Mark
*`An unknown location within the First Floor of the Vektet.`*

Some parts carved from stone, some parts naturally hollowed by what appears to be erosion, this mysterious, cavernous location seems to be located deep underground. Upon entrance to the First Floor, the entrant finds themself atop a large, circular slab of stone, with intricate carvings of an unknown script engraved into its surface.

Mysterious, tendril-like roots of gargantuan size, emanating a potent, blue-hued glow, illuminate the cavernous depths.

*`The blinding light that once entranced Gaige now fades, as he finds he is no longer where he was once stood, just seconds ago...`*

The cavern was vast, yet still ended within his sightlines. He could clearly make out the walls of the cavern, each immensely overgrown with the figure of spiraling, erratic formations of translucent tendril-y roots of a deep blue glow. Their light formed an atmosphere that entrenched the entirety of the caverns, and, luckily, provided a source of light, in what would otherwise be a completely dark underground channel.

Were he to scout the caverns, there'd be several interesting things of note.

**First,** Some distance directly ahead of him, was what seemed to be a **Tall, rusted door.** It seems several pieces of parchment are bound to the surface of the rusted door, mysterious texts of an unknown, runic language covering their surface, each written in a golden ink that could hardly be made out from the color of the paper itself. The door, itself, was **Far too rusty to be opened,** And thus would be an immediate dead-end. Perhaps the scripts would be of some use. *If* He could read them, that was.

**Second,** And while it'd take some thorough investigation to locate, he could find what appeared to be a **Clean sheet of white cloth,** Covering what was a vaguely humanoid shape, lain on the ground. It wouldn't be hard to guess what the cloth hid; though, what was hidden on what was hidden would be what was truly of note, there. **He'd have to lift the cloth to find out for himself.**

**Thirdly,** A rather far trek off in the distance, was what appeared to be a **Large, spiral staircase, leading directly upwards.** It extended up and up, until it reached the roof of the cavern, and seemed to continue beyond it. Likely an entryway to the surface.
_ _

There were other items, though of lesser interest than the past three — discarded, rusted equipment that covered the ground, ranging from swords and spears to shields. Each was likely more than several decades old, considering their state of disrepair, and would likely fall apart were they ever attempted to be used as weapons.

Further, there were **More recent signs of a human encampment.** A pot, a portable burner (whose fuel supply had gone empty), a broken canteen still wet with water, and several emptied magazines for a handgun. In terms of spatial location, they were **Quite close to the clean sheet of white cloth.**
Jose
He gently opens his eyes after closing them instinctively from the blinding light. He was met with the alien landscape as his eyes adjusted to the new environment; he scanned the area hastily to ensure there was no immediate danger surrounding him upon arrival. His quick look around also introduced him to the strange nature of the land. He brushed the tendrils off as a form of light in this strange cavern, making his way to the old, rusted door. He placed his right hand upon his chin, squinting his eyes as he attempted to read the scriptures upon the door.

`Yeah... No. Can't read this. May as well take it with me though. Could find a guy to translate for me or just learn the language myself somehow.` Gaige twirled his fingers, a pen rolling between them. He pressed each of the papers against the door one by one, writing 'rusty old door' on each of them. He carefully removed the papers from the door, stuffing them inside a satchel on the left side of his waist. He turned his back to the door, scouting the area again.

The next object that would stand out to him was the lengthy spiral staircase in the distance. It extended beyond the false sky, the staircase being exposed with no walls around it. `No walls...? If that leads to the surface, why'd gas-mask guy call it a tower?` Gaige pondered to himself; he would have to discover the purpose of the spiral staircase another time due to its distance. He then turned his attention to the last peculiarity that stood out to him.

_ _
He waltzed over to the abandoned survival supplies, squatting down near the empty magazines. He picked one up in his right hand, examining it. `Looks like a battle occurred here. A significant one with this many magazines... But there's no corpses. Strange.` He stands back up, dropping the magazine to the floor. Stepping over the puddle of water from the canteen, he removed the lid of the pot. `Wonder what was cooking?` He looked inside, what he saw getting him closer to an answer of what happened to the former camp owners. `Blue roots. Gas-mask guy said these were poisonous. Either the owners ate some and left or got attacked before they could.` He shut the lid of the pot, noticing something unusual out of the corner of his eye.

He had finally come to notice the white cloth with the humanoid shape beneath it. `A body? Not taking any chances here.` He took a few steps back from the cloth, being around three meters away. With a purple energy, his right hand began to vibrantly glow. The cloth lifted off the humanoid shape, Gaige's hand violently shifting upwards and to the right. The cloth flew in the direction of his hand's motion.

***```diff
+ 𝒯𝐻𝐸 𝒫𝒪𝒲𝐸𝑅 𝒪𝐹 𝒯𝐸𝐿𝐸𝒦𝐼𝒩𝐸𝒮𝐼𝒮 +```***

Gaige's attention refocused on the humanoid object beneath the cloth, deciphering what it was.
Sigrid
A corpse should be left well alone. His caution was not unfounded, but this time it seemed there was no threat present. Rather, what lied beneath the cloth was simply a motionless, lifeless body of a man who met his end in circumstances all too unfortunate.

It seemed that decay had not yet settled into his flesh, cold-to-the-touch, suggesting that he had lost his life only a day or so ago. However, that wasn't to say that his body was unscathed... Rather, the opposite would be all the more true. Gruesome injuries covered his body — his throat and abdominal region were torn to shreds, ripped apart from the inside by what appeared to be **Blue root growing from within.** The root, with a slightly crimson tint, seems to have explosively erupted through his flesh, tearing it to shreds in it self-release from his innards. Strangely enough, the blue roots seem to have been **Growing along a path alongside his veins and arteries,** Burrowing deep into his flesh in such a pattern that the **Growth appeared to be slowly creeping up his body, towards his head.** However, it seems that the peculiar growth patterns of the roots had not yet concluded. Most strange, indeed.
_ _

Most of the blood seems to have been cleaned up already, however, as if the man had been tidied postmortem. This cleaned state was likely a form of courtesy, as given to him by whatever former teammates he had entered the Vektet. Held close to his upper chest, and clung within his right hand, was an **Unloaded semi-automatic pistol.** It seems that it was rested against his chest by someone else after he had already died, as if to honor his nature as a fighter.

A **Satchel,** Laid directly at his side (around his left hip), if it were to be examined closer, would be revealed to contain a **Phone-like device.** Yet, its screen was smashed, and the device itself seems to have been stabbed through with some sort of blade — as if to disable it *On purpose.* Its internal wiring was irreparably damaged, rendering it functionally useless. An unfortunate turn of events... Many interesting things about the *Vektet* Might have been recorded within.

Aside from the excruciating fate that the man must have suffered due to the internal growth of the roots, perhaps the second most notable thing about the body was the man's **Left eye.** Strangely enough, Gaige could see something, with a form akin to an eye-contact, **Glow,** A blue interface blinking repeatedly atop its transparent surface. Upon closer inspection, it would also be revealed that the man had a form of **Earpiece** In his left ear, which, unlike the device akin to a phone, was left entirely in-tact.
Jose
The glow that emanated from his hand ceased, the man glaring at the corpse for around thirty seconds before finally approaching it. The pause was in order to discern the livelihood of the individual. You never know in a place like this. He knelt down before the corpse, analyzing the rather mangled state of their body. `This what that root does to you...?` He smirked, `Thanks again for the heads up, gas-mask guy.` He dared not touch the roots, his eyes shifting to the head of the individual. `Shitty end for someone. Though...` His eyes gazed across the area around the corpse, `looks like whoever this guy was with must've cleaned the blood up. Way too clean for an end like this.` He had of course noticed the earpiece and the eye contact from his glance at the head of the individual, but he decided to return to examine those later.

He tilted his head at the sight of the gun, noticing it was empty. `Did he empty all those magazines...? By himself? Or were they emptied before and his teammates left them here?` He reached out to grab the satchel, avoiding making contact with the roots. Opening the satchel, he removed the shattered phone. `Looks like a blade did it. Gas-mask guy did say this floor consisted of enemies who use medieval weaponry. No chance at it being repaired though, even if I were to use`**`it.`** He dropped the satchel and phone to the ground, switching his attention back to what interested him the most.

_ _
He squinted his eyes at the man's face, noticing the contact had words upon it. Of course, they were backwards in his view. Utilizing telekinesis, he gently peeled back the man's eyelids, removing the contact and dropping it into his hand. He held it between his fingertips, reading off what was said in his mind. `Synchronization... With primary translator device lost... Please manually synchronize? Is this some of the corporation's equipment?` He loosened and removed the earpiece from the corpse, it floating into his left hand. The hero rotated the earpiece around in his hand, noticing a singular button on it, labeled 'Synchronize'. `Well, that's good to know.` He wiped the earpiece off on his cloak; it'd have to do for now in terms of cleanliness. Attaching the earpiece to his left ear, he turned his attention to the broken canteen of water.

He carefully lifted it with his left hand, making sure to keep it upright as not to let the remaining water flood out. He poured a few drips out onto the contact, then using his cloak to gently wash the contact with the water. He raised the contact up to his left eye, looking through it. `Looks clean enough.` He peeled back his eyelids using his right hand, sliding the contact onto his left eye. He blinked three times, making sure it was firmly in place. `Now, time to synchronize.` He tapped the button on the earpiece, hearing a beep.

_ _
. . . . .

The text that was plastered on the contact had not changed. `Uh... Am I meant to do something?` He blinked, hearing a second beep. Huh. He blinked twice more with a short interval between them. Two more beeps were produced after each blink. `I guess I'll just... Keep doing this?` He blinked another two times, hearing a beep after the first one and then being met with a robotic voice.

_```bash
"Sychronization complete!"```_


Luckily for the hero, he had figured out the synchronization method completely by accident. With that task out of the way, he reached in his satchel for the three papers. He laid them out in front of him—in no particular order—hoping the so-called 'translator' would do as its name implied.
Mark
The contact, now synchronized and properly set-up, is fully operational. The blinking text that once flashed back-and-forth, on and off of the screen, now disappeared, allowing him to see clearly through the contact.

With the papers set before him, in their barely-legible golden ink, he can briefly see small portions of the contact attached to his left eye light up. While he wasn't entirely familiar with the system that the so-called translating device functioned off of, from what he could gather in the moment, it seemed as though it was scanning, its heads-up display underlining all of the legible text. It paused, briefly, before blue text flashed before his eye, overlaying the foreign language:

```fix
1 - < "SEALED BY ORDER OF ECLIPSE GUARDIAN UKUE." >
2 - < "I have heard speak from Vaarektaak that some of you call this the birthplace of Sol's Unity. Cast away these thoughts. Beyond this door is little more than the corrupted vestiges of a sullied order. I will have no more of your attempts to open its sealed frame." >

3.A - < "Blithering little maggots, you lot. Betrayers, each, to the origin of your own order. You seek my heir. You will not find her here. Turn back, lest I taint your corpses with the brand you mock. I will make you know the pain of your betrayal." >
3.B - < "Know this: I will return, one day, to the First Floor, with greater understanding of the Sun of Reversion. And then, ye, undeserving of Sol's Image, will burn away. You have forsaken my beloved brother, and so you have forsaken me." >```
Jose
The man skimmed each of the papers once, returning to each and analyzing the key points inside each. The first paper was simple enough, but the name was something he kept in mind. `Eclipse Guardian Ukue... Weird name.` He stuffed the first paper back in his satchel, moving onto the second paper.

`Vaarektaak... Another name I should commit to memory. Weird one too.` His eyes moved to the words, 'Sol's Unity'. No doubt whatever 'Sol's Unity' was was important. He looked back at the door as he pondered the rest, `A sullied order... Corrupted vestiges... Clearly this Ukue doesn't want anyone going through the door. It doesn't make sense for them to be so protective of this door if it protected nothing important.` He took the second paper, stuffing it back into the satchel.

Moving onto the last paper, Gaige began to reflect on what he had read, `Betrayers, heir, brand... Who is this 'Ukue' speaking to? How did they come to be known as betrayers to Ukue? Is Ukue's heir someone important in this land? And what is this brand they speak of?` He pondered these questions in his mind for around a minute, but even with what he picked up from the second paper... No luck. The last part of the third paper particularly stood out to him. `Someone from beyond the first floor...?! This guy must be quite something then—stronger than gas-mask guy at least. And what is the Sun of Reversion? A type of arcana or spell? And a brother of this guy... Ack, this is all too much to think on without any real information!` He stood up, approaching the rusted old door. `Hmmm... Now, how could I get through this?`

_ _
The first obvious choice was to attempt to just... Push it open using his exorbitant strength. He placed both of his hands on one side of the door, pushing with an immense amount of force. He stopped abruptly, backing away from the door. Not an inch of progress had been made. `Nothing huh...? Onto better means then.` His hand glowed with the same radiant purple energy from before, a telekinetic force—stronger than his physical attempt—pulling on the door. Gritting his teeth, Gaige eventually released his magic, looking back at the door. `Motherfucker... The hell is with this door?` The door—again—hadn't moved a _centimeter_. Gaige scratched the back of his head, staring at the massive blockade in his path.

He scoured the area with his eyes again, noticing something that just might work. He had hatched up one last idea to open the door. `Looks like I might not need it yet. This'll be a good test for how long I can go in a real situation without it.` He moved out of the way of the door, his eyes staring at a large rock around six meters away from him. The rock itself was only slightly smaller than one of the two doors of the gate, the hero's hand beginning to glow again. The rock suddenly began to lift from the ground, maneuvering directly in front of the door before stopping. With a deep breath, Gaige positioned the rock around five meters away from the door.

**SLAM**

**SLAM**

**SLAM**

The rock was repeatedly slammed into the rusted door, Gaige utilizing it as a battering ram. He kept this action up until either he deemed it ineffective, or the door opened.
Mark
As was expected, straightforwardly pushing against the door with no assistance from any form of tool, outside of his own magical might, would prove ineffective at breaking the door open. Made of metal, and rusted to the point where it had practically fused in part with its frame, the rusted door didn't budge even a *Little.* 

Until the stone was brought out, that was.

***`CREAK... CREAK...`***

The stone, hammering and hammering away, seems to be bending at a piece of metal. The sheer amount of force being exerted on it through the makeshift battering-ram wasn't enough to bend the door, itself, but seemed to be **Damaging something from inside it.** Most likely its lock, rusted and stuck in position.

***CREAK... CREAK... `CRCK!`***

Finally, with one last impact of the stone, the metal that he was damaging finally ***Cracked**.* The door, battered and damaged at its reinforced center and its edges, flies open with the hideous sound of unoiled, rusted metal well-beyond its age scraping against itself.

*`Cold air with the heavy scent of mold and rot gales forwards from the opened door.`* 

The scent was... *Putrid.* It was dense, stale, aged, rotten, and mildewy, like it hadn't been open for *Decades.*

Behind the door was... Darkness. He'd have to enter to actually get a good sight of, well, *Anything,* Really.