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

[righthandstand]

Okuyasu takes the cue to scoop up Nozomi in his arms, thankfully stronger due to the Monk Asterisk. Finn is in danger, his friend is in danger, but the most pressing matter is taking Nozomi to safety. He struggles to run through the water, and Nozomi's added weight does not improve his speed.

The tentacle swipes towards them, but the two disappear before it can connect with them. Okuyasu and Nozomi reappear as far as his Asterisk allows.

"Stay here. You got something that can help us from the back, yeah?" He gently lowers her onto a fallen portion of the temple wall. It wasn't the driest of safe places, but she wouldn't being submerged in the water.

[whirluendo_of_puns]

The tentacle holding Finn flinches when the bullet hits, but isn't hurt badly enough to loosen its grip. The second one makes a grab for Kuja. The third one falters and draws back; its owner seems to have lost track of Okuyasu and Nozomi for the moment.

Callous though it may be, Sephiroth's decision is an efficient one. Nothing is coming after him, leaving him wholly free to concentrate on solving the puzzle without interruption. The tiles slide into place one by one, until at last the solution comes clear. A series of lights run along the wall from the tile puzzle to the hole they came through, all the way to the central area.

The right-hand doors on Floors 8, 9, and 10 have been unlocked.

And now for the tricky part: getting out alive. If the Heroes were paying attention, they may have noticed the brief presence of light on the wall made the tentacles suddenly jerk back. Something about the way they move suggests nervousness.

[acapriciousreaper]

"No no no-" Kuja, unfortunately, is not nearly good enough a swimmer to evade a second time. He winds up grabbed in short order, and he doesn't even have access to Ultima to take care of the problem. "Thrice-damned- get off, you overgrown side-dish-" He discharges a [Blizzaga] at the tentacle's base.

[cureofmanyworlds]

Nozomi nodded at Okayasu’s comment. She’d love to dive in there, but in her state she’d be useless. “I will, don’t worry. I got a few spells, but Red Mage is quite weak.”

At that, she noticed the light on the wall. “Hey, what’s...?” The monster’s tentacles trembled. “I think it’s scared of the light!” With that, she launched a Sacre under where the light was. Maybe there was more behind it!

[neverbeamemory]

Separate from the action as he was, Sephiroth quickly noticed how the tentacles were repulsed by the tiny lights that lit-up leading back through the tunnel and up into the main room they had come from. He cursed under his breath - he didn't have anything available to use that would flood the watery tunnel with light and potentially stun the monster to enable an escape.

Sephiroth wasn't even sure he could sneak past the monster in the way he's managed so far. Either way, he'd have to find out.

"Light up the cave! We're done here."

He's already floating closer to the others, atop the water's surface -as close to the monster as he dares- squinting between the tentacles to see if he can't judge whereabouts its body should be. If he timed it just right, perhaps he might be able to orchestrate a job switch and get an attack in as he plunged into the water.

So very risky though.

[hatejakku]

"This is stupid. This is stupid." As much as he's muttering beneath his breath and knows his idea is really dumb, Finn changes the setting on his gun and unleashes the Flamethrower at the tentacle holding him.

Hopefully, this doesn't backfire horribly.

[righthandstand]

Okuyasu teleports a few feet away from Nozomi, still a bit far from the tentacle. "Hey! Suckerface!" He whistles at it. "Come over here!"

He prepares for his attack with Invigorate, mustering all his strength while halving his defense.

[whirluendo_of_puns]

Though the Blizzaga does little, Nozomi's Sacre spell has an immediate effect. The tentacles recoil from the light, letting go of Kuja and withdrawing into the darkness. The one still holding onto Finn's leg hesitates, but releases its victim when the flames scorch its skin.

Even when the light vanishes, the tentacles aren't immediately attacking again; they hover back to shield their unseen owner. There is no telling how long the creature is going to remain frightened, however, nor whether it will be equally startled by the same trick twice.

[acapriciousreaper]

Kuja drops into the water with an undignified shout, and begins making his way towards the ledge up. "Right. Thank you," he mutters, to the group, before clearing his throat. "Since Sephiroth has done us the favor of solving this, perhaps we ought to rejoin the others, see what this leads to."

[righthandstand]

Oh.

That worked.

Nozomi is smart.

"So, we're going back outta here?" Okuyasu looks at the rope dangling from the floor above. "I can carry some people, I'm a Monk."

[neverbeamemory]

Sephiroth's vision in the gloom was temporarily dulled by Nozomi's light-spell but thankfully he's not too close so a blink or two later it's returned to normal. In enough time to see the result and immediately conclude that this was the time to move if they were ever going to.

Just as well he doesn't need to switch asterisks again, Sephiroth wills himself forwards in that direction, floating still without touching the water until he's back on the dry part. He flashed a grin at Kuja's comment but other than that, he'll begin to levitate himself upwards back into the room they came from.

Someone might have to steady the rope from above, after all.

[cureofmanyworlds]

Nozomi blinked as she saw the creature retreat from the light. Light was its weakness, then?

"I'll go last, then. If it tries to attack while we escape, then I'll keep it back." she said.

[hatejakku]

He's fine, guys. Don't worry.

Finn heaved himself out of the water, soaked to the bone, and maybe probably darts a glare at Sephiroth's back. But he held back a smart comment and glanced back into the darkness where the beast came from instead. What was that? Something like Ultros?

.... Nope. He pulled himself out of the water and followed after the others, making sure his leg's okay as he wades out. "Thanks, Nozomi." He planned to go at least second to last to make sure his latest hero got out of the hole okay.

[acapriciousreaper]

Kuja glares daggers at the retreating creature, before following Finn and Nozomi up the rope. He leaves a [Thundaga] as a parting gift. "If I ever see another plate of calamari in my life, it'll be too soon. Right. Where to next? I'm certain that opened something."

[neverbeamemory]

Once back on the upper level, Sephiroth finally dispelled his Levitation and settled himself nearby to the rope that others were climbing back up. It looked as if the toppled column they secured it to was holding the weight, but he maintained at least part of his attention in case it might look like it could be straining. It wouldn't do to let the others be stuck down there after all, even if he doesn't care personally for any one of them.

In the meantime, he let his eyes follow the light-train, letting his logic work its way through the mechanics he'd already observed in other parts of the tower.

"I'd say it'd most likely be the right-hand doors we found on the way down through this section." He answered Kuja, taking care not to sound too condescending, though it did seem pretty obvious to him at this point. This whole structure they were exploring being a giant puzzle to solve, as it was turning out to be.

[whirluendo_of_puns]

The guardian of the tunnel is not entirely done. It makes one last attempt on the Heroes, the tentacles surging in after them; however, the spells from Nozomi and Kuja successfully keep them at bay. As long as they don't linger, the Heroes will be able to make a hasty exit.

Just as the last of them are coming back out of the hole, one of tentacles grabs a hold of the rope and pulls hard, causing the fiber to tear and come loose. The rope drops into the darkness -- thankfully without anyone falling down with it -- where there is nothing but the sound of something enormous moving around and a dismayed splash of water. After a few minutes, the tunnel goes silent once again.

Once the Heroes make it back to the right-hand doors on these floors, they'll find a room on each floor containing a lever. The levers are marked with colored dots to signify their function.

The lever on Floor 10 lowers the water level by 2.

The lever on Floor 9 raises the water level by 6.

The lever on Floor 8 lowers the water level by 2.