2019-05-17: Monastic Pursuits

From Dream Chasers
Revision as of 07:33, 29 May 2019 by Pearl (talk | contribs) (Created page with "*'''Log: 2019-05-17 Monastic Pursuits''' *'''Cast:''' Character :: Ines Colina, Character :: Ratatoskr, Character :: Lydia Seren, Character :: Ambrosius *'''Wh...")
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
  • Log: 2019-05-17 Monastic Pursuits
  • Cast: Ines Colina, Ratatoskr, Lydia Seren, Ambrosius
  • Where: Kilika - Jungles
  • Date: 2019-05-17
  • Summary: A ragtag group bundle into the jungle to find out what's going on in the unearthed Gusong Monastery.

=============================<* Kilika - Jungles *>=============================

The island of Kilika is filled with a massive jungle, which is no stranger to Fiends. The recent attack by Sin has made the jungle a dangerous place indeed; powerful Fiends patrol, and a few Sinspawn are rumored to be sighted. Much of Althena's Guard, having arrived, is devoted to making headway into the jungle and protecting the route to the Temple, which is nestled up in the mountains beyond the jungle.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHw2V0C-D-o
DG: You do not have a Tool in that slot. [4]
DG: A party led by Ines Colina is now entering Sunken Monastery of Gusong.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
========================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>========================
============<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - Collapsing Blocks *>============
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The entrance to the Sunken Monastery is above ground, at a place where the    
 recent attack by Sin caused a landslide and revealed a small section of       
 worked stone... and tunnel that leads the depths. Following that tunnel,      
 however, soon leads to a portion that has flooded and filled with water.      
 Swimming will be required.                                                    
                                                                               
 The entry tunnel is a long, narrow one. As you begin swimming, though, you    
 find the tunnel presents a challenge in addition to needing to swim:          
                                                                               
 Large blocks begin crashing down from the ceiling at regular intervals.       
 While none fill the hallway, they crash down from the ceiling fast and        
 sometimes unexpectedly, threatening to crush someone under them -- and        
 sending shockwaves that makes swimming even harder.                           
                                                                               
 Fortunately, there is a door ahead -- and stairs leading to air.              
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Tire===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.


    The damage done to Kilika Island by Sin is obvious to anyone who comes to the island. The people are still rebuilding and recovering from the attack. It's a difficult plight to walk past, and the trek through the jungle to Gusong Monastery a perhaps sombre one. But it is, with the possibility of a few minor fiends, a smooth one.

    "I'm Ines. Can't say I've had the pleasure with most of you." The beastwoman had introduced herself when they started setting off. It's true that the only other person she had met was Lydia, and that was at a rather grim time. "Glad to have a few extra folks going in here. Thanks."

    When they arrive at the flooded part of the entrance, Ines stops to remove her boots, revealing webbed feet, and shoving them in a small pack. If she's going to be swimming, she may as well take the advantages her body gives her. "Doesn't look too deep, shouldn't be too hard."

    It's not long into the swim that the the ceiling starts releasing large, solid blocks. It's not a chaotic collapse, but instead the blocks drop with a regular cadence, giving a small mercy if you can work out the timing, as the path becomes completely submerged.

    Still, extra speed is never to be passed up, and Ines can't help but be driven into the path of one of the blocks. Even underwater, her magicked whip lashes out, and wraps around a column, and Ines pulls herself with a burst of speed, moving her kind of like a torpedo. Just have to hope it's enough.

<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.

    Odessa has made itself known, and made a swipe at ARMS. ARMS escaped intact, and Ratatoskr got a heads up that at least one of the ARMS number is a wily and capable teleportation expert who could be anywhere at all, and that it falls to him - perhaps the one operative that seems to know Spira best outside of their recent convert in Gatta - to go find them. This is not a bad idea on paper.
     There are soon obvious problems that come with giving someone like Ratatoskr carte blanche to go anywhere to look for someone who can be anywhere at any time, for he will go anywhere and just keep doing what he does in pursuit of a fight with a foe who is so capable that they can be anywhere at all... like, say, return to the Sunken Monastery of Gusong.
     This mysterious masterful teleportation expert of a Crest Sorceress could be there, after all!!
     Oh, speaking of mysterious teleportation, suddenly Ratatoskr appears in that watery tunnel with a faintly glowing crystal-like fragment of a Hyadean teleportation device. He doesn't expect to teleport into being underwater and it shows, because he flails and claws at the water while rocks fall around him. Like he wants to fight the water and beat the air out of it, not because he's drowning. (he is though)
     It's abrupt and disruptive and a complication!

DG: Ratatoskr has used his Tool Teleporter Fragment toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Collapsing
Blocks.
DG: Ines Colina has used her Tool Runic Whip toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Collapsing Blocks.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia is happy to lend a fellow beastman a hand in a dig. Especially one whose entire home emptied out mysteriously and honestly Lydia still isn't entirely sure how that happened but is pretty sure it had something to do with the Metal Demon War.

"Happy to help," Lydia chirps cheerfully. before pausing. "Wait is this going to be mostly underwater oh nooooo--"

Lydia immediately sinks to the ocean floor and ends up having to MegaMan jump from place to place. She CAN swim in a kinda sorta theoretical sense but that's gonna tire her out quickly in a dig.

Luckily Lydia has skates. Skates that somehow work just as well underwater. She dashes along to try and beat the rocks, fully intending to skate off Ratatoskr's face if she needs to to get through. Guy's kind of creepy in her books even if he is an adorable squirrelbot.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Radical Skates toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Collapsing Blocks.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

"It is no problem... I am...Ambrosius." Ambrosius replies, offering a polite bow toward Ines. He had not met her before, and if he knew Ratatoskr it was only due to a passing familiarity through their peoples' alliance during the war.

Lydia, however, gets a polite incline of the head.

"...Lydia. You look well..." He remarks. And different than the last time he saw her, but he doesn't point that out.

In truth, the man in the red poncho has a personal interest in investigating the Gusong Monastery. The rebuilding of Kilika...less so. It was not that he didn't care, but he knew people were on it. He had seen the people of Wayside around, and knew they were in good hands.

The important thing now was that he able to partake in one of his greatest hobbies - research of ancient civilizations. There were many old structures scattere around Spira, but they were either in so much disrepair as to prevent him from being able to access to them...or, he was prevented access for reasons.

He may be a bit disappointed that he had, so far, not been allowed to see all but the foyer of any of the temples.

Gusong, however, was unguarded, though flooded. Fortunately, water was far from a problem for him.

Ambrosius moves along through the water wordlessly, and in a manner that could best be described as 'relaxed'. He makes no effort to hurry, even when blocks start to fall and make things even more difficult.

There was research to be done, after all.

DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Collapsing
Blocks.
========================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>========================
============<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - Collapsing Blocks *>============
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The entrance to the Sunken Monastery is above ground, at a place where the    
 recent attack by Sin caused a landslide and revealed a small section of       
 worked stone... and tunnel that leads the depths. Following that tunnel,      
 however, soon leads to a portion that has flooded and filled with water.      
 Swimming will be required.                                                    
                                                                               
 The entry tunnel is a long, narrow one. As you begin swimming, though, you    
 find the tunnel presents a challenge in addition to needing to swim:          
                                                                               
 Large blocks begin crashing down from the ceiling at regular intervals.       
 While none fill the hallway, they crash down from the ceiling fast and        
 sometimes unexpectedly, threatening to crush someone under them -- and        
 sending shockwaves that makes swimming even harder.                           
                                                                               
 Fortunately, there is a door ahead -- and stairs leading to air.              
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Tire===============================================
===================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong - Round 1 *>===================
==============< Results - It's a Water Level - Collapsing Blocks >==============
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ines Colina                         0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Runic Whip                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           0 --(3)--> 3                   Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ratatoskr                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Teleporter Fragment                 2   Agility Effects: Stalwart             
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Radical Skates                      3   Agility Effects: Fanfare              
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ines Colina                 0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Slow(2)|Tire(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ines Colina has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use
party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.

    The falling blocks make the crossing dangerous, but swimming (or skating) to the next room is easily handled.

    Lydia's Radical Skates and floaty underwater jumps see her safely past the falling blocks, even with taking time to stunt on the semi drowning Ratatoskr. Ratatoskr's teleport gets him past the worst of the water, and his wild flailing gets him the rest of the way, with no blocks dropping on him. Ines' natural swimming talent and use of a whip get her past the worst of the blocks, and she comes up the stairs easily. Ambrosius' slow and steady approach gets him past the blocks... eventually. He does get a little fenced in, but not entirely blocked off.

    Ines pops the door into what is hopefully a brief stop of air and places that aren't completely flooded, waving for others to follow.

DG: Ratatoskr has drawn a new Challenge.
============================================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>============================================
==================================<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - Machina Orbs *>===================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 To continue, it is necessary to enter one of the many flooded chambers of     
 the Sunken Monastery.                                                         
                                                                               
 As you swim into this chamber, you find the cavernous great hall of the       
 monastery. Water has reduced the once-fine tapestries and the wall            
 decorations, save for carvings, to an indistinct mush. The wooden table is    
 rotting away down here, and the metal bowls that monks ate from have rusted   
 and tarnished.                                                                
                                                                               
 And, ancient machina pose a danger. Large, mechanical spheres move through    
 this chamber. Whenever you get close, they emit a powerful field of           
 electricity. Swimming through involves managing to not get too close to any   
 of these erratically moving machina.                                          
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Exhaust============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.

    Lydia does indeed style off of Ratatoskr's head. The wy she fits the blades of those skates atop Ratatoskr's horn is nothing short of legendary, in so far as UNDERWATER SKATE GRIND goes. He doesn't hold it against her, because he's having too much fun punching the water (and also drowning).
     They find an air pocket at the top of a staircase, but it seems that the damage to this place is so extensive that another way forward with all this rubble doesn't present itself. Wait, another way from what?
     Going back in the water.
     For being a surprise intrusion in their group and - as Lydia has correctly noted - being kind of creepy especially in this low lighting that accentuates his horn, the sharp-toothed grin, and the solid yellow of his eyes that compels all manners of run-on sentence... he doesn't aggress upon them.
     "Have you been here before?" He asks. "It's great..." What's so great about it? Does he like swimming? It doesn't matter because that's the way they have to go.
     Into a huge great hall of the sunken monastery, whose finer features have been eroded by being submerged for so long. It seems peaceful, except for the issue of large mechanical spheres whose deafening 'whirring' noises carry through the water, accumulating impurities and leaving the water looking impeccably clear. Someone could probably drink this water without issue - that is how good a job it's done.
     What does it do in case it bumps into fiends or intruders, then? Oh, that's easy.
     It emits an electrical shock, as a sahaguin that attempts to zero in on the group discovers. Discovers, but can't learn, because it pops back into pyreflies.
     Ratatoskr takes hold of that crystalline fragment again, which glints oddly in the light. If anyone wants to jump into a teleport with him and maybe skip most of this (or end up accidentally reappearing before any of these spheres), that's the cue.

DG: Ratatoskr has used his Tool Teleporter Fragment toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Machina Orbs.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius's attention is largely on the walls, as eroded as they are by time and the water surrounding them. He doesn't seem too concerned by the need to breathe - it was likely there was some Sorcery at play here.

At once point, the blocks nearly fence him in. There's enough space, however, for him to force them aside to make some room. ...A normal human would probably have a bit more trouble with that than he seemed to...

He moves on, and is the last of tem to make it into the monastery's great hall. He looks upon it in interest - the only thing intelligible here is the carvings, but there are large machina floating through here, as well.

It was very curious to him. What purpose did they serve, here in this ancient temple? With the way they moved through the water, were they always intended to work in submerged areas?

He studies them with a critical eye that may very well see one of them drifting into him. It's fine, though - it's a calculated risk he's ready to accept.

DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Machina Orbs.
� Logging stopped
� Appending to existing file
� Logging to file "D:\Users\Nick\Documents\Dream Chaser\Ines Colina\2019-05-17 Gusong Monastery.txt" started
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia would've probably felt bad if Ratatoskr drowned but she didn't so she has suffered no reprecussions for her slick sick stylings. That's okay, though, Lydia faces reprecussions all the times for things that didn't really hurt anybody so it all kind of balances out in the end.

"AmBro." Lydia says to Ambrosius. "Whatcha doin' down here? Wait--did you ever, like, leave Lunar in the first place? Have you just been hanging out with Kaguya all the time?? Are you conquering the moon???"

She gives AmBro a polite nod of her own head too. At least, it's polite if you ignore the way she typically talks as a general rule.

She continues her skating about but admits, "Nope! Never been down here! I would never come down to a place like this without meaning to! Because it's pretty horrifying holding a conversation under water like this."

She would also prefer to not get electrocuted, too, but this doesn't seem to slow her down much.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Radical Skates toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Machina Orbs.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.

    Ratatoskr's enthusiasm is and general creepy demeanor are a little offputting. Ines shakes her head in response, "Can't say I have." She responds, eyeing the Metal Demon a little. Still, she looks at the orbs, and the sudden explosion of a sahuagin into pyreflies, with a tsk. "I thought these Yevon guys were pretty against this sort of thing." Admittedly, assuming the temple is Yevonite may be an incorrect assumption, but it seems a safe bet. As Ambrosius hits the water, Ines looks over at him. "You might want to pick up the pace, this time." Lydia's casual talk about Ambrosius conquering the moon does cause her to pause. "Have all of you ended up here before?" Despite the stories she's picked up over time, despite it happening to her, the whole 'teleported to the moon' thing is still freaking weird.

    Ines's personal approach is to dive in, and stick as low to the floor of the room as possible, trying to keep herself from rising too close to the lightning orbs, and using the whip and her hands to pull herself forward without floating up to the surface. Gills come in handy sometimes.

    The waters are actually kind of pleasant to swim through, at least. Better than Filgaia's water, for sure. It's weird the way you notice these things at the most inopportune times.

DG: Ines Colina has used her Tool Runic Whip toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Machina Orbs.
============================================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>============================================
==================================<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - Machina Orbs *>===================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 To continue, it is necessary to enter one of the many flooded chambers of     
 the Sunken Monastery.                                                         
                                                                               
 As you swim into this chamber, you find the cavernous great hall of the       
 monastery. Water has reduced the once-fine tapestries and the wall            
 decorations, save for carvings, to an indistinct mush. The wooden table is    
 rotting away down here, and the metal bowls that monks ate from have rusted   
 and tarnished.                                                                
                                                                               
 And, ancient machina pose a danger. Large, mechanical spheres move through    
 this chamber. Whenever you get close, they emit a powerful field of           
 electricity. Swimming through involves managing to not get too close to any   
 of these erratically moving machina.                                          
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Exhaust============================================
=======================================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong - Round 2 *>=======================================
====================================< Results - It's a Water Level - Machina Orbs >=====================================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ines Colina                         0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Runic Whip                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           3 --(13)--> 16                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ratatoskr                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Teleporter Fragment                 2   Agility Effects: Stalwart             
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Radical Skates                      3   Agility Effects: Fanfare              
-------------------------------------------------------< Party >--------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Ines Colina                 20 --(20)--> 40                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Slow(2)|Tire(1)
Effects: Quicken(1)
===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Ines Colina has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use
party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.

    It helps that the water is clear, so there's no ambiguity about where they have to go. Lydia continues to defy gravity and water's attempts to slow her groove as she just skates like cray-zay and even gets a mad hop off of an electrical sphere that leaves the most bad-ass sparks on the skates. She is killing it.
     Ines, with her biological adaptions to maneuvering in water, has no problems powering through and breathing easy enough. Having something to hold onto helps if she ever thinks she might have her grip lessened from exposure to electrical bursts, but she pulls through just fine. Very little in the water could ever stand to stop her.
     Ratatoskr can't really hold a conversation underwater but that grin of his says all it ever needs to (it's creepy) as he disappears in a flash of light. Ambrosius has a look at the rotted tapestries. It looks like this was a place where the monks came to eat. What's even more fascinating is how the old, rusted finery is still staying atop the ancient table and not free-floating about. It must have been very heavy!
     A machina sphere approaches. The carvings are too weathered by the water to be decipherable, but maybe he can commit some patterns to memory for later.
     Veruni technology is all that stops him from being electrocuted into a drowned husk, replaced with (at worst) a warm vibration as the machina sphere uses up all of its juice and ceases function before such a resilient, insistent foe. If Ambrosius wants, it's fascinating to see how it looks and works. (It also looks totally gross inside and maybe he might not want to touch it.) He can come up at his leisure.
     At the other end, Ratatoskr waits for Ambrosius to show up. "You looked at them too...?" He grins. Ambrosius may or may not take additional Exhaustion hearing about Ratatoskr's various theories about them, which is more than enough time for Ines and Lydia to get a move on.

DG: Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
=======================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>=======================
===============<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - Sahuagin *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The water-filled chambers of the Sunken Monastery require no small amount of  
 swimming. As you swim your way into this hallway, you encounter fiends that   
 may be familiar... but have an advantage over you in a place like this.       
 Humanoid, scaled fiends called sahuagin swim towards you -- and underwater,   
 their limbs and fins make them ferociously fast and dangerous when they       
 close in on you!                                                              
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Injure============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius takes a moment to regard the sphere with interest, trusting in his natural Veruni durability along with his suit to protect him from its effects.

He doesn't touch it, however - if only because he sees that the others are waiting for him and he doesn't want to get too far behind.

Ambrosius can't answer Lydia quiet yet, since they're under water, but as soon as they reach an air pocket, he turns to look toward her.

"I am...simply investigaaating this...faaascinating ruin..." He explains, then offers Ratatoskr a nod. "Indeed... I found myself...cuuurious as to their purpose...and means of...locomoootion..."

Ambrosius weathers the theories well - it seems that they are both fellow historians, even if their fields are rather different.

He doesn't forget about Lydia's question, however.

"As for your...second queeestion... No... I was brought here at...around the same time you were, I believe..."

He neither confirms nor denies her comment about conquering the moon, instead addressing Ines.

"For us...it is our second time..." He explains. He can't - and doesn't - speak for Ratatoskr, however.

He waits to hear what is said in response before continuing forward into the water once more. Things are more peaceful for a time...up until he pauses and raises a hand.

Suddenly, a fishy fiend rushes at him, attempting to bite at him with massive fangs. Sahuagin - possibility from the same group as the poor soul(well, clump of souls) they saw in the room previous.

He grabs it by the throat and observes it impassively - studying it - as more begin to emerge from the surroundings.

On land they are somewhat slow and ungainly...but in the water, they are dangerous, particularly in large numbers such as this.

However, Ambrosius, too, is much more dangerous underwater. He releases the one he caught...and then, with a gesture, it's as if the water around the Sahuagin simply flows in on it, crushing it into a puff of pyreflies through sheer pressure.

DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Mist Canister toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Sahuagin.
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.

    "This place... it used to house so many warriors..." Ratatoskr says in hushed tones in the rare moment they have to speak in open air. Though he bears a manic grin and the solid yellow of his eyes are unsettling, the voice - however youthful and arrogant - speaks of some genuine reverence for the idea. "I wish they were still here...!"
     Guess what's here, as they come into the water again? Sahuagin. Lots of them. Ratatoskr's body is a bit more light and hollow compared to most of his kind, so he does maneuver in water a bit better than most would - and even has a once-per-submerge ability to discharge his compressed air shotguns for propulsion or other efforts.
     He remembers these things from Luca! Ratatoskr gets to grappling with a few of them immediately. In the heat of the moment, underwater, it sure seems like he struggles to fight them, because none of the ones he's fought yet have popped. If there's a moment to spare a closer eye, however...
     ...it seems to be because he's prolonging the engagement unnecessarily, even at risk of drowning. The way he strikes and swerves, he seems to be trying to savor their existence for as long as he can. Sahuagin are composed of sorrowful, wrathful, envious souls coalesced into monstrous form. They need to be sent to their rest, somehow, to stop them from bringing others to harm.
     Ratatoskr doesn't see that.
     He only sees other warriors.
     Warriors he wants to keep fighting for as long as he can.

DG: Ratatoskr has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Sahuagin.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"Oh. Okay. Cool." Lydia says, visibly cringing at the enlongated 'faaascinating'. So far Lydia hasn't found this ruin to be 'faaaascinating' so much as 'trying to kill her' but maybe that's one and the same for experienced travelers or super soldier veruni types (as all veruni are apparently). Unfortunately, at about this point Lydia just reverses her own gravity and starts hanging out at the top of the ceiling of this patricular water area, skating around up top there as she throws random assorted objects at them in an attempt to dissuade their continued aggression. Exploding people with the Guardians is all well and good but maybe...not in this particular ruin? The place seems destabilized enough as it is.

"It must be pretty rough wanting to fight historical figures and then realizing they're history." Lydia tells herself as she weaves and bobs upsidedownly.

DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Sahuagin.
Lydia Seren
Lydia Seren is a Beastwoman with a body of metal. Her head is the least exotic part of her, with shoulder-length green
curly hair that hangs with a little disorder past inward-curled ram's-style horns. Her teeth are serrated as well
(Taokaka-Styled). There are two parallel panels of some kind of quicksilver metal that seems inlaid into - or replacing
- the skin underneath her eyes and along her cheeks. She typically has a pair of tinted goggles, as well: do you think
an engineer WOULDN'T have eye protection?

Below the neck, the presentation gets weird. Instead of skin her body consists of a dark purple metal that has a
generally human form, with pistons and connectors moving where muscle groups bunch, tense and pop in a more conventional
form. Along the sides of her arms there are faint glowing lights that shimmer between different colors periodically but
tend to settle on orange normally, like which might be in the sun. Her hands are articulated like gauntlets or the legs
of crabs: circular panels near her elbows have been decorated with painted-on yellow stars. Long narrow grooves on the
outside of her forearms periodically hold curved, tonfa-style blades of heavily patterned, almost-decorative steel.
(They are actually really sharp. Just glossily pretty.)

The dark purple body tone is interrupted by bare shining steel (or something like steel) in visible piston-motion. Her
feet resemble conventional everyday human feet in their general shape, but a linear train of metal wheels can (AND DO)
emerge from the center of each sole, which is something beyond the limits of human and Beastman alike. Whether this is
some bizarre suit or a body, it has some other garments on top of it: A pair of hip holsters that seem made to hold
something long and narrow rather than gunsmoke ARMs, and a strap across the chest to keep a piece of long metal sporting
equipment in place.

Just in case.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.

    Ines gets her answer, shakes her head a little. "Hell, what are the odds of that?" It's the sort of thing you never expect to happen, let alone twice to the same people. Even if the second time was a bit deliberate. "I guess you didn't end up around here last time, though."

    Ratatoskr's lust for combat only seems to add to the creepiness. "Honestly, we can't know if they aren't. I'm just hoping we don't run into a bunch of undead monks."

    The conversation is somewhat cut off, however, as the sahuagin start swimming in. She sees Lydia take herself to the ceiling, and grins, even as she's been somewhat wowed by the metallic beastwoman's abilities. "Hell of a trick there!" She shouts, before pulling free her triple weighted boleadoras from her belt, and flinging them at a pair of sahuagin, aiming to tangle them up. Then, she dives into the water. The sahuagin still have an edge, but Ines is no slouch in the water, using boosts of wind magic to dart around underwater, trading blows. Unlike Ratatoskr, she's trying to end the fight as quickly as possible, trying to keep herself from expending too much energy in the underwater battle.

DG: Ines Colina has used her Tool Bewitched Boleadoras toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Sahuagin.
=======================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>=======================
===============<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - Sahuagin *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The water-filled chambers of the Sunken Monastery require no small amount of  
 swimming. As you swim your way into this hallway, you encounter fiends that   
 may be familiar... but have an advantage over you in a place like this.       
 Humanoid, scaled fiends called sahuagin swim towards you -- and underwater,   
 their limbs and fins make them ferociously fast and dangerous when they       
 close in on you!                                                              
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Injure============================================
==================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong - Round 3 *>==================
=================< Results - It's a Water Level - Sahuagin >==================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ines Colina                         0 --(15)--> 15                 Pass
Bewitched Boleadoras                3   Combat  Effects: Rally                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           16 --(20)--> 36                Fail
Mist Canister                       1   Combat  Effects: Cleanse              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ratatoskr                           0 --(15)--> 15                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         0 --(20)--> 20                 Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Ines Colina                 40 --(10)--> 50                Fail
Conditions: Injure(2)|Slow(1)|Wound(2)
Effects: Cleanse
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ines Colina has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use
party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

The first wave of Sahuagin is dealt with quite handily. They're fairly easy to deal with, even in these numbers...but unfortunately, it turns out there are far more of them here than any of them anticipates.

It's almost as if they've wandered into a full nest of them - for every one you dissipate into its composite pyreflies, there are two charging at you. They're speed, as well, makes them a threat where their strength lacks.

Ambrosius, much like Lydia, is limited in what he can do thanks to the water - and having to avoid causing too much damage to the place.

Ines, meanwhile, finds herself more than a match for them - she, too, works well in the water, after all. She can keep pace with them and avoid unnecessary injuries, unlike the others.

In the end it's a long, drawn-out fight. Ratatoskr gets his wish, much to the other's(or at least Ambrosius's) chagrin, and when the Sahuagin stop appearing and they can finally move on to the next air pocket, Ambrosius is in much less of a good mood than he was before.

DG: Lydia Seren has drawn a new Challenge.
=======================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>=======================
=============<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - The Whirlpool *>=============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Many rooms in the Sunken Monastery are thoroughly flooded. When you enter     
 this one, you find yourself over what, at one time, was a refuse pit.         
 Fortunately, the room is not thoroughly flooded, and the door across the way  
 is also at surface level. However, as you swim, you hear a loud rumble...     
 and something gives way, starting an immense whirlpool that threatens to      
 drag you into the current -- unless you can somehow plug the hole.            
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Slow, Stupify, Tire===============================
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Well this didn't go so well, so Ratatoskr gets to fight all he wants. Maybe he'll get tuckered out, Lydia thinks, and take a nap.

BUT THEN the next area is ... sigh .... still flooded.

Worse, it's an underwater refuse pit.

Worse, it's an underwater toilet refuse pit because a whirlpool starts swirling around with all the trash and gunk and the hole at the bottom needs to be plugged somehow!

Lydia, who definitely isn't opening her mouth in here, draws out her bat and tries to stick it into the hole.

Sometimes it's the simple solutions that matter most, she reasons.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Good Luck Bat toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - The Whirlpool.
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.

    It's even worse than that - they still have a Sahuagin problem going in here because Ratatoskr is still fighting at least three of them and is showing almost no signs of slowing down. He seems almost tireless, as whatever fell biogenetic engineering involved in the remaking of Ratatoskr's kind clings onto the oxygen in his blood for as long as it can.
     He is filled with nothing but joy, for as far as he knows, these Sahuagin may well be the warriors of old in these parts, and he takes special care not to go for any blows that would 'kill' them. It's a scenario he can't refuse.
     So the refuse pit makes a big gapin' whirlpool, because it is a pit that refuses. That is why it is a refuse pit. (That is not why they are called that.)
     The yellows of Ratatoskr's eyes brighten in surprise, and dim in realization that at least one Sahuagin is going to get sucked in... and another... he's about to lose this third and last one as he draws a weird gun-blade thing and sticks it into the ground for traction as he reaches out with his hand to grab the third.
     Fiends do not know love, sacrifice, honor, or anything of the sort. They only know hatred and harm, and so flail out of his grip to go be stuck in the refuse.

DG: Ratatoskr has used his Tool Derelict Relic toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - The Whirlpool.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.

    So much for a quick fight that doesn't exhaust people. Ambrosius isn't the only one annoyed by the outcome, swimming out with a fair share of cuts and nicks despite her best effort. Even as she gets clear it becomes obvious Ratatoskr is still fighting, and pulling his punches. She is torn between helping, or just swimming on, but the choice is soon taken from her.

    The water in the next room is far less pleasant than the others, with horrid gunk to swim through. Ines still needs to take in water to breathe it, and this is... not a room you want to be doing that in. So Ines finds herself holding her breathe somewhat, until the room starts aggressively trying to kill them by draining and she's not doing that anymore. The taste of foul water passes through her lips, and she grimaces.

    She starts looking through the refuse for something big and heavy to try and stopper the hole. She stumbles across one of the blocks- slightly broken- like those that dropped on them in the entrance. She wordlessly tries to shift it towards the hole, hopen to clog things up as best as she can, to not go in the hole itself.

DG: Ines Colina has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - The Whirlpool.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

It's another flooded zone, though there's enough room for them to swim. It seems like they'll be able to get to the other side just fine, however...at least until an immense whirlpool threatens to drag them all into its depths. Ambrosius grimaces, clinging to the wall with all his strength.

What to do...he notes Lydia attempting to clog the hole with her bat, Ines dragging out one of those heavy blocks, and Ratatoskr...being Ratatoskr.

Ambrosius himself looks upward, scanning the ceiling.

...Hm.

"If my theeeory is correct...then there should...be nothiiing of...siiignificance...above us..." He comments. Very carefully, he draws out some manner of device.

"Watch yourseeelves..." He warns. He focuses on the device, which, with a surge of sorcerous power, sends a thin beam of water upwards - carefully focused so that it does not carve right through the entire structure and bring it down on them. He directs it very carefully, using it to carve a hole in the ceiling and drop some debris down from above to clog the whirlpool.

It is only fitting that the ceiling should be sealing.

DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Aqua Cutter toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - The Whirlpool.
=======================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>=======================
=============<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - The Whirlpool *>=============
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Many rooms in the Sunken Monastery are thoroughly flooded. When you enter     
 this one, you find yourself over what, at one time, was a refuse pit.         
 Fortunately, the room is not thoroughly flooded, and the door across the way  
 is also at surface level. However, as you swim, you hear a loud rumble...     
 and something gives way, starting an immense whirlpool that threatens to      
 drag you into the current -- unless you can somehow plug the hole.            
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Slow, Stupify, Tire===============================
==================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong - Round 4 *>==================
===============< Results - It's a Water Level - The Whirlpool >===============
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ines Colina                         15 --(3)--> 18                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           36 --(0)--> 36                 Pass
Aqua Cutter                         3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ratatoskr                           15 --(0)--> 15                 Pass
Derelict Relic                      2   Brute   Effects: Stalwart             
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         20 --(0)--> 20                 Pass
Good Luck Bat                       2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen           
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Ines Colina                 50 --(20)--> 70                Pass
Conditions: Slow(2)|Stupify(2)|Tire(2)|Wound(2)
Effects: Strengthen(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ines Colina has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use
party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

*Gurgle*
*ggggurrrgglleee!*

*gunkkk*

It seems like the debris and Lydia's bat has successfully sealed the whirlpool! Lydia still...does not say anything. Or open her mouth in this place. Not at all. She refuses.

The gurgling has stopped but suddenly the room starts shaking before a refuse-water geyser sends the party flying up into the next area with a giant SPLOOOOOSHPLOSION!!

Lydia stands in the next area and it's finally here that she elects to speak.

"That was the worst experience in any ruin I've ever had in my entire life." Lydia says.

DG: Ines Colina has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>========================
===============<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - Air Sphere *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Many of the rooms in the Sunken Monastery are flooded, and this one is no     
 different. This room is a long, L-shaped hallway. As you swim through,        
 though, you catch sight of something strange: a shimmering, blue sphere. It   
 is actually a persistent air bubble, made by either machina or sorcery. If    
 you can catch it -- it moves erratically -- it gives you a chance to,         
 literally, catch your breath.                                                 
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.

    Ines' attempt to push the block is somewhat derailed by Ambrosius dropping a chunk of the ceiling into the hole, and the force needed to push the block underwater being more than she expected.

    And then she's sent flying by the sudden burst of water. The large beastwoman lands heavily, taking a few moments to pull herself up again. "Ow."

    "I can't help but think that sounds like a big call." Ines says, looking down at Lydia. Then she walks forward a few steps to...

    Another flooded hallway, great.

    Ine dives in, and takes a second to look ahead, before resurfacing. "Looks a bit of a long way, make sure you're careful about your air. I don't see anywhere to surface.

    Partway down the hall, however, the moving air bubble floating around erratically, making it difficult to swim in to. The cause isn't immediately obvious, but it looks like a moment of relief. Ines moves to point it out for those who need to breathe.

    For some reason, the thought of Ratatoskr with a timer counting down above his head comes to mind.

    Ines lashes out with her whip to a wall decoration, and waits for the sphere to line up, offering a hand to anyone who wants to try and shoot through. And then, she pulls, hoping to have the timing just right to sail through the bubble.

DG: Ines Colina has used her Tool Runic Whip toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Air Sphere.
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.

    Ratatoskr is a bundle of tension as he is ejected upwards by a huge spray of water, for he tries to see if the sahuagin will come out of there, but somewhere in all the yuck and the bright lights, there is nothing that emerges that resembles a sahuagin, and the horned squirrel of a Hyadean foot soldier's motion grows more reserved. Like a grappling with the idea he might have lost something of irreplaceable value.
     He might also be drowning for actual realsies, as he floats free-form in the water as a clawed hand once again produces a flickering crystalline teleportation device bit-- okay, he's probably good if it randomly deposits him outside of the water (in the bubble, or somewhere else).

DG: Ratatoskr has used his Tool Teleporter Fragment toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Air Sphere.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

They're all expelling violently from the area, Ambrosius landing with a thud that nearly threatens to smash through the floor. It doesn't, thankfully...though it might have made things easier for all of them, considering that the next obstacle is yet another flooded passage.

Ambrosius frowns. He certainly hoped there was something interesting at the end of this.

He trudges through the waterway, taking note of the floating bubble.

He could not help but find himself curious as to where it came from. He makes to draw closer to study - but he does not ignore Ines's attempts, either.

If her or anyone else's aim appears to be a bit off, then he will attempt to use his water-based Sorcery to shift the bubble closer to them so that they don't miss it.

DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Air Sphere.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

We keep getting water level cards wagggh!

Unfortunately with all the trash and gunk, it's hard to get Lydia's wheels a rollin' in here so she just drops down to her feet and hops from side to side briefly. She looks towards Ines and nods once to her quietly before taking a good look around. Despite saying that one line it seems she is not particularly eager to get gabbing any more than she has. Maybe she has realized that despite being out of the toilet, opening her mouth still feels like she's letting something in. It's enough to make a gal never want to speak again.

She is going to speak again, though, because she really can't stop herself but she can hold off for this long.

She wrinkles her nose and runs for the air bubble, leaping at the last moment to maybe, hopefully, get the smell out of her... out of her EVERYTHING

DG: Lydia Seren has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - Air Sphere.
========================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>========================
===============<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - Air Sphere *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Many of the rooms in the Sunken Monastery are flooded, and this one is no     
 different. This room is a long, L-shaped hallway. As you swim through,        
 though, you catch sight of something strange: a shimmering, blue sphere. It   
 is actually a persistent air bubble, made by either machina or sorcery. If    
 you can catch it -- it moves erratically -- it gives you a chance to,         
 literally, catch your breath.                                                 
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
===================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong - Round 5 *>===================
=================< Results - It's a Water Level - Air Sphere >==================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ines Colina                         18 --(0)--> 18                 Pass
Runic Whip                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           36 --(0)--> 36                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ratatoskr                           15 --(0)--> 15                 Pass
Teleporter Fragment                 2   Agility Effects: Stalwart             
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         20 --(0)--> 20                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ines Colina                 70 --(20)--> 90                Pass
Conditions: Save Point(1)|Slow(1)|Stupify(1)|Tire(1)|Wound(1)
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ines Colina 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: Ratatoskr has drawn a new Challenge.
============================================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>============================================
================================<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - The Flooded Vault *>================================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 There is one, final chamber to enter. You locate, after passing through a     
 large stone door, the vault of the Sunken Monastery. While some rooms are     
 not flooded, the main chamber is. This makes getting anything valuable in     
 the higher sconces difficult, if not impossible: the water might ruin much    
 of it.                                                                        
                                                                               
 Fortunately, the vault includes a vast number of large sealed doors and       
 drains in the floor. If you can devise a way to drain the water from them,    
 you might be able to take the loot you have uncovered from here.              
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Reckless========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.

    This water, at least, is nowhere near as foul as the water in the refuse room. It's also trying a lot less hard to drown everyone. It's just a bit of a long swim, and a challenge for the lungs.

    Ratatoskr's teleportation device lands him in the bubble for long enough for a fresh lungful of air, before teleporting to the end of the path. Ambrosius steers the bubble effectively with his sorcery, and Lydia is easily capable to leap through the bubble and and catch her breath, also providing a small bit of relief from the terrible smell. Finally, Ines launches herself through, perhaps unnecessarily, before making it clear.

    Ines gives a thumbs up, and continues to press forward through the water, for whatever awaits them.

<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.

    Good news! There's an air pocket, which is to say, an entire room where they can escape being submerged in... submergibles. Yes. Moving on.
     There is a large stone door that welcomes them into open air, where they will drip all sorts of terrible and awful yuck everywhere which is too bad, because this appears to be the vault of the Sunken Monastery - or rather, one of its side rooms.
     Ratatoskr interrupts this introduction by flaring out the plating on his tail and shaking off all the liquid, and occasionally pointing an open palm at himself to let compressed air blast and try to dry off... well, yeah, let's move on.
     "We're here? We're here!" He says as he excitedly takes out a Hyadean data pad thing that, somehow, has not shorted out from being exposed to water. He's taken so many records of his routes through this place, that he has put up an amazing map full of gaps and question marks as to where all this stuff is, and what could be elsewhere.
     "Hyahaha--! I can't wait, I can't wait," he says, "I'll see this history...!" While he's busy fantasizing over that sort of thing, there do seem to be a lot of drain systems that may be able to be manipulated... if one goes back into the water, swims over to them, and tries to get them to work. Many are rusted, some are obstructed, all of them are underwater - but if they can get it to work, they can drain out a few of the nearby rooms and render it safe to open adjacent rooms in which to claim SWEET LOOT.
     (it might even be SALTY LOOT.)
     (possibly SAVORY.)
     (Spirans may have weird tastes in loot.)

DG: Ratatoskr has used his Tool Corrupted Records toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - The Flooded Vault.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius returns the thumbs-up with a polite nod of acknowledgment. He accompanies the others in moving forward, at which point they locate the final barrier between them and whatever awaits at the end of this long adventure.

"Hmm...the drains, and the doors..." Ambrosius considers, looking things over. It was a fascinating set-up, and it only serves to further his hypothesis that this place must have, in some manner at least, been built with flooding in mind.

With that in mind he draws something out from within one of his bags - it appears to be a tool of some kind, but it's far more advanced that the average sort people might have seen used.

He heads toward one of the drains and carefully begins to apply the tool to it. Not only does he attempt to free it open so that it might take on water, he also attempts to analyze the depths to ensure the water will actually go where they want it to - in other words, away from the treasure.

DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Advanced Multi-Tool toward his party's challenge, It's a Water Level - The Flooded
Vault.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.

    "Huh. I wonder what they're keeping back there." Ines says, as they come into the flooded vault. This is usually a good sign when dungeon diving, usually a reward for your troubles.

    Or it's holding back some terrible creature, that's also a possibility.

    Ratatoskr continues to ramp up the creepy, and Ines takes a few steps back. "Let's maybe save the excitement for when we get inside." Ines puts her hand on the locket around her neck, taking a few moments to centre herself. This isn't something she can just try and punch her way through, as much as she might want it to be. She takes a long look at the drainage systems, and sighs. "Alright, I'm hoping one of you has a better idea of what to do here."

    Ines is willing to be pointed at drainage systems to activate them, and will take a few guesses herself, but she knows this isn't her realm of expertise. She'll follow Ambrosius lead here, he seems to have a solid grasp on how this all works.

DG: Ines Colina has used her Tool Family Locket toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - The Flooded Vault.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia hopes this is worth it. Like maybe they'll find a secret of the universe. Maybe they'll find the dark truth of Spira. Or of Lunar. Or even Filgaia you never know ruins have weird truths in thtem that somehow haven't been preserved despite it all being very important.

Honestly though, right now it's hard for her to imagine anything worth all this trouble. In this latest area, Schrodinger appears (with fishbowl helmet) and starts walking across the control panels randomly pushing levers and buttons this way and that.

Lydia looks nonplussed by this development.

DG: Lydia Seren has used her Tool Schrodinger the Cat toward her party's challenge, It's a Water Level - The Flooded
Vault.
============================================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>============================================
================================<* CHALLENGE - It's a Water Level - The Flooded Vault *>================================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 3          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 There is one, final chamber to enter. You locate, after passing through a     
 large stone door, the vault of the Sunken Monastery. While some rooms are     
 not flooded, the main chamber is. This makes getting anything valuable in     
 the higher sconces difficult, if not impossible: the water might ruin much    
 of it.                                                                        
                                                                               
 Fortunately, the vault includes a vast number of large sealed doors and       
 drains in the floor. If you can devise a way to drain the water from them,    
 you might be able to take the loot you have uncovered from here.              
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Reckless========================================
=======================================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong - Round 6 *>=======================================
==================================< Results - It's a Water Level - The Flooded Vault >==================================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ines Colina                         18 --(100)--> 118              Fail
Family Locket                       2   Wits    Effects: Stalwart             
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           36 --(100)--> 136              Fail
Advanced Multi-Tool                 2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ratatoskr                           15 --(100)--> 115              Pass
Corrupted Records                   2   Wits    Effects: Stalwart             
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lydia Seren                         20 --(100)--> 120              Pass
Schrodinger the Cat                 2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
-------------------------------------------------------< Party >--------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Ines Colina                 90 --(10)--> 100               Fail
Conditions: Reckless(2)|Stupify(2)
Effects: Enlighten(1)
===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: Ines Colina is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Ambrosius is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Ratatoskr is too exhausted to continue!
DG: Lydia Seren is too exhausted to continue!
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Ines Colina has successfully explored Sunken Monastery of Gusong!
============================================<* Sunken Monastery of Gusong *>============================================
=====================================<* CHALLENGE - The History of Gusong, Pt. 1 *>=====================================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 Texts fill the treasure vaults of the Sunken Monastery, for the Warrior       
 Monks here prized information over material wealth. The most significant      
 text you find outlines part of the life of the man who founded this place:    
                                                                               
 "Gusong was a Warrior Monk of great excellence. His life began in the Calm    
 of High Summoner Denela, and he grew up in Kilika. With time, though, his     
 martial excellence showed... and he ventured to Bevelle, where he began to    
 develop the weaponless, hand-to-hand styles that he was well known for.       
 Here, he met Lady Banteri..."                                                 
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.

    Here is the good news. Together, they do find some mechanisms to play with, getting to work on activating drains.
     Here is the bad news - they go down with the drain, into parts uncharted but certifiably dank. With water. It turns out that there have been some less careful would-be drainage engineers in the not-so-distant past, because any number of ruined treasures lie waterlogged where they are deposited... scrolls, books, all sorts of records, forever ruined and lost to time (and water, mostly, water should be to blame).
     They are all too damp and exhausted by their little misadventure, but eyes will fall upon one reasonably intact text whose contents are already open to words that are a bit overly large - a quirk of the scribe, perhaps - that is just legible in terms of condition and ambient lighting. Just so, so that they can read it from over there, while they are still wet and damp.
     "...Gusong was a Warrior Monk of great excellence..." Ratatoskr mouths it out, narrating. He can hardly hold back his excitement upon hearing those first words and then again at mention of weaponless, hand-to-hand styles.
     ...Bevelle seems to be where they went, a ways from here. Perhaps there will be more to their tale there?

<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

It doesn't quite go as planned. In the end they get dumped unceremoniously into what must have once been a great chamber of learning, but now is all waterlogged...save for a single text, which has somehow managed to remain legible enough to read.

"...Faaascinating..." Ambrosius murmurs to himself. He draws out the tool and, very carefully, runs it just above the surface of the text.

Secretly, he's recording the information found there into his communicator, so that even if something happens to this copy, it will, at least in some part, be preserved. However...

"Hmm...this does not... appeeear to be...the entiiire story...there may be more...elsewhere..." He considers.

But, that was something to look for another time.

<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.

    It seems that the moments of being sucked down the drain aren't completely in the past, as the water gives way and it's another rough landing. So much for the big reward in the vaults.

    Again, Ines lands roughly on some ruined records, her hand going completely through a somewhat mushy book. Shaking off wet rotten paper, Ines looks over at the records. A story about a warrior.

    This is... not the reward Ines was hoping for. It's something but it hardly feels worth the effort. "So, what, this guy found new and interesting ways to punch people here?" That's certainly one way of interpreting it. With effort, Ines pulls herself back up, going through more ruined texts as she stands.

    "Well, I hope this was worth it for someone." And it does give her a little something into the history of Spira, if some small and minor part of it. Maybe there's more to it, somewhere, but it's not going to be a high priority for Ines, at least.

<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.

    MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE CHAMBER THEY JUST LEFT
 
     A cheery girl with an umbrella appears in a flash! She has her eyes shut tight, clenching her hands.
     "Okay, okay... this time I can do it... I can be where I need to be...!"
     She opens up her eyes, to see... she is nowhere near the Thunder Plains.
     "Oh, crum bummers."