Got a Hill and a Hole to Dig

"Well, I don't know if this will help but I can give you both just a little protection from magic. It burns energy real quick, and it doesn't protect against the weirder things but it's something." Ruby cheers up to have new company, but there are way too many people to fit in that tunnel. She puts her hands on her hips and grins. "Well now, I can't believe it just occurred to me that you boys haven't said a thing about what your names are. Poor manners that you haven't said them yet!"

Animus looks slightly embarrassed for a moment. "Sorry. I'm Animus and this is Joshua and Fiddler." He sighs. "I'm not sure about protection that burns energy. I've already run through too much of my reserves."

((So Fiddler is in the scene with us? Should we stop for a while?))

(( I honestly have no idea, since Organiker's been posting in the Consilium thread; i.e. has been online. Keep going. ))

((But he's got teh Mind shielding! It'd be super useful...))

Ruby sighs, "Well that's no good at all. I tend to run out quite a bit these days as well... only so much to go around I suppose. Ok, so we'll have to be extra careful... in and out as quick as can be. You'll need to see this picture for yourself." Ruby invites them to follow her in the cave, her warning was serious though. They can only afford to stay inside for a few minutes.

((GAH! missed all this, feeling foolish))

Fiddler seemed to arrive slightly later, after hesitating to use the portal. After arriving, he stayed quiet. despite his understanding of the space arcanum, he still found traveling via portals to be a bit disorienting. He listened to what had been discussed.

"I've got a mind shield up already" he speaks, before following the others.

(( here are the diagrams for the first crew: http://twilightvalley.org/events/pictograms.jpg the second crew who goes down can also reference them. ))

Animus takes a moment to study the whisps of resonance before following the others in. As he descends, he checks the local Shadow for anything unusual.

"Here we are, let me show you what the inscription looks like." At the bottom of the stair, Ruby waves her hand towards the stone 'door' and weaves a hasty spell to illuminate the hidden script with real light... a spell which fails disastrously as Ruby accidentally stirs up a ripple of Paradox, draining her. "Oh, ouch. Oh, that feels like grandma hurt. Oh, I have to sit down."
She plops down on the stone steps for a moment to catch her breath.
"OK, sorry you'll just have to read it on your own. It's hidden in Supernal script."

Spoiler:

(( Everyone in the tunnel roll Gnosis + Resolve + Mental Shield. This version of Supernal Script can be seen with Prime Sight only. ))

Animus shakes his head. "Sorry, I can't see the inscription at all. Maybe you could copy it down for me?"

The unwelcome tendrils of dark magic snake towards Ruby once again, but this time her protective charm flares up. Fueled by her inner reserve of mana, white flame undoes the dangerous enchantment.

"Whew, you all can't see it?" Ruby drags herself to her feet. "OK, real quick. Let me show you all what I see. This might feel weird, but try not to fight it or it might not work."

Ruby whispers the High Speech and knits her brow in concentration. She folds her hands and sends the invocation like a prayer ferried to the Aether on it's way to God.

Fiddler, Animus, Joshua feel a spell tugging at them, warping their vision. They can choose to resist with Resolve+Gnosis. Scrutiny shows spell is Prime Arcana.

Spoiler:

- - -
Mana 3/11
WP 5/7

Once the spell takes hold, Animus studies the inscription for a moment. Those ovals remind me of the stone obelisks. Is there another set within this cavern? He turns to Ruby. "What have you been able to determine so far from the inscription?"

"Let's walk up a bit, we can't stand around long..." Ruby leads them up away from the bottom of the stair. "It's similar to the Tomb's outer door, a puzzle for how to open the locks. We've got Ten of these squares... stones that are enchanted with somethin' we can't tell. They fit in that wall down there, we're trying to decide what order they go in. The magic of the place keeps trying to make us put them back."

(Captain continues to listen in silence. The crew is following his advice, and doing likewise.)

Animus chooses one of the stones at random and takes a moment to scrutinize it before following Ruby back up the stairs.

(( Animus, Fiddler, & Joshua roll Intelligence straight up ))

Ruby muses thoughtfully aloud, "I'm starting to wonder whether these dang keys are even supposed to go in this wall at all! But I can't think of anywhere else they might belong."

~~Narration~~

As people stand around puzzling over their separate conundrums, it slowly dawns on everyone that Ruby and Captain have 10 stones they don't know what to do with... and Animus, Fiddler, and Joshua have 10 obelisks they don't know how to shut down.

That number 10 seems awfully coinkeydinkikal.

"Armstrong, pull a stone out and show these guys."

"Perhaps our stones can fix your stones. Either by putting them directly on each other, did you see a spot where we could put them?"

Captain thinks back a bit on what he saw.

"I think we need to complete the banishing cycle to banish whatever was invoked. But thats my opinion. I want eveyrone else's before we do anything crazy."

Animus thinks for a moment. "I don't remember seeing anything of the sort, but the resonance on those blocks definitely seems to match the obelisks. It's worth a try, although I don't expect the situation in the park to be particularly pleasant --"

Just then, it hits. A powerful wave of dread that stuns him into silence. Animus notices the twilight spirits grow frightened and his attention immediately snaps across the Gauntlet. When he speaks again, his voice is shaking. "I fear we may already be too late. Either that, or we have a new problem."

"Did anyone catch what the dates were before the most recent one?"

~~Narration~~

Ensign pipes up.

"Hey, didn't they say they have ten obelisks they don't know how to turn off? And we have ten stones we don't know what to do with? We should hurry, since the next date is four days away. I mean, why would Dr. Primoria send these guys here if we could do whatever it is we're doing here -- without them? Maybe our cubes need to go to their bigger obelisks."

She looks sheepish, "Or that could just be a dumb idea, huh?"

"Good thought ensign. Anyone here a space mage to get Armstrong and the others there?"

The weird resonances here have been buzzing around Armstrong's head making it hard to think, let alone put together complicated thoughts. "Ugh... Give me some time and I, uh, I can make a portal to get us back to Sacramento." She waves a hand around her head, like she's trying to shoo away a fly. "So, is that the plan?"

A shudder passers through her frame. "I'm not doing it here. Did you have a vehicle we need to get back?"

Captain and Crew go and grab stones.

Armstrong heads up the passage, growing noticably less distraught as she ascends. "It might take me a couple of hours to get the equations right. Unless someone has an Intimate connection to a secure location, I think the best way to go about this would be to build an Einstein-Rosen bridge from here to my garage. Once I get it up I can keep it stable for a while if we need to. While I'm putting it together, they can take care of that, everyone else can pack and when they get back we can drive out of here."

"Thats fine, We move, now." Captain says and he and the Crew storm out of the cave. "Ensign, Leftenant, clear out the hotel." He throws them a small wad of cash. "Leftenant is in charge, Double time it"

The two of them hop in the van and head bakc into town, and check out themselves and ruby from the hotel.

(( please change Scenes ))