DUNGEON ♛ GISELA TOWERS

[boardmaster]

GISELA TOWERS
20 MAY (VALLARIA) 2016

High in the skies, the howling winds tangled around the Gisela Towers make it difficult to hear anything. The monolithic structures believed to exist only in legend or harpy memories loom over you. The thick ropes of ivy crawling up the length of each tower is the only sign of life. Every now and then, shadow seems to pass overhead. It might just be a trick of the light.

Instead of the usual suspects, another familiar face comes forward to greet our Heroes: the devil-may-care Lei, captain and commander supreme of the Airy.

Lei Nervous that your commanders ain’t here? Don’t worry, you’re in good hands. So! Here we are at this… thing. Something something tragic romantic tale about a dragon and a phoenix. Anyway, it’s stupid and you don’t gotta know. Ask one of your commanders later or bribe me with a drink. Now for something more important— [ the winds roars loudly, muting lei’s voice. but heroes can watch his hand gestures and actions as he teaches them how to use the grappling hook: aim and shoot the gun. maybe twirl it with a fancy flourish first ] —did you get that? All right, good! I don’t have enough hooks, so you’re gonna have to share. And take good care of them, I want them back! Now get in there and clear it ASAP! I ain’t got all day to fly you all back home!

Basic info on the dungeon can be found here. Dungeon mechanics can be found here. All OOC questions about the event may be directed to the thread below.

ONE ♙
One does not simply walk into the Gisela Towers. The only way in is up the long and weathered staircase that wraps around the structure. However, the thing is riddled with missing steps, weak stones and slippery condensation from the cloud cover, so you’re going to need a little help. Should you attempt to climb the stairs, they will crumble beneath your feet at best and bury you beneath their rubble at worst.

This is where Lei’s newfangled(?) contraptions will come in handy! The pockmarks and small ledges created by weathering in the first tower’s structure could prove useful. There are, of course, a limited number of grappling hooks available, so you’ll have to partner up if you want your party to get anywhere. Parties of four are given two of these guns, while the poor souls with less party members get one.

Gisela’s gale-force winds will knock you around and make it seem like the towers are close to toppling over. However, as you make your way up you’ll see that the towers are actually far from abandoned.

MONSTER ♟ Ocypete
Weak against Lightning	Strong against Wind	Immune to None
Regarded as abominations of the avian world, ocypetes are BIRDS the size of horses, which would be incredibly advantageous if they had wings. The offspring of a human and a harpy, ocypetes have HUMAN ARMS that they use to scale surfaces and strong TALONS that can crush rock. They don’t fly, but they do RIDE THE WIND with the use of their long tail feathers, which possess magical wind properties and are nearly twice as long as they are tall. They would look almost elegant if they didn’t have a tendency to flap their arms while gliding. Legend has it that when the phoenix left the towers, the ocypetes were accidentally left behind because dragons plucked their wing feathers, making them look kind of funny. Now with a few millennia’s worth of abandonment issues on their semi-feathered shoulders, they’ll seek to prevent Heroes from ascending the towers by any means necessary with an odd variation of Airy MARTIAL ARTS. Their TAILFEATHERS may be acquired as loot.

What will Heroes encounter once they finally make it inside? More broken staircases, more monsters, even stronger winds blowing in from cracks in the walls and the foot of the tower (which is open to the air), and no floor whatsoever. Gisela’s Towers are hollow! The only footing to be found is on small ledges: some similar to those outside the tower, some that look more artificial; and intact sections of the stairs winding around the walls. You’ll need magic or some ingenuity to stay on your toes—literally! If you lose your grip or footing, it’s a several thousand foot drop back to Gresser. The quickest way down… and the deadliest.


TWO ♙
The treacherous and exhausting climb brings you to a more sturdy area that looks a little less like a wrecking ball just passed through and more like some kind of hive. Blocking your way are dozens of sturdy-looking nests suspended like particularly ugly balls of twine from the walls. These are home to the insectoid Aellos. Tearing the nests apart for loot is only a good idea if you want angry swarms after you.

MONSTER ♟ Aello
Weak against Fire, Lightning	Strong against None	Immune to Wind
Aellos resemble large eagles more than the DRAGONFLIES they’re supposed to be. Mature Aellos can fly, but the flightless and fuzzier larvae are just as formidable. They can HYPNOTIZE with their dozen kaleidoscope-like eyes, rendering targets IMMOBILE but still aware of their surroundings. In order to free them, a fellow Hero must gaze deeply into their eyes for at least 15 seconds. These monsters are also able to SPIT a gelatin-like substance that will stick Heroes to any and every surface and also each other. FIRE will reduce its stickiness. The larvae use hit-and-run tactics: they hunker down in their nests, peek over the edge and launch gobs of spit. The flying aello like to drop their SPIT BOMBS from above and occasionally also release a POWDER that ruins visibility and makes you sneeze. Feeling adventurous? Why don’t you give the spit a lick? It’s actually totally EDIBLE, tastes like jello, and is filled with mana. Just be sure to heat it up so you don’t get your mouth stuck shut. Their GELATIN SPIT and INSECT PARTS may be acquired as loot.

The staircases at this altitude are in better shape than the ones you have—or haven’t—been using. That doesn’t mean they’re any less dangerous. Not only do the Aellos chase you down here; traps are hidden in the steps as well. Some may act like quicksand, trapping an unwary Hero halfway into the stone. Others are enchanted with wind spells that can toss you up in the air, the long way back down to the ground, or blow your skirt upward. There might even be some that provoke the pesky bugs even more!

This floor has flowers and trees creeping their way in from the outside and covering every inch of the place, including treacherous weaknesses in the path. Behind these overgrown plants is a mural depicting a sensual dance between a dragon and a harpy. In order to advance, at least two Heroes will have to mimic the dance painted on the walls to open the door.


THREE ♙
A barrier prevents you from progressing any further. Magic, physical attacks or sheer willpower will do nothing. To dissolve it, you must create a concoction from the random ingredients available on the table and splash it on the barrier. There is no set recipe, so trial and error and a little creativity will be your friends! Along with your trusty party Bishop, of course. (You did bring one, didn’t you?) Those not well-versed in alchemy may end up with potions that explode upon completion, splashing party members standing too close with a variety of strange side effects ranging from mild body horror to a bad case of halitosis. The unfortunate effects seem to differ from Hero to Hero, and they last for a few minutes to a couple of hours.

Once your party crosses the barrier, you will find yourselves outside. The skies are darkening, but you’re still able to discern another tower wrapped in the clouds. A bridge once connected the two structures, but most of it is missing. Use those grappling hooks!

Upon entering the second tower, a marble floor at odds with everything from the last tower will greet you. Lift your head and you’ll find that the rest of the tower is also hollow all the way up; those heights allow room for fountains and waterfalls. It’s a suitable area to replenish mana and rest. Parched throats can be quenched with the sparkling water all around you, but approach any waterfalls and they will start moving in a very unwaterlike way.

MONSTER ♟ Celaeno
Weak against Lightning	Strong against Fire, Earth	Immune to Water
Possessed by pride and cursed by the phoenix’s wrath, these dragons are nothing like the ones you encountered before. Celaeno resemble huge snakes made of water and possess ENCHANTED SCALES that float through their bodies and render them extremely RESISTANT to both magical and physical attacks. You will have to find WEAK POINTS in their protective aura. Hopefully you have a Knight or Bishop on your team to find those weaknesses as soon as possible! Each dragon’s weak points differ. Fortunately, all Celaenos go down easily once you find that soft spot. They use their long, slender tails like WATER WHIPS to knock down or douse their targets; the force of a tail may equal that of a fire hose at full blast! The only time it sheds its armor is to shapeshift into a WATER PRISON that can trap one or more enemies. Try not to attack it while a Hero is trapped inside; it will hurt your friend as well! Use STATUS EFFECTS to confuse or distract them so the prison loses shape. Their ENCHANTED SCALES, SMALL GEMS, and DRAGON WATER may be acquired as loot.

Without any stairs in sight, the way up lies in those dragons. After their defeat, their magical scales can be put together to form a boat that can ride the waterfalls upwards to the top floors.


FOUR ♙
The skies continue to change once you reach the top. Black clouds begin to close in, stray bits of land that have broken off from the main island hover nearby, and a sudden torrent of powerful mana may disorient your party. A storm is approaching.

Just as the first chunk of hail falls from the sky, a mighty roar reverberates through the darkness. Something very large lands on the walls of the tower and causes a tremor that whittles chunks from the tower and actually rolls the clouds back; is that the toll of thunder, or just more roaring?

Finally, an impressive three-headed dragon emerges from below. Once it has perched itself on the tower, one head speaks in a rumbling growl.

BOSS ♟ Tianya the Thrice-Scorned
Weak against Lightning	Strong against None	Immune to Wind, Fire
“Did that phoenix send you?! Tell her she cannot return! Not even over my dead body!” Unsurprisingly, Tianya ─the dragon once wed to the phoenix─ is more than just a legend. He lowers his heads and another loud, guttural cry fills the skies. For now, he remains STATIONARY at the top of the tower. All three heads attempt to SWALLOW a Hero whole if they get too close. Should you go on the offensive, you may be able to chop off at least one head before he’s pissed off enough to move. The fallen head writhes in agony as it moans: “It hurts… it burns…” At this point, Tianya takes flight. The strong GUSTS from those wings can launch a Hero right off the tower. Use your grappling hook(s) to play floating island hopscotch: evade devastating dive attacks and run from the MANA BEAMS shot from his mouths. “You’ll never understand! I never wanted her!” As you travel from island to island trying to get close enough to deal some real damage, Tianya hides in the CLOUDS to launch ambush attacks. Eventually, a PHOENIX descends from the heavens in a burst of fiery light. However, it’s not the phoenix of legend; it’s actually one of Tianya’s spells, and it will burn away most of your mana if any of its flames make contact. MANA EXCHANGE may be the only way to continue this battle... Once Tianya is down to one head, he will immediately rise higher into the sky. “My last words are for her and her alone.” After Tianya is defeated, the storm clears; Enprise’s twin suns shine once more. That precious DUNGEON CORE floats down, blanketed by a SINGLE LARGE FEATHER, golden and shining in the light. “It’s warm… She was always warm…” A SCORNED DRAGON HEART and a MYSTICAL PHOENIX FEATHER may be acquired as loot.

As soon as both core and feather touch the tower, an ominous rumbling and shaking begins. The Gisela Towers are falling apart and it’s now a race to escape before you’re buried under the rubble.

And don’t forget the grappling hook(s); Lei wants them back.


FIVE ♙
All that’s left of the Gisela Towers is rubble. The dungeon has been conquered, the island reclaimed, and the ruins of the old regime can now become the foundations for something new: the site of the harpies’ homecoming after hundreds of years.

LOCATION ♟ Gisela

An ancient sky island that has existed since time immemorial. What enables Gisela to RIDE THE CLOUDS may be an even greater mystery than the mechanisms powering the Airy. The island appears most frequently above Gresser, though its extraordinary altitude makes it DIFFICULT TO LOCATE. The landscape of Gisela is overgrown with JEWEL-GREEN FORESTS, crisscrossed with gorges and dotted with networks of small caverns. But its crowning glory is the THIN GLEAMING WATERFALLS that flow from its edges and into the sky beyond. The water is embraced by RAINBOWS and condenses into CLOUDS when Gisela is high enough, lending to its unusual weather patterns. Although the island initially seems largely uninhabited apart from the Gisela Towers, there is a SEALED OFF AREA that, when viewed from the air, looks suspiciously like LUSH, TILLED FIELDS. Should you ask Lei about this, he will only give you an unusually stern warning against disturbing it. Looks like you’ve solved the mystery behind the pai tiles. Now that the menacing Towers have been demolished, a variety of animal life — usually airborne — will begin to appear on the island. Some of them you’ve never seen before! The fall of the Towers also uncovered the existence of HOT SPRINGS below; newspapers speculate wildly about the source, but most agree that it must have something to do with the renewed vows between phoenix and dragon. The few structures already in place on the island have been speedily converted into BAZAARS manned by Airy harpies. Most specialize in legal alchemical gimmicks, but there’s always another side to these things. Everyone’s here to soak in the breeze, and by that we do mean everyone. In response to the tourism boom, NEW AEROPORTS have also opened in both Gisela and Gresser to provide reliable transportation between the two locations.

Comments

[digophelia]

[ Doesn't look at them for the rest of the duration of her image. She keeps her unblinking gaze on the phoenix, shoving any voices that chime in on her work.

"How long will you be able to hold onto such a pristine and beautiful image, Alice?"

She can hear the Cheshire Cat come in, Alice doing what she can to ignore him, knowing that she would see the creature filter in, out of the corner of her eyes and possibly become part of the illusion.

I can't do this for much longer. Out of fear it will become tainted with her psyche, Alice does what she can to hold it, feeling her body begin to tremble in anxiety as well as the comb slowly exerting her. It would expose her for what she really is, Alice thinks, a raving lunatic if the image began to filter and become a twisted version of the beautiful phoenix. Alice finds herself wincing, watching the poor creature being cleaved at the side of his neck.

As it goes to the sky, so does Alice's gaze, along with her illusion, sending it right after the dragon, Alice trying to imagine how her voice would sound. Wouldn't it sound beautiful? Wouldn't it beckon her love to stay with him? This is too cruel! She wished she could hear her family's voices again, imagining their voices that moment to press it into her illusion of love and reassurance rather than her parents' cries as they burned alive that night.

This is too much!

Alice is far too absorbed into her illusion and those feelings to notice that mana beam. It's bright, but so is her illusions, her mind at that moment delving further and further, brightening the image of the phoenix that she does nothing and doesn't even notice that direction of the beam that comes to her. Suddenly, the illusion starts to lose it's brightness, nearly fading to dust and Alice standing there, wondering where the sharp pain is coming from in her shoulder. Maybe she held onto her sword too tight? But then... why does it feel wet all the sudden? Rain?

It's only by luck Alice drops her gaze down to her sword, to see if it was secure, just out of the corner of her eye to notice the bright color of red blooming through the white of her jacket. Suddenly, the sharp pain in her shoulder makes sense and it grows to hurt more. Alice, who had gone through many things in her young life, didn't find the pain unbearable, neither did she wince or cry out as she notice the deep lash across her chest, to her shoulder.

Don't move, don't move...!

She does try to hold herself and her ground that half of minute of confusion and determination to hold her ground. She had been through worse, why would such a deep cut matter? Or was it a cut? It had to be a cut, the fabric was tearing. Her free hand drawing to her chest, the effort to stay where she is fails and the illusion is gone as Alice draws a breath and finds herself falling from her standing point. ]

[showsnopiety]

[She's caught again. People (particularly Sion) seem to be picking her up throughout this dungeon. She should not be surprised; after all, she is small in stature, and delicate with it. She does not have the muscled lines like Aisha did. Strongest woman in the universe indeed.

It speaks for her energy that she does not argue about the hook; wordlessly, she hands it to the cat woman and clasps her tight, pressing her lips against her neck. It is not a recall of the dance, in the least. Instead, it is an attempt to gather mana more quickly so she may attack again, and soon. Maybe it can ease the rapid beating of her heart.]

My thanks. I'll rely on you.

[Between the two of them, she thinks, they will be able to get another spell out of her before long. But the dragon raises still higher and...oh.

No.

She's going to fall. And Caren can't do anything. Neither can Aisha, not with Caren being a burden as she is. Three of them together might be too clumsy, too slow for the line. It leaves only one person. Caren raises her head to the sky and screams.]

Sion! Catch her!

[He might be devoted as she is to murder and destruction-perhaps even more so-but this is more important. Sacrifice. Not Alice. Not today.

Frustrated, her head bows and she sucks in a hard breath. Her throat feels raw. Her voice is normally not so loud, and screaming hurts.]

My apologies. Aisha-I think we need to go higher. I need him in my range.

[sunderings]

[ Caren's voice does not reach him, the lashing of the wind and the blood rushing through his ears the only sounds audible to him as he pitches himself forward in flight, defying all that which he'd been created to be in pursuit of something far more precious: a life. He thinks not to guard his back, no more than he cares to avoid airborne debris, molten gold gashes renting his skin as he cuts through the sky, blitzing forth with fury and with might, an avenging angel turned guardian true as he sees Guiding Light returned to its place at his back, his arms freed and given to a singular purpose—Alice, who'd toppled from her floating isle, red blossoming upon the white of her coat, her green eyes lost in the sea of her dark hair as it swirled about her.

He does not doubt still, in his ability to catch her (there is no other option, he must—always, he would lift her up if she were to fall), though he finds...

He finds that he hates these hands (even as Alice falls into his arms, her body angled protectively toward his chest as the winds whip about them), those which can either attack of defend, but never both. It is a reality of battle, sustaining injury. Prolonged combat is marked by the toiling of soldiers, of Heroes who have been greatly weathered and worn by their trials and still continue on. But what the King hasn't yet grown accustomed to (and likely will never be able to accept) is the role which has been imposed upon him by the powers of this realm—instead of rising to defend those comrades which face danger before him, he must watch them be wounded and bear it with the knowledge that, in the moment he so chose to mend them, they would be beyond exhaustion when he bid them to rise (to fight, to cast unimaginable cruelties upon their enemies) again.

Though...

Long ago, he had forfeit his heart, and if anyone should bear so unkind a role...

Should it not be him? ]

What I seek is sanctuary!

[ —is the incantation which falls from his lips in the instant when his heels touch with the large island both Aisha and Caren have ascended to. Mana drains from him as the rubble is shrouded in iridescent light, bathing the whole of the party in its gentle warmth as it heals in steady increments and degrees, knitting his own lacerations together as surely as it sees Alice's injury closed.

He trusts in Aisha and in Caren to turn their eyes toward the sky as he sinks to his knees, the golden blades of his wings fading into tenuous strands of light before disappearing entirely. Gingerly, gently, he lays Alice to rest upon his lap (and secretly, he hopes for her to rail against him, to prove to him that she is well; that she is all right), his fingers dancing delicate and deft as they hover over her collarbone, casting a secondary healing magic at the root of the injury, where the fabric her coat has been seared open by an errant split of the mana beam.

(How he should have taken the brunt of it, sacrificed the whole of his body to shield the others from the spell.) ]

Alice... [ Her blood replenishes, her strength renews, and everything in him goes to seeing the wound carved so deeply into her chest mended in full that he does not notice it, the moisture which wells at the corner of his eye, streaking down his cheek. ]

You held your ground, Alice. [ And he remembers how she'd done the very same on a night which seems to be a too-distant memory; a nightmare which she had fought and triumphed over as he had followed, guarding her as an echo of light in her wake. ] Thank you.

[ And I am sorry, he whispers, only for her to hear. ]

[herplaceinthesun]

[At any other time, the press to her neck might be distracting at the very least. Right now it just mixes in with her adrenaline, and her heart's pounding just as much as Caren's. Especially when that mana beam falls, Alice's phoenix replaced with the dragon's, the girl starting to fall...

There was no way she could have gotten there in time, thankfully Sion makes that point mute. She knows they'll be alright together, which left her with the problem of getting them up to fighting range.]

Hang on tight!

[Aisha wraps an arm around her comrade and runs, leaping off the isle they stood on and shooting the hook up at the next. It's a process she has to repeat, again and again, while dodging the beams and working against the wind. Luckily she's agile, and pretty damn stubborn besides.

It was like flying, only with much less control and no small amount of worry.

Eventually she hooks unto on a island close enough to have the dragon in their sights. Using her bands for insurance, Aisha digs deep and climbs up the side of it, clinging to Caren tightly. She can barely see Sion and Alice now.]

Here we go... Have fun hitting this bastard, make it hurt.

[All her pity for the circumstances of the fight was gone, blood-thirstiness having swallowed it up. Not over his dead body, huh? If that was his wish, at least she was certainly willing to provide.]

[digophelia]

[ It happens so quickly, she has no time to react whatsoever. Her mind is trying to replay the events that led up to her falling. She wasn't sure, at first, she was sure that she was falling back into the rabbit hole until the impact of being caught by Sion brought her back into reality. It's odd; she's had blood of others against her skin and remembered how warm it was. But it was odder to find herself bleeding so profusely, how warm her blood was crawling up against her skin as it trickled upward against her neck. Not once did Alice wince or cry in pain, she only stared blankly above at the dragon, in silence.

He had hit her. Alice tried to remember how it all happened and what she could have done to avoid it. She could hear everything, she could hear Sion's voice and was finding it difficult to maintain consciousness with how deep the laceration was. Oh. She was still lying there, he was holding her. She cringed, of course, but couldn't bring herself to lash out to Sion once her green eyes finally turned her gaze to him. She was so struck by his expression and the single tear falling down his cheek, even in the midst the chaos, losing sight of Aisha and Caren altogether. ]

You're crying?

[ She couldn't understand it for the life of her. Why was he crying? The last time she saw anyone cry over her, her mother and father, that night so long ago. She would have said that she barely held her ground, she barely did anything to help and only made the situation worse. With the wound closing and Alice not finding herself losing consciousness, she didn't want to stay laying in his lap for long. Against her better judgment, Alice just wanted to get back up on her feet, quick as possible and found herself starting to squirm, trying to sit up.

She couldn't retaliate violently as she had done so many times before. He was crying, after all. How could she be angry at him after that? They had to move, they had to get back up before something else happened. Alice would say she suffered worse than this cut, so she did what she could to get back up, despite reeling from the injury still. ]

[showsnopiety]

[Sion is hurting his heart again, and Alice does not know what to do about it. This is fine. This is fine, and it has to be fine, because it means neither are dead. They will cry, and they will hurt, but there are no times for emotions or tears.

Not for Caren, not for Aisha. When she's bid to hold on tight, she does so. Had she been another person, she might have been tempted to scream and jerk out of fear and reaction, to avoid mana beams.

But no. She is silent, holding on tight. She can feel her mana bubble and well up again, clearly being satisfied by their closeness. It feels rapid. Enough, she thinks, to conduct another lightning spell. ]

I will make him burn.

[It's a quiet promise, venomness and sweet, even as she tips her body back. She holds Aisha still with her legs, as she can not think to stand by herself. And, too, she continues to fill her with mana. More, and more and more. Her eyes see Tianya for a moment, his single head, and she notices. There are clouds by his head, and she is in range of both.

Her arms and hands spread, and her head tipped back.]

Flash forth lightning.

[There is a surge of mana, and there is the hollow boom in the air as lightning arcs, and strikes him between the eyes. She had been hoping there had been enough of a charge for the clouds to continue her work but...maybe not. It's a start. She takes a deep breath, and continues, more murmurs, teeth gritted as she goes for the single strike spells.

Trying for more would be too much for them both. So she'll try and fry its brains out instead.]