DUNGEON ♛ LIEFSTE CARNAVAL

[boardmaster]

LIEFSTE CARNAVAL
20 JULY (DELPHINE) 2016

The Heroes chosen for this dungeon may reach Petrosian by any means they choose (by Airy with passports, by foot, by train, etc.) but they must travel to the area under suspicion by a smaller train, sponsored by VIPs; from there, they will take the fifteen mile, bumpy ride from the quaint town station to an open valley downstream. As you’re jostled around in your seat, a cheery announcement informs you that this train ride was sponsored by the illustrious Ryder, who felt it was necessary to express his gratitude to the Heroes and their admirable efforts that just barely saved his life last month. How thoughtful of him.

As the train chugs to a stop, beyond the forest and behind our Heroes, endless fields of gold seem to stretch out as far as the eye can see. What was once rich green grass has been painted yellow by the sweltering heat and clear summer sky. Few trees offer shelter from the sun, but most Heroes will have to provide their own shade as they wait for Secretary Verdoni and Ryder’s quick debriefing.

	Verdoni [ he looks so done with Ryder, but he has a job to do ] Every year, this field serves as the site of the famous Liefste Carnaval. For obvious reasons, we do not usually spend money to send our forces here, and if anyone would like to convince me otherwise, I shall have them entertain their fellow rapscallions at St. Amant.
	Ryder [ coughs ]
	Verdoni [ shut up ] However, due to financial constraints and missing people reports in the area, the carnival was canceled. And yet it is here. We have reason to believe that the reports of missing individuals tie into this carnival. Furthermore, our researchers say there is an abnormal amount of mana activity in the area. Given your previous experience with those, I don’t believe I need to elaborate any further. Your job is to investigate the carnival, find the truth behind it, and retrieve the dungeon core. As for your transportation, we’ve arranged a—
	Ryder Thank you, Secretary. Heroes. Out of gratitude for your heroic rescue, the least I could do was provide some incentive to fetch me a souvenir. This train, the Big Red, was built by one of Gammon’s finest mechanics. I had it shipped here under great expense so that you could enjoy the luxury of Gammon. I hope you Heroes are fortunate enough to visit my land soon. [ and as an afterthought: ] Ah, and rescue those people. Of course. By the way, this weather is absolutely dreadful. My skin was never this dry back in Cochrane. Guard A, Guard B, set up camp. We don’t want to faint from the heat later, do we?
	Verdoni [ why is this guy even here ] To answer the question on everyone’s minds: yes, there is a point to collecting these dungeon cores. Apart from restoring natural order to the land, we have reason to believe the dungeon cores may hold the key to finding a way home for you Heroes... Once we have proper confirmation, I will soon be able to make a formal announcement. Secondly, yes, Commander Lisbrand is still recovering from the Noir attack. We are hoping that she’ll be well enough to join us soon. For now, we do what we can.

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 ♙
Welcome to the Liefste Carnaval! Don’t be shy, come on in!

There’s nothing of note when you approach the carnival’s entrance. The hustle and bustle of any other fun-filled festival can be heard from the outside, complete with excited shouts and distant music. The smell of popcorn and other saccharine treats waft over and make your mouth water…

Before you satisfy your cravings, you should get a ticket. You’ll be greeted by a vaguely humanoid ticket seller entirely covered in confetti and pieces of torn tickets, with a rattling breath as if it caught a cold. It doesn’t speak and merely points to a sign that says 500 colle per person! What? Not everything comes for free. An item of similar value will also suffice.

If you refuse to pay and shoulder your way past it, you’ll find yourself shoved onto your back, face to face with the ticket seller himself. The bits of paper on its face rustle before it shuffles back over to the stand. Try again and you’ll find yourself getting further and further away from the entrance as a minor curse begins to settle upon you. You may come up with your own curse (e.g. loss of voice, speaking in gibberish). Thankfully, the curse doesn’t last long, but the message should be clear: pay for your ticket.

Once you have acquired your ticket, you are free to enter the carnival at your leisure. Should you turn around to ask the ticket seller for more information, it will vanish into thin air, leaving nothing but a small heap of confetti.

Walk past the first booth; a gaggle of happy children with balloons approach you with boxes of welcoming gifts. Though you might want to remember what all children are taught: don’t take candy from strangers.

MONSTER ♟ Wicht
Weak against Fire, Holy	Strong against None	Immune to Dark
A demon possessing a wooden puppet painted and carved in the form of a happy child with rosy cheeks. It offers BOXES OF CHOCOLATE to unsuspecting victims. Be warned: the chocolate will give you CHILLS AND MALAISE, and eating it will prompt fellow Wichts to link their hands together and circle around you as they chant RING AROUND THE ROSIE. This is not an innocent game, but a spell that accelerates the progression of the disease inside you, manifesting in RASHES, FEVER, SNEEZING AND COUGHING. The Wichts have no sympathy to spare; they’ll keep chanting ‘til you all fall down! Don’t feel like chocolate today? Oh, the Wichts insist. As they shove their boxes at you, their giggles turn into maniacal laughter. Their cherubic features melt into something sharper, harder, and you barely have time to react before they try to rip your heart out with their SHARP CLAWS. Catching Wichts is not easy. They use the wind magic of their BALLOONS to fly out of harm’s way, and the more mischievous ones will inhale the helium inside to release BANSHEE-LIKE SCREAMS that will stun and knock your party back. You can eliminate these demons by any means, but defeating these wooden puppets with HOLY MAGIC will banish the demonic spirit inside them, rendering them lifeless with the angelic features they originally had. These Petrosian-style puppets show really good craftsmanship! DROPS: Colorful Balloons, Gift Boxes, Petrosian Puppets, Wicht Claws, Mana-infused Wood

Suddenly, the cheerful and festive atmosphere vanishes. A flag flutters against a strong, abrupt gust of wind. Shadows seem to whisper and point and watch with gleaming, uncountable eyes. The paths are deserted and what was a vibrant place full of life is now anything but.


TWO ♙
In the chocolate box of the first Wicht you defeat, you will find a hand-drawn map of the carnival. It is extremely detailed and meticulously labeled with every ride, shop, and sideshow. Does this cartographer have a perfectionist streak? There’s a crudely-painted red heart circling one attraction in particular: the tunnel of love. But from the way the color dried, you’re starting to think that’s not paint…

Before you reach the tunnel of love, you have to pass through game stalls and the haunted house. Move quickly; those familiar Wicht giggles are approaching and they will not take no for an answer. Hide behind stalls or large crates to avoid them. Perhaps Rooks or Illusion Queens can cover the party’s tracks!

If you choose to hide behind stalls and crates, a cold draft might hit your back, send a shiver down your spine and make you whirl around to confront—no one. But you could have sworn you saw a shadow in the corner of your eye… Before you can think, something too close for comfort bursts into hysterical laughter, attracting the attention of the Wichts and forcing you to abandon your shelter.

However, Wichts can’t touch you if you join in the fun, and the carnival offers a variety of games to play, from dime pitch games to shooting galleries. A man next to a strongman game might even holler at you to step right up and test your strength. Neither firearms, ammo or hammers will be provided, but you’re Heroes, right? Improvise! Win, and you’ll be greeted by...

MONSTER ♟ Steun
Weak against Holy	Strong against Dark	Immune to None
Carnival staff manning the stalls with smiles that will haunt your nightmares. People who win their games infuriate them! Their weapon of choice depends on where you find them. Food vendors will be eager to hurl BOILING OIL or throw an entire GRILL at your face, while those at the shooting galleries might come at you with FIREARMS—real ones! But sometimes, a bullet won’t kill you. Instead, it will make you smell like cotton candy. It will also cast CHARM MAGIC on you, making your party members fall in love with you. Only strong willpower can break the spell… or you know, a good, old-fashioned kiss. Staff members may also toss stuffed toys at you, but these cute and cuddly things aren’t a gift of goodwill. They’re enchanted grenades that explode into heart-shaped confetti and release a gas that will make you LAUGH UNCONTROLLABLY for a good five minutes. DROPS: Assorted Guns and Bullets, Carnival Food Items, Stuffed Toys, Carnival Staff Jacket

Glad that’s over! Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the last area you needed to traverse. Checking the map again reveals that the haunted house is up next. But that shouldn’t be a big deal; you can usually avoid those by simply walking past, right?

Wrong. As you enter the area, you’ll soon realize that the roads around the house are clogged up by cotton candy and popcorn which might serve as convenient snacks to replenish your mana. The only free path leads to the front door.


THREE ♙
The floorboards creak as your party enters the haunted house. A flash of lightning preceding a crack of thunder reveals a large, arachnid leg. Clicking noises of pincers are the only warnings Heroes get before your party is grabbed and hauled upwards, one by one. Tough strings like silk trap your bodies in a tight cocoon that dangles from the ceiling. Resistance is futile, as struggling will damage your clothes. Don’t worry about flashing anyone; the spider is more than happy to cover your bare areas with more form-hugging strings. The spider silk seems to be enchanted, since captured Heroes cannot escape on their own. You must help them to proceed!

As the spider works on hauling its prey upwards, the others must rescue their comrade before it’s too late! Unfortunately, your entrance has awoken a sudden rush of monsters, and the blood and drool they’re spewing make it hard to believe they’re in costume. Hobbling and groaning zombies, scarecrows and half molten blobs or something in between are eager to have you for dinner themselves. The enemies themselves are not particularly dangerous; it’s their sheer number and the furniture they’ve knocked over which make this fight a pain in the neck. Kick and bat and suplex your way through the enemy ranks until you reach the rickety stairs.

Climbing with care, you finally make your way to the second floor. There is a spider lurking in a corner...

MONSTER ♟ Heer Spinnekop
Weak against Water	Strong against Earth, Wind	Immune to Lightning
“I must say, that was very rude of you. No one has ever turned down an invitation to my tea parties.” A calm and chipper tea-sipping, monocle-wearing SPIDER too big to fit through the front door. The wealthy Lord Spinnekop studied in Gammon for a time and the accent has stuck with him ever since. Despite his manners, he isn’t too pleased to have his snack stolen from under its nose. What’s he going to dunk in his tea cup now? So he’ll try to trap the Heroes once more with his SILK THREADS, please and thank you. His threads will wrap around you in patterns that bind and appeal to the senses. “Ooh, could you do that again? It makes my spinneret tingle!” For some reason, LIGHTNING MAGIC doesn’t work against the monstrous spider. But continue to refuse him and he’ll splash piping hot Gammonian Breakfast tea at your face… or shirt. Let’s hope you didn’t wear something thin and white. As the battle goes on, he’ll crawl from corner to corner, and soon, you’ll notice a method to his madness: he’s been weaving a HUGE, STICKY WEB for you all! “No, no, you’ve got it all wrong. I’ll wash you down—after I chew and swallow!” Heroes he likes, he’ll trap in his web and eat. Heroes he doesn’t? He’ll toss them in a giant KETTLE of water he’s been boiling in the kitchen! How does Heroic tea sound? However, chatting with the spider (and boy, does he love to chat) will reveal that despite growing up in the lowlands of Petrosian and living in rainy Gammon, he detests water. WATER MAGIC might just wash the spider out! DROPS: Fancy Tea Set, Top Hat, Monocle, Gentleman’s Gloves, Silk Threads

You’ve had it with this @#$%ing spider in this @#%$ing haunted house! Goodbye and good riddance. The doors upstairs seem to lead to nowhere so you’ll have to climb through the open hatch in the ceiling to exit. On the roof, you can finally survey the entire dungeon, but don’t linger for too long. Otherwise, you’ll be compelled to jump off the roof!

Hope you’re not afraid of heights, because the only way to advance to the tunnel of love is by jumping from roof to roof.


FOUR ♙
Finally, the infamous tunnel of love rests before you in all its glittery, pink glory. Rose petals coat the sign and flower chains hang from the tunnel ceiling. Echoes of sensual moans can be heard from the outside, but there’s no turning back. Once you’ve secured yourself a swan boat, you’re in for quite the joyride. The dulcet tones of a romantic serenade give you something else to focus on other than the disturbingly intimate shadows on the walls, but even the music stops every now and then to amplify the voices further in.

Then all of a sudden, the water of the tunnel starts flowing in the other direction. Due to the shape of the boat, Heroes get doused in cold water, and that’s the least of your problems. More Steuns will come out of the woodwork and take potshots at the Heroes with their guns. Talk about wet and wild! The tunnel’s heart-shaped props might also come to life and attempt to drown Heroes. Why not? It’s not like couples ever want to leave.

After several merry minutes, the water will be drained out completely. Who doesn’t enjoy being stranded in the middle of enemy territory? As you walk down the tunnel, there’s a point that diverges into several paths. Following the path that smells like roses will appear to put you on the right track, but leads to a dead end. Looking around, you’ll find a raised, heart-shaped platform with graffiti that says, NOW DO IT! ❤

That’s awfully specific. Considering where you are, you probably meet the riddle with mild surprise. Maybe if you try to kiss someone, you’ll be able to advance! But actually, if you wait long enough, a simple hug might yet suffice.

Once the riddle has been satisfied, the wall opens to reveal the inside of a circus tent. Vacant bleachers surround the stage, and though they are empty, deafening cheers seem to come from people filling the seats. Without warning, all the lights go out, save for a single spotlight...

BOSS ♟ Y. U. Lyon the Spelleider and his Circus
Weak against None	Strong against Fire	Immune to Dark, Status Effects
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Welcome to the best show in the world! I’ve travelled the seven seas, so I should know.” An outstanding and prolific RINGMASTER who recently fell out of the limelight. After some soul searching, Ser Lyon’s back with a bigger and better show that’ll knock everyone’s socks off! Eat your heart out, Cirque du Etoile. As the leader of this circus, he has the fully loyalty of his performers—and pets. With a crack of his whip, he summons large, maned LIONS that growl as they bare their sharp, white fangs. They attack the Heroes on his orders. Don’t let the large felines jump through those flaming hoops, as these will ENGULF THEM IN FIRE, too! Use WATER to put the flames out. ”Such teamwork… Geluk and I were the same. Why am I thinking about him at a time like this? For our next act…!” Should you defeat his precious lions, he will send out his beloved CIRCUS PERFORMERS: acrobats that can kick your butt, contortionists that can bend themselves twice over as they lock you in a CHOKEHOLD, unicycle-riding jugglers waiting for the right moment to toss you a KNIFE or MOLOTOV COCKTAIL, and tightrope walkers ready to DROP DEADLY SPEARS onto unsuspecting Heroes. You might even get tackled by the occasional cannonball man and GET LAUNCHED OUT OF THE TENT with him! Circus performers of all kinds will try to steal the show, and your imagination’s the limit. Unlike the ringmaster, these people are WEAK TO STATUS EFFECTS. ”He told me to meet him during the Festivale de la Ceinturonne, but I had a show that night. I couldn’t abandon my circus! That was years ago… I haven’t heard from him since. I wonder what would have happened… if I had gone to see him… If I had gone to see him…!” Although his stars are gone, the show must go on. As the drum rolls, the lone Ser Lyon reaches inside his mouth to pull out a sharp SWORD with a flourish. How long has that been in there? Not important. Forget about admiring his top-notch swordsmanship, too—he’s here to kill! Even as you keep your distance, you can’t escape him when he strikes you with his WHIP and singes your skin with his FIRE-BREATHING SKILLS. From time to time, he pulls MAGICAL BIRDS out of his coat to distract Heroes. They will disappear the moment you strike them. ”Bravo, bravo. The circus is my life, but… your teamwork has reminded me of something far more important. Still… we put on a good show, didn’t we?” Before his last breath, he pulls a lovespur out of thin air. It was his closest friend’s favorite magic trick. A DUNGEON CORE rises from his chest, and he ends the show with an elegant bow and a smile. DROPS: Ringmaster Staff, Ringmaster Coat, Lion Mane, Juggling Balls, Sword, Hoop, Balance Pole, Torches

Once Y. U. Lyon the Spelleider and his lackeys have been defeated, the phantom cheering cuts off. The bleachers are suddenly occupied by the missing Petrosians, exhausted and confused as to how they ended up here. The dungeon magic appears to have compelled them to act the way they did. Reassure them, help them down from the bleachers and make absolutely sure you leave no one behind.

Soon, the carnival gates open. The show is over and it’s time for everyone to go home.


FIVE ♙
Once you step out of the gates, there’s a flash of light and a final pop of confetti. The next time you blink, you’ll find yourself in a campsite. It seems like Ryder kept his word and set up a rest stop for everyone exiting the dungeon. You’re back in one piece and the area seems to be back to normal as well. Relieved murmurs spring up from the rescued Petrosians who are quick to thank the Heroes profusely before they are whisked away by Blanc’s medics for a check-up.

Verdoni Good work, Heroes. What you do with the dungeon cores is your business alone, but all efforts to assist us in assessing them will be appreciated. That includes providing us with said dungeon cores, of course. I will report our findings as soon as we can. Thank you.

As he leaves, he catches the sight of Ryder and clicks his tongue. That Gammonian is making good use of his human footrest again. Some things never change.

Now that Heroes have left the dungeon, they are free to do whatever they want to. Rest in the tents? Fill your rumbling tummies? Treat injuries? It’s up to them!

Comments

[sealeted]

Kind of a moot point when they already had eyes on us. There's only one entrance, after all. But Vietnam is right.

[She refrains from mentioning ambushes, for the sake of not distracting either of them. It's not that she's bitter, or that she means to be snide, really; she just isn't about to taqke a barb lying down.]

I'll do it, since you've got something to focus on.

[The train was at least good for giving Hakuno some hands-on experience felling enemies in relatively close quarters with allies.]

[hoasen]

[This map could help them with the rest of the dungeon. For now though, she makes no comment about their argument.]

Thank you!

[That is all she says, as the Wichts still want to fight, and they need a moment of quiet before she could tell them that words such as those will lead them into more trouble later. Keep arguments off field for a moment! She knows, she does it all the time.

In order to ensure that Hakuno wouldn't have to cover her for too long, Vietnam kicks her hell into the ground, murmuring a few words to push her towards the map with her gravity powers. As soon as she's within reach, she casts another spell, this time to pull the map into her hand. As soon as that's done, she reverses her direction back to her comrades.]

I have it. Now if we're all low on mana, let's just give them all we can give, destroy these enemies, and recharge ourselves right after. We'll talk about superior battle strategies after.

[guerrilla]

You two can recharge, I'll scout ahead to see what we'll be up against next.

[The response is immediate, even as he uses more mana to nail a Wicht in the face. Theoretically, he'll need to use this ability less the more he reacquaints himself with something that's not a crossbow, but that doesn't do much good now, especially with a Pawn's low reserves.]

There's no foliage I can hide in or anything, but I think I can manage.

[There are plenty of booths to hide behind, for instance. Still, it's pretty obviously an excuse to skip out on the mana exchange. He's sure he'll be fine, and perhaps more importantly, he wants to avoid the inherent intimacy that comes with it.]

[sealeted]

Since you're new to mana depletion, here's a head's up: you'll get dizzy. And weak. Maybe even pass out.

[Don't be dumb, is tickling the back of her throat, driven there by the niggling almost-ache of her own fast-approaching depletion. She's not about to say it, but she's thinking it. thinking it very hard, and very loud.]

Besides, it's pointless if the map has clues for our objective on it and you just go—

[She grunts and throws another fireball at a Wicht, before shaking her fingers out and notching another arrow in place. It finds its mark, sinking deep and pinning two of them together by the shoulders, perfectly set up to go ablaze together.]

A momentary advantage isn't worth you ending up a liability soon after, right?

[hoasen]

[She opens up the map, so that they can look at it. The way this carnival built, how it is a dungeon, well, like how there are places for enemies to hide, those places can also be used for them to.

So just before she points out those places.]

We all charge our mana. This is a battle, we must make sure we all keep it together. Mine can keep going for a little bit longer [Thanks rank ups.] so you two should...hold hands?

[She's not sure how they want to recharge their mana, actually. She's sure that Archer has a little bit of discomfort considering their earlier conversations. But as they keep fighting--] And while that is happening, it's getting quieter now. Let's break and make a run for the next area. I believe these creatures will just keep coming.

[Better pick up whatever loot you want to save for later now, team!]

[guerrilla]

Bows take two hands to use, so I need both of mine and the kid needs both of hers. As long as I'm careful I won't pass out or anything, so you don't have to worry about me becoming a liability. I've dealt with worse than dizziness before.

[Wow, a legitimate excuse, sort of. Robin takes advantage of the relative lull in action to retrieve some of his arrows. A lot of them have burned to the point they're no longer of any use, but what hasn't is getting unceremoniously dumped back into his quiver.]

I'm ready to run when you are.

[sealeted]

That will mean so much when you dig too deep at a crucial moment and topple over in a dead faint, really it will.

[Hakuno follows suit, impulsively grabbing an empty gift box and filling it with claws and some decent-sized chunks of unburned wood before shoving the whole thing into her bag. She salvages a (somewhat higher) number of arrows, glad she thought to leave half the Wichts to rot and half to fire spells. If worst comes to worst, they can share later on. She sighs slightly, as that thought snags at the forefront of her mind.

If worst comes to worst...]

Well... I guess kissing is hands-free and a quicker way to restore mana, if you're going to get that bent out of shape about it.

[hoasen]

[Good good, while they handle some of the loot, she keeps watch. If anything, she can repel the monsters enough with her barrier while they go further into the carnival. According to this map anyway.

That being said, Archer makes a fair point. Hakuno makes an even fairer one.]

It is a lot faster as well. [She says as she finally picks up some loot; the wood and claws, unsure if she wants to keep them yet.] But very forward, so use only when you must!

[Considering Archer's protest though, Hakuno just very well might have to. Hell, even she would if they really must, but she doesn't know Archer well enough yet. It'll be very awkward.]

Go first! I'll repel them, and follow you straight after.

[guerrilla]

I'm not gonna kiss some kid! What kind of guy do you take me for?

[While she's barely even a kid at this point, Hakuno had been so dependent on Saber when he met her that it's hard for him not to think of her as a child. He likes picking up girls, sure, but not in situations like this.

He stuffs a few stray Wicht arms, claws intact, into his quiver with his retrieved arrows when he sees Hakuno taking them, and rather than continue this conversation, he takes off for the place Vietnam pointed out.]

[sealeted]

The kind of guy who's surprisingly stubborn for somebody who was supposed to have a self-preserving, flexible sort of strategy in his fights.

[That's... a surprisingly nice way to put it, but she means the words with all the sincerity she can muster, with little more than a tenth of her mana still available. She makes a small, frustrated noise and takes off after him once she gives Vietnam a perfunctory nod. She has experience, chasing would-be enemies and semi-allies around hostile territory while skirting definite enemies all the while, courtesy of the Moon Cell, so she's able to stay within ten feet of him as they move.]

My hand or my mouth. Pick one so that stubbornness doesn't get one of us killed.

[hoasen]

[It's for preservation, she would've said. What is wrong with a chaste kiss? Unless he's even more purer than she thought. In her case, she doesn't kiss just anyone, but for survival, she would. So she wondered if it had anything to do with that.

Hakuno at least wants him to live. So she'll leave him in her hands for now. With one violent repulsion, Vietnam pushes the wichts enough for her to run after them, and that was when she noticed that things were beginning to change as the wind blew. The carnival was beginning to grow much darker, foreboding. A lot more threatening, like they thought it would be.

She spots her comrades and follows after closely, catching up.]

We should hide. Then you can handle that matter of picking which method of mana exchange suits you better.

[guerrilla]

If someone hadn't just strolled up to one of them and shot, maybe I wouldn't have had to -

[There's really no point in continuing this argument, and he knows it. How do you say "I don't really care what happens to me" without making it sound bad? Self-preservation was important while he was alive because no one else was willing or able to take his place. But that's not the case here, and despite not knowing either of them really well, he's already certain he likes them more than he likes himself. So it's alright if he overexerts himself. It's easier for everybody if he bristles - at least anger or frustration can be used as fuel for a fight.

On the other hand, he's supposed to be working with them, and a repeat performance of his miserable track record with Blackmore isn't what he wants. Becoming a liability over something this trite is pretty much exactly, word for word, how you could describe their partnership, as far as Robin is concerned, and last time it happened a good man died.

He holds his hand out silently. He hates the thought of exposing his emotional state, even through something as abstract as exchanging mana, but he hates the thought of being the reason any more good people get hurt even more.

He's in a pretty bad mood, so it probably isn't going to be a pleasant experience for either of them, but at least he's cooperating for now.]

Just don't go charging in again. It's reckless and limits that flexibility you're talking about.

[sealeted]

....yeah.

[When she finally slides her hand into his, he gets a peek at how different her emotional state is from the blank, semi-calm expression she's had in place all this time. It's restless, like the sea on a windy day, churning and rolling from time to time. It's cool, though, and there's an impression of something like reassurance and apology there, unvoiced but present all the same. Her fingers curl around his gently and loosely, even as her eyes slowly slide over their surroundings.]

I guess, the hostile programs in the Moon Cell spoiled me. If you didn't hit them first, most times they would leap at you without reservation and you'd lose the initiative. On the train, I was fine with killing those soldiers from a distance before entering their cars but this is... It's almost familiar here. I don't like that.

[What does that say about her? That she found it so much easier to stay calm and kill people on the train, rather than this carnival? She's not sure. She doesn't want to think about it right now either.]

[hoasen]

[Vietnam wouldn't really have a bone with attack first and talk later if not for the final battle in the previous dungeon. A battle against a large dragon, Tianya, who seems to have many regrets due to his love for his phoenix. But she was long gone, and when they attacked him, he seems to only want her.

Will this happen here, Vietnam wonders. But that is a thought for later. For now, she needs to watch their backs as they exchange mana.

Really, that wasn't so hard, no? But she refrains from saying that.]

Attacking first need not be sudden. Timing is of the essence as well. I believe neither of you are wrong. [It's just hard to judge which is right, but that comes with plenty of experience, for any of them. Including herself.]

Come. Over there. [She glances at a rather dark spot, between booths.] If you wish to rest, we can spend some time there. Otherwise, we keep moving.

[She glances behind her. There's something about this wind... [She looks again, but there's just nothing behind here.] And these stalls. They're manned...

[guerrilla]

I don't really like staying in one place for longer than necessary, so I'd rather get moving.

[He glances at Hakuno while he says it, gauging how quickly she's recovering. Fighting in suboptimal shape isn't anything new to him - it's hard to find time to sleep sometimes when you're an outlaw - but he's not sure if Hakuno needs more time. If that's the case, it would be better to wait until she's ready, right?]

If the stalls are manned, I think we can pretty reasonably expect we'll be ambushed, so our options are to keep moving, try to get the jump on them, or take our chances in a head-on fight. Obviously, I'm not a huge fan of that last one, but if we have a proper plan going in it might not be a total disaster.

[But the fact that he leaves it open as an option means he's trying to be a little more mindful of the fact that he's working in a team.]