Player Plot: The Mysidian Tower!

[jadethenecromancer]

Who: Everyone who signed up for the plot!
What: Jade is taking a team to explore the Mysidian Tower before it'd swallowed by the Calamity.
When: February 8th-12th
Where: The Mysidian Tower on the Continent of Ruin.
Warning: Everything that can be expected of surprise monster encounters. Beyond that, whatever people bring with them.

The Enterprise brings everyone involved to the tower on the afternoon of February 8th. Thankfully the early floors have already been cleared by previous explorers, making the initial entry easy and relatively safe. Once the Heroes start reaching the upper floors, however... Who knows?

All threads will be linked here for easy access:
OOC info post
Ground Floor - Campsite
Friendly Monster
Floors 30-39
Floors 40-49
Floors 50-59
Floors 60-69
Floors 70-79
Floors 80-89
Floors 90-99
Floors 100-101 will be open at a later date.

Comments

[jadethenecromancer]

[Attempting to remove the fragile volumes from their shelves would take a lot of time due to the care it would require. There are, however, some books piled next to the shelves, apparently left there by a reader who didn't care to return them to their correct place. Some of them are coming apart, but a few are still mostly intact.

The spines do have dates on them, but they're either worn off or using an unfamiliar dating system. The small writing suggests these may be research reports.]

[scriptrix]

Wow, these are old... we'll have to be especially delicate when we're handling them so they don't fall apart. Make sure your hands are clean and dry if you touch anything, and don't get any other sources of moisture near them.

[Levy's spent enough time studying old tomes that she knows just how fragile things like this can be, and also the best techniques for both handling and preserving them.]

This stack looks like written reports. It'll take a while to get through them all, but I can read Ancient, so I can start working on the translations. Robin, do you have Scholar equipped too?

[tacticallyminded]

Yes. The paper will be brittle. Be careful picking them up -- and try to not touch the ones on the shelves. I think we'll need specialized equipment.

[Without it, multiple books might fall apart. Robin frowns, then she walks over towards the reports.]

[She nods at Levy.]

I can help with that.

[zodiac_brave]

[Upon hearing the warnings of the two scholars, Ramza took a hesitant step back from the manuscripts, afraid that his mere presence would somehow harm the delicate pages.]

I will try to find you more light. [He could borrow more candles and lanterns from the base camp. Since he could not understand Ancient, it was the most useful thing he could think to do.]

[confidentia]

[ Though Ace has similarly been forced to withdraw from trying to handle the books, he is not yet ready to abandon his search entirely as he walks around some more, trying to find anything else that would demand their immediate attention as the girls begin their work.

Not knowing the extent of Ramza's abilities, he decides to offer up his own, just in case. ]

Should you need a Fire spell, I will gladly help.

[ ... Having spent so many years studying magic theory, he feels rather confident about being able to avoid setting the room aflame. ]

[scriptrix]

Yeah, some more light would be good. It looks like we'll be here a while.

[But hey, at least Levy can take half and Robin can take half while the others look for anything else of interest. She pulls out a pair of glasses, putting them on.]

[tacticallyminded]

Mm-hmm. Certainly.

[She glances at Levy, and then sits at the table.] Shall we begin?

[jadethenecromancer]

[The first page Levy reads is missing parts of it, and so the text starts in the middle of a paragraph:]

#######are making significant progress with
##########tion. Our team is confident we will
###########retake what we have lost to Narayana
#########e next four months. The largest concern
######e right now is our lack of resources now
###t we are almost completely conf#### to the
Tower. The mechanism will demand more power than
what our normal elemental crystals are capab####
producing, and### have limited time to com######
#omething new. The head scientist proposes #####
###dicating a team to creating entirely ne######
of crystals specialized for this purpose.#######
is looking into protecting the Tower itse######
#uy us a little more time. All is not ye#######

[Robin's text looks like it was written in a rush:]

We are run####### of time. The head scientist
assured me we#####stil##save this planet once the
Tower's failsafe is ready to be activated, but it was
supposed##o be ready weeks ago! Even if the
sim####### get###inished, what good will it do if
w######e the Tower? As it is we barely hav#######
cry##### to keep Narayana at bay at all, muc#####
save######tire planet. We were all counting on ###
failsaf#######to buy us a few more months, maybe
years i########lucky. ##########
I want to ####### there is still hope############
####an't help ######think we###############
########################################

[As Ramza is about to leave, there is a sudden noise behind the shelves. It sounds vaguely like a machine starting up, and after a few seconds, something heavy starts hitting the ground in a rhythm that sounds awful lot like footsteps.]

[zodiac_brave]

[Ramza headed for the door, but the noise behind the shelves drew him back. He drew his sword and moved to position himself between the approaching footsteps and the scholars.]

Ace, be ready. We are not alone.

[confidentia]

[ Ace doesn't have to be told twice, moving into position with his cards already in his grasp, though he suspects they won't be as reliable against their upcoming opponents as his black magic might. ]

A machine.

[ Or so the sounds resemble one's movements, though he's just as ready to be proven wrong. As a preparation, he casts Focus. ]

[scriptrix]

[Levy looks up from the manuscripts as she hears the noise outside the room, eyes wide.]

Try to hold it at the door! We can't let whatever that is in here - it'll definitely destroy the texts!

[tacticallyminded]

A failsafe? Ah, but the text is damaged. There's something here. In the Tower. There's--

[A machine. And footsteps.]

--Gh! We may need to fight, Levy.

[She's standing up now.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[The metallic footsteps come closer and closer, only to stop for a few moments... and then one of the shelves starts to fall over, spilling it ancient contents on the floor and collapsing in a heap of splinters. The culprit comes forward from the cloud of dust.

The machine looks somewhat humanoid, but its limbs are elongated and heavy and the head is missing its upper half. Some of the joints are damaged, forcing the mechanical puppet to walk with an awkward gait -- but this doesn't stop it from advancing towards Ramza and raising the cannon in its right arm to shoot burning rays of light at him.]

[zodiac_brave]

[For a moment, Ramza was torn. If he moved to dodge the attack, who knew what manuscripts would be destroyed on the shelves behind him. But he could not let himself be incapacitated. He would just have to stop the construct before it destroyed anything else.

He side-stepped, catching the beam of light on his arm as he narrowly avoided taking a direct hit.]

Ace, do you know any Thunder spells? [He could slash at the metal body with his sword, but he had seen Thunder do work far more efficient than he could hope for against enemy machinery.]

[scriptrix]

[Levy is not amused. Not only is this mechanical monstrosity wrecking up an ancient library, it's also attacking her friends and allies. That absolutely will not do. Standing up from the desk she's been working at, she draws a small tool hammer from her belt, pointing it at their assailant.]

Thor's Hammer!

[Even if Ace doesn't know any Thunder spells, it seems Levy has things handled on that front as a wicked bolt of lightning leaps forth from the head of her hammer. She's not pulling any punches here, as she knows the longer this fight continues, the more irreplaceable Ancient knowledge will be lost to them.]

[confidentia]

[ The answer to the question is yes, Ace does know some Thunder spells, and the moment he can feel the sparks of lightning at his fingertips, he sends the spell hurling towards the enemy. With some luck, the incantation should be precise enough to strike the machine's right arm and disarm it. ]

Thundara!

[ If not, he quickly prepares for another round. ]

oops sorry for the delay!

[tacticallyminded]

[Robin is trying out the new Tactician master job. So she... definitely... has a thunder spell. It's the strongest -- and comfortably familiar. She stands and whirls, palm out. A magical circle spins off it.]

THORON!

[And then, a veritable column of lightning erupts, into a focused beam, straight for the machine.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[The thunder magic certainly does its job. The machine shudders as the spells come raining down on it. Small pieces fall off its body onto the floor, and Ace's Thundara makes the cannon arm crackle with electricity.

Despite the onslaught, the machine continues to lurch towards Ramza. The cannon arm manages to rise again, albeit jerking unnaturally, and the puppet is about to go for a point blank shot--

Only for the damaged cannon to explode into burning bits that go flying in every direction.]

[scriptrix]

No! The books!

[Always the first priority for Levy. This room will go up like tinder if the fire is allowed to spread. Rushing back to secure the texts she'd been looking at before, she does her best to contain the flames.]

[tacticallyminded]

Does anyone have ice magic!? I worry I could destroy the papers if I used mine!

[Robin does likewise, joining Levy -- trying to shield the papers and books as best she can.]

[zodiac_brave]

[The books will have no meaning if the machine slaughters them. Ramza leaves the scholars to the book-tending and charges forth with Excalibur.

The cannon's misfire sends burning embers at him, bouncing harmlessly off of his armor, but scorching the exposed skin on his face. He ignores the pain and makes a stab at the machine.]

[confidentia]

[ Ace grits his teeth. Unable to stop feeling somewhat responsible for what has transpired, he considers the risk for a moment before striking - after all, there is no telling whether the ice spell won't similarly backfire—...

... but it's also the best chance they've got. ]

Blizzard!

[ Blasts of ice magic repeatedly surge upward to reach and strike the flying fragments mid-air. Hopefully, using a low-tier spell would make it easier to contain the fire without causing additional damage to the ancient tomes. ]

[jadethenecromancer]

[The ice spell is, at the very least, stopping any more burning fragments from spreading the fire any further. Fortunately, the floor is made of stone and thus isn't in danger of catching on fire.

The texts near the Heroes can be put out if they act quickly. The destroyed shelf the machine came through, on the other hand, is quickly going up in flames, putting the ones next to it at risk.

The machine's protective shielding is too broken up to stop Ramza's attack. Excalibur breaks through the wires and joints within the metal torso and bends what passes for its spine out of shape. The machine makes an unpleasant grinding sound as it tries to move and, upon failing, starts beeping.]

Zzzzzystem fa-fa-fa-failurruru--comme-me-me-mence--zzzzsself-destruuu-- [The synthesized voice comes out in Ancient, partially garbled by static.]

[zodiac_brave]

[Ramza does not understand the speech in Ancient...but he has learned that defeated enemy constructs usually do not voice congratulations after a battle. Whatever it is saying, he does not imagine that it is good.

He ignores the smoldering books and dashes at the failing machine. He does not know how heavy the machine is, but he hopes his momentum will be enough to push it back into the hidden alcove it had emerged from.]