Yes, so how many of them want to go down? And what do they want to bring, how much equipment? Can we make a trail of torches? Maybe that'll keep the creatures away.

It would only be a small team of 3~5 persons to investigate the facility beyond the caves. They will be focused on trying to identify the origin of said facility and function versus really understanding everything about it.

PS: I'll be back in Houston from next Tuesday.

We probably want people to investigate the weird magic energy and crystals, to make sure we don't blow ourselves up.

Yes, although Yuu might be the best to study the floating Nether.
I think the plan is to bring a team to the entrance of the underground structure, close the door and come back. It seems 'safe' in there. Maybe one of us can stay with them for extra caution. We'll attach relays on the way there so we can communicate, and then we can do other things, like explore the rest of the cave or secure the path better, and check out the weird things in the cave.

I agree that anyone researching the underground facility with the door shut should be safe.  Though only the places we've already investigated.  There are still new areas we haven't gone into that could have new hazards.

People investigating the crystals or the floating nether or any of the minor structures in the caves will need protection of some sort.  That large creature is quite dangerous.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:32, Sun 11 June 2023.

Right, so any new plans? Sounds like we just want to go back with some additional equipment, bring some guys to different corners, and make sure the creatures stay away. Anything else we should prepare? Maybe we can bring some sort of fires to keep at least the spiders off.

Right, so you guys are going with the smaller team back to where you were. What exactly is the plan for that?

1) Get some trail beacons to mark the path

2) What defensive measures are you thinking of bringing, if any, to ward creatures off that path?

3) Are you just bringing them to the entrance of the facility and then staying guard? Remember their primary mission is to investigate the facility you gained access through.

My thoughts are:

1) We don't need trail beacons yet, as we will provide direct security to the science team going in and out.

2) None yet.

3) Bring them to the entrance, seal off the doors, and we can provide support inside the facility while the team conducts their investigations

If we can find an alternative route into the facility, say through an elevator shaft, this will remove the need to set up any defensive measures through the cave entrance. So, one of the priorities of the team moving in will be to determine if such an alternative entrance exists.

If not, then we can start planning for a cave entrance. Or, a better possibility is to dig down vertically and create our own shaft directly into the facility from ground level. This skips cave problems entirely, as well.

Are we going to have them investigate the possibly dangerous phenomenon in the caves first?  Vanyra is concerned about that.  That's why she was suggesting cave defenses and lights.

What dangerous phenomenon are you referring to, the bugs or the big mantis-creature? The nether cloud is not dangerous to those outside its radius, just like a fire; if you walk into it then it could be bad. Yuu could explain all nuances of this to Vanyra and Zelpuz, and likely did so to a degree when you guys were walking around it.

But as it was encountered it is just an localized pocket of nether energies; highly unusual for one to just be around but the entire area seems pretty unusual at this point.

Having said all that you have a lot of unexplored cave that could be more dangerous, but if you're just guiding them to the ancient facility entrance you at least know the quickest way.

So for preparations you guys can prepare whatever basic provisions you like, but if you want to assist with other stuff you can do the following:

1) work on the comms buoys: Craft: Electronics (or related skill) check.
2) Prepare detailed maps: Survival or suitable Knowledge or Profession skill check. This will provide a bonus to future survival checks in the caves for purposes of navigation in there.

I think the beacons are so that the team inside can communicate with the outside in case of need.
As for the plan, I think we should do two things:
1) bring the team into the cave, have them explore the part we looked at already, once they are done, at least one of us should go with them to explore deeper, you never know what's there.
2) explore the rest of the cave.
3) find a way past that energy barrier and to power the elevator, but that's for the research team.

Here are my rolls:
For helping with coms:
Electronics - 24 (natural 20)

maps:
Navigate - 9
Survival - 25
plus eidetic memory

The main expedition team will continue working on the ward in the facility below while you guys are off in the caves. They are fairly confident it will be down within the next cycle or two given the progress they've made so far, so a good chance they will have it down by the time the PC's return or shortly thereafter.

Vanyra was referring to the moving blob of magic which no one seemed to understand and which we didn't know if it could move around the cave system dangerously.  Also, I thought we decided they needed to look at the crystal formations for safety reasons as well?

And yes, the beacons were to allow communication with the outside.  Vanyra suggested putting them in the ceiling to avoid damage.

Vanyra will take ten on Navigate for a 16
and will take ten on Survival for a 19

We should emphasize safe areas and unsafe areas, and to stay out of unexplored areas until they are checked out.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:58, Fri 30 June 2023.

What do the scientists want to study first?

They are interested in the facility and not the cave; the facility is top priority. Those crystals near the entrance to the facility may warrant some investigation then maybe the nether cloud. There is suspicion amongst the team that they could both be connected to the ancient facility somehow.

I'm not 100% certain on what Vanyra was referring to; there was a cloud of nether energy you guys encountered around the mid-point on the left side of the map (green blob). That cloud wasn't moving about the cave, it was stationary where it was but it was undulating/pulsing in place. It wasn't that you did not understand what it was, rather it was extremely unusual to see something like that in a natural formation like a cave, as nether energy is not 'natural' in the traditional sense. Thus it is a mystery of how/why it is there versus what it is.

If the facility is the priority, then yeah... zero reason at this point to do anything other than escort the research group into the facility, and escort them back out, by quickest route possible. We can be inside the facility to offer local security while they move about and conduct their tests. Priority would also be on creating access that by-passes the cave entrance altogether, freeing the researchers to come and go at will without need of our direct presence.

Okay.  Then just having a communication network and making sure we locate various creatures so they don't attack would be the priority.

Vanyra, Zelpuz, and Yuu are now at the point where the caves give way to the facility. The members of the research team have gone forward into the facility as planned, and should be returning 4 hours. What do you guys plan to do in the meantime, if anything?

Since they want to explore the rooms, and since we want to find a way into the rest of the facility, do we want to look around the actual facility to finish exploring areas we didn't and look for a way in there before going back to explore the caves more?

Yes, either that, or try to explore the cave to find another entrance, not sure what is more likely. In any case, Zelpuz would like to explore both. But if the researchers want to go further than we did, maybe it is a good idea to go along with them. There may be other creatures somewhere from other entrances.

Another idea, can we tag at least the big creature with some beacon so we know if it comes close? Would have to shoot some sort of hook into a leg or so, but might be worth it for both sides.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:43, Fri 14 July 2023.

As much as Yuu wants to explore (and me), our first priority is the safety of the scientists. We have to be nearby and available to react should they need assistance, and we can't really do that if we're caught up in our own adventures.

Yuu is going to suggest each of us is assigned a group of scientists that will be exploring a specific area of the map, so we can rapidly assist them as required, even if that means us splitting up to follow these researchers.

The idea of setting up a tag on the big creature is really cool, or even cameras/detectors to trace activity, as it helps us plan safely through the cave entrance. At least, until another entrance is found.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:46, Sun 16 July 2023.

That's why I thought to explore the facility around the scientists a little.  If they are in an isolated room for awhile, we can make sure the nearby areas are safe.

There are only 4 of them along with us and the main guide.

To clarify and put it in perspective the team will not be going further than you guys did in the facility as you covered quite a bit of distance. Just by going to 2 or 3 of those rooms with the dormant consoles and equipment would be enough for them on this particular run. If you look at the 4 rooms on the left side of the map, including the entry room, that would be enough for them.

Given that there is only 5 scientists present they could reasonably split into 2 teams at most; three would mean one team would not have the requisite equipment.

I've added two NPC tokens to the map to represent these two teams.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:04, Sun 16 July 2023.

The room on the farthest middle left we haven't gone into yet.

We can go ahead of the teams to secure the rooms and the passageways.  Vanyra's willing to take the lead.

pretty easy to leave 1 or two people with the first team in a room and then move ahead to secure and look into places in advance.