The atmosphere inside the tavern could easily be summed up by some as warm and friendly, with a few exceptions of some rather shady-looking individuals off in the corners. The fireplace was roaring and filling the room with warmth, the tables were full of people in varying states of merriment and sobriety, and in general it seemed like quite the happy place. The girl tending the bar was a slight blonde, appearing to be no older then around seventeen, having only recently taken over for an older man to work her shift.

One particular patron, however, disapproved of just about everything around her. Tanya Palayan, her armor currently stored elsewhere, sat with her arms folded tightly across her chest. So many drunks. Certainly, her religion did not have anything against the consumption of alcohol, but Tanya definitely did. The taste, the state it left people in, she had nothing but disapproval for those around her. She did in fact radiate a strong field of irritation as she sat upon. Currently, the small paladin was not wearing her armor, instead only carrying her bastard sword, Repharion. The sizable blade was sheathed on her hip, or rather slightly higher in order to ensure it wouldn’t drag upon the ground.

In normal circumstances, Tanya would never be found in a place like this. It was too loud, too full of alcohol. To put it simply, she absolutely hated being in taverns and quite truthfully wished she was almost anywhere else. But the Paladin of Reon had an assignment, and it was an important one at that. And one of the … recommendations from the priestesses was that she seek further assistance in this task. As confident in her abilities as Tanya was, she eventually begrudgingly agreed that it would be for the best to have allies for this mission. With many of Reon’s loyal paladins aboard, Tanya had been instructed to seek those who may be willing to help her closer to her destination.

That is what lead the purple-haired girl here. The town of Balendale was not far from the ruin she intended to reach. It was a simple place, defended by a simple wooden wall surrounding it. She had heard many adventurers stopped at the place, for whatever reason.

Tanya had little excuse to put it off any longer. She had drained her mug of milk completely dry at this point.

Signing to herself, she got to her feet and climbed onto the bench, as to make herself more noticeable. Well, at least this would get potential applicants’ attention more quickly.

“I am a paladin of Reon, seeking to reach the deepest level of the Prison-Castle!” she declared. Indeed, there were few who did not know of what some people called King Haldric’s tomb. Indeed, the allure of the treasure that was rumored to litter it was something she was counting on. “If any wish to join me in this quest, speak now!”

Tanya paused. Now there were so many people looking at her… Grumbling under her breath, she looked away.

“… Or something.”

With that, she sat back down, arms folded firmly across her chest.

---

It was a few hours later that they arrived at the crumbling ruin that was all that remained of what was once the castle of the land's former ruler. They had been introduced to one another as needed on they way, and Tanya had contributed a bit of backstory on the ruin they would be visiting, at least what she knew beyond mere legend. The tale of the Prison-Castle of the Mad King Haldric was an unpleasant one, filled with paranoia and insanity. The former ruler of the lands surrounding the Castle, King Grigori Fel Haldric, was driven mad by the paranoid belief that there was something plotting to end his life. He commissioned an underground castle, filled it with traps, and slowly drove away or executed all those who remained with him. Eventually even his family had fled. Rumor had it they escaped to the neighboring country of Ithillin. To be frank, Tanya's chief knowledge of Ithillin was in the excellence of their pastries. Regardless, it was not long after this that Telrun, the country Haldric had once ruled, was absorbed into Velt due to their lack of leadership.

Regardless, that was not the important matter at hand. The Prison-Castle was filled with undead, and other unpleasant creatures such as Great Rats and goblins. The undead, worse then merely being reanimated corpses, were often former guards with some shred of intelligence remaining that lead them to be able to fight more competently than most would expect. Worse still, the castle was filled with many still-working traps. However, Tanya was unconcerned with this. She had a strong faith in her own ability to reach the bottom floor unscathed and slay the evil that was dwelling at the bottom of the castle.

The others she was not so sure of.

The gate was crumbled into nothingness, the gatehouse little more than mossy bricks scattered across the ground. However, the tower remained. At least in part, the top floor was a shattered remnant of what once was. The door remained, the paint long since flaked away, but it still stood, tall and imposing. Even if Tanya had not known of the trap laid in it...

Certainly, the skeletal remains with a hole punched cleanly through the skull would have informed her.

"... You'd have to be an idiot to try the front door," began the purple-haired paladin, turning to the rest of her party. "It's trapped, the lock and the floor behind it. There has to be another entrance, the tower's barely standing."

"That's easy, boss. You're not thinking like an explorer. Or a thief. Or anyone who doesn't use the front door. It's alright; you'll get used to it." Al said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"See, you gotta think in terms of... you know. This." he tried to explain by waving his arms around. "Look. The top bit crumbled down to where it ain't nothing. So if the front door's trapped from the inside, we'll send someone to the other end, disarm the traps, and kindly unlock the door for us."
He pointed up. "I can totally throw someone light up to that ledge there. Or, y'know, smash the door and hope the trap breaks."

Vendrael took a moment to recollect his thoughts as the group neared their destination. The journey from his home past the Veil to the center of the land of humans had by no means been an easy one; the various scorch marks scattered across the land proved as much. Lightning could spark a flame, yes, but at the same time...

The young high elf quickly pushed those thoughts out of his head; every single time that he had set a fire, it had never done anything worse than burn down a tree or two. There were more than enough of those, so what did a few piles of ash along the road matter?

Nevertheless, his journey had been one with... Rather lackluster incidents. If a beast of some sort attacked him, he had left it paralyzed on the ground and left nature to take its course. If bandits had ambushed him, a sudden flash of bright light (even in the middle of the day!) was all it took to buy him enough time for a quick getaway.

And yet nobody anywhere seemed to have anything in regards to what he was looking for. No advances in technology, no leaps in magic... Nothing. Then again, it wasn't as if any of the rural villages he passed through would have any of those in the first place, but still...

The further he ventured into this foreign land, however, the livelier and more advanced it became; what was initially simple villages turned into bustling towns, and then...

Well, the first thing to do was to get some sort of drink, and one thing led to another, and now...
Here he was. Granted, it seemed like nobody was calling him out on being an elf, a fact which amused him; did he look 'normal' enough to pass for a human, or were his kind common enough to not make it worth mentioning?

...

Well, that matter could wait. For now, his... Erm... "Employer" was calling for action. They were supposed to delve to the bottom and kill some sort of unholy abomination or something, right? The rewards didn't interest him as much as the possibility of forgotten ancient tests did, but...

"If the building's as old as you're making it out to be, miss, then I assume someone's probably already blown a hole in it..."

In a deliberate attempt to move as far away from the musclehead offering to throw someone to the top of the tower, Veldrael began to walk around the perimeter of the tower, in hopes that his theory was right. Not many buildings could stand this long unscathed, after all.

Olivie, too, examined the crumbling ruin from a seated position and wondered if the insides matched the legends. It was the sort of thing that she'd grown up on, after all. Al's offer to... throw someone to a ledge and try and break in seemed a bit questionable; what if they fell through the roof? Or could be put that high with less danger involved.

More importantly however, the door was still shut. This held a bit more significance than was immediately apparent, due to the simple fact that they had some idea what was inside beyond the legendary 'trapped castle'.

"I think you miss the easier solution, Mr. Valkanos. The door is shut fast, yet we know of rats inside. This is not the first time that adventurers have ventured into these ruins. Nay, there must be a trap-less path towards the interior," the half-giant reasoned, eyes following the elf as he went in search of a breach.

Given the risk of someone being attacked on their own, Olivie rose from the grass and strode after him, slowing once the gap was closed.

Segi wasn't particularly excited to work with the Reonese Paladin, or any of the others that had composed their party. However it was necessity that he traveled with them; he had no allusions to his own skills. He would certainly perish if he undertook the inspection of the castle himself. The Church of Mayon had their own interest in the ruins: To ascertain if Haldric succeeded in his search for immortality, and eliminate him in the unlikely case that he did. Of course, even if Haldric had perished it would be a valuable public service to clear the ruins of any undead abominations. So the task was placed upon Segi, who was known in the Church for his great knowledge and skill. Segi, of course, didn't breath a word of his intents to his party. To them he would not be an Inquisitor of the Mayonites; instead he was merely an adventurer in search of some loot, not dissimilar to most of them. Perhaps, in time, he may trust the Paladin with his identity if she proved reliable, but for now it would remain a secret. Inquisitors had a dour reputation among the populace, seen as gloomy agents of divine justice.

Or something like that.

For the time being Segi would help his companions enter the castle. The Paladin was correct, of course. He had done his research into the building- the front door certainly wasn't the way to go in this situation. He cleared his throat, "If I might input, I would agree with Miss Olivie. There are other ways into the keep, judging by its inhabitants. However I do wish to echo some words of warning: this castle was as much a prison for its inhabitants as it was a fortress. It is unlikely that there will be an easy way to shut off the traps within, certainly not anything as simple as an 'off' switch. It is also unlikely we'll find something quite so easy as a back-path in, if the books are to be belived our King Haldric wouldn't have a safe path in our out- after all, it is called the Prison-Castle for a reason. Rats can find many ways in we won't be able to access- especially you, Miss Olivie," He said, the ghost of a bemused smirk on his face, "We could hope for another path in our a convenient hole in the wall, however if we do not find one there is another way in," Segi pointed up towards the crumbling tower, "Mister Valkanos' suggestion is a viable path in. If it comes to that I would volunteer myself for the task- I already know much of the mechanisms within and could make a try of clearing the path."

Segi stroked his whiskers, once again allowing a smirk to creep onto his face, "Of course the hole in the wall is preferred, so let's hope for that." He said, joining the others in the survey of the tower, running his hands across the stones of the building, hoping perhaps for some convenient hidden mechanism.

Haruka's eyes were alight with an innocent fascination as she looked at the ruins before her. Her tail wagged back and forth in a sort of furious excitement as she imagined all the adventure that awaited just inside. Haruka could not help but think about how proud her master would be to see his favorite student travelling so far and seeing so much, just as he had so many years ago. The petite Hundi clutched her pendant for a few seconds before looking around at her new companions.

"I have not so much weight for the throwing," Haruka cried, practically bouncing up and down, "but also there is the hole-finding! Or we can also make the holes for to go inside! I am a much good breaker of things, and also a puncher! I am not so good a doer of puzzles, however, so please be telling me what is needing and I can do it, yes?"

Saying this, Haruka began jumping up and down in excitement, casually reaching heights impossible for those whose bodies had not unlocked their ki. She had been travelling a great deal, but this was her first time entering a real dungeon with a group. She was certain of treasure to be found in this decrepit place, and with it, coin to exchange for information about her master's murder. Soon, she knew, there would be justice for him.

"Make a hole? That's... pretty good, actually. You're pretty smart, know that?" Al smiled at the dog, drawing his greatsword.

Indeed, weather and time alone had rotted away good portions of the tower. Knocking a hole in the wall was sure to be an easy task, and best of all, they couldn't booby trap a solid wall. The warrior thrust his sword between the bricks, and drug the blade along the inside, scraping and damaging what was left of the mortar. After several lines, he gave another thrust between a pair of bricks. With a grunt, he attempted to pry the bricks free. Gritting his teeth, he waved for someone to come closer. He'd make them an entrance yet.

Peri sighed from where she was sat cross-legged on the ground. She really wasn't the type to sit around and wait while someone jimmied open a lock or slowly pried bricks out of a wall.

"Come on, this is taking too long."

Then a metaphorical lightbulb flicked on in her brain. Pushing herself to her feet, she fumbled around in her bag for something and whispered an incantation under her breath, forming a fireball around the tip of her staff.

"Stand back. This is going to get loud."

Benita's ears twitched as she heard the others talk about smashing a hole in the walls. As wonderful as that idea sounded, she cautiously took a few steps backward, standing right at the back of the party. And when the mage implied she was going to blast it with a spell, she considered just turning tail and running. After all, there was no honour in being squished by falling ruins.

"Well, at least they'll be someone to heal you idiots once this is over," she mumbled to herself, her wand already in hand as she awaited the inevitable. It was the burden of the healer, really, to patch up their companions after they did something kind of dumb. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that so soon, but...

"... Did you think I didn't consider the state the tower's in?" Tanya replied, her tone short, one eyebrow cocked as she folded her arms. This was already going to be aggravating, wasn't it? It truly, truly was. Throwing someone up to the tower seemed dangerous to her, though she supposed if someone felt they were capable of such a thing it wasn't the most awful idea... if they could actually bypass the traps at the door, at least, and let everyone inside. Given that hadn't happened yet it seemed unlikely. That being said, the best option in the tiny purple-haired paladin's mind was checking for an alternate route created by the tower's fall to ruin. A hole of some sort, perhaps.

It was around then that she noticed one of the party's two offensive magi casting a spell, presumably in a bid to blow the tower down. The girl's eyes widened and she quickly sprinted over to the fire mage, grabbing her shoulder and yanking her back. "What are you doing, you idiot?! Does that tower look stable to you?! Do you think that's a good idea?! What kind of a moron does that sort of thing?!"

The healer was already wisely backing away...

At least the big guy with the swords had a better idea... this was ridiculous!

Speaking of which, a few bricks seemed rather ominously teetering. The tower was now in a state where it could take outside influence to a certain extent, but active attempts to destabilize it were... risky, at best. Still, if done slowly and carefully, a hole could be made in the side of the tower manually.

The elf and the half-giant's search had also proven fruitful. There was a hole, large enough to fit each member of the party provided they went in one at a time, on the back side of the tower. However, it was far too dark to tell what they would be dropping into, and an unpleasant, musty, rotten scent welled up from the darkness.

At this point, the choice was between making a path, which would take longer but allow them to determine where they entered, or attempt to figure out where the already-present hole would lead them.

"Oro?" Al yanked his blade from the wall. His boss had started nagging half the group, and disappeared around back. She was a member of the church, so maybe she was getting onto them to go smite some zombies she'd found or go pray or something. With this in mind, Al shouldered his blade and followed the pint-sized paladin around back. Fortunately, some previous group of adventurers had already mined a hole. It smelled like rotting meat, and considering the tower's reputation for being a haven for undead, even Al could guess what lay inside. However, it was too dark to see if there was a spike trap at the bottom.

"Hang on." Al said, tying his lantern to his waist. He lit the item, which would illuminate an area around him once he got inside. Next, he lit the torch, then dropped it inside. Since it was alight, it would be easy to test depth, and would also reveal whatever lay at the bottom.

Segi evaluated his party. The way the approached the situation really was very telling. From the hot headed mage eager to blow the entire tower down and the more practical ones setting to making a hole in a much more careful manner, he learned much about who to watch in their party. Of course their hot-headed leader also had some telling behavior- she stood back, managing, observing, criticizing. A leader, but not a very effective one? Not one to take action? Perhaps too soon to be said, but one thing was clear: She was quick to anger. It was all valuable information to the Inquisitor.

He shot a pointed glance at the mage. "That is not wise." The Paladin had already stepped in to intervene, "Miss Palayen is correct, although I wouldn't put it in such crude terms. You risk bringing the structure down, which would prove to be quite the obstruction."

As for the task at hand his own investigation had proved fruitful: As he tested the stones he found they had some give. A hole could certainly be made. His party also found a hole of their own, Segi observed as he wheeled around the tower to join the group. He peered in. It smelled of death. Not a good sign. He turned away before the warrior tossed in the torch. "I would not recommend this path. It stinks of undead. If I may venture, I noticed some of the stones were loose. It would be wiser to make a hole for ourselves, we just have to be careful, elsewise the tower may be destabilized."

Olivie was standing by the hole when other group members started to coalesce around them. One had a good idea--testing the depth of the entrance--but the bearded man seemed to think that they were better off digging a new hole in the wall rather than fighting any possible undead. Given that they were a group largely composed of warriors with a few spellcasters, the chance anyone would know enough architecture to not bring the tower down on their heads was minimal.

"With all respect, sir, I believe that another entrance would merely delay contact with our foes, as we have no map with which to navigate," the half-giant stated, watching the torch's fall--then dropping down if the fall was harmless to her. In the event the drop was rather too large for anyone else, she could help bridge the gap.

A small smile crept up Vendrael's face as he found the hole. His intuition had been right, it seemed; no way any structure could last so long without wear. On the other hand, the smell of decay and death wasn't exactly pleasant; no, rather, it was abhorrent and something he'd rather not have to smell again in his life after they concluded their mission here.

The rest of the party soon began to congregate around the hole he and the other person (a half-giant, if he had heard correctly) had found, beginning almost immediately in evaluating their possible options. As the the group began to start discussion, however, he saw the swordsman from earlier come by. It'd have been a lie to say that he didn't have a few sweatdrops forming at that moment.

Imagine his surprise, then, when his compatriot did something incredibly smart: to drop a lit torch down the well to check both the distance and to catch a glimpse of anything lying in wait. The thought had never crossed his mind, so the high elf decided to give some mental praise to the man; he wasn't as brutish as his appearance seemed to suggest.

"I'll follow whichever route is deemed safest; be it a new hole or this one," he stated. There was no obligation for him to rush or anything of the sort; the tower stood here long before they came, and it wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon.

Peri yelped a bit as she was grabbed, sending her fireball spiralling off into the sky where it detonated relatively harmlessly. Maybe people's ears'd be ringing for a bit, but it wasn't going to bring the house down on them.

"All right, all right, I get it. We're takin' the slow path." She grumbled, before muttering something about how it looked stable enough to her under her breath.

"And besides, if there's already a hole then I say we use that rather than waiting for someone to tear down this wall."

Haruka followed after the part of the group that seemed to have discovered something around the back of the tower, and watched with curiosity as the big guy lit his lantern and then dropped a torch into the hole that they had found. She kind of wanted to break something, but judging by the group's general demeanor, they were probably going to go down the hole that already existed.

Haruka resolved to break something later.

"It is very good idea, big guy," Haruka said, smiling up at Al, "with fire we can be seeing into the smelly hole before falling."

Her tail wagged eagerly as she looked down into the hole to see what awaited the group at the bottom, if anything, and to gauge the distance of the drop. Not that a long fall was particularly frightening to Haruka. In fact, even if it was, she would probably be able to handle it quite well.

For a moment, Benita stayed at the back of the group, her nose wrinkling in disgust. To a human, the stench of undead was rather unpleasant, but to a Hundi? Her sense of smell was far more powerful, but at least it wasn't too overpowering whilst she stood outside... Unfortunately, the other Hundi of the group didn't seem to be showing much aversion to it, so claiming she didn't want to go in because of the smell wouldn't look too good on her.

"...Ugh, it smells like an orc latrine..." she complained as she headed closer, sticking towards the back of the group as she firmly pinched her nose. "But if you're all sure we should go down there... Well, no helping it! I guess I'll have to go too, in case you all get eaten by zombies or something!"

Tanya winced when the fireball burst in the air, her ears ringing. But at least it hadn't hit the tower, which could have easily brought the entire structure down and made making an entrance quite a bit more difficult. She released the pyromaniacal mage girl and gave her a rather stern glare, arms folded.

"If you do anything like that again, I'm taking your cut of whatever's down there for the church," she said. Technically speaking, the agreement they had made prevented her from doing that(and in fact, she was hardly a leader of the party at all, beyond knowing where they were meant to be going). Still, the small girl was angry and wasn't exactly thinking about her threats, beyond making them sound threatening at least. Swiftly, she turned her attention to the route that had been discovered at the back of the tower. Instantly she was able to discern one important facet. Well, it wasn't as if Tanya hadn't known already, but even if she had not, what she smelled would immediately have told her everything she needed to know.

There were undead down there. Where, exactly, was difficult to discern, since the foul scent of mindless undead tended to get into everything. But there was no mistaking that distinctive odor, of rot prolonged, of musty decay. It wasn't simply the smell of rotting flesh, it held another quality to it that resulted in a distillation, in scent form, of what made mindless undead so unpleasant. Well, aside from the fact that they usually attempted to eat you.

However, Al's wise decision to deposit a torch into the hole revealed that there were indeed no undead. There were, however, worn stairs, with crags and holes in various locations. It was far enough down that some sort of assistance would be required in reaching the floor, but with care it appeared safe.

Tanya peered into the hole, then folded her arms.

"I'm certain someone brought rope or something, so what are we waiting for?"

After finding a method of entering the hole safely, investigation would reveal a few different things. One portion of the steps a few meters down had been removed, revealing an old pressure-sensitive plate that had been partially dismantled. Only a few paces on was a skeleton in leather armor, notably missing a skull, a bag of various tools lying beside it. On the ground nearby was the missing portion of the pressure plate, making it rather clear both who had disabled the trap and what fate had befallen them. There was no clear way to discern what had killed him, aside from the missing skull.

Beyond was the bottom of the stairs, which widened into a hall with scattered, rusted sconces tipped over, and a rotten wooden table.

"Nice~" Al said, squatting over the edge. The pit smelled weird, but it was basically safe.
The paladin called for rope, but that was silly. Al had no patience for rappelling. Also he didn't have a grappling hook. The warrior elected to hop down the hole, digging his bare fingers into the rock and soil forming the wall. This alone slowed his descent, until he hit the ground with a loud, echoing thud. The lantern tied to his belt now provided a second point of illumination, alongside the torch burning on the ground next to him.

"Alright, the rest of you guys hop down and I'll catch you! It's the express route!" he called up, holding out his arms.

"Do not be worry so much," said Haruka, giving Benita a reassuring smile, "when you do more adventure, smell of death will not seem so bad! Anyways, I will protecting you, so please do your best."

With that, Haruka looked down and saw two of their companions already at the bottom. She didn't personally need help getting down, because her body was trained beyond any normal person's by harsh, secret Eastern methods unknown to all but very few reclusive monks at a temple at the top of a high mountain, but help was appreciated all the same. It was very kind and thoughtful.

Haruka dropped down, fearless, and awaited the inevitable catch.