2026-03-04: Strigiform Sisters
- Log: 2026-03-04 Strigiform Sisters
- Cast: Pernelle, Yanagi Nagisa, Saika Kikuchi, Tsumugi Kujaku
- Where: Shimokitazawa - Street Scene
- OOC Date: March 04, 2026
- IC Date: October 04, 2012
- Summary: The employees of Peacock Silk plumb the depths of Kazusa's Atelier in preparation for facing her Homunculus.
MONAD: A party led by Pernelle has begun the event Kazusa's Atelier: The Neo-Lunar Palace. (|============= Monad - Kazusa's Atelier: The Neo-Lunar Palace =============|)
-==== Round 1: First Strokes - Challenge Level 1 ============================-
| Approach Options: Academics or Proficiency |
| Conditions: Skillful - Proficiency Up L1 and Stupor - Academics Down L1 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
You emerge in the courtyard of a grand palace. The palace towers, as if it
were reaching out to touch the night sky itself. It is made of gleaming
white stone and metal with silver ornamentation, and pulses of multi-colored
light race all over its surface.
In the sky behind the tallest tower, a pitch black void sits, ringed with
crimson fire, casting everything in a red light. From that ring an inky
blackness spreads, slowly consuming the night stars in the sky. And in the
center of the crimson ring, in the highest tower, something glints like a
red gem.
As you take all that in, a bitter, frigid wind urges you towards the open
gates of the palace for shelter.
The inside of the palace is lit by floating orbs of light encased in silver
and glass fixtures, and multi-colored pulses of light that trace intricate
patterns on the ceilings and walls. The halls appear deserted, but in the
distance comes a low, predatory growl. It steadily gets louder until a door
opens and someone urgently beckons your group inside, the door slamming shut
just before the growling was about to catch up.
You find yourself in a brightly lit workshop. The walls are lined with
shelves of different kinds of miniature but life-like statues, from humanoid
to beast to robot to mythical creature and beyond, all in various states of
completion. Your savior is a Sanguin Humor, an owlgirl with startlingly
bright yellow eyes and brown and gray feathers woven through her hair,
garbed in a red and black robe.
She explains that the palace isn't safe, and that strange things have been
happening ever since the imposter Princess took over: their Sister Star is
trapped in a never-ending eclipse, the sky turns dark, and monsters roam the
halls. The real Princess must be trapped at the top of the palace, but the
way up is blocked by a barrier. If you were to bring an offering of a
vessel, however... that might help you get to the highest parts of the
tower. After all, it is what the Princess loves doing most, so the owlgirl
Sanguin Humor urges you to follow her example.
The Sanguin Humor demonstrates by sitting down at a round workstation inlaid
with purple runes and a flat, obsidian-black disc on it. A wireframe springs
into life above it, and at her touch it is molded and shaped. A touch of a
rune on the workbench places a holographic paint brush in her hand, and she
starts to paint in skin, hair, and other details. When she finishes, she
picks up the disc and a new miniature statue is posed on top.
The Sanguin Humor hands your group a fresh disc, and there are a number of
other workstations. Your Academics could help with working out the controls,
while Proficiency will surely help with the creative process itself.
OOC: As a group, you'll be collaboratively creating a character! For this
round, don't worry about clothing or other embellishments; those will come
in later rounds. If you need some inspiration to get started, you can roll
on a table at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tir5tjha7KiTvF26HQYarS7s1imdmbdbXVTuf8_u
VbY/edit?tab=t.0.
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
The time has come to infiltrate another Atelier before yet another one of this world's fine children has their creative spirit replaced by a dull imposter! Or so Pernelle had announced, wings high in the air, and definitely was not trying to distract anyone from the mess he made in the kitchen when he tried putting confetti packets in the toaster to launch them in festive glory.
No no, none of that. It's about business. Atelier business. Homuculus business.
Pernelle takes point, wriggling his way into the Atelier and leading them along. One moment, he is but a simple peacock, and the next, he is a complex peacock, more animated and articulated, with his fancy vest and hat.
"I must confess a fl-fl-fluttering excitement in my chest for this venture!" he enthuses as they walk into the courtyard of the moon palace, all white stone and colorful lighting under that fiery sky. Pernelle sweeps out his wing, shivering all the while in the cold winds. "Within these walls was a fine artisan who made a piece in i-i-impeccable likeness to yours t-t-truly. Ah! We should see if they are able to c-capture any of your essences so k-k-keenly! Saika will be q-quite the challenge depicted in st-st-stillness, I should think...!"
Even with a chattering beak, his big mouth is undeterred.
He ruffles himself out and smooths himself down once they're inside, trying to get his warmth about him, but then ruffles right back out again as they hear the growling. "Delightfully ominous! Onward and upward!" Thankfully, his steps are quick with his and Yanagi's familiarity with, at least, this very beginning area.
"Strigiform sister! Strigiform sister! Are you here? Ah, yes, there you are, there you are!" He flourishes a wing with a bow to his companions. "This is she! The wonderful artisan!" Before she can speak, Pernelle brings his wing to his heart dramatically. "Oh! But how she suffers under the unauthorized rule of imposter Princess! Isn't that right? Yes, yes, naturally so, naturally so -- Now what was all this before, about facing some trial or another, dearest feather of the flock? A vessel! Look! 'Tis I!"
Pernelle bobs up and down with excitement in front of the example made in his likeness. He is constantly interrupting, not letting the poor owl get a word in edgewise as he conducts his tutorial before the new, empty disc.
"We must create a vessel of our own! Together! Four souls merging in creative chemistry to unleash our elegant expression upon the world and rescue our rightful royal!"
He folds his wings up against himself.
"A strong foundation is imperative. So. Avian in nature is the only proper course, I should think."
MONAD: Pernelle has acted with Tutorial Time toward First Strokes! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
Yanagi and Pernelle have been to this Atelier before. Back then, they only took a brief look around, spoke to a local Sanguin Humor, and then left. Today, they return with Tsumugi and Saika, ready to plumb its depths and prepare to take on the Homunculus nesting at its heart like a great red spider.
The chill, at least, hardly bothers her. Giselle has a certain coldness to her form, doesn't she?
"This one is exciting, isn't it? The aesthetics are so dramatic and profound! To say nothing of the artistry~" She points up towards that whirling black void ringed in fire. "That's where we'll find the Homunculus, by the way. It's interesting how it's so easily visible, yet so inaccessible." It really says something about Kazusa herself, doesn't it?
Once they're inside, a growl resounds through the halls. Yanagi lifts her head, unfazed. "Oh. That's a Melanc Humor," she comments like it's no big deal--it is her job to sense these things. She's confident that they can handle whatever they all come across.
Before that can happen, though, the owlgirl pokes her head out a door and beckons to the group. "Oh, yes, I remember this," she says, tap-tapping her way into the workstation with the help of her polished gun-cane. "You invited us to make something!"
She beams at Tsumugi and Saika. "And now that our friends are here too, we can! <3"
Pernelle's likeness was quite stunning when the owlgirl crafted it before. Now it's their turn! Likewise unfazed by Pernelle's chattiness, she leans in towards the empty disc, considering their options. "I quite agree," she says of an avian vessel. "We have the most wonderful of birds with us now, in fact! So it's only natural that we should craft... ... ... ..."
Her peacock green eyes sparkle with mischief. "An owl! <3"
All teasing aside, Yanagi will be happy to soon seat herself and start working on crafting. Her fingers are long and deft; she'll be able to do a good job at the detail work. All the more so when it comes to choosing the materials; she pulls out a pendulum and lets its gem heart guide them to only the finest of materials.
MONAD: Yanagi Nagisa has acted with Dowsing Pendulum toward First Strokes! Find and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
WHEN PERNELLE MADE THE DECLARATION
Saika had been in the middle of eating some of the loaded naan she had made for everyone.
Naan, of course, is a familiar bread to people eating at Peacock Silk, because Saika knows how to make it. Loosely triangular, flat but very well textured from intense heat making it bubble... and Saika finishes it in the oven with a range of toppings. Today it was crushed tomatoes topped by a sprinkle of cheese, a generous serving of garlic, and some fresh chopped onion and courgettes, charred lightly in the broiler.
So the first thing she said to Pernelle was "*chew*"
Gulp.
"You want me to put the rest in a box to take with?" Saika had asked, glancing around.
NOW
The cold doesn't seem to be getting to Saika nearly as much, though she is hugging herself, the tails of her yankii coat blowing in the breeze of space.
Actually, she's probably just gutting through it.
FORTUNATELY SOON THEY ARE INSIDE
"Ah, so you already befriended some of the Humors? Good, good," Saika muses, before they are swept with the prospect of creating... a vessel! Even as Pernelle overdubs the poor harried owl, who might at least be eased to know that Peacock Silk, come what may... gives a hoot.
Saika cups her chin with a fingertip resting on her nose. "Hmmm... well, you were saying they should do me, right? But - wait, is that literally an angel?" Option flip. "Or a demon!" Flip back. "Angel?" Flip back. "Demon?" Flip back -
"Hmm... Do you think owls are more angels or demons?" Saika asks, as she scratches her ear. "On the one hand there's the fact that they're night birds and often kind of creepy, and on the other hand owls are associated with Athena, the patron goddess - matron? - of Athens in Greece. On the other, other hand, they kind of said a lot of the pagan gods were actually demons... But on the other, other, OTHER hand, they also sure took on a lot of Greek philosophy."
SAIKA KIKUCHI * RELIGIOUS SCHOLAR
MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has acted with Take a Look - It's In A Book toward First Strokes! Smarts and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
The time has come! Pernelle had announced.
Tsumugi Kujaku, upper body hanging off the edge of the upstairs dining table as they idly flip through the pages of The Happy Prince, peered at the pernicious peacock upside-down.
Their half-lidded gaze lazily tilted past the provocative puff of Pernelle's pinions to regard the the slivered glimpse of the glittered mess that had been made of the kitchen.
A second of taut silence had passed in this most critical moment.
"... Okay," Tsumugi had agreed, completely disregarding the mess they would foist on someone else before the day was done.
---
The relentless chill of the lunar landscape buffets against an uncaring Tsumugi's cheeks as they regard the unfamiliar landscape of Kazusa Motojima's Atelier.
They'd been told of what's inside by Yanagi and Pernelle, of course; at least, as much as could be gleaned from their brief sojourn through the entryway of this particular princess' abode. But -- there's no truly knowing a thing until you experience it yourself, is there?
Whatever Tsumugi's thoughts on what they see as Peacock Silk wades through the bone-chill is something they - as ever - keep to themself, just as much as the affects of the cold don't reach their face save for the occasional puff of vaporous breath that slips past their lips. As Yanagi and Pernelle discuss, Tsumugi tucks gloved hands into the pockets of their tailcoat, sweeping a relentlessly red gaze across the proverbial foyer without a word.
No; it's only when they hear that roar that their gaze shifts towards the source, head tilt. "Fast," is the first thing they note in this entire journey, and it's most immediately salient. A little too fast, isn't it? They shift in preparation--
When that Sanguin Humor arrives, just in the nick of time. Red eyes turn to regard her as Pernelle enthuses over his new, Shadowy friend. A second passes.
"'Why, what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust?'" they muse, mostly to themself, before turning to follow the others within.
And INSIDE, Tsumugi performs the sacred duty of the Protagonist by nodding silently along to Pernelle's tutorial with exactly one irreverent dialogue option ("She has a lot to say, doesn't she?") slipped in at a critical juncture where Pernelle has fully and fluidly hijacked the entire exposition... before that bright red gaze, intense even in its lazy, half-lidded stare, turns to regard the vessel.
A bird it should be! says Pernelle. Yanagi, naturally, agrees. The most wondrous of birds present. They must craft...
... an owl!
Tsumugi, blithely oblivious to the barbed wound of betrayal that Pernelle must be suffering at the moment, crouches down next to the vessel and considers.
"That's great," they decide, damning Pernelle with their support of the Owl Agenda--!
Is an owl an angel? or a demon? god or devil--?
"The only thing interesting about an angel is what causes it to fall, and the only interesting thing about a demon is who they were before they fell," Tsumugi notes absently. "The owl is an angel."
Is that how it works--? Not that it matters, because soon after they're straightening up and making their decision--
"A ruby owl. Let's start with that."
By plunging the traitorous dagger ever-deeper!!
MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has acted with Proficiency toward First Strokes! Base! (|============================ Monad - Results =============================|) -==== First Strokes - 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 Academics Success Take a Look - It's I Smarts and Patra Fatigue: 0 -============================ Party Conditions: =============================- Starting Conditions: Skillful-2 and Stupor-2 Final Conditions: Stupor-1 -====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 1/6 |= | ===================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ==========================================================- Items: 1, Money: 1, Gear: 0 (|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
"YES!" Pernelle had cried to Saika's naan-related inquiry, and not quite before she managed to finish asking it.
But that was THEN. This is NOW.
Pernelle gasps out all the oxygen in the room with Yanagi's tricky treachery. He begins sucking in air and then he does not stop for a good seven seconds. Frozen in betrayal, he remains this way, frozen, for a good six more.
Saika does not object, and instead considers whether or not this should be an angelic owl or a demonic owl. Pernelle's glasses are slowly sliding off of his immobile beak with every word.
Tsumugi takes hold of the knife within the peacocks heart, and they twist.
The vessel is thus decided: a ruby owl.
Pernelle has fallen.
He lies sprawled upon the workshop floor.
"Earth and dust," he whispers.
MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has drawn a new Challenge! (|============= Monad - Kazusa's Atelier: The Neo-Lunar Palace =============|)
-==== Round 2: Finding a New Suit - Challenge Level 1 =======================-
| Approach Options: Academics or Charm |
| Conditions: Bothersome - Charm Down L1, Educational - Academics Up L1, and |
| Stupor - Academics Down L1 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
As you leave the workshop with your brand new vessel, the Sanguin Humor
tells you to seek inspiration as you make your way up the Palace to the
Manifest Gallery--you can use more of those workstations to add more to your
vessel as you go.
Thankfully the palace has teleporter pads that will help you ascend rapidly,
instead of having to climb endless stairs.
You enter something that seems like a lab, with sleek metal consoles, dim
lighting, flashing lights, and a perpetual mist rolling along the floor.
Your footsteps echo as you walk through, and in the center is a large glass
tube with a rather impressive looking suit of power armor in it. A number of
Flagmat Humors, catboys and catgirls dressed in white labcoats, mill about,
poking at various consoles. The one in charge seems to be a Sanguin owlgirl
in yellow robes with a red tabard, holding a clipboard and directing the
Flegmats.
You spy one of those workstations from the workshop near that power armor.
If you could access the computers, maybe you could download the plans for
the power armor to add to your vessel. Luckily for you, there seem to be a
number of clues to a password scattered around that you could use your
Academics to put together. Or you could just try and Charm the Sanguin for
some help with the puzzle.
Either way, solving it causes the workstation to light up, with the power
armor's blueprint displayed on it.
OOC: You can add a suit of power armor to your character! If you need
inspiration, you can roll against the table at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tir5tjha7KiTvF26HQYarS7s1imdmbdbXVTuf8_u
VbY/edit?tab=t.5tv5lajcz8m3.
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
As they collect their token and move along, Saika stoops to scoop, gathering up Pernelle's corpse and throwing his mortal remains over her shoulder, most of the tailfeathers jutting out in front of her like tree branches. She doesn't comment on it.
Having gotten equipped, Saika looks upwards.
"That's a lot of stairs," she says, even as the owl tutorializes them, before that helpful birb remarks, 'Oh! You can just use the teleport pads if you don't feel like climbing.'
'But we've put in an excellent musical trigger!'
'you should make sure to enjoy it--'
Saika is already walking to the teleport pad. Zoop!
from above: 'it's cool! it works'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxEe3mI-TEI
Saika has progressed from the over-the-shoulder carrying to cradling Pernelle delicately, like a bride or a princess, as they move forwards. It's a laboratory... and there's some sick henshin armor in the middle. "Oh, nice," Saika says, eyes lighting up. A different owl approaches!
'If powerful armor, ye seek to contrive... search in this place for the secrets three,' says the Sanguin. Saika purses her lips at this, but doesn't point out the failure to rhyme, instead looking around. "Hmmm... secrets. Let's see... Maybe it's like a secret discovery?" Saika turns around, stepping at about 12 degrees as she completes an entire gradual rotation, scanning carefully for whiteboards, chalkboards, blackboards, or other such objects upon which things might be inscribed.
She is standing near the Workstation of Hope, which stands out slightly from the others for being separated from the bench terminals as well as for having a small glowing crystal floating over it. Just in case you get lost.
"If only Pernelle were still with us," Saika sighs.
MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has acted with Academics toward Finding a New Suit! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
"We should definitely bring the naan with us," Yanagi opined back then. "It would be a shame to let it go to waste." Saika's cooking is excellent, but she'd say this even if it was terrible. It's the experience that counts, and experiences should not go to waste, good or bad.
She didn't pay the mess any mind. Realistically speaking, it's Saika who'll clean it up.
"It is fast," Yanagi agrees with Tsumugi in present day. But that Melanc confrontation never comes. Instead--
The logic Tsumugi employs to determine that an owl is an angel is a little over Yanagi's head, and she tilts her head at them accordingly. So the only thing that's interesting about an owl is how they'll fall...? But then Yanagi gasps as Saika reminds the group that Pernelle was talking about doing her as a figurine. "We can do Saika as an owl!!" She all but sparkles. "Saika the Ruby Owl!"
However they ended up crafting that owl--
She giggles vivaciously as Pernelle falls forever. Balancing carefully with the help of her cane, she leans over to pat his precious behatted head after Saika has scooped up his cadaver. "Oh, Pernelle, don't despair! What effigy of a peacock could ever match up to your majesty? We had to do an owl, because the best bird is already you! <3"
The Yanagi giveth and she taketh away...
Fortunately, there are teleporters ahead. Yanagi /much/ prefers those to the prospect of having to agonize up endless stairs. She's had enough of /that/ experience for a very short lifetime, thank you. And she's never been on a teleporter before! Win/win! "Thank you so much! <3" she enthuses at the tutorial bird before hurrying as fast as her shriveled-yet-reinforced legs can take her.
On the other end, there are more owl Sanguins. There is power armor. And there is a question of how to do it. "Hmmm..." There are a lot of terminals, she notes as she looks around the area. Her gaze settles on the Sanguin itself. She approaches.
"So, where are these secrets? Tell us," she asks it bluntly. Given that it just told them all to search for them, this may not go over well--but who knows? Maybe the direct approach will work.
If only Pernelle were still with them. "So true," she sighs, nodding twice.
MONAD: Yanagi Nagisa has acted with Charm toward Finding a New Suit! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
Tsumugi Kujaku regards the fallen form of Pernelle, head tilt. Look, how mighty he once was! How splendid! And now, his majesty has been rendered to naught by the passage of time!
Kujaku ponders peacock for some pensive, precious seconds, before pointing at Pernelle's prone body.
"Demon," they decide, pluck up their vessel, and then move on, leaving Saika to scoop up the remains of their perished friend...!
Bright red eyes regard the stairs. That is a lot of stairs. Surely there's a way that involves less effort--? And so there is! The owl, eager to tutorialize now that she finally has a window of opportunity to do so, sweeps in like some predatory bird to explain the teleporters. Tsumugi, magnanimous as they are, stands at the side, waiting for Saika to inevitably march towards the teleporter pad before the tutorial is even finished.
Zoop!
Tsumugi stands there patiently, humming along to the music (??), before they hear Saika above, announcing that she is still alive.
Whereupon they finally step smoothly onto the pad, still humming their deadpan hum as they go.
Zoop!
There they materialize, vessel in hand, beside Yanagi. Regarding the lab full of cat-eared researchers and one (1) owl girl, Tsumugi tilts their head, looking between the two styles of animal-people with muted thought.
"Interesting," they say. "You'd think they'd kill each other."
--
Well. It's a thought worth considering!!
But Saika decides to go exploring, the Once and Future Pernelle in tow. Yanagi, on the other hand, takes a direct approach. Tsumugi considers both for a moment. And then--
A gloved hand falls on Yanagi's shoulder as the tailor of Peacock Silk loops around her to tip their chin the owl's way.
"We find this place fascinating," they append to Yanagi's blunt command. "You, especially. Our late friend," head nodding towards Pernelle, "always loved a good explanation. Could you tell us how this all works?"
They offer one of those little, mystique-laced smiles of theirs.
"You'd honor him to show us something so fascinating."
And thus they'll continue, subtly nudging the owl to reveal what they want for their vessel, with as little direct involvement as humanly possible.
It's the fundamental truth of life: why work, when others can work for you?
MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has acted with Devil's Bargain toward Finding a New Suit! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
Dead! Perished! Gone!
Demon, Tsumugi says. Pernelle's head pops up to gasp AGAIN!
Then he is dead once more.
Pernelle is carried off in his ignoble death at the hands of his treacherous companions, completely ragdolled as Saika carries him up the tower. A wing hangs down, extra limp, as he is reverted to the princess carry. Ah, perhaps precious Pernelle was the proper princess all along.
(He is not the princess.)
That the Ruby Owl is Saika makes it quite a bit more exciting, and that it must be so because Pernelle is already the perfect peacock, uncontested, is a truth he should have known! But it is too late! He is already dead! Expired from this world and any other!
His tongue dangles out, belatedly.
Woe! Not a spark left for a puzzle's tutorial!
As everyone speaks of their fallen friend, Pernelle, and how he is no longer here to help, Pernelle sniffles a great tear back.
"If only these kind and wonderful humors could extend a helping paw to the precious friends I've left behind... if only...! A peacock's final, heartfelt wish...!"
He falls limp again. Very dead.
MONAD: Pernelle has acted with Charm toward Finding a New Suit! Base!
(|============================ Monad - Results =============================|) -==== Finding a New Suit - Round 2 ==========================================- Tsumugi Kujaku Charm Success Devil's Bargain Specialty Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yanagi Nagisa Charm Success Charm Base Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pernelle Charm Success Charm Base Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Saika Kikuchi Academics Success Academics Base Fatigue: 0 -============================ Party Conditions: =============================- Starting Conditions: Bothersome-2, Educational-2, and Stupor-1 Final Conditions: Bothersome-1 and Educational-1 -====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 2/6 |== | ===================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ==========================================================- Items: 1, Money: 1, Gear: 0 (|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
* The naan is in the naanventory
* Somehow it's still steaming...
"Are owls and cats enemies?" Saika had remarked, while holding the extremely deceased Pernelle. She glances at Tsumugi and raises her eyebrows.
Even as Yanagi approaches the adjacent owl Sanguin, who looks momentarily anxious - veering towards fearful - shading towards a wide-eyed wobbling terror-dissociation which is normally only found when you didn't do your Spanish lessons - loses track of the sequence, and swings a wing towards...!!
Another monitor stand? With a sticky note!
And yet! Tsumugi's leaning in! The Sanguin's eyes and feather-horns are wide and flat respectively as the birdy beak blubbers, those enormous naturally-animated eyes gazing up towards Tsumugi as they... smile~
"A-ah there's another one that's, um, that's in a *drawer*, and the phone rings sometimes and that's got someone who's going to say their p-password is the third secret and you're not s-s-s-supposed to give them ACCESS or you get wr-written UP--"
Saika returns with the sticky note. It turns out that the password is a nine digit code, and is, in fact, after a couple of experiments, the following nine-digit code:
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
"Oh--"
"Oh wow--"
"--they cracked it--"
"-- they're not from IT, are they?"
"U-uhm - if you want to know some tips for the armor designer..."
SOON.
"I think," Saika says after due consideration of the option, "that we have to go with..."
Saika points. "The motorcycle form!!!"
"Not only will our hero be able to show wisdom and sagacity in a deeply carmine way," Saika comments to Yanagi, "but they can also give a friend a lift!" She looks to Tsumugi. Saika doesn't say anything. She does lift her eyebrows, though, even as she briefly sets Pernelle's corpse down in order to do the complex short-codes needed to finalize the design.
BEEP.
"Huh," Saika says, looking at the blueprints. "This makes sense actually. I hope I can keep it."
MONAD: Yanagi Nagisa has drawn a new Challenge! (|============= Monad - Kazusa's Atelier: The Neo-Lunar Palace =============|)
-==== Round 3: Mechanical Maintenance - Challenge Level 2 ===================-
| Approach Options: Proficiency or Understanding |
| Conditions: Bothersome - Charm Down L1, Educational - Academics Up L1, |
| Hard - Understanding Down L1, and Skillful - Proficiency Up L1 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
The climb through the palace seems endless--if you were to glance out a
window now, you would see the palace grounds as a distant circle, surrounded
by a sea of encroaching darkness on all sides.
You find your way into another lab, though in this one the Flegmat catboys
and catgirls seem to all be dressed in various types of power armor, or
otherwise lighter suits with heavier armor attachments.
Back in the workshop area is another Flegmat humor, one with a cyan bodysuit
and darker blue armor pieces. And... his left arm seems to be missing, with
blinking circuitry in the stump. The forearm is on a worktable, where a
Sanguin owlgirl in yellow robes with a red tabard seems to be working on its
innards.
You get the impression that she is inundated with repair tasks and
overworked. Maybe you could lend your Proficiency to assist with repairs, or
use your Understanding to sympathize with her plight.
When you're done, the Sanguin gives you a small chip with glowing purple
circuitry on it. You can insert it into the workstation by the exit to add
an energy weapon to your vessel.
OOC: Add an energy weapon to your character! If you need inspiration, you
can roll against the table at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tir5tjha7KiTvF26HQYarS7s1imdmbdbXVTuf8_u
VbY/edit?tab=t.e4d3rqdj07lu.
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
You'd think the cats and the owls would kill each other.
"Hm!" Yanagi considers this thought of Tsumugi's, tapping a finger on her cheek. "But when you think about it, aren't owls just cats with wings? Maybe it's only natural they get along!"
A pause.
"Or maybe they just haven't gotten around to killing each other yet!"
There we go.
Yanagi looks up at Tsumugi again when they rest a hand on her shoulder and join her in questioning the Sanguin, which, perplexingly, had seemed intimidated by her directness. She smiles warmly at Tsumugi's support, though, and nods vigorously at the Sanguin, as if to say, 'Yes, what they said!'
And, now that the others are putting more of a shape to the game they're all currently playing... "Oh, how I miss Pernelle! Sometimes I can even still hear his voice...!" she chimes in after a peacock's final, heartfelt wish. She daps a nonexistent tear from the corner of her eye.
Then she turns to Saika. "We should make him a tombstone! We can leave a naan on it as an offering. All of the naan, perhaps! Ooh, or we could make them into the tombstone! It would be a great sacrifice to use them all up and have none for us to eat anymore, but it's worth it to honor our beloved friend...!"
It's fun to play around! And it's even more fun to tease Pernelle. He's so theatrical, and she does love him so!
Ultimately, they go with Motorcycle Form. "Do you think we'll be able to use the motorcycle ourselves? Or is it just for the vessel...?" She smiles. "Though I also hope you can keep it! It'll be one step closer to a real-life Saika the Ruby Owl! <3"
...
The party moves on... The windows display an ethereal view, and Yanagi admires the circular grounds boxed in by darkness. Truly they've been flown to the moon...
The next lab has the Flegmats armored up--but one is missing an arm. Missing an arm, and on a work table where a harried Sanguin is trying to repair him...
Yanagi tups over and leans over to get a better look. He looks to be in bad shape. No one is helping the Sanguin either. She looks over at the owl and smiles. "You're doing a great job! Keep it up!"
Lilting her voice upwards, she sings:
"Whistle while you work~
"Put on that grin and start right in to whistle loud and long~"
She whistles jauntily here to the melody. Another homage to Pernelle, clearly--he always did love singing little songs, too! Such a shame that he's dead and can't join in...........
MONAD: Yanagi Nagisa has acted with A Little Song toward Mechanical Maintenance! Escape and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
As they're given a tour and/or the answers to their current predicaments courtesy of one flustered owl, Tsumugi notes off-handedly to Saika,
"Larger owls will ambush and eat cats when the opportunity presents itself." They seem rather ambivalent about the information, save to aside to their owl tour guide, "It's magnificent."
Will this make the group dynamics of this research room more awkward now--??
Or maybe they just haven't gotten around to killing each other yet!
"Oh, true."
Tsumugi Kujaku cares not.
AFTER ALL -- they get what they want in the end, and that's really what matters. As Saika acquires the code and ponders the fateful decision of what grand armor to adorn their - her? - ruby, owlish likeness in, Peacock Silk's purveyor looks duly satisfied, tilting that bloody-scarlet gaze towards the owl.
"Ah, great. I feel very informed now. Thank you. I'm sure Pernelle would be touched at how well you did."
They look sidelong towards Pernelle's fallen (?) corpse (??). "Would you?"
But, onwards they go, gloved hands tucked once more in pockets as the left falls away from Yanagi's shoulder. As Saika turns her gaze their way, they acknowledge it with the wordless dip of their chin as if in quiet, detached approval before they move on.
"Do you want a motorcycle, Saika?" is the sole thing they wonder as they ascend.
And the further upward they climb? As they reach the sad lonely splendor of space's dark and deep and endless nothing?
Tsumugi regards it all - the sea of stars, separated and isolated by lengths of void that no living thing could ever dream to cross - and furrows their brows faintly.
"..."
It's only then that their gaze finally turns away to regard the workstation. They, instinctively, move to the Sanguin like Yanagi. Hands in their pockets, they lean in over the owl's shoulder, brows raising shallowly in the impression of interest as they look at her go.
Yanagi offers encouragement. And Tsumugi--
"No. Not like that."
-- offers backseat driving??
"It isn't about fixing it. It's about giving it a form that it will accept. Like this..."
Yes. They seem to see fit to guide the owl girl with their words rather than actively participating, becoming the invisible hand that guides to a perfect flourish.
They only pause in their instruction to look around them, once, and note to Yanagi and Saika,
"This is a good place to build the Naan Tombstone. We shouldn't waste wasting it."
without even missing a beat before they go back to their instruction.
MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has acted with Seamless toward Mechanical Maintenance! Diligence and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
"I would have been the most touched," Pernelle confirms to Tsumugi. "Beyond touched. The touchest." Then he is dead again.
But a motorcycle form?!
Sacrificing the naan??!
Discussion of BIRD BEHAVIOR??!
No, no. Pernelle is dead. Betrayed! Slain! Never mind his final wish was to help his friends solve a puzzle. He is PERISHED! No more! The bit has been COMMITTED! There is no force in heaven nor earth that shall restore his immortal soul to his mortal body!
The final nail is yanked from the coffin as Yanagi begins to sing.
...
...
...
"Ooooooooooh~... Whistle while you work!" Pernelle joins in with dramatic depth. Having escaped his princess carry, he glides in from above on graceful wings to land beside Yanagi.
"Steady your heart and do your part with a blissful song~!"
He bobs, most blissful in his own way, and leans in toward Yanagi as he whistles along with her in harmony. Technically, the lyrics were words, and they are meant to be encouraging.
Then, abruptly, he faces Saika and Tsumugi. "If you persist in conspiring the construction of the naan tombstone -- which is PRECISELY what I would have wanted, it is true, and I adore you both for recognizing this important truth -- then it must be built within my beak!"
MONAD: Pernelle has acted with Encouraging Words toward Mechanical Maintenance! Patra and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
"I mean I don't know at all," Saika says, on the topic of owls. "I don't go out and watch! Honestly I wish I had, we had cats in the backyard where I grew up... It was pretty near the woods, too." Saika scratches the back of her neck. "But I never HEARD of owls and cats fighting."
(Saika also re-equips Pernelle for a while.)
"I think he'd like that," Saika muses to Yanagi. "The naan will fortify him in the afterlife so he can grow stronger and hit up all the ghost peahens... Maybe we could finally get rid of that weird canned stuff, too... But I guess we've got to do it here, he wouldn't have wanted us to make a big deal out of it."
But then there is new information about cats and owls. Saika blinks even as her eyes turn towards Tsumugi.
Saika's eyes widen. Then widen further. Then she leans forwards, to say: "So you're a witness. You've got to write it up, Tsumugi~. It's for *science.*" Further up, further up... and Saika turns her head to look out the window as they go.
The sight makes her pause for several seconds, but her response is subtle - unusual, perhaps, for her.
"Why do they have the garage up this high? Is this all flying stuff?" This once they get close enough, and when Tsumugi moves to do some design consultation, Saika sets Pernelle down - shifting his head a little and giving his neck feathers a little fingernail scritch. Turning around, she rests her hands on her hips. "Right."
Out comes the BREAD, which Saika crouches down to start arranging in a sort of pyramidal form on the floor of the garage -- looking up afterwards then, letting out a gasp, and then.... AND THEN...
"Ah--! A miracle! A thermodynamic miracle...!" One of the naans, by mysterious force, flies up in a sharp tumbling high arc towards Pernelle. CAN HE GRAB IT IN MIDAIR...?
MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has acted with Grace and Force toward Mechanical Maintenance! Specialty! (|============================ Monad - Results =============================|) -==== Mechanical Maintenance - Round 3 ======================================- Tsumugi Kujaku Proficiency Success Seamless Diligence and Patra Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yanagi Nagisa Understanding Success A Little Song Escape and Patra Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pernelle Understanding Failure Encouraging Words Patra and Efficient Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Saika Kikuchi Proficiency Success Grace and Force Specialty Fatigue: 0 -============================ Party Conditions: =============================- Starting Conditions: Bothersome-1, Educational-1, Hard-2, and Skillful-2 Final Conditions: -====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 3/6 |=== | ===================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ==========================================================- Items: 1, Money: 1, Gear: 0 (|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
Yanagi nods sagely at Saika's input on the matter of the Naan Tombstone. "So true! Pernelle was always a true friend like that. We'll have to make sure his tombstone reaches the heavens!" She points to the window and chirps, "Fortunately, they're right there!"
In other words, Tsumugi is precisely right about where they should be building it. Waste not, want not! Or something like that?
"Oh, really?" Yanagi says with interest at Tsumugi's explanation of the dynamics of cats and (larger) owls, on which note. "Hmmm... Then maybe it really will happen eventually!"
But are owlgirls and catboys really the same as regular owls and regular cats...? It's yet to be seen.
"Eh? Huh??" the current owlgirl utters at Tsumugi's backseat driving. "I-I didn't ask for your input! ...oh, but... actually, that's a good idea..." Following Tsumugi's directions and suggestions is inspiring them...! And that naan Saika's building into a grave smells really good... Maybe she'll eat some later to get her energy up. (Off the floor?? (Yes, off the floor. Owls pass grosser things.))
Just as inspiring: Yanagi and Pernelle's dulcet duet. He may have been absolutely committed to the bit, but he's even more committed to singing little songs! This is yet another way in which his soul and hers are in sync.
Too bad Pernelle ruins his own song by leaping for and snatching that naan Saika tosses him out of the air. What naansense...!
(But at least he does indeed get to build it in his beak.)
MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has drawn a new Challenge! (|============= Monad - Kazusa's Atelier: The Neo-Lunar Palace =============|)
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
-==== Round 4: Colony Catastrophe - Challenge Level 2 =======================-
| Approach Options: Academics or Guts |
| Conditions: Heartening - Guts Up L1, Shuffle - Draw 1 Minor Arcana., and |
| Stupor - Academics Down L1 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
As you keep climbing ever higher, through stairs, teleporters, and endless
hallways, it's clear you're reaching ever-dizzying heights: A quick glance
out a window now reveals that palace grounds are a speck of light in the far
distance below you, leaving you almost suspended in a void of darkness.
As you've ascended, you've seen the evidence of dangers that the Sanguin
Humors have done their best to steer you around, such as deeply gouged claw
marks in the walls and flood, shatttered statues and torn art, or even just
the faint, distant snarls of something beastial. But more subtle than all of
that has been skittering, high-pitched echos emanating from the dark shadows
in the ceilings.
You take a wrong turn and stumble into a dark room, and the light spilling
in from the hallway reveals... bats. A /lot/ of bats. Who are, in fact,
Coleric Humors. As one, they turn to look at you, and with a sudden
cacophony of screeching, they all start to swarm.
You can fight them off, but they're endless. You can use your Academics to
try and get back on track to your original destination--and to safety. Or
you can summon all of your Guts to plow your way through the endless swarm.
Either way, there is a Sanguin Humor waiting to call them off and offer some
aid for the last leg of your trip.
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
When it's all over, the Sanguin gifts Tsumugi and the others a glowing purple microchip. "Thank you...! I see the way now! This will give you a weapon for your vessel--just pop it into the workstation on your way out!"
Upon doing so, Saika the Ruby Owl will gain a crackling energy whip that can be turned off and on--not unlike a light saber if one just wanted to go absolutely apeshit on everything around them.
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
The owlgirl doesn't want Tsumugi's input!!
... but it proves critical nonetheless. In the aftermath, when the work is done, and the mechanic offers her thanks with a microchip?
Tsumugi takes it, and thumbflicks it casually the singing Yanagi's way to complete the work, before they turn. As they go, they lift a hand, and finally respond to the Sanguin's words of thanks.
"You already knew the way. You just needed a nudge to see it."
Whereupon they seem intent to move on, simple as that.
...
Except for the part where they come to a slow stop, footsteps taking them forward one, two steps past the sight of Pernelle, singing and then promptly ruining his singing by devouring his own naan tombstone.
"Ara, you're alive," they say with placid guilelessness, as if fully committed to the bit of Pernelle's death. Their head cants as they watch the consumption thoughtfully. The thought that inspires said look?
"How does your wake taste?"
It's important to ask about novel experiences, after all.
But, energy whip for their motorcycle-riding Saika the Ruby Owl in hand (is this, too, a thing Saika would want--??), Tsumugi moves on. The footfalls of their metal heels ring through the ever-emptier halls of the grand tower -- so high have they ascended now that the palace itself looks like some distant, small thing that could be plucked between two fingers, and the only sight for them is the implacable coldness of space.
...
There's nothing here.
Isn't that odd?
Red eyes glow in the dim gloom of the hall, marking the way they shift rightwards to eye a long scar carved deep through the hall. They regard the statues. The mess, more bestial and fierce than the splendorous messes Pernelle leaves.
They stop. Their hands slip out of their pockets.
Flecks of blue start to shimmer and flake off in front of them.
"Wait."
A moment after, those bats - Coleric Humors - swoop in, flapping leather wings and screeching in discordant sync. They're countless. So many that they practically blot out the end of the hall in a darkness dotted with gleaming eyes like a reflection of the cold space beyond.
But Tsumugi doesn't move. They stare, straight ahead, eyes lidding.
"It's alright," they say, simply.
"They just need to be taught what fear is."
And with that? A blue, shimmering butterfly manifests before Tsumugi as the bats fly towards them. They take it by either end and -pull-, and like clothing with loose threads, the butterfly is rapidly unraveled into a shimmering burst of blue bleeding in towards a bright, scarlet red.
"Jekyll!"
And all that energy condenses into the form of Jekyll, the massive, automaton of a man encased in his ornamental glass case walled off from the rest of the world, so big in this confined space he practically clots out the center of the hall. His unseeing, uncaring stare fixes straight forward as rotors and clockwork grind to lift his cane-bearing arm up; something dark and sinewy and horrifying seethes in the exposed spaces between those shifting joints as his hand rises--
-THOK-
and then -slams- that cane down, ethereal chains bursting all around it like a sudden web of restricting light that seeks to rebound from one bat to the next and -bind- them--
"Saika, Pernelle. Now!"
So they can be properly taught to fear.
MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has acted with Crime Talk toward Colony Catastrophe! Focus and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
"I am a miracle of thermodynamics!" Pernelle pronounces, which is not what Saika says, but what the Saika in Pernelle's heart assuredly meant. And right now his heart also yearns to sing!
... And yearns for naan! "Mmrlflflmmmmmlf," goes the final part of Pernelle's song. No shame, and no regret.
Pernelle sweeps a bow to Tsumugi. "That, I am. I will not die until I have fulfilled my sincere promise to you." Then he promptly resumes tearing into that naan as a pheasant tears into a lizard's inards.
"wake tafe delifmus"
Ever onward they climb, Pernelle more than happy to make up for last time filling the emptiness of space with the business of sing-song sound, chirping and singing, and humming. But then Tsumugi stops, and Pernelle does too, one foot stuck up in front of him as he balances on one leg as they give their word to wait.
They only need be taught fear.
Pernelle smiles, and there is a most devilish quality to it as Jekyll binds everything in beautiful web of light. A butterfly flits before his vision and Pernelle bites down upon it.
"ANQAAAA~!" he sings, and fire bursts into being from the bird's birdly Persona, her stitching exploding open with it.
... And as the violence goes on, Pernelle still sees it fit to talk.
"I must say," he begins, "Despite my reservations, our vessel has an exemplary design. Our dearest Saika! An owl! Yes, absolutely, I should have seen it sooner!"
Agi detonates against a humor in the shape of a heart.
"A creature of immaculate danger and specialization, unparalleled in its niche. And the shade of her! Glorious."
Frei goes off like a chain reaction, bat to bat.
"Bathe in the blood of your foes, Strigiform Saika! They will not know it from your feathers until it is far too late for them to escape your strength! Wondrous! And we have armed her! Outstanding."
Pernelle addresses the real Saika as fire and explosions erupt behind him. "I shall be your stalwart mentor in all matters aves. Tell me, what do you understand of pellets?"
... This isn't a relevant tutorial, Pernelle!!
MONAD: Pernelle has acted with Tutorial Time toward Colony Catastrophe! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
"Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" Saika says when she sees the simulated whip. Her eyes are sparkling. She has a new dream.
It's good, to have dreams.
Continuing forwards, the high realms, something is reached -- something that's almost like a sensation in the bowels of a dungeon. "Like a reverse skyscraper," Saika says, apropros of nothing, before:
BATS
Or rather,
Their near occasion.
Tsumugi says to stop. Saika does, fast enough that there's a faint basketball-court squeak of her boots grinding over the relatively-smooth and ungritted floor. She doesn't speak. She watches. And - It's alright, they say.
Saika begins to pop her knuckles.
As the bat comes, Tsumugi calls first and the bats are gathered and Saika reaches over towards the ethereal butterfly that manifests before her, sweeping her fingers up to envelope it... then CRUSH it in a sudden squeeze. As the familiar sensation rises, Saika says, "My Monster!"
The Monster appears behind Saika, already with a ghastly grin.
"Crush 'em!" And with a sharp-swung downward punch that is, for Saika, mostly shadowboxing-- until, with crushing and splintering force, it smashes down into that chained-up cluster of psychopompic perils. Fast enough to crack - from its passage and the struck stone alike. And then comes the FIRE.
"Aw!" Saika says even in the immediate aftermath. "I'm so flattered--! I guess I'm the biggest action heroine at the shop right now, aren't I? Though Yanagi's coming up behind me..." Except Saika half-trails-off even as Pernelle's topic drifts..
"Uhm," Saika says, "I... wait," she frowns, "aren't those like something the owl spits up instead of digesting? Like spitting out a seed?" OH NO - SAIKA IS IN DANGER OF LEARNING
MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has acted with Take a Look - It's In A Book toward Colony Catastrophe! Smarts and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
Consider: an energy whip is just a chain that can bisect whatever it hits. Of course it's a dream to Saika! This is the true testament to ultraviolence.
A reverse skyscraper. It's an apt comparison. Yanagi admires the diminishing view for a moment before blinking forward.
"Ah... Bats," Yanagi says, pausing along with Tsumugi in the halls. "One of the owl girl Sanguins mentioned this. They're under their command." She pauses. "There's a lot of them..." Pause. "A lot of them."
A butterfly passes before her, shining blue. Yanagi raises her cane at it and fires. As it comes undone, the dancing Giselle materializes behind her, casting forth little origami angels to gather more information.
They immediately clash with the bats. Yanagi inspects the ones that come back and unfurl their information to her. "Tsumugi, they're weak to light! Keep going!" she urges them. Sure enough, they bring down their chains of light and bid Pernelle and Saika to follow up.
When the former sees fit to tutorialize the latter in the ways of The Bird :TM:, Yanagi smiles fondly. The bats might be plentiful, and some might try to fly straight for her long waves of hair, but there will be plenty of fear for them to learn in turn.
Especially from action heroines, Saika and Yanagi!!
...oh, but those bats are actually very numerous and they are starting to tear into her hair, though mercifully they don't yet get caught in it. Finish them quickly, friends...!
MONAD: Yanagi Nagisa has acted with Direct Talk toward Colony Catastrophe! Automap!
(|============================ Monad - Results =============================|) -==== Colony Catastrophe - Round 4 ==========================================- 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: Heartening-2, Shuffle: Wand-0, and Stupor-2 Final Conditions: Heartening-1 -====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 4/6 |==== | ===================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ==========================================================- Items: 1, Money: 1, Gear: 0 (|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
"Delifmus. Interesting."
Tsumugi Kujaku gains new knowledge! (ACADEMICS o` o`)
IN THE PRESENT THOUGH, they know exactly what they need to do: the trick is not wiping out the bats -- it's about presenting yourself as such a threat that you make the predator flinch and reevaluate.
Fight or flight. Instinct.
Like a magnificent bird puffing up its feathers to look more intimidating or resplendent.
And puff they do. Bound as the bats are, they are easy pickings for Saika and the Monster, the echoed force behind Saika and her Persona's swing simply obliterating glowing, bound Humors like she was tearing off an entire neuron cluster from a nervous system.
Even as she questions the nature of pellets, it does not stop Pernelle's fiery tutorializing. Fire engulfs one bat, before nuclear fury races across the light bindings of Jekyll, dancing from bat to bat, igniting a whole swath of the system in a host of shrieks.
And then there is Yanagi in the back, closer to Tsumugi, peering into their nature and conducting the flow of battle, even as those bats begin to swarm her, helping them find the exact point to strike. Light. Like Tsumugi's bindings.
All together, the violence assembled does not wipe out all the unending swarms of bats. But it's enough. The darkness recedes. The bats shrink back with leather flap-flaps as if uncertain their innumerable numbers are enough. And it is in that moment--
Tsumugi's arm wraps 'round Yanagi's waist as the bolder bats swoop in.
"Time to move on."
And with that, they dash forward through the opening Saika and Pernelle created with Yanagi in tow, expecting the biker-owl and the phoenix-pheasant to follow after. Light glints off the fingers of their free hand as they move.
And it's only when they reach the other end that Jekyll's holy light explodes, from one bound node of bats to the next, in a blinding flurry -- giving them the time they need to escape the hall altogether with a deadpan-yet-sing-song,
"Adieu~."
MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has drawn a new Challenge! (|============= Monad - Kazusa's Atelier: The Neo-Lunar Palace =============|)
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
-==== Round 5: The Manifest Gallery - Challenge Level 3 =====================-
| Approach Options: Guts or Understanding |
| Conditions: Bless - +1 to Group Roll (Per Character), Bolstering - Guts Up |
| L2, Hard - Understanding Down L1, and Heartening - Guts Up L1 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
You've ascended high into the palace, and the halls are in rough shape. The
pulses of light that ran along the walls are all dark now, many of the
magical lights are flickering rapidly, and there are deep, goinging claw
marks embedded into the floors with alarming frequency.
But finally you reach your destination: the Manifest Gallery. Though high,
arching doors you step into a large gallery space: Flegmat Humors, catboys
and catgirls in all manner of fantastical costumes and garb mill about,
observing miniature animated statues placed on display in various poses or
looping animations. For the moment, this room still appears to be brightly
lit and in good shape.
An owlgirl in orange robes trimmed with yellow--a Sanguin Humor--ushers you
forth to a small altar with a receptacle for the disk you've been carrying.
She explains that all you need to do is to place the disc in the altar and
name your vessel. When you do, the image hovering over it vanishes and is
placed on display.
The Sanguin Humor thanks you for your offering, and hopes that with enough
offerings they'll be able to convince the Princess to let down the wards
guarding her chambers. She presents everyone in your party with two gifts:
* You have gained the Key Item PRINCESS' FAVOR!
A sign that you have completed the offering of a vessel and
gained recognition by the Princess. It features a crescent moon
encircling a lily, both carved out of moonstone and set against
a small, round black pin. It glows faintly in the dark.
* You have gained the Unique Item FIGURINE OF <Name>!
Hey, it's <name>! This figurine is finely detailed and posed in
the middle of a fierce attack. This is to commemorate the
journey you took to offer a vessel to the Princess. Please treat
them well!
The Sanguin Humor is about to invite you to explore the Gallery when a
hulking, snarling wolf batters its way past the doors. It might have been a
palace guard once, as evidenced by the bits and pieces of armor still
clinging to its body, but as it stands it is fully under the Homunculus'
sway: a Melanc Humor. It roars, causing the Flegmat attendees to scream and
scatter. As they do, it begins to criticize the wasted effort spent on the
fancy costumes and on creating the offerings.
And it will criticize everyone in the party, too, especially anybody acting
in ways that don't confirm to rigid gender norms.
You'll need to use your Guts to battle the beast and subdue it, or you can
try to be Understanding and rally the Flegmats to help with the process.
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
And so they find their way to the end. The gallery looms before them; catgirls and catboys there, to observe and to provide a quite glamorous and charming backdrop to the entire scenario. ANd approaching them, another orange-garbed owlgirl, who says, "Come, come! Please, I'm so glad you were able to brave the journey... please, whichever one of you has the [Disk], if you could... We're hoping these offerings will encourage the Princess..."
"Oh, thank you," says the Sanguin Humor who takes the offering. "This is quite lovely, quite lovely indeed... with enough of these sorts of things... oh, my, the laser whip, is it?"
"Yeah," Saika says, "it rules!"
"Hmm - hmm - yes, yes, just one moment..."
The Humor bustles off as Saika leans back a little, folding her arms before her and looking at the others. "This one wasn't too bad," she says. "I sort of wonder what makes the difference, but I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder. Someone who hated stairs would've had a rough time."
The Humor returns, bearing a tray with two identical seeming boxes on it. "For you, brave warriors and beautiful maidens." Lift it up...
* Got PRINCESS' FAVOR!
* Got FIGURINE of SAIKA THE OWL RUBY or possibly SAIKA the RUBY OWL; it's hard to say.
"Oh wow," Saika says, admiring the figurine. She tilts it, and seems to see some flaw that makes her frown just the tiniest bit. Her hand comes up to cup her chin even as the Sanguin exhales and looks up towards the others -- mostly Tsumugi, but the owling has a smile for Yanagi too, and a respectful look for Pernelle, as a fellow avian.
"You're all welcome to explore th" the Sanguin begins, when the door explodes behind them.
Several fragments clobber the Sanguin, who lets out a hearty "oh goodness--!!!!" Indicative of survival even as the looming, still-expanding wolf growls and looks at the entire group before him, slavering, snarling, and then thrusting out one hand to point at --
"YOU! What the HELL kind of gaudy outfit is that? You think you look GOOD in that kind of an outfit, fluff-ass? You think you're gonna impress all the CHICKIES? Well I got news for you, pal, if you can't SUIT UP, you aren't -- And as for YOU!"
The Melanc had been denouncing Pernelle's aesthetics, and as he turns towards Saika, he extends out one hand to point at her. "And as for YOU! Look at that stupid hair! Did you put two colors in it to make up for when you dunked your head in bleach!? What the hell is this, some kinda Showa-era throwback? I got news for you, sugarbeets,"
this continues on for several horrible moments as Saika quietly hands the figurine she was admiring over to Yanagi and shakes her head. "I think we're going to have to kill this guy, 'nagi," she says, before striding forwards, even as the Flegmats robble-robble and panic in the background.
"-- you coulda been a MOTHER or maybe a SCHOOLTEACHER or a SHRINE MAIDEN but instead yer walking around here like," the werewolf continues to speak, his burly arm still stuck outwards. "Like you're gonna ever get a MAN interestKUHH!!??"
During this ongoing rant, Saika - whose face, somehow, has lost most of its miraculous humor (of the mirthful nature) as she closed ground with the ranting Melanc - had positioned herself, judged relative size, and had, just that moment, thrown herself into what was, superficially, a cartwheel. At its apex, she swung one leg forwards and then back, followed by snapping her calves shut around the Melanc's elbow and continuing forwards with a shove and a wrench of her hips!
Were this a non-cognitive werewolf, she'd be hanging onto it. Saika is strong, and she is tough, but this werewolf -- were he real -- would be like a sumo made entirely out of muscle. Two sumos, perhaps. But here, now. Here in the depths (heights) of an Atelier, it goes differently.
There's a loud POP as his arm disjoints, the werewolf getting through the 'st' syllable before his back hits the ground and the air is struck out of him! Saika lands on her back and butt, kips up, and before the Melanc can do more than breathe out, starts kicking him in the neck and side!
The Melanc's primary response to this is yowling. "Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP! I don't need to hear this kind of refried shit from the likes of you!" Each exclamation point is a stomp!!
<Pose Tracker> Pernelle has posed.
Oh yes, Saika is embracing education! "Just so!" he exclaims, no shortage of praise in his voice. "Already you understand one of the most important aspect of owls! As expected from our Saika!"
But the bats. The bats! Phoenix-pheasant Pernelle passionately puts them to pyre! ... And also books it after Tsumugi.
"Absolutely refreshing!" he comments of the entire ordeal before he waddles up to observe all the festivities and receive their just rewards. To which Pernelle is, of course, a quiver with a delighted little squeal that happens when words fail him.
"Look! Look! How positively precious!" The owlet gives respect, but Pernelle bobs in a most undignified enthusiasm. "You will commit such acts of violence that the world will tremble at the sight of you!"
Then his beak opens wide over the Princess' Favor as he sees fit to taste such a thing -- when the wolf (mercifully??) crashes the party.
Pernelle's glasses pop right off his beak and fall askew as his outfit is insulted! He looks over himself, balancing on one foot and then the next, then turning all around in a full circle trying to look at his ass, which is accused of being fluff.
"... Who on earth are you speaking to?" he asks, in full sincerity, for these words could not possibly apply to him! "My good sir, are you feeling well?"
But the insults continue, and Pernelle looks each target up and down. "Well, that's clearly an obvious fib. Saika's head fringe has always been a striking asset. And --" Oh dear. Is this vile beast will turn such hostile words upon Yanagi and Tsumugi as well?
Saika does the only reasonable thing that can be done. Pernelle readjusts his glasses. "Mm. Yes. I do believe that is the proper retort. Thank you, Saika."
He turns to the flegments, backed by the beautiful symphony of popping joints.
"Do not let this ruffian's putrid attitude infect your hearts. No, no, no, the wasted effort lies with those who spend their time tearing down instead of building up. Know that there is not a word spoken against you in this world that holds more value than your act of creation itself!"
MONAD: Pernelle has acted with Encouraging Words toward The Manifest Gallery! Patra and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Yanagi Nagisa has posed.
As some of the bats grow more and more aggressive, to the point that Yanagi is actually starting to feel distressed about it, Tsumugi wraps an arm around her waist and lifts her up with ease.
"Oh! <3"
And so Yanagi breaks out into delighted laughter as the four of them dash away, dash away, dash away all!
In the final gallery, she leans on Tsumugi for a moment as the Sanguins display the end result of their collective Vessel. She smiles back at the owling and admires Saika the Ruby Owl (however it is capitalized and/or arranged)--up until a MELANC WOLF MAN arrives and RUDELY INTERRUPTS and EVEN MORE RUDELY INSULTS THEM ALL.
"Oh," Yanagi utters, this time in a very different tone. She accepts the figurine from Saika and nods sagely. "Let's have fun~!"
Giselle manifests above her, pirouetting on her needle legs, and sends forth her animation paper angels to gather information and support Saika and Tsumugi in their acts of destruction. She leaves reassuring the Flegmats to Pernelle, bless his sweet bird heart. He always knows what to say; she knows this from personal experience.
MONAD: Yanagi Nagisa has acted with Direct Talk toward The Manifest Gallery! Automap!
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
Tsumugi Kujaku's detachment is a thing to behold. It persists, even in the throes of that conflict. Even as they see more and more wondrous sights in this magnificent moon palace. Laissez-faire indifference remains the order of the day for them throughout, their ruby-red gaze focusing on some distant point as they arrive at the penultimate chamber, offering ready.
It makes the moments when that attitude shifts all the more pronounced, though.
Like the brief, small smile of interest that touches the corners of their lips as their ruby-red, saika-ish owl that represents their combined will is made manifest.
This one wasn't too bad, says Saika.
"They're all interesting," Tsumugi says, smile still lingering. "The question is... what does it say about Kazusa Motojima that her Atelier is a lonely palace isolated on the moon?"
What does it mean, with that impossible tower that feels almost like it was trying to get closer to the earth beyond? Isolation, perhaps.
"Just like lonely Kaguya."
Their musing is brought to an end when that cognitive wolf bursts through; the Melanc howls out even as Sanguins and Flegmats scatter and Tsumugi whips their gaze about towards the creature, smile vanishing to that selfsame neutrality that they so effortlessly cultivate. Their stance subtly widens, as their hands fall to their sides, something metal glinting subtly at their fingers.
"Ara," they begin, with coquettish deadpan, "you finally made it~."
But the wolf has nothing but invective and judgment for them all - first Pernelle, and then... Saika.
That smile returns to Tsumugi's lips.
They don't move. They don't attack, or even respond to refute the beast. And when its attention threatens to turn towards them towards the tail end of their critique of Peacock Silk's leatherworking bruiser, Tsumugi merely has that smile to offer.
"Too bad," they finally say as Saika's encroaching shadow casts over the Melanc-wolf.
"You said the wrong thing."
CRACK
Pernelle talks up the other Humors encouragingly. And, confident Yanagi will be there to support them--
-snap!-
Tsumugi decides to lend a helping hand as well.
With the snap of fingers, the large mechanical silhouette of Jekyll manifests. Some red thing that looks like an eye bulges out of its immaculate ceramic briefly as it grips its cane in whirring fingers.
"You know, wolf packs aren't what researchers thought they were originally, but they are real. They're a family unit. They depend on each other to hunt. To exist. To thrive."
Dependency. Connections. Bonds.
Weakness.
"Do you know what a lone wolf is?"
Their smile is still immaculately pristine as Jekyll slams its cane down, magic suffusing Saika.
To amplify her strength.
To amplify her rage.
"A dead wolf."
Because this is how Tsumugi supports people.
MONAD: Tsumugi Kujaku has acted with Crime Talk toward The Manifest Gallery! Focus and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Tsumugi Kujaku has posed.
"Ah," Tsumugi say at the tail end, their red eyes briefly widening.
"I had a thought: whoever manages to claim the Homunculus' Eyes decides who has to clean up Pernelle's mess. What do you think?"
Because, like they said.
By the end of this they'd think of -some- way to make sure they could foist that responsibility off on someone else.
MONAD: Saika Kikuchi has acted with I'm A Street Walking Cheetah with a Heart full of Napalm toward The Manifest Gallery! Specialty! (|============================ Monad - Results =============================|) -==== The Manifest Gallery - Round 5 ========================================- Tsumugi Kujaku Guts Success Crime Talk Focus and Efficient Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yanagi Nagisa Guts Success Direct Talk Automap Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pernelle Understanding Failure Encouraging Words Patra and Efficient Fatigue: 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Saika Kikuchi Guts Success I'm A Street Walking Specialty Fatigue: 0 -============================ Party Conditions: =============================- Starting Conditions: Bless-0, Bolstering-2, Hard-2, and Heartening-1 Final Conditions: Bolstering-1 -====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 6/6 |=====| ===================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ==========================================================- Items: 1, Money: 1, Gear: 0 (|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|) (|============= Monad - Kazusa's Atelier: The Neo-Lunar Palace =============|)
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
-==== Round 6: Pitfall - Challenge Level 1 ==================================-
| Approach Options: None |
| Conditions: Chest - Add 2 Item/Money/Gear. and Revelation - The best |
| result. |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
After a fierce battle with the Melanc wolf, you manage to subdue it enough
for the Flegmat denizens present to move in to take care of it. This means
you have enough time to have a proper look around--you can't ascend up the
tower yet, but there's still plenty of other things in the Atelier left to
explore.
You find a small movie theater, attended by a Sanguin owlgirl dressed in
purple robes and a white mantle. She lets you know that the next showing is
about to start, and that admission is free with the Princess' Favor.
Once you settle in, an old, grainy video springs to life on the screen. It's
summer break, and an excited, middle school-aged Kazusa and Kazuhiro
excitedly greet their grandparents as they arrive for a week's stay on
summer break. (The grandparents are Shigeki and Kae Motohima, a husband and
wife team who are a legendary game designer and artist duo who made some of
Motojima Corporation's earliest video games.)
During the week, Kazusa and Kazuhiro get to take a trip to Motojima
Corporation's game development studios, getting to see their grandparents'
offices, how games are made, and even play in an arcade of old Motojima
arcade cabinets. Kazuhiro has a fun time, but Kazusa is enthralled,
particularly by her grandmother's art.
So much so that when her father Kazuki, a tall, stern-looking man with short
black hair, comes to pick them up, Kazusa excitedly tells him she wants to
make games like baachan and jiichan.
This incenses the father, who immediately begins to berate her choice to
chase a meaningless creative profession. Kae immediately moves to usher
Kazusa and Kazuhiro out of the room, but not before Kazua's expression
crumbles. The memory fades out with Kazuki and Shigeki openly arguing.
As the lights come back on, you find a golden treasure chest waiting at the
front of the theater. Opening it, you find a new weapon: it's made of
polished black metal, leather, or wood, and elegantly designed with silver
accents. It glows with black light when used.
In non-supernatural spaces it doesn't glow, of course, but it still appears
to be a high-quality cosplay accessory.
Final Loot: 3 Items and 1 boxes of Money!
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)