Duty Session 541: Sher Kar Challenge

The Guild has put out word to adventurers near and far that there are terrible monsters to fight in the depths of the desert, where the Trial of Honor is normally held. Giant ants have overrun the site, and complicated the ritual, making it nigh impossible to complete normally. At least for the Landers. But adventurers are made of sterner stuff. It will not be easy, though.

It's precisely why Klein has been trying to get a group together to help out with the giant ant infestation. Not only will it be a good test of his skills and helping out some Landers, it's also a good way to meet other members of Scale he hasn't met yet. Well, he's hoping that he'll meet someone new.

To help occupy his time, Klein is bringing a bit of red thread up and through his bandana, repairing a small tear that has been starting to form along an edge. Pulling it back and smiling at his handiwork, he gives it a quick tug to make sure the thread holds before tying it back around his forehead.

Soujiro Seta is one such to sign up. He doesn't need much, or any, incentive to go on a duty, raid, or even stroll the market like a friendly beat cop. Heavily involved in training(tm) this month, one might think he wouldnt have time. WRONG! Souji always makes time for friendos and combat. This has both. The samurai hangs out with a warm smile and welcoming word to people as they show up.

Goldenblade is always up for another run at the Sher Kar. "Ah, good to see they're still giving this mission out," she says, inserting herself into the proceedings. "This one's a /little/ complicated because it's all underground in the cave complex, but if we stay alert, it should be pretty doable. She nods a greeting to everyone else as they show up, and gives a thumbs-up to show that she's ready to go.

    "Hey Klein! What do you think?"

    Asuna has shown up and is ready to go. Well, almost. She's fiddling with her menu and getting herself ready for adventure. In this case, it's a matter of continuing a recently created tradition: quest run cosplay!

    With a laugh Asuna switches over to something very different from the usual. She asked Gwen for another cosplay option. Her specifications were simple: someone who is a badass fighter and a costume that doesn't leave a bunch of bare skin. Gwen's suggestion was Bayonetta. It sounded promising. And it's Gwen! She's super nice.

    What this is all meant to say is that Asuna didn't try it on previously. And she's not prepared at all for the skintight, black bodysuit she ends up with. It does have some nice personalization that calls to mind her usual outfit with red highlights and a cross on just below her neck.

    "Oh.. oh my."

While NEW probably isn't the right term to describe Creed, he is certainly one of the more Illusive members of Scale. A name that appears on message boards now and again, dropping laconic little tid bits or brief thanks to others for information shared. Very few have actually met the scout face to face, and so it is a rough-featured stranger who makes his way across the dunes, scaled boots crunching lightly over the sand as he descends a gentle slope to join those already gathered.
"Ants?" he queries of the others , gruffly checking that he's at the right spot and not about to throw himself into some other party's adventure. However, upon spotting Goldenblade he offers the woman a short nod of his head, recognizing her from their work a day or so back. What he does not do is glance in Asuna's direction, especially when her outfit, changes. He's old, and a gentleman. Let the kids have their fun.

Soujiro was one person Klein fully expected to be here today, come hell or high water. Honestly, the scruffy samurai was positive that Souji would fight through hell just for a chance like this, for the Three Scale Samurai to work together. Klein grins and gives him a quick wave.

"Underground and giant ants?...yep, i'm certainly getting EDF vibes already." He almost starts to hum a theme song before a realization strikes Klein. "Wait...keep an eye on the ceilings then, we don't want to get ambushed from above. Thanks for the heads up, Golden."

When Klein hears Asuna call out, he turns to give the chestnut-haired women his full attention...which she most certalin got. He stands stock still as his brain processes just what he was seeing, and a moment longer just to realize his brain wasn't playing tricks. Finally, a vibrant blush starts to burn on his cheeks, but he just grins and shakes his head as he realizes just who's handiwork this outfit must belong to. "I think that Gwen's talents as a tailor are not to be denied."

The redhead nods his head once as he sees Creed and gives him a welcoming smile. "Yep, giant ants, so we'll likely have a queen down inside. And just in case we haven't met before and i'm just forgetting your name, i'm Klein. Glad to have you with us!" He offers Creed a handshake, but wouldn't be offput in the slightest if it was ignored. Scale certainly has many different types of people helping to clear the Tower.

The morning dawns bright and clear, another day in the desert, and the party sets out from Breg Epona in good spirits, following a trail blazed by previous generations of Westelanders over the course of centuries. The party arrives at a place like a quarry, an open pit with several ramps down. In the pit, there are several entrances into the ground, which twist and turn, showing nothing of what lies inside. The entrances are wide enough for three or four abreast, though for the moment, a handful of giant ants are clustered around the base of the pit, feeding on something. Engaging them will be tough on the ramps, though ranged or magical attacks would be easier.

"Ants," Souji confirms on the foe of choice. "Good armor and mobility. Fair amount of health and numbers. They are great for a classic dungeon run." Right up there with zombies, skeletons, and gobbos. He keeps his katanas as bay for now, opting to push up the difficulty by utilizing the environment instead. This involves pulling from his training with Vertina, drawing up rocks from the ground and aiming them at the enemy. Sometimes it is more like volleyball as he strikes the projectile with his fist. He is, however, samurai, and Vert makes the whole thing look easy. All the more reason to train!

Goldenblade nods to Creed as he shows up for this duty run, and offers a "Good to see you again. I see you're starting to get into the mix now." Asuna's outfit gets a puzzled look, as she has no idea about the cosplay, and as for the rest, her opinion echoes Cred's: Let the kids have their fun.

Goldenblade sets out, along with the party, heading through the Westelande heat and she gives Asuna, all in black, a sympathetic look. "Your usual white outfit would probably be less sweltering," she comments.

When we get to the site, there's giant ants at the bottom, already blocking the way, and she'll charge down the ramp to engage them. Both blades flashing, she slices and dices quite unlike the bricklayer she was in real life. It's how the game goes, she's found, and she is at least decisive, slashing and hacking until the monsters pop out of existence.

    Asuna was full blush herself, but once she sees that Klein is blushing she manages to regain her composure. Yep, everything is cool here! Mission accomplished.

    She enjoys traveling with the group. As always, she'll ask Souji for some tea (he always has some) along the way. She also is pretty friendly and curiously easy-going for a change.

    "You are right, I suppose. The black is a bit on the hot side. But a samurai must be ready to endure all kinds of environmental challenges."

    Including, it seems, the demands of fashion. Still, she does it all with a smile. And an admittedly sweaty brow. Eventually though, they get to their destination and it's...

    "Ants, everywhere. The most unwelcome guest to any picnic."

    She surveys the giant insects for a moment. She is sizing them up, if you will. She raises a hand and gestures forward with a flick of her wrist. Lightning shoots out at the ants, blasting away at their health.

    "It's no magnifying glass, but it will do."

"Creed." the older scout replies, gloved hand clapping into Klein's to share a brief but firm Man Grip. Soujiro's response gets a quiet grunt of acknowledgement, and then they are away and traveling, the scruffy adventurer's steps light upon the earth's baking crust.
Ants.
Pausing with the others at the top of the ramp, Creed takes a moment to observe the situation, getting a quick mental count of the numbers. Large, plenty of them, and...Goldenblade is already charging. Better not linger.
Stepping up his pace to a quick walk, the scout flicks his empty hand off to the right just in time for a long-shafted polearm to shimmer into existence in his grip, bringing the weapon whipping up and over in huge, sweeping chops that hammer down into the ants that attempt to skirt around Goldenblade, holding her flank with quiet intensity. Best take advantage of room to maneuver now, before they get in too deep.

Traversing the desert is a test of endurance, no matter how light or heavy your armor is. Thankfully, following directions given by the Guild beforehand makes it easy to find the entryway, and the desert terrain also makes it easy to spot the giant ants milling around.

Following after everyone and taking a rear position, Klein pulls out his often-unused bow and pulls back on the string. Taking in a deep breath, he tries to steady his aim before releasing the string...only for the arrow to hit the rock wall next to one ant and go flying downwards into the hole. He wasn't even anywhere close to hitting with that shot! "And that's why i'm better off throwing fireballs." Grumbling goodmannerly to himself, he just tries again, helping to pepper the ants from afar with what arrows do hit.

Ants defeated, the party must choose their path down into the depths. Various ways in seem, initially, to be alike. Only exploration will reveal much about what lies inside. Some ways lead to dead ends and egg chambers, others proceed deeper. Traditional cave exploration works, though hunters will be able to tell which passageways are most used, and Earth-users might be able to get a sense of the paths ahead. "At least it'll be cooler inside! And honestly, knowing Gwen, she likely has made a white version of that outfit at some point."

It looks like Souji is on a solid Earth kick this time around. He hasn't hit that good burn of pushing his skills to the limits and you cant leave a set without that good burn. Of Earth. Earth burn. Perhaps this will aid in some of that tea for Asuna as the Earth element /does/ include nature. Teas leaves are pretty natural. Be one with the tea ceremony, samurai.

Goldenblade admits to Asuna, "Inside the caves, that's probably the perfect outfit to wear. You'll all but disappear." But now for finding the way in. She's been through a few times before, so she knows which of the similar looking ways /doesn't/ lead where we want to go. "This way, I think," she suggests, the cave entrance she picked having sparked a memory, though they all look more or less the same.

With the last of the ants vanquished, Creed allows his poleaxe to mist away into nothingness, pacing along as Goldenblade's shadow as she glances over the possible tunnels.
"All look the same." he admits aside to the warrioress while peering into the darkness, extremely unhelpful in the moment. Still, when the group begins to move forward he summons a bit of crackling light around his gloved hand, illuminating the way and trusting in others to get them where they need to go.

    Facing a maze type challenge, Asuna focuses her mind on her weapon, which she draws out and holds before her. Along its edge, some kind of strange symbols glow with a pale, yellow light. These provide an almost magnetic tug to help guide the way. It's hardly a guaranteed solution, but it helps here and there.

    Asuna just cannot help herself, though. In a rather awful attempt at a Spanish accent, she delivers a line.

    "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

    A pause to look around.

    "Princess Bride. Where his sword is guided to find that secret entrance in the tree..?"

Traversing the well-worn ramps made by centuries of traversal is an easy matter, but when there are multiple ramps leading downwards and there's no obvious signs on which one will lead them the deepest? Tripping over your feet isn't the hazard, it's getting lost and wasting hours trying to find the correct route.

Goldenblade and Soujiro seem to have the right idea, though, using the vibrations of the earth to help find the correct way. Slamming his boots against the ground, Klein closes his eyes to better concentrate. After a moment, he points a finger towards one of the caves, which is the same one that Golden was also pointing downwards. "I'm thinking your memory is just fine!"

The maze is used by both ants and Sher Kar, and while the ants are the deadlier predator, Sher Kar - The Sher Kar are a threat in their own right. The Guild would like it if you try not to eradicate Sher Kar - The Sher Kar, the whole point is to rid the place of ants so Sher Kar - The Sher Kar can thrive again, but they're here and they're hungry, and they're prone to attacking anything. Those knowledgeable in the ways of monster handling may be able to walk among them without being attacked. Those able to sneak by can, well, sneak by, though the space is close, so it's not easy. For those able to do neither, it's a hard fight at close range to fend them off until the party has passed, at which point they lose interest.

Not fighting things is also fine by Souji. His love of combat does not equate to mindless bloodlust for he is a sword saint! The divine blade, Kogarasumaru, glows with a white light as he progresses at the front of the group. The ants that get out of line get thinned by swift, deadly strokes from the legend's katana work. Only what is necessary, as being mindful to the handling and sneaking around the monsters is the primary objective.

Goldenblade's memory is fine? That's good to know! Now if she can just remember how to log off. It was surely in the briefing material she read before logging in. But there was so much, and it all runs together. But she remembers the side passage where we've got to get past the Sher Kar without slaughtering them, and she all but vanishes from sight in order to squeak by undetected. She didn't even plan on being a stealth character, it's just worked out that she's some sort of ninja wannabe, slipping by the Sher Kar without drawingt their attention.

Creeping along with the rest of the group, Creed leaves the ant slaying to those more qualified, dark blue eyes scanning the surrounding tunnels for signs of Sher Kar habitation. It is when they begin to approach a certain intersection that he slows to a halt and dims his light, grey cloak fading into the darkness while he summons forth, something into his free hand.
Rustlerustlerustle.
All at once, the sound of thousands of insectal feet hurrying through the dirt fills the passage, causing the beasts in the next room to shy away into defensive positions, retreating down other tunnels and clearing the way. A moment later Creed's light brightens once more, the scout vanishing a fist full of some sort of thick grass back to wherever he summoned it from. A brief shrug is his only explanation, lips turning up at the corners as he steps along to join the sneakier members of the group who already crossed.

    Asuna attempts to use her melee skills to keep herself from harm. But in the end, she does little but end up walking behind Soujiro and let his sword do the talking. In the interest of avoiding calling more trouble down on their heads, she does her best to avoid making further noise.

    Which means no talking, of course. She is fortunate that others who are more capable can deal with the problems at hand. Though she would obviously prefer not to have to rely on their charity for long!

Holding a fireball aloft in his left hand for light once the party is inside the maze properly, Klein starts to keep his eyesight moving constantly around. A lot of his searching tends to gaze upwards at the ceiling, keeping his earlier comments in mind. "Let's make sure we don't get split up in here, I get the feeling these are the kind of tunnels that tend to devour people."

Speaking of devouring people, the Sher Kar is upon the group! Unfortunately, Klein is absolutely not one with the shadows, and his steel katana is drawn to help guard himself from the native inhabiants of these tunnels. His simple blade doesn't have the same quality as the Kogarasumaru, but it still holds well against these creatures. Klein's armor, however, takes some nasty scratches as he manages to reach the other side, but his health is still in the green. Letting out a sigh of relief, he doublechecks to make sure everyone is here before starting to lead the party deeper inside. "That got nasty, but i'm glad everyone made it through."

The party has gotten past Sher Kar - The Sher Kar, and is heading for where they expect to find a concentration of ants. But the ants have sensed the party as well, and a handful of the guard-ants have been sent to clear their nest of predators. The party has few choices here. It looks like it's going to be a fight, but the close quarters prevent anything fancy, tactically. There's no room for dodging, so hunker down and fight them off.

There is a look of excitement twinkling in Souji's eyes. When a fight requires tighter quarters, it is exactly the kind of challenge encounter he is looking forward to. The fance of the fight comes from his precise parry moves, the kind that only allow for split frames to land correctly. E3 levels versus a Chun-Li Super Move as the white sparks of a deflection go out with each swipe of his katanas. It is a vanguard advanced at a step at a time with the methodical energy of a hockey masked horror star. At the end, the last ant in the way gets the full release of the Vengeance buff, cleaving it in half samurai showdown style.

Goldenblade has snuck past the Sher Kar, and advances through the labrynthine passages with the rest of the party when the guards turn up. This is a close-quarters cluster, and Goldenblade is forced to reverse the grip on her swords, using them back handed to slash and stab without the benefit of their normal reach, but in using them close, she has additional leverage available at close range, and she can bock and stab with the same motiion. This makes fighting easier, though the close quarters makes each mistake deadlier as well, and it's hard to avoid every attack, but she gives more than she gets, in the end.

    Asuna is just relieved that her outfit wasn't damaged. Gwen would be upset. Plus if another visit was required for repairs, who knows what new clothes might be coming her way! Still, blushing aside, this is a pretty cool outfit.

    This time around, the flash is able to redeem herself. There's no magic, no fancy tricks, just very, very fast attacks. For the ants she faces, it is death by a thousand cuts.

    "I get the feeling they are more alarmed by us than we are of them, Klein."

    Granted, by this point who knows how many adventurers have come here? The ants are probably feeling rather pressured. If ants can feel anything but a sound thrashing.

Rustlerustlerustle.
This time, it is not Creed and his reed trick, the sound filling the tunnel, which makes it all the more concerning. Fortunately this is a group of adventurers, however, and they all know their role to play.
Holding a hand out to his side, Creed summons forth a large net of woven fiber to drape across his right arm, some sort of short knife appearing in his left. Touching the flat of the blade to the net he focuses for a moment, an odd shimmer rippling out across the organic material. A moment later and the knife has vanished, Creed sweeping the net around just in time to tangle it through several of the incoming bugs, their sharp mandibles somehow unable to cut through the seemingly innocuous material. In this way he traps them, holding them while others turn the bugs into exploded motes of light and free his net to be re-deployed into another swarm.

Making past the Sher Kar, the traversing of the maze starts to become rather easy. It's that very fact that makes Klein a bit more careful about what lies ahead. After all, the ants have been such a big problem lately but they haven't harrassed the party yet? It's only a matter of time.

Creed does some rather impressive work with a fiber net, keeping the ants from attacking with some effective crowd control. That leaves it easier for the rest of the party to tear them apart, with Klein right there stabbing through the holes in the net repeatedly as he lit himself alight for the extra DPS. Giving the Undine an impressed look and a thumbs up, he motions to their handiwork as the last of the fragments fade away. "Considering what we just did, no kidding! I have to wonder if they're going to call you the Black Lightning if you wear that outfit more often!"

This central chamber houses the Queen ant and her workers, as well as grubs and eggs. When the party is spotted, the queen gestures wildly, and the remaining ants swarm the party. This is what the party is here to do, hopefully they have enough mettle to follow through. Fighting is hard in the subterranean chambers, but manipulating Earth directly, or through analysis of the structure of the chamber, may be able to change the balance of this fight deep underground. "And there's the Queen. Time for some Regicide!"

Goldenblade will advance into the fray as the queen sends the workers forward. They're fodder, mainly, and die easily, but when we have to face the Queen ant, Goldenblade is nowhere to be seen. But when the Queen engages the party, Goldenblade leaps out from hiding and drives a blade through the Queen's thorax, costing her quite a lot of health bar and shortening the fight considerably. "Finally got you, you pest," she growls triumphantly as the party puts a cruel beatdown on the Queen Ant.

Whirling his net into a casual flourish, Creed offers Klein an easy thumbs up before draping the modified material over his shoulder to dangle down his back on the off chance it's needed before the invincibility buff wares off.
"Better swordsman than me." he admits toward Asuna, taking up his spot near the rear of the group as they continue deeper into the nest. However, when the Queen's chamber finally does come into view it is not with his weapons that the Warmaster engages. Trusting in the others to keep the ants occupied, the scruffy Undine crouches down and digs his hands into the loose soil of the chamber, seeking out a connection with the fragments he expects to find there. Closing his eyes, he concentrates on the scattered bits of material...
Further inside the chamber, a smattering of gnawed bones shiver, then roll together to form an arm and hand, the shoulder anchoring itself into the earth before swinging to smash down upon nearby grubs and large ant legs. In another spot, a skull erupts from the earth, the warrior skeleton climbing forth with a rusted dagger clutched in its teeth to join the fight. All across the chamber bones begin to reassemble and emerge, remnants of the Queen's many meals. And boy are they upset about it.
Is this what they mean by 'Control The Battlefield?'

Already in a Main Tanking mood, Souji keeps up with the front lines. His seemingly endless supply of health keeps him in the role throughout the entire fight with the boss not able to outpace the saint's regeneration and healing sources. Tank and spank time.

    "Hmmm... I'm not sure if Black Lightning works for me, but I think there is some potential there."

    She relies on something a little different, this time around. Her rapier's blade is wound about by what looks like a ghostly vine with wicked prickles that glow red hot. What happens next is pretty much exactly the same as ever, though. With a mix of pinpoint precision and blinding speed, she dances through the fight, feigning a slash, then laying down a positive torrent of rapid stabbing motions against the queen and her hapless servants.

    When the dust settles, Asuna sheathes the weapon on her hip and turns to look over the party. Well, it seems nobody is terribly injured, thankfully. She's a horrible healer.

    "Thank you, Creed! I appreciate getting recognized for my work. Though honestly, Soujiro and Klein are the better warriors. And your fighting style is impressive. I like the creative use of necromancy."

    She's just here to look good. And make pizza. And anyone who really believes that will get thumped across the server.

    "I suppose now that the ants are gone, it's time to head back and get something to eat."

The Queen Ant and her remaining workers are an imposing sight as the party enters the main chamber deep inside the maze, especially when the mobs start to swarm the group of five Adventurers. But considering this group already handled her Guards a few minutes prior, her defenses are down.

Sheathing his katana, he hops up and down twice in place before nodding. "Now -this- is more like it!" A flicker of pale light forms around him, and suddendly...he's no longer there. Those keeping an eye on the worker ants can follow a trail of ants splitting apart into fragments, afterimages of Klein cutting a warpath on the way to the Queen.

While not as naturally fast as Asuna the Flash, there are times that the scruffy Scale samurai can suprise others. Perhaps he has been inspired lately?

Despite all the effort to come this far, the Queen Ant is quick to fall before the skilled Adventurers, and Klein is estatic to see everyone's health is still in the green. Likely due to Soujiro's tanking and everyone's focused DPS. He's about to throw a fist up in the air in celebration, but upon hearing Asuna's closing remark? "...celebration meal at my place, then? I got plenty of ingredients."

With the queen down and celebrations already beginning, Creed releases his hold on the undead which quickly begin crumbling away into dust. Rising from his crouch, the scout takes a moment to brush soil off of his gloves with a matter-of-fact motion, glancing back toward the rest of the party with the slightest of armored shrugs.
"I could eat."