Location: Tinúm, Yucatán, Mexico Debrief: A small cluster of ruins in the surrounding area of the Chichen Itza ruins has recently been experiencing an influx of FEAR creatures and general activity of the paranormal variety. Hunters previously assigned to, and already familiar with the area have been called back to the nearby outpost and dispatched to investigate the cause. The team may exterminate the lesser creatures in order to quell the sudden infestation, but is to only investigate the cause.
Team: Rhys (Mist, all-around back-up), June (Death, intel gathering), Mateo (Life, medic)
The Entrance
Part 1
It's pitch black out when you finally arrive at the ruins. As expected there is an eerie feeling hanging in the air that you can't seem to shake.
Roll 1d4. This effect will carry over throughout the entire mission.
1 - Everything is normal and it's probably just in your head. Take some deep breaths and relax. 2 - The closer you get to the entrance, the foggier it seems to get. It looks like the fog is even spilling out of the entrance. 3 - You start to get a stronger feeling of anxiety, and the longer you're there the stronger that feelings starts to become. Your weapon seem to be very sensitive to it as well. 4 - Something is following you and you're absolutely sure of it. In fact, you swear you can hear its footsteps whenever you stop moving.
Part 2
Once inside something just feels perfectly off about this place. You can't quite place a finger on what that is, but it seems it even has an effect on your weapon.
Roll 1d4. This effect will carry over throughout the entire mission.
1 - Your weapon is very scared and keeps insisting that you leave and never come back. 2 - Your weapon is very weepy and it's freaking you out. 3 - Your weapon is crazy angry and won't stop yelling at you about every little thing. 4 - Your weapon is very whiny and it's really, really annoying. Really...really annoying.
The Ruins
Part 1
The only tunnel at the entrance leads to a series of tunnel entrances. It's quickly decided that divide and conquer seems to be the best route for this mission, so you all pick a tunnel. The full hunter has to take two.
Roll 1d4.
1 - It's too dark and you can't see a whole lot of anything, so you wonder why you picked it since you don't actually have a flashlight. 2 - You get stuck with this one because you took too long to pick. Too bad. As you get close to the entrance you notice sounds, like there's fluttering of some kind down this one.
Mob Fight! (8HP, AD: 1) It's a bat-like creature with too many legs and not enough eyes. One somehow separated from the swarm far, far overhead and comes right at you.
3 - You see a strange red glow in the mist spewing out of this tunnel's entrance and find yourself drawn to this tunnel because of it. 4 - You all heard squelching sounds come from this one and drew lots--you got the short stick. Sucks to be you. As you enter, you see what was making the noise.
Mob Fight! (8HP, AD: 1) A medium-sized slug-octopus nightmare of a creature sees you and doesn't hesitate to attack.
Part 2
You've made it past the initial portions of your chosen tunnel and soon you see that, while it continues on its own (to a dead end--you can see it from where you're standing now), it breaks off into various rooms and alternate tunnels. You take your time to try and inspect each room, remembering to take notes the entire time.
Roll 1d6 and match the results. Collect 10 investigation points (IP) to find the right tunnel and continue.
1 - The room is empty but you notice the walls are stained kind of odd. You make the mistake of stepping too far into the room and setting off a trap. -2HP. +3 IP. 2 - An empty room with what look like display stands arranged in the center. There doesn't seem to be anything on the stands. +1 IP 3 - The room is full of empty chests that were probably once full of all kinds of treasures. You see something glimmer and reach for it, inadvertently setting off a trap. -2HP. +4 IP. 4 - This room has nothing but stones in it; piles and piles of stones. Upon closer inspection you see that each one has carvings on it. You can pick one up if you're curious. +1 IP.
If you were curious, roll 1d12. If you rolled even, nothing happens and you can walk away with your souvenir. If you rolled odd, you set off a trap. -2HP.
5 - Off to your left is a dark hallway that just...draws attention for some reason, and despite that voice in the back of your head telling you to back away you just can't seem to do it.
Mob Fight! (10HP, AD: 2) The creature is just a mass of darkness that seems to absorb all the light around it. It becomes extremely hostile as soon as you step into its territory.
6 - There is another curious hallway towards your right, and you see that at the end of it is a very odd looking statue. You approach and realize to late that you've just tripped a wire, setting off a trap. -2HP. +2 IP.
The Cause
Part 1
You finally find what looks like the right tunnel and start walking down it. It seems like it should be obvious that it gets darker the further down the tunnel you go, but you're still surprised. You're not entirely sure what it is that you could possibly find while down there, which doesn't really help you stay calm.
Roll 1d100 for a Boss Encounter.
Even - Boss 1 Odd - Boss 2
Part 2
Boss 1
At the end of the tunnel you realize why it was getting darker and darker the further you went down. Near the end you see a row of entrances, and guarding those entrances is a large, black cloud of a creature. It looks like its insides are constantly moving and changing, as though it were made up of dozens of smaller clouds that were involuntarily gathered up into this one giant cloud, all trying to escape. It doesn't seem to notice you and just continues to float along, but you know you need to get closer if you want to learn more.
The Cloud - 100HP, AD: 10
Roll 2d20 to investigate. You must roll two success rolls in order to escape.
1-20 - You notice something about the creature (or the entrances it's guarding) but it doesn't notice you. Lucky, lucky. 21-40 - You get a little too close and it notices you and attacks . -10HP. Try again.
Boss 2
At the end of the tunnel you see another wall of entrances, but down the left-most one you notice a strange, red glow. Unable to ignore it (because you are supposed to be investigating what's going on in these tunnels), you approach very carefully, unsure of what it is that you'll find, and because of that uncertainty you only peek inside the room. What you see is stacks of crates lining the walls of the room, all emitting that strange red glow. The Agent - 40HP, AD: 3
Roll 2d20 to investigate.
1-20 - You decide that you need to get a much closer look. You make it inside and approach one of the crates, unknowingly tripping a wire and making the cache (and its guard, who you saw had been sleeping in the corner) go boom! You are now weak and very disoriented by the blast. You have 10HP left. Roll 1d4 to try and escape. If you roll even, you successfully get away. If you roll odd you somehow hurt yourself as you try to escape. -2HP. Try again. 21-40 - You decide to investigate and rush into the room, right into the guard on duty. The guard attacks, so obviously you have to defend yourself. It's the only natural progression.
The Resolution
End Results
Select the applicable ending below.
Boss 1
If you successfully escaped - Good work! You managed to escape and upon returning to the entrance you find the rest of team has done their best to investigate and, along the way, has gotten rid of the majority of the infestation. Report your findings and return to base.
If you did not successfully escape - You passed out from your injuries and wake up back at the base with a massive headache and a very odd looking bruise on your arm. Report your findings and return to Deus Ex when you're ready.
Boss 2
If the cache went boom and you managed to escape - Good work! You managed to crawl your way back to the entrance and find the rest of your team already waiting for you. Report your findings and return to base. If cache went boom and you didn't escape - You passed out from your injuries. You vaguely remember being rescued by your team, but that's about it. Report your findings and return to Deus Ex when you're ready.
If you defeated the Agent - Good work! You lead the rest of team to the cache and upon inspection find that the crates are full of illegal red runic tech. Report your findings and return to base. Instruction on what to do about the cache will come from the higher-ups at a later time. If you were defeated by the Agent - You nearly pass out from your injuries and vaguely remember being rescued by your team members. You wake up back at the base. Report your findings and return to Deus Ex when you're ready.
itspao_ rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-4)
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 7:58 am
Arrival
As soon as he came through the portal, Rhys was immediately hit by a wall of humidity. He let out a groan as he stood right at the portal and slipped his coat and scarf off, and then his flannel after he took a few steps and couldn't even stand the extra thin material considering. It hadn't been that long since he was last here, and he was thinking that it'd be quite a while before he wound up back in the Yucatan, but there he was. Called out for a mission because he'd asked to be sent on one to prove that he was capable of moving up in the ranks. He wasn't miserable or angry or any of that; he actually enjoyed his time here. It was just the weather that sucked.
And all the walking.
But other than the short walk to the base, the ruins, and back (if he was conscious; there had been times where he was dragged back because he wasn't) it probably wasn't gonna be too bad this time around. He shifted the extra clothing over his shoulder before pulling out the mission information and going over the details again. It sounded simple enough, but nothing about the things they dealt with was ever simple.
‹ It's probably not simple, but please don't start spouting that 'I've got this' nonsense when we get there. ›
'I know, but a guy can hope. And shut up. I do got this.'
‹ Ugh. ›
He grinned when she went quiet and put the dossier away as he came on the base entrance and, when the coast was clear, slipped inside.
The rest of the team--only two others--made it there shortly after him and they talked plans for what felt like hours. Honestly he thought it was a bit overkill considering they were only gonna be watching for the most part, but being the lowest ranking member of the team he just rolled with it. He did his best to not get silenced by their experience and offered up ideas as they came to him; some they like, some they didn't, but by the end of it they had a pretty solid idea of how they were gonna make it there. When the meeting was over they all hung around the base and waited for sundown. Curiously, it didn't seem like a very long wait at all.
When they finally set off Rhys flanked the team, making sure that nothing was following them as they made their way to the ruins. As usual it was a long ways off, a good half hour or so hike, so he was extra vigilant about it. Every rustle gave him pause, every howl or buzz put him back on alert if he started getting a little too relaxed. By the time they finally made it to the ruins he was almost certain there was something on their tail. Something that didn't make any kind of noises but it made footsteps. The leaves rustled beneath each step and he could swear that he heard it on the entire walk there. He got distracted enough by it that he was looking back probably a little too often and had to actually be called over to the entrance so they could get moving.
The trainee glanced over his shoulder just once more, eyes narrowed at a curious looking bush, before hurrying off inside after the rest of the team.
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itspao_ rolled 1 4-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-4)
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 7:59 am
Walking through the entrance was an experience all its own, curiously enough. Looking ahead at the two other hunters, Rhys wondered if they also had a bad feeling just about being there. If they did there were zero indications on their faces; like truly experienced hunters, or at least hunters that were just that used to being in these kinds of situations, they were there just for the job and would deal with whatever came at them. He couldn't figure out if the poker faces were a good thing or not, but he scowled at the darkness that they were now walking through.
‹ If you're scared maybe we should just...leave. ›
'I'm not scared.'
‹ Oh? You sound scared. ›
'Well I'm not.'
‹ Fine, you're not. ... You still here those footsteps? ›
He glanced over his shoulder, scowling. There was nothing and no one, not even the sounds he swore he could hear earlier. Still, ever few steps or so he looked back on Zephira's prompting; truth be told he thought she was scared. Her voice wasn't...normal. He tried not to think too much about it, but she was "noticing" the sounds more than he was and it was starting to get a little annoying.
itspao_ rolled 1 4-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-4)
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:02 am
Further inside, the tunnel split into four other tunnels and so the three decided to split the work up. No sense in taking longer than they needed to, and they were all plenty capable of investigating the place since this wouldn't be the first time they navigated through these types of ruins. It was partly why Rhys had been given this mission at all despite his rank--familiarity with these ruins. And it was also why he agreed to take on the mission, figuring it was easier than going to completely uncharted territory.
When it came time to decide the trainee pointed at one of the tunnels, the pitch black one, and the others took tunnels of their own. After agreeing when and where to regroup they split up and Rhys approached his chosen tunnel. He was barely two steps in when Zephira started talking.
‹ Can we go home now? ›
'Your voice is shaking. Are you scared?'
‹ Not scared, just bored. And it's dark, you moron, Where's your flashlight? ›
'Forgot to bring one, but I'll survive. There's some kinda light at the end, see?'
‹ No, I don't see. I wanna go home. Let's go home. ›
'Can't, got a mission to do.'
‹ Home! ›
'Z, what the ******** is goi--'
‹ IT'S DARK AND I WANT TO GO HOME. TURN AROUND. LET'S GO HOME. ›
Rhys stopped in his tracks, brows knit together in a look of frustration as he processed her shrieking. She went until they were finally out of the dark and Rhys felt like he was getting a headache with all of the yelling. If she was actually a physical being of whatever kind he probably would have smacked her, but it was all he could do to just scream right back at her (in his mind, of course) to shut up until she did.
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1Total: 1 (1-6)
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:04 am
It was a relief to finally step out of the darkness of that tunnel...and straight into a dimly lit one. And not just that, but he saw that there were more doors here. Zephira, he could feel, was shaking. Shaking.
‹ We need to leave. Now. ›
It was easy enough to ignore her as he moved on ahead, approaching one of the rooms and stepping inside. She was shrieking again, and very loudly at that, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. And she was the one going off about how something must have been following them, and even going so far as to list reasons why they had to go home. Now.
‹ You could get mobbed. Remember the Sun course? Those little shits mobbed you as soon as you ported in. ›
‹ There aren't any senior hunters here to save you. Have you thought of that?! Home is a good plan. A good plan. ›
‹ HOME MIGHT BE A LITTLE TOO FAR. LET'S JUST GO BACK TO BASE NOW. YOU CAN TURN RIGHT AROUND. SOMETHING'S FOLLOWING YOU. ›
‹ OR TRAPS. REMEMBER, THESE PLACES ARE FULL OF TRAPS. THERE'S LOTS OF REASONS TO LEAVE. ›
Rhys had been trying to focus on the room, walking slowly and carefully as he inspected the walls for signs of...well, anything. At the very least he noted the weird color, like a faded dark brown. He could swear there were pinholes too, but it might have just been the lighting. With the yelling though he eventually lost it and, without paying attention to where he was stepping, started yelling right back at her.
"Would you take a breath! I'm gonna ********' lose it--" He cut himself short when a dart whizzed right past him, grazing his cheek as it went. "********: 38/40 IP: 3/10
itspao_ rolled 1 6-sided dice:
6Total: 6 (1-6)
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:05 am
Rhys retraced his steps and practically tumbled out of the last room, screaming at Zephira the whole way. She sounded absolutely terrified but never said as much; she just kept right on giving him reasons why they should go home. Now.
It was distracting but he did his best, recalling that she'd been just as moody back when he was here before. If she wasn't scared or freaked out, she was depressed. If not that, straight up batshit crazy and blowing up about every little thing he did. It had been annoying back then, but he usually had a partner patrolling and doing rounds with him so being distracted wasn't quite so bad. Right now, though, it obviously wasn't ideal.
He was back in the main tunnel soon enough and decided to follow a tunnel off to his right. He could see the end had a statue and it might be relevant; he couldn't tell from here, so he walked toward it. The walls here were normal so he wasn't too worried. Zephira on the other was still screeching about going home or back to the base or just leaving right now. He made mental notes around all the yelling and tried to get within reach of the statue--he felt the wire this time and barely managed to dodge two tomahawk-type things that shot out from the walls on either side of him. He felt them leave their marks across his back and his chest, the warmth of his blood a familiar unpleasant feeling.
‹ WE'RE GONNA DIE IF YOU DON'T LEAVE NOW. LET'S LEAVE NOW. ›
For the first time since all the yelling starting, he actually agreed with her. He took one more second to look at the statue--he was there already and he was careful not take any more steps in case there were more traps in front of him--before he carefully stepped over the wired and found his way back to the main tunnel.
HP: 36/40 IP: 5/10
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1Total: 1 (1-6)
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:06 am
Rhys had to take a second when he made it back to the hallway to see how bad the injuries were. Considering he was still moving it probably wasn't all that bad, so he moved on to the another room. It looked a lot like the first one so he walked very, very carefully...but still not carefully enough. He sidestepped and felt the tile sink beneath him, causing a rain of wooden spikes to just fall right down on top of where he was standing.
‹ YOU SERIOUSLY NEED TO JACKING LISTEN TO ME OR WE'RE GONNA DIE. ›
There were numerous expletives said out loud as he dodged as best he could. It was impossible to come out of jumping through a rain of sharpened stick (and very thick, sharpened sticks) completely uninjured, but he didn't expect one to actually go through him. The pain hadn't registered at first but now that he saw it, it was blinding, and he crawled back out to the tunnel, dripping a trail of blood as he went.
HP: 34/40 IP: 8/10
itspao_ rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-6)
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:07 am
Out in the main tunnel he sat against one of the walls, fairly certain that he would be fine there considering none of the traps he'd tripped thus far were actually in this particular tunnel. Using his sword, he cut the bits of the spike that would potentially get in his way while he moved, wrapped it up as best as he could with his scarf, and just did his best to not move his arm so much. Zephira, in the meantime, was still screeching about going home, still sounding as terrified as she did when he first started looking in all these rooms.
Thankfully the next room looked very, very normal. No pin holes, no statues, nothing. It was just a room, and whatever had been in it before had long since been taken out and he was fine with that. He made some mental notes and then walked back out.
HP: 34/40 IP: 9/10
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itspao_ rolled 1 6-sided dice:
5Total: 5 (1-6)
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:08 am
He was moving a lot slower now, extra mindful of the more serious among his injuries, and he was back in the main tunnel. All the yelling wasn't helping, but yelling back only seemed to make things worse for him and he really needed to focus so he left her alone to yell as much as she wanted. There were moments of calm, thankfully, and it was during one of those moments that he saw the tunnel that veered off toward the left. It was dark and eerie but it caught his attention for whatever reason, and before he knew it he was walking past the entrance and into that darkness...
What he found at the end snapped him out of whatever trance he'd fallen into. Red glowing eyes floating in a mass of darkness. There was virtually no light at the end of that tunnel, in a very literal sense. He tried to take a step back but it was too late. It turned and, upon seeing him, made an ear-splitting screech before barreling towards him.
With his arm basically unusable he did his best to defend himself from the sudden attack, though it barreled straight in to that arm so the pain shot through his entire body and he wasn't even able to retaliate. Still, he swung his sword to try and push it back, and he took a few steps back of his own. The closer he got to the exit the easier it would be to run if he really had to.
He did the best that he could and slashed at the creature, and it made a low gurgling sound when he made a hit. It was good that his sword was manageable with one hand, and it seemed like his last swing did a bit of damage as the thing retreated for a second. He made a motion to turn and run but a tendril shot out from the dark mass and tripped him, causing him to faceplant and nearly drop his sword from the impact.
Rhys got up as fast as he could manage and fought the tendrils off with a number of successive slashes, taking hits as he went about hacking away at it. He heard shrill cries fill the air as those tendrils fell from the main body and disappeared into nothingness. The trainee cringed at the sound; it was enough to even silence Zephira for a second before she went right back to shrieking about death and dying and doom if he stayed there any longer.
There were more tendrils and more slashes and eventually Rhys stabbed and slashed at the main body, and after one final slash the creature shrieked and howled as it slowly collapsed into itself and disappeared. The room became just a little bit lighter, but Rhys didn't care at that point. He hurried back toward the main tunnel and didn't look back in case that howl was its call for backup.
HP: 26/40 DMG: 4 CHG: 2/3
Mob: DED AD: 2
itspao_ rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-6)
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:14 am
The trainee had to go ahead and take a break from everything again. He was nearly in a cold sweat from all the bleeding that was still going on, though he was sure if he were a normal person he'd probably already be unconscious, possibly even dead, because of that same bleeding. Rhys took a few deep breaths and soon was on his feet again, dizzy but still able to move along without that much trouble. His arm was more or less numb now, provided he didn't move it or hit it against a wall, so he went about with investigating yet another room.
It was as normal as normal rooms came, so he made a quick note of the room and left again. He was sure the right way to keep moving forward was out there in the main tunnel. He just had to find it, preferably without any more surprises.
Zephira had been quiet for a while now, which was an incredible relief but he could still hear her murmuring to herself. It was the kind of murmuring that was actually kind of freaky, and in a way it added freaky background music in an already dark and freaky tunnel scenario. Rhys did his best to push it out of his mind, only making a mental note to ask around about why she was acting completely not like herself before turning his focus to the task at hand again.
He walked along, only peeking inside rooms and other optional entrances now because he couldn't risk any more traps or encounters. He was weak and injured and while he could keep investigating he was almost certain he'd pass out from blood loss if he was too careless.
‹ I still think we're gonna die. ›
'Thanks for not ********' yelling it this time. I feel like we're gettin' pretty close, though.'
‹ You'd think we'd be used to it by now, but it still scares me. ›
'You've been scared all night.'
That seemed to shut her up and she went back to her murmuring. Occasionally he would catch a word--death or maimed or slaughtered--nothing pleasant at all so he did his best to just do what he was there to do. It wasn't long before he found the right tunnel, and it was as dark and foreboding as the others had been. Perfect.
