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Yes

4 (14.3%)

No

1 (3.6%)

It was fun for a long time but towards the end it just started to drag

6 (21.4%)

I wish I could have joined in.

17 (60.7%)

Total Members Voted: 28

[WillowLuman]

[Sorry, was kept away for 3 hours.]

"Them being like us would seem likely, given what I remember from that carved wall. I don't think these people made that wall, though. Something seems different about the carvings in here. For one, there's barely any. It feels pretty military or something. Another, there don't seem to be any marks on them. Anyway, if these people were so advanced, any traps they'd have would probably be a lot nastier than serrated discs and spikes."
HugoLuman craned his neck, trying to see around the turn in the wide, spiraling downwards passage. "I'll go in first, if you like. I think Gizogin might be right about the disarming."

[wierd]

"I still think we should send the deadguy... but as a precaution, somebody should stay on this side of the door, just in case. If there's a hiccup in the system, ad it decides it wants to kill us afterall, i'd like somebody to be able to go report about it at least."

[Oliolli]

Oliolli turned to look at Hugo.
"It may sound rude, but you're the larget of us all. If blades and whatnot start whizzing around us, you'll have the hardest time dodging them. Then again... is it really a good idea to sacrifice our medics? Maybe one of the Gizogins should stay. As for wierd, his skills may well be necessary for the defence of the fort."
"Are we really the only ones with no reason to stay behind?"


I'll be going to sleep now, back in about 8-10 hours...

[WillowLuman]

[I've got no reason]
"Alright, wake him up if you want, Wierd. I guess the flesh Gizogin should stay behind, and X will come with us. If that door closes, try the password again."

[wierd]

Weird nodded.  He hadn't tried to raise anything since his misadventure 2 days ago. He wasn't sure if he could still do this, but he was gonna try anyway.  He no longer percieved the energy of death the same way he used to, now only a vague memory, like waking from a dream. He'd have to try something different.

He walked over to the splayed-out, face-down skeleton. It was hard to describe, but the sensation he felt near the corpse was like that of longing, begging, desperation.. a starving person chained just out of reach of a banquet table.  It tugged at him, like a leaf on an eddy in a flowing stream. It was painful to open himself to... he didn't trust the soul that had lived in that body, but it simply could not find rest, being that of a necromancer. He decided that if "sparrow" didn't behave himself on his chance to attain satisfaction, he could always banish and seal him.

He closed his eyes, and let the music whirl and dance in his mind. The urge to dance around the room was hard to overcome. He placed his hand on the clavicle of the dry, crumbling corpse, and brought the lament of the pitiful creature into harmony of the celestial music, letting it ebb and flow into it, and fill it.

"What's he doing?!" He heard Lana demand from Gizogin. "No idea.. haven't seen that before.." he replied.  Weird ignored them. There was only the calling, the lost soul, and the offer of the second chance.  Like landing a fish on a line, there was a sudden tug on the flow, and he felt a hand grab his foot.

[WillowLuman]

The skeleton rose into the air, tattered shadows flying around it and merging with it's decayed garment. It lowered down onto it's feet, now clothed in an exquisite brown robe, and it stretched it's arms out. A staff appeared in the outstretched hand, and the skeleton faded, replaced by a man, who seemed to be illuminated from an unseen source. Something about him seemed insubstantial.

He stood tall, gaunt, and cheerless. There was a frighteningly hungry look in his eyes as he looked around, taking only half a second to look at the people before turning his gaze into the open passage. The Great Sparrow spoke in the language of the native humans, with an accent vaguely resembling an eastern european one. "It is open, at last! What dream is this? Or have I awakened?" He turned to Wierd, and raised an eyebrow. "Impossible."

[Gizogin]

Gizogin wasn't too happy about being left behind, but he could see the sense in it.  "Okay, I guess I'll stay here and stand guard or whatever.  X can contact me if you're in trouble."  Suddenly, he was talking to no one.  Lana had disappeared again.  "Lana?  What are you doing over there?"

Lana was standing over by one of the walls outside the door, focusing intently.  Her right hand was outstretched, inky black shadows covering it and the wall in front of her.  Wherever they touched, the wall sizzled and blackened.  Lana moved her hand in a large circle, burning the shape into the tunnel.  Finally, the circle complete, she dropped her hand.  "I'm making sure we have a way out of here," she explained.  "If things get hairy, I can pop open a portal between here and wherever we are."  She lifted her hand again, her shadows writing strange, angular runes around the inside of the circle.

[ninja'd x2]

[wierd]

"The great sparrow", whatever his real name might be, stood head and shoulders taller than him. Typical for humans when they stood next to dwarves like himself. Weird looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You aren't supposed to talk..." murmured weird at the spectral, yet strangely solid manifestation. It wasn't supposed to look like that either... and the resonance in his head! There was still an active feedback.

"....You.... what are you?" The specter asked, almost frightfully.

"Necromancer." Weird said with a wry smile looking up at his undead counterpart. "But I beat the contract."

"Impossible!" Scoffed the ghost.  Weird smiled broadly. He still had the amplifier gloves on. In a sudden fit of mischeif, he filled himself with as much of the music as he could hold, and lt it reverberate across the connection, threatening to completely overwhelm the resonance of the ghost. Its eyes popped wide.

Weird made a shit eating grin.

[WillowLuman]

"Is this the power that lies in this place!? Or... no..." He tapped his staff on the ground, struggling to remain stable in the current of music. "There is something more about you, something unique. I bow to your knowledge, dwarf. It is clear that you are the greatest Necromancer in the world. But why have you recalled me to this place? If this door stands open, then clearly you know more of this place than I do. There is nothing I could tell you that you do not know."

[Gizogin]

Gizo X stared intently at Lana.  The energy readings he was picking up were worrying.  He paid careful attention to the flow of magic, making sure to remember everything Lana was doing.  That kind of spell would be immensely useful.

Gizogin, on the other hand, was watching wierd and "The Great Sparrow."  There seemed to be some conflict between them.  He sighed; all these distractions were taking far too long.  He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.  "If you want to get any real exploration done, you'd better get a move on."

[wierd]

"Well.. I was actually hoping for just a corpse..." weird tried to be soothing. Discussing the misappropriation of corporeal remains with the rightful owner was a bit like being caught red-handed. "But it looks like I got a whole ghost along with it.." he poked the faintly luminous form with his finger, and marveled at the solidity. "We have a delicate problem....  see, the hallway has obvious traps in it. I *was* going to send your corpse walking down inside but... I don't suppose you'd be willing to risk being de-corporeated a second time to see what's down there?"

Weird smiled at him.  "I assure you, nobody's taken more than just a few steps down that hall in a *very* long time. Whatdya say?"

[WillowLuman]

"What a strange tongue your companions speak," said the Necromancer. "I assume, then, that I am to be your guide? To walk in front and withstand the defenses of the ancients, should they have left surprises? Very well. I will do this. The dead have nothing to fear."

With that, they all walked down the tunnel, X waving to his counterpart before they went out of sight around the bend. Gizogin frowned. He hoped they wouldn't need Lana's portal.

ninja'd

[wierd]

Lights kicked on in the hallway as they descended, being triggered by motion sensors in the walls.

"..Marvelous!.." cooed the ghost of the great sparrow. "..absolutely astounding!"

"They're just fluorescent lights..." weird responded. "They're kicking on as the breakers kick on."

The ghost halted, and turned around, a disturbed mix of incredulity and shock. "You mean.. you ...KNOW of this magic?!"

"Oh Psaw! It's just mercury vapor inside a phosphor coated glass tube! You throw a good high voltage charge down it, and you get secondary emission."

The Sparrow's ghostly eyes bulged, as the incredulity deepened. "Wha..how....?!" The shock was only momentary however, as the expression and demeanor became scowling. "For what purpose are we descending this stair, if you already possess such secrets!?" The ghost demanded.

"To find out what happened to the builders, of course." Said weird jovially. "But..." his voice trailed down somewhat. "If you really .... wanna know...  " he motioned with his finger for the ghost to bend down lower. "I already had that knowledge before I became a necromancer. Your diary suggested that you died in desperation to learn such things.... I'm filled to bursting with it, and it doesn't come with a contract. I want to help you. If the answers you seek aren't down there, and if it would help you rest easy, I can tell you everything I know.. I assure you, I could kill most people with boredom, the depths I could relate of it."

The goggled eyed expression returned to the ghost. "If that's a promise..." it smiled. "Very well. Let us continue..."

And with the that ghost continued to marvel at the technology in the halll kicking on as they descended... and weird continued to ruefully shake his head.

[Gizogin]

[Wierd, are you and TGS speaking in Dwarven (Dwarvish?)?  He mentioned that we were speaking in a strange language.]

[wierd]

[We are outsiders, and will have "foriegn" accents that don't have a known corresponding culture. Especially as a midwestern american forumite, weird will be especially harsh sounding to the ghost.]