In a pickle. Answers Lumpy to Luna's query. Smiling he offers his hand. Sterling Lumpkin The banker goes on to introduce the others. I'm trying to build a map. Where have you been so far?
Yes, no need to go in where there is no exit. You follow ze wall so you never get turned around. Iss simple geometry.
Kory turns to look at the newcomer...
I would say Hell, if I beliefed in such rot.
Luna nodded to Harry."I was in new york during a storm then darkness,pain, then here." She extended her hand."Luna Rook."
Storm in Berlin, too. Bad lightning strike...I thought I wass dead.
Kory looks at Luna suspiciously, though through the goggles, it's impossible to tell.
"Yeah, Harry Hudson here. " taking her hand. "I'm a hunting guide out of Alaska. Was gutting a moose and some really messed up stuff happened, now I'm here. Wherever that is. Even lost my damned knife dammit. "
Did everyone here escape certain death? A lightning strike on a plane engine precipitated my waking here too. Maybe my assumption about us being alive is wrong Lumpy considers this, then adds No, I would not be hungry if that were the case
Lina nods at Jacob and looks about to say something when she hears the scream. It wasn't the sound of fright, like the first, strangled one, but the blood-curling scream of someone in great pain. She runs out into the dark, slowing down a bit when the light lessens, towards area 13 where the sound comes from. She kneels down by Neri, turns him over on his back, and starts to check him, ready to perform first aid.
Heal check to determine the cause of his injury:
"Hang on, I'm here, you're ok!"
Luna shrugged."I don't know about certain death but the storm was pretty bad, shaking the windows in the shop I was hiding in."
Neri was busy writhing in pain. His entire world was pain. Again.
"Well I'm not really sure what happened. I was there gutting a moose, heard a growl, and like a dimwit I had let a grizzly sneak up on me. Then it was bright and loud. Not sure what happened really. I was expecting to end up as bear scat myself. "
Maybe...ziss iss Hell? Bah. Childrens'stories.
His words are confident, but his voice exposes confusion.
Lina and Jacob find a young man wearing a jacket, he's on the floor twitching and unresponsive. He has a star shaped red welt on his right hand. He is laying under a relief. There is a star shaped hole in the relief. The young man has bloody streaks on his face, as if he had cried tears of blood.
Paul blinked awake, forcing himself not to groan from the pain. It was pretty dark, he held his eyes open and counted to thirty, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dark. He heard voices in several different languages, some of which he spoke.
Standing he checked himself for injuries, patting down his black turtleneck, black cargo pants, commando gloves, and black climbing shoes. There was one entrance to the cavern he was in, he moved to it and down the tunnel to an opening.
Moved to area 7 to scope out the area and people in area 4.
Paul can see, and hear, the group in area 4 from area 7. If he stays int he shadows, he is fairly certain he can't be seen. They appear to be trying to figure out how they got here, and where here is, and how to get out of here. Things which are almost certainly going through Pauls mind.
"Hell or anywhere else we need to find a way out, Surely this place can't be that huge. What if we split into groups and meet back up?"
"Hello fellow unfourtunate souls who find themselves in the rather dismal place." Paul states in english stepping into the circle.
Chinese, to himself: "So close" he says thinking of his rain drenched climb.
Yes...and we should look for tings dat might help us...like...a crowbar would be handy...sledgehammer. I can fight, if I have to...with anyting. Someone...perhaps...could use dis.
Kory pulls out the pistol and holds it by the barrel, offering it.
Anybody not sure if they can handle a fight...can come with me. I can.
Kory heads in the direction the rods are supposed to be.
Time seems to pass at a crawl. Lumpy looks at the others. No one else seems to be coming. I think we should go look at these retracting rods. Lumpy gets up to leave. and balks at Kong's offer of a gun.
Kong you hold on to it. You're a sweet man, but you can't trust anyone here. Based on your offer. I do trust you. So keep it. That would be safest.
Moving to area 2. He examines the relief. It was like something out of Game of Thrones. He takes special note of the mechanical servant. It struck a chord with the banker. He momentarily contemplates the effect on an economy with such a tool. He could use the robotic increases in productivity for the automotive industry as a trend.
The banker continues along those lines as he reaches area 1. He studies the mechanism in detail, trying to glean what he can.
If the gun was offered to Luna she would take it but either way she wasted no time in following Kory, well aware she would be quickly defeated in almost any fight.
Deciding that the only thing she could do for the stranger was to wait untill he woke up, Lina picked up the unfortunate guy, and slung him across her shoulder with ease.
"It sounds like there are people up ahead." She said to Jacob.
"Hello? Wait up." she called out into the darkness.
The gun Kong holds out looks to be old, very old. It's caked in dust, as if it had been sitting around for a long time. The breach is open, and it's unloaded, as if someone had fired it until empty. There's a patina of rust begining to form on it. It could likely be repaired by someone with a kit, some oil, and some time.
Sterling checks the bars. Each are 5 inches square, and run from wall to wall. It's obvious where some of them retracted. The ends of the retracted ones have a red star on them. The unretracted ones have no symbols on them at all, and are smooth as glass. They appear to be stone, but they have an oddly solid feel, as if they were dense metal instead of stone. All in all, they are not like any material Sterling has ever seen before.
Behind them are more bars, these going up and down, rather than side to side. They appear identical to the horizontal bars.
A woman in damp but obvious police attire comes into the light in area 4, carrying an unconscious man in a jacket and jeans. Behind her comes another man with slightly damp clothes.
As she sets the man on the cavern floor, he begins to stir and come around. He looks very pale, and there's bloody streaks on his face, as if he'd been crying blood.
Remember, your character has no knowledge of what I sent in PM, he just remembers what the gem did, and the pain.
Lumpy looks at Harry. I've never seen materials like these. I can't figured out how you would trigger it. Did something else happen at the same time? Anything?"
Neri could feel something besides pain for a moment. Movement. He groaned slightly, still feeling flush with heat with each step the officer took. That had been one heck of a dream.
He opened his eyes, but rather than being rolled along in the truck, where he suspected he had fallen asleep, he saw stone floor, everything with a slightly red sheen. He sighed, looking to his side at whoever was carrying him over her shoulder, but presumably could only see her vest and pants.
Paul leaned against the wall, taking out the one thing he had on him at all times even mid heist. A pack of cigarettes and a book of matches. He looked at the police officer looking lady, and kept his mouth shut. The natural enemy of a con like him.
He puffed and blew a smoke ring.
Luna greeted the new arrivals as they came into sight. "You wouldn't happen to have any idea whats going on would you?"
Kory looks the bars over for a minute, before heading back. Damn.
"Nope, they just moved when I came in here. I had fiddled with the picture thingy in the next room down before I came in here, so maybe there's a connection. "
to the lady who took the gun "That thing looks like it needs a bit of work. I've got my share of guns and I know I wouldn't advise pulling that trigger till someone gave it a good cleaning and a once over to make sure the bore is sound and clear. "
"You think the pictures are related? The room I woke up in had a carving in the wall as well." Even if the gun had been completely functional Luna looked awkward holding it. "It's the only real defense I have."
"I honestly have no idea about what is going on around here, but I doubt it will hurt to try things. Take that back. Don't try that gun. We can get it cleaned up for you later, but I'd need some tools, and would like some solvent to do it right. Not exactly sure where I'm gonna find solvent around here. "
Satisfied that everyone here seemed as lost as he was, given the conversation, Neri moved to clamber down... something that would be very easy if he wasn't resisted, so that he could actively see who else had been dragged here.
We can't rule out anything Luna. Lumpy walks over and crouches over Neri. I happy to see you are among the living. What happened to you?
Before or after the truck hit me? Neri asked calmly. I'm fairly certain that if I'm not dreaming, I've died a few times today. Is this some kind of horror movie spoof show?
What a wuss... Grow a set of balls... The thought floats up out of Neri's deep subconscious, like a shark rising up out of the depths, and a mild wave of self revulsion sweeps over him. For a moment the thought of beating those around him into more respectful tones flashes through his mind. Then it's gone...
For a split second, Neri's iris's seem to redden, but it's gone in a blink of an eye.
Neri has what looks like a fresh angry red star shaped burn on his right palm.
You look lively enough to me. Lumpy adresses the group. We have one locked door and no key. Lets do a methodical search of the caves. See what we will see.
Neri gives everyone around him a slow glance, his lips pursing. His hand went to his temple. I'm fairly certain I hit my head. Either before I got here, or after I took the ruby. By the way, I don't suggest grabbing one. It hurt a lot. Neri tried to ignore the apparent schizophrenia he was now suffering from... hopefully it wouldn't get any worse.
"Should we explore back the ways we came or stay togather?"
Kory pulls off his voder and looks at it for a moment before dropping it on the ground. Oh well.
Sterling connected ruby and red star; the red star on the retracted bar. Sterling examines area 13. He thinks he understands. The reliefs are archetypes of some mythos.
I know what to do
Lumpy moves to area 17. He liked the relief. The lighting struck him as ironic. Lumpy pulls the gem.
"You know what to do? What do you mean?" He looked around himself, then shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Right now, whoever can't defend themselves needs to find a way to do so. There are bodies everywhere, and they've all come to pretty horrible ends. I found a broken sword on one of the bodies that I won't be able to do much with, but it's better than nothing. I'm sure there are some bodies around here with actually usable weapons. Is anyone working on getting our bearings straight?"
Neri was used to everything having purpose, everyone having a job. The sooner they figured out who did what, the better off they'd be. "While we look, we should probably introduce ourselves. Find out what we have in common, why we were taken. I'm Neri Voler, a Highrise Circus Performer from the States, based in Las Vegas, but was in Virginia prior to being 'picked up'. Painting, and anything involving a big stage show are things I've probably at least dabbled in."
"Harry Hudson, hunting guide. I'm based in Alaska. Not sure I see anything in common with the people here. But I'm willing to entertain Sterling's notion so I'll follow him. "
and he will tag along more out of curiosity than any faith it will work.
Kory shrugs and follows. If it works, I go.
Kong Groder...percussionist for...translates to 'Tactical Spinal Chain'. I built some of the instruments, too. I come from...ze bad side of Berlin.
"Luna Rook." She introduced herself again since more had arrived since last time, she followed Lumpy into area 17 since he seemed to have some kind of idea."You think the gems are keys?"
"East side, I take it? Is it still the bad side?" he tried not to stare at the man's fashion choices, especially the more permanent ones. Luckily Luna drew his attention. "I hope not. Getting it back out is going to be a..." he looked at the back of his hand for the first time, and sighed. "It gets better and better."
Mostly east, ya. Lichtenstein.
Kory disappears with the others.
Neri proceeds to follow after, watching his surroundings as he went, scratching at whatever had dried on his face. Ugh.
Sterling returns to the relief with the woman and the rainbow gem. He touches the gem, and it seems to loosen for a second, but then there's a fat spark and his arm jerks away from the relief, the fingers filled with pins and needles. The gem remains firmly inset in the relief.
Lumpy shakes his hand to rid himself of the creepy crawlies. So the archetypes don't cross gender. Interesting. Lumpy rushes to area 2. He grabs the topaz.