Chapter 1 - More Adventurous

[BigRedRod]

The guilds rely upon fortune seeking idiots, I was one such idiot long ago. I was just a lucky idiot for all of those jobs only to have cost me one of my eyes.
- opening passage from Lord Roenburg of Lud's memoires

Webs and dust. Clambering down into the small hole in the earth and down the slope of compacted fallen stone blocks, soil and other pieces of unidentifiable debris which have been deposited through the gap in the ceiling, the group enter the ruin. The bright sunlight of the warm summer's day does little but pick out flecks of dust, strands of spider webbing and several bodies busy jostling one another for space in the small room immediately beneath the surface.

The site was two days from Gomorrah city. All in all there were seventeen travelling together towards the Ehb ruin. Three from the Xerxes dragoon guild, all of whom travelled together in their large covered wagon and associated little with their hirelings during the journey. Of the hirelings there were fourteen Two who seemed like regular members of these trips and had something approaching a relationship with the "Guildsman Superior", Robin his younger companion, Tak, were a friendly pair and they had picked the only surefire way of both staying alive and getting paid on an expedition, not going inside the ruins. Now they were both busily setting up the camp that would serve as home for however long the job ends up taking.

Gradually eyes adjust the gloom and the voice of one of the two guildsmen who are manning the initial descent in to the ruin wafts through the enclosed space. The cool steady voice muffled slightly by the silk mask gives a few brief orders,
"Jamis! Assemble with your men in the next room, you will accompany me this way. Guildsman! Have the remainder join you in exploring the other side."
A trio of lanterns are lit and two of them quickly move through the looming dark portal of the only open door in the room. As half of the group move to the adjacent chamber things become rather less crampt and there is a chance to have a look around.

Flickering light illuminates massive engravings covering most of the walls. Each pictures huge giants locked in battle with dragons. If the engravings are simple artwork or serve to tell a story is hard to tell, although a pair of stone benches clearly once stood in the centre of the room. One has, however, received a large stone block upon it during the upheaval that opened the entryway in to the ruin and is now just a pile of rubble. A large glass window, almost seven feet tall and over five across dominates one of the walls although it is covered in the filth of ages past and the lantern light reveals only the general idea of earth and rocks on the other side of the glass.

An impressed noise comes from one corner of the high-ceilinged room and a moment later there is a wash of neutral light coming from the peculiar metal framing surrounding each of the engravings and joined with one another. The man with the lantern, the mercenary named Leto, mutters something sarcastic under his breath about the wonders of the long dead ancients.

The sound of a quill pen dragging across paper strikes up and all eyes turn upon the apprentice guildsman. The man might be slight, but it is hard to tell with his large black robe covering his body, black silk gloves on his hands and the silk head-covering with the patterning of three red claw marks across the eyes that mark him as belonging to the Xerxes dragoon guild. The only element of colour on his person is a broach in the shape of the guild-symbol, a red panther. In one of his gloved hands, he holds a small notepad with a miniature inkpot built in to the side and some sort of covering upon it which keeps the ink inside yet allows the pen to be dipped in, his other holds a quill and is rapidly moving across the page.

Aside from the open door and hole in the ceiling only one other exit from the room exists. A large blank stone door sits between two of the engravings with two small depressions about four feet from the ground upon it. With no sign of hinges or handle the door would appear to open via sliding in one direction. Looking up from his notepad, the junior Guild nods towards the door,
"You heard my colleague. We're going that way."

Map
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*END -bguihd

[Tamarind]

Sevilin looks around with curiousity and a little awe, his attention quickly captured by the intricate engravings of giants and dragons. He gazes intently at the scenes until the guildsman's voice cuts across his reverie - with a start he turns and moves quickly to take up a position a couple of paces back from the door and to one side, drawing his blade and assuming a guarding position, leaving plenty of room for anyone who wishes to examine the door itself.

[chalice]

"Amazing..absolutely wonderful..." murmurs Inyx happily to herself, abosrbed in her study of the old stained glass window. It's unclear for a moment whether she has actually heard the Guildsman's order; but then she turns reluctantly and blinks over her eyeglasses at the group. "Hmmm...sorry...what?" A chunk of dusty cobweb has attached itself to her silver hair, and she already has a large smudge of dust rubbed absent-mindedly onto one sculpted cheekbone.

She looks with mild envy at the Guildsman's notebook-contraption - she herself is struggling to balance a small sheet of paper and scribbles her notes with a well-chewed pencil.

[Thanos]

Bollan for his part isn't interested in any of the trappings on the walls or what the others are doing. With his helmet in one hand and with his other balancing his sword on his shoulder he is more intent on being ready for danger by knowing that it is coming. When the call by the guildsman is given he is already waiting and ready to move out. Strapped to his thigh is his gladius in case the hallways become to narrow for him to even lunge effectively with his much larger sword. Fortunately he doesn't need the full flashy swing of the arena here, just the quick and powerful lever action that having a long handle allows for.

[The Alcotroll]

Hargin moves to investigate the door, polishing his steel-rimmed glasses on his beard before gingerly blowing dust from the stonework.

He gently runs his fingers over its surface, before extracting a roll of tools from his belt and prodding the depressions with a metal probe.

[OOC: check the door to see if it is locked and how to open it. Also checking for traps and picking any locks.]

[Dev]

Like most of the other spelunkers, Daison stands at rapt attention. Unlike them, his attention is fixed not on the room, but on someone standing on the other side of it. He masks his nonchalant gravitation in that direction by pretending to be interested in the glowing metal.

"Hmm," he smirks. "Jezrit? ... quaint."

He slowly sidles over to Inyx, randomly glancing at her notebook, then reaches a hand out to her hair.

"A bit dusty here, isn't it love?"

He speaks hushedly while attempting to extricate the cobwebs from her hair, perhaps 'accidentally' brushing his hand against her neck.

[chalice]

Inyx blinks again. "Dusty?...Oh, hmm, yes...I suppose it is...thank you..."

She tosses her head to assist with the extrication of cobweb from her hair...perhaps 'accidentally' causing a cloud of dust to fly into the young mage's face...before moving over to see what Hargin is making of the door.

[BigRedRod]

Hargin's assessment of the stone door doesn't take long. Rather than using the traditional system of hinges, this particular door is very clearly built to slide sideways in to a hidden cavity within one of the walls. Pressing an ear close and apply some gentle tapping around the engravings with a tiny metal hammer, which the dwarf carries for just such purposes, confirms the presence of a hidden cavity. The two depressions in the door are there to aid sliding the heavy door sideways.

The dwarf finds no traps or locks, but it seems likely that given the age and state of repair of the structure it will most likely need a bit of effort to open.

[The Alcotroll]

Hargin straightens and brushes dust from his beard, gesturing absently over his shoulder.

"'Tis quite safe, look you." he announces in a lilting accent, "There's no traps or locks. Just give it a push now."

[Thanos]

Bollan puts his helmet on and using his left hand pulls the door open as Hargin suggests.If it is trapped you will pay dearly for your failure to detect it. Bollan follows the door to the side, just in case something comes bolling through it.

"There we go..."

[Tamarind]

Sevilin tenses as Bollan heaves at the door, trying to be sure he's ready for whatever might be behind it...

Who knows what might be lurking down here?

[BigRedRod]

With the application of considerable effort the retired gladiator eventually convinces the sliding mechanism to allow the heavy stone door to open. The illumination from the metal framing isn't strong enough to penetrate much of the darkness beyond.

Squinting in to the dusty gloom, Bollan notices strips of metal running around the walls of the room at waist height and a flight of stone stairs descending down to unknown depths.

Turning to his companions Bollan sees the group heading in the opposite direction gradually disappear from view as they venture further in to the ruin. As the warrior moves his head his peripheral vision and Leto's lamplight pick out an unexpected shape and his body slips towards a combat stance for a split second before it becomes apparent that the motionless figure standing in the dark is little more than a statue. The details however, are lost to the darkness.

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
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*END 1pilf9

[Dev]

"Ah, progress!" Daison announces boldly, grinning especially at the petite cleric nearby. "Very good, very good." He continues to nod--as if he has some authority to do so--and steps over to the doorway, looking over the shoulder of the immense Bollan. When he has to squint to see much further, he says nothing more and instinctively, his hand goes out to touch the strip of metal running along the wall.

[Thanos]

Bollan untenses and says, "Well, there is a staircase that goes down and another statue in there. Its pretty dark so we need some light."

[BigRedRod]

The soft glow gradually spreads around the waist-high metal strip as Daison briefly lays his hand upon it. Gloom is pushed back as the wizard steps into the dusty hallway. A closer look at the statue, and its companion which emerges as the room fills with light, reveals a pair of highly stylised, yet elegant, sculptures of humanoid forms carved from a light blue stone. Both clutch spears crafted from an almost black metal although it doesn't seem possible to remove either without first breaking the hand of the statue.

Peering around the room reveals little, another door and the staircase are the only other features of the room. The stone door sits at a slight angle in its doorway. If one was to lie upon the ground it would be possible to peer into the next room. A brief glance down the broad stone steps reveals little, a lack of light once again working impeding the exploration.

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
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*END -fgwaaf

[Tamarind]

Moving up Sevilin digs out his lantern from his pack and lights it. Holding it in his off hand he moves slowly into the room, illuminating the still-dark areas as best he can.

[Thanos]

Bollan follows Sevilin clutching his sword in both hands now ready for something to come up from the stairs, the statues to come alive, or the ceiling to fall in on all of them.

Not exactly exiting, yet. Of course, for all I know there will be nothing exiting and I wont have to work any harder than opening a few old doors.

[chalice]

Inyx smiles with almost child-like delight when the ancient lighting system begins to function.

She steps lightly into the room, moving over to inspect the statues at close quarters - not touching, but walking right round them to get a good look.

[BigRedRod]

Sevilin's lantern light adds a layer of yellowish light to the neutral glow from the metal strips running around the walls as the youthful half-elf draws closer to one of the statues. The light blue stone has a thick dusty coating, but like the rest of this room, there are only small amounts of rather pitiful spiderwebs. Aside from the dust the statue carries no sign of age or clues to quite what it might represent aside from a faintly regal appearance.

Leto strides in to the room with the guildsman following on his heels, glancing about occasionally and transferring his observations to the paper. The warrior keeps one hand upon his sheathed blade as he looks at Inyx moving toward the second statue,
"Real regal looking. Maybe they were kings... Well crafted spears though."

The guildsman looks up at Leto and the silk hood shifts slightly, perhaps the man beneath is smiling,
"I wouldn't advise taking one. Those two statues are likely to be Ehb kings, the rest of the structure should contain other marks of leadership. The spears though were the mark of leadership, one for each who took power. To touch such an icon is... well, not something I'll be doing."

With a shrug Leto answers and steps towards the stairs in order to peer below,
"The ancients never were one for jewels I suppose, but if I was a King I'd want everything made of gold and covered in emeralds and rubies."

Hargin crosses the room to stand beside Leto. Splashes of light from Sevilin's lantern and the neutral glow of the room allow a few glimpses below. From this angle it is hard to see much of the room, but it would appear to be a hallway. A hallway strewn with rubble and containing several large urns.

[Tamarind]

Sevilin peers closely at the top few stairs, then glances at Hargin,

"What do you think Hargrin, safe enough to venture down them?"

Hope I'm not seeming too cautious...

He pauses to allow Hargin to examine the steps in good light, focusing his own attention on the edges of the lamplight...

[Dev]

Thoroughly uninterested with actually exploring the ruins further, Daison stands frozen with a hand outstretched towards one of the black spears. His eyes shift guiltily to the guildsman.

'Not something he'll be doing' .... what a perfect know-it-all.

He casually waves his hand back to his side with a dainty twist, then stands back for a more critical observation of the figure. He finds its ornate decorations strangely compelling, and most befitting of royalty. Daison soon finds himself lost in the figure's face--its eyes reflect the lantern light in a most captivating manner--and surely even the best sculptor in the Dagern would gape in awe at the well-chiseled features.

A work of divine art with which he would easily fall in love: if only she would stop looking at those two worthless mounds of stone!

[chalice]

"Anything in particular you wish me to do?" enquires Inyx.

Unfortunately for Daison, the offer is directed at the guildsman.

[BigRedRod]

"Umm. No, nothing really ... errr yet. Our companion the dwarf has the right idea."
The masked man hastily returns to scrawling notes. Clearly he is more than happy to answer questions regarding the Ehb but any call for actual leadership is a little beyond him.

With the draconic sorcerer overlooking his actions, Hargin carefully makes his way down the steps. Occasionally coming to a halt and investigating a random stone for several minutes before continuing. The stairs have no banister, just open space on both sides.

Dancing flecks of dust dance in the lamplight and find their way in to eyes, ears and noses making progress intensely irritating. Eventually Hargin sets his feet down upon the floor at the end of the stairs. The room below has the same lofty ceiling height as the level above, at least ten feet from floor to ceiling. Earth greets the dwarf at the bottom of the steps and in the blackness his eyes pick out the details of a shattered window before him through which the surrounding earth has been able to enter. To his right is another.

Carefully heading for one of the walls the dwarf outstretches one of his hands and places his palm against its metal strip. Light spreads outwards from his palm and fills the room with the now reassuring neutral glow.

Behind the steps the room has suffered heavy structural damage, earth and rubble abruptly ends the room where it once most likely stretched onwards. Cracks run outwards along the outer wall and Hargin quickly surmises that the outer wall suffered extensive damage at some point and now the stony earth of the surrounding land has rolled inwards and filled a section of the room from ceiling to floor. His innate understanding of matters relating to earth and stone tells the dwarf that as long as he doesn't start poking at it things will most likely not deteriorate further in the near future.

Aside from the large collapsed section the key feature of the room is the collection of large urns which could be seen from above. Each is set upon a small stone platform almost exactly the same size as the base and about two inches deep. The urns are the familiar green colour of oxidised copper and balloon outwards from their small bases to spheres of around four feet across. A lid sits atop each, topped with an outgrowth topped with a ball that serves as a handle for removing it. The urns are each patterned with similar but unique artistry. A ring of spear-wielding figures around the mid-section is a theme which occurs on each of the large copper objects. Looking away from the nearest urn, Hargin spots that one on the other side of the room has fallen from its pedestal, the urn lies upon the ground surrounded by dirt, a faint sparkle from the earth surrounding the mouth of the fallen urn briefly catches the attention of the dwarf.

Only one exit exist in the room, a plain stone door similar to those found on the upper level stands beside the dwarf. Confident that nothing is lurking in the shadows after a brief scan, Hargin looks upwards and calls to his companions,
"All is good."

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
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*END -kobvfx

[Tamarind]

As Hargrin reaches the ground safely Sevilin becomes aware he's been holding his breath and breathes quickly to make up for it. Holding the lantern high he moves quickly to join the dwarf below, pausing for a moment to let the glow from the lantern play over the broken urn, curious as to what it is that's catching the light.

[chalice]

Inyx makes a final note, carefully adds the way down to the map she is making of their progress, then tucks her pencil behind her ear and moves to follow Hargin and Sevelin down into the room the dwarf has entered.

"Isn't this great?" she murmurs to Daison in passing. "Come on, we might miss something..."

She scrambles gracefully down, moves out of the way of any following, and begins frantically scribbling again.

"Please don't touch that until I have all the context down," she says anxiously to the two investigating the broken amphora. "The context in which an object is found is awfully important, you know..."