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

Mad'ni Shrine - Mingle

[whirluendo_of_puns]

Despite its remote location in the shadows of old woods, surrounded by wild vines and thickets of poisonous plants, the Mad'ni Shrine itself emanates a rather peaceful aura. The aged stone building is safe from monsters, and a small handful of devoted continue to work there.

The employees don't object to visitors, only requesting that the Heroes don't make a ruckus or otherwise disrupt their daily rites and hymns. Beyond that, they're mostly allowed to look around as they please.

[Feel free to use this top-level for general mingling!

Uendo | Open

[whirluendo_of_puns]

[Uendo is available for questions and greetings before they head further in. He's also following the advice he got from Sylvarie and making sure everyone's stocked up on Antidotes. With the area surrounding the shrine being as venomous as it is, you never know what might have snuck into the ruins.

Come and poke him?]

[immortalmarshal]

Cor walks up to him, as much curious about this expedition head as he's sizing him up to see what kind of battle role he might be. "You Uendo, I presume?"

[whirluendo_of_puns]

Even if the Summoner's robes didn't give it away, it's fairly easy to tell that Uendo is no physical fighter. He's pretty short and slightly built, and the lack of training probably shows in his body language as well. Cor's approach is met with a friendly smile.

"That's correct. And you are?" He feels like he might have seen this guy before somewhere. Maybe Leviathan's trial, or the imperial dinner, or any one of those big gatherings.

He's not showing off, honest

[acapriciousreaper]

Kuja has arrived, of course, in his usual over-the-top manner; descending from the sky on dragonback has that effect, usually. He doesn't even need to care overmuch about the local temperature- Myste Aura is fairly tropical, so when he shows up in the practical-yet-inevitably-eye-catching combination of pristine white wetsuit and red feather-patterned sarong, hair pulled back into a braid, it's abundantly clear he intends to participate fully, and is in no way showing off for the sake of it. "Good morning, everyone. How many are we waiting for, do you think?"

[sassafrisk]

Frisk is waiting outside the temple, staring at their slate intently as they scroll through the Heroes of Light linkshell archives. Something's clearly on their mind, but they put the device down and start smiling as soon as they see Kuja. They're wearing pretty standard Frisk attire, but there is a notable addition to their wardrobe: glasses. And for once, Kuja can't see them squinting. "Morning, Kuja. And... proooobably a lot of people. I think the end of the world is a big enough problem to get even the laziest of bums like me working to find a way to, you know, not die," they joke.

The Ruins(?)

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When questioned about the rumored ruins, an employee asks the Heroes to follow and leads them down a flight of stairs, opening a sealed door for them with surprisingly little prompting. The reason for the generosity quickly becomes evident.

"It pains me to say this after you came such a long way, but there is nothing of interest down here. You are free to investigate to your hearts' content -- just let us know when you're done." And with that, the employee leaves them to their own devices.

The ruins are... rather underwhelming. It's more or less just a large, damp room with blue walls. There are technically several side rooms, the floors covered with water, but the walls are so badly destroyed that it may as well be one gigantic room.

Other than that, there doesn't seem to be anything besides some rubble and junk.

"This can't be all there is to it..." Uendo frowns, stepping further inside. "Let's have a look around, shall we?"

[Please keep replies to this top-level in a single thread.]

[saint_sami]

Sasami nodded at Uendo's suggestion, holding onto the staff of her new White Mage gear close. After the incident at the museum and seeing everyone worry about her using such strange attacks, Sasami opted for something a lot more... natural.

"There's always something hidden. Something mysterious." Sasami mused.

[timecrash]

"Yeah, I mean, come on. A big spooky ancient temple with no secret passageways or anything? Lame..." Serge walks along the walls, curiously examining the stonework as he goes.

The Temple

[whirluendo_of_puns]

[OOC Note: ICly, this part of the ruins only opens up after finding the entrance in the previous top-level. For the sake of not clogging up that thread with 20+ characters, you may skip ahead to any of the lower floors. Please keep each set of floors in a single thread.]

After finding the hidden entrance, the Heroes make their way down from the top of the ancient temple. The temple is circular, lit by blue lights, with a giant flight of stairs going all the way from the 12th to the 1st floor. A giant pillar stands in the middle, wide enough that it could easily host something inside it.

Each floor has two doors, one on the left and one on the right. The right-hand doors all seem to be locked...

Floors 11 & 12

[whirluendo_of_puns]

The right-hand doors on these floors are locked.

The left hand door on Floor 12 leads to a veritable maze of corridors, as well as a stairway down connecting to the corresponding door on Floor 11. Some of the paths have caved in, but with some effort the Heroes will be able to find a seemingly empty chamber with a switch waiting at the end... But doesn't this seem a little too easy?

[desertbloomed]

Ashelia steps into the seemingly empty chamber, hand on the pommel of her sword. She scans the area warily before walking further, but stops abruptly when she spots the switch. She bites her lip as she walks right up to it, arms crossed under her chest. She reaches out a hand...

...and stops, before turning to her companions. "I see no way around it."

Floors 8 & 9 & 10

[whirluendo_of_puns]

The right-hand doors on these floors are locked.

The left-hand doors all connect in an utter mess of twisting corridors and stairways. Other than the occasional cave-in, everything looks pretty much the same, making it difficult to navigate.

Eventually, however, the Heroes may come across a room that stands out from everywhere else. Unlike the rest of the temple, this area is rather poorly lit. There is a wide hole in the floor, but due to the lack of light, all they can see down below is darkness.

...Jump in?

[cureofmanyworlds]

Nozomi can't help but stare down the hole at the end. Sheesh, that seems like a long way down. But, she can't give up here!

"Hey, guys! I got a few light spells! Should I try to shoot something down there?"

Floor 7

[whirluendo_of_puns]

At first glance, it looks like there are no doors on this floor. However...

"Guys! Look!"

Uendo points the others' attention towards the central pillar. The pillar has a door on it... and above the door, there is a symbol of a phoenix.

Unfortunately, the gap between the stairs and the pillar is far too large to jump. The Heroes may have to return here once they figure out how to proceed...

[righthandstand]

Okuyasu stands with one leg on a higher step and a hand resting on his hip, the other shading his eyes against the nonexistent underground sun. It was one hell of a gap, but no one would design a temple that was impossible for a person to traverse.

"Think I can teleport over to that door?"

Floors 5 & 6

[whirluendo_of_puns]

The right-hand doors on these floors are locked.

The series of corridors connecting the left-hand doors seem surprisingly straightforward this time... That is, until the Heroes find a more literal maze further in. The paths are very narrow and the walls of the maze go all the way up to the ceiling, creating an uncomfortably claustrophobic feel.

Still, with time and patience, they should be able to make it to the end, right?

[mythmaker]

Why did it have to be a maze...?

[Azusa's voice, sing-song even in a moment of complaint, echoes out into the maze. She has her left hand placed against the wall. Her sense of direction has never been her strong point (it's more like her greatest weakness), but with so many people around she's trying her best to keep up and put on a good show.]

If we keep one hand on the wall like this, we'll make it out. Right? I read about that somewhere, I think...

Floors 3 & 4

[whirluendo_of_puns]

The right-hand doors on these floors are locked.

The left-hand doors, as one might expect by now, are connected through a series of corridors and stairs. These ones are rather badly flooded; there's no getting through here without wet feet. Which is just as well, as the Heroes will soon find a room with a massive pool. On this side of the pool, a ball made of some kind of floaty material is gently bobbing on the surface of the water. At the far end of the pool, there's a very ball-shaped cavity.

Oh, and the surface of the water is also littered with an unreasonable number of extremely spiky balls. Certainly spiky enough to skewer a person if they're not careful. Who wants to go for a swim?

Re: Floors 3 & 4

[wind_in_my_ears]

Klonoa looks uneasily out at the enormous pool. It's times like this he wishes that he could just fly. Or at the very least had Popka to chuck him over the pool. He takes a deep breath before exhaling, looking at the ball more closely before he smiles. "Well, I can think of a good way to get it across, but it's going to require a lot of balancing."

Floors 1 & 2

[whirluendo_of_puns]

The right-hand doors on these floors are locked.

The left-hand door on Floor 2 leads nowhere; the corridor beyond it has caved in completely, preventing passage. The door on the bottom floor leads to a large room, filled with water up to about ankle height, with plenty of wide open space... and everyone knows what wide open space means.

Smack in the middle of the room, a powerful Medusa awaits the intruders. After all, what is a dungeon without an optional mini-boss?

[sassafrisk]

Frisk almost immediately regrets opening the door to the boss arena, and is back in the hallway in a blur, hugging the wall and praying that the medusa didn't see them. "Okay, gang, what's the plan here? Anybody have spare Softs?" they whisper as they conjure two golden stars, touching each of them.

FILE LOADED: Frisk (LOVE)
FILE LOADED: Frisk
ATTACK POTENCY UP +20%!
MAXIMUM HEALTH UP +10%
HEALING POTENCY DOWN -20%!

"Good chance that... that thing has something we need."

Floor 7 - Conclusion

[whirluendo_of_puns]

After overcoming the challenges of the Temple, the Heroes regroup back on the seventh floor where the door with the Phoenix symbol has been taunting them. Now that they've gained access to the levers controlling the water level, it does not take them long to deduce how to get across.

It quickly becomes apparent they won't even have to go for a swim. Once the first six floors are submerged, the air suddenly turns chilly and frost begins to cover the surface of the water. Soon the water is completely frozen over, allowing them to walk across. On the opposite side, the Phoenix door opens.

Uendo tests the ice with his staff. It's sturdy, if a bit slippery.

"Looks like we're good to go. Excellent work, everyone!" He turns to the others. "All ready to keep moving? Nobody's getting cold feet?"

[sassafrisk]

Frisk looks at the ice path, shrugs, and steps on. "I'm good. A bit worried about what's behind that door, though, considering the," drum roll, eyebrow waggle, wink, "chilly reception we've gotten so far, but as long as we keep our heads cool we should be able to get through whatever else this place is gonna throw at us." What can Frisk say, they respect a terrible amazing pun.

They sober up quickly, though. "Seriously, guys. Be on your guard. Don't know how many of you were around last June, but last time we explored a temple like this we stumbled on a pissed-off eidolon. There's probably something nasty waiting behind that door."

[acapriciousreaper]

Kuja follows Frisk, snorting quietly. "Oh, almost certainly. But even the most frigid of Eidolons do tend to warm up, once you've found what they want, or so I've heard." That said, he's still going to [Focus], just in case.