IC Session 02: Shadow Peak Mines

[SanguineAngel]

Using climbing gear is a smart choice and significantly decreases the risks involved in making the climb. Clambering into the shaft you can now get a better look at the exits below you. The level you are on and the level below you are simple holes in the rock face (as is the entrance above you, where the cable leads). However, the next exit you canjust see in the torchlight is covered with a set of closed elevator doors.

The metal scaffolding that you're now climbing on is a grid of vertical and horizontal beams running the length of the shaft and on all four sides. In each "square" fromed by that grid is a diagonal support strut. The exception is the gaps for each level's exit and a narrow gap to the left of the exits where the maintenance ladder has been fastened.

[You two @Azzranache, @crazybirdman give me a group Easy Climb [Edit:Athletics. Ahem] (Rb) Check. Gain a boost for using the right tool for the job, and I'm flipping a DP. As it's a group check, roll in the order you do it and pass any additional success onto the next player. So Azzranache followed by crazybirdman. You can add the additional successes to your roll in the roller if you like]

[SanguineAngel]

Sul, you follow the floor markings to the right. As you pass, you note that the blue line splits and leads into each room. Most of those rooms, you can see through open doorways, are furnished similarly - with what what remain of desks, chairs and cabinents.

The yellow, green and red lines do not lead into any rooms here, though periodically, you see markers in that language with arrows pointing in both directions. The red line only ever points forward. Eventually, you reach T-Junction in the corridor. On the Floor, Red and Blue lines lead to the right. The yellow and green lines lead to the left.

[LaGouache]

To the right then ... thinks Sul, before turning to the right to follow the blue line.

[Azzranache]

Spoiler:

Bardax; Dark Academy; Athletics Check for Climbing:
0 Success, 1 Advantage



OOC: HOW???????????????????? Jeez! Pass on the advantage to Raven's roll.

As Bardax starts the make his way down the shaft, he finds it more difficult to navigate in the darkness. His torch is not enough to keep an eye on his footing and he finds it hard to keep finding a decent purchase. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until Bardax felt the rock ledge under his right foot crumble and start to give way.

In his haste to keep his footing, Bardax kicks his right foot in harder to try and create a deeper hold. As a result of this, a loose strap on Bardax's boot gets caught on a crevice and he is unable to move his foot. Bardax attempts to pull his leg free but without using both hands, he can't see what he is snagged on.

"Erm.. I may require some assistance Raven" Bardax yells up.

"My boot's caught on a damn rock. I can't get free!"

[crazybirdman]

Raven sighs, worried that if Bardax can't make it down without incident, his chances are slim. He attempts to descend nonetheless . . .

Spoiler:

Raven; Dark Academy; Athletics: rope descend:
2 Successes, 1 Threat


OOC: yeah I made it down! Now how do I get his foot unstuck? Hit it with my walking stick? Shoot with the mining tool?
I'd like to add one point of strain please for the threat.

His climb goes smooth, a bit strenuous, but now what to do about his brothers stuck foot. . . Raven takes a moment to dramatically pull out his walking stick, and gestures to Bardax asking for silence. Then he pantomimes concentrating as he uses his walking stick to nudge Bardax' foot loose. Raven smiles and says, "There you go, I may have just saved your life."

[SanguineAngel]

Bardax, with your ankle caught, you might have experienced a brief moment of panic, without your climbing gear you could have lost your balance and fallen. Fortunately, you were supported by your gear and did little damage [1 Wound minus Soak (So no damage)]. Thankfully, Raven is able to release your foot with his walking stick. As your comes loose with a jerk, the piece of metal in which it was caught twists and sheers off, clattering down the rest of the shaft. Thankfully, there is no other ill effect and the rest of the structure remains secure for the remainder of your descent.

At the bottom of the shaft you drop down onto the lift. The lift itself is primitive in desgin - a square piece of flooring with a metal rail surrouding it. Suspended about 15 feet above, by four angled metal struts protruting from each corner is an old electric winch mechanism connected to several thick cables. The lift is situated at the 5th level door. On the lift, next to the exit, is a small control box of similar design to the one on the first level above. The door itself is broken and partially open. The two parts of the door are bowed in towards you, peeled apart, leaving a sizeable gap through which you may pass.

[Can you each give me an Easy (P) Vigilance or Perception Check]

Sul, as you take a step to the right, you sense a... pressure ahead of you. The breeze wafts at you but there is something more, a feeling of intensity like the pressure of a storm front. The corridor you have chosen looks almost featureless. The light of your saber doesn't reach far but in the previous passage, there were many doorways. That is not the case here.

As you walk forward the the sound of wind is an audible low whistling and the pressure builds almost imperceptably at your temples and in your ears. It is several minutes before the blue glow falls into the shadow of a doorway on the left wall. The passage continues ahead into the darkness but there are no other visible doorways. Unlike the others, which have all been open portals, this doorway actually holds a door. The blue line turns in here. This appears to be the final blue room. A push and a pull reveals that the door is barred or locked in some manner.

[Clock: 2/3]

[crazybirdman]

Spoiler:

Raven; Dark Academy; Vigilance:
2 Successes, 2 Advantages

[SanguineAngel]

Raven, you examine the door and noted considerable damage. It seems that something pushed and ripped its way through into the lift shaft. As you pass your torches across the edge, you can see that there are jagged rips in the metal. Feeling them, the edges crumble with rust. This must have happened a long time ago.

If this were not ominous enough, as you and Bardax hover around in the lift, one of you trips over something. On the floor is a scrap metal spear. The shaft bent and practically sheered of. It looks suspiciously like the weapon One Foot departed with earlier.

Through the gap in the doors you can see 4 coloured lines painted on the floor leading away from the lift. Blue, green, yellow and red.

[Azzranache]

Spoiler:

Bardax; Dark Academy; Perception Check :
6 Successes, 1 Advantage



OOC: No triumph but...

[SanguineAngel]

Bardax, you notice that the lift shaft scaffolding is bent in several places, with scoring marking many of the beams.

Also, you notice that although the floor in and around the lift is covered in the same slippery residue as above, there are definite tracks all over the floor. The activity is so heavy (busy) it is difficult to tell just what sort of tracks they are.

[Azzranache]

Spoiler:

OOC: Spend Advantage to +1 on the clock.

Picking himself up and wiping off some of the sludge that seemed to be everywhere, Bardax looked at the crude spear head and tossed it to one side.

"Pfft.." he snorts, disappointed that it wasn't something better.

As he exits the elevator hole through the ripped metal, Bardax glances up and down a long damp tunnel. He could see a dim light at the end of the way to his right.

"Come on, there's something up ahead." Bardax signals to Raven.

With greater space to move, Bardax reignites his saber (becoming slightly unnerved at the state of the elevator he just climbed out of) and makes his way down the tunnel, still using the torch to illuminate the way.

[SanguineAngel]

Outside the lift, you enter into a long corridor stretching a hundred meters ahead where it opens into the first cavern on this floor. Unlike the 1st level above, where the mined caverns were natural and erratic, this room has been carefully and methodically carved out, whith clean regular cuts. With walls that are curved and stepped in clean geometric lines. There are several levels of carved ridges running up the walls where miners presumably worked the surface at one time, however these were since reworked and finished as proper walled surfaces. The impression is less a mining cavern and more a grand entrance hall. The design proudly remembers it's origins as a mine but was clearly refitted for use as a formal space. There are several entrances on those upper reidges - artifacts of the mining that took place here - and the ceiling is perhaps 30 meters high. It is a hall designed to impress.

In the center of the room is a large statue carved out of rock. A robed figure with hood thrown back and bearing a book in one arm and holding a tool of some kind in the other. Despite the ominous surroundings, the impression is of a scholar, rather than a religious figure. There is a plaque beneath written in the same language as appears on the floors and doorways here. You recognise the characters used in a format that suggests dates ["xxxx - xxxx"] on the plaque. It is therefore likely that the lettering on the floors attached to each coloured guide line or room refer to sets of numbers.

There are perhaps a half dozen exits out of this hall. Almost all have only a green or yellow line on the floor to mark the way. Only one entrance has all four colours leading out of the room. You know from the map you saw that this is likely to lead towards the large kilometer long shaft.

As you move into the room and make towars the exit, your torch light catches a worrying sight. The tracks in the sludge are everywhere now but here, there is blood. A pool of red at the base of the wall, smeared upwards. Above, on this stepped ledge is one of the upper exits.

[crazybirdman]

Raven takes in the cavern turned hall and says, "A couple of questions brother, who is this a statue of? What made this puddle of blood, and did it go the same way we need to?"

[LaGouache]

Sul stops as he reaches a closed door at the end of the blue path. The door is locked but is a standard double sliding door with an electronical lock on the right.
Due to the power shortage, the door is locked closed. It looks like forcing it open would be impossible without an appropriate tool.
The most reasonable solution is bypassing the electronical lock to force a mechanical opening. Nothing complicated for a former spy, used to infiltration. Maybe the darkness and the obsolescence of the system may cause some troubles.

Spoiler:

Sul Dymos; Dark Academy; Mechanics check:
1 Success, 2 Threats



I flipped one Destiny Point to convert one green to yellow (to highlight that Sul has experience from his former career in mechanical forcing of doors)

Sul tears the lock front panel to access the circuitry. He makes his way through the power cables to access the hydrolic system and make a bypass.
As Sul achieves his operation the door opens in a strident sound and stops half open. The doors can not open more but one can still go through it.
Sul removes his arm from the lock system and hits a cable still carrying a residual static charge causing an explosion of the system.

[SanguineAngel]

Sul, there is a small bang from the mechanism but it echoes down the corridor. You let the sound fade and for perhaps two long seconds there is silence. Then an answering growl reverberates back at you. Distant but threatening. And worryingly familiar.

The room is dark inside. The dim light of your weapon is enough to see a dozen worktops in the centre of the room, crowded with miscellanious scientific equipment. On the far side of the room are banks of large computing equipment - all without power. On the right side of the room, a bench runs the length of the room full of complex looking monitor screens. All of it looks positively antique but in some ways it is reminscent of some of the more sensitive labs back at the academy.

Raven, the question has barely left your lips when you and Bardax hear a small, echoing pop. The sound bounces all around the cavern. Almost immediately, there is a low, rumbling growl from above that reverberates through you. Something stirs in the dark entrance in the wall 20 meters up the wall.

{OOC Unsure if it was clear, but the big kilometer shaft is through the entrance on the ground here. The horrible blood stains lead to the door way higher up the wall from where the growling now emenates.}

[Clock: 3/3]

[Azzranache]

Bardax hears Raven’s comments and turns to the pool of blood. Then the rumble is heard.

”This shouldn’t concern us. Come on, our best bet is getting to the next shaft. Maybe you can have another reach out to the force when we get there to see if we are close.”

Following the multitude of coloured lines, Bardax makes his way down the tunnel. He had no true reason to believe this was the right way but he walked with such conviction anyway.

[crazybirdman]

Raven follows Bardax' lead across the hall and says "We are definitely headed towards the largest shaft. My concern is what we will find there. What creature has decide to make it their home. Let us not linger any longer than needed."

[SanguineAngel]

The shadows shift above you. Something large stirs and as you duck down the shaft, the sound of stone tumbling from above, claws scittering on stone and another, closer growl follows you through the passages. Thump as something heavy lands in the cavern. All too close.

Ahead the corridor stretches onwards, curving gently to the right. You know from the map that the tunnels branch and rejoin repeatedly between here and the main shaft. While you move forward, the air becomes almost tangibly denser. There is a pressure down here but also... Raven, you sense a pressure within the force. You are heading towards something of great power.

A few tens of meters ahead a single heavy door is open against the wall. It looks very wide, it should fit the entire corridor when closed. Beyond it, a similar door is already closed.


{OOC: @Azzranache and @crazybirdman At this point, by default you enter into a chase. Whatever it is is at medium distance behind you. Should you choose, you could stand and fight. Both are a form of structured play but they follow different rules.

During a chase, you will make a series of competative checks to either outrun your opponent OR tackle some obstacle. You will be assume to be using a maneuver to keep moving but can use your action as normal.

If either of you would like to give me an Average (PP) Education check as an incidental.}

[Azzranache]

Spoiler:

Bardax; Dark Academy; Education Check :
0 Success, 1 Threat

Bardax feels unnerved at the sound of the large creature dropping in behind them. In such conditions, it would be hard to determine whether they stand a chance against the assumed predator. With sight of the open door ahead, Bardax decides to make a break for it in hopes of gaining some sort of advantage.

"Move Raven, move!" he yells at Raven as he starts to sprint for the large door ahead.

"Get to the door! We can close it behind us and lock this thing out!"

[crazybirdman]

Upon hearing the creature, Raven didn't need a vision to tell him staying here is a bad idea, so he heads for the doors.

[SanguineAngel]

"GRRRRRRRRWWLLLLLL"

Beams of light strobe the walls as you run. Erratically illuminated, the doors are close now. The first open and the second closed, they are reminiscent of an old fashioned air lock. The comparison seems faintly ludicrous so far below ground.

The dark is claustrophobic at the best of times, with the weight of a mountain bearing down on you. But the creature, whatever it is, is hard on your heels. It growls and grunts and the sound of claws on stone is relentless.

Spoiler:

GM | Creature; Dark Academy; Reek Chase Athletics Check:
0 Success, 0 Advantage

{OOC:

• the creature is at medium distance behind you.
• the doors are both a short distance from you and can be reached this round.
• roll Average (PP) Athletics to move away from the creature. You can move as you wish in this capacity (to the first door, to the second or in some other way I have not considered!)
• you may use an action and/or 2nd maneuver.
• Check in the OOC if you wish to perform an action requiring a check for difficulty.

}

[crazybirdman]

Raven attempts to put some distance between him and the beast:

Spoiler:

Raven; Dark Academy; Athletics: Run!:
0 Success, 2 Advantages


OOC: Yup, that's a raven roll alright

[Azzranache]

With the door in clear sight, Bardax bolts as fast as he can towards it.

Spoiler:

Bardax; Dark Academy; Athletics Check - Run :
0 Success, 1 Threat



OOC: You did better than me..

Running so fast in the low light, Bardax was unable to see what was lying on the floor ahead. A loose cable looped up out of the floor became only just visible as Bardax was on top of it. Luckily, his foot did not get caught but it caused him to make a small jump to evade safely and slowed his speed.

[SanguineAngel]

As you both sail past the first door, the creature is somewhere behind you {Medium distance}. Raven, exhilerated from the chase feels adrenaline pumping through him {Boost to yours or Bardax's next check} though Bardax, your rhythm is slightly off as you stumble in, {1 stress OR setback on next check. Your choice}. You are both now in the space between the two doors. The creature still bearing down on you. Time to act!

[Azzranache]

Spoiler:

OOC: Take 1 stress.

Bardax very faintly sees something hurtling towards them although it is still too far away to make out entirely.

Wasting no time, Bardax closes the big doors and they gently click into place by a basic latch. Something to his right catches his attention and Bardax notices a huge wooden draw bar perched in its upright position. He pulls down hard on the bar. It looks like it has been untouched for some time and gives a slight wiggle. Bardax gives another great tug and the gigantic bar creaks as it starts to descend down on its pivot. As it falls, two heavy metal latches catch the bar horizontally barricading the door (OOC: Use 1 Light Side Pip).

Bardax turns to Raven.

"That should buy us some time. What's the situation with that door?" he nods towards the next door.