RPGWW

The doorway was indeed open, leading into what appeared to be a new corridor. The gloom keeps Kaname from having a good look at it, as Mina currently has the light.

<span style="font-family:century gothic; color:maroon;">Finn hopped off the "star" surface, and calmly walked towards the exit. "Are ye all done lollygagging? Come, the puzzle's done, it's time to go!"

And find Marissa, he thought to himself. Have they all forgotten that?</span>

Jifael gave a quick glance the way they had come. He had seen no reason to draw attention to Nieb's departure as it meant one less unknown, and that boy had certainly been an unknown. He gave his robes a little brush, appearing to be fussy but actually checking his equipment and aquired treasure, and then followed the others into the gloom.

"I'm coming," said Mina, as she quickly walked to the head of the group. After all, she was the one with the light you know.

"...wait a minute," she said, as if she was just now mentioning something that should have been brought up long ago. "Did anyone see where the stranger went off to?"

<span style="font-family:century gothic; color:maroon;">"Bah," said Finn, following the lightbearer. "If he wishes to abandon us, than good riddance! A soul like that I wouldn't have stand by me..."</span>

Kaname's keen red eyes swept through the visible part of the chamber, and she shrugged. "He looked quite capable of taking care of himself. Let's focus on taking care of ourselves. And the Sister, of course."

Mina nodded, slowly. "You're right..." she said quietly, in agreement, as she walked on. Keeping the light steady for herself and the others, she looks around for signs of the errant sister.

She's why we came down here in the first place, isn't she?

And thus the group moves through the door and into another corridor.

This corridor seems to have been smoothed out a bit by the hands of humans, or perhaps one of their many sister species. While it lacks any reliefs one can still see old torch sconces, now empty, along the walls.

Soon, after perhaps a good fifteen yards, the tunnel splits into two ways. Both angle downwards, the left one more steeply. The Right one seems to curve a bit, while the left one goes straight and into the darkness.

Kaname stepped forward and knelt to examine the floor once more, looking for any signs of recent passage. "Are we still hoping to avoid going down, Brother?" She asked Andy. "I don't think we'll be able to avoid it at this point."

Andy sighed.

"I was hoping to avoid it for as long as possible, too many damn blasted cellars lead downwards these days ya know? But it can't be helped, can't be helped." No, this certainly couldn't be helped at all.

He looked, for as far as he could see, down the steep stairs and his knees ached with him just thinking about it. Which is why he had made up his mind which way to go very quickly.

"We should go left." he stated. "Down here. Yes. My knees tell me this is the way to go. Gotta trust your body you have, sometimes its the only thing ya got thats really yours."

<span style="font-family:century gothic; color:maroon;">Without a word, Finn crouched down to check if Andy's knees were indeed correct. He looked to see if any stone seemed out of place, as if anything were stepped upon and disturbed...

And, he thought, if I'm wrong, we'll follow him... might as well make a choice...</span>

Andrew was not able to see much of anything, unfortunately, putting stress upon his knees for nothing.

Finn noticed a rock seemed to have been scuffed recently, just from it's lack of dust, indicating someone had been through here. Which way that he or she went, though, is unclear

Holding the light in front of her to illuminate her way, Mina makes her way in front of the infamous left corridor. With any luck, the group should be able to get a better look now.

Giving a quick glance to the others, she asked, "Is everybody ready now?"

<span style="font-family:century gothic; color:maroon;">"Bah. Yes. Left it is... " Finn said. "Lead the way, madam lightbearer..."</span>

Kaname shuddered. Although she had suggested going down earlier, she still didn't like the idea... To many unknowns.

She decided to eliminate one of them and carefully slipped a pair of shuriken out of their thigh holster and placed one in each hand. "Well, no turning back now. Down we go."

She fell into place after Finn.

"Of course." He said, his hand tapping the hilt of his Axe, quite by mistake of course and certainly asn't checking if it was still there. And he certainly wasn't tapping it for some comfort because he needed nothing of that sort. It was quite by accident.

Mina nodded, and began to slowly make her way down into the darkness.

And thus do our heroes, and Jifael, descend down the corridor to the left.

At first, it is a sharper decline than the previous paths, but nothing that is too severe to be handled easily. Then it levels out a bit.

The sound of flowing water can soon be heard ahead, as what seems to be a side catacomb comes into view, branching off as the corridor continues ahead. The doorway, for no other work really fits it, seems to have almost certainly been made by the hands of some sort of sentient, for it's shape is too precise to be the work of nature. Jifael also notices the doorway seems to have holes denoting where hinges might have once stood.

The light, from where the group now satnds; about ten or so yards away, does not reveal much inside the room, save that there is more within the darkness.

<span style="font-family:century gothic; color:maroon;">"Mina, light, please," he asked politely. He gazed into the darkness, and took a few steps forward into the black room...</span>

Mina nodded, and said, "Will do." And with that, she walked slowly into the rest of the darkness, attempting to keep an eye out for any nasty surprises.

Mina moves forward, closer to the doorframe. There was definately hinges on it once, she can tell from holes bored in the rock.

Inside. she soon illuminates the far wall, some yards across the chamber. There is glint of metal she can see on the floor, near the left edge of the light's radius. There is also something that seems to be a fungi-laden pile of rotten wood against the far wall. Walls to the left and right lie outside of the light's radius.

Jifael slowly moved up to the doorway, glancing around from side to side, up and down, to see if there was any clues as to what awaited them in the room, how old the structure was, and what its original purpose might have been.

His eyes were also searching for any small, carryable objects of any worth whatsoever, for while the gem he had found earlier had temporarily satiated his greed, his fingers were beginning to itch again at the possibility of new trinkets.

Kaname followed Jifael, looking about cautiously, aiming to locate potential traps first, land marks second, signs of the Sister third, and the trappings of the room fourth.

Jifael's eyes quickly fall upon the shine on the ground, it seems to belong to some sort of greenish ring. While it seems to lack any sort of gemlike adornment, he should be age that age lends it's own value in the way of antiques.

Kaname sees nothing in the way of apparent traps or any signs of Sister Marissa. There isn't anything to really distinguishable as a realy landmark; she what she can see, the room seems to have been artifically carved to resemble a normal room.

As for trappings, she can see some bits of rotten and fungi-laden wood, as well as heavily corroded metal bits here and again. At the very edge of the light, she thinks that she sees something which may be a somewhat large and made of metal. What it may be, she can't tell.

Kaname naturally took herself forward to investigate the large metal object, as she was moving she motioned to Mina and said, "A little light over here, if you please?"

<span style="font-family:century gothic; color:maroon;">Finn decided to rely on his own eyes, and headed for the exit...

"C'mon folks, nothing to see here... may as well move on..."</span>

"I, for one, my friend.." Andy said inbetween heavy breathing, the stairs apparently taking a lot out of him despite there ease, "... Am not ready to wonder back up those stairs quite so readily. No, continue looking, I'm sure we'll find something, do not doubt my bones."

Andy was of course taking Finns eager'ness to move along as to go back up the stairs, even if Finn meant it or not, giving away what was pre-occupying his thoughts.

While the others checked around Andy looks down the corridor, and checked to see if anything has disturbed the place recently. His old eyes trying to catch any details others may over look. Briefly some sweat poured down into his eye from his forehead and it caused him to blink madly, which started to make his mood turn to a more frustrated one.

He wouldn't say it out loud but he was remembering how often his "bones" had lead him astray. A quite mumble, barely audible even as a whisper, escaped him.

"Damn you, you rotten maggot infested marrow ridden... Lead me right."

Mina nodded quickly, as she began moving closer to Kaname's general direction. "What did you find?" she asked, out of curiousity.

Kaname registered Andy's grumbling protests with a bemused smile, and indicated the big... thing to Mina. She couldn't quite see it clearly yet.

"I'm not sure what it is, but I'd be surprised if as inquisitive a mind as the Sister's didn't stop to look at it. There might be some clues to find here."

With better light, Kaname can see that she was looking at what appears to be the remains of a metal bedframe; about half of it rusted away to nothing, the rest is soon to follow.

Those looking about will also notice another pile of rotted and fungi-laden wood, this one with some bits of metal in it.

Edited by: Uncle Pervy&nbsp; at: 4/26/04 3:49 pm

Jifael once more found himself palming something from the ground. He had waited until the others were all busy searching the rest of the room before doing this. Again he appeared to be wiping his hand over the ground, then on his robe. "How long would this room had to have been in disuse for so much decay to occur?" he asked as he stood back up, the new treasure now nestling in a different inside pocket to the gem he had found earlier.

Kaname frowned and looked around. "On second thought, there doesn't seem to be anything here. But it doesn't pay to leave stones unturned."

She turned back to look at Jifael. I was in there for ten years, and the only thing that rotted significantly was my arm... She shrugged. "A few decades, at the least. Probably more."

She swept the room with her gaze once more, making sure she hadn't missed any exits or other possible clues. If not, it would be time to move on.

Curious, she begins making her way to the other side of the room, wondering what's to be found there.

As Mina shifts the light to the other side of the chamber, Kaname and the rest can see that the other side of the room matches the one they were examining. There are a few piles of pulpy, fungi-laden, rotten wood. Two ruined metal frames that have almost completely dissolved into rust can also be seen.

It seems as though there is little to find, until Andrew stoops down near the first pile of rotten wood, which he had been idly staring at, and pulls out something. This something, a small glass sphere, immediately begins to shed off some light as he picks it up.

"Well isn't this a nice blessing?" the older priest says. "Alright...it's best if we split up for awhile. Too many roads for one group to follow and all that. Much as I'm not relishing the idea of those stairs, I'll go back and take that way we didn't. Don't want to risk missing the sister on her way back."

And with that, he makes his way out.

(And thus is Andrew written out for the time being. You may encounter him, or Nieb, again. Now post ya bastards :O)

Kaname nodded absently to herself. "Well, as much as the extra light would have been useful, it looks like we press on."

Kaname took point, heading further down the corridor they had been travelling on, being careful not to get to far out of the light.

Mina turned her head towards Kaname, and asked "Are you sure we shouldn't check this out more...well, in depth? We might be overlooking something."

Kaname frowned. "I don't particularly feel like rummaging through piles of rotten wood. Especially when that takes us no nearer to our real goal here, which would be finding the missing Sister."

<span style="font-family:century gothic; color:maroon;">"Well said, Sister. On we forge," piped in Finn, who seemed to have said nothing in a long while.

"But," he added, "if you think you canfind something before we're out of the reach of your voice, feel free to stay..."</span>

Mina sighed. They had a point...it really couldn't help them.

"Any ideas on where she went?"

Kaname sighed. "It looks like the only way to go farther along the corridor. Hopefully Brother Andrew will come across the Sister if she is along another route."