[IC] Botanist And Bards

[Roleplayer001]

As they approached the gates, they would likely notice that there was some sort of carvings adorning them - seemingly religious in nature, one of which consisted of a woman laying down in water with her hair spreading out naturally. At the end of each strand of hair was a tree, mountain, or other natural landmark situated as if the ends of her hair were life itself. As for opening the door, it resisted for a moment as if something was holding it in place, but then slowly began to give way as it was pushed on as its ancient hinge creaked loudly.

To their right, one of the broken stones slid off its pedstool and landed on the ground. A moment later Valiants voice entered the princess' mind. "Princess! The other statue!" A fraction of a second later, the royal would hear a scream. The leftmost person working on the door would find a stone statue burying its claws into their back deeply, raising its beak to rip the spinal cord in half - it hadn't been there a second ago, meaning it had to have moved incredibly fast. As of now, it was throwing the person off balance as its wings flapped quickly and forcing them into an awkward position.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Isabella~

---

"...Tripp!" Isabella's eyes widened at the sight of the stone eagle sinking it's claws into Tripp's back. She could heal minor cuts and breaks, but that...no, there was nothing she could do for that.

"What manner of foul beast-!" Valora's hands were already at her blade. There was little to be done for Tripp. The stone sentinel had already ensured he'd have a swift death. "Prescott, get that door open!" She shouted, making a move to step between Isabella and the other knight - only to be stopped by an arm from Isabella. "Princess?!"

"Get it open. I'll be fine." Valora's eyes nearly bulged out of her head, but there wasn't any time for her to argue. The beast had already finished with Tripp, the grisly sight and blood causing Isabella to internally grimace. Valora had given her a few quick lessons in how she could wield a sword, but she was far from extremely skilled - but these people where her responsibility. A sword from the standard infantry could do little to a stone monster such as this. Granted, Valora might have been able to with her years of experience, but she wouldn't take that chance. Was she being overconfident? Perhaps.

Isabella drew Valiant, Valora frowning but doing as she was ordered, helping Prescott in getting the door open. Her heart thumped hard in her chest. Scared? Was that what this was? She couldn't say, she had never really felt fear before, living a cushy life in a castle. Even when she was exiled, she didn't quite feel what she thought was fear.

...well, no matter.

She held Valiant in front of her, staring down the stone beast in front of her with her usual emotionless expression.

[Roleplayer001]

As Tripps' body landed on the ground, dying, the bird prepared to dive at Valora as she made herself available, but when Isabella drew Valiant the bird backed away, swiftly avoiding the group and landing some twenty feet in front of the princess, eyeing the blade - or perhaps the woman behind it - intensely, pausing for a moment of consideration.

Valiant's voice would enter the princesses mind. "Princess, remember that while I can aid you you still must be the one moving." The light blue on the blade seemed to glow slightly, drawing more of the bird's attention. The bird lowered slightly, as if preparing to pounce. Then with a flap of its wings, the statue launched forward with its beak aiming for the princesses throat.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Isabella~

---

"...!" As the stone beast lunged, Isabella inwardly panicked for a moment. Valora had tried to train her well, but in only a day or two she could only accomplish the basics at best. Besides, styles to fight humans wouldn't be quite so effective versus something that wasn't anything like a human at all. The princess would barely have enough time to dodge the charging beast, dodging to the side, let alone counter attack it in some fashion.

[Roleplayer001]

As Isabella dodged to the side, the bird's lunge went far past her, landing just a few feet behind those currently working on the door. Given that the two of them weren't surprised, they would likely be able to back off or at least raise a weapon in self defense. The stone bird seemed to contemplate its targets, this time preparing to approach Isabella a bit more slowly. Valiant's voice would enter the Princess' mind once more with a hint of urgency.

"Your Highness, I advise you swing at your enemies."

The bird seemed to start leaning backwards for a pounce again, this time going a bit more slowly (but controlled) towards the target that had previously dodged.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Isabella~

---

Isabella frowned. Swing? She was nowhere near strong enough to try and match this beast, was she? The princess grimaced as she regained her footing, planting her feet firmly on the ground. Well, he was right. She couldn't dodge forever - and it'd leave the others open.

"Princess!" Valora shouted, obviously ready to step in the moment she needed too. Isabella said nothing but focused on the stony beast in front of her. She had gotten lucky, all things considered. She swallowed hard, gripping Valiant tightly as the stony beast made a slower lunge. As soon as the bird lunged at her again, she'd avoid the beak of the beast and attempt to swing Valiant at the area where the beasts wing met the rest of its body.

[Roleplayer001]

Isabella would hear the screams in the background again, along with the crashing of stone upon the ground. The edges of her vision would seem confused - as if her surroundings were suddenly in some ... temple? It'd probably be slightly disorienting, but she'd feel her body move more appropriately as she swung and Valiant would even light up a bit. As the blade connected with the statue, the area where the wing connected to the main body shattered into a thousand pieces as the blade cut unevenly through the hard rock.

It was probably a bit odd to hear no screech or cry of pain as the stone object tumbled on the ground past her still going forward with its previous motion. The bird flapped its remaining wing once as it raised up off the ground, using it as a sort of leg as it almost comically began to hobble towards Isabella in hopes of getting some sort of blow in.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Isabella~

---

Isabella wasn't paying too much attention to her surroundings, let alone whatever it was that Valiant was showing her. The temple...the screams. She just felt her body move with Valiant in the way she had intended. The blade slammed into the stone, shattering the wing and sending the bird stumbled past her. It scrambled along the ground like a wounded animal, the stone eagle pathetically limping back towards her in an obvious attempt to finish the job it failed to start.

Isabella moved swiftly towards the stone beast as quickly as her feet were able too. As soon as she got within striking distance, she swung valiant in an upwards stroke, hoping to behead the beast.

[Roleplayer001]

The beasts end was brought about as the sword cut through the stone creature, ending its shortly reawakened life as its head tumbled to the ground with a satisfying thud. Valiant didn't cut completely cleanly through - there would be a few jagged edges where Isabella would have had to struggle a bit to force the blade through - but the end result was the same as the fight was over for now, the trap destroyed.

The remaining attempt to push open the door would go uninterrupted - The air leaving the ever increasing gap felt as if it had been stagnant for an extremely long time, so stuffy it was easy to conclude that this room had been sealed in an ancient time and whatever smells had distinguished themselves from each other had long since melded into a single putrid perfume that was sprayed out into the air.

As the door finished opening, the still living members of the party would find themselves looking in on what appeared to be some sort of entry hall - to the right were various stables that were long into decay, with one of the fences parting two seperate stalls completely collapsed. A horses skeleton laid on the ground over that destroyed division, completely unmoving. The room itself was decently cool and dark - despite the light outside very little managed to filter into the cave.

Would the princess bring a light source in or try and make her way through the darkness?

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Isabella~

---

In a rather cold seeming fashion, Isabella pulled the blade back from the beast's throat, watching it fall to the ground without concern. For a few seconds, she stood there as Valora and Prescott managed to finally pry open the door.

"Well," Prescott whistled. "That was...something, your highness."

"I'll talk to you about that fancy sword of yours later." Valora sighed, glancing over to the lifeless body of Tripp. "Son of a...well," She quickly turned her attention back to Isabella. "Lets get this over with, but we need to proceed with caution. We'll give him a proper burial on our way out." Isabella nodded quietly, sheathing Valiant. Honestly, Valora had so many questions already about this place. Why was the door closed? Why did it smell like there had not been anyone here in ages? If the other party passed through, then it shouldn't smell quite so stale. Likewise...why hadn't the statue been triggered by them?

She'd get her answers later, but for now she had to make sure Isabella didn't end up dead.

"Your highness, behind me if you would. Tripp, bring up the rear." Valora mentioned as Turnip trotted over. He had hid himself behind the rubble of the other statue during the confrontation. She reached into his saddle bags, pulling out two torches that had been doused in specially treated cloth so they would burn longer. Lightning the both of them with simple flint and steel, she handed one to Prescott and took the other herself.

"Quietly now." Valora spoke back to them as they stepped into the old ruin. "Sword at the ready, Prescott. And keep your eyes peeled for traps."

Isabella gave Turnip a reassuring pet on his nose before following Valora in.

[Roleplayer001]

As the three of them entered into the small ruin, the torches light would flicker upon the walls revealing that there were two exits to the room - one to the left, which lead down a long, dark hallway. Down that dark hallway were three exits - two on the right, and a single left turn at the very end likely leading to another chamber. Ahead of them was a wooden door, and creeping beneath the door was a lightly red stain - as if some liquid had long ago spilled under the crack and dried up.

Would the party go through the door, or to one of the exits on the hallway?

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Isabella~

---

Leading a party into a place like this, was not something Valora was unused too. As the light from their torches spilled into the gloom of the ruin and revealed its aged stone walls, she scrunched her nose from the smell. Sickening. Not to mention what she could only assume to be blood from under the door ahead of them. Part of her wanted to ignore it and continue on. It wasn't her job to find their missing people, just to get something from this ruin and return...but they might have valuable information, even if something happened to them.

"...kichoo...!"

A high pitched, but short lived sound pierced the silence as Valora turned her gaze to the princess who was holding her nose. Seeing Valora's gaze, Isabella gave her an expectant look, oblivious to her sneeze. Prescott was simply watching, mildly thinking about how cute the princess actually was in this lighting.

"...Right, Prescott, help me with that door." No sense in worrying about it. Valora handed her torch to Isabella as she walked over to the wooden door, opening it.

[Roleplayer001]

The door practically fell off its hinges - the wood was sufficiently only that a simple press against it led to the points of tension practically disintegrating around it. Their eyes would quickly see that the entire ground in here was stained in red, and as their eyes would search for a source they would see that it led to a series of barrels that had collapsed over time. The insides of the barrels were also stained red, leading to a simple conclusion: either somebody stored absurdly large amounts of blood in barrels for some strange future purpose, or that they were simply wine barrels that had burst after sitting in here so long unused in the pantry.

Another open exit was visible to their left, leading to a kitchen like area. Would the three of them take the left in the stables or the left here?

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Isabella~

---

She didn't have to try very hard. The door fell off its hinges, the old wooden construct falling to pieces as it hit the floor. She had been expecting to see the bodies of the previous soldiers here, but were relieved to see it was something entirely different. The red stains led over to a rotting pile of barrels, likely full of wine.

"Clear." Valora said, taking the torch back from Isabella. "Wine barrels."

"...would probably taste really good if they were still in those barrels." Prescott mused idly, earning a grunt from Valora as she took a swift look around the room. The Kitchen area was clearly visible from where they were...hm. They likely wouldn't find too much in there, but doing a thorough sweep of such places were the only way to find anything. Wouldn't be her first excursion into an old ruin, though most didn't have giant stone eagles that attacked people.

"Lets check the Kitchen. Keep your eyes open." Valora moved first with swift, but cautious steps.

[Roleplayer001]

As the group entered into the kitchen, they would notice that the place had been constructed to be used by more than a single person - likely an entire team of servants worked the area. There was a single archway to the right, leading to what appeared to have once been an internal well-like structure. To the left were three doors - at the first one with a glance revealed itself to be what was likely an armory - there was an old weapon rack carved into the wall with some tarnished but still usable weapons made of a metal of a bygone age.

The next room was in surprisingly pristine condition. Aside from the smell and the layer of dust covering everything, the stone table in the center was still completely intact along with the torch sconces that probably held candles at one point. On the table were a few fancy looking jars.

The final room was down a longer hallway that turned left - and couldn't be seen from the kitchen. However, there was a very dim light coming from around the corner.

What would the party investigate?

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Isabella~

---

The Kitchen was how they had expected it, though far less extravagant than the royal palace back in Raerith. In the monarchy, a full team of a dozen different servants were staffed at the kitchen at any time usually, so it was big and had to have enough room to breathe. After all, it cooked for the entire palace. The servants, slaves, nobles, royalty, all of them. The kitchen nearly operated 24/7. Even more so when balls, feasts, and other such events were held. She sometimes just watched the hustle and bustle of the kitchens - the servants were usually fairly friendly, and sometimes even gave her little snacks when she was younger. Her younger brother liked to joke that all the extra food went to ahem, places.

...right, no. Couldn't get homesick, Izzy.

Checking the first room, there seemed to be some sort of armory. Old swords hung on the walls, still in usable though tarnished weapons. Prescott picked one up, curious as to its construction. Like everything else in this land, simple and seemed to be made for practicality over showmanship. He'd have the blacksmith look at it later.

The next room was more interesting - pristine condition almost. The only signs of age was a thick layer of dust covering everything. In the middle of the room sat a few fancy looking jars. Curiosity getting the better of her, Isabella picked one up and studied it for a few seconds. Looked like some sort of jam, maybe? Glass? She wasn't sure, but it was left here so maybe it was something useful? She fumbled with the lid for a few seconds before pulling or twisting it off.

Valora was quietly inspecting the rest of the room, and Prescott was still studying that old sword.

[Roleplayer001]

Prescott would feel the blade was heavy - a bit heavier than his own iron one, though comparable in size. The blade was surprisingly still sharp, its time away having long since sealed seeming to have little effect. As for Izzy, she'd find the jar popping open after a bit of a struggle. Peering down into the jar, the surface of what was inside was a strange, amber, crystallized formation. Moving the jar around though would give the impression that some highly viscous fluid was inside - Izzy wouldn't be able to read the jar, so she wouldn't be able to know what it contained.

Izzy would also notice that in the dining room there was a pair of doors on the right - wooden and therefore likely fragile.

As for Valora, as she remained in the room she'd notice the dim light flickering slightly as something moved in it ... like as if someone was using their hands as puppets. She'd see a dragon. Then a bird of some sort. Then it'd return to being the same, dull glow.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Isabella~

---

The jar lid popped open rather suddenly, causing her to loose grip on it and sending it into the air, only to plop right down on her head a few seconds later. Some sort of strange amber crystal? She couldn't really tell in this terrible lighting. Oh well, it was probably nothing, so she placed the open jar and the lid back on the table. Prescott seemed quite pleased with the blade, keeping it on the other side of his waist in an extra loop on his belt. He'd need a sheathe for it but if he could get the blacksmith to touch it up a bit, it should be a good blade.

"Oi," Valora narrowed her eyes at the shifting shadows. "Someones down there." She quietly spoke, motioning for the both of them to quit what they were doing. Prescott turned his attention from the sword towards the hallway, leaving the room along with Isabella. "Quiet - it might be the other soldiers, it might not be. Prescott, with me. Princess, behind us." Nodding, Prescott moved up, just behind Valora with Isabella bringing up the rear as the trio moved quietly towards the light.

[Roleplayer001]

The three of them began to move towards the lit corner, the movements flickering back before disappearing once again. They'd find themselves looking down a long, declining hallway whose walls seemed to be lit ominously from an undetectable source. Valora would see that at the end of the hallway there was what appeared to be a large room ahead, but it was impossible to make out any details due to the incline.

The party would see the ground ahead of the next corner begin the move with shadows as well, one transforming into a hideous face dominated by teeth laughing. Another one whisped away past them, turning around and around. The faint sound of wind would be heard from all of their ears, though no feeling would pass over their flesh.

Izzy would hear something shifting behind the party, either in the kitchen or beyond it. Would the three of them press on or investigate the sound?

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Isabella~

---

"Large room ahead. Don't lag behind, Princess." Valora commented, for the most part ignoring the eerie ambiance of the whole place. One thing was always certain when dealing with things of the supernatural elements, one of the best things one could do, was to simply ignore them. Or rather, don't think to hard about them. That's how you get side tracked or lost - curiosity, as they say.

"Uhm...Valora?" Isabella mentioned quietly. "Something...I heard behind us..."

"...Prescott, bring up the rear. I can handle the front." Prescott gave a quick nod, giving Isabella a friendly smile as he walked by her. They just needed to get in, and then get out. She was a veteran of the Raerith Military and Royal guard - she wouldn't let some silly shadows get to her. It might have been a good idea to check the noise before continuing further - but then again, it might have been exactly what something wanted.