Taking up a position on the rope next to Sasithorn, Gwernach's nose develops an ill timed itch. Thinking the others have a firm grip, the dwarf chances a quick scratch however it does not go as he'd planned.
Diarmal looks on with growing worry, wishing that the blessings of Aisling included physical prowess or aquatic mastery...
As the team helps to lower Marvin over the side of the rock to place the tracking device on the upturned gate the intensity of the waves grows stronger. Just as Marvin attaches the device a particularly large wave sweeps over the rock.
Marvin launches himself off the gate’s leg, taking full advantage of the rope’s arc and swings around the rock to the adjacent face, and is shielded from the churning water. Xor ducks behind Gwernach and Sasithorn who both get soaked by the tainted water.
From the shoreline, Diarmal watches as some of his friends are drenched in sea water.
Ack! Rogue wave! With sea water spattered all over him, Gwernach gives his head a quick shake, sending droplets spraying off his long beard back into the sea.
Gwernach and Sasithorn feel a tingle as the dark oily water saps some of their vitality, leaving them, for a moment, feeling as if someone has stepped upon their grave far in the future.
The device for tracking the location of the gate is in place. It is easy to jump off the rock on the far side, away from the gate and the spreading contamination, and swim away from the danger, back to shore as the tide continues to come in.
Xor heads back to the shore ready to go wherever
Not wanting to hang around, Gwernach quickly follows Xor rubbing himself with untainted sea water as he goes - just to make sure none of that oil clings.
"Objective complete. No further hostiles spotted in the area. This unit recommends immediate debriefing with Agent Southmiller."
As the party wades to shore, occasionally looking back out to the rocks and the destroyed gate, they begin to w9onder what all the fuss was really about anyway.
The shadows that they cast upon the beach grow long as the sun dips low on the western horizon (looking straight out to sea, this would be off to the right, toward the southwest).
There is, perhaps, a good two to three hours of daylight left, and the distance back to Agent Southmiller’s home is probably fifteen to twenty miles, as the crow flies. Even at a hard march it is unlikely that the group can reach the shelter before the sun sets.
"This unit recommends continuing to the security of Agent Southmiller's homebase despite the estimated arrival being after sunset."
Realizing the risk of traveling at night, Gwernach nods solemnly in response to the unit MARVIN's recommendation. Keeping his waraxe handy he calls upon all of his tracking skills to do his best to lead the group on the most direct path to Agent Southmiller's location.
Determined to get back to agent Southmiller as quickly as they can, the party sets off to the northeast, with the sun setting on the western horizon.
The night is favorable, there are no clouds, the moon is a waxing gibbous, and the stars are twinkling above. The moonlight shines with enough brilliance to allow the party to guide themselves across the rolling hills at a quick pace, covering the many miles back to the place where agent Southmiller’s unusual “shelter” can be found.
The group pauses twice, during the march, taking a rest and eating a bite to keep up their strength, and as they get closer Marvin’s internal voices seem to be keeping him on a direct path toward the shelter, while Gwernach uses his outdoorsman’s skills to keep the party from blundering into any difficult parts of the various and often tricky terrain.
The sun is rising when the party sees the shelter on the hill ahead of them, and they see sights that they were not expecting at all.
A strange, large, wagon like sled is sitting on the hillside, downslope from the shelter, to the left. Many small creatures, which appear to be wearing suits that cover their entire bodies, are scurrying about around the sled, unloading and moving small crates, and boxes. The suits they wear fold and change shape as you watch them, suggesting the suits are flimsy, and oversized, while each suit has an elongated, blunt on the end helmet attached and this helmet has a grey, almost smoky looking glass oval near the front, above the blunt, elongated end.
The small creatures can see you approaching, the rising sun is to their left facing you, and low mon the horizon, but they seem to ignore your approach. When you are about fifty feet from the sled, and shelter, Agent Southmiller emerges from the front of the shelter, through the large oval shaped and heavy metal door. She is wearing a tight fitting jump suit, short leather boots, which have the pants legs tucked into them, and her hair is lose. She is followed by a tall human male.
The man you see stands almost six feet tall, and he has a slight build, with square shoulders, and a slim waist. He is wearing traditional merchant garb, including a long woolen coat that reaches to below his knees. The coat is dark grey in color, and the man’s garb is in various shades of light brown. He wears boots that go above his ankles and have a simple metal buckle. Around his waist he wears two belts, one slim and the other wide. The wide belt holds a long pouch, which is strapped by a cord to his thigh near the bottom of the pouch.
As to the man’s face, he is plain, in most regards, clean shaven, and somewhat pale (he is certainly not a man from the United Kingdoms of Anthandra, Goralda, and Liegridan, as those men are olive to dark brown in skin color). In fact, none of you have ever seen a human man who is this pale before, even the men of Vologna, who are descended from the men of the west, have darker skin than this man.
He has a straight, hawkish nose, and wide set eyes. His hair is dark, thick and straight, but his hair line is receding, giving him the look of a tall forehead.
Southmiller sees your group, and points you all out to the man, and the two of them walk quickly toward you.
Welcome back, Paulina says with a smile. I was able to track the energy from that gate. Good job shutting it down. As soon as the Gamnala have finished unloading what was recovered from the ruins, we’ll send the a-truck to recover the gate. I want to get my eyes on that and see what it was made from. Let me introduce you all to my associate. His name is Parker Anderson, and he is here on a special assignment. I’ll let him explain why he is here in his own words, and together we will answer any questions you might have.
Never really fond of diplomatic formalities, Gwernach non-the-less nods his head politely in greeting but lets the others do the talking.
Marvin nods to Agent Southmiller and her associate. "This unit awaits debriefing."
When Paulina introduces the man you thought was nearly six feet tall, he is looking toward the small creatures unloading things from the strange sled and as he hears his name and turns you suddenly notice that he is standing on a rather large box. When he steps down, and moves toward your group you now see that he is short for a human, certainly not a dwarf or a halfling, just, well, short.
He shakes each of your hands, if you are willing, and when he comes to Marvin, he stops.
I’m delighted to meet you all. I imagine what you are experiencing, have experienced in the past few days has seemed a bit out of the ordinary, even for folks accustomed to the vagaries of magic.
He circles around Marvin as he speaks
Just to put things out there straight, from the start, so you know me, and why I’m here, I want you all to know that like Agent Southmiller here I am not from your world, but as well as some of you might understand how things are summoned to this world with magic, I didn’t come here that way. I’m from another world that is very much like this one, only there is no magic, which in some ways sort of makes that world a bit dull, at least I always thought it was anyway. On the other hand, unlike Agent Southmiller I am not with the Interplanetary Relief Society.
The man stops right in the middle of what he is saying and changes the subject
I am simply amazed. You say you are called Marvin, and do you know what that stands for? See you, your kind, you don’t belong on this world. I think I’m safe in saying there are not many like you on this world. If there is even one more of your kind I’d be shocked. I’ve travelled to this world before, and when I did I wasn’t always following the rules that groups like the IRS, or CoIT, or even the UCGO have in place for allowing off worlders to visit a place like this. No, it’s mighty strange to see an android on a world like this, but I’m getting of the subject.
He takes a few steps away from Marvin and puts his hands behind his back.
It’s like this. Several hundred years ago, a ship, a hospital ship of the IRS came out of its calculated voyage unexpectedly, and in much too close of a position to this world. Now, I’ll explain what a hospital ship is later, but for now all I need you to understand is that this ship, is very large, as large as a small village actually, and when it appeared near your world it could not stop itself from crashing down out of the stars and onto the surface of your world.
When this occurred, it was, at first, a matter of concern for many different governments and agencies, but you should know that accidents like this are while uncommon, not altogether unexpected, they sometimes occur, and usually with terrible consequences for both the ship that crash lands and the poor unfortunate people they crash onto
Now the first thing that seemed particularly strange about this accident was that as soon as an investigation was begun into the results of the crash it was learned that the ship did not break apart, or disintegrate when it crashed onto your world. This surprised a lot people. The next thing that was discovered, well, I guess that’s the point I’m here to make. There was no next thing.
For almost a hundred years every attempt to access the wreck of this ship ended in a complete loss of the investigation team, no contact was ever had again with anyone who ever set foot near that wreck, and this led to a lot of strange and unsupported stories being told about the wreck of the ship. Some of those stories became popular, became books people read for entertainment, or to concoct wild conspiracy theories. No one knows the truth about that ship.
What people like Southmiller, and the people she works for did know, was that for almost four hundred years nothing came out of that wreck. Nobody was able to get in, and nothing, well, nothing dangerous got out.
And then you show up on a video report, Marvin, just as happy as a clam. Walk right into a common tavern on the shores of Ibalnd, four thousand miles from where that wreck lies, and I’ll bet dollars to donuts that if we can take a look at some of your part identification tags we’re going to find that you, at one time, were once on board that ship.
I’ve already identified everything else that was recovered from the ruins to the southwest of here. All of it can be traced to the Contagion. That’s the name of that ship I’m talking about. Four hundred or so years ago, the Hospital Ship Contagion, registry number IRS-HS-2109, crash landed, intact, on this world, and I was paid by the IRS to find out why it’s taken so long for something like Marvin to show up.
But the gun, now that doesn’t fit at all. There are no black powder weapons on this world, and conventional gunpowder doesn’t work on this world. Marvin would you mind if I take a closer look at your weapon?
Parker holds out his right hand hoping Marvin will hand him the weapon.
Marvin stores all the information that they are being given, still not fully processing everything but nodding to convey they have logged the data.
"M.A.R.V.I.N. stands for Marvin," the unit responds. "This unit cannot corroborate any evidence of your hypothesis in its memory banks but this unit estimates a high probability of a truth result."
Marvin then hands Parker his musket. "Associate Parker Andersen has been given special privileges as per Agent Southmiller's classification of your presence here as special assignment. This unit's inventory is available for your inspection."
Having willingly shaken the agent's hand in greeting, Gwernach stands back to listen to what Parker has to say. As outlandish as the story sounds, the possibility of explaining M.A.R.V.I.N's background and how he may have come to be here intrigues the ranger, even if it sounds like a whole lot of orc dung, Phft! Ships fall'n from tha sky?!
As Marvin holds out its weapon for inspection, Gwernach folds his arms and interjects, An Ah suppose next ya'll be want'n us ta go find ya lost con-tae-jun ship, eh?
Diarmal shakes his head as Parker shares his story, wondering just how expansive the world beyond the world might be. Did the light of Lady Aisling shine down upon all of it? What magic--or leack thereof--had created Marvin? Was the same magic responsible for Marvin's weapon working or not working? And ships from the skies? Swimming among the stars?
He'd never once imagined that he'd understood the world. It was that same thirst for experience, knowledge, and company that had brought him so far from his homeland. Gods and planes and magic all made sense. But not once had he ever imagined being so small-minded compared to the grand scope of the multiverse.
Gwernach's comment pulls the elf from his thoughtful reverie, and he adds his own thoughts to the end of the dwarf's question. "Ah... While the idea of seeing this star-wanderer Contagion fascinates me, didn't you just say that ended in the disappearance of your associates, Mr. Andersen?"
As Marvin responds to Parker’s question and hands him the musket, one of Marvin’s traveling companions, the dwarf Gwernach leans on bow and asks a question of his own
An Ah suppose next ya'll be want'n us ta go find ya lost con-tae-jun ship, eh?
And then Diarmal mentions the danger involved.
Examining the musket, Parker is silent for a moment, and then as he is turning the weapon over and over again, his attention is drawn to something about the end of the butt of the musket. He rubs his hand across a dark spot on the wood, revealing a dull metallic plate no larger than a small coin. He shows the plate to Paulina and says,
Here, look, there is some kind of code here, or a language I don’t recognize. Take an image of this and run it through Diana right away. I want to know if this has any significance. I’ve never seen a weapon quite like this before, even in a museum.
He holds the end of the musket up as Paulina holds up the handle of her flail near the small metallic plate, and then she runs off back to the shelter.
Parker approaches Gwernach and Diarmal, while Sasithorn and Xor stand close by.
No, master dwarf, I don’t need your help in finding the Contagion. We know exactly where it is. And yes, master elf, there has not been a successful reconnaissance of that wreck in over four hundred years. But while Paulina is occupied for the moment, let me make something clear that otherwise she might take offense to, or worse, report to her superiors. You see I wasn’t hired, sent here to find the Contagion. The IRS knows it’s here and they have tried repeatedly to get to it. Hell I think an attempt was made just a few years ago. The IRS has a problem with that ship, a mysterious problem that they don’t want anyone to know about, am I intend to find out what secret they are trying to keep and why. They hired me to try and get into the ship and find out what has changed, why a android like Marvin here was able to get out, when nothing else has for a long time, but most importantly, they want it to be someone they aren’t responsible for, and for that, well, that got my curiosity. I don’t trust the IRS, I never have. I could tell you more about that if we have the time. What I will ask you to consider is joining me, for these reasons. You have all had some experience with some strange things related to how this equipment from the Contagion has been put to use. That might be useful. You are also, as I can plainly see, people who aren’t afraid of a bit of discomfort and have a knack for getting through complicated situations and I could use that kind of talent, that sort of help.
Paulina returns with a curious look on her face.
I ran this through the image data compiler and it almost immediately came up with this message, Paulina says and hands a note to Parker
He reads the note, and scowls
This is worse than I thought. Marvin, it seems your weapon here did and did not come from the Contagion. It is clear you were able to get it out of there before you somehow escaped, but the fact is, it didn’t belong there anymore than you belong here, now. The IRS has identified this weapon as a classified extra-planner anomaly, a CEPA. There aren’t any other details. The good news is that that alone could explain why it works here on Hamth, the bad news is, well, the bad news is that this is going to draw a whole lot more attention than it already has. The IRS will automatically report this to both the CoIT and the UCPG, and I imagine we’ll have about three months before this world is put on lock down and quarantine like you wouldn’t believe. Furthermore it means you might run out of ammunition. How many rounds do you still have?
Parker hands the weapon back to Marvin and paces back and forth.
The first thing they will do is round up any and all authorized off-worlders and get them off the planet toot-suite. Then they’ll go after the unauthorized off-worlders, with a vengeance. We might have difficulty getting our answers before they arrive, before they begin the complete shut down and black lighting of this world.
Look, Xor, Gwernatch, Diarmal, Sasithorn, Marvin. I’ll be setting out for the Contagion in under an hour. I’ll take this raft to an orbiting space ship, resupply, and then drop back into this planet’s atmosphere closer to where the Contagion lies. The wreck is over four thousand miles from here, even if we could take the raft, its top speed wouldn’t get us there for forty hours or more, and I’m not wasting that amount of time. If you want to help me break into the Contagion, find out what is going on there, and then get out as fast as we can once we know what the situation is, you are welcome to join me. The trip might be a bit uncomfortable for you, might even make you sick the first time you experience weightlessness, but I could use your help. The IRS is promising me a large reward for this information, and I will be happy to share a small part of it with you, if you are willing. As Diarmal said, we don’t know that anyone before Marvin has ever walked away from that wreck.
Being a dwarf, the sound of getting paid is a comforting one and Gwernach's bushy eyebrows raise enthusiastically. However. Mr. Anderson has all the airs of not being from around here and for all Gwernach knows this IRS, which Anderson admitted to not trusting, could pay people in feathers! An jus wha will ya be pay'n us with?
Well, that might be difficult. I'll be paid in credits, if we discover what the IRS needs to know, when my work here is done and I wont be able to pay you until then, but I've already been given an advance, so maybe I can do something with that. Turning my credits into goods or whatever serves as currency here might take time, and time is something we don't have a lot of, and that leaves me with limited options. I suppose I have no choice but to ask Paulina if there is anything she is keeping hidden here in this module that I can buy from her that you might take as a down payment, but I doubt it.
When Parker shrugs and turns to look at Paulina, she is looking away and blushing.
There is something, isn't there? Paulina, doll face, what are you hiding
Well, there is something. it was left here by the last scout. I never had a use for it, I prefer my iFlail in any sort of danger, but, alright I can't let you look at it and decide for yourself. Technically it is property of the IRS, but, well,Paulina blushes You can take it if you think it will help
Paulina goes into the shelter and returns quickly with what can only be described as a short bow that a gnome engineer must have assembled.
There is a large, off-center mounted steel wheel at the top of the bow, and at the bottom a smaller roller. The bow string passes through and around these wheels more times than seems necessary. The arms of the bow appear to be made from some other material than the handle, which is dark black and metallic. Protruding from the mounts where the arms of the bow attach to the handle are short weighted arms.
Whoah thar lassy, tha's a nice toy! Gwernach nudges Diarmal to imply he'd be welcome to it, but thar's five of us, an only one o'those. Looking around at the others, Gwernach tries to gauge their impressions of Andersen's offer See'n as MARVIN an 'is musket thar came from tha ship o'yours, Ah'm hedg'n thar'll be all kind's o'nice toy's on tha ship s'well. More powerful than a bow and compact, the twinkle in the ranger's eye as it steals a quick glance toward's MARVIN's weapon betray's the dwarf's thoughts, Wond'n mind gett'n one o'those ta play with. Ah'd be will'n ta go so long as Ah, uh, mean, we, 'ave permission ta help ourselves, sorta speak, ta wha's thare. Suddenly feeling as though he's overstepped himself, Gwernach back pedals a bit, Um, tha is, if it suits everyone else. Looking a little embarrassed, the dwarf gives a quick apologetic nod to the others in the group before taking a step back to let them speak.
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"I suppose it would be nice if we could all get something, the greatest hard treasure I've found so far is a bag of bread and cheese since I - " Sasithorn suddenly gives his equipment a strange look. Where did I even get the rest of this from...? He bucks up again quickly. "BUT who am I to judge - let alone grumble about - alien treasure?" He smiles graciously, but through it all, he seems only half there. Since Parker's remarkable story about the ship, he seems to have had something quite weighty on his mind....
Marvin takes their musket back from Associate Andersen and begins the proscribed check-up of their gear whenever it leaves their possession.
"This unit does not require compensation as the mission concerns this unit. This unit only wishes to continue as they have before. Concerning their equipment, they do not wish to part possession of it, but inter-organization attention inclines the probability of that endeavor to folly."
Despite their facial features not having changed much, the slightest quirks of the corner of their lip and the tightening of their cheeks imply Marvin's displeasure of such an event. "This unit is rendered sub-optimal without their equipment but will continue to function as needed."
They address something Andersen said earlier. "This unit has crafted their own ammunition from recovered databank knowledge and local materials, but have assessed they have not used any of their crafted ammunition and have first used the ammunition they first had on them. This unit wishes to know if their crafted ammunition will function."
Parker folds his arms across his chest, listening to Gwernach, Sasithorn, and then Marvin. He tries to answer each of them in turn, but before he does, he fixes his eyes on Sasithorn
Well, I can tell you that anything we find within the wreck of the Contagion is going to old. Since we don’t even know the state of things on the ship, we don’t even know if it is still in one piece after four hundred years of being exposed to your world’s natural environment, I can’t tell you for sure that anything we find will even be functional at all. As to Marvin’s weapon, as I said before it did and did not come from the Contagion. Let me explain. That gun did not originate in this reality, this universe, what your wizards call “the prime material plane.” I’m sure that the Contagion had one or more androids like Marvin on board, but that gun would never have been found on it. If I had to guess, something very strange happened when the ship crashed, or maybe right before it crashed that opened a portal between this universe and another, and somehow that gun and its ammunition came through that portal, and then Marvin ended up in possession of it before he managed to escape the ship. I think you should unload the weapon, Marvin, clean it if you have the tolls to do that, and load one of your own cartridges, made from materials you know did not come from the Contagion. I have a pretty good feeling it will not fire as you expect, but a test is definitely called for before we set out. And then you might want to count your available ammunition. It might be that only what was originally found with that gun will work
Normally, and I mean this, when there is any chance of technology from a more advanced world ending up on a world where it doesn’t belong these agents of the IRS are quick to report the problem, but they don’t usually get directly involved
Depending on the details a situation like that usually calls in the United Consortium of Planetary Governments and the Congress of Interstellar Trade. I can tell you more about these people later, if you are curious, but basically what you need to know is that when it comes to dealing with the agents of the IRS you can usually get out a sentence or two before they read you the rules and then try to tell you what you should and should not do. With the UCoGP and the CoIT you aren’t going to get that courtesy. These two groups take things under their responsibilities with deadly seriousness, deadly.
Having said all that, I’ll leave the rest up to the future. I don’t know what we’ll find, and even if we do find anything of value I doubt well get it out of the ship without drawing the ire of all three of these groups, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it.
Parker then takes a small step toward Sasithorn and unfolds his arms
Sasithorn, right, that’s your name. I’ve never met anyone like you before in my visits to this world, but you don’t seem entirely altogether different from an Eysturlun, and I’ve met those kinds before. They often have trouble keeping their feelings under control. Something I said earlier made you uncomfortable. Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to keep whatever it is you are thinking to yourself, for now?
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"Ah, well, if you have never seen my people before, that is because we would be the Unseen Kingdom, the Wayang Eysterlun! I was just thinking...we have a legend, that once we had a wicked king - the story doesn't go into much detail as to why he was wicked, really - who sought to draw on the full power of the Shadowlands to sate his ends, and to do this, he had a great temple to Tanri Shar, the wayward consort of our goddess Moloween, constructed along the eastern wall of the Great Scar of the World, which would be in western Kijta, and they began to make ritual sacrifices. The king deceived his people in explaining the purposes of this temple, you see, and Moloween was angry for this, and smashed the temple with - and the legend is very specific here - 'a great hammer of fire and steel that fell from the sky,' and from the dying temple dusked utter darkness that consumed the canyon in which it was built."
"It had just occurred to me that perhaps this craft of yours WAS that 'hammer.'"
Looking a bit overwhelmed, Gwernach tentatively raises his hand to ask an obvious question, Jus wha do ya think ya gonna find? Ah mean, if we all know, it'll be easi'r ta find it, right? An, umm, wha do-ya mean by, reach'n orbit?
Well, Gwernach, as I said, I expect to find something the IRS doesn’t want anyone to know about. Something that they most likely we not supposed to have. It would be a device that shields the ship from all sources of energy or matter that might try to damage the ship, even magic. If this is what is there it explains how the ship was able to land on the planet without breaking up or being crushed by the impact. I don’t want to give you any more details until we are in the ship, and committed to finding the truth, because if I’m right, we are all probably going to be thrown into a situation that none of us will be getting out of easily, not that we should be worried about our safety. I think we’ll be fine, as long as the device is properly contained, even if it isn’t still functioning.
The way I see it, the IRS themselves didn’t know exactly what was going on, on the Contagion. If my suspicions are correct, there are secrets that were kept at the highest levels of the IRS command, and now those secrets have been lost. They might have suspicions of their own, hell they might know more than they are telling me, but I kind have a pretty good feeling they don’t know half of what they would like to know. Trust me, if this ship was carrying what I think it was carrying, and if it is still contained properly, we’ll be able to track it down with the equipment the IRS has been willing to loan me. That alone was my first clue. They tried to put it off as just being cautious, but I don’t think so.
Oh, and orbit, well that’s hard to explain, but it basically means we are going to travel very high up in the sky, and then come back down again closer to where the wreck actually sits. On the way we will stop off at another ship, smaller, but in a lot of ways similar to the Contagion, and gather what we need from that ship before we go on.
Although the dwarf stands politely as Parker explains what he's trying to find, Gwernach's face pales visibly at what the man means by 'orbit'.
Marvin nods at what Associate Andersen says, logging all the data. "The estimated danger of your scenario necessitates the party prepare for their utmost in case of confrontation."
The small creatures with long snouts, dressed in strange suits that cover their entire bodies, finish loading the more sensitive items that Paulina insists must be transported to this other ship that Parker is talking about.
Paulina and Parker finally move the rest of you into the shelter module, and begin taking your gear and stowing it into a large rectangular container. When all your gear is accounted for, Paulina tells you that the best thing for each of you to do is go into a separate room, with Parker, and he can show you how to put on something she calls a “Vacc Suit.”
You remover your armor and outer clothing, and Parker assists each of you into a generic, one size fits all garment complete with a soft hood that completely covers your head and face. Once he has adjusted the suit to each of you, your remaining clothing is placed in the box, and four small aliens carry it out to the sled, fixing it in place at the back of this strange vehicle with heavy straps.
You board the sled, each taking a seat, and Parker checks to make sure you are secured in place.
The strange sled shakes violently, and lurches into the sky at a break neck speed, accelerating faster than anything you’ve ever experienced.
You feel a bit sick to your stomach, but it passes, and as time passes you realize the sled is climbing ever higher and higher in the sky until the ground and even the clouds recede to indecipherable blotches below you.
After four hours have passed the sled has left the sky of the world entirely, or so it seems, and you find that you have entered into a dark realm devoid of any light. As the sled turns slowly in its trajectory, you begin to feel your body grow lighter and light, and then the sled rumbles below you again and suddenly you are pulled firmly down into your seat.
The world below you recedes and ahead of you a large black ship appears framed in the bright light of the largest of Hamth’s moons, the moon called Namanal by the elves and Eysturluns of Emalia, and Ganlaurine by the dwarves of Holdandun.
The sled races closer and closer to the large black ship, and then when it is almost right on top of it the sled slows, and drifts toward the back of the large ship, maneuvers around behind it and slowly moves into the belly of the great ship through a large open door.
The sled sits down on a floor made of metal. There are people standing around, all wearing suits like the ones you are wearing. The large door behind the sled closes. The sound of air hissing can be heard. And then Parker removes his hood, and smiles
Welcome to the Annic Nova
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The closer Gwernach gets to the so called sled, the faster his pulse and breathing becomes. Although the dwarf puts on a brave face and manages to get suited up with the others, it is clear from the now deathly pale color of his face that he is NOT looking forward to what must be coming. Orbit he says! Must be mad assa hatt'r! Ya donna need ta bloody well climb ta bloom'n travel 'cross country. Thas wat horses are for!
Looking very uncomfortable in his Vacc Suit, Gwernach's eyes shift uneasily as he "politely" lets the others enter the sled to take their seats ahead of him. Having delayed the unavoidable for as long as he could, the dwarf eventually takes his seat but not before giving it a thorough once over to see that it is as solidly build as dwarven possible. With a death grip which demonstrates just how much the ranger trusts the foreign straps and, in his opinion, mediocre design of the seat meant to hold him in place, Gwernach holds tightly onto the seat's armrests. As the engines growl to life and the sled begins to shake, Gwernach forces his eyes closed tight and prays quietly. His words come with such rapidity it is difficult to tell to which deity he now looks to for protection, but the meaning is all the same, Hev'nlayfath'rwatchov'rme... His prayers continue as the sled roars louder, reaching a panicked frenzy as the vehicle accelerates hard. Feeling as his prayers are failing him, Gwernach turns to cursing. This tactic fares no better than his prayer and they too near what must now be a climax, his words finally and rapidly culminating into an ear splitting scream so high it is possible to be mistaken for a cat having been trod upon. The silence which follows immediately signals the inevitable as Gwernach passes out. He awakens, briefly, several times throughout the journey to Annic Nova, each time lookomg around as though in a stupor before his eyes roll back into his head and his body falls limp once again. It is not until the sled comes to a complete stop aboard the Annic Nova that Gwernach awakens and this time manages to stay awake. With the sled firmly docked and all signs of being 'in orbit' removed from view, the dwarf at last catches breath and after a moment's rest, sets about familiarizing himself with the strange new equipment.
Throughout the entire journey, Marvin looks out the window, looking to be in quiet contemplation. Their face betrays no strong expression but their eyes are sheened in a light glow.
Was it familiar to them? Was this one of the things they were made for? The journey of a great ship in the infinity of space, how small a single unit is in the vastness of planets. Were they made to continually wander in a world without end?
They show no emotion, because emotion is distant to them, difficult to process and quantify. Logic is simpler. But still, there is a feeling inside them, something they could not name and could not express but there all the same, an emotion that kept them looking out the window, trying to make sense of where they were. Of who they were.
It was in their algorithms to process their environment and intelligently navigate themselves inside of that environment. And their systems now accepted an infinity as input; they faced an endlessness powerful and terrifying, not just inspiring fear but an insignificance that awed.
Marvin faced the sublime and held it in silent acceptance until they finally docked into the Annic Nova.
The android turned away, their processes diverted, processing their new environment, but the memory of the experience remained in their databanks.
Once the group has selected the gear they will take, Parker speaks to the crew of the Annic Nova, and then indicates it is time to board the sled once again for the return trip.
We’ll go ahead and get strapped in, Parker saysThe Nova will maneuver towards the drop zone and then we’ll be on our way. I imagine it will only take less than an hour to get where we need to be
You wait patiently in the sled, well, most of you wait patiently, and maybe one of you begins to imagine that the return trip, which must be downhill naturally, will be faster and more terrifying than the first trip.
Soon the sled lifts gently off the floor of the room, and then moves backward out of the ship. It pivots in the darkness of space and then angles downward. You feel, for a moment, a sensation of weightlessness but once the sled is moving you suddenly feel the pull of the seat downward.
The sled travels through the dark and after a while you begin to see the blue green ball of the world below you fast approaching. The sled bumps a bit as it grows closer and closer, and then before you know it you are careening through the sky above a vast desert.
You travel along growing closer and closer to the ground until it seems you are now skimming just above the desert at a tremendous speed.
Suddenly a huge canyon appears before you. The sled drops over the canyon rim, hurtling down into the depths and shadows.
At the bottom of the canyon, nearly a quarter of a mile below there is a small river winding through the rough carved out terrain. The sled follows the river for a while, and then the canyon floor opens up into a wide expanse. The river flows here, but the sled pulls away from following the river’s course and angles to the right. Ahead of you in the distance you see something unlike anything you have ever imagined.
A huge object which resembles a series of buildings stacked one on top of the other, each of different width and thickness, is ahead of you. It must be fifty yards high, and a hundred or more yards long. The huge building is made entirely of metal, but all along the smaller portions of its construction it is supported from the canyon floor by columns of stone.
The sled approaches to within a quarter mile of the object, turns to the right, and sets down behind a natural stone feature on the canyon floor.