Reinholdt's Repository

[5a Violista]

[That Song Out of Your Head]

Sticking around is also the sort of thing a spouse would do, so Carmen would feel awkward doing it, even though it wouldn't quite be as immoral as cuddling would be.

So, she resolves to leave and find her own way to MERC (after she finds a place to stay at nights).

The note just says, written in half-cursive and with the 'i's dotted with hearts, "Thanks so much for getting me out of that dungeon! Was pretty fun. Figured you might be hungry when you got up. Make sure to get lots of sun and to eat well. Eat by:" and the date when it might go bad, and reheating instructions.

Pretty simple note, all-in-all.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Milton Island Assault]

Damon shadows Ilpholin closely, keeping her within his blurred vision. "Don't do anything too hasty, Ilpholin. I'm useless to you for at least another minute." He mutters under his breath as they approach.

Once the gnolls are near enough to start talking, he fixes his gaze in the direction of the voice, staring straight ahead, doing his best to avoid showing any sign of weakness. For the moment he remains silent, content to leave the speech to Ilpholin. Hopefully that's all that will be needed.

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

Obriane's attention is too drawn to the statue. She couldn't actually see the spirits like Kitty but she always had an eerie feeling when they were near and now it was stronger than ever. "Yeah... that's unusual to say at least. I've never seen so many spirits drawn to one object before. They might have actually have somehow bound spirits too it before they, uh, went bye-bye." Which sounded like the work of an angakok to her, a twisted evil one. "We probably shouldn't linger her. Just grab whatever you're here for and let us leave."

[Caedem Temple]

"Hmm... yeah, I could see how that makes sense. Something's gotta power the statue or it wouldn't be much of a riddle. Might as well be souls." Rein steps up rather fearlessly, but stays away from the squares as he looks the setup over.

"Unfortunately... what we want is almost certainly behind the door it's guarding. But going for it is bound to set off the golem." He shines his light up at the axe. "I can't imagine that we actually want that axe. It has gotten old. I don't think any enchantments it had is strong enough to be of interest. So I guess we're just looking for the mask."

He crouches down. "Plus I'm not crazy enough to try and pry it out of that thing's hands." After looking the squares over, he stands up. "Nothing mechanical I can mess with here. Answering the question correctly is probably the safest bet."

[Caedem Temple]

"Given the option, I'd rather go after something away from that thing, yeah. It's your call, though." Kitsuki pulls her eyes away from the statue and toward the puzzle at hand. "So what is it, some sort of riddle? Last I checked all those words mean the same thing."

[Shadowcaller]

[Milton Island Assault]

Judging by their expression, the gnoll doesn't seem to know what she's talking about but what she's saying about 'sparing' them is causing the rest to look increasingly close to panicking.
"A curse? Wasn't here for that." They admit as they glance at the others who don't seem to be sure if they want to parley with Ilpholin at all. Looking at her, Damon and the draachi as if they were crazy.

But finally, someone speaks up. "Oh! I have a theory!"

Ilpholin can't see anyone talking though, but there is a raised hand she occasionally might get glimpses of as it's owner seems to be jumping up and down to get their attention.

Not until the group parts and in-between all the gnolls is a singular goblin holding a staff. Her clothing is distinct from the others as she's wearing a ornate robe rather than more practical wear. "See, there was a curse when we got here but only activated once, even when we brought in more people to the island. However, the enthralled demons that are powering this place might have recognized you guys as a threat and activated it again. You didn't do anything to provoke them, did you? Demons are nasty business."

[Caedem Temple]

"Would these people really be protect their most precious symbol of power with some kind of riddle? Seems rather cost-ineffective. I bet it's a password of some kind which I don't think we'd be able to guess anyway." Shows what Obriane knows about dungeon crawling, dungeon makers protect their stuff with riddles all the time!

[Reinholdt]

[Milton Island Assault]

"There's not that many," Ilpholin assures Damon with a light frown. She could handle this rabble. She has to look down though.

A goblin? What was a goblin doing with gnolls? Probably consorting with demons alongside the gnolls. Made the most sense.

A theory isn't exactly great either. Ugh, it's a start. There's some information to be had here. "We're here to kill them." Is that provoked enough? That's probably pretty provoking. "Which of your group is controlling the enthralled demons?" The nymph's dark eyes dart accusingly over the crowd.

[Caedem Temple]

"Oh it's definitely a riddle," Reinholdt assures them, pondering as his light sweeps back and forth. "Kitty is very right. These words all mean the same thing. Which by itself tells us something..." That it was a riddle. And maybe something else.

"If there aren't any ideas, I guess I'll just choose power. People always go for power, right?" The connotations are stronger!

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Milton Island Assault]

"Hmm. Perhapss your actionsss were a little hassty earlier, Ilpholin." Damon mutters, upon hearing this from the goblin. They are a threat to the demons, for sure, but Ilpholin knifing that one demon immediately might be what spooked the rest of them.

"If we are fortunate, there may be ssome delay before they can reactivate it. If we are unlucky, it may remain active until they decide to deactivate it."

[Shadowcaller]

[Milton Island Assault]

"Our group?" The goblin let's out a nervous laugh. "No one of us is capable of controlling that many demons. Or, uh, even one. We're, eh, not warlocks. No, it's the owner of the bunker that's controlling them, Lannereth. An ancient warlock lich that was in some kind of magical sleep inside of it all this time. We, uh, accidnetally woke her up when we were investigating this place. She undid the curse on us and then just teleported away and haven't come back since. She's been gone for weeks now and we got no idea what she's up to." A beat and suddenly the goblin gestures at Ilpholin. "Hey, you wouldn't be after that staff would you? I've been reading about that. Awful business."

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

"Eh, I don't know." Kitsuki looks at the symbols more closely. "You said it means 'greatest'? Well there's one, two, and three symbols, right? What if it's just math? Sounds like something Annie would do in school, but who knows." She shrugs, not entirely certain.

[Reinholdt]

[Milton Island Assault]

Ilpholin rolls her eyes and glares at Damon. Really? He thinks that one slain demon is what spooked them, not say... the army of angels invading the island, sworn to purge all fiends? Yeah. It must be her fault.

A lich is the last thing she needs involved right now. Stupid power hungry spellcasters making life miserable for everyone. If this Lannereth doesn't return to defend her demons, then eliminating that thread is not an option. She swivels her gaze back to the goblin. "What do you know of the staff?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Milton Island Assault]

"Erm, the staff? Well, that Lannereth created it-" She starts, the gnolls around giving her looks of concern. "-using a bunch of demons, some primal god-goo and this dragon head. Then she made another one just like it and gave the pair to two empresses that ruled her empire." The goblin gestures in the direction of the hatch. "We found that god-goo in the bunker but we've made sure to stay clear of it. No idea where the other pieces are but maybe Lannereth went to get them? She was being very vague and left before we could ask many questions. Sargera was so disappointed." Ilpholin might recall the name 'Sargera'. It was the name of the gnoll leader who they encountered at that other island when Wenomir and Kal was with her.

If anyone of them have magical senses of some sort they might notice that something is off. But not about the goblin or the gnolls, something else.

[Caedem Temple]

"I wouldn't pick anything until you're sure, Rein." Obriane cautious. "Whatever this is picking the wrong thing would probably be bad. Can't we consider this a bit? If all of them mean the same thing, maybe you shouldn't pick any of them? Maybe there's like a secret option?"

[Reinholdt]

[Caedem Temple]

"Surety is a bit of a luxury in this field I'm afraid. But that uncertainty is what makes it exciting!" Reinholdt assures Obriane. Still, he's clearly willing to consider things awhile longer.

He looks over at the three symbols of Might. "Well... all translations of a dead language are a little... sketchy. The word 'greatest' is something along the lines of 'surpasses all others'. There's no exact word for it. Still, you'd be surprised how often it's as simple as number of letters. It's usually an intentional trap for those skilled enough to make it so far. Cunning and overthinking go hand in hand, or so I'm told."

"But Obriane's right too. The appearance of three options could be to hide our eyes from a fourth. Or a fifth. It's possible we're supposed to pick two of them. All of them. None of them. Ehh... probably not none of them. The statue's still in our way." It's very rude.

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

Kitsuki puts her hands on her hips. "Well I don't have any better ideas. Maybe some of your research into this place can give some clues?" She shrugs her shoulders.

[Shadowcaller]

[Caedem Temple]

"Surpasses all the others? Sounds like the dead warlord, right? Maybe one of the options is a reference to his name... or you're supposed to press the statue perhaps?" The statue was of the warlord, right?
Obriane was of course just guessing.

[Reinholdt]

[Caedem Temple]

"If anything stood out with the research, I would have told you by now." Reinholdt flips through a notebook all the same, but he's not seeing anything of particular interest.

"I mean, the statue seems like a good idea. They did worship this guy excessively and even if bird head over there isn't the warlord himself, it's certainly fashioned in some way after him. Want me to try?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Milton Island Assault]

More that slaying that one demon might have been a trigger of some means - like she acted as the door guard in some manner, and getting rid of her alerted someone else. Not that Damon's going to get into a debate on the matter at the moment.

"God-goo? Well, thisss jusst keepss getting better. About the cursse - you ssay it wass activated once before. Did the runess remain active until dissmisssed, or did they fade of their own accord after a while?"

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

Kitsuki look at the statue. She's a bit uncertain, but that's just because she doesn't really understand this in general. They do have to do something. "Yeah, go for it."

[Reinholdt]

[Milton Island Assault]

"This is the same lich that created the staff?" Oh. Well that changes things doesn't i... wait, no it doesn't. Hmm. Maybe? Killing a lich that wanted the demon staff was one thing, but perhaps finding out where she got the demon god essence from is worth an interrogation. Ensure she creates no such staffs ever again by cutting off the source well.

The name Sargera just proves these gnolls were demon summoners, in league with the monsters that plague this realm. Ilpholin scowls and twitches slightly. "Take us to the 'god goo'." She makes air quotes with her fingers. The original deal still stood... unfulfilled. Getting around the trap in the bunker was a priority and finding the plinth in a hurry.

Ilpholin may be able to detect magic of demonic origin or one generating heat, but that's about it.

[Shadowcaller]

[Milton Island Assault]

"Uh, yeah. The very same!" The goblin nods and smiles as if to further confirm this.
The gnolls don't seem any less uneasy though, especially when Ilpholin demands them to take her to the 'god-goo'.

"Oh, that's down in the bunker. Beyond that corridor with the curse." She turn turns to Damon. "I'd say that the runes stopped glowing after like... ten minutes? They don't fade though, they're just near-invisible when they aren't glowing. If you go down there they might just trigger again though. But... maybe we could fetch it for you?"

Then one of the civilian-looking gnolls suddenly interjects with their arms. "Not a good idea." They insist.

But before they can say anything else the rest of the gnolls are suddenly staring in surprise at something and Ilpholin and Damon might also notice that what seems to be an holographic pink eyeball have appeared to their right. If either of them know anything about scrying magic they might know that it sometimes manifests as this. Usually the eye is invisible however, it's the source of the magic they might have been able to feel. But unfourunately (or perhaps fortunately) it's not of demonic origin.

The eye simply stares as the two groups for a moment before it changes shape, becoming a holographic magical projection of the face of a drow woman with shock-pink hair. She appears rather roughened up though, her hair an outright mess. "You're not going to have time for this." She remarks with a look at Ilpholin and Damon. "I'm Calastra, and it sounds like we have mutual interests. But as there isn't much time, I'll be brief. The lich you're talking about is my enemy and I just barely survived an encounter with her. Now I'm taking a gamble that she won't expect me to hit her while I'm down. Hence, I'm going to help you grab that demonic artifact of hers and destroy it. Do you accept my help? She could return to her stronghold at any point now as I failed to stop her so I need a decison." First an angel now a drow mage? Seems like a lot of people like to help Ilpholin here...

[Caedem Temple]

"Yeah, go ahead and press the statue... wherever it can be pressed." Obriane concurs, feeling that there was something to this logic. Besides, at least they couldn't be clicking the wrong button by pressing the statue, right? So even if they were wrong it wouldn't be that much of an issue.

[Reinholdt]

[Caedem Temple]

There's a decent chance that approaching the statue in an effort to sneak to the door behind it without pressing a button would be as bad as pressing a button. So it's not a riskless choice. Rein shoots Kitsuki a meaningful look. "If anything happens, remember I died as I lived. A badass."

He'll scoot around the squares and approach the statue, eyes glued on it for any move it might make. Eventually he gets close enough and puts his palm on the golem's thigh. A moment later and it starts rumbling, stone shifting atop each other. The ax moves to one side, followed by the spirit statue itself, a small cacophony as it steps out of the way and stands guard beside the door instead. Rein waits a moment longer after things settle and when he doesn't get beheaded, he glances back at them. "Good call."

Rein doesn't spend long on the door, figuring it would be rude to trap the door after making them solve a riddle. He opens it and heads at last into the innermost sanctum.

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

The statue moving is a bit of a start, but when it's all over Kitsuki grins. "Good thinking, Obriane!" She gives her fiancee a one arm squeeze across her shoulders. "Alright, nearly there. Let's do this." She follows Rein with a bit of spring in her step. She can taste a successful job coming.

[Shadowcaller]

[Caedem Temple]

Obriane gives Rein a concerned look as he makes that statement. She knew he was joking but the reality of that gallow humor was all too easy to see after their encounter with those spirits. He really was risking his life every time he set a foot in these temples, wasn't he? Even more so than they did chasing down spirits and she considered that rather dangerous for a job.

Thus she's immensly relived as it looked like Rein's luck was holding. They had the right solution and it wasn't some elaborate trick on whoever made this part.
She smiles back at Kitty though can't quite hide her worry regarding this entire situation. Though she did appricate that these two could be so relaxed and outgoing in spite of everything. It was really a talent she had never managed to master, which perhaps was part of the reason she intended to marry someone who seemed to be a natural at it.
"Just keep being careful." She cautions though feels as if they had gone through the hardest part now. Now they just needed to take that thing and get out of here.

[Reinholdt]

[Caedem Temple]

There's a lot to being a Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire. Obriane needn't worry. Rein's only died a few times. Relative to the number of forbidden places he's entered.

"Of course," Reinholdt assures. There's a few more stairs up before they exit in what one would approximately guess to be the center of the temple. This room's walls are lined with ancient and broken weaponry. Possible trophies from the conquered or personal kills. The primary focus however is clearly the coffin in the center. It sits askew a pile of bones supposed to hold it up, but one corner has crumbled, leaving the resting place sagging into the macabre platform. The box's bottom is decorated with bone white carvings reaching towards the top of the box, clearly intended to meld with the bone platform to make it look like the dead were holding the sarcophagus up in their afterlives. Wrapped around the sides are gruesome images of medieval violence and war, not unlike the altar from before. The difference is that this casket has various inlaid jewels of varying value, obviously favoring red gems, but others are sprinkled in here and there. They would be worth a good bit if pried from the warlord's resting place.

"I don't understand those who try to take it with them. It deprives the living, you know?" Reinholdt muses as he makes his way through the room after he's relatively sure the weapons on the wall won't animate. He stops before the sarcophagus and gives it a once over before pulling out a thin metal tool with a crank at the end. "People are always tempted to toss these open because of how exciting it is thinking about what could be inside. Sometimes they're surprised to find a crossbow inside with a bolt in their chest."

With a 1, 2, GRUNT of effort, Rein lifts the lid just enough to ram the tool into the barely formed crack between lid and bottom. "Also these things are always heavier than they look." Tossing them aside is not easy! Rein kneels and cranks the tool, which is now apparent to be a very specialized kind of jack that slowly peels the top upwards. He stops as soon as a reasonable slit appears and spends another several minutes just shining his light directly inside, moving his head up and down as he peers within for hidden mechanisms, darts, needles, poison, or runes. He repeats this process one more time, making the gap wider and re-examining before he's satisfied. "Huh. Probably didn't spend a lot of time thinking about his own death."

At last, he grabs the half open lid and flips it off, his arm quickly coming up to cover his face from the ensuing dust. Within is a full skeleton, his once beautiful outfit now rags and tatters. Some gold jewelry adorns the lifeless corpse, but the mask covering his face is the most fetching feature within. It doesn't look like it has aged a day.

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

Kitsuki watches curiously as Rein works, leaning this way and that to get a better look. When the top comes off she waves her hand in front of her face and leans in to get a close look. The mask is crafted from a dark wood. The main head is a round shape, with a beak that extends downward and protrudes somewhat. The beak ends in a wicked hook that looks sharp to touch. In the center of its face are two gaping holes where the wearer can see through. It's quite a simple looking item. In its own way it stands out in the rich burial chamber for its plainness.

"It doesn't look all that special, does it?" She sniffs a couple times and frowns. "I'm not sure I can pick up anything from it. You're sure this is the big deal, right?" As far as she can tell it's just a mask. At least, it's not swarming with spirits or anything. "I was just expecting more activity, you know? What with the spirit activity in this place."

[Shadowcaller]

[Caedem Temple]

As Rein is straining with effort to get the lid of Obriane's natural reaction is to help. But as Rein is the professional here she stops herself, if he didn't ask for help it was probably best that she stayed back. Looked like he had a pretty good idea what he was doing anyway.

Thus, patiently she just waits and tries to focus on anything but Rein's work. More spirits could always appear when they were distracted after all.
But as nothing seems to happen, she finally let's herself relax a bit once Rein flips the lid open and peers down into the warlords final resting place. Despite how immensly cruel and bloodthisty he had been she couldn't help but to feel a twing of sadness as it reminded her that no matter how great you though yourself to be in life you were always just reduced to bone and dust in the end.

Like the others her attention is soon drawn to the mask. 'Doesn't look special'? Looked pretty special to Obriane if perhaps only for the fact it contrasted so sharply to everything else within the temple. "Erm, still probably best you wear gloves when you grab it. Or maybe even a tong if you got it." She had heard enough stories about objects like these to know bad things could happen if you touched them.

[Reinholdt]

[Caedem Temple]

Reinholdt shakes his head and shrugs at one of Kitsuki's queries. "Nope. Not sure at all." Just like that.

He gives Obraine a side glance and a raised eyebrow before pulling out some proper leather gloves and swapping them for his fingerless ones. He was already going to use them as a professional but it feels bad getting told to do so. At least Obriane understands the basics. And with solving that riddle back there, she may have what it takes to be a proper Treasure Hunter. Rein should talk to her about the possibility of a career change. "Coming here was all based on educated guesswork. Educated perhaps. Based on years of experience. But guesswork all the same. Sometimes you're just wrong. Perhaps Hjordis Vidar's secret to his power is completely unrelated to the trappings he wore into battle. Maybe there was no secret at all and he was just that good at what he did. It happens."

Reinholdt reaches forward to take the mask and carefully peel it off of the skeletal remains. "I'm going to have HALO check it out all the same. I know an alchemist and some mages I want to run it by. If it really is nothing... guess I come back solo for that axe just to be sure." He doesn't want to do that.

"And hey, at least there's the gems we can take." Never hurts to get paid while doing these dives for random lore objects for HALO.

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

As Rein's fingers just barely touch the mask, Kitsuki cries out. "Wait!" It's too late, Rein's hand grasps the mask and lifts it out in the same motion he was about to make before Kitsuki shouted. The mask has a powerful will, it's revealed, and it presses it onto Rein.

"A pity." Rein's mouth speak the words, and they have his voice, but the way he speaks is all wrong. "More mammals. Your kind truly are an infestation. At least I can tolerate pliable mammals." Despite the control over him, Rein isn't totally overtaken. He simply can't drop the mask, and though he can speak, he can't interrupt the mask when it speaks through him.

"Let him go!" Kitsuki demands.

[Shadowcaller]

[Caedem Temple]

Okay, on Obriane's list of "bad things", possession... okay, it was actually up there. But it was not on her list of expertises however. She had barely performed them and it had been against weaker spirits, never anything like this.
But she knew that her armor could still harm even the most powerful of spirits...

So she's going to attempt to bullrush Rein before the spirit had a chance to get its bearings.

[Reinholdt]

[Caedem Temple]

"Tsk. Rude. I'll have you know mammals are very cuddly." Reinholdt says while discreetly pulling out a small knife in his other hand. If this mask spirit gets too uppity, the idea is to stab the back of his own hand to force him to drop the mask.

But he doesn't do it yet. He's holding back. He'd claim it's because he doesn't want to actually stab himself, but it's possible it's just the mask's influence that's truly keeping that knife still.

Much more likely is the 5000 ton elk trying to tackle him that proves the most distracting. His mildly psychotic plan pales in comparison.

[Gullara]

[Caedem Temple]

"Insolence." The mask criticizes, but recognition sparks. Before Obriane quite has the chance to hurl herself, Rein's mouth speaks a sound. It's not a sound he or anything else in this plane should be able to make, yet it sounds all the same. There's a depth to utterance, as though it echoes through reality. For Obriane in particular the shock of hearing it may freeze her in place. "It is you, isn't it? What sorry desperation brought you to be in this state? Emerge!"

Kitsuki is maneuvering to the side, intent on getting an angle to torch that damn mask. What happens next is sure to stop her in her tracks, however.

[Shadowcaller]

[Caedem Temple]

Obriane does freeze, though there is no visible change even as she retorts as if speaking to an acquaintance. "Ọbasìn, I'm on vaccation. I know your court don't take those but the fact you'd assume I'm desperate is more than a little insulting." She gestures to herself and then to Rein. "I mean, you're not exactly the best shape yourself. Have you really been used within a mammal male body all this time? I feel for you." Only Kitty can probably detect that her fiancees voice have changed slightly for now but its becoming more and more apparent the longer she speaks.