Player Plot: The Mysidian Tower!

[jadethenecromancer]

Who: Everyone who signed up for the plot!
What: Jade is taking a team to explore the Mysidian Tower before it'd swallowed by the Calamity.
When: February 8th-12th
Where: The Mysidian Tower on the Continent of Ruin.
Warning: Everything that can be expected of surprise monster encounters. Beyond that, whatever people bring with them.

The Enterprise brings everyone involved to the tower on the afternoon of February 8th. Thankfully the early floors have already been cleared by previous explorers, making the initial entry easy and relatively safe. Once the Heroes start reaching the upper floors, however... Who knows?

All threads will be linked here for easy access:
OOC info post
Ground Floor - Campsite
Friendly Monster
Floors 30-39
Floors 40-49
Floors 50-59
Floors 60-69
Floors 70-79
Floors 80-89
Floors 90-99
Floors 100-101 will be open at a later date.

Comments

[confidentia]

[ Well, there has to be a reason why the teams clearing the previous floors struggled with unlocking the others, that is assuming the explorers didn't perish within the confines of the tower. The more Ace looks around, the more the latter presents itself as a plausible possibility as the extent of the damage caused to the laboratory's interior causes him to pause in his steps.

Rather than focus on the equipment, his instinct tells him to first determine whether there are any particularly distinct marks or traces to be found, ones which could imply that monsters were somehow involved in what has ocurred. Surely, it can't have merely been a researcher's bad day at work. ]

[shinrasfinest]

[The effort to pry open the door that leads up the stairs is real. Sephiroth's rather glad he'd brought the 'Alpha' squad up with him this time; at least it means that no one has had to try to do that all on their own.

As Sephiroth steps into the 31st Floor laboratory, two things get his attention; the destruction follows the realization that the equipment ripped from tables is vaguely familiar. Just like in the lab at Aqures...

Eyelids narrow as he spots Ace further ahead, inspecting a particular area, but the silver-haired hero doesn't say anything, for now. The squad of soldiers following him fan out from the stairwell to allow more Heroes to come onto the floor.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[Whatever tore through the lab has indeed left some traces behind. On closer look, there are claw marks on the desks and floors, and what looks like shredded paper -- perhaps whatever documents might have been left lying around by past researchers. Some of the equipment looks like something has been trying to chew on them. There is dust in the corners of the room, but not in the middle or on top of the desks.]

That's odd. [Jade follows the soldiers in, keeping his voice low.] These floors haven't been accessible until now. Nothing should have been able to get in before us.

[Could something have come through a window? There are none on this floor, so any monsters would have had to get to the upper floors somehow...]

[fearlessherosheart]

Perhaps this was why the tower was abandoned.

[Tazendra idly picked up a few scraps of paper, trying to see if enough remained of them to make out information. And keeping an eye out for whatever caused the teeth marks.]

[confidentia]

[ Ace drags his fingers across the claw marks on the floor before rising to his feet and turning his head in Jade's direction. ]

It didn't necessarily have to happen in that order.

[ That said, he begins inspecting the desks in search for any documents that could possibly confirm what for now was merely a theory. It all brings to his mind the images of the technology back in the Milites Empire.... ]

The outbreak might have been caused by whatever had been manufactured within, which is why they ultimately decided to lock the floors. Let's look for more information before we run into any of these things.

[shinrasfinest]

[Though Sephiroth is scanning with his eyes in the gloom and slowly progressing with the soldiers providing back up and his katana drawn, he keeps his hearing sharp enough to listen well to the others. They all have plausible theories but it's as Ace said, they're running in blind here...]

To that end, it might help to try and get some extra lighting in here.

[Not only because wielding a torch in one hand and a katana in the other could cause a slight problem should they encounter whatever creature ripped the place to shreds like this.]

At the very least, bring something up from the camp?

[Two of the soldiers who had stayed back by the doorway stood to attention as if expecting the order already, though Sephiroth hasn't yet executed it.]

[jadethenecromancer]

Good idea.

[Jade carefully steps over a mess of crystals shards on the floor -- there's a pleasant memory -- and lights the way with fire magic. Then he draws to sudden halt.]

Wait... Do you hear that?

[There's a sharp scuttling noise, like something with agile clawed feet is moving swiftly over the stone floor. It's coming from the other end of the room, behind a row of desks... or perhaps beneath them? As the Heroes go quiet to listen, the noise stops almost immediately.]

[confidentia]

[ Ace has been relying on the power of his magic himself, ready to share it with whoever might need it. Hearing the noise makes him instinctively place more force into the fire spell, with the hope that it could help them reveal the source of the disturbance.

There seems to be little point in hiding after they have already attracted the creature's attention. ]

Yeah.

[ ... and then it goes quiet, true silence before the storm. Without further ado, Ace climbs one of the desks for a better view of the situation. ]

[fearlessherosheart]

[Tazendra was silent for once, simply nodding. She advanced, staying on the ground but making sure Ace had someone preventing him from being surrounded after climbing onto the desk.]

[shinrasfinest]

[The two soldiers at the other end of the room stiffen as Sephiroth looks directly at them when when Jade agrees. After all, if all of the Tower were this dark inside they'd be hard pressed to explore it all just by torchlight. The two have turned and proceeded down the stairs by the time a comment is made about a particular scuffling noise, Sephiroth extends a arm to his side to sharply gesture for the rest of the squad around him to be silent...but then it's gone quiet.

Ever sharp, that's not before he thinks he's managed to pinpoint the direction it came from. Lifting his next stride ultra-carefully and planting it soundlessly on the floor --avoiding those crystal shards without so much as a second thought-- Sephiroth sinks into a crouched walk, his focus almost completely on his next movement as they edge towards the row of desks in question.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[Jade remains in the back, preparing to support them with magic if needed. It's too quiet. There is no movement besides the Heroes carefully approaching the desks, until they're close enough that the should be able to see--

--a raptor leaping over the desk at the nearest Hero with an ear-shattering shriek.

In that instant, all hell breaks loose as more identical shrieks respond and raptors come charging towards them from every exit to the room. One jumps right through the remains of ancient machinery, breaking it into pieces and going straight for Tazendra. In the distance, they can hear the sounds of more raptors scurrying from the upper floors towards their location.]

Oh, fantastic. [Jade barely has time to get an Enlightenment off to double the party's attack before he has to back away from an enraged raptor.]

[fearlessherosheart]

Yes, fantastic!

[Had Tazendra missed the sarcasm on purpose? Who could even tell. Either way, she was nearly knocked off balance as she took the raptor's charge on her armor. She swung her own blade to try to wound it.]