The Drowned Palace Group 12

"That's, well, there's no other way to say it than that's creepy!" Ripley said, gaze shifting earnestly between Pyxis and Robin. "Let's not get stuck here forever, okay?" he followed with a smile. Locked in now despite having no luck with an examination of the ceiling, Ripley breathed in the dank odor of the dampness and moss. There's got to be some way out of here and it's unlikely to be physical force.

"I'm going to poke the algae in a second," Ripley said, "but I do wonder if the algae may also respond to different lighting conditions; maybe various dimness, flashing, or being illuminated from different angles? Maybe if poking it doesn't do anything, we can try some variations of flashing your wand, Pyxis. We've been talking this whole time so I doubt it responds to sound, though we haven't sang to it, I guess. What other ways can we manipulate it? Smell maybe? Perhaps it'll reveal all if we fart on it?" Ripley looks amused with himself. "Not it!"

Taking a moment to gather himself after his conspicuously sophomoric attempt at levity, Ripley approached the algae cautiously, examining it more closely. Then he reached out his finger and poked it stiffly right on the "r" in search.