[Nexus] Outside XXXVII

[Earl of Purple]

Tomb of the Lost Innocent

Between them, the pair of adventurers take out the last skeleton. It, and its weapon, along with the bones and equipment of the other five skeletons, crumble into dust.

There's still the three levers, marked ankh, hand and concentric circles under the moons marked concentric circles, ankh and hand.

[Deathkeeper]

Tomb of the Lost Innocent

"It probably wants a correct order. The circles must be right for the first one, so it's just the one we didn't pick last time. Circle, cross, hand." Krayger says simply as he approaches the levers again.

[Rebonack]

((After getting DC's okay...))

[Operation Ascendant]

Allomyrina has totally been here the whole time. *handwave*

She appears to be a red-haired human woman of moderate height and athletic build clad in one of the older stealth suits. In fact, aside from the basics she really isn't armored in any appreciable way. Mostly because she can't shift the form of bulky armor. Lighter stuff, though? Well within her abilities.

"If push comes to shove my faerie fire should be able to burn spirits just fine," she says in a subdued tone. "Though I would rather try to conserve my thaums if I can. If we get into a real fire-fight I think I'll probably be more useful blowing up cyborgs rather than busting boggarts."

Boggarts are nasty, nasty things.

[Darkcomet]

Spoiler

Show

Operation Ascendent

"Well, if it is a demon, I can still shoot it. I know from experience." remarks Nick drily.

[Operation Ascendant]

"Well, I can stomp more than just Borg, you know," Red points out, but he falls quiet afterwards as he follows along, the robot's Advanced Sensors™ (they're sensors, and they're advanced) keeping track of everything.

Or so he hopes.

[Operation Ascendant]

...Balthy? Really? Of all the nicknames he's gained over his life (Scum, Wretched Royal, The son I wish I didn't have, and target practice to name a few.) Balthy was probably the worst. Clearing his throat and trying his best to ignore the nickname, he responds.

"I've...never tried Ma'am. There were reports of exorcists who could do it, but that may have just been a special group. I can try though."

Setting his rifle to the side, Balthazar raises his fist to the side of his head and grimaces slightly. He then slowly pulls his fist away from head, withdrawing a bright purple dagger. He gasps slightly as the dagger is completely withdrawn.

"Ready ma'am."

[Operation Ascendant]

"If that is all, we'll proceed. Major?"

"No, Emmy, no other ideas." One gets the impression Xanatov is grinning up there.

N'alae rolls her eyes under the helmet. "Infiltration team, proceed as planned. We won't have the Major's intuition in there, so be on your guard, and not just with the Borg."

Hill leads the way into the base, on point. Cross and N'alae keep in formation where the others can cover them, being rather mission-critical.

[Operation Ascendant->Infiltration Team]

The base is dim, warm and humid, lit by eerie, sickly greenish light. The floor and walls are lined with almost crude-looking additions and circuitry, definite signs of Borg assimilation. The entrance area they're in doesn't seem to have any drones, though...

Cross speaks up. "The Borg likely have control of the system, so I will need to stay at the console we find to keep the hatch open for the Major's assault force. Officers Hill and Chedid, you're it. Richards and Allomyrina will stay with the Emissary." Makes sense. N'alae will need someone to deal with whatever the unknown threat is too, and close combat capability is good to have in extended defense against the Borg.

"Yes sir," Hill responds.

"Looks like you have somehow ended up trying to protect me from aehallhir* again, Officer. I'll try not to make it a habit," N'alae says, referencing the last time she and Allo met.

*'monsters, as in ghosts or nightmares.' The wonders of DC pulling things off the internet.

This is the part where they round a corner to face their first Borg drones. Several of the drones present are in regeneration alcoves on the wall, others walking along in the hall. The drones are of a variety of species; one of them that might look elven upon first glance appears to be of the same species as N'alae, if you go by the forehead. That one's in regeneration.

The problem is that they look a bit different than the one shown in the briefing. Not quite as crude-looking, as if a bit more advanced.

"Hold your fire. They will not consider us a threat yet," N'alae instructs, sounding ever so slightly unsure. As if something is off.

[Operation Ascendant->Assault Force]

After the infiltration team enters the base, Major Xanatov turns on the comm. "Alright, everyone, ascend and prepare for the hatch opening. Red, hope you like mountain climbing."

The fighter-gunships, including the Major's, begin climbing to the appropriate altitude. Blu will probably want to follow, and Red is just gonna have to climb.

[Rebonack]

[OA - Infiltration]

"Sir," Allomyrina replies with a curt nod and sharp professionalism. She's been doing this solider thing for a while now and seems to know the talk and the walk pretty solidly.

N'alae is regarded with half a smile. "I intend to do a bit more than try, ma'am. If nothing else, I doubt we'll have to worry about skelecopters this time."

The skelecopters were really strange.

She'll head further in with the others. Watching her is slightly... difficult. One's attention has a tendency to slide off her unless she's calling attention to herself. Less that she isn't there and more that she's so far below one's notice that she isn't worth noticing. Probably her glamor at work.

Once they encounter their first drone Allo scowls at it. "They certainly don't put much stock in aesthetics, do they? I'm no expert, but the cybernetics back home look far less crude than this."

[Zefir]

A ball of white flame appears in Thatcher's left hand. He grabs his revolver with the same hand. Andy should notice the cartridge on the gun glowing white.
The gun is raised at a wall and fired. There should be a very precise hole burned about two feet into the wall. Very lethal. Though I might could weaken the shots.
White fire is intense, I'm still getting used to them...

[Old Arena]

Andy looks very afraid at those events, even if he didn't go over to the hole he could exactly tell him that it is to lethal.

"I think we shouldn't risk our lives until your under controll of it. Might be a bit more healthy."

Well, then.

I think I'll retire to my hotel room, if you don't mind.

[Oaktown]

"As you wish. I asume you won't come back for a while so I just can say thank you."

If there is nothing else, she will be leaded outside. After all the don't try to spy on her.

[GrandDM]

[CAVE INSIDE THE SUMMIT, TRAPPED STAIRCASE]

((*facepalm* If I'd known that, Leo wouldn't have bothered with the trap release...Oh well, too late now.))

Leo frantically pulls on the lever and waits for the spears to retract into the walls...

They do. I'm going to wait on a post from Koopa now, because the wing-flaps are almost around the corner and I'm not going to start the fight until he's ready.

[ToTLI]

Guile will watch as Krayger pulls the levers, wary of anything else happening.

[ImpSyndrome]

They do. I'm going to wait on a post from Koopa now, because the wing-flaps are almost around the corner and I'm not going to start the fight until he's ready.

[ToTLI]

Guile will watch as Krayger pulls the levers, wary of anything else happening.

[CAVE INSIDE THE SUMMIT, STAIRCASE TRAPPED NO MORE]

As soon as the spear wall begins to retract, Leo rushes to rejoin Ray, his staff at the ready to fight back against any enemies...

((Agreed, I'll wait on Ryan now as well.))

[Earl of Purple]

Tomb of the Lost Innocent

When the levers are pulled in the order: Circles, Ankh, Hand, the moons disappear, with no affect on the ambient light. Also, the sarcophagus that is straight ahead opens, the lid falling off rather than simply swinging to one side. The sarcophagus appears to lead to another room, though the other two sarcophagi currently remain closed.

[Deathkeeper]

TotLI

Krayger slowly advances into the new room, looking around.

[GrandDM]

[ToTLI]

((Seriously? Total rip-off of Skyrim ))

Guile follows, careful to stay behind Krayger, on the lookout for any interesting magical stuff.

[McBish]

[High Sea Adventure]

Derek does stop and watches as Reinholdt looks over the trap. "Yeah I think you going first would probably be best. I'll do my best to watch where I put my feet." Derek say suddenly very glad Reinholdt is here. He wouldn't do much good if he was squished under a boulder.

[Aric Kale]

[Old Arena]

Andy looks very afraid at those events, even if he didn't go over to the hole he could exactly tell him that it is to lethal.

"I think we shouldn't risk our lives until your under controll of it. Might be a bit more healthy."

Thatcher nods, chuckling. Aye, that'd be better.
He holsters the revolver and draws his bastard sword.
And what are your skills?

[Earl of Purple]

Tomb of the Lost Innocent

The new room is dark and gloomy, with a wall, floor and ceiling all made of black jet and lit only by dim glowing shards of crystal set in the floor.

The darkness is slightly magical; whilst it doesn't resist supernatural or technological methods of seeing through it (via darkvision, night-vision goggles, etc), it will resist any attempt to light it up with magic or technology.

In the centre of the room are three blocks of jade; a sphere, a triangular-based pyramid and a cube.

[Reinholdt]

[High Sea Adventure]

Derek does stop and watches as Reinholdt looks over the trap. "Yeah I think you going first would probably be best. I'll do my best to watch where I put my feet." Derek say suddenly very glad Reinholdt is here. He wouldn't do much good if he was squished under a boulder.

High Sea Adventure

Well he'd be useful all of once. Still, there are better options.

Reinholdt carefully steps over the trigger wire and continues inward, moving rather slowly now as he cautiously searches for traps.

[Recaiden]

The Clouded Void (Sorry; I missed this)

"There is no 'down', because it is forever 'up' as well. Objects like this chariot have gravity, as do the rocks, clouds- for those that can interact with them- lumps of ice, and so on. Take all that out there, for example. They aren't falling, as there's nowhere for them to fall to. The whale wasn't technically an avian- we're not sure what they are, but they're only found here, and they're all slightly different. There are demons, Karkassoliths, that live here and don't have wings. They can alter how gravity affects their bodies, meaning they can fall to wherever they want." The pegasi will turn so that the chariot does a screw through the air. Despite the fact that the chariot is briefly 'upside down' from Atorre's starting perspective, she won't notice any difference in the gravity.

((No problem. I was just about to remind you when I saw that you'd found it))

"Exactly. So if you were like these karkassoliths." Ranna holds on to the chariot as it corkscrews through the sky. His eyes tell him they should be falling, and his sense of balance insists that they're fine. It's quite disorienting. "I...see. Do you have access to other realms without consistent gravity? Actually, that gravity manipulation power sounds very useful. I wonder that he doesn't infuse it into more demons."

[Deathkeeper]

TotLi

Krayger slowly approaches the jade figures although he doesn't touch them.
"any ideas?"

[GrandDM]

[ToTLI]

"Green, nice. Another puzzle... I wonder if it's to do with the number of sides?"

He'll try poking the sphere, pyramid and cube, in that order.

[Earl of Purple]

The Clouded Void

"Were we like the Karkassoliths, we wouldn't be able to manifest outside the Abyss for long. Karkassoliths have to possess mortal hosts to stay for long periods in the Nexus, or any other material plane. The only other Abyssal Layer with gravity similar to this is the realm of Dagon, Demon Lord of the Sea and Water, which has its own issues. Reduced visibility, abundant plankton, booby traps, more fortifications... Really, a lack of air is the last thing you'd worry about." The plankton isn't a problem on its own; what's a problem is that it is the bottom of the food chain.

Tomb of the Lost Innocent

Poking does nothing.

However, the sphere currently sits in the centre of a square marked, very faintly, on the floor, and the pyramid is on a similarly faint circle.

[Recaiden]

[The Clouded Void - Level Chariot]

"It's not so bad having to..." Atorre reviews what they know about possessing mortals. They only have it so well because they include their original bodies. "Okay, so it is so bad. That's quite a drawback. Hmm, just how many Abyssal layers are there?" Food chains aren't so bad. Anywhere there are living things, you get them.

[Deathkeeper]

TotLI

"Do you think it just wants us to match the shapes?" Krayger asks Guile.

[Arkhosia]

Outside Inside's east gate
Xenna leans against the wall, waiting for Bill and Tim

[Earl of Purple]

The Clouded Void

"Good question. Nobody knows. They aren't all inhabited, and not all are habitable, and everyone that's tried to count them hasn't come back. At least, not yet. Well, there was one guy, a wizard, who tried. Got as far as layer three hundred thirty-three, before he was killed by Orcus and reanimated as a lich-general. That's about a hundred or so layers up, maybe. The layers swap, sometimes." Food chains are bad when they are in an alien habitat and you are at the bottom. Well, nearly the bottom.

Outside Inside's East Gate

The three ponies are also here! Cap'n Volley Shot has drawn a flintlock pistol from under her greatcoat and is currently inspecting it, making sure it's all in working order. Cinnamon Stick is doodling in a patch of dirt with her hoof, and Doc Sorebones is checking his tools.

[RyanKoopa]

Cave Inside the Summet

Ray looks to his side and sees that Leo has managed to disable the trap. "Great work!" he pants, giving Leo a thumbs up before listening in on the flapping sounds from below. Ray is ready for a fight, but given that these could just be strangers rather than enemies he decides to try diplomacy first. "Hey!" he calls down at the top of his lungs "We aren't here to hurt ya! If you could just let us retrieve an item a friend of mine lost here than we'll be out of your hair in just a moment!"

[Felandria]

Tardis Adventures

"I've got the rope here ma'am." Butler says, letting go of the useless rod and going to pick up the rope. Said rope proceeds to assault him and entangle him in a manner akin to a cat having been playing with yarn. Butler yelps in surprise.

Man he can't even get out the store with its Challenge Rating of 0. This dungeon's going to be rough.

Felandria reaches down and disentangles Butler.

Okay, if you're ready, let's head out.

[Oaktown]

"As you wish. I asume you won't come back for a while so I just can say thank you."

If there is nothing else, she will be leaded outside. After all the don't try to spy on her.

Felandria nods and heads back to her room at the

[Everysize Hotel]

Where she flops on the bed to take a nap.

[Lex-Kat]

High Sea Adventure

Derek does stop and watches as Reinholdt looks over the trap. "Yeah I think you going first would probably be best. I'll do my best to watch where I put my feet." Derek say suddenly very glad Reinholdt is here. He wouldn't do much good if he was squished under a boulder.

Well he'd be useful all of once. Still, there are better options.

Reinholdt carefully steps over the trigger wire and continues inward, moving rather slowly now as he cautiously searches for traps.

As they step past the obvious boulder trap and enter the cave, reinholdt may see with his cat-like vision that the next few eight to ten feet are laced with wires criss-crossing everywhere. They are all low-lying, and it's not impossible to cross, just hard. They'll have to walk carefully and slowly to avoid catching one.

[McBish]

High Sea Adventure

Derek follows behind Reinholdt as they enter the cave. He isn't going to like crossing through the field of trip wires. He isn't the most flexiable, his one bad leg isn't the sturdiest on solid ground. Still he is patient and can be extremly careful. If Reinholdt points out the wires, and a path through them he should be able to move through them.

[Recaiden]

The Clouded Void

"Good question. Nobody knows. They aren't all inhabited, and not all are habitable, and everyone that's tried to count them hasn't come back. At least, not yet. Well, there was one guy, a wizard, who tried. Got as far as layer three hundred thirty-three, before he was killed by Orcus and reanimated as a lich-general. That's about a hundred or so layers up, maybe. The layers swap, sometimes." Food chains are bad when they are in an alien habitat and you are at the bottom. Well, nearly the bottom.

"I see." Ranna shakes his head. Well over 300 of these little worlds? "I don't suppose they know why it generates uninhabitable worlds? For types of demons long gone or yet to come? Count of inhabited ones maybe? We just had the 14, on the other side. That was the whole universe, save the portals to the material Nexus."

Man-eating plankton?

[Reinholdt]

High Seas Adventures

Reinholdt does like to give his eyes time to adjust. He stops himself and Derek, not trying to cross the strings of doom yet. Rather, he checks how high the ceiling is. He can't trust Derek to have dexterity like a ninja so needs to pursue other options first.

[Lex-Kat]

High Sea Adventure

Derek follows behind Reinholdt as they enter the cave. He isn't going to like crossing through the field of trip wires. He isn't the most flexible, his one bad leg isn't the sturdiest on solid ground. Still he is patient and can be extremely careful. If Reinholdt points out the wires, and a path through them he should be able to move through them.

Reinholdt does like to give his eyes time to adjust. He stops himself and Derek, not trying to cross the strings of doom yet. Rather, he checks how high the ceiling is. He can't trust Derek to have dexterity like a ninja so needs to pursue other options first.

Reinholdt will notice that the ceiling starts out about two feet taller than Derek, then gradually gets higher to about five feet taller near the end of the wire course.