Author: Douken, Posted: Thu Nov 2, 2017 12:21 PM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

Douken couldn't help but sigh at her explanation, knowing what she said was true. While the item they held was of interest, their main concern was getting out. After all, there were no alternate doors outside where they were. He could create a wall of vines to return back to the entrance, but that would also ask for them to be able to swim through the caverns again, which Mazerine's condition did not even allow. However…

"Maybe…" he muttered to himself as he undid the necklace, holding it in one before reaching into his bag and pulling out a small, pink pyramid. Closing his eyes, the pyramid flickered to life in terms of color, a small beam of light flickering around, pointing in all directions, as if confused. However, the more he focused, the more the beam took aim, making a solid direction at a wall. With a smirk, Douken said, "There we go," before returning to the Mazerine's front, kneeling over and offering the tired elf a piggy back ride. Once settled, he got up and handed her the small gem. "If you hold onto this and think about a safe spot, where the walls are not a problem, I can guide us home.

He allowed her to settle on those thoughts, letting the gem point back to where it was before, letting Douken walk on over and trade a small room on a random spot on the wall. However, instead of letting go, he moved down before making a second. Left and a third. Up and a forth before connecting back to the first. With everything drawn out, the key resonated, covering itself with runes as Douken pushed it into the wall, twisting it and unlocking the wall before pushing it open, revealing a room right next door. Making sure the pair had everything, he walked through, the door itself moving back into place on its own as it reverted back to its own reality before the key pushed forward through the wall, dropping down into a welcoming palm. "And that is the power of this key," he told her before he followed the beam, opening the walls that the beam lead them two until the last door where the pair was blasted by a wave of cool wind and echoes of crickets.

It was late night when the pair got out, with the moon light filling the sky. The region was filled with beasts, letting Douken set Mazerine down after the wall closed off before working on his gate rune, this time making it large so he can pull out a cart from the realm. Using their sleeping bags, he padded the cart up as a bed before placing in their supplies and scooping Mazerine into his arms and laying her inside. "Be sure to rest up," he told her before taking a hold of the handle, pulling the cart along as he followed the light of the crystal to safety.

Author: Mazerine, Posted: Thu Nov 2, 2017 11:34 AM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

Mazerine looked at Douken rather sheepishly as he took her into his arms, asking her why she felt the need to hide what she was going to have to do.  "Douken… do you really think if I had told you what I was going to do, you would have let me go through with it?" she asked.  "If I had looked you in the eye and said, 'By the way, I have to stab myself in the stomach and die, and hopefully resurrect myself for this to work,' you would have been fine with it and let me go on?" she asked, her voice a bit weak as she spoke. "Besides.  If I had said, out loud, what I needed to do… I don't think I could have gone through with it," she added quietly.

After a moment, when he no longer had his arms around her and the two sat there in silence after the levity of what had just happened, she glanced back to the box.  "Could you… could you bring that over here?" she asked timidly, unsure of how upset with her he would be after her explanation.  Apparently, he was not upset enough where he still got up to retrieve the box that had been revealed and brought it over to her, handing it to her gently.  She took it from him and held it in her hands for a moment before lifting it open.

Inside was a single nightshade flower, though it had somehow been coated in flexible lacriamium.  It gave off a subtle glow that alternated between red and green.  She was careful not to touch it, as she was unsure what sort of effects direct contact with it would have.  "Going to have to spend some time studying this, I think," she said, tilting it so Douken could get a good look at it.  After they had both seen it, she shut the lid and set it on the ground beside her, moving to stand up.  Her legs wobbled at first, but she managed to gain her footing, leaning down to scoop the box up with a bit of effort and began to walk back to where she had discarded her pack, stumbling slightly.

When she reached her things, she set the box down again, and glanced down at the hand she had slashed with the dagger.  The wound was still open and she frowned slightly, realizing that the wound in her stomach was probably similarly still existent.  She fumbled with the buckles of her belt and pulled it off, discarding it to the side, and lifted up her tunic slightly revealing the site in which she had sunk the dagger into her own belly.  Sure enough, there was a fairly good sized wound, but it seemed to have healed slightly, and she felt only a dull throb from it.  Contrarily, her shirt had a large hole cut into it and was stained with the blood that had come from the wound.  "Well, I'm going to have to throw this shirt out," she said, before grabbing her belt and shoving it into her pack along with the box (with which she was much more careful about how she stowed it).

She moved to pull the pack onto her back and a wave of dizziness hit her, sending her down to her knees.  "Oh," she said softly, realizing just how drained she actually felt.  "Well… I had planned to caste a gate portal for us to leave through… but I don't think I'm going to be able to right now," she said, looking over to Douken.  "Any chance you have a way to get us out of here?"  she asked, hoping that the answer would be yes.

Author: Douken, Posted: Thu Nov 2, 2017 10:42 AM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

It was hard not to notice how nervous this final phase was going to be. Mazerine was putting on a brave face for some reason, but it seemed she could not explain why. However, it was clear things were going to be fairly dangerous when she gave him a light kiss on the cheek. It was out of nowhere, shocking Douken with a light blush and she used that moment to head into the indentation where the dagger awaited her for the ceremony.

The moment it was taken from its resting place, the crystals that lines the wall around the shrine crackled to life, sparking with colored energy in the form of lightning. It seemed it asked for some type of ritual, as Mazerine cut her palm open and smeared it upon the rest. While she did turn around to ensure things were alright, Douken's gut twist. That smile of here… it was fake.

It was when he saw the purple glow in front of her did Douken ask, "Mazerine.. ?" not knowing his voice had been blocked by the crystal's enchantments. However, once the plunge of the plunge from the blade echoed in the shrine, his legs moved on their own, rushing to Mazerine's side to hit an invisible wall, only now being denoted by the colored energy cracking through the gems. "Mazerine!" he called out, slamming his arm against the wall, the color pulsing with each impact, cracking with energy on his end while everything remained mute on Mazerine's end. An implication to prevent an outside force to interrupt the thoughts of those who performed the ceremony.

When the purple flames died out, the purple crystals lost their energy, which at that time Douken was trying to shoulder charge the magical wall, this time only sparking with green energy. It was not until she was engulfed with green did the light start fading away, not fading away until after her words escaped her mouth, allowing Douken to crash through like glass, allowing him to rush to the fallen elf's side, ignoring the box entirely.

"Talk about a foolish ceremony," he said, curling Mazerine in his arms. "Why do you have to make me worry like that?  Why couldn't you warn me?"

And no, it was not because he was not sure about his pay if the ceremony went wrong did he make sure she was alright. Even if he took it on for pay, a life mattered much more than silver.

Author: Mazerine, Posted: Thu Nov 2, 2017 9:32 AM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

Mazerine peeked out from beneath her arms as Douken assured her that the worst was over and they had not been crushed by falling debris - though his comment caused her to smack at his upper leg rather playfully.  "It's not funny!" she said, though she was laughing softly as she did it.  Her eyes looked a bit watery as though she may have been on the verge of crying, and she wiped at them quickly with the back of her hand as she looked in the direction of where the pathway had opened up, taking Douken's hand and standing up so they could move on.  

She stopped when they entered the main room, her eyes scanning the entire vicinity.  She subconsciously began wringing her hands together, as though she were very nervous of what was about to take place - which she was.  She had left out some details to Douken when she had described the seal they were going to be finding - the one they had just found.  The inscriptions on the map that she had been able to translate more or less spelled out exactly what she was going to have to do to lift the seal, and it wasn't going to be pretty by any means.

"Well, here we are," she said, her voice a bit shaky.  She made an attempt to pass it off as being cold from the chilled air around them, but if Douken had any amount of perception he would be able to pick up on the fact that there was a different cause for it.  Her eyes glazed over the dilapidated furniture before locking on to the recess in the wall, the sigil of Life and Death inscribed behind it.   For this, she didn't pull out the map, but instead took her pack off and lay it on the ground.  "This one is… a little different," she said, looking at Douken and taking a rather deep breath.  

"From my understanding of what I've read on this map and the things I've found surrounding it, it sounds like this place was a temple of Ouroboros - they worshipped both Life and Death, and the perfection of balance between the two.  What's beyond this seal is supposedly a gift from both - something that can take life as easily as it can restore it," she said, her voice still wavering slightly as she explained what she knew.  "I don't know what it is, but I do know it would be worth studying, or at least finding it out - plus, I want to see if I'm really capable of what it takes to pull this off," she said.

She took one more deep breath looking down at the ground.  Exhaling, she looked back up at Douken.  "Thank you for taking a chance on this - for taking a chance on me.  I wouldn't have made it this far without your help," she said, thinking back on the journey the two had been on thus far.  With that, she leaned up and planted a quick kiss on his cheek - thanking him being her only motivation behind such an act.  "Guess now is as good a time as any to give it a whirl, right?" she said, choking out a forced laugh.  Her hands were shaking quite noticeably at this point, and she turned away from Douken, walking toward the recess in the wall.

Within the recess below the sigil, there was a long ceremonial dagger resting upon a short pedestal, words inscribed into the blade.  Remembering the inscription on the map, she picked up the blade, closing her eyes and taking a steadying breath.  Holding the blade in her right hand, she quickly slashed the edge across her left palm, drawing a decent amount of blood.  Reaching up, she began smearing her palm around the circle of the Sigil, leaving a trail of her blood on the crest.  A faint red and green glow began to show upon the crest, and she turned to give Douken a quick glance.  "So far so good, right?" she said, though the second she turned to face the crest, the smile faded from her face.

Another deep breath and she looked at the blade again, the etching on the metal glowing in the fireball that hovered behind her.  Thinking back to the inscription, she spoke the words on the blade loudly and deliberately.  "Ut vitae necisque."  The moment she had muttered the last syllable, the blade glowed a strange purple, and without any warning, she plunged it directly into her own stomach, a strangled sound escaping her lips.  She fell to her knees, hands still holding the dagger lodged within her.  The purple glow that had taken over the dagger coursed through her body, her veins throughout her arms and neck pulsing with the same purple.  The sigil on the wall shone even brighter in its red and green, before the crest and the wall disappeared completely, revealing a small rather ordinary looking box.  

Mazerine, still sputtering slightly with a small trickle of blood now forming at the corner of her mouth, whispered one final phrase: "Mors est ex vita."  With that, she pulled the blade from her stomach and it clattered to the floor beside her, blood blossoming onto the white of her tunic below the leather belting.  Suddenly, the purple glow subsided from her veins and she fell sideways to the floor, limp and lifeless.

Mazerine's body remained motionless for a few minutes before a green glow began to pulse in her veins where the purple had moments before.  With a jolt, her body convulsed slightly and she began to cough rather violently.  The coughing subsided and she managed to pull herself into a sitting position, the glow vanishing from her veins.  Breathing rather shallowly, her gaze directed itself to the small box, before she looked back at Douken, smiling rather weakly.  "Well… it worked," she said, coughing again and wiping at the trickle of blood she had at the corner of her mouth.  She made a move to stand to go retrieve the box, but her legs were not for that idea and she wobbled, falling back into her sitting position, giving herself a moment to recuperate before attempting to actually get up.

Author: Douken, Posted: Wed Nov 1, 2017 8:07 PM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

Douken was woken  up by the light rattle on his arm, Mazerine stirring him awake. From the look of things, she was feeling a bit better, considering she was able to move her arm without too much hassle. Still, Douken was concerned about how it looked and, after swiping the rune off his lance (its fuse was running low anyways), he took the moment to remove the bandages to examine the wound itself. To his surprise, his healing runes were quite effective in closing the wound, or at the very least enough to ensure they did not have to hurry to a doctor for some stitches. Still bad enough to most likely leave a scar afterwards.

Still, just as a precaution, he dug into his bag for a bottled potion before popping it open and pouring half its contents on the scab from the wound, watching it bubble and fizzle as he handed her the rest to drink. Her face alone said how bad it tasted, and he did not blame her. Since when was medicine ever not bitter?

After getting a bit more food and drink in them after their rest, the pair cleaned up their camp and got ready to head off again, Douken once more re-drawing his crest to the bright white he was after. The two stood close together in the marked safety area (which must have been terrible for any larger exploration team, considering the two were essentially connected by the hip to be in the safe region). Still, it did not stop the nerves from becoming overwhelming. After all, if the translation was wrong, they were dead. It still did not stop him from giving her an assured smile when she looked over at him. After all, he trusted her work, else she would have not dared such an exploration.

After the incantation, the floor began to rumble, with the debris above falling down and around them, forcing him to use his spear as a point of balance while Mazerine morphed into a ball. It did not take long for things to settle, but with the sudden chaos, it felt more like an hour had passed. When he heard her mutter, he could not help but smile.

"Bad news, we are not dead," he said as sarcastically as possible, hoping to pass it as a joke and not as a man wishing to die. If he got hit for such a terrible joke, he would not blame her. "Good news is that we got ourselves a new pathway.. One more seal, and we should be fine, right?" Offering a hand back up to her feet, he gave her a pat on the back before the two pushed forward.

Heading down a small hallway, the two found themselves in more of a shrine region than the other rooms, with decayed furniture barely holding together facing a recess in the wall, where the same crest rested before them. However, unlike before, the room was lit up with multiple crystals, glowing in colors that best represented the pair. "This crest again," Douken said as he walked forward. "These are symbols of the goddesses Angela and Dalanesca, right? The symbols of Life and Death. Not often are they seen together, but it seemed this temple worshiped them as a pair like this in some fashion…"

Author: Mazerine, Posted: Wed Nov 1, 2017 1:33 PM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

Mazerine was asleep a very short amount of time after she laid down. She had not quite let on to Douken how draining the incantation to steer the guardian away from them had been, and that had been for two reasons. One, she did not want Douken to perceive her as weak - she prided herself on her ability to perform magic. Two, she did not want to admit it to herself. So, when she had seen the opportunity to suggest resting as Douken seemed a bit drained from his own practices, she seized it immediately.

She did not stir when Douken removed the rune from her arm - her sleep was deep enough where it had no effect.  She slept for quite some time, though when she awoke it was impossible for her to tell the time of day by any of their surroundings.  The fire had all but dwindled out, Douken's spear giving off the only light in the area minus the few embered coals in the remnants of the flame.  Her clothing had mostly dried, but her hair was still slightly damp, causing her to shiver in the damp cold of the room they were in.  She could make out Douken's face, and it seemed that he was still asleep.  Taking a moment, she studied his features briefly, before pulling herself into an upright position.  She groaned, half expecting her arm to throb angrily, however it was just a faint, dull pain - it seemed that the rune Douken had drawn on her had done a rather good job of healing as she was left with only a bit of stiffness now.

Mazerine reconjured her fireball, as it had disappeared when she had fallen asleep, and it hovered above her head, giving off its soft glow once more.  She sat for a good while, contemplating whether or not she would wake Douken, letting him rest for a while longer.  She fumbled with the fire, casting at it and causing it to reignite once again, a bit smaller than previous, and busied herself with getting some more food out of their packs that they could eat before they ventured on.

When she had everything prepared, she knelt down beside Douken and gingerly shook his shoulder, waking him up with little effort.  The two sat around the fire a bit more, Douken taking the wrappings off of her wound.  They conversated for a brief moment about how well it seemed to be healing, with Mazerine thanking him again.  He fished around in his pack for a moment before pulling out a small bottle.  He proceeded to pour about half of the concoction on the remnants of her wound and instructed her to drink the remaining amount, which she did while making a bit of a face.  They proceeded to eat their food and pack back up, while Mazerine made final preparations for the next part of their task.

"So, if I'm reading the map right, we have to stand in the center of the crest while I perform the incantation," she said, examining the map as she spoke.  "From the looks of it… the room is essentially going to collapse around us - but if we stay in the crest, we won't be hit with any of the debris," she said, mostly reiterating what she had described before they had taken some rest.  "So, whenever you're ready," she said, and the two began gathering their things up and dousing the fire, before situating themselves in the middle of the crest, rather close together as the crest itself was not overly large.

Mazerine took a few deep breaths with her eyes closed, readying herself for the incantation.  She opened her eyes once more and looked down at her hands, which were shaking rather profusely.  She was confident in her ability to decipher the inscriptions on the map, but the thought of tons of stones cascading down around the two of them was not exactly comforting.  She flexed her fingers and glanced at Douken for reassurance, who gave her an encouraging look.  With that, she proceeded to recite the incantation.  "Ipsum conteret et revelet Deus absconsa tua."  

For a moment, nothing happened – and then the ceiling collapsed around them, along with the walls.  The sound was deafening, and Mazerine clapped her hands around her head and fell to her knees, partially in shielding herself, but partially due to her legs buckling beneath her.  Small pieces of debris cascaded them but nothing that would do harm, mostly just covering them with dust.  It seemed to take hours but really only took seconds, and as the dust began to settle, another room could be seen as having been revealed by the collapse of the wall opposite of the water they had swum through.   

After a moment, Mazerine's muffled voice came from beneath her arms which still covered her head while she was crouched down.  "Did… did it work?" she asked, clearly afraid to look, waiting for Douken to affirm to her that it had, in fact, been successful.

Author: Douken, Posted: Wed Nov 1, 2017 9:20 AM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

"Its another unique treasure I found in my travels," he told her as his head throbbed as Mazerine helped him back to their small campsite, "one that reveals secrets of the world itself. Just think of it light this: The room becomes darker, but things that people would not suspect would contain a hidden passageway would glow with a bizarre blue, leading those who can peer through this dragon eye patch to see secret routes. However, since the secret is the entire room except for one area, it was more like seeking what was not hidden."

Settling back to the fire, he added more fuel to the fire before continuing with, "Course, with relics that strong, it has its unique bites to it. After all, it distorts the world you are used to seeing as well as very draining on your energy supply. So I can easily agree with getting some rest there." Still, it made him wonder how long they had actually been inside. A couple hours at most, probably, but without any sign of time, it made it feel much longer… Heading inside top to mid-day, plus a couple hours, he doubt it was hardly evening outside. Still, the drain on their systems definitely asked for them to stop and recover. After all, who knew what was passed there, and he wanted to make sure her injury would not hinder her.

The two laid down on their own bags, only surrounded by the echoes of the water settling down from the stir they gave it along with the snapping of fire from their set up. While he did look like he was ready to sleep, Douken felt like he could not. At the very least not until he knew Mazerine was, resting on her other shoulder to ensure there was no pressure on her arm, even if it meant her more curled up towards him because of it. When she was asleep, though, he lightly swiped the rune, causing it to shatter and sigh lightly. It was not a seal, so it should not flood her arm back with pain, but it would be difficult to get energy back when it was still being consumed by another active rune. However, he still kept the light rune on his spear for when the fire died out, as that did not consume as much as the medical one.

Still, the echo of the chamber was quite peaceful, the churning water dulling the pair into a light sleep as they rested near the popping of the fire, warming up and drying off. However, they knew that once they were awake once more, and after another ration breakfast, they would be back on their way deeper into the temple, seeking whatever was past the second seal.

Author: Mazerine, Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 7:54 PM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

Mazerine had begun to nod at Douken's suggestion, though she froze mid-nod at his last comment.  Her gaze shifted downward at her own chest as she realized that he was, in fact, correct - her shirt had become incredibly transparent from the water, revealing much more than she had intended.  Her face turned a deep shade of red and she instinctively moved to fold her arms across her chest, wincing and letting out a sharp sound of pain as she moved her injured arm.  With one arm awkwardly folded over her chest, she muttered something unintelligible that seemed as though it may have been an apology.  

For the next bout of time, while Douken tended to her wound and reapplied the healing rune, she avoided eye contact with him.  "Thank you," she muttered quietly as he finished up with the rune.  It was quite odd that she would be so sheepish and embarrassed about such a thing, as she had stripped completely naked in the bathhouse in front of him - but there was something about the situation that made it a bit different.  Perhaps it had been the occurrence during their night of drunken game-playing, or maybe it was something else entirely.  Either way, she found herself in a situation she had never been in before - she had never felt shy before, and that was certainly not going to be helpful on their expedition.

She sat near the fire as Douken fished out the eye patch looking item, and watched him with a bit of curiosity.  Her clothes had dried enough to the point where they were only mildly see-through, and she stopped feeling quite as self-conscious, instead focusing more on Douken.  While she could not see what it was that he was seeing, she could only assume he was looking for the crest that she had shown him.  When he called out that he had found it, she got up with a bit of struggle and made her way over to him.  "Not sure what that is, but wonderful," she said, a big grin on her face.  It was clear that she was beginning to get rather excited with the anticipation of finding what was at the end of their quest.  She took a look at what he found, and sure enough, it was exactly what they were looking for. 

"This is it - almost the end," she said softly, though she was pulled from her reflection on how far they had come by Douken falling to his knee, clutching his head.  She knelt down quickly beside him, placing her uninjured arm on his shoulder.  "Are you alright?" she asked, concern clearly apparent in her voice.  "Maybe we should rest a while longer here, attempt to get some sleep… it seems to be secure enough," she noted, as there was no apparent way into the room other than the channel they had swum through.  When she was sure that he was going to be alright, she stood back up and walked back over to where their fire was, unrolling her sleeping bag from her pack and spreading it out on the ground.  

If they got some rest, she thought, they would be able to get a fresh start… plus, she was a bit worried about how much energy the incantation over the crest would take to reveal their next path - the more time her arm had to heal, the better… she wanted to have as much power available as she could.  "Too bad there aren't any stars to look at, at least," she said, with a frown, as she looked up at the ceiling before settling own on top of her sleeping bag, turning to glance at Douken.

Author: Douken, Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 5:46 PM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

While being able to filter the water into air was great for what the pair had to go through, it still felt weird actually going through it. Maybe there was a factor in the rune's formula he did not account for? It was something he could look into later, as for now it was no worry. Right now, they had to focus on getting through the tight tunnel before worrying about any other alterations to what they already had.

When the pair had broken the surface and swam to the edge, Mazerine was not shy about pushing any further. "Are you sure we should not camp camp for a moment?" he asked her, swiping the rune on his neck, causing the room to shatter like class before doing the same. "Let us get our stamina back, warm up so we don't get sick, redress your wound…. dry off so you are not exposing yourself to the world." After all, swimming through the cold waters with a thin white top did not help but expose her breasts as an after effect. Sure, there was major doubt anyone would actually be here to discover them, but it was more for when they are getting ready to leave.

It seemed he was able to convince her as the pair found themselves setting next to a fire, casings of rations next to them after eating while Douken worked on removing the old bandages, drying off the area before applying a new, drawing a new healing rune to help. "There we go. We keep this up, we should be fine. Just got to make sure we are not overdoing it." As she rested through, Douken reached into his bag before removing what would seem to be a brass eye patch.

"This is always a fun experience…" he muttered sarcastically as he closed his eyes, placing the eye patch on. Once it was secured, he opened his eyes again, and the eye patch itself opened up, revealing a dragon eye as the realm in his view altered. Most of the room glowed with a blue hue in his vision as he looked around the room itself. "Now where are you…" he muttered to himself, walking around until he found one segment that lacked a glow. "There." Heading over, he pushed aside the rubble to reveal the crest Mazerine showed him before before calling out, "Found it! Over here!"

Once he took off the eye patch through, he could feel his head throb with pain as he fell over to his knee, holding his head as his eyes tried to reorient the world around him.

Author: Mazerine, Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 11:56 AM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

Mazerine could not help but subconsciously tense up as Douken placed two of his fingers on her throat, residual confusion left over from their time on the ship when they had been traveling from Egjora to the mainland. She also held incredibly still, at his warning. After a moment, when his touch was gone, she could feel the strength of the rune he had drawn on her, understanding from what he said that she would essentially be able to breathe underwater, at least for the time being. She followed him, diving below the surface once more, her injured arm not offering too much of a hindrance - in fact, the cold water felt fairly nice on her throbbing arm.

Their combined lights gave off a decent amount of ambient lighting as long as they did not stray too far from one another. They swam downwards for what seemed like a very long time - no walls were visible on any side of them, nor could they see the bottom of the channel in which they swam. After a few more minutes of descent, however, Mazerine reached out to grab Douken’s hand to signal him, as the two could not speak underwater. When she had his attention, she signaled to the left, gesturing towards the faint silhouette of an opening that she was able to make out in the dim light.

The pair swam towards it, and it became clear that the path was rather narrow - they would have to swim one in front of the other, as the narrow width would not allow them to remain mostly side-by-side as they had been during their time in the underwater channel. She gestured for Douken to follow her, and urged her fireball into the opening before her. It floated along staying about a foot in front of her as she traversed the narrow passage, grimacing as her injured arm brushed against the stone wall.

The passage went on for what seemed like forever, and it seemed to be getting more and more narrow as they went on - but then, it began to stretch once more, and it seemed as though they were traversing at an upward angle now. Before long, they had emerged into a large open pool, and a few kicks upwards they breached the surface.

Mazerine took a deep breath of the stale air, glad to no longer be breathing underwater. She had to admit, the rune that Douken had drawn on her had been rather useful, but it had been an odd sensation, going against the survival instinct of not breathing in water while submerged. With the help of her fireball, she swam towards the edge of the pool and pulled herself out, struggling a bit with her injured arm. After Douken had exited as well, she walked towards the center of the large chamber they were in, and sat down right up on the floor, pulling the map back out to examine it.

”Alright,” she said, after a moment of silence. ”I’ve got to recite another incantation in here. From what I read, the walls and ceiling are going to collapse when I do so,” she added with a frown. ”But, there’s a crest somewhere on the floor - if we stay within the crest, we will be safe from the debris, and the collapse will reveal the passage to the final ward that I need to undo,” she said. She was speaking awfully fast, clearly affected by the adrenaline coursing through her body as they neared their final goal.

She got back up off the floor and dusted herself off, her wet clothes still clinging to her from their swim. ”Now, all we have to do is fine the crest,” she said, and walked over to Douken. She held the map up and showed him a symbol that looked like a strange mixture of the nightshade and ouroboros symbol of the Reaper, as well as the medic woman and snake symbol of the Mother. ”This is what we need to find… help me look,” she said, rolling the map back up and stowing it until she needed the incantation as the pair began to search.

Author: Douken, Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 3:26 PM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

"A red light district temple," Douken chuckled under his breath to reply to her sly comment. "Now that would be an interesting tale…" At least he had to not try and rack his brain about why a ruin was placed with traps just to find out what was behind the door was a kitchen or bathroom. Now that would be odd.

At the very least, the map was useful, offering them a protection that shut down the golem. For how long, he had no idea, but he did not really think about that for the moment, considering her losing her footing. Holding his arms out, he made sure she could make it to a wall to rest up and catch her breath, seeing her face pale. He let her take a moment to catch her breath, though sure to smile at her small quip at her own situation. She must be fine if she could smile about it and get back up.

When the found their next room ,Douken could not help but swallow his fears down as he looked down the dark cave. Not even their lights could show the bottom, but at least the sound told them there was water below. Even with an injured shoulder, she was willing to dive down, Douken taking a moment to charge his magic as he waited on dire breath for confirmation. Luckily, he heard word back from down below,, letting him sigh in relief.

With his finger sparking with mana, he drew a rune upon his breath before diving in himself, breaking the water nearby and sinking slowly in. However, he did not worry about holding his breath. Instead, the rune pulsed and filtered it through, letting Douken breath underwater, moving his spear around to look underwater before pushing himself back upwards.

Breaking the water's surface, Douken replied, "Well, its not like I was expecting heated water," before holding his spear up. "Looks like if we need to make any progress, we need to dive deeper. Maybe some underwater channels." Motioning her to follow, he swam towards one of the walls, making sure the pair had a decent grip. "NOw hold still: This is something I would not want to mess up." With his free, mana-charged hand, Douken placed his index and middle finger on her throat, feeling her tense up as he moved around, drawing the same rune that rested upon his own neck, pulsing once it was finished.

"There. That should make underwater exploration easier. Shall me?" he finished, diving into the water, swimming down deeper and deeper before stopping, using his light to try and find the next passageway.

Author: Mazerine, Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 12:50 PM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

Mazerine missed a large portion of the rune work that Douken did as she illuminated the hallway before them, turning only as the green glow illuminated the area around them.  She let out a bit of a giggle as Douken seemed to be talking to the rune, clearly unhappy with the color that it was emitting.  "The color doesn't really matter anyway, does it?" she asked, smiling at him in a reassuring manner.  "Besides, I really like green," she added as an afterthought.  

It was impossible for the pair to not bump into each other a few times as they traversed the dark hallway, as both light sources seemed to be fixated on the left-hand side of the walkway, counting the doors as the passed them.  Douken's joke pulled another bout of laughter from her, and she shrugged.  "I couldn't really decipher what this place was, but it seemed to be so heavily guarded I assumed it was something of great import, like a state house or a mausoleum… but I suppose it could have been a hotel, too… one of those kinds of hotels," she said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.  It was clear she was indicating the hotels in which people paid an awful lot of money to keep an awful lot of awful things secret.  She couldn't keep a straight face, though her smile dropped as soon as she spotted the massive golem in the middle of the path in front of them.

"Well.  That's not good," she said, her voice stammering slightly as panic attempted to take over. She shoved the worry down, however, doing her best to keep her cool.  "Pretty sure you're right," she said, her voice giving way to the slight fear that she was feeling.  "I thought the map was supposed to protect us from that," she said and scrambled to pull the map from where she had stashed it.

Sure enough several of the strange inscriptions on the map were glowing in a strange manner - were they indicating that in order to be safe from the guardian, they needed to recite the inscriptions? It was worth a try as the gas that the golem emitted was getting closer and closer to them - Mazerine didn't want to wait until it reached the two of them to find out if it was poisonous or not.  With a shaky voice, she recited back, as best she could, the inscription on the map:  "Ab hoc loco, et non nocere nobis!" Her voice wavered but she said the words strongly and loudly.  A blast of force seemingly pulled forth straight from Mazerine, shot down the hall towards the golem.  It stumbled slightly, and just like that the golem's mouth snapped shut and the gas in front of them began to dissipate, the golem moving back into the shadows from whence it had come.  

Mazerine looked down at the map, and the glowing had subsided - the map looked just like an ordinary map with notes and marking all over it again.  She felt rather dizzy from the power that she had just emitted  - whatever energy the incantation had used seemed to have drawn it right from her life force.  Feeling a bit weakened, she leaned against the stone wall of the walkway, her breathing rather rapid.  She shut her eyes tightly for a moment, willing the room to stop spinning - and when she opened them again, it had.  "Well," she said, looking up at Douken.  "At least I was right about the map being a source of protection… but wow… that was something I've never seen before," she said.  "Or felt."  After a moment, she straightened up.  "Well.  Onward and… inward, I guess," she said, peering down the hallway into the darkness.

"I don't know if I lost count after that, but I think the next door on the left is the one we're looking for," she said, taking one more look at the map before tucking it away.  She made her way to the next door and turned in, sending a blast of light ahead of them much as she had when they had first entered - only this time, there was not a path in front of them, but rather a very large pit.  She edged her way forward, her fireball hovering next to her until she stood at the edge of the pit.  Inside, she could see nothing but pitch black, but the darkness rippled like water.  There was a small stone near her foot, and she nudged it to fall into the pit.  The following splash confirmed her suspicion that it was filled with water.  She pulled out the map, making sure they had gone the right direction and studied it for a minute.  After a moment of silence, she rolled it back up and tucked it away.

"Well, good news is, we went the right way," she said, sighing rather elaborately.  "Bad news is, the only notes on the map next to this segment just say "swim.""   She muttered something and a bit of light shimmered over all of their belongings.  "Waterproofing," she explained.  "The fireball won't go out in the water, at least," she said, and before she said anything else, she dove right into the water.  Upon surfacing, she pushed her now soaking hair off of her face and took a deep breath.  "Well, it's not as pleasant as the bathhouse… it's cold," she said.  "But we have to keep on," she said, and remained treading water while she waited for Douken to dive in as well.

Author: Douken, Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 4:26 PM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

When Mazerine used her spell to flash the room and see what was hidden before them, Douken used that moment to head over to the nearest wall, and crafting another rune, this one using a large circle as its base before its "instructions" inside. When he finished crafting, the rune puled before opening up a hole to another realm, limited by the initial circle he placed. Reaching his arm inside, he pulled out a spear, spinning it in his arms a little after it was out and closing the gate. Once it was out, he took to the spear head to craft another rune upon that , where it pulsed and lit up like a torch, giving off a bit of a bright green glow as extra light for the pair.

"Aw, c'mon! I know I drew you right!" was the first thing Douken said to the rune itself, looking over what he grew before sighing. The curve that determined the light's color was off, giving it more of a cooler color. Of course. "Ah well," he accepted. After all, the rune was set, and he was not going to waste more mana to get a better color. It still did its job by giving them light, which mattered to him more, with a decently long fuse to boot. Should give them good light paired with Mazerine's fire ball.

As the pair walked down the hall, he tried his best not to collide into her as he counted the doors, holding his spear out to the left wall so they can easily count them. "What is this, an Ancients hotel?" he joked. After all, why would they have such a massive hallway. However, there was a massive figure in the middle that seemed to have wanted to greet them: an ancient golem! "If I was to make any guesses…" was all he could say before its mouth area opened up, filling the room up with a gas. If the two paid any attention, the map would react to this with some of the writing lighting up in response. "Yup… pretty sure that's their guardian…"

Author: Mazerine, Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 12:47 PM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

She shot Douken a bit of a look as he sighed after having set her down, looking rather cross with him. "I did scout the area," she said.  "But I sure as hell didn't climb thirty feet into the air with no one else here with me," she said.  It was clear that she was rather annoyed with both the situation and herself, as well as embarrassed - her cheeks had taken on a bit of a flush.  She glanced down as he tore the remainder of her tunic sleeve off, feeling a bit faint as she saw the hunk of spear sticking out of her arm.  She remained conscious, just looking away rather quickly.  

"I figured I could at least ask," she said when he admitted his lack of an abundance of skills in healing.  She watched him cut up the cloth and take hold of the spear before it finally dawned on her what he was going to do.  Clenching her teeth, she attempted to prepare for the influx of pain that was going to happen - but no matter how prepared she tried to be, nothing would have prepared her for the searing white-hot pain that coursed through her arm when he pulled the spear remnants out.  She gasped in intense pain, her hand from her uninjured arm shooting out and digging into the ground next to her.  She was rather proud of herself for not crying out, though tears did well in her eyes, a few slipping down, beyond her control.

She let out a few ragged breaths as Douken bandaged the wound, shaking her head as he questioned whether or not she would be sensitive to the mana he would use.  "No, my brother… he used to practice spells on me when we were young," she said, laughing slightly, though the laugh was just a bit dull compared to what she normally sounded like.  She adjusted her shoulders slightly as she could feel the rune's magic pulsing into her wound, and found herself wondering just how long it would take for it to have an effect on her.

After taking a moment to regain her composure, Mazerine got to her feet, struggling somewhat without being able to put any weight on her arm.  "Well, this is going to be annoying," she said, more to herself than anything else.  She let her gaze drift up towards the marking she had been at not long ago and could see that it had faded from the stone.  That's interesting… she thought to herself and began looking around to see what effect the magic from the marking had created.  It didn't take her long to find the area - a stoneface wall not far from them - several of the stones had tumbled out and created a doorway of sorts.  She nudged Douken's shoulder and pointed towards the entrance that had appeared.

"That's where we go," she said, a tone of assurance to her voice.  There was no doubt - that was the entrance to that section of the ruins, and the two were going to have to venture inside.  She busied herself for a moment, already beginning to feel the throbbing pain in her arm beginning to dull, and she gathered up her pack and belongings.  After a moment, she glanced at her wounded arm, the ragged edges of the tunic having created a new short-sleeved look on that side.  She looked to her uninjured arm, frowning for a second - the off-symmetry seemed to bother her.  After a moment, she drew her dagger once more and sliced the other sleeve, so it now matched on both sides.  "Better," she said and tucked the cloth remnants into her satchel just in case they would be needed for something else.  

She straightened back up and began tightening the buckles on her waist corset as she spoke to Douken once more.  "Now, I'll be honest with you - I know some of the traps and wards we're going to come across - and I know that the map itself will keep that… guardian away," she said.  "But, as I told you, I wasn't able to translate everything on the map.  We've gotta be prepared for the unknown," she said.  It was at that moment that she realized Douken had not really seen much of a display of her powers - she had seen a bit more of what he had to offer.  She did not know what he exactly would expect of her, but he was soon going to find out just how powerful her magic actually was.  She had decades of practice - something having the long life of an elf offered her.

"I've got to know that you're going be willing to help me take on whatever we come across, that you'll have my back," she said, turning towards Douken and addressing him directly.  "I mean, I don't have any doubts - I'm just stressing the fact that I want you to understand, there are going to be unknown variables," she said.  She gave him a quick smile before leaning down to grab her pack and sling it over her good arm, gingerly maneuvering her injured one to slip behind the other strap.  "Thanks, by the way," she said, looking down - clearly indicating his effort to catch her during her fall and his tending to her sounds.  She let her gaze linger on him for just a moment, before turning away and looking back towards the door that had opened.  "Well, shall we?" she said, with a tense grin, and made her way towards the entrance.

It was pitch black when the pair stepped inside. "Hm…" she said, clearly contemplating how it would be best to proceed.  After a moment, she whispered something in a foreign tongue so quietly that it was nearly inaudible, and an incredibly bright flash of light illuminated the corridor in front of them.  There seemed to be numerous doorways on either side, each leading to a different section of the ruins.  The light began to fade rather quickly, and the two were left in darkness once more.  "We're looking for the ninth doorway on the left," she said and waved her hand above her head, a small fireball appearing over the two of them, casting an aura of dim light a few feet around the pair.  With that, she began down the hallway, keeping herself fairly close to Douken as a precaution.

Author: Douken, Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 4:54 PM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

Douken was quick to act when it seemed that a trap had activated, charging his fingers with mana before tracing a rune on the wall. It was a simple one and quick to trace, but it did allow him to take command of the vines and attempt to dig them into the spear holes and stop the trap from skewing the pair… A successful plan, albeit the lone spear that dug into Mazerine's arm on the way down. Getting into position, he let her fall into his arms safety before dropping her down.

By the time she settled down, he could not help but sigh, commenting, "And here I thought you said you investigated the area beforehand," before tearing off what remained of her tunic's sleeve, exposing her wound before pulling out a wrapping of cloth they purchased for such emergencies. "I am not exactly proficient in healing magic," he told her. "The rules are much more complicated than someone would think." Using his fan, he cut a segment of it and folded it up before taking a hold on the spear in her shoulder. "Brace yourself," he warned her before pulling it out, padding it with the cut cloth quickly before finally wrapping it up.

"I hope you are not sensitive to mana," he told her as he finished dressing it up, tying the last bit before charging mana into his fingers once more before touching the cloth itself, Douken's mana arcing to the cloth and leaving an imprint as he moved his hand, drawing forth the crest he read up upon onto his shoulder. When he finished, he pulled his hand away, leaving the rune behind before the image pulsed rhythmically, slowly fading with each pulse as the magic sank down to take affect upon the wound. "If everything was done right, that should help take of things…"

Author: Mazerine, Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 11:22 AM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

Beads of sweat had formed on Mazerine's forehead, and she reached up, wiping them away with the back of her hand.  "It is," she said, double checking the map just to be sure.  "My so-called?  That's the only thing on the map I could translate into common tongue without it sounding ridiculous!" she snapped, though the snap seemed to be more attributed to the heat and the strain of the trek it had taken them to arrive at the ruins.  She dropped her pack on the ground and took a drink from her own water skin, gulping down far more than she should have.  "I didn't think it would be this damn hot this time of year," she said, glaring up at the scorching sun.

She turned back to the ruins that lie before them and placed her hands on her hips.  "At least once we get inside, the sun won't be scorching us," she muttered, her eyes scanning the vine-covered ruins for a sign of what she was looking for.  "There," she said, pointing up to the top of one of the wider pillars.  Some sort of etched mural lay underneath years of vines.  She pulled the map out and pointed to one of the markings on the side, which was easy enough to see that it matched the partially obstructed one at the top.  "This reads that a physical incantation is needed to lift the ward to open the first door," she said, scanning the incantation that was scrawled.  "I've gotta get up there and touch it to remove the casting," she said and found herself frowning slightly.  There were enough vines covering about eight feel up that she would be able to scale, but getting to the starting point would be the difficult part.  She placed her hands back on her hips as she contemplated a few options.

"I've got a plan," she said, turning to Douken. "Can you give me a boost?" she asked, and thankfully Douken obliged.  Using his hands and then his shoulders, he was able to boost her up to the point where she could grab onto the hanging vines, and she began to scale her way up.  Before she had climbed up, however, she had drawn a small dagger from her waist and held it between her teeth by the blade.  She would need it to cut the vines from in front of the marking so she could do her incantation.  From first glance, it seemed that it would be about fifteen to twenty feet up for her to climb, but once she was making the effort it seemed to go much faster than she had anticipated.  In no time, she was up to where the marking.  She made sure to get a good footing in a loop of the vine, and holding on with her left hand rather tightly, she took the dagger from her mouth and cut the vines away from the marking, careful not to cut any that were supporting her.  She then tossed the dagger down to the ground, a far distance from Douken so as not to chance an injury.  

Preparing herself, she placed her hand upon the marking and chanted the incantation that needed to be said.  A small aura emitted from the marking, and the movement of stone could be heard below them.  "That did it!" she called down to Douken, smiling, and prepared to make her descent.  Suddenly, however, the pillar that she had climbed began to shake.  It seemed as though the tumultuous sound was coming from within the pillar itself, and within moments, just inches above Mazerine's head, a stone came flying out of the pillar, followed by a very sharp spear.  "What the hell!?" she yelled, and began to descend quickly, the spears now beginning to shoot out in random places along the pillar.  "The marking!  It must have been warded!" she yelled down to Douken as she hurriedly traversed the vines.  

About ten feet from the bottom of the vines, a spear shot out and caught Mazerine in the arm, slashing a good depth into her left bicep.  She let out a yelp of pain and lost her grip on the vines, plummeting downwards - fortunately, however, she managed to catch herself at the tail end of the vines, dangling from her right hand.  "Damn," she said, out of breath.  She glanced over at her left arm, dangling rather limply at her side.  The spear had nearly torn the sleeve of her tunic off and created a good size gash in her arm, from which blood was seeping rather profusely.  

Glancing down, she could see that Douken had positioned himself to help her down, and she let go of the vine, dropping a foot or so before he caught her and set her down on the ground.  "Thanks," she said, her voice strained from the pain in her arm.  She walked over to where her dagger and landed and grabbed it, placing it back in its holster, and glanced up at the tower, where the spears poked out like odd decorations from the stone structure.  "Guess that could have been a lot worse," she said.  "Don't suppose that rune magic you do has any healing tricks along with it, does it?" she asked.  She had seen him conjure foot, perhaps it would be able to heal an injury like the one in her arm - if not, the two had plenty of medical supplies in their packs to bandage it up with.  

Author: Douken, Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2017 1:25 PM, Post Subject: The Secrets of the Occultatum [P/R]

It had been a long morning for the two of them, Mazerine and Douken dropping by many stores to ensure they had what they needed for their journey. Rations and water sacks for two weeks, considering the estimated time to and from with room for the time inside covered, rope, and many missing night gear the two believe they thought they needed. Douken was not too worried, considering he already had a tent and sleeping bag stashed away at the ready. After all, he was often camping out under the night sky. It was not until both parties were satisfied with that they had did the pair stop to get in a quick brunch before taking off for the Ancense Ruins.

Each day, the pair worked themselves forward towards their destination, taking occasional breaks to eat, drink, or fend off any needed forced they tried  to get in their way, whether it would be bandits or wild animals who tried to threaten their journey. However, each night, the pair made camp, relaxing under the stars next to a campfire before the two called it a night. While the pair shared a single tent, they kept to their own bags, often finding themselves sleeping just as they did when they first met: Douken on his back while Mazerine rested on her side, back away from him. To him, it was fairly normal, so there was no real question.

On the forth day of their travels, with the sun raised high beating its rays upon them, the two had found themselves at the location marked on her map. "So, this is it, huh?" Douken stated, taking the water pouch from his belt and taking a quick swig. "Your so-called Occultatum."