Duty Session 503: Fireball Solves Everything

Hearing of a new mission in Eastal for some sort of special, stabilizing flame stones has Giganpor more than a little curious. Who wouldn't be, right!? Especially a blacksmith by trade here more than adventurer!

This has resulted in his putting out a call related to it both through the Adventurer's Guild and then some on the chimlinks. He must really want one of those stones and a chance to study one.

The idea of something involving ruins and fire, though, has him cautious enough to bring his armor and weaponry along besides the usual adventuring gear. It's a dangerous thing, and now he was waiting at the Lander as he listened to the speech and waited on others to come along as well. Yes, it's dangerous, but well... worth it in this case for him nowadays!

The Lander is waiting at the end of a beaten path, and bows to the group once assembled before briefing them.

"There are a number of abandoned temple-like structures dedicated to The Burning Goddess throughout the forests of the Eastal Free League. It is believed that at the heart of each of them the Eastal Free League. It is believed that at the heart of each of them lies a brazier carrying special Igneous Stones, rumored to be Hunter's Guild offers rewards to anyone who can bring a few back."

Then he just hands over a map and a "Good luck, noble Adventurers." before moving to the side and leaving.

Giganpor looks at the map, then around to see who has shown up for this craziness. "So... temple raiding, anyone?"

Abandoned temples (temple-like). Special stones. A hidden challenge. Soujiro's caught onto that in an instant. He had been meaning to see how things are going in Eastal, so all the stars align. The blue haired samurai is wearing his Edo period Samurai kimono as usual as he listens to the Lander go over the situation. "Sounds exciting," he says with the sort of kind eyes and warm smile that encourages the Lander. Gold star, Lander dude. "We see you later," he waves during the eventual depart. Map. Map map map. Soujiro looks at it and is a decenty battle strategist, but this is a navigation map. More Nazuna or Shiroe's territory.

"Sounds like a classic adventure," Souji tells Giga, "I hope there are those blade traps and rolling boulders like the classic movies." He takes his shot at the map before passing it along, "Soujiro Seta, by the way. Samurai. Front Line tank and DPS."

Kauchemar may not be the fire and brimstone type of nightmare, but that doesn't mean magical fire stones isn't going to perk her interest. If nothing else it's more training for her getting monsters to hunt for such things. Either way the equine Were Fang is here, strolling up with her staff resting against one shoulder. Gives a nod to the lionman. "Long time no see, Gigan. Suppose you'be been hiding away in someone else's smithy before getting your own back." She lifts the Grindcore Staff from her shoulder and holds it out for him to see, a sheen gleaming across the metal album skull topping it off. "It turned out rather nice, don't you think?"

An ear flicks at the exposition. "Sounds like it. This must be a real hot spot to get the Hunter's Guild all stoked up over some rocks." Great, she's already cracking puns.

Giganpor turns to look at Soujiro. And blinks a few times. "Huh... no armor, so I'm guessing one of the lighter classes? Interesting."

He offers a hand towards the samurai, "Giganpor, blacksmith and Dreadnaught. Thanks for coming along."

Then Kauchemar has his attention and he is definitely looking at the unique magic staff. "Huh. Neat! What did you use to make it? I ended up using that dragon scale a while back for the armor. Still having trouble figuring out what to use to upgrade my buckler next."

"Elemental Machine Parts and some Gnomish stuff found in a tomb under Kalruin," Kauchemar explains. "So it is exceptionally good at channeling illusion and elemental magic as well as my bardic music. Had some help with the actual enchantments of course, but there's plenty of folks dealing in that around."

She gives a nod towards Soujiro as well. "Probably. Samurai are meant to be more mobile that typical armored knights, if I'm recalling the original game distribution right."

Soujiro Seta shakes his head from side to side, "I use heavy armor as well as cloth," he explains. His red armor doesn't get equipped unless its it is required to do so. The Samurai takes Giganpor's hand and gives it a shake. "You must be who Miho talks about so fondly. Nice to meet you." He takes a step back and slides his menu, hitting his second armor set so there is an opportunity to look at the red Samurai armor. "It looks similar to the set I was using before the Apoc event and moves around similar." He looks to Kau and nods as well. "It depends on the type you went with, Vengenance style or Sword. Sword usually sticks with the armor all the time but the Iai strikes from Vengeance favors swift mobility." He smiles, "So armor only when hits are just part of the encounter over dodge and deflection."

That has Giganpor smiling a bit, "Yep. We're like complete opposites for some reason or another. I think she had prior experience before getting stuck here like everyone else. So... let's see what this will do, no?"

He turns to head up the path, hefting his pole axe as he goes.

"Oh, nice. I've been meaning to do some work on more samurai period armor. I just have had to do so from memory. I probably need to ask Miho if she had experience with those." He notes as they follow the path.

Coming up to a one story, circular structure was not what was expected perhaps. And he turns to the others before starting to clear off vines and plants to free the main door. "Anyone want a spare hatchet or other thing to help clear this? I keep a few for one of the skills I made."

It's some time before he grumbles a little. "Uh... I think we have a problem. Looks like wards or something?"

He eyes what he's trying to read, and well... having trouble with it perhaps more than a little.

"I bet she would love to talk about it," Soujiro says to Gig with the topic of 'it' being Samurai armor with Miho, "she knows quite a lot about the Edo period where this clothing and armor style is from." He is a casual conversational type person while walking.

"If they are in the way," the Samurai says as he puts a hand to the hilt of his blade, "we can clear them out. A puzzle or enchantment would not be my strong suit." He is a people person and a fighter. Big smart puzzles or magic? Not exactly. The first katana is drawn from the saya in a blurr of white steel. It goes to cleave the plant life with sharp precision. The second blade comes out in similar fashion. Realizing that seer melee strength wont cut it, the blades are imbued with fire and burning with a flame whirlwind.

Kauchemar mmmmms softly as she regards the situation. "Putting the chop in the chop chop is the easy part. The wardings might be another matter. And I don't think we brought anyone that can dispel them soooooo..." She swishes her hand around a few times, conjuring a small poof of flames that when released a floating iron lantern emerges from. The Fire attuned Binder bobs about, setting various glyphs on fire until they overload and break down. "Sometimes they're like a circuit, putting too much power into them snaps them."

Giganpor gives a shrug before raising his shield and a burst of fire comes from the flat side at the wards. Not long after that, the entire ward structure lights up and burns down. Once the fires snuff out and let them through, the group finds itself going down a musty stairwell as torches flicker.

That has Giganpor eyeing them. "Did we light those when we did the wards?"

He continues on to find a well... massive oak door. With enough padlocks to make any rogue cry.

He sighs, then looks at the others. "I'm sensing a theme here. Fire again?"

Kauchemar stops to look a door they've uncovered. Looks at the locks, and the door, and the... "Yup. Although." She dismisses the Binder lantern. "Going to need something bigger."

She takes two steps back, and taps her staff butt end into the ground. Flames ignite in the sockets of the horned skull, which opens its mouth to unleash a blast of fire befitting of demonic look it has, and Kauchemar directs it towards the door like a flamethrower. Fire is ignited, but it doesn't seem to spread very far or very fast. Which gets a nostril flaring snort from the Nightmare. "That's one really thick door. Or alchemized to not burn as easily."

Soujiro Seta, victorious over vines. A voracious vine victory. Onward! He takes up point in the formation in case he needs to go about intercepting or engaging enemies. The true enemy is the need for more cowbell. Only here the cowbell is fire. "If it works, it works," the Samurai says in tone of agreement of using more Fire here. "This is a temple to the Burning One, isnt?" Temple-like.

Swords light up in fresh fire, slashing at the door as Kau informs of the treatment. "It will be an excellent challenge, then," Souji says with a smile. Training Eternal! Though he is no Wave Arte user so the flame effects are not the same as, say, a fireball.

The group collectively try to burn it, but that door's not burning so well. Instead what ends up happening is the padlock chains and hinges burn through and the group has to dodge a sudden falling towards them door.

Fortunately it's not that hard to dodge a freaking door. Right?

Giganpor blinks a few times after that and looks at the two, "So... yeah. Temple of the Burning One. Um... let's keep going and hope we're not about to be cursed or something?"

At least until the torches and other light sources light up the next room. Giganpor raises a hand to tell them to be quiet. And he stares a bit. Then looks to the other two before pointing to the dire bats on the walls. That's not a good thing. Right?

One wrong move and they could be swarmed by the very much more numerous dire bats.

Soujiro Seta sees those bats. Boundless bats. Sneaking IS an option. Is it the option they are going with? Doesn't look like it. "Burning the bats," he asks, stepping forward as he already knows the answer. When the mayhem begins he issues out a Samurai's challenge, standing at the front and tanking out the incoming bat swarm. True to his earlier statements, he functions well with or without armor. This is a 'with armor' moment as his katanas keenly deflect and slice the ones that get too close. This setup is why people get area effect Artes anyway: Lots of low health critters in a small area. Look at that XP fly.

Kauchemar sidesteps as the door collapses. "There's one hunka hunka burning lumber." Funny how it feel apart before burning completely though. Oh well, moving on.

You would think having hooves for feet would be noisy, but most often few notice Kauchemar moving until she does something to draw attention to herself. It's just that usually she's going right for drawing attention. This however is clearly not the time for such displays. She nods to Giganpor, then points at her staff and winks at him. You get to see what it really does.

At which she holds it up, muttering the activation incantation under her breath. She -can- be quiet when she needs to. A dark miasma spreads from the end of the staff, rising and spreading across the top of the chamber where the bats are perched. But arcane darkness dulls more than just sight, so the bats won't hear them moving below as well as their senses are kept cozily asleep.

Giganpor rolls his eyes at the flashiness of the dark spell. He sighs, then mouths 'show off' at Kauchemar before moving to the center of the room.

Then his armor lights up as he brings his pole axe up. A burning mane appears out the back, the wrists, the knees. Anywhere fire could escape from it seems before he suddenly slams his pole axe into the ground, unleashing all that flame and a sheer... presence it feels like. One enough to catch the bats on fire and make them freeze to be burned up, sliced, or otherwise turned to ash by the party along with Kauchemar's darkness keeping them in place for such. It suspiciously doesn't even effect the two party members at all.

Once it's all over with, Giganpor looks over at Kauchemar with a shrug. "I worked on a few things while I was hiding in a smithy."

He moves to the next room and blinks a few times. "Gods... what the hell?" He pulls up his cloak's edge to ward off the stench.

Once they are all in the room, then the real problem comes in as vines start to attack them. Too many to use fire probably, plus who knows what's causing that terrible stench. That and the humidity in there might just stop them. Giganpor starts to hack and slash as he shakes his head, "At least it's not snakes!" He says towards the other two.

Soujiro Seta's katanas spark to life. "True, no snakes! A plant creature. It is a creative encounter," he says as he slashes off some vines. There are too many of them to handle, but it doesn't stop him from rapid slicing vine after vine with electric sparks coming off. Both swords swing together as the Samurai begins a Whirlwind Slash, adding gales of air into the mix.

"That is a small blessing, yes." Kauchemar, despite the stench, is right on top of her game still. "I do think this chamber needs a bit of airing out, though. And unfortunately for these vines..." She snaps her fingers, and the sword leaps from her back to hover next to her. She reachs over to tap the Binder Sword, causing it's blade to shimmer, and then it goes hurtling into the mass of vines like a flying dervish as the Wind buff makes it all the faster in it's slicing and dicing motions.

"I brought a weedwacker."

Giganpor huhs. "Not a bad idea." He reaches to the clasp on his cloak, where a simple feather hangs. The wind picks up suddenly to tornado levels alongside the others, aiding them as well as starting to uproot vines and everything else to let them through.

After a few minutes, pretty much all the plants are chopped up.

And they find themselves in the final room and the Boss. Which looks... almost comical. It's somehow not burning a glittering shirt, has a straw hat that's also not burning, and is starting to do some sort of battle song and dance routine that is just flat out horrible. It can't even rhyme right and is tossing about molten metal pieces that it's picking up and melting in hand.

It's just... horrible the state of the thing. Like it can't even do the battle song and dance right is just the tip of the iceberg.

Giganpor stares a bit, then looks at Kauchemar. Who he steps well away from. Then he looks at Seta. "Um... I'd stay away from her. She might get mad at this one. What are you going with? I can probably match it physically here."

"Physically," Soujiro tells Giga. The family of Seta isn't one to back down from a challenge, even if it is this silly. Souji is keen to make sure his weapon and armor are imbued with the water element before they all become slag. And away he goes to keep it, and the small horde, at bay.

It would seem they have found the center of this infernal mess. Which turns out to be a roly poly man of fire dancing and singing in a voice that sounds like he's inhaled too much sulfur. Or trying. His steps are off, and he.. oh god. He did. He did the Rhyme the Word with the Same Word. Points to accuracy for the recreation though, seeing as the bumbling rhyme is right on the nose for the character.

However, Giganpor knows her well enough to step back. Maybe he remembered her mentioning that the staff can also be used with her bardic magic. Or he saw her grip it like a stage performer would a mic stand. The point of the matter is Kauchemar is going to deal with this boss the only way that's appropriate.

"o/~ I'm Missus White Christmas, I'm Missus Snow!
I'm Missus Icicle, I'm Missus Ten Below! o/~"

She sings into the back of the skull, which seems to serve the purpose of mic and amplifier through magitek enchantment. While at the same time her singing summons several small imp-like Ice elementals, which get into a dance battle with the fiery ones.

"o/~ Friends call me Snow Miser, because whatever I touch... Turns to snow in my clutch.." At which she throws a ball of snow and ice at the fiery blowhard. "I'm too much!"

The other thing people might notice is that her song is lowering the temperature in the room, stifling the heat and the flames as she's backing the hothead back into a corner with her superior musical skill, making it easier for others to close in on him as well.

"o/~ I never wanna know a day that's under fourty degrees
I'd rather have it thirty, twenty, then five and let it--" With her final lyric a blinding blizzardy blast erupts from the staff's amplifying maw right for the boss! "FREEZE! o/~"

Giganpor shrugs, "I can deal with that." He decides since Kauchemar's literally cooling the thing off, goes for reheating it to break it.

Which fails unfortunately, and part of his pole axe actually melts from the intense heat of the boss so he has to back off.

That has Giganpor looking at it and giving a sigh. "I'll have to make a new one... I guess I over levelled it anyways."

And then thanks to the blizzard and water techniques, the boss goes down kinda hard.

This has Giganpor sighing and stashing the pole axe to his inventory, pulling out an axe.

The drop isn't that good either as they get a lump of the cooling metal that was being tossed at them.

That has Giganpor looking at Kauchemar. "... did you jinx us into getting lumps of coal?" He grumbles before moving to get the stones from the brazier to go turn in.

Soujiro Seta offers a smiles back to the potential of being jinxed into a bad loot drop. Part of fighting these big bads is that you have to do them over and over until you get the drop you need. Souji isn't all that bend out of shape out of a poor drop. The lump of metal is bent up enough! "If they post more needs for those rocks, will have to come back." A pause as he considers, "With fire potions."

"You heard his bad singing." Kauchemar stoops down to pick up one of the lumps. "Everything he touches melts in his clutches. These are probably left overs of whatever other metal items were in the temple before he turned it into a firetrap."

She then smirks, and waggles the slump between two fingers in Giganpor's direction. "Don't tell me such a great smith as yourself can't figure out a use for it. That would be the most disappointing end to this all."

She's ribbing him a bit, but also reminding him there's plenty of potential in even these mishappen lumps.

"Just means we'll have to look for more crystals later. This can't be the only place in the ruins that has them."

"Hm... I'll have to compare it back in Shibuya to what we have run across." Giganpor looks over the metal lump. "I think I might have to get that Jeweler that popped up involved. It looks good for working, but not sure if I can make anything useful overall."

He shakes his head, then looks at the two. "Ready to get out of here until next time around? And I suspect you may be right. Probably some sort of hidden passage we missed. Maybe with us fireballing everything."

He sighs, "I need to talk with Miho and see if I can get a better pole axe first."

"Hey at least you have your shop in Shibuya back." Kauchemar drops the lump into her inventory. "I was hoping for a sample I could use for monster survey training, but oh well. All the more reason to explore another time." She rests Grindcore Staff against her shoulder. "Yeah, nothing else to find here. This room has lost its... spark."

"I am good to go," Soujiro says as the man takes his armor off. The way back is not going to be as fighty as the way in. "Jeweler?" he asks, wondering which one it is.

Giganpor shrugs, "Some kid named Haru. Said he was good at making things, I think. I've not had a chance to get out much with the Palace Lander thing going on among others."

Giganpor sighs, then shakes his head, "Might have to start poking at the other merchants in Grandeur and see how many are still active with all this."