Re: The Battle Majestic (Round 2 - Firestar)
06-13-2010, 05:27 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Not The Author.
Though the island was relatively small by geographic standards, landmasses tend to be significantly more massive than the typical human or humanoid. Similarly, the volcano Jacob and John were currently scaling, despite having slighter stature than most of its land-locked brethren, was nevertheless still a mountain. While most of this would be immediately obvious to even the most casual observer, the cryomancer had apparently decided that this particular fact was incredibly obscure, and proceeded to explain precisely how tall the volcano was to his sullen companion.
"We're not gonna climb all the way to the top, are we? It's kind of a long way."
The knight glanced back at his diminutive companion. John was idly fanning himself with his cap, gaze flitting between various mid-size rocks and what little vegetation remained at their current altitude without actually seeming to notice any of what he saw.
"So you have said."
Jacob squinted against the light of the midday sun, searching the sheer rock face ahead of them. "And no, ideally we won't have to go that far. Vents usually form when a volcano erupts."
He resumed the upward trek, John following close behind. "The intense pressure forces magma through every little fault in the rock, and occasionally these magma veins manage to pierce the surface." He paused, wiping the sweat from his brow. "In theory, one of those should get us inside."
The cryomancer seated himself upon the long-ago solidified remnant of a lava floe. "That sounds kinda dangerous..."
"Well, yes. There are a lot of things that could go wrong." Jacob attempted unsuccessfully to neaten his hair. "The vent could be too small, too steep, contain noxious gasses, deposit us in molten rock..."
"Well then, why don't we just use the door?"
"The..."
Jacob blinked as his brain struggled to process such a nonsensical suggestion. Then he remembered his job consisted of traveling back in time to steal precious artifacts and industrial secrets, that he had just been in an abandoned space station that had been trashed by the universe's largest tree, and that he was trying to kill a demon-lizard-plant-thing before it could make another moon-destroying oak. Suddenly a gateway into an active volcano didn't seem so far-fetched.
"...Door."
John pointed to a rocky outcropping not far above them. Not only was an artificially smooth concave parabolic surface partly visible over the ridge, the ridge itself curved away in a path leading back down the volcano.
"...Huh."
A few minutes of tedious-if-not-arduous ascent later, the pair stood before the aperture. The gateway stood about eight feet tall and appeared to be carved directly into the mountainside. Some unknown runic language, worn down with age, had been stenciled into the rock framing the door. The door itself was totally unblemished, a single solid slab of stone.
Something troubled Jacob about th "Who do you think made it?"
The knight sighed, his companion's amazing power to state the obvious undiminished by the heat that had sapped the rest of his powers. Ignoring John, he examined the runes around the gateway. John pushed against the door in a futile attempt to shift a multiple tons of rock. "Because, I don't think those guys with the spears coulda done this sort of thing. Didn't even manage arrowheads, but I guess they must have knives, or how'd they get the furs for clothing?"
The door abruptly slid upwards into the roof, causing the unsuspecting cryomancer to fall over backwards. He looked up at Jacob as the knight removed his hand from a depression in the wall shaped rather a lot like the archway in which they stood. He shook his head, starting up the newly-revealed staircase.
"Stupid ancient temples. No originality whatsoever..."
Spoiler
"We're not gonna climb all the way to the top, are we? It's kind of a long way."
The knight glanced back at his diminutive companion. John was idly fanning himself with his cap, gaze flitting between various mid-size rocks and what little vegetation remained at their current altitude without actually seeming to notice any of what he saw.
"So you have said."
Jacob squinted against the light of the midday sun, searching the sheer rock face ahead of them. "And no, ideally we won't have to go that far. Vents usually form when a volcano erupts."
He resumed the upward trek, John following close behind. "The intense pressure forces magma through every little fault in the rock, and occasionally these magma veins manage to pierce the surface." He paused, wiping the sweat from his brow. "In theory, one of those should get us inside."
The cryomancer seated himself upon the long-ago solidified remnant of a lava floe. "That sounds kinda dangerous..."
"Well, yes. There are a lot of things that could go wrong." Jacob attempted unsuccessfully to neaten his hair. "The vent could be too small, too steep, contain noxious gasses, deposit us in molten rock..."
"Well then, why don't we just use the door?"
"The..."
Jacob blinked as his brain struggled to process such a nonsensical suggestion. Then he remembered his job consisted of traveling back in time to steal precious artifacts and industrial secrets, that he had just been in an abandoned space station that had been trashed by the universe's largest tree, and that he was trying to kill a demon-lizard-plant-thing before it could make another moon-destroying oak. Suddenly a gateway into an active volcano didn't seem so far-fetched.
"...Door."
John pointed to a rocky outcropping not far above them. Not only was an artificially smooth concave parabolic surface partly visible over the ridge, the ridge itself curved away in a path leading back down the volcano.
"...Huh."
A few minutes of tedious-if-not-arduous ascent later, the pair stood before the aperture. The gateway stood about eight feet tall and appeared to be carved directly into the mountainside. Some unknown runic language, worn down with age, had been stenciled into the rock framing the door. The door itself was totally unblemished, a single solid slab of stone.
Something troubled Jacob about th "Who do you think made it?"
The knight sighed, his companion's amazing power to state the obvious undiminished by the heat that had sapped the rest of his powers. Ignoring John, he examined the runes around the gateway. John pushed against the door in a futile attempt to shift a multiple tons of rock. "Because, I don't think those guys with the spears coulda done this sort of thing. Didn't even manage arrowheads, but I guess they must have knives, or how'd they get the furs for clothing?"
The door abruptly slid upwards into the roof, causing the unsuspecting cryomancer to fall over backwards. He looked up at Jacob as the knight removed his hand from a depression in the wall shaped rather a lot like the archway in which they stood. He shook his head, starting up the newly-revealed staircase.
"Stupid ancient temples. No originality whatsoever..."