NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Ask before you post IC

The Archeologist, Edwin Manns, stood before his colleges, many from foreign nations.

"My fellow Archeologists, it has been 135 years since the mysterious disapearence of our ancient neighbors, the Hieta Empire. For those of you who do not know who they are, here is a somewhat breif history.

4000 years ago, around 2000 B.C.E., the first human beings entered what is now the deadlands. At that time, it was the perfect place for humans. Ponds and streams were abundant, and the land was a great plain. 200 years later, the first cities began, Hiercropolis and Denta. By 1200 B.C.E., the many city states had began small wars for farm land, and by 800 B.C.E., only 4 tribes remained, Hiercropolis, Denta, Sebash, and Ekleon. These were later known as the 4 great tribes. For the next 600 years, small conflicts took place every so often, but no tribe ever gained a decisive advantage. Then, in 200 B.C.E., Hiercropolis and Denta united and overwhelmed the other 2.
With all of the area now unied as the Hieta Empire, they began to focus on things like Science and Art. Than, in 432 C.E., they met the new Kingdom of the United Gordonopian States. At first, the 2 nations traded maps, technology, etc. Than, in 436 C.E., the first war began. Heitan Militia from a border town attacked a nearby Gordonopian Village. In response, the Gordonopians destroyed the attacking militia and occupied the town. The war lasted another 6 years and claimed 3,000 lives. In the end, the Heitans were forced to give the Gordonopians the town and 10 miles around it.
Relations remained stable for the next 1000 years. Then, in 1463, a Hietan Diplomat to Gordonopian City murdered the Crown Prince. Outraged by the act, the Gordonopians killed the diplomat and invaded Hieta. The war lasted 23 years and claimed 12,000 lives. The treaty expanded Gordonopian borders to their current mark.
Relations eventually improved, and no more wars were ever fought between the two nations. In 1543 C.E. the Hietans began building the Great Tower, a structure that was over 1800 feet tall. It took 57 years to build. More architectual wonders, such as the Great Palace, were built over the next several hundred years.
Than, in 1873, massive dust clouds where seen going all the way up to within a mile of the Gordonopian Border. It is unknown to this day what actually happened. What we do know is that literally over night, contact with Hieta neded.
It wasn't until 1902 that expeditions where sent into the deadlands. What they found was a barren landscape devoid of all life. When they reached Hiercropolis, the ancient capital, they found the city utterly obliterated. The once great palace was all but destroyed, and only 13 feet of the Great Tower still stood. In 1912,a part of the Great river began flowing a short way into the deadlands. 3 settlements were made along it. These are the only 3 places in the barren, inhospitable land that was once the great and beautiful Heita Empire.

My friends, it is still unknown to this day what happened to these people. I have invited you today to ask that you come with me on the first expedition in 100 years to find outwhat happened to this once great nation. If you would like to join me, please tell me soon, as tomorrow, we set out for the deadlands."

OOC:can i join?

OOC: sure

OOC:cool.do i need to think up a character?

OOC: Why not? I'll give it a shot. What all do I need to do to set up?

OOC:cool.do i need to think up a character?

If you want, preferably an acheologist

OOC: Why not? I'll give it a shot. What all do I need to do to set up?

Basicaly make your character (If you want to, preferably an archaeologist) Then have him tell my guy that you want to come

OOC: How bout an ex-Special forces soldier who has turned to his hobby of archeology?

OOC: sure

Name: Tyler Blake
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 150 lbs
Eyes: Gray-blue
History: An ex-Special Forces commander from Mt. Id, Lieutant Blake knows how to keep himself alive and do some damage to others if it becomes neccesary. Fortunatly, he hasn't had to use these skills recently due to his decision to switch careers to his prefered hobby of archeology. Even so, old habits die hard so he keeps in shape and almost always carries atleast a sidearm wherever he goes. When he heard about an excursion into somewhere that hadn't been visited in over a hundred years, he jumped at the chance. He hopped onto a plane and flew to United Gordonopia. The first thing he did after disembarking was to go and purchase his standered M1911 pistol that he was used to carrying along with a holster and 3 magazines of 8 rounds each. With its small size and relatively light weight, it wasn't much trouble to carry it in addition to his regular archeology equipment. Right after he got his weapon, he went in search of Edwin Manns. Once he found him, he approached the man and stuck out his hand.

"Tyler Blake, at your service. I'm here to take you up on that offer of yours to join one of your expeditions."

"Thank you for joining me Mr. Blake, it will be a pleasure working with you" replied Edwin, "Please don't go anywhere, as it won't be long until we depart for Tel-Alik, the last settlement on this side of the river."

"Sounds good to me. It was a long flight over." Blake says with a smile and nods towards some nearby shade. "I think i'll just set up camp over there for now. Maybe catch a few Zs unless there is something i can do to help. Oh, do you think we're going to run into any trouble just going on an expediton? Any nearby bandits or anything?"

"Attention Please" Edwin shouted with a hint of exitement in his voice. "It is time to depart to Tel-Alik. For those of you who want to come, but haven't told me yet, please do so now, as we will only be here for about 10 more minutes! This is going to be a great adventure. A journey into a place that man hasn't seen for 100 years. I feel sorry for those who don't want to go"

Edwin turned his attention to Blake
"Who knows. Mabye some kind of monster has evolved in the deadlands, or mabye it is the home to hundreds of bandits. For all we know, Communists from the last rebellion may have fled there after their defeat and made their own nation. As far as we know, no human has been on the other side of that river for all 100 years. It's going to be exiting to find out what's happened."

"Should be interesting. Well, Just give me a call when we head out. Don't really want to be left behind." Blake says as he walks over to the previously mentioned shade and sits down.

"And now, my friends, it is tim to set out. Our plans our to fly to Tel-Alik and spend the night there. From there, we will cross the river and use jeeps to get to the ruins of one of the great cities, Sebash. If possible, we will spend 2 days there, then head to Ekleon. After another 2 days, we will head to Denta and spend 4 days there. After that we will head to 4 other major towns and spend a day in each. Finally, we plan to head to Hiercropolis and spend a full week there. If we find anything of interest, we will bring it back with us for further study (Provided it is small enough). If we discover enough, more expeditions may follow."

Blake got up and picked up his stuff. "Ready to go when you are, Doc." He said with a laugh.

The group of cars headed to the airport. When they arrived, they saw 2 Cessna Citation Columbus' awaiting their arrival. As the group got on the jets, they could see the cars driving away. The adventure had began.

After the 3 hour flight to Tel-Alik, the members of the party where tired. They got off the plane and saw that the town was completely different that Gordonopia City. It was a desert town. No grass, just sand. The buildings looked like stereotype desert houses, until they reached their hotel. It seemed that the hotel and the area around it was the only area resembling the rest of Gordonopia.
"This is where we will be spending the night" Edwin said cheerily, "The pride of the town, the Desert Star Hotel, 5 stars. It'll be our last stop before the end of civilization, Be sure to take a shower. It'll be weeks before you get another one."

name:Carl Clemens
Height:5 foot 11
weight:refuses to tell
eyes:one remaining eye is brown

Carl Clemens is,what many describe as insane.he has been an Archeologist since he was 8 years old and has seen many,rather odd things.from ancient lost cities,to an actual living dinosaur(this is disputed,as he was the only witness).his missing eye was a result of not paying attention to his pick ax on a dig.he poked his left out right out of his head.despite his rather odd mental state,he is one of the best at what he does.while a highly paid team couldn't find a lost ship,full of sunken gold,Clemens found it with a rowboat and a paper map.he has decided to come along on this trip,because his native land has very few mysteries left.he hopes to find the discovery on this trip that will finally change his reputation from a crazy old man,to a crazy old man who found a vanished city.

*a rickety looking single engine plane flew over tel-alik.Sir Carl Clemens the 4th,esquire was at the controls,his suit cases stuffed in the back* "every time this happens.i oversleep and miss my flight.oh well.good thing old Martha here can still fly.ah,that must be them.I'll just guide her down nice and easy...uh-oh" *Martha's engine coughed to a stop* "not again.come on,fly you piece of junk!" *the plane nosedived straight down,landing rather hard in a nearby sand dune.he kicked the door open and stepped out,his bald head glowing in the sun,his white mustache covered in sand* "hello there Edwin.dreadfully sorry i missed the flight.but I'm here now"

Blake looked around at the hotel. "Some edge of civilization..." He mumbled to himself. Suddenly, out of the sky he saw an old plane that probably shouldn't be airborn nosediving almost directly at him. He dives out of the way just in time and covers his head to protect himself from the debris. He gets up and dusts himself off.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Guiding a freaking piece of scrap metal practically ontop of our heads! You're lucky you weren't killed! And us too for that matter." He shouts at the man climbing out of the wreakage. "Atleast one good thing came out of this, that danger to humanity is out of commision." He adds to himself.

*he drug his suitcases out of the plane and sat them on the ground*"scrap metal? I'll have you know i built Martha myself when i was 13 years old.she is certainly not a piece of scrap metal.I'll have her fixed up within a week" *at that instant,the old plane exploded behind him* "alright.2 weeks.now then,where shall i put my bags?"

"You can take them up to your room" Edwin replied.
"Now, I know that this first night wasn't exactly what you expected, but beyond this town, there isn't anything but desert. In fact, the desert is so harsh, that the last expedition did not see a single plant or animal. This is going to be your last night in a living town, so try to enjoy it."

"Uh...any chance they have a gun shop around here? I'm starting to feel kinda unarmed with just my peashooter. You think they got anything bigger? Like a shotgun?" Blake says thinking about exploring a completly unknown area.

"Actually, they do. Gordonopian Arms has a store around here, I think it's a block South of here"

"if your looking for a gun,i have plenty to spare" *he opened a black piece of luggage,filled up with everything from pistols,shotguns,mac-10s and even a hand grenade* "had to fly over hostile territory.i brought them just in case i was shot down.never know what kind of crazy people live in the desert.take your pick,I'm going to run my things up to my room" *he sauntered off,sipping whiskey straight from the bottle,with his luggage in tow*

Blake looked at the crazy man's stockpile. "He's even more lucky than i thought. If that grenade had gone off in the crash, there wouldn't be enough of him left to piece together!" he remarked to noone in particular. He decided to take the weapons off the old man's hands incase he ended up hurting himself with them some how. He picked up the shotgun, stuck it in his pack with the handle sticking out, pulled a strap he usually used for holding a tent flap out and used it as an improvised sling for the MAC-10, but left the pistols. Then he relized something was missing.

"Great...he forgot the ammo. Guess i'll still have to go buy some anyways." He headed off to the Gordonopian Arms store and bought two cases of shotgun shells and enough MAC-10 ammo to hold a private gurilla war. About 100 rounds. "This oughta be enough. If we need more, we'll really be in trouble." He said to himself and then walked back to the hotel and into his room.

OOC: What type of shotgun is it by the way? It helps to know what type of ammo it uses and what its effective range is. lol.

Ooc:spas-12.

*Carl yawned and stumbled downstairs,drinking from his third bottle of whiskey* "this sand hole is dull.why i remember this hotel back home,stayed there 3 nights,fighting off some crazy freedom fighter group.and then i...then he...oh dear..." *he passed out in the lobby,snoring happily*

*The next morning

"Ok everyone, it's time that we get a move on. We have two choices. We can either use jeeps, or humvees on this expedition. I'll let you choose. There's not really an advantage of using one or the other, but we'll only be able to carry enough fuel for the first 2 cities, than we'll have to all but 1 of them and travel on foot, so don't bring tons of stuff. We will be able to bring 1 so we can carry supplies."

*Carl came from his room,with a pistol hanging by each side,a shotgun and a mac 10 on his back,and a pretty hotel maid on each arm* "...and thats how i single handedly saved my entire team from a rampaging band of barbarians.well it was fun ladies,but i have to go.oh hello edwin,all ready to go.

"Yes, it looks like it. So we've decided to just bring the jeeps. We're leaving in about an hour, so get all of you supplies, food, water etc. ready, than we'll head out for Sebash."

"right,lets see here,4 bottles of whiskey,some clothes,my trusty pick ax,and some ammunition.right ho,I'm all packed up.ladies if you wouldn't mind" *the maids put his 2 pieces of luggage in the back of the jeep* "thank you ladies.you can go now" *he smirked as they both walked off* "hehe,still got my mojo.

"Ok people, it's time to pull out. Get in a jeep, get settled and enjoy the ride. It will be a 6 hour drive.

*he climbed in the back of a jeep,pulling a bottle of whiskey from seemingly out of nowhere* "right then.off we go"

The jeeps crossed the river on a ferry. As the disembarked, they were met with a sudden increase in heat. They also noticed something that was extremely rare, even in deserts, not a single plant was in sight. The ground was as hard as a rock, cracked up with a thin layer of dust over it.
"Welcome to the deadlands" din said with a smile "Now on to Sebash."

*six hours later

"Well men, here we are, Sebash."

What they where looking at where the ruins of what was obviously once a magnificent city. Directly in front of them where the ruins of a palace, and what looked like the ruins of skyscrapers dotted the landscape. It was hard to belive that it had been destroyed for 130 years, it looked more like a city from half a century ago.

*Carl climbed out of the back of the jeep,his trusty pick ax in one hand,and a pistol in the other* "wow.looks just like this old underground city i found when i was 24.except no wild animals and crazy natives.so where do we start Edwin?

"Well, we'll probobly start with the palace, as it's most likely to have artifacts. Than we'll move to the remains of the museum and the library, see if anythings there, than we'll fan out from there, and make sure you keep the walkie-talkie that I give you."

"Aye captain Edwin." Blake says with a mock salute. He makes sure his weapons are loaded and ready for use. "Ready when you are."

"Ok, lets move out"

OOC: give us a little more than that man. Kind of hard to RP when we don't know what we're looking at.

OOC: ok, sorry. what do u want?

OOC: idk, maybe a description of where it is we are "moving out" to, maybe a plot or something. Make it into a story that we have to add too. Like:

As the group moved into the palace, they got an eerie feeling that they were being watched. But even so, there wasn't a single person in sight. The continued on into the center of the first room where there was a strange design on the floor. As soon as they stepped on it, the ground opened up and swallowed them whole.

Something like that. It gives the rest of us something to work with.

OOC: ok

As the group moved to the palace, they saw that it must have been amazing in its day. They could see traces of gold plating on the ruined walls, as well as the remains of magnificent architecture. When they entered the ruins, they noticed strange markings on the walls. Edwin looked at them. In his 23 years of studiying Hieta history, he had never seen markings like this. In fact, they didn't even resemble Heitan letters. Puzzled, he took a few photos and moved on to see if there where any others.

"Uh...Edwin, don't stray too far. You're the only one unarmed. Although the old geezer may be more of a threat to us than the enemy." Blake called to Edwin remembering the near death experience he had had with the ancient plane. "But i must admit, this place is magnificent!"

"I agree. And we are the only ones to see it since its destruction. Th last expedition didn't even come here." Edwin said exitedly. "Carl, why are you scraping the gold off the walls! Oh never mind. Anyway, I think I just found the throne room!" Edwin exclaimed as he entered the most magnificent room yet. The walls were coated in pure gold, inlaid with precious jewels. The throne was the most amazing workmanship he'd ever seen, pure gold with amazing images inlaid in it. And above it, a massive Diamond, the size of his head.
"Oh my god, I think that we'd better take this. It's one of the 4 great jewels. Ancient stones representing the four tribes. This is an extremely important artifact. Wow, it's hard to imagine that this isn't even the main palace. This is the third largest. The palace in Denta and the Great Palace in Hiercroplis are even more magnificent than this, and they both have a gem larger than this diamond. Plus there's another palace this size in Ekleon. Why, if this palace is this amazing, just imagine how great the other ones must be!"

OOC: It's getting pretty late where I live, I gotta get off now, I'll continue in the morning.

Blake looked at the giant gem with apprehension. Who in their right mind would leave a gem that size just laying around? He thought to himself. Then he realized that the gem was probably booby trapped somehow. "Edwin...i'd be careful if I were you." Blake realized his warning was too late. He heard a rumble coming from behind them and saw the door slowly closing. "EVERYBODY OUT NOW!" Blake yelled as he grabbed edwin and began dragging him toward the quickly closing door.

*Carl was busy wiping dust off an old picture* "well I'll be.that mans the spitting image of yours truly.maybe i was a citizen here in a past life,or maybe...oh dear" *he moved surprisingly quick for a 67 year old man,bolting out the door before anyone else* "and i am not an old geezer!"

"Whew, that was to close. But at least we escaped, and I got the stone." Edwin said, trying to regain his breath. He than pulled out his camera to examine the photos of the markings.
"Wait a second, look at these!" He exclaimed "They look like directions. See, this first one looks like the gem, the next ones look somewhat like the Hietan characters for directions! Mabye the markings where directions for disarming the trap!"

Blake looks at the pictures. "Well that would have been useful to know BEFORE the trap was sprung. Now the only way in is to blow that door to hell." Blake says, wishing he had brought some C-4. "I didn't know this place was going to try and trap us in here."

"Well, we have another way... we did bring a humvee and seeing as this is an archeological expedition, we brought a bulldozer attachment, a gift from the government. We could use it to clear the rubble."

OOC: No rubble man, the door just closed. Not collapsed. Only way back though that door is to blow it up or find a way around it.

OOC: than we'll find a way around

"Ok people, I want everyone to partner up with someone and try to find another way in. This is an Imperial palace, I'm sure we'll find a way.

OOC: One more thing, there are three of us. Kind of hard to partner up. lol.

"Allright, Edwin and Carl, you guys stick together. I'll see what I can find this way." Blake said and started heading down one of the many pathways.

"Ok Carl, lets go."

They headed around the place for awhile, than they noticed something, a part of the wall had a crack going in it likea door shape. Edwin and Carl leaned on it. Suddenly, It opened, and surely enough, they where in the throne room."

Blake continued on around on his path, feeling like he was going down until he came to a dead end. "Great...just great." He said, but just as soon as he turned around he saw what looked like a skeleton hanging from the ceiling in chains. "Jesus!" He yelled, but then relized it was just a painting on the wall. He reached foward and touched the painting. Suddenly, the wall gave way and he looked in and saw what the painting was describing. It looked like an old dungeon room. He went thorugh it and saw that there appeared to be a hole in the cieling blocked by some sort of stone block held in place. If his sense of direction was correct, he was directly beneath the throne room!. He looked around and saw what appeared to be a lever. He pulled on it and suddenly the stone swung down like it was on a hinge and dangled there while Blake looked up through the new hole.

"Whoe, what the..." Edwin yelled as the stone table near one of the walls suddenly went through the floor. He ran over to it, and through the hole, he could see Blake."

"Well hello there Captain Edwin. Long time no see." Blake said with a smile. "Looks like your palace has some more tricks up its sleave. Wonder what they used this for. Maybe it the court jester go too annoying, he ended up here?" He laughed

"I wouldn't be surprised. Well, Let me take a few pictures, than we'll explore the rest of the place. Tomorrow, we'll get to the rest of the city."

Blake jumped up, grabbed the edge of the hole, and heaved himself up into the throne room. Staying in shape does have its advantages he thought. "Allright, lets get moving."

"OK, lets move on to the royal treasury room." He said, with a small smile on his face.

"Lead the way, captain. You're the one that knows where all this stuff is." Blake said with a laugh.

"OK, here we go." They exited the throne room, than headed through several halls. Then thy reached it, a giant door. It was solid stone, but one push and it opened. Inside was enough treasure to make everyone in the country rich.
Oh My God!" Edwin said "Do you think we could take any or is it booby trapped to?"

*that question would soon be answered.before the other two even breathed,Carl dashed into the treasure room,stuffing gold coins into his pockets* "woo hoo! I'm rich! i could build myself a mansion with how much this stuff is worth.i could even rebuild Martha.hell i could build 5 Martha's with this money.ooh a crown" *he took it off the stand and placed it around his head* "I'm the king.king Carl,da na na na na" *the stand clicked and sank into the floor and a growing rumbling could be heard* "thats not good,is it?"

"Allright old man, that's the last time I let you go anywhere on your own." Blake said as he readied his shotgun. He noticed that the rumbling was being caused by a giant door opening. He pulled a flashlight and shined it into the opening. Suddenly black furry bodies came pouring out. "BATS! I HATE bats!" Blake yelled as he dove to the ground.

"don't talk to me like that.i was treasure hunting before you were even born.now stand aside for a moment" *he whipped out his shotgun and blasted a few holes in the roof,letting the bats pour outside* "damned flying rats"

(OOC:...the roof is stone. That would have to be one HELL of a shotgun. lol. Ah well. All in fun)

"Ugh. I hate bats. I wonder what's inside here." Blake says as he points his flashlight through the door again. "Treasure hunter eh? Well look at this." The room is piled to the ceiling with gold and jewels and other precious items. As Blake moves into the room, his flashlight passes over something that causes him to jump and yell. It is a skeleton of what appears to have been a king. He is sitting on a throne and has a royal Sceptor in his hand. The only thing missing is his crown. "Hey Carl, you still got that crown? I think i found the real owner." He called back to the main room.

Carl walked over, and just to see what would happen, placed the crown on the skeleton. Suddenly a loud rumbling sound began, and dust was starting to fill the room. The three ran out, thinking it was collapsing. After a few minutes the rumbling stopped, and the room hadn't collapsed after all, so they re-entered the room. To their astonishment, the room was empty, except for piles of dust where the treasure had been.

"What in the world? Where did it all go?" Blake asked astonished.

OOC: United, you're not really supposed to control someone else's character. lol.

ooc: sorry, but he had the crown and he was offline, plus i needed to continue.

*Carl walked into the room and shot an angry look at Edwin* "nice going Edwin.now all the treasures gone.really nice going" *he pulled a flask out from his shirt pocket and started drinking*

"And how was I supposed to know that would happen. Anyway, it's getting dark, we should probobly set up camp."

*he drained his flask and stumbled outside,still rather miffed* "i could have been rich for the rest of my life.but now all I've got is the gold i stuffed in my pockets" *he rummaged through his luggage* "and to make matters worse...I'm on my last bottle of whiskey" *he popped it open anyway* "with any luck theres some more treasure in this godforsaken sand hole.

"Right, seeing as this isn't even the largest palace."
After the group had set up tents, they talked for a little while, and then Edwin went to bed.

Blake looked over at Carl. "You know, if you don't like it here, you can always figure out a way to get home on your own. But to make your stay a bit pleasenter, I have a present for you..." He says as he reaches into his pack and pulls out a bottle of Venchuvian wine. "This here is straight from my home nation of Mt. Id. It is their own blend of alcohol and is about 10 times stronger than whisky. If you're smart about it, this bottle will last you the rest of the trip. If you're not, you might end up dead. Up to you." he says with a grin as he tosses the bottle over.

The next morning

"Well, it's time to explore the rest of the city. We'll start with the library, than the museum, than the military fort, and if we have time we'll just go through as much of the city as possible before hitting the sack

*Carl jerked himself awake,with a splitting headache.one glass of Blake's wine had knocked him on his ass.digging around his luggage,he pulled out a pair of hangover sunglasses and dragged himself out of his tent* "I'm gonna give that guy such a pounding.he knew i was gonna do this to myself with that wine.i don't think i can handle a 3rd liver transplant" *strapping his guns on he looked around* "so,which way Edwin?"

"Well, the library is directly North of here, so that's where we'll go first."

Blake looked over at Carl. Noticing him weaving a little bit. "I told you to go easy on that stuff." He said with a chuckle. And then to Edwin, "North it is." And off he went.

The group headed north for about 30 minutes than they reached a large ruin. Inside, they could see what looked like stone shelves, possibly marble. As they where searching, they found quite a few books lining the shelves that were still partially intact. Edwin packed a few that he hadn't seen before. Then, as Edwin was walking along one aisle that was in another room, a part of the floor that his foot was on suddenly went down. Directly in front of him was a hole leading to a room. He called the others to where he was, than they went into it.
It was dark, but than Edwin turned on a flashlight. Around the wall, he saw skeletons, old skeletons. In one of the skeletons hands, he saw a book, and went over to get it. It was a journal. On the last filled in page, he translated and read "It's happening, the Prophets words have come true. The darkness is coming..." And there it stopped.

"The darkness is coming? What the hell is the darkness?" Blake asked looking around at all the skeletons. He wondered how they had ended up in here and how they died.

"I have no idea, but it kind of creeps me out. It sounds kinda like a horror movie. Anyway, I kinda want to get out of this, pit."

"So do I." Blake said but almost immediatly afterwards the doorway they had just come through closed with a thud. "Annnnd now we can't."

"Sure, we can, we'll just have to find another way." They searched the whole room. Then, Edwin accidentally knocked over a skeleton. To his surprise, there was a small tunnel that, hopefully, would get them out. Edwin crawled through it, and after a few minutes, reached the end, he was outside.
"Guys, it leads out!" he yelled.

Blake tried to fit through the hole but he wasn't nearly as small as Edwin was. "Uh...this is not going to work for me. But don't worry, I cam prepared this time." Blake called as he unpacked a few ounces of C-4 from his pack and began placing it on the door.

*BOOM*
The C-4 exploded, opening up a path for the others to get out. Edwin headed to the opening and helped the others up.
"Well, I think it's time to head to the museum" Edwin said.

Blake looked around. "Do you have any idea how likely it is we will end up in another trap? I mean, in every building we've been in so far has come close to keeping us there. I've only got a little C-4 left and when that runs out i'm not sure what we'll do."

"Well than, let's not go down any more passages unless we're sure it'll take us somewhere important.'

"what am i,invisible? i always pack some high grade explosives in case of emergency.see?" *he pulled six sticks of dynamite out of...somewhere* "if Edwin here gets us stuck in another trap,I'll blast us out.just like this time when i was 25,and got stuck in an old pyramid.didn't remember i had it until 5 days later.poor Reggie.at least he tasted good"

"That's... nice. Anyway, let's move on to the museum so we can fully search it before dark."

The group headed to the museum. It was a 30 minute walk, and along the way, they could see even more ruins that proved that this had once been an amazing city.

Blake kept a wary eye on Carl from now on a vowed to never get stuck with him in a room for any long periods of time. Once they got to the museum, Blake looked around but couldn't see a door anywhere. "Uh...Edwin? You sure this is the right place?"

"Actually, i am, it's underground. It should be right about... here"
He brushed away some dust, and it revealed a door. He opened it, and it revealed stairs, and when Edwin turned on his flashlight, he could see that the museum was perfectly preserved.

"Well lets go then." Blake said and walked inside.

*Carl sauntered inside,the sticks of dynamite mysteriously gone again.he looked around and walked up to a gold statue* "impressive.looks just like a statue i stole when i was 42 for this crazy nobleman.nice guy.blew himself up when he forgot to turn his oven off" *he reached for it,but in a rare moment of...thinking,he stopped* "wait.this thing might be booby trapped.how can i tell?

"i don't think we should take anything from this place. We came here to research. Heck, mabye we'll even find an exhibit on booby traps and how to tell what they are." Edwin said with a grin

Blake walked up to the statue Carl was looking at. He looked behind the statue and saw a wire appearing out of the back and going into the wall. "Now I wonder what this is for. Hey Carl, probably a good thing you didn't try to take this one. Looks like it is wired to something. Maybe an ancient bomb just waiting to go off." He says with a malicious grin.

As the group went farther into the museum, they noticed that things where getting more and more modern. Finally, after a couple hours they reached the end. When they looked at the newest exhibit, they looked at the date, 1873. The year Hieta died. Then they took a closer look at what appeared to be a blueprint, a blueprint of what looked like an airplane...

"Well would you look at that! They were about to start building planes!" Blake said looking at the blue print. "Who would've thought?"

*Carl observed the blueprints,and the old man started talking like he hadn't talked since he arrived* "it appears so.judging from these blueprints,they probably would have been able to send these planes quite a way.hmm,it almost looks like a warplane.say Edwin,these people weren't involved in some kind of war before they vanished were they?

"A warplane?" Blake asks as he looks closely at the design. "Oh yeah! look at those! they could be some sort of projectile weapon." he says pointing at some strange protusions on the wings and behind the cockpit.

"I don't know of any wars, but we don't know much of what went on on their Eastern Border, so mabye they were at war. No one from our nation has ever been on their Eastern border, so we know nothing about the people, if any, that lived there."

"a vanished city,possible war ready technology,i think we might be getting close to figuring out why this city vanished like it did."

Blake looked over at Carl. "Not even, my friend. The only guess I have currently is that it was some sort of plague or poision or maybe a nuclear eqivalent that knocked them out. That still has a large range of things to consider."

"Carl, you're forgetting, this isn't just a vanished city, it's a vanished country. And the wierdest thing is, they 30 years before thefirst planes. How could they have them?

"Maybe their just really smart?" Blake said aloud with a chuckle. "well, we're not going to find any answers here. I say we keep moving." he said and walked further into the muesum.

*Carl set his eye upon another gold statue.much smaller,but still rather interesting looking* "doesn't look booby trapped.it couldn't hurt to just,dust it off" *he grabbed it and gently lifted it off the stand* "hmmm,no bats,no water,i think i finally got lucky"

"Ka-Thwump!" The stand sunk into the floor and opend up the floor benethe Carl's feet. Blake dived foward and yanked Carl back onto the solid floor...somehow the statue ended up coming with them. "Damn you carl! you're going to get yourself killed!" Blake yelled, worried that he almost hadn't grabbed him in time.

"killed? pah,thats not the first time I've had a trap door open under me.i always carry a trusty grappling hook for just such an emergency.except that time i went cave diving when i was 51.had to survive on bats and cave bugs for a week.and more importantly,i still have the statue."

"More importantly...?" Blake says incredulously. "I can't believe this guy...Anyways Edwin, where to now?"

"i say we keep going forward.who knows how many more valuables are in this place.plus all these near death mishaps make me feel 40 years younger" *he stuffed his newest stolen relic in his backpack and headed forward*

Blake followed. (You know, i think the host died on us. lol)