Mushroom Forest

[livingalarp]

⭐ Who: Cid (Shadow), AriAnna (Sovereign), Zeke (Chaosbringer)
⭐ When: very tail end of the event
⭐ Where: the Dream Sphere
⭐ What: Newbies eager to explore! ...And a less-new guy just as eager to explore with them!
⭐ Warnings: none yet

[ Shadow looks around their new location, suitably impressed by the sheer scale of the tree-shrooms they're all dwarfed by. Very cool. ...He could do without the spores being so thick in the air, but he supposes that's just part of the territory with enormous mushrooms.

He wonders briefly if they should try staking this place now, or... well, no, there's a path. It has to lead to something, right? That's probably what they ought to stake.

He motions to his companions, and indicates the pathway. ]

Let's see where this goes.

[ His usually deadpan expression has brightened just a little now that they're in the Dream Sphere. This place is so full of adventures he can't help it. ]

Comments

[livingalarp]

[ Shadow pauses a bit to marvel at how the strange flowers sprout and bloom from his every step - and as he's occupied with that, a very round mushroom creature begins waddling its way out from the dense undergrowth lining the pathway, approaching him slowly on its tiny little feet.

It's not very intimidating. Is this an enemy...? ]

[daughterofthemark]

[In an amazing stroke of luck, Sovereign looks down at the right moment.]

Oh, how adorable!

[thezekeinator]

Careful there, chums. Never let something close to you without being on your guard. Torments come in all sorts of forms.

[He'll let them take the lead, and do as they wish, of course! They have to get experience and confidence somehow. But he's ready to explode forward and snatch one out of danger at a moment's notice, if need be. His Mobility's only getting stronger, these days!]

[livingalarp]

[ Shadow takes stock of the creature, significantly less impressed by it than he is the giant tree-shrooms and blossoming footprints. But he does know that even unimpressive-looking Torments can potentially pack a wallop; he's been visiting the Dream Sphere a little longer than what he'd told the DU, after all. It isn't necessarily a Torment either - but he's got a suspicion and draws his sword, holding it at the ready.

Neither deterred nor spurred on, it simply waddles closer... closer... and takes a swing at him, he knew it - it's moving slowly enough that Shadow leaps to the side in plenty of time though. As its pudgy mitt-like fist instead knocks a small crater into the ground, Shadow strikes back, sticking it with his sword, but that's not enough to bring it down. Maybe another hit or two...

Then there's rustling from the undergrowth around them. A lot of rustling. ]

[daughterofthemark]

Goodness, it's surprisingly--

[Whatever inane observation Sovereign was going to make is quickly forgotten as the noise starts picking up, and she stands still, readying her staff. She might be new, and she might be... herself, but she knows the sound of something probably-bad about to happen when she hears it.]

[thezekeinator]

And there it is.

[Zeke yanks the Purple Lightning Dreamsmasher off his back, the ridiculously oversized sword crackling with electricity as he does.] Cover each other's flanks. Against superior numbers you can't let them get in behind you.

[livingalarp]

Mn.

[ With a noise of acknowledgment, Shadow leaps over the first Torment to regroup with his companions, his outfit's vest-tails billowing dramatically behind him. ...And the Torment reacts slowly enough that he can't resist the temptation to get a slash and another stab in - aaand there it goes, disappearing in a puff of spores.

As he's occupied with that, more plump mushroom-y Torments come waddling slowly out of the undergrowth. They have the group surrounded! The thing is, they also move slowly enough that it'll take a moment for any of them to get close enough to do damage.

Shadow frowns. ]

Isn't our greater mobility our main advantage?

[ If Shadow was fighting by himself, he'd... but then, he's not by himself, is he. Hrm. Fine, it's not sitting well with him, but their collective ability to protect each other as allies is probably best ranked higher in importance than individual ability to dodge and weave in this case. ]

[daughterofthemark]

Perhaps, but there are advantages to a defensive formation.

[Sovereign feels very smart for saying this, and will not be explicitly admitting that her line of reasoning is just "Chaosbringer is experienced and probably knows what he's doing" and her brain will catch up later.

Working to her advantage in the feeling-smart department, she uses the same basic reasoning to guess that Chaosbringer is probably a little more powerful, which means giving Shadow a boost with an Attack Order is probably more likely to make a difference.]

Show them your strength, Sir Shadow!

[thezekeinator]

Mobility is a virtue, yes! And if necessary, you can always jump out of that spot and to a different one. But if one of you misjudges, missteps, or gets overwhelmed, that's extra pressure on the ones with you to help out -- so standing back to back to back is a good basic strategy when you don't have a more developed one.

[This all sounds very sensible and wise, and indeed it comes from both lessons passed down to him and a great deal of experience. It might even sound sagacious and persuasive, were Chaosbringer not furiously trying to shake a mushroom-Torment off one of his boots during the whole thing.]

[livingalarp]

[ Shadow slashes at a pair of Torments that got too close for his liking; he's pleased to discover that Sovereign's boost has helped significantly. The Torments don't quite go down in one hit, but they're much more obviously damaged this time. The minor damage from his own power should be enough to finish these two off.

Glancing back to guesstimate his ideal target for the center of Dark Purification, he notices Chaosbringer's small problem... ]

Try punching it?

[ He has to reluctantly admit that the other two do make good points. ...And their currently formation does also mean he should be able to hit all of them as well as a decent number of Torments with one casting of Dark Purification. He quickly tosses a darkly-glowing spark over his shoulder into the midst of their group. As he returns his focus to the Torments closing in, that spark silently blooms outwards in a burst of blacklight like some sort of firework. ]

[daughterofthemark]

It seems as though we've found their key ability.

[Being mildly obnoxious, apparently.

Wow, that power's a lot flashier than hers! Though she wouldn't really want hers to be flashy, given how it works and what it does. Assuming Chaosbringer will deal with his hanger-on one way or another, Sovereign takes a few swings at the freshly darkness-exploded(?) approaching Torments. When they're this small, it turns out a good solid hit with her staff can knock them into each other pretty nicely.]

[thezekeinator]

[Hmm, so. On the one hand, solid AOE attack, it looks like, though Zeke's willing to guess that at this level it won't take out the Torments completely. And a penchant for bludgeoning violence on the other, with no hints to a power yet. Good stuff! No need for him to intervene, which is fine -- he's got other issues, since the Torment has jumped from his boot to his head, and is busy attempting to eat his skull.]

[Attempting. The power of Indestructible means a Torment this level can't even hurt him, so this is actually less annoying than it clinging to his leg.]

Good work! The more you can hit, hurt, or trouble with your attacks, the harder it is for a group that relies on numbers to gain an advantage!

[livingalarp]

[ Cid slashes at a couple more Torments who waddle too close; already weakened by Dark Purification, they begin to wobble unsteadily, very close to defeat.

Cid eyes the path they'd been following with some longing. He's not sure how many of these little guys are going to keep coming... ]

Think we could outrun them? This path has to go somewhere, and they're probably trying to stop us from getting there.

[ Little does he realize that the path just goes in a big circle.

With a second slash, he takes out the pair of wobbling Torments. There are more approaching. ]