Wafting through there air where a few strange smells, none smelling exactly like the the mix of smoke and magic emanating from the trapdoor.

The cups on the table, still steaming smelled delightful and strange. One was hot chocolate, another a cup of espresso coffee. The last was some sort of jasmine tea, though it had a unique smell to it.

More odd was the smell that Wyler couldn't place the origin from. As if wafting up from the very floorboards themselves was a musky, stagnant smell: like a stuffy attic. All of these smells culminated in the center of the room.

Arma, after failing at picking the lock, notices the drinks on the table. Walking over to it, he notices the three different hot drinks and smiles. “Either a genuine gift or its poisoned. Well, only one way to find out. I’ll be taking the tea, hope you all don’t mind.”

The bummed out bori, picked up the cup of tea and sipped.

Ferrin looked around the room, but it didn't matter where his attention was turned. He was completely lost. The only thing he could assume was that he needed some kind of key to open the lock in the fireplace. But he didn't have the first clue as to how to proceed from here. He crossed his arms, foot tapping on the floor. Eloween and Arma would be able to practically see the steam rising from his head as his brain wracked itself for any kind of solution....

However, after a few moments, something brought him out of his stupor. He looked up at Arma's words, watching him approach the drinks on the table. "You're kidding, right?" he muttered. "That's obviously-wait, what the hell're you doing!?" Ferrin would walk up to the Bori, watching him simply drink out of the cup. He was tempted to raise his hand and try to smack it out of his claws completely, but...well, he had to admit that the Bori had a bit of a track record so far. He was one for one on stupid decisions resulting in solutions. Maybe he could get lucky a second time...? "If it might be poison, why're you just drinking it like that?"

Arma tasted an exquisite jasmine oolong tea, clearly something from the King's own kitchen. A small amount of honey has sweetened the taste just the right amount. As he reached the last drops of the cup, a different taste hit his tongue. Something vile and bitter enough to make a normal neopet pucker. His vision began to swell with colors that at first swirled but slowly solidified over parts of the room.

Just below them a stand of armor was glowing with a faint green hue, it was below the floorboards. The more pressing matter was the picture, now depicting a blue Lenny fleeing a giant, mutated gelert. Above it, the word 'sting' appears to be written in a glowing yellow, the paint dripping down the wall.

A few other things where glowing in the room. The fire was glowing with the same yellow color, and a grey color emanated from a single book on the bookshelf. Up in the chimney, a strong blue magic covered the trapdoor, though it was blurry through the stone. Finally, the other two cups where glowing as well, with a pink colored, wispy aura drifts away from the steam still coming off the hot mugs.

The moment the tea landed on his tongue, Arma was overwhelmed with flavor. “Oh wow. This is…amazing.” Without skipping a beat he downed the entire thing. Unfortunately the wonderful taste didn’t last very long. When he took the last sip, the jasmine oolong flavor changed and gave way to something nasty and bitter. He immediately pulled away from the cup and his face contorted from happiness to disgust. “Eugh!” Arma immediately began spitting back into the cup but the vile taste wouldn’t go away. He turned to look back at his companions and said. “It was so good then it became so…what?”

His eyes seemed to go past them as he stared at the area above the fake fire, where the locked door was. A strong but blurry blue glow was emanating from it. “What the…?” He quickly looked around the room, just now noticing the colours being given off by different objects. A gray glow from from a book, pinky wisps of steam from the mugs, a faint green hue below the floorboards, and the biggest change of them all, the painting. Where it once depicted a rather plain looking scene it was now one of fear. The blue Lenny on the painting was being chased by a sick and twisted gelert, the bori from before nowhere to be found.

“This is fucking weird.” Arm mumbled to himself. “You guys should have a drink. Trust me.” After saying that he began to pry the floorboards in an attempt to get to the green hue beneath them.

Eloween watched as Wyler darted around the room after various scents, in particular stopping to linger around the table with the drinks, before finally stopping around the center of the room. The gallion pawed at the floorboards and gave a little whine to attract her ranger's attention. Eloween came over to stand by her petpet. "What is it, girl?" she asked, leaning down slightly.

Wyler looked at Eloween, then back at the floorboards which she once again pawed at. Then she looked back the ixi and shook her head.

The ranger sighed and patted the gallion's head. She stood up again and turned to face her teammates... just as Arma downed some of the jasmine tea after admitting that it could very possibly be poison. "For Fyora's sake!" she said with surprising sharpness. "Are you actually trying to get yourself killed!?" She looked the bori up and down, waiting for any signs of poisoning or sickness to develop. At first, Arma seemed to be enjoying the drink, only to start spluttering. Eloween prepared herself to jump into action should he end up keeling over, but instead, he started looking around the room before suggesting they themselves try it. "Are you sure you're alright?" Eloween asked, her voice much gentler this time. "Even if it's not poison, the drinks could be spiked with something. A hallucinogen perhaps? Maybe you should sit down?" She glanced over at Ferrin, her eyes wide with concern, before looking back towards the cups.

It was unfortunate she hadn't thought to pack some spell components with her. A single yew leaf and she should cast a spell to identify what the drinks contained. As it stood now...

She picked up the hot chocolate and sniffed it nervously, before looking back at Ferrin. "I'm going to try this," she said. "Would you be so kind as to make sure I don't fall flat on my face?"

Elloween would receive the same affects and bitter aftertaste Arma received. Arma had already moved on, beginning to pick and pry at the ground. As it turned out, the floor was practically hollow in the center of the room, and a board gave way to incessant clawing to reveal a dark room underneath them. Illuminated by the fireplace above was a couple shelves filled with strange glass vails, as well as a ladder underneath the table and rug.

Wincing slightly from the cocoa's bitter aftertaste, Eloween glanced down at herself to make sure she was still the same before raising her head to look at her companions. She opened her mouth to ask them if she looked alright, only to stop mid-sentence as her eyes fell upon the room. "What in the..." Her eyes darted between the various glowing objects, before looking back at the cup in her hand. "What is in these drinks?" She carefully put the cup back down on the table and took a few steps away, almost as if she expected it to explode. After a minute or so of nothing else happening, she turned her attention back to the room, her eyes eventually landing on the painting. "You see that too, right? The painting is different, yeah? It's not just me? Please tell me it's not just me," she said to Arma, slowly turning to look at the bori, only to see him tearing apart the floorboards to reveal a strange room beneath them.

She quickly placed a hand on Arma's shoulder, wanting to stop him before he rushed blindly in as that seemed to be his default. "I'll take a look," she said. "Stay here." Before waiting for a response, she started to climb down the ladder.

Ferrin raised a brow at Arma's reaction. Okay, that clinched it. He was completely puzzled, with no idea what was going on anymore. He knew that Brightvale was a lot more accepting of magic than his home back in Meridell. But now, the Bori from before was, from what he could tell, was trying to dig through wooden floorboards on top of telling the other two that they should try some of that drink. Ferrin did know that Bori were good at digging, but usually that meant digging in snow or sand. Hard, wooden floorboards was a new one on him. But perhaps even more strangely was that the Ixi, the one he believed to be the more level headed of the two, was considering trying some of it herself. He blinked in disbelief. What was even happening at this point...?

"Yeah, no problem," was Ferrin's response at Eloween's request. What else was he going to say? It wasn't like he had any real ideas on what to do. For now, he supposed he may as well leave all of this to them until he could actually figure something out himself. He watched her carefully as she drank the cocoa. He saw her wince for a moment, and he moved closer, half expecting her to stumble or something...but she seemed fine enough. When she started looking around the room as well, though, he paused for a moment, looking around toward the painting as well. But...as far as he could tell, it was the same as it had been before.

Suddenly, there was a loud cracking and crashing sound as the floorboards were finally pulled apart by their Bori companion. Ferrin instinctively jumped, reaching back to grab his weapon behind his back...but stopped when he realized what the source of the sound actually was. However, the suprise on the Scorchio's face was clear as day as he approached the newfound gap in the floor. Well...that was a surprise.

"Wait," Ferrin said, reaching out to try to grab the Ixi by the arm to stop her. "It'll be easier if we move the rug and table outta the way first. And even then, it...looks kinda dark down there, and we don't know what's down there. Maybe I should go first?"

Eloween blinked in surprise when Ferrin stopped her from climbing down the ladder. She supposed he had a point about moving the rug and table, but she didn't like the idea of anyone besides herself going on ahead. If something dangerous was down there, she'd rather she suffer the consequences. That being said, it was very dark down there, and she didn't have any sort of dark vision to speak of. However, she knew someone who did. "I could send Wyler ahead, if you'd prefer," Eloweeb suggested. "She can fly down there, is capable of seeing in the dark and can use her nose to detect anything of note."

Ferrin hesitated at that. He looked over at the Gallion nearby to see what his actual response would be. He supposed it couldn't hurt. And he definitely didn't want to doubt what the Gallion could do right in front of him. But he'd certainly feel more comfortable if he went instead.... But then again, perhaps there was more to it than that. Heck, for all he knew, the Gallion's sense of smell could be pretty important down there. He let out a sigh.

"Alright, you can send Wyler down there if he wants to go," Ferrin replied. "But I'm gonna move the table and rug and see if I can't get down there from the ladder too. Then I'll help him out."

With that, Ferrin didn't wait for the others to respond. He simply moved toward the table, checking to make sure it wasn't bolted to the floor or anything before he would then attempt to grab at the table, ready to move it aside. However, he paused when he realized the final drink was still sitting on the table.

"Hey...someone want to hold this for me?" Ferrin asked as he grabbed the cup, moving to pass it off to whoever was closer. "We might still want this one, so maybe I shouldn't risk spilling it onto the floor or something. I'm just...not eager to drink it right this second." And then, once somebody else would take the cup, he would resume trying to move the table, and if he was successful, would then try to throw the rug back as well, looking for a more reliable way down.

Eloween frowned, showing clear disapproval at Ferrin's plan. However, she had a feeling she wasn't going to change his mind and simply nodded. She knelt down next to Wyler and muttered her orders for her to follow Ferrin down. She quietly added, "As soon as it looks dangerous, do everything you can to make sure he gets out of there safely." Wyler gave a small snort and a shake of her head, showing she understood though seemed less than happy with the arrangement. When Ferrin was moving the table and asked someone to hold on to the third and final drink, Eloween picked it up without a single word.

After successfully destroying the room’s floor, it turned out there was a dark room right underneath. “Gotcha!” Arma exclaimed as he continued to remove the surrounding floorboards. “Yeah, the painting’s weird.” He absentmindedly responded to Elloween, his focus still on the room below them. “Now, let’s see what other secrets this place holds.” Just as he was preparing to climb the ladder to get down, he felt a hand on his shoulder stopping him from going any further. “Hey! Wai-!” Before he could finish, she started to climb down.

That is until Ferring grabbed her and stopped her from doing so as well. “So are we all just going to grab each other’s arms now?” He grumbled. He pouted in the corner during their conversation but he saw his chance to descend the moment the two of them got distracted with moving the table. He slowly made his way over to the area he pried open and jumped down.

Ferrin easily moved the carpet and furniture out of the way to reveal a hatch door underneath. It opens up to give a much better look of the room. The floor seems impossibly thin, despite having no foundation, there is no creaking or bending of the floorboards. The room below had a cement floor. As the group contemplated over who might enter first, Arma began to creep towards the hole in the floorboards, ready to sneak his way in. As he neared the hole, however, an unrooted floorboard caught his clawed foot, and sent Arma falling head first into the area below.

Crash!

Arma takes 3 bludgeoning damage!

As Arma entered the room, the sight around him went from strange to uncanny. Inside the vials and glasses on the shelves where various potions, some shaped like Lennys or Bori. More disturbingly where some of the jars filled with a viscous liquid. Organs, eyes, and whole petpetpet's where preserved within. Others had strange labels such as 'Tuskaninny bones' and 'ectoplasm'. Not visible from above was a small alcove where an alchemy set sat. One it, along with a few books and a bubbling potion, was a key.

Ferrin looked at Eloween as she began to talk to Wyler, curious as to why she was so insistent that she be the one to go down first. He wasn't sure what to make of this Ixi. Earlier she had seemed rather uncertain about her own abilities, but now she seemed like she wanted to do everything.... Well, Ferrin certainly wasn't about to just stand here and be useless to the others just because there was no fighting to be done.

"I don't think you're going to need to worry about it," Ferrin replied with a shrug. "But you can do what you want I guess. I mean I-" However, just as he was turning to look back toward Eloween...he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. His eyes widened and he suddenly reached out. "Hey, wait, what're you-!?" he called out, but it was too late. Arma's foot caught something and he had fallen...straight into the hole with no opportunity to catch himself. And then came the loud, painful-sounding crash.

"Gah, shoot...." Ferrin muttered. He turned and immediately moved to open the hatch and started to descend into the room below without another word. "Arma, are you alright? Man, you gotta stop just...doing stuff. You're gonna get yourself killed." Once the Scorchio would touch down on the floor below, he would get a better look at his surroundings, wanting to make sure Arma wasn't in a worse situation than simply hurting himself on the descent.

Eloween gave an audible gasp when she saw Arma suddenly rush forward and jump down into the hole. She nearly even dropped the cup she was holding in the process, and it took all her composure to go in to check on him. Instead, she stood to the side, shaking slightly, as she watched Ferrin climb down after the bori. Once she heard Ferrin speaking, she called, "Is he okay?" She then added quickly, "If he's hurt, I can use my magic to heal him!"

Wyler, for her part, made a small huffing sound to illustrate her disapproval of the bori's recklessness before unfurling her wings and flying down after Ferrin, landing to next him. However, she quickly got distracted from the pair when she noticed the various by the various vials and jars on the shelves around the new room. She cautiously approached them, sniffing a couple, and gave a small whine in an attempt to alert either Ferrin or Arma to the strange containers.

“Gah!” Arma cried out as he tripped and fell through the floor. “I’m okay!” He called out, raising a thumbs up. The bori got up just as Ferrin arrived. “Killed? Maybe. In here though, I doubt it. They did say that this was just a test besides what would people say about the king if he killed the very heroes he sought out.” Arma got up and began walking, looking around the room. He heard a flap and the sound of feet landing as Wyler arrived . He gave the petpet a wave and continued with his exploration.

“This is weird.” He said, as he noticed the glasses and vials shaped like neopets. “Wonder what these are for.” Reaching out, he pocketed a couple of the bori shaped vials. Arma suddenly shuddered as it felt like someone was looking at him. Turning to the left he was greeted by another set of eyes. “WOAH!” He jumped back and immediately assumed a battle stance. Eyes darting around he could see other shapes in large glass jars. Slowly his expression turned from battle ready to disgust. “What the fu…” He walked up and began inspecting the jars. Various body parts including whole petpet’s were kept inside, preserved by a strange viscous liquid. He was so distracted by the morbid scene that he didn’t notice the key on the desk.

As Arma was looking among the contents of the dusty jars, he would notice the eyes of of a Blechy in one of the jars following him. This and the organs all seemed to be on one shelf, along with a candle made from the skull of a Lupe, currently unlit.

The other shelves seemed to be filled with other contents, ranging from dried herbs to strange substances that the average person had never heard of. The potions had a separate set of shelves to themselves. Some where in corked bottles, others in tiny vials. A Most notably where the bottles shaped like various neopets. Most of them seem to be filled with a yellow fluid and be shaped like a Bori.