Scene #5995: DUNGEON: Shingrow Ruins

Owner	Pose
Asellus	The jungles of Shingrow literally steam in places from the amount of decomposing vegetation piled on top of each other, while in others, the area is kept cool enough in the shade that it is fog that rolls in off of shallow pools. A handful of dirt trails surround and cut through the foliage, with a large city or palace of stone, clearly from some ancient culture, as the center piece. However, this ancient city is still alive, active, and as well-maintained as can be expected. The culture from centuries or millennia before is still here to this day, or at least the descendants who still claim it as their home. That is not where the ruins lie. At the southern edge of Shingrow, a modern Region Ship port lies, providing the means for people to come and go. But the mountains that surround Shingrow's jungles in a ring on all sides create a bowl that is otherwise separated from more developed worlds, allowing the crumbling ruins at the north-west edge and the somewhat more intact and larger ruins to the north-east as relatively recent discoveries by archaeologists and explorers. These are the remains of that ancient civilization that were NOT maintained... Or perhaps they hail from some culture even older. Two ancient civilizations in such close proximity? More? Truly a mystery, and something a scholar could sink their teeth into, or an adventurer could plunder for their own profit. However, as with so many things in Region Space, danger lurks right around the corner, and it would be foolish to walk alone and unarmed into any of these places. Even the royal palace is home to an annual martial arts tournament. So, the ruin that is more or less overgrown with jungle, to the point where they will be going 'underground' to explore it? Or the more open set of ruins that might take a large time investment to see all of, if one doesn't stop to look at anything in particular? Neither is likely to be fully investigated in only one day, and each has their pros and cons. Explorers shall have to choose.
Leyanne	Leyanne isn't exactly here for exploring ruins... she's more into the thrill-seeking side of things... there's plenty of those to do aboard Region Ships, even if she has to invent a few of them herself. Now it's in port and everyone's gone off exploring the ruins, so MegaMouse is tagging along with the only person she vaguely recognises; Speedwagon. It's better than adventuring alone, and it never hurts to have an 8ft mouse with an M2 heavy machine gun around, right?
Robert Speedwagon	Robert Speedwagon is no fool. He's not coming here unarmed, and he's not coming alone. He has Tattoo and Kempo both here, and he himself is armed with his sledgehammer. There's a mirror in his pocket too, unseen... but that's for something else. Something he hopes he's not going to need, but hey.. he's got it nonetheless. The group greets Leyanne in various ways, Tattoo offers a wave and a smile, Kempo offers a pleasant nod of greeting, and Speedwagon himself declares, "'Allo! Good ter see ya again!" And of course, they do have a choice. "So, which way d'yer wanna go? I don't think it's a good idea ta get separated in this place. God only knows what's lurkin' 'ere. Above ground might be easier. Not only for your height, but it'd prob'ly be easier ter escape should the need present itself."
Leyanne	Leyanne greets the group cheerfully, offering up a fistbump to whoever'll take one. It seems to be a standard greeting. At his comment, looks thoughtful. "Well, us Martians are sorta natural tunnel folks... you gotta go down a good distance to get decent air, see? But, I'm pretty big so if the tunnels get /tight/ we're in trouble." She comments. "On the other hand, like you said, above ground might be better because there's more options of places to go if it goes south, and more open fields of fire in case of nasties." THe big mouse looks thoughtful. "You're a bit more used to the whole adventuring thing than me... I'm normally just going where folks need help, so I'll follow yer lead."
Robert Speedwagon	Speedwagon will be the one to accept the fistbump -- he's the only one who really knows what it means! However, Leyanne's words get a nod. "That'd be me best guess," he notes. "I 'aven't seen many people in these 'Regions' your 'eight. So like as not, those tunnels 're gonna be a li'l too tight for ya. Also I remember yer seemin' ta like weapons what explode a lot, an' the above ground ruins'd give yer more room for the bang." He smirks. So yeah, the ruins on the top level have his vote. So far he hasn't seen anything that'll make it impossible to return. And an underground ruin is more likely to have traps, he figures. If Leyanne's following his lead, he'll head that way, towards the above-ground ruins. "It reminds me a li'l of the time I spent in the Amazon," he comments. Which is probably also another reason why he went for the above-ground ruins, since it's more familiar.
Asellus	The north-eastern ruins it is then! The entrance is essentially an overgrown collection of blocky pillars and walls, with a towering, square opening formed with parallel columns of grooved stone, and a flat stone laid over top of that. There's probably an architectural name for that. It does not, noticeably, have an arch, a different architectural innovation. Beyond the entrance is a dirt-floored area with more trees and vines and bushes growing within it. A courtyard or something, perhaps. There seem to be two exits, a passage to the north-west, and another on the north-wall that appears to lead indoors. No sign of monsters yet, but surely it's only a matter of time...
Leyanne	Leyanne is, today at least, not carrying a weapon that fires explosives. That said, light walls will still not be a problem for the venerable old M2 browning 50-calibre machine gun. It should, hopefully, be just as effective at taking down monsters, without hurting one's allies. She scans around the courtyard with the big gun, always preferring to be first one through the door into any new areas, to protect the lighter-armed (she thinks) people behind her. "Clear."
Robert Speedwagon	Speedwagon and his group are most definitely lighter-armed. None of them are carrying anything that looks anything like a long-ranged weapon, and the Asian-looking guy doesn't even look like he's got a weapon at all! So yeah, they're perfectly willing to stay behind Leyanne, an eight-foot-twenty Martian mouse with a massive machine gun! She calls clear, and the group enters behind her. For his part, Speedwagon takes a good look around the place, for another reason. "This might be a good place ter put a base camp," he suggests. "These ruins look big enough ta need a while ta search, so we'll need a place ter come back to for rest. An' it's good an' open, so we shouldn't get trapped by anythin' what means us harm." It'd be better if someone could utilize teleportation -- recall beacons! -- but they're probably going to be spoiled for choice where that's concerned. Anyway... "What d'yer think?"
Leyanne	Leyanne nod in agreement with Speedwagon "Yeah I hear ya." She agrees, looking between the doors. "Base camp here sounds good, flip a coin to pick which door?"
Robert Speedwagon	Speedwagon points to the northeast doorway. "That right there, I've got me eye on," he notes. "Architecture doesn't change between rooms that fast. That might've been put in later, maybe someone found these ruins an' built onter 'em. The area jus' past that door, that might be newer. I say we look through that first. If it IS newer, like as not, it's safer than the rest, construction-wise."
Leyanne	Leyanne nods "I'll take your word for it." She says, happily. "You know more thn me. Let's head that way then once we've got a base camp set."
Asellus	It all looks like ancient ruins. It's all made of the same material, and shows the same signs of aging and overgrowth. There's just a change in sophistication. However, even as the north doorway is pointed out, a very large green pill bug comes rolling into the courtyard from the west, flanked by some kind of bat-like creatures that runs on the ground, and a skeleton. It seems all the commotion has drawn the attention of monsters!
Robert Speedwagon	"Looks like we'll get ter see if this place is defensible or not," Speedwagon observes, as he takes note of the creatures rolling in (literally in one case, regarding that pillbug-looking thing!). Pillbugs, ground bats, and some kind of skeleton... ah, what he wouldn't give to have Mr. Joestar here, with his Hamon! That could surely make quick work of that skeleton, at least. But, things will be as they'll be! "Kempo! With me!" He's going after that skeleton with his sledgehammer. There's nothing there to cut, so he figures Tattoo would have a bad time with it if he tried going after it with those knives. And of course he notes, "Tattoo! The ground-bats!" "Right!" Tattoo announces, making for the ground-bats. Speedwagon looks up at Leyanne, suggesting, "Tiny! That rollin' thing prob'ly 'as some armor." It stands to reason, since it probably can't see where it's going, so it's liable to crash into walls, and it seems like it'd need to be armored for that not to hurt it. "Yer bullets might be able ter punch through it better than a knife!"
Leyanne	Leyanne Nod in agreement and stands up, looking over the called target. "Got it the green bugger." She calls out, swinging her Ma Deuce around to take aim at the thing. She braces herself "Fire in the hole!" And she opens fire, stitching over the armoured-looking pillbug with the heavy machine gun, laying down the firepower. It shoud punch through most natural armour with ease, but this is the multiverse. It doesn't always work like that...
Asellus	The scythe-winged gremlin-bat-creature and the skeleton manage to attack once each, with a slashing blade wing and with the swing of an actual sword, before being eliminated, while the pillbug proves to be a bit more durable. It manages to try to bite Leyanne with its mandibles even after the heavy pummeling it takes, but if Speedwagon, Kempo, and Tattoo join forces to harass it from behind and the sides, it should go down swiftly as well, since most of its natural armor has been punctured already by Leyanne's heavy firepower. Hopefully all of the monsters in this place are this easily dealt with.
Leyanne	Leyanne snarls as the pillbug slams into her and starts biting, her right hand keeping hold of the M2 while her left hand starts to punch and pummel at its face, trying to pry it off herself. She's bleeding a little from where the mandibles have punctured her armoured bodysuit, but that's not stopping her trying to fight it off - or at least keep it distracted for Speedwagon's crew to pull it of her. "Uh guys? Li'l help!" She says, before turning her gaze back on the pullbug. "Did I say you could... quit nibbling on the Martian!"
Robert Speedwagon	Speedwagon makes to tie up the skeleton's blade by catching it with the haft of his sledgehammer! With the blade thus tied (or at least bouncing off), it probably won't get a second chance before Kempo clobbers it in its everything! The ground-bats aren't probably going to fare much better against a quick, zoomy guy with sharp, pointy blades! But they're not going to congratulate themselves yet -- Leyanne needs some help! Speedwagon himself comes to the rescue here, rushing over to the pillbug from behind, his sledgehammer raised, and trying to bring the weapon down on the pillbug. That might end up being pretty messy...
Asellus	The pill bug dies, as previously indicated. It doesn't seem any more monsters are coming right now. There's an opportunity to get prepared to explore further. As is common in this world, the energy released when the last monster dies heals all wounds, leaving any injured in top condition (minus any energy or ammo expended in battle).
Leyanne	Leyanne blinks and peers at the rent in her suit, where her skin has already healed itself. "...handy." She mutters, lookign at Speedwagon. "Okay, so what're we gonna need? I can carry a good amount even with my ammo."
Robert Speedwagon	Speedwagon is reaching into his coat for that mirror, when he notices Leyanne's skin is healed from the bite. "Huh. Useful." He leaves the mirror where it is. "I wasn' sure I could use this thing properly anyway." Pause. "Well. At least we know it's decently defensible." Leyanne mentions what will be needed, and Speedwagon will start listing things. Oh, but he's not going to just let her carry everything, no. He may not be the gentleman that Jonathan is, but he's not a lout! And once they've got everything, they can continue on deeper into the ruins.
Leyanne	Leyanne is just the same quite happy to be the packmouse, simply because she's got the augmented equivalent of power armour built into her skeleton... there's probably an argument as she tries to keep loading up despite Speedwagon's best efforts to remain gentlemantly. Once it's all sorted she picks up her Deuce and steps through the door, scanning left and right and looking for trouble...
Asellus	The northern doorway leads to a walkway along the outside of a very large wall. The side of some building or other, with vines creeping down the wall's surface, but dried out from lack of water, turning practicall to stone, such are they baked onto the otherwise featureless stone's surface. Off the side of the pathway are some broken and crumbled structures or columns of some kind that have fallen apart into an unidentifiable collection of parts. There doesn't seem to be much in this passage except... A pair of stone doors built into the wall. This door, too, utilizes the arch in its construction. So even if it's a matter of centuries of development, the millennia old door is part of this same structure and era. Was the entrance a fluke? Something from an older civilization? Or a newer one that lacked the same sophistication? Whatever the case, the doors don't seem to have any obvious grips or handles, even though they seem as though they can be opened. Before flinging open random ancient doors, however, perhaps taking the time to properly secure the court yard and take any necessary precautions would be wise. Who knows what's on the other side, after all?
Robert Speedwagon	That sounds like a good idea. They can build some traps if there's enough stuff, or alarms if not. Something to at least slow down enemies that are coming in. And maybe somewhere to rest and sleep when they come back. In the meantime, Kempo will be drawing a map of the area they've explored. It's a small area as of yet, but his handwriting and drawing are neater, and he'll be updating it as they explore more thoroughly into the ruins.
Leyanne	Leyanne helps out with the traps; if there's enough she adds in a few electric fences just to spice up the mix. Nothing high-voltage, but it should be enough to dissuade anything from just wandering into camp. It won't stop anything that really wants to come into camp (there's only so much you can do with a couple of 12v motorcycle batteries, after all) but, every little helps. She also rigs an alarm to sound if the wires are broken. She waits for the others to prepare patiently, lending her strength if it's needed.