The Man Marked Twain Act 1 Scene 8

(DM) Once you're inside, Michael steps off the second switch, and the door closes in five seconds. You can see the back of the door by Michael's blade-light, and in the other direction you can see the next ten feet of plain, polished stone hallway. -d

(Janus) Oh hell, he didn't think about the darkness. Now he has to decide which would be the most badass thing to whip out in a pinch and impress Michael: Legacy or Meta-Beam? He's going to need one or the other for light. For now, seeing how there's only one way to go and no apparent danger, he just follows Michael. -d

(DM) After proceeding a short way down the hall, Michael comes to a stop and goes "Huh..." -d

(Janus) He looks around Michael at the surfaces of the tunnel. "What?" -d

(DM) [Roll 12d20 diff 13]
(Janus) [7/0/0]

(DM) A few yards ahead the floor ends, and only inky blackness is visible beyond. In addition, the floor leading up to this drop-off has three seams in it, each two feet apart. The walls of corridor above the bottomless region have several large, circular holes in them. Suspicious indeed. -d

(Janus) "Oh. I see. First, let's find out how far it is across." He crouches down to fire a bolt close to the floor, aimed straight down the corridor. -d

(DM) [Roll 13d20 diff 10]
(Janus) [8/1/0]

(DM) Your aim is true, and the bolt sails down the corridor, all the way to the end of its 20 yard range without hitting anything. You note that as it flies, it illuminates where the floor resumes. It's a 20-foot gap, and your bolt reveals nothing of what lay in wait down there. Still no idea what those holes are about either. They're only on one side, though - whatever that means. -d

(Janus) He frowns. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can't jump that. I also suspect that if I tried, I'd get shot with a poison dart or something. I don't like those holes on the side there. Or those seams on the floor. Pretty sure stepping on those before the jump'll only make things worse." -d

(DM) Michael gives a resigned nod. "I might be able to propel myself across magically, but I can't afford to do the same for you, or carry you. Also yes, the holes." He sighs, and looks like he's swallowing a bitter pill. "I must remind us both of what I said earlier. We should remember that this is a game, and that we might exploit its rules. The Optometrist told us that if we should perish, we'll simply reappear at the fountain in town, none the worse for the wear. If you can bear the psychological and emotional strain with me, we might hurl ourselves bodily at these problems until we either figure them out, or grow strong enough in game stats to overwhelm them." -d

(Janus) "Huh. You know, I keep forgetting this is just a virtual world. Does it hurt if I get hit? Does it only hurt if its 'stats' are stronger than mine? I guess we should test out anything we can, if we've got unlimited tries at it." He stands, slings his bow, and takes a few steps back from the edge. "Stay there so I can see where the edge is." he instructs Michael. Then he runs for it, stepping on the seamed part of the floor anyway, and launches himself as hard as he can into the darkness beyond. -d

(DM) [Roll 12d20 diff 16]
(Janus) [4/0/1]

(DM) [Roll 13d20 diff 19]
(Janus) [0/1/0]

(DM) Just as you set foot on the floor before the first seam, the floor between every other seam rapidly descends out of sight, leaving two additional two-foot gaps before the big one. You keep your stride, pass over them without trouble, then leap off the last bit of floor. There's a metallic grinding sound from inside the left wall, something touches the left side of your head, and then everything goes black for a second. You open your eyes (though you don't remember closing them) to find yourself standing back at the fountain in town. It seems you've just been struck dead. -d

(Janus) "Ohshi-" he shouts before he realizes he already died. "Shit. That was tense. I wonder what happened to my body? Did it teleport back here, or did a copy of me stay behind and horrify Michael?" he muses to himself. Then again, what's Michael going to do? He looks to the guardhouse, to see if Michael turned around and came back out. -d

(DM) You see nothing out of the ordinary, but a few seconds later there's a short scream from behind you that's quickly cut off. Sounds like Michael tried the jump himself. -d

(Janus) It satisfies him to know Michael wasn't just saying that shit about corpse-running the game to watch him leap to his doom and laugh. He turns around to join up with him. "How'd it go?" -d

(DM) Michael grinds his teeth a bit, then regains his composure. "I think I understand the intent of the obstacle. We're meant to trick the rods into extending early, then use them to step or swing across. Unfortunately, as I just found out, they only stay extended for two seconds apiece." -d

(Janus) He stares vacantly. "Yeah no, I meant my death. What did it look like?" -d

(DM) "O-oh, that. It was err... Unpleasant. I certainly hope there's some sort of reset mechanism that makes our corpses vanish, or some parts of this adventure are going to become a bit choked." -d

(Janus) "Haha, I get it. Choked. All right, round two: Don't get brained or dropped by the rods of death. I hope there's something to kill on the other side." He heads back to the guardhouse, to stand once more on the switch therein. -d

(DM) The door clicks open, and Michael moves into position on the other switch. -d

(Janus) He walks into the dungeon for the second time, considering his options. Can he make such a maneuver as to leap or swing from rod to rod? There were like... how many of those? -d

(DM) [Roll 12d20 diff 14]
(Janus) [5/1/2]

(DM) Six - three at head level, three at foot level, more or less. There was a bit of up and down to it. Michael follows you and approaches the seamed floor. His light reveals the seamed floor has returned to its previous state, and that you were right about the positioning and number of the holes in the wall. The light reveals one more thing: a sizable blood stain on the right-hand wall, opposite the first rod's exit hole. -d

(Janus) Nasty. Yeah, there's no way he's going to make three of those or more in a row. Since his arrow didn't trigger them, he doesn't know how to set them off early without overextending himself or leaving only one free hand. There's got to be some way. He ponders it for a minute, half-hoping Michael would just throw him across like a javelin or something. -d

(DM) While you stand there thinking, Michael's blade-light suddenly goes out, leaving the two of you in utter darkness. You hear the sound of somebody hitting the floor, and from the sound it's obviously Michael. -d

(Janus) He wheels around in the dark to stand still and quiet, listening for the sound of anything else moving, ready to whip Legacy out at a moment's notice. -d

(DM) You hear nothing for a few seconds, then Michael groans, and you hear him getting up. "Goddess, what was that? I was fine one moment, then blacked out for no reason the next." His sword lights up again, and he peers about in search of an explanation. He sees nothing out of the ordinary, and neither do you. -d

(Janus) "I just had a thought. Does that light-up thingy cost you any magical power?" -d

(DM) Michael shrugs. "Well yes, but it's not much. The Battery regeneration of the sword itself should sustain that glow as long as necessary." -d

(Janus) "What if that's not how it works in the game? We're both new players with crap stats, playing by rules I have yet to see the handbook for." He freezes like he's seen a ghost. "Oh, shit, I'm an idiot. I'm carrying a handbook. Let's go back out to the light to read it, so we don't risk you blacking out again." He heads back to the switch. -d

(DM) You and Michael pull your switch-a-roo in reverse this time, and return to the better-lit conditions of the guardhouse. "You have the Corebook with you? Where? How did you get such a thing?" -d

(Janus) He shrugs. "It's a pocket-copy. It was in my inventory when I got here - at least, that's what Tom told me." He fishes it out and takes a look to see if he can grasp the basics of the game's rules. -d

(DM) You check your pockets for the book, but you find only your usual items inside. However, a new visual display appears before you! This one clearly says "Items", and the only thing on the list is the Pocket Corebook. You want it, and this seems sufficient to cause the thing to pop right out of thin air in front of you. -d

(Janus) He snatches it out of the air. "I guess you get into your game inventory by... reaching... for it? That was weird. But hey, I got the book out." NOW he reads the thing. -d

(DM) You notice Michael following suit to obtain his own copy, which he begins poring over.

(DM) [Roll 12d20 diff 16 x3]
(Janus) [2/1/0, 4/0/1, 2/1/0]

(DM) The entire introductory bit is almost word for word what Tom spouted off to you when you got here. The next part is way more complicated, and involves the throwing of invisible dice? Nonsense. You do grasp some of the rules of play, though. It seems every sort of character must draw the energy for their spells, physical feats, or other powers from a single unified resource simply called "Energy". This Energy is stored in a metered reservoir which is only visible when the menu is opened? How do you open the-oh, there it goes as soon as you think about it. This Energy meter will refill itself rather quickly after a short pause in consumption, but emptying it will - aha, here it is! Emptying the meter inflicts you with a three-second loss of consciousness! So Michael was actually drawing power from his Energy meter instead of his crystal gear, and when it ran out he suffered the consequences. As for the rest of the manual, without further context through experience, you don't know how to interpret what you're reading. -d

(Janus) Wow, shit, he's super-glad he read that. It means that as long as he's in here, he doesn't have to worry about wasting away that little bit of Battery he felt welling up in him when he first communed with Legacy. Not that he's learned any spells to cast with it just yet. That reminds him - if doing anything of effort consumes Energy, that means he won't be able to sustain his Meta-powers indefinitely. Good to keep in mind. "That was very informative. You get to the part about the Energy Meter yet?" -d

(DM) Michael nods, eyes locked on the little book. "Yes, I see. I see a great many implications here. What a damned fool I was, losing patience with the Optometrist like that. The last few days have sorely tested my commitment to the values of the crystal knights, but it's no excuse to falter so." He snaps the book shut and "puts it away" without actually putting it away? It looks weird. "Janus, I believe if we return to the corridor now, we shall be able to defeat the obstacle with ease." -d

(Janus) He returns to the switch without delay. "I think we both had the same thought. If you can cast spells with no other cost than trying not to empty a meter that refills itself..." -d

(DM) "...then I can Hasten us both, and we can cross the gap on the leftmost side as the rods extend." He heads through the door to the other switch. -d

(Janus) "Hell yeah, now we're in business. You sure we can't just fly across though? Haha, don't look at me like that, I was kidding!" He approaches the pitfall and waits for Michael's signal. -d

(DM) Michael gets into position, then cuts his light out early and waits several seconds. "All right, on three." He reactivates his blade-light. "One." -d

(Janus) [Pass] -d

(DM) [Roll 10d20 diff 10]
(Janus) [5/0/3]

(DM) He seems to have suddenly stopped counting, but since the plan involved casting Hasten on you both, this means he cast it on you first. You give him a few seconds, and he returns to normal speed just as he counts to two. On the count of three he dashes across the two short pits and leaps for the first rod-to-be, staying to the left so as to land on the relatively slowed rod just as it emerges from the wall. -d

(Janus) He waits for the rod to extend farther from the wall then jumps for it, hoping it's sturdy enough to support the both of them - or that Michael wastes no time going for the next jump. -d

(DM) [Roll 12d20 diff 14]
(Janus) [4/1/2]

(DM) [Log Flume and O-ism set to 0!]

(DM) Just before you jump, you get the strangest feeling you're about to unintentionally unleash a Meta-Blast. However, instead of causing an explosion from your hands, the energy shoots down your legs. This causes your leap to catapult you forward at a speed far greater than you intended, or even thought possible. It feels like flying, especially when you zoom past Michael's stunned face and see his hair moving from the force of your passing. Your unintended blasto-leap carries you all the way across the gap, leaving five rods slooowly extending in your wake. You can hear Michael yell "Goddess!" just before you come in for your landing. It's not a clean one, but your armor absorbs the impact and subsequent rolling. You're stuck out in the darkness, though behind you Michael is visible by the light of his blade, hopping madly toward you. "Janus! Janus, are you all right? What happened?" -d

(Janus) He groans as he scrapes himself off the floor and waits for Michael to catch up. "Some kinda fuckin' thing, I dunno. It was awesome, though. Bet you wish you could do that." -d

(DM) Michael finally reaches the other side, and you now see that you overshot the end of the gap by a few feet, even before rolling. "You know why nobody bothers to learn flying magic? Aside from it being an inefficient waste of Battery, I mean? Because nobody bothers to teach landing magic." He smirks as he claps your shoulder. -d

(Janus) "I'll have to work on that. I don't think Meta-Blasting the floor is gonna do the trick. Well, that's if I ever figure out how I just did that. It was a total accident." Now that Michael's here, he scans the corridor within the light radius for signs of further trouble. -d

(DM) [Roll 12d20 diff 13]
(Janus) [5/0/1]

(DM) There's another seam across the floor not far ahead, just at the edge of the light. Michael takes a few steps toward it, revealing the floor beyond to be a grid of one-foot squares from wall to wall. It continues as far you can see, even with Michael standing just before its start. There are no other features in this part of the corridor. "I don't like the look of this at all." -d

(Janus) There's got to be some indication of why there's a grid, or if it's a trap, or what to do to get past it. He crouches down at the threshold to get a closer look at the surface of each stone. Maybe they have marks on em? -d

(DM) [Roll 12d20 diff 13]
(Janus) [2/0/2]

(DM) There are subtle marks on each one, with rounded edges on them so each mark doesn't cast much of a shadow on its block. They're not Xagl or common script. You can't read Deisaran but you've seen their script, and it looks nothing like this.

(Janus) "Yo, check out these marks. You ever seen symbols like this?" he asks Michael. -d

(DM) Michael joins you near the floor and has a closer look himself. "Hmmm... Some of the symbols resemble common script, but only somewhat. I cannot discern their meaning." -d

(Janus) Jenny's probably having a giggle at this right now. He sighs, pulls out the Legacy shard, and goes for the "trying less enthusiastically" thing.. -d

(DM) [Roll 11d20 diff 10]
(Janus) [5/1/0]

(DM) You manage to commune with the shard without going fully into its metaphorical space. Seeing your intent, Michael uses the opportunity to quench the light and refill his Energy meter. You hear your mother's voice in your mind clearly. <I've seen it before. This is Ancient script, used by Jedia's natives. I can't translate their language, but their alphabet has the same number of letters as ours, and you can write them out so their sounds correspond to ours as well. I can't imagine why anyone would be expected to know it in this world, so it's probably meant to be read in our language by translating each letter-sound individually." It's a shame you can't go in there and have her draw you a chart in the dirt for easy reference without knocking yourself out every time you want to check it. -d

(Janus) Okay, there has to be something in the manual about this. He waits for Michael to turn the light back on, so he can check the pocket Corebook. -d

(DM) After a few seconds, Michael's sword glows again, and you're able to check the Corebook. A quick flip through it reveals an appendix in the back, with a number of reference tables. Among them is the very thing Jenny suggested - a list of the strange letters, each with their equivalent Jedian letter and its phonetic sound beside it. Paydirt! Michael goes "Oooo!" at the revelation and gets his own Corebook out.

(DM) [You obtained Trenian/Jedian Phonetic Script Conversion data!] -d

(Janus) Armed with this crucial data, he looks once more at the grid of marked stones, hoping to perhaps find some obvious word stretched out among them, which he must spell with his footsteps on his way across. It's only the most obvious thing. -d

(DM) [Roll 12d20 diff 16]
(Janus) [3/1/1]

(DM) You and Michael both study the grid for adjacent letters, or even letters spaced two or three steps apart, that spell out words or phrases that sound like anything at all. The only answers you produce are rumbling stomachs. -d

(Janus) "What kind of dungeon has a huge trap and a hard puzzle before you even get in the front door?" Frustrated with the lack of food-err monsters to kill, he grumpily stomps all over the grid on his way across it. Stupid puzzle. -d

(DM) The floor doesn't disappear, no poles emerge from the walls, and no snakes fall out of the ceiling. When Michael sees no harm befall you, he crosses over as well. His blade-light reveals the grid to be 24 feet long and 7 feet wide. On the other side, just two yards from the end of the grid, is a door just like the one behind you. However, there's no switch here - just the grid. Michael answers your rhetorical question. "According to the handbook, since EKnK was created by the dean of the sun campus and designed for mages in training, the completion of one of these scenarios counts as an academic credit. Intelligence is the most valued attribute around here; being able to fight things physically is the fantasy part for them." -d

(Janus) He gives a rude snort as he turns around to examine the grid from the other side. Maybe it spells something this way around? "So you mean the guy gets everybody to buy his game by giving them school credit for playing it? What a fuckin' mastermind." -d

(DM) [Roll 12d20 diff 15]
(Janus) {3/0/0]

(DM) Several possibilities suggest themselves, but none of them form meaningful words of phrases that span the entire grid, even if you allow for spaces. Michael hmms and huhhs next to you. "A mastermind indeed. I've got nothing." -d

(Janus) He tries stepping individually on each stone in the first two rows, just to see if anything moves or lights up or whatever. -d

(DM) Nothing happens. -d

(Janus) He tries the next two rows too just to be sure. "Hey come and jump all over these rocks with me, it's fun." -d

(DM) Michael chuckles. "I've had enough prancing about for the time being." None of the stones react. -d

(Janus) He throws up his hands. "This is the stupidest game ever. All right, get back. I'm going to blow the damn door." He returns to the end of the grid and waits for Michael to retreat. -d

(DM) Michael goes wide-eyed and moves back down the corridor to hug the wall, leaving you and the door alone in the dark. "Given the enclosed space and the design of that door, I don't think that would be wise. But then again, what have we to lose at this point?" -d

(Janus) "We tried wisdom already, it's not working. Now we try blasto." He presses his hands against the door and Meta-Blasts it. -d

(DM) [Roll 13d20 diff 19]
(Janus) [2/1/1]

(DM) There's a bright flash, then two seconds of blackness. Again, you open your eyes without having closed them, and find yourself back at the fountain in town. It seems the door is as resistant to your powers as it is to your intellect. -d

(Janus) He tries not to grind his teeth. He never expected it to be this difficult just getting started. "How the hell is a guy supposed to shop in this town?!" he shouts at the sky. A bit deflated, he marches back toward the guardhouse. -d

(DM) You return to the guardhouse. By the time you get there, the door to the dungeon is already open, and Michael is standing on the inner switch. As soon as he sees you, he looks like he's trying not to laugh. -d

(Janus) He trudges through the door, refusing to look Michael in the eye. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure it was hilarious watching my corpse fly into the pit like a ragdoll. Is the door still in one piece?" -d

(DM) Michael follows you, unsheathing his blade for light as the door closes. "Actually, you cleared the pit. Your body was right over here-" he indicates the floor several feet from where the dropout-seams start. There's no bloodstain this time. "-but it vanished after a short time. About ten seconds, I'd say." -d

(Janus) He stops to examine the spot. "No blood. What happened? Don't spare me, I can handle it." -d

(DM) "Ah, well, it seems your power interacting with the door caused a [bunch of words you don't understand], which probably instantly liquefied your brain against the inside of your skull. It was very amusing, and I expect each of us will see quite a few more entertaining deaths from the other before this is over." -d

(Janus) He resists the urge to boot Michael into the pit from behind, seeing how he'd have to sit here and wait for him to come back. "All right, back across the pit I guess. Hopefully no surprises this time." He gets into position. -d

(DM) [Roll 12d20 diff 14]
(Janus) [8/0/3]

(DM) You and Michael re-enact the maneuver from before, but this time you don't accidentally hurl yourself across the room. You make your way across without trouble, and Michael takes a moment of darkness to regain his Energy before returning to the tile grid. -d

(Janus) He walks across to the door to see how it looks. -d

(DM) The only sign of your attempt is a pair of hand-shaped soot smudges where your hands were. It rubs right off to reveal unmarred metal beneath. Michael speaks with a mirth-tinged tone. "When we get to Center City, I'll have to show you how a railgun works. I think you'll find it most illuminating." -d

(Janus) "Is that some kind of nerdy joke? If you're so smart, why can't you figure this thing out?" He flaps his hand at the grid. "Nobody can figure this out without hints. Nobody. If you got nothing, I'm about to leave the game for a bit and go buy some lunch. With REAL money." -d

(DM) Michael frowns at your apparent lack of work ethic, and turns his attention back to the grid. "Hmmm... Honestly, the only word that even makes sense from either side is 'drink', starting from over here. But there's no word after it that makes any sense, whether or not I follow the same movement pattern. I'm sure if we keep at it a while longer, we can work the rest out. Isn't that an Arroyan pemmican curio? Pass some of that over here and we'll eat." -d

(Janus) He twists around to look at the little wooden box slung under his pack. "Oh yeah, I forgot I even had that. Saves us from having to cross the pit again, delightful as my own blood looks on that wall. Just warn me before you put the light out - I'm going to have another look at the handbook because there's no way there isn't a hint or something for this puzzle. It's hoomshit." He unslings the curio, passes a bar to Michael, and takes one for himself. He puts the box back then retrieves the pocket Corebook, plops on the floor against the wall, and starts eating while reading. -d

(DM) As the two of you consume the pemmican, you notice that a line of script appears in the air over Michael's head, slowly floating upward while vanishing. It reads "Stat Change: +2 Energy Gain Rate (2hrs)". You look up to find a similar message evanescing above your own head. It seems you receive status benefits from eating food even from outside the game, and regardless of whether or not you're in the restaurant. After musing out loud about this fact, Michael gets out his own pocket Corebook.

(DM) [Roll 12d20 diff 14]
(Janus) [3/0/0]

(DM) Reading through it again, you see if there's an appendix with puzzle hints. Unfortunately, there is no such thing. After the script chart there's just a page full of ads for various consumer products to be found in Kandaran. There's an ad for Yomi's Uniques, featuring that weird logo from his shop sign, but there are also ads for Casa Dahlia, ParaTech Arms, a hip new drink called Limitnade, and a business which professes to be the one and only licensed "Cryptologist" in the kingdom. -d

(Janus) Hell, he could use a cryptologist right about now; his ass is killing him. "Well this isn't doing me any good. You?" -d

(DM) Michael swallows the last of his food and almost pokes his finger at the last page of his book before catching himself. "I think I might have it. We couldn't find the next word the grid spells out because we're not from around here." He moves so you can see the ad page of his book. "I thought for a moment the answer was 'drink lemonade', but there were letters missing. Now I think it might be Limitnade, and if you'll come with me back to the other side of the grid, we'll see if those letters are present." -d

(Janus) He goes with Michael back to the start, and checks the grid. Sure enough, there are the letters. "So, you have to read the ad in the back of the handbook, then spell it backwards? Who expects anyone to think of that? Other than somebody trying to sell Limitnade, I mean. Whoever wrote this game is starting to seem more Arroyan than Kandaran. Well, you figured it out - you wanna do the honors?" He steps off the pit-side of the grid so as not to interfere with the solution. -d

(DM) Reading carefully from the handbook as he goes, Michael spells out "EDANTIMILKNIRD" on the grid from start to finish. As soon as he sets foot on the last D, the door at the end slides upward just like the one behind you, but this one stays open. "Excellent!" Michael effuses. The corridor is flooded with light from the open doorway, and once your eyes adjust you can see there's a big circular chamber beyond it. -d

(Janus) Glad to put the rage-inducing nerd-puzzle behind him, he struts into the light to see what's in store next. -d