Revision as of 22:40, 17 June 2018

Participants

• Falx
• Fenris
• Flora
• Lidara

Date

17/6/481

Log

Finally, there's the camp right next to the entrance to the once-buried ruins, small but practical, with several priests already carefully categorizing the things found on first few levels of the undoubtedly large ruins. This is where any explorations start, with a briefing by the church.

How long has it been? The wasp had disappeared for a while, more than once, separating himself from the others while he went about to simply learn more about himself, more about the world, and anything he could manage. Still, he never intended to leave forever, so when he hears about the request of the from the church? Sounds like an opportunity to make his way back into the Freeswords. Last night, he had flown in under the cover of dakness, taking his time to become himself again before entering the camp.

He strides in, definitely not worse for wear, also definitely not a Griffon at the moment, as he glances about. Still quiet, still curious and always aiming to take in what he can, learn what he can as quickly as possible. Never hurts to know what you might be getting into. Or at least you who might be getting into things with. If it's the church and the Freeswords, then things could either be simple, or very interesting.

Fenris lounges near where the priests are working, occasionally piping up with an unasked-for and unwelcome opinion. "I'm willing to bet that that is for toasting bread and not a communications device, Brother Gilbert," he offers. The tiger has already been here for most of the setup, and even though he is not officially a priest of Sweetwater, and even though he can be irritatingly interested in everything about Creator ruins, he is just too useful to send away.

Fenris is wearing his unusual, Creator-style jumpsuit today in preparation for going into the ruins. Any edge is helpful, after all.

Unlike his companions, Lidara can neither fly nor is he really a friend of the church! So... he only recently ended up making the hike here with the rest of the Freeswords that were brought in, really. In any case, the feline himself had likely only recently actually woken up, and so he strides out of... whichever one of the tents might be serving as a mess hall of sorts, freshly fed and freshly finished with his morning grooming. The cat is dressed up in his armored robes and clearly has daggers at his sides, seemingly ready for the upcoming expedition as he wanders his way over to the camp closest to the ruin's entrance. Both to await orders and to try to sneak a peek at some of the relics.

"Are you the archivist, or am I? Besides, this is just a preliminary sorting, before we start moving everything back to the Church. There's about fifty different kind of creator machines with very similar appearances so far, and another good bit that look wildly different. Some of them are bound to wind up in the wrong shipment, that's what the priests at the church are going to take care of... And don't you have somewhere better to be?" the short-statured, short-tempered, and likely somewhat overworked bear-being snaps at Fenris, before getting back to his work.

Ultimately, neither Falx nor Lidara attracts all too much attention from the beings milling about, but all three of them should be able to find their way towards the briefing-tent, where a priestly hawk is already awaiting their arrival, gesturing for any able-bodied freeswords to join him and an elderly pangolin for their briefing.

As Falx carefully strides through the camp, he does notice a particular tiger. Fenris... that's someone he met a long time ago, but hasn't seen. He didn't know much about the tiger, but also didn't question him being present. At least it's a face he does recognize. He does also take note of a cat in the camp as well, one who doesn't seem to fit in with the other beings. Probably another of the Freeswords, though who they are eludes the wasp. Still, Falx makes his way to that briefing tent, the hawk, and the pangolin for the briefing. Hopefully this won't be too dangerous.

Fenris laughs warmly. "Alas!" he says theatrically, "It is true. It is with heavy heart that I year myself from your side, Brother Gilbert."

The tiger laughs again and waves his farewells and saunters over for the briefing.

Lidara is a pretty able-bodies Freesword, so he quickly makes his way on over to that tent once he spots it, and... on his way there, the cat finally gets to see who he's presumably working with! He only recognizes one of the two other Freeswords -- that one being Fenris, of course -- but the feline nonetheless offers them both a perky smile and wave once they're all gathered up in the tent. That, however, is followed by him checking his equipment one last time while they're waiting on the briefing. The feline has ditched his backpack -- after all, it'd be far too cumbersome to take it into ruins -- so, he simply has his daggers, a belt with various different pouches on it and a bow and quiver on his back. This would all... hopefully be all that he actually needs.

As soon as the four beings - Falx, Fenris, Lidara, and the hawk - are inside the tent, together with the pangolin, the cloth is closed behind them, and the pangolin offers a simple, almost encouraging smile to the trio of freeswords, and the priest. "I assume you three are either part of a team, or otherwise available on your own?" comes a simple question, before a gesture is made to a series of hastily-drawn maps on a similarly hastily-constructed table.

"Lets begin, shall we? Our main concern right now is to categorize everything inside the ruins and retrieve what we can. As such, we're sending in groups of four. Three freeswords, one priest. So far, we've explored most of the first two levels, and a good bit of the third, but without a doubt, the most valuable pieces of creator-built machines will be found at the bottom of the ruins."

The wasp just looks at the other two before his gaze returns to the hawk. "I am available alone," Falx states somewhat flatly, slowly making his way to the maps and rather hastily constructed table. He takes a quick glance at each of the maps, long enough to get a very good picture of them, before his gaze returns to the hawk, listening intently, antennae slightly bobbing as he nods. He is already thinking they'll delve as deeply into the ruins, retrieving as much as they can, before returning. "Any indication on number of levels in the ruins?"

"Why do you think that?" Fenris asks, "I mean, experience has shown that there are more valuable things hidden further from the entrance to these places, but why do you think that is?"

The tiger's question is obviously just idle banter, and he does not seem to expect an answer. He blinks a little when he realizes he spoke out loud. "Sorry," he says, "Please continue."

Lidara once more glances over the cloaked, hooded figure when he speaks, the cat's gaze... rather curious, really. But thankfully that curiosity doesn't get particularly intrusive before it's turned elsewhere. The feline steps forward and intently looks over those maps, studying them a bit even while he perks his ears up and listens to that briefing.

"Maybe they hoped that no one would want to go through the trouble of travelling that far to reach the valuable stuff?" Lidara offers to Fenris with a grin and a shrug, but then his attention is back on that plan! "Are we going to need to bring anything to help us descend, or are there already paths downwards that we can use? I guess it might be a good idea to bring a bit of rope either way...."

"Because, as you said, experience teaches that the more valuable creator machines are found deeper in these ruins, typically in a concentrated fashion. Like storehouses, if you will," offers the pangolin, before looking at the map. "Who knows? We've yet to properly determine the ruin's purpose or type. Given the size of the levels, though, we'd say about ten to fifteen major levels," he offers to Falx, before pointing at the map.

"Most of the ruins are still largely intact, and there are what appears to be stairwells here, here, here, and here. Unfortunately, on any given level, there seem to have been collapses, so not all of them are easily accessible. There's a central structure here that seems similar to others, designed to bring people to different levels, however, it doesn't seem like the machine spirit will wake from its slumber right now."

"Your job will be to bring Brother William down to the sixth level and aid him with the recovery of any movable creator machines you may find... And please, avoid angering the servitors. We've had too many incidents in other ruins before."

Ten to fifteen levels, that sounds like potentially tedious down the line. A little huff from the wasp, but not much more than that. Plus collapses in the ruins as well. The wasp idly moves to rub at one of his shoulders. He shakes his head a little, and then looks to the map, seeing points to the stairwells in the area. His gaze moves about the maps once more, though returns to the Pangolin, nodding again. Hopefully the servitors won't be too easy to anger... that would complicate things.

Fenris nods and turns a grin on Brother William. "No problem!" he says affably, "Maybe we can even get that thing in the middle running!" Fenris LOVES to tinker with Creator tech!

The tiger gives a whistle, and a silvery little otter scampers into the tent to curl up at his feet. "Can't go without Kawa," he says.

"If there have been collapses, then we should definitely bring along a coil of rope. Just in case," Lidara offers as he takes note of where those stairs are, "Presumably there's somewhere in camp that we can get some from before we leave?" With that question, however, the feline takes a step back from the map and stretches a bit. "Get down to the sixth level and back. That shouldn't be too hard," he gives with another one of those cheerful grins of his. Angering the sevitors was... well. He doesn't know nearly enough about Creator tech to comment on that. Fenris's otter, on the other hand, does get a rather curious look from the cat. "Kawa? Who's that?"

"None of that," the hawk, William, interjects. "You are not touching any piece of large creator tech without my permission," the hawk adds, as he looks from being to being, though particularly towards Fenris. "Place is dangerous enough without you setting off things that might very well be death-traps, or angering the servitors not just against us, but against everyone on higher and deeper levels, too."

"Calm, brother William. You're in charge of the exploration. As for supplies, the freeswords should be able to provide a basic kit... Any other questions before you head out?"

The wasp didn't remember how Fenris behaved, that was too long ago. Just his name and his face, so he has no idea what would have changed. Still, he listens and nods. No touching anything without permission. Easy enough. Though he does have one simple question. "How wide and tall are the corridors? How stable are the ruins currently?" He could help if they aren't too narrow or small. Though his weight as a griffon could always become problematic should the area be too unstable.

"Oh, Brother Williams," Fenris laughs, "You and I shall be such friends!" He turns his smile on Lidara and waves at the shining otter. "Kawauso," he reiterates, "My golem. He is handy in a tight spot."

The tiger pats his coat, checking his pockets, then gives a lazy salute. "Ready for adventure!" he says.

Don't touch anything! That'll... probably be easy for Lidara to manage. Probably. In any case, the mention of the kit from the Freeswords pretty well satisfies what the feline himself needs to know, so he simply nods and gives his equipment one last check. "I'm ready too!" he gives with a little bounce... but that's followed by him turning his attention to Kawa once more, really. He exams the golem for a moment or two before grinning and offering, "He's so pretty! You designed him very well."

"The first two levels are largely intact, although there is the occasional rubble in the way, the freeswords've cleaned most of that up, and the servitors do seem to try and keep the place tidy. However, there's no telling what we'll find further down, and we've found at least one corridor that's collapsed on all three levels. There's a reason we're not going to be taking anything out that's too heavy, right now," offers william, as he gestures for the three beings to follow. "Get your equipment, and we'll start heading down," he offers to Lidara, as he guides Fenris and Falx to the ruins' entrance, where rocks and rubble have been pulled aside to clear the large, creator steel entrance with its damaged, but not unreadable lettering...

Luckily, the wasp has his equipment as it is. He doesn't carry much, not particularly able to given his stature. Nonetheless, he nods to them, resolving to not go griffon unless absolutely necessary. Until then, he falls in step to follow towards the ruin entrance. He glances about at the entrance, the door, the rubble. At least this will be an interesting excursion.

"Thank you," Fenris says to Lidara, while Kawauso primps and preens, "I am quite proud of him."

The big tiger follows along after William and Falx stopping at the entrance to look over the worn lettering. He has probably taken note of it before, but it is always worth taking a second look. "I always like these old places," he says, making conversation, "Maybe we'll find a working comms station. I have not updated my SpaceBook account in ages!"

The cat, on the other hand, is intent on gathering a few things from the Freeswords! He dashes off for a few moments to borrow a bag, a few torches and a coil or two of rope from the Freesword's quartermaster or... whoever it is that can actually provide such things, but once that's done, he's quick to return to the rest of the party. By the time he's there, the cat has that pack over his shoulders and has moved his bow and quiver around accordingly to make room. The cat arrives just in time to ask, "SpaceBook? What's that?" before turning his attention to the doorway before them.

"You, especially, do not touch anything without asking permission first," chastises the hawk as he looks to Fenris, his tailfeathers ruffling for a moment. And then, he ducks past the gateway, gesturing for the others to follow him.

The first two levels are relatively easily passed, thanks to the freeswords' efforts to clear the way and make moving through the place easier, and the place is decently well lit with magical lighting... Servitors move about, similarly working to move rubble out of the way, though they are significantly more methodical, and clearly not quite as well-maintained as they might've once been...

And then, there's the third level, still lit for a few meters, and then... Pitch-black darkness... The sounds of metal on metal, of servitors skittering about, and of whatever creatures might have chosen to inhabit this place during its abandonment...

Throughout the first two levels of the ruins the wasp keeps a careful eye on things. Looking about, doing his best to take in the general layout and compare it to the picture of the map in his head. Though, when they reach the third floor... it's pitch black. He starts to mull over a couple things in his head, trying to form equations mentally to create some sort of light at the very least, as long as no one else provides any.

"Just a joke kid," Fenris answers Lidara, then mutters "killjoy. . . " under his breath, following along and taking note of the servitors as they go. If he has any insight into the purpose of this place, he keeps his own counsel.

"I thought you said you had cleared most of this floor already," the tiger says, waving a hand to produce three little balls of cool, blue flame that zip forward into the darkness like hyperactive fireflies.

Whether or not Lidara hears that muttering is... unclear, but if he does then he certainly doesn't react to it, at least. In any case, thankfully the cat manages to resist the temptation to mess with anything that's on the first couple of floors... though he does give a few of the servitors that they pass a curious look and a close inspection. Once they reach the third one and they're greeted by the deep darkeness, however, the cat's demeanor... does change a bit. He grows a little more tense and his hands rest a bit closer to his daggers than they had before, his ears attentively perked up and his eyes attentively drifting over the area around them. Though, luckily for him, the magical lighting means that he doesn't need to use any of those torches quite yet.

"Of creator tech that needs to be salvaged, yes. We're not going to risk dropping a large slab of creator steel on even a single scorcher, let alone a servitor or machine for the ritual of receiving. Clearing the path on this floor is ongoing," the hawk offers, as he thumbs towards the lighted area. "And given that it's only been a few days, I'd say we've worked about as fast as we can... Assuming nothing goes wrong and it doesn't wind up buried again, this place'll likely require months of work," the hawk offers.

And the darkness continues looming, with that metal-on-metal sound of the servitors, and the soft chittering of whatever lurks deeper...

The wasp just keeps his eyes open, constantly going over formula in his head. Need to be prepared should something happen. His eyes don't cease looking about, used to darkness, but not able to particularly see in it so well. Nonetheless, he sighs softly, staying close to the others, already making sure he's able to cast a couple wards on them should the need arise. Don't want to provoke any of the servitors, or anything else, if he does it before needed. As it stands, they are focused on getting to the sixth floor.

Fenris walks carefully along the passage, his little, blue were-lights orbiting around slowly in front of the group. He pauses for a moment at the doorway, calling a blue flame close so he can examine the doorway and what lies beyond.

Kawauso, his golem? Moves smoothly along by his feet, a soft glow emanating from its inner workings.

For the moment, Lidara mimics Fenris's cautious pace and falls in line behind the tiger. His steps are slow and soft, and one of his hands even drifts down to grab the hilt of one of his blades. The cat doesn't pull it out of its sheath for the moment, but his hand is tense and ready to pull it free on a moment's notice. Even his stance is a little lower than it was before, leaving him in a pose that... isn't quite a crouch, but it's at least something that's much more combat-ready than his posture formerly was. Beyond that, however, he simply peers through that doorway to search for any signs of an actual threat.

And as Fenris shines his light into one of the rooms, he's presented with a rather... Disturbing sight. Creatures, most alike to an overgrown cockroach, seem to have made their nest in this particular room. About the size of a being's head, and with clicking mandibles and a beak to match, filled with some disturbingly green ooze, the creatures don't look entirely too friendly. And if the intensifying chittering is any indication, they don't seem to be too keen on the new intruder and the light he's shining on them...

"Those, uh... They're mostly harmless. So far. Though they don't take kindly to light," mutters the hawk, clearly a little uncomfortable...

And meanwhile, in the distance, the servitors continue clanking along, doing their servitor job..."

Well, now the wasp blinks and stares at the creatures. Strange creatures they are, a hand slipping from his robe already. He could throw some fire, but... they're mostly harmless, supposedly. "Shall we move on, then?" His voice is still level as he intones again. "I advise we avoid adding unecessary conflict." He doesn't move from the door, waiting for them to do so first, already preparing something to throw at them if they become hostile.

"And you did not think that these awful bugs were worth mentioning?" Fenris asks, withdrawing his light and moving ahead quickly and carefully, making sure to avoid impeding any servitors about their work, "I'm a little surprised that the servitors have allowed them to nest, honestly. But you are right, our goal is the sixth floor." The tiger flicks an ear toward the hawk priest, "Though I have to ask, why the sixth floor? Why not just scout out the next floor you have not seen yet?"

Lidara goes a little wide-eyed when he spots those bugs, and that's quickly followed by his ears folding against his head and the cat pressing his back against the edge of the doorway. "We should... definitely move on, yeah," the cat agrees, though his tone... isn't nearly as level as the wasp's, really. Even his voice makes his discomfort pretty clear. "I'm not looking forward to it if we do end up fighting those things.... They look so gross...," he murmurs as he swifly follows after the rest of the group, though really the words were spoken... mostly to himself.

"We're sending several teams. The two teams ahead of us are going to get to work on the fifth floor. We'll probably run into them later," the hawk notes. "You're the adventurers. I figure this is pretty standard fare for you guys? I mean, I've heard about some of you fighting bone dragons. A couple of these kind of bugs is nothing compared to that, no? As for the servitors... We daren't touch them and risk angering them all, but they don't seem to be in the best of states..."

As the quartet moves along through the corridor, there are more doorways, left and right, each hosting a plethora of these bugs... One of them darts from one room to another, almost flying into Lidara.

A soft scowl from the wasp thrown at Fenris for that 'awful bugs' comment. He wasn't to be lumped in with those roaches! Another soft sigh, and a shake of his head, as he stays close to the rest of the group with them moving forward. Bone Dragons... he hasn't fought one, yet, but he has been able to hold his own in touchy fights. "Would fire be a reasonable solution to them?" Falx asks flatly. "Or does that agitate them further?" He does catch a glimpse of Lidara almost getting hit by one, and he immediately looks to her directly, eyes still barely coming out from under his hood. At least until he's sure she's okay, then back to marching forward.

"Ugh," Fenris frowns, "You are definitely going to need to get a team of firebugs down here to clean these out if you plan to keep salvaging this place. And I really don't like the way you said they were MOSTLY harmless." If he is aware of Falx's offence, he does not show it.

The big tiger seems intent on reaching the next floor and getting away from this infestation quickly. "Has anyone tried to talk to the station yet?" he asks, "The central machine spirit?"

"I'm sure that I've fought plenty of things that are more dangerous than these bugs, but that doesn't exactly make me more comfortable with the idea of needing to fight them.... Especially after seeing... whatever that fluid they were leaking out was. Plus they're small and I'm sure they can leap aro-" and Lidara is proven right before he can even actually finish that thought! The cat is constantly glancing between the doorways that they're passing, the noise from inside likely alerting him to what's hidden in that darkness, but... thankfully those nervous ticks help him to avoid being hit. He sees that bug just in time to let out a surprised squeak and duck out of its way, and after that he... simply starts to walk a bit faster and hold onto his dagger's hilt a bit tighter, really. "I'm fine," he mumbles and dusts off his robe a bit.

"I mean... If you don't agitate them, they don't spit... Whatever that green goop in their beaks is at you. It's nothing good, I can tell you that," the hawk offers, as he exposes a rather feather-less part of his arm, which seems to have some signs of burning.

"So far, we're not sure where it's hiding. It's likely further down than we're going today, if the few spirits we've managed to coax out of their slumber are to be trusted. There are some spaces of interest on the fifth, sixth and ninth level, though they refused any information on what is beyond the ninth."

"Fire works. It also agitates any other nests within the vicinity, due to the amount of light it produces, no doubt, so it's best used sparingly."

Even if Fenris doesn't pick up on that disdain, the wasp just keeps going. Don't agitate them, really, and things will be good. But... light agitates them. The wasp grins softly beneath his robe. That means he's definitely in his favored element. Still, he presses on, able to hide his happiness that Lidara is fine. As much as he would like to just... drain those blasted creatures, he refrains from it for now. Don't cause any issue that he's not sure he'd be able to resolve. So fire's out of the question for the time being...

Fenris grimaces as he sees more of those bugs showing increasing dominance and aggression in these halls. "I wiped out an agressive Krick hive once," the tiger says, "But if I did here what I did there, well, it would sort of defeat the purpose."

He continues to move along quickly, trying to avoid agitating the slumbering swarm more than necessary with their passing. The tiger's eyes scan the walls for weiting or markings that might indicate the right path or the purpose of this ruin.

Lidara grimaces a little when he sees the hawk's burn mark, and really that's... all of the encouragement the cat needs to be even more intent on avoiding these strange bugs. "Don't agitate them.... Got it. I'm sure we can manage that, as long as we don't walk right into one of their nests or... something...." Really the feline is mostly reassuring himself there. In any case, after a moment he takes a deep breath and forces a smile onto his muzzle, his stance and his grip on his dagger alike finally relaxing a bit... though he does at least make sure to keep himself combat ready. The cat does try to keep track of where they're going too, but really he's... kind of relying on his companions for that part.

The fork in the road... the wasp remembers back, thinking of the path they've taken, comparing it to the map of the third floor. He follows the route on the map in his head, and then the fork... one path leads the way they need to go. One hand lifts, and he points at one of the two paths. Good thing he got a good look at those maps.

"Y'sure?" offers the hawk to Falx, before shrugging and nodding along. Another servitor, fighting three of the bugs... The green stuff doesn't seem to be too good for the automaton's joints, though the creator steel of its legs seems curiously unaffected at the same time.

And then, a little further down, the hallway's collapsed in on itself, although of the four are careful, they should be able to slip past the junk and the exposed, sparking wiring to come closer to the next stairwell... Assuming it hasn't collapsed, of course.

Of course he's sure! He remembers that map as if he were holding it in his hands right now! Well, maybe better than that, given the light. In any case, he's certain, following behind the three of them once more. Now no longer keeping track of equations for fire magics, instead focusing on dark ones. As long as they're safe and everything, that'd be just useful. Just... hope their use doesn't actually become necessary. That wouldn't bode well at all.