"Thanks Jarris." She looks at the machine. "I think I like it but it is jarring."
"Let's go. This place isn't going to explore itself."
Nalo doesn't quite run to catch up to Anson but it is a near thing. "And I can't wait to figure out what was being done here."
A smile, "I found a few things on the electricity altar that might be interesting for you to look at later."
Your group is in a wing of the building you haven't explored yet. However, a mind numbing amount of left turns and hallways leave something to be desired, as no other rooms turn up anything interesting.
After a half hour of wandering, you come to the original room the bubble machine stood in. Another left turn later, you're standing in front of a large, sealed door.
There's foreign script written down either side of the doors. The center of the doors is covered by an elaborate gold plate with more strange script around the inside of it.
In the very center, of course, another depression to slot a cube into. These old-worlders loved their cube things.
A smile, "I found a few things on the electricity altar that might be interesting for you to look at later."
"Great! There are enough mysteries in here to keep me well occupied."
"Event"
"Lock down"
"Emergency"
You also see something repeated. The best you can piece together is that it says "Nadralix"
After peering at the plaque for a little while, Anson says, "I think that if there was an emergency in this place, this door would be locked. And there's possibly something called a Nadralix on the other side."
Nalo steps up and looks at the edges of the door, "Is it locked?"
Panamax sidles up to Ceri after he's reasonably sure that she's done vomiting. "Do you need healing?" he asks quietly. "I would offer you back that cookie, but I ate some and gave the rest to Jarris."
Panamax attempts to read each side of the doors. Top to bottom and then bottom to top. "I don't know what it means," he says, "but it looks like they meant it."
Also, at the door, Panamax asks the energy being Do you know what these labels on the doors say?
Nalo shakes her head, "For a second... No that was the Natatorium." She looks at the group, "Anyone heard of the Nadralix?
"I think the cookie went to a far better place between you and Jarris than it would have if I'd eaten it," she says good naturedly, gesturing to the colorful liquid on the ground. She looks around as though to make sure no one is listening. "But yeah, I wouldn't say no to some healing."
Script is for flesh
But this door is to keep the Nadralix protected
This door is to keep the Nadralix from touching the Organizers
The Nadralix must not be stolen
The door needs a key
"Then it would appear that there..." She looks back at the mostly boring hallways, "was an emergency. At some point. Because this is locked beyond tight."
She leans up so her nose is almost touching the wall, "There is barely even a seam where the door and wall meet."
Anson digs the cube from his breast pocket and turns it over in his hands. Then, with a shrug, attempts to fit it into the socket on the emergency door lock.
The crystal cube fits perfectly into the depression on the door. A beam of light shoots up the seam between doors, and they part soundlessly, splitting the cube into two pieces.
Tavene has her weapons drawn, Jarris has parked himself as far to the side as possible, and Ceri has crept up to be about as close to the door as Nalo had gotten.
The Glaive lets out a held breath when nothing charges at them from down the hallway in front of the door. In fact, it looks like any other hallway in the complex.
It only takes a few turns through the hallway and one empty room before your group comes upon anything of note.
Suspended by chains, a circular platform of blue glass hangs eight feet off the floor. Symbols of light flash on the floor, and as soon as you enter, everyone hears the same telepathic note: the symbols instruct you to choose your destination.
Nalo flashes a bright smile at Anson when his cube unlocks the door. She also grins at Ceri next to her.
Nalo was heading straight to the platform, but pauses with the voice in her head.
The symbols glow a gentle yellow, and they're in the same sort of script that was carved into the door that Anson just opened with the cube.
They circle the ground underneath the platform. Anyone who breathed in time with the bubble machine might notice the lights are flashing at a very similar pace, if not the same pace. Coincidence? Probably not.
The script is flowing, with symbols connecting to one another in graceful loops and curls.
Panamax touches Ceri on the back of her hand, and concentrates.
"Better?"
"The door was to keep the Nadralix from touching the Organizers," Panamax says, gaze distant, as though repeating words someone else is saying. "The Nadralix must not be stolen."
Panamax shrugs. "I wonder what language that is."
"Am I the only one who really wants to steal the Nadralix now?"
"Much. Thanks!" And indeed, Ceri looks less like she's about to go for a third round.
After he speaks a bout the Nadralix, she raises an eyebrow. "Did healing me transfer something weird to you?" She looks at the back of her hand and rubs at the skin.
"No." She says in response to Anson's comment. "I feel like I was born to steal the Nadralix."
"Am I the only one who really wants to steal the Nadralix now?"
Nalo grins at Anson shaking her head. "Do you think you can figure out these runes again?"
"No." She says in response to Anson's comment. "I feel like I was born to steal the Nadralix."
"Must be the reason fate brought us together. Destiny and all to steal it."
"Healing you transfers healing energy from me to you," Panamax says to Ceri. "Not the other way around. I have just been talking with the energy being. In my head."
"Must be the reason fate brought us together. Destiny and all to steal it."
Ceri grins. "That must be. I bet it's something no one could steal alone."
"Healing you transfers healing energy from me to you," Panamax says to Ceri. "Not the other way around. I have just been talking with the energy being. In my head."
"Oooh. Okay, yeah... that makes sense. Is it less interested in eating people now?"
The Nadralix...
The being pauses for a few moments. A jumble of images enters your mind and you can't make anything of them.
It is not for you. Your mind cannot grasp it
"It is less hungry now," Panamax says. "I am willing to let it nibble on me regularly in order to survive. Assuming I can find a portable container, it would like to leave this place."
Panamax freezes.
Then blinks and smiles a small rueful smile. "Sorry, my mind cannot grasp the Nadralix. It's like trying to explain cheese to a cloud, and I am the cloud."
"Don't let me stop you from stealing it, though."
"It is less hungry now," Panamax says. "I am willing to let it nibble on me regularly in order to survive. Assuming I can find a portable container, it would like to leave this place."
Slowly, "But you've been healing the damage it caused?"
"Can you heal yourself while it is eating? Or only if it doesn't accidently eats too much?"
Then blinks and smiles a small rueful smile. "Sorry, my mind cannot grasp the Nadralix. It's like trying to explain cheese to a cloud, and I am the cloud."
"Don't let me stop you from stealing it, though."
Nalo smiles, her eyes lightening up. "Even if we can't steal it, I want to see it," she says quietly, lost in the idea of something so unknowable.
"Am I the only one who really wants to steal the Nadralix now?"Nalo grins at Anson shaking her head. "Do you think you can figure out these runes again?"
Nalo wrinkles her nose as something finally clicks. "Scratch that. I'm an idiot. The nice voice did that when we walked in." She carefully walks around the teleportion device. Smile in her voice, "How far of a location do you think we can specify." She looks tempted to jump onto the platform and just try it.
Slowly, "But you've been healing the damage it caused?"
"Can you heal yourself while it is eating? Or only if it doesn't accidently eats too much?"
"I have been healing the damage," Panamax says. "But I was frozen while it was feeding. Unable to heal myself."
He thinks for a moment, attempting to read the runes running around room.
"Perhaps a buddy system is in order. For safety."
"I have been healing the damage," Panamax says. "But I was frozen while it was feeding. Unable to heal myself."
He thinks for a moment, attempting to read the runes running around room.
"Perhaps a buddy system is in order. For safety."
"If anyone would like to allow themselves to be eaten. Make sure we know and are near. We will watch." Kilo says, "If you would like an audience, it did not seem to take much the first time."
Biting her lower lip, Nalo's hand touches the glass platform, fingers lingering over cloudy spots and the smallest cracks in the glass. "It hasn't weathered as well as the metal." Biting her lip harder, "I think we tell it where we want to go telepathically?" Her head cocks to one side, "I can't tell if it has programmed locations or if we have to visualize the destination."
She looks around, "Anyone else got any ideas?"
"If anyone would like to allow themselves to be eaten. Make sure we know and are near. We will watch." Kilo says, "If you would like an audience, it did not seem to take much the first time."
"Thank you," Panamax says. "I'm sure I will take you up on that offer."
"If anyone would like to allow themselves to be eaten... We will watch"
Ceri chuckles, then bites her lip to silence the response.
She peeks underneath the platform. "Yeah, good observation. I wonder how long it'll take before the metal starts deteriorating. If it does." She stands back and drops her hands to her hips. "If this is the Nadralix, I don't think we're going to have an easy time stealing it. I was hoping it would be smaller."
"If anyone would like to allow themselves to be eaten... We will watch"Ceri chuckles, then bites her lip to silence the response.
She peeks underneath the platform. "Yeah, good observation. I wonder how long it'll take before the metal starts deteriorating. If it does." She stands back and drops her hands to her hips. "If this is the Nadralix, I don't think we're going to have an easy time stealing it. I was hoping it would be smaller."
Anson sighs. "As much as I want to hurl caution to the wind and teleport somewhere, the fact is, we were hired to do a job. I still care enough about my reputation that I want to complete it. So, I think we hold off from going anywhere at the moment. Let's finish exploring this place, then get the job we were hired to do done. Then we can return... who knows, we may need to get very far away."
Nalo's hand runs lovingly over the ancient glass surface but she turns around with a bright smile. "It'll be fantastic to see how far it goes after we get... that thing." She finishes lamely with a half apologetic half guilty look at Ceri.
Nalo's eyes widen, "Unless you find someone else you want to bring here." She adds to Ceri.
"That sounds like a good idea to me," says Panamax. "As much fun as exploring a great machine is, we should probably finish this job and do the next one."
Panamax's tone leaves no doubt as to how much fun exploring a great machine isn't.
"Oh, I'm sure I'll be back, especially if the teleportation functions and sends you further than to another room. Knowing the location of a functioning teleportation device would be extremely handy." She grins. "Assuming, of course, the building doesn't disappear, or melt, or turn off, or whatever. I've seen old ruins do some combination of all three of those."
After Panamax's comment, Ceri lets out a "ha". "So what would you have preferred to find down here? If you could pick?"
Your group is rewarded for its left-turn diligence, as it only takes one more left before you enter another long hallway and a room with another oddity inside.
Floating in a beam of light, an impossible cube about 10 inches to a side slowly spins in the air. The cube has nine sides and seven corners. Even glancing at the cube gives you an immediate headache.
There are a few chairs scattered around the room, looking oddly out of place from what you've seen in the rest of the building. There are no glowing runes here, and the glowing green tube passes through the hallway but doesn't cut through the chamber.
The Nadralix
This is not its home
The energy being's voice is filled with awe.
Although her eyes keep returning to the cube - and then away with a painful wince - Nalo walks amid the chairs trying to see the pattern in the disorder. "Maybe another room of worship?"
You can immediately tell that this cube doesn't belong in three dimensions, so like the energy being, it's probably from a different world altogether.
You hear a strange music at the edge of your hearing, and there's something extremely compelling about the cube, the longer you try to investigate it without looking directly at it...
You really wanted to take a peek at the cube. It's that curious nature within you. Even with the pain, certainly whatever secrets it holds is worth knowing?
Ceri keeps trying to look at the cube without looking at it. "I'm not sure that's going to fit into a bag." She looks to Anson. "You don't happen to have a transdimensional storage container in your pocket, do you?"
Tavene is faced away from the cube, watching the hallway, while Jarris converses with her, his body turned so that the cube is in his peripheral.
"Thanks for trying to find me earlier," he says, keeping his voice low. "I know we're not exactly friends."
Tavene looks at him sideways.
"... We aren't not friends, either. Besides, it's kind of my job to make sure everyone stays together, if we're going to be following some stranger into an underground ruin."
Jarris smiles, but has the grace not to poke the bear. "You're doing an excellent job, Lady Glaive."
"Ugh, just call me Tavene."
"Tavene, then."
When he looks towards the cube, Tavene smiles just a little bit.
Anson stares at the cube for a second. Then shrugs, pulling a small scroll from one of his many pockets. He asks it, "What is that cube?"
Then unfurls it to look at the answer.
Nalo's right hand moves, tapping irregularly in time. Her eyes moving to the cube more often than not as she moves a chair to face the the cube.
Anson stares at the cube for a second. Then shrugs, pulling a small scroll from one of his many pockets. He asks it, "What is that cube?"
"It's the Nadralix," Panamax says. "It's not from around here."
Once the question is asked and the paper is unfurled, the answer scrolls by your eyes as though being inked by an invisible hand. Once the answer is completed, the paper becomes blank again and no longer responds to questions.
The Nadralix is an Oracle from --unreadable word--, stolen from --unreadable word-- in the Sixth Age. It was used to answer questions, and the price a third dimensional mind pays is in its sanity. Last known location - The City of Shadow - current location unknown. The pyramid built around the Nadralix contains and protects it. If the Nadralix is found, please do not remove it, as it is unknown whether or not the --unreadable word-- would reward the finders or initiate the End of an Age.
Nalo's eyes are drawn firmly, and finally, to the cube floating in the beam of light. As her mind tries to wrap itself around too many sides and not enough corners, there's a pain like an ice pick being driven between her eyes, and then...
Nothing. A blissful nothing.
You must all be standing on the teleportation pad, and the first person to pick a destination has priority. It will teleport you to any destination as long as it is known to the person guiding the group.
When the world returns and the insight is gained, Nalo feels like something has changed. Whenever she hears a word that starts with L, she gets a strong taste of garlic in her mouth.
Anson reads aloud from the paper in his hand. "The Nadralix is an Oracle from..." he pauses here and interjects, "can't read this word... stolen from... another word I don't know... in the Sixth Age. It was used to answer questions, and the price a third dimensional mind pays is in its sanity. Last known location was the The City of Shadow. Current location unknown. The pyramid built around the Nadralix contains and protects it. If the Nadralix is found, please do not remove it, as it is unknown whether or not the... word I don't know... would reward the finders or initiate the End of an Age."
He looks up, turning the piece of paper over in his hand. Everyone who cares to look will see it's blank. "Huh. So if the cube is the Nadralix, are we in the City of Shadows now?"
After Panamax's comment, Ceri lets out a "ha". "So what would you have preferred to find down here? If you could pick?"
"If there was enough writing to maybe decipher the language, that would have been nice," Panamax says. "I did get to talk to an energy being, which was fun."
A pause, "..location.." her mouth twitches. She looks down.
Panamax looks sharply at Nalo. "Did you look at the Nadralix directly and ask a question?"
Panamax looks sharply at Nalo. "Did you look at the Nadralix directly and ask a question?"
"I didn't ask it a question."
She shrugs, putting up a hand to shield the dim light, "There was this music and I thought if I just looked" her mouth twitches, like she just tasted something strong, "a little," a pause as she swallows, "closer I'd see..."
"I don't know what I was lo.. thinking," she changes the word mid-way with aplomb, "I'd see. There is the peace of nothingness in the chaos."
He looks up, turning the piece of paper over in his hand. Everyone who cares to look will see it's blank. "Huh. So if the cube is the Nadralix, are we in the City of Shadows now?"
Ceri looks more and more excited as Anson reads off the message, all but dancing on her tip toes. "I can't say that helped reduce my desire to steal it. But..." she taps her lip, "I don't want to hurry up the end of an Age, either."
Nalo turns away from the Nadralix, her eyes staring blankly. She winces, "I found out how the teleportation platform works, Ceri."
"Oooh! How does the teleportation work?"
It's clear most of her willpower is being spent on not looking at the cube directly. It's likely the only thing stopping her is that Nalo keeps making strange faces.
And then it's not stopping her anymore and she turns to look full at the cube. A few seconds go by, she screws her eyes shut and presses her hands to her temples.
Another few seconds pass and she looks at her feet, the curiosity having been replaced by something else entirely. "Sooo yeah, about that teleportation!" She goes for cheerful again and makes it halfway.