that unfortunate experience far behind her.
"Anyway, it's just as well," she comments, picking up belatedly in response to the comment Noeline had made earlier. "If either world weren't riddled with secrets and ruins, I'd be out of a job~"
It's a nice view from here, she reflects, maintaining an easy pace as she walks along the hallway, bird fluttering along after her.
It's about five and a half minutes later that Josie realizes that something isn't right. She comes to a stop, wherein Penelope alights on her shoulder. "...This isn't a normal hallway," she says, glancing back over her shoulder. "...Fengalon's claws. It's just like the other room -- not what it seems, you know? Heh..."
She bares her teeth, an expression that could be a vicious... or just a little revved up, as the case may be.
"Alright. Then it's on. Let's see how it likes it if we move a little faster!"
DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Endless Hall.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"I'm afraid," Leon answers Noeline, "that I did not bring rope."
He frowns as he looks down the hallway. His eyes widen -- and he glances sideways, peering at Xantia. He blinks as she takes off in a run. He hesitates, and then looks at Lily. The ice along the walls makes goosebvumps rise on his skin. He grits his teeth, and then he looks ahead. "Maybe so," he agrees.
After all, Josie is doing it, too. When did imitating her go wrong?
So Leon starts to bolt down the hallway as well. His expression screws up, as he does. "I wish I knew how this sort of construction was possible."
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Endless Hall.
===========================<* The Nameless Spire *>=========================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - The Endless Hall *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- You see before you a simple, short hallway. Pretty, but short. Except when you try to walk across it, the door at the end never quite gets within reach. In fact, it seems to be getting further and further away. In fact, the entire hall seems to be stretching out swiftly, growing longer and longer until it feels like it might have no end if you don't outrun it. Can you outpace old, haunted architecture? Well, now you get the chance to find out! Hurray! =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
======================<* The Nameless Spire - Round 5 *>====================== ========================< Results - The Endless Hall >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 30 --(20)--> 50 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 40 --(20)--> 60 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 35 --(20)--> 55 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 30 --(20)--> 50 Fail Strife 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 35 --(20)--> 55 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 35 --(20)--> 55 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Leon Albus 65 --(10)--> 75 Fail Conditions: Slow(2) Effects: Cleanse ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus 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> Noeline has posed.
Thanks to the ongoing support of her two pods, the twintailed Metal Demon elects to simply drift out into the open air, sliding up the side of the Spire in an attempt to cut straight past the latest confusing obstacle. Riesenlied is along for the ride, cradled carefully in Noeline's lap; when it comes down to it, she'd rather make absolutely sure that there's no chance of the Tainted leader falling due to her battered wings, especially from this high up and in these surrounds.
The ascent is smooth - there are no problems aside from a rather cold breeze this far up, and it's not long before Noeline is helping Riesenlied up over the windowsill and back into the Spire, now one floor up and free from the cursed space.
At least, that's what was meant to happen.
Instead, Noeline watches with dissatisfaction as Xantai goes barreling past, shortly followed by Josephine and Leon - and then, with a careful step away from the wall, Noeline ducks out of the way of Lily's growing, encroaching ice.
"... I admit that I'm feeling rather disgruntled," she huffs after a moment.
* * *
In the end, the chase is gruelling - and when it's over it feels much more like the tower has gotten bored rather than the group actually managing to win against it.
DG: Riesenlied has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* The Nameless Spire *>=========================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - The Demon Wall *>======================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- There is nothing here. This hall is large, and nice enough, but there's nothing at the end of it. Nothing but a large, plain, gray metal wall that has no doors to speak of. Nothing but a large, plain, gray metal wall that starts rippling fluidly when you step too close, like the surface of an ocean being disturbed. Metal that seems to liquify with Malevolence... and then reshape into the bust and limbs of a large, looming demon attached to the wall itself. The Hellionized architecture lets out a hideous shriek -- and then the entire, demonic wall begins to groan as it begins inching forward, slowly but surely, taking up more and more space as it attacks you with Malevolent magic and swipes of its ungainly claws. If it's destroyed, it will dissolve away, to reveal the path forward hidden behind it. If not, well... it's going to keep taking up more and more space until -one- of the two of you gives. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied is rather exhausted by the time they arrive and catch up to one another -- wiping her brow with a soft exhale as she asks, "Is everyone all right?" She furrows her brow further as she places a hand to her heart. "The Malevolence here has grown even deeper... but we must be close--"
-Thoom-
"... what was that?"
There's nothing. That there is nothing is precisely disconcerting, given the resounding noise that reverberates in the hallway.
-THOOM-
The moment someone gets a bit too close to the wall in front... it contorts and distends into the shape of the bust and limbs of a large, looming demon -- a metal wall rippling with a shape that disconcertingly reminds you of--
"Living metal...?! But-- Malevolent--"
-That's- a terrifying thought to Riesenlied, that she may not be so immune. But there's very little time to consider that at the moment, because the wall's coming in on the group and giving them a very strict time limit. "It seeks to crush us, be careful!"
The Hyadean steps back as she concentrates, drawing her knees up as she starts to float in the air. An aura of ephemeral calm starts to envelope the area as she draws the guqin from within her sleeves, and lays it on her lap as she begins to play a gentle, soothing song.
"I will be with you. Let us push past this obstacle and succeed..."
With each string that Riesenlied plucks, another note reverbs through the room, seemingly rippling against the metallic wall itself and slowing its advance. But how long, before her power gives out...?
DG: Riesenlied has used her Tool Bella Aeterna toward her party's challenge, The Demon Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"--I do not think it's living metal!" Noeline yells as she immediately lunges forwards, seeking to place herself between the rest of the group and the thrashing, demonic wall; it takes her a moment to realize that the 'creature' is advancing on them, and another for her spear to wink away, replaced in the blink of an eye with the enormous flat sword she used back on Filgaia. Rather than attack with it directly, she rams it into the structure, feeling its hilt bite against metal, and braces the other end against the stone floor.
She doesn't expect the barricade to hold for long, but better that than nothing, and it's not as if she has to worry about her weapons breaking when she can just recall them to herself. Another wince of effort, and she's summoned forth her scythe again; it might be burning her energy a little from both ends, but better she have something to attack with, tearing at the demon wall with a slicing blow. "Rather, metal that just happens to be living, I should hope!"
Maybe it's a bit too much in the way of denial, here in the moment, but she's got to admit she's not immune to the same sort of fears that Riesenlied feels. Better to put it aside and think about it later, as she pushes back against the wall's advance with her own strength.
DG: Noeline has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Demon Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
As it happens, it's not so easy to outrun a corridor. Even if in time they're able to either outpace or bore whatever presence rests within the walls of this spire, Josie is rather out of breath. She's forced to lean against the wall for a moment as soon as they cross the threshold, catching her breath.
But, tragically, it seems as if they won't have long to attempt as much.
The room shakes.
"Hmm, wouldn't you know it," Josie drawls, gaze hooded as she regards the rippling Malevolent wall before them. Penelope, perched on her shoulder, flares her feathers and emits a low hiss as the thing within it begins to extrude into the chamber they've found themselves within.
"Guess it's do or die now. Well, cheers!"
Still staring down the demonic wall before them, she slips the flask from her pocket, tilts her head in a nod that can only be prefixed with the word 'cheeky' and downs the remainder of the contents.
Pushing off the wall, she tucks the flask back from whence it came, and as Penelope continues to hiss and scream at the demonic wall, pulls her rifle free and leans back, lining up that perfect shot.
"Whatever it is, it's going down. Worry about the rest later, Sunshine!"
With that, she pulls the trigger, sending the shot cracking across the chamber for the metallic monster clawing its way forward.
DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Liquid Courage toward her party's challenge, The Demon Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"...Fine," Lily answers Riesenlied. "But I sense it too--" Much like Noeline, Lily is a bit disgruntled--But it goes farther than that quickly. There's the noise, and then the wall begins to contort. Lily's eyes widen. She can feel as much as see it. "She doesn't even say anything at first, her heart just catching in her throat. There's a spike that Riesenlied might feel of fear for an instant.
The calm of Riesenlied's music settles over her, and Lily straightens her back, staring towards the wall ahead. "...Do or die, is it...?"
There's a clack as the butt of Lily's staff impacts the ground, one hand forward beginning to glow black. "...I'll back you up," she says, looking to Leon--and the first thing she does is suffuse him with sharpened shadows. She'll get up close for the fighting, but most of Lily's approach now is going to be supporting and healing the others as best she can.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Demon Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"That--no, it must be something else!" Leon calls out. "It--oh, hell!"
It seeks to crush them indeed. Leon's eyes widen for a moment, before he reaches his hand over his back. He draws out Argent Divider; the silver ARM glints in the light here, though to Leon's eyes, it doesn't shine purple with Malevolence. Instead, he turns his weapon onto the approaching wall -- and its terrible grinding. He can see it clear enough; he may not see the miasma about it, but he does see the terribe fate that it promises.
"Stand firm!" he calls out. Then, with Riesenlied's song in his ears -- she really did learn to play well -- he takes aim. The sword folds into its shotgun form, and fires a flare round at one of the Demon Wall's eyes.
Which is to blind it, before he rushes in. He charges ahead with Noeline, moving in sync with her, and then he swings Argent Divider. The ARM unfurls; the blade telescopes out, and then a long edge of flickering cyan light erupts, as he tries to hack the energy sword into the wall with all of his might.
DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Flare Round toward his party's challenge, The Demon Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
The hallways chase is long indeed, but Xantia just... refuses to give up. Unlike Leon, she doesn't even begin to wonder how this is actually possible. It's probably just a thing magic can do. Could be common as far as she knows, she lacks so much common knowledge that she'd drive herself mad if she worried about every little thing. All she knows is that there's no way she'll accept that anything like this could truly be endless. If she just keeps going she'll have to reach the end sometime!
And reach it she does! After much, much running, but still! "Yeah! Take that, hallway!" Somehow her spirits haven't been diminished by this at all. But even her energy isn't so boundless that she doesn't need a bit of a breather of that.
She doesn't get much of one, as there's an ominous rumbling followed by the wall at the far end suddenly taking a shape that looks... much meaner than before. "...oh. I, um. I think we made it mad." By 'it', she means the tower. It's certainly started to feel like they've been fighting the building itself for a while now. Now it's just a far, far more obvious and literal way of fighting them.
Xantia doesn't feel like she needs to wait for clearance on whether or not she can smash this one. She rushes right in, intending to simply... try pushing it back. She does have faith in her incredible physical strength, it might have actually worked. The problem is that this wall fights back, forcing her into dodging claw swipes and keeping her from getting close enough.
Not that this discourages her in any way. "If that's the way you're gonna be...!" Then she's going to use her own sharp tool. Activating her ARM Blade once again, she repels the claw strikes with the energy blade, now suddenly much longer and broader than before, to better fit the size of the opponent. Slicing through normal metal has worked before... but is it enough to cut through Malevolence-powered metal?
DG: Xantia has used her Tool ARM Blade toward her party's challenge, The Demon Wall.
===========================<* The Nameless Spire *>=========================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - The Demon Wall *>======================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- There is nothing here. This hall is large, and nice enough, but there's nothing at the end of it. Nothing but a large, plain, gray metal wall that has no doors to speak of. Nothing but a large, plain, gray metal wall that starts rippling fluidly when you step too close, like the surface of an ocean being disturbed. Metal that seems to liquify with Malevolence... and then reshape into the bust and limbs of a large, looming demon attached to the wall itself. The Hellionized architecture lets out a hideous shriek -- and then the entire, demonic wall begins to groan as it begins inching forward, slowly but surely, taking up more and more space as it attacks you with Malevolent magic and swipes of its ungainly claws. If it's destroyed, it will dissolve away, to reveal the path forward hidden behind it. If not, well... it's going to keep taking up more and more space until -one- of the two of you gives. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright===================================================
======================<* The Nameless Spire - Round 6 *>====================== =========================< Results - The Demon Wall >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 50 --(5)--> 55 Pass Flare Round 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Riesenlied 60 --(5)--> 65 Pass Bella Aeterna 4 Combat Effects: Fanfare and Efficient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Josephine Lovelace 55 --(5)--> 60 Pass Liquid Courage 3 Combat Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noeline 50 --(10)--> 60 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 55 --(5)--> 60 Pass ARM Blade 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 55 --(10)--> 65 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Leon Albus 75 --(35)--> 110 Pass Conditions: Fright(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Leon Albus has successfully explored The Nameless Spire!
===========================<* The Nameless Spire *>===========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - The Face of Obsession *>====================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
This room seems to be full of paintings, much like many of the other places
here. Yet there's no enchantments here, no strangeness -- this is a vault,
and these, real paintings untouched by Malevolence. Strewn about
haphazardly, there are busts, statues, paintings, pottery -- all of them
representing a single person. A woman, with brown hair. But that's all that
can truly be made out, because each of those paintings, statues, busts,
pottery, have all been vandalized. Paintings have had the faces carved off.
Statues and busts, chiseled away. Pottery, mostly shattered. Names have been
worn down until nothing but a disturbing tribute to someone's single-minded
obsession is left -- as if someone had single-handedly had as much art of
this woman they could find brought to this place simply to deface them,
literally. Despite this singularly fixated attempt to wipe out the identity
of this woman, a name has been forcibly carved into the southernmost wall of
this room, an act that seems to be incredibly recent compared to the age of
this place. A single name amidst the vandalized art:
B R A D A M A N T E
Despite their disrepair, this art still might be of some value, to someone
who collects these sorts of curiosities -- but who was this Bradamante? And
why would someone do something like this...?
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
The battle is brief.
Brief, but extremely intense -- as Leon, Lily, Noe and everyone else who's been in such pitched battle would know. Noeline uses the flat of her sword to shove against the structure and give them time -- but the Wall cleaves forward against her with sheer and shocking force and bashes her back.
She counters, however, with her own slicing blow that's ensconced with the power of Duras Drum -- Josephine backs her up as she lines up perfect shots, each of which send rippling cracks through the wall.
The wall responds with violent force, sending volleys of slashes through its wicked-sharp claws, but Lily's present to protect and heal others through the pain where they're caught up. Leon and Xantia bring the fore up with their ARM blades, sending their own slashing forces up against the wall.
And in the end...?
There's a deafening noise -- and the wall starts to slide aside-- it's cleaved in twain, splitting into two, four, six...
And the vault behind them is revealed. Riesenlied looks deeply exhausted from her use of her empathic powers, but does smile weakly towards the group to say, "Thank you, everyone..."
It's a remarkable vault that... honestly, speaks of obsession. Every single art piece in here clearly depicts the one woman Riesenlied's spoke of -- long-haired, wielding a longsword. It's easy to imagine her as a hero of the people, long ago.
The vandalisation is deliberate and sickening. Her face has been torn out, using knives and their hands and anything else they can get on -- it's easy to see the apparent hate that goes through the Hellion's thoughts.
"... there are people I can contact to help restore these pieces... and it's good that we can take them away from the Hellion. Our task isn't done, but... it will serve to distract and weaken his resolve..."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
One. Two. Three. Four--
One after the other she fires, stopping only to reload and aim between shots. As needed.
It's the act of firing a gun that truly makes her heart sing.
Only once the thing falls does she lower the Gawain-series rifle, exhale out a long breath, and smile, self-satisfied.
"Can't say I've ever shot up a wall before," she drawls, sliding the ARM away into the harness against her back. "Not on purpose, anyway," she adds, closing her eyes briefly.
Penelope notably has calmed down atop her shoulder, the bird settling into what can be called a wary placidity now that the demon wall has been felled.
Josie's feet crunch as she takes those few steps forward, approaching the paintings.
"You've gotten pretty good at playing that thing, Sunshine," she comments, before her gaze lifts to take in the subject of the paintings... and before her lips tilt in an unhappy frown.
"Someone's sure got a grudge," she comments, resting a hand on her hips. "While I can't exactly call the kettle black here or anything, well... I'm not a fan of his style." She lifts that hand to gesture at the wall. "So, let's get them a little repairwork, eh? Consider it just desserts for bad taste."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline is heaving for breath at the end of it all, her large sword split in two by the force of the wall's advance; she looks at the two pieces in annoyance, then bends down to touch each of them, the chunks of metal absorbed back into her as quickly as she summoned them. "Honestly... somehow, I expected something more," she mutters as the wall falls and crumbles away into so many half-liquified pieces behind them.
Carefully, she limps a step forward - her arm around Riesenlied supporting both of them, if she's honest - and frowns at the stacked up piles of vandalized art with a deep-set frown. "... in the end, I prefer to study people more than I do art, but-- really, one comes down to the other. And either way, this is a terrible waste."
She listens to her partner's quiet words of thanks, but if pressed she does have to admit that the whole situation leaves a bad taste in her mouth. Especially when you take into account the rest of the Spire, and how it acts... "Are you sure it will do much?" she wonders; there's no malice or upset in it, so much as an honest and curious question. "Could the creature not simply imagine a new set of paintings up, and fixate on them that way?"
A pause, and she frowns, shrugging one shoulder. "--though I suppose that counts perfectly well as 'distracting' it in the end..."
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
A brief battle, but intense. Leon would agree with that. He breathes hard, sweat dripping down -- and the light of Lily's protection before his face. He swings Argent Divider to the side. The weapon glimmers with light, before it extinguishes. He slides the sword over his back, tucking it there, and starts taking steps forward. "I'm glad we could help, Riesenlied," he says. "It would have looked reckless, if we promised and couldn't get this far."
He steps into the vault after Josephine. His brow furrows -- and he nods, briefly, at what she says. His lips purse for a moment, and then he glances to the side. He looks at Noeline, and shakes his head.
"I wonder," he says. "I wonder... what could possibly make them want to hide the very face of this person. And who she was."
He steps up, and looks up at her. "...It's a shame. I don't have any designs on carving my name into history, but it seems like a bloody waste to have my name rubbed out of it, too."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily is catching her breath once the battle ends, looking to the others, for bleeding wounds, for obvious breaks, for anything harming them as they finish. She doesn't see much else, and so she leans on the staff. "...Of course," she murmurs. But then...
"This is a Hellion's anger, is it...?" She looks around the room, thoughtful, and starts after Leon. She doesn't speculate on the woman, or on their relationship. But she does look up.
"...Let's not linger too long," the medic suggests.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
A brief battle, because it had to be. Getting crushed by a Demon Wall would have been pretty depressing, literally. Thankfully Xantia had the right tool for the job, proving able to slice through the metal this creature was made of as well as any other. The ARM continues to surprise her with how much it's capable of.
With the battle concluded, the energy blade dissolves, and Xantia fistpumps. "Alright, we did it! Take that, wall!" Not the first wall she ever broke down, not by a long shot, but certainly the first that fought back. There's probably going to be a number of confused people in the future when she mentions her victory over a wall, without mentioning all the important details.
After a victory like that gets her adrenaline going, she's actually looking forward to more, expecting that big bad Hellion to be right around the corner. What they find instead is thus a bit of a disappointment to her, especially seeing the state everything's in.
"It's all... broken. What's the point of guarding all this stuff if it's broken?" She doesn't get it, at least not until Josie points out the grudge thing, which makes her frown. "So... he broke it all on purpose? Just because he's mad at Bradamante?" Now she gets it even less. That's not going to solve anything at all. Then Leon adds his words, and now it's finally clear. It's all part of the effort to alter the memory of this person, like Riesenlied said earlier. She balls a fist, and falls silent. Motivation for punching this particular Hellion just went up by a lot.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied has a bashful smile towards Josephine as she expresses, "Thank you. ... music and emotion... it seems to be two things that really go hand in hand together. It's nice to be able to carry the Fereshte tribe's tradition forward."
As they gaze upon the artworks, Noeline comments on whether or not he could conjure more. "No... these artworks were not his. He hoarded them, for she exposed his injustices. The less of these that he has... the less fuel he has to distract himself from how empty his soul has become."
And as Malevolence burns on such hatred... it essentially serves to snuff the flame by starving it of oxygen, as it were.
"I've been spreading the word and selling the artwork to interested people. If you've a mind for it... I'm sure the people I'm working with wouldn't mind either," Riesenlied smiles warmly.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"They do," Leon murmurs to Riese. "I wouldn't mind hearing more of it."
He looks back at the artwork. His eyes narrow for a moment, and then he nods his head once. Something a Hellion pursued, to the bitter end. He finds his fist curling, slightly, and then looks sideways towards Lily. He nods.
"We shouldn't," he agrees. "But... I think, we shouldn't forget this. I don't know what the purpose of this is--if there is one. But... I'd be willing to put this to rights. Still. Lily's right."
He picks up a painting, tucking it under his arm. "We shouldn't risk its ire yet."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Then, it's settled," Josie says, tilting her head to one side as she regards a different but equally defaced painting. "Let's take these into our care, and get out of here before he notices."
She pauses.
"Immediately, that is. Heh heh~"
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia looks up from her thoughts when Leon confirms they're done here for now. "Oh, we're leaving?" She can't stop a bit of disappointment from leaking into her voice. She'd prefer to go risk some ire and then some! But that's why she isn't in charge. And shouldn't be, of anything.
There are no actual objections from her, though. "Okaaay then, I'll just grab a thing and be right behind you!"
The thing she grabs is not actually a painting, but rather a full-body statue of Bradamante. Unwieldy to carry, but it looked like the heaviest thing there, so it only makes sense to her that she be the one to carry it. Carrying heavy things is what she does best after all, next to eating, fighting, and breaking things.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline is not nearly as well-versed in Malevolence as her partner, but she's certainly not short on trust; she nods her head to Riesenlied's statement, understanding the reasoning behind it at the very least. "I see... well, then. Let us at least pack them carefully," she grumbles towards the pile of spoiled art, a little put out by the defacement. "I would rather not see these manhandled any more than they have been already."
A pause towards Josephine, and the metal demon grumbles: "Nor us, for that matter. I am beyond due a pleasant bath."