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Despite the considerable pygmy number, Jack London knows the tribe is not there to attack: An inexpert could easily misinterpret their defensive reaction pointing their spares & slingshots to the visitors. But not Jack.
-Their attire is for a ceremony, not to hunt & kill us- Jack exclaims to his fellows while he starts undressing...
Some of adventurers turn to watch -Jack's dumbest show- laughing hysterically, others take advantage to draw their revolver, choose their targets and find a vantage point. A number run euphorically to reach the dark tunnel.
The tribe does not move even an inch, all of them keeps alert and ready to react.
Once completely naked, Jack walks to the altar. He bows respectfully in front of the cloaked figure and opens the red bottle, wet his index and middle fingers of his left hand with the tincture inside. He paints the face of the figure and repeats the pattern on his own face. Does the same with the golden bottle. Next, he opens the blue bottle and turns towards the tribe. Immediately, they start grunting tribal sounds. Their prophecies finally became real: The chosen one would redraw their life’s line in their masks in order to reach together the greatest destiny... the Elixir of Youth.
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BenKii: snip
Woah... What can I say forgetting it too?
Maybe our adventurers have kept our attention completely busy :)
Post edited August 24, 2021 by tag+
With a still pounding head, Diego hurriedly attempts to make his way across the rope bridge towards the kneeling figure.
Whoah, okay, besides his strong arachnophobia, Oddy Oddborn also has a deep fear of bats, pygmies, guinea pigs and hooded figures. So the smartest thing he can do is to grab the vine, that least looks like a spider leg or a snake hanging around. He slides down to the altar, where he pulls his revolver and starts pointing it to anything that looks slightly suspicious. In order to get the pygmies under control he starts to scream hysterically. But instead of wasting his last three bullets, he cracks the whip repeatedly to create the impression that he shoots dozens of bullets in every direction.
While the crowd is confused, he takes advantage of the situation and grabs the red bottle, assuming it is raspberry flavored and will quench his thirst. As a precaution he empties his three revolver bullets into the hooded figure. With the red bottle in his hands he throws himself into the water bearing tunnel.

EDIT: minor adjustments
Post edited August 24, 2021 by Oddeus
( The Last İndie Bender AKA mr. EA )
After the cooldown expired, the box inside my box was opened. There was one scrool inside the box and another box with a counter on it. I quickly used the scroll without even reading what it was. It was actually a distance view scroll. I accidentally did this to the dirt that one of the pygmy threw into the hole. Even though I don't feel like a dirt or bone but I'm starting to see it as I travel through the hole.
Stepping forward to the cave entrance, Og'rialt carefully observes the scene which lies before him, paying particular attention to the cloaked figure in front of the altar. His stubby fingers idly dig around in his messy beard, with lice scattering here and there, until his fingers hit upon a particularly fat specimen. After carefully extracting the louse from the tangled strands of his beard, he holds it up in front of his squinting eyes.

"Well, Lucy, we do sure find ourselves in a pretty pickle, here", he muses.
"It certainly looks like he handywork of that shadowy ringmaster, but the foe appears to be long flown. Still, we can't be completely certain. I suppose we'd better go have a closer look at yonder cloaked figure?"

Peering intently at the louse in front of his face, Og'rialt seems to come to a decision. He places Lucy back in his beard, steps back from the brink, and unslings his heavy backpack. In short order he digs out a richly illustrated tome on exotic animals, a pair of scissors heavily encrusted with sparkly gems, some sticky taffy, and the cutting board on which he cuts his cheese while out camping.

Hastily leafing through the tome, Og'rialt mutters to himself, "No guinea pigs in here, obviously, but I could swear... Ah there we go!" The entry on miniature giant space hamsters features an illustration which - in the inconsistent light of the cave - looks enough like a guinea pig to make do. As he puts the scissors to the page, he grins to himself in reminiscence. "I suspect Beldarion would have a thing or two to say about the way I treat this paper!"

Attaching the picture of the miniature giant space hamster to the cutting board with the taffy, he holds up the makeshift mask in front of his face, carefully positioning his left eye behind the finger-hole near the top of the cutting board. Then, Og'rialt shrugs on his backpack again, begins moving rhythmically, and sets off on the rope bridge. He figures that when he's reached the altar, it should be easy enough to trip up one of his fellow short-limbed dancers, making them stumble into the cloaked figure...
Having reached the top of the waterfall Kangiana looks around and detects the ultimate prize (having 10 points in Perception and Luck is very SPECIAL) on the altar over the bridge.

Although strong cavern wind and the wacky bridge might impress some adventurers, Kangiana steps ahead with full confidence, having an emergency Jetpack on the back, which was "acquired" from the Duke Nukem Museum previously.

Only thing remaining now is to snatch the precious elixir quick and dirty, ala Starlord-style... Plays "Come and Get Your Love".
I was lucky to be able to get past the dangers in the tunnel. No sense taking risks. The bridge might be booby trapped or something. During the chaos caused by the crazy Frenchman (François de Loire), I grabbed the nearest adventurer (Albrrt MacGuffin), pointed my gun at his head and forced him to walk the bridge. I hope he doesn't try anything funny which will force me to use my limited ammo. If it does go sideways, I still have my trusty whip which I can use to defend myself and more importantly, grab the potions on the altar. I don't know what they do but they seem important to the locals and might be able to use them as bargaining chips.
Post edited August 24, 2021 by Genocide2099
Updated Post with History and new Move now :D
Setup1:
[i]You are an Indiana Jones type character (give yourself a cool name) and have entered a dark, dank tunnel in search of the Elixir of Youth.
In one hand you hold a sputtering torch, in the other your trusty whip. You have a revolver holstered on your hip with three bullets in it.
You look around and ahead of yourself...

The tunnel is 7 feet in width and approximately 12 feet in height, your feeble torch failing to properly illuminate the ceiling. The walls are covered with vines and slimy lichen.
You are stood on a narrow path leading into a cavern 20 feet ahead of you. There is a faint light emitting from the cavern and the sound of running water.
The pathway is made of slippery pavestones, three across and stretching as far as you can see towards the far cavern.
Rivulets of dirty, stinking water run either side of the pathway.

You hear many various sounds from your dark surroundings. Scrapings, slithering, squelching and God knows what else.

Giant spider webs criss-cross the path in several places. You also see wooden poles rising from the dirty water to the sides up towards the ceiling.

What is your first move? Tell me in your post and let us see what the Dice of Fate decide! [/i]

Move1:
"Afraid OfRollingBoulders" enters the tunnel. First of all he checks his torch and calculates how long it will last him approximately.
Secondly trying to direct the torch towards the ceiling he tries to at least get a bit better picture of the ceiling of the tunnel before moving on. Being cautious of what might be ahead the whip is used in midair to create a sound and to see if the tunnel bears any foul play..... Assuming that the sound of the whip did not cause any reaction Afraid OfRollingBoulders starts moving the path onwards on all fours as having some bad memories regarding slippery pavestones....


Outcome1:
Checking your torch first you raise it to the ceiling to see what is up there. The ceiling is still swaddled in shadows but it looks like several are moving about, "that's not good" you mutter to yourself.
You decide to take the low route and get down on all fours to edge forward towards the cavern ahead.
As you go one of the pavestones sinks into the ground. A large spike shoots out of the wall to your right reaching the opposite wall while being just above your crouched form, before retracting to its original position.
Once you have stopped shaking you hurry on to the end of the path.
You reach the cavern ahead and see...


[i]Setup2:
You stand shoulder to shoulder with your fellow adventurers at the top of a small waterfall. Twenty feet below is a rocky outcropping. A rope bridge leads down to it, there are also multiple vines hanging down from the ceiling. Many bats fly around the cavern and huge webs cover much of the ceiling.
On the rocky outcropping is an altar with a cloaked figure kneeling in front of it. Three different coloured bottles sit on the altar. They are blue, red and golden in colour.
Dancing around the altar are a pygmy tribe armed with spears and slingshots. They all wear masks depicting grinning Guinea Pigs.

There is another rope bridge leading down from the outcropping and into a dark tunnel. The water streams at the base of the rock and runs off into a different (but equally dark) tunnel. Also there is a manmade hole to the left of the altar that you see a pygmy throw some bones and rubbish down.

What do you do?[/i]

Move2:
Taking in the view from above "Afraid OfRollingBoulders" cautiously checks the barrel of his revolver to make sure there is really 3 remaining bullets in it and that the revolver is ready for action if the need should arise. Trying not to scare the pygmy tribe he approaches them slowly via the rope bridge visibily with a holstered revolver and just the torch in hand waiting for the reaction. Seeing that their first reaction is rather curious than hostile Afraid decides to join their ceremony after they beckon him to do so. Being offered a drink from one of the bottles Afraid OfRollingBoulders decides to take one from the blue one. The pygmies cheer after he takes his drink - out of joy for an outsider taking part in their holy ceremony or for more malicious intent remains unknown for now. Having had the drink and hopefully had gained the trust of the pygmies he continues his journey on the rope bridge leading down from the outcropping torch in hand and being followed by the inquisitive looks of his new friends.
Post edited August 27, 2021 by TT_TT_TT_TT
Having survived the dangers of the tunnel, Jack Hammerfast crosses the rope bridge and arrive at the rocky lostcropping. He sees the altar where there is a cloaked figure kneeling and pvgmy tribe dancing. He sees another rope bridge leading down into a dark tunnel and proceeds to go there all the while avoiding any confrontations.
Vstalpozde is standing at the edge of the waterfall. Gazing down he thinks about his next steps. Holding his book in his arms.
Then he checked all possible ways down against the appropriate table in book - Risk and hazards of climbing down.

"Rope bridge would be too easy." he told himself. "Definitely trap".
These are not fruit bats. So, they hate vines. Only possible way is via vines.

Next phase - to decide which bottle should I choose.
Gold = means money = means greedy = death.
Red = fires = hell = also death.
Blue = means air = breathe = save.

Only possible way to solve it is drink from blue bottle and then jump into stream going down to tunnel.
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Doc0075: The following have reached the cavern:

1 - Martin McSquabblegold (Enebias)
2 - François de Loire (Lone_Scout)
3 - Fish Cavendish the Unlucky (Genocide2099)
4 - Cole "The Cliffjumper" Jensen (bluethief)
5 - "Truckstop" Smith (muddysneakers)
6 - Oddy Oddborn (Oddeus)
7 - Porkus Tallowsum (pkk234)
8 - Afraid OfRollingBoulders (TT_TT_TT_TT)
9 - Jack London (tag+)
10 - Celeste the cat (drxenija)
11 - Cameron the Coward (slurredprey)
12 - The Harbinger of Doom (JakobFel)
13 - The Last indie bender AKA mr.EA (ywzywz)
14 - Kangiana (zaMNal)
15 - Og'rialt (gogtrial34987)
16 - Vstalpozde Neprisel (truhlik)
17 - Bruce Strine (Mortius1)
18 - Albrrt MacGuffin (Orkhepaj)
19 - Mortimer Wormfeedersehen (Wirvington)
20 - Lucky (PMPMGamer)
21 - Diego Bartolomeu (nevarRed)
22 - Delaware Thompson (DiffuseReflection)
23 - Americo Cortez (KetobaK)
24 - Jack Hammerfast (arsalan12)

Please let me know if I have missed anyone.
Americo feels dizzy when entering the cave, but his will is intact, his task must remain firm. He can barely see thanks to a dim light coming from below.
He rubs his eyes and tries to clear his vision and his thoughts, hears noises, and quickly reaches for his revolver, checks it ... no bullets -Shit! - he exclaims.
He advances with his whip in hand. Suddenly he sees that below a group of pygmies dance around an altar.
He looks around, he notices the spiderwebs, the bats and the stairs to go down, but at the same time he notices that other people are coming out of other caves, they do not seem to be natives, but are wearing quirky movie adventurer clothes. He realizes that everyone is looking at the altar and must look for the Elixir of Youth and he has no time to waste.
Quickly jump off the waterfall and use the rocks to descend. He leaps onto the lianas to get down faster and snaps his whip, which echoes loudly in the cavern and confuses the bats' senses.
He pulls the liana and falls on top of a pygmy, and without hesitation he hits another with his whip and turns to kick another who came to attack him.
He runs to the altar and takes the red bottle, "the red one is health and the blue one is mana," he thinks. Then he runs towards the exit ...
the dice will decide fate.
The pygmies notice me and I am quickly surrounded, each pygmy pointing a spear at me. It seems as if they expect me to give them something.

With nothing to offer as tribute other than my revolver, I gently hand it over, knowing that I would be defenceless should they turn on me. The pygmies allow me to reach the alter. My eyes are drawn to the three bottles. Surely these are related to the elixir. I know from my research that the elixir of life is too unstable to exist in nature, so the bottles must be the constituent parts of the elixir. But what is the formula?

Do I mix the red and blue to create purple? Or the yellow and blue to produce a green liquid. Tyrian purple is the colour of dried blood, a colour deeply associated.with Roman Emperors, some of whom achieved immortality through ascension to Godhood (not to mention infamous reputations for cruelty, incest and madness). Green on the other hand is the colour of life in nature. It is also a colour associated with mint, one of my most loathed flavours.

I ponder which of the two symbolisms would be appropriate to a tribe of guinea pig fetish pygmies. Ordinarily guinea pigs are vegetarian, suggesting the green mixture. On the other hand, these ones have a taste for blood, so I resolve to prepare the purple concoction.

I pour the blue bottle into the red bottle, gently shaking to mix the two liquids to produce a dark purple mixture, reminiscent of porphyry,

Gingerly I take a sip. Slightly salty, but not unpleasant. Building up my courage I drink from it again...
Cole "The Cliffjumper" Jensen stands on the top of the small waterfall looking at the the altar. "3 coloured bottles..." he wonders.

Suddenly he reaches to his shoulder bag and takes a green coloured bottle. He has it since he was a child, given to him by that elder man all those years ago.
Cole never knew where it came from or what's its origin, only that the bottle is what triggered the desire for adventure at that young age. That and the words that accompanied it: "This bottle has been with me ever since I retrieved it from that place. It's been like a lucky amulet. I'm old and no longer have any use to it. But you, my boy, I see a great future ahead of you. Take this bottle and keep it always by your side. When the time comes, you'll know what to do."

"Could this be the moment? Could this be the place the bottle was retrieved from?". Cole looks at the cloaked figure and the pygmy tribe warriors with a confident smile. "Only one way to find out!", he says. Facing the possible danger head on, Cole moves forward the rope bridge, right arm up high with the green bottle clearly visible in his hand.
The Harbinger of Doom, in his omniscient, skilled quick thinking jumps onto the rope bridge that leads to the dark tunnel, believing that fate shall be the one to decide his destiny.
Reminder that you haven't yet given any input to help determine the path to your gruesome death and/or heroic victory!

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TT_TT_TT_TT:
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Orkhepaj:
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Wirvington:
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muddysneakers:
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pkk234:
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drxenija:
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PMPMGamer:
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DiffuseReflection:
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slurredprey:
Post edited August 27, 2021 by gogtrial34987