View source for 2019-07-17: For Want of A Night of Sleep

*'''Log:  For Want of a Night of Sleep'''
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Yue Rohay]], [[Character :: Ambrosius]], [[Character :: Isolde]], [[Character :: Marivel Armitage]]
*'''Where:''' Mi'ihen Highroad
*'''Date:''' 17th July 2019
*'''Summary''': ''Bothered by loud noises at night, Yue gathers her friends to file a noise complaint into the Mi'ihen Caverns itself..''

----
__NOTOC__

'''DG:''' A party led by Yue Rohay is now entering Mi'ihen Caverns.

'''DG:''' Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 ======================== <* CHALLENGE - Gather the Evidence *>=====================
 |Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  You have gathered your group in order to get to the bottom of what is going   
  down in the Mi'ihen Highroad. All of you, the brave or otherwise Drifters,    
  have clustered together based on the facts you have found and the suspicions  
  that you have had.                                                            
                                                                                
  Like what, you might ask? Here are some trailheads that might lead you in     
  this perilous direction.                                                      
                                                                                
  * The bandits on the Mi'ihen Highroad that have specifically stalked          
  Filgaians and Drifters, largely to the exclusion of natives. Are you going    
  to put up with that?                                                          
  * Perhaps you have been in hot pursuit of those same bandits after a botched  
  attempt to pillage you.                                                       
  * Tracing a sudden supply of somewhat battered record Spheres into the        
  marketplace has pointed to an origin point somewhere between Luca and Djose.  
  * Enigmatic and highly localized rumbles have been traced back into this      
  region.                                                                       
  * Any other reason that might draw a group together.                          
                                                                                
  Work out your method. You approach a limestone sinkhole, easily overlooked    
  but which YOU can see bears a faint hint of light from within. As you         
  descend, cool blue spheres placed here and there provide enough light to see  
  by. It smells damp, and alkaline, but there is a nebulous and subtle          
  impression... a feeling of Filgaia.                                           
 =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================

==== <Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed. ====

WITHIN THE MI'IHEN HIGHROAD

Drifters and adventurers of Filgaian and Lunarian origin alike have been in search of a network of Caverns within the Mi'ihen Highroad. Some of them have been in hot pursuit of bandits, others have been meticulously identifying a supply of Spheres from their source.

Then there's

LAST NIGHT

The sideways cell of one CR-S01 starts to shake as several piles of books toss to and fro and Yue grabs hold of hear ears as Coccoro the cucco squawks gently beside her.

"... Gods one and all. Give me strength, Coccoro ..."

She puts her little pillow over her head.

NOW

Yue is standing over the sinkhole looking ready for... well, she can't look ready for war because she's a convict. But upset over lost sleep due to rather loud noises that have bothered her and the refugee camp nearby, it wasn't hard for her to get pointed to what people think may be the cause.

She has bags under her eyes, but that's not really... new?

"I am here to file a noise complaint to these blackguards," Yue grumbles. "So thank you for coming with me."

She hops down gently and glances about, remarking, "'Tis ambient light from within, from these spheres. Mayhap the same source we have seen so often around Spira?"

'''DG:''' Yue Rohay has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Gather the Evidence.

==== <Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed. ====
Marivel ended up dragging Isolde into another adventure as she usually does with pretty much everyboddy she knows. It's a wonder Marivel is able to sustain all these adventures in the first place but at least this time she is here to lend a hand because she was asked rather than simply because she was bored.

Marivel reads through a small book called Wisdom of the Crimson Nobles by M. Armitage which seems to have added a bunch of notes since Marivel's RETURN FROM THE GRAVE. Not that most people noticed she was ever even fake-dead before she returned but that's neither here nor there.

"Blackguards, oh?" Marivel says with a smile before looking to Isolde. "We're going to have to go down a hole and from there it should largely be fairly straightforward as I recall."
==== <Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed. ====
 
ISOLDE, the wandering swordswoman, has been milling about. Milling about it must be said in a decidedly "away from Luca and Kilika" direction. For Isolde, though she has not spoken of it much, is very technically an AWOL member of the Guard... but she was, on the rolls, officially a washerwoman, and so nobody will notice, right? 

RIGHT? 

Anyway she's been gambling and long story short, this is why she is here. (It is possible that she just got cleaned out by an Al Bhed swordsmith, but we shall see.) 

"It's funny how spheres seem to be so common, to hear people speak," Isolde says aloud, putting one hand firmly if not aggressively on the hilt of her sword. "Sphere this, sphere that... It really stands out. Tell me, Marivel, and tell me honestly. When they spell this realm's name, do they spell it S P H E R E A?" 

Isolde knows her letters! Not an assumption you can make. "You seem well, despite the lack of sleep," Isolde tells Yue genially. "How's the prison life?" 


'''DG:''' Isolde has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Gather the Evidence.

==== <Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed. ====
Ambrosius was, as always, willing to provide his assistance to his long-time friend and avid fan. Difficulty sleeping was a serious matter, and one he would tackle with a fervor as serious as any other he would display.

He has returned to his usual adventuring gear, no longer in the body armor typical of Veruni soldiers.

"I am glad to assist you however I can. I have already sent Minerva ahead for reconnaissance - with any luck, we shall see if she has uncovered anything of use." Ambrosius replies, with a polite bow of his head. "Let us hope this solves your conundrum."

And so, he follows Yue into the sinkhole, and takes a moment to study the spheres embedded into the wall that she points out.

"...Curious..." He murmurs to himself. He reaches deep into his poncho, drawing out a silvery device. He presses a button on the side and passes it over one of the blue spheres on the wall and then looks into it intently.

"...The energy readings are similar, it would seem. Whether it is the same would require further testing." He comments.

He spares a brief glance toward Marivel and Isolde. Yue had requested their assistance specifically, so he would trust her judgment. He couldn't help but be curious as to what lead her to do so, however.

'''DG:''' Ambrosius has used his Tool Advanced Multi-Tool toward his party's challenge, Gather the Evidence.

'''DG:''' Not everyone in the party has acted yet. +act/complete can only be used once the whole party has acted.

'''DG:''' Marivel Armitage has used her Tool Wisdom of the Crimson Nobles by M. Armitage toward her party's challenge, Gather the Evidence.
 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 ======================== <* CHALLENGE - Gather the Evidence *>=====================
 |Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  You have gathered your group in order to get to the bottom of what is going   
  down in the Mi'ihen Highroad. All of you, the brave or otherwise Drifters,    
  have clustered together based on the facts you have found and the suspicions  
  that you have had.                                                            
                                                                                
  Like what, you might ask? Here are some trailheads that might lead you in     
  this perilous direction.                                                      
                                                                                
  * The bandits on the Mi'ihen Highroad that have specifically stalked          
  Filgaians and Drifters, largely to the exclusion of natives. Are you going    
  to put up with that?                                                          
  * Perhaps you have been in hot pursuit of those same bandits after a botched  
  attempt to pillage you.                                                       
  * Tracing a sudden supply of somewhat battered record Spheres into the        
  marketplace has pointed to an origin point somewhere between Luca and Djose.  
  * Enigmatic and highly localized rumbles have been traced back into this      
  region.                                                                       
  * Any other reason that might draw a group together.                          
                                                                                
  Work out your method. You approach a limestone sinkhole, easily overlooked    
  but which YOU can see bears a faint hint of light from within. As you         
  descend, cool blue spheres placed here and there provide enough light to see  
  by. It smells damp, and alkaline, but there is a nebulous and subtle          
  impression... a feeling of Filgaia.                                           
 =Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
 =========================== <* Mi'ihen Caverns - Round 1 *>========================
 ========================== < Results - Gather the Evidence >=======================
 Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Yue Rohay                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
 Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Ambrosius                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
 Advanced Multi-Tool                 2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten            
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Isolde                              0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
 Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Marivel Armitage                    0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
 Wisdom of the Crimson Nobles by M.  3   Wits    Effects: Fanfare              
 ----------------------------------==== < Party >-----------------------------------
 Leader: Yue Rohay                   0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
 Conditions: Save Point(1)
 Effects: Enlighten(1)
 ================================== < Dream Chasers >===============================

'''DG:''' The party led by Yue Rohay 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> Yue Rohay has posed. ====

Yue is rather glad to see Marivel here. She wasn't exactly going to drag her friend out on a misadventure just so she can get some sleep (wait, yes she would) but she just happened to be around the area and so is Isolde, who she remembers from her first landing here in Spira.

And there's her longtime friend Ambrosius too. Ah, this is a more comfortable party, is it not?

"My endless gratitude, Lady Isolde, Master Ambrosius, Mari," Yue chuckles richly. What, no 'Master' Mari for her?

Isolde muses on the commonality of spheres and Yue points out, "It is passing strange, I admit. I can scarce fathom the kind of antecedents who were so singularly obsessed with round things that a realm like this could exist in the modern day."

ELSEWHERE

Riesenlied sniffles and burbles into her pillow, utterly called out.

NOW

"I admit, Lady Isolde, that I wish my cell were wayside up again. My books have nowhere to go but down and I have been sleeping on them the last few days," Yue speaks of prison life.

Ambrosius brings up the topic of energy, but she doesn't have any tools in particular so she has to leave it to him to give analysis. She looks to Marivel.

"Mari, I heard you died and returned from the grave. Is this that Crimson Noble invincibility I hear so much about?"

Needless to say, it's not terribly difficult for them to press on right now... but...?

'''DG:''' Isolde has drawn a new Challenge.
 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 ======================== <* CHALLENGE - Pnetka Uid Hu Taduin *>====================
 |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  Limestone structures such as those underlying the Mi'ihen Highroad often      
  have complex cavern structures caused by the extended action of minor         
  idiosyncrasies of time, water flow, and chemical balance. Sometimes there     
  are quite dramatic and sudden ravines and falls.                              
                                                                                
   You have found a ravine and a fall. The fall descends mistily beyond easy    
  sight. The ravine is four meters across. There was a wooden bridge, but it    
  looks like something happened to it. A pinned piece of paper at the side      
  facing you reads thus:                                                        
                                                                                
  "Whoops! :)                                                                   
  "-E"                                                                          
                                                                                
  Whoops indeed.                                                                
 =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================

==== <Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed. ====
 
So one might fairly ask, why hasn't this particular nook and cranny of the Mi'ihen cavern complexes been rooted out yet? There have been several spaces, several -- ah, but we get ahead of ourselves. 

"Do you really have to sleep there?" Isolde asks Yue, reaching up with her free hand to twine a strand of reddish hair around her fingertip. "It seems most uncivilized. You could sleep on the beach, really, though I suppose the Sinspawn might come and you'd wake up dead." 

"How do you read energy, exactly?" Isolde then asks Ambrosius. 

And as they go deeper... 

Deeper... 

Isolde abruptly pauses a bit up along a curve. She reaches into her top and draws out a wooden whistle on which she blows a mighty tweet. The tweet circulates the world, offends a far-distant Fiend who had it coming, but then... 

teewt 

"I think there's a ravine up ahead," Isolde says. "Be careful." 

She isn't the one to find the paper, obviously. 

==== <Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed. ====

"It is the will of my minder, unfortunately," Yue chuckles placidly, though she doesn't seem terribly broken up about it. "To rough it outdoors sounds pleasant. Perhaps I shall task the Minder to it. She gets terribly upset when she has to go camp."

But...

"We spoke of 'Sin', which is a capital-S creature... is it that 'Sinspawn' are little versions of it? A woeful foe, that, one that can multiply endlessly..."

They go deeper, deeper...

There is a broken bridge. A sigh. And a glance towards a paper that goes:

'Whoops! :)
 -E'

"... whoops? Whoops!?" Yue sounds terribly exasperated, chains jangling as she holds the note up. "Do you know who this 'E' might be? Terribly casual, this E..."

A pause, as she also rummages around and holds out a scrunchie to Marivel.

"Mari, pray would you do the honours of doing my hair up for this?" 

Her hair has been dragging on the limestone, catching all kinds of residue and dirt and dampness...

'''DG:''' You use your Tool Cute Scrunchie against your party's Challenge, Pnetka Uid Hu Taduin!

'''DG:''' Yue Rohay has used her Tool Cute Scrunchie toward her party's challenge, Pnetka Uid Hu Taduin.

'''DG:''' Isolde has used her Tool Enigmatic Whistle toward her party's challenge, Pnetka Uid Hu Taduin.

==== <Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed. ====
"'Twas not by my hand I was once again given flesh, Yue, but by robot girls desiring stickers." Marivel informs Yue. She does not spare much of a glance towards Ambrosius but she does step up near him to say, "Have you found relief in your pillaging of the natives, friend?"

She looks back to Yue for a few moments. It's likely that it's due to her presence here she has elected to come along (this time) rather than any personal interest in helping the Veruni with their objectives.

"Anything for an old friend." Marivel assures Yue. Though uh... didn't she... call her an eternal nemesis last time? Then again she also battled her by withholding pastries so, you know, there's that.

"Everything in Spiran society is centered around a cycle. Sin invades the land, the Summoner travels Spira, the Summoner summons the Final Aeon and defeats Sin, peace reigns, then Sin returns. Even 'Spira' could be considered a shortening of the word 'Spiral'."

She cups her chin thoughtfully. "The people are ever devoted to this cycle for tis the best path for a viable life they have found in these lands."

She pauses as Yue mentions that Marivel perished! Then came back.

"Mm. I do not die so easily. I was simply destroyed. Once my body was reformed I was able to take posession of it once more."

She chuckles a bit to Isolde as she takes a quick drink of her BLOOD and then dabbls a bit near the edge to help Isolde not uh misjudge the width between here and the other side.

Then she puts the vial away and steps back and works on Yue's hair, no doubt intending to put it in a bun for ease and practicality.

"There we go." Marivel says before

*bwip*

teleporting to the other side. Or in midair because she misjudged the distance which would result in a sudden bat transformation and a flapping to the other side that Marivel pretends was entirely intentional.

'''DG:''' Marivel Armitage has used her Tool Tomato Juice For Grownups toward her party's challenge, Pnetka Uid Hu Taduin.

==== <Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed. ====
"A particular device can analyze it and display it in a fashion that can be easily understood and compared. However, it is said that there are those who possess senses keen enough to detect it without the use of such tools." Ambrosius explains, looking toward Isolde. "As I am not one of those, I require outside assistance."

He looks toward Yue, then, as she discusses Sin and the Sinspawn.

"Indeed. They arise from parts of it that are removed from the host body." He explains.

Marivel does not get a response other than a glance and a disapproving frown.

Soon enough, however, they run into trouble - a broken bridge. Ambrosius frowns deeply, taking a moment to look at the note.

"...Intentional sabotage, I take it. Does this 'E' know we are coming, or are they deterring any potential unwanted guests?" Ambrosius considers with a frown.

Of course, either way, they would need to find a way across. He was...not particularly known for his agility. He steps forward.

This is bound to end poorly for him. Fortunately he's durable enough to endure whatever happens.

'''DG:''' Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Pnetka Uid Hu Taduin.

 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 ======================== <* CHALLENGE - Pnetka Uid Hu Taduin *>====================
 |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  Limestone structures such as those underlying the Mi'ihen Highroad often      
  have complex cavern structures caused by the extended action of minor         
  idiosyncrasies of time, water flow, and chemical balance. Sometimes there     
  are quite dramatic and sudden ravines and falls.                              
                                                                                
   You have found a ravine and a fall. The fall descends mistily beyond easy    
  sight. The ravine is four meters across. There was a wooden bridge, but it    
  looks like something happened to it. A pinned piece of paper at the side      
  facing you reads thus:                                                        
                                                                                
  "Whoops! :)                                                                   
  "-E"                                                                          
                                                                                
  Whoops indeed.                                                                
 =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
 =========================== <* Mi'ihen Caverns - Round 2 *>========================
 ========================== < Results - Pnetka Uid Hu Taduin >======================
 Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Yue Rohay                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
 Cute Scrunchie                      3   Agility Effects: Fanfare              
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Ambrosius                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
 Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Isolde                              0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
 Enigmatic Whistle                   2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Marivel Armitage                    0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
 Tomato Juice For Grownups           1   Agility Effects: Cleanse              
 ----------------------------------==== < Party >-----------------------------------
 Leader: Yue Rohay                   20 --(20)--> 40                Pass
 Conditions: Exhaust(1)
 Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)
 ================================== < Dream Chasers >===============================

'''DG:''' The party led by Yue Rohay 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> Marivel Armitage has posed. ====
"Hmmmmm! I wonder who this 'E' could be!" Marivel says, clearly already knowing the answer and just being an asshole.

==== <Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed. ====
 
"What?" Isolde says when Marivel says she was reborn by robot girls who want stickers. It's an amiable question, as if she didn't quite hear a name. 

To Ambrosius, she says as she folds her arms loosely, "I can't quite tell, though I'm getting the feeling there's some kind of bridge or walkway out. Though I feel I should clarify my question, sir; by what means are such things made intelligible? Are they colors for you? Numbers? Things of different sizes?" 

Yue does up her hair. Ambrosius steps forwards. Isolde, having judged the gap, draws back for a moment and then pauses as she considers the ledge. She calls to Marivel, "I'm facing the right way?" She tweets the whistle again, sticks it in her top, and then 

RUNS!

She actually runs over the edge. Fortunately for her she was going very fast; she throws herself forwards, and almost improbably grips the far edge of it, fingers digging in as she kicks into the wall and cries out, "Hahaha!! This is thrilling! Oh, Yue, tell me when we're past how deep it actually was. If I'm hanging by my fingernails over a two yard drop I don't want to hear anything about it." 

(CREVASSE CHECK: Looks about fourteen yards down, though there's running water. No spheres though. You might not die right away, but where would you be washed to.........) 

'''DG:''' Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 ====================== <* CHALLENGE - Squeak Friend And Enter *>===================
 |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  You come to a door. Of course you do. This door is set in an area that has    
  been slightly improved with timber, creating a wooden deck that perhaps       
  covers up a perilous drop in this otherwise well-located cavern. Except...    
  that the wood -- and the door -- and everything about it -- squeaks like a    
  chu-chu with a kidney stone.                                                  
                                                                                
  The door seems a little swollen with moisture but not deeply clogged. You     
  can bust through it. But you only get one shot to get it right without        
  creating a veritable symphony of tormented wood.                              
 =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
==== <Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed. ====
"It is more along the lines of the latter two." Ambrosius replies. He leaves it at that - delving into it too much further would require giving away too much information.

And he leaps - and somehow manages to make it? He is as surprised as anyone else, though it does not register on his face. Instead, he continues forward like this is completely normal, whereupon they find their progress blocked by a door.

Ambrosius steps forward to open it, quietly and carefully...but, as it happens, it has been absorbing the ambient moisture and has become somewhat swollen, causing it to squeak the moment he attempts to do so.

Ambrosius frowns.

The stealth option might be out, then. It would be better to get through this as quickly as possible - trying to force it would just be a rather noisy affair.

So, he draws out the tool he uses previously and presses a switch, causing something akin to a screwdriver to emerge from one end to it. He takes it to the hinges, looking to remove them entirely so that the door can be just pushed aside.

He will, however, accept any more forceful methods that might be presented.

'''DG:''' Ambrosius has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Squeak Friend And Enter.
==== <Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed. ====

"Stickerology is a fine reason to keep living," Yue admits to Marivel, though when Marivel asks that question of Ambrosius, there is a quiet pause as her lips purse just a bit. Mmm. Well, she did call people of disparate groups here on her own account...

''Anything for an old friend.''

Hmm. This will come to a head sooner or later.

"I ... too, am often destroyed," Yue muses to try to distract. "Mostly in playful verbal jousts. Sometimes with Ambrosius. Sometimes I do not know how I could ever recover, but I manage. But it is not like yours... I suppose you have walked into ''a sun'', but is not ''the sun'' destined to claim you."

Marivel works on her hair. 

(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sEaLUp0y1Y )

And where once stood a broken shell of a woman... 

"... wonderful, Mari," Yue expresses as she sideglances to her done-up hair with a bun framed by a braid, with two locks to either side of her fringes. 

Before she can jump, though, Isolde is RUNNING--

And when she goes over to the other end she looks down, and then swallows to Isolde.

"You have the heart of a lion, Lady Isolde."

And on the other side, as she smiles encouragingly towards Ambrosius on his successful leap, is... a door. A door that doesn't quite open. "Is it stuck, friend?" She hears the squeak. A wince. 

She lowers her head.

"Shall I kick it? That seems churlish..."

'''DG:''' Yue Rohay has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Squeak Friend And Enter.
==== <Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed. ====
"Oh, Kamui was sad so I decided to ccheer her up by returning early." Marivel pauses. "But I couldn't return before all her friends worried about her. Tis my hope--well, perhaps I should leave my hope to myself right this moment."
rShe nods towards Isolde, pauses, then remembers you know. Blind. "Mmhmm." She tells Isolde instead.

She steps back a bit to give her more space to pull herself up and the like.

Marivel similarly elects to hang back and allow the others deal wiht 'door' because Marivel doesn't generally desire to get involved in acts of brute force, electing to allow more inclined mortals to handle such problems.

Her eyes widen though. "Hey...! I did not say I was ''often'' destroyed...!" She pauses but then adds, "So long as she wishes I live, I shall. Tis as simple as that."

Yue asks if she should kick it.

"Imagine it is withholding an eclair." Marivel suggests.

'''DG:''' Marivel Armitage has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Squeak Friend And Enter.
==== <Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed. ====
 
Isolde makes a little grimacing face as she can all but smell the potential squeakiness in front of them. The swollen wood, engorged with dampness... 

"Oh, I try," Isolde tells Yue. "That's terribly flattering. But you know, I've heard that in the grasslands where the lions do roam, you won't see much work on the part of the lion proper... He mostly fends off other lions, and small Hellions. The hunting, though, that's done by the lionesses." 

She tosses her hair with one hand. 

Then she frowns for a moment. 

"An eclair? Oh, by the goddess now I want one. Yue I'm helping, get me in order with you." She advances immediately, getting in position to add her strength to that of the HARDENED CRIMINAL...


'''DG:''' Isolde has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Squeak Friend And Enter.
 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 ====================== <* CHALLENGE - Squeak Friend And Enter *>===================
 |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  You come to a door. Of course you do. This door is set in an area that has    
  been slightly improved with timber, creating a wooden deck that perhaps       
  covers up a perilous drop in this otherwise well-located cavern. Except...    
  that the wood -- and the door -- and everything about it -- squeaks like a    
  chu-chu with a kidney stone.                                                  
                                                                                
  The door seems a little swollen with moisture but not deeply clogged. You     
  can bust through it. But you only get one shot to get it right without        
  creating a veritable symphony of tormented wood.                              
 =Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
 =========================== <* Mi'ihen Caverns - Round 3 *>========================
 ======================== < Results - Squeak Friend And Enter >=====================
 Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Yue Rohay                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
 Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Ambrosius                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
 Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Isolde                              0 --(10)--> 10                 Fail
 Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Marivel Armitage                    0 --(10)--> 10                 Fail
 Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
 ----------------------------------==== < Party >-----------------------------------
 Leader: Yue Rohay                   40 --(20)--> 60                Pass
 Conditions: Injure(2)
 Effects: 
 ================================== < Dream Chasers >===============================

'''DG:''' The party led by Yue Rohay 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> Ambrosius has posed. ====
Ambrosius glances toward Yue quietly as she speaks. Of course he had overhead the earlier conversation about Marivel's 'death' - he is not sure whether he should be surprised, or if it makes perfect sense.

He takes a moment to assess Yue's hairstyle, and nods.

"It is a good look." He agrees.

And then, his attention is back on the door.

In the end, it's fairly quick work - the hinges are removed in short order.

"You may if you like, though I do not believe it will be necessary." Ambrosius replies. The lot of them can now more easily finesse the door out of their way, without provoking more of those terrible squeaking noises that would undoubtedly echo throughout the entire cavern.

In that way, they'll be able to move forward without any difficulty...except for whatever it is that awaits them next, that is.


'''DG:''' Yue Rohay has drawn a new Challenge.
 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 ================== <* CHALLENGE - The Penitent Drifter Shall Pass *>===============
 |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  The way into the depths of the Mi'ihen underground is abruptly occluded       
  by... height.                                                                 
                                                                                
  A tunnel so short that a child would have to duck their head presents itself  
  before you. It looks scuffed -- there are lighting spheres within, and you    
  can see bits of passage, tiny scrabbles and stains. In order to progress      
  further you will have to sink to your knees single file and move forward.     
  Your foe is claustrophobia... but at least it is not dark.                    
 =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
==== <Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed. ====

"... I am heartened to see you task yourself to motherhood," Yue responds just a little bit more quietly and soberly to Marivel, though whether or not it's something Marivel will accept is up in the air, of course. But the mention of ''she'' seems to get a bit of a crack of a smile from Yue... but she doesn't respond.

But in the end they didn't have to kick it because Ambrosius' screwdriver does the job and the door falls apart.

What's on the other side is...

"... ... this is a tight passage," Yue says with some despondence. "It will be extremely hard to worm my way through with these shackles. Perhaps, Lady Isolde, we can imagine ourselves the vanilla custard filling upon the eclair in this passage..."

A pause.

"On second thought... let us not."

She smiles at Ambrosius, though, when he compliments her. "My thanks, friend." Then she kneels down and...

Well, it's going to be incredibly dirty. But her ulster coat is already incredibly dirty anyway, so what's a little more dirt upon it?

'''DG:''' Yue Rohay has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Penitent Drifter Shall Pass.
==== <Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed. ====
Ambrosius doesn't know much about Marivel, so Yue's conversation with her goes a little over his head. He doesn't interfere, instead electing to remain quiet - that was his usual way, anyway.

Unfortunately, on the other side of the door is a rather short passageway. A child would have to duck their head to pass through.

Ambrosius is much, much taller than any child. Another wide frown crosses his face. This poses a conundrum.

"...I see no other option." He states, with a hint of hesitation. He elects to go last - if he ends up having to find another way around, then he would at least prefer that he didn't have to wait for any of the others to back out first.

'''DG:''' Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Penitent Drifter Shall Pass.
==== <Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed. ====
"Ah--" Marivel actually gets bashful at that, though not to the point of vampblushing or anything like that. "Well, I did have a hand in building her, so..." Wait is that a secret plot drop? Did she even tell KAMUI that? Her player honestly doesn't remember but talking to Kamui about her past is harder than talking to Yue, Isolde, and even Ambrosius about it.

She seems a little dissapointed that the door didn't have to be kicked in but she does approve of ingenuity so she gives Ambrosius a small nod of respect.

She does not comment further on 'she'.

"We'll get you an eclair too, Isolde." Marivel promises but she does grimace as she sees a small tunnel. A tunnel so short that a child would have to duck ther head!

The creators of this mush would like to point a dotted line arrow above Marivel's head to indicate her height. Marivel crouches with a faint sigh, not wishing to waste energy on transformation until she gets back to Filgaia or, at least, has larger stock of blood to fuel such things. She suggests, "If you wish to lie down, Ambrosius, we can pull you in across the floor!"

She sounds like she'd enjoy that a bit but this time at least it's more honest teasing rather than the biting commentary previously proffered.

'''DG:''' Marivel Armitage has used her Tool Tomato Juice For Grownups toward her party's challenge, The Penitent Drifter Shall Pass.
==== <Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed. ====
 
"Oo," Isolde answers Yue, with a lazy sort of smirk (as opposed to a smile) on her face in response. 

She gets down on her knees and takes her position behind Yue, leaning forwards and starting to crawl. Her boots and her sword clank a little. 

"It's funny you mention motherhood like that," Isolde says, but then she lapses into silence, especially when she has to get down lower and crawl on her belly. Like a snake. 

"I want two," she says. "Big ones. Ufufu... Ambrosius, darling, forgive us old maids. I hope this isn't too difficult for you. I was pressing you on this readings business because I've heard people talk like that all across Filgaia and it's made no sense to me. A reading is something you do in church, isn't it? And yet here we are." 

crouch crouch crouch crouch crouch crouch

Isolde has no fork to stab any wandering bugs with, though... 


'''DG:''' Isolde has used her Tool Enigmatic Whistle toward her party's challenge, The Penitent Drifter Shall Pass.

 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 ================== <* CHALLENGE - The Penitent Drifter Shall Pass *>===============
 |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  The way into the depths of the Mi'ihen underground is abruptly occluded       
  by... height.                                                                 
                                                                                
  A tunnel so short that a child would have to duck their head presents itself  
  before you. It looks scuffed -- there are lighting spheres within, and you    
  can see bits of passage, tiny scrabbles and stains. In order to progress      
  further you will have to sink to your knees single file and move forward.     
  Your foe is claustrophobia... but at least it is not dark.                    
 =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate=================================================
 =========================== <* Mi'ihen Caverns - Round 4 *>========================
 ==================== < Results - The Penitent Drifter Shall Pass >=================
 Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Yue Rohay                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
 Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Ambrosius                           0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
 Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC                
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Isolde                              10 --(0)--> 10                 Pass
 Enigmatic Whistle                   2   Agility Effects: Quicken              
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Marivel Armitage                    10 --(0)--> 10                 Pass
 Tomato Juice For Grownups           1   Agility Effects: Cleanse              
 ----------------------------------==== < Party >-----------------------------------
 Leader: Yue Rohay                   60 --(20)--> 80                Pass
 Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Injure(1)
 Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1)
 ================================== < Dream Chasers >===============================

'''DG:''' The party led by Yue Rohay 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> Yue Rohay has posed. ====

Miraculously, Yue goes through to the other side, perhaps by imagining that she were an eclair for a moment. She groans with a little shiver as she whispers, "What I would do to be able to launder my clothes once in a passing moon," but frowns as she gauges the size of the tunnel and imagining Ambrosius passing through...

"... 'tis just a small happiness of mine, to see you engage so," Yue answers to Marivel on the topic of her robot daughter. 

"Mayhap we can throw a rope... hold on," as she rummages through and realises she isn't a Drifter, just a convict, who doesn't, in fact, have an adventurer's kit (tm) full of convenient things like a wooden pole (10 ft) and hempen rope (50 ft) and...

She does have hair (7.5 ft).

Her face pales as she elects to say no more, reaching out to Isolde and Marivel as they get through and... well. She'll reach her hand out to Ambrosius as best she can without rapunzelling for him.

Marivel did a nice braid, OK, she doesn't want to ruin it.

'''DG:''' Marivel Armitage has drawn a new Challenge.
 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 =========================== <* CHALLENGE - Odessa Guards! *>=======================
 |Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  In a moment, much becomes clear. In a narrow turning passageway, you          
  abruptly run into a half-dozen individuals wearing jackets in a certain and   
  distinctive style, as well as lightweight ushanka hats. The uniform, in       
  short, of Odessa.                                                             
                                                                                
  Inexplicably there is another man with them. Thick of beard, seeming to be    
  in his undershirt. This man is one you may have met in another world. His     
  name is Dario. He has a big fat gunsmoke pistol.                              
                                                                                
  He shoots first.                                                              
                                                                                
  The battle will be brief and vicious, come what may. And afterwards --        
                                                                                
  What the hell is that noise?                                                  
 =Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================

==== <Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed. ====
"Two! I am concerned I am spoiling you, friend!" Marivel protests but not with any heat. Strangely, she doesn't seem to have much trouble getting through the height based challenge. Humph.

"Mm. I do not consider myself much of a guardian, but I suppose the one you are--excuse me, the one minding you seems to be a happy child. With you by their side I am certain they will grow into a fascinating adult some day."

And then...

*BANG*

Marivel is shot! She collapses to the ground spewing smoke as Dario and about six members of Odessa step into view.

And yes Dario does not have his fly up.

"Got you this time, batty." Dario says.

Marivel meanwhile overdramatically goes, "Spew spew, blood blood blood...! And death!"

She flops over, tongue briefly hanging out as she lies on the floor.

At least until she summons a pair of reptilian fiends that immediately attack the members of Odessa.

She sure seems to like doing that.

'''DG:''' Marivel Armitage has used her Tool My Mike toward her party's challenge, Odessa Guards!.
==== <Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed. ====
"I would prefer to avoid that, if possible." Ambrosius replies plainly to Marivel. Even he had his dignity to keep in mind, after all.

He looks toward Isolde, then.

"It is alright. I do not mind it." He replies, then pauses. "...Ah, yes, I see. I can understand, then, where the confusion came in."

He considers for a moment how best to explain it.

"Think of it as 'data acquired through study, typically using technology'. As we previously discussed, it can take many forms." He explains.

In the end...he requires Yue's assistance to make it through. Thankfully, nobody needs to drag him.

"...Thank you." He says quietly. Before he can say anything further, however, a gunshot rings out and Marivel drops.

Ambrosius frowns and turns his attention toward the soldiers before him. Several of them raise their ARMS at him and open fire...

...But, suddenly, something - or rather, /someone/ - drops from the ceiling, deflecting the bullets into the nearby wall. This someone takes the form of a woman dressed in blue with silver armor and a horned helmet concealing her eyes, a shield formed of blue crystal connected to one arm - said shield having just deflected the hail of bullets sent Ambrosius's way.

Outwardly she appears to be a Veruni woman, but she is recognizable to some present as one of the ancient mechanical Scutum soldiers.

"Minerva." Ambrosius greets. "I must request that you do not kill them."

There is a moment of quiet and then she inclines her head in acknowledgment.

"...Understood." She says. With that, she holds her free hand out. A flurry of ice magic suddenly surrounds the Odessa soldiers, looking to flash-freeze their weaponry.

"...This new arrival is my assistant, Minerva - she is not an enemy. I sent her ahead to investigate the caverns." Ambrosius asides to Isolde.

'''DG:''' Ambrosius has used his Tool Minerva toward his party's challenge, Odessa Guards!.
==== <Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed. ====

"... ... with any luck, I do hope she will grow wise and fascinating, yes," Yue seems a little less hopeful, perhaps because of matters under her control and how little the levers she can pull actually are. But there's not that much more time to actually discuss, because--

*BANG*

Yue's eyesight scans to where six members of Odessa and Dario have shown up.

She doesn't seem terribly worried about Marivel. Because she's hamming it up.

"It seems we will be a summoning party," she quips of Marivel summoning reptiles and knowing Ambrosius has Minerva around.

She procures a sphere -- a Golem Core, Ambrosius knows -- from her inner pocket and focuses.

"... I have need of you once more, old friend ..."

*rumble*

*RUMBLE*

"... so I shall call you by your preferred name now--"

Yue's head lifts up with a smile as she raises her chin and speaks it proud and true.

"Big Shal, it's showtime!"

And what burrows out from underneath the ground but everyone's friend! Who... lifts two of the Odessa guards from behind by their collars like it's timeout for you, you've been naughty.

Big Shal is everyone's friend, after all.

'''DG:''' You use your Tool An Old Golem Core against your party's Challenge, Odessa Guards!!

'''DG:''' Yue Rohay has used her Tool An Old Golem Core toward her party's challenge, Odessa Guards!.

==== <Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed. ====
 
"Ah... I see, so it's like... hm... it's like if the machine was taking note of the readings of the mercury in the barometer," Isolde says to Ambrosius, "but it was taking the note its own self. You could do something clever with that, couldn't you? With a stamp?" 

"You can spoil me all that you want, Marivel," Isolde says. "I don't mind a bit. In fact, I'd say I deser" 

BANG!

Dario says "got you this time" and in the interval of this period Isolde has turned towards him, the point source of that noise. When he says "batty" Isolde is leaping forwards. While in midair she's pulled out her sword, moving just a little too fast to see the interstitial moments. 

What she does to Dario, or tries to, can be compared to breaking down a side of beef into primal cuts. At this point she turns towards one of the other Odessa men - just as Ambrosius says to - 

"Oh how embarrassing," Isolde says, before thrusting forwards. 


'''DG:''' Isolde has used her Tool Travelling Sword toward her party's challenge, Odessa Guards!.
 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 =========================== <* CHALLENGE - Odessa Guards! *>=======================
 |Type: Climax      |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  In a moment, much becomes clear. In a narrow turning passageway, you          
  abruptly run into a half-dozen individuals wearing jackets in a certain and   
  distinctive style, as well as lightweight ushanka hats. The uniform, in       
  short, of Odessa.                                                             
                                                                                
  Inexplicably there is another man with them. Thick of beard, seeming to be    
  in his undershirt. This man is one you may have met in another world. His     
  name is Dario. He has a big fat gunsmoke pistol.                              
                                                                                
  He shoots first.                                                              
                                                                                
  The battle will be brief and vicious, come what may. And afterwards --        
                                                                                
  What the hell is that noise?                                                  
 =Dungeon Conditions: Reckless=================================================
 =========================== <* Mi'ihen Caverns - Round 5 *>========================
 ============================= < Results - Odessa Guards! >=========================
 Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Yue Rohay                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
 An Old Golem Core                   3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare              
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Ambrosius                           5 --(0)--> 5                   Pass
 Minerva                             3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare              
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Isolde                              10 --(0)--> 10                 Pass
 Travelling Sword                    3   Combat  Effects: Rally                
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Marivel Armitage                    10 --(0)--> 10                 Pass
 My Mike                             4   Combat  Effects: Efficient and Fanfare
 ----------------------------------==== < Party >-----------------------------------
 Leader: Yue Rohay                   80 --(0)--> 80                 Pass
 Conditions: Hesitate(1)|Reckless(2)
 Effects: 
 ================================== < Dream Chasers >===============================

'''DG:''' The party led by Yue Rohay has passed 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.
==== <Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed. ====
Yeah they don't stand a chance. The Fiends frankly seem like overkill in this situation and with the arrival of another Veruni woman to the mix, Odessa doesn't even have numbers anymore.

Dario runs away quickly because he's Dario and several Odessa agents lose their guns as they freeze and shatter in their hands!

And then uh Big Shal just lifts two of them up and sits them in the corner of the cavern and looks at them sternly as if to say 'Don't do this again or it'll be no desert!'.

And then Isolde just flat out chases Dario down and skewers him in the back with a blade! Oh no! Poor Dario! How could you do that to Dario?!

He goes down pretty heavily.

"Oh I did not think that would happen." Marivel says as she stands herself up and dusts herself off.

"Is everyone alright?" The smoke has stopped drifting from Marivel's wound though she does seem a bit more tired from the experience. "The machine should be up a little far along but let us see what Myster-E has in store for us."
==== <Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed. ====
 
"He's not," Isolde reports immediately, flicking her blade and then sliding it back into her sheath. 

"My! So we have two new guests who didn't speak up!" Isolde says brightly, and interstitially too. 

==== <Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed. ====

"I--is he dead??" Yue nearly drops her cucco feather as Isolde skewers Dario. Yue aren't you supposed to be a Veruni invader in this world or something... try to be more antagonistic... maybe??

==== <Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed. ====
 
Dario groans a little. Isolde tilts her head. 

One of the guys who was so recently disarmed comes up and grabs Dario by both arms, dragging him off with the incredible haste born of the presence of a Veruni assassin and Big Shal. "fudge" Dario groans. 

"I'm sure he'll be fine. Do I have a lot of blood on me, Yue, dear?" 


'''DG:''' Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 ==================== <* CHALLENGE - Break the Sphere Extractor! *>=================
 |Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  Ah. That is that noise.                                                       
                                                                                
  The device makes sense at a glance, which much machinery does not. It is      
  cobbled together from local machina -- huge drums bearing massive blades of   
  thick iron and glittering hardened blade-edges turn and rumble, scorching     
  through limestone, chewing methodically. You can see the Sphere Extractor     
  move at a rate of approximately one yard per thirty seconds as you come into  
  the space where it is working.                                                
                                                                                
  The output runs down a range of chutes, which rattle and rumble. Smaller      
  grinders break up larger chunks. The name Sphere Extractor is well earned     
  because these rattletrap pipes and chutes seem to be separating out           
  glittering spheres, embedded in the rock, and leaving billowing dust and      
  gravel in their wake. The air here is barely breathable between the stench    
  of the thing's operation and the dust it produces.                            
                                                                                
  Nevertheless, here it is -- the secret in the bowels of this base, the thing  
  which has been protected. And now it is not protected. It seems to be         
  operating on automatic pilot.                                                 
                                                                                
  mess it up                                                                    
 =Dungeon Conditions: Maim, Overwhelm==========================================
==== <Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed. ====
Marivel pokes Dario with a foot.

"To be honest this is the third or fourth time he has shot at me, so I guess I am not terribly sympathetic though I think Gwen was friends with him?" She frowns and then looks to Isolde. "Let's try to not kill any more Darios."

Dario groans.

"Oh, I suppose he is alright." Marivel adds.

She looks towards Isolde but considers whether she is hungry enough to taste Dario blood.

No, she is not that hungry.
==== <Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed. ====
"Of late, I believe she is surrounded by the correct kind of people. I have faith that she will." Ambrosius comments, chiming in on the conversation about the Minder. It's a good thing she isn't here to hear this.

"I believe you understand now, yes." Ambrosius confirms, as Isolde comes to a conclusion on the topic of readings. "There is much that can be done with them - that is just an example."

He pauses, though, as battle happens.

"It is alright." He replies, as Isolde moves to skewer one of the men before them. It's not like he has any /great/ need to leave them alive, but they could be useful for information...though, they manage to flee before he can extract any.

Oh well - he hears something interesting up ahead. It's definitely a machine of some kind - he can tell, from the exhaust in the air and the way it rattles. And then, the Sphere Extractor approaches slowly. It's name is well-earned - it appears to be gradually extracting spheres from the soil it's chewing up...

"...Hmm. This machine appears to be the result of several smaller machines patched together into a larger one. I would like to study it, but I do not believe we have the luxury of time. It would be best to disassemble it - but carefully." He states.

And then, Ambrosius reaches out toward the machine. Water begins to swirl and converge in the air before him before being sent splashing toward the machine itself.

Minerva then immediately takes advantage of this, another wave of ice sorcery looking to drop the temperature around it rapidly - and freeze any parts Ambrosius managed to coat in water.

This should make it that much more vulnerable to whatever else is in store for it.

'''DG:''' Ambrosius has used his Tool Aqua Cutter toward his party's challenge, Break the Sphere Extractor!.

==== <Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed. ====

There is a longer sense of silence, but... one of appreciation to Ambrosius as he says she's surrounded by the correct kind of people. "I can only hope my reach, shackled as it is, can afford that for her." She doesn't get so presumptuous as to say he's one of them, but she believes it in her heart, at least.

She spares a glance towards Minerva and lets out a hum of genuine surprise. "This is a... ... Scutum unit? Is it not? Where did you find such a unit, friend...?"

But-- she hears the thrumming.

"Wait, could it be...?"

There is an actively annoyed scowl on her face.

"Is this truly..."

Her look is genuinely cross now. Her voice actually manages to break into something approaching active rebuff.

"/This/ device. /This/ is the reason I have not had an undisturbed night's rest!"

The convict takes a sudden leap backwards and closes her eyes, raising her foot up as a rather abrupt build-up of ki rises within the tip of her foot. The gleam of the highly-polished, tempered form of the now steel-cutting shoe rings out in hunger of its prey.

"Ambrosius. Lady Isolde. Mari, pray clear me some space of... several sharls. There may be a sudden noise, followed by an uncouth bout of violence."

Minerva freezes a part of it and Ambrosius coats it in water as well; she seeks that already-vulnerable point...

(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIWfW7iaj68 )

And much like before, like Isolde's own technique, she has transposed through space within the interstice of a moment--

"==== <Cut.>"

 The Sphere Extractor is seen split in                                      
 two. No, it is not the machine                                             
 itself, but rather the entire scene--                                      
                                                                           
                                      --splits apart as one half           
                                      uncomfortably slides ddddddownwards, 
                                      unceremoniously separated by a       
                                      shimmering white gash. A terribly    
                                      lazy white flash wipes everything... 

... and knits everything together again, like no one just got bisected.

How does that work?? JRPGs...

'''DG:''' You use your Tool Zantetshoeken against your party's Challenge, Break the Sphere Extractor!!

'''DG:''' Yue Rohay has used her Tool Zantetshoeken toward her party's challenge, Break the Sphere Extractor!.

==== <Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed. ====
Marivel considers Ambrosius's words. Hmm. Maybe he has some of the same concerns as she does. She'll worry about that later, though it does mean that she does hold off on further antagonism.

She considers the machine, draws out her wrench, and starts working the Sphere Extractor over with it. This involves a lot of CLANGING noises though this is Marivel we are talking about and sometimes...

...sometimes she actually just starts fixing up the machine she is banging on with her tools rather than actually help smash them. Last time she made the Guard's 'drones' work better during the Battle of Luca so maybe this time she will maybe not do something quite as horrifying.

Maybe.

She does, at least, clear space when it is asked of her since she doesn't want to be flash frozen so that should help prevent her from making the situation worse.

'''DG:''' Marivel Armitage has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Break the Sphere Extractor!.
==== <Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed. ====
 
To Isolde, there is... 

What is there in this place, to Isolde? 

What can she intuit about this machine? What can she perceive, what can she gain from its noise, from its bulk, from its presence here in the dank cavernous bowels of Spira? 

Whatever it may be, she puts a hand on her hip, and listens to Ambrosius explain, and she says: "Is it piloted?" Then the air becomes chilly again and Isolde says, "Ah! And I'm already damp... how ruthless of you, Miss Minerva!" 

As she says this she walks to the side. "It does sound like it's producing the noises that are bothering you," she tells Yue as she finds a large stone - a piece of schist, one about as big as an infant, if presumably much heavier. Isolde feels it, wobbles it, and crouches down to hug it, hoisting the stone upwards. 

"So if I hear the grinder's location right, you're not supposed to put the big rocks in the part on the back, yes?" Isolde asks, before squatting down and tossing the rock, as if it were a dwarf, at the self-same area. 


'''DG:''' Isolde has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Break the Sphere Extractor!.
 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 ==================== <* CHALLENGE - Break the Sphere Extractor! *>=================
 |Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  Ah. That is that noise.                                                       
                                                                                
  The device makes sense at a glance, which much machinery does not. It is      
  cobbled together from local machina -- huge drums bearing massive blades of   
  thick iron and glittering hardened blade-edges turn and rumble, scorching     
  through limestone, chewing methodically. You can see the Sphere Extractor     
  move at a rate of approximately one yard per thirty seconds as you come into  
  the space where it is working.                                                
                                                                                
  The output runs down a range of chutes, which rattle and rumble. Smaller      
  grinders break up larger chunks. The name Sphere Extractor is well earned     
  because these rattletrap pipes and chutes seem to be separating out           
  glittering spheres, embedded in the rock, and leaving billowing dust and      
  gravel in their wake. The air here is barely breathable between the stench    
  of the thing's operation and the dust it produces.                            
                                                                                
  Nevertheless, here it is -- the secret in the bowels of this base, the thing  
  which has been protected. And now it is not protected. It seems to be         
  operating on automatic pilot.                                                 
                                                                                
  mess it up                                                                    
 =Dungeon Conditions: Maim, Overwhelm==========================================
 =========================== <* Mi'ihen Caverns - Round 6 *>========================
 ====================== < Results - Break the Sphere Extractor! >===================
 Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Yue Rohay                           0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
 Zantetshoeken                       4   Brute   Effects: Efficient and Rally  
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Ambrosius                           5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
 Aqua Cutter                         3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare              
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Isolde                              10 --(10)--> 20                Fail
 Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Marivel Armitage                    10 --(10)--> 20                Fail
 Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
 ----------------------------------==== < Party >-----------------------------------
 Leader: Yue Rohay                   80 --(35)--> 115               Pass
 Conditions: Maim|Overwhelm|Reckless(1)
 Effects: 
 ================================== < Dream Chasers >===============================

'''DG:''' You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!

'''DG:''' The party led by Yue Rohay has successfully explored Mi'ihen Caverns!
 ================================ <* Mi'ihen Caverns *>=============================
 =========================== <* CHALLENGE - Wardrobe Call *>========================
 |Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Discovery |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
 --------------------------==== < Challenge Information: >--------------------------
  After busting up the Sphere Extractor, your retreat is swift but relaxed.     
  You probably did not take out all of the Odessa agents, but you can depart    
  before anyone on patrol gets back.                                            
                                                                                
  OR CAN YOU? Rounding a corner you are faced with sixteen Odessa soldiers in   
  perfect rank and file...                                                      
                                                                                
  ... or so it seems. It is actually a rack of uniforms arrayed for drying      
  using divots of wood to spread them out. The effect is rather surprising.     
                                                                                
  If you are short on clothing you may be able to help yourself to some of the  
  inexplicable bounty of this evil operation on your way out.                   
                                                                                
  ((If you intend to keep an intact private's uniform please drop Erzebet an    
  @mail. This may be useful in the future.))                                    
 =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================

==== <Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed. ====
"I hope the same - and so too do I hope for a future where you can both shed the shackles that bind you." Ambrosius agrees with a nod. He's probably referring to both the literal and the metaphorical there, but before he can clarify this Yue reacts with surprise to the appearance of Minerva and he pauses.

"Indeed. I found her within a place called the 'Temple of Rejection'. She was inoperable, and her databanks were completely erased... However, I was able to her capabilities." Ambrosius explains.

He looks toward Isolde, then. Truth be told, he hadn't considered whether or not the machine was piloted.

"No, I believe it is operating automatically." He says, then pauses. "...My apologies. She is still working to grasp matters of etiquette."

Marivel begins to take her wrench to the machine. She...actually seems to be fixing it up more than she's breaking it down, and with her technological prowess she's doing a fairly good job of it. She might end up actually making the machine quietly...at least until Isolde tosses a good-sized boulder into the receptable. There's a loud 'CHUNK' noise, followed by a grinding. The noises it makes begin to intensify even further - it sounds as if, left to its own devices, it would simply shake itself apart.

It does not get that far.

First, it is flash-frozen...and then, a pin-point kick causes it to stop completely.

It is only when they turn to leave that the machine explodes behind them, as the cut finally catches up to it. But they are long-gone before the explosion can cause any real threat.

...But they are, perhaps, not out of danger yet - the next corner they round sees them up against sixteen soldiers, armed and ready!

...Or at least that is how it appears at first, but in reality, it is just their uniforms. Ambrosius gives them an appraising glance, and then shakes his head.

"...I do not think any would fit me. It is for the best - I have no use for this in any case." He replies. Minerva just takes one silent look at them and turns to leave, apparently having no use for them either.

==== <Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed. ====
"Well tis a wonderful thing I have a use for them." Marivel chirps. "Of course, I am willing to share the spoils though I fear I would not encourage anyone to wear these Odessa uniforms for shits and giggles."

She then looks towards Ambrosius and Minerva. "Hold on there!"

Is she about to give more sass??

"Would you like to have some eclairs with us later?"

VICIOUS SWERVE?!

"You can even have two." She promises.

==== <Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed. ====

Yue doesn't quite have it in her to respond to Ambrosius again, but the smile is genuine... so much as she's riding on hopes, but hope often tends to ride alone. Can there be more behind it? Only time will tell.

The Temple of Rejection... she's heard of that, but her travels never took her there. How fascinating indeed.

She smirks about Minerva, though. "You have your own root daughter to care for, friend."

Long after they've walked away from the explosion (not looking back at it because while cool heroes don't look back, cooler heroes aren't even /there/ when the explosion happens)...

"... so, these are the foes that you face, is it, Mari?" Yue muses on their way out as she stares at some of the uniforms. "This... 'Odessa'."

She bobs her head with a quiet thought.

"I will take one. I am much more human-sized, after all. It may be useful," she decides. "On both your blessings," she asks of Marivel and Ambrosius.

She looks to Isolde and lets out a quiet sigh and says, "I can only hope I'll have quieter rest. At least until the next incident appears. But--"

Marivel offers eclairs to Ambrosius.

"... yes. Let us treat ourselves a while, friend. 'Tis not everyday we would get to set things aside and be friendly, is it?"

She's just hungee for eclairs...
==== <Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed. ====
 
"Inoperable...? That's a funny way to speak about a person," Isolde says, to Ambrosius. Then several things happen in close order. 

"If they have a tall women's size, I'll take a set," Isolde announces. "I don't know if I will be able to wear them without being shot, but I'm sure something can be arranged." 

Then she adds, "Of course. We could share the second, if you want." Then comes the topic of 'Odessa.' Her lips purse for a moment. 

"They're why we're all here, aren't they," Isolde muses, as if it's the first half of a question she doesn't finish. 

==== <Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed. ====
"Perhaps so. I never considered it that way." Ambrosius replies to Yue consideringly.

And then, there's the matters of the uniforms. He nods toward Yue. He has no need for them, so there's no reason to say no to her.

"Then you may help yourself to my share as well - I would get no use out of them." He replies to Marivel. In much the same way as with Yue, there is no reason to deny them to her except out of pettiness, and of late he was much less petty than he used to be.

He looks toward Isolde, then, as she mentions Odessa being why they are here.

"In a manner of speaking. It would appear they are the ones responsible for keeping Miss Yue awake." He comments. He turns and begins to leave, but pauses when Marivel calls out to him...and invites him to go have eclairs with them later? It's surprising enough to give him pause, but, still facing away, he smiles faintly. Yue encourages him to accept as well, and he nods.

"...Very well. I have nothing planned later." He decides.

[[Category:Logs]]
[[Category:Chapter 2]]
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]]