2019-02-17: A Cycle Without End
- Log: A Cycle Without End
- Cast: Avril Vent Fleur, Leah Sadalbari, Elvis
- Where: Lost Village Fereshte
- Date: February 17, 2019
- Summary: In search of answers behind the Medium Riesenlied has become the heritor and conduit for, Avril returns to Fereshte with Elvis. There they meet a familiar face and venture forth into the eternally frozen village.
DG: A party led by Avril Vent Fleur is now entering Lost Village Fereshte. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>=========================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Behind the Aurora *>======================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The Fereshte were once a prominent Baskar nomadic tribe in the steppes of Arctica. Those versed in Ellurian history commonly know them as experienced nomads and traders, and their priests are renowned for their worship of Odoryuk, possessing healing powers. But the story ends the same anywhere you dig -- the village of Fereshte was destroyed a long time ago, and no longer exists now. Central to this service was the chosen of Odoryuk, called the Heritor, who wielded a Medium of Life and devoted their life to the service of the Guardian. Which makes the rumours all the more wild, that the once-lost village of Fereshte within the Veruni Control Zone now lives on in the present age... a sheer impossibility in every manner of being. Whatever the case may be, you have decided to strike out for the village -- and find that the rumours are, bafflingly, true. A bustling village of perhaps fifty-odd people is visible below you past the roots of a great petrified tree, its yurts and other buildings surrounding a totem of Odoryuk, the Guardian of Life. But something feels quite wrong as you approach -- the air is thick and suffused with energy. Those with the means to know feel a strong veil of positive Ley energy permeating the atmosphere... and it has manifested into a beautiful barrier that shields entry. You will need power to break through the shield of life and descend into the village. =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Traveling to Elru, though less fraught than it had been, is still an endeavor that takes time. Avril had proposed the trek some time prior to Elvis, but finding the time -- and the opportunity -- for her to travel east surreptitiously (without anyone from the Outreach or the Veruni learning of her travel plans -- not that she feels the Outreach would object or intrude, but simply because she wants the opportunity to investigate this from a particular angle).
But eventually, a small hope is grasped, and the journey is made.
She tugs down the scarf that obscures the bottom part of her face as they near the village; the air already is changing as they near the site of the village.
The place where villagers remain locked in a strange dance of life and unlife, the place where Riesenlied's Medium had slept. Fereshte.
"The barrier... it seems that it has returned," Avril murmurs, gazing at the shimmering veil that remains draped between them and the village where the residents continue their seemingly-scripted routines. Taking a few steps towards it, she rests her hand against the barrier -- but briefly. Grimacing, she draws her hand away and takes a step backwards along the tundra's plain. "...It is as powerful as it was. Life may seem to be a gentle force at first glance, but when you look at it truly, you are able to understand how powerful it is."
She paces back from the barrier a few steps, then glances back at her companion. "Elvis, please stand back. I am going to use it."
'It'?
"I apologize," she says, and at first blush, it might be thought she's apologizing to the barrier.
But she draws a strange device out of her jacket pocket and presses a single tiny button with in.
And waits.
The earth, below, rumbles ominously.
When the Golem fist -- and a section of upper torso -- wrench up out of the earth, Avril inclines her head as if in a shallow bow. In... gratitude for this sacrifice?
The construct gleams once with the light of activation after a long slumber, but its regained life is not to be a long one.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Remote Golem Override toward her party's challenge, Behind the Aurora.
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
It should be empty, here; abandoned. it is not. ...And Elvis and Avril are not alone.
As the Golem erupts from the ground, a woman in a blue cloak steps from the shadows--from behind the great petrified tree. The hood is up, concealing her face; her gloved(?) hand grips the spear she leans on, its wide spearhead glinting in the light the Ley gives off. From beneath the hood, one blue eye glitters as the figure lifts her head.
...There are other ways to reach Elru; for her, it was much faster than it would be for most. Her transport is hidden; here in the Veruni Control Zone... Few would dare come alone.
"What you say is true, I think. Life... Includes the lion as well as the lamb."
The woman looks over the construct, thoughtfully, and then looks up to Avril and Elvis again. "I also have an interest in the place; I was unsure that I could pierce the barrier alone. ...May I accompany you?"
She lifts her free hand, and takes down her hood, revealing a pale woman with blue hair and the hints of scars--and an eyepatch over the right side of her face.
"...I have studied with the descendants of the Fereshte before; my expertise may be of use."
DG: Leah Sadalbari has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Behind the Aurora.
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
"It won't be long until the Control Zone takes more interest in this location."
A warning comment toward the one whom brought him here. Elvis stood behind Avril, arms crossed as he studies this monolithic barrier. Twas quite the sight to behold, though more interesting was the fact it was off the radar of reports. But this kind of energy signature won't go unnoticed forever.
"Not that I intend to point it out, merely patrols and scans will find it eventually." Though with a force like this protecting them, the man wonders if simple armaments could punch a hole in it. But the energy it holds and radiates is familiar, related in a way as to why he attended the white haired young lady this evening. "You think the answer lies inside? Well! Suppose we will have to find a door then."
The Queen seems intent on the same idea as well! "Impressive! Hm, what model is that?" he ponders at the Golem section revealed. As the Sentinel readies his Power Gloves to provide similar force to help the automata, another figure appears. "What business have you in this Control Zone?" he asks, curiously, rather than apprehensively on her approach.
The woman seems to have seen her share of battles. A casual cant of the head toward Avril, as he flexes his arms, before applying direct force to the barrier. "This is your expedition. I leave the call to you, my lady." Another analytical look toward the mysterious stranger, before turning to the forcefield proper, and adding his muscle to the attempt.
The woman helps in her own way as well, despite it being-- well, was it really odd to use a crowbar? He was using his hands. "Came well prepared, I see!"
DG: Elvis has used his Tool PALB-3106 Power Gloves toward his party's challenge, Behind the Aurora.
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>=========================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Behind the Aurora *>======================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The Fereshte were once a prominent Baskar nomadic tribe in the steppes of Arctica. Those versed in Ellurian history commonly know them as experienced nomads and traders, and their priests are renowned for their worship of Odoryuk, possessing healing powers. But the story ends the same anywhere you dig -- the village of Fereshte was destroyed a long time ago, and no longer exists now. Central to this service was the chosen of Odoryuk, called the Heritor, who wielded a Medium of Life and devoted their life to the service of the Guardian. Which makes the rumours all the more wild, that the once-lost village of Fereshte within the Veruni Control Zone now lives on in the present age... a sheer impossibility in every manner of being. Whatever the case may be, you have decided to strike out for the village -- and find that the rumours are, bafflingly, true. A bustling village of perhaps fifty-odd people is visible below you past the roots of a great petrified tree, its yurts and other buildings surrounding a totem of Odoryuk, the Guardian of Life. But something feels quite wrong as you approach -- the air is thick and suffused with energy. Those with the means to know feel a strong veil of positive Ley energy permeating the atmosphere... and it has manifested into a beautiful barrier that shields entry. You will need power to break through the shield of life and descend into the village. =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
=====================<* Lost Village Fereshte - Round 1 *>====================== ========================< Results - Behind the Aurora >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Remote Golem Override 4 Brute Effects: None -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elvis 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass PALB-3106 Power Gloves 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leah Sadalbari 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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: Leah Sadalbari has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>=========================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - A Gift from the Stars *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- A massive metal blockade prevents further passage on a slope downhill further into the village. On closer inspection, it seems to be a Gear-like construct about fifteen feet in height, with large conical arms and body. Decades upon decades of rust and damage has rendered it utterly inoperable. It is now just an overly heavy paperweight you'll need to move out of your way. But perhaps if you upturn it, you may be able to find a useful part or two, if only to sell or recycle. The question does remain: Why is there a construct in the village of the Fereshte? (NOTE: If your character has the knowledge, they may be able to identify this construct as a Veruni construction Golem.) =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I understand. That makes it all the more important that we investigate now, lest the opportunity become lost," Avril responds, ducking her head in one single nod.
What might the Veruni do with this place?
...What might Volsung do?
"Yes. We will not be able to learn much outside the barrier," Avril says, before urging that ancient (?) Golem up from the depths below the village outskirts.
It shudders to life and so quickly shudders to a stop mere moments after its fist rends through the aurora weft in one go; the veil is sundered.
What make is it? "...I do not know." It's on the tip of her tongue, but she cannot grasp the name.
And it's into this that another approaches. Avril's blue eyes widen in recognition. "...Leah?"
Then she glances between the woman and Elvis. "...This is Leah, a Drifter I have worked alongside before. She gave me important advice, once."
She hasn't forgotten -- use her talents with discretion.
Though, perhaps, advice at times unheeded, such as that incident in the Photosphere...
"...I did not know. If you know of the Fereshte descendants, perhaps you may be able to assist. We are investigating this village and in particular, the Medium that had been here," she explains.
"Besides," Avril adds, with a slight smile, "three are better than two alone."
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
A look back toward Avril. "All the more reason to get inside!-- An acquaintance, you say?" It is difficult to tell that his face softens some, as Elvis is a man with the perpetual face of a stern father. His tone shifts to something more friendly, though. "Excellent! I couldn't agree more! Welcome to the team."
Several mighty hands, and a well placed crowbar undo the barrier. "Nice. I hope it eventually regenerates. Mayhap the people inside were counting on it for shelter."
Ahead the boughs overhang, twist and entwine each other, and for a time, they are rather difficult to navigate. Yet, the party comes to a path it looks like, the roots manipulated around it to form a vaguely cylindrical path that goes around a corner, and begins to slope downward as the roots begin to thin.
This path may have been used at one point, but ahead it is blocked by a heap of metal. "Hrn? OH!" exclaims The Professor, galloping up to it like... well, like Dean would, let's be frank here. "An XTLF-1182 Halberd! Wow, it has been a while since I have seen one of these!" A look back to the party. "Used to build major structures or implements when we came back from our isolation. Sadly, as population dwindled, and military expansion became the dominant stratagem, they were phased out" The man runs a hand through what hair he has. Always a good time for a history lesson.
"Though..." the man looks back to gaze upon the sprawled out Golem. It clearly blocks the group's path, and the root systems around give little leeway to edge around. "...Why was it here? This is strangely far from the sanctuary. Did a Human acquire one somehow?" A shrug.
"Looks like we will have to move it regardless." The Sentinel moves to one of the appendages to apply some physical force to it to move, the joints of the Golem unwilling to let loose of its settled position, the rust acting as a time-based glue.
"I wonder if the coding crystal is still inside," he idly comments, looking toward the torso section.
DG: Elvis has used his Tool PALB-3106 Power Gloves toward his party's challenge, A Gift from the Stars.
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
"When travelling alone, it pays to carry certain essentials," the woman answers Elvis, and then offers Avril a small smile. "You rememeber," she replies, with a nod of greeting and acknowledgement both--and to Elvis, as well. "Thank you. I'll endeavor to help as best I can."
She falls in with the others, somewhat slower but at least steady; her uneven gait is at least not so audible in such cold plaes... but it's uneven, nevertheless. "The Medium," she considers. "Odoryuk, then. Life Guardian; among those that make the distinction, he is considered one of the Greater Guardians, above the dross of earthly matter and the rarefied substance of ideals both... and nearly at the level of the Guardian Lords themselves."
She did say she'd studied. But as they reach the Golem, Leah considers it, thoughtfully.
"Interesting," she comments, and steps up with the others. Thoughtfully, she sets her spear against a tree and moves opposite Elvis. "I wonder; I don't recall stories of the use of these Golems," she admits. "...You could always check. Here..."
Leah grips--and with strength unsuiting a human, makes to help Elvis. She does so a bit stiffly, of course--
...But she sees no need to make more obvious that she is not at her full strength at the moment. It may be possible that the others hear not the strain of muscles, but the whirring of gears in her arms.
DG: Leah Sadalbari has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Gift from the Stars.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Yes. The Life Guardian," Avril says, ducking her head in a nod. "I understand there may still be a shrine to him within," she adds, glancing back at Leah. "Those who are conduits to the Greater Guardians are far and few between, it seems, even among the Baskar. They do not so commonly apply themselves to earthly affairs, though their domains affect all that exist on the planet." So she has learned from the Baskar.
"I believe it may," Avril answers, on the topic of the barrier regenerating. "It had been breached when we were here the last time, and it was at full strength again just now. Perhaps with enough time..."
But until then, will anyone just be able to walk in?
The path beyond the barrier proves somewhat unstable to navigate; Avril picks her steps with care as they walk along.
Until that point they reach where further passage becomes impossible.
Due to a Golem. A Golem of -- she realizes, and knows not entirely how -- recent make.
"This is... new," she murmurs, furrowing her brow as she stares at the construct. "That is, this is not like the other Golems I have seen," dredged up from their eternal sleep, "this is-- ah? Elvis? Do you recognize this one--"
His explanation earns from her a slight sidelong tilt of the head.
"A Veruni construction Golem... I wonder if Dean knows of these?" she wonders aloud, a gloved hand raised to her lips. "I wonder what it may be doing in this place? ...It seems a shame to move it, but it would seem we have no choice. Here, allow me to assist--"
And she invokes now a subtle invocation of the icy element that comes so naturally to her, glazing the path upon which the machine now rests.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Gift from the Stars.
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>=========================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - A Gift from the Stars *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- A massive metal blockade prevents further passage on a slope downhill further into the village. On closer inspection, it seems to be a Gear-like construct about fifteen feet in height, with large conical arms and body. Decades upon decades of rust and damage has rendered it utterly inoperable. It is now just an overly heavy paperweight you'll need to move out of your way. But perhaps if you upturn it, you may be able to find a useful part or two, if only to sell or recycle. The question does remain: Why is there a construct in the village of the Fereshte? (NOTE: If your character has the knowledge, they may be able to identify this construct as a Veruni construction Golem.) =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
=====================<* Lost Village Fereshte - Round 2 *>====================== ======================< Results - A Gift from the Stars >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elvis 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass PALB-3106 Power Gloves 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leah Sadalbari 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Secret(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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: Leah Sadalbari has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>=========================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - The Horses Are Bolted! *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The rapid roar of horse hooves fills the air, and in moments, a stud of horses besets your party. These must be the Fereshte's steeds, but they are in no way ordinary -- their flesh is pale, their coat mottled with the gleaming mark of a butterfly wing. Sparks of electricity bounce from one tumor to another, setting fire to blades of grass as they march, their whinnies filled with misery. They turn towards you -- you'll need to be extremely quick and sure to avoid damage from these electrified horses! =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
"Huh, I had no idea this particular Guardian held such power-- I suppose it makes sense, though," comments Elvis toward Leah as they begin to lift the appendage of the Golem. A noise causes Elvis to quickly look toward the machine with suspicion, but then realizes... it isn't coming from it. Its coming from...
"You have something interesting about you," he says, with the subtlety of a brick. "Or so I hear." The sounds of machinery turning are coming from the woman. Perhaps she is some kind of technological marvel, or at least part of her is. A nod is given to her-- he just may check the Golem.
"Well, they aren't seen too often. There is a chance, though possibly not. Most seen or depicted these days are for support, perimeter defense, or warfare."
The ice Avril manipulates causes a bit of a footing issue for those using force, causing a bit of stumbling and strain, but the machine eventually gives way, and slides a little ways downward and pivots at the hip sideways to comply with gravity. This leaves a good sized opening in the path!
"Hum!" says Elvis, going over toward the exposed backside. A few loud noises and the sound of giving, rusted metal, and the man is torso deep inside the Golem. "Aha!" says the man, prying out a hexagonal green crystal that could fit in the palm of someones hand. he studies it for a small time. "Erosion and rust have not blemished it. Good! Unfortunately the core and everything else seems rather shot on cursory glance.
He walks over to Avril, and holds it out to her. "If that Dean kid ever decides to do something with Golems, he could use this to make an excavation unit. Can't do much besides dig, quarry and the basest of actions, but ya gotta start somewhere!"
"Normally we could have pried data from it to find out who used it and what it was doing, but the crystals purge data about once every few months. It won't have anything now besides its programming."
The way is clear for the party now, a clearing seen through the bramble ahead. "Looks like we're getting closer. "Good to know that Guardian is that powerful though." What better Guardian but the one of Life itself to help cure his people? Or perhaps the one that is damning them...? The man doesn't show it, but stress is beginning to set in internally. He has no idea what to do or say yet, he hasn't thought this step through!
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
"A chance to see the village--to see their main shrine--is quite the opportunity. I wonder if it's here, intact." She considers that, though she inclines her head to Avril. "Yes... That is part of what is notable about this particular tribe."
The barrier may regenerate; that may be for the best indeed. Either way, Leah does not plan to hang around waiting for the next Veruni patrol.
"...Hmmm." Leah looks over Avril as she mentions the Golems, those she recognizes and doesn't. It's interesting enough. But moving the statue--rather than answering the comment on the Guardians, she grits her teeth briefly, wincing as the movement proves more difficult than she would like. "..Yes," she answers then. "Prosthetics, if you're curious--mechanical."
Leah takes the opportunity to stretch some as Elvis handles the crystal, and she files away information about Dean. "...It may be worth checking regardless," Leah points out. "You weren't expecting it to be here, after all. It may be more recent than the rest."
A good idea, for that power? Hmm. "...The Guardians as a rule, though, do not exert their power on the world. Both for reasons of inclination... and otherwise."
Leah looks ahead, but it isn't more than a few steps before the roar of hooves echoes all around them, and a stampede begins. Strange, pale horses, mottled with gleaming marks, electric to set grass ablaze--
There's a snap of something from Leah's hand, and she leaps--no, she falls, straight upward in the wake of the horses coming, sailing up up up.
...They'd all better be quick.
DG: Leah Sadalbari has used her Tool Gravity Module toward her party's challenge, The Horses Are Bolted!.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Perhaps it may be part of the reason it was able to be fused quite so intimately to Riesenlied's flesh... though there are elements of that fusion that remain still a mystery to most, given their point of origin.
Avril, however, just turns to watch as Elvis remarks on the prosthetics -- a fact about Leah she has had demonstrated to her prior.
And as Leah explains them in turn.
"...It seems that I must still practice," Avril says at length, a slight frown at her lips as she watches her spell spread further than she intended. "I must gain better control."
Lest she cause harm to another. She must be judicious in what she does...
"Ah, so there is still a core? I suppose it would not have had the chance to become damaged by time and the elements quite yet. Perhaps you might learn something of whatever it might be doing here--"
And Elvis turns to present her with the Golem core.
"Oh..."
She then smiles at him, brightly. "Thank you, Elvis. I am certain he will be pleased. If we were able to find an intact Golem without a core, then..."
Between her and Shalune, there's no question about it -- they would be able to resurrect the Golem that had held this core.
...Or something like it, given that the Golem's memory would have long since have purged before now. "Oh, I see. So that is why you are permitting us to have it." No rancor there: just an honest open statement.
They haven't been much further when hooves drum across the distance. "They're-- look out!" Avril points as the horses race towards them.
Speaking of Mediums, however--
--as the horses come bolting on by--
"Lucadia!" Quick as a wink, Avril has produced the Original Sea Medium from the bag at her side, clasping the disc to her chest as it begins to glow with a pale bluish light. "Help us--"
Leah may not need the assistance, under the effects of whatever 'sorcery' she is utilizing. But for Avril and Elvis, perhaps the Guardian's blessing will fall upon them and grant them that sudden strength and agility they need to, well, vault past a herd of electrical stampeding horses.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Sea Medium toward her party's challenge, The Horses Are Bolted!.
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
"Prosthetics you say?! Fascinating. That technology is difficult to come by. You must be of some import, or quite lucky!" he comments. Admittedly he always wanted to look into the field of such devices-- Kartikeya's case was unique and rather effective. Further refining that could be of great use.
Just long as the prosthetics aren't the reason people become murderous. Can't be, right? Nah.
"The elements here are rather harsh-- it could have been active far more recently than I give it credit for," he idly adds toward Leah.
"It'll come to you in time, don't worry!" Elvis says to encourage Avril. As for the core, she has the right of it. Handing over a combat-grade core to anyone would be treachery. Though there can be great use in such a utility-based one. "I am sure something can be done with it. Building even an exo-suit or something shouldn't be too hard." A look back to the model. "You have a point. Perhaps the mysteries of this place will show themselves in time!"
A familiar trembling of the earth garners the Sentinel's attention. Some kind of addled horse stampede! "Those don't look healthy!" Those markings are odd upon them, though aren't familiar in any way. As the horse close in. Elvis crouches, and just LEAPS int othe air, a very high distance. The question is, did he judge his air time against how long it would take the horses to pass properly. He can feel the blessing of the Sea upon him as well... will it help?
DG: Elvis has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Horses Are Bolted!.
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>=========================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - The Horses Are Bolted! *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The rapid roar of horse hooves fills the air, and in moments, a stud of horses besets your party. These must be the Fereshte's steeds, but they are in no way ordinary -- their flesh is pale, their coat mottled with the gleaming mark of a butterfly wing. Sparks of electricity bounce from one tumor to another, setting fire to blades of grass as they march, their whinnies filled with misery. They turn towards you -- you'll need to be extremely quick and sure to avoid damage from these electrified horses! =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
=====================<* Lost Village Fereshte - Round 3 *>====================== ======================< Results - The Horses Are Bolted! >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Sea Medium 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elvis 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leah Sadalbari 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Gravity Module 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 40 --(30)--> 70 Pass Conditions: Secret(1)|Slow(2) Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has passed this challenge! The party gained 30 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: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>=========================== =================<* CHALLENGE - Something to Make You Quiver *>================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- An arrow lands near your feet! Several warriors garbed in Fereshte leather armour have taken position around your party, displaying naked aggression as they whisper: "Repel the... Invaders..." Curiously, their bodies are visibly burnt and riddled with what look like shots from flame or perhaps high-energy... ARMs? Curious. They don't appear to hear reason, hunched over with numerous butterfly sigils emerging out of their skin. The warriors charge in with dao sabers, backed by their archer brethren. They appear to regard you as some kind of existential threat, clearly not seeing reality -- you'll need to defend yourself to go further. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
"It is," Leah agrees. "And some would call it luck... But I prefer to think of it as providence. I know that I am where I am meant to be. We all have roles to play in the grand design, don't you think?"
A beat, as she says to Avril, "Making use of magic in climates like this requires practice--in many ways the environment makes it different. And we did succeed--I don't hold anything against you."
She doesn't appear to be murderous. ...Neither does she miss the fact that the Core is handed over here, and what it implies. Avril, after all, makes that clear. But as they rise--
Lucadia's power helps them all; through the power of the Sea, they all become more agile, stronger. They all avoid the stampede--
But Elvis's timing is just slightly off, and when he lands, the ground is still shaking, breaking up his footing. A minor fall, really, unlikely to hold them back much.
Leah lands a few moments later with a thunderous crack--she may be rather heavier than she looks. The prosthetics, likely. Rising from her crouch, however, she looks to the others. "Well, there's that."
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I am sure we will be able to make something of it. Perhaps..." she starts to muse, only to then shake her head. "Well, we should stay the speculation for later, should we not? Dean and Shalune may have their own thoughts. Thank you, Elvis."
Or particularly in Shalune's case, the necessary parts.
"No, I do understand," she says to Avril and Leah alike, shaking her head. "Nevertheless, the point is the same: I must practice more and hone my abilities. I cannot afford to bring harm, potential or otherwise, unless that is truly my intent."
And when she does mean it, she must see it through properly. She is a blade; she can do no less.
"Elvis!" Once the coast is clear, Avril doubles back to lend the Sentinel a hand if needed. Whether he accepts her aid or not, she lingers there a moment more. "Those markings..." Avril pauses, staring at the horses as they gallop off into the distance. "Elvis. Did you see those markings? That butterfly brand. It reminds me of Odoryuk..."
They're almost a match for the delicate winglets on the unicorn Guardian's legs -- she's certain of it.
The village structures remain yet at a distance; there is still ground to cover before Avril's goal -- the chieftan's tent -- comes into reach.
They're into the town proper when it happens, moving amidst villagers who at first glance might seem completely normal -- until the moment they're interacted with, that is, and start to do and say some very strange things.
Like a flower, an arrow blooms at Avril's feet.
It's followed by the Fereshte warriors themselves, brandishing blade and bow alike.
They have recently been wounded. "...ARMs-fire," Avril murmurs, her stare then moving to linger on that emblem, again, of a butterfly. As if it were branded into flesh.
An arrow wizzes by her head.
Her hand reaches into a pocket and withdraws that unusual ARM she so favors.
"I am sorry," she tells the warriors.
Before Absolute Zero bleeds light, hissing its song as its beam rips through the air.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Beam Whip Mode toward her party's challenge, Something to Make You Quiver.
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
Even with the blessing, his timing is incorrect, and lands on unsafe ground. "BORF!" is about the best way to describe the noise he makes falling to the ground. The Veruni waves off Avril's assistance. "Thank you though, I do appreciate it!" He springs back up and dusts himself off, acting as though it didn't happen. Despite the fact it clearly did. "I did... most interesting. It looked like they were in some kind of magical flux."
This Leah person seems quite educated! Which raises curiosity a notch more. "A good way to look at the lives we lead!" he comments, dusting off his blouse and vest. "Wonder what happened to those steeds to make them act so strangely?" he inquires, watching them go.
Sudden singing arrow fire grabs the man's attention, particularly as one comes unusually close to Avril. "Did something attack them?" he wonders. "Im starting to form a theory about this place. One would think time would have erased those wounds. And yet, we are in some kind of barricaded area. The symbols of the Life Guardian, everything seemingly preserved..."
The man moves to engage those with melee weaponry. "Tell me, is this where Riesenlied gained her Medium?" he asks, as he starts throwing supersonic punches and causing earthen tremors.
To Leah: "Have any other interesting abilities up your sleeve?" he asks. he seems to have gained quite the interest in the young lady. Part of him wants to see if her attachments have combat capability. If not just to give him ideas for invention himself.
DG: Elvis has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Something to Make You Quiver.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Is this where Riesenlied gained her Medium?
"It is," Avril answers, between strokes with Absolute Zero's beam. "There must be some connection--!"
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
"...Then I withdraw my argument. That's a good way to approach power; I support it." She looks between the others. "The markings are strange--but not only those. No creatures in this region should match that description--horses, with electrical magic? It's very unusual."
Leah dusts herself, off, and follows along with the group; her cloak falls back into place as gravity reasserts itself. In town, however.. Arrows come. Arrows, blades--
An arrow thunks into Leah, sinking into her arm, but no blood spills; she glances down at it, and pulls it out, as if absentminded. "Some," she allows to Elvis. "I wonder that as well--these people..."
Leah drops the arrow, and pulls her spear, shifting into a stance not unlike those of the warriors before them. "They should not be here." She considers; the Medium, here...
She steps forward--and abrubtly leaps, bending at the knee and shooting into the air; high above, there is a faint pulse of Wind Ether as she slams back downward into the crowd of archers spear-first, and begins engaging the back line, heedless of being struck.
The way she moves, it's as if she can predict their style.
DG: Leah Sadalbari has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Something to Make You Quiver.
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>=========================== =================<* CHALLENGE - Something to Make You Quiver *>================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- An arrow lands near your feet! Several warriors garbed in Fereshte leather armour have taken position around your party, displaying naked aggression as they whisper: "Repel the... Invaders..." Curiously, their bodies are visibly burnt and riddled with what look like shots from flame or perhaps high-energy... ARMs? Curious. They don't appear to hear reason, hunched over with numerous butterfly sigils emerging out of their skin. The warriors charge in with dao sabers, backed by their archer brethren. They appear to regard you as some kind of existential threat, clearly not seeing reality -- you'll need to defend yourself to go further. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
=====================<* Lost Village Fereshte - Round 4 *>====================== ===================< Results - Something to Make You Quiver >=================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Beam Whip Mode 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elvis 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leah Sadalbari 5 --(10)--> 15 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 70 --(20)--> 90 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Slow(1) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur 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: Elvis has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>========================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Life is too Short... *>==================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Finally, you navigate your way successfully around the lost village and come towards the most impressive building deep in the heart of the settlement, an octagonal yurt with large doors adorned with the iconography of Odoryuk. This place is purportedly the chieftain's hut, and the dwelling of the-once chosen of the Fereshte's Medium of Life, the Heritor. When you step in, the chill winds take hold once more. The aurora veils the night sky of Elru where the tent's fabric is shredded. The floor is bloodstained and littered with broken furniture. The only object to survive without even a scratch or tarnish upon it is a wall-length mirror on the back... ... which shines with the icon of Odoryuk emblazoned upon its frame. The moment one of you steps in front of it, a humanoid figure emerges from the radiant glass. One, then another, then another, until there is one for each member of your party. At first nondescript, the Leyline exhumes power as it pulls upon the myriad facets of life itself... ... coalescing into clones of yourselves. But these are not dark or malevolent or memory clones as you may have encountered in the past -- this clone instead embodies the question that lingers in everyone's minds, at some point in life: What could I have become? This is the you who took risks when you backed away. The you who didn't let hang-ups and personal pains drag them into a mire of their own creation. The you who owned up to that painful mistake and learnt from it. The you who answered tough, lingering questions and made impossible decisions to get to where they are today. Pure and certain, a beacon of someone who lives their life to their fullest. (BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTNhgb0s6qE ) The Ideal You. That is who your opponent is. (OOC Note: Round runners, keep the Ideal self around for the Finale, do not dispatch them in your resolution poses!) =Dungeon Conditions: Secret, Save Point=======================================
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
The warriors may be animated by some force beyond them, but they are still but warriors of the Fereshte: strong and mighty for their people, but when pitted against the Queen of the Veruni, the Sentinel, and the Watcher...
They don't stand a chance. Absolute Zero cuts them down; Elvis' punches and mastery of the elements fells both those close to him and the archers further afield without much fanfare.
Leah meets with a small degree of trouble: an errant hit or two strike her, her reflexes slowed due to her still-healing injuries from an earlier engagement.
But in the end, the warriors fall and do not -- for now -- rise again.
"...We should hurry onwards," Avril says, her voice now. "I would not like to repeat this."
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
The might of the Sentinel is one to be recognizes. Pillars of stone and thunderclaps resound from impacts as opponents are felled. It doesn't take long for the man to decimate the enemies that foolishly picked him as a person to debate with this day! The man dusts his hands. "Quaint, but our argument stands-- we must pass!"
"Are you two okay?" he asks toward Avril and Leah. He will provide assistance where he can. "tell me, have either of you ever seen a non-perfect conductor be used as a conduit of lightning? If not it is no matter. Damage occurs. But the reason I mention this is there are two spots where the damage is far worse. The entry point and the exit point."
A breath, before he waxes scientific further. "I posit the same happened here. When Riesenlied was fed with too much power, there was a backlash effect. When she bore the energy of her new form and of the ley line, if affected her horribly-- but also as part of the conduit, her Medium-- if affected its origin point. We are seeing the backlash from where the Medium began. The place it is bound to."
"The effects of the Life Guardian are just watermarks the energy has taken of from the conduit it passed through."
He seems pretty sure of this. He could also be very wrong. He doesn't know! That's the fun of theories!
The way into the village proper leaves the party unmolested from this point, though it looks like most of the place is damaged. Save one building, and it certainly looks of import. "Ah... should we check in there?" he asks his fellow adventurers.
The building looks like it could be some kind of meeting place, perhaps a building of worship. It is in disarray within, save a pristine, ornate bordered mirror on the far end of the room. "Huh, what is this...?" he asks, approaching it.
The mirror shifts. A mercurial design as forms take shape. "I don't like this! I'm gonna break it!" A flash, and a punch is unfurled at the mirror.
A hand catches it deftly from within.
"Ghh... what!" the man grunts. The hand looks familiar. It shoves back Elvis with little effort. A large and built shape exits. It looks like... A Young Elvis? Still just as big, but perhaps a good bit younger. "What kind of sorcery is this?" complains the older version. The mirrored version has less wrinkles, more defined features.
Less tired. And not in just fatigue in the moment. It is easy ti tell when someone has had a long life, a tiring life. And when someone has had not a worry in the world.
Perhaps the lack of worry has a more pronounced appearance of... mercilessness.
Speaking of such, there is a blitz of movement, and Elvis is decked right through a wall and out into the courtyard, tumbling over himself. "Gah! You whippersnapper! Think you can best me, eh? Come at me!"
The ground cracks under the weight of a lunching force in front of the mirror, as this fake yet very lifelike form decides to engage his counterpart outside. Flurries of punches and explosions ensue, tremors affecting the nearby buildings.
And yet.. two more forms begin to come out of the mirror in the aftermath of that exchange. These two look very familiar as well.
DG: Elvis has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Life is too Short....
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
Leah fights her opponents dispassionately, showing neither cruelty nor mercy. Whether they are spectres, living memories, possessed others... It does not matter. They are in her way, and they must be cut down. The fact that she suffers injury in the process likewise does not matter. Her reflexes are still too slow, and some of the cuts on her form do bleed through her cloak now, blood as well as something thicker and stranger. But they fall.
"...I agree," Leah says to Avril quietly. Then to Elvis, "...I have seen that effect, yes. I think I need more data, before I can hypothesize further--to create such a barrier... That's some distance, and some time."
In the tent, however--Leah turns to the mirror, when she hears the commotion with Elvis... and it is not the only one, no.
BGM: Suspicion - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTmanRkwZAs
From the mirror steps a golden humanoid figure, like the others--but when the power fades, she stands, identical to Leah, scholar into the Fereshte who has joined the party. Her hand rests on the haft of her spear, fingers curling, just slightly bulkier to look at than a human hand in a glove. Her single blue eye meets the other woman's.
"It would be nice," the clone Leah says, "If we believed that I should be standing here with Engil; that our true role was not one of tragedy." She reaches to her neck, and pulls out the two rings dangling on a chain there, letting them hang in sight this time. "Perhaps we'd have time to have had a daughter by now; that's what we always believed, yes? Advancement... Family. Reaching out and taking what was available, shining brightly, a star over the still land."
"...But we don't," the Leah that came with the others repeats, recognizing it intuitively. "We know, where we must be. What we must do."
"Just so," the copy answers, inclining her head once. "We will do as we must. Through all obstacles, in the name of God."
"...No matter the cost to ourselves," they both say in unison. They both shift into mirroring stances, spear held out. "What will be, must be."
In an instant they clash, spear to spear.
DG: Leah Sadalbari has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Life is too Short....
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I am alright," Avril states, having gone -- other than a few tears in her clothing -- unscathed in the resulting combat.
Silence, on her part at least, follows when Elvis presents his theory on the unifying features between the phenomena they've seen here and what has been observed with Riesenlied.
"Backlash..." She feels a chill course down her spine. "But... it should not remain so. Noeline was able to reach equilibrium," she says, her gaze turning then to the chieftain's yurt.
"Perhaps, there may be something more within the place the Medium was found."
The place where the mirror, still, stands.
The figure that emerges from the mirror as Avril gazes upon it is...
Avril.
With a very different look in her eyes. Warier. More honed.
"...I see. So that is the path you chose to tread," this other Avril says, taking one slow step forward. "When he came to deliver you to the Locus Solus, you refused."
Avril nods. "Yes. I could not travel with someone I knew not, for reasons I did not understand. Even if it meant turning my back on my people." Her gaze averts, briefly she closes her eyes. "...I have a responsibility to them, of course, but to make that choice blindly, and to shoulder so suddenly a birthright I am still struggling to understand... for a people I do not know."
She turns to face her duplicate, who now has her blade in hand. Their blade: Absolute Zero.
"Perhaps it is cowardice," the one who made the different choice says.
"Or perhaps, it was prudence?" Avril too has drawn her blade.
"It still remains to be seen," states the other, shaking her head. "Come. We must defend our decisions in the language we know best." She brandishes her blade; Avril follows in kind. They are a perfect mirror in expression and form.
"Yes. Let me show you the form of my conviction-- and my doubts!" Avril intones before the duel begins.
Even in battle the queens who have trod different paths are doubles, their deadly dance -- veering from blades to beams and back again -- nearly seeming choreographed to the outside observer.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Beam Whip Mode toward her party's challenge, Life is too Short....
=========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>========================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Life is too Short... *>==================== |Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 4 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Finally, you navigate your way successfully around the lost village and come towards the most impressive building deep in the heart of the settlement, an octagonal yurt with large doors adorned with the iconography of Odoryuk. This place is purportedly the chieftain's hut, and the dwelling of the-once chosen of the Fereshte's Medium of Life, the Heritor. When you step in, the chill winds take hold once more. The aurora veils the night sky of Elru where the tent's fabric is shredded. The floor is bloodstained and littered with broken furniture. The only object to survive without even a scratch or tarnish upon it is a wall-length mirror on the back... ... which shines with the icon of Odoryuk emblazoned upon its frame. The moment one of you steps in front of it, a humanoid figure emerges from the radiant glass. One, then another, then another, until there is one for each member of your party. At first nondescript, the Leyline exhumes power as it pulls upon the myriad facets of life itself... ... coalescing into clones of yourselves. But these are not dark or malevolent or memory clones as you may have encountered in the past -- this clone instead embodies the question that lingers in everyone's minds, at some point in life: What could I have become? This is the you who took risks when you backed away. The you who didn't let hang-ups and personal pains drag them into a mire of their own creation. The you who owned up to that painful mistake and learnt from it. The you who answered tough, lingering questions and made impossible decisions to get to where they are today. Pure and certain, a beacon of someone who lives their life to their fullest. (BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTNhgb0s6qE ) The Ideal You. That is who your opponent is. (OOC Note: Round runners, keep the Ideal self around for the Finale, do not dispatch them in your resolution poses!) =Dungeon Conditions: Secret, Save Point=======================================
====================<* Lost Village Fereshte - Round 5 *>===================== ======================< Results - Life is too Short... >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avril Vent Fleur 5 --(15)--> 20 Pass Beam Whip Mode 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elvis 5 --(25)--> 30 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leah Sadalbari 15 --(25)--> 40 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 90 --(0)--> 90 Fail Conditions: Injure(1)|Save Point(1)|Secret(2) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has failed this challenge! The party gained 0 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Leah Sadalbari has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>=========================== ==============<* CHALLENGE - ... to Wonder What Could Have Been *>============== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The battle is intense. Both you and your Ideal self have been tested to your very limits. And what did you glean upon the mirror in the midst of that battle? Perhaps it was an aspect or two about yourself that you refused to face up until now. Or perhaps, you turned even deeper away from pernicious thoughts that nonetheless have a nugget of truth in your heart. Only you can answer that question. But it is nonetheless evident, at the climax of the battle, that you and yourself are fairly evenly matched... and if you or your Ideal self continues, no one will walk away from this cleanly. In other words, the price is life itself. (BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5l6XPZxZ8c ) Battle is not the answer here. The Ley continues to flow throughout the room, the very power of the reflection that has borne manifest here, sourced from the mirror itself. If you gaze deep enough into the mirror, and search deep into the Ley itself... Perhaps it is there that you will find the hint. A seemingly minor clue, but one that could be the first step to resolving the dissonance... =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.
The fight rages on outside for a time. Thankfully clear of the other two fighting their own inner demons borne unto life. Different paths and choices made manifest. "What is this?!" Elvis complains, having managed to pick the clone back into the building through the front door. "You don't even talk!" he says. Elvis makes his way him, fairly beaten and bruised, as is his counterpart.
There is only a sadistic grin of his face. "I know that look! You look like Kartikeya on a bad day! That's what you did, didn't you?!" A pause. Elvis fetches a book from a satchel. He opens it. "Do you even know what this is?" he asks, pointing ad some kind of geometric equation.
The clone just furrows a brow.
"It's the Pythagorean Theorem! The first equation you were supposed to learn!"
Elvis grimaces. "You answered the call to arms rather than further your education, didn't you? And I take it you never even met or cared about Carol, didn't you? So you just fight, huh?!"
The clone, wordless, jumps up and begins to clash with Elvis again. "So that's how it is, isn't it. Cared about yourself, rather than others, huh? Lived fully, rather than devoting time to the well being of others? And in the process you became a meathead!"
The clashing draws close to the mirror. In an intellectual turnaround, Elvis gets the one up on his clone and beans him in the head with that ironbound tome that looks like it might weigh more than a bowling ball. Momentarily stunned, the man takes a second to try and study that mirror... Though the clone wont be down for long, for already now it stirs... "Y'know, efficiency states that even if our life doesn't amount to much in our eyes, but are able to make many others worth more, that that is the logical choice, even if you hesitate to consider your own well-being..."
DG: Elvis has used his Tool Copious Research Notes toward his party's challenge, ... to Wonder What Could Have Been.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
She has faced what the mirror holds before. Back then, she had faced a mere blurry shadow of herself, the fruits of having little past and little regrets, little difficult decisions and little personal choices. Just a shadow that had proved as elusive as any would, when fought in the lee of the great mirror.
Here, with more understanding of the self there is more 'self' to strive against.
Here, with a fateful decision past and the doubts it had fostered, she has been till now left to wonder what the alterate route would have brought her.
And here she is able to demonstrate her own convictions in spite of the 'might have beens'. She presses hard, forcing her alterate self back against the wall of the yurt; her blade is hoisted at her other's throat.
A hollow clank rings out as the other Avril drops Absolute Zero, itself returned to hilt form.
"I yield."
Avril steps back, tilting her blade down towards the floor; soon there is no blade at all. "As do I. I do not think you chose poorly. It was simply a different choice."
The other her inclines her head curiously, as if bidding her to go on.
"In the end, both choices are correct, or neither is. Whether I accept and take up the mantle of ruler and all the dangers brought with it. Whether I decline and so leave my people in an uneasy state."
Avril looks her other self in the eyes.
"What is important is that it is my choice, made for the reasons I determined important. ...Whatever doubts I may bear afterwards."
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, ... to Wonder What Could Have Been.
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
This, too, is a terrible battle; Leah and her opposite--no, her same--began clashing with spears, but it did not end there; in short order, melee turned to something else, the two of them leaping back and forth, clashing in points but otherwise throwing torrents of Water, laying down fields of electricity with Wind, and firing shots with ARMs. They both fight quickly, and powerfully, and both continue to take blows against the prosthetics, rather than soft flesh. ...But they are perhaps precisely evenly matched.
Elvis has his chance to see a bit more; her gloves are ruined, now, revealing metal and fiber cabling, mechanical forearms to say nothing of what might be there higher, a foot that only resembles that of a human--
And they fight in silence, until both of them stop, staring at the other. Leah can tell, now; her wounds are worse. Where she had begun to recover, she has opened old wounds, and her conflict against Id is already rearing its head again; her breathing is heavy, labored, itself somehow almost artificial in its sound.
"...Yes," she murmurs. "The straightforward path..."
When she stops, her clone stopes; there is a faint, barely audible noise of something clicking, something whirring, as Leah looks around the room... and then focuses into the mirror. With strange sight unobvious to others she stares into the Ley's flows and power, her remaining eye blank as she uses a different kind of sight completely. She stares, searching, looking through the flows...
"...Yes. You see. Glory... is but a passing dream." The clone speaks calmly, standing straight despite her grievous wounds.
"To focus on desire is to lose sight of what is greater. ...This is the lesson we have learned; to see past such illusion."
The clone stares at Leah as the Watcher stares through the mirror.
DG: Leah Sadalbari has used her Tool Hidden Eye toward her party's challenge, ... to Wonder What Could Have Been.
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>=========================== ==============<* CHALLENGE - ... to Wonder What Could Have Been *>============== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The battle is intense. Both you and your Ideal self have been tested to your very limits. And what did you glean upon the mirror in the midst of that battle? Perhaps it was an aspect or two about yourself that you refused to face up until now. Or perhaps, you turned even deeper away from pernicious thoughts that nonetheless have a nugget of truth in your heart. Only you can answer that question. But it is nonetheless evident, at the climax of the battle, that you and yourself are fairly evenly matched... and if you or your Ideal self continues, no one will walk away from this cleanly. In other words, the price is life itself. (BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5l6XPZxZ8c ) Battle is not the answer here. The Ley continues to flow throughout the room, the very power of the reflection that has borne manifest here, sourced from the mirror itself. If you gaze deep enough into the mirror, and search deep into the Ley itself... Perhaps it is there that you will find the hint. A seemingly minor clue, but one that could be the first step to resolving the dissonance... =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
=====================<* Lost Village Fereshte - Round 6 *>====================== ================< Results - ... to Wonder What Could Have Been >================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Vent Fleur 20 --(0)--> 20 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elvis 30 --(0)--> 30 Pass Copious Research Notes 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leah Sadalbari 40 --(0)--> 40 Pass Hidden Eye 3 Wits Effects: Rally -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Avril Vent Fleur 90 --(35)--> 125 Pass Conditions: Secret(1)|Treasure(1) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has successfully explored Lost Village Fereshte!
==========================<* Lost Village Fereshte *>=========================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Crested Cranequin *>======================= |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- With a loud and harrowing burst, the mirror's lustre fades. The clones give you one last look -- a confident look, before dissolving into clouds, returning deep into the mirror's surface. For now, the bizarre artifact has lost its power and must recover, and you are safe from its strange reflective machinations. Searching the Heritor's tent, you find an old, but still functional crossbow with a particularly unique gear-loading mechanism -- this must be one of the Fereshte's famed cranequin crossbows, enchanted with the sigil of Wing. If you're so inclined, you could add this weapon to your arsenal, or pawn it off for a handsome sum. (NOTE: If you choose to add the enchanted crossbow to your attack repertoire, some ideas may include a TEC-based attack with the Accurate, Headshot or Riposte flags to represent its connection to the Wing crest!) =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================