![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xaq_the_aereon...that being the name of the group of oversexed and underpaid adventurers my dream self occasionally travels with.
(A little conversation between me and Bethany, standing with Aremis and Charla at a very large door surrounded by keys, with an ancient scrawl on it.)
So all we have to do to get into this vault is get this door open, huh?
"Yep. Only problem is, your crystal's little tricks and Aremis' magic don't work on it...and I'm not exactly feeling gutsy enough to let little miss Chaos have a crack at it while I'm still in a day's run from her."
Mmmm...point well taken. Still, the little riddle these bastards left on it is kinda vexing. Thousands of keys hanging off the walls, a grated floor over a pit of spikes with evidence of past attempted entries ending...um, poorly...yeah, definitely not an obvious trap. *rolls eyes*
(At this point, Aremis gasps, the ice sphere she conjures for her precognition spells melting away in an instant.)
What's wrong?
"I just tried to sense which of these keys opens the lock."
Yeah...and?
"None of them do. Every vision, no matter which key it was, ended the same."
Lemme guess...floor opens, we go splat.
*Aremis nods* "Floor opens, we go splat."
(Suddenly, a thought crosses my mind.)
Wait...did you see which way the keys were turned when we tried to use them?
"...Yes...now that you mention it, that was slightly odd. They went...counterclockwise?"
Weird...that's how this civilization's doors were lo--
(IDEA.)
Right. I'm gonna see if it's locked or not.
(Bethany gets right up in my face.)
"ARE YOU NUTS!? Don't you remember what the book that led us here said!? This door's BOOBY TRAPPED!"
Yeah, I know. The KEYS are the freakin' booby trap!
"... ... ...What?!"
I mean, look at them. The heads on them are all EXACTLY the same! They should ALL work in this door...but if you're turning them counterclockwise, you're LOCKING it, not UNLOCKING it. I bet the locking mechanism is what sets the trap off..hell, I bet this door's not even locked!
"Okay, you're officially nuts, Will. What the hell kind of security measure is it if the door's not even locked!?"
When everyone assumes, just like you, that it IS locked, and that it's booby-trapped in some way that scares anyone from touching it? I'd say pretty damned effective.
"Look, just hang on a sec--"
(At this point Bethany gets a faceful of TalkToTheHand as I grab the door handle, depress the latch, push, and...)
*click*
(The door opens.)
Told ya.
(At this point I get a faceful of Bethany's fist.)
"Smartass." *stomps off past me and through the door.*
Like I said, the most powerful lock in the universe...until one person comes and challenges the belief that makes it so.
(A little conversation between me and Bethany, standing with Aremis and Charla at a very large door surrounded by keys, with an ancient scrawl on it.)
So all we have to do to get into this vault is get this door open, huh?
"Yep. Only problem is, your crystal's little tricks and Aremis' magic don't work on it...and I'm not exactly feeling gutsy enough to let little miss Chaos have a crack at it while I'm still in a day's run from her."
Mmmm...point well taken. Still, the little riddle these bastards left on it is kinda vexing. Thousands of keys hanging off the walls, a grated floor over a pit of spikes with evidence of past attempted entries ending...um, poorly...yeah, definitely not an obvious trap. *rolls eyes*
(At this point, Aremis gasps, the ice sphere she conjures for her precognition spells melting away in an instant.)
What's wrong?
"I just tried to sense which of these keys opens the lock."
Yeah...and?
"None of them do. Every vision, no matter which key it was, ended the same."
Lemme guess...floor opens, we go splat.
*Aremis nods* "Floor opens, we go splat."
(Suddenly, a thought crosses my mind.)
Wait...did you see which way the keys were turned when we tried to use them?
"...Yes...now that you mention it, that was slightly odd. They went...counterclockwise?"
Weird...that's how this civilization's doors were lo--
(IDEA.)
Right. I'm gonna see if it's locked or not.
(Bethany gets right up in my face.)
"ARE YOU NUTS!? Don't you remember what the book that led us here said!? This door's BOOBY TRAPPED!"
Yeah, I know. The KEYS are the freakin' booby trap!
"... ... ...What?!"
I mean, look at them. The heads on them are all EXACTLY the same! They should ALL work in this door...but if you're turning them counterclockwise, you're LOCKING it, not UNLOCKING it. I bet the locking mechanism is what sets the trap off..hell, I bet this door's not even locked!
"Okay, you're officially nuts, Will. What the hell kind of security measure is it if the door's not even locked!?"
When everyone assumes, just like you, that it IS locked, and that it's booby-trapped in some way that scares anyone from touching it? I'd say pretty damned effective.
"Look, just hang on a sec--"
(At this point Bethany gets a faceful of TalkToTheHand as I grab the door handle, depress the latch, push, and...)
*click*
(The door opens.)
Told ya.
(At this point I get a faceful of Bethany's fist.)
"Smartass." *stomps off past me and through the door.*
Like I said, the most powerful lock in the universe...until one person comes and challenges the belief that makes it so.