Corneilious walks into the room and begins examining the old books. He keeps a special eye out for anything that may be written in the arcane language .
"Ruika, do you have access to the Mending spell. These books are to brittle in their current state to look through, but with a little magic they might be strong enough to turn the pages."
The dizzying stench aside, the deanery is definitely where the baboons have been residing for quite some time. An assortment of bones litters the floor, suggesting that they were probably being fed meat. Scraps of torn cloth are scattered about the room as well. Caked with filth, nothing in the room seems particularly worthy of noting.
--------------------
The vast majority of the tomes in the library crumble to the touch, having been ravaged by the passage of time. Even some of those that remain intact are illegible, the text within obliterated by years of exposure to humidity. Despite being partially buried however, Corneilious manages to find one book that is remarkably intact. The front cover of the red volume is emblazoned with the title in gold letters - Courts of Stone and Flame. The book appears to be a treatise on genies of the elemental planes.
--------------------
Corneilious takes the tome and wraps it in a piece of cloth then places it in his backpack to read later.
With a hoarse whisper that carries to Corneilious, she answers his query; "Unfortunately not, my energies can slow death, create spectral orbs and find magic. Whilst today for a minute, I can make someone become gigantic." Ruika adds.
When Corneilious exits the library, she moves forward into her room. One hand beckoning Garruth, the other taking the pugwampi with her.
"I have mending!" Jaykae calls out as she hears Cornelius's plea to Ruika and Ruika's answer. She continues to care after her sister's feet, giving them a good rub.
"I'll be fine with the whole feet situation, Jaykae, don't worry about it too much. Just wasn't paying attention to where I was walking and got a shard stuck up in there," says Keiko, now rising back up to her feet. "I figure if I ignore it, it'll go away."
"I have mending!" Jaykae calls out as she hears Cornelius's plea to Ruika and Ruika's answer. She continues to care after her sister's feet, giving them a good rub.
"If that is the case there are a few books in that room that could use some restorations. I cant say weather or not any of them will be of any value, however I have already found one. Though, now I'm beginning to wonder if we should come back after we explore the grounds further. I'd hate to set ourselves up for an ambush over some mouldy books."
Ruika nods in the rightness of Keiko moving on despoite her hurt feet. 'Just like one of the tribe, she is strong. Whilat Jaykae is compassionate and kind; good qualities too. Corneilious wise and cunning.'
The robed woman motions them towards her as she enters the room before her.
|
The catman is pleased to see that it seems Keiko's injury won't bother her, any more than his will hinder him. Garruth rubs the fox in his arms behind the ear, and spots the mysterious robed woman beckoning him into the room, he moves to join her.
"Your energies are quite strong Ruika, and have a flexibility that allows to bend to the situation." The sorcerer comments as the dark cloaked woman describes her magical abilities. "Not unlike yourself I suspect, strong women have an incredible appeal to them." he leans in a bit closer and adds with a throaty purr "And you're among the strongest I've ever met."
Corneilious moves to (cc, -22)
"I know!" she says proudly, but their is just a slight hint of embarrassment. 'I am strong, as is in my heritage. I can feel that my powers come from my ancestors, so did Lyssa.' she lets out a small sigh at the contentment of her familiar.
Slowly she walks into the room, looking around carefully.
Alik will cover his nose and perform a search of the various footlockers to determine if there is anything remaining amongst the filth that would be of any use to their adventuring party.
Stepping in, Ruika and Corneilious notice nothing particularly odd about the room itself. The damage to the beds is easily attributable to their rotting wooden frames, which seem to have buckled under their own weight. The eastern wall of the room however, is a little more noteworthy.
Corneilious moves to investigate the open archway. Within, he sees the entirety of a refuse pile, rendering the rest of the area inaccessible. Amidst many bricks - some damaged, some intact - are splintered wooden planks, as well as the remnants of a wooden ladder. The chamber extends forty feet upwards, having doubtlessly been a tower at some point. With the sky above visible, it is apparent that the roof must have collapsed. Yet, there is insufficient sunlight to illuminate the tall, shadowed walls.
The door to the left of the archway seems to resemble the others that they had encountered in the monastery.
--------------------
Unfortunately, Alik is able to tell that the baboons must have gotten into the lockers some time ago. They have since been mostly filled with the same filth coating the rest of the room. In that regard, the stench is not particularly worse. Anything that might have been useful has long since been eaten or destroyed by the beasts - the most intact item that the ifrit finds is a dirty robe, that might have once been orange.
Alik lets the dung-smeared robe fall from Freaksfire's blade. Returning to the main room he calls to the twins and the catfolk. "Nothing of note inside. There is only proof that these baboons have been using this place for residence for a not so short time."
Then he proceeds to carefully investigate the unseen corner.
Continuing on his expedition of the Monastery, Corneilious casually moves to (CB, -20) with The Bastard of Blackwall gripped in his right hand with the blade resting on his shoulder and opens the door.
The tall warriors stride forward and the cowled orc, nods to them. Garruth by her side she advances forward.
"Μείνετε πίσω μου, θα σας κρατήσει ασφαλή."
"Stay behind me I'll keep you safe." Ruika tells the small tied up pugwampi, the tone holds a hint of compassion.
"Eldrich fire." she says simply looking to the door. "Caution!" she advises Corneilious.
"Fear not Ruika, I wager we are through the worst of it."
Corneilious boasts with confidence.
"I fear nothing." she proudly answers, but in a smaller voice she adds. "Nothing worse can happen."[/b]
Her mind drifts back to her family and she touches the banner atop the backpack.
Jaykae stands with her sister and looks to her with a bit of awe. Turning her head slightly she notices Garruth taking note of them and then sighs. She nudges her cheek on her sister's shoulder then steps forward with her unsure of herself.
Keiko had always been the more confident of the two of them a but both of them had the same endurance. She knew that Keiko could handle herself with a wound but Jaykae still couldn't help but care for her.
The young lady turns, going past Garruth and stops at BV-16 while looking about as she does so. She realizes that Cornellious was a book lover just as she was and smiles at the large man, "When we come back I believe that I can fix the books. Their might be something in there worth a song!"
Ruika watches over Corneilious' shoulder as he opens the door.
Her eyes flicker to Garruth, watching him watch Jaykae past. 'Good, she cares about knowledge. That'll keep us in good stead.'
Keiko starts walking after her sister, seeming to ignore any wounds in her feet, nodding her head a few times, "Nothing quite like a nice mending spell. I don't know that one. I know... ghost sounds. Spoooooky."
"Flashy." Ruika states simply, unsure of whether this is a criticism or a compliment. Especially since the cowled one has a dancing lights spell.
Although the practicality of her tribal training forced her to learn other cantrips, rather than the ones she may have preferred. She inclines her head pausing to imagine all the options there could be with Keiko's choice.
Looking around the corner, Alik sees that the passage opens up into a wider hallway. The eastern cloister continues across the monastery for at least a hundred feet, stopping at a small, open archway. Though he cannot look down them, he can tell that numerous passages seem to branch off from the cloister. The eastern wall appears to be thoroughly decorated, but again, the ifrit is unable to make out the details.
--------------------
Like the other doors in the monastery, this one has a simple turning mechanism. Turning the handle, Corneilious finds that like those before it, the door unlocked. Whether he pushes or pulls on it however, the door meets some kind of resistance, refusing to open.
'Corneilious cannot seem to push or pull these doors. Now where are the hinges, or are they rebated. These doors could be sliding, lifting, or pivoting doors. Or there could be a second locking mechanism, a secret mechanism.' Ruika's thoughts are ablaze at the unyielding door.
'Or maybe there's something stuck against it, either a oak bar or a rock fall from a structural collapse. Certainly parts of the building do look unsound.'
Ruika leans forward and knocks upon the door, upon one of the lower panels. Although it seems like she could be asking to be let in she means to check if it is a hollow sound; or if there's collapsed debris.
Ruika turns around to her little friend; "Ξέρετε τι είναι εδώ μέσα."
'Do you know what's through here?'
"Δεν ξέρω. Δεν έχουμε τη δύναμη να το ανοίξετε," the pugwampi reluctantly admits.
"It seems to need a little persuasion."
Corneilius jerks the door.
|
|
Garruth smiles towards the twins when they move past him, spotting Ruika who has turned towards him, he winks towards her then considers what she said "You're really not afraid of anything?, what about a bite from a catman?" he teases and makes a slight nipping motion towards her.
Peering past the cloaked woman towards the stubborn door he sigh softly, and puts Lyssa down to move over and offer help to Corneilious with it. "Strength isn't really my strong point" he says with a bit of a chuckle "But maybe I can help out a bit."
Lyssa still purring watches on, her muzzle gently snapping open at the cat-man's exertions. Before the small fox pays attention to the pugwampi.
"No fear." Ruika responds simply, her pale and finely carved face looks out at Garruth from the safety of the cowl. Luxuriant lips pout at his and the nipping motion.
Alik realizes that all his companions have entered the room next to him and can hear their muffled chatter through the walls. He remains where he is and keeps watch, eyes watching this yet uncleared entry.
The combined strength of the inquisitor and sorcerer is more than enough to open the sealed door. With a single heave on the its handle, the two of them pull open the heavy wooden portal. Almost immediately, the stench of dust and decay pour out of the open doorway, filling the room. The source of both the smell and the door's blockage is all too apparent.
Coating the back of the door is an overgrown bed of fungus, uniformly distributed over the wooden surface. Intermixed with the crust of mold is an abundance of rotting plant matter, giving the fungus its sickly green color. Numerous mushrooms mottle the surface of the growth, their diversity of color adding to its bizarre appearance.
Similarly, almost the entirety of the small chamber within is coated with the fungal growth, spanning from the ground to the walls. Most prominent is a wide, stone staircase, each of its steps encrusted with the same green substance. The stairway leads downward, plunging into complete darkness.
*GASP
Corneilious immediately holds his breath upon seeing the mould and stumbles backward as fast as he can to get away from it.
Ruika gags, but checks the reflex. Seemingly shrinking back under the safety of the cowl, her eyes narrow and her breathing shallow through her mouth. 'Interesting, I wonder what is beneath the surface. For such an abundance of life in the desert, it must feast on some moisture - however I wonder if it's edible. There's no reason for it not to be.'
The robed figure points to the door ; she then ensures both Lyssa & the pugwampi are feeling fine and with her. The trio move out of the room. Once away from the clouds of spores and their choking presence, she wonders to the others; "We explore rest of area? Then find our way down."
|
|
Garruth chokes and coughs quickly moving away from the door. Stumbling a bit to get out of the room he leans against the wall where he gags and coughs trying to recover from the horrible smell's assault on his nose.
After a while he manages to keep it at least mostly in check, and shudders. The catman looks wide eyed at Ruika when she makes her suggestion "Are you kidding? You want to go down there? I'll die! Ughh..." he resists a gag "I can still smell it from here..." He moves over to the cloaked woman "Sorry, this may seem forward, but I need a really good smell to get rid of that..." He attempts to rest his chin on her shoulder, and gently push his nose in against her neck through the cloak. If she stops him he wont' push he'll just try to find something else he can use to get rid of the lingering smell.
Smelling of the spiced heat of the desert with just a caress of honeysuckle drifting upon a breeze. Ruika stands stock still as the cat man nuzzles towards her, she suddenly realises that he's a wild animal. 'What is he doing?' Ruika feels his hot breath upon her skin, refusing to flinch even where Garruth's wet nose touches.
Soft fine fur rubs against her pale neck and the delicate curve of her jaw. Her breathing slows, enjoying the touch. Repressed emotions spring unbound to her thoughts and she shrugs them back on afraid of the alternative.
Reaching a gloved hand, she grasps the thick and loose fur to the back of Garruth's neck and draws him physically away from under the deep cowl. Ruika removes her hand with a lingering touch.
"Inappropriate!" she growls; though whether she means his behaviour or his timing is uncertain - even to herself in this confused state.
With a swirl of the cloak she stalks over to Alik, mindful of her training the 'Orc' claps him on the shoulder and commands him; "Let's go, onwards." she waxes loquaciously.
"Are you all alright?" Asks Jaykae as she comes closer but avoids the door to the new room. She had noticed the others' reactions and could smell the moss from where she was easily.
The twin moves to CB16.
"Well I'm no botanist but I hear that stuff is dangerous for the lungs."
|
|
Garruth doesn't persist when Ruika pulls him away, he nods at her reproach "Apologies darling I needed something to drive out that wretched smell... I thought you would stop me right away if you objected, thank you for putting up with me for a time. It was a great help." He does indeed seem to be doing much better.
He wrinkles his nose a bit, still finding the stench too strong but nods towards Jaykae "Yes... I think I'll be alright, Ruika helped me... but I can still smell it... ughhh it's horrible... I can't go down there."
Ruika looks around the small musty corridor, she bravely walks to the fore. Observing the surroundings, astonished by the cyclopean grandeur of it all.
Walking farther down the hall, Ruika reaches a point where the southern and eastern cloisters meet. From where she stands, she is able to see through one of the wide archways on the large walled-off area before her. She is able to catch just a glimpse of some kind of vegetation on the ground.
Alik strides forward ready to protect the cloak swathed orcess.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A sweeping bas-relief sculpture along the east wall depicts five bearded, larger-than-life humans riding the wind with triumph carved upon their faces. Though some of their arms and hands are missing, each is clearly meant to wield a distinctive weapon. One of the five warriors holds a large axe, while another holds a fragment of what must once have been a regal staff. In the distance, an ominous mountain looms over the quintet. Beneath the feet of each warrior is a name, carved into the stone in ornate lettering. The warrior with the strange axe is evidently named Kardswann, while the man with the broken staff is named Davashuum. The other figures, difficult to distinguish from one another, are named Pazhvann, Vardishal, and Zayifid.
Farther north, past the wall decoration, are two open arches leading into smaller rooms. The western wall consists of little more than a series of open arches that look out into an open-air courtyard. Huge branches and overgrown weeds clog the courtyard, creeping onto the stone floor of the monastery. It is just barely possible to see a few feet into the tangled mess.
"Yeah, it smells like really awful down around here... I can't even imagine what kind of affront it is to your snuffler," says Keiko to Garruth as she walks.
Beneath her darkened cowl Ruika reddens at the thought of where he stuffed his snuffler; grateful again for the shadows. The bas-reliefs catch her eye, their splendor and history sparks her imagination and she moves over to examine them. 'This must be some ancient humans who ruled in the desert, riding the winds these heroes had to have been strong.'
With a glance to the pugwampi at her side;
"Ξέρετε ποιοι είναι οι ήρωες;"
'Do you know who the heroes are?' she asks in low tones. She stands there awaiting the others to arrive.
Jaykae giggles as Garruth is pushed from Ruika then smiles up at him, "You can sniff my hair if you need to." She starts walking going to CD-10 and whispers to him if he does sniff her hair.
The twin giggles then starts playing a jaunty jig on her flute for fun.
Corneilious moves all the way down to (CA,8)
"Impressive." she says looking at the historic relief.
"Uhmm... Ruika? Should you be asking the little guy if there are more of them? Maybe that was the only group of puggies." Jaykae wonders if the pugwampi would answer such a question, "Maybe he will be nice enough to tell us if there is more trouble around that he knows of."