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take two.
On a tip from a dream, you and your friends decided to investigate this tunnel. You were in the area anyway, so it's not like you've lost anything.
You are Starry Knight, an earth pony mare. With you are Tail Gunner, a pegasus mare, and Wishbone, a unicorn stallion.
You have with you enough food and water for the three of you for three days, fifty feet of rope, two torches, and flint and steel. Wishbone is of average magical skill and strength, able to lift up to around one hundred pounds, but he specializes in divination magic.
The three of you enter the cave mouth and walk down for a ways, only the sounds of your hooves clacking against the stone floor for company. There are no bats squeaking, no spiderwebs to glint in the blue half-light of Wishbone's magical glow.
The three of you enter another chamber, and nature gives way to cold design. The entire room (there is no other word for what you see) is unlit, and awash in right angles and ordered logic. At the north end of the room is a hallway, again right angles, and unlit. at the south end, the way you came.
There are no sounds other than those that you make, and nothing particularly to see. The floor is completely smooth, with no dips or rises that you can see.
What do you want to do?
On a tip from a dream, you and your friends decided to investigate this tunnel. You were in the area anyway, so it's not like you've lost anything.
You are Starry Knight, an earth pony mare. With you are Tail Gunner, a pegasus mare, and Wishbone, a unicorn stallion.
You have with you enough food and water for the three of you for three days, fifty feet of rope, two torches, and flint and steel. Wishbone is of average magical skill and strength, able to lift up to around one hundred pounds, but he specializes in divination magic.
The three of you enter the cave mouth and walk down for a ways, only the sounds of your hooves clacking against the stone floor for company. There are no bats squeaking, no spiderwebs to glint in the blue half-light of Wishbone's magical glow.
The three of you enter another chamber, and nature gives way to cold design. The entire room (there is no other word for what you see) is unlit, and awash in right angles and ordered logic. At the north end of the room is a hallway, again right angles, and unlit. at the south end, the way you came.
There are no sounds other than those that you make, and nothing particularly to see. The floor is completely smooth, with no dips or rises that you can see.
What do you want to do?
>>448352
What happened in the dream?
And it looks like we have no other options than the hallway, so that unless we see something else
You might want to try making more noise about this in the thread, too
We're pretty dead but there are still probably a bunch of people lurking around
What happened in the dream?
And it looks like we have no other options than the hallway, so that unless we see something else
You might want to try making more noise about this in the thread, too
We're pretty dead but there are still probably a bunch of people lurking around
>>448353
The dream was (as Wishbone relayed it, anyway) cryptic. A large eye, blood-red and flaked with gold, surrounded by a gear. It loomed down on Wishbone as if it could see him, and the ground swallowed him up. He claimed that while in the ground, he saw entire oceans of numbers, and somehow knew that the largest ones meant something important. When he woke up, he scribbled a series of them on a piece of paper; that series happened to correspond to a point on a map, and that point on a map was the cave. "The greatest treasure of all time is here", he said of it. That was enough to convince Tail Gunner, and two-against-one was enough to convince you.
You proceed down the hallway, the silence deafening. For a time, you walk down the hallway, until you come to a junction: a perfect T. As you approach, a piece of wall rolls down into itself, and out pops something that looks like a cross between a spider and a metal sphere. It's small, and it chirps happily as you approach.
Wishbone stretches out his hoof and holds you back. "This thing was there. In the dream. Or something like it. Let me see something. This might be important."
Tail Gunner, however, is having none of it. "How long have you been an adventurer, dude? When something pops out of a hidden door, you kill it. End of story."
The spider-thing doesn't look dangerous. It's about the size of a baseball, too small to conceal any weapons you know of, silvery and with a single blue eye set in the middle. Four spindly legs hold it up from the ground, and it turns about quickly to regard each of you in turn.
The dream was (as Wishbone relayed it, anyway) cryptic. A large eye, blood-red and flaked with gold, surrounded by a gear. It loomed down on Wishbone as if it could see him, and the ground swallowed him up. He claimed that while in the ground, he saw entire oceans of numbers, and somehow knew that the largest ones meant something important. When he woke up, he scribbled a series of them on a piece of paper; that series happened to correspond to a point on a map, and that point on a map was the cave. "The greatest treasure of all time is here", he said of it. That was enough to convince Tail Gunner, and two-against-one was enough to convince you.
You proceed down the hallway, the silence deafening. For a time, you walk down the hallway, until you come to a junction: a perfect T. As you approach, a piece of wall rolls down into itself, and out pops something that looks like a cross between a spider and a metal sphere. It's small, and it chirps happily as you approach.
Wishbone stretches out his hoof and holds you back. "This thing was there. In the dream. Or something like it. Let me see something. This might be important."
Tail Gunner, however, is having none of it. "How long have you been an adventurer, dude? When something pops out of a hidden door, you kill it. End of story."
The spider-thing doesn't look dangerous. It's about the size of a baseball, too small to conceal any weapons you know of, silvery and with a single blue eye set in the middle. Four spindly legs hold it up from the ground, and it turns about quickly to regard each of you in turn.
>>448354
Don't attack it, but have Wishbone ready a shield spell, if possible, or at least get ready to hold it away.
Try to converse with it.
Don't attack it, but have Wishbone ready a shield spell, if possible, or at least get ready to hold it away.
Try to converse with it.
>>448354
Maybe its a guide or something
Be careful around it, but don't smash it yet
Is there anything in the hole it came from?
Maybe its a guide or something
Be careful around it, but don't smash it yet
Is there anything in the hole it came from?
At your warning, Wishbone nods, and his horn glows with a cold white light, crackling electricity ready to cover the three of you at a moment's notice.
"Hello?"
The spider chirps again in response.
"Can you understand us? Chirp twice for yes."
It chirps twice.
The blue eye blinks as it regards you, and it starts to walk towards you. The three of you tense, and it stops short of you. It looks up at you with what can only be described as curiosity, cocking its head innocently at your tension. It turns around suddenly, and starts scratching at the floor, tracing lines in the dust, forming glyphs. They are none that any of you recognize. "Uh… Sorry" Wishbone says sheepishly. Undeterred, the spider scratches another set.
"Hang on, I know some of those symbols" Tail Gunner darts in. "That's wolf hieroglyphics. It's trying to communicate!"
"Do you speak standard?" you urge it, trying to help it catch on. It looks straight at you, then whirrs and clanks briefly, before springing to life again.
"THIS UNIT HAS ANALYZED YOUR LANGUAGE. THIS UNIT MEANS NO HARM. THIS UNIT IS DESIGNATED A-203-QNC. THIS UNIT REQUESTS AUDIENCE WITH PONY LEADER."
What do you do?
"Hello?"
The spider chirps again in response.
"Can you understand us? Chirp twice for yes."
It chirps twice.
The blue eye blinks as it regards you, and it starts to walk towards you. The three of you tense, and it stops short of you. It looks up at you with what can only be described as curiosity, cocking its head innocently at your tension. It turns around suddenly, and starts scratching at the floor, tracing lines in the dust, forming glyphs. They are none that any of you recognize. "Uh… Sorry" Wishbone says sheepishly. Undeterred, the spider scratches another set.
"Hang on, I know some of those symbols" Tail Gunner darts in. "That's wolf hieroglyphics. It's trying to communicate!"
"Do you speak standard?" you urge it, trying to help it catch on. It looks straight at you, then whirrs and clanks briefly, before springing to life again.
"THIS UNIT HAS ANALYZED YOUR LANGUAGE. THIS UNIT MEANS NO HARM. THIS UNIT IS DESIGNATED A-203-QNC. THIS UNIT REQUESTS AUDIENCE WITH PONY LEADER."
What do you do?
>>448357
Inquire if the unit wants to see the leader of the pony race, or just you three.
If it means you three, then tell it you have no leader and follow it together.
Inquire if the unit wants to see the leader of the pony race, or just you three.
If it means you three, then tell it you have no leader and follow it together.
The thing clanks and seems to be thinking about it.
"THIS UNIT HAS DETERMINED THAT THE THREE PONIES ARE LIKELY THE ONLY ONES IT WILL ENCOUNTER. FOLLOW PLEASE."
The thing skitters down the left-hand tunnel, towards another room, and you follow it, still at a distance. In the middle of the room there is a single stone plinth, and atop the plinth, a book, the covers made of steel and the pages made of granite, with a large lock across it. The machine scurries up a wall and presses a hidden button, and the book unlocks.
"THERE IS A SEVENTY-TWO PERCENT CHANCE THAT THIS WILL NOT HURT. THE UNICORN WILL PLEASE READ FROM THE BOOK."
Wishbone shrugs, and after some prodding from you and Tail Gunner ("It's either this or go right back home, dude."), he steps up to the book and begins to read.
Suddenly, he screams, and the room is lit by violent green light, blasts of magical plasma ripping through the air. The two of you duck for cover, the machine scurrying along behind you, as Wishbone fights to regain control.
After only a few heartbeats, he crumples to the floor, this horn still spasming magical energy. His eyes roll up in the back of his head, and he repeats a stream of numbers: "Five one one oh eight six three one oh two two oh eight five…" He continues, and the two of you move forward to help him.
The machine leaps in front of him, crouched down as if it were readying to attack the two of you. It chirps, low and dangerous, guarding Wishbone. Eventually, the numbers stop, and it stands back upright, allowing the two of you to rush to his side and help him up.
The machine chirps again, quizzically.
"Yes, fine, thanks. Wait, I understood that. I understood that! Why did I understand that?"
"THIS UNIT HAS DETERMINED THAT THE THREE PONIES ARE LIKELY THE ONLY ONES IT WILL ENCOUNTER. FOLLOW PLEASE."
The thing skitters down the left-hand tunnel, towards another room, and you follow it, still at a distance. In the middle of the room there is a single stone plinth, and atop the plinth, a book, the covers made of steel and the pages made of granite, with a large lock across it. The machine scurries up a wall and presses a hidden button, and the book unlocks.
"THERE IS A SEVENTY-TWO PERCENT CHANCE THAT THIS WILL NOT HURT. THE UNICORN WILL PLEASE READ FROM THE BOOK."
Wishbone shrugs, and after some prodding from you and Tail Gunner ("It's either this or go right back home, dude."), he steps up to the book and begins to read.
Suddenly, he screams, and the room is lit by violent green light, blasts of magical plasma ripping through the air. The two of you duck for cover, the machine scurrying along behind you, as Wishbone fights to regain control.
After only a few heartbeats, he crumples to the floor, this horn still spasming magical energy. His eyes roll up in the back of his head, and he repeats a stream of numbers: "Five one one oh eight six three one oh two two oh eight five…" He continues, and the two of you move forward to help him.
The machine leaps in front of him, crouched down as if it were readying to attack the two of you. It chirps, low and dangerous, guarding Wishbone. Eventually, the numbers stop, and it stands back upright, allowing the two of you to rush to his side and help him up.
The machine chirps again, quizzically.
"Yes, fine, thanks. Wait, I understood that. I understood that! Why did I understand that?"
It begins talking at length, every so often interrupted by Wishbone's sagely "Mm-hm"'s and "A-ha"'s.
"This little guy is the last survivor of his 'species'. Well, not the LAST. The rest of them have all gone insane. He says most of them are deactivated, but some of them are still awake, and those ones kidnap ponies from time to time. He says something about them 'deviating from the protocol', but I don't really get it. What I do get is he says that down that hall, that right-hand tunnel, there's another book like this one. He says if we get that and bring it to him, we can deactivate the other machines, and then he'll open up the vault for us."
At the mention of a vault, Tail Gunner starts to salivate. "We accept."
The three of you walk back down the hall, the robot waiting for you in the room with the first book. "He says he can't go into this room because the book was constructed using a different type of magic, and it interferes with his inner workings. He's been waiting years for adventurers to come around, apparently, so he could deactivate the others."
"Any chance we'll run into them?" Tail Gunner asks.
"Nah. The things are way below ground. Digging their own tunnEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE–"
The words are cut short in his mouth as the ground below the three of you gives way. You bounce and ride down a slope, before coming to a rest in a hidden room, well below the first. The gentle slope kept you from being hurt, but it's too rocky and loose to climb back out of. The only way is forward.
And forward, you can see statues glinting in Wishbone's light.
What do you do?
"This little guy is the last survivor of his 'species'. Well, not the LAST. The rest of them have all gone insane. He says most of them are deactivated, but some of them are still awake, and those ones kidnap ponies from time to time. He says something about them 'deviating from the protocol', but I don't really get it. What I do get is he says that down that hall, that right-hand tunnel, there's another book like this one. He says if we get that and bring it to him, we can deactivate the other machines, and then he'll open up the vault for us."
At the mention of a vault, Tail Gunner starts to salivate. "We accept."
The three of you walk back down the hall, the robot waiting for you in the room with the first book. "He says he can't go into this room because the book was constructed using a different type of magic, and it interferes with his inner workings. He's been waiting years for adventurers to come around, apparently, so he could deactivate the others."
"Any chance we'll run into them?" Tail Gunner asks.
"Nah. The things are way below ground. Digging their own tunnEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE–"
The words are cut short in his mouth as the ground below the three of you gives way. You bounce and ride down a slope, before coming to a rest in a hidden room, well below the first. The gentle slope kept you from being hurt, but it's too rocky and loose to climb back out of. The only way is forward.
And forward, you can see statues glinting in Wishbone's light.
What do you do?
>>448360
shit, forgot to add it.
The reason Wishbone can understand the robot now is the book is like a math textbook for the universe. The robot is speaking math equations, and reading the book imbued him with a magical ability to comprehend and decipher complex math on the fly.
shit, forgot to add it.
The reason Wishbone can understand the robot now is the book is like a math textbook for the universe. The robot is speaking math equations, and reading the book imbued him with a magical ability to comprehend and decipher complex math on the fly.
>>448360
Inspect the statues from afar as best as possible. What condition are they in, are there any inscriptions on them?
Inspect the statues from afar as best as possible. What condition are they in, are there any inscriptions on them?