War of Dragons 2: Act of Rebellion - Dark - 4

The underground around Thor is incredibly expansive. Sometimes, people wonder where all the dangerous monsters are around Dol Dona - as the area on land is quite safe. A lot of farming communities and the like erecting throughout the place.

This is where.

Deep beneath the ground, amongst ancient and forgotten Gnome ruins, the monsters roam. And today, it's also where the Adventurers roam.

This isn't the first time the adventurers have gotten this close. In fact, thanks to a previous exploration, they have a route that avoids patrols and comes out into a really well hidden area.

There's multiple 'dugouts' hidden in the massive region that lays between the tunnel's exit, and the doors of Dol Dona. Powerful monsters slowly roaming the area, and as least one dangerous one hidden beneath the ground.

The gates of Dol Dona, the size of aircraft hangar doors, lay closed to protect the city from monsters. The question is, how do they get in? Especially knowing that the gates are protected with a second set of gates - and the ability to burn all that comes between.

Yeowang had only recently rejoined up with her RL boyfriend Jae Gu, but he's entirely reasonably reticent to go starting trouble in the Palace Lands, whereas worst case scenario is that she respawns in Eastal. So, here she is, and looking better than she had in several weeks owing to a letup in her recent training binge. She still shadowboxes every morning for an hour, and she does a lot of administrative work by chim, which is complicated but doable if you have Player assistants.

But that's not important right now. Right now, she's standing here with Yamato adventurers trying to figure out how to get into an aircraft hangar. "Generally, there's a smaller door for people," she relates her own experience on this matter. "They won't open these huge doors for one or two people, I expect." And she will look around for a smaller, subtler way in.

Dosbox was here for the last part, though he nearly drowned and was nearly eaten by carnivorous rabbits. Why are ALL rabbits in ETO carnivorous? Does it just SEEM like that because he only sees the monster rabbits? Are there non-monster rabbits? Would DosBox ever meet one if there were? These are big questions to which DosBox had no answers. What he does know is that there are some big gates in the way of this city, and they need to get into the city, probably with some other way than the front door.

DosBox surmises, "Well, have we thought of digging? I know that there is a wall around the city, but is there a wall.... UNDER?"

"There's a lot of dry land here. Funny. I'd have expected the entrace to Naval Monte to be more..." Uta mumbles, "...humid."

Tucked away into this well-hidden area, where the Monsters and Adventurers roam, she peeks out to the gates of Dol Dona, and retracting to sit on the ground with her back against a rock, she whispers, "So, what was the plan, again?", she asks the others. "We wait for someone to show up and we see how they get in? Or... something else?"

Looking down and mumbling, she adds, counting on her fingers, "I can possibly Loremaster the last time someone entered this place, but we risk not finding anything useful, and/or hitting some form of protection that leaves me useless for the rest of the mission. Alternately..."

Her fingers run idly on the pendant of her necklace, "...I could try invoking Kein-Eintrag's once-a-day ability to produce a mini-map, and see if there's any hidden nooks and crannies of interest that lead inside. But again, it's a once-a-day shot we might consider whether we want to use at the outset, or save for later."

"The question is, -where- would we dig, Borywick?"

Thor's undergrouns is big, very big, you might call it Mega Dungeon big just about. She was in the ruins armed and ready. She has been deep under ground and they had to dig perhapos so here she was.

"Moria this is not."

She notes and looks to Dosbox humming

"Yeah we might as well keep that in mind."

While Dos continues to examine the ground., Yeowang cannot quite let go of the idea that people need an easier way in than a single giant gate. To that end, she will search the nearby area for tracks of those who might have gone around from this main gate to a smaller, personal gate.

Dosbox spends a good 5-10 minutes checking out the mineral composition, as well as having a very gravely conversation with the earth itself before giving a nervous laugh, "Ha ha! Just kidding! I was testing you Uta, and you passed. Good Job! It seems the walls are, more or less, system protected. Immortal objects. Heh. We're not getting through that way. Sorry. Ah... And if we wanted to do any digging down below, we would have to... Have a better digger than me. I mean, it looks like there's been a lot of work around the walls, but the stone is solid enough to protect against those... Capital W Worm Monsters. So like... Finding a mining technique that didn't alert half the city would be hard. Pun intended."

As Yeowang goes searching for tracks, it takes some time. Seeking along the ground, while staying in cover to not be spotted by the monsters that roam this area. The monsters here are particularly dangerous, and Yeowang has to take notable care not to cause tremmors through the ground. But eventually, Yeowang does spot tracks!

They're not left by boots or feet however. Instead, monster tracks go into what looks like a very narrow 'tunnel' a good ten feet from the ground. Notably, these prints only go 'in', but none seem to come out.

Yeowang has returned after failing to find a conventional sort of alternate entrance like a person-sized door and started looking the gate over critically. "I think they must not use this very much," she says. "I suppose this whole underground gate is an alternate entrance? The road here is worn away, but the gate still seals tightly. It's almost like an underwater entrance." Further investigation of the surroundings does turn up an alternate path, though.

Completing her investigation of the outside of the disused way reveals an interesting thing: "Monsters go in, they do not come out. I file that under wildly suspect." She smirks. "Whether it is a trap made by the city dwellers to catch game or a secret way for monsters to enter the city, there's no way to tell. Only that it seems to be one way traffic."

"Time to send in a canary. See if this mine has Oxygen."

Uta intones a melody; tendrils of light and magic dance around her staff, coalesce into the gem atop it, charging it up in luminosity. After a while, a quick swipe, and, bam!

The intention would be to summon a slime. Meant to go into the 'entrance'. Hopefully people will be able to determine what's going on through observation, by sensing what happens through the magical link, or...

"...I'm about to Handle this slime into going in. Anyone has any idea of something we could put into it to help guide us, or understand what's going on on the other side?"

Looking down and away, she mumbles, "Note to self: make a slime-cam to go explore narrow tunnels." Some silence. "Actually... hmm. Magical limnk... Dark Magic...."

Yeowang will jump in as Uta prepares to send in a slime to scout. "I have this," she produces a coin from her inventory, rubbing it between her fingers until she gets the buzz of activation. "this will let us hear what the slime would hear. If slimes can hear," she explains as she passes her Lucky Coin to the slime.

Miho thinks "I think I have seen traps like that...Given how old this place is it could be like a rat trap for the monsters. If i recall right there are gates that do sterlize things like monsters..so that very well could be it." She looks over to Uta for a moment and then Yeowang nodding a little bit.

"A slime-cam? That's an idea...." Miho will move to pick upt the slime and boost it up as quickly as she can!

Up it goes...

Plort!

A Tabby Slime with a coin on the front lands into the hole with the familiar noise of a vatful of jello with a single coin stuck on its surface dropping on the asphalt. Let's face it, we've all done that at some point or other.

Guided with subtle flicks of her wrists that slightly correct the angle of her staff, as well as modulation in the magical chant she's intoning, reflecting into a modulation and control of Mana, the Slime begins its advance, the magical tendrils of light tightening and releasing it as it goes in, kind of like a pet being given more leash.

As the slime slides deeper into the movie-style air vent, the Arcane Chant which uta is vocalizing takes on a more compelling- wait. That sounds suspiciously like the Mission Impossible theme!

BLOP.

The Slime lands in the small opening, coin in 'hand', and turns for a moment to look in the direction of the Adventurer team. Hop hop...

Then turns and begins to move.

Yeowang able to listen in and direct Uta. At first, it's hopping over the surface of what sounds like earth. Eating some greenery on the way that is in the way. The sound of the food dissolving rather audible from the coin's link.

Hop-blob, Hop-blob, Hop-blob, Hop-blob.

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh. The sound of something spinning rapidly. Like metalic blades? Spinning at intense speed.

"Blop?"

Yeowang hrms, attempts to narrate what she hears. "It's in. It's .... is it pausing for a snack? Moving on .... It's passing some sort of ventilation fan," she reports. "Did it get sucked in?" she wonders.

Dosbox does his best to avoid hugging the slime (it's a cat slime), and he emits a quiet, high pitched squeak as the Slime is suddenly tossed. Concerned, he tugs on a piece of Uta's clothing and asks, "Is... Is it going to be alright?"

"Let's try and see what the SlimeCam can do..."

The Chant gets dimmer, deeper, more complex. But still compelling. Uta's eyes turn pitch dark, terrifyingly so. Among the tendrils of Light and Magic, distinct elongated blobs of Darkness, like lightning-fast dripping tar, shoot towards the Slime.

Without turning her attention away from the hole, one of Uta's hands detaches from the staff; it points to the ground, its fingers part.

Magical, ethereal smoke seeps from them, and swirls downward, to form a gauzy, transparent rendition of what the Slime sees: the ultimate cooking robot. It slices, it dices, it makes Julienne slimes. With lightsaber fans. Ok, laser fans.

All that the scene is missing is the infomercial voiceover, and someone looking absolutely ridiculous by trying to cut a steak with a hammer, and accidentally ending up slipping and poking themselves in the eye.

Miho watches pleased with her toss and now pauses looking to Uta and Yeowang before looking to Dosbox.

"I'm not sure..." She stands back her tail swishing as she waits, listens and watches with intrest.

Dosbox clears his throat, "Um... I could... Ah... Go up there and see if I can disable the fan..? I think?" He looks nervous, mostly because it involves him getting close to the blades.

Yeowang shakes her head about disabling fans. "They'd send someone if a fan stops working. That almost certainly happens from time to time."

Dosbox sighs with relief. "Oh, good. I mean, well, darn. That's one less thing to try." He thinks hard, "Maybe we could like... agitate slash befriend the Worm Monsters to see if they will dig into the city FOR us?"

"Okay, folks. Quick. I need the stickiest thing we have. Glue. Tar. Chewing gum. Is chewing gum even a thing? I think not. Acidic junk alone might work."

Uta begins to summon various slimes, attempting for both slimes primed optimally for gunking, and for unprimed ones to be created on the spot if the summoning does not allow for that complication.

Between Miho and Uta's own equivalent physical prowess(es), slimes get tossed up as quickly as they get made or primed. Of course, other people are welcome to help!

Dosbox has noodle arms much like Haru and cannot assist, but he provides a great deal of whispered cheering, "Go team...! yay...!"

Miho is just tossing slimes in, she's trying to be kind these are Uta's slimes. These are not the clube that devoured her and attempted to digest her her. What was it about slimes and things like giant squids. The goddesses had some questions they would have to answer from Miho if they ever got a chance to speek.

The majestic vistas of migratory patterns herds of buffalos describe across the great plains have nothing on the Great Slime Gunking that is going on at the moment.

Or at least, so Uta thinks.

The aethereal Slime-O-Vision shows that the first herd of slimes are effective at getting the mechanisms jammed. The fans slow down, but do not halt completely.

"That should be compatible with some thick monster. Good, this is viable. Folks, time to go in while it lasts!", Uta calls, beckoning with rapid gestures of her arm. "We're going in and seeing if that air vent leads into the city. I can summon slimes as we go to gunk the mechanisms. Those who can climb, climb up into the hole," she points. "Those who can't climb-"

Her eyes fall on Borywick.

"Well, pick someone else in the party to be tossed into the hole by?", she offers, politely.

Dosbox looks up at the hole, then at Uta, then the hole, then back at Uta. He holds his arms up like a toddler and makes an, 'UP,' gesture at her.

The team has to progress carefully. The slimes are slowing the blades, but they're not fully stopped like this. And they can't stick around for long!

A few unfortunate slimes perish on the journey forth, but the Adventurers manage to shuffle veeery slowly onwards. Slimes pushing them along when near the slow-moving laserblades.

Until they finally come out on the other end, in the midst of the undertown itself, in an area that is just a maintenance house & venting system that is so filled with dust - it clearly isn't being used or maintained at all.

But staying in Dol Dona is dangerous without a plan. But they've got this far!

Miho looks to Uta for a moment and pauses and she smirks.

"If he's up for it..." She will grins as they head onwards past the blade, she gets the idea to stay here is a bad idea but she takes a look around at how this has just been left to ruin.

"Tch just like I'd exepct it to be here...."

"Well then. Here we go!", Exclaims Uta, who grabs Dosbox's wrists for a tighter grip. In the same one swift motion in which she scoops up the Gnome, she spins in place, and after a couple revolutions, she tosses it at the hole in the wall, hammer throw style.

Very appropriate for a crafter.

Not long after that, with a running start, she'll take a jump into the hole.

Consensual hand holding has been unlocked!

Also, Gnome Toss. The new sport sensation for Alba?

"I would say that we've pushed our luck enough," Uta declares, once she emerges with the team on the other side. "The goal of our mission was to find a way in, and we did," Uta says, gesturing around. "I'd say we drop Yeowang's coin around here somewhere and collect some intelligence that way. Maybe draw a small map of the area around. And then we head right back the way we came from, and report back to the nearby Uncrowned Camp. Maximize benefits of our current situation. Minimize risks until new orders. And possibly a proper plan."

Yeowang advances with the party, emerging into the duct machinery room. It looks disused, but who can say? She will look around, spotting the door, and she hrms, retrieving her coin from the slime. Checking the light level in here, so nothing will spill out, she opens the door a crack, and looks for someplace to pitch it that might pick up some good info. Or maybe we could send out a slime, it will depend what she can see.

Outside of the door, carefully looking, Yeowang spots a heavily patrolled hallway of Pooka Landers - moving through the housing district of Dol Dona. There's no doubt patterns in their patrols, but it'd be really dangerous to get spotted. Luckily, Yeowang knows how to be careful.

Yeowang pulls the door closed quickly, but quietly, and puts a finger to her lips. She mouths the word patrol and gestures with her finers people walking. She's found that it's a housing district, thus has had her curiosity satisfied. She can report that quietly when they get back up the passage. She points back out the ventilation duct, since it seems like our mission here is done, and there's no point in camping out here. It -looks- disused, but someone's got to re-mana these fans, don't they? Or something, she's not sure how things work in this world even after all this time. She pockets her lucky coin for now, she's not sure it's lucky enough to keep them safe if the patrol comes by.

Uta shows her agreement with Yeowang with a determined nod. A thumb up, to show that the mission's objective has been achieved.

Touching her necklace, Uta activates a holographic mini-map for a brief moment, which she jots down on a notebook with what looks like a fountain pen. She quickly points at her work in progress, and then, after drawing a circle in the air to include the party, with her middle and index fingers, she mimes running. 'I'll sketch the area we are in, then let's vamoose', pretty much.

Meanwhile, back up in the air shaft, Dossy is fiddling with the fan, trying to see if he can see what makes it tick. He attempts several different things, each time carefully testing with his Gem hands (+card Gem Jitte). As a matter of particular intelligence, the Rock Gnome has a neuron misfire and uses his own hand to try and stop the blades instead of the ones that do NOT bleed pixels. He is once again reminded of his larger than normal pain tolerance as he notes several digits leave his body before they disappear. He pulls his hand back quickly, quietly cursing himself as he materializes one of his fabled gem works, the sapphire one, to slowly heal his booboo.

Miho is pausing while some go out to sneak about to check out the machinery in the room, she has some ideas about what it could but but she needs to know forsure as she inspects them tail swishing as she does so.

Miho humms after a bit.

"Old and rusted but it's clearly a air filtering system... if they have that I wonder if we could introduce something into it to weaken the city...Some sort off sleeping gas..."

Yeowang ahems as Miho broaches that idea. "That would be a bad plan," she explains. "That would count as an attack on the city as far as the Guardians are concerned. And, well, you can imagine how that would go." She continues to prep to get out, since we've found what we came to find.

"We can discuss all sorts of plans when we are out of here," Uta mumbles, as she caps her pen and closes her notebook. "Right now we should probably go somewhere safer, unless people have any last tasks to take care of."

Dosbox reenters the room everone else is in, sucking on the index finger of one of his hands while spraying said hand with water from his Sapphire Gem Works, "Just to let you all know, the air system is part of the city, so it's probably system protected too."

Miho nods "I think this might be a bad idea now that I think about it. Gods, this is frustating." TO think if not for Tian Miho would be far more bloody minded about the whole palace lander problem...at least she was thinking non lethal this time.

Uta stands up abruptly, and rushes over to look at Dosbox's hands with concern. "Oh, dang. We need to do something about those," she gestures. "If they haven't grown back by the time we're back at the Uncrowned camp, come over for a visit. It's on me," she says, preparing to head back into the duct people came from.

Yeowang hrms as Dos explains about the air system. "That also explains how it keeps running," she says quietly. "I doubt we can do anything /to/ it, more than the light gumming Uta's slimes did." She considers, "This can be an infiltration point, but I do not think we can launch an invasion through here."