Ame no Woto - In Character

[SeiKeo]

I admit, I was surprised she didn't seem that angry at me. Not that it was my fault, of course, but still. NCOs. Although without Tenevere actually present, she'd be angry at me by proxy.

Ah well. I shrugged, hands raised empty. "I think she went stir-crazy. Y'know? She's all twitchy on the walk and we ain't doin shit so when she gets a hole put in front of her she goes divin' like a rabbit because it's something to do. Plus I think she mighta thought you were gonna take a bit longer and that you'd be happy if you got a prelim sitrep or something like that."

That all got spiced up with my best 'aw shucks sarge, what was I supposed to do about it?' awkward grin. Not my fault, not my fault. At that point, we may as well have thrown a break while we waited for her to come back up, especially since jumping down would just shorten the apparently-running fuse, but who knew.

Cprl. Leigh Mitchell
Health: 16
Will: 26
Fatigue: 17
On hand: 30 rounds .303, 14 rounds .45
In pack: 20 rounds .303

[Kirby]

Private Alice Chastain
Lee Enfield Mk. III: 10 round .303 x 5
HP: 18 | FTG: 19 | WIL: 21

March 16, 236 RA

"That's very interesting Corporal Mitchell, why don't you tell me more about why Tenevere is disobeying my direct order? I'm sure she must have had a good reason."

The Sergeant smiled, but the air in the church was filled with yet another silent tension. Needless to say, this time it came not from the general awkwardness within the squad, but from the fact that the Sergeant looked ready to murder someone.

Specifically the Corporals. Alice wasn’t sure which one.

"I think she went stir-crazy. Y'know? She's all twitchy on the walk and we ain't doin shit so when she gets a hole put in front of her she goes divin' like a rabbit because it's something to do. Plus I think she mighta thought you were gonna take a bit longer and that you'd be happy if you got a prelim sitrep or something like that."

And so Mitchell smiled back. And the two were just smiling at each other, neither of them saying a thing, the rest of the squad watching and seeming to shrink back. Well, at least Alice seemed to shrink back. She wasn’t paying much attention to the other squadmates, seeing as how the sheer tension in the air seemed to freeze her in place, but she pretty sure that they could feel it too.

But, tension or no tension, she had to deliver her report regardless.

She coughed once. Tried to salute (though her sleeves were too long). Stood up as straight as she could.

“We managed to talk to one of the farmers. He said that the church was there before this place was colonized, and that recently someone discovered a hole… underneath… it…”

Which was right over there, right next to where Mitchell was standing. Welp, so much for news.

“Um… wait! He also said…” She wracked her brain for thoughts. There was more, right? Something about Carlia or Carlians, right? “There were Carlians here. He said they came and inspected the ruins and left, except no one actually saw them leave or something, and no one else has come since…”

Her words faded into an uneasy silence. She swallowed once, and shifted a little. “And that’s it.”

[ILurkNoMoar]

Sergeant Haley Clarke
Mauser C96: 10 rounds 9mm/ 2 x 10 round clip 9mm
Health: 11/11 | Will: 31/31 | Fatigue: 17/17

"I think she went stir-crazy. Y'know? She's all twitchy on the walk and we ain't doin shit so when she gets a hole put in front of her she goes divin' like a rabbit because it's something to do. Plus I think she mighta thought you were gonna take a bit longer and that you'd be happy if you got a prelim sitrep or something like that."

Haley felt a vein in her forehead bulge and just glared, being too caught between exhaustion and fury to do anything else. She felt so tempted to slap that grin off Corporal Mitchell's face; so very, very tempted, but in the end Mitchell had been the one to obey her orders. Quite frankly Haley just wanted to call it a day, go find the nearest inn, and get a fresh start on this ruin first thing in the morning. It was by this point that she had simply chosen to sit down on one of the many ruined stones littering the Church's foyer, and pinch the bridge of her nose in hopes that her growing migraine decided to curl up and die.

Before Haley could begin her lecture Private Chastain interrupted by giving her report, probably in hopes of defusing the extremely tense atmosphere that had developed in the last few moments.

“We managed to talk to one of the farmers. He said that the church was there before this place was colonized, and that recently someone discovered a hole… underneath… it… Um… wait! He also said… There were Carlians here. He said they came and inspected the ruins and left, except no one actually saw them leave or something, and no one else has come since… And that’s it.”

Haley managed to give a weak smile at the private's audacity, and felt somewhat relived that at least one of her teams had managed to successfully complete their assignment without breaking orders. Though the news of Carlians concerned her greatly, especially the fact that they hadn't been seen leaving the ruins, and in Haley's mind this likely meant one of two things, neither of which was pleasant.

"Thank you Chastain, you've done well, and I will deal with you later Mitchell," she said rather pointedly, "But the part about the Carlians worries me. If they weren't seen exiting the ruins then there's a good chance that they've either been trapped, or died within, which doesn't bode well for us..."

As Haley trailed off she suddenly snapped her head toward the entrance to the catacombs and roared, "LANCE-CORPORAL KATELYNN TENEVERE, IF YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR ASS OUT OF THAT HOLE WITHIN THE NEXT 30 SECONDS THEN I SWEAR TO GOD THAT I WILL PULL UP THIS ROPE, AND LEAVE YOU THERE UNTIL MORNING."

[Polly]

Private Noel Milner

Health: 14/14 | Will: 21 | Fatigue: 15
On hand: Lee Enfield Mk III, 10 rounds
In pack: 5 x 10-round magazines | 3 x Mk. II pineapple grenade


My hopes that things would go smoothly after the whole castle business were somewhat shattered once we got to the church.
When one of your Corporals directly disobeys your orders, for whatever reason, and the other one is giving her a hand, then you know you're gonna have some problems with your team. This squad wasn't quite off to a brilliant start.

To make things worse, Corp. Mitchell's attitude rubbed the Serge the wrong way. I guess she expected to see some humbleness from Mitchell after she gave Tenevere a hand, but nope; Mitchell just smiled at the Serge innocently ( or maybe smugly? ) whilst stating just how innocent she was in the whole business.

Thankfully the two kiddos did their job properly and got back with some info. That was something, I guess.



I fumble with my uncomfortable uniform a bit while that little Alice girl is giving her report. Apparently we've got competition, and it makes me sigh a bit.
Not that I'd mind a little bit of excitement otherwise, but I'm way too fucking tired for any sort of fighting right now ( except maybe to slap any squad members on Serge's orders for producing all this unnecessary and unwelcome tension ), and I'm not exactly looking forward to any gunfights in some cramped catacombs.

As I start daydreaming about going to some inn to rest and hopefully take a bath, I'm suddenly brought back to reality by an ear-drum-piercing explosion from the Serge:

"LANCE-CORPORAL KATELYNN TENEVERE, IF YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR ASS OUT OF THAT HOLE WITHIN THE NEXT 30 SECONDS THEN I SWEAR TO GOD THAT I WILL PULL UP THIS ROPE, AND LEAVE YOU THERE UNTIL MORNING."

‘Dammit Serge, thanks a lot for that!!!’

I see that some of the folks around the market have turned and are staring at us. Great, I just love unwanted attention from strangers.

“Piss off,” I tell them shortly, clutching my rifle a bit tighter.

A few merchants and passersby grumble and whisper something, and then they turn back to their business.

I turn back to my business, too, eying both the Serge and Mitchell carefully.
I sincerely hope we won't be seeing any challenges to the command, 'cause if that happens this whole mission is gonna be one spectacular failure.

Let's wait a bit more and see what happens. And hey; maybe that hyperactive little annoyance managed to find something of value.

[SeiKeo]

And that was the first time we saw Clarke's famous fuse. Years later I talked to someone who had known her before I did, and when I mentioned her name he grimaced and slapped me on the shoulder. "Leigh," he said, "if we gave that girl a shorter fuse and put her inside the Andover armory there wouldn't be much of the palace left standing." He grinned like it was a killer joke, and then walked off with his beer.

Nobody had invited him for his sense of humor. But he was right about that one, since even I winced when she screamed. Winced not only for Tenevere, mind you. She seemed like the type that was in the military to get away from her own problems and at a guess that included parents. So I was afraid that Mom-Mode might have been a bit of a trigger, and that wouldn't be good for either of them

Me, though? Oh, I wasn't worried. She could deal with me however she wanted - hell, then I was betting on the fact that by the time she eventually got around to it she would have bigger problems and/or interesting things. Plus, y'know, it was all Tenevere's fault.

To facilitate the screaming, I got off the rope and stood back to wait. Even thought about commiserating, but that was probably best left for while Sgt was in the process of chewing out.

Spoiler:

Cprl. Leigh Mitchell
Health: 16
Will: 26
Fatigue: 17
On hand: 30 rounds .303, 14 rounds .45
In pack: 20 rounds .303

[Katie]

Lance-Corporal Katelynn Tenevere
Health: 16/16 | Will: 26/26 | Fatigue: 20/20
Lee Enfield Mk. III | Ammo: 10 in my rifle, 40 in bag?

Everything is just fine. The cave is nice and cool, I’m not in any immediate danger, and I think I could possibly find something interesting, really helpful, if I just had a bit more—

"LANCE-CORPORAL KATELYNN TENEVERE, IF YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR ASS OUT OF THAT HOLE WITHIN THE NEXT 30 SECONDS THEN I SWEAR TO GOD THAT I WILL PULL UP THIS ROPE, AND LEAVE YOU THERE UNTIL MORNING."

Oh.

Oh God.

I’ve done something wrong and now she’s yelling at me and my eyes are all watery and I don’t know what I can do because I don’t get there immediately she’ll pull the rope and I’ll be stuck in here alone and I don’t know how much kerosene is left in the lamp and when it grows dark I’m completely, absolutely screwed but if I get up there I’m screwed too!

I sob. There’s no right answer, is there? It’s just like boot camp. Just like the field. Just like everywhere else. I keep messing up and they keep sending me somewhere else. I might as well just quit the army. If I die I’ll be a waste of space, and I can’t go back home with the shame that I’ve quit.

I should hang myself...

Wait. Wait, just wait.

She’s going to pull the rope up and leave me here. That trashy bitch. I’m sick and tired of being pushed around all the fucking time! Who cares if they hate me! I’ve got a job to do and if I do it in a way they hate, they can go shove it up their ass!

If that bitch wants to fight I’ll give her one!

That’s it, I’ll get out and tell her to fuck off. She may be my damn CO but I don’t care. They’ll just ship me off to some other goddamn place with more goddamn people.

Ugh.

I rush through the cave, easily retracing my steps and sooner or later, I’m out of the hole and into the light with one hell of a mad CO. Fuck her.

“What?”

[ILurkNoMoar]

Sergeant Haley Clarke
Mauser C96: 10 rounds 9mm/ 2 x 10 round clip 9mm
Health: 11/11 | Will: 31/31 | Fatigue: 17/17

“What?"

Katelynn's expression of livid anger hit Haley like a slap to the face. She was almost baring her teeth like an animal, and looked completely unrepentant for her actions. Haley could begin to feel her self control slipping as she stared down her subordinate.

"Corporal Tenevere, did I not specifically order you not to enter these ruins until the unit had reconvened?", Haley nearly hissed with barely restrained fury. Katelynn was silent for a moment before replying.

"I guess you did. I thought taking a peek inside wouldn't hurt."

At this Haley's anger has now leveled off at a slimmer, her voice was measured and extremely strained as she said, "Corporal, tell me. How many expeditions have you been on before this?"

"Once before."

Haley noticed as Tenevere's face became even more sour, and her hands started giving off an incessant twitch every second as she toyed with her bayonet. The revelation that her corporal had been on a previous expedition caused her temper to start building to a boiling point, but there was one more question that needed to be asked before Haley decided what to do.

"Then I assume that your CO explained standard survey procedure?"

"Yes."

At this Haley was shocked into silence, looking at Alice in utter disbelief. Had her previous CO been incompetent, and failed to explain procedure then that would've been one thing, but this? This made Haley mad, no, it made her furious. The thought that Tenevere had disobeyed her orders out of ignorance to the dangers was unfortunate, but understandable for a rookie. That she had done so being fully informed was another matter entirely, "Then what the fuck were you thinking!? You enter a completely unexplored ruin alone, without even waiting for information, and in doing so put the entire squad at risk! Do you have any fucking idea how fucking dangerous this little stunt of yours was?"

Katelynn cringed, but soon enough stood straight facing Haley with fire in her eyes.

"Dammit, they're all the same..." she mutters under her breath. "I'm sorry if I think taking some risks is appropriate, Sergeant. It seems taking initiative and being assertive only takes place after the waiting game."

She kicks at the ground, almost ignoring Haley.

"Corporal, look me in the eyes. Do you know what my job is, before anything else on this mission?" Haley says in a firm, cold voice.

"To achieve it with minimal losses. I'm expendable, it's a different case."

Her voice cracks on "expendable", but she nevertheless manages to look Haley in the eye.

"Wrong, you are not expendable, not to me. My job is to do everything within my power get all of you back home alive, and I can't do my job if my team starts taking unnecessary risks. Were you aware that the Carlian military was seen entering these ruins, but never leaving? What do you think would have happened if they were still down there, and caught you all by yourself?"

"The Carlian military? That's interesting. I've shot up enough of them to know I won't go down without a fight."

Her voice is both cocky and bitter in the same stroke.

"That maybe be so, but you'd still be dead and we'd be walking into an ambush when we came looking for you. The consequences of your actions effect more than just yourself."

"Yes, they do." Her gaze seems to grow distant, before she frowns. "I feel like a wild dog on a leash. It's suffocating. If you're going to punish me, go make your example instead of bickering with me. I'm not getting to you, and you're not getting to me, so pull rank already like everyone else does."

"Will you follow my orders from now on?"

"I'll make an attempt."

It sounded very forced.

"Then see that this doesn't happen again, or I'll take disciplinary actions, and I'll consider the matter dropped. Now tell me what you found down there."

"...There's a door at the end, with a hole big enough to stick a finger through. Most footsteps tend to stop at the entrance, and you need a lamp to see. There's a ball bearing and a spoon around the door, maybe Carlian junk, and the thing is small enough to be single file. In a close ranged firefight, whomever shoots first wins."

With a sigh, she turns around and stares down the hole.

"...And none of these footsteps are leading back to the entrance?"

"Oh, they do. They go back around, excuse me."

Haley sighs, "Good work then. Let's just put this behind us, and finish the survey."

With that done Haley turned to the rest of the squad and asked, "Okay, how many of you have been into a ruin before, and know standard survey procedure?"

[Leftovers]

Private Galatea
Health: 26 | Will: 19 | Fatigue: 23
Lee Enfield Mk. III | 5 Magazines, 10 round .303 | 1796 Heavy Cavalry Sabre

As the the heated exchange between the Sergeant and the Lance-Corporal winds down, you cautiously allow your wound-up body, instinctively brought to alertness by the sudden commotion, to relax to a more natural position. Your hand, which had wandered to the sabre slung from a loop on your belt in reaction to a seemingly hostile situation, now hangs limply from your side, and you can't help but breathe out a sigh as the tension escapes from your body.

You really don't like it when people shout.

Though the Sergeant has already turned to you and the rest of your squadmates, no doubt intending to address you, your mind is still hung up on the Lance-Corporal's exit from the hole and her verbal spar with you CO. Not so much on her words, but rather her expression. An expression you know quite well.

Her eyes. Their almost feral intensity, boring a hole through anything and everything around them, now they are something you can instantly recognise. After all, you've seen them many times in the past, and though you've never quite understood the emotions swirling within them, you can at least identify them with certainty.

Deep, animalistic wrath, and the absolute willingness to kill.

To see it in the heat of battle is one thing, but in such a minor squabble...? You're no real expert on squad dynamics, but is that an emotion belonging to a rudimentarily functional team?

...oh, but you'd better answer to the Sergeant's question quickly, lest she shout her lungs out at you too!

"---Ah, I don't really know stuff about exploring ruins, but I've been underground in the past. I can go in first, if you want."

[Polly]

Private Noel Milner

Health: 14/14 | Will: 21 | Fatigue: 15
On hand: Lee Enfield Mk III, 10 rounds
In pack: 5 x 10-round magazines | 3 x Mk. II pineapple grenade


Well.

Haley told me that she expects us to run into fights on our missions, but I don’t think she expected that the first one would be with her second-in-command. I don’t think anyone here expected it.
This Tenevere girl seems absolutely crazy; she looked like she’d snap completely and cut Haley’s throat at any second, fumbling with her damn machete again and looking like a mad dog that had just tasted blood.

So... two things I’ve learned about my teammates today; Haley worked in an... inn... and has come to think that tits open every door for ya, and Lance-Corporal Tenevere is just a mood swing away from cutting someone’s throat. The first is relatively harmless as far as things go, but as for Tenevere... better be careful around the brat.


No time for a lengthy analysis, though, since Haley turns to us grunts after seemingly finishing with Tenevere:

"Okay, how many of you have been into a ruin before, and know standard survey procedure?"

The silver-haired girl, think her name is Galatea or something, volunteers to go first:

"---Ah, I don't really know stuff about exploring ruins, but I've been underground in the past. I can go in first, if you want."

Eager, huh? Or is she just trying to ease the tension a bit by being helpful?

Well, whatever the case, I look around for a sec; Serge is staring expectedly at me while Tenevere doesn’t quite look like her spirit is with us at the moment, grumbling and staring at the ground.
As for Corporal Mitchell... she doesn’t seem to be as perturbed by all the crap that went down between Serge and Tenevere; always the relaxed one, I guess. And, well, maybe it’s just me, but she seems to be eying me carefully.

Maybe I’m just imagining things.
I blame the tiredness and the fact that my god-fucking-damn uniform has by now been completely soaked in sweat which is driving me insane! I’ve got to take my mind off it quickly or I might as well snap like Tenevere.

“Eh, I’ve never been to ruins like this before. But, I do have some experience with underground and tunnels, if that’s worth anythin’. Guess I wouldn’t mind goin’ in first, either.”

[Kirby]

Private Alice Chastain
Lee Enfield Mk. III: 10 round .303 x 5
HP: 18 | FTG: 19 | WIL: 21

March 16, 236 RA

In the hospital wards back in Hampton, where Alice worked before getting dragged into the military, she would sometimes overhear rumors about the folks in the army. She heard of terrible wars, soldiers snapping, crimes and the like, and yet she never knew how much truth there were in those statements. She never really interacted much with the soldiers she treated. At least, she hadn't talked to them much. So when she first met the squad, she tried not to judge them much. They certainly were intimidating, but surely they couldn't be that bad, right?

As her officers argued, she still wasn’t too sure on the “bad” part. She knew for certain, however, that they were scary.

The fight died down. Another silence. And then:

"Okay, how many of you have been into a ruin before, and know standard survey procedure?"

The sergeant breaks the silence, and the other soldiers start to respond.

"---Ah, I don't really know stuff about exploring ruins, but I've been underground in the past. I can go in first, if you want."

“Eh, I’ve never been to ruins like this before. But, I do have some experience with underground and tunnels, if that’s worth anythin’. Guess I wouldn’t mind goin’ in first, either.”

...Huh. Well, it really does seem like everyone else has more experience. And now everyone seemed to looking at her expectantly. Honestly, she really hated to be the lone disappointment, but there wasn't much else she could do. She braced herself, trying to seem nonchalant and unembarrassed.

“Ah. I... I've never actually done anything like this.”

And then everyone did seem disappointed. Or unimpressed. Or somewhat amused. Alice couldn't tell, to be honest. She averted her eyes, trying to shield herself from their gazes.

[ILurkNoMoar]

Sergeant Haley Clarke
Mauser C96: 10 rounds 9mm/ 2 x 10 round clip 9mm
Health: 11/11 | Will: 31/31 | Fatigue: 17/17

"---Ah, I don't really know stuff about exploring ruins, but I've been underground in the past. I can go in first, if you want."

“Eh, I’ve never been to ruins like this before. But, I do have some experience with underground and tunnels, if that’s worth anythin’. Guess I wouldn’t mind goin’ in first, either.”

“Ah. I... I've never actually done anything like this.”

Haley rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, and closed her eyes while giving a slight sigh before putting on a weak smile and looking at the three privates.

"Well, that's better than I was expecting to be honest, but you two were probably down in some mines or maybe a cave right?" she said mentioning to Noel and Galatea. "Ruins aren't that different, though they are much more dangerous. After 400 years most of them are liable to collapse without warning, and that's not even considering things like toxic gases or traps, but if you're careful they can usually be avoided."

Haley then turned to Private Chastain, who seemed a bit embarrassed about her lack of experience. She have a soft chuckle and made as to wave away her subordinates concerns, "Relax private, we all had our first times too, and I'll be with you every step of the way if you need it."

With that Haley sat down and started to address her entire unit, "Well now that we're all here I can tell you what we found out from the Regency. Apparently this church used to belong to some ancient Christian sect called the 'Roman Catholics', but not much else. Now we've been given permission to enter and examine the ruins to our hearts content, but Andover will be held responsible for any damage to the ruins. So there will be no looting the catacombs for artifacts today.

Mitchell, I want you to take point and take a second look at the door Teneverve found. We'll switch up after we find a way to open it."

Having given her orders Haley waited for the rest of her squad to start entering the ruin's entrance.

[SeiKeo]

Mitchell, I want you to take point and take a second look at the door Teneverve found. We'll switch up after we find a way to open it."

I snapped to a salute. "At your order, ma'm." Ma'm, mom. That was her style: like she was some kind of governess for kids who needed a strike as much as they needed support. It was funny at the time. Still funny, but for different reasons.

No more formalities after that: it was me, a rope going back up, my gun, and a pile of treasure and Carlians, alive or dead. Not that I ever asked, but I assumed that everyone at least had a similar thought that I did - what was this about being accountable for lost items? Nobody knew what was down there anyways; if they had it wouldn't be our problem.

But, we'd need to know what was with the Carlians anyways. It'd been a week - if you had asked me, they'd either left or had gotten themselves stuck in somewhere and were currently dead out of water. No need to worry. But you never knew me as being that cavalier, did you? "Spare grenade, anyone?" I called back up.

That wasn't funny - it was more depressing, if anything. On an 'important' mission to a buried ruin, and they'd given us all service rifles and barely an explosive to boot. So, that's what I thought - nobody was really worried about us doing any serious work. Not that I could really blame them, but preparation should have been a trait of anyone organizing.

Cprl. Leigh Mitchell
Health: 16
Will: 26
Fatigue: 17
On hand: 30 rounds .303, 14 rounds .45
In pack: 20 rounds .303

[Polly]

Private Noel Milner

Health: 14/14 | Will: 21 | Fatigue: 15
On hand: Lee Enfield Mk III, 10 rounds
In pack: 5 x 10-round magazines | 3 x Mk. II pineapple grenade


Seems like I’m not gonna go in first after all. Makes sense, I suppose. Better to send someone with actual experience to lead the way.

Corporal Mitchell is assigned to guide us through the tunnel, and she replies with an eager salute. She quickly made her way down the hole that they had unearthed earlier, looking around and down the pitch-black corridor.
The rest of us gather around the hole and glance around – first down at Mitchell, then at each other, wordlessly questioning who’s gonna go in next.

The fact decides for us, however, when Mitchell suddenly calls back up:

"Spare grenade, anyone?"

Serge turns her eyes towards me, fixing her gaze on the small clump of pineapple grenades hanging from my belt.

I return a look full of reluctance, then glance down at Corp. Mitchell with even more reluctance, and gritting my teeth a bit.
I really don’t wanna give her my grenade... but I guess if I don’t, Serge will just order me to do it anyways. And I don’t think that she’d suffer through another insubordination...

I sigh a bit, take one grenade off my belt, and look down the hole at Mitchell. Sighing a little again, I finally part with my weapon:

”Catch.”

[SeiKeo]

”Catch.”

"Thanks! Buy ya dinner tonight!" Well, the government was buying, and I was only cooking, which I did anyways. So really, no different. But it was the thought that counted.

I caught the explosive and shoved it into a front pocket, handle out first, and turned to the door.

It was a hell of a door. Perfectly smooth stone - I couldn't tell you what kind, but the shear plane was uncanny, like it was chopped in half by a lightning bolt.

So, it was time to fuck around with it. Taps on the stone with metal, listening for different echoes, bringing the lantern clo- Actually, sorry, you don't care about how to search a door. It's boring.

Spoiler:

Cprl. Leigh Mitchell
Health: 16
Will: 26
Fatigue: 17
On hand: 30 rounds .303, 14 rounds .45
In pack: 20 rounds .303

[Five_X]

Corporal Mitchell

Well, after a few minutes of trying, nothing the wall tells you seems to indicate that it's hollow or has any weak points. It's a solid block of stone; probably weighs precisely one metric shitload. You know there's not going to be any moving this thing with your bare hands - or ever, even if you hitched it to an engine outside and had it pull.

There's a hole in the door, though. Just one hole. It's small, maybe just the right size for you to stick a finger into it, but when you look right into that hole, it just appears dark - it doesn't give you a view of the other side of this door, so it's got to have some other purpose than viewing. Maybe it's clogged up with dirt and dust, and you've got to clean it, or maybe someone tried to drill through the rock and only got part-way through. Plenty of people have been down here before, but only a handful have gotten past this door. The Carlians, you imagine, are part of that handful.

It's exciting, in a way: a stone door beneath an old world ruin, beyond which lie things that haven't been seen or touched in hundreds of years.

The one thing that gives you a hint, though, is your lantern. First, while you're staring at the door, you bring it up to the hole there - and out of the corner of your eye, you catch a reflection of light from the door itself. The reflection seems to potentially be coming from the hole, but you never saw a mirror or any glass in there. Still, it's worth checking out. And then second - you bring the lantern back to your side and, looking down, you see some junk on the ground, laying in the dirt and roots: an old, partly bent spoon, and what looks like a ball bearing, still seeming to be shiny and slick, like it was just taken from a well-oiled machine. The spoon, from what you can tell, has dry dirt encrusted on it, as though it was used to dig under the door by some idiot.

Other than that and footprints, there's really not a whole lot in this little cave. You could take a closer look at anything you've seen, to see if your sharp eyes can find anything interesting about them.

[Kirby]

Private Alice Chastain
Lee Enfield Mk. III: 10 round .303 x 5
HP: 18 | FTG: 19 | WIL: 21

March 16, 236 RA

There wasn’t much talk within the squad, as they waited for the Corporal to report on her progress. They could hear small taps here and there from the hole in the ground, and clamor from the makeshift market outside reverberating throughout the church. Most worryingly, at least for Alice, they could smell the smell of freshly baked pastries, coming from said market.

At that moment, Alice realized that she was really, really hungry.

It wasn’t unnatural, she supposed. They did spend nearly an entire day marching, marching, and marching some more, so it was perfectly normal for her to be a bit tired, right? Of course, they would have to stop and eat eventually… right?

Her eyes wandered over to her bag, for a moment. She supposed that there should be rations in there, somewhere, but she then again, rations. This was her first time out in the field, but once upon a time, she tried the rations back in the wards at home out of some morbid curiosity. To be fair, they were still technically edible. Yet, needless to say, if she could eat something else, she’d rather eat that something else. And the pastries were just right there, as if calling to her.

She started to rummage through her pack, in search of nothing in particular. She had no spare change, but there had to be something of value she could barter off, right? Something she didn’t really need?

[ILurkNoMoar]

Sergeant Haley Clarke
Mauser C96: 10 rounds 9mm/ 2 x 10 round clip 9mm
Health: 11/11 | Will: 31/31 | Fatigue: 17/17

Haley took hold of the rope attached to the hole's edge, and swiveled herself over the precipice before descending into the darkness below after her subordinates. She gave a slight hiss as her boots hit the ground with a bit more force then she intended, which left a dull throbbing pain in her feet that she promptly ignored.

The corridor leading to the stone door is dimly lit by Corporal Mitchell's lantern, which leaves a thick, pungent aroma permeating the path to the stone door in its wake. It wasn't long before Haley's quick pace brought her to the small alcove that opened up before the stone door. She took the opportunity to search the area while Mitchell pulled out her requested grenade and started to tap against the door, presumably to listen for any different return echos. What she found was a bent, dirt encrusted spoon and what looked like a ball bearing. Haley was wondering if the bearing would fit in the door's hole when a glimpse of light from the corner of her eye.

Her head snapped to the source so fast that it almost hurt, and she was rewarded by the sight of a reflection of light from the door itself. Haley quickly pockets her pilfered objects and heads over to Mitchell, who had seemingly just finished her inspection of the door, and withdraws the ball bearing from her pocket.

"Mitchell, please hold up the lantern to the hole again," she said while gently guiding Mitchell out of her way.

Once offered enough light to see what she was doing Haley raised the ball bearing to the door's hole, but found it too large to fit inside. With that possibility out Haley then leaned against the door, and pressed her head as closely as she could to the door without losing the lantern's light before peering inside the hole to see if she could find the source of the earlier reflection.

Unfortunately, the hole's secrets remained shrouded in mystery as she could see only darkness from within. Not to be deterred Haley quickly unclipped her canteen from its position on her belt and unscrewed the cap, then proceeded to pour a small amount of water into the hole so as to loosen up any dirt and grime that had accumulated over the centuries. Once the inside was good and wet Haley inserted her pinky finger and started to twirl it around the interior to further loosen whatever was inside, but was ready to remove it immediately in case of a trap. After several seconds she started to try and remove whatever may have been obstructing her view, then again looked inside the hole, hoping for some kind of improvement.

[Five_X]

Sergeant Clarke

You pull out your finger, and it is mucked to the nines in a blackish-brown kind of grime. This must be what built up there over the centuries, and perhaps it was blocking something out in that hole. Judging by how completely coated your pinky finger is in the stuff, you imagine you cleaned it out pretty thoroughly.

Staring back into the hole, you see the faint outline of what could be a mirror, or a bit of glass. You can't see anything beyond that, though, but you're fairly certain that this conspicuous hole in the door somehow is involved in the mechanism used to open it. As you can see from those who came before you, digging under the stone isn't going to work; you'll have to figure out what exactly this hole is meant for, and what purpose the junk may serve. If a bunch of Carlians potentially made it in here already, you should be able to do the same.

You just hope that once you get in, you'll be able to get back out.

[ILurkNoMoar]

Sergeant Haley Clarke
Mauser C96: 10 rounds 9mm/ 2 x 10 round clip 9mm
Health: 11/11 | Will: 31/31 | Fatigue: 17/17

A large grin worked its way across Haley's lips as her impromptu cleaning relieved a small mirror or piece of glass inside the hole, but there was still no mechanism that could possibly open this door. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she thought out ways this mirror in the door could be used, and then it occurred to her.

'If there's a mirror inside that hole, then it was meant to reflect any light that entered it. Maybe we should try seeing where the light reflect from our lantern is going.'

"Mitchell, put the lantern up to the hole again, but be sure not to block the path of the reflection."

Haley then took out the bent spoon, then tried to clean and polish it as best she could against her uniform's jacket.

"If you can't get the lantern's light into the hole with blocking the reflection, then we're try bouncing the light from the lantern off the spoon and into the hole."

Having given her directions Haley eagerly awaited to see if this would reveal a way to finally open the door.

[Five_X]

Sergeant Clarke

Unfortunately for you, even a polished spoon like this one makes for a bad reflective surface - after having cleaned away the dirt from it, it's pockmarked with rust and is firmly bent at an angle, making it ultimately worthless. You try to hold it between the hole and the lantern to bounce the light, but it does no such thing; the most it's done is gotten your uniform grubbier than it already is.

If you want to play around with the light, you're going to have to do better than a rusty old spoon.