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pawnstorm2016-05-20 03:32 am
boardmaster) wrote in pawnstorm2016-05-20 03:32 am
Entry tags:
- !dungeon,
- adrasteius anor'thalion (warcraft),
- aisha clanclan (outlaw star),
- akito/agito wanijima (air gear),
- alice liddell (american mcgee's alice),
- allen walker (d.grayman),
- artoria pendragon (fate/),
- asuna yuuki (sword art online),
- bolin (legend of korra),
- caren ortensia (fate/),
- cirno (touhou project),
- ema skye (ace attorney),
- gaius (fire emblem: awakening),
- gilbert nightray (pandora hearts),
- gilgamesh (fate/),
- hajime hinata (dangan ronpa 2),
- jae-ha (akatsuki no yona),
- kaede (elfen lied),
- kaito kuroba (dcmk),
- kasen kanesada (touken ranbu),
- kija (akatsuki no yona),
- levi (attack on titan),
- lord light (original character),
- luna (zero escape),
- minato arisato (persona),
- misaki yata (k),
- natasha romanova (avengers academy),
- nora (nora),
- patricia watson (skullgirls),
- potemkin (guilty gear),
- rory connor (original character),
- sakura (fire emblem: fates),
- shinn asuka (mobile suit gundam seed),
- shinoa hiiragi (owari no seraph),
- shunsui kyouraku (bleach),
- sion astal (lolheroes),
- slaine troyard (aldnoah.zero),
- souji seta (persona),
- wukong (league of legends)
DUNGEON ♛ 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 |
 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: 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. 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. 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. 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. |
rubs hands together
This is going to be tough, isn't it. Moreover, he can feel Makoto's gaze, but doesn't look back at her right away.]
Stay back for now, Walker.
[Another sigh. Something tells him that it needed to be said before anything else, but he can't be sure that Allen will actually listen. Despite having experience with dungeon crawling (even if he survived just one dungeon, it's better than nothing, still), Gil thinks of himself as the last person who should be giving orders to others; it even makes him feel a bit uncomfortable, but they have to get out of here alive.]
We have no choice but to fight. If we don't, it'll attack us anyway...sooner or later.
[They're still at a safe distance for now, but there's no way to predict what is it up to. Will their bullets be enough to even graze the dragon's scaled skin, though...?]
yeeeeee..!
What? [ It's a small sputter of protest. ]
No! I can't let the two of you face that! I can fight-- [ Though almost to punctuate or interrupt him, Tianya crouches forward and roars, the shout of it sweeping across the battlefield and carrying a weight of mana and power to itself as well. Deafening and almost enough to force one back on their heels and Allen brings his arms up to brace against it. ]
Nn.. [ It's fierce, even the wind...
Wings beating, the dragon begins to create a vortex of air around him, heads weaving back and forth as he eyes the party. ] Fools!
To think she would send such puny creatures to face me! She never understood me!
no subject
Her arm snakes out to grab both of theirs - partially to steady herself but also for his benefit - don't run off just yet, Allen. ]
This isn't a suicide mission. Either we all go or we don't go at all.
[ Not that she can do much if the both of them decide to dart forward there and then, but running carelessly into battle has always been her last course of action. Besides, Tialys is practically ten times their size, and going in without a rough semblance of strategy would 99% end badly.
As far as she's concerned, no one's dying here today. ]
Besides, I said negotiations were difficult, not impossible. Let's try establishing communication with it first.
[ Anyone not in agreement say NAY. ]
no subject
She's right.
[Unarguably, Makoto is the most experienced and always sounds so professional so she probably has some kind of a plan to get the beast—]
What?! Do you want to communicate with it...?! Listen, the last opponent in the previous dungeon could turn you into a stone, there's no telling what this one can do!
[One look into his eyes and it becomes clear that he's having war flashbacks to the previous boss fight.]
no subject
Allen blinks, but some of the tension like he was ready to bolt relaxes. He doesn't return the squeeze overtly, but presses a thumb lightly in response and gives a nod, turning to Gil then. More composed. ]
It isn't like the others though—it's aware of itself. [ He doesn't mean to argue with the other, especially when he's been through this before, but... ] And capable of caring. Or at least once it did.
[ How different is this dragon from them then? ]
We can't just kill it without trying to reason with it. [ him? Though if the core, and he's sure the dragon must possess or at least be guarding it, is anything like Innocence and everything about this place suggests the two might fundamentally be along the same lines...
... then they'll have no choice but to destroy it in order to free this place—and the dragon from his suffering.
So Allen's expression smooths a little, looking back to the Tianya whipping the wind into a gale. Gentle but certain. "She". The dragon referred to the phoenix as "she". ]
..If we do have to destroy him, then it has to be because there's no other way to release him from this. [ Because this storm...
Isn't that what grief looks like? ]
no subject
It's not attacking us yet.
[ Everything they'd come up against so far had done nothing but hurl every single trick in the book they had - and themselves, at times - but it - or as Allen is forcing the subject, 'he' - was refraining. Watching, maybe. ]
no subject
But he doesn't share his thoughts with them; it seems like they've made up their minds and he's the minority. So the least he can do is to make sure they won't get hurt.]
Are you planning to go all the way up to...uh...talk to it—him?
[Gil heaves a sigh. This idea sounds really bad, but can he really stop them...]
no subject
Love that's indiscernible from pain.
He turns and smiles at Gil at that, though. Brightly—but a little strained, too. ]
We'd have to go up there to fight him anyway, right? [ He's a close quarters combatant after all. And he knows talking probably won't work, it's an instinct about how he feels this place works, but... ]
We've come too far not to try everything. [ And he turns to glance at Makoto out of the corner of his eye. A lopsided and bittersweet sort of smile that's a bit too old for him. Did she want to or should he...?
(He gives a slight nod.)
But he'll back her up regardless. ]
no subject
Can we trust you to watch our backs?
[ Let's face it: At this point, they've gone through so much shit in this dungeon that there's no doubt in Makoto's mind that Gil is dependable enough as an ally. But it's always better to hear it from the person themselves. ]
no subject
The moment it...he tries to attack, I'll pull both of you away.
[This is going to be draining, but it may be the safest way. Well, maybe not the safest, but definitely the quickest to get away from Tianya's attack range.
Before speaking up again, Gil looks up. The three-headed dragon has been remaining fairly still for the time being, but this isn't going to last long.]
If things turn ugly, just don't attack him first. Let me do it.