Duty Session 304: Abandoned Springs

During the Hot Springs Festival, there are often times that new springs find themselves bubbling to the surface. Sometimes, old, abandoned locations can find themselves flowing with fresh, clean water once more. The Hunter's Guild has reached out to Adventurers about one such location, which seems to have attracted some unusual activity around it. They are looking for people to clear out any monster activity around the site.

OOC: This quest is only available during the Hot Springs Festival. This quest is exploration and combat-based.

Difficulty:    Easy
Rec. Party:    3+
Rewards:       1
World Rewards: None

Giganpor
Shibuya


With the start of the festival season, Giganpor had set out a call due to the Hunter's Guild. Just a wide range call, not even caring if it's all New World members at the moment. The group was lead to an abandoned pass near Shibuya, one that was easily missed with Eastal being all forest in appearance. Trees going all over the place and everything else.

Along the way, Giganpor was practicing his arte which had probably not helped make their guide more amiable to them. Especially as he's doing so with a smaller hand axe and had admitted he might be able to do it with his poleaxe. The flying weapon was definitely a deterrent to would-be monster predators in this time of year.

Still, it was the nervous Lander guide that had everyone's attention whenever he stopped. "We're not entirely sure what is beyond this point. There used to be an old onsen at the end of the trail, or so they say. Clear out the monsters you can, report back to the guild. That's the task. Best of luck to you all. You'll need it."

The last words are accompanied by an unexpected chill wind. And the Lander was reluctant to go farther.
Merek
Shibuya

    Merek nods a bit while taking a moment to think about it. He wears a leather black strap which is on the waist and up while it looks low-slung. Then he will take a look to the party, "Alright, well it looks like we have a mission," he will note, then he nods to that Lander.
Ayame
Shibuya

Ayame kept her shield on her arm, the professional effect somewhat muted by the fact she has a half-eaten snack on a stick from the festival in her other hand. Still, she keeps a restrained, professional bearing, and offers a small nod to the Lander "We'll be fine. One way or the other, we'll let you know what's up there and when it's safe" She reassures, and takes a tiny bite. Mmm.

Looking over the terrain, she considers briefly, and bends down to remove the ribbon from the kick-slit of her fitted skirt, shrugging "Might as well move easily. This doesn't look like a place to stumble" Another tiny bite, and to those she's not met, a nod, with "Ayame. Silver Sword. Want me ahead?" As she lifts the shield a moment, trotting towards the front of the party
Jazuhanzu
Shibuya

When Giganpor asked, Jazz agreed to come out. It's been a little while since she went on a mission for the Hunter's Guild, not since the lich's in the desert, but it feels longer than that to her personally. Perhaps it's because the Undine has been so busy helping with the Red Chain? Each day has been rather full of dealing with helping the Landers out in Shibuya as that gets pointedly pushed into their hands.

At least, that's what *she's* doing with it. She adjusts her floppy witch's hat as she arrives on scene, glancing towards Merek, whom she knows, and Giganpor. Ayame catches an amber-and-violet hued pair of eyes as she folds her pulls her long coat around her more tightly.

No words, yet. Just acknowledgment, tentacles draped over her shoulders raised into question mark shapes.
Uta
Shibuya

After the misadventure with the slime boss, through a combination of guile, assertiveness, confusing reasoning, and dumb luck, fellow adventurers have managed to get Uta to eat, rest, and generally take care of herself.

The last task which remains is getting her to bathe. Exploiting her Strange Mood induced hyper-focus, they Uta was tempted with the prospect of there possibly being rare, festival-only variants of slimes at the Disappearing Springs. A promise to bathe upon reaching the destination was made, and on she wents for her quest, still with her << Filth >> status effect well visible (and smellable). She never looks up from a book she's carrying, keeps humming a tune sotto voce, and is generally so oblivious to her surroundings she occasionally stumbles onto a rock or bumps onto a tree.
Giganpor
Shibuya


With the group assembled, and some smell good things to avoid the filthy smell from Uta, the group headed down the path. Giganpor even gave a nod for Ayame to take the lead. She had a bigger shield than him, after all! Giganpor's own is just a buckler. "Go ahead. And nice to have you. I'm Giganpor." He says towards her.

He sighs, looking over at Uta, then at Merek. "I'm going to assume you're to blame for Uta somehow?"

Then they reach the first big problem. There's more than one path. Forgotten paths. Cart trails, wild animals, you name it has been through here over time. And a lot of it has faded from the ones that might mark the way to the onsen they are seeking.

Giganpor looks thoughtful, "We should have asked for maps, I think." He kneels down to start looking at the tracks carefully.
Ayame
Shibuya

Ayame grins a little, nodding to Gig, and looks at his shield. She twirls the snacks from the festival in her fingers, and finishes it off. Then a murmur, and she goes poking around the various paths. She might have been more successful had she used the wand tucked behind an ear, instead of the remains of her meal, to try to illuminate the path.

The fact it's lit at all is frankly a little worrying.

"I've been trying to keep Uta in shape. Somehow. I mean, I got her to eat yesterday ..."
Merek
Shibuya

    "Well, I don't know. Uta tends to be around if needed," Merek will explain to Giganpor, while he takes a moment to adjust that leather strap. Anyone looking to it will notice it's a new thing to his attire, while he begins to assist along with tracking, "This looks like the way," he will note.
Jazuhanzu
Shibuya

Sticking her tongue out in contemplation (it looks adorable), Jazz reaches into her long coat and soon produces a small parchment. She unfurls it, gets some charcoal from a different pocket, and begins tracking the paths they're on almost immediately. It's second nature to her to begin working on a map almost as soon as the paths diverge, and she seems quite good at it, even if the map is quite basic and rudimentary.

"Everyone has to be responsbile for Uta right now," she utters. Her voice is ... twee, to put it mildly. Like they held a contest for 'cutest anime voice actress' and the winner definitely earned it.
Uta
Shibuya

Another page is turned, obliviousness persists. Uta keeps her humming going, stopping only to occasionally mutter something about the the geography of the Fourland Dukedom, or arcane details about slime physiology.

When the party finds itself in the maze of twisty little paths, all alike, and stops to study the possibly way forward, Uta just... walks on. She takes a path, then abruptly switches to another when they conjoin, then switches again, walks on, turns, never looking up from her book.

As confusing as it is, it seems she's... following the correct route? Is that by accident, or...
Giganpor
Shibuya


With the efforts of the group, they manage to find the correct path. The group's finally made their way up the path after some stops and checks, but hey! It's there! And when they reach the end, they find one very overgrown garden. Odd writing is on an unusual stone, but there's also thick vines that need to be removed or chopped away now.

Without those problems, however, this would probably be a nice place. A nearby river, lookout points, and other things show that this was once a very nice, beautiful place to visit before whatever happened to it. Which it being near Shibuya, can probably be guessed at.

Giganpor sighs, then pulls out some extra machete looking blades, "Unless anyone has a better idea, I guess we get to chopping?"
Ayame
Shibuya

Ayame listens, and then she gives a look at Jaz. It's a look of surprise, and twee adoration, as the Undine speaks. A gloved hand covers her mouth briefly, the wooden stick snapped and allowed to pixelate into nothing, as she suppresses a grin, and she looks over the Undine more closely.

Maybe it's that that drags her attention to the side, to the writing, though her shoulders do bounce up and down and her wings are buzzing a little. When she speaks, her voice is almost level "I think these give us ... mm. Look here? I've seen similar on some Lander texts" She says, valiently suppressing adoring giggles. "They talk about - oh. Waterfalls. Of course, waterfalls always have something behind them" She finally lets herself laugh, shooting looks back to the group
Merek
Shibuya

    Merek points to a few of the plants, then nods a bit, "That should be the way to get into the place, well that will assist probably." The man walks along while he takes a look about the place while he waits.
Jazuhanzu
Shibuya

The Undine's eyes flutter closed a moment. She recognizes that look from Ayame. She's seen it before from a number of people but especially Uta. Just not right now Uta.

It's clear she's expecting this to be a problem.

Once they've found their way through into the overgrown garden, she pulls a very simple knife from her belt and sets to work on hacking away as many of the plants as possible. She makes sounds of exertion, working up a sweat.

Those sounds are also undeniably twee.

"Erf."
Uta
Shibuya

Uta walks up to the stone. She gives the writings a cursory glance, and comments, "Not about slimes. Irrelevant." She pivots on one foot and, attention firmly sunk back into her book, she walks away.

Passing next to Jazz, and hearing her Twee Undine Noises, she gives her another glance. "Jazuhanzu. While she shares the adorableness, still not a slime. Irrelevant." Face back into book, onwards!
Giganpor
Shibuya


It's a combination of efforts, especailly as it looks like they still need to clear a way to the waterfall itself, but eventually they use the waterfall passage to get around to the abandoned onsen.

Giganpor happens to overhear Uta. He blinks a few times, then looks at the others, "Don't tell me she's in a mood about slimes?"

Once past the vegetation they find a rusted stone gate. It's a big one, and obviously climbing it isn't going to be easy. The stone wall definitely goes around the entire onsen, too. Probably to keep monsters out. It's not exactly a fun thing to have around.

Giganpor rubs the back of his still human head, thinking perhaps as he looks at it. Then looks to the others, "Think some rock platforms might work? Or anyone good with really old locks?"
Merek
Shibuya

    Merek will look along and to Giganpor, "She is, I think. Anyway," he will then try to bring about platforms with magic, though not successful while he sighs a bit, with a nod to the party.
Ayame
Shibuya

"Rock platforms are about the only option I have" Ayame says, looking a touch dubious "Though they're not really my speciality" She gives a little shrug, stepping aside to let the others through, and answering again "She's been focusing on them a bit. She did a lovely ballet with them at the festival. All in costume. One of the sweetest things I've seen since we came here" A glance at the group, and a bite of her lip, as she confirms "Seen, that is" With a chuckle.

She slips her wand from behind her ear, moving to help bring up some of the earth platforms, sliding magical barriers into the rock to cut out sheets to assist cutting through
Jazuhanzu
Shibuya

AS Giganpor asks about Uta's mood, Jazz simply gives him a look. There's a small nod of acknowledgment. Yes, Giganpor, Uta is in a mood about slimes. "She's ... hyper focused on them right now, yes. I think it's bigger than that, ultimately, but ... let's remember she opened a Slime Farm."

She looks over at Uta. Stares at her for a long moment. The comment about adorableness only made her bring her long-nailed fingers up to pinch the brifge of her nose. "I could just bring some water up to crack the stones," she adds, "or maybe build up the pressure so they topple. Or I could rause some earth, sure." She moves towards the wall, already full of cracks, and proceeds to lay a hand on it, weakening it bit by bit so as to be easier for them to bypass by smashing through it.
Uta
Shibuya

"Don't listen to Doctor Prophylaxis," Uta mutters in response to Giganpor's question about moods. "He'll tell you I'm in a Mujou, but he had to inspect me, like, what, twenty times before getting a result? I claim experimental error on that. I've never felt better in my life!" Page turned, eyes fixed on the book, never looking up. "I'm on the hunt for the ultimate book on slimes! Written long, long ago, in times of Yore, by a member of the-" Reverent lowering of her voice. "Tower of Mages." Back to normal voice, "There was Another One! Another Slimeologist! And I have to acquire it! For one, because it is the Ultimate book on Slimes. Ok, technically, as far as I know, it is the only /decent/ book on slimes. But based on the fragment I have acquired, it also looks /ultimate/. And I'm looking for it." Page turn. "So, one could argue, I am on the hunt for the entire advanced bibliography on slimes. You'll understand that acquiring the entire corpus of knowledge on a subject is no trivial undertaking."
Giganpor
Shibuya


Giganpor helps out by using Rock Cradle of all things. It makes even more, elevated stones as he expertly controls the wave arte to create steps between the stones that the others make.

Once they start climbing up the wall past the gate via stone platforms, Giganpor looks at Uta as she makes her statement, then to the others, "She's in one. I don't think she normally speaks like some crazy mad scientist." He notes.

More platforms are made to descend on by the ground before they reach the courtyard to the onsen.

Those empty springs? They're not so empty now! And the ground is wet and muddy beneath their feet. Of course, there's certainly going to be something in this onsen.

So it's probably no big surprise when heads pop out of the murky water. Blinking frog-like eyes. At first it appears they might be actual slimes before they jump out to be revealed as frog-men who croak their displeasure and start launching spears at the group. They obviously don't want them near the springs at all!

Giganpor bats a spear or two away with his poleaxe as he calls to the others, "Someone shut these things down before we end up skewered!"
Merek
Shibuya

    Merek will begin to weave a little magic to draw frost along each of the creatures, then he sends a charge right through them with lightning while he nods a bit to the party.
Ayame
Shibuya

"Giant frogs" Ayame shakes her head, bringing her shield up and spinning into the line of fire. Or of water. But mostly of spears. "Well, hop to it!" She tells her group, grinning back as she blocks the attacks away, diving into the path and trusting to her shield. Isn't Evasion meant to be about ... dodging? She fires back a few blasts of magical energy, Wand and Board in Accord, but her focus is ever so firmly on defence.

Maybe not entirely. She finds time to chatter "Maybe another time, Uta?" She suggests, and then looks to Jaz. Aww. Even in combat, there's a little hint of 'oh god, so cute' in her face, in the excitement, as she grins "Not enjoying yourself? Need some kelp over there?"
Jazuhanzu
Shibuya

Well, Jazz is always pretty useful around the water, right? She's the Sea-Witch. In fact, she's right into the battle, drawing a long, purple ... feather ... duster from her long coat and getting right into it. She doesn't look terribly enthused to be fighting, but well, this happens some times. It happens a lot. Thsi is an MMO after all. She raises a barrier of frost armor over herself, plates of ice lining her coat and icicles hanging down from the tip of her hat. It doesn't seem to bother her any *there* either.

"What? I'm fi --" and then a spear getd through her armor and sends her hurtling back a step in shock, even with the diminished pain response. "...ine. Let's just deal with these things, huh?" She's quick to draw water from the floor and redirect it into the monsters as well, knocking them too and fro to make it easier for the others to dispatch them.
Uta
Shibuya

"Another time? Another time what?", Uta asks Ayame. But then-

"SLIMES! MINE!" yells Uta, as the slime-looking entities emerge from the water, uncaring of splashing her way through mushy terrain.

"Eye slimes! That's a new one. Normally, if you feed a slime an eyebeall, it will just reconfigure itself to mimick the properties of the corresponding species, not the specific body part. Does this morphology indicate the presence of a species of eye monsters in the vicinity?"

When the rest of the creatures emerge, there is disappointed followed by revulsion (known in the vernacular as 'NOPE! moment'), in which she lanuches into a series of wuxia acrobatics to avoid all the incoming monsters (and making sure to follow up with appropriate punches and kicks).
Giganpor
Shibuya


Giganpor eventually dances forward, slashing through spears as he goes before he leaps forward to where he can actually hit the water itself. "Ripple Overdrive!" He calls out as the water literally blasts upwards in places again and again, stabbing the frog-men and forcing them back between the electrifying water of Merek and the evasive efforts of Ayame and Uta to avoid damage. The only one actually damaged is Giganpor with a few minor scratches and Jazuhanzu from the spear.

The frog-men retreat not long after once they realize their natural element is now the Adventurer's advantage. Live to fight another day it seems. Or perhaps all the noise attracted attention. Spears are left behind, and once the frogmen clear out there's a massive rumble from above.

Red-gold fur is spotted before a giant monkey drops down, roaring out it's challenge. It literally proceeds to rip a support pillar out. The boss has arrived, it's armed, and it's large. The makeshift staff is swung around very easily and it roars again, crouching and obviously ready to defend the onsen.
Merek
Shibuya

    Merek will look to that monkey and will throw that alchemist potion which he keeps about, exploding while he will assist.
Ayame
Shibuya

WHACK goes the staff on the shield, sending Ayame spiralling until she gets back to her feet. A muttered word, and the little summoner's shield begins to glow brightly. The next blow doesn't so much as make her feet scrape an inch

"Oh, don't worry about me" She yells back "Please, just" As she twists, interspersing the shield between them and her and the Monkey King once more "Get up to speed on this" Even as she closes the difference. She helps, with a firm punch of the shield "Was that spanking the Monkey King?" She grins
Jazuhanzu
Shibuya

"Oh, good. A boss. Of course."

Jazz doesn't sound terribly surprised and she blinks her eyes at it once slowly before, resignedly, setting herself to combat. This time, kelpy vines that, by now, Merek, Uta, and Giganpor are familiar with are her weapon of choice. They constantly grab at the boss under her command, forcing the Monkey King to spend more time jumping and weaving to avoid it. It's not difficult for him, but it's a distraction he can ill afford when defending himself from the rest of them.

Sooner or later, it tells.

When the boss is defeated and Ayame speaks, Jazz makes a soft groaning sound and then turns to look at her incredulously. "What, are you twelve?" She mutters.
Uta
Shibuya

If there was any doubt that Uta was in a strange mood before, her not having the slightest reaction as the Monkey King punches her, repeatedly, sending her flying against walls (complete with shattering impact that leaves a Uta-shaped dent!), and each time all she does is go scrambling for her book and resume reading again until the next punch, well... there is little doubt now

So, pretty much, she's currently tanking despite her not really stellar defense. That HP bar does not look happy, either.
Giganpor
Shibuya


Giganpor meanwhile is just waiting as he defends, watching the boss jump around and obviously getting the pattern down. Then he happens to notice what is happening to Uta and apparently decides to utilize it. His poleaxe slides in his hand until he has the base of the massive weapon in hand. Then he rears it back one handed.

And unleashes what has to be one of the more impossible things many will see outside of a Wave Boss.

A yell of "TOMAHAAAWWK BOOOOOMERRAAAANG!" resounds out as he launches the very large poleaxe, causing it to spin like a crazy buzzsaw.

The Monkey King's arms don't even really stand much of a chance since it's so busy punching Uta. The massive weapon slices both on the first pass, then another on the backswing. By the time the burning, slapped Monkey King is done, it's taken another few fire flasks, flying poleaxes, and Jazuhanzu's vines before it disappears into pixels.

It's still a very harsh fight, especially as it was obvious at least half-way in that it was practically a raid boss. As in a lot more people than they should be there just to kill it. Fortunately it runs at the loss of it's first health bar. Hooting, hollering, and bounding away.

Giganpor is still breathing heavy by the end of it all, poleaxe in hand and ready to be thrown again if the Monkey King returns. "Everyone still alive? We should go before that thing comes back."
Ayame
Shibuya

"No, little bit older" Ayame responds to Jazz, looking the Undine over pointedly "But the jokes help sometimes" She smiles a touch, sliding a ribbon from inside her glove and fastening up the kickslit of her skirt once more "It tickled my fancy, you could say" With a pointed look at the feather duster. Then a sigh and a nod to Giganpor, twisting her shield on her arm and the glow fading "We should" She agrees with a touch of reluctance "But that was pretty good and went fairly well"
Merek
Shibuya

    Merek offers a little nod to Giganpor along to Uta as well, "Alright, I need to do a few things, you take care," he offers, while he takes a moment to collect his reward, before making his way along and away.
Uta
Shibuya

Once Uta will be out of her strange mood, she will realize just how impressive Giganpor's technique was, and will almost certainly inquire about it. But right now... right now her mind is elsewhere.

The book. It calls.

When bits of fur rain down like streamers, she walks over to it, picks it up, gives it a glance up and down, then sticks it in her inventory. "Gotta feed this to the slimes later. I haven't gotten to experiment on Monkey King slimes. Will be interesting."
Jazuhanzu
Shibuya

"...well at least this is over," says an exhausted Jazz. She keeps an eye on uta, though. "Yeah, it didn't go so bad. I've been through worse. Not *much* worse. That boss was way out of line for this content." She huffs, then casts a glance towards Giganpor to observe him again. "That was a new one," she tells him. Then Uta is talking about slimes.

Again.

Her palm is run down over her face, tentacles twitching.