Ready, Aim, Fire! (Round 9) (Tainted Gold)

[Silkenfist]

In the corridors and caverns inside Ilanganatis Mountain, clouds of smoke and dust are being blown around by the winds that are now able to penetrate the mountain in various places, where the series of explosions planned and planted by Gnome Barbarian had ripped cracks into the solid rock. Coughing, the few survivors of the previous melee step over the debris and assemble in the main cavern again. The explosions might have brought upon them new ways to escape the place, but right now the narrow corridors are brimming over with dust, making immediate explorations impossible. While they are waiting for the dust to settle, the adventurers investigate the main cavern. To their surprise, they find that the shockwaves were mighty enough to crack open the rock beneath their feet. The countless treasure, the hoard of golden trinkets apparently had been sitting atop of one major crack, as it is not to be seen. Upon closer examination, the explorers find the fissure, into which most of the riches have fallen. Several yards beneath their feet, the gold has formed a gargantuan pile, faintly shimmering in the flickering light of the torches far above. As the group continues to search the main cavern for promising alterations, they hear noises from another one of the fissures. But when they approach that gap, they immediately recognize the sound for what it is: The sharp hissing of snakes. Cautiously, you step up to the edge and look down into what appears to be the remains of a pit trap, filled with snakes. The shockwave had unhinged the trapdoor, which in turn fell into the pit, blocking the entry holes, trapping a large number of snakes inside. The humans above light into the pit, hoping that the surface would be too steep and even for the snakes to climb.
Turning away from the snakes, the explorers look at the impassable passages again and decide to sit down and wait until they could continue their attempts to free themselves. They sit down on the remains of the stone pedestal that had been destroyed and cast to the ground by the explosions. While they are waiting, they suddenly notice that there are scriptures chiselled into the stone. Curious about what they could mean, they search for the Professor’s backpacks, hoping to find some means of translation. After a short search, the explorers retrieve a handful of notes as well as a manual how to translate Inca scriptures. Closely huddled together, they bend over the stone plate with the scriptures, slowly reading the inscriptions in the largest part of the broken stone tablet.
“…they look like men and they speak like them, but their tongues are split and their mind is that of a snake, cold, predatory and cruel…”
“…for this gold is tainted, as tainted as the hearts of the men who forced this toll upon us and as tainted as the hearts of those who will try to rip it away from its place. Even though the murderers may not find their judgment, the defiler shall find naught but entrapment and death inside the cage of stone, for this is the judgment of the gods. Pure hearted one, shall you read…”
They try to continue but the fragment ends there and they fail to find another piece intact to continue reading. Looking at each other, however, everyone grasps the true meaning. It was the will of the gods to have them imprisoned here. Either actual gods or what the Inca perceived as such. It might be a clue for finding a way to leave. If the gods could be appeased sufficiently, a way out might appear.
The adventurers split up, wandering around the cavern, thinking about how to use the scriptures. Only faerwain is preoccupied with a different question. He sits in a corner, silently sobbing. “It’s all a lie. MY heart is NOT tainted” he cries. They don’t even know me, I was just dragged along. Still crying, faerwain unsheathes his bowie knife. As self-doubts grow stronger in him, he looks at the blade contemplating. Now there was only one way to find out. In a quick exercise of willpower, faerwain raises the knife and plunges it into his own chest, cutting out his own heart. As he rips it out he looks at it with satisfaction and a smile appears on his trembling lips. “Not tainted” he says breathlessly before his vision grows black.
As faerwain’s dead body falls to the ground, the others explorers have started their attempts to solve the riddle. Among them, Angela was the first to head into a certain direction. With steady stride she steps through one of the previously explored corridors. “They called it The Stone Cage” she ponders, “so clearly the stone must be the guardian for the treasure. Would this make the stone god?” With ease, Angela avoids the traps she already knew of while approaching the sequential hallways with the falling ceiling traps. “Now if we plan to appease the gods, why not give in to their judgment by trusting my life to their very element” Angela thinks as she closes the door to the first sequential hallway behind her. Just as expected, the door on the other side slams shut and the ceiling starts to move down on her. Calmly and without fear, she lies down on the floor, looking at the approaching ceiling. As it is fractures of an inch above her chest, she exclaims loudly “STONE FOR THE STONE GOD” and closes her eyes, trying to think of an appropriate prayer.
One minute later, a loud ugly snapping sound, followed by a long crunch echoes through the hallway, indicating that Angela’s idea was off target. Indurain, hearing it with his keen senses, shakes his head in disbelief. “They are all wrong, so very wrong.” he mutters to himself. “This is not about appeasing someone, it is about justice. We have taken from the hoard and committed the crime for which we are imprisoned. Now if we were to give it back, we might be released.” Indurain returns to the main cavern and walks up to the fissure into which the treasure had fallen. He empties his pockets, throwing the contents down to the other trinkets. As he throws down the last golden mask, he listens to his surroundings, whether something had happened. But even though he had given back everything, no exit appeared. “Of course” Indurain can be heard cursing “the others have taken as well. Well, looks like I’ll have to pay for them as well…somehow” With these words, Indurain takes his backpack and equipment, throwing it into the fissure one by one, always listening whether something happened. As Indurain throws the empty bag down to the hoard in vain, he looks down at himself. Hesitating, he starts to undress and throws down his clothing into the gap, hoping that the parity between textile and gold was favorable for him. But a few minutes later, he finds himself devoid of further clothing to add and also devoid of indication that an exit has sprung up. “I see…” Indurain ponders. “I gave everything I had and it still is not enough. So there is but one way to achieve balance.” He looks down at the pile of gold, equipment and textile and leans forward, allowing him to fall into the depth below. A muffled ring is audible in the cavern as Indurain’s body becomes broken by the impact on the solid metal below.
Fredricus had watched Indurain falling down and seen a hint of inspiration in it. The fissures could lead to an escape, but how could he know, which one to use? He contemplates and finally finds his answer. “The snakes” he screams loudly. “Everything makes sense perfectly” he adds loudly while getting the rope out of his backpack and anchoring it in the ground. “The creators deemed someone to be snakes, which seemed to be an insult. But yet these supposedly filthy creatures are allowed in this temple?” Fredricus asks himself. “It makes no sense. Unless, of course, these snakes are not what they appear to be. If snakes were evil, they would not be used as guardians. They are a symbol of sneakiness and cunning, so they must mark the exit for someone immersed in the culture, who became trapped accidentally.” Satisfied with his explanation, Fredricus starts climbing down the rope into the snake pit. He gets down and jumps the last few feet into the pit, landing amidst the snakes. Quickly, he waves around his torch, looking for the expected exit. But Fredricus not only fails to find a way, he finds himself also in pain as he feels two fangs embed themselves into his ankle. In horror, he sees the snakes attacking him. He lets out a high-pitched scream and tries to get up the rope again, but his muscles refuse to follow. As the anaphylactic shock slowly stifles his heartbeat, he realizes the flaw in his plan – he should have removes the obstructing trapdoor first.
Krursk has not had a real idea yet until the screams of Fredricus startled him. He had considered everything while casually watching Fredricus get himself killed. “Snake Idea: Good. Everything Else: Bad” Krursk says with a smile as he watches the last twitches of his rival below. “He should have gone into another line of thought.” Krursk gets up and starts searching the walls of the main cavern. The Inca apparently had enemies, they compared with snakes. This is a place to trap those snakes, so if there was any escape, it would be one that could not be used by these creatures. “But what is it hat snakes can’t use but humans do?” Krursk contemplates, while inspecting another wall. “Anything connected to the use of arms and hands. So the exit will be tied to something with manual control.” Krursk smiles as he finally finds what he was searching. Out of the wall, an advance is protruding. Krursk feels for it, finding that it is easily movable. “Maybe this is just another trap. But here goes nothing” he thinks as he pushes up the lever with full strength.
Meanwhile Gezina has reiterated the events of the last hours. Hasn’t she, crushed by despair, tried to end the nightmare by killing herself. And hadn’t fate and coincidence caused others to be killed in her place instead? Surely this was the answer: There was a higher power, protecting those that were willing to abolish life. A nihilist god? An entity with cruel humor? Or something else? “Whatever it was, it appeared to be working.” Gezina thinks while investigating one of the known hallways. She had scouted it earlier and detected one rolling boulder trap. “Suicide for the Suicide God” she comments as she finds the pressure switch on the ground. She looks up to see whether the shockwave had destroyed the mechanism but the trapdoor above her head seemed to be still intact and working. Gezina takes a deep breath, then steps onto the pressure plate. Immediately, she hears rumbling above, coming nearer rapidly. She starts doubting her own theory, when she hears something from behind. She turns around and sees Lucky approaching her with a gun pointed towards her. Lucky, seemingly oblivious to the noise above, comes closer until he reaches point blank range. Gezina just stands there watching as Lucky pulls the trigger and – sprays her with a liquid. “WATER FOR THE WATER PISTOL” Lucky shouts and laughs. “You should have seen the look on your face. Anyway, something happened in the cavern and I wanted to let you know, nothing else.” Lucky says as he put away the squirt gun. Gezina starts to reply “Rea…” but she is cruelly interrupted by three tons of tone crushing her to death before the unbelieving eyes of Lucky.
Wow. This IS bad luck, Lucky comments but then he turns around and walks back to the main cavern, where Krursk is about to clear debris. The lever in the wall had created a passage, but somehow – probably through the stupid explosions – the original passage has caved in partially, leaving only a narrow hole to squeeze through. As they have cleared the last of the debris, Lucky and Krursk look at each other.
“I guess, you will insist on going first.”
“Well, *I* found the lever. So I’d assume it is my right to.
“I know what you’re planning. You’ll get away over my dead body only”
Standing in front of the narrow passage, Lucky and Krursk face each other, grimly watching for the other’s weakness.