2025-10-04: Would You Eat a Cognitive Elephant?
- Log: Would You Eat a Cognitive Elephant?
- Cast: Tsumugi Kujaku, Pernelle, Saika Kikuchi, Yanagi Nagisa
- Where: Taro Nakata's Atelier
- OOC Date: October 04, 2025
- IC Date: July 21, 2012
- Summary: Remember! When you are asked to pay for goods and services within an Atelier, ignore it!
AS: Yanagi Nagisa has readied for combat as Giselle! She is now fully healed!
MONAD: A party led by Tsumugi Kujaku has begun the event Taro Nakata's Atelier.
(|====================== Monad - Taro Nakata's Atelier =======================|)
-==== Round 1: Don't Get Lost - Challenge Level 1 =============================-
| Approach Options: Academics or Proficiency |
| Conditions: Skillful - Proficiency Up L1 and Stupor - Academics Down L1 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
As you enter the Atelier, fading into the carnival with a red sky and a pale
white concrete footing, you'll see many dilapidated tents, attractions, midways,
and more in your line of sight. But with your goal of getting to the Homunculus,
you'll likely beeline straight to the massive tent in the distance, towering
menacingly over all.
When you get there, however, you'll find the tent barred by a big door. A sign
says 'FIVE TICKETS NEEDED'. You're not getting in without those tickets, but
they seem to be given out by the attractions and employees at the carnival.
First, however, you'll have to find a way to navigate the carnival! A handy map
dispenser sits nearby... if you can get it to work, as it's paid. It's unclear
what currency it takes, though, so you might have to try some things... maybe
you could find a way to unlock it instead?
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
Getting into an Atelier is a fairly involved process - if one that becomes rather simple in the broadstrokes, once you've been exposed to it: find an object of significance to the Atelier's owner; bring it to a location of significance to them; 'log on' to the Atelier through your nearest available internet cafe.
Simple, but complicated. Logistically, a headache.
"Ara."
So why not just cheat, instead?
They weren't there before, in Taro Nakata's Atelier. They are there -now-: a tall, slender figure with skin like marble, swept back hair that betrays only the slightest glimmers of red on the undersides of those platinum locks, and eyes a searingly-bright, glowing red, they are dressed in the refined eloquence of a white, three-piece Victorian suit, tailcoat buttoned up and fit so closely one can barely catch the glimpse of the bright scarlet interior; black, scarlet and gold accents mark the suit, perhaps most notably in the cluster of roses that cover their right shoulder like a fanciful epaulet, transitioning from black roses, to white, to yellow, to red, each seeming to shine with a life all their own.
Beatific. Angelic. That's how they look, something impossible and almost unsettlingly perfect, as high heeled shoes click immaculately on the crumbling grounds of the Atelier. They look one way, then the other.
"The Humor isn't here," is their first thought, as if that was the primary thing they cared about in this dismal, horrible place. They almost sound...
"That's a shame."
Disappointed.
But let it not be said Tsumugi Kujaku is not capable of moving on.
It's -precisely- what they do now, making their way past the entrance to the Big Top beyond. They stare up toward the grandiosity of the thing. Towards the sign barring their passage. Scarlet lips part out an exhale. Red eyes drag towards the map dispenser.
"Well then. Let's see what secrets Taro Nakata has."
And with that, they move to the dispenser, and go about looking for a locking mechanism to pick.
No, they didn't even try to pay. Why would they? I mean. Honestly.
"The Sanguin," they note idly to their companions as they work. "Did it seem like it had good survival instinct? What's the likelihood it died?"
This, asked like they were discussing the odds of their underdog baseball team managing to eke out a dark horse victory.
MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has acted with Proficiency toward Don't Get Lost! Base! <Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
A simple process, and one Pernelle has never in his life had to worry about. By extension, neither does Tsumugi or any of their other companions. Pernelle hums to himself, strutting along as they enter the Atelier. Before, he was a peacock. Within, he is still a peacock -- just as Pernelle would have it -- but with a strong degree more flexibility in his movement and expression. He is more animated here... and also in a fancy little vest with a fancy little hat and fancy little tinted glasses.
His tattered, wide brimmed tricorn and glasses ending in his own sharp beak cut a silhouette reminisce of certain 17th-centurary European physicians. But the insides of that silhouette are still brilliantly colorful, iridescent Pernelle.
"Survival instincts? I should think not!" Pernelle says of the Sanguine Humor. "He has exchanged such a notion for bravery! A fine trade that suits him, and one he seems well equipped to afford. The lad takes his lumps exceptionally well, by my observation."
He straightens up, readjusting his glasses with a pinion as they come across the dispenser.
"Tsumugi!" Pernelle addresses with an official demeanor. Why just Tsumugi...? "As you know," oh no, not an as you know, "You can verify your location by accessing the map. Thanks to Yanagi, we can keep track of where we've explored automatically these days, but some areas have different requirements. Investigate the dispenser ahead of us, if you please."
Tsumugi is already on their way in the middle of his chatter. Why is Pernelle still talking...
"Remember! When you are asked to pay for goods and services within an Atelier, ignore it! You've got five fingers capable providing a delightful discount! A good wallop may also suffice."
MONAD: Pernelle has acted with Tutorial Time toward Don't Get Lost! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
A carnival with no attendees; a dream, a nucleus, a pearl of the soul.
A moment they're absent.
A moment they're there. Saika can feel the familiar, comfortable, almost pleasant tension where her skin goes from being what it looks like to what it actually is - or perhaps what she could be. The wounds are comfortable things. And they're so artfully sealed together.
Cognitive breeze brushes over her long coat. Her tongue tip runs over her upper lip, and --
"RIP," enunciates Saika at the news of No Humor to be found. Her hands come together, fingers threading together as she stretches herself upwards, rocks her head back and forth, and begins to idly spin her chain as they walk. Like it were an old-timey pocket watch or decorative obi weight. It's a whirring sound.
"Huh! Good for him, I guess," Saika answers Pernelle about the Sanguin as they continue walking forwards, and are faced at last with the DISPENSOR. "This place is weird," Saika observes further. "It's like..."
What is it like?
"It seems like one of those old theme parks?" she guesses. But there is wisdom to be shared. The wisdom of the Peacock.
Saika's lip curls. The chain spinning stops, instead getting wrapped around her hand (three times) and her wrist and upper arm. "Lemme see it."
She is absolutely going to beat the shit out of an automatic map dispenser until it gives up the goods.
MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has acted with Grace and Force toward Don't Get Lost! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
o/` Cheating is so fun~
o/` Cheating is so fun~
o/` Now it's time to break on in and see what we have done!
They're ready!!
Yanagi arrives in Taro Nakata's Atelier with the rest of Peacock Silk. Like them, she is Transmuted, her once-pale hair now a vibrant shade of sunset pink--hot pink highlighted with the lavender of twilight--and her eyes peacock green, or a brilliant green shaded with deep blue. She's clad in a magical girl-esque dress, similarly colorful with a skirt that's short in front and has a long train in back with an almost stained-glass look, and reinforced thigh-high boots that make it easier for her to walk. She still uses a walking stick, but this is much more obviously Also A Gun than what she uses in the real world.
There's something glorious about it--about her--about all of them. Someone who is here, and present, and alive.
"Oh, do you mean Roger?" Yanagi wonders at Tsumugi, leaning in towards them with a smile. "It is a shame, but he might be further in!"
But Tsumugi moves on, and so too does Yanagi. Yanagi likewise does not pay for any maps, for her fingers are long and thin and nimble and Pernelle is helpfully tutorializing for all of them, reminding them that paying is for suckers. She leans in close to the dispenser, and retrieves something from the sash around her waist to pick at it... Though with Saika about to beat the shit out of that dispenser, that might be wholly unnecessary.
"He is very brave," Yanagi chimes in after Pernelle, on the matter of Roger. "I sense him somewhere around here, so he's certainly still alive. I think he'll survive! After all, he has a name now, and names have power!"
She hops up to her feet, successful or not, with an exuberant energy that's only possible in cognitive spaces like this and beams at the others. "I still remember the bit of the Atelier from when we came in here before, so don't worry--I can take us to the entrance with no problem once we're done here!"
After that, it might well get more difficult, but that's later. This is now!
MONAD: Yanagi Nagisa has acted with Dowsing Pendulum toward Don't Get Lost! Find and Efficient! (|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Don't Get Lost - Round 1 ================================================- Tsumugi Kujaku Proficiency Success Proficiency Base Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yanagi Nagisa Proficiency Success Dowsing Pendulum Find and Efficient Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pernelle Academics Success Tutorial Time Specialty Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saika Kikuchi Proficiency Success Grace and Force Specialty Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Skillful-2 and Stupor-2 Final Conditions: Skillful-1 and Stupor-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 1/6 |= | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 1, Money: 0, Gear: 1 (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
Tsumugi!
As they know...
The tutorial begins. And even as Pernelle instructs, Tsumugi - already at work picking the dispenser lock with what looks like sewing needles of all things - is nodding along very agreeably, if a bit noncommittally.
Are they paying attention to this delicious tutorial wisdom, or are they just skipping the dialogue?!
"You can just do things~" they singsong out in an utter deadpan in answer to that ending tip, proving that Tsumugi is the MC who chooses the third option, every time.
There's a soft 'click' that reaches Tsumugi's ears, just as Saika approaches. They glance her way. They nod once, full of dispassionate gravity.
"Give it the magic touch," they instruct, and take one good, long, big step back as Yanagi prepares her dowsing pendulum, just in case.
Whereupon Saika just goes to town on the thing until all that's left is a mangled torn shrieking husk of metal that was once a dispenser and is not a Dadaist tribute to the meaninglessness of violence. At no point during this does Tsumugi mention whether their or Yanagi's lock-picking efforts actually managed to pop the latch beforehand.
They had. But why spoil the magic?
"Congratulations," they offer their chain-wrapped co-founder as they calmly slip a gloved hand into the wreckage to pluck up a map. They look at it for all of like one second, before pointing in some vague direction.
"Oh. I think we go this way."
... are they telling the truth now, or--
"So the Sanguin Humor is brave. And he's a pig..." Tsumugi looks around at the 'old theme park,' as Saika describes it.
"Interesting." A second passes. And then they start to mildly walk on, offering as they go,
"Would you like to bet on whether he makes it out of this alive?"
MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has drawn a new Challenge!
(|====================== Monad - Taro Nakata's Atelier =======================|)
-==== Round 2: Fried Dough Ready To Go - Challenge Level 1 ====================-
| Approach Options: Guts or Charm |
| Conditions: Lunchbox - Subtract 1 Fatigue., Shuffle - Draw 1 Minor Arcana., |
| Skillful - Proficiency Up L1, and Stupor - Academics Down L1 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
As your group travels the carnival, a thin, stick-like Sanguin Humor wearing an
employee's uniform calls out to you, hanging near a tent.
"Fried elephant ears! Free fried elephant ears! Sugar and honey and all that
sickeningly sweet stuff! One ticket for any group who eats an order!"
As you approach, you learn that if you eat them, you'll get the ticket, but they
seem fattening, weird, and possibly supernaturally suspicious. You could stuff
your guts, which could give you food poisoning... or you could convince the
Shadow to give you the ticket anyway without having to eat, somehow. Might have
to let them down gently...
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
"Oh, you know 'em?" Saika asks Yanagi, regarding that name. "Roger... That's a pretty good name. Kind of stands out, but it's easy to say. Roger," Saika repeats. And he's brave! And has a name. AND THEN:
*savage machine beating noises here, helpfully hidden under a cloud of dust*
In the aftermath, the map machine is burst open like a pinata. Saika is picking up hundred-yen coins that probably are imaginary and stuffing them into her pocket just, you know, in case, as well as securing herself a map. There's like two dozen additional maps laying around beyond 'everyone gets one,' so she takes a moment to examine it. Which involves holding it up and squinting. "The big top?" she asks. "Is that why they had to have such a big tent?"
ONWARDS!
"Mmm," Saika says. "I'll put five hundred on the little piggy that could! You want to take the other side of that one?" she asks the others, even as they are faced with succulent smells and a succulent cry of ELEPHANT EARS!
"WHAT?"
DEEP FRIED ELEPHANT EARS!
The group finds themselves in front of a stall with fryers in the back and an unpleasantly thin Sanguin Humor in the front. 'Yes siree we got us the best deep fried elephant ears in the whole gosh-darn fabric of reality! None of that protein or vitamin stuff here, this is hot and crisp fresh goodness, the finest in the world smothered in powdered sugar and honey, and if you're really feeling saucy we've got the sauce -- CHOCOLATE sauce -- and if you're willing to pay a little more - say, are you a group? Great news!'
Saika shakes her head and focuses up.
'If you get an entire group's order... AND you eat it right here, right now... you'll get a ticket!'
"I have a question," says Saika, raising her hand.
'Yes ma'am, what IS your question?'
"No actual elephants in these, right?"
The Sanguin Humor is silent for four seconds. Saika gazes levelly at the Humor. The Humor gazes back. The Sanguin Humor, perhaps, breaks first:
'No ma'am, it's just what they're called, kind of like kitsune udon.'
"That makes sense," Saika agrees. "Slop me up, dough man."
SOON: goodness gracious those things are the size of dinner plates made out of fried dough, can the team manage this?
correction; can Yanagi and Tsumugi manage this
MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has acted with I'm A Street Walking Cheetah with a Heart full of Napalm toward Fried Dough Ready To Go! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
"Theeeeeeme park," Pernelle repeats, feeling the word out in his beak. He twists his head to and fro, squinting in an inspection of the area around them. "I sense neither a theme nor a perk! What of the cherry blossoms? Little bridges over water? Rock gardens? Yes, very good Saika! Ha HA! Destroy it!"
Much as Pernelle enjoys well executed trickery and finesse, his fondness for violence against reality remains equally strong.
"A fascinating proposition," Pernelle comments of betting on Roger's life. "His nature as a Humor invites not an insignificant amount of mystery... if the Atelier's shape or nature should change in the process, would he cease to exist as he knows himself? Hm. No one ask him that. Quite rude, I think. But I shall place a wager with Saika! The spirited Sanguine suine shall survive!" He pauses, looking to Saika. "Five hundred what?"
His question is interrupted by DEEP FRIED ELEPHANT EARS
Pernelle's train feathers virtually explode into full display with his shock as he races up to the stall -- eyespots as wide as his own, pupils dilated to maximum in an eldritch display of hunger. He vibrates, tippy-tapping on his talons while the sale-spiel goes on. But once they are served their plates, Pernelle slams his entire head right into the pile of fried dough.
"omnomnomnomcrunchchompchewchewchew"
Charming as his brilliant feather display is, he does not use it to forego the culinary challenge. No. Pernelle raises his head up high with a resounding squawk, kicking the empty plate to the ground so that it shatters:
"ANOTHER!"
MONAD: Pernelle has acted with Feather Display toward Fried Dough Ready To Go! Friendliness and Focus!
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
Saika beats the everloving shit out of the map dispenser! Yanagi puts her dowsing pendulum away, rests her walking stick on her hip, and claps for her efforts. "Oooh! Well done!"
Even if Tsumugi did pop the latch beforehand, that level of casual destructive force is always worth applauding!
"Yes! We met him a short while ago." Yanagi pauses, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She clasps her cheek in one hand. "...Weren't you there too, Saika? Or am I mixing it up in my head..."
She shakes her head and takes her stick back in hand, as well as accepting a copy of the map. "Theme park!" she corrects Pernelle. "It means it is a park with a theme to it! I've never been to one myself," she admits. "I think the theme to this one is... a circus...?" She tilts her head in more confusion. "Wouldn't it just be a circus, in that case...? I'm not sure what the difference is..."
Tsumugi does not name Roger, even after learning his name. This is normal for Tsumugi, and Yanagi pays it little mind beyond the observation itself. The bet gets her attention far more. "Hmm? Hmmm... Does that mean you think he won't?" She brightens as Saika and Pernelle weigh in. "I agree--I also think he will! So if you don't, I'll take you up on that! What do you want to bet, Tsumugi?"
Pernelle has a point: Saika didn't specify five hundred of what. Yanagi giggles at the two all the same. Even she knows what the implication is supposed to be, but it's more fun to watch Saika have to deal with Pernelle's Pernellicity.
There is a stall with a new Sanguin Humor! It is selling fried elephant ears. Saika, fortunately, asks for the group if they have actual elephant ears, and it turns they do not. "Aw," Yanagi vocalizes, disappointed. "I've never had elephant ears before..."
But then, she's also never had--whatever these non-elephant ear elephant ears are either! And when they fry up nice and hot and HUGE, she beholds them with a dropped jaw and sparkling eyes.
"They're huge!" she declares. Pernelle, obviously, is already devouring his, so there's no issue there, but... how is she to finish this whole thing by herself?
ANOTHER! Pernelle demands.
Yanagi looks at Tsumugi and Saika. Then she breaks off a more reasonable portion for herself and hands the rest to him. "Here you go!" she chirps, before chowing down. "Mmm, oh, this is good!" Nomnomnom!! And never mind if she burns the roof of her mouth. Life's too short to worry about tiny details like that!
MONAD: Yanagi Nagisa has acted with Guts toward Fried Dough Ready To Go! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
As the others ruminate on the meaning of a 'themed park,' Tsumugi seems to be off in their own little world, glowing eyes observing the flow of Flegmat Humors streaming listlessly from one attraction to the next, and pretending not to see giggling Colerics lingering near the fringes around them, as if hesitant to engage on their own.
Their interest seems almost entirely in the Sanguin Humor named Roger (even if they don't see fit to call Roger by name) and the nature of their surroundings. No -- it's only an off-hand remark from Saika that earns Tsumugi's brief, insouciant attention:
"It's a different kind of big top."
And with that, they press on. It's not until they offer that wager, the faint hint of confection and frying dough teasing at their nostrils, that their attention turns back towards Pernelle, Saika, and Yanagi.
"Being brave is interesting," they do concede, though who knows -why- they think that's interesting, "almost as interesting as the fact that he's a pig. But bravery might just mean his life expectancy is that much shorter."
Then again: what is life, to a Shadow? Pernelle's ruminations earn that red-eyed attention for a moment; it drifts towards saika and Yanagi, as they also throw their weight behind Roger.
"Hm," is the sound that slips from their lips before they declare:
"Let's up the ante. A thousand he doesn't last in this Atelier."
A thousand what?
...
Well, that's up to Saika to figure out, now.
The matter of wagers thusly deferred, Tsumugi takes this hot streak of avoiding doing any work straight to the heart of their latest, particular problem. Saika, full of grim gravity, makes sure no elephants were harmed in the making of these pastry-ears. Tsumugi considers a moment.
"Would you eat cognitive elephant?" they ask Saika, genuinely curious.
Don't worry Yanagi; they, too, are disappointed.
But Pernelle is raring to go! Saika is raring to go! Yanagi -- is willing to bravely sacrifice her portion to Pernelle who is STILL RARING TO GO! And Tsumugi--
"You know, they say it's essential for a true cook to taste their product to make a perfect dish..."
There's Tsumugi, off to the side, talking up the very thin Humor in that charming, lazy way of theirs, intent on eventually making the carnival frier eat Tsumugi's -entire portion- for them. They're just following Pernelle's advice to the letter, after all:
When you are asked to pay for goods and services within an Atelier, ignore it!
Why make a potential payment of food poisoning when you can just ignore it and get someone else to do it for you?
Of course, they -could- have just given their share to Pernelle --
but they kind of want to see if their most precious advice bird will abide having the possibility of more fatty fried dough stolen from him.
MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has acted with Devil's Bargain toward Fried Dough Ready To Go! Specialty! (|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Fried Dough Ready To Go - Round 2 =======================================- Tsumugi Kujaku Charm Success Devil's Bargain Specialty Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yanagi Nagisa Guts Success Guts Base Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pernelle Charm Success Feather Display Friendliness and Focus Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saika Kikuchi Guts Success I'm A Street Walking Specialty Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Lunchbox-0, Shuffle: Sword-0, Skillful-1, and Stupor-1 Final Conditions: -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 2/6 |== | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 1, Money: 0, Gear: 1 (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
MONAD: Pernelle has drawn a new Challenge!
(|====================== Monad - Taro Nakata's Atelier =======================|)
-==== Round 3: Rude Clown Dunk Tank - Challenge Level 2 =======================-
| Approach Options: Understanding or Proficiency |
| Conditions: Stony - Understanding Down L2 and Sublime - Proficiency Up L2 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
On the midway, there is a large dunk tank filled with red water just sitting
there, with a tiny imp-sized clown-like Sanguin Humor sitting on a tinier seat.
As you pass by, he constantly mocks your skill, especially any failures you've
had elsewhere in the Atelier, laughing all the while.
"Hey! Hey you! With the face! I bet you can't throw a ball straight, can ya?
Haha! You can't do it? I knew it. Gonna just walk on by? Look at these suckers,
everyone!"... or words to that affect.
There's a ticket dispenser nearby... Can you resist his blandishments and get
your ticket without giving in? Or will you manage to peg the small target
that'll dunk him straight into the tank, getting the satisfaction of bullying a
clown?
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
"I mean it could just be a different theme than we're thinkin' of," Saika tells Pernelle on the way over, "but that's just me thinking of like Destinyland, right? I hear that's got like six theme parks in one, and that's before you get to Destinysea--"
MIKEY MOUSE CARES NOT FOR YOUR LORE OF THEME PARKS. MIKEY MOUSE CARES NOT FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT DESIRES. MIKEY MOUSE WILL SHRED YOUR DREAMS FOR BEDDING.
MIKEY MOUSE MUST FEED.
Saika gets equipped with her own elephant ear. She foregoes the chocolate sauce, but she starts to rip off long strips from it and raise them up, letting them dangle into her mouth like the strange flesh of a savage kill - her fingers getting sucked clean afterwards, both for that ~sugar~ and because it's actually kind of hot. "Don't burn your crop," she tells Pernelle, but she is sensitive to such things.
"I guess I was surprised to hear his name *is* Roger," Saika continues, letting her elephant ear shed some thermal energy. "But I mean, we've had a lot going on. That's why it's good we run into these things, you know? It means our stories can stay straight, like in that movie."
NOTE: Saika has not actually seen the film "Rashomon," which is what she's thinking of. However, she *has* read descriptions of it, and she's pretty sure that's like 70% or so as good when you're talking about literature.
Rip and tear - chew and swallow - "Sure," she answers Tsumugi. "You're on. Sometimes bravery's the best way to last longer, you know?" Another funnel cake bite. Munch, munch... munch.
"huh," Saika says.
Munch munch.
"I'd say no," Saika continues. "I don't do it because of some kind of 'this thing's OK, that thing's not OK.' Just because it's a Shadow or something doesn't mean it's not a living thing, you know? You guys react to stuff, right?"
The thin Humor looks over, ambiguous and unsettling mouth open. 'Uh?' says the Humor, just as Tsumugi feeds them a significant fraction of the funnel cake. 'mmmmgph,' is the response from there, followed by munch munch munch --
AND SOON ENOUGH
'Good work, troopers! Welcome to the big leagues... Here's your ticket,' surrenders the Humor, before burping discreetly into the crook of their elbow. Saika grabs it and holds it aloft, shaking it with a victorious mien, before handing it to Tsumugi to go in with the other [Key Items].
"I do feel kind of energized," remarks Saika, as they move along.
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
"A circus themed park," Pernelle 'corrects' with Yanagi's help, which he may be failing to wholly absorb. "Hm. Very well! Let us experience this park of themes!" He does not join the conversation on Roger's name. Pernelle does know Roger's name, but was enjoying alliteration too much. And, after all, when it comes to Roger, there are rhymes he must consider. This is important for reasons that will only ever make sense to Pernelle.
He cranes his head toward Tsumugi at the talk of a 'big top'. Pernelle looks down at his vest and scarf, fluffing them both a bit. Not too big, is it...?
But then ELEPHANT EARS! Glory be! To devour the megafauna of the earth! Mid chomp on his second serving, Pernelle looks up. "Wait, did they say this is not real elephant?" This concern lasts only a second before Pernelle remembers it is delicious anyway, and he continues to scarf it down.
Tsumugi is offering their potion to the Humor, and will Pernelle think this something... STOLEN? Will this become a BRAWL in the middle of the CIRCUS?
"My good creature, have you not even had the pleasure of sampling your own product?" He gasps in shock, glasses popping from his beak before pushed back into place. "Forgive my voracity! This will not stand! Let us correct this injustice at once!" It seems the universe conspires to trigger Pernelle's generosity if it means hoisting food poisoning off on another...
It may be worse, given Pernelle seems immune to paying such a price in the first place. He struts alongside Saika with a deep, cleansing breath. "What a teratical treat! Do your parks of themes and circuses have such delicacies beyond the Atelier? I should like to visit another one day! Ah, but I will not get ahead of myself. There may be other refreshments along these treats, let me see, let me seeeeee~ Ah!"
Pernelle flutters up to a large dunk tank, looking into the water. "Goodness, where are all the fish?"
"My eyes are up here, feather brain!" calls an imp-sized, clowny Sanguine Humor from a seat above the water. Pernelle ruffles with a sudden start, looking up. "Maybe someone with actual arms can throw the ball straight enough to hit that target!" He laughs, looking to the others. "... But I doubt it! Gotta hurry to your own stall for work, wearing those clown suits? Haha!"
Pernelle pauses, staring at this display. He leans his head back to the three with him, lowering his voice in a whisper.
"Not to be rude, but I worry this particular specimen may be suffering from some manner of delusion. Allow me to handle this. Ahem." He clears his throat, addressing the Humor. "Excuse me, my good fellow, are you quite all right over there? Do you require the aid of a medic?" He pauses, noting the creature's size. "... Or a parent and slash or guardian?"
MONAD: Pernelle has acted with Encouraging Words toward Rude Clown Dunk Tank! Patra and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
"Hmmm... You do have a point there," Yanagi concedes to Tsumugi of bravery sometimes meaning a shorter life. "But Pernelle is right! He's quite tough. I think his bravery will serve him well. The bigger problem is if he'll continue to exist after the Homunculus is gone, but I don't see why he wouldn't. He'd just go back to normal..." She trails off, blinking into the middle distance. "Oh. I see what you mean now."
Tsumugi offers to up the ante to a thousand. Yanagi considers this for a moment, then nods. "Very well! A thousand." She smiles, even after having acknowledged that maybe Tsumugi is right about all this, and without being asked about it, adds, "It wouldn't be as interesting if either of us was guaranteed to win or lose."
Dough is eaten and/or force-fed! Tickets are acquired! Destinyland is discussed, mostly off-screen! Pernelles are generous of heart and soul! And the world goes on.
"Oh? Yes, that's true," Yanagi says to Saika of the importance of keeping their stories straight. (She may or may not understand. She's read In A Grove but has not seen Rashomon either.) Either way, Saika definitely has a point that Shadows are more than just blobs of nightmare fuel--especially when it comes to Sanguin Shadows. Roger may be a pig, and he may be a Shadow, but he is at least... person-like! Enough for Yanagi to no longer call him an "it," at least.
"Yes, it was a tasty snack!" Yanagi nods sadly to Pernelle to confirm it's not real elephant. "But I would eat a cognitive elephant," she adds, thoughtfully, even though Tsumugi was asking Saika and not her. "I wonder if it would taste the same as a real elephant, or if it would just taste like something I already know? Like chicken!" She makes a face. "That would be terribly boring..."
A drink would be nice after those elephant ears. The only water around appears to be in a dunk tank--not that Yanagi knows what a dunk tank is. It's not immediately apparent just by looking at that imp-like Shadow, nor listening to their taunting. She peers at it as it mocks not just Pernelle but all of them. She looks over at Pernelle. "Are you sure...?" she murmurs, doubtful.
Still, Yanagi will let Pernelle take point for now. While he attempts to talk to it, she pulls out her dowsing pendulum again and holds it up. Perhaps it can find some refreshments... ... ... ... no, it's just pointing towards the dunk tank. She looks around, then utters, "Ah! Another dispenser!"
Well, at least their task here is clear! ...They need to beat that thing up again and/or open the lock! (What? Hit the target? What does that have to do with anything?)
MONAD: Yanagi Nagisa has acted with Dowsing Pendulum toward Rude Clown Dunk Tank! Find and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
Perhaps Pernelle -could- have started the grandest conflict this Atelier has ever, or would ever see, including the one just on the horizon. Instead?
Instead he combines powers with Tsumugi to become an unstoppable force of persuasion that sees the wisp of a Humor gorging on their own potentially food-poisonous, ferociously fried dough.
And this is why Tsumugi Kujaku loves Pernelle. How can you ever predict so precocious a peacock, except to know that every decision he makes will delight you?
So, with a rare, content smile, Tsumugi leaves the hurp-burping Sanguin Humor behind alongside their first and most steadfast companion. Saika offers out that ticket.
"Destinyland sells whole, smoked turkey legs," they aside to Pernelle as they swipe that conspicuously-sparkling ticket with a casual flourish.
STEAL!!
Big Top Ticket x1!
(X) OK
"The recipe is a trade secret they litigiously safeguard." And doesn't that just make you want to learn it all the more?
Tucked away in their Key Item Storage wherever -that- may be (trade secret), Tsumugi tucks their hands into their pockets as they all proceed onward to the next attraction. "What if it tasted like something the world thought tasted like elephant?" they aside to Yanagi; Saika's answer, of course, is to be expected, and they respect it; but they are still going to talk about eating elephants when Yanagi puts down those intriguing possibilities.
"Then you wouldn't be eating your own expectations, Sa-ya. You'd be eating the world's."
And their misgivings on the world aside...
Wouldn't -that- be a novel experience?
They might muse further -- but there's someone -specifically calling Pernelle out-. Red eyes track lazily towards the clown-like Humor in the dunk tank. They look towards the button. Towards the Humor. Towards Pernelle. Button. Humor. Pernelle.
Silence reigns on their part as Pernelle pities the pitiful peasant. Yanagi indicates that this is, apparently, their target. And it's exactly at that point that Tsumugi steps up next to Pernelle, to aside to their devilishly avian companion,
"There's nothing to be done for it," quite solemnly, if a flat tone could be solemn, which it very well could. "See there, Pernelle?" they point towards the seat the Humor sits on, hovering precariously over that water. "It's stuck. It wanted to sit there, more than anything, but it didn't even realize where it was, and now it can't get down. Its friends likely abandoned it. Look how alone it is." They shake their head.
"They probably don't even know how to operate that device to get free, even if their life depended on it."
Is this an elaborate trick to get the Shadow to dunk itself? ... Or are Pernelle and Tsumugi genuinely concerned about this Humor's wellbeing?
(tsumugi is at best academically concerned)
MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has acted with Proficiency toward Rude Clown Dunk Tank! Base! MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has cancelled their action. MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has acted with Seamless toward Rude Clown Dunk Tank! Diligence and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
"Elephants are smarter than humans anyway," Saika tells Pernelle as they walk. "Eating them would be like triple bad karma." She sucks more honey off of her thumb tip, considering Pernelle's words even as they keep going. "Huh... I dunno. I don't even know what elephant tastes like! I bet they eat them sometimes in like, Thailand or something, so maybe it's a Thai thing. Let's see... they're really big... I mean I don't honestly really know how a lot of meat TASTES, but it'd probably be more like beef... ugh, this is gross to consider."
But before she can get too invested in contemplating the flesh of the noble elephant, Peacock Silk's staff find themselves in the presence of...
A CLOWN.
Saika's eyes narrow, instinctively sensing the killing intent and evil chi coming off of the imp, as it comes off of all clowns. (This is unfair of Saika. Many clowns fight for justice.) Her brow furrows for a moment, even as the topic is raised --
'Awww, are ya sucking your thumb? Widdle baby? Widdle baby stitchy witchy?'
https://youtu.be/XQbhuxiyv5c?si=RCgms2Ea10zgFPyd&t=54
Saika turns to walk over to an adjacent, but not obviously connected, place that's selling small sets of softballs. "Yeah, can I -- oh, awesome, you were ready. Oh. OH so that's it. Yeah," Saika nods. "Yeah, that's about what I was figuring on doing."
Saika walks back and puts the basket down properly, picking up two of the balls with her left hand and one with the right. Left hand cradles them against her chest. But her right hand's shifting into a firm grip.
"What was that you said?" Saika asks the imp, who cackles unpleasantly. 'I SAID,'
and that's when Saika whips the ball directly at the indicated target. SOMETHING kind of went 'thoom' there -- but it's probably because it's like a metal plate. She can't be *mad enough* to get sound barrier violation off of a softball, probably.
MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has acted with Grace and Force toward Rude Clown Dunk Tank! Specialty! (|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Rude Clown Dunk Tank - Round 3 ==========================================- Tsumugi Kujaku Proficiency Success Seamless Diligence and Patra Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yanagi Nagisa Proficiency Success Dowsing Pendulum Find and Efficient Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pernelle Understanding Success Encouraging Words Patra and Efficient Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saika Kikuchi Proficiency Success Grace and Force Specialty Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Stony-2 and Sublime-2 Final Conditions: Sublime-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 3/6 |=== | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 2, Money: 1, Gear: 1 (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
MONAD: Yanagi Nagisa has drawn a new Challenge!
(|====================== Monad - Taro Nakata's Atelier =======================|)
-==== Round 4: Dilapidated Rollercoaster - Challenge Level 2 ==================-
| Approach Options: Understanding or Guts |
| Conditions: Bolstering - Guts Up L2, Checkpoint - Cleanse all negative |
| conditions., Stony - Understanding Down L2, and Sublime - Proficiency Up L2 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
Through your journeys across the carnival, you may have seen a large wooden
rollercoaster hovering over the skyline. As you approach it, you'll see just
what condition it is in: it looks like a deathtrap, with rotted wood and rusty
rails. Nonetheless, you need that ticket, so you'll have to brave your fears and
ride the rocking coaster.
Once you finally make it to the end, however, there'll be a problem. Flegmat
Humors in the shape of twisted passengers that look more akin to deformed beasts
are hovering around the ticket machine, in complete shock and fear from the
coaster. You'll have to either scare them off or convince them to leave on their
own if you want the ticket!
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
Pernelle scoffs, wing to his chest as he beams. "Only humans suffer triple bad karma. Were I to devour an elephant, I would stand to gain its power. Much like that folding fan! Ah, how I miss it... how it is with me always... A complex, bittersweet flavor..."
But there's still the betting. "A thousand what?" Pernelle asks again before he's distracted by the next thing to come along. In this, he may be failing to make a wager. Perhaps the important thing is that he believes in Roger. If only faith meant anything against a Homunculus.
The important thing, as far as Pernelle is concerned, is his belly is full of questionable substances and he is feeling fine and fancy free. No wait Pernelle don't say that, Mikey will come for you --
"Whole! And smoked!" Pernelle cries in delight as Tsumugi tells them of the turkey legs, likely knowing full well they do not have to mask the meat as extraterrestrial for Pernelle's interest to be piqued. "Have you... tasted this flesh? What is it like? I must know!"
Yanagi lets Pernelle deal with the Humor and points the way to the dispenser for more tickets. None of them need to deal with this challenge at all if they can keep their wits about them while being heckled. Meanwhile, Pernelle fails to register that anyone in their right mind could insult any of the four of them.
"What's that on your face?" "Do you refer to my glasses or my beak?" "Oh! I see it now! It's a big fat bunch of UGLY!" "Oh dear, he's suffering from vision impairment!"
Tsumugi points out the seat and how this dunk tank device woks. Pernelle's beak follows their every word, and the peacock becomes increasingly distressed with each new piece of information. "How terribly tragic! Is this true, my diminutive friend? Poor creature! I am certain it cannot be that complicated to operate, if you put your mind to it!"
While he is shouting this useless encouragement, the imp-thing cackles and Saika throws a ball.
Pernelle shuts up at that, head tilted down to watch the Humor plunge into the tank.
...
"Alas, poor fiend. I knew him, Tsumugi."
Then he hops down and continues along his way, his step with no less bounce in it than before.
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
"Yes, that's my concern," Yanagi tells Tsumugi. "There's that trope in shows and movies where someone eats something out of the ordinary and they go, 'Tastes like chicken!' If it turned out like that..."
But then they make the point that even if that's so, that would be a chance to taste the world's expectations. Yanagi looks intrigued by the concept. "The whole world... If it's the world's expectations, then maybe it might be something completely unexpected! There are so many billions of people in the world! And, you know--" She raises a finger, a smile growing on her lips. "Some of them will have actually eaten actual elephant ears! Who knows how that might combine with expectations!"
And never mind the triple bad karma. Yanagi's already dying young; how much worse could it get? She listens in on Saika's speculation on what elephant might taste like with bright eyes-- "Aren't there elephants in India? Maybe they make them into curry!" --at least, until the imp-like Shadow starts to mock all of them. Given enough time, maybe Yanagi would shift from confused to annoyed... but Pernelle cannot be incited to rage when he can simply dismiss the imp's mockery as delusion. Tsumugi further suggests that the Shadow's friends have abandoned them and they can't get down. Saika straight-up takes one of those softballs and CHUCKS it at the target. Yanagi takes a moment to clap anew as the Shadow falls and is submerged.
"Oh, don't worry, Pernelle! He's with his friends now, maybe! How lovely," Yanagi chirps. "Let's move on, then!" Not before claiming one of the tickets, anyway--but she leaves that to Tsumugi. They are, apparently, the unofficial ticket-holder of the group.
It's not long after they move on that they find a certain other attraction. A place like this naturally has rides, and of all rides at a theme park, the most infamous is--
"Ooooh! A roller coaster!! I've always wanted to try one!" Yanagi gasps, eyes sparkling as the group approaches the dubious attraction. Despite its frankly terrible condition, she grabs the hand (wing?) of one of her companions and drags them along in her wake, walking stick tapping out an excited staccato rhythm. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!!"
It is, frankly, hell. The wood groans; the rails sway; an alarming number of support struts are splintered, though thankfully not outright broken. It's a true question of whether the roller coaster will complete its route with all of them still alive and intact by the end.
"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"
Yanagi, whose hands are raised in the way she's seen people in movies and commercials do, is pretty okay with it either way.
MONAD: Yanagi Nagisa has acted with Direct Talk toward Dilapidated Rollercoaster! Automap!
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
The bet has raised to a thousand. But, indeed -- a thousand what?
Tsumugi doesn't answer; they just look towards Saika. She initiated the stakes, after all -- it's only fair she quantify them to her heart's content. Either way...
They feel very confident this Roger won't be allowed to continue on in this Atelier.
But what, indeed, of the mystery of the proprietary poultry? Pernelle demands to know. And Tsumugi's answer is to turn and regard him with a sly half-smile, walking backwards towards their destination as they cock their head owlishly rightwards. How does it taste?
"If you must know," they say,
"you'll have to taste it yourself. Won't you?"
Incoming trip to Destinyland...?!
Well. Maybe not now. Right now is Destituteland, population: one sad(?) deluded(??) Humor in a shoddy dunk tank. Tsumugi knows what's coming, the second it turns its dismal, belittling attentions on Saika. They just continue to watch impassively, noting to Pernelle,
"It's okay." The ball winds up.
"They're getting a helping--"
WHOOSH
Wind buffets platinum hair. Tsumugi's blank expression remains utterly unaffected.
"--hand."
WHAM
SPLOOSH
Tsumugi regards the sinking Humor as Pernelle laments him. Yanagi offers her reassurances to the peacock.
"Well. It's free now," is their compromise on the matter, before they promptly turn and walk off, having finally saved the life of that poor stuck Sanguin. (???????)
Onward they go; another blur of gloved fingers sees yet another ticket secured and tucked away as they round in on--
Ooooh! A roller coaster!!
That.
Tsumugi is an ever-calm contrast towards Yanagi's effusive excitement. Hands in their pockets, they glance around them ambivalently -- particularly eyeing the throngs of Flegmats blocking their way. Their head cants.
"Oh. I know this attraction," they suddenly say. "It's the cursed roller coaster." Suddenly, and loudly for all those Flegmats to hear. "They say that whoever rides this roller coaster is doomed to be forced into the Big Top's next fatal side show. Or just die before they even can."
They say this conversationally, just as they lean to the side.
"And if you ride it once, you can never escape."
Their shoulder bumps a support pillar on the overhang pavilion, -just- hard enough to make the rusty, aging structure suddenly shake and tremble precariously.
"Ever."
And, after putting the existential terror of roller coasters firmly into those Flegmat's hearts and (hopefully) sending them scattering, Tsumugi, expression utterly flat, claps their hands together.
"Hm. Well, let's go--"
Before they can calmly make their way towards the roller coaster, though, they find themself -- grabbed and dragged?! Tsumugi is Yanagi's most ambivalent plus one, stumbling along stone-faced until they reach that roller coaster. And once they do--?
Tsumugi doesn't sit. They plant their heeled foot -right- on the front of the coaster car, like Washington crossing the Delaware, arms folded and expression stoic.
"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~."
What happens when they reach the first loop-de-loop?
Either the most impressive cognitive gymnastics this world has ever seen, or a short drop and a sudden stop, but, well.
This is a world where physical reality need not apply.
So why tie yourself down to the rules of mundanity to feel that giddy thrill only spaces like these can offer?
MONAD: Invalid approach. MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has acted with Crime Talk toward Dilapidated Rollercoaster! Focus and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
"No you didn't," Saika tells Pernelle, when he says he knew the Imp.
Saika keeps her other two softballs, because she might need to kill someone with the others. She seems to cheer up from her surly discontent at what the Humor had said unto her as they put some distance. "Wouldn't it average out, though?" Saika asks Yanagi. "Or it might be really like, shocking, like a sour candy."
Intense sour and intense sweet... all in one! She grimaces at the mention of making curry out of elephants, BUT...
ROLLER COASTER TIME.
"Wow, really?" Saika asks Tsumugi, her eyes wide, after they complete the story of just how accursed this particular 'coaster "You're amazing!" Back to Pernelle: "That means it's definitely survivable. If it was the kind of curse that just killed you outright, you wouldn't need to worry about the rest, you know?"
A flake or two of rust, fallen from Tsumugi's encounter, land on her head. She brushes them out, without concern.
SOON ENOUGH
Thanks to both Tsumugi *and* Yanagi being in the front row seat of the rollercoaster, Saika ends up in the back seat. During the rattling bumping roll forwards - the motion leading up to it - she speaks to Pernelle. "What makes all of this amazing is that we're really just using gravity," Saika tells him. "I've only been on a roller coaster, like, twice?"
She leans back a little, rubbing her side for a moment. "But when we're going up hill like that, where you hear all of that rattling and the sound of the engine? It's totally the same kind of thing as my motorcycle, hauling this entire thing up slooooowly click click click click click because you have to get that potential energy stored. It's like charging a battery!"
"Which is sort of messed up to consider," Saika says, as the curve of their destiny approaches. "Because there's like fifteen kilometers down before you get the lowest point on Earth, right? So technically," rattle rattle rattle, "at any time, we could just fall fifteeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHH!!!!!"
Saika, of course, also throws her hands in the air. (She may catch Tsumugi's ankles before that short drop and sudden stop have the time to truly come to pass, if it comes to that. This might get Tsumugi bonked on the rows behind them, but Jack Frost is probably still in line.. you're not going to hurt anyone we care about, maybe just a Flegmat or two.)
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
Pernelle's eyes become big as Tsumugi tells him what he must do if he must know...
He must taste it. Won't he? Will he?
"I will," he whispers, like a promise to the universe. He begins to vibrate again.
But then the Humor is dunked, either left to drown to be with his friends, and in some universes this might be the same thing. Pernelle brings a wing to his chest as he is reassured. "Yes, yes, I am aware of what you speak. The great farm up north with all his friends." Pernelle sniffs dramatically. "Such is the consequences of time's march." Or of Saika's throwing arm.
Saika reminds him he didn't know the clown imp.
"... I didn't!" Pernelle chirps blithely, and that's the end of it.
Upon sight of the roller coaster, Pernelle's train pops up for a brief startle.
"What manner of contraption is this? An inescapable cursed coaster? I have never encountered such a thing! Intriguing!" He bounces -- head perfectly still -- at Saika. "Imagine the tales we could tell to survive such a harrowing experience! Yes, let's go! Let's!" Pernelle, wing in Yanagi's hand, hurries with her to ride the infernal machine.
And go ride it he does, in all its groaning, alarming glory, as if the track were going to give way from under them and kill them all at any moment. Even the rattling at the start as he listens to Saika with his full attention, vibrating more and more with each climb higher and higher. "Yes? A motorcycle? Yes? Fifteen kilometers! At any time -- yes, ye --" Then comes the fall. "-- ESSSSSSSSSSSS?!"
Pernelle is, regrettably, FAR TOO SHORT TO BE ON THIS RIDE. He cannot be contained within the cart properly, and ends up all twisted up in his seat. His wings are not in the air. Instead, it is his talons, sticking straight up as he ends up upside-down in all the looping mess.
Regardless:
"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"
MONAD: Pernelle has acted with Encouraging Words toward Dilapidated Rollercoaster! Patra and Efficient! MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has acted with I'm A Street Walking Cheetah with a Heart full of Napalm toward Dilapidated Rollercoaster! Specialty! (|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Dilapidated Rollercoaster - Round 4 =====================================- Tsumugi Kujaku Guts Success Crime Talk Focus and Efficient Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yanagi Nagisa Guts Success Direct Talk Automap Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pernelle Understanding Success Encouraging Words Patra and Efficient Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saika Kikuchi Guts Success I'm A Street Walking Specialty Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Bolstering-2, Checkpoint-0, Stony-2, and Sublime-1 Final Conditions: Bolstering-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 4/6 |==== | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 2, Money: 1, Gear: 1 (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has drawn a new Challenge!
(|====================== Monad - Taro Nakata's Atelier =======================|)
-==== Round 5: Crack The Shell - Challenge Level 2 ============================-
| Approach Options: Guts or Academics |
| Conditions: Bolstering - Guts Up L2, Boss - Add 1 Fatigue on failure., and |
| Shuffle - Draw 1 Minor Arcana. |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
As you return to the big top with your tickets, you find a huge problem,
especially if you have Navigator senses and can detect it early. One of the
Melanc Humors in the form of a large clown, corrupted guardians of the Nakata
Carnival, has taken position outside the tent, unwilling to let you through. He
takes the form of a large plastic toy, with a hard exterior that defends him
from many blows... you'll either have to figure out a way to pierce it with your
booksmarts, or brave forward and take him out in a battle of endurance.
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
Wouldn't it all just average out?
"Who knows? But I do hope it'll be something shocking!" Yanagi tells Saika.
Tsumugi takes some time to observe the Flegmat Humors, then instill in them the fear of God, or maybe just this particular roller coaster. Their deadpan delivery of the coaster's curse successfully has them quaking in their... well, boots is not quite accurate, but they're shaking all the same. They have been primed and readied by Tsumugi's artful wordsmithing, and terror of the Big Top's next fatal show suffuses their very beings.
Then of course Yanagi grabs Tsumugi by the hand and Pernelle by the wing, and together they go, with Saika in their wake, to actually ride the cursed contraption. As if to round out Tsumugi's terrorweaving, Saika explains the science behind a roller coaster and how it works, as if this is a place in which science could actually apply. But it helps add some depth and nuance to the experience, which is important when Pernelle is riding upside down and Tsumugi has one heeled boot on the front car.
Somehow, all of them end up not falling out of their cars to their grisly demise, and the coaster itself shakes and shudders and drops even more flakes of rust, but somehow does not collapse. What's more, by the time the roller coaster has finished its loop and returned back to base, there are no Flegmats in the way of the next dispenser. None. They are free and clear to proceed at their own pace.
Which is good, because Yanagi is quite breathless as they're all leaving together, clutching one of Tsumugi's arms for balance and also just because she wants to for a while.
"That was so much fun! I really thought I was going to die!" Yanagi gasps, thin but booted legs trembling as they all go. She means every word. The terror of the view from the front car is sublime. Over her shoulder, she asks, "Saika, Pernelle, how was it for you two?"
As they progress further towards their goal, tickets all in hand, though, Yanagi's trembling good cheer fades, evening out as she raises her chin and looks towards an unknown point ahead.
"A Melanc Humor is blocking the way into the Big Top," she notes. "It's in the form of a toy... a clown toy. It's got a hard exterior that will be able to soak a lot of blows, so it'll be difficult to get past straightforwardly... but not impossible. It'd probably be faster to find a way to sneak around it, though." She looks at the others, but in particular Tsumugi, the leader. "What should we do?"
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
The loop comes, and all the roller coaster track's a-tremble! Does Tsumugi fall? Does Saika catch them by the ankles?!
-- Yes and no.
Yes, they fall. Yes, Saika catches them.
But it's by the forearm, not the ankle, as they twist with inhuman grace mid-freefall. And as the car starts to right itself?
Tsumugi uses Saika's grip as an anchor point to swing back, forward, back, forward --
and release into an acrobatic and inexplicable flip that should see them smacking into railing until they become bloody plaster but instead sees them falling -precisely- into their seat next to Yanagi, guardrail snapping down over their waist as they bounce exactly one (1) time with the impact.
Their expression is still as impassive as ever as the roller coaster screeches to a spark-spitting stop back at the start once more.
"Electrifying."
Isn't it?
They stand smoothly, Yanagi clutched to their arm; they give her the balance she needs as they step off the roller coaster; even help her off it with a small, daring smile.
"Yes," they say simply, "you could have."
Said like it's the most wonderful thing in the world.
They detour with Yanagi at the dispenser. Take the last of their tickets. And then they leave with the other members of Peacock Silk, rapping that support column with their knuckles one last time before they go. The lightest little touch.
The roller coaster entry pavilion shudders. Shudders become shrieks. Shrieks become a shattering crunch as the entire thing falls apart and collapses on top of the rollercoaster tracks, sending the entire rusty monstrosity wobbling and then literally falling apart like a prolonged domino effect lesson in cognitive neglect.
Tsumugi doesn't look back as the whole thing falls apart in a way that very well could have had them all on it.
They're sure it'll all get nicely slapped back together again soon enough anyway.
As the roller coaster dust settles behind them, though, Yanagi slows. She looks ahead. And Tsumugi follows her gaze.
A Melanc Humor.
"So this Atelier wants to just serve them up to us?" they wonder idly. It -would- be faster just to sneak in, wouldn't it? Yet... Red eyes hood as they lift their hand to their collar, unbuttoning the first button of their shirt with their first decisive steps.
Fight, or flight?
"We're going. It'll be better for us to resolve this now," they note to Yanagi.
"Besides... why not see how far we can push our luck?"
What is stronger? Taro Nakata's self-loathing, or their desires?
Why try to avoid the answer to that question?
So, Tsumugi strides up toward that clown-like Shadow, their expression calm as they size the thing up. They head tilts.
Their eyes glow an even more intense shade of red as a cerulean butterfly floats past their field of vision.
"Hello," they offer the Melanc, dipping into a low, graceful bow. Their head remains turned up, eyes affixed on the thing.
"Let's dance a duet. Just you and me."
And as they rise, their left hand snaps upwards. Fingers catch something just above that butterfly -- a shimmer of blue like a loose string on the glowing thing. They pull once, smoothly.
And the entire butterfly rapidly unravels like a piece of clothing undone by a stray thread, all that cerulean energy igniting, blooming, taking shape--
--into a -massive- porcelain automaton of a Victorian man, his eyes hidden, his exquisitely crafted clockwork body encased in an all-concealing case of glass and metal. It lifts its cane with a cog-clicking groan. SMASHES it down.
And a rush of red seethes outward suddenly, inflicting that Melanc with an all-consuming, seething rage -- focused entirely on Tsumugi.
The Melanc rushes. And Tsumugi starts to try to quite literally dance with the Shadow, every dip and pirouette keeping them -just- out of reach of the swipes of the maddened creature -- to keep it distracted, to keep it -vulnerable- for the others to find a way past that tough, toy hide.
They don't know how long they can manage to stay just out of step in this delightful, deadly dance, but.
Isn't that part of the fun?
MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has acted with Crime Talk toward Crack The Shell! Focus and Efficient! MONAD: Yanagi Nagisa has acted with Direct Talk toward Crack The Shell! Automap!
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
Saika's smiling, as she anchors Tsumugi, and as they get back where they belong. But then it's over. So many delightful things are like that.
After the coaster pulls into the station, Saika fist pumps the air. "We made it!" she says, reaching over without comment to grasp Pernelle by his drumsticks and hoist him up, flip him around, and set him back down without saying anything. Given his scale -- especially in an Atelier -- it may be faster than trying to wiggle about and manage that tail.
(that tail, tho)
As she walks, Saika remains within arm's reach of Yanagi. It's silent, she doesn't reach out, but maybe it's just subliminal at this point. Be there to grab onto if necessary. "Right?" Saika tells her. "It was crazy. That's part of the fun, you ARE really falling!" Her hand comes up to trace it. "But the car has you..."
"Or at least," her eyes cut to Tsumugi, "that's the idea~."
Maybe you can break all kinds of preconceptions.
She answers Yanagi, too. "Mmm. It was sick as hell," Saika says, with a tone of considered judgment. "Possibly too sick. I don't think I'd wanna go again, but you got that thrill of acceleration, that sensation of being completely out of control..!"
But soon enough they are confronted with another clown. "Ugh!" says Saika, gritting her teeth. "I hate these stupid things. It's like all the worst parts of a kabuki actor and a western dancer in one single image... and now we've got to deal with a FAKE one!"
Tsumugi's already spinning off into the dance; Saika sweeps her bangs back with one hand and exhales with annoyance. Not so much at Tsumugi as because of the fact that. Well. It is in fact a giant clown toy. She glares at the thing with hatred, which eases *just* a tiny bit as she follows along with the thing's motion...
"I don't think it's actually made of plastic -- I mean no shit BUT I mean that I think I see that that SEAM," and here Saika raises up one hand to point, "is more like a SCAR! Look up there, near where it's... ear or whatever it is, is! There's like this red point, it's fleshy! There's probably some kinda injury there that it had to heal, or maybe it just itches. Either way..."
Saika un-spools her chain with a counterclockwise rotation of her arm before saying, "I know where I'm aiming!!" And she runs inwards, speeding up to leap even as Tsumugi draws the creature out into a posture that turns that ear-itch-spot JUST so to face them. And she helps the Melanc, yes she does: She snaps the chain forwards with a metallic CRACK to scour that spot.
(What Saika did not take into account, or left out to spare Yanagi, was that there's another possibility: it could be a *boil*. Hopefully not, true believers!)
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
After leaving the coaster, Pernelle toddles and teeters about, talons gone criss-crossed with every step as he loses the ability to maneuver in straight lines. (Except for his head. That, miraculously, remains perfectly level no matter how much his neck and body undulate.) "That was... that was..." He can scarcely find his words to respond to Yanagi with. "Inspiring! Invigorating! Intoxicating!"
Pernelle totters directly into a post.
Thankfully, Saika is there to grab him up and hoist him around. "Wheeeeeeeeee~!!" Somewhere in his heart, he may still be on that coaster, and he's back to toddling once she sets him back down. Even as the whole coaster collapses behind them, he does not flinch. Cool birds don't look at collapsing coasters, even if they walk like a drunk man.
But soon: the Melanc Humor.
Tsumugi, their leader, declares they shall do battle, and they take center stage to keep the sturdy Humor's attention.
Pernelle flaps up, hovering above the group at optimal tutorial height, and inexplicably hanging in the air in a way hummingbirds can, but peacocks cannot -- but Pernelle is a cognitive mascot peacock. As established, physical reality need not apply. "Tsumugi!" he says, in that announcer-voice fashion. "Do you remember when I explained weaknesses and resistances while fighting Humors? Unfortunately, sometimes a Humor will be invulnerable to all damage types until its shield can be destroyed or circumvented. There's usually a clue if you look closely at its body. However..."
He lands upon the ground to flourish a deep, sweeping bow in a 'ladies first' fashion as Saika leaps in.
"... Nothing is immune to Saika."
When Pernelle rises from his bow, a butterfly lazily passes in front of him. He snaps it up with his beak, crushing it into glittering powder before swallowing. A golden doll of a bird with prismatic stitching manifests from the wing dust. She shudders, seams breaking open as something shadowy writhes and screams from within, fire rushing outward to explode into the Humor with his own overwhelming force to follow up Saika's strike.
MONAD: Pernelle has acted with Tutorial Time toward Crack The Shell! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
It is electrifying. Yanagi giggles, leaning her head on Tsumugi's shoulder for a moment. It takes only a short time before she regains enough strength to be able to walk on her own--if with the aid of her stick--but she takes pleasure in the moments where Tsumugi aids her and even helps her off the coaster. Saika ends up not needing to offer her extra support--but it is good to have it ready to go, without being forced on her or called into attention.
"We did!" she enthuses to Saika. When she looks enbywards, and when Pernelle weighs in on the experience, she nods to each in turn emphatically. "Yes, Tsumugi was so cool! <3 I'd heard roller coasters were thrill rides, but it didn't measure up at all to the actual experience...! --Ah." That's her reacting to Pernelle walking into a post.
Tsumugi *pings* the structure. It falls apart in a grand collapse. Yanagi takes a moment to watch as it all comes tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down. There's a certain beauty to the destruction, and she captures it in her heart. Cool birds may not look at collapsing coasters, but Yanagi will never refuse an experience. Not anymore.
But then there is another clown. Yanagi's Navigator senses let her clock onto it early, helping the others lock in a strategy... such as it is. She smiles at Tsumugi's proposed direct approach. "I agree," she says, and stretches out a hand. A cerulean butterfly floats by, and lovingly, carefully, she raises her hand to crush it within her palm. Blue light shatters from beneath her fingers, and at her back, a giant woman materializes, veiled, crowned, with bows at her back and needles for limbs. She pirouettes in place, little origami angels dancing around and with her, sending the information she collects to Yanagi.
"Pernelle is right, of course," Yanagi says conversationally, projecting her voice psychically to her companions. "And Saika's already spotted it--that scar tissue behind its ear. Once we tear that open, its defenses should drop and leave it vulnerable." She raises a hand to hand on the needle-arm of her Persona with a smile. "Well then--shall we?"
Giselle dances, and in her Dance of Bravery there is a power. That power transfers to Tsumugi, to Saika, to Pernelle, strengthening each of them and lending more force to their blows to destroy the Melanc that much more efficiently.
MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has acted with Take a Look - It's In A Book toward Crack The Shell! Smarts and Patra!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|)
-==== Crack The Shell - Round 5 ===============================================-
Tsumugi Kujaku Guts Success
Crime Talk Focus and Efficient Fatigue: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yanagi Nagisa Guts Success
Direct Talk Automap Fatigue: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pernelle Academics Success
Tutorial Time Specialty Fatigue: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saika Kikuchi Academics Success
Take a Look - It's I Smarts and Patra Fatigue: 0
-============================= Party Conditions: ==============================-
Starting Conditions: Bolstering-1, Boss-0, and Shuffle: Coin-0
Final Conditions:
-======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====-
-==== Reach: 6/6 |=====| =====================================================-
-==== Loot So Far: ============================================================-
Items: 3, Money: 1, Gear: 2
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
(|====================== Monad - Taro Nakata's Atelier =======================|)
-==== Round 6: Treasure Trove - Challenge Level 1 =============================-
| Approach Options: None |
| Conditions: Revelation - The best result. |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
Once inside the big top waiting area after your success at the carnival,, a
Sanguin Humor employee shows up with a cache of treasures, having decided you're
a lucky winner. Containing supernatural pyrite, carnival glass, bismuth
crystals, and clownskin hides, you can likely make this into something very
special with the right craftsman... perhaps Peacock Silk can do something for
you?
Either way, you're ready to face the Homunculus... once the show starts. If it
hasn't, you might be able to save your tickets for later, though if you plan on
coming back for a full expedition, you'll need to replace them then.
Final Loot: 3 Items, 1 boxes of Money, and 2 Pieces of Gear!
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
Swipe. Pound. Crash.
Every time the Melanc attacks, its distorted, unearthly laughter fills the carnival grounds so profoundly the literal ground beneath them all quakes.
Every time the Melanc attacks, Tsumugi manages to be just out of reach: bending back below the swipe of a fist; spinning eloquently around the rotation of a swing; touching one massive, oversaturated claw of a hand to confidently guide its momentum -away- from them.
Every time they tempt fate with a growing smile...
... and every time a little, metallic glint fills the air one after the other, the vague suggestion of something thin slicing across otherwise empty space.
Giselle's dance fills them with power; Yanagi's information fills them with knowledge.
Pernelle's well-catalogued wisdom lets them know precisely the gimmick they are wrestling with now...
... and Saika's raw, hellacious strength proves one thing undeniable true:
Nothing is immune to Saika.
It happens when the Melanc strikes ground on its bottom, bouncing impossibly high into the air. It twists, comes crashing down --
--and suddenly stops, exactly one inch from belly-flopping Tsumugi Kujaku into oblivion.
Around it?
A spider's web of monofilaments, the metallic glint of those countless spooling wires tracing straight back towards Tsumugi's right hand.
Pressed against scarlet lips to blow that Melanc Humor a farewell kiss.
"Ciao, bella," they coo.
"Thanks for the dance."
SHUNK
A second later, Saika Kikuchi's chain PUNCTURES that weak point, right behind the ear, finding that moment in the brief span the Melanc is seized. The crack fissures, widens--
and Pernelle flitting above fills the opening and everything else within with fire, chasing down Saika's chain and pouring into every nook and cranny of the Melanc.
Its Clown-like features shudder. Bulge. Distend.
And if it isn't plastic, it certainly -melts- like one as it explodes into a ball of flames, Shadowstuff drooling into the ground as Tsumugi unceremoniously snaps their wires back, letting it collapse to the ground.
The Sanguin Humor is rushing past shortly thereafter, giddily hopping over the miserable molten mess of Melanc and hitting the ground with a slide to shove a suitcase directly into their collective faces, with a jubilant, helium-pitched,
"CONGRATULATIONS~!"
as it pops open the case and like three different full-own clown hides come popping out like a can of snakes.
Tsumugi completely ignores all of this and turns to Saika, pointedly. They're satisfied. They really have only one question remaining today.
"A thousand what?"