Log:Explorer's Guild: Temple Turmoil

Explorer's Guild: Temple Turmoil

OOC Date: October 27, 2017
Location: Ruul
Participants: Explorer's Guild: Corr Waldin, Sar Yavok, Krasni Maj, Netep Muri, Eilam, Sugg; Independents: the lovely Kasia Ashkuri

Ruul is one of the moons of Sriluur, the homeworld of the Weequay people. Sriluur itself, that source of every foul wind to waft over the galaxy, looms large in the sky above as the ships land in the clearing, surrounded on all sides by towering jungle trees that climb high and hang vines covered in vibrant green moss that clings to every available surface.

Waiting for the explorers are a small contingent of rontos, hired by Corr for the trip through the jungle to the temple itself. Astride these mighty steeds and after only a few dicey moments when one threatened to spook, the band has arrived at a giant stone staircase leading up toward the top of the tree canopy. As they make their way up, the trees thin as they eventually rise above the canopy, leading to a scenic overlook of... more jungle. It is only after a moment's confusion that the group realizes the stairs lead down again, back under the canopy, and it is here that the temple is hidden, a giant stone bowl filled with the overgrowth of a tropical forest run to riot.

Stone pavers cover the floor, uprooted in places as greedy vines have worked their way between them over the centuries, running up pillars and staircases towards the sun. Large communal baths are filled with greenery rather than water, shrubs taking the place of past worshippers. Imagery of the moon abounds, waxing and waning in equal proportions, with a few that are just straight-up circles. Two massive statues rise almost as high as the secondary canopy grown up inside this bowl-like temple, one of pure white stone and the other of polished black, a dull sheen gleaming in the sunlight. Each appear to be Weequays, but with four arms rather than two, each hand grasping a weapon of some sort. Between them, another staircase rises, and the entry to the temple itself. Standing in the middle of the entry is a third figure, Am-Shak the thunder god. In one hand he holds a spear, in one a bow, in one an arrow, and the fourth is centered before him, zenlike. The base of the statue is a hunk of rectangular rock, with the front surface tilted 45 degrees forward, and lining the surface are ten discs, almost like buttons, of a yellowy complexion, carved with intricate symbols.

"Anyone recognize these emblems?" Corr asks, glancing between the group with him. Beyond them lies the main hall, a cavernous, windowless chamber with a massive moon set in the far wall and a door beneath it.

https://imgur.com/a/jJtFR <-- The control panel

"I like it. Subtle," Sar says, his gun already hanging loosely in his hand. Having zero non-combat skills to roll, he's just along for the ride, honestly. Looking over to the emblems, the Corellian just shakes his head.

Why is Kasia here? Who even knows, it's a story that she hasn't shared with anyone here, at least not yet, but she's here, dressed down in trousers, boots, and some kind of knit top, a a jacket. She's got the strap of a bag slung across her body with supplies that might be needed, just in case. She's adventured with enough crazy people to know how to be prepared at this point. She's got a pair of blasters, too, one on each hip, but she doesn't have them drawn yet, her hands aren't anywhere near them. She does have her arms folded, however, studying the round symbols with a small frown.

Krasni Maj's probably not a familiar sight particularly to the gathered, the Falleen an extremely new recruit to the guild and so far seemingly content to keep her mouth shut and her eyes on the forest. A blaster sits on one hip, presently undrawn, but after an absorbant look at the two Weequay statues she slinks over to look at the buttons and shake her head with a slight frown, not familiar to her, at least.

Ruul. /Not/ the climate Netep'd anticipated from which to glean knowledge about this desert people's culture, but she can't complain too loudly. There is not sand between her teeth, afterall. Doing her best to ignore the sense of vertigo up here, staring UP at Am-Shak, she clears her throat and looks down at the little "Pictographs. One aspect of the Weequay's silent language..." as to what they each MEAN, however, she's left scratching her head, and picks out a little bug. Some testudinal-shaped creature carries its home on its back - home? There's a canid, which may or maynot represent the ferocious darkwolf. A frowny-looking fish - hungry water? Flood? "I don't know," she sighs and turns away from the console to squint up the lengths of wall.

As usual on these expeditions, Eilam was... well, looking more like the maiden they rescued from some local environment, dressed in fine silks and extravagants than a proper explorer. Even if for his part that was just light outdoor attires and protection for himself. The entire thing was like out of some book and Eilam had actually brought several texts from his collection of books, a couple of them works of fiction that include Weequay stuff. Sure, he'd read them, but he didn't really /know/ if something was fiction, or reality. He'd still yet to understand there was a distinction.

As far as Eilam was aware, Myth and history were pretty much the same.

But, that did make him good for a few things, as when he finally came up to the symbols, he started to flip through a book he'd picked up on Weequay 'history'(see: Myths) and mentioned, "I believe this would be Am-Shak, right? And... these might be his previous forms? Maybe it is asking us to note the order in which his forms were taken?"

Sugg has ventured forth into the jungle alongside the rest of the Explorer's Guild, outfitted as ever in his snow white pair of TIGHT white pants and his loudly colored jacket, his blaster pistol strapped to his thigh and a large vibrodagger sheathed on the opposite hip. Any who know the volatile Rodian likely know that there is a good likelihood of explosives contained somewhere on his person, though given the tightness of his pants, who knows exactly where they could be. He is chatting animatedly with Muri, relating some grand tale as they move along, "And then they were all around uth, thpearth and blathterth aimed right at our heartth. They were thurely going to be killing uth, but ole Thugg kept a thtraight head. He thtepped out in the front, threw hith armth wide and thaid no. Then he lulled them into thurrender thingle handedly."

Once they reach the temple, Sugg plants his hands on his hips and says, "That ith a god there... yeah," he agrees with Eilam, lending his highly educated expertise to the discussion. Walking over toward the panel he studies it for a while before saying, "Ole Thugg knowth a thing or two... He bet-th thith ith thome kind of control devithe." So sure is he that he reaches out a hand and starts to poke and prod the console... in true academic fashion.

The control panel's buttons seem to require more force than Sugg's initial prodding can depress, which might be a very good thing. "Quit pokin' 'em until we're sure what they're for," Corr orders, dropping his pack and shifting around the contents as he roots inside. He comes out with a pair of comm units and a portable holo terminal. "If this /is/ a control panel, it might be hooked up to booby traps of some sort. The Weequay are very protective of their temples. This thing ain't even allowed to be built here according to mainline Weequay whatnot." The director sets it up, glancing between the party members. "At any rate, I don't expect they set it up with the modern invader in mind, so we'll take a comm unit and a few volunteers will stay here, man the panel and the terminal, and push the buttons on our signal from inside. The rest of us will go in. Follow me if you're coming inside." So saying, he shoulders his pack and walks past into the main hall, headed for that door.

"I reckon I won't be much use tryin' to figure all this stuff out, so I'm gonna come along with you," Sar says to Corr before looking back to the rest of the group for a moment. Turning away from them, he begins following behind Waldin.

Kasia listens to the others as they talk about the symbols, and their meaning, but she doesn't voice anything herself. "I can go in, if you need more people to go, than stay," she remarks, stepping closer to Corr as she readies to follow those going inside. She shifts the pack she's carrying and turns to follow after the director, or whatever he's called now, glancing over at Sar. "Somehow I knew you'd not want to wait out here."

"I'm not likely to be of much use out here." Krasni offers with a tight press of her lips, a hand run across her aquiline head and flicked along the banner of her black hair as her eyes turn towards the rest of the gathering,"My Weequay is not excellent, but I'll help where the team feels I will be most useful." she offers, hand resting absently on her holster for a moment as her attention goes towards the temple proper.

Sugg's lispy prattle long ago dulled to a low whine in Netep's ears, so she isn't exactly attuned to his every word anymore. When she catches glimpse of some suckered fingers reaching to /touch/, on the other hand, the wanderer snaps back to focus with an instinctive flinch. Maybe she's anticipating the sky to fall. Fortunately, it doesn't, and a nervous breath expels. Sugg's impulsiveness earns him a dour look before she nods at Corr's turning back. "I'll stay," and goes to squat down alongside the little terminal.

"...okay." Eilam was hardly one to argue or try to put his intentions over others, so when it came to what he should do, it was certainly something. Sure, he wanted to go see things, but... there was talking of splitting up and who would be going where. And a bit of his previous lifestyle of letting others make decisions for him showed a bit as ke took a moment to ask, "Should I stay? I guess we need... some out here."

Sugg watches the group begin to separate into teams, buggy eyes following his head's turn from left to right to mark each member. He takes a quick look down the tunnel leading toward a temple full of who knows what, then offers a dramatic sigh before saying in a tone that suggests he's taking one for the team, "Well, obviouthly you will need all of the brainth you can get out here to figure thith thtuff out. Ole Thugg will thtay out here and help the otherth along. Don't worry, Waldin. Thuggy ith on it."

The main hall is lined with pillars, each topped with a moon figure that holds up the ceiling, but ultimately the space is empty, everything pointing towards the door in the far wall. Corr leads the way to it, the comm unit clutched in his hand, the other left behind to stay in touch with the 'research team'. "Alright, let's see what this place has in store," he announces to those following him, entering the first chamber. It's carved from the rock itself, and he starts looking around as the others filter in behind him.

"I'd be about as much use fiddlin' with that terminal as Hex would be holding a seminar on fiscal responsibility, Kasi," Sar says, continuing to use his petname for his ARCH-ENEMY. Looking over at Krasni, he offers a half-assed attempt at a smile and says, "I'm Sar. Didn't have a chance to introduce myself before we started the trek."

As they enter the first chamber, Sar starts wandering off, because of course. Gun still in hand, he crouches down next to a pile of cloth and duraplast. Armor and clothing from some time past. "Looks like somebody had the same idea as us. Didn't go so well for them from the look of things."

"You make a fair point," replies Kasia, giving Sar a brief smile before she moves along behind Corr as he heads into the first chamber. She squints a little as her gaze sweeps the area, coming to a stop some point on the far wall. Her brows furrow as she squints a moment more, and then a soft, "Ah. Guys." One hand motions to that spot where she's staring. "There's something over there. Uh. Kriff, what are they called." Dark wolves, that's what, the name escapes her, but the fact that they're probably not friendly doesn't. Thankfully (for the time being anyway) there's a grate between the beasts, and the intrepid explorers.

"Krasni." the Falleen offers with a dip of her head towards Sar, but already distracted. Her liquid red eyes go over the room from top to bottom before she elects to shift from her spot, prowling among the pillars before coming to squat before a statue of a Weequay sitting on the ground. Her forearms are rested on her knee's as she looks with her eyes, not with her hands immediately, for all that those claw-tipped digits flex in consideration of the statue itself and the spear it clutches. One light tap, to test, the faint ring of metal against that claw,"This spear here... this is a separate piece from the stone itself. Functional, rather than purely ceremonial." she offers as her attention tracks in Kasia's direction and then the wolves she indicates,"...like the sort of thing potentially useful for fighting those sorts of creatures." not that she makes a move to remove it immediately, content to stay crouched where she is for now.

"We got dark wolves and a Weequay with a top-knot," Corr advises Muri through the comm link as Krasni points it out. "He's got a spear of some kind, looks like we could take i-"

He's interrupted by the grating of metal as the barrier between the adventurers and the dark wolves begins to descend. At the same moment, the door into the room is blocked by a falling rock, maybe triggered by a pressure plate in the floor. "Well shit."

So that's it, then. She's left in the company of a wispy, but well-read ghostling and the brave, self-proclaimed ladies' man, Mr Sugg. The entire drive behind Netep's push for the stars was her thirst for diversity, quest for anything /but/ normal, so she supposes this peculiar team suits her well. "Please, do resist the urge to do much dancing up here, yes?" she directs to the Rodian with a little wink. "It's a terribly long fall o'er the edge." Muri kicks out a leg and tucks up her other knee then to serve as a chin rest as she watches the others disappear into the darkness....and wait. In the meantime, there's plenty to keep the brain occupied out here. "Eilam," she gestures invitingly. "Your book. Recent pur--"

And then it's game-on, from what she's hearing over the com. "Top knot? That doesn't narrow down much beyond identifying the statue as male, Waldin..." Muri mutters, but dutifully starts wracking her brain, anyway, and pushes off her feet, away from the holoterm to pace. "That spear seems much too conveniently placed to be a simple solution to your predator problem, though. Not to mention that if those darkwolves are live, they must have SOME keeper, who tends them. Feeds them. Fierce and venemous as they are, they /can/ be tamed. And trained. For war..." and clearly home defense systems. "Maybe the solution is to NOT wield the spear, against them. Anyone have snacks?"

There was a period where Eilam just quietly waited, not even really trying to have smalltalk with Sugg or any such. Instead, he just seemed to be idly looking around where they were, trying to pick out things or make sense of stuff while waiting for things to crop up that required their attention. And then suddenly there was a voice. Weequay with a topknot? Well, in the book he had out, Eilam began to thumb through stuff and look it over before pausing on what kind of matched that description as he read through it all.

"Did you mean there were... actual animals, or just... statues? Or something else? That might be Broodha, something regarding... compassion for animals and misleading people to their death. But some things on the panels also match that, should we try to get the buttons to press? Or maybe be nice to the animals?"

Eilam also offers the book towards Netep once she was close enough to him, if she wanted to look it over.

The grate is lowering rapidly. The adventurers inside are about to be in trouble. "Push a damn button!" Corr yells into the comm, fiddling with the strap on his pistol holster. "There's a statue with a top knot, there's got to be something that matches!"

"Don't act like you don't like it, mami," is Sugg's quick reply toward Muri's request, "My danthing thaveth lives." Sugg falls into silence as he listens toward Muri's request for Eilam's book, but that doesn't really interest the Rodian much. He can't read. He is still idly looking over the panel when Corr begins yelling like a little girl, and ever the impulsive one, Sugg balls up a fist and slams it down on the button of the face with a top knot.

When the button goes down, the grate does not cease to descend. Instead, it starts to speed up, and the arms of the statue begin retracting into themselves.

It's starting to look like this was all a horrible idea.

Just before the barrier is low enough for the wolves to start making their way over it, the spear in the statue's hands clank against its sleeves, preventing them from retracting fully. This seems to be the trigger, and the grate rises, blocking the wolves off from them once again. As it happens, the spearhead crumbles. It was never real.

"Well, that did it," Corr informs the research team with a sigh of relief as another door opens in the wall. "Let's keep moving." This chamber has another statue. What else?

"Hey, Sugg, somebody sculpted a statue prophesizing you. Got the race wrong, though," Sar says into his comms, walking up to the newly discovered statue and looking it over. "It's got some sort of gold plate. If I remember my holos, picking this thing up will kill us without a doubt."

Kasia might not have had her hands on her weapon before, but when that grate starts to lower, she certainly puts it there. One of the blasters was even pulled free of it's holster, ready to fire on the creatures if need be. She lets out a breath when it's not necessary, and slowly slides the weapon back into place. "Free drink to whoever pushed that button, I don't fancy being eaten by any of those. Or anything else, really. Keep up the good work." She's totally willing to bribe button pushers with booze. As they move on, her steps slow as she gestures to another set of armor, this one full of holes. "That doesn't look like a good sign. Watch for anything that can make holes like that in us."

Don't grab the spear, that seems to be the prevailing wisdom at this point, though Krasni elects to rise to her feet and reaches for her own pistol, tense between grab the spear, don't grab the spear. In Falleen fashion there's little to reflect the surprise and alarm that goes through her beyond the flush of sickly green that ripples briefly through her scales as she watches the grate descend. Then there's movement from the corner of her eye, the spear, retracting. Instinct is to grab it and yet by the time instinct reaches action it strikes the sleeves and stops. A look is cast in the direction of the ceiling, something muttered low under her breath as she flexes her hand and gives a small toss of her head, shifting away from the statue with all the regal dismissiveness that she can muster in that moment.

"That spear would have of. The head was fake." she notes in Basic. The armor Kasia indicates gets a look, as does the statue Sar's examining, noting absently,"The detail on this piece is... fascinating. The amount of jewelry on it suggests offerings of some form. Perhaps?"

"Another statue in this room," Corr notes over the comm unit. "Real pretty boy. All done up with jewelry like they said," he explains, wandering over towards Kasia and the armor she's pointed out.

Something gives under his foot.

The door seals up, just like last time, and a grating sound begins, and...

Spikes descend from the ceiling.

Muri actually doesn't slap Sugg's hand away, this time. In fact, there's a small smile of relief on her face to hear Corr's next remarks as opposed to harrowing screams and snarls. She DOES take a quick flip through Eilam's book, for the smell if nothing else, then hands it back. "I used to collect such things," she shares softly. "S'a shame they only turned half as pretty a coin as what I paid for them, but did keep a select few, over the years." Her left hand wanders to her mouth, where she may start to relieve some anxiety and nibble down a fingernail or three.

"Mr Yavok, what do you mean by /gold plate/? And ...and holes? What kind of holes? Jewelry??" Muri's picking up fragments of conversation, and it's visibly driving her nuts. Miss antsy pants. She's already bending to squint at the remaining buttons on their end. NOPE. Said images start to blur and she takes two steps back. There. THat's better. "Jewelry! Krakna!" She gnaws on a lip and raises a hand. "In the spirit of mythology, I ALSO desire to touch him," wait what??? "I'm sorry if this is wrong!" She bleats and then swings her hand downward to swat at the earing/necklace-wearing scribbleface etched on this primitive (yet so sophisticated) console.

"Well, it all depends on how you sell them! I have been buying and selling books lately and..." Eilam almost seemed happy to chat about books before suddenly there was something else going on. "..." Nothing came to mind, really, even as he was looking through the book, though upon hearing Netep say something about 'desire to touch him' with an offhand remark, Eilam responded simply, "You may touch me if that is what you meant, though more will cost... wait, you did not mean..." Well, he wasn't really /embarrassed/ to have said that, but he also didn't understand at all the association of what she'd said or why.

As Sugg apparently saves the field team with the press of a button, the Rodian Heartbreak Kid turns eyes on Muri and causes his umbrella like antennae to lift up and down like a pair of eyebrows. "Thee, mami? Thugg thaveth liveth," he says with a smooth lispy voice. He looks toward the comm as Sar says there is a statue prophesying him down there and he says, "Oh? Thomeone take a picture. I bet it ith awethome!" And then there is the sound of more impending death. Sugg doesn't really know what's going on in the other team's side of the comm unit, but as Muri slaps the button, Sugg grabs the comm and yells much too loudly, "Are you dead?! Don't die down there without telling uth the boarding code for the thip!" A pause, "If not, tell whatever fat foot that keepth thetting off thothe trapth to stay at the back!"

Importantly, the spikes don't stop when Muri pushes the button. They keep right on coming, making a slow inexorable crawl towards the explorers below. The length varies somewhat, but they're getting uncomfortably close.

"That didn't stop it! There's spikes comin' out of the ceiling!" Corr informs the research team with some feeling. Also of note, the spikes are longest above the statue itself.

"Like a regular plate, but gold," Sar explains, eyes trailing upwards toward the spikes. He starts looking around for something that he can shoot, his grip tightening around his EE-3. "Corr, if you get me killed, I'm gonna kick your ass."

Kasia has one hand resting on a blaster, but she doesn't pull it because there just isn't anything to shoot. "Whoever decided to come in here, this was a terrible idea," she informs them, slouching a little as she watches the spikes inch closer and closer to the top of her head.

Spikes, from the ceiling. Krasni's eyes flitter over the punctured corpse and it's armor and for all that her expression stays... well, as neutral as Falleen tend to go, there's a sicky, grey-white cast that comes to her scales. Her eyes are wrenched back up with a low noise she can't quite suppress because with the way back blocked there's the very real possibility that there's going to be perforations for wholly non-cosmetic reasons in her nigh immediate future.

She eases herself back against the wall, spreading her hands out as if this might somehow save her, eyes frenetic as she scans the room. Something, anything! There's got to be a way out. It's not really a choice made from conscious processed decision making. A spear almost killed them, maybe... maybe. Pay no attention to the whine that escapes her, she so, very, does not want to budge from the illusion of safety, but in a burst of desperation elects to dart over to the statue to scoop up some of the jewelery and practically throw it at the plate like one or the other is probably going to bite her, or poison her, or... y'know. Poke her full of giant sized holes.

KRIFF, a /plate/ plate. "Leave it an offering!?" Netep shouts, spitballing with both hands knotted up in her hair when her simple button push didn't do the job. She holds her breath then, eyes squeezed shut in fear of what they might hear next. Good thing she's a decent pilot...just in case.

Something about Krasni's actions works. The hydraulics powering the spikes don't stop, still, but the floor tilts heavily, a massive gap opening under the wall as the explorers are slid deeper into the temple. They are deposited into yet another room, with only the dim light of their own artificial sources to aid them. "We're not dead," Corr advises, pulling himself up off the floor.

"What she said." Eilam says towards the intercom device. "The only thing that comes to mind for me is offering jewelry." then someone mentions they're alive. "That's good you are alive." So casually said. Well, he wasn't the most emotional of beings, so instead, he just picks up his book and starts reading again, trying to read up a little ahead of time to see if he can figure out what the other depicted forms are.

Sugg's eyes shift from Muri to Eilam and back again before moving down to look over the control panel to study the different buttons. "Well, obviouthly not all of the buttonth do anything," he informs, delivering quite unneeded information.

"Maybe it only works after the button gets pushed. Maybe there's a certain sequence or everything falls in," Corr replies over the comm link, not wanting the team at the control panel to, you know, stop pushing the buttons. "Keep up the good work out there." Casting around in the near-dark, he manages not to set off any more traps this time. "What're we lookin' at here?"

"Snakes...why'd it have to be snakes?" Sar growls to himself, eyeing an abandoned suit of armor in the new chamber. Abandoned by all but a humanoid form, of course. He swallows hard and peers into the darkness surrounding them. "Guys, we're not alone. Snakes..." He gestures all around.

Kasia makes a sound as the floor opens up, and down they go. Wheeeee. Thud. She's not a petite woman, and lands with an unladylike grunt. Ugh. She slowly pushes herself to her feet, hands brushing off her backside once upright, though said dusting fingers go still as she listens, head tilting a touch. "Yeah, there's definitely something." Snakes. Nooo. Sar gestures, and her gaze sweeps around, frowning even more. "I don't suppose you have any ideas on how to make them go away, too?" she asks Krasni, since she was a champ in preventing them from becoming shish kabobbed.

Not dead, oh thank goodness. At least in the darkness, people might miss the way Krasni hugs the ground like it's her new best friend. It's all about trying not to let her heart climb up her throat... or her lunch. For a moments at least, she's quite happy to stay put. Still, it takes a couple of shaky sucked in breathes and the advantage of being on the floor before she offers in a faint voice,"We're not alone in here. There's... something..." snakes. Of course it is. Oh this is going to be bad. Her shaky willpower certainly doesn't make her that eager to get off the floor right now... except for the sudden thought that maybe that's just going to make it worse. The shake of her head is probably invisible, but at least it's followed up with a raspy, "No idea." with a vague sound of apology.

"There's snakes, Muri," Corr mutters into the comm unit. "There's kriffing snakes, Muri, you gotta push a button. We're lookin' at /snakes/ and... I don't know, he's like an Ewok-sized Weequay or somethin'.

"Maybe," Netep blows out through puffed cheeks and turns a narrowed eye upward upon the face of the Thunder god. Her hands pat around in her vest and come up empty. No funny cigarras left in this vest. She peeps open one eye. "What kind of snakes?" It sounds like honest curiosity moreso than worried-for-their-lives. A glance gets exchanges with her coconspirators this side of things. "So...a /short/ Weequay? Dwarfed?" A point to one of the buttons, tentatively. "This look like feet to you?" She's pointing to the right-most, top-level button, at the squiggles below the figure's abdomen.

"Maybe that is Vaytar." Eilam said, a bit uncertain. "Though he was short... supposedly he made himself a giant to save others, but that makes me wonder if the small snakes will turn into big snakes? Or should you try to appear larger to scare them off? Can any of you turn into a giant?" Eilam wasn't the /most/ help, but he was trying. He was leaving any pushing of buttons to the others, he likely couldn't budge any even of he tried.

"There'th thnaketh, Muri, thnaketh Muri. Muri, Muri, Muri," the forward exploration team will likely hear Sugg mocking Corr in a high pitched, lisping voice through the comms. "Why ith he alwayth talking to you? Athking you for help? Thugg and...." He stalls as he looks over toward Eilam with an awkward expression. "Thith guy with here. What are we? Jutht decorationth?" He is obviously focusing on all of the wrong things, spitefully aiming a spiteful fist slam for the button on the top right of the console with a hmph.

"Listen, Thugg, the next time you tell me your main contribution is your interpretive dance, I'm not gonna believe it," Corr retorts into the comm unit. "/He/ turned into a giant?" He latches onto that, waving at the others. "Get to the Jawa-quay! He's- he's gonna turn into a giant somehow!" There does seem to be some sort of rumbling in the floor.

"So he was a grower, not a shower; I am, too." Sar grumbles. "How exactly does that keep us from turning into snake food?" The Old Man grunts and looks around the area, thumb idly flicking the safety of his blaster pistol off. He looks over at Corr and, for lack of any other ideas, follows along with his.

Running. UGH. This is what Kasia gets for letting herself be talked into adventure, especially adventure that might include nature, or being more than moderately active. It's funny though, sometimes you find things that really, truly inspire you to get up and move, and for Kasia, snakes is one of those things, so when Corr gives her a direction to run, she hauls booty to that Jawa-quay like her life depends on it. Which, ya know, it just might.

Run? Run. Krasni lurches after the rest of them running for the statue, loose gravel, jarred knee, simply the wobbly legs of still draining terror. There's a point where she trips, hands going out before her not doing much beyond at least preventing her from faceplanting headlong into the ground. Still, it's all the time that the agressive little noodles need for one of them to sink their fangs into her leg to elicit a high-pitched shriek. Screw dignity right now, it's all about kicking off the one and scrabbling back until she can stagger to her feet limp the rest of the way to the statue. Apparently she figures that it gets to be her new best friend, at least she throws her arms about it and hopes like hell that if it's going to grow it does so before the rest of the snakes show up.

When the button is pressed, the rumbling begins, and the field team all hurry toward the statue. Just as they are making it there, Corr latching onto it and corralling the others as tightly around him as possible, the statue and the floor immediately surrounding it rises up towards the ceiling, as Vaytar 'grows into a giant'. For a moment, it seems almost as if they'll be smashed against the ceiling, but then the platform ceases its ascent, and it's only a step onto an adjacent ledge and the next door.

Corr leads the way through, a concerned eye going towards Krasni. Immediately, the sound of water is unmistakable, and this time it's blatantly obvious what this chamber holds. They're standing on a ledge that actually stretches out over the underground river, and on the other side, on a similar ledge, is a mound of treasure, mostly religious artifacts and precious gems. "/Thugg and Eilam,/ we've got a river and ledges over it, us on one, treasure on the other." A jolt runs through the platform. "And they're startin' to recede back into the walls! It's all gonna fall!"

"Vaytar..." Netep muses over thoughtfully, a belated 'ah-hah' moment dawning on her expression, then when Sugg smacks the button and Corr articulates where her brain was struggling to go with this one. Evidently she'd not salvaged as much sleep this morning as she'd hoped, but the little wheels are still turning. "I hope that ceiling opens up," she whispers, assuming there /is/ a ceiling, in whatever chamber they've fallen into. She can't see what they're seeing, touch what they're touching, and /that/ is the primary source of her apprehension. A scientist operating with just a fraction of desired data to make informed conclusions is NOT a happy scientist. Same goes for the unconventionally-educated Muri.

"Was that a scream!?" she frets into the com. "Is somebody hurt?" Somebody's wound tightly, today, and it's getting her flushed. Muri shrugs out of her vest and flaps at her blouse to get a little air flow going to those clammy pits. "Oh, thank the...Quay. Okay. Water. You've reached the coast, perhaps." Both hands hook behind her neck to rub away the tension. "I like this turtle fellow," she comments, to any who can hear, while looking at the button. "He...Eilam, your book? What's his name, Kur...Kurmek? He's the savior to be, in a flood. Save the treasures. We ought smartly overlook this /fish/ icon, I believe, and maybe...hit the turtle. Kurmak and...dammit." She rushes over to the holoterm for a moment and punches away with two fingers until she's found the information she seeks. "Vakto! He who may restore the dry land."

Netep Muri points to the pig face. "The pig! Sugg! Pig!"

To be fair, Eilam had been reading ahead, trying to understand stuff, looking for signs of water or a river or anything like that. Was there some kind of Weequay god of a river? In the end, Eilam really did just sort of get a bit annoyed at not being able to figure this out. It should be simple, right? It... it's right in front of him, he brought all the books, surely he was just overlooking it but he didn't have time to figure it out. "I like turtle." he said without too much certainty, "Maybe the turtle one is right, turtles live in the water, right? Maybe... stone turtles will come up and let you cross? Fish are kind of small, horses aren't for water and... unless any of you have a better idea?" Probably better than I LIKE TURTLE.

It helped his confidence a tiny bit at making blind guesses with all the stories he'd read when Netep agreed with him, actually seeming happy before saying, "Sugg, ca..." wait, pig?! So she didn't agree with him? He was wrong? Suddenly Eilam was quiet and felt rather uncertain about everything, stepping back again and just watching.

There's some delay and debate as to what button to push, and down in the underground river with the field team, things are starting to get dicey. The ledges on both sides are receding, and there is very little left to stand on, the movement jerky and unpredictable as the ancient mechanisms do their work, threatening to knock the explorers into the water below. A few trinkets have already splooshed down into the murky depths. "Hold on, and push buttons! Whatever buttons you gotta push!" That's Corr. He's not happy.

Krasni Maj's there at least, even if she's a little slow about letting go of the grower, and can only groan at the sliding ledges,"I'm not sure my ankle's going to hold if we have to jump." she offers tightly, content to hang at the back for now, furthest from the sliding edge of the ledge and let someone else work it out for the moment. Trying not to worry about whether or not the faintly squishy feeling in her boot is something she should be overly concerned about, yet. There's only so much ledge though, and that bitten ankle of hers is definitely dodgy, so it's probably no surprise to the temple team when the Falleen's ankle rolls and she slides towards the waiting liquid with an erp of consternation.

"Ah kriff," Sar says as they reach the new chamber and stuff starts going awry. Krasni plunges toward the water and the Old Man leaps into action. Sliding his EE-3 away and pulling his S-5 out, Sar fires the durasteel dart that's connected to a liquid cable manufacturer housed beneath the barrel. The dart embeds itself into the roof of the chamber and Sar leaps into the water behind the injured Falleen woman. Grabbing her around the waist, he depresses a button on the grip of his handgun and the attached winch begins dragging the two of them out of the subterranean river. "Push a button, /now/!" he shouts into the ears of the research team.

Well this is great. First she has to run from snakes, and now she's got to swim. The ledge inches in just enough that whatever balance Kasia had, whatever handhold she was handholding, it's not enough to keep her out of the drink, and down she goes. Limbs flail and she makes another one of those yelping sounds -- which has to be super fun for those with coms in their ears -- as she falls and hits the water. "BLURBLE BLURB!" she shouts, or tries to, which might be 'push a button', but there's too much water up around her face area for her to speak actual words so it's mostly gurgles and sputtering.

"WE'RE PUSHING!" Muri barks back defensively from their command center which, as fortune would have it, is high and dry. She plants a palm firmly on both the turtle and pigface and "NNGH!" gives each a beligerent shove in the hopes of ending this offworld, unkosher temple madness and then sags over the edge of the console, emotionally spent. That's it. Either they've made pay day or they're drowning. Whatever the result pans out to be, Netep could use a drink. Possibly more.

Sugg doesn't really know what is going on, but as Muri is trying to push two buttons at one time, he places his hands on the console and hops up on top of it, flipping over and bringing both feet down on the buttons. If he were wearing taps, he would surely be clickety clacking away on the turtle and pig face, every now and then jumping up and down to add extra weight to the buttons and evading Muri's hands.

More rumbling when the buttons are pushed. The platforms don't cease their retraction, but they are joined by another movement, this time of a giant stone head, like a Gamorrean's, coming up out of the river beneath Kasia and Corr, who had been desperately trying to keep the woman from being washed away by the current. Water streams down over the massive stone snout, and Corr wraps an arm around a pillar-like tusk.

The turtle seems to have been much the same sort of mechanism, with a giant stone turtle surfacing beneath the gems and jewels and relics. However, his shell adds an unnatural feature: stairs. They lead up to an exit above.

Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief. They're safe, the treasure is safe, and there's a way out. Stairs.