daybreakacademy | Mission: Raiders of the Lost Crusades

Entry tags:

ky kiske: guilty gear

Mission: Raiders of the Lost Crusades

who: Ky Kiske (

bejustorbedead), Emilie (

hatesdragons), Rex Arany (

heromedal)
what: Time for unorthodox archeology.
when: mid-may
where: Sidon, Lebanon.
Warnings: none, will update as needed.

The flight was unremarkable save for some slight turbulence, and after landing in a private airfield, and driven to a nice hotel by taxi. After everyone got settled in for the night and Ky left to finalize some details for the cover story, they left again in a rented bus to a series of overgrown walls and towers to the south of Sidon, with Ky speaking to someone on the other end of the phone on the way over.

“-Yes, we’re on our way.” “Of course, I believe there is much to be learned from this site.” “- I’ll call you if we find anything significant, though you have to understand this is delicate work and will take time.” “Hah! Don’t worry, we’re not British.”

Once they arrived, it was time to gather around. “I admit… this is far bigger than I anticipated,” Ky started as he cranes his neck. “It seems they built their fortifications on top of an old town…” Meaning their search area is much wider than he expected.

“Okay! Standard rules: Never go off alone, and always have your radios on you, and if you see anything suspicious – immediately contact me and don’t touch anything – We are looking for lamb with a flag against its shoulder, a lion rampart, or two men riding one horse, but keep a note of anything else that looks odd. If you see a threat, Radio everyone. Any questions?”
Once answered, it’s time to split up and explore.

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Since getting to Daybreak, Rex hasn't had much chance to indulge in the talent that actually got his alter ego the name Black Dog- that being the ability to sniff things out and dig things up.

He's currently wearing his standard puffy coat, the combat suit underneath it, ready to be revealed with a cool sweeping motion if trouble arises. The shades are packed full of scanning enchantments- if anyone able to see and hear invisible and silent magic were to look it'd be a piercing beam and go 'woo-woo-woo.' And naturally, he's listening to appropriate music for a treasure hunt.

Following any sort of lead with a careful but quick style, Rex is in his element, though it leads to him being found in odd places, such as walking up the side of walls or balancing on the top of things that seem far too small for a man of his size.

As she has seen what Rex is capable of and trusts him in that regard, Emille has chosen to follow him in pursuit of artifacts. If something's lurking in the darkness, Eternal Sunlight should save the day. More than she could, anyway.

She remains quiet, pacing behind the large man, knowing talk is fruitless over the muffled but audible voice coming from his ears. However, it's when she sees him trying to cram himself into a tight space that she speaks up. Literally. She nearly yells:

"Excuse me, Rex? Let me in there. I can fit." Her voice echoes down the dark and dusty hallway, so hopefully he can hear her. "Tell me what you see and I will investigate."

"Hmm?" Rex tugs one of his earbuds out, though really the shouting wasn't that necessary- he's so used to his music when he hears even a hint of something which isn't part of it, it startles him. "Oh. Certainly. I've put on some weight recently, so that is useful."

By weight he means muscle and by some he means 200lbs of it, but understatement is a skill he practices a lot. He steps aside, but turns his head to the walls.

"It is only a small lead, but the walls of this structure are designed with weight in mind that exceeds ordinary needs. Such a design could merely be happenstance, but it's also common of buildings that contain stained glass windows. As that is an already associated feature with our current search, it seemed worth investigation."

Unfortunately the building beside it has subsided a bit, making a few areas a bit of a squeeze.

Rex was correct in his assessment, as a closer look reveals that some of the window gaps in the wall have iron slats - long since rusted - laying against the bottom and surviving sides, signs of stained glass once adorn this building, there are a few shards of orange-colored glass on the ground.

Rex's Eternal Sunshine is a good tool to have, as even while they made sure to arrive as early as possible to have as much daylight as possible, there are places where darkness is inevitable, especially as they got further from where the stained glass used to exist. It was difficult to tell with the collapsed sections, but it seems like there's a cellar door just beyond though it's a tight squeeze to get past the debris.

Edited 2020-05-18 21:19 (UTC)

The shouting is partially a side-effect from years of being ignored due to looking like an eight-year-old, but since it got Rex's attention, it did its job and Emille has no reason to apologize.

She raises her eyebrow at his explanation. There was a method to his madness after all -- using his weight to test the wall structure. "Impressive. I never took you to be knowledgeable in architecture, Rex."

In an attempt to be active and useful in their investigation, Emille pulls a regular but heavy-duty metal flashlight out from the belt that also holds her rapier and turns it on in order to have a closer look around. That's when she notices the sparkling at their feet. Bending over, she gingerly picks up a very dusty piece of something and blows some of the grime away. Shining the flashlight on it reveals that it's glass, and it's... orange. Her heart leaps in her chest for a moment until she mentally reminds herself that there's no way to prove this has anything to do with what she's seeking.

"It seems your conjecture was correct." Her gaze moves from the object in her hand up to Rex. "This appears to be stained glass." She holds it out towards him in case he wishes to examine it as well.

"We may be on the right track, but where would you suggest we go next?"

"It's an often underlooked aspect of so-called 'dungeon diving.' By studying a structure's design, it is possible to discern its purpose and potentially its contents," he explains as Emille looks around. Though he won't be mentioning he was mostly just seeing if he'd fit and the conclusions he's reached were based on his scans. Having a mind to do the calculations to determine what the walls are made for doesn't always have much to do with having the sense not to put your head in things.

"Once a potential route has been discovered, it is best to follow it until a dead end is reached, figuratively or literally." He places a finger on the beauty mark above his lip, something he does when he gets into deep thought. "I suggest we proceed until we make a discovery more substantial than this before we relay our findings. It may distract from other leads."

Just in case, he sweeps his scanning shades over the glass in case it's magical or something, before continuing his assessment of the building itself. The cellar door gets picked up quite quickly but... he's too darn big to get there quickly. "Could you please investigate that section?"

Though being ~~paranoid~~ well prepared, Rex waves one hand over her- a thin purple aura showing he's cast a barrier spell about her, like a full-body bulletproof jacket. "That should offer you protection in case of collapse."

Or a trap, but he doesn't say that.

It's difficult to tell if it is age or grime, it does appear there are some dark spots on the glass, it does come up as completely ordinary in Rex's scans.

Their radio crackles briefly. "Kiske here. looks like there's been some recent activity on the outside - could be locals picking out material or children playing, but be careful."

"Dungeon diving?" Now Emille narrows her eyes a bit at Rex. "Dungeons usually imply prisons, correct? Would our current situation not be more akin to ruin raiding?" She's not even going to touch that the term makes it sound as if Rex likes to spend his time in prisons. It's none of her business, anyway.

After Rex gets a look at the glass, she pockets it, then shines her light in the direction that he's hinting towards. It looks like a tight squeeze, but there's a door of some kind past the bottleneck. Emille nods. "I see. I will do what I can." She begins to make her way over there, but stops when she sees Rex move from the corner of her eye, and the sudden appearance of an aura over her. She turns back and utters a "thanks," then returns to her mission. The faint cackle of radio static can be heard as she walks away, but she figures if it's something important Rex will let her know.

Emille has to pin herself against the structure's wall in order to shimmy through the gap nearly cut off by a fallen slab of granite. But she's able to make it through to the door, which is cracked open but unmovable due to the weight of the collapsed granite surrounding it. On top of that, it is made of a thick wood that has been able to withstand centuries of disuse, at least on first glance.

For a moment, all seems hopeless. The crack cannot be widened, and it's too narrow for even her tiny frame. She shines her flashlight over the area, hoping to find some way to remove the door. She does so in a slightly rushed manner as well, as her personal pride is pushing her to find a solution before her much more capable partner is able to come over and assist.

The door is old indeed, but thick, but the hinges are the same as any sort of hinge - and seems to have been spared the worst of the ravages of time - if the hinges were undone, it might give her more options to move things around.

Alternatively - it seemed like there's a large knot in the middle plank of the door, with a crack running from top to bottom, perhaps if enough force could be pushed against it - it could fully break, enough for her to just squeeze through.

While Emille examines the hatch, Rex spends a short while in silence before he replies to the radio. A flick of a switch and his earbuds and he's talking to Ky. Because he didn't say 'over.'

"Rex here. Roger. Request description of signs. Update on our end, investigating site of stained glass, possible lead. Emille accompanying. Over."

There. Radio procedure is serious business, Ky, get your shit together.

As she continues to look over the door, Emille notices that the door's hinges are still in pretty good condition. She does take the flashlight's handle and tries to smash one a bit, but as it isn't falling apart, she begins to grow frustrated. Plan A is not working.

It looks like Plan B may involve a crack she just noticed running vertically through the door. Emille pushes it with her hand to see if it will budge. Not by much, it seems, but she does feel it give just the slightest bit. She rams it with the butt of the flashlight. The sound of the contact of metal against wood echoes down the hallway, and the crack moves a little bit more.

This isn't going quickly enough for her. They're under a time limit, and she needs to get through this dang door. Feeling anger flow through her and heat her body up, Emille growls at the slab of wood and begins kicking it, trying to put all of her body weight into each assault. With every kick she curses the door, until it eventually gives way enough for her to shine her light through and see what's on the other side. It seems to be yet another dusty old room upon first glance, but it definitely warrants exploring.

Emille turns back to Rex. "I've cracked the door and looked inside. I see nothing of note. I think I could enter if I kick it a little bit more. Are you able to come any closer?" Ky had told them to stick together, but it might be hard for them to stick to that suggestion if only she can go ahead...

Rex splits his attention between the radio and Emille, ready to drop everything and do something drastic at a moment's notice. In typical Rex fashion, he's also been quietly calculating what's safe to move in order to gain access, so by the time she's smacked and shined with her light he has a plan.

"On my way." Rex claps his hands together, does one last go over the numbers and then pulls them apart. Manipulating momentum to simulate telekinesis is one of his favourite tricks. Shifting everyone all at once is usually risky, but not when regulated by one mind that acts like hundreds of hands, moving everything it's safe to and rearranging it all to offer support making up for what's dropped. He's done it hundreds of times, but it's always tense. Not that you'd know from his flat expression.

It's still a bit of a tight squeeze but doable and he scoots over. He speaks to Ky as he does. "Rex here. Emille and I have discovered an underground area that warrants investigation- directions to follow if you wish to join." And he does indeed give directions. And finishes with 'over.'

"Ah, I see the problem-" Rex says as he's already inserting his glorious golden god blade into the crack, giving it a twist. Eternal Sunlight doesn't appreciate being used as a crowbar when she's the greatest sword of all time (if you ask her), but she is a very good one.

"Kiske here." There's a sound of uncertainty. "Looks like hoof prints - some dust is disturbed by hands, it could be some locals treasure hunting or scavenging building materials - but best stay on guard. Over."

With their combined efforts, the cracked plank breaks, allowing Emille to squeeze through, and in the glow of Eternal Sunlight, there's a relief of a Lamb carrying a banner on the wall inside, and from the inside - especially with the rubble cleared out, it's much easier to force it open to get Rex inside.

Once they reported their next movement. "Kiske here. On my way."

Once again, Rex's ingenuity and overabundance of tools and tricks have come in handy, allowing Emille access into the cellar with a twist of Eternal Sunlight.

After catching a glimpse of something on the wall, Emille goes into full investigative mode with her flashlight and sees a rather large relief on the wall. Out of curiosity, she goes to touch it, and is forced to stretch her arm up a bit in order to lightly rub its cold stone surface. A lamb, huh? She's pretty sure this is something that needs to be reported to Ky. Maybe he'll be able to understand what the designs are on the banner the lamb is carrying.

As Rex clears his way into the room, she continues looking around, noting that the room is quite small and cramped, as is to be expected from a cellar. The walls themselves seem to be dug out of stone instead of constructed. Maybe there are more carvings around... She keeps searching until instructed otherwise.

"Roger. Wilco. Over and out."

Rex lets Emille take the lead. Eternal Sunlight is a fair bit less effective for shedding light than her torch. The golden blade doesn't shed light of its own, though it does glimmer and gleams beautifully in the faintest of light. Sunlight doesn't share her brightness, she just shows up other light to remind it of her superiority. So the sword returns to his back, and Rex just turns on a flashlight of his own. Mundane solutions are often the most effective.

"Curious. I believe we are pursuing an avenue of enquiry of great potential," Rex says, as if people talk like that. He keeps an eye on Emille as he turns up the scanning scrying on his shades to the maximum, looking over the relief in excruciating detail to try and find the smallest hint of anything out of the ordinary.

The lamb's wool looks a little odd... as if they're carved to more resemble scales than curled bits of wool. The banner depicts the cross common for the Knight's templar, the bottom flaps of the banner are long and pointed and seem to be pointing further down the hallway which seems to be tilting lower, heading underground.

Behind them, there's the sound of grinding, as Ky pushed some rubble away, slipping through to join them. "Ah... the lamb of god... we're heading in the right direction."

"Ah, Sir Kiske." Emille nods towards him as he arrives, thankful for the aural notice as she had her back turned while searching the room.

"This is indeed a Templar lamb?" She shines her light on it again, highlighting its oddities. "Something about it seems strange, as every aspect of its design is quite jagged. I would assume that is due to it being carved out of rock, but from what I have witnessed, everything that the Templars do is intentional." So is there a deeper meaning, or not? It could go either way at this point.

"In any case, I have not seen anything else in this room of note." She again shines her flashlight across the entirety of the tiny room, in case something noticeably jumps out to one of the others.

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Mission: Raiders of the Lost Crusades

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