[AO-ORP] Running the Gamut

[Olmequarius]

Aquarius screamed and threw the book she was holding at the wall.

There were no youma nearby, no chaos monsters making a return for more tasty treats. Anyone coming to see what the fuss was about would either be relieved or disappointed to find Aquarius alone, staring at the place where her book had bounced off the shelf. She hadn't gotten through every book she could reach yet, but after weeks of looking, it sure felt like it. And what did she have for her troubles? Nothing. Everyone thought she was useless, and after working for weeks with no real results, she was starting to agree.

"This can't be right," she said, addressing the people who were drawn by her brief tantrum. "If we've looked this long and gotten nowhere, we must be looking in the wrong place. I'm sure there's some way to use the information, but if there's a key, it's not here. Therefore, it must be somewhere else." The answer was so simple, Aquarius wondered why she didn't think of it sooner.

Which left only one question: where was this "key" she was looking for? There were a few options. The protected bookshelves were possible, but unlikely. The books they contained didn't appear to be particularly special or even very different from the ones they had access to. The minaret was another option; while Aquarius remembered that her private rooms were there, the entrance remained hidden. But if she'd had something as important as translation notes, would she have kept them in a place that others could get to without too much fuss?

"Of course not!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "No, it must be there." Grinning in a somewhat unsettling way, she pointed straight down. "I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier. The really important materials were kept in an underground chamber." She paused, partly for emphasis, partly to rack her brain for more details. "But it's got all kinds of safeguards on it, to keep the wrong sort of people from finding it. Nothing dangerous, but it'll take some serious skills to be able to get in. Of course, if we all work together-"

Her senshiphone beeped loudly, interrupting her mid-dramatic speech. Warily, Aquarius glanced at the phone. "Now? Really?" She rolled her eyes and sighed. "There's something important I need to see to. You guys stay here where it's safe... though if you want, you could look around and see if you can find a way into the underground passages. If there's something good enough there, maybe we'll be able to read some of this stuff finally, huh? I remember there being an entrance out back, but that's all I can tell you. Good luck, if you're trying, and thanks in advance!"
 

[Olmequarius]

The courtyard behind Aquarius Outpost was dry and mainly played host to only the hardiest of plant life. Scrub grasses held firm here, and several hardy cacti-looking plants, but by and large the landscape appeared to be sand, fine and white. The sand was already beginning to work its way into the shoes of the displaced civilians who'd stepped out into it. When they looked back, they could see that any footprints they left remained undisturbed and stark: there was no wind here to till the sand, or erase the imprint of these off-worlders having disturbed the outpost landscape. The sand was another security measure, perhaps -- the Zodiacs, it seemed, were an extremely vigilant group.

Aquarius, many of the civilians had noticed, wore light, flat shoes that looked easy to slip on and off. They had to wonder, as the sand in their shoes began to itch and chafe their skin, if that wasn't so that she could easily take them off to dump the sand out. Since Aquarius hadn't come with them, however, there was no way of asking. Perhaps later.

Just now, the sand stretched bleakly before them, and at the far end of it, they could see the high, rising sandstone of the outpost's outer ramparts.
 

[Olmequarius]

This is an open RP for metacivilians who would like to put their downtime to good use trying to help Aquarius make some progress in their research to try to understand why these civilians are here and how to send them home again. To do this, they will have to make their way to Aquarius's underground storeroom where her predecessors stored their own personal research. Aquarius's hope is that, if they're able to decipher any part of the languages common to her 10,000+ book collection, perhaps eventually they'll be able to progress in that research.

Each metacivilian will compete in a series of elimination rounds to reach Aquarius's underground storeroom, which is protected by a series of non-lethal booby traps. Challenges will be based on Athleticism, Intelligence, and Creativity, traits every Aquarius of ages past would have expected of himself or herself.

This event thread is non-combative -- no metacivilians are expected to die by participating in it. If your character is eliminated, they are simply unable to progress any further, and must turn back (though their pride may be a bit bruised). However, be aware that just because battle is not on the agenda does not mean that it is safe from outside intervention.

Challenges in this thread are pre-written, and will progress daily. If you are signing up for this event, be prepared to post every 24 hours, or your character will be eliminated from the race. All challenges will be posted by this account, Olmequarius, due to the fact that DivineSaturn is having computer problems- if she is unable to post, one of her helpers will keep things moving.

All challenges will involve dicerolls, to preserve fairness for our participants, but some challenges may require you to participate in other ways as well. Be prepared to do a little more than just roll the dice!

Each civilian has three major stats that will be tested in the course of this event:
* Athleticism
* Intelligence
* Creativity

At the beginning of the event, you have the opportunity to choose one Advantage in one of the three stats -- your Advantaged Stat will give you a 1 point bonus to all dice rolls for that stat (don't worry, we'll explain this to you each time you have to roll a stat, if it gets confusing!).

We recommend taking an Advantage you think fits with your character's personality and skills, for more immersive roleplay, but this isn't required -- you can choose a different advantage if you prefer. Challenges get harder as the event progresses. The challenges are as follows:

1. The Moat - Athleticism Challenge
2. The Steps - Intelligence Challenge
3. The Door - Creativity Challenge
4. The Gauntlet - Challenges All Three Skills

In order to sign up for the event, please make a post here describing your character walking out into the rear courtyard to explore, as Aquarius suggested. In your post, indicate (in bold) which stat your character is going to be Advantaged in throughout the event. For example: "Jane Smith felt confident she could get past whatever age-old booby traps Aquarius had down there. Sure, she might not have been the burliest girl in gym class, and maybe she'd once forgotten where Canada was on a map, too, but her parents always told her she was creative as a child. Her creativity had to count for something!"

Everyone who posts before the first challenge will be able to play. If fewer than twelve people sign up, we'll just have a smaller group! SIGNUPS CLOSE IN 24 HOURS.
 

[Olmequarius]

This thread is open for posting!

Participants:
Alice Bela Kiss (LP): Creativity - eliminated at the Moat
Menthe Sylvia (Iris_virus): Intelligence - eliminated at the Moat
Keren Della-Blue (Silverah): Athleticism - eliminated at the Soul's Door
Callum Quince (zippedsiren): Intelligence
Eliza Satchlyn (Kaori_luv): Athleticism - eliminated at the Moat
Marienrode de Virolai Sierra-Preto (shibrogane): Intelligence
Felix Blanc (Syusaki): Intelligence - eliminated at the Steps of Knowledge
Kestrel Button (Remove): Athleticism - eliminated at the Moat
Mary "Arga" Tunith (the_scowling_cat): Creativity - eliminated at the Soul's Door
Joshua Brandon Harvey (Zero Dream): Intelligence
Tanvir Gill (and be blue): Intelligence - eliminated at the Steps of Knowledge
Ricky Cunningham (Silent Spy): Athleticism - eliminated at the Steps of Knowledge
Flannery Spicer (Pyry): Creativity