Questionably Soteriological: A Puzzle/Mystery Quest with Kids, Science, and Fun!
- Thread starter causticAccolade
- Start date
- Original
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Well, well. The plot thickens! Ancient artefacts! The translator dies to mysterious circumstances! There are 7 sentences and there are only 7 celestial bodies at the Cathedral (even though Gaia is at the center, so there are 8 of us).
And we have a direct line with a VOICE in our head.
Three to four months have passed since our trip. Enough so that serum took effect, it seems. Where are they keeping the rest of the subjects who aren't a part of the current test, I wonder?
God, Luna is here for half a year at least! No wonder she is going mad.
So...
[X] Check the PEACHES. You don't think Luna is stalking you, but it does not mean she is not stalking you!
[X] Grab the NET and TWO CANS OF TINNED FOOD (but not the PEACHES) and head out into the MAZE.
Any objections?
We have the runes copied in the NOTEPAD for future reference, yes?
Edit:
And we have a direct line with a VOICE in our head.
Three to four months have passed since our trip. Enough so that serum took effect, it seems. Where are they keeping the rest of the subjects who aren't a part of the current test, I wonder?
God, Luna is here for half a year at least! No wonder she is going mad.
No, I think we are done.
So...
[X] Check the PEACHES. You don't think Luna is stalking you, but it does not mean she is not stalking you!
[X] Grab the NET and TWO CANS OF TINNED FOOD (but not the PEACHES) and head out into the MAZE.
Any objections?
We have the runes copied in the NOTEPAD for future reference, yes?
Edit:
Helsinki is cool in my books. Anyone who wears sunglasses like these can't be a bad person.
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- Location
- Rochester, NY
Ah man, I just thought of something. What would've happened if we tried to have Lucy write down what she was remembering while DFDing the key? Wish I'd remembered to put that in my vote. Anyways, looks like those words weren't meant for the likes of mortal men.
[X] Let's blow this popsicle stand Mari!
[X] Let's blow this popsicle stand Mari!
- Location
- St. Petersburg
It's instantaneous. She looks at the key, gets a flashback in a split-second, and once it passes, finds herself still looking at the key with no memory of what she remembered or what she was even thinking.
That said, sure, let's try it next time.
Also,
[X] Stop by your message to Luna, and write a Post Scriptum.
-[X] "4) Do the runes on the tablet mean anything to you?"
She's been here longer, so she has the advantage of understanding more than we do, which is 'very little'.
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> Lucy & Mari: Ponder navigational quandary
causticAccolade
dead yet dreaming
- Location
- Silent Sound, Cipher Cove, Levoile.
The PEACHES remain UNTOUCHED. If you're being FOLLOWED, it's clearly NOT THAT CLOSELY. You quickly make an addition to your MESSAGE, making sure to move on hurriedly before Mari reads the COMMENT ON HER MANNERS.
You collect the ITEMS you've left lying around here in the GARDEN, unlocking the DOOR with the EMERALD KEY. You grin at Mari as you put on the SUNGLASSES. "Come on, Mari. Let's blow this popsicle stand."
"Nerd." Mari mutters, but you can ALMOST SWEAR that you can see a SMALL SMILE creep onto her face.
The DOOR swings open, to reveal a WELL-LIT CORRIDOR, with CLEAN WHITE WALLS. With a shrug, the two of you set off down this corridor, Mari staying a small distance behind you. After settling into a comfortable rhythm, you decide you might try to STRIKE UP A LITTLE CONVERSATION.
"You know, I think this is one of the hardest cases I've ever had to take."
"I don't care."
Well. You were probably being OVERLY AMBITIOUS. You continue walking, the BRIGHT LIGHTS of the FEATURELESS WHITE CORRIDOR starting to get rather disorienting, even though it's only been a single straight path so far. Fortunately, the monotony is soon broken up by EXTENSIVE WALL GRAFFITI. You decide to READ SOME OF IT as you WALK.
Red marker said:
That... has put you a little on edge. You take a moment to CALM YOURSELF, looking straight ahead and walking purposefully. After all, you have to SET AN EXAMPLE for Mari. After what feels like an HOUR but was probably closer to ten minutes, or two minutes, or thirty (it's hard to keep time, in this corridor. The lights are so bright.), you find yourself at a CROSSROADS.
To the LEFT, a section of the CORRIDOR stretches FAR AHEAD OF YOU, the BRIGHT WHITE LIGHTS making it HARD TO TELL HOW LONG FOR. In front of you, the CORRIDOR continues, but at what seems to be a slight angle DOWNWARDS. And to your RIGHT, - wait, is that blood? Oh. Oh God, that's blood, and a LOT OF IT. A large puddle of crimson liquid pools at the beginning of the CORRIDOR, with small SPLASHES here and there forming a TRAIL. An ARROW has been drawn in RED MARKER, pointing the same direction as the TRAIL OF BLOOD.
[] Turn LEFT
[] Go FORWARDS
[] Turn RIGHT
EvilPorygon
Cookie Monster
- Location
- a phone
There were two others in the maze, hm? I can't resist the obvious hook.
[X] Turn RIGHT
[X] Hold Trident at the ready
[X] Turn RIGHT
[X] Hold Trident at the ready
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Well, damn. We followed Luna through the dark corridor, and she was wounded then. Clearly she survived whatever it is. She also promised to leave us hints, and the hints lead... there.
At the moment she is the person we trust most, more than Mari even, and that's saying something about this facility.
At some point I half-expect someone would try to mislead us with this. Anyone could write with a red marker, after all. But I don't think we reached this point yet.
Somewhere here are Mercury, Mars and Ankara, though we do not know that, never mind which path leads to them. Damn, I want to find them, any of them!
[X] Turn RIGHT
Edit: Something just occured to me. At first I thought it was Luna's blood, but this one didn't congeal, and we've been in the facility for hours. It's fresh.
...I hope they are still alive.
Edit2: My bet it's Ankara.
At the moment she is the person we trust most, more than Mari even, and that's saying something about this facility.
At some point I half-expect someone would try to mislead us with this. Anyone could write with a red marker, after all. But I don't think we reached this point yet.
Somewhere here are Mercury, Mars and Ankara, though we do not know that, never mind which path leads to them. Damn, I want to find them, any of them!
[X] Turn RIGHT
Edit: Something just occured to me. At first I thought it was Luna's blood, but this one didn't congeal, and we've been in the facility for hours. It's fresh.
...I hope they are still alive.
Edit2: My bet it's Ankara.
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- Location
- Rochester, NY
[X] Have the GREEN MARKER at the ready. Mark the corner of the wall wherever you make a turn.
I may remember incorrectly, but wasn't there something in the myth of the minotaur about always moving forwards?
I may remember incorrectly, but wasn't there something in the myth of the minotaur about always moving forwards?
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Too bad we don't have a marker for our teammate. We could deface everything! And give a marker of a different color to everyone we met. A rainbow of possibilities!
- Location
- Rochester, NY
I actually want this so much. Maybe we'll get lucky and find some more!
- Location
- Spain
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Oh, we're carrying that still?
Good.
[X] Give Mari a marker of her choice, so that if they are ever split up from you, she can communicate. Just in case.
Something like that?
- Location
- Rochester, NY
That would be way back in the second puzzle room though, that would require getting past the sea monster again.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
...then why did you bring it up?
I said, "We don't have the markers."
You said, "Yes we do...oh, and we don't have the markers because we dropped them."
- Location
- St. Petersburg
You can ask Luna to bring you most of anything from anywhere, she can easily go back and forth between the chambers.
Just find her a chocolate cookie for her trouble and ask her nicely.
We can become 'team Marker' yet!
Right now we have a pen in our inventory on top of the green marker. Less flashy, perhaps, but just as effective.
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pantherasapiens
you were always my best friend
- Location
- somewhere over your shoulder
[X] Turn RIGHT
They make monsters. They also made us. Both the rats and the boogeyman and the monsters are in the maze.
I'm thinking the minotaur is an early child experiment all hopped up on serum and gone very wrong... Hmmm. I wish we had some cloth to dip in the blood and use as a red flag if/when we encounter the minotaur.
They make monsters. They also made us. Both the rats and the boogeyman and the monsters are in the maze.
I'm thinking the minotaur is an early child experiment all hopped up on serum and gone very wrong... Hmmm. I wish we had some cloth to dip in the blood and use as a red flag if/when we encounter the minotaur.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
It is only now after you've mentioned it that I noticed Dr. Paris' obsession with perfection.
No wonder the thought terrifies Luna.
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Just finished this quest, and I find it rather charming. Good job on creating suspense through keeping many of the actual facts obscured, as well as the slow revelations.
[X] Turn RIGHT
You can always tell the detectives and the heroes the same way. They always go towards the creepy blood trail, instead of away from it. Whether this shows a shocking lack of self-preservation instincts, or a strong sense of bravery is a matter of debate.
[X] Turn RIGHT
You can always tell the detectives and the heroes the same way. They always go towards the creepy blood trail, instead of away from it. Whether this shows a shocking lack of self-preservation instincts, or a strong sense of bravery is a matter of debate.
- Location
- Texas, USA
Another just-arrived-here here!
I find myself wondering how much is an intentional part of the test, versus how much is unintended consequences of the folks running it, (or versus how much is genuine reactions of fellow test subjects, for that matter.)
[X] Turn RIGHT
I find myself wondering how much is an intentional part of the test, versus how much is unintended consequences of the folks running it, (or versus how much is genuine reactions of fellow test subjects, for that matter.)
[X] Turn RIGHT
> Hi. Uh.
causticAccolade
dead yet dreaming
- Location
- Silent Sound, Cipher Cove, Levoile.
x5 [X] Turn RIGHT
Looking over your shoulder to make sure Mari is following, you turn RIGHT, looking warily at the TRAIL OF BLOOD. You take great care not to step in the POOL OF BLOOD - you don't want to be tracking BLOODY FOOTPRINTS everywhere, for one, and honestly, blood is kind of gross. Mari, for her part, seems totally unaffected, regarding the puddle with dull disinterest, only seeming to bother avoiding it because her shoes are fancy. Too fancy, you reckon, to get blood on.
You follow the blood trail diligently - You're a JUNIOR SLEUTH, after all, and even though most of the crimes you've solved so far have been SUSPENSION-WORTHY AT WORST, dealing with HORRIBLE STUFF like blood and murder should, theoretically, be within your purview. At a few TWISTS AND TURNS, you follow the RED ARROWS that have been drawn on the walls, and so, it seems, did whoever it is that left this BLOOD TRAIL. As you keep going, however, you start to notice something worrying - the LIGHTS are getting DIMMER, one or two of them FLICKERING.
You slow down a little, not quite so eager to continue into the DIM LIGHT, and allow Mari to catch up alongside you. She's speaking so quietly it takes you a moment to realize that she's even talking to you. "I think Father might not have been a very nice man. But I still love him a lot." The statement doesn't seem to invite much of a response, especially as her tone is more guilty than anything. You just nod, and give her your best attempt at a reassuring smile. She doesn't smile back.
It's a few more winding twists and turns before Mari says something else. But this time, her tone is different. Vastly more urgent. "Calloway. Can you hear that?"
The words get you to stop in your tracks. You take a deep breath and hold it, narrowing down your perceptions until you've blocked out everything in the world except sound. Right next you is Mari, breathing. There's a quiet, almost imperceptible noise of wind blowing through vents. There are the tiny noises of the rustle of fabric as you and Mari shift and adjust your positions. And - there. There's the sound of footsteps. You almost think you imagined it, but then you hear it again. For a moment, you consider going towards the footsteps. After all, it could be another person, right? Another kid, like you, lost and alone.
And then the lights start to go out. You blink, trying to make sure that there's not something wrong with your eyes. But there isn't. The light at the last turn just... stopped. It takes one, two, three seconds, and then the lights just after the turn go off, plunging the turn into darkness. You hear those footsteps, far heavier than a child your age or even a grown adult's should be. You want to run, but you can't. Your feet feel rooted to the ground, and you're pretty sure Mari is yelling at you, but all you can do is stare motionlessly at the oncoming darkness.
The CLASS MACHINATION [I Must Not Fear] has been activated!
You think, for a second, you can catch the glint of eyes in that darkness, before all of a sudden Mari is gripping onto the end of your sleeve and pulling you alongside her. You snap out of your trance-like state and run with her, as fast as your legs will carry you. At every turn, you follow the trail of blood and red arrows, and after looking behind you once the see the lights continuing to go out, one after the other, you decide to simply look ahead and keep running.
Just as you feel like you're about to collapse if you run any longer, you turn a corner and almost run straight into a MECHANICAL SLIDING DOOR. You spend a few seconds banging on it frantically, before you notice Mari hurriedly punching a code into a KEYPAD to the side. The DOOR slides open, and Mari once again drags you, just far enough to get you inside the door, before she slams a RED BUTTON and the DOOR slides shut behind you.
Breathing heavily, you collapse to the ground, drawing your knees up to your chin, putting your head down, and CRYING A LITTLE. But not too much. Because you're a JUNIOR SLEUTH, and you're solving a case, and you don't have TIME for crying. Even when your hands are shaking, and closing your eyes makes you feel like you're in the dark again, and you can barely stand, a JUNIOR SLEUTH can maintain her composure. Or you'll eat your hat. Which, seeing as your hat is a golden crown, would be really hard.
[-120 ÉLAN]
[Mari: -60 ÉLAN]
When you look around, you see a clean, brightly lit, ROUND ROOM. In the CORNER of the room is a PILE OF CHILDREN'S TOYS. To one side is a COMFORTABLE-LOOKING COUCH sat before a GAMES CONSOLE and FLATSCREEN TELEVISION. The walls are DECORATED with PEACEFUL LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS, and in the center of the room is a SMALL POND. There are THREE OTHER DOORS, and the BLOOD TRAIL leads THROUGH one of them. To the other side of the room is a LARGE BED that looks EXCEEDINGLY SOFT AND COMFORTABLE, and - wait! What's that moving under the bed? TRIDENT at the ready, you approach, your hands shaking so badly you almost drop the weapon. You bend down, looking underneath the bed, to discover...
A boy of about your age. He looks ABOUT AS TERRIFIED AS YOU ARE, but when he sees who you are, his EXPRESSION OF RELIEF just about MATCHES YOUR OWN. Slowly, he crawls out from underneath, standing up to reveal that he is TALLER than either you or Mari, with LIGHT BLOND HAIR that GOES EVERYWHERE in a RIDICULOUS MESS of a hairstyle. Nervously, he stares at the ground for a few seconds, before looking up with a weary expression. "Hi. Uh. My name is, uh. Owen. Owen Martinez." He's wearing WHITE CLOTHES similar to your OWN, and a NAME TAG on his SHIRT bears the symbol you recognize as representing MERCURY. He seems to be in OKAY CONDITION, apart from a SHAKEN DEMEANOUR and some MINOR CUTS AND SCRATCHES on his arms and face.
You still feel terrible, and honestly just want to curl up into a ball and stay there for a while. But you're a JUNIOR SLEUTH, and you HAVE A CASE, GODDAMMIT.
[] Introduce yourself [The success of this will depend upon a MOXIE CHECK.]
- [] FORCEFULLY
- [] POLITELY
- [] (Write-in)
[] Burst into tears [+90 ÉLAN. This will make a VERY POOR FIRST IMPRESSION.]
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- Location
- US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Introduce yourself [The success of this will depend upon a MOXIE CHECK.]
- [X] POLITELY
- [X] POLITELY
- Location
- Rochester, NY
[] Introduce yourself [The success of this will depend upon a MOXIE CHECK.]
-[] POLITELY
Edit: Changed vote
I suppose it should be obvious, but... Is Lucy scared of the dark? Also, I quite liked that line Mari had to say about her father. It may not have been the most positive of things to share, but at least she was willing to open up to us about it. I wonder whether we should ask about her knowing the code or not...
Edit: Wow! I just saw we're down to only 10 Élan. That could be very bad for us...
-[] POLITELY
Edit: Changed vote
I suppose it should be obvious, but... Is Lucy scared of the dark? Also, I quite liked that line Mari had to say about her father. It may not have been the most positive of things to share, but at least she was willing to open up to us about it. I wonder whether we should ask about her knowing the code or not...
Edit: Wow! I just saw we're down to only 10 Élan. That could be very bad for us...
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