exploring the ruins
Finally, after a short bus ride, the exploration party has arrived at the ruins. They are seemingly out in the middle of nowhere, but a strange pyramidic arch shows the opening to a descent of stairs, down into what is the ruins. They are not entirely aboveground, but if the students gaze at the horizon, they can see a few monstrous pyramids in the distance. Dr. Tabi Ketzal has amplified her voice with magic so all the students can hear her.
"These are the safest ruins we archaeologists are aware of, and one of the newest ones found in modern day. The walls are covered in beautiful carvings that we think might have been covered in paint at one time. There used to be quite a few artifacts in here that were excavated for study, but the ruins themselves are a work of art. We believe that, rather than a tomb, these tunnels led to a large Temple that was used to worship the gods of this ancient Naga civilization. You all are welcome to explore the ruins however you'd like, just don't go past the roped sections." Inevitably, she knew she'd have to pull someone away from the more dangerous, forbidden areas of the ruins, but Dr. Ketzal felt confident that she could trust most of these students. Kids from the Academy were typically well-behaved.
Grinning, knowing this would be the favorite part, Dr. Ketzal said, "You're also allowed to take any small artifacts you'd like from the ruins. Just be careful!" She grinned at the typical choir of "ooh" and "ahh." Since this portion of the cavern was being used only for tours, several fake replicas of real artifacts had been scattered around for the taking. That way, people felt as if they were taking a little bit of history with them when they went home! She also knew some friendly familiars would be wandering the halls of the ruins.
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Please roleplay your character exploring the ruins! They may come upon items they can stuff into their pockets and take home, but they will also come upon many interesting sights in these ruins. Your character may ask Dr. Ketzal any questions they wish, but if you choose do so, please quote smolderingskies.
You are allowed to roll a 20-sided die once per character every 3 hours for a new familiar or trinket. You may only claim a familiar or trinket if you fill out the roleplay post. You may not delete your post if you forget to roll or otherwise mess up. See below the spoiler for what happens with each roll! Try to be creative with how you interpret each event!
Current list:
1: This portion of the passage is particularly windy, but you persist. At the end of it, you find something. You may pick 1 trinket.
2: An animal comes running out of a shadowy corridor. It looks terrified of something. You may pick 1 familiar.
3: You come upon a puddle on the floor of the ruins. Do you see something in there? You may pick 1 trinket.
4: An adult chaperone has come to check on you. If you're injured, you are healed completely. If you're not injured, they remind you to eat your lunch.
5: You feel some kind of weight on your back. After further investigation, you find it's a familiar, clinging to you! You may pick 1 familiar.
6: Did you just feel a hand brush you? There's nobody there.
7: You hear some kind of scratching or sliding behind the wall you're walking past. That was weird.
8: Huh? Something is slipped into your hand, but when you turn around, there's nobody there. You may pick 1 stone or snake statue trinket.
9: Feeling lucky today? You found a pile of old coins, but this time they're actually coins. You may pick 1 coin pile trinket.
10: There are large snake-track markings in the sand, going down a corridor. You reach the end of it, and find a painted statue. You may pick 1 snake statue trinket.
11: A wall carving catches your eye. It's a carving of what appears to be a naga with feathered wings, in more detail than any of the other carvings you've seen.
12: An adult chaperone has come to check on you. If you're injured, you are healed completely. If you're not injured, they remind you to eat your lunch.
13: You have that weird feeling that you're being watched. You look into a nearby hole in the wall, but there's nothing there.
14: You see an oddly colored stone embedded into the wall. You pry it out, only to find it's a stone arrowhead! You may pick 1 arrowhead trinket.
15: Aww, what a cute familiar! You pick it up in your arms, but it's making googly eyes at someone else. You may pick 1 familiar, but you must give it to someone else currently in the ruins by quoting them with the image of the familiar.
16: Ow! Your arm caught on something, and now you're bleeding a little. You look back to see the thing that it caught on, but nothing's there... better put pressure on that, for the time being.
17: You hear incessant whispering in your ears. Is that someone calling your name? Are you being given instructions to do something? But you turn a corner, and the whispers stop.
18: A wall carving catches your eye. It's a new ritual, but this one seems particularly... bloody. Is that right?
19: You hear a screaming sound from down a corridor, but it sounds too small to be a person. On further investigation, you find a familiar sitting at the end of the corridor, screaming. You may pick 1 familiar.
20: This part of the ruins is especially quiet. Is that a voice you hear whispering behind the wall?
2: An animal comes running out of a shadowy corridor. It looks terrified of something. You may pick 1 familiar.
3: You come upon a puddle on the floor of the ruins. Do you see something in there? You may pick 1 trinket.
4: An adult chaperone has come to check on you. If you're injured, you are healed completely. If you're not injured, they remind you to eat your lunch.
5: You feel some kind of weight on your back. After further investigation, you find it's a familiar, clinging to you! You may pick 1 familiar.
6: Did you just feel a hand brush you? There's nobody there.
7: You hear some kind of scratching or sliding behind the wall you're walking past. That was weird.
8: Huh? Something is slipped into your hand, but when you turn around, there's nobody there. You may pick 1 stone or snake statue trinket.
9: Feeling lucky today? You found a pile of old coins, but this time they're actually coins. You may pick 1 coin pile trinket.
10: There are large snake-track markings in the sand, going down a corridor. You reach the end of it, and find a painted statue. You may pick 1 snake statue trinket.
11: A wall carving catches your eye. It's a carving of what appears to be a naga with feathered wings, in more detail than any of the other carvings you've seen.
12: An adult chaperone has come to check on you. If you're injured, you are healed completely. If you're not injured, they remind you to eat your lunch.
13: You have that weird feeling that you're being watched. You look into a nearby hole in the wall, but there's nothing there.
14: You see an oddly colored stone embedded into the wall. You pry it out, only to find it's a stone arrowhead! You may pick 1 arrowhead trinket.
15: Aww, what a cute familiar! You pick it up in your arms, but it's making googly eyes at someone else. You may pick 1 familiar, but you must give it to someone else currently in the ruins by quoting them with the image of the familiar.
16: Ow! Your arm caught on something, and now you're bleeding a little. You look back to see the thing that it caught on, but nothing's there... better put pressure on that, for the time being.
17: You hear incessant whispering in your ears. Is that someone calling your name? Are you being given instructions to do something? But you turn a corner, and the whispers stop.
18: A wall carving catches your eye. It's a new ritual, but this one seems particularly... bloody. Is that right?
19: You hear a screaming sound from down a corridor, but it sounds too small to be a person. On further investigation, you find a familiar sitting at the end of the corridor, screaming. You may pick 1 familiar.
20: This part of the ruins is especially quiet. Is that a voice you hear whispering behind the wall?
List before June 15, 10:30PM:
1: You thought you saw something on the ground, but it was just a bug. Oops.
2: You go down a corridor. It's a dead end. Time to turn around!
3: A wall carving catches your eye. It looks like these are carvings of many beetles.
4: There's a hole in the wall, and you think you see a light coming out of it. You go to look at it, getting your face close. Nope! It was just a spider!
5: You go down a corridor. There's a giant snake-looking statue here! Its tongue sticks out at you.
6: You trip, falling flat on your face. It was the fault of a pesky animal! You may pick 1 familiar.
7: You come onto a dark corner, and you feel around on the ground to see if you can find something. Success! You may pick 1 trinket.
8: You look into a hole in the ruin wall, and pull out a small object! You may pick 1 trinket.
9: Something on the ground catches your eye. You may pick 1 trinket.
10: Did water just drip on you? Sure enough, the ceiling here is leaking some kind of fluid.
11: A wall carving catches your eye. It looks like these are pictures of winged Nagas.
12: You go down a corridor. It's dark, but you decide to continue. You fall into a 1 foot-deep hole. Ouch!
13: You see a trail of crumbs and decide to follow it, and run into... a familiar! You may pick 1 familiar.
14: You go down a corridor. Did you just hear something moving behind the wall?
15: A wall carving catches your eye. It looks like an instruction manual for... some kind of ritual?
16: You hear tiny footsteps, growing louder. Is it a ghost? A monster? Oh -- it's just a familiar! You may pick 1 familiar.
17: Uh-oh, you've accidentally reached one of the roped-off areas. It looks tempting, but you'd better turn back!
18: A familiar approaches you, sniffing curiously! You may pick 1 familiar.
19: You hear someone calling your name. You've gone a bit too deep - better go look for the voice.
20: You saw a familiar go into an adjacent hallway. You follow it, but it's gone. Instead, a gift remains. You may pick 1 trinket.
2: You go down a corridor. It's a dead end. Time to turn around!
3: A wall carving catches your eye. It looks like these are carvings of many beetles.
4: There's a hole in the wall, and you think you see a light coming out of it. You go to look at it, getting your face close. Nope! It was just a spider!
5: You go down a corridor. There's a giant snake-looking statue here! Its tongue sticks out at you.
6: You trip, falling flat on your face. It was the fault of a pesky animal! You may pick 1 familiar.
7: You come onto a dark corner, and you feel around on the ground to see if you can find something. Success! You may pick 1 trinket.
8: You look into a hole in the ruin wall, and pull out a small object! You may pick 1 trinket.
9: Something on the ground catches your eye. You may pick 1 trinket.
10: Did water just drip on you? Sure enough, the ceiling here is leaking some kind of fluid.
11: A wall carving catches your eye. It looks like these are pictures of winged Nagas.
12: You go down a corridor. It's dark, but you decide to continue. You fall into a 1 foot-deep hole. Ouch!
13: You see a trail of crumbs and decide to follow it, and run into... a familiar! You may pick 1 familiar.
14: You go down a corridor. Did you just hear something moving behind the wall?
15: A wall carving catches your eye. It looks like an instruction manual for... some kind of ritual?
16: You hear tiny footsteps, growing louder. Is it a ghost? A monster? Oh -- it's just a familiar! You may pick 1 familiar.
17: Uh-oh, you've accidentally reached one of the roped-off areas. It looks tempting, but you'd better turn back!
18: A familiar approaches you, sniffing curiously! You may pick 1 familiar.
19: You hear someone calling your name. You've gone a bit too deep - better go look for the voice.
20: You saw a familiar go into an adjacent hallway. You follow it, but it's gone. Instead, a gift remains. You may pick 1 trinket.
The next phase of the META will begin on Sunday, but some updates will be made before then as the students get deeper into the ruins and they begin to find different items!
Trinkets:
Some beautiful gemstones are scattered about on the floor of the ruins. Desert Rose, Tiger's Eye, Turquoise, and Lapis Lazuli!
Whoa, really old coins! Wait, hmm... are those actually chocolate coins? I hope they don't melt in the desert!
Oh, these are actually old coins! You can feel thousands of years years of business vibes flowing through them. What's that thing on some of them?
Tiny statues that you can stick in your pocket! They're... snakes? And they appear to be hand-painted.
Arrowheads, probably used in a long-ago war, scatter the path down into the deepest part of the ruins.
Familiars:
These Vespercats are chasing some bugs around in the ruins. You might find one staring at you from around a corner!
Hmm, these Coatls look kind of familiar... they're flitting between ankles, but nobody knows if they're intentionally trying to trip explorers.
These Jackalopes have made burrows deep within the ruins. Hopefully they're not compromising the foundation of the tunnels!
Nezubats everywhere! They're hanging from the ceiling! And now they're hanging from your hand!
These Fennekits seem to be seeking shelter from the heat outside. Aww, they're nuzzling you!
These Kiddens are happily trotting around in the ruins like they own the place. Will one notice you?
Ooh, sparkly fluffbugs! They're buzzing close to sniff you. You smell funny!
Aurora barely started off into exploring the ruins when she heard little footsteps following her. She looked over her shoulder and at first saw nothing. Aurora frowned confused, looking around in the area still not seeing anything. The sound grew louder, perhaps echoing off the ruin walls unless whatever it was, was really big. She jumped and turned as the sound came at her and her sensitive ears. She laughed when she realized she had let her imagination run away because of a cute little fennekit. "Well hello there aren't you a cute little one?" Aurora smiled and petted the head of the little fennekit. 
Coco stayed near her freshling friends as she wandered around the ruins exploring, it was so beautiful. Coco could imagine what this place looked like in long ago days past. She turned and looked around in a dark corner and found a bag of what she had thought were real coins but turned out to be candy. She wondered if the bag was enchanted to protect them from the heat curious. Were they put here by the ruins staff?? Like a treasure for guests to find?? She turned and looked around for Kayla Sue and Aben to see if they wanted some candy. 
No sooner than Aedus had arrived at the ruins he found himself flat on his face, wow what a great impression he was going to make on Niamh to look like such a dork. Tripping in such an amazing place. Then Aedus found out why he tripped a Coatls had made a very blunt move for attention it had wrapped itself around his legs and tripped him. Aedus was now worried that in falling he had hurt the familiar. So he picked it up and looked it over, the coatls was beautiful, Aedus gapped at it and held it out for Niamh to see as well. 
