Random post with a cave...

[anest1s]

The crystal tastes of quartz. I have no idea what that tastes likes myself, but you're the one going around tasting odd pieces of rock. It doesn't seem special in any way - just a reflective piece of crystal. On the other hand, it might react better to other tests.

You now have a fish on your spear, and another hanging from the pillar.

The spirits may have sent you a sign, but it looks very much like a pair of giant centipedes, attracted by you and the fish. They advance circuitously through the bases of the mushrooms, their pincers clicking intimidatingly. Exactly what their intentions are, you're not sure, but they don't look friendly.

What do you do?

Cheers!

With calm moves, I place the fish from the spear on the ground right to me, and the crystal on the ground left of me. I stay calm and I wait to see which of the two they will prefer.

If they go for the crystal, I will let them have it. If they go for the fish, I will have to kill them, since the hunter has to protect its pray from others. They can have the fish on the pillar, it isn't mine. If they attack me, I will fight back. But in any case, I see if I can somehow connect the direction from which they came, to an exit. If not, and if I have killed them, I try to find their nest (or whatever they have). Also, if I kill them, I put them on my spear with the fish. Supplies are limited down here.

 

[MerricB]

Apparently we went in deeper than planned to take shelter from whatever asteroid/missile strike is impending.

I step back, non-threatening, pointing my flashlight at the creature, saying, "woah, easy there, whatever you are." My friend Brent steps forward though, pistol drawn and aimed, saying "Harris County Sherrif's Department. Put down your weapon."

Ned, from the back shouts, "What the heck is this, we got D&D lizardmen in the back and a cylon attack outside. Frak!" Paul says, "There's a blast wave gotta be coming soon, we ain't got time for....what the hell is that thing? You brought your gun to a park?"

If the lizardman talks, we'll try to talk him out of a confrontation. Brent, being a police officer will shoot him if he advances too far forward. He won't miss. With an impending blast wave from the city, we don't need to make an enemy out of this strange creature.

The strange lizardman creature cocks its head to one side as it looks at you - well, mainly Brent. It seems fascinated by his pistol. The next thing you know, Brent has let go of his pistol with a gasp of pain - his hand has been burnt! The stone at the tip of the lizardman's spear is glows strongly for a few moments, and then fades.

Suddenly, the entire interior of the cave is illuminated with a bright light as the fireballs outside impact. Surprisingly, there is no blast wave, but the light startles the lizardman greatly, and, with a speed that belies its bulk, runs back whence it came.

The flash has distracted you for a moment, and you still have spots before your eyes, but you then recover.

What do you do?

Cheers!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You settle down in your newly dug grave... I mean trench... and start praying. Soon enough, the world is erupting in fireball after fireball, the light too painful to look at directly.

After a little bit, it calms down. The skies are fire, but you are curiously untouched - as is the city and the cave. The grass and earth where you lie are untouched, but a short distance away there is a line of charcoaled ground and burning plants. It seems to run parallel to the border of the city. The air is cool where you are, but on the other side of the line you can see an incredible heat haze. Somehow, you have been protected from the destruction from the skies.

What do you do?

Cheers!

I kiss my entrenching tool, check my compass, check my underwear, and try to set a path at a 45deg angle away from the burning line of vegetation.

 

[MerricB]

With calm moves, I place the fish from the spear on the ground right to me, and the crystal on the ground left of me. I stay calm and I wait to see which of the two they will prefer.

If they go for the crystal, I will let them have it. If they go for the fish, I will have to kill them, since the hunter has to protect its pray from others. They can have the fish on the pillar, it isn't mine. If they attack me, I will fight back. But in any case, I see if I can somehow connect the direction from which they came, to an exit. If not, and if I have killed them, I try to find their nest (or whatever they have). Also, if I kill them, I put them on my spear with the fish. Supplies are limited down here.

The two giant centipedes go for the fish on your right, as they do so, one interferes with the other's grab for it, and the two are soon locked in conflict - snapping at each other as they try to intimidate each other into backing down and leaving the fish under their sole control.

They seem to have a nest somewhere underneath the field of fungi; a brief perusal does not locate it.

After a while, one grabs the fish, and drags it back into the fungi. The other then becomes aware of the other fish, and goes to grab it before disappearing.

What do you do?

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

I kiss my entrenching tool, check my compass, check my underwear, and try to set a path at a 45deg angle away from the burning line of vegetation.

The compass is still spinning madly. Your path is leading you towards the edge of the city; although not directly towards.

You can now see that the city is ringed by columns of narrow marble about eight feet high, with great crystal balls of three feet in diameter topping them. The streets of the city are burnished metal, which gleam under the flaming skies.

What do you do?

Cheers!

 

[anest1s]

The two giant centipedes go for the fish on your right, as they do so, one interferes with the other's grab for it, and the two are soon locked in conflict - snapping at each other as they try to intimidate each other into backing down and leaving the fish under their sole control.

They seem to have a nest somewhere underneath the field of fungi; a brief perusal does not locate it.

After a while, one grabs the fish, and drags it back into the fungi. The other then becomes aware of the other fish, and goes to grab it before disappearing.

What do you do?

Cheers!

Whoever carved the stone, made it so it looks the opposite way from where I came. He would have designed it so when he could see the "cruel mien" first thing when he entered this area. So he should come from that direction. However I should go weary of the Spirits message. Its secret meaning will unfold later.

I enter the path from which the carving is best visible, when I check from it. I suppose its the opposite path from which I came, though.

....and..huh I pick up the crystal....

 

[Jacob Marley]

The sides of the pit are somewhat loose, but you find more solid rock and clay after disturbing quite a bit of the upper earth. Petey hands you a rope, a hammer and some pitons. One piton slips free and tumbles into the pit, bouncing with little sound out of sight.

"Oops!" exclaims Petey.

The hammer does not suffer the same fate.

What do you do?

Cheers!

With a wink, "It's alright, lad. We'll collect that one later." I sheath my sword, take a piton and the hammer, and search for a good, solid rock. Once I find an adequate location, I drive a piton in and secure the rope to it. "I think it best if you stay up here and keep watch. Hand me the lantern." With that, I wrap the rope around my arm and begin crossing; I make sure to test each next step to ensure solid footing.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The compass is still spinning madly. Your path is leading you towards the edge of the city; although not directly towards.

You can now see that the city is ringed by columns of narrow marble about eight feet high, with great crystal balls of three feet in diameter topping them. The streets of the city are burnished metal, which gleam under the flaming skies.

What do you do?

Cheers!

I try climbing a pillar to get a better view of the landscape...and the crystal balls...are they attached or nested in a depression?

 

[Celebrim]

Where am I? Who am I? Why am I here? How far away is the cave? How steep is the hillside? What time of day is it? What is the weather like? Turning slowly around and carefully scanning the environs, what else can I see?

Two parallel grooves in the dirt make their way into the cave. You cannot find any footprints you may have made getting here. The hillside quivers and dies.

Yikes. Are dying hillsides ordinary events, or should I be freaked out by this sort of thing? In any event, I mutter a prayer over the spirit of the departed hill with the earnest wish that it finds a better life in the hereafter and tread gently down the hill.

It *is* dark in there. A pair of glowing, orange eyes seem to be peering back at you from about 10 feet into the cave.

Ok, definately not a good place to take shelter. Glad I'm headed away from the cave.

As you run away from the cave, down the side of the hill, you see a great city of steel and marble stretching out in front of you. Towers of glass and silver reach towards the sky, and a great river flows through the city from right to left.

However, you can see no movement or any life at all; the city seems dead.

Well, at least we've established that its an animistic setting. I continue toward the great city, keeping a careful watch for whatever might have killed it and the hill.

 

[Janx]

The strange lizardman creature cocks its head to one side as it looks at you - well, mainly Brent. It seems fascinated by his pistol. The next thing you know, Brent has let go of his pistol with a gasp of pain - his hand has been burnt! The stone at the tip of the lizardman's spear is glows strongly for a few moments, and then fades.

Suddenly, the entire interior of the cave is illuminated with a bright light as the fireballs outside impact. Surprisingly, there is no blast wave, but the light startles the lizardman greatly, and, with a speed that belies its bulk, runs back whence it came.

The flash has distracted you for a moment, and you still have spots before your eyes, but you then recover.

What do you do?

Cheers!

Brent holds his hand and winces and mutters "sunnovabich...how'd it do that". Paul replies, "beats me, but we gotta look at your hand, how bad is it?" Ned adds it, "His spear glowed, like it cast a Heat Metal spell on your gun. yeah, I know that's not possible, but we just survived some kind of attack on Houston, maybe the mutant uprising is getting an early start."

After watching where the lizardman went, and listening to my friends while they check his hand, I finally speak. "I don't know whats going on, but we might as well treat it as a zombie invasion. That means get shelter, supplies, and stay out of trouble.

If that thing comes back, it may be hostile. It seemed to know the gun was a threat, and could come back, or there could be more. I think we could use the pit as a choke point to hold it back, while we hole up here for a short spell. So let's back up and keep the pit between us and him.

Ned, can you check outside, see what you can see, if the area is safe, Brent's truck may be a safer bet, and there's the radio. It might be worth checking your iPhone for any news, if the cell network is still up.

Paul, treat Brent's hand if you can. Wrap it with a sock and some ice from the cooler outside, if its intact.

Brent, can you shoot southpaw? If your gun's cool, and not damaged, might need to use it, and your prolly the best shot.

While you watch for lizardmen, I'll get the gear we left outside, and start doing a quick inventory. We need to see what we have, dump the stuff we can't carry, and arm up. I got my Kabar on me, we might be able to make a few spears, or a bow and arrow.

Brent chimes in, "bow and arrow? This is Texas. I got a shotgun in the truck."

"Alright, I'll check with Ned, and make a run for it and bring the truck. Gimme your keys. I can't believe a simple geocache park and grab was going to be so much work"

Basically, we're backing up. Checking our supplies, then planning to get out of there if we think its feasible and safer than staying in a cave with an armed lizardman that shouldn't exist.