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As Khazia arrives to the table with a kind of pleased look about her, Solivagus presses a few more buttons at the light-structure display,"This is a 'hologram', an artificial structure formed by the arranging of luminal particles in specific ways to create any of a variety of images," he continues inputing something into the 'hologram' squares and the curvature shifts to a white desert-like locale on the topographical display before you.
"On this world you see here, called Terrath," the display generates the name and various other details about it in short, rapid bursts of common script,"humanity was first conceived, or at least in its most potent form. They advanced to technoarcanic levels far beyond anything ever encountered in the cosmos and we regularly traverse the plane for old relics of that indigenous human society for use as components for the most advanced devices we have here on Hideaway, such as the portal generator you will be using to get there."
He gestures to a platform nearby, crowded by technicians of the Immortal Initiative, most of them inevitables but a few are human-looking of even more exotic than both. At the far end of the platform lies an upright circular structure with a number of segments that range from rectangular to cylindrical.
"Just recently we've sent a team in to recover a cache of hyperspace teleportation transponder units, or HTTUs for short, but that will not be your task today," the display of the frozen wasteland sharpens and you notice a range of mountains and amid them are craters of varying sizes, some seemingly hollowed out somehow.
"This region is one of a handful across the planet that housed a scientific facility of the experimentation bent," Solivagus winks to Flint and Professor Brooks as he says this,"So those of you curious about how other breeds of humans handle their 'alchemy', this is just such an opportunity."
The wasteland zooms in and you notice what appears to be an inversed L-shaped landmass connecting the pockmarked mountain range to the rest of the continent.
"Antifreezing agents will be administered prior your departure via a shot to the arm, please offer one to the medic-bot as he comes to each of you," on of the gnome-size mechanoids moves up to each of you and kindly requests you do this and injects a blue liquid of some kind into your arm before moving on.
"This will only last one week before wearing off completely, leaving you to weather the radioactive wastes of the Terrathine northlands without its nominal protection," Solivagus shrugs slightly before moving on,"Your mission in this region is to confirm or deny reports of a node of the crystals contained within HTTUs, we're calling them transwarp crystals for lack of a better term," he swipes the display and the mountain range turns inside out and you see a dizzying network of tunnels and chambers all throughout the inside of the frozen rock and earth.
"Our preliminary reports also speak of an agressive native species of sentient arachnid life-forms, stone idols found in their settlements indicate their knowledge of a rather insidious entity known as Lolth. The technicians have made it a habit of referring to these archnidians as Lothilk for this reason," as he speaks the display generates the image of bizarre creature with a massive abdomen and an upright cephalothorax supported by four pairs of legs and using an additional pair as arms, completes with vicious grasping claws.
The display indicates that they are on average 8-10ft tall and each weighs roughly 600lbs. The females can grow up to five times this size and are generally sedentary, choosing to lay eggs and care for the young rather than travel and patrol their underground realm, as the males do. They each have a bite that utilizes a particularly powerful neurotoxin that renders animals as big as a small whale completely paralyzed within a matter of minutes. They secrete a thick, silk-like substance from their abdomens, that they use to reinforce their tunnels and to create a variety of unique and suprisingly sturdy structures.
"As your pour over the data I will tell you your purpose here: find the node and kill anything that gets in your way, for they will surely kill you," his tone is gruff and he swipes away the images before gestures for you to follow him over to the platform with the portal-structure.
The nearby technicians all scatter from off the platform as another one inputs data into a hologrammic display hanging in the air before him,"Portal Generation initiated! Radiation storm detected, Lord Solivagus, your orders?"
He waves them on and the circular structure breaks apart, its constituent parts suspending in the air as the cynlindrical portions generate powerful bolts of incandescent electricity,"Their stay above ground should be short," Solivagus mumbles,"Whatever you do, do not remain above ground for long, everyone, the energies within these 'storms' will literally disintegrate you over time."
The portal widens a bit and the technician from before frantically types into his display,"Detecting energy surges in the stabilization matrix far above acceptable levels, sir, our window will be a small one."
Solivagus nods to you all and smiles thinly,"This will be a harsh mission for such new applicants but I believe in each of you, as do we all here on Hideaway, otherwise you wouldn't even be here," his smile turns to a grin,"Once you've completed your recon to the best of your ability, as in are on site at the node, or have recorded the coordinates sufficently, simply summon your Marks and say the following words verbatim: Mission complete, extraction requested, and we'll work on retrieving you as soon as possible."
He shifts his stance and his gaze becomes stern again,"Under no circumstances will you do this if the enemy is present or you have yet to accomplish your tasks. Should this happen, Flint and the Professor will be held personally responsible and punished accordingly. That being said, I don't expect any problems."
He smiles one last time and you notice the portal has expanded to a size large enough for you to step through, the cold winds on the other side blowing through the orifice in space-time and even the machines seem off-put as the energy-laced breeze causes their delicate circuitry to misfire irritatingly.
"Good luck, champions, my best wishes go with you in this, your first and mighty endeavor on our behalf," his tone is genuine and he bows in deference as you step up to the portal, warning sirens blare as the winds intensify.
"Readings are off the scale, sir, requesting immediate departure of we'll lose the portal!"
Solivagus nods and beckons you all to enter the gateway to the icy wastes of northern Terrath, a world that could easily become that last you step foot on...
