driftfleet | Just Keeping Swimming

[ It hadn't taken much to get Hermione to take part in the grand adventure - it's something a little more exciting than she's used to, wandering around in her lab and enjoying the new upgrades, and it doesn't feel like it's going to be too dangerous. It feels like it might just be a nice, fun adventure... But that doesn't mean she isn't prepared for the worst and expecting it, even if she's a touch optimistic. She has potions in her bag and her wand in her hand and she's ready to start to protect her friends if she has to - no hesitation and no pausing.

Walking into the chamber has her pausing and she frowns, looking around with a critical eye. It's definitely a puzzle, Wolfe is right on that, and she considers it for a moment. She doesn't walk forward, cautious of booby traps, but she does watch and consider what it might end up being. She wants to get this done, after all, and already her logical mind is in overdrive. ]

It seems a little dramatic, doesn't it.

[ Frowning, she tilts her head. ]

Do we need to figure out the code for the lever. Like a safe?

[ Naturally it wasn't all that difficult to get Marian to come along, all Adalwolfe had to do was mutter the word adventure and she jumped at the chance. Even after so long she still finds it difficult being constrained to the fleet, always eager to venture out whenever they are given the chance. So really it shouldn't be surprise to anyone to find her at their side, her own bladed staff strapped to her back, hair left to float about uselessly.

She takes one look at the room and groans, memories of Duke Prosper's mansion coming up just as swift for her as they did for Wolfe. Frankly she hated that place and it's puzzles and that pompous Orlesian asshole who owned it. A hand comes up to her face as she tries to will the memories away, floating a little off to the side. ]

I hate puzzles.

[ Not so much because she finds them difficult but because they take up so much time better spent beating down the walls or something equally more productive than trying to figure out blighted puzzles. ]

Maybe we just have to pull a lever and it'll open! Puzzle solved! No need to spend hours agonizing over combinations or symbols.

[ She's not bitter, not at all. ]

Or turning over tiles to make a bloody ugly picture in the floor. Who even thinks of that? Insane people, that's who.

[He answers his own question, but he does go to peer at one of the levers. Tentatively he puts a hand on it, looking at the two women in such a way that says to prepare for whatever may happen, and then attempts to pull it down. Surprisingly, it moves easily under his hand. He doesn't even really need to try.

Also surprisingly, the statues in the room suddenly burst into movement, starting to spin and move along patterns in the floor mechanically at great speed, swinging their weapons as they go.

Right towards the three adventurers.

With so much movement, the hammers are near impossible to avoid. Luckily, once they've all gone through one full rotation on their tracks, they return to rest and the lever moves back to its upright position. Not before Wolfe has been battered back against a wall and left wheezing for breath, however.]

I was wrong... It's a trap...

Wolfe!

[ Hermione moves to his side quickly, frustrated at how ridiculous her brother figure is and how she really should have expected something like this before they'd even started. If Wolfe is a bit of a foolhardy person then she imagines his sister - possibly? She hasn't quizzed them even if they could be related - might be as well. It's easy to decide that she ought to be on her guard and prepared, turning herself to one side as she settles down to look her friend over. ]

You need to be more careful! Not all of the traps in this place are going to be the friendly kind and I doubt they'll rest at just beating us up a little. Honestly.

[ She drags a potion out of her bag and presses it into his hand before she turns to look over at the lever again, frowning. ]

We need to be logical about this.

[ They should have seen that coming. Nothing is ever simple when it comes to puzzles or traps or anything revolving around the people known as Hawke, it was guaranteed that the first or second level they touched would come back to bite them... Or more specifically, bite Wolfe particularly hard.

Marian winces for his undoubtedly bruise ribs, following Hermione over to her dear brother's poor form. She lets the girl fuss, sparing Wolfe a empathetic smile. ]

We're always careful aren't we, Wolfe? [ No. Not at all. ] Careful and cautious and never running head first into danger without considering what we're up against.

[ Because honestly who has time to stand around and think things through with lives like theirs? Still for the sake of the younger girl Marian tries incredibly hard not to go pull the other level, feeling as though doing so would only end in another Hawke slammed into a wall. She'd prefer not to leave this place with hammer shaped bruises. ]

Do you think it might have something to do with those... dials?

[ She's trying. ]

I'm fine, I'm fine.

[Just horrendously bruised, but considering the amount of punishment he knows he can take, he doesn't think it warrants an entire potion. He tries to press it back into Hermione's hand.]

And pulling the level was logical, we needed to see what happened when we did that.

[Hawke logic is a bit different than normal logic. Doing is apparently always better. It does make a certain sort of sense though. At least if you do a thing then you know what happens when the thing is done. It's valuable information.

He looks up at his sister with a grin, knowing she would understand.]

It might. Is there anything in particular on them?

[If the girls look closer, the dial next to the lever Wolfe pulled is engraved with a set of runic symbols carved around the outer edge of the dial. Turning it doesn't seem to have much effect by itself.]

Drink the potion, Wolfe, I have more.

[ Said with the tone of someone that is used to having to fight people to take care of themselves, and she keeps moving to make sure it's pressed into his hand as much as she possibly can, a stern expression on her face. It only softens when she hears Marian speak and her attention is dragged away. ]

You realise there were far safer ways to go about it - of course you do, you're just as ridiculous as I always thought.

[ It's not said unkindly; more exasperation from someone that is used to people thinking last and acting first. It reminds her of Harry and Dorian and Diarmuid and Katsa and it makes her feel warm and almost at home again, even if she's shaking her head as she pushes herself up to her feet to look around again. ]

There's symbols. They look a little like runes, but nothing I've studied before, which makes sense considering ancient runes from my world are unlikely to be found on a planet like this.

[ She frowns, tilting her head. ]

Do you think we need to translate them? Or just match them somehow?

[ Naturally she doesn't have to answer Hermione's question, grinning widely as the girl answers the question herself. That might have been an insult to anyone else but Marian takes it as a compliment, one that she'll hold close to her heart for many days to come. Who knows it might just protect her from the traps and other such things soon to smash them into paste.

She offers Wolfe a hand regardless of whether or not he had taken the potion Hermione gave him, helping him back up onto his feet. Doing is much preferable in her books, even when doing ends up doing more than than it does do good. ]

They look like scribbles to me. [ Don't count on her for translations. ] It can't be that simple, there has to be more than just matching them up.

[Out from under Hermione's scrutiny, Wolfe pockets the potion instead before taking Marian's hand to get to his feet. He's had far worse and he's always been careful with his use of potions. It's less about addiction and more about wanting to squirrel them away for a time when he needs them more, or more accurately when someone else needs them.]

Runes, maybe? They don't look Dwarven though and that's the extend of what I know. Maybe one says "open" or something.

[ Thankfully, Hermione is a touch too distracted by looking at the runes to notice what Wolfe is doing. Instead, she steps forward to get a closer look, frowning as she considers. ]

It would make sense. I wonder if there's a way to isolate their meanings. Obviously, the one we're looking at now does nothing to the door... Maybe that one is 'closed'...

[ She reaches into her bag for a notebook, already writing them all down. ]

[ With Wolfe back on his feet Marian takes the chance to move about the room a little, glancing over the runes and statues alike. It's difficult not to touch the former, though she cannot resist the urge to poke at the statues that had given her brother a beating. ]

Think there is one that says 'We're weak and pathetic please don't hurt us'?

[ Jokes! The most helpful of them all!

But honestly, she hates puzzles, she is useless here. Give her something to fight and then she'll be useful, hopefully. ]

If that doesn't work on Rock Wraiths it won't work on statues. Unless these are Wraiths and they're just messing with us.

[As Marian moves around the room, the statues eyes seem to all follow her, though if that's an effect of the sculpting or an implication that they're actually alive is entirely up to interpretation. The rune dials, if she looks more closely, are in different positions. The other closed door's dial is set to a similar looking squiggle as the one Hermione's plopped herself down next to, though the symbol is backwards. The one near the entrance is set to the rune directly across the dial from the first and doesn't seem to be glowing at all. The lever next to that door is in a down position as well, instead of raised like the other two.]

Do you always carry a notebook?

[Adalwolfe peers over what Hermione is writing, apparently not interested in solving the puzzle himself so much as watching Hermione solve it.]

Just Keeping Swimming | March Planet Mingle

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