2018-04-26: Red Mob Canyon

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===========================<* Plains of the Goddess *>============================

The Plains of the Goddess consist of an enormous prairie that occupies the heart of the Meribus continent. It is the breadbasket of the world of Lunar; Althena's blessing lives strong in the soil, and the crops grown here are healthy, hearty, and free of disease. As a result of this bounty, the vast majority of the Plains are uncultivated; farmers have little reason to expand into the untamed wildlands when their larders and storehouses are filled to bursting.

Only a few roads cross the Plains of the Goddess, linking the major cities to each other, with the ruins of Vane at the hub of a wagon wheel. Althena's Guard patrols the highways regularly, making travel (relatively) safe. Anyone heading deeper into the fields does so at their own risk, however.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi_p5wdBrXw
DG: A party led by Jacqueline Barber is now entering Forbidden Canyon.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
===========<* CHALLENGE - Mommy Why Do The Bad Critters Con Red *>============
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The deep rift of the Forbidden Canyon slices through the mountains ahead of   
 you. As you begin your journey into the canyon, you're quickly greeted by a   
 gaggle of monsters. Several shambling, headless humanoid figures shuffle      
 towards you, while a few huge spiders begin to descend the cave wall.         
                                                                               
 Of course, then the headless Cannon Foots begin firing massive energy beams   
 out of their neck stumps, powerful enough to blow craters into the canyon     
 wall. It doesn't help that the Death Spiders are attempting to tangle you up  
 in cocoons of paralytic webbing. It also doesn't help that all the monsters   
 are freakishly fast and strong.                                               
                                                                               
 You might be a liiiiittle under-leveled for this dungeon, not gonna lie.      
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Where there was talk of enticing treasure and terrible, dangerous monsters, adventurers were sure to be there. The Forbidden Canyon in southern Meribia is no different, with one difference. While some caves and ruins like to ease one into the experience, the Forbidden Canyon -

"A-ah!" Jacqueline yelps and jumps backward as a massive energy beam burns into the rock where she was standing just a moment ago, leaving smoke wafting lazily upward in its wake.

- decidedly...does not.

It's not just lasers the party has to look for - some of the Canyon's best and brightest have come to greet them. There are also spiders, and they're capable of paralyzing you with their webbing, because why not, right?

This is about the time when most people would decide that it could not possibly be worth it and retreat. Jacqueline and her friends of the Caravan Kinship, however, have other things in mind.

"Alright, stay clear, everyone...!" Jacqueline calls out, hurling a bottle into the midst of a group of the Cannon Foots.

There's an explosion of electricity just a moment of later, arcing out with the intensity of a lightning storm.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Mommy Why Do The Bad Critters
Con Red.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"The treasure had better be another Elw transporting device," Catenna says with a dip of her eyelids. Every day she's here, she reminds herself, is another day Siegfried has to run free on Filgaia, smashing more statues. Perhaps even smashing Celesdue's.

If there is even a chance the mystery of the Forbidden Canyon may lead to a way home, then it is one worth taking.

    FIVE MINUTES LATAIR...

"Oh no!" Catenna yelps as a horrible death spider starts spewing cocoons at her. She stumbles backwards and jumps behind a rock. The webbing splatters across it and begins to secrete some kind of hideous acid.

"Jay, this is not going well!" Catenna cries out with a certain... tension. Yes, that's the right word. Whipping her sword and Medium out, she chants a few words in her own language and levels her free hand, letting fly with one of her gravity spells. The air groans as Catenna struggles to pin the horde of Death Spiders to the ground. Or at least to weigh them and their webbing down as much as she can.

It probably says something about the party's relative levels that she's managed to slow them down to normal.

DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, Mommy Why Do The Bad Critters Con Red.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia is here to lend a hand! She is NOT wearing a flower around her horn and she holds up a small mirror up to it periodically as if to make sure it's still not there. Her fangs are bared as she continuously checks it out. Then she blinks a few times as, while looking into the mirror, she sees a red late reflecting off it.

A laser blast slams into the ground near Lydia and sends her flying. She crashes to the ground and tumbles for a bit before lying still, groaning, and already bleeding from several leg wounds. Maybe Lydia intends to break a leg since everybody else is getting disarmed.

But for the moment she's just beaten and bruised. "Wagghh Jay! Did we sequence skip??"

Just ignore her it's probably the concussion speaking.

DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Mommy Why Do The Bad Critters Con
Red.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

THIS IS NOT AN ELW TRANSPORTING DEVICE.

Cyre most definitely does not scream like a little girl because he's being chased by a horde of death on eight spindly (enormous) legs. This is only because one of them hit him with a faceful of sticky spider silk and he can't actually speak around the lump of it shoved into his mouth. So instead there's just a long and terrified 'HMMMMPPPPPPPPPHHHHH' reverberating through the air.

What did he do to deserve this?

...

...Probably a lot.

Ah well. Spiders are spiders. Cyre casts AIR BLADE at the giant horrible monsters.

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Mommy Why Do The Bad Critters
Con Red.
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
===========<* CHALLENGE - Mommy Why Do The Bad Critters Con Red *>============
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The deep rift of the Forbidden Canyon slices through the mountains ahead of   
 you. As you begin your journey into the canyon, you're quickly greeted by a   
 gaggle of monsters. Several shambling, headless humanoid figures shuffle      
 towards you, while a few huge spiders begin to descend the cave wall.         
                                                                               
 Of course, then the headless Cannon Foots begin firing massive energy beams   
 out of their neck stumps, powerful enough to blow craters into the canyon     
 wall. It doesn't help that the Death Spiders are attempting to tangle you up  
 in cocoons of paralytic webbing. It also doesn't help that all the monsters   
 are freakishly fast and strong.                                               
                                                                               
 You might be a liiiiittle under-leveled for this dungeon, not gonna lie.      
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
=======================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 1 *>=======================
=============< Results - Mommy Why Do The Bad Critters Con Red >==============
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   0 --(20)--> 20                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catenna                             0 --(15)--> 15                 Pass
Celesdue Medium                     2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     0 --(20)--> 20                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         0 --(20)--> 20                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Jacqueline Barber           0 --(10)--> 10                 Fail
Conditions: Weaken(2)
Effects: Embolden(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

To say the fight was not going well would be to...well, it'd be to kind of undersell it just a bit. It was going absolutely terribly - nothing they throw at the monsters seems to do more than stall it for just a moment.

And even worse, somehow there were more of them showing up behind them, where there didn't seen to be any before.

Jacqueline tries to think of a way out...but as she's doing so, Catenna's gravity spell takes effect. The monsters are pinned down...at least long enough for them to come up with a plan.

"Good work, Catenna!" Jacqueline says, then looks around quickly before moving off toward a crevice near the side. "I don't think they'll be able to follow us through here...let's move quickly and see if we can't find another way out."

Because going back the way they came...did not seem particularly wise.

DG: Catenna has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>==============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Feed Us Seymour *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 A thick tangle of thorny vines has spread madly across the pathway here. The  
 vines crisscross in a spiky mess; removing them might hurt. But there are a   
 few bulbous, purple-tinged buds poking up from them, each with white folds    
 across them resembling smiling lips.                                          
                                                                               
 Of course, as you approach, the bulbs open up to reveal little fanged mouths  
 and wagging tongues. The vines rustle and twist, moving a little towards you  
 but stopping. The toothy buds don't attack.                                   
                                                                               
 They look like they're waiting to be fed, actually. Hm. Perhaps doing them a  
 favour will cause them to move the vines out of your way. But what will       
 satisfy flesh-eating plants?                                                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"For some measure of good!" Catenna gasps as she stumbles away into that crevice, holding the spell for as long as she can.

She winces, her face a little pale. "Maybe it would be better to avoid fights from now on," she murmurs, glancing back towards the horde of angry critters. She turns from there and pushes forward. Wiggling through the crevice, she turns at a point where the crack in the rock branches.

A mess of vines tangles up the crack ahead, even as it widens enough to make room for the Rowdy Four. Catenna frowns as she spots the dangerous thorns sticking out of those vines, but she readies her sword nevertheless and grabs ahold of one.

And recoils with a yelp as something nips at her.

Several buds dangling from the vines swivel towards the group. Each is about the size of a soccer ball, and they split to reveal grinning mouths full of pointed fangs, yawning open as they wag their tongues expectantly and give off a high-pitched whine.

For just a couple of seconds, Catenna's mouth hangs slightly open as it occurs to her what is happening here.

"...I hope we brought plant food," she murmurs. For lack of anything really edible, she begins rooting around in her purse for things, finally coming up with a stick of incense that she crumbles up and offers up.

DG: Catenna has used her Tool Ritual Incense toward her party's challenge, Feed Us Seymour.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia is still smoldering when the tema comes upon this new challenge? She reaches into her pocket and draws out a ball of yarn. She tosses it up and down into her hand for a few moments before she flings it to the ground.

Suddenly, a Schrodinger appears and leaps for the ball of yarn, playing at it with their adorable little paws. The horrible plant monster lashes out for Schrodinger suddenly, snarling as a carniverous vine extends forward and--

--pets the kitty. pet pet.

Suddenly more Schrodingers appear and vines extend out to pet each kitty. Looks like a catastrophy was nyarrowly avoided.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Schrodinger the Cat toward her party's challenge, Feed Us Seymour.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"Most likely, yes...if we can." Jacqueline agrees with a nod as they proceed forward. The problem would be if they get trapped into a fight without any real exit.

As they move forward, however, they start finding vines blocking their path. The vines seem...well, not friendly, exactly, but not...avertly hostile, either?

Huh.

They seem to be expecting a handout. Jacqueline frowns, and rummages through her bags. Something a plant would like...hm. She'd been preparing some helpful solutions to use with their harvests back at the Carakin, so...maybe something like that?

Jacqueline pulls out a bottle of liquid, uncorks it, it pours the contents into one of the buds.

Here's hoping it finds it acceptable...

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Feed Us Seymour.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Catenna saves the day! The shaman gasps and wheezes as he finally tears that lump of spider silk from his face and spends a moment trying desperately to catch his breath before something else tries to eat him. "I thought-- we were supposed to-- adventure BEFORE the big final boss fight...!"

Something nips Catenna!

Only Cyre gets to do that!!

He's not exactly presently in a position to argue, though. Instead he gets to watch and stare as the enormous vine-monster... goes and starts petting an indeterminate number of kitties. The corners of his mouth tug vaguely downward-- if they're not quick... It might turn into a myassacre...!

No time to waste, Cyre reaches into his cloak and fetches A DELICIOUS LUMP OF JERKY. Full of all kinds of nitrates that plants adore! He tears off a chunk and lobs it at the plant, then realizes he's holding onto a lump of salted meat and lobs the rest at the plant before the inevitable happens.

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Feed Us Seymour.
==============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>==============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Feed Us Seymour *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 A thick tangle of thorny vines has spread madly across the pathway here. The  
 vines crisscross in a spiky mess; removing them might hurt. But there are a   
 few bulbous, purple-tinged buds poking up from them, each with white folds    
 across them resembling smiling lips.                                          
                                                                               
 Of course, as you approach, the bulbs open up to reveal little fanged mouths  
 and wagging tongues. The vines rustle and twist, moving a little towards you  
 but stopping. The toothy buds don't attack.                                   
                                                                               
 They look like they're waiting to be fed, actually. Hm. Perhaps doing them a  
 favour will cause them to move the vines out of your way. But what will       
 satisfy flesh-eating plants?                                                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
=========================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 2 *>=========================
==========================< Results - Feed Us Seymour >===========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   20 --(10)--> 30                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catenna                             15 --(5)--> 20                 Pass
Ritual Incense                      1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     20 --(10)--> 30                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         20 --(10)--> 30                Fail
Schrodinger the Cat                 2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Jacqueline Barber           10 --(20)--> 30                Pass
Conditions: Stupify(2)|Weaken(1)
Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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> Catenna has posed.

Catenna blinks as she realizes Lydia is still a little bit on fire. "Lydia, please don't die," she urges.

And then Schrodingers appear! The vines reach out and begin to pet the kitties. Yes, even hungry plants like kitties.

They like them enough that several of those vines begin to try and snag a Schrodinger each and scarf it down. Blessedly, the Schrodingers who gets snagged end up disappearing before they become brunch. One ends up sitting on Cyre's head for some reason, just perched between his ears like a hat.

One of the plants does wolf down the jerky Cyre offers - but spits it back up, as if upset with the spicing. It flails some vines at Cyre as if to try and snag his Schrodinger.

Jay's liquid manages to put a couple of the buds to sleep. They doze off, even producing little sleep bubbles. However, they don't actually... move. The ones that scarf down the crumbled incense, meanwhile, recoil a bit and shriek, peeling away into the thick of the vines and creating something of an opening.

Catenna bites her bottom lip and grips some of the vines in that area. They prick at her gloved hands but she bears it, moving the snoozing plants to one side. A few mouthy buds hiss at her as she pushes through. "Come on. We cannot wait all day," she urges, before stopping with a blink.

A Schrodinger is sitting on the other side waiting for them. It wiggles its ears.

Catenna can't resist going "aww" a little.

DG: Lydia Seren has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Mobs That Con Green *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 As you pick your way through the canyon, the earth in front of you gives      
 way... and a group of mole-like creatures pops up, wiggling their noses and   
 throwing large rocks at you. The moles look like they'd be about as tall as   
 a decent-sized man, and they've got a decent throwing arm... but the rocks    
 won't hurt all that much considering some of what you've faced before now,    
 and the creatures don't move all that fast.                                   
                                                                               
 I mean, holy cow, guys, it's mobs that are actually in your level range.      
 Maybe the canyon's decided to throw you a bone.                               
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

The Schrodinger on Cyre's head decides to take a nap there. Wellp.

Lydia picks up the ball of yarn which still has a Schrodinger attached to it and picks up the Schrodinger by the scruff of their neck and (willingly) puts that Schrodinger on her head too. "Twinsies I guess."

Some walking later and suddenly a diglett pokes its head out of the ground.

No wait it's not a diglett. It's a mole. It blinks at the group. Lydia approaches it and pets it on the head. "Aww... It's so cute."

the mole gradually rises out of the hole and is shortly looking over Lydia's head, complete with bulging muscles. Lydia stares up at it.

"Marsup?" It says. "Marsup bro?"

And then it starts throwing small boulders at the party. Lydia naturally retaliates by throwing rocks back. This might make the situation more confusing and worse all around.

DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Mobs That Con Green.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Catenna just smiles at the sight of Cyre wearing a cat-hat. It suits him, somehow. She resists the urge to giggle, instead just picking up her own Schrodinger and setting it on her shoulder. "I am not sure it would stay on my head," she admits.

She doesn't have ears or a horn to keep it in place!

As they move along, the little mole emerges, and Catenna tilts her head to one side. It seems like such an innocuous creature.

Until it decides to show them its gains.

The priestess widens her eyes. As Lydia goes to town with rocks, Catenna sets herself and sweeps a hand forward, uttering a quick recitation and letting a spell fly.

Suddenly more of those rocks are flying in sluggish arcs that hit the ground within a few feet of the original throw - well, the mole's are, anyway. Lydia's tosses aren't affected by the gravity being cranked up. "How is it that even the moles are this muscular," Catenna huffs as she holds the spell.

DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, Mobs That Con Green.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline takes a moment to stare at the bottle in her hand. Was that...the right mixture? Well, she supposes it could have been worse, and it looked like whatever Catenna did was effective... They're able to move on, so Jacqueline does so quickly before the plant creature gets any other ideas.

In the next chamber of note, they encounter...a single, tiny mole. Jacqueline stares at it with a distrustful frown. This seems entirely too pleasant. Was it poisonous? Did it possess powerful sorcery? Did it-

...Oh.

Jacqueline just frowns as the muscular mole.

"I don't honestly know..." She replies to Catenna, shaking her head as with a gesture she sends a burst of raw, concussive force toward the creature.

Since she was just among friends, she didn't have to do her fake incantations.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Mobs That Con Green.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Wh--

Cyre gets equipped with: CAT HAT!?

Cyre's ears wiggle. Schrodinger's ears wiggle. They both wiggle together. This... This is...!

                            !!Complete Cattai!!

Cyre tugs his hood up over Schro just enough to let the kitty's head peek out from just under the cowl. "There," he says firmly, "That should keep you safe up there." Cats stick together! (Not really, but Cyre likes this cat, so it's OK.)

And so Cyre and Schrodinger and Lydia and Schrodinger and Catenna and Schrodinger and Jay proceed onwards! Onwards to...

...

What the heck is that thing, even? Some kind of mmmmmoooo---

"Ah shit," Cyre hisses, summoning a great wall of cutting winds. "It's a Swmole! Don't let it hit you!"

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Mobs That Con Green.
==============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>==============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Mobs That Con Green *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 As you pick your way through the canyon, the earth in front of you gives      
 way... and a group of mole-like creatures pops up, wiggling their noses and   
 throwing large rocks at you. The moles look like they'd be about as tall as   
 a decent-sized man, and they've got a decent throwing arm... but the rocks    
 won't hurt all that much considering some of what you've faced before now,    
 and the creatures don't move all that fast.                                   
                                                                               
 I mean, holy cow, guys, it's mobs that are actually in your level range.      
 Maybe the canyon's decided to throw you a bone.                               
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
====================<* CHALLENGE - Mobs That Con Green *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 As you pick your way through the canyon, the earth in front of you gives      
 way... and a group of mole-like creatures pops up, wiggling their noses and   
 throwing large rocks at you. The moles look like they'd be about as tall as   
 a decent-sized man, and they've got a decent throwing arm... but the rocks    
 won't hurt all that much considering some of what you've faced before now,    
 and the creatures don't move all that fast.                                   
                                                                               
 I mean, holy cow, guys, it's mobs that are actually in your level range.      
 Maybe the canyon's decided to throw you a bone.                               
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
=======================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 3 *>=======================
======================< Results - Mobs That Con Green >=======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   30 --(8)--> 38                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catenna                             20 --(8)--> 28                 Pass
Celesdue Medium                     2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     30 --(8)--> 38                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         30 --(13)--> 43                Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Jacqueline Barber           30 --(20)--> 50                Pass
Conditions: Tire(2)
Effects: Embolden(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
===========<* CHALLENGE - How Many Status Ailments Can You Stack *>===========
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 As you push through the canyon, you come across what appears to be a huge     
 nest of some kind built up against the cliff face. Out of the nest bubble     
 several enormous green and blue spiders with googly eyes and venomous fangs.  
 Even before they get into range, though, they're firing venom-laced silk      
 strands at you and launching needle-like projectiles dripping with venom. If  
 they hit you, they'll randomly blind you, or poison you, or paralyze you, or  
 slow you down, or some combination of the four. Either way, you're in for a   
 bad time, and they're also going to try and eat you once they catch you, so,  
 uh, that's a thing.                                                           
                                                                               
 You might be a liiiiittle under-leveled for this dungeon, not gonna lie.      
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Surprisingly no, throwing more rocks doesn't help. The swmoles just catch the rocks Lydia throws and add to the tableu of boulders flying this way and that. Of course you don't bring Lydia to these digs so she can win fights you bring her for her charming personality.

Luckily despite being swole these moles aren't the best fighters. There's more to it than bulking it up after all! Also, they don't shoot lasers! Thanks to their experience in the matters of violence, Jay is able to throw a wave of rocks crashing back down into the swmoles faster than they can every hope to catch.

Cyre catches several swmoles in a wave of cutting wind that carries them out of their holes! They say, "Marsup! This is too much!!!" They cry. "We were just having fun, brooo!"

Indeed, even their counterattacks are ultimately put to a halt thanks to Catenna's power increasing the weight of those rocks.

"YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!" Lydia shakes her fists at the fleeing swmoles. "Yep, we sure showed them!"

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Cyre stares after the swmoles, even as they disappear into the infinite distance until they're nothing but a twinkling star on the horizon. You can almost hear the ting~* as they vanish.

Somehow, Cyre almost feels bad.

And then a glob of web suddenly HITS HIM IN THE FACE.

"MMPHG!?" Cyre scratches and claws frantically at the threads covering his face. This again!? Yes! The spiders are insatiable! They crawl out of the nearby canyon walls, skittering out of their holes like a terrible, creeping swarm!

Fortunately, these ones only con yellow.

Unfortunately there are also dozens of the things and each of them are deploying a different manner of HORRIBLE STATUS EFFECT. Spitting poison! Throwing webs! Needles! Tasers! Yes, some of the spiders CRACKLE WITH ELECTRICITY.

Cyre may not be able to see, but he doesn't need to! Schrodinger perks up atop his head and turns this way and that. As if by some magic of merged minds, Cyre responds by hurling deadly accurate bolts of pressurized air into the spidery swarm. But it's nowhere near enough! HE NEEDS HELP, FRIENDS!

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, How Many Status Ailments Can You
Stack.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Finally, they won one. Catenna lets out a relieved breath.

Until Cyre goes down with a goddamned web in the face.

"Cyre!" Catenna cries as she rushes towards the bewebbed kittyboy, reaching out as if to try and shield him - but the spiders are on them far too quickly for her to spirit him to safety. Webbing hurtles around her, splattering against the ground, even as she rushes up to Cyre's side and swings her sword to slash away a gobbet of sticky silk.

Much of it gunks up on the blade. Catenna widens her eyes and gasps.

So much for stabbing them.

All this intense combat is draining her reserves quickly, but she manages to belt off another spell, once more trying to pin the spiders down and keep their webbing from reaching the team. Somehow, even divine gravity seems barely up to the task of holding them.

DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, How Many Status Ailments Can You Stack.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline...does not appear to have any sympathy for these swmoles. She just moves on through the canyon without any further word...though she retreats back a bit as more spiders appear, just as vicious as last time.

She can't tell if they're the same spiders having finally caught up to them, or a different bunch altogether. Either way, they've managed to hit Cyre with some webbing.

"Cyre! Hang on!" Jacqueline calls out in surprise. With a quick gesture of her right hand, rents in the ground begin to appear beneath some of the spiders that quickly begin to spew flames up at them.

She figures it'd probably be more effective than her lightning, especially since some of them are already crackling with electricity.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, How Many Status Ailments Can
You Stack.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Hey! They beat the plant thing! Kind of. Sort of. Anyway they got past it that's what's important.

Lydia, by this point, has patted out the fire still smoldering on her body. She sniggers a little when Cyre gets hit by some webbing and she reaches with her metallic arm to try and pull them off but then a giant spider arm lowers onto Lydia's metallic arm. Lydia stares at it in horror as it tries to bite into her arm.

This does not go well for the spider. Lydia freezes up though so it has a few more tries before turning towards Lydia and spraying Lydia with some BLINDENING TOXIN.

At this point Lydia shrieks and starts spraying laser blasts from the sky at everything though, unsurprisingly, probably just misses everything. There are countless white MISSes appearing by the spiders as the terrain takes the blunt of the damage.

"MATERIAL SOLAIS EMSU!"
"MATERIAL SOLAIS EMSU!"
"MATERIAL SOLAIS EMSU!"

DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, How Many Status Ailments Can You
Stack.
==============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>==============================
=============<* CHALLENGE - How Many Status Ailments Can You Stack *>=============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 As you push through the canyon, you come across what appears to be a huge     
 nest of some kind built up against the cliff face. Out of the nest bubble     
 several enormous green and blue spiders with googly eyes and venomous fangs.  
 Even before they get into range, though, they're firing venom-laced silk      
 strands at you and launching needle-like projectiles dripping with venom. If  
 they hit you, they'll randomly blind you, or poison you, or paralyze you, or  
 slow you down, or some combination of the four. Either way, you're in for a   
 bad time, and they're also going to try and eat you once they catch you, so,  
 uh, that's a thing.                                                           
                                                                               
 You might be a liiiiittle under-leveled for this dungeon, not gonna lie.      
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
===========<* CHALLENGE - How Many Status Ailments Can You Stack *>===========
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 As you push through the canyon, you come across what appears to be a huge     
 nest of some kind built up against the cliff face. Out of the nest bubble     
 several enormous green and blue spiders with googly eyes and venomous fangs.  
 Even before they get into range, though, they're firing venom-laced silk      
 strands at you and launching needle-like projectiles dripping with venom. If  
 they hit you, they'll randomly blind you, or poison you, or paralyze you, or  
 slow you down, or some combination of the four. Either way, you're in for a   
 bad time, and they're also going to try and eat you once they catch you, so,  
 uh, that's a thing.                                                           
                                                                               
 You might be a liiiiittle under-leveled for this dungeon, not gonna lie.      
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken===================================================
=======================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 4 *>=======================
=============< Results - How Many Status Ailments Can You Stack >=============
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   38 --(13)--> 51                Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catenna                             28 --(8)--> 36                 Pass
Celesdue Medium                     2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     38 --(8)--> 46                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         43 --(13)--> 56                Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Jacqueline Barber           50 --(20)--> 70                Pass
Conditions: Tire(1)|Weaken(2)
Effects: Embolden(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

It's probably a good thing that this particular team comes equipped with a whole host of different AREA OF EFFECT SPELLS. In ordinary circumstances, trying to take down this swarm of spiders with conventional tactics would be a futile gesture. You'd quickly find yourself overrun and hobbled by all kinds of terrible afflictions. Instead though, Jacqueline and Lydia's attack from above and below-- though ultimately unable to do much direct damage-- do force the spiders to cluster together.

Which is good! Because Cyre and Catenna are wielding a peculiar kind of magic that inexplicably sees the various spiders drawn gravitationally towards one another, a process accelerated by swirling gales and high-pressure forces. Soon, each and every spider is vaccuumed up.

They squirm for a moment longer, and then go *CRUNCH* as they're squished into a SPIDER SINGULARITY.

A very dead spider singularity.

With a little help from his friends, Cyre is able to get his face free of the spider goop, too. Hooray!

DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Watch for Falling Debris *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The rattle of rocks down a nearby slope can be heard even before you reach    
 the treacherous section of canyon ahead. Atop the cliff far above you,        
 several Rock Mongrels can be seen, scampering back and forth in a playfight   
 and scattering rocks and debris down the cliff face beneath them. Rocks from  
 the size of a pebble on up to the size of a fist rain down around you,        
 bouncing off the slope, scattering around and threatening to brain you.       
 You'll have to dash past the debris without getting clonked!                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline winces slightly as the spiders...abruptly cease to be a problem to anyone.

"I-Impressive, you two..." Jacqueline says. Impressive but a little gross! Still, it dealt with the problem, and that was the important thing. It left their path clear and open, though they may need to step around a few leftover webs.

Unfortunately, however, it isn't long before the webs become the least of their problems. Jacqueline's the one who notices it first, a pulse from within heralding a certain kind of danger.

"Watch out!" Jacqueline calls out. As if on queue, it isn't long before a rock the size of a fist falls from the sky directly in front of them. It crashes into the ground, shattering on impact. It probably wouldn't be too pleasant to get hit by that...

"They're not stopping anytime soon...let's run for it!" Jacqueline says. She'll have some potions ready at the other end of it all to help deal with whatever damage they take.

While she's running, though, she manages to catch sight of the culprits.

A bunch of Rock Mongrels, roughhousing and playfighting without a care in the world.

"Honestly...couldn't they do their horseplay somewhere else...?" She murmurs.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, Watch for Falling Debris.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"I didn't... realize it would do that," Catenna admits with a blink, but she nods to Jacqueline nevertheless, sparks of colour welling at her cheeks in a little rosy glow.

She has no time to be modest. Rocks come tumbling down. One descends dangerously close to Catenna, and she dances to the side with a gasp, only her natural speed keeping her from being flattened. Spotting the Rock Mongrels atop the cliff, she scowls their way and huffs indignantly. "Of all the--"

Catenna, Catenna realizes, you are arguing with things that cannot argue back.

The realization stops her for a second. And then it kicks her into motion again just as another few rocks hit the ground near her. Whirling, she begins to dash, tailing along behind Jay. "Look out!" she calls after the alchemist as a particularly large boulder comes crashing down towards them--

Catenna deals with it by jumping. In the air, she brings her heels together, spins, comes legs over head, and flips gracefully, then comes down with her arms swept out to her sides and one coming in instinctively across her chest.

And then she starts running again, because a rockfall is not a time for more than one dancer flip.

DG: Catenna has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Watch for Falling Debris.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

"That's just proof," Cyre says to Jay, "That the power of love beats the power of Spider."

It's just science.

A-aww. That's almost kind of adorable. If it weren't, you know, for the fact that these Rock Mongrels are causing SUCH a ruckus. That's pretty adorable too, honestly. It's like the world's most destructive puppy tailchasing circle-- why is there a shadow.

...Well.

That sure is a boulder.

Cyre hisses a curse and ducks, rolling under the boulder as it sails by overhead before unfolding into a wild lunge between another set of crushing rocks. He kicks off one as it passes, knocking it into yet another passing boulder before breaking into a hard sprint.

But why is he not using his parachute to trivialize this one, you might ask?

Simple!

Cyre left it at the Carakin. It needed to be washed. You can only take a sheet of cloth and hide out into the muck so many times before it starts to get... Rank.

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Watch for Falling Debris.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia fell over having used all her mp on exploding almost nothing. The team has to load her on her cart and drag her along. She is whispering 'Solais Emsu' repeatedly with a joyous expression on her face. She is pretty pooped! And may be developing a strange complex. Let's not worry too much about that.

"Gyaaaah!" Lydia screams as bolders start coming down. This time at least she is able to help even while being flopped over like this as she awkwardly fires portals in front of the group so they can skip a majority of the run.

"They are turning my power against us!" Lydia wails.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Portal Pistols toward her party's challenge, Watch for Falling Debris.
============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>============================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Watch for Falling Debris *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The rattle of rocks down a nearby slope can be heard even before you reach    
 the treacherous section of canyon ahead. Atop the cliff far above you,        
 several Rock Mongrels can be seen, scampering back and forth in a playfight   
 and scattering rocks and debris down the cliff face beneath them. Rocks from  
 the size of a pebble on up to the size of a fist rain down around you,        
 bouncing off the slope, scattering around and threatening to brain you.       
 You'll have to dash past the debris without getting clonked!                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
=======================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 5 *>=======================
====================< Results - Watch for Falling Debris >====================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   51 --(5)--> 56                 Pass
Rapid Remedy                        1   Agility Effects: Cleanse              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catenna                             36 --(5)--> 41                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     46 --(5)--> 51                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         56 --(5)--> 61                 Pass
Portal Pistols                      2   Agility Effects: Stalwart             
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Jacqueline Barber           70 --(20)--> 90                Pass
Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Weaken(1)
Effects: Cleanse
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber 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.
DG: Catenna has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>==============================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies *>==================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Ahead, through a narrow spur of the canyon, you can see a glint of light      
 winking off of something. It must be treasure ahead! But as you press         
 forward, the horrible sound of splintering rock ripples through the canyon    
 face.                                                                         
                                                                               
 And then, because the canyon just doesn't hate you enough already, the rock   
 face you're standing under gives way and begins to collapse towards you.      
 Dirt, dust and boulders plummet towards you and begin to pile up.             
                                                                               
 Somehow you're going to have to both dig your way out of the rockfall and     
 prevent yourself from being crushed by several tons of the canyon itself      
 trying to kill you like the geological jerk that it is.                       
=Dungeon Conditions: Collapse=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

It is pretty adorable. It would be nice to stop and watch if it weren't for the fact that you'd probably get a rock to your face for your trouble. It kind of makes it hard to appreciate, which is why Jacqueline keeps her head down and just focuses on getting out of there.

...It's while keeping her head down, though, that she's able to spot one of Lydia's portals and jumps in, without any further thought. It puts her out of range of the boulders, allowing her to turn back and use sorcery to deflect some of the larger ones away from the party.

Unfortunately, though, Catenna and Cyre still have to take the long way through, and probably get hit by one or two of the smaller rocks. It's nothing a potion won't fix, though, and Jacqueline is there to helpfully provide some.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

A few rocks pelt off of Catenna's shoulders and back. She staggers, bumping against Cyre - but blessedly, like a good neighbour, Jay Barber is there. The Moon Shaman downs the potion, the worst of her injuries fading away.

...But she's still tired....

But there's hope. Ahead, there is a glint of light off of something. "There," Catenna says, gesturing with a sweep of her arm towards the source of light, visible through the narrow spur of the canyon just ahead. "That must be something of interest. We must hurry."

Before more monsters show up, anyway. Catenna hastens her pace. Her shoes click against the rock as she boosts wearily over a few boulders. She slips into that narrow length of canyon and continues along.

Until there is a sound.

*CRRRRRRRACK*

A huge fissure shoots up one of the canyon walls. Catenna's cheeks turn ashen white and her eyes widen.

"Oh no," she breathes.

The cliff face gives way. Cracks cobweb through it, entire chunks of the canyon wall tumbling down towards the party. It's more than a rockslide; the entire cliff is collapsing onto the foursome from the Caravan Kinship. Boulders and rubble pile up rapidly; chunks of debris pelt Catenna's shoulders as she struggles to claw her way to the top of it, only for more debris to pile up.

"Cyre!" she shouts. "Lydia, Jay!!"

DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Catenna breathes.

...A lungful of something sweet and spicy and smokey and savory and strangely tingly in a pleasant way at the back of the throat. In fact, the entire party catches a whiff of that scent. Is this death? Does the grim reaper wear cologne? No! It's...

Cyre burning herbs.

Of course it is.

But at the very least, those herbs seem to restore depleted strength like some kind of vaporized energy snack. More importantly, though...

There is a VERY GOOD REASON Cyre has burned this particular variety of herbs.

"Don't worry," he says, moving to shield Catenna with his cloak. "I've got a plan."

A plan?

What kind of--

                                    WURF

The ground trembles, and not because of the impending collapse. A din of voices rises, a half-dozen deep throated beasts all going BARK BORK BJORK HEK WOOF--

As a stampede of Rock Mongrels erupts from the crevasse behind the party. Cyre whips up a wind and sends the smoke contrails downwind, leading the pack of petrine puppers into the canyon. Their thundering footsteps brings a second landslide, which... Counteracts the first!?

Huh!

"Ahahahahaha!" Cyre laughs, shoving another chunk of tasty preserved meat into his censer, "Everyone knows dogs can't resist... THE SCENT OF SMOKED BACON!"

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Invigorating Vapors toward his party's challenge, Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline checks and double checks to make sure everyone is alright before moving forward, further into the canyon. She pauses, however, as Catenna points something out.

"Oh...you're right, I do think I see...something, but I can't tell what..." Jacqueline says with a nod. "...Right. But let's be careful. We don't know what else might appear."

Onward they continue, but right as it looks like they're drawing close...a loud crack causes Jacqueline's heart to sink.

She knows that sound, knows intimately what it means.

The very cliff above begins to crumble and fall upon them. Jacqueline does not think twice. A hand goes to rest above her heart, where her Medium is concealed.

"Grudiev, please...!" Jacqueline entreats.

There is a flash, just before she vanishes beneath a rain of earth and stone...

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia meanwhile...!!

Yeah she pretty much just lays on the cart but she does roll out of the way so she isn't crushed to death by boulders! Not today!! Of course considering how exhausted she is, she's unlikely to help dig anybody out.

Schrodinger opens an eye and sees the rock mongrels going BORK BORK BORK and immediately vanishes from spacetime.

Actually Lydia's Schrodinger also does that. HOW UNHELPFUL!!!

DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies.
==============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>==============================
==================<* CHALLENGE - Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies *>==================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Ahead, through a narrow spur of the canyon, you can see a glint of light      
 winking off of something. It must be treasure ahead! But as you press         
 forward, the horrible sound of splintering rock ripples through the canyon    
 face.                                                                         
                                                                               
 And then, because the canyon just doesn't hate you enough already, the rock   
 face you're standing under gives way and begins to collapse towards you.      
 Dirt, dust and boulders plummet towards you and begin to pile up.             
                                                                               
 Somehow you're going to have to both dig your way out of the rockfall and     
 prevent yourself from being crushed by several tons of the canyon itself      
 trying to kill you like the geological jerk that it is.                       
=Dungeon Conditions: Collapse=================================================
=========================<* Forbidden Canyon - Round 6 *>=========================
====================< Results - Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies >====================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   56 --(100)--> 156              Fail
Brewte Force                        1   Brute   Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catenna                             41 --(100)--> 141              Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     51 --(100)--> 151              Fail
Invigorating Vapors                 1   Brute   Effects: Cleanse              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         61 --(100)--> 161              Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Jacqueline Barber           90 --(10)--> 100               Fail
Conditions: Collapse|Hesitate(1)
Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1)
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: Jacqueline Barber is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Catenna is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Lydia Seren is too exhausted to continue!
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Jacqueline Barber has successfully explored Forbidden Canyon!
==============================<* Forbidden Canyon *>==============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Althena's Spring *>========================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 You've made it through the canyon, and emerge to find... two steaming pools   
 of water, separated by a stone wall and each serviced by a half-crumbled      
 dressing room.                                                                
                                                                               
 It's a long-ruined Spring of Althena! A few of these ancient respites still   
 exist, but are legendarily difficult to actually reach these days - and       
 you've found one. The springs, which are sex-segregated, sit near a few       
 ruined buildings but still look cozy enough for your party to relax in to     
 replenish your minds and bodies and take off a world's worth of stress,       
 should you wish it.                                                           
                                                                               
 Of course, there's the option to explore some of the nearby buildings - and   
 indeed, there's an outbuilding where you can find a substantial stash of      
 silver coins tucked away in a corner!                                         
                                                                               
 You've found the Spring of Althena! Feel free to scene socially here if you   
 wish.                                                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Gravity is not going to be much help against a rockslide. That already uses gravity. Catenna is left to hunker down into Cyre's cloak, staring up at him as he summons the Rock Mongrels forth with the scent of delicious sizzling pig meat. Rock Mongrels erupt through the canyon like a fluffy tidal wave.

And they compound the problem. They abscond with the bacon and leave behind more rocks. Before long, Catenna and Cyre are buried in the rubble, much like a flattened Lydia, who wisely flattens out so that she doesn't get, uh, flattened out...?

But then... there is a flash.

Even here on Lunar, the Guardian of the Earth responds to Jacqueline's call. For just a second, the titanic Guardian rises above the rubble, reaching out with powerful arms to shove rubble and boulders aside. They part away from the huddling four, dividing the rockslide around the Guardian like a rock against an oceanic tide.

And then it's over. The last rocks fall, and Catenna looks up, battered and covered in dust, her outfit torn and smudged. She wraps her arms around Cyre, clutching him close. "A-are you alright...?" she asks unsteadily as she attempts to pull both herself and him out of the rubble.

Only now can they get a clear look at what's ahead. Water. Steam. A statue.

Catenna blinks with surprise. "...A hot spring...!"

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline exhales, still a little pale. She...really wasn't sure if that would have worked, but it looks like it did.

"Th-thank you, Grudiev..." She murmurs. She shuts her eyes tight and bows her head, just taking a moment to be thankful they managed to escape with their lives as she regains her breath.

Afterward, though, she raises her head, looking around at the others.

"Is everyone alright...?" She asks...and then Catenna says something that distracted her.

A hot spring.

Jacqueline turns her attention to it for a moment...and then looks down at herself - all beaten up and covered in dirt.

"I could...probably go for a hot spring right about now..." She admits, looking back up at it.

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

"Hah! It's working! I can't believe it's work--" A dog steals Cyre's bacon. Everything goes pear-shaped. Rocks fall! "Oh no!"

Who possibly could have predicted... That adding Rock Mongrels to a landslide could have possibly backfired...!?

...

It's only through Jay's earnest prayers and the intervention of the Guardian of Earth itself that Cyre doesn't suffocate beneath a crushing heap of rock. He emerges along with Catenna, covered in filth and gasping for breath. "That-- was that Grudiev?" Jay! Cyre is so proud! Now if only there were a conveniently placed hot spring to wash off all of this grime and--

Oh!!

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia's cart ends up landing right into the women's side of the hot springs. Lydia rides it like a flotation device as the cart dips just enough that some water gets in and gives Lydia a soothing bath.

"Ahh..." She says. "This adventure really did rock."