| From: | Avenger <Avenger@*******.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: RS: Emma - Contact Gained |
| Date: | Wed, 9 Apr 1997 05:01:53 +0100 |
>>>>>[
+++++ARCHIVE ACCESS: 9-1DA-2S
+++++BEGIN UPLOAD: RS2/3C7-D.ctx
Anna: "There is rumoured to be a spirit guarding the tomb. A great
Mayan spirit, we've never encountered it, but Pharaoh's right, it is a
strange place. And you always get the feeling that someone is peering
over your shoulder. Part of it probably down to the nature of the site.
It's ancient, and spooky. Part of it may be down to a true guardian.
We haven't explored the deeper parts of the complex, so what's hiding in
the depths we don't know yet. The site covers about a 2 square
kilometres, so it's pretty extensive. I believe what you're looking for
is in the south-eastern section. One of the areas we haven't checked
thoroughly. We lost a couple of people down there, so it was left alone
until we had researched the site a bit more thoroughly, and the seismic
resonators, thermic imagers and GP radar had arrived.
Ben: "The guardian is mentioned both on the entrance inscriptions and
on the doorways to the library chambers, we've found little in the
scrolls and tablets to lend any credence to the claims, but anything is
possible, we understand so little of who and what these people were."
+++++08:05:18
The entrance to the library is surprisingly small considering the
suspected size of the site. Dug out of the bedrock of the Jungle, the
entrance is a stone portal, with heavy carvings surrounding it, a steep
passage leads down about 25 feet. Near the entrance, Anna passes a card
through a redesigned mag-lock and the faint noise of a generator
powering up can be heard just before the lights come on. The interior
of the passage is not what would normally be expected, the sides and
ceiling intricately carved with all manner of symbols, the Jaguar
featuring heavily in much of the symbology. The floor is a fractured
set of delicate mosaics, depicting various gods and events in Mayan life
and culture.
DA: "OK, Pharaoh, I want you to arrange patrols and perimeter defences.
Only set a small perimeter. I don't think it needs to be too
extensive, what was set back at the camp, should be sufficient to delay
most people, and will create enough noise to warn us of any incoming.
Shado, Gates, Nemesis, Loch, Blaze, Tank, follow Pharaohs' commands.
Stephanie, Edge, Dewy with me." DA smiles, "Seems like it's time you
people did some hard work for a change. Wells, you might want to come
along, I could do with your mind. "
Ben: "If you have insect repellent, you may wish to apply it, there is
a cenote nearby, and it harbours some particularly vicious breeds."
DA: "Pharaoh, break out the EIR's and issue them to everyone who's
staying above ground. It'll save everyone having to cover with that
damn cream Tourism supplied. Ben, Anna, please, lead the way"
Anna: "I'll take you as far as we've been Avenger, but from that point
I'm afraid you're on your own. I don't much fancy being hit by one of
the traps the builders have seen fit to decorate this place with."
Electric storm lights are strung the entire length of the visible
corridor, and down several side passages, the intricate carvings stretch
away down the walls and ceiling in every direction the passages lead.
It is obvious that years of work and considerable care have gone into
the construction of this area. Several other portals can be seen in the
various tunnels, as Anna leads confidently through the underground maze.
Several areas are taped off, using yellow and black warning tape, small
motion tracker units surrounding the taped areas. They drone with an
irritating "Do not approach. Warning," message when passed.
Anna: "The taped areas are places we have discovered traps laid out.
They vary considerably in nature, from falling block, to propelled
items, to swinging arms studded with spikes. Some are quite complex."
She points down one blocked corridor. "We lost a good tracker in there.
We were able to dig him out from the other side, two stone blocks had
slid from the ceiling blocking the corridor. The area between slowly
filled with sand. We destroyed a seismic resonator shattering the rock,
the man unfortunately was dead. Where they got the sand was one of the
mysteries we were trying to solve. This site is a considerable distance
from the Ocean, which means they had to have shipped it in."
After about 10 minutes of walking through the passages, past ornate
chambers containing scrolls, tablets, and what appear to be books. Some
with portable work benches and recovery/analysis equipment in them. The
part preservation of the ancient documents evident on more than one
bench.
Anna: "A few of the chambers proved to be burial chambers after we
broke through the seals, they contain some items we've never seen before
in Mayan archaeological digs. There's a lot of new stuff down here,
which may take many years to study and understand. The progression
through the ages for the Mayans is quite obvious, initial chambers
contained the onyx, jade and obsidian that the Mayans favoured in early
culture. Later chambers contain similar materials plus the gold and
silver ornaments they used once they learned to refine those metals. We
have also found several pieces of ceremonial clothing here, which is
miraculous to say the least, including some of their more intricate war
armour. The Aztlanners want us to hand over everything we find, but
it's such a loss. They'll hide it away in their damn pyramids and play
gods with it all, using what few items they understand in their pursuit
of the Blood Magic that has taken a hold in this country. If only there
was some way to ship it out, so we co
uld study it and display the more relevant pieces in museums. There is
an absolute wealth of research and information here, that will help to
answer many mysteries, myths and legends, and we stand to lose all of
it. It's so damnably irritating."
DA: "I might know someone who can assist you Anna, but they won't be
able to do it cheaply..."
Anna: "That's not a problem, there is more than sufficient here to use
some of the ornaments from the burial chambers in payment. We only need
to photograph and catalogue the items, and we can use those as trade for
the flying out of some of this stuff. We want some of the statues,
armour and ceremonial clothing removed, along with the majority of the
scrolls and things we've uncovered so far. The funding we have is
insufficient for us to be able to do it ourselves. It doesn't matter
much about the gold and silver items, some of the jade is worth study
though. We have uncovered much of the same in other sites around this
part of the continent, so there is little to be gained in researching
similar or identical items, they just need cataloguing and your contact
can have them as payment. If of course, that would be suitable for
them. The Aztlan government would never miss them, and the Universities
backing this expedition would understand their use as payment. We would
retain the more important items
."
DA: "How much is there that you want shipped out?"
Anna: "If we move the basics we have discovered, probably two months of
flights, much of what we have found will need to be packaged carefully,
and will therefore be fairly bulky. Some of the statues are very heavy
as well, which reduces the amount we can load on an aircraft. The
documents and tablets especially will have to be saved, the Aztlanners
are only interested in ones that contain descriptions of the magic and
rituals employed by the Mayan culture. They pretty much destroy
anything else. If you can arrange this, you would be doing the
Universities and us a great service. I'm sure there is sufficient here
that would make the exercise worthwhile for your people."
DA: " I will contact them as soon as possible and make the necessary
arrangements. Is there somewhere nearby where they can land a
transport?"
Anna: "Yes. There is an airfield very close to here, we use it
ourselves to bring in supplies. So far we haven't been able to charter
anything larger than a small aircraft, which isn't really capable of
carrying much of what we have here."
DA: "That will be a great help."
A few minutes later, Anna stops in front of a darkened area. "This is
as far as we have got, there is much more beyond, but as I said, two
good research scientists died in this area, and until we have the
resonators and imagers, we dare not go any further."
DA breaks a short rod out of his pack, smacking it hard against the palm
of his other hand a few times. It begins to glow with a bright blue
light, showing the chamber beyond. He hands one to each of the other
members of Red Shift.
A few minutes later, Anna stops in front of a darkened area. "This is
as far as we have got, there is much more beyond, but as I said, two
good research scientists died in this area, and until we have the
resonators and imagers, we dare not go any further."
DA breaks a short rod out of his pack, smacking it hard against the palm
of his hand a few times. It begins to glow with a bright blue light,
showing the chamber beyond. He hands one to each of the other members
of Red Shift.
Anna: "There are one or two things you need to know. The designers of
this facility were very careful to make sure they had a safe passage
through the entire site, we have mapped what we know of the initial
chambers and passages. None of them follow a set pattern, which means
what the builders have done, is unpredictable. You will need to pay
special attention to the floors. They spent some time making the mosaics
into traps of various sorts, from pressure plates to standard drop
switches. These devices activate a number of varied traps. The most
dangerous utilise falling blocks, but like I said, the builders were
very creative, so don't make the mistake of assuming that something will
drop from the ceiling. We have darts, spiked units, swinging walls,
false and hollow floors, a device similar to the Japanese nightingale
flooring, but rather than screeching, it drops underfoot, revealing some
particularly nasty iron spikes. It was the discovery of these iron
spikes that has produced the greatest curi
osity among the researchers here. The Mayans were primarily stone age
people, to find that in the later years they utilised iron, and possibly
steel, brings a new light on many of the conclusions drawn from early
research. Like I said, be careful in there. It is probably best to
assume that everything is a trap. I will await your return here."
DA: "Ok people, you heard the lady, watch your footing, and stay awake.
Dewy, you want to take a look down there see what you can find?"
Dewdrop: "There will be little point. As you will no doubt be aware
from the thermographic imager in your eyes, there is little that can be
determined, the stone is particularly uniform in temperature and design,
revealing little. The fact that the corridors are constructed from
stone means that there is little in the way of life in these chambers
and tunnels, that means that astral scouting will be much the same as
walking through a room with your eyes shut, I won't see much of
anything, maybe one or two things, but nothing of any consequence. Same
goes for any astral or spirit guides, they will not be able to determine
much about what faces us. We're going to have to rely on our wits, and
hope for the best."
DA: "Fine. Alright then, let's move out.]<<<<<
-- Dark Avenger <04:58:17/09-04-58>
