Oink and you shall recieve - RPLOG
From Rusted Promises
Participants
Date
3/10/475
Log
"That looks to be the last of it, anyone here wish to proceed inside?" Bolum the hawk offers, gesturing to the ruins entrance. "It's treacherous but not too dangerous." he says as he examines the walls one last time. They have spent days of effort decoding what they can, but the story must be sent to the researchers for further examination, one cannot simply trust carvings about kitsune, there may be an underlying meaning. Bolum then looks to the group for an answer, seeking volunteers.
Zero opens his eyes from his meditation. Standing up, he nods. Taking another chance, Zero pulls out his blades, inspecting them to make sure they're in good condition.
Mazurek would definitely be one of the first to volunteer, "I'm ready to continue onward, sure!" He had been off to the side out of the way of those recording, warming up with some of his martial-artist exercises. It left him sweating a bit as well and he used his wings to cool off now.
Walden looks almost exhausted from having recorded all of that writing. However, Bolum brings up an awfully interesting point: the interior. "That's not a bad idea," he tells the hawk. "If we leave before exploring it, we could be missing out on some valuable clues. Besides, what if someone gets hurt? I've gotta be there."
Moroko has his book out and is taking notes of the images, "Oooh I hope there are more riddles." He says to no one in particular. Moroko seems to have made it through in reasonably good shape through judicious use of air magic. "Tally ho then." He offers to the hawk indicating that he's game.
Ryusho is busy fiddling with his soul gem, specifically the knowledge crystals, as he had been shifting and sorting them over the past few days, trying to find what he felt was the best combination for the current scenario, and was still doing some last minute checks before they got up to go in
Bolum claps his hands together. "Excellent. Shall we proceed then?" he says as he wheels around on a boot heel, and proceeds inside the ruins. They are dark, the stones inside almost yellow in color, at least until they fade into the darkness.
A small bead of sweat runs down Zero's brow. Wiping it away, he inhales deeply before taking shaky steps to follow Bolum into the unknown.
Mazurek lets the others go first again, "I'll take up the rear again, guys. Just like last time." He had healed completely of the injuries the creatures in the previous cave . At least his shorts weren't damaged.
Ryusho similarly had recovered from anything that may of bothered them before as he hums softly, slowly getting up as he gets his equipment and all gathered and packaged, "...I feel like I am as good as I can set myself up for things, unless I have time to change a crystal later...so This feels good for our situation, I'm ready." he says nodding softly, "Let us head on, I will help with the way, I suppose I can keep an eye out for traps and the like just in case..."
Walden chuckles and says to Ryusho, "I hope so. I'm not so good at that sort of thing," he says, pulling out a torch and lighting it. "Really, I can't wait to see what's inside, though. Hopefully something wonderful, some lost bits of knowledge perhaps!"
Moroko seems content to make for the middle of the group like a good non-dragony mage. He offers to Walden, "Probably something trying to eat us again. Fascinating!" He says brightly as he keeps his staff in front of him probably expecting tentacles.
Zero gulps and moves his hand to his sword hilt in case he needs it as he continues to move with the group.
As they proceed inside the ruins the center of the floor triangles upward, making an uneven surface dividing the hallway in two. Bolum stands on the left side, seemingly unsure of which side he wants to be on but unable to walk on the centerpiece.
Ryusho blinks a bit, and after several seconds..he decides to take a crown out of his coin pouch..and flip it...just to decide, if he can not decern anything that looks like a good choice between the two...
Ryusho decides to flip a coin to decide....after a moment...
The other dragon makes the choice very easily on whether to be on one side of the slope or the other... Maz traverses the hall from the very center and does so on all fours. He gets his own light in this mode of locomotion by having his mouth open and letting flames roll in his mouth, which allows him to look to either side without having to worry about stumbling into anything unexpectedly.
Walden finds himself drifting toward Moroko as they walk. He laughs a little at what the lupine mage says and responds, "You might think me strange for this, but the crazy tentacle creatures were actually my least favorite part of the trip." He looks ahead at the split ahead and says, "Oh, two sides? Left is the obvious choice, of course."
Ryusho then chooses the right side...
Moroko doesn't seem overly concerned about the direction. He offers to Walden, "I would think right would be the right side." He says smirking but then pauses,"Aaah well the tentacles weren't favorite but they were fascinating!"
Zero looks at the two paths, gaze switching from one to the other. Closing his eyes, he almost seems to be asleep standing up. After a few seconds, he opens his eyes and looks to the left path.
The group continues upon their selected side, having clear view of the others at all times. They proceed for a while until a pillar breaks the triangular formation, a Kitsune shown looking straight down the triangular divider, and in this case at Mazurek. Bolum gazes at it for a while before continuing. As he does so the walls shake slightly, the light from the entrance dies off as a wall blocks the path back to the blockades start. The triangular formation begins to rise up at a moderate speed, Mazurek will be crushed if they do not drop off onto a side now.
Moroko blinks as things start rumbling he puts his hands out and looks up towards Maz, "I say, you may want to jump? Hmmm so looking down means don't go there."
Walden cries out in shock as the middle starts closing itself. "No!" he exclaims. "Why's it doing that? We're gonna lose sight of each other!" He looks to Bolum and Zero in concern. "W-we can always go back and meet them, right?"
Mazurek can't help but wonder just what Walden found in tentacles that made them alluring, but he can't speak it aloud due to focusing his flame to light his way. His thoughts are interrupted when the ground beneath him suddenly begins rising. The rumbling actually causes him to stumble and become a bit off balance, and he tumbles off to one side. He ends up falling to the right just as panic grips some of the group, his tail barely making it out of danger before it is too late. If he had jumped, he would have hit the ceiling there...
Zero draws back as the middle closes itself. "Ah Great
Zero draws back as the middle closes itself. "Ah Great!! Just what we need!!" he hisses, more to himself than anyone else.
Ryusho Mrphs as he glances back, then forth, apparently leading the way out of the three here, "Well, Lets see.." he says softly, and then rubs his head, "Well, I guess we keep going?" he says after a moment as he glances forward, then back...
Mazurek grunts, getting to his feet after the tumble, "I might have triggered that if the Kitsune statue-pillar was the trigger for that trap." Yes, his flame had died when he was forced to choose which side to go on. He shakes himself a bit, "Forward. We can't go back if you noticed." He halfheartedly gestures to the blockade behind.
Bolum grumbles and looks to Walden and Zero. After determining they can no longer go back, he urges them forward. As do they step over plates which recede into the floor, keying a reaction on the other side unknown to them. On the right side of the wall, a steady stream of darts starts to pass between what look like aa system of tubes.
Moroko watches Mazurek tumble pausing, "Are you alright?" He asks but nods at the words, "Forward we go as long as it lets us." He says in agreement.
Walden peeks down at the pressure plates beneath him. "Oh, I don't like that," he says to Bolum and Zero. "Hey, we've got to be careful. Maybe we can figure out what these look like and avoid stepping on any more. I'm a little worried about getting the other guys killed!"
Mazurek blinks and comes to an abrupt halt as he hears something, "WAIT!" He looks around quickly and even breathes out a steady stream of flame to try and locate the source of the noise that has caught his attention.
Moroko stopseven as he says forward. He blinks and claps, "Fantastic!" He considers them and looks to the two dragons, "Hmmm fire or air?" He asks curiously as he considers as he adjusts his staff and then looksto the two dragons, "or I suppose you two can produce both?"
Zero holds up his hand for the other two to stop. Stopping in his tracks, he shuffles around in his bag, pulling out a gem and removing one worn on him, switching them out.
Walden raises a hand quickly. "Okay, hold up, hold up," he says to Bolum and Zero. "Okay, see, these ones here. I think these are the ones that go down. So- so- do this. Step diagonally like this. It's like a checkerboard pattern so far."
Bolum follows Waldens advice, proceeding cautiously at first then getting the hang of walking in such a fashion he leads the group on the left side onward. "Good job sir, this should be easy if you can keep that up." he offers.
Ryusho stands there as he watches the darts a moment, "...Well lets see.." he says softly, looking, just trying to see if there is a pattern, or potentially gaps or whatever in the apparent -firing- of teh darts as they shoot across the path, to see if there is a 'safe' way by them.
Zero shakes his head and stares at Walden, stammering "Wha...you...found....How?" but follows his instruction anyway, carefully stepping where Walden told him to do so.
Mazurek stops using his flame after a moment of watching the darts in the glow of it. Grunting, he looks to the Tegu and asks, "Let's rush through them together and protect the wolf here from them?" He shudders a little, "I'll go against the wall?"
Moroko glances across the two and offers, "I'll see if I can produce a wind barrier while we're going through as well, if you really think we can rush through it? At least deflect them away from us." He says looking clearly concerned about this plan.
Ryusho hums quietly, as he rubs his chin slightly, "Moroko...Can you actually use your wind magic...if I lety ou infront of me, jsut a bit, Why don't you blow wind down the path..it will knock the darts out of their path, as they are going from one side, to the other, -into- tubes, and..I am guessing being re-used...so if the darts are ...interrupted, they can't get back into the system..." he says after a while...
Mazurek blinks a bit, stepping forward until he is almost in the path of the darts, "If that's all that's needed, I should be able to do that." He grins, "I've been studying some magic and I believe I can send a strong enough air current to disrupt them." He's staring at the darts, or as much as he can see of them in the gloom.
Walden just shrugs at Zero's question as he continues leading the way around the pressure plates. "I just thought it seemed likely enough, and I figured out how they looked, that's all. What worries me is the possibility that the pattern could get changed up before we're through this part of it. So I'm keeping my eye out for sure. I hope the guys over there are okay though."
Moroko begins chanting slightly under his breath, is it numbers? Is it words? It's hard to tell. Either way the wind stirs flickingacrossthose on the right side and maybe even noticeableon the other side. Morokogesture suddenly and the wind picks up. It begins to diver the darts creating a buffer around the trio. he starts to move forward and nods to Mazurek seemingly to encourage him to add to the barrier just in case as he moves forward.
On the right side, the darts cycle endlessly, never straying from a straight shot as they go from pipe to pipe. The left side on the other hand has a rather easy travel forward, until the path they are on suddenly decides to swap the sides the pressure plates are on. 'Clink' can be heard as it sinks into the ground, and then another 'Clink' as Bolum stops and realizes what's going on. Back on the right side, the darts are cast aside from their proceedings, the parade of deadly projectiles comes to a halt momentarily before starting up again, then stopping again.
Ryusho hums softly, "..Well that made a gap.." he says softly, as he rubs his chin, "So we can now either see if you can time it, so you catch just -as- the gap is closing to make it larger, or we can try to dash through one at a time during that gap.." he then says after a moment
Mazurek blinks upon feeling the magic take effect around him, and he actually starts to head forward with the other two. He takes the side that the darts are originating from, which places him in the most danger should the trio be moving together. So as not to damage his wings he faces the wall and sidesteps through, breathing his wind-breath along the way as instructed.
Zero groans in frustration. "GrrGHH!!! Why am I not surprised?
Moroko moves slowly and then faster rushing through at the gap and keeping Mazurek to the right. Clearly he's not one to pass up the opportunity of his cover going through before him.
Walden looks rather disgruntled as his pattern is demolished. No, wait. "It's backwards now. I knew something would happen! Um... okay. Okay, so... follow the pattern again, starting from... these solid tiles here. Okay." He slowly moves forward, stepping carefully where he believes the new "safe" tiles are. As for what's going on on the other side, he's sadly clueless.
Ryusho would wait, potentially actually going alone rather then as a -group- but..if we go as a group so be it, as they try to slip through the gap as fast as they can to get through without harm...
Zero groans in frustration, "GrrGHH!!! That can't sound good." Looking to Bolum and Walden, he ask "Anyone wanna take a quess as to what's happening now?"
Bolum corrects his path, slowly proceeding with the group, not wishinig to step on anything else. "I'm not sure maybe they're supposed to trick us into thinking something is going to happen? I wouldn't be surprised if one of them actually worked." Mazurek, Ryusho, and Moroko make it through the gap unharmed. The path ahead of them looks oddly barren.
Mazurek huffs in relief, sending another gout of flame ahead, when they pass through the trap unharmed. Noting that there's a rather empty corridor ahead of them compared to what they just went through he drops to a crouch and states, "Moroko, get on. Piggyback. After what we just went through it would be best to have myself and Ryusho be on the ground."
Ryusho would at first continue forward without thinking, though he would be keeping his eyes open, watching slowly, "...This now looks too plain to be right..." he says softly, ...as he slowly takes one step after the other while he watches and..almost jumps at the sudden flame going over his head or past him, "Will you quit doing that without warning!" he says stumlbing as he turns around to give mazurek a look...
Walden subconsciously scratches at his torch arm with his free hand, though he's careful enough not to drop it. "I'm only assuming those plates did something on the other side, though. For all we know, they could be broken or could be contributing to a trap up ahead of us."
The team on the right progresses unhindered for a while, no plates, traps or anything get in their way. This of course changes when a wall of pipes on the walls blows a strange air that snuffs their torches.
Zero shrugs, saying that he doesn't know, but he only hopes it doesn't make things worse for them.
Ryusho grumbles, as the torches go out, "Oh fuck it.." he grumbles, as he occasionally puffs a bit of fire out, trying to re-light his torch if he can, but otherwise he turns and just starts walking, grumbling, though ..might not be the smartest idea but, "At least its not like..razor blade darts flying out of the wall again or something.."
Mazurek has a wolf on his back when the lights suddenly go out for them. He groans a little and looks toward the other dragon, "Don't jinx it, will you? Next thing you know we'll tumble into a ice cold pool filled with hungry barracuda!" He assists with the lighting by doing his previous trick: creating a ball of flame in his mouth that is used only for light.
As Ryusho wanders off his foot sinks into the floor a bit. Back on the left side, a heavy thud can be heard behind the team, and a strange snorting sound begins to approach them from behind. Bolum turns around and blinks. "Is that a pig?"
Walden blinks in confusion and looks back as prompted by Bolum. "It kinda does sound like one, doesn't it?" he agrees. "Um... We should probably keep moving forward. I don't want 'IT' to catch up to us."
Moroko yelps but gets carried by a Mazurek. He's careful not to move around too much eyes looking warily. He does blink at the fire that gets blown and purses his lips letting Mazurek light the way and trying to move quickly to the next barrier. He pauses as Ryusho starts to sink and blinks, "Can you get out?"
Zero sighs once more. "Oh joy! Does none wish for a slice of meat then?" he ask sarcastically, a worn out angered look on his face.
Ryusho Mrphs as he almost slightly stumbles as his foot sinks, ".....What was that?" He says blinking, "....Pressure plate I guess...but..nothing happened." he says after a moment, though he then thinks a moment, "Nothing I can -tell- anyway.." he says softly, as he realizes he better watch his step anyway as he begins to walk a bit more slowly, and trying to pay attention to his steps now with the semi limited lighting
The team on the right makes great time with seemingly no traps once again, the flames pierce the darkness easily, allowing plain view of light ahead of them. Back on the left side, as the party proceeds forward to avoid the impending hog they soon realize their efforts are futile. It is indeed a pig, who has caught up with them and is tailing them closely, seemingly content to do just that. Upon closer observation it appears to be made of stone, and makes an almost oink sound with every step it takes.
Mazurek eventually drops to all fours during their trek, allowing the wolf on his back to wrap his arms and legs around him freely or sit up and just feel like a dragon rider...so to speak. He doesn't seem to be worried over stepping on things, merely moving forward with a purpose. One might say he's copying the wolves of old and loping steadily onward.
Walden laughs nervously at Zero's comment and says, "Well, um, a little meat can be nice, I guess. Ummm... I don't want this thing following us! It's gonna step on every trap. Ugh, if only this corridor wasn't so man-made." Just for kicks, he starts chanting a bit of Earth Magic. Maybe, just maybe, he'll get lucky and find he can trip up this stone pig's earthy legs.
Moroko blinks as Mazurek drops down. He shifts for a time and leans back trying to keep his balance. He manages not to gush too much about the experience though he is grinning. He does look relieved as Ryusho doesn't sink in but just drops a bit. He looks tense ready to blast the next trap. Clearly expecting the next foot to drop.
Ryusho sighs softly, glancing at maz, "..That might be easier somehow in this, at least it lowers the overall positioning,would help with hauling this gear around too.." he says humming, "Though I am not used to that, but I will think about it." he says after a bit
Zero can't help but laugh, "Ah-HA!! The Armadillo has a sense of humor!! Maybe I should ask for some pointers." Not wanting to be caught off guard, Zero takes a quick moment to unsheathe his blade, letting it rest over his right shoulder in case a quick strike is needed.
As Walden makes their attempt the pig lets out a single squeal before standing there looking at them, walking only when they walk. In the distance further down the left side one can hear a click. Bolum pauses his walk and says "What was that?" before three more clicks can be heard. Back on the right side the group reaches the light, to find the floors are glowing brightly. With great timing the walls begin to move, and the light reflects upon them. The right side becomes very bright as they do so.
Walden doesn't see quite the reaction he was hoping for. He lets out a quiet little sigh, then thinks about this. He holds up one finger, then three, puzzling this together. Then, without a word, he puts a finger to his lips making a 'shh!' face to Bolum and Zero before progressing forward warily.
Moroko blinks as they come into the light show. He raises a hand trying to shade his eyes and studies this, "Huh. More riddles." He says in mild amusement as he considers, "Hmmm should we try and block the light? Or follow the pattern?" He purses his lips thoughtfully at the new trap.
Zero arches an eyebrow in confusion, but follows Walden due to not wanting to make the situation any worse than it already is.
Mazurek finds that he doesn't need to have his ball of flame going any longer now that they've reached the brightly lit part that...is so bright that it resembles a white-on-white-on-white-on-white-on....room. He squints before it gets TOO bright for him, and he actually continues onward. He's a dark blot on a white landscape here. Perhaps it is fortunate that the wolf is on his back and not on his own two feet? The response he gives is simple, "Sure. You solve it while I continue forward." Even if it means running into a wall...
Ryusho shifts, and cringes, wincing as he squints a bit, ".....If you can see a pattern, or solve this, please do.." he says trying to look and see, "Because this is really dang bright.." he says softly though even as they continue steadily..though he soon -thumps- into one of the walls that had shifted slightly...as he grumbles, "...It all looks -flat- I can't tell the walls from the ceiling from the damned floor almost...there is no -shadows-"
Bolum continues forward with caution, nodding, but it does no good. As they proceed the pig following them continues to oink with every step, providing a melody of clicks and oinks for the left team to enjoy. On the right side, more walls open up, the room gets brighter, it is too bright to see anything at all. As Ryusho hits the wall, which is apparently the end of the right path, a loud click can be heard. Back on the left side a series of loud thuds can be heard, a chorus of oinks coming towards them. At the end of the left hall there is nothing to see, the walls are vacant.
Moroko shuts his eyes and sends out some tendrils of air trying to get a feel for what's ahead of them, "This doesn't seem good." He says as he shuts his eyes, glad once again not to be on his own padded feet. "Mmm end of the line?" He asks the other two.
Mazurek continues to squint, and when the other dragon reaches the wall, he manages to clunk his head into it as well, forcing him to drop back a couple of paces quickly with a groan and a hand to his poor head, "Ow! Alright, what just happened? Did we miss a turn?"
Walden wants to cry. Exactly what he was afraid would happen. He's reluctant to say anything to add to the problem, though! Thus, the armadillo hurries toward the end to examine the empty walls. "W-wait, what? Nothing?"
Ryusho has to basically not -look- almost as he slowly begins to feel, "There..is..like...etchings...or something on the wall, I can't see them, but I can feel them.." he says softly after a little while, as he mrphs softly, trying to slowly trace them as he wonders what to do...but tries to trace the etchings to figure out if there is a pattern or if they say something...
Zero yells and punches the wall to his right. "Why?! I must ask- Is there /any/ way possible for this to get worse?" he howls.
On the left side, Waldens search yields nothing but a click, which echos to them from the start of the temple. Bolum examines and tries to figure out how they're supposed to get past the sea of stone pigs waddling about the hallway.
Moroko tries to look to the sides to see if the brightness is better, "Etchings? Do they depict anything? Instructions?" He hopes. He reaches past Mazurek trying to find the wall as well, "I didn't SEE any turns... unless they were hidden."
Mazurek finally seems to understand what it was the Tegu had said, and approaches the wall he ran into, "Etchings?" There an echo? He breaks that by asking, "What sort of etchings? Think you can copy them like we did the others outside?"
Ryusho grumbles a bit, "Go figure...but I think this is the story we are looking for, and I can't SEE any of it...I can feel it, but I can't see it.."
Walden shakes his head. "I'm at a loss, here. I'm pretty good at fixing things and people, but how do you get so many stone pigs to shut up? Creators, ugh, that noise!"
Zero moves to face the pigs. A grin on his face, he runs towards them, jumping above them to bring his blade down on the closest one.
Bolum sighs and starts wading through the sea of pigs, each coming up to his waste. He fights them for space and proceeds to head backwards through the tunnel. "Lets go see what that sound was." he suggests. Zeros blade almost bends as it contacts the pig, clearly it is too hard to pierce.
Walden laughs nervously, scratching his head. "It DID sound like it came from the entrance, didn't it?" he says. And as he sees Zero attack a pig, he shakes his head in awe. "Do they even notice what Zero's doing?" he wonders, trying to maneuver back through the pigs with Bolum.
Zero swears under his breath as his blade almost breaks. On a whim, he call out to anyone in ear shot "Does anyone have any explosives?!?!"
The pigs seem to take offense to the word explosives and begin pushing Zero towards the exit, knocking him over and carrying him upon their backs.
Mazurek headbutts the Tegu, "Pay attention, will you?" He rolls his eyes and digs into his pockets carefully, pulling out parchment and some writing utensils. With these be proceeds, as best he can, to trace the inscriptions that have been found.
Walden looks exasperated at the porcine chaos. "Will you pigs PLEASE be quiet?" he asks, trying to follow along as best as he can as Zero gets carried off. "Oh man... Hang in there, Zero!"
Zero yelps as he's knocked off his feet. In response to Walden, Zero replies "That seems to be all I can do at the moment...." Sighing, he shakes his head and ask the pigs "I'm sorry for threatening you with explosives. But, is it really necessary to hinder our job?"
Bolum, Walden, and Zero make it to the entrance, seeing that the walls are down once more. Zero is thrown forward at the beginning of the triangular divider wall, and then the pigs begin to dissapear, funneling into a hole that has emerged. As the last oinker dissapears there is once more silence for our heros. Bolum says "Wait here, they can get out too but if we start walking in on that side we might get trapped." he says, taking a seat on the floor. Mazurek and Ryusho are having grat luck, the etchings being copied down despite the lack of sight. They are soon done, and proceed back towards the entrance, Moroko in tow to find that the traps have all been disabled. They regroup with Bolum and the others who look at them expectantly. "We found nothing, how about you?" says the hawk.
Ryusho smiles softly, "..I suppose we found the story, even with darts, darkness, then basically blinding brightness, but we found it.." he says as he motions to mazurek, for what he had, as he goes to hand over what he had traced..probably both tried to trace the whole thing, and there may be redundant traces, but he would rather have pages that are half -repeats- rather then of missed something...
Walden looks immediately relieved when he sees the dragons and the wolf that were on the other side. "Oh. As long as you folks found it," he says with a laugh. "...Um. Traps? Oh. Oh...yeah. Lots of traps on our side. Uh-huh." He glances away, unable to make eye contact.
Zero groans & howls some choice words towards the hole in which the oinker disappeared. Turning to the group, he expresses his relief to see everyone in one piece & ask if anyone truly does have any explosives, wishing to give the stone pork chops some payback.
Mazurek passes over his copies of the inscriptions that were made and he looks toward Walden with a raised brow, and nudges him gently, "What's wrong, my friend? You aren't normally so bashful. What happened to your energy?"
Bolum shakes his head at Zero and leads the group outside, and has them rest for the trek back to firmament. It's a long way down.
