Fantasy Gaiden

"Strange..." Aurelia won't jump to any conclusions. For all she knows, that could be dangerous to anything living. She stays away from the tablet. She goes to search the next room.

Jörmungandr walks out of the room, figuring that the cleric could talk the Half-Orc down if he got too excited.

He lifts his head and sniffs the air, then heads into the courtyard where Aurelia was previously out of curiosity, and stares at the stone in surprise, recognizing it.

Leaving the courtyard, he re-enters the ruins and enters each of the rooms until he finds Aurelia, and addresses her;

"That stone in the courtyard, did you activate it? If you did, I should inform you, it is a teleporter."

"Hmph. Teleporter." She repeats back to herself. She raises her hand, flexing the gauntlets fingers. "A little touch of magic and it turned on. I'll not touch it any more. No clue where it could lead."

"I do," Jörmungandr says with conviction, "It leads to the Valley of the Fallen, home to my race, the Secondborn, and the Firstborn, our sibling race. The teleporter is of Firstborn make, I recognize its design."

Aurelia nods. All the more reason to leave it alone. She has no desire to go to that place. She leaves the garden to explore the rest of the house.

"Why were you given to those Dark Elves?" Lumina asks the Half-Orc. "Were you really a prisoner like Ricardo said you were?"

Goredim looks at Lumina out of the corner of his eye. "Yes and no." he replies. "I was taken from my mother at a young age by them and was raised as a gladiator in one of their underground arenas. I spent years trying to find a way to escape, before I managed to break the lock on my cell door and stole a boat...Though I have no experience at sea." he sighs as he looks at the stone floor and shuffles uncomfortably. "According to that captain, they hired that crew to recapture me. I don't remember much after that."

Lumina gently pats Goredim on the back, keeping her gentle tone and smiling. "Well you don't have to worry anymore." she says. "You're with people that won't ever let slavers touch you again."
Though her voice is soothing and calm, Lumina seethes with rage inside, now knowing that she had been on board a ship with a crew that was willing to give someone to slavers for a bit of money.
She would be having a talk with Ricardo soon enough.

-----

The courtyard has two doorways, one with a rotten door, another missing one entirely.
The room without a door seems to have caved in on itself, while the one with the door leads into a rather short corridor that has a spiral staircase at the end.
The darkness at the top of the stairs makes it impossible to see what lies above it.

Aurelia heads for the hallway with the staircase.

___

With a yawn and a stretch, Bella says "As much as I enjoyed solid ground, are we done here? If we're going to stage a mutiny on that ship we had better not waste any time." Even though she says that, she looks as if she's not taking this seriously.

The top of the staircase is so dark that whatever is beyond it would be difficult to traverse without a source of light, though it wouldn't be impossible.

-----

Lumina stands and turns to the Dark Elf. "We would probably need the others." she says. "I'd like to handle this peacefully, but if things turn violent, I doubt that the two of us could protect ourselves from an entire crew." she quickly continues talking as she finishes her last sentence. "I should add that I'm not saying I doubt your abilities, I'm just saying that if things go badly, it would be easy for us to be overwhelmed."

Bella bobs her head in agreement. "I doubt that harsh words and motherly scolding will have them give up such a lucrative business. Dangerous and illegal as it is, trafficking bodies makes quite a bit of Jade. We'll have to end their business." Bella smiles. A plan has already come to her.

___

No torch on hand. Aurelia lets a magical glow build in her gauntlet. It's soft, green light, but it should be enough for her. She starts up the stairs.

Jörmungandr cautiously follows Aurelia up the stairs, walking quadrupedal behind her.

"Tell me more of your home." Aurelia asks. She knew vague things about it, and it's inhabitants. She's intrusted in details. And wandering the abandoned building, is as good a time as any for her to ask.

"Not too much to say. My people, the Secondborn, don't live within the great city of Morelth, where the Firstborn live. We self-exiled ourselves from there an eon ago. We live in the valley itself, where we have no rulers or politics to guide us, though we still live under the rule of the Firstborn Royal Family, and respect them.

The Valley of the Fallen itself is a beautiful place, and the others are content to stay there all their lives. Many of us are farmers, and sell our products in the city. That's about it."

Aurelia nods her head. "Outside connections? Travelers? Migrants from other lands who may not be of your race? Do they live there and stay long?"

"No. To be honest, you're the very first person I've met who actually knows anything about us, which is quite surprising. In fact, I'm the first Dragonkin in many many years to leave the Valley."

"Hmph. I see. Thank you." Aside from her interest in learning of any sort, and trying to get to know her companion better... Aurelia wants to know her options for places to go.

After a pause she asks. "Did you leave by your own volition?"

Jörmungandr seems to ponder this a bit before answering;

"Yes, in a way I did. You see, the Dragonkin aren't actually as big as one may wish to think. Many, if not all, are smaller than Minotaurs. I am the sole exception, so I stood out among my people. It's not their fault, nor did they make me feel unwelcome, but I was self-conscience at first. It's not easy towering over the rest of your people.

Because of this, I've always been restless, and wanted to see the rest of the world. There were fables that my people told about the rest of the world, and the species that lived outside the Valley. After growing up hearing them the Valley felt too small for me, as though I were caged in. So I one day decided that I would travel the world and see it for myself. I haven't been back there since."

At the top of the stairs, there is a dead end to the left, and a corridor that goes on for a few feet to the right. The end of the corridor has a rather ornate door at the end of it.
The door is made from a strange red wood and has the same runes on it as the teleporter.

-----

"That may be so, but I'll still try." she says.

I walk up to the door. "Know anything of it?"

___

Bella just sighs. She thinks the woman to be naive and stubborn... a poor mixture.

Jörmungandr walks over to the door, and stands up, examining it. He places a hand on it, but nothing happens, and he stands there, looking at it.

"No, I do not. The runes on it look similar to the ones on the teleporter, but I do not know of this door. I do not know if there is magic in it or not, nor have I heard anything about it."

Aurelia grunts. She charges her gauntlet, and places it on the door. If it worked before, it should work now, right? A door couldn't possibly be dangerous, at least, not as dangerous as a tablet could be.

The door does nothing to indicate that it is magical, it just sits there like any ordinary door would.

Aurelia tries to open it normally.

The door creaks open, the loud sound is somewhat jarring in the quiet corridor.

Through the door is a circular room illuminated by a strange purple light.
In the middle of the room is a pedestal that looks like it held up a tome at one point.

There is a tapestry behind the pedestal that depicts a large tome, bound with purple leather.
The tome depicted is held shut by two straps that are each closed by a large buckle, and a strangely elvish-looking metal filigree runs along the length and edges of the spine In the center of the filigree is a keyhole, oddly enough.

Underneath the image are strange letters, though underneath these, written in the Dragonkin and Human languages, is a strange and cryptic message.

An Empty Tome

In the center of the pedestal where the tome would have sat, is an ornate key that appears to be made from iron.

-----

Lumina looks towards the doorway, then back to Bella.

"Bella, was it?" she begins. "Would you please watch this man while I go look for the other two?"

Aurelia takes the key without caution. "I don't understand this place..." She sighs, stowing the key away for later.

___

Bella doesn't respond, but stays put. She'll watch over the half-orc, but if he tries something, Bella won't guarantee his safety.

Lumina grabs her Holy Symbol and holds it in front of her, the mirror like object creating a beam of light in front of her.
She heads out into the courtyard that Aurelia had gone in, taking notice of the teleporter as soon as she exits the main room; though she decides to steer clear of it.

She looks about the courtyard, unsure as to where exactly both Aurelia and Jörmungandr went. "Aurelia, where did you go?" she calls out softly.
She decides not to bother trying to call out Jörmungandr's name, as she doesn't think she'd be able to pronounce it properly.