Partners In Peril: Mao and Naho

[hot_mess_express]

[Whether willing or just, there comes a magical shove to force you and someone else through the door leading down into the earth.]

[The passageway is cold, but at least it's well lit. Albeit with flames of blue fire.]

[It goes down, down, down, until you reach the first part....]

Comments

RULES

[hot_mess_express]

SPECIAL ABILITIES ARE OFF. If a regular human isn't capable of it, neither is your character.

There is one takeback. Your characters will be progressing through rooms in this trial. One character may decide to go back however far they wish ONCE. So they could be all the way at the end and choose to go back to the beginning, or just back one room, but they can only make this decision one time. The characters will understand this fact.

Injury and death are possibilities.

Direct questions to trials-c so we can avoid bogging down the general chat.

ROOM ONE

[hot_mess_express]

[There is a door to proceed to the first room and on it is an inscription:
A fall not so dangerous from height,
But rather in footing.
Is there a way for stability?]

[You find yourself in a cave, on top of a ledge. Upon which you can see a solid stone door at the far end of the cavern. On the floor of the ledge is a message. ’You can only choose to go back once.’]

[The height of the ledge itself does not seem particularly dangerous, it’s only roughly as tall as a two story building. With a bit of care, it’d be possible to climb down without any harm.]

[The harm comes from the sea of spikes.]

[From the very front of the ledge to some distance away, there are tall spikes, packed together. There are, however, spots in the spikes where there’s enough room to put one foot. If someone was incredibly careful, it would be possible to maneuver through the spikes, even stand in places. Though one slight misstep could easily mean getting cut or poked with the spikes. Making a jump for those spots would take a miracle to not end up with a worse injury.]

[There are also two metal scissor gates along the wall, one past the spikes at ground level. The other is at the end of the ledge, and it seems to have a lift of sorts inside.]

[There is a sign. OCCUPANCY: 1]

DISCUSSION

[hot_mess_express]

QUESTIONS POST SOLUTION

[hot_mess_express]

These questions are to be answered OOCly about your character’s emotional/mental state, not what they would necessarily say or believe ICly. So if they tell themselves they're happy and are ignoring feelings of anger, the answer is anger.

How does your character feel about their partner?
How does your character feel about the solution to the challenge?
How is your character feeling right now?

Re: DISCUSSION

[beeknighted]

...Ah.

Um.

[Looks around for a rope??]

Re: DISCUSSION

[hot_mess_express]

[There is no rope.]

[....won't lie, this is especially rough for Mao.]

[misinforms]

...so we're playing with riddles this time hmm?

[If anything, she seems amused-- although her expression also appears as though she's not in the mood at all for such games.]

Just like last time, this won't be easy. Even less so for you, it seems.

[beeknighted]

I'll do my best anyway. Hello.

[misinforms]

I certainly hope so.

[Might as well offer a quick introduction before they go off to risk their lives and bodies.]

Yuurei.

[beeknighted]

I'm Mao. Nice to meet you.

Do you have any ideas about getting down safely?

[misinforms]

Let's see...

If we're both going to get down there, the most logical way would be to see if you can lower me down there slowly. Or at least cautiously enough that I can avoid those things.

Ideally there may be a way to deactivate them... in a less ideal way, I may be able to have you sit on my shoulders while I navigate.

[beeknighted]

It says occupancy one so I think only one person can go across at a time? Riding on your shoulders is one idea if you think you can navigate those spikes that dexterously.

But if it's lowering someone down... I think you might have an easier time lowering me than I would lowering you.

[Gestures to his stump arm.]

[misinforms]

Yes, that may be true. However, if we can't get rid of the spikes-- well. You can't exactly catch me if I have to follow you at some point. So it may be a risk worth taking.

[beeknighted]

...If you're sure you want to take the risk, then we can try it.

[misinforms]

Lay your body down here on the cliff and I'll use your arm to climb down. If I use my feet against the side of the cliff I should be able to remove some of the strain.

At least this way your body will have ample support.

If it comes down to it-- let go. I'd rather not be responsible for dragging you down with me if there's nothing else to be done.

[She's oddly casual about it anyway.]

[beeknighted]

Oh, there's no way I'm going to drop you.

[Checking out the scissor gate lift area for how feasibly he could hook his foot on something while laying down.]

[hot_mess_express]

[The gaps between the metal slats is enough he can hook a foot in them. The metal is also rather sturdy so it's good support.]

[Though any gaps in the spikes are not very close to the ledge. Even the closest spots will take a bit of a jump to get to.]

[misinforms]

Huhuhu... well, I won't argue with that. I'd prefer everything work out nicely after all.

[It's nice that he's feeling confidant now though. Perhaps this stands a chance to work out well after all.]

[beeknighted]

[It's a stretch to call it confidence]

Of course, we'll try for that. But, hmm... where exactly can I lower you? This cliff is pretty high, even lying down that's a good 15 foot drop down into spikes... You could kick off from the wall and try to jump into a safe area, but I don't like your chances...

[Looking up at the ceiling??]

[misinforms]

The closer I am to them, the better my chances are. A running leap from the cliff would be a suicide mission. At least this way I have more control and a better grasp of where I need to go.

[She says that, but does it really work that way? She seems confidant anyway.

Or perhaps that's just what she wants you to think. Who knows.]

[hot_mess_express]

[Nothing on the ceiling, sadly.]

[But at least there's no spikes up there????]

[beeknighted]

[Mao can't believe this is the best plan they can come up with]

Would it help if I took off my coat and you could hold onto that as a rope for a few more inches?

[misinforms]

I suppose that might help. Sure, why not.

[SHE'LL TAKE IT.]

[beeknighted]

[Taking his coat off, leather should be durable right. Wrapping his hand tight around one end and getting into position on the ground.]

[misinforms]

[Once he's comfortably settled in, she'll reach down for the end of the coat sleeve before cautiously crawling over the edge, using her feet to steadily descend.

Once she's as far as she can go, she'll look back over her shoulder to see what kind of jump she has to make, so she can judge how much force she'll need to get there.]