The Wanderers

[Fraught]

As he saw Smith going towards the door, presumably to try a few cogs, Anselm yelled out to him.
"Wait! Stop, Smith, sir! I have something to say to you," he said, as he made a motion with his hand that told Smith to come closer.

As the man was in front of him, he took his rifle into his right hand, and put his left hand around the man's ear, to whisper something to him.

[small]"Sir, I decided to tell you this. I decided that I can't keep you in the dark. It's better that all of us be ready for what may await...,"[/small] he said, leaving a small pause before he continued. [small]"I..I saw a corpse, right...there!"[/small] he continued, as he pointed his index finger towards the corner he thought was to the east, connected with the same wall that was behind the altar.

He pulled his head and hand away from Smith, and waited for a response before continuing doing anything.

 

[Combined]

Smith seemed to grin underneath the mask, the corners of the mask lifting slowly, making the skull grin even more. He whispered back, carefully trying not to alert anyone. "[small] Yes, I saw it too. Let's just keep it between us, if you don't mind. No need for anyone to know. They may start panicking and that may give us away.[/small]"

He paused, carefully considering the options. "[small]Of course, that'd mean that our cultist friends are still here. If we're quiet and take care, we'll be able to sneak as much treasure from under their noses as we possibly can. Act normal and we'll be fine.[/small]"

He had taken a few cogs from the figurine of the son of the Lord and slowly worked out how they were supposed to work. It seemed perfectly simple. He was ready to insert them, before stopping himself. He looked at Emerson and handed him the small mechanical implements.

"You're new to our business, right? Well, go on, then. It's a learning experience. Try and get this door open. Without breaking anything, if possible."

Smith backed away and stood next to Anselm. "Seeing as we're not that new to adventuring, I thought we'd pass the ball to the younger generation, if you don't mind."

 

[Sparrow]

"Oh, right. Yeah.", Emerson cleared his throat, "I'm on it."

He slowly looked from left to right, making sure to take each of the cogs patterns in order. He was fairly certain he knew the correct sequence, but he wasn't positive. And being only fairly certain could mean he was wrong, which could mean booby-traps, which could mean a large case of the deadsies.

"Three, one. Three, one. Two, two.", he murmered.

Placing the cogs in the same sequence he murmered to himself, Emerson went over the code one more time in his head.

Three small cogs, one big cog. Three small cogs, one big cog. Two small cogs, two big cogs. Rinse, repeat.

Finally putting the last cog in place, he slowly stepped back to stand next to Smith.

"That's right... right?"

 

[SamuelT]

The dust under Sjors's feet softened his footsteps. He looked behind him, and saw that the light hadn't moved. Good. His eyes were still adjusting from the bright sun above ground, so he was almost blind without light.

He heard murmurs from all sides, but some sounded a bit..off somehow. He amusingly thought of the Machine cultists, and that they could be the souls of the machines, raging in anger on how they disturbed their last restingplace. He thought the Whoooo.... sound with it and snickered.

He continued forward, trying to find the opposite wall.

 

[Fraught]

[small]"Okay, Smith, sir. If that's how you decide, that's how we'll keep it,[/small] Anselm replied silently, smiling. He somehow suddenly got his confidence back, and wasn't that scared anymore. He had allies here, so there was no need to fear so much, especially when Anselm thought of himself so highly, as an experienced adventurer.

As he heard Smith's question, he replied with a short and quick 'No, I don't mind'. He watched, as Emerson proceeded to try to solve the puzzle on the door.

Well, let's see how he'll handle that, thought to himself, amused at what he saw.

As soon as he came back, and stood next to Smith, Anselm quickly interrupted before Smith could answer Emerson. "Yes, I think. Care to give it a little push now, try to open it?"

 

[Fingerprint]

Beau walked quietly to the middle of the room. Half the pillar was cloaked in darkness, the other half light. As he got closer he could hear a whirring sound that he was certain wasn't there before.

Picking up the torch he went to where H.W. and the rest were. He could see them trying to figure out what combination to use to open the door. Smith and Anselm were stood a couple of paces back from Emerson; Beau approached silently.

"Smith, there's some kind of whirring sound coming from the pillar in th'ick room there. What's it doing?"

 

[Combined]

Once Emerson gave it a slight push, the gears seemed to click into place. Bit by bit, they moved along small, nearly invisible pathways. Macabre faces of metal and red stone seemed to form on the surface of the door and fluidly move, change, until everything stopped. A moment of silence passed.

The door slid open, ancient wheels in the walls turning in unison, revealing a small, dusty staircase leading downwards. It seemed to go on for a long, long distance beneath the earth. At the very bottom, just the hint of a light could be seen.

Henry approached the entryway and checked it, carefully trying to understand the system. He looked at Emerson, his skull mask forming, a grin and spoke. "Adequate. Good job there."

He turned to the soldier, Beau, once he approached and carefully considered what the pillar may be. "Frankly speaking, I have no idea. Perhaps it's some sort of machine. Maybe you should try and find out what it is. Surely, there are some clues in the room."

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Rufus had been examining various parts on the room and items while the others had been busy. He now had a few cogs in his pocket, having decided that he might as well take a few if he would take any at all. "Really, this is quite breath-taking. Machine Spirits, clockwork deities, cult for the machine... quite... beautiful" His eyes glinted as he seemingly said this to himself.

Rufus drew his Turret pistol from an inside pocket as the puzzle-door opened in front of the others. "Mister Smith! I want to go check on Mister Theuns, I haven't heard a thing from him since he went into that room" He gestured over at the doorway Sjors had disappeared through. "It could be dangerous for him to be alone is such a place as this. Better safe than sorry, I believe the saying goes".

 

[Combined]

"You do that, young Sir. Meanwhile, I and my compatriots here shall investigate the light at the end of this stairway. Come down as soon as everyone's gathered, will you?" He took a torch and cleared his throat.

He cleaned a few spider webs away from the frame of the door, trying desperately not to look at the bottom of the stairs. He motioned, in a surprisingly polite way, for Emerson and Anselm to move inside. "Er. After you?"

 

[Sparrow]

Emerson nodded, and briskly jogged infront of the group.

"Huh. It's actually pretty light in here.", he mused, whilst he looked from left to right at the markings on the walls, "I'm guessing this light is man-made. I suppose that'd mean hostiles."

Grabbing the hilt of his sword as he made his way down the stairway, trying his best to check his corners.

"Damn stairs, I can't see anything."

 

[Fraught]

After Emerson jogged through the entrance, Anselm walked after him.
Well, Smith, you wanted us to go before you, and here we are.
Looking back, he saw Smith follow right behind them. Turning around and continuing walking, Anselm tried to stay near to Emerson, in case any danger should arise. Upon seeing the markings on the walls, he didn't hesitate, and very quietly and slowly pulled out his gun from his beautiful, hand-made gun holster, made for him by his daughter. It was one of his most-cherished items he took with him on the trip, and he didn't want to to lose it here, so he grabbed it for a second, feeling energy come to him.

Acting on impulse, Anselm twirled the gun, using his index finger, as the gun suddenly fired at Emerson's general direction. Anselm wanted to close his eyes, so that he wouldn't see his travel companion die, but his eyelids weren't quick enough.

During the same second the gun shot, he closed his eyelids, already having seen what happened. He quickly opened his eyes, and was relieved to see that the bullet had missed Emerson, ricocheting off the walls further down the corridor, and into the light that they saw at the end.

"Heh," he said, trying to smile like this was nothing. "That was a close one."
I hope that whatever may be down there didn't notice us, Anselm thought to himself, his heart pounding faster and faster. He put his gun back into his holster, and this time, grabbed his sword, ready for any danger that may come.

Spoiler: OOC

Well, I just couldn't resist setting us into a scenario where it's up to you, Combi, to decide whether there is someone and we either fight them, or run, or there's no one. Either way, some action'd be swell.

 

[Sparrow]

"Christ.", Emerson exhaled, clutching his chest, "You scared the bejesus outta' me."

Slowly overcomming the fact that he was nearly just shot, his attention suddenly shifted elsewhere. They could have been heard. And that would be very bad.

"Let's just hope nothing lives down the bottom of this staircase. Feral or otherwise."

 

[Combined]

"Oh, this is just wonderful..." Smith muttered, taking out his revolver. "Right. Let's ...press forth and hope nothing noticed us."

This time he pushed to the front of the line and carefully approached the small doorway at the bottom. It seemed that nobody noticed them. They were probably all safe and there isn't anyone down there anyway.

Until he looked into the room beyond, of course. In fact, there was no room. Just a large stone door with a light. Certainly, it wasn't there before. As if directed by some unseen person, the light went out. The door at the top of the stairs closed. The entire stairway was only barely illuminated by the lit torch. It wouldn't last long.

"...I think we can safely say that someone noticed us."

 

[Sparrow]

Emerson stood completely still as the staircase was drained of light, as if frozen in fear.

"It's d-d-dark.", he said, his voice shaking, "I hate dark. I really, r-really hate the dark."

Now it was almost as if he were blind, the room completely dark.

"Someone hold me.", he whispered.

 

[Fingerprint]

Beau heard the gun-shot and it sent a chill down his spine. Instantly putting his gun to his shoulder he cautiously but quickly went to where the others were.

In his rush he'd left the torch in the wall socket in the small room though he only noticed this when he was out of reach of the main chamber's light. Shit, I can't see a fucking thing. I hope they're alright, he almost said it out loud but checked himself as he had no idea what the situation was.

Inching down the stairs, feeling his way blindly step by step he heard the familiar vioce of H.W. not too far away.

"Smith, Smith... what the hell's goin' on down 'ere?"

 

[Combined]

H.W. approached the slab of rock at the top of their closed off section of the stairway. For now, it seemed that they were alone. "Curious." he muttered, waiting for the inevitable appearance of the enemy.

While the old man was looking for a way out, there was something watching them. Slowly, without a sound, it lowered itself down. With barely a sound it touched the ground, metal legs at the ready.

It went unnoticed for barely a moment, before it's large metal legs closed around Emerson. At that moment, the lights chose to appear, illuminating the entire extent of the blocked stairway.

It was a large steam-spider with what appeared to be a mutilated half-machine, half-human riding it. Metal cogs and gears whirred as many large metal legs moved, slowly trying to drag Emerson away. Of course, that wasn't the worst part.

It wasn't alone. High above, on the ceiling, several steam-spiders were waiting, slowly moving downwards along the walls.

Smith looked up. "Oh, bugger." was the only thing he could manage.

 

[Sparrow]

"Mmmrfggh!", Emerson screamed, muffled by the spider's leg around his mouth, "Hrrlp!"

His left arm was restricted by the spider's grasp, but he was able to wrench his right arm free. He instantly grabbed his sword and threw his arm violently upwards. He managed to cut one of the spider's legs cleanly from it's body, releasing it's grip. As soon as he was free, he spun around and swung for the spider's rider, chopping a large part of it's torso apart. What was left of the construct's human body spurted with blood. The spider then tried to scurry away, hampered by the loss of one of it's right legs.

"Oh no you don't, you piece of mechanical crap."

Thrusting his sword downward, Emerson impaled the spider to the ground. It's limbs extended almost if it were in pain, until slumping to the ground. It's body twitched, most likely it's electronics breaking down.

 

[Fraught]

What the...
Anselm was amazed at the steam-spiders. They were a threat to him, yes, but he couldn't but not be intrigued by the complexity of the design.
As soon as he saw Emerson struggled to free himself, which he really did. Upon defeating the spider, Anselm immediately looked back at the ceiling, and in the blink of an eye, grabbed his gun from the holster, and shot one of the spiders that was as far from them as possible, and smiled, as it fell to the floor, some of its parts completely destroyed by the impact.
"Well, this is fun, to say the least."

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Rufus had nearly jumped out of his skin when the puzzle-door had slammed shut behind him, and had immediately run over to it, and began to pound upon its surface. "Mister Smith! Mister Smith! Can you hear me?!!" He looked around, panicked, and ran for the doorway through which Sjors had gone through before, shouting wildly as he did so. "Mister Theuns! It would appear a perilous situation has arisen for for our fellow adventurers!" He didn't even notice that he was waving his turret pistol around.

 

[Jedoro]

"Hey, watch where you point that thing!" Conner scolded, pushing Rufus' pistol down. "Come on, we've got to try and reopen this door. How did they get it open? I wasn't paying attention." Snapping back to the situation after zoning out, he glanced around the room for any threats that might emerge.