Another Mans Treasure - RPLOG
Participants
Date
15/2/480
Log
It has been a painfully long ride to get here. Amar said that he would provide transportation, but he certainly did not splurge on it. The old ox cart finally groans to a halt, far beyond the normal stomping grounds of the Freeswords in the wild lands between Firebough mountain and the Cliffside border.
Amar Widestripe and his attendant, Gavin are already here, waiting under a rather lavishly appointed pavillion while a few servants scurry about their work at the little camp.
"AH!" Amar calls out, waving a fat hand at the new arrivals as he reclines on a pile of pillows, what seems to be a hooka of some sort positioned beside him, "About time you all showed up!"
Galve lands with little fanfare. The vespid rogue has been doing a lot of work lately and as such it was hard to expect him not to be here. "Present and accounted for, sir." He says, a hand resting on his sword hilt.
Terry climbs down onto the steady soil after the long, rickety ride in the ol' oxcart. He spares a moment to rub at his aching legs, gone stiff from lack of movement. He straightens again and stretches, rather catlike, and steps up alongside the others, looking up at Amar. He offers a sharp salute. "Ready, sir!"
Levin is the next of the freeswords to leave the cart, his hand running through the short fur on the side of his head as he caresses a 'wound' from earlier. The bumpy ride had taken it's toll on the otter who, due to his always excessive energy, thought it would be a smart idea to stretch his legs about the cart while it was going through some rather bumpy territory. It wasn't a graceful landing. "Oi, oi, hey boss!" he calls out to Amar as he hits the ground "Everyone here and accounted for!"
Mal wiggles a flask, making a face as he realizes it's empty. He looks up as the cart rolls to a stop, slipping the flask into a pocket before hopping off the wagon. "Amar!" the Coyote calls, "Is this going to go like the last few jobs? Deadly traps, crazy pyromaniacs?" He grins at the Tiger. "Nothin' better to get the blood pumping!" Mal saunters over to the rest of the crew, rubbing his hands together. "What're we doing this time?"
After everyone else hopped off the cart, finally, an unfamiliar Ankylosaurus landed down with a loud thud. "Hold on a second, let me just-" The dino stretched themselves a little bit, shaking some of their gear around and straightening themselves up as they faced Amar. "Woah. Much, much better! Now, considering that it seems everyone else knows you and I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet, mister, the name's Cary." The heavy clanned spoke in a quite.. Soft.. Tone for someone of their size. Nevertheless, they nodded and smiled towards the Tiger.
"Very good, Very good," Amar says, rubbing his hands together, "I'm glad to see you boys! I trust the trip wasn't too difficult." He does not wait for an answer, and barrels on. "Now then, now then. I am sure that you are all ready to get right to work. Right to the point, as it were!" The fat, purple tiger waves a beringed hand down the length of the narrow valley. "Down at the end of this valley is a large cavern," he explains, "Some say that it is no natural cave, but carved by hands long before beings came to Promise. That is what we are banking on, boys. I expect that a real treasure trove could be down there!" He holds up a meaty paw to forestall any questions or concerns. "I know, I know. I know what you are thinking! You are asking yourselves, if there is such a treasure here, why has no one claimed it yet?" the tiger holds up two fingers. "One!" he says, "That mountain path is only fit for goats. I doubt anyone has traveled this way in decades! And Two? Well, there are rumors that the place is cursed or haunted or some such fiddle faddle. They say that no one who goes in ever comes out again." The feline's fat face splits into a grin, setting his second chin jiggling. "But I'm assure you, they only say that because no one ever has before!"
Galve nods. "So.... I assume we are going on foot then? I don't see any goats...." He says, fluttering his wings anxiously. He couldn't carry more than himself if he had to fly. "Curses I'm not afraid of."
"Only curse I'm afraid of is a crucible full of iron breaking just before the casting!
Terry crosses his arms as he listens to the rotound feline, his tail flicking behind him anxiously. He quirks a brow at the mention of curses and haunts, but smirks at Amar's reaction. "Yes sir, it sounds like it. I suppose some beings have to be the first to do it." He looks around the group, his eyes scanning each party member, and nodding at Mal and Cary in recognition. "It might as well be us, eh? And I think deadly traps are all but guaranteed." He says with a smile at Mal.
"Levin," the otter replies, craning his head around to speak to Cary "Trouble shooter extraordinaire! Good to meet ya' and all that." He turns back to listen to the rest of what Amar has to say, his hears perking up a bit as he catches the most important bit of it all, 'treasure'. With a toothy grin he spins to about to take a look at where the fat cat was gesturing. "Seems like a bit of a long shot, and we ain't no goats - But treasure? Eheh, I ain't turning down a chance for treasure!"
The Coyote shrugs and pops his neck. "Sure, sure. No problem," he says. "So, bring back anything that looks valuable and isn't nailed down?"
The Freesword looks over to Cary and tips a nonexistent hat. "Name's Mal. I'm here for the booze, obviously."
"Only curse I'm afraid of is a crucible full of iron breaking just before the casting!" Exclaimed the dino as they walked on, adding, "But yes, my feline friends, might as well head in first. But considering those caves were carved by men, does anyone else other than me know how to read and speak the Creator language? That might be something we could encounter in there."
"Just a figure of speech, a figure of speech," Amar says, waving off all the goat commentary, "I am sure one need not be a goat to follow the trail. Only know that it is a treacherous one." The enormous feline waves to a servant who rushes to bring him a tray of fruits and cheeses. "Godspeed, gentlemen," he syas, "And best of luck. I expect only the best from you." He turns a shrewd eye on Mal. "Precisely, my boy, precisely. That is exactly what I expect you to do. And clear out any traps you might find along the way, of course. It will be helpful for further exploration." The fat cat looks askance at Cary. "Man?" he asks, "You mean the Creators? Ah, no my friend, these are no Creator ruins. You can be sure of that. Now, off you get."
The path down the valley quickly narrows until what was a valley becomes a high, narrow gorge, just wide enough for two average beings to walk abreast.
Galve nods, following the direction of their tubby employer, Galve heads for the path towards the indicated cavern. "Come on, it isn't going to raid itself." He says, heading for the path with his hand still resting on his sword pommel.
"Ha, you got that right, wings!" Levin calls out to Galve as he skips up to the vespid's side to follow. "You and me can take the lead, pal! I'm huggin' the wall though, you can always buzz down there if ya' fall and my head's plenty hard enough to break a rock if any fall, see?" The otter gives a sagely nod. "Safest option, unless we wanna tie up the lil' fella and toss 'em forward to check to see if the ground is stable - I don't think he'd like that though, would ya'~?"
Mal grins at Amar and nods. "I've worked enough jobs of yours to know what's expected," he replies before following along with the crew, hands in pockets and whistling a lazy tune. Once he's a fair enough distance from the Tiger, the Freesword gives a snort. "Room wide traps, Hill Wurms and crazy Pyromaniacs...now it's potential curses?" he says with a grin, "The more jobs I do for Amar, the more I think he's trying to get me killed!" Haaah, jokes.
"Sorry, I don't do languages. I do stabbing. And I do it oh so stylishly," the Coyote says to Cary, before going back to his lazy tune and peering down the gorge. He gives Levin and Galve a grin before throwing his two crowns' worth in, "So, who's first? Any volunteers?"
"It's alright, stabbing is also good. Just not for health." The dino smiled, walking only slightly ahead. "Well, I didn't know Amar until now but he seems like the kind of person who's got a lot of connections and... Also seems to be involved in some shady stuff, considering what y
"-Y'all talking about."
The narrow gorge soon widens. It widens significantly. And by widens, I of course mean that the cliff face to the right gives way to empty air, leaving the group standing on a ledge overlooking what must be a hundred foot sheer drop, if it is an inch. The ledge further narrows to the point that it is only just wide enough for one being to walk cautiously along the edge of the cliff. The huge, yawining opening to the cavern is just up ahead in the face of the cliff.
Galve walks cautiously. though he doesn't really need to, as he could fly if he wanted to. He was just being polite to the other less..... aerially-challenged beings in the group. "Narrow is right...."
Terry follows the other beings, listening to them but not saying much himself. He almost seems uneasy in the middle of this group, his tail flitting anxiously as he regards their suroundings. He squeezes past the others, but as their path opens into that dizzying ledge he stops and presses himself against the wall. He peers at Mal and Galve. "Well, if you still have rope, I wouldn't mind some right about now." He peers down, then around. "Well.. I suppose there's only one way forward now." He peers up at Mal again. "Sir, you seem experienced in these death-defying adventures. How should we proceed?"
Levin can't help but let out a bit of a snicker as he shuffles along, for once in his life being careful with his steps as he moves forward. "Yeeeah, well, I kinda left mine at home. Sorry little guy... But now that you mention it, uh, did anyone remember to bring any? It might be handy, ya'know, in the cave 'n all."
Mal whistles lazily and inches his way along the ledge, pausing to look at Terry. "With improvisation," he replies after a moment, giving the cat a bit of a grin. "Honestly, I say we head into that cave over yonder," he adds, gesturing to the cavern. The Coyote leans over to look at Levin. "...I have a pen. From Longtech," he says after a moment, holding the fancy pen up and twitching it between his fingers.
"Well, y'know, considering I've been journeying around for a while I've been bringing a lot of stuff with me but uh.. If I still have some rope left it may not be enough to tie all of us together or something like that." The dino says, walking very, VERY carefully now. Their enthusiasm about possibly charging straight into the cave was quickly eliminated. "Although I'm pretty sure I may have small picks with my blacksmithing tools which may be of some use."
The ledge is narrow, but not too treacherous. It is honestly more nerve wracking than actually dangerous. At least in these favorable weather conditions.
With only a few unnerving skids and no particularly close calls, the group manages to scoot and inch their way into the large mouth of the cavern that digs into the mountainside. It is wide and clear of debris. If it weren't so remote and at the top of such a large cliff, one might expect that it was maintained by beings. The floor of the cavern is smooth and bare and the ceiling is high and arched with no signs of stalgamites or stalactites to mar its surface. The wide cavern quickly fades into darkness, the outside sunshine does not reach far.
Galve pulls a torch from his belt. "Well... I'm going first." He says. "Mostly because I don't want to be trampled if we have to make a hasty retreat."
Terry follows along the group, staying in the middle of his group of companions. "Understood sir. I'll bring rope next time." He meant it, too. No use making mistakes more than once. He shimmies along, aided by his diminuitive size and slim profile. As he arrives at the other side he breathes a sigh of relief, sparing one last glance at the dangerous passage before turning to the cave and stepping forward. He nods at Galve as he steps forward. "Yes sir." He follows along, padding quietly, observing his surroundings. "Strange place, this.." He looks back at Mal. "Have you ever seen anything like this, sir? It's quite.. well kept. Certainly not how I imagined a cavern would be."
Levin lets out one hell of a sigh of relief when he gets off the ledge and into the safety of the cave - More then one of those unnerving skids were from him. "Cripes, I don't wanna do that again..." the otter grumbles before glancing back over his shoulder. "... Guess we gotta to get back out, but hey." With a click of his tongue his eyes wander about the room, a brow raising at the unusual smoothness that covered the area, "Well damn, the big guy was right - This is strange, yeah, real strange... Which means the chance for treasure is rising! Keep that pen of yours ready, my friend! We may need it yet!"
Mal pats Terry on the back once they're all safely inside the cave. "Not so bad, see? By the by, how ya been, Terry? Fed any livestock?" he says with a grin, looking around. "...We brought torches, right? I keep meaning to get my hands on one of these little glowing rocks, but I alway forget. Need to ask Zuri where he got his..." he says, pointing to Galve. "Ahh, there we go! That works," he adds, rubbing his hands together. "...I had something for that, dammit!" he says to Levin, before shaking his head. "Nevermind, let's go find some treasure!" he adds, a glint in his eye as he falls in behind the torchbearer.
"Just a bit.. More... Come on.." And Cary finally managed to step a couple inches into the cave, taking a deep breath, relieved that the cliffwalking was over... For now. "Creators be.. Finally. I don't want to ever go through that again without the safety of proper equipment." Cary leans on a wall for a moment, picking up something from the side of their bag. A small torch, indeed. The dino also opened one of his vials, pouring it on the torch's cloth wrap. Closing the vial and putting it into his backpack again. Cary approached Galve, asking. "Now that that's done, can you lend me your fire to light this one up too?"
The light of the two torches does quite a bit to illuminate the dark cavern. If there was anyone who doubted that the place was carved by hands before, now there can be no doubt. The room, for room it is, is large and square. Half pillars stud the walls at regular intervals, though they are so worn by time that they could be almost mistaken for natural rock formations. There may have been carvings on the walls once, but time has worn too much away to make anything out. Directly opposite the cave entry, the room gives way to an ancient, cracked archway, where a few stones have fallen to the earth. Beyond is a dark hallway, wide enough for a horse drawn cart!
Galve nods, lending the reptile his torch to light hers. "Nervous?" He asks, smiling and patting her on the shoulder. "We do this right, and you'll only have to cross it once more." He says before turning to face the crumbling archway. "Impressive.... I wonder who built this...." He says, taking the spearhead with his torch in one hand and the other resting on the pommel of his blade.
Terry looks over at Mal as he's addressed, and breaks a slight smile. "Not as such. I would have not minded to do so again, but I don't have livestock of my own to tend and.. I'd rather not tend to those of others without their permission, as it were." He looks around the dimly-illuminated room, nibbling on his lip. "So, what are the chances this place is trapped and what should we be looking out for?" He looks over at the others, and quickly adds. "And I resent any suggestion of sending the 'little guy' in first."
"Other beings, I'd say." Levin responds to Galve with a sagely nod. "I mean, who else could it have been? A spirit? There ain't nobody else on this planet that can think enough to make something like this but us... Right?" With a soft hrm the otter scratches the side of his neck as he wanders about, careful to stay within the light. "Hey, don't worry about it shorty - Me being the gentleman that I am will gladly take the lead! And I say we lead us... here!" He jabs a finger towards one of the pillars lining the walls. "Those stick out - lets see if we can find any markings on 'em."
The Coyote steps up to the wall, running a hand over the surface as he looks around. "...Cozy," he says after a moment, sauntering towards one of the pillars. "Hey, bring that light over here," he says, peering at the formation. He looks over at Terry and grins. "Damn, there goes that plan. Back to the drawing board," he teases. "Tell ya what, you pay my tab at the Inn, I'll take you to see some farming pals of mine." Mal pauses, thinking on it. "...Sorta farming pals. I do odd jobs, they give a meal. Anyway! Light!" he calls, looking to Galve, then Cary, waiting for one of them to come over and...shed some light on their situation, as it were.
Cary gently nodded as their torch was lit. "One can be so nervous.. I mean.. I'm pretty big and.. That cliff was really narrow, so... Yeah..." Cary also turned towards the archway, tilting their head slightly at the sight of it. "That's.. Definitely interesting! I just hope there aren't as many traps as we imagine around. That would be bad." The reptile shrugs for a moment, slowly walking a little bit ahead and inspecting the columns a bit closer, seems the coyote had the same idea! "This.. I wonder if we're the first ones here after so long... Let me focus for a second though."
As Cary focuses, the air becomes a little bit more humid. "I got a trick up my sleeve to protect us, but don't go too far ahead, y'all."
There is not much of interest on the worn columns. It should say something that they seem to be solid stone, and yet are worn smooth. This is not something that was built within the last 500 years, unless terrible sandstorms regularly rage through this cavern.
The broken archway yawns in the dim cavern, and the hall beyond is surprisingly large. There is little ornamentation. Now, at least. The irregular grooves and indentations on the walls might once have been elaborate carvings.
Galve waits for Cary to finish casting before he continued further. "That's right ....we need to be careful..... We don't know who built this or what kind of traps they left behind."
Terry stops by one of the bunches of worn out carvings, running his hands over it as he tries to decipher their meaning. An impossible task, given his lack of academic knowledge in these matters, but the diminuitive feline tries it anyway. "I think you shold pay your own tab, sir, perhaps with the earnings from this voyage of ours. We need to find treasure, however, and I doubt it will be laying around in plain sight.."
Levin squats down next to Terry, his eyes narrowing as he tries to focus on the carvings himself - He's likely far less adept at deciphering them then Terry is, however. "Any idea what they are? Ehh, we should have brought a bookworm, or a stoneworker at the very least..." With a bit of a huff he cranes his head around and says up to Mal "And the little fella's right, pay your tab off first or they'll start taking fingers - or worse - stop giving you booze! A horrible fate, I know."
Mal nods and turns, heading for the archway. "Worth a shot. Onwards!" he says, yawning a bit. "What, and not spend it on weapons?" he asks, looking at Terry with a baffled expression. "What's the point in having friends if they don't pay your tab?" he adds, grinning!
The Coyote pauses to look over the archway for a moment before slipping into the dim room beyond, peering at the walls in here as well, tracing over the grooves with a finger. "I swear, if this is another temple built by the Ancients..." he mutters, turning to look over the cavern. "...Had enough of the Ancients. One damn temple is all it took," he adds, looking quite disgruntled over this past experience. "Didn't even get to keep the coins, either."
"I'm done with my preparations." Said the Dino, as they stepped forward into the dim room, bringing along their flame. Cary walked alongside them, curiously inspecting the remnants of the once elaborate carvings, trying to identify at least some of them. But maybe it was just too damaged to even read anything. "So... Is this familiar to anyone in here?" Cary gently asked, glancing at the freeswords.
The carvings are nearly impossible to make out, worn as they are. Every now and then, one seems to be a strange, squiggly sigil or a depiction of some sort of long limbed being, but that is all that can be read in them.
As the last of the Freeswords traipses into the wide hall beyond the broken archway, there is a gentle 'click' from somewhere. At first, nothing seems to happen. Then, it seems that the hallway has started to become steeper, leading upward. . . and steeper. . . and steeper. . .
A glance backward would reveal the truth! The floor is tilting! The archway, while still open and easily visible, now opens nearly five feet above the floor! And that distance is rapidly growing!
Galve feels the floor start to tilt, and rushes to the others. "Come on, we need to try and get back to the top!" He says, trying to instill the same urgency that he felt into the others. He could probably fly out, but where would that leave his companions?
Terry mewls in surprise as the floor slides down under his feet. He glances around quickly at his companions, confirming that he's not seeing things, and then quickly runs back towards the passage they had just come from. He leaps up, aided by a burst of air magic to try and grip onto the ledge. "Quick, look for sometihng to jam the mechanism!"
Levin doesn't need to be told to do what he does best - and that's run like a madman . "Oi, oi!" he shouts as he tries to make a mad dash towards the rising edge "If this thing workin' off our weight and not some machine thing, it might tilt the other way too! Get ready to jump if ya' gotta!"
"...That looks like a damned Ancient," Mal mutters, squinting at the depiction of the long-limbed...thing. As the floor begins to give way, the Coyote blinks. "Oh shit!" he cries out, looking at the archway and the growing distance before attempting to scramble and lunge up to safety, hoping to get a grip, a foothold, anything to keep him from sliding into the unknown. At least, not before he knows what's down there. Probably spikes and skeletons or something equally unpleasant. Nevermind that he'll end up deeper in this death-trap, at least he won't be sliding to the unknowing.
In hopes that their weight could probably delay the trap a little from turning around completely, Cary charged ahead. There was no time to lose to try and find something in their bag, so they held the torch with their teeth and used their claws for support on the now tilting floor.
With the help of his air magic, Terry manages to fling himself back to the sandy floor of the entry cave as the floor tilts ever downward, leaving him alone in the dim light that filters from the mouth of the cave while his companions charge blindly forward.
Sliding and skidding on the stone floor revealed as sand drains backward toward some unknown pitfall behind them, the rest of the party manages to make some headway until the tilting gradually slows. . . and stops, just at the point where there would be no turning back. The light of the two torches shows that the tunnel ends in a blank stone wall up ahead, though the ceiling is still out of sight.
Slowly, but growing faster, the floor starts to tilt again, the other way this time!
Galve is confused about what he sees. "Wha.... Why is it a wall?" He exclaims in disbelief. "What do we do?" He says, looking to the others go a moment t
for a moment before the platform starts to tilt back.
Terry looks at his companions, watching the corridor continue to tilt upwards. He looks around frantically, then back at them. "I'll try to figure out a way to stop this mechanism. There must be some sort of lever or gear or..." He pauses, watching as the floor slows down, stops, and begins to tilt back the other way. His eyes widen in recognition. "A.. a lever! The whole thing is on a pivot! You have to balance the weight on both sides!" He looks back into the room behind him, looking for anything that could be used as extra ballast to help manage the weight. "Get closer to the center of the corridor! Find where the pivot is!"
"Shit, shit, shit!" Levin practically falls on his ass as he tries to put his mad sprint to a stop as the floor starts to tilt the other way about, tripping over his own feet as he twists about and barely able to catch himself in a position that lets him blot back in the other direction. "I was right! And so is Terry - In the middle folks - 'cept for you Galve, get your ass off the floor if you can!"
Galve hastily agrees and takes off, pushing little motes of sand as he lifts off from the teetering trap to hover in the air above.
Mal makes a face at Terry. "...Sure, why not," he replies, scrambling back to the middle of the corridor, to help balance the...whatever this is. "So, what's the plan when we finally get this thing to stop tilting?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, as much as I'd love to just, yanno. Stay in one spot forever," he says, trailing off as he focuses on finding the 'pivot point'.
Cary desperately turned around, grabbing the torch with one of their hands and exclaiming loudly, "Shit, this thing is on a- Yeah, that's the word!" The dino attempted to find the center of the corridor, but considering the rest of the crew was slightly ahead, they went a little further towards the entrance end, trying to balance it properly. "Come get your asses to the center of the corridor! And you, waspy! Sorry for the sudden nickname but use your torch to try and find the mechanism or the way forward!"
The tilting hallway starts to gain momentum as it shifts, revealing the top of the doorway at the far end of the hall while those Freeswords still there struggle to find a spot of equilibrium. By spreading things out a little, with Cary on one side and Mal and Levin just a little to the other side of center, they manage to balance things out with the floor just under the door at the far side and just above the floor on Terry's side. Terry can see that the floor itself is a thick, stone slab, about two feet thick, and underneath it is darkness. The thing is no doubt very, very old. And also incredibly well made.
Galve takes his torch and starts looking everywhere he can for something... anything
Anything that could help their situation
Terry phews. "The corridor is just a stone slab on a pivot. It's empty underneath." He stops, racking his brain for a solution." We could try to jam it underneath, stop it from moving any more. Can you guys find any part of the mechanism you can jam?"
By the time the floor gets to a relatively level plane, the otter's left huffing and puffing from his frantic sprinting, barely able to do nore then slight shifts here and there to help keep the floor from upending itself again while he catches his breath. "Ri- right, so... Ha..! Yeah, okay... Should have brought some rope, shouldn't we?" He glances back to the now visable doorway down the hall, gesturing towards it. "I'm going to regret this, but - Wings, fly over, see if there's a switch or somethin' that'll lock the floor. If there's going to be somethin' to disarm this, it'll be on that side - but knowing our luck, it'll just drop the floor completely."
Mal looks between Terry, to Galve, then Levin. "...So I'll just...balance here?" he says, holding his position. "Just...lemme know when we figure something out. Kinda getting a cramp here," he says, smirking a bit.
The reptile catches their breath for a moment, allowing for a brief pause. "Okay. Okay, we're balanced. For now. So, first things first, jam the mechanism. How are we going to go about that? I suppose we'll have to rely on our winged partner for that, but I can handle the balance here, considering.. Well. You know what!"
The floor seems balanced for now, precarious though that balance may be. There seems to be no visible catch or pivot within the hallway itself. Perhaps it is meant to be a mad dash? There must be some kind of trick to it. Terry is alone in the dimness on the near side of the trap, and Galve hovers near the far door while the others are frozen carefully along the length of the hall.
"Soooo..." starts Levin as he does his best to stay perfectly still, eyes darting between Cary and Mal making sure that they're doing the same - if either of them lost balance, he would have to be quick to compensate for it. "Wings! Little guy! It's up to you two - I'm gunna take a wild guess and say that our best bet is over there." He gestures towards the doorway in Galve's direction. "If you're going to make an obvious way to disarm a trap, it'll be on the inside, right?"
Galve hovers, the droning of his iridescent wings echoing off the chamber walls and filling the silence. "Ok... What we need to do is get everyone off this side while also keeping the platform balanced....." He says, looking at their small party and trying to judge weights based on quick observation in dim torchlight. "I think it would be best to assume there is no way to disarm this trap..." He calls, though he does turn around to hover over to the doorway and look around for some kind of mechanism to disarm the trap.
"Most likely. And hey, I'm pretty sure I can compensate our weight, considering.. Y'know." Cary gestures towards themselves. Big dino and all. "If anything, maybe we can push one of the pillars on the other side of the platform to keep it stable while we continue ahead."
It is fortunate that Galve has a torch, because the great room beyond the hallway is utterly dark. There is some sort of mechanism here, two great levers, one on either side of the portal backward. Perhaps they effect the floor of the passageway?
Galve lands gently on the inside of the archway, tucking his wings back behind him
"See anything?" the otter calls out. He could feel his legs quivering under him - Standing still, for this long? It was madness! "Have a good look, I mean, we can't stand here all day ya'know! ... I mean, we could sit but uh, I ain't slidin' ass first do my death."
Galve lands gently on the inside of the archway, tucking his wings back behind him. No sense in wasting his stamina now when he could need it later. He walked over to the great mechanisms and examining them to try and figure out what their purpose was, using his hands to clear away cobwebs and dust to see the workings better.
"You okay in there? If you need the other torch I can hand it to you!" Cary exclaimed. As the dino couldn't do much right now, considering they were also balancing the platform, they stretched a little bit. "Seems we might be here for a while until our friend find something helpful. That or we could.. Well, run." The Dino added.
Mal seems to be balancing pretty well, for a Coyote that's usually drunk. "Hm? What? Someone say something?" he says suddenly, looking up. "I got distracted." Distracted? By what?!
The levers seem quite simple and, despite their obviously ancient origin, in good condition. Their mechanisms are not visible, but it looks like a moderately strong being could pull one. That being said, they look like they need to be pulled simultaneously. And probably held. And if they are to have any effect on the tilting hall, it probably needs to be ballanced at its starting point.
Galve heads back into the other room, careful to avoid falling back onto the carefully balanced platform. "Ok... there are two levers here. I'm not really sure but I'm confident that they should disarm the trap. But I think we need to keep the floor balanced for it to work. So I need one of you to get off and come help me." He says, his torch held to illuminate the doorway and the rest of them.
"Oooh, fantastic" Levin replies with a huff "Cary, stay towards the center - Mal, you'll need to head out a bit with me to keep this shit balanced. Now then, onward!" With a determined grin the Otter starts his mad... shuffle towards the door, always ready to hop back or foward if the tilting of the floor demands it. "Okay big guy, remember, you're our counter weight! Slow and steady folks, then I'm gunna pull me a fuckin' lever!"
Cary nods, looking over to the freeswords keeping the platform balanced. "Alright. I suppose I'm probably heavier than y'all are, so I'll do my best to keep this thing balanced while you pull your 'fuckin'' levers."
The dino laughs a little bit, keeping an eye on the platform's balance as they move.
Terry reappears on the near-side door after having milled about in the room. His pokes his head into the swingy room of doom to look at what his companions are doing. "We could use outside weights as well, if required." He nibbles on his lip thoughtfully. "We could also try to wedge or jam the mechanism somehow, to keep it in place for the levers."
Mal nods and follows Levin's directions. "...But I wanted to pull the fuckin' lever," he whines, grinning. "When we get this damn thing balanced, could someone go back and ask for some supplies?" he asks, falling into position. He points to Terry. "I was just thinkin' that," he says. "Not like I get to use these throwing knives without losing them, anyway," he adds, holding up one of his knives. "...Creators, I hope no one's committing crimes with these. I etched my initials into each one..."
As Levin inches his way forward, the platform tilts downward, ever so slightly. Once he has reached the edge, the floor is very nearly level once again.
Levin reaches out towards the lever, fingers trembling - Slow, so slow... if only he could just... actually fucking move! With a frustrated grunt he takes the final step foward, shouting out "I'M GOIN' FOR IT, PULL IT WINGS!" that echos through the cavern. He practically jumps off the platform as he makes that final step towards the lever and yanking down hard, putting every ounce of strength into slamming it in place.
