Conduit: Race Against Time(RP Topic)

May 27, 1703. Nyen

A man walked into what remained of the formerly Swedish city. Months ago, his armies had conquered this fortress and surrounding city, and they had taken control of the land. Against the judgement of his guards, he went for a walk, looking around the city’s ruins. Soon, he found what seemed to be an opening blown into the ground, heading into some sort of catacomb. He slowly climbs down into it and looks around, trying to find anything that might give more information. Soon, he’d come across some sort of writing on the wall, in a strange text he’d never seen. It was neither Latin nor Cyrillic. He smirked, for he had a decent idea of what this meant, an idea helped further by the reliefs carved into the wall: strange markings, surrounding what seemed to be representations of stones. He climbed out, and his guards approached him.

Tsar Peter!” The one asked him. “What is it you’ve found?

The Tsar smiled. “Two old cities and one new one. Let us return to Moscow. We shall begin construction on our new capital. I welcome you all to the new site-” He turns, looking at the city, the fort, and the ruins of the city below this one. “Of Saint Petersburg.


April 26, 2020. Western Pennsylvania

Jeff sits in front of his television, having just taken a break from his work, trying to translate an old alphabet found somewhere around the city of Tallinn. He sees the remote on the table nearby, and, being lazy, doesn’t get up. His amethyst pendant glows, as does the remote, as it floats into his hand, and he turns on the TV.

“Breaking news!” The television reporter says. “A set of strange catacombs, along with other odd ruins, have been found underneath the historic city of Saint Petersburg. Authorities have been silent on the issue, and officials in the city also refuse to elaborate on what has been found. Reporters from all over the globe have travelled to see what it’s about, but no one is being let close to the site where this was discovered. We will report more as information arises. This is Siobhan O’Day, with Channel 5 News.”

Jeff turns off the television, and hurriedly goes to find his phone. He’d theorized for quite a while that something of importance would be found under Petersburg, and now was a chance to prove this theory. However, from the sounds of it, he was going to need help getting through. He began to make some calls to old friends, be them colleagues, helpers from the incident two years prior, or other friends he’d think would be able to help, he tries everyone he can think to get ahold of.


May 5, 2020. Pulkovo Airport, St. Petersburg.

Jeff awaits the friends who had said they’d arrive to help, anxiously pacing outside the airport. To any who hadn’t the time or money to come, he had helped to make arrangements, assuming they wanted to get messed up in this sort of stuff again. He sighed, simultaneously ready and not ready for this adventure, and knowing they were likely not the only ones here for this strange occurrence. Little did he know just how deep he was wading into it.


@BlackBeltGamer98 @rainsong @Mctoran @Diero

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In an open-air market, a young man in a dark long coat with fingerless gloves and fiery hair under a black hood was examining the wares of a jewelry stall, asking questions to the stall owner and looking at a man next to him who translated his questions in perfect Russian. the item he was examining was a silver ruby ring with curious markings. His questions were mainly about the history of the piece.

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Fred was at the airport terminal, discreetly glancing down at his phone as he waited for the rest of this supposed “team” to arrive.

They better be as competent as I hope. Last thing I need is to end up dead in some ancient ruins before summer break, he thought to himself with a slight chuckle.

He gripped his meteorite pendant in his hand, rubbing his thumb over its rough and jagged, alien surface.

Oh, what am I thinking? With this on my side, I’ll be off just fine…

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“It was found nearby, just outside of Petersburg.” The stall owner says. “As old as the city itself, if not much, much older. Found in some ancient ruins from some long gone era.”

Jeffrey sees who he can only assume to be Zablex, and walks over that way. “Hey!” He calls to him, walking over. "“I assume you remember me. What’re ya lookin’ at?”

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"Really? " He asks, “How far exactly?”

The translator repeats in Russian.

“Jeff!” Zablex calls with a friendly smile as he looks at his friend, “Keeping warm, I trust?” He shows Jeff the ring he was examining.

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“Indeed I am. And you?” He examines the ring, and peers at it over his glasses. “Not worth the money.” Jeff says, cryptically, not wanting to seem conspicuous in the busy airport. “Look in the grooves. It’s painted. has more of a matte look than if it were petrified.” He whispers. “I’m gonna guess most of the ones you’ll find in the airport are…not what you’re after. Most airport knick-knacks aren’t that nice.” He looks around, seeing if he can spot any other friends of theirs.

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Fred looked up to see the two figures conversing nearby.
Must be them… he thought, noting the…“unique” jewelry that they wore, which was similar in some ways to his own. Fred began to approach them.

“Jeffrey Mckenyon, Anthropologist, I presume?” He asked Jeff.

“Fred Frederickson, astronomer. Though that isn’t technically an official title of mine.” He said, extending his hand to greet Jeff.

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Eliza and Alex push their way through the busy crowd of the airport, backpacks slung over their shoulders.

“You know, it’s warmer here than I expected,” Alex muses, adjusting her baseball cap as she looks about.

“Well, it is May,” Eliza points out, going on her tiptoes in a vain attempt to see over the crowd. Alex only shrugs in response, fiddling with her bracelet.

“Sooo… where are these friends of yours?” Alex asks. “These are the guys you went to Estonia with, right?”

“One or two of them,” Eliza agrees after a beat, pushing her way through the crowd. “I know Jeff should be here, don’t know about the others.”

“Well, don’t you have his number or something? Why don’t you just call him?” Eliza responds with a shrug of her own. Before she can respond, a name catches her attention.

She takes Alex’s hand, pulling her friend towards the others. “Hey, Jeff!” she calls, waving with he free hand.

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Jeff looks over to see him. “Ah, yes. I assume you’re the one who contacted me to join us on this little trek?” He asks, shaking the man’s hand. “A pleasure to meet you. I assume you know a little about these then?” He asked, gesturing to the ring on his right hand.

Jeff looks over to see Eliza and Alex approaching .“Elizabeth! It’s been so long. How are you?” He asks. He then spots Alex being dragged along by her friend. “And I assume this is the friend you told me about?”

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OOC: her friend, you mean

IC: “Glad to be off of that plane,” Elizabeth mutters in response to his first question. “So crowded in there. But yeah! This is my friend.” Alex pulls forward, offering a handshake to Jeffery.

“Alexis Jin; you can call me Alex,” she says, smiling. “So you’re the anthropologist El’s been telling me about? What do you study, again?”

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OOC: I had meant it as “Jeff’s friend,” but I can see where the confusion comes in, so I changed it anyways.

IC: “I can imagine.” Jeff responds, then turns to shake Alex’s hand. “And a pleasure to meet you, Alex. I’m Jeffrey, or Jeff, it doesn’t matter to me.” He said. “And yes I am. I study ancient cultures from around the world, though my studies mainly focus around this area here, in northeaster Europe. Really, though, the main thing I focus on is Helmitki Kunin. There’s still many mysteries around it that need uncovered, and I’m up to the challenge. And, seeing as how you guys are here, I assume you two are for this little expedition as well?”

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Fred nodded.
“Indeed. I figured that this expedition would help to give me a better insight into my own conduit, and the potential it holds…”

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Jeff puts a finger to his own mouth. “Keep it down, we don’t know how many others here understand English.” He said. "This is an international airport, during a large event that’s caught the world’s eye, we surely aren’t the only ones.

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Fred quietly nodded.
“My apologies…” he said, discreetly tucking his Meteorite necklace underneath his ■■■■■.

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Zablex politely returns the item, “A beautiful piece, have a nice day.” He said to the merchant who seemed a bit annoyed.

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“It’s fine.” He said. “Most people will think it’s just jewelry, but we need to be quiet about their…points of interest, I guess is a good way to put it. Otherwise, people might get suspicious, and either call us crazy, or figure this stuff out for themselves.”

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Alexis looks between those present. “Wait, what’s a conduit?”

“It’s… a long story,” Eliza says, with a sigh. “But it’s the reason we’re here. We should find a quiet place to get everyone on the same page.” Alex gives her a funny look, but stays quiet.

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“Agreed.” Zablex said, “Not all eyes and ears are friendly.”

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Jeff looks around. “I don’t think I’m waiting on anyone else, but we could try staying for a while longer. Maybe do you guys want to grab a bite to eat before we go looking for what we’re here for?”
Jeff then hears what Alex says. “Well…we can all talk about it over some food. I had assumed Eliza would’ve told you, but that’s alright, we can talk about it. Do you guys want to head to the food court?” He asks.

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Zablex nods.

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