I hadn't expected it to still be here, especially with HoN Co. taking an interest in it. At the very most, I was expecting to find a collection of smashed up wood, but there it was, intact, oddly enough with the torches still burning! UOPETA made one last sweep of the area before he was happy with it being clear, and we slowly and carefully made our way down towards it.
"Nice boat... Did you make this?"
Swelling with pride, I decided to the humble approach and just mutter "yes". It was a basic boat, and it worked for the simple tasks required of it. That simple task was usually not sinking, which it seemed to do well with. Then UOPETA noticed the line running down the centre of it, asking what it was. I sheepishly admitted it was a cut line, where I had had to cut the thing into two pieces, and drag it past my wall to make use of it to get it here! They laughed, and considering the current situation, I couldn't help but laugh either. Here it was, still in one piece. Our job just got a whole lot easier!
After pushing the boat out into deeper water, we all climbed aboard; I got into the main position and began rowing towards the general direction of the next location. THEROS and UOPETA perched on either side to balance the load, but with the edge already running very close to the water's edge, a single jolt or misplacement of body weight could sink us! Before setting off, I had checked in the chest, but it seems if anything had been left in there, it had been taken.
"Okay, Syeonyx, You're going to need to row to the South East. If you deviate off course, I'll set you right again."
"I'll keep a lookout. Try to see if we're not drawing too much attention to ourselves."
UOPETA began to look through the telescope towards the far islands ahead of us, whilst THEROS studied the map. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself; from a distance we must look like the worst pirate ship in the world! All we needed now was a small mast with the jolly roger, and a talking parrot that wouldn't shut up! I continued rowing, remembering how exhausting this had been before; we had been going for about ten minutes and my arms were already aching. Luckily though, there were three of us, and I couldn't see any of the other two saying no to having a rota. Before it had only been me and Chiron, and he was unable to help at all except draw attention to us by barking, but at least we could swap over when we got to a certain area. I continued rowing for a further half an hour, by which time I felt like my arms were going to fall off! THEROS saw this and asked to take over, which I gladly took him up on. We carefully swapped, still maintaining a small amount of forward momentum, and I took up the position of monitoring our location on the map. After a few minutes, I was already lost, but judging from the light retreating into the Western sky, I could tell we were heading in a reasonably accurate direction. After a little wile longer, we came to an area I knew quite well; it was a small island crossing that I had used a few times to get from Jonas' house back to the base, and to other portals. Remembering correctly, there was a small area which could be used to cross over with the boat, but it would be cutting it close. As we neared the bank, I guided THEROS - who was surprisingly good at rowing - into position. Then we stopped...
"What's up?"
We had run aground. The bottom of the boat must be too deep to be able to pass over the crossing. We would have to get out and push. I explained this to the others, and jumped out from the side, into nearly waist-deep water. It was a little cold, but that was to be expected. Besides, I might have to get used to it; in a few hours or so, we could be diving underwater! UOPETA jumped from his side, and THEROS clumsily climbed out from the seat. Going around to the back, we all began to push the boat along. It was incredibly difficult, even with three people; the boat was hard on its own, but when you factor in the resistance of the bottom of the boat with floor, well that just made it harder! We continued pushing, gaining ground, inch by inch.
After a while, pushing became easier, and the front of the boat became free. Another large pushes, and the entire boat freed itself, floating ahead slightly, causing us to rush over to stop it. With UOPETA holding the boat, me and THEROS climbed back on, only UOPETA had decided to row the rest of the way. Rocking slightly, UOPETA climbed back on, and positioned himself in the main seat, clutching the oars.
"Right then. How far left to go, and in which direction?"
THEROS pointed slightly to the left of where the boat was already pointing, and stated a surprisingly accurate number. Well, then again, he was the cartographer.
UOPETA rowed steadily but quickly; he hadn't had any rowing experience before, but I could tell he was a natural! His smooth strokes were effortless, and he seemed to be able to make us go faster than either me or THEROS. Not that it mattered. Within under an hour of leaving the island crossing behind, we had begun to approach the location marked on the map, but we couldn't see anything. THEROS peered around with the telescope, and then back to his map, shaking his head.
"This is where the map pointed us to... It must be around here... Maybe it is underwater..."
Great. So we were going to have to go diving. UOPETA stopped rowing, allowing us to better survey our surroundings, when THEROS called out in excitement!
"Scratch that! I think I've found the actual location!"
Passing the telescope to me and pointing off to the right, he stated that he could see an island with a torch on it. Looking through the eyepiece, it wasn't long before I could see it too: a piercing light in the surrounding darkness, illuminating a large potion of the tree and surrounding island.
"Very odd... I don't think you'll usually find trees growing with torches affixed to them..."
UOPETA picked up the oars again, and with style and precision, he steered us in the direction of the light. After a few moments, the light came into view without the aid of the telescope, and within minutes, we could make out the tree and the island. It was very small, hardly there at all, but we couldn't see anything of notable interest... Aside from the torch. There was no sign of a portal, although it was too suspicious to just ignore!
As we got closer, I noticed a small hole in the ground beside the tree. What was that? Once we were close enough, I jumped out and waded to the island. THEROS joined me, and then UOPETA got out, dragging the boat to the side of the island. It was slightly on top of the island, so it was safe unless it was stolen, or a large wave took it! With the light of the torch illuminating the area around us, I could now see the hole more clearly, but it was more than just a hole. It was a set of stairs, leading down and around the central trunk of the tree. Even more oddly, the actual trunk of the tree seemed to go down the entire length of the stairway... What was this? It was a little elaborate for a portal location. It had to have an active secondary portal here!
"Right. We cannot guarantee what or who is down there, so I'll go first, followed by Syeonyx and finally you THEROS. If you see or hear anything, point it out to me. We can't miss anything important!"
We all nodded, taking our blowpipes in hand, and one by one, descending into the hole, down the stairs, into the unknown.
We continued down the entire stairway, expecting to meet face to face with a guard, but there was no-one. The stairs themselves were made of an odd stone brick, and the central column it wound around was still that of the tree trunk! After some time of going around in circles, spiralling further and further down, it flattened out, and we emerged into a totally deserted corridor. A few torches were set up on the walls, already burning away, and a a lever was positioned a few metres away from the stairs. Carefully, we all went over to it, studying it in interest.
"What do you think it does?"
I shrugged... But I knew that pulling it could be dangerous. UOPETA however, decided to approach the situation from another direction, and gave it a short, sharp tug! It didn't shift...
"Probably for the best..."
We continued down the corridor, noticing something odd at the end. As we got closer, we realised it was an iron gate! Sturdy and secure, it barred the way forward, only allowing us to see a set of steps leading further down.
Now what? We went back up the corridor a small way and noticed another lever, closer to the iron bars. What did this one do? Cautiously, I approached and tugged it, and with no effort, it flicked down with a clunk! From the other side of the corridor, back towards the stairs, we heard a click. We looked each other, confused. What was that? We cautiously made our way up to the entrance of the corridor, back towards the first lever, but as we got there, we heard another clunk from behind us! Turning around sharply, expecting to see guards or Creepers, we were met with nothing. What were all of these strange noises...? Then I noticed it... The lever. It had returned to its original position... I think I knew what was going on... It was a timer... The first lever couldn't be used until the second was pulled, freeing up some type of lock on the first. That must have been the click when we pulled the second one. But from the distance they were apart, there was no way one person could do this alone! I told the others what I had noticed, and UOPETA began nodding.
"I had reached that conclusion too... It's very simple if that is the case. One of us needs to stay here whilst another goes over to the second one. Once the second is pulled, someone pulls this one... And then something happens..."
Exactly... "Something"... Let's hope it opened the iron gates! I walked over to the second lever, positioned my hands on it and looked back at UOPETA, who gave the thumbs up sign. With an effortless tug, I pulled the second lever down. A few moments later, a click was heard where UOPETA was standing, and he tugged. The first lever shifted downwards as well, and from behind us, I heard the sound of grating metal and stone! Turning to face the sound, I watched as the iron gate parted and retreated into the ceiling, floor and wall compartments.
"Well, that was easy..."
UOPETA came over and joined us, just as the last piece of the gate clunked into place.
"Onwards..."
With blowpipes are the ready again, we all made our way cautiously down the stairs, where we were confronted by another short chamber and another set of stairs. Only this time, there was no obstacle. What met us was completely unpredictable... We all stood and stared in astonishment at what lay before us... How could this be? Was this the product of Amie's portal replication research? They had mass produced loads of portals and stored them underground, activating each one to greatly further their goal! What were we to do now...?
Syeonyx signing off
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