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 Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 5:55 am
At the sight of the oil, Alcyone rushed to Saiph and pulled the pitcher up, but not before half of its contents spilled out. "Wait! We might need the rest of this later. Oil is very useful." Although the possibility of the fire waning away and going out were slim (and even slimmer the chances of the torch run unable to ignite again), it was always better to be prepared for it. Better safe than sorry came to mind, and judging from the look of the guards, they definitely don't want to be sorry.
She turned at Sirona's voice and looked at the floor. Indeed, it was probably the best idea to follow it and see where it led. "Let's go," She motioned for Saiph to follow close. They weren't too far from the pink sailor as they picked up their speed to a power walk.
This room became more and more mysterious with every new artifact found.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:44 am
Saiph paused only long enough to grab up a couple of firepokers and tuck them under her arm before hurrying after the other two. As they followed the oil, she hoped that it really would show them a way out and not just another (Saiph winced at the inevitable pun) dead end.
As they all walked, she found herself wishing briefly for a pack or bag or something to put all the things they kept finding in. Once they reached where the oil stopped, she was for damn sure making Sirona carry something other than just a torch.
Keeping her less than chipper thoughts solely to herself, she found herself wondering about how they'd all gotten here. And wondering about the dungeon they were stuck in. She knew that the sort of armor and tabards they'd seen were real. The rack and torture chair had been real. And lord knew the old blood and ever-present mold were real. Privately, she was wondering about the likelihood of time travel. Well, it had to be either time travel or someone royally ******** with them, right?
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 2:29 pm
The oil rushed downhill to the center of the room, opaque and stark against the greyish-green stone, until it pooled around an iron trapdoor of some kind.
The trapdoor had chain wound around it tightly, but the chain was secured by a very old padlock: one might surmise that while it would have been a Herculean task to pry it open from the inside, breaking the lock would be a simple task with some kind of iron tool.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 2:57 pm
The path was straight, and due to Sirona's absolute bliss (she even cracked a smile), it led them to a door! This was it; their way out of this hellhole. Okay, maybe not. This was probably just one big maze-- Well, it didn't hurt to be optimistic.
Her pupils dilated due to sheer excitement, Sirona wavered her torch in front of the door. As one might have expected, it was locked. That being said, it didn't provide much of a challenge. Saiph's quick-thinking had provided the trio with combat accessories.
Sirona motioned to both Saiph and Alcyone with two fingers. One would understand why her voice would refuse to speak much. She took one of Saiph's rods, whispered a thanks, and glanced at her fellow senshi once more.
Here goes nothing, the female thought. With a clang and a bang, she aimed the rod at the center of the rusting lock. She winced at the sound, and for a moment or two, Sirona refused to open her lids, terrified of what would come next.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 5:01 pm
The lock split with a loud crack and a clang against the trapdoor: the chain could now be unwrapped with ease.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 9:24 pm
The green-eyed girl wasted no time after seeing the lock crack beneath the iron poker's force. She scooted herself closer and faced Sirona, trying her best not to startle the girl with her eyes shut. "Hey, can you hold these for a second? Thanks!"
When Sirona opened her eyes Alcyone carefully passed on the torch and her own poker for her to temporarily hold; she'd need both hands to free up the door. She crouched to get a better view of the chains and how they were tied around. It wasn't very difficult, and within minutes she had the chain wrapped around her arm. "Okay, now to lift the door..."
Rubbing her hands together, she reached for a handle, or a door's opening edge and rocked her weight backwards in her strongest pull.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 9:42 pm
The hatch creaked open and cold air came drifting up. A staircase wound down from the hatch down to the floor, which was covered by an ornate blue rug that had been bunched up and pulled aside for some reason. An open door lay to the left.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:48 am
Almost quicker than though, Saiph was moving for the stairs, eager to get the hell out of the room they were in. But at the same time, she was examining the bunched up rug as she went. Really, to her it almost looked as if someone had been looking for something.
Pausing for a moment on the stairs, she turned to face the other two and mentioned her thoughts to them.
"What do you guys think? Am I just being overly paranoid?"
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 12:53 pm
Whatever they'd been looking for, they'd found it -- in the shadow of the stairs a hole had apparently been blasted through the floor by some kind of explosion. Cold, fresh air wafted up.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 4:37 pm
Sirona watched nervously as Alcyone lifted the door; and it opened without any disturbances. There was a staircase, and an intricate, antique cerulean rug at the bottom. Sirona thought that such a flamboyant accessory didn't deserve to rot in the hatch of a prison.
For a moment, Sirona cocked an eyebrow at Saiph's observation. She could only speculate at what the previous explorers were searching for. It was then that a breeze wafted into the scenery. Hold up--wind?!
She raced down several steps, halting at the hole. If there was enough space, Sirona would have down a cartwheel and a backflip. Eager but cautious, she half-stuck her head out the hole. Woah.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:06 pm
The tunnel yielded nothing but darkness at its entrance, as it had been dug straight through the rock under the floor -- except for, perhaps, the murmur of faraway voices below? But that could have been Sirona's imagination.
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 3:32 pm
Saiph inhaled the cold, fresh air greedily. WIth a nod to Alcyone, she gently pushed her way past Sirona and ventured into the tunnel. If an attack was going to come, she wanted to be in front. Not that she doubted Sirona's ability to defend herself.... well, okay, she DID doubt it. The slim, pink clad senshi seemed like a nice girl, but not one familiar with actual fighting. Better for everyone involved to not have her out and exposed.
Holding her torch aloft, she continued deeper into the tunnel.
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 7:35 pm
As they continued further, the light from above disappeared, and they had only the light of their torches to carry them onward. Who knew where the tunnel would take them? There was only one way to find out.
[Congratulations! Your characters have completed the puzzle part of Introduction Stage. Feel free to write them venturing onward through the featureless, cold black tunnel, which at various points is cramped enough that they have to crawl and features several-foot drops -- they will emerge at the beginning of Stage 1, which should be happening soon. Stay tuned.]
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