Testchambers Beta
You are in a place, with beings, doing... stuff... And there was this man you knew.
A dream. A memory of a dream. A vague notion of something that slips away as you slowly awaken in a red translucent encasement. A pod in which you rest. Your skin is moist from a fluid that was sucked out only moments before you regained awareness. Through the red; it wasn’t glass, more a hardened membrane of a translucent plant; you could see more pods. The membrane pulls away and you find yourself in a room with bright coloured parcels in dark brown framing. There are plants lining the wall, and you hear the soothing sound of a water fountain nearby.
From somewhere to the side you hear a raw and heavy but cheerful voice.
”Good morning gentlemen, I am glad to see your slumber was a pleasant one.”
There is a small clockwork owl sitting on the edge of the fountain, its eyes glowing a faint blue. A shimmering, half-translucent image of a bearded head is floating in front of it.
”My name is doctor J Upton and I will be your advisor along the way. I would come myself, but having lost my legs long ago, that would be somewhat problematic. In my stead, Wilbert the mechanical owl will be my eyes, ears and voice-box. Please be gentle with him, since he is a very delicate piece of equipment. Talking about equipment, you wil find yours stored in a cache below your stasis-pod. When you are all ready, head for the glass door. It is not locked so you can simply push on. I will give you your next set of instructions once you open it.”
Eapheu slowly sits up, blinking and peering around. He stays calm for thirty seconds or so, then in a sudden burst of movement he launches himself over the side of the pod, stretches out his pale wings, and flutters to the ground. He immediately opens the cache and pulls out a pair of pistols half an inch long and hugs them to his chest.
After a moment or two of that, he checks them over, then gets the rest of his gear out of the cabinet.
After being ejected from the pod, and listening to a mechanical owl, the Igeros blinked his multitude of eyes. An interesting sight to behold, for the blinks happened in a wave-like syncronization front to back. Without turning around, the plant-like humanoid openned up his cache and pulled out four handaxes, what looked like studded armor, and three belt pouches. Once the items were equipped, he pounded his fist to his chest and said, "Gorg."
The large dog slowly opens its eyes - a fiery red with untold depths behind them - and scans the room. It sits up, sniffs the air, yawns, and then begins grooming itself. After five minutes of licking, it jumps down out of the pod and heads over to the pool and laps up some water. Then he pads back over to his pod and sniffs the cache. Looking around, he sees a flying wonder and speaks to it. "Fey creature. You help me I ask. These items to help place on me."
A thin man dressed in a white labcoat, oversized glasses and missing more than a few teeth chuckled to himself while watching the monitors.
"Eheheheh! Tiny guns shooting tiny ballberrings! What will you think of next! I gotta say I am impressed with the tree murdering tree with the spider eyes! We shall see how they fare against what I have in store for them!
Eheheheheh!"
A series of sharp electrical cracks begin to chorus around one of the corner chambers as a tiny form drops free from it, brilliant arcs of lightning dancing between it's miniscule form and the remnants of the liquid from the pod spilled across the floor. Presently it raises it's head a flurry of wind spreading around it as it glances around quickly, examining the room and the other creatures within, expectant of an attack. When none comes it stalks back slowly, reaching into the cache and pulling out a pair of bracers and a thin leather belt.
With a bright flash of light and lots of yellow particles dispersing into the air, a magnificent beast appears within the middle of the room, dazzled and confused for a moment.
Ehehehehehe!"
DD manages to get a chain with a shriveled hand around his neck and one of his clawed toes into a specially formed ring. He wriggles into a custom-formed barding made of glossy green metal, and the straps and buckles magically tighten and close themselves.
DD proceeds around the room, sniffing each of the other creatures, learning their scents so he knows his new pack-mates. When he gets to Igeros, it is not hard to resist the initial temptation to mark the tree-beast...
Looking at the hound without moving his head, Gorg spoke, "If you attempt what I think you attempt, you may regret it."
The thin white creature slowly paced along the edge of the room as it observed the other creatures. The winds whirling around the small creature scattered it's smell and made it somewhat hard to capture, not to mention the pervasive smell of the fluid from the tank that still coated it, crackling and burning as the electricity coming from the small form dried it out, which also made getting a wet nose much closer to it seem unwise. Satisfied in time that none of the others were about to attack it the small creature began a slow loop of the room, pausing before the two large tanks opposite it's own that had yet to release anything and examining them more closely.
The two remaining tanks appear empty and undisturbed.
A chanting can be heard from within one of the gestation pods for about a minute, then there is a flash of light and silence. A moment later a shimmering semi-tralucent quadrupedal predator emerges. It shrugs and wiggles its way awkwardly into its belt, ring and amulet before surveying the rest of the group. It looks each in the eye before saying, "We are a pack now. I watch your back, you watch mine. If not, we all die here. Work together we live."
_____________
The tiny winged creatures finishes collecting its gear (which consists almost entirely of guns and ammo-stuffed bandoliers) and then hovers mid-air as he surveys his "companions". Then he begins speaking. Rapidly.
"Boy you have a lot of eyes. How do you figure out where anything is? Isn't it all so confusing? Would it hurt as much if I shot you in an eye as it would if I shot someone with only two? Like the dog? Sure I can help you. Except you look like you don't need it. Are those magic buckles that buckle themselves? That's a really clever idea. Especially since you don't have hands. Why don't you have hands? Oh you don't have hands either. That's ok, Grog has extras. Although he doesn't have enough for both of you. Maybe we can find you a pair somewhere. How else are you supposed to shoot? Oh, you don't have guns. That's silly. Why wouldn't you want them? Well, you might set it off just by touching it. Powder's rather explosive! Boom! You just stay on the ground and I'll stay up here, and that way you don't make me go boom! Why are you crackling, anyway? Oh I should introduce myself too. I'm Eapheu Damira, call me Eapheu. Or Eep. I'll answer to Eep. It's a much faster way to get my attention than saying 'Eapheu Damira' after all. I don't even know why that's my name. It's very long. Eep is shorter. Nice to meet you all. Should we open the door? What d-"
Realizing he probably should let someone else get a word in edgewise, Eapheu cuts himself off mid-word and takes a deep breath. As he does, his hair starts drifting, as if in a breeze, and little flakes of the pod swirl around him briefly before blowing away.
"You can call me 'Core." Karnicore says. He closes his eyes for couple seconds in concentration and there is a brief appearance of ghostly armor surrounding his body. A moment later his claws, teeth and horns shimmer and gleam as if they were coated in transparent oil. "I'm ready now."
"Hmmm... We do have this wonderful spell called lipstitch that we could incorporate into a trap somewhere in one of the rooms... A shot of tranquilizer would work as well, except it would be hard for him to complete the course if we did that... We could also try Euthanization. That might work. Hmmm..."
[ooc]Honestly I love the chatty types ^-^ So much character portrayed in such a short time :)
Also, Core, you didnt use the great entrance I set up for you?
"Gorg. My name is Gorg," the Igeros corrected as he walked over to the door and tapped on it with the back of one of his handaxes.
"Sorry. Gorg, not Grog. No offense intended. Didn't mean to imply you were a drink. I'm not even sure what would want to drink you. Do you have blood or sap? Do you know? Hopefully we won't find out when something attacks you. I assume things will attack us, although I don't know why they'd want to. Lets go see what's on the other side of that door. Maybe that will explain things?"
Eapheu flits over to the door and peers through it as it (presumably) opens.
DD listens to the group, and ponders how to introduce itself. Its race had no formal names; rather, they used scent and sight to identify each other. DD also had no sex nor does it procreate - each Devil Dog is created or called individually for a specific purpose. But these companions used speech, and so a suitable title must be determined. 'Dog' was too simple, and demeaning. 'Devil' wasn't accurate, either. Perhaps DD (DeeDee). Or Hunter. Yes...that would do.
"Call me Hunter. Form new pack with you. Move through doors? Check first!"
Hunter moves to the doors, listening and smelling what he can to determine what may be onthe other side.
Perception
The door opens easily and the next room becomes visible. It looks like the room your in now, but without the plants and fountain. A big red circular plate lies in the center of the room. A short rope ties a white rabbit to the button. Many of you have seen this type of bunny before. It is quite often on the weeks menu and is frequently used for target practices.
The owl flaps closer to get a visual of the situation
"This is the Tutorial Room. The objective is to open the door to the next room. Many doors require a certain puzzle to be solved, a key to be inserted or a trigger to be pushed. Quiet often however there will be obstacles that one needs to pass in order to reach the objective. In the tutorial room, the door is operated by the big red pressure plate or 'button'. It is guarded by a polar-bunny. Good luck."
"Look, Core. Dinner!" Hunter moves cautiously to the far side of the bunny, following the south wall, so that he and Core can flank it...
Karnicore moves forward into the room, hugging the wall he begins to circle around the bunny. Wonder how long its chain is?
With a bright flash of light and lots of yellow particles dispersing into the air, a magnificent beast appears within the middle of the room, dazzled and confused for a moment.
The small creature turns it's head as it hears the others in the room introducing themselves, a deep rattling click rising up trough it's throat followed by a voice that sounds like it's echoing around inside that little head a few too many times before coming out, "This one is Raijin." it says simply.
A tall thin human in a dark suit swirls his glass a port a little, a slight smirk curling the edge of his lip, "It would seem some of us know how to keep a creature from being too chatty."
Raijin watches the others enter the further room and begin looking around and then in a sudden gust of wind and flurry of motion it's suddenly standing in the far room just out of reach of the bunny's leash, and examining it from a defensive position.
Eapheu
Hunter DD
Raijin
Karnicore
Bunny
Grog
As you circle around to outflank the creature intention, it sits real still and follows your movement with its red beady eyes, seemingly devote of emotion. Then all of a sudden it leaps forward and assaults Hunter with its razor sharp cutting teeth. A small cloud of frost escaping its gaping maw, but the devil dog responds quicker. ((you win initiative))
Hunter will attack the cute, fuzzy bunny with its claws and teeth, implanted memories of ancient hunts in the frozen plains surfacing.
Claw Attack - Damage
Claw Attack - Damage
Bite Attack - Damage
(extra d6 damage is from Elemental Weapons racial trait)
Hunter's vicious attack not only kills the bunny instantly, his fire elemental blood neatly cooks it. "Told you it was dinner..." Hunter yips before eating it in three large gulps.
"I don't eat meat. Have at it hound." Grog said while looking, you think, at the 'button'.
Eapheu flits forward into the room, talking as he does.
"That was impressive. Or a rather defenseless bunny. I think you just ate a defenseless bunny. Well, maybe it had defenses. It did jump at you. And you were fire and it was ice - I'm not surprised you killed it. You probably would have melted it, if it were actually made of ice. Was it yummy? Are we going to have to find more food for you? Don't think that I'm food just because I'm as small as it was. I don't care how hungry you are. So let's push the button. Do you think I can do it, or am I too light?" He flutters down to the button and lands on it, then jumps to land on it harder.
Core walks forward and stands on the red button. "Anyone good with traps?"
Raijin watches the bunny pounce the dog almost immediately certain that it will not cause any problem. It looks back to the button, thinking to get up and press it, but the others were taking care of that already as well, so instead it just walks casually over to the door to the next room and begins a slow and careful assessment of the dangers present within.
Raijin is fairly sure that there are no creatures behind the door, nor any active machines. He doesn't spot any obvious traps either, though he did see the specially traced line from the 'button' to the door.
Karnicore, seeing the door open, steps off the button. When the door closes again, he says "How can we hold this button down?"
Eapheu tries to hold the button down as Karnicore steps off it, but just can't apply enough force to it.
Hovering above the big red button, he continues his stream of words. "Well that is interesting. If I could hold down the button I could probably zip through the door as it closed, since I'm fast and small and it's so large. But I'm not heavy enough. Maybe if Raijin and I both stood on it? He's almost as fast as I am, so we can duck through the door as it closed after all you overly large things have walked through. Or maybe you can find something for us to hold?" He pauses, briefly, then continues. "But if it's heavy enough to push it down with us, it can probably hold it down afterwards. So we could just leave it there. Maybe a pod?"
Karnicore goes to check how well the pods are attached to the floor.
Seeing Karnicore head for the pods, Gorg said, "My thoughts exactly, if you need assistance, let me know."
Raijin watches as the door slides open, peering through to see if there was anything of immediate interest on the other side, particularly anything that might help with this particular challenge, but sees nothing.
Hearing Eapheu's longwinded, rapid and chittery idea Raijin turns and gives a nod, walking back over to the botton and standing on it next to Eapheu. "This one agrees, the Damira and I should make it through the door with ease, and this one may be able to hold it long enough to give a few more seconds."
The pods appear to be grown from an odd sort of plant, rooted into the floor. You estimate that "breaking" it free would take for ever, but any type of foliage can be chopped down with the right equipment and appliance of force.
Karnicore pounces on the plant tearing at its base, trying to rip the plant from the floor.
He continues to gnaw and tear at the base until it rips free.
Hunter joins the tree-destroying attack!!
Claw Attack - Damage
Claw Attack - Damage
Bite Attack - Damage
Not his favorite chew toy, but good enough!
Claw Attack - Damage
Claw Attack - Damage
Bite Attack - Damage
Claw Attack - Damage
Claw Attack - Damage
Bite Attack - Damage
etc...
Watches the others rampantly tearing at the plants in the other room for a time before settling down into lotus position on the button and starting to murmur a meditative mantra.
While the two carnivores were attacking plants, Gorg just stood there not doing anything. Or so it looked, because he was actually looking around for another possible object to put on the plate.
The pod comes loose and can now be transported
Karnicore nods to devil dog and together, they drag it onto the big red button. Now that the door is permanently open, he takes the time to examine the next room.
"There are gaps around the circles. They must be moveable somehow.
Perception
Hunter turns his head, as if listening, at the gap. "I hear some kind of rustling, like small creatures. Take care and watch for attacks..." He steps onto a circle, but jumps off as soon as it starts to rise.
After the door is permanently opened, Gorg steps through the door and off to the side to allow others to enter. Seeing the stone disc's, the lines, and the green light, the Igeros tried to put it all together, but didn't seem to understand how it all worked. "Any thoughts?"
Raijin slips to the side when the others move to place the pod down on the button, following the rest of them into the room and making a long slow circuit as he examines the set up, keeping an eye on what the others are doing as he does.
"There are lines tracing between the stone discs across the floor running from that green light towards the doors, one door has a red light the other has two the third has none. If there is something vicious hiding beneath the discs we should be careful in raising them lest we be attacked, but we should be just as carefull about opening the wrong door lest something far larger should be released."
A little disappointed he doesn't get to do a fancy "fly through he closing door in the nick of time" maneuver, Eapheu glides into the next room. Seeing all the lines, he begins zipping over them mid-air, choosing turns more-or-less at random.
"Whee! What do you suppose all these lines do? I don't see a big red button in here, but they look like the one that connected the last button to the door. This one door doesn't have a light, so we can't turn it green. Maybe the button is on the other side? Or maybe we just need to connect the green light to a red door light? There sure are a lot of lines. I wonder what happens if we activate them in a loop?"