2022-05-23: Only Where There is Light

• Log: Only Where There is Light
• Cast: Seraph Harmaus, Seraph Caelia, Magilou
• Where: Shrine of the Light Trial
• Date: May 23, 2022
• Summary: Three people enter the shrine of light, Hoel, in search of the truth.
  
  ...But what is the truth, really?

---

DG: A party led by Seraph Harmaus is now entering Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.

=====================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial *>=====================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Forty Meter Drop *>=======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The original entrance to Hoel has long been covered by sand, and is deep
 underneath the desert. The new entrance, cut open by Cid's men, is on the
 roof of the place. This leads to a grand chamber at the center of the ruin:
 a massive, forty meter high chamber that looks down upon a circular mosaic
 of the Goddess Althena.

 The circular mosaic is divided into thirty-six sections, each depicting
 scenes from Althenan dogma circa a thousand years or more ago: the arrival
 of Althena's Fortress; the blessing of water, earth, and sky upon the Silver
 Star; the first Dragonmaster, leading Althena's Chosen to their waiting
 promised land; and the last, standing against the Magic Emperor. All of them
 are dim.

 There are dun gemstones scattered across the ceiling. If lit, they should
 shine down upon this mosaic and light it up. Doing so will unlock whatever
 is necessary to open the sealed door at the central north wall of the
 chamber. Numerous other doors lead off from it, like spokes from a wheel.

 However, first, you must enter -- and you are at the top of that forty meter
 ceiling, with no easy way down.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Secret=============================================

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    "Is long fall. Yes?"

    So remarks Harmaus to his companion of the moment as they stand at the lip of the crack rent into the sand, itself part of the very top of a dome that manages to barely crest the bottom of the dunes of Bikanel.

    Around his neck there glitters a new stone.
    He should have come here long ago, he reflects to himself, in private. But better late than never. And there is no such thing as truth grown old. It shall sear and cut, however long it might have waited for that very moment to bare itself at last.

    "What thinks it?" he asks of Caelia, gazing down at the mosaic far below the both of them. "Of the Goddess."

    He has already told her what he thinks -- that the Goddess is false. That she is deceitful, that she conceals a great secret from the rest of the world.
    He has told her, too, of what mysteries and truths lie in the embrace of Malevolence, twisted by Althena's wicked designs.

    "...Even here, Her lies fester," Harmaus spits. "But matters me not. We finds what lies within. And we drags it, kicking, wriggling, screaming! Yes, out into light!"

    At his neck there rings a tiny bell, a delicate thing wrought from porcelain. "Now, it follows me below!" Shimmering with light, Harmaus plunges into the gap, descending into the depths.

DG: Seraph Harmaus has used his Tool Fairy Bell toward his party's challenge, Forty Meter Drop.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Caelia has posed.

Caelia is angry... but ultimately, it is with herself. She almost, almost believed things could change. She almost thought that, maybe, she had found someone kind who had the power to keep her amulet.

But trickery took it.

Which is why Caelia follows after Harmaus, now. She floats off the floor -- her expression severe, yet neutral. She has no love for the other Seraph, but she also cannot strike against him. Her staff is gripped in one hand; she floats along, eyes on his back, as they make their way through the desert.

"I see," Caelia says, as she looks down the pit. Her eyes turn towards Harmaus, and she keeps the glance from being withering. She is practiced at a neutral link. "I barely know of her. If she is truly a Goddess, then she has much to answer for."

She looks back down. "As you command."

She leaps -- and Caelia begins to float down. As she does, she closes her eyes.

DG: Seraph Caelia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Forty Meter Drop.

<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.

    OST: Tales of Berseria - The Truth of the World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efNHG4POm6w

    "... I'm going ahead. Don't fall too far behind...!"

    Her smile's casual; so is the way she waves, without looking back, as she cuts through the pleasantries and the distractions to leave the Vile Fiends on their approach.

    It's an expression which fades, hands laced behind her head, as she walks through the sharp desert air. "... not that it matters, really," she adds, sotto voce, stolen by the same wind which steals Bikanel's sands.

    The truth is, Magilou doesn't explore Hoel with other people. She never has. She has always adjusted its lights and its puzzles with Bienfu at her side, and no other. It is a route through the worlds she takes alone.

    Xander and Riley found her, going through, once upon a time. Another party might have asked. She didn't tell. And in the end, old words really have no meaning, a thousand years on. What useless nostalgia...

    She presses her thumb into her opposite palm, eyelids lowering over her gaze as she comes to the exposed entrance of Hoel. As she comes to --

    "My, my," a voice intrudes, sly as her grin, as the witch called Magilou rests her hand on her hip behind the Seraphim as they find a way below. "What an interesting pair. Off to dig through the secrets of Hoel, hmm..?"

    Her hand comes up, gesturing with a quirk of her wrist, back and forth. Her grin drags up to the corner of her mouth, sharp as a knick from a knife. "... so it's changed hands again..."

    Silence, for a time.

    And then: "Bienfu," comes her command.

    "Normin Breyve," sighs a pipsqueakish voice, somewhere to the left of Magilou's shoulder, and from nowhere she kicks up an ancient runed geoboard. Hopping onto it, Magilou proceeds to surf down the earthpulse, careless as you please.

    She hops off, at the bottom, and smiles brightly to Harmaus and Caelia. "Why," she remarks, entirely too cheerful, "fancy meeting you here! How fortunate we could take on this travesty... together!"

    Magilou has joined your party! Whether you like it or not.

DG: Magilou has used her Tool Normin Breyve - Geoboard Activation! toward her party's challenge, Forty Meter Drop.

=====================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial *>=====================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Forty Meter Drop *>=======================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The original entrance to Hoel has long been covered by sand, and is deep
 underneath the desert. The new entrance, cut open by Cid's men, is on the
 roof of the place. This leads to a grand chamber at the center of the ruin:
 a massive, forty meter high chamber that looks down upon a circular mosaic
 of the Goddess Althena.

 The circular mosaic is divided into thirty-six sections, each depicting
 scenes from Althenan dogma circa a thousand years or more ago: the arrival
 of Althena's Fortress; the blessing of water, earth, and sky upon the Silver
 Star; the first Dragonmaster, leading Althena's Chosen to their waiting
 promised land; and the last, standing against the Magic Emperor. All of them
 are dim.

 There are dun gemstones scattered across the ceiling. If lit, they should
 shine down upon this mosaic and light it up. Doing so will unlock whatever
 is necessary to open the sealed door at the central north wall of the
 chamber. Numerous other doors lead off from it, like spokes from a wheel.

 However, first, you must enter -- and you are at the top of that forty meter
 ceiling, with no easy way down.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Secret=============================================

================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial - Round 1 *>================
=========================< Results - Forty Meter Drop >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Fairy Bell                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Magilou                             0 --(5)--> 5                   Pass
Normin Breyve - Geoboard Activation 3   Agility Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Caelia                       0 --(13)--> 13                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Seraph Harmaus              0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Secret(2)|Slow(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================

DG: The party led by Seraph Harmaus 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: Seraph Caelia has drawn a new Challenge.

=====================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial *>=====================
=================<* CHALLENGE - The Essence of Armatization *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The hallway that you venture into comes to an end with a circular platform.
 There is a table on the platform, with writing in the Ancient Tongue of
 Glenwood and Meribus (which, as it happens, is fundamentally identical to
 the languages of Zeboim and Ancient Zanarkand). The table has four weapons
 upon it: dagger, sword, bow, and stave.

 The inscription reads: 'EVER WERE THE SERAPHIM AT THE SIDE OF ARTORIUS
 COLLBRANDE, THE SHEPHERD. ARM THEM.'

 At the cardinal directions of the circular platform are four idealized
 statues of angelic figures -- Seraphim, it would seem. Their hands are
 positioned to hold the weapons -- any of them. There are inscriptions, with
 motifs to suggest them too, for the elements: Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth. 
 The correct weapon must be placed in the correct Seraph's hand.

 You can see, with a little more examination, that this platform is an
 elevator. A ridge takes it upward to a small chamber. Through the portal in
 the ceiling, you see a brilliant pink gemstone on the wall. Touch it and you
 shall light one of the mosaic segments in the central chamber.
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Treasure=======================================

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    "Ah... it learns it, soon. It learns very much. It sees it for itself!"

    The theft had been a simple matter. A necessary matter, for Harmaus to see his heart's desire bear fruition.

    Something yet lingers in the depths of Hoel, something for which he will require the strength of more than simply himself to see through to the end. And Caelia -- a Seraph and yet not -- remains an integral part of his aims.
    He had picked apart a few interesting things about Caelia, after tracing the histories on back as best he could. Picked apart and put back together again, in a manner of speaking. Unless he misses his mark utterly (and he does not think he does) then she would...

    But there is little time for such things, now.

    "Ah, here it is," he remarks, as a third joins the motley. "Here it is, and come at last! We seeks truth within Hoel. Comes it, too?"

    So he says, before he leaps into the void.

    He does not, however generally awful he may be, permit Caelia's float down to turn into a plummet, adding his light to her flame as he leisurely glides down to the bottom. He lands with nary a sound.

    "Yes... thinks I we can," he says to Magilou, swishing his tail once, twice. He turns a disdainful glance towards the mosaics. "I permits it remains, now." After all, even something as distasteful as this may prove necessary.
� Logging to file "C:\Electra\Logs\2022\harmaus_all_seraph_light_shrine.txt" started

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Caelia has posed.

"Shall I dispatch her?" Caelia asks Harmaus, keeping her voice cool. Then, her eyes look at Magilou -- and they narrow for a moment, when she mentions the fate of the Carnelian Amulet. The amulet that, at the moment, rests decisively about the neck of one Harmaus.

There won't be any murdering today, it seems.

Caelia lands -- and she looks at Magilou once, before she turns her head to peer back at the mosaics, and then the entrances into hallways. She stays silent. She isn't sure what she will see, yet.

Something about the Goddess?

The first hallway they enter ends in a circular platform. Caelia draws to a stop as they enter -- spotting the statues of idealized, perfected Seraphim and the weapons. There are emblems indicating elements; there are also weapons. There are instructions to arm them. This causes Caelia to stop, though, and narrow her eyes.

"Artorius... I heard that name," she says. "The leader of the Abbey. But... why would this be here? Another shipwreck, like the one that brought me to Glenwood? Or...?"

She frowns -- then pulls out a small sphere. The Fortune Sphere twirls between her fingers; a good luck charm and a way to calm herself, today. She looks over the weapons. Then, she looks back to Harmaus. Maybe he knows the answer.

DG: Seraph Caelia has used her Tool Giga Pow Hammer toward her party's challenge, The Essence of Armatization.

<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.

    Magilou smiles, too, too brightly, to Caelia. "Do you think you can?"

    It turns out she can't, though; Harmaus wants Magilou around. "How gracious," she remarks, on her permission. "It's always so nice to see you, you little ragamuffin! Broken the backs of man, lately?" Why she'd open him up with a question like that is...

    Well, surely it doesn't matter to Caelia, who doesn't have much choice in the matter regardless.

    She strolls into the room, and her gaze falls over the inscription. (She mailed these to Grimoirh, quite some time back, to get the full translation experience. Grimoirh was suitably unimpressed by the whole matter. She ends her sentences in letters with ellipses, too... *sigh*...) Her hands come up to rest behind her head, toe tapping, against the floor.

    "One does hold a weapon, after all," Magilou supposes, lightly. Her gaze falls on Caelia, with a mysterious smile. "And what do you suppose you would forge, hmm..?"

    She looks up, up, up.

    "... it was a long time ago, so they say. Forgotten things end up in all kinds of places. Hmm... I wonder if that's it." It's a light, prompting answer, entirely too casual.

    She leaves the Seraphim to figure out the correct orientation of the weapons, though she'll follow their lead on orienting the puzzle. This... is something they need to learn for themselves.

DG: Magilou has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Essence of Armatization.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    "No. It stays hand!" Harmaus' response to Caelia's question is quick and to the point, his ears flicking the once as he turns his gaze up and towards Magilou.

    "Nay, nay. Seeks I truth... and breaks only that obstructing mine path!" he says to Magilou, one ear twitching as if perturbed. "Learns much of below. But more to learn, yet. It seeks truth with me? Or content it with lies?"

    Below, it is a slightly different matter.

    "Artorius... Artorius," Harmaus repeats, as if it were an incantation itself. "Reminds me not," he settles for at last, tail twitching as he considers the fact of that particular name. "And yet..."

    It's an ugly thing, a twitch like an itch he can't reach. Not a memory of that name as such, but instead a different memory, of the roll of the Shepherds through the ages. Artorius... Collbrande...

    "The Abbey? What speaks it?" he says, roused from his reverie. For all of his seven and a half and score centuries, Harmaus is still the youngest being currently standing in this chamber. "It tells me more," he exhorts Caelia, tail twitching as he turns his gaze from statue to statue, eyeing the idealized forms.

    "Jaeja. Remembers me Lords of the Land. This, bears form of water... Wonders I if suits it bow, too? Ah... but what suits best earth?"

DG: Seraph Harmaus has used his Tool Prism Bell toward his party's challenge, The Essence of Armatization.

=====================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial *>=====================
=================<* CHALLENGE - The Essence of Armatization *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The hallway that you venture into comes to an end with a circular platform.
 There is a table on the platform, with writing in the Ancient Tongue of
 Glenwood and Meribus (which, as it happens, is fundamentally identical to
 the languages of Zeboim and Ancient Zanarkand). The table has four weapons
 upon it: dagger, sword, bow, and stave.

 The inscription reads: 'EVER WERE THE SERAPHIM AT THE SIDE OF ARTORIUS
 COLLBRANDE, THE SHEPHERD. ARM THEM.'

 At the cardinal directions of the circular platform are four idealized
 statues of angelic figures -- Seraphim, it would seem. Their hands are
 positioned to hold the weapons -- any of them. There are inscriptions, with
 motifs to suggest them too, for the elements: Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth. 
 The correct weapon must be placed in the correct Seraph's hand.

 You can see, with a little more examination, that this platform is an
 elevator. A ridge takes it upward to a small chamber. Through the portal in
 the ceiling, you see a brilliant pink gemstone on the wall. Touch it and you
 shall light one of the mosaic segments in the central chamber.
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Treasure=======================================

================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial - Round 2 *>================
===================< Results - The Essence of Armatization >====================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      5 --(5)--> 10                  Pass
Prism Bell                          3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Magilou                             5 --(13)--> 18                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Caelia                       13 --(5)--> 18                 Pass
Giga Pow Hammer                     3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Seraph Harmaus              20 --(35)--> 55                Pass
Conditions: Reckless(2)|Secret(1)|Slow(1)|Treasure(1)
Effects:
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================

DG: The party led by Seraph Harmaus has passed this challenge! The party gained 35 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: Magilou has drawn a new Challenge.

=====================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial *>=====================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Magnifying Lens Scorcher *>===================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The hallway that you enter has a large gem at the end of it. The hallway is
 much taller than some in here, and there is a glimmer of sunlight above. The
 glimmer of sunlight may well be impossible -- but somehow, much of Hoel is
 lit up despite being buried under a desert. There is, along the walls,
 parallel metal tracks.

 Mounted between them is a massive lens, which distorts the glass ceiling
 that shows the bright sky outside. More than that, though, the lens is able
 to swivel and turn on two ball turrets. The reason becomes clear, as it
 activates on its own -- and turns, catching a sun beam, and magnifies it.

 That sun beam begins scorching the floor, moving straight towards you. If
 you can dodge past and touch the purple gemstone at the end of the hallway,
 you will light one of the mosaic segments in the central chamber. Doing so
 without burning burnt is the challenge.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Caelia has posed.

"A group similar to the Church, in Glenwood. A thousand years ago. I know little, beyond that they captured me and used me. As they did most of our kind," Caelia says.

She doesn't help reason out which weapon goes where. She does place them, as Harmaus indicates what goes where. The weapons are placed in waiting statues' hands -- and then light shines down, on the mosaic outside. A sigh escapes Caelia's lips, then, as she looks out.

"I did not stay long enough to learn many of their secrets," she says. "I am not the one you should ask."

<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.

    "Oh, even my lies are honest," Magilou assures Harmaus, with a grin. "I'm basically the most veracious person on this or any other planet!" And so modest, too.

    She settles back, as they figure it out. Artorius... Artorius...

        'ARTORIUS...!!'

    Magilou meets Caelia's eyes, for a moment, as she denies any deep knowledge of the matter. Her brow raises, just so.

    Interesting, she thinks.

    "... and yet, the Seraphim are at his side," Magilou reflects, cheerfully. "Weird, huh?" The light reveals a hall, metal tracks --

    Magilou leans against the wall. "I'm sure you two don't need any help with this one -- heat and light, right?" She says this before the the magnifying glass activates, for some reason. It scours a line towards them --

    And Magilou reaches back and flicks a clasp on the book behind her. "Wheeeee...!" She calls, as the Super Pop-Up Book springs open, a dove spreading its glorious wings, and she is promptly propelled across the room. It's an absolutely nonsense method of travel, but it is a fast one. She's just leaving them to deal with being ants!

    ... okay, okay, fine, she'll hit the gemstone if Harmaus and Caelia are having trouble.

DG: Magilou has used her Tool Super Pop-Up Book toward her party's challenge, Magnifying Lens Scorcher.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Caelia has posed.

"A mistake. Or a lie," Caelia says. "I know not which. History may have been kinder to him than he deserves," she tells Magilou.

She sucks in a gasp when the magnifying lens activates -- and a beam of raw heat begins to burn across the ground, directly for them. She tenses for a moment, then -- then shakes her head quickly.

She moves forward. Ordinarily, she hovers; now she flies, on a jet of heated and compressed air, surging in towards the gem. She tries to stay ahead of the beam of heat.

It's easier said than done.

DG: Seraph Caelia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Magnifying Lens Scorcher.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    This prompts Harmaus to look sidelong at Magilou in a way that can only be subtitled as suspicious. "Knows I not of 'honest lies'," he says, but -- and this is important -- doesn't protest her presence any further.

    '...they captured me and used me,' Caelia says.

    This is news to Harmaus. He stops for a time, tilting his head to gaze over and up at Caelia, the gears undoubtedly clicking away in the recesses of his corpus. "Captured and used? ...One thousand years..." His ears tilt back, nearly looking as if they will lie flat against his head before they again swivel forwards; his eyes remain slitted. "Tcha..." he hisses out. "Stories say 'She' was present last one thousand years ago. It wonders me, the meaning of Her return. Means she again returns us to servitude? Quickly, quickly-- unpicking her lies may needs more haste!"

    Which may simply make the mentions of 'Artorius' that much more ominous. Artorius Collbrande.
    A name that not even his elders had spoken of.

    "Ah? So it knows it not... jaeja," sighs Harmaus, once again. "Few, yet, remaining from that time. Ah, but it tells me of its time! What remembers it of long ago?"

    Now may not be the right time to ask. Light -- hot and terrible -- beams towards the lot of them. But a bell then rings again at Harmaus' throat.

    And he takes flight once again.

DG: Seraph Harmaus has used his Tool Fairy Bell toward his party's challenge, Magnifying Lens Scorcher.

=====================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial *>=====================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Magnifying Lens Scorcher *>===================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The hallway that you enter has a large gem at the end of it. The hallway is
 much taller than some in here, and there is a glimmer of sunlight above. The
 glimmer of sunlight may well be impossible -- but somehow, much of Hoel is
 lit up despite being buried under a desert. There is, along the walls,
 parallel metal tracks.

 Mounted between them is a massive lens, which distorts the glass ceiling
 that shows the bright sky outside. More than that, though, the lens is able
 to swivel and turn on two ball turrets. The reason becomes clear, as it
 activates on its own -- and turns, catching a sun beam, and magnifies it.

 That sun beam begins scorching the floor, moving straight towards you. If
 you can dodge past and touch the purple gemstone at the end of the hallway,
 you will light one of the mosaic segments in the central chamber. Doing so
 without burning burnt is the challenge.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Injure=============================================

================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial - Round 3 *>================
=====================< Results - Magnifying Lens Scorcher >=====================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      10 --(5)--> 15                 Pass
Fairy Bell                          2   Agility Effects: Quicken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Magilou                             18 --(5)--> 23                 Pass
Super Pop-Up Book                   4   Agility Effects: None
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Caelia                       18 --(18)--> 36                Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Seraph Harmaus              55 --(20)--> 75                Pass
Conditions: Injure(2)|Reckless(1)|Slow(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================

DG: The party led by Seraph Harmaus 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: Seraph Harmaus has drawn a new Challenge.

=====================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial *>=====================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Starlit Trial *>=======================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 3          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You return to the central room, and find that the mosaic has been lit up.
 Along with it, a set of spectral stairs leads up to the second level of the
 room. There are two doors, one of which is opened. When you enter, you
 emerge into a huge circular chamber. It is dark inside, except for the
 dome-shaped roof. That is littered with pinpoints of light, like stars.

 The domed chamber is thus lit as though by starlight. In the very center of
 the room is a stone, shaped like a glorious sunburst. But, there is
 something else here: an indistinct shadowy form, barely visible in the dim
 light. Only the starlight can give you glimpses of a bipedal, hulking figure
 of shadow -- which suddenly emerges and lays into you with mighty strikes!
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================

<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.

    "Kinder, huh..? Is that what you think?" Magilou wonders, scratching at a pointed ear, entirely good-naturedly. "Some of the records of that time do make him sound rather complicated," she would know -- she wrote them. "But even so, the name of the Shepherd has become rather more positive... with ARMs of the Seraphim..." And it is not immediately obvious, in speech, that she isn't referring to the Seraphim arming the Shepherd.

    "I wonder what they were thinking, when they invoked Artorius's spirit like that," Magilou wonders, airily. "A man so often misconstrued... what virtues did the Seraphim see, in the Shepherd, back then? Maybe it was 'hope'... who knows!" Magilou brushes off the thought, with cheer.

    She's quoting one of her old Accounts, of course. The very old ones, with scarce few remaining copies which haven't yet been burned or tarred.

    Magilou looks to Harmaus, as he urges haste, and ambles along.

    The speed of light, of course, is something of a trouble -- though Caelia will find that heated and compressed air is certainly easier to muster, right on the heels of that scorching ray. Harmaus's bell rings, and he flies through the air, to pounce upon that purple gem.

    "Heyyy, you caught the mousie!" Magilou says, cheerfully, spinning on a heel as she turns back towards him with twin finger-guns. "Very very nice!"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    This back and forth between Caelia and Magilou manages to proceed for a turn or two, Harmaus glancing back and forth from speaker to speaker, his tail swishing now and again. But eventually what is said provides little and less information -- and importantly -- or context for the youngest of those now present within the remains of this shrine of light, and Harmaus at last must directly request an answer:

    "Tells it I of Artorius Collbrande. Shepherd is the title, yes? Ever are Shepherds beloved by Her... Tells it I of long ago. Of the time of Althena's last indwelling." It is not a request. It is more of a demand.

    But indeed, the 'mousie' is caught, after a fashion. The remark itself earns Magilou another twitch of an ear from Harmaus, though he still stands tall enough -- deliberately so, in fact -- as he trots back out to the central hub.

    And from the hub, a passage forward can be unveiled.

    "Knows it what I seeks?" he asks, as light begins to fade, as they press on into the heart of the shrine.

    "Hears I rumor of this place. Hears rumor of 'exorcist', long passed. Long dead! But dead rests not lightly. Banished may it be... but traces may yet remain. I seeks it," Harmaus says, as they pass from twilight to darkness, the only light remaining that of something akin to starlight.

    "And I... will... finds it!"

    The three of them are not alone in here. There is a shadow, blotting out the light.

    "Shh, shh, shh," murmurs Harmaus, one single silvery bell ringing at his neck. "Shh. If now is nightime, it must sleep! It quiets. It stills!"

    The tone itself sings on and on, seeming as if it could echo out into eternity. Sleep, it speaks softly. Stop.

    And end.

DG: Seraph Harmaus has used his Tool Amulet Bell toward his party's challenge, The Starlit Trial.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Caelia has posed.

Did he, truly, have to know the questions to ask? Caelia could not well refuse, though -- as much as it bothered her. "When I came into being, humans could see Seraphim without fail. I was found when I was young. I know little of that time, except that the Abbey reigned supreme in Glenwood. Artorius Collbrande was their leader, though I did not hear him called the Shepherd to my memory. Exorcist was the title we heard. I know not of the Goddess's role."

She frowns. "Many Malakhim -- what we called ourselves, then -- were used. Experiments bound me to the amulet, and... we came to Spira, sometime after."

A beat.

"None survived, save me," she says.

He will find it, he says. Caelia frowns; would that always be her role? To help people find knowledge that should be lost. She sees the shadowy figure appear -- and hefts her staff. Through it, she channels several fireballs into being. They swirl, swarm, and then come down in a rain of flame for the shadowy guardian.

DG: Seraph Caelia has used her Tool Guardian Staff toward her party's challenge, The Starlit Trial.

<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.

    "A man who moved a nation, so they say," Magilou replies, horribly vague. "A hero to commoners, their salvation from a horrific Blight... he fought valiantly against the Lord of Calamity, and brought order through his will." It's no wonder she knows stories like that, perhaps -- she is a historian.

    She keeps strolling, gaze lidding against a bored expression. "... but humans don't crop up alone, the way you sometimes do. There's always someone behind the man you see. Well, I suppose those connections are forgotten, in the sands of time..."

    Magilou leans against the wall, as the shadow rises.

    "... but the Exorcists were destroyed a long time ago. Perhaps a scourge fell over them... well, given that, it's no wonder the world has forgotten the details." Something in her tone has shifted, more distant, more reflective; her expression has turned a shade dour, all her volume reduced.

    Her eyes fall on the hulking, shadowy figure; she shrugs, and draws three cards from her tarot deck, fanning them in her hands.

    The Hierophant...

    ... the five of pentacles...

    ... Judgement.

    "Self-righteous fools," Magilou murmurs, under her breath.

DG: Magilou has used her Tool Fortunetelling - Trickery toward her party's challenge, The Starlit Trial.

=====================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial *>=====================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Starlit Trial *>=======================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 3          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You return to the central room, and find that the mosaic has been lit up.
 Along with it, a set of spectral stairs leads up to the second level of the
 room. There are two doors, one of which is opened. When you enter, you
 emerge into a huge circular chamber. It is dark inside, except for the
 dome-shaped roof. That is littered with pinpoints of light, like stars.

 The domed chamber is thus lit as though by starlight. In the very center of
 the room is a stone, shaped like a glorious sunburst. But, there is
 something else here: an indistinct shadowy form, barely visible in the dim
 light. Only the starlight can give you glimpses of a bipedal, hulking figure
 of shadow -- which suddenly emerges and lays into you with mighty strikes!
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================

================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial - Round 4 *>================
========================< Results - The Starlit Trial >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Harmaus                      15 --(0)--> 15                 Pass
Amulet Bell                         2   Combat  Effects: Embolden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Magilou                             23 --(13)--> 36                Fail
Fortunetelling - Trickery           2   Combat  Effects: Resilient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Caelia                       36 --(0)--> 36                 Pass
Guardian Staff                      2   Combat  Effects: Stalwart
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Seraph Harmaus              75 --(35)--> 110               Pass
Conditions: Injure(1)|Slow(1)|Wound(2)
Effects: Embolden(1)|Resilient(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================

DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Seraph Harmaus has successfully explored Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial!

=====================<* Hoel - Shrine of the Light Trial *>=====================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Holy Bottle Stash *>=======================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You have reached the sunburst statue. After each of you touch it, you are
 filled with an undeniable warmth. There is a pulse of feeling from it: warm,
 sunlit regard from the Seraph who, even in death, is still tied to this
 place.

 You also locate a small creche, hidden underneath the statue. There, you
 find a small chest. This hides a stash of bottles of white liquid, which
 emit sparkles and motes of white light. Holy bottles contain a liquid light
 that can scare off monsters, and can be useful -- or valuable to sell back.

 OOC: If you have the Blessing of Althena and Black Magic, as well as the
 Light elemental, you may now use the Diaga spell or a similar offensive
 Light magic. You also feel that you spirit is strengthened against
 Malevolence and Malevolent Domains.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.

    "Exorcist... Shepherd. This man, called Shepherd. And this man, called Exorcist. It wonders me. Such roles one and same? Or..." He flicks his ears, perhaps his equivalent of the shrug of the shoulders. "I finds answer. Shepherd is chosen of Althena. Exorcist, knows I only from rumors, stories of spirit lingering here, yet." He sighs, a long weighty breath. "Savior. Hero. So many titles, yes? Wonders I muchly when I hears many titles for one man..."

    He doesn't break his attention away from Caelia as she speaks of the past.

    "Malakhim... our name," he echoes. "Our name in truth? Or merely name given by Her? Ah... even traditions I learn, it wonders me if they are ours in truth, now." His tail thumps in muted anger against the floor, it and the flattening of his whiskers and the curl of his lip the sign of how he feels about this.

    None survived, Caelia says, except her.

    "Stranger and stranger, yet," murmurs Harmaus, eyes slitted. "Much and more has She to answer for. Ah... for centuries, toils I..."

    But soon, such a lament still suggests. Soon, it will come to fruition, and he will have all the answers he seeks and so much more besides.

    The shape in the darkness moves no more. It will brook no resistance against the volley of fire to come.

    And indeed, as the cards are again drawn, there is but darkness broken by starlight.

    Soon after, dawn breaks. No trace of what had been there in the darkness remains. And where is the sun but 'rising' from the statue of the sunburst, straight ahead?

    "...I senses it. One of our number. Sleeping, here," Harmaus says, settling by the sunburst statue with wide eyes. "I hear tale, of life bound to life... where Seraph sleeps in death, so lingers exorcist's soul, yes?"

    His tail twitches once, twice.

    "...We bring wayward spirit forth, proposes I. And finds we thus the truth."

<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.

    "... when the long slavery of the Malakhim ended... this is when the greater spirits of Lunar became Seraphim," Magilou corrects Harmaus, with something approaching sadness, to her gentle tones, as she leans against the wall. "A name chosen by someone who began much like you. Does that make the Seraphim your tradition...? Well," Magilou shrugs, fanning out a hand, "that's up to you, all in all."

    She folds those three tarot cards, the ones which spoil the whole story, and slips them back into the pack with the rest of the ancient designs.

    As Harmaus relates the tale he's heard, Magilou's hand lifts, to clasp, at the place where her heart ought to be. It's a hollow where Bienfu lives, in this day and age.

    A woman who was a Legate Exorcist, once upon a lifetime, looks away.

    "You'll find no truth there," Magilou murmurs, melancholy.

    "... truth lies in the opposite path to the Exorcists'."

    A witch who abandoned lying to herself and the world for the sake of will and reason looks back, to the Seraph Harmaus. It is a gaze all hollowed out, all empty, as light and love flees from her eyes. Green -- mostly green -- but there's that purple, leaking in from above. Intruding.

    Without volume or tone, she says: "Oh, well."