Scene #5905: Fury of the Storm (2)

Owner	Pose
Lin	"... Just frogs in a well..." Reaching Spire murmurs, dumbfounded, to the open air. His neck's craned back, and right hand gently strokes his forest-green leafy beard that very strongly resembles the foliage clinging to the mountain he's the god of. His craggly skin furrows on his brow as he beholds the thing that JUST shouldn't exist. Not long ago, the gang was summoned to investigate the coordinates that were deduced earlier, coordinates that are actually a good hundred feet INSIDE the mountainside, against what looks - and, until just recently, WAS - a huge and solid wall of natural stone and earth. But Lin set out to digging with a gusto, smashing into the stone with furious fists and tossing chunks back. Reaching Spire has been focusing his divine powers, meanwhile, forcing the rock to simply resculpt itself 'out of the way'. Anyone else who could pitch in with the digging... well, help was appreciated. But eventually the group uncovered a gleaming gold surface. Flat... but inlaid with crimson engravings of Old Realm in an ancient, sorcerous dialect that will be very difficult to translate by anyone here. The glyphs do seem to be part of a sorcerous containment system. Some sort of ward or barrier. Exactly WHAT it's sealing off isn't evident. But more and more hauling and excavating reveals the ENTIRE entrance, built directly into the side of the mountain. A massive, grand two-door archway gate. It's sealed shut by Orichalcum chains melded into the door itself, coming together at chest-height over the seam between the doors as a grand spiraling construction very like a lock, but with no keyhole. Once anyone approaches the gate... this protrusion comes to life with a sorcerous glow of Essence, projecting a 3-dimensional hologlyphic grid of Old Realm symbols that can only be interacted with using a touch imbued with Essence. And, because whoever constructed it was a jerk and didn't imagine that the First Age Solars would ever fall. Touch one glyph and it glows. You then can only 'touch-activate' a neighboring glyph. It probably wants something like a poem, or maybe a spell... ... Of course, copious DECONSTRUCTION could perhaps bypass this ridiculously elaborate puzzle. Lin's glaring at the puzzle-lock like it exists just to piss her off. "Ooooooookay... we're clearly looking at something from the First Age here... now what?"
Staren	Staren seriously thought that as god of the mountain, Reaching Spire could just either move them straight there or shape stone around them to carry them in a sort of 'bubble'. Staren even handed out vacsuits just in case of being sealed in a small space! Apparently it's really slow, though, so they actually do need to help dig. Seeing how long of a job this is going to be, Staren goes and gets robots and golems with pickaxes to help. The matter manipulator helps, but it's not very fast against solid rock. If the whole process takes long enough he may have time to have drillbots printed, assembled, and beamed down. And they find a gold... no, orichalcum? surface of some sort. "Is this what's blocking your senses?" Staren asks Reaching Spire as they work to uncover more of it. And then... a puzzle. "Huh. I figured for sure someone had hidden themselves and was doing something inside the mountain... but if this has just laid untouched since the First Age... It's just happening to become a problem now?" He does check, curiously, if his tiny pool of Potential Psychic Energy is enough to let him use the interface, but he doesn't intend to solve the puzzle. Instead he intends to examine the essence flows and see if maybe there's some way to hotwire it...
Wandering Dog	Despite the confrontation last time, Wandering Dog is here, wearing his usual silk tunic. The martial artist has been using his strength to get through the digging, smashing and throwing things aside, almost looking like he's trying to be the 'best' at it with how much work he puts into it. Eventually, they find the golden surface...and the master door. "Great, puzzles. I have no clue what could open this door, though I'll manipulate the lock if everyone needs." Wandering Dog says that once he realizes it's Essence-required, but he's going to focus on something else. Mainly, looking at the cracks and creases in the door, as well as at the lock, and trying to figure out if it's been opened recently. Did someone enter the vault? Or did something from inside activate?
All-Seeing Eye	All-Seeing Eye observes the excavation from afar, peering through the surface of the rock to direct efforts where necessary. Aside from that, he doesn't offer much in the way of help, simply hanging back and keeping cool with even, casual flits of a folding paper fan. "Oh!" When they get within four feet of the gold wall, he advises those laboring that they're getting close, provided no one else was using similar methods of detection. When the wall and the hologlyphs appear, he makes an idle observation. "Old Realm. A pictographic language." Another flit of his fan, and he folds it up, tapping it briskly upon his shoulder before pocketing it. "Autochthonic is derived from it, you know!~" The chains being made of orichalcum suggest that the door probably is, too, which means just peeking through it is out of the question. Unfortunate, but not unwinnable. The language is archaic compared to his, but he nevertheless makes an attempt to read the runes. Clearly, the intent is to piece together something coherent that falls within the limitations of only being able to select neighboring glyphs. So... with no way to see where the lock is to shoot it, and no way to peek through the door, he just starts searching through the glyphs, first for any possible words (to the best of his limited knowledge--remember this is like the difference between English and Old English to him), then for any such words that would be particularly appropriate. 'Open,' for example, although even he realizes that's /very/ optimistic for something designed by the famously extra first-age Solars. He will most assuredly /not/ stop anyone with the means or aim to brute force it.
Josuke Higashikata	Sadly, Josuke hadn't been able to stay to help much with the digging. He had school earlier today. Ah, the pitfalls of trying to maintain the image of being a normal teenager in the Multiverse. He'd come back as soon as he could though, and been as much help as he could do, with Crazy Diamond assisting in the punching and carrying away of the rock. And yes, he did indeed accept a vacsuit from Staren, because he really doesn't want to have to bug Jotaro over it. Once the rock was enough out of the way to see what it is, Josuke blinks at the golden gate. "...Whoa. What IS this?" Not being a native to this world, he isn't really sure what he's looking at. But he knows it's not gold, whatever it is. While Staren pokes at the puzzle itself, Josuke starts poking at the chain, giving that thoughtful pout. "...Huh. Something tells me this stuff can't be 'unmade' so easily," he mutters. "I'm gonna try and see what happens." "<Crazy Diamond>." The pink-and-blue Stand appears, and punches at a chain, with its customary, "DOOOUURRA!" It's not trying to break the chain, though. Besides the purple aura around Josuke, the Stand's fists are sheathed in an orange-gold aura -- it's trying to revert that one chain into its components.
Tomoe	Tomoe is troubled by the situation here, there being an Abyssal mixed up in things only made it worse. Also several of the responders she didn't know well to at all. So she was on edge and even more so given it was dealing with creation. Lin, however, had been busy digging Tomoe has also been helping with that, given her superhuman strength? Even with a pickaxe, she would get a lot of rock moved all things considered. It seems though as they finally did uncover something she pauses for a moment staring at it for a moment. "I can't read this and given this is Creation and it's sealed? It's likely evil in a can of some sort." She's just utterly blunt about it. They keep working through to uncover the place maybe they will be able to find more information by cleaning up the site a bit. "Oh you have to be kidding me some kind of glyph puzzel?" Tomoe flashes back to some JRPG she played when she was roung which had really insane puzzel and her nearly throwing her controller into the TV, only stopped by her dad catching her arm before she could finish the throw. "The question is what's inside and we need to figure out how to get past it?" She takes note of where Wandering Dog is looking and she too? Takes a gander noting it looks like someone has been in. "Then your saying you can read it Eye?"
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight Sparkle has been assisting the digging using her beams to pulverize rock before floating it out using her magic. When they finally reveal the door, Twilight is awed. It's so big and intricate! She peers at the runes, but of course can't make any sense of them. "How long ago was the First Age?" she asks Lin as they examine the lock. Twilight walks back and forth a few times, looking for any weaknesses in the door. "It is a bit strange. But, it is also possible that whatever is contained within is close to awakening and is drawing in energy." She pauses, then hmms. "Perhaps I could craft a spell to translate the characters on the lock. It will be more difficult without some sort of primer, but the knowledge is contained somewhere..." Twilight's horn starts to glow, slowly getting brighter and brighter until with a small explosion the magic hits the lock and an orb appears around the hologlyphs much like a bubble of water as Twilight attempts to use her spellweaving to temporarily translate the characters on the lock into something much more common in this world.
Lin	Wandering Dog will find that there ARE no cracks. It's seamless, flawless First Age construction. The wall of this Manse - for that's what it is - extends further through the rock than this gate. No doubt, the entire mountain is PILED AROUND whatever this thing is. There's not going to be any tunneling into it from another angle. There's only one way in, and everyone's standing in front of it... probably. Lin, for her part, has begrudgingly accepted the help of Wandering Dog, but while digging she got VERY COMPETETIVE with him in trying to figure out who could pulverize-excavate the most dirt quickly. It's left her a little bit winded, but the door's revealed, isn't it? Twilight Sparkle's efforts have interesting results! As it so happens, the glyphs are quite special: this is the language of sorcery. The tongue of spirits. It intricately describes all the concepts of Creation itself. Applying her own magic to it has better results than might be expected because of this! The glyphs begin to change into a tongue she's familiar with... And it becomes swiftly evident that it wants a poem about proper restraint, wisdom, and especially the Virtue of Temperance given the available word choices! Staren, from there, can use that to feel the pathways of Essence - invisible circuits in the air that are waiting for some combination, some signal, tied to some of the glyphs. Perhaps he could inject what it wants but-- ...What the HECK?! Lin and Reaching Spire both turn to look Josuke's way, eyes on the Stand when he decides to go at it! The ephemeral fist SLAMS into the golden chains... and yellow-white lightning arcs from the point of impact around the Stand's hand where its own powers glow. The reaction is VIOLENT, to say the least. The feedback is extraordinary, as huge waves of energy flow through these chains enforcing their reality, and it's rejecting the one that Crazy Diamond's trying to substitute upon them. However... The moment one link begins to unwind and turn into an Orichalcum ingot... KRAKA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! Surges of Essence blast out wildly as the other chains SNAP and the lock mechanism is torn apart... from the sheer effort of the DOORS BURSTING WIDE OPEN. Clearly those contents were under pressure! And with what, exactly? Bloodlust. Malice. The intent to kill, rip and tear. It emerges from the opened passageway and drowns everyone in the almost palpable, nauseating sensation of icy hands tightening around their necks and cold steel twisting in their bellies, accompanied by a deafening THUNDERCLAP. Then the rush of malice dwindles to nothing as the pressure seems to have been released... leaving the gateway open and the chains dangling with a crackling static charge. From here, an array of wall-mounted crystals switch on to illuminate the steps that lead down, down, down down a long passage that's ALSO lined with gold - not Orichalcum. Just gold. It's a bit tacky, but well-decorated with abstract murals of warriors on the ground and strange things in the heavens. Like a giant black bull, and a lone floating eye.
Staren	"Urk!" Staren stumbles back, trying to pull away hands that aren't there at his throat. No fair! He has neck armor specifically to prevent this! What stabbed him in the gut, something invisible? The sensation is familiar -- he has been stabbed entirely too many times. ...But apparently it was just a sensation caused by malignant essence. He expected that whatever was inside was bad, of course. That they'd have to go in and destroy it/disable it because this seal is failing and it's messing with the weather. "Well. I guess now we see what's messing with the essence and weather around here and put a stop to it." He doesn't hurry to go first, though. Let one of the locals do that, they'll be more likely to recognize traps.
All-Seeing Eye	Eye, who had been standing quite close to the chains, leaps into the air, his body pivoting sideways to avoid being lashed by a snapping chain. He lands in a low, spread-out pose, sticking the landing as the feeling of malice and unease washes over him. Once that subsides, he stands up straight, going so far as to fix the angle of his olive drab beret. "Indeed," he says to Staren. He does step through first, or at least, tries to, his vision is awash in targeting calculations and grids. With a mechanical 'click' the cuffs of his fatigues bulge with rigid, artificial shapes, and anyone standing beside him might see his eyes undergo a similar change. Dark steel nozzles now stand in for his pupils. Making use of both his ultra-peripheral vision and his echolocation, the Exalt sweeps the entry with his forearms raised at his side. Peering through what walls he can, he searches for anything that's alive--or anything designed to mimic life. First Age Creation was not averse to artificial servitors, despite the sorry state of Creation's current technology. "Scanning for hostiles!~ Mass-Penetrating Scan in progress. Comrade Sparkle, would you mind searching for some documentation while I take point?"
Wandering Dog	Wandering Dog is certainly a competitive type, and is a bit exhausted himself, so when that bloodlust comes at him, he freezes up into a defensive stance, waiting to see where the attacker's coming from. But there is none, despite the horrible sensation and the thunderclap, with his hand even going down to his stomach to make sure there's no blood. "Ugh. That came out of nowhere." Well, it didn't exactly come out of nowhere, but it was still a shock. And then, Wandering Dog will take point! The bull and the eye get a glance from him, but he doesn't recognize them at all. Instead, he moves to turn towards Josuke as they walk. "Good job, kid. Nice work with the gate!" The old man flashes him a grin, as he keeps a look out for two things: traps, and stuff to punch.
Josuke Higashikata	The feedback hits the Stand, but both it AND Josuke are thrown back. "GAH!" This is from Josuke as he falls back, his Stand disappearing. He has about enough time to sit up and rub at his hand as if it was in pain -- on the same side as the hand the Stand had used to punch the chain. And then suddenly that MASSIVE WAVE of malice! "Agh..." Josuke hunkers down where he sits on the ground, doubling over for a moment, his own hands moving to his throat to try to pull whatever it is away. But there's nothing there. What is it? Why this feeling? It fades quickly enough, and Josuke catches his breath. Before he stands up though, he closes his eyes so he can try to do a quick Hamon cleanse of his body. Just in case there's any of that energy lingering inside him. It takes him a moment, breathing deeply, getting ALL of the air out of his lungs and holding before drawing in the next breath. The energy he creates is close to sunlight, so there may be some here who can sense it. Though not to worry, any with a dislike of the 'Solar Anathema' -- no caste mark appears on his forehead, and he's definitely not one of the Unconquered Sun's Chosen. This is just a quick 'flash' of Hamon, to try and chase out any of that malicious energy that might still be inside his body. So it won't take too long -- just long enough to take a handful of breaths -- before he stands up slowly. He nods in Wandering Dog's direction. "Thanks. ...Be careful," he offers, since Wandering Dog appears to be aiming to go in first. "Whatever made that happen, just with what looked to me like leftover energy, probably has a lot more where that came from."
Twilight Sparkle	"Oh! It's working!" Twilight exclaims excitedly, bouncing up and down a bit. "Let's see...it looks like...it's talking about restraint and the importance of...temperance?" It is just about that time that Josuke's unraveling attack hits, and Twilight is blown backwards by the backlash! She lands in a heap, then cries out and curls up at the terrible sensations that the magic of these doors unleashes. Unlike most here, she has very rarely felt the sting of steel or the grip of a choking grasp, and it leaves her gasping and coughing when the feeling clears. "Wh-what was...coughcough...nnng..." She slowly gets back to her feet, though she looks pretty shaken. "Why is it that smashing things is so often the solution? We could have learned quite a bit by solving that puzzle, AND we don't even know what's in here." she says a bit huffily. But, she smiles a bit as Eye speaks up about the spell. Her horn lights up again, and much like a magnifying glass the spell becomes linked to her horn. She directs it at anything that seems like it could be text of some kind as they walk. "The puzzle seemed focused on self-control. That could be a clue that whatever is in here might try to cause the opposite. I suggest thinking calming, controlled thoughts as we walk." That is probably as much to herself as to anyone else since the purple unicorn is still visibly shaken by what happened when the lock was forced open. She is shivering a bit and still coughing every once in a while.
Tomoe	Tomoe stars to get the idea this was not a natural mountain but one that was built likely over whatever this thing is? She's done her best ot help with things but she does not work with the puzzle nope she just is the sort if you can blow the puzzle up? She will do so without thinking about it. She also is not poking it as she does not have magic as creation knows it. She watches she waits she seems ready for trouble then something happens the blast and the shock wave forces her to brace herself but the feeling malice, hate and the primal desire to just rip and tear until it is done. Washes over her. It vanishes shortly after but she's left feeling very bad. "Shit I was right." Sealed evil in a can seem to be the name of the game what the heck did we just let out? She's got her spear out now and she's taking steps to head inside for a moment. "I'll take point." It's just a statement she does look back to Twilight and echos Wandering Dog's sentiments "Good work there."
Lin	It's about this time that the murals and the steps end. The passageway opens up into a wide open dome-shaped room where the walls are finished ENTIRELY in White Jade (earth aspect) inlaid with Old Realm sorcerous glyphs made of pure Orichalcum. Wards against malice and demons. Wards against lightning and storms and calamities. This chamber has only FOUR OBVIOUS EXITS, including the one that the party has been using. The others are east, west, and to the north. The CENTER of the room, of course, is where all the action is. A sword dangles in the center of the room. Elegant, curved, and held in a scabbard of White Jade - looking very much like a Japanese katana, though that nation obviously does not exist in Creation. Unlike many daiklaves, it is not much bigger than a normal sword. It is held fast in the air by a series of chains bound to the floor and ceiling. Enormous White Jade and Orichalcum chains. In addition, an assembly of four White Jade Spires shaped much like lightning rods - two from the ceiling and two from the floor - approach it from diagonal angles. LIGHTNING surges wildly from the blade to the Spires - but one of them is currently withdrawn close to the floor. Looking closely, a streak of White Jade heads from it across the floor and to the passageway that everyone just walked in... Here, in this room, the malice is thick and cloying. Getting close to the center is nearly IMPOSSIBLE, as the air sizzles thickly with electricity and the sensation of doom and dismemberment returns if one gets too close. A serious effort is needed to overcome the SHEER TERROR emanating from the weapon, and if one did so... they'd probably get shocked. "Well. THAT's probably the cause." No shit, Lin. She grins lopsidedly at the thing, but there's hints of curiosity, frustration, and worry in her gaze.
Lin	Josuke's choice to cleanse himself with a quick spiritual exercise is wise. This clears up any lingering ill sensations right away. It seems that really was nothing more than malicious intentions. A storm of bloodlust. Common sense says such a thing shouldn't exist, but... The air slowly grows thicker with the tingly sensation of being watched. Or someone wanting to throw a dagger at you when your back is turned. Many warriors will be familiar with it in some form or another... well, that sensation is ALL OVER THE PLACE in here. Lin ALSO decides to jump up to the forefront after recovering from a few moments of jittery panic and grabbing at her neck. She pulls out a sheathed sword from Elsewhere and fixes it to her belt, keeping one hand on it at all times as she moves with the others. And, of course, notices how WEIRD Eye's optics just got! "What's THAT trick?!" She asks him, while also keeping an eye out for anything weird... This is a GOOD THING TO DO, because there are several trick steps down the passageway that activate fairly stereotypical traps. POISON DARTS from tiny holes in the walls. JETS OF DISINTEGRATING WHITE FIRE from other holes. They're all positioned so that someone who just charged right down without thinking or looking twice would be swiftly dealt with. However, with Eye and Dog here - and Lin looking for structural oddities - it's easy enough to mark them and avoid them. Twilight Sparkle and Eye will be able to deduce a lot more information from the murals as they descend down a long, winding path towards the heart of the mountain. The murals, as they progress, tell a great story in flowery poems and stylized art. A story of how ancient, great and terrible Primordials made all Creation. The sun, the moon, the sky and the stars, the ground and life. Time and reason. It tells of how the Primordials abused the gods they had created to watch over the world, and how at the time, humans were slaves and sacrifice fodder to much greater beings. The Gods saw potential in mortals though, and with the help of two sympathetic Primordials, mankind was raised into Exalted champions who could fight for their freedom and cast down the Primordials. But it segues there into one single tale during said war itself, with the artwork showing a high rock precipice where a single man addresses a stormcloud, a great storm demon called Akavadra. Dozens of bodies litter the ground around said rock plateau. The text goes on to describe how this one Chosen, a man of unquestionable purity and virtue who'd sworn an oath against violence and killing, faced down the demon who had decimated armies. Protected from Akavadra's fury by pure virtue, he convinced her to be bound into a Daiklave so that she might witness the deeds of heroes across the ages and learn the true nature of the humans she fought so viciously. Another hero of the sun, who came to be known as Broken Thunder, folded the demon's Essence thousands of times into a masterwork golden blade that commanded the storms. But he could not eradicate the demon's malice. Only a wielder with a fierce but tempered heart could keep it at bay, with the aid of a monthly purification ritual. The blade was given to a young warrior, Rusal Ji, but this youth committed great sins with the blade. The artwork shows groves of trees burning, six-eyed men and women cut down, and two cities burning in bolts from the blue. When Rusal Ji fell to a comrade who could no longer tolerate such injustices, Stone Leaf Kon retrieved the blade...
Twilight Sparkle	The tales of slavery, death, and destruction actually seem somewhat familiar to Twilight Sparkle. Even in her world an ancient force stronger than any other had misused his power to cause misery and mischief to the enslaved masses until a pair of ponies unleashed an ancient, virtue-driven power against him. He wasn't destructive or deadly though, so it's a bit different. She always wonders why in so many other worlds the creatures kill each other at all, much less in such large numbers. She feels quite lucky to have these experienced comrades with her as they continue downward. All those traps would surely have gotten the pony at least once or twice. As she notices the run of jade that is pointing toward the entrance they used, she blinks. "I guess after so long down here Akavadra was able to exert some influence even though she is locked in that weapon." she says. She starts toward the sword...and quickly stumbles back, coughing and shuddering as the very unpleasant sensations hit her again. "Ug...it's radiating such terrible feelings! Sh-should we try to repair the containment area?" she asks before looking at the doors. "Three more doors? That seems unusual for a containment device." Twilight makes her way to the eastern door and peeks inside, using her horn as a flashlight. "Hello?" she calls out.
Staren	And there's a sword in the middle of a room that might or might not have a ton of traps in it! Staren stops, but even here he can feel the malice. After being clued in that the murals were important lore, he reads them in his recordings from walking in. Then he floats the possibility that this is related to what's going on in Denandsor -- that perhaps there's a bound primordial(?) there too, or that perhaps the murals are just fantasy written by solars who were full of themselves. Before he can think about it further, Twilight's checking one of the doors. Alone. He rushes over to back her up against whatever might be inside.
Josuke Higashikata	Josuke nods to Twilight's suggestion. "Not a bad idea," he agrees. As the group starts heading in, Josuke follows. He's not aiming to be exactly in the back, but he knows there are people with better senses than his, and it makes sense that they're up front, so they can use those senses. And it's fortunate too, because there's of course traps. Because OF COURSE there are. He'll step around the traps as they're pointed out, not wanting to end up getting 'dealt with' in any of these ways. But he's also trying to look at the murals, and probably not understanding them too well, since he doesn't have a lot of context in Creation-borne myths and legends. Unless All-Seeing Eye and/or Twilight Sparkle are willing to read it out loud. But when Twilight starts towards the sword, Josuke calls out, "Wait, don't go near it!" He's a bit late, though. He winces. "Are you all right?" Hopefully she is. He'll look around at the mention of more doors though. And then a look at the white Jade spires around the sword. "Maybe the rooms have more mechanisms in them?" he suggests. Pointing out the one spire, "It looks like one of those is out of place."
All-Seeing Eye	Eye nods in response to Twilight when she suggests repairing the facility. "A good idea!" He frowns when she once more encounters the negative emotions surrounding the weapon. "Unless, of course," states the Exalt while looking from person to person, "One of you wants to try wielding it. I have the determination and incorruptibility, but..." He flicks his wrist, and a cord of crackling purple lightning forms in his empty hand. "I don't /really/ need to double down on the lightning motif, do I?" He wills the lightning whip away, and peers at the line of white jade upon the floor. While Twilight and Staren investigate the eastern door, he focuses his vision upon the odd spire pointed out by Josuke, zooming in. "Yes," he says. "It is, isn't it?" The Exalt traces the line, then examines the spire in greater detail. Has it been broken by some outside force? Decayed by simple wear and tear? Cut, by the sword dangling above it?
Wandering Dog	As he keeps an eye out for traps, Wandering Dog also has to avoid them. He weaves between dart traps and flame jets, reading the mural as they move forward. He seems interested in the stories, despite his dislike of the Solars, though it's the sword that catches his eye more. "Neat sword. The type used by heroes, huh?" The malice has him wary, and as he steps closer to the blade, he finds himself taking several steps backwards soon after, covering his face from the emanations. "Someone else deal with the stupid blade. I'll investigate a door." And so, Wandering Dog moves to check out the west door, trying to see if there's anything in there that'll help with figuring out how to stop the storm. "Check out the other doors! I can handle myself fine."
Tomoe	Tomoe has taken lead one way or another, it's generally hard to argue with her about that really. It's the one thing she sees herself good at really. So she goes into the Manse? Tomb? She's not sure what this is, she may just settle and call this thing the evil can. She avoids the white fire and holds back for a moment. "Oh for some c4..." She will take in the Mrutals those could be important or it could be art and nothing more? She does take more of it in and will get some idea about it even if just following the images and using what she knows of creation. The story comes to an end now and she has to wonder? Was this weapon sealed away here? "You think that weapon was stashed here?" She asks as she thinks over the path ahead then comes the Malice. She takes a good look around and thinks. "So we got a serious bad candy weapon the sort of shit that gets thrown into the Fires of Mount Doom, in the stories back home." She's also now using hee defence buffs for herseld and the party. "So we got three doors? Ladies and gents what's behind door number one? Door number two, or door number three?" She watches Wandering Dog head off, shell sigh and moves to check out east door.
Lin	When Eye claims 'determination and incorruptibility', Lin GAZES OVER HER SHOULDER at him, disbelieving anyone who makes such a claim. She does boggle IN FASCINATION at the weapons he summons to hand though! That's something she'll have to ask about later. "It's... pretty obvious to me what's going on. Akavadra's malice has been building here in the room, and it can't be contained in the Manse. So it's leaking out, making the storm. So two options! Strengthen the seal, doing a BETTER JOB THAN THE FIRST AGE SOLARS DID... or release the blade and have a wielder suppress it." She grunts a fair few times, looking nervous at that proposition. "And... it's Orichalcum... which means we'd need a Solar... awwww... crap..." She LOVES weapons. This one especially is exactly suited for her style. But Lin stares at the thing edgily. It has her a bit scared, for good reason. All-Seeing Eye will be able to deduce that OPENING THE DOOR THEY CAME IN is the trigger for one of the Spires withdrawing into the floor and disengaging from its duty. It is neither damaged or worn down. This would suggest that devices to disengage the remaining spires are down each of the other passages! And logic would say that there's probably puzzles, trials, and tribulations down each of them... THE EASTERN DOOR: No need to flashlight it, Twilight Sparkle! The Eastern passage is illuminated by crystals embedded in the ceiling which clearly draw their power from geomantic energies. It is CONSIDERABLY shorter than the passage everyone walked in through, and decorated only with iconography of the Celestial Incarnae and the Five Elemental Dragons, likely just because the First Age Solars decorated EVERYTHING extensively. The hallway has many branching storage rooms and what look like unfurnished... living chambers, maybe? Unusually bland and empty little rooms that were probably meant to be used for SOMETHING... but aren't currently used for anything. The passage leads to a LIBRARY though! A three-story library full of grimoires and scrolls. Hundreds of them. They seem oriented towards sorcery and artifice, though some of them are definitely just Whatever The makers of this place thought was neat and enlightened at the time. At the back of the library though, there's a glowing, floating white orb set in a pedestal. White Jade, with more of that Orichalcum inlay and wards against various forces at play here. This is probably one of the mechanisms to disengage the respective Spire, but it itself is warded, a forcefield warding off any attempt to touch it. She'll probably need to search the library to find the appropriate counter-spell... or perhaps just try to figure one out herself? THE WESTERN DOOR: Wandering Dog happens down his hallway, emerging into a rectangular chamber filled with... rows upon rows of stone sarcophagi. Three to a row, and a total of fifteen. At the back is one single stone sarcophagus, different only in that it is made of Orichalcum... and someone's sitting on it. A humanoid figure made of pure golden light that somehow doesn't radiate everywhere in the room or blind onlookers. It lacks any form of distinguishing features beyond the fact that it's probably NOT female by pure virtue of build. And as Wandering Dog wanders in, the spirit of strange nature gazes up and meets his eyes. "Can you truly, warrior blessed by Daana'd? Your power stems from comraderie and kinship. You have chosen a strange place to walk alone."
All-Seeing Eye	Eye meets Lin's incredulous look with one of infuriatingly smug certainty, his soft lips pulled into the most comfortable of smiles. Not only does he believe it, he challenges her to prove it wrong. "Well, since one of those is both easier and more readily available, all we have to do is disable the remaining locking mechanisms." He points behind him at the withdrawn spire, stepping aside so that Lin can see the line of white jade leading to the south. "If the front door was any indication, the Manse is a gauntlet designed to test the worthiness of anyone who'd presume to wield the sword. I suppose with the first test simply... bypassed, we'll never know if you have the necessary self-control." He shrugs, his smile turning into an amused smirk. "But!" He raises his index finger before him, as if to silence any objections. "You might be able to prove yourself through the other three trials. Even if you can't, I'm sure a little Multiversal ingenuity can loose it from those bonds." He sweeps his other hand across the room, gesturing to the three remaining doors, then to the chains holding the sword up. "You can handle a little demon, can't you?" A melodious little laugh escapes him, and he heads into the north entrance. "I certainly hope so," he says as he disappears into the doorway. "I'd hate to have another mess to clean up."
Staren	When Lin enumerates their two options, Staren points out a third: "Or we find a star noone cares about and throw it in." "Huh." Staren comments, as he sees the miscellaneous-use rooms in the east wing. "It's like this was made for more than containment... Or maybe whoever made this place just put extra facilities in everything they built, in case it had to become a bolt hole..." And then: GIANT LIBRARY FULL OF BOOKS. He starts looking at titles and glancing inside them, before his next thought is that he and Twilight need to take them all. But there are way too many to carry. And this place is probably going to do something stupid like collapse when they take the sword. "I'll be right back." Staren carefully puts the book he's looking at back on the shelf, then races out, activating his wings and flying up the stairs. Minutes later, he races back down, shouting, "Is it still here?!" as if he really did expect it to collapse. He rushes back to the library, and finds a place to put down a teleporter pad from his matter manipulator, followed by extra batteries and building a small chamber around it with metal taken from an alien structure on John-117's universe. Only once all that is done does he relax. "Phew. That should hold it. If this place does collapse, we'll have a way back in to dig the library back out."
Josuke Higashikata	Josuke raises his hands and takes a couple of steps back when Lin suggests finding the sword a wielder is an option. "Don't look at me," he asserts. "No way I'm that pure. But, we do have an advantage that the First-Age Solars didn't -- other worlds. There might be some kind of sealing from outside this world, from somewhere in the Multiverse, that's strong enough to contain it." A pause. "I admit I don't really know who or how... but maybe there's something." He has another idea, too. "...Maybe something could just vent out the malice?" he suggests. "Just sorta... let the demon in there scream a little bit until it calms down? Or does it work like that?" He doesn't know much about demons to begin with. Staren's rushing past then, and he blinks. "What...?" He's a little confused. But the explanation gets a nod. It makes sense. For now he stays in the sword chamber -- if they're going to disengage the seals he wants to be around to make sure that things don't go pear-shaped within his ability to fix.
Tomoe	Tomoe doesn't find too much of intrest as she goes on for a bit with Twilight giving some very nice light here. She notices a bit of the art on the walls but the rooms are emptyl. What were they for? She has no guess other than personal rooms of some sorts as they don't seem to be. She goes wide eyed at he books she couldnt' store them all but she could get some. She'll look for ones which have possible referanc eto gear, weapons or anything that might catch her fancye it also comes to her mind, she might need to leanr how to read the older lanauge the locking system was in but she's okay for that, for the moment she's snapping up books into her inventory a move that might seme a bit odd for a meat shield like her. She does take a look at the orbs and calls out. "Twilight? You got any idea on that, I am terrible at magic so better to leave an expert like you to it." She also looks over to staren with a grin. "Looks like we're on the same page with things here, huh?"
Wandering Dog	As Wandering Dog steps in, there's a strange humanoid. The martial artist is on the defensive, but as soon as he realizes that they aren't on the offensive, he relaxes, taking a moment to scan over the sarcophagi, before looking to meet their eyes and speak. Some sort of ghost...but not undead? Not an ancestral spirit or anything? Wandering Dog doesn't trust it one bit either way, but he's not going to punch theem immediately. Wait to see their response to his words first. "Yo. Name's Wandering Dog, Creation's greatest martial artist. Yeah, I can handle myself alone. I've been doing it for centuries now. Since you asked me a question, I'll ask you one in return. You know what to do with that sword? Storm's threatening everyone around here and needs to be dealt with. Help me help these people, alright?" Dog's tone is incredibly casual, which might come off disrespectful. He has zero reason to treat this spirit with any respect, especially since it's probably a Solar spirit or something.
Staren	THE SAME PAGE! Staren grins and makes a double fingerguns gesture at Tomoe. "Eyyyyy!"
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight's eyes are sparkling with awe as she continues down the eastern hall. With the crystals continuing to light everything she pulls out the translation spell and looks at...well...there's so much! The purple pony is soon running between bookshelves, grabbing a book and taking a glance at titles and a few pages before putting it back. "Oh my goodness! This library is almost as big as the Canterlot Royal Library!" she exclaims in excitement before blinking as Staren runs out. When he returns with a teleporter, Twilight smiles brightly. "How clever!" she says cheerfully, then moves on to look at the strange orb and considers a moment. "Hmm...some sort of forcefield..." She looks back toward Staren. "One of these books no doubt contains cluse as to how to operate it, but...it could take a while to find it within this vast libr-..." She can't help but eyeroll and giggle a bit at Staren and Tomoe. "Come on you two, we better get to work. Staren, if I can get my spell to cover the room would you be able to scan for titles that seem promising? If not, we will be doing this the hard way." Twilight uses her magnifying-glass sized spell to try and read anything that the orb has to say, then her horn glows brightly as she tries to extend the spell around the entire room. She isn't sure if this will work or not, but she is hoping combining the translation spell with her barrier spell will allow her to coat all the books with her translation spell...at least for a little while.
Lin	WESTERN CHAMBER: "Welcome, Wandering Dog. My own name is unimportant, for I am but an echo." The glowing 'man' answers mysteriously enough, brushing off Wandering Dog's bravado as if it is equally unimportant in the grand scheme of things. He does not rise from his place on the sarcophagus. "The demon Akavadra, her wrath and malice knows no bounds. For a time, it could be contained here in these halls, but no longer. Having gone so long without a wielder, without the rites she was promised, her wrath builds endlessly and leaks into Creation. When the Silver Chair hides her face from Creation and the storm rages anew, the malice that has built up must be confronted and subdued, and a new wielder must take up Stormcaller. That is what MUST be done." The Echo, as it described itself, then professes, "I know not what has occurred outside these walls over the centuries, and it pains me dearly that our triumph was twisted in on itself, and became your trouble. However... there are treasures here, Wandering Dog. Ones that will give even Akavadra great pause, in the proper hands. There yet remains the time to master them."
Wandering Dog	So he's not a ghost. Wandering Dog slouches back a bit, less frustrated at him. "Akavadra. Alright, alright. We can deal with some malice, definitely. Probably find a wielder for the sword as well." He grabs his radio, speaking into it to start relaying data until the Echo continues to speak. "Been a lot of stuff, but I doubt you care, seeing as you're just an echo. So, treasures. Where are they? If they're what we need to tame this demon, better get started, yeah? Tell me what I can do." Wandering Dog looks for direction, so that he can go be the hero. Slaying a horrible malice totally appeals to him, though he has no interest in the sword at all. Not a man of weapons.
Lin	EASTERN CHAMBER (LIBRARY): Casting a translation spell over the ENTIRE LIBRARY AT ONCE IS A BIT MUCH isn't it? How would one ever read all of that before it wears off? The orb does have some wards inscribed on it, as it's part of the network of seals that keep the sword suppressed... but there's no actual messages besides 'beware the demon blade' for anyone who would deactivate the sealing mechanism. THE CENTER CHAMBER: Lin's still glaring uneasily at the sword. And pursing her lips. She eventually settles for folding both arms across her chest in all this glaring, and glances over at All-Seeing Eye. "...geeze, why's everyone so quick to deride me!? Get back here!" Lin decides to chase after All-Seeing Eye, cheeks puffing out! THE WESTERN CHAMBER: "The northern passage leads to an armory and fully-stocked Forge Cathedral. Some of the best works of our time are preserved there... and if the world has grown grander since I came to dwell here, perhaps even better ones created." And speaking of the Northern passage... THE NORTHERN CHAMBER: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! NO FREAKING WAY!!" Lin practically SCREAMS behind All-Seeing Eye as she takes in the sight that awaits them both. For the Northern chamber is a grand workshop fit for some of the grandest First Age Artifice work the ancient Solars ever produced. The walls reach high, covered in great Orichalcum pipes that connect down to a vast... organ? It certainly LOOKS like an organ of some sort, on the far wall. Many tiers of keys and pedals, and a number of very-not-musical tubes and hatches connect to it. Eye might recognize it as a Refinery Organ, although Autochthnonia doubtlessly has improved on the concept if not advanced beyond it altogether by now. Still, that can undoubtedly synthesize all manner of Imperishable Alloys from the stocked shelves of strange materials in jars, ingots of this or that metal... there's a bit of everything here, except Soulsteel and Adamant. As well as tools that strongly resemble the sort found in magitech labs, but a little less sophisticated than what Eye might be used to. (This Creation, it would seem, doesn't seem to have quite the flair for magitech that what he's seen of the OTHER Creation. There's something strangely different about it...) For this chamber, the final white jade line running through the floor leads to the Refinery Organ... No doubt, some specific song must be performed on it to unlock the Spire.
Staren	No /one/ /has/ to read it all. Staren deploys about eight drones to fly around the library imaging book spines to get the titles before the spell wears off. "Alright Twilight, I got it!" But apparently they're not part of the puzzle after all. It may not even BE a puzzle. Staren reads the inscription by the orb. "...Maybe this was just someone's lab? Rather than someplace specially made to contain the sword... But then, where are they? I mean, what happened to them?" He examines the essence around the orb, trying to figure out ahead of time how to turn the orb off, so once they've decided what to do with the sword it can be disabled quickly.
Wandering Dog	Wandering Dog nods as he gets a reply, and moves to the door. "Thanks, echo. We'll fix this, don't you worry. You'll be able to rest easy." And then, Wandering Dog will move to head towards the north and meet up with the others, talking on his radio to relay information.
All-Seeing Eye	Eye makes an annoyed show of rubbing his temples when Lin squeals her delight. He's not deaf, y'know. But he might be now. It's hard to stay annoyed for long, though, in the face of such grandeur. "Now doesn't this beat all?" he asks with pleasantly surprised delight. Being a musician himself, he does naturally gravitate to the organ first, tracing his fingers across it and admiring the craftsmanship. "Not quite a /factory/ cathedral, but still quite lovely, wouldn't you say?" The question is addressed to Lin even though his gaze isn't focused on her. "It looks like we're meant to play it. I'd have to take some time to get used to the keys, of course..." He takes a seat at the bench. From his outstretched palm unfolds rapidly a jade erhu, along with a bow. He begins practicing on the stringed instrument, seeing which keys on the organ correspond with the strings on his erhu. It'll take him a while, especially with no sheet music, but he's hoping he can muddle through one of the Great Maker's hymns after some practice...
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight finds out the hard way that trying to expand an already experimental spell is not easy! She lets out little mmphs and grks of effort before finally gasping as the spell collapses back down to its magnifying glass sized form. She is left panting from the effort and the backlash of the failed spell. "huff puff I...guess...I'll have to try...weaving another spell...but I'll have to...rest a bit first." she says. She sits down in front of the orb, then hmms. "I don't want to try breaking the field, because that could damage the orb and have unforseen consequences. Although...breaking the lock didn't have any negative consequences that we know of." Twilight stands again after managing to catch her breath. "Perhaps a precise beam will be able to cut through the field without damaging the orb. Or...maybe it is only warded against physical contact?" Twilight says, and with a glow of her horn she tries to telekinetically move the orb through the forcefield. If that doesn't work, she'll start with her controlled beam, trying to surgically cut through the field without hitting the orb. She hears all the talk about the forge, but she doesn't even use equipment most of the time so she doesn't really have anything to get upgraded.
Tomoe	Tomoe will borrow the books she's stowed in her inventory and will return them later, for now though she will turna bout and head back to the center chamber. She has picked up a few more books after the spell went off but she's going to catch up with Lin now. She seemd upbeat about there being a intact workshop. She has got to go see this, she totally has to go see this. "Twilight! Staren, lets check this out!"