Origin Star Finale: Session 2

[fairwind]

Who: explorers
When: Day 54, noon
Where: The Final Island

[At nearly noon, Thyme's airship returns from the island with the first session's explorers. Everyone receives a chain message:

Time for round two. If you want to go, gather up.

Those who wish to go looking for the second totem can now board the airship. It waits around 20 minutes -- long enough for a quick break for those who are going twice in a row -- but then heads off again with its new crew. Along the way, everyone gets a lecture:]

Okay, for everyone who missed it the last time, here are the rules:

You're not looking for a monster to beat up. You're looking for a totem, that you'll have to deactivate by showing positive emotions. Any creatures you meet on the way can also be beaten with good feelings. Some can be killed, but that's not purifying the soul, so try to avoid it.

[When you arrive, it's at a damp sea cave. The airship hovers over the water, leaving you access to the only viable ground -- a narrow, salt-crusted stairway leading up into a tower.]

Comments

START

[fairwind]

[The airship stays still and Thyme stays on it, as you all unload.]

I'll stay here while you go in. If you need to escape I'll get you out, but we need you to succeed so don't give in too fast. If you fail here, you might all die anyway.

[You can proceed into the first floor. If you need to heal or leave, return here.]

Re: START

[wontforbidtherain]

Is everyone ready to proceed?

[dereban]

. . . well, I'd like to pass on dying for once.

[ you can hear the dry, dry sarcasm to that statement.

hopefully she's not the first one heading in because NO WAY, SHE DOESN'T WANT TO GO FIRST, she is a non-combatant that doesn't fight!!! ]

[overworker]

U-understood... everyone, let's be careful.

Re: START

[daydreamshimmer]

Wow. You're just great an encouragement.

[But she's proceeding to the first floor.]

FLOOR 1

[hot_mess_express]

[As you come up the stairs, you enter an open archway into a room overtaken by flowers. They're a deep red, beautiful and striking against bone-white foliage and black thorns. From them, you hear a faint humming...

The only exit is up.]

Re: START

[fairwind]

[You get the biggest HMPH behind you as you go!]

Re: START

[daydreamshimmer]

[Saying 'you'll die if you don't' is terrible encouragement!!!!]

[dereban]

[ grimaces a bit ]

. . . Flowers, again? At least they're not higanbana.

[ or she hopes they're not this place's equiavlent. but maybe cautiously checking where that humming is coming from might be a good idea ]

Re: FLOOR 1

[daydreamshimmer]

[Looking around.]

Be careful. The flowers probably aren't safe.

[Can she throw a rock in there to see if they DO anything?]

Re: FLOOR 1

[wontforbidtherain]

They have thorns, so I would not trust getting pricked by one.

[wontforbidtherain]

Higanbana?

Re: FLOOR 1

[hot_mess_express]

[They... hum louder. It's a high-pitched tone, a melodic expression of startlement and offense.

Somehow, it makes you start to feel angry.]

Re: FLOOR 1

[daydreamshimmer]

Definitely not.

....though. [HMMM]

[dereban]

Spider lilies.

[ which she absolutely does not have fond memories of!!!! ]

I know some things about flowers because I did a bunch of research on them a while back.

[overworker]

I wonder if it's safe to try and destroy them...

[She does have a magic gun.]

Re: FLOOR 1

[daydreamshimmer]

[....I mean, that's not new.]

[She breathes deep and if there's music....]

[Let's try a counter.]

[Because why not, magic is weird.]

[Have a happier song.]

[daydreamshimmer]

They're making me angry.

Violence is probably a bad idea.

[So instead she's gonna sing at them.]

[wontforbidtherain]

That's useful. Do you recognize these ones?

[dereban]

Apparently random trivia comes in handy.

[ but she shakes her head ] Not off the top of my head, no. But that might be because they're foreign.

[wontforbidtherain]

Or they don't exist on Earth at all.

Re: FLOOR 1

[hot_mess_express]

[It's super effective!!

Which is to say the flowers start humming along with her, and slowly morph from monster thorn brambles to bright-coloured, cheerful orchids!

This room is safe now. Good job!]

Re: START

[notafruit]

[ Chiharu isn't sure how.... to best go about all this. Her heart is racing and she's a little nervous but she's also determined. They have to do something to help, right? ]

O-okay...! Then I'll head out now! As they say, it's best to just dive in, right?

Re: FLOOR 1

[daydreamshimmer]

[HECK YEAH, PONY THINGS.]

[She'll keep singing upbeat tunes as she makes her way carefully through the flower patch to the stairs.]

[dereban]

Would not be surprised, honestly.