The Skysail Treasure Co.

[Shari Tana]

Kyra

Kyra withdrew slightly as Arlen asked about her home. She wasn't quite frowning, but her head was lowered as she thought about the past. She didn't often talk about what happened back then, nor did anyone particularly ask of it. Kyra lifted her head and gave Arlen a small smile.

"Not anymore," she said with just a touch of sadness, "on both counts." Kyra sighed and shook her head, "I was only a child. You were lucky to at least be able to fight for your people. Our only defense was with the local priestesses, but three clerics - even trained swordsmen - can only last so long against a dozen bandits. I ran away when things got bad and hid in a granary. When I had the courage to come out, the village was burned and the people... well... there were few survivors." Kyra's hand dipped into the pouch on her waist and clutched the icon within.

"A few days later, some pilgrims came through what was left of the village and took me back to the nearest shrine. After some time among the priests there, I decided to dedicate my life to helping people and keeping what happened to my family from happening to anyone else. I'll not be helpless again, and evil will not prevail in my presence."

Kyra released the icon as the light from Arlen's torch showed a dead end to the hallway. But it wasn't stone which ended the passage, but a solid wooden wall. There was no handle or apparent switch. Kyra placed her hand on the peculiar wall and pushed. The old wood creaked and a shower of dust fell from around the edges. She motioned for Arlen to help her push and together they moved the hinged wall along the stone floor. As soon as it stood open, Kyra could feel the corruption of dark magic like a gust against her body. She recoiled visibly and reflexively covered her mouth in the corner of her arm. After a short moment, she drew her scimitar and fought off the feeling.

"It's here," she said to Arlen, her voice low and cautious.


Cyradis

Cyradis followed Archamae through the vast trove more on habit than willing participation. The wealth of knowledge in this place was simply astounding. She could feel currents of magic pouring from the place like a geyser. It flowed from some of the books and artifacts, but most heavily from somewhere deeper in. As they moved through the chamber, it became more apparent this was no simple collection or tribute. The room was unlike any of the other others and was perfectly preserved. The books were in excellent condition and suffered from not a single breath of decay. That fact alone, knowing of the undead presence, was both confounding and amazing.

The chamber was multi leveled and sloped downwards. Cyradis often felt the impulse to explore the numerous side passages branching from the main room, but contained her urges as she continually reminded herself that there was very likely a considerably evil presence here somewhere which gave life to the dead. The lower they went, however, the more obvious it became that the altar awaiting them at the bottom level was the only possible source. After all, upon the altar was the unfaded body of a general who should have been dead for decades.

Cyradis gasped at the sight of him, "Archamae... how old did you say this tomb was? He looks like he's asleep..."

[Carrot]

Well well, been a few years since I've been on the forums...used to go by Doc Holiday...I recognize Geco and Rensha and of course Phoenix.

Room for one more? Ive talked with Arctic Phoenix of entry posts and have been reading previous posts and catching up on the story.

Perhaps room as a combat officer?

----------------------------

[EDIT]

After discussing it over with Arctic Phoenix, I've decided to make a few changes to my character, namely his profession, so that none of the future plot lines will be conflicted.

------------------------------

Name: Astaroth Steiner
Gender: Male
Age: 30
Race: Human
Profession: Dominion Shock Trooper/Special Operations

Description: A monster of a man, wearing magicite infused black armor, and brandishing a long spear and other small weaponry, he stands at 6'5. His muscular physique make him a very intimidating and imposing figure. He keeps his jet black hair closely cropped and his striking blue eyes can cut someone to their core.

History: Once a proud captain commanding a unit of shock troopers, he is now a wanderer and hired killer. Astaroth, or Steiner as he is used to, lives for drinking and has a keen eye for trinkets and other small treasures. His troubling past has left him not taking any sides, but rather the highest bidder with an exceptional amount of danger.

Personality: Years of brutal training and strains of combat have left Astaroth a reserved man. He is calm and collected in nearly any situation and is a seasoned veteran of combat and is unwavering and unmerciful in battle.

[Jolly Rensha]

OOC: Welcome back Doc. ;) Took me by surprise! we need to catch up sometime. You have Google Wave? My email is jollyren at gmail.com

on another note. sorry for my absence. we've had weeklong conferencing at the hotel here, and i'm the old man now. kinda sucks to be here the longest of all f&b staff, even all my managers! heh. exciting day. plate glass window of ginormous proportions crashed down during a conference as something from outside (really windy day today) hit it. people were running from the window pretty quick, lol. anyway. i have a couple more days, but it's settled. I worked for 36 of 48 hours, so i'm kinda tired. I snowboarded for the rest of it.

anyway. i'll try to get a post up soon. not much of an idea what i'm going to do though.

[Carrot]

Astaroth Steiner

Sitting on a small ledge above observing the pristine body of the late general, Steiner recollected his thoughts. It all began joining the crew in Coral, where he boarded the Requiem Dawn and claimed Cabin #13 as his own. He was very quiet and reserved but doing the labor of nearly three men. When things were hectic, he was the only man capable of holding the sails rigid, with his brute strength. He remained closed off from the group after crash landing on the island and escaping to Gebron.

It all led to here, where after fighting the undead, he was separated from his companions, looking for a mysterious book. He was cut off, in a small tunnel no more than four feet high and three feet across for hundreds of meters, and no clue to where it went. His pole arm in front of him, Astaroth remained calm, he always did. The tunnel led to variety of small chambers, one including a pool of clean water with which to fill his water blivot, and enough room to stretch out. The seemingly endless tunnels continued forever, and some considerable time later, they finally ended, in the very room with the General Ptolmey.

He ran his fingers across his armor. The grooves and nicks reminded him of all the combat he had seen in his previous years as a Dominion shock trooper. The armor covered nearly every part of his body, however, thanks to the magicite infused in it, greatly reduced the weight and allowed his movements more fluid and precise, an advantage most foes would overlook. Black was the color that special operations bore in the dominion armor, to be more intimidating and distinguish themselves from the rest of the dominion forces. His long black cloak was torn around the edges and even acquired a few blood stains, though not very noticeable. His helmet covered the sides back and top of his head, but allowed for full peripheral vision and had eagle wings cascading down the sides as decoration. Overall his armor had lacked the luster of its previous form, instead showing the scars of war and age. It had been nearly 10 years since he had first acquired it. His spear infused with magicite allowed for lighter form, deadly precision, and near indestructibility, another advantage he had over his enemies.

Astaroth hailed from the capital city of Dominia, Caildonia, and joined the Army at an early age. Trained as regular infantry and proving himself early, upper command quickly realized and exploited his talents for combat. They trained him as a shock trooper, in the newly created special operations branch, to act as a small spearhead to wreak havoc from the inside out, before the larger invasion force would arrive. Excelling in his new role, he quickly climbed the ranks, field commissioning as an officer, later being promoted to the rank of captain and controlling nearly 50 men of this experimental unit. His first assignment as a small company commander was the initial invasion of Kell...and that's where it all began...

Shaking his head slightly, Astaroth wiped sweat from his brow, and returned his helmet on his head. He noticed a small group of four, looked like the pilot and mage, with two others were advancing in the tomb.

"A mage" Steiner thought, "Hmph," he grunted out loud. He jumped the 10 feet or so to the ground with a loud clang, his steel boots crushing the floor beneath him.

"What do you plan to do now, pilot?" Steiner asked aloud. His reserved attitude had names evading his mind. Perhaps he should get to know his company better, then again, what good would it do?

[Arctic Phoenix]

...

[Carrot]

Astaroth Steiner

"It's good to see you alive, too, Steiner. As for the plan, I imagine we look for our quarry and get out of this hole," Archamae said.

Steiner grunted slightly in approval, after all, it was nice being around his companions after being alone for nearly a day. Astaroth begin to eyeball all the mass of wealth stored around him in the General's tomb.

He began to walk around to the surrounding shelves, some containing books, others treasure. Gems, coins and and other jewelry were of no interest to him, and most would think he was crazy for it. However, upon further inspection of one particular case he came across a simple, plain carving of a small wooden horse. Carefully, he slowly picked up the trinket with his steel gloved hand, making the carving seem even smaller in his monstrous palm.

"Horses...her favorite..." Steiner thought to himself.

--------------------------------------------------------------

The four wooden chariots were greeted in the small magical community of Kalm with few wandering eyes and little interaction. Steiner's small group of 9 men were posing as simple merchants and granted entrance to set up their "shops" the following morning. The evening sky was a a brilliant array of reds, oranges and pinks as the sun was setting in the horizon. The town of Kalm was but a small mining community set in the foothills near the Kell and Dominion Empire's border. This was the first of many targets for the impending attack upon Kell from Dominia. The town had a prospering mine, a small school for training future mages and a small barracks for housing the soldiers, and all were to be destroyed before the sun rose.

The plan of action was simple. In the middle of the night, he and his men would unload their carriages, which contained their armor, weapons, and magical explosive cylinders, dubbed "magitek cylinders". With the cover of darkness, they would split into three groups and destroy the prime targets, and slay as many military targets as possible and escape on horses from the local stable, which was Aryana's job. Steiner made sure she was out of harm's way as much as possible, even if she resented it. She was just too important to him.

Around the turn of midnight and after the men had properly equipped themselves under the cover of darkness, Captain Steiner signaled to the two squad leaders, Sergeants Lentz and Quinones to move their small squads of 3 each to their targets. Sgt Lentz and his men were to take out the mine, Sgt Q the barracks, and Cpt Steiner and the remaining shock troopers were to set fire and prevent any mages escaping the school house. It would be a brutal mission as there would no doubt be women and children to die, however these were his orders and they would be fulfilled.

After scoping the area, a few sentries were posted in a tower close to the school house. "Take them out," Steiner whispered to his two archers. With deadly precision to wooden shafts streaked across the chilly night air, striking the two sentries, one in the throat, the other clean in the chest, killing them almost instantly.
"Good," Steiner thought to himself as they closed on the school house doors, "Silent and clean."

Signaling the two others to bar the door around the back, Steiner thrust a steel crowbar through the door handles, thus preventing escape.
"Torch it," Steiner grunted. Without another word, two troopers chucked magitek cylinders through the bottom floor windows, quickly followed by a deafening explosion and roaring flames. There was no being silent now.

"NO ONE ESCAPES!" Astaroth screamed, tightening his grip on his spear. Screams were soon heard in the school house, ringing in Steiner's ears...it didn't sound like adults. Two more explosions rocked the night air, no doubt the mine and barracks.

Commands were being shouted to soldiers posted in other sentry towers, and six men were closing their distance to Steiner. His mind blocked the screams of the innocents and his train of thought quickly changed to protecting Aryana, and getting his men out of the town alive.

------------------------------------------------------------

Replacing the wooden carving, Steiner reached in his rear bag attached to his back plate of his armor retrieving a rather large flask containing a mixture of alcohols. The taste was of no concern, more of the effects it had on calming his nerves, as he took a long draw from it. He returned it to his pouch which also contained his water, smoked jerky and a small portion of bread and normally his Magitek goggles.

Astaroth cursed himself a thousand times for leaving them on board the Dawn. The Magitek goggles were a recent invention, allowing the wearer to see in the dark, but did not work in total black out conditions. They required a small light source, for instance if someone was carrying a torch that lit up a small area, the goggles would use that light and project the images through the lenses much further. The lenses were black, bound in leather and not usable during the day light hours as they would send blinding images into ones retinas. They were infused with magicite and designed for shock troopers for night time attacks.

Astaroth's gaze turned to the mage, Cyradis once more. His memories of the incident aboard the Dawn where she nearly decimated the ship and its crew learning of Archamae's previous actions against Kell almost worried him what she might do if she learned Steiner's troubling past...almost.

"Well Archamae," Steiner began in his usual undertone "May I suggest we start searching for this book and rid ourselves of this damned tomb."

[Carrot]

OOC: Sorry accidentally posted twice, this is me deleting it =p

[Jolly Rensha]

OOC: In advance, sorry for the unauthorized PRPs (especially Shari), but i want this to move along.

------------------

ARLEN

Kyra recoiled after the wooden wall swung open with relative ease. "It's here!" she hissed. Indeed, the creepy sort of mood exuding from the hallway was unlike the rest of the tomb, which was unsettling enough by itself.

"If it's here, then there's a good chance my friends are not far behind. We were directed here by the paths, I'm certain," Arlen sighed. His fatigued and slouched back straightened while he took the first steps in, torch held high. His sword was at the ready, along with Kyra's. It didn't take but a few minutes of cautious walking to break from the plain hallway, caked in dust and spider web, into an immaculate collection of riches and books. His eyes scanned along some of the titles and noticed a plethora of languages and subjects, ranging from mercantile to magical, agriculture to warfare. There was even a series of books on engineering and architecture. The physical wealth only took a moment's glance to disregard. The tomes themselves were what his eyes hung onto and longed for. Knowledge.

Kyra bumped into him as they walked the hall shoulder to shoulder and he snapped out of his enchantment. Blinking a few times, he returned to the present and took more determined steps, not directing his eyes anywhere but on the footpath. The riches seemed to illuminate the halls with the light of the torch rebounding off of them. Gold coins spilled over onto the shelves out of small chests. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires and many other stones casting multicolored rays behind them.

"These items are evil," Kyra said, as if she had stood in the cold peaks of the northern alps and her lips had frozen. It was a battle, it seemed, for her to withstand the forces of this place. Arlen himself noticed nothing, aside from an increasing dull ache coursing through his body as they moved on which he attributed to fatigue and undernourishment. His small flask had run out of water long ago, and his lips were parched from the dusty dryness of the place. Much longer and he would have to do something he hoped he'd rather not resort to. After all, they still had to find their way out after likely being injured in another impending, and possibly enchanted, battle.

"If that is the case, we must keep moving onward. Even I will admit this place carries a certain doom to it," he nodded in agreement.

The hallway opened into another level of opulence, beside him a statue of a tall and armored man bearing a broad sword with the point resting on the ground between his feet. Below was the corpuscular form of the dead General. Along with him, a man that usually kept to himself, portentiously named Steiner. Arlen saw him trace something on the general's form and jump to a lower level, beneath Ptolemy's platform.

"What do you plan to do now, pilot?" he asked loudly to someone out of his view. Arlen's eyes widened a moment in realization and moved quickly to the edge of the balcony to search for Archamae. As he looked beneath and around, he finally spotted them and she addressed Steiner. It seemed that they had all gotten here only moments apart. Still no sign of Gabe or the rest of them. Amateira... Jade... I am sorry I can't protect either of you adequately...

"Ho down there, strangers!" Arlen called, waving his torch. "It looks were on the highest level. How we're going to get down, I'm not sure." The excitement of seeing his friends alive and well, even just a few of them, threw the thought of some evil spirit in this place far to the back of his mind.

"Has anyone seen Gabe and the rest?" he asked, his enthusiasm showing his his voice. "Did they make it out of the collapse alright? All I could see was dust, bones, and stones!"

"Arlen!" someone called back up, "So you didn't die on us, you old coot! What a surprise..."

-----------------------------------------

GARIN and ARLEN


"Arlen!" Garin could hear the man from somewhere above him. He'd taken a couple of necklaces onto his person, along with a few rings. Coins had filled his canteen and small satchel. Behind him Tarra looked bewildered and amazed all at the same time. "So you didn't die on us, you old coot! What a surprise..."

A second passed, and the voice called down, probably just a level up and right above him. "Garin... Well, I shouldn't be surprised you survived the collapse. You have unprecedented luck, it seems."

"Glad to see you too..." Garin retorted. "Gabe is here with me, he's a few steps behind looking, through the books for the one we came for. What a great find, eh? We can all retire with this vault! If we can find a way out of here without having to shake hands with the bones again, anyway." Garin looked down and saw a bunch of others. "Ah, hello!"

"I have someone else here with me," Arlen called down. "That Cleric we met, Kyra. She says there's a great evil here," his voice lowered. "From the looks of Ptolomy, he's probably the source of the curse. He's fully preserved while the tomb around him crumbles. How strange."

Garin shook his head and laughed, "You are just a master of pointing out the obvious, aren't you? Of course he has some enchantment on him! Undead, unnatural preservation, magically carved walls, some crazy labyrinths, weird puzzles - we just spent hours trying to figure out some puzzle thing and a staircase dropped down over the machine when we got it, nearly crushing us. A few hundred steps and a few winding halls and then one of gold and jewels and here we are, center of a cursed tomb... how wonderful! Let's have a picnic!"

"Silence!" Kyra said, over their bickering. "We must break the curse, or soon the undead will fill not just this tomb, but everything around it. The evil will spread ever outward if we don't."

"I tend to agree," Arlen followed. "In this case," he quickly amended. "Any ideas on what to expect, Kyra?"

[Arctic Phoenix]

...

[Wildfire]

Tarra let out a deep breath of relief as they finally figured out the the mechanism on the wall of the chamber. It had taken them hours to do so, and only after several failed attempts. She could not help but notice that the three of them had made a good team. They had all put in the effort with Gabe's tenacity, Garin's cunning, and her own intellect.

As the final feat was chosen the ceiling above them began to quake just slightly. It opened to reveal a flight of stairs that almost crushed them as it dropped down they all dodge it as a cloud of dust and dirt filled the space they were just standing in.

" What an odd place to put stairs," she coughed looking up at the stairs. "Are you guys alright?"

When every one was back on their feet, they continued the only they could, up. It wasn't long before the stairs lead them to a rather large room filled with all kinds of wonders. Tarra was beside herself with excitement. When they continued into the next area she could barely keep it all in. She had the urge to reach out and touch every thing, though she kept her fingers wrapped tightly around her pistols. Better safe than sorry.

Tarra snapped out her trance when she realized she was suddenly surrounded by more strangers. She recognized a few of them from the collapsed chamber before and few more she did have time to notice. Garin greeted an older looking man, and they instantly began to banter back and forth. She raised an eye brow at them, but quickly dismissed it.

Gabe was conversing with a tall women wearing goggles. She noticed the exchange of smiles and suddenly felt out of place and strangely not because she was trapped in a tomb. Garin and Gabe were part of a bigger group of adventures and she, she was alone. As alone in a tomb full of lost strangers as she could be. She had been thrown in so fast that she hadn't allowed herself to feel the awkwardness of it all. It was so easy to forget why she was here in the first place, her brother. She had to get out of the Tomb and on her way as soon as possible. She could not afford to let her brother's trail go cold. She needed him.

Suddenly her stomach grumbled loudly. She had forgotten that she had not eaten in quite a while. She reached into her bag and found it to be empty. She frowned. Her eyes darted to each person, would any of them have any food? She spotted Gabe over by the bookcases.

Casually she walked up beside him. " You wouldn't happen to have a little food you could spare. I ran out of food a few hours ago and I am starving. Also I suppose this would be good time as any." she paused for just a moment. " would you mind explaining to me why ALL of you are here?"

[Drice]

A soft moan pierced the silence, it took a moment to recognize his own voice. His eyes creaked open shutting furiously at the overwhelming bright light above him. Was this death? No...it didn't feel right. He tried to remember...his eyes opened fully blinking in confusion. He must have hit his head harder then he thought. There were two suns? The second one was smaller a larger version of the chenkari that Cailey possessed it burned brightly letting off pulses of light even as it continued to grow.

He found himself propped against a fallen a tree no noises besides his own breath even the animals had left possibly startled by glowing sun nestled high above the tree line. A brief spark as the flint lit made him aware that he was not alone. Berak sat upon the fallen tree his large size making the massive trunk seem like a natuarl seat. He puffed upon the pipe sad experienced eyes mezmoried by the sight in the sky. Drice found himself unable to speak his stomach growled and his mouth felt parched.

"Amazing isn't it. To think the goddess would bestow upon us such a marvelously splendid gift." the large man whispered. "And such a destructive curse. The fool doesn't know what he is playing with." He paused as if finally noticing Drice for the first time. "You look better then last time I saw you. That sister of yours is something special indeed."

Drice looked himself over. Of course she had healed him. That was why he was still alive. But where was he? Where was Arieko? A sickening feeling burned at the pit of his stomach. He waited knowing Berak would continue.

He tossed down a loaf of bread and a half block of cheese which Drice tore into with ravenous hunger. Berak bellowed out a deep resonating laugh. "She said you would be hungry so much so when you awoke. Pulled you back from death. Not the brink boy, you were dead." Drice nodded taking it instride then was then, now was now. He wasn't dead now thats all that mattered. "Little one exhausted herself fell asleep right next to you. To think how close you two are." he shook his head. "You have been away now for so long you have spent only a fraction of her life around her and yet..."

Pain crossed his face. "He hates that you know. Jealous or guilty I am not sure. But hate. He hates you, he hates what you represent. He resents you you remind him of your father and his betrayal."

Drice raised an eyebrow. He had worked it out before from the clues Berak had left that his father and Gavin had crossed blades but this was new. The feeling of doom grew til he couldn't stand it. "Where is she?" he whispered. "Where's Arieko Berak what's happened."

"Dead." The man spoke that word plainly but Drice could feel the hidden emotion. It was a like a damn exploded within. A tear he had not felt slivered down his cheek and his apetite wanned before disapearing altogether. Arieko....dead...he wanted to scream to let the pain go but he held his voice and allowed the old man to continue. "After the battle Gavin refused to let Cailey heal you. Well....Arieko simply lost it. She attacked Gavin. He disarmed her easily and had her executed."

It was like an unexpected punch to the stomach. He couldn't breath. He couldn't speak. He couldn't scream. No attachments. That was the law. Attachments led to emotions to conflicting sense of duty. Arieko had loved him. And because of that she was dead.

"In the confusion Cailey healed you"

Arieko had given her life for his. The Maktah followed orders only Clan chief mattered but for the first time someone had chosen him first. No...Cailey was the same....To hell with it all. To hell with Juvarians, to hell with the war. To hell with Gavin. He didn't even notice that he was stanidng that he had picked up his waiting swords.

"Its called the Juvarian Second Sun. This was Gavins plan all along to draw the empire in close and unveil this spell. I don't understand it or know much about it but anything in the viciinty with be destroyed. He's using Cailey for the spell. Something of this magnitude could kill the user..."

Drice nodded refitting his blades to his side. He searched finding and reattaching his assortment of blades. "Choices thats what we have Berak. I have made my choice what of you?"

The man stared him down. "Your father couldn't kill em and I dare say I dont see how you can. He planned on sacrificing all my boys all the Maktah in his trap. I will take them and go, perhaps I will see you agian."

Drice nodded. "Perhaps..."
______

"....Arieko...." her brother whispered for the dozenth time. He was sleep walking. His body moved but his mind was long gone to the fever. She didnt have any other choice. She wished the other healer was here. While she had some talent at healing she did not have the precision or technique of a crafted healer. Instead she made up with stubborness and over powering strength. There was a catch to that sort of healing it took a great deal of energy from both the patient and the healer. So while she could fix his broken arm it very well meant that she would be unable to do much for a while and Drice would need to sleep to recover.

She glanced around the room...well large chamber as she considered her next move. A choice was needed to be made and although Drice normally handled that duty he was in no position to do so now. A sense of heavy darkness and evil permeated the room. She had tried to do a diagnostic spell to study the enchantment on the tomb owner but Cyradis had put a stop to that. She wasn't certain why but she respected the mage to much to bother to question futily why. Instead she focused on the other things. There was treasure, books and gold. Diamonds and swords. It was a rich heist yet everything felt...tainted or dirty. She would not want to wear anything that was down here.

As more of the crew arrived Drice tried unsuccessfully to get up again with a slight push she helped him back to his seat. She wondered what nightmare he was lost within but if Arieko was apart of it then it was not a happy one. She could feel the raw emotion that was trapped within that name when he spoke it upon his lips. Love...sadness...she thought maybe she had died during the war. It was the only explanation.

Most of the group looked fit, fatigued and dirty but other then Drice most seemed to have escaped signifiant injury. And yet there was a forboding mood to this place. Something wasn't right. It was just to easy to be here not when that mage had fought to keep them away not when an unleashed undead horde had attacked them and seemingly disapeared.

She turned her focus back to her brother gently brushing her fingertips across the purple swelling of his wrist offering a slight confort. That's when she noticed to two vials attached to his belt. She remembered him talking about some of the Maktah potions that he had been trained to make. The two at his side were made of some plant. It was a rejuvination potoin. Although Drice had warned if the side effects it offered some hope.

Reaching deep within she focused Nepheli's powers channeling them within her. She focused her intentions through the prayer green light played and danced at her feet. A large glob flew in to the air exploding into thousands of green drops that feel upon the group. She could feel the cold overpowering her as the spell took effect revitalizing those exposed to the drops. She gripped Drice arm and channeled her power with a crack the bone snapped together the room twisted as her vision blurred. She gripped the vial and emptied its contents upon her lips. The substance burned. Her heart stopped before taking a large powerful beat almost as if trying to free itself from her chest. She felt flooded with energy the weariness dispiating. She grabbed the other vial and forced Drice to drink it. She waited to see what the others were up to..

[SoHee]

JADE

"Wait!"

Jade tried to stop Jasper before he went through the middle door again. He had been circulating through the doors several times now, but now he always seemed to start with the middle one. He had just put his first foot through the door and as she called had out he had abruptly stopped. However instead of turning back to her he started to pulling his leg followed by some loud curses. Had their situation been better, and the threat of dead men appearing not hanging over her shoulders like a dark cloak she would have laughed at the sight. Instead she looked worried.

<Apparently this is a one way trip> Jasper told her, both anger and panic building up in his voice. Telling him to calm down would only anger him further.

"What then if you get through?" she asked him instead. "What if you can't get back?"

<Center, center, right, left, right> he said quickly, eager to move forward again. She repeated the words outloud, to remember but also to tell the others. <I'm not sure how long it will circle, or if it never ends, but each time I make a wrong choice I end up where we started.> He didn't say that he wasn't even sure it was the right choice that led him forward. They could only hope, but the thought had occurred to both of them Jade realised as their eyes met.

"Go," she told him, seeing the strain in his face from the torment of feeling trapped. "Center, center, right, left, right," she said again, looking at Sephara.

"Whatever it is, Jasper can't go back. Once he is through one doorway it is as if he can only move forward. The pattern is center, center, right, left, right so far," she tried to explain. "He isn't sure where it will lead, or if it will ever lead us anywhere but here, but when he chooses correctly a new set of doors will appear, or wrongly he will return here to this chamber."

She cursed herself for her poor explanation. "He might not be able to come back once he is through. There might not be a way back at all."

By now Jasper had been gone a while and they all glance at the entrance of the chamber, waiting for him to return. Jade bit nervously on one of her fingernails, a bad habit she had never been able to get rid off.

"We might need to..." she finally said but broke off into silence when Jasper strode back into the chamber.

<Center> he said before disappearing again. She followed him with her eyes and once he had walked through the middle door she turned to look at the others again.

"We should begin to think how we shall go through. Does anyone have any skills to pick a lock?" she asked, again wishing that Garin had not been parted from them.



JASPER

And left, Jasper thought as he stepped through the 7th door. To his amazement he was not returned to the start, but rather a quite slim and dark corridor. He turned back, crouching a bit to avoid his head bumping into the low ceiling, only to see a solid stone wall. Feeling the wall he could find no trigger point to open up a secret wall. Neither could he simply walk through the wall.

Damned Magic! he cursed to himself. He knew that there had been a chance for this to happen and yet he had thought it best to trod along, trying to find the end of what had seemed like and endless circle of doors, instead of staying behind with Jade. He slammed a fist against the wall. He felt every inch, from the rocky ceiling to the hard cold ground. Nothing. There were simply no way back. Should he wait, he wondered and struggled a bit to come to a decision. The decision however was made for him as he saw a soft green light at the end of the tunnel. The light was seemed far away and it was only the darkness around him that made it even possibly for him to see it. He started to walk slowly towards the light. At some parts of the tunnel he could almost walk straight and at other passages he had to crawl on all four. It seemed like an erratic carved out tunnel, cold stone surrounding him from head to toe.

It was on all four he more peeked than walked out from the hole in the wall, somewhere along the lower middle in the large multi-leveled chamber.

Down below (if I'm not mistaken) he saw many of their lost comrades.

<Ohoy!> he bellowed down to them, but as none of them payed him any attention he reminded himself of how foolish he was. He edged out a bit more onto what seemed to be a small cliff, with lack of better words to describe it. It was probably no more than 3 meters down to the ground floor.

"Hey there," he said, showing a flicker or two of himself as he saw at least a couple of eyes turn up to his voice. So far away from Jade he didn't want to take more energy from her than necessary, unsure of how the distance between them would effect it.


OOC: Sorry, I've been totally emerged in the world of Robin Hobb....Geco, just go ahead and lead the group back to the rest...

[Arctic Phoenix]

...

[Wildfire]

Tarra was relieved to hear Gabe’s story of how they had all ended up in the Tomb. It seemed that she wasn’t the only one captivated by the Mythology of the place even if they had only been looking for a book. Tarra had heard of the book they were looking for, but like most she thought it was just a legend. She had no idea that such a discovery was in a place like this.

Tarra Shivered as she walked away from Gabe, chewing on a small piece of dried meat he had given her. It goes without saying that this was place was more than what it seemed. With every passing moment the air seemed to get heavier and heavier , almost to the point of chocking her. She could not pinpoint exactly what it was or where it was emanating from, but it was creeping her out.

Cautiously Tarra took this time to explore several of the rooms with wonder. She was amazed at the vastness of Ptolemy’s Treasures and riches. She had never seen this much riches in her entire life, and she doubted she would ever see it again. Many would take advantage of the situation, so it was no surprised to see Garin stuffing his pockets.

“Talk about a pot gold” she laughed to herself. With a heavy sigh Tarra decided to take only one thing from the mass piles. Slowly she searched through each room sorting through each bookcase for just the right thing. It was only a short time after that she found what appeared to be a tiny journal tucked behind several other books. She skimmed its pages quickly, then tucked it away in her own little pack.

Tarra then headed out to where the main group had assembled to rest, but she was one floor above the group. Casually she walked up and stood beside a very intimidating man leaning alone against a wall. He wore armor of all black and carried a very large and scary looking Lance. If memory served her right she heard the others call him Steiner.

When he glanced to look at her, Tarra could not help but notice his brilliant blue eyes. It was rare for her to meet someone who shared that in common with her. Back home only two people for a hundred miles had those striking blue eyes. She was one, her twin brother was the other. She learned at a young age that her Great Grandmother had had Blue eyes, But none of her children had. Blue eyes were cherished in her family, and thus She was considered extra special. Now to see it in a stranger, made her smile. It also made her soul ache. She missed her family. Her brother most of all.

It was then that her right arm started to hurt. She had a strange feeling like something was coming. Almost instinctively she reached to check her pistols. She only had one bullet left , and she reached into her pack to reload it. She realized she definitely did not pack enough ammo for this. She only had enough to reload this once, and then she was completely out. She cursed.

Subsequently an explosion thundered through the chamber, sending everyone to their toes. Archamae, The pilot, had fired her pistol and was now defending herself from undead. Quickly the chamber was filled with a horde of undead.

“ Not this again!” Tarra growled as undead filled the room below her. Taking her off guard Steiner hurled himself from the ledge and landed on the floor below in aid to another. Impressive was all she was able to think before she noticed a ghoul coming up behind him. Swiftly she aimed and fired her pistol. Hitting her target, the ghoul’s head exploded into a million pieces.

[Geco]

BOOM!

Splintered wooden shards lay fragmented around the doorway. The door rocked softly on its hinges like a baby in a cradle. Ahead was a long, dark corridor - nothing new for this place.

Sephara materialized over Kaltor's right shoulder, "Well done," she said after inspecting his work.

Kaltor beamed with arrogance, "Who needs a lock pick when you have me?"

Jade rolled her eyes at the blatant display of machismo. "Save it for another day Greycloak," Sephara silenced him. "Right. We follow the path Jasper gave us. This corridor should lead to another identical room, and so on, and so on." It had been nearly fifteen minutes since he'd last checked in, and they'd all been getting anxious. Aram had taken to biting off his finger nails, a deplorable habit that ranked somewhere between alcoholism and chit chat, and so she'd decided Jasper must have made it through on this last attempt. Nothing left to do but follow.

"Stay close together." They were the last words spoken as the group silently made their way through the labyrinth of identical rooms. The only difference, as far as she could tell, was that only the first doors had been locked. Other than that, if she hadn't known better, she would have had no way to know exactly where they were. A chill scraped across her bones at the thought of being lost in an endless maze, condemned to aimlessly wander blind. All at once the world around her felt very small and she was gasping for air.

"Are you alright?" Jade was at her side, one arm resting protectively across her shoulders. Sephara opened her mouth, but no words would come. She wanted to say something, anything, but she could barely breathe. She began to panic more. Unable to communicate the world shrunk a few more sizes, a great invisible weight was bearing down on her. Uncontrollable shakes gripped her body. This was end! With no air in her lungs she'd collapse soon and die. "Sephara just listen to me, listen to my voice." The doctor's voice was calm and slightly soothing. Just hearing it reminded the First Mate of where she was and that she wasn't alone.

"I want you to think about your homeland. Think about the people in your tribe. Your mother, your father. Think about happy childhood memories. Now try to take a deep breathe." Eyes clenched she weaved her way through her mind, to a earlier time in her life, a simpler time. And all at once the air came back. Rushing into her lungs and filling her with life. Her chest heaved stronger than the ocean tides, but it didn't matter because she could breathe. Once the trembling stopped she was able to stand up straight. A few more deep breaths and she felt relatively back to normal.

"What the hell was that?" Kaltor's gruff voice filled her with a sudden, immense embarrassment. How was she supposed to explain what they'd just witnessed.

"An allergy attack most likely. Probably from all the dust," Jade readily volunteered. "Too much inside her lungs, caused her system into overdrive, too many systems trying to work at too high a level, and so nothing works," she shot Sephara a reassuring smile and rubbed her arm.

Kaltor was eyeing the air around him with a new found suspicion, "Best we don't be lingering then." He shoved into the lead and went through the next door before anyone else could respond. "Hey this must be it!" he called out from just through the door. Everyone turned and moved towards the pirate. "It's a narrow gap, we'll have to crawl, but it has to lead out."

"Let's go then. Watch your step everyone," she managed in a barely commanding tone of voice. When no one else was looking, she shot Jade a look of thanks. She owed that woman dearly now.

-o0o-

As they entered the final resting place of Ptolemy Gabe was overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all. As if the entire way here hadn't been enough, the tomb of the great Latium General sprawled across what appeared to be three floors (it might be four, I wasn't sure) and what looked like many corridors.

"All roads lead to Rome," he mumbled in awe.

"What?" Tarra asked.

"Hmm?"

"What was that you just said?"

"Oh, all roads lead to Rome?"

"Yeah, that."

Gabe smiled and pressed his finger across the spine of the nearby books, "Just something I read from a book once."

"You wouldn't happen to have a little food you could spare? I ran out of food a few hours ago and I am starving. Also I suppose this would be good time as any." she paused for just a moment. "Would you mind explaining to me why ALL of you are here?" It was a fair enough question.

"I may have mentioned that I'm the captain of an Airship, the Requiem Dawn, and this is my crew. We're searching for a book called the Spider's Way, an old child's fable I think is tied to the legend of Shandalaar. I'm just not sure how yet. Ptolemy happens to be the proud owner of one of the eight surviving copies." He looked her right in the eyes, "And we need it."

As he stepped fully into the room for the first time his gaze drifted not to the splendor of the tomb, the many riches or artifacts that it contained, it's perfect architecture, or to its formidable occupant. Instead, he looked over the faces of his crew, relieved to see so many of them, and that, barring what appeared to be a broken arm or wrist on Drice, they were unhurt. Steiner, or the living shield, as Gabe had so fondly taken to calling him. The big man had been a tower of strength and safety standing between the Dawn and those that would do it or its crew harm.

Archamae and Cyradis stood together, a new bond radiating between them as plain as daylight. Arlen, Cailey, and even Kyra were all there. Many were still missing however. Most notably was Sephara. Where was his closest friend. He'd kill her if she'd gotten herself killed.

With most of the crew assembled they grouped together. In the midst of this nightmare they exchanged smiles, hugs, and other pleasantries, yet everyone kept their guards up. They rationed what food and water they had left, and then Gabe set them to the task they'd come here for.

"We'll have to search this entire place. In twos, go corridor by corridor, bookshelf by bookshelf, starting at the top until we find it. Help yourself to anything you'd like along the way, I don't think he needs it anymore. But keep in mind we still have to get back out of this place, and we can't afford to be encumbered trying to lug out a horde of treasure. Let's get to it people." As the groups split he kept Cyradis, Cailey, and Kyra back with him.

The two mages and the cleric were obviously unsettled by this place, even more so than they'd been when they'd first encountered the walking undead. Whatever was causing this curse, they were probably the only ones who could solve it. "I have a different task for you three," he pointed at each, "You need to figure out the source of the evil in this place. Whatever is causing those nightmares is probably here somewhere. You need to find it an neutralize it, if you can." None looked happy about their new objective, but they weren't surprised by it either. They all bore looks that said, 'What do you think we've been trying to do?'

"Right then... best of luck ladies," and he dashed off to search the book stacks with Tarra.

The monotony of going from book to book was taking its toll. He had to force himself to focus on each title, so he'd read them out loud as he went, not wanting to risk overlooking the one he searched for. A cry pierced his veil of concentration, and he turned around in time to see Arch deftly tumbling away from something. All at once the floodgates opened and a current of skeletons and zombies was rushing toward them.

All around the crew of the Dawn fought for their lives. They were doing so against a supernatural foe, but that made them all the more desperate. "Form up around me!" Steiner's loud voice boomed out. Gabe could see what he was getting at, and he tried to pull Tarra back towards the central position with him. Hands shot out from the bookshelves and bony fingers tried to grab onto any piece of him to hold him back. Over his shoulder he saw a skeleton approaching, and he threw Tarra towards the main hall as he turned just in time to deflect the blow with his pistols. With his opponent off balance he brought down the butt end of his firearm against the things heads, smashing the skull into pieces.

It didn't stop though, and once it had regained its footing it lunged at Gabe. Out of nowhere Sephara came flying in from the side, shoulder lowered, she knocked the headless corpse against the wall corner, obliterating it into nothing more than bone fragment. "Good timing," he panted.

"Arriving here just as you all get attacked but our friends is hardly good timing Gabe."

"You know what I mean, come on, to Steiner." The two raced back toward the ex-soldier. They'd all survive a little longer as a group than fighting alone. The real question was, would it be long enough to matter.

OOC: That was long overdue. Phoenix, that was a stellar post. Just had to let you know that ^_^