2021-11-09: Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky (Side C): Difference between revisions

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*'''Log: Knowing Beyond Knowing'''
*'''Log: Knowing Beyond Knowing'''
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Ethius Hesiod]], [[Character :: Gwen Whitlock]], [[Character :: Lan Lilac]], [[Character :: Avril Vent Fleur]]
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Ethius Hesiod]] (GM), [[Character :: Gwen Whitlock]], [[Character :: Lan Lilac]], [[Character :: Avril Vent Fleur]]
*'''Where:''' Celesti Wastelands
*'''Where:''' Celesti Wastelands
*'''Date:''' November 09, 2021
*'''Date:''' November 09, 2021
*'''Summary''': ''Avril and others travel to the rumored Alcidamas Village, seeking truth behind the hearsay. But truth is often stranger than fiction. And sometimes, the truth is not particularly pleasant, either.''
*'''Summary''': ''Avril and others travel to the rumored Alcidamas Village, seeking truth behind the hearsay. But truth is often stranger than fiction. And sometimes, the truth is not particularly pleasant, either. (Third of seven runs of the one-shot Alcidamas Village Dig.)''


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Revision as of 22:24, 20 May 2022

  • Log: Knowing Beyond Knowing
  • Cast: Ethius Hesiod (GM), Gwen Whitlock, Lan Lilac, Avril Vent Fleur
  • Where: Celesti Wastelands
  • Date: November 09, 2021
  • Summary: Avril and others travel to the rumored Alcidamas Village, seeking truth behind the hearsay. But truth is often stranger than fiction. And sometimes, the truth is not particularly pleasant, either. (Third of seven runs of the one-shot Alcidamas Village Dig.)

DG: A party led by Avril Vent Fleur is now entering Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Wood You Lend A Hand *>=====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Alcidamas Village, as it's called - it's more of a proper town by now - is
 easy to approach by foot. Skilled warriors have come together to help patrol
 the roads and keep it safe from ne'er-do-wells. All remarkably cheerful, if
 cautious. They're happy to give you directions to the place. The grass gets
 greener and the sky clearer the closer you approach.

 It turns out the people of the village are currently organizing a whole lot
 of freshly cut lumber along the route you are taking. Turns out the route
 you're on isn't one people usually take, and they accidentally blocked it
 off. With your help in moving the lumber aside, you'll be able to clear the
 way for yourselves - or anyone else that might be taking this off-beat path.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Hope is not easy to find out in the Zoara wastes, but then there's a whole number of people talking about a place where there is, and to be real, 'hope' should probably do a better job of providing infrastructure to where it is. The trip through the wastes to the promised location is as awful as can be expected. The sun is overbearing, the dust storms are made all the more dangerous due to the sorts of things both sides of the Civil War decided to fling at one another, and everything is desert and ruin.

     ...To a point. Eventually, a road that sees frequent usage is found, so that's proof of something there. Further proof: blades of grass, defiantly sticking out. The air gets gradually cleaner, cooler. Then there's a worrisome sight ahead - well-armed warriors shouting and waving at those arriving.

     ...Oh, not to threaten! They're just here to explain almost no one comes this way to the village and people are sorting out some freshly-cut lumber. (If asked to repeat, one of them goes 'yeah, we get that a lot, but we have freshly-cut lumber.')

     If anyone wants to see freshly-cut lumber in the rotted lands of former Celesti, boy oh boy, is there a treat! Lumber! Fresh! It's in the middle of the road everyone's taking and... that's not great. They didn't mean to block off anyone trying to come in, though, and offer to help clear the path. (One can help, if they want.)

     It's a very nice day out.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    Happy towns make for happy potential clients, and Gwen is only happy to oblige. There's just something a little odd about the place, a little too perfect, like finding a happy settlement in the middle of the Badlands, if those Badlands were created by the aftermath of a terrible war, rather than the gradual dying of the planet.

    It would be hard to have clients if the town was populated with ghosts, or secret Solaris agents trying to capture foolhardy couriers.

    Good thing Gwen is a courier, and only foolhardy enough to hope that the rumors are true. She parks the Halcyone a ways off, just in case it's yet another scenerio she has thought up: a village trapped in time, where technology would likely mean they get captured and tortured for being witches or somesuch.

    She may have explained these theories to anyone who decided to come with her, with the caveat of 'that would be the plot twist, if I was writing it'.

    "Fresh-cut lumber, huh..." Gwen scratches her behatted head. "Bah, I wish I had brought Halcyone for this, but ah well." She makes a show of lacing her gloved fingers in front of her and stretching, palms out. "Well, as my friends would know, I'm a bit of an expert at this kinda situation, y'see." She begins piling up the lumber on her right arm, grabbing each piece with her left hand. "Is over here fine?"

DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool ARM-ored Fist toward her party's challenge, Wood You Lend A Hand.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

    She's heard about it, of course. A village unlike so many on Filgaia, even the ones in the green lands of Adelhyde. A place that isn't struggling just to hold on to what's left. A place that's growing.

    Of course, everything surrounding it is a barren wastland. Even the Badlands aren't this depressing...!

    And just when she's starting to wonder if the rumors were really lies, they see it. Tiny at first, the sprigs of green struggling up through the blasted soil eventually give way to --

    Okay, fully-grown trees weren't what she was expecting. Not even already-felled ones, and definitely not trees blocking the road. "Oop! Gwen's right though, we can help out!" While the courier is definitely the stronger of them, Lan is adept at applying her own strengths. Woe be unto anybody who accidentally gets in the way of Lan, Carelessly Wandering Around With a Really Long Board.

    *(She was there for the village frozen in time and would rather not repeat it, Gweeeeeeeeen stop saying it or it'll come true!!!)

DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Wood You Lend A Hand.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    Rumors, by their very nature, are extremely good at traveling. And when it's the sort of rumor that not only suggests something improbable but something desireable? Well then. Boy howdy.

    Bit by bit, travelers have begun to trickle into towards the direction of the fabled village, perhaps in the hopes that it's true -- that here lies paradise, nestled in the ruins of Celesti. Even if it's been vastly overstated, well, wouldn't that be nice, still? That somewhere in the wasteland of the ruined nation, something is beginning to eke out a new beginning?

    This is not the reason Avril has ventured to make the long trek in through no man's land, though it is happenstance that her path took her along the same directions (and thus crossed paths with) Gwen and Lan. Rather, it's the distant uneasy stirring, of that thing in the darkness in the back of her mind shifting against the wall that locks herself from herself.

    It's the sense that there is something terribly -- emphasis here -- familiar about the situation in Alcidamas.

    "Alcidamas," Avril echoes, as they slowly approach what appears to be hints of green.

    "Do I... know that name...?"

    Gwen and Lan may not have an answer for her. Most likely, anyone who does know for certain is long dead (with a few choice exceptions besides, who still aren't talking).

    "Oh, might those be the villagers?"

    They are. And there's a bit of a lumber free for all happening out right in the road. "There is quite a lot of it," Avril observes, unhelpfully. Still, she does her part and moves to try to take some of it to help move it aside... and then bumps right into one of the locals. She tumbles, falling hard on the road and something on her person falls out onto the roadway, flipping open. "Oh--"

    Which is the point when someone steps on it.

    "..."

    The land... rumbles ominously.

    "Perhaps we should move," Avril suggests, watching the spot where the lumber is stacked with Concern.

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Remote Golem Override toward her party's challenge, Wood You Lend A Hand.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Wood You Lend A Hand *>=====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Alcidamas Village, as it's called - it's more of a proper town by now - is
 easy to approach by foot. Skilled warriors have come together to help patrol
 the roads and keep it safe from ne'er-do-wells. All remarkably cheerful, if
 cautious. They're happy to give you directions to the place. The grass gets
 greener and the sky clearer the closer you approach.

 It turns out the people of the village are currently organizing a whole lot
 of freshly cut lumber along the route you are taking. Turns out the route
 you're on isn't one people usually take, and they accidentally blocked it
 off. With your help in moving the lumber aside, you'll be able to clear the
 way for yourselves - or anyone else that might be taking this off-beat path.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
=======<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky - Round 1 *>========
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
=======================< Results - Wood You Lend A Hand >=======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Remote Golem Override               4   Brute   Effects: None
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gwen Whitlock                       0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
ARM-ored Fist                       2   Brute   Effects: Strengthen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           0 --(21)--> 21                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Avril Vent Fleur            0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)
Effects: Strengthen(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use
party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
======================<* CHALLENGE - No Pause For Alarm *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Everything is going fantastic in this village. Spirits are at an all-time
 high, and odds are you have never seen a happier, more optimistic bunch of
 people in all of Filgaia. They have been nothing but kind and accommodating
 to everyone who has come to visit.

 Some of the volunteer militia have experience dating back as far as the
 Celesti Civil War. A handful of such individuals approach you and express
 doubt in your good intentions, for this is the closest they've ever seen to
 hope for this region. They want to believe you're not here to spoil it, but
 they have been wounded too much to let their guards down before strangers.
 (Worst case scenario, someone will come by to cool down hostilities before
 it gets too heated.)
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Gwen is an expert in this situation indeed, moving lumber about like it's nothin' other than a thing to make physical comedy with Lan over. (It's okay. Between the two of them, moving lumber is no real object!)

     The people here seem open and friendly thus far in a genuine and understanding way - like maybe they're willing to believe the worst of their lives can finally be put behind them, up until there is a rumbling after someone steps on something. They - an older woman - kneels down to pick up the remote.

     "Oh? What could this b--"

     ...

     Long story short! The road is clear. Very much clear, aside from the temporary obstruction of a Golem. This is an outlandish and worrisome sight and it starts bringing in worried people. Worried people like the sentries a ways back down the road.

     "What's this then?!" Calls an older fellow in the remnants of a Congressional Knight uniform, brandishing an older gunsmoke rifle. With the fall of the Order of Ethos, there isn't as much of a central trusted authority in which to maintain them, and it's really shown! That one might be ready to fall apart entirely. "Is that thing attackin'?"

     It might need to be explained what's going on here - or some other method of pacification applied - before things really get out of hand. On the plus side, the way defenders and gawkers come together, it looks all naturally chaotic and somewhat disorganized - like real people trying to comprehend the perception of a novel threat.

     It could escalate in a less reassuring way real fast though.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    Gwen was also there for the village trapped in time. It did suck. And speaking of time--

    "Avril!" Gwen greets the pale=haired woman, waving her over. "Great to see you! How're Dean n' Rebecca doin'? Lan n' I're taking a looksee at this town. Care t'join us?"

    Later, the pile of wood is taken care of easily between the three of them, at least, until Lan manages to learn the downsides of long lumber being turned about, and Avril is bumped on the ground.

    "Ah, Avril, you okay?" If Lan or the villagers don't, Gwen offers a hand to Avril to help her up. "... oh? ..... oh."

    A golem landing *would* produce a bit of a kerfuffle, one that Gwen is quick to properly capitalize on, if just to soothe any nerves.

    "Ah, don't be alarmed! Lemme introduce myself, since you're all here." Gwen produces her clipboard. "I am Gwen Whitlock, super courier. I was scouting a possible path here to expand my coverage, so that I can provide your fine town with the proper connection to the world outside. Goods and services, mail, I do'em all, for a reasonable fee!"

    She never explains why the golem is there, hoping her confidence inspires others to feel the same.

DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Courier Kit toward her party's challenge, No Pause For Alarm.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "Ah? Gwen? Whatever brings you here? ...The others? They are well. As a matter of fact, we recently explored a temple to the south with Riesenlied. I do not suppose you have heard of it just yet?"

    It's really an unfortunate series of events, what ends up happening.

    "I am alright. Oh-- that device..."

    The ground shakes violently. And even in the midst of all this, Avril approaches the elderly woman and says, "Excuse me, but I am afraid that belongs to me." She holds out a hand, expectantly.

    And remains utterly deadpan even as the inevitable happens.

    "It will not harm you," she says, as authority figures arrive and make their presence known. "Please do not be alarmed. Now... there is something that I must do."

    She has produced a mirror. The mirror has begun to throw off filmy light and glow from within. ...This is supposed to be reassuring, how? But Avril at least looks like she's a woman on a mission -- this is someone who knows exactly what she should be doing right now, and right now involves a large Golem resting right in the middle of the roadway.

    "You must not be here anymore," she tells the Golem, as if it could listen -- as if it even has the power to listen, at its particular age. "You have accomplished what you must, and it is now time for you to depart. Thank you," she says to the Golem, the glow from the mirror seeming to suffuse her entire being.

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Mirror of De Soto toward her party's challenge, No Pause For Alarm.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

    "Alcidamas!" Lan repeats cheerfully, as if Avril is just waiting on confirmation that she got the name right. "It's kind of a long name though. Maybe you heard it before, or you heard something like it and now the two are all tangled up in your memory?" In the time it takes Lan to suggest that, she's already managed to knock the hat off of one man and nearly clothesline another with the piece of lumber she's picked up. The entire scene breathes a sigh of relief once she puts it down.

    Avril falls down - that looks like it hurt - and Gwen beats her to offering a hand up. "Are you okay? Are you bleeding--"

    Something, somewhere, rumbles.

    The arrival of a Capital-G Golem does the miraculous, and manages to actually shut her up for a few moments.

    When neither Gwen nor Avril seem overly concerned about it, Lan eases back out of her Warlike Chocobo stance and cranes her head back to stare up at it. "Woooooooooooow," she breathes.

    "Uh, oh, yeah." The locals aren't as calm. "It's okay! It's just a Golem!"

    Lan actually has no idea whether or not things are okay, but she doesn't like it when people panic.

DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, No Pause For Alarm.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
======================<* CHALLENGE - No Pause For Alarm *>======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Everything is going fantastic in this village. Spirits are at an all-time
 high, and odds are you have never seen a happier, more optimistic bunch of
 people in all of Filgaia. They have been nothing but kind and accommodating
 to everyone who has come to visit.

 Some of the volunteer militia have experience dating back as far as the
 Celesti Civil War. A handful of such individuals approach you and express
 doubt in your good intentions, for this is the closest they've ever seen to
 hope for this region. They want to believe you're not here to spoil it, but
 they have been wounded too much to let their guards down before strangers.
 (Worst case scenario, someone will come by to cool down hostilities before
 it gets too heated.)
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
=======<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky - Round 2 *>========
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
========================< Results - No Pause For Alarm >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    5 --(28)--> 33                 Fail
Mirror of De Soto                   1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gwen Whitlock                       5 --(28)--> 33                 Fail
Courier Kit                         1   Wits    Effects: Resilient and Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           21 --(28)--> 49                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Avril Vent Fleur            20 --(15)--> 35                Fail
Conditions: Exhaust(1)
Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has failed this challenge! The party gained 15 exploration! If anyone needs to use
party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Good Game *>===========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 One of the benefits to the restoration of the local flora is that the fauna
 have responded in kind. Though the environment can now support their numbers
 just fine, it may not be a bad call to help keep some of it in check. Your
 party has been called upon to help hunt some game.

 Alternatively, if your party is not into that, you can still be tasked with
 helping bring some economically useful creatures into captivity.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Gwen puts forth an incredible sales pitch that fails to garner traction or steam since the noise of the Golem's presence sort of drowns her out. Lan points out that it's okay, it's just a Golem, and... that doesn't help narrow things down! There's a lot more yelling, a lot more awkward things said and given as Avril takes charge of the situation about as well as anyone's going to as she addresses the older woman to hand it over. (She does, because Avril looks like someone who might be able to Do Something About This).

     Avril will find the way the light hits the mirror feels a bit... off? Not a bad 'off,' more like 'this is different and not exactly correct.' The Golem does remove itself from the situation... and then burrows back into the ground in such a way that the lumber stack that did survive just collapses in further rumbling.

     Quiet, awkward silence follows.

     * * * WELL-TIMED SCENE TRANSITION * * *

     So the people of the village have said, 'all right, let us just handle the lumber, you all go enjoy yourselves and take a rest.' It's beautiful out here, taken at face value. The fields are lush and healthy in a way that is undeniably 'real,' like it's a piece of Lunar that might have fallen to Filgaia... or better! Birds chirp and fly in their newfound reinvigorated environment prior to the Civil War burning all of it to a crisp. It's healthy, it's happy, but to those tuned deeply to the energy flows of the world, the Ley...

     Something is off. Not 'off' as in 'wrong and twisted and evil' but more... like a shortcut or a novel route has been taken, in some way. How, or why? The feeling that there's something urgent may yet grow in one's consciousness, but until then...

     There's deer. Deer that one may have heard complaining about while they were sorting out the aftermath of the Golem. The environment can hold their numbers fine, and in the distance one can see there's a bumper crop among bumper crops of foodstuffs, but maybe it's okay to not let the numbers of deer get out of hand.

     One such deer looks like it's ready to lay claim to this place and try to see the three of them out.

<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

    ...Well, they can't save the day every time. Sometimes you avert disaster, and sometimes you are the disaster.

    "I've never seen any place like this! At least, one that wasn't on the moon," Lan amends. The grass grows thick and lush here, the crops in the distance look healthy, and the land even supports a large number of wild deer. When she thinks back to how many times she was happy for something as small as a rabbit or a ground bird... one of those deer would feed her entire village for several meals. Not to mention everything that would be made from the bones, pelt, and antlers!

    It's envy, isn't it? The strange feeling she's having. The sense that something is a little off - other than, well, the entire idea of a healthy place on her beloved, dying planet.

    "You know, I bet if we could bring them a deer or two, it'd make up for the Golem," Lan suggests thoughtfully. Eyeing the bold one approaching them, she slips the ancient bow from its place at her back and kneels down to quickly string it.

    Still on one knee, Lan takes a deep breath, aims, and pulls back the empty string. A shape, pale and translucent, forms between her fingers before Lan fires an arrow made of water magic.

DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Good Game.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    Gwen's sales pitch is a distracted one, as she occasionally shifts to look towards Avril, briefly awed by how the silver-haired woman talks to the golem.

    Maybe if Gwen wasn't so distracted, she might've pulled off that sales pitch. Or maybe not, as the entire town itself is distracting. Foolhardy as she may be, Gwen has seen her share of villages and towns, idyllic, troubled, quiet, faded, corrupt, bustling, and all the other descriptors one could possibly see on Filgaia.

    "... Feels wrong," Gwen says, softly stating the obvious towards Lan and Avril when they're out of earshot. "Towns this perfect usually have a unique reason for it, in a place like this. Maybe, if we know the reason, it'll make sense. If it's a secret they're keeping for the sake of the village, that'd definitely make sense."

    The deer are abundant, enough to threaten crops. Such strange problems to have, in this part of the world. "Ain't sure I feel all that great 'bout shootin' anything that's managin' to survive out here. Maybe this is all an illusion." She was hoping for a charming town with its share of imperfections and beauty, not something so unmarred as to seem corrupted by the mere absence of anything wrong.

    "... Maybe just scare 'em off, Lan, until we know better. In a horror story, we'd be turnin' out t'be shootin' people or somethin', at this rate." Gwen undoes the buckle over her right palm and straightens it upwards to shoot over the herd, firing a spray of crackling light. "We can always help out later."

DG: Gwen Whitlock has used her Tool Full Metal Courier toward her party's challenge, Good Game.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    It works.
    After a fashion.

    What was that, just now? Avril turns her mirror this way and that, as if utterly unaware of how the people about them are reacting to all of this. Fortunately, Gwen and Lan might have more smarts regarding what's best to do at a time like this...

    ...Sometimes, there is wisdom in making oneself scarce.

    A SHORT TIME LATER

    "I have not seen a place such as this since Lunar," Avril remarks, as they make their way through verdant fields. "If I should be quite honest, actually, I believe..." And she turns towards the forest in the distance, just as the light almost seems to sparkle over babbling brook and shining stream alike. A fish, improbably, leaps from the water, silver and healthy.

    "...Even Lunar was not like this. These flowers, those trees. I... they look like a painting, do they not?" And yet, when she stoops to pluck a single flower, it's as real as can be.

    Caught by the wind, the flower's petals seem to dance. One single petal breaks off, flutters away in the breeze.

    Avril stands like that for a long moment, as if feeling as if she has been caught a moment between the screen and the windowpane.

    She starts, as if roused from a reverie. The flower falls away from her grasp. "The... deer?" she utters, a moment later, taking in the animals for the first time.

    "There are quite many of them. And I do not see any sign they have been preyed upon," she remarks, beginning to wade through the field towards them. Ice shimmers in a tiny tight sphere in her right hand as she raises it, her gaze intent on one of the fat animals. "...Yes, perhaps they might," she says to Lan and then, as Gwen demures, shakes her head. "The local predators must have fallen also with Celesti. If nothing culls their numbers, they shall become a burden to the villagers here. Even if we were to slay one or two and leave them behind, we may be doing them a favor," she finishes, only to tilt her head to one side as if puzzled.

    "Horror... story? But they are deer," she says to Gwen, shaking her head.

    Then she turns, as if to cast that die, and casts forth her shimmering ice--

    A wall rises in the near distance. It may startle the deer. It may also be as a barrier to prevent Lan's chosen prey from fleeing.

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Good Game.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Good Game *>===========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 One of the benefits to the restoration of the local flora is that the fauna
 have responded in kind. Though the environment can now support their numbers
 just fine, it may not be a bad call to help keep some of it in check. Your
 party has been called upon to help hunt some game.

 Alternatively, if your party is not into that, you can still be tasked with
 helping bring some economically useful creatures into captivity.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
=======<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky - Round 3 *>========
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
============================< Results - Good Game >=============================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    33 --(0)--> 33                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gwen Whitlock                       33 --(0)--> 33                 Pass
Full Metal Courier                  2   Combat  Effects: Embolden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           49 --(0)--> 49                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Avril Vent Fleur            35 --(20)--> 55                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)
Effects: Embolden(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use
party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Our Stories Thus Far *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Your party's invited to come relax and enjoy a meal with the locals. There's
 plenty of food to pick from! The excess of ingredients has sort of spoiled
 the locals, so there isn't much in the way of technical cooking skill that
 can only come from working with scarcity. They make up for it with variety
 and heart.

 They're happy to swap stories about how well things are going - such as how
 their lives improved immeasurably after a beastfolk helped bring everything
 together. (Their current mayor now, one adds.)

 Enough about themselves! They want to hear how things are going out there.
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    It's all very striking to take in. It looks right, it looks great, it feels... nice? Should the place have permission to be nice, when the surrounding environs are as eroded and dying as they are?

     Lan takes a shot with a watery arrow to strike a deer unconscious, and there's nothing untwoard about the way it flops over. The way the deer try to scatter is exactly as one might expect for them to elsewhere - if they're an illusion, they are so very well-cast that the one deer they catch on the spot smells... yes. It's a deer. The rest start to scatter as Gwen shoots a spray of crackling light that disperses in a fashion slightly different than she may be familiar with or intend, but the same effect is achieved. The herd is frightened.

     Avril is able to put up a freezing wall of ice to prevent many of them from escaping, if they so choose to cull or otherwise capture. If she has the right of it, the local predators haven't been able to bounce back as of yet - the deer may have just survived long enough to make it to this place, but not those who live to keep them in check. Until such a thing materializes... it's good they're here.

     However they resolve it from there, a villager calls over for the three of them to join together and have a good late lunch, and it seems like the earlier incident has more or less resolved itself. What would they like to eat? That's not a question the people of Filgaia get to ask, or think to ask, very much. What is there to pick from?

     Yes.

     The food they've put together with all of this 'yes' is the result of people unaware how to really bring out all the flavors of the food they have now, but not for a lack of trying! The base ingredients are just too good for this sinful world.

     "Been a great two years, lemme say," says someone who really wants to say it's been a great two years. "That beastfolk fella really meant it when he said he'd be able to make everything better!"

     "'That beastfolk' is our mayor!" Says another. Filgaia has a particular issue in the way it treats Beastfolk that is not shared on Lunar, for whatever reason - but here we are, in the middle of paradise, where a Beastfolk has managed to rise above that in station.

     "How're things with you lot?" Asks an older woman, who is serving middle-quality stew (not for lack of ingredients, just dealing with the variety and excess has been a learning process for them). "Eat as much as you'd like!"

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    Well, the deer are deer! Enough that Gwen can tell, anyway.

    As soon as the prospect of food enters the picture, all doubt is shoved away so that Gwen can gratefully accept the bounty offered to her.

    After all, if it all turns out to be sand and rocks, Gwen'll still have the experience of eating it when she believed it smelled and tasted like good food!

    Besides, eating is the best spot for the exchange of gossip and information, and can even be one in itself. The flavors, the spices used, the prep, the meal itself... it's definitely a bounty of plenty, with food that would make sense in this climate if it wasn't torn by war, at least as far as Gwen can discern.

    "Huh." Gwen looks up from her bowl of soup, and grins widely. Context achieved?? At least, one Gwen wants to believe in. A paradise due to a clever beastfolk-type, and everyone's protective of them to make sure they're not somehow taken away by the cruel, cruel outside world.

    She really wants to believe this is the story she is looking for, until she knows better.

    When asked about her and her friends, Gwen volunteers. "Well, I've been tryin' to expand my business here. I'm a courier by trade, n' I like to specialize in all those towns that are hard t'get to or new, n' it sounds like you guys might have the bounty to export out for stuff from other towns! Especially where y'all are located. Sounds like you got a proper genius on your hands here, too. Even if it's local it this place, any amount of green is an amount we didn't have before. Whenabouts did their work start?" She laughs. "I may have a relative who might want to compare notes. All she can manage are peppers n' hot climate crops."

DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Our Stories Thus Far.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

    "It does feel wrong," Lan agrees, because of course it does! "But it can't be another village frozen in a, a time loop. Can it? I mean, two of those?" Lan isn't really keen on the idea of Villages Frozen In Time as anything but a one-off problem. If there's more than one, there could be three. Or more! It would be a serious problem!!

    And... even after everything that's happened, Lan is an optimist. She wants badly, so badly, to believe that the planet can recover.

    Just getting the majority of them away from the crops will be good enough for now. Lan doesn't shoot more than one deer, because she isn't magically knowledgeable about how many deer a place can support - at least, it'd take her more than 'five minutes and a glance' to figure it out. She'll carry it on her back, dressed and trussed, back to the village.

    It seems all the trouble from earlier has been taken care of, at least. After handing the carcass off to a villager, Lan is all too happy to accept the invitation to a meal. "Thank you!" The bounty of food available... the amount and the variety...! There are vegetables here that Lan's never even heard of!

    "A Beastman?" she echoes, swallowing a mouthful of soup and bread. "What kind of person is he? Did he come from Lunar -- the moon?"

    Underneath the table, Lan's left hand slips into her pocket to pull out her paku-paku. She can't really use it one-handed, but its presence gives her a little focus.

DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Paku-Paku toward her party's challenge, Our Stories Thus Far.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "No," Avril answers Lan. "I do not think that this is a time loop. Something else is happening here."

    And it feels so deeply painfully adjacent to something she knows that she knew that it's almost unbearable. She knew this. She knows that she knew this. But it's no longer--

    ...Something which she can access.

    The situation with the deer is, by contrast, a simple, easy matter. They catch one deer, they do as they must. The rest scatter and perhaps, they won't return at such speed (though return they will -- life will consume life as it must to continue to exist).

    And so they return, bearing a gift as a form of an apology, though it seems like it was scarce needed. They're treated to a feast, by the definitions of just about everywhere else in Filgaia. And it's in the middle of this that they're all asked questions. Innocent questions. Who are they? Where did they come from?

    What's it like out there?

    "Everything is..."

    Avril pauses for the moment, then slowly stands, drawing out again her mirror. She bears it for a moment before her, and this time it does not shine with any mysterious inner light. Rather-- it's just a mirror, one that she uses to reflect the spread that's been set on the table before them all. For a moment, the feast is doubled.

    "...Not like this," she finishes, setting the mirror down, glass atop the table. "I am sorry. You have been very kind. Yet... I do not understand," Avril continues. "How is it that you are able to live so? In even Sylvaland they would be in awe of this bounty," she finishes, crossing her hands before her.

    She shakes her head slowly, pursing her lips as if something were nagging at her. "What is it that makes the land healthy in this way? From where have all these crops sprung? What is it that has caused... the land to be... terra..."

    She can feel it. It's close enough that if she were to press her hand up against the glass, it would break right through to the other side and then she would tumble and fall--

    And she blinks the once, eyes widening.
    And she blinks again, and it is as if the room has shifted a few degrees counterclockwise. One hand reaches for her chair and Avril sits down again, this time heavily.

    "I am... sorry. I felt so strange for a moment..."

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Mirror of De Soto toward her party's challenge, Our Stories Thus Far.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Our Stories Thus Far *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Your party's invited to come relax and enjoy a meal with the locals. There's
 plenty of food to pick from! The excess of ingredients has sort of spoiled
 the locals, so there isn't much in the way of technical cooking skill that
 can only come from working with scarcity. They make up for it with variety
 and heart.

 They're happy to swap stories about how well things are going - such as how
 their lives improved immeasurably after a beastfolk helped bring everything
 together. (Their current mayor now, one adds.)

 Enough about themselves! They want to hear how things are going out there.
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
=======<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky - Round 4 *>========
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
=======================< Results - Our Stories Thus Far >=======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    33 --(5)--> 38                 Pass
Mirror of De Soto                   1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gwen Whitlock                       33 --(5)--> 38                 Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           49 --(5)--> 54                 Pass
Paku-Paku                           2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Avril Vent Fleur            55 --(20)--> 75                Pass
Conditions: Save Point(1)
Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use
party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Avril Vent Fleur has drawn a new Challenge.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
======================<* CHALLENGE - Everything Is Fine *>======================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 "So you're the travelers I'm hearin' so much about!" The voice belongs to
 large, aging (60's?) beastfolk of a vaguely pig-like form who still looks
 strong enough to knock just about anyone flat. Not that there appears to be
 any mean bone in his body, as he approaches your group. "Thanks for stoppin'
 on by Alcidamas. I'm the mayor, Homer Mecone! You can just call me Homer. I
 sure have been sayin' this a lot lately to people like yourselves! Gah ha ha
 hah!"

 After a brief chat, he makes a peculiar offer. "I bet you're wonderin' how
 we've been doin' so well, and... hey, I figure the cat's outta the bag. I
 warn you... you ain't never have seen anything like what you're about to."
 That sounds ominous, but he waves it off. "Ahh, don't worry bout nothin'."

 Homer takes you to see a large shrub-tree... thing, atop a hill. It seems
 colored a hue that just bleeds outside of the visual color spectrum. It
 seems to be on fire in an equally improbable color, surrounded by leaves and
 fruits making fractal patterns that come shy of breaking three-dimensional
 comprehension. Though utterly alien, there is nothing untoward about its
 surroundings. Around it, the air is at its freshest. The ground at its most
 fertile. It also happens to have a horizontal, glassy 'window' with a
 smiling face that seems to lean forward to look at you in a way that doesn't
 involve any part of it moving.

 "Meet Demetrioi!" Homer introduces them. "Friendliest li'l... uh, maybe not
 so li'l? Friendliest... Demetrioi you'll ever meet!" Homer seems to struggle
 to describe it, but doesn't linger there. "Brought it with me here from
 further out, some time back." He doesn't say where, and abruptly changes the
 subject. "B-But as you can see... Demetrioi here gave em clean water, fresh
 air... brought the soil back to health... and all it seems to want in turn
 is to have friends." What a bargain, his grin says! "Go on! Say hello!"

 :o hello and salutations i am demetrioi :) today is a wonderful day :D

 Its voice is difficult to describe, but it is outwardly friendly and in good
 cheer. Aside from its unsettling appearance, there is nothing untoward about
 its actions or manner.

 Go on, make a really freakin' weird friend today. (Unless you'd rather
 disengage, politely or otherwise.)

 BGM: Star Ocean Faithlessness and Integrity - Like a Lost Child -
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlbnSX_f5YA
=Dungeon Conditions: Madness==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Some conversation is made. Gwen makes another pitch about her courier business, and she gets the ear of at least one farmer who is keen on getting some of the bumper crop out before it goes to waste. Lan, inquisitive, wants to know if he came from 'the moon,' and there's some laughter here and there. It's Avril who gets more somber, who has to act more direct and tough questions - and is able to command the quiet of the gathered as she lets her doubts out. Simply put: why the hell is everything so good.

     Then people look up, as a large-bodied figure - a pig-like Beastfolk - happens upon the lot of them in good cheer.

     "I can answer that for all of ya! Nice ta meetcha. The travelers I've been hearin' so much about!" Pleasantries are given on his part, and he muses about how he's sure he's been saying something like that 'a lot lately' but on his count, is just the third. He's sure he'll be saying it by the twentieth time too, but anyway! He acknowledges there's the questions, and invites the three of them to come see. The locals don't look worried - one nods along, even.

     "I warn you... you ain't never have seen anything like what you're about to." Ominous! "...Ahh, don't worry 'bout nothin'."

     Those keyed to the way the Ley flows... well. Something feels strange well before more mundane senses would respond in (un)kind that something is weird. There's a large shrug-tree whatever-the-hell-it-is atop a hill. Its coloration seems just outside the visual color spectrum. It seems to be on fire, without pain, and the 'fire' is also a weird color, with leaves and fruits making fractal patterns barely contained by the limits of three dimensions. It's... not something that happens naturally.

     Everything around it is wonderful and perfect by any metric. It's just this exists. There's a glassy window with a smiling face that seems to zoom in on them.

     Their name is Demetrioi. Friendliest... Demetrioi they'll ever meet, brought them with him from further out, some time back, yadda yadda. "...and all it seems to want in turn is to have friends. Go on, say hello!"

o hello and salutations i am demetrioi :) today is a wonderful day :D

     That was sound that just happened. Technically. Nonetheless, it appears outwardly friendly and in good cheer and wants to meet the lot of them - and is making no gestures that suggest a threat or danger beyond its mere existence.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    Gwen is reminded, randomly, as she stares across at Lan, that she needs to tell her about Ashansi. Damn it, she kept putting that off, since she knows it'll make Lan unhappy, but she promised Loren, at the very least...!

    "Avril... are you alright?" Gwen's attention shifts back towards her other companion with a frown. "You've been out of sorts since comin' here." The courier knows better than to brush it off. If Avril feels off, Gwen feels something is off.

    But that doesn't mean the 'off'-ness is caused by something that means to do harm.

    And it doesn't mean she can't be properly social. Gwen freely offers her left hand for the Mayor to shake. "The name's Gwen Whitlock, super courier! N' these are my friends. Though, it sounds like, you have a friend who helped this about?"

    Which leads to... now.

    Gwen would have counted all of this as a pleasant situation where she might be able to make another friend, but Avril's increasing uneasiness makes her pause.

    .... And, to give her friends a moment to compose themselves, Gwen steps forward, not looking directly at the perfect, slightly lonely being.

    And, like she has, so many times, Gwen introduces herself.

    "Pleased t'meet you, Demetrioi! I'm Gwen Whitlock, super courier. I wanted to visit this pleasant abode, as I'm open to the possibility of openin' a proper route t'here. I'd shake your hand but I don't think there's a hand t'shake, so accept my warm greetings instead!"

    Never, in a million years, would she have expected her visitations with the Blue-Eyed Stranger would help her in her job. But, in dealing with things beyond the understanding of space, with sounds that look like colors and faces that peer at you from a vantage that is close but far away, Gwen is willing to coach it in those same terms.

    And this presence is far more innocent and well-meaning that any visit she's had with the Stranger. She even looks slightly aside, saying, "sorry if I seem out of sorts, this is a sort a new thing t'see! Sounds like you've found yourself a proper home, though, I wonder which whereabouts you hail from? The Mayor said you came from 'further out'."

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    She slouches forward as if weighted heavily, and perhaps some present might have room to be concerned that she might be about to pass out.

    It never stops affecting her like this. Every time, when she feels she is close to making contact, it falls away. The wax melts, the feathers come loose, and she falls into the sea.

    "I am alright," she tells Gwen, finally straightening in her seat and turning her head to regard the younger woman. "I felt... as if I knew this situation, somehow."

    Deja vu, again? Over even something like this?

    Perhaps it's just as well that the afore-mentioned mayor makes his appearance and offers to show -- rather than explain -- what's behind the village's good fortune. Perhaps to get to the bottom of this for her own sake, Avril readily agrees. And then...

    and then...

    "So you are Demetrioi," Avril says to the... Demetrioi. "It is nice to meet you."

    Her gaze settles on it and it alone, as if it were for the moment the sole (strange) existence in creation but for herself.

    "Are you the one who has caused the land to become like this? I am certain that the villagers are grateful for your help."

    And Avril takes one step further, approaching that unburning burning bush. In her arms is the mirror--

    It's the back of the mirror she presents to it.

    "Demetrioi... I must know. Is this familiar to you?"

    "Have we... possibly met?"

    Is it at all possible that she, somehow, that this is... that 'further out' means... not so far at all?

DG: Avril Vent Fleur has used her Tool Mirror of De Soto toward her party's challenge, Everything Is Fine.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

    "...Avril?" Lan lowers her spoon to the surface of the table with a quiet 'clink'. "Are you okay?" She doesn't look okay. She looks... Lan knows that look. She's worn it before, and so has Gwen. When memories of the Stranger slipped to the surface and she'd needed a moment to remember what she was. What world surrounded her. She reachs out, fingers stopping just short of the elegant girl's shoulder--

    --because someone with some actual answers has arrived. "Nice to meet you too," Lan says, introducing herself with a smile. Her hand rests on the table again.

    And when offered answers to this mystery, who in their right mind would say no?

    So they follow him - after all, none of the villagers seem uneasy. None of them look worried. Lan keeps the oracle paper between her fingers as they walk away from the village. Falling just a few steps behind, she works it back and forth in comforting and familiar patterns, inviting the spirits of the land to whisper their secrets in her ears, asking the unknown to help her make sense of it all. Because as they keep walking, Lan realizes that they're going towards the source of the, the wrinkle in the Ley.

    And once they arrive, Lan understands.

    --Not what this is, or how it's doing whatever it's doing, but she understands that this is beyond her comprehension. It's a feeling that she's known before. The 'holograms' floating in Etrenank's streets, the technology that was indistinguishable from magic, the broken castle suspended in the night...

    This is another flavor of that madness. Lan looks down into her oracle paper one more time before slipping it into her pocket. "...Demetrioi," she echoes carefully. Shouldn't it remind her more of Azoth? The friendly, helpful face he puts on when he wants to pass as a Drifter? --Yes, if she thinks about it that way, it's not so weird...

    "I'm Lan," she introduces herself. "Thank you for... well, for all of this. It's beautiful here."

DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Paku-Paku toward her party's challenge, Everything Is Fine.
DG: Gwen Whitlock has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Everything Is Fine.
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
======================<* CHALLENGE - Everything Is Fine *>======================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 "So you're the travelers I'm hearin' so much about!" The voice belongs to
 large, aging (60's?) beastfolk of a vaguely pig-like form who still looks
 strong enough to knock just about anyone flat. Not that there appears to be
 any mean bone in his body, as he approaches your group. "Thanks for stoppin'
 on by Alcidamas. I'm the mayor, Homer Mecone! You can just call me Homer. I
 sure have been sayin' this a lot lately to people like yourselves! Gah ha ha
 hah!"

 After a brief chat, he makes a peculiar offer. "I bet you're wonderin' how
 we've been doin' so well, and... hey, I figure the cat's outta the bag. I
 warn you... you ain't never have seen anything like what you're about to."
 That sounds ominous, but he waves it off. "Ahh, don't worry bout nothin'."

 Homer takes you to see a large shrub-tree... thing, atop a hill. It seems
 colored a hue that just bleeds outside of the visual color spectrum. It
 seems to be on fire in an equally improbable color, surrounded by leaves and
 fruits making fractal patterns that come shy of breaking three-dimensional
 comprehension. Though utterly alien, there is nothing untoward about its
 surroundings. Around it, the air is at its freshest. The ground at its most
 fertile. It also happens to have a horizontal, glassy 'window' with a
 smiling face that seems to lean forward to look at you in a way that doesn't
 involve any part of it moving.

 "Meet Demetrioi!" Homer introduces them. "Friendliest li'l... uh, maybe not
 so li'l? Friendliest... Demetrioi you'll ever meet!" Homer seems to struggle
 to describe it, but doesn't linger there. "Brought it with me here from
 further out, some time back." He doesn't say where, and abruptly changes the
 subject. "B-But as you can see... Demetrioi here gave em clean water, fresh
 air... brought the soil back to health... and all it seems to want in turn
 is to have friends." What a bargain, his grin says! "Go on! Say hello!"

 :o hello and salutations i am demetrioi :) today is a wonderful day :D

 Its voice is difficult to describe, but it is outwardly friendly and in good
 cheer. Aside from its unsettling appearance, there is nothing untoward about
 its actions or manner.

 Go on, make a really freakin' weird friend today. (Unless you'd rather
 disengage, politely or otherwise.)

 BGM: Star Ocean Faithlessness and Integrity - Like a Lost Child -
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlbnSX_f5YA
=Dungeon Conditions: Madness==================================================
=======<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky - Round 5 *>========
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
========================< Results - Everything Is Fine >========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avril Vent Fleur                    38 --(13)--> 51                Fail
Mirror of De Soto                   1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gwen Whitlock                       38 --(13)--> 51                Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Lilac                           54 --(5)--> 59                 Pass
Paku-Paku                           2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Avril Vent Fleur            75 --(35)--> 110               Pass
Conditions: Madness
Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Avril Vent Fleur has successfully explored Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky!
============<* Alcidamas Village - Oasis of Land, Water, and Sky *>=============
===========<* CHALLENGE - Best Friends Forever For a Day (4 of 4) *>============
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Everyone gives their greetings, however earnest or otherwise, and
 Demetrioi's face smiles a little wider. (Is that a good thing? It doesn't
 seem like a bad thing, but...)

 :) nice to meet you :D be happy and healthy and harmonious world okay :)

 Somehow, even if you were hostile or even attempted to strike it, Demetrioi
 comes off as pleased. (Homer might be a little less accepting but doesn't
 bring the mood down.)

 Homer takes you all aside, away from Demetrioi. "I'm real happy that
 Demetrioi there's only ever known people happy 'bout what they do." There's
 a sad little laugh there. "Ain't that many people who get to live that kinda
 life, eh? Far as I know, they're gonna be here for a long, long time. Longer
 'n any of us... can't even think what it's gotta be like."

 The pig-like beastfolk sits down, his advancing age catching up to him. "I
 think they know that. The few times they talk 'bout it, they think in the
 long term... real long numbers, longer 'n any of us have." He exhales
 peaceably. "Long as life's as good as it has been the last two years...
 we're in good hands." Beat. "Branches! Gah hah hah!"

 It's about time for supper. You see other villagers come by and give
 Demetrioi love and attention, which it equally appreciates. Nothing seems
 off about the villagers or their behavior otherwise, and supper is tasty.
 Everyone parts on amicable terms. Hey, maybe everything's fine after all,
 even if you might not be sure what to make of... you-know-who.

 Homer has to excuse himself from further discussion to continue with mayor
 business, and sees your friends off.

 As everyone takes their leave, your path isn't far from the hill Demetrioi
 roosts. Their monitor-face turns your way, at which point they have
 choice(?) parting words.

 :) as long as everyone and everything is happy i am happy :D good day
 everyone no no no best day everyone :)

 BGM: Star Ocean Faithlessness and Integrity - Spending Time With You:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXCIpXygVZY
=Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    When Gwen mentions shaking a hand, a branch tilllllllts just far enough for her to reach. The sensation of touch will be weird, if she takes it up. Not... bad, specifically? Like the human brain isn't sure how to parse the interaction. Nonetheless, this... Demetrioi answers to the best of its knowledge.

o homer says that but i do not understand :) this happy place is all i have ever known :)

     Lan introduces herself, giving her thanks for this... and thoughts drift to Azoth, who has to put on the face he does. Here, this doesn't feel so... concealed.

) hello there lan it is nice to meet you :D i am happy that you are happy and that everyone is :D

     It's such a simple worldview, isn't it? To have a simple task, idea, and goal that one can achieve. This entity, as a singular point, is beyond eerie - but the world around them is wonderful, as if free of a catch or a gotcha. As if only interested in making sure everyone is happy.

     Avril captures Demetrioi's attention... and asks a question, weighted to a time and place beyond what any of them could ever know. Homer over there scratches his head, as if unfamiliar. Demetrioi, at last, answers.

o i have never seen that before and i believe it is the first time we ever met :o but i meet so many living things and very few of them talk to me i hope this answer does not make you less happy :o

     Nothing suggests concealing the idea he might know - that Avril is indeed a novel thing to them.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Homer is looking contemplative at Avril's questions. "Far as I know, Demetrioi's the only... Demetrioi I'd ever known." The pig-like Beastfolk looks over Avril once before deciding that maybe there isn't more to it than that, by his reckoning. Demetrioi's gaze looks upon Lan for a while as it utters in that strange noise-voice how nice it is to meet them, to be happy and healthy and harmonious a world - and Homer pulls everyone aside.

     "I'm real happy that Demetrioi there's only ever known people happy 'bout what they do." A sad little laugh. "Ain't that many people who get to live that kinda life, eh? Far as I know, they're gonna be here for a long, long time. Longer 'n any of us... can't even think what it's gotta be like." It's a somber subject as he sits down. HE is getting up there in years. "I think they know that. The few times they talk 'bout it, they think in the long term... real long numbers, longer 'n any of us have. Long as life's as good as it has been the last two years... we're in good hands." Beat. "Branches! Gah hah hah!"

     There's a call for supper before long, interrupting the immediate questions this might elicit. Other villagers come by to give Demetrioi love and attention - there's no uniform cult-like approach or method, everyone just shows their affection and thanks differently and the... thing... seems to enjoy all of it. Nothing's taken, nothing's given, it just is. A seeming budding acceptance and friendship between differing states of existence, which is... sweet?

     Can anything be that good?

     Homer will need to pull himself away before long to do mayor stuff (like dealing with the Golem aftermath, apparently, it was a way bigger mess than just some lumber scattering), but Demetrioi turns to the visitors.

) as long as everyone and everything is happy i am happy :D good day everyone no no no best day everyone :)

     ...Will this hold true as more people come to visit Alcidamas?

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

There in the garden of Alcidamas, Avril asks her question of the tree of life.

'i have never seen that before'

Her shoulders slouch. She blinks slowly the once. Her lips part.

'and i believe it is the first time we ever met'

Slowly, she lowers the mirror; her gaze follows.

"I see... then I am sorry," she says to Demetrioi.

/Why... do I feel as if...?/

She shakes her head, then turns towards Homer. "I have no memory before only a handful of years ago," she tells him, pushing past the sense that she ought to keep some things concealed, ought to use more care. "I felt as if I knew him, somehow... but it is clear that I was mistaken. If he is the only one of his kind, then what you say is not possible. Please forgive me."

The mirror, too. He hasn't seen the mirror... or the mark on it. That means that...

Well, there are two things which that could well mean.

"A long life... it is said that the Veruni possess long lives," she remarks, as Homer pulls them aside and explains Demetrioi's situation to them. "I wonder however long they... I suppose it may be different, when you live among others who will live just as long as you might. But when one dwells with those who possess shorter lives..."

One hand has clutched the mirror against her chest, tightly.

"I wonder if... he is used to it. I hope that he is."

Someday, it may well come to pass that she will walk the world with no one at her side.

She's silent as the others come to pay their regards to Demetrioi, her gaze distant, her thoughts fixed on a future that remains far off. Perhaps someday, maybe...