The Halls of Our Fathers

[Brian]

Liandril stays close to Phil as you march down the steps into the darkness of the earth below.  You're greatful for this, because it seems, after a while, that the light of the 'firefly' (as Ginrai called it) over Liandral's head seems to get a bit dimmer once you're out of sight of the original opening you came through.  The walls change after you're (you'd guess) a hundred and some odd meters down, and are crude brick-work.  Occasionally, the sides sport alcoves with cob-web covered statues and pedastals containing ancient art pieces.  Or weaponry.

Most of it's rust and mold now, anyway, so it's difficult to be certain.  Either way, there are a few creepily huge spiders hiding in the alcoves, creeping away at the sound of your foosteps ... or maybe recoiling from the light.  It's hard to be certain; but you're glad you're not severely claustrophobic.  Or arachnaphobic.

Either way, it looks like you've got a long walk ahead of you.  Liandril looks grimmer and more tense than usual, and says nothing.

[Dracos]

Dracos frowns, highly uncomfortable with the sounds of insects but focusing on maintaining his demeanor, subsuming himself in the role.

He keeps his eyes peeled, trying to keep from getting jumpy as he presses on silently.

Dracos

[Rezantis]

Rez follows quietly behind Dracos, fingering his sword hilt.  He doesn't look particularly nervous, for once in this little debacle.

[Brian]

Liandril leads you on through the foreboding silence.

You kind of lose track of time.  And the number of pedastals you pass.  You can see that the spiders you're running across now (hiding in the alcoves, still) are both rarer, and larger.

The last are probably a good twenty centimers across, and that's not counting the legspan.  They're not as quick to hide when you draw near, but they don't attack, either.

It does set a sort of unsettling trend for a bit, until you exit the passage, and enter a wide, low-roofed room.

This room is spider-free.  A water trough runs the length of the wall on your right, cold and trickling quietly.  A number of empty buckets are scattered around the room.

[Rezantis]

Rez reflexively checks how much water he's got left.

[Dracos]

Dracos looks around, carefully examining the room as he enters, walls, ceiling, exits, and water sources.

Dracos

[Brian]

You could stand to carry a bit more water than you have.

Liandral tests it briefly, then declares, that the water is drinkable in a quiet voice.  It wells up from a hole in the stone too small for you to fit anything into, and flows across a stone trough before going into a basin.  The basin has an overflow drain that the exess water is currently draining into.

The room has two exits, and is set up almost like it's a mid-way point between where you started out and whatever's at the far end.  Of course, it could be a one quarter point, or a one billionth point, for all you know.  Either way, you can get more water here.  And buckets, if you care for them.

[Dracos]

"If so, then let's fill up here."  Dracos spoke in a low tone.

Dracos quickly filled up his own water supplies turning to watch the exits while gesturing for Nathan and Liandril to do the same if they wished.

[Rezantis]

Rez promptly fills up his waterskin, suspicious as he may be.

That done . . .

"So, fearless leader, now what?"

[Dracos]

"Death, silence, and continued walking, of course."  Dracos heads out the other exit provided that Liandril or Rez don't stop him, continuing to try and keep a steady and patient eye out.

Dracos

[Rezantis]

Rez follows along behind Drac, replacing his now-filled waterskin.

[Brian]

Liandral nods, drinking some of the water, then leading you on into a much larger room.

Some things immediately come to your attention here.

It's a bit dusty, for one.  For another, lines of light cut through the dust at varying heights.

Against the wall to the right (barely illuminated by the 'firefly') is the remains of a person in armor nearly identical (if aged very badly) to Nathan and Phil's.  To the left is a giant monstrosity of twisted steel, cabling, and ... pneumatic actuators?

It takes a moment to realize that you're looking at something that -- as far as you can tell -- should not even be here.  It's a massive spider-shaped robot, probably a good five meters high in its current crouched position.  LEDs flash at about where you would place the eyes, and it has writing on it, stenciliced in in black paint.  The text is English, and you both know this ... and know that how you're reading it is different from how you read your own names on your swords.  The writing says, "MILITARY USE ONLY: 0000XR-53" and "WARNING: STAND CLEAR" and "DO NOT USE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY NEAR THIS DEVICE".

Liandral only gapes at it, saying nothing, as one hand goes to his sword hilt.

He doesn't draw his sword yet, however.

The spider-bot remains still for the moment.  You can't tell what all of the weapons attatched to this sucker are, but you believe that the 'mandibles' are a pair of vulcan cannons.  This is probably not something you want to mess with.

Nor do you probably want to break the lazer trip-wires crossing the room.

[Dracos]

Dracos gestures to stay back, stopping queitly and looking very carefully around the room and at the spider.  If the spider even begins to move he rushes back into the previous passage, trying to get behind heavy cover and get a passage way that is...inconvienent to pass through.

Dracos

[Rezantis]

Rez baps Drac on the shoulder and motions him back, tapping his mouth with his other hand.

[Brian]

Liandral looks like he wants to say something, but doesn't, looking to Nathan for guidance.

The room itself is bare, rectangular, and has a cieling about twenty meters high.  It's probably fifty wide, and a hundred long.  It's got no distinguishing features other than the corpse here (presumably Nathan's ancestor, one Hadrick Shuker), some lumps that could be other corpses (or just suits of empty armor), and a bunch of broken sword-pieces lying next to the nearest dead guy.

The spider itself (when you study it) looks either incomplete, or like a prototype.  It's essentially unarmored, with the cables, and a bunch of circuitry showing.