The small town of Grainville was typically a quiet place, seemingly far removed from the epic warfare and magic of the rest of the world. People were friendly to one another and there was no crime to speak of. That is, until recently. It started a few months ago when a dog ran away from its owners near the old abandoned mansion; it went inside the building, but never left. Then the mayor's nine year old daughter disappeared. She had been dared to go in by a friend and nobody has seen her since. Distraught at the thought of never seeing his child again, the mayor ordered the city guardsman to rescue her; he, too, has vanished.

In response to this, the mayor has called an emergency meeting to discuss what to do about the disappearances. Someone in the audience proposed that a search party be made of trusted citizens to discover what has happened and hopefully recover the town's missing citizens. The mayor agreed to the plan and asks for volunteers: Five brave people decided to help their town. A ragtag group of people, the government official thought, but these were all good people who cared about Grainville. They could help solve this crisis. After thanking everyone for stepping up, the mayor finishes the meeting and gathered the volunteers in a separate room. He then asks everyone: are you ready to search the abandoned mansion?

Thinking a crowd could create potential vulnerable targets for whatever was causing the disappearances, the mayor decided to guide the small group past the front door to the lobby of the complex by himself in the evening hours. The old Cornwall Mansion was, in the past, a place of luxury and splendor. Built by the nobleman Charles Cornwall as a vacation house, this huge estate with multiple rooms and a grand outdoor garden was the epitome of class. Years of neglect, however, have turned it into a stately shadow of its former self. Even before the current crisis, this place had been overcome by weeds and decay. Despite this, the lobby had remnants of its former grandeur; beneath the grunge, the flooring made of white marble tile looked secure, and the walls were painted a now-faded gold color. The room itself was in the shape of an upside-down U from where the front door was, with a wooden door on the immediate left and a grand staircase to the right leading to the second floor. In front (the curved part of the “U”), there was an open archway. Some sort of faded light could be seen in the distance, but otherwise nothing was visible from the group’s position by the front door. In the middle of the “U,” there was a worn but still presentable red carpet.

“Once again, thank you for your help,” the mayor said, giving a lit oil lamp to the shepherd, “and best of luck to you.” The government official bowed slightly, then took his leave.

The group had hardly said a word to each other before the mayor’s departure; the kindly man in his late forties had provided most of the guidance until now and he didn’t provide any sort of strategy for the task ahead of them. What would the group of five do now?

Sohn took the offered oil lamp in his left hand. In his right, he carried his crook and around his waist was a belt with a coil of rope - in case the girl or the guardsman might have fallen through a rotted out floor - and a knife that was meant more for utility than any notion of defending himself against hostile creatures.

Not that the idea of some sort of creature hadn’t crossed Sohn’s mind. There were plenty of rumors that this place was haunted, which he wasn’t entirely sure that he believed. And he wasn’t entirely sure that he disbelieved either. But if there were dangerous creatures, or even unsavory sorts that might be using the place as an encampment, he trusted his dog Fortuna to alert him.

“Tread lightly,” he advised the others as he stepped across the threshold onto the white tile, Fortuna slinking in at his heels. He held up the light to better see the ∩-shaped room. “We don’t know where this old floor might give way.”

He tapped his shepherd's crook on the floor ahead of him as he moved farther into the foyer to give those behind room to enter, hoping to ensure that the floor was solid before treading toward the red carpet.

He glanced back quickly at his companions in this venture, uncertain if they would prove reliable. Vander, he thought, seemed the most trustworthy of the bunch. Magolor would be good to have around in case the girl had gotten stuck in some tight spot that the rest of them might have trouble accessing. The other two… well, Sohn didn’t trust Eliel as far as he could throw him. He’d found him carrying one of their lambs last spring. Probably to go have himself a nice supper! The youth had insisted otherwise and since it was only Sohn’s word versus Eliel’s word, nothing had been done about the matter other than a stern warning to stay away from their flock. Sohn would not be surprised if the half-elf was only here to find if any riches had been left behind by the Cornwalls! And the woman… she was a mystery. He’d never met her before today.

Hopefully, they could find the mayor’s daughter quickly, before he ever had to find out just how trustworthy (or untrustworthy) his new teammates would be.

“Claribel?” he called the little girl's name just once, then stopped to listen for any return calls. Or any other noises that might indicate they were not alone…

(Edit: fixin' typos.)

Claribel, Vander thought to himself, what possessed you to be so bold as to venture here? Poor girl, this was foolishness. The man's eyes looked up to the mansion with a stern gaze that did not betray the fear welling in his chest. He was good at that; façades of solidarity were the one thing he may have been better at than his leatherwork. Though his left hand kept to the knife hilt at his hip, it could easily come off as simply being ready to draw it at a moment's notice. That seemed more courageous than this cowardice.

They'd arrived, boots clicking against the marble floor as he stepped inside behind Sohn and his dog. Into the mouth of danger. Vander's fingers trembled somewhat, but a small breath of air steadied him. He turned about, scanning the room at large, what little of it was truly visible from the oil lamp's light, that is. No furniture, but a stairwell and a door that led beyond the foyer. For a place empty of all human habitation as long as Vander could remember, he believed it surprising that the mansion's interior remained as grand as it was. Faded gold was gold, still. A red carpet was majestic, though made those who stood upon it seem needlessly self-important. And this marble...Hardwood may have decayed by this point. For all of Sohn's tappings, I believe walking here should pose no threat.

Initial curiosity sated, he looked to his companions. Sohn came from a good family, hard workers all of them, a good trait to impress on a child. Vander was sure the young man could be resourceful. Eliel, excitable and curious, with exceptional hearing, Vander had been told. It would be a boon here, where anything may lead them to Claribel. Magnus, however, wasn't so familiar. He didn't know the gnome quite so well, having already begun to recede from people by the time the little man had begun living in Grainville. A merchant of sorts, but not one Vander had worked with. The young woman, he had no inkling of. She had seemed so distant that today may have been his first time meeting her.

The shepherd called for Claribel. Wise choice. No need to go deeper if she would only respond. Vander gave Eliel a gentle nudge to get the youth's attention and pointed to his ear to indicate the boy should listen for any sounds that replied to Sohn's call, just in case.

Through the archway ahead, the faded light caught the man's attention. From here, he could not discern whether it was caused by reflection from the lantern, or something else. With a few cautious steps toward the archway, Vander brought out his notepad and scribbled light ahead, unknown source before putting it away again and gripping his knife handle again.

No, he was not so superstitious to think it came from some sort of spirit or monster, but in a place like this? Who knew what to expect.

Magolor wondered why he was here, today was the day for him to go out and sell to other towns after all! The disappearances bothered him of course, who wouldnt be bothered by it? Magolor didnt plan on helping because he was going to leave that day so he couldnt. Yet his hand shot up when the mayor asked for volunteers, surpising some of the people in the crowd and himself.

So he found himself in the old abandoned mansion where the disappearances happened. The mayor had left and gave the oil lamp, the only source of light, to sohn who he recognized from the women who sold him the yarn and wool he used's description of the 'hard working person that tended the flock with his father' when ever the mother came to sell goods he thought that, what he asumed to be sohns mother, would never stop rambling. The other girl was nice, she understood that he didnt really care about small talk and would wrap up her mothers ramblings. Glancing at everyone else who he would be searching with he recognized a few.

Eliel the half elve he had seen around town before but never really interacted with, which kind of surprised him. Normally he found himself talking to almost every elve he saw.

Now he had HEARD of Vander the leather worker and the great work the man does, and the hermit he has become but again never really had ever interacted with for obvious reasons.

The only girl in the group was new to him, he had no idea who she was. But she did however look like some sort of knight. Maybe he was wrong and she just liked to wear armor. Hes not really in the place to judge here.

His anetention snaping back when sohn called out the girls name, which is a good idea but magolor was weary of drawing atention of anyhting ELSE that might be in here. Nervous, because anything that could atack them will probably be biger then him and he didnt have anything to try and defend himself with, he pulled out some of his gem apples to munch on for comfort.
"Anyone hungry? Ive got plenty" he offered waving an apple, while working twice as hard to keep up with the group, in a atempt to be friendly and ease tension.

Eliel stood silently and played with his hair, curling the brown locks around his fingers. He was only half listening what the mayor was saying. The young half elven was extremely excited. It could be said that of the group he was the one who didn't took the matter as seriously. To him going to the abandoned building was just fun and games: one big exiting adventure. This was exactly what he needed, a nice break from everyday life. Eliel's life consisted just from days that felt like copies of the previous days all same.

The mayor stopped speaking and Eliel woke up from his daydreaming. Just now he started to realize the people who belonged to the search party. The old man Vander, a close acquaintance, no: a fraternal figure, the merchant Eliel knew just by looks, some pretty woman he had never seen and Sohn... That was a Man the elf didn't want to see. They were not in good terms since the older one "caught" the younger one from stealing one of his lambs. Oh poor Sohn. He had some serious problems of in listening comprehension, and he wasn't even that old!

Hmm... What was the search party for again? A dog, no. A kitten? No, they wouldn't make such a big deal of some animal disappearing. Probably some human got lost. Oh, that's it! They were searching for a little girl, mayor’s daughter Claribel to be exact. Eliel rocked himself while he was observing the surroundings. Sohn took the oil lamp which was offered to him, and went to the abandoned manor, others joined his ranks. Eliel felt a gentle nudge, Vander who wanted to get the youth's attention and pointed to his ear. The young half elven realized right away what the old man meant. Eliel closed his eyes as if it would help him hear better. However there was only silence in the air.

Eliel opened his eyes, when he heard someone offering apples. Eating apples in middle ow search party? Why not, no one is able to explore with an empty stomach. "Oh, I would like to have one!" He said loudly, in a happy tone. He formed his hands in a position that was good for catching things. He was ready to get some apples!

Looking up from his bag to see who had responded it was the half-elve. Magolor tossed the boy an apple, put his bag back on his hip and explained what the apple was.
"Its a gem apple, a delicacy from my hometown" he smiled hoping the boy would enjoy it. His mother had taught him how to make it, and every time he made them he got a feeling like his mother was right next to him helping.

Within the lobby of the Cornwall Mansion, it was a mostly quiet scene. The two distinct noises that were present, not counting the group’s conversation, were Eliel’s eating and Sohn tapping the white marble floor. The former’s candy apple was indeed delicious, while the latter’s tappings revealed nothing out of the ordinary. The marble felt solid as marble normally does. The shepherd’s call to Claribel did not reveal anything either. As appealing as it would have been to gain an easy resolution here, there was no response from the nine year old girl.

However, with his elven hearing, Eliel was able to notice something everyone else had missed; something scurrying in the background Perhaps it was a mouse, or perhaps it was something much more malicious, but whatever it was the half-elf didn’t have much time to think about it.

Vander had decided to walk forward towards the light past the arch, feeling that there was no danger in walking there despite Sohn’s more cautious attitude. With his third step on the red carpet, he felt something on the floor. Then everyone saw what had happened; the ground beneath the rug collapsed and the oldest man in the party of five started his descent down a dark pit! The moments that followed would determine if the team becomes separated a few minutes into their quest or if they are able to stick together.

What would they do?

Sohn listened, hoping to hear a cry for help that would confirm the girl, or the guard that had gone to find her first, had not met their demise. Even Fortuna stood with her ears pricked, unsure of what they were doing here, but taking some cues from her master that they were looking for ... something. The silence that greeted them was discouraging.

"Anyone hungry? Ive got plenty"

"Oh, I would like to have one!"

Sohn cursed internally as the conversation behind him stole the silence. Really? Eating was the first order of business?!

"No, thank you..." Sohn answered shortly. "I say we ... " he started to say, but broke off suddenly as he saw the carpet give way beneath Vander.

There wasn't time for a carefully thought out plan. Sohn dropped the oil lamp, hoping that it wouldn't break when it hit the marble floor. That was secondary though: they could go back for another lamp. They could not go back for another Vander. Getting two hands on the staff, he thrust the side with the shepherd's hook toward the man, hoping to give him something to catch hold of. "Grab it!"

The enjoying munches of the half-elf, magolor was happy to hear. The constant tapping of the staff on the marble however was getting on his nerves but he dealt with the sound as he knew that Sohn was doing it for safety. The tapping had stopped right before a jumble of different sounds and happening at roughly the same time; Sohn cutting his proposal short, the clatter of the oil lamp hitting the marble floor, and the yell of Vander falling through the floor. With not much time to act he dropped his food and rushed over to grab the carpet. We can’t lose anyone here; I didn’t come to be held accountable for someone’s death!

"Ha ha… well this surely sinks doesn’t it?" he joked through gritted teeth, while looking down the hole at Vander. Struggling to keep his grip on the carpet due to the weight pulling against him, he was also slipping forward due to the marble floor that wasn’t giving his shoes much grip. All the while internally screaming at Eliel to come help before all three of them get dragged down the hole.

Eliel was glad he got to finish his apple, before anything weird started to happen. He threw the apple core close to the floor, and heard something: a scurrying voice in the background. Was it just a mouse or something bigger? The half elven was opening his mouth to speak, when something exciting started to happen. The ground beneath the old man Vander started to fade away. FAde? More like sink. It wasn't the floor fading away or sinking. There was a hole in the floor, it was just hidden by a rug. The hole was a problem. Vander was sinking and Sohn dropped his oil lamp. There was no light anymore, but Eliel didn't even thought about the problems that would cause. Instead he was thinking about something else.

A hole? Why it even was there? Someone would surely drop there if it was covered, so why anyone would do that? Eliel was thinking so hard that his normally smooth forehead was covered in wrinkles. Despite his hard thinking he missed the obvious: it was a trap. That's why the hole was covered. "Ha ha… well this surely sinks doesn’t it?" Marglor's joke broke up Eliel's thinking. The young elven didn't know how to react so he just shook his head while grinning. However marglor wasn't all about jokes: he went to help Sohn and Vander. To be honest, Eliel didn't care that much if something happened to Sohn since he was always so mean to the elven kid. Vander on the other hand.. Eliel didn't want him to get hurt by all means.

Eliel wanted to help Vander, but he was small in size and not that strong. He didn't know how he could help, even if he joined the others it wouldn't do anything. But the youngling wasn't dissapointed because of this. Instead he had another idea in mind. What if we just let them be? If they get dragged in the hole we just need to figure a way to get them out there!" Eliel was happy: small problems like those just made the whole experience more fun and interesting. This would become a fun adventure!

Sohn was the first to spring into action when Vander started his descent. Unfortunately, the oldest member of their team was not able to grab the staff in time. Instead, the team heard Vander scream, loudly and distressingly. After about 10 seconds, it suddenly stopped. Anyone who would look down the hole after the noise ceased would see some kind of acidic substance at the bottom; the man was completely dead and dissolved. Eliel’s suggestion of “find a way to get Vander out of the hole” would not be happening.

On a slightly brighter note (both figuratively and literally), the oil lamp was still intact. It was a little scuffed from the drop, but this wasn’t anything that impaired its functionality. And for whatever it was worth, Magolor had been able to spare the carpet from the acid’s wrath without sliding into it himself.

Once the realization that Vander wouldn’t be coming back hit everyone, another shocking development was noted; Sunne had completely disappeared, almost as if she had never been there in the first place. The only hint that she had been there were a few drops of blood on the floor, still liquid rather than hardened like it becomes over time.

The group of three would now have to decide where to go from here. They could still go towards the light in front by walking around the pit, they could go through the door on the left, or they could walk up the staircase on the right. However, if anyone tried to exit through the front door, they would find that it is impossibly locked. There would be no leaving the abandoned mansion without finding out what it was that had caused the disappearances of their two teammates and those who had entered the building before them.

Watching vander scream all the way down to the sudden stop and knowing that your help didnt help, would mess up anyones thinking and fill it full of guilt right? Not magolor, granted it did prick his brain that someone had just died, but the seriousness of the event hadn't sunk in yet, so he found the 'hole' situation rather funny so-to-speak. While gripping the now very light carpet he turned torward everyone letting out a few chuckles and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Ha ha well.. it guess he DIDN'T have a great fall!"

Unable to control his laughter after the reactions his joke got from the remaining party. His laughter let loose and sounded like hysterical laughter, but he really did find it hilarious! It distacted him from the sadness that he should be feeling, and he ended up laying on the ground laughing away his fear as well.

Just when his laugher was toning itself down however, he noticed the oil lamp was still functional and let out a pun (that wasnt as funny as he apparently saw it) that set him right back to uncontrollable laugher. Quite honestly he found everything funny at the momment.

"At least we still have 'oil' light!" (Our)

Was he going to take this search/rescue seriously and find out what the hell is up with this mansion? Yes he was, but he'll be damed if he doesnt get a few good laughs along the way.

"Nooo!" Sohn cried, lunging forward in a vain attempt to catch Vander. But he was not faster than gravity. Fortuna barked several times, unhelpfully dancing around to the opposite side of the hole. Desperately, Sohn uncoiled his rope as Vander's screams filled his ears, even managed to start lowering it down the hole, but too late.

"Ha ha well.. it guess he DIDN'T have a great fall!"

Sohn's horror stricken gaze slowly moved from the acid hole to the halfling, taken aback by the comment and the following laughter. He's insane.

He looked down the hole again, searching for even some kind of remains that they could take back to Vander's family. Nothing.

Belatedly, he looked over toward Eliel. When it mattered, the kid had done nothing. It wasn't a fair thought. Likely, there was nothing Eliel could have done in time to prevent it. But it still reinforced Sohn's notion that he was, at best, unreliable. And the woman? She'd been just as useless... Wait? Where was Sunne?

"Where did the woman go?!" he demanded of Eliel since he was the one standing closest to where she'd been.

Eliel didn't stand as close to the hole as the others. He didn't have time to do anything when Vander wasn't able to grab Sohn's hand. Eliel didn't do anything: he just listened to the screams coming from the old man Vander. His screams filled the silent room and it was the only thing Eliel could focus. He totally forgot about the scurrying voice in the background. Suddenly there were no screams anymore. ELiel didn't know whether he wanted to look in the hole. He was curious, but he also had a bad feeling about it. He knew something bad had happened to Vander and he needed to know what, but the half elven could bring himself to take a look.

"Ha ha well.. i guess he DIDN'T have a great fall!" The elven kid usually enjoyed jokes, but this time he couldn't find any enjoyment in Marglor's joke. Eliel didn't say anything, just looked at Marglor with big eyes as if he was a crazy person. How could he joke about something like that? Eliel was lost in his thoughts: thinking about the hole and Vander. Eliel heard Marglor saying something, but he was too stuck in his own head. He needed to see what had happened to Vander. So when Sohn demanded something from him, the elven kid didn't listen at all and just walked past him.

When Eliel finally builded up his courage to look at the hole, he started to right away regret his decision. At the bottom of the hole there was some kind of acidic substance at the bottom; the man was completely dead and dissolved. What had been Vander earlier became nothing. Eliel took steps away from the hole and felt like he could puke. And to think he had thought the search party would be a big adventure, just fun and games. In the end it turned out to be a total opposite. This was not fun at all.

All memories spent with Vander started to pop up in Eliel's head. All the times Vander gave him piggy back rides when he was small, or all the times Eliel was given some freshly baked cookies by the old man. Those were good memories he could never experience again, at least not with Vander. Beside the old man Irvin, the local hunter and Eliel's caretaker, no one had ever cared so much about the elven kid as Vander. Eliel slumped to the floor and started to cry out loud like a baby.

Laughter filled Magolors ears until the wailing of Eliel, starting loudly and suddenly, mixed its self in. the boys wailing snapped him out of his insane mindset and the event’s seriousness sunk in. He felt horrible, even if it was someone he never met, he had laughed about their death. Obviously Eliel had known the man; Magolor could tell by the way he was crying, no one who didn’t know the person who had died would cry like that. And to make it worse he had joked about Vanders death like it was nothing.

Realizing that he would probably only make the elves’ crying worse by trying to comfort him, he went over to his dropped bag and studied his options. He glanced at the front door, the staircase, and the wooden door to his left (He’s facing the front door so due to perspective it is to his left) and figured that the most harm could come from the unknown that’s behind the wooden door that left, in his opinion, two options; One: keep heading forward and go around the hole Or Two: head up the stairs and up to the second floor.

Assuming that the rest of the party would think him unreliable from his show of insanity, not that there was much of a party left to begin with since apparently the soldier girl was missing, he pressed on and walked around the hole towards the faint light. That he now realized the light was what Vander was heading towards before he had ‘fallen’ prey to the hole, causing a bit of fear rise up so he pulled out another gem apple to munch on as he walked.

Sohn's attitude toward Eliel softened slightly. While he still thought the boy a useless thief, there was little doubt the grief for Vander was real. But he had no words of comfort to share. Already down two of their company in such a short time, Sohn was ready to go back to the Mayor and rethink their plan. Perhaps a small army of guards, all equipped with lights, ropes, weapons, lumber to reinforce the floor...

He moved to the front door.

Meanwhile, Fortuna went and sat beside Eliel and licked his face several times. Sohn glanced their way, but did not call the dog away. Perhaps she could offer the boy some small comfort that Sohn could not ... not right now, not when they were all still in such danger.

He tried the door only to find that it would not budge. He pulled harder ... was it locked? Or just stuck? Or had someone (such as Sunne), barred it from the outside? "It won't open! Damn it!" He gave the door one frustrated kick then turned back to the others to plan their next move, only to see Magolor walking away from them.

"Magolor!" The halfling was all the way on the other side of the room... heading toward that faint light. "Wait! Are you mad? We've just lost Vander and Sunne. It's stupid to go off on your own! I have rope... we should attach ourselves to each other so that one may not be separated from the others."

Mentally noting that the front door hadn’t worked from the sounds that Sohn had made when he tried to used it magolor had (already!) been halfway finished with his apple and had intended to investigate the strange light but Sohn had called out to him.

“Magolor! Wait! Are you mad? We've just lost Vander and Sunne. It's stupid to go off on your own! I have rope... we should attach ourselves to each other so that one may not be separated from the others."

“ you still want me around?” he asked raising a brow, after chuckling at sohn for calling him mad when he was walking off but not for his laughing and turned around, starting to walk back to the group.
“then let me provide my imput as a traveler” once he got back over to sohn he droped his bag down and pulled out his small journal/ travel log. opening it to a page that he had wrote down the events of a certain time on.

“attaching us all together like that will just make us all die together, while I don’t want your deaths on my mind and id rather be responsible for just myself, we should instead look out for each other and stay close to one another, at least within sight and at best grabbing range.” he explained while tapping the page to emphasize his point
“I lost a good friend because we had done that, and I don’t intend to have you or him over there to meet the same fate” glancing over at Eliel he could feel the horrible grief the boy was going through, and internally screamed at himself for laughing like he did.

Eliel noticed Sohn’s dog coming near to him. The dog sat beside the half elven and licked his face several times. Eliel couldn't help but laughed a little. He was still completely devastated because of Vander's Death, but the dog was just so cute he couldn't help it. Eliel would be lying if he said the dogs friendly attitude didn't cheer him up. "I see you are not as grumpy as your owner", Eliel whispered to the dog as if it could understand. For a while the elven kid was so focused on the dog, that he didn't pay attention to what was happening around him. Eliel gave a couple head pats to the dog and got up from the floor.

He wiped his tears away and walked closer to the other members of the search party. The two men had been talking about something in a loud voice. However Eliel hadn't heard the beginning of their conversation so he had difficulties picking up what the talk was about. It probably had something to do with Vander. Thinking about him almost made Eliel to cry again, but the elven kid kept fighting against tears. Crying wouldn't do anything. Eliel just wanted to go back home as soon as possible and that would be possible once they found Claribel.

"So what are our plans? We already lost one member of the group So this place must be dangerous", Eliel spoke quietly, but still loud enough that the others would hear him. He tilted his head and looked around, noticing something weird. Sure the group was now smaller, but it seemed way too small. Shouldn't there still be four members left? The half elf frowned in confusion. Then the realization hit him. "Where Sunne is?" He said out loud. "Did we lost her too?"

"And yet you are still alive..." Sohn countered Magolor's point that it would cause them to all die together. He uncoiled the rope and tied it around his waist, leaving a short length on one side and a longer length at the other. "If you would not tie it to yourself, then at least hold it. If the floor gives out again on one of us, it may at least give the others a chance..."

"Fortuna. Here," he called and the dog obediently came. He secured the shorter length of rope to the dog, ensuring to fashion the knot so that it would not tighten like a noose if she should fall and he had to haul her back up. A harness would have been better, but he had not thought to bring one.

As Eliel inquired about Sunne, Sohn shook his head and did his best to keep his voice calm, but some of the stress he was feeling crept through. "I don't know if she left or if something has befallen her. The door will not open..." the two bits of information were linked in his mind and the implication that he suspected Sunne had locked them inside might come through.

"Here," he handed the longer part of rope to Eliel. "Tie it to you or hold it. We need to venture further to find another exit..."

Once both had either taken hold of the rope, tied it to themselves, or outright refused (Sohn would not try to force the issue), he said to Magolor, "I think the way you were headed is the wisest choice. We should not venture up those old stairs if Claribel might be found here."

Or what's left of her... After witnessing what happened to Vander, Sohn's hope of finding the girl alive was slim...

"And yet you are still alive..." well he has a point there.

"If you would not tie it to yourself, then at least hold it. If the floor gives out again on one of us, it may at least give the others a chance..." magolor watched as sohn tied the dog to some of the rope, and debated on what he would do with ‘his’ section of rope. he sure isn’t attaching himself but holding it might be a good compromise…but if someone were to fall like vander did holding it would do no good; it would tear right through his hands, leaving him with rope burns, AND the two party members deaths. He didn’t want to not use it though.

an idea came to him when sohn attached his dog, and an idea about a dog leash specifically the loop you put around your hand. Most people would hold the line where the loop is attached with the loop around their wrist so if the dog suddenly pulled the line wouldn’t be teared out of their hands. So with that idea in mind he tied a loop in the rope for him to put around his wrist and hold on to the rope at the same time, that way if he could remove himself from the rope with ease but still be useful if he was needed.

While he first did wonder about what could have happened to the armored girl he had put it out of his mind when he was walking off, now with what he took as a subtle accusation about her, it seemed like it should be important again. Looking around for any clues about her disappearance, while Eliel decided what to do with his part of the rope, he noticed the small bit of blood that was over by where she was first standing and pointed it out after sohns decision about where to go next.

“theres a bit of blood over there…” looking to sohn with the question that now pressed on his mind “might it be hers?”