Pursuers of Arcana (IC)

[Reanimator Buns]

The area was most certainly prepped for the students. To a degree that it was almost boring. At least for those who sought first hand experience or the thrill of adventure. However, deep beneath the surface, below the corridors and chambers they travelled, there was conversation.

A short statured figure wearing a plain white mask with a exaggerated frown walked across the the sandstone floors of a darkened chamber. before taking a dramatic bow before the halls

"Hark, O' Mother of Chimera! I must inform you that it seems someone has skipped a few lines... I know your que wasn't expected for some time, but now would be a good time to take the stage."

There was a long low groaning noise, as something dragged across the stone. "Mmmmm, It's far too early for this... You've some nerve disturbing such a beautiful rest..." There was more movement down below, as hundreds of snakes, insects, and rats crawled across the floors. "Still, I must thank you for releasing me from that seal, though I've grown accustomed to the dreams..." The sounds of stones scraping stones began to echo throughout the chamber, as well as to the halls above. Something no one above would be able to ignore. Ancient mechanisms which were buried below reawakened at the commands of their master.

"Children... Your darling mother needs your help cleaning the house..."

---

@Cresion Breezes @Azurian Dream

Kess was drawn away from his own mural and his gaze brought to the empty ceiling above them. It was a little strange he felt. "Can't imagine that being the case... The drawings move all the way up on all sides. All they'd need to do really is set up some bridging across any scaffolding they used..." Then there were the matter of holes. Ena seemed interested in investigating them, to which Kess had no issue with. Perhaps they'd find the reason for it there?

"Well then, I'd say there are two reasons as far as I could tell. They never finished as whatever civilization was making this decided to quit, or..."

Ena was already at the ceiling when their purpose became known. Beyond just holes, there seemed to be slits in the surface. There was a quake underneath them, as the sounds of stones scraping against one another was heard above them and to the doorway, sealing them inside. The ceiling was moving... Around each hole, it shifted and locked as if it were a puzzle box. With each piece finding it's niche, the rings around the hile began dropping one after another, until it finally reached the floor, connecting it.

Suddenly, there was a jolt of the floor they were standing on, as the center of the room began lowering, with the sound of chains clattering nearby. This was taking them deeper. Deeper than they had originally thought this would lead.

"What did you do?" Kess asked to the room. Hoping one of them had caused this.

---

@Thaleko @Jessica2477 @Monbon

Sheets of music, perhaps not, but a melody indeed. After the sudden quake subsided, a song began to ring out throughout the chamber they stood in. With none, touching the instrument its sounds could be heard from below, growing louder and louder, resonating with the instrument above them.

"Beyond the nighted veil of sleep,

For our dear mother did we weep,

Who wished for our health,

Our prosperity and wealth,

Foul things for them they reap..."

With a bright flash from the instrument, a song indeed revealed itself. But the words it read were not the ones they heard below. It was shown inside the ball of light. Waiting for one to respond to the call and sing the next verse...

"You wished for a home to give,

For a life that they may live,

Your kin though they dream,

Things are not as they seem,

Until she can forgive..."
​

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Findel
​

Playing around with the chair she still wasn't sure why it did not seem regal.. It was a simple location, all of those other large halls led to it or near it. A puzzle of some sort had caught Rurik's eye and the fellow silver was up to something another. It was then she noticed faint stains in the dust, lingering behind in an outline, tracing it with her eye she speaks up. "Huh. Neat, a Desk used to be here.. Or I think so." The puzzle beyond them seemed to speak to her a bit, but just why would a vault be in such a room?

Pausing at that, she did not like how this place tugged at her mind and senses as if calling upon something in her blood.. Her people had the Worldsong within them, it called to some and not to others, but she had no interest in it past the normal level for her people, which was to say more than most. The fact this place provoked a familiarity from her was.. not all that different from being in the arena. If she was a player on the stage then so be it, a show this temple wanted and so it should have. Rising to her feet she would rise to her feet to look at the puzzle, but no sooner than she did walls and stone doors slam shut all around them as the 'throne' lowers into the ground with its dais, a trail of stairs leading down into a tunnel at its back.

"I didn't touch anything!"

She shouts in protest, wondering in part if the act of getting up had triggered this, as suddenly a glyph of words shine about the room, a pyramid with a host of stone and jewel work eyes rises from the floor base, barking at them in strange tongue;

"E chuta na sawana metqu, al salla ban nehetto."

"W-what.." Drawing her sword she looks at the magecraft item as the worldsong gave it power. "I don't understand! uh.. Al kahlid, nasharr al baneed."

She says trying a passage passed down for years. The device pauses, a magical eye focusing on her and the rest. "Salaehm Asuhu.. Analyzing."

Repeating several more words in rapid succession. Before it finally stops, the glyphs in the room shining as he disregards the others.

"Ah. So the line of the lower cast continued on and magic breathes in the land. I am the personification of the Security Wards emplaced by the Great Chanter...the Great Chanter... Error. Child of the Sand, I have need of you and those you travel with to reclaim this prison. Long ago did a Chanter do battle with the Mother of Monsters Lilith the Icon of Sin. Her words and Mockery upon the Worldsong gave birth to the beings you have seen. Sealed into the Prison and locked away, to be but a lingering thought in the minds of men."

Suddenly some of the images and words in the room shift, a woman with shifting features akin to a beast was there, with an army of abominations at her back and call. There was then another, a myriad of races, some no longer on this world, some of myth and legend, elves and humans, in ancient armor and with swords and spears made of bronze, their armor gleamed in the sun, their robes billowing in the wind. Then battled commenced, the Monstrous hoard had the advantage at the start but were slowly pushed back into the temple, a Chanter then carrying out a war of words with the Mother, creation and destruction, life and death, elements and armies even more ancient given form, history twisting and changing, massive destruction. But in the end the Army of the Chanter won, the sands fell upon the temple engulfing it in the wastes as the current structure was built atop it.

"This is the third breech of Security in several... ERROR.. I am Auspicious Decan. Reclaimer, Child of the Sand. If you be worthy I ask you to open the vault behind you and to take the Seers Stone. Use...ERROR USE USE USE, the stone in the heart of the facility, past traps and history, restore the Wards, keep the great evil locked within... Many not of the Sand are here.. A few have broken the seals.. The Second Breach Subject has awoken. Reclaimer, hurry, do not allow the World Song to Break."

"I..I.. WHAT IS ALL OF THIS?!"

"Auspicious Decan has Explained. I am but a Sentinel, a...Searching.. A familiar. I am empowered with the world song and the wards.. The runes must be repaired, the final purpose and resealing of this Prison carried out... You know your Duty Child of the Sand, Reclaimer. The Song will not stop for you. I shall help where I can, by singing to you the songs of Trials to walk the Warden's P-path. In the name of the Great Chanter -ERROR I conscript you to this holy task in the name of your people."


Looking at her allies, she moves over to the puzzle, this should not be too difficult and in either case the three of them were trapped in the Warden's Office. "...err We doing this I guess?" If they wanted to try asking Auspicious Decan a question, by all means, that was on them.


@EmperorsChosen @Jessica2477

Thalia​

As the group study the location, Thalia twitches her jaw briefly, wondering which of the three were correct.. As she studies the statue, or rather where one was not at, there was no support column here, no dust, no remains.. nothing.. Just an empty pedestal, just as strange as the unfinished pillar in its own right. "Huh.. You know I wonder.." Thinking aloud, Thalia casts her roots over the pillar, doing her best to reach and ensnare them pressing into the roof of the ruin, cracking and breaking a portion of it, before pulling away.

"I thought so.. This is a false pillar that was never finished, it stands across from the missing one.. Made after the fact?"

Pondering over this, she had a bad feeling about all of this but could not quantify why.. The rest of these were most assuredly actual pillars, so why were two false ones constructed and why was the second missing without a trace?

It was then that Khalid would see something amiss, something Yanagi may feel first hand.. Or first claw in this case.

A massive Snipper lashed out, snapping at him, as a man with the lower body of a scorpion, claws for hands, with silk black hair, a stern tanned face looks upon the trio as his tail darts for the masked member of the team, he shouts out in an ancient tongue;

"Kheli el saleed! Hazurah E chulu, Lilith!"

Reaching into her robes at once, it seemed all three of them were right and wrong. For now the hows and whys mattered not. This thing needed to die. Grabbing some of her curse nails, she readies to throw them in mid turn, caught somewhat off guard, hoping and suspecting the rest of the Statues were what they seemed, maybe one of the others could learn details that she was not able too.


@Astros @kookyboy9

 

[Monbon]

Arjuna's answer should have been well within her expectations yet she held on to the slightest hopes that the demon would make any of this make some sense. 'Ah Junjun. Why must you be like this?' She inwardly sighed. It was worth a shot. With her luck and poor reasoning skills, many things probably flew right by without notice. It wasn't the demon's fault she was lacking in the intelligence department. Perhaps she could experiment with the circles at a later time...

Rhea pulled out her notes to see if any of the symbols on the walls matched the runes on the orb when the sound of strings being plucked drew her attention. Noticing Diastrea playing an instrument with some skill, Rhea's eyes shone in admiration. 'Such skill, such talent! So cute!' Rhea visibly gushed at the sight. Watching someone having fun with what was provided made her want to pick something up too. There were a few instruments that vaguely resembled zithers but she had long forgotten what she could play.

Before she could even choose one, a strange sound was heard coming from... Below? She'd only peered down for a second when the ground began to shake. 'An earthquake? It wasn't strong, if anything it felt like something was moving. Did another group do that or was it the instrument?

Listening carefully, the quake stopped. She now could hear a familiar hum, except this one was more distant. Another instrument below? A song was playing, growing louder, the lyrics hard for her to make out at first but it was like someone was turning up the volume as it continued to resonate with the orb right next to them. Though she had wanted to make sense of the lyrics, jotting them down as she heard them, she soon found her attention brought back to the ball itself as it started glowing rather persistently. It was like it wasn't giving them much choice in the matter.

Lyrics appeared. She didn't even bother questioning why they could understand them but its intent was clear.

It wanted a response.

Was it even a good idea to? What would happen if they did? It would be bad if it was a trap of some sort. The whole thing was eerie and strange. She had a feeling they didn't have time to wonder about it. The quake that occurred before the song played worried her the most. Were the other teams alright?

It probably wasn't the brightest idea but she gave in to curiosity. Though her brows were furrowed and she was uncertain if this course was correct, Rhea gently hummed to the melody playing. She wouldn't be able to sing even if she wanted to. If they wanted to figure out the purpose of this thing, they could only go along with it. Shifting her gaze back and forth between her teammates and the instrument, she nudged them urging one of them to try. She couldn't be the only one curious.

---

Interactions: Dia @Thaleko and Luce @Jessica2477
Mentions: ~
​

​

 

[kookyboy9]

Khalid Abbar

Location: Ancient Ruin - Mysterious Hall
Date: Unknown

Interactions: @Astros @RedArmyShogun

Khalid strained a bit, trying to envelope the statue a bit more with his mana. He couldn't seem to find any seams, so perhaps the statue really was just decorative? That, or there was something more subtle than a hidden button or switch. Unnoticed to him, Yanagi had moved to the other end of the room, leaving his perception. However, he could still hear him. A missing statue? Khalid began heading over, pushing his mana out in front of him to view the missing slot Yanagi was talking about.

The area the statue should have been was far too smooth. It would be one thing if this ruin was new, but the years had definitely made a mark on this place, and the area of floor didn't seem to be weathered at all. "Was it already like this when we came in here? Or maybe one of the professors did it? There's no way it's been like this the whole time."

Perhaps there was something of interest here? If there had been a statue here before... maybe a secret passage behind the statue? He began pushing his mana into the wall to see if he could see anything past it, but before he was able to finish, the ground began to quake, a resounding echo of stone and grinding mechanisms resounding through the chamber. At almost the same time, he felt something plummeting from the ceiling. However, by the time he could resolve what it was, it had already nearly reached the floor, and the chimeric creature was already lashing out with its pincers at Yanagi.

Khalid shifted some mass up his arm to form an iron sword, simultaneously shifting a ball of sand into his hand. He lashed out with the sword, trying to at least redirect the claw, throwing the ball of sand at the scorpion man's face simultaneously. "Behind you!"

 

[Astros]

Yanagi
​

Nodding to Thalia's word, Yanagi agreed that any one of their assumptions could prove true. He personally hoped his own would be wrong however. For several good reasons, he needn't a repeat of the incident in the forest. But it would be that fate had other plans in mind. Contemplating the possible explanations for the room's oddity, his thoughts were interrupted by Thalia once more.

A false pillar...

His attention tuned to the new mystery, he turned and looked up to where the vines had broken through the ceiling. There was no light flooding in which meant they hadn't broken to the outside. Yet, suddenly there was the sensation of a gust of wind passing through his mask. It took a moment to realize that it had come from behind him, but by then it was a moment too late. His focus was quicker to grasp at a series of loud clicks and the room suddenly beginning to shift.

It was fortunate in a way that he was caught off guard by the behemoth arachnid, plopping down outside of his sight. His body remained loose and limp, and at the ready call of his quicker instincts. As Khalid shouted and swung, he naturally ducked, the phantom claw sailing over his head instead of removing it from his body. A new awareness registering, as it took a few locks of hair with it. The defensive aid did little to halt the onslaught. Yanagi could see the blur of a tail as he turned round and the other claw being drawn back to launch another swing.

Time for an instant seemed to slow to a halt as the poison stinger closed in. Moments separating individual heartbeats, the time between them growing ever more distant. He realized he had a choice to make like before, but this time he needn't hesitate. As the giant creature loomed over him, its form symbolized it was well beyond his capability. With that realization, Yanagi would prove quicker than his opponent's surprise attack.

Switch.

His body pulsed, the sound of his heartbeat taking on the tick of clockwork. His breath shallow and dry, manifested an idle hum. And his eyes, typically downcast and soft took on a distinct sharp glow. A second later the scorpion's tail impacted the floor tossing up a cloud of sand. Missing its target by a wide margin, Yanagi's shadow could be seen standing several feet away clear of any danger. A blue glow outlining his gloved hands, he knelt down to touch the floor. A second later, as the chimera retracted its tail to strike again, it would find a blanket of sand lift from the ground attached to its limb. Statically charged, it would cling to whatever it touched.

The Architect meanwhile began to produce a pair of Dimension Die and assess the situation.

@RedArmyShogun @kookyboy9

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Thalia​

Narrowing her eyes as the 'other' showed himself, Thalia was right on being wary of the masked one. But that was a short lived satisfaction in light of the current threat. Watching as Khalid threw a ball of earth at the creature and used his sword in an attempt to save Yanagi, though the current disruption in the building seemed to have done more for that..

Just what in the world is going on here..

Pondering to see if anything happened to the room they were in, she quickly pushes the idea aside as the Scorpion man, well Chimera began its assault, swinging its claws and tail. Drawing her right hand back the Elf focuses on the back of the creature, throwing three iron nails at it, with two piercing into flesh, the magical energies disrupted and flowing via the influence of her curse magic. Till it had ran its course or the nails were removed, the scorpion man would find it difficult to cast spells, even if it could. Curiously the earth spells seemed to do little to the beast as it echos a laugh and snipping it's claws, attention briefly on Thalia. "Ahcemet selo ackesh!" With it's spider like legs he walks forward paying little mind to the static pillar clinging to his body. With Khalid being the closest the tail would strike out, attempting to slice across the golem.

Thalia for her part quickly readies another spell, balls of green forming around her and a five pointed star that looked a bit like a flower.

@Astros @kookyboy9

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Not long after Rurik began pushing blocks, the ground seemed to shift. He froze a moment, save for his eyes which cautiously glanced around, as if waiting for the floor below him to give way or the ceiling to collapse. No such thing happened, but the throne behind him did sink following Findel's exclamation.

As he turned, the dias had left a spiral staircase in its place leading further into the depths of the ruins. The room then lit up and the walls seemed to speak to them, not in a way he could understand, but they buzzed some kind of jibberish for a moment. Findel chirped back, presumedly switching the ruins to a language that people still spoke as its words became ever so slightly more telligible.

"You could've introduced us to the building if you were preacquainted," Rurik jested. Nonetheless, the security ward seemed taken with Findel.

The glyphs showed images; a story. Or rather, it was history, one Rurik was glad he took no part of. Listening on, a hand reached up to grasp the chin of his mask, while the elbow sat atop the other crossed against his torso. The Sentinel said an evil was locked away and that seals have been broken. Rurik was all for testing fate and part of him was interested in the feminine form that directed the masses of evil, however he usually wanted to live after such encounters.

Findel spoke with uncertainty. Rurik looked at her briefly before shrugging.

"Well... I mean we could always let an apocalypse escape the ancient ruins. I did grow up in Lyst, so how bad could it really be?" The cities were fine enough, but the wilds littered with the dead were rather grim, especially during his travels to Karak. Of course, this was a joke, what one could tell by his tone. "As long as Decan can walk us through the repairs, it shouldn't be too great of an issue. You've been recognizing things in here anyway."

 

[Thaleko]

"There is no right or wrong options. There are only options. So make your choices in life, nyow~"​

Just as they were inspecting the strange orb-like instrument, something began to occur. There was an earthquake that spread through the entirety of the structure. Mm.. Fascinating.

Upon hearing the loud, groaning scrapes that echoed around the ancient structure, Dia's ears flicked this way and that.

"Hehhh!!" She brightened up. "What could that be!! mnya~" The cat seemed extremely interested. "Think that was us? Or the other teams?" She wondered aloud, strumming a few more strings on the instrument in her hand. It didn't seem likely playing this biwa-like instrument would cause this.

"Let's go find out!" She suggested. Only for her ears to perk up when a song began.

Her curiosity far outweighed any silly notion of skepticism or fear. She was very much unlike Rhea in that regard, and had no self-preservation bone in her slender body. Dia immediately began to sing, to sate her unending curiosity.

"Nyu wished for a home to give,

For a life that they may live,

Your kin though they dream,

Things are not as they seem,

Until she can forgive... mnyya~"

 

[kookyboy9]

Khalid Abbar

Location: Ancient Ruin - Mysterious Hall
Date: Unknown

Interactions: @Astros @RedArmyShogun

As the ball of sand Khalid threw hits the scorpion, he begins to manipulate it into little crawlers, sending them up the nose and into the mouth of the scorpion man, attempting to push them into his nasal cavities and throat, attempting to send out little barbs to lodge them into the flesh inside to attempt to prevent him from breathing.

As the tail lashed out, Khalid let half of his body go soft, allowing it to part around the tail, while simultaneously hardening the other side to attempt to catch the tail as it lashed through his body. While doing so, he allowed his core to drop down towards his waist, under the chop, hoping that the new pillar of sand would destabilize the strike enough to allow him to catch the blow without breaking into pieces. If this was successful, he would then allow the displaced matter of the other side of his body to harden back around the tail, then attempt to thrust his sword at the neck of the scorpion man.

 

[Jessica]

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

Asmodeus and Camael

~~~~~~~~

"You could say that." Had been her answer to Rurik's question.

They didn't get to do much with the puzzle before the ground had begun to shift and her senses went on high alert for danger. Her first instinct was to get ready to move in case the the ground started to open up or disintegrate, but nothing happened to it. Her attention then moved to the throne, which had been the source of the noise.

They were spoken to by some being that left Kyra speechless, the language something Findel seemed to recognize. Thank goodness someone here could understand what was going on... Or rather, someone who understood and was willing to tell her and Rurik.

The story told was about some evil lady with her monster pets and a battle that saved everything. Fine, good and dandy. But now they were trapped with nowhere to go. She looked at her two teammates.

"I don't believe we have much choice, unless one of you can smash through walls."


-----


Luce wanted to commend Diastraea for her talent in playing the instrument and even wanted to ask if she'd be willing to teach him at some point. However, the ground below them suddenly began to quake, and his first instinct had been to look to the ground for some sort of trap, then to the sky to ensure nothing would fall on them. Neither happened. Instead, runes began to appear before them and a melody sounded that Luce's ears immediately perked up to. An ancient song? An ancient song!

He reached around on his person for his own notebook and pen. As a musician, inspiration tended to hit at the strangest times, so he'd made it a habit to write down lyrics he came up with to ensure he wouldn't forget.

And in this case, he was extremely happy he'd made this a habit.

He heard the first verse and quickly wrote it down on the paper as it was sung, keeping a mental note of the rhythm that it was sung in. Then the second verse appeared followed by silence, making it rather obvious what the voice wanted.

Luce readied his vocals to sing with Diastraea.



♪"You wished for a home to give,

For a life that they may live,

Your kin though they dream,

Things are not as they seem,

Until she can forgive..."♪


As he sang, he quickly wrote down the lyrics as well. No way would he let this beautiful song die in these ruins.



​

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Findel
​

Looking at the pair, the Dark Elf sighs a bit, holding her hands up. "I'm not being paid much to do this! I'm not even being paid at all!"

Looking at Rurik this was why she did not like it. She had never step foot in this place, yet so much of it seemed familiar. The Worldsong seemed to be at the root of her people, or it was some other theory at work. Either way being conscripted into some greater purpose because of some demon or other abomination didn't sit well with her. There was no profit in this work at all. However if all was as dire as it seemed to be, then there would be no profit at all for anyone.

"Fine. I'll be your damn reclaimer...though we are a bit..Rusty on the history."

Auspicious Decan's form seemed rather amused at that. Looking at the trio it had nothing more to say via the magic that brought it to form. "Ah, but if you are to be the Reclaimer you must grab the seer stone.. I had expected one of the great races, but alas one of the mind blessed works.. It would not do to have one not in touch with the song."

Looking at the vault, it was a collection of glowing images, of monster and of men. Little else was of note to go off of with it. No scenery, nothing of significance, just an index of races, the monstrous forms on display within the temple and that of the spoken races and a few that seemed akin to myth and legend. Remembering the vision from before, she selects all of the ones that were with the mysterious chanter, by the perceived importance, it irked her a little to have her own towards the bottom, but he did call her of the lower cast, well it.. though its voice did sound more male than not with its singsong quality. For the time being she would think of it as he.


Glowing briefly the stone slates stack upon one another as gears and shifting movements could be heard, an open space left as an amethyst stone shown dimly, engraved with runes from other precious stones, it looked almost like a dragon's eye, with even a slit iris in the stone. A single Phrase repeated; "Never Falter in your Vigil." Or so the machine spoke aloud, translating the text.

"Come Reclaimer and Exalted Auxiliaries. Duty Awaits."

Leading them down a stone pathway, the stony construct seems to glow ever so slightly as the world song flows from passages, images engraved upon the stone in parts, speaking aloud, he pauses, ahead of them was a great statue of a dragon blocking the way. A swirling vortex of Air in front of it, a basin of what seemed to be aether infused salt at the base and a scale sitting atop the statue. A man in a cloak was on one side of the stand with a sword in his hand and to the reverse of him stood a monster, with the arms of a monkey, the feet of a lion, the head of a bear and the body of a man. The statues were worn with age but they still blocked the path non-the-less as Auspicious Decan speaks once more;

"When you were but a thought, the world was born from the abyss of chaos, much disunity was in the land.. Gods were given form, or mayhap they gave the world form. Not even this does the Worldsong know. Tempus, Palka and Lilith. Oh, don't hesitate now. There is more to this story."

"The world was caught in its chaos when from the depths did the monsters without proper form raise. Imperfect beings with madness and chaos at the core of creation. The Mother of Monsters binds them to her will, giving them reason and order, the elder gods would give rise to others within time.. However one being did rise during these days of twilight. Or rather a collection of them. Beasts took proper form, the elements were stilled. And one more with true sense of self, true purpose and the divine mantle born from a world made stable. Humanity."

With that the construct pauses as Findel looks on, finally speaking up. "I take it there is more to this tale?"

"Indeed. All will be made known in time. For now, the weight of Chaos is heavy, the winds of change must become orderly. Man must be uplifted. I cannot do your job Reclaimer. Until the puzzle progresses towards the core I cannot say more."

With that they floating construct narrows its 'eye' upon the trio, curious how they would react. "You have the mantle of thought and self."

Looking at the other two, she had already solved one puzzle and this one didn't look like it would kill them for a screwup, she had one idea in mind but didn't want the other two to have nothing to do, plus she had a sinking suspicion about one part of it... And why the construct was all too willing to allow the other two to follow her. "Got any ideas?"

@EmperorsChosen @Jessica2477

 

[Reanimator Buns]

The as both Luce and Diastrea joined through song, the entire chamber began to echo and reverberate their sounds. Though there was no one else to join in their song, and yet a chorus and harmony of voices seemed to join in, lending themselves to this song. As if the world itself was there. The power of Worldsong. It swirled and flowed through each and every one of them with ease, lending itself power to them, and drawing power all the same.

"O-hoho! Doth my ears deceive? A voice! A voice unbeknownst to me has joined the Chorus of the Worldsong."

A voice called out from somewhere, cutting in to their song. "Though how you learned that song, I can not say for certain. Something dost not wish for my success." With a vibrant flash of red smoke and confetti a short figured revealed itself. The figure wore a mask half black and half white, the former side grinning, the latter frowning. His dress was actually quite nice, dressed in a black vest with a red tie and undershirt. Adorning his head was a nice tophat. "No matter! You three deserve a place in the Finale! Everyone does! So I would ask you hold off on that song for just a moment longer, yes? Lilith is still rather drowsy, after all. A lullaby as such would no doubt put her under the deep slumber once more."

He disappeared once again in a puff of smoke before reappearing behind them sitting atop the shining orb "How odd. This is a mere scrying orb. No one should have been able to see that song unless they knew of its existence previously..." He looked over at Luce and muttered under his breath, "Ophan...?" The masked figure audibly cleared his throat. "Oh my where are my manners." The small being jumped down from his perch and gave a deep bow removing his hat in the process. "You may call me Magnificus! Famed story teller, musician, singer, and actor. Do be so kind as to refrain from singing for now. The Mother of Monsters has been waiting oh so patiently for her reprise."

He pulled a hidden dagger, which was almost a fourth of his size and began balancing it quite effortlessly atop his finger. "I'd rather dislike to have to cut such beautiful voices from the choir..."

@Jessica2477 @Thaleko @Monbon

---

Kess was forced to the center of the room, along with Zach. Ena was fine, being the nimble little trickster she was. And the ability to fly. But the fact of the matter was, they had pretty much nowhere to go but down. "Professor I think you missed something..." Kess mused to himself. But regardless. This was exciting. This was something new, something undiscovered! What lied at the bottom of this chamber? Ancient magic and spells? Priceless artifacts that held unimaginable power? Lore and secrets of the world? There was a wealth of secrets below.

But the chamber opened up into a large wide corridor. There were scants lit all across the walls, but the length of the halls so wide, that the center of the path was still shrouded in dark. The majority of the light was coming from above them. Kess was the first to take a step forward, his first footstep echoing throughout the halls. He continued forward, waving his companions to follow. He pulled out his wand, and waved it around him. A small orb of mana formed and started hovering nearby. It wasn't much, but was enough to provide enough light to see in front of them.

As they walked, more footsteps could be heard. They were approaching them. And there was more than just one it seemed. Kess wasn't sure what was about to happen, when suddenly a large monstrous hand stretched from the darkness, and smashed him against the wall before retreating back to the dark. Kess was left coughing against the destroyed wall, trying his best to find his breath again. As out from the dark a figure appeared. Dressed in a thin white dress, with long black hair and pale skin, almost as pale as her dress a feminine figure emerged. She was beautiful, but ominous. Her appearance resembled much of humanities, but still looked and felt alien. Almost as if the most beautiful traits of each race were possessed by a single being. The other footsteps soon revealed themselves to be a beast with a lions head and body with the barbed tail of a scorpion. It walked on all fours and growled lowly. Then the woman spoke in a language none had ever heard before.

But they understood none-the-less.

"How many years did that man say it has been? I forget. Time starts to lose meaning after so long. But a grudge... I wondered how I'd feel, seeing the faces of humanity... And all I feel is the pain of my son being stripped away!"

The manticore took the center stage as strange wisps of a purplish energy swirled around the woman. It was no kind of magic that Kess had ever seen, nor would it have been such for Zach and Ena. Kess slowly stood up gripping his wand. "I... I understood that?... Ngh! Wasn't planning to have to fight for my life quite yet... You ready for this guys?..."

@Azurian Dream @Cresion Breezes

 

[Cresion Breezes]

Ena Lavenderdew

---

"Ehhhhhhhh-------" Ena quickly dashed between small holes of the walls that had started moving, being small and nimble was an advantage, well, also being strong enough to hold them open for another split second was helpful too. "...I think I broke it guys..." She called down to the two below as she squeezed out of the ceiling, banging against it a few times before falling back and hovered in midair. "...Guys?" Only when nothing but silence answered her (after the noises made by the structure died down) caused Ena to look back to where her companions were standing.

Tilting her head a bit, Ena looked at the center of the room, and the hole that was there. She looked at the hole, then back and the ceiling, then back at the hole, then at the ceiling, before putting the pieces together. "Yup yup, I broke it." She said to herself halfheartedly before diving straight down into the lowered floor, doing a few loops around to make sure she was heading to where the others are. She plopped down onto the orange-haired boy's head again as she reached the bottom, just in time for the strangeries that's been occurring. The nimble fairy quickly launched up instinctively when a prickle in the air tinged her, which proved to be a wise decision when Kess was smacked into a wall.

"Ehhh......Are you okay?" Ena zipped to the slightly cracked wall and tried to pull the person who's just been projectile into it outwards by the collar, before having her attention grabbed by the figure that appeared from the shadows. Ena's wingtips perked up as she realized the direction of the figure was where the attack came from, but its the way the figure spoke...well, "spoke" that interested her. Telepathic illusions were always used by her friends to talk to trespassers regardless of the language they speak, since they used the language stored in the target's memories, after all, it always seemed that those trespassers were better at pranking themselves with their memories. But this felt different. It was clearly another language altogether.

Kess stood up, and spoke up, so Ena let go of him and zipped around the room a bit. "Hmmm, yeah, it's real, I think." She landed back on Kess' head, "I don't think they're an illusion, um, I'm not very good at that ok?" The fairy kicked her legs on the young wizard's head a bit, she wasn't good at identifying illusions, at least by fairy standards. "What do you mean 'fight'? Shouldn't we maybe, help her find her son? She said it's been a long time though...so maybe he looks different now..."

 

[Astros]

The Architect
​

Attentively watching as the creature's focus shifted from himself and on to Khalid, the Architect remained standing in place. Observing the room's occupants with equal caution. He briefly studied everyone, and given Khalid and Thalia were locked in battle with the beast and not Yanagi. Deemed them his new companions. Taking a moment afterward to imbue the dimension die in his palm, he soon set them free. Cutting through the air they began to act immediately. Diverging in an instant before colliding with their opponent , one die headed towards Khalid as the tail struck out against him. The other towards where the arachnid's flesh had been pierced by Thalia's nails.

Toward's the latter he looked to her wordlessly, the gesture being a cue to draw her attention as the die attached itself to her nails and expanded. Flattening out along the ridges of the thick hide that had protected the Scorpion from greater damage. The die morphed into a circular disc and glowed with the distinct outline of a bullseye. While appearing possibly as nothing more than a helpful aid, the target's intent and capability would prove deceiving.

@RedArmyShogun

On the other side of battle, the dimension die dove into the static pillar clinging to the rampant stinger. Releasing a faint pulse of energy, it would tether the material to itself before plunging into Khalid much like the scorpion tail had. Blanketing his body in the sand that ran the length of the appendage, the die would make its way toward's his core. With another faint pulse, the die would dissolve as all complexity maintaining its form would unravel. Leaving behind merely the mana imbued pillar of sand.

@kookyboy9

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Thalia​

Watching as the two made their moves, the scorpion man heaves a bit from the sand, his circulation stopped, or slowed, heaving a bit he seemed to shout more obscenities if one were to go by his gaseous tone. His counterstrike blown back, his arachnid nature took over, breathing through his skin as it were. Thalia for her part joins the assault with the marker, impacting her spell upon it, the faint scent of fungi and sulfur pulsed into the air. The acidic nature of the bursting globes was not kind to the scorpion being, burning into his skin and shell, flowing into the body from the breach caused by the nails. Like pouring salt onto a slug, if not for Khalid's earlier attack the death would have likely be long and painful.

Looking at the creature, whatever it was, it slowly was donning on Thalia what they had done and to question the impacts it may have, however even this was short lived..

"We should find a way back to the Prof-.." Stopping mid sentence, Thalia looks on as two more pillars started to glow, it seemed more of them were fakes, the stone seemed to flake away like a layer of skin, leaving behind dust. This time a man with fur over his upper body and the head of a cheetah, a spear was in his right hand and a buckler on his left hand, he had a tail and a very muscular build. The Second was a man or rather a thing, with the hind legs of a goat the body and arms of a man and the head of a bull, he had an axe in his hands, the pair take a brief instance to gain their bearings, but the Cheetah man was quick to notice their fallen fellow, extending his spear at the three interlopers he shouts;

"Kheli el saleed!" It was what the scorpion man shouted in part before attacking, pretty easy to see where this was going, jumping to the floor the spearman thrusts forward, aiming for Khalid as the Bull headed man focuses his attention on the remaining two and starts a chant, causing his battle axe to glow slightly. Thalia's attention shifts elsewhere as she leaves the pair to face their matching number, vines forming localized to herself, she starts to check the other pillars to crack and seep into the top.

"Help when I can.. Stopping anymore of these." She says in terse, hoping they could keep them off of her as she sought out any more false pillars, to destroy them at once.


@Astros @kookyboy9

 

[Azurian Dream]

"This bodes ominously," Zach expressed as the room gave way upon the disappearance of their fae ally into the cracks of the ceiling as they themselves started to sink down into the deeper depths of the ancient structure. Kess was showing the wonder of exploration, and the joys of potential discover across his face as Zachariah was more to the road of caution, and for very good reason as once they reached the bottom...

"Kess wait," the doctor called out as the younger boy headed straight off to only be thrown right back into the wall not to far from where they had started. In quick response Zachariah threw off his cloak, and water device at the sign of the faster creature. Getting in front of Kess defensively the masked healer pulled out his flintlock pulling three different types of bullets off his bullet satchel with his can wedged into his armpit ready to be used if needed. From the darkness emerged a female creature seeming to be a collective of humanoid beings in white. That however wasn't the only creature at hand as a lion with a scorpions tail emerged another being of mixed species... a manticore no doubt. Seems this place was some sort of collective breeding ground for fused alchemy or that was how it was slowly coming off to Zachariah... what truly had transpired here?

"So much for a cleared building," Zachariah chimed as the female creature finally spoke via voice, but only understood in the mind a feeling that was not new to Zachariah easily confirmed by his nonchalant body language to the manner of communication from the woman. She spoke of loss of both time, and family revealing she was indeed a sentient being. As Ena finally returned to the group Zachariah kept a careful eye on both foreign entities as the females expressed a mothers rage towards humanity. From those words there was no doubt that this could not steer towards a peaceful resolution.

While the Manticores entrance to the fold brought a danger in of itself the bigger problem was the magic coming off the female entity it was foreign to the research party and a hue of magic unnatural to their understanding... what did purple magic do? Zachariah's best guess was poison but magic poison didn't come off like a wisp cloud. As Kess prepped to fight for his life ENa... oddly broke the tension in the room for a moment.

"Ena... shes saying her hatred for Kess, and myself being human is our death sentence... as in she doesnt want are help as her hatred for our species is unforgivable no matter what we do... she plans to kill us," Zachariah explained.

Mentions: @Cresion Breezes @Reanimator Spuds

 

[Astros]

The Architect
​

As the chimeric beast slumped to the ground, drained of the ability to continue the fight. Choking on its last breaths of air. Beneath the mask, the Architect stared and held but one sentiment.

Pity.

Pity. For the chimera had failed to achieve one thing. It had failed to evolve. A product of chaos, yet naturally far more gifted than mankind. It had grown to rely on those gifts exclusively. Preserving its form over the course of eons, and regarding itself ample to even the sands of time. In spite of that, here it lay at the mercy of man. Shaped without claws or natural weapons. Slave to the elements, and temperature alike. Lacking in competing strength or agility. Yet, even when reduced to nothing more than a remnant, man posed more potential for change and laying hold of circumstance.

The sentiment soon enough faded just before another pair of statues resurrected. Accompanying their return to mindfulness the Architect clenched another pair of Dimension Die. A faint glow signalling their commands were set, one would travel to assist Khalid once more. It's aim would be the spear tip of the Cheetah warrior. Attaching itself to the end, it would mold itself around the edge before hardening, rendering it harmless aside from being a blunt object.

@kookyboy9

The remaining Die would begin slowly revolving around the Architect as he knelt to touch the floor. Mask ultimately betraying no expressions as the axe-wielding goatman approached. Before he would have the chance to swing the floor beneath him would begin to violently shake and crumble, being reduced to sand.

@RedArmyShogun

"Second, Fifth, and Eight to your right. Fourth and Seventh to your left."

The Architect relayed tersely. An odd undertone now attached to Yanagi's voice.

 

[Thaleko]

"Sometimes life throws you curveballs. Life is smart. Smarter than you. Go with the flow. Mnya~"​

Diastraea glanced sideways at the male who began singing alongside her. Her facial features showed she was pleased, with a bright smile lighting up her face. Ears perked up, with tail wagging around.

As the chamber started to resonate and fill with the sensation of magical power, Dia's ear's flicked and her tail pointed up. "Ahhh~! Worldsong~! mya!" she breathed in wonder. She was currently dedicating herself to studying Worldsong, so this was quite the treat!

A surprised look appeared on her face when suddenly a voice came from nowhere.

"Success?" she repeated. "What success would you be speaking of? I think I already knew of the song.. It is a wonder how I knew the lyrics, mnyaa~ Finale?!" the cat repeated, perking up. That sounded exciting! Dia, would very much love to see the Finale, and she said as much!

"I would very much love to witness this 'Finale'! But.. Hm... I also wish to continue the song.. I suppose I shall wait! Nyaa!!"

Dia paused, hearing that name. "Lilith, nya..." When he introduced himself she became her usual curious self. "Hm! Magnificus! mnya~" She repeated as she scribbled down his name and jobs in her notes. "Mother of monsters..." she murmured, once again thinking about Lilith.

Dia wasn't quite sure why he seemed to get violent, as she was more than willing to observe this finale!

 

[RedArmyShogun]

COLLAB Part 1 of ???

@EmperorsChosen @Jessica2477 @RedArmyShogun

​

Rurik looked at the sight in front of him. He had dug in the mines and scavenged the desecrated and abandoned before, but this was all new to him. For something asking for help, it seemed like the Sentinel didn't want to cheat and help them get through these puzzles. These arbitrary hoops didn't make it easier to repair the seal.

He hummed, staring at the statues, the scale, the wind, the powder. Pair that with what the guardian narrated and it reminded him of something.

"In some of the lectures they went into more depth about the elements... Basically, they all have affinities beside their elemental properties, and merged they gain new ones. It's how I made my axe and mask, though back then I had to guess and experiment to see what gave me what," Rurik said.

"Monsters without form rose… that's Aether, creation. Aether and Earth give form. The Mother gave them reason and order, stability maybe? That's Earth. The same thing repeats. The Leyline of Self is Fire and Water…"

Seemingly mumbling further potentially relevant information. He was perhaps a poor choice for such an undertaking with an inclination to overanalyze.

They had come here to explore the ruins and maybe get their hands on a magical artifact. Simple enough, right? Things were never so simple, it seemed. Otherwise they wouldn't have to deal with a voice and something called the Worldsong.

She inwardly sighed; shame on her for thinking that things could be simple.

"Why must they always be coy with information?" Kyra asked herself, not expecting an answer as Rurik started mumbling about the elements. She made out as much as she could from what he said before speaking.

"Hey, speak clearly or I won't know what you're mumbling." She told Rurik, putting a hand on his arm to try and get his attention. "But you're definitely on the right track. "Man must be uplifted." That's what the thing said, right?" Kyra pointed to the air vortex. "Should we try?"

For it's part Auspicious Decan simply looked on, betraying neither emotion nor hint, its 'eye' looking on. Findel for her part smiles thinly wondering if Kyra had meant to throw the other into the vortex. Though from the conversation they had spoke she speaks aloud.

"In the beginning there was Chaos and from it order.. I wouldn't throw the crystals out though.. Plus Earth is the opposite of Wind."

Pointing towards the jar and its contents she gives a nod. "Well, I can't escape this now. Lets try it. If that fails we can always try throwing Rurik at it." Findel says leaving the task to one of them.

When Findel had finished her sentence, Kyra had had her hands on Rurik and picked him up to throw into the vortex. She paused however, looked over at the jar that the other girl held in her hands, then pouted.

"Well that's boring… But probably the right answer." She said dejectedly at the end, putting her teammate back down.

She heard her pact demon sigh.

"Would the angel boy have figured this out? Maybe I should have given my power to him instead."

'Shut your damn mouth. Oh that's right, you don't have one.' Kyra thought to him as she approached Findel to take the jar.

She would then walk up and toss the jar and its contents into the vortex.

"Mm?" Rurik glanced at Kyra as he felt the hand on his arm. "Yeah… Man must be uplifted…"

There was the mineral at the base of the scene, and also the statue of man. Perhaps moving that onto the scale in the wind would--

Suddenly, Rurik felt himself lifted up, rather effortlessly too. Looking down, Kyra was taking the story a bit too literally. Her strength was impressive, she didn't even seem to be struggling. Gear aside, he wasn't that small of a guy either.

"Hey, I like an assertive woman, but I'm a classy guy. Take me out to dinner first," Rurik protested.

Thankfully, Findel interjected, and pointed out the jar at the foundation, leading to the postponement of his uplifting.

It seemed the pair of them had very different ideas on what to do, as Kyra picked up the jar and threw it, Findel seems to have a look to her face that said 'Really?' The jar made it through and shattered on the ground, its contents spilling out across the floor, but the whirlwind dissipated and vanished, leaving not a trace of ever being here. Before them now was a statue of a dragon, upon its right hand stood a scale, one arm was decorated with a cloaked man, the other with a chimeric beast.

"Well looks like this statue is in the way.." Findel says, looking at the large statue and the scale in front of them. "I also don't think our guide will help us, you two have ideas?"

It was unknown if Findel already had something in mind or if she was testing the other two.

Looking at the two arms of the statue and the scale, he couldn't help but think to the story mentioned earlier, it had to be the key to whatever was in our path. Rurik still didn't get the point of asking for help then putting up all these hoops. Regardless, man must be uplifted.

Stepping forward, Rurik took off his bag containing his equipment and placed it on the chimera-side of the scale. It wasn't preferential to leave his stuff here, though he presumed they'd return the same way--or hoped.

With that there is a loud click from the statue as if a lock were triggered, however the statue does not move, Findel for her part steps over to the collection of items Rurik had set down, lifting them there is another click.

"Hmm.."

Findel then puts it back and then pushes on the statue, feeling it budge a little. "Hey, lets push this. I think you'll be able to claim your stuff once it's out of the way."

Or so she hoped, good as reason as any.

Just weigh down the statue, hm? A shame none of them included breaking or throwing someone, but at least none of them were going to die down here. At least she hoped they wouldn't die.

"Sounds like a plan." Kyra said, approaching the statue Findel was pushing and started pushing alongside her.

"Solve the puzzles and we still have to push rocks… Architects really liked making people work, didn't they?" Rurik said with a sigh, moving to the statue's side and pulling in cohesion with the girls' push. "I hope so. If I have to sacrifice my stuff I think I'm entitled to a souvenir."

​

 

[Monbon]

It was challenging not to get swept away by the feline's enthusiasm. It was infectious and came in like the tide, washing away some of her worries. When the two started singing, it only soothed her further. 'So nice` She closed her eyes to listen as she continued to hum along. For a moment, she thought she could hear other voices as well but wasn't aware of what exactly was happening until she felt magic swirling through her in waves. "Whir?" It was the most mysterious of all magic; Worldsong. How it worked, few were clear on it, Rhea even less so.

An unfamiliar voice further confirmed this, ringing through the room, male judging by the tone. Opening her eyes, she was surprised to see the voice followed by a cloud of smoke, revealing a masked figure. It was a strange sight, but the fellow seemed… friendly?

At least until they pulled out a blade.

"Hah." Rhea sighed, finding the situation somewhat tiring and confusing. To start with, the feline's reaction seemed a bit… odd. She wanted to take part in something that was beneficial to some "Mother of monsters"? She had assumed the woman was just a bundle of curious energy at first but it turned out she was simply mad. Was singing the wrong option? Who was this mother of monsters and what exactly did she have to do with the song?

Pulling out the notebook she jotted the lyrics down on, she looked them over, trying to guess what it may mean. The first lines clued in that something happened to this mother of monsters. Perhaps forced into slumber by the sound of it. 'Things are not as they seem..' Perhaps this mother wasn't a bad thing. Why had she been locked away in the first place though? It claimed that she only wished for health and prosperity for her children. This mother didn't seem heartless.

Still… the figure threatening them only suggested that allowing her to wake and do as she wished wasn't something that'd be favorable to them. None of this sounded like a good idea. But if the song would put her to sleep, wouldn't it be best to sing?

Either way, she didn't trust this person. Though that was the case, he seemed to know what was going on. 'What is Lilith's story?' Flipping the page over so he could see, she patiently waited for the response. There were many things to question. From why they had called Luce by another name and why the Feline seemed to know something but most important was this Lilith person. The masked man said he was a storyteller, surely he had to know something.

---

Interactions: Magnificus @Reanimator Spuds
Mentions: Dia @Thaleko and Luce @Jessica2477
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