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Dragon Sign [IC/PG-16/Not Accepting]

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Marshall would continue to watch the Drengr as he ran off into the distance. It was clear that it had no sign of looking the proverbial gift horse in the mouth, or tempting its less proverbial but still abstract in concept fate, and simply continued to sprint at full speed away. It wasn't quite clear if it had a specific destination in mind or if it was just looking for somewhere that was decidedly "not here" but it kept running until the view of its figure was obscured by the myriad of hills that decorated this plain. 

Abby would find that, as she may have posited from before, she could in fact begin healing the bear and "make the hurt go away." The bear was very reluctant and seemed very uncomfortable to let a tiny hairless stranger use equally strange magic on it, but by some miracle or other it had seemed to understand the non-hostile intent of the group. Similarly, while the references and nuance of what Marshall had been saying to the bear was likely entirely lost on it, it let out a short grunt towards her when she finished speaking

The overall healing process was incredibly simple; the healer simply point their hand at the target, channel the magic and voila the body began to heal. The rate at which it healed was slow and the sequence in which the spots that were healed seemed to have no rhyme or reason to it; she could have her hand to the bears side and its back would begin healing, for instance. And while Abby was no spectacular mage, not that the woman had any frame of reference to derive this knowledge and could only truly know on a meta level currently, and she had practically no experience in healing magic before she couldn't help but feel still that something was off about this. Like there was something getting in the way of her healing and the bear's full recovery. It wasn't as though the bear was resisting, it just felt like a natural consequence of something. Or several somethings that simply complicated the process much more then it needed to.

Though, eventually, after some six to seven minutes the bear's body was restored. The process, though not using Focus in the traditional sense, would leave some degree of mental exhaustion to the girl. It wasn't as though there was a lot of brain work involved in healing, or at least conscious involvement of it, so much as it was though she were stretching an entirely new and underused muscle that had no actual comparison to the regular human body, and the mind was just the closest approximation and reference point to it. 

Throughout the whole process the bear did not seem to be discomforted by the healing, and once it was done it walked around seemingly unhindered by its previous wound. There was a trace of confusion in the bear's expression as it truly did not understand what had happened, only that the group here was responsible for its continued living. As a result, it wasn't the least bit hostile towards them, but also seemed to not care too much to stick around much longer. The bear looked to all of them and let out a grunt, which the gang could somehow discern as it giving its thanks, before bending down and picking up one of the more muscular looking Drengr that had fought it with its mouth. Letting out another grunt, one that seemed to herald its departure, the bear walked off with the Drengr corpse in its mouth to a nearby hill, walking over and down it and out of the group's current visual range. 

With that done, all that was left was some Dregnr corpses on the road but no other obstructions in their way. The road would continue to lead to a stone door that was built into the side of a hill, as they had seen before. The door itself seemed to be old, having been weathered by the constant storms of the area, with the only discernable feature on it being what appeared to be the image of a wolf's face carved into the center. 

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"O-Out of curiosity, why did you let that one go?"

Sabrina tensed up as the man approached her. The question he asked startled her. "What do you mean, it had given up. W-what was I going to do kill it anyway?" She took a step back away from him as he stammered something else out. She had felt a bit bad at the comparison she made the other night but she was starting to feel it was more on point than she had realized.

She never failed to be surprised at the kinds of people that were sent here to save this world. She'd just have to make up for his bloodthirstiness to make sure this world knew what a true hero, one with whose blood surely flowed with the power of dragons, was like.

Abby, at least, seemed to understand. She was starting to grow more fond of the girl, of course the cuteness of the small woman helped, and was relieved that there was at least one person here who might have the same heroic spark as her.

Sabrina wasn't sure what to feel about Marshall's response. In a way it was similar to Gene's but she was much more low-key and had wandered off so fast that Sabrina didn't have time to be taken aback.

She kept near Abby, and thus the bear as well, as the girl healed the animal. When the healing was done the bear went off, she decided to ignore that it had grabbed a body on its way, she waved it goodbye. "Farewell, guardian of the plains! Your, uh, strength and...virtue will not be forgotten!"

Once they reached the hill, blocked by a stone door, Sabrina found herself stumped. She wasn't actually sure what they were supposed to do. Having had just been following along as they went she only just thought about how little she knew about their actual goal. "Do we....knock?" She asked the others.

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"I think it's a good thing. Real heroic-like. Plus, just because we have magical powers and all doesn't mean we're allowed to become a bunch of sociopaths with no regard for life. Case in point."
“...While I will voice that I’m unsure if that was the smartest course of action, considering how hungrily the Drengr attacked the village just a day ago ...I will also concede, that we have more important matters to attend to; and it would be prudent if we remained on schedule. Ergo, we cannot go chasing down every rat that escapes onto the subway tracks,”
"What do you mean, it had given up. W-what was I going to do kill it anyway?"

Gene looked at them and immediately looked away. He said something stupid again...didn't he? He suddenly went quiet, almost shrinking into himself...well, he would if he could. That seemed to be two things in just today that he ended up saying that seemed to be wrong or just simply stupid. Was anything truly changing for him now aside from him having this power? Apparently not.

...but...aren't they evil though? We're supposed to stop them...right? he wanted to say this, rather than internalize it, but he bit his tongue. Gene didn't want anything else stupid being said on his watch like this. "...f-forget I said anything..." he muttered quietly. Maybe this wouldn't be like his dreams after all...maybe he would've been better being the same old reclusive young man. Gene simply watched as the bear left, only to follow after the others and being forced to stop at the stone door.

"Do we....knock?"

Gene looked at the very weathered door. The face of a wolf was the only discerning feature it had going for it. He stared at it for a bit, rubbing his arm a bit with a sigh. He glanced at everyone for a moment, before looking away. "...p-p-probably wouldn't hurt..."

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Ahead of the group lay a door. An old door, probably a shining example of masterful craftsmanship back in its prime. It was still a lot nicer than most things Abby had seen back in her world, as far as artistry in architecture went, but she wasn't an architect, and this was ultimately still just a door. Carved into its center was the face of a wolf, providing further proof for her original suspicions that this world was largely pagan if she'd still believed such a thing. Which she didn't.

"Do we....knock?"

"...p-p-probably wouldn't hurt..."

Well, if nobody else was going to...

"Don't mind if I do," Abby said, taking the initiative ahead of the rest of the group. The womanlet stepped up to the door, and gave it two simple knocks. Being a mere door of stone and not a living being, however, the door did not respond. Nor did a voice come from within, which was what Abby was expecting in the first place. With nothing in the way of an answer, and no doorknobs, indicating that this door was to be pushed open, Abby gave a shrug.

"Guess we're going right in."

And so, Abby set her hands on the doors, and pushed them open. Greeting her on the other side was a staircase leading down. The interior - much like the doors - was made from stone, and it looked like a decent bit of a walk down. "Alright, I'm a tough girl, so try to stay behind me," Abby said, calling forth her trusty hammer in one hand then starting down the stairs. "Who wants to bet we'll find some sort of cool treasure down here?"

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Ever Drifting Between Real and Surreal

As the group fully entered the shrine proper, the door creaked closed behind them, leaving them in total darkness, if only for a moment. Inexplicably, a current of electricity could be scene running along the walls on either side of them, arcing down in accordance with the path the stairs laid out for them. And then, a familiar faint bluish glow emanated from the walls and ceilings. Though they had only seen it once, it had been just a day earlier that they experienced this light; that of the church they had awoken in. The walls themselves still seemed to be made of the same kind of gray stone that the outside door had been made of, but as they traveled down the stairs they would notice that the floor had changed to something else. Soon the stone steps gave way to the same kind of multicolored agate that lined the walls of the church, caked with patches of moss here and there, and smoothed to a straight hallway. 

Once they stepped onto this hallway of a landing they would be able to see carvings across either wall. The one to their left had what were discernably human shaped figures and to the right were ones shaped like various land animals. Curiously, the humanoid figures seemed to be just that, which is to say their depictions had nothing in way of animal like features across them. 

After a bit more walking, the group would eventually find themselves at a split path; to continue straight or to go off to the right down yet another hallway. To the front their path was blocked by, yet another, door. This one seemed to be made of a dark wood with some kind of gold trimming across the sides of it. It bore similarities to the other as well as there was yet another wolf head on this door, similarly gilded in whatever golden material lined the doors. Carved above it, however, was the image of a serpent coiled around an orb, similar to the one in the church as well though lacking any color.

Once the group had laid eyes on the door, they would also notice to the side a collection of water was gathering. Soon, the water coalesced and gained more details and colors to it before creating the form of the familiar draconic emissary, River. The antlered girl smiled, saying, "welcome, Exalted, to the Shrine of Storm."  

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Luckily for her; the watch was little more than a formality, it seemed, as nothing dared chase them by. The bear had even left them by soon enough; allowing them to progress easily, for the most part. Of course, Marshall couldn’t discount the discussion she heard in the distance before the Bear wandered off; as Gene and Sabrina had discussed the Drengr… That’s right. Marshall closed her eyes, tucking her left arm behind herself as she let her mind wander, the fleeing Drengr no longer in view. Not everyone is going to be capable of looking at this purely objectively. She frowned, bringing her right up to adjust her cap as she turned back to rejoin the group. I’ll have to keep that in mind; so as to not jeopardize our status as a functioning staff.

It wasn’t until they had reached the door, however, or until Sabrina, Gene, and Abby had all decided to knock, that Marshall found her attention fully present again; instead of being spent pacing the halls of dialogue in her mind, searching for the right words. She hadn’t even had time to agree with them, before the doors had been pushed ajar, and they were to begin entering. “...Be on your guard,” Marshall murmured as a reminder, following close behind Abby, as the small girl took the lead. “...There’s no telling just what kind of surprises await us here,” she’d explain, glancing around.

…Though, to say anything was truly all that surprising, would have been a bit of a lie. In fact, everything so far had been tantamount to a culmination of what they had encountered thus far. The current of electricity was, of course, a bit off putting; but the blue glow of the room was more than familiar, given where she had spent most of her waking undeath up until this point. “...This appears to be similar to the station we woke up in,” she’d remark plainly, bringing a gloved hand to her chin as she glanced around the party. There were more questions posed by this revelation than answers, of course: for example, did this shrine also, once have heroes wake up in it, like they did? Or was it simply held in tact by the same power which held the church aloft? Did it serve the same purpose?

We'll find out soon, Marshall reasoned as she shook her head, keeping an eye out in the meantime; anything could yet happen, given how much they had to see still. Of course, the hallway within which they continued their journey, did little to answer any of her questions, in fact, giving way to many more, as carvings on either way showed both clear depictions of humans… And clear depiction of Animals, with nothing in between so far as she could see. That meant then, that there was then nothing like what they had seen from life in this world so far... Raising even more questions in the process, such as whether this shrine was constructed before even the Drengr and the people of the village existed, or if there was some other reason for the complete erasure of the animal-like figures they had seen so for…

But, well, that would be a question for a later juncture.

Now, Marshall had more confounding, though interesting, surprises to contend with as she glanced over the features of the split path, and saw… Water. Not just any water, of course; this was a shrine that would do with such, and the rain would have likely led to at least a bit of leakage down here, given the stairwell they had traveled down from. But for the water to coalesce into a familiar face… Now that, was a bit of a surprise. “Greetings, Dispatcher,” Marshall would relax, even if just for a moment, as she brought her right hand up to tighten her hat. “We have much to report after our morning shift,” she’d pause for a moment. “...That is, if you haven’t been observing us already.”

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"Alright, I'm a tough girl, so try to stay behind me,"

Sabrina felt herself relax at the words. She wasn't looking forward to going into the unknown underground that awaited them. At first she set out to silently followed along behind but then suddenly, as if only just remembering something, she blurted out "Don't have to worry! We're all tough...right? I'm sure whatever is in there is no match for my special powers anyway!"

As they entered Sabrina was about to quicken her pace to pass Abigail up to "prove" that she wasn't nervous at all.

Then the door closed and it was dark and she stuttered to a halt. The glow didn't help her to regain the shaky confidence so she kept her mouth shut and just continued along the path.

Sabrina soon became distracted however by the scenery they found themselves in. There was something about it that made her feel like they were about to enter a boss room of sorts and, despite the worrisome implications of that, she found herself growing excited to see what might be beyond the door.

Before that, though, they had another encounter with their mysterious guide. Sabrina hadn't really considered the fact that River had just appeared here until Marshal made a statement.

“...That is, if you haven’t been observing us already.”

River's interest was piqued as Marshall mentioned a report, but then nodded at her statement. "I have indeed been watching closely all that the Exalted have been doing since last we spoke, yes."

"O-oh you have? So..." Multiple scenes flashed in Sabrina's mind, trudging through the mud, hesitating against the drengr, and essentially every potential embarrassing moment. "Did anything....stand out?" She asked, failing to sound cool and composed about asking it.

Putting a finger to her chin, thinking back on the past day's events, the girl smiled and nodded. "Oh, yes in fact! If there was one thing that stood out to me most it would be a term that I am quite unfamiliar with. What is a Pokemon?"

Of all the things she could say that may have been the one that Sabrina expected the least. "Ah! It's a video game and anim...well, a video game is, uh." Sabrina found herself at an impasse where she was uncertain just how much she'd need to explain. "Pokemon are...imaginary monsters from a uh...game. That you catch and...have fight other monsters. U-um...."

Sabrina was caught between panic and excitement at suddenly having to explain something she liked to not only a girl from another world but, perhaps more frightening, a cute girl from another world.

"Oooh," genuine curiosity and interest on River's face as she continued, "what a fascinating game." The girl then looked at the others, and then over to herself, her tail briefly swinging in front of her before asking, "would I be considered a Pokemon?"

"C-Cute!" Sabrina could no longer handle the situation. River's response overloaded the teenager's senses and she found herself unable to respond. The cute girl was interested in what Sabrina was saying! And her question just made her even cuter! Overwhelmed by all this Sabrina was suddenly kneeling down as her legs gave out. "I....not...quite?" she managed to stammer out.

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“...Be on your guard. ...There’s no telling just what kind of surprises await us here.”

As the group entered through the door, the first surprise showed itself. The door had shut itself behind the party! Although they were left in total darkness, it didn't last long, before currents of electricity began running across the walls. It had a very sci-fi vibe to it in Abby's opinion, stone walls aside. Further down, the minerals this place was carved out of had changed, from simple stone to agate of various colors. Abby wouldn't have minded taking some for herself, but this place seemed pretty important, and it would probably be a whole process getting some of this stuff out of the walls & floor. Carved into the walls were depictions of humans - regular humans, without the animal features those of this world had - and various animals on the opposite wall. Further down, there was a fork in the hall, another wolf door being down one path. Before the party had much time to think about which way to go, they were greeted by a familiar face from just yesterday.

"Welcome, Exalted, to the Shrine of Storm."

Once again met with River, a conversation about Pokémon of all things ensued. What are they, and did River count as one? Sabrina seemed to be having trouble with the conversation - rightly so, since it was really cute and came out of nowhere - so Abby reasoned it probably would be best to change the subject before River said something that would kill Sabrina outright. Being down a member this early in the adventure sounded like something to avoid.

"Not quite a Pokémon, no," Abby agreed with a shake of her head. "Although, this Shrine of Storm also seems like something you might see in one of our world's games. Or at least, you definitely wouldn't find anything like it in our world itself. What sort of place is this anyway?"

River, who had been looking at Sabrina curiously, shifted focus over to Abby. “Oh this is, as the name suggests, a place to worship and venerate the god of thunder and lightning, the Aeon Storm. It is, as well, meant to serve as a trial for the Exalted to overcome in order to gain power in their quest.” Pausing and then back tracking the dragon girl said, “oh but technically this is a shrine to worship both Ocean and Storm and as such it’s full title would be the Shrine of Storm and Ocean. However my lady has told me that extraneous details are often excluded in common conversation, and as every shrine is meant to worship Ocean that part of the name was deemed extraneous. If you would prefer I refer to them by their full titles though I could correct myself for future encounters.”

"Uh, no, you don't need to include the extra details like that, but thanks." A trial to gain power, huh? Sabrina - slightly misguided though she may have been at times - seemed to have a pretty good handle on this world's workings so far, so this was probably her forte. "Anything we should know about the trial going in?"

“The trial will be divided into two parts. Firstly you must unlock this door,” she pointed to the door behind her before gesturing to the hallway to the side, “and to do so you must first find the two levers that do so. A word of note is that they must both be pulled simultaneously for it to work. The second part of the trail will involve combat against my Lady’s servant to see if you are able to wield the power bestowed here.” In the same somewhat chipper expository tone she added, “oh but they will try to mercilessly kill you so do be cognizant of that.”

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BGM

This was what he had expected from the name "Shrine of Storm". It was ornate, beautiful...breathtaking. There was definitely a difference in seeing a temple and shrine like this in many of his fantasy games and shows...but seeing it in person, it was a totally different experience for sure. Same time, while it had a fantasy style to it...there seemed to be...trace elements of science fiction? The way the electricity ran along the walls...yes, no mistaking it...it had that vibe as well.

...so...a mixture of fantasy and sci-fi? he thought, taking in the various colors and architecture that was surrounding him and his allies. ...then maybe some of this world is just that right out of a science fantasy? If so, then that would have some major implications for everything... Gene, however, kept that to himself for now. He honestly didn't need to be looked at strangely again. But then again, he was basically outnumbered...one to three. Drake and Percy, honestly he wasn't too sure where those two went...but they were the only other guys in the group...now...it was only him. He could try and frame it in the mindset that most men would kill to be in a situation like he was currently in: sent to a fantasy world with a party consisting of three women? Unfortunately, Gene wasn't thinking in that mindset...nor did he even feel like entertaining it.

"Welcome, Exalted, to the Shrine of Storm."

Eventually, he was snapped from his thoughts to see River standing beside a gilded gold door with a serpent and a orb carved overhead. He stood in silence as Marshall and Sabrina spoke to River...to which he was even surprised by the young dragon girl's question of her being like a 'Pokémon'. Then Abby spoke...and then there was some meat to this conversation...

“Oh this is, as the name suggests, a place to worship and venerate the god of thunder and lightning, the Aeon Storm. It is, as well, meant to serve as a trial for the Exalted to overcome in order to gain power in their quest. Oh but technically this is a shrine to worship both Ocean and Storm and as such it’s full title would be the Shrine of Storm and Ocean. However my lady has told me that extraneous details are often excluded in common conversation, and as every shrine is meant to worship Ocean that part of the name was deemed extraneous. If you would prefer I refer to them by their full titles though I could correct myself for future encounters.”

"...trials?" he muttered, putting a hand to his chin. It wasn't too farfetched in the grand scheme of things, considering the things he watched and played when he was in his own world. Eventually there would be trials that chosen people would have to face in order to gain and unlock new powers to utilize in their mission. Perhaps coming to the shrine was the best course of action after all.

"Anything we should know about the trial going in?"
“The trial will be divided into two parts. Firstly you must unlock this door, and to do so you must first find the two levers that do so. A word of note is that they must both be pulled simultaneously for it to work. The second part of the trail will involve combat against my Lady’s servant to see if you are able to wield the power bestowed here. Oh but they will try to mercilessly kill you so do be cognizant of that.”

Gene swallowed hard, his gulp being heard no doubt. So not only did they have to possibly split up to find the levers and pull them at the same time, but they also had to combat whatever servant that lay in waiting...oh and said servant was going to try and mercilessly kill them. Why was he suddenly getting cold feet now? Just yesterday he felt like a real chosen warrior in that fight...and yet today...he felt like he was nothing but a screw up.

He looked at River and spoke up after hearing this. "...s-so what are we supposed to do...?" Gene asked, trying to really avoid eye contact with her and even the other women in the group. "...and honestly...what are we supposed to do in general? Like...y-you said we're Exalted...basically heroes...we're supposed to defeat the Drengr...we're supposed to do all this stuff...but...how?" he paused, letting out a heavy sigh. "...I thought I knew how to do things here...i-it's a world of fantasy...well...to us anyway. A type of dungeons and dragons scenario...we come in, save the day, beat the bad guy. But...n-nothings black and white...nothings clear...and if I say or do something that normally would seem fine in a situation like that...I...I'm the odd one..." His voice began to waver at the end, his tone becoming more and more quieter as he finally went silent. Gene eventually looked at River again, his voice wavering still. "...are you sure you or your Lady didn't make a mistake...?"

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Free of pretention and obfuscation this in fact the dungeon BGM

River tilted her head in curiosity as Gene went to ask his question. After all, she had just answered what they were supposed to do. Though as the true nature of his question revealed itself River's confusion did not fade. "You are the Exalted. That I am here is proof enough of that so I do not believe it possible for me to make that sort of mistake and I know it is the Exalted who will deliver this world from its suffering. However, I am not privy to the decision making process of my Lady nor the criteria she searches for and so I cannot, definitively, answer whether she has made one or not. However, as she is my Lady I am inclined to believe that her judgement is sound and that you are all capable of fulfilling your mission. I had believed the means to accomplish your task were rather apparent, though if I have made an error in my explanation then I apologize and will endeavor to work harder in the future to ensure no further misunderstandings happen."

River gave a brief bow before continuing her explanation. "To clarify, the Drengr, or most creatures you will encounter, serve no greater purpose in whether or not you are able to save the world other than to aid and empower you. The only thing you must truly defeat is the Accursed and subsequently the Lord of Curses. That is how the world will be saved. The means by which you do so will more than likely be through combat, which is the purpose of the existence behind these shrines, your spirit weapons and the rune grafts bestowed to you. I suppose there is also the matter of the Aeons as well, who will be a means of gaining a greater power, as well as defeating foes of greater strength then yourself which will also allow you to gain even more power to accomplish your task." Giving a pause, River then gave a smile and pumped her arms up as if to emphasize the next part saying, "but of course your greatest weapon shall be your strength of spirit, so do work to never lose heart."  Another pause as River went back to a neutral state saying, "I hope my answer has proved sufficient enough." 

With Gene's question answered, the group was then directed down the hall, free to talk with River as she hadn't seemed to disappear as quickly as she did last time. River, though having legs, did not seem to walk and instead floated above the ground akin to how one might expect a ghost to. The hall itself wasn't particularly different from the rest of the shrine so far, save for the carvings on the wall being different. It had depicted the same animals and humans as it had before, animals on one side and humans on the other. However, they would notice rather than walking or standing still, these carvings seemed to depict them running away or on the ground. Once they had passed the halfway mark, a different type of creature seemed to join these carvings, somewhat humanoid in physiology but larger, more gangly, alien and having something protruding out of their strange arms, as they seemed to be marching towards both the humans and animals. This sight then gave way to another as they reached the end of the hall. 

The new room was starkly different in regards to the last one they were in. While the hall's ceiling seemed to stretch only seven feet high, this one was far far greater in height. And width as well. They would find themselves on a stone bridge that lead to another exit out of the room. On either side of the bridge was blue shimmering water, stretching out to the far ends of the room. Similarly on either side of the room at the opposite end of the entrance they would be able to see two different sets of platforms coming out from the walls. The platform on the left seemed to be incredibly high up, while the platform on the right seemed to be closer to three platforms forming an incredibly steep staircase. On the highest of the right side and on the left side platform they would be able to see two other notable things. One that there seemed to be an entrance, or exit, to the room next to these platforms. Two, that they both had a golden lever on them. 

OOC

Spoiler

And here you go the first challenge of the RP that doesn't involve killing stuff. Or does it? Because that last paragraph is a block of text here's a map to hopefully illustrate what I was saying. As always feel free to ask for info or ask River for questions. Technically you don't even need to get to this room on your post I just wanted to expedite the process.

 

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"Aeon Storm..." Sabrina repeated under her breath. Slowly recovering from her earlier lapse. It sounded so cool! And this place was their temple? The temple of the Aeon Storm... They must be incredibly powerful if they had a name that amazing.

Sabrina nodded along to what River was saying their task was. For the girl the latter half didn't concern her nearly as much as the first. With a look of dread in her face she muttered, "oh no, a puzzle."

There was a reason most of her favorite games involved either no puzzles or simple ones. She would have to do what she could and hope that at very least she could avoid having to do one of those sliding puzzle things.

She was surprised at Gene's question. Something must have shaken him up but she had no idea where it might have come from. He continued to be a strange and unknowable being. Whatever the case River was quick to....give some sort of answer. With her head full of worry over the puzzle she wasn't sure what it was she was telling him except that they just had to beat the bad guys to win.

As they walked down the hall Sabrina's eye kept flicking over towards River. Finally she felt confident enough to ask what was on her mind. "So...why exactly do we need to unlock the door like this? Can't we, uh, skip to the thing trying to kill us part?"

River thought about it for a moment before saying, “I cannot speak for my Lady here and was not given such an explanation myself. However if I were to offer conjecture on it I would believe it is because the Accursed and the areas they are imprisoned in are not so straightforward and this is to help familiarize yourself more with your powers and how to utilize them beyond combat.” River pointed to the door on the opposite side of the room, “or become accustomed to taking the path of most resistance.”

"Oh. I see." Sabrina said, not understanding what River said. "Does that mean there will be more puzzles in the future?" Suddenly this hero thing had gotten much scarier.

“Forgive me for my use of conjecture once again, but I believe so.” The girl nodded.

"You're forgiven." Sabrina said, then looked away awkwardly as she thought that was a weird thing to say to someone.

The girl took a deep breath. She had to try. She had to figure out some way to help solve this. Because if she didn't then it might give them more reason to not keep her around. The worst outcome for her that she could think of was someone deciding that perhaps Sabrina was not meant to come here after all and trying to send her back.

So she examined the room as best she could. The gears in her brain turning as she attempted to take everything in and come to a solution.

Finally, she spoke out loud the one thought that came to her mind. "I can make the jump..."

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…And there it was. Just as Marshall had thought, River had been observing them somehow; though that wasn’t so much a surprise, or something to be weary of, as it was something to simply keep in mind. This meant she wouldn’t have to update the girl every time they encountered each other, which would certainly speed up the proceedings; it would at least cut out all unnecessary repetition of the things they had done… Then again, that wouldn’t exactly speed things up much in the long run, given the long list of questions she still had. Of course, now would be the perfect time to ask them… At least, it would be once everyone else had finished their own questions. 

Admittedly, Marshall couldn’t help but let a small smile creep to her face as River asked Sabrina about ‘Pokemon’, of all things; an outright small part of their prior conversation and journey, and yet… The dragon was certainly curious. She began to open her mouth to weigh in herself, as River asked if she were a Pokemon; but thought better of it, as other people began to weigh in. …Still, her appearance is a bit curious, Marshall mused to herself as she nodded her head along, even as the others spoke; her mind moving a mile a minute.

She’s obviously not any sort of starter; she’s too human for that, even given the most recent generation’s soccer-player and James-Bond-like, she closed her eyes, walking along. …No, she also communicates too succinctly and readily for a starter of any kind; instead she appears much more like a mythical, doesn’t she? Marshall opened her eyes, slowly tilting her head to the side as she scanned River up and down. …Yes, if Ocean were something akin to Palkia, Kyogre, or even Arceus-- That would make River more akin to Manaphy, the Prince of the Ocean… she smiled, beginning to open her mouth to finally share her findings.

“...Ah-! But, perhaps... I shouldn’t ask her to use bubble-beam…” she’d murmur, catching herself as she realized River was mid-way through an explanation of where they were, and what they were to be doing. Bringing her right hand up to her cap, she pulled it down tight over her eyes as she realized that she had even spoken out loud to begin with, coughing a bit as she did her best instead to listen and watch, as the others continued to move about things faster, and more readily, than she did. 

After the explanation of what they were to do - solve a puzzle, then fight some sort of guardian, to oversimplify it - Gene went about asking the natural question that all of them had had to wonder at some point so far. She herself was willing to speak up to try and give him assurance, but River had beaten her to that in spades; something she was more than thankful for, frankly. A small smile on her face, she simply nodded along with the nod, tucking her arms behind herself as she followed along to the hall. 

The puzzle itself was… Simple enough. A long hallway with a gap between the bridge and the large platforms with levels upon them; water flowing deep below all else. It was some sort of test of agility, and problem solving; perhaps something to do with survival, ability to swim, or… Even, perhaps, the ability to sacrifice oneself for others… Well, regardless of those thoughts, she needed some more information before she made any sudden movements; though her thoughts were already moving fairly quickly.

“Dispatcher,” she’d clear her throat, turning to face River, as she raised her right hand in greeting, and kept her left hand behind her back. “Two questions, if you don’t mind,” she’d begin staring at the girl for a moment. “First; earlier, you sounded more than a little alright with the fact that Ocean’s Servant would be attempting to mercilessly kill us; can I infer then given Ocean’s ability to raise us from the dead a first time, and your irreverence towards death, that were we to fail this trial or die, that we may in fact be able to be given a second chance?” she’d ask, cocking her head to the side.

River thought about it for a moment before saying, "I believe so, yes. Though, it is closer to state that my Lady's power is not boundless and you are all bound together. So, were you to all die there would be nothing that any of you, or my Lady, could do to bring you back from the dead."

“All of us together, are bound?” Marshall murmured, glancing around. “Well, that explains that then; at least one of us needs to survive everything, but…” she trailed off, shaking her head as she sighed. “Sorry, well then-- Onto question two,” she turned around, holding up two fingers. “Is there any reason that I can’t walk through the other side, to get a better look at the holes connecting to those two platforms?” she’d ask, gesturing towards the opposite end of the bridge, where the door-like-hole stood. “It won’t automatically fail me, will it?”

"You would be able to. As I had stated, you need only solve these puzzles if you wish not to take the path of most resistance." The girl thought about it for a second longer saying, "oh, I suppose that was not entirely clear, and I apologize for that. Though, curiously, my Lady has only deemed it necessary for me to speak cryptically about such a thing. I once more apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you."

“...Ah, so it’s that kind of puzzle, hm…?” Marshall muttered, bringing a hand to her chin. “Completing each puzzle will give us a sort of boon in the next room; so on and so forth…” she’d trail off, closing her eyes. “Right then; thank you very much, River,” Marshall would nod, turning as she began to walk towards the end of the hallway. “...Sabrina, if you’re confident you can jump to the highest platform, I’m willing to use one of my abilities to attempt a dash towards the first of the layered platforms,” she’d announce, doing her best to keep an eye on both Sabrina, and River’s reactions as she spoke. “...Of course, we may die if we fail; but given River’s earlier statement, I doubt that would truly be a problem.”

Without waiting for a response, Marshall summoned her weapon, lining herself up with the platform. Taking a deep breath, she narrowed her eyes and backed up to the other edge of the narrow bridge, before breaking out into a sprint towards the first platform. “Full-Steam-Ahead-!” her voice echoed outwards as she activated the art, her speed increasing rapidly with the activation as she jumped, clearly hoping to send herself all the way to the other platform… Only to just miss it; not quite making the distance.

Plummeting downwards, her weapon disappeared from her hands as she felt her shoes impact the water, then her legs, as she was pulled under the rushing current. Bringing a hand to hold her cap against her head, she did her best to take a deep breath as water continued to pull at her in every direction, pushing her downwards, and downwards, until… It wasn’t. Her eyes widened as instead, her limbs bent backwards a bit, the water surging under her as she was fired back out from the water-- and back  onto the bridge, where she had come from; landing - and rolling - on her side, until she came to a sudden stop on her back; sprawled out in the center of the bridge.

Staring upwards, Marshall merely sat there for a dazed moment, still holding her cap against her head as she stared directly upwards. “...Well, that solves the mystery of what mistake entails,” she would state rather matter-of-factly. “...Just hope and pray that your clothes will dry out easier than mine will,” she’d announce to the rest of the party, closing her eyes for a second, as she decided to take a moment to catch her breath.

Edited by Tiamat's Circus

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"You are the Exalted. That I am here is proof enough of that so I do not believe it possible for me to make that sort of mistake and I know it is the Exalted who will deliver this world from its suffering. However, I am not privy to the decision making process of my Lady nor the criteria she searches for and so I cannot, definitively, answer whether she has made one or not. However, as she is my Lady I am inclined to believe that her judgement is sound and that you are all capable of fulfilling your mission. I had believed the means to accomplish your task were rather apparent, though if I have made an error in my explanation then I apologize and will endeavor to work harder in the future to ensure no further misunderstandings happen. To clarify, the Drengr, or most creatures you will encounter, serve no greater purpose in whether or not you are able to save the world other than to aid and empower you. The only thing you must truly defeat is the Accursed and subsequently the Lord of Curses. That is how the world will be saved. The means by which you do so will more than likely be through combat, which is the purpose of the existence behind these shrines, your spirit weapons and the rune grafts bestowed to you. I suppose there is also the matter of the Aeons as well, who will be a means of gaining a greater power, as well as defeating foes of greater strength then yourself which will also allow you to gain even more power to accomplish your task. But of course your greatest weapon shall be your strength of spirit, so do work to never lose heart. I hope my answer has proved sufficient enough."

Gene listened intently to every word that River spoke...and honestly, he could only let out a small sigh...was it relief or frustration...only he would know. To him, however, he did take into consideration one thing...even though this was a new world, it was obvious that this little speech River gave (if you wanted to call it that) was definitely one that would've been qualified as one of those great 'heroic speeches' or even one of those 'encouraging speeches' he saw a lot of in different forms of media.

"...t-thank you..." he muttered softly to himself. Now that this was out of the way...there was a puzzle and problem to solve. ...least this is more of my expertise now...


BGM

A stone bridge divided the two halves of the room where the platforms were on...water assisting in it at the bottom. The switches/levers were in plain view...now the question was how to get over to each one. Gene observed and stared at the platforms, noting the distances and even the heights of them.

"I can make the jump..."

He wanted to respond to this, but Marshall beat him to it. That is to say...the conductor LITERALLY rushed towards the one platform....only to plummet off the sides. For a moment, he felt his heart sink and skip a few beats, thinking that the conductor had just decided to kill herself. Luckily, this was not the case...as she ended up just landing right back on the bridge. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he held his chest, glad to see that another of the party members weren't going to just vanish like the others did.

"I-I'd probably advise against that..." Gene quickly said, hearing Sabrina's statement, his gaze going back from Marshall to her. "W-We should go over every possibility and angle before just jumping...after all, it sort of didn't work for Marshall here."

Gene began to walk around the stone bridge, looking at the various platforms. He noticed, the ones on the right had three, with the very last one being almost exactly leveled to the stone bridge. The gears were already turning in his mind at this point. Okay, it's leveled with the bridge...maybe...yeah, that could be the case. With some of the games I've played, they usually have a hidden path if something like this is properly leveled with one another. he thought, looking around for a nice sized rock to use. Alas, while it was a stone bridge, there wasn't a nice hand sized rock he could use to throw. Another thought came to his mind, recalling something. ...the weapons! If they work the same way as that one weapon in that game...they'll always come back to the wielder!

Without saying much of anything, he summoned his sword and stepped forward towards the edge of the bridge. Closing his one eye, he aligned himself just right to the other platform. He then proceeded to throw the sword into the air between the bridge and the platform. "Alright...hidden path, please be there..." he muttered, only to watch the sword make a swift downfall between the now proven empty space, a loud plop was heard in the water below. With a sigh, he simply held out his hand, watching the sword reappear. "Okay, that hypothesis worked at least...one out of two isn't bad..."

Gene held the sword against his shoulder, before turning around to face the group. "Okay, so there's not a hidden path across there. But, I think I have another idea..." he said, pointing at the water. "I can use that Water Wall spell I have and we can use that as a platform to walk across. IF that works, then potentially, we can get one person across to the perpendicular platform there...and then use it to elevate the second person up there to the one Sabrina wants to jump to. It's a long shot, but in theory it could work...I mean, what do we have to lose at this point? We've just learned that if we fall, we land back on the bridge...so just maybe..."

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The room the Exalted found themselves in was one of a long bridge, with two platforms on the sides. One was very high up, and the other was more like three ascending platforms all next to each other. Beneath the bridge - as one would expect of a bridge - was water. According to River's explanation, the objective was to get up onto the platforms and pull the levers. Doing so would make the next part of the trial easier, so getting used to puzzles like this would be useful if one wanted to avoid the "path of most resistance".

Already, ideas were forming in the heads of the other girls.

"I can make the jump..."

“...Sabrina, if you’re confident you can jump to the highest platform, I’m willing to use one of my abilities to attempt a dash towards the first of the layered platforms. Of course, we may die if we fail; but given River’s earlier statement, I doubt that would truly be a problem.”

And then, without further prompting, Marshall took off. Abby watched in amazement as the good conductor went for it, launching herself off the bridge... and fantastically not quite making the jump, plummetting into the waters below. The sense of amazement turned into one of worry when Marshall first fell, then to general amusement when she found herself propelled upward and back onto the bridge. Aside from wet clothes and possibly a mild bruise to her ego, it seemed she'd be none the worse for wear for her fall.

“...Well, that solves the mystery of what mistake entails. Just hope and pray that your clothes will dry out easier than mine will.”

"I'll keep it in mind," Abby smirked.

Solve the mystery indeed. Now that the price of failure was confirmed to be seemingly nothing more than some wet clothes, Abby was a lot more confident about the group's chances of getting to those levers eventually. It meant they could just keep throwing shit at the wall until something stuck.

"W-We should go over every possibility and angle before just jumping...after all, it sort of didn't work for Marshall here."

Gene seemed to have the opposite idea. Analyzing and theorycrafting until a foolproof solution was reached sounded great and all, but there was also no way to know something would work for sure without trying it out first, right? If, for example, Marshall hadn't just gone for the jump, it would still be unclear what happened if one failed to make the jump. Still, she had to admit, he had a pretty solid plan of action.

"I can use that Water Wall spell I have and we can use that as a platform to walk across. IF that works, then potentially, we can get one person across to the perpendicular platform there...and then use it to elevate the second person up there to the one Sabrina wants to jump to. It's a long shot, but in theory it could work...I mean, what do we have to lose at this point? We've just learned that if we fall, we land back on the bridge...so just maybe..."

"I like it, though that's a lot of strain to put on your water wall, isn't it? If you're confident about it being able to carry other people, how about this?"

Pointing to the platforms Marshall had just attempted to reach, Abby said "You use that to give Marshall a better launch point. She almost made it last time, so with a little boost, it should be easy! Meanwhile, on the other side..." Abby moved her hand toward the higher-up platform, "Sabrina's got some really good acrobatics, and I've got on me a spell that can give her a little extra push. If she puts her all into the jump, and I give her that little push just to be safe, she should get up there no problem, plus it saves you a bit of extra work!"

"How about it?" Abby asked, smiling in Sabrina's direction. "Sounds fun, right? And even if you fail, you'll just get spit up back here and we can try something else."

"It kinda looked like it hurt..." Sabrina muttered. "A-ah! Nothing to fear, the overwhelming power residing within me will be more than enough, there's no chance I could fall as long as I unleash it! You may wish to stand back lest it...overwhelm you as well!" She paused, then looked over at Abby, "Uh, yeah, let's do the thing."

"Hell yeah." Abby opted to play along with Sabrina's advice, taking a step back, the Gust spell already charging up in her hand. "Take to the skies whenever you're ready."

"When I'm ready, yeah, of course, of course I'm ready, I've never been more ready, ready is my middle name." Sabrina rapidly spoke as she got into position, lined up with the tall platform. "Okay, here...I....go!" Sabrina let loose a burst of wind to launch herself upwards. And upwards she did soar, covering much of the distance herself between the bridge and the high platform. Abby opted for the moment to keep her spell from going off just yet, both to avoid possibly throwing Sabrina off-course, and also so that if she really could make it entirely on her own, she'd be able to prove it. Once Abby saw Sabrina begin to descend though, not quite making the jump, that was when Abby released her Gust, trying to give Sabrina that one last push needed to make it...

And finding herself just a bit short of success. Perhaps if Sabrina's arms were longer she'd be able to grab the ledge, but the fact of the matter was it was just ever so slightly out of reach, and Abby watched as Sabrina too fell into the waters below, before being spit back up onto the bridge as Marshall had just moments ago. Abby made sure to offer up a hand for Sabrina to pick herself back up with. It was Abby's plan that saw her take the fall after all, so helping her up was only fair.

"Well, shit. We gave it our best shot at least. Back to planning, I guess."

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River continued to idly float above the strip of land, caring not to stray to far from the group or over the water. When not asked a question she silently watched as the group attempted to discuss about what to do with the puzzle right before them. She watched as Marshall sprinted full speed into a running jump just to fall into the water. She watched Gene discuss walking on water. She watched both Abby and Sabrina combine their collective powers over wind just to fall a little short. And then she heard Abby's comment. Feeling that it was her duty to inform the Exalted of their mistake, she said, "forgive my intrusion, but I do not believe that to be the case."

"You think so? I did have some back-up plans, but they seemed a bit too dangerous so I scrapped them." 

"I do not believe those would be necessary, no." River paused for a moment before saying, "your plans have almost succeeded but I believe they are falling short as a result of a lack of power. Your arts are a powerful thing and while it heartens me that you have all taken to using them quite quickly and effectively it would appear you have yet to unleash their full power." The dragon girl paused again before saying, "perhaps it is yet another lack of clarity on my part. So I shall rectify that now. Magic is something of an inborne power and as such, its use is rooted in instinct." The girl held out her hand a small ball of water formed in it. "Within that instinct, there exists other ways to shape that magic unique to an individual." The girl then shaped the orb of water into something of a watery polearm. "And so, when instinct is not enough, conscious effort must be put into it in order to refine and empower it." Grabbing the polearm, the girl took a deep breath, before it became clear that the watery weapon suddenly became much darker and denser. Letting go of it, the water harmlessly vanished before she said, "so, to put briefly, by simply putting more focus into your Art at the time of its use, you may grant it greater power then before." Giving a bow she smiled and said, "I hope this has cleared up any confusion or questions there may have been."

OOC:

Spoiler

Hello, River here. Pardon my intrusion to the OOC of the post but I believe to explain in more meta terms of what has taken place here. By simply expending more focus into an Art when it is used, you may achieve greater results to compensate for the greater cost. This is commonly referred to as Overcharge. Though I have been made aware some of you are already aware of this mechanic, I have come to ensure that none have forgotten. For more detailed information on arts and their uses please confer with the section in the OOC. Thank you for your time. 

 

Edited by Skaia

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It was going to work! She could feel the rush of the wind as she soared through the air and towards the platform. However it was strange. She could feel herself starting to descend and yet...she wasn't close enough yet!

In a panic she began to flail her arms, trying to get that extra few inches, yet it was to no avail as she fell straight down into the water with a mighty splash.

A moment of fear gripped her as she was sucked down under the water. And then she felt herself being spat right out. Soaring once more, albeit much wetter, through the air until she landed on her stomach back onto the bridge.

She coughed a bit as she shakily got to a sitting position, legs awkwardly splayed and her twintails dripping wet, and her face heated up at her failure.

"I...think I missed."

Soon after River appeared to explain to them what went wrong. It only served to make her feel more awkward. After stating that she was going to use her "overwhelming power" she didn't actually do so. However it also meant that there actually was more hidden power within her!

She stood up shakily and nodded. "I see...it's like when you charge an attack to do extra damage..." she muttered to herself.

A surge of confidence washed through her and, despite the wet hair sticking to her face, she stood up straighter and marched back to her previous position.

Thrusting one hand out she put the other one to cover her already covered eye and declared, "I wasn't sure I should truly let the great power residing in me go free yet now I see that it is what must be done!" She began to focus her energy and she felt a rather uncomfortable feeling. It was as though she suddenly became aware of her own blood flow. Yet at the same time it brought with it a feeling of strength. This time she knew for sure that she could make it.

"From within thine soul, a mighty roar leads to a great wind! With the wings of dragons I shall now soar through the sky and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat!"

And again she jumped up into the air, the wind beneath her feeling stronger than what she and Abby had done together, and she launched herself above the height of the platform.

She let out a whoop of joy as she descended towards the platform.

And then another bout of panic took her as she realized that she might just miss it again. She reached out desperately and managed to grab onto the ledge, almost knocking the air out from her lungs as she made contact with the platform, and pulled herself on top of it.

She lay there a moment before springing to her feet, turning to face the others, and raising her arms in victory. "I did it!"

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His simple thought out plan was somewhat integrated into another one...though it immediately failed. Gene couldn't help but wonder how any of them could possibly survive without any sort of problem solving skills. He would've assumed some, considering the Pokémon talk, had some puzzle solving skills in mind but every plan they had sort of...fell flat, which wasn't a jab at Sabrina literally landing back on the bridge from her latest attempt.

...then...what in the world are we supposed to d-...

"your plans have almost succeeded but I believe they are falling short as a result of a lack of power. Your arts are a powerful thing and while it heartens me that you have all taken to using them quite quickly and effectively it would appear you have yet to unleash their full power. Perhaps it is yet another lack of clarity on my part. So I shall rectify that now."

Gene was silent for a good while, hearing River speak up on this. Mild irritation arose, as he ran a hand through his hair with a sigh escaping his lips. "...so without that information upfront, we were doomed to fail..." he muttered, shaking his head. As far as 'tutorials', in the case of things, Gene was a bit miffed that this information was sort of glanced over at the present moment. Regardless, he had to remember...this wasn't a game, despite how heavy the general mechanics of this world seemed to dictate. "...so now wha-...?"

"From within thine soul, a mighty roar leads to a great wind! With the wings of dragons I shall now soar through the sky and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat!"

He whipped his head around to see Sabrina rushing off again and leaping towards the ledge. He immediately put his hands over his eyes, not wanting to see the same outcome as before...but surprisingly, he didn't hear the thud of them returning to the bridge. In actuality, he simply heard Sabrina cheering the words that she "did it". Glancing from behind his hands, Gene did see in fact...Sabrina being triumphant and at the highest platform.

"Well...guess that's...o-one way of doing it." he muttered before looking at the other. Gene glanced at the other set of platforms and shrugged. "...guess we're still going by the usual plan then. Lemme...see what I can do." He closed his eyes and did his best to [Focus] and when he did...oh, he FELT it. It was uncomfortable, he could feel his blood...almost could feel where it would go if he told it to...it wasn't the best feeling. But hey, if Sabrina could do it...so could he. "...alright...here comes Water Wall..."

As he had done before, the Water Wall was made...but this time, it was bigger than usual. It had obviously worked...it had to have. "Alright...maybe try it now, Marshall."

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…Sure enough, the others followed suit. There was a lot to do, and they still had many trials before them; but they needed to try and figure all of this out if they wanted any shot at completing the trials to come. That is, at least, how Marshall had felt about it all; and why, sooner, rather than later, she had began to get up from her lying position. Of course, she did so as River was explaining the modus operandi with which they would need to solve the task at hand; unleashing the full power of their special techniques, apparently called ‘Arts’. In all likelihood, of course, she had heard the term before; she thought it was rattling around in her brain somewhere, but… Still. The ability to pull out more from them…

She had just begun wringing out her hat, when Sabrina made the first move; one Marshall could at least support. Still, a comment made by Gene-- That stuck out to her, as she re-donned her hat, and turned to regard the young man. “I wouldn’t say we were ‘doomed’, to fail,” Marshall would speak up, eyeing Gene curiously. “After all; we were remarkably close without it, and with the infinite tries we were able to deduce Ocean had provided us within this test, we likely could have discovered this sort of…” she trailed off, searching for the right words. “...Ability to ‘focus’ our energy into one ability on our own, eventually. River was just kind, and provided that piece of the puzzle to us early," Marshall explained, summoning her weapon to hand. “...In other words, it was less that we were missing a piece of the puzzle, but more that our thinking was all wrong; and now, since River has did us the favor of allowing us to use a Hint-Coin, we are ready to solve this puzzle with speed and alacrity,” she explained, hoping her analogy would make sense to someone other than just herself. 

“Regardless,” she nodded. “I’m ready when you are,” she prepared herself; steadying herself upon the opposite end of the ledge, as the wall of water suddenly, and steadily, rose opposite of her; a large ramp, formed to give her a better shot at reaching her goal. It was certainly better than jumping, that was for sure; and it looked slick too, which couldn’t hurt her speed. Of course, she could still only make it to the first one for now. She knew that for sure, given the elevation; but she had a plan for that once she got there.

If, she got there.

She adjusted her boot-soles slightly, steadying herself on top of the ledge… And closed her eyes. Everything slowed down to what felt like a fraction of a second. She could feel her Heart-Beat. The individual muscles as they spasmed in her legs; as she tightened her grip on her weapon, and as she began to focus. She could feel as her strength surged in her legs, as it shifted, first to them - then to her arm - and then, finally, to her weapon. She could feel as it became an extension of herself, or as she recognized it as such once again. 

Her mind raced. 

Her eyes opened.

“Full-Steam-Ahead,” she began; water firmly ahead as she broke out into a sprint, throwing the full weight of her spear forwards so as to pull herself along with it, as she sprinted behind it. “Full-Throttle!” she announced as the art fired off completely, her speed increasing exponentially as she approached the ramp, just until she met with the water… And realized three, wholly-separate-issues that, in hindsight, she realistically should have seen coming, given how the Drengr dealt with the water-wall before.

The first, was of course that it was water. Water that her feet began to sink into almost immediately; each step requiring more, and more force behind it. Her muscles seized with effort, and that with each step… Came the second thing she noticed: that the wall itself was growing unstable from the impact of her shoes. The final nail in the coffin for the plan, of course, was that the ramp was… Well, it was taking a lot more effort than she had to give to even run on at all. It was only as she noticed the wall itself beginning to give out, that her heart skipped a beat; and she made a split-second decision.

She jumped.

The watery-platform beneath her broke the instant she left it, the force of her jump causing the wall itself to give-way - removing the steep ramp from her path - and giving her a clear shot at the platform. Wind whizzed past her as her speed seemed to increase slightly still, height just enough to reach the edge of the platform… Only for, as her shoes connected with the platform, for her to keep going, sliding across the platform. On instinct, she clutched her hat close to her head with her left hand, while her right tightened its grip on the lance, tilting it downwards so as to scrape against the stone-platform. Sparks flew for a moment as she slowed in speed, coming to a stop just to the center of the platform, as she finally, finally, came to a stop.

“...I have Arrived at My Destination,” she chimed out, a very small, satisfied smile on her face as she glanced towards the rest of the party, and gave a quick nod of her hat. “Which leads us,” she paused, taking a moment to catch her breath, before tossing her lance to the side as it dissipated into light. “...To our next problem,” she smiled, climbing the relatively short platform that was the second with relative ease; it being a mere three-feet higher was certainly a boon in that regards. It was only after she had gotten back up to her full height, and dusted herself off then, that she came to regard the the relatively tall-er platform in front of her; a sheer ten feet higher than she was. 

“...To be completely transparent, I am drawing a blank on how to reach the top of this platform myself, given the fact that my mobility Art has so far succeeded in propelling me primarily horizontally,” she would announce as she stared directly at the wall. “I could, of course, attempt to see if it would allow me the momentum necessary to climb this wall,” she turned to face the party as she spoke in a mix of shouting monotone. “...But I do not know if I would be able to stop should it send me horizontally anyways, and I am unsure of if I want to risk throwing away the progress we’ve obtained here in this moment; so,” she’d re-summon her lance, regarding Abby more than Gene, as she lightly slung her lance to rest on her shoulder. “...I was wondering, if you had any suggestions on ways we could facilitate an expedient solution to the problem at hand. Be it with the wind-trick you tried to help Sabrina with, Abby,” she paused, bringing a hand to her chin. “...Or something more-physical, such as seeing if a mix of my art being pointed upwards, and some… Propulsion, from your hammer, might suffice; granted that you yourself able to reach me over here,” she explained, a small smile coming to her face; this was certainly an interesting team-building exercise, after all. “...That is to say, I am also, of course, open to any suggestions you may have; given we are coworkers, rather than each other’s superiors.”

Edited by Tiamat's Circus

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Sabrina and Marshall had eached earned a brief round of applause from Abby as they made their respective landings on the platforms on the sides of the room. The former without even needing a boost from Abby this time! That focus thing River talked about was pretty potent stuff. In the latter's case, however, there was something of a new situation to be addressed.

“...To be completely transparent, I am drawing a blank on how to reach the top of this platform myself, given the fact that my mobility Art has so far succeeded in propelling me primarily horizontally. I could, of course, attempt to see if it would allow me the momentum necessary to climb this wall, but I do not know if I would be able to stop should it send me horizontally anyways, and I am unsure of if I want to risk throwing away the progress we’ve obtained here in this moment; so, I was wondering, if you had any suggestions on ways we could facilitate an expedient solution to the problem at hand. Be it with the wind-trick you tried to help Sabrina with, Abby... or something more-physical, such as seeing if a mix of my art being pointed upwards, and some… Propulsion, from your hammer, might suffice; granted that you yourself able to reach me over here.”

"Giving you a boost sounds like the safest bet. Lemme just..." Abby tried the trick herself, focusing on the natural movements in her body. The movement of air through her head and into her body as she inhaled, and the return trip of carbon dioxide as she exhaled. The filling and emptying of her lungs. The air in the room swirled around her hand, indicative of a more powerful version of the small boost of wind she'd provided earlier. With an upward gesture, Abby released the built-up power and...!

Something interesting happened. That interesting something in fact being nothing. Nothing happened. Where there was supposed to be a dramatic upward surge of air to propel Marshall to her objective, there was simple stillness. The spell had worked just fine when she tried it before, and she definitely felt the thing River had talked about going on. That only left one reasonable culprit. Distance. Abby was simply too far away from Marshall right now.

Nudging Gene with her elbow, Abby said "Another water wall, if you don't mind."

Gene nodded, creating another Water Wall platform. "...what are you planning to do exactly...?"

"This."

Taking a couple steps back, Abby took a deep breath. She was never much of an athlete, and definitely couldn't launch herself like Marshall had, but she could surely cover enough distance to propel her upward like the plan was. "Get ready to jump," Abby called out. With the best of a running start she could manage, Abby hopped up onto the water wall Gene had kindly provided, quickly realizing the physics issues of trying to literally walk on water. While she was able to get some distance, it wasn't long before she was force to take a clumsy leap forward, sending herself on a fast-lane trip to the waters below much like Sabrina and Marshall had earlier. On the way down, however, that was when she made her move.

By the power within her Arts, refined by greater focus, a mighty blast of wind shot forth between Abby and Marshall, directly into the latter woman. Abby, for her part, fell into the water and was unceremoniously spit back out onto the bridge, but up on the platform...

"On it," Marshall called out, throwing her lance to the side so as to allow it to disappear in a a few fair motes of light. Crouching down, she listened for the blast, taking a quick breath before springing upwards with all her might; the blast of wind impacting her in the back and briefly causing her to splay her limbs out to her sides... Only to, as she reached the apex of the jump, throw her hands forwards, fingers clutching onto the side of the ledge... And firmly grasping it, with all her might, as the rest of her caught up; her face smacking lightly into the edge, and her cap knocking itself down, and onto the platform behind her. "...Unfortunate," she frowned, wincing slightly from her bruised nose and loss of cap, before taking in a deep breath. After a second, with a concerted effort, she began to slowly crawl up to the top of the platform, pulling herself up, and climbing upwards, where she would first move  to get her torso on the platform, before rolling the rest of herself up, and onto her back.

After a moment of this, she would simply hang an arm off the side, and give a thumbs up, while she caught her breath.

A thumbs-up returned by Abby from the lower ground of the bridge.

"That," Abby clarified, redirecting her attention to Gene.

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I forgot this last post but it's still the BGM

With Abby's plan having gone off flawlessly with the only casualties being Marshall's hat and Abby's previous dry state of being, Marshall had made it up to the second of the levers. Second as Sabrina had already leaped her way up to the first. As per what River had said previously, had Sabrina attempted to pull the lever at any point before Marshall had made it she would've found it remarkably stuck in place. However, once both of the Exalted had their hands on the levers they would find it much easier - as in possible - to move. With a little effort, they slid to the opposite side of their switch and locked into place, a "click" noise being able to be heard throughout the room. 

As it sounded two things became apparent. One, the trio of doors that were on the wall opposite the one they had come in suddenly closed. More accurately it was as if solid wall just appeared over the holes in the wall that constituted these doors to begin with, as if they never existed in the first place. Second, would be a grinding and sliding sound that reverberated from the hallway that they had originally come from. The third thing that happened after these two had passed, was River clapping her hands together, a beaming expression on her face as they did. "Excellent work Exalted! Your problem solving skills proved to be sufficient to pass and thus you are now eligible to take on the combat trial!" As it had turned out, the rather simple test of their abilities had indeed been all that there was of the puzzle. Of course, to the two stranded on the platforms from the main bridge they would need to find a way back though, thanks to previous testing they knew that the water made for an excellent trampoline. 


 

Going back into the room they originally came from they would find that the door that had previously been, presumably, locked was now swung open. Once more there was another hallway that sloped downward for them to go down. And once more did it have carvings inscribed into it, ones that seemed to be a continuation of the second scene. This time, the animal and humanoid figures seemed to be together, moving forward towards the strange alien figures rather than running as they had previously. In addition, it seemed that above them were something akin to the shapes of clouds carved into the wall. While the two sides, mankind and animals against the alien creatures, had met in the middle of the hallway it seemed that was not all there was. The further down the alien's side they looked, the more they would see the cloud carvings, this time with arcs and zigzags drawn from them towards the alien creatures. 

At the end of this hallway was yet another entrance to another room. Or rather, it would be safe to assume there was for at what was presumably the end of this hallway was not an opening but instead a large opaque wall of water. 

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Sabrina was full of excitement at having actually helped to solve the, she thought, complicated problem. It took some time for her to realize that she had to get down still. When it hit her she walked over towards the edge and looked back at the platform she had leapt from.

Leaning forward she spoke under her breath, "I wonder if I could just...leap down again...yeah, I bet I can make it. I just gotta jump and maybe do one of those superhero poses when I land." She nodded to herself. "Okay, so first, I...." However she had leaned too far, while standing too close to the edge, and with a sudden yelp she fell down and into the water below.

Which once more launched her back onto the platform in a much less dignified manner than intended. Trying to cover the awkward stumble she said, "Ah, fast travel, ahahaha....ha."

She turned to River, who had praised their accomplishments, and beamed. "It was nothing! My draconic blood contains much more power than that! It was a trifling manner to unfurl my wings and take to the sky! I bet I could have leapt twice as high had I wanted!"

It hit her that talking to River about dragon blood might be a bit strange. Which caused her to, abruptly and awkwardly, change course and speak to the others in the group. "I never was good at puzzles but that wasn't so bad!" She said this with absolutely no awareness of the fact she only figured out what to do after being told and that she hadn't actually solved anything. "Do you think....coming here made us smarter too?"

Her eye widened with the possibilities that stretched before her, in her imagination.

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"Excellent work Exalted! Your problem solving skills proved to be sufficient to pass and thus you are now eligible to take on the combat trial!"

Sufficient? It was just enough? Gene had to admit, that didn't seem too reassuring if he was honest. They couldn't just be 'good enough', they needed to be more than that. A sigh escaped his lips as he was prepping to go into the room they were in prior, but stopped at hearing Sabrina's query.

"I never was good at puzzles but that wasn't so bad! Do you think....coming here made us smarter too?"

"M-Maybe..." he instinctively answered, only immediately shutting his mouth. He didn't want to keep saying anything in regards to these three and make it look like he was the one that was insane, so to speak. ...though it's more likely that this still tutorial mode...it had to have been...still think they should've done this tutorial mode at the beginning, might've helped out a lot more and make us not look like dolts... Gene thought with another sigh.


Once they returned into the main room, the door was now unlocked thanks to their efforts. Then another hallway that sloped downward for them to go down. Gene was alright with this for the most part, but what caught his eyes were the cravings along the hallway walls, this continuation of the second scene. The animal and humanoid figures...together...moving forward towards some strange alien figures...strange, they were running in the last room. Gene thought, still watching the walls as he kept moving. Cloud shapes carved here too...oh wait what's this? Mankind and animals now...fighting the alien creatures? Huh... Alien's side having more clouds...arcs and zigzags...lightning? And it's all coming from these alien creatures?

Gene rubbed his chin slightly, before finally just asking outright. "Hey River...question...what do these inscribed images mean??"

“Though I am not well versed in the history of this world before the calamity, I believe they depict the story of how the people of Aerstroff came to be.”

"So it's a creation myth/story? They fought against these...alien like creatures?" Gene asked, now beginning to get intrigued more.

“That appears to be the case. I am not entirely sure what they are, but from what we have seen it would appear that these invaders had arrived and engaged in hostilities with the locals. They also appeared to have been close to ruin before Storm had lent his divine blessing and assistance.”

The young man nodded. "I see..." It wasn't much, but this was definitely the starts of a bigger narrative, least in his eyes. Knowing the history of this place would definitely come in handy, least in his mind it would.

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With the two levers pulled, the Exalted had - by River's acocut - completed the test and proven themselves worthy of the combat trial.

"Do you think....coming here made us smarter too?"

"M-Maybe..."

"I think it's less that and more we have more heads on the puzzle," Abby suggested.

Whatever the reason for their success may have been, it was regardless time to go check out that combat trial. As the team went back the way they came, and through the door that was now open to them, there were more murals on the walls. More history, it seemed. It was never Abby's strongest subject, even with modern learning resources, let alone picture murals and oral tradition. She'd be lying if she said a lot of this wasn't just going over her head, but by the sound of it, the people of this world used to be regular humans too?

If the people back home heard of this, they'd surely feel ripped off. She could already hear some degenerate bemoaning the very mundane state of that world, saying something like "Why couldn't our world be blessed with catgirls?"

Abby, for one, didn't really care for that kind of sentiment. Cat-ear headbands existed, and she'd even worn one before; it was important to settle for what was possible with this sort of thing.

Speaking of what was possible, while she didn't doubt her chances in this combat trial to come, it would definitely be beneficial to know more about it.

"So, is it just one big enemy in there, or are we dealing with a bunch of smaller guys, or... what's the deal? If you're allowed to tell."

"Oh, why yes, I am able to speak about it. Though, the specifics of your opponents' capabilities are unknown to me, I am aware that there are two be two of them. As for their strength I believe them to be about the height of Gene, though they are certainly more fearsome then any of the Drengr you have fought thus far."

"Hear that, folks? Two on four. I say we try to keep them split up."

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As the group continued to look around the room, making small talk about the apparent carvings and gathering info on the enemies ahead, they would still have one obstacle in their way. A large wall of water, bizarrely opaque as there was certainly something on the other side of it yet all they could see was the shimmering, flowing blue of water. If the group gingerly touched it they would find that it was in fact also solid and pushed them back. If any of them asked about it, or even if they didn't and it was a rare moment of speaking without being asked, River would speak up and explain. "That wall of water is a barrier, something known as a Threshold. These are barriers created by Lady Ocean used to divide what is beyond from the rest of the world. What is past the Threshold cannot perceive what is on the other side, and they themselves cannot cross the Threshold either. In most cases it acts as Prison Door of sorts, yet my Lady's servants are not prisoners." The girl tilted her head, curious about it before smiling. "It also acts as a means of informing you of when a particularly challenging foe is ahead! Crossing the Threshold, however, is impossible to do by accident. However, if you merely will yourself to go past the wall, you will be able to pass through it without issue. So, once you do, I wish you the best of luck!"

Once the group passed through the Threshold, which felt like passing through a solid wall of water yet left them remarkably dry, they would find themselves in a large open box of a room. The walls on every end seemed to have flowing from the ceiling, obscuring whatever was on the walls, though the floor seemed to be dry. On the end opposite of them, though, they were able to see a large stone sculpture jutting out of the wall. The neck and head of what seemed to be a strange hybrid between a wolf and a dragon holding a stone in its open jaws. The stone glowed with a yellow and gray light and, after a few moments of the Exalted being in the room, the light flowed from the stone, splitting cleanly into one yellow and one gray light, flowing to opposite sides and into the water behind the statue. The water rippled and then with a sudden splash from out of the water flowed two figures. 

Boss Theme

Though they were first just shapeless water, as soon as they touched the floor the water expanded and took on a more rigid shape, gaining coloration and solidifying into an actual form. Two hulking armored figures, a little taller than Gene and certainly far bulkier. Both of them stretched out a hand to opposite sides, water flowing from their arm and taking shape in their hands. The one to the left formed a greataxe, the blade giving a slight hum as a close inspection could see it vibrate slightly. To the right a spear, sparks of electricity flowing across the head. The two readied their weapons and began to slowly advance towards the Exalted. 

OOC

Spoiler

And so here it is, the first actual boss fight against the Ocean goon squad. If you had anything to discuss with River or the others before entering the room, feel free to ask or write about it. River will disappear as soon as you cross the Threshold. Be sure to ask for info involving these two goons as this is meant a much more threatening fight then any that you have encountered before. 

Map

 

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Marshall was more than a little surprised, to watch the path before her… Disappear into itself, as if it never had been; causing her to release the lever as she came to rise up to her full height, still glancing around. For a split moment, she wondered if perhaps they had done something wrong, that they hadn’t pulled the levers in sync-- Only for these doubts to subside, as River began to speak. With a quiet sigh of relief, she smiled as she approached the edge, surveying the others as they returned to their space. For a moment, she had contemplated returning the way she had come--

But, well, there was hardly any time for that, as the others began to move; and she supposed she knew a faster way.

So, with a decisive step, she took one deep breath; and stepped off the edge. As familiar as the drop was, she couldn’t help but feel her heart stiffen in her chest as her shoes plunged into the water-- Though, she was ready for it this time. She braced herself as she was launched back up onto the platform, gritting her teeth and steadying herself as she hit the platform with a steady thump. “...We have once again arrived at the scheduled platform,” she’d smile, bringing a hand up to instinctively grab at, and adjust her hat… Only to frown, as she found nothing was there. A pained look spread across her face as she realized it had been lost on the second platform, and despite the pang of sadness that filled her soul-- She would have to go on.

“I concur with Abby’s observation,” Marshall would give a quick wave as she moved to keep up with the others, eyes gliding across the scenery as she tried to take some of it in. Of course, there was more to it than before; the strange alien figures, the shapes above the clouds… It was a creation myth, it seemed to her; the alien figures being those responsible for the deep, dark clouds they saw everywhere, perhaps. Though, that was purely speculation. “When more manpower is placed against a solution, it is only natural that more avenues of thought will be traversed; allowing for more proficient solving of a puzzle,” she explained, a rather bland expression on her face as if this was the most natural course of thought.

It was then, of course, that Gene gave form to the questions in Marshall’s mind; and she was pleasantly surprised to find that she was correct, for the most part; though this conversation quickly gave way to Abby’s own questions - and their answers. “...While I do agree,” Marshall would begin, nodding. “We also need to be careful not to underestimate them; for while we do have the numbers advantage…” she trailed off. “It would be foolish of us to assume that will be enough to fell them.”

It was only as they reached the body of water, that Marshall finally found herself tensing up. The explanation from River made sense, though she was unsure how much of it was truly as it was, and how much of it was simplified for their understanding; thus, it was with a quick nod, that she shook her head and resolved herself. “...See you on the other side, dispatcher,” she’d give a slight wave before planting a hand on the wall… And stepping through. Something in the back of her mind buzzed slightly as she stepped through, the sort of fight-or-flight that she had become accustomed to over the past two encounters, so as the others followed--

She went ahead and called forth her lance, resting the bulk of the weapon across her shoulder, as she had become used to doing. She stood still in place, eyes locked on the other side of the room even as her allies came to join her; and as their foes made themselves known. Immediately, she felt her mind stir as she took a deep breath, and began to assess the situation. There were two enemies; four of them. As Abby had previously said, there were two of them - and four heroes. As such, it would be two allies on one enemy, but the question came as to how they should be divided. Briefly, she considered engaging the greataxe wielding armor. Her lance would give her sufficient range to put the armor off on the wrong foot; but that left at least one of her allies contending with the same issue. As such, the conundrum was, did they meet the armor on equal footing, or try to create an advantage in one location, only to result in a weakness being exploited elsewhere? 

She shook her head. There was no time to entertain that thought for even a moment; they’d need to search for a middle-ground, range wise.

“...Gene or Abby-- One of you should probably come with me,” Marshall had already begun moving, calmly taking a step forwards, and in front of the party as a whole. “Sabrina, I would suggest trying to use a combination of your weapon’s range and speed against the one with the axe, while whoever doesn’t come with me tries to cover you. Above all, try to see what they’re capable of before engaging directly; I suspect this is going to require us to use our heads as well as our strength,” she’d finally finish, in a bit more of a verbose fashion than she was used to, as she set her movements into action.

Staring the lance-wielding armor down, she calmly took a step to her left, pacing in front of her allies, and taking a casual, calm stroll diagonally towards the lance-wielding armor. She didn’t want to close the distance too quickly; as this creature was clearly far more equipped than any of the Drengr they had seen, but she still needed to get closer to see what it was capable of. Luckily for her, the armor itself seemed to get the memo as well; continuing its advance towards her, as it turned to face her; the two lance-wielding combatants approaching each other with measured, slow steps.

Edited by Tiamat's Circus

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