A Totally Reputable Salvage Run [Private]

[Lord of the Deep]

"That's good the whole stuffing your soul into a trinket thing always struck me as creepy. Though why haven't they tried putting any of the imperial Ti'ama back in their planets now that the chaos taint is gone?" Sorcha asked as she finished checking the last room in their half of the floor and started heading down the stairs "What's the deal with Nevreso any way?"

[AnimeEyeshime]

"They wish they could go back, I bet. It doesn't work that way. Once a Ti'ama's left, they can't go back. It was die in the Fall, or live a diminished life. It's telling of the Ti'ama they chose what they did," Dacj said, eyeing the stairs carefully as she made her way down. "Not sure what Nevreso's deal is, as I haven't cared to talk too much with Shimy on the matter. I think she's prophetic now, and it's driven her half-mad, if she wasn't already. Precognition is an ability that doesn't lend itself to sanity." That was perhaps an understatement. She supposed she should be glad that precognition wasn't quite what her secondary element was--like it wasn't already bad enough.

[elfgurl1234]

"I wouldn't imagine so," the cheetah remarked at last. "Especially not if visions were frequent." There were many things in life that were often best left unknown ahead of time after all. Plus after a time, it would likely become difficult to separate current reality from things yet to come, which would very easily lend itself toward insanity in his opinion. Not all magical abilities were good.

[Lord of the Deep]

"Ow that really does sound similar to the lich's then, hopefully there isn't the negative effects on sanity that Lichdom does, a planet full of insane Ti'ama wouldn't be a fun place to live." Sorcha thought for a moment on the take about prophesy "Hmm from what I've read it can be handled alright if you only see possible futures and the visions are infrequent. If you see fated events your kind of screwed, definitely an ability that after a point less is more and since contractor magic is so strong..."

[AnimeEyeshime]

"Well, if they don't like it, they can always go back to sleep, I guess." She doubted they really saw that as an option--sitting out of their little game? Not likely. "Not just Contractors either, Meerowyn's people have a history of it as well." Oh, that was right. Sorcha didn't know about Eli's houseguest. "Ah, Meer's from Phanes, the non-Imperial part. She's come to keep Eli abreast of what everyone else on the planet is doing, since it'll be his job to get into the empire and drop the barrier separating everyone." She shook her head. "Anyway, the first Queen of the northern nation Threadina was a noted prophetess. They built a tower to house her prophecies--a library's worth. She was very prolific. She also killed herself rather than go completely batty."

[elfgurl1234]

Hm, such cheery conversation they seemed to keep having. Then again, they were on a dead planet, so the atmosphere didn't entirely lend itself to such talk. At least this information was still good to know. Speaking of Contractors and Ti'ama and whatnot... [How are things going on your end?] he asked Elti, considering that they hadn't really spoken with her or the kuppy since finding the magic box.

[Lord of the Deep]

"See the prolific part is bad you don't want to really see more then major events in the near future that relate to your self, stronger then that and your in real trouble" As the came on to the landing of the new floor Sorcha offered her black box to Dacj "You want to try leading the way for a bit? we shouldn't have to worry about traps until we find the treasury so it should be safe enough. Word of advice never try and salvage any thing built by ninjas it's just not worth it."

[AnimeEyeshime]

[Well! We are just starting on the next floor down. There was a large audience hall. It looks like beneath it is mostly storage for that hall, but we are going through it slowly,] Elti replied cheerfully. Which meant the manifested Ti'ama was watching Eli sort through things. [I think Sorcha will be quite pleased at the news; there are many shiny things.] For all her Contractor's protests to the contrary, the young Ti'ama seemed quite unconcerned with the prospect of "salvaging" things from Zephyrus' royal palace.

"Her prophecies are apparently still accurate to the modern era--a thousand years plus later--so, yeah, 'real trouble' is kind of putting it mildly," Dacj said wryly. She took the black box carefully--if Eli had done his job right there shouldn't be a drop of magic coming off her for the box to alert anyone else to--and quirked an eyebrow at the unsolicited advice. "I take it ninja teasuries are most heavily booby-trapped," she said with a chuckle.

As they ventured onto the new floor, the box in Dacj's hand began rapidly clicking when she got close to a door on one wall--it was notable the thing had a proper door, most of these places looked to have been arches with fabric hangings for privacy. When she threw her weight against the wooden door and was able to peer inside, it wasn't surprising they had decided they needed one. "It's--I can't tell if it's an armory or just a training salle, but there are definitely weapons on the walls in here," she called over to the others. "And apparently some of them are magic."

[elfgurl1234]

Yes, I am sure she will be glad of that indeed, he replied, smiling faintly at the news. Sounds like we're going to have quite a bit to carry tomorrow. "That's some serious far-sight right there," Seth remarked when Dacj mentioned the prophecies still being accurate. If she had seen all of the mess currently going on with her home world over the ages, he couldn't really blame her for suiciding before she went mad. The cheetah Hyte watched carefully as the black box was handed from Sorcha to Dacj, and reminded himself to keep back a bit.

When the clicking started up again he unconsciously took a small step back, even though it was clear that the box was reacting to the room with the door. "Enchanted weapons? Bet those were fun in battle," he remarked, shining his flashlight at what was open of the door to peek in from where he was. "Perhaps another room for Eli to check out later." The cheetah Hyte decided to go ahead and pass on the news to Elti. [We've located a room with weapons. The sensor indicates that some of them are magic.]

[Lord of the Deep]

Sorcha laughed a little "Forget the treasuries even the bathrooms are heavily trapped" Sorcha perked up when the magic sensor went off then cringed when Dacj slammed through the door "Ah Dacj for future reference make sure the magic isn't coming from the door itself before messing with it, magic doors aren't normally made to serve tea and cookies..." Sorcha's voice trailed off as the contents of the room stole her attention and she walked in playing her flashlight along the various weapons "Sweet this is a nifty find, I wonder what these babies can do..."

[AnimeEyeshime]

"The door wasn't magic," Dacj said with a shrug. For one thing, even with her magic sealed, she could still read things if they were that close. There hadn't been any runes or anything. And she had a feeling the Zephyrians were pretty practical as well... "Probably fairly standard magic on these, actually. I think the Imperial Legions' weapons were all enchanted to never lose an edge, never rust, that sort of thing. Actually, that's probably why they're in such good condition..." Most of the swords and polearms that made up the majority of the room did indeed look as if one could simply pick them up and put them to use. "The Empire was pretty highly segregated--usually women in power were Contractors. So the menfolk went off to the army, became part of the Legions that conquered new worlds. Actually--I think that member of Zephyrus' royal family on Phanes, who became one of their first Emperors? Pretty sure he was very high up in the Legions. I'm not sure if he was ever a Contractor, actually..." Perhaps in the early uncertain days on Neo-Sovreem, the security of a human army had seemed more familiar? It was difficult to say. "So these strike me as more Legionnaire weapons than anything a Contractor would use."

[Good to know! We will have to put that on our list of things to investigate tomorrow, I suppose,] Elti replied thoughtfully. [So far even the magic things we have run across are quite harmless on the whole. I think it is the shrines below where the magic will be the greatest...the most concentrated.]

[elfgurl1234]

Although Dacj could likely detect magic to a small degree on her own, Seth had to agree with Sorcha that a little more caution with regards to the door itself might have been prudent. [That makes sense,] he replied to Elti's remark on most of the magic being in the shrines. [We'll just have to be extra cautious down there.] "Well, whether they be Contractor or Legionnaire weapons, they are nice," he remarked, padding closer to the room to get a better look at them. He wouldn't have minded picking up one or two were it not for the vague risk that some of the magic might be more than just keepings the weapons in shape.

[Lord of the Deep]

Sorcha gave Dacj a questioning look "How would you know the door isn't magic? The sensor only says whether there's magic in the direction it's pointed, with out trying to get an angle with the door but not the room covered you wouldn't know if the door itself was magic." Sorcha continued to admire the weapons picking up one of the swords and testing it's balance "Hmm so no vorpal blades, or swords that shoot lightening or such? Oh well while not quite as fun ever sharp blades are still a good catch."

[AnimeEyeshime]

Dammit! Dacj shrugged nonchalantly. "I know Contractors. If it was magic, you could tell by sight. Ostentatious and all." She hoped her excuses worked; she really didn't want to admit her shameful secret to one more person unless it was absolutely necessary. "Nah, I think they were more practical about that kind of thing. Leave big displays of power to the Contractors and all." She began the task of checking each weapon individually with the black box's aid--when one didn't click, she made a mental note of it. As she went around the room, she found perhaps two thirds of the weapons were magic of some kind. The other third were in somewhat of a sorrier state, lending credence to her assertion of the kind of magic they used.

[Of course,] Elti agreed with Seth. [But the sights alone should be worth it. There is something I would like Dacj to see, particularly.]

[Lord of the Deep]

Sorcha sighed "Dacj anti-intruder magics are almost always concealed until they activate, traps are alot less effective if intruders know their there. Ostentatious and flashy in this case would be a petrification spell or some other impressive display of magical force but not something visible before you set it off."