The shuttle drifts quietly over the planet below for some time until the announcement is made that they are nearing the Kallian station and will be maneuvering for docking shortly. Some minutes later a short coughing roars of vectoring rockets are both felt and heard, propelling the shuttle in a somewhat disorienting series of course changes. Those looking out the window experience a harsh hit of vertigo to their stomach as the planet and stars spin one way and then the other. Luckily this does not last more than ten minutes and the shuttle stabilizes and slows.

From the windows they can begin to see the edges of the station, a gleaming series of interlocked rings. The immensity of the structure builds with each passing second as shuttle draws ever nearer, exposing more and more to the passengers. Soon those outer rings are barely visible through the various supporting spoke-like structures, until finally they are consumed by a cavernous room. Once in a soft shudder is felt from the bottom of the ship as it touches down, and a few moments later the force of gravity is once again felt dragging them comfortably downwards.

The captain once again comes of the speakers announcing their arrival at Killian Station. They are free to get up and move about the shuttle while they are loading some additional cargo and awaiting for the expedition members from the station to board. Due to quarantine protocols they are not allowed to exit the shuttle though.

Zelpuz gets up and starts moving around, trying to get a view out of every angle window and see what's going on here while stretching his legs.

The shuttle is parked in a large cargo bay of some sort, easily five or six times the size of the craft itself. A small team of people in full protective suits enter from a side entryway on a small wheeled conveyance and followed by a larger mech suit loader unit. After they approach the shuttle you can hear the mechanical latches of the cargo hatch open and the loading process begins. A few minutes later the rear door opens and two figures enter, dressed in similar suits to everyone else. Dr. Ulaar announces them as Dr. Salla Rezam and Dr. Carla Hyunzi of the Spacer Engineering Archives, and then they find a pair of empty seats to occupy.

The loading process proceeds for about 30 more minutes before the Captain's voice is heard once again that they will be departing shortly and everyone should return to their seats. A few minutes later, with the cargo hatches secure and the ground crew retreated back beyond the side gate, the shuttle engines start up. As the engine tones gradually wind up you notice the perspective outside the window changing as the entire ship is spun around until you are facing the opposite wall of the cargo bay. Then a slight pull sensation is experienced as the craft lifts up and holds for a moment until finally pushing forward slowly. It is not until they are well clear of the station that the rocket engines kick in and throw everyone into the back of their seats.

For another 45 minutes the shuttle drifts quietly above the planetary surface, heading to your destination you assume, though from this height it is impossible to tell. The first officer then comes on to announce they will be re-entering the atmosphere shortly and should be on the ground in approximately 32 minutes. Anyone who have thought the ride down would be much softer than the one going up is jolted from such misconception once the inky blackness of space is replaced by the blue glow of the planetary atmosphere. The atmospheric re-entry is a turbulent and violently colorful affair for some agonizingly long moments. Eventually the ride becomes a smooth glide across a pure blue sky. The last 15 minutes are spent in descent, racing through scattered clouds over an expanse of ocean as far as one can see.

The shuttle eventually sets down in an unusually flat and empty field some ways from a town you flew over. Aside from a slight pressure buildup in your ears it was a fairly smooth event. After a few minutes of the engine turning down the Captain announces your arrival and informs you that everyone will exit from the front of the shuttle and to keep your helmets on until you leave the craft.

The field outside appears to have been cleared sometime ago, or perhaps was an abandoned farm of sorts, and stretches for about 150m away from the shuttle in each direction. On the right border of the field you can see a road stretching back towards the town. Doctors Vaanhak and Ulaar take a quick headcount of everyone assembled outside as the shuttle crew begin to open the cargo bays. Teams are quickly formed to assist in the extraction and organization of the cargo. Dr. Ulaar announces she will be heading into town to meet and organize their transport, and she requests one of the grad students and one of the Freelancers to accompany.

Yuu disembarks, and removes his helmet when he sees others doing the same. He squints against the sunlight, shielding his eyes with a hand while looking around. He picks up his personal bags, and gathers with his companions as instructions are given.

Zelpuz follows Yuu who seems interested to go to the town, he nods in agreement. "Stay safe and keep the walkie talkie on."
Then he turns to Vanyra, "Let's help getting ready here and keep on a lookout just in case."

Yuu thumbs the walkie talkie on, and tests the device against the others. "Be safe." he says in return, before making his way over to Dr Ulaar.

"Zelpuz and Vanyra will provide security here. I'll join you into town."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:46, Sat 11 Apr 2020.

Each of them is feeling a bit woozy after the orbital journey, with experience of weightlessness and re-entry putting them a bit off their game. Judging by the reactions of many of the team members they are in the same boat. While Yuu Jin heads into town Zelpuz and Vanyra set about offloading and arranging the equipment that was stored in the cargo holds with other members of the expedition, and quickly discover how surprisingly large and full the cargo hold was. It is somewhat tedious work, but given how they feel they are welcome for its simplicity.

During Yuu's journey into town with Dr. Ulaar and grad student Grenon, the expedition leader explains they will meet their guide contact near the outskirts and there should be a number of wagons prepared to take them back to the landing zone. The flyover was the signal of their arrival so she's hoping there was enough time to get things ready. The terrain and climate remind Yuu quite a bit of home with dense foliage rising up quickly from either sides of the road and a cacophony of bird and animal calls emanating from within.

As they draw near the scattered buildings marking the edge of town a series of wagons and animals are soon spotted. An Atherian steps out from one wagon, waives them and strides forth to meet them. he introduces himself as Vashilli, and introductions are exchanged. With a clap and a high pitched whistle the wagon crew quickly organizes themselves and they set out for the shuttle.

By the time the wagon train arrives about 2/3rd of the cargo has been extracted and sorted. With the additional help it does not take long to finish unloading the ship and transferring everything to the wagons. As the first set of wagons is loaded they set off back to town. Due to the number of people and cargo two trips are made to get everything to their staging point, a mid-sized warehouse on the edge of town not far from where they met Vashilli. By the time everything is unloaded the team is quite exhausted, and Vashilli shows them to the sea-side inn they will be staying at while a pair of his people stay behind to lock up the warehouse and stand guard.

Vanyra nods. "I'll take a look around," she adds before starting a walk around the ship.

Once everything is locked up, Zelpuz suggests to Vanyra and Yuu to scout out this area, too. "With the guards in place, I am not expecting any surprises, but just to be safe, maybe we should take turns to join the guards? Or we could find another good point to keep an eye out."

The group does a basic sweep of the area in town and feels things are pretty secure, after which they turn in for the night since tomorrow will be another long day.

The morning starts early for expedition as all the equipment is sorted with purpose and users in mind. A loading plan is devised with the help of the Freelancer trio with the idea of storing basic survival essentials on the passenger wagons and the remainder of the gear on the pure cargo wagons. After consulting with the guides and the expedition leaders a plan for the wagon train is devised that attempts to provide maximum protection in case of a bandit attack.

The entire morning is taken up readying the gear and packing the wagons, and it is decided a short rest is in order before setting our for the duration of afternoon. Four hours later the expedition begins to move and it doesn't take long to get out of town since the warehouse was on the outskirts, allowing them to bypass the busy central core. Vanyra takes a forward reconnaissance position 1~2km ahead of the lead wagon, with Yuu and Zelpuz taking up positions in the center and rear wagons respectively.

Traffic on the road is light in both directions but not sparse, a medley of riders, wagons and foot traffic going to and fro. Though they got a late start they made good time on the road, with the well rested greeshin showing no signs of fatigue as the sun began to set. The decision is made to stop before it gets too dark, especially it being the first evening of camping on the road. The camp is setup in as defensible manner as possible given their surroundings, with the forest to the right of one line of wagons and the left line of wagons blocking the center area from the road. While camp was being setup Zelpuz and Yuu attempted to get the perimeter sensors up and running but to no avail; the tech is more advanced than they have previously encountered and the range may prove an obstacle. Both agree to keep working on the issue to hopefully have it sorted by the time they reach the basecamp area, the utility of the sensor with the wagon camp would have been limited anyways.

As night descends and the evening meal is prepared a watch order is drawn up with 3 person per shift across 3 shifts of 4 hrs each. The first shift will be headed by Yuu, followed by Zelpuz and then Vanyra.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:51, Fri 01 May 2020.

The night passes without event. The forests obnoxious cacophony of sounds gradually become a lulling background song, like the crashing of waves or the patter of rain drops on a roof, and in fact the quiet just before dawn serves as an alarm for many of the group. As the group prepares to breakfast and then break camp Zelpuz and Yuu do a quick check of the wagons to ensure nothing is amiss, and Vanyra attempts to get a few extra hours of rest before resuming her scouting.

The morning's journey mirrors late afternoon of the previous day, relatively quiet and with few travelers. When encountered the travelers are always mounted or on wagons, typically wagons hauling raw materials of sorts, lumber, metals, fine metallic powder, etc. Vanyra's advance patrolling has not encountered anything of concern near the road, though the occasional large predator (at least she assumes they are predatory) is seen further back into the forest, keeping their distance.

Near midday the order is given for a prolonged rest, which is welcomed by all. While comfortable enough sleeping in the wagon camp and pulling guard shifts at night is not conducive to a restful state. During the 4~5 hour stop a meal is had, Zelpuz and Yuu continue working with the sensors and making a bit of progress but not enough, and Vanyra takes a well deserved catnap after her meal.

The afternoon journey allows everyone to better take in their surroundings and the oncoming traffic is almost non-existent. The distance between forks in the road is becoming ever more distant as they travel further towards the foothills, which they can now see ahead, and far beyond them the reaching peaks of the Zhen Falas mountains. The final destination lies just beyond the first set of foothills, in the shadow of the mountains, a remote area indeed judging by the current population density.

The same routine is performed as the sun begins its dive towards the western horizon. The sensors continue to present troubles to Zelpus and Yuu, though just before the start of watch shift they believe they have an idea to try tomorrow.

After discussing the security equipment, and the ideas to try for the next evening, Yuu meets up with two sentries for the first shift. He goes over some basics, including communication routines, then watches them set up on the central wagon. The young mage begins to circle the camp, checking perimeter sensors, and keeping an eye for anything out of sorts. There is still noise and activity in the camp, but it's clearly winding down as people eat and prepare for the night.

The 2nd night also passes uneventfully. This morning passes a bit more smoothly than the last, with everyone beginning to understand what needs be done and how. The expedition breaks camp a good 30minutes quicker than yesterday.

While the morning's journey is pleasant enough a front of dark clouds appears over the mountains to the East, no doubt they'll be upon you by nightfall if not sooner. During the midday break the guides and a number of the crew go about securing the wagons and equipment against the possibility of rain and wind. The rest period is welcome, but the threat of the storm makes it a fitful one at best.

Yuu and Zelpuz take the time to deal with the sensors rather than get some rest, thinking it would be much better to deal with this while dry than in a night storm. Whether it was the threat of the storm, their lack of sleep or a combination of the two, they weren't sure but Zelpuz and Yuu figured out a way to boost the sensors' power using a small nether battery. By doing so they were also able to configure the sensor to provide an overlapping 3D mesh network, which should not only alert to a presence but also be able to triangulate the location of it. The next part of the puzzle will be to figure out some way to identify the expedition members from non-members, but for now this is a massive win.

As the caravan gets moving it certainly seems the storm will be upon them before they usually stop for the night.

After consulting with Dr. Vaanhaak and Ulaar, and the two guides who suggest the storm may involve hail and sleet given the time of year, the decision is made to stop early. A plan is drawn up to have the wagons are drawn up close to the treeline to act as a barrier, with the trees providing overhead cover and shelter for the animals. The group moves quickly under the direction of the PC's and the guides to clear an area of underbrush for a camp space. The most sensitive equipment is secured in storage lockers in the wagons while the exposed gear is moved into the trees. Once it is all done it is not a long wait for the storm to come on, it turns from day to night within moments, followed by gusts of wind with spits of heavy rain drops. With each passing moment the gusts and rain increase until it is a cyclone of wind and water, forcing everyone to hunker down. A short burst of hail comes suddenly, but luckily the stones are the size of peas only and passes after 20 minutes.

Within the hour the storm passes over and day returns. It is quite shocking, especially to the Spacers, how quickly the weather changes. For Yuu, who is accustomed to multi-day typhoons, such a short storm is bizarrely refreshing. As the expedition begins to assess any damages the question of if the group should push on for a few more hours comes up, as there is definitely enough daylight left. The guides bring up a concern of the road conditions following the storm, which may be very muddy and treacherous. It is suggested Vanyra perform a long recon of the road ahead and report back rather than gamble with packing up the camp. They are in a good position now and the extra time would be a good time check some equipment again and review the mission plan.

While Vanyra is out surveying the road Zelpuz, Yuu and the guides discuss the impact of the stop. Given that they already have a camp partially setup trying to gain additional ground today may provide little gains. They can plan to leave earlier tomorrow and gain some time as well. The guides remark that the storm probably had a bigger impact on the trails in the foothills than here in the lowlands, so leaving more time for those to dry-up would also be advantageous.

Eventually Vanyra returns and reports that while the roads appear in good shape for the most part she did come across a few travelers struggling with carts in places. Lighter traffic may be able to traverse the road without much trouble, but heavier cargo will not.

The decision is made to hold position for the rest of the day and continue the journey at the usual time in the morning. The expedition leaders agree there is no sense risking issues further down the road and a half-day's time won't be the difference between success and failure. With that the team sets about performing a more thorough check of their equipment and Yuu and Zelpuz think they've perfected the sensor mesh array, setting a perimeter just beyond where the animals are sequestered. A minimal nether charge is applied to each cell to gauge the power draw. After that the group settles into the usual evening routine.

Zelpuz is on mid-night watch with Beral Hughn, one of the mechanical techs, and Seri Jonsen, one of the undergrad researchers, with each patrolling an separate section of the camp. Things have been typically quiet for almost three hours into the shift when the perimeter sensor remote begins to blink and vibrate with an alarm. As he brings it up to his face to check the alarm status the mass of red dots on the edge of the screen are all he needs to see.

As Zelpuz heads towards the edge of the camp to get a better view he begins to hear a panicked crooning from the pack animals nearby and a whisper-like chattering that echoes through the canopy of trees. He cannot make out shapes in the darkness but he does catch a few mid-sized forms leaping from tree to tree, roughly the size of a dog. It is quite likely whatever these things are they are scaring the pack animals, and given the numbers indicated by the sensor array they could certainly be a problem.

Zelpuz radios the other guards: "Guys, watch out, lots of movement in the trees, probably several dozen of creatures, scaring our pack animals. Seri, wake up Vanyra and Yuu, Beral cover me, I am on top of the central wagon."
With that, he takes out a fare and throws it at trees where he sees the most movement, shouting "AAAAA GO AWAY CREATURES!" with his rifle following the light as it flies towards the tree tops.

Both Beral and Seri confirm the orders. Zelpuz's flare arcs into the trees just enough to illuminate a scattering of reptilian monkey-like creatures clinging onto branches above him. They certainly do not look too friendly, but the burst of red flare light has frightened them momentarily. He has a clear shot to a couple, but only time for one shot.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:57, Wed 20 May 2020.

Yuu rolls over in his sleeping bag, scratches his belly and continues snoring soundly.

Zelpuz takes aim at a nearby branch on which 2 of the creatures are perched and fires a low powered fire bolt. A shaft of concentrated naplam-like fire strikes the branch in the center providing a brief explosion of illumination followed by a sharp crack as the far end of begins to fracture. The two creature leap away in fear and several panicked cries ring out from the shadows. Shortly thereafter Beral arrives to Zelpuz's location.

Meanwhile back in the camp proper Seri finds Yuu and shakes him awake with some urgency, "Yuu, we've got a situation on the edge of the camp. Zelpuz is already there."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:03, Sat 23 May 2020.

Yuu blinks the sleep out of his eyes and the dream fuzz from his head, and looks up at Seri. The words of the researcher take a moment to register, and Yuu is out of bed and rushing towards the exploding firebloom and the Mespah perched atop the central wagon.

Yuu and Seri round the outer wagon in time to see Zelpuz fire off a fire bolt into the jungle and a cry of alarm from some sort of creatures hiding beyond their sight. Moments later they come up short as Zelpuz and Beral scan the woods in the direction of the shot.

Zelpuz quickly locks a mental grip on the nearest creature to the fractured branch and gains a sense of fear and trepidation as it seeks some sort of reinforcement from its neighbours. Using the mental link to the creature's sight the Mespah is able find another nearby creature and quickly scans its mind. While there is a similar sense of hesitation a wave of blood lust and hunger is rising with each moment giving Zelpuz the impression this creature is not done.

Yuu reaches into his satchel for the mystic goggle. "What do we have?" the mage asks Zelpuz.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:34, Mon 25 May 2020.

"Looks like a lot of monkey like reptiles in the trees scaring our animals, not quite sure, I only could see a couple when the fire flashed. They seem to be hungry, I tried scaring them off, but I guess my blast was too weak, only scared a few for a short time."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:05, Thu 28 May 2020.

Yuu slides the goggles over his head, and flips the switch.

"Can you see through my eyes?"

Zelpuz links to Yuu's eyes. "Yes, take a look around."

Yuu scans around, giving himself and the Mespah a better view of the scene.

The shadowy jungle canopy above is washed over with magically enhanced vision as Zelpuz mentally links to Yuu's vision. With a quick survey of their immediate area at least two dozen of the simian-saurs are perched nervously in the branches. Their collective movements like a wave of nervous hopping interspersed with moments of dead calm. It is not a comforting sight and it would certainly take more than a couple fire blasts to get rid of them.

"I suggest we start rapidly firing into the trees and see if that scares them off, unless anyone has a better idea."

"There's a few larger ones, quite possibly Alpha males." Yuu points out their positions through the canopy. "If you target your gun fire around those individuals, maybe they'll scare off and bring the rest of the troop."

"I'll start firing blind but wild. Seri, start shooting into the canopy as well following Yuu's direction." Zelpuz says. "And if you have something flashy and loud, Yuu, go nuts."

Zelpuz's strafes across three of the creatures, striking a large one straight in the chest and knocking it off the branch. His second shot also connects and blast the neighboring creature back. The third shot goes high and wide as the recoil was too much to control versus such a small target. Seri's shot similarly blasts away in the darkness, quite a distance from an actual target. The creatures as a whole are now quite agitated with howls erupting from many and as a group they begin to chaotically jump around, moving from branch to branch.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:08, Thu 04 June 2020.

"If we give them another scare, I think we can scare them off" Zelpuz says. "How about a big blast, let's give it all we have, Yuu, is there any larger group? I'll aim at the big tree in the middle with a fire blast, everyone else target the animals around them."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:37, Wed 10 June 2020.

Yuu looks around a bit, and points, "Maybe that area? Seems like a bunch there."

Zelpuz takes a moment to aim, then launches a fire bolt towards a large branch about 20m away, upon which is perches 4 of the creatures. As the bolt streaks towards its target the large lizard monkey leaps back just before it explodes. A loud crack is heard as a miniature sun flares into existence for a moment, slamming into a dozen of the creatures. Yuu can see a four or five scorched corpses fall to the jungle floor, while others escape with singe marks. The display of destructive power immediately routes the large pack, with the creatures scattering back into the jungle at speed.

In addition to the terrified yelps and screams echoing back from the creatures a number of alarmed cries can be heard from the camp now.

Zelpuz was staring at the flash of light to get a better view of the animals. With the flash gone and the rustling of animals scurrying away, Zelpuz turns around to see what causes the screams from the other direction.

The "screams" from the other direction are obviously cries of alarm due to someone firing off a high explosive into the jungle very late at night. The explosion has woken the entire camp.

After making sure that the forest is not on fire, Zelpuz turns around: "Let's explain what happened and calm everyone down."
He walks towards the camp, arms spread out: "Nothing to see, just a herd of lizard animals that got too curious."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:32, Fri 12 June 2020.

Yuu stands watch a little while longer, as Zelpuz gives his quick debrief to the awakened members of the camp. He climbs from the wagon, and enters into the tree line where he saw some of the creatures fall.

Yuu's surveillance of the jungle confirms the creatures have fled, and after several minutes there is no sign of creatures returning.

Zepluz, Seri and Beran head back to the camp and explain the situation to everyone. The guides do relate that those creatures have been known to attack caravans, but it is very rare as such raids require large numbers. The creatures are normally quite territorial and typically never band together in numbers greater than 10. The guides admit it is a bit disconcerting that there were so many grouped together in this instance, and they'll have to make efforts to guard against that in the coming days.

With the threat removed the camp quickly goes back to bed, with the final watch deciding to start a bit earlier since they were already up. Zelpuz finds the charred remains of one of the creatures and takes it back to camp. The following morning only a few pieces of the burnt lizard-monkey corpses remain, the rest having been dragged off or consumed by other creatures.

The caravan spends a little extra time in the morning to check the equipment and ready the wagons ahead of the day's journey, allowing the sun more time to dry the road. Vanyra makes use of this with an initial reconnaissance of the path ahead, reporting that it appears dry enough. A little half-way through morning the expedition is rolling through the jungle once more.

Through the course of the day the the mountains draw ever closer and the flora is changing slightly with the increased elevation. By the end of day 3 they have made it to the base of the foothills. Progress will be a bit slower from here on but the climate should be somewhat more agreeable to travel, though also considerably more unpredictable. The wagons are brought up alongside a creek cutting across a flowered glade, approximately one hundred meters from the main road. The flowers, grasses and shrubbery range from knee to waist height, but otherwise the lines of sight are clear all around.

The expedition leaders, the two guides and the Freelancers meet to discuss the progress while camp is being setup. It will take about 3 more days of travel until they reach the target area, and the terrain will be undulating hills with ever-so-slight elevation climb. The target area is in wide valley flanked by a river on the north side; this river will be the guide trail and serve as the border of the search plan.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:03, Tue 16 June 2020.

As predicted the journey over the next 3 days is considerably slower going, with the caravan having to navigate increasingly broken trails and a number of switchbacks. During Vanyra's advanced scouting she was able to identify two areas where the path was completely blocked or washed away, giving the group time to plan an alternative route. And on three occasions found significant obstacles in the path that required concerted effort to remove.

About midway on the third day the caravan comes to a fork in the river along the trail they've been following. The guides state the trail is likely to disappear shortly after this, but navigating along one these feeder rivers may prove feasible. Both will ultimately lead the general target area, though would put the group in slightly different areas. It is decided that it would be best to reconnoiter the routes first, then make a call. In an effort to save time two parties will be formed to scout the way ahead.

Vanyra and one of the guides head off down the southern fork while Zelpuz and the other guide take the southeastern fork. Judging by the first few kilometres of terrain along each river it would appear that the southeastern path is the easier to traverse, but according to the maps the caravan would have to travel about an extra 30 kilometres to reach a suitable area for the base camp.

The recon shows the path heading directly south to be a bit steeper and variable than that following the southeast river. After some discussion it is decided to move along the river towards the southeast in spite of the longer travel distance. According to the maps it would seen the plateau in that direction would offer more potential for a base camp than the steep hillsides directly south of them.

The caravan makes decent progress through the remainder of the day, coming up about 25km from where they need to end. Camp is setup with the security scanners spaced far enough out to encompass the animals and the wagons. Over dinner it is decided to mount a recon mission first thing in the morning to discover a suitable location for the base camp before moving out. Vanyra, Zelpuz, Yuu and assistant guide volunteered, and as such the watch order was adjusted so each would be well rested come morning.

The night passed without event, a clear and cool evening that brought everyone a deep, restful sleep with the knowledge their travels would end soon and the real adventure would begin. The away team rises early with the first rays of dawn's light beginning to filter through the forest canopy. After a quick bite they head off along the river and after a couple hours it opens up into a broad mountain plateau, bracketed on the left (northwest) by a valley and ridges of ever-higher reaching mountains, and to the right a vast bowl-shaped valley. The plateau undulates with small hillocks across its width which stretches for many kilometres.

Vanyra makes a quick tree climb for a better vantage point, from on high her gaze tracks the course of the river towards it nearest point to the valley; a good 25km or so. The guide leaves a marker point on a nearby tree to mark their progress, and they set off once again. After a few hours of travel the group comes across a meadow expanding from the river on both sides for a couple hundred meters, a promising camp site if any. Vanyra and Zelpuz head off in west and south respectively, towards the bowl valley which is the target zone to ascertain the access paths. The meadow it turns out is a the crest of a ridge running up from the valley separating the one bowl into two shallower ones, and this ridge would offer a common access way to both sides while also giving a good vantage point. As a result the decision is made to setup camp at this location.

Yuu radios back to the caravan and Vanyra heads back to help guide them on the route. Yuu, Zelpuz and the guide set about conducting a more thorough investigation of the meadow. A number of hours later the caravan rolls in and disperses under the direction of the trio. Throughout the hours of aftereve the camp begins to take shape, with fixed tent structures, a latrine area, outdoor showers, storage shed, med tent, etc. being put up and stocked in order.

The following day is spent setting up the base camp. After consulting with the guides about the typical weather patterns this time of year and the possibility of flooding from the river the expedition sets up in the southwestern corner of the meadow. The land slopes gently down from the tree line on both sides, meeting in the middle that forms the ridge splitting the valley. If there is a heavy rainfall most of the water should flow down that channel and into the valley beyond.

Three small hillocks provide an elevated areas from which to construct simple watch and comms towers using some of the nearby trees. On each of the hills a 4m tall roofed-platform, big enough for two if they're cozy, provides a good vantage point for lookouts and a base to secure the communication and meteorological sensors. The tents are arranged in neat squares between the two outer towers and around the middle.

The Dr. Vaanhak and Dr. Ulaar have a basic search pattern in mind after consulting with the two Spacers, Dr. Rezam and Dr. Hyunzi, who brought orbital photos of the area. Now that they are on the ground and able to better survey the terrain they will need to refine that plan around the realities on the ground. The expedition has enough equipment for two field teams to be deployed, using a number of different sensor and scanning devices to look for artificial structures, energy sources and metals.

Zelpuz and Vanyra set off earlier the morning after their arrival at the base camp area, each with a pair of sensors to place along the east and west ridges. They plan an two-sweep overlap pattern with Zelpuz taking to the air and Vanyra staying to the ground and trees out to a distance of a few kilometers. They place their sensors just outside the camp area in such a way to detect movement coming up from the valley below.

Using their communicators the two are able to pick out 3 and 4 different routes down into the east and west sides of the valley respectively. The routes into the eastern valley are steeper and may require some work to make them safe. Once on the ground Vanyra identifies the routes are formed from a combination of rock or landslides and water pathways, resulting in a steep approach. The presence of trees does provide numerous anchor points for rope; it won't be easy or quick but she doesn't see another option. Zelpuz and Vanyra think this approach could be prepared in a day, placing high visibility markers along that path.

The west valley has three steeper, direct approaches and one wider and more gradual descent that appears to be a nearly dry stream or river bed. It would appear this is an overflow channel, likely from when the nearby river overflows or during spring run-off. From the air Zeluz follows it down to the bottom of the valley where it ends in a pond and swamp-like area, realizing this could be tough terrain to navigate he marks the best areas along the stream bed where they could break off and go around the swamp below.

Finally, on their reconnaissance of the southern ridge Zelpuz notices the shape of the ridge top appears unusually flat relative to the rock formation in general, and that the ridge slopes down but then raises about 30km away from the camp until it ends in a sheer cliff. Relaying the ridge shape to Vanyra she takes a closer look at the ground, noting a true qualitative difference between the middle versus the edges and the previous ridge lines on east and west. While covered in underbrush and growth she notices the center is flat, no rock formations or hilly undulations, and more importantly the trees are smaller and more sparse than the edges. The entire scene gives the impression that the foliage here is younger. After moving a couple kilometres in Vanyra confirms that this ridge is very easy to traverse, more like an overgrown path than a natural rocky ridge; something she will be sure to relay to the team at camp.

Once the two Freelancers are back in sight, Yuu makes his way over. Passing a quick salutation and an "all's good in sciencetown", he walks them to where he last saw Dr Salis for a debrief.

The expedition leads pull out a large map of surprisingly detailed quality, mentioning that it was a gift from their Spacer companions. This allows Zelpuz and Vanyra to clearly show and mark the areas they scouted as the most approachable routes into the valley. Furthermore, the information about the southern ridge line is most appreciated as such odd features are not visible on the map and provide a possible hint of ancient habitation in the area. From that they explain in the following day will be spent organizing the group into teams that will alternate daily expeditions beyond the base camp at first, and then depending on what is found those journeys may extend. While that is happening a small fleet of drones will be sent out to perform rudimentary scan, topographical, heat signature, etc., of the immediate area out to 25km into the valley. The drone data can then be compiled into a digital map where all the team's findings can be layered.

Given the initial recon data it is suggested that the first away team check out the ridge and it's flat area to determine if it was indeed caused by engineering or is a natural phenomenon.

While looking at the maps, Vanyra comments, "I have a strong feeling that the complex was underground, but had an exit atop a plateau surrounded by valleys."

After a brief pause, she adds, "They found something there, and abandoned it for some reason," before ceasing her commentary and waiting for people to continue discussing the away team plans.

Yuu listens tentatively, watching as the map gets marked up. He imagines military positions, plays out defensive and offensive positions in his head, gets bored and starts day dreaming about nether devices schematics and power coils. His mind snaps back as Vanyra offers her feedback, wondering how she could know, but... makes a lot of sense. He looks back at the map more cafefully, trying to see what she 'sees' through the folliage and terrain elevations.

Doctors Vaanhak, Ulaar, Rezam and Hyuzi all give a quizzical look at Vanyra upon her retelling of the vision. Dr. Ulaar is the first to ask, "Ahh, you say there was a road and a facility underground, how do you know this?.. I mean, it makes sense logically, but we've uncovered no details on the layout of the facility in our records."

Zelpuz takes a good look at the map trying to memorize the details, esp. around the plateau.

"Mmm, no, no, I didn't see a road," Vanyra replies contemplatively, "but I think the plateau was used as a landing pad.  I didn't see much of it, but I want to try to see more later."

The doctors contemplate that for a moment, recheck the map and nod in agreement. "Certainly a logical place to put a landing area assuming there were not major geological events around here in the last few hundred years. I think we should focus on this ridge first and ascertain if this road did exist and where it lead to," Dr. Vaanhaak concludes.

"Indeed, with such a focused area the teams can cover considerably more ground. We could use the second team to ready the ways into the valley floors in the meantime," Dr. Ulaar agrees.

After studying the map for a few more moments Dr. Rezam suggests they deploy half the drone scanners along the ridge line in the morning, some on each side. The rest should still be able to provide a decent map of the local area out to 10km by day's end.

With a plan for the next day formulated the group breaks for dinner.

After dinner, Yuu asks Zelpuz to join him near the ridge. It's obvious the young mage is eager about something.

In the meantime Vanyra finds a secluded area of the meadow and casts her senses beyond her body, a first taking a leisurely flight above the base camp. After some time she dives down to the nearby river, going under the surface to see the myriad of fish and arthropods that live there. The sensation is slightly bizarre as all sense direction is lost save for the continual pull of her corporeal self, like an anchoring beacon. Vanyra moves through the water, occasionally surfacing to get her bearings, until she reaches the limits of her concentration. The beacon of her body is dim and she dare not get lose site of it. She turns back and time seems to freeze for a moment, like a hiccup of the senses, before rapidly accelerating. The river flows at a tremendous though calm pace while all the land around it remains frozen. Without warning the river begins to rise at a steady pace until it breaches the shallows banks and spills south and eventually flooding a few tests on the eastern edge of camp before flowing over the ridge beyond. Try as she might Vanyra cannot seem to move any faster than the land around her, watching part of the camp become inundated with water. In the next blink of an eye she is back in her body, reflexes firing her up into a ready stance only to see the water all gone and the camp dry and safe as when she left it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:27, Fri 07 Aug 2020.

After finishing their dinner, Zelpuz follows Yuu to ridge, curious what the young mage has on his mind.

Yuu hops from one foot to the other, excited.

"So, I spent the day tinkering with new design I'd been working on. Could you just pass me your rifle a sec."

Zelpuz looks at the mage trying to gauge what he has up his sleeve, he is clearly excited, but as usual, that could be anything.
"Sure, just don't aim at the camp." He hands his rifle to Yuu.

Yuu takes the rifle, removes the cartridge and checks it's cleared, then sits down, laying the rifle across his knees. He pulls a tool bag from his backpack, and starts rummaging around inside. He finds an oddly shaped wrench-like device, a kind-of screw driver, and a doohickey with a some sort of spring mechanism, and lays them out to his side.

The young mage then begins to use these tools to dismantle the scope. He first removes the front lense mount, then carefully eases the top bracket, exposing the sophisticated array of glass, wires, processors, microchips, and the host of other parts that give the scope it's advanced functions. For the next 10 mins or so, he sets to work, fusing different wires, adding a new wiring harness he pulled from his pocket, and adds what looks to be a micro antenna, before swapping out a nether battery for a larger one. It's delicate work, but Yuu flows through it with dedicated focus.

Appearing satisfied with his work, he metaphorically sews his patient back and looks over his handywork... everything seems to be in check. Yuu stands, packs up and hands the rifle back to Zelpuz.

"So, I built a new toy from a design of mine. I call it a... 'drone'."

Zelpuz is unsure if he should feel awe or worried, but since Yuu seems to be pleased with the results whatever he did must have worked.
"Thank you, but what does it do?"
Zelpuz takes the rifle and looks through the scope.

"Oh, it doesn't do anything yet. Here, check this out."

From his belt pouch, Yuu pulls out a small, spherical ball, about the size of his palm. He presses on the top, and tosses the ball lightly. Instead of falling, the ball slows at its apex into a stationary hover.

"Alright, now look through your scope."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:23, Sun 16 Aug 2020.

Zelpuz takes the rifle and aims at a distant tree.

Zelpuz sees as normal, through the scope towards his aim point.

"Now, now click to C-setting on the scope functions wheel."

Zelpuz does as he was told. He presses "C" and looks astonished up at the orb.
"That's a neat trick! How do you control the orb?"

Yuu beams with excitement and seeing the expression on his friend's face doubles his smile.

"I use this."

He pulls from his pocket a thin, red band made up of some kind of rubberized material. There are two soft, black pads. Yuu slides the band over his head and he adjusts the the pads to sit comfortably above his temples.

"It's a neural scanner designed for measuring brain waves, but I retrofitted it to work in reverse, as an input controller. In this case, the drone."

The hovering orb begins to move around slowly, and the view of the scope follows the view of the drone.

"There's a few bugs and limitations to work through, but I'm happy with the prototype so far."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:42, Mon 17 Aug 2020.

Zelpuz stares at the ball and the mage and back at the ball.
"And you just finagled that together over the last day or so? Impressive! How far can it go? How fast is it? Does it have a chameleon function? And how long can it fly around?"
He obviously has more questions but ends with.
"And can I try it out? I'll have to practice aiming from a new angle, that'll be a fun challenge. How do you switch between the views? I don't want to accidentally hit something or someone in the way just because I didn't see the path."

"Chameleon would be awesome!!! Unfortunately, the controller has a nether chip that was mapped to my brain waves using a machine back at the university lab, I had the chip hanging around for an interesting project. Unless we made a map of your brain waves, the controller wouldn't understand the input it was receiving." Yuu sounds apologetic, but is still too excited to let the news dampen his enthusiasm.

"But I can use the goggle," the young mage pull out his nether goggles, "to see through the drone, just like your gun scope. If you switch to D-setting, the view will show up in thermal." Yuu makes a thumb-turning motion in the air for emphasis.

"Using it to aim would be really unique, that's for sure. It goes pretty fast, and pretty far, about 25 kms... and as long as it's in range, our signal should be clear. I'm going to fiddle with the machinery over time, and see how I can improve it. Like adding a stealth-chameleon effect. I'd also like to change the viewing system so instead of looking straight through the camera, we can look in 360 and see a bubble whereever we turn. Maybe if I can figure out a way to cast through it, even! Lots of fun times!!"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:52, Thu 20 Aug 2020.

"Sounds great. But so only you can move it, right?" Zelpuz looks around. "Try flying to that tree over there and look down, let's see if I can hit the stone below that."

Over the next few hours Zelpuz and Yuu practice using the drone to the point where neither are nauseated through the view-within-a-view perspective, and also to the point where Zelpuz has a firm grasp on his ricochet shot using the drone's view. After that they retire for the evening to get a good night's rest before the following day's venture.

The camp wakes at the usual time the following morning, but unlike the previous days there is a distinctive energy about everyone's actions. The slow and arduous climb of anticipation to this point is finally paying off, and with the results of Vanyra's and Zelpuz's recon yesterday, there are high hopes for first recon mission. The first group out will consist of 8 members, Vashilli the guide, Vanyra and Zelpuz, Dr. Rezam (Spacer), Dr. Vaanhaak, Praxam Jyural (grad student), Mahs Xyun (undergrad) and Grena Wills (electrical tech). Grena is bringing a pair of comm-relay balloons in the hopes they can find good anchor points on the ridge to expand direct comms. Back at camp Dr. Ulaar and Dr. Hyuzi will be directing their drones to scan the top of the ridge from each side, paralleling the away team.

The first team sets off after breakfast and a quick gear check, with Vashilli and Vanyra taking the lead, with Zelpuz mixing his time between aerial reconnaissance and moving with the science team. The scanner drones fan out in flanking positions on either side of the ridge and dart about in a seemingly erratic pattern for some time.

Progress at the start is slow as the team stops to take samples and readings numerous times to get a baseline; the initial results are interesting but require further analysis according to the researchers. A couple hours before aftereve the Grena Wills decides to launch the first comms buoy, with assistance from Vanyra and Zelpuz it is secured at both the base and top of a sturdy tree on the north side of the ridge. She remarks it should provide a solid data relay out to about 10km, maybe out to 15km down in the valleys below.

As the team moves further south along the ridge Zelpuz spots some erratic movement further down, approximately 1.5km from the group. Zelpuz and Yuu, via the drone, fly over quickly to investigate after alerting Vanyra to their actions.

From the safety of the air a scan of the area reveals a large creature pulling down a smaller tree. The large quadruped creature, probably in the 300~400kg range, is covered with long, rough bristled fur and equipped with powerful forearms and claws. Why the creature is trying to rip down the tree is not immediately apparent.

We probably want to avoid them.  It's probably easiest to see if we can drive it away from where we want to be with loud noise.  Though it should be someone away from the group, in case it is attracted to the noise.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:57, Thu 27 Aug 2020.

Zelpuz tells Vanyra about the creature and decides to shadow it for a while from far above to see what it is doing and where it is going.

"I'll fly ahead with the drone, see if I can see where it may be heading." Yuu reports over the comms.

After observing the creature for a couple minutes it becomes apparent that it is gathering food from the tree, oblong fruit growing out of the higher branches. It isn't progressing quickly but it does have a steady, methodological approach to gaining the prizes.

The main group stops to take some deeper samples of the soil and rock, providing the creature ahead time to eat and move-on after Vashilli's suggestions. Zelpuz monitors the animal for a good half-hour before it begins lumbering casually along the ridge in a northern direction. He quickly informs the party of this development. Vashilli and Vanyra break off and move to a forward position to monitor the approach of the animal.

By stretching out her senses mentally Vanyra is able to find the creature with Zelpuz's guidance as it makes its way through the foliage. It is not moving in any urgency though it is headed in their general direction.

Vashilli mentions in a low voice, "Can you see it yet? We can likely dissuade it from coming close by making a lot of noise. From what Zelpuz has said it doesn't sound like it is looking for trouble."

"I can see it.  Let's try moving to the side a little so that we make some noise we don't draw it to the group by accident."

With Vanyra's guidance Vashilli and the Freyan head southward from the main group. After travelling a few hundred meters they begin making quite a racket, through yelling, banging of branches against trees and rustling leaves.

Zelpuz has maintained a safe distance from the creature and sees it halt its path, perking up its ears in a curious fashion. Like it did with the tree earlier, the creature stands on its hind legs and surveys the land ahead of it. It moves northward for another minute, stops again and surveys the area east again as it did before. When it continues it begins moving back in a westerly direction, away from the main group.

Zelpuz relays the information to Vashilli and Vanyra, providing coverage as it moves beyond the range the the Freyan's ESP ability. The pair shadow in a parallel path to provide a block in case the creature changes its mind.

"Hm, I think we're safe. But we may have to deal with it on the way back. We should alert base camp, and perhaps have someone keep an eye on it," Vashilli remarks.

Zelpuz radios back: "Should I keep following the creature?"

The base camp responds back that they'll task one of the drones to keep an eye on it for know so you can proceed with your mission. With the animal dealt with and the survey team finished with their sampling at this location the group continues south on the last leg of the day. Beyond a few birds, small reptiles and insects the team does not come across anything further creatures of note.

Now at 10km from base camp the survey team splits into two, one east and one west to take samples from each side of the ridge and also to get a better view of the valleys on each side. Zelpuz goes with the west team and Vanyra the east. Another hour is spent collecting some samples from the ground, setting up another comms balloon and surveying the general area.

The return trip is much faster due to the lack of sampling and surveying. Base camp confirms that the creature had moved down the west ridge line before getting too near the camp. An altogether productive day by the standards of the science team and they begin to process the samples, survey and drone data immediately; the results of which should be ready for the morning briefing tomorrow.

The night passes without event and most of the expedition team is busy processing the data compile through the day's outing. The following morning there is some excitement during the briefing, the reason for which becomes immediately apparent when the drone scans are reviewed. A digital map of the entire ridge is presented and two points along the eastern edge are highlighted, one approximately halfway and the second all the way at the southern tip. Dr. Vaanhaak and Grena Wills (electrical technician) explain the drone scan suggests artificial structures at these two points with both metallic and electromagnetic signals detected. As a result today's expedition focus will be on finding the closer of the two, about 30km from camp, and uncover the nature of this anomaly.

With the day's briefing completed the groups set about preparations with the expectation that they'll be moving out within the hour. The comm balloons are working well, allowing the away team to have an easily marked route for the first several hours. Once they reach the general target zone a more planned and deliberate search will commence.

Once they arrive at the target area Vanyra stays with the search team while Zelpuz, along with a pair of drones from basecamp and Yuu's drone fly ahead to pinpoint the location of the other oddity.

Working in pairs through a grid pattern, with Vanyra at the lead center and those with sensors to her flanks the search party manages to locate the odd source of the readings in just under an hour. If not for the bizarre rectangular shape they may have missed it completely as it was completely covered in moss, vines and partially buried, but the hand scanners verified this is it. The signals are extremely weak, barely above ambient for electromagnetic interference, but using some active scans the team is able to verify the presence of a considerable amount of metal.

The next couple hours are spent carefully removing the foliage on top, scrapping away the moss and digging out the bottom portion. After a considerable amount of increasingly painstaking work the crew reveals a tall cera-metal box. It is approximately 2m in height, and half a meter long and wide. There is a door or hatch on the one side with no visible hinges and small, thin slot to the right that is only a couple fingers high but only a width of a thin knife blade.

"Some kind of key mechanism no doubt. I've seen these before but the unfortunate reality is none of us have the key. We'll have to either jury-rig a bypass or figure out how to open this without the key," notes Grena with a dejected and puzzled look on her face.

"No doubt that'll require some careful planning. This is going to be some old tech, we don't even know the condition of the interior... could be quite deteriorated," adds Praxam Jyural, one of the grad student researchers.

"Indeed. Mayhap the best plan for now will be to uncover some of the surrounding ground, see if we can find what it is hooked up to. I can try to run some more detailed scans to ascertain if this lock is even functioning in the meantime," Grena concludes.

Vanyra starts looking intently at the ground around the box.

Meanwhile, several kilometers away to the south, Zelpuz and three drones have reached the end of the ridge. In a 270-degree cone around them the valley stretches out before them, bottoming out some 1000m below. The end of the ridge looks tiny in comparison to the vista before them but there is still considerable ground below them and nothing stands out as being an electrical source. After about 5 hours of deliberate and intense searching they do eventually locate a foliage covered cube, some 2m in each dimension, located about 100m from the southern edge along the east side. From the air it blends into the forest seamlessly, but up close it definitely stands out unnaturally. With the amount of time it took to find Zelpuz only has enough time to place the locator beacon and head back to meet up with the rest of the group.

By the time Zelpuz meets back up with Vanyra and the rest of the away team a good 2.5m of vegetation and soil have been removed around the metallic box. Grena has completed all the scans and analysis of the hatch and locking mechanism that she can, hoping it will be enough data for them to jury-rig some sort of lock pick back at base.

Vanyra was able to locate a buried conduit below the structure, dropping down a half-meter below the surface and then running north and south. The team suspects it is the power and control cabling that links whatever the box is to other structures. It is suggested that a re-tooling of a couple of the drones may allow them to follow these conduits through subterranean scans; it would be relatively slow work but a lot easier than trying to dig them up.

As daylight begins to wane the team makes their way back to the base camp.

That evening passes by rather uneventfully. Grena, Yuu and a few others thoroughly review what little information they have on the metallic cube in preparation for the next day's mission. Upon hearing of Yuu's transformation spell ability the mood lifts considerably as the though of trying to power hack a potentially dead electrical lock was not enticing, nor was the thought of blasting it open. Grena and Dr. Ulaar and Vaanhaak also explain what they know of Zhen Halan technology and electrical systems, and Dr. Rezam and Dr. Hyunzi related current Spacer technology which was ultimately derived from the time of the Ancients and revised by the Empire.

The rest of the camp is preparing the additional equipment for the way-camp; hammocks with screens, food stocks, a powerful radio, and basic excavation tools. To maintain maximum mobility the distant away team will be limited to only 6 members. The marking of the other object by Zelpuz and drones has done much to mitigate the lack of additional personnel, as has the experience with the nearer electrical box.

The next morning the large group sets off, a total of 16. The trail is well worn and the team makes good time to the first box. Six of the team break off to set-up the away camp, while another six begin making their way south, cutting path that follows the drone scans of the subterranean conduit as best they can.

Yuu, Grena, Dr. Rezam and a grad student begin their examination of the metal rectangle. The Ossylian mage begins with a small spell focusing just enough nether to transmute a 2cm section of the panel into a cotton-like cloth. After discussing the problem the previous night some sort of cloth was deemed the best option as it provided some measure of continued protection for the interior, while allowing access to the interior and without the possibility of contaminating the inside with other debris.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:58, Wed 07 Oct 2020.

A moment later the cerametal is transformed into a taught circle of cloth which is cut away with some effort, it matching the thickness of the panel at about 5mm. Using a small light Yuu and Grena take turns peering into the box with wiring and circuit boards confirming their initial assumptions as to its purpose. There appears no sign of power though.

Yuu next transforms a section of the panel nearest the cardlock which allows them to open the panel properly. The inside is surprisingly spartan, with only a few bundles of cables running from below into what the group thinks to be regulator mechanism and a small bank of batteries. Despite its age interior is spotless, likely due to the seals around the panel and all the edges; they certainly built this to last.

After performing some tests Yuu and Grena come up with a plan to recharge the batteries, hoping this will give them some basic functionality access and possibly information on what this is connected to. Dr. Rezam and the grad student agree to return to the base camp to prepare a solar charging unit while Yuu and Grena work out how exactly to make it work with this ancient technology.

Over the next two days the team confirms the batteries can still hold enough charge to provide a small electrical current through the lines. With this small current the team is able to re-configure the scanners on the drones to more accurately trace the lines of the conduits, allowing for much faster and accurate mapping. With this discovery the expedition forms two away teams, one to continue tracking the conduit to the far power relay station in the south, and the second to track the conduit back towards the base camp.

While working on the batteries Dr. Ulaar, Vaanhaak, Hyunzi and Rezam spend much time cataloging the exact components within the power relay station and comparing them with databases they have. Ultimately they estimate the device dates back to the century before the Golem War of the Zhen Halan Empire due to the lack of more advanced components that were developed over the course of that conflict. That would make this at least 350 years old.

Vanyra elects to stay with the away team and track south along the path presented by the slightly powered subterranean conduit. The faint electromagnetic signal provides just enough guidance to keep them on the path, eventually leading them to the southern power relay as they had expected and hoped. The cerametal box is in much the same condition as its northern companion, covered with vegetation that requires only a bit of muscle and dedication to remove. If this power relay is connected to another there must be an internal switch as the electrical current stops here. Aside from the power relay and the majestic 270 degree view of the valley beyond there are no signs of any structures, as Zelpuz had reported earlier.

Meanwhile far to the north Zelpuz is assisting the team working its way back towards camp while following the empower conduit. The path is easy enough to follow from the ground, the current being too weak for aerial tracking, until it abruptly ends approximately 500m from the cliff-face where the ridge meets the meadow upon which the base camp rests. Zelpuz recalls scouting this area with Vanyra upon their arrival and noting the steep descent to the valley floor below. Perplexed by the sudden loss the team returns to base camp that evening to review their path and findings to reorient their search the following morning.

The next day Zelpuz performs some closer aerial reconnaissance of the area, looking for natural pathways which may suggest the change in course of the conduit. The rest of the team is scanning the side nearest to the base camp to see if they can pickup anything there. After a few hours and some high and wide examinations the Mespah notes the extreme difference in angle of descent from the area of concern compared with the ridge in general. From afar it appears as though a piece of the ridge may have broken free or washed away at some point. There was certainly some concern in selecting the base camp location of mountain runoff so it seems plausible that it could have triggered a major landslide at some point, possibly severing the conduit and whatever it was connected to.

Zelpuz relays his observations to the team and they decide to get more detailed topographical scans of that area, as well as get some ground samples, which should reveal the history of the zone. This takes up the rest of the day and Zelpuz joins Ashari Neachen, the recently arrived Freelancer reinforcement, in patrol of the base perimeter and to engage in some idle conversation about flying. Ashari arrived only three days passed, a request from Dr. Rezam and Hyunzi to their home station in response to the rapid progress in finding the remnants of the old Imperial facility and the difficulty of maintaining a secure presence over such a large area. She arrived in a most unexpected fashion, having performed an orbital drop in her powered armor suit early one morning. While a native Spacer she's been a Freelancer for all of her adult life, inheriting the armor she pilots from her mother who received it from her father and so forth; the suit apparently can be traced back to around the end of the Golem Wars.

Several hours later Dr. Vaanhaak calls together the team who remained at the base camp and the near away team to discuss the results of the analysis from these most recent scans. It would appear as though some violent event, natural or otherwise, resulted in a landslide in that area. With the testimony Vanyra provided of her post-cognitive vision, and given the presumed age of the conduit this may have been caused by the destruction of a generator or a reactor overload. The Zhen Halan empire had perfected the nether reactors that are used in many places now and if such device was present and was destroyed in that violent incident there should be minute residual nether crystal fragments scattered about. To that end he asks Yuu to assist in developing a means to detect such faint traces of nether energy, for while they possess a lot of conventional technology and a firm grasp of nether reactors, a more intuitive and refined approach will be needed here.

Yuu had watched, captivated by the orbital entry of the power suit. He is quick to introduce himself to Ashari, and offer a quick tour of the camp. His enthusiasm to ask questions about the armour is obvious, and he hopes she will have time to answer during some down time.

Later, as the discussions unfold regarding the new discoveries and plans to proceed, Yuu listens in and adds his bits here and there where he can. It's all quite exciting stuff, and getting to share and utilize some of what he knows with all the adults is stimulating. When they ask him to assist with the nether problem, Yuu is elated, and only too happy to help.

Thinking it through, he suggests a spell, as it would give him some flexibility beyond a mechanical device. Although a device could be wired together, creatiing the features would be time consuming, when his talents with spells would get the team the answers they need. He'll get to work on it once the briefing wraps up.

Meanwhile far to the south the away team is searching the area around the power relay. After some time Vanyra announces to the team that there appears to be a shaft of sorts under the hillock adjacent to the power relay. After a quick explanation of how she knows this, which most of them do not understand, they do conduct a few scan using ground penetrating radar and some near-surface ground sampling. A Few hours later, with light waning, the results come back conclusively supporting Vanyra's claim. The nature of the cavern is unknown, but given the power relays and the presence of the overgrown road, it is logical to assume this will be a lift shaft of sorts. Bolstered by their find the team radios back the finding to base and heads back to the forward camp with renewed vigor to pass the night.

That evening, Vanyra will pull Zelpuz and Yuu aside.

She relates a story that she had a vision of the past in the complex they are looking for.  She was inside the complex as it was evacuated with alarms going off.  They claimed to have found something major in this complex, but evacuated it in the middle of the night in a rush.  They then left through the worldgate, apparently abandoning the base.  She believes that the elevator shaft she found today is the one she remembered evacuating from, but with the upper few meters caved in.

Zelpuz listens intently. "That sounds interesting, any idea why they were leaving so quickly?" He rubs his chin. "And can you explain your visions to us? You seem to have quite accurate visions of the past, and sometimes the future. Are they the same? And is the past more accurate than the future since it can still change?"

"I don't think the people there even knew why they were forced to leave.  They woke me up in the middle of the night and we abandoned the world."
Vanyra pauses and shrugs, "I still don't really understand it.  I can see into the past on purpose better, it still isn't easy all the time.  I found the old roads around here by looking back.  Future dreams just happen whenever they want to."

"How many people did you see?" Yuu asks.

"Oh, there were lots of people."

"Would you say hundreds? Just thinking... the number of people may give us an indication how big the facility below is." Yuu considers. "And when you say 'They woke me up", how do you mean 'me'?"

"I saw the events as if I was someone there.  They woke me up out of bed to evacuate.  I saw... at least 30 people.  But there could have been more.  People slept there - I think it was a large underground facility...  And they found something important."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:31, Fri 23 Oct 2020.

"Wow, that's really cool you can do that! What about... any children? Like... would families have worked down there, maybe?"

"I didn't see any as far as I know. I think I was a scientist or something."

"Can you go back and see more what happened after? Or would you be a different person? Or at a different time?" Zelpuz asks. "Maybe we can find out more that way. Do you need to be at the exact place to look back? Or could you use this to see us finding what we are looking for, so we then know where to look?"

Vanyra looks around uncharacteristically uncomfortably, "Um.. I didn't see that part on purpose.  I don't think I get the big ones on purpose."
"But I already found the place I saw.  The lift that I evacuated through is what I found today."

The camp is very much alive with excitement and anticipation that evening on account of the two significant discoveries made; the possible resting place of a nether reactor and the presence of the shaft at the far end of the ridge. The entire expedition team is awake late into the night bouncing theories and ideas off of each other. While the evidence of the nether reactor remains is not confirmed the team has high hopes in the spell Yuu is developing. Meanwhile Dr. Rezam and Hyunzi are preparing a data request for to be sent to Kallian station during it's next orbit, later the following morning, in the hopes of accessing some ancient communication records from around the time the supposed event occurred. Their hope is that an event that prompted the evacuation of such a facility would have been communicated across the planet.

For now the forerunning explanation is the outbreak of the Golem Wars, proposed by Dr. Ulaar, on account that the initial stages of the conflict prompted a general paranoia throughout the empire that severely disrupted travel across worlds in the hopes it would slow the enemy's advance. As such if the team was from offworld they may have faced being stranded if they stayed. Of course that does not explain what happened to the nether generator or why they destroyed the top-side structures in their flight. The possibility of there being something within the facility far below that prompted a rapid evacuation cannot be dismissed and offers a reason why they may have sabotaged access to the site. Dr. Vaanhaak is hoping the results of Yuu's spell and the subsequent investigation may yield some clues either way.

The presence of the lift shaft is at once an amazing opportunity and a confounding puzzle. Given the age of the structure and the previously discussed rapid departure and possible sabotage by the former occupants there is considerable concern over the structural integrity of the shaft and exactly how they would access it in the first place. Beyond that the nature of the environment beyond must be ascertained before any manned exploration could take place.

Yuu spends the night and the following day diligently working on his latest spell, one so very different from his typical magic and from all that he studied at the academy; most people focus on large, bombastic results, not the ones you cannot see. After a daunting series of trial and error, with assistance from Ashari and Dr. Vaanhaak and Dr. Rezam, Yuu is able to dial-in the sensitivity of the spell to a previously unthinkable level; so minute are the traces of nether energy that a single person is like a blinding flash of energy, and someone like Zelpuz is like staring into sun. After the sensitivity is confirmed Yuu works to narrowly focus its range since the general residual nether energies in any person or thing could throw him off.

The rest of the team remains focused on how to access the shaft and how to better ascertain its structure and where it leads. It will take a several days to clear away the top soil, fallen trees and any debris to get to the roof of the shaft, and then they would need to secure that area. While that is happening a couple of the undergrad students work to modify the ground penetrating radar unit, enhancing its power and range, with the hope that Ashari and Zelpuz can descent along the face of the ridge and take readings on the way down, letting everyone know the possible depth of the shaft and of whatever it connects to.

Vanyra and Zelpuz have come up with a bit of a risky plan wherein Zeluz could teleport into the shaft while telepathically linked to Vanyra's extra-sensory perception. Once inside, and hopefully equipped with some manner of life support, he'd be able to get some quick readings. Vanyra carefully maps out a portion of the shaft by touch via ESP, following which she and Zelpuz practice precision teleporting via ESP to ensure Zelpuz doesn't end up in a wall.

After a day and a half of design, planning and practice Yuu sets about scanning the steep slope leading into the eastern valley. The first couple of hours result in nothing but sweat and frustration. While he is keeping the spell focused and filtering out residual pulses at camp was challenging enough, doing so while climbing over logs, vines and through branches on a 20-degree decline is another matter. Finally he detects something promising, a small rocky outcropping and has an peculiar and consistent nether pattern. The young mage spends considerable time comparing this rock with nearby surface readings to confirm the difference is real and then focuses into the rock and the earth below. By going deeper, away from the surface noise, Yuu is able to find the unmistakable signal pattern of nether crystal; a cool, constant wave form that is so unlike the chaotic fluctuations of raw nether. It would seem something was here at one time, time to report back to camp.

With Yuu's discovery of the nether crystal micro-shards scattered about the nearby slope the focus of the expedition turns to unearthing more details about what exactly is and was there. If there was a nether reactor here, what exactly happened that resulted it in being scattered over the hillside and why? The inquiry was sent to Kallian station but the response has been long in coming, but to the chagrin and consternation of the archivists.

During this time some additional scans of the shaft and planning for how to access and assess it are undergone by Ashari, Zelpuz and a couple of the undergrads, with a focus on getting a full measurement of how far down the shaft descends and if there are any serious structural breaks. From there the expedition may have a chance to seek an alternative entrance should the shaft prove unviable.

While Yuu sets about mapping just how wide an area the nether shards are spread and the expedition team begins a careful excavation around the original rock outcropping, Vanyra focuses her senses carefully back through time. The first clue she uncovers is the shape of that hillside changed noticeable over a lengthy time jump, with it formerly being more rounded and with a more gradual slope further in the past.

Yuu makes good progress and maps out an area approximately 15m wide and 38m long, starting from the top of the ridge and extending down about 10m beyond that rocky outcrop with the highest concentration of nether shards. Without a standardized scale to record his observations he does his best to plot the intensity, miniscule as it is, of the nether shards in each 2 square meter area and provides it to the expedition leaders.

Vanyra spends the whole day leap frogging her perception back and forth in time, finding a point where the road existed and then one where it did not in the search for the causal event. By the end of the day she is mentally exhausted but had managed to find point relatively close to the destructive event as the slope has been changed to its present shape and new flora has sprung up all around. She is certain she could locate the event tomorrow if she so chose, though given this last scene she can ascertain the destruction was relatively confined as it does not extend further down the hillside nor is there any major damage to the meadow above, though it does look different.

Ashari returns with the latest deep scans of the shaft and the techs get to work deciphering it immediately. With any luck they should have have a good idea of where the shaft leads to and possibly confirm the integrity of what is at the bottom. Zelpuz was relegated to guard duty in the base camp, a welcome respite from all this searching over the last few days. With Yuu's permission he positions the drone on the far side of the meadow, near the tree line and practices precision shots while scanning the area. One such practice shot nets him a Jarodilia, a large omnivorous quadruped that looked dangerous enough, but which Zelpuz is informed doesn't taste half bad. Thus he and one of the guides collects the carcass and butchers it for the night's meal.

The following three days are busy but relatively uneventful. Much time is given to analyzing the deep scans Ashari took of the shaft and of the former site of the nether reactor. The shaft appears to extend all the way down to the floor of the valley below, or at least close enough given the limitations of scanning presented by the cliff base. There was nothing to indicate an exit to the shaft anywhere in the scans, suggesting it may be a subterranean structure or opened up to something that has been swallowed by the forests below. Given the distance to the valley floor it would be difficult to mount a scouting party and it is decided that once the top of the shaft is accessible and initial investigation results returned the decision to scout the base of the cliff would be revisited.

After two days of careful excavation the team does recover some concrete evidence of a nether reactor near the rock outcropping, a piece of crystal laminated cermet that was likely part of the power containment core. Additional good news arrives that evening as Kallian station orbits overhead and transmits some information regarding centuries old Imperial planetary communications, the first of which is a general order for the closure of the World Gate on Arghos to all but authorized military personnel which would take effect 4 days after transmission on Day 96 in the year 1585 ZH in the old Imperial calendar, it is now the year 157 PI (Post-Imperial) which makes this site tentatively 312 years old. An additional message was uncovered, which was referenced in that planetary isolation order but was redacted. Upon further investigation which included accessing a very old classified server, and hence the delay, a specific order was transmitted to specific Imperial units on Kahluyn 7 days earlier telling them to immediate close and blacken their operational sites, return to their home planet with as much critical material as possible and destroy any remaining equipment. The order mentions the increasing instability of the conflict surrounding the Jolamun world gate and that all Imperial expeditions are being diverter to quelling this problem. There was no recipients listed, but these do suggest the facility pre-dates the Golem Wars and that the war may have be the reason for the abandonment of the site.

While the investigations are going on Yuu, Ashari and a few others are hard at work blasting, digging, carrying away debris and erecting scaffolding to brace the dig site. After 3 days of work with Yuu's mini-arm of Imps they manage to clear away enough to expose the cerametal roof, or perhaps floor, of the shaft. The team concentrated on a two square meter area (2m wide, 1m deep) of the structure, making it sufficiently clean for analysis and direct access. It is decided work should continue to expose the entirety of the structure, but that should only take another day since most of the heavy lifting has been done. Initial scans place the cerametal floor at approximately 25cm thick, no so thick that it cannot be drilled through though that will take some time.

Vanyra is able to jump back to her original flashback a few more times, moving forwards and backwards a bit more, and gleaming bits and pieces of conversation that cast additional evidence confirming the transmission from Kallian station. It seems that the original crew of this facility had no real understanding of why the world gates are being shutdown, but they are and they have a limited time window to get back home. There is no talk of the golems, but in a way this make sense since Kah'luyn would not have had any knowledge of them at this time from what she has heard over the last day of discussion.

While the entirety of the shaft's roof revealed through careful excavation and scaffolding the team also manages to break through the cerametal in one corner. The atmospheric sampling verifies the air is breathable, though particulate matter is fairly high so masks are recommended. Radiation levels are at acceptable levels. The team suspends a small lamp through the hole to illuminate the top, though not enough for Zelpuz to have a line of site to teleport. Vanyra is able to project her senses through the roof once more to allow the Mespah to teleport in with a drone. Through the hole an antenna allows the tech to control it and guide it down the shaft after Zelpuz safely teleports back out. As the drone descends it transmits back similar results for the atmospheric conditions save for the increased particulates that should circulate out if they can open it up. At the bottom of the shaft the drone does illuminate the lift, covered in dust and seemingly not functional. There are no cables though there are electric motors on each corner, but there is no clear way to restore function to the lift. While additional study of the shaft may convey some new information it is obvious to everyone that the real prize is beyond that lift.

The decision is made to create a person-accessible latch in the roof plate to allow for a recon team to examine the lift at the bottom to assess its functionality and if there is access something beyond. While the cutout into the roof is made Yuu works on setting up a monitor to stream the feed from his drone to the surface. The following morning Vanyra and Yuu enter Zelpuz's pocket dimension as he flies down the shaft at a good pace, reaching the bottom in a couple of minutes.

Yuu is eager to be out of the dimensional pocket, not quite enjoying the experience. Too many horror stories from his readings of things going... wrong. He stretches out, testing his footing, every scrape sending echoes up the shaft hundred of meters above. Satisfied the top of the elevator feels sturdy enough for the moment, the young mage pulls from his pouch a series of lights wired together. Holding the bundle in one hand, he flips on the switch, and slowly raises the intensity dial. The three are slowly bathed in a glow that is welcoming, yet haunting... pressed in on all sides by blackness only the deepest places call home.

Once lit, he begins stringing them around the edges of the shaft and top of the elevator, giving his small crew a place to see themselves and elevator at their feet.

"Hello, comms check." Yuu whispers into the radio. Why he whispers? It just feels... the right thing to do.

Feeling good to be out of a tiny space, Vanyra starts examining her surroundings to the full extent she can.

The trio finds themselves on top of a well-built lift by the looks of it, just as expected from the drone footage. Looking up produces only a small point of light from the surface 1000m above, appearing like a start in the deepest of night skies. There is a thick layer of dust, dirt and pebbles that make the footing less than ideal but none of them really have anywhere far to fall should they slip. At each of the four corners a sturdy and powerful-looking, by Yuu's assessment, motor is integrated with the lift. You cannot seem to make out the method of propulsion though as there are no cables or wheels; it will likely require some partial disassembly to figure it out. The roof hatch is visible only as a slightly raised near-square on the right side of lift. After a minute of brushing away the debris a cerametal latch is revealed.

"Let's take a look inside"

"Hello, comms check." Yuu tries again, pulling out the drone with a free hand.

"Copy Deep 7, reading you loud and clear. What is your status?" Yuu hears over the comm link more clearly than he had expected, but they did setup a directional antenna at the top to maximize the signal. Even with that he is not confident on the signal if they structure moves further into the hillside, though he figures he could use the drone as a relay if necessary after a few quick tweaks.

"We're alive and at the elevator. I'm starting up the drone." Yuu powers up the drone, and releases the spherical machine above their heads. He gives a friendly wave. "Is our camera coming through okay?"

"Yes, we're getting the video signal. All good." the surface observers reply.

Yuu looks at his friends, and gives a cheerful thumbs up. He then crouches at the edge of the roof hatch and begins to follow along the edges for any mechanism for opening.

The air at the bottom of the shaft is stale, cool and full of particulates following their touchdown, but otherwise fine. Luckily the team brought masks with them to help deal with the dust and such. Through investigations the lift below appears to be empty and dark. Yuu is quickly able to locate the edges of the hatch and the handle. It appears to have a simple quarter-turn locking mechanism.

Yuu takes a breath, and turns the handle.

The handle appears stuck until Yuu throws his weight behind it, and even then it gives slowly, but evenly he's certain the latch is unlocked. Bracing himself he lifts up... to no avail. If the handle was difficult to turn the latch is a completely monumental task to lift. It stands to reason that it the hinges and such may be decayed somewhat, but cerametal is extremely resistant to rust, so perhaps there's alternative lock? Before committing himself to another search he beckons Vanyra and Zelpuz over to assist with the latch.

The three comrades pull on the hatch with combined strength.

Bracing themselves and maneuvering to get the best grip they can the trio heave on the latch and for a moment feel it give just a bit, but the hatch remains in place.

Yuu stands, massaging the palms of his sore hands.

"Well, when muscle doesn't cut it..." He motions his friends to step back.

As Vanyra and Zelpuz take a step back and shake out their muscles Yuu begins to weave nether energies together through a complex formulation culminating in the latch emitting a dim white glow as the mystical energies strain against it. A slight groan is heard, followed by a short swish of equalizing air pressure, and the hatch slowly opens upwards. The residual light from above pours into the murky darkness beyond to reveal an empty and closed lift. The control panel sit to one side of the doors, and from this distance appears intact. Aside from the layer of dust on the floor and the flurry of scintillating particles in the air brought about by opening the hatch there is noting of note inside.

The trio stares down at the layer of dust that has accumulated over hundreds of years.
"OK, let's take a look, maybe we are lucky and can get out the door." Zelpuz says, he peeks his head into the hatch and lowers a light, tests the air and then jumps down.

Yuu peaks over the edge where the Mespah dropped, positioning a light into space.

Vanyra keeps her senses on alert in case of any danger.

Zelpuz looks around. There are buttons, he can't resist and presses the "Open door" button. Nothing moves, so he tries to see through the cracks of the door, then push the door open.

If there was dust in the air before it becomes a veritable whirlwind after Zelpuz drops down. The lift doors are sufficiently shut to prevent one from seeing anything beyond, leaving only one way for the dust to flow, which is out the hatch. Yuu and Vanyra duck back to avoid the cloud and let is dissipate. Zelpuz satiates his curiosity with confirming there is no power to the control panel.

Vanyra slowly extends her senses through the door, attempting to ascertain if the door opens into a passage or not.

Yuu coughs, waving dust from his face.

"I'd ask what *cough* you see, but..." he tries squinting through the dust and glare.

Zelpuz pulls out his multi-tool McGiver knife, fiddles around the door for a bit, shortly after a little click makes him smile. "I think I got the door open" he shots up with a bit of coughing.

Yuu turns the light towards the door area Zelpuz is fiddling at, watching excitedly.

With the locking mechanism released Zelpuz manages to pry the doors apart sufficiently with his tool to get this other hand in the gap and pry it apart. The doors move slowly requiring a fair degree of effort, no doubt a result of centuries of disuse. The beams of light from the trio cut through the darkness beyond to illuminate a large room beyond about, 10m square. The air is even more stale and musty than the lift and there is a high degree of cool moisture. The room appears to be well constructed with walls of cement or similar compound.

"Come down, there is a room behind the doors" Zelpuz shouts up. "Let's go explore a bit and then head back up."

Yuu drops down next, dangling himself from the hatch before dropping to his feet. The drone follows him through the hatch, and positions itself just behind the explorers.

The young mage steps up to the Mespah, and shines his torch through into the room. The wide grin on his face clearly shows his excited disposition. This is like every kids crazy fantasy... exploring ancient ruins. His friends back home will be so jealous!!

Vanyra silently and rapidly swings down to join them and looks around.

As the enter the room beyond the lift, with the various lamps illuminating the far corners as each of them swing their view around, it is very apparent that no one has been here in a long time. To their right there are a few colonies of fungus growing across the walls and floor. There are three clumps of decomposed matter, perhaps wood scattered about. In the center there is a large black clump of black that carries the faint odor of ashes, and there are indeed signs of fire etched onto the floor around. In the far wall rests a pair of regular sized doors, shut.

The entire place is dead silent save the muted crunch of their footfalls as they fan out to look about, that is until the surface team radios down, "What's your status? Looks like you got through the lift into somewhere."

Vanyra squats down to look at the blackened debris and questions out loud, "Why was there fire here?"

Yuu shakes his head, "Maybe a power surge of some kind, or water contamination triggered something electrical. Some kind of central terminal, maybe?"

He flips the comms. "Hi Surface, yeah, we got the elevator open, we're just in the first room now. How's the video link?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:08, Thu 10 Dec 2020.

Zelpuz carefully steps into the room, testing the layers of dust.
"Maybe they tried to burn critical documents and equipment that they couldn't take in the rush. Let's check the room out and then see if the door opens." Zelpuz moves to the lump of ashes to poke around in it looking for things that may have survived the fire and time. "Or should we leave this site in untouched condition for the scientists? Well, they can tell us to stop if they want, so let's take a look."

"Video feed is ok for the moment, some degradation, but we're seeing the basics. Be careful and do not disturb any items down there until we get a chance to examine them, no telling what we may uncover from it, not to mention if there are any toxins or contagions on it." the surface team responds over the radio. "Did you have a chance to examine the lift; any visible damage? Do you think it could be restored?"

Turning away from the door at the other end of the room, Vanyra looks down at the charred area again and says "Why don't you guys look into the lift.  We should probably do that before opening any more doors.  This pile doesn't make sense..."

Looking towards the middle of the room, her eyes shift to pure white as she stands motionless.

"But there is a door right there." Zelpuz says. "Doesn't it look like it wants to be opened? We should at least see if it's locked or not? I guess after that we should return back up."

Yuu steps out carefully, watching his step. He turns to the elevator, and begins following seams, prying away any panels, doing a cursory examination on the viability of this thing running again. "Taking a look at the elevator now, Surface."
To Zelpuz, "A quick peak, but be careful. As they said...who knows what contaminations or toxic leaks might be floating around."

A further scan of the room reveals a faded sign to the right of the lift doors stating in simple, block letters "Surface Lift." On the far side to the right of those closed doors is another set of faded letters, a list or directory of sorts:

S101 - Administration
S102 - Security Office
S103 - Male Washroom
S104 - Female Washroom
S105 - Mess Hall
S106 - Rec Lounge
S109 - Bunk Room A
S110 - Bunk Room B
S115 - Mess Hall
S119 - Control Center
S120 - Medical Center

There is no map accompanying the list. The doors appear solid, made of a similar cerametal as the others, though far less heavy. You do not see a locking mechanism on the handles.

"This floor seems to be the dormitory of the facility." Zelpuz radios up. "We'll check out if the other doors would open to see what equipment we might need to bring down and then come back up."
Zelpuz turns to the others, "OK, I'll fly over to the door and see if it opens, I'll be right back. Should head back up after?"

Zelpuz flies above the remains of the ancient fire to the opposite side where Vanyra stands intently looking about the room, seemingly oblivious to his approach. As he lands in front of the double doors there indeed appear to be no locks, just handles. He also notes the lack of any windows in the door, not that he would expect to see anything beyond in the dark as is though. A cursory glance around the door frame reveals no signs of sealing mechanisms. As it were the doors appear to function only as the simplest of barriers separating this area from what lies beyond.

Zelpuz lands in front of the door and taps it gently to see if it swings open.

The door does budge open a bit at Zelpuz's tap, but not much. It is obvious that age has taken its toll on the hinges and it'll take a bit more than a tap, likely a solid push to open the door fully. In any case it is certainly not locked or barred by any means.

"The next door seems to be a little rusty but not locked. Should we explore some more or go back first?" Zelpuz shouts back to the other two.

Vanyra seems to regain awareness of current events and says, "This burning is not from the evacuation time.  I don't know when it happened. We should be careful."

"Do you mean open the door carefully, or try to get a few more people and equipement down here first?"

"I mean watch out for things that might burn other things to a crisp."

"You mean besides me? Right, maybe some defense mechanism? Although the lift seems a better spot for defensive action." Zelpuz looks around for any signs of flame throwers that might be hiding in the ceiling. "OK, let's be careful, but should we go on a bit or return for now?"

"You mean... maybe like a defense machine, that burns intruders to a crisp?" says Yuu over his shoulder.

"Who knows, maybe? What else do you think caused this pile of ashes?" Zelpuz flies back over. "So, what do you think, should we go back? We can come back for more investigations later, or we can see what's in the Mess hall, or the medical center."

"Do we want to investigate more before we start opening doors?" Vanyra asks.  "Maybe the machines they have could look for more while I spend some time in the past?"

"OK, then let's head back up. Yuu, did you figure anything out on the lift? Do you think you can get it to work again?"

"I don't see any mechanical faults, or anything that would prevent it working. It's quite advanced tech... but if we can figure out how to turn on power, it could probably function."

The young mage stops his investigation, and looks around the open space. He thinks.

"Hi Surface. We're going to check out some of these rooms. If any security threat exists, we'd rather know about it now before we start moving you guys and equipment down."

"Copy that. We'll await a communication every 30 minutes , if not sooner. Be careful down there." the message filters through the radio speaker, loud and clear.

Zelpuz and Vanyra slowly open the doors to reveal a considerably long shadowy corridor, with particles of dust flickering through the light beam cast by the torch (aka flashlight). Vanyra's keen eye's estimate it is a good 30m or more to the end whereat another pair of doors prevent further investigation. They can both see two areas there it looks as though the corridor branches right and left, and in between these intersections a number of closed doors can be seen leading off of each side, the nearest pair of which is to their immediate right and left.

Zelpuz is excited to go ahead, re-discovering long lost ruins and using his newly improved rifle to see better in the dark.
"Let's move careful. Maybe Vanyra should go first, I think she can see best. We'll move from one door to the next. Yuu and I provide cover if need be." He readies his rifle.

Vanyra starts looking down the hallway again, thinking about her movements forward.

"Let's move down the hallway, check every door, first left, then right. We'll be right behind you."

Yuu flips on his goggles, and toggles the dark vision and magic detect modes. He holds at the doors, opposite Zelpuz, providing support for Vanyra's movements.

The trio moves beyond the foyer, with Zelpuz propping open the right door with a piece of debris for easy retreat if necessary. Vanyra quickly scans the doors to her left and right, finding signs to the right of each at just below eye level: "101 Administration" and "102 Security." Aside from a dust film the signs are easily legible.

There is a small square window in the center of the door, about 75% of the way from the bottom that allows Vanyra a quick albeit limited look into the room beyond with some ambient light from the torch. The room has a shelf of sorts and a table, covered in dust but nothing else from her perspective.

Trying the door handle the Freyan finds it finds the latch mechanism stiff, and exerting some force she hears a sharp snap, after witch the handle latch looses all tension. Knowing well her own strength she is certain she did not exert enough force to break regular steel. Nor does she hear or feel any additional noises coming from the handle.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:44, Mon 04 Jan 2021.

"Look at the floor, let's make sure to check out the layer of dust before we move anywhere, if someone was here recently, we should see steps."

Even as they entered the hallway it was readily apparent that no one had been here in quiet some time as a completely even layer of dust had settled across everything, undisturbed.

"Looks like no-one has been here for a while, so let's move on to the next room. Let's quickly check the rooms and see what's next." Zelpuz says pointing to the dust layer.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:34, Wed 06 Jan 2021.

Yuu nods, waiting for Vanyra to move forward.

"See anything?" he asks, curious what the Freyan sees through the window.

Failing to get the door latch to work after it broke, and realizing that it won't open anymore, Vanyra steps back and asks if someone has any means to remove the broken handle.

Vanyra then attempts to very carefully open the opposite handle without breaking it.

"I can convert the locking mechanisms to clay," offers Yuu.

Through the window in the door the opposite room appears to be an almost perfect copy of the previous room; a table and a couple of empty shelving units all covered in a fine layer of dust. Vanyra gently grasps the door handle and applies an ever slightly increase of pressure to the latch mechanism. As pressure increases she begins to worry but suddenly there is a reassuring click as the internal latch releases and the door opens. A gentle flood of dust washes out of the opening from the room beyond. Aside from the furniture this room sports a door on the far side, closed.

"Let's take a look at the desk and then try the next door."

The trio moves into the so-called security office. There really is not much here to see, the shelves are empty save for the fine layer of dust, which is mirroring the table. By the looks of it this was a waiting room or processing room of sorts versus an actual office. Vanyra reaches the other door and carefully checking the handle finds it does not move at all. A quick glance down at her effort reveals that unlike the previous door this one actually has a lock slot. The lack of any give in the handle suggests to Vanyra that this door is indeed locked.

Yuu moves up beside the Freyan, puts his hand on the handle and casts a Transform spell. The handle is reduced from a shiny gleamy metal, to a brittle brown clay. He steps back, and nods for Vanyra to try again.

Vanyra gently tries the handle.

Zelpuz observes the procedure from the hallway door.

As they moved through the room the trio notices a door that what concealed behind a shelf on the north side of the room, on their left. It does not have a handle or latch and the sign in the middle provides some clue as to where it leads, "Men's Toilet." Setting aside any desire to investigate a centuries old washroom Vanyra continues to focus her attention on far door.

Following Yuu's spell the handle squishes under Vanyra's pressure and pulls away from the door itself, ever thinning strands of clay giving way slowly but also pulling the door along with it. Despite the effort the handle gives way before the door swings open. Judging by the remains of the handle and door lock mechanism it is a simple matter for Vanyra to give a solid push and open the door.

The room beyond appears to be the same size as the current one, with only the contents distinguishing one from the other. Rather than shelves and a table this room contains a pair of rusting metal desks and chairs. As with the previous room there is nothing decorating the walls or the desktops and it appears nothing has disturbed this room for a long time.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:38, Tue 12 Jan 2021.

"All clear. Should we check out the room on the other side? Seems like we might need to make a few clay handles along the way."

Giving the Mespah a nod of agreement, Yuu moves back to the hallway to cover for the next door.

"Can you convert the broken to clay again?"

They move back into the corridor, leaving the toilet-marked door alone for now. Proceeding down the hall the trio comes to an intersection; to their left and right short corridors are lined with three doors a piece, while the way forward proceeds down into the darkness beyond the light of their torches.

One of the doors on each side is marked "Toilet" and preceded by the common symbol denoting a particular sex. The door opposite these are marked "Storage X" where the X is a alpha-numeric combination, 1A and 1B in this case. Finally the doors at the end of each of the corridors are labeled "Rec Lounge" on your right and "Specimen Lab" on your left. All the doors are closed.

Deciding to start with the smaller rooms the trio pushes forward into the most critical of rooms, the bathrooms. Entering what is marked as a female washroom they are met with a pair of doored stalls and a pair of sinks with mirrors. Vanyra can detect only the faintest hint of urine and excrement in the air, like emanating up from the toilets. A quick check reveals that the bowls are dry, as expected, and manipulating the flush does nothing. Checking the faucets  produces a similar lack of water, suggesting either the water was turned off when they left or the plumbing system is in dire need of repair.

Next they move across to the storage room 1A and find the door unlocked. In here they find a much bigger mess than in previous rooms, with several shelving units knocked over and a half dozen boxes pinned underneath. The standing shelves along the walls are bare save for three boxes similar to those beneath the toppled shelves, and bear very faded labels: "Safety Gloves Grade III," "Specimen Record Forms SAER2A, SAER3C" and "Examination Tool Kit - 1A and 2A."

Making a mental note of the contents and ensuring the drone is able to get a good view of the storage room the trio moves on to the "Specimen Lab." The door is actually a double door with the standard handles they have found on all the doors encountered so far. Vanyra tentatively  reaches out and applies light pressure to the handle latch and after a similarly disconcerting resistance the latch clicks satisfyingly. She swings open the left door with equal care to reveal a mass of inky blackness.

Stepping up to assist, Yuu moves the drone in while both he and Zelpuz fire the beams of light from their torches into the room beyond. The Freyan's eyes quickly adjust to present a grey silhouette of a room full of empty tables and shelves. The air has the same stale moistness as the rest of the facility so far, the toilets not withstanding. Assured there are no immediate threats Vanyra enters the room after the drone, with Zelpuz and Yuu following.

Moving further into the room they find a familiar stain of black on the ground in the center of the southern half. A close examination reveals the same soot-like dirt, with a few odd mushrooms growing through it, ringed by fire singed floor tiles. A few storage chests are also visible now, stored against the far wall behind some empty shelves. A quick peak into the box reveals nothing but dust. The tables themselves house a number of drawers and storage cubbies underneath, quite similar to those Yuu experienced back at the Academy's laboratories.

Deciding to leave the Specimen Lab alone for now the group moves back to the main corridor and examines the bathroom and storage room on the opposite side. In both cases they find the same situation save the washroom is marked for males and and the 4 boxes remaining in storage are marked:

Safety Goggles
First Aid Kits
Batteries C-9
Record Tablets

"Anything in those boxes?" Yuu inquires from the doorway.

"Gloves, goggles, first aid kits, computers, batteries.  Wonder if any of it survived."

"I bet Yuu will have his fun trying to get those back to work. But let's scan the rest of the area and then head back, we can pick these up later."

Leaving the contents of the storage boxes behind Vanyra, Zelpuz and Yuu move to the door labelled "Rec Lounge" and find it to be unlocked. Using a gentle touch Vanyra is able to work the handle open and the door swing inwards with a little effort as the rust scraps off the hinges. The room beyond is fairly large, about the same as the specimen lab, but without so many shelves and storage units to clutter it. There is a trio of sofas in the south corner, a set of tables in the north half, an empty shelf and a trio of box-shaped devices in the southwest corner. Like the specimen room there is another pile of ash-turned-soil in the center of the room, though much smaller than the pervious ones encountered and devoid of mushrooms but a form of brown fungus is present in patches.

Upon closer examination the large tables are marked with the familiar patterns typically found on those in gaming halls. The wooden table tops project beyond the bases are about 150mm on all sides, while the table bases are over a hand deep. Scattered around the floor against the walls are decaying sticks of varying lengths and ends. The sofas appear to have once been comfortable though are now on the edge of complete collapse as if starved to death. The box-shaped devices in the corner are not immediately recognizable.

While exploring the "Rec Lounge", Yuu asks for a radio check from Surface. He holds cover at the doorway, while sending his drone slowly across the room.

The surface team confirms signal reception on the radio but the video feed is degrading notably the further they move in. The suggestion is made to move to a series still photos of interesting areas or items rather than video transmission, this will hopefully allow the team to have a better view of what is being encountered. They further ask the team to provide a basic verbal commentary moving forward since the visual feed is limited and for safety checks.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:39, Tue 02 Feb 2021.

When the drone pans by the box-shaped devices in the corner the surface team asks to pause and get some close-ups. To Yuu these do appear to be some sort of nethertech device, and given the location he can only assume they were used for entertainment but how is not immediately apparent. Dr. Rezzam states she has an idea of what they may be but will need to review some materials to confirm.

Aside from those devices there is little else of interest in the room, but the group does manage to find a few books left behind. Judging by their appearance they may not be structurally sound though. From the covers you guess them to be a mix of fiction and serials; they should be of great historical relevance if nothing else.

Yuu moves away from the door, to cover down the hallway as the team prepares to move to the next room. The drone returns, and waits just over the young mage's shoulder.

Leaving the miscellaneous archeological items for the scholars above the trio moves back to the main corridor and a few meters further before they encounter a pair of doors flanking the hall. At this point they appear to be about half-way down the full length. Unlike the previous doors these slightly ajar, though at different angles. Trying the one on the left results in notable resistance to opening further, and the same on the right. While the doors are certainly not locked and there does not appear to be a chain or similar device barring entry something is impeding their function.

Through the open Vanyra is able to get a glimpse into the room beyond, and with a little light for assistance can confirm they are Dormitories A and B and stated on the labels beside each door. There is a series of bunks on alternating sides of each room, the layout mirrored across both.

"Let me jump in to see what's blocking the door." Zelpuz says, steps to the door and shines a light through the crack to see his destination.

Yuu nods and positions himself to assist if needed.

Zelpuz blinks out of existence for a moment and reappears behind the door in the dorm room. From the other side of the door Zelpuz and after a quick but careful assessment he does not see anything preventing the door from opening.

Zelpuz takes a look around shining his light around the room.
"Nothing blocking the door. Let's try to push it a bit, but nothing of great interest here, we can move on, too."

Vanyra puts her shoulder against the door edge and begins to push while Zelpuz and Yuu lend their hands to force open the door. After several seconds of strain the door opens about 15 degrees before binding again. It seems the hinges of the door are stuck. After a few more tries they manage to open the door enough for Vanyra and Yuu to slip through and into room.

The dorm room beyond is laid out much like you would find in a boarding school or military barracks with rusting metal bunks and four drawer dressers on alternating sides down the length of the room.

"All right, looks like nobody used the beds for a while, same dust layer. Off to the next room."

Moving across the hall to other dormitory door the group wastes no time playing around and with a concerted effort push their way in. The state of this room is exactly the same as the former. In fact one would be hard pressed to tell them apart, same layout, same furniture, same undisturbed layer of dust.

After a quick survey of the second dorm room to ensure there were no traps or similar dangers hidden about the group continues down the hall. First they encounter a pair of doors on each of their flanks followed by another intersection.

The door on the left is the first one they have encountered with a keyed lock; the label next to the door simply says "Electrical B".

The door on the right has only the regular handle which Vanyra is able to open with a little extra effort. The room appears to be another storage closet of sorts with a wide shelf system against the far wall and four large drawer bins on the right and left walls.

Vanyra gently pulls out a bin to see what is inside.

The bin is half full of somewhat neatly stacked bundles of wire and metal components within sealed bags; no doubt parts for something. The bin appears to hold a number of layers, with each layer divided into partitions containing a particular part.

"Hopefully this kind of thing will make our employers happy," Vanyra comments.

"Let me guide the drone in close, I'll give them a shot." Yuu suggests.

The surface team confirms the shots of the bin of components and hopes that at least some of them are still useable for whatever they are for.

The group moves back to the locked door named "Electrical B" and after a few moments of concentration the lock turns to clay which Vanyra is able to easily push through. The room beyond holds a pair of large pieces of equipment with conduits leading to and from along with racks of batteries or power cells of some sort.

Taking note to get good shots of the equipment in the Electrical B room with the drone for analysis the group moves on. They next come to an intersection, with the both left and right halls leading to a closed door about 4 meters down. Ahead they can see a pair of doors about 5 meters down but then 10 meters down a faint double door can been seen with a faint glow.

"Do you see that glow? Definitely have to be careful checking that out. But let's continue our pattern, left door first."

Vanyra nods and looks down the hallway to her left and notices the door has no window, unlike so many of the others. Peering down the opposite hall she notices the same. The two doors just a few meters ahead, towards the glowing end of the hall, do have the standard small viewing port.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:05, Sun 07 Mar 2021.

Vanyra heads down the left hallway towards the windowless door.  She reaches out with her senses beyond the door to feel for any obvious danger before checking to see if the door is locked or unlocked.

Yuu holds cover at the intersection, watching each hallway while keeping an eye on Vanyra's movements.

Beyond the door is only darkness, complete darkness. The door is locked, and there is a key hole in the door handle, probably a deadbolt style lock. She does note the door is unusually large, taking up the entirety of the hall width. Whatever is in the room beyond it apparently required extra space to get it in there.

"Yuu, looks like you are needed again, I'll watch the corridors."

The young mage nods, and shuffles forward. He places his palm against the lock of the door, and speaks words of magic. Although no change is immediate, the mage steps back and gives a nod to the Freyan.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:01, Wed 17 Mar 2021.

Vanyra gently tries the door handle to open it.

The room beyond is blanketed in inky darkness save for the blades of light cutting through from their flashlights. It becomes immediately apparent this is a large room, roughly the same size as the samples lab the group investigated earlier, but this one is dominated by two large machines. Yuu immediately recognizes these as nether generators, albeit models different than anything he has seen; these devices use nether energy to produce whatever sort of power is required, typically electrical but magnetic, light, or almost anything is possible.

"Wow." Yuu voices. He relays to the group what they are seeing.

Yuu carefully steps over to the first generator on the left, and starts to circle around the dormant machinery, looking for signs of use, abuse, wear or tear, or... well, anything really. His drone follows, scanning images and relaying these back to the surface team.

The excited voice from one of the techs at the surface comes over the comms, "Is that what it looks like? Please tell me they aren't damaged."  The excited voice cuts short as the voice of Dr. Vaanhaak comes over, "Please provide a narrative of what you're seeing as I'm certain you have a better view than us."

While her comrade is distracted by the large and impressing looking machinery, Vanyra looks around the room for anything else that might give clues to the room or the facility.

"This looks impressive, do you think we could get this whole facility working again if we can power these? Would make operating the lift much easier."

"It really would." Yuu responds with awe and excitement.

He continues his circuit of the machinery, investigating different parts, nooks and crannies. He narrates aloud his thoughts and observations, throwing in some technicals for the team at the surface, but keeping it layman's for those with less specific knowledge.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:11, Wed 24 Mar 2021.

By directing Zelpuz and Vanyra to keep a look out for specific items, like frayed wires, missing bolts, cracks, etc. Yuu is able to make a relatively quick sweep of the generators. The news is generally encouraging, the trio could find no evidence of broken or damaged components beyond the wear and tear of time. By all rights they could be brought back to operational status with relatively little work; what they actually power would still need to be investigated though.

As to their current functionality Yuu begins digging into the interiors of the generators, with guidance from the surface, carefully opening the various panels to the converters, transformers, and coolant pumps to find dirty but intact systems. It is not until he opens up the core chamber that the root issue becomes readily apparent, empty nether crystal array carriages. Normally the carriages would contain a carefully structured lattice of nether crystals that serve to power the focusing spell incantations that create the electricity, in the case of these generators, but there are no crystals. The carriages appear undamaged, the crystals are simply not there. While unfortunate this is a better outcome than had they been damaged or overloaded, resulting in damage to the cores, but it will take some work to get the correct type of crystals delivered.

Satisfied with this initial inspection, Yuu suggests continueing with the remaining rooms.

Vanyra leaves the room, heading across the main hallway to the room opposing the generator room.  She reaches out with her senses as before and if it seems okay, she tries the door.

Vanyra finds the room on the far opposite side is pitch black, just like so many of the others. She does detect a cornucopia faint lingering scents within, markedly different than any of the previous rooms. The smells are organic, and if she was hazard a guess she would say it could be spices or oils, like those used in cooking. As she pulls her senses back and tries the door handle she finds it unlocked.

Pealing himself from the room of techno treasure, Yuu moves up to the hallway, covering the corridors.

Glancing back to make sure the people with the light source are with her, Vanyra carefully opens the door to the room.

Zelpuz is ready to cover the next door.

The door to the room swings slowly open with measured effort, the age of the hinges showing and providing similar audio evidence with a stunted creaking noise. This room is equally as large as that of the generator one, but in stark contrast this is dominated by long tables and chairs on one end and cooking appliances on the other. Vanyra's earlier perception of the organic smells makes much more sense now seeing as this appears to be some sort of cafeteria mess hall. She does not detect the pungent scent of rot though, so unless something is sealed away they are unlikely to find any leftovers here.

The pair of long tables on west end are in good shape, though covered with a heavy layer of dust and grim. Each is circled by a half-dozen simple chairs, which appear intact but given their age you cannot be certain how well they have held up.

On the east end a rusting metal island demarks the start of the kitchen area, flanked on the south by an empty shelf and the north by storage units of sorts, likely for refrigeration or something similar. The far end includes a double sink, a stove top, double ovens and some prep space. All-in-all a perfectly serviceable kitchen.

Yuu stays on watch at the corridor junction, but sends his drone ahead into the kitchen, slowly panning light across the various appliances and furniture and relaying the images back to surface.

The sight of the kitchen has reminded the young man of his stomach, and the need to keep it filled. He pulls out a snack bar from his side pouch, and takes a couple quick bites.

After a quick run around the kitchen island and checking that there is still the same layer of undisturbed dust and no flying monsters, the team heads back to the hallway and into the next room on the left.

The room up on the left is marked as Electrical Room A and upon entering appears to be a mirror copy of Electrical Room B unsurprisingly. A pair of what appears to be transformers occupy the far end of the small room and is flanked by a pair of containers. On the other side of the hall the door leads into another storage room, and another mirror of an earlier room.

Another pair of doors on each side of the hall lie just ahead, but these are double doors. The signs for each specify Expedition Storage A, Expedition Storage B.

Since the group is closer to the end of the hall the glow is more visible now and appears to be confined to the double doors.

Vanyra cautiously walks towards the new sets of doors. She tries to ascertain where the glow is coming from.

Zelpuz gets in position behind Vanyra. "I wonder where that glow comes from, their main power sources are out, maybe this is where they stored the fuel cells. Let's take a look."

Looking at the two sets of double doors on each side and the glowing double door at the end of the hall, Vanyra questions, "Are we still checking the sides?  Or are we going to check that end one now?"

"The glow doesn't seem to move, let's stick with the pattern, next door left."

As the examine the unnaturally glowing doors at the end of the hall they realize there are two more doors leading to rooms to the immediate left and right flank. Unlike the previous doors these have no handles and instead only an access panel on the right side. The door on the left is marked "CNC" and the on the right is labeled "SNO."

The double doors on the left open with little effort to reveal a long and relatively narrow room. Scattered about the 10m length of the room are the small piles of debris, some ashes and bits and pieces of metal. Whatever was stored here once is certainly no longer here. There are no shelves or other storage containers here, just a large and mostly empty room. The double doors on the right reveal the same thing.

while they are examining the empty rooms the surface team inquires as to the nature of the glowing doors. "Can you provide any further detail on that glow or the nature of the doors? The visual feed is not giving us much."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:40, Sun 04 Apr 2021.

After a quick scan of the debris, trying to figure out what SNO and CNC could have meant and what these remains belonged to, the head on to the next door on the left.
"The glow hasn't changed, we'll send a few more pictures up. Just two more doors on the way, then we'll check out the door with the glow." Zelpuz radios back and waiting for Yuu to send 'glow-shots' to the surface.

"I recommend we hold back a moment while I do, in case the glowing does anything weird."

With that, the young mage sends his drone forward, past the two remaining side doors and up to the glowing double doors. He pauses the drone, and waits a moment for anything untoward.

The glow does not react to the presence of the drone.

Yuu continues to relay images, moving the drone ever closer, until finally, carefully, touching the door with the nose of the drone. He narrates openly as he operates the machine, giving his team mates and the surface crew a clear idea of his intentions.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:48, Mon 05 Apr 2021.

"I can look inside first if you want," contributes Vanyra.

"Or we check out the doors here first?"

As soon as the drone makes contact with the field a bright concentration of light appears and the drone is shot backwards at tremendous speed, barely missing the trio as they jump out of the way. Far back down the hall the drone lays limp on the floor.

Yuu picks his head up from the floor, eyes wide like saucers... looks at the glowing door, then back down the hall at his limp drone. And starts laughing hysterically.

"Almost gave me a hair cut!" he jokes, the relief in his voice clear.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:26, Tue 06 Apr 2021.

"I suggested letting me look first," chuckles Vanyra.

"Woah, that was close. Can you still sense the drone? Does it still work?"
Zelpuz looks at Yuu, then at the door.
"OK, I suggest we check out the last two rooms before that glowing one first, and then see if we can open that door without blasting ourselves across the floor."

"Good idea, I just thought it important to know a little about the door before we got much closer."

Yuu relays to the surface team what happened, then walks over to where his drone is laying limp. He picks it up, brushes it off and takes a look at the damage.

The surface team confirms that they have lost all visual. While you check the other rooms they will discuss options for probes of the door. They recommend extreme caution if approaching the door again and to NOT touch it, further that someone provide a constant description of what actions and things perceived. You note the verbal communicators are slightly degraded with the loss of the drone to act as a signal booster, but not enough to impose any difficulty in understanding.

Yuu pockets the drone, and radios to the surface a quick sitrep and will bring the small machine back in its exact state for deeper analysis once back.

"I wonder if something organic touched the door, if the same results would occur? Or only electrical." he ponders absently.

"Well, right door or left?" the young mage asks his companions.

"Yes, but not sure I want to try it. We'll have to investigate the door carefully. Let's start left, like always"

The left door is marked "CNC" and there is no handle, only a dark, seemingly non-functional access panel. There is no apparent way to open the door given the inoperable panel.

Vanyra reaches past the door with her senses.

She is greeted by the usual pitch darkness she was expecting along with a cool and sterile space that feels open. There are no hints of burn items or lingering food and spice.

"Anything?" Yuu asks.

"No, nothing," as Vanyra tries pushing the door to see if it will budge or bounce back allowing it to be pulled.

The door does not move when pushed, it remains flush with the wall. Looking around for something to pull Vanyra finds there is no handle or anything else to pull on. It is apparent that access to the room beyond was gained through using the access panel to the right, though it now it appears to be inoperable.

"Hmm, should we use Yuu's method and poke a small hole in the door to see the other side? Then we can decide what to do after."

The surface team radios down after a description of the doors, "We could probably run a bypass on the access panels, but without power there's no telling if the doors will actually open. If it is just being held shut by a lock the bypass may work. Could you open up the access panel and have a look?" one of the electrical techs asks before pausing and you hear muffled sounds of conversation as if he is speaking to someone away from the mic.

"Oh, and Yuu, Dr. Ulaar wanted me to let you know we haven't forgotten it's your birthday. Once you guys get back to the surface someone managed to whip up a cake for dessert tonight. So happy birthday man."

"OK, let's take a look" Zelpuz opens the hatch and relays what he sees to the surface team.

"Ah sweet, I love cake!" Yuu responds, excitedly.

Yuu moves beside Zelpuz and peaks into the relay hatch.

Zelpuz manages to remove the face of the access panel and steps back in horror at the convoluted nest of wires and relays beyond. Deferring to Yuu's expertise the Mespah moves out of the way.

It takes Yuu a few minutes to mentally untangle the system beyond the panel but he is eventually able to identify the leads he believes are going to the power, locking and opening mechanisms. Due to the small opening he cannot get a view of these mechanisms though. He relates his assessment to the surface team who concur they would likely need to get a look inside to properly setup a bypass. From Yuu's description of the power lines they say it is almost certain the opening mechanism is powered but there is a chance the locking mechanism has a mechanical override, it is just a matter of locating it.

Yuu spends 10 minutes wrangling his device into the partially disassembled access panel before finally flipping the switch. A low hum is heard, followed by a grinding noise as if some internal muscles were flexing for the first time in centuries, then a snap and a muted click noise, and finally silence once more. The door remains in the same position as it was before. Whatever happened internally did not open it.

Vanyra tries to shove the door manually, checking to see if whatever Yuu did loosened it.

Yuu frowns, looks down at his 'device'. Then glares at the door.

Knowing the door is about 2cm thick and likely solid cerametal that has sat unmoving for a few centuries there is a good chance it is just stuck in place. Even if the power was on it may not move without assistance. With enough force likely you could open the door, but the lack of handles certainly does not make that any easier.

After a feeble attempt of pushing the door Zelpuz suggests: "A carefully placed kinetic burst may shake the door loose." Zelpuz looks for a crack that would offer a bit of force when released between the door and the wall. "Or if you can make a hole, I could teleport in to take a look."

After quite a bit of straining the door does not budge. If they are going to go through into the room beyond they will need to think of a different method.

"Let's try old dependable."

Yuu kneels down beside the Mespah, and chooses a spot to Transform. A small, pen size hole should suffice, just enough to see through but not enough to cause untenable problems should something untoward be on the other side.

With his magic creating the small hole to the other side Yuu hears a short his of air as the pressure equalizes and then nothing. The room beyond is certainly dark but a light source should be able to illuminate enough on the other side for Zelpuz to teleport in.

From the small gust of air that escapes the room Vanyra can more taste than smell the staleness of it. There is nothing untoward about it, nothing rotting, decaying or foul, just old and stale. The room beyond has been well sealed for some time.

"Let's keep a vision link, Vanyra, that way you can relay what I see to Yuu without me having to scream through the hole." Zelpuz takes a few deep breaths, gets close to the hole with his light, peeks through to the other side and teleports through.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:38, Thu 06 May 2021.

Zelpuz blinks through the short distance of space and into the room beyond. Bringing up his torch and swinging it around in front of him he sees a spacious L-shaped room with two bare tables in front of him and then a console of sorts to the right. Moving in a bit he spies two banks of consoles against the north wall. A medical chest is located on the west wall between the tables and the center console. Judging by what is in this room CNC likely stands for Command and Control, but without power there is nothing to command or control.

Zelpuz takes a look around and carefully touches a few buttons to check the status, then returns to the hole. "Looks like the control center, no wonder they have a thicker door for protection. Should I look at anything else here or should we move to the next room?"

"Does anything look like it has power? Is there any scorched ashes, like what we saw out here?"

Zelpuz spends a few minutes looking around and save for the lack of light there appears to be nothing wrong in the CNC. Sure there is a thick layer of fine dust on everything, but brushing that aside reveals intact control consoles and tables. If anything here is controlling or powering the glowing doors it is not immediately visible.

Following his examination of the CNC, discovering that none of the equipment appears to be powered, function or turns on the power, Zelpuz returns to the hall and his companions. This leaves the opposite door which is similarly non-functioning.

"Same procedure as last room?"

Yuu nods, and provide the Mespah with a pen sized hole in this new door. Again, listening for anything strange or odd smells.

Zelpuz teleports through the door and into the room labelled "SNO" to find is just as dark, glum and stale as the last one. This room contains a similar though distinct set of boxy equipment and consoles, though a notably more of than the CNC. There is an empty table near the door opposite a secured locker of some sort, which has a mated companion locker at the far back corner. Two circular consoles dominate the center of the L-room blanked by another first aid chest and some odd flat-topped console with a variety of wired accessories attached. At the back of the room are two banks of blank-screened consoles.

Spending a number of minutes checking buttons and switches Zelpuz does not find any obvious damage to any device besides the unrelenting wear of time. Power is once again absent from the scene, illusive as ever after the Mespah's review of the room.

After checking out the room and looking for any sign of a glow shining through the wall or consoles, Zelpuz returns to the team.
"Looks like everything here is clear, should we check out the power draining door? But we should be careful about touching it. Or we could try if we can get to the other side by going through the wall in one of the two rooms here. I wonder how that field is still active when everything else is totally without power."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:05, Tue 11 May 2021.

"Let me give it a look," Vanyra states before walking towards the glowing door and stopping 10 feet short while facing it.  She stares at it while she slowly attempts to extend her senses into the glowing room.

Vanyra reaches out towards the door and just as she comes within about 6 inches she feels a s a bizarre and foreboding vibration in the back of her mind that raises her heckles. Each fraction of an inch she moves closer the dreadful feeling or maybe sound grows more intense, as if she was approaching a coiled rattlesnake.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:06, Fri 14 May 2021.

Yuu holds back, watching carefully and continuing his scans. He periodically flips through the various vision filters on his goggles.

Vanyra suddenly stops and shakes her head.  "This isn't right, danger, its dangerous... Even looking in there seems dangerous."

"That sounds strange, how can looking at it be dangerous? Can you find out when it started?"

"Its not the looking at it that's dangerous... Its trying to get inside that's dangerous." Vanyra replied.  "I just feel that something bad will happen if I try to see inside the room."

Yuu's examination of the door using his magic-spectral goggles reveals a complex weave of nether energies. It is a highly unusually pattern that would require closer examination, but whatever it is this is extremely potent magic.

"I can try and see back to see what happened here, but it could take a while."

"Well, just good to know it this was something that always was here when this station was active, something they set up when they left, or maybe some weird chain reaction or unattended experiment gone wrong that happened after they left."

Yuu reveals his own observations to the team.

"That would be useful information to have, but only if it's safe to do. Seems the door isn't proving a threat as long as we leave it alone."

"So do you think we can go through the walls from one of the other rooms instead?"

Vanyra shrugs, "We could try."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:10, Mon 17 May 2021.

A communication from the Dr. Ulaar comes through your communicators, "You guys have done enough for today I think. Given the what we know of the incantation on the door we think it is safer for you to return for now. We have some hypotheses but there are some additional tests we can perform tomorrow on the barrier with the right equipment that should provide indicators one way or the other."

Yuu looks to his team and shrugs, a boyish grin clearly displayed. "My friends back home are going to be so jealous."

"Awww, it's just getting interesting ... but I guess for being the hired muscle, we already had a lot of fun down here.  All right, let's go back and come back with more equipment. Next challenge is how to get that down here."

The trio heads back down the corridor to the elevator shaft, and then Yuu and Vanyra reluctantly get back into Zelpuz's dimensional bag, then up they go. A few minutes later they reach the welcoming warmth of the late-day sun. The team is packing up the gear and making ready to head back to camp.

Dr. Ulaar and Dr. Vaanhak show great interest in your observations on the energy field on that last door, much more than any other part of the facility. Specifically they want to know exactly what each of you saw or experienced of the field, and exactly what happened with the drone and what Vanyra was doing when she got the feeling of danger?

After reporting on the observations below, Zelpuz asks: "Do you have any idea what may cause this energy field?"

Yuu fills the team in on his observations, answering questions openly. He shows the drone, and offers it up for a deeper analysis once the group return to base camp.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:46, Thu 20 May 2021.

"I was just trying to sense through the door and as my sense-self approached it I felt that I would be in a lot of danger if I tried to pass the barrier," Vanyra offers.

Dr. Vaanhak looks quite elated after your retelling of events, "The presence of this barrier, while somewhat of a mixed blessing, is the best evidence that we're on to something significant here... assuming my hypothesis is correct. We'll need to conduct a number of detailed scans to be sure, but I suspect what we have here is a sentient reactive barrier program. Quite rare, very powerful and extremely difficult to erect, meaning whatever is beyond that barrier must be something special indeed."

"Could I get past it by going through the wall?"

"I would not recommend it. The barrier may only be visible at that door but it is likely covers the entire area beyond that door. Assuming it is what we suspect it will dynamically counter any efforts to transgress it.  Seeing that it did not destroy the drone on contact it not use lethal force, but it is impossible to say  at this time." Dr. Vaanhak explains. "The best course of action is to figure out exactly what we're dealing with."

"Indeed. We do not even know whether the barrier is designed to keep things in or out, or both," Dr. Ulaar adds. "If we can decipher the right components of the nether construct we may be able to create a... hole or gap, if you will, that may allow some sort of probing effort."

"Sounds great, how do we do that? Do you have the right equipment with you?"

"We likely have the equipment to view the barrier's nether structure, but whether or not we'll be able to decipher it is a different matter. If we assume the barrier was created by those who setup and then abandoned the facility it would make the creator or creators over three-hundred years old and also of interplanetary origin... a long way of saying their nether manipulation may be quite different than ours. Will take time in any case," Dr. Ulaar elaborates.

Dr. Vaanhak continues, "Indeed, but nothing worth knowing was gained easily. During the next Kallian Station orbit we should be able to ask for some assistance from Doctors Rezam and Hyunzi, the station may have some archived records that are relevant and we can likewise send a request back to Daedalem for the same. If we knew the identity of the creators it may be easier, but likely their identities were scrubbed from records long ago."

"Fascinating, the barrier may tell us a lot already by itself." Zelpuz watches Yuu bouncing up and down excitedly, "Let's start in the morning with the exploration. How large is the equipment we need to get down? We will also need to construct some elevator to get everything and everyone down, unless we can replace the nether batteries for the main power. That'll all take some time. Maybe we can start with smaller parts that we can take down and start setting up while you set up a elevator construction?"

"Indeed, we'll need to get the lift back in an operational state if we are going to make any real progress. Since it seems the facility's generators are offline I tasked our electrical techs to come up with alternatives to power the lift from the surface. If we can do that we can move on to assessing the our abilities to restore the nether generators below, and find out what exactly is up with this barrier," Dr. Vaanhak elaborates.

Eventually the team makes their was back to the forward operating camp for the night. A pot-cake is served after dinner in celebration of Yuu's birthday along with a flask of fortified local fruit wine. A more thorough but informal debriefing of the facility exploration eats up the rest of the evening, allowing the entire team to get a better understanding of what was encountered below.

It takes a full 6 days but eventually the expedition manages to the necessary repairs to the shaft and the electrical conduits leading down to the lift, ascertain the modifications they need to make to the linear motors on the lift and how to hook up a makeshift power source on surface. It was slow work, especially having to climb up and down the shaft to maps the power conduit and make repairs, but they should have a partially functional lift at least. The issue is one of power draw, the batteries they have at the surface can only hold enough charge for 60% of a round trip before needing a top-up. The expedition has ordered delivery of a dedicate generator for the lift, but in the meantime the group will be limited to only one trip up and down a day after factoring in the recharge time.

Vanyra's mental trips into the past reveal that the overall geography has not really changed, but the immediate area has notably. Where once a fairly well-maintained road lead directly to the lift and its protective structure there is only rumble and jungle now. Travel in and out of the lift was rather infrequent and composed of pairs or small groups, usually hauling what appeared to be supplies or tools. In a way they do not appear so different than the expedition she is currently a part of.

Once the main power conduit is repaired and the electrical techs verify basic lift functionality the decision is made to relocate the base camp to near the lift. With the discovering of the subterranean it is obvious where the focus of the expedition will be and the distance between the lift and the plateau is too great for regular travel and presents a host of security and safety concerns should something occur.

The security detail is asked to assist in the move as best they can, both in providing security, outlining how best to setup the new camp given the narrow area, and in clearing a better path to the lift.

Over the next several days the team does a solid job in packing-up and move the base camp, establish a defensible albeit narrow camp along the ancient road extending away from the lift area. A couple small springs are located to provide some fresh water, it is not a lot but enough to keep everyone hydrated. With the travel time from the base camp eliminated everyone can now focus on the tasks to restore access to the facility below. Within 5 days, a full day ahead of schedule, the lift is now operational. The team plans the first two trips down to primarily move equipment to study what is down there and to hopefully assess and restore the systems present down there. With any luck the backup generator will be delivered within in the next 10~14 days, in the meantime the facility exploration will need to be more judicious.

At one of the daily planning meetings, Zelpuz wonders: "Could we try what happens if a living being touches the barrier? Maybe we could catch a bunny and send it in, maybe it's harmless to people?"
And to Vanyra: "Vanyra, did you see the barrier in the past when people went into that room? Maybe worth a vision."

"I haven't looked that way down there, but if I head back down for a while I can try to look around and investigate."

Dr. Vaanhak explains, "If Vanyra's mental presence was enough to trigger the barrier I am fairly certain anything that attempts to transgress it will warrant a response. Given the drone was not destroyed I suspect the barrier's response profiles are designed to deter but I would rather not risk anything or one to test that theory at this point. Once we get proper readings from the barrier we'll have a better idea of what we are dealing with."

"Since the facility does not appear to have power, and you did not observe any nether currents leading to the barrier, we are left with the possibility it is a static incantation... or there is something on the other side providing power. The missing crystals from the nether generators would be just the thing to work," adds Dr. Ulaar.

"Great, so all we have to do is get in somehow, and then we can take the nether generators back to power the whole station. Let's see what your exams will tell us, and then we can try a few more ways to get in."

The following day the trio travel back to the facility with a half-dozen key members of the expedition. The goal will be to take a detailed inventory, photos, and initiate the first assessments of the generators and the reactive barrier. The rest of the team will be bringing the basecamp up to full operation and preparing the surface transformers to handle the additional generator that will be delivered.

Yuu at first escorts the electrical tech to the generators. It does not take long to confirm they in operable simply due to the missing fuel crystals. From the initial assessment it seems they were intentionally and carefully removed but there is no way to know where they took them for now. The electrical tech then goes about taking a detailed assessment of the generators and measurements of the crystal bay and canisters in the hopes they can acquire new ones.

Instead of getting in the way of the measurements Yuu elects to lend his efforts to the study of the reactive barrier. When he arrives a number of small instruments have been setup near the glowing doors to measure relative strength, size, reaction field area, and a host of other esoteric statistics. Lacking a dedicated mage the team can benefit greatly from Yuu's education. Using his enhanced goggles that micro-nether currents Yuu immediately sees several connected layers to the incantation, the complexity of it is most impressive and really too impressive for a single mage to erect in a reasonable amount of time. This could have been the work of a team of mages, or perhaps some sort of emergency device that stored the barrier until it was needed. The layered nature will make deciphering the exact pattern difficult and possibly dangerous depending on the sensitivity of the reactive field; if they probe the deeper layers it may trigger the barrier's defenses. On a positive note he does not discern any fluctuation or shifting of the nether currents, even after hours of examination, that would be indicative of an external power supply. Whatever power the barrier has is contained within itself. If an elegant solution cannot be found the brute force method should eventually cause the barrier to run out of energy and dissipate, though that could take some time and he would not want to try it personally.

Over the course of two days, Vanyra utilizes her postcognition to look back in time at aspects of the facility to help unravel the mysteries of the place.  Zelpuz links with her during these investigations as an observer to help look for important details and remember them for further inquiry.

She shares the details that the burned patches throughout the facility are evidence of documents destroyed during the evacuation, that she is unsure as to why they evacuated the facility, and that the facility was built over a long period of time in natural caverns and that there may be another shaft past the barrier.

They also observe the construction of the barrier following the evacuation, whereby a device was constructed from various parts, including crystals, and then activated by a single person through a suicidal incantation of some kind.

"Now that was an unexpected and disturbing incantation" Zelpuz comments after the session. "They must have been very devoted workers here. I wonder what is worth protecting so much."

Vanyra and Zelpuz spend a full day with some of the research assistants going through their post-cognitive journey in exacting detail. The appearance of each person, particularly what they wore and any insignias, marks or uniforms. A full description of the barrier creating device down to the size and color of the crystals. With any luck they will be able to find some references in old data records that they can correlate with these and uncover who exactly was here. The fact that the barrier was erected following the general evacuation and done so in such a sacrificial manner suggests this was not some casual expedition of the Zhen Halan Empire, rather it contained at least a small contingent of elite, loyal soldiers. Furthermore, if they had the ability to erect the barrier they similarly had the power to destroy the facility but chose instead to seal it for future use. Whatever they were studying must have been of great import, though also something not of immediate concern.

While the barrier appears to be an insurmountable obstacle for the present these clues of the past plus those gained from the ongoing analysis offer a real chance to find the key. For the time being Dr. Ulaar and Vaanhak request the security detail to perform a wider sweep of the area including the valley below; they are concerned that if Zhen Halan found it prudent to put a sentient reactive barrier in place here they may have place other, more mundane defensive measures about that could pose a risk.

The trio decides to begin a perimeter search around the new basecamp with Zelpuz and Ashari providing the eye in the sky perspective and Vanyra and Yuu investigating the details on the ground. Using a simple grid system the group begins in the NE corner, composed largely the the ridgeline slope down to the valley floor far below. Given the difficult terrain they were not expecting to find much beyond brush and rocks but to their surprise they do uncover a few conceal technological devices affixed to the the hillside. Initially concealed by decades, perhaps centuries, of overgrowth the metallic structures jut out like needled spears from the rock, an alien shape that draws the notice of avid searches.

After pealing back the overgrowth the team uncovers what could be a signal beacon or antenna of some sort. There is no power emanating from or to the structure, nor can they find any power conduits leading to it, albeit it could be buried deeper than they're willing to dig. Making a detailed note of where it is and a drone recording of it the team moves on only to uncover another two of these structures further along the hillside. It appears these things were planted equidistant from each other some 200m below the top of the ridge; perhaps they mark some boundary or projected some field or signal related to the facility below. The lack of power in the facility may have rendered these devices inert.

Besides the old tech devices nothing threatening seems to be present this close to camp.

Proceeding to the Southeast corner of the camp-centered grid with an increased sense of confidence and a keener eye for oddities Vanyra, Zelpuz, Yuu and Ashari quickly uncover another 3 of the beacon-like structures along the hillside, exactly along the line they anticipated. This reinforces the initial idea that these mark some boundary or barrier, long since disabled.

This side is notably steeper than the northside, requiring a bit more caution, increasing the frustration but not impeding progress. Some 350m below the structures the group finds a small spring flowing out of the hillside, offering a potential source of clean water much nearer than the distant river along with some interesting fungi that may prove edible (Vanyra takes a few samples). Luckily there are no threatening fauna around save for some birds of prey seen far up in some trees, but the expedition members are likely far too large for the appetites of such birds.

The Southwest and Northwest quadrants near the camp require the team to split-up; the southeast corner is dominated by the cliff face below the lift which precludes land searching. Thus Zelpuz and Ashari elect to investigate that cliff face are while Yuu and Vanyra take the northwest slope from the camp.

Yuu and Vanyra do find three more old devices in their area but Zelpuz only finds one; there is some evidence of erosion and rock slides which may have dislodged such structures. Whatever the design of these devices they obviously served some functional purpose to the subterranean facility. Ashari and Zelpuz do find another spring about a 250m down the cliff, and some more large predatory birds.

In the norhtwest Vanyra and YHuu find an undulating slope in their search which may provide a relatively easy way to make it down to the valley below from the camp after some clearing of brush. This looks like a good place to start the next series of exploration as with Ashari Valkyrie armor would make short work to clear a path, giving Yuu and Vanyra a chance to take a breather.

After a short break back at camp the trio resumes their patrol, this time extending out beyond the immediate camp area and starting in the Northeast section again. As this area is dominated by the ridge and the path or roadway back towards the meadow and river the group makes quick work of ensuring it is clear of dangers.

Proceeding to the Southeast mid quadrant the team moves further down into the valley below, with the slope easing off the further away from camp they proceed. No structures or devices are found down here as they were above.

When they get to the southern edge of this sector they find an odd collection of holes bored into the hillside. They vary in diameter from 1m to 2m and do not appear truly natural nor inviting.

From a relatively safe distance Vanyra extends her ESP senses into one hole while Yuu maneuvers his drone near the entrance of another.

Vanyra vision adapts quickly with the light filtering down from the hole entrance, allowing her to see the well shaped walls that curve to the horizontal after roughly 3 meters of descent, where it also seems to open up slightly. She quickly spots what appear to be small bones or bone fragments scattered about in the dirt.

The drone transmits a similar image down the mouth of its selected hole, the same well formed walls and likely a 3~4m depth.

With these holes piquing their interests both Vanyra and Yuu continue their probes, with Zelpuz maintaining a cover-fire position from the air. As Freyan's esp and the mage's drone move further into the hole the rough hewn nature of the walls come into view, if they were made by a machine it was a poorly designed one at best. The walls appear to be simple dirt and rock, no artificial epoxies or coatings, but that it is well compacted is without question.

As they approach the bottom of the slope where the tunnel curves to the horizontal the bone fragments come into better view and do, in fact, appear the whole bones of small to medium-sized creatures. Rounding the bend a structured series of lines come into contrast which quickly form into the cohesive shape of some insect or arachnid creature's front quarter with armored limbs pressing against the walls in all directions.

Without provocation the one in front of the drone lashes forward with startling speed.

Anticipating the worst Yuu jerks back the drone almost instinctively, managing to narrowing miss the mandibles of the tunnel dwelling creature. The creature continues forward only another half meter or so before relinquishing the chase.

Meanwhile Vanyra can faintly here the echo of the scuffle in the neighboring tunnel, suggesting they likely connect some point further in. The creature in her own hole is ignorant of her psychic presence though and continues its statue-like vigil.

Yuu clicks on his comms unit and relays his experience to the team, holding the drone far back from the creature.

When the drone retreats the creature does not pursue, instead content to resume its motionless vigil in the darkness. It is difficult to make out exactly what form the creatures have in the dark and cramped confines of the tunnels but it certainly seems that they have more than four limbs.

While Vanyra continues into the tunnel Yuu surveils the land around the entrance and marks about a half-dozen such holes. They are not particularly concealed and thus would prove poor ambush sites, save against ignorant creatures or travelers.

Vanyra finds the tunnel does not go too much further behind the creature, but it does open up into a spherical area likely serving as a den of sorts. There does not appear to be any exits from the den besides the one she entered, assuaging any fears that this was the start of a vast hive tunnel network. Suspecting these may be some offshoot of Khalian Badgers it would make sense that they are relatively solitary, existing only in small groups for mutual defense.

"Looks like they are mostly harmless, maybe unless disturbed. Should we move on or do you want to investigate the caves more? We can add a warning on the maps to avoid the area for now, or at least be careful here."

"We don't know what they do at night yet.  Can we do something to monitor them?"

Yuu snickers, thinking what animals might get up to 'at night', but is a bit too reticent on the matter to make jokes over comms.

"We can come back and check on them. I can always fly the drone over, just to see if they get up to anything outside the caves."

Marking the location for future surveillance the trio moves off to continue their sweep of the area. A relatively short distance away they find a set of similar holes, though these appear to be partially collapsed and upon further investigation seem to have been abandoned. As to why the group can only manage random speculation.

Continuing to the west they enter into the Southwest quadrant. To their right looms the exposed cliff face atop which the base camp sits. Using that as a landmark they make their way slowly around the base until coming across a peculiar pond. One moment they were forging a path through the dense foliage as best they could and sudden the vegetation stops and deep pool of blue-grey water appears, surrounded on all sides by several meters of ashen sand. A quick look around the clearing reveals it is circular, interrupted only by occasional rocks or decaying tree truck.

"Look at this, must be some artificially made lake, I wonder what it's for. Can one of you dive really well? Or is the drone waterproof?"

"I don't need to dive if you want to look down there," Vanyra answers.

"I underestimate your senses. Yes, let's find out why this is so round."

Vanyra reaches into herself, pushing her psionic sense beyond the confines of her physical body and down below the still surface of the pond. Mud, silt and decaying foliage serve as the base. Much like the surrounding area beneath the surface the pond is largely devoid of life, with only a few sprouts and insects present, nothing larger than a dragonfly nymph. She follows the slope down towards the center to find a pit, almost perfectly circular that drops deep into the shadows below. While the pond itself is quite shallow near the surface of the pit, only 2m deep, and well lit the hole at the center quickly becomes obscured in darkness. The bottom cannot be seen.

"See anything?" asks Yuu excitedly.

Vanyra continues concentrating silently for a few seconds, seemingly staring blankly off into nothingness.  She then states slowly, "There seems to be a deeper, smaller hole in the center of the pond bottom.  Its dark down there," and then returns to silence while still engaged somewhere else.

Vanyra shakes her head and appears to become more present.  "There's a deeper circular hole in the middle about a meter wide, but its too dark to see down."

"We could throw a flash light down if you can follow it."

"Sure, we can try that."

Zelpuz digs a glow stick out of his pocket, finds a small piece of string and ties a small rock to the stick, then activates the stick, flies to the center of the pond, shouts: "Ready", and then drops the stick, watching it go down.

Vanyra focuses her attention on the light source to follow it down the hole.

Vanyra watches the glow stick descend slowly through the water and into the hole at the center of the pond. While initially about 2meters behind she is forced to focus her ESP closer as the water grows ever murkier the further she descends. The sides of the hole are coated with an unsavory combination of mud and vegetation, though nothing larger than simple weeds, which eventually gives way to only muddy silt as the walls grows ever more narrow and sunlight fades away. Eventually at an unusual depth she estimates at 50 meters the glowstick comes to rest on a silty bottom. The bottom appears to be mostly flat and maybe 15~30 centimeters narrower than the top. Unlike the walls near the top, down here where the sun does not reach is only mud.

Vanyra describes her observations to the group.

"Fascinating, do you think the underground structure reaches all the way to here? Not sure what this is used for, but looks artificial and abandoned."

Based on Vanyra's description and the layout of the pond on the surface Yuu surmises that it is very unlikely indeed that this was of natural origin. While a considerable distance from where the underground base is they are relatively near the same altitude. It is difficult to imagine the base extending this far given what they had explored already, but perhaps it is a pathway leading to/from the area behind the shield.

Making specific notes on the location, dimensions and attributes of the pool to relay to the team back at base later the group moves on with their patrol and into the Northwest quadrant. High above they can see the antenna-protrusions from the hillside as the tree foliage seems a bit thinner here, and the presence of slow, meandering creek provides sufficient break in the leaves for a good view.

In this area, somewhat distant from the creek they find another nest of holes containing the same subterranean insect-like creatures they encountered previously. But of greater interest is the remains of one resting outside its den, the scavengers have picked away the juicy bits leaving only the husk of a hardened carapace behind.

Taking a couple samples of creature's chitinous remains for possible study the trio continue with their patrol, finishing the middle ring of their pattern by the end of the day. Upon returning to camp their samples are gladly accepted, as are the notes on the bizarre pond to the west. Progress in the facility is proceeding well, with the team able to make a firm estimate on when it was established due to the materials used in its construction and the remaining items. They are also quite confident they can get the nether generator back online once they receive a core crystal shipment from Khalian station on the next orbit or two. The sentient barrier protecting the last room remains a formidable obstacle though.

After a good night's rest the trio sets out on their longest patrol yet, with each day they are able to cover only a single quadrant. Even with their search tactics honed it is still a large amount of territory to cover. Aside from the occasional large reptilian or mammalian predator, who appears apprehensive or outright frightened at their approach, there does not seem to be anything particularly dangerous in vicinity of base camp. There are no traces of bandit havens or camps, nor signs of any group of persons within the valley, it is peculiarly empty.

While Vanyra, Zelpuz, and Yuu did not find bandits or hidden treasure troves they did encounter 5 more of the those unnatural ponds. Two in the far north quadrant, two in the far south, and one further west of the original one they discovered. Even if their cartography skills are not the most precise the locations of these ponds lend even more credence to their unnatural origins, being that they are place nearly equidistant to each other. Of course there could also be some mysterious natural phenomenon at work, forming such water features while also keeping away the locals.

After four days of hard scouting the recon team is finally able to spend a full day relaxing on guard duty at the base camp. The additional information about the ponds suddenly elevates their status from mere oddity to required object of study. Dr. Vaanhaak suggests planning a proper study team in the next few days once they finish their analysis of the sub-strata of the facility below. From their scans in recent days they discovered the structure below was actually built within an existing cavity of an unusual nature.

The cerametal walls of the Zhen Halan structure are encapsulated by a crystal structure of unknown origin. Initially it was believe the crystal was carved out by the Zhen Halan engineers but deeper scans and analysis reveal no evidence of such work, rather it seems the crystal was formed into the perfect space to house the base. Too little is known at this time to make even a half-educated hypothesis of what this may mean but it certainly adds to the mystery of this entire place. The plan is to continue with the steady documentation of the subterranean structure, restore the nether generator and then also examine these shallow, lifeless ponds near by.

With the discovery of the underlying crystal structure of the facility and the presence of the seemingly unnatural ponds scattered around Dr. Vaanhaak and Ulaar both agree their efforts are best focused on exploring those two mysteries rather than breaking the sentient barrier. They simply are not prepared to deal with a incantation of that complexity and there are enough subjects without that require closer study.

The following day a small team is assembled to study the closest of the ponds comprised of Dr. Carla Hyunzi (an archivist from Kallian Station), Fernelex (one of the guides), two grad students (Praxam, Sayuri), and two undergrad assistants (Lon, Vash). The team will be armed with the usual array of sensor and probes to get a full measure of these ponds and possible what is underneath.

A full day is spent surveying the area, taking samples of the water, the mud, and even a multilayer soil sample. Aside from the slightly unusual shape and odd pit in the middle the initial results indicate nothing out of the ordinary for a woodland water body. Only some hours pass aftereve are the results of the dozens of ground scans collated into a revealing picture. Much to everyone's surprise it appears that the pond is actually twice the size it appears to be, with a bottom comprised of a notable harder material upon which many years of sediment and foliage have accumulated. Likewise it is estimated the pit in the middle may in fact be twice as large or more given that fact.

The decision is made to return to base camp and analyze the samples and return as soon as possible to get a proper core sample. If they can get close enough to the base structure of the pond they can estimate an age which may provide some evidence of whether or not they are linked to the underground facility. Doing so will require isolating and possibly draining part of the pond, and thus will require some physical labor and a pump.

Yuu gets to work, setting himself on a nearby rock at one of the chosen pools. He gesticulates casually, but confidently, incanting the words that draw nether from the Great Infinite. Tiny circles begin to crackle and glow in his surrounding vicinity, and from the centres of each pop red, gremlin-like creatures. They hop about excitedly, squishing soil between the toes and exploring the local vegetation. Yuu watches with boyish glee for a minute or so, giving the cantrip creatures a chance to 'spread their wings' as it were, before willing his requirements of them.

They set to work, the army of over four dozen creatures, taking buckets Yuu had prepared from local rocks earlier, drawing water and taking it downhill to be dumped before tirelessly returning for more.

Coming up with a plan that evening the crew sets out the next day to ascertain the nature of the pond's underlying structure. Over the course of that day the team manages to drain and partially excavate a good 3x3m section of the pond while also surveying the surrounding area. This allows them to get a more detailed scan and sample of the hardened material beneath meters of soil and sediment. Much to their surprise and delight the material appears to be the same crystal-like structure as surrounds the underground facility.

This revelation lends further evidence to the theory that the ponds are constructed and now likely created around the same time as the facility. An additional benefit of this discovery is the ability to date the crystal based on the layers of rock and soil it is buried beneath. Further analysis of the sample taken will take a bit of time but in the meantime the team asks if Vanyra would be able to use her ESP abilities to feel around the pond and verify if the underlying structure is consistent with their finding.

Vanyra agrees to investigate the pond structure with her special senses.  She seats herself relatively near the pond, clearly trying to avoid the horrid little creatures draining it.  Taking a meditative position, her eyes turn white as she focuses inwards, then outwards, letting her self reach out to learn more.

Vanyra spends several hours feeling through the earth beneath the pond with her mentally extended sense of touch, moving in ever increasing spirals until the crystal structure abruptly stops. She confirms the crystal ends where the scans suggested it did and with a sharp, near 90-degree edge. Taking some time to jump back some three hundred cycles she finds the pond to look quite similar to how it does now, though it appears a bit larger and is surrounded by lush vegetation. The crystal structure is nowhere to be seen but reaching down below the earth she can confirm it is there, suggesting it is quite a bit older than the facility. Or perhaps the facility is older than they have surmised.

Upon finishing her searching, Vanyra sits for a while longer to rest from the effort and process what she saw.  She then rises and prepares to share what she learned with the group.

With these revelations the research team is eager to return to base camp and discuss the findings and their implications in earnest. Aside from the age dating of the crystal structures there is a need to somehow identify the extent of these structures and if there is a indeed a link between them. Starting with the other ponds the trio found to confirm their status they can then move on to see if they can find any more. While this may take some time there has not been any progress on breaching the sentient barrier so this as promising a path as any. Luckily they have a fairly quick methodology for searching and determining the presence of the crystal structures.

In the meantime it is proposed that they attempt to drain one pond and further investigate the pit in the center. Vanyra, Zelpuz and Yuu can assist where they feel they can best contribute, though each team would need at least one of them.

Over the next few days the team is able to make good progress draining the original pond due west of the camp. The layers of silt, mud and decaying plant matter make for messy work though  and will impede progress on excavating the bottom of the pit. There is talk of using a cementing agent on wall of the pit which would allow excavation at the bottom to continue without worry of it sloughing in on them, it is just a matter of getting something effective. Furthermore, the narrowness of the pit makes it all but impossible save for Yuu's imp army to work down there. Of particular interest is the temperature which is significantly hotter at the bottom of the pit than the weather would suggest.

Meanwhile Vanyra has been reconnoitering the other ponds and surrounding area to see if there are other crystal structures, but if there are they are not near the surface like ponds. After several failed searches and increasing frustration she decides to start from the source, going back to the facility Vanyra feels along the crystal structures below the facility walls. She is able to find the crystal structure underlies the lift shaft almost to the surface where the base camp is located, confirming further that there is some connection between the two. Once at the surface those the crystal stops abruptly just like the ponds.

By this point Vanyra is able to join up with the others and with the pond mostly drained she is able to confirm the same crystal structure throughout save for the very bottom of the pit. The bottom, under all remaining mud, is not crystal but rather more like cerametal, it is also quite hot.

Monitoring of the artificial ponds will continue and the group is informed that the antenna-like structures jutting from the side of the cliff are just that and likely installed around the same time the underground facility was built, the Zhen Halan-era one.

Having marked some promising locations for subterranean Zelpuz and Ashari spend the next day performing flyovers to verify the presence of any caves or fissures. Of the 4 locations only one returned promising results; located in west of the base camp at the foot of the cliff a sizeable fissure was found. The power armor pilot originally found what may have been one of those artificial ponds, though with no water and the flattened area was about 50% larger. Running westward from the center of the lifeless meadow was a deep crack, roughly 2~3 meters wide. She was able to track it back to the cliff base where it expanded into maw of over twice the size that appeared to run further into the earth.

While certainly an exciting prospect the expedition team is quick to highlight the possible dangers with spelunking unknown areas. In addition to having a team explore where the fissure leads it is also proposed a small survey team investigate the 'pond' and surface area, both to compare it to the other sites and to maintain better communications with the spelunkers.

Lastly the results of the age analysis of the crystal structure beneath the ponds and the underground fortress has come back somewhat inconclusive. One thing that is certain is that said structures predate the Zhen Halan empire, possibly by a few thousand cycles. While they looked at a couple different isotopes for dating the results were not clear cut or affirmative, given the empires penchant for moving across worlds it is likely that whomever created these did likewise. This leaves the soil and debris littered with zeno-matter that skews the results. Thus solving one mystery leads to another.

After a day of preparation a team of 7 setout towards the dry pond and fissure located northeast of the base camp in the valley below. As with the previous ponds the expedition members wish to first map the area and any potential crystal structures below. The fissure leading into the hillside will then provide further opportunity  to see just how far or deep the crystal structure goes and if it too is fractured.

As the subterranean crew Zelpuz, Yuu and Vanyra are first tasked with setting up a repeater station near the large cavity where the fissure meets the ridge side. It is here that they will be able to enter into whatever cave network exists beyond. While the fissure varies from half to a full meter across at most once the originating force met the harder stone of the ridge face it split it wide, resulting in a cascade of rock. The area is strewn with pebbles, rocks and boulders almost a meter in diameter, making it somewhat treacherous terrain.

Yuu sets down his pack, and begins setting up the repeater, as per the team's instructions. It looks about right, and he runs through a series of tests to make sure it's working correctly.

While it takes a bit longer than expected Yuu and Zelpuz manage to setup the repeater station and perform a few tests at range to ensure it is working. Meanwhile Vanyra surveys the fissure and the entranceway to what appears to be a cave network. Aside from the uneven and potentially treacherous approach it seems the fissure has revealed a conventional cave beyond, naturally formed over much time. Where the cave leads and if there are other surface entrances remains to be determined.

From the entrance the interior feels warmer and more humid than the exterior but not unbearably so, the darkness being the greatest hurdle to ease of exploration at this point.

Yuu pulls a set of coveralls from his bag and flops them on a rock. He pulls off his outer garments and slips into the coverals, struggling a bit with the front zip but with a little force and colourful words, succeeds in bringing it to a close.

The young Ossylian carefully folds away his day clothing and tucks them into his bag, pulls out his goggles and slides them onto his head. With a handful of location markers in his pocket, a comms unit clipped to an ear and a small drone humming over his left shoulder, he looks prepped up and ready to roll.

"I'm ready to roll." he announces, eager to get exploring.

Pulling her attention back to the surface, Vanyra notices Yuu's clothing options and looks confused for a small moment before shrugging.  After all, its not the weirdest thing he's done.  She surveys the entrance again, thinking about her descent.

Zelpuz readies his rifle to have a good view in the cave switch between his rifle and drone views. One last check into his dimensional pocket that he packed enough flashlights, headlights and batteries, then he puts on his headlight, nods to the others and they head into the crevice.

The trio proceed over the treacherous rocky remains of hillside and into the twilight fissure beyond. Once they overcome the rockfall they are met with a rather benign dirt floored natural corridor leading further into the darkness. Here the walls are largely composed of soil and roots shredded and sundered as if sliced open with a massive spearhead. The air is notably cooler and than the outside and with a pungent smell. Aside from a variety of insects and tiny arachnids there are no notable fauna.

"Whoa, what's that smell?" Zelpuz ruffles his nose. "Well, let's hope the smell isn't getting stronger and it's not caused by some giant underground creature. Should we keep going left and see where it leads?"

"Something die, maybe?" Yuu asks, nose crinkled. He looks down the left shaft, and then the right. "Is the smell coming from any direction in particular?"

Proceeding beyond the earthen area the interior becomes composed of a sort of limestone, the floor, walls and ceiling all of stone. The smell is less here, suggesting it emanates from the sundered earth they just traversed through rather than the cool stone beyond. Here the walls are quite smooth, as if worn down over many years, and there is visible moisture running down and collecting at various points. Both right and left passages appear to run parallel to each other for now.

"Good, the air is getting better. Do we want to focus on getting as deep in as possible quickly, or should we explore all passages?"

"I want to make sure we don't run into any predators or hazards.  We can't trust the ground, walls, or ceilings in a place like this, so we should be careful. Vanyra states while looking around.  "We should also look out for any other things that might happen," she hastily adds.

"Keep taking lefts?" Yuu offers. "If we encounter a dead end, we can back track to where we previously forked. Unless something totally stands out, we can systematically check every branch this way."

"Sounds like a good plan. Yes, we should also look out for unstable rock formations, potential gaps or signs of crystal. Let's stay alert and keep moving left."

The trio move deeper into the caves with Vanyra in the lead and staying to their left at each fork. While the darkness and cool humidity offered initial respite from the heat outside, the further they venture in it becomes quickly apparent that this is a very warm and humid environment. Soon beads of sweat begin to form without any degree of high exertion. The walls are covered in large patches of algae and fungi which provide reflective bursts of colour as the lights of the party reveal them.

After navigating two forks in quick succession they head down a long passageway that eventually opens to a four-way split. Echoes of droplets coming from within the only sound to greet them.

"Keep heading left?" Yuu offers, shining his torch up to the ceiling and poking into each of the tunnel branches.

Vanyra ventures left into an area that appears to open up a bit.

Moving left the narrow corridor opens up into a small alcove that reduces your sense of claustrophobia a bit. Yuu ascertains that there is a subtle slope to the cave, moving deeper as you go deeper. There is only one exit from the area, leading further to the left, and one small exit that leads right back to the 4-way intersection you came from. The wall contain the same mix of damp stone and algae.

From the one exit Vanyra can hear an appreciable increase in droplets hitting both stone and water. If she were to reckon a guess there is some water pools ahead.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:09, Tue 18 Jan 2022.

"Let's keep checking out the left paths." Zelpuz says pointing to the exit on the left.

Yuu nods and continues following Vanyra's lead.

"Do you hear that?  Sounds like water." Vanyra comments as she heads further towards the unknown on the left side of the alcove.

While they cannot discern anything at first as Yuu and Zelpuz draw near to Vanyra's position and hold their breath for a few moments they too can hear the splat and splush of droplets ahead. If there is indeed some underground water source ahead it would do much to explain the increasingly unpleasant humidity in the cave.

Moving ahead to the exit Vanyra peers through to see a  very large cavern dominated by a still, dark reflecting pool in the center. While it looks like water she cannot be certain. Her keen sense of smell does not detect any untoward odor so it must be neutral at best, or at worse masked by the ambient musty smell of algae and mildew.

Zelpuz picks up a flat rock: "Let's see how often I can skip it ... and if something comes out when the water is disturbed."

Yuu grins widely and watches in anticipation.

The group enters the larger cavern. Unnerved by the still water Zelpuz grabs a stone nearby and with a flick of his wrist sends it flying in an acute angle directly through the glassy surface, shattering the stillness with rippling waves but no skips. Several moments pass by with stillness equal to water surface, the silence interrupted only by the irregular water droplets. The walls here are covered with much larger and expansive blankets of algae. Then length of the pond is quite impressive, it stretches beyond the range of light from the torches save for Vanyra's keen eyesight; by her estimation it must be near 100m long.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:04, Sun 23 Jan 2022.

"Well, nothing jumped yet, not even my stone. Should we walk around the pond on the left side?" Zelpuz walks towards the water. "Let's see how warm this is."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:30, Wed 26 Jan 2022.

Appearing a bit disappointed... unsure whether it was the lack of skips, or lack of reaction from any beastly fauna... Yuu follows the Mespah forward towards the water edge, giving his goggles a flip through various settings. Just in case.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:40, Tue 25 Jan 2022.

The dark liquid is refreshingly cool at first touch, but after a few moments of acclimation is warmer than you would expect from an underground pool much the same as the air this far in. With the assistance of his goggles Yuu can see the water is certainly cooler than surrounding cave rock though not by much, suggesting minimal flow if any.

Shortly thereafter Yuu and Vanyra hear the faintest of sounds echoing gently across the pond and off the cavern walls. Due to the echo it is difficult to pin point where exactly it is coming from but certainly from the far side of the pool. A odd scurrying sound suggesting many feet but in disjointed and uneven rhythm.

"Back up" states Vanyra, drawing her weapon and shield. "We're not alone."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:23, Mon 31 Jan 2022.

Zelpuz quickly takes a few steps back and joins the group. He takes out his rifle, looking through his scope.
"Did you see someone? Where?" he says, searching around the cave.

Yuu steps back, trying to peer across the bulbous cavern. "I hear like... a skittling sound." He looks behind to the tunnel they had entered from, hoping to still find it clear.

At the far side of the watery cavern Yuu and Vanyra can shapes moving amongst the stalagmites, stalactites and boulders. Though they cannot get a good look the creatures are fairly large, perhaps the height of a dog. It is quickly apparent that they are not amphibious as they avoid entering the water, instead skittering left and right around it.

A quick survey of their surrounding presents numerous passageways leading left and right away from the pool, presenting numerous means of ingress. Luckily there is only one path behind them and a two-way fork ahead as the cavern is split by the pool.

"Do you have enough room to shoot?" Vanyra asks.

"They could be friendly..?" Yuu offers optimistically, but also getting out of the way of potential gun fire.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:40, Thu 03 Feb 2022.

"I am happy to hold my fire if you want to walk over and pat one of them first." Zelpuz offers. He looks for a good spot to hit close to the approaching shapes. "Let me try to light them up a bit, maybe it'll scare them off, but at least we should get a better look at them."
He fires a shot of fire towards one of the groups that appears closest.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:36, Fri 04 Feb 2022.