The Secrets of Glass Mountain 2 - RPLOG

Participants

• Aidan
• Lylianna
• Rosalyn
• Sil
• Zarwae

Date

11/5/2012

Log

A night had passed. Sil and Zarwae ended their data's collection and visit of the local area, while Lyli, Rosalyn and Aidan gave the last checks to the equipment for the first part of the exploration. The whole place isn't that vast, the mountain is just few hours from the glade.. but the group decided to place a camp there, making easier and faster to explore. While everyone is sleeping inside the huge tree, Aidan is outside, sitting in the middle of the glade as the sun is rising, waiting for her family and friends to wake up.

Having made sure not to get up to any hanky panky and NOT to let her foxy get her pregnant again, Lyli got a good nights sleep and starts to rouse as light begins to kiss her cheek. Giving the day a few minutes extra, after that, the monochromatic mephit begins the process of choreographed yawns and stretches that a skunk requires to wake up.

Sil seems to already be up. The lamia is sipping on a cold mug of..something. Smells like tea. Her serpentine self is coiled up just outside the stree, her backpack strapped onto her back, and the suitcase, closed and locked, sitting next to her. She's watching Aidan from afar, as well as the various beings that seem to live in the glade with a rather content expression..

At the sounds of Lylianna's movement, Rosalyn stirs from where she spent the night, lying nestled in one corner against the moss covering the walls. Rocking back and forth for a few moments, she finally rubs her nose vigorously against the back of her hand and lifts her head, letting out a wide yawn before standing to stretch.

Zarwae wakes up in the last position, and worst, keeps hugging the coverts because sunlight isn't clearly the dark elf friend. She grmbles and stands, washing quickly her head for clearing her thoughts.

The glade is quite lively, actually. Sil had counted dozen of Aidan's sons and daughters going around, most of them with vulpine or lupine's traits, even if jackals with dragon wings are there as well. Aidan herself seems to just relax right now, clearly focusing her mind on the task ahead.. the origin of her form is out there, both frightening and attracting her. When she sees people waking up, the fox stands up and walks back to three, offering the first smile of the day. "Good morning... I hope you rested well. Our next night won't be comfortable as this one." Aidan chuckles softly, going to give a kiss to her beloved... which leaves Sil out of it and with just a hug, for now at least.

Still yawning and stretching, Lyli catches the kiss on her cheek, not wanting to submit Aidan to her morning breath. "Mmmm, morning? Ugh, I don't want to go to school, ten more minutes!" she exclaims but can't help a giggle as she slowly works her way toward standing, at last giving up and dropping to all fours to make her way over to the kettle, filling it and pushing it over the coals of the fire, giving them a bit of a stir to get them hot.

The lamia returns the hug lightly. "Good morning to you." she says, a light smile moving her painted lips. A sip of the cold fruit tea gets enjoyed, before she holds up the thermos with her other hand. "In case anybody wants some, I have made a little bit more." she offers before she sets the thing down onto the grass again. The smile tugs into a light grin at Lylianna's words. "Oh man. Those were the days..."

Rosalyn stretches each arm above her head in turn, bends to one side and then the other, and finally stoops to retrieve her clothing. Her motions quicken as she hears Lyli reanimating the kettle, and a few fingers dip into a pouch to retrieve a packet of instant coffee as she looks up to greet Aidan's approach with a wide smile.

Zarwae starts to put her armour on her. First the reinforced shirt, then the armor itself. She spends the time taken by the other for their breakfast to check her weapons and such.

"We are all tea-lovers here.. I'm a bit addicted to Lyli's tea." Aidan smiles at Sil, before giving a look around the room, focusing on her 'zombie' family. She chuckles a bit and murrs, "Definitely, the best moment to come here and invade the area would be in the morning..". Of course, the fox cheated and woke up a hour ago, hiding her zombie-form. She stretches out a bit, inhaling the fresh air of the morning and going to give an extra hug to Zarwae, before pulling her to share the breakfast with them, "So, today is the beginning of our adventure... All the equipment is checked and ready."

Huddling close to the fire, her fur soaking up the heat almost as fast as the kettle, Lyli looks over and gives the packet Rosalyn carries a dirty look, "You bring that abomination here?!?" she exclaims, pointing at the packet of coffee, "Ugh, alright, but I am not making you a pot, you just get a cup." she adds, pouring boiling water into the teapot, adding tea and beginning the steeping.

Sil smiles at Zarwae, nodding to the drow. "Good morning to you." she says with a smile, before she downs the rest of her tea in her mug, before she begins to rise, her 'hips' lifting off her coils. At Lylianna's sudden outburst she blinks, golden eyes widening in alarm...before she closes them and softly exhales, letting out a soft chuckle. Coffee.

Rosalyn shrugs affably at Lylianna, comandeering a mug of the hot water before it all gets used for the teapot. "One cup of this stuff's all I'll need," she comments, tapping the packet along the base before stirring it into the water. She lifts the steaming mug in a silent toast to Sil in acknowledgement before sipping carefully at its contents.

Zarwae nods at Sil, greeting her back, "Good morning to you too." She answers before hugging Aidan. "And no thanks. I don't eat often." she shrugs as she is pulled in the group.

Aidan pats gently both on Lyli and Ros's heads, ruffling them a little before moving closer to Sil and Zarwae. "How did your tests go, yesterday? Found out anything of interest?" the fox asks, curious.

Pouring out some cups, Lyli offers anyone who wants some to grab a cup, holding up one of her breasts, she expresses some milk into one cup, handing it to her mate, "Anyone else want some milk?" she offers, clearly not really caring how it might be taken.

"There were a few...interesting observations." Sil murmurs, clasping her hands behind her back, now that her mug is back inside the backpack. "The nanites in this area...well." She pauses. "It seems like they most certainly seem focused on the tree. Even more so, its roots. It also seems that, interestingly enouh, the activity of nanites in the area is stable now, but used to be quite..fluctuating during the first few years. I've taken a few nanite samples from the tree in a mostly noninvasive way, so I can analyze them more properly in the lab."

Aidan kisses Lyli's cheek as she gets the offered cup, waiting for it to cool down a bit before starting to sip from it. "Fluctuations.. this is quite unusual. I thought that the bubble should had got stable almost immediately..." the fox comments, scritching her chin, "So, the tree has actually attracted the nanites into it?". Aidan thinks for a bit, "As for us, Ros checked the equipments, while me and Lyli made sure to not had forgot anything. We are ready to depart as soon as everyone will be ready."

Rosalyn steadily works through her coffee as she listens to Sil's findings, and returns her mug to its place once the final drops have been consumed. "Well then," she begins once Sil has finished, "I think I'm all set!"

Looking around and grabbing the thin, plastic coat she had grabbed for this particular endeavor, Lyli puts it on and reaches for her pack, double checking everything tea-related before just giving the other things a cursory inspection, "Ready when you are." she adds, pulling it on, drinking down her cup of tea at paw.

"Well, I'm quite ready." Sil states and lightly pats the backpack, before she picks up her case and reaches up, lifing her hood a little as she peeks up at the sky..and then nods. "No time like the present, I wager." Her eyes find Aidan, and her tongue flicks once, twice, her golden eyes looking back and forth among the gathered.

"Well, if everyone is ready... I think it's time to grab our bags and depart. We'll head for the 'monorail', following it to the mountain. We could walk along the edges of the lake and make it shorter, but I'm quite sure that Sil will like to give it a look." the fox murrs, before nuzzling Zarwae, "Are you ready as well, love?".

Zarwae nods softly "I'm ready." she smiles "Let's go."

Lyli gives a nod, prepared to follow her mate wherever she might lead.

"Ah, yes, definitely." Sil says regarding the monorail topic. "I definitely want to take a look at a few things there. That is, if nobody else minds the little detour, but we don't often get this chance after all."

Aidan takes the lead of the group, kissing goodbye to her children and leading the group north of the glade. The whole area look definitely perfect for the old Sunday-trip of the families during the old, lost times... the lake covered in a soft mist, coming from the warm waters. The whole area is similar to a spa, showing that the volcano is still active, even if sleeping since ages. Along the way, the group meets the the two column of stone, with wards written in native language. "And these are the wards... clearly saying to stay away from the cursed mountain." the fox comments.

Blinking at this, Lyli shrugs, "Words of caution have never stopped a skunk." she says simply, leaning in to kiss Aidan's cheek and taking the first step past the 'wards'.

Rosalyn hikes along with the rest of the group, wide awake now. Her head turns from one side to the other, then back again as she takes in the morning scenery, as well as eagerly keeping an eye out for the first sign of the monorail.

"I still wonder who carved those words there." Sil murmurs, eyeing the inscriptions as they pass them. "If they are rather new, one has to wonder why somebody bothered to use native tongue. If they are old, one has to wonder what was up with the mountain long ago, but it can't be related to nanites.."

Zarwae closes the walk, for now she is not really worried, they're still in the glade

It's not the first time that the wards had been ignored in the past, even in the recent past since Aidan and others had already explored a bit the forest. "They seems to be few centuries olds... but I can't say for sure how many of them... As for the reason, I can't really say. The ancient graffiti in the tunnel shown unusual figures near the mountain... included images of more known gods like Coyote or Raven." The group moves forward, leaving the ancient stones behind them and getting in the more dense forest ahead of them.. and its inhabitant. Many vulpine creatures can be spotted, looking curiously at the group and keeping quite distant from them. They looks more curious about these 'invaders', more than actually thinking of attacking or raping them. Most of them are unusual forms of foxes, some of them quite similar to Aidan's form... and likely explaining her unusual look. "We are almost there..." the fox leading the group explains,

The mephit, more interested in the foxes as well than actually taking them for a threat, smiles and leaves her scent near a tree, rubbing her cheeks to make it, giving them something to investigate should the odd vulpine wish to. As she walks, she reaches into her pack and pulls out a small thermos, pouring a cup of tea from it, clearly quite enjoying the walk.

Rosalyn occasionally checks the position of the mountain in relation to the group's path, keeping her bearings and making mental note of their rough position in the forest as they travel along towards their destination.

The lamia quietly observes the foxes, her golden, slitted eyes never leaving their forms while they traverse the dense forest. Her tongue flicks a couple of times, but aside of that she remains quiet, moving her focus from the foxes to the path ahead after a few minutes.

Zarwae follows, keeping an eye on the foxes, more an habit than a worry. The drow stays the last of the group.

Few foxes will indeed check the new scents in their 'domain', as the group has moved away enough. Leopards with silver fur, very little foxes, hybrid feline/vulpine... there is quite a 'thematic' and unique fauna in this place. The mountain is quite visible on the other side of the lake, making the job for Rosalyn quite easy. Then, the group reaches for the first part of the 'monorail'.. or what looks like that. This area had been dig recently, a couple of shovels still resting against the tree. The structure reminds that of a modern monorail and seems made in ivory rock, incredibly well preserved under the mud and flora that covered it.

Suddenly interested in the design and build of the monorail spans, Lyli's mind flows with the old calculations, her vocation before P-day standing her in good stead to examine at least the structural build and the materials used, "Wow, how can anything so modern look so... old." she churrs, working a claw at one bit of gunk to get it off the structure.

Sil slides towards the parts of the monorail that seem to have gotten dug up, and her golden eyes lightly narrow as she lets them wander over the exposed structure. She reaches out, brushing a finger over the bright material. "Strange.."

Rosalyn steps forward as well, taking in as many details of the structure as she can as she walks a circle around it. As she comes back around the far side, she looks toward Aidan and gestures at the shovels. "Your efforts, or an earlier excavation?"

Zarwae nods at Ros' "We came here once and we dig some yes." She points a direction. "There is a part of the train further."

The design of the 'monorail' is quite close to that of a modern monorail, thus the reason for Aidan to call it that way. The material seems to be some kind of alloy, since the structure seems to had resisted quite well until now. "Yes.. we dig a bit this area. It's close to the glade and it could had spared time during our visit. I'm not sure if it's a real monorail, of course. But it definitely looks like one. And me and Zarwae found what looks like a wagon.. even if it's not conserved well like these rocks." the fox replies.

A frown moves Sil's expression, as she brushes her hand over the material some more. "It would be highly unusual for a sort of..laboratory not to have a plain monorail as transportation? Why something..fancy? It doesn't quite make sense..." She turns her hand, and lightly knocks against the alloy with her knuckles. "Whee is this..wagon?"

Nodding, Lyli turns back to the party, "Looks reasonably modern. I didn't exactly work on this stuff, I mainly designed bridges, but this is all looking quite recent..." she knows the fallacy there, but she is just giving opinion.

Rosalyn shifts her attention to the earth enveloping the structure, thinking out loud. "Perhaps a landslide? But if so... How old are the trees right around here? If their roots are entangled in the structure, we have a bit of a chronology issue."

"We have kind of a chronology issue either way.." Sil murmurs. "It must have been a landslide. Else you'll hardly get all that structure buried in..what? How old can this even be? I don't know when the monorail was invented..."

"Second half of the twenty century." The drow answers. adding "Yup, I'm the living encyclopedia or useless knowledge." she smirks.

Aidan nods at Sil, "I'll take you there.. it's just half hour from here.". The white allow is quite dense and well-preserved, even if the surface is covered by tiny holes, made by the erosion of the rain. "We cut down a tree which roots were wrapped around the structure... counting the circles inside it, that tree was around five centuries old." the fox states, starting from Sil and ending on Rosalyn.

Her interest in the structure's oddity not quite as her desire to help her mate find her demon, Lyli sets up a camp a little away from where the others are inspecting the monorail, getting some rocks and fallen branches to start a small fire, putting a little tin-kettle over it.

"That makes no sense at all." Sil says, frowning as she follows Aidan. "A tree that size and age does not have quickly growing roots. At least none that can wrap around a monorail in..what? I mean, twenty years or so? I really need to see that wagon, because I can't make heads or tails of this so far.."

Rosalyn tilts her head to one side in thought at Aidan's words. "Well, I suppose time travel wouldn't be the *most* unlikely thing to suspect, considering everything we've all been through, but I'm still betting there's another explanation." She looks toward Sil and nods in agreement. "The carriage's design might give us some more information to work off of!"

Zarwae gets with Lyli, helping her to set the camp.

"The wagon is just 5 minutes from here.. I think that we can go there while the water boils..." Aidan says, looking at Lyli and taking the lead, "Zarwae already saw it... it's quite an unusual sight, actually. Lyli, are you with us?"

Lifting her head from the tea, the mephit gives a trilling churr, "Sorry love, what was it?" she asks, having been lost gazing at some felines who had been gazing back, "Are we not settling here?"

Aidan smiles, "It's just five minutes ahead... we'll settle down here after that. I think that our Sil and Ros will need something to think about."

"I will get things setup then, how long are we staying?" Lyli asks, already tipping the contents of the kettle into a little, makeshift teapot.

Aidan kisses Lyli's forehead, "We'll be right back.. we won't be away for long, love,". Knowing that the skunk needs to rest soon, the fox quickly leads the group along the monorail, actually quite buried under dirty and moss after few feet. "Yes, this is something that is really itching me. The dates, the time.. is not matching, not at all. And then we have.. this." the fox explains, pointing at the ruins of what could remind of a wagon, only the base left. Quite an unusual one, actually... since it's a large, oval one.

The excitement building within her, Rosalyn trots up to the ruins Aidan indicates, peering at the object from every available angle, tapping at the surface, looking for hints of other components, or where less durable materials may have worn away, and so on.

Sil nods to Aidan, following along the buried monorail. Her eyes find Rosalyn for a moment, a light from on her face still, showing the lamia's sligght confusion. Unlike Rosalyn's obvious excitement, Sil more seems to have fallen into a certain..brooding.

Nodding happily, Lyli returns to watching her kettle and keeping an eye on the friendly looking native fauna, smiling to herself, wondering if any might come out for some tea.

Zarwae smiles as she sees Ros' trotting as a kid for their presents a Christmas day. She follows the group, trying to stay aware of the possible treat, more because that's the thing she is supposed to do.

With the experience under her belt, Rosalyn can easily understand that the wagon is old at least as the monorail.. made of a similar allow and salvaged few years ago. Saws and other modern instruments were used, taking away what was left of the wagon and leaving only its base. "That's likely done by the team of researchers I spoke of. I think they found this interesting and took away almost everything. The dirty we moves from it was.. just that of four years of usual forest life." Aidan comments, looking at Sil and her confused look.

Rosalyn scowls at the long-gone research team. "I bet they already got all the best stuff from this thing," she mutters. Straightening up from her examination, she turns to the others. "Find anything?"

"Three points." Sil finally says, lifting her hand slightly, three fingers pointing up. "One; Scientists would not dismantle any kind of normal monorail. That makes no sense. Two; An oval shape like that is a ridiculously inefficient usage of space. Any kind of wagon that is supposed to transport people or goods would be rectangular as usual. For sitting, for crates..you get the idea. Three, aren't monorails supposed to be magnetic? Magnetism only comes from iron, zinc and nickel. And this material doesn't..seem like any of those." She lowers her hand. "So this all gets put on top of the issue of some of the tracks having been buried under way more dirt and soil and roots than what should be possible." She finally slides closeeer, also starting to examine the wagon.

"That's my only guess... As far as I know, that team was the only presence into this forest before I found it." Aidan says, not really knowing who could had scavenged the site beside them, "About your second point.. I can't really reply. Maybe this wasn't a wagon or.. I don't really know.". The fox scritches her chin, thinking, "And.. I don't know. Maybe she should try to cut and analyze the structure?". The 'wagon' is resting on the structure, and it's quite in bad shape after the time passed and the brutal scavenging done. The hollowed base of the wagon has a lot of recent cracks over it, with a lot of rust slipped from them.

Rosalyn examines the sheared edges more carefully. "Maybe there's at least an intact shard of this stuff that we can take back and analyze; see what sort of alloy this is, if nothing else."

Sil lightly nods to Aidan's words, before she begins to search for a piece or two that can, if everything fails, be bent off if it's thin enough. "Indeed." she says. "The rust certainly says 'iron', but...we'll see. I'm looking for any kind of mechanisms myself, but it seems to have been..gutted quite thoroughly." She frowns.

Zarwae takes a small package in her pack and reaches out to Sil. "Here, something I pick the first time, when we removed some of the dirt inside. I found this part of I do not know what."

The fragments are mainly of the ivory-rock structure, plus some of the rust fell from the cracks of the 'wagon' and quite enough for analysis. "We have something at least... You have enough instruments to do an analysis at the camp?" the fox asks while nodding at Rosalyn, looking at Sil and somehow grateful for her being here.. having a scientist along is definitely making things more interesting and informative.

Rosalyn nods absently in Aidan's direction as she busily collects shards of both the 'rock' and remnants of the metallic rust. "Enough for a basic analysis, at least. Although I'm sure getting this stuff to a full-blown lab will be even better, eventually!" She gets a glint in her eye. "I wonder how difficult it will be to synthesize..."

"No, I've not exactly prepared for analysing metals like that. I will inspect it for nanites, but picking apart the structure of this material itself would take longer than a night. Still, once I have it at Zephyr we should be able to pick it apart well enough." the lamia says. "I can check it for things like magnetism or radiation later tho." she then turns her head, eyeing Zarwae's package, before she nods, taking it before she sets it down and carefully opens it up.

Aidan nods as Rosalyn collects more rush to add to that already collected by Zarwae. "Well, I suggest to go back to the camp, rest a bit and let Sil to run a couple of checks... we have tea waiting for us as well." Aidan murrs softly, "Is this a good plan?". Inside Zarwae's package there are indeed enough shards to run some decent test on them.

Rosalyn seems anxious to continue on, but nods at Aidan, deferring to the needs of the group as a whole. "Sounds like a plan!"

"Indeed, sounds good to me. We will be over soon. Sil says, as she continues her examination, gathering up tiny pieces of the material, slipping them into small vials, dry. she continues for another ten, fifteen minutes before she finally rises and nods to Rosalyn. "I'm heading back as well. This won't run away." She smiles, nodding into the direction of the camp before she closes up her case.

Aidan nods as she leads the group back to the camp to rest and study the shard. "And when we are done here.. we'll challenge the mountain. We never got that far, actually." Aidan comments, giving a nuzzle to Zarwae for her smart job in collecting the shards in first place.