"So, do we knock?" asked Kyle, and sneezed again.

"Hmm, do you remember the scale of the warriors compared to the doors in the video? Did the doors seem big compared to them, because the doors sure seem big compared to us!

No matter, though; even if they are giants, that doesn't mean we can't negotiate with them.

I guess knocking is the solution, unless you see a doorbell?"

Kyle began looking for a doorbell or any other kind of entry system.

"Doors? I don't think we saw any doors," Jason replied. "Although, I suppose, they could have been defending this area of the monolith. Wouldn't the doors have been closed? In case those outside failed to repel the invaders?"

"As for size, I don't rightly know if we saw anything that gave us a perspective that we can compare to what we are now seeing. At a guess, I'd say that the creatures were about half the size of this door. So, yeah, that makes them a bit on the giant side."

"Remember when the monster things retreated, they marched back to this monolith, the doors opened, and they marched in? As they were marching in, we saw their sized compared to these doors. That can give us perspective on them, as well as the things they were fighting."

OOC: In the description of the video the GM never indicated that the people were especially small compared to the doors, but, then, when marching into a fortification, it would not be surprising to have much larger doors than an individual person would need so he may have not mentioned it. I think the GM would have to rule on relative side, given that us players have no idea. The characters, at least if they were trying to gauge relative sizes while watching the video, however, should now have some inkling; it was already stated that the reason we couldn't before is because the drone had no idea of the ranges involved nor anything to provide a frame of reference to; that is no longer the case.

"Oh. Right. Guess I missed that part," a chagrined Jason replies.

"It was an opening, but I didn't quite get the size of it in relation to the creatures. It was dark, and the monolith was dark, but, yeah, I guess my estimate was about right then--10 feet tall."

"We still don't know if they were some kind of Minotaur creature, though, or whether they were wearing elaborate helmets."

He'll walk up to the door and knock.

Just as Jason is about to knock, the doors suddenly swing open, and it's all that Jason can do to scramble out of the way.

A dozen minotaurs charge out of the now open doors and stop as they see SG-X2.

It is now clear that they are, indeed, some sort of Minotaur creatures... that they aren't wearing masks.

"Quis es? Quod tu es?" one of them barks out in a deep voice.

 ]

Coleman looks at Kyle. "Is that... Latin?"

"Yes it is," said Kyle, thinking quickly for a good response.

"Uh, Es procul a nobis viatoribus terram. Venimus in pace."

"Quod sit mendacium. Illic es haud extremis terris Page. Expectare. Nonne per viam portæ Stellarum venis?" the Minotaur replies.

Kyle grinned.

"Sic autem factum est per portæ Stellarum."

He turned to the others.

"He just asked if we came through the Stargate."

The Minotaur turns to the others with a questioning look. Those, in turn, exchange similar looks with each other, as if wondering if any of them has a suggestion.

"Nemo advenit per stellam portam mille annis. Non puto vos ab antiquis. Quis es?" the Minotaur says.

Kyle smiled sweetly.

"Uh, nos autem tau'ri, et ex terris veniunt, quae quoque vocatur sol III"

He turned back to the others.

"They say nobody's come through the Stargate for 1,000 years, and wanted to know who we are."

"Autem ignorantibus Sol huius III, non enim audisse de terris vel Tau'ri. Non hostem. Tu locutus est ad collecti sunt seniores. Ego Tauranchula. De Turri-Urbem Septimus lapis placent intrant," responds the Minotaur.

Kyle told the others "They say they've never heard of us but as we're not the enemy they'd like to invite us in to meet their Elders. This fellow is called Tauranchula."

He turned back to Tauranchula and bowed.

"Gratias tibi. Ego Kyle. Velimus tibi gloria in occursum cum senioribus."


He was sure that none of his Latin teachers had ever envisaged such a conversation.

"Great news! I'm assuming you told them we'd be happy to meet their elders?

By the way, Kyle; they're speaking Latin... but aren't Minotaurs a Greek thing? Maybe we should keep an eye out for clues about that disconnect."

In reply to Coleman Hendricks (msg # 31):

“ That is a fairly close approximation, Sir. I believe he said it would us honor to have an occurrence with your Elders. ”
This message was last edited by the player at 23:06, Fri 23 Mar 2018.

"Yeah, the Minotaur is from the Greeks... mythology," Jason says. "Most people think it comes from the Minoan civilization, but that was applied by later scholars to the Minoans of Crete."

"It's hardly an anachronism, though, as Latin and the Romans came after the Greeks, so it's not unreasonable to have learned the language."

"If we find any archives, we might get an inkling of how that came about."

"There was only ever one Minotaur. In fact, that was the creature's name--Minotaur, as he was a man with the head of a bull. Every artist for the past 4,000 years has painted, drawn or sculpted what they thought made sense."

"The use of the term 'minotaur' for any man-bull humanoid comes from fantasy gaming of the last 50 years."

"I don't suppose there's any point in one of us staying outside, in case something goes wrong. Not much one person could do. And I certainly don't want to face that horde of their enemies by myself."

"If what you've translated is accurate and what they've told you is accurate, it doesn't sound like they have much if any experience with the stargate. Should make things interesting."

He followed the others through the huge doors and into the... to be honest, he had no idea what to call it. It was more than just a tower, more than just a pinnacle of rock.

In reply to Jason Bjorn (msg # 33):

“ The Romans did have a few Minotaur stories in the few Myths that were their own. ”

Coleman looks a little surprised at Bjorn's response; "Well, good to know, you two, thanks.

Let's head in; Kyle, please let them know we'd be happy to 'have an occurrence'. Hopefully that does mean a friendly meeting!"

"I've already told them that we'd be honoured to meet their elders. As far as I can tell they're being friendly," said Kyle.

He led the way in, smiling at their hosts.

Tauranchula leads you in, accompanied by another pair of minotaurs, as the others close the doors. You find yourself in a large chamber with a ceiling that disappears into the darkness above. It has a wide ramp around the perimeter that leads upwards and downwards. There are also a number of doorways leading off of the chamber, to which the other minotaurs head. They would seem to be guard rooms, which would make sense to defend the front door, or to sortie out to confront the enemy. Several minotaurs remain on guard duty.

Up the ramp you are led, winding around and around and around. The minotaurs do not appear to be hustling, but their stride is so long that the four of you have to hustle to keep up. In the end, you estimate that you've walked at least a mile up the ramp, which, when you look down, you can now see gradually spirals inward.

You reach the top eventually. You know it's the top because there's no more ramp, but there's still a 50-foot diameter opening in the center that continues upward. At least now, there's a faint glow of light up above. It vaguely looks like it might be daylight, but you can't really tell.

The ramp stops at a larger platform that also has several doorways off of it. Tauranchula leads you through one of them, down a hallway to another hallway that becomes a ramp up. You walk up this ramp that seems to spiral along the outer wall of this monstrous structure. From time to time, you pass a tall narrow, arched-top window that seems to look outside. Unfortunately, all that can be seen is the smog, though it seems to be less dense the higher you go.

Another twenty minutes take you up to the top of this second ramp. Although the floor levels out and continues on for a bit, there is a large doorway on the right and Tauranchula leads you through it down a short hallway to a large circular chamber. There are circular rows of tiered seating along the perimeter of the room. The center of the room is flat floor 50-feet across.

There are only 5 minotaurs sitting in the seats, and those are in the first row off to the left.

Magno natu imperii principatum: Hi sunt quorum stella porta iter per praecepta sunt vobis.

Kyle bowed towards the seated figures, muttering "These are their elders" to the others.

"Tibi gratias ago pro accepto nobis seniores. Nos in pace venire de terra longinqua, propter stella porta. Ego Kyle. Hi sunt Coleman, Jackie, et Jason.

He pointed to each in turn.

"Infeliciter ego loquor ad te solum una lingua."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:33, Tue 27 Mar 2018.

"I'm not sure if you have already, but it probably would be wise to let them know we've come here to trade."

"Good point. I'd stuck with the 'come in peace' bit so far."

Kyle thought for a moment, composing his sentences. Keep it simple.

"Nos venerunt ad te negotiatores tui."

Heck. He knew what they were after, but what did they have to offer?

He turned to Coleman again.

"What are we offering them?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:44, Wed 28 Mar 2018.