~~~ The Crawl ~~~ [spoiler]Due to the Torus shape of our world, the weather and climates everywhere are steep and unforgiving. The sole exceptions are the equator-major and the equator-minor, where gravity is strongest and the animals have grown accustomed to this difference, making them far faster and stronger than us. However, these equators are paradises when compared to the rest of our world, either suffering from too great heat and dryness, or a crippling cold and humidity. These conditions are never more excaterbated than when witnessed in The Crawl, a moving, shifting collection of heat, dust storms, and lightning that slowly moves from region to region in our world, much like the seasons change. The Crawl is unlivable, and has been the death of our greatest explorers for generations.[/spoiler] “Okay guys, so we’re going to enter the Crawl.” Smith seems cheery, even somewhat elated when giving this announcement, while every other person in the vicinity breathes a deep exhale in unison, followed by a wide variety of profanities. “There is no way in Roka’s Almighty Conquest that you will ever convince me to go into that desert!” Grayvuus exclaims rather loudly, momentarily granting her some questioning stares from the townsfolk. “Let me explain for a second will you. There’s a reason I’m this excited to go to our assured deaths; This is Gibbs, he’s a trained portagropher and tells me that there is a unique opportunity regarding an ancient gateway that is right now in the heart of The Crawl. Gibbs, explain it to them like you did to me!” Gibbs adjusts his visor and pulls out a collection of notes before addressing the members of the party, “Hello, I’m Gibbs. But, you know that of course, so I - - - Anyways, my apologies, ah, there is an ancient gateway near this village that I’ve been researching recently. It’s called Sorr, named after a Champion of Ke’le, and I was getting excited because my calculations indicate that it will be closest to the overworld as possible in a matter of days. This means it would be very easy to open, even with but a small collection of Runic-Forcers, such as the ones I’ve collected” - He opens one of his pockets, and disappointed to not find anything there, he scrambles to open a few more until he withdraws a handful of small stones inscribed with faint symbols glowing a subtle red - ''allow me a moment to return these to my coat, there we are. Anyways, I soon realized my luck had turned against me, as it so happens that the Sorr Gate is near the center of The Crawl at the time of it’s optimal connection to the Overworld. That is, until Mr. Smith informed me that he had a team of people fully prepared to enter The Crawl!” Gibbs ended his speech with a cough from inhaling too much dust. After each member of the team considered for a moment, Grayvuus was the first to speak up; “I’m not certain I like the idea of entering The Crawl, especially considering we only have enough supplies to last us 3 days, maybe 4 if we ration steadfastly. Although I have to give it you, being able to open a steady connection to the Overworld with only a few Forcers has potential for an outstanding haul . . .” Not understanding her hesitation, Smith sought clarification as the rest of the band continued to consider their options and distribute the supplies evenly among them; “I don’t understand, why are you so weary of this? I couldn’t find any other leads, and we’re going to need to make some kind of profit by the time we hit the next town, or we won’t have enough credits to last a week!” Grayvuus, realizing she hadn’t revealed the fruits of her own time spent seeking jobs, was quick to correct her error; “Oh, I didn’t realize you hadn’t been told; I was talking to a merchant travelling through here, he told me there was an abandoned temple nearby, some of it had been buried before, but remember those tremors we felt a few days ago? Well, it was an earthquake, and the Temple was in the goldilocks zone; Close enough to the center that some more was unearthed, but not close enough to be completely destroyed in the process. It’s heading away from the middle of the goddamn Crawl, and is bound to have something valuable in there. Besides, say we don’t force open this gateway now; We can always come back in a month or so, when the crawl is nice and far away, and open it then; The connection won’t be any considerably weaker than it is now, right Gibbs?” Gibbs allotted her a hesitant but affirmative nod, while the rest of the party considered which lead to track. ===== After making their decision and finishing packing up, Silencer and Aegis saw the mechaneer they had harassed earlier walking towards them all with some buddies, so the crew decided it was best to leave then and there. Gibbs decided to follow them, figuring that what treasure they went after would leave him richer than he was before. ~~~ Decision: All Players ~~~ Each player must cast a vote towards which adventure they want to go on. In the event of a tie, Gibbs will act as a tie-breaker, and his vote has been defaulted to going after the Sorr Gateway. Option 1: Sorr Gateway Summary: Enter the hellish “OverWorld” of Aslo, containing demonic monsters, dark magics not yet understood, and potentially valuable treasure. To get there, an ancient gateway forced closed in the War between Huntsmen and Demons will have to be forced open by Runic Stones. Unfortunately, this gateway is in the center of the Crawl, a dangerous desert that slowly creeps along the planet’s surface. Risk: 5/10 Reward: Unknown, High Potential, Very Uncertain Option 2: Unearthed Temple Summary: Seek out a recently revealed Temple, partially collapsed from a recent earthquake. Selecting this path will avoid The Crawl entirely, but what’s in the temple is entirely uncertain, and there is a chance other relic seekers will also be aware of it’s recent unearthing. Nonetheless, whatever is contained in the lowest floors will have effectively gone untouched for centuries. Risk: 3/10 Reward: Unknown, Medium Potential ~~~ End Chapter 2 ~~~