Grayson and Aeronia seek out the Aurora Ascendancy vault after vowing to explore it and bring back anything valuable to the Scarlet Flames. Aeronia hopes to find clues here about how she got here and what happened to the rest of The Valiant.
3/8/2022
INITIALIZING STATUS CHECK…
GRAYSON DACKERMAN “Grin” | AERONIA MITHORNE |
Health 4/5 Spirit 4/5 Momentum 2 | Health 5/5 Spirit 4/5 Momentum 6 |
AZUREBOLT 5/5
TOTAL SUPPLY 4/5
LOCATION near Aurora, Sulaco Maze, Outlands
The Scarlet Flames prophet said an Ascendancy Vault appeared. However, the thing didn’t show up on any sensors.
“How did they know it appeared?” Grayson studied the data on the co-pilot monitors.
He was right. They’d decided to investigate this Ascendancy Vault, but they needed a way to find it first.
We can find it together. The thought crept up in Aeronia’s mind. Somehow, she knew it wasn’t referring to Grayson when it meant together.
Aeronia’s spine tingled with energy. It felt good, but also frightened her. She could feel her senses extending and reaching to find something.
[Aeronia - face Danger (+wits)(+symbiote)
8, 4 vs. 4+3+1 = weak hit
-1 health = 4 health]
Grayson looked up at the silent Aeronia when she didn’t respond to his question. Her eyes were wide open and staring ahead without seeing what was in front of her. Grayson could swear he saw the blues of her eyes shimmering, but was caught off guard when blood started dripping from her nose.
“Aeronia?” Grayson scrambled out of his chair and knelt by her, “What’s wrong?”
Aeronia blinked several times coming back to her senses. “I know where the vault is.”
“Okay,” Grayson sounded dubious. He pulled a clean rag out of his pocket and held it out to Aeronia. She just stared at the cloth in silence. Grayson gestured towards her with the cloth, “You’re bleeding.”
Aeronia felt the warmth above her lip then. She took the cloth and wiped the blood away. “Th-Thank you.”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Aeronia looked at her blood on the cloth. “I don’t know how to explain it. But I could feel it, the flow of energy. Through it, I traced where the vault is.”
“Have you experienced something like that before?”
“No. Not like this.”
Aeronia hadn’t done anything like this before. But she had vague memories of experiencing similar sensations. Though she couldn’t place when or where they happened.
“Okay.” Grayson moved back to his seat. “Let me know if you feel something again. Or if you start feeling bad.”
He had an idea about what was going on. He wasn’t sure though. He thought that trying to talk about it right now would add stress to an already stressful situation. Once they’d completed this delve, then they could talk about it.
Sure enough, Aeronia piloted the Azurebolt directly to the Ascendancy Vault. It grew larger on the screens in front of them.
A shimmering crystalline torus slowly rotated in the void with soft illumination coming from within. Pulses of light swept around the torus, lighting up what looked like glyphs.
“Do all Ascendancy structures look like this?” Aeronia asked.
“No,” Grayson studied the structure. “They can be very different from each other, from what I understand.”
They found what looked like a dock and proceeded inside the vault. Grayson and Aeronia suited up and packed their supplies for their investigation before cautiously disembarking the Azurebolt.
The lighting inside was faint. And their lighting equipment flickered and went out. When they checked their other powered tools and supplies, they were also disrupted. From what they could tell though, the crystalline material from the exterior also made up the interior.
Aeronia started moving forward cautiously but never left line of sight with Grayson.
[Aeronia - undertake an expedition (+wits)
6, 8 vs. 4+3 = weak hit
+1 progress = 1 box]
As Aeronia took a step, the crystalline floor cracked and shattered beneath her. Grayson dove for her.
[Grayson - aid your ally (+edge)
2, 2 vs. 6+2 = strong hit with a match
Aeronia +2 momentum = 6 momentum; +1 on her next move]
[Aeronia - face danger (+edge)
9, 6 vs. 6+4+1 = strong hit
+1 momentum = 7 momentum]
Aeronia quickly back peddled from the hole and as it widened, Grayson grabbed her and steadied her to prevent her from slipping into the vertical shaft that appeared where she had just stood.
The two of them let out a sigh of relief and exchanged a look.
“Let’s try this way,” Grayson gestured towards a different route.
[Grayson - undertake an expedition (+wits)
9, 7 vs. 1+3 = miss
Pay the price: -2 health = 2 health]
They could see a light on the path before them. Before long, they realized it was a gas-bag type of creature that glowed. Patterns shifted across it’s skin as it floated before them. Grayson felt himself drawn to it. The patterns grew brighter and brighter as he drew near.
With a blinding flash, searing pain surged through Grayson.
[Aeronia - face danger (+edge)
5, 1 vs. 5+4 = strong hit]
Next thing he knew, Aeronia was dragging him across the floor. Through blurry eyes he could make out more of the gas bag creatures flooding the path they had been heading down.
[Grayson - endure harm (+iron)
10, 6 vs. 6+3 = weak hit
-1 momentum = 1 momentum for +1 health = 3 health]
Grayson just laid on the ground for a moment hoping the pain would subside. Through clenched teeth he spoke, “Maybe not that way.”
“Are you going to be alright?”
“Yeah, just give me a moment.”
Aeronia sat down beside Grayson. She kept her eyes peeled for any dangers like those electro-gas bags.
The euphoric energetic sensation had been creeping through her body since she’d stepped off Azurebolt. It wasn’t strong, but it was present.
Accept it. The temptation became stronger as the voice whispered to her again. Let it in.
[Aeronia - firebrand (+spirit)
3, 1 vs. 4+4 = strong hit
+3 fire = 3 fire]
With a deep breath, Aeronia could feel the currents of energy running through the vault. It was palpable and everywhere. And she realized that she could draw some of it in and that she would be able to use it.
Aeronia helped Grayson up when they were ready to move on. While Grayson seemed fairly beat, Aeronia was feeling energized and took the lead.
[Aeronia - undertake an expedition (+wits)
3, 1 vs. 3+3 = strong hit
+1 progress = 2 boxes]
Aeronia carefully led the way to a vaulted chamber with some inactive machinery. Grayson stopped in front of the machinery examining it to try and figure out it’s purpose.
[Grayson - explore a waypoint
5, 1 vs. 4+3 = strong hit
+1 progress = 3 boxes]
“This seems to be part of a bigger structure. If we follow it, it should lead us to something useful.” Grayson led the way down a corridor, following the traces of the machinery. They stopped at a junction that branched into multiple passages. “Or lead us to multiple paths with the inner workings being hidden.”
“Let’s just try a direction, we can loop back here if need be.” Aeronia turned down one of the passages.
[Aeronia - undertake an expedition (+wits)
6, 2 vs. 1+3 = weak hit
+1 progress = 4 boxes]
While the passage ahead of them was clear, without warning the passage shifted, cutting off the route. Aeronia stopped dead in her tracks looking around for anything that she might have tripped to close the door.
[Aeronia - gather information
7, 4 vs. 3+3 = weak hit
+1 momentum = 8 momentum]
As she looked around, Aeronia didn’t spot anything that she could have triggered. Rather, as she searched, she had an odd feeling that something was watching them. They’re watching us, the voice crept up again.
“I think something is trying to block us from going any further.”
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