I'm not even gonna roll. Triumph means you found it in some old, scanned document that was part of one of the plundered archives. Steal the old man's thunder.
"Imperial exploration protocol includes testing all located crystalline solids for certain characteristics." The droid attempted to pry one of the crystals from the wall, and smash it against the floor. "Particularly sturdy crystals reflecting light in this spectrum are to be escalated to Inquisitorius for further testing." It paused in its examinations, tilting its head to one side. "Accessing. Second match found. Archived text, marked restricted. Please wait, decrypting." The droid brought the crystal to PFC Brandel. "These are Kyber crystals. Very valuable. We should mine as much as we can for delivery to the Empire upon our rescue. Bringing the prisoners along was clever of you, they are perfect for this task."
Old Seth was silent as his wizened hands ran over the crystals embedded in the cave wall. He was lost in a bittersweet memory, an echo from a lifetime ago. He reached to his hip, for the familiar weight but his hand grasped nothing. He sighed, looking over his shoulder at his friends.
"Crystals used in the construction of lightsabers. A weapon rare even in the days of the Old Republic," he said. "Many years ago, before the Jedi Knights fell at the end of the Clone Wars, potential Jedi learners were brought to a place much like this one in a ceremony called the Gathering. The students were sent into the cave, a powerful vergence in the Force, to harvest their own crystal."
Seth looked to each of them in turn. "Each one would face a test, an obstacle placed in their path by the Force itself to test their resolve."
He looked around the cave again and began to walk. "If you would make that choice, walk that road... concentrate. It will call to you."
Don't think a roll feels appropriate here; I'm having Seth go into the cave on his own to find a Kyber crystal for himself.
Looking forward to Force visions and other such awesomeness!
Uther nods along at Seth's explanation, hefting the unlit lighsaber in his hands. "Yeah. Never got that far myself..." his usual growl was momentarily lost to a sense of wonder. "...close though. I was maybe a month away? Two? Then our masters spirited all of us younglings away. We took separate transports and headed for the Temple as per protocol, but we lost two ships to clone assaults before we received Master Obi-Wan's message. Everything went to poodoo after that."
Uther wandered around the cavern some more...occasionally stopping and poking at a crystal here and there. Hoping to pry loose a juicy, ripe one.
"Speaking of poodoo," he says after a minute or two, "does anyone else hear strange voices in their head, or just me?"
In the light of the electro-torch, the veins of crystal criss-crossing the walls of the cave twinkle. Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that these veins have been sapped of all but the smallest remnants of their bounty. Nothing remains that is larger than a credit chip, certainly nothing that one might build a lightsaber around.
There is a vague sense that the shaft slopes downward away from the crash site, with the area on the other side of the impact point inaccessible for now, as it is filled with rubble and pieces of TIE fighter. Outside, the sounds of utter chaos still reign. The light coming in through the opening has taken on a decidedly red hue.
At the very edge of the electro-torch's beam, it can be seen that the corridor changes structure, becoming more open. Beyond that, details are difficult to perceive.
Is anyone/everyone going with Seth? Who doesn't have access to light amplification?
"I have no idea. Maybe whatever happened to the warden and her goon changed us too? But more...gently? I don't know, but I gotta say...its making me nervous."
Uther concentrates a moments and fires up the lightsaber, casting its glow about the chamber and adding to the ambient light around us. Losing interest in the crystals for the moment, Uther looks to lightsaber wondering why its so difficult to keep fired up.
I think it would be best to stick together. Oh, and I still need to spend that XP, yes?
The trooper nods slowly. "I don't like it much either. Though whatever this thing is, it saved my life."
Keo gestures toward the retreating light that is Seth. "And him? You think this whole thing is somehow orchestrated by some cosmic power, like the old man?"
I'd love Keo to go out on a vision quest or something but I don't think he's at a point where he would seek it out himself.
In the interest of getting the exploration started, I'm going to post. If you would prefer your character to stay with the vehicles or something, just post that.
Just out of torchlight range from the speeders, the tunnel takes a steep downward slope for a few meters before opening into a strange sort of underground caldera. The depression is large enough that the beams of the electro-torch fail to reach the far side, instead diffusing in the dust that has been kicked up by the impromptu orbital bombardment. Structures are vaguely visible through the dust, most of them positioned on the floor 15 or so meters below the corridor the crash was initially in. On the nearby walls, curving away from the entrance, giving the impression of a circular chamber, intricate carvings could be seen in a variety of scales, from a few centimeters to several meters tall, all integrated in a complex mosaic of images.
"That was a handy perk." Uther concedes to Keo as they move deeper and deeper into the cave. "Orchestrated by some cosmic power? Kid, don't let that Imp propaganda fool you. The Force is real. And the karking thing is? It really does work in mysterious ways. Sometimes it turns you into a great hero...I heard all kinds of stories about the Jedi during the Clone Wars. Skywalker and Kenobi...Plo Koon....Yoda. Heroes. And sometimes," Uther pauses here and motions to himself. "Sometimes it rains poodoo on your whole life...Yeah...I think I had a point there but I lost it. Maybe ask Seth. What do I know?"
I spend that XP working my way down the Aggressor tree. Plausible Deniability and the next rank in Intimidation. Updated my character sheet.
Not really wanting to be left behind, Trooper Brandel walked with Uther further into the tunnel.
"I don't really understand this Force thing, but okay." Keo sighed and shrugged.
He stopped to inspect the walls a moment. "More evidence of the previous occupants of this planet. Maybe we can find answers here. My commanders would love to get a look at this, I bet."
What are the images of, or can I tell through all the dust?
Oops. I missed that there was a more...abrupt...transition between rooms.
We're jumping in, yeah? I mean...we have to. Why else are we playing this game if not to jump into trouble? Uther will cover the rear, you guys can go ahead.
As you descend the short distance into the caldera, reality shifts and shudders around you. The air fills with the sound of hammer and chisel, repeated dozens of times in a chaotic non-rhythym. Humanoids, blue and green in the light, worked at the formations of crystals on the walls. Carts were pushed to and fro, with the miners loading armfuls of crystals into them as they passed. At the center of the depression stood a huge huge of crystal, stretching unbroken from the floor to the ceiling.
"Many are making much progress" rumbled the Beast, her huge head swinging to take in the scene, the blue light of the crystals glinting from her tusks. A few deceptively lumbering steps took her deeper into the room, directly at the foot of the crystal spire. "Soon Few will need to assist Many in moving the Focus.
An oddly civilized grunt issued from behind the beast, followed by a stifled yawn. "Size matters not, Sister. It shall be easy enough to move the Focus once all is in preparation." Pointed teeth clip off the last few words, the face they belong to glowing like the tusks of the Beast. "We have matrices to build before then. Come.
DE-902/Nuun/Uther
As Keo and Seth descend into the caldera, visual contact is difficult to maintain. It seems like they are probably lost in the airborne dust below your level.
Need to ask for clarification here -- are we seeing a giant Kyber crystal in the middle of the room? or is that part of this illusion/memory walk we're doing?
Need to ask for clarification here -- are we seeing a giant Kyber crystal in the middle of the room? or is that part of this illusion/memory walk we're doing?
Basically I want to roll to disbelieve
You're definately seeing it right now. Edit; along with literal cartloads of smaller versions. There wasn't one there before got came down, though.
The droid shifted from foot to foot as it watched PFC Brandel descend into the gloom. "The value trade-of here is unclear. Is it better to follow, or stay here?"
There are two issues here for me: 1) IC: Uther is waiting for the others to drop down ahead of him so Uther can cover the rear, then he was totally going to join the others. 2) OOC: I'm not sure if Uther should be part of this vision or not seeing as how its already in play...
"What are you two waiting for?" Uther growls at Nuun and the droid, "I'm not standing up here all day...its boring."
Posts
Geth, roll 1eP+1eA for Knowledge Lore - crystals?
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
"Imperial exploration protocol includes testing all located crystalline solids for certain characteristics." The droid attempted to pry one of the crystals from the wall, and smash it against the floor. "Particularly sturdy crystals reflecting light in this spectrum are to be escalated to Inquisitorius for further testing." It paused in its examinations, tilting its head to one side. "Accessing. Second match found. Archived text, marked restricted. Please wait, decrypting." The droid brought the crystal to PFC Brandel. "These are Kyber crystals. Very valuable. We should mine as much as we can for delivery to the Empire upon our rescue. Bringing the prisoners along was clever of you, they are perfect for this task."
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
The trooper stiffens in surprise.
"Kyber? Aren't those used for..?" Keo's voice trails off as he admires the walls.
Old Seth was silent as his wizened hands ran over the crystals embedded in the cave wall. He was lost in a bittersweet memory, an echo from a lifetime ago. He reached to his hip, for the familiar weight but his hand grasped nothing. He sighed, looking over his shoulder at his friends.
"Crystals used in the construction of lightsabers. A weapon rare even in the days of the Old Republic," he said. "Many years ago, before the Jedi Knights fell at the end of the Clone Wars, potential Jedi learners were brought to a place much like this one in a ceremony called the Gathering. The students were sent into the cave, a powerful vergence in the Force, to harvest their own crystal."
Seth looked to each of them in turn. "Each one would face a test, an obstacle placed in their path by the Force itself to test their resolve."
He looked around the cave again and began to walk. "If you would make that choice, walk that road... concentrate. It will call to you."
Looking forward to Force visions and other such awesomeness!
Uther nods along at Seth's explanation, hefting the unlit lighsaber in his hands. "Yeah. Never got that far myself..." his usual growl was momentarily lost to a sense of wonder. "...close though. I was maybe a month away? Two? Then our masters spirited all of us younglings away. We took separate transports and headed for the Temple as per protocol, but we lost two ships to clone assaults before we received Master Obi-Wan's message. Everything went to poodoo after that."
Uther wandered around the cavern some more...occasionally stopping and poking at a crystal here and there. Hoping to pry loose a juicy, ripe one.
"Speaking of poodoo," he says after a minute or two, "does anyone else hear strange voices in their head, or just me?"
"Voices? No, not really. Just.. growling."
Keo returns to the speeder and slumps to the ground with his back to it.
"Can anyone explain what's happening to me? I can't understand how I survived that detonator, and I've felt strange ever since I woke up."
In the light of the electro-torch, the veins of crystal criss-crossing the walls of the cave twinkle. Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that these veins have been sapped of all but the smallest remnants of their bounty. Nothing remains that is larger than a credit chip, certainly nothing that one might build a lightsaber around.
There is a vague sense that the shaft slopes downward away from the crash site, with the area on the other side of the impact point inaccessible for now, as it is filled with rubble and pieces of TIE fighter. Outside, the sounds of utter chaos still reign. The light coming in through the opening has taken on a decidedly red hue.
At the very edge of the electro-torch's beam, it can be seen that the corridor changes structure, becoming more open. Beyond that, details are difficult to perceive.
Is anyone/everyone going with Seth? Who doesn't have access to light amplification?
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
"I have no idea. Maybe whatever happened to the warden and her goon changed us too? But more...gently? I don't know, but I gotta say...its making me nervous."
Uther concentrates a moments and fires up the lightsaber, casting its glow about the chamber and adding to the ambient light around us. Losing interest in the crystals for the moment, Uther looks to lightsaber wondering why its so difficult to keep fired up.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
The trooper nods slowly. "I don't like it much either. Though whatever this thing is, it saved my life."
Keo gestures toward the retreating light that is Seth. "And him? You think this whole thing is somehow orchestrated by some cosmic power, like the old man?"
In some respects, this whole campaign is going to be a vision quest.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
In the interest of getting the exploration started, I'm going to post. If you would prefer your character to stay with the vehicles or something, just post that.
Just out of torchlight range from the speeders, the tunnel takes a steep downward slope for a few meters before opening into a strange sort of underground caldera. The depression is large enough that the beams of the electro-torch fail to reach the far side, instead diffusing in the dust that has been kicked up by the impromptu orbital bombardment. Structures are vaguely visible through the dust, most of them positioned on the floor 15 or so meters below the corridor the crash was initially in. On the nearby walls, curving away from the entrance, giving the impression of a circular chamber, intricate carvings could be seen in a variety of scales, from a few centimeters to several meters tall, all integrated in a complex mosaic of images.
Current Destiny Pool: ○○○○○○○
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
"That was a handy perk." Uther concedes to Keo as they move deeper and deeper into the cave. "Orchestrated by some cosmic power? Kid, don't let that Imp propaganda fool you. The Force is real. And the karking thing is? It really does work in mysterious ways. Sometimes it turns you into a great hero...I heard all kinds of stories about the Jedi during the Clone Wars. Skywalker and Kenobi...Plo Koon....Yoda. Heroes. And sometimes," Uther pauses here and motions to himself. "Sometimes it rains poodoo on your whole life...Yeah...I think I had a point there but I lost it. Maybe ask Seth. What do I know?"
Not really wanting to be left behind, Trooper Brandel walked with Uther further into the tunnel.
"I don't really understand this Force thing, but okay." Keo sighed and shrugged.
He stopped to inspect the walls a moment. "More evidence of the previous occupants of this planet. Maybe we can find answers here. My commanders would love to get a look at this, I bet."
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
"You mean your possessed commanders who tried to kill us while lying in our hospital beds?" Uther scorns. "That's not tempting fate..."
Uther will let the others do the heavily lifting exploration-wise and instead keep an eye out for things that will try to kill them.
If you leave the tunnel for this new area, please be explicit about doing so. And remember that there's a pretty steep drop down into it.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
We're jumping in, yeah? I mean...we have to. Why else are we playing this game if not to jump into trouble?
Sharing a look with Uther, Keo begins lowering himself into the new room, intending to get a better look around.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
As you descend the short distance into the caldera, reality shifts and shudders around you. The air fills with the sound of hammer and chisel, repeated dozens of times in a chaotic non-rhythym. Humanoids, blue and green in the light, worked at the formations of crystals on the walls. Carts were pushed to and fro, with the miners loading armfuls of crystals into them as they passed. At the center of the depression stood a huge huge of crystal, stretching unbroken from the floor to the ceiling.
"Many are making much progress" rumbled the Beast, her huge head swinging to take in the scene, the blue light of the crystals glinting from her tusks. A few deceptively lumbering steps took her deeper into the room, directly at the foot of the crystal spire. "Soon Few will need to assist Many in moving the Focus.
An oddly civilized grunt issued from behind the beast, followed by a stifled yawn. "Size matters not, Sister. It shall be easy enough to move the Focus once all is in preparation." Pointed teeth clip off the last few words, the face they belong to glowing like the tusks of the Beast. "We have matrices to build before then. Come.
DE-902/Nuun/Uther
As Keo and Seth descend into the caldera, visual contact is difficult to maintain. It seems like they are probably lost in the airborne dust below your level.
Current Destiny Pool: ○○○○○○○
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Basically I want to roll to disbelieve
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
The droid shifted from foot to foot as it watched PFC Brandel descend into the gloom. "The value trade-of here is unclear. Is it better to follow, or stay here?"
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
I'm a little worried that I haven't left Nuun, Uther and DE-902 a path forward that doesn't feel suicidal in-character.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
"What are you two waiting for?" Uther growls at Nuun and the droid, "I'm not standing up here all day...its boring."
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.