Duty Session 529: The Deadly Caves Of Toxic Death!

    Hifumi is gathering some muscle, why? Because he has word there is some food drop in the toxic caves that isn't toxic and new sources of monster meat is always high on his list of things to aquire. "Hey, just got some grocery shopping to do." he annouces to the gathered adventurers. "Or at least confirm that it's a place I can send hunters on the regular to find monster meat." he produces a bento for everyone, because he always does. Some triffid salad all around with a slice of grilled tasty rat.

    It's rather hard to get more muscle per meter than Fuka, given the diminutive sylph is a strength main. Besides she's happy to work for food. She beams as Hifumi presents a bento, being careful not to ask where the food comes from. Given their current quests and the toxins she *knows* are lingering about this area, it's best to just not ask! "I know there's like ... giant winged poison lizards around here. Are you saying there's good eatin' on dem lizards?" she asks, a little dubiously. "I'd be happy to try some I guess, though maybe the first test we have a medic on hand and possibly a Light mage, just in case?" she asks.

Goldenblade won't complain about a bento, but she says, "I'm along because this helps out Westelande, and also there's a challenge that's been bothering me there." It's not clear which is the greater draw for the Westelande-aligned Blade Dancer. "I'm ready to go," she declares, though she won't turn down a food buff from the famous chef. "Thanks." She smirks to Fuka, and says, "I've got my oxygen bottles in case you need a heal."

A peko trots up to the meeting point and Shiruba slips down off his back. Gives the bird a pat on the side of the head and a cluster of greens to chew on while waiting. "It's a bit nasty down there for you or Windburn since we're going underground. Be good." Then walks over to join the rest of the group. "Been a while since I've been down in this stinkhole, what with other things demanding attention."

Erufu pauses "How could I say no to a job like this? You keep much of Yamato well fed after all." So here She was, she also had a shopping basket under one arm as well as she arrives.

"Ah Hifumi! Shiruba! Goldenblade and Fuka."

    Hifumi nods at Shiruba "All the cooking I did made me think I needed to get some new stuff on the menu, plus I'm trying to get my school going and so teaching more traditional recepies means more meats and stuff to work with are a necesity." he chuckles and smiles at Fukaziroh "Well not sure about the lizards, I've heard there's some good shellfish down here and I really don't have enough shellfish on my menu." he smiles "I've got some ability to deal with the plants and such but the reason I put out a call for a party is cause I don't adventure much not my style." he rubs his right hand fingers along a rock "You guys ready to head down?"

All it takes is Hifumi mentioning he's working on his food offerings to get Shiruba to be more invigorated, bounding over to the ladder down with tail wagging in her wake. "Then what are we waiting for?!"

Goldenblade nods to Hifumi about being ready. "On your word," she says. She smiles to Erufu, "Good to see you also." She checks her gear one more time, and makes sure her oxygen bottle is handy, she knows what it's like down there. In a word: it stinks.

Erufu tilts her head "Mayhaps we can find a way to farm these shellfish in time?" She looks at Hifumi curiously about that idea but the sound of shellfish does get her attention as the basket vanishes into her inventory and she makes ready to get serious. Though she eyes the wagging tail of Shiruba and will follow after her friendly rival.

    Fuka tilts her head in seeming imitation of Erufu, looking at the pooka curiously. "You don't farm shellfish. You farm like... you know, vegetables and stuff. Shellfish come from the water!" she claims knowingly. "You fish fish!"

    She pauses, considering the words that just came out of her mouth, and repeats them silently to herself. "Or something like that."

Erufu pauses "I heard tales of ocean side communites that do farm them." She shrugs for a moment at fuka peering at her strangely. "Perhaps I had heard wrong then." She makes a face at Fuka.

    Hifumi heads down the ladder and nods "Alright, looking for food so we'll be trying to find the less toxic parts of the caves. Lets see if we can find the way." he says, the green vapors wafting about, however everything is at least toxic enough to stink no matter where one travels.

Goldenblade has been here a few times before, and has a few tricks prepared. An armorsmith of no mean skill, she works meticulously and with exacting precision to make the poison-preventing helmet, which sadly is a temporary item, because it'd be nice to keep in reserve. This is not her first encounter with bad air. After several minutes furious work, and a few pre-prepared parts, she assembles the final item. "Hah, got it!"

Shiruba was considering what to do about the poison, but she gets distracted by what Goldenblade is working on. "Is this modifying from your diving equipment?"

    "LESS toxic?" Fuka pipes up, a strange mixture of disappointment and relief in her voice. On the one hand, it's stinky and unpleasant in the depths of the toxic caves, and she's not exactly well-equipped for dealing with such things. On the other, well, she's a gamer nerd. She thrives on challenge!

    That said, Fuka watches Goldenblade in fascination as the legendary armorcrafter works on a helmet. She's 'helping', lacking the heart to tell the woman that they aren't actually heading for the deadly caves full of toxic gas. Instead being encouraging. "That looks AMAZING!" she claims, full of admiration.

Erufu thinks for a moment and pauses "Less toxic?! I didn't know there were safer part to this place." She'll spread out a bit trying to seek out find the path that Hifumi wishes to find.

    Hifumi watches Goldenblade working on her little rebreather. The chef is distracted enough that he doesn't really do anything else and once she's done he simply starts walking towards one of the less toxic caves. a Lander rushes in to block their passage. A lanky old Salamander hermit with unkempt hair, a long beard, and wild eyes, he is dressed in tattered rags. He shakes his cane and yells, "Go away, strangers! This is no place for you!"

    Hifumi flips through his inventory. Really bento has never done him wrong when it comes to bribing people to let him past, so he's fishing one out of inventory.

Goldenblade nods to Shiruba. "It's a similar idea. This is a short duration item, though, it only lasts a couple hours." She smiles proudly at Fuka's praise. "I know which way we're going. But this is just a ... a test, for me. That I can do a thing." She puts it to her face, takes a deep breath, and beams. "And it seals. It's perfect." Not needed. But done none the less.

She will follow Hifumi and approach the Salamander who takes a skeptical look at her, then at the badge she wears. He seems to recognize it, and grudgingly waves her on. She proceeds.

Shiruba tsk tsk tsks softly. "Admirable you'd try to keep the less experienced away, but my good fellow you're not going to frighten anyone away looking at that." She takes out several pieces of coin she keeps just for such occasion and puts them in the man's hands. "Go buy yourself some new clothes. Maybe a helmet.. or shoulder pads. With spikes. That'll scare away the greenhorns from walking into a death trap."

    Fuka nods to that, understanding pretty much exactly what it means to set a useless test for yourself, just to see if you can overcome it. Even if no one else takes pride in it, it's something you did, something that means something to yourself. A noble pursuit, even if not a popular one.

    She ambles along with the group, pausing when they're confronted by a Salamander hermit. She's about to berate him for questioning their worth, but considers and thinks of a better approach. "I understand." she says with warmth and empathy. "You haven't cleaned in months and your home's in no shape to be shown off to friends, let alone basic strangers like us!" Fuka says, brimming with compassion. "Why don't the lot of us come with you, to your home, help you clean up? We'll go over every square inch, cleaning, dusting, washing... maybe washing *you* come to think of it. Fixing stuff, cleaning EVERYTHING and EVERYWHERE. We just want to help!"

    She pauses, looks aside, then shrugs. "Or we could just go on our way and not invade your home. Whadda you say?"

They run into an man who is living in this end of the caves. She will pause and bow to the man.

"I did not know we were marching through your home, we mean you no harm and were only seeking some shell fish deeper within the cave would it be a problem if we could pass by here?"

    Hifumi nods to the man and pulls out a tasty rat bento handing it over. "For the inconvinence. Honestly I brought all of these find folks so that I wouldn't have to worry about the danger." he grins and pats the guy on the shoulder before just walking on with everyone.

    Through several smaller caves with some indication of previous inhabitation that leads to a small area with a gate blocking the way and giant biting insects... well some time to get the gate open would be nice, or at least some time without the bugs doing all the biting.

Goldenblade advances forward with the party, then spots the path forward. And all the bitey insects guarding the way forward. This is sort of a test of her armor, or more accurately, a test of how well-made her armor is, as the bugs seem to go for the weak points like bloodhounds on a scent.

But Goldenblade's armor has no weak points, and any pest that puts that to the test is quickly crushed. She walks through them in a taunting stance, hoping to draw aggro off the rest of the party, crushing bugs between her thighs like sparrow's eggs. So to speak.

    "Such a shame he didn't want our company." muses Fuka thoughtfully as they depart the Salamander's zone. She doesn't sound too sincere on that mind you, but in any event they're moving along. Fuka continues to make a low-key nuisance of herself, pointing out various bugs and spiders and snakes and asking if they're good to eat.

    This comes back to haunt her, of course, when the bugs start eating THEM. "Augh no! I know I'm young and tender but STOP THAT!" Fuka yells, swatting at bugs and whatnot as they try to proceed. Finally she settles back to flood her skin with air mana, using a technique she developed as part of a series of shielding spells. Bugs try to bite her and are instantly ejected with a burst of air just as their jaws make contact, or their feet, or anything. Little blasts of air that are meant to deflect weapons really do a number on bugs and vermin.

Erufu will stop as she sees the swarms of bugs, she makes a face for a moment. Then comes a look of understanding as she grins she'll start to chant a utility spell which is realted to her hunting, a wind will pick up and will get strong enough to batter the bugs against the wall.

"Ugh, why did it have to be bugs?" Shiruba mutters, even as she's drawing an arrow back in her bow and charging it with wind magic. Then fires towards what appears the center of the swarm, letting the swirling forces around the projectile scatter the mass of insect horror apart.

    Hifumi digs into his inventory and... to everyone's shock and surprise, starts tossing out some snacks to distract the bugs. Just leftover foods and kitchen scraps he keeps in his inventory for this very kind of event. Monsters chasing you... throw food... Landers try to stop you, hand out food... the world at large is terrible, eat food.

    Once they've passed the stupid gate the party finds themselves.. at and obligitory swimming bit whic Hifumi would be upset about... if he weren't hunting crustations. Instead he calls on Nori, the little seaweed homunculus appearing near him.

Goldenblade smirks as all of Hifumi's problems are solved by food. "Must be nice," she mumbles, stepping into the water. She pulls one of the small flasks she had placed on her belt pouch, gives the top a twist, and starts breathing from it as she slips under the water. With plenty of time to plan her route once she takes in the underwater environment, she will slip around the periphery, avoiding the dire platypis' notice for the most part, maneuvering easily underwater. That extended time under the water and circuitious route keep her clear of any hazard, and she climbs from the water just before the timer expires.

Shiruba casts the concealment technique she learned from Mikage before diving into the water. The haze that surrounds her makes her hard to focus on, and the creatures in the water would rather go after more visibly hostile targets instead so she's able to swim right by.

Yes, she's doggy paddling. What else would she be doing to swim? Com'n.

    Once again it seems, Fuka has to get wet in a duty. It's her life now or something. Not that she minds, not all that much, but she can grumble about it once in a while. Or she can, at least, when she's not actually underwater trying to avoid taking in lungfuls of fluid. She's rather enjoying the swim at least, not to mention the surroundings, at least until monsters appear.

    When the party is attacked by dire platypi, Fuka would oooh and ah, or possibly complain, but again she's kind of underwater. Instead she points, waves her arms as frantically as the water allows, and seems to be calling up a head of steam by pure effort. That or trying to point out the dire platypi and ask if they're good to eat. Who knows? It doesn't really allow for much good in the way of combat either way, but her enthusiastic thrashing should at least give others a bit of cover to do more useful stuff.

Erufu did not expect the food to work yet it did. Well onwards she'll get moving along with the rest of the group and she looks to see the swimming section. She's no undine so this could be an issue. Still she has an idea as she looks at the pool and she will use some of her newish found magic to hid herself from the creatures.

    Hifumi dives in and Nori rides on his back, giving him a little bubble to breath in and little jets of water here and there to help him manuver his way around the platis cause really who wants to fight a silly animal like that? When they break the water and get up to stand on dry land... and it's Poisonus Bears on Fire... who needs this? Now he'll have to send his hunting teams out with fire resistance potions as well as poison cures. Expenses on this source of new shellfish is just going up and going up. But then again... he has an answer to this, it's the same answer he has to many animal interactions. He starts sorting through his food supplies.

Goldenblade boggles at the sight of poisonous bears on fire. The fact that they're also venomous really doesn't make things any better, and she's not sure if there are rules of which adjective takes precedence. She hasn't got a degree in language of any sort. Or herpetology. No wait, that'd be snakes anyhow. Some of them are venomous, but knowing doesn't help in any event, she supposes.

What does help is fire. Apparently, an aura of fire crackling all around her renders her either invisible or ignorable to the bears, and that's good enough for her. She will sneak through carefully, just in case, but ... is it really sneaking if you're surrounded by a blazing aura?

Oh no, bears! On fire! Trying to hug you to death!

Fortunately, Shiruba remembered these guys. And how does she handle the situation?

She somehow convinces some of the bears that some of the other bears need hugs more than the party does. They can hug each other all they want, because they won't set each other on fire (they're already on fire) or poison them (they're already poisonous). Quick, hurry through before they realize they've been duped.

    Having had her nice swim interrupted by horrible little poisonous (or is that venomous) beasts that she couldn't effectively fight, Fuka's not really in the best of spirits to face the polar (bear) opposite - land-dwelling beasts of fire. "We're not eating these right?" Fuka asks snarkily, then begins a chant, calling up globes of stone from the cavern floor around her. The globes open, revealing barrels of molten fire gaping wide and gleaming like the spinal mounted cannon of the Space Battleship Yamato.

    Perhaps surprisingly, this gleaming display of pure potent threat doesn't intimidate the bears, but they see a being with a soul of fire. Or something like that. Maybe they ARE intimidated. In any event, they stop their aggression towards Fuka, who just holds the crucible cannons at the ready. "Right. Didn't want to fight anyways." she nods agreeably. "Nice bears. Cute bears. Let's have porridge later okay?" she says, easing back away from the flaming threats.

Erufu has been able to avoid the various creatures by being sneaky asn she'll keep wioth thegroup as they get though she'll just is staring at the bears. Bears on fire? THE BEARS ARE ON FIRE?! She asks herself why is this is happening she finally goes to hell with it and will just sneak by this.

    Hifumi tosses out a few things, most importantly fire bee honey... everyone knows that fire bee honey is the favorite food of poisonus bears on fire. Once he's distracted a few with several jars of honey. He heads along at a quick jog. Then they heads in and ther'es the boss monster of the area... an undersized and under leveled Manticore. "Well it's been hunting something... maybe the crustations are Past it?" he sighs and shakes his head. "Dandylion, Tigerlilly." he summons "Go... like take care of it." he says waving the two feline summons and hitting them with a thorn buff as they run off to fight.

Goldenblade passes through the fiery bears without a problem. They sniffed at her a bit, but apparently she was sufficiently fiery to pass muster. She will follow Hifumi and the others into what she hopes is the final cave. It's been a long day, and that armorworking is physically tiring. At least it is the old-fashioned way she does it.

They pass through caves strewn with pincers and scorpions and snakes, and all sorts of monstery junk, until we espy a small manticore, about the size of a calf. It attacks, but Goldenblade fades from view. As the rest of the party is forced to engage without her, picking up the aggro, she appears, now behind it, and strikes it down from behind without a word. No word is needed, the steeply plunging health bar indicates that the attack was Assassinate. After that, it's just a bit of light DPS to finish the task.

"Only one way to find out." Shiruba starts drawing arrows in her bow, charging them with lightning, and firing them at the downsized Manticore. Even while the thing is being all jukey and dodgy because of it's smaller size than the typical monster. "Oi! Hold still you little terror!"

Erufu has no love for this boss, she's fought it before and will be quick to open up on it with her bow, she will fire, then move, fire than move. Never staying still longer than it took for her to get a shot off at the monster.

    "Is it just me or is that little tyke kind of cute?" Fuka asks, peering dubiously at the mini-manticore. "Is Uta rubbing off on me now? Am I cursed to find monsters actually kind of adorable?" she wails, before hiking her sword up. "Naaaah. But don't tell me you want to eat it!" she complains at Hifumi before charging forth to pit her dubious speed and impressive might up against a microman-ticore.

    Hifumi cheers on his friends and summons and when he gets the drops he looks at them. "Damn... this is the source of the bits for their local traditional candy...it isn't even used in the cooking of the candy and no one really eats the stupid thing just eat the candy around it." he rubs his forehead "Sorry folks, this looks like a bust for getting a new source of supplies unless someone for some reason WANT more candied manticore tail..."

    At that Fuka abruptly perks up. "Did somebody say candy??!" she asks enthusiastically.

    Hifumi nods "I'll buy you some on the way through town if you really want a brick of sugar to lick while you look at a manticore stinger."

"Candy is still candy!" Shiruba chimes in. "Sorry you didn't get anything to actually work with though, Hifumi."

    Hifumi shrugs "Eh not every lead on a new supply pans out, sometimes it's too hard to get, sometimes it's niche, sometimes it's just not what I thought it was." he says hefting the stinger before tossing it into his inventory

Erufu stares "I had other uses in mind for the spoils of the hunt myself. Humans are very odd sometimes..." She makes a bit of a face over that.