How long must a civilization be dead- Scilla could hear the distant doubt in her head. Before the term 'graverobbing' no longer applies? It was an uncomfortable thought, but one she would have to live with. She swallowed the harsh, silent words as she began deeper, keeping behind Jesgil as she moved. It grew dark quickly, and the little light that made it past her blindfold vanished, though her 'vision' did not dim by any notable amount. She started as Jesgil lit a lantern, the vibration of the sudden flame and the shift of the heat giving a momentary startle to the snakes of her hair.
In the dead of night, or the darkness of indoors, torches and lanterns were common for travelers. Even when inside their own houses people used candles to find their way. Scilla was no exception, when all by her lonesome, she would light candles and torches, enjoying the light and warmth they provided. Yet, when her eyes were covered, the fire was a different story. As far as she could tell with her limited connection to the snakes, they didn't see in the same manner that she did. They saw heat, or… Something related to heat, and more specifically felt the vibrations of the world. She relied on that to get around, though it was a deadened sense. When her eyes were covered, and she stroked that connection, it brought about their instincts as well. Fire was bright, loud, and pulsated with heat. The subtle shifts of the heated air in the enclosed space threatened to perturb her. It was slight, no more than a subtle touch on her nerves, but the last place she needed to feel such nervousness was here.
"I wonder how long it's been since someone's walked through here." Scilla said as the sloped passage slipped further into the earth. There were alcoves along the stone walls, small indents that held empty candle slots, burned out years prior. They had not gone deep when the short passageway opened into actual rooms. It was hard to discern what the room exposed to the outside was for, but the relatively undisturbed inner chambers were a bit more clear. The one they directly entered was some form of common room, numerous doors, and a small firepit in the center of the room. Chairs and various odd items had been scattered, and the signs of abandonment were obvious. Vines overtook it all, though in the absence of light they seemed closer to roots, brown and ragged.
The still air of the wide room felt wrong, as if they had intruded on something, like a burglar who had stepped into the room of a sleeping occupant. What exactly it was did not make itself immediately apparent, but once they stepped further in, it moved. A mass of vines that sat in the far corner of the room shifted, many redundant limbs dropping to the ground and shuffling into motion. Branches against dirt scraped as if hurriedly moved to a separate room, out of sight of the duo. As it nearly sprinted into the room, it audibly crashed into something, as the loud ringing of off-tuned brass sounded, ringing against the ground before settling, and the building returned to silence once more.
Scilla herself shifted, stumbling back in fear as the thing moved. In her own eyes it was difficult to judge, but the many limbs scraping gave her some horrid image of a twisted, inhuman beast. "By the stars!"
