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IC Date: 08/28/2025
Continuation of This Thread



The Primordial Tower’s constructs seem to pose no further threat to the party as they ascend the winding ramp. Examination of the tower’s white stone reveals countless arcane symbols lightly carved into the entirety of the edifice. One by one lanterns lining the ramp flare to life, crystals casting soft colorful light through their faceted stained glass covers as further up in the grotto the sky’s dying light is more clearly visible, the emerging stars pinpricks of silver against the spreading dark and reflected in the distant glow of the insects at the tower’s base. A warm breeze whirling upward passes almost musically through gaps in the stone walls of the grotto, a wistful serenade unheard for untold ages and dissipating into the evening sky as the party reaches the top of the ramp where another heavy bronze door greets them.

Set deeply into the tower’s solid stone, the patinaed metal of the pointed arch door bears flowering vines rendered in high relief which crawl across its surface, punctuated occasionally by the crystalline likeness of the enormous glowing butterflies present at the palace shrine.

“This worked last time, hopefully this time it won’t give us any trouble. Bitter Blast!”

Each stone butterfly illuminates with the touch of Tempesti’s magic, followed by a mechanical grinding from within as the door opens to reveal another chamber within.

As the party enters the dimly lit room all noise seems to die down, as though the tower is holding its breath. Unlike the white stone that defines the rest of the Primordial Tower, this chamber gleams in deep blue marble shot through with veins of golden brown. Though this chamber’s fittings are clearly newer than the rest of the tower, its builders seemingly sought to emulate the heaviness of the surrounding structure rather than the airiness of the palace complex. Its columns are thicker, arches rounded rather than pointed and the entire space gives a sense of heavily fortified security.

Opposite the door through which the party entered, there is another heavy bronze door. Though not as ornate as the one connecting the tower to the rest of the palace complex, it bears the same authoritative weight and it is easy to draw the conclusion that it contains mechanisms similar to its more highly decorated counterpart. A simple cosmic scene depicting the Solar System and Tempesti’s place within it adorns the door, though a bronze dome conceals the space presumably reserved for the sun.

A few yards in front of the door stands what looks like a control panel with a series of numbers on its simple interface, though the bottom row seems to be missing. It seems likely that by manipulating the panel a character may input the missing numbers, though there is no telling what that will actually accomplish.

Looking around the room, characters may notice tiled grids mounted on the walls, two on the western wall and two on the eastern, all vibrate with some unusual power. Upon closer investigation they realize that each grid consists of a number of crystal tiles each of which bears an arcane symbol, though some of the tiles seem to be missing.


Please post this form at the beginning of each post. I will replace this with a more battle-focused form once we move into the final room.

Character: Chibi Super Sailor Oort
Location: C5
Target: N/A
Action: Studying one of the panels on the western wall
Roll: 16

Oort had examined the symbols carved into the tower with quiet fascination during the ascent, although he had kept his thoughts to himself.

He had trailed after Tempesti with cautious steps after she had opened the door with flowering vines and butterflies at the tower's summit, reddish eyes narrowing slightly behind the lenses of his glasses as they adjusted to the dimly lit chamber within.

There was another bronze door directly opposite, although Oort paid it no mind for the moment, as his curiosity led him to take in the rest of the chamber.

Like the mechanism that appeared to be some sort of control panel and the vibrating tiled grids on the eastern and western walls.

He stepped forward to take a closer look at one of them, ignoring the outburst from one of the senshi that entered ahead of him (Grieve).

Oort's brow furrowed slightly as he studied tge tiles, noting that each seemed to be inlaid with some sort of symbol–

And then found himself leaning in slightly as he tried to determine if they bore any resemblance to the ones that had been etched on the outside of the tower.

Character: Eternal Sailor Oberon of Adventure
Location: C5
Target: Looking at the symbols.
Action: Staying near Oort.
Roll: 18

The rainbow light still burned faintly at the edges of his vision, a stark reminder of how abruptly the fight had ended. One second he’d had glass and metal bearing down on him, the next… nothing. Just machines drifting back into some forgotten routine.

He rubbed at his ribs as he followed Tempesti’s lead, his jaw tight but he wasn’t about to complain. He’d been hit harder before. Still, the ache lingered. It was a reminder to keep his guard up.

The climb to the top gave him enough time to settle his breathing again, to push the sting to the back of his mind. Oberon kept close to Oort, his stride matching without needing to really think about it. He could see others he knew. His family -- his mom and brother, for starters. He was glad they seemed to be okay, but he kept his head down. He knew how Sessrumnir got about being too close, even around people who were supposed to be their allies. A laughable concept sometimes.

When the doors opened into the dim chamber, he paused just long enough to take everything in. Thick columns. High arches. It was certainly built to last.

He glanced at the sealed bronze door and strange grids humming on the walls. Oort was already moving toward one of them, clearly pulled by curiosity. Oberon took his place beside him. Not to crowd him, but close enough to watch his back in case anything happened.

“Looks similar,” he mumbled, his eyes on the carved symbols. “Could be tied to what was outside.”

He didn’t reach out yet. His fists still ached from the last time he used them. Instead, he let Oort lean in and study while he scanned the chamber, keeping one eye on the walls and the other on his friend.

Character: Poe, Page of Mercury
Location: C9
Target: Grid 2
Action: With Paradise and Cynthus.
Roll: 9

Poe’s eyes glanced over the chamber, a wary sweep across the walls and the strange panels humming with symbols he didn’t recognize. The heavy bronze door looked about as inviting as a tax audit, but at least nothing here had glass claws and clubs. Yet.

He stayed a step behind Cynthus, ready to shift if something went wrong.

“Alright,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Looks like we’ve traded combat for… math.”

He let out a quiet breath that might’ve been a laugh.

“Figures I’d come all this way just to stare down another set of ledgers. Except these glow and hum. My old boss would’ve loved that,” he grinned to himself, but shot a glance between Cynthus and Paradise. “Don’t worry, if it’s numbers I’ve got this. Dad jokes and balance sheets. Deadliest combo around.”

Character: Paradise, Squire of Cosmos
Location: C9
Target: Grid 2
Action: With Poe and Cynthus.
Roll: 6

Paradise trailed a hand lightly along the air, not touching the marble but seeming to absorb it with her eyes. The gold veining caught the lantern light, rich and solemn, and the hum of the panels filled her chest with an almost musical vibration.

But she kept glancing back at Cynthus, her eyes soft and certain. She gave Poe’s sleeve a squeeze before stepping close enough to brush her niece’s arm.

“You’ve done beautifully,” she said, voice low but sincere. “I hope you feel as proud of yourself as we feel of you.”

She glanced up at the strange symbols across the crystal tiles then. “It feels like… a test,” she sighed, mostly to herself. “But tests can be passed,” she decided, her smile returning bright and warm. “We’ll figure it out.”

Character: Sailor Bacchus
Location: G5
Target: N/A
Action: Talking to Blarney and looking at the number panel.
Roll: 14

Bacchus rolled his shoulders and grimaced as he idly rubbed the achingly numb fingers of his left hand. His face was almost certainly bruised from its collision with the construct but no one was dead and they’d moved from someplace where getting murdered by the handiwork of a dead lunatic was a high possibility to someplace where it seemed slightly less likely.

He glanced over at the sound of Blarney’s voice, “No idea, they wouldn’t have let me anywhere near this place back then. Not that the lying p***k could get in either.” The senshi smirked a little at this new tidbit of knowledge. That he was further into the place that rotting bug tit of an emperor claimed as the justification for his own power than he’d ever been.

Once that door opened the place would be singing to a different tune, but for now their greatest danger was pissing off one of those noisy grids or creepy panel. Yes it was creepy. Why? Because it was.

But the symbols on it were more familiar than the ones on the grids, though he wasn’t sure why numbers from Earth would be showing up here. Maybe it responded to whoever was talking around it? His head hurt. That was higher than his scícath could jump and he had no interest in building a scaffold.

He wondered if yelling at it in Tuath would do anything to change the numbers and decided against it in the same breath.

Still, he should probably look at it and he ambled over, shooting a grin at the other senshi (Athene) as he sidled up to the panel. “Any luck?”

Character: Reims, Knight of Ganymede
Location: J4
Target: Grid 3
Action: With a bunch of Lysithea Knights apparently
Roll: 6

The burst of rainbow light made every fiber in his body brace for an impact that never came. When the constructs instead drifted back into their routines like nothing had happened, Reims lowered his sword an inch, but not much more.

He stayed near Dering, keeping an observant eye on their surroundings. The unicorns flickered and faded as Dering carefully controlled the use of his magic, but he wasn’t about to let his guard down while Dering focused on keeping them safe. His promise, although not always said out loud, hadn’t changed -- if Dering shielded him, he’d protect Dering in return.

Still, as they moved up the ramp into the new chamber, he couldn’t help from skimming the crowd. He caught sight of the Lysithea Knight brothers together, just ahead. There was a flicker of relief that eased his expression, followed immediately by a dark flush of embarrassment. What was he doing, scanning for them like that? He dragged his eyes away before anyone noticed, looking instead to where Amarynthos seemed to be ignoring a newly healed wound while Ephesus looked worried -- nothing new there. And Cynthus was surrounded by adults. Pass.

The room itself was heavy with silence, as if it didn’t quite trust them. Or maybe he was just being paranoid. He frowned at the control panel, then at the glowing grid along the walls. Magic and machines… it set his anxiety and instincts on edge.

“Feels like one wrong move here could wake everything back up again,” he said as he leaned closer to Dering, keeping his voice low. He didn’t want to admit it, but he couldn’t decipher anything about the grids on his own. So he shifted towards the nearest wall, sword still held loose in his hand, ready to test if the crystals reacted to touch -- or at least make sure they weren’t hiding some trap. If the constructs had “reset” once, he wasn’t about to let them all stumble into anything unprepared.

He clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth when he realized how close the Lysithea brothers were to them. He hadn’t meant to follow them -- maybe they were following him.

“Or it’s music,” he responded to Halle’s comment before he could think better of it. He shrugged, refusing to look in their direction as he reached his hand out. “Like keys or notes. I’ve got a big organ at my Wonder. Had to piece some of it back together. Until then it just made weird vibrating noises.”

He knew he was probably wrong, but he could only base his guesses off of experience.

Forgot to roll. This is for Cynthus above

Character: Sailor Monch of Popcorn!
Location: L7
Target:
Action: Looking at Grid 4, poking tiles
Roll: 10


Somehow things got even more magical as Tempesti led them forward. Monch figured that she should really visit Popcornland soon if it was gonna be like this! And now it had like...kind of a sci-fi fantasy vibe? Well, the constructs also had it, but nothing said technology than a control panel that seemed to be having some sort of BSOD situation.

"I wonder if it's like that lightning snake place we got all the pictures of. Maybe it's a prison control place, and if we open it scorpions fall from the ceiling. Or like...prisoners!" Which went a lot better with the narrative she'd been spinning but something about scorpions from above sounded really, really exciting. But oh! they'd really get all caught up in her hair, now wouldn't they?

"I mean, I hope that doesn't happen."

Leaning in close to some of the tiles, she poked at them while cheerfully intoning her own beeps and boops.