The laeto rainforrests… Home to many native species, ruins and treasures. These things attracted researchers, archeoligists adventurers an- CLANG an-…and healers…. After so kindly interupting the narrator a small elvish woman came into view. She was apparently running through an array of death traps that she did trigger but with them being set for carefull adventurers moving at a slow pace and not a young female carelessly hopping through while singing at the top of her lungs none of them really hit her. She hopped through the ruins at a remarkable speed carelessly snatching things along as she ran past them, wich triggered many more traps that wouldnt hit her anyway. The people that set up these traps expected sentient species to get smarter over the years… After somehow finding a way out without even trying she carelessly sped through the jungle looking for more temples to traverse through. "Adventuring is so easy! And people get hurt during it even! haha, and they call me silly…" She loudly yelled between song lyrics as she hopped through the jungle, catching the attention of a native tribe who's blowpipes couldnt even hit her, her hopping was so erratic. She continued to be incredibly noisy until she came across another temple/ruin that she could go in to get treasure. There was just one difference… This temple had mercenaries in front of them.

"Don't make me repeat myself–release me at once!" In the group of mercenaries was a man with locks of raven hair reaching just above his shoulders all dressed in black, from his tailcoat to his polished leather shoes. His hands were currently tied, as were his feet and the rest of his body in a rope net with only his head exposed. From the lute he was holding underneath his bindings, it was clear he was no warrior. Also it was quite obvious that he was being held hostage. His captors were clad in varying portions of leather and cloth armors armed with unsavory looking implements, while decidedly lacking in basic hygiene. "Shut yer trap beanpole! If you don't quit yapping I'll stick yer head underwater!"

The captive musician rolled his eyes and shot back sarcastically, "Oh I'd like to see you try! If you think threatening to drown me is going to keep me quiet, then think again. It won't work!"

Thickheaded fools. If he hadn't gotten lost and strayed from the path, he should have reached Mamlak by now. And this was all thanks to that letter he received weeks earlier. An acquaintance of his had contacted him a fortnight ago speaking of having found the perfect place to kickstart her singing career in Endapano. At the very mention of the sender and singing in the same sentence, Gerard had rushed out towards the island post haste to stop her before she caused another disaster. For all her merits, that woman Lorelei was completely tone-deaf, to the point that she didn't even realize her own singing could shatter glass. She was beautiful and possessed good fashion sense, however it was clear she had no talent or skill in opera. The last time she tried to sing, he lost an entire set of crystal glassware and a full-length mirror. Everything would be alright, as long as she didn't open her mouth. 

And so, he had rushed through the rainforest as fast as he could until he had tripped off a snare intended for unwary travelers than beasts. He had spent a few minutes dangling upside down until he was cut down by his kidnappers, and the sods were under the impression that he would fetch a high price on the black market. As any person would do in his situation, Gerard peppered the highwaymen with an extensive onslaught of insults until they tried to stop his mouth with a rolled-up rag. He then spat it out, and continued his verbal abuse, stating he would not relent until they released him from his bonds and let him go free. He was not aware of the girl approaching the ruins which he and his captors were in front of, as the direction he was facing at the moment prevented him from seeing anything which wasn't in the immediate vicinity.
 

The girl mindlessly hopped past the highwaymen but she was soon grabbed by them and held next to gerard. "Another one for the market! How much will this one bring up you think?" "It's an elf! they stay young and pretty for a long time! they always bring up alot." "Bring up? Where will you bring me up? Does this temple have a second floor that you will bring me too? Thank you!" The little girl looked in confusion and didnt really understand that she was in danger, but the spirits watching over her did. Soon enough thick, sharp roots came out of the ground and wrapped around the legs of the mercenary holding them both. Forcing him to drop them both. As soon as they noticed the girl was dangerous, even if she wasnt but the spirits protecting her were, they ran off. "HEY! Wait! Arent you taking me to the second floor of the ruins?" As soon as they left the little girld sat down for a minute. She had light blue skin, dark blue hair and crystal blue eyes. "Awwwwww how will i find their second floor now…"

As the uncouth mercenaries fled, they left the two behind. "Hey where do you think you're going?! Get back here and untie me, you rotten scoundrels!!" Gerard shouted as he struggled to free himself from the net. Unable to move from his spot, the most he was able to do was pivot in place. His hands were tangled in a way that he couldn't reach his dagger to free himself, and this made him quite cross. Catching sight of the odd-complexioned girl from the corner of his eye, he called in her direction. "Hey–you there! What was that for?! Now you've gone and made them scatter when I still have a bone to pick with them!" After his third attempt to wriggle free, he gave up and resigned to his least preferred option. 

"Hey, you want to find the second floor do you? Get me out of these sodding ropes and I'll tell." Gerard wasn't planning on waiting for the next person to pass by the area, and hoped to capitalize on the girl's curiosity to convince her to help him out. She was a few drams short of a pint, but even a simpleton should be able to understand what he was saying. He'd have to remember to get that concealed blade sometime should he ever fall into a similar situation again.

The girl looked at the tied bard and walked over to him. "REALLY? You would do that for me?" She unties the knots on his ties as she lacks a knife. But as soon as he got up she grabs his hand and wants to pull him into the ruin. "Come on! It's this way!"

As she was undoing the final knot Gerard was about ready to leave when she suddenly grabbed his arm and yanked him the opposite direction of where he wanted to go. "Let go of me you saddle-goose! Where do you think you're taking me?!" His eyes widened when he saw she intended to take him with her into the ruin, which no doubt was laden with death traps. "No! NO! Stop this at once! I'm not going in there! Unhand me, you loon! You dingbat!" This and many more curses he spouted as he was dragged into the jungle ruins, kicking and screaming. This was not what he had intended to happen at all. 

He was about to bean her over the head with his lute when he saw and arrow fly out from the wall. He dodged, not wanting to injure himself or scrape his instrument. Then came another, and another, and yet another. The two were now dancing a mad tarantella, tap dancing over traps just seconds before their deployment and swerving this way and that. Several times Gerard aimed to clobber her, only to be forced to move out of the way for a trap. "I said STOP you nitwit! I didn't say I wanted to come with you into this infernal death pit!" he screeched through clenched teeth as he worked to pry her fingers off his wrist. Now he would have to find a way out of here, and he surely wasn't planning on going back the way he had came. How could someone be so utterly clueless with complete disregard for safety? This crackpot, that was for sure. As soon as he was in Endapano, that acquaintance of his would be faced with a reckoning the unlike anything she had seen before. He swore that she was a jinx–just like this blue-skinned girl was.

She managed to set off every trap by accident. Due to the speed she was moving at none of them really hit her, instead they were more of a threat to someone directly behind her. Eventually she came to a standstill when there was some sort of puzzle in the ruin. "ohhhh no… Hey! You said you could get us to the second floor! Does that mean you can solve this puzzle?" She says with a cheerfull smile on her face as the doors to the entrance closed behind her. But just looking away from her could lead her to do something unpredictable. She went to an obviously rigged altar holding a piece of treasure and wanted to take it.

Exasperated, as soon as Gerard saw her approach the altar to take the item on it he screamed: "STOP! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THAT THING!" Calming down he pointed at the altar as he continued. "Stay there, and don't move. You hear me? DON'T. MOVE." Having used the simplest words possible to get his point across, he surveyed the room. The door had just closed behind them sealing them in. Clearly touching the altar would set off a chain of unfortunate events, so that was off limits. There was only one thing left to do, check everything.

He checked the ceiling. Nothing there. He checked the walls around the room–there were holes large enough for darts to shoot out of placed strategically so they faced the altar. Of course. He then paid attention to the floor. From what he could tell, there weren't any obvious tiles sticking out above the others. However this did not assuage his concerns. It couldn't be something so obvious. Otherwise, treasure-seekers would've cleaned the place out already. This was one of the few times where he hated when he was right. Searching for clues he took note of the stone figures built into the walls. Each looked different, and held something in their hands. A sickle, a spear, a bowl, and drum. This had to be important somehow. With another look around he noticed stone dials built into the base of the altar. Four dials, four statues. But there had to be a correct order, as using brute force would just lead to them being full of needles like porcupines. Tapping his foot impatiently, he examined the positions of the statues to any markings which would imply what order they were in.

"I'm figuring this out, so don't move anything." He warned the girl, knowing if he took too long she'd just yank the thing off the surface. A few minutes later he still had no idea on what order was the right combination, but he had to make a choice. There were twenty-four possible combinations, which meant he would either find the solution or keep trying until the darts in the traps ran out. "I'm going to try the code below the altar, so prepare for any traps to go off." he informed her. The first combination was decidedly wrong, as he heard the whizzing of darts flying through the air. "Heavens' sake! Ugh…" Groaning in frustration he returned to try again avoiding being hit.

She stood still right next to the altar. She didnt even dare look at it…for now. Looking at her face, it was easy to tell she was becoming bored and she was looking more and more at the little piece of treasure out of the corner of her eye. She watched as Gerard tried a few times but after he entered aproxamitly 4 times she couldnt take it anymore and took the treasure piece and held it like a plush animal. As soon as the treasure piece came off the altar the room shook, but the statue symbols began flickering in an order: sickle first, drum second spear third and bowl last. But lifting this treasure piece did also have a major disadvantage as two big holes on the side of the wall opened and water began pouring out of it. In more seconds they were both standing kneedeep in the water so there wasnt much time to enter the correct code. Meanwhile, Vicyeth didnt seem to mind the water, she had gills and fins after all… She excitedly jumped into the water and swam around, occasionally splashing some at Gerard.

Gerard was ready to scream again when he heard the girl take the treasure off the altar. Bracing for the worst, he jumped back from it expecting a hailstorm of poison-tipped darts to skewer them when instead…there was water pouring into the room. "By the gods–oh, wait a minute. It's just water? …This is fine. As long as there aren't any flesh-eating fish coming in with it I won't complain." Even if the water filled the entire chamber it wasn't as if he'd drown. For nokken water was their element, and it certainly wouldn't hurt him. He saw the flashing pattern, and recognized it as the true combination. Sickle, drum, spear, bowl. Easy enough to remember. However as the water level began to rise he realized that if he didn't stop it soon his instruments would all be ruined. Such a thing was completely unacceptable, especially for his precious mahogany-carved violin.

Turning the dials he set them all in order and he heard some kind of mechanism grind to a halt. The water flow began to cease, and he gave a short sigh of satisfaction. "There, it's done. Thank the gods that it dumped water instead of acid or lava in here." The water began to recede through hidden drains in the floor, but more importantly–his violin was perfectly dry. The sound of stone turning against stone happened again, as the door which had closed behind them reopened. "Oh good, just what I needed. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm leaving."