Lt. JG Natasha Cole - By Torchlight We Descend
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Natasha Schell
Jan 19, 2026, 2:10:11 AMJan 19
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((Unknown Monastery - Callis 1))
MacKenzie: It smells pretty pungent. If it's as flammable as I think it is, we shouldn't need much.
Brexis: Hopefully it doesn’t smell worse when it’s on fire.
Cole: If it was used for rituals it might have an aroma to it
Storm: Hopefully it’ll smell more pleasant. In the cultures I’m familiar with, incense is supposed to smell pleasant.
Natasha watched as they poured just enough oil to coat the fabric. MacKenzie nodded when she felt there was enough. While they poured some over the bones Storm carried, MacKenzie went back to the fire and knelt down. Carefully, turning her face away from the fire, she extended one of the oil-covered bones close to the flame and, thankfully, it ignited with a significant whoosh.
The commanding officer smiled at the sight, satisfied with the outcome. She quickly ignited the other bone and then stood, raising them both up on display.
MacKenzie: Behold! Torches!
Brexis: ::Smirking:: Leave it to a redhead to be so proud of her fire.
Cole: It’s because we appreciate things that are dangerous and beautiful. ::making a boom motion with her hands::
Storm: And you wonder how you get the reputation as a pyromaniac.
MacKenzie passed off one of the torches to Natasha and she examined it, rotating it watching how it behaved on the coated wrappings. It stayed light without losing its brightness as she moved it about. Alex handed her second torch off to Brexis as the group made their way back to the room with the second door.
MacKenzie: Who's going first?
The insinuation was clear: it would not be her.
Brexis: I’ll lead. ::Turning to Alex:: You behind in case anything jumps out and grabs me?
Cole: ::already shifting position, looking at MacKenzie:: After you, Sir. I’ll cover our six.
Storm: Done.
((Monastery Basement - Callis 1))
She waited till everyone was in the starway before following. As they descended Natasha noted the walls were carved bare rock, likely the same stone as the upper level of the building. After a relatively short journey down, they reached the bottom. The floor was packed with dirt, the air humid enough to make Natasha immediately register it as wrong.
She rolled her shoulder once, easing tension, and then subtly shifted her stance to keep the corridor behind them in her peripheral vision.
Charlotte gestured them forward toward a large metal barred door, the only door branching off the stairway.
Brexis: It’s unlocked.
Cole: Of course it is.
Storm: I’ve got ya.
MacKenzie: Let's proceed.
With a soft push from Charlotte, the door groaned as it moved easily.
Natasha didn’t step in right away.
Her eyes tracked corners. Ceiling. Floor and… Cages
Brexis: I think this is the only room down here. I think those ::gesturing towards the cages:: are empty, but we should double check.
Natasha moved in last, angling herself so she could see both the room and the corridor.
Storm: What do you think this room is?
MacKenzie: It's really tough to say at this point. What we've seen so far leads me to believe that the people here were probably pretty primitive... Maybe they had pets? Maybe it was a jail.
The light caught a large carcass that was thankfully all bone. It was enormous. The rib cage was larger than Tho’Bi, had he been standing there. The skull lay in the dirt with its claws stretched out. Natasha got a shiver at the thought that this might have been one of the creatures that had come knocking earlier.
Charlotte stood up and turned back to the others.
Brexis: I have a strong suspicion that this is a friend of the ones who tried to bust down the door up there.
Cole: :: stepping closer but not touching the bars:: Yeah… that tracks. Same scale. Same teeth. ::beat:: And if this thing died in a cage, that means whatever lived here didn’t just encounter them.
She glanced toward the other cages.
Cole: They studied them. Or contained them. Maybe both.
Storm: Or bred them.
MacKenzie: Interesting hypotheses.
Brexis: But why though…
Natasha exhaled slowly through her nose, eyes never leaving the bones.
Cole: ::quiet, thoughtful:: That thing didn’t come through the door upstairs. ::beat:: Not at that size.
She straightened slightly, gaze flicking from the carcass to the surrounding stonework, then back to the others.
Cole: Which means there’s another entrance down here somewhere, one big enough to move it in… or let it out.
She let that hang, not dramatizing it, just stating facts.
Cole: We should spread out.
Storm: I had the same thought. There has to be a way.
Alex circled the room and after popping the lock she ventured inside. Charlotte knelt down and picked up a claw and stowed it in her pocket.
Storm: Hey! There’s another hinged door back here. It’s partially broken open, bent open from the inside.
Alex further examined the rear of the enclosure.
Storm: And behind it is another passageway.
MacKenzie: Well, you know what they say - when you find a door...
Brexis: ::Glancing at MacKenzie:: Send your junior officers through so they get eaten first?
Cole: ::smirking:: If it makes you feel better, I’ll bite back.
Inside the cage, Alex poked around the dirt with the toe of her boot, hitting something that caught her attention and picking it up.
Storm: Look at this! It’s a spearhead.
The piece of metal had to be six inches long and four inches wide.
MacKenzie: The plot thickens...
Brexis: They had to keep themselves protected in some way in case one of them broke out.
Cole: At least they tried to keep their distance, a wise choice on their part.
From her crouched position, Alex found two halves of a broken spear shaft buried in the dust.
Storm: Maybe it tried to - and almost did - break out, and they killed it to keep it contained? But the passageway would explain how at least the large animals got it. They had the cage waiting and ready.
MacKenzie: Which begs the question: why capture them in the first place? Food, maybe?
Brexis: That’s always a possibility. But without being able to actually ask the people who put them here, is there any way to know for sure? ::Glancing around:: I don’t see these people to be ones who kept notes on what they did here.
Cole: ::looking around:: None that I’ve seen.
Storm: Response
MacKenzie: Do we dare see where it leads?
Natasha felt like that was the Captain’s less than subtle way of telling one of them to go first.
Brexis: That sounded like less of a question and more of a ‘who goes in first’ situation.
Cole: Considering the hit to my head earlier and my arm, I’m feeling surprisingly … energized. That’s weird, Right?
Storm: Response
MacKenzie: I'm not exactly tired now, either. ::gesturing:: After you... Same formation.
Brexis: ::Holding up her hand:: Wait just a second. ::Turning to Alex:: ~~ Does your head hurt less down here?~~
((OOC: Keeping Charlotte’s telepathic communication for continuity, not that Cole hears it.))
Cole: Do we have an estimate on how long we’ve been stranded? ::grimacing slightly as she did the math:: I’m guessing five or six hours—unless I was out longer than I thought.
Storm/MacKenzie: Response
Brexis: Captain I don’t know why, but it seems I am able to communicate with Lieutenant Storm down here without any interference. ::Gesturing vaguely:: Maybe something about the basement?
Cole: Could there be something in the stone, like a mineral of some kind that’s acting like a natural buffer?
Storm/MacKenzie: Response
Charlotte shook her head.
Brexis: No. I don’t sense them at all. ::Shrugging:: I will keep my guard up, but I think down here we are okay. ::Gesturing forward:: Shall we?
Charlotte took point and headed into the passageway.
Cole: ::gesturing for Alex and the Captain to follow suit:: After you, Sir’s.
Storm/MacKenzie/Brexis: Response
Natasha fell in behind them, one hand brushing the stone wall as they moved, counting steps, noting angles, mapping the dark out of instinct more than training.
Cole: ::low voice:: If this tunnel loops or narrows, should we pull back, or push forward?
Storm/MacKenzie/Brexis: Response
As the passageway stretched on, the air grew cooler, and quieter. No growls. No echoes. Just the sound of boots on stone.
Cole: ::quiet, but steady:: Whatever lived here… this was its refuge. And refugees usually exist because something worse is outside.
Storm/MacKenzie/Brexis: Response
Tags/TBC
----- ◌● -----
Lt. JG Natasha Cole
Security Officer
USS Artemis-A
Writer ID A240205NC4
MacKenzie: It smells pretty pungent. If it's as flammable as I think it is, we shouldn't need much.
Brexis: Hopefully it doesn’t smell worse when it’s on fire.
Cole: If it was used for rituals it might have an aroma to it
Storm: Hopefully it’ll smell more pleasant. In the cultures I’m familiar with, incense is supposed to smell pleasant.
Natasha watched as they poured just enough oil to coat the fabric. MacKenzie nodded when she felt there was enough. While they poured some over the bones Storm carried, MacKenzie went back to the fire and knelt down. Carefully, turning her face away from the fire, she extended one of the oil-covered bones close to the flame and, thankfully, it ignited with a significant whoosh.
The commanding officer smiled at the sight, satisfied with the outcome. She quickly ignited the other bone and then stood, raising them both up on display.
MacKenzie: Behold! Torches!
Brexis: ::Smirking:: Leave it to a redhead to be so proud of her fire.
Cole: It’s because we appreciate things that are dangerous and beautiful. ::making a boom motion with her hands::
Storm: And you wonder how you get the reputation as a pyromaniac.
MacKenzie passed off one of the torches to Natasha and she examined it, rotating it watching how it behaved on the coated wrappings. It stayed light without losing its brightness as she moved it about. Alex handed her second torch off to Brexis as the group made their way back to the room with the second door.
MacKenzie: Who's going first?
The insinuation was clear: it would not be her.
Brexis: I’ll lead. ::Turning to Alex:: You behind in case anything jumps out and grabs me?
Cole: ::already shifting position, looking at MacKenzie:: After you, Sir. I’ll cover our six.
Storm: Done.
((Monastery Basement - Callis 1))
She waited till everyone was in the starway before following. As they descended Natasha noted the walls were carved bare rock, likely the same stone as the upper level of the building. After a relatively short journey down, they reached the bottom. The floor was packed with dirt, the air humid enough to make Natasha immediately register it as wrong.
She rolled her shoulder once, easing tension, and then subtly shifted her stance to keep the corridor behind them in her peripheral vision.
Charlotte gestured them forward toward a large metal barred door, the only door branching off the stairway.
Brexis: It’s unlocked.
Cole: Of course it is.
Storm: I’ve got ya.
MacKenzie: Let's proceed.
With a soft push from Charlotte, the door groaned as it moved easily.
Natasha didn’t step in right away.
Her eyes tracked corners. Ceiling. Floor and… Cages
Brexis: I think this is the only room down here. I think those ::gesturing towards the cages:: are empty, but we should double check.
Natasha moved in last, angling herself so she could see both the room and the corridor.
Storm: What do you think this room is?
MacKenzie: It's really tough to say at this point. What we've seen so far leads me to believe that the people here were probably pretty primitive... Maybe they had pets? Maybe it was a jail.
The light caught a large carcass that was thankfully all bone. It was enormous. The rib cage was larger than Tho’Bi, had he been standing there. The skull lay in the dirt with its claws stretched out. Natasha got a shiver at the thought that this might have been one of the creatures that had come knocking earlier.
Charlotte stood up and turned back to the others.
Brexis: I have a strong suspicion that this is a friend of the ones who tried to bust down the door up there.
Cole: :: stepping closer but not touching the bars:: Yeah… that tracks. Same scale. Same teeth. ::beat:: And if this thing died in a cage, that means whatever lived here didn’t just encounter them.
She glanced toward the other cages.
Cole: They studied them. Or contained them. Maybe both.
Storm: Or bred them.
MacKenzie: Interesting hypotheses.
Brexis: But why though…
Natasha exhaled slowly through her nose, eyes never leaving the bones.
Cole: ::quiet, thoughtful:: That thing didn’t come through the door upstairs. ::beat:: Not at that size.
She straightened slightly, gaze flicking from the carcass to the surrounding stonework, then back to the others.
Cole: Which means there’s another entrance down here somewhere, one big enough to move it in… or let it out.
She let that hang, not dramatizing it, just stating facts.
Cole: We should spread out.
Storm: I had the same thought. There has to be a way.
Alex circled the room and after popping the lock she ventured inside. Charlotte knelt down and picked up a claw and stowed it in her pocket.
Storm: Hey! There’s another hinged door back here. It’s partially broken open, bent open from the inside.
Alex further examined the rear of the enclosure.
Storm: And behind it is another passageway.
MacKenzie: Well, you know what they say - when you find a door...
Brexis: ::Glancing at MacKenzie:: Send your junior officers through so they get eaten first?
Cole: ::smirking:: If it makes you feel better, I’ll bite back.
Inside the cage, Alex poked around the dirt with the toe of her boot, hitting something that caught her attention and picking it up.
Storm: Look at this! It’s a spearhead.
The piece of metal had to be six inches long and four inches wide.
MacKenzie: The plot thickens...
Brexis: They had to keep themselves protected in some way in case one of them broke out.
Cole: At least they tried to keep their distance, a wise choice on their part.
From her crouched position, Alex found two halves of a broken spear shaft buried in the dust.
Storm: Maybe it tried to - and almost did - break out, and they killed it to keep it contained? But the passageway would explain how at least the large animals got it. They had the cage waiting and ready.
MacKenzie: Which begs the question: why capture them in the first place? Food, maybe?
Brexis: That’s always a possibility. But without being able to actually ask the people who put them here, is there any way to know for sure? ::Glancing around:: I don’t see these people to be ones who kept notes on what they did here.
Cole: ::looking around:: None that I’ve seen.
Storm: Response
MacKenzie: Do we dare see where it leads?
Natasha felt like that was the Captain’s less than subtle way of telling one of them to go first.
Brexis: That sounded like less of a question and more of a ‘who goes in first’ situation.
Cole: Considering the hit to my head earlier and my arm, I’m feeling surprisingly … energized. That’s weird, Right?
Storm: Response
MacKenzie: I'm not exactly tired now, either. ::gesturing:: After you... Same formation.
Brexis: ::Holding up her hand:: Wait just a second. ::Turning to Alex:: ~~ Does your head hurt less down here?~~
((OOC: Keeping Charlotte’s telepathic communication for continuity, not that Cole hears it.))
Cole: Do we have an estimate on how long we’ve been stranded? ::grimacing slightly as she did the math:: I’m guessing five or six hours—unless I was out longer than I thought.
Storm/MacKenzie: Response
Brexis: Captain I don’t know why, but it seems I am able to communicate with Lieutenant Storm down here without any interference. ::Gesturing vaguely:: Maybe something about the basement?
Cole: Could there be something in the stone, like a mineral of some kind that’s acting like a natural buffer?
Storm/MacKenzie: Response
Charlotte shook her head.
Brexis: No. I don’t sense them at all. ::Shrugging:: I will keep my guard up, but I think down here we are okay. ::Gesturing forward:: Shall we?
Charlotte took point and headed into the passageway.
Cole: ::gesturing for Alex and the Captain to follow suit:: After you, Sir’s.
Storm/MacKenzie/Brexis: Response
Natasha fell in behind them, one hand brushing the stone wall as they moved, counting steps, noting angles, mapping the dark out of instinct more than training.
Cole: ::low voice:: If this tunnel loops or narrows, should we pull back, or push forward?
Storm/MacKenzie/Brexis: Response
As the passageway stretched on, the air grew cooler, and quieter. No growls. No echoes. Just the sound of boots on stone.
Cole: ::quiet, but steady:: Whatever lived here… this was its refuge. And refugees usually exist because something worse is outside.
Storm/MacKenzie/Brexis: Response
Tags/TBC
----- ◌● -----
Lt. JG Natasha Cole
Security Officer
USS Artemis-A
Writer ID A240205NC4
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