Slate 2011/04/01(Fri)23:01 No. 293008 ID: 370692
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We rejoin our intrepid heroine just outside a relaxed looking town.
Her name is Marisa; her preferred methods of neutralising violent advances upon her person include grappling and runecalling (the act of reading ancient magical runes to cast spells). In other words, she is a, "Runepuncher."
She carries with her a small bag that contains a rock and an amount of worthless coinage from an outlawed currency. In other words, "worthless paperweights."
She also has her book of magical runes, her elbow guard, and a recently acquired magical artifact, all of its powers currently unknown, save for its ability to teleport back into her hand upon her being separated from it. In other words, the artifact is, right now, a, "giant paperweight that also cannot be disposed of."
Her goal now is, and has been for some time, to search for, acquire, identify, and then utilise or sell various artifacts. In other words, she is an arcane archaeologist. However, she is but a novice and, unfortunately, this particular recently acquired artifact escapes Marisa's amateur identification skills; she will need to visit a library, identify some other, less complicated artifacts, or otherwise enhance her current identification skills to the necessary level.
Also, Marisa is a cat-person; she is naturally somewhat weaker than other races, but she has keener senses and is more agile.
The town is likely home to establishments that would of interest to an adventurer; a smithy, a variety of shops and stores where one might have luck in acquiring a backpack or somesuch, and a tavern, where an adventurer would no doubt be able to learn information that would of import to them.
What shall Marisa do?

Well, we don't really have any money to speak of, so the smithy's out unless we're looking for work of some sort. Might be able to get a drink at the tavern, but I find it more likely we don't even have THAT much.

How about we ask the bartender of the tavern if anyone's got any odd jobs that a runepuncher such as yourself could do?

Well maybe the magical stone is a Rune, and thus we should Punch it! IN XAVIER'S MEMORY!

Well if I recall correctly a Backpack will be essential for her adventuring career, and aquiring one should be a good goal

Slate 2011/04/03(Sun)19:42 No. 293685 ID: 370692
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Marisa gives the stone a firm punch, symbolically honoring the fallen Xavier. She is not quite sure what the slight ache in her fist is symbolic of, though.
Nevertheless, Marisa decides that one of her more immediate goals is to purchase a backpack so that she may conviently carry the various spoils that she will no doubt acquire.
To this end, she elects to visit the tavern to ask the bartender if they know of any available quests. On her way there, as she walks through the town's quiet streets, she draws a few peculiar looks. When she enters the establishment, she takes a seat at the bar and asks the tender,
"Do you know of any available paying jobs?"
The bartender responds, "...What? No. Do I look like a bulletin board?" She pauses, but then continues, "But... that fellow in the back there told me to, uh, redirect anyone that asked me something like that."
Marisa turns and sees a fellow that is indeed sitting near the back of the establishment. His expression is initially neutral, but when he lifts his head up and sees Marisa and the bartender looking at him, his expression turns devious. He holds out his hand and motions for Marisa to sit down at his table.

>>293685
Sure, why not. See what this OBVIOUSLY TRUSTWORTHY FELLOW has to say.

>>293685
Oh great, a scammer. Probably.

Before you go and talk to him, ask the bartender if they ever heard of a guy called Xavier.

let's hear what he has to say before we distrust him

Slate 2011/04/03(Sun)21:17 No. 293724 ID: 370692
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Before she goes to speak with the suspicious fellow, Marisa asks the bartender if she's heard of someone named Xavier. She replies,
"Well, there are a lot of people around here named Xavier, probably. But if you mean Xavier Dourdin, the Mayor's son, then yeah, I've heard of him. Of course, you'd never see him just walking around."
Marisa thanks the woman for the information and sits down at the guy's table. As soon as she does, the guy sits up and starts saying,
"Hey, really glad you took up the offer," he speaks without taking a breath, "I'd say that today is a lucky day for the both of us; you won't regret this deal you're gonna make." He inhales deeply before continuing,
"Okay, so, you're an archaeologist, right? I know I'm right, only an archaeologist would carry around a big rock like that. You're a runecaller too, I bet; you can only get one of those books if you've gone to an academy. Ok, so, I've got a really great proposition to give you; I have, right here, in my bag, a whole... a whole suite of open opportunities for you. I have the possible locations of a whole suite of rare and valuable artifacts. I have maps, here, in my bag, here. All that I ask, for my information, is a fifty/fifty cut of any profits resulting from any expeditions that I have provided services for. That price is negotiable, of course. Also, if you need it, I can provide support in funding the excursion or physically participating it. That does, of course, however, make it more difficult to negotiate those profit sharing margins. So, what do you say? This is a really great deal, might I add."
"Also, might I add, my name is Adrienne Alain. This is not a scam, I assure you. I can show you the maps, if you'd like?"

>>293724
Hmm. Perhaps. First off, how does he know we won't just go there and run off with all the treasure?

Second, how do we know he isn't going to take a couple of his buddies and just wait for us outside the ruin to rob us after we get out?

I say take his funding
we can use that money to buy a backpack you'll need, then tell him you're going to got to one of these places. then just leave town and don't look back by the time he realises you've just run off you'll be long gone

also give him a fake name

Sounds like his offer is pretty suite

Slate 2011/04/05(Tue)15:25 No. 294172 ID: 370692
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Despite Adrienne's assurances on the contrary, Marisa expresses some concern over Adrienne's sincerity. How does he know she won't just run off with the treasure?
His answer is, "Well, then, you won't be doing any repeat business, now, will you? Let me tell you, you will want to be doing repeat business with me. I have here the possible locations of a whole plethora of valuable artifacts; locations that are unknown to anyone around here; anyone but me, and, potentially, you.
Marisa asks how she can trust him to not just wait as she collects the artifacts and then bring a couple of goons to take it from her.
He responds, "Heh, I wish I had some friends around here. But seriously, if I did that, I'd be completely destroying any chance of repeat business with you. And when you're in my line of business, the information kind, you want people to trust you. That way, when you want some new clients, skeptical new clients, you can just refer them to your old clients, your trusting old clients."
"In fact," Adrienne says, "Zeph here can vouch for me." He rises from his feet slightly as he calls to the bartender. "Hey! Zeph! You can vouch for me, right?"
"What?" she says.
"You can vouch for my, uh... sincerity, my validity, right?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah," she says, disinterested.
Adrienne looks back at Marisa and says, "See?"
Marisa tells him that she'll make a deal with him, but first, she needs funding. She figures that, if she decides she doesn't want to follow through with the deal, she can just run off with the money when he's not looking.
He says, "Excellent. Now, since I don't have any other active clients right now, and I... don't think that any other treasure-seekers will be arriving here anytime soon, I can lead you to the shops, and maybe the artifact's location. Shall we be off?"

>>294172
...eh. Yeah, sure. The bartender's vouching for him, that helps. That's enough to get this job started anyway. Still, we've been burned before. Gotta keep alert though.

Also tell him after we buy some supplies we've got to talk to the Mayor before we leave. We have bad news to deliver...

well you might as well go along with his plan for now, getting supplies will be nice

>>294172
He seems shifty as fuck, but I really don't see a downside to this plan.

It SHOULD be a pretty good deal. I mean the guy obviously needs help on several tasks, and if he backstabs ANY of his partners then that rep gets back to him and then suddenly NO ONE will work with/for him. So he's probably legit.

>>294184
I dunno, it's hard to spread the bad word about someone with a knife wound in your spine, from the bottom of a hole, in an unknown dungeon.

Slate 2011/04/07(Thu)16:58 No. 294813 ID: 370692
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Marisa decides to follow Adrienne to the shops. As they walk through the streets, they both elicit some peculiar looks. Marisa mentions to Adrienne that they should visit the mayor before they leave, as she has news to deliver that she believes the mayor would want to know.
Adrienne responds, "Hah! You can't just pop in to see the mayor, especially if you're dressed like a Chatze. If you want to see the mayor, you'll need to... nevermind! You can make an appointment when you-- or, we, are done with our deal, first. Come on now, the shops aren't far."
Marisa and Adrienne reach the shops; there are many different establishments, all selling various goods. Some are advertising pastries, or the latest in fashionable clothing, or furniture maintenance and repair services. Of course, Adrienne and Marisa ignore these stores.
Adrienne says, "Alright, so, I'm not entirely sure where you might find some things, but I've been here a while, so I should be able to point out the places that have what you're looking for." Marisa says that one of the things that she needs is a backpack, or somesuch. Adrienne responds, "Ah, um... I think... that you might have some luck at a tanner's place, or a leatherworking shop or something. Or, maybe, we might be able to find a specialty store... Is there anything else that you think you'll need? Might I add, the target location is some ruins, overgrown with grass and shrubbery and the like. I'm not sure if that changes anything, but, just, ah, take that into account."

Do all cat-people wear maximum-popped collars?

>>294813
Grass and shrubbery? We'll need a cutting implement of some sort. Machete, perhaps?

find out what "dressed like a Chatze" means, and why is it a bad thing?

Slate 2011/04/08(Fri)15:47 No. 295096 ID: 370692
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Marisa knows that Chatze [shahtz] is her native kingdom. A brief history; long ago, the Chatzen people (Chatzen is the correct noun and adjective to use when referring to someone from or something pertaining to Chatze; Adrienne seems to be making a common mistake in using Chatze in place of Chatzen) were divided amongst many tribes, racially made up of a majority of Felines, with the largest minority being of Avians. One chief, known only through legend as an Avian named Unifie, managed to unite the majority of the tribes into a grand kingdom. Since then, the kingdom of Chatze integrated the remaining few independant Chatzen tribes as semi-automous provinces. The Kingdom of Chatze is unique for a monarchy in that many personal rights and priviledges are bestowed upon its citizens, and that citizens are allowed a say in the courts As always, however, they must ultimately yield to the monarch.
The kingdom's most recent activity was the fighting of a war with the republic of Rothe, itself formed from a number of tribes culturally similar to the Chatzen. The causus belli was stated by Chatze as the goal of finishing Unifie's work and uniting all Chatzen and all other related cultures under one banner. In the aftermath of the war, Rothe was annexed and turned into a semi-autonous province; it still elects a sort of head-of-state, but it must ultimately yield to the demands of the monarch. Despite the war having ended only five years ago, tensions amongst native Chatzen and native Rothans are surpisingly not extremely volatile, most likely due to the Chatzen queen having taken a Rothan husband, and the aforementioned allowance of semi-autonomy. This does not, however, mean that tensions are low. Marisa posits that this is the reason that being dressed like a Chatzen is a bad thing, here; she is in Rothe.
Marisa has also always been confused as to why many Chatzen garbs incorporate such excessively large collars, a question that she asks Adrienne.
He replies, "Well, you know how it gets cold, and windy, back home, right? So, obviously, you have a big collar to protect your neck, and maybe your face, from all the cold and wind. Plus, I think it looks totally sweet as hell."
Marisa un-pops her collar to see if she likes it that way, and changes the topic to supplies for the expedition. She mentions that she may need a machete, or some sort of hacking tool.
Adrienne replies, "Hmm... Uh, I don't know... see, something like that might qualify as a weapon, and you need a license to carry a weapon, around here, at least. I think. We'll see when we go to get that, but first, let's find that backpack.
Adrienne leads Marisa through the streets until they come upon a specialty store, focusing on bags and such. They step inside, and are approached by a man who says,
"Hello! What may I interest you in?"
Adrienne explains that he and Marisa are looking for a backpack or other kind of bag suitable for rugged terrain and the like.
The bag maker replies, "Well, I think I have a few things to show you, then."
He points to a series of moderately-sized backpacks and messenger bags, some looking similar to the one that Adrienne has, and says, "These here have everything you'll probably need. Good capacity, managable size, durable."
He points to another backpack, this one much larger, and says, "This has even more. It'll fit loads of stuff with room to spare, and it won't rip or tear. Of course, it can be pretty difficult to carry and manage it... it's also pretty expensive."
The last thing he points to is a peculiar-looking vest. He says of it, "Ah, and the vest. It's a bit unorthodox; it has a bunch of pockets all over it, some large, some small. There's one big pocket that take up the entire back. It should be more managable and easier to carry than the bags, but it probably can't hold quite as much."
Marisa looks at Adrienne.
He says, "Well, you can choose. But remember, the more money I spend, the harder it's going to be to negotiate that profit split."

I'm partial to the vest.

>>295096
Vest will be awkward and uncomfortable, and can't carry large objects very well. Pick whichever of the small backpacks you're most comfortable with.

Hey, he's going to be accompanying you on the excursion, right? So tell HIM to choose, because since you're the big tough adventurer handling all the problems, his job will officially be pack mule. Also, while a weapon may be out of the question, you can get something that'd serve the same purpose but with a more covert primary use. Like a cutting knife.

get the smaller backpack

Slate 2011/04/10(Sun)23:35 No. 295588 ID: 370692
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Marisa chooses one of the courier bags, and Adrienne pulls some coins from his backpack and pays for it. Once he and Marisa are back outside, she says to Adrienne that, perhaps, he should be the one to carry both bags, while she handles the adventuring stuff.
He responds, "Uh, no. I bought this bag for you and you're gonna be the one to carry it. I mean, uh, for as long as we're working together, then we're going to carry the weight equally. Now, let's go find that tool."
Marisa places the small sack and its contents, a rock and some worthless Rothan pennies, and the as-of-yet unidentifiable artifact in her knew bag. It is known only to The One why she did not have one of these in the first place.
Adrienne leads Marisa through the streets and to a cutlery shop. As they walk inside, Adrienne says, "Ok, so we can probably find something that would be just as good as a specialized hacking tool." After some looking around, they find a large knife that seems like a suitable enough replacement. They have some difficulty with purchasing the single large knife completely by itself at first, but with some coaxing and Adrienne telling the person behind the counter that it is being used for clearing shrubbery, the saleswoman relents.
Once he leads them both back to the center of the shopping district,, Adrienne asks Marisa, "Ok, do we need anything else, or are we ready to get this show on the road?"

well you need to pick out a pair of less political clothes right? then you can go see the mayor

Well splitting the carrying is pretty good too. I like this guy. Besides, he's your same species so he's clearly more trustworthy than anyone else. You can't trust someone, after all, if they're fundamentally different from you. Make sure you all have enough mundane supplies, like food, water, torches (might not need those with cat senses), rope, grappling hook, stick, etc

Slate 2011/04/11(Mon)22:32 No. 295895 ID: 370692
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Marisa states that she and Adrienne should bring food, water, rope, a grappling hook, a stick, perhaps some torches, and other mundane supplies. She also mentions that she needs some less political clothes, so that she can see the mayor.
He responds, "Uh, okay... I'm not sure we'll be in there long enough that we'll need food and water, but I have some in my bag. Just in case, I guess. As for the other stuff... I'm sort of short on cash. I mean, that's sort of why I'm making this whole investment, you know. I guess I have enough for some rope, but a new set of clothes? No way. Besides, when I said that you'd have trouble meeting with the mayor, I sort of had the idea that scheduling a meeting would be troublesome in general. I'm sure your choice of dress won't matter too much in relation to that. Besides, we have some ruins to raid! We have no time for makeovers! Or politics! You can pick up a stick on the way there! You can light the way with your runes! You can talk to the mayor after we've found that artifact! Let's go!"
Adrienne buys a length of rope and gives it to Marisa, and then leads them both out of town, down a road that leads in the opposite direciton from where Marisa came into town. The landscape is made up of rolling grassy hills, covered with windmills, farms and small forests. They walk silently for about ten minutes until Adrienne leads them off the path and through a forest, in which Marisa finds and bags a sturdy fallen branch; they eventually come across a stone structure, overgrown with weeds and grass. It appears to be some sort of entrance to someplace underground, but the stones are blocking the sun from shining down inside. The stones seem quite heavy.
Adrienne says, "Okay, this is the place. That stuff etched in the stone must be archaic Rothan or something, because I can't decipher it." Adrienne is wrong; Marisa can tell that the language is Runic, and that it is indicating this place to be the, "chieftan's,"... something. The rest of the runes are too old and faded, or beyond Marisa's skill, to be understood.
"Okay, so, how are we going to be handling this?" Adrienne says.

well you should take a peak inside, see what the entrance is like

Well then, lets go inside shall we.

In all likelihood, it's either 'Chieftain's Residence' or 'Chieftain's ETERNAL Residence' if you know what I mean. And judging by the architecture, you're delving into the ruins of an ancient Minecraftian Civilization, so beware of self-detonating fungi creatures, zombies, and skeletons with bows. Use the branch/stick to poke anything that seems like it might be trapped (open things from afar if you can), and you can proceed first with whatshisname following you. Your hands should probably be free, though, in case you need to Rune and/or Punch anything.

Slate 2011/04/12(Tue)23:14 No. 296227 ID: 370692
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Marisa pokes her head into the structure. She can't see anything until she invokes some fire runes to act as a source of light. Thanks to her advanced senses, this is all the light Marisa needs to see the entire room. The walls, ceiling and floor seem to be made of slabs of rock, and one can see dirt peeking out of some of the cracks.
"So, uh... you can't make it any brighter?" Adrienne says while sticking close behind Marisa. She knows that this is as much light as her runic fire can produce on its own.

>>296227
Tell him that you both just got out of the sunlight. It'll be more than sufficient once your eyes have adjusted.

Yeah, once you take a few moments to let your eyes adjust things will seem better. Or you can eye him with irritation and tell him that you can make your runic fire into his tunic fire if he'd prefer that.

>>295906
Don't light the husbando on fire, you need him for scruffy-looking kittens.

"Think about that for a second hun; you just came into a dark room, you're eyes haven't adjusted yet. Give it a moment."

Wave the flame back and forth slowly to make sure you're lighting up everything in the room and to catch anything with a shine to it, like, say, an artifact.

"Besides, if I make it any bigger, your fur'll catch fire."

>>296236
This is a good line. You should go with it. This guy is still a little too excitable to consider any long term plans with. Odds are he won't make it out if his first ruin.

Also time to consider the additional protection that could be provided by your garment and re-pop that collar.

Slate 2011/04/14(Thu)15:53 No. 296758 ID: 370692
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Marisa tells Adrienne that they've both just got out of the sunlight, so he should wait a few moments for his eyes to adjust. Or, she says as she eyes him irritably, she can make this runic fire into his tunic fire, if he'd prefer. Adrienne's expression turns distressed, and he says nothing. Marisa turns back to the room and waves her arm, in the hope that some light will glint off of a hidden artifact or something, but she has no such luck. As promised by Marisa, hers and Adrienne's eyes adjust to the darkness, and the room becomes clearer.

hmmm, that thing on the wall looks like it may light up if given magic. examine it and see if that is the case.

Time to run around and explore, girl. I suppose you two cats would know what looks valuable more than we would. I've got nothing notable to say yet

careful around that one tile, it looks like it could be a pressure plate for a trap

Slate 2011/04/15(Fri)00:40 No. 296845 ID: 370692
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Marisa walks down the steps to the apparatus on the wall, being careful to stay away from the suspicious tile while telling Adrienne to do the same, her justification being that it may be a pressure plate for some sort of trap. Adrienne follows Marisa, attempting to stay as close as he can while also attempting to keep a fair distance, which proves to make him seem somewhat shifty in his movements. Marisa suspects the object on the wall would light up if given magic, like some sort of torch. She tries putting her runic fire to it, but this yields no result. Upon closer inspection, the object's component parts appear to be some manner of metal bars that have turned grimy and rusted; it may be a cage, or some type of sconce.

>>296310
Marisa also remembers to re-pop her collar.

>>296845
Try putting the artifact in it.

If that does nothing, take a peek up in that empty spot the block came out of. Afterwards, check the door leading further in to see if you can open it.

Ask your friend if there's reason to believe you're literally the first people to have discovered this place. Clearly HE knew that this place existed, and if we had a better idea how he knew of it then we'd know whether or not we can expect the place to be cleared of any obvious loot or if we need to waste time looking over everything. I suppose you can check for yourself to see if you can discover any evidence of 'recent' visitors... anachronistic evidence left behind, footprints in the dust, that sort of thing.

Slate 2011/04/19(Tue)22:36 No. 297885 ID: 370692
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Marisa pulls the artifact from her bag and sets it in the cage to no effect; however, she does notice that the artifact has somehow acquired many cracks on its surface.
Marisa is just tall enough to jump up and gain purchase on a stone, allowing her to peek over the gap in the wall and find a dark room containing some sort of large apparatus in its center; Marisa cannot accurately identify it without getting closer.
Marisa inspects the 'door' further in, only to find that it is, in fact, a large stone block that is denying further entrance into the ruins.
As she does all this, Marisa asks Adrienne if he thinks that they are the only two people to have discovered this place, and how he managed to find it. Adrienne responds,
"Uh, well, I'm pretty sure that no one else found this before me... I mean, I found it just by sort of wandering around the forest, but I don't think that it would be very likely for anyone else to have stumbled on this place too. But, that's just me."
Marisa also scans the room for any anachronistic evidence; all that she can see right now that would fit that classification is the fallen blocks and cage.

try to get a closer look at the apparatus

Alright then, let's climb over the wall.

Wallhacking! Help your bro up.

Looks like the hole in the wall's the way to go. If you can get up there yourself but he can't, help him get up first. Also, to note, him having found this place on accident doesn't exactly bode well for having a whole bunch of other locations that are primed for looting.

Slate 2011/04/22(Fri)22:17 No. 298468 ID: 370692
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Marisa tells Adrienne that they will be investigating the adjacent room. She is tall enough to climb through the hole in the wall with relative ease, but Adrienne requires some help, which Marisa offers and he accepts. Marisa holds her hands out for Adrienne to use as a boost up the wall. Marisa is tall and agile enough to simply jump up and scramble over the edge. As she is climbing, she hears Adrienne exclaim, "Oh, good. Hey, I'm just going to go over here." Marisa sees that there is sunlight shining down somewhere in the next room.

a hole big enough for that much light to come through should of been noticeable on the surface.

Yeah that doesn't seem at all right/safe. Also, have we recently made fun of Adrienne for having a girl's name? I think it's about time we do so

>>298468
Catch up with him. He's not a fighter, why is he going in front?

tell him to stop it could be a trap!

Slate 2011/04/27(Wed)21:51 No. 299800 ID: 370692
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Marisa calls out to Adrienne to stop, saying that it may be a trap. He responds, "What? It's just sunlight..." Marisa mentions how a hole large enough to allow that much light in should have been noticeable on the surface. Adrienne says, "Uh, well... maybe it was hidden by the trees..." Marisa jumps down and steps ahead of Adrienne, saying that he shouldn't even be going ahead; he's not a fighter, and he has a girl's name at that. Adrienne looks at Marisa, incensed.

On a side note, Marisa notices that the artifact, which really was visually cracked for the entire time since she placed in that cage and then took it back, is still cracked. She also knew that the apparatus behind her was never in the center of the room after all, and is actually on the wall off to the side. Also, she was wearing her bag when she climbed the wall. Also, Adrienne does have a tail.
sorta forgot all that stuff last time

Whoops looks like he's sensitive about his name. Shrug about it. "Good, you stopped. Now get behind me." If he gives you a hard time tell him you don't really care about his name, you just wanted him to stop so he doesn't get himself killed.

Cautiously proceed into the next room.

>>299854
That and check out the source of the light and whatnot

Slate 2011/04/30(Sat)12:03 No. 300451 ID: 370692
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Marisa attempts to repair the damage. She shrugs and tells him, "Good, you stopped. Now get behind me." Adrienne says nothing and still looks slightly annoyed, but he complies.
Marisa leads the cautious foray into the next room. Something has stained some of the stones. Chunks of the ceiling lie on the floor, letting some natural light filter in from gaps in the ceiling. However, there is a much more spectacular amount of light radiating from an unexplainable source on the ceiling. Despite how it manages to seem so extremely bright, it does not hurt Marisa to look directly at it.
"Well, now, this was certainly worth getting alarmed about. Good thing you stopped me, or I'd have walked right into that trap!" Adrienne says.

Push him into the trench. Or just explore and describe to us what you see/find

"Better safe than sorry."

Are those... scorch marks on the wall next to the manacles? Well, first check out that rectangular section of the wall with the two holes on it. Dart/spear trap, perhaps?

>>300486
I would laugh if it turned out that there actually is an obvious trap like that ahead.

>>300486
yeah check rectangular wall section, makes sure it isn't some sort of trap

Slate 2011/05/01(Sun)21:48 No. 300872 ID: 370692
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"Better safe than sorry," Marisa says to Adrienne, with no reply. Marisa kneels down to examine the object next to the manacles; it turns out to be a small wooden stand with two short protrusions; it is likely meant as a place to put a tool not in use, and looks to most certainly not be any sort of projectile shooting trap. The marks inbetween the manacles do not appear to be scorch marks, but rather a liquid or somesuch that has stained the wall.
"Huh, well, I guess some other people were here before us. For awhile. You know long does it take for a body to turn to bones?" Adrienne asks while peering down the trench.

Tell him "yes I do" and give him a mysterious look, then never bring up the subject again and ignore him if he does.

A long time. Also tell him to watch out for that loose brick at the edge there. The one he's standing on.

You might want to get ready to make sure he doesn't fall into that channel. But yeah, tell him you're done in this room, let's continue.

Slate 2011/05/07(Sat)15:27 No. 302339 ID: 370692
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"Yes, I do," Marisa answers with a blank expression and eyes so piercing and void of emotion that they could wear a hole directly through Adrienne.
"Uh... How long is it, then?" Adrienne asks.
"A long time," Marisa says.
She continues to stare into Adrienne's face blankly for a few moments while he returns a look of confusion.
Marisa lifts herself up and tells him to stay back from the brick, as it seems insecure. Adrienne says,"Oh! Yeah, it is a little loose, I guess," and steps off of the brick.
Marisa continues to the other side of the room. A piece of the ceiling has fallen and become somewhat overgrown with vegetation.

Oh hey, obvious secret door. Mess with it.

What's on the bottom of the trench? Heck, what's across the trench?

I'm going to second examining the secret door

aww, don't bully him so much.

>>302339
Check behind the rubble for any doors or anything that might have been blocked off, then go through the not-so-secret door.

Slate 2011/05/08(Sun)19:48 No. 302645 ID: 370692
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A quick glance down the trench reveals a number of bones that are scattered amongst a sea of sharp spines. The spines are stained the same color as the wall between the manacles. The trench is easily deep enough that falling in would mean certain death.
There is nothing particularly noticeable about the other side of the trench.
The vegetation growing amongst the rubble is too thick for Marisa to see through, and it would take too long to simply .
Some fiddling with the obvious secret door finds that the door is, in actuality, a slab of rock. It is lined with earth, but this is easily dug away. Pulling the stone away reveals a small alcove.
"Oh, that's gruesome, isn't it," Adrienne comments.

>>302645
A bit, I guess. Anything in there besides the skeleton?

Maybe we can clear the collapsed exit.

search the alcove for sweet loots

Hmmm... well let's remove the skeleton (unless it animates in which case RUNE PUNCH its skull in) and see if it has anything on it and then see if there's anything else in this little alcove.

Slate 2011/05/11(Wed)21:44 No. 303591 ID: 370692
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Marisa drags the skeleton from the alcove so that she may have more clearance to look around. It does not animate.
Adrienne steps back and says, "Okay, so you... handle corpses often, then." He looks visibly distraught, and he eyes the skeleton.
Marisa looks around in the alcove, but she doesn't find anything of note, save for perhaps the shackles attached to the alcove wall. The skeleton's arms had been in the shackles when Marisa dragged it out.

Maybe putting the skeleton back and closing it up would make him feel better.

>>303593
I doubt it... he is probably thinking of his own mortality... do adventurers like you (and like what he wants to be) see so many corpses on a regular basis? would that mean he is going to be come one?

I would answer with a "no"

Tell him that it was a skeleton, not a corpse. There's a distinct difference. It's just hard to notice. Sure it was once part of someone, but so's a lot of the dust they've probably inhaling, and you'd hardly say that y'all were huffing corpses, would you? I think not.

>>302339

It depends on conditions, but with the right bugs around as little as a month. Without beetles eating the flesh, it takes a couple of years.

make one last check of the alcove possibly for other hidden panels, and then put the skeleton back in and close up the little tomb

Slate 2011/05/12(Thu)21:16 No. 303820 ID: 370692
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Marisa makes one last check of the alcove, but she still finds nothing of note. She puts the skeleton back into the alcove and reseals it.
Adrienne seems relieved at this.
Marisa talks to Adrienne about some things.

>>303627
He responds, "Uh... it's more that, you know, it's a corpse. Dead body. You don't find that creepy?"

>>303634
He responds, "Yeah, that's great, I'll be sure to remember that."

>>303636
He responds, "Okay, thanks for the clarification. Good to see that you know so much about corpses."

Let's continue on. Check how stable that fallen slab is, then let's crawl under it to get to the next room.

yes inspect the rock chunk, you wouldn't want it to fall on you when you crawl underneath

Make some comment to your friend here that his name apparently suits him, as he's clearly much too tender and frail to deal with the harsh realities of his chosen hobby. At least one of you has some balls. Even if they're hair balls. And if he doesn't stop fixating on corpses, he's likely to become one himself. Then have him tackle you and have hot angry cat sex.

Probably best not to mention that as the Skeleton didn't fall apart, there's probably a fair bit of tissue left on it holding it together (skin, ligaments and such).

>>303850
Can we not insult the guy further? If we're gonna talk to him... tell him that during your studies you learned a lot of stuff about various things. All part of being a mage.

Slate 2011/05/16(Mon)22:33 No. 304754 ID: 370692
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Marisa goes to inspect the fallen ceiling slab. She finds it to be set in place very securely; it doesn't budge.
Marisa has conflicting ideas of what to say to Adrienne, but she ultimately chooses to allay Adrienne's concerns over her knowledge of corpses. Marisa mentions to Adrienne that she is so knowledgable about cadavers because, as a Runecaller, she has studied many subjects, medicine being among them.
Confident that the stone will not dislodge itself and trap her, Marisa crawls under it through the foliage and to the other side.

Interesting little setup we've got here... how wide is the trench, again? Do you think perhaps one of you would be able to safely boost-jump the other in order to get to the crank? Oh, but then you'd be split up with no easy way to reunite...

A safer option to get someone to the other side would be to investigate the block on the other end of the trench. I would note that it looks ready to tip over however, so if anyone climbs on top of it they should be careful and stick close to the wall so their center of gravity is away from the direction it could tip.

If the rope is secure enough, you could climb up the rope on this side, shimmy along, then back down the other side.

Slate 2011/05/17(Tue)22:20 No. 304966 ID: 370692
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Marisa presumes that it would not be entirely impossible for her to jump the trench, even without a boost. The trench doesn't seem too wide, and Marisa is confident enough in her acrobatic abilities. She is not quite as sure about Adrienne, though.
The fallen block back at the beginning of the dungeon would certainly be easy enough for Marisa, or even Adrienne, to climb up and over.
It would be impossible to climb across the trench using the ropes; they dissappear into the ceiling.
Marisa cannot see through the hole, as there is something in it acting as an obstruction.
Adrienne crawls under the fallen slab to join Marisa.
"Huh," He says when he looks up to see the contraption.

Compliment him on his ever-astute and always-useful observation skills. Of course, you're only teasing him like this because it's the only way you know how to show affection. Okay, so what I'd guess is that you can use the crank on the other side to raise/lower the obstruction in order to clear the hole, creating a path to the area past the wall/block. If that seems to be the consensus, then crack your knuckles and say something 'cool' like "Time to earn my pay" before dramatically leaping over to the other side. And don't do that unless you're 100% sure you can make the jump, because, y'know, spikes.

go back and climb over the fallen rock to get to the other side of the trench

>>304968
that counts as bullying him, and you have done more then enough of that

Slate 2011/05/30(Mon)15:21 No. 307917 ID: 370692
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Marisa is just barely able to resist making a sarcastic comment at Adrienne's expense. She supposes that there will time to do so later.
Marisa briefly contemplates taking the possibly safer route back at the beginning of the dungeon over the fallen block, but she has already set her mind on jumping the gap.
Marisa braces herself to jump. There are more skeletons at the bottom of this part of the trench than in the others; perhaps other people attempted jumping the gap as well? Marisa is unphased by this.
She backs up, cracks her knuckles, makes an offhand witty comment on the situation and then makes a running leap across. She sticks the landing.
Adrienne looks stunned, perhaps in amazement.

Ask Adrienne to stay off to the side while we crank the rope. Who knows what might come out?