Immediately upon receipt of the 'two clicks' on his radio, Kaspar firmly but gently presses the button which will, hopefully, open the door in front of them.  He presses the button with his right hand, while his left rests on the grip of his still-holstered sidearm -- instinctively reaching for the familiar feel of the old pistol, over the more effective P90 hanging from his tacvest.

As both group pushed the buttons, the two doors opened almost simultaneously. They were now able to see each other throughout the only room that was behind the doors as there were no middle wall.

The room was about 50 feet long from North to South and 40 feet from West to East. At each corner, there was a big pillar going from the ground to the ceiling. They had all the same kind of decoration than the rest of the temple, simple and abstract.

In the middle of the room, there was a big circle written on the ground. From your position, you could see that it may be writing that formed this circle but you would need to be closer to be sure.

Finally, there was a big altar in front of the circle. On this altar, you were able to see many writings and some drawing. There was also a big crystal like stone on top of the altar. It was red and round.

Despite all the expectations of the team, the room was empty and you were unable to find signs of life. But a better exploration could maybe give you hints about human presence here.

Map: https://docs.google.com/drawin...2ZngDiGZ0bzSwes/edit
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:08, Sat 25 Jan 2014.

As the doors slid open, Hilda was tense and ready to dodge to the side or shoot her bow if anything attacked out of the temple's inner sanctum. But nothing did, and the Cimmerian relaxed, thinking all the fuss had been for nothing. She stepped a few paces in for a better look around and to make sure there were no surprises. 'Clear.' she reported, lowering her bow. 'And this is their holy place.' With that done, she waited for Kaspar and the other wizards to take charge.

Rajip entered the chamber after a cursory glance, which revealed that Hilda was faster, maybe even too fast, to enter the unknown place. Rajip was inside just as her short "Clear" resounded. As he looked around, he could easily agree with her assessment. Just as easily, though, he could give several different possible theories as to the chamber's role. For now, however, they could easily stay with that particular interpretation.

"Clear," he confirmed shortly, although the situation was already obvious enough to avoid that. He approached the circle on the floor and got down on one knee to take a better look at what seemed to be letters of a kind.



OOC: I'm not able to identify it, obviously, cause Rajip's no linguist or anything similar. I just want to know what it looks like.

However, since everyone has Education checks... Here you go. Nothing fancy, though.
20:47, Today: Rajip Mojdar rolled 10 using 1d20+1. education.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:51, Sat 25 Jan 2014.

Rajip was now close enough of the circle to be able to identify the text. From what he knew, it looked like something written in Latin.

Rajip blinked, finding it difficult to believe. If he was right and the text was indeed Latin or even just closely resembling it, it seemed that an earth-originating text could ever be found here, who-knows-how far away from the Earth. What's more, it was now hardly used in the world, so most likely it was old. Very old.

He reached out and touched the letters, to make sure the they really are there and that they are what he took them for. "Major, we've got somethinng interesting here," he called as he did so.

Gavin had no expectations for what he would see once the doors opened, but even so, he was mildly surprised... or perhaps curious was a better word... at what he saw.

As soon as Hilda and Rajip announced it was clear, Gavin walked in and immediately headed behind the nearest column. While it was a precaution in case something suddenly happened, he was also interested in what might be behind them.

He wasn't expecting goblins or anything of the sort, but there might be hidden buttons, control panels or just symbols.

He was also looking to see if there was anything else on the walls.

More disappointed than surprised by the lack of early success in finding someone to ask questions of Vasandra recovers quickly and slips into the room behind Rajip.  Drawn to the altar and it's crystal like a moth to flame she disregards the other potentially interesting aspects of the room to inspect what could easily be decoration, or a computer of some sort.  Checking the structure for some sort of connection to it's surroundings or port through which temporary connection can be made.

OOC: 17:30, Today: Vasandra Tourmaline rolled 15,22 using 1d20+2,1d20+11. Education, Computers.

Hilda drifted behind the others as they entered the temple, not really finding anything to interest her and a little superstitious of a place holy to some foreign god. The writings and symbols meant nothing to the Cimmerian. She ventured through the room, peered into the corners and behind the pillars, kept an eye out for signs of recent habitation, but didn't notice anything in particular. 'I should go keep watch outside?' she asked. Her role in this mission seemed done, for now, while the craftsfolk and wise-ones did their thing.


OOC:
13:04, Today: Hilda rolled 7 using 1d20+5. spot.
13:03, Today: Hilda rolled 11 using 1d20+3. search.

Kaspar entered the room after both Hilda and Rajip gave their all clears, and started snapping photos.  He also looked up to take note of the height of the room.

"Classic...classic..." Kaspar was mumbling to himself, "I know what I'm tempted to think it is...but is it really?..."

Rajip reached out and touched the letters, to make sure the they really are there and that they are what he took them for. "Major, we've got somethinng interesting here," he called as he did so.

Kaspar stepped over to stand next to Rajip, looking down at the lettering embedded in the floor.

"You should be careful about touching such stuff, Sargeant.  Remember, in Latin 'Jesus' starts with an 'I'..." Kaspar smiled broadly at the only other Earther in the room who would get the reference.

"But that certainly does look like Latin, doesn't it?" Kaspar suddenly frowned, "Too bad I specialized in Scandinavian languages.  Still, I am Polish Orthodox, and my Choir Boy days are only...fourty years ago.  I suppose I can try to see if I can make any sense of this."

Kaspar first takes a few snapshots of the circle of letters, then puts away his camera, and pulls out a notebook.

"Energy readings, please, before we start touching things!" Kaspar calls out to the room, just before he starts taking notes and trying to remember what little Latin he learned as a catholic choir boy, so many years ago.


OOC:
Kaspar Radoslaw Gorski rolled 20 using 1d20+4 ((16)) for an Education roll to remember his boyhood Latin lessons.

Kaspar Radoslaw Gorski rolled 17 using 1d20+6 ((11)) for a Xeno-linguistics roll to analyze the alien language.

After taking his shots, Kaspar started to look at the text. He was able to identify some words like "royal family" or "moon" but it was hard. In fact, the text was not written in the Latin that he was used to. It was a bit different and it would need more work to completely identify the text.

As Vasandra approached the altar, the red crystal started to glow faintly. A panel started to move and what looked like a dialing device with 8 buttons appeared. On each button, there was a symbol glowing with the same red light than the crystal. Vasandra was able to identify some of the symbols on the drawing that was on the altar and she thought they could be linked.

The drawings seemed to tell a story. On the first one, the planet and the Moon were visible. Some kind of structures were drawn in both of them.
The next drawing was showing the room where the team was. The altar was pictured with some of the buttons shown more than the others.
The third one was similar to the first drawing but there was now a light ray linking both structure.
Finally, the last picture was showing another room different from when they were and in the middle of this room, there were two thrones.

Taking in the puzzle at a glance Vasandra scans the symbols on the red crystal into her wrist computer and sets them as a new type of parameter for the dialing program on it, ready for use later if a combination is discovered.

”This room is most likely a central nexus for something like the ring transport devices with multiple settings for multiple locations within the system, or more likely just the planet and the inhabited portions of the moon, you should keep an eye out for sets of symbols in the text of a uniform length, likely closer to three or four characters than the typical seven as it uses a much smaller number of total addresses.”

Hilda had suggested she go keep watch outside, but no one had responded to that idea and she kind of wanted to stay to see what happened, like if they all blew themselves up with ettin crafts. So she lingered around the room, eyeing things curiously and listening to the talk, not understanding the writings or advanced technology but feeling she better understood the purpose of all this, especially after seeing the decorated pine tree. 'It is a sacred path, a golden road from the Ring of Stars to this ring of the moon. They probably walked in processions from one to the other.'

She pointed to the highlighted symbols in the drawing of this very room. 'Are these the symbols?'

"Wait a minute," began Rajip, getting up. "Are you saying we've got another Stargate here?"

He's caught a glimpse of what was happening at the altar. "Did you activate that or is it someone incoming?" he asked Vasandra in an urgent tone, gripping his weapon firmly and placing the finger on the trigger.

”This room is most likely a central nexus for something like the ring transport devices with multiple settings for multiple locations within the system, or more likely just the planet and the inhabited portions of the moon, you should keep an eye out for sets of symbols in the text of a uniform length, likely closer to three or four characters than the typical seven as it uses a much smaller number of total addresses.” Vasandra said -- as she approached the altar, the red crystal started to glow faintly.

"Yes, yes, I think so, too." Kaspar nodded in agreement, "I thought that that's what this looked like, but I didn't want to jump to any conclusions."

'It is a sacred path, a golden road from the Ring of Stars to this ring of the moon. They probably walked in processions from one to the other.' Hilda said.

"Oh, that's very good! Fits with what's written here, too.  I must write that down..." Kaspar enthused, scribbling down Hilda's observation in the notebook he'd been writing in.

Hilda pointed at the altar. 'Are these the symbols?'

"Wait a minute," began Rajip, getting up. "Are you saying we've got another Stargate here?"

"Well, yes, something like another..." Kaspar started.

Noting the now-glowing crystal above the alter, Rajip interrupts, "Did you activate that or is it someone incoming?" he asked Vasandra in an urgent tone, gripping his weapon firmly and placing the finger on the trigger.

Still clearly focused on the alter itself and the glowing crystals, or more importantly the symbols associated with them Vasandra does spare a glance at the weapon being readied before returning to her important task of sorting out what is going on.

”It is more likely just a proximity sensor bringing the system's interface online, something like motion sensitive lights or computer monitors back on your world but less archaic, if there is someone on their way here they will arrive through the ring transport which is nothing like a stargate any more than one of your skate boards is like an airplane, which would place them inside the circle.  Pointing a gun at the alter or myself will have no influence on their arrival or their reaction to finding the room occupied.”

Hilda beamed brightly as Kaspar liked her theory.

'But we can shoot them as they arrive.' Hilda surmised, standing to face the circle with her bow ready, just in case any Jaffa appeared. 'Maybe all the villagers went to the moon?'

"Let's just hope you're right, Netjerian," Rajip replied, relaxing visibly although Hilda's apparent vigilance did little to help it.

He turned his attention to Hilda "We've already agreed they went past this building, haven't we?"

Hilda shrugged. 'The tracks are faint and old, and the road cleans itself. I can say they did not stay here long, and I found trails leading away, but,' She waved a hand, trying to think of the right Tau'ri phrase. 'It is... inconclusive.'

"No recent tracks nearby, and the road - if anyone took it, they would be either here or through the Stargate... I think, I'll take a look outside, major."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:32, Sat 01 Feb 2014.

"Well, I can't say with any certainty that the resident's of that little village did or didn't make use of this...whatever it is, here." Kaspar said, "But I think we're on the right track in believing that it is some form of matter transmitter up to that big moon they have here."

Kaspar points at the ring of writing on the floor,

"My Latin is quite rusty -- assuming that the resemblance this language bears to Latin is actual, and not some great mistake on my part.  But, if this is related to Latin, then the few words I can make out are 'Royal' and 'Family' and 'Moon'.  I'm not even sure I've got the relational context correct.  I think that this may be a portal to some kind of Royal Family Reserve up on that moon."

"But, if that's true, I have serious doubts that that little village was the residence of the builders of this device. In fact, I suspect that this language may even be the language of the Ancients, or at least, like Latin on Earth, it's derivative of that older tongue."

"Vasandra, do you have anything up on that control panel, or alter, or whatever, that might confirm my assessment?"

After listening to the discussion, and since he found nothing of interest where he was looking, AND hordes of rabid Jaffa didn't suddenly appear, Gavin ventures out from behind the column and cautiously steps over to the circle on the floor.

"If this is a ring transport device that can go all the way to the moon, there has to be a rather powerful energy source here to power it... probably underneath," Gavin suggests.

He attempts to read the words written around the ring; he speaks and reads Ancient.

Then he goes over to the altar and attempts to read it, as well.

"The crystal glows to indicate that the device has power... the same thing as equipment on Earth with a power-on light. If it didn't glow when touched, it would mean that there was no power any more."

'More rings of power, and a smaller branch of Yggdrasil stretching between worlds.' Hilda described, impressed but at a loss as to what more she could do here. She felt a little uncomfortable being in the strange temple.



Hilda interrupted Rajip, walking to the door instead. 'I'll go. I can watch better outside. You can shoot that gun if Jaffa come out of the rings.' It seemed to better suit their apparent skill-sets, and she'd suggested it earlier.

After a last look around, she left the inner sanctum, going back around the curving passage and back to the entrance. Hilda stood before the doors, expecting them to open again and allow her to pass.

Hilda started to leave the room. When she reached one of the opened door, preparing to go in the direction of the temple's entrance, she stopped when she made her first step in the corridor.

In the hallway, she found two animals in the corner. They looked like no animals that she knew from Cimmeria. They were around one meter long and 50 centimetres in shoulder height. Each of their foot had five toes with long claw and they had two little tusk in the mouth.

When they saw Hilda, their hairs started to erect on their back and they both emitted a grunt. They are going to attack you !

---

Map: https://docs.google.com/drawin...2ZngDiGZ0bzSwes/edit
Combat Tracker: https://docs.google.com/spread...;usp=drive_web#gid=1

DM NOTES
You are now in an encounter. It is divided in stage. Each people in the same stage need to play before we go to the next stage but during the same stage, each player can play when they want.
This mean that both Hilda and Vasandra need to play before the first Ratel can play but they can Hilda can play first if she wants even if her initiative is lower. This is done to make encounter run smoothly.

INITIATIVE : ROUND 1
Stage 1: Vasandra Tourmaline, Hilda <-- Current
Stage 2: Ratel 2
Stage 3: Rajip Mojdar, Kaspar Radoslaw Gorski
Stage 4: Ratel 1
Stage 5: Gavin

Slipping though the room with the sort of liquid grace very few, if any, humans can ever hope to manage.  Drawing her Zat on the way she fires over Hilda's shoulder at the badgerboar about to charge them.  Sparking it with what will hopefully be at least a somewhat distracting bolt of energy, much of the charge dissipating into the temple's floor.

OOC: 10:43, Today: Vasandra Tourmaline rolled 13 using 1d20+6. Zat Attack.
10:48, Today: Vasandra Tourmaline rolled 2 using 1d4. Action Die. = total 15 VS Ratel 2's AC
10:49, Today: Vasandra Tourmaline rolled 4 using 3d6. Zat Damage.  Fort Save DC 14
This message was last edited by the player at 18:52, Fri 31 Jan 2014.