Duty Session 600: Crystal Lake

    The very air around the lake itself is cold, and the nights spent camping there would reveal much the same. Large bodies of water, to say nothing of those with greater depths than most, moderate the climate of those around them.
    This is not enough to explain the lack of people. It looks like a long-forgotten vacation spot from another era, even though the boat that periodically clanks against the dock pillar looks new-ish. Everywhere, there is evidence of a vicious attack: the actual teeth marks left on trees should be enough to convince any investigator that Danger Is Already Here.
    Which is why Goldenblade, Kauchemar, and Lauren themselves are here. One needn't be a hunter to see the trail to the lair.

    The very air around the lake itself is cold, and the nights spent camping there would reveal much the same. Large bodies of water, to say nothing of those with greater depths than most, moderate the climate of those around them.
    This is not enough to explain the lack of people. It looks like a long-forgotten vacation spot from another era, even though the boat that periodically clanks against the dock pillar looks new-ish. Everywhere, there is evidence of a vicious attack: the actual teeth marks left on trees should be enough to convince any investigator that Danger Is Already Here.
    Which is why Goldenblade, Kauchemar, and Lauren themselves are here. One needn't be a hunter to see the trail to the lair.

Goldenblade has been an associate and confidante of Wake since before she was a Baroness, and helped /find/ Eas in the very earliest days of the game. She has been deeply involved with all the construction of the various improvements around Eas, and is working on developing the hydropelectric, so to say she's been a supporter of Eas since the beginning is completely correct.

So, looking out into the chill air to see what may be seen, Goldenblade should be expected. A lack of Goldenblade would be more remarkable. And of course flames keep her warm, smoke gently rising from the soles of her boots. Heated boots, who knew?

"Just to be entirely clear," Kauchemar starts as she folds her arms, staff resting in the crook of one elbow as she does, "Normally I enjoy the strange and spooky and even *I* find this place rather off-putting." She snorted, a faint misty puff emitting from her nostrils as she did.

    "I dunno, I think it has a very serene appeal," Lauren says, but only after stifling laughter at Kauchemar's comment. "At the very least, you could probably get halfway into a decent book before being eaten alive, which is more than can be said for most vacation spots. Although I'm feeling very, very outdone by Goldenblade's boots. Those are super chic."
    As the group chats, they wind their way like mist towards the-- "Is that a golem?" Lauren asks, at once horrified and fascinated. There is a bright red 13 emblazened upon its forehead, and it guards the entrance to the cave.

"Yes, yes it is." Kauchemar replies, even as she draws her staff and walks towards the Golem. "How would you like to hear a coral riff?" The Golem swings, and she sidesteps. "Tch. Too slow. Try agai--" And that's when the construct kicks her instead, sending the nightmare sprawling. "Oof. That one decided he'd rather dish out a barnacle sandwhich." She must be okay, she's still making horrible puns even as she gets up and scrambles to catch up with the others.

Goldenblade eyes Kauchemar about feeling uncomfortable. "Yeah, they've got the 'spooky' turned up. Just means we'll probably se more weird monsters." When the golem shows up, she says, "Called it."

She smirks about the boots, and says, "They're ordinary boots. The smoke is me." But golem 13 needs dealing with, so Goldenblade will rush in, smack it with a sword, and then dance away from it, and will dodge-tank it as we slowly DPS it down.

Cracking her knuckles, Lauren's fingers go stiff as the artificer attunes herself to the sound and feel of earth. Once achieved, she summons with great forge the pillars of the earth (not just a really awesome Ken Follett novel) to slam into the golem. Her outrage over the possible harm done to Kauchemar manifests as another pillar, this time underneath the foot coming down to rest. Lauren tosses it off balance and yielding for Goldenblade.
    When /that/ gentleman guardian has been dealt with, the trio pass through the cave to find...
    "It's like... like the worst arts and crafts camp ever," Lauren says.

    No one, it need be said, did a very good job, and the group finds themselves shunted from the room because the Masked Hunter has found them first!

Kauchemar stares at the door. Nope, doesn't make any more sense than it did three minutes ago and there isn't time to try and scry her way to an answer. "We need to keep moving. I have that ominous feeling of 'don't stay in one place too long' crawling up my back."

    Needless to say, the group has to run from the masked man, too.

    It may well be that Kauchemar is the only one to escape the Masked Man unscathed, as the group fails into another challenge.

Goldenblade will try and run from the stalker-movie villain. She remmebers those, they were a big deal in the 80's. Some friends of hers used to be really into all of them. But she's a 75-year old man, she doesn't see herself in the role of victim here. Sadly, the game doesn't know that, and when she tries to bolt, she trips, true horror movie fasion, and is menaced severely before she can follow the party to safety.

Sometimes you have to do the heavy lifting... and fortunately Kauchemar isn't a squishy noodly armed wizard. So when everyone else has an issue she just grabs one party member in each hand, "Time to come with me if you want to live" and puts her speed as a Messenger to good use to get them moving. "I always wanted to paraphrase that."

Goldenblade blinks as we stumble across a campsite in this monster-infested area, and small wonder there's no one here. Oh wait, there is one person, a Hunter who's too scared to make sense. When Goldenblade approaches, he whimpers, but his eyes latch onto the badge she wears. "It's you!" he groans, calming down a bit and explaining a bit of what he's found. Goldenblade just nods along, and at the end, gives him a cutr, "Good job. Thanks," which makes the Lander's day. "Now get clear of here, but don't go back the way we came." Because there's big baddies there.

Once they make it to the camp Kauchemar knows exactly what to do. Jabbing her staff into the ground she pulls out her lute, and starts to play some soothing ambient music to help the survivors calm down enough they can be talked to. The magitek in Grindcore Staff actually functions like an amplifier, allowing the soothing serenade to reach all ends of the campsite.

    After dealing with the previous challenge, the group now finds themselves...
    "Sweaters?" Lauren asks, raising her brows. "We... well, Jayson does like a sweater. I suppose we prepare while we have time," She adds.

Goldenblade huhs to Lauren, she missed the bit about sweaters. "What, I don't get it. But anyhow, plenty of these axes around, let me make something that'll be pretty brutal. We'll need more hacking power than a sword provices, axes do leverage differently." And so she gets to work hammering at the axes, putting together a brutal weapon.

Kauchemar flicks her fingers a few times, then sighs and leans on her staff. "Give me a moment, I need to let my mana timer recharge after that calming serenade." It doesn't take too long until she's ready to move on, she's use to being on the road. But self care breaks are important so you don't run out of juice in middle of the real fights!

    "Oh, it's Jayson, but like Freddie?" Lauren asks, before herself realizing exactly why that doesn't make any sense. Nevertheless, the currents of magic are honed like a fine tool in her hands, and she manifests an icy sweater from the mists of the lake.

Despite everything being a rough go this time around, when it comes down to the end Kauchemar does what Summoners do best -- get some monsters to do it for you. So she summons a couple of shadowy cat-like creatures to go hunting the horror movie hunter. Let the monsters deal with the monster this time. "Now I know why this place gives even me the heebie jeebies."

Goldenblade is using the just-made axe rather than her two swords, and it's not her forte for melee. But she's heluva tough, and she hacks at the villain hard as she can, and he hacks back. This is a knock-down, drag-out smackdown, the player and the mob shaving off each other's HP in slices as the rest of the party contributes as best they can. It at first doesn't look good for GB, but she starts to pull ahead as she growls, "I'm too old for this crap. You kids and your horror movies, it's cheap. Back in my day, we had Boris Karloff. You're just some idiot in a hockey mask." Possibly she's hurt his feelings, but in any event, the momentum starts going the party's way, and GB is low on health but alive when the villain finaly bursts into pixels.