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[GiglameshDespair]

Ketsuki spoke quickly, concious of Tomik disappearing further away.
"He's already gone, Kyle. Unless you intend to split the group - something I do not recommend in thsi place - it is best we go after him. I suggest suspending your comments until afterwards - there you may air your grievances, when he has a cooler head."

Then she turned and followed.

[mastahcheese]

Zane recalled what Tomik had said earlier about still being able to think straight while stressed.

He made a mental note to smack Nico with a heavy tome the next time he saw him.

[Solymr]

: Ah dammit... Let's just follow him.

Everyone followed the path to the left, but Zane, who had lowered his guard and his tomes, found himself darted and starting to feel sick.

Target roll: 8. Zane!
Hit: 90. Roll: 31.
Zane is poisoned!

The group reached a big room with four buttons, one north, one east, one west and one south.

: Hey, this is the room I reached last time! Maybe you can help me with it...

Harold went to the center of the room and pointed down. There were marks on the tile:

233926112

[GiglameshDespair]

"Any ideas?"

[mastahcheese]

Zane sets his tomes down to pull the dart out of his shoulder.

"Of course, the one time I think of something other than impending doom..."

He picked his books back up and set them back in the pockets on the inside of his robes, and looked down at the numbers.

"The numbers could relate to directions, but then we'd have things like north-east thrown in there. Unless they expect you to hit multiple buttons at the same time."

He rubbed his chin.

"Strange. Despite there being nine digits, it only uses one, two, three, six, and nine. Maybe it's mathematical in nature?"

[Powder Miner]

Torn between enraged at Kyle for obvious reasons and mollified by watching Tomik punch him right in his face, Senija had simply shot Kyle the most threatening bloody-murder glare she could, before sprinting to follow Tomik.

Now with the group in the room, she had her hands on Tomik's shoulders, trying quietly to console him, to the best of her ability.

[Swordstar]

Tomik had been staring at the puzzle, but as Senija gripped his shoulder, he turned and buried his head in her shoulder for a few seconds. He knew that he had messed up by punching Kyle. He knew it. He was supposed to be the leader. He was supposed to be calm. But here he was... Ugh.

_{"I need to get a grip..."}

Straightening up, he turned back to the inscription and nodded.

"Right. So we need to figure out what this is saying. Perhaps it has something to do with how we should press the buttons? Pick one and count around, press that button, continue counting? Or does it translate to letters somehow?"

[UXLZ]

"The digits three, six, and nine could relate to the cardinal directions on a clock. Unfortunately I don't know what the ones and twos are for. Initially I thought they could be twelve, or the 'north' direction, but they aren't arranged correctly for th- Wait a minute, The sequence is mirrored! Three corresponding to one, nine corresponding to six and twos maintaining their value, but... Why? Am I just over thinking things? Is it coincidental?"

By 'mirrored', Abel meant that the positions of numbers were a mirror, ignoring their value. If 2 = Q, 3 and 1 = R, 9 and 6 = E, then the sequence would look like

2 339 2 611 2

Q RRE Q ERR Q

He had no idea what it could mean, though.

Speaking to Tomik, he continues.

"Your idea seems quite plausible, but I feel like we're missing something. Are the buttons marked in any way? Can the  panel with the numbers be flipped or depressed? There's too many possibilities at the moment, we need more information.

Though maybe it was the intent of the people who built this ruin that only the ones who already had that information could pass this point."

[Sirus]

While Harlan always approved of Kyle getting hit, now was probably not the time. He stared at the numbers on the floor for a while before shrugging.

: "My expertise is in locks, not codes and puzzles. Sorry."

[kj1225]

"If you guys leave I can test one of the ideas we had. Then I'd be the only one to get hit with whatever traps are in here."

[UXLZ]

"Don't sacrifice yourself like that, it's not worth it. We all have a burden to bear, and this isn't yours. Besides, for all we know whatever activates if we fail will bring the whole place down on our heads. This area is obviously more important than the ones we've been through thus far."

[GiglameshDespair]

"Unless we can work it out, however, we may have to take that chance.

All the traps so far have been to hinder rather than kill: the traps we encountered could have been much deadlier... unless their potency has merely degraded with ages past, of course. But there is a good chance if we fail we will not all just be killed.

Still..." She said dryly. "I suggest we try not to trust our record of luck."

[Solymr]

: No way you can do it alone. Not because I don't approve of heroic sacrifices and all that, but it's impossible to solve it with one person. I tried, and the traps trigger faster than I could move from one button to another.

[mastahcheese]

"Why didn't you mention that earlier? Now we know we need multiple people, and we know what kind of traps there are, from your experience. What are they?"

[Solymr]

: I tried but you guys talk too fast. I also know that the buttons can apparently be pressed more than once, and when I couldn't reach the other button in time, a blob of something shot at me. I blocked it with my favorite tome and it dissolved into nothing, so be careful.