The Growling Dark

YAMATO ARCHIPELAGO
MADRA FEARGACH

Within the woodlands near Alne and Carmina Gadelica lie a cavern. It's not particularly impressive as a cavern, at least amongst the Adventurers. The Madra Feargach Caves are known for being a popular low-level quest destination along what existed for a main quest line that ETO possessed before the Black Wave ruined all sense of progression and quest design.

However, the cave hasn't gone anywhere, just left to its own devices for a while as the Adventurer popular was forced to refocus on things like cleaning out rats from cellars and dealing with slime and gnoll infestations. The Caves were remote enough and only really had some goblins inside. There was nothing to be concerned about and the place isn't really known for having any significant loot drops worth farming. It is, however, known for having some basic lore nodes down in the bottom of the dungeon about the environment and the goblins they had to deal with on the way in.

But there is someone who is concerned about them regardless. Word is sent out through the Olympus Alliance network by the enigmatic (some might say acerbic) Imp Archeologist, Proteus, indicating that all hands are accepted for an expedition to the caverns. Anyone who participates will get a share of any loot, of course. As for /why/ Proteus is pushing for low level dungeon content, well... she has only stated that there's something she wants to check on.

Proteus is waiting outside, leaning on a tree. There's already a smouldering patch on the ground where a goblin used to reside on patrol outside. "Hey everyone." She greets as they arrive. "We're going in shortly. Stick together and watch for changes in the enemy patterns and AI behavior. They don't act like they used to. We're going to find out how different it is shortly."

BGM: https://youtu.be/1rwAvUvvQzQ

Att would say that. Att would say acerbic.

But Proteus is a friend of his, one of several he's kept since before the Apocalypse that has carried on to after. He knows that if she's got some kind of mad scheme, it'll be a good source of intelligence, experience, and lootformation. (The last one is loot which gives information. It's a double-duty reward.) That's why he's here, having set out from the guild-hall a little later than Proteus did, and having just missed the event resulting in a goblin-shaped scorch mark. He was busy grinding trade skills, so it was probably worth the delay.

"Sure, sure." Att Syne habitually forms a party and sends out invites as he spots people arriving for this little side-quest. "I guess this is a bit more remote than the places we've been haunting lately, huh? Any reason you came out here instead of just picking a fretful merchant's cellar?"

Goldenblade is here, and looking a bit nervous as she walks up, cloak and swords and all her gear in a small pack. "Ah, hey," she greets those present. "So I'm new to all this adventuring business. I ... well, I was advised that I probably ought to join the general thrust of getting along as an adventurer, so here I am. Any advice is welcome, I'm a bricklayer by trade, this adventuring thing is all new to me. Oh," she adds after a moment, "I'm Goldenblade, I guess. It's good to meet everyone."

With a wish of a cape and a strum on a harp (despite it being on his back) U.L.P. has arrived.  The spriggan moves some hair from his face looking to the entrance of the dungeon itself.  He is filled with nostalgia, having had to farm this place half thousand times just to make sure everyone was equipped.  

They had this place down to a /science/.  

"Greetings Proteus.  Att," he says returning the greetings and accepting the invite.  "I feel that something is missing from the normal pleasantries..." noting that Whis wasn't here to do her normal take care of me.  

"Oh there it is," he says to himself as Goldenblade shows up.  "Bricklayer huh?  So how good are you at laying bricks?"

     Shin arrives along with Att. He's been a regular with Plant Hwyden for a bit now, and his long scarf, his glasses, his Protagonist "design", are just commonalities around the guildhall. His irrepressible cheer follows him wherever he goes, too, a sense of devil-may-care PROTAGONISM that spills over into his day-to-day.

     "It's probably easier out here," Shin volunteers as Att asks. He looks over at Proteus. "It is, right? This is some place that has some kind of observable former state you can measure and compare with. Some place that you can actually examine and take notes on."

     Goldenblade introduces herself. Shin leans forward, a big grin on his face. "Hi. I'm Shin Heno."

     "I'm a Hero of Justice."

     "I'm happy to be your Hero for the day."

     He straightens and tilts his head at Proteus. "So what's the plan?"

Att greets the mobile dramatic chord -- er, U.L.P. -- with a raised hand and a party invite. "Yeah, usually there's a --"

Goldenblade appears, as if prophecized. "-- there we go!" He grins, bowing slightly to the new girl. "I'm Att Syne. If you have any questions about partying up, just ask." He wings her an invite, too, a little pop-up box appearing in mid-air in front of her. "More importantly, do you have a handle on your combat skills already? Have you played other VR games, or are you just now trying them out?" He scratches his chin with one hand, his other loosely on his staff. "We've had a mix lately; I just want to know where to put you for tactical purposes."

Shin is already in Att's party. They occasionally roam the vicinity punching goblins when one gets restless or the other forgets what time is. It's weird how cheerful he is, and how the new player shine never seems to come off of him. "Mm, yeah, I guess if you've been playing for a while already..." He sighs. "I thought I'd run the last of this dungeon."

Proteus is the Bad Cop to Att's Good Cop. It's just been a thing that's been a Thing since they started in Plant Duck. Proteus turns and gestures to the cave. "This place is a known quantity. Specifically, a place with a known quantity of lore about the game world that is relatively easily accessible. As bountiful as the Tasty Rat Meat is, those jobs don't have lore in the cellars." Proteus sighs, looking at the entrance. "Normally, I would just slip and and work around the aggro ranges, but the Black Wave has made that too dangerous. Also, the aggro systems don't work the same way, I'm still working them out."

The Imp looks over her shoulder back to the rest of the party and nods. "So I'm calling you all in to help. I'll provide support as usual." The arrival of the new face gets a little sharp grin from the hooded Imp, and she approaches Goldenblade with a handshake of greeting. "A bricklayer, huh? Are you new or were you just focused on craft skills before starting the actual adventuring thing? No judgement, just curious." Her tail lashes back and forth behind her, wiggling catlike. "Welcome to the party, though. I'm Proteus, an Archaeologist. I'm with Plant Duck. Don't worry, we've got your back." Despite the shadow of the hood making her seem much more ominous than necessary, the smile seems... genuine enough, at least.

ULP gets a wave from Proteus as he arrives. "Back for more, huh? One one think some things never change, but we already know this place is going to be different. The question is /how much/ and /how/." She looks to the side, perhaps noticing a Whis-shaped dotted line behind Ulp. "Yes, perhaps there is a part of the standard ritual amiss. But there is always room for new friends, hmm?"

Shin, in the meantime, gets another wave of greeting. "You have it exactly. There's some thing important I need to examine about the world state and since we /know/ how it used to be, we can use this to contrast and compare. Specifically..." She pauses. "Mmm, I'll say more when we get there." She trails off. "As far as the plan..." She points at the caves. "We go in and do what we do best. Tank in front, let's do this." Without further ado, Proteus begins shuffling people forward. "You can talk while you're killing. Or sneaking. Whichever. Use whispers if you need to."

Proteus then basically buffalos people right into the cave.

INSIDE:

Within, the caverns quickly become a twisting warren. The air is musty with the tang of unwashed and poorly maintained monster living areas. The first thing people might notice beyond the smell is that the expected goblin spawns are not present. Or rather, they're not where they're /supposed/ to be. Several makeshift deadfall and spike pit traps have been installed in the area as well, while the normally mostly stationary and numerous goblins are fewer and patrolling the area, some of them actually carrying dead animal carcasses from one place to another.

The question becomes: What do?

Goldenblade says to ULP with a chuckle, "I'm a better bricklayer than the people here are brick/makers/. They do okay in stone or wood, but ..." she leaves off with a shrug. "I guess bricks haven't been invented here yet? Making bricks isn't super complicated, but there's tricks and ways..."

Goldenblade half-bows to Shin as he introduces himself. "Do people bow here? I don't think I've noticed it regularly. I'm never sure what to do, as far as that goes. It's nice to meet you, Shin Heno." She bows to Att as well, "Good to meet you also, Att Syne."

She presses the button to accept the party invite after reading it carefully, and she admits, "Oh, no, this is all new to me. Any advice is apperciated. This is my first time, my son just bought me the game system and told me I should get out and meet people, it'd be easier to get out in a game than actually walking anywhere."

She shakes Proteus's hand and explains, "I was helping out some refugees from something or other, working on shelters and such for them for a while. But they're as set as they can be for the moment. And the logout button seems to be gone, but I'm not dead or anything, so I'll keep on, I guess. That's what you do." She'll follow the group into the cave, looking around warily.

U.L.P. chuckles at the statement about bricks, "Good.  Anything worth doing is worth doing well and with all of your heart.  Many would just settle so easily..." he says, with a disappointed sigh.  "And yes, here again," he says towards Proteus, "Apparently, I didn't get enough of it on the clock."

"Ah yes, it is a familiar thing I have gotten used to.  However, we shall have to press on!" He says towards Att, with a wink.  Once inside, he made a mental list at all of the changes.  Right now it was being used like it was actually being lived in, instead of just a lair that produces monsters to kill.  

He will let OTHERS break the news to Goldenblade, right now he's focused on the objective.  Such as trying to map a safe path, and try and trail goblin patrols.  

     The only noticable reaction Shin has to is a brief, unusually forced, smile at 'my son.' It doesn't seem like a smile of a disappointed flirt, either. There's something behind that smile. But it's gone in an instant. His smile is back to that earnest, Protagonist smile as soon as they start heading into the dungeon.

     "Ha, ha! Well, I'm picking up some things with Plant, so it stands to reason I'd be right once in a while, huh?" U.L.P. gets a brief two-fingered salute as they walk inside.

     He puts his hands behind his head and turns around to walk backwards, looking at Goldenblade with a curious stare. He's paying attention (it's actually kinda weird - he just sort of hops over rocks and avoids overhangs reflexively), but he's still watching her, like he's not sure what to say. He purses his lips.

     "So your son got it for you, huh? Was he playing the same day you were?" Again, the 'your son' has a weird tone to it, but otherwise, his question is in the same cheerful tone everything else has been. He'll let the others deal with the hard stuff right now.

"Actually, we could use a bricklayer sometimes," Att muses quietly. He laughs a little. "Ah, well, most of the playerbase is Japanese, so it's sort of a custom, right? There's a few of us foreigners that aren't quite so formal, but even then, bowing is a fantasy setting's standard, right? Anyway, we'll take care of you. Take a moment to read your class's skill list, draw your weapon, and give it a few practice swings to get used to the weight. If you say the name of the skill while you're in combat, you'll activate it, so that's a handy shortcut when we get into things."

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. But Att will not be so linguistically oversaturated. He takes up the lead, apparently opting for the tank role despite carrying a staff normally associated with a squishy wizard. He conjures a floating lantern with a tiny fire elemental inside (it has a sleepy face; it's adorable) to provide illumination, and habitually stops where they should be static goblin groups. Instead, he finds traps and patrols. "This is definitely different. We should have hit the goblin slacker squad already, and the alarm-raisers should be right over there." He gestures with his staff ahead.

One of the goblins carrying animal remains starts shuffling past. Att points his staff at it, announces, "Let's take that one quickly," and hurls bolts of fire down-range at it. He wants to investigate what it's carrying. Is it fresh? Have they been hunting recently?

There is a nod to Goldenblade. "Ah, helping with the Ezzo refugees. That's good work. Ezzo got it rough." There is something of a haunted look in her face at that. "Bricks are important though. I see you have Att's attention. If nothing else, try making them the old-fashioned way, huh? Worked for food. Though I guess you're not eating bricks, so maybe they'll system-craft properly."

The Archaeologist mostly fades back into the back of the party at this point, letting them work with each other and tackle the threats of the goblins.

ULP tries to plot out a path, but the goblins seem to be moving in all direction and causing a number of problems in trying to deal with the constant overlapping trails. Att solves the problem with fire as Plant Duck is wont to do, and the burning blast catches the goblin with a BIG DAMAGE flash before it pops into nothingness, dropping what it's carrying: A few units of animal bones. They do in fact look fresh. It looks like the goblins are hunting. But why? And where's the meat? Proteus looks over the situation with a scowl. "They're... doing something. They're not supposed to be doing that, are they?" Proteus looks over to Att with a frown under that hood.

It's about this time that there's a shout, as a trio of goblins leap out and attempt to ambush from the direction ULP was investigating. Think fast! Two of them are armed with spears while the one on point has a sword and shield, and they move in together, trying to bully and/or skewer ULP back into the group to pin the poor bard down before they do that cheatsy song thing.

Goldenblade is oblivious to ULP's news, she will have to make do with peering around the cave, right hand on her swordhilt, left hand held out warily as if to ward off ... well, whatever. She's not nearly as confident as Shin, walking backward.

To Shin, she says, "Ah, no, he had work still, he was going to join me on the next weekend. He said I should get started at the beginning and get my feet wet before he joined in. He doesn't play so much, but his kids do. Again, on the weekends. During the week, they're not allowed to play because of school." From her tone, she approves of that rule. Though it does mean her family won't be joining her, it seems.

She peers at Att, nods about bricklaying. "It's surprising how often it seems to come up," she says. She'll draw her sword, take a couple shots at the air in front of her, and she admits, "I ... it feels pretty natural, I guess. I've never done kendo or anything..." She draws the other sword in her offhand, and does a couple moves that look possibly more dramatic than useful.

She watches as Att attacks the goblin, and wonders, "And it's OK to just attack people like that? He wasn't coming at us or anything..." She's brutally new to gaming, it seems. But then more goblins are attacking, and she'll leap to ULP's defense. Or at least try to keep him from being overwhelmed.

Tch!  That did not go to plan, it seems he got turned around and lost time.  Which in turn leads him into a potential ambush!

Earlier: U.L.P. gives a return salute towards Shin.

Back to the present, as the goblins move to turn him into a corpse, he does the only thing a bard can do in this situation.  He fires a shot towards the ground, aiming to use the momentum to fling himself back towards the group as Goldenblade moves to intercept for him.  

Skidding across the ground, he lets out a sigh of relief.  "Yeah, this isn't normal."

     That odd smile. "Is that right? A pretty responsible guy, huh. I guess you brought him up right!" An easy laugh that doesn't quite reach the eyes. "Your grandkids must be well-behaved too."

     She asks if it's okay to just attack people like that. Shin kind of laughs, but this one does reach his eyes. "Yeah, I was pretty confused, too. But that's the kind of thing you do in this game. You go out and you fight for justice. And those monsters, well, they're monsters, right? They're not good guys. They do bad things and they hurt the people of this world, both us and the others."

     Us.

     We're people of this world.

     Goldenblade goes running forward. Shin doesn't move. He just...watches. His hands are tucked behind his back, one foot in front of the other.

     She mentions being suddenly good at the sword. As if it's easy. She goes running up to protect U.L.P., and Shin just says, "So you're good with a sword, now? That's great. It'll help you survive as a resident of this world."

     What?

     He doesn't elaborate. He also doesn't go help protect his Guildmate, curiously. "Hey, Att, U.L.P., Proteus; we should take one of them hostage and see if it has anything we can only access while it's alive. Maybe if the monsters sense one of their own, they'll open doors they wouldn't otherwise."

"You'll find that your body is more used to this sort of thing here," Att explains while he kneels to inspect the dropped goods. "You won't feel tired, hungry, or injured nearly as fast as you would outside of this world. You'll notice bars: HP, for Hit Points, is your health, and MP for Magic Points, which you spend to use magic and skills. Below that there will be little icons you can focus on to inspect, to tell you what they do. Exhaustion is one to keep watch for. It seems like a balancing factor. Otherwise, we'd probably work forever."

He rifles through the bits. "These don't have any meat on them. Are they storing what's left of their hunts after they butcher it? That's so weird." Att Syne shakes his head. "Yeah, maybe we can capture one, or..." Something moves.

Att pulls himself to his feet and bursts into motion when the trio of goblins rush out after U.L.P., getting in front of them with his staff held nearly horizontally. There's a glimmer of a sort of steely shell in the air in front of him for a second as a series of quick finger-movements activates a skill, and the silver-limned staff leaps up to intercept blows and keep their attention.

"Dying," Att calls back betwen the clash of arms, "isn't permanent here. But don't think it's pleasant, either!"

     "It isn't permanent as far as we know," Shin corrects Att cheerily.

AMBUSH! ULP almost takes some spears to the gut but with his quick reactions, the shot repels him backwards at high speed, letting him dramatically flip out of the way before the template spear attacks skewer the hell out of him. And he makes it look /good/.

Proteus lashes out with a Mind Shock attack, causing one of the goblins to stand there stupidly for a moment and buying them additional breathing room. She looks over to Shin, looking at him carefully. "People of the World, huh?" She says, pondering. "That's an interesting distinction. You think we can use one of these as a hostage?" Proteus shrugs to Shin. "It's as good an idea as anything. We should try new things. Work outside the box." A menu opens in the air before Proteus as she continues gesturing at it, tracing patterns across it in glowing light as she prepares more spells. Att, at the same time, launches forward and raises a defensive shield barrier. The spears punch into the barrier... And the field reverbrates, sending out a pulse that blasts the speargoblins backwards and bounces them off of the rock wall.

The quick and stylish evasion, of course, puts them completely off balance for Goldenblade to leap in and follow up. The two blades sweep in, one mashing into the goblin's shield and knocking it to one side as her attack just BTFOs the thing's poise, allowing her to engage in an elegant followup and skewer the greenskin. The goblin's chest flares with a damage indictor before it falls over, vanishing and leaving some coins behind.

A moment later, a pillar of Earth surges up and smashes one of the Goblins against the ceiling, the second one vanishing after the immense strike. This leaves a third, disoriented and vulnerable. "If you're going to capture it, get on it and let's move." Proteus says. "We don't know how long it'll be before they sound an alarm."

Goldenblade rushes to ULP's defense, swinging the blade with a deadly flat arc toward one of the attacking goblins. The attack combo, she just thought the name of it like she was told, and the move sort of just felt natural, like an epiphany. She just did it. Pow! Stab!

Shin's observation gets a puzzled, "Huh?" But that's how the game works, it seems, and now she's actually playing it the way it was intended. "Did I do the wrong thing?" she asks worriedly. "Only they were attacking us ... "

Too late she realizes she just charged three goblins without realizing what they might be capable of, but then she realizes Att has put up his defensive shield, and she breathes a sigh of relief. As to death, she says, "I met someone the other day who said she'd died. It's not a thing I want to try myself."

     "No, no. You did the right thing."

     There's an odd look in Shin's eyes. "You're supposed to defeat evil."

     "I just meant that you have a good son. He sounds like a responsible guy. That's good."

     "It means...he's probably done the right thing."

     What?

     Proteus tells Shin to go capture the thing. Shin scratches the back of his head. "Well, I had planned to take it easy, but..."

     "I guess it's time for me to be The Hero."

     Shin pivots on his heels and starts walking towards the goblin. "Your responsible son...has probably given up on you in the other world."

     A stone...belt buckle?...appears in his right hand. He holds it up. A red gem glows on the side. "You're stuck in this world. In this place. We all are. We're residents of this world. If your son wasn't playing, you'll probably never see him again."

     "Because that day, we were all brought to a new world. I don't know if you've realized that yet. If you have, then that's good. If you haven't...well, let me give you the sales pitch, hm?"

     The belt buckle clicks onto his waist. A belt extends around him. "It's a world where everyone can make a difference. Where we can shape the world to be a better place than the one we're leaving behind. The people over there have probably left us behind - have probably decided that we're dead. Maybe we're in a coma, maybe we're just gone. But either way, that world is going to leave us behind."

     Shin takes a stance. Hands pulls back. Legs spread. "This world is for us to make better. This world is a second chance for all of us."

     "So why shouldn't we defeat evil?"

     His hands go up. His right hand at seven o'clock. His left hand against his waist. The right hand swings up to ten. His left punches outwards. There's a complex motion bringing both hands together in front of him, and a bright glow from the belt's red jewel.

     "Transform."

                        0 01 0
                      1 /----\ 0
                     0 /      \ 0
   ARMOR BEETLE    ====|  /\  |====  CODE: ALGOL
DEFENSE OF DESTINY ====|  \/  |====    COMPILE
                     0 \      / 1
                      1 \----/ 1
                        0 10 0

     Shin is consumed in a constellation of light. It's the constellation Perseus - with the belt itself pulsing red in a very specific configuration. Music erupts from nowhere, loud and powerful guitar.

     When the light dies, it isn't Shin Heno anymore.

     The yellow scarf is dyed blood-red. Where once was a handsome face with an easy smile, now there's great red bug eyes and black, chitinous armor, and a yellow mandible crest over the forehead. Where there was a soft human being is now a creature in black chitin, an armored figure that raises a hand towards the goblin as the music plays. It walks forward slowly, menacingly, bug-pincer blades extended from wrists and legs.

     "Masked Ranger, Algol."

     "The Demon Star will light your way back to Hell."

     'Algol' surges forward. It's fast, and it's strong; a blur of black motion as it shoots forward into a sliding kick to knock the goblin off its feet, into a bladed hammerkick to knock the goblin down and bounce it off the ground, into a hooked blow that sends it up into the air. When it's been sufficiently knocked around 'Algol' slams his foot down on top of it, eyes blazing a sharp red, and leans forward to stare into its eyes with an ominous glow.

     "You'll cooperate with us."

     "Won't you?"

"Ah, yeah. Rika, or Reika, something like that, maybe? I suppose more people probably have by now, but she's the one who most people run into. Kind of a starlet, I think." Att eyes the remaining goblin. He's not the best at keeping things rooted for a long time, but maybe --

While he's considering all this, Shin lays down the facts, or at least the things they've gleaned as far as they know them. Att Syne winces behind his hand and conjured shield. He gestures with his staff towards the goblin, all but certain that these NPCs don't know how to understand Shin's threats properly. "Thorn Bind Hostage!" Glowing violet vines covered in thorns shoot up from the ground and entangle the goblin, to prevent it from wriggling out from under the Masked Ranger and getting away.

"Any new patrols," he asks, glancing towards U.L.P. for an update.

The goblin tries to scurry away in the face of Shin's transformation. But it's already too late. A moment later, the goblin is smashed to the ground, pinned there. The greenskin looks up in fear, only for thorns to surround and wrap it up, keeping it carefully caught. It screeches something in the nigh-unintelligible gutterance of the goblin, but goes silent afterwards, growling irritably with clear hostility... But it is contained for now.

Proteus nods and looks to Goldenblade. "We are the meek that inherited the World. Now it's time for us to stop being meek, and make this world our own. It's the only way we're going to gain any sort of control over our lives at this point." A pause. "Well, I guess some of us aren't really all that meek, but it sounded good." She shrugs. "Let's get moving."

A short time later, with ULP doing some tracking work once more, they pass through the warrens. The patrols are light, perhaps oddly so. Still, the increased coordination seems to make up for the lack of numbers. What used to be an open area has been blocked off with a thick wooden door with a slot to look through it. The area is clearly lit with a pair of braziers, one to either side, and there's the beady eyes of a goblin looking through every so often. In the distance, there's some kind of loud... rumbling. Something rhythmic, something primal.

Proteus looks to the others. "Soooo. How do you want to get through this? Might take a while to burn through that door." She says jokingly.

Goldenblade whews as Shin tells her she did the right thing. Defeating evil. That even sounds pretty brave. And it's nice to be able to be so confident about good and evil, the real world was all shades of gray. She nods about having a good son, but shakes her head about having been forgotten and given up on.

"Oh, I don't think he's given up yet. After this long in-game, I imagine my body would have starved to death or died if someone wasn't taking care of it."

Then there's the strange transformation, at which she can only boggle. Masked Ranger What?

Goldenblade nods to Att, "Her name was Reiko. She was apparently a performer who did advertising and promotion for the game, and was on when we got trapped in here."

She hrms at Proteus, and agrees, "I haven't really met any meek people here at all. I think everyone pretty much siezes the day in their own way." As to how to get through the door, she wonders, "Doesn't our prisoner know the password to get them to open up?"

"They don't really talk. But I think I've got a plan," says Att Syne, with a glint in his eye. "Just get ready to get in the door."

    MOMENTS LATER

A goblin -- the goblin they caught -- pushes along a pile of skins, bones, and other such scraps. It approaches the door. The goblin is visible from the nose up, with its arms buried in the mass of stuff that it's clearly having trouble lugging along. It's a lot of it! Conveniently, that prevents it from saying much of anything, too.

Behind the pile, the goblin is still bound up in violet thorns. Its arms are similarly bound. Underneath it, a quartet of small earth elementals are dragging it forward, guided by Att Syne from a distance and tangled up enough in the vines to serve as pack animals to this goblin-cart.

Best plan. Cannot fail.

"Reika." Proteus repeats. "... I was there when she died." Again, that haunted tone in her voice. "That's not something you want to see... Or experience. We're putting our lives on the line. This isn't a game anymore... But the world we live in. Be the hero you want to be, but don't spend your life without need. Death isn't something to embrace casually."

But there is the matter of the door. "Do goblins even have enough speech to have passwords?" Proteus asks rhetorically. But it's okay, Att has a Plan for this situation. The bound goblin is bascially rolled up with a pile of loot. The goblin at the door looks right through the hole at the goblin being shoved forward. With a hiss of glee, bolts are thrown back and the door is pulled open, the heavy door unlocked for the gobling to provide its gains.

A moment later, Proteus wiggles her fingers at the menu, and a giant rock fist on the end of a pillar straight up clobbers the goblin guard. "Another one bites the dust." She enunciates, and points. "Let's go, the boss room is up ahead."

The area beyond the door is large, with a dozen goblins all standing around something. There is a wordless growl in the air. In response, the goblins grunt back, in a rhythmic call-response. All around the large cave that's supposed to hold the boss, masses of hide and bone have been fashioned into altars and crude effigies. The walls that once held carvings that could be accessed for lore entries have been painted over with depictions of a rampant, raving Hound of some kind.

"What the...!?" Proteus says as she looks over the tableau. "Wait, they're...!" The goblins, of course, turn to look at the intruders at that point, and part to reveal the central altar, smoking and smoldering with a burned sacrifice atop it. There, a hulking goblin stands, a terrible cunning and power in his eyes. He is clad in furs and wearing a stag-horned helmet, holding a skull-mounted staff from which dangles strings of beads and bone fragments that rattle within the thing. He yells, pointing at the group.

A blast of flame surges towards them all, the fireball attempting to scorch them where they stand while the other goblins arm up and charge with screeching battle cries.

           /\__________________________________________________/\          
           \/                                                  \/          
          //         -- SHAMAN OF THE GROWLING DARK --          \\          
         <O>                   FIACLA FUATHA                    <O>        
          \\           -- THE GREAT BATTLE BEGINS --            //          
           /\__________________________________________________/\          
           \/                                                  \/          

BGM: https://youtu.be/Aoat35MmOrc

Goldenblade slips in with the others after our ruse gets us past the goblin's guarded door. She didn't have any preconceived expectations as to what to expect on this side of the door, she was ready for anything, and perhaps that's why she was ready to /dive clear/ when the fireball erupts. She somersaults and comes to her feet some distance away with a puzzled expression. Now what does she do? Attack? Get away? This apparently was not what they were expecting. She looks to the others for cues.

Att's plan goes off without a hitch. He hurries towards the door once the stone fist (presumably fashioned in the shape of a stone boxing glove) socks the goblin door guard. Att dismisses the Earth Elementals on the way past the thorned-up goblin, accidentally knocking one of the thorns with the butt of his staff. The thorn shines brightly, and then the goblin explodes into colorful lights.

Whoops.

He dashes into the room, then comes to a skidding stop. This is the boss room, but it doesn't have the same decor he expects, and it has way too many altars for his liking. His brief look around is enough to slow down his reaction to the obvious shaman by the central altar. Reflexively, Att Syne Inspects the boss, notes its name and rank, makes a guess as to its boss pattern, loot table and the probability of add phases during the fight.

Also, he eats it. The fireball goes off, and Att flings an Aero at his feet, trying to part the flames. He pushes himself out of the blast instead, somewhat mitigating the attack but not dodging the template, as it were. Att careens into one of the crude altars nearby, smashing through it and losing his footing at the same time, coming down in a heap of skins, bones, and Adventurer. It is not a particularly dignified landing.

He doesn't stay there long. Att rolls over and to his feet, swapping hands with his staff and drawing his straight sword with his right hand. "Alright. Spread out to avoid area attacks! Focus on the main shaman, but don't let the other enemies surround you!" He glances around for something. "I've got a distraction for you gob-dang monsters." Att cracks his staff against the floor, bellowing, "GRAVE CALL!"

Skeletons do not claw their way out of the ground. Instead, the skeletal remains the altars nearby are made of tear themselves apart in a whirlwind of bones. They form crude, bestial skeletons, hunched humanoids in shape despite their animal origins, and wade fearlessly into the mob of goblins. If there's going to be adds, let Att be the first summoner thereof.

     One hand heads for the belt as the blaze surges forward. Whatever 'Algol' was about to do, as the bug-armor hand flicks the strange magical device, is completely obviated in a shower of sparks and flame. It sends him flying backwards, rolling against a wall. Black armor smokes unpleasantly. There's red scar-marks across the insectoid body - glowing red scars that slowly start to fade. His fingers tighten against the ground.

     Those eyes glow, that ominous red color, as he pulls himself to his feet. Behind the scarf there's a clicking, irritated noise.

     "Very well."

     "If that's what you desire, then I'll accomodate you."

     Click, click, click. The hand presses against the belt over and over. The belt starts glowing an ominous red as 'Algol' moves forward, light running down the leg in a circuit pattern. Arms spread as 'Algol' walks.

     "Struggle all you like. In the end, evil is punished. That's the way I'll make this world."

     The way *I'll make* this world.

     The belt sings out.

                               CODE: RUPTURE                                

                                  INSTALL                                  

     'Algol' leans back on one leg. "Enjoy your journey to hell."

     A running leap.

     A forward flip.

     A foot comes down with cutting force.

     An insect-man lands on the other side, a red cut trailing in the air.

Goldenblade watches as the others attack, Att and his magical summons, and super robot Algol; she should have guessed that's how it would go. Now she's late to the fray. But she'll rush the big bad goblin, blades whirling to build up a bit of momentum, since this looks like a big fight. She cries out, a loud kyah as she strikes, then spins and strikes with the other blade to deliver one heavy blow after another.

Whoops, there goes the hostage. "Well, it was useful while it lasted." Proteus comments.

A moment later, however, there's an explosion of flame, and Proteus is sent skidding backwards, trailing fire as she glows with damage all over her body. "D... Damn!" She hisses. "This is stronger than I expected!" She gestures in the air, and a blast of fire of her own detonates, sending several of the Goblins scattering into nothingness.

Most of the rest are immediately tied up with the rattling of bones as the altars begin to be shredded thanks to the Grave Call. Mismatched, misshapen skeletons lurch, grappling onto surprised and screaming Goblins as Att begins turning the numbers advantage around. Suddenly, it's chaos as skeleton and goblin being mutually annihilating each other. But that's okay. They're /expendable/.

Goldenblade launches herself into the fray, slashing at the boss-like monster. The Goblin shaman tries to ward her off with blasts of flame, wielding magic far beyond the normal behavior of this tier of monster. However, that doesn't make it immune to Stab. The repeated strikes break own the shaman's defenses. One blow after another, and soon the staff is beaten aside, leaving them wide open as Goldenblade cleaves into it...

Just in time to leave it utterly vulnerable for the Rupture attack. Masked Rider Algol chooses the form of the enemy's destruction, and the Code: Rupture engages. The blazing line cleaves down through the enemy, shearing right past as he lands on the other side with his deadly strike.

A moment later, there is a seething blast, the Shaman erupting in an explosion of damage before crying out and disintegrating, the other goblins vanishing with it as the encounter is ended in a murderous alpha strike.

"Well... That was a thing." Proteus grunts, drawing herself together and stalking, trailing smoke behind her from her smouldering newbie gear, and she looks over the drawings and altar remnants intently. "... This is a problem." She says to no one in particular.

     'Algol' stands as the monster explodes. Two hands snap across the belt.

     The monstrous bug form flakes away, blowing into a nonexistant wind. What's left is Shin, his yellow scarf, and his broad grin. Both hands go behind his head in one of those Dumb Anime Protagonist stances. The odd, dark form of Masked Ranger Algol is gone, and so is the strange stone buckle.

     "It was a nice job. It could've been a little cleaner, but we've got nobody to blame except ourselves."

     He gives Goldenblade a thumbs-up. "Welcome to the game!"

     "So what's the problem? The evil altar?"

Att Syne follows his skeletal summons with some slashes on the outskirts of the goblin mob. He spends most of the short, alpha strike-fueled fight cleaning up the adds while the others pile on the boss. It works, though. He's surprised at how /well/ it works, if he's being completely honest. "Yeah. Good work." Att's hand twitches, but Shin beats him to the thumbs-up. It... looks less dorky on Shin, anyway. "Now, we just..." He trails off, looking around again.

"Proteus?" Att verbally prods. "What's up?"

Goldenblade looks surprised as the fight ends quickly, she was worried that the goblin would hang tough longer, but she's glad it didn't! Algol's massive attack was truly impressive! She looks around, but it seems the goblins that were fighting the skeletons are gone, too. That's strange? Why would they just vanish? Well, it must be a game thing, so much else here is. It being a game and all. Sort of. A kind of serious game, to be honest, but she's playing, and starting to figure it out. Starting.

She returns Shin's thumbs-up with one of her own.

She looks to Proteus, who seems worse for wear, and gasps, "Are you okay?" She'll rush over, but what can she do to help. "Uh ... there's not really a first aid kit," she admits. "I tried to buy some useful stuff, but nothing like burn cream...."

Proteus turns back to Shin and nods. "That's right. The altar is the problem. These monsters appear to have found religion, and it's not a good one." She turns back to the wall. "Look around. You'll notice the lore nodes are gone. They're replaced by these crude pictures of this... Beast." She taps her foot and begins rummaging around. "What kind of deity would monsters bent on destruction worship? Something that would help them with that, presumably." Her tail lashes back and forth, agitated as she pokes at bones, looking for more information.

"So, to be straight with you all, I had some concerns with the envrionment that we live in. I was concerned that the mythopoetic background that we inhabit is being retroactively substituted, slowly beginning to twist the world into something else. After all, the world is made up of this lore, isn't it? If history changes, reality changes with it."

She looks up and back to the others. "The good news is there's no evidence of that..." A pause. "Yet." She sighs, and gestures. "The bad news is that we have monsters /creating/ something. Working together to accomplish something. Remember, the orcs that attacked were also attempting to invoke a ritual. I wonder if it would have been to the same entity. These things exist for a reason. The monsters wouldn't do this without there being a purpose to it."

She looks up at the walls. "So is this a new enemy we have to face?" She asks, looking over the great ravenous hound. "And it's one we do not, as of yet, understand."

     "Well, if it's an evil god, then it's just one more god to kill, isn't it?" Shin's foot taps against the ground. "Seems pretty straightforward to me. Better to rule in Heaven than in Hell."

     He turns around and waves over his shoulder. "So we just have to kill them and take Heaven for ourselves. That's how we make this world a better one, after all."

     "See you!"

     He turns around and gives a last grin at Goldenblade. "Thanks for the party, friend and commend!"

     "You'll accept the truth soon enough."

     And then he's gone, out in the tunnels.

"Yeah..." Att murmurs. He lingers even though Shin is on his way out. He's looking at the defaced lore nodes with a frown, and a distant look on his face. Eventually, Att pulls a piece of parchment out of his inventory and starts to sketch the aforementioned hound. He's taking notes on what all is down here that has changed. Proteus will have them, too, but better two sets of eyes comparing notes later.

Att shakes his head, sighing quietly. He smiles anyway after that. "Healing potions will take care of most of that," he explains to Goldenblade. "Proteus probably won't even notice the damage until she's out of sight of the dungeon, though." He makes a gesture over his head, mouthing, 'head in the clouds.' "Don't worry much about all of this, though. We'll figure it out. Practice your fundamentals, and you'll be roaming this crazy world in no time."

Goldenblade is trying to follow Proteus, she really is, but everything after mythopoetic is a blur. Buzzword bingo doesn't even begin to indicate her level of confusion. "Uh...." Her background is bricks and things, mythic is hard for her to work out. "Can't we just demolish all this? We killed that big bad thing, and if we wreck all this, there won't even be anything to rebuild from. I mean, that worked on the Aztecs and Incas, right? You kill the people and wreck their shrines and ... steal their gold, if they have any, and they're done for as a culture, right?"

She looks confused as, with all the heavy news, Shin just thanks her and jets. "Uh.... see you?" she says to the empty space he occupied a moment ago. She looks over to Proteus and asks, "Er, can we kill a god here? That seems like a big deal. And we haven't got The Beatles here." Because they were bigger than God, according to John.

To Att, she can only try and follow along as he explains about Proteus being okay ... or at least okay enough. "All right," she says hesitantly. "Are you guys sure we shouldn't smash it up, though? That's what you do with temples of evil, isn't it? Though I guess they normally fall to pieces as you try to escape anyhow." Her knowledge of temples of evil comes from the old movies that Indiana Jones was reprising.

"I am all for the idea of smashing this place up," Att replies. "Trashing the shrines they made is a good idea. I don't think it'll collapse on us on the way out if we do, but I'm not a hundred percent on that assumption."

Att sheathes his sword and holds his staff in two hands. He smashes a crude shrine, then hits it a couple more times to really reduce it to rubble. He pauses, looking up, his ears pricking. A quiet moment passes.

"Yeah, we're probably good," he confirms. "This is just one of their lairs, though. We cleared out a goblin camp east of the city not too long ago, too. I'm not sure exactly where they're coming from, if they're coming from anywhere in particular. Just gotta be alert for weird rituals."

The others have the expected response. Proteus looks surprised at the others... And then pleased. "Yes. Just one more god to slay..." She chuckles, her shoulders shaking for several moments as she seems to stifle a full-body bout of laughter. "Ah... Good work, everyone. We have some time to study. If you want to look into anything, feel free. I will be doing tests and documentation until we leave."

She gestures. "In the meantime... Feel free to destroy these altars. It will certainly be better that way."

She looks back to the altars, and busies herself with examining things while the others get their purification on to disregard heresy, acquire cleanliness.

As Att starts smashing the shrine, Goldenbade joins in, taking up a heavy bit of some discarded thing the goblins left on the ground and using it to smash idols also. "There's more? Ugh, we've got our work cut out for us, it looks like?"

As Proteus investigates, she will smash and crush. "Every little bit helps, maybe?" she suggests.