Ьȴʊє Ͻ a r a v a n (The adventure continues elsewhere!)

Where should the characters in this thread be transported to after leaving the treasure room?

Aboveground under the tree (i.e. directly to the camp).	80.0%	[ 8 ]
Underground under the tree (i.e. under the hole in the ground that opened up).	10.0%	[ 1 ]
Indifferent.	10.0%	[ 1 ]
Total Votes:			[ 10 ]

[Dayum We Roll Hard]

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█ ▒ partone




Anyone looking up would notice that the eye had long since returned to its roost at the ceiling, but its focus continued to dart about the room. As the humans’ deliberations wore on and some of the group started making their way out of the room, the eye’s main focus seemed to be on those remaining in the room. It seemed to be patiently waiting for the humans to finally leave it alone for another couple decades.

Its next object of focus was a tall blonde human. Nasrin, in turn, was glancing back up at the mechanism above them, frowning. Then she turned her head and coughed, taking a moment to clear her throat before speaking. “I’ll wait outside,” she said to the others, deciding to play peacemaker and follow Elijah’s example. It was evident that Tobias was planning to kick up a fuss to get his way, and she could only wrinkle her nose at his behavior. She wasn’t in the mood to bicker. Passing her torch to her other hand, she walked off so as to seat herself near the top of the stairs, her back towards the group.

Watching Nasrin leave, Maria looked to Fatima for support. The eye was looking at her now, and it just bothered her with its incessant staring. If a certain amount of people would allow for this door to open, she wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible and be away from this group of vagabonds. All things considered, the only people she felt safe trusting were Fatima and Aiden. Fatima was the one who came to her rescue and Aiden was someone who hadn’t manage to offend her. He was new, just like her. If the three of them could get out, they would be out of here. “I’ll stay,” she announced quietly, gripping Fatima’s shoulder tightly.






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[anais nighteyed]

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artwork by Midori Foo, from Book of Picturesxxx

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Watching dust drift in the firelight, she waited with thinning patience. From her seat on the stairs Nasrin listened to the deliberations that continued in the chamber behind her, and her expression was one of boredom. She’d only intended to go on a quick excursion and it was drawing on much longer than she liked. If she’d known it was going to turn out in such a way she would have gone above ground to rest and leave the exploring for later. She missed the sky and feeling the sun on her face, and she had the sense that she was far from all things familiar. Inevitably she wondered if a dungeon offered the same discomforts.

The thought drew a shudder from her. She wagered the rain still hadn’t let up, so she supposed she had no better place to be. Heaving a sigh, Nasrin began to drum her fingers on her knee. She didn’t trust that the group wouldn’t provoke something while her back was turned, particularly because Tobias had the worrisome tendency to throw sharp objects at whatever irked him. Ready to act at a moment’s notice, she lingered stubbornly at the top of the stairs and refused to move.

As she sat, her attention eventually drifted to Elijah, who had been the first among them to retire to the stairs. After the arrival of the two women she hadn’t had a chance to speak with him about the matter on her mind. With the pair distracted, she decided to try her luck. “So,” Nasrin began, leaning forward. Studying him carefully, she propped her chin in her hand. He didn’t look much older than Sebastian, and the same could be said of Tobias. Where were their families? What had set them adrift? They were hardly more than boys.

“I’m curious, what brought you here? You’re not visiting a lady friend, and you seem to be on your own. Tell me, are you on the run from the law?” She could think of no way to dance delicately about the subject. Nasrin fell silent, letting the words fall like stones. The question could easily be taken as a joke, but she wasn’t trying to coax a laugh out of him. She fixed him with a piercing gaze, expecting an answer. Then she smiled, a peculiar gleam in her eye. “Your secrets are safe with me.”

[Dayum We Roll Hard]

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█ ▒ parttwo




The eye’s next object of observation was Tobias. Earlier on, whenever it stopped at him, it would blink twice innocently before moving on, and sometimes even staring until he looked up. Although there was no way that his throwing knife could have hurt it, the eye seemed to be wary of the man. Tobias was not paying much attention to the eye though; he was too busy glaring at Aiden after his incredulously comment. Yet again, it was exactly the kind of snarky comment he would have said, had he been on the other end of this. But Tobias was as big a hypocrite as one could find.

Aiden would hear a dagger whiz past his ear as he turned back toward Tobias and offered up the injured woman as a canary. He didn’t even flinch at this. Nor did he raise his weapon. He didn’t see any point in getting in a fight with this man, at least, not at the moment. For now, he just ignored him.

“Yeah, let’s send the injured out to make sure it’s safe... Brilliant!” balked Tobias, not missing a beat. “I’m rather certain everyone here’s capable of defending themselves...” Part of him, though, would have much preferred to send out an injured party member as bait. But Tobias was letting his temperamental nature get the better of him. Instead of backing down, he stood his ground. He did not believe there was anything in here that was that dangerous. At the moment, however, Tobias was not capable of very logical and rational thinking.

Sebastian ignored Tobias’s rash words, full of unneeded sarcasm. “I think it might be best if I were to stay,” Sebastian addressed the injured woman, hoping that his logic would change her mind. He wasn’t comfortable with her going first, even if the woman had her shield ability. “I feel you might have trouble supporting yourself if you’re the first to go through. It isn’t logical to send someone who is injured. It puts you at a disadvantage.”

Aiden was thinking the same thing. Now that he had a better look at the axe girl, he could see that she was injured. “Must’ve missed that yeh were injured. Kinda hard to see here, yeh know? Well then, I agree with the blond one here. Yeh shouldn’t go first because yer injured.”

He then turned to Sebastian, giving him a once over. By far, he had been the quietest and the most reserved of the group. Not only that, but he had seemed to be very reasonable, and, for the most part, non-aggressive. In Aiden’s experience, these people tended to have some kind of trick up their sleeve. But he still didn’t feel comfortable with him going. Tricks might not cut it. “I think it best if I go first. I’ve got my armor, and I’ve got my crossbow. I’m not the best in close, but I’m not completely useless either. If there is something waiting for us up there, it would probably be best that someone with a little protection go first.”

Fatima felt uneasy leaving Maria with anyone other than herself. Aiden did have a point though, the wounded shouldn’t be the first ones to test out the room, and possibly ascend the stairs. She could tell that Maria felt the same way. “And we can’t have all the best equipped people go first. There should be some to stay behind, in case whatever lurks in the tower decides to attack,” Fatima said. She turned her attention to Maria, and leaned a little closer, saying “I think that we should stay behind, and let Aiden and whoever else go first. We need to get you more help for the rib, but it won’t get any better if we’re attacked.” She realized it might happen either way, but there was a better chance of avoiding injury by staying.

Peering over her shoulder, Maria watched Nasrin leave the room with Elijah, leaving her with Sebastian, the murderous man, Aidan and Fatima. Two people she wanted to be away from, one who had a funny accent and had just happened to appear out of nowhere as if he was a phantom. She didn’t trust him for that reason. He appeared out of nowhere and had lied about being armed, so Maria had every reason to put her distrust into him, granted that she enjoyed his company more than Sebastian or the b*****d who wanted to poison an innocent civilian.

Three people, all armed and could strike in a moment’s notice. Her grip on Fatima grew tighter, her nerves getting to her. Nasrin was the only thing that she felt kept order and without her, where was the order? Nowhere. Just hopefully they would be able to figure out this puzzle. She thought back to the riddle.

Two eyes needed to open door. At the moment, all the people in the room were staring down the door. Avert the eyes and the door could open, but who said it needed just to be that one person staring at it? Two eyes needed to be on it, and so an idea popped into her head.

“One person has to be staring at the door for it to open, so here is the idea… I’ll keep my eyes open while everyone else closes theirs,” she suggested, not being able to turn to look at the probably annoyed faces of her forced partners. She could only guess that thoughts ranged from “This b***h” to “Who the hell does she think she is?”

“I’m too injured to make a run for it, so trying to leave you here is not going to work. If it works, you can follow my example once Fatima escorts me to the end,” she suggested, hoping to have them listen to her. Hopefully her idea wouldn’t be shot down. All she wanted to do was get out of here with Fatima and make for the nearest town. Looking up at her from her hunched over position, she could only hope that Fatima would support her in this. Get out of here and make way for a doctor, but what would be next? Both go their separate ways? Maria did like the idea of being a bounty hunter, getting paid to take in criminals seemed like a job just for her, maybe be part of a team split the bounties and trying to outdo each other.

"Any objections?"






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[Sypher-Anthem]

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Why don't you let me Be
Leave me Alone
You start a fire Inside
That I could never Control
You wanna see a Reaction?

Elijah at this point had returned his blade to his hands if only so his hands would lay idle while he waited on the group to decide on a course of action. He had money so the treasure they could potentially find was no where close to worth his life. The room below was fairly quiet ad with the addition of no giant eyeball watching his every move he was content in seeing how things turned out, away from its view. As a set of steps started down from behind him Elijah would lean back looking up to see Nasrin coming down now. It seemed she'd made the choice to evacuate the room as well and who knew maybe this was the course of action need to get past this. At first it didn't seem that she was as content with leaving the decisions up to those still in the room as he was as she stopped on a step close to the top and waited there for a moment. Elijah would lean forward again, but this time go into his bag. He again needed to be sure not to ring the bag of coin and paper money he was able to pilfer earlier, but he wanted to get to the knapsack that had his food from earlier. Reaching into it and taking out two of the apple slices from earlier and pop one into his mouth. They were nice and ripe and delicious over all. Elijah usually didn't have a lot of fruit in his diet, the downside of not having a way to stop them from going bad, but he was glad to have some now.

"So," she would start from behind him. He didn't mind conversation since it sure beat the awkward feeling of someone staring at your back. Swallowing his apple, Elijah would turn and lean against the wall as he looked up at Nasrin. Apparently he had peaked her interest and she wanted to know why he was traveling. True, the place of there meeting wasn't necessarily known for its friend group and green pastures so he didn't mind coming up with something to fill the gap.

"Well I guess I've been traveling alone for a while now. Nothing really prompted me to head north just kinda following the roads. I'm from south Westerwood, but I don't have a home down there now so there was no need to stay. I also wouldn't say that I'm on the run from the law. I just prefer to keep my distance from it." He finish before popping the next apple slice and hold the bag up to her in case she was starting to get hungry as well.



Location:Underground Spire
Mood: Bored
OOC:



╠ ◘ ✠ ◘ ╣"Good people only exist in times of peace. In times of chaos, there is no good or evil; Just survival."╠ ◘ ✠ ◘ ╣



Come on and cut me Down
You've gone as far as I'll Go
Now you're crossing the Line
And I am letting you Know
Well here's your Reaction!

[anais nighteyed]

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artwork by Midori Foo, from Book of Picturesxxx

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She hadn’t quite managed to extract the information she wanted to hear, but she supposed Elijah’s answer was satisfying enough. “I see.” He’d been a little vague, but who was she to judge? She had the tendency to be a private person, with good reason. Nasrin peered into the bag that was presented to her, scrutinizing its contents. “Much obliged,” was all she said to him as she withdrew a piece of fruit. She held it in her fingers and took tentative bites.

“I traveled alone while I was still in the east,” she explained. After prying into his personal affairs it only seemed right to reveal a thing or two about herself in exchange. “Once I made my way west, I was on my own for a time before I came across Sebastian by chance.” The torch was going to peter out soon, and something had to be done about it. She didn’t necessarily want her fingers burned but she wasn’t keen on stumbling around in the half dark, either. It was within the realm of possibility that someone among them would trip over one of the creatures reputed to live in the tower while they sought a way out.

Nasrin eyed her torch with disappointment, but she was surprised it had lasted as long as it had. She set it at her feet and promptly stamped out the flames. If Sebastian’s torch was to go out soon, she hoped they could rely on what little light seeped in from above. Leaning back, she looked over her shoulder to observe the goings-on in the chamber with one brow perked. They hadn’t killed one another, that was a reassuring sign. “Things seem to be going smoothly… as smoothly as they can, anyway,” she told Elijah, and then she paused to listen.

“Maria has proposed a good plan, one that involves averting our eyes from where these fabled stairs are said to be… but I have the sense she doesn’t like the company she’s keeping,” she continued, her voice low. “I think she places some trust in Fatima, that’s plain in the way she relies on her for support. I can see how Tobias might unsettle her; he’s got a lot of spines, but he may yet have a soft underbelly. Don’t get me started about that cook.” Looking away, she complied with the woman’s request. Nasrin retrieved her knife from where it rested against her leg, and she balanced it on the back of her hand while she waited for word from the others.

[Dayum We Roll Hard]

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█ ▒ partthree




Sebastian listened to the injured woman keeping his face smooth. What she was saying didn’t seemed to be the right way to go. He did not want the woman to worsen her injuries because she had to fight off one of the monster, and he wasn’t entirely sure her logic on the riddle was correct. He wasn’t sure his was correct either. They wouldn’t know until they tried and their discussion was running them in a circle.

He sighed quietly. “Alright, stay, us talking is getting us nowhere. Just keep sharp and be watchful.” He said. Then he looked at the two men. “We should go.” He said looking at them both individually before turning to leave. He wasn’t sure they would listen. He didn’t expect them to actually. They really didn’t have a reason to, but he had given his word and he was leaving. They didn’t need to delay this any longer.

Fatima was relieved that the blonde haired man was going to take the other men out of the room. Even if Maria’s hypothesis didn’t work, it would be good for just the two of them to be alone for a few moments; a chance to discuss hesitations and plans to go forward. “If some of you are worried about her injuries, rest assured that I will do everything I can to protect her if we are attacked.”

By this point, Tobias could do little more than sigh at the situation. It seemed as though he would not be getting first grab. But, as the time slowly ticked by with the group at an impasse, Tobias was able to regain some of the logical thinking portions of his brain. At that time, he waved his hand dismissively toward Maria and Fatima. The lesbian duo would be granted permission from the onyx haired thief. He still was against the current situation, but if they kept this up no one would be getting any treasure. Greedy as Tobias may have been, he was not completely blinded by it.

“Fine fine, you two can go first,” he shrugged. “Blondie is right. May there be nothing dangerous ahead.”

With that, he strolled after Sebastian and went down the stairs. Briefly, though, he’d glare at Aiden. This wayward soul was somewhat of a nuisance so far to Tobias, and the thief hated nuisances. Honestly, he half wanted to suggest the bowman go first just so he could get gutted by whatever monster lurked ahead. But he had appearances to keep up; maintain a mostly neutral and friendly persona toward the others.

It seemed it was decided. As much as Aiden didn’t want the two woman to go ahead before him, they seemed determined to. And, he had to admit, they were far more prepared for trouble in this kind of close in environment then he was. Crossbow versus swords and axes. No contest, really. If they were at a distance, he would be in his element. Here, with only feet of open space around him, he would likely get cut down before he managed to get a shot off, armor notwithstanding. For his part, he just shrugged. “Alright, I guess it’s decided.” he said. With that, he turned and walked down the stairs, following the other two men as well. Aiden caught the glare from the Mr. Daggers, sent a scowl in return, but didn’t say anything to him. Here and now definitely wasn’t the place to pick a fight with him, as much as he was irking Aiden.

And so it had been decided.

Once they were sure that they were the only two remaining in the room, Maria and Fatima steeled their wills and looked on towards the wall where the stairs should have been. As per the former's proposal, they each left nothing more than one eye open and peeled for any change in the expanse of cold stone.

Blue-grey stone upon blue-grey stone. The change could almost not be seen. If they hadn't had their attention dead set for the stairs to appear, they might never known how correct their theories were. If they weren't careful, they might have missed a section of the wall vanishing to reveal the series of steps that had been hidden away behind it. This was no figment of their imaginations; the wall was truly beyond the realm of tangibility and the stairs would take them to the final floor in the tower.

Yet, true to the singing voice's word, if any more eyes were to be on the wall, the path would never be in sight. The moment there were more than two eyes looking on that section of the wall, it would appear again...





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[Dayum We Roll Hard]

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The Inverted Tower, Fifth Floor

Having solved the riddle, the group could now advance. As could be expected, stairs opened the way to the fifth floor of the tower.

The majority of this final floor was plain. There were no more singing walls, or any more lost treasures scattered on the floors here and there like clover patches. It was almost purposeful, the way the only element in the room that could have been considered a thing of beauty were the three aqueducts from outside entered the tower on this floor and converged towards the centre of the room. Their sides were carved with images of rolling waves and the roots of trees. Their contents emptied into a circular stone gutter hoisted into the air like a halo by a series of pillars. The gutter took the water and distributed so that it would fall in a circle and all around a dish like a curtain. It was a magnificent sight and an architectural feat.

Poised in the centre of that dish was a stone sarcophagus. Carved intricately along its outside were a pattern of swirls and ancient symbols long forgotten. Removing the tomb's lid seems to be the next logical step to take, but it was heavy and impossible to push open with the strength of one alone.

[schematic one][schematic two]

[Samantha Whitfield]

↻xxＴｈｅxxｗｏｒｌｄxxｉｓxxａxxｃｒｕｅｌxxｐｌａｃｅ ・ ・ ・

After they had descended back down a floor, Tobias waited. That obnoxious chant was no more, simply gone after the first step out of that room. One positive to not going first. Along with not having to defeat whatever demon might appear. And he half expected to hear gruesome sounds—human and inhuman. However, his inner sadist would be disappointed this time. There were no deathly groans, nor the sound of a beast ready for a meal. That meant they succeeded. Which was good. Really, it was fantastic. The less obstacles in his way, the better. Obstacles got in the way of what he wanted, and he so hated being blocked or derailed.

Really, this whole spelunking excursion was a derailment. Should’ve just stayed topside, killed their horses, and left, he reminded himself. However, he had not. Something had possessed him to join his fellow adventurers on this misadventure into some strange chasm. Sometimes, he did not think. This, this was one of those times. Oh well, no harm no foul. He just hoped the only misfortune this day would be that stupid, stolen horse sliding down an incline and getting itself killed. He was really miffed about that. The rogue would have been at the next town by now, stealing riches or at least getting laid. But, alas, he was down in this dank, inverted tower.

The joy!

Though, it was time to move on now. And so Tobias would. Back into the room of wonder. The two women were no where to be seen. And with the riddle solved, he was able to find the exit and move onward. Higher and higher their group would go. What prize awaited Tobias, well, the rogue was rather anxious to find something of value. A jeweled dagger of some long dead king would be nice. Or just a jeweled dagger he could lie about. The jewels from the earlier floor would hold him over until his next heist or robbery, but he tended to blow his earnings all too quickly.

And what did Tobias find on the final floor? A tomb.

It was... a tomb.

A sarcophagus to be precise; though, Tobias was not well versed in anything but blood splatters. His neutral expression quickly turned to one of slight disgust with the whole situation. He was not afraid of the dead, or of curses; however, the last tomb he had arrived at had already been pilfered. His brief history of tomb raiding had landed him a total of nothing but a few bruises and a twisted wrist. He did not like the odds.

“Alright?” he huffed. “Let’s see what’s in her!”

And then he tried, gently at first, to remove the lid. It did not budge. Another, this time forceful push, ended without it moving. And it was not for lack of strength. Small he might be, but weak he was not. No, he could tell when he pushed that either it would take a small brigade to move it—or explosives. Unfortunately, he had neither.

“Wonderful... ideas?” he asked the crowd.

・ ・ ・ ｅｘｐｅｃｔxxｎｏxxｓｙｍｐａｔｈｙxxｆｒｏｍxxｍｅxx↺

[Agent Of Dreams]

Aiden Hale

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Remember the past, live in the present, and fight for the future.

Yeh know what I feel like?: Pensive, then curious
S'nothing that I haven't dealt with before: Cold is starting to go away, and I'm drying a little.
They're not so bad...: Mr. Daggers, The Blonde, The Dark One, Green Eye, and then Axe Lady, and Armor Lady.

Yeah, I've been around. Yeh wan' to hear about it?
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Aiden followed the rest of them downstairs, but choose not to wait for them, while the rest of them went off to wherever, Aiden leaned heavily against the stone wall next to the stair case. While pretty much everyone he had met down here were not exactly people he felt friendly with, the people who had not gone up were definitely the ones he cared least about. Axe Girl had seemed reasonable, if closed off because of her suspicion of him, which he didn't blame her for. Even to him, who had actually been through it, his story of how he had gotten here sounded... Far fetched. Not only that, but he had lied about his weapons in the beginning. Granted, he had good reasons to do so, but he hadn't expected any of them to really be able to shrug it off if he explained his reasons to them. But none of this mattered to him, really. If he were to be perfectly honest, he didn't really care what these people felt about him. They weren't his friends. Hell, he didn't even know any of their names. The only thing he cared about was getting out of here.

While whatever was going on upstairs... went on... he spent the time in reflection. He recalled the last time he had been in a situation like this. Several years before, with his friends, Hans, Dak, and Traven. Old ruins, strange riddles, and no real promise that it would all be worth it.

"You know, Aiden..." Dak said from the place where he was leaning against a wall. One side of the walls of this room had collapsed, spilling dirt, rubble, and rock all the way to the center. It was musty, the smell of mold and mildew was everywhere. The rest of the walls looked like they could go the way of the other at any moment. In short, it was just like every other ruin they had ever been in. No skeletons yet, though. That was a plus.

"What, Dak?" Aiden replied.

"I was just wondering when you were going to learn to use a sword?"

Aiden snorted at this. "Maybe about the same time as Hans over there decides to give up his books and get a real life."

"I heard that!" came a voice over towards the other side of the room, just as Dak was laughing. Hans, who had been translating the writing on the wall, looked over towards them. "I'll have both of you know that without my books, we'd never get through half of the things we come up against."

Traven chuckled. He had been over by Hans, sitting on the floor. He now stood up. "Yes, yes. And we also know that without them, you'd actually have to get out more."

Hans looked confused at this. "We're in a far off land, deep underground, in the ruins of an old fortress. We've just fought some beasts, broke through an enchantment, and I'm now trying to figure out what this writing, which I'm sure no one has read in over a thousand years, says. How much more out can I get?"

Traven and Aiden laughed, while Dak pushed himself off the wall. "Have you figured it out yet?" he asked.

Hans nodded. "Yes, luckily, before you idiots interrupted me, I finished it."

"Well, what does it say?"


"My first is in adventure, but not in trip
My second is in river, but isn't in ship.
My third is in chalice, but isn't in cup
My fourth is in ascending, but isn't in up
My fifth is in error, but isn't in flaw
My last is in talon, but isn't in claw
My whole is a beast that will eat you for dinner
Unless in this riddle game you are the winner!"


Dak shook his head. "A riddle? Really? I don't believe who ever built this place would use this to keep their treasure hidden. Anyone with the answer could just walk in and take it."

Hans shook his head. "Unlikely that whoever built this place put this here. Remember this place was abandoned long ago. All the treasure that was put here by the builders is long gone, most likely."

"What's the riddle for, then? And why are we here? Yur the one that told us we needed to come here, Hans." Aiden asked.

Hans smiled. "Ok, so maybe I lied a little about what was here..."

"A little?!" Aiden said, his voice laced with more then a little anger. "Yeh said this place was filled with treasure, just waiting for us to take it!"

Hans chuckled. "I may have exaggerated. But the enchantment we came across before and this riddle suggests that there is something here. We just don't know what."

While Aiden was still fuming, Dak nodded. "Agreed. So, do you know the answer?"

Hans shook his head. "Not yet, but I will."

Traven stepped forward. "At the end, it said something would eat us if we get it wrong."

Hans looked over at him. "Unlikely that will happen. More likely a magical trap will trigger and kill us all in some horrible and highly unspecified way."

"So don't get it wrong, basically? Because I don't want to die in an unspecified way. If I am to die, I want to know what's killed me. I don't want to go to The Mother without knowing. It will haunt my ethereal mind and ruin the peace I'm supposed to have, you know." Traven said

Everyone laughed at this. "Well, I don't think you have to worry about that this time." Hans said. "Granted, this one is pretty good, but I love riddles. I should be able to get this one eventually."

Traven leaned closer to Hans. "Remember. Ethereal mind. Haunted. No peace."

Hans nodded solemnly. "I will die happy if I get it wrong, knowing that you won't be able to come back and haunt me for my failure."

Aiden dragged himself out of his reverie. While he loved to remember those days with his friends, now really wasn't the time to get lost in his memories. Not with all these strange people about. It was about the time that Mr. Daggers went up that Aiden decided to follow. He loaded a bolt into his crossbow and ascended the stairs. This time, the wall was decidedly less solid. Mr. Daggers wasn't here, so obviously he had gone up as well. Aiden followed him, his crossbow out just in case. The fact that he didn't hear any sounds of fighting put his mind somewhat at ease, and when he got up, he found that there was no danger.

"Well, I'm glad I was wrong." he said, more to himself then to the women. He took his bolt out of his crossbow and disarmed the weapon. This place was exactly like he remembered it. Except that the women were here, and Mr. Daggers was over by the thing in the water. Aiden went to join him, and found that it was a sarcophagus of some kind. Not exactly what he had expected to find. He guessed that Mr. Daggers had tried and failed to open it, but perhaps now that he was here to help, the two of them would be able to do it. "Well, c'mon. Lets see what's inside this thing." he said, and he got a grip on the lid, waiting for Daggers to help him.


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[Sypher-Anthem]

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XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXE l i j a h X A u r e l i s
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Why don't you let me Be
Leave me Alone
You start a fire Inside
That I could never Control
You wanna see a Reaction?

As in any conversation after asking something of someone, Nasrin proceeded to reveal a little of herself i return. The two things that Elijah made note of as he took a sip of his ale, was that she had said she was from the east so he could only assume her from a sandy region and that unlike the way they'd met that, she'd been traveling with the quiet blonde for quite some time. She then went on to discuss the group and how even in this situation, they all seemed to be fractured, especially maria who she described as being jumpy around all of them but Fatima. That wasn't a surprise considering they'd arrived together, but what was to be gained from all of this? Was she trying to some how imply that she considered him among the few there in which to tell her thoughts? If so then maybe they had a little more work between them at least as for as her still being his cover to the next town. 'Who knows? I might even splurge for the rooms at an in for the trust. Then help myself to their purse before being on my way. Fairs only fair.' The dark indigo haired male thought as he nodded at what she had to say.

The group excluding now Maria and Fatima were now making their way down. This was a signal that either they'd all settled on a theory to test or that the two females were now a flashy splat on the towers grungy walls. Waiting a with the others to see whether the little test was successful, Elijah watched the group fan out of the room a little. 'No love lost within the group still? Not like I was expecting it to change quickly.' he mused to himself partly glad they just decided to keep their hands, arrows, and pointy objects to themselves. After a couple minutes Elijah readied his things back into his bag and then the bag on to his back. Sword in hand he took a few steps up and looked over the the room. No bloods stains, now screams, no annoying voice in his head, and to top it all off; A fully functioning staircase. The group now had a means of advancing and Elijah could only hope that at the very least they were almost out of the tower. The treasure would have been a nice bonus, but the green eyed male was really only just missing breeze in his hair sun on his skin, not to mention he couldn't wait to be rid of the thought of giant lizards gnawing on him. The next floor atleast felt better as the running water stopped the place from getting stuffy. From the layout it was clear the the room was meant to act as a focal point, or maybe the entire tower was constructed with this room in mind. What was this room? Well at its center everything became pretty clear.

Placing himself right behind the two girls who were he first to get eyes on the room, Tobias and Aiden were the first to head to the rooms heart and the sarcophagus. A dead man or at least ones box had made this place their burial ground and the two eager ones seemed to waste no time in trying to investigate who their humble host was or atleast what he had to offer inside. The slate eyed Tobias would be the first to try and fail with Aiden not being to far behind hoping to turn it into a group effort. At this point Elijah had no problem sitting back and watching them strain themselves since he figured that if he had to put his special talents forward to discovering treasures, he should get first dibs if not all of it. Now all they had to do was realize this, or pull a hernia denying it.


Location:Underground Spire
Mood: Bored
OOC:



╠ ◘ ✠ ◘ ╣"Good people only exist in times of peace. In times of chaos, there is no good or evil; Just survival."╠ ◘ ✠ ◘ ╣



Come on and cut me Down
You've gone as far as I'll Go
Now you're crossing the Line
And I am letting you Know
Well here's your Reaction!

[artfreek]

¥ Sebastian Beird ¥

Sebastian made his way down the stairs and settled against the wall. He waited patiently as the rest of the group slowly moved out of the stair way and hopefully to the next floor. He let out a sigh once the long haired rock man had went up. “Quite the group we have here.” He said rubbing his face a little. He doubted very much that they would ever be able to work as a team. Not that he could expect much more from a random group of travelers. There was too much unknown between them, but it was the time to stop and chat about each other's
life's. Doubted they would be truthful anyways.

After waiting a while he made his way back into the room, but not before handing his torch to Nasrin. It was a meager assistance to give, but her own had burnt out. At least with his she could see around her though his torch was coming to its end. The steps were easily found and ascended. Sebastian was not surprised to be met with the sound of rushing water which seemed to theme the building. The sarcophagus, however, was not expected. He settled next to it resting his hands on it's lid, closing his eyes.

“Brody get yer a** over here.” He was almost as bad as Miles staring around like. It was a waste of time to stare.
“I can't move this thing by myself.”

“Maybe we shouldn't move it. It being a burial ground and all.” He said glancing nervously.

“Anythin' with a tomb this fancy is going to have something worth stealing. Now get over here.” Randal places his hands on the stone and Brody follows suit with a grimace. Stupid superstitions. “Push.” And they gave the lid pushed on the lid, grunting with the effort, until it tipped to the other side.

Then suddenly Sebastian was seeing Randal in front of him leaning to look in the sarcophagus. The switch was odd, but not surprising. Brody's anxiety was palpable than Randal's curiosity.

He started ringing his hands. Brody was taught that it was bad luck to disturb the dead. Randal pulled out gold and silver off the skeleton with a smile, shoving all the pieces in the bag. Then came the foot steps. Sebastian had been waiting for them. Randal looked away and the Sarcophagus started to glow. Brody hadn't registered the noise. He looked in and the body was gone. All that remained was a glowing light. Impulsively he reached down his hand passing through where the bottom should have been. His eyes widened. It was a gateway. It had to be. Than Randal was grabbing Brody and they were moving. Brody heard the noises now.

Seastian's vision was met with a closed sarcophagus as he opened his eyes. “Be alert,” he said studying the ancient writing. “They're close. Once it's open they'll come.”

[anais nighteyed]

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artwork by Midori Foo, from Book of Picturesxxx

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Letting out a yawn, her expression was one of disinterest as she toyed with her knife. Cheek resting in the palm of her free hand, she rolled it over her knuckles and caught the weapon when it slipped from her grasp. She heard Sebastian take his leave from the chamber filled with voices and moss. His footfalls drew nearer, and she sensed the tension left behind. Others followed him, retreating to the stairs. She caught the silent exchange between the pair, the glare Tobias directed at the cook and the scowl he received in return. Nasrin said nothing, eyeing them warily.

The wait wasn’t long. Much to her surprise, their efforts did coax the stairs out of hiding. She hadn’t believed there was anything more to find in the tower. A few among them pressed onward, and she rose to her feet. She gave a little laugh at Sebastian’s remark and gratefully accepted his torch. It hadn’t taken long to deduce that as a group they were fairly obstinate, particularly with one another. Naturally, coming to an agreement on any matter would be a trial. She could only guess what was at the root of this. Distrust was an obvious influence, perhaps paired with irritable moods caused by foul weather and lack of comfort.

She urged her companion to go ahead without her, waving him on. Nasrin was content with trailing behind him, scrutinizing her surroundings for danger. She was one of the last to enter the fifth chamber, greeted by the sound of the water running through the channels that converged there. Her gaze fell to the stone structure that sat in the center, veiled by a waterfall. “All this for a dead man?” The burial ground of choice implied he’d been someone of importance. The contents of the sarcophagus were sealed. Tobias had a go at the lid but his attempts to move it were in vain, and Aiden went to assist him.

Sebastian laid his hands upon it, but she knew his intentions were not quite the same. As he peered into the past, she watched him and held her breath. When he delivered his findings she met them with amusement. Now she understood why they hadn’t pounced despite the opportunities. Ready to spring, the grip on her knife’s hilt was firm. “Open it,” Nasrin said, undeterred. “Open it and let them come. I want to know if there’s anything to glean from this trip.”

[Samantha Whitfield]

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“Well, c’mon. Lets see what’s inside this thing.”

Tobias failed to move it. Aiden came over, ostensibly to help. Then Tobias remembered that he was trying to garner adoration and affection and all that other bullshit from his fellow wayward souls. So, instead of snapping a snide comment at the blond or ignoring him, he put his hands back onto the lid and decided to make amends for their earlier back and forth. Who knew if that would matter. Tobias did not want to make friends, but the rogue knew that being liked—and appearing to like others—was important until those people weren’t useful. At the moment, the others were probably still useful.

“Be alert,” said Sebastian studying the ancient writing. “They're close. Once it's open they’ll come.”

Grey eyes turned to the other blond. Is he some sort of psychic? Tobias questioned, still not sure how he was getting all this information from thin air. He would have to pay more attention to that one. Up until now, he had not seemed too special. Sebastian’s warning was then followed by Nasrin ordering them to open the lid, regardless of any danger that would pose. Tobias was more than happy to oblige. He was reckless. Nasrin seemed prepared for danger as she drew a knife.

“Sure sure!” he nodded. “One... two... three!”

On three, the two of them would push. And, this time, the sarcophagus’ lid would budge. The two of them had almost thrown the thing into the pool of water they were standing in. Tobias flashed a nervous smile Aiden’s way. Maybe they had put too much oomph into that?

Either way, Tobias did not peek inside of the coffin just yet. His eyes went right to the rest of the room. Guarded, his hands hovered outward. He would prefer not to have to start firing icicles, but since everyone besides Aiden was out around... Friendly fire, heat of the battle, or something along those lines. Take them out right after whatever was about to show up.

・ ・ ・ ｅｘｐｅｃｔxxｎｏxxｓｙｍｐａｔｈｙxxｆｒｏｍxxｍｅxx↺

[Dayum We Roll Hard]

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With the heavy stone slab off and the sonorous echoing of the great sound of stone hitting stone finally ceased, they would finally be able to see what treasurers were inside. There would no turning back now, since with where the would be difficult, if not impossible, for the group to retrieve the heavy lid easily.

The sarcophagus's host was nowhere to be found. Nowhere was there any sign of glittering treasures – those had all been taken away long ago and were now crumbling dust on the tower's second level. Located dead centre in the tomb, amongst a blanket of spider's silk, was a bound book. Its cover, that which had kept the inner pages safe for so many years, was ready to crumble way. Placed haphazardly around it and throughout the sarcophagus were a dozen dark and smooth ovular stones, each the size of a large human head.

A shrill shriek erupted from behind them. The creature reared its beak and another spread its feathered wings threateningly. A third was climbing in through one of the opening upside-down arches in the wall. Its strong clawed feet allowed it to perch on the side of edge of the arch, and its scales-lined tail helped it to balance. There were at least a dozen more of these creatures appearing before the humans. These were the reptilian bird creatures in Sebastian's vision, and the largest were almost the size of an ostrich. They stared at the humans with their beady eyes and were advancing, slowly, cautiously.

The humans were all prisoners, with the tower being their cage.


((Due to the nature of the role, please let Nasrin pick up the book.))