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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Archon Basileus" data-source="post: 7212235" data-attributes="member: 6855545">AANZU/KETHRA"Not always, draconian..." - the eastern prisoner answers. "Once this was an entrance hall, leading to a vast complex of wonder and belief, of wisdom and courage... But a battle brought it to ruin, and the Teraphim left it in this poor state, as you can see.""If this is your choice..." - the southern prisoner remarks. "But it does sound like a storm outside... Unwise to return, I'd say, since the scorching winds will burn you.""Remember..." - the western prisoner adds - "...that those who live upwards will not suffer the same fate. Vultures, all of them...""Down here, though..." - the eastern prisoner follows - "...you might find a shortcut, protection, and perhaps allies. After all, shouldn't we be grateful if you were able to free us?" - the prisoner pauses.It is hard to define their gender or origin. It is even harder to distinguish them among themselves, so far gone and aged they are.HARFIK/THULWAR/EVERYONE"The Teraphim are far from comprehensible..." - the southern prisoner starts, in a sad voice, only to be cut by the western one. "... Or sane." - he adds. After a moment of silence, the eastern one speaks, confidently, "What my colleagues mean is that our crimes are distinct in nature, and yet it is the fear of our return that makes them imprison us like this." - the southern one continues. "What difference does it make to declare our crimes once more? Have we not suffered enough? Should we remain, our fate would be sealed. Never to rejoin mankind, never to find rest, we'd be stuck in here, having only ourselves and the thunderbreed for company. Is there any act under the skies deserving of such fate?" - he silences, and the western one begins once more. "For what is worth, one of us committed an unforgiving crime, the other one, a love crime, and the third one, a crime of honor. Still, those acts were just an excuse for our punishment. The worst of our crimes was to take arms against the Teraphim. So, you see, it is not the nature of our actions that dooms us to this putrid tomb, but the unmatched cruelty of the Teraphim. They could not have rebels running free, after all, eh?"THULWARAt closer inspection, Thulwar begins to understand the cruelty of such device. The bodies have been fastened to the doors in a way that will only allow them to be opened if the bodies are torn apart. Also, the lay lines feed some kind of seal, placed over the chest of each body and linked to veins and bones through wires and tubes. Odds are that the bodies are being fed constantly by a sustaining concoction, as well as a constant flux of energy. As for the entities, gods know how long they are down here, since their bodies are closer to undead than living. Their powers are a topic to be meditated upon, on the other hand. It is said that, in the past, a few men uncovered a powerful ritual that allowed the migration of the soul to the body of a descendant at the moment of death. The discoveries were credited to a secretive group of noble mages that desperately tried to uncover the secret of immortality. This is all they could settle for, as far as it is known. As the legend goes, every time they reincarnated, they'd be a touch different then before, summing up their own past lives to the one that the descendant lived so far. The secrets were lost, though, since the lineages were accused of necromancy, as one might expect, and persecuted accordingly.This would only complicate the matter of what they might do if freed...ICOSAIcosa searches the area, looking for another way out. There used to be several other passages, but it seems that a battle has been fought in here, long ago. A main entrance has been obliterated by a cave-in right at the northern wall. two other passages seem to have been sealed out, one at northwest and the other at southeast. It is as if they were closed up with molten rocks, long ago. The path looks thick and solid.Icosa sees another option, a simple one: despite the shallowness of the waters - they're puddled around the ruins - it seems that at least two distinct areas, with the greatest concentration of thunderbreed, house two underwater paths tha might be taken for exits. The thunderbreed are not likely to remain undisturbed, though, if the heroes attempt to go through...[A sidenote: since it was the descent, Thulwar's 'accident' was accounted as a possible cause of disturbance. It agitates the thunderbreed lightly, but not enough to awaken them - I rolled against a percentage change of awakening them, after the failure. The same roll works for moving around. So, [MENTION=24380]Neurotic[/MENTION], if you want to move around without disturbind the creatures, you need to roll and succeed this time, hehe] [MENTION=23298]industrygothica[/MENTION] [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] [MENTION=6855102]Greenmtn[/MENTION] [MENTION=5044]Charwoman Gene[/MENTION] [MENTION=6776182]JustinCase[/MENTION] [MENTION=8858]hafrogman[/MENTION] [MENTION=24380]Neurotic[/MENTION]</blockquote>

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