Duty Session 607: Clearing Dragon's Eye

    So Asuna has been at this.. for a time. She's been on every run she's aware of, actually. Four times, two monsters down. There is part of the area that she has not seen, plus she has a desire to repeatedly visit the Mist creature. Beautiful monsters cast a spell on her, obviously.

    "So, welcome to your tour of Dragon's Eye. I'll be your guide. Apparently this place is going to belong to Olympus once it's cleared, so.. well, I think two of you are already aware of that. Anyway, the sooner we get this cleared out, the sooner there's a new, cool place to take my child for picnics. So that's good enough for me!"

    A pause. Focus.

    "So you are going to see a bunch of hybrid monsters. Bugs crossed with snakes, and then a neat combo of deer and a wolf. Rudolph the red toothed nightmare. They are cute. If you know how to search for stuff, via hunting or just sharp-eyed searching, those things can come in handy, too. Otherwise.. protection skills and good, old-fashion fighting is the key."

Goldenblade has heard this is the next big campaign against the Palace Lands, and as a servant of the rulers in Westelande, she was commanded to take down the Palace Land threat. And she considers them a threat, even if they'd been pushed back from the gains they'd taken. "Olympus?" she asks, clearly /not/ having heard of this. "Must be some dope deal Wake's cooked up."

"Dragon's Eye?" she asks, "I suppose so. I wouldn't mind doing some building here, it looks like good terrain for it...."

She nods slowly to Asuna's briefing, but knows zilch about searching, so will have to focus on fighting. She's got a mail coat and two swords, so she doesn't -look- tanky, but she's tough as nails, and those who know her know she's quite tough all the same. She nods about the hybrid creatures, and says, "That makes me wonder if the next land we discover will have three-part monsters. We'll have to stop exploring before it gets too silly."

Llyn felt a sense of oweing the alliances more than just Sea, NWW and Olympus as well and that's why she's here. Also this sort of place called to her so hard she could forget the horror of the last year or so for a little bit. She was bouncing in place almost as she formed up with everyone else.

"So Asuna good to findally meet the Flash in the flesh, also hello Goldenblade and Lauren right?"

    Lauren is careful to listen to the briefing, because the last time she did not, her hair was nearly a victim.

This cannot, will not, be allowed to occur again.

"Worse yet," She says in addendum to Goldenblade. "What if they're just normal people but they all chew with their mouths open?"

    "Not sure who wiggled the deal out, Goldenblade, but it's a pretty good setup for you all. Then again, you have the only guy who can make gates work, so it does make sense," points out Asuna. "As long as I can be a guest, I'm good. Try to build a hotel or something! And maybe find a way to shore up the beach out here so people can come out more easily."

    And indeed, the first part is to enter a cave that only can be used at low tide. Sure, you could use water breathing, but Asuna took a look once. And immediately decided there are worse things that the Centicobras that are here now. With the beautiful illumination of the fungus above, they are extra terrifying. It's a matter of getting past them, one way or another.

    And Asuna, having been here so many times, is ready. She's super ready. In fact, they don't even get close to her. Probably because she can essentially predict their every move.

    "And Llyn, there will be a lot of work to fix the Palace Lands. I'm not going to be over here all the time, but it seems that most people are making a huge effort to help fix things. I hope it goes well, anyway. It's over my paygrade."

Goldenblade smiles to Llyn and nods as she's greeted. "Hello," she pauses, inspects, "Llyn. It's nice to meet you." She hasn't really learned a lot of the niceties in all this time, sadly. Lauren gets the dry reply, "Then we know they're from Ohio," which probably means nothing to Japanese, but to someone from Rural Pennsylvania who was twelve in 1949, heathens who chew with their mouth open must be from neighboring Ohio. She huhs about a guy who can make gates work and says, "First I've heard about that."

This place would probaby be awful underwater, the centicobras are bad enough! At least this way they don't have to breathe water -and- fight monsters. That part is easy enough, Goldenblade is fast, and two blades means twice the killing speed against one-hit monsters. The heavy leather boots are enough to turn the small fangs anyhow, so it's just the quick work of slashing them as they slither at her.

Lauren laughs aloud at Goldenblade's comment, and in the moment of cheer before the storm, she waves to Llyn. "I'm Lauren, it's great to meet you!'
    And then they're off! Small and quick, Lauren moves with practiced efficiency, but only barely avoids damage.

Her hair remains perfect.

Llyn smirks over at Auna for a moment as she looks her over for a moment.

"Yes there's a lot to fix here and i keep wonder if some of my own creations are going to drop in on me one day here."

What's that suposed to mean? She falls in with the party.

"Ohio? Is this some kind of Western joke? I fear I won't get it I'm from Korea. I'm going to take it to avoid Ohio though."

She'll put her magic to work the Centicobras are normal to her she's used to the wild critters from this part of Eldertale, she may or may not have inspired a few from her books after all.

"These things are ... horrific but at least it's not like some worse fusion." Honey Badger/Canada Goose would destroy worlds.

SheHe looks to LAruen for a moment.

"Lets see if you can keep up but if your here I suspect you and everyone else can."

    "And next up, we have... gross from above!"

    The assigned patrol pattern has the party venture towards the western heart of Dragon's eye through the mountain barrier that seperates it from the rest of the land. So far the path is singular and uncomplicated. This simplicity proves to be its weakness as much as its strength as stepping outside serves to make the party a very clear target. A swarm of Kraithornets descend and attack. These unusual mixtures of snake and hornet are of the poisonous type. Generally they seek fish and other aquatic creatures that unwittingly exit the inland end of the cave instead of making their way back to the sea. Today the Kraithornets find no fish. Instead they find a new meal to dine on: all of you. The party will need to push past this choke point before they can hunt and clear the Dragon's Eye area within.
    "I hate these damn things."

    Asuna speaks as she uses her buckler to slam every rotten bug she can get to! There's a enmity here. A real, deep, well-earned dislike of these flying nightmares. Sadly, that dislike (and unease) leds her take a fair bit of poison damage as she keeps slamming away at them.

Llyn says "Gross from above...?"

Oh dear the pirate lady does not like the sounds of that. She then see the Kraithornets for a moment. She frowns for a moment.

"Oh I hate these things so much!"

She'll now start chanting slamming her staff down to the gorun and causing a massive burst of high pressure water at number of the horrors.

"Oh and trust me there are far worse things! Like Roach Rats!"

Goldenblade waves off Llyn about Ohio, and explains, "Just American rivalries." She smiles at Lauren's greeting and hrms as Asuna points out the kraithornets. But one of the things she knows about from summertime, the best wat to take hornets out is smoke, and a nice smoky fire will ward them off. These are huge, too, being part snake, but that just makes them big enough to swing a sword at, which she does. Between the smoke, the fire, and her swords, she manages to ward them off and kill them as they circle her. "Damn these things," she mutters.

    Alas, the hair challenge for Lauren lasts only so long as the imp is thrown off balance in the ensuing maelstrom, blasting flame from her hands in a frantic attempt to both deal death and remain, relatively, pristine.
    She fails. But... her hair remains unsinged.

    "Okay, admittedly, not my best work there."

    Asuna moves on with a shrug. She hates those things. They have her number. But her party has her back. Sooner or later, all the nests will be drained, cleared, and The Flash can celebrate their eternal demise! But for now, the group moves on.

    After pushing through the breach there is a moment for the party to gather their bearings and pursue a more open pathing. The ruins that scatters across the area are wide. Paths stretch like old broken roads alongside even more broken ruins. Scouting out ahead would be the best option now to determine where the monster nests are in the area and how to start clearing them out without getting overwhelmed. Time for some advanced recon.

    And Asuna is good at advanced recon! Not. But she is really starting to get lucky here. Or maybe it's just similar to last time. There are hints of where monster drops were here, for eyes that know how to recognize them. Or eyes that do not but make a pretty good guess!

Goldenblade is good at fire. She's OK at fighting, and spectacular at getting out of the way of attacks. What she is bad at is anything else gamey, like finding a path that someone else isn't leading her to, or anything concealed. Hopefully someone will show her the way. She will hold out a sword and let flames lick up and down the edges for more light in case that helps someone else. It doesn't help her much.

Llyn looks to Goldenblade and grins.

"Ah I think I get it then!"

With the flying horrors out of the way they have to push onwards and now they need to figure out where to go. She will pauses for a moment take both hands on her staff. She closes her eye and there's a glow, she will take a moment and then open her eyes.

"This way I know that is the way now."

Lauren takes out a phial of water, simple water, and drops it on the ground. Then, she watches. It pools, puddles, pours, and finally, she looks up as if content. "I believe," She says, pointing a finger, "Thataway."

    "You know, Goldenblade, there's a lot you can do with this place. I mean, I think I saw asphalt patches here, and the buildings are absolutely the most modern in the world. At least more modern than anything I've seen. If, admittedly, a bit in need of a loving hand and a lot of bug killing."

    The group manages to reach the next area, but the reward is not an easy path to the boss. Nope. It's another hybrid.

    The party finds a herd of Elkwolves walking through the overgrown 'streets' of Dragon's Eye. They may be the output of a nearby nest or simply a wandering feature of Dragon's Eye. Clearing these out and would go far in satisfying the requiresments of the job. These creatures are aggressive and blocking the way to stronger monsters in the area. Break time is over, time to get to work and clear out these monsters! With enough pressure the leader of this particular cell will need to show itself or face its domain being crippled through loss of monster-power.

    Asuna reacts with joy. She gets to pummel things! These poor damn wolf-elk monstrosities are pretty sick of seeing the Flash around. Not that it matters what they think. Do they think? In any case, she charges, red panda style and raises her hands up before slamming the beasts again and again with her fists. She's at pointblank range here, but in a second Lambent Light is drawn and the pixel bursts start stacking up.

Goldenblade follows Llyn and Lauren and Asuna, they seem to know the way.

"Oh yeah," she agrees with Asuna. "The architecture is pretty intact here. I mean, we rebuilt Eas, and that had been in rough shape. This at least didn't have orcs camped out."

She says this just as the Elkwolves come into view. "Well," she says, because what do you say at this point?

On the other hand, this is a perfect time for stabbing, and the problem with wolves is they're pack animals that will attack. Elk would scatter, but wolves will stay around, at least long enough to get stabbed to death. Not so much after that.

    "What could be worse than orks?" Lauren asks aloud, because there's always that one person.

    What would be the point of being a summoner if you had to *carry* a bow and arrow?

    This question, an imponderable, is left unanswered by Lauren. Drawing upon magic like shimmering fog, she fires arrow upon arrow of dark bolt, drawing from an invisible bow in her hands. "Down!" She cries, finally hitting a particularly infuriating elkwolf. "Elkwolves," she says, out of breath finally. "Why Elkwolves?"

Llyn says "This is trippy, seeing bits of Earth here. I have to know more and I'll happily share everything I find with the new masters of this place for letting me in." She grins as she she skips along for a moment until the Elkwolves.

"You know I knew a few people who tamed these thing but these one!"

She will tilt her head.

"Orcs huh sounds like a pain."

She will the start whap those that get too close with her staff. The real attacks come form magic.

    "It could always be worse," comments Asuna. "Besides, at least elkwolves are cuter than flying hornet snake things. God I hate those damn things. I may just wander off after this and spend then rest of the day slaughtering them!"

    The hate is REAL.

    The party got the attention of the monster's overlord. The air itself becomes frosty as a draconic creature stomps from around the corner. A head peeks around. Then a second. A third. The blue scaled hydra roars in a chorus as it engages with its many snapping maws. The party has the prize in sight. To win they will need to apply constant pressure and not let those frosty faces multiply. The healers will be stressed by the need to abandon defense while keeping anyone from going down during the fight that would further delay pressure.

    "Oh look, it's the hydra again! Thank god it doesn't have a cross with a dachsund. I shudder to even think."

    But she is not shuddering. She's attacking. She's mad. She wants to kill it. She wants to kill it LOTS. And so she launches herself skyward repeatedly, stabbing out eyes, chopping out fangs, and doing her best to setup the rest of her team with perfect skill shots, all the while really just taunting up a storm. Most of it isn't printable, but it consists of varying comparisons of ugliness and questions about patronage.

    What?

    Yui's isn't here, so it's okay.

When asked what could be worse than orcs, Goldenblade gives that serious consideration. Finally, she decides, "Orcs with bulldozers would be pretty bad. Or dynamite." She nods to Llyn. "They were. And they stank, too."

On encountering the Hydra, Goldenblade vanishes for a moment. Those who have adventured with her know what's coming next, but her new friends may never have seen this skill used. She slips into shadows, away from view, and appears behind the hydra, slashing her swirling blades through several necks at once. Not all of them, but a few, and the hydra is much weaker and easier to finish off. That rare attack, Goldenblade makes good use of, so it's not really a mystery. But it is pretty brutal.

    Lauren narrows her eyes. Hydra.

    The mist swirls around her, and her familiar steed comes into being: a quicksilver mount of mist, glass, and air. She grabs ahold and rides like a demon, circling, the dark hooves of the creature smashing the multiplying faces at an ever greater pace as she picks up speed.

Llyn says "Yes, Elkwolves at least have a place in the world and are not a crime against man and the gods." She notes and she can sense Asuna's hate, and this is how humans deal with their predators weaponized hate. Then comes the Hydra she looks up and chages in using some magic you might not expect. Grand Cross and the massive pillar of holy light has Llyn and the Hydra cauight in the middle of it!

    "We came. We saw. We hydra'd," says Asuna. "I can't say this was what I was looking for, exactly, but at least you all got something new, right?"

    She sheathes Lambent Light and says, "I'll be heading on back to the staging area. Unless you mean to camp out for a few hours, I'd suggest joining me. High tide is no time to be going through that cave. Glowing fungus or not, that place looks to be a maze in the water."

    She raises a hand to rub her left temple. "But, more seriously, you all did a great job! I appreciate your help. We have to work together to push back boundaries and open up new places for safe fun. I know that I look forward to taking my daughter here to show her something that looks a bit like the world we came from."

Lauren did it. She made it through with her hair intact, unsinged, and only slightly damp from her ride about on a phantom horse. "I thought hydras were deep sea monsters," She says, still exhilarated from the rush. "You know, ocean depths. They aren't supposed to be this close. It's like... not fair," She concludes. "Like a leviathan in a bathhouse. Just... why?" She asks, spreading her hands in confusion. "I don't even know anyone who has the connections to summon one without a lot of group effort."

Goldenblade nods to Asuna and says, "I'll be heading back with you. I don't want to camp out here and have it respawn." She smirks wryly. As to doing a great job, she says, "Thank you for saying so. You were a good leader. I hope this place can get cleared out quickly. I'm looking forward to what can be built here." As far as safe fun, she says, "I don't think they have that in this game. just somewhat less dangerous pasttimes."

As far as leviathans in bathhouses, she says, "In the Palace Lands, that doesn't surprise me."

Llyn says "So how many of these hydras are there? I heard scuttlebutt about this one." Are there other bosses here who knows. She does seem to relax now and leans on her staff.

"They are Greek."

She notes with a bit of a look.

"..., they are too big to fit in a bath house. They are a con black world boss..."