With a resigned sigh, DE-902 followed Nuun into the pit. "If I fall and damage my servos, it is your duty as prisoners to ensure I promptly receive maintenance and repairs."
A pair of feet, bare but composed entirely of shadow, alit upon the floor soundlessly. The cavern was empty now, the workers all gone, along with the central spire, cannibalized into the Choirleader's great Focus. A whisper of movement took her across the room, to the foot of the column of kyber crystals that once dominated the chamber. Her dark eyes, spots of black among grey, swept from the walls to the floor, marked by tracks but unadorned by the carvings to come. "So many sing so quickly, now, came the soft voice, to no one in particular. "But if we falter, there is no escape.
DE-902
The dust cloud is thick, but your sensors should still be able to pick up Nuun if he's nearby. Or Seth and PFC Brandel, for that matter. The only humanoid on your scanners is Uther. Through the dust, you can see that the floor has been intricately carved with a series of pictograms laid out in some sort of geometric pattern. That pattern continues up the walls. Rotted out carts and rubble dominate the immediate landscape.
The droid flicked its optical sensors on and off a few times in the attempt to recalibrate them for the obscured surroundings. "Executing exploration routine. Recording output set to verbose for later analysis."
You enter a dust-choked room with low visibility. The floors have PICTOGRAMS and the walls have geometric PATTERNS. Mining debris is scattered about. Nearby: UTHER
> LOOK PICTOGRAMS
> LOOK PATTERNS
Using a Destiny Point to upgrade because we have 'em in spades and droids using the Force amuse me.
Geth, roll 1eP+2eA for Perception to notice important details on the floor and walls
There is no central spire, but you can see a mounding of rubble where it probably stood. The pictograms (both wall and floor) seem to be of a variety of different types of fauna and humanoids, along with some scattered dots and lines. Your systems can pick it up and record it fairly easily. A close examination of the carvings on the floor near you reveals traces of carbon scoring, as if they were burned into the rock.
Interesting. Too bad the droid wasn't at the expedition point from earlier, I don't think it would realize the similarities (unless it was recorded / uploaded).
Interesting. Too bad the droid wasn't at the expedition point from earlier, I don't think it would realize the similarities (unless it was recorded / uploaded).
Do stormtroopers have helmet cams? If they do, you've probably seen footage. If only so you could get a sense of what you were treating them for.
"It's a vision, lad, an echo of the past. Whatever that device was in the chamber allowed these entities to inhabit our bodies as a passive influence. For good or ill you're now open to the flows of the Force. Watch and see."
The bone-white head of the theosophist cantered slightly, and a slight smile spread across her face. "They know us, Sister. The old one and the Soldier," she nearly laughed, "they are here, now."
The head of the great beast thrashed, searching in vain for the interlopers. "WHERE," she bellowed, her hand at her belt for her weapon. Nearby workers gaped in fear and retreated from the huge creature.
The softer voice sighed, a sound audible only due to the localized work stopage. "Calm yourself, Sister. They are here," she pointed first at herself, then at the Beast, "not here." She spread her long arms, covered in spiderwebbed tatoos, to indicate their surroundings.
Grunting, the Beast turned to meet her gaze. "Sister speaks in riddles, always."
"Sister lacks basic awareness of self" she returned with a smirk.
DE-902
Accessing the databanks of the outpost, you locate a small set of helmetcam recordings from the original incident site. They provide decent if not excellent visuals of the carvings and other imagery within the original chamber. With a little work, you might even be able to reconstruct a 3d mockup for yourself to compare against.
Now that you are on the floor, you also notice that there are thousands of tiny crystaline shards scattered through the chamber. Many have collected in the grooves and carvings on the floor, but others are crunching underfoot as you explore.
Nuun/Uther
Floating down from an opening above, the thin figure appeared birdlike. Her large, articulated crest momentarily gave the appearance of a bird of paradise, an impression complimented by her colorful robes.
"It is happening, Sister. He cannot stop us, not while they are with us," she whistled as she touched down, facing the dark visage of the Panthress. "Our work still needs done, but we succeed. I have seen it."
The already indistinct shape of the chamber's other occupant blurred slightly. The Oracle knew that this was her way of expressing negative emotions. An obvious effort of will echoed through the Force, and the dark Sister's shape once again took a more solid form. A shaft of orange light snap-hissed to life from the humanoid shadow. "Then let us call to them, Sister."
A cold blue line of light answered, held by the clawed hand of the Oracle. "They already hear us, Sister, the Flier and the Fool."
"Multiple correlations," the droid muttered to itself. Potentially linked to previous situation? Accessing..."
OK, I've got a lot of data here, but I feel like I'm missing a piece of the puzzle. I haven't been reading other player's spoilers, which has made this interesting!
Let's see if there's some bit of forgotten Lore that DE-902 had squirreled away that relates to what's going on.
Geth, roll 1eP+1eA for Lore check on putting the pieces of the puzzle together
Specifically looking for possible connections between rituals involving potentially outlawed Force sects. The Inquisitor had to know something about the pillars, right? Maybe I can find a breadcrumb trail of where to slice in to get that info?
Damn. Well, for your advantage I can tell you that there's something about the seemingly random markings and dots that's ticking something in your processor. It feels like random is an inaccurate descriptor. You can feel yourself almost unintentionally whistling binary.
Armed with new insight, DE-902 approached the problem again. The droid's sensors swept side to side across the portion of floor directly below. A pattern emerged, almost shockingly quickly.
"I am so very sorry, Metal One," read the dots and dashes arranged immediately below the droid's motivator pods.
OK...sorry Zed but I'm a little confused here, so please confirm.
We are reliving this vision as our possessing sprits AND viewing it as ourselves, is that right? Like two different timelines that are overlapping each other in the same locale?
For example, Uther can act and talk and move as himself but simultaneously experiences what the Oracle heard and saw from millennia ago? (um...spoiler alert...Uther is the Oracle) And as we are aware of them, they are aware of us?
Uther is still Uther, but while he's in this vision he is occupying the body of the Oracle. When you do something, she'll do it, too. If you talk, Nuun will hear you but it's unclear if the Oracle or Panthress will. You can move about the scene and interact with it freely, just as the Oracle.
Was of right now, the only people you can perceive in the scenario are yourself/Oracle and Nuun/Panthress.
To clarify a little more, you are free to act within the scenes you are in, but you do so as your other self/passenger/whatever. The two pairs (of pairs) of characters are occupying different space-time places, as is DE-902, so you won't meet each other. My intention is for you to have a chance to react or explore, then push the narrative forward a beat, and repeat until REDACTED happens. Feel free to play around with the situation. There are some interesting things you can do when you are occupying multiple time-frames. Causality be damned.
its not that you've done anything wrong, Zed. You've crafted a very neat kind of scenario here. Its a very interesting story you're telling and I am just afraid I'll fuck it all up on you.
its not that you've done anything wrong, Zed. You've crafted a very neat kind of scenario here. Its a very interesting story you're telling and I am just afraid I'll fuck it all up on you.
The central concept is pretty resilient. I wouldn't worry too much about screwing anything up.
"Fascinating," remarked the droid, and it awkwardly bent down for a closer look. "Some sort of ancient computer, or intelligent life? I wonder..." With a digit, DE-902 drew in the dust off the floor 'for what?'.
Examining the immediate area fails to produce any other cohesive information from the carvings. The dots and dashes are scattered throughout the room among the pictographs and other carvings, though. It is possible that other messages are hidden as well.
"Fool? Who are they calling a fool?" Uther bristles at the comments of the apparitions, the facts of the situation slowly sinking in, but he still doesn't believe it. How could this be possible? Experiencing two different realities at once...and being aware of each other? What was the purpose, what are these ghosts after?
He moves further into the room, his own lightsaber still on his belt. "Nuun...do you see the others? Where are they? Seth! Brandel! Where are you?"
Upon further examination, the binary codes seem to be something of an aberation among the carvings. There is some sort of a message here, but individual snippets are not very instructive. Words form, but there is no structure apparent.
A subroutine in the back of DE-902's processor pings at the structure and layout of the carvings. Something bigger than a simple written message has been transcribed here. Perhaps if the whole chamber were considered at once it would become clear.
Determined to solve the puzzle, the droid set about recording everything it could about the room, loaded it into memory, and attempted a large-scale analysis of the set as a whole.
Hmm... going with Perception again, but could do Education instead (to represent training in applied sciences). Let me know if you want me to reroll.
Posts
"Well, down is better than going out to watch the sky burn."
Nuun began to slither down the rope to chase Seth and Keo into the thick darkness.
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.
The droid looked at the rope, then at its mechanical hands.
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.
With a resigned sigh, DE-902 followed Nuun into the pit. "If I fall and damage my servos, it is your duty as prisoners to ensure I promptly receive maintenance and repairs."
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
A pair of feet, bare but composed entirely of shadow, alit upon the floor soundlessly. The cavern was empty now, the workers all gone, along with the central spire, cannibalized into the Choirleader's great Focus. A whisper of movement took her across the room, to the foot of the column of kyber crystals that once dominated the chamber. Her dark eyes, spots of black among grey, swept from the walls to the floor, marked by tracks but unadorned by the carvings to come. "So many sing so quickly, now, came the soft voice, to no one in particular. "But if we falter, there is no escape.
DE-902
The dust cloud is thick, but your sensors should still be able to pick up Nuun if he's nearby. Or Seth and PFC Brandel, for that matter. The only humanoid on your scanners is Uther. Through the dust, you can see that the floor has been intricately carved with a series of pictograms laid out in some sort of geometric pattern. That pattern continues up the walls. Rotted out carts and rubble dominate the immediate landscape.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
The droid flicked its optical sensors on and off a few times in the attempt to recalibrate them for the obscured surroundings. "Executing exploration routine. Recording output set to verbose for later analysis."
> LOOK PICTOGRAMS
> LOOK PATTERNS
Using a Destiny Point to upgrade because we have 'em in spades and droids using the Force amuse me.
Geth, roll 1eP+2eA for Perception to notice important details on the floor and walls
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
There is no central spire, but you can see a mounding of rubble where it probably stood. The pictograms (both wall and floor) seem to be of a variety of different types of fauna and humanoids, along with some scattered dots and lines. Your systems can pick it up and record it fairly easily. A close examination of the carvings on the floor near you reveals traces of carbon scoring, as if they were burned into the rock.
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.
The trooper found himself in an unfamiliar environment, speaking words he didn't intend and moving against his will.
"I'm dreaming again." He tells himself, speaking out loud out of habit more than anything.
"In a moment I'll wake up back in the infirmary and today will have been nothing but a nightmare."
The trooper waited, looking around expectantly.
The colored text gimmick is really tough to do on my phone, so it'll be after lunch before I can give a post for anyone but DE-902.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
"It's a vision, lad, an echo of the past. Whatever that device was in the chamber allowed these entities to inhabit our bodies as a passive influence. For good or ill you're now open to the flows of the Force. Watch and see."
The bone-white head of the theosophist cantered slightly, and a slight smile spread across her face. "They know us, Sister. The old one and the Soldier," she nearly laughed, "they are here, now."
The head of the great beast thrashed, searching in vain for the interlopers. "WHERE," she bellowed, her hand at her belt for her weapon. Nearby workers gaped in fear and retreated from the huge creature.
The softer voice sighed, a sound audible only due to the localized work stopage. "Calm yourself, Sister. They are here," she pointed first at herself, then at the Beast, "not here." She spread her long arms, covered in spiderwebbed tatoos, to indicate their surroundings.
Grunting, the Beast turned to meet her gaze. "Sister speaks in riddles, always."
"Sister lacks basic awareness of self" she returned with a smirk.
DE-902
Accessing the databanks of the outpost, you locate a small set of helmetcam recordings from the original incident site. They provide decent if not excellent visuals of the carvings and other imagery within the original chamber. With a little work, you might even be able to reconstruct a 3d mockup for yourself to compare against.
Now that you are on the floor, you also notice that there are thousands of tiny crystaline shards scattered through the chamber. Many have collected in the grooves and carvings on the floor, but others are crunching underfoot as you explore.
Nuun/Uther
Floating down from an opening above, the thin figure appeared birdlike. Her large, articulated crest momentarily gave the appearance of a bird of paradise, an impression complimented by her colorful robes.
"It is happening, Sister. He cannot stop us, not while they are with us," she whistled as she touched down, facing the dark visage of the Panthress. "Our work still needs done, but we succeed. I have seen it."
The already indistinct shape of the chamber's other occupant blurred slightly. The Oracle knew that this was her way of expressing negative emotions. An obvious effort of will echoed through the Force, and the dark Sister's shape once again took a more solid form. A shaft of orange light snap-hissed to life from the humanoid shadow. "Then let us call to them, Sister."
A cold blue line of light answered, held by the clawed hand of the Oracle. "They already hear us, Sister, the Flier and the Fool."
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
"Multiple correlations," the droid muttered to itself. Potentially linked to previous situation? Accessing..."
Let's see if there's some bit of forgotten Lore that DE-902 had squirreled away that relates to what's going on.
Geth, roll 1eP+1eA for Lore check on putting the pieces of the puzzle together
Specifically looking for possible connections between rituals involving potentially outlawed Force sects. The Inquisitor had to know something about the pillars, right? Maybe I can find a breadcrumb trail of where to slice in to get that info?
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Damn. Well, for your advantage I can tell you that there's something about the seemingly random markings and dots that's ticking something in your processor. It feels like random is an inaccurate descriptor. You can feel yourself almost unintentionally whistling binary.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Geth, roll 3eA for attempting to interpret the markings as Computer code
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Booyah. Post incoming. Hold on to your butts, if you have them.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Armed with new insight, DE-902 approached the problem again. The droid's sensors swept side to side across the portion of floor directly below. A pattern emerged, almost shockingly quickly.
"I am so very sorry, Metal One," read the dots and dashes arranged immediately below the droid's motivator pods.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
We are reliving this vision as our possessing sprits AND viewing it as ourselves, is that right? Like two different timelines that are overlapping each other in the same locale?
For example, Uther can act and talk and move as himself but simultaneously experiences what the Oracle heard and saw from millennia ago? (um...spoiler alert...Uther is the Oracle) And as we are aware of them, they are aware of us?
Was of right now, the only people you can perceive in the scenario are yourself/Oracle and Nuun/Panthress.
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 need some time to think on this one honestly
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.
"Fascinating," remarked the droid, and it awkwardly bent down for a closer look. "Some sort of ancient computer, or intelligent life? I wonder..." With a digit, DE-902 drew in the dust off the floor 'for what?'.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Examining the immediate area fails to produce any other cohesive information from the carvings. The dots and dashes are scattered throughout the room among the pictographs and other carvings, though. It is possible that other messages are hidden as well.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
It was surreal hearing Seth's voice come from the mouth of the being.
"If this is just a vision, how do they know we're here?" the trooper couldn't keep the fear out of his voice.
"Fool? Who are they calling a fool?" Uther bristles at the comments of the apparitions, the facts of the situation slowly sinking in, but he still doesn't believe it. How could this be possible? Experiencing two different realities at once...and being aware of each other? What was the purpose, what are these ghosts after?
He moves further into the room, his own lightsaber still on his belt. "Nuun...do you see the others? Where are they? Seth! Brandel! Where are you?"
Briefly stymied the droid searched for similar patterns throughout the room.
Geth, roll 1eP+2eA for Perception lookin' for binary messages among the patterns
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.
Upon further examination, the binary codes seem to be something of an aberation among the carvings. There is some sort of a message here, but individual snippets are not very instructive. Words form, but there is no structure apparent.
A subroutine in the back of DE-902's processor pings at the structure and layout of the carvings. Something bigger than a simple written message has been transcribed here. Perhaps if the whole chamber were considered at once it would become clear.
Current Destiny Pool: 6 Light, 1 Dark
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.
Determined to solve the puzzle, the droid set about recording everything it could about the room, loaded it into memory, and attempted a large-scale analysis of the set as a whole.
Geth, roll 3eA for Perception
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists