Duty Session 458: Tome Raider

The small party aren't the only ones in the area, the tower of course being crowded as always by lander's debating the next steps and adventurer's strolling around to try and theorise ways past and through the new barrier, without the nerve or success to try it themselves. As a result the place is hardly quiet, and the 'hisses' of the beautiful and deadly guardian serve a perfect ward for people trying to get within it's line of sight, warning of a swift death of those who come too near.

Lunaris has set up a perch nearby, watching and swaying her legs as she waits having arrived perhaps a bit too early to the mission she had been given, and looked absolutely fascinated by the guardian with eyes that most certainly say, 'I want to pet it'. Thankfully her current need for money was proving a valuable asset in keeping her somewhat more restrained today. As the rest of the party reach her she leans back and lets off a cheerful grin, "Hey! Are you here to help clear the floor?" Giving a nod over to the scary-cute guardian, "You think we can keep it as a pet?" Either way she hops down with a swish of her tail, after all, they did have to get through one way or another.

Alas, the arriving party consists only of Goldenblade, who says, "The Floor Boss was defeated long ago. It's just weird and out of the way pockets of mischief like this that's left to fight. That and the occasional villians popping up. I actually fought the floor boss here, but it was about a year ago."

So, Goldenblade has arrived on the fourth floor of the Tower to help Lunaris assault this weird ... place. It's a small tower within the Tower, and it's a bit weird and creepy. But Goldenblade has explained that if we get past all the strange monsters and the weirdness, there's something useful to be found. Goldenblade, in her role as Only Actual Person in the Crescent Academy, makes it her job to help players who are just getting into the main content, which she's been into for quite some time now, though not as long as others.

"Pockets of mischief sounds even better," Lunaris replies with a grin and renewed enthusiasm, not at all minding being a two person team, if you didn't count her companion fox that all but appeared next to her as soon as she started to move, having been off trying to con landers into giving them extra food. Her eyes alight to the guardian once again and with a rather dissatisfied sigh she decides this is not time to try and pet the spiky rose thing, no matter how tempting it was, "Okay! So! If you want to blast it, I'll keep the thing distracted? You have more experience after all!" That much was an easy assumption really with the way Goldenblade talked. And Luna wasn't exactly too prideful about her own skills at murderating monsters.

With the agreement or not she soon stepped into aggro range of the creature, though not the type to really cast spells on herself, the magic she weaves through glowing rune and word infuses her fox, Pecan, turning his skin to flexible stone. "Pecan, annoy them!" She instructs with a flick of her wrist towards the guardian, and with a high pitched yip the black-furred fox does exactly that, dashing in and being annoying enough to pull those thorns away from Lunaris and to smashing around the fox, missing by hairs breadths.

The guardian lets out an enraged trilling, it was by no means a particularly soloable monster for most, and it was sure enough that Lunaris wouldn't manage on her own. Any strike that Pecan made only pinged the creatures healthbar, and.. Well, Lunaris herself wasn't much of a fighter. Though the guardian never moved too far from the door it guarded, refusing to simply be pulled away.

Goldenblade smirks at Lunaris's grin for pockets of mischief. But she nods about having experience, saying, "I've actually been -here- before. Or very like here. I'm not quite sure how it goes, to be honest." It's not like RL, which is what she has seventy five years of experience with.

But as we step into combat with the botanical threat, she unleashes fire, which pours from her swords like water from a firehose, except that it sets things on fire rather than putting it out, and it's particularly bad for plants, which are consumed and shrivel before her flames. Shades of Farenheit 451, but instead of books, it's bushes. The books are up ahead.

The guardian's defenses are no match for the gouts of flame from Goldenblade's sword, distracted and unable to defend itself the full force of the assault soon shatters the monster into an array of pixels, something that gets a small grimace from the cait sithe. As the roots withered and the door was freed it started to creek open of their own accord, permitting entry further into the library. Or at least, as might be noted when they entered, was once the entry to a library. Now it was little more than a wreck, shards of glass are strewn across the floor from broken windows, shards of smashed wood buried into the ground. But that was not the most intimidating thing, the golems that might have been mistaken for statues begin to groan and whir, creaking as they move to standing with an odd gleam on their eyes.. Eying the pair and making it clear they wouldn't let them further peacefully.

"As in this place exactly? And you don't remember?" Lunaris asks curiously as she starts to step through the doors, "You make it sound like this place keeps changing? Does it? That would be so cool! I suppose it could!" Enamored by the idea she only spots the golems as they start to move, and lets out a cheerful squee, "Nevermind that, these are adorable!" Knowing better than his owner, it's Pecan that steps forwards, yapping away at the things, tearing Lunaris back to reality, "Oh.. We have to fight these..?" Sounding full of disappointment.

Goldenblade enters into the wreck of the lower floor, and sighs a bit as Lunaris asks embarassing questions. She admits, "I was seventy five when the game started, so I remember /nothing/ very well. It's all a bit of a fog. So when I say I don't remember, it's just me." She at least moves like she's fifty years younger, though, fighting off the stone lions trying to eat us on the way in. Losing HP faster than she'd like, she says, "Let's just get past these, they won't follow us in."

The battle against the golems is hard won, Lunaris more interested in trying to catch them at first and utterly scuffing her spell as it fizzles away into blue light, and turning on her strategy a bit too late, Pecan taking far more strikes than needed in the complications and confusion. With rather depleted health and mana do the golems finally fall, letting them quickly get into the library and slam the doors shut behind the pair. Only to find that the whole place was strewn with books, literal walls of thick tomes from floor to roof, packed so tightly that they were immovable.. Or even if one tried to bullrush through the stacks could be knocked over and crush the poor soul. The only option was to work their way through the stacks and hope to find wherever the exit may lay, and hopefully not get lost and stuck among the books.

Lunaris gawks at the place, she wasn't much of a reader having come to ETO, but this was truly something crazy, even in here she had never expected to see this many books! Taking even a moment to study the spines, only to find incredibly boring subjects such as 'The establishment of long wrought economy' and 'The perfect cakes to bake for non-nobles', truly revolutionary stuff. Her ears quick back at the reply from Goldenblade and she gives a small smile, "Ah, no worries. At least you're here! It's kind of like a new life right?" There was an odd tinge of sympathy in her voice, a hint of her past that was quickly smoldered, and then she gestures further in, "Any ideas on how to get through? I don't want to be stuck here forever!"

Goldenblade smirks at Lunaris's sympathetic tone, and says wryly, "You'd think I'd be happy to be twenty five again, but I'd rather be in the real world with my kids and grandkids. I think if I get out, I'll move in with my oldest son. He offered when my wife died, and I told him I'd rather live out my life in the home I'd been in, but ... now, I think I'd rather be with them. This game was supposed to save on train trips to see them, but no such luck." She snorts.

As far as how to get through, she says, "I can probably find one or two ways...." She pulls out a long ribbon on a coil, and ties one end off to a shelf where we are, and then ... wait, where'd she go? Goldeblade's speed is really demonstrated as she dashes through the place almost too fast to be seen. But there's the ribbon to follow, and soon enough she calls out, "Found the end! Just folllw the ribbon."

Lunaris goes just a little quieter at that, her ears lowering before something seems to come over her and she sparks up with a jump, "Well, got to try and enjoy every moment! I'm sure you'll find a way out, or someone will.." A weird moment crosses her of trying to be cheerful while really not wanting to think about something, and soon enough just flicks around, the conversation dropped with absolutely no ceremony. Though she does watch that coil of ribbon, then Goldenblades sudden speed with absolute wonder and breaks into a grin, "You just.. Explored it all!?" She calls out in disbelief, chuckling and following the ribbon through the book maze.

Soon enough Goldenblade reaches the stairs to the next floor, Lunaris emerging a fair bit later being nowhere near as fast even though her path was much more direct. "Stairs!" She states obviously, starting to climb them and glancing back at her companion with a rather grateful look, though the faint buzzing calls her attention away, glancing about. Soon enough the buzzing words of the odd bees can be heard, irritating and distracting as they fill the pairs head with words, drowning out thoughts. The Cait Sithe doesn't need any more of that before with some difficulty she starts to incant a spell to try and blow the awful things away, for once too distracted to fawn over the things.

Goldenblade nods about enjoying every moment, and says, "That's a fact, you've got to do what you can with every moment, the best you can. That's why I haven't just given up and moved out to a farm like I heard some players did. Kids, most likely." She snorts. At the stairs, she pauses, and she looks alarmed at the buzzing. "Crap!"

So, things like elements, she's not so good with, and her attempt to conjure up air to blow the bees away meets with failure. "Gah!"

"Yes! Exactly! Uh, why would people just move to farms?" Lunaris asks rather blankly, not quite appearing to understand where Goldenblade was coming from at all. "Though you should never give up! Even in tough lives sometimes things change for the better. There's always that chance," her words cheery despite the topic, one that entirely gets thrown off by the bees. Thankfully, as it turns out, when she's not too busy gawking and trying to pet the cute things, she's actually very competent at magic. Drawing a quick sigil in the air it soon flashes a healthy blue, and almost storm-like winds start to roll in from behind the bees, sending them all tumbling past the pair and crashing into the bottom of the stairwell. At which point Luna heroically runs away, up the rest of the staircase. Who needs to kill things when you can just flee?

The next floor up is no less dangerous, more of a library in the true sense, if one with possessed, floating books that all but desired to be read. Their readers falling victim to the curses upon them, drawing away energy. As soon as the pair land foot, books tear from the shelves, trying to deposit themselves in open hands. At first Lunaris is certainly curious, watching as it opens and reading a few paragraphs before darting back in a yelp and almost tumbling over - She was good enough at magic to notice the affect, and wasn't wholey too pleased, "O-okay! Don't read the books!" As if her reaction wasn't evidence enough.

Goldenblade follows Lunaris up the stairs, bees left well behind, and admits, "I don't know why they did what they did, but they ran afoul of the Palace Landers, is how I heard about it. My friend Baroness Wake was there." She nods about never giving up. "Giving up is for when you've lost, and I don't plan to lose."

This may come as a surprise to thf floating books, but what is probably not a surprise to Lunaris at this point is that Goldenblade solves this problem with Fire also. It seems that in this strange place, Fire still burns paper, which the books soon come to appreciate.

"Oh, that war thing?" Lunaris asks as she picks herself back up, starting to work on unweaving the curse that pervades the books as the gouts of flame from Goldenblade keep them distracted, the combination works rather perfectly, soon the books flutter and fall to the ground, with scorch marks and all, the situation diffused as quickly as it started. "I've heard about it, but no-one wants to talk about how to help. So I've just been ignoring it. Since I can't help," she admits with a giggle, her odd green eyes shimmering with mischief, "Though can't wait until we win! There's apparently some really cool animals to see. It's going to be amazing!"

Her utter cheeriness has certainly reasserted itself as then ascend the final flight of stairs, feeling good about their pace through the library and that she has actually helped on this quest unlike her previous one. But to be fair, that one was terrifying. Only after reaching the final step does their last challenge become apparent - A gigantic ink ooze devours the ink off of a bed of books and pages, roiling and shifting with unnatural ease. It's teeth quills and quibs as it somehow senses it's domain being trespassed, letting out a horrifying roar, reverberating off the sides of the room. And Lunaris..? She looked like she had just seen something utterly beautiful. Inspiring even.

Goldenblade nods about the War thing, and she says, "Yeah, whoever's running things on our side is playing their cards close to their chest. No one seems to know what's going on. I'd like to help also. I'm thinking about a project to help defend Eas, that's the Palace Lander's next goal, it seems."

And then it's the ink ooze. "Ohgod, what did we do about this one?" she struggles to remember. Old age may have been banished from her limbs, but her mind is every minute of seventy five years old. "Ah, right," she finally says, "It's cheap ink." What cheap ink is, it seems, is runny. And when Goldenblade forces water into the blob, the ink quickly dilutes, reducing the thing's power.

"At least I'm not the only one out of the loop," Lunaris replies cheerfully, kind of glad to know it's not just her. That means people didn't dislike her. Probably. "If I can help with anything just say! I want it to be over as soon as we can make it, and I'm great with... Uh. Magic?" Why was she unsure about that? Either way her eyes are soon on the creepy void-black ooze, now roiling towards them with it's needle-like 'teeth'. The thing rolls back at the barrage of water letting out a wholy inhuman noise at the surprise bath, gradually getting more dilute and starting to drain away. Lunaris takes a different approach, motioning Pecan towards the creature as she incants a spell, infusing their teeth with magic of some description. Soon enough it's healthbar starts to vanish much more quickly until it all but explodes, leaking into the floorboards.

Pecan soon returns and Lunaris kneels down to him, giving the fox a soft petting, "Sorry for the taste, I'll get you something nice when we're back in town," she explains, then puts her hand out with a single command, "Drop." And he lolls a transparent pink ball of magic, containing some of the inky ooze that she puts back into her backpack before grinning back up at Goldenblade, "Looks like we've freed this place! You were a huuuge help. I think that was the target.. I'll have a look around then we can head back to town? Uh, try not to get the ink everywhere!"

Goldenblade nods about out of the loop. "We're mushrooms," she confirms. "The important people keep us in the dark and feed us garbage. Just like in real life, who'd have guessed?" She seems to find this amusing, or at least ironic. As far as helping, she says, "I'll let you know when I've started the project. Not sure how much magic will be involved, but we'll see how it rolls out."

The ink monster now forced to drink from the firehose, as it were, is not happy with that, and being chewed up by Pecan is not helping things.

When we've won, Goldenblade nods, "Yeah, looks like we did. I was glad to help. Take as much look as you like," she agrees, "But remember, we didn't beat everything, the bees and the lions are still there. When you're ready to go back, let me know?"

"That's why I spend most of my time in the forests! Monsters are far cuter and aren't that bad," Lunaris replies with a grin as she starts to pick around the room, assuring that there is nothing left that needs to be properly cleared - Or at least ones the landers couldn't deal with themselves. "I can do other things! Like traps a-and taming things. Uh.." She stalls for a moment that really was pretty much her only specialty and as she realised it a light redness raises on her cheeks, "I.. Um.. Guess I'm not too good for that stuff. And don't worry, I can run past them if you need to go."

It's a good half an hour or so before the Cait Sithe is satisfied that their job is done and heads back to the stairs, "All good I think! If you ever want another party member feel free to send for me! I've been told by the guild to make more friends who don't groan when I try to pet something... And maybe die.." She fires a grin off at that, her tail waving as she starts to descend down once again, "We did good! Lets find some nice food as a treat."