"What's this now?!" Uregaunt shouted in surprise at Halflight, stumbling backwards as he kept a tight grip on his weapon. What was this madman doing? Uregaunt's gaze flicked upwards for a moment, hearing Halflight's remark. He let out an annoyed sigh, shaking his head. Why would they hide an illusory ceiling in the room? He'd have to think about that, but for a moment he had more pressing matters to attend to. Uregaunt's eyes drifted towards the northern center slab, focusing on the albino that was bleeding profusely from a table. He walked towards the figure, taking special note of the diamond on his chest. The question of why this man had a large diamond in his chest would have to be unanswered for now, the relative oddity of it especially intriguing him. Clearly, this man was different from himself and Halflight, and this bothered Uregaunt. This man could potentially have answers for Uregaunt, but the albino couldn't help solve the enigma everybody was in if he was dead.

Uregaunt crouched over the man and began to work, examining him closely and searching for his pulse. With precise timing, he extracted the catheter, chucking the object to the floor as the man's chest wounds began to heal. He watched the man's wound as it healed, lingering over him in case he needed any further attention. Uregaunt stepped back, a prideful smirk teasing his face for a moment as he watched the albino lay there. Now, to tend to his own wounds... With a quiet murmur and a small gesture, he felt himself be revitalized by magic, taking a deep breath as he cast his spell.

The warlock disconnected the cardiac fetter that once exsanguinated the mysterious man, allowing the abrasions to mystically close on their own. The albino looked pastel and unconscious, reflexively quivering at times with anemic amounts of plasma. The hypnopompic rigors almost simulated myoclonic jerks, that occurred commonly prior to a person’s waking from a deep sleep. A peculiar aroma erupted from his vicinity after the discarded cardiac cord, replicating of a garden, full of fruits and flowers.

Yet, these sights paled in comparison to the large, sparkling rock, embedded into the chest of the man. Mara and Zana examined the jewel with great earnest while Uregaunt and Thanath continued to stabilize him. The diamond appeared to replace his sternum, along with its many pointy facets, articulating seamlessly with the cartilage of his ribs. The clarity and cut was pristine. The color being purely white but at a certain angle, the fleshy pericardium of the heart seemed to be juxtaposed sharing a portion of the gem as a makeshift wall for blood as it circulated. His lungs were able to expand easily without any hindrance of the flinty nugget. His wounds now healed completely, but his jugular veins were flat and devoid of pressure as he lied supine, suggesting massive volume depletion, which pooled beneath the shoes of those who fortunately awoken earlier.

The floor continued to elevate in its altitude. Its stature contrasting with the plummeting foil that housed AdAM 7. Soon, they would unite with Cerise and the other rooms after another 5 more feet.

Unless, another lever was pulled.

@The Grey Dust, @Lauder, @Daemanis, @Rush99999, @JBRam2002, @Cu Chulainn, @The Large Dumbo

Map: Round 2

---

Two up, One down, a curious array.
It would seem the middle lever controlled the floor.
Either depressing the central pillar down, or Raising all others up.
A matter of perspective lost as a dead man in a coffin looks out into the world.
And entombed within the stone box, the outside world fades into oblivion.

Whatever happened outside and above AdAM became irrelevant to the mech, a difficulty in hearing the exact words, something about the ceiling, something about a fan. The loudest ones made their voice heard, even through the rising walls. Someone requested whoever was presumably making the floor rise stop. It mattered not, the floor would rise, and if the ceiling was real and the fan was real, the fleshy organics would be crushed or shredded. Perhaps it was a test, whoever brought them here, a test of how the will to live contested the ideals of morality. The mad architect of this place simply running an experiment to test a theory. Was it a sarcastic nod then to the moral high ground was what would kill those currently on the rising floor? Dying as one lived. Morality nevertheless was a concept strange to AdAM, something truly human as he only knew logic and law. Laws unjust or not were social constructs made to govern society, and in the case of natural laws, the very fabric of existence. To break a law was an insult to both, unless the error occurred where in two laws interested within each other's domains. As such, which rule must be followed? Ah alas, more philosophy.

Either way, a logical loop never resounded well and just as he selected the middle lever without calculating the exact odds of said action's repercussions, so too did AdAM gaze upon the configuration within the precious seconds those above him had. At the rate the walls were rising around him, in a short amount of time the party be sent into their graves, calculating the time it took for the pillar to be complete sealed off at the entrance of five feet. AdAM himself had to duck to fit within the confines of the pillar, to which suggested either a smaller entity controlled this facility or designed it. A gnome or dwarf perhaps? Or a more fey or impish entity? And these levers three, staring back like the abyss into which AdAM gazed, their mystery mocked him, teasing him to pull the middle lever back down in an attempt to stop the floor from rising. Logically it would be natural, that an equal opposite reaction be the course to lower the floors back down. Yet if indeed the ceiling was an illusion as was tossed about, they were in no immediate danger save the fan.

Thus perhaps the mechanism of control was not as simple and needed to be tested. There was an expected probability of resetting the middle lever yielding a restoration of everything from his previous action. Yet nothing was gained from this then, unless it was the combination of levers which dictated what the room did. Stacked against the chance of the other two levers functioning to counter the effects of the middle lever was a large leap in logic, but based in sound statistics. There was no guarantee that the floor would descend again with the flip of the switch before him, there was only an observational fallacy in believing that to be an absolute truth. Thus what if one of the two levers presented could create the opposite effect and ground the others? Another 50-50 chance choice then to compute the complex likelihood of one of either lever in their current position would resolve the rising floor by providing a sinking stabilization. Or more in this situation a simplifying assumption could be that the middle lever controlled the rise and fall alone to a limit of grounding, thus what the function of the other two levers remain a mystery. What would happen if all three levers were up?

To solve a problem, it was best to explore every possible solution and understand every possible outcome. As such with the fearlessness of one knowing those above him may be crushed to death as the ceiling may start compressing their skulls with the flick of the switch on the left, AdAM firmly grasped the sinister lever and pushed the position up. What happens now?

A scream above?
Blades whirring down to hack and maim flesh from bone?
Or would he see the eyes of confused sheep, waiting to be harvested?
No, it was better to remain together.
Maybe it was a test of humanity in itself?
To see how far a group of strangers can compel themselves to work together in self-interest.

Recent Events:

The fan, spinning counterclockwise above everyone, except for AdAM 7, is rotating at a very slothful pace, with its dull blades. This true ceiling appears very real, as you sense the breeze more prominently at the floor elevates chillingly to a lipped ledge. The distance from this precipice is about 5 feet from where everyone is, except obviously AdAM 7. From the sill to the fan is about 10 feet, with its walls littered with eight doors, one of which you see Cerise open and dart inside. All souls testify to the sound of a lever pulled up, with all the above doors closed and now locked.

The northern center slab still reveals an unconscious, but stabilized Albino man with a large diamond in his chest. The southern center slab still remains covered with a white cloth, but no tubing seems to be connected to whoever is under that sheet.

The benches rattle but everything remains contained sputtering its inner liquids intermittently.

ROUND 2

@The Grey Dust
You pull the left lever up, but do not sense any obvious effect or disturbance. As your makeshift coffin remains ever so still, your vision fills with light as the lower room appears to be large as you discern eight more doors, three corridors and a spiral staircase rapturing about 15 feet away, as a helix relishing a large center, which to your logical mind would be the lever pillar-room if it was able to descend.

@Daemanis
You are now locked within your room, but you see a large window, unfettered and open, to the darkness outside, from which a breeze intermittently emanates. You can easily leave your chamber and descend into the blackness.

@JBRam2002 @rush99999 @Cu Chulainn @The Large Dumbo @Lauder
You surround the blanche man with a diamond as a sternum as you hear and see the doors above close and lock, potentially imprisoning Cerise.

---

In all her years, Mara had never seen a diamond as large as the one that laid before her now, bored into this man's chest beyond what she could have thought possible. No doubt this diamond was expensive, probably worth more money than she had seen in her entire life. She could remove the diamond with some effort, but no doubt it would result in the man expiring. Some of those nearby might make the assumption that she were trying to kill the man for some reason as well. It was obvious that this required a modicum of thought, a process which generally yielded less-than-favorable results for Mara.

The first thing to consider was the diamond. Just from looking at it, she couldn't discern who placed it there or why, but with the way it seemed to bore right to the man's heart, it was likely someone highly skilled with either magic or medicine. She wondered why someone would go to all of this effort. There must be some benefit to having an expensive gem impeding your breathing. She wracked her brain for anything like this she had ever heard of. Somewhere in the deepest recesses of her brain, she had heard of a gem that resonated with chaos and eschewed order, granting special abilities to those who followed its path and harming those of the opposing path. If this was indeed like the gem she was considering, it would indeed be very powerful for her, and likely for this individual as well. She rubbed the back of her neck thoughtfully, as she was coming up with fewer and fewer reasons to leave him alive.

As she did so, her fingers brushed against the gem that was in her own body. Could... could it be the same thing? She glanced around at the others. They all seemed to have gems, albeit much smaller in size, and likely much less powerful. The various colors must have some meaning. Although she couldn't see her own gem, she could see that there were three distinct colors visible, and each of them seemed to correspond to personalities. She pressed her hand against the gem and concentrated on something that had been nagging at the back of her mind: some new sensation she had never experienced before. She decided to keep this revelation to herself for now, especially with the sound of another level being pulled. "Oy, ya tryna get us killed, ya twat?" Mara called out with frustration. "Flip that lever back! You just trapped the fairy lass!"

To those nearby, her voice dropped to a quieter tone. "I dunno what's up with this diamond, but most like an he's a powerful mage of some sort. Might be he can help us out of here. I'ma check on this other sheet though." With that, she moved to the other side of the room. The others could do with the man what they will, but unless they knew the powers of the gem, they were likely to gain little from it other than some cash. With any luck, she'd be able to snag it first. In any case, she would see what lay on the other pedestal. She pulled the sheet from it revealing... nothing. Well, it appeared to be nothing at first, but she could see a shadow still lay on the slab despite nothing casting a shadow there. So Mara did what anyone would do: poke the shadow. Her finger did not quite reach the slab below before it stopped, pressing against some solid fleshy object that felt like clothing. Her hands ran along the object, trying to determine its nature. After a few seconds, she could determine that it was a feminine figure clothed with a belt, pants, and shirt. The ears seemed of human shape, and her height appeared to be of a moderate or slightly short height for a human. There was little else she could tell without seeing the shape, but a gem could be felt on one of the girl's forearms. "Could probably use some healing here too, ya?"

Walking in through the door Cerise noticed her equipment piled up in the corner, it appeared that it was all there save for her mount swift strider which she could kind of understand not being this high up. Looking around she would ensure that there were no traps attached to her equipment, not finding any she would be quick to disrobe herself of the gown she woke in. After removing the robe from her petit frame she would notice the gem inset into her navel.
”By Llira! What is this?” she would demand to the empty room as she touched the crystal unable to ascertain what the purpose of the intrusive object could possibly be. She felt somewhat violated and this darkened her persona somewhat. The thought that something like this could have been done to her without her knowledge or permission. ”I swear someone will pay for this.”
She would then don her armour and gather her equipment back up. Hefting her shield and weapon she would give the familiar weights a test swing as if stretching her muscles and getting used to them again. As she did so she would hear the door she had entered slam shut behind her. The audible slam causing her to startle and spin shield raised in defensive position. Noting the door being closed she walked to it and attempted to open it finding the door securely locked.
Her initial inspection of the room found a window leading to the outside which now held her interest. She approached carefully examining what lay outside it. She noticed how dark it was outside as if a perpetual night surrounded this place a small light source indicative of a portal lay to the south, ‘maybe an escape.’ She thought to herself. If she had been anyone other than a cleric to Llira she might have headed for it, and if she weren’t a scarlet murmur of that very same order she might have found a way to help the others escape. No she was now on a mission to find who had done such a thing to a servant of Llira and how many others they had done it to.
A roof a one story below which would be perfect for her to use to get to that hole that had been blown in the wall before. Jumping up and down in the room she would test the weight of all her equipment on her wings finding she was not so drained that she couldn’t support herself. She climbed onto the window sill jumping out and spreading her wings, using them in a controlled descent to the roof and touching down gently, ”now for the hard part.” she spoke to herself launching into the air again and flying around to the gaping maw that had once been a wall finding the floor having raised above the entrance. She would touch down on the crumbled section of the wall her wings folding along her back.
Stepping into the newly revealed room she would look around, taking in the new room and surroundings. She would bring her shield up to guard position as she explored the room

---

The Knight looked up to the ceiling as the slight breeze dissipated, the telltale sound of a lever being pulled leading him to believe that the golem had caused another life-threatening event to unfold upon the rest of the party. Not only that, but he had also managed to trap one of the occupants, as well; the diminutive he-thinks-shes-a fairy. As the floor continued to ascend, Halflight knew he had to act fast in order to stop them all from getting crushed, and attempted to roll inside whats left of the openg space between him and the pillar. Sadly, however, his attempt was only in vain. It was just too small to fit him, after all. Halflight cursed under his breath, before beginning to pace around the room a bit.

As Halflight paced around, he began to think more on his current situation. He had awakened, trapped in a room full of unscrupulous people, ones who could break walls with their very fists, who could seemingly summon swords out of thin air, and who could carelessly toy around with the lives of everyone else. If anything, they weren't all just some random bystanders taken from the streets. No. The young Knight came to a conclusion only his own twisted mind would have been able to figure out...

That he was not the only murderer in this room.

With that in mind, Halflight's eyes frantically paced the room. He won't allow the other killer to get the upper hand on him. He needed a weapon... something he could defend himself with from whatever wished him ill...

And he had his own growing suspicions as to who they may be.

Halflight found a sharp shard of glass he could hold in his hand comfortably, and began to tear off a piece of his makeshift cape with it, wrapping it around one end of the shard. He was making a shank, something he could easily stick in the back of whoever believes they have the upper hand. It was by no means an actual lasting weapon, but it was good enough for what he can do with his own abilities. A sharp, pointy weapon is all he needed for the poison to work, after all.

After completing his makeshift weapon, Halflight wandered over to where everyone else had seemed to be gathering round. To the body of the incapacitated man with the diamond in his chest. They had already stabilized his wounds, he noticed, but he still required further healing. Under normal circumstances, Halflight would have used the excuse that it is not within his capabilities to heal, but these circumstances weren't so normal. He needed to seem like he wasn't a threat to everyone else, for one, and he also needed answers. Perhaps this man may have such.

"Step aside," the young Knight had said, walking forward, "I will try and heal this man."

Halflight kneeled down to the man with the diamond, placing his empty hand on his chest as he uttered a short prayer to "His Fairest Lady." Holy light began to pour from his hand into the man, surrounding him lightly as it began to mend some of his wounds. As this happened, a green light glimmered within the diamond. Noticing this curiosity, Halflight looked back to the stone within his own arm.

Is the color of the gem its natural color, or do we all have diamonds that glow a different color? And if that is the case, what even determines this color? Is it their magical power? Surely, both Halflight and Uregaunt both have red gems, and they have both presented the most amount of magical power... but this man was a mage, Mara said, yet his gem was green. If not that...

Is the color of our gems linked to the "color" of our soul?

The emerald sheen shrouding and emanating the diamond soon dissipated as a breath and then a cough took hold of the snow skinned man, whose irises shared an evergreen hue, enthralled with vivacity and curiosity. However, this too frittered away, bleeding his ocular wreathes dry of any color, devoid in similitude as the albino’s rind encasing his the mysterious corpus.

He lept to his bare feet, without the aid of his hands, staring at the 5 membered audience. Blinking slightly rapidly, his face did not betray any emotion of fear nor surprise, as he spoke.

“Who are you?”

Realizing the floor was elevating, he echoed in a hushed tone.

“Where am I?”

As these two inquiries were beheld by the party, simultaneously, the last mantle was shed, near Mara, as very loud footsteps were audibly appreciated upon the slab hosting the invisible female in its bed. The covert silhouette brashly leaped off in the direction of the questions, her footsteps vociferously slow and ominous. All that could be discerned were the resonance of boots on the rising cobbled stone.

Pillar Room

@The Grey Dust@JBRam2002@Lauder@Daemanis@rush99999@Cu Chulainn@The Large Dumbo

So, the ceiling with the slow fan is real. The floor is rising but will "likely" stop in 5 more feet. The doors above the pillar slabs and below the fan are now closed and locked, presumed due to pulling the last lever.

AdAM can only see North, South, and East, hence the 3 halls. Cerise is able to see under the rising floor what AdAM sees, but does not see AdAM.

The invisible person is awake now, stirring when the Albino was healed. The loud footsteps are coming, presumably, from her.

While the more medically skilled worked on the pale man, Thanath turned to go and unveil the other slab only to find that Mara had already done it. The goliath was just about to comment on the invisibility of the last person to be uncovered when the pale man woke up. “Who are you?” the man asked all present “Where am I?”.
"I don't know about the rest of these people!" Thanath boomed in a friendly manner "But I can tell you that my name is Thanath! Thanath Thundermaul Thenalekali! As for where we are, I can't help you there! We are all as confused as you are!".

After saying that, the sound of footsteps reached Thanath's ears. The goliath turned to face the sound only to see no one moving about in that direction. Thanath quickly deduced why this was. "Glad to see you're awake, invisible person!" Thanath boomed before looking up at where the floor was taking them. "I think we'll be stopping in about 5 feet!" Thanath added "Those doors look pretty resilient! But if our gensai friend here could smash though a wall, I'm fairly certain doors won't be a problem for her!".

@rush99999

The stoic marching does not stop in lieu of your friendly greeting.

@Daemanis

The lower room's foci bears a spiral staircase, with the breadth of the helix, enough to permit the pillar slab to descend to meet its pinnacle strand. You hear the familiar bark of your mount from one of the cells, as well as six additional beasts, some hideous, others fantastic. With the room, three candles are arranged in a triangle above each thick gate. Moreover, four corridors splat in each cardinal direction, dim light adorning each of their paths. The southern hall was brief, as it opens to the courtyard bearing the portal of light, seen earlier by you and Thanath.

Lower Level - Updated

Uregaunt's eyes darted towards the loud footsteps for a brief moment, trying to discern where exactly the sound was coming from. Thanath's words repeated in his head, as he soon realized the loud party was invisible. He'd have to find a way to remedy that minor annoyance somehow, as several thoughts vocalized themselves in his mind. He dismissed them all with a shake of his head, however, and turned towards the albino. Even though he had briefly noticed it when removing the odd mechanism from his chest, the diamond hooked his attention. As far as he knew, no such feature existed on anybody else's chest from what he'd seen thus far. His interest was piqued, and anything he could learn about where he was would likely prove to be valuable in his escape... Waterdeep. Uregaunt was truly desirous to know what he was doing here. No stone must be left unturned, and no anomaly left unquestioned.

Without a word, he leaned forward to examine the diamond on the man's chest as quickly as possible, so as not to attract much attention. After a moment of inspection, he slouched back without a word. A flat expression was painted on his face, and he let out a drawn out breath from his nose. This new development could potentially be useful in the future. Uregaunt unconsciously bit his bottom lip in thought for a moment. He'd have to watch this one carefully; letting the albino go would be a catastrophic mistake. He put on his best smile, and turned towards the albino. "Fret not," Uregaunt said, attempting to look as non-threatening as a man can be while holding a magical blade. "We're trying to find out the answer to that question ourselves." Uregaunt looked up towards the ceiling again with a frown, his gaze turning around to the shut doors. Why was there an illusory ceiling here in the first place?

@JBRam2002@rush99999@Cu Chulainn@The Large Dumbo@Lauder

As the floor rose and eventually halted at the lipped edge, the central pillar indenture now served as a square hole allowing more ambient light to stray from the lower level. Those near the eastern wall could see Cerise hovering below.

The eight large doors are locked, but all share a placard, written in Common, to which each of you will note bears a name. Those tall enough to see into the grating of the door can discern a large window on the other side, open to the darkness.

The greeting of the Goliath and observation of Uregaunt were not kindly returned by the newly awakened as Mara attempted to grapple the invisible female, but oddly groped nothing but air. To the monk, the footsteps emanating from the unseen woman resonated louder than her constitution appeared to possess. To Thanath, it was unclear whether this new addition to the party was deaf and dumb, or just plain rude.

Her route nonetheless beelined first to the northern bench, to a beaker containing blue liquid, to which its navy contents began to glimmer inside the lady as she consumed its contents. Her body flashed in a cerulean glow, yet her gem remained unaffected. Seemingly addicted, the concealed girl quenched her thirst, likewise with crimson and avocado fluid; her silhouette shimmered again scarlet and green, but the stone in her forearm impassive to the colors surrounding, remaining as white as the diamond in the Albino’s chest. The veiled lady again returned invisible with only her lips apparent with jade, cherry, and cobalt dashed upon them. They remained sealed after drinking. Not to speak. Nor to breathe.

However, the lips fanned its perspective from the Paladin with the makeshift shank and the warlock with the mystical blade, and the mysterious blanch bloke between them.

The man spoke again.

“More importantly, who am I? What in Oghma's name is going on?”

He scrambled to his feet, apparently scared as if the seemingly partnered girl was staring into his soul. He looked at the hole in the center of the room, not caring the four surrounding him would have ample opportunity to restrain him if he jumped.

The lips finally parted but only to lick the residue from its vermilion borders, again rendering her invisible.

(We will need attacks of opportunity, if so desired, from Uregaunt, Thanath, Ysalain, and Zana, as he is going to leap into the hole.)

@The Grey Dust@Daemanis

You hear the above inquiries mingled with the boom of loud footsteps bellowing through the ceiling. The spiral staircase now is 10 feet away from the pillar riddled with levers all in the up position. The eight doors are closed, seven of them with names. Each of you recognize your respective names upon an ingress. Looking into the door, you discern your mount shackled and asleep, barely breathing, but bearing the gem in similitude to the hue emboldened upon you. Upon further investigation of the room, a door is actually slightly ajar, with its placard engraved in a peculiar language. The room is peppered with many different plants: mistletoe, birch, juniper, yew, and ash.

There are three long corridors that outstretch seemingly North, East, and West, ending with large wooden doors. The southern exit pools into a courtyard with the shining portal glimmering about 20 feet away.

[Post removed for later posting]

---

Down the rabbit hole,
Our depths delving deep,
Waking as we stroll,
Now walking asleep.

There was only one direction to go. Well there were multiple directions one could attempt to go, yet only two were paths of relatively lesser resistance. And of those two paths, only one was convenient. A pathway down into the belly of the beast, towards the sounds of animals strange. Like a moth to a flame, led by self-immolating curiosity, AdAM peered downwards, finding no signs of guards or sentries to eliminate in the unsecured new area. Then again there were no such guards either guarding the previous room, suggesting that whoever was working there either had no associates or hires to protect what research and development was taking place there, or desired to keep said experiments a secret. Yet who was capable of collecting an array of organics together like this? Even AdAM with his assassination skills would find gathering nine targets, or at least the seven he had confirmed, difficult to do. Of course this was mostly since their captors had required them alive and the warforged left a body count. No one hires an assassin to capture someone alive, that is what a bounty hunter was for. Although it was rather feasible for AdAM 8 to cocoon a target up horrifically bundling them in spiderweb. But the creature tended to not give up its food so willingly to its master. After all, a squirming meal of a corrupt cleric selling pardons was quite filling by the amount of fat the priest had.

Memory banks aside, AdAM took his spiraling steps into the glowing lower room, alit with a grim ménage à trois of candles. There was no darkness to hide in, no way to stealthily slip in to view the menagerie of creatures below. Yet was it needed? Looking around the only perceivable threat was the fairy, the small organic creature cleared in her gear, to AdAM's perception as the stairway's design allowed the mech to survey the entire room with every turn. To which some guarded reaction was given, seeing how the miniscule winged insect was armed, with a child-like mace and shield, chainmail that seemed to be little more than iron handkerchief. A small target difficult to hit, but AdAM had clipped the wings off a fly before with his bolts. Yet without his crossbow, she would have the advantage, to which diplomacy would be the best course of option to avoid having to fight at such disadvantage so soon.


"Salutation: Greetings small winged Organic.
Observation: You have found your personal belongings.
Inquiry: Are personal effects found on the floors above?
Warning: Do not be alarmed if a large arachnoid appears."

Indeed, some webbing noticed from one of the eight mysterious grated doors. And from the brief inspection, there appeared to be silken strands of spider webbing across the bars of one. A placard with AdAM 7 engraved upon the plate, felt by the hand of flesh as ruby lights peered into to see the armored monstrous spider in a state of suspended animation, or perhaps rather a state of inactivity? Spiders at least from what AdAM had observed of his travelling companion did not 'sleep' as humans would, but like its master, entered a state of inactivity. Passing the room containing his pet, once seeing it was relatively safe and unharmed for even a heartless murdering robot could develop attachments to those close to them it seem (that and finding another giant spider to train would be a hassle requiring travel to the Underdark and doing work for drow), the warforged inspected the other rooms. There he found the various ragged creatures all embedded with jewels similar to their probable owners and mounts were sequestered in the rooms save for one empty room, and a strange writing on the slightly opened door that revealed a collection of woody plants. Interesting, and those four corridors awaited invitingly now, but AdAM's priorities returned to freeing his armored spider from its cell.

Now perhaps most riders would approach their friendly animal mount with a greeting or warmth. Perhaps calling the animal by name or offering it some stroking affection, a touch to know its caretaker was here and a whistle of attention. Words exchanged meaninglessly to a spider and a warforged who knew that the spider was most likely incapable of understanding the complex affectless speech AdAM used. Vibration and touch on those silken strands would probably be better, as the mech observed a length of adamantine chain attached to a gleaming metal lock around his captured mount. Had he his tools, perhaps it would be easily picked, but alas his gear was not yet available. Though scanning the room it appeared key dangled beyond a grate, a few feet up from the door, so tauntingly like a lure. Gazing up at the potential solution, AdAM extended his right arm fully to find the key just out of reach, to which he squatted and stored powered into his mechanical and organic leg. There was no difference so far, save for the feeling, no apparent loss in strength or control, the organic pieces seemed to have been melded flawlessly. To which launching himself like a coiled spring at the grate, grasping it in his right hand, and pulling up the rest of his body with the uncanny dexterity of a gymnast taking to the poles. And then plucking the pearl from the oyster with a flesh-covered hand before rotating his body through his hanging arms into a back forward flip that ended with another perfect landing. Yes, if not an efficient sniper, perhaps AdAM could have been a performance artist, yet there was a difference in delivery and being pragmatic.

Now with key in hand, AdAM climbed atop the saddle, causing his mount to stir, shaking confused and appropriately agitated, unsure of the organic leg that it felt resting against its carapace. But a hand placed upon the sensitive hairs, calmed the creature down, a familiar grasp on the reins of its exotic harness stifled the stress. The master had returned, hopefully with food, or food soon. There was nothing in the room for food, and master was not food. Perhaps master shall hunt for prey? The eight eyes staring into the candlelight, armored legs lift its steel-clad body up alongside its master. The tethering chain unlocked by the turn of a key, as master released the spider and the pair reunited as assassin and horror. Now then shall master hunt for food? Fangs dripping with poison ready to sink themselves and gorge on liquefied entrails of master's latest target? Food sounded good, and those eight legs left the webs spun around the room to escape the zoo-like cage it was placed in. Eight hungry eyes watching the fairy in a multifold view. Master was most generous. Food. A giant fly for a giant spider?


Statement: The Unit mounted is AdAM 8.
Comment: I will prevent it from considering you as prey.
Observation: There is a high probability it may consider you prey.
Inquiry: Are the others coming to release their mounts?

Would the fairy bat an eye at the appearance of a flesh-infused android atop a giant spider? Or was it common to see in the realm of fey that insects be used as beasts of burden? What is chaos to the fly after all, is just a meal to the spider. Alas, even more philosophy, to which a being of logic and reason made tabula rasa could indefinitely explore the duality of it all.

Seeing the albino eye the hole, Uregaunt frowned. It would be quite an effective way to leave the situation the albino was stuck in, and given his reaction to the invisible woman... Uregaunt was admittedly a bit wary of the woman himself, but he was even more wary of the albino. As long as Uregaunt lived and breathed, the albino wouldn't leave his sight, at least not yet. With a frown, Uregaunt whipped out a hand to grab the albino and hold him before he could do anything. "Hold on just a second-" Uregaunt's argument to dissuade the albino from leaping down into the hole was interrupted as he soon realized how much force he had thrown into the lunge. Too much, it seemed, as he slipped and fell in an embarassing, his face coming into contact with the albino's rear as he caught himself in an unfortunate position. Visions of furiously hacking apart the albino leapt into his mind, as he slowly stood up and wiped off his mouth, his face that of horror and disgust.

Once the floor had stopped moving, Thanath noticed that 1 of the now locked doors had his name on it. Unwilling to wait for the door to unlock, Thanath walked over to the door and promptly pulled it off of its frame. Thanath then absentmindedly threw the door over his shoulder, which landed on the hole, effectively covering it and preventing anyone from jumping down or climbing up. In the room beyond, Thanath saw all of his gear. "I knew you wouldn't be far!" Thanath boomed as he walked into the room. Once inside, Thanath tore off his gown, put on his regular clothes and reclaimed his gear. "Now I'm ready for anything!" Thanath boomed with much confidence.

@JBRam2002@rush99999@Cu Chulainn@The Large Dumbo@Lauder
White men can jump.

Especially when helped from behind.

The monk wasted no time following. Both deftly landed on the pillar. Once through, a metal door was haphazardly flung, landing as a canopy over the escape route. Seeing Mara, he disengaged further down the spiral staircase, frantically looking at the four avenues beckoning and imploring which of their directions was the safest. Noticing the portal and the robot adorned spider, the Albino ran for the glimmering light in the darkness.

Upstairs, a Goliath was reunited with his gear, while Zana, Ysalain and Uregaunt took note of the series of rapid events. However, the sealed exit did not remain their long as invisible hands attempted to drag or grasp the metal, but to no avail. Soon, knuckles were heard upon the iron, with two indentations rapidly imprinted upon the ferrous substance, attempting to cave the egress through the middle fissure. All the animals below heard the two rumbles, stirring with a slight frenzy.

@The Grey Dust@Daemanis @JBRam2002
Once you free each of your mounts, you detect the adamantine chains slither into a narrow abyss, its chains cackling for several seconds before ceasing its trek. Now ornamented, with both of your mounts, you observe a never-before-seen Albino and Mara running, with sudden booms upon the metal now covering the focus of the ceiling. It appears that either Mara is chasing the white man or that both are fleeing from the happenings above. The surrounding cacophony of beasts begin to purr and roar, as if prompted by the unseen fists’ duet.

With his gear now back in his possession, Thanath walked back into the 1st room and looked around at the other doors. 1 door in particular caught the goliath's eye. Unlike the other doors, the name plate on this door was blank. Curious as to why this was, Thanath walked over to the blank door and pulled it from its frame to see if what lay behind the door could provide answers. And provide answers it did. Thanath looked at the empty room for a moment before shrugging and preparing to throw the door over to the 1st 1 he'd pulled off. Before he did so though, Thanath remembered that their invisible slab mate was trying to move the door. After setting the door aside gently, Thanath walked over to where the invisible woman was beating on the door hard enough to dent it. "Need a hand with that?!" Thanath offered.

---

Well, of course the albino was running. If Mara had swapped shoes with him, she'd probably be just as scared, especially if the albino knew the value of that gem in his chest. The invisible woman seemed to have gotten away from her, but this man was a different beast altogether. Mara ducked as the door clanged onto the opening just above her, barely doing so in time to avoid a nasty bruise on her noggin. Whoever that was up above should take more care where they tossed heavy steel slabs. They might hurt someone.

"Oy, Whitey," Mara called out as diplomatically as she could, given the circumstances. "Look, you ain't about ta outrun me. Might as well stop, ya? We should put our heads together. Might be we figger sumthin out here." To prove her point, she jogged down after him, and just happened to notice a giant mechanical spider. "Woah, shite! On second thought, maybe you got the right idea, ya?"

The next thing that caught Mara's attention was the portal. Mara might not be the brightest pineapple in the wheelbarrow, but she knew a shimmering gateway when she saw one. The other side promised either freedom or a trap, and she'd be damned if she were going to walk out into a trap without her gear. A glance back at the mecharachnoid showed her the other animals tied up, including her own trusty pet.

Without slowing down, Mara reached out and grabbed at the albino. Despite his attempts to push her away, she was able to get a decent grip on his arm. "Come on, Whitey. I gots me a plan a-formubatin up in that brain of mine." If that statement were not terrifying enough, Mara then summoned a burst of energy as she nearly flew back towards the mounts, the albino in tow. Should the spider attack, there would be little but pain awaiting it, but if it acted like most spiders, minding its own business unless provoked, Mara should be fine without her trusty spider-mashing mallet. For now.

Despite the albino slowing her down, Mara was able to return to the makeshirt stables with relative ease. She beelined straight for a cage that contained a Dire Wolf, tsking at the chains that bound her companion. With a quiet whistle, she got her mount's attention. "Fern! My baby! Tell mama they didn't hurt you!" the genasi called out affectionately before noticing the matching gem. The barbarian's cooing turned immediately to a quiet growl at the revelation. Messing with Mara was one thing. Laying a hand on her wolf companion? Beyond the pale! Uh, no offense, albino. The key dangled just outside her grasp, but a quick jump (weighed down by her less-than-willing compatriot) netted her the key easily. The only thing left to do was actually retrieve Fern.

Hopefully they didn't queue themselves up for a painful mechanical spider bite in the meantime.