2021-08-11: M O S S
- Log: M O S S
- Cast: Ratatoskr, Cyre H. Lorentz, Scythe Riebaure, Lan Lilac, Jacqueline Barber
- Where: Yder Cave
- Date: August 11, 2021
- Summary: Cyre takes Jay and Lan to explore Yder Cave, where they run into Ratatoskr and Scythe.
Yder Cave is located along one of the high paths on Biroclef Ridge. This cave leads deep within the mountain system. It is dark and dank, though some moisture enters it, unlike the ridge outside. However, this has made it treacherous. Stalactites and stalagmites make risks for those exploring -- to say nothing of the ravenous monsters that enter. Still, it is said that plants with healing properties can be found inside, and rare ores and minerals could be found in its lowest depths. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnAqabn5RyE
DG: A party led by Ratatoskr is now entering Yder Cave. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
================================<* Yder Cave *>=================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Water Terrors *>=======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The gap that leads into Yder Cave proper is a large one -- large enough to
even admit something on the size of a Gear or similar. From there it's a
steep descent down, but not terribly difficult to do even on foot --
explorers in the past have left guidelines in place.
It's when the entry shaft bottoms out that you encounter your first real
obstacle: a waterway. It's deep but not staggeringly so -- any Gears will
find it's about hip height if they wade in -- so it's largely only going to
pose a threat to people who can't swim.
Except there's another threat lurking /in/ the waterway itself: large
Hellion krakens, which lurch from the deep once the water is disturbed on
the attack! Defend yourselves!
Image: https://gamefaqs1.cbsistatic.com/faqs/57/72557-152.jpg
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW8CSTtFkFQ
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
Ratatoskr had been chomping at the bit to visit the Glenwood continent for a long, long time. For as long of a leash as Odessa gives him, he's been (mostly) well-behaved about keeping his unique brand of scouting work to areas of immediate interest. With reports that some of the major regional powers that made up Althena's Guard's forces in Spira were in-fighting, well.
There's probably other reasons interwoven with why everyone else is here, but that's his, and we're moving on with what matters - Yder Cave, up in the higher parts of Biroclef Ridge. The way in is large enough that Odessa could fit in any combat-capable Gears if they had to (or even industrial ones), and there's more moisture in the air compared to the dry cliffs that house the cave. The descent is steep and a little slippery, but 'a little' in this case means 'Challenge Rating 0,' so that bears no further mention.
They're all likely to find themselves descending into a waterway, deep enough for a Gear for it to reach about waist height, and a problem if you can't swim. Ratatoskr, the first one in, has little issue with that - among his people he's of a lighter build and can propel himself in bursts as needed, and speaking of needed.
There's a kraken. It's the enlarged, purple mist-spewing kind (of the Malevolence kind), itself a large and brilliant blue hue with glowing yellow eyes and plenty of barbed, spiky tentacles to smash and grab with.
If anyone is hesitant about attacking a Kraken on its home turf, never fear. Ratatoskr is already on it in a flurry of kicks and discharged blasts of compressed air with the biggest grin on his face, and the Kraken is attempting to dedicate at least two tentacles towards battering and/or drowning him.
DG: Ratatoskr has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Water Terrors.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
How does a gear get shipped across the sea without anyone asking any questions about what the heck a giant robot is doing strapped to a boat?
M O N E Y.
Or, more seriously, Cyre asked if he could stow the (repaired) Huracan aboard an Al-Bhed vessel to evaluate the viability of heavy-machina smuggling as a new enterprise. He volunteered his machine for a number of reasons, including but not limited to a still-active warranty with the Shevat repair crews, and the fact that the Huracan's overboost module means it could potentially fly the rest of the way back to shore in the worst case scenario.
And so he is here, in his giant robot, taking it for a test run in the best possible way.
Or... the worst possible way...?
The stench of malevolence is incredible in this place. It is... tangible, almost tastable in the air for those with sensitive enough natural senses and enough resonance. Even within the Huracan's climate-controlled cockpit, he can feel it, the dissonance vibrating in the depth of his soul. "Jay, Lan, careful. We have... company."
And he doesn't just mean the Krakens. From the Huracan's vantage, he can definitely see Ratatoskr and the rest of the Odessans. But this does pose something of a problem.
He could get out of the cockpit to do what must be done to these Krakens, to purify the land and scatter the gathering malevolence... But that would require getting out of his cockpit and ha ha ha that's not gonna happen.
No. He is staring down a bunch of Hellions... in a giant robot. He's going to enjoy this.
The Huracan's eyes flash as it brandishes its NEW BEAM RIFLE. The dark, dank cavern blazes with light every time it pulls the trigger, lances of world-scourging energy spearing into the betentacled beasts.
...MEANWHILE.
...IN ODESSA TOWN...
There is a cat there. What is this cat? What is it doing here? It is a strange anomaly, an unusual seg-fault in cause and effect, time and space. The cat(s???) peer out of the dark and stare, as one, at Ratatoskr and his friends.
It is a universal message. A wordless notice: 'We can seeeee youuuu.'
...Perhaps best to be on better behavior today? Eh?
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Schrodinger Support toward his party's challenge, The Water Terrors.
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
Officially, Odessa sent Scythe to Glenwood to monitor the tenuous peace. Unofficialy, he is here with a much more personal objective--Brionac has received reports of a bizarre metaphysical phenomenon, which its Odessan contacts traced back to Lunar. As the strongest (surviving) sorcerer in Brionac's ranks, Scythe was sent to gather data for Augst. Somewhere along the way, someone got the bright idea to assign Ratatoskr as backup, and Scythe quickly figured out they likely wanted the Hyadean out of their hair.
Whatever.
There's a faint pop, and the air at the base of the entryway swirls aside, revealing a tall, lean man who is definitely not dressed in the local fashion. "What did I tell you about running off," Scythe says, sweeping a hand through his hair as he glowers at the Hyadean. "Didn't they teach you to stay within sight of your squad in Hyadean school?"
Water sloshes and churns. A cloying, putrid scent fills the cave--the stink of Malevolence. "Ah," Scythe says. "So this is what the old man wanted." He ducks beneath a flailing tentacle, vanishes, reappears at the edge of the pool with a paper seal held between two fingers. Scythe flings it at the kraken with the flick of a wrist; it erupts halfway there into a blooming flower made entirely of tendrils of fiery death.
Something prickles at the edge of Scythe's senses. He turns, and looks at the bizarre spatial anomaly that is Schrodinger--and then up, just in time to realize the shaking earth wasn't the kraken's fault. "Ratatoskr, look alive," Scythe barks. "We have company.
DG: Scythe Riebaure has used his Tool Balefire Seal toward his party's challenge, The Water Terrors.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
In general, Lan really likes the moon. Some parts of it are less enjoyable than others, naturally... such as 'most of Spira right after everybody learned some really heavy news about religion in general and Yevon in particular'. After that, she'd decided that maybe a change of scenery was in order. And since there was a ship heading for a place called 'Glenwood', which sounded really nice and green, Lan found her way onboard.
She was much more careful about not being found, this time.
Here and now, she's along for the ride. Literally - she's been riding on the back of Cyre's Gear, saving her energy for the really tough parts - and figuratively.
She's half-knelt down on the Huracan's shoulder, peering ahead through the gloom and rolling Malevolence. "I can't believe how thick it is in here," Lan frowns. "--Hey look, up ahead! There's something in the water!"
Something gross!
"Just let us know if you're going to do anything super acrobatic, okay? I want to jump off first!" Lan likes doing neat flips and stuff, but only under her own power. And her ribbon definitely won't lift an entire giant robot.
But... since the water's right here and all... Lan uncaps the bottle of water at her hip and focuses her spiritual abilities, brows furrowing as she counts out a pour... directly into the lake. She heard from a drunk Etone once that if you pour holy water into a bucket of water, the whole bucket becomes holy water. And while her clear water isn't exactly the same thing...
Well who knows, maybe it'll work? Because if it doesn't pan out, she's going to fall back on plan B, which is meteors.
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Clear Water toward her party's challenge, The Water Terrors.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
It had been quite some time since Jacqueline had been on the Glenwood continent. She's curious to see just how much has changed... and how much hasn't. So naturally when Cyre takes an interest in an Experiment in giant robots, she volunteers to tag along.
She would bring her own robot in, but Issachar is still undergoing repairs. They had done a number on it during their fight with Seymour. It's a testament to how, while an Omnigear might certainly be powerful, it's certainly not indestructible, either.
It's soemthing important to keep in mind.
So at the moment, Jacqueline is tethered to the outside of the Huracan, busily taking notes on their surroundings.
And that's when it appears, from a waterway that serves as an entrance into the cave system - giant squid-like Hellion. Jacqueline looks toward Lan as she gives the warning then frowns, stowing away her notebook and instead drawing out the Lifeweaver's Codex and flipping through the pages.
"...Yeah, you're right, Miss Lan. Let's see... I believe that's a Kraken! They have many, powerful limbs, and they can be quite intelligent - they can certainly figure out how to crack open a Gear, so try not to let it get a hold of you!" Jacqueline warns. "But, I imagine they might be quite vulnerable to electricity..."
And so Jacqueline shuts the book and gets ready to cast such a spell... but then pauses, as she sees the figures on ground level.
"Is that... Ratatoskr? But I don't believe I've seen that man before... Either way, if I cast the spell now I run the risk of hitting them too..." Jacqueline sighs. She elects to hold off from casting the spell for now - even if they might be Odessa, she'd rather not cause unnecessary harm.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool The Lifeweaver's Codex toward her party's challenge, The Water Terrors.
================================<* Yder Cave *>=================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Water Terrors *>=======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The gap that leads into Yder Cave proper is a large one -- large enough to
even admit something on the size of a Gear or similar. From there it's a
steep descent down, but not terribly difficult to do even on foot --
explorers in the past have left guidelines in place.
It's when the entry shaft bottoms out that you encounter your first real
obstacle: a waterway. It's deep but not staggeringly so -- any Gears will
find it's about hip height if they wade in -- so it's largely only going to
pose a threat to people who can't swim.
Except there's another threat lurking /in/ the waterway itself: large
Hellion krakens, which lurch from the deep once the water is disturbed on
the attack! Defend yourselves!
Image: https://gamefaqs1.cbsistatic.com/faqs/57/72557-152.jpg
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW8CSTtFkFQ
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
===========================<* Yder Cave - Round 1 *>============================ ========================< Results - The Water Terrors >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ratatoskr 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lan Lilac 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Clear Water 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Schrodinger Support 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass The Lifeweaver's Codex 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scythe Riebaure 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Balefire Seal 3 Combat Effects: Rally -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ratatoskr 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ratatoskr 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.
================================<* Yder Cave *>=================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Weakened Wall *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
As you make your way through Yder Cave, you eventually notice a particular
section of wall as you round a particular loop.
This wall... is cracked! There's no question about it: a good ear will even
notice the sound of wind whistling through it, which suggests that it opens
onto another tunnel. This could be a good chance to get somewhere you might
not otherwise reach.
However. Breaking the wall is the easy part. The harder part is moving all
the rubble out of the way once the deed is done.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
Scythe rightfully scolds Ratatoskr on his youthful impetuousness, who should really be acting his age of nineteen-to-twenty-five. He perks up as Scythe admonishes him. He doesn't get much chance to get in a word when things start happening, to the tune of 'interlopers' and 'also at least one Kraken.'
Lan pours some clean water into the lake. Malevolence, typically speaking, tends to corrupt water with extraordinary ease - but clean, sanctified water is known to provide a temporary shock or deterrent to all sorts of malignant spirits. A tiny something that gives them pause before attacking. This forms the basis of Holy Bottles, and the principle ends up working the same in preventing the Kraken(s) from hurling itself(selves) in the direction of the Huracan and its esocrts.
Pew, pew, pew, goes the Hurcan's beam rifle, lightening up the cavern walls every time it fires, and leaving sizzling smoke every time it enters the water - or strikes a Kraken, which squeals and roars defiantly with waving, splashing tentacles trying to fling water back to not much avail.
Jay's able to keep calling the shots so that the Huracan can continue making accurate shots, which leaves us with the Odessa operatives.
Odessa operatives with a Schrodinger staring at them.
Scythe deals with the threat with otherworldly, all-consuming fire that brings the surrounding water to a boil as the besieged Kraken thus croakens and sinks into the water... as Ratatoskr gets himself out of the boiling water. Malevolence rises as a putrid steam, even if one holds their breath the Kraken's spiritual selfishness lingers. Like it wants the water, only the water, to itself. Not any more, since it's dead and all.
Ratatoskr watches all the purple energy rise from the boiling water, arms crossed as he sizes them up. "That? That!" Ratatoskr asides to Scythe. "...it's everywhere here... it's like Krosse... and that canyon in northern Zoara." He grins a bit more, as if noting it as just a thing that's here and not as a spiritually hazardous presence. For the wall of fire that Scythe has created, this gives the Odessa part of the expedition 'team' a small advantage in escaping further down Yder Cave, where they find a cracked wall that says, 'I'm hollow! Bomb me! Or something!' The air whistling through it agrees! It's hollow! Bomb it! Or something! (The wall, not the air.)
So, Ratatoskr builds up speed and rams into it with a flying kick into a discharged compressed air blast, and the wall cracks open large enough for the two of them to get through.
Until the thing caves into a giant pile of mild annoyance, full of small things to sift through and/or destroy before continuing on. (Worse things worse for Scythe, there's a nebulous sorcerous interference kicked up by the rubble that prevents him from just warping through an easy opening.)
That's time for them to catch up.
DG: Ratatoskr has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Weakened Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"I promise to give ample warning before I test out the new thruster column," Cyre says, MOSTLY being perfectly honest abbout his intentions. He really will give them plenty of forewarning, but whether he extends the same courtesy to the Odessans is another thing entirely.
SPEAKING OF WHICH.
There is still a Schrodinger on the far side of the ruined rock wall. They perch in their myriad atop multiple rocks, grooming themselves cattishly. It may be a bit unsettling, but... This is the way of the Schrodinger, alas.
"Looks like they're trying to pull ahead of us," Cyre says of the Odessans beyond the rock wall. His beam rifle has been stowed, its glowing barrel still cooling after the kraken crap-shoot. A rock wall, though...
If Ratatoskr's skull can crack through it, then the Huracan can certainly blow its way in too! Not literally, Cyre isn't on foot, he's not throwing his wind magic at the problem. Instead, the Huracan simply strides forward and plants several disk-shaped devices on the cracked surface...
Which the Odessans would be able to hear quite clearly, all beeping ominously in unison.
"Demo charges set," Cyre says, helpfully. "Let's clear the way...!"
All at once, the bombs do what all bombs were born to do: Die in catastrophically pretty explosive blasts. There are enough of them that the resulting rubble would be quite thoroughly pulverized, but...
So too might the Odessans...
"It'll be fine," Cyre would say of the operatives in the tunnel, "If a few bombs were enough to take them out, Odessa wouldn't be such a pain in the neck."
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Demolition Charge toward his party's challenge, The Weakened Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Nice, it worked!! Lan files the results of her own Very Important Experiment away for later.
All around them the water boils away, Malevolence and steam rising and roiling! Not for the first time, Lan's really glad she hitched a ride and didn't bother trying to walk or swim. "Just call me Lan, okay? I'm really not a formal kind of person!" she insists cheerfully at Jacqueline, even as Huracan moves forward to plant a bunch of beeping things on the wall. "Ratatoskr... that's a weird name," Lan muses. Rude!
"Hey, are those--" Demo charges, Cyre confirms. Well, if they're just going to blast their way through the caves, Lan can help with that!
Standing up, she hops forward until she's standing on Huracan's head, sighting forward through a circle made by her fingers. Silver starlight builds between them before Lan lets it erupt with cannonball force for the too-small hole in the wall.
DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Weakened Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Lan makes a request and Jacqueline nods, offering her a smile.
"Lan, then." She confirms, before looking toward the cockpit of the Huravan.
"Thank you." Jacqueline says as Cyre responds to Lan's concerns. That's... something she was admittedly concerned about. She frowns, though as Cyre points out that the Odessan operatives are trying to pull ahead.
"Hmm... I see. I don't know why they're here, but we probably should keep an eye on them." Jacqueline replies. Fortunately, the wall up ahead proves a difficult obstacle. Unfortunately, it's even more so for them, considering they'll need to find a way to get the Huracan through. Fortunately, Cyre has demolition charges!
"...I suppose, but it'd probably be best to avoid conflict if we can." Jacqueline considers. The bombs have likely cleared out a good portion of the debris, especially combined with Lan's technique, which means it's time for Jacqueline to come in. She draws a Crest Graph from her deck and sets it into a slot on her left hand before making a gesture.
Suddenly, the stone wall in front of them starts to shift as Jacqueline manipulates the earth itself around them to form it into a passageway large enough for the Huracan to pass through, but with enough support that it won't collapse on them. She's mindful of the stability of the rest of the cave system, as well.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Landscaper Crest toward her party's challenge, The Weakened Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
"Yes," Scythe says. He folds his arms, but doesn't take his eye off the Gear, or the people following behind it. "Yes, it is--but it's far denser here. Why?"
Ratatoskr lunges at the opening like it insulted his mother. The warlock buries face in palm, hissing out a breath between pointed teeth. "God forbid we get any data out of this," he mutters, and when he drops his hands to his sides, both are clenched. Who, he thinks, did he anger enough to be delegated babysitting duty? A sudden rumbling catches his ear, and he turns to the side just in time to see the wall come down. "Bothersome," he says. There's no way they're going to clear all that on their own. "Ratatoskr," he says, "please demonstrate self-preservation instinct for once in your life, and stand clear."
Scythe blinks out of existence, only to reappear...
Perched on the Huracan's head. He flashes his most charming grin to Lan--yes, those are definitely fangs he's got for canines--and snaps his fingers.
Fire erupts in the center of the blockage, more concussive shockwave than searing heat. Scythe's helping!
"I don't recognize either of you," he says, looking at Jay, and then at Lan. "What's drawn you out this way?"
DG: Scythe Riebaure has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Weakened Wall.
================================<* Yder Cave *>=================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Weakened Wall *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
As you make your way through Yder Cave, you eventually notice a particular
section of wall as you round a particular loop.
This wall... is cracked! There's no question about it: a good ear will even
notice the sound of wind whistling through it, which suggests that it opens
onto another tunnel. This could be a good chance to get somewhere you might
not otherwise reach.
However. Breaking the wall is the easy part. The harder part is moving all
the rubble out of the way once the deed is done.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
===========================<* Yder Cave - Round 2 *>============================ ========================< Results - The Weakened Wall >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ratatoskr 5 --(8)--> 13 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lan Lilac 5 --(8)--> 13 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 5 --(8)--> 13 Pass Demolition Charge 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 5 --(8)--> 13 Pass Landscaper Crest 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scythe Riebaure 5 --(16)--> 21 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ratatoskr 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Tire(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ratatoskr 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: Lan Lilac has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Yder Cave *>=================================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - The Moss Lurker *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Sections of the cave have quite a lot of moss, but this area you've reached
just now has a /quite a lot of moss/. The source is an obvious one: a pretty
shaft of sunlight beaming down onto the cave floor. What with the dampness
in the cave, that's all the things a growing bed of moss needs to survive!
And what a Hellion needs to survive is... uh... well...
Needless to say, a Hellion Giant -- a large pile of rocks and earth animated
by Malevolence -- is rising from the cave floor here. While you might not
know what it needs, you know what it wants, which is your destruction!
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Injure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
The giant pile of mild inconvenience is about to be greatly inconvenienced by just how much power is being hurled at it. Gear explosives, cannonball-force starlight, the moving earth, and otherworldly fell flame explodes and expands forth a much, much, much clearer path for everyone to go through. It's very convenient impromptu teamwork, that.
Scythe will soon see within a few moments as to whether or not he's still stuck on babysitting duty, but the blockage that prevents him from warping further in clears away for some arcane reason that almost certainly involves complete and utter annihilation of what was in front of them. It's like there never was a cracked wall, or a blockage. It's now a giant pile of no inconvenience whatsoever! It's a giant pile of nothing, to be more precise.
There's the solid yellow eyes of Ratatoskr, peering out from the nearby dust cloud of wreckage. Sadly, still on babysitting duty as he sizes up the Huracan and considers whether or not he wants to take it.
They might have bigger problems than each other soon, though.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
There is a guy standing there in front of her. There wasn't a guy in front of her even a whole second ago. Lan frowns a bit. She... she didn't black out or something, right? She's still standing up. No, maybe--
She realizes she's just been standing there, frowning faintly at a stranger for a handful of seconds. "Oh. Huh, how'd you do that? That's really cool! Jacqueline! Cyre did you see that?" Huracan's head is big enough for two people to stand on, and Lan uses the room to circle around Scythe. "Your tattoos are really great. Is it a custom in your village?"
Did she just... check out Scythe's butt?
Yes, but not for the reason most would immediately assume. You see, Lan saw his dark skin and light hair (like hers and Cyre's) and assumed he was a Baskar, probably a magic-user. She saw his fangs, and assumed he was a Beastman. Now... she's just trying (and failing) to 'subtly' figure out what kind.
Lan likes Beastfolk, for reasons.
But she's eventually distracted by a beam of sunlight, and leaps right off the side of Huracan's head, floating gently to the rock-strewn ground. "Hey! GUYS, CHECK THIS OUT!" And she just... forgets all about the very serious business of thwarting Odessa's plans and maybe not getting attacked by a rabid squirrel-guy, in favor of crouching down and running her hands over the softness of m o s s. "There's a whole carpet in here! It's beautiful!!"
Behind her, the rocks are beginning to rumble. And roll. And gather themselves together, fueled by the Malevolence that chokes this cave system, into a looming, vaguely humanoid creature of stone. It doesn't have a mouth, so it's actually fairly quiet, but lifts a hand overhead to smash clumsily at the Gear and its riders!
Lan, meanwhile, is taking that bottle out again, to pour some water out onto the moss. "There you go, isn't that nice?" she beams, as battle rages in the background.
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Clear Water toward her party's challenge, The Moss Lurker.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
One of the Odessan operatives - Scythe - disappears quite abruptly, only to reappear on the Huracan's head... not far from where Jacqueline and Lan are. Jacqueline frowns, sending a quick, subtle signal to Cyre to let him know about this - though undoubtedly, he's already noticed thanks to Lan.
"Exploring." Jacqueline replies simply and politely. She takes note of his fangs, and while she doesn't comment on them, it's something she'll remember for later. "I take it you and your companion have business out this way?"
They proceed forward into the next room, a room with a beam of sunlight streaming down onto a patch of moss...which Lan runs ahead to investigate.
"Lan! Lan, be careful!" Jacqueline warns. Lan seems to be just fine - they, however, will have to deal with the Hellion that arises from the rubble on the floor. Jacqueline quickly draws out the codex, flipping through the pages.
"That's...a Giant! It's a Hellion formed out of rocks and earth that have absorbed a significant amount of Malevolence!" Jacqueline says. "As you can imagine by its earthen form it's incredibly resistant to physical attacks, and incredibly powerful, too. And if that isn't bad enough, it can rebuild itself from stray debris as much as it needs to until purified, or until its core is destroyed. Try to be thorough!"
But now for the matter of... actually defeating it.
"Providing support to the Huracan!" Jacqueline says, making a gesture with her left hand. For the time being, she focuses on casting support spells, strengthening the Huracan and enhancing its defenses.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool The Lifeweaver's Codex toward her party's challenge, The Moss Lurker.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
There is SOMEONE on the Huracan's head. "What?" Cyre asks, because this is one more person than he expected to be perched atop his gear. "What the-- why is there another person on my head!?" This is rude. RUDE! "You need permission to be up there! Or to pay the fee." There's also someone else in the rubble of the shattered rocks-- who, honestly, Cyre expected to be there. Ratatoskr is a reslient type. "See?" He says to Jay, "I told you he'd be fine."
Non-violence with respect to Odessa is a little... touch and go for this particular Baskar, it seems.
Not that he'll have much time to engage Ratatoskr in the single combat that the squirrely little dude (relatively) desires! They have... bigger problems.
Lan is busy scoping out a fuzzy carpet of moss, which is potentially related to why she's so into beastmen (they are fuzzy, moss is fuzzy. There is a connection there!!) And Cyre... "Take care of the moss!" He says over the din of battle, "So we need to destroy the core...?" Taking into account the Lifeweaver's Codex helpful information, the Huracan engages with its shield set into PILEBUNKER mode. A successful punch means the deployment of a powerful, explosive-driven spike deep into the giant's stony hide! It might be a long-shot to hit the core, but if it does, that's sure to be a ONE-SHOT KILL!
And with Jay bolstering its defensive capabilities, it should be able to go toe-to-toe with this monster for quite a while. But meanwhile...
There are two Schrodingers. One is perched near Lan and helpfully distracting her out of danger, and the other is...
...Flopped atop Scythe's head, because spatial anomalies are magnetic.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Schrodinger Support toward his party's challenge, The Moss Lurker.
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
Ratatoskr deftly leaps about the passage ahead, alternating between subtly shifting the length of his limbs to move on all fours to more upright to land in a crouch near a bed of moss in the sunlight. It accentuates the grin and eyes in a way that might make him look exactly like the kind of horror these sorts of places bring out.
"...I can tell there was a fight here some time ago," he flicks his tail out, as if his own curiosity is piqued. He's heard and seen signs of hostility between the nations that live here, but isn't sure where all the theaters of their various wars have taken place. He can see scratches here and there, and incidentally, this musing is about when Malevolence animates a whole bunch of rocks into a shape of something that does not want to be friends. Maybe it doesn't know what it wants and this is the only way it can communicate.
As a hand lifts up, Ratatoskr goes up to slightly higher ground and tries to intercept the downward swing before it happens, thrusting an open palm at its wrist to hold it upright.
"Did you see what happened?" He asks of the person-shaped mass of rock, because other person-shaped elemental concentrations he's met tend to talk back as much as they do punch. "Did you see what happened!" Ratatoskr quizzes along as the Huracan and various others are prepping to utterly annihilate it out of necessity, because there's no stopping it unless the Giant's core is destroyed.
"Come onnnnn," he gets insistent with the Giant. Somewhere in all this he eventually discharges compressed air to strike that arm back, because maybe it just wants to fight and that's fine too. You can learn a lot about things from how they fight, so he says!
DG: Ratatoskr has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Moss Lurker.
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
"The power of a Crimson Noble," Scythe says, his lips twisting in a smug little smirk. He folds his arms, somehow remaining perfectly still atop the Gear--despite Cyre's protests--as Lan scopes him out. "...Village?" Scythe raises an eyebrow, chuckles. "How precious. Have you never seen a Symbologist's tools?"
But Jay seems to be much cannier than Lan. "As are we," Scythe says, some of the ego bleeding out of his voice. "I'm sure we can arrange for a mutually beneficial--" Pause. "Fee." Scythe heaves a put-upon sigh, and glances down at the dust, searching for what he knows he's going to find. Sure enough, Ratatoskr is there, perfectly fine. "Very well. If you insist."
Scythe vanishes. He reappears next to Ratatoskr, head raised as if scenting the air. "Hold," he says, even though he doesn't expect anyone (except maybe Jay) to listen to him. "The taint condenses here. I can taste it. I--"
Scythe stares at Lan for a full two seconds, and scowls as the rocks reshape themselves. "A Hellion," he says, glancing back at Jay. "Is that what those are called?" It leaves a certain impression. Scythe looks spectacularly unworried as he raises a hand; tattoos running along his bicep flare with brilliant red light. Moments later, the air around the rock-Hellion ignites with infernal flame, battering it from all sides with explosive force.
This looks somewhat less impressive than Scythe intended because at some point (no one's sure when) Schrodinger materializes atop his head. Their tail swishes back and forth, flicking his nose.
DG: Scythe Riebaure has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Moss Lurker.
================================<* Yder Cave *>=================================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - The Moss Lurker *>========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
Sections of the cave have quite a lot of moss, but this area you've reached
just now has a /quite a lot of moss/. The source is an obvious one: a pretty
shaft of sunlight beaming down onto the cave floor. What with the dampness
in the cave, that's all the things a growing bed of moss needs to survive!
And what a Hellion needs to survive is... uh... well...
Needless to say, a Hellion Giant -- a large pile of rocks and earth animated
by Malevolence -- is rising from the cave floor here. While you might not
know what it needs, you know what it wants, which is your destruction!
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Injure=========================================
===========================<* Yder Cave - Round 3 *>============================ =========================< Results - The Moss Lurker >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ratatoskr 13 --(13)--> 26 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lan Lilac 13 --(5)--> 18 Pass Clear Water 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyre H. Lorentz 13 --(5)--> 18 Pass Schrodinger Support 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jacqueline Barber 13 --(5)--> 18 Pass The Lifeweaver's Codex 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scythe Riebaure 21 --(5)--> 26 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Ratatoskr 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Injure(2)|Tire(1) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ratatoskr has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has drawn a new Challenge.
===============================<* Yder Cave *>================================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - The Crystal Spray *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
There are signs of crystal growth here and there within the cave. You might
have even seen some of them already in your exploration (and if you haven't:
look, there's some now!).
They're quite impressive and, unfortunately, quite inconvenient for you.
This particular spray of crystals is actually /blocking/ your advance
further along this tunnel, which means that you are going to have to remove
them if you want to go any further this way.
They're quite large and solidly rooted to the cave floor. This will take
some doing.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Injure==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Ratatoskr's efforts to get right up and challenge the golem to a fight are pure and noble!! ...But the golem is strong, stronger still than he (or maybe just lucky) and its swing is more powerful than he'd anticipated. Look out, Rata!!
Jay has the right idea of it! Her powerful support spells - not to mention her knowledge - are just what Cyre and Huracan need to place a single well-aimed shot right through the golem's center mass. The vast majority of its bulk is scattered (and Lan actually looks up from trying to play with Scrodinger at the sound), rocks scattering all over the cave floor. Lan yelps as one comes too close to her, kicking it out of the air.
The rest of the golem's body is engulfed in flames, flames hot enough to sever the links between all the different stones, hot enough to put even a Hellion to rest.
"Eesh, where did that thing come from?!" Lan complains from the middle of the mossy carpet, which looks none the worse for wear. "Are you guys okay??"
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
The ways of Schrodinger are strange and mysterious, Scythe Riebaure.
With the giant slain and a negotiation underway about what each group of explorers is actually going to do with each other with regards to the whole 'exploring the same place, diametrically opposed on a number of very critical issues' issue, Cyre pauses the Huracan near the mossy carpet and lowers a hand to let Lan hop back onboard. "We're fine," Cyre says, truthfully enough. "Paintjob's just a little scuffed, but otherwise no major damage."
Onwards the party goes! But not... too far onwards. There is something in their way. Something... Downright beautiful in fact.
The corridor up ahead is positively littered with glimmering, shimering crystals. Huge clusters jutt out of the rock walls as if growing there like living things. Several dangle from above like half-finished, multifaceted pillars. They are, curiously, un-afflicted by the ambient Malevolence. Perhaps there's simply something about the inherent purity of mineral crystals that provides some degree of resistance to Malevolent energies...?
The only problem: There's one particularly huge cluster that has grown so large and so obtrusive that it almost entirely blocks the way forward, and any path that might lead around it would also involve climbing very near to large, sharp, and quite jagged crystal growths.
Only one thing to do for it, though.
"Man, it kind of sucks having to blow up something like this..." Cyre murmurs as he approaches the crystal wall with another cluster of demolition charges. "But at least we should be able to sell the shards..."
Once they're cleared for sale and determined to not be secret carriers of corruptive spiritual essence, of course.
DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Demolition Charge toward his party's challenge, The Crystal Spray.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Hm, I suppose..." Jacqueline replies to Cyre's comment, before looking back up at Scythe. The 'power of a Crimson Noble', he says. That gets Jacqueline's attention immediately. She knows Marivel - and she also knows that Marivel believes herself to be the last of her kind. Unless he's drawing on her power somehow, which she doubts, that raises a lot of questions.
"Oh my... I thought they were just a myth." Jacqueline replies, surprised. Her surprise is feigned, but she can be a good actress when she needs to be.
Scythe suggests they hold, then, as he teleports back down to Ratatoskr, and Jacqueline notes the way he seems to be able to sense Malevolence, without knowing its proper name...
...which means she just divulged some information, but it's fine.
"That's correct, yes." Jacqueline confirms, as he asks about Hellions. This Hellion is, soon enough, dealt with. Jacqueline takes a quick look around, but thankfully it looks like everyone is still standing... including the moss.
"I'm alright, thank you. How about you?" Jacqueline asks, looking back at Lan.
With the Giant defeated they're able to move forward... though Jacqueline does feel bad that Ratatoskr never got an answer.
"There, there... Maybe you'll be able to figure something out about the surroundings?" Jacqueline offers.
They proceed, but unfortunately it isn't long before they come across another obstacle. This time, some crystals have grown across their path, large enough that even the Gear will have difficulties getting through. Jacqueline frowns, studying them quite curiously.
"It really is a shame... they are quite beautiful." Jacqueline admits as an aside to Cyre. "The 'roots', to speak, run quite deep as well."
With that said, Jacqueline rummages through her bags, drawing out a bottle of red liquid.
"Here, this should give everyone a bit of a boost..." She says. With a Mystic touch it evaporates into a glimmering red cloud, which settles over the party... including the Odessa operatives. If they're working together for the time being, it wouldn't do to leave them out.
Surprisingly, whatever goes in that potion results in it being able to bolster the Huracan, too - Jacqueline spares no expenses, it seems.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Brewte Force toward her party's challenge, The Crystal Spray.
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
Ratatoskr doesn't hold, but he has an excuse - the Giant is stronger and flings him across the room. He catches himself and comes back down from that impact, he's fine enough. The mild whiplash and fractures knit themselves like they were little more than a tiny scrape, in the big scheme of bodily wounds.
He slinks back down and follows after the lot of them, coming back up near his present babysitter as he considers the eye-catching crystal growths that mark the room, as Cyre sets down demolition charges.
"When I came to Krosse while this was there," Ratatoskr waxes nostalgic, standing upright to his impressive height as he crosses his arms, "what I saw were a lot of angry Beastfolk... so I thought it was some sort of rebellion on their part." His grin softens towards a smile, tapping one of his arms with a claw in contemplation and the barely restrained energy to just keep moving and throwing himself at all the things.
"It made sense... Beastfolk see a lot of hostility... so you'd think they'd come together, rise up, and start a war." Ratatoskr continues to theorize, turning his head. "Then you'd see the Beastfolk surrounded by more of the purple haze, and I thought... this might be something unique to them...?" To Cyre, this may not be a pleasant thing to hear - comparing Beastfolk to ravenous, violent Hellions, even if it's being framed as an observation from someone who spent their formative years specifically in the perspective of a marauding, conquering genetically engineered army that sort of lumped everyone together under 'human.'
"...But then I saw someone who wasn't a Beastfolk become something like one within all that..." Ratatoskr's eyes dim, and lighten up again. "I've never met one that didn't want to fight... but so very, very few of them want to talk about how they do it... if they even talk again at all."
Almost insightful. When buffs are handed out and it's time to contribute, somewhere in this sequence of events, Ratatoskr hurls himself at the most brittle-looking crystal(s).
DG: Ratatoskr has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Crystal Spray.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Lan hops back on board Huracan, but not before stuffing a couple of clumps of moss into a pocket somewhere. "Oh good! I'm fine too. I can't believe something that big could be that quiet!" Yes, she is serious.
"--Anyway, as I was saying," she continues, "It's not like all Symbology tattoos look the same." And, to be fair, Lan is more than a little unobservant.
The particular crystal formation that's blocking their way is absolutely magnificent. "It's so gorgeous!" she sighs, already feeling bad about the fact that there's really no other way around. Not if they want to bring Huracan too.
Red mist settles around her shoulders, bringing a sense of renewed strength. "I guess we're not really destroying it - we're just reshaping it. And in another thousand years or however long, it might grow back even bigger." Sometimes you have to tell yourself nice things to get through a Dig without being sad.
Case in point... She's quiet while Ratatoskr recounts the tale of Beastfolk suffering from Malevolence, looking off at the wall of the cavern. "...I don't really understand why some people are so awful to Beastfolk. Like, they're just people." Are people really that scared of unusual ears?? When she thinks back... How could anybody have treated him so badly?
Eventually she just says, "They've got a right to be angry."
Still, before anything can be destroyed, Lan takes a moment to hop down and break off a few of the largest clusters she can in order to drag them out of harm's way. Maybe this will help, somehow...?
DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Crystal Spray.
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
Scythe dusts off his hands as the Hellion crumbles. "Formidable," he says, "but not formidable enough." He glances Ratatoskr-wards to make sure he's all right after that impact, and nods in his direction. He's got his best enigmatic face on, and it's up to Ratatoskr to figure out what he's thinking. Or not.
But then Jay says just the right thing to grab his attention. "One would think so," Scythe says, flashing Jay a fangy grin, "but one would be wrong." If he suspects she's being anything less than truthful, it doesn't show on his face. The Crimson Noble(?) takes up pace with the Gear, casually walking along as if they weren't in the middle of a Malevolence-tainted pit. And for once, Ratatoskr is... being helpful? It takes Scythe a moment to realize he's talking about something relevant, but once he does, he listens, carefully. "Krosse," he murmurs, rubbing his chin. An uncomfortable thought settles into his mind--did it reach Marze?--but he flicks it away like a stray bit of lint on his jacket. "How very fascinating," he says. "Thank you, Ratatoskr."
Lan speaks her mind, and Scythe shakes his head, sad but knowing. "They fear the unknown," he says. "The alien. That which is unlike them." Scythe raises his hand, and the same set of Symbols flares bright red as he snaps his fingers.
Explosions hammer the wall of crystal. It's pretty, but it's in the way. Scythe is not one to be sentimental over mere rocks.
DG: Scythe Riebaure has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Crystal Spray.
===============================<* Yder Cave *>================================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - The Crystal Spray *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
There are signs of crystal growth here and there within the cave. You might
have even seen some of them already in your exploration (and if you haven't:
look, there's some now!).
They're quite impressive and, unfortunately, quite inconvenient for you.
This particular spray of crystals is actually /blocking/ your advance
further along this tunnel, which means that you are going to have to remove
them if you want to go any further this way.
They're quite large and solidly rooted to the cave floor. This will take
some doing.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Injure==========================================
==========================<* Yder Cave - Round 4 *>=========================== =======================< Results - The Crystal Spray >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ratatoskr 26 --(5)--> 31 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lan Lilac 18 --(5)--> 23 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 18 --(5)--> 23 Pass Demolition Charge 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 18 --(26)--> 44 Fail Brewte Force 1 Brute Effects: Fanfare and Strengthe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scythe Riebaure 26 --(26)--> 52 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ratatoskr 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Injure(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ratatoskr has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
The excellent news is that the crystal wall has absolutely nothing on this band of intrepid adventurers. Blossoms of explosive magic burst across the crystalline growths, sending hairline fractures spiderwebbing through the gem. Bolstered by Jay's potion, Ratatoskr and Lan take more direct measures. The Hyadean rebounds off the most damaged crystals, shattering them into tiny fragments. Simultaneously, the Baskar knocks over and hauls away the largest intact crystals she can carry, all of which enables the Huracan to stomp deeper into the center of the growths. The deeper it can walk, the deeper it can plant its mines...
Which, as it turns out, is just deep enough for the ensuing catastrophic explosion to clear the way entirely... sending flesh-shredding crystal shards raining down over the party. They can take cover under the Huracan though, so it's not all bad.
...The bad news is that Cyre sounds... Kind of angry.
"Beastmen are not Hellions," he says with a snarl as he burns with OFFENDED ENERGY. "Hellions are creatures inflicted with a spiritual disease. A plague that takes something utterly inseparable from humanity and turns it into a cancer of the soul that can twists the body and corrupts the mind. That is not what a beastman is."
You can almost hear him harrumph on behalf of every beastperson he knows. He's certain that Leo at least would take spectacular offense to being equated with Hellions of all things...!
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
===============================<* Yder Cave *>================================
====================<* CHALLENGE - The Luminous Ascent *>=====================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
There are stands of large crystals scattered here and there all through the
cave tunnels; perhaps you even encountered one impressive display or
another.
This one will put the others you've seen until now to shame. This must be
what being inside a geode is like -- there are crystals jutting out from all
the walls, from the ceiling, from the floors...
And what's more, there's an opening above you. It almost seems like you
could use the crystals in here as a sort of ladder and climb your way up to
wherever this softly luminous (these crystals /are/ glowing! it's pretty
sweet) path might lead.
A place like this seems almost magical. Surely there's something good
within?
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Impressive..." Jacqueline replies, considering Scythe's response. He's certainly proud enough. Any further ponderings on that for now is put off as Ratatoskr speaks, on how he'd connected Beastfolk with Hellions. Jacqueline frowns slightly. She could correct him, but it looks like Cyre has that well in hand. Lan asks a question, about why they're treated that way and Scythe responds, and, well... Jacqueline can't really say he's wrong about it.
Jacqueline is quiet as they proceed forward, but soon enough they find an even more magnificent crystal array than the one they just destroyed - er, 'reshaped'.
"...Look at all that. It's like... the entire cave is made of crystal." Jacqueline observes. "But, is this a dead end...?"
She frowns as she scans the room again, until she spots something.
"Wait, look up there." She says, pointing upwards. There's an opening, it's pretty hard to reach, but... some of the crystals seem to form a convenient pathway. "If we watch our step carefully, we should be able to make it up just fine."
...Or, you know.
Cheat blatantly.
For Jacqueline's part, she clings to the Huracan as Cyre puts whatever plan he may have into action. With her free hand, though, she draws out a bottle of pale-green liquid. Like with the red one from before, she disperses it across the party. This time, however, is a potion that promotes freedom of movement, from anything that might restrict them or slow them down.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Rapid Remedy toward her party's challenge, The Luminous Ascent.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"But there's not enough difference to even care about!" There's nothing alien about Hicalu, or Cyre, or-- well okay Seraphita is a little bit alien but that's because she's from a weirdo super-racist, super-classist sky society. Not because she's got bunny ears.
But even a weighty subject like that can't keep Lan from feeling awash in wonder from the very first glimpse of the cave past the crystal blockade.
It's glowing. It's glowing, the crystals themselves are glowing! Not with Malevolence or even (as far as she can tell, anyway) with any other kind of weird rogue magic.
She's never seen anything like it, not even in that cave in Sylvaland.
Jay is the first to spot an exit. "Ooooh. I wonder what's up there? It can't be better than glowing crystals." Even so, she's already starting to thread magic through her hair ribbon. Lan crouches, and then jumps from Huracan's shoulder!
Nearly weightless, she reaches the apex of her jump and then kicks off of the air itself, landing carefully on a crystal before leaping again. "Come on!"
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Butterfly Ribbon toward her party's challenge, The Luminous Ascent.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
As it turns out, it wasn't merely a crystal corridor that they were blasting through, it was an artery leading to a veritable crystal heart. "It's... Beautiful," Cyre breathes, light flashing across the Huracan's face in bewitching, scintillating patterns. "...Sparkles and shimmers and shines and delights--" Oh no, is the beast-half of his beast-man-ness having a moment amidst this absolutely gorgeous display of geological glamor...!?
Pssh, nah, he's just plain old ordinary bedazzled, and maybe seeing just a few gella signs pop up in his peripheral vision. But then, selling bits of such beauty would just be... Absolutely regrettable, wouldn't it?
And besides, there's clearly something going on here with these crystals that suggests they're far more than meets the eye. Almost... as if the entire chamber were a gigantic refractor...?
But Jay finds a way out, a path that leads deeper even than this. The Huracan's eyes flash as its thruster column unfolds. "...I'll do a slow ascent," he says, gently throttling up the acceleration. He's not worried about fuel expenditure, but this is a brand new thruster column, and it's the first time he's pushing it at the low-end of its velocity range. Who knows what it might do? "Everyone hang on tight. Huracan's made for speed, not gently floating upward, but it's still a damn sight better than most at the job."
He'll respond to Ratatoskr's further observations later, after they all get to where they're going...!
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
Ratatoskr grins at praise, full of cocky young 'no one ever asked me so I didn't say this sooner' energy which is not deserved. What is deserved, is Cyre's on-board tongue lashing about his own kin being compared to those who suffer from a disease of the soul.
Ratatoskr turns a sharp look as he's addressed, segmented plated tail flexing on end as he straightens out. "...Did I say all of them are? Did I say all of them are!" Ratatoskr repeats question into exclamation as he rises with DEFENSIVE ENERGY. "...I've been called a Beastfolk too..." Ratatoskr kind of does look like one. His body is very squirrel-like. Digitigrade feet, the bushy tail - but he lacks squirrel ears, has serrated teeth, and those solid color eyes. Also, the horn.
He hops along with the rest towards the huge, stunning collection of crystals that work as makeshift platforms towards a nebulously defined 'opening' above, and in his clawed hand, a crystalline teleportation device of dubious state of maintenance.
"Besides... get this!!" He helps himself up to a crystal that lets him stand eye-level to the Huracan. "We see that, right... the way Beastfolk are looked at." He grins a bit wider. "Sometimes it's like others don't notice they're there... I've seen it! A Kislevi soldier talking down some Beastfolk... and then turning around, looking at a lizard without so much as blinking..."
Ratatoskr might like the sound of braincells scraping at one another enough that he's going to keep doing it even if it sounds annoying. (so to speak)
"And don't say his eyesight was bad!! That soldier was famed as a sharpshooter during a battle that took place in the Badlands desert around a major site of worship for the Guardians! He could pick off targets from further than his make of gunsmoke rifle was thought to be able to reach..."
That was around the time when everyone nearly got separated andor killed by the AvehKislev conflict after being given their mission by the Guardians. Some may even remember being accosted by soldiers-turned-Hellions - lizards are a common form for soldiers to take.
Nonetheless, Ratatoskr engages the device, leaving a burst of light and reappearing somewhere one imagines is 'higher, maybe.'
DG: Ratatoskr has used his Tool Teleporter Fragment toward his party's challenge, The Luminous Ascent. DG: Cyre H. Lorentz has used his Tool Overboost Unit toward his party's challenge, The Luminous Ascent.
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
"Ratatoskr," Scythe says, pressing a hand to his right temple. It is abundantly clear that his patience is fraying--that the youthful enthusiasm is grating on his nerves, no matter how factual and useful the information might be. "Some might consider it wise to avoid arguing with a man in a Gear." But Ratatoskr might just think of that as extra challenge. He's already demonstrated a basic inability to learn from physical harm.
The crystals, though--Scythe isn't so jaded that he's not at least a little impressed. "It appears uncorrupted," he says, smiling as he takes it all in. "Why, I wonder?" Green mist settles across him, and he blinks, slightly, before tracing the trail of sorcery back to its caster. He gives Jay a sly look before reaching into his jacket and pulling out a glass container of his own. It's a finger-sized vial, sealed with a wax-covered cork stopper; a Symbol etched into the wax glimmers, and fades as Scythe pops the cork loose.
The liquid inside is the color of human blood. Scythe downs it in two gulps, throws the empty vial over his shoulder, lets it shatter on the ground. He sucks in a breath, eyes hooding as the familiar, ecstatic high rolls through him. Tension builds in the air around him...
And then he's gone.
Scythe reappears hovering in mid-air, close to the wall of the passage. Another blink, and he's fifty feet above that, on the opposide side, peering at a fractalline formation. Another, and he's even higher up. He's just... decided the laws of physics no longer apply to him.
DG: Scythe Riebaure has used his Tool Ominous Vial toward his party's challenge, The Luminous Ascent.
===============================<* Yder Cave *>================================
====================<* CHALLENGE - The Luminous Ascent *>=====================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
There are stands of large crystals scattered here and there all through the
cave tunnels; perhaps you even encountered one impressive display or
another.
This one will put the others you've seen until now to shame. This must be
what being inside a geode is like -- there are crystals jutting out from all
the walls, from the ceiling, from the floors...
And what's more, there's an opening above you. It almost seems like you
could use the crystals in here as a sort of ladder and climb your way up to
wherever this softly luminous (these crystals /are/ glowing! it's pretty
sweet) path might lead.
A place like this seems almost magical. Surely there's something good
within?
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
==========================<* Yder Cave - Round 5 *>=========================== ======================< Results - The Luminous Ascent >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ratatoskr 31 --(10)--> 41 Pass Teleporter Fragment 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lan Lilac 23 --(10)--> 33 Pass Butterfly Ribbon 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cyre H. Lorentz 23 --(10)--> 33 Pass Overboost Unit 3 Agility Effects: Sacrifice and Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 44 --(10)--> 54 Pass Rapid Remedy 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scythe Riebaure 52 --(10)--> 62 Pass Ominous Vial 1 Agility Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Ratatoskr 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Injure(1)|Slow(2) Effects: Cleanse|Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Ratatoskr has successfully explored Yder Cave!
===============================<* Yder Cave *>================================
====================<* CHALLENGE - The Aquatic Panoply *>=====================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
You breach, at last, some inner sanctum within the caves. There before you
is a particularly still pool -- even for the still water you may have
encountered within this cave -- and behind it a moss-covered carved stone
altar. Light shines in through a crack above, illuminating the altar and
water both.
Upon the altar is a weapon, and when you take it in hand, you realize it
bears a mild enchantment of water. Someone interned this here, once. How
long has it slept here, waiting to again be wielded?
Perhaps at long last, its wait is over.
(OOC: the weapon may be anything that its would-be wielder would prefer)
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Just a second." Jacqueline requests. She takes a moment to make sure she's securely tethered to the Huracan before sending a thumbs-up. "Okay, good to go."
Lan, however, needs no such tether. Magic flows through her ribbons and she makes a series of incredible jumps, kicking off air and crystal both to reach her destination.
"Wow... you're really good." Jacqueline remarks, impressed. With that, though, she holds on tight as the Huracan ascends. It's fast, even at its lowest speeds, and agile too - it has no problem weaving its way through the crystal as it ascends.
Scythe and Ratatoskr, though, well... they have their own ways of getting around, in the form of 'just deciding to be there' and 'a teleportation device', respectively. Naturally, they have no issue reaching the top.
And inside, they find an ancient sanctum.
"...People must have lived here before. Or... at least worshipped here. Look at this place..." Jacqueline replies, awed, as she untethers herself and climbs down from the Huracan.
In front of them in a pool of particularly still water - pure and clear, unmoving even at their approach. Behind it lies a moss-covered stone altar, with light shining upon them.
This light illuminates the contents of the altar - here, several relics have been laid, taking the form of various weapons. Who knows how long they've waited here...?
"...I can feel the power of water from these weapons. They've been enchanted..." Jacqueline observes, walking up to the altar. From it she picks up a blue book with golden trim, turning it over in her hands. The enchantment is strong enough that she might be able to draw power from it... it might be worth keeping around.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"Thanks!" In truth, Lan is a shining example of 'you excel at what you work at'... in her case, she worked at 'dancing and jumping around like a goofball' until it became an actual skill. Winning!
And a fine coating of Jacqueline's Rapid Remedy didn't hurt, either.
They all make it up top in fine style, and Lan can barely stop herself from wading right into the water. But it's so still and glasslike... they've broken enough on their way in. She ought to leave at least one thing perfect and undisturbed.
And the treasure waiting for them...
It's not really anything she has a need for. After all, she's already carrying a sword that isn't hers. But... it would be kind of nice to have a backup in case she gets injured. Lan spots a simple bow lying among everything else and waits to make sure nobody else is really interested in it before taking and examining it. "Nice, it just needs a new string. Thanks, moss cave!"
<Pose Tracker> Ratatoskr has posed.
Ratatoskr gets up there and doesn't end up with a limb stuck in a solid object, but this is also because he sees a completely rusted out and worthless old dagger well away from the moss-covered stone altar before Jay brings attention to it. Said dagger is stashed away into narrative irrelevance is just another knick-knack on hand.
He comes up Jay's left flank and reaches out to grab the first thing when it looks like everyone's about to crowd around and take it. (It appears he's laid claim to a mace of some sort, whose spikes are constantly damp with drips of pure water every so often - like its lifelong dream was to be a watering can, an unrealizable fate.)
He is mercifully free of commentary, looking it over with interest given its make and how it fits into whatever historical narratives he has going about this novel, new world he's gotten to come see for himself with a brightness in his solid color eyes not usually seen.
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
Scythe goes silent as the group reaches the top of the shaft. The reason why is evident--he can sense the power of this place, the upwelling of energy within it. Has it kept the corruption from spreading?
The warlock breathes in, scenting the air. Augst sent him here for information, and he's going to get it.
But that doesn't mean he can't claim another prize, as well. Scythe's lips curl in a smile. He strides purposefully towards the altar, as if something atop it were calling to him. He reaches out, and one of the weapons disappears, reappearing in his hand. It's a knife, and its blade still gleams despite the dust of ages. It's double-edged, and a line of blue jade filigree runs down the blood-groove in the center. Scythe tucks it into his jacket, turns to Jay and her comrades, and deigns to dip his head in a bow. "See?" he says. "Wasn't that worthwhile? Do keep up that fine form when we meet again."
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Lan looks up from digging through her backpack. She's got some wax in here somewhere... "Huh?" she blinks at Scythe. "Did you say something?"
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"..." Cyre is pointedly silent on the matter of beastfolk in Kislev. He's seen how they're treated, tossed into the slums and regarded as second-class citizens. It's not as though he needs a reminder of the entire... escapade they had back then.
Soon, the drifters finish their ascent, and what they find there is...
'People must have... at least worshipped here.'
"Why does Malevolence seem so prone to pool in sacred places like this...?" Cyre asks as the Huracan engages its thrusters in a steady holding pattern (which is admittedly hell on its fuel tank, but it'll last for a little while at least). The beastman disembarks for the time being, the gear's systems undergoing a biometric lockout (for obvious reasons given who's standing around). He moves towards the weapons atop the altar and the mirror-like pool of perfectly tranquil water surrounding them. "...Crystals," he says, thoughtfully, as he lifts one such relic from its resting place. "Well, it's not exactly my forte, but it can't hurt having something like this around. Especially given how the whole... 'elemental cycle' thing up here seems to work."
A way to deal with fire is... helpful, for the wind shaman, it seems.
"...I wonder if the affliction here is Their fault, too...?" Clearly, the shaman has the Trial Knight in mind, but he quickly puts the terrible idea of K.K. becoming active again aside. Best not to dwell on such things.
If he appears, then they'll deal with him.
Cyre gives the apparent Crimson Noble a look, then a shrug, before turning to head back to his machine, relic in hand. Jay can handle the negotiations, he's unwilling to open his mouth and let the simmering irritation at the front of his brain make him say something he might regret.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"That's a good question..." Jacqueline considers, as Cyre asks a question.
She busies herself flipping through the pages of the book. It mostly seems to be about various forms of water-based sorcery... Althena's Blessing, specifically. Not something she can make personal use of, but it's an interesting read, and its inherent essence could be useful. She looks up, though, as Scythe makes a comment. She considers how to respond for a moment. Fortunately, as a merchant she's pretty good at handling herself, so she offers a polite smile.
"Ah, yes, of course. Do take care, both of you, hm?" She replies.