Session Start: Fri Jun 02 22:12:50 2006 Session Ident: #lunar-iog2 * Logging #lunar-iog2 to 'logs\#lunar-iog2.log' * TheStoryteller sets mode: +m * TheStoryteller changes topic to '-= Chapter 15: Neptune's Trident | Location: Great Lakebed Swamp | Pools: 1287 §, 5 MXP =- http://storen.rpgcafe.net/IoG/ | OOC chan: #iog-ooc' == SESSION START == We last left our heroes camping out in the Great Lakebed swamp! Mikel was also accosted in a friendly manner. The sun is coming up now, and damp environ's secrets still wait to be explored... >> Saki also cooks for the party! 250HP and 25MP are restored. * Vytor is up already, poking the fire into renewed life, having previously draped Trune's repaired shirt over his sleeping body. >> Trune also notices the ECC unit has been resonating differently - in the presence of strong water energy. Summon circumstance bonuses increased for Jupiter, lowered for Mars. * Trune sprawled out over his sleeping bag, still deeply asleep. * Mikel rubs his eyes sleepily, peering at the fire and Vytor for a few moments as he slowly comes to. "Mmrf. Mornin'." * Angharad gives herself a good stretch as she begins to walk around the campsite. Morning Mikel. Morning Angharad. * Angharad nods to Vytor. "Morning." Angharad finds the swamps to be a little less smelly today. The fauna's looking it's usual self. There is no sign of the Fatal Hoppers about, though they are probably off hunting for breakfast. We'll have some hot water soon, if you want it. * Tanan opens his eyes blearily. "Hmrgmgkfgk- people talking. is it morning already?" The narrow strips of dry land leading to the metal storm door in the ground are still clear. Yes it is. Morning Tanan. * Saki is lurking around the campfire with something of a sullen expression on. It's nothing much different than normal, but she's clearly unimpressed at the surroundings. ugh. Can I have a do-over? No. * Niri sits by the fire, chin in her hands, watching Vytor stoke it. * Angie is up bright and early, or at least early, today. She's probing around with a handheld gauge of some sort -- it consists of a handle, a needle, and a large ball at the end. For the past twenty minutes or so she's been walking around, pointing this every which way and occasionally making marks on trees or rocks with a piece of chalk. * Vytor sets up a coffee pot by the fire, to get it hot for people. * Tanan sighs, and sits up * Ryllan remains sitting, chuckling at Tanan as he munches on something that looks like food. * Mikel lets out another yawn, running a hand down his face as he begins to wake up a bit more. He glances over at Trune, considering for a moment. * Tanan stands up and kicks Trune in the head. "Wake up. Someone in the other channel dared me to do that." * Niri waves at Mikel. "Morning, what's-your-name!" «ooc: you jerk! ;) » << *SNRGKKH* >> <<....ok not really.;)>> ...You've gone nuts again, haven't you, Tanan? << Hahahaha >> Breakfast consists of the usual adventuere's morning grab-and-growl. Enjoy. * Tanan sighs. "I hate it when meals growl. Could w- oh. Right." * Vytor goes to collect his things in preparation for the next leg of the journey. * Angharad finally sits down and grabs a bite to eat, having gotten her circulation going. Most of what ends up in her mouth seems to be meat. * Saki eventually stops lurking and coaxes herself to sit next to Niri around the fire like jolly campers. She's still scowling somewhat, but resigned herself to a day of marshland. What's wrong, Saki? Weather? * Mikel glances over at Niri, blinking. "...Mikel, Miss Salyan. And morning." He taps a finger on his staff for a moment before gesturing towards Trune. "Should I wake him up?" Morning Saki. * Trune continues to sleep, because he's obviously no fun. Or perhaps sleepy? Probably the former. * Tanan rubs his eyes, then looks at Mikel and snaps his fingers. "Wait a minute. Did you go to the academy?" * Saki scrunches up her face, and gestures absently at the horizon. "I think I'm a city person." * Ryllan takes a moment to glare at Niri again. * Vytor sits down next to the fire, and grabs some breakfast while he can. * Mikel shifts his gaze towards Tanan, inclining his head. "Yeah. Born near there, went there. Left after a while." He shrugs. Let Trune sleep, he had a late night. Thought I recognized you. Were you the one involved in some publication about.. what was it.. powering wells with tides, or mists of fire or something? Or were you the guy with the same name as the guy who was doing that. Leah yawns, having been using Shiro as a pillow. * Saki then gives Vytor a silent morning nod, and eyes the coffee owlishly while bending an ear to the discussion regarding the newcomer. "...The latter, sir. I'm fairly sure." * Mikel gives Tanan an odd look as he says this. Mists of fire? Hrm. * Niri nods at Saki. "Ah. Yeah, I can see that." She wrinkles her nose. "Not exactly pleasant out here..." Technically possible, I suppose, but it wouldn't do much. * Niri blinks at Ryllan. "What? What'd I do?" ...Never mind. Tell you later. * Vytor tosses Saki a tin coffee mug * Ryllan shakes his head. * Angie 's foot snags on a reed and she goes tumbling to the ground. The device hovers in midair for a second, then falls into her waiting hands. She sighs with relief, hauling herself upright and shaking the tool to make sure that it isn't damaged. Huh. Oh well. Was an interesting paper, at any rate. Guess asking you about it wouldn't help. Oh well. * Vytor looks over in Angie's direction, "You OK over there?" * Angie points an accusing finger at Vytor, but doesn't deign to face him, still examining the device. "You shut up." Hmph. I'll take that as a yes. * Angharad wonders what has gotten in Angie. Where's my chalk...ehh, screw it. *She slogs back to the group, dusting off her coat.* What's food? Usually a no gets an "ow, ow" instead. * Tanan looks at Angie, and smiles. "It's the stuff you eat, usually cooked." Adventurer's standard breakfast faire. Get it while it recognizable. * Mikel shakes his head, looking over Tanan. "...oh! You're the cr- erm, chaos professor. That's where I remember you from." He pushes himself to his feet, walking over towards Trune and giving him a light poke with the staff. "Better wake up before the food's gone, sir." * Saki catches it with a faint but very definitely thankful noise; snagging some coffee for herself and glancing over the fire, she sighs. "... you just pronounced that with an i. Gods, when I get back to civilisation I'm reminding myself what an oven is." * Ryllan turns to Tanan, "Did he just call Trune 'sir'?" * Trune makes a mumbled snrk as he's poked with the staff and suddenly flails upwards, "Sonnfabi---what what what?!" «ooc: flails his hands upwards, even. The image of his whole body flailing with seizure makes me laugh » * Angie sits down with an indelicate grunt. She crosses her legs Indian-style and grabs a plate. "I didn't finish, but this is totally an old lakebed. There are these characteristic lines you get when water recedes..." * Mikel takes a quick step back at the flailing. "Breakfast. Also, morning." * Trune stops and blinks his eyes blearily, "Oh. Hey." Morning Trune. Angie, is there something that bothers you about this being an old lakebed? You seem agitated. * Trune sits up and notices his repaired shirt. He gives a quick nod of thanks to Vytor as he carefully folds the shirt up and sticks it in his backpack. * Saki sits back, cradling her mug as if it were the last rock of sanity she had left. Which is very possible, after all. "...mm. Flodding?" * Tanan looks at Ryllan. "I think he did. And I'm wondering what he was going to call me that started with a kr- sound" «ooc: flooding » Hrm, applies to professors, starts with 'kr'... Probably offensive in nature... Let's hope not. If we're going underground, I'd rather not have flooding going on. I'm gonna go with 'crazy' or possibly 'crappy'. * Trune scoots up towards the fire, "What've we got today?" * Angharad nods to Vytor. "That's true." * Ryllan munches, looking satisfied. Leftovers * Mikel grins before turning to go take a seat at the fire and get some of the adventurer's 'faire'. Well, he mostly goes for the coffee, but hey. Sweet. And coffee. Doublely sweet. * Angie scratches the tip of her nose. "I kinda just wanted to see if I could still do this stuff. But it does make you wonder what happened to the lake, eh?" You should be tahnking Saki, otherwise we'd be eating good intentions for breakfast. Hrm. Probably, yeah. Wouldn't be the first time. * Trune quickly gets down to eating, "mfggh? Thagnsk Sahki." [Leah] Yeah, it was good! I feel like I can take on anything! * Mikel mumbles something under his breath possibly having to do with manners as he sips his coffee. * Mia_Ausa (~Mia_Ausa@pool-71-126-59-97.bstnma.east.verizon.net) has joined #lunar-iog2 * Vytor sips at his coffee, listening to the banter around him. Well.. it had thousands of years for stuff to happen to it. I mean, even lakes and rivers and mountains and forests and... stuff change eventually all the time, right? * Ryllan nods, "Eventually." * Saki nods absently Trune's way, draining her mug and rolling her head to work the kinks out. Then she stands up in a quick motion, and frowns into the marsh. "... maybe they had to drain it for their... base, or whatever." * Angie crams a forkful of food into her mouth. "I gueff fo," she mumbles. After swallowing, she continues. "It's hard to think of it as having been so long when you're out here. It all seems so immediate. Like, back at the Dig I totally peed in a 3000-year-old bathroom." Drain an entire lakebed? Why not? Did they? Webbly said something about Neptune being weak. Maybe the Lakebed just naturally drained out...I doubt they'd do it. They blew up the world, I can't imagine a lake would be too much trouble I guess so. I just wonder what they did with all the fish. * Mikel listens to the others talk for now, mulling over what is said. Oh man that would be deliciou- ... Also, Angie, you peed in the bathroom? Isn't that sacreligious or something? * Tanan coughs How is peeing in a bathroom sacreligious? * Tanan gives Trune an odd look. "Ugh. What do you do, pee in the sink?" Kitchen sink, at that? Pah, it's a joke people! You're way too uptight. Oh * Tanan grins. "You're never staying at my place, that's all I'm saying." * Vytor chuckles, and drains the last of his mug. What, do you have a 4000 year old latrine and 6000 year old bidet? * Saki drags her hand back through her hair, taking a couple of agitated steps before frowning back at Mikel. "So you know our plans. We're headed into there. What're you here for?" Yeah, what the hell is up with you, anyway? I hope not. Though with how often the plumbing gets weird... * Mikel looks up at Saki, setting his mug down. "Pretty much what I said last night. I'm here with the scouting team the Virtue Society sent in to check over the place to see if we can farm it and mark any ruins that were found, and report to Dr. Sonyele. I was brought in due to the monsters." So what /is/ your job, then? You're obviously not just a scout if you were brought in because of the monsters. * Mikel replies in a deadpan tone. "I poke at the ruins and make whatever that pisses off go boom." "Along with whatever the team ticks off as well." * Tanan stares at Mikel. So...you're Mister Trigger happy then! * Saki listens to the explanation blankly, then with a small shrug gets to getting ready. "... fair by me. You'll fit right in." You're very lucky we showed up then. * Tanan shakes his head. "I can only imagine what trying to fight Neptune would be like." * Mikel grins at Trune. "It pays well, and I always seem to be a bit short on cash." He shrugs before looking at Tanan. "Neptune?" * Vytor starts cleaning up, since breakfast seems to be winding down * Saki shakes her head. "... long story. You'll see soon enough. ... let's just get this done." * Angie tilts her head, looking surprised. "Are you sure we should bring him?" * Tanan sighs. "We're taking him with us? Fine. If we find an angry confused man in a white robe do not attack him. Seriously. Not if you don't enjoy drowning." * Saki gives the group a look that would probably be incredulous if she could ever get near that point. "... he's one person, we're seven. Can't hurt to have more. ... apparently it's his job, too." «ooc: ... eight » * Mikel shrugs as he stands up. "I have to take a look at the place anyways before I can tell the others this area is safe." * Angie makes a sour face. "Isn't this supposed to be sort of secret, though?" I doubt we'll be able to keep things secret much longer anyway. Yes. * Trune stands up, taking one final bite of his food, "Eh, we'll need the backup." Besides, no one will believe him anyway. * Tanan stands and stretches. "So I guess it doesn't matter." * Saki tilts her head in silent agreement; if anything, she looks expectant. In a hurry, it seems. Shiro arfs and sniffs Mikel to make sure he's okay. >.> * Mikel peers down at Shiro before smiling. "Hey there." He reaches down slowly to pat Shiro on the head. * Angie leans over, spears a chunk of meat with her fork and slaps it down on her plate. "I guess. I was having fun being all Christine Aeolipile, though." She pauses and frowns, looking off into the distance. "But I guess she did work for the Virtue Society." * Niri smiles. If Mikel likes Shiro, she approves of him! The ice mongrel pants a little, not having much issue with the Adept. Christine's pile of what? * Trune gives Angie a look, "What the...huh?" You know, "Christine Aeolipile and the Clockwork Catastrophe"...? No? Unk. It's a long story. Never heard of it * Mikel scritches the ice mongrel behind the ear for a bit before looking up. "You people sound like you have enough stories to write a few books about." Sorry, I haven't had much time to catch up on my.. classic? .. literature It's called getting into trouble. At least in my case. ^^; That's a good way of putting it, Niri. * Mikel shrugs, grinning at Niri. "Trouble, adventurer, same difference." I read a lot of literature, and I've never heard of that one. Heh! Yeah, I should tell my dad that one. He'd laugh. And so, Mikel, I'd suggest you keep quiet about whatever you might see along with us. Might bring... trouble. You guys suck. I'll have to see if I can dig them out the next time we go to Takkar. << adventure, not adventurer, anyways. >> * Vytor chuckles I could tell you the epic tale of the hypothetical randomization of willforce fluctuations and the pay raise, but that's about it. ... * Mikel nods towards Ryllan. "Of course, of course. Don't worry about me, Mr. Ryllan." You just made those words up, I bet. You didn't. * Saki pinches the bridge of her nose, eyes screwed up; damned parties. "... let's just get going and get out of this swamp so I can be back in a building by tonight." * Tanan winks and Niri. "Shhhh. Don't tell the review board." <> * Niri snrks. I think they're probably onto you but can't prove anything. * Angharad nods in sympathy to Saki. I think that making up impressive sounding stuff is a job requirement anyway * Vytor finishes tidying up the breakfast stuff, and sees about putting out the fire. * Angharad stands up. "Perhaps we all should get going and save this conversation for the trip?" * Mikel shakes his head, quickly gathering up his things before he begins to walk. "I think Miss Saki is getting a bit impatient." Probably. Why else do you think there used to be such a thing as a BS degree in the ancient world? Okay, okay... *starts to gather her things as she talks* * Saki glances back over at Angharad, looking harried. "... I could try dragging them." A quick frown. "... except possibly Vytor." Then she looks plain disgusted, and shakes her head at Mikel. "... just... Saki." You raise a compelling point. * Mikel blinks before rubbing the back of his head. "Ah. Sorry, Mi-, erm, Saki." * Angie tears off a tough chunk of meat and gnaws on it stubbornly. There is a narrow path that snakes between pools of stagnant water. The Metal door has been more fully uncovered by Vytor, though since it issued forth some deadly amphibian rabbits, it has remained an enygma. * Angharad grins. "I think it would take the strength of you, Vytor, and I to drag all of them." [Leah] C'mon, let's go gogo! * Niri shoulders her pack and marches off after the others. Man. The door just said something about being badass. I think it's Enygma! <<....sorry. ;)>> * Vytor hefts his gear and sets off «ooc: hahahaha! » « ghehe. » << Bad Etir. :P >> * Tanan follows along. "That does raise a question though, Niri." * Trune also shoulders his pack and follows behind the others, "Weird...I would have thought I'd hear something by now." What question is that? * Vytor looks over at Saki, "here's a thought, next time you want the group to go someplace, make sure the food is there so they have to follow you." * Saki eyes Angie for a moment; with a tilt of her head, and very possibly a weary breath at what she's about to say, she decides to try bargaining instead. "... let's go. When we get back to somewhere with walls, I'll take dinner requests. ... you get first pick." Would _you_ trust someone with a BS? * Niri points at Vytor. "He raises a very good point!" * Niri blinks at Tanan. "Would you trust a professor withOUT one?" Any professor worth his salt has to be able to talk his way in and out of anything. * Mikel grins, amused at the banter as they walk. ... You got yourself a deal! *She positively glows, abandoning her half-finished breakfast in exchange for her travel case.* Let's do some explorin'. * Trune then stops and holds his head, "(w) Aaah...okay, there we go...the hell?" * Tanan grins wryly. "And here I am, unable to talk my way out of this trip." Trune? YOu OK back there? See? You need more practice, Tanan! * Mikel glances at Trune, blinking. "Are you alright, Mr. Trune?" * Niri blinks at Trune. "Receiving transmission, or just headachy?" I'm okay...think I finally heard Neptune...but I had no idea what he's talking about. He seems out of it. "...heard?" Um *cough* Yeah. Out of it? How? Practice makes perfect, I guess. He's out of it, Trune? I hope he's ok... * Mikel blinks a bit. "Is this another long story?" Quite ...I hope he doesn't decide to attack us as soon as we walk in. "Right." Let's hope Webbly was right about being able to control him through the thingy. That would be nice, yes. If not, I hope everyone knows how to swim Can we get one of those projections out here to talk to him? Send in his brother first. Almost worked well with Mercury He said, "I am one but many. ...Where is me? And something about shattered tides and many currents. And gaining strength. It was pretty faint and jumbled. Something's wrong." Ugh. Mustn't think about that right after breakfast. * Mikel just listens again, looking quite clueless. In the event of a water landing, Vytor can be used as a flotation device. «ooc: Er, add the " at the end of strength » Hey hey ;) * Niri blinks. "He can?" * Niri pokes Vytor's shoulder. "I dunno, too much muscle. He'd sink like a rock." * Saki rakes her hair and puffs out a breath. "... yes. Let it be." She follows Angie along, drawing level with everyone else and frowning at the door. * Trune shrugs as the others discuss Vytor being a flotation device and just continues on. * Angharad doubts Vytor could be used as a floatation device... * Vytor ruffles Niri's hair in defiance Hey! No mussing the hair! ;) Eh, body floats, fat or muscle. * Ryllan follows Trune. * Niri attempts futiley to redo her ponytail so it doesn't stick out, but the humidity is not doing much for her hair. ...What the hell? Huh? Something else? * Trune holds his head again, looking a little disturbed, "I'm hearing more than one voice now." ..? It's not long before you're at the overgrown entranceway. The storm shutter doors are stills ecurely fastened, but there is a gaping hole made by claws in on eof them. Pipes break the surface all around, clogged with dirt and muck. Name? Feeling? Personality? They're just speaking nonsense. Bunch of gabblygook. * Saki is watching the door as if it's going to bite her; quickly growing sombre, she rakes her hair again and glances at Vytor. "... standard warning applies. ... I think." So who wants to take the lead in here? * Vytor sees about opening the door, having no idea what Trune's talking about * Mikel glances at Trune again, still looking quite confused. So basically This is going to end in sorrow. Or us being completely soaked. Or both! If I start being eaten by something, please help me without too much mirth at my perdicament. If I start being eaten by something, please help me so Vytor doesn't have to repair my shirt again. It's actually vry simple to open the door for Vytor. Reaching an arm into the hole, you find the inside lock and upon some applied force, it snaps open. Thankfully nothing bites his wrist while this i going on. "Well, it'd wash the mud off my clothes from when I got knocked over, so." I request the same. Also no one landing on my shins would be a plus. I swear I think my leg almost broke last time. * Angie brays with laughter. "No promises." * Vytor winches the door open, and pokes his head inside. * Mikel opens his mouth to say something... then decides better of it. "Long story, right." Inside is rather dark! The sun coming in illuminates a hallway, which has pipes running along the sides and some swamp plants overgrown on the floor. I'd recommend some torches or something. * Saki ... looks nervous, hovering at the shutter entrance. She screws up her eyes again for one moment with a quick exhalation of breath... then she's good to go. ... and almost immediately makes a face. "... watch your step in here." * Tanan glances at Mikel as he concentrates to make a little ball of light. "Not too late to head back to camp." * Trune rummages through his bag and pulls out the small lantern he used before, flipping it on. Time to go spelunking. * Mikel grins at Tanan. "I'll stay." Spelunking is fine, but w- * Angharad wrinkles her nose, not keen on the idea of stepping into dank enclosed area. * Tanan stops, his eyes going wide and his voice falling to a murmur "oh sweet merciful fuck one of them is going to be earth based eventually." *click* The willforce device come alive in his hands and sets a beam onto the floor. Trune thinks he sees some nests of those rabbit creatures. * Vytor steps further inside, "Keep your nose peeled, all these swamp plants might mean pockets of methane or hydrogen. So be careful with open flames.. ...It's wet. * Niri wrinkles her nose. "...well, yes." Careful, those rabid rabbit things are nesting in here. * Tanan sighs to himself. "we're going to get caved in. and lit on fire. and drowned. ugh." * Tanan looks up. "More of them? Lovely." * Saki smirks unpleasantly at Tanan. "Dinner." And in she steps. Careful, Tanan. Don't be so cheery. * Vytor starting working his way deeper into the facility. * Niri follows the others. ^^ * Mikel follows along, keeping a wary eye out. * Trune stops and stares at Niri, "What the hell, Niri! You are one to talk!" Angharad gets a whiff of what Vytor was mentioning. There is some swamp ags present, but her nose detects something else, farther off. It's the smell of water lillies. * Angharad hmmms to herself, wondering that lilies would grow in such a place full of decay. Right. Less cheer it is! Um. Hrm. Woe is us? For we are... moderately damp. And.. uh... eh, this joke is going nowhere in a handbasket. * Angharad stays in the rear of the party, following everyone else where she's less likely to block the way. Careful, this area get's a little deep. * Saki keeps apace with Vytor near the head of the group; she starts off visibly tense and nervous, but that seems to recede after some distance has been covered. Walking along the most floor, you find it's metallic, like many of the other ruins. The pipes continue on either side of you, some heading down into the floor. A couple are broken. The amount of swamp denizens and plants starts to gradually thin out... « er moist » * Angie barely manages to keep up with the rest of the group, as she keeps getting distracted by the surroundings. Huh, guess the foliage doesn't go that deep into the facility. I'm not suprised. Farther in we get, more likely defenses are to be working. Vytor comes to a junction. There is a set of stairs leading down on either side of him, or he can go straight ahead. The one on the left leads down to a place where light is issuing from. Insulation and all that. Well, which way? * Mikel taps his staff against a few bits of the floor here and there, hrming. And less light and stuff they'd be likely to get, I guess We might as well follow the light. Perhaps the next time the metal man calls we should ask for a map. The faint sound of sloshing water is heard. It sounds like a rymthmic tide. * Vytor follows the light. * Trune follows close behind Vytor. I have a sinking feeling we are going to get wet. Just to state the obvious. We'll dry out. Don't let it dampen your spirits. * Mikel lets out a groan. Oy I'm making puns. I hate you all. Damn it. Leah rolls her eyes. Vytor scales the Western stairway carefully. It is built of mesh construction, allowing him to see what lies below to some extent. It seems like a room full of gigantic water tanks, many times bigger than a man and wider than a Hylan classroom. ... You people are terrible. * Angie feels a drip on her scalp. She wrinkles her nose and runs a hand over her head. As long as we don't wind up all washed up, it's fine. What's all this then? Pssh, Pot calling the kettle black, miss "I have made puns before". * Vytor keeps moving at a steady pace. * Saki murmurs almost under her breath. "... it's not so bad. Not as strong." She glances around, and puffs out a breath. "... makes up for the damp, I suppose." * Mikel follows Vytor down the stairs, peering past the mesh. "Interesting..." There are conduits and pipes connetced to these tanks, and the tida noises you hear must be some sort of pumping action of an ancient device. * Niri peers over the railing at the tanks. "Wow..." * Angie peeks over Vytor's shoulder. "Some kind of a hydro system, I guess! But I wonder what it was for. Cooling, maybe?" Maybe bailing? Maybe... If this place wasreally underwater... You'd need to drain it somehow, wouldn't you? * Vytor goes over to one of the tanks, and peers down into one I supse so Vytor passes a landing with an old, but still legible data plate on it. "Distillation Containment and Cycling for Aquatic Testbed." * Angie pauses in her descent, leaning her stomach against the railing and looking down to the room below. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense." I guess taking a bath here would be a bad idea, no? * Trune grins a bit. ...Er, yes. Labels. Sadly, its all gobbledygoook I think so. * Saki mostly just keeps on going, scanning further down the corridor. * Niri points to the tanks. See those? Probably, Mr. won't-use-the-ancient restrooms. MILDEW. * Tanan grins MOLD All kinds of good stuff! There is no longer a corridor. The stairs have ended. The path weaves between the gigantic tanks, each bearing a number in numerical order. Bah, where is your sense of adventure, Princess? * Angie makes a fist and raps hard on the nearest tank. Hey, it's right here! I'm just pointing this out for your squeamishness! ;) * Saki grits her teeth as she glances around between the tanks, apparently not thrilled; absently, she mutters over a shoulder. "... piggybacks through the worst sections will cost you." Angie's fist makes a hollow sound, distyorted by thousands of pounds of pressurized fluid. They still have stuff in them. Mold does not scare me. Mildew does not scare me. Stuff? I am a hardcore guy, yanno? Mold can mess you up pretty good. ....Hardcore? You? Well, water, presumably. I wonder if this system could be brought up and running again? * Niri stifles a snort [Leah] Probably the water that's running all around these pipes... * Trune narrows his eyes and glances at Niri, "Yes, why?" I imagine if the lights are still on, its possible Shut up, Princess! * Saki snorts. "... let's not while we're still in here." And onwards she presses, in quite a hurry. Another cycle goes by. Fwosh. Something is obviously still working. And sending this fluid somewhere else in this laboratory. * Mikel glances back at Trune and Niri. "Calm down a bit. You might wake something up." He grins before following along. Possibly, Angie, but later, alright? /focus/. * Angharad flattens her ears, just a little unsettled by the fact this old place is still active. Other than the water cycling, there is precious little noise. The smell of swamp has gradually been replaced by mildew and a salty ocean. * Vytor weaves his way through the tank farm, keeping his eyes open for anything that stands out * Angie gives no acknowledgement of Ryllan's advice if she hears it at all. She disappears behind a huge tank, exploring the room for anything of interest. Hey, I'm being quiet! ...Relatively. * Niri sticks her tongue out at Trune. Aren't we trying to wake something up? Angie finds a console mounted on the side of the tank, specifically #6. * Trune rolls his eyes at Niri, "You are the epitome of maturity, young lady." * Mikel glances at Saki. "Are they always like this?" It has lots of buttons and levels and dials... Errr....Tanan, I would say the answer is NO just in case it turns out to be a sea monster or something. * Angie adjusts her glasses, peering closely at the console. « er levers » Oh, and thankee, Sunshine. Sure thing, Littlebit. I meant Neptune, th- * TheStoryteller changes topic to '-= Chapter 15: Neptune's Trident | Location: Great Lakebed Test Facility | Pools: 1287 §, 5 MXP =- http://storen.rpgcafe.net/IoG/ | OOC chan: #iog-ooc' ...you know, I've heard the phrase 'littlebit' before, but never applied to a female. Well, yeah, Tanan, but do we know what ELSE is down here? * Saki raises an eyebrow for the briefest of moments. "... pretty much. We all have our off days, though." She sighs wearily, and looks towards Trune and Niri. "... keep it down or either you will both get no dessert or will both be locked in an inn room together until you give in and start kissing. ... either or. ... possibly both." * Vytor stifles a laugh! * Mikel grins. "You're my new role model if you can deal with that then." * Trune stops and balks at Saki, his face turning beet red. He sputters a bit and looks away, Angie finds that it has some directions posted on the side. The green light indicated the unit is active. Two dial measure pressure and pH level. The fluid passes through 3 filters. all are funtioning, indicated by a series of 3 orange lights. there is a red override button to halt the current cycle. Now now, no threats of enforced romance while on the job ;) * Saki crosses her arms, deadpanning. "... the trick is to be able to pick either or both of them up." "Aha." * Niri blinks at Saki. O_o * Angharad notes the console that has caught Angie's interest. "Do you plan on doing something with that?" ...Well, now I KNOW Saki is crazy. * Trune coughs, "Obviously." There is a chart laying out the 10 tanks in the room, as well. They are all connected to a giant represtation of what seems like a.. fishtank?.. in the schematic. The drawing is beneath you.. not on this floor at least. * Niri mutters and just walks over to the console the others are investigating. Oh, wow! *Her eyes glitter as she realizes that the tank is still completely operational. She waves Angharad over.* Look, look! This light means the system is on, and these represent the filters...it's still working! "I don't know, from what I've seen she seems to be the most stable." ...Uh oh. Angie, what are you playing with?! * Vytor lets the more clever members of the team puzzle out the workings of this overgrown water filter. I'm not playing with anything! This is a serious scientific investigation. ...Do you know how it works? And are you going to wake up and ancient and ravenous sea monster? "Only one way to find out." Lake monster. Whatever. Still ravenous. And ancient. Even if it's working... I'm not sure it's such a good idea to play with it. * Saki 's eyebrow goes a touch higher; there is more than a trace of a smirk at Niri's back, then she moves alongside the group, frowning. "... I'd hardly call myself the most stable. Take my word for it." * Angie runs through the room, tracing an outgoing pipe trough several more tanks. "That's so awesome. I wonder if these facilities are self-maintaining or if they're made from materials that don't deteriorate!" Standing around the tank, Angharad notices a knocking sound coming from tank #2, a ways down by the far wall. * Vytor notes the large sign that reads "This facility has been accident-free for 21 days" with some irony. * Angharad blinks and turns to look at the offending tank. Puzzles, she walks over to and it listens closely. <> *knock knock knock* Either this is normal, or something is repeatedly slamming into the wall from the INSIDE of it. * Mikel glances over at Angharad. "What's wrong?" Um... It sounds like there's something inside this tank. * Saki leans back against the nearest tank, breathing out a breath and trying to calm herself; without something to distract her she looks a little wobbly, but better than average. Hm? * Angharad points at tank #2. "It sounds like there's something moving in here." * Vytor heads over the the Tank Angharad is indicating Let's not play around that tank, then. Either that or there's some strange malfuction in the machinery. Something IN the tank? * Mikel considers for a moment before walking over, tapping the tank with his staff. Unless...hey Niri! Want to play Marco Polo? Careful! If the system ruptures we could get awful wet. Are we sure we even need to mess with these thing? I mean, I d- I'm asking a stupid question, aren't I. .... As Mikel does so the sound pauses for a second, then starts happening erratically and faster. * Niri raises an eyebrow at Trune. Whoa... I think you got its attention Mikel Good job. "Sounds like it." You know...you get in the tank and close your eyes and you yell out marco and I yell out Polo and maybe you'll find me! ...Maybe. * Saki turns to eye the suspicious tank for a moment. As the sound changes, the pushes off the wall, getting ready for... well, just getting ready. A lopsided shrug at Tanan doesn't hurt, though. * Niri steps backward. "Should we really be messing with this?" So when it comes out, we're feeding you to it, yes? "Try it." Trune, go jump off a walkway. ^_^ So what do we do? Let it out? You seriously cannot take a joke. The siding of the tank begins to get distorted. *pound pound pound* Hey, Angie, do you think that little console over there can let us see what's in the tank without opening it? I can! That wasn't a joke. That was mean-spirited teasing! And we may actually have a problem here... *Frowns at the tank* ...Trune, this doesn't happen to be one of your voices, does it? Ummm... * Mikel frowns. "...oops." * Saki is at the front of the group in a flash, ready to defend. "All those in favour of my giving it an early concussion?" Uh...hmm. I...I don't know actually. Wemight be haing a visitor soon * Angharad frowns at the dent in the tank. "That doesn't look good." Errr. I don't like this. ^^;; * Trune concentrates, wondering if he can pinpoint anything. * Niri whips out her boomerang * Angie returns to the console, peering at it. No, no reason to piss it off any more if it might be peaceful. * Tanan readies his shield. "This could be... not good." * Ryllan slides his knives into his hands anyway, "But, if it's not... Well, please." * Saki whips her head to the side in a flash, voice unusually sharp. "Angie! Drown whatever the hell that is if you can." Saki is still pondering the thought of beating the thing down, before a warning light goes off. Angie notices the console is flashing red on #2. The pressure is all over the place! * Angie slams the red button with her palm, acting without thinking. Maybe we should step away from the soon-to-be-exploding tank of watery mysteriousness? * Trune frowns, his jovial mood quickly dissapating, "Yeah...that'd be a smart idea." * Mikel holds up his staff, tapping a finger on it. "...Good idea." Cue more than a few steps back. * Trune pales, and quickly backs up, "A really good idea! Everyone, get back!" * Angharad pulls out her halberd and braces herself. * Vytor takes some steps back, looking for something to duck behind iof need be That thing is not friendly! Trust me! There's another pause in the drumming as Angie hits the button. An alarm sounds loudly through the facility, and the cycle is interrupted, shutting off #2 from the rest of the system. * Saki steps back, but slowly - all tension and coiled muscle, she's clearly still on the attack. Then, amidts this growing chaos, the thing give one final hard SMASH into the siding, and it bulges.. and then explodes! o_O Oh shit! water sprys right onto Saki, almost kncocking her on her rump and mist covering her sisght. « er sprays » Watch it! * Saki tries to cover her face but gets a jet of water to the face, skidding and sliding backwards and almost toppling as she staggers back on suddenly slippery ground. "... nh...!" Out of the crack zooms what appears to be a crystalline fish, flying through the currents of water disgorged into the air, and landing in the now river-like floor. * Angie runs out from behind the tank, gun in hand, only to be greeted by a wave of hot water. Aghtp-! What the hell is.. look alive, people! Or more alive! And more to the point, let's stay looking alive! Or something? It promptly starts swimming away, almost dissolving into the water itself. What is THAT? "I... oh bloody hell." I don't know... but it's heading away from us... * Saki staggers back up to her feet, watches the shape for a moment, then is off after it in an instant. * Trune gets drenched, his hair falling into his eyes, "...Oh for...man...Saki! Wait up!" ...a false alarm, maybe? Or.. maybe not! ...Oh jeeze. Stay together people! * Niri throws her arms in front of her face to shield herself at the explosion, then takes a defensive stance and readies her boomerang. * Vytor swears, and pursues Saki * Ryllan takes off at arun after Saki Darn it you guys, I thought I was supposed to be the reckless one! * Niri follows Saki and the others * Trune runs after Saki, "Yeah, seriously Niri, you have competition now!" * Mikel chases after Saki as well, grinning at Niri. "You're a bad influence then." And everyone thinks WE'RE nuts! The excess water runs into the drain not far away. Saki finds her persuit fruitless, as the beast has literally melted into the liquid. There's no telling where it is. You are. [Leah] Wow! I've never seen a monster od that before! Shiro growls at the puddle next to him. Maybe it's for the best that it ran away. Maybe it just wanted out and isn't interested in us. * Saki skids to a halt, growling under her breath and trying to drag back soaked hair. As people start to catch up and she glances every which way, wary of attack, she mutters. "... want it to break something more important this time?" * Niri punches Ryllan lightly on the shoulder as she hurries past :P ...oooooooooookay Well, gone now. No...It was laughing. * Mikel frowns, peering at the drain for a few moments before looking around. "If it flows through water... hrm." Well, it's gone now. Let's just move on. Tank #2 is still leaking, but having been shut down, most of it's water is now drained out, so the flood was not nearly as nad as it could've been... « bad » If it can dizzolve into water like that, it could be anywhere by now «ooc: watch out for them nads! » * Saki frowns, and glares at Trune, a flicker of anger about her. "... we're being toyed with?" Man, it's just a fish. Cool it. I'm not sure. Damn it, I heard it laughing, Angie! Fish do not do that Laughing happy, or laughing mean, or laughing crazy? "...a fish doesn't melt into the water." Old Time experimentation lab. Maybe fishes /do/ melt into water here. Laughing ...mean and crazy. «ooc: er, recon. Sorry » Lovely ...Great. And it's in the walls. Laughing ...Dunno about mean. Just...laughing. * Saki straightens up, and rubs at her face; half trying to center herself, half trying to dry off. "... mnh. I don't like this. Not along with... everything else." Okay, it's a laughing magic fish. It still won't do any good hanging around here, right? *She sticks her head into the hole the thing made, looking around the inside of the tank.* I'm kind of worried that the system will turn on again and flood the place. Thoughts, trune? You're hearing it, right? where might it be going? Can you disable it, then, Angie? Give me a moment. I'll see if I can hear it again. I turned it off for now, but I'm not sure if it'll stay that way. * Trune closes his eyes, leaning against one of the walls as he focuses. Gathered around the drain, you notice there's a door at the far end of this tank room. It is a different color than the rest of this place... wait.. golden material? Could it be? * Vytor goes up to the door, checking it over. * Mikel peers for a moment before walking towards the door. "...What do we have /here/?" (w) Catch me...if you can? * Ryllan glances toward Trune, "Hm?" It's playing with us. Session Time: Sat Jun 03 00:00:00 2006 * Vytor sees if he can open the door. * Saki closes her eyes to mutter something unintelligible under her breath before stalking over towards the door. Now she just looks pissed, and far more like her usual ruins self. Vytor notices it's exactly like the sealed door you encountered in the Jupiter laboratory. The indestructible partially phased defensive shutter. Does this look familiar to you guys? ...yeah, it does Oh yeah. We don't have the staff anymore though. But we do have this. * Trune pulls out the ECC, "Maybe they can help?" Can't hurt to try. * Vytor steps aside Besides, I want to see if this thing works down here anyway. Call 'em up... let's find out. Oh, hey! *She splashes her way over to the door, tracing its grooves with a fingernail* I didn't notice that before. *She raises a fist and raps on the door.* Anybody home? * Trune fiddles a bit with the device, setting it down on the ground for now, "Hey, Dr. Webbly, are you there? Can you hear me?" * Saki lets Trune get to his work, and instead hovers around the room, all surly and stalky. She's clearly on the lookout for any other playful fish. * Niri investigates the door curiously, comparing it to the others they've seen... * Mikel glances over at Trune, blinking a bit more. * Huw is now known as DrWebbly It's shaped slightly different, but Niri notices a Trident inscribed on it. "Neptune Containment Area. Authorized personnel Only Past This Point". * DrWebbly is heard through the device. "Just fine-tuning th*srccccccchhh* signal now.. Hiya Doc Awesome! * DrWebbly appears in the little flickering blue-hued image above the device. "Hidey-ho pardners!" * Angie notices Mikel's confusion. "That's Dr. Webbly," she explains, gesturing toward the device. "He lives on the moon." Hey Dr. Webbly! We're right outside the door where Neptune is...but how do we open it? We don't have the staff anymore. * Mikel turns and stares at Angie for a few moments. "...wait, /what/?" * Niri fingers the trident symbol curiously. * Niri blinks at Angie. "...Hardly a confidence-inspiring way of putting it! But true enough, I guess." Just trust us "...Um, alright." * Mikel peers at the image. Oh. You've a new guy! Heya! Nice staff. * Saki is suddenly behind Mikel. "Long story," she rumbles out, dragging a hand back through her hair again and scanning around the room with a jerky tension. * Mikel blinks. "Erm, hey." * DrWebbly holds up a little sign with a thumbs up. Webbly, I think you like your signs too much. Don't you at least have thumbs? How's the facility? * Mikel starts a bit, looking back at Saki. "...less with the heart attack, please." Damp It's a bit run down. Did you make psychotic fish, by the way? If I didn't know better, I'd guess maybe the fish WAS Neptune. There was a strange fish that swam away by melting into the water. It was in the tank labeled #2. * Saki barely seems to respond to Mikel, beyond a vague noise of acknowledgement. <> Well. I never worked down there. Being underwater gave me the chills. * Mikel looks back at Dr. Webbly, still trying to take this all in. Seems like an odd thing, though. Any computers working? * Angie chimes in with an answer. "Some of the systems are still operating fine, though I haven't seen anything too fancy yet." * AngelAlex242 (~Angelalex@24.21.76.75) has joined #lunar-iog2 Anything with a screen and keyboard? Erm. Do you know what those are? * DrWebbly scratches his head. * Angie rolls her eyes and turns away, checking out the area for something like a computer. * Trune stares at Dr. Webbly with a blank expression, pretty much telling the answer. It was a lot easier when you were actually around, I think. The best Angie can come up with are the terminals to control this system. It is specialized for water control. But it does fit his description of a computer... sort of. * Saki , in the absence of anything else to do, goes back to leaning up against a tank. ... carefully. Her eyes are closed, and she's apparently just trying to relax. Not her problem. * Angie waves Trune over, raising her voice to be heard over the thrumming of the machines. "Okay, we've got something for working the pumps here!" * Trune frowns and follows Angie, wondering what she wants him for. <> * Vytor hangs back with Saki, at a loss for what else to do * Tanan looks around a little aimlessly * Angie only loves trune for his intercom, it seems. Once he comes over she directs him to point the device so that Webbly can see the interface. Hmm. Lots of lights and levers? Not so handy. Could someone point the shiny bit of the thing at the ahhh.. displaced varionic field? Big gold door thingie. "...varionic? I'm getting a headache listening to this." He sounds like Tanan! * Trune is quiet, not really having any idea what Webbly is talking about. "Knew there was a health related reason to why I avoided that class." It comes from being scientific! And.. hmmm. Looks like Neptune's bedroom got a hole in it somewhere. I hope he's not dried up. Hey now That's a perfectly legitimate word * Trune blinks, his face suddenly darkening as he has a very, very bad thought. And the fact that I have absolutely no idea what it means doesn't detract from that in the least * Tanan nods seriously * Mikel blinks. "...A...hole." * Mikel glances at the tank. * Trune glances at the tank as well, and nods at Mikel. Apparently they're sharing the same thought. Trune, was that...? ....Wait a moment... "Was the bedroom a tank, Doctor?" Don't tell me I was right about the fish being Neptune? I don't know, but I've got a bad feeling about it. I haven't heard anything for a while, though. Mmm. I doubt it. Does it have a body in it? "Well, something came out and... melted with the water." There was an invisible fish, but it turned into water and went down a drain. Very weird. One of your monster thingies maybe? Now, point me at the big gold door. I'd like you to check on Neptune as soon as you can. Right, hang on a mo'. * Trune hefts the ECC over to the door, "This good?" * Saki pushes off the wall, and positions herself just to the side of the door in a guard position. Excellent. You sure you don't want one of the lads down here when you do this? * Mikel taps his staff on the ground once before blinking. "Lads?" ...That might be a good idea. Probably Jupiter, Doctor? Mercury maybe? Might be able to keep you breathing if it all goes wet. A very good idea. Probably Mercury, for the air. Yes, but we're not allowed to summon them before battles because, while intelligent, that would screw up the balance. No...Jupiter. There's a shimemr of power, and the door proceeds to turn to a fine mist, hanging suspended in the air like it was nevr a solid, but always a gaseous vapor. Why Jupiter? I have a hunch. * Vytor raises an eyebrow, still unused to displays like that Breathing is better than accidentally frying us all, but ok... * Mikel blinks. "What the..." Jupiter would be good, yeah. Um... The thing about Jupiter is we're ankle-deep in water here and I am not really keen on being electrocuted. ? No, but...hrm. *Frowns* I'm confused now. Is one of the lads already on his way down or is there something odd about the door? Hmm? Oh, sorry. Leant on the button. ^^; Hm. Should we keep going? If you could. Otherwise I will have to search the databases for the rudest version of Mary Had A Little Lamb I can find. "Can't see any real reason why not. Then again, I'm still in the dark, so..." What does Mary have to do with this? * Trune snrks, and walks forward. * Saki nods curtly, and takes point without a word. Angharad can smell that sweet frgrance of lillies again from beyond the door. * Vytor follows the group quietly * Mikel follows as well. * Niri follows too, so she can be one of the cool kids! * Ryllan follows, worried. * Angharad clears her throat, not sure how to address the metal man, and asks, "Dr. Webbly, do you know why there would be water lillies inside this place?" TRune walks forward into a very similar setup as the other two labs. There are several rooms filled with many tables and lots of computers. The pipes ever present run everywhich way on the cieling, going into a gigantic room with glass walls on every side .. probably for observation. The place really is a gigantic building sized oceanic simulation of some sort.. Hoi... Whoa... * Angie whistles. "I... oh man." Water Lillies? After all this time? It'd be highly irregular. Inside this tank is all manner of fish and plants and entire ecosystems still being held in a functioning containment. Thugh might be part of the micro-eco-system they were testing Neptune it in OK, I'll admit it, I'm impressed Okay, wow, now I really do want to go swimming. "While that thing is still somewhere out there?" * Angharad looks at the tank to see if there are any of these strong-scented water lillies in it. "There must be a lot of them for these scent to carry so far." * Saki grits her teeth, shivering just a little; wavering slightly, she uses the wall for support and surveys the room with an extremely careful eye. At the base of it is a small corridor that leads into it's belly, walls entirely clear as well. At the end of this walkay lays a table and a pale, blue haired man laying on it. There he is. * Angie reaches into her coat and draws her sidearm, approaching cautiously. Wow.... There are all manner of tubes and such plugged into his body, covered only by a white robe. He appears to be sleeping, and barely breathing. Are they ALL this pretty? O_o * Trune frowns, "Something's wrong with him." Hrm. * Niri steps forward cautiously, slowly approaching the table. "...er, pretty? He looks like something out of a horror story with all that crap in him." I'm gonna get Webbly a bit closer so he can see him. Cover me, okay? Focus, Niri. RIght * Angie edges closer, training the gun on the man. "Well, if you could design a person, you might as well make him nice to look at..." * Vytor hefts his hammer Covered, Trune Niri, stay back. I'm only doing this because I'm Webbly stand. ...I suppose that makes sense... * Niri blinks * Trune steps closer to Neptune. Okay, fine. :/ «ooc: webbly's stand, even » * Niri fidgets, obviously wanting in on the action * Angharad stands what she hopes is a safe distance away given everyone's nervousness. A few big eyed fish poke at the glass in curisoity as a strange bunch of humans shows up. Wow, some excitement after over 3 millenia! Oh my. Neptune.. Neptune... His life signs are... rather low. This is a bit worrying. * Saki hangs back from the group, taking some time to regain control. Is there anything I...we can do? Ahh. Ermm. Can one of our healing spells help? :/ *fidgets* I can drain power from Trune! :D It might. I'm not quite sure how those work. Nothing seems to happen as you approach him... he just lies there in his comatose stste. There seems to be a few wires unplugged, now that you take the up close look. That probably won't be necessary, Niri. ...Darn. ...Doctor. * Trune coughs, "And I was being mean-spirited earlier. Geez Niri." * Tanan steps towards Neptune. "Want me to try?" Wires, unplugged. * Mikel gives the fish a side glance before turning his attention to Neptune. <> Hmm. Unplugged? Not good, I assume? * Vytor waits, and watches Let me check his.. ahhh.. specifics.. * Tanan raises a hand tentatively, glancing at the projection of Webbly * DrWebbly flicks through a big book. * Trune waits, looking around the room curiously. "...specifics?" Can you see.. where they were meant to go? Um, maybe. It looks like these go here, and... * Ryllan steps forward, wary and on-guard, but with a very specific purpose in mind. If you could put them back in it might help. Otherwise you could I guess.. erm.. water him. There are little metal jacks in the side of his neck that are empty. Something (or someone ) must have pulled them out recently. * Trune holds his head for a moment, then looks at Ryllan, "He said Rain...Ice...Sea...a piece of me in all three." He also said something about his mind being shattered. ...I... see. Ahh. Trune? He's shattered his mind you say? * Mikel just shakes his head, completely lost now. That's what he said...it's like his disconnected somehow. ...Weirdness... «ooc: he's, even » Disconnecte... * Ryllan looks at the wires again. * Saki remains back in the bulk of the lab, watching the group work their stuff from a distance. Well. He must have been.. erm.. in the water, so to speak, when the leads came out, so he couldn't get back in his head. * Vytor blinks, as a thought occurrs to him * Mikel frowns. ...Wait, what? So...the fish wasn't him, but could it have been...carrying a piece of him? Kinda? So the splashy thing could have been a bit of him. I guess. This is all very interesting, but quite alarming considering the possible affects on his health. ...Please don't say he needs mouth-to-mouth. That fish... "You're the one who said he was pretty." I beg you please to ahh.. investigate. Most thouroghly. The smell of water lillies drifts in again. It seems to be coming from the top of the tank. Was that a piece of this guy? How are we going to find that fish, though? It could be anywhere in the system now. ...Which explains the voices, Trune... * Mikel looks up. This is a disturbing precedent... Well, yeah, but I think you'd all look at me weird if I wanted to make out with him! *Sticks her tongue out at Mikel* * Angharad wrinkles her nose and looks up around the top of the tank to try and find where that smell is ocming from. <> [Leah] Wake pricne charming up? Don't think it'll be that easy, by the sound of it. * Vytor rubs his temples * Ryllan plugs the wires back into Neptune, then, hoping he's got it right. * Mikel shrugs at Niri, grinning. Ryllan tries to repair the connection. And there's a little far off blip blip as the comptuer monitoring his brainwaves come back online. Wonder if that did it... Here's hoping Climbing a convenient access ladder, Angharad finds lily pads! Lots of them! On a particualry large one is a very weird looking frog creature. It is also made out of blue crystal, it's eyes looking very intelligent. * Niri blinks * Angharad notes the frog creature. "Um... hello. I don't suppose you were made here, were you?" [Frog] Guests...? I don't think so. * Trune looks up, "Who's up there?" I think I just turned on the sound... * Angharad hadn't really expected the frog to talk... * Angharad glances down at everyone else. "There's a talking frog up here." It's a strange voice. It is talking mentally, not physically. ...a what? What? A talking frog? How exciting!! I envy you guys. A talking...frog? Are you shittin' me? * Angie looks up at Angharad, frowning. "What?" [Frog] Made? Hard to say. Born of circumstance more like. * Mikel looks up at Angharad, blinking. "A... talking frog? This gets better and better." o.o What the...? A which again? Okay, that is AWESOME. A frog. It's on one of the water lillies. ...A talking Frog... A talking Fish... Pattern much? * Angharad looks back at the frog. "So you live here?" If we totally run into a talking mermaid, a female one at that who is rather beautiful, I will be so, so happy. Just saying. [Frog] At least until I go where I belong. .... * Niri eyes Trune with a knowing grin. Oh really now? Where's that? Well...c'mon! Beautiful mermaid! Yup. You have a fish fetish. * Saki grits her teeth from her position up against the wall, and decides to give in, catching up at last with the group. The growled mutter is clearly audible; "... why can't anything just use our damn /ears/." You wish, Frog-lover. The frog looks down into the water. "Somewhere. I've forgotten exactly, but it will come to me if I sit here long enough." * Mikel blinks before smacking his palm against his face. * Angie cubs her free hand around her mouth, calling up to Angharad. "Maybe he's part of Neptune! Ask him if he knows how to catch the fish!" It's cute. It's not sexy. :P To most people! Clearly not you though. * Angharad considers that. "Are you Neptune?" ...Don't tell me we're going to have a fishing mini-game now. ... "It'd be about par with this." [Frog] Neptune? That name sounds familiar. Hmm... This isn't a game, Niri. * Angie makes the discovery evade. Tell that to the guys behind the keyboards. You obviously didn't get the reference! <<...*cough* sorry. sorry>> Trune? What did the original voice say to you? About being broken into pieces? Did you come out of one of those colored tube things? << Snrk :D >> * Trune nods to Vytor. << *Tinkling sounds and a crash as the fourth wall shatters* >> << Shatters? Nuked. :P >> [Frog] Oh, now I remember! I think that was who I used to be once. But then something happened, and now I was three and not one. Do you know where the rest of you is? And is it close? Let's see...we've found a fish...then a frog...so the last would be....um... *squint* ...a duck? Or something? [Frog] One tried to swim upstream... the other hid in an icebox. * Mikel taps his staff against the floor, frowning. "Swim upstream... think that's the odd thing we saw before?" I think we saw the swimming one. I don't know about the icebox. [Frog] And.. we all like riddles. Do you? A little. I suppose. Looks like we hunt around till we find someplace that's icy. It'll have to be someplace still getting power then. [frog] If you humor me a moment, I'll tell you where to find the icy aspect of us. How about it? All right. * Saki puffs out a breath and drags her still-wet hair back with a violent motion. "... ngh. More riddles." You know, we could help you get back together much more easily without riddles. I mean, if you really want to, I guess we can't stop you, but... [Frog] What lives in winter, dies in summer, and grows with its root upwards? Um... Carrots that were planted badly Snrk. Icicles actually. Hm... * Angie hops from one foot to the other, leaving wet footprints. "Oh! Uh, hmm. Do you think it could be, like, an icicle?" Ooh, hey, yeah. * Tanan nods to Angie. * Angie points at Tanan. "Yeah! See, we're smart." [Frog] Smart man, are you a professor? * Vytor opens his mouth to answer, but shuts it as others beat him to it (Also, icicles are shaped sort of like carrots.) * Mikel snickers. Yup, he's got a degree in BS! In BS? I do n- Well, I am, bu-.. I yield. Do you mean a Bachelor of Science? Yeah, you know, a - yeah, that's it. [frog] Staffers here used to have a locker for cold food. Look for icicles and the second fragment... She's joking. I'm a professor of chaotic willforce. I don't think I have fun letters. Ooh! Freezer! Got it! And I can't seem to hear the frog. * Saki just lurks around Neptune's ... well, body. Doing something suspiciously like sulking. . o O (Mmm, ice cream in freezer...) [Frog] So, you say if I jump down, I'll find me? Supposedly. Give it a try, frog-man. Yes! Yep. The frog considers this, then hops off into the water with a sploosh! * Angharad hopes this works as she climbs back down the ladder. Saki near neptune's body feels a surge of energy flow right past her. It's enough to make her cringe. Well... he might be fragmented, but at least his fragments are polite. That's encouraging * Saki makes an interesting sort of 'gnark' noise and staggers back a step, wide-eyed. * Mikel glances over at Saki, frowning. "What's wrong?" * Trune steps towards Saki, "You okay, Saki? There's a jolt, and the comptuers register increased braina ctivity and breathing. The meter that guages willpower quotient rises slightly. * Angie , on the other hand, moves in for a closer look, squinting and tilting her glasses. Yeah, hopefully he won't be inclined to attack us when he's himself again. Neptune is still unresponsive to otuside stimuli, but her mouth twitches and fingers shift. « er er his! » * Saki blinks twice, looking her wildly for a moment; when it's clear the sensation's passed, she looks down at the body. "... nn. Just bad for a moment." So...where is this freezer? It must be down one of the other two paths. Let's go back. * Vytor nods, and heads back out "Makes sense..." * Mikel turns to follow Vytor out. I guess we're now looking for icicles. * Vytor walks along, looking for some sign of cold stuff * Ryllan sighs, and follows. * Saki frowns at Neptune's body for the briefest of moments, then shakes her head and follows the group. "... explains why this one's felt... easier. He's... split up?" That's what it sounds like * Tanan nods Three pieces... Strange... Well, if you think about it, it sort of makes sense. Water does come normally in three states. Liquid, vapor, and ice. "... when was this supposed to start making sense, again?" Maybe some of the experiments here involved moving back and forth between those states Told you you could stay back outside. And that no one would believe you. * Tanan shrugs If that fish is the third piece it didn't look like vapor to me. It made quite a bit of noise banging against that tank. The fish was liquid, I think. * Trune shakes his head, "Man, splitting up into different parts would be kind of a neat trick." I can't imagine it's very useful « yes, just ask John. » He's laid out pretty badly He is. His parts are free to move. * Mikel shrugs back at Tanan. "Fair 'nough, I guess." I suppose it doesn't matter really * Saki scans the corridor almost on auto-pilot. If the fish is liquid, the next part in the ice box is solid, that would have made the frog vapor. The frog didn't look like vapor to me. True enough. Vytor finds the freezer that the frog mentioned nearby in the lab break area. While still operational and definitely over frosted, the door is open. Perhaps it isn't here any long? Hmm. « longer » * Vytor sees about wedging the door open further Eesh! Well, the metal's very cold, if nothing else. I dare you to stick your tongue to it. You first. There's a creak as the encursted door swings open. You find a few empty shelves, and a couple full ones with frozen foodstuffs. It seems like nothing else is about, however, you notice that inside there is another doorway poking out behind a rack of shelves. It has icicles hanging off of it. Oh man that would be a- horrible * Trune coughs, "That...is a very bad thing to do. Take my word for it, Angie." I see icicles. Shiro looks happy as the temperature drops, wagging his tail. * Mikel glances over at Trune before snickering. He peers past Vytor, blinking. "Progress, I guess." * Saki looks deeply unamused. "... great. ... soaked, then frozen." Haven't been tossed around midair yet It's a step up * Angie shives, hugging herself with both arms. "Oh man, I am freezing my ass off already. I'm gonna let you guys do this one, I think." She steps back out of the freezer, rubbing her arms. * Trune rummages through his backpack and takes out his old overcoat, putting it on, "Man Angie, you're kinda wussy." or you need to dress in layers! * Vytor heads to the other door * Angharad steps inside, her fur shutting out the cold a better than the skin of a human, and inspects the other doorway. * Mikel steps into the freezer, shivering a bit. "It isn't that... wait, yeah, definitetly cold." * Vytor slips on some gloves before manhandling this new door It's FUCKING COLD, Trune. No shit, sherlock! One of the icicles is hanging off a little note tacked onto the door's handle. "Emergency Entrance to Arctic Bay" How did you handle the academy winters, anyway? * Saki mutters under her breath, then eyes Angharad like a hawk. To her credit, she's trying not to shiver and doing a decent job. "I envy you," she rumbles out. This looks promising. * Ryllan shivers. * Vytor tries the handle. Fire make heat go away. But lets move quickly. Fire good. The latch is cold! Fire makes heat go away? OK, we go in, get the whatever, and get the hell out. We won't last long in arctic conditions It doesn't want to budge. You ARE cold. Stay out here. «ooc: ...cold. ;_; » [Leah] Maybe if we heat things up a bit? We may have to. THe handle won't budge "That might piss off what we're looking for." We could accidentally zap Neptune's id...superego...fuzzy water thingy. Assuming it went this way... * Vytor checks to see if the door is frozen shut By the looks of the icicles lining the edges, it's a good bet. Whatever is on the other side is putting out subzero chilling effect. It makes the food freezer here seem tame. * Saki breathes a sigh that, aside from crystallising in the air in front of her, might be one of relief. Something to vandalise can do wonders for the senses. "... I'm up, I guess. Everyone out." * Vytor steps back from the door * Trune steps back. * Angharad moves out of the way. Oh shit. * Tanan moves out of the way Eep. "...erm? Leah pulls Mikel out of the way, for his own health. Saki make with the smash now. * Saki glances up at the ceiling of the freezer, frowning. "... I might knock a few of those off the roof, too. Be careful." * Mikel gacks as he gets pulled out of Saki's way. * Ryllan backs away, "Useful, but scary. No offense, Saki." * DrWebbly puts on a hat yellow helmet. Looks flimsy and plastic. * Saki nods curtly in response. "Just business." And she launches forwards, driving a fist into the area on the door where the icicles seem most tightly packed. Saki's fist lands harder than she expects, like some portion of her is /happy/ to cause violence to this place. Being ice cold and brittle, it's plain to see that cracks are forming. The icicles shatter as well, sending specks everywhere and a couple falling from the cieling through a boxtop. "...holy shit." You know, as disturbing as that is, its still damn impressive to watch. I kinda wish I could do that. Hell /I/ wish I could do that. * Trune breathes out, "No kidding." [Leah] And here I thought people breaking wood blocks at the Festival was amazing. o_O * Saki is... now inspecting the door with something of an intent eye, before stepping back and frowning. After a brief raised eyebrow in the collective direction of everyone else, she motions at the door. "... I think we're good to try a shoulder or two on it." Care to do the honors? Thank you, Saki. * Saki nods and gives it a try; a jiggle of the handle and a shoulder driven into the door. * Vytor pulls a jacket from his pack and puts it on Bang, the door abruptly swings open, carrying Saki with it. Her momentum takes her a few steps inside, where her fet contact imemdiately with ice. * Saki has the foresight to hang onto the handle but the lack of traction to not do much else; she ends up in a sort of ungainly arc for a moment before valiantly bringing herself under control. Are you all right there, Saki? * Vytor thinks, and pulls his blanket from his pack as well, offering it to anyone who needs the extra insulation The vista beyond is a frozen laketop, complete with said artic termperatures. Brrr. The icy surface is brozen only be a rund hole, where a blue crystaline ice mongrl is trying to catch fish with it's paws. * Tanan follows them in, shivering slightly but seeming to hold up pretty well in the cold Shiro looks curiously inside, "Roo?" Bingo. Hey! * Trune whistles, trying to get the Mongrel's attention. Ooh! Ice mongrel! C'mon Shiro, let's go say hi. [Mongrel] Hey! How can you just barge in here like that! You're scaring away my dinner! * Saki tests her balance very, very, very carefully. When she's sure she has footholds, she straightens up. "... nothing injured but my pride, I guess." An experimental crack of the knuckles and she's a-okay. We were looking for you! * Mikel blinks a couple of times, before shaking his head with a slight shiver. * Vytor tests his footing before heading deeper into the frozen landscape Um... Neptune, I presume? Um, sorry? ^^; We wanted to say hi? So yeah....we were looking for you! Sorry about the dinner, though Man, what I wouldn't give for ice-skates about now. [Mongrel] Nep-tune. Oh, that's the man who didn't need me anymore. Good riddance I say. I'm eprfectly fine on my own. Er...but what if he does need you? Uh...that's not true. He does need you. You're extremely important, you know. "Er... he's actually in pretty bad shape." Did he ask you to leave or something? He was wrong. And your brothers are worried about him. you? * Vytor slips and lands on his butt, despite his best efforts * Niri stifles a giggle and reaches out to help Vytor up. * Mikel takes a few cautious steps, using his staff to help keep his balance. * Vytor grumbles, and accepts the hand up * Saki takes careful steps along the ice; now that she's used to it, she seems able to move fairly easily. * Tanan slides around a little, making only small motions * Trune walks carefully across the ice, trying not to slip. [Mongrel] All right, maybe I'm a little worried... if you REALLY think he needs me, you'll have to answer a question. Lay it on us! Riddle? Carrots growing upside down. ...wait, no. * Vytor wobbles back onto his feet, trying not to move any more once he's up, despite the unnatural angle he's gotten himself into [Mongrel] If I don't like your answer, you're going to have to drag me back by force if you're so intent on starting the game up again. Ask, then. * Angharad contemplates how difficult it would be to drag an ice mongrel. But then, this isn't an ordinary mongrel. [Mongrel] I have a mouth, but do not eat. I have a head, but do not see. I roar, but have no throat. I run for centuries, but always stay in one place. What am I? * Niri leans down to Shiro. "You're going to help us on this one, right?" A river! :D A river * Mikel snickers. A ...waterfall? * Tanan grins at Niri ^5 * Tanan frowns at Trune << Er, scratch that. >> Trune's right. Mogrel glares at TRune. 'How did you guess so quickly! Who are you??" Darn it. ;_; What. Since when do waterfalls have mouths. Or run for that matter * Niri punches Trune very lightly on the arm and sulks. Ow! Hey! Don't hit me for being right! [Mogrel] I see... you're reading our minds. That's it. Oh, come on. If that hurt you, you really are a wimp. :P Not on purpose! * Vytor manages to fall down again Ohhhh, I get it! You cheated! ^_^ * Mikel glances over at Trune, shaking his head. I did not! [Mogrel] Ok, then use that answer to find the last brother. * Angharad looks at the mongrel. "Will you come with us now?" * Tanan grumbles. "Waterfall my ass." Someone's jealous. ^_- * Vytor givesup all pretense at modesty, and crawls his way back out of the freezer, or at least until he can stand again. [Mongrel] I'll go.. a deal's a deal... "I thought a teacher was supposed to be proud when a student surprasses him." << Totally mangled that. >> The mongrel hops into the cie water, disappearing from sight. Your ass doesn't REALLY look like a waterfall, does it, Tanan? ;) * Trune laughs! Wouldn't you like to know! She totally would. Not really, no. It's probably all bony and pasty white. * Saki visibly braces herself, expecting a shock; when it doesn't come she sighs out a vaguely thankful breath and hurries back to slightly warmer areas. I'm digging up some books on rivers when we get back to the academy, that's all I'm say- As befits a professor. -...ok now that was just hurtful. You've been speculating, Niri? * Mikel shakes his head and begins to head back to the door. Until he starts laughing and slips as well. * Vytor grumbles, as he uses some shelving to get on his feet again once out of the arctic area * Ryllan shakes his head and slip-slide-falls his way back out. * Niri makes a face at Ryllan. "Just listening to what his other students say!" ... * Tanan sighs "...what kind of class are you /teaching/?" You shut up. * Niri pats Tanan's shoulder. "Aww, I don't mean it. I'm sure you have a very cute butt." OK, that wasn't fun So... does anyone recall a waterfall around here? That is so wrong. This whole conversation. Everything about it. * Angie matches pace with the group as they leave the freezer. "Man, I'm cold even standing next to you guys. Did it work out?" Yes. * Tanan stares at Niri for a second as if he was going to say something, but instead turns a little red. ....You know, you're right. So! How about them ruins? Yep Yep! Also, Niri thinks Tanan has a hot ass. * Mikel gets to his feet carefully, grinning as he makes his way to the door. "We got to ma- dammit, Trune." Just thought I'd share. * Vytor takes his jacket off and stows it * Tanan slides past the door and has to grab the frame to make it back out. "...we uh.. need to find a waterfall." Don't make me slip frogs into your bedroll, Trune. * Trune bites down a snicker but lets the subject drop. I guess we should check the third path. * Vytor heads in that direction, trying to recover some dignity from the arctic incident >> Before the GM forgets, Trune and Tanan notice that they have a couple silver spheres in their pockets now. where did those come from? * Mikel shakes his head as he begins to walk. "Makes sense, I suppose." >> Cracking them open grants the bearer 3 MXP to play with. * Saki follows after Vytor, muttering quietly. "... I might get bad once we release the third." * Tanan cracks them open and breaks out a deck of cards <<....sorry. I can't help myself.>> << Ha! >> * Angie takes the lead, heading down the final path with both eyes open for trouble. So I suppose the last one to find is that laughing fish Yeah. Maybe we should head back to the tank? The other set of mesh stairs leads down two levels into what appears to be a sewer system. water falls out of pipes into grills below them, to be pumped up into the recyclers. Come to think of it, it does look like a waterfall from certain angles... This looks promising. Hm. "So, how do we find the fish... water... thing?" * Angharad notes the resemblence and shrugs. "Sounds as good as any." * Saki eyes the passageways. "I doubt it'll up and follow." Somehow I doubt shouting "here fishy fishy" will help. * Angie scans the dim maze of pipes for a control panel. "Maybe there's a way to shut off the flow..." Anyone bring a net? "Could probably flow through it." Unfortunately not, Vytor. * Tanan looks at Angie. "Did you?" * Trune steps closer to the water, cautiously, "Don't see anything. Huh. Maybe if I insult it?...I'm joking." ...Angie, do you think that the pressure system back aways might have something to do with this? * Mikel taps one of the pipes with his staff, hrming. The one it broke out of? It's possible, but I turned that off for the time being, so this must be connected to at least one other source and sink. The walkways go over some flows near the falls. Stopping to tap the pipe, Mikel hears a little laugh. If this is the fish... the fish melted away from us before. Why would it be continually coming out of the waterfall? Ooh, hey! Fish! You here somewhere? We need to talk! You can hear him? * Mikel blinks. "...Hmmm. I think I heard him." * Mikel taps the pipe again. * Vytor looks around for the noise Here fishy fishy fishy... * Saki raises an eyebrow and watches confused. An exotic fish with scales made of shimmering quartz hops out of one of the falls. It slashes and soars right over your heads a couple of times. « er splashes » Hello? Neptune? "Hey, hold it!" From somewhere beneath the waves "Oh, so you want to play? I have to thank you for letting me free!" * Angie continues her search for a shutoff, assuming that catching the fish is a hopeless task. * Mikel peers at the water, blinking. "Well, actually, we need you to go back into... Neptune was his name, right?" * Trune nods, "Please, we don't have time to dick around. He's very sick." [Fish] Oh but I like being free! he's all chained up by the creators. But me, I can go anywhere! What if we promised to unchain him? We're actually in the process of letting Elementalors go from my understanding... * Mikel glances at Angharad. "So they're Elementalors?" Angie finds there's indeed a control panel here that can shutoff the flows to trap building waters and bypass the tank route. Yeah, we don't like seeing anyone imprisoned either. :/ * Angie hovers by the control panel, letting the others try the diplomatic route before doing anything drastic. I think that's what they called them... [Fish] Nonsense! You just want me as your prize. Why would we want that? That's not true! "Well, how can we convince you that we don't want that?" [Fish] How about you impress me with your cunning! I always like that. Can you answer this brillant joke of mine? . o O (Here we go) Oh boy. Now it's a joke? I think life is a joke to this one. Better to smile than cry? Presumably! Better than crying us a river. Or a waterfall! * Saki lurks near Angie, looking very weary. And also rather cold and soaked, let's not forget that bit. * Mikel smacks his head against the staff. ...stupid waterfalls.. Mikel, get used to it. :/ Angie's a bad influence on us. [Fish] What kind of a bank has no money, but lots of liquid assets? Riverbank Riverban- Yeah. * Mikel chuckles. * Vytor sighs No fair! That was way too fast. If it's really waterfallbank I quit. I just quit. Snrk. "There, your pride is salvaged, professor." [Fish] Oh you are no fun. >.< * Angharad privately thinks it would have been more fun if the fish had had a better joke. Some riverbanks have sand dollars, though. We're tons of fun! What are you talking about? Having been sumamrily insulted, the fish dives beneath the waters. Then you hear a dul roar.... :o How about this! Why does the ocean roar? ..? "...Niri." ... Umm... He left. ;_; Is that good or bad? Niri, see, now look what you did. You insulted Goldie. Bad. We need him, remember? Suddenly a huge scaled creature lunges out of the pools and thuds onto the walkways. :o ... "...crap." Uh oh. Aagh what the hell!? I knew that was too easy. o_O Also, I didn't get to tell my joke. ;_; Look out! [Tidal essence] You would too if you had crabs on your bottom! ... Niri, I think I'm going to duct tape your mouth. DARN IT YOU KNEW IT! :P Doom - Try it, I dare you! I don't see how this is more fun than the riddle... << ...doom? >> Who? << .... >> << I WIN AT LIFE >> << indeed. >> «ooc: WINNAR IS YOU!! » << Repost! >> * Saki blinks up, then darts forward from her position. "Watch out!" ... and... she skids to a halt, entirely uncertain of what's going on. Ryllan, try it, I dare you! * Tanan (~Nehn@24.239.126.40) Quit (Ping timeout) "Dealing with pissed off thing now. Duct taping /later/." * Angie pulls out her gun and rushes toward the group. The mesh catwalk clatters with each step. * Ryllan sighs, drawing his daggers once more, "You /sure/ you wouldn't want to make this easier on all of us? Please?" * Trune draws his athames, standing near the back of the group, "C'mon, seriously, let's just not do this, okay!?" * Vytor moves forward to protect the group, if need be [Tidal Essence] Let's play another game, then! * Tanan (~Nehn@24.239.126.40) has joined #lunar-iog2 Suddenly a tentacle from the waters rises up and grabs Nirir! * Vytor sets mode: +o Tanan « er Niri » Hey! * Niri shrieks and flails! "...Hey! Drop her!" * Trune blinks, suddenly looking concerned, "Hey! I don't like this game! Let her go!" * Angharad draws her halberd. "What kind of game is this?" That's gratitude for you! I was trying to teach you a new joke! Drop her. Now. * Saki is at the front of the group in a moment. Not even saying anything but letting out a low growl, she's launched forward into a wild attack. * Niri attempts to shock the tentacle of water with weak sparks of thunder magic, but it seems pretty ineffective * Vytor hangs back, waiting to see if the creature decides to grab anyone else * Tanan (~Nehn@24.239.126.40) Quit (Connection reset by peer) [Tidal Essence] It's called being an evil sea monster! face the deeps for your friend, and for Neptune's soul! * Vytor growls * Mikel raises his staff, narrowing his eyes. "So, fry it now?" ...Do you want to fry her to? Just don't hit Niri when you do It's holding Niri, I don't know that you can. <. Ngrgh...Damn it all. Oh come on, I don't believe you're evil! ...Unless you kick kittens or something. * DrWebbly makes an eek noise, and the image switches off. "Fine, you guys pound the shit out of it then until it lets go." * Saki launches straight at the thing fist-first. "That's the plan!" she roars, picking up speed in her dash. You're the muscle, right? Time to earn your pay. Niri suspended in the air and forced to watch as a captive audience, the scaled watery psuedo-dragon bears down on Saki, the two clashing with a wiolent spark! Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion! == SESSION END == Tah dah! Session Close: Sat Jun 03 02:22:06 2006