Duty Session 409: Spinner's Deep

    Fuka's not stuck on the isle of beginnings, not exactly, but she's helping Prophylaxis and SEA construct a storage facility for food and medicine for the refugees. That doesn't occupy her full span of days however, and she's always willing to help out in cases of adventurers being needed to deal with things like a spider infestation in the mines. And THIS TIME they're not mechanical spiders, so she's expecting fire to work! Besides, her patron's said something about the spiders here, so Fuka's willing to kill multiple things with one axe, or something along those lines.

     For many, the way down through Spinner's End is familiar. However, the mine is now clean and well lit, with supports shoring up the walls and ceilings. All evidence of the spider infestation has been cleared out. Landers pass by as they travel down into the mines, offering their thanks to those who had previously helped to clear the mines.

    The sounds of hammers and picks on rock echo as they walk. Life has returned to the mines due to the efforts of the Adventurers. Occasionally, there is a bark of a guard dog and the scampering of feet as they run to join their newly returned masters.

    The pathway has been cleared for them...

Ayame's shield was slung onto her back, over her wings, as the sylph sashays along, looking with a worried glance at the way down to Spinner's End. She chuckles nervously, nodding to the others "It wasn't exactly the best of times the last time I was down here" She murmurs "Webbing and spiders are not friends of mine. Still, for the effort ..." She gives a wry smile and a worried look

Rylen should be on a boat to Ninetails by now. Of course, there are a lot of things he /should/ be doing but aren't at the moment. Though he has the backing of the Olympus Alliance, that doesn't mean that he doesn't have to pay for his own travel expenses. With the closing of the Peko Ranch, that means that he's forced to do what most people do... run dungeons.

"It's nice to see the effects of people clearing out the upper dungeon. Can't recall that ever happening in the old-school RPGs." He laughs, seeming his happy-go-lucky self at the moment. "Then again, in the old days, I never had time to really get into those much."

The Pooka stretches out his shoulders, cracks his knuckles, and follows the others down into the caves.

Schneider joins Fuka and the others that have assembled in the mine, adjutsing the odd cap he wears, which overwise clashes with his ornate coat and glittery cape. "I keep meaning to do this duty," he explains, "and things kept coming up. But I'm trying to get everything done before the Palace Landers hit. Well, worse than they already have. Trying to run a duty last night, and a couple Palace Landers tried to goof it up." The fact that he's standing here implies how that went.

There is no shortage of things to do or places to be. Haru has been looking into the Crowns, penning ideas for humanitarian efforts for the displaced refuges, and working on his 'be less squish' adventurer time. This falls into the later category and all of them can be done while having a good time doing it. He is a bit sad about spiders, which that ingenuity helped fuel one of his recent machinations with drills, but actual spiders are also cool and as are mines. You can find a lot of interesting things in mines.

Haru stops to take a look at part of the design, rolling his finger over his monocle and inspecting the structural support. You know, out of curiosity. "Can't say I've been down here before," he admits, turning and heading forward, "it was cleared prior? More spiderland and webland than it is now?"

    Fuka shrugs. "I understand the mines were cleared out, but spiders have got to have come from somewhere right? We have to go deep, check it out, see if there's any spider nests, then burn them out." She nudges Schneider in the ribs, probably having to reach pretty high to do it. "Fortunately we got a specialist!" she grins. "And of course Haru can handle anything needing earth magic. Even if it's totally boring." she notes, smiling beatifically at the aforementioned fellow. "I'm training melee and Aiyaa there is probably going to scream a lot and draw attention, so she'll tank." the littler sylph suggests cheerfully.

    It's no problem to travel deep into the mines, as of course they're completely cleared. The group reaches a final room which must once have been a boss chamber. Unlike other parts of the mine, the walls are finely hewn, with strange patterns etched into them. There is a large mural that looks to show a variety of different arachnid creatures. It almost looks as if there are figures bowing before them in worship.

    At the center of the chamber there is a slightly raised dais, which a circular platform sits. Carved runes appear along the edge of the circle, though they do not seem to resemble any known language in Yamato. The same runes appear throughout the room in various fashions.

    There might be clues to the runes in those words on the walls, but the teleporter seems to also respond to sound as well as magical energies being channeled into it.

Ayame looks around with interest, though little assistance, moving to help with the teleporter - studying and musing, fussing over folk and letting them prepare as she sits and waits, unslinging her shield and musing as she looks around "How deep do you reckon they're hiding?" The Sylph asks, her wings buzzing a little once freed of her shield. To Fuka, she perks up "Oh, I saw the Baroness again. She said glowing things about you. A few short words, anyway"

Rolling into what was once a Boss room answers Haru's question. Ex-boss room. He is immediately drawn to the etchings of the walls. The figures. The lore. The runes. The Artificer leans in and runs a finger along the craftsmanship. "Fascinating stuff when you get a moment to really look at it," he observes, "which isn't always an option when something is trying to nom on your bits." Bit nomming is a major deterrant from investigation of the environment.

To Fuka's comment about the Spiders, Haru flicks his blue eye over towards her past the white hair and muses, "So we have to go deep, eh?" Pause. He sliiiidddeessss away from that and goes on to his skillset, "Its true. I can handle Earth magic. Totally bore-ing magic." Mischief. Oh yes. He has plans now. Bore-ing plans.

The tall human's steps are light just like his armor. Haru stops near a set of runes and engages Enchanter mode, tracing a finger along the runes relating to 'transportation' in such a way that the magical energies light them up in a pale, blue light. "I also Enchant a fair amount. These respond well the vibrations and magical energy that is similar to crystal or mineral enchantment." Another rune goes aglow.

"This was an early leveling spot. All the upper chambers were filled with spiders and other creatures." Rylen explains to Haru. "Eventually, it seemed to die down and now the Landers have come back into the mines." He nods then towards Fuka, offering her a smile, "But the dear lady is correct. We still don't really know the source of the infestation, or how deep it goes."

As they reach the strange room that was once the boss chamber, Rylen starts to look around. Since he isn't all that skilled with matters of puzzles, he decides to add a bit of magic to the equasion, channeling some earth magic into the runes along the wall.

"I wonder who built all of this..." The Pooka murmurs to himself.

Schneider smirks at the ribnudge. "Fire is what I do," he agrees to Fuka. To Haru, he explains, "The way down to where we are now got cleared out in the lst year, it was pretty infested." He proceeds on, following the group.

Arriving at the odd chamber, and confronted by a dias that doesn't seem particularly flammable, he considers the runes, and scratches his head, then looks over at the runes on the walls. "A puzzler, indeed," he remarks. "But I've done some research with these runes, and ...." he smiles as he writes out a solution. "Like that."

    Fuka seems pleased by Rylen's words, and downright smirks at Haru's. Ayame gets a sidelong look though. Like she's not sure if she was just insulted or the other Sylph just happened to use the word 'short' unintentionally. Fortunately Fuka's not actually sensitive about her height, so she takes it in stride. "Waku-waku's a big-hearted woman." she agrees. "And she appreciates others with big... hearts!" she adds with only the briefest pause. Just enough to draw attention really.

    "Hmmmm..." she notes, examining things in the boss chamber with Haru. Like him, she nerds out somewhat about the detail, glossing over the nasty spider motif in favour of appreciating craftsmanship and magic. She's quick to note, literally, that music is involved, and manages to hum her way into getting a response from the teleporter. "Boss room. Heavy duty spider motif. And unless I miss my guess, a portal. Yeah, I think we know how the mines got infested!" she grins.

    The group manages to activate the room's magic, combining magical talents, analysis of the runes and notes of the room itself, and music. "Well, here we go!" Fuka cries happily, raising her axe as the room activates, surrounding them in a blue glow.

    They emerge in a dark chamber, lit only by a few sputtering torches that are held in sconces and encased in spider webs. A feeling of moisture hangs in the air, the sound of trickling water from somewhere further into the darkness.

    Wandering further from the entryway, the tunnel continues until it seems to stop at a dead end. There, at the end of the hallway, is a strange statue. Carved into stone, a being that looks vaguely humanoid stands, although much of the features are covered by robes. Rather than a human face, it has long pincers, a series of glossy eyes, and monstrous plating.

    A thin, clawed hand is extended from the statue, pointing towards an altar set before it. It appears, that to continue further, the Adventurers will have to offer up some sort of sacrifice.

Ayame makes a face, practically hugging her shield as the teleporter is activated, even as she looks to Fuka and asks "Hey, what do you -"

"- mean by that?!" She asks, as the haze dies down to find them in a new place, huffing in annoyance, and stepping away, moving to poke around irritably for a little

"Just how bad was it?" Ayame asks Schneider with interest "I missed that whole thing, so I'm curious. I don't think I've seen any really bad infestations yet" She gives him a weak grin, and then looks to Rylen

"Do you mean in or out of game?" With just a touch of a sour note from the Silver Sword, shivering a little as her gossamer wings draw in tight

Schneider teleports with the others into wherever it is the teleporter takes us. Looking around, he looks over the altar that is discovered. The statue pointing to it is given due consideration as he thinks about what sort of sacrifices might go on an altar. "Hrm," he considers. "Too bad I don't have some hay. Or a brother," he remarks. But he will look around for something he -can- sacrifice, to make this thing work. To Ayame, he replies, "It wasn't /too/ hard, if you had a good party. Not soloable, at least not by me. But doable in a group." And luckily, others have triggered the altar, since his search turned up only three things: zip, zilch, and bupkiss.

"Ahhhs," Haru replies excitedly to the historical lesson of the area, "walking through literal history! People have made their mark and lives have been made better. A sense of accomplishment and betterment both. Thats uplifting!" the Artificer says with his perspective on things. There is a sense of newfound wonder watching how Song works with Magic and Enchantment of objects. Like the source code of the world in places. The end result being that they get to move on to a more 'Spider' place. "And we are going deep," he intones in a different voice. Narrative mode. "Im putting a coin on Balrog or Spider-Balrog. Drider? Llothian at least." Lord of the Rings references, ho!

There are no options that are readily available to the Enchanter. He isn't about to sacrifice a goat and is quick to make sure people don't get the idea on the party itself. He rolls up the sleeves on his blue jacket. Its time to hit the gym. By that, Haru means that it is time to equip the low quality pickaxe and go to town on some stone. "Time to flex," he says. Thk. Noodle arms. That chipped off a pebble. Thk. It chimes in the room. "This needs a mining shanty," he begins to hum the sort of thing a bunch of dwarves might hum while mining. No, what it needs is the Summoner to have a summon do this work.

Rylen doesn't even hesitate to follow Fukaziroh in through the glowing portal. He's far too used to these sort of things to even give it a second thought. As they emerge into the dark chamber, he seems to take in a deep breath, tasting the moisture in the air. "Well, we definitely aren't on the surface anymore. I can feel it."

The Pooka's connection to the Earth makes such things easy to sense, though the exact location is a bit harder to discern. As they find themselves in front of the statue, however, he takes his time to press a hand to the ground. The others may just feel a small rumble in the ground beneath them as elemental energy snaps out into the surrounding area.

He tilts his head towards Ayame, his focus still on the spell. "I've seen enough of this world to think that not everything was carefully planned at the hands of developers, if that's what you're asking." He lifts an eyebrow. "For instance, this place changed from what Adventurers did."

Then, he slams his hand into the ground, pulling up what looks like some sort of monster-version of a mole. It immediately pixelates from the impact of the spell, leaving behind some meat which he tosses onto the altar. "That should do."

    Fuka figures the teleporter has to be two-way, so she's not worried. After all the spiders got into the mine this way, they can reactivate it easily enough. So she spends her attention on looking for a way to proceed forwards, not worrying about the path back.

    Fuka looks innocently up at Ayame, and that innocent look is probably how anyone can tell she's up to something. "I mean she's marrying Tae who is an absolutely wonderful woman. And she obviously adores me, so she likes generous and warm-hearted people!" she claims. Which is such BS on at least one, possibly two points, but it's not actually a lie if your claim is so outrageous no one could possibly believe you intended them to take it seriously.

    "A balrog would be cool. Or ... would that be hot?" Fuka notes absently. "I think I'm going to look for a spider. Sacrificing a spider seems appropriate here don't you think?" she says, starting her hunt. Fortunately the group can fairly easy get something appropriate together. A small critter, some growing moss or fungus, a fancy stone. Equally fortunately, it's enough to get past whatever judgment stands for the activation of the altar, allowing the group to proceed.

    The tunnels appear more roughly carved the further the Adventurers travel into the depths of the mine. There are long scratch marks in some places, as if something huge had scraped the stone as it passed through. Eventually, the way opens into a small chamber, which looks as if it has become a stopping point for Adventurers who are exploring the dungeon.

    Sitting against one wall is a pale Adventurer. Their weapons and armor have been set next to them, head resting back against the wall. Upon seeing your arrival, their head lifts, "Oh! I was hoping someone would come along. My party was killed by the spiders. I've been bitten." There is pain written on their face.

    "Our healer had the antidote potions, do you think you could lend a stranger a hand?" The Adventurer asks, eyes pleading.

Schneider follows the group onward, considering what might be down here. "A balrog seems unlikely," he points out. But as the tunnel opens out and we see the pale adventurer, he smiles. Because a thing happened last night, and he was out of potions, and he'd specifically gone and bought some just so he wouldn't be empty. "Is it your lucky day," he tells the adventurer, fishing into his inventory for what the fellow needs. "Try some of this."

"I am going to *kick* you in the *shin*" Ayame tells Fuka with a huff and a half-hearted snarl as she trots along, looking through the tunnels warily as she chatters away to the group "If I can reach down that far, which let me tell you, is a challenge!"

"Groups tend to be best" She tells Schneider "I've had some success working in pairs, for simpler things - one to watch each other's back" She says with a little eagerness "It can be more effective than you think."

To Rylen, she shakes her head "That can be set up, as well. When X equals Y, do Z, you know?" She shrugs a little "Not that there's anything wrong with that. I think it's all somewhat delving in and collapsing on itself - compounding, you know? We'll see more as the different regions start to intermingle more, differences showing"

Then her face falls as they come across the group "Oh ..." A wince and a small nod "I'm sorry" With a heavy grimace, her bickering forgotten. She moves down to tend to the wounds, small healing passes chanted in to help tend to the wounds, keeping her shield up warily

Haru concurs with the axey Sylph, "Hot." Its true. Balrogs would be hot. He continues on his mining until acknowledging that this method is not working at all. Fortunately the rest of the party has figured out a means to move forward. "Until arm day next time, my friend," he says to his pickaxe, putting it away. The support oriented Artificer hastens a step to catch up in time to run into a wounded Adventurer.

The idea of having a fallen group sombers up Haru's attitude a deal. He is no Doc. Alchemy would be of use, but raw Herbalistic applications is not his forte. He inspects the Adventurer, adding an Appraisal through his monocle with a touch of their shoulder. "Fortune on our side," he notes, pulling out a green set of grass he had collected earlier. "These properties should help draw it out," he notes, echoing Schneider's statement. This was more luck than skill that Haru had anything on hand for it. He can't say the same for the ones that were already lost, deciding not to comment on that but the weight on his attitude is noticible.

As the group continues, Rylen runs his fingertips along the gouges in the stone. "Something big must have made these..." He comments to himself. The Beastmaster is, seemingly, always curious about monsters and animals of all sorts, even tose that dwell in the depths of dungeons.

What he doesn't expect, is to find another Adventurer on their way. That is a relatively rare occurance, especially as people normally travel in parties. The recent revelations about what happens to people upon death has him wincing at the knowledge that this poor Adventurer's friends are probably having a very, very bad day.

"Sorry to hear about your troubles." He chimes in, starting to look over the Adventurer's injuries. "I mostly know sports injuries, so you'll have to excuse me if my first aid is a little rough." He apologizes in advance, while ripping some strips off his shirt to form them into bandages. He's used to being shirtless, so why not utilize the extra fabric.

"Stay still, I'll see if I can bind these." As he starts to work, he offers a nod to Ayame. "It's quite possible that the devs are just far more advanced than I would expect, but... as I said, I've experienced enough things to suspect that isn't all that's at play here." He smirks slightly, "I can always introduce you to my sister if you want an example of what I mean. Just... not here." He shakes his head.

    Fuka grins up at Ayame, clearly not in fear of her threat or taking the insult personally. It's banter, and there's no real heat to the woman's threat. Fuka does consider suggesting she find a really fun way to relax, but fortunately is distracted by other theories and matters.

    "I've seen enough to wonder if this world might have been designed, but yeah... if it was, it's evolved since then." she throws in her own observations. "It responds. It's more than a static system. And... oh." she pauses, realizes abruptly that there's someone suffering in the tunnels before them. Someone poisoned and having lost their previous companions. As adventurers presumably they'll be fine, but... given what she now knows about returning to life, she wouldn't wish that on anyone but an enemy.

    The others beat Fuka to treating the poor victim, so she shrugs. She'd have helped, but there's fortunately no need. She nudges Haru, gesturing to Ayame, then cupping both hands out before her chest in an obvious sort of pantomime. "See? She's got a really big heart!" Fuka observes, while her hands suggest something similarish.

    Once the Adventurer is healed and sent back towards safety, the group carries on. The ground starts to become thicker with spider webbing the further the Adventurers delve into the depths of the dungeon. The way continues to descend downward to a set of spiral stairs which lets out into a truly horrifying sight.

    A series of spiders with extremely long legs seem to be making this place their home. They click pincers together as they make delicate steps across an expanse that seems to be a field made of some kind of grass which doesn't require sunlight to grow.

    There seems to be some intelligence to these monsters, as they seem to be keeping a herd of grunties as food. Just as the Adventurers make their way onto the fields, one descends onto a fat grunty, causing the creature to squeal and cry out as blood sprays. The spider lifts the kill, then chomps down on it, swallowing the still living grunty, whole.

    Then, it turns eyes on the Adventurers.

Schneider says to Ayame, "Pairs can be okay for most things, particularly if you and your partner can cover most of the obscure dungeoneering things. But sometimes there's a teamwork task that needs 3 or 4 people, which you obviously can't do with two. I consider three a minimum unless you know the route already and know what you'll be facing."

With the injured now-solo investigator sent back toward the entrance with a bit more chance than he had before the party's arrival, Scheider follows the group onwards. As the ground gets webbier, he spends more time looking around, and up, and he ah-hahs as spiders are spotted overhead, grazing on the hapless grunties and such down here on the ground.

This is no big to Schneider, though, who has the perfect solution for this. "These spiders aren't particularly high level," he remarks, striking a dramatic pose and shouting, "GUNZENRO!" The gout of fire that erupts from his hand burns the spider badly, and accounts for a good chunk of HP. Looks like a good call using one of his lowest spells. Saves the bug stuff for when it's needed.

"Fukaziroh!" Ayame's hands find her hips and she glares at the Sylph "Will you either just walk up and faceplant or shut it!" But she can't hide her laugh. Even as the short sylph makes the big heart gesture, commenting wryly "I believe that's more commonly done with one heart, dear, not two joined at the bottoms" She notes with a little smirk

She nods to Rylen, uncomfortably leaving the wounded fellow behind as she moves along, her heels clicking on the hardened ground "It's possible" She agrees "I'd love to meet them sometime. I miss my sister, but we exchange messages a lot - she's well, just busy" She tells the Pooka.

"I used to think so" She tells Schneider "But even then, you can often manage. It'll be a nasty, dangerous run - and you might come away with a lot of bruises - but I've done them with Sprites and Uta both. It's good practice, as well - there aren't always enough of us around"

Then she frowns - starting at the skitter of little things. She dives forward - bringing up her shield, and a flicker of light extends around it before she begins to defend the group furiously. Something activated her protection instinct! The heels on her boots are put to good use as she digs them in, keeping her balance.

Haru waggles his eyebrows at Fuka at the reference to Ayame, "Really big heart," he echoes to Fuka's bit as he looks to Ayame. A light laugh at the banter between the two of them. Also. It makes him feel better about things. Big hearts saving problems. The herbs were the right ones and the Artificer stands up. "Sorry for your loss," he offers now that the threat is over. He wanted to focus on saving what was in front of him, first. With the awareness of the memory loss, the Adventurers may return, but a little less. Best not to dwell and instead ride the good vibes Fuka nudged in. He smiles.

The spiders are making their appearance. Stare. Haru stares back, "Not quite a Balrog, but nothing saying we can't raise the heat," he says as his orb becomes a glowing red ember in his hand. "I'll do a wide clear," he says as he pulls out a fairly offensive spell. After the losses earlier, a little respectful vindication is in order. "Ignis. SPhere. Inimicos." The orb crackles and gains size to that of a volleyball, duely volleyed down towards the spiders to erupt in an inferno of 'quit staring at me, spider!' heat.

It seems that Rylen's capabilities from the real world are just about enough to help him aid his fellow Adventurer, though he doesn't have the actual stats on his character to back it up. "We'll help you out on our way back." He states, having no concerns at all that they'll survive the dungeon. The party seemed more than capable thus-far.

Rylen seems to quiet a bit on the topic of his sister, perhaps because it is a story that not many know or that he cares to share. Still, he does offer Ayame a nod.

Then, there is the prospect of giant, grunty-eating spiders and the horrific sight they provide. "Well, that was gruesome. Though, I suppose everyone has to eat." Rather than trying to utilize his natural gifts with the element of Earth, Rylen just uses his martial arts instead. He strikes out at long legs, knocking them out from under the enemy and moving onward.

    "What can I say, big things get my attention!" Fuka notes cheerfully, not actually taking Ayame's suggestion to faceplant. Not really her style, though she's still prone to tease. "I mean you should see my best friend from before! VERY ... attention-getting!" she states with a highly suggestive leer. A misleading statement, but also perfectly accurate.

    Fukaziroh sees the increased webbing, she raises her axe and sets it lightly on her shoulder, preparing for a fight. I mean it's pretty obvious they should expect something, and the mine provides a match to expectations. It's kind of disturbing and horrifying but then, it's also simple and straightforward. No morality choices, no doubts, no hesitation.

    "Those are NOT OUR FRIENDS!" Fuka shouts, apparently as a battlecry, as she charges forward. She's faster than she has a right to be, probably because of the way she's channeling air, a sword arte she's rather good at when she's in a good position to use physical artes instead of supporting or using ranged spells.

    The environment begins to grow more and more strange, the walls glowing faintly with an eerie green color. Drops of acid seem to hiss from the ceiling, falling on the unwary who dare to pass further into this tainted place. At first, it seems like they are heading for a dead end, but the wall lifts as if it senses their arrival.

    It opens into a boss chamber which looks suspiciously like the one they had left in the mines above. However, the coloration of this room is more unearthly. The strange etchings on the wall all glow with that eerie, acid green. Standing in the center of the chamber is a massive spider which seems to be an unusual shade of white. Flickers of blue seem to move across the creature's entire body.

    As soon as the fight is initiated, it /blinks/ out of existence only to reappear halfway across the chamber. Whatever this monster is, it has a very dangerous teleportation ability. The Adventurers had best be wary if they don't want to be caught unawares.

"I'm surprised you can see big things. Maybe everything's just up close - or you're very, very far away" Ayame teases Fuka right back. It's something of an act, a show, certainly, the secretarial sylph shielding and saving with a smile and a small soupcon of sass. "Do you need a guidebook? You seem shocked at what to do next" Ayame laughs down, before it fades just a touch.

She nods to Rylen, as well, panting as she cleans off her shield and makes a face. It's a look of shared resignation.

To Haru, she gives a deliberately non-threatening threatening look "Don't YOU start" She huffs out "Honestly. Would you like to make any more comments?" It's lighthearted, but - well. Better that than focusing on the doom and gloom.

Then they come to Big Monster. Ayame hefts her shield - and snaps her head, watching it move and shift around. Her wings flick up, out, the Sylph sensing air currents - and then wheeling around to keep her shield between it and the party, letting it attack that hunk of rune-edged wood! Bad Spider!

Schneider nods to Ayame, "As I said, if you know what you'll face and what's going on, it's fine. If you don't, you take your chances." He's ignoring the byplay with Fuka, it's a girls thing, apparently. He's not really clever enough to participate. The real Dark Schneider would, but his RP isn't at that level yet.

On the other hand, this is a great honking magical spider in the room, that apparently teleports.

Hrm. He has a solution for that, though. Those who guessed it involves fire win a prize.

He chants, "Deep Doomsday. To the spirits of land and air, bound by the pact, fulfill your obligation now." He gestures, pointing, and shouts, "Megadeath!" The pointing seems like maybe it wasn't hugely needed, because basically the whole room erupts into flames, and there's not really any place the spider could be and not be affected by the firestorm as it rumbles and erupts before fading to smoke and dissipating.

As they seem to reach the end of the line, Rylen's brows raise as he takes in the strikingly familiar room. Obviously, there is a conncetion between whomever built the teleportation chamber, and whomever built this. Either that, or the developers just enjoyed re-using assets. Whatever the case, he tenses, ready for battle.

The quick movements of the spider have him giving a curious: "Huh. That's an interesting evasive technique." It's almost as if he's taking notes. "Let's see how it holds up against mine."

Moving with a graceful martial artist stance, Rylen moves the very earth beneath him, causing it to slide him in different directions each time the enemy got too close. It's enough to draw the spider's attention and aggro, making it easier for the others to both find, and damage the enemy.

"I would!" Haru responds back to Ayame. Don't threaten him with a good time! He holds up a finger, "but before I go into the finer things from head to toe, there is something that you must know." Oh. Oh no. He is rhyming now. Desperate need of Song capability is clear in Haru. At least the background burning from his fireball looks cool and makes him ten percent Sephiroth looking with the white hair. "And that is. Earth? Earth is boreing." The artificer turns towards the boss chamber. Phase spider! Man! His mythical creatures were so close.

A foot taps onto the ground to get a beat going. Haru finds this Summon works better with a regular tempo. "Terra. Vocare. Terebro. Numerus. Terebrare. Hostis." The rocks themselves begin to vibrate to the sound of construction drills until the Big Daddy sized Earth Sprite appears with two whirling drill arms. "Terra, bring the terrah!" he points in Phoenix Wright style to the boss, which causes the rhythmic creature to engage with blows both earthen and sonic. After a few crashing blows, Haru slow turns his head to Fuka and grins.

Ref Music from Summon: https://youtu.be/gIr4C5Ztlcg

    Fukaziroh flirts with any number of people, and she knows exactly what to do as followup. That is to say; nothing. Not even those she likes and teases the most can say she's ever gone from improper words to improper action, and if she ever does... well, it won't be due to an intent to merely tease.

    It's a thought for another place and time, no doubt. Now, she's focussed on spiders. One particular spider anyways. "Oh hey!" she remarks as it vanishes, reappearing elsewhere. "I've seen people do that in duels. It's every bit as annoying as it looks!" she comments with a growl. She readies her axe, but to strike she has to first see where her target is, where it's going. Fortunately that's something she's pretty good at and, while she doesn't always anticipate the boss spider's every move, she reacts quickly to each shift and either anticipates the movement entirely or picks out the monster's motion swiftly enough to reengage in good time.

    The boss goes down in short order, the group well-prepared and more than suitably skilled for the duty of exploring and seeing to the apparent source of the problem. Fuka sighs, setting her ichor-stained axe up back on her shoulder after first shaking the worst of the mess off it. "Well that was fun!" she states cheerfully. The fight, the banter, all of it. "And yes earth is bore-ing." she agrees with Haru. It's an old joke between them by now. She walks over to the summoned elemental. "Kind of adorable though!" she notes, patting it on the shoulder. Yeah, she's got a weird definition of adorable.

    Still, success. And more than success, loot! And friends! Two of Fuka's favourite things! "Oh, and... Rylen, right? Been meaning to seek you out at some point. Can we talk later?" she asks the pooka.

Ayame settles back, slinging her shield once again and looking around "That was ... an interesting run" She nods comfortably, smoothing herself down and brushing specks of scattered dirt and dust from her attire, sighing "And a clearly competent group" She grins to the group, nodding and settling back, letting them all chatter as she starts to pay attention to the crystal, studying it thoughtfully

As the battle ends, Rylen rubs at his knuckles, using what remains of his shirt to clear off any spider-goo in the process. Thankfully, he rarely wears shirts in the warmer months, so it isn't particularly a problem. "I might have to study that further, but still... an interesting enemy."

As Fukaziroh draws his attention, the elfish looking man gives an elaborate bow, white hair flowing forward briefly. "That would be me, m'lady. Rylen Corvus. Beastmaster and spokesman for Crescent Moon." When he raises his head, there is a playful sort of grin on his features as he offers her a wink.

"Of course. Though I'm actually on my way to Ninetails after this. You're welcome to accompany me if you'd like? Otherwise, I don't mind a conversation on the way to the port." He raises his eyebrows, "Or you're welcome to add me as a friend and send me a chimlink any time."

"All in all, a success," Haru agrees with Ayame as he takes a curious eye to the crystal. Specifically its the eye with a monocle in front of it. The lens shows fine light-lines in a circle as it activates, appraising its functionality and features. "Having fun people to do it with makes it more enjoyable. Oh. This should help with future enchanting." A whrr whrr is given to Fuka from the Earth elemental and the compliment. Terra can't hand around too long and bids the group a farewell by returning from whence it came. The melody goes along with it.

Schneider looks over the crystal as he relaxes, the boss already forgotten. "A good run," he agrees. "We seem to be a pretty well-balanced party." The sort that assembles only by chance, sadly. Ayame gets a nod of agreement about the party. "Has anyone done the duty about the Triffid? I'm looking for another party for that. Palace Landers interrupted our run last night."

    Fuka shrugs at that. "I'd say we kicked butt!" she states with her usual reckless cheer. Interesting? Competent? "Someone needs to get more excited about their big ... words!" she notes with a playfully-wicked grin.

    Now, Rylen's flirting is another matter. "It's as spokesman I need you, not beastmaster!" she notes with a return wink. She considers his offer, nods. With a few arcane gestures a friend request is on its way. "The port's not far, but it's a little out of the way. And it's just talk so this is fine." she says. So, apparently not following through on the flirting. Too bad huh?

    She also observes Haru observing the crystal, and nods, putting her own hand on a crystal to delve it with air. "Definitely good for enchantments. And light. And getting the heck out of the way I think!" she says. "Not so much for shielding I think, but you might want to make a dodge talisman of some kind!" she adds enthusiastically.

    At mention of Triffids, Fuka makes a face. "Tried that one once. Ran into a giant bun bun instead." she claims. "Maybe someday, sure. Not sure I'm up for it right now, a lot of my mana's sealed up in some research and other efforts. Soon though!" she grins.

"I'm afraid I don't have time for another quest before I really should depart. Matters of war rarely wait." As a representative for Olympus, Rylen often has his plate full with various tasks, it seems.

There is a nod to Fukaziroh, "Reach out at your leisure then, m'lady. I will await your call." He leaves it at that, then raises a hand to the others. "I'm going to head back and see if I can't assist that Adventurer in getting out of here."

At that point, he drops from the party, offering a smile before heading back the way they had come.

Ayame, too, withdraws, smiling and nodding her thanks "I'll lend them a hand" She murmurs "You all enjoy. I've never tried the Triffids, but I heard enough to know I'm probably not ready" She chuckles a little, lifting a hand before making her way out.

The Artificer runs his finger along the facet of the crystal. The Jeweler in him takes an appreciation of it as he hears Fuka's observations from a bit away. "I see that," Haru echos with the excitement in his hobby slash profession. Enchanter life! "Fancy that what it taps into is a natural boost to the physical agility instead of a core element. I would have expected Air, for example, but instead it is Light." A grin, "So it makes you... Lighter." Not an element that Haru is particularly adept at.

To the ask to do more duties, he shakes his head, "A future day, for sure. Today, not so much. Healthy balance of spending time with important people, work, play, and the like." A smile and a nod, "we are a pretty rockin' party though." Have to sneak in a few more Earth puns. He raises a hand to wave back to Ayame depart, "Hate to watch you go," he drops half of the line.

Schneider sees everyone else departing, drops party, heads out back to what he was doing before. He nods to Haru, and will head back.