Pursuers of Arcana (IC)

[kookyboy9]

Khalid Abbar

Location: Arcane Scholae
Date: Unknown

Interactions:

Their magic item completed, Khalid joined Rurik and Ena in their mad dash to turn it in. Hearing their evaluation, he wasn't sure if he should be disappointed or relieved, however. That said, their item certainly did appear less... dazzling than the other items on the table. He'd given up a substantial amount of his mass to help contribute materials, but he didn't really have anything that'd look as sparkly or magical as the other objects that the remaining teams had gathered.

With the first test concluded, Khalid spent his time wandering the school. He attended lectures on mana control, hoping to make his clumsy puppet of a body more natural. And to help him control less humanoid shapes. Those had such great potential!

In the time he didn't spend in classes, he often wandered around campus, chatting with random passerby, trying to make friends. However hard he tried, however, he just wasn't able to put a sizable dent in the population of the island. But he was starting to get to know some of the shopkeepers and frequenters of certain areas.

And he certainly couldn't forget his pranks. Whenever he wasn't busy with classes or socializing, he would disguise himself as a pile of dirt in an ill-lit area, waiting for someone to pass by. When they did, he'd cause the pile to surge towards them. Nothing dangerous, though. If they didn't run screaming, he'd stop and let them pass. Or he'd play "think fast" with his head. That typically got a fun reaction.

However, time had passed, and he was summoned by Professor McGuffin, who it appeared wanted to put together an expedition. Ancient ruins certainly sounded like a blast to Khalid!

Location: Ancient Ruin - Entrance
Date: Unknown

Interactions: @RedArmyShogun @Astros

The journey to the ruin was an exciting one for Khalid. He'd gotten quite the experience by boat on the way to the Arcane Scholae, but the water was just a treasure trove of new and exciting things for him to sense. The calm surface hid so much activity that one would never expect below! And the desert of Andii reminded him of the Badlands, except more tame. And the sand would certainly be helpful for restoring some mass. Whenever he got the chance, he tried to pull in and compress some new mass from the desert. After all, nobody was going to miss a bit of sand.

A week later, Khalid was thoroughly glad that he wasn't organic anymore. The trip across the desert had seemed to be quite hellish for several others in the group. And his camel hadn't been able to carry him due to his starting weight, so the journey would've been even worse! As the group dismounted, a man that Professor McGuffin introduced as a treasure hunter came up to talk to him.

As Khalid was attempting to determine which tents were which, it was announced that they'd be grouping up. Khalid didn't know many of those who'd accompanied them, and in his moment of indecision, groups had already started to form. Rurik and Ena had joined seperate groups, and Khalid didn't want to bum off his new(?) friends(?), so he made his way over to one of the other groups. The scary-looking elf and the young man with the mana-filled chains hanging off of him. Upon reaching them, he split off arms to offer them to shake. "Hi, I'm Khalid. Do you two mind if I join you? I can change my body's shapes in all sorts of ways, and I can move earth around. I'm also virtually immune to most poisons."

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Findel
​

Well now. She thinks surprised to be suddenly sought out. Turning her head and winks a single eye at him, before speaking up in a hushed tone.

"Shhhh, I'm from this Desert, I'm just having fun looking at how the others cope. And I'm hardly a loner, after all you did come here to me. I'm a very welcoming person no?" She says with a laugh before eying him over, pausing at his face. The mask was an odd choice, but it was not her first time seeing such, a few men in the Arena would wear much the same.

"Oh come now, isn't it the man who saves the poor damsel in distress? Though in this case if you were to fall, I should go off for help, I do know how to survive here... but ah, maybe a suitable replacement or let's make this a salt and pepper team?"

With a smile approaching in the corner of her lip, her gaze takes a look over the crowd, not making notes so much as seeking out one person.

Ah yes, her.

She had not spoken with her before, but she did know of her from the test and the boat, waving a hand up into the air, she points at the other, calling out to Kyra.

"Hey! Want to go with us? I think it could be rather amusing!" Both girls had white silver hair and red crimson eyes and pale skin, though her own had a slight purplish hue to it, befitting of a Dark Elf, as she looks back at him with another smile.

"I do hope you'll still think my pointy ears add a few more points to me, but alas in your delirious bleeding state the basic outline is the same, I can forgive a lapse in judgement if I stay behind and send her. You may also call me Findel."

@EmperorsChosen @Jessica2477

Thalia​

Nodding in turn to her compatriot, it was.. nice in a manner to not need to use unneeded words, as she studies him, something seems to garner her focus, she found her right hand absent mindedly reaching towards her nail pouch before she comes back to her senses, letting her hand continue to drift away in a natural motion to dust off her skirt.

"It seems our third has sought us out." She says in reply to Khalid, she had heard a bit about both of these men, though mostly of hearsay, the later actually did seem to stare through her.. His eyes didn't see at all, did they? He also had to make this journey on foot, it seemed at least some of the rumors were true, the Elf nods in kind tilting her head in greeting with a small nod.

"Thalia. And no, please do join us.. I daresay only one or two of us know this place and I would not expect help from them least needed or bought. I am a Witch of the Swamp, my magic revolves around plants and curses so at least if we send you into some strange place, I can accompany you with a small Ent. Provided Yanagi here does not mind."

She recalled most of their names from the Entrance ceremony. Though her tone was rather flat and not at all hostile, her eyes and face remain much like a hawk baring down upon the pair.. It seemed such may not be born out of malice at least.

@Astros @kookyboy9

 

[Astros]

"Not at all."

With a shake of his head now in place of a nod, Yanagi welcomed the third member with open arms. Metaphorically speaking of course. His posture did not change much with the new addition. Rigid and stiff as usual in the presence of others. His voice betrayed only a scant glimpse at what was going on inside. Monotone and dry from the desert heat, his voice cracked a little. Strangely, he wouldn't clear his throat afterward.

Instead, thinking as to what he could offer the team his mind was drawing a blank. Recalling his rather useless efforts in his previous adventure long ago. Even his thoughtful gesture toward his nude compatriot had been ignored and likely seen as contemptible. He had never been one interested in the arcane, it was only in his travels and through his difficulties he had gathered what he practiced. Which being a mediocre application of Wizardry, was situational at best. With that in mind, he couldn't help but to compare his ineptitude to the divine talents of the Architect. In truth there was nothing to compare, it would be equivalent to juxtaposing an ant to the planet. One reliably couldn't.

"Should you both fall, I'll think of something." He added.

A bit awkwardly at that, and ill timed. He soon regretted the words as he realized how condescending they appeared. But, he wouldn't take them back nor add more for fear of making things worse.

@RedArmyShogun @kookyboy9

 

[Jessica]

Luce & Kyra
Interactions: Findel | @RedArmyShogun
Rurik | @EmperorsChosen
Rhea | @Monbon
Mentions:

Devil and Angel

~~~~~~~~

Cute...


The word still echoed within Kyra's mind, and much to the pleasure of her demon, she'd become easily embarrassed when being reminded of the conversation she had with Rurik. Not just the jumpscare that shouldn't have gotten her, but the fact that she'd received what was the closest thing to flirting in quite a while. The most recent she had before this was a guy telling her that he found her cute, but he believed he'd be a better match with her brother.

Ugh.

Now their journey up to seemingly nowhere had ended and they were given the choice of making their groups of three. Her eyes instinctively went to her brother just in time to see that Rhea had gone up and, what looked like, to ask him to be her partner. Well, good. At least she didn't have to worry about Luce being stuck on his own.

She thought about third wheeling him until a woman suddenly called out to her. This lady, who Kyra recalled from seeing on the boat, was inviting her to join their group...

'Accept her offer. It will give you a chance to assess his strength as a magic user and as a potential mate.' The demon commented, making Kyra pause as her cheeks flared red again.

'Silence, damn you!'

Of course, her demand was only met by a chuckle.


Kyra looked over to Findel and nodded her head once. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea."

She approached the two, catching the woman's name at the last word. Findel... Nothing she'd ever heard, but it was easy enough to remember. "Findel.. I'm Kyra, nice to meet you both."


-----

Unfortunate that the conversation had to end as early as it did, but the girl was gone as quickly as he had approached her. Being a healer, he noticed the change in color of her face and the look that seemed to be of illness, or dread. Left behind was the journal that she had been using to communicate. Luce picked up the book and stowed it away on his person for safekeeping, trying to find the best opportunity to return it to Rhea but there never seemed to be one. He wondered what was the matter, but he couldn't exactly ask if he never could stop her for conversation...

So Luce waited, and eventually, the day came.

Their hike out into unforgiving heat... He and his sister weren't accustomed to such weather. They'd spent the majority of their lives within caves, not in the blistering sun. There was much the two needed to learn before they could ever consider themselves fit for surviving in different climates...


Rhea approached him, writing into the sand why she had left so suddenly and the request to partner up. He smiled at her, "Of course. If the opportunity presents itself, I might share another song with you. Ah, speaking of opportunities." Luce reached into one of his pockets and held out Rhea's journal to her. "This is yours, right?"





​

 

[EmperorsChosen]

"So that's how it is..." Rurik hummed, deciding to indulge her. He wouldn't speak on her experience aloud and allow her entertainment to continue. "A poor damsel? Sounds like an excuse to have me carry you like a bride. I'm not necessarily opposed, but an excuse it is."

Though if she was familiar with the desert, it was probably best that she be the one that goes for help. The real dilemma would come if she was the one that took the fall. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. Either way, they still needed a third, and as if searching for the closest thing to a twin, the elf called out to Kyra. Rurik recognized her as the scary notebook girl, though they never exchanged names.

"Mm. Perhaps. My knight in shining armor would be entitled to a few more, though," He remarked in turn. "So, we'll have to see how well you protect your damsel."

Looking to Kyra, she was red once again, but accepted. It looked like she remembered the notepad incident. Hopefully the traps were disarmed like the professor said or there might be some other jump-scares awaiting them.

"The heat getting to you, Kyra?" Rurik inquired perhaps a bit smug, though it was hard to tell with the shielded face. "You can both call me Rurik."

@RedArmyShogun @Jessica2477

 

[Monbon]

Rhea wasn't too surprised about being forgiven so easily. It wasn't as if she did anything wrong.

Why did she feel so bad about it though?

Taking care not to make physical contact with him, Rhea released his sleeve and backed off a distance she felt more comfortable with. She was just about to tear her gaze away to find a third person when he pulled something familiar out of his pocket. It was the journal she'd misplaced! Taking it back carefully, she nodded in thanks and beamed happily as she opened it up to ensure it was still in the same somewhat worn-out condition as before.

It was almost time to replace it. Most of the pages were filled with random nonsense and scribbles that she had long forgotten. Rhea also had a bad habit of doodling when she had something on her mind. As she flipped through the pages, she eventually came across the drawing and notes of her previous teammates, reminding her they were still one short.

A quick glance around showed that most teams had already formed. The only two people not teamed up were Zach and Diastrea. Though she did not know the feline-like girl, she had heard her name and surprisingly had yet to forget it. Probably because of how uncommon it was. What did it even mean?

It didn't matter. Since the arrow was already out there and because she was currently holding Arjuna, she put away her journal and continued to use the arrow to 'speak'. Crossing out the last line, she wrote another. 2 people left. She finished it off with a quick drawing of Zach's strange beaked mask and followed it with the preschool-level doodle of a cat.

It would be a hard pick. Everyone passed the first test, proving themselves to be very capable for the most part. Rhea wasn't too worried about that. Zach would be a great help. Having a medic of sorts around was always smart, especially in an environment they were not used to.

The cat on the other hand, was a complete mystery. Rhea was an observant person but she had seldom seen her around. Granted, she was avoiding people but it was rare to even catch a glimpse of the feline. Truthfully, Rhea was a little curious as to what kind of person they were. Her gaze lingered on the defining feature on the girl's head. The girl's ears and tail were interesting, They looked soft even from afar and moved in the most curious of ways. 'So cute!'

It took great restraint to peel her eyes away before the other could catch her staring at her in such a shameful way. Recalling her own partner, she tilted her head and awaited his opinion.

---

Interactions: @Jessica2477
Mentions: Dia @Thaleko & Zach @Azurian Dream
​

​

 

[Reanimator Buns]

The night seemed to pass quite quickly as the groups formed, only half-way really. After everyone dosed off for the night things shifted beneath the surface and a long since slumbering creature was aroused by the sudden new scents of these students. It's sleep was disturbed by the noise of the excavators, and the veil between the land of the waking and the land of the dreaming was waning.

In the morning the professor gathered everyone up and the groups were assigned, respecting the wishes of those in them. First of was Yanagi, Khalid, and Thalia. Up next was Rurik, Findel, and Kyra, much to the enjoyment of the nobleman. Following them was Luce, Rhea, and Diastrea. And finally Kess, Ena, and Zacharias were in the last group.

With their objectives set by their chaperone and professor, the students were allowed to explore the ruins to their heart's content. Inside they would find engravings telling stories of wars against horrid creatures. One prominent feature was a depiction of a humanoid character with the bottom half of a scorpion. In fact, tauric beings of all kinds seemed quite common amongst these walls. Some were humans with snake-like hands, as well as the lower half. But there were camel people, spider people, and many others.

For one of the explorers, Findel, the language used for these drawings and carvings was recognizable and familiar, but with just enough of a disconnect that it didn't quite make sense in the context to her modern tongue.

There were also symbols and magic circles, as if the walls themselves were spellbooks. Kess for one was interested in these spells. He wasn't well studied on elemental affinity quite yet, but there was a lot of evidence that supported the notion that many spells here were trying to harness the powers of wind and earth, or Aether and Nether at the same time. There were also some traps, the more mechanical of them, that had been left open and easy for those to appreciate their machinations to study them. Kess soon followed these walls into a large room. Inside were countless more tales, but unlike the ones before, they seemed to tell many other stories. He was unsure what to think of them, but his gaze gravitated toward one mural in particular. It stood at the end of the room. It depicted a faceless entity painted blue, hugging six other people, each colored white, brown, blue, red, green, and black. Beyond it were more magic circles. And they seemed very similar to the ones he used for his current magic.

"How are things going for you guys?"

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Findel
​

Humming a desert tune that had an oddly fitting towards all of this Findel wakes up that following morning after some casual talk with her two partners for this incursion. Following the Professor for a bit, she motioned for her two cohorts to join her as with a smile she stuck to smaller out of the way passages, beckoning the others to follow.

"Its so odd, this all looks so familiar, but there are differences I cannot understand for now." She says, stopping every so often to look off into other halls, or at what few images and signs were this way. Or maybe not under standing them at all she thinks but doesn't say aloud.

"Though if there is one thing I know is this passage should be a servants tunnel to lead us to a throne room, reception, bath, kitchen. Hard to say, but no true Royal would dare use them. This is more for slaves, servants, merchants, heh. Old Boss, New Boss, how little it changes, and they wonder why they get stabbed."

Making use of what space they had, Findel holds flamed hand ahead of her as they come into a room that was cleared before.. Or at least of traps and given light. A large central dais and a wide standing area was noted, branching off to the main hall, a simple if not ornate stone throne was positioned upon the dais, the room did not seem to have been gone over that well, though this was a throne or speaker room of some sort, something of value may still be here.

"Excellent! haha my friends I think we may have done it, the question is what, if anything we can find in here.. Even if we must bring it to that tent."

@EmperorsChosen @Jessica2477

Thalia​

Pondering on the meeting the three had before, it was mostly Khalid who would break the ice with the night settling in the Elf would sleep near her so called Dark cousin, picking a place towards a corner to avoid most others, with little incident the next day would begin. As the first group in Thalia pays close attention to their surroundings, a sense of discomfort pricks at her, these figures were alien to her and terrible in their own right..

But there was something more to it, like a lingering presence in the air, or given the traditions of Andii, a story to be told. Turning her head to face her masked partner she microscopically motions forward, fixing her gaze upon Khalid as she gives him a more exaggerated wave of her arm to show where they were heading. Unlike Kess and his group that went into what seemed to be a story or art room, she brought her compatriots into a massive hall that laid just beyond the main room, more of the strange statues were on display.. Or no, in this case they were built into the hall itself as Pillars and supports, gazing at them from the position of their heads, Thalia speaks her thoughts aloud;

"Hmm.. I wonder if this is a trophy or victory hall, or some sort of tomb. There seemed to be more runes back the other way, but these statues strike me as warriors.. Maybe there is someplace they lead?" Partially asking and partially telling, Thalia seemed intent on following this path.

@Astros @kookyboy9

 

[Jessica]

Luce & Kyra
Interactions: Findel | @RedArmyShogun
Rurik | @EmperorsChosen
Rhea | @Monbon
Cat | @Thaleko
Mentions:

Devil and Angel

~~~~~~~~

Kyra had tried to be as talkative as she could during that morning to at least get a better understanding of her two partners. All she knew of them at the moment was that they were all creepy in their own way, but nothing too terrible. Findel and Rurik both had their strengths and weaknesses intelligence-wise, which made them both all the more interesting. She was curious to learn more about them, and by the sounds of it (or lack thereof), her demon was interested as well.

She followed right behind the dark elf after being directed to do so, her eyes lingering over the brand new environment. There wasn't much left that could be preserved, by the looks of it. It would take so much magic to bring any sort of life back into any image or artifact that was stuck in this rubble.


Upon arrival to the throne, Kyra looked around for a moment to try and catch something they could take at first glance, but of course, they would need to look closer... Though the area around them felt so... foreign. She'd never been inside a throne room before. At least not one like this.

"If being the key word. But, surely there's bound to be some piece of magical valuable that we can take. We just have to look for it."


-----

In the end, Luce had decided that he and Rhea should ask the cat to join their small group. The reason? The plague mask man was a healer, and so was Luce. It would be more beneficial to separate the healers into different groups. Besides, he knew absolutely nothing about the cat woman who he'd seen lingering around the boat. He was curious himself about who she was.

Now, roaming the ruins with his two partners, Luce had become curious regarding what sort of knowledge laid hidden within the rubble and the walls of these ruins. He was most curious about what sort of musical art or magical artifact might lie around, but he was unsure of where to even begin. Down the corridors? Search for a stage? A library? What awaited them, fatal or otherwise?


"So many places. Where do you think we should go next?"




​

 

[kookyboy9]

Khalid Abbar

Location: Ruin - Entrance
Date: Unknown

Interactions:

Khalid let his hand(s) drop, allowing the duplicated limb to seamlessly rejoin his arm in disappointment. But he'd found a team. And perhaps some new friends? Khalid spent some time conversing with the two about more or less meaningless things before splitting up for the night. That night, Khalid's standby period passed relatively peacefully, after which he met back up with his new pair of teammates to proceed into the ruin.

Upon entering the ruin, Khalid's body involuntarily shivered, slightly losing cohesion before snapping back together. The ambient mana in everything here made it difficult for his senses to work properly, to the point that he nearly missed the first of the two signals that Thalia gave to enter the hall beyond.

He followed after, only to be shocked by just how immense the hall was. He could see the nearer parts of the room, but the other side of the hall was completely hidden from his view. He did his best to be quiet... up until Thalia began speaking. Perhaps they weren't trying to be sneaky after all? "The statues seem somewhat out of place for a trophy hall. They also seem fairly grotesque for a resting place? Perhaps the ruin was meant to seal something, and the statues were meant as a warning?"

Khalid focused a bit more on the statues. Some of them really were disturbing, albeit interesting. It seemed odd to him that they seemed to be the structural supports for the room as well. Didn't decorative columns normally just have patterns? At the very least, he'd never seen supporting columns like this before. He'd have to get closer to see if anything was actually up with them, though. There was so much mana around that his senses just weren't penetrating much of anything. "Or maybe there's something hidden in the statues? Some sort of mechanism or something?

 

[Thaleko]

"There is much to be learned from past people. Open your ears, eyes, and hearts to them; they wish to teach you. If you do so, you will hear their faint whispers. Do not believe the dead gone, that is a foolish misconception. Mya~"​

She had been partnered up with a couple of people. -People interesting in their own right, truth be told. But she had yet to really, formally notice them. The cat girl was being strung along by her curiosity. She was too busy staring at the walls. 'Reading' up on the wars fought with strange, horrid beasts-people. To Diastraea, this was most intriguing! She felt she had a strong connection with these strange chimeric creatures.

But whatever the case was, she was busy scribbling away in her journal. Making sketches of the drawings. Writing what she felt they were telling her.

Next, she was onto the various magic runes inscribed on the walls. Her eyes glittered with interest. Even if she had to only interpret the war stories before, these she wouldn't leave out a single detail. Not a single line wouldn't be copied with pinpoint detail. Ancient spells were most intriguing! And spells tended to have the desired effect if they were made or written to their exact, finest details. Otherwise you were liable to flub it. Or get an entirely different effect.

The Aether spells, in particular, were of interest to Dia. As Aether was her worst element. She spent quite an exorbitant amount of time studying and going over them. While trying to practice them then and there.

Until finally, she moved on. Spotting some of the traps that had been left. Completely disarmed, obviously, but their mechanics were left in all their glory. Sure, without being able to set them off, the desired effect could only really be guessed. But some were quite obvious. Spikes, saw blades, swinging rocks. Still, the mechanics were unique. Ancient people truly required their utmost ingenuity to make things like this. In fact, everything in the ruins was a showcase for the ingenuity of ancient people. Right down to statues, carvings, and art.

"I do not mind where we go! Mnya! Anywhere! Everywhere! Mya! Just take me there! Mnnyaaaa~!!"

If they didn't take her somewhere soon, the kitty was liable to let her curiosity take her elsewhere, leaving them behind entirely.

 

[Astros]

"Poison darts?"

Yanagi surmised aloud. It would be fitting for them, warriors stationed outside the tomb of a pharaoh or a king. Even in death, his mightiest and proudest servants would stand guard to his remains and what was left with him to carry on into the afterlife. Resting as pillars before them, the statues also symbolized how the earth soldiers made the foundation for the once prosperous nation. Now, a collection of ruins among the sands of time. Buried and forgotten, disturbed only by grave robbers and explorers such as themselves.

Continuing down the hall, Yanagi betrayed no fear of such traps as he surveyed the sculptures for any distinction. A difference in their armaments or perhaps garments might betray something more to them. Noticing little difference as he passed them one by one, it seemed there was nothing to it after all until he came upon a smooth wall, where a warrior should have been erected.

"There's one missing."

Running a hand across the surface of the stone, it was unnaturally polished. As if someone had recently sanded it down or swiftly grazed it. Turning to his teammates, he wordlessly beckoned their attention.

@RedArmyShogun @kookyboy9

 

[Azurian Dream]

"Pretty well, and very intrigued," Zachariah responded as he entered the room a little behind Kess making sure not to run into any potential traps still around. The taller student stood a little away from Kess absorbing in the rooms full display of tales of the past, and magics probably long lost. The most intriguing being the main attraction that had Kess's full attention. Making sure Ena was still with them he turned back to the hugging man, and the plethora of magic being symbolized.

"Your thoughts on this one," Zachariah asked as he to was trying to decipher how he felt about its potential meaning. Though his attention was pulled to the fairy again noting her well sized traveling bag.

"Do you need help with your equipment," Zachariah offered being quite use to heavy trekking with heavier equipment. Though while awaiting Ena's response the doctor returned to the hugging man, and found himself oddly concerned by the mural however he couldn't tell why it just felt important. Pulling out a sketch book the doctor started to draw the mural for notes to show back to the teacher. Sitting down the doctor took a bit of time getting the whole picture placing a bit near Ena encase she wanted to place her stuff next to him to carry later.

"Seems we may have found a goldmine of a room for history," As he finished his drawing he placed the book back into his pack as he looked to the ceiling. Oddly enough there were no pictures or symbols which was rather peculiar as the rest of the structure had ceiling writings.

"Kess, Ena does one not find it odd that their are no carvings on the ceiling of this room," he pointed out.

Mentions: @Reanimator Spuds @Cresion Breezes

 

[EmperorsChosen]

As the group entered the ruins, Rurik silently searched around with his eyes. His mask should point him towards anything with a great amount of mana, but it seemed like this was more of a historian's wet dream than a crafters. The pictographs on the wall made little sense to him and the actual language even less. Rurik looked over to Findel as she spoke of some familiarity, though it seemed there wasn't much to that.

"Were the servants Dwarves?" Rurik questioned as he followed. There wasn't much space for the two women, let alone him who was somewhat larger than the average man. "Is stabbing a thing with you?"

The elf was a bit strange, but that perception only went off prejudices. There weren't any in the mountains. Perhaps they were all just a bit odd, though not in the way he expected.

As they cleared the servant space and set foot in a throne room, Rurik let out a whistle. If there wasn't something here, then he would be thoroughly disappointed. Though, the mention of bringing everything to the tent did a good job at that as wel.

Humming, he proceded further into the room, scanning its walls, floors, and finally the throne. Perhaps he wasn't fitting to be a noble after all. Even with his upbringing, just being in the presence of the pretentious chair was stuffy. It seemed to be just that, though. There wasn't much of a reading from the throne.

Rurik circled it, inspecting it before turning to the wall facing its back. He seemed to take interest of something there; a faint glow on a portion of the wall.

"I... may have something," Rurik called out as he began to fiddle with the wall. It was covered in more jibberish that he couldn't understand, but the drawings here had a glow, as did a prism-like shape in the wall. "Larger concentration of mana here... and from under the wall. Don't think they'd put a trap in the throne room, so..."

Fiddling around with the surface of the wall, Rurik eventually felt part of it give and one of the pictures pushed in.

"...Oh, I love puzzles that I can't read."

@RedArmyShogun @Jessica2477

 

[Monbon]

The ruins were massive and quite honestly a little frightening. The walls were covered in different things, ancient things. Some of the symbols on the wall vaguely reminded her of the faded text in the tomb she found and summoned Arjuna from. Just how old was this demon?

Holding the doll to her chest now, she wondered if she understood any of this. 'Do you know what any of this means, Juna?' Rhea asked through the bond that connected them, more out of curiosity rather than suspicion. Though it would be strange if she did, considering how even a simple duster amazed her, it's nice to get her opinion every now and then. The demon had long proven she was more a friend than a foe. To her anyway. To be honest, she wasn't even sure the demon was even awake. The doll couldn't exactly blink. She had been dormant for most of their stay thus far, though. Whether Arjuna was sleeping or just observing was always a mystery to her. She had no reason to even answer her.

As she waited patiently for any response, she took interest in the circles on the wall, reminded of the ones she already used. They were different, their design more geometric and complex than her own. Naturally, she copied them down as well as the symbols beside them, not knowing whether or not they'd even come of use later. She wasn't sure what to expect going forward.

When asked which way they should go, she pointed in the direction she hadn't seen anyone take yet. If they were going to explore, they may as well take a path not yet traveled. After picking, she wandered down the corridor casually. The traps were disarmed, what was there to worry about?

The corridor led to a large room lit up in the center by a large glass sphere covered in runes. Surrounding the sphere were what appeared to be ancient instruments tucked neatly to the sides on stands. Rhea questioned why a room like this would exist in such a place. Did they lull the recently departed to sleep with song or something?

Most interested in the sphere, Rhea made her way directly towards it. Encased in the glass waa a strange glowing ball of.. aether? She wasn't entirely sure. It was really hard to make out past the runes. There was also a low humming sound coming from the thing. It was so low, it was almost unnoticable until one drew closer.

Unable to solve the mystery of the source of light or the hum, she focused on the runes instead. She was no expert but none looked familiar from what little she did know. Reaching out, she traced one of the mysterious symbols an was greeted by a louder but sweeter hum. "Wah..." Amazed, she traced a different one and and acheived different results. Glancing back at her teammates, she waved them over excitedly to come take a look at the strange instrument she had found.

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Interactions: Arjuna, Dia @Thaleko and Luce @Jessica2477
Mentions: ~
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[RedArmyShogun]

Findel
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Listening to Rurik she shrugs in passing. "As if I know what sort of slaves were here, if any. It's a Servants passage, I'm not that old. And no, me and my family are more of the ones to hire someone to Do the stabbing. As I said I am a native of the Sands, to be more spot on I am daughter of a merchant family."

With that she walks around the room, the odd sensation she felt before still tugging at her mind. Walking around the room briefly she takes a seat upon the throne, smiling a bit as her left leg crosses over the right. There was something curious about this chair, while important in stature it seemed, lacking overall, plus was largely made of mason work. It wasn't very regal at all..

"Curious." Running her hands along the arms beneath her, Findel starts to feel around to see if there were any buttons, switches, levers, anything odd as it were, leaving her two teammates to search the room themselves.


@EmperorsChosen @Jessica2477

Thalia​

Listening to the two she puzzles over the situation briefly before speaking up in turn; "I don't think we are allowed to break anything in the temple to see if there is anything inside of them or not."


Pondering it for a few moments she offers what she considers the two most likely scenarios looking at the pair and the blank slate. "Either it was never finished, or it was destroyed before hand.. Maybe by the first team? Either way we may not be alone here." This whole situation and the world around it was very odd and alien. There were many unknowns here.

That being said she was not one for indecision, walking over to the statue alongside Yanagi, Thalia looks back at the pair, hoping the Golem would see. "For now let's search this room, see if we can prove or learn anything that we three mentioned. If their were traps I would assume they would have went off well before now. This room may be a warning or it might be a normal hall.. I cannot say, but here is as good as any place to start our search."

@Astros @kookyboy9

 

[Jessica]

Luce & Kyra
Interactions: Rurik | @EmperorsChosen
Rhea | @Monbon
Cat | @Thaleko
Mentions:

Asmodeus and Camael

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A daughter of a merchant family hiring people to do the stabbing for her... Kyra could respect that, but then Findel would miss the intimate moment of sinking her knife into the heart of her enemy. It was more satisfying to do the killing than having some nobody do it for her.

...So says her pact demon.

As Findel became interested in the throne chair to search for buttons or switches, Kyra herself started looking around for any sort of statue or magical artifact that could be lying around. Maybe even a piece of history such as a painting. It was possible that an old portrait of whoever sat on the throne before the sand lady still existed somewhere... If not here, then maybe in a different room?

However, Rurik gaining access to something caught her attention and she walked over.

"A puzzle? Must be hiding something good." She commented, looking over the puzzle itself.

'Hey, what do you think?' She asked her pact demon, who scoffed at her.

'A puzzle as old as time itself. By the looks of it, you will have to push the pictures in a certain order. I commend the masked one for realizing the foolishness of putting a trap in the throne room, but it's possible the ones before you were not as rational. Be wary.'

"Okay." She said aloud, "Let's try pushing these pictures in a certain order. A shape, oldest looking picture to newest, hmm... I doubt they'd leave a clue for this in the throne room."


-----


Diastraea seemed to be neutral about where they went, seeming too preoccupied writing down their findings to really care about which direction to go. Rhea had been kind enough to point them somewhere that no one had seemed to gone through, which Luce was happy to explore. An unmarked path meant the possibility of an interesting discovery~

And so, they walked down the path with Luce looking over to the cat every once in a while to ensure she didn't walk into anything or accidentally get lost.

Thankfully, a lot of the traps seemed to be disarmed. Though the ease was present, Luce couldn't fully relax. It was possible that there were still some traps that hadn't been triggered; it was better to keep their guard up.


Upon seeing the instruments, Luce looked at them in awe, feeling a bit of giddiness in his chest. He decided that before they left, he should take a closer look around the area to try and find any sort of lyrics or sheet music. Maybe if there was one legible enough, he'd be able to take it with him and perhaps perform what had not been heard for many generations!

For now, the shining and the humming were too mysterious for his liking.

Rhea waved both he and Diastraea over to examine what had gotten her so excited. Watching the instrument, in turn, made him share in the emotion.


"Woooow~" He smiled. "Amazing! I've never seen an instrument like this before." Luce got closer to the instrument, examining it from all sides. "And it still works? I wish we could take it with us."

With that, Luce started searching around the instrument itself in search for any music sheets. If none were found, he would move on to the rest of the room.


'Compose yourself before they think you a mutt searching for treats.' He heard his pact angel tell him but he ignored her.



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[Cresion Breezes]

Ena Lavenderdew

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"Wahhhh..." A small airy sound came out from Ena as she yawned and rolled around on top of Kess' head. She kicked her legs on the young man's hair as she turned her eyes around the place as they walked. "Boringggggggg!" She exclaimed as she looked at the carvings and paintings left on the walls. The part animal and part human ones made her tilt her head a bit, sometimes back home, they would cast illusions to make intruders of the hollows see themselves or each other as animals. It was fun to watch them run around and into one another, or even beat each other in the chaos.

"Why not just turn them into a whole animal, this is super duper weird and lazy." She patted down on Kess' hair again, before flying up in the air with a small kick. The room her group was in had more carvings on the walls, Ena did a few zips around and looked at them, including the one that Kess seemed interested in. The figure was hugging six different figures, they were all different colours. Ena thought they were pretty, some of her friends back home always liked putting different coloured stones and petals together, and always went on about how the colours mean things.

"I don't need you to help. He's got it." Ena made a few glittery air circles around Kess as she answered their other group member. She didn't really need help, she just wanted to get back at him for calling her short, that's all. "I don't know about this though, a lot of things have six colours you know." She flew up and zipped around the picture, probably unaware of her distracting nature, "You know, like flower wreaths, the crystal collection that professor had...the rainbow candy they sold on the famer's market...that poster in the elements theory classroom."

The comment by their plague doctor friend did catch her attention as she looked up at the ceiling directly, it was true that it was barren. "Hmm, maybe wingless ones were just too lazy to draw up there." She left the comment and zipped up to the top of the room and began knocking different parts of the ceiling slightly. Ena trailed around while sticking close to the ceiling, before finding a small hole. It was obvious that no one could fit into it, other than her of course. "Hmmmmm-" Looking at the hole with some deep thoughts, Ena turned and shouted towards her two companions,
"Hey hey, there's holes on the ceiling, we should check out what is in there...well, I could!"

 

[Thaleko]

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"I do. But if I told you, that wouldn't be quite so interesting, now would it? It's more amusing to find it out yourself," Arjuna's voice came from the doll at Rhea's chest.

"And some of it, I don't. It is hard for me to understand the intentions of humans. So, like you, I am intrigued."

"Listen to music. It is a unique language. It has much to teach you and should be respected. Too many disrespect it, thinking it is nothing more than entertainment. Such a shame, nya~"​

If she got lost, then it would be no skin off her back. Still, she saw the direction that the green-haired female suggested, and followed the two all the same.

Once in the room, Diastraea's attention was quickly drawn to the instruments. Her eyes widened. This was a gold mine for information to add to the Brahmanavide! So many unique musical instruments! Some she did actually recognize, but not all. She immediately began taking notes, and sketching quick sketches to add to the Vide later.

Her eyes were drawn to a little lute-like instrument.

"Ah! It is like the biwa I play!" Dia exclaimed, plucking it out of the place it had been carefully placed. It appeared to be made out of some sort of clay to maintain its shape. If it had been made out of wood like she was more familiar with, it certainly would not have lasted this long. Holding the instrument by its neck and its gourd-like base. She began plucking the strings.

Dun! Dinnn! Dien! Duun!

Dun dinnn dien duun!

Dundinnndienduundundundinnndiendundundun! Duu~uu~uu~uu~uuuu~un~!

She continued strumming the last string.

Then she noticed the bow nearby. "Ah!"

She grabbed it and drew it across the strings.

Nyyeee~eeaaa~eeaarrrhh~ahhh~!

Pleased, Dia brought it over to the others. Who were inspecting this unique instrument in the center of the place.

A strange spherical instrument.

"AHHHH! WHOOO!! This is an incredible find!!! I have never seen any instrument like this one either, nyaaaaa~!!" Diastraea exclaimed, leaning over to inspect it all over.

Aether was inside of it? "My weakest element! mya~" She wondered if it could be used as a medium to use Aether magic. Or if it used the Aether element to make sounds. "Are these runes 'spells'? Sound spells? That use Aether to make unique sounds?? Most interesting, mnyaaa~!"

 

[EmperorsChosen]

"That's comforting," Rurik replied.

It wasn't really, but as long as it wasn't him on the chopping block there was no problem. She seemed to be fiddling with the throne, either searching for a connection to the wall or to see if something else could be found. Rurik continued eyeing the pictures until Kyra spoke again. He glanced at her for a few moments before turning back to the wall.

"That your intuition?" He asked.

It was oddly specific for someone who couldn't translate any of what was written. She wasn't necessarily suspicious, though it did feel as though there was more to the girl. It was a point of interest, but one worth pursuing later. For now, Rurik pushed various slabs of pictographs, attempting to find the order.

"That's not much of a puzzle... Reading is the main problem..." His ask couldn't even help either. He could tell people had pressed the buttons before but not what order they were in. Trial and error was an option, but time-consuming. "Well, if this is the part an arrow hits me in the leg, at least I can appreciate the company."