Player Plot: Let's Explore Mad'ni Shrine!

[whirluendo_of_puns]

Who: Everyone who signed up!
When: Around November 3-6ish
Where: The Mad'ni Shrine
What: Searching for the lost ruins beneath the Shrine!
Warnings/Notes: It's another dreaded water level.

Although the flight provided by Curti Center takes them as close as they possibly can, the Heroes still have to take a brief walk through the woods to reach their destination. It remains to be seen whether the trip will be worth it. After all, their hope of finding a Legendary Eidolon, or even just clues pointing to one, is based on little more than guesswork.

But, with the time ticking down towards the end of the world, they don't have the luxury of ignoring a lead, no matter how vague. A shot in the dark might be what saves them all in the long run.

OOC info and sign-ups are here!

Comments

[desertbloomed]

Ashelia turns around, eyes wide. How did I not notice him...? She can barely believe what she's seeing. If this is indeed the Sephiroth she knew - how that could be at all possible, she wouldn't even be able to begin explaining - then perhaps stopping Bahamut wouldn't be such a far-flung possibility.

"Sephiroth?" Her mouth opens and closes several times before she manages more. "When did you arrive? I didn't - I had no idea you were here."

She glances over at Dylas, shaking her head. "Perhaps we should see if anyone else is coming. Whatever it is, the three of us may not be enough." Not for the first or last time, Ashelia misses her Psychic abilities. The sheer power she'd had, the feeling of finally being able to resist the Calamity pulling at the corners of her mind...

[modelcivilian]

"That's... considerate of you."

Though, maybe... not. He's a necromancer, right? Either way, Adrien had his sword drawn and was ready to fight. "I mean, if she was a Sphinx, she might have a riddle for us..." But he doesn't recall Medusa being like that. If any of them had a reflective surface, that might be more helpful when the time came.

[saint_sami]

Sasami looked over the wall in curiosity. There had to be something - buttons, levels, switches, something. It was like Frisk told her - things felt like a video game, so it only made sense.

Granted, in her search, she didn't see the level, but the hole. "Hey, what's this?"

[hatejakku]

Finn walked by Sephiroth to stand by Nozomi and look down the hole. He couldn't tell if the thing was put there intentionally or if this was the result of a cave-in. Regardless, he had a hand on his gun, a little wary.

"Go for it," he agreed. "There has to be a bottom somewhere, right?"

[timecrash]

Serge stares at the indentation for several seconds, tapping his chin. "Hey guys! I think we need to look for something that fits this hole, and then I bet if we pull the lever it'll open something up! Look for... it'd be circular, about this wide and this deep... There's gotta be something in here."

[timecrash]

Serge looks out at the pool. Those spikes look dangerous, but...
"I can swim. I practically grew up on a fishing boat. They're floating, right? So I've just gotta hold my breath."

[littlemhigan]

Castor cracks her knuckles as she slides into her ready pose, fists up, head down and bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"'s good timin, too. I was gettin' a mite tired of puzzle after puzzle."

[acapriciousreaper]

Kuja, too, stops to peer down at the hole. If only poor Opalescence could fit down here... "Frankly, I don't fancy our chances of rappelling down." He glances at Nozomi, conjures a [Seraphic Orb] in one hand, and takes a judicious step backwards in case Nozomi awakens something she ought not to.

[cureofmanyworlds]

"Neither do I." Nozomi said, shaking her head. Letting out a sigh, she conjured up a Sacre spell. "At the very least, if I hit something, we can run for it."

And with that, she threw the light bolt down the hole, waiting to see what may happen.

[whirluendo_of_puns]

The hole isn't as bottomless as it looks, it turns out. The bolt of light travels just a few feet before hitting water. The surface ripples where the spell hit it, but nothing else happens.

The hole aligns with one slightly slanted, slippery-looking wall. It doesn't look like it would provide much of a grip, but it might be climbable with some assistance from above or below. That's about all they can see without poking their heads in.

[whirluendo_of_puns]

Sadly, there are no mechanisms or any such thing that they can find on this floor. The pillar has some decorative engravings, but nothing that would provide a particularly secure grip. And, of course, there's a seven-floor drop down if they mess it up.

"Let's not risk breaking our necks unless we absolutely have to, okay? Maybe the trick to this door is hidden somewhere else. There's still a lot we haven't seen on the other floors."

Uendo would rather not have anyone's death on his conscience, thank you.

[whirluendo_of_puns]

The spike balls are attached to the bottom of the pool by thin chains, though they seem to have quite a bit of slack. The wind spells from Ashelia push the targeted spike ball a little -- maybe about a foot or so. It might not let them clear out the path entirely, but this could make parts of the maze more forgiving.

The cluster of spikes Orcelito picks out freeze into a solid block. One, two, three... At ten seconds, the ice suddenly cracks and breaks apart, freeing the spikes again.

[wind_in_my_ears]

Klonoa nods, surveying the situation. He's got a pretty good idea on how they're going to get through this room. He takes a deep breath... holds his arm back, and runs forwards. He leaps up high into the air, flapping his ears twice to help cut his momentum as he holds himself above the floating ball--and then he drops, landing ontop of it. He wobbles there for a few moments, arms held out to steady himself before he gets the feel of it, standing up again to balance. He turns around to look at the others.

"I think I can get the ball over to the other side like this." He says, slowly swaying with his arms still outstretched for balance. "But you guys need to clear the pathway, I might not be able to stop this thing's momentum."

[wind_in_my_ears]

Klonoa frowns. He likes puzzles... Either way, he'll stay towards the back. He doesn't want to get turned into a rock--that would defeat the purpose of him being there, to turn other people back from getting turned into rocks.

"I've been getting better at this. I'll do my best to make sure nobody ends up stoned!" He says, completely earnest and with full conviction in his words.

[righthandstand]

Okuyasu squats at the edge of the precipice, thinking if he could teleport down there and back up. It's doable.

"I got rope." And snacks. Remaining supplies from the expedition into the doll museum, both important for exploring spooky areas. "I'm jumpin' down if anyone else is."

[sassafrisk]

"Well..." Frisk rolls up their sleeves, grimacing. This was going to be hard work, especially for a twelve year-old. "Since there doesn't really seem to be anywhere else to look, we should prooobably start digging through all that junk to see if we can find anything." Sighing, Frisk begins rummaging through the piles of rubble and junk, searching for anything that could fit in the hole.

[sassafrisk]

Frisk snorts at Klonoa's unfortunate choice of words, but quickly recovers, coughing to cover up their laughter. "Alright, alright. Give me a moment before we all head in."

They summon three more stars, and tongue sticking out in concentration, Frisk begins manipulating them in a flurry of movement. The party would need every advantage that they could get in this fight. "Um, it's Klonoa, right? You on healing duty for today?"

FILE OVERWRITTEN: Kanji (Patience)
FILE OVERWRITTEN: Madhuri (Love)
FILE OVERWRITTEN: Azusa (Love)
FILE OVERWRITTEN: Adrien (LOVE)

"Okay. Here's the way I've got things set up right now for when I LOAD these files: Kanji, you'll be slowed down, but you'll also have a pretty decent healing factor for the whole fight. Maddi, Azusa, your attacks won't hit as hard as they usually do, but your healing spells will be extra powerful. Adrien, the reverse is true for you: you won't be able to heal as well, not that I think that matters for you, but your attacks will pack an extra punch. The same goes for me, plus I'll be able to move extra fast, although my health will drain. So the healers are going to have to keep an eye on me. Is that good with all of you? If anybody else is up for tanking, I'll get rid of my attack buff and give you the regen."

They pause. "Also, does anybody else think we should nuke the thing with our ults before the fight actually starts? Haven't used my Hellfrog yet, at least."

Roll for perception?

[sassafrisk]

"You rang?" Frisk says, suddenly next to the other three adventurers in that annoying way that Ninjas have of just showing up without any prior warning. "Something 'bout a lever? I don't know about you, but I think we should prooobably start canvassing the room for traps so that if it does anything nasty when we pull it, we'll be prepared."

[acapriciousreaper]

Kuja sighs. Well, he did spend gil on this suit and spend all that time braiding his hair this morning, it'd be a terrible waste if he never so much as got his feet wet. "I suppose I'll have to join you. Nothing lightning-elemental, in case that wasn't obvious."

He unties the sarong from around his waist, tossing it aside. "Who wants to be the brave soul to jump in first. I should think it eminently obvious that it wouldn't be the best idea for me to... what was the phrase- 'take point'."

[hatejakku]

Finn stands at the edge of the hole, hands on his hips, debating this dumb idea. The slanted wall wasn't all that different from the wall climbs he had to do in training so- He takes a deep breath and starts walking towards the slope.

"All right, I'll go in. Can I borrow the rope?"

[sullenstallion]

"We're just wasting time."

Dylas is the next to slither over to the pedestal, resting his hand next to the switch, rolling his eyes at the suggestion that they dawdle like infants. Whatever traps this room has, they can definitely handle them. Hell, it might even be fun.

"If she's not going to pull the switch, I am. Let's see what this room is for."

And he's serious.

[princeandscholar]

After examining the space, the tactician finds himself in agreement. He learned from the foray into the mines that the process of finding these keys can be convoluted, but with so many people searching, their chances are favorable.

"It could be one of the relics kept in the shrine. I'll ask." Orcelito returns up the staircase to check with the attendants if they've seen anything of that shape. While he doesn't expect an answer (they surely would have tried the lever if they had), it will give him a chance to look around the upper levels himself.

[pishirogane]

Of course; Naoto almost expected that to be the answer from Leviathan. Nonetheless, she kept the summon at her side as she toiled around with the others. They had to find their way in so it wouldn't be a simple solution. Only a key and a lever...

The others were already on it, and Orcelito intended on checking the relics. She would stand aside for now and wait for the others to check their solutions - if they managed to solve it, but she's a little concerned about a potential connection between the lever and water instead.

[righthandstand]

Okuyasu stands up, pulls out a wrapped-up twenty-foot length of rope from his satchel, and tosses it in Finn's direction.

"Catch."

He steps away and watches Finn work. After his shitty excuse of a knot while retrieving his motorcycle from the Dream Width, Okuyasu doesn't trust himself to make something that will keep Finn alive.

[timecrash]

Serge weighs his options carefully. "Klonoa, dude, if you can't swim-" He makes a mental note to take the little furball out sometime. How do you grow up not knowing how to swim?

He switches over to [Time Mage]. He could use a little prescience right now. Carefully, he starts wading into the water, testing the depth experimentally before grabbing a pair of goggles from his pocket and strapping them on. "I'm gonna see where this goes. Anybody wanna come with?"