Aw shit.

That ending was chilling. Well, I hope that shit is nearing its last half-lives, at least.

Chills. Up my back.

Just... wow.

>>10264541026454

Having read your comment before reading the story, I hate you so much right now.

>>10270741027074

I owe you an apology. I thought of adding a warning that comments might contain spoilers, and it somehow slipped my mind. I won't make that mistake again. Luckily, I have other ideas for stories with twists at the end.

(But why the hay read comments before the story?)

>>10273601027360

Because I caught it so soon after this story went up; I figured it would be harmless. Curiosity killed the cat and all that jazz.

That said, you don't owe me anything. In fact, I'm actually paranoid that making people think about the ending specifically before starting to read the story might make them figure it out too soon, heh. That said, I look forward to whatever you put out next.

Wow...

Makes you wonder what's down there.

>>10285181028518

Didn't you see the image at the end? I ask because it's kind of important to understanding the ending, and I was worried someone might skim over it.

EDIT: radiation symbol removed for being too didactic.

>>10289861028986

I meant: Makes you wonder what is causing that extreme radiation. I was just avoiding outright saying it.

hehe

now to read story...

I suppose this is redundant for anyone reading this far down, but detailed spoilers below.

>>10399941039994 While the effects and reach of the radiation may have been exaggerated throughout the story for what it implied the source was(and the half-life made incredibly shorter, for some reason), the purpose of the structure, the incredibly redundant ways of communicating what was contained, the design and placement being made to maximize how long it stood were all foreshadowing for the structure being something that exists in real life: a long-term storage facility for nuclear waste. I say that the effects/reach were probably exaggerated because such facilities have very, very thorough containment for the actual fuel rods themselves completely irregardless of the structure that houses the containers, both of which are graded to last for hundreds of thousands of years, and hoped to last for millions. Meanwhile, Daring Do somehow got a lethal dose of radiation without ever entering the chamber that housed them...

Oh shit, Daring Do with extreme radiation sickness. Take your potassium, Daring! It's your only hope!

Hot damn, that is how you end a story. How chilling... And food for thought: future civilisations in our world may well meet the same fate. Presumably that waste facility has suffered a serious containment breach if just walking into the entrance tunnel is enough to give you a lethal dose.

Actually, Fridge Horror: could that pyramid be our nuclear waste, 71,000 years hence? Stranger things have happened...

Oh crap, that story sent a shiver down my spine.

Doubly so, as after the first third, a nasty suspicion was creeping on me regarding what exactly might be down there - and how seriously screwed Daring Do and the others would be if it turned out to be correct...

And this is why you always carry Rad-Away.

Carry On

ugughghghg *shiver*

That is so unsettling. You have nooo idea.

>>10737021073702

Yeah, it's probably ours.

Very interesting. Very interesting indeed.  

MORE... please I love it can't wait to read more!

>>10289861028986

Loved the story.  Most of the way through, I started thinking back to my lab's safety training and some hideous warning pictures of that kind of thing.

But I didn't see any image at the end- did you take it out, or is it just a problem with my browser?

This story was... chilling. I loved it. >>10761551076155 That link is amazingly informative.

>>10777151077715

I had to cut it because the pre-readers thought it was too didactic. (It was a radiation symbol.) No biggie; I compensated by putting some more hints in the titular Writing.

Everyone else: I'll address your concerns first thing tomorrow morning.

Rainbow Dash looked up from the cornuscript, puzzled.  "I don't get it."

Twilight Sparkle sighed.  "The tomb wasn't a tomb, except for those who invaded it.  Her crew dies of radiation sickness over the next month."

"Woah, woah," said Rainbow, taking to the air, "You're telling me this isn't a curse?"

"No, it's a natural physical phenomenon.  Mare-ie Curie discovered-"

"Too much science," interrupted Rainbow, "Talk smaller."

Twilight sighed.  "There are rocks which are constantly shooting out invisible fiery poison."

Rainbow landed again.  "In real life, or just in your story?"

"In real life.  In fact, the math says that if enough of these rocks are gathered together, they'll make enough heat to boil water and turn a turbine."

"Huh.  So the ancient civilization made these badass waterwheels and toasted themselves?"

"Pretty much."

"So how does Daring escape?  Does the doctor know of an antidote that she has to find in a crumbling temple?"

"No."

"Can she find a cure in the writing on the walls?"

"No."

Rainbow grimaced.  "You're telling me that Daring Do.... dies?  That's horrible!  How can you do that to her, Twilight?"

"It's not canon," said Twilight, annoyed.

"Well of course she doesn't get hit by a cannon, she dies of fire rocks that you put there to kill her.  Why would you kill Daring Do?"

"It's just a story, based on a story," said Twilight, now exasperated.  "Write your own if you want her to live."

"What?" said Rainbow, wings flared, "I can write my own Daring Do stories?"

"Sure.  And if you join the fan club, you can get them published in our mailing.  You'd like the other stories," Twilight said, pulling a mimeographed stack of papers from a shelf of her reading parlor.  "They're mostly adventures with good endings.  I just went with the death angle for a haunting tale."

Rainbow flipped through the stack quickly.  "Um, Twilight?  Why is Daring Do kissing Ahuitzotl in this drawing?"

Twilight blushed.  "That's fan art, and not all of it is like that."

Rainbow flipped through a few more pages.  "Too bad.  I kinda like it."

>>10780691078069 this

>>10761551076155 Wow, fascinating link. Certainly highlights how different cultures can view things. Leaving a massive monument might say 'Danger!' to us, but 'Cool stuff buried here!' to a future society. Thanks for that!

Big thanks to all the responders, and a warm welcome to all my new readers.

>>10735601073560

Oh dear, I was afraid this would happen. I did do some research, but I might not have read enough sources, and I admit I took some liberties with the effects, since radiation might effect magical ponies differently than humans. As for the half-life, a lot of my information came from this film, and it may have been wrong, or I may have misunderstood something. But I did suggest, obliquely, why containment was breached: the ponies aren't the first ones to break in.

>>10737021073702

I honestly don't know who built it. But that's pretty much the exact reaction I was going for.

>>10752831075283

Mwahahahaha...

>>10761551076155

Thanks! Now I don't have to link to that.

>>10771251077125

Bad news, I'm afraid. You're my first-ever "reader who mistook a one-shot for a first chapter". Although, Duplex Fields seems to have written an epilogue...

>>10780691078069

There are no words to describe that feel when someone writes a continuation of something you wrote. If you don't mind, I'd like to put this in a blog post.

>>10809361080936 but it ended on a cliffhanger

>>10815201081520

A continuation wouldn't be very long. There's only one thing to do after absorbing that many rads: write your last will and testament. Further reading may be found here.

Oh god. Daring Do!

Image: http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvwg3gQi191r8058ko1_400.gif

Man... I read this story and gave me chills, similar to the time I read The Cough.

Then thanks to you guys I figured where the message came from and my mind was blown into microscopic pieces.

Good show Horse_Voice! You really made me feel things with this one...

*likes*

Also, you get some extra cool points for portraying Ahuitzotl as an evil treasure hunter (instead the evil overlord image that the show gave me), I think that alone makes him a better antagonist for Daring.

I am pretty sure this story was inspired by an article once I read, or the report it was about, detailing plans for a long-term nuclear waste storage facility. Spikes all around the facility, warnings in several languages and some kind of universal language, I didn't remember blank walls for translations tho. The quote "This is not a place of honor. No great deed is commemorated here. Nothing of value is here. [...]" is also very signature.

That article was very chilling due to it being so apocalyptic and bordering on the science fiction, and even if I recognized pretty soon that it is such a facility in the story, it still gave me chills because it evoked my reactions to the article when I realized the references.

I think this is it but I'm not so sure, there are a few similar articles now that I search for it, Hoarse_Voice will tell the original article anyway :)

http://www.damninteresting.com/this-place-is-not-a-place-of-honor/

5/5

Ah yes I see in another comment he confirmed it :)

Damn, still feeling the chills, perfect with the Fallout soundtrack.

I was also wondering whether this was a mistake:

Daring: "They said it's 'the oldest archeological site ever found,' but I know that's not right, 'cause masonry like this has only been around about fifteen hundred years. So..."

Then later...

Thorn: "All of the writing systems you see here are the sole examples known to modern civilization, with a single exception: that at the bottom of the rightmost wall, which according to other experts present at this site, is approximately five thousand years old."

So was the outer entrance 1500 or 5000 years old?  I guess the other civilizations from 26k to 5k years ago had enough sense to try to translate the messages before breaking the inner seal.

>>11018081101808

I think the masonry in that sentence is supposed to mean the actual building, not the seal. ie the style/ability to use this kind of rock/ standard of building is something only invented by the ponies in the last 1500 years.

Also, I too wish to see continuation, maybe with Celestia finding out what they opened and knowing what it is? Or ponies brewing toxin-removers or finding accidentally that something one of them ate reduced symptoms... I was so sad when I saw this was a one shot and not a chapter.

>>11041471104147

Re: the masonry. You are absolutely right. Thanks for saving me the trouble.

I guess I could try to write a sequel, but my heart wouldn't be in it, so it wouldn't be as good. I want the horse skull to always be a symbol of quality. However, I certainly wouldn't stop others from writing continuations, hypothetically.

"The Writing" was partly inspired by the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. Those involved a rising sense of dread, punctuated by a big reveal. The aftermath was often left to the readers' imaginations. They don't make 'em like that anymore, so I have to.

>>11043621104362

I do love the story as it is, and the saying is that one should leave your audience wanting more.

After all, if you give the audience exactly what they ask for it's never as awesome as they expect.

There is one thing though, and it's probably just me, dense as I am about foreshadowing and suchlike, but I didn't actually twig to the whole radiation thing until I saw a comment a second after finishing the story that mentioned half-lives. Apparently there used to be a big old radiation symbol at the bottom, but I can see that being too garish and too easily skipped to for spoilers accidentally. Other readers might do the same and wonder what this mysterious disease is - though of course once you know what it is the hidden fire bit is rather blatant.

>>11185031118503

I was afraid of this. The pre-readers told me I could lose the symbol, or lose my chance at being featured. In the grand tradition of writer-publisher relations, I folded like a lawn chair.

I did my best, and I wish I knew how to make things clearer. The problem is, there is absolutely no way ponies know about ionizing radiation, and I can't keep going, because the whole point of this type of story is to deliver the shocking reveal. Once that arrives, you take your hands off the keyboard.

I'm open to suggestions.

>>10809361080936

Go for it.  I wrote it to distance myself from how truly haunting it was.  Let's see, how many levels of metafiction is this?  In my fanfiction of your fanfiction, your fanfiction is Twilight's fanfiction of an in-universe fictional universe.

0. Us

1. The show

2. My frame story

3. Your story

>>11192191119219

You could link the inspiring article and documents at the end of the story. The connection between them and the story will be obvious and the chill will be even stronger.

I am a big fan of horror-themes, be they in motion picture, music, literature or whatever other way. You would even say I am a scare-addict. But unlike the straight-forward, in-your-face gruesomeness of bloody Pinkamena fiction or the cheap jumpscares of summer teeny horror movies, your short story gave a wholly different kind of creepy chill I haven’t felt for a while.

Slow, psychological horror, which you can often find in Lovecraftian novels or the occasional Silent Hill game, are hard and rare to pull off. And even if you exaggerated some details, it was all stylistic means to accomplish the goal of making us all shudder in horrifying, slow realization. Due to small, but significant characterization of all ponies involved, you felt genuinely sorry for their fates by the time the end came around.  

To wrap this up, this is by far my favorite horror FiM story and I will likely remember it for quite a while to come.  In other news, who else feels a bit different about radiation and nuclear waste all of the sudden?

>>10735601073560

Despite being an exaggeration*, this type of nuclear waste is only an issue due to political incompetence of those who do not have the political will to use nuclear waste recycling. This recycling use nuclear transmutation to actually breakdown the nuclear waste with a long half-life to something with a shorter half-life which makes the stuff safer in years compared to hundreds of thousands of years.

Nuclear waste storage is actually a massive waste of resources and leaving highly posionious(uranium oxides are nasty and water soluable) and radioactive for longer literial hundreds of thousands of years.

There is only a few hundreds to a thousand of years uranium for nuclear reactors known to exist using single usge fuel rods. But with nuclear waste recycling, it becomes hundreds of thousands of years.

*Nuclear storage facilities shouldn't actually leave the waste in a position to generate ionising radiation at such lethal levels. Current practice is to melt the used rods into a slurry and mix it with glass substance and store it in barrels while being left in cooling ponds for years.

>She had a personal tradition, when beginning a journey, of bivouacing at the head of the next morning's trail.

"Bivouacking" is the generally-accepted spelling. It appears in Merriam-Webster; "bivouacing" does not. I say generally-accepted because "bivouacking" returns approximately 103,000 results on Google; "bivouacing" returns only 8,000.

>>11192191119219

"In the grand tradition of writer-publisher relations, I folded like a lawn chair."

I laughed so hard at this I cried. At work. Damn you. I also happen to agree with EqD; the rest of the story is a subtle masterpiece; to include the radiation symbol beats the reader over the head with the "correct" meaning.

I thought your interpretation of the Message was perfectly satisfactory.

>>14556711455671

One thing a writer dreads is encountering an expert on something he's writing about, because there's no way he'll know as much as the expert. Well, the existence of nuclear waste recycling is a relief, anyway.

>>14997471499747

Re: bivouacking. I really appreciate you going to the effort to look that up.

>I laughed so hard at this I cried. At work. Damn you.

Oh dear! I hope you didn't get in trouble. But it's funny -- I think you're the first person I know of who's laughed at that.

"Subtle masterpiece"? That's the sort of critical praise one sees inside book covers. May I quote you?

By the way, you recently said this story was 35th on your list. Would I be right in guessing you were looking for something short enough to read over a lunch break?

>>15000981500098

Re: bivouacking, it's what I do. Well, one of the things, anyway.

I'm fortunate enough to have my own office. And it was probably reading something so funny right after reading something so... not.

More or less; there were roughly 1.5 million words ahead of this, and you're already in the Vault which should have put you at an even lower priority compared to the dozens on my list I've never read before, but I've wanted to read this story ever since I saw it. Something about the tags, title, summary... basically I got tired of telling myself no. I'm glad I gave in.

Oh, and sure you can quote me. I guess "the story is a subtle masterpiece" has quite the ring to it, don't it?

>>15000981500098

There are all types of arguements over nuclear proliferation which make nuclear waste reprocessing a political nightmare, because the reprocessing actually increases the fissionable elements which could be "easily" for a nation to overhaul into a nuclear weapons program.

Your fic is a really good treatment of the problems that long term nuclear storage has. Which is still a damn sight better than what we currently do with nuclear waste.

As leaving it in a cooling pond next to the nuclear reactor hoping someone gets around the solving the problem before human civilization goes away, isn't the best solution.

No really, that's the current "solution" for countries which don't use nuclear reprocessing. Because it sure as hell beats moving around thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste and the political nightmare that would ensue.

>>15033631503363

If anyone needs me, I'll be under the bed.

God damn chilling, and I didn't notice what was going on until the hidden fire line and that was in spite of having had my last lecture on radiation síckness on tuesday, 3 days ago.

That was rather terrifying, for obvious reasons.

>>11628021162802

Hey Horse_Voice not sure if you saw this comment.

Link the article at the end for maximum chills instead of the rad symbol.

>>15620601562060

I tried, but I didn't like the way it looked when it was set up that way, so I removed it. I know that sounds fussy, but every author reserves the right to fuss about his own work. Thanks for the suggestion, anyway.

Gripping and, as others have said, chilling.  Even if the speed of decay and storage protocols seem a bit ill conceived, the telling of the story nevertheless makes up for it.  I hear that there was originally a radiation symbol at the end of this story, and I'm glad that there wasn't when I read it.  I think you did a fine job of leaving sufficient clues as to exactly what horror they were uncovering.

>>16575051657505

I hope you don't mind me quoting you on my user page.

As for the symbol, you can thank Vimbert for that. Would you believe at the time, I tried to convince him to let me keep it? Well, lesson learned.

>>16579701657970

By all means.  I would consider it an honor =).

Something tells me they wondered into a old human nuclear missile silo

>>18513141851314

You're close. (Oh, and thanks for the fave!)

>>18519861851986 It was a nuclear waste storage facilities. Will i think it's a good thing they didn't find a silo  

"The Way is shut, It was made by those who are dead... and the dead keep it.... the way is shut... now you must die..."

Pretty darn good I say! although I had trouble guessing that it was radiation until after I read the link to the article, I think I had seen that article before though. Anyhoo! I think I will try and find more of your work and read it, cause this was good reading.

Also, I thought Equestria Daily had entered a ban on all grim and dark settings for their stories? have they changed or something?

>>18571331857133

Thanks! You haven't seen the last of me, because I've got some supernatural horror and cosmic horror stories slated for production next year.

EqD does have a limit to how gruesome a story can be (my story "Scrap Paper" went too far) but I've never heard of a ban on dark stuff in general, thank goodness.

>>18572301857230

Now that is of great interest to me! I am a fan of cosmic horror and the strange in general, I will be paying attention to your writings in the future! Also, I have just realised I have read your work before but without realising it, I believe it was "the Savage way" that I had read previously, excellent as well as usually I am not usually a fan of human present fics.

It is good to know that there is no ban on dark and grim material there, I had heard that they now refused to deal with it, and the marginal amount of dark fics compared to the rest must have solidified the idea in my mind. perhaps I might manage to get something on that site after all, now that would be a sight.

Anyway best of wishes with your work, I look forward to further writings of your in the future.

>>18572821857282

So the ancients discovered radioactive substances and attempted to seal it off to keep anyone from going inside and getting radiation sickness...BRILLIANT!!!  I really didn't see that coming.  

Great job!  I loved it!  

Wow. This was a great read. It would have been better if my traitorous eyes didn't wander and not read the comment directly below mine.

It was a very nice blend of sci-fi, horror, and adventure themes.  The pacing was great, the shocks were visceral and exciting, and the climax was a wonderful one, leaving just enough to the imagination to induce added thrills. Daring's calling card is pure adventure. Not many take the step and delve into the sketchy aspects of her career choice. Some things should be put on display for all the world to admire and learn.

Some things should stay buried.

>>20339102033910

Thanks! Comments like these are what make the effort worthwhile.

Silent Ponyville refrence to the best of my knowlege. /)(\  for that.

I'm quickly discovering just how good of an author you are. This is another fantastic story with a perfect amount of world building.

>>22091052209105

Thanks! Damn, and it seems like so long ago I was trying to get this one right.

I knew what you had done as soon as you mentioned the iron briars. It was still a fantastically enjoyable story. I really, really hope magical medicine can help with the curse of radiation poisoning. Poor Daring Do...

This is the best story I've read in quit some time.  I like the many places where cheap, scary scares could have happened, but didn't, and instead built up the feeling of foreboding. From the beginning, I knew something was up, that all those inscriptions could only say "Keep out, there is nothing good here."  But I was kept in suspense, wondering just what horror was to unfold, until the very end.  It was masterful.  Thank you for this story.

>>22151312215131>>22489492248949

Thank you both. I consider this my best work.

That was simply amazing. I was initially put off by the continued wall of text, but since it's Daring Do, I couldn't help but keep reading. I'm a fan of real life action/adventure novels by Tom Clancy and the like, so the similarity of this was right up my alley.

I didn't read the comments until after, and my suspicions of radiation were confirmed. Having been trained in the Army for NBC—Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical—threats, this read sent chills down my spine. There's nothing that scares me more than those 3 things. And I've been shot at, which is scary enough.

Aside from that, It was a very gripping read, and you have planted the seed in my head to keep improving my writing skills. I've seen quite a bit of animosity for EqD, but after reading this, I feel their standings are justified.

EDIT: Out of curiosity, which isotope did you research for the effects? I was guessing probably Plutonium, due to its considerably long half-life.

>>22557242255724

Well! There is no prouder moment for a writer, than when he is complimented by an expert in a field he has written about. I hope I did as well with the survival content in "The Savage Way," which you no doubt also know about.

As for writing skills, I majored in creative writing, and have read many books on the craft on my own time. It doesn't exactly open up high-paying career opportunities, but I find it's good to know how to expertly express oneself.

Thanks for the feedback.

>>22557992255799

I read the description for "The Savage Way" and was intrigued. I'll have to give it a read as well. I think I might enroll in a creative writing class myself, seeing as how I'd eventually like to write my own military action/adventure novel someday. As for being an expert, I'm really not. I was just trained on how to detect different NBC threats using meters and reactive paper. Not to mention being shown various photos of the effects of said threats. Quite stomach-turning, to say the least.

>>22558182255818

Out of curiosity, which isotope did you research for the effects?

Most of my information, and some of the titular Writing, came from this documentary, this article, and the Mayo Clinic's literature on radiation poisoning.

I think I might enroll in a creative writing class myself

Be warned: you must have a thick skin, and be prepared to make changes to your personal style, to make things easier for the people who matter most: readers. If you have that, then damn the torpedoes.

This was rather interesting, and nicely written.  

Read a lot of science fiction by chance?  I have a story you might enjoy.

>>22614462261446

I rarely read any sci-fi written after the '30s. But link me anyway.

>>22638322263832

Here ya go.

>>22653682265368

Heh, I've had this one on my "read later" list for a long time. Unfortunately, I do so much workshopping these days, I rarely have a choice in what I read. But, I'll give it a look when--if--my schedule clears up.

Sadly I regularly reference the article in question so I knew where it was going, but I still love the idea, and it's executed beautifully.

I like the way you altered the warning too since otherwise it really would just be for those of us who know the reference, even if i would have altered it slightly differently.

The way it ends on "Help me" is tragic, and really drives home the horror of the scenario.

>>22906222290622

I consider this my best work. My proudest moments were people telling me it inspired them to learn about this stuff.

You sure read fast. Thanks for the feedback.

>>22908372290837

I read a lot, it's a side effect

And so Daring Do's adventures end. Not because of traps, or her foes, but sheer brash callousness and ignorance of safety. Man, why couldn't she find the prolonged containment, even by later races, suspicious before she entered?!

Honestly, I'm a litle bit surprised that Equestria doesn't know of subatomic radiation and the containment measures for it. Sometimes the show is very sober about their science, and with X-rays available, well... (of course it could be magic, but you get my point.)

Nevertheless, this story creeped me out in a good way, and not out of fear. Congratulations, Voice, yet again you made a stunning fic.

>>23145662314566

Oh, they certainly do have it. Once, we even see a couple of backgrounders wearing radiation suits. But I figured, since Daring is a spoof of Indiana Jones, they both must take place in the past. So in Daring's world, it hasn't been invented yet.

>>23153442315344 Or maybe that canon hazmat is geared towards a different kind of contaminant, like the magical fallout from Fallout Equestria. Who knows, really?

Either way, good job, sir.

Wow. This was chilling to read. I want to hate it for what you did to Daring Do, but I can't, because you did it so masterfully. Count me among those who didn't really catch the radiation hints the first time through either, but it's obvious in hindsight and I honestly don't know how I missed it. In a way, it reminds me of a post-apocalyptic short story I read in high school, "By the Waters of Babylon", though to your credit, I think you kept the radiation subtler than that story did by the end.

I wasn't going to sleep tonight anyway. I was going to stay up and play Metal Gear Solid 3.

Crrapp.. I'm screwed.

This story has been reviewed by The Equestrian Critics Society.

Story Title: The Writing on the Wall

Author: Horse Voice

Reviewed by: Blankscape

Needless to say, the reason FiMFiction exists is to cater fan fiction that revolves around the show, and it is safe to assume that a good majority of these stories are centered on the ponies we see, more often the main six than any other. While this nice, little short starring Daring Do by Horse Voice predictably and safely depicts the titular novel character in the same familiar light we’ve come to expect, the bluntly tragic twist at the end will no doubt catch many by surprise and miff our favorite rainbow speedster were she to ever read it.

Full Review

Score: 7.5/10

>>25102702510270

Hrm, thanks for your thoughts.

To clear up any confusion, this story was inspired by this article. I wonder, if you recognized the effects of radiation sickness, would your opinion have been different?

On a lighter note, it's funny you should mention Rainbow's reaction, since a reader wrote how it would go down.

There's something else that's made me think. I, and several of my readers, consider this my best work. But my later story, "Biblical Monsters," is far more popular, and controversial. It also features character development. But I sent you guys "The Writing" instead, because "Monsters" is a love-it-or-hate-it story, and I had already heard quite a lot about it. Think I should send it in anyway?

Thanks again.

>>25121532512153

Quite damn interesting, indeed, though my speculations were hovering in between that and a dormant, airborne contagion, but mostly to the latter as suggested by the dialogue.

As for Biblical Monsters, it really is up to you whether you submit it or not. If you ever do, then we'll be happy to review it

Wow! That was a very fascinating read, and I appreciate the recommendation, Horse Voice! At first, reading through the story, I kept getting a feeling almost akin to "At the Mountains of Madness". But as the story proceeded, I quickly veered away from that. The concept of the Hidden Fire almost made me think of nuclear power.If that's the case, I would REALLY like to see how the ancient civilization harnessed it! Once again, the open end of the tale really leaves the ensuing chaos and panic within the camp up to the readers' imaginations, a notion which I find quite pleasing. All in all, this story certainly does bring to mind the feeling of Lovecraftian Horror, what with the ancient civilization, horrific end, and the "big reveal" that came about after Dr. Thorn's translations.

Conclusion - Spine tingling! A great read to really get the blood pumping!

>>25898752589875

I think we're gonna get along just fine. Further reading here.