Quest Lost & Damned

[Hadrian]

Glad the soulmist hadn't gone to waste, he watched the ghost at its eating, then turned to observe Rayage taking one for the team, as it were. He nodded, coolly approving. And then, while nothing overt happened to Rayage, the ghost opened the way. "Be wary, then," he advised Rayage, "for some trigger that might change the nature of the manacle." He nodded to the thing on his wrist. That he could sense nothing from it made him nervous; who could create something that would turn aside Hadrian's senses? But he held his hand aloft, undifferentiated res coalescing instantly into a ball of light. Yet there was something different about it, and Hadrian glanced at it strangely before it turned ruby red. A small, curious smile curved his lips as he set the res alight. Content with his witchlight, he led the way into the hill. "Thank you, sir," he said politely to the ghost. But at the first crossroads, he was stymied. He waited for his companions to follow, but for the moment could not discern in which direction they ought go. He called back up to the ghost, taking a chance, "Will you lead us to him, or at least give us directions?"

[Rayage]

When Ray clamped the manacle on he tensed up, or the nuit equivalent, feeling the cool metal against his rotting flesh concerned him a bit. Was he going to burst into flames? Was he going to be chained here just like that ghost, or maybe he was going to be put under some hypnosis ‘control’? Even in his mind Ray shuddered at the word control, for the hypnotist really had no special mind controlling powers, just the ability to make people think. Which, for Ray, was good enough. He waited, and waited, and eventually when nothing happened he allowed himself to relax again. Would the manacle lead them to whoever the ghosts master is? The thought crossed his mind but he kept silent.

Nodding at Hadrian’s words, the nuit was no fool! He knew what he was getting himself into and the possibilities of something like that happening. Seriously to be told something like that by someone like him… what did the other take him for? It made him weary of the wizard in front of him even more. Did he think he privileged with knowledge that the nuit did not have? If so, he would like him to share. Nonetheless he turned back to the spirit who had opened the passageway in and devoured the soulmist. The little guy was quite hungry. The alchemist could only wonder how long the ghost had been here. Little did it matter to him, it was only a slight curiosity and not even one that would help with this investigation.

Next the other professor from the university produced from his body a fine red gel like substance that floated in the air. Ray had seen enough of that kind of magic from Evalin and Miro to have a pretty good guess as to what sort of magic it was. When the fire was lit that confirmed his suspicions: Reimancy, the art that Ray had no interest in. If fools think controlling the four elements is better than being able to change the face of reality with the power of Alchemy, then they are sadly mistaken. He would never take up such a crude art, but it has come in handy many times before for those who did practice it. Ray shrugged, it just seemed so primal to the sophistication of Alchemy.

Nevertheless he followed, or rather he ventured with Hadrian though the door. The air was surprisingly moist, and the place surprisingly wet. He hadn’t expected ruins sealed for this amount of time to be this… well, damp. The water dripped on his cloak and he quickly moved trying to avoid all the places where the drops would fall like some scared cat. It wasn’t that he minded being wet, he just didn’t know what could have effected this water or if its water in the first place. Did the place not reek with death? Worse yet, it seemed waterlogged and muggy.

When they came to the crossroads the nuit smiled and simply looked around. Was there truly nothing to tell the different paths apart? In the light of the magic fire Ray couldn’t really get a feel for the surroundings and saw no indications on which path is correct. Then the man asked the ghost child for directions. This is getting even more humorous. The ghost had already helped them enough, why would he tell them where his master is, especially when his master seemed to enjoy playing games. Evidence of this based on the shackle he was now wearing. The nuit eyed it carefully before looking down the northern pathway, ”We best proceed with caution.” the nuit was now going to do what he hated most, state the obvious, ”For who knows what foul things lurk in the shadows of these corridors. I find it funny that there are three paths. One for each of us.” he laughed at his own suggestion, only stating an option. Each of them could choose a path. Then at least one of them will get the 'right' way if there is one to be had. Thirty three point three repeating chance that if one of the corridors leads to the master then he would get that one. Waving a dismissing hand, throwing the idea out. There were numerous possibilities he wasnt taking into account. He didnt like that.

[Wrenmae]

"A poor choice," Their companion muttered, eyes always on the phantom drifting just beyond Hadrian's witchlight, "If we split up, we'll be easier prey for whatever lurks here in the darkness. More pragmatic to stay together, else you find you miss a skilled blade when things turn dangerous." Glancing to Hadrian's makeshift torch, his eyes lingered on it for just a moment, straining against the darkness to perceive its energies, its weave. Again his eyes were assaulted with blinding light, far too much uncontrolled Djed casting his brown eyed gaze into darkness. He hissed under his breath and let the magic fall away. Auristics would not help him here, not till he'd learned it a bit better. Around them, the shadows collected in pools and swirled in all the dark places untouched by light. Murdock, ever feeling his consciousness fading into the greater whole, feared something about the way the darkness collected, so complete, so whole. His manacle thrummed with energy, did it know his fear? Did that hasten its drawing powers? The other manacle lay in his pocket, freed from the earth as an afterthought and put onto his person. He did not trust it, nor did he cast away anything freely given...perhaps, though, it had been a trap to bring it along. Shoving the thoughts from his head, he concentrated on the task at hand. "So, Professors," he asked, paused at the three passages, "We follow the unquiet dead into the heart of this tomb...for what? Discovery? Risk? The Knights will not wait for us long, I think."

[Paragon]

The ghostly boy did not respond to Hadrian's call. Both metaphorically, and physically, they were locked into darkness, passageways criss-crossing before them. Rayage's observation was indeed interesting. Fitting, for a trio of plucky adventurers, that three passageways now stretched out before them. Rayage''s manacle indeed hummed with energy. Upon further investigation, he would feel a sense of magnetism. A pull. A drawing. It came from the north - the path that stretched directly out before them. But to the west, the keen of hearing would hear the creaking of a door. An old door, being pulled shut, and perhaps locked or bolted at the sound of voices in the cavern's entrance. The eastern passage remained silent. All was transitory. The cards were truly in the air.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian disliked acting with incomplete or nonexistent information even more than he hated stating the obvious, the which they were all doing. He wondered if that was a clue as to the heightened sense of nervousness they all ought to share descending into possible danger. But he hadn't the tug of the manacle to point him north, his head swinging around to the west, senses on alert for what had made the door move. "I would agree with Wrenmae," he said simply. If they split up, there was no telling whether they would meet up again and, if they did, Hadrian would doubt it was truly them. He had spent too much time in Ionu's city, though the deity had blessed him, and Eyris had granted him the ability to see through illusion.

[Rayage]

The nuit nodded, it seemed his plan wasn’t going to fly. Needless to say they had to choose a direction. They were in this together whether he liked it or not. He shook his head; at least they were stronger as a group. They had that, and it was an obvious advantage. He didn’t like not knowing which way to go, but then where was the adventure in that? ”Worry not,” he reassured them, ”We can easily catch up with the knights after we explore this place. Its not like they are being stealthy when they are marching. We are the ones going off the beaten trail.” he said with a smile, ”Even if we cannot, we still know their destination, our destination, so we can go on our own.” he shrugged, the knights were not his problem.

He was about to say something more when his manacle started acting up. Rayage brought it up to his face and stared at it. The energy reacting inside it was audible. He could hear it, the thing hummed with power. ”Interesting.” One word escaped his mouth as he felt its almost magnetic tug, ”It seems to be reacting to something close by.” the nuit informed the rest of the group who could not feel the manacles tug, ”Its pulling me onwards.” he said pointing down the north path, ”Its our only clue.” he said, manacled arm falling to one side, ”Lets go.” it was as simple as that to the nuit, ”But with caution. We do not know what lies in the shadows of these halls” he said taking the first step forward.

[Wrenmae]

"And so into the maw of rot we go," Murdock muttered to himself, eyes back on Hadrian. As the only breather among them, the mage feared his own influence would get the better of the ordinarily frighteningly competent professor. Rayage could walk unmolested by Vayt's influence, but Hadrian still beat with lifeblood...and this place was rank with decay and infection. As Rayage took the first step, the murderer stepped in front of him, drawing his long blade and taking up the pace.

"Your body is not equipped to take punishment," he reminded the professor. "If my role here is protection, I will take the lead and you will direct me. Professor Hadrian, if you've any abilities to aid me in seeing my dangers, please use them."

His eyes shifted in the gloom, turning the blood red of a Symenestra. Morphing Djed tasked his eyes to take the shape of a model known to him, a model that could see far easier in the umbra of shadow. The tunnel opened to him, darkness fleeing from his improved sight.

He did not address the phantom, opting instead to let Hadrian serve as liaison to the unquiet dead.

It's ethereal flesh would not accept his blade.

He wanted nothing to do with such an untouchable opponent.

[Paragon]

OOCApologies for bad writing here, this was written late at night but I really wanted to get it out for you guys. And so the trio walked northbound, Wrenmae at the head of the party. As they moved, the magnetism from Rayage's manacle pulsed. Subtly at first, but then stronger. The passageway seemed to widen, eventually allowing them to stand side by side - though Wrenmae remained a few steps ahead at all times. Hadrian and Rayage often glanced around, half wondering if they would meet another spirit. As the path widened, a feeling became palpable. Sentience. Breathing. Something... alive. There was an explanation, only an uneasy sense. They had been walking for a long while when they turned to face the other way, and saw a thin, narrow door that they had never passed through. The path had changed behind them. Rayage would become aware that the manacle's pull had flipped, pointing back towards the door. The door did not seem locked, though there was a brass knocker in the centre of it. The notion was perplexing - and certainly unexpected. As was the muffled voice behind the door. "Blasted.... structural.... chaos." The words were broken, but just about audible. They were the words of a broken man. Words of time, words of magic, words of lost disciplines...

[Rayage]

The nuit started up the northern path, but soon was cut off by Shroud. Ray was given his reminder that his body, like the rest of the undead, couldn’t take much of a beating. However he just nodded, ”Very well then…” he said letting the murderer who he teamed up with back in Sunberth take the lead. He certainly did not mind having the extra protection, and although their ‘relationship’ has had both ups and downs their partnership still remained. The alchemist would never have guessed maintaining such useful connections were to be such hard work. It bothered him, but he knew that it would bother him if he didn’t have the man’s steel and magic on his side, and so he took the lesser of two evils. So he thought…

The place still reeked of decay and death, something that the nuit himself didn’t mind. He had gotten over the smell years ago, but in his mind a curious thought entered: how did the mortals fare? It wasn’t that he really cared, or so he tried to convince himself. It was that this place had the seeming, gave the nuit a feeling, that all of their skills and abilities would be put to the test here. These were ancient ruins after all, and he remembered in the last one they ran into a Journeyman. What horrors would they run into here? What secrets did the shadows hide? What kind of magic guarded this place? These were all questions that came to him as they walked down the corridor, the long narrow passageway which would lead to wherever the cursed manacle would take them. He noticed that the pull got stronger, and it pulsed with more energy. It was certainly reacting to something.

The shadows nipped at their feet, dividing only to let the light and those in it pass, only to quickly swell up again once the light has passed. Their steps had a sort of wet echo to them, adding to the rhythm of the already wet place. Water was dropping from the ceiling; the droplets fell and from its collision with the ground below it made a certain noise. This noise seemed to dominate what the nuit was hearing. He was becoming almost lost in them, almost mindlessly following the tug of the metal bracelet around his wrist. There was no thought only action.

Finally the pathway began to widen as walked. The nuit noticed the walls moving farther and farther apart, becoming more consumed in the shadow as the three were led by the small light of Hadrians fire. The more they walked the more cautious the nuit became. If he was living he would be sure that his heart would be beating just a little faster as this sense of anxiety, this sense of worry set over him as another feeling came to him. He could feel something, something was there with them. Breathing, living… It was enough to make even the nuit shudder. This feeling was something else. He had never quite experienced it before in all his years. It was new, interesting, but slightly intimidating. Not that he would ever admit that to those who kept him company now. He was sure that they too felt it, that presence.

Something made the nuit stop in his tracks and turnabout. He craned his head as he turned looking behind them in the shadows only to notice a faint outline. A door. Curious. ”Shroud.” he called, to the one leading the way, ”It seems that way is no longer the direction.” he muttered looking down at the ancient manacle, feeling its tug towards the door, ”It’s that way.” he said sounding baffled that a door was behind them. Had they gone through it without realizing it? What was this? He half remembered his time in Alvadas and that brought him to the conclusion that this place was probably an illusion. What have they gotten themselves into?

The Alchemist proceeded to the door, and noted the knocker. He stood there and raised a finger to the others asking for their ears. If they would listen they could hear what Ray was hearing, muffled words, and hard to hear. The immortal found himself straining himself and his hearing to even hear what was being said. Not too unpleasant, but it sounded like someone was talking to themselves. Could this be the master that the ghost boy served so loyally? Could it be the man who made to doorway for them to even enter the ruin? Could it be the man manipulating this place, or had it, somehow, gone out of his control?

The nuit just stared at the door, eyes falling on the knocker in the center. Should they knock? ”Well,” the immortal began, ”this contraption is either haywire or its pointing us in the right direction.” he said, ”Though that much is obvious, the question is what to do now? I propose we knock.” he said, only trying to be polite. Perhaps whatever lied on the other side of this portal would appreciate the gesture even though it knows, assuming that it’s the young ghosts master, that they are already here in the ruin.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian nodded to Wrenmae, his senses on alert. All of them; the mundane, the magical, the spiritual, and the divine. He walked with the other men, watching their backs as much as anything. But between one glance and the next, the path they had taken changed behind them. Someone spoke, and he tried to put the words into some sort of context but came up blank. They were working on too little information still, and so he could offer no good advice. When Rayage made the call, however, he acceded to his wishes and stepped forward. The Nuit wore the manacle and Wrenmae had been walking first into possible danger; Hadrian would have to risk as well. He held up his hand, letting Shield energy manifest in an invisible glove that ran all the way up to his elbow. If they were magi worth their salt, they might see the energy anyway, but he didn't care at this point. He rarely spoke about his abilities, but he didn't think it necessary to hide his skills when they were required. So protected, he knocked upon the door.