With her head still pounding from the cry from the bird earlier, Misaki could only watch as the other two dispatched the errant wildlife around her. Obviously, with them now dead (or close enough to it), there was no need for her to cover her ears; rather, it was more of a question about when they would recover from that.

As it turned out, that 'when' didn't take too long at all; the young woman found it surprising that she could even hear Nobunaga's words at this point, as she had been under the assumption that with her new vulpine ears came all the benefits and downsides thus.

She wasn't going to complain, though; even if it felt like someone was still ringing her head like a gong, she could at least try and move. The sensations of the earth shaking were not solely derived from sound, after all, and only something massive could produce shockwaves of this level.

Turning towards the black-haired girl as she placed a hand on her shoulder, Misaki slowly nodded and took Nobunaga's aid in helping herself get up. It was obvious that she was being a burden right now, but there was no reason to not try to get out of here as fast as possible, at the very least...

@VitaVitaAR@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin

"That's something I've been asking myself since I woke up. This body is more... Glamourous than mine was before all this. I suppose I have the ears for it now. Though..."

"Wait. So you were... changed?" Nick did not know that not all of them were as the same as in Earth. He was relieved he stayed the same in this world. At the same time though, he sure could have used some extra features to help him out here. Like a pair of wings or something.

But enough about that, Augusta somehow identified the creature as a Wretched Experiment. It was... weaker than Nick thought. It was sensitive to light, burns easily, 'Cursed by the Moon' whatever that meant and pretty weak individually. They relied on their quick bursts of speed and numbers to defeat their foes. Which meant this one on its lonesome was nothing to be concerned about.

They left it to Isidore to take care of it. With the chains he took from the cell they woke up in and a few sleek moves and the Wretched Experiment was down, finished off with a brutal boot to its head. The poor thing did not even stand a chance. Nick pondered why it was named 'Wretched Experiment'. Was it a subject in some insidious procedure? Hold on, how did Augusta know what it was? Was that her power from the Goddess?

Nick followed Augusta towards the corpse of the wretched creature. "Pretty nice. Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

Augusta knelt down and pried the sword from the Wretched Experiment's hand. Its grasp on it was not solid and the blade was taken easily. Augusta gave it a practice swing before she spoke.

"Right then, gentlemen, shall we make our way out and to somewhere safe? Of course, we could always scout the rest of this place out but... We could always just come back. This place gives me the creeps but... Well, Isidore, Nick? What do you two think? Oh, and do either of you want to use this?"

"Yeah, ah, I vote we leave this place as soon as possible. This place is giving me the heebie-jeebies." Nick quickly said. He was still feeling anxious but was that because of his power or was it a natural reaction to what just happened? "I mean, I bet there's fun taking these things down but I think it's in our best interest to get somewhere safe and get our bearings."

"I wouldn't mind using this but if either of you have actual skill with this weapon, that would be best."

"Well, I can't say I've got skill with swords but I'll take it if neither of you want it." Nick wanted the sword to have something to defend himself with. But he kept that to himself, it was probably better if it was in the hands of someone more capable.

---

---

Alice would have been incredibly slow with her flying, still getting used to strain of having to also carry her acquired book. She would have had seen the abominations as she had made her movement through the stone hallways of this ancient place. Part of it gave her pause for a moment as she would have looked them over more throughly. Stalling for a moment before she entered the room to look over these abominations more closely. What wretched means spawned these wretched things that would be the thoughts going that would go through her head. Her mind would take but a few more moments to ponder such outcomes before she shook her head. She moved on.

She would immediately come to realise that something had escaped from the room ahead, mostly from the situation she had seen before her very eyes. The damaged door opened from the inside. Still she'd press onwards and enter the room, immediately gagging at the strong smell of chemicals that filled her nose. Her suspicion that something had forced its way out was confirmed by the broken straps on the table. "Chemicals and broken table straps. Frankenstein mayhaps." She'd say quietly to herself as she would flutter about the room. She looked up her small pixie eyes taking note of the very obvious exit in the windows. The stench of the chemicals was getting to her. But so too had her curiosity. So she would scour this room looking about for anything she could take with her through the window, or anything else of interest. She guessed if any of the big other people that were here were to find her. The Abominations would stall them good and proper.

As the skull of the wretched creature gave way, Isidore grinded his sole into the slurry of brain matter and bone fragments for good measure before scraping his shoe against the floor. It left a grisly trail, but he didn’t mind so much. Augusta, showing more gumption than what he’d have expected out of such a fine lady, was the one to break off the creature’s fingers one by one, wrestling the sword out of its deadman’s grasp. Either the two of them were of the same ‘breed’ as himself, or the Goddess had done something to their minds to grant them tolerance towards such things.

Or perhaps video games have just become so graphic that such scenes as a creature with a caved-in skull is no longer worth commenting on? Isidore wouldn’t know.

“I’ve had practice,” he said, tilting his head in Nick’s direction. Picking up the chain that he threw, the man looped it around his left arm for the time being. There was a slight pressure from the constriction of the links against his flesh, but the sensation seemed muted too. His heart beat, but what blood did he bleed? Isidore closed his eyes, listening for that overweight warden who had failed so terribly at his job. Only silence now, however, and an obvious entrance in sight. “We leave then,” Isidore said. He extended out a hand towards Augusta, palm up. “If neither of you have a strong desire towards this sword, I will claim it then.”

Whether she changed her mind and decided to keep it for herself anyways or handed the sword over, Isidore wouldn’t wait too long. Through the archway, he could see both daylight and snowfall, opening up into what appeared to be a courtyard, and he strode on out, expecting the others to follow. The snow was a bit of a blessing, allowing him to scrape away the last bits of viscera that clung to his shoe, and it was promising too, that there were no tracks indicating the presence of something larger than perhaps a cat. Before the prison that they had just exited was a wall, while off to the left was another building built in the same fashion as the prison. It was the chunks of chunks of stone partially submerged in dirt and stone that caught his attention though, looking to predate the edifices surrounding them.

Approaching the cluster, Isidore brushed away some of the snow to reveal the carvings underneath. He motioned for Augusta.

“Do your eyes glean anything from these patterns?”

Double post. Please ignore.

So that's what she meant by peak human, Novak marveled as he watched the outcome of his improvised attack. The chair struck with more force than he had anticipated, shattering upon impact and knocking the bird into a wall. The strange creature was still alive but it appeared to be concussed from the blow. The same could not be said for the other bird, which was lying in a pool of its own blood, slain by the black-haired girl. A moment later, the second bird was also dead by her hand, cleanly decapitated by her katana.

She might be a good candidate to learn from if I need to know how to fight, Novak observed. He didn't want to spend his power unless it taught him something very useful, and it was already clear that in this world, knowing one's way around a sword would be invaluable. He could worry about it later, however, when he had spare time to gauge whether there were better options and figure out just how his powers functioned.

"... A shame there isn't a cooking fire, at least these wretched fowl could have served a purpose in death," commented the swordswoman. It was at this point that Novak realized that his hearing had returned, to his great relief. It'd have been a great inconvenience for this fine new body to be afflicted with sensory loss so soon after receiving it. Unfortunately, just as things were starting to look up for the group, the floor began to rumble ominously. Novak didn't know what it was, but it was a potent reminder that there were there worse fates than hearing loss...

Is that the guardian that the goddess warned us about? We need to get out of here.

The black-haired woman was already helping her animal-eared companion, who seemed to have gotten the worst of the bird's screech. Perhaps her strange ears were more sensitive to that awful shriek. It occurred to Novak at this point that he didn't know anything about them, not even their names. If the situation weren't so dire, he'd ask them right now, but it seemed like they'd need to focus on simply surviving.

With this in mind, Novak rushed to the exit, stopping at the doorway. Not wanting to risk figuratively jumping out of a frying pan and into a fire, he cautiously peered outside. He looked around for any sign of danger that might await them outside, such as more of those birds or any other strange creatures, and perhaps whatever was making the ground shake.

@VitaVitaAR@Rune_Alchemist@PKMNB0Y

---

@Cu Chulainn@Crusader Lord@Rune_Alchemist

As Malphas accepted the bow, Donovan felt a small twinge of guilt. The lad's overwhelming confidence had retreated into a sullen pout. He hadn't meant to come off to the boy so harshly-- but this wasn't time nor place to start acting all buddy-buddy. They really needed to get out of this place before whatever was patrolling the grounds had a chance to find them. Turning to Leannah, Donovan accepted the shield and warhammer with a thankful nod, "Thanks lass."

As he strapped the shield to his arm, and stuck the warhammer through his beltloop, the catgirl took the opportunity to once again call out to the person she claimed was on the third floor. Whether the last person was just shy, or hesitant over the sudden bout of violence that had happened-- Donovan wasn't keen on waiting for a response, they didn't have that kind of time. By the time Leannah had asked once again for the large man's aid, he'd already had his middle finger and thumb in his mouth. "Alreddeh on et lass."

Though the old timer hadn't the slightest clue about how he might 'activate' his divine blessing, he definitely knew how to get someone's attention. An unfamiliar tingle ran through his hand as the countless memories of whistling to call the kids in for lunch ran through his head on instinct. Without a second thought, he blew.

A sharp, barely audible whistle cut through the silence as magical distortions took shape in the air around the trio. In an instant, a phantasmal contingent of no less than twenty humanoids manifested about the room. It took a moment of stunned silence for Donovan to realize that his little impromtu idea had actually worked. "Aright lads!" he spoke commandingly, shaking himslef from his stupor, "Here's tha plan-- we're gonna take evreh scap o' wood we can scavenge in this wreck n' make a right n' sturdeh ramp up to tha third floor... But be quiet about et!"

Without hesitation the ghastly contingent pulled hammers and prybars from thin air and went to work on their task. With a supernatural steadiness the figures began to pull apart the the various shelves and other furniture before handing the scavenged wood and nails to the group of hammer wielding apparitions. The ramp's construction was slow and methodical, placed atop a bed of old, illegible paper to muffle the noise. Paper that wasn't being used as cushioning, was being used like rags by the hammer wielders; their phantasmal hands wrapping the bundles tightly around the nails as they slowly but surely worked the metal into the wood.

Even with the help of Don's blessing, it was clear that the process was going to take some time.

Team Nippon
@VitaVitaAR@PKMNB0Y@Crimson Paladin

---

The birds were dispatched with swift, remorseless efficiency. Perhaps they should take the time to skin the creature. Its beak seemed metallic, or at least sturdier than what a birds beak should normally be, but whatever they chose to do they wouldn't have the luxury of time. As Nobu and Misaki regained their bearings, Novak made his way to the door. He would be greeted with a slightly somber sight.

In front of him was a large, mostly flat plain covered with snow. Large black stone slabs liberally scattered on the ground, some buried deep into the earth and some simply laying on their sides, having mostly been reclaimed by now. To his left, was the base of a large cliff that stretched upwards a few dozen yards, his eyes would follow along it towards what could only be described as a gatehouse of some sort. Two large stone towers stood at either side of a road large road that was carved into the cliff. At some point a gate had likely been in place, but it had long since fallen into disuse.

To his right and a little ways across the plains, was a large complex made of the same stone. It was difficult to tell how big it was from here, but one of the more notable features was a large watch tower that seemed to overlook the whole place.

wait a minute

He could see a flash of blue. Something was swiftly scaling up the side of that tower somehow what was-

Novaks vision was cut off by a large slab of rock slamming down in front of him, nearly knocking him off his feet.

Wait, no. That wasn't a stone slab, it was a foot, and he barely came up to its ankle!

The massive stone being took a step forwards, the earth rumbling and giving way slightly under its weight leaving deep footprints in the snow as it walked.

Craning his neck up, he could see a massive body made of chiseled, but weathered stone. Ice had formed on some parts of its body, no doubt due to the colder temperatures here that would drop even further at night. Its left hand had its fingers ending in blunt nubs like the heads of a hammer. The other didn't even have one, rather its other arm ended in nothing more than a large stone blade. Its shoulders were seemingly made to resemble a circular castle battlement. Carved into their stone were figures of some sort, but it was too difficult to make them out. On top of its shoulders, on either side of its head were two stone covered openings.

It turned towards the guardhouse, but thankfully didn't seem to notice them yet - or maybe it didn't care? Its head was surprisingly small, seemingly lacking any facial features aside from a jagged row of stony teeth and vaguely reminiscent of a sharks head. Noticeably, it was not made of the same stone the buildings around here were made of.

It turned its attention back to the other buildings, turning to face the direction it had come from, eyes scanning the snowy ground on a path from the guardhouse to the other building. A few of those birds were flying overhead, but most had taken refuge on the roof of the buildings across the way.

It didn’t seem to have seen them yet, but it definitely seemed to know they were here somewhere.

The Roma Mob
@ERode@Pyromania99@PaulHaynek

---

With the current threat taken care of, the group made a hasty exit towards what was presumably the path that would get them closer to leaving this place. The rest of the experiments paid them little heed, if they had noticed them at all. Perhaps if they explored the place a bit more, they could have gleaned some more information or useful items, but for now they pressed onwards.

Immediately upon leaving the building, they would be met with a gentle, cool breeze.

The snow crunched under their feet, the stone path showing them the way out of that somber place. In front of them stood a long, rectangular courtyard that might have been larger than it was, once upon a time. Buried in the ground was a large, black, stone slab made of the same stone of the building around them, the same smooth swirling patterns carved into its surface...yet there were other markings and carvings on it, on top of the old smooth swirling ones. Had they been added later?

Unfortunately, Augusta's vision did not seem to work on this stone. It only worked on organic, living targets. Perhaps if she took some time to study it she could glean some information. She could feel a faint energy coming from it...

Beyond this were several other, smaller ones though they lacked the extra carvings. The stone path seemed to curve around the building to their left, near the mountainous wall in front of them.

To their right, was a vista of the ocean itself.

A sheer cliff, dropping what could only be hundreds of feet towards the ocean below. The waves crashed upon the stone below, more of the black stone poking up from the ocean floor, creating a treacherous coast line that would have shredded anything that even had gotten close. Their gaze would follow the ocean outwards, where in the far, far, distance they could see an island of some sort, just barely on the horizon and even further a large, black pillar rising high into the sky so far they couldn't see the end of it, and they couldn't see its start either. It just sort of...faded into existence towards the ocean then faded out.

As they followed the tower up, however, they would notice something else.

Despite the midday lighting...there was no sun. The only celestial bodies that were in the sky above was a large, blue moon that had taken up most of the sky and a smaller grey colored one about a third of its size hidden just behind the larger one. At least the sky itself was clear, not a cloud in sight.

The earth beneath their feet rumbled lightly, and they could hear something moving to the left just on the other side of the building.

Nicholas's danger sense started to relax a bit. The area seemed safe enough, and those creatures didn't seem inclined to wander here after them.

---

Team feet pics
@Cu Chulainn@Crusader Lord@Click This@Guy0fV4lor

---

Choosing to instead keep to herself, Narkissa focused on the books left on the third floor. Most didn’t seem all too interesting, all falling victim to the sands of time and exposure from the however many countless moons this place had seen since whatever occurred here brought it to its end.

Still, a few book titles may have caught her attention as she perused a nearby shelf.

‘-ow to p--k -- f--r m-id--s’
‘On the -------- ---’
‘The ----hts of --- S---’

All however, were in condition of great disrepair. A little more searching however, would find proverbial treasure.

“A Novice’s guide to Magic”

It was old, worn, and had been tossed onto the floor, yet it was in fairly good condition. The pages seemed fragile, and much of the ink had faded yet it was still legible. It seemed as though even if it was written in a language she was unfamiliar with, the Goddess had seen fit to at least give her and presumably everyone else the ability to read, if not write the language she was looking at. She would vaguely recall one of the goddess’ abilities being such...perhaps this could help her understand whatever ‘magic’ was and how one used it in general?

Malphas accepted the bow, though he didn’t look too happy about it, pouting off to the side as Donovan got set to work.

Twenty phantasmal workers manifested, all with the sole task of building a ramp to the third floor. Prying apart the old shelves and repurposing them was a simple, easy task in the grand scheme of things and perhaps using all twenty was a bit overkill, but it certainly would get the job done. Gathering the needed materials took the most time, if only because of the need to weed out the material that would do more harm than good, especially the books. There hadn’t been many left on the first two floors, almost as if most had been a casualty of whatever happened here.

Still, they would find the needed materials relatively swiftly. Many hands make the quick work and all that. Thanks to his quick thinking, it was even being done with minimal noise - which meant there was a low chance of the ‘Guardian’ hearing them.

It would be finished swiftly, but in the meantime, they still had to discuss what exactly they'd be doing.

---

The Lonely Pixie

---

@1charak2
There didn't seem to be many useful things here. Likely most anything in the flasks and beakers aged beyond use. One contained some thick, molasses like substance that smelled faintly of ash and was the color of silver. Another was filled with a pale yellow colored liquid, but the lid on it seemed to have somehow fused with the flask itself. Probably not something she wanted to mess with. Countless others were of similar condition. At a brief glance, they didn't seem useful at all.

The only thing that might have had some interest to her, were some medical looking implements scattered upon a table. Small knives, clamps...some sort of thin metal rod with a hook on the end. Several syringes and needles were scattered on the floor near the 'operating table'. The grisly nature of the items were something she probably didn't want to imagine.

A low gurgle would interrupt her search and let her know she was no longer alone.

One of those things had stumbled into the room, but it didn't seem to see her, or perhaps care.

Augusta had handed over the weapon to Isidore, since he seemed the most competent in combat between the three of them. She was fairly competent in her own debating and speaking skills at least, and lacking information on Nick himself, she was confident that his ability would come in handy. For now at least, she felt that they were a fairly good match. No real conflicting personalities at the moment.

When she was asked by Isidore if she could gleam anything from the rock... That was a negative. "Not so much. I think I can only use this on living things. Creatures or such." She looked around at the surrounding courtyard and then noticed two things that really stood out. The first of which was the giant pillar in the distance that seemed to reach into the sky then... In the sky itself was. "What in hell...?" Twin moons? How odd. This was definitely not Earth, she decided for sure. She gulped and pushed the fact that, despite it seeming like it was daytime there was no sun in sight, down. "How do you guys feel about that sky?" She asked as she turned to the black stone slab.

At first, it was passing curiosity. It seemed somewhat out of place with all the extra markings on it but when she walked up and touched it... It had an... Energy? Odd. "This thing feels odd. It just has a feeling to it. I don't really know how to describe it." She put both of her palms against it to try and see if she could figure a better way to describe it as she studied the designs on it.

Now that the threat was taken care of and the sword given to Isidore it was time to head on out of here. There were more of the wretched creatures but they were not in the way and they seemed content in loitering around this decrepit place than give chase to the trio. Nick wondered what was inside this seemingly abandoned and mysterious place. Perhaps they, or at least he, could return here once he was more prepared.

Finally, they found the exit to the building. A cool, gentle breeze greeted them and Nick felt the crunch of snow on his shoes. The stone path that lead them out now lead them to a frost-covered courtyard of sorts. Right in the middle was a buried stone slab made of the same black rock material that they saw earlier back in the prison cells. There were smooth swirl patterns engraved upon it alongside other markings. Nick wondered what could they mean. Perhaps his contemporaries have an idea.

“Do your eyes glean anything from these patterns?”

"Not so much. I think I can only use this on living things. Creatures or such."

Well so much for that.

Beyond were more of the stone slabs but they were smaller and lacked the intricate carvings. The path curved around to their left and presumably lead out of the courtyard. Or it could lead further into whatever this place was.

The view on the right, though, was a sight that Nick could barely fathom. It was a view of the open ocean, its waves crashing upon the base of the cliff they stood on. The rocks, hundreds of feet below, were of the strange black stone that seemed to be all over the place. From the cliff, they could see an island in the far distance. And in that island was a gigantic black pillar so tall it disappeared into the blue sky.

And that was not all. As Nick's eyes beheld the sky, he saw that there was no Sun to provide light. Instead, there was a massive blue moon that covered most of the sky alongside a smaller gray one hidden just behind its larger sibling. There were no clouds to block this captivating sight. Oh, how Nick wished he had a camera right now. This was a view of the century!

"What in hell...? How do you guys feel about that sky?"

"We're not in Kansas anymore, that's for sure." Nick shrugged. He hoped they would get the reference.

Nick watched Augusta return to the stone slab in the courtyard. At the same time, he noticed that the anxious feeling was subsiding. Did that mean they were relatively safe for now? "Hmm, it doesn't look like there's anything dangerous here. Those wretched things are certainly not around here." He remarked offhandedly.

"This thing feels odd. It just has a feeling to it. I don't really know how to describe it."

"Yeah, this stone is definitely strange. We've been seeing it all over the place." Nick joined Augusta. "I know. Why don't we take a piece along with us? Maybe we can find something, or someone, in this world that can tell us what it is. There has to be just a small one here. A sample, I guess."

Nick then began looking a small, portable piece of the black stone. Whatever it was, its wide presence meant it was probably important. Hopefully, it was not dangerous though.

“Unfortunate,” was Isidore’s only comment.

Without a proper belt to secure the arming sword in, he had settled for holding it in his left hand instead, and while the large-eared woman examined the slabs more closely, Isidore took in the rest of their surroundings. The twin moons looked as if it were out of a movie, while the sky shone with their reflected radiance with such brilliance that it still looked like daylight. The snow that covered the ground must have fallen some time ago; no clouds were in sight on either horizon. A Tower of Babel, black and imposing, sliced into the scenery in the distance, while the crash of the ocean continued to echo in their ears. What irony, that he would be reborn so close to where he had once chosen to die.

Isidore adjusted the chains wrapped around his arms, eyes flickering towards the direction of the rumbling. That overweight warden was still out there, wasn’t it? Good. Better it be out there making noise than lying in wait to ambush them. “It’s convenient, the moons,” he spoke. “Won’t have to worry about nighttime if this is the darkest it’ll get. But for now, let’s move towards the mountainside building. Regardless of how forsaken this area is now, I doubt the experimenters would be so keen as to house themselves in the same building as the experimented.”

Unless they were sadists who slept to the lullaby of tortured screams. Maybe one needed such predilections, if they were to create beings so twisted and foul.

While Nick occupied himself with looking for a portable stone, Isidore crouched beside one of the large slabs himself. The swirling patterns reminded him of the prison’s interesting décor, but what was carved over it gave him more food for thought. Placing a finger on the fresher carvings, he traced the path of the newer patterns, eyes narrowed as he too felt the energy that Augusta described. Using tactile sensation to commit such script to memory, Isidore then hefted up his sword. With a quick, precise strike, he struck the edge of the slab with the sword’s pommel, repeating three more times before a piece broke off.

He held that piece in his hand, feeling for the same energy, and then stood up, dusting off his pants.

“We should get moving,” were his words to Augusta, before he strode towards the leftside building at a clipped pace.

---

Leannah found herself feeling a bit grateful for the current circumstances regardless. Donovan was a hard worker before, she could tell that much by the man's attitude and behavior so far. Something she definitely appreciated to be sure. Now that they were all armed, though, all that remained was seeing if the one above them would respond well once they could get up there to see them. She'd heard them come out of the tank, even the shuffling of the feet and such as the moved about. It was one thing she liked about her body...er, rather this new body of hers in this new life therein.

However, they still had to make some kind of battle plan to get out of here. If this was anything like 'those games', then some shambling disaster or magical experiment gone wrong or angry mimic could be lying somewhere. Only their immediate area had been guaranteed to be safe after all, and that much hadn't been lost on the woman.

With that in mind, she let out a small sigh and turned to Malphas and Donovan once more, hands on her hips as one hand also held her spear. She'd want to look at it more later after getting that information on it, but-...eh. One thing at a time here.

"Well, while they get working we probably need to get a working escape plan shaped up by the time we get our last group member down from there.

My initial thought is keeping us close, tight, and basically finding a vantage point to see where the exit is if we can. I could also hang at the front or back and keep my ears out, even, if that would be helpful.

What do you both think? Any ideas to toss in?"

Maybe they'd brainstorm something in time. Maybe not. She was hoping to not waste this new life in the first mere minutes and hours before getting ground to death by a giant walking millstone for all she knew.

Novak was greatly startled by the large hunk of stone slamming down in front of him. It he had taken a few steps further, it'd have ended this new life just a few minutes after it had begun. He then realized that it was no mere hunk of debris, but the foot of what appeared to be an animate stone colossus. Judging by the blade protruding from the statue's arm, it was probably a guard or a soldier of some sort. This must be the guardian, he thought. Fortunately, the colossus didn't seem to notice him, and it trudged away, causing the ground to shake with each step.

It was probably drawn here by the sound of that bird's screeching. Or perhaps it it simply patrolling. Whether or not it was actively searching for them, it was clear that they couldn't hide here forever. The colossus wasn't the only danger; whatever that thing that was climbing that tower in the distance might also be a threat.

The ruined gatehouse he had spotted looked like it might be the way out. Once they got past it, they should be safe from that stone monstrosity, assuming it didn't decide to smash its way through to pursue them. On the other hand, he had no idea what awaited them on the other side. Faced with the prospect of ending up the wrong end of that stone blade- or any of the many other ways it could kill them- whatever might be on the other side of the gatehouse was probably preferable to taking their chances with the colossus.

There were other things to worry about, of course. Judging by the snow, it looked pretty frigid outside, and they weren't exactly dressed for this weather. They would also need to find food, water, and shelter, although such concerns were presently eclipsed by the matter of immediate survival. Perhaps it would be a good idea to discuss their options with his two companions.

"You two might want to see this," Novak spoke softly as to avoid drawing the walking statue's attention. "I think we've found that guardian that the goddess warned us about. Some sort of stone colossus, from the look of it."

"Fortunately, I also see what looks like an exit out of here, some sort of destroyed gatehouse. What do you two think? Should we take our chances and slip out through there?"

@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR

@Cu Chulainn

For somebody who just had the experience of a lifetime, Narkissa definitely had an odd reaction to it. Throwing caution to the wind by archeological prospects in the books before her, she had a one-set mind to go through all the tomes in the decrepit bookshelf. She vaguely remembered that there was supposed to be some sort of danger in the vicinity, but with no way outside of the room, studying the books remained the best thing to do. Unfortunately for her, most of the books were so faded that it made them impossible to read with her naked eye. She was well aware of advanced archeological tools that could scan such pages and discern the faded ink to make pages legible –such technologies were used to scan ancient Roman scrolls in the past—but that was something she hardly had access to.

As book after book turned up blank or crumpled to pieces, she began to despair. But at last, she came across a book with legible letters; a strange book, in a language that she had never seen before, but somehow, she found herself intuitively able to make sense of it. Although it was in quite a bad state, she could still tell the title from spine, and an intriguing title it was. If this were in the past, she would have simply dismissed its title as a novelty book, but with recent events, there was a very real possibility that it could be useful.

So, she began to read. Using some broken furniture as a makeshift chair, she carefully cracked the tome open.

Every so oftern, she would stop and peek out from below, to see what the situation was. Narkissa wasn’t completely oblivious. She knew that she would have to deal with the people down below eventually. She had no idea who they were, or their intentions, so making contact was indeed risky. After all, having been in a pod in an isolated upper floor, there were no indicators for her to assume that there were people similar to herself.

Eventually, she was able to get a better sense of the people down below. Although they were clearly strangers to each other, it didn’t seem like they were the menace spoken of in these ruins, and it was clear they knew she was there, because they were now repairing the staircase to her level and making good on that progress.

She stuck out her head once again, this time less discretely. “Er, hi. Who are you people?”

@Crusader Lord @Guy0fV4lor @Rune_Alchemist @Cu Chulainn

---

---

The stench of this chamber was getting to her, Even after she had ransacked and looked through the entire room for stuff to use, The fact she couldn't find anything of note bothered her. The scalpels for instance? which betrayed that in this room some sort of heinous experiment had occured. Interesting. Neat even and an abomination had even walked in. But The fumes were making it difficult to think. She didn't want to open her book for fear that if she did it would become contaminated by the fumes. She had known from personal experience that browning of paper or ruining of ink can occur due to chemical fumes. Ergo! Until she figured out if it was mystery ink or magic ink. (She'd begin her experimentation when she was sufficently away from everything)

She would have to leave through the window. And as such she would begin to fly up to the cracks, Slipping her small fae body through, Angered to be alive. But grateful for her small frame. AS it made this feat remarkably easy for her. So as she exited through that gap... she would open her eyes wide. To take in the world before her.

Malphas contributed nothing to the conversation so far, aside from just pouting and brooding. What did they mean he had to earn their trust? They should know that they're beholden to a true child of divine... Still, they did have a point. He wasn't dealing with rich impressionables any more. If he wanted to induct anyone new to his new religious order, he'd have to actually be convincing about it.

Malphas only continued to stay silent as he watched Donovan's ability come to play. To be able to summon up a couple of phantoms could be useful for the long run, although he wasn't too sure on their specifics. Perhaps this is what he meant when he said he could build things? Either way, it seemed like an ability very important to utilize later on, when they're finally out and about... Perhaps smoothing things over with Donovan might be the best course of action after all. Perhaps the fourth person up above could also be of use to Malphas as well, although she didn't do much to introduce herself just yet.

"Sticking close is a proper idea," Malphas chimed, slinging the old walking stick he was given by Donovan over his shoulder, although he did make sure to keep note of its value, "but we also shouldn't take for granted the treasure trove we have found ourselves on. It seems that whatever this Guardian may be, it's possibly looking for us elsewhere. It should give us plenty of time to scrounge up a few more valuables from this wretched place, and possibly get a better understanding of where we are.

"Come to think of it, considering how large this place is, that could mean there mufht be others like us in here, trying to find their own way to avoid this Guardian. Perhaps together, we could even...!"

Malphas continued to scheme silently to himself, pleased with his own inner musings.

---

@Cu Chulainn@Crusader Lord@Rune_Alchemist

As the specters did their work, and the others began to put out their their ideas for the near future, Donovan slowly moved across the walls. Old stonework buildings were a funny thing-- often hiding small secrets in the way they were built whether that was culture, age, technology, or something else entirely. The pods the group had been ejected from were reason enough to figure the building had more than meets the eye going on within. Maybe there was something hidden in the walls of the building? Be it pipes, wires, or whatever else? Perhaps another, more hidden exit?

Only investigation would provide such answers.

Sliding along the newly bare walls, Donovan gently moved his hands across each surface; feeling for stones that seemed out of place, a knock here and there to find any hollowed spaces, and otherwise scanning for anything else that might be of interest. Listening intently to his fellows as he worked, he nodded in agreement with their ideas, "Aye, weh stick together. Get a beat on tha' surroundin' area. Take what weh can. Find anybodeh else that might'uh been brought ere', then get th' hell outta dodge."

The last nail had been pound into the ramp and four of Donovan's workers had begun to carry it to it's place as the girl upstairs finally called down to them. "Nice ta meet cha' lass!" Donovan called back with a friendly smile, "Yah had meh worried you were a mute! The name's Donovan, but yah can call meh Don!"

Another quartet of the taller workers returned from downstairs, wielding some of the leftover spears; using them to provide support from beneath, and the eight spectral bodies worked in unison quietly to quietly fit the new ramp neatly into place. "Can't say yer timin' coulda been any better!" Don chuckled lightly as the wooden construction quietly clacked into place with the sound of wood against stone. Just as quick as they'd come, Donovan's specter's vanished; the spear toting ones of course carefully discarding their armaments before returning to nothingness, the others just disappearing without so much as a sound.

Team Nippon
@VitaVitaAR@PKMNB0Y@Crimson Paladin

---

The Stone giant continued to scan for the trio, stomping around the open field, yet careful to avoid the black stone slabs that littered the place. It seemed to treat them almost with some sort of caution, or was it reverence? Either way, it was obviously avoiding them as much as it possibly could.

Suddenly, it however, stopped, eyes fixated in the direction that tower Novak had seen...and started barreling towards it. As soon as it got close, they could faintly make out the blue cloaked creature that had been climbing it, leap off, landing right on the things head before pushing off and leaping off the tower somewhere to the right.

The guardian turned, giving immediate chase, though it didn’t seem to go further than the tower, waving its sword in mild seeming frustration. Still, it left the area towards the Gatehouse free of its watch for the moment.

The Roma Mob
@ERode@Pyromania99@PaulHaynek

---

As they gathered their bearings, the three decided on different actions. Nicholas would find his search to take a few minutes. If there were fragments of those stones laying around, they were likely buried under the light snow, yet after a few moments of looking he’d find himself unfortunately falling short. Just when he was about to give up, however, he’d find something back towards the entrance of the door.

It was a black stone, but slightly different from the stone monuments. Where they were smooth, they were dull and felt very much like stone. This one however, was shiny and smooth, almost like touching glass. It was flat, roughly shaped like a diamond with a hole carved into the top of it and an odd letter carved into its surface. It was of the same letterings on the monuments, its smooth and flowing shapes chiseled into the surface perfectly.

It didn’t seem remarkable or like there was some otherworldly energy about it, but he felt oddly safe holding this in his hand.



Augusta made her way to the stone slab. As far as she could tell, the designs were all man made. The smooth, swirling patterns likely had just been for decoration...right? There didn’t seem much to them initially. As her hands traced over the patterns, she’d eventually notice more markings. Newer, carved over the old, but still ultimately foreign even if they seemed deliberate and intentional.

At first, nothing seemed to happen - nothing physical at least. As her fingers traced across the stone something she’d feel a faint ‘pull’ to the stone itself. Sort of like a piece of metal latching into a weak magnet...no, that wasn’t right. Rather it felt like it was pulling something inside of her towards it. A gentle tug, and if she happened to look, the swirling patterns on the stone were starting to fill with a blue colored radiance. She could still break off, if she wanted.

Isidore would content himself with vandalism. The pommel of the sword struck the stone, the thing cracking and taking only a few hits to break a piece off. As it fell from the large stone, the stone itself seemed to ‘spark’ from where it had broken off, as though blue colored electricity leaked from it alongside a thin blue gaseous substance.

With the stone in hand, it felt the same energy as it had when it was part of a whole, but far weaker. He’d need to actively touch it and feel for it.



Isidore would turn the corner just in time to see the massive stone giant Nobunaga, Novak, and Misaki saw bolt towards the tower. In fact he could see the three of them in the building across the plains and the same gatehouse not too far away from them.

Perhaps this could be both of their chances to get to it without much effort?

---

Team feet pics
@Cu Chulainn@Crusader Lord@Click This@Guy0fV4lor

---

Narkissa would find the tome fairly helpful in regarding what exactly ‘magic’ was. According to the book itself, ‘magic’ used to be a gift from the Gods in a previous Age in order to fight demons. It was only given to a select few people at birth and those often went on to become great heroes. However, when those gods vanished so too did ‘Magic’. In return it seemed by some trick of fate, that all humans now, with a bit of training, could form some mastery of magic by drawing out some form of inner strength based on their ‘soul’.

The tome explained that like a muscle, one could train to extend their will outwards from their body in order to create a supernatural phenomena. It said that most would take years of training to be able to begin even simple tasks, or a very powerful tutor to unlock such abilities for them yet Narkissa recalled that the Goddess had given them a head start in that regard. Perhaps she could attempt a small feat herself?

It further explained that it didn’t have to be used for outward purposes, either. If directed inwards, one could temporarily increase physical abilities and physical toughness.

That was unfortunately, all the time she had to read for now before she closed the book and engaged her fellow adventurers, but the next few pages likely went into more detail about how one could achieve optimal use.



The ramp Donovan had been working on was completed! The spectral workers easily finishing their task without issue. Using the spears to make legs for the ramp and sliding it snugly into place. As they finished that, Donovan himself began investigating the walls of the room, looking for any sort of secrets it might hold.

The wall itself didn’t seem to hold anything of note, no wires or electrical equipment. Perhaps the lack of them was interesting in and of itself, but alas, no, there were no secrets to be had in the walls of the place as far as Donovan could tell.

Leannah’s ears would flick towards one of the left wall of the building. It seemed like...something was making a small scratching noise very briefly outside, shortly followed by the ground shifting as whatever was making the ground shake moved closer.

---

The Lonely Pixie

---

@1charak2

So Alice left the room behind, exiting via the window. Immediately once outside, she could breathe a sigh of relief. Taking a moment to rest upon the small ledge of the window, she breathed in, allowing fresh, clean, crisp air to fill her lungs as she looked over the landscape before her.

A field, stained white with snow and littered with black stone rubble in the form of outlines of what could only have once been more buildings. From her vantage point she could almost see everything that wasn’t above her height or back towards the way the others had gone. In front of her was another large, rectangular building of at least three stories, with a steeple near the front that had fallen onto the ground in front of the building. The door of it hung open, gently swaying in the wind.

To her left, the ground gently sloped upwards until it reached a point, the cliff falling off into the oceans below. From where she stood she could see several stone structures - not made of the black stone that littered the area. They seemed to have been made from something like granite, or marble but it was difficult to tell from this distance. The only one made of that large black stone, was absolutely massive, easily dwarfing the others and was situated nearly at the very edge of the cliff. Perhaps she should investigate? It almost reminded her of stonehenge.

To her right was the same open field...huh? It too, visibly ended in a cliff. Actually...come to think of it, if she looked in either direction it seemed they were surrounded by cliffs. Towards the back of the building in front of her, the ground gave way to the watery tomb below as well.

Oddly, the book she was carrying was starting to feel somewhat warm.

A flash of blue would catch her attention as something ran across the field towards the larger building. She couldn’t get a good look at it - it was moving far too fast to have been a normal human. Yet, she could make out a distinctive feature upon its face.

A skull.

It was wearing a human skull on the upper part of its face...it was probably a mask, right? Its made a nimble leap upwards, climbing up the wall somehow before settling on the third floor, apparently deciding it was going to stop there and merely observe the inside of it for a moment.

"Ahh!?" Augusta voiced as she felt... something. How was that? There was a... What? A pull? "Heh? Ahh, Isidore. Wait a bit!" She was much too interested in this slab now. There was a pull of some sort. Then the odd swirls and shapes were lighting up! "Th-the shapes on here are lighting up?" She questioned aloud to her compatriots. Could this be related to magic as the status windows had mentioned? "I'm curious now!" She seemed determined on that. Perhaps it was pulling out magic energy from her body? Mana? Well, if she felt like she was starting to die, she'd break contact at least. Magical energy was renewable right? Maybe this was a way for her to learn how to control magic! Maybe. She wasn't really sure at all.

Still, for now, she kept her hands on the thing. Perhaps this would reveal something about this place. Her hands moved along the shapes as she retraced the lines again as they filled with the blue color. Her breathing was still as she held the air in, waiting for just about anything to happen.

Nick dug around the snow in search for a small piece of the mysterious black stone. He ocassionally rubbed his hands to remove the cold that came with burying fingers into the frost.

It took a while before he found something. He was about to give up when he got his hands on a black stone. "Yes!" Nick congratulated himself. He then-- Wait. This was not the same as the mysterious stone. Taking a closer look at it, he found that there were slight differences to it. Whereas the black stone was... stone, this one was more like glass. It was flat and shaped like a diamond. Inspecting it some more, Nick found a hole carved on top and an unknown letter in its center. It was of the same alphabet as the ones on the monuments but that gleamed little information.

Other than that, there was nothing to it. Except that Nick felt safe holding it. He should bring that up to whoever's an expert on this.

"Ahh!? Heh? Ahh, Isidore. Wait a bit! Th-the shapes on here are lighting up? I'm curious now!

Nick heard Augusta and made his way towards her and the black stone slab. Indeed, the swirling patterns engraved on the slab had glowed with a radiant blue color. "Whoa. Well, isn't that something." Nick was getting excited too at this development.

"How'd you do that?" Nick asked. "Whatever it is, keep doing it. Maybe it can tell us something." Hold on, Nick checked what he was feeling. No strange, anxious feeling. Alright then, this was probably safe.