Day 129 and Day 130 :: The Mancer Observatory

[bastionpc]

Who: Nathaniel and the characters listed here
Open: Closed
When: Days 129 and 130
Where: The Mancer Observatory
What: With enough power and supplies to make the long trip out to the Mancer Observatory, a small group has gone there to look for clues about the Calamity.
Format: action
Warnings: None so far

[After finding several pieces of information and some intense discussion, Nathaniel has decided that it would be best to head to the headquarters of the Mancers, the Mancer Observatory. After all, if anyone would have an understanding of what cause the Calamity, it is the Mancers, and several clues have been pointing in that direction already. Nathaniel is apprehensive of what he will find there, but he still has to look. If something can help them figure out just what happened to rip the entire universe apart, then maybe they can find a way to fix it.

However, Nathaniel can't do this alone. He is just one man, and he cannot protect himself on the Skyway for as long as it will take to get to the Mancer Observatory. So, he has arranged to have a small team of residents go with him, so that they can use teamwork to accomplish their goal of finding out more about the Calamity. With rations and supplies for two days, the group sets off from the Bastion on Day 129, early in the morning.

Hopefully all of them will return, safe and sound, in a day or so.]

Thread links:

Day 129- getting started
Day 129- Observatory: front gates
Day 130- continuing the search
Day 130- the records building

Comments

getting started

[bastionpc]

[As they travel on the Skyway, headed towards the Mancer Observatory, Nathaniel decides to share some important information with the group.]

Okay, I gotta warn you guys: I'm not sure how much of it is still active, but the Mancer headquarters is booby-trapped to hell and back. I'll be there to deactivate any that are still left around, but while we're there you guys need to be really careful about what you touch. You could set off a trap without meaning to.

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu nods, listening carefully.]

I've dealt with some trapped areas before... I'll try to be careful...

[If nothing else he can be a good meatshield.]

[hellpyre]

Right...

[Booby-traps.

Rin let out a huff as she followed along, hefting one of the heavier bags with rations and equipment along with her swords.

Fucking wonderful. That was not a place for a reckless girl like herself, but she was just going to have to try her best to not completely throw herself all over the place and accidentally activate something.

She did promise Bon she would come back alright, after all...]

[superdrowningskills]

[Alucard heaves a sigh at the news.]

Ah traps, how I have missed thee...

[The dhampire is not generally given to sarcasm, but given how utterly used to dodging traps he'd been forced to become, it's rather warranted in this case.]

[wayofvoice]

[Paar's voice comes from above, flying as usual.]

I will keep such warning in mind, although I do not think I will have to deal with such things.

[He kinda. Can't. Fit in most buildings.]

Unless, of course, this place is considerably large enough, or there are many windows.

[After a thousand years of having to live on a mountain, you get used to having to cling to cliffsides and such. He's fairly certain that if Mancer buildings are at least as sturdy as Nord architecture, they... should be able to withstand him scaling the sides and peering in windows.]

[freedom_engineer]

At the risk of sounding overconfident... I'm not terribly worried about traps.

[Traps are an engineering problem. He can't afford to be lazy, but spotting a mechanism to trigger it shouldn't be terribly difficult.]

If you're alert and cautious, most traps can be defeated with an application of wits. I'm a little more worried about automated defenses. Cameras, turrets, hunter-killer systems... that sorta thing. Things that will take offense to just our presence, rather than our sloppiness...

Mancer Observatory: front gates

[bastionpc]

[After more than a half-day's worth of travel, the group finally arrives at the front gates to the observatory. Thankfully Nathaniel has his key with him, so he can unlock the gates and allow the group in.]

Okay, we've got two choices on which way to go.

One, we can go through building A- [He indicates to a squat, three-story building off to the left.] -and enter the Observatory proper that way.

Our second option is to cut through the hangar- [At that he indicates to a very large building, with doors big enough to let Paar through.] -and then through the courtyard, which will eventually lead to the Observatory.

Both have their pluses and minuses. In building A, we're less likely to get surprised by monsters, as it was well-protected against them. We might also find some usable technology there to take back with us. The downside is that our dragon buddy won't fit through, so he'll have to fly over and meet up with us on the other side. Also, there's definitely more traps going through building A.

Going through the hangar would be shorter, and Paar could go with us. However, there's probably going to be monsters in there, and we'll need to kill them quickly, before they call for help.

I'll leave it up to you guys which way we go.

[wayofvoice]

[Paarthurnax listens carefully as Nathaniel explains things, having landed to take in everything without the Mancer having to raise his voice too much. Building A sounds as though it is the thief's option- enter quietly without drawing too much attention and bypassing traps. Building B seems a more warrior's option, although one that would have to be done with quickly. Still, he prefers it. It would help him keep an eye on the group instead of having to guess what is happening.]

If the beasts in the second building are grouped together... My Thu'um would be able to fell them quickly.

[rebellionsheart]

[Jazz considers both options carefully. One has resources but will cost them their largest member. The other way they can keep the dragon but that means they'll miss out on said resources. Nothing said they couldn't return to search building A another time. This mission was for answers, after all.]

Staying together sounds like the better option. I say we keep our most powerful members together. I can help take out a few monsters quickly.

[Jazz hoisted his large sword up with one hand to demonstrate.] If we hit them hard and fast, they won't have time to react let alone call in reinforcements.

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin glances at everyone, and he looks at Paarth especially. He likes the idea of a safer route, but that means splitting up. If this place is as prone to booby traps as Nathaniel indicated, it was also likely that there might be some sort of anti air defenses, if only to scare off the bigger Peckers.]

Assuming the place is still standing while we're done, we can stick our noses in the building on our way out, or come back at a later date. I want to check for the tech reserves of this place when we're done, but we should stick together for now. My curiosity can be satisfied at another time.

[Of course, if this place actually was housing something that could reveal that someone had been responsible for the calamity, it struck him as likely that there would probably be something that would wipe that information off the map if it were uncovered. But for now, he'd stay quiet about his concerns. Without something more concrete, that was just paranoia talking.]

[bastionpc]

Well, it sounds like you guys want to go towards the hanger, so let's get going.

[It's a bit farther to the hangar, but there are no monsters outside, thankfully. Nathaniel goes up to one of the big hangar doors, and he peers into the broken remains of a window.

Inside, there are three Gasfella, lazing about and not really doing much of anything. Scouts of some sort, probably. Currently they are unaware of the party's presence, and Nathaniel quickly turns to the others and holds a finger up to his lips to warn them to keep quiet. Then, he speaks in a low whisper.]

Who can take them out quickly and quietly?

[superdrowningskills]

[Were he alone, Alucard would be more inclined to go through Building A. Looking around at his companions though...]

To be blunt, I hold more confidence in our combined ability in combat than I do our combined ability to dodge traps. Thus I agree that it is likely a much safer idea to go by route of the hangar.

[hellpyre]

[Rin peeks up with Nathaniel next to him, much smaller and lower on the window by comparison but still able to see in to it. She frowns, shaking her head slowly as she answers as quietly as she can:]

Not me. I can't do quiet to save my life...

Continuing the search

[bastionpc]

[Once everyone is rested and refreshed, Nathaniel will put down the gate so they can keep on moving. Fortunately they can walk outside the rest of the way, as Paar seems to be keeping the monsters far enough away that they don't have to worry about being attacked.

Their destination is a good half-hour's walk from where they stopped to rest, a large building which Nathaniel had referred to as building J. But when they get close, they'll find that building J is no longer there. Instead, all that remains is a large crater, which has also taken out parts of the nearby buildings.

Nathnaiel, for his part, looks utterly shocked by this.]

Gods above, what happened here?

[amnesiadragon]

[For everything that Ryu doesn't know, a giant destructive crater isn't one of them. Of course, there's only been one that he's seen and so he heads towards it, curious and excited.]

There was a crater like that when I woke up.

[There couldn't be another Endless there... could there?]

[wayofvoice]

Volgyol, do not stray.

[Paarthurnax follows as well, although he takes care not to go too far from the rest of the group. He knows quite well that it's been his presence preventing any attacks until now.]

We should look from above before going near it. [He looks back to the others.] A view from the air may be more enlightening.

[So there's an offer for an aerial dragon patrol, but he'll stay put if anyone thinks it's a bad idea.]

[thirdoutofthree]

[ Viola leaned on her bow, surveying the damage. There's definitely not a building there anymore. ]

I sure hope this wasn't the place you wanted to check out.

[ Hopefully Paarthurnax would see something more useful from the sky. ]

[bastionpc]

It was.

[Nathaniel just sighs while running a hand through his hair in frustration. Nothing ever goes his way. He should have expected something to go horribly wrong.]

It doesn't look like anything survived the blast, either. Whatever they were working on, it's probably long gone, unless they stashed the blueprints in one of the other buildings or something.

[superdrowningskills]

[Considering that this was possibly the origin point of the Calamity, Alucard is honestly not surprised that the building is nothing more than a crater. Mildly annoyed, yes, but not surprised.]

I suppose we should search the other buildings. If not the blueprints, there are likely some surviving supplies that would be of use to us.

[If past experience holds true here, there is always something of value at the end of every path explored.]

final stop: the records building

[bastionpc]

[With the research building destroyed, it looked like all hope was lost in finding out information about the Calamity. Only a few scraps of remains were left, tiny clues that barely gave a hint into what had happened.

But then Colin had given a good idea, and once the fiasco at the research building was done, everyone headed back towards the entrance, where the records building was. This building is a large one, three stories tall, with rooms and rooms of files and information.]

Okay, there's actually some underground levels in this building. All the floors above ground are information on the Mancers themselves and things available to the public. The floors underground are the secret things, which is probably where we're gonna have to look.

Paar, can you keep a watch out here? We're close enough to the rest of the Skyway that monsters might start wandering in.

[Speaking of which, there are some monsters lurking around here, but they are clearly chattering with each other. That is probably not a good sign.]

[wayofvoice]

[Paarthurnax already has his eyes locked onto the creatures lurking about, neck stretched upwards and the rest of his body still. It almost seems as though he hasn't heard what Nathaniel's said. Finally, he gives a slow nod.]

Dein tirahk. These places are still dangerous to us... [His heavy gaze finally moves to focus on the rest of the group.] Particularly to you.

[He knows all of them are plenty capable of defending themselves. Of that, there's no doubt. But they are also small, easier to outnumber and without armor like scales to protect them. If any one is in danger, it's some of them. He looks to Rin.]

Do you wish to stay here with myself, Rin?

[hellpyre]

[Rin was feeling worse than she had before. This must be what illness actually felt like - exhaustion just from moving about, more so when she exerted herself, and a general feel of ache that still went down to her bones. She looked pretty bad, too, arms crossed over herself in a manner that showed how uncomfortable she felt right now.

She wasn't sure how much help she would be down there. If there was a higher chance of monsters trying to get in from the outside, then that was probably the better place for her.

Remaining unusually quiet, she nodded to Paar.]

[freedom_engineer]

Any idea what sort of security we're looking at inside? I'm guessing that the mancers didn't just let people stroll in and read the good stuff.

[Colin gives Rin and Paarth a glance, before settling his gaze on Rin.]

You gonna be okay? Do I need to ask Paarthurnax to light a fire under your ass?

[hellpyre]

I'm fine.

[Except she wasn't and she knew it. But she was going to keep pushing forward regardless.]

Just don't get yourself killed in there, okay?

[bastionpc]

There's going to be some kind of trap on the underground floors. I don't know exactly what it is, but it probably either kills the intruder, or destroys the information. I can get us through the above-ground levels, but I didn't have the clearance to know anything about the underground ones.

[Meaning the group going in will have to be on their guard.]

I think going in two groups would be best. Then some people can look up here for things, while others go to the underground to get the serious stuff. We'll be done faster if we do it that way.