2018-11-18: Fully Illuminated Disc: Difference between revisions

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(Created page with "*'''Log: Fully Illuminated Disc''' *'''Cast:''' Character :: Catenna, Character :: Cyre H. Lorentz, Character :: Lydia Seren, Character :: Jacqueline Barber, [...")
 
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[[Category:Chapter 1]]
[[Category:Chapter 1]]
[[Category:Chapter 1, Act 4]]
[[Category:Chapter 1, Act 4]]
[[Category:(Plot) Moonlight Sonata]]

Latest revision as of 16:51, 25 September 2019


DG: A party led by Catenna is now entering Luna Temple.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
================================<* Luna Temple *>=================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - A Trick of Faith *>========================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Facing onto an open cavern deep beneath the mountains, the entryway to this   
 temple is a splendid place - built from pale white bricks and soaring,        
 graceful columns of a frosty white marble, hauntingly lit by a subtle,        
 blue-tinged white light that streams not from a single source, but from tiny  
 crystal globes that hang suspended from the ceiling in places, held by        
 silvery chains - and, bizarrely, several more are affixed to the floor and    
 hang /upwards./                                                               
                                                                               
 Because that's the problem with this chamber: There's an arched doorway in    
 the wall across from you. But it's several metres up, and there's no          
 stairwell leading to it. Or rather, there /is/ a stairwell.                   
                                                                               
 But it leads from the ceiling. It approaches the doorway and stops at the     
 /top/ of it. It is an upside-down stairwell.                                  
                                                                               
 The way those lamps hang upwards from the floor is the clue. There must be    
 parts of this room where gravity works differently. It must be possible to    
 somehow jump up to that stairwell and land upside down on the ceiling and     
 walk inside. But the question is... can you make the jump without hitting     
 your head on the ceilingfloor?                                                
                                                                               
 <BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l6OLPnDGq8>                            
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

The Owlet is missing.

As if Catenna didn't have enough to deal with. Her sister coming by, and now Riesenlied being kidnapped. But nothing is so important to her as the Owlet. The little bird simply got up in the night and toddled off - leaving behind tiny footprints in the snow. It's those that Catenna has been doggedly following.

She followed them into a rugged, snowy valley, and into the mouth of a cavern. And now --

"What is this," Catenna breathes as she steps into the chamber facing them. It's a place of magnificence, all fluted columns and pale marble, and pale globes of light hanging from the ceiling...

...and from the floor. It's as though half of the room is upside down - including the archway on the other end, which has a stairway leading to it.

From the ceiling.

"It's... it's as if the Owlet knew this was here," Catenna breathes as she starts forward. "Then she must be in here somewhere. Somewhere in this... temple...."

A temple of gravity. Realization nibbles around the edge of Catenna's consciousness, but she can't put it into words right now.

But she can feel the call.

Stepping forward, she unspools her rope. She casts it out, the grappling hook swinging low - until it suddenly begins to fall towards the ceiling, latching on firmly to a spot just below the arched entryway. Or is it above it? Nevertheless, Catenna begins to pull herself along the rope, sprinting, then jumping - and moving to swing towards the door.

DG: Catenna has used her Tool Grappling Hook toward her party's challenge, A Trick of Faith.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Is there a Primarch of Gravity?

Cyre would really rather not know the answer to that question. The implications are scary enough without a malicious elemental force attached to the other end. And besides that, he has more important things to worry about right now.

Once news got out that the Owlet had gone missing, Cyre immediately suited up to help track her down. He knows all too well that Catenna is deathly weak to cold weather of all kinds, and it wouldn't do to let her go off all on her own-- nevermind the risk of her getting eaten or kidnapped or worse.

"Maybe she lead us here," Cyre says, musing at the bizarre and utterly mindbending architecture of this strange and topsy-turvy place. "If she is here, we'll find her. And if she's not, we'll just keep on looking, alright?" Now, to the problem at hand. He could use his parachute here, but...

Well. Strange gravity has a rather unpleasant effect on that kind of thing.

So instead Cyre jumps along with Catenna's attempt to grapnel up to the ceiling-floor to access the staircase there. A little more mass and a little wind magic might just go a long way in helping them navigate this bizarre space-time.

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Trick of Faith.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

YESTERDAY

The cooling skeletal figure of Lydia stares into the distance, alone, the caravan long gone to deliver the rescued children and supplies to new Arctica. Smoke drifts upward from her eyes. Eventually, Lydia stands herself up and starts walking.

NOW

When the Owlet went missing, Lydia felt the need to lend a hand even though she wasn't, to be honest, totally really feeling it. Her emotions are not chillax in the slightest.

Lydia also hasn't regenerated but she has put on some new clothes, her old Baskar Leathers. Other than that, she hasn't really felt like putting on skin anymore.

Lydia quietly observes Catenna revealing the trick to this room before ejecting out her footwheels and taking a running jump before twisting upside down so that she lands on her feet, rollerblades first.

She sighs afterward and just quietly keeps trudging along.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Radical Skates toward her party's challenge, A Trick of Faith.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline was still recovering, herself. She had a lot to cope with. It was all incredibly overwhelming...but, their smallest friend needed them. For the Owlet's sake, Jacqueline could put those feelings aside - if only temporarily.

She did not anticipate the ornate temple they would encounter, however. She looks toward Catenna for a moment, glancing about in wonder.

"I...I'm not sure. I haven't heard anything about a structure like this out here..." She murmurs. "This place must have been hidden for...I'm not even sure how long."

She follows Catenna into the entrance chamber, looking about. Her eyes take in the sights. It's...a little disorientating, to be honest. It doesn't improve any when Catenna's thrown grappling hook reacts strangely to the pull of gravity here.

"...O-oh. I see..." She murmurs. She had a feeling this was going to be a recurring theme. She already feels a little queasy about it. So, in response she draws out some potions, passing them out to the group. They should help them get their bearings here, as well as keep things stable.

<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.

Mariel was not present when Catenna's sister arrived. Actually, she's been kind of scarce on Elru; she's hid inside the caravan a few times, only to counterbalance this by going out on her own to take a look around. She's worried, and for more than just the usual array of options.

But she came for the Owlet. She did not bother to ask Catenna. She just came, after bundling a particularly full satchel up - just in case. She has stayed mostly out of Catenna's way, and almost Lydia's, as she's not sure what to do with her; a couple times she almost approaches, but then backs off.

This place is faintly familiar to Mariel. She has never been to it, but she's seen a place like it, once, a long time ago... or, more accurately, heard of it. The context was very different, though. Somehow she doubts it's related.

"Don't fall," is her advice, unhelpful as it is. As for Mariel herself, she doesn't immediately jump up, but kneels down, picking up a mittenfull of unpacked dirt and dust, breaking it up in her palm. She makes sure it's nice and loose before she tosses a handful high into the air, letting it drift slowly down...

...and, in some places, not down. Mariel watches it very carefully before she hesitantly moves to one of the upside-down crystal globes on the floor and, with some effort, arranges herself in a handstand. The lower part of her robe clusters around her legs before being caught by the strange gravity, and when Mariel hops, she doesn't come down in the same place.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius is wounded and exhausted from having to deal with a specific problem that seems to have been timed to coincide with a disagreeable voiced concern of his. A not small share of the Heal Berry supply has been expended to deal with the various burns he suffered in proximity of a shambling bio-metal horror that could spit up molten lava. The more unnerving thing is less that he survived that.
     It's that he is already gearing up to follow the rest upon Catenna's word about the Owlet being missing. It's a matter he seems to be treating with the utmost seriousness, but, on average he does seem to take her word with a lot more weight than usual.
     Speculations can wait. He follows into the cavern, and into the magnificent chamber and its strange relationship with gravity.
     He is almost compelled to step ahead of Catenna - of everyone - as though he suspects a danger that might just be another of his gross (...actually, usually very neat) overreactions, but the Shaman of Celesdue advances forth with purpose and also a grappling hook.
     He tests the 'air' of the room a different way as he goes about the usual details involved in putting on and activating the repurposed bandit loot sack as a personal hot air balloon, drifting forward once he finds a slightly elevated vantage point to work from.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, A Trick of Faith.
DG: Mariel has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Trick of Faith.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, A Trick of Faith.
================================<* Luna Temple *>=================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - A Trick of Faith *>========================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Facing onto an open cavern deep beneath the mountains, the entryway to this   
 temple is a splendid place - built from pale white bricks and soaring,        
 graceful columns of a frosty white marble, hauntingly lit by a subtle,        
 blue-tinged white light that streams not from a single source, but from tiny  
 crystal globes that hang suspended from the ceiling in places, held by        
 silvery chains - and, bizarrely, several more are affixed to the floor and    
 hang /upwards./                                                               
                                                                               
 Because that's the problem with this chamber: There's an arched doorway in    
 the wall across from you. But it's several metres up, and there's no          
 stairwell leading to it. Or rather, there /is/ a stairwell.                   
                                                                               
 But it leads from the ceiling. It approaches the doorway and stops at the     
 /top/ of it. It is an upside-down stairwell.                                  
                                                                               
 The way those lamps hang upwards from the floor is the clue. There must be    
 parts of this room where gravity works differently. It must be possible to    
 somehow jump up to that stairwell and land upside down on the ceiling and     
 walk inside. But the question is... can you make the jump without hitting     
 your head on the ceilingfloor?                                                
                                                                               
 <BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l6OLPnDGq8>                            
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify==================================================
===========================<* Luna Temple - Round 1 *>============================
==========================< Results - A Trick of Faith >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catenna                             0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Grappling Hook                      2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rapid Remedy                        1   Agility Effects: Cleanse              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Radical Skates                      3   Agility Effects: Fanfare              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Hot Air Sack                        2   Agility Effects: Resilient            
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mariel                              0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Catenna                     0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Stupify(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)|Resilient(1)
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Catenna 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.
================================<* Luna Temple *>=================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Phases of Action *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 You enter this chamber... and find yourselves on a balcony overlooking an     
 endless chasm. The walls of the room extend off into infinity and vanish      
 into the black. There is no floor and there is no ceiling. Everything just    
 vanishes into the black. Only a few floating blue-white orbs, affixed to      
 nothing, light this place. Far across from you, however, a few more spheres   
 come to life, revealing another balcony and a door. The chasm separating you  
 is vast.                                                                      
                                                                               
 But there's help. Moving slowly up and down through the chasm are several     
 platforms, each one made of gold and set with a shimmering blue-white gem.    
 They are just big enough for a person to jump to and relay across them.       
                                                                               
 Except that as soon as you jump to a platform, it begins to rotate - and      
 while gravity continues to faithfully hold you to the platform, it turns      
 itself to a random angle. And the other platforms, too, begin to rotate,      
 forcing you to match their angle as you jump to the next one. Each new        
 platform you jump to rotates a little differently. Keeping track of them all  
 is disorienting. It's maddening. And a fall could put you into an endless     
 plummet into the abyss.                                                       
                                                                               
 Fortunately, there's no rush.                                                 
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Catenna's not super excited about recent events either, but the Owlet is a concern above and beyond all others to her. Even if it weren't sacred, she's obligated.

That swing is perfect. Catenna touches down in front of the archway, and Cyre descends beside her. The Moon Priestess looks up at him with a soft blush. "...I think... I think she is here. I can feel something calling...."

Even in her troubled state, Lydia makes the leap. Jacqueline launches herself up as well, handing out potions, and Ethius behind, simply floating along like a man on a balloon. Which is what he is.

Mariel's advice is well-taken. None of them fall. Neither does Mariel. Her methodical approach sees gravity guide her to the landing. Catenna looks back at her with a little smile, tight. She doesn't really feel it as completely as she should.

Too much has been lost. But at least I can save the Owlet.

"Let's continue," she urges as she steps through the archway - and yelps as she nearly walks off the edge of the balcony beyond.

The room is vast and endless, a huge chasm beyond filled with slowly-moving platforms that ascend and descend out of the endless darkness above and below. They seem to follow unseen tracks, each one oriented flat. Pursing her lips, Catenna gauges the timing of the platforms. "...We will have to time our jumps," she surmises, before uncoiling her rope again and casting it out.

The tines of her grappling line grasp one of the platforms further along. As the platform ascends, she jumps, swinging out to another platform below it. Touching down, she prepares to jump -

And she gasps as the platform begins to rotate. She remains affixed to it; gravity simply shifts with her. And the other platforms, too, begin to rotate, each one a little differently.

Catenna, who understands a thing or two about gravity, still has to fight her senses. "...It is a temple of gravity," she breathes.

DG: Catenna has used her Tool Grappling Hook toward her party's challenge, Phases of Action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    The Hot Air Sack deflates as Ethius touches his feet down on the floor before the archway. For being party to a harrowing event, there is precious little - maybe even nothing - to suggest any heightened distress or worry on his part. That same distant character, as Catenna has to catch herself from nearly falling prey to the next chamber's trap.
     He has problems following the pattern presented from mere observation. He thinks to get out the eyeglass to see if he may instead suss out a pattern by seeing whether there is some connection between these platforms that move when people are leaping, and some other unseen anchor. One Symbological cast of electricity later in which to empower it...
     He stares through it, and sees...
     ...
     "...We will need to heed Miss Catenna's observations with utmost care," he says as he stows it away and re-adjusts the fit of the Hot Air Sack's harness. Unless the platforms have sharp edges and end up rotating into it while it's held over him, it'll provide him a safety net between dangerous leaps of faith, for the shifting gravity will make it difficult to take leaps of reason.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Phases of Action.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline's potion helps. She doesn't feel that awful sensation of gravity shifting as intensely as she would have. She does need to take a second to recover after she lands, but soon enough she's following Catenna through the archway and into the chamber beyond.

The sight of that endless chasm below them, though, causes the queasy feeling to return. She didn't like this...but, it wasn't as if they had much choice if they wanted to find the Owlet.

She takes a few steps back and takes a running leap toward the next platform. She nearly falls, but she manages to rebalance herself. Unfortunately, there wasn't nearly enough material here to create an earth pillar to help - and even if there was, she's not entirely certain that it wouldn't unbalance the platform and tip them all into the abyss.

So, they had to do this the hard way.

"Gravity..." Jacqueline murmurs, in response to Catenna. She's not certain if Catenna's referring to the force or the altogether solemnity of this place, but both seem equally applicable.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, Phases of Action.
DG: Mariel has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Phases of Action.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.

Mariel's problem is not that she's not agile. She's light and fast enough, when she gets going; she's used to avoiding her problems, and that includes dodging monsters when she's travelling, or climbing around on the edges of mountains.

No, her problem is that she doesn't feel right when the solid ground *moves*. She never travelled away from Filgaia. She was fine on a ship (water works as well as earth) but this is something else. The upside-down sections from the entryway were bad enough. Jumping between floating platforms is not fantastic.

But then she gets on one of the platforms, and it spins. With her on it. And she doesn't fall. Mariel hunches down on it, unwilling to stand up, for several long, long moments. It's good they're not under a time crunch because she's not going anywhere (and is providing an obstacle) for at least a while. "Why..." Why did it have to be like THIS?

Eventually, she gets up enough courage to stand up, though with her arms spread as if she was balancing on a rope and not a man-sized platform. She balances, not wobbling, before she leaps to the next one, not landing on it so much as impacting into it.

That's one way to get across. Probably not the best one though.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia takes note of Mariel's care but doesn't comment on it. She's not feeling very talky right now. Her mom just got kidnapped by a mad scientist. Being in a good mood isn't what she's up for right now.

Even the ridiculous obstacle course set ahead of them isn't enough to stir Lydia into a cheerier place. There is a small cocking of her head as she examines the chasm, and the platforms.

Lydia exhales out some smoke before rushing along on her skates, fully intent on speed-running this. Considering Lydia's freefall tendencies, this sort of gravity nonsense might not be as terrible for her as it is for those who are normally considerably less reckless, but she sees Mariel struggling and will offer her a hand to help her out, though she won't FORCE Mariel to take it. She just quietly looks at Mariel and offers the hand. If it's not taken within a few moments, Lydia moves on her way, skidding across platforms like someone with a deathwish.

She doesn't have a deathwish, but she has never been one to back away from a thrill.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Radical Skates toward her party's challenge, Phases of Action.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

More strange gravity. It should be expected, by this point. This IS a gravity temple, after all. Still, the way those platforms turn and churn in directions that don't make even a little bit of reasonable sense, the dizzying abyss below, all of it is... A little bit daunting.

And so Cyre sucks in a breath, and just... Goes for it.

"Don't let the platforms disorient you," Cyre calls into the void as he hops onto one of the turning floors. "Just focus on keeping your balance and jump when your body tells you to! If you think too hard, it'll just make you nauseous!"

And he has plenty of reason to worry. Lydia especially looks like she's... been through several different kinds of hell.

Well.

She's a strong girl. They'll help her get through this. All will be well again.

They just need to keep moving.

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Phases of Action.
================================<* Luna Temple *>=================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Phases of Action *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 You enter this chamber... and find yourselves on a balcony overlooking an     
 endless chasm. The walls of the room extend off into infinity and vanish      
 into the black. There is no floor and there is no ceiling. Everything just    
 vanishes into the black. Only a few floating blue-white orbs, affixed to      
 nothing, light this place. Far across from you, however, a few more spheres   
 come to life, revealing another balcony and a door. The chasm separating you  
 is vast.                                                                      
                                                                               
 But there's help. Moving slowly up and down through the chasm are several     
 platforms, each one made of gold and set with a shimmering blue-white gem.    
 They are just big enough for a person to jump to and relay across them.       
                                                                               
 Except that as soon as you jump to a platform, it begins to rotate - and      
 while gravity continues to faithfully hold you to the platform, it turns      
 itself to a random angle. And the other platforms, too, begin to rotate,      
 forcing you to match their angle as you jump to the next one. Each new        
 platform you jump to rotates a little differently. Keeping track of them all  
 is disorienting. It's maddening. And a fall could put you into an endless     
 plummet into the abyss.                                                       
                                                                               
 Fortunately, there's no rush.                                                 
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
===========================<* Luna Temple - Round 2 *>============================
==========================< Results - Phases of Action >==========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catenna                             0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Grappling Hook                      2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rapid Remedy                        1   Agility Effects: Cleanse              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Radical Skates                      3   Agility Effects: Fanfare              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Hot Air Sack                        2   Agility Effects: Resilient            
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mariel                              0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Catenna                     20 --(20)--> 40                Pass
Conditions: Tire(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)|Resilient(1)
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Catenna 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.
================================<* Luna Temple *>=================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Inversion Drift *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 In this marble chamber, the puzzle is straightforward. There is a large       
 square pit in the floor, at the bottom of which is a large golden switch.     
 Next to it is a six-meter-by-six-meter marble cube. The floor is polished     
 enough that you can slide the cube around if enough of you apply some force   
 to the immense object. It is just big enough to push into the pit, depress    
 the switch and open the gate at the far end of the room.                      
                                                                               
 And then you take two steps into the room and start floating.                 
                                                                               
 Gravity gives up its grip on you. Your body becomes weightless. Your heels    
 flip towards the ceiling as the microgravity field inverts for you and you    
 alone. The cube remains bound by the standard force of gravity, but all       
 those who venture towards it are left floating along, deprived of the         
 ability to just plant one's heels against the floor, brace and shove.         
 Weightless and floating and upside down, your leverage all but vanishes.      
                                                                               
 Somehow you'll have to shove the block into the hole... without ever          
 touching the floor yourself.                                                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Nobody ever accused gravity tricks of being easy on the senses.

Fortunately there aren't too many platforms. Unfortunately, those attempting to jump must time their leaps incredibly - and not everyone can. Mariel works up her courage - but it takes Lydia, even as exhausted as she is, to help her across. Even clever Ethius runs into problems because every time he passes near a platform, gravity's effect on him changes and he keeps falling towards that platform. He ends up having to jump most of the way. It's more tiring.

Cyre, quick kitty though he is, nearly misses a platform - until a pair of arms snatch him out of the air. It's Catenna, and she's got him in the princess carry he normally reserves for her. "Be careful," she says quietly. "I don't want to lose you too."

They make it to the other side soon enough, and Catenna lets Cyre down. "...Something is calling to us," she murmurs as she begins to move forward.

It's a call most of those present cannot feel. Mariel can - but she can tell that the subtle sense of come-hither is directed.

Another arch waits for them. Passing through into a corridor beyond, the group comes face-to-face with a long hallway with a square pit in the floor. Beside it, a distance away, a six-by-six-metre marble cube sits waiting. Beyond them, a locked gate bars the next archway. "Then the switch must be at the bottom of that pit," Catenna surmises, starting forward.

On the third step, her feet leave the floor.

With a surprised blink, the Moon Priestess lets gravity carry her. The transition is slow but sure, and she's soon hanging in the air, upside down, left to float aimlessly towards the marble cube. Gravity does the same to everyone else, drawing them gradually up and turning them upside down.

Catenna presses her lips together as something begins to dawn on her. "...I am beginning to understand what drew the Owlet here," she murmurs as she floats herself towards the cube, trying to get ahold of a corner.

DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Inversion Drift.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Fortunately, Jacqueline is sure of her footing, if anything. And she has the patience to watch the platforms until it's time to leap to the next one. This means that she thankfully doesn't end up dropping into the abyss below, and can instead keep moving forward.

And once they're all there, Catenna says that something is calling to them. Jacqueline doesn't hear or feel it...but at the same time, she trusts Catenna on that matter. If she says something is calling to them, she believes her.

She follows Catenna through the arch and, this time, is unsurprised when she finds herself leaving the floor. This significantly complicates the matter of pushing the block. With a sigh she rummages through her bags, passing out some more potions.

"What do you mean?" Jacqueline asks, glancing toward Catenna before turning her eyes back to the problem at hand, sizing up the block. "You said something was calling to us...do you think it called to her as well?"

As she does a feel calculations in her head, then makes a gesture with her left hand. A pillar of earth emerges from the ground, aiming to aid in pushing the cube. That's the goal, anyway, but she has no way of knowing if the gravity will affect her Sorcery, as well.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, Inversion Drift.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.

Mariel hesitates only an instant before taking Lydia's hand. She might be able to make it on her own, but this is much faster. The hesitation, though... she couldn't help herself on that one.

Sorry, Lydia.

Mariel lets go as soon as they're onto solid(-ish) ground again. "...thank you," she says, before dusting herself off a little bit. Hopefully it will be a little easier as they go further in. They put the best traps on the outside, to keep people out. Right? ...right?

...apparently not.

Mariel does not enter immediately, watching Catenna lift off. She decides to stay anchored for a moment while she checks her pack for supplies. Nothing immediately comes to mind, except - "Do you still have that grappling hook?" she asks, peeking into the room. "You could attach it to the block and pull it from the wall... You can push off that." Just because Mariel hates the gravity twist doesn't mean she doesn't understand it, and probably better than the average.

Mariel eventually pushes herself into the room. She glides low to the ground rather than trying to walk or push herself up. "Do you feel it too?" It's faint and distant, but she feels the same call as Catenna. Though it's clear, to Mariel, that it's not meant for her. This only reinforces some thoughts Mariel has, which she keeps to herself as she moves, attempting to affix a rope on the block *somewhere* so they can pull and push it without just pushing themselves away from the block.

DG: Mariel has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Inversion Drift.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    You can't outsmart the laws of nature, sometimes, as Ethius finds out when he bodily collides with one of the platforms and has to scramble to remain upright. (Directionright?) Not wanting to strain the seams on the patchwork bag, he has to give it a bit of a rest for the remainder of the path.
     Following the rest through the arch, once there is a comfort in knowing what will happen, Ethius takes a moment to prepare from just outside of the chamber.
     He gets a short jogging start before leaping on through. Unless the transition arrests him of his built-up momentum, he'll draw his (new, following the loss of the previous to Alhazred's latest experiment) quarterstaff and attempt to transfer said momentum with a direct, precise strike.
     "Far Point!"

DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Inversion Drift.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Oh no! Cyre slips! Cyre falls! Cyre... lands in Catenna's amazingly buff* arms. "Oh, my shining prince~" The Wind Priest swoons, hooks his arms around Catenna's shoulders, and then leans up to peck a kiss upon her cheek.

A little bit of levity, just to... Help with the gravity of the situation.

SPEAKING OF GRAVITY.

Something is drawing them deeper. Deeper and deeper and deeper and finally into a room that almost makes sense. There's a block that needs to be pushed into a hole. Okay, not a problem, they've pushed blocks into holed before, this'll be--

Oh, there goes the gravity.

"I'm betting this is a temple to Celesdue," Cyre says as he lands on the ceiling. They're... Going to need to get creative here. "That would explain... Everything. I think. Here, see if you can't secure this around the cube," Cyre produces his handy censer and gently lobs the chain up to where Catenna is floating near the cube. "That might give us some leverage."

(*Not... not really... :()

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Invigorating Vapors toward his party's challenge, Inversion Drift.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia doesn't comment on the hesitation. Honestly, without a--you know--face it's hard to tell WHAT she notices. Lydia makes a gesture as if to wipe that strange smoke still driffting from her eyes with her wrist. She gives Mariel a small nod.

And then Lydia is floating again. Her heels twist around and now she's standing on the ceiling. She stays away from that hole in the middle as best she can while she looks at the cube.

She quirks her head to the left, stares at it (can she even blink at the moment? Uhh) and then draws out her baseball bat and flings it as hard as she can at the block.

Well, at least it's still Lydia right?

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Good Luck Bat toward her party's challenge, Inversion Drift.
================================<* Luna Temple *>=================================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Inversion Drift *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 In this marble chamber, the puzzle is straightforward. There is a large       
 square pit in the floor, at the bottom of which is a large golden switch.     
 Next to it is a six-meter-by-six-meter marble cube. The floor is polished     
 enough that you can slide the cube around if enough of you apply some force   
 to the immense object. It is just big enough to push into the pit, depress    
 the switch and open the gate at the far end of the room.                      
                                                                               
 And then you take two steps into the room and start floating.                 
                                                                               
 Gravity gives up its grip on you. Your body becomes weightless. Your heels    
 flip towards the ceiling as the microgravity field inverts for you and you    
 alone. The cube remains bound by the standard force of gravity, but all       
 those who venture towards it are left floating along, deprived of the         
 ability to just plant one's heels against the floor, brace and shove.         
 Weightless and floating and upside down, your leverage all but vanishes.      
                                                                               
 Somehow you'll have to shove the block into the hole... without ever          
 touching the floor yourself.                                                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
===========================<* Luna Temple - Round 3 *>============================
==========================< Results - Inversion Drift >===========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catenna                             0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Fail
Brewte Force                        1   Brute   Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Good Luck Bat                       2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen           
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
Invigorating Vapors                 1   Brute   Effects: Cleanse              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mariel                              5 --(0)--> 5                   Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Catenna                     40 --(20)--> 60                Pass
Conditions: Bad Luck(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1)
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Catenna 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.
================================<* Luna Temple *>=================================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - The Pull of G *>==========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 This corridor is long and faintly lit, lined with fluted white pillars. At    
 the end of it, a closed doorway waits for you, with a small silver pedestal   
 that looks like it slides into a round slot on the floor - presumably a door  
 switch. There is nothing to impede you from getting there and sliding the     
 pillar into the hole.                                                         
                                                                               
 Until you walk forward and the weight of your own body suddenly seems like    
 it's enough to crush you.                                                     
                                                                               
 It's as though your head weighs a hundred pounds. Your arms and legs feel     
 like lead. Just keeping your head up is an ordeal. Even lifting your leg to   
 move forward takes a feat of strength. The gravity in this corridor has       
 multiplied to the point that you're fairly sure that your body weight is now  
 about five times what it usually is.                                          
                                                                               
 Forcing your way to the end of the hallway will be a challenge. Moivng the    
 pedestal in this much gravity will take all the strength you have.            
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

The big problem here is that there's nothing to brace against and no way to gain leverage - and the cube is not just huge, but heavy.

But the group, somehow, manages - and a lot of it is because of Lydia's bat. She wings it across the room and slams it into the cube - and it actually slides a few inches as a chip is knocked out of it.

The chip gives Ethius a place to hit. He slams his quarterstaff into it, and it begins to slide. Mariel and Catenna are able to move in from there, Catenna gripping the handhold Lydia made, her rope relinquished to Mariel to let the tinier woman pull. Cyre's drugs help a little, and so does the chain.

So, for that matter, do Jay's invigorating draughts. Soon enough, the cube slides into the opening - and with a soft chime, the gate slides away, and the group begins to descend to the floor again.

Catenna lets out a soft breath of effort. "...It must have," she says quietly, nodding first to Jay, then to Mariel. "This place... it must be a lost temple of the Moon...!"

That call only grows stronger - a quiet, insistent summons. Catenna nods to Mariel as she bustles into the next corridor. "I can feel it," she says as she looks to the pedestal and switch slot ahead. "The Owlet is a creature of Celesdue. It can feel it asGAK"

She's abruptly cut off as her weight suddenly multiplies manyfold and crushes her down into a crab crouch. Straining to lift her head, Catenna struggles against the immense pull of gravity. It's as though the room is trying to flatten everyone in the room into mere pancakes on the floor. Muscles and limbs straining with effort, she groans as she begins to pull herself across the room.

But she can't stop now. The Owlet is in here somewhere. "Have to... get that... switch pushed," she grates as she struggles across the corridor towards the pedestal. It takes all the strength she has just to try and plod there.

DG: Catenna has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Pull of G.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

A lost temple of the Moon...that would certainly explain a lot. The emphasis on gravity, the elegant, stately design...there was a lot that made sense with that information in mind.

"I see..." Jacqueline murmurs, glancing toward Celesdue. "So you think-"

Her words are interrupt by a gasp as Catenna is suddenly forced downwards.

"A-are you alright?" She asks, concerned. It serves as a warning. After taking a moment to brace herself Jacqueline approaches, wincing as gravity forces her down. It's heavy...it's so heavy, she can't even make the necessary gestures to cast anything through her gauntlets.

She takes a deep breath and forces herself forward. They couldn't stop here - as Catenna said, they had to push that switch.

"Stay strong, everyone...!" She urges. Fortunately, the lingering effects of the earlier potion should continue to help fortify everyone.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, The Pull of G.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.

"Yes, I think it is," Mariel agrees with Catenna. It feels like a temple... which explains why it doesn't feel like the call is meant for Mariel. With the way the Guardians must feel about her...

...well, she's not going to get into that now; it's not the time. But she looks momentarily sad as she walks after the others, trips, falls on her face, and has someone else sit on her back.

Not literally. It's just gravity at work. But it *feels* like it; her satchel has landed on top of her as she tumbled, and it feels like it weighs a ton all on its own. Mariel lets out a decidedly less delicate grunt as she tries to push herself up, fails, slides the satchel off, tries to push herself up again and actually manages it this time, pushing herself to hands and knees.

"Even my ears are heavy..." Mariel's floppy ears are indeed not really moving but pointing straight down as she lifts her head. It's an unpleasant sensation, and it's threatening to give her a headache already. She scoots along the ground, unable to stand all the way up - she can only manage a slow crawl, and even that's hard. She's not a strong girl. It shows. But if they can just get there... surely it will end.

DG: Mariel has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Pull of G.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

How did the ancients who built this place figure out how to so skillfully manipulate the most fundamental forces of reality? Is this simply a reflection of the power of the Guardian of the Moon? What would this place be like, had her connection to the world not been interrupted by the awakening of the Demon Mother? "If that is what this place is, maybe the Owlet sensed it nearby and came to try and restore its connection to Celesdue?" If that's the case, then what would happen if they removed it from here? Would it begin to weaken again?

A problem for later. There's something much more pressing to deal with now.

...Or rather. Something much more... COMpressing.

"Ghhk--" Cyre growls as gravity abruptly intensifies. His knees nearly buckle and give way under the tremendous force pressing down upon him. "Damnit I think I almost broke something. This is insane!" But he has a way to try and buoy their efforts. Cyre focuses on the air in the chamber and wills it downward and then back up, densifying around their bodies and pushing up to try and artificially lighten their loads with a mighty wind.

It carries some of his still-wafting incense smoke, circulating the grey-blue vapors around the rest of the party.

They can't afford to keep this up forever. Even Mariel's ears are heavy, and that is NO WAY to treat such fluffy ears...!

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Invigorating Vapors toward his party's challenge, The Pull of G.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    The strange man patiently keeps pace, like some sort of force of inevitability that has decided to take the form of a human being as he floats on towards the next corridor. He once again seems intent on taking up the rear and allowing Catenna to do what she needs, what she believes, what she feels.
     ...What everyone feels, which is to say, heavy. To Ethius' benefit, as he doesn't wear heavy armor, he is not running the risk of having his joints pulverized by the multiplied weight of his belongings. This is not to say it is comfortable.
     He closes his eyes. He can't quite lift his hand up all the way. A thought enters his head. A situation such as this...
     ...
     "Listen to me." Ethius speaks, his tone of voice betraying no sense of strain or distress that he must be feeling. "The ground is smooth and level. You will conserve more strength if you elect to try and slide your limbs, rather than lift."
     ...Has he been subject to something like this before? Could he possibly have been in this-- no, that cannot be, but he speaks as though from a position of familiarity...?
     "I would additionally advise one discards unneeded burdens," he says as he moves so very slowly and carefully. If there is an unseen and unknown time limit, he may run afoul of it, but he so far appears to endure this crushing trial without panic nor doubt.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Pull of G.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia picks her bat back up when all is said and done becuase she only has the one.

And now..! More gravity! Lydia suddenly stops partway through her movement and then sloshes to the ground as she splatters to the floor, the bones leaking outward in a puddle briefly before resolidifying. "NGhhkkk..." Lydia grunts, struggling to push herself up to her feet.

Ultimately she relies on her bat once again to steady herself up and get a-moving.

"Like skin?" Lydia asks. See, she's making jokes, that's a good sign right?

But she quiets down shortly after that quip, perhaps finding it too mean and deciding that if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all. She presses her lips back together and keeps a movin-'.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Good Luck Bat toward her party's challenge, The Pull of G.
================================<* Luna Temple *>=================================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - The Pull of G *>==========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 This corridor is long and faintly lit, lined with fluted white pillars. At    
 the end of it, a closed doorway waits for you, with a small silver pedestal   
 that looks like it slides into a round slot on the floor - presumably a door  
 switch. There is nothing to impede you from getting there and sliding the     
 pillar into the hole.                                                         
                                                                               
 Until you walk forward and the weight of your own body suddenly seems like    
 it's enough to crush you.                                                     
                                                                               
 It's as though your head weighs a hundred pounds. Your arms and legs feel     
 like lead. Just keeping your head up is an ordeal. Even lifting your leg to   
 move forward takes a feat of strength. The gravity in this corridor has       
 multiplied to the point that you're fairly sure that your body weight is now  
 about five times what it usually is.                                          
                                                                               
 Forcing your way to the end of the hallway will be a challenge. Moivng the    
 pedestal in this much gravity will take all the strength you have.            
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
===========================<* Luna Temple - Round 4 *>============================
===========================< Results - The Pull of G >============================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catenna                             0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Brewte Force                        1   Brute   Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Good Luck Bat                       2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen           
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       5 --(5)--> 10                  Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
Invigorating Vapors                 1   Brute   Effects: Cleanse              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mariel                              5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Catenna                     60 --(20)--> 80                Pass
Conditions: Tire(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1)
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Catenna 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.
================================<* Luna Temple *>=================================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Ecliptic Beast *>=========================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Unlike almost every other room in the temple, this chamber has one source of  
 light: A single, shimmering blue-white sphere of light, easily six metres     
 wide. It hovers high above the vast, pillar-lined chamber like a full moon.   
                                                                               
 A full moon under an eclipse. The surface of the orb is impeded by            
 something. A vast, amorphous black disc hovers in front of it, though the     
 nature of it cannot be made out. Only a thin halo of bluish light escapes,    
 barely enough to see by.                                                      
                                                                               
 And then something growls - low, deep and menacing.                           
                                                                               
 You can catch a glimpse of it if you look up. It comes running towards you -  
 across the ceiling. The monster is proportioned much like a gigantic          
 mountain lion, yet it has a tail like the body of a serpent and a head much   
 like the head of a snake too, with eyes shining with an oddly mechanical      
 yellowish light and fangs dripping with venom. As it approaches you, it       
 screams again in the darkness... and gravity suddenly inverts itself.         
                                                                               
 The creature attacks with tricks like that. It hurls itself at you and tries  
 to poison you with its bite. It flips the gravity around and tries to slash   
 through you in midair, sometimes trying to keep on the opposite floor from    
 you, sometimes trying to flip you disorientingly onto its side. And           
 sometimes it even tries to hurl you across the room with bursts of magical    
 force. Striking it is to find a hide which appears to be made of metal.       
                                                                               
 You've got your work cut out for you.                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"That... that must be why...!" Catenna manages to answer Cyre through clenched teeth. It's all she can do to speak right now. Gravity isn't letting up.

The crush of gravity is enough that, eventually, Catenna's pulled down to one knee, too far from the little pedestal to reach it. She strains to try and pull herself up again, but she can't. Ethius, meanwhile, sliding along, ends up unable to pull himself back up, his slow progress putting him behind. Again Lydia draws her bat - but she, too, finds herself bogged down.

Mariel, the lightest of the lot, is able to get there first, and Jay and Cyre not long behind - and when they get there, they find that the pedestal moves more easily than expected. It drops into that recess, and there's another quiet chime.

The gate slides open. Gravity releases its grip. Wincing, Catenna pulls back to her feet. "...Is everyone alright?" she asks after a moment.

Moving through the gate, she frowns a little as the corridor beyond proves to be fairly dark. "I wonder why it is that this place was left empty," she murmurs. "Perhaps the Veruni or Metal Demons drove out those who created it...."

Ahead, there's a flicker of blue light in the archway. Some unseen barrier has given way - and the sense of beckoning only grows more profound. Stepping through the room, Catenna gasps at what lies beyond.

The room is broad but dark, a huge sanctum of some sort, lit by a hovering sphere of light - like a full moon.

A full moon under an eclipse, impeded by a vast, amorphous black disc which allows only a narrow halo of light to escape. It's barely enough to see by. "...I see," Catenna says. "Then this place was darkened by something... and it must have been sealed off to contain whatever it was. Then the Owlet came here to--"

In the distance, something growls, low, menacing and reptilian. Catenna's voice catches in her throat.

In the low light, something comes loping across the ceiling. As high at the withers as a man, it's proportioned like a huge mountain lion - and yet its tail is long and whiplike, its head fanged and serpentine, and its hide glinting with mechanical-looking armour plates and eyes subtly backlit with yellow. It lopes across the top of the chamber. Catenna draws her bow with a hiss -

If that thing ate the Owlet, she suddenly reflects with a horrible feeling.

And then, startlingly, gravity inverts - and the metal beast lunges at Catenna as she's pulled towards the ceiling, and itself towards the floor. With a snarl, it slashes at her in midair.

Catenna hisses in pain as a metallic talon slices across her shoulder. Planting her heels on the ceiling, she switches her bow out for her Medium - and for the first time in awhile, she widens her eyes, feeling Celesdue's power closer at hand than ever. Whipping her free hand out, she barks a few words.

A surge of gravity attempts to pull the metal attacker back onto the ceiling with the rest of them.

DG: Catenna has used her Tool Celesdue Medium toward her party's challenge, Ecliptic Beast.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"F-for the most part..." Jacqueline says, hauling herself to her feet. They might've been able to succeed, but it still wasn't an entirely pleasant experience. She brushes herself off - though there is very little actual dust in this place - and follows Catenna through the archway beyond.

What meets them is a fantastic sight. A huge sanctum containing a sphere of light, eclipsed by a black disc. It's dark.

Before they can wonder on it too long, a beast appears.

"What...is that?" Jacqueline asks, backpedaling to try and make some distance. As she does so, however, she finds her feet leaving the ground as gravity is suddenly inverted, leaving her open to a burst of sorcerous force from the beast that sends her flying backwards into the wall right as her gravity corrects itself.

Jacqueline winces and inserts a Crest into one of the slots on her gauntlet before casting her right hand out, launching a spear of concentrated flame toward the metallic beast.

There had to be a weakness somewhere...she just had to identify it first.

DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ecliptic Beast.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.

Mariel is very glad that she doesn't weigh a whole lot, because even with that advantage she just barely got to the end. Sometimes, being under five feet and slender is an advantage.

Mariel takes some time to recover when gravity returns to normal; she flops onto her back, catching her breath after a groan. Her arms hurt. Her knees hurt. Her ears hurt, too. She'll be fine, but she needs a moment.

After that moment, she sits up, at least. She takes a moment to right herself and follows in, reaching into her bag and pulling something out, adding a powder to a vial but then hiding it in her hand. She has a feeling. And it's not just the call, a faint tug that stabilizes her - if she can't steady herself with the ground itself, at least she has the Moon.

"That must be why it called," Mariel says, looking around the dark room. She raises the vial she has in her hand - a small vial, which she shakes up, causing the mushroom powder in a solution of clear liquid to begin to glow faintly with a green bioluminescence. It helps; the moon does weird things with shadows. "To..."

"To deal with that!!"

Mariel throws the vial of glowing liquid at the beast. It is completely harmless (well, it's poisonous if you eat it, so don't do that) but the splatter of light it causes on impact makes it easy to track in the darkness, a streak of glowing green. Mariel herself tumbles upward as the gravity inverts. She throws something round in Catenna's direction, which misses entirely, buffeted by the changing gravity -

There is a strange stutter as she activates one of her 'lucky charms' -

And Mariel is back on the ground, momentarily. This time, when she throws the item, she knows exactly where to toss it, and it gets to Catenna via a slightly wobbling path from the changed gravity. The item proves to be an apple, except with blue skin - and if Catenna takes a bite, she gets to find out that it energizes her magic. A lot.

DG: Mariel has used her Tool Gimel Coin toward her party's challenge, Ecliptic Beast.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Some distant familiarity does not lead itself to comfort nor immediate success with the situation at hand, but the lot of them do make their way forward through the next... last?... gate.
     Ethius sucks in breath as the feeling of being crushed relieves itself much, much too soon in which to feel right or healthy. He attempts to caution everyone to slow down, but the flicker of blue light is an invitation to curious eyes to follow, for moving feet to carry. After taking some time to physically and emotionally decompress, Ethius follows within the dark sanctum - under the representation of a full moon under an eclipse. He says nothing to suggest nor guide Catenna's thoughts. That is because he has nothing to suggest nor guide her thoughts - or anyone's.
     Until the low growl can be heard, and the faint moving shadow above. He cannot say anything before gravity inverts, and an attempt to draw one of the satchels from his belt finds it flying out of his hand before he can finish the proper incantation for it.
     A renewed attempt to simply reclaim it runs into multiple complications that almost appear as though the metal chimera might be making sport of the whole thing as Ethius weaves through the air more skillfully than he should probably be able to manage for how rapidly the gravitational situation changes. A claw glances across his back. He catches himself from hitting his head against the ceiling in a forward tumble. He reaches out to try and grasp the Powder Grenade as it flits by, only for it to once again slip out of his fingers and drift along as a plaything to malleable physics. When he does get a hold of it, he does the incantation and gesticulations in record time to activate it, and hurls it towards the present ground (the ceiling).
     ...Where it once again drifts the opposite direction, taking Ethius with it.
     The urgency is accented further by this moment of levity in which an activated smoke bomb is being repeatedly denied the hard surface it needs to rupture and explode into the requisite dust cloud, as though he were placing undue emphasis on being able to obscure a space where this creature appears to have full control of how, where, and when they are encountered.
     At last, its tail slaps his hand and sees the satchel flit off into a surface and explode its thick, smoky contents where nothing is going on. As the metal attacker might move to strike from this seeming position of weakness and defeat...
     Ethius swiftly withdraws the other Powder Grenade satchel with the same record accuracy and speed in which he casts the accompanying spell, and levels it to go straight through its fanged maw at quite literally the last possible moment - an attempt to suffocate it from a position where it may not catch it in time.
     He does carry two of those satchels for every expedition, after all.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Ecliptic Beast.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

"I'm f-fine," Cyre grunts, his muscles screaming as he forces himself back up to his feet. Even after a few weeks of recovery, he's still not quite as whole and hale as he'd like to be, given the circumstances. Being ground into the floor by gravity gone mad has probably not helped much at all. But... "I'll be fine for a while longer yet, I think. Let's keep moving."

Keep moving. To...

Cyre stares in quiet awe at the great, eclipsed moon. "This--" Is not a Primarch of Gravity. No, it's a symbol of the moon... Occluded. Her light blocked-- no, absorbed-- by something dark and profane. "Catenna," Cyre calls, his eyes glowing in that eerie, distinctly feline way. "Something else is here, look ou--"

Too late.

Something monstrous, something that Cyre almost immediately characterizes as some kind of Metal Beast, erupts out of the shadows and turns the power of the Moon against them. But more than that--

It's focusing its attention... On Catenna.

"Get your hands offa her!" Cyre roars, a surge of brilliant, emerald motes dancing like fireflies all around him. A vortex of jade light surges upward, swallowing the wind shaman up even as gravity inverts around him. But...

What emerges from the spontaneous tornado isn't something that particularly gives a damn about what gravity chooses to do.

The Nahual of the Wind roars as it tears a jagged line straight for the strange metallic beast. Whenever gravity pulls at it, the wind switches direction to maintain its flight. "Catenna," Cyre the Wind Tiger growls as he moves to slam the beast into the floor, before picking it up and man-handling it straight into whatever attacks begin coming their way, "Everyone-- I'll keep it tied down! Don't let up!"

DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Gale Claw toward his party's challenge, Ecliptic Beast.
================================<* Luna Temple *>=================================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Ecliptic Beast *>=========================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Unlike almost every other room in the temple, this chamber has one source of  
 light: A single, shimmering blue-white sphere of light, easily six metres     
 wide. It hovers high above the vast, pillar-lined chamber like a full moon.   
                                                                               
 A full moon under an eclipse. The surface of the orb is impeded by            
 something. A vast, amorphous black disc hovers in front of it, though the     
 nature of it cannot be made out. Only a thin halo of bluish light escapes,    
 barely enough to see by.                                                      
                                                                               
 And then something growls - low, deep and menacing.                           
                                                                               
 You can catch a glimpse of it if you look up. It comes running towards you -  
 across the ceiling. The monster is proportioned much like a gigantic          
 mountain lion, yet it has a tail like the body of a serpent and a head much   
 like the head of a snake too, with eyes shining with an oddly mechanical      
 yellowish light and fangs dripping with venom. As it approaches you, it       
 screams again in the darkness... and gravity suddenly inverts itself.         
                                                                               
 The creature attacks with tricks like that. It hurls itself at you and tries  
 to poison you with its bite. It flips the gravity around and tries to slash   
 through you in midair, sometimes trying to keep on the opposite floor from    
 you, sometimes trying to flip you disorientingly onto its side. And           
 sometimes it even tries to hurl you across the room with bursts of magical    
 force. Striking it is to find a hide which appears to be made of metal.       
                                                                               
 You've got your work cut out for you.                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia is too exhausted from the last challenge--and the fact that she hasn't really fully healed from her prior battle--to have a big huge fight on top of everything else.

Lydia blinks faintly with the venom fangs and the general giant snakeness of it all. And then she promptly slams into the ceiling.

Then she is thrown into the floor.

Then the ceiling again.

Her eyes become swirley around the second time, but naturally despite her being all super grim the whole time, this is honestly kind of hilarious. Unless you like Lydia in which case it's probably distressing AND hilarious.

"Waagghhhh....!" Lydia shouts.

DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Ecliptic Beast.
================================<* Luna Temple *>=================================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Ecliptic Beast *>=========================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 Unlike almost every other room in the temple, this chamber has one source of  
 light: A single, shimmering blue-white sphere of light, easily six metres     
 wide. It hovers high above the vast, pillar-lined chamber like a full moon.   
                                                                               
 A full moon under an eclipse. The surface of the orb is impeded by            
 something. A vast, amorphous black disc hovers in front of it, though the     
 nature of it cannot be made out. Only a thin halo of bluish light escapes,    
 barely enough to see by.                                                      
                                                                               
 And then something growls - low, deep and menacing.                           
                                                                               
 You can catch a glimpse of it if you look up. It comes running towards you -  
 across the ceiling. The monster is proportioned much like a gigantic          
 mountain lion, yet it has a tail like the body of a serpent and a head much   
 like the head of a snake too, with eyes shining with an oddly mechanical      
 yellowish light and fangs dripping with venom. As it approaches you, it       
 screams again in the darkness... and gravity suddenly inverts itself.         
                                                                               
 The creature attacks with tricks like that. It hurls itself at you and tries  
 to poison you with its bite. It flips the gravity around and tries to slash   
 through you in midair, sometimes trying to keep on the opposite floor from    
 you, sometimes trying to flip you disorientingly onto its side. And           
 sometimes it even tries to hurl you across the room with bursts of magical    
 force. Striking it is to find a hide which appears to be made of metal.       
                                                                               
 You've got your work cut out for you.                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Suffer===================================================
===========================<* Luna Temple - Round 5 *>============================
===========================< Results - Ecliptic Beast >===========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catenna                             5 --(10)--> 15                 Pass
Celesdue Medium                     2   Combat  Effects: Embolden             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacqueline Barber                   0 --(10)--> 10                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         5 --(15)--> 20                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       10 --(10)--> 20                Pass
Powder Grenade                      3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyre H. Lorentz                     5 --(10)--> 15                 Pass
Gale Claw                           4   Combat  Effects: Efficient and Rally  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mariel                              5 --(10)--> 15                 Pass
Gimel Coin                          3   Combat  Effects: Rally                
------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------
Leader: Catenna                     80 --(35)--> 115               Pass
Conditions: Suffer(1)
Effects: Embolden(1)
================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Catenna has successfully explored Luna Temple!
================================<* Luna Temple *>=================================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Chamber of Waiting *>=======================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          | 
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
 You step into a room which at least one of you has experienced before.        
                                                                               
 Everything in the chamber slowly fades out, leaving only a lighted circle     
 around the sole piece of adornment within. A statue. A snowy marble figurine  
 seated atop a golden crescent, huge butterfly wings fanned out behind her.    
                                                                               
 A statue of Celesdue, sitting impassively atop a pedestal. There is nothing   
 here but the icon of the Guardian of the Moon. There is no sound. There is    
 no other sight. There is only a sense that you are alone. Perhaps noticed by  
 something, but something indifferent and endlessly patient.                   
                                                                               
 But nothing speaks to you. Nothing emerges. It simply... waits.               
=Dungeon Conditions: Vault====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Time stutters - and Catenna finds herself catching an apple. She blinks, then takes a bite out of it.

The surge of energy that runs through her helps. She begins to cast again, belting out another spell to try and pin the elusive, glowing Metal Beast down - and Mariel's toss of a potion makes that an easier task.

But not an easy task. The Metal Beast was sealed here for a reason: It takes a lot to bring it down. Lydia, poor Lydia, comes in exhausted, and despite her best efforts, she's eventually slammed against a wall and left rolling into the corner - and the Beast begins to bear down on her.

Until Ethius comes to her rescue. He feeds it the powder grenade instead. The monstrosity recoils and slashes out at him, hurling him violently back into a column and bearing down. And on the battle rages.

The wind roars. The Nahual of the Wind unloads with a massive surge, and the Beast claws and bites at him as both fall into the floor. Catenna widens her eyes and moves to cast again. Jacqueline does much the same. Flame and gravity come together.

The beast gives as good as it gets... but finally, Cyre's able to land a decisive blow, and the Beast and he land to either side of each other. Time ticks by for a few seconds.

With a last, low gurgle, the Beast shudders - and then explodes in a blast of greenish, sickly flame. Chunks of debris scatter through the sanctum.

A soft tone chimes through the chamber. Breathing heavily, Catenna moves to stand beneath the hovering icon of the Moon - and slowly but surely, the black shape occluding it begins to drift away. A crescent comes into view, then more of it, until finally, the room shines with the bright light of a full moon. A light which grows brighter and brighter, until the eyes can no longer behold it.

And then, slowly, it fades away. Within moments, the light is gone.

The room is gone.

All that remains is a simple floor of clear glass over endless darkness. Everything else is lost in the void. And the only light shines from a snowy marble statue perched atop a crescent. A statue of Celesdue.

Catenna swallows a lump in her throat. She was here once before, in the temple of the Guardians on Ignas - a place where Celesdue rebuked her for her arrogance. You find ways to remain here.

The soft click of Catenna's shoes echoes off into infinity as she walks forward. Folding her hands together, she sinks to her knees before the Statue. "I... I have come in search of the Owlet," she says, her voice a little throaty, genuflecting, as she struggles to hold back emotion. "We have done what we could here.... I have... done what I could for her."

Her heart is in her throat as she admits, "If she has come here to return to you... then so be it."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius' collision against the column is not gentle. He clutches his head as he finds himself in a kneel for a period of time that would seal his fate were it not for the Nahual's intervention. When the Beast shudders and explodes, he throws a palm out as though ready to do something to those greenish embers like... what would he do with green embers if they were to do anything? Burn them? The chime echoes through, and Ethius keeps his palm out for longer than is necessary as Catenna takes to the space beneath the icon of the Moon, and then...
     Darkness. Darkness, and a statue of the Guardian of the Moon. No matter where they look, there is nothing else.
     Ethius says nothing as he stares out to where Catenna moves forth. There is an odd comfort the man finds to this otherwise distressing situation of feeling within a void. The darkness all around...
     He silently allows himself to recede further into it, footsteps careful as to not leave an audible echo, as though spiritually removing himself from the situation - into the unknown, the unseen, the unheard, to better allow Catenna - and the others - to do as they will, or must.
     That is why he accompanied Catenna so readily even so soon after an event most every other witness to such found dire and traumatic, stoically enduring to some end unremembered or undisclosed.

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

The Nahual of Wind gives one last, triumphant howl as the Ecliptic Beast dissolves into so much fel essence. With the moon creeping out from behind the black disk that had obscured it, the sight of the great tiger roaring into the sky seems almost... picturesque, in a strange and primal way.

And then the moon, the light, and the room all disappear. They're gone, replaced by something else entirely.

Cyre falls out of the wind tiger, his bestial form dissolving into so many little wisps of light as he lands on the clear, glass floor. "What... Just happened?" Cyre asks, "Where are we?"

They... Are in a place that few have ever seen.

A holy sanctum of Celesdue herself.

Cyre is silent as Catenna sinks to her knees before the statue of the one she swore herself to serve. He is not so when he approaches, and gently squeezes a hand around her shoulder. "Catenna..."

He's... Not sure what to say.

Instead, he just kneels next to her, and wraps an arm around her. All they can do now is... wait, and see what Celesdue has in store for them.

"I'm sure," Cyre murmurs, "That she brought us here for a reason. That there's... something to where we've been summoned to."

They just need to have faith...

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

It's a difficult, exhausting battle, but eventually they manage to defeat it. Jacqueline shields herself with her cloak as it erupts into debris, then lowers it and watches as the black disc drifts way from the glowing sphere.

Eventually, Jacqueline is forced to shield her eyes...and when she opens them again, the room begins to darken. There's nothing but a statue, shining light upon them.

Jacqueline walks up to Catenna...but doesn't say anything. She clasps her hands in front of her and looks up to the statue of Celesdue.

Jacqueline wasn't sure what she could say. She could only offer her presence, and hope that if Celesdue called them here, it would be for a good reason.

And so, silently, she waits.

<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.

Mariel only has one of those apples, so she's very glad that it went to good use.

She doesn't follow up by attacking the beast, which has the added bonus that it doesn't seem to see her as very much of a threat; instead she shifts to the side, standing between it and Lydia while other people keep its attention. And it's enough, from the others.

Mariel has been in a sanctum before, but not *this* sanctum, and not under these circumstances. Her first instinct is to step forward - but instead she steps backwards, almost out of the light. As if she was trying to not be noticed... which is true. She still believes in them - she follows them, but... how can the Guardians accept her? Best to leave it to the others.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia is relieved when it's finally over, taking along look at Mariel. She stands herself up, slumping a moment against the wall, and then she pushes herself up and walks towards Mariel. She places a hand on her shoulder, lightly.

"Mariel," The artificial creature says. "Thank you. Sorry for mopin' when I haven't seen you in so long."

She looks towards the statue. "Yeah, I've moped long enough."

She removes her hand as she finally lets herself start regenerating again. It's probably not pleasant to look at, at least Lydia assumes it's not, so she hangs back a bit. Face first, then head, then hair, then the rest of her.

"Why get sad when we can get even yeah?"

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

As much as Catenna cares for the Owlet, a part of her recognizes the truth: The little bird is of Celesdue in nature, and is therefore not Catenna's to keep, no matter how much she cares for it and feels obligated to it.

And yet....

When Cyre lays that hand on her shoulder, she looks up to him, her eyes wide and her lips hanging slightly apart - but she can't find words. She just swallows a lump in her throat and nods before once more clasping her hands in her lap and bowing her head, prepared to wait as long as she needs to. Back in the Temple of Ignas, Celesdue kept her waiting for days... weeks... months.

They don't have to wait that long: From from high above, there comes a sound. A low, echoing hoot.

Catenna looks up with a soft gasp. Silhouetted against a ray of moonlight, a vast, winged form plots a slow, spiralling descent. The avian is enormous, its wings broad and rounded at the tips and its tail fanning out dramatically. Soon enough, it becomes clear what it is.

An enormous snowy owl, at least as tall as a tall man and perhaps more, pristinely white with black scalloping patterns across her breast and back - and she's clutching something in her bill. There is a glint of shining silver.

Catenna bites down firmly to her bottom lip, her eyes wide as the enormous owl spreads her wings and begins to descend -- and just as it's about to reach her, its body blurs into a shining, blue-white light. That light compresses and compacts, shrinking rapidly down to a tinier size.

The Silver Medium drops into Catenna's cupped palms. A second later, the little ball of light settles atop the Medium, and the light bleeds off. The Owl isn't huge anymore. It's tiny, yellow-eyed, still white - but lively and alert.

My name is Saarda-Shanta, comes a low, feminine voice, heard in the mind more tha by ear. Thank you, child of Fereshte, for being so good to me. *She* would like it if we kept each other company a little while longer. And I would too.

Catenna stares at the Owlet in utter disbelief.

    > Catenna received the Silver Moon Medium!
    > Great Owl Saarda-Shanta joined the party!

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"Daaaaaamn," Lydia says. "Your sister's gonna be even more jelly than she already was."

Looks like Lydia's back too.

<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.

It is unpleasant to look at Lydia while she does that. Mariel doesn't look at it. She's not squeamish (you can't do surgery and be squeamish) but come on, there are limits. Also, there are a lot of eye-catching things going on. It's natural.

"It's fine," Mariel says. "It's hard, for everyone. But this isn't my place. It's - a place for Filgaia's inheritors." Not one, but two Silver Mediums. One might be chance, or a single Guardian making a choice. But to see none in hundreds of years, and two in barely a handful of months, along with a Guardian's beast -

Filgaia is changing, more than it was before. It has to, for the people to fight the Metal Demons. And that's good - but it makes Mariel feel old like very little else does.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius, on the other hand, appears to be able to stomach watching Lydia reform herself, but then again, he's... himself, for better or for worse, who does not project much of himself into the miracle that unfolds before him. Is he aware of the deep significance, the great honor, in a once-in-several-lifetimes event of seeing something like this before him?
     He turns his head at Mariel's word choice, but doesn't comment further. He doesn't do... anything... but watch. What expression there is of him shows no joy, no relief, no impatience, no anger. He just is there, as though a mere spectator before history.
     It might be that he is taking his rightful place as a statue, as the faithful among them move to congratulate, reassure, or otherwise praise Catenna for finding what she needed in order to truly grow into becoming Celesdue's chosen champion against Mother.
     He does not motion for them to hurry. He allows them all the time they need - but is he really the one in the position to 'allow' or 'deny' them anything?
     Once more, his presence remains subdued, allowing himself to wait within the darkness that extends forevermore.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Together they wait, silently, in the hopes that the owlet will return to them...or that, at the very least, Celesdue will give them some sort of sign. But, soon enough, they receive it.

Jacqueline stares up in awe as a vast, avian form descends. Rather than concern that it might attack them, however, there's something about it...that puts her at ease. And soon, they see it - a great owl, clutching a shining silver something.

Jacqueline stares, her hands clasped tightly together, watching as eventually it shrinks down to a smaller form and speaks to them.

"It's nice to meet you properly." Jacqueline greets, managing a smile. Shen then looks toward Catenna. "I'm happy for you!"

It was good. Maybe this was what she needed right now. The situation now was at the darkest it had been in a while...but even now, there was still a glimmer of hope.

It was the Moon's duty to light one's way in the darkness, after all.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"Yeah?" Lydia says. "Do you want to talk about it later? When y'can look at me, I mean."

She isn't judgey with those words, if anything--she is as fond of Mariel as she ever is.

"Either way, as High Priestess of Rigdobrite, I say you are welcome in all the temples."

She crosses her arms and nods a few times.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"...My sister is usually jelly," Catenna finally sighs with a glance at Lydia. She blushes a little when the other girl addresses Mariel. So am I High Priestess of Celesdue now...? The mere thought is enough to leave her reeling.

Saarda-Shanta just continues to look steadily up at her. The Moon Shaman looks down to the little Owlet, beginning to blush all the more.

Finally, she looks back up towards Jay. The surprise finally gives way to a genuine, quiet smile. "...Thank you," she says, her voice soft. "I will do my best to not let Celesdue down."

You're already doing fine, sweetie, Saarda-Shanta notes mildly.

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

The air wavers and shifts. Cyre's ears twitch into the reverberating wingbeats as a grin slowly works its way across his face. "Hah," he laughs as the great, avian shadow descends. It's... massive. As big as its mother, maybe. "Look, Catenna. All that hard work, all that time you spent, it all worked out beautifully, didn't it?"

"She's so big now," he says, breathlessly, as the owl descends. "She's so-- oop."

Well.

She WAS so big. Now she's back to being travel-sized, but also... A lot more awake, a lot more lively, and a lot further from Death's Door. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you properly, not-so-little-one. I hope we spend a long time together."

And...

The silver medium, too.

Cyre smiles and lifts a similar, silvery token from where it's hidden under his robes. "That's three now. I'm so proud of you, Catenna. And so happy for you."

"So," he beams at the others, "I think this calls for a celebration of some kind, don't you?"

<Pose Tracker> Carina Wynne has posed.

Oh snap! Out of nowhere, it's...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~LOCUS 4-KOMA THEATER!~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Panel 1:
CATENNA, EXITING THE TEMPLE AND CRADLING THE OWLET:
All's well that ends well...

LOCUS, LEANING IN FROM OFF-PANEL:
Catenna! Miss Jay! Everyone!

Panel 2:
LOCUS, POINTING TO A HUGE, ANGRY-LOOKING BROWN OWL PERCHED ON HER SHOULDER:
Look, I found Birb Friend!

SCARY OWL:
Hoo.

Panel 3:
CATENNA, WITH THE OWLET PEEKING UP FROM HER ARMS:
Carina... I mean, Locus. I'm glad you wanted to help, but she's right here. (Yours doesn't even look like her at all...)

LOCUS:
O-Oh dang...!!

Panel 4:
CAPTION:
Soon...

LOCUS, STRIKING ACTION POSE:
There's an injustice going on! Let's spring into action, Locusowl!

SCARY OWL, WEARING A COMPOUND-EYE MASK AND FAKE ANTENNAE:
Hoo!!

Now let's all just be glad that this isn't canon, but only...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~LOCUS 4-KOMA THEATER!~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~