Player Plot: The Mysterious Ruin

[serannas]

WHO: Ellana Ashara, Korrin Ataash, Vasran Thelassin, Thranduil, Felix Alexius, Sam Gareth, Kallian Endris, Velanna, Merrick Ashara, Eirlys Ancarrow
WHAT: A trip to an elven ruin in search of the Sulevin Blade leads to some surprises.
WHEN: October/Harvestmere 1-5 (mostly travel time to and from)
WHERE: the Dales
NOTES: OOC post is here.

The clues have led them to this spot in the Dales, hidden behind thick vegetation far from the eyes of Orlesian soldiers, Red Templars, or Venatori. As they enter, Ellana throws down a barrier on those closest to her, sure that the other mages will do the same. Korrin and Sam have done this with her before, but she's thrilled at the response she's had this time to inviting others along. There is strength in numbers and she hopes that together they can face whatever is standing in their way to the Sulevin Blade.

The first room spreads out before them, and simple entranceway with statues of harts flanking the door way into the next area. Ellana turns in a small circle, eyes gazing up towards the ceiling before she smiles and pulls out a notebook, making quick notes on what she sees with her charcoal. It looks like this ruin will be like the last, with nature reclaiming it after so long without inhabitants. She likes that if anything has to live here, it's trees and grass.

She steps up to the doorway, checking it for any sort of trap before renewing her barrier and stepping through. As leader of this exploration, she's willing to take the risk of being hurt so someone else doesn't have to. And now that she's in here, this room seems a little unusual. On the floor are four slightly raised tiles, each bearing a symbol. In the middle of the floor is a large, raised circular tile that bears all four symbols in a row. And there seems to be no door other than the door way they walked through. Surely this can't be it.

Anyone care to explore?


[ ooc: one thread, all hop in, I provide the clues, you guys react, I provide plot progression! hit me up in the OOC post linked above if anything is unclear, and have fun! ]

Comments

[el_tybs]

He hears mutters from those at the darkened corner, but cannot make out the words from over by the door, nor does he give it great attention as no one sounds alarmed or yelling.

His eyes glance at Thranduil as he comes over, nodding slightly at the mention of hinges. If there was not key hole on this side he doubted there was one on the other, but if they could find where the doors were attached to the walls, they could mess with those if necessary.

The lingering magic does have him slowly wandering to the left of the door, though not quickly enough since Korrin is already there, speaking up about putting something back in order. Hearing that Sam turns his attention and joins Korrin at the spot. "It is... but there's a piece missing. Do you think it's in the room somewhere?" It had to be gone to move the others, but perhaps they needed it to finish the picture after being done?

[rowancrowned]

"I think that-" he means the puzzle. "-might be the key to this."

But he's never seen anything like it before. Does one simply slide the tiles about until they arrange them just so? Why make it out of stone, which wouldn't slide well? Why is the cheese in the closet still fresh enough to be called cheese?

Thranduil takes his hands off the door. "What is the picture supposed to be once unscrambled?"

[serannas]

Ellana is looking over the room, wondering if maybe Sam's right and there is a piece missing. Maybe over where people are gathering behind the wall? But before she can make her way over, Thranduil asks about the picture and she comes over, examining it and pulling out her journal once more. She flips through it, comparing the tiles to a sketch she made last time she visited a ruin.

"It seems the elves who built these sorts of places all had a certain pool of designs they drew from. You see? I've drawn this before." She holds up the journal to show it off. "How do these tiles move?" she asks, reaching out to lightly touch one. Nothing happens, so she applies pressure and pushes it up into the blank square. When she lets go, it stays it place, either from clever engineering or magic.

[gatheringstorm]

"Huh...so if we slide them around to form that design, then something might happen? Though Sam's right, it's not complete. We might need it to be, to move on. It can't hurt to looks around...." So that's what she does, first checking nearby and then spreading further outward in the room if that doesn't turn up anything.

[dalishious]

Merrick remains with Vasran and Eirlys for the moment, observing the skulls, his expression perplexed.

"Might be," he mutters, crouching down to get a better look. There are a lot of questions here. Not only has someone managed to get one giant's skull but several, and then for some reason they've decided to stack them in the deserted corner of an elven ruin in a meticulous arrangement complete with a cheese wheel.

Seriously, what?

[serannas]

Ellana sticks by the puzzle, trying to sort out the moves in her head beforehand like she does with chess. It should be noted that she's still not very good at chess so she may need help with this.

The skulls are providing no answers as to their reason for being here. They are nothing beyond what the explorers can see. Some mysteries simply remain mysteries.

When Korrin explores, she'll find the only part of the room that might have what she needs is over by the break in the wall. There is plenty of brick rubble here and if she searches through it, eventually she'll come across the last tile needed for the picture puzzle. She might also find a rolled up bit of parchment too.

[gatheringstorm]

"Found it!" Korrin holds up the last tile with a grin, then turns her attention to the rolled up parchment and unrolls it, taking the time to look over or read whatever contents are within. The others can wait a moment.

[dalishious]

Merrick rejoins the rest of the group, and finds a bit of rubble to hop onto so he can peek at what Korrin is reading.

[serannas]

When unrolled, the parchment reveals a personal letter:

Dearest darlingest Antoine,

I count the minutes until I see you and your little soldier again. You know he is always welcome in my mystic grotto of delights. The poor boy is so neglected in the company of that frigid wife of yours but I will show him wonders once again!

Forever yours, Yvonne

P.S. Climb over the broken bit of the back garden wall this time. Remember, that last time my husband nearly saw you coming up the drive as he departed on business.


And that's it. There is nothing else around to explain the presence of... that in an elven ruin.

Meanwhile, Ellana is getting all mixed up on which piece goes where, but at least they're found the last piece now. "Good!" she calls out over her shoulder. "Once I find out where that piece goes, I can do the rest." And under her breath she adds, "Hopefully."

[gatheringstorm]

Upon reading over the parchment, Korrin lets out an amused snort. "Andraste's tits, this is something that belongs in Varric's romance serials. I'm keeping it to show him later. He'll piss himself laughing." She'll pause to let anyone read it who wants to take a peek, but afterward tucks it away. Araceli might find it amusing, too.

[failedfirst]

Velanna is standing and watching Ellana try to solve the puzzle. After a few more blunders in direction of which way to push the pieces she sighs and walks over, slinging her staff back over her shoulder.

"Here, I'll help. My father used to make these puzzles for my sister and I." Velanna actually has an appreciation for puzzles. While most games seemed silly to her as a child, puzzles promoted logical thinking and problem-solving. Two things she has always excelled at.

[el_tybs]

Turning his attention away from the puzzle - since it seems to be under control - Sam heads over to Korrin to also glance at the parchment. "A love affair, huh? Odd that it's here..." Unless the scroll came off of this Antoine person who happened to have been here? "Another piece for Varric's stories," he agrees with Korrin as she puts away the scroll.

"You know... we should get ready if something like the first room happens." And the 'guardian' not being dead on arrival either.

[dalishious]

Merrick rolls his eyes at the letter, and moves over by Ellana.

"I'm starting to think this place is a joke," he mutters to her.

[serannas]

Ellana looks over from her contemplations and frowns a little at Merrick's words.

"There are always puzzles, but I'll admit they can get tedious. I'm a little embarrassed we found a skeleton like that, but better than a live wyvern or whatever it was." She darts a look over her shoulder in the direction he'd come from.

"Did you find anything over there?" She doesn't yet know how far this joke goes. But in the meantime, they have to sort out this puzzle if they want to find the Sulevin Blade.

"Ma serannas, Velanna. I think I'll keep my hands off it, but I'll get ready with the barriers. Korrin, could we see that piece? Let's see where it's supposed to go so we can leave a space for it."

[gatheringstorm]

Nodding, Korrin promptly hands it over so Ellana can use it as needed. She'll hold onto the parchment for amusement value, intending to pass it on to Varric later. Maybe after showing it to Araceli first.

[unharrowed]

Unlike Sam, Vasran isn't so worried about whatever security set-up this next puzzle might unleash. She stays alert as a matter of course, but her manner is much more relaxed than it was before.

She hums in mock-thoughtfulness. "Perhaps this time there'll be a bigger skeleton."

[serannas]

Taking the piece, Ellana notes that it must be the bottom right corner and she holds it up to the puzzle to show Velanna and anyone else who wants to help.

"See; this will go here at the end. Actually, I think we're nearly there. These have to move over here, but we can do that without shuffling the whole thing again. Then I'll put this tile in and see what happens."

She does hear what Vasran says, and her cheeks go a little pink.

"I hope this hasn't ruined the experience for everyone. Puzzles in ruins are common, but so far this place has seemed a little... silly, I guess." Ellana shrugs a shoulder. "But, hey, better this than fighting undead, right?"

[failedfirst]

Velanna nods at Ellana's observation, moving the tiles around as she'd indicated, before stepping back to allow her to put the tile in.

"We should prepare for a fight just in case something held up all these years, though I wouldn't make bets on what's on the other side of the door." Because so far, there hasn't been much danger here. Potential danger, sure. Actual present danger, not so much.

[el_tybs]

Considering the last ruin he had went to he had been grabbed and nearly ran through by a Revenant he sort of has a reason to be a bit on edge. Even if everything was dead here it didn't mean they couldn't raise up and come after them all.

He'll just be towards the middle, keeping an eye out for anything that moves that isn't part of the group. Readying spells.

[serannas]

Yeah, she still feels really bad about that, Sam. But it all turned out okay, right? Eventually. Sort of.

Ellana takes a steadying breath and sets the tile into the puzzle. It stays in place against the wall and there is definitely the sound of a door being unlocked. The door in question then proceeds to swing open into the room, so hopefully no one is standing right in front of it or they're getting knocked back. And there on the other side of the door stands a nug. Yes, a nug. It stares up at the group before turning around and walking into the room that is now open to them. Ellana stares after it in confusion. For a brief moment she considers the nug unlocked the door but... no. No, it was finishing the puzzle.

At least she hopes there isn't a tiny key clutched in the nug's hand right now. She follows the nug into the room to see a much larger room than the previous, with arches and a balcony running around a second floor that looks down on them. Then her eyes lock on something and she gives a shout of alarm, only to see it's not moving.

"Oh! Oh, it's just a... uh, a statue of Mythal with a giant skull attached as the head?" Because logic has no place here.

The nug wanders back towards Ellana when she shouts and makes a soft squeaking noise. She smiles and gets down on her haunches to look it over.

"Now how did you get in here, hmm?"

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin eyes the nug for a moment, half-expecting it to turn into something awful given her weird luck, but as it heads back into the room, she follows Ellana. Upon hearing that shout of alarm, she gets her staff ready, only for her eyes to fall on what catches Ellana's attention.

"What the fuck? Someone has a sick sense of humor, and terrible decorating sense."