Act I: Mercurian Underground

[Carthrat]

"Yes," replies Arkian, checking over his magical rebreather *one last time*.

He carries with him a fair amount of analysis equipment, no doubt most of which will not be used at all, but *just in case*.

Sho is going to be *so* jealous when I get back..

"Well, then, let's go!" he says, brightly, starting to walk off

[Halbarad]

And so the two begin their trip...

The first stage of the journey is fairly uneventful. The downtown area is somewhat eerie; aside from the lack of people, you could be walking down the streets of any Lunar city at night, other than the lack of stars.

The route you've mapped out is fairly direct. Once past the downtown area, you pass through a short tunnel, half-blocked with rubble, before entering the research area - an extremely neat, well-ordered district. The building you're looking for takes quite a while to find, however, as most of the buildings look very similar to one another. One thing does set the correct building apart once you reach it, though. A heavy steel door covers the entrance, tightly sealed shut. There are several gouge marks on it, as though someone tried to pry it open, and the keypad next to the door has been smashed. There don't seem to be any other entrances that you can spot after a circuit of the building.

[Ebiris]

"I suppose whatever was in here must have been important to someone towards the end... but obviously not anyone who had authorisation to get at it," Rowan remarks, eyeing the door.

The summoner then makes her way around the building, searching for alternate entrances before she commits to forcing her way in.[/i]

[Halbarad]

The building is only a single story aboveground - from studying plans in the computer database, however, you know there are several floors below the standard ground level for this part of the colony. There is a set of windows running all around the building, but they're made of some sort of plastic - all intact, you note.

[Ebiris]

Completing her circuit and arriving back at the sealed door, Rowan rubs her hands together briefly, before stopping with an annoyed frown at the lack of tactile sensation through the bulky spacesuit.

"Looks like we'll have to force the door. Stand back, Arkian," she warns, beginning to concentrate as she holds her arms outwards, a minor dimensional warp surrounding her, though invisible to the naked eye. Satisfied with her protective countermeasures, she speaks again, her voice taking on a strident, commanding, quality.

"Infinite Earth
Mother who nurtures all life
In the name of Gaia, I call
Come forth, Golem!"

[Halbarad]

Code Select Expand

[15:28] <Rei-chan> roll 2d8
[15:28] * Hatbot --> "Rei-chan rolls 2d8 and gets 16."

A swirling portal appears before Rowan, a sickly greenish glow emanating from its center! The summoner's face screws up in concentration as the spell runs wild, trying to get it under control!

Code Select Expand

[15:30] <Rei-chan> roll 2d8+3
[15:30] * Hatbot --> "Rei-chan rolls 2d8+3 and gets 12."

The portal stabilizes after a few moments, the sickly green giving way to a pale blue. A few moments later, a large, spherical globe of water appears before Rowan, the portal vanishing as it does so.

"Why have you summoned Hydros?" it asks a few moments later, in a voice just above a whisper.

[Ebiris]

Oh, I am in *so* much trouble... the summoner thinks with more than a little bit of dread. Even if she'd brought things under control, that near miss would still have to be recorded...

"I apologise, Hydros, your presence here is unnecessary. I release you from my service," she responds to the Elemental's question, dismissing it back to the plane of water.

As Hydros vanishes, she turns to Arkian, and performs a quick bow. "My apologies to you as well, Arkian. If things had went in the direction they almost did, both of us would be in rather severe danger. Unless you have any ideas yourself for gaining entry, I'll need a few moments to re-centre myself before I try again."

As she tries to calm her racing heart, Rowan also opens herself up to the dimensional flow of the surrounding area - while summoning can go awry at any time, it could be more than coincidence that her first attempt on this world so nearly ended in disaster...

[Halbarad]

The globe of water shimmers briefly. "As you wish," it says, before dissipating with a wavering of soft blue light.

The dimensional fabric in the area seems fairly stable to your senses, once you take a moment to calm down a bit. There's a nasty 'kink' in it where your nearly-disastrous summoning just occurred, thanks to the measures you took to bring it under control, but other than that there's nothing unusual in the immediate area.  It would probably be a good idea to attempt any further summoning some distance away, however, as the residual warping between planes here will take some time to dissipate, and will likely interfere with any further attempts at summoning.

[Carthrat]

Arkian glances at the door, eyeing it thoughtfully. He kneels down and places a hand upon the earth in front of it, checking to see if he would be able to distort the surrounding ground and cause the door to fall down *without* breaking another part of the building in the process.

[Halbarad]

It would be pretty tricky, you surmise after sensing the ground around the door. The main part of the research complex exists beneath your feet, and any attempt at shifting the earth below would likely damage part of it. You have no idea which part, or how much damage it would cause, but the odds aren't in your favor.

[Carthrat]

Arkian surmizes his findings; "I could open the door. But I'll probably break something important using my methods."

[Ebiris]

"Well, my way should only damage the door mechanism itself," Rowan replies. Provided I don't screw up and damage us... a dispirited mental voice adds.

"Anyway, I'll need to get some space - that last attempt warped the planes slightly, and it'll probably take a few days for them to shift back into proper alignment. If I walk about five minutes back that way," she gestures the way they came, "It should be fine, though."

With that in mind, the summoner heads back down the street a ways, before repeating her spell to summon a Golem.

Carefully, this time.

[Halbarad]

Code Select Expand

<Rei-chan> roll 2d8
* Hatbot --> "Rei-chan rolls 2d8 and gets 12."

Once again a portal forms before Rowan, this time taking on a dark greyish-brown tint. The light focuses, and with a sharp flash it resolves into a hulking figure, seemingly made of stone.

"You call Golem?" it rumbles, fixing an expressionless gaze on Rowan.

[Ebiris]

"I do," Rowan nods, privately relieved that things went according to plan, this time. "Follow me," she instructs, leading the Elemental back to their destination. Once there, she gestures at the sealed door, "Open that door, please," she instructs.

[Halbarad]

"Yes," is all the acknowledgement the large stone creature makes before proceeding on to its task.

Golem strides up to the large metal door, a slight scowl on its normally impassive face. It pounds on the crack between the two halves of the steel door until its massive fist breaks through, then with a groaning of tortured metal it peels the door away from the opening, dropping the two halves of the former door on either side of the entrance with a resounding thud.

The giant creature then turns back to Rowan, showing no apparent signs of strain from the effort. "Golem is done. You need more?" it rumbles.