closed

[curvaceous]

Who • Kara & others
What • Area exploration + private threads and stuff
When • August
Where • Lumina Cloth, etc.
Content Warnings • None for now, will update as needed

Feel free to PM this journal, DM me on Discord, hmu on the plotting post or add me at clodsire if you want to plot!

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[veardant]

[ WHY THIS?? TWO DESERTS IN A ROW.. ]

That's it, I quit this game.

[ okay not really, he's just being dramatic. but if this keeps up he's going to write a strongly worded letter to cccorp!! tighnari groans, wiping his knuckles across his brow, glancing toward their team. ]

I just wanted to study some flora.. [ s i g h ] All right, is everyone going to be okay?

[legendofthelion]

[Dehya shields her eyes. She, too, has had two deserts in a row now.] Well, if it's desert out here that means the dungeon inside is probably something else, right? And we can't really get heat stroke but maybe we should try and keep an eye out for shade until we see what's in the middle.

[curvaceous]

Man, I sure hope so. This is really gonna make concentrating very difficult.

[ Honestly, she can't blame anyone for being dramatic. She'd prefer to crawl into a fridge right about now, but she moves forward, urging the group to do the same. ]

But that just means we have extra motivation to kill things quickly, yeah? The faster we clear this, the faster we get to shade!

[notfunny]

[ he gives tighnari a gentle nudge with his hip as he moves past. ]

Break a sweat so we don't have to sweat, huh. Should've brought a sweater in that case.

[ feeling pretty good about that one, cyno's eyebrows raise. ]

That's a forest. Like, in the middle of... I guess they really left a lot of things to chance.

[ at least it looks more appealing than the sand, right? ]

So. You all enjoying the game so far?

[veardant]

[ moving forward.. yes.. that's their best bet. in his last area exploration, he at least was able to find relief in the shade once they reached the dungeon; he could only hope that the same would happen, here.

so he nods, having no energy to hip check cyno right back, and instead trudges along silently beside them. better for him not to talk right now, he'll need the energy he would spend bitching to shoot monsters, soon enough. ]

[legendofthelion]

[At Kara's concern, Dehya reaches to pat her shoulder.] Let me know if it gets too much, okay? I'll carry you.

[Even if the heat stroke isn't real, the exhaustion is still an issue. But Dehya's confident she can deal with the fake sun.

And then she raises a brow at Cyno's joke, but lets it slide without comment as he continues on.] Oh, yeah. It's kind of strange since I've never played a VR game this intense, but I'm enjoying the combat. And the world is interesting.

[curvaceous]

Hey, I'm the one that'll do the carrying.

[ She says it jokingly, but honestly, Dehya doing the hard carrying isn't something she's opposed to. She seems to be adapting better than the rest of them, so.

Cyno making small talk grabs her attention, though: ]

It's cool! I like it. Kinda weird that it's so realistic, especially right now. Poor F0x looks like he might pass out.

[ She says, like she doesn't look just as unenthused about the heat. ]

[notfunny]

Hopefully we can find some shade soon.

[ ugh. f0x, withering in the heat...

it's nice to hear people having a good time. not that he would expect anything else; anyone could've easily ignored the beta test invite. right?

as they continue to walk, it's cyno who squints towards the horizon. towards the dungeon. ]

Hey. Those are trees around it, huh?

[ something to make tighnari happy probably? a forest? an actual forest?? ]

[veardant]

I'm.. I'm fine..

[ honestly he very well might pass out, and how embarrassing would that be?? it sure wouldn't be the first time he'd passed out in a desert. but that would be truly humiliating, so he's going to cling to consciousness and imagine a vast tundra in his mind palace. sorry he's so useless, friends.

at least they're all suffering together. it builds character or something. anyway, wow, yes, a forest, that perks his ears up a little bit. he offers them all a weary smile. ]

Oh.. nice. Sorry, I'll be okay once we get there.

[legendofthelion]

[Dehya shoots Tighnari a worried look.] I have some water if you need it. Might help even if it's all virtual.

[But if everyone seems okay to keep going, Dehya will too. She draws her weapon and moves slightly ahead as they near the dungeon in the center.] If anything jumps out at us, I'll deal with it. But let's catch out breath in the shade before we go all the way in.

[curvaceous]

Yeah...yeah. Let's do that.

[ Thank god for the trees, because all of them (minus Dehya) seem to be having a time right now. Kara's quick to run into the shade, but she'll step aside and make more room for Tighnari specifically. She tries to fan herself with her hand, though something seems to shift behind a group of trees nearby.

She doesn't go after it, whatever it may be. (Disco Knives. They're watching.) Rest is more important, for now. ]

Man...I'm hoping we don't get sunburnt, too.

[notfunny]

[ those disco knives... he doesn't like the look of them. on the other hand, they'd probably be the easiest thing he's fought so far? maybe??

he's keeping an eye on them too. ]

Ugh, that'd suck. [ he sighs exasperatedly. ] Imagine if we log off and we're like, bright red and peeling in a day. Probably be worse than tomatoes.

[ shade underneath one of these trees sounds amazing, and as soon as he gets beneath one? he falls to his knees. ]

Nice.

[veardant]

You're making it feel even hotter..

[ tighnari hasn't yet seen the disco knives, but he's certainly heard them with these satellite dish ears of his.

but oh thank god there's shade now! tighnari immediately drops to sit, wiping sweat from his brow; the temperature here by the dungeon is much nicer, and if the air coming up from the dungeon itself is any indication, it's nice and cool down there, too. tighnari sighs. ]

I have to apologize. I don't do well in the heat.. even virtually, apparently. [ though he has to chuckle at kara's fanning his face?? cute. ] That's not necessary, you should keep yourself cool as well.

[legendofthelion]

[Good that they've all noticed the disco knives. Dehya drags her arm over to brow to wipe the sweat again, standing at the edge of the shade so that she's ready to defend the rest of the group while they recover.

She glances over her shoulder to them.]

Don't worry about it. It's random, right? Doing this as a group means we can all look out for each other.

i rolled a 2. :man_standing:

[curvaceous]

It's fine, F0x! It's weird that they even added a place this hot to begin with, and Dehya's right --

[ Speaking of looking out for each other, though, Kara's eyes flicker to movement from the corner of her eye. The knives fly towards her and manage to hit her right in the side. Her pain sensors are off, but she gets effectively shoved into a tree trunk to her right. ]

Ugh-!

[ That probably really would've hurt with the sensors on, eh!! But alas, the knives have decided to show themselves, and Kara's down for the time being. ]

[notfunny]

[ damn, he wasn't quick enough--- those knives look pretty fast? as soon as kara goes down, he's moving to her side, immediately lashing out with his scythe. thankfully he's able to flick the ones putting her in the most danger away (13 vs. 4) ]

Don't worry, I got you.

[ narrowing his eyes, cyno lowers himself in a more stable position, ready to knock another set away if it approaches. ]

[veardant]

[ oh boy, well, it's a good thing that tighnari recharged a little bit in the heat. cyno's covering kara, so he just.. starts blasting!! and with a 14 he lands a few shots decently enough, cutting into the disco knives' hp! ]

[legendofthelion]

--Kara! [Whoops, Dehya was definitely supposed to be paying closer attention to their surroundings. She grits her teeth as Kara's knocked back, but Cyno's to her side so instead Dehya pulls up her sword and goes charging at them. She throws out a wide swing of her blade... for a frankly average hit on the knives. It takes out a little HP.]

[curvaceous]

Thanks...

[ She says it to Cyno under her breath as she collects herself. Thank god the Sumeru other three have this covered. They're doing well with clearing the knives, but then, an ambush – Rock Heads and Lamia Assassins, on all sides.

Kara manages to get up on her feet with a 15 and join the fray. She goes for more AoE-based skills to try and get the ones to the north off of their backs. Honestly, they're all pretty damn strong in this party, so it shouldn't take long for them to clear a path.

And when her side is clear, she'll look back and see how the rest of them are doing. ]

[veardant]

[ it's nice being level 25, huh? it makes moving them down much easier.

thankfully kara is back on her feet again with little enough damage to show for it, so they can all dive in! keeping behind cyno and dehya, he keeps his back to the wall of the dungeon in order to ensure nothing will sneak up on him, and begins firing.

a nice, perfectly acceptable 14 says he takes a few of the smaller guys out of the fray. ]

We're thinning them out.

[notfunny]

[ more rock heads! he remembers them from his first dungeon experience. these should be a piece of cake, right? especially when he's got excellent allies like tighnari, dehya, and kara by his side.

it emboldens him.

but even then (13), as he lunges to knock a few of them away (heads AND their giant rock hands), it's a lamia assassin that catches him off guard. when he misses (5), he feels one of those snakes whip a tail right into his side and sends cyno crashing to the ground. ]

[legendofthelion]

[The disco knives are quickly wiped away between them, but the fighting draws in rock heads and lamia assassins. Dehya pivots left, towards the assassins, and strikes out a couple with a Calamity (14), disarming them and knocking some health down in the process.]

[curvaceous]

[ Kara steps in to keep any other enemies from attacking Cyno while he's down. Hopefully he didn't turn on his pain sensors, because that seemed like it hurt.

With the last few enemies being defeated, however...the group finally has a moment to breathe. It's even hotter now thanks to the battle, but there's finally reprieve, and she looks over at everyone to assess how they're doing. ]

...Whew. I think we got the last of them.

[ Good job, team! ]

[veardant]

[ good job team, indeed!! and yeah, sure, hopefully his pain sensors aren't on, that would be weird, right?? who would do that :)

wiping sweat from his brow, tighnari stands up a little straighter, looking between the three of them, but aside from cyno knocked onto his ass, everyone looks whole and hale. still, his ears twitch, listening for more. ]

Anyone need a break before we head into the dungeon?

[notfunny]

Yeah, but we should probably get in there before we get swarmed again.

[ back onto his feet, cyno takes a moment to account for his injuries. he'll be sore but it's better than being KO'd. or is it? ]

It'll be calmer inside. Not to mention, it's a forest...

[ and will be much nicer than hanging out in this heat. ]