[indiana jones theme playing in the distance]

[sageprincess]

Who: Zelda, Ain, Jakob, Minako, and Mordred
When: February 13th and February 17th
Where: Some abandoned temples on the Far Shore
What: Zelda's interest in the disappeared gods has been reignited and she's roped some friends into searching some empty temple for clues with her. aka Mission #40 x2

[See threads for details!]

Comments

[reloves]

[ At least it's a slight relief knowing that Mordred has a sword with her and could very well defend herself if there was something dangerous down there for whatever reason - but that still doesn't mean Minako feels totally easy letting the other girl deal with it all by herself.

But even though Zelda - thankfully - agrees on not leaving Mordred behind, that still doesn't mean they have a plan to get her out of there just yet. It's not like they have a rope with them to send down there.. Who would've brought that along for something as simple as checking up on an abandoned temple, anyway?!

Minako anxiously stares down the dark chute for a moment as Zelda asks Mordred that question, but while waiting for the answer she instead tries to see if there's any visible doors now they have light on this side of the room. Maybe there's some other way down there that doesn't involve falling with no visible way up.. ]

[roundtablerebel]

[ Zelda sounds kinda distant for someone who should be right behind her. Could it be that she's the only one who fell down here? How embarrassing...

Mordred stares at the empty darkness and an idea comes to her. Mimicking Zelda, she raises her hand and focuses. Red streaks of the energy which she usually channels into her more violent attacks begin to dance about her arm. While not nearly as potent as Zelda's light it's enough to help her find her way back to the hole she fell through. ]

Yeah, I'm fine! It's just another stupid dark room down here! I think there might be a stream or something too.

[ She recalls the giant knife falling again and there's suddenly more urgency in her tone. ]

Hey, what about you guys?! Still in one piece?!

[sageprincess]

[Zelda would be so proud to know Mordred's taking a page out of her book to solve this problem. Alas, she's stuck at the top of the chute, increasingly weighing the merits of jumping down simply for the sake of regrouping. Goddesses know Mordred's not exactly the patient type, and she'd rather not be around to see the results if the Servant decides to just blast the whole temple away as a solution.]

We're all right as well! It seems as though the statue is more of a mechanism than anything truly alive or malevolent.

[The knife now rests at its side, still as the grave once again. If it does raise it again, they at least know to get well away from the thing now.]

Just stay calm! We are going to figure some way to get you out of there. ... If there is a stream, can you follow it? It must lead out of the temple somehow, right?

[Though "or something" might be a better description of the source of the running water in the room Mordred's fallen into. Small, shallow channels run along the ground, carved into the stone of the floor itself. Following them leads to the other end of the room opposite of the slide's exit, where iron bars rather than stone block Mordred's progress, though the channels continue on past it. As she moves through the room, however, she might find herself bumping into some large glass lenses dotted around and pointing in different directions, her dim red light refracting at odd angles as it passes through them. A bit of flint rests on the ground near one, along side a stick with one end wrapped in cloth that smells vaguely of oil.

Meanwhile, Minako won't find much in the way of doors or stairwells on this end of the temple, though if she squints she might be able to notice that some of the masonry on the back wall seems somehow more worn down than the rest, like the edges of the stones have been worn down by something that hasn't affected the rest of the wall...]

[reloves]

[ Minako does notice it.. and it seems odd. After all, this temple is abandoned, so what could've caused some of the wall to be more worn than the rest of it if there's no one around to cause it?

She figures that quickly checking it out can't hurt, especially since it means not going too far away from Zelda. Besides, it's not like they're going to make much progress if there's both sitting there shouting down the chute - it'd just confuse Mordred in the long run, probably.

There's a quick and gentle touch of Minako's hand on Zelda's shoulder to draw the other's attention without startling her too much. ]

I'll check out something real quick, okay?

[ She gets up on her feet, moving over to the back wall to take a closer look at the stones and touch them. ]

[roundtablerebel]

[ It's a relief that neither of them was hurt during all that, though it's a bit worrying that Minako doesn't say anything given how vocal she is about everything. But Zelda wouldn't lie to her so she's probably fine... Hopefully. With that particular concern out of the way, Mordred feels like she can focus on getting out of this predicament. ]

I can think of a few ways to get outta here...

[ Blasting her way out does cross her mind— and it might even be the quickest way out of here— but it could have unforeseen consequences. She could accidently collapse the ceiling or drop the floor out from under her friends. With that in mind, she'll hold back— at least for now. ]

All right, I'll check this place out. Make some noise if you guys run into any trouble.

[ Mordred moves away from the chute and into the room, walking in a straight line toward the opposite end of the room. Before she reaches her destination she stumbles into one of the lenses. ]

What the—?

[ Why is this down here? Mordred raps the glassy surface with her knuckles before the torch on the ground catches her eye. The shinki kneels to retrieve it and finds the flint too. It takes a little while but Mordred manages to eventually ignite the fabric. With her newfound light source, she notices the other lenses scattered about the room. ]

Is this some kind of puzzle?

[ Mordred expected puzzles but dammit she didn't expect to be alone when it came to solving them! Unsure of where to start with this she holds the torch up behind one of the lenses to see if anything happens. ]

[sageprincess]

[Zelda watches Minako go, at a bit of a loss. What should she do? She doesn't want to split up any more than they already have, but if she leaves the chute, she'll lose communication with Mordred--

Wait a second.]

Hold on...

[Modern technology is a thing! Fishing out her phone, Zelda uses the network to request a three person video call with Minako and Mordred. Hopefully they've got their own phones with them as well...

But as far as their adventures are going, Mordred will find that when she holds up the torch to lens, it focuses the light into a beam. With some adjustment of the lens, the beam can be made to point in the general direction of another lens as well. While testing this, Mordred might note the glimmer of some kind of precious stone stuck in the ceiling above the iron grate blocking her way out. It sparkles a little when light passes over it, but dims again when the light goes away.

Minako, meanwhile, will find the worn down edges of stone create an arch that is roughly people-sized. The erosion is oddly limited to this one area, aside from another brick a few feet to the left that also seems somehow out of place. Like the grout that's glued the masonry together isn't really holding it in as tightly...]

[reloves]

[ Of course Minako has her phone with her! She may be a 90's kid that grew up without the wonders of these things, but now she has one, she's never letting it leave her side. She's a little surprised to hear it going off, but does immediately accept the call when she takes a look.

(She's also definitely looking at it for another moment to see if Mordred also appears and whether she's alright or not!! Minako fusses, okay.)

But while waiting for that, she manages to run her fingers over the stones enough to realise the shape of it. ]

Oh, I think I found something here!

[ Especially with that suspicious extra brick to the side. Maybe she should wait a second for Zelda's approval, but sometimes Minako is just a tad (okay, more than a tad) impulsive. Which means she's definitely going to touch that odd brick to the left - pushing it, pulling it, whatever might make it move. ]

[roundtablerebel]

[ Mordred's face pops up on the screen though it's only partially visible thanks to the low light from her phone. She seems to have left the torch by the first lens before making her way over to another. Now that she has a vague idea of they work, it's time to experiment by moving them around. ]

Ha! Who would have thought we'd actually get reception in here?

[ Well, Zelda apparently. Ah, the wonders of divine technology.

Mordred's about to mention the lenses when Minako calls out. ]

What did you find, Antlers?