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[IronyOwl]

"That's because it was near this world's equivalent to an ant lion pit. Or at least, it may have been; I suppose they could be standard nests.

Regardless, there's a difference between a loud noise near something's lair and a loud noise out in the open. I could see creatures being attracted, but I highly doubt they'll go into a frenzy, and we've already seen that they don't especially care about us under normal circumstances."

[Nikitian]

Thank you, Simulacrus. Exactly what I wanted to say.
Now, mind it, Faith - this is not just a loud noise, but a very loud and prolonged noise. Also, I think they 'didn't especially care about us' only because they didn't really see us, the sound died too soon back then.
Oh, and one more thing: this time they are going to be six or seven feet tall, and likely intelligent. And not intelligent as in 'sentient; happy to make contact with an alien race' but as in 'armed and cunning'.

[Caellath]

"The prolonged and continued noise will make them see us. I see no reason not to leave this place and keep walking away to the elevator if we aren't able to turn this off."

Take camera, film the mechanisms working and drag Maurice along. If Faith has the camera on her (or anyone is already hugging it for dear life), don't take it.

Just leave the place and look if there are any enemies coming.

[IronyOwl]

"The shades seemed to be able to see us, and they're not hostile as such either, as far as we can tell. The notion that the ant lions are completely blind except when their target is making noise isn't completely unreasonable, but it seems like a strange assumption. Noise on some level would have to be innate to their prey for them to be able to eat anything, for one thing.

And what? There you go making wild assumptions again. Wild, baseless assumptions, even- Conrad said nothing whatsoever about Lighteater being armed, so jumping straight from 'noise woke up the ant lions' to 'Lighteater's tribe is going to come wage war on us' is frankly the sort of vapid-minded drivel I'd expect from one of these grunts, Maurice. I'm actually a little surprised and disappointed in you, to be honest."

"The prolonged and continued noise will make them see us. I see no reason not to leave this place and keep walking away to the elevator if we aren't able to turn this off."

Take camera, film the mechanisms working and drag Maurice along. Leave the place and look if there are any enemies coming.

"Stop talking and fetch that rock. It'd be the only thing you've done at this site, and you insist on dragging your feet on even that."

Resist efforts to steal precious camera.

[Spinal_Taper]

"Faith, what makes you think they wouldn't kill us? Isn't it better to run and be guaranteed to not die, instead of staying, and possibly dying?"

[Caellath]

"I don't know if intelligent ones will appear and I never had that idea, but what I do know is that we'll be in trouble if the ones from the pit appear anyway, which is enough reason for us to move away from the tower and watch if those shades are attracted to the sound. It seems like a reasonable security measure. I'm not asking for us to go running like madmen to the Citadel, just to take reasonable precautions."

And what? There you go making wild assumptions again. Wild, baseless assumptions, even- Conrad said nothing whatsoever about Lighteater being armed, so jumping straight from 'noise woke up the ant lions' to 'Lighteater's tribe is going to come wage war on us' is frankly the sort of vapid-minded drivel I'd expect from one of these grunts, Maurice. I'm actually a little surprised and disappointed in you, to be honest."

"You try to sound intelligent when it was your stupid and childish idea that caused his wounds. The only reason no one was disappointed in you is because you are expected to fail already."

"Stop talking and fetch that rock. It'd be the only thing you've done at this site, and you insist on dragging your feet on even that."

"Do it yourself." he answered with a grin and a chuckle before leaving to check on matters outside.

[PyroDesu]

Even if they don't mean to, those things are dangerous just by being in contact with us, regardless of either side's intentions. And that was when they probably didn't really know we were there. Although, there's also the possibility that this setup would effectively "blind" the smaller shades, but as for the larger ones...

However, we should surely try to shut them down before just going on, as this is supposed to be our second rest site. I'd rather not be forced to repeat Conrad's younger brother's mistake and stay in the Graveyard, which is the first thing fast the elevator.

Now, someone try whacking that tuning-fork-like object again, see if the on trigger is the same as the off trigger.

Oh, and as me, the Doc, and Milno are the only ones here with really close-up interaction, such as it was, with them, I don't think you have nearly as much say in it as us, Faith. Especially because you caused it.

[Caellath]

"I'll try to check outside while someone tries to turn it off. If I see any of those creatures coming this way, I'll tell you guys so you can leave Faith behind to try diplomacy with the Shades." Milno quipped.

[IronyOwl]

"Faith, what makes you think they wouldn't kill us? Isn't it better to run and be guaranteed to not die, instead of staying, and possibly dying?"

"Because nothing so far has wanted to kill us and we don't even know that 'they' exist, much less what they are. How is this different from deciding that digging through the sand to bedrock might attract something and so we really, really need to run away right now?"

"I don't know if intelligent ones will appear and I never had that idea, but what I do know is that we'll be in trouble if the ones from the pit appear anyway, which is enough reason for us to move away from the tower and watch if those shades are attracted to the sound. It seems like a reasonable security measure. I'm not asking for us to go running like madmen to the Citadel, just to take reasonable precautions."

"A temporary retreat wouldn't be completely unreasonable, though I still think it's excessive. If nothing else, a scout to notice anything entering could be useful."

And what? There you go making wild assumptions again. Wild, baseless assumptions, even- Conrad said nothing whatsoever about Lighteater being armed, so jumping straight from 'noise woke up the ant lions' to 'Lighteater's tribe is going to come wage war on us' is frankly the sort of vapid-minded drivel I'd expect from one of these grunts, Maurice. I'm actually a little surprised and disappointed in you, to be honest."

"You try to sound intelligent when it was your stupid and childish idea that caused his wounds. The only reason no one was disappointed in you is because you are expected to fail already."

"It wasn't stupid or childish, and none of his wounds were to the head. Also, calling someone childish after insulting everyone at every opportunity just reveals how insecure you are. It's not too late to change, you know."

"Stop talking and fetch that rock. It'd be the only thing you've done at this site, and you insist on dragging your feet on even that."

"Do it yourself." he answered with a grin and a chuckle before leaving to check on matters outside.

"And there we have it. Your one opportunity to be more than a paperweight for the second time this mission, and you refuse because... uh... well, the point is you're not doing it, so NYAAAAAAAAH! That's show everyone how childish Faith is, and then everyone will like me! I'm so clever.

I mean really, here I thought you could shoot things AND lift heavy objects. I guess expecting two things was a bit much, but seriously, don't those usually come as a package deal? Don't tell me you're a discount soldier, or that you traded in your ability to do manual labor for the ability to mimic an insult generator."

Even if they don't mean to, those things are dangerous just by being in contact with us, regardless of either side's intentions. And that was when they probably didn't really know we were there. Although, there's also the possibility that this setup would effectively "blind" the smaller shades, but as for the larger ones...

However, we should surely try to shut them down before just going on, as this is supposed to be our second rest site. I'd rather not be forced to repeat Conrad's younger brother's mistake and stay in the Graveyard, which is the first thing fast the elevator.

Now, someone try whacking that tuning-fork-like object again, see if the on trigger is the same as the off trigger.

Oh, and as me, the Doc, and Milno are the only ones here with really close-up interaction, such as it was, with them, I don't think you have nearly as much say in it as us, Faith. Especially because you caused it.

"Dangerous, yes, but also avoidable. Unless you think they're going to absolutely carpet the area, which is, again, beyond baseless."

"I'll try to check outside while someone tries to turn it off. If I see any of those creatures coming this way, I'll tell you guys so you can leave Faith behind to try diplomacy with the Shades." Milno quipped.

"Yeah you think you're joking. But then, you also seem to think everything here wants to kill you, which really isn't the case. Calm down, soldier."

[Yoink]

Charro just stood there, watching the doorway to see if anything changed outside, letting the team's bickering wash over him.
He sighed, shifting his grip on the hat-blade. That Milno certainly seemed to have something against Faith, and the latter didn't seem like she was about to back down. As usual, it had quickly devolved into a petty squabble. This really wasn't the most functional group-- 'Wait, "vapid-minded drivel I'd expect from one of these grunts"? Am I classed as a "grunt"?' Charro glanced askance. Did Faith just refer to him as vapid-minded? He hoped not.

"Ahem. If I might say something? Couldn't we hold the arguing- and the decision as to what we're going to do- Until after we've seen what effect this," He waved his free hand towards the noisy mechanism of the tower, "Actually has?"

>Continue watching door, ready to throw hat-blade at anything nasty that comes through.

[PyroDesu]

Beyond baseless? Are you insane? Don't you remember near the start of this trip? Those things don't just live in the pitted land's pits, they live in the dark, plain and simple, and they get more resistant the further in you go. Near the entrance, they dissolved almost immediately in the light. In the pitted lands, however, they tolerated the light pretty damn well.

They might not blanket the area, but to call such a plausible idea baseless is suicidal. Besides, it is always best to err on the side of caution, unless you have a deathwish.

[piecewise]

Charro gave a start, saw the place spring to life, and quickly disassembled his hat so the blade was ready to throw.
He eyed the entrance warily, speaking aside to the others as he watched for any signs of movement outside. "Um. Is this place a beacon, or does it power something?"

>Ready blade-hat

>Watch through the door for any signs of light shifting, or movement coming this way.

You ready your hat blade and try not to look ridiculous. You fail.

Thomas gazes in horror at the clanging dumbells, gape-jawed.
"Shit. Sorry folks."
Thomas gets a running start and leaps onto the ramp, then grabs the tuning fork. Then, he looks for a way to shut off the dumbell.
"I think there's room for more people. If you guys want me too, I can stay back, but I'd rather not."

[dex:2]
[may dex:4]
You fly like a stone and slam chest first into the broken ramp, sliding off and falling for an instant before May dives to the ground and catches one of your arms, stopping you from falling, though only just barely.

"Wait, what? What just happened? Did somebody do something?

And I really don't see the need to panic. Yes, this place now has this world's equivalent to light. That doesn't mean everything within a hundred miles is suddenly going to swarm in and devour us, it just means creatures can see in here, and possibly see the tower itself from a distance."

Go examine that black pool I found earlier for changes. If there are none, go film noisemakers.

You head back out after yanking the camera away from Milno and back to the room where you found the fluid. It's pretty clear that it's changed when you get there: it's twitching and flowing into odd shapes, like ferrofluid around a magnet. It doesn't seem to be leaving the pool but it's definitely acting up. You film it.

"The prolonged and continued noise will make them see us. I see no reason not to leave this place and keep walking away to the elevator if we aren't able to turn this off."

Take camera, film the mechanisms working and drag Maurice along. If Faith has the camera on her (or anyone is already hugging it for dear life), don't take it.

Just leave the place and look if there are any enemies coming.

You head to the nearest blown open room and take a look out over the visible grounds. You don't see anything particularly out of the ordinary, no horrible monsters at least.






The entire tower seems to shiver as something very large and heavy grinds across the sand somewhere out beyond the lights.

[IronyOwl]

"The Wyrm," Faith said immediately. "Don't panic, but get to cover. It probably doesn't want to eat or harm us, but at that size it doesn't have to to rip us in half.

Also this fluid in here is... uh... acting up. Somebody tell me if they see the Wyrm, I'm going to keep catching this until then."

Keep filming and examining fluid. What could it be doing?

[Spinal_Taper]

Thomas gives May a thankful smile as he pulls himself onto the ramp, then stands. He glances around at his teammates who are inside. Who all is with them?

"There we go, now can we run?"

Not waiting for an answer, he gives Milno the tuning fork before running upstairs with May.

[Caellath]

((@GM: Milno didn't have the camera on him.))

Milno sighs.
"Great, that is probably the wyrm. If it really happens to be it, staying in the tower would probably be our best option, since the open fields of sand hardly look inviting when there is an enormous titan outside; if that sound is actually a mass of shades, we'd probably be better escaping this place."

"Whatever it is, we should try to discover a way of turning that mechanism off as soon as possible. Has anyone tried hitting it against the same surface again? I'll stay here and watch what may be coming."

Keep watching, try to think of a way of deactivating the system if it isn't deactived.

"There we go, now can we run?"

"Do whatever you want. If it happens to be the wyrm, I don't know if staying outside is safer than inside, so I'll keep watching."

"What I do know is that if this tower happens to have a base of the same metal it is built of, the wyrm probably won't come from under us to attack. On the sand, though, it is an entirely different matter."