Toth's raft isn't much, but it's large enough to get the explorers to the island intact and mostly dry. There is no dock, but several rotted stumps suggest there was one in ancient times. The reptilian centaur instead beaches the raft near the 'crotch' of the island, where the trailing points of the arrow-head angle inward to form a somewhat sheltered notch. The odd fortress looks down from above, perched atop the notch-shaped cliff.
After stepping ashore, Tasha cranes her neck to look up at the so-called Palace. "It's not what I was expecting," she admits, eyes squinting against the sickly light of Primus. "It looks like they took local materials and built a rough keep atop the spacecraft, which makes me wonder why they didn't use the spacecraft's interior. Perhaps they can no longer access the interior, it's unsuitable to defend against the creatures here, or planetfall caused the interior to be a hazardous?"
"I don't think that's local stone," Hakeber suggests. "More likely it's a prefabricated temple that they had in storage aboard Lucifer."
"I could see the Silent-Ones doing that," Gabriel notes. "It's hard to think of the Imperials as being that religious though."
"They probably had it so they could assemble it somewhere and then 'discover' it later, proving to the other races that they'd already been here before or something," Aaron says.
Toth doesn't offer any comment of his own, as he ties up the raft.
"Prefabricated stone?" Tasha asks as she turns to glance at Hakeber, her mate and Aaron in turn. "That'd be rather devious of them. While I'm impressed by all the effort, I fear be ruining their project momentarily. Is everyone ready for the hike up?"
Aaron thumps his foot on the ground, making sure it's not just going to go sliding off into the swamp. "Looks okay!" he says.
"Being inside has to be better than being outside," Hakeber agrees, and starts up the semi-steep slope.
Tasha nods, turning to face the hill. "Well, lets get going then. We should probably set up camp inside the structure; that will permit us a relatively safe home base in which to conduct our explorations from. If the interior proves safe, we can relocate inside."
After taking a deep breath and casting one more look up up at the peculiar castle, Tasha begins walking.
The trek to the fortress doesn't take very long, and the most disturbing thing encountered where some of Lord Yama's footprints. Up close, it's much more obvious that the stone walls aren't stone, but some more advanced material that looks a bit like stone. The gates are definitely 'imported' since they're transparent, with engraved divine serpents inside the material. Anything beyond a few yards past them is blurred out though.
Gabriel taps on the gates. "Clear sapphire, maybe?" he suggests.
"I have to admit, I never expected to get in to a tangle with a Magi," Tasha admits as they past the last footprint before reaching the door. "I'm glad we were able to work our immediate conflict out, but I have the feeling I'll be thinking on what he said for a while." She stops before the double doors, gaze stretching upwards. "It does remind me of the practice facility on you-know-where. Lets see if they still work." Stepping forward, Tasha gives the slab a good push.
There's some resistance, and then the door pushes open. Apparently nobody locked it (or was alive to lock it).
As the door swings open before her, Tasha's brows go up. "Well, that was a lot easier than I was expecting. Thanks for small blessings, right?" She glances back and grins, then waves the others to follow as she heads inside.
"Treasure doors," Toth hisses, running his hands over the shapes embedded in the door. He tears himself away to follow Tasha and the rest. "Who knowsss what other treasure there will be inside!"
"There's only one treasure I'm here for, and it looks like I have approval to take it. I don't think it's going to be as easy as just walking in and picking it up though. Lord Yama hinted there may be more to overcome, but wouldn't say what," Tasha remarks as she passes through the entry way and deeper inside. "What I wouldn't give for working sensory equipment in times like this."
The inner courtyard shows that some modifications had been made to the original fortress design. Bars form a cage over the exposed top, and were clearly scavenged from someplace else and stuck to the walls. The priests were not handymen, from the apparent quality of the work. There is debris, likely from storms and mostly old branches and such. Another, smaller set of double-doors leads into the main sanctuary, with bits of ancient Imperial armor on the ground near them.
"You've got me," Aaron notes. "My senses are just fine."
The red woman pauses in looking around to grin back at Aaron."You have me there. You're better company too!" She then points to the door they just entered through. "We'd better close that and block it off, maybe set up a noise trap in case something tries to enter after us. Lord Yama didn't seem like the protective type, and judging from these bars, there were problems he couldn't deal with anyway."
"Or he wasn't protecting the place from the start," Gabriel notes. "Your ghost-dragon didn't mention another dragon defending the place, did it?"
Toth is able to push the outer gate closed.. and then notices something. "There are no handles," he says. "We must look for some hidden mechanism that opens or locks them."
"No ... Come to think of it, it seems he only took up guardianship after the priests failed. That would fit with his mentality on the subject. He's only interested in carrying out the Progenitors orders for him. Everything else is inconsequential." Picking up a few sturdy branches, Tasha walks back to the door and begins wedging them in to gaps to prevent the gate from being opened casually. She then ties some rope around smaller twigs and hangs that off one of the wedged branches, creating wooden motion chimes. "It's not much. At the very least, Aaron will hear anyone enter. Lets look for the locking mechanisim. Grab a buddy and lets spread out -- the big sexy wolf is with me!"
Despite the hint to split up.. everyone stays clustered together behind Tasha and Gabriel. The armor near the main doors looks patched, rather than pristine - but still in good enough condition that it shouldn't have just been abandoned. Toth assembles a complete set that fits him (or his upper torso anyway), and seems pleased. "No writing anywhere yet," Hakeber points out. This time, the doors are locked or barricaded, and need more encouragement.
Tasha just shakes her head as everyone follows her anyway, only to get the eerie feeling Nora would have done exactly the same thing. I guess we're becoming more alike by the day, she decides as she studies the newest door.
After a moment of inspection, Tasha gestures to the door, bidding, "Toth, help me open this please," before she steps forward to help the effort.
With Toth adding his considerable weight to the effort, they manage to force one of the doors back, pushing whatever bulky items were blocking them in the process. Gabriel and Aaron busy themselves lighting their lanterns. It takes some time, but eventually there's a gap wide enough for both Tasha or Toth to fit through.
"Whew," Tasha breathes as she leans back and pushes the hair from her face. After eying the moment, she declares, "Hakeber! You're first."
"What?" Hakeber squeaks, and actually tries to hide behind Aaron (after all, she is on the short side). "Is there something to read? Or.. uh.."
While Hakeber can't see Tasha smile, she can see her ears wiggle as she steps forward and slides through the door.
"Booby traps are not out of the question," the Lapi notes. "I suggest.. a sturdy stick. I owe my life and limbs to having used sturdy sticks at the proper time."
Pausing half-way in, Tasha takes a moment to eye the Lapi, then dons her helmet before proceeding.
It's very dark inside, until Gabriel passes Tasha a lamp. Then she can see the shrine. There are pillars that resemble the Celestial Trinity rising up to support the high ceiling, and bowl-like pits in the floor that might have been for prayer or just lounging. At the far end is a dais, with what might be a pulpit, and behind that is a statue of.. well, it must be one of the Naga deities, but it isn't one of the three Tasha knows. It is a bit more dragonlike in appearance, and has six arms, each with five claws.
"The shrine," Tasha reports. "I see recessed areas -- obviously Naga seating arangements -- a dias, and ... Hake, Gabe, do you know of any multi-armed, dragonlike deities in the Celestial mythos? I'm seeing a large status of one here, but I don't recognize it."
When nothing tries to crush Tasha, the others crowd in behind her. Hakeber eyes the statue, and even puts on her reading glasses. "Maybe there's an inscription?" she suggests.. and waits for someone else to lead the way to the statue.
"I'll go look. The thing makes me uneasy though, so you may want to wait by the door just to be safe." Heading onward, Tasha makes her way towards the dias, unlimbering Apollyon's sword as she goes. In a low voice, she calls out to the statue as she advances on it, "If you're a security measure, I've been given permission by Caspar to enter here. We're members of the Joint Expeditionary Force here on a recovery mission."
This giant god-thing doesn't talk back, which in Tasha's experience with Imperial god-things is unusual. It really is just a statue! It's darker than the others though, with their gold, silver and copper finishes. The shrine's main deity is the color of soot, but does have ruby-red eyes. Each hand's claws are coated in different metals though. There are symbols engraved in the scales of thing's belly though.
"It seems safe," the hybrid calls back to the others. "Hake, can you take a look and see what you can make of it?"
Once everyone is near the statue, Hakeber adjusts her glasses (a habit that she thinks makes her look smarter) to study the symbols. Even Toth looks. Gabriel uses the time to study the podium.
For her part, Tasha begins inspecting the surrounding area for doors or hidden panels placing lit torches as she goes to help brighten the area.
"Uh, I don't know all of these," Hakeber says, sounding surprised. "They may be archaic. I think they refer to darkness, or night. Nakh is what this one means, so.. night personified.."
"It reads, Ahriman, Father of Night, The Revealer of Forbidden Truths," Toth supplies.
"That makes sense, given the other three are the Sun, Moon, and Stars. That would make the fourth Void or Space, the absence of the other three. Perhaps a taboo diety?Lord Yama also appears to be asso-" Tasha pauses when she hears mention of 'Ahriman,' suddenly looking thoughtful as she turns to stare at the figure.
After a moment, she remarks, "So this is Ahriman. If i recall correctly, Ahriman is listed as one of the Progenitors along side Adam, though the legends disagree on the subject. It was said that Ahriman is evil, so his children were created evil. That he tricked Adam from the Garden of Eden."
"That could be interpreted in different ways," Hakeber notes. "If Eden is supposed to have been Terra, then it could mean.. well, that Ahriman wanted the Progenitors or Archons to leave their children alone."
"I notice something," Aaron comments. He's been looking at the walls and structure, looking for other doors and such. "Lots of triangle motifs, things grouped in threes - like the contemplation bowls, or whatever they are. Or else six. Anyway.. threes and sixes."
"Eden may also be Arcadia, in which case Arhiman caused Adam to leave these worlds and go to Earth. Your take seems more probably though, given the circumstances. And if we're right, there's the possibility Ahriman may also interfere with this project, if he still exists and is aware of us," the half-Vartan says, head tilting as she regards the diety. "I guess we won't find the answers in here, though. Threes and sixes you say, Aaron?"
Leaving the statue, Tasha walks over to inspect what Aaron has found. "The trinty appears to have great significance in a lot of cultures, including those of the Progenitor cult. Sixes ... There's divisibility there ... one and two, one plus two equals three, another trinity. Six can't represent the Marker though, but three could."
"Six arms, five fingers each," Gabriel says, looking up at the statue. Then he shakes his head and says, "I haven't found any hidden controls in the podium."
"The Nagai gods have pretty triangular heads too, so maybe the Marker is a triangle," Hakeber offers, looking thoughtful.
"Interesting. And we haven't found a way deeper in to the complex either, so there's clearly a hidden door. Aaron," she glances bunnyward, "try tapping the walls with your ear to them. Listen for something that sounds different. If all else fails, we can try to force our way in if you find something, but while you're looking we should try and locate a switch to avoid setting off any alarms."
Toth flicks his tongue, and then begins to climb the statue.
Orders given, Tasha remains at her position to study the symbols Aaron had pointed out. On a hunch, she reaches forward and pushes on all three of the three-set with her outstretched fingers.
Lantern in hand, the Lapi begins checking for hollow walls or anything else he might sense.
The triangles don't move, so may really be just decoration. "I have found ssssomething," Toth says from atop the statue of the dark god.
Tasha grimaces, but doesn't have long to reconsider her plan as she looks up when Toth calls, "I wouldn't advise trying to take those rubies, but what did you find?"
"A depression, at the crown of the skull," Toth says, looking down between Ahriman's impressive fan of spikes or horns. "Triangular," he adds, and holds his hands about a yard apart to give an idea of the width.
"A depression ... Could it have been the Marker? Was it stolen?" Tasha casts a glance across the hall, frowning. "Lord Yama insisted it was here, though. It may have been moved further inside. It would be hard to believe Lord Yama was wrong, though he could be misleading ... "
"They got raided by a dragon and lost the key to the Titan," Gabriel notes. "Then they put up the cage defense, and probably moved the remaining sacred relic to a safer place, probably deeper in the ship. It's what I would have done."
"There was a treasure mentioned too, right?" Aaron asks. "Your dragon said the monks died to protect that one item but didn't care about the rest of the treasure, or something, I think you said. Of course, if they abandoned the temple, they would have taken that with them.. except we've only found one entry into this place, and it was barricaded from the inside."
"That's true, and reinforces the need to find a means to continue inside." Tasha then nods to Aaron. "We don't know if they were all killed, and we have no evidence they left here -- in fact, it looks like at least one would have stayed behind. We need to find a means to proceed, so keep looking." Following her own advice, Tasha starts circling the hall, hand holding her torch close to the wall so she can scan them for seams.
Everyone fans out, looking for hidden entrances. Because the place is so pristine compared to actual ruins, it takes awhile before Tasha notices the one thing that's out of place: dirt. Specifically, crumbled ceramic, in the seams of one of the flooring stones. The 'grout' that holds the rest of the pieces in place looks intact.
"I think I found something," Tasha calls out. Kneeling, the woman takes her free hand and begins feeling around for a handhold, attempting to heft the stone up.
This is where having a sword helps! Apollyon's ancient weapon is able to get in and lever up one edge of the stone, which everyone can then get their hands under to lift and shift away.. revealing a spaceship hatch, just a few feet beneath the loose tile.
My apologies for using your sword this way, Apollyon, Tasha thinks as she peers down at the hatch. It's for your cause, at least. "There it is. It's a close squeeze, but I think we'll all fit. It may be trapped though -- we've breached the facade and are now dealing with the true interior, so they may have put up some last ditch protections. I'll go first."
Donning her helmet once again, Tasha drops down and begins manipulating the hatch. "Clear the way," she warns before giving it a tug.
The tug seems to have no effect, until Gabriel says, "It's a pressure hatch, so should open inward. Try jumping on it."
"Why do I always forget these things..," Tasha mutters as she rises. At least I have something to take my frusteration out on this time! Tucking her wings, she jumps up and slams her hoof down.
With a groan, the hatch sinks downward with each blow. Once it's half-way open, it gets the rest of the way there on its own. It exposes a Nagai 'ladder' - a central pole with spiraling, widely spaced bars extending from it to the cylindrical walls. Stale air rises up from the dark opening.
Tasha wrinkles her nose after getting a wiff of the air, though her suit's passive filtration system keeps her from the worst of it. "I'm heading down. I'll call back once it looks safe." With that, she begins making her way down the awkward (for a biped) ladder system and in to the craft.
"What do we do if we you don't call back?" Aaron asks after handing over his lamp to Tasha.
"Then something has gone wrong and you'll need to consider a plan to deal with that," Tasha replies as she shifts her armored self to better suit the peculiar ladder. "Give me a little bit, then consider rescue. Or if it looks bad, well ... No one said this would be safe, or easy."
"I'm pretty sure the only threat that's still active is the one we left out in the swamp," Gabriel notes.
The shaft isn't that long, and Tasha soons finds herself in some sort of junction air-lock, with hatches going off in six different directions. They're all personnel-sized, which means the castle pieces certainly weren't carried through them.
Tasha's voiceechoes from the tube, reduced now that she's a distance in. "Lord Yama will always be a threat, but we can at least hope he's no longer a threat to us. Don't let your guard down, though!"
"Yeah, so don't get killed or he might not less us leave," Aaron replies.
By this point, Tasha's voice is scant but a whisper to the ears of everyone but Aaron. "I don't plan on it!"
Deciding to start with hatch '1', tasha takes a moment to mark an arrow indicating her choice, with 'T' next to it, before accessing the forward hatch and proceeding in.
The forward hatch opens with a shove, and Tasha can smell the swamp through the opening - so either someone left hatches open or the hull is breached somewhere to let the water in. Then again, from the way Orpheus was laid out, it may be from internal garden areas as well. The room beyond the hatch is a locker, with racks that must have once held EVA suits, tools or robots.
Tasha slips inside, taking a moment to check the lockers. Hopefully the gasses aren't harmful, but there could be methane deposites -- and we're all carrying torches. The young woman makes sure to add, 'possib swamp gas be careful' to the floor with her chalk, then resumes inspecting.
The lockers and equipment bays are stripped bare, unsurprisingly. Anything that could be salvaged likely was, once it was clear that Lucifer was not going to fly again - and there must have been hundreds of crew on a ship this big! Another pressure door lies ahead.
Tasha adds, 'scouting ahead to check for danger,' another arrow, and then proceeds through the next hatch.
This is clearly a major corridor, and shows the unusual Imperial aesthetic of curved, softened forms as seen on Orpheus. It's still clearly a cargo corridor though, given the width and the large nature of the double doors that line the sides of it.
After seeing the corridor isn't about to explode, Tasha heads back to contact the others.
From down below, the party can hear, "I found a central annex for the escape passageways, but the ship smells like swamp and I'm concerned about methane build up. Do you still want to risk coming down? I'd rather try and locate an active terminal and see what I can assess about air quality and damage."
"Do you know how to use an Imperial terminal if you found one?" Hakeber calls down.
"Won't they have a Standard mode for emergencies and guests," Tasha calls back.
"Guests? This isn't Orpheus, so I doubt it," Gabriel calls back. "A map would be useful. There should be direction markers and such."
"I was thinking of heading for the bridge to see if any terminals are still active, check the status of the SPF-safe power sources, and they access maps and ship manifests. Since it looks like I can't do it alone, you'd better come down with me. We'll have to be extra-careful though." Tasha steps back, then adds, "I'll meet you in the corridor," before heading back down. There just isn't room enough for her to wait anywhere else.
It takes a few minutes, but eventually everyone is assembled outside of the locker room. Toth is practically vibrating with excitement! "The true Dragon Palace," he hisses, running his hands over the textured walls.
"You could say that." Tasha scans the corridor up and down, then asks, "Where do you think the bridge would be? I know very little of Celestial technology."
"Towards the center of the ship, forward of the cargo hold and behind the sensor and weapon systems," Gabriel says, and approaches one of the cargo doors. While framed in composites, they still feature large transparent areas.
"Then we have a destination. I'll stay ahead of everyone, just in case we hit a pocket of methane," Tasha decides. Following Gabriel's advice, she heads deeper inside.
The corridor feels like it's sloping downward, but that could be the way the ship has settled. The cargo doors they pass show glimpses into huge, empty spaces where similar (though larger) doors can be seen to connect the pods, both horizontally and vertically so that spaces can be opened up even more. Some of them show just that; floors retracted to create deep shafts spanning the height of the vessel. They come across a cargo elevator shaft, the door open but no sign of the lift car itself, beyond the tracks it would follow.
Peering over the edge, Tasha remarks, "These would have had to have opened after planetfall; it'd have been too dangerous to leave them open during the crash. It's good to know thed technology held out that long. Are we going the rigth way?"
"We'd do better heading lower," Gabriel suggests. "This is part of the main transport network of the ship, so it means we're at the end of the cargo zone, except for the upper and lower holds."
"I'll fly to the bottom and see if I can get the lift working. If that fails, Toth, do you think you can climb down? It won't be an easy flight if I have to carry you, but I can try," the hybrid asks.
"I am good at climbing, and I have rope," Toth claims.
"Good, good ... Um, I'll head down now." Tasha steps on to the edge of the shaft, then steps again, tilting forward and dropping head first in to the shaft. the manuver allows her to align her wings to her direction of motion, letting them catch the air more rapidly. Unfortunately, there's little she can do about the dark, so she holds her torch until she's managed a safe spiral, then drops it to act as a beacon for landing.
The ship isn't all that thick, maybe twenty levels, so it isn't too long before Tasha passes side shafts (apparently the 'elevator' isn't limited to up and down) and spots the car at the bottom of the shaft. It's clearly not going to be moving again, as the top is blown open and the scorch marks on the shaft around it hint that this wasn't due to a crash.
Someone set off a bomb.
"More evidence of the mutiny ..?" tasha murmurs as she walks up to the truck. "I guess we won't be using the elevator. What exactly happened here?" She shakes her head, turning to look up through the darkness to where her friends await. We'll find out sooner or later, I'm sure; I just hope it's not after we stumble over disaster.
Logfile from Envoy. (OOC) Log start: d:\logs\fenris\2012-09-09_dragonpalace.htmlToth's raft isn't much, but it's large enough to get the explorers to the island intact and mostly dry. There is no dock, but several rotted stumps suggest there was one in ancient times. The reptilian centaur instead beaches the raft near the 'crotch' of the island, where the trailing points of the arrow-head angle inward to form a somewhat sheltered notch. The odd fortress looks down from above, perched atop the notch-shaped cliff.
After stepping ashore, Tasha cranes her neck to look up at the so-called Palace. "It's not what I was expecting," she admits, eyes squinting against the sickly light of Primus. "It looks like they took local materials and built a rough keep atop the spacecraft, which makes me wonder why they didn't use the spacecraft's interior. Perhaps they can no longer access the interior, it's unsuitable to defend against the creatures here, or planetfall caused the interior to be a hazardous?"
"I don't think that's local stone," Hakeber suggests. "More likely it's a prefabricated temple that they had in storage aboard Lucifer."
"I could see the Silent-Ones doing that," Gabriel notes. "It's hard to think of the Imperials as being that religious though."
"They probably had it so they could assemble it somewhere and then 'discover' it later, proving to the other races that they'd already been here before or something," Aaron says.
Toth doesn't offer any comment of his own, as he ties up the raft.
"Prefabricated stone?" Tasha asks as she turns to glance at Hakeber, her mate and Aaron in turn. "That'd be rather devious of them. While I'm impressed by all the effort, I fear be ruining their project momentarily. Is everyone ready for the hike up?"
Aaron thumps his foot on the ground, making sure it's not just going to go sliding off into the swamp. "Looks okay!" he says.
"Being inside has to be better than being outside," Hakeber agrees, and starts up the semi-steep slope.
Tasha nods, turning to face the hill. "Well, lets get going then. We should probably set up camp inside the structure; that will permit us a relatively safe home base in which to conduct our explorations from. If the interior proves safe, we can relocate inside."
After taking a deep breath and casting one more look up up at the peculiar castle, Tasha begins walking.
The trek to the fortress doesn't take very long, and the most disturbing thing encountered where some of Lord Yama's footprints. Up close, it's much more obvious that the stone walls aren't stone, but some more advanced material that looks a bit like stone. The gates are definitely 'imported' since they're transparent, with engraved divine serpents inside the material. Anything beyond a few yards past them is blurred out though.
Gabriel taps on the gates. "Clear sapphire, maybe?" he suggests.
"I have to admit, I never expected to get in to a tangle with a Magi," Tasha admits as they past the last footprint before reaching the door. "I'm glad we were able to work our immediate conflict out, but I have the feeling I'll be thinking on what he said for a while." She stops before the double doors, gaze stretching upwards. "It does remind me of the practice facility on you-know-where. Lets see if they still work." Stepping forward, Tasha gives the slab a good push.
There's some resistance, and then the door pushes open. Apparently nobody locked it (or was alive to lock it).
As the door swings open before her, Tasha's brows go up. "Well, that was a lot easier than I was expecting. Thanks for small blessings, right?" She glances back and grins, then waves the others to follow as she heads inside.
"Treasure doors," Toth hisses, running his hands over the shapes embedded in the door. He tears himself away to follow Tasha and the rest. "Who knowsss what other treasure there will be inside!"
"There's only one treasure I'm here for, and it looks like I have approval to take it. I don't think it's going to be as easy as just walking in and picking it up though. Lord Yama hinted there may be more to overcome, but wouldn't say what," Tasha remarks as she passes through the entry way and deeper inside. "What I wouldn't give for working sensory equipment in times like this."
The inner courtyard shows that some modifications had been made to the original fortress design. Bars form a cage over the exposed top, and were clearly scavenged from someplace else and stuck to the walls. The priests were not handymen, from the apparent quality of the work. There is debris, likely from storms and mostly old branches and such. Another, smaller set of double-doors leads into the main sanctuary, with bits of ancient Imperial armor on the ground near them.
"You've got me," Aaron notes. "My senses are just fine."
The red woman pauses in looking around to grin back at Aaron."You have me there. You're better company too!" She then points to the door they just entered through. "We'd better close that and block it off, maybe set up a noise trap in case something tries to enter after us. Lord Yama didn't seem like the protective type, and judging from these bars, there were problems he couldn't deal with anyway."
"Or he wasn't protecting the place from the start," Gabriel notes. "Your ghost-dragon didn't mention another dragon defending the place, did it?"
Toth is able to push the outer gate closed.. and then notices something. "There are no handles," he says. "We must look for some hidden mechanism that opens or locks them."
"No ... Come to think of it, it seems he only took up guardianship after the priests failed. That would fit with his mentality on the subject. He's only interested in carrying out the Progenitors orders for him. Everything else is inconsequential." Picking up a few sturdy branches, Tasha walks back to the door and begins wedging them in to gaps to prevent the gate from being opened casually. She then ties some rope around smaller twigs and hangs that off one of the wedged branches, creating wooden motion chimes. "It's not much. At the very least, Aaron will hear anyone enter. Lets look for the locking mechanisim. Grab a buddy and lets spread out -- the big sexy wolf is with me!"
Despite the hint to split up.. everyone stays clustered together behind Tasha and Gabriel. The armor near the main doors looks patched, rather than pristine - but still in good enough condition that it shouldn't have just been abandoned. Toth assembles a complete set that fits him (or his upper torso anyway), and seems pleased. "No writing anywhere yet," Hakeber points out. This time, the doors are locked or barricaded, and need more encouragement.
Tasha just shakes her head as everyone follows her anyway, only to get the eerie feeling Nora would have done exactly the same thing. I guess we're becoming more alike by the day, she decides as she studies the newest door.
After a moment of inspection, Tasha gestures to the door, bidding, "Toth, help me open this please," before she steps forward to help the effort.
With Toth adding his considerable weight to the effort, they manage to force one of the doors back, pushing whatever bulky items were blocking them in the process. Gabriel and Aaron busy themselves lighting their lanterns. It takes some time, but eventually there's a gap wide enough for both Tasha or Toth to fit through.
"Whew," Tasha breathes as she leans back and pushes the hair from her face. After eying the moment, she declares, "Hakeber! You're first."
"What?" Hakeber squeaks, and actually tries to hide behind Aaron (after all, she is on the short side). "Is there something to read? Or.. uh.."
While Hakeber can't see Tasha smile, she can see her ears wiggle as she steps forward and slides through the door.
"Booby traps are not out of the question," the Lapi notes. "I suggest.. a sturdy stick. I owe my life and limbs to having used sturdy sticks at the proper time."
Pausing half-way in, Tasha takes a moment to eye the Lapi, then dons her helmet before proceeding.
It's very dark inside, until Gabriel passes Tasha a lamp. Then she can see the shrine. There are pillars that resemble the Celestial Trinity rising up to support the high ceiling, and bowl-like pits in the floor that might have been for prayer or just lounging. At the far end is a dais, with what might be a pulpit, and behind that is a statue of.. well, it must be one of the Naga deities, but it isn't one of the three Tasha knows. It is a bit more dragonlike in appearance, and has six arms, each with five claws.
"The shrine," Tasha reports. "I see recessed areas -- obviously Naga seating arangements -- a dias, and ... Hake, Gabe, do you know of any multi-armed, dragonlike deities in the Celestial mythos? I'm seeing a large status of one here, but I don't recognize it."
When nothing tries to crush Tasha, the others crowd in behind her. Hakeber eyes the statue, and even puts on her reading glasses. "Maybe there's an inscription?" she suggests.. and waits for someone else to lead the way to the statue.
"I'll go look. The thing makes me uneasy though, so you may want to wait by the door just to be safe." Heading onward, Tasha makes her way towards the dias, unlimbering Apollyon's sword as she goes. In a low voice, she calls out to the statue as she advances on it, "If you're a security measure, I've been given permission by Caspar to enter here. We're members of the Joint Expeditionary Force here on a recovery mission."
This giant god-thing doesn't talk back, which in Tasha's experience with Imperial god-things is unusual. It really is just a statue! It's darker than the others though, with their gold, silver and copper finishes. The shrine's main deity is the color of soot, but does have ruby-red eyes. Each hand's claws are coated in different metals though. There are symbols engraved in the scales of thing's belly though.
"It seems safe," the hybrid calls back to the others. "Hake, can you take a look and see what you can make of it?"
Once everyone is near the statue, Hakeber adjusts her glasses (a habit that she thinks makes her look smarter) to study the symbols. Even Toth looks. Gabriel uses the time to study the podium.
For her part, Tasha begins inspecting the surrounding area for doors or hidden panels placing lit torches as she goes to help brighten the area.
"Uh, I don't know all of these," Hakeber says, sounding surprised. "They may be archaic. I think they refer to darkness, or night. Nakh is what this one means, so.. night personified.."
"It reads, Ahriman, Father of Night, The Revealer of Forbidden Truths," Toth supplies.
"That makes sense, given the other three are the Sun, Moon, and Stars. That would make the fourth Void or Space, the absence of the other three. Perhaps a taboo diety?Lord Yama also appears to be asso-" Tasha pauses when she hears mention of 'Ahriman,' suddenly looking thoughtful as she turns to stare at the figure.
After a moment, she remarks, "So this is Ahriman. If i recall correctly, Ahriman is listed as one of the Progenitors along side Adam, though the legends disagree on the subject. It was said that Ahriman is evil, so his children were created evil. That he tricked Adam from the Garden of Eden."
"That could be interpreted in different ways," Hakeber notes. "If Eden is supposed to have been Terra, then it could mean.. well, that Ahriman wanted the Progenitors or Archons to leave their children alone."
"I notice something," Aaron comments. He's been looking at the walls and structure, looking for other doors and such. "Lots of triangle motifs, things grouped in threes - like the contemplation bowls, or whatever they are. Or else six. Anyway.. threes and sixes."
"Eden may also be Arcadia, in which case Arhiman caused Adam to leave these worlds and go to Earth. Your take seems more probably though, given the circumstances. And if we're right, there's the possibility Ahriman may also interfere with this project, if he still exists and is aware of us," the half-Vartan says, head tilting as she regards the diety. "I guess we won't find the answers in here, though. Threes and sixes you say, Aaron?"
Leaving the statue, Tasha walks over to inspect what Aaron has found. "The trinty appears to have great significance in a lot of cultures, including those of the Progenitor cult. Sixes ... There's divisibility there ... one and two, one plus two equals three, another trinity. Six can't represent the Marker though, but three could."
"Six arms, five fingers each," Gabriel says, looking up at the statue. Then he shakes his head and says, "I haven't found any hidden controls in the podium."
"The Nagai gods have pretty triangular heads too, so maybe the Marker is a triangle," Hakeber offers, looking thoughtful.
"Interesting. And we haven't found a way deeper in to the complex either, so there's clearly a hidden door. Aaron," she glances bunnyward, "try tapping the walls with your ear to them. Listen for something that sounds different. If all else fails, we can try to force our way in if you find something, but while you're looking we should try and locate a switch to avoid setting off any alarms."
Toth flicks his tongue, and then begins to climb the statue.
Orders given, Tasha remains at her position to study the symbols Aaron had pointed out. On a hunch, she reaches forward and pushes on all three of the three-set with her outstretched fingers.
Lantern in hand, the Lapi begins checking for hollow walls or anything else he might sense.
The triangles don't move, so may really be just decoration. "I have found ssssomething," Toth says from atop the statue of the dark god.
Tasha grimaces, but doesn't have long to reconsider her plan as she looks up when Toth calls, "I wouldn't advise trying to take those rubies, but what did you find?"
"A depression, at the crown of the skull," Toth says, looking down between Ahriman's impressive fan of spikes or horns. "Triangular," he adds, and holds his hands about a yard apart to give an idea of the width.
"A depression ... Could it have been the Marker? Was it stolen?" Tasha casts a glance across the hall, frowning. "Lord Yama insisted it was here, though. It may have been moved further inside. It would be hard to believe Lord Yama was wrong, though he could be misleading ... "
"They got raided by a dragon and lost the key to the Titan," Gabriel notes. "Then they put up the cage defense, and probably moved the remaining sacred relic to a safer place, probably deeper in the ship. It's what I would have done."
"There was a treasure mentioned too, right?" Aaron asks. "Your dragon said the monks died to protect that one item but didn't care about the rest of the treasure, or something, I think you said. Of course, if they abandoned the temple, they would have taken that with them.. except we've only found one entry into this place, and it was barricaded from the inside."
"That's true, and reinforces the need to find a means to continue inside." Tasha then nods to Aaron. "We don't know if they were all killed, and we have no evidence they left here -- in fact, it looks like at least one would have stayed behind. We need to find a means to proceed, so keep looking." Following her own advice, Tasha starts circling the hall, hand holding her torch close to the wall so she can scan them for seams.
Everyone fans out, looking for hidden entrances. Because the place is so pristine compared to actual ruins, it takes awhile before Tasha notices the one thing that's out of place: dirt. Specifically, crumbled ceramic, in the seams of one of the flooring stones. The 'grout' that holds the rest of the pieces in place looks intact.
"I think I found something," Tasha calls out. Kneeling, the woman takes her free hand and begins feeling around for a handhold, attempting to heft the stone up.
This is where having a sword helps! Apollyon's ancient weapon is able to get in and lever up one edge of the stone, which everyone can then get their hands under to lift and shift away.. revealing a spaceship hatch, just a few feet beneath the loose tile.
My apologies for using your sword this way, Apollyon, Tasha thinks as she peers down at the hatch. It's for your cause, at least. "There it is. It's a close squeeze, but I think we'll all fit. It may be trapped though -- we've breached the facade and are now dealing with the true interior, so they may have put up some last ditch protections. I'll go first."
Donning her helmet once again, Tasha drops down and begins manipulating the hatch. "Clear the way," she warns before giving it a tug.
The tug seems to have no effect, until Gabriel says, "It's a pressure hatch, so should open inward. Try jumping on it."
"Why do I always forget these things..," Tasha mutters as she rises. At least I have something to take my frusteration out on this time! Tucking her wings, she jumps up and slams her hoof down.
With a groan, the hatch sinks downward with each blow. Once it's half-way open, it gets the rest of the way there on its own. It exposes a Nagai 'ladder' - a central pole with spiraling, widely spaced bars extending from it to the cylindrical walls. Stale air rises up from the dark opening.
Tasha wrinkles her nose after getting a wiff of the air, though her suit's passive filtration system keeps her from the worst of it. "I'm heading down. I'll call back once it looks safe." With that, she begins making her way down the awkward (for a biped) ladder system and in to the craft.
"What do we do if we you don't call back?" Aaron asks after handing over his lamp to Tasha.
"Then something has gone wrong and you'll need to consider a plan to deal with that," Tasha replies as she shifts her armored self to better suit the peculiar ladder. "Give me a little bit, then consider rescue. Or if it looks bad, well ... No one said this would be safe, or easy."
"I'm pretty sure the only threat that's still active is the one we left out in the swamp," Gabriel notes.
The shaft isn't that long, and Tasha soons finds herself in some sort of junction air-lock, with hatches going off in six different directions. They're all personnel-sized, which means the castle pieces certainly weren't carried through them.
Tasha's voiceechoes from the tube, reduced now that she's a distance in. "Lord Yama will always be a threat, but we can at least hope he's no longer a threat to us. Don't let your guard down, though!"
"Yeah, so don't get killed or he might not less us leave," Aaron replies.
By this point, Tasha's voice is scant but a whisper to the ears of everyone but Aaron. "I don't plan on it!"
Deciding to start with hatch '1', tasha takes a moment to mark an arrow indicating her choice, with 'T' next to it, before accessing the forward hatch and proceeding in.
The forward hatch opens with a shove, and Tasha can smell the swamp through the opening - so either someone left hatches open or the hull is breached somewhere to let the water in. Then again, from the way Orpheus was laid out, it may be from internal garden areas as well. The room beyond the hatch is a locker, with racks that must have once held EVA suits, tools or robots.
Tasha slips inside, taking a moment to check the lockers. Hopefully the gasses aren't harmful, but there could be methane deposites -- and we're all carrying torches. The young woman makes sure to add, 'possib swamp gas be careful' to the floor with her chalk, then resumes inspecting.
The lockers and equipment bays are stripped bare, unsurprisingly. Anything that could be salvaged likely was, once it was clear that Lucifer was not going to fly again - and there must have been hundreds of crew on a ship this big! Another pressure door lies ahead.
Tasha adds, 'scouting ahead to check for danger,' another arrow, and then proceeds through the next hatch.
This is clearly a major corridor, and shows the unusual Imperial aesthetic of curved, softened forms as seen on Orpheus. It's still clearly a cargo corridor though, given the width and the large nature of the double doors that line the sides of it.
After seeing the corridor isn't about to explode, Tasha heads back to contact the others.
From down below, the party can hear, "I found a central annex for the escape passageways, but the ship smells like swamp and I'm concerned about methane build up. Do you still want to risk coming down? I'd rather try and locate an active terminal and see what I can assess about air quality and damage."
"Do you know how to use an Imperial terminal if you found one?" Hakeber calls down.
"Won't they have a Standard mode for emergencies and guests," Tasha calls back.
"Guests? This isn't Orpheus, so I doubt it," Gabriel calls back. "A map would be useful. There should be direction markers and such."
"I was thinking of heading for the bridge to see if any terminals are still active, check the status of the SPF-safe power sources, and they access maps and ship manifests. Since it looks like I can't do it alone, you'd better come down with me. We'll have to be extra-careful though." Tasha steps back, then adds, "I'll meet you in the corridor," before heading back down. There just isn't room enough for her to wait anywhere else.
It takes a few minutes, but eventually everyone is assembled outside of the locker room. Toth is practically vibrating with excitement! "The true Dragon Palace," he hisses, running his hands over the textured walls.
"You could say that." Tasha scans the corridor up and down, then asks, "Where do you think the bridge would be? I know very little of Celestial technology."
"Towards the center of the ship, forward of the cargo hold and behind the sensor and weapon systems," Gabriel says, and approaches one of the cargo doors. While framed in composites, they still feature large transparent areas.
"Then we have a destination. I'll stay ahead of everyone, just in case we hit a pocket of methane," Tasha decides. Following Gabriel's advice, she heads deeper inside.
The corridor feels like it's sloping downward, but that could be the way the ship has settled. The cargo doors they pass show glimpses into huge, empty spaces where similar (though larger) doors can be seen to connect the pods, both horizontally and vertically so that spaces can be opened up even more. Some of them show just that; floors retracted to create deep shafts spanning the height of the vessel. They come across a cargo elevator shaft, the door open but no sign of the lift car itself, beyond the tracks it would follow.
Peering over the edge, Tasha remarks, "These would have had to have opened after planetfall; it'd have been too dangerous to leave them open during the crash. It's good to know thed technology held out that long. Are we going the rigth way?"
"We'd do better heading lower," Gabriel suggests. "This is part of the main transport network of the ship, so it means we're at the end of the cargo zone, except for the upper and lower holds."
"I'll fly to the bottom and see if I can get the lift working. If that fails, Toth, do you think you can climb down? It won't be an easy flight if I have to carry you, but I can try," the hybrid asks.
"I am good at climbing, and I have rope," Toth claims.
"Good, good ... Um, I'll head down now." Tasha steps on to the edge of the shaft, then steps again, tilting forward and dropping head first in to the shaft. the manuver allows her to align her wings to her direction of motion, letting them catch the air more rapidly. Unfortunately, there's little she can do about the dark, so she holds her torch until she's managed a safe spiral, then drops it to act as a beacon for landing.
The ship isn't all that thick, maybe twenty levels, so it isn't too long before Tasha passes side shafts (apparently the 'elevator' isn't limited to up and down) and spots the car at the bottom of the shaft. It's clearly not going to be moving again, as the top is blown open and the scorch marks on the shaft around it hint that this wasn't due to a crash.
Someone set off a bomb.
"More evidence of the mutiny ..?" tasha murmurs as she walks up to the truck. "I guess we won't be using the elevator. What exactly happened here?" She shakes her head, turning to look up through the darkness to where her friends await. We'll find out sooner or later, I'm sure; I just hope it's not after we stumble over disaster.