We had been at this for some time. It felt like hours, but I was reassured it had been less than half an hour in total. There was so much data amassed here that leaving without reading through all of it seemed cruel! We had created so many search strings and queries now, and the desk beside the automated system was now stacked quite high with reports. Despite the report that was first called had actually already been read to us by Amie, I had to read through it myself. It seemed that the Nether did indeed possess an atmosphere breathable by humans, and it also possessed the same gravitational attraction as Minecraftia. So far so good; we weren't going to suffocate and we weren't going to either float away or be crushed by the abnormal gravity! After reading through this, I created a query concerning indigenous species that was known to originate from the Nether, and I wasn't surprised to see images and details about the Creepers. However I did find it odd that in the Creeper section, there was no reference to their explosive and volatile nature, nor any information about an experiment to be able to do this either! Aside from that, there was very little in terms of other species. Oddly, there was no record about the undead of giant spiders emerging from the Nether, nor where any found. It didn't say that, but the lack of data suggested that the undead were likely a result of a diabolical experiment to protect HoN Co.'s resources! Then I got to a page that confused me... Well, after the Creeper section, I was confused entirely! There were some species of silverfish; small insect-like creatures that crawled around on the floor, no bigger than a ladybird, but there was mention of a 'pig-man'! I approached Amie with questions about this species, wondering where to start!
"Ah yes. I was the same when I first read it, but with time that turned to intrigue. From what I can gather, they're passive in nature... They travel around in small groups, and exhibit a pack-mentality. They won't instigate any form of conflict unless set upon by a potential threat. That was demonstrated in a lab; a group of them were sealed behind a glass wall, where they ambled around quite happily. One of them was hooked up to electrodes and shocked several times to incite a specific reaction. Then all together, they began pounding on the glass wall, slobbering and salivating, making a horrid, strained grunting sound. Eventually, they were all 'put down' because they were beginning to fracture the glass! Basically, if you see one, don't hit it with anything, or attempt any form of hostile engagement! Very simple..."
I looked back at the report, and couldn't take my eyes from the small image located at the top of the page. I continued reading a portion of the information beneath a huge paragraph:
'The indigenous species we encountered appears to be a real-life chimeric example of a human-pig hybrid. We have known for some time the in-depth similarities between human and pig physiology, which is proved by successful xeno-transplantation, but the actual existence of a creature which possesses attributes from both individual species is remarkable! The skin of the species is more akin to the tough, furry skin of the pig, along with the facial features, reverse-jointed legs and back-leg hooves. However, the creature can stand perfectly erect on its hind legs, and possesses the hands of a human being, including opposable thumbs!'
The information went on into more detail about the similarities between pigs and humans, along with some graphs, data and readings collected from a 'live sample'. The last page in the document was the most surprising, for two reasons. Firstly, the image was blurry and badly out of a focus, and seemed to show a large balloon with tentacles floating in the air. Secondly, considering the amount of information gathered about everything else, the single paragraph beneath the image made me a little a apprehensive. Amie leaned over to look at what I was reading and paused. She let UOPETA and THEROS continue keying in more search strings for the query.
"Ah yes... There isn't much information on that species. It was very... Evasive. They couldn't determine it's orientation either; some were passive and totally ignored them, whilst one attacked the team with projectiles fired from its mouth! I think they only managed to see about three of them in that single expedition. They made a large impression, but unfortunately nothing that could be translated onto paper..."
I couldn't figure out what it was, and judging from the description, neither could the research team!
'We also encountered an odd aerial species which cannot really be determined as passive or otherwise. Multiple individuals of this new species either totally ignored us, possibly not threatened by our presence, or were completely unaware of us. They bear resemblance to large squid with stunted tentacles, and possess an ability to "float" through the air unaided by wings or any other form of appendage. Multiple theories have been created to suggest a reason for such an ability such as their body being mostly composed of helium or another unknown light inert gas surrounded by a thin skin, or that they have the ability to interact directly with the air around it, and utilise it to move around. The hostile individual we encountered began to attack the team on sight, firing strange, volatile projectiles from, what could only be described as, its mouth! As it was too distant from us, engagement on our part was impossible, and so we retreated into a safer area. However, this may have misinterpreted as a sign of communication on its part. We will need to return on numerous occasions to be able to study them from afar to determine their behaviour, and the possibility of capturing one.
Of additional note are the sounds they emit; a high pitched chittering and shrieking can be heard from them at great distance, but it is unknown for the reason this is performed. Possibly a communication method.'
In a decent amount of time, I and the others had read quite a bit of information about the Nether itself. I had learned that in comparison to Minecraftia, it was a very barren environment, possessing no obvious form of flora or water. In fact, it was the total opposite! The team had found numerous lava pools extending long distances, and random fires had been started in the occasional place, indicating possible instability of the atmospheric gas composition, or erratic lightning storms. The team had spent a considerable amount of time in the Nether on the first occasion, and more time thereafter on multiple expeditions, and had never noted anything that could be classed as weather. They had studied the minerals and substances within the Nether, and determined that based on the large site they had established, a good 58.5% of the Nether was comprised of a substance similar to soil. It had the same consistency, but was tinged a dark red, and possessed no fertile traits of any kind. However, they had found that it possessed immense amounts of potential energy stored within which was the basis for their plan to merge the Nether and Minecraftia together! However, on removing samples from the Nether back through the portal, the soil-like substance immediately lost it's energy, and there are still teams conducting experiments to find out what happened to it, in order to preserve the conservation of energy theory.
"This is interesting... It seems they found a Nether-equivalent to sand as well... They say it exhibits almost all of the traits of normal sand, but due to the structure of each grain, applying any form of pressure - regardless of the surface area - causes the object to sink... Much like quicksand then... It goes on to say that it is very distinctive, and occurs in small patches scattered throughout the area... Well, there's something else to look out for. Aggressive squids and quicksand!"
"They're not squids! We don't know if they can even be related to any species we currently know about, or an entirely knew kingdom needs to be established..."
"Kingdom...? Are we giving them land now?"
"No, kingdom! Taxonomy. It's the research and classification of every biological organism. Everything from an elephant to a seed can be defined as belonging to a kingdom, but these are the most vague of classifications. There are only five main groups: Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista and Bacteria. We can't even determine what kingdom those things belong in."
"Well, it's blatantly an animal!"
"Not necessarily. We would need to study it in great detail to determine that. If it possesses cells with a cell wall and chloroplasts, that would technically make it a plant! Then again, that's if it's comprised of cells... Taxonomy is very difficult. I know the scientists had a real hard time determining what the duck billed platypus was! Turns out it's a mammal, even though it lays eggs!"
UOPETA went back to flicking through the records, looking rather put in his place!
I was already convinced at this point that entering the Nether wasn't going to mean an instant, painful death, but THEROS then found a report to solidify that. It concerned something that, when described, sounded very similar to what we looking for in the first place!
'As well as the copious amounts of red soil, quicksand and lava pockets, we have also noticed localised pockets of a strange, glowing yellow stone that appears to 'grow' in small ceiling spaces. When examined, it too appears to generate a large amount of energy that could be harnessed for other purposes, however getting to it has proved very dangerous. Additionally, it is the only substance that has retained its energy levels when removed from the Nether, suggesting a possible future mining operation. Further study is needed, but we believe that with some research, we could harness the energy to power specific items depending on the energy signature.'
"There we go. That sounds a lot like the Solus stone! I've already exhausted the keywords to find any report about HoN Co. finding any of this strange stone in Minecraftia, but it's turned up nothing. If we want more of that stuff to help us destroy HoN Co., we'll need to go in the Nether!"
"You've changed your tune! A few hours ago you were adamant that you weren't going to step foot into the Nether!"
"Well I'm now a little more informed on the situation, and believe that, with everyone entering, it's possible. We'll just have to stick together, and try to avoid these weird... Jelly... Squid... Things... Of course we'd need to establish a barricade or a stronghold to perform the necessary preparations without being attacked. We still haven't determined the density of Creepers in there yet!"
That's true... Well it didn't matter. We had the information we needed, and we were going to take a few important sections from a few reports to show AMPHIS and the others. We had been down there a good hour, and we had begun to worry about the state of the guards. Depending on the metabolism of the guard, the potency of the sedative would vary. We made our way carefully up the stairway and back up to the base of the tower. The door was still locked from when UOPETA had flicked the switch from the inside, so it was possible nothing had changed... Opening the door, we waited, hiding around the corner for a moment or two to see if there was any response, but nothing happened. Venturing out, we found the guards in the same state as we had before we entered.
"Good. We got lucky this time. Let's hope we don't meet any on the way back. Come on."
UOPETA led the way back to base. It wasn't quite the normal day that we usually had, destroying portals, but it was certainly eye-opening!
Syeonyx signing off
Day 107: Information overload
Today was the day that I would make the decision of my life based on a few musty reports sealed away in a locked room hidden beneath the enemy! It was very daunting to think that in but a few short hours time, I could be reading through the first contact reports from the men and women who entered into the Nether and came out to tell the tale. Even though they did all return, it wasn't enough for me to think that endangering our life was worth bringing down a company. Admittedly what they were doing was wrong, and they had to be stopped, but the line between heroic and suicidal was becoming ever so blurry! Amie has said that very few have access to the records so it may be possible to bring a few of them back as evidence. We may need some proof to get AMPHIS on everyone else's side. Providing I am convinced myself. OROTHO is asking us to bring back some data about electronic readings, but we've had to burst his bubble and say we're only going to convince the rest. After we had been briefed by COLUS, me Amie, THEROS and UOPETA set off towards the tower. It would take a little longer than usual as UOPETA had to take into account that Amie was with with us. Then again, Amie had managed to defy UOPETA by following us all the way back to the base! Maybe this wouldn't take as long as initially thought. We set off to the North East towards the tower. I was still a little tired, but I think that knowing I would soon be able to read through the actual reports about an area we could be going to was keeping me awake.
We had set off rather early in the morning, hopefully allowing us to arrive within a good time, and compensating for any guard shift rotations. With the help of OROTHO's telescope, we were able to scope out the tower from a long distance, but due to the tree line, very little could be seen of the base from that distance. We performed the same checks on the base as we passed the Western side to get to the entrance on the Northern wall. There were two guards. Only two. They had either set up a cunning trap, or didn't have a clue what we were up to. One was posted on the entrance, whilst another walked around the three remaining walls, just like before.
UOPETA and myself took out our blowpipes and crept closer through the treeline towards the tower. Once we were in range, we fired off our darts; two high pitched whistles. My first missed, flying rather wildly to the left, but thanks to the magazine system attached to the side, I was able to quickly let off another. My guard dropped a few seconds after UOPETA's, and he sank to the floor in a crumple heap. We waited a few seconds before rushing forwards in case we had alerted any from inside, but no-one appeared, and we continued towards the entrance. It seems THEROS has learnt a trick or two; he followed up from the rear, ensuring that Amie wasn't left behind. Once we were all at the entrance, me and UOPETA removed the darts from the the guards's necks and flicked the switch. I entered first, blowpipe ready, but as usual, there was no-one here...
"Okay Amie, open the secret wall and let's get to that information!"
"No you fool! I said it was down in the master portal chamber! We need to get into there before we can find anything! It's not kept up here where the guards are..."
It seems HoN Co. are even keeping secrets from their own security forces... Are they loyal to anyone...? We slowly progressed down the spiral staircase, following the glass-encased conducting rod downwards until it levelled off and the stairway stopped. The sounds of active portals could just about be heard in the direction of the chamber. After everyone had joined back up, we proceeded, ensuring we took every precaution to remain undetected. Moving to the railing, UOPETA led up front, checking to see if any guards were present, but after circling the entire room finding no guards, we put the blowpipes away.
"No change..."
"What?"
THEROS pointed up at both the left and right side walls towards the primary portals:
"Our last operation hasn't managed to knock out any more of these portals. Not surprising when you consider how many standard portals we found..."
"Well at least there aren't any more online! Now Amie, do you stuff..."
Amie moved over to the desk beneath the stairway and bent down to look underneath the surface. After a moment or two, there was a click and she emerged...
"Sorry, the door is usually locked to prevent someone stumbling across it accidentally."
She then reached into one of the containers around the edge of the room, took out a particularly heavy looking book and carried it to the far right corner of the room. She dropped it onto a the top of a bookshelf; it landed on the surface with a dull thud, followed by a click and then a portion of the wall she was facing slid aside.
"Gentlemen... Welcome to the portal data room..."
As we stepped inside, I could tell this was going to be more complex than initially thought. I had imagined a small room containing a few shelves of books or reports. Something smaller than the library from the base. What I was met with instead totally blew my mind!
"All of this data is about the Nether... Most of it was collected on that preliminary expedition, but they went back a few times and it eventually accumulated."
Every wall was covered with row after row of books, from the floor up to the ceiling! It was insane! There were even shelves of books fours metres high in the middle running as rows!
"Erm... This could take a long time to sift through..."
"No no. Not really. It depends on what you want to know. State a specific query or question and I can try and find a file or report that can answer it using the automated system."
Automated system? What did that mean? She could see the puzzled looks on our faces and walked down the steps along the left side to the bottom floor. She then walked underneath the stairs and stayed there for a moment. Then she shouted out to us:
"Say you wanted to know about atmosphere within the Nether. I punch in the specific query and the system finds the linked file in the database, and relates that to position with the library. It then brings it back."
There were some tapping sounds and then a metal arm emerged from beneath the stairs and moved along the centre aisles. It stopped, and with speed and precision, picked up a single file and returned. There was silence for a moment and then Amie began talking again:
"The atmosphere of the Nether is comprised of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and trace amounts of carbon dioxide, water vapour, argon and a few other inert gases... Happy?"
We were speechless... We wouldn't know where to begin in terms of answering questions, but I descended the stairs and joined her. I asked her about any information regarding the Solus stone.
"The query won't recognise that string as 'Solus' was the word you applied to it. If we enter keywords such as 'stone' and descriptive properties, we can see what appears."
She pressed enter, and the arm moved out again. Here was a huge stockpile of information and we had so little time to look through it. It was like being given a chocolate bar and then having it snatched from you after you first bite!
"You two might as well come and help too. You can queue up queries you know..."
Right! To work!
Syeonyx signing off
We had set off rather early in the morning, hopefully allowing us to arrive within a good time, and compensating for any guard shift rotations. With the help of OROTHO's telescope, we were able to scope out the tower from a long distance, but due to the tree line, very little could be seen of the base from that distance. We performed the same checks on the base as we passed the Western side to get to the entrance on the Northern wall. There were two guards. Only two. They had either set up a cunning trap, or didn't have a clue what we were up to. One was posted on the entrance, whilst another walked around the three remaining walls, just like before.
UOPETA and myself took out our blowpipes and crept closer through the treeline towards the tower. Once we were in range, we fired off our darts; two high pitched whistles. My first missed, flying rather wildly to the left, but thanks to the magazine system attached to the side, I was able to quickly let off another. My guard dropped a few seconds after UOPETA's, and he sank to the floor in a crumple heap. We waited a few seconds before rushing forwards in case we had alerted any from inside, but no-one appeared, and we continued towards the entrance. It seems THEROS has learnt a trick or two; he followed up from the rear, ensuring that Amie wasn't left behind. Once we were all at the entrance, me and UOPETA removed the darts from the the guards's necks and flicked the switch. I entered first, blowpipe ready, but as usual, there was no-one here...
"Okay Amie, open the secret wall and let's get to that information!"
"No you fool! I said it was down in the master portal chamber! We need to get into there before we can find anything! It's not kept up here where the guards are..."
It seems HoN Co. are even keeping secrets from their own security forces... Are they loyal to anyone...? We slowly progressed down the spiral staircase, following the glass-encased conducting rod downwards until it levelled off and the stairway stopped. The sounds of active portals could just about be heard in the direction of the chamber. After everyone had joined back up, we proceeded, ensuring we took every precaution to remain undetected. Moving to the railing, UOPETA led up front, checking to see if any guards were present, but after circling the entire room finding no guards, we put the blowpipes away.
"No change..."
"What?"
THEROS pointed up at both the left and right side walls towards the primary portals:
"Our last operation hasn't managed to knock out any more of these portals. Not surprising when you consider how many standard portals we found..."
"Well at least there aren't any more online! Now Amie, do you stuff..."
Amie moved over to the desk beneath the stairway and bent down to look underneath the surface. After a moment or two, there was a click and she emerged...
"Sorry, the door is usually locked to prevent someone stumbling across it accidentally."
She then reached into one of the containers around the edge of the room, took out a particularly heavy looking book and carried it to the far right corner of the room. She dropped it onto a the top of a bookshelf; it landed on the surface with a dull thud, followed by a click and then a portion of the wall she was facing slid aside.
"Gentlemen... Welcome to the portal data room..."
As we stepped inside, I could tell this was going to be more complex than initially thought. I had imagined a small room containing a few shelves of books or reports. Something smaller than the library from the base. What I was met with instead totally blew my mind!
"All of this data is about the Nether... Most of it was collected on that preliminary expedition, but they went back a few times and it eventually accumulated."
Every wall was covered with row after row of books, from the floor up to the ceiling! It was insane! There were even shelves of books fours metres high in the middle running as rows!
"Erm... This could take a long time to sift through..."
"No no. Not really. It depends on what you want to know. State a specific query or question and I can try and find a file or report that can answer it using the automated system."
Automated system? What did that mean? She could see the puzzled looks on our faces and walked down the steps along the left side to the bottom floor. She then walked underneath the stairs and stayed there for a moment. Then she shouted out to us:
"Say you wanted to know about atmosphere within the Nether. I punch in the specific query and the system finds the linked file in the database, and relates that to position with the library. It then brings it back."
There were some tapping sounds and then a metal arm emerged from beneath the stairs and moved along the centre aisles. It stopped, and with speed and precision, picked up a single file and returned. There was silence for a moment and then Amie began talking again:
"The atmosphere of the Nether is comprised of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and trace amounts of carbon dioxide, water vapour, argon and a few other inert gases... Happy?"
We were speechless... We wouldn't know where to begin in terms of answering questions, but I descended the stairs and joined her. I asked her about any information regarding the Solus stone.
"The query won't recognise that string as 'Solus' was the word you applied to it. If we enter keywords such as 'stone' and descriptive properties, we can see what appears."
She pressed enter, and the arm moved out again. Here was a huge stockpile of information and we had so little time to look through it. It was like being given a chocolate bar and then having it snatched from you after you first bite!
"You two might as well come and help too. You can queue up queries you know..."
Right! To work!
Syeonyx signing off
Day 106: To Hell and back!
As expected, I got very little sleep last night. And who can blame me when you might be entering the literal Hell in a few days! Although if I had fallen asleep, I may have been more terrified of my own imagination, and it's conjurings. Once everyone was awake, we all settled in the discussion room, sitting in silence for some time. We all knew the score. We all knew what was at stake and what the risks were. The main point was now to determine whether the potential rewards were worth the inevitable risks. After we eventually got settled into a discussion, it ended up proceeding very similarly as to how it had late last night. Starting off as a serious and logical debate about our current situation, our options, the risks and benefits of each in relation to us, HoN Co. and the public. Then individual opinions and emotions were brought into the mix when we decided to discuss the idea of entering into the Nether, and once again began the bickering and squabbling like children! Some of us were for it, some of us against. In fact it was literally half and half! Me, THEROS, UOPETA and AMPHIS were against the idea of entering the Nether to retrieve another stone to destroy the active portals. Whilst COLUS, OROTHO, Amie and THEXIS were for it. I had a feeling that OROTHO and Amie were with the idea in the name of science and scientific study. COLUS felt strongly that it would aid us in destroying HoN Co.'s plan once and for all. As for THEXIS, I couldn't tell what his motives were. Yet they were all aware that everyone would be entering as a team if we were to proceed.
"Our main argument is the sheer number of unknowns! No-one has any real idea about what the Nether contains. We still can't conclusively say that it has a breathable atmosphere, let alone any non-hostile area to settle to perform these checks! This is supposed to be the place where the undead, Creepers and other mutated foul beasts roam. We know it's not safe, but we know even less if even the portals are compatible with human physiology! For all we know, we could be walking into a meat grinder and not even know it!"
"Actually... That's not strictly true..."
Everyone turned to look at Amie. She sat there in silence for a moment, possibly daunted by the reaction she had received to her comment. But eventually, she stood up, took a deep breath and began to tell us of something we had all known about, but overlooked.
"You're all aware of the first portal HoN Co. found? Well, they sent in an investigative team, which came back with mass amounts of data. HoN Co. knows a lot more about the Nether than anyone does. Even us! Why else do you think they're so adamant to release it into Minecraftia? There's something in there that they want, and it would be idiotic to pass up a chance to go through and find out what it is for ourselves... Especially when you consider that without doing so, we've already lost! Without that stone, all active portals are out of bounds. With their ability to replicate standard portals, who knows how far behind we are already. We can't let them win! If we do, who knows how many lives will be forfeit?!?!"
"Well that still doesn't help us! We can't just stroll up to the CEO of HoN Co. and say 'Hi, we know about your plan and we wondered if we could access those secret files we know you have about the Nether?'! We've no way of getting to them!"
"You forget two things! One, I used to work in the portal cell of HoN Co. so I had access to those files at any time. And two, they store those files in the once place no-one would know about them! Beneath the tower, in the master portal chamber..."
The room fell silent...
We had it settled. Well... Sort of. It had taken most of the day arguing and bickering before we had actually settled on anything. It was settled to the degree where everyone involved was happy with the decision, though the actual outcome had changed somewhat. Instead of blundering into the Nether as was initially planned, myself, UOPETA, THEROS and Amie are going to head back to the conducting tower off to the North East and infiltrate the master portal chamber, just like the countless number of times we have done before. The only difference being that this time we're looking for something very specific, and we know where it is. Initially we were unhappy with Amie accompanying us. Well, I was fine with it, but UOPETA had his objections. But then she pointed out that she was the only one who knew where they were, and telling them how to access it wouldn't be enough.
"It's behind a sealed wall, much like the actual tower base entrance. There is a concealed pressure pad close by to it which must be activated to open it. Once inside, we can close it behind us and open it again to get out. Inside there is sufficient data to determine whether an expedition into the Nether is safe enough for it to be achievable. I'm quite sure that this evidence is enough to even satisfy all parties."
The plan was essentially this: gain access to the base of the tower, remove all threats through passive means, enter the master portal chamber, activate the sealed wall and gain entry to the data room. As the majority of the team going were originally against the idea of entering the Nether, it would be up to us to convince AMPHIS whether it was a good enough idea based on the evidence we find. Bearing in mind we are convinced enough ourselves... Then we return, take a day or two to prepare and then head back to the previous portal site. That was the one location we knew still had a working portal, and we would have to hope that it worked long enough for us to travel across and get back. Obviously we were going to test the shards on the portal in case it is possible for us to use them without making a pointless journey into the unknown.
"Syeonyx, Amie, UOPETA and THEROS will head off to the tower tomorrow. Re-evaluate your position there and make an informed decision. Come back and show this to AMPHIS. If we are all agreed, we will head into the Nether. If there are still some of us who are against the idea, we will need to reach a compromise. We cannot waste more time arguing, giving HoN Co. the ability to gain ground! They can already replicate portals. Let's not give them the opportunity to get any further! Whilst you're there, check on the primary portal status as well. You removed a few portals so there may have been a change. If not, concentrate on finding that data. If possible, bring the important pieces back. I'm sure Amie can direct you to the reports which will be most convincing..."
Like I said... Settled...
Syeonyx signing off
"Our main argument is the sheer number of unknowns! No-one has any real idea about what the Nether contains. We still can't conclusively say that it has a breathable atmosphere, let alone any non-hostile area to settle to perform these checks! This is supposed to be the place where the undead, Creepers and other mutated foul beasts roam. We know it's not safe, but we know even less if even the portals are compatible with human physiology! For all we know, we could be walking into a meat grinder and not even know it!"
"Actually... That's not strictly true..."
Everyone turned to look at Amie. She sat there in silence for a moment, possibly daunted by the reaction she had received to her comment. But eventually, she stood up, took a deep breath and began to tell us of something we had all known about, but overlooked.
"You're all aware of the first portal HoN Co. found? Well, they sent in an investigative team, which came back with mass amounts of data. HoN Co. knows a lot more about the Nether than anyone does. Even us! Why else do you think they're so adamant to release it into Minecraftia? There's something in there that they want, and it would be idiotic to pass up a chance to go through and find out what it is for ourselves... Especially when you consider that without doing so, we've already lost! Without that stone, all active portals are out of bounds. With their ability to replicate standard portals, who knows how far behind we are already. We can't let them win! If we do, who knows how many lives will be forfeit?!?!"
"Well that still doesn't help us! We can't just stroll up to the CEO of HoN Co. and say 'Hi, we know about your plan and we wondered if we could access those secret files we know you have about the Nether?'! We've no way of getting to them!"
"You forget two things! One, I used to work in the portal cell of HoN Co. so I had access to those files at any time. And two, they store those files in the once place no-one would know about them! Beneath the tower, in the master portal chamber..."
The room fell silent...
We had it settled. Well... Sort of. It had taken most of the day arguing and bickering before we had actually settled on anything. It was settled to the degree where everyone involved was happy with the decision, though the actual outcome had changed somewhat. Instead of blundering into the Nether as was initially planned, myself, UOPETA, THEROS and Amie are going to head back to the conducting tower off to the North East and infiltrate the master portal chamber, just like the countless number of times we have done before. The only difference being that this time we're looking for something very specific, and we know where it is. Initially we were unhappy with Amie accompanying us. Well, I was fine with it, but UOPETA had his objections. But then she pointed out that she was the only one who knew where they were, and telling them how to access it wouldn't be enough.
"It's behind a sealed wall, much like the actual tower base entrance. There is a concealed pressure pad close by to it which must be activated to open it. Once inside, we can close it behind us and open it again to get out. Inside there is sufficient data to determine whether an expedition into the Nether is safe enough for it to be achievable. I'm quite sure that this evidence is enough to even satisfy all parties."
The plan was essentially this: gain access to the base of the tower, remove all threats through passive means, enter the master portal chamber, activate the sealed wall and gain entry to the data room. As the majority of the team going were originally against the idea of entering the Nether, it would be up to us to convince AMPHIS whether it was a good enough idea based on the evidence we find. Bearing in mind we are convinced enough ourselves... Then we return, take a day or two to prepare and then head back to the previous portal site. That was the one location we knew still had a working portal, and we would have to hope that it worked long enough for us to travel across and get back. Obviously we were going to test the shards on the portal in case it is possible for us to use them without making a pointless journey into the unknown.
"Syeonyx, Amie, UOPETA and THEROS will head off to the tower tomorrow. Re-evaluate your position there and make an informed decision. Come back and show this to AMPHIS. If we are all agreed, we will head into the Nether. If there are still some of us who are against the idea, we will need to reach a compromise. We cannot waste more time arguing, giving HoN Co. the ability to gain ground! They can already replicate portals. Let's not give them the opportunity to get any further! Whilst you're there, check on the primary portal status as well. You removed a few portals so there may have been a change. If not, concentrate on finding that data. If possible, bring the important pieces back. I'm sure Amie can direct you to the reports which will be most convincing..."
Like I said... Settled...
Syeonyx signing off
Decisions decisions...
We stood in silence for a long time... A very long time... What else could we do...? We had taken out four Creepers before progressing into the chamber, and had managed to take down one of the cages and the right-side portal... But I had waited until THEROS was ready before destroying the last cage... The Affinitas cages are designed as a lure to draw creatures such as the Creepers and the undead from the Nether. Whilst waiting for the Solus stone to recharge, I had given ample time for any creature to pass through, lured by the cage. A Creeper had come through, someone had been a little late with the dart and the Creeper had detonated itself, along with the cage, parts of the chamber, but more importantly... The stone... It was my fault, I hadn't destroyed it sooner...
"...It's not your fault Syeonyx... There was no way you could've known that was going to happen..."
"What do we do though? Seriously! There's one portal left and the only way to destroy it is lying in pieces in my hand!"
"I... I don't know... There's nothing more we can do... Erm... Let me think..."
UOPETA moved to the far side of the chamber, pacing up and down. I stood there in silence, whilst THEROS stood staring at his outstretched palm, hands shaking slightly... What could we do? The portal was indestructible when it was active; the energy provided to the obsidian frame fed the rift, and the energy of the rift fed the frame. It was a cycle that couldn't be broken without the stone! Without the stone, all active portals were now totally indestructible! Unless... Unless OROTHO had a way to maybe replicate the stone's power! Amie had wanted to study it, but COLUS wouldn't allow it; he was still undecided about her, and giving an unknown the only power we had was dangerous. Well, not that it mattered now... Maybe if we had let her study it. Maybe she could have replicated it, or created something similar! Without the stone, we didn't stand a chance against HoN Co. and I didn't know what options we had! Brute force would not work, but there was little else available... The only viable option I could think of was to... To go around each site as normal, only destroying the portals that were inactive. We didn't have much of a choice... We had to leave active portals alone! This more or less made our operation pointless... Destroying an active secondary portal could knock up to forty standard portals offline in a single shot. Taking out an inactive secondary portal would mean portals would merely re-route the iter waves to the next closest secondary portal... We had lost... Game over...
"Right... We can't do anything more here... The portal will remaining standing as we cannot intervene... I suggest we head back to base and inform COLUS and the others... Hopefully, with a larger think tank, we can come up with a solution... I have one, but it's unorthodox... And dangerous..."
UOPETA paused a moment, looked around the chamber, his eyes settling on the portal, and then he turned to face the exit...
"Come on... Let's get back..."
We arrived back at the base in good time, but I got the feeling that was mainly due to UOPETA wanting to quickly get back to base. I can't blame him; none of us were in the right mindset at all. THEROS had refused to put the shards of the stone away, and instead carried them in his closed palm the entire way back. When we got into the base, we all went straight to the lab, and THEROS placed the shards onto the table in front of COLUS, Amie, and OROTHO. At first, they seemed puzzled; they thought we had found something new, and OROTHO went to pick up a piece. Staring at it intently, it wasn't long before he realised what it was...
"Why is the stone in little pieces...?"
"UOPETA? Is this the Solus stone?"
There was silence for awhile, before I eventually stepped in and explained the story. I told them about how much progress we had made, until we came to the last chamber. I described the cages, the portal layouts and the incident with the exploding Creeper. I tried to keep it as brief as possible, but it seemed like it was taking an eternity to explain... After I eventually finished, COLUS sat in silence looking back at the shards... Yellow rays of light glinted off the sharpened surfaces, creating an ominously pretty light show on the table... The silence was deafening! No-one spoke. No-one moved. Silence. OROTHO set the shard back onto the table, and clasped his hands together, as if the full realisation of the situation had hit him...
"Was anyone hurt?"
"No... Luckily Syeonyx managed to dive out of the way in time, but the explosion only damaged the stone."
"Good. Let's be lucky that it wasn't any worse. You could have had casualties after an incident like that... Right... We'll need to discuss our options... Erm... Assemble everyone in the discussion room. I want everyone to be informed about this."
UOPETA went to gather THEXIS and AMPHIS from their respective rooms, whilst the rest of us walked back towards the discussion room in the centre. We had a lot to discuss... The main point? Whether there was any point in continuing...
We had discussed the situation as thoroughly as possible. With insight from everyone, we had established at least four possible options, with varying degrees of viability... We had discussed the possibility of replicating the Solus stone, and had aimed our questions at OROTHO and Amie, but they were incredibly doubtful. The stone was said to originate in the Nether, and on incredibly rare occasions, it would pass through a portal, and begin growing in an isolated location underground... One stone had been found ever in everyone's excavation, and HoN Co. didn't seem to possess one. Not that they would shout about it if they had!
"What about the shards? Are they still able to destroy portals?"
"Honestly? I wouldn't know... The power behind the stone is still beyond most of my own comprehension. I can just about understand the mechanics of it's use, but I wouldn't even be able to begin to understand how to replicate it! It could be classed as a biological organism, but technically it's not. It's a lot like a stalactite. Basically, caves containing limestone also contain calcite which is dissolved by water containing carbon dioxide. Once the water loses the carbon dioxide, the dissolved calcite hardens again, and this process continues to make a long peak forming downwards. I believe that the stone works in a similar way; through the intervention of a spreading medium, the stone can "grow" to other areas by being dissolved, re-solidified and so forth... I highly doubt we could regrow the shards to make a full stone, and I doubt even more that the shards will work effectively as a full stone!"
We were left with a dangerous decision. We had multiple directions we could take; some were dangerous, some were stupid... Some, I couldn't even determine why they were options! The four we were left with were as follows:
The last option was near-suicidal! Not surprising that OROTHO had put it forward... He had stated that we could attempt to gain another stone... When this was mentioned, the entire room fell into silence... Was he actually suggesting what I think he was suggesting? To acquire another stone, one of two things needed to be done. Either we were to go on the biggest mining expedition ever, covering the largest possible surface area underground to find another near a portal... Or... To enter through a portal into the Nether... And retrieve another stone... This idea was ludicrous enough, but the fact that not even Amie or COLUS seemed to reject the idea made it worse! Were they actually considering it! Venture into the Nether and take another stone?!?! It couldn't be that easy. We couldn't just pop through, pick up some as though plucking an apple from a tree, and pass back through! We didn't even know what the Nether entailed! I had heard it was hell! Literally! It conjured up images of fire, vast lakes of lava, and unspeakably vile creatures with the one intent to destroy any intruders! Were they really suggesting we venture into a place like that? I put forward my rejection, along with the support of THEROS and UOPETA, but I don't know whether we got through to them...
"We have no idea what is in the Nether! We don't even know if it has an atmosphere!"
"Well... Technically we do... Study of Creeper anatomy has taught me that they possess a series of valves and and chambers which operate in similar ways to the human respiratory and circulatory system. They have their own version of lungs, and they don't seem to struggle when they pass into Minecraftia... It is possible they breath the same atmosphere as us..."
Trust OROTHO to come up with some hard evidence to knock us back! It was all well and good for him. Me, THEROS and UOPETA were the only ones that had to venture out! Everyone else remained in the base, safe and secure! UOPETA was thinking along the same track as me and voiced this concern, but COLUS had an answer. Which, frankly shocked me...
"Obviously if we go with that idea... We can't send in a small team... We all go! Safety in numbers. Yes we don't know what to expect, but if we all go in together, we stand a better chance than if only one of two of us go. Plus we could use the knowledge of Amie and OROTHO with us..."
OROTHO now didn't seem to like the idea, considering that he was being put forward as a candidate to enter! If we all entered, it would be easier, but I still couldn't believe this was even a considerable option!
"Okay, we're not going to get anywhere today... There is a lot to discuss, but I think it'll be easier if we all had clear heads... Everyone get some rest, and we'll discuss it in the morning... This is a very serious matter at hand, and we can't waste time arguing with clouded thoughts. We'll come back together tomorrow after everyone is fully rested. You three especially!"
We all left, and headed towards our own rooms. I was incredibly tired, but no matter how hard I tried, I doubt I would get much sleep... The Nether... I still can't believe we were considering it...
Syeonyx signing off
"...It's not your fault Syeonyx... There was no way you could've known that was going to happen..."
"What do we do though? Seriously! There's one portal left and the only way to destroy it is lying in pieces in my hand!"
"I... I don't know... There's nothing more we can do... Erm... Let me think..."
UOPETA moved to the far side of the chamber, pacing up and down. I stood there in silence, whilst THEROS stood staring at his outstretched palm, hands shaking slightly... What could we do? The portal was indestructible when it was active; the energy provided to the obsidian frame fed the rift, and the energy of the rift fed the frame. It was a cycle that couldn't be broken without the stone! Without the stone, all active portals were now totally indestructible! Unless... Unless OROTHO had a way to maybe replicate the stone's power! Amie had wanted to study it, but COLUS wouldn't allow it; he was still undecided about her, and giving an unknown the only power we had was dangerous. Well, not that it mattered now... Maybe if we had let her study it. Maybe she could have replicated it, or created something similar! Without the stone, we didn't stand a chance against HoN Co. and I didn't know what options we had! Brute force would not work, but there was little else available... The only viable option I could think of was to... To go around each site as normal, only destroying the portals that were inactive. We didn't have much of a choice... We had to leave active portals alone! This more or less made our operation pointless... Destroying an active secondary portal could knock up to forty standard portals offline in a single shot. Taking out an inactive secondary portal would mean portals would merely re-route the iter waves to the next closest secondary portal... We had lost... Game over...
"Right... We can't do anything more here... The portal will remaining standing as we cannot intervene... I suggest we head back to base and inform COLUS and the others... Hopefully, with a larger think tank, we can come up with a solution... I have one, but it's unorthodox... And dangerous..."
UOPETA paused a moment, looked around the chamber, his eyes settling on the portal, and then he turned to face the exit...
"Come on... Let's get back..."
----
We arrived back at the base in good time, but I got the feeling that was mainly due to UOPETA wanting to quickly get back to base. I can't blame him; none of us were in the right mindset at all. THEROS had refused to put the shards of the stone away, and instead carried them in his closed palm the entire way back. When we got into the base, we all went straight to the lab, and THEROS placed the shards onto the table in front of COLUS, Amie, and OROTHO. At first, they seemed puzzled; they thought we had found something new, and OROTHO went to pick up a piece. Staring at it intently, it wasn't long before he realised what it was...
"Why is the stone in little pieces...?"
"UOPETA? Is this the Solus stone?"
There was silence for awhile, before I eventually stepped in and explained the story. I told them about how much progress we had made, until we came to the last chamber. I described the cages, the portal layouts and the incident with the exploding Creeper. I tried to keep it as brief as possible, but it seemed like it was taking an eternity to explain... After I eventually finished, COLUS sat in silence looking back at the shards... Yellow rays of light glinted off the sharpened surfaces, creating an ominously pretty light show on the table... The silence was deafening! No-one spoke. No-one moved. Silence. OROTHO set the shard back onto the table, and clasped his hands together, as if the full realisation of the situation had hit him...
"Was anyone hurt?"
"No... Luckily Syeonyx managed to dive out of the way in time, but the explosion only damaged the stone."
"Good. Let's be lucky that it wasn't any worse. You could have had casualties after an incident like that... Right... We'll need to discuss our options... Erm... Assemble everyone in the discussion room. I want everyone to be informed about this."
UOPETA went to gather THEXIS and AMPHIS from their respective rooms, whilst the rest of us walked back towards the discussion room in the centre. We had a lot to discuss... The main point? Whether there was any point in continuing...
We had discussed the situation as thoroughly as possible. With insight from everyone, we had established at least four possible options, with varying degrees of viability... We had discussed the possibility of replicating the Solus stone, and had aimed our questions at OROTHO and Amie, but they were incredibly doubtful. The stone was said to originate in the Nether, and on incredibly rare occasions, it would pass through a portal, and begin growing in an isolated location underground... One stone had been found ever in everyone's excavation, and HoN Co. didn't seem to possess one. Not that they would shout about it if they had!
"What about the shards? Are they still able to destroy portals?"
"Honestly? I wouldn't know... The power behind the stone is still beyond most of my own comprehension. I can just about understand the mechanics of it's use, but I wouldn't even be able to begin to understand how to replicate it! It could be classed as a biological organism, but technically it's not. It's a lot like a stalactite. Basically, caves containing limestone also contain calcite which is dissolved by water containing carbon dioxide. Once the water loses the carbon dioxide, the dissolved calcite hardens again, and this process continues to make a long peak forming downwards. I believe that the stone works in a similar way; through the intervention of a spreading medium, the stone can "grow" to other areas by being dissolved, re-solidified and so forth... I highly doubt we could regrow the shards to make a full stone, and I doubt even more that the shards will work effectively as a full stone!"
We were left with a dangerous decision. We had multiple directions we could take; some were dangerous, some were stupid... Some, I couldn't even determine why they were options! The four we were left with were as follows:
- Give up the entire campaign against HoN Co. and disband
- Continue with our campaign, only destroying the portals that were inactive
- Attempt to destroy the tower that sat above the chamber, hopefully burying the master portal and all primary portals with it!
The last option was near-suicidal! Not surprising that OROTHO had put it forward... He had stated that we could attempt to gain another stone... When this was mentioned, the entire room fell into silence... Was he actually suggesting what I think he was suggesting? To acquire another stone, one of two things needed to be done. Either we were to go on the biggest mining expedition ever, covering the largest possible surface area underground to find another near a portal... Or... To enter through a portal into the Nether... And retrieve another stone... This idea was ludicrous enough, but the fact that not even Amie or COLUS seemed to reject the idea made it worse! Were they actually considering it! Venture into the Nether and take another stone?!?! It couldn't be that easy. We couldn't just pop through, pick up some as though plucking an apple from a tree, and pass back through! We didn't even know what the Nether entailed! I had heard it was hell! Literally! It conjured up images of fire, vast lakes of lava, and unspeakably vile creatures with the one intent to destroy any intruders! Were they really suggesting we venture into a place like that? I put forward my rejection, along with the support of THEROS and UOPETA, but I don't know whether we got through to them...
"We have no idea what is in the Nether! We don't even know if it has an atmosphere!"
"Well... Technically we do... Study of Creeper anatomy has taught me that they possess a series of valves and and chambers which operate in similar ways to the human respiratory and circulatory system. They have their own version of lungs, and they don't seem to struggle when they pass into Minecraftia... It is possible they breath the same atmosphere as us..."
Trust OROTHO to come up with some hard evidence to knock us back! It was all well and good for him. Me, THEROS and UOPETA were the only ones that had to venture out! Everyone else remained in the base, safe and secure! UOPETA was thinking along the same track as me and voiced this concern, but COLUS had an answer. Which, frankly shocked me...
"Obviously if we go with that idea... We can't send in a small team... We all go! Safety in numbers. Yes we don't know what to expect, but if we all go in together, we stand a better chance than if only one of two of us go. Plus we could use the knowledge of Amie and OROTHO with us..."
OROTHO now didn't seem to like the idea, considering that he was being put forward as a candidate to enter! If we all entered, it would be easier, but I still couldn't believe this was even a considerable option!
"Okay, we're not going to get anywhere today... There is a lot to discuss, but I think it'll be easier if we all had clear heads... Everyone get some rest, and we'll discuss it in the morning... This is a very serious matter at hand, and we can't waste time arguing with clouded thoughts. We'll come back together tomorrow after everyone is fully rested. You three especially!"
We all left, and headed towards our own rooms. I was incredibly tired, but no matter how hard I tried, I doubt I would get much sleep... The Nether... I still can't believe we were considering it...
Syeonyx signing off
...Without a paddle!
The sun was slowly receding into the Western sky, indicating the coming of the night in but a few hours. It was a good job we only had two sites to go! The next one was located on a small outcropping from the mainland, along the coast. We started off due South to allow us to follow the curve of the land until we hit the right place. The hills and cliffs were back again, but luckily we were able to scale a few of them to get a betted look around. Atop one hill, UOPETA paused for a moment to look through the telescope, roughly in the direction of the next site. From the map, it appeared to be on a flat plain with a few trees, and UOPETA confirmed this, along with an exclamation! I think he found it!
"I'll give you three guesses what I just found!"
He passed the telescope to me and I took a look in the direction he was pointing. I could see it! A portal off in the distance, once again by the edge of a pool! From this distance, I could even make out that it was an inactive secondary portal! Finally, we were having some luck. We had only destroyed one secondary portal so far, and to find another was better than expected, especially when you considered the fact that we couldn't even guarantee any of these sites possessed a portal!
We headed off in the direction we could see the portal, knowing now that there was something there that needed destroying. We would have to use the pickaxe, but at least it meant one more secondary portal was out of action. Well, more than out of action. Totally destroyed! As we got closer, the portal came into view, nestled amongst a few trees and beside a pool of water. I had begun to think again that there were trends that kept popping up in terms of noticeable places. Underground portals were often found in small chambers with moss and lichen decorating the walls, whilst surface ones were often very close to a water source, or a body of water. Maybe we should direct our searches around noticeable areas such as water... I would have to put the theory to OROTHO and see if he could make any sense of it, but I think I was on to something.
The portal was actually situated in a very serene location; the pool had a small trickle coming from beneath a hill, generating a calming sound. And the large number of trees meant it was very secluded. It was a very beautiful location, but we didn't have time to admire the scenery. The sun had crept into the lower half of the sky by now and I was worried about losing light. I started with the destruction of this portal, allowing THEROS to examine the map. He said he had spotted some "curious" areas which could hide a secondary portal, so I let him ponder the possibilities. After more or less half of the portal was gone, THEROS stepped in to take over and I looked over the map. We had destroyed a lot of portal over the past few weeks, and it was amazing that we had barely even dented HoN CO.'s progress. We had managed to knock out two primary portals, but even if we managed all of them, how could we destroy the master portal? All the primary portals needed to be offline, and even then it was only vulnerable to a pickaxe or a lot of TNT. By a lot, I meant enough to sink the entire tower on top of it! I asked UOPETA if he thought we would win this. He did his best to try and reassure me, but I could tell by his voice that he didn't think we had much of a chance.
"We're going up against a massive company with near limitless resources at their disposal and no conscience. We've just got ourselves and what we make and scavenge. We're making progress though... That's the main thing."
As the last of the obsidian crumbled into dust and scattered into the pool below, I nodded. We were making progress... Very slowly though... Maybe too slow... Me and THEROS traded items, and we moved off to the North West, towards the final site.
We followed the curve of the coastline again, as the next one seemed to be situated close to a beach. This was likely to be the closest portal so far to our base, but who knew how many more there were. The origin of the portals isn't even known, but HoN Co. find them and activate them in the hopes it will activate the master portal. Obviously, now they can activate as many standard portals as they like with the replication technology, which could mean they may just have a cavernous room somewhere underground, stacked from top to bottom with active portals. It was a chilling thought, and it stayed with me until we got to the site. We found a few interesting geological areas close by, but the portal was not located above ground. We moved further inland from the beach, until we stumbled upon a hole that possessed tool marks.
"There's definitely something down there..."
Indeed there was...
We headed down the conveniently carved stairs into the main hole, and then THEROS passed us each a torch. The way forward jumped into view as the torches were ignited one by one, and we proceeded to explore deeper into the cave. There were no more noticeable tool markings further in, but the passage seemed to lead somewhere; it wound round tight corners, often causing us to travel in single file. As we seemed to continue going in circles, we also seemed to descend further into the ground. With each turn of a corner, I expected to meet face to face with a skeletal archer, or a guard... Or worse. But each corner only brought more darkness.
"How far does this go? Surely this can't be a natural formation...?"
"There are tool markings at the entrance at least. It's not a natural formation at all. Someone carved through here, so it must lead somewhere... If we follow long enough, we'll come to what we're looking for..."
"Well let's just hope it doesn't split off into three separate directions. If it does, I vote we stick together in case each path is trapped..."
"Agreed, but we'll get to that if we find a fork in the passage... If they even lead anywhere!"
We continued around for some time; we were quite deep now, and there was no way of determining the time at all. Eventually, we came around a corner, and above us I could see moss on the walls. I placed a hand on UOPETA's shoulder and then pointed up. We stopped, and extinguished the torches. We were engulfed in blackness, but a small amount of purple light emanated from around the next corner. A portal! The sound of echoes and dripping water became audible as we crept closer. We got to the final bend, and one by one we all peered around. What we were met with sent a shiver down my spine. Creepers!
We backed off some way so that we could plan without attracting unnecessary attention. There had been at least four Creepers in there, with two active secondary portals embedded into the far wall. Not only that, but there was an Affinitas cage there was well, which would make thigns awkward.
"I counted four... That's one for us all plus one. This is how we'll arrange ourselves: Syeonyx and myself will be up front, crouching, whilst THEROS remains behind standing. I take the one on the left, Syeonyx, the one in the middle, and THEROS, the one on the right. The last one goes down by the dart from whoever strikes first! Once the room is clear, THEROS move up and take out the right portal, and Syeonyx you destroy the Affinitas cage in front of it. Then we move onto the next one. Got it? Good!"
We crept forward again, blowpipes at the ready. Me and UOPETA were up front, and positioned ourselves lower down to THEROS. Once we were in place, UOPETA fired his first dart, followed quickly by two more high pitched whistles. The last Creeper turned to look in the direction of the noise, and three more darts went sailing towards it! They all dropped to the ground, hissing slowly as they sank into unconsciousness. UOPETA gave the thumbs up, and we remained on guard as THEROS took out the Solus stone and placed it on top of the right portal. I began with the Affinitas cage, but it was then that I realised there was another placed in front of the other portal! I hadn't seen it when I had peered around the corner, but no matter. I would destroy it after destroying this one. By the time the first portal was down, the Affinitas cage in front of it was little more than scrap metal! The odd skeleton that had spun wildly inside of it had disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and a shriek, and the flames had died away. THEROS moved onto the next portal, placing the stone on the edge. He then backed off allowing me to destroy the last cage. I brought the head down onto the cage once, before I heard a shout from UOPETA!
"SYEONYX! CREEPER!"
I had enough time to only look to my right, and see a Creeper emerging from the portal. Without thinking, I dived to the left, away from it, and then a high pitched whistled indicated that THEROS or UOPETA had let loose with a dart. But it hadn't been enough! Moments later, a large explosion ripped through the chamber, showering me with chunks of rock and metal! I lay on the ground, covering my head for a few moments until UOPETA gave the all clear. Slowly uncovering my head, I looked around to see smoke and dust floating around, slowly dissipating. The chamber had taken a bit of a knock; chunks of the walls were missing and the entire cage had been forcefully bent away from the portal in the explosion. The lack of the flames and skeleton within it indicated that that the Creeper had rendered it useless. Well there was one less job for me... The portal still stood though, and I remembered it was indestructible unless the stone was used on it. THEROS moved forward towards the portal to reposition the stone that had no doubt been blown away from the side. But as he got there, his shoulders slumped and he turned to face us, hand outstretched...
"THEROS? What is it?"
THEROS stood for a moment in silence, looking at his hand. I couldn't see anything from where I was, so I stood up to take a better look. In his hands, were a few odd shards of what looked like yellow glass... Then I realised what I was looking at!
"The stone... The Creeper has blown up the Solus stone..."
Syeonyx signing off
"I'll give you three guesses what I just found!"
He passed the telescope to me and I took a look in the direction he was pointing. I could see it! A portal off in the distance, once again by the edge of a pool! From this distance, I could even make out that it was an inactive secondary portal! Finally, we were having some luck. We had only destroyed one secondary portal so far, and to find another was better than expected, especially when you considered the fact that we couldn't even guarantee any of these sites possessed a portal!
We headed off in the direction we could see the portal, knowing now that there was something there that needed destroying. We would have to use the pickaxe, but at least it meant one more secondary portal was out of action. Well, more than out of action. Totally destroyed! As we got closer, the portal came into view, nestled amongst a few trees and beside a pool of water. I had begun to think again that there were trends that kept popping up in terms of noticeable places. Underground portals were often found in small chambers with moss and lichen decorating the walls, whilst surface ones were often very close to a water source, or a body of water. Maybe we should direct our searches around noticeable areas such as water... I would have to put the theory to OROTHO and see if he could make any sense of it, but I think I was on to something.
The portal was actually situated in a very serene location; the pool had a small trickle coming from beneath a hill, generating a calming sound. And the large number of trees meant it was very secluded. It was a very beautiful location, but we didn't have time to admire the scenery. The sun had crept into the lower half of the sky by now and I was worried about losing light. I started with the destruction of this portal, allowing THEROS to examine the map. He said he had spotted some "curious" areas which could hide a secondary portal, so I let him ponder the possibilities. After more or less half of the portal was gone, THEROS stepped in to take over and I looked over the map. We had destroyed a lot of portal over the past few weeks, and it was amazing that we had barely even dented HoN CO.'s progress. We had managed to knock out two primary portals, but even if we managed all of them, how could we destroy the master portal? All the primary portals needed to be offline, and even then it was only vulnerable to a pickaxe or a lot of TNT. By a lot, I meant enough to sink the entire tower on top of it! I asked UOPETA if he thought we would win this. He did his best to try and reassure me, but I could tell by his voice that he didn't think we had much of a chance.
"We're going up against a massive company with near limitless resources at their disposal and no conscience. We've just got ourselves and what we make and scavenge. We're making progress though... That's the main thing."
As the last of the obsidian crumbled into dust and scattered into the pool below, I nodded. We were making progress... Very slowly though... Maybe too slow... Me and THEROS traded items, and we moved off to the North West, towards the final site.
We followed the curve of the coastline again, as the next one seemed to be situated close to a beach. This was likely to be the closest portal so far to our base, but who knew how many more there were. The origin of the portals isn't even known, but HoN Co. find them and activate them in the hopes it will activate the master portal. Obviously, now they can activate as many standard portals as they like with the replication technology, which could mean they may just have a cavernous room somewhere underground, stacked from top to bottom with active portals. It was a chilling thought, and it stayed with me until we got to the site. We found a few interesting geological areas close by, but the portal was not located above ground. We moved further inland from the beach, until we stumbled upon a hole that possessed tool marks.
"There's definitely something down there..."
Indeed there was...
We headed down the conveniently carved stairs into the main hole, and then THEROS passed us each a torch. The way forward jumped into view as the torches were ignited one by one, and we proceeded to explore deeper into the cave. There were no more noticeable tool markings further in, but the passage seemed to lead somewhere; it wound round tight corners, often causing us to travel in single file. As we seemed to continue going in circles, we also seemed to descend further into the ground. With each turn of a corner, I expected to meet face to face with a skeletal archer, or a guard... Or worse. But each corner only brought more darkness.
"How far does this go? Surely this can't be a natural formation...?"
"There are tool markings at the entrance at least. It's not a natural formation at all. Someone carved through here, so it must lead somewhere... If we follow long enough, we'll come to what we're looking for..."
"Well let's just hope it doesn't split off into three separate directions. If it does, I vote we stick together in case each path is trapped..."
"Agreed, but we'll get to that if we find a fork in the passage... If they even lead anywhere!"
We continued around for some time; we were quite deep now, and there was no way of determining the time at all. Eventually, we came around a corner, and above us I could see moss on the walls. I placed a hand on UOPETA's shoulder and then pointed up. We stopped, and extinguished the torches. We were engulfed in blackness, but a small amount of purple light emanated from around the next corner. A portal! The sound of echoes and dripping water became audible as we crept closer. We got to the final bend, and one by one we all peered around. What we were met with sent a shiver down my spine. Creepers!
We backed off some way so that we could plan without attracting unnecessary attention. There had been at least four Creepers in there, with two active secondary portals embedded into the far wall. Not only that, but there was an Affinitas cage there was well, which would make thigns awkward.
"I counted four... That's one for us all plus one. This is how we'll arrange ourselves: Syeonyx and myself will be up front, crouching, whilst THEROS remains behind standing. I take the one on the left, Syeonyx, the one in the middle, and THEROS, the one on the right. The last one goes down by the dart from whoever strikes first! Once the room is clear, THEROS move up and take out the right portal, and Syeonyx you destroy the Affinitas cage in front of it. Then we move onto the next one. Got it? Good!"
We crept forward again, blowpipes at the ready. Me and UOPETA were up front, and positioned ourselves lower down to THEROS. Once we were in place, UOPETA fired his first dart, followed quickly by two more high pitched whistles. The last Creeper turned to look in the direction of the noise, and three more darts went sailing towards it! They all dropped to the ground, hissing slowly as they sank into unconsciousness. UOPETA gave the thumbs up, and we remained on guard as THEROS took out the Solus stone and placed it on top of the right portal. I began with the Affinitas cage, but it was then that I realised there was another placed in front of the other portal! I hadn't seen it when I had peered around the corner, but no matter. I would destroy it after destroying this one. By the time the first portal was down, the Affinitas cage in front of it was little more than scrap metal! The odd skeleton that had spun wildly inside of it had disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and a shriek, and the flames had died away. THEROS moved onto the next portal, placing the stone on the edge. He then backed off allowing me to destroy the last cage. I brought the head down onto the cage once, before I heard a shout from UOPETA!
"SYEONYX! CREEPER!"
I had enough time to only look to my right, and see a Creeper emerging from the portal. Without thinking, I dived to the left, away from it, and then a high pitched whistled indicated that THEROS or UOPETA had let loose with a dart. But it hadn't been enough! Moments later, a large explosion ripped through the chamber, showering me with chunks of rock and metal! I lay on the ground, covering my head for a few moments until UOPETA gave the all clear. Slowly uncovering my head, I looked around to see smoke and dust floating around, slowly dissipating. The chamber had taken a bit of a knock; chunks of the walls were missing and the entire cage had been forcefully bent away from the portal in the explosion. The lack of the flames and skeleton within it indicated that that the Creeper had rendered it useless. Well there was one less job for me... The portal still stood though, and I remembered it was indestructible unless the stone was used on it. THEROS moved forward towards the portal to reposition the stone that had no doubt been blown away from the side. But as he got there, his shoulders slumped and he turned to face us, hand outstretched...
"THEROS? What is it?"
THEROS stood for a moment in silence, looking at his hand. I couldn't see anything from where I was, so I stood up to take a better look. In his hands, were a few odd shards of what looked like yellow glass... Then I realised what I was looking at!
"The stone... The Creeper has blown up the Solus stone..."
Syeonyx signing off
Planning for the future
We headed off to the South West, in search of a portal at the next site. We had begun to walk up large, elevated patches of ground, often allowing UOPETA to make frequent use of the telescope. On one section, there was practically no tree cover for a good distance, and we were literally able to run straight across it without stopping! Without the telescope, we would have made our way from each piece of cover. We were making excellent headway, and I couldn't help but feel that a good portion of that was down to me! We began to near the site that was located on the map, and unlike the other occasions, the ground had actually flattened out considerably, making the option of it being high up impossible. We came across many small potholes in the ground, that from above we could see led down quite a distance. We would have to tread carefully, so as to not put a hole through and fall into a cavern! Once we were at the site, we began looking around, but we could only find potholes. I was looking for a large open area to gain entry underground, and perform the rest of the exploring from there. But with the fright I had yesterday, I was a little hesitant. It had only been a chicken, but it might not be one next time. After some time of searching, UOPETA found what I had been looking for and called us over.
"It's likely there's a portal down there... You and THEROS go down and check the place out. I'll stay here and keep guard. Getting down is going to prove troublesome as it is, and I don't want to damage my arm down there with no way out. Try and be quick!"
I suppose that was fair: up until now, UOPETA had been doing all of the work keeping us safe.
After a few moments of getting ready, I dropped down into the hole, careful to avoid the water flowing to and fro. THEROS quickly joined me, and we lit torches and headed in separate directions. From where I was, I could see dead ends all over the place, but once you actually got down into the main cavern, it was all pretty flat. After a while of searching, I found no additional holes, nor any portals or evidence to suggest one. I hadn't heard from THEROS either so it was unlikely he had found anything either. I headed back the way I came, slightly worried I would get lost. I was terrible at orientation back in the HoN Co. training, but a I rounded the next corner, the placement of rocky outcrops and stalagmites became familiar, and I headed back towards the light coming from the entrance. THEROS was already there.
"I couldn't find anything. There are a series of small potholes and passages leading further down, but they're far too narrow to fit into. I suggest we keep this as a definite possibility in the future. It's too expansive to rule out entirely."
I told them about my lack of luck in finding anything, and we managed to literally dig our way back out with the pickaxe. Once we were back on the surface, UOPETA began leading the way to due West.
UOPETA was making good use of the telescope now that the majority of the way forward was clear enough to use it. We hadn't managed to scope ahead any more portals like last time, but OROTHO would be pleased it worked perfectly in the field. Unfortunately, as we progressed closer towards the next site, the tree density increased, and UOPETA was forced to use the old methods. When we eventually got to the site, I was instantly drawn to a small pool set into a hill. A few steps forward and I could see the portal frame embedded under the hill quite easily. Well, that was easy! Too easy...? THEROS found his way across to it, carefully navigating across the narrow ledge. When he was ready, I threw him the pickaxe, and then stood guard with UOPETA. I asked him about his arm and he said he hadn't had any issues with it:
"It's a bit sore, but nothing I can't handle. Trying not to over exert myself in case I make it worse. The last thing I need is the arm to fully break!"
That was true...
After I finished off the remains of the portal, I hopped back across to the other side, and gave THEROS time to cross the location from the map. He also circled the previous one so we could come back to it at a later date.
"Right, from here, it's due West again. Lead the way UOPETA!"
We followed UOPETA as he headed off in the direction of the next portal. Once again, our surroundings erupted into large cliffs and hills, but these we not on our path. Instead we travelled between them, in small valleys which left us vulnerable. We crept through each section; I kept expecting to feel an arrow pierce my skin at any moment. But we made it out to the other side unharmed. Eventually we came to an area where the cliffs to our left were replaced by the coastline, and it opened up, flattening out slightly too. UOPETA took out the telescope again, and began to pan around. Moving us forwards, we expected to see a portal close to the surface like before, but we couldn't find anything. When we arrived at the correct location, we were on a near perfectly flat grassy plain, with a few trees dotted around; the sea to the left of us, a huge cliff to the right. We looked around for any holes in the ground, hidden overhangs that might be hiding a portal, small entrances in the cliff wall, but there was nothing here... I looked up into the sky, noticing it was early to mid afternoon, but the actual cliff was what had caught my eye. THEXIS had told me about COLUS' plans to expand into another area, or to create a fall-back base if we were ever detected. This would be perfect! It would take some time to assess the structural integrity of the place, hollow it out and do all of that without attracting undue attention, but it was definitely a start! I took a photo of it to pass onto COLUS for him to consider. It was also very close to our current base, so building a secret tunnel or passage linking the two wouldn't be too difficult!
After we met up again, we decided this place was better to search when we had more time. If we were sent to scout it out as a possible location to create as a fall-back point, we could check here again! It would be a lot of work trying to get this place into a condition which would be defensible, but it would be worth it. THEROS circled the location on the map, and we headed off to the South West towards the second to last portal.
"It's likely there's a portal down there... You and THEROS go down and check the place out. I'll stay here and keep guard. Getting down is going to prove troublesome as it is, and I don't want to damage my arm down there with no way out. Try and be quick!"
I suppose that was fair: up until now, UOPETA had been doing all of the work keeping us safe.
"I couldn't find anything. There are a series of small potholes and passages leading further down, but they're far too narrow to fit into. I suggest we keep this as a definite possibility in the future. It's too expansive to rule out entirely."
I told them about my lack of luck in finding anything, and we managed to literally dig our way back out with the pickaxe. Once we were back on the surface, UOPETA began leading the way to due West.
UOPETA was making good use of the telescope now that the majority of the way forward was clear enough to use it. We hadn't managed to scope ahead any more portals like last time, but OROTHO would be pleased it worked perfectly in the field. Unfortunately, as we progressed closer towards the next site, the tree density increased, and UOPETA was forced to use the old methods. When we eventually got to the site, I was instantly drawn to a small pool set into a hill. A few steps forward and I could see the portal frame embedded under the hill quite easily. Well, that was easy! Too easy...? THEROS found his way across to it, carefully navigating across the narrow ledge. When he was ready, I threw him the pickaxe, and then stood guard with UOPETA. I asked him about his arm and he said he hadn't had any issues with it:
"It's a bit sore, but nothing I can't handle. Trying not to over exert myself in case I make it worse. The last thing I need is the arm to fully break!"
That was true...
After I finished off the remains of the portal, I hopped back across to the other side, and gave THEROS time to cross the location from the map. He also circled the previous one so we could come back to it at a later date.
"Right, from here, it's due West again. Lead the way UOPETA!"
We followed UOPETA as he headed off in the direction of the next portal. Once again, our surroundings erupted into large cliffs and hills, but these we not on our path. Instead we travelled between them, in small valleys which left us vulnerable. We crept through each section; I kept expecting to feel an arrow pierce my skin at any moment. But we made it out to the other side unharmed. Eventually we came to an area where the cliffs to our left were replaced by the coastline, and it opened up, flattening out slightly too. UOPETA took out the telescope again, and began to pan around. Moving us forwards, we expected to see a portal close to the surface like before, but we couldn't find anything. When we arrived at the correct location, we were on a near perfectly flat grassy plain, with a few trees dotted around; the sea to the left of us, a huge cliff to the right. We looked around for any holes in the ground, hidden overhangs that might be hiding a portal, small entrances in the cliff wall, but there was nothing here... I looked up into the sky, noticing it was early to mid afternoon, but the actual cliff was what had caught my eye. THEXIS had told me about COLUS' plans to expand into another area, or to create a fall-back base if we were ever detected. This would be perfect! It would take some time to assess the structural integrity of the place, hollow it out and do all of that without attracting undue attention, but it was definitely a start! I took a photo of it to pass onto COLUS for him to consider. It was also very close to our current base, so building a secret tunnel or passage linking the two wouldn't be too difficult!
After we met up again, we decided this place was better to search when we had more time. If we were sent to scout it out as a possible location to create as a fall-back point, we could check here again! It would be a lot of work trying to get this place into a condition which would be defensible, but it would be worth it. THEROS circled the location on the map, and we headed off to the South West towards the second to last portal.
Odd occurrences
From where we were on the coast, we had two options: we could either head South to the next portal, or South West to the site in the centre, then head due East back to the next one. I was in favour of heading South West to the central one, and then head out to the East and continue the arc of sites. UOPETA seemed to think that was a good idea too, and we set off towards the South West. It was getting into late morning now, and we all hoped that if there were any more portal, they would be active. It took much longer to destroy an inactive one with the pickaxe than to destroy an active one with the Solus stone. Taking a look at the map, I realised that after this minor diversion, we would literally be following the trail of sites back to the base. It was all rather convenient, but also rather worrying that they were so close to us. Who knows how many more had been put up and activated since HoN Co. had been able to replicate portal technology. As usual, we would need to check on the primary portal situation after this lot, and then go after some more. Hopefully we would find another report telling us where they were next time round as this method was far too time consuming!
We set off towards the South West, back in land to find the next site. As expected, the tree coverage increased, making UOPETA's job easier. We also noticed an unusual increase in the number of sheer cliff faces surrounding us. Many times we came to small, thin sections between cliff walls that climbed high into the air. UOPETA had his work cut out for him; even I knew that this was the perfect place to spring a trap on someone. We had to move fast but quietly. Alternatively, we could find a long winded way up to the top of the cliffs, survey the entire area beneath us and make our way back down. But that would add a few hours to our journey, and we didn't have the luxury of time! After awhile, we began to slow down. UOPETA knew we were close to the area located on the map, and we fanned out to look for anything. As usual I was on the hunt for a hole. Despite the considerable lack of proof that the portals were mainly located underground, I still believed that a hole could always hide something as sinister as a portal. After some time, UOPETA called us over, and we found him standing in the opening of one of the cliff walls.
"This is very unusual... It seems to continue down a little way before ending abruptly... I still think there's more to it... Pass me a torch THEROS."
THEROS fumbled around in the bag and pulled out a torch, passing it to UOPETA. Lighting it, UOPETA disappeared into the opening, the light from the torch slowly receding further into the cliff. We remained outside to keep watch on anything that might attempt to come out or attack us. As well as that, if the passage did end abruptly in a blank wall, it would be foolish of us to all go in, rather than a single person. Additionally, if this was a trap, it would be damn right stupid for all of us to fall into it! After a few moments, UOPETA poked his head out from the hole with a smile on his face:
"Bingo! I think we found one this time!"
THEROS and myself looked at each other oddly. I had thought this would be another dead end, but as UOPETA led us through to opening and down into the passage, we found it curved back on itself and to the left, leading down, rather than dead ending! We continued down, the light from the torch throwing shadows around the thin passage, and we continued to the bottom of the passage in single file. After a few metres, we noticed that the path curved back on itself again, this time to the right, and also leading down! From where we were, I could see the meek purple light that emanated from below, in a chamber that seemed to be covered in moss.
"Jackpot!"
We entered into the chamber one by one, UOPETA being incredibly cautious about this one. I wasn't surprised considering what had happened to him last time, but instead of the portal catching our eye, a very odd, out-of-place feature took us by surprise. On the right-side wall, was a thin waterfall that down into a small hole... What was that about...?
THEROS took out another torch and approached the waterfall, lighting up the surrounding area...
"Erm... You're going to want to see this!"
UOPETA and myself approached the waterfall, and peered through the waterfall into the darkness. At first I couldn't see anything; the reflective nature of the water was causing me to see mainly light from our side, and the glare from the torches wasn't helping either, but after awhile, my eyes became aware of an odd, cube sat in the corner of the room, fire leaking from it...
"An Affinitas cage!"
So it was...! There, in the corner of a very small room past the waterfall was an Affinitas cage. Looking around, I couldn't see movement aside from the small embers that burnt from within, and the spinning dwarf skeleton.
"Right... The portal is active, so there's no need to prioritise... THEROS, use the Solus stone on the portal, Syeonyx, go through and destroy the cage. We don't want to leave anything here. Be careful!"
Removing the pickaxe from my back, I quickly stepped through the waterfall, onto the other side. Holding the pickaxe poised, I approached the cage, waiting to be ambushed by the undead, or a Creeper! But nothing happened. After a moment of waiting silently, I brought the sharpened head of the pick crashing down onto the cage. A few more hits, and the cage fell apart, indicating it's destruction with the skeleton disappearing in a poof of smoke, and the feeble embers dying out completely... I stepped back through the waterfall to the other side, only slightly wet. The portal was destroyed, and THEROS was waiting for the stone to become visible again.
"Excellent work! Right then, collect the stone and let's move out. Don't forget to cross this location off..."
THEROS nodded, and we followed UOPETA out of the chamber, back up the passage after the stone had been retrieved.
From where we were now, we were to head due East past a pool, and up to the furthest most site. We hoped to find something there as well, but we couldn't guarantee anything. This way would put us back on track for following the path, and we should be able to deal with the remaining portals before the end of the night. It had only just crept past midday by the time we emerged from the opening, and we instantly set off to the East. As we ventured further and further East, the cliffs shrank considerable, to be replaced with quite the opposite! There were numerous holes in the surrounding area, getting bigger and bigger towards the site. When we arrived, there was a huge open network of tunnels, passages and caverns! We had our work cut out for us this time! To start with though, THEROS took out the Solus stone and held it outstretched...
"Nothing... It could be inactive... Looks like there is bound to be one around here somewhere..."
"Yeah... Good place for a trap though too! Keep an eye out."
We split up to cover more ground, and we all went into a separate cavern. We all had our blowpipes ready in case a guard or a Creeper emerged from the darkness, but I kept a free hand close to the pick. I didn't want to be defenceless against a skeleton! After some time of wandering around, and going in circles, my passage led into THEROS' and I ended up following him, knowing there was nothing back in mine. Eventually, we accidentally met up at the junction of the tunnels, not having found anything. Luckily it was mostly exposed, and the sun provided enough light to see by.
"Any luck?"
"None... Maybe if we work backwards, and look for something else... There has to be a chamber or a passage that leads off to it. This place is too great a place for a portal to be for there not to be one here."
We went back the way UOPETA came, and walked in a staggered line, hoping to find something. Then something caught my eye, and I drifted off to the left. As I approached I felt a horrid tingle go up my spine, and I reacted by readying an arrow. Creeping closer, I noticed some dark stone set into a small chamber that was practically invisible if approaching from the opposite way. Then I heard a noise. I froze. Waiting patiently, I then kicked a stone into the area, hoping to draw it out. A shape emerged with speed and I fired the arrow! I quickly readied another, but found out it was just a chicken fluttering from the shadows... My heart was in my mouth, beating ten to the dozen! After calming down, I called the others over. I pointed into the corner, still panting slightly from the shock, and THEROS lit a torch to illuminate the area. As expected, in the small hole was a portal. The obsidian frame seemed to absorb the light, creating an odd shadowy effect. As though there was an absence of anything around the rest of the stone. It wasn't active, so I took the pickaxe from my back, and jumped into the hole...
After it was destroyed, THEROS crossed the location from the map and we emerged from the strange network of passages. Rolling it back up, we all set off towards the South West again, around to the next portal. We were making good progress... Even if it was scaring me witless!
Syeonyx signing off
We set off towards the South West, back in land to find the next site. As expected, the tree coverage increased, making UOPETA's job easier. We also noticed an unusual increase in the number of sheer cliff faces surrounding us. Many times we came to small, thin sections between cliff walls that climbed high into the air. UOPETA had his work cut out for him; even I knew that this was the perfect place to spring a trap on someone. We had to move fast but quietly. Alternatively, we could find a long winded way up to the top of the cliffs, survey the entire area beneath us and make our way back down. But that would add a few hours to our journey, and we didn't have the luxury of time! After awhile, we began to slow down. UOPETA knew we were close to the area located on the map, and we fanned out to look for anything. As usual I was on the hunt for a hole. Despite the considerable lack of proof that the portals were mainly located underground, I still believed that a hole could always hide something as sinister as a portal. After some time, UOPETA called us over, and we found him standing in the opening of one of the cliff walls.
"This is very unusual... It seems to continue down a little way before ending abruptly... I still think there's more to it... Pass me a torch THEROS."
THEROS fumbled around in the bag and pulled out a torch, passing it to UOPETA. Lighting it, UOPETA disappeared into the opening, the light from the torch slowly receding further into the cliff. We remained outside to keep watch on anything that might attempt to come out or attack us. As well as that, if the passage did end abruptly in a blank wall, it would be foolish of us to all go in, rather than a single person. Additionally, if this was a trap, it would be damn right stupid for all of us to fall into it! After a few moments, UOPETA poked his head out from the hole with a smile on his face:
"Bingo! I think we found one this time!"
THEROS and myself looked at each other oddly. I had thought this would be another dead end, but as UOPETA led us through to opening and down into the passage, we found it curved back on itself and to the left, leading down, rather than dead ending! We continued down, the light from the torch throwing shadows around the thin passage, and we continued to the bottom of the passage in single file. After a few metres, we noticed that the path curved back on itself again, this time to the right, and also leading down! From where we were, I could see the meek purple light that emanated from below, in a chamber that seemed to be covered in moss.
"Jackpot!"
We entered into the chamber one by one, UOPETA being incredibly cautious about this one. I wasn't surprised considering what had happened to him last time, but instead of the portal catching our eye, a very odd, out-of-place feature took us by surprise. On the right-side wall, was a thin waterfall that down into a small hole... What was that about...?
THEROS took out another torch and approached the waterfall, lighting up the surrounding area...
"Erm... You're going to want to see this!"
UOPETA and myself approached the waterfall, and peered through the waterfall into the darkness. At first I couldn't see anything; the reflective nature of the water was causing me to see mainly light from our side, and the glare from the torches wasn't helping either, but after awhile, my eyes became aware of an odd, cube sat in the corner of the room, fire leaking from it...
"An Affinitas cage!"
So it was...! There, in the corner of a very small room past the waterfall was an Affinitas cage. Looking around, I couldn't see movement aside from the small embers that burnt from within, and the spinning dwarf skeleton.
"Right... The portal is active, so there's no need to prioritise... THEROS, use the Solus stone on the portal, Syeonyx, go through and destroy the cage. We don't want to leave anything here. Be careful!"
Removing the pickaxe from my back, I quickly stepped through the waterfall, onto the other side. Holding the pickaxe poised, I approached the cage, waiting to be ambushed by the undead, or a Creeper! But nothing happened. After a moment of waiting silently, I brought the sharpened head of the pick crashing down onto the cage. A few more hits, and the cage fell apart, indicating it's destruction with the skeleton disappearing in a poof of smoke, and the feeble embers dying out completely... I stepped back through the waterfall to the other side, only slightly wet. The portal was destroyed, and THEROS was waiting for the stone to become visible again.
"Excellent work! Right then, collect the stone and let's move out. Don't forget to cross this location off..."
THEROS nodded, and we followed UOPETA out of the chamber, back up the passage after the stone had been retrieved.
From where we were now, we were to head due East past a pool, and up to the furthest most site. We hoped to find something there as well, but we couldn't guarantee anything. This way would put us back on track for following the path, and we should be able to deal with the remaining portals before the end of the night. It had only just crept past midday by the time we emerged from the opening, and we instantly set off to the East. As we ventured further and further East, the cliffs shrank considerable, to be replaced with quite the opposite! There were numerous holes in the surrounding area, getting bigger and bigger towards the site. When we arrived, there was a huge open network of tunnels, passages and caverns! We had our work cut out for us this time! To start with though, THEROS took out the Solus stone and held it outstretched...
"Nothing... It could be inactive... Looks like there is bound to be one around here somewhere..."
"Yeah... Good place for a trap though too! Keep an eye out."
We split up to cover more ground, and we all went into a separate cavern. We all had our blowpipes ready in case a guard or a Creeper emerged from the darkness, but I kept a free hand close to the pick. I didn't want to be defenceless against a skeleton! After some time of wandering around, and going in circles, my passage led into THEROS' and I ended up following him, knowing there was nothing back in mine. Eventually, we accidentally met up at the junction of the tunnels, not having found anything. Luckily it was mostly exposed, and the sun provided enough light to see by.
"Any luck?"
"None... Maybe if we work backwards, and look for something else... There has to be a chamber or a passage that leads off to it. This place is too great a place for a portal to be for there not to be one here."
We went back the way UOPETA came, and walked in a staggered line, hoping to find something. Then something caught my eye, and I drifted off to the left. As I approached I felt a horrid tingle go up my spine, and I reacted by readying an arrow. Creeping closer, I noticed some dark stone set into a small chamber that was practically invisible if approaching from the opposite way. Then I heard a noise. I froze. Waiting patiently, I then kicked a stone into the area, hoping to draw it out. A shape emerged with speed and I fired the arrow! I quickly readied another, but found out it was just a chicken fluttering from the shadows... My heart was in my mouth, beating ten to the dozen! After calming down, I called the others over. I pointed into the corner, still panting slightly from the shock, and THEROS lit a torch to illuminate the area. As expected, in the small hole was a portal. The obsidian frame seemed to absorb the light, creating an odd shadowy effect. As though there was an absence of anything around the rest of the stone. It wasn't active, so I took the pickaxe from my back, and jumped into the hole...
After it was destroyed, THEROS crossed the location from the map and we emerged from the strange network of passages. Rolling it back up, we all set off towards the South West again, around to the next portal. We were making good progress... Even if it was scaring me witless!
Syeonyx signing off
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