Dungeon Keeper

[cityship]

The Tapestry had spoken. Not in words, but in ideas and images, ciphers and cryptic nonsense that had been laboriously deciphered, interrogated with spells and technology, pieced together from scrap. They had led here.



Planet Designation: AST994-III
Status: Terrestrial, K-class.
Non-sentient life: None.
Semi-Sentient Life: None.
Sentient Life: None.
Water: None.

Climate: Desert/barren.
Landscape: Rocky crags.
Air: Normoxic concentration: 29% oxygen, 60% nitrogen, 3% xenon, 6% trace gases, such as hydrogen, krypton, and argon.

Air Pressure: 14.352 pounds per square inch.
Sky: Red. Cloudless.
Sun: Class A star.

Warnings: Information from Tapestry indicates significant underground population. Subsurface information not available. Use caution.

Mission: ?

Somewhere down there, an object valuable and vital to the mission lay in wait, something so important that its existence was encoded into the Tapestry itself. Whatever it was, they needed to get it.

The only problem was, how to get in? The subterranean world had no access to the surface, and to physically breach it would not only be prohibitive, but catastrophic to the point of apocalypse to that underground world. Science could not solve this problem; thus, the crew turned to magic. The Tapestry had provided what were, after some analysis, unquestionably teleport coordinates. Five of them, for three people each.

To ensure the crew members were not lost, nor left behind without help, contingent spells were laid upon them, to return them to safety and help should they become injured, or should they find the item.

Without further ado -- with no natives to meet and negotiate with, no further preliminaries to make or plans to be made -- each of the five groups, with their supplies and equipment, were taken to the start.

[OOC: Don't worry too much about posting order. I will jump in where a response from the mysterious sky narrator is needed! Going with this, if you feel you're getting lost or outraced in posting, let me or the group know and we'll slow it down. The explicit purpose of this plot is for everyone to have fun, so please speak up if there's anything anyone can do to make that happen better!]

Comments

[cityship]

"You want.. go through?!" A pair of the creatures reflexively checked behind them in alarm, as if to make sure they were still in front of the gate. All of them seemed particularly baffled, if not aghast.

[snarkingscribe]

There's a pause before Veronica answers, though said answer is hesitant. "...yeeees, we would like to go through. We're just passing through."

[splendid_roman]

"That's not a problem, is it?" Ian asked, sounding as if it was a perfectly reasonable request. Which it was.

[cityship]

The creatures gabbed amongst themselves for a moment, looked at the humans, gabbed again, then sort of came to a universal agreement. They stepped aside, spears still leveled in case of treachery, and one of them reached for the first of two massive wheels with chains wrapped around them. This the creature began to turn, raising the innermost gate so that the three of them could pass into the fortified tunnel that lead to the outermost one.

[splendid_roman]

"Thank you." Ian hadn't expected it to be that simple, but he was glad it was. He smiled at the creatures as he stepped past and into the tunnel. "I hope this isn't a trap," he said quietly to the other two.

[snarkingscribe]

Well, that seemed all too easy, but better to overthink good fortune. Veronica added her thanks to Ian's, and nodded at his whisper. "You and me both," she answered, following him.