Accept our Terms of Service
Our Terms of Service have recently changed! Please read and agree to the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy
Darth Occlus in Wrath of the Righteous
+ Show First Post
Total: 580
Posts Per Page:
Permalink

Hm, yes, not an unusual layout. Stonework is relatively clean, wall decorations obviously better preserved than most of her excavations but not of especially high quality. Common motifs so far correlate to what brief discussion of the local Baphomet indicated, pentagram, bull's head, et cetera. Arrangement and repetition gives a subconscious hint to which path is intended to be followed, cult is based on a maze but that is impractical for day-to-day, familiarity bringing mastery locks followers into the belief system further as evidence of their superiority...

"Yes, go on," Occlus waves for Wenduag to go ahead, the bulk of her attention still occupied by the surroundings.

Permalink

She lead them down the hall, through a door on the right down a side room...

 

Permalink

Wenduag is looking carefully but not carefull enough.  She is about to trigger a trap in the middle of the side room.

Permalink

It's rather obvious if one is paying attention to the walls. See how the chisel marks change? Though perhaps not something she would expect an untrained Reclamation Service recruit to spot, so she'll give the girl a pass for now.

"Hold," Occlus snaps in her command voice.

Permalink

She holds absolutely still.

Permalink

"Good eye, I'm not sure I would have seen it if you didn't point it out first."

Permalink

There is a section of the floor that will trigger under pressure, it launches a dart out of the wall and releases a puff of poisonous gas.

There is a mechanism for disconnecting it hidden in the wall, but it is on the other side of the section of the floor, so disarming this trap might be a bit tricky... if you aren't a powerful telekinetic or you don't have a sword that can cut through stone or you can't just leap across it cleanly.

Permalink

There are many benefits to being a Sith archaeologist.

In this case, Occlus wants a closer look at the mechanism herself, so after directing Wenduag to back up, she clears the entire width of the room in a leap from a standing start to land by the disconnect switch.

Permalink

It is quite cleverly made!  It is almost entirely nonmagical and mechanical, there is a small bit of magic to trigger the vaporization of a poisonous liquid into a poisonous gas, but it is hidden behind a foot of stone to put it out of sight of detect magic.  The switch is also a bit tricky, you have to push and twist just so, doing it wrong will in fact release the gas.

Permalink

"Be careful, I suspect from the way it is set up there is a bit of magic to the trap hidden behind the stonework such that a detect magic wouldn't see the magic part."

Permalink

"Yes. I have seen similar devices on Alton IV, though the hidden mechanism there was of course a flywheel that would trigger the electrolysis of the substance. Fortunately designed to defeat scanners less high-powered than those the team was equipped with, else I may have lost a few men. It was a rather virulent poison and the components to synthesize the antidote were not locally available..." Click like so to avoid the failsafe, annnnd- "It is now disarmed."

Permalink

Wenduag will resume leading the way then, a little bit slower and less confidently now, making sure to give Darth Occlus time to see each place she moves into.  They cross through another large room, not as large as the main one.

Permalink

They are moving away from most of the simple animalistic minds Darth Occlus sensed earlier.  They are getting closer to the slightly smarter frustrated mind.  And in the general direction they are goin, there are three scared human minds, watched over by two minds holding berserk rage barely under control.

Permalink

Wenduag leads them into another side room, which has another trap!  Wenduag doesn't seem to see it, but she is taking her time looking for it, the room's features are similar to the previous room with the trap, so she is on alert.

Permalink

"There, on the opposite wall to us, it's got a similar sort of hole hidden in it like the other room had where the trap was."

Permalink

"Well spotted. Would you like to attempt to disarm it?"

Permalink

"Uh, well, if it's like the other trap, the panel is on the opposite wall to us, but I think I see where the trap is and could make the jump easily enough with a running start?"

He points, correctly, at where the mechanism is hidden to disconnect it, and again at the boundary of the section of the floor that would trigger it. 

Permalink

"Correct. Now, when manipulating the mechanism..." Occlus will describe the procedure and things to be wary of, like failsafes that will trip the trap instead of shutting it down.

The boy seems to have at least some spark of talent. Let us see if he is capable of putting it to use.

Permalink

He exposes the mechanism without issue...

"Just to make sure I understand you right, I twist this way, then that, and then..." he gestures at the motions he plans to do with the mechanisms.  He is almost right, but he indicates one motion in exactly the opposite direction he should make.

Permalink

"No you idiot, other way."

Wenduag doesn't indicate which of his motions it is that is actually wrong.

Permalink

"If you are merely guessing, you may do the next one yourself, without assistance," she says to Wenduag. "Which step was incorrect?"

Permalink

"The third one."  She correctly copies the motions of the gestures Lann had indicated, changing the motion he has wrong, although she then messes up on the next motion afterwards.

Permalink

Hm. Likely she should not allow them to injure themselves preventably with the dragon right there...

"Half correct." She runs through the proper sequence once more for the benefit of both the mongrels.

Permalink

Lann makes gestures indicating he plans the correct motions this time.

"Is that right?"

He is kind of frustrated they are taking longer than necessary, but on the other hand, he wants to learn anything he can that might be useful in the future against other demon cultists and he did sort of volunteer.  He probably shouldn't bother volunteering in the future if someone else can just do the job better and faster.

Permalink

"Yes, you have it. Now, simply implement."

Total: 580
Posts Per Page: