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Jul 27, 2017 21:03:18 GMT -7
Post by Clark Amasteros on Jul 27, 2017 21:03:18 GMT -7
Clark Amasteros was prepared this time. Instead of wandering aimlessly into the jungle, he signed up for a scheduled expedition through the surveyor association. This was the only time this week that worked out; all of the other scheduled expeditions interfered with other interests. There wasn't a specific ending time listed. Expeditions were hard to predict, so Clark used the previous unofficial expedition and added an hour.
He was there at the ruins a few minutes early, so while he waited he went over the gear he brought, making sure he knew where everything was. The vials, notebook, flashlight, and pencil were all in his pockets. The crowbar was strapped to his back by two flaps of high-grade velcro. He even dressed differently for the occasion, opting for a cheap and flexible blue shirt under a custom-made durable black vest. The vest was decorated with rows of compartments that he would eventually have a use for, as well as the velcro flaps. Instead of fancy shoes, he wore fancy hiking boots, the kind that cost more than they should. The shirt didn't have to last, but hopefully the boots and the vest would.
The clothing was an investment. As haphazard as the last expedition was, it turned out to be rather lucrative. Even better than the money, the vial of discharge he obtained had fascinated the group of scientists he sent it to. To make any progress, though, they needed more. Clark was sure other materials in the ruins held just as much importance. Ultimately, among all of the other surveyors, his contribution would be small, but the city seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough. Just to be a small part of it was worth it.
This is how Clark Amasteros found himself becoming slightly impatient at the ruin entrance. It was his fault for getting here early, but part of him was still tempted to start heading in alone.
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Jul 28, 2017 7:52:18 GMT -7
Post by Aphaerla Suir on Jul 28, 2017 7:52:18 GMT -7
At first, Aphaerla thought it was weird that the meeting place was at the ruins instead of in the Surveying Association's building. Normally, people wanted to meet in a safe area, maybe get some coffee, and then go into the area where everything wants to kill them so that they can handle any threats they might encounter together from the get go. But this group wanted to just meet up right in the middle of it all. It took her off guard, but once she thought about it she really liked the idea. It'd get rid of that boring time where people gathered around to talk and eat snacks before heading in, and would get rid of all the stupid small talk while they walked there. It sounded great!
Aphaerla made her way to the ruins in the way she always did. She jumped up onto the branches of the trees using the trunk of one tree and the wall surrounding the jungle. From there, she could easily leap from tree to tree thanks to the years she spent practicing these maneuvers, and avoid the thick underbrush of the jungle. It made it so much easier to move. While she jumped from tree to tree, the lights in her body glowed, making it easy for her to see where she needed to go next. Of course, even if it did nothing, she changed the colors of her lights constantly just so she would look extra cool. It was important to be stylish when doing something like this.
Once she arrived at the ruins, Aphaerla clearly saw one person, and thought she saw the other person in the underbrush somewhere. As much as she hated being the last person to arrive, she knew she was on time and this meant that she wouldn't have to wait to go in at least. She stabbed her way down to get through the thick vines and other plant life covering the ruins so she could get back onto the ground and head in.
"Let's go, let's go!"
Given she thought everyone was here already, Aphaerla wasted no time in going in and didn't even bother to see if they were following. They all signed up to explore the ruins, so of course they'd follow. There was no reason to confirm it.
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Jul 29, 2017 4:18:24 GMT -7
Post by Iris Pires on Jul 29, 2017 4:18:24 GMT -7
Iris had some hope that her future expeditions would be a bit more measured and orderly. Perhaps Aphaerla was just something of an anomaly among surveyors, and things were usually slower-paced. But those hopes were dashed when Iris recognized Aphaerla's characteristic lightshow moving just up ahead. Confirmation of her conjecture would have to wait for another later expedition.
Although she considered calling out to Aphaerla ahead, Iris wasn't sure if her voice would carry far enough, and she'd have to conserve her breath if last expedition was any indication. So instead she just hurried forward, doing her best to keep up.
Up ahead, Iris was glad to recognize the third member of the group, the tall man from before. She saw Aphaerla's head tilt toward him, then tilt toward a vaguely human-shaped stump in the nearby underbrush. Apparently that was all the confirmation Aphaerla needed that everyone was there and ready to go, because she just charged straight in.
For an instant, Iris considered using her power to make Aphaerla slow down. The shapes in her eyes began to spin up in response. But when she realized what she was thinking, Iris felt her gut wrenching as though she had just been stabbed, and she stumbled and almost fell. That option was definitely not one she wanted to take.
So instead, she just called out weakly as she hurried to catch up.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
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Jul 29, 2017 20:01:16 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Jul 29, 2017 20:01:16 GMT -7
Expedition of day 29 The decent into the dungeon is steep and precarious. The gray stones of the stairs are chipped, cracked, and broken showing their age. Nature has reclaimed much of the structure, with tree roots slicing through the stairs and other plants sprouting up through the cracks. Despite the stones only being gray, the whole area is quite colorful, even if it's difficult to appreciate plants that could make any explorer trip and tumble to their death. The stairs down twist and turn in odd directions, quickly making it difficult to tell which way is north. The dungeon itself is pitch black, save for any light the explorers have. Even the darkness of Twilight Jungle doesn't compare to the absolute darkness of the jungle. There are crumbled stone slabs, covered in foliage, the remains built in such a way that they could have easily been the remains of a heavy stone door. A feeling of disorientation passes over the explorers as they pass through the gap in the foliage and enter the dungeon proper. The walls are covered with flowers and fruits, the paths bisected by large tree roots leaving large cracks in the stone. There are signs of murals carved into the walls, but they're too faded and covered with foliage to make anything out. As the explorers move, the only things that can be heard are the sounds of their footsteps and the distant sound of stone grinding on stone. --- The party has 100 energy. No one is injured. You can go to the left, further into the dungeon. You can go to the right, further into the dungeon. You have 48 hours to submit an action.
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Jul 30, 2017 23:28:49 GMT -7
Post by Clark Amasteros on Jul 30, 2017 23:28:49 GMT -7
It was Aphaerla again. Clark was hoping this expedition would be different, and while it probably still would be, this seemed like a slap in the face. He wasn't terribly surprised when she assumed she should go in first and assumed everyone was there. Clark thought about stopping her, but his attention was drawn to the final member to show up. He walked beside her as they both followed Aphaerla.
"Ah, Miss Iris, right? Pleasure to work with you again," Clark greeted. "Hopefully, I'm a little bit more prepared now that I know what to expect."
He was careful not to trip as he strode over the gray stones. At the very least, he remembered how uneven the floor was. It would take some work to overcome that miserable first impression.
"Excuse me!" He called up to Aphaerla, "We should go left this time."
There wasn't any real reason, as far as the expedition goes. Clark simply has a personal interest in going left. There would be new things to see, and different mistakes to learn from. He also wanted to see how open Aphaerla was to suggestion. If she was going to head off every expedition, then it was vital to learn how to work with her.
"If that's alright with you, Iris."
---
Move: left Skill: Ward Against All Odds
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Jul 31, 2017 6:30:35 GMT -7
Post by Aphaerla Suir on Jul 31, 2017 6:30:35 GMT -7
After taking a couple of steps down the stairs, Aphaerla felt herself slow down. It was an odd feeling. It's not like she was telling her body to move any more slowly, it just was. She pushed forward for a few more steps, trying to get it to move at a normal speed and even trying to use gravity to her advantage, but it just wasn't doing anything. She was pretty sure she stretched on the way here because doing some of those aerial maneuvers without stretching was just a bad idea, but maybe she forgot? It was like 20 whole minutes ago, so it was hard to remember. There were very few problems a bit of stretching couldn't fix, so it was worth a shot.
Her head dipped down so it was no longer visible from outside the ruins as she lowered herself to the ground to stretch her upper thighs. Like magic, the feeling of slowness faded as she expected. Stretching was basically magic that anyone could do after all. Satisfied, she focused on a few other muscle groups in her legs just to make sure, then continued charging into the ruins without a care in the world. She started to veer right, but someone wanted to go the other way. She skidded to a stop on her heels and turned.
"'Kay."
There wasn't any reason to go one way or the other, she was basically picking a direction at random. If this guy wanted to go the other way, then she was okay with that. There's bound to be monsters in every direction after all.
---
Skill: Strike
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Jul 31, 2017 7:36:32 GMT -7
Post by Iris Pires on Jul 31, 2017 7:36:32 GMT -7
Iris was a bit taken aback at being addressed so respectfully by the tall man. It made her feel self-conscious about ignoring him when she arrived. Sure, it had been necessary to get Aphaerla's attention first thing, but that was no excuse for being rude. Furthermore, she couldn't recall his name. Iris had always thought of herself as being good at that sort of thing, but she just couldn't bring it to mind. So, her response was somewhat awkward.
"Oh, um... likewise. S-Sure, left is fine by me."
Aphaerla seemed to be alright, which was a relief. Iris had spent a few evenings trying to learn how exactly to control her power, but she still wasn't always sure when it was active and when it wasn't. It was enough to make her wonder whether it had been a mistake to try to do something useful with her power, but it was too late to go back on that now.
Iris followed close behind Aphaerla. In an effort to rectify her mistake earlier, she made a desperate attempt at smalltalk.
"So... Hey again, Aphaerla. Looks like it's just the three of us this time, huh?"
---
Skill: Easy Ward
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Jul 31, 2017 19:50:20 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Jul 31, 2017 19:50:20 GMT -7
Still burning torches line the walls, each tightly wound hallway managing to look exactly like the last. It's especially true in these hallways. They wind and twist, and never seem to end. Worst of all, they branch, but most of the branches are dead ends. There's only one true path that leads deeper into the dungeon, but some of those paths are so long and complicated that it'd take hours to go through them all. Further, they all look identical. There's no way to tell which way is the correct way without trial and error.
---
The exhaustion trap in this room was successfully bypassed. Loot from this room: 7 Total loot so far: 7
The party has 86 energy. No one is injured.
You can go backward, returning to the surface. You can go straight ahead, further into the dungeon.
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Jul 31, 2017 20:01:48 GMT -7
Post by Aphaerla Suir on Jul 31, 2017 20:01:48 GMT -7
Aphaerla was never any good at mazes. She didn't have the patience for them, and would constantly forget which direction she already tried. This maze was no exception, but her monster senses were tingling to help her find the way. More importantly, she got very lucky. The torches offered some light, but they were dim. By comparison she was much brighter, which allowed her to light up passageways. Sometimes it was impossible for her to see the end of them given how long they were and how much they turned, but it did allow her to eliminate some of the wrong paths early.
But when it came down to it, she wasn't very systematic in her approach and just happened to pick the right path after a few false starts by pure chance. Every time she picked the wrong one, she immediately turned around, shouted 'Dead end!' at her teammates and proceeded to run right through them. Aphearla figured they'd know to get out of the way since she warned them moments before.
"Where are all the monsters? There's like nothing here even though there's a lot of hallways and stuff! I thought we'd at least find something in all that space."
---
Skill: Strike
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Aug 2, 2017 11:15:29 GMT -7
Post by Clark Amasteros on Aug 2, 2017 11:15:29 GMT -7
Okay, at least Aphaerla took suggestions well. Maybe this didn't have to as difficult as Clark was dreading. The next trick would just be getting these suggestions across before Aphaerla decides to do something reckless. He reminded himself that her recklessness wasn't all bad. If they encountered something truly dangerous, then he predicted that recklessness would look more like initiative.
Iris spoke, but the lightshow didn't seem to hear her. Clark answered instead of her.
"Yes, it appears so. I think the man's name from last time was Tristan? I guess he's missing out."
When the group reached a labyrinthine tangle of hallways, Clark was already carefully mapping out the most optimized path in his head. Each corridor they passed, he'd mumble something and draw in the air. He was confident that the whole thing would only take a few minutes, except for the fact that every time Aphaerla shouted "dead end," he had to start over.
"Hold on! Let me figure this out!" He shouted back.
It didn't matter, the exit was found at this point. Aphaerla's initiative got the better of him. He conceded.
"uh... I meant well done, Miss Aphaerla. Additionally, I can explain your confusion. It was the space itself that was supposed to be the trap. My optimized path through the sheer amount of corridors here would have taken anywhere from 15 minutes to over an hour."
Move: Straight Skill: Ward against all odds
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Aug 2, 2017 12:09:27 GMT -7
Post by Iris Pires on Aug 2, 2017 12:09:27 GMT -7
This expedition was a lot less painful so far. Iris would have preferred to attribute it to her self-improvement efforts, but in reality it probably had a lot more to do with Aphaerla doing all the legwork herself. At first, Iris was anxious about Aphaerla passing out of sight (and thus out of Iris's protection), but by the end of the mazelike series of passages, Iris was grateful for it.
Iris was a bit disappointed that Aphaerla didn't seem to be in a talkative mood, but she supposed that further distractions would be dangerous anyway. She just did her best to stay out of Aphaerla's way in order to avoid a repeat of last expedition's conclusion.
"So far, so good, right? I'm not sure I'd want to run into any monsters with just the three of us here anyway..."
---
Skill: Ward
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Aug 2, 2017 19:38:47 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Aug 2, 2017 19:38:47 GMT -7
Still burning torches line the walls, each tightly wound hallway managing to look exactly like the last. There's nothing unusual looking about this hallway to the casual observer. Every wall has cracks in it, some deeper than others. There's one wall in this hallway that has cracks that are just a little bit deeper than usual. As the explorers pass through it, a small portion of the corridor turns 90 degrees, floor and all, changing the path for a portion of the group and sealing the path so they can't easily join back up. --- Splitting trap was not bypassed. The party is split. Loot from this room: 4 Total loot so far: 13 The party has 71 energy. No one is injured. Iris Pires and Clark Amasteros have been split from the party Their expedition will continue hereYou can go backward, returning to the surface. You can go to the left, closer to the surface. You can go to the right, further into the dungeon.
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Aug 4, 2017 8:07:22 GMT -7
Post by Aphaerla Suir on Aug 4, 2017 8:07:22 GMT -7
"Figure what out?"
Aphaerla was clearly confused. There wasn't anything to figure out here. It was just a bunch of hallways, there weren't any puzzles or anything. 100% gray stone with lights. Nothing puzzly about it. She stood still while she tried to figure out what he was even talking about. Thinking hard and trying to navigate the ruins was difficult, plus she was distracted enough by the weird statement that she wasn't even thinking about exploring. It wasn't until they started to catch up with her again that she shook her head and stopped worrying about it. It was just silly. Right, she was supposed to be exploring and beating up all the bad monsters! Aphaerla rushed forward again with a smile on her face.
"Why would you want to avoid the monsters? There's like no other reason to come here! Fighting them is the best part!"
She didn't even bother to look behind her when she spoke. Her voice was loud enough and this place was echoy enough that she figured Iris would have no trouble hearing her. Aphaerla continued on the path, even when she heard the sound of the walls grinding. She heard the sound of stone grinding on stone ever since coming into the ruins, so it became normal background noise to her. This closer sound didn't even register to her as anything unusual. It wasn't until she was some distance away that she realized she couldn't hear the sounds of their footsteps anymore. She frowned, figuring they just fell behind because they were slowpokes.
"Come on guys, hurry up! There's still a lot more to--" she turned around, and it was at that moment she realized they weren't even there. "...Guys?"
Aphaerla froze. Were they that far back? She dashed back where she came, but saw no sign of them. She didn't hear anything resembling a monster, and there was no way a monster could get past her, so what happened? There weren't any other branches in the hallway, it was one straight corridor. She continued running down the corridor to search for them, until she hit a wall. This was where she came from right? Why was there a wall here? How did she even get here? Nothing made any sense anymore, and it was making her brain hurt. Now this was an actual puzzle. One that was so difficult that she gave up on it quickly. She was here, the path forward was over there, and her team was with her so they were definitely fine. She was invincible and the mere act of being in her presence was enough to keep them safe. She nodded and turned around and continue down the path, repeating that to herself as she moved forward. Maybe if she did it enough times she'd start believing it.
---
Move: Right Skill: Strike
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Aug 4, 2017 19:25:56 GMT -7
Post by Kitten4u on Aug 4, 2017 19:25:56 GMT -7
Still burning torches line the walls, each tightly wound hallway managing to look exactly like the last. In the middle of this corridor, there's an odd looking monster scattering about on the ground. It looks somewhat like a preying mantis, except its about the size of the average human hand and looks like it's made out of electricity. It's glowing blue and almost seems to blink in and out of sight. It doesn't so much walk as it does suddenly appear somewhere and start attacking. Its attacks stun and hurt quite a bit, but unless it manages to get too close to someone's chest or head it's not going to cause too much damage. It will make exploring difficult with those stunning effects, and it's extremely hard to hit because of it speed though.
---
Exhaustion monster was successfully bypassed. Loot from this room: 13 Total loot so far: 26
The party has 66 energy. No one is injured.
You can go backward, returning to the surface. You can go straight ahead, further into the dungeon.
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Aug 6, 2017 10:40:34 GMT -7
Post by Aphaerla Suir on Aug 6, 2017 10:40:34 GMT -7
It was oddly eerie exploring by herself. Which made no sense because she's done it before, but this was different somehow. Every movement made her jolt in that direction, and every shadow was met with her brightening her lights for a moment. Aphaerla was on edge and she was ready for anything.
Which made it all the more weird when the thing that did show up was incredibly obvious. It was bright, though not as bright as her (obviously). It was small, but its soft glow still made it stand out. Aphaerla didn't even give it the chance to attack, charging at it immediately and thrusting her spear into the center of it. She had no idea whether that would work on something this sparky, but it's what she could do so it had to work!
Unfortunately, Aphaerla wasn't known for her stealth, so the creature was gone by the time she got close enough. It reappeared a few feet in front of her, where she tried to stab it again. The process continued until Aphaerla paused and analyzed the situation a bit. It hadn't tried to attack her yet, which suggested it didn't have the easy means to. She stood in place and took on a defensive stance, waiting for it to get into the right position. If her analysis was correct, it didn't have any kind of ranged attack. If it did, it seemed like it would have used it while it was dodging around. All she had to do was wait for it to show itself again.
A few blinks later, and it showed up right by her left leg where it was promptly stabbed. It jittered a bit before breaking apart and striking the metal of her spear. The part around the tip was insulated because of that one time she accidentally stabbed into a light bulb socket, so the shock stopped there and the creature did not reform.
---
Move: Forward Skill: Strike
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