View source for Lost Temple - RPLOG

=Participants=
* [[Amar]]
* [[Mal]]
* [[Zuri]]
=Date=
17/11/479
=Log=
<div></div><br> <br>It is hot and the sun is high in the sky. Amar Widestripe is sitting on a rather large, folding, canvas chair out in the winding branches of the Silvervein Pass beyond the Iron Reach. &quot;Move the umbrella a bit, Gavin,&quot; he tells his muscular ursine manservant, who complies quickly. The corpulent, purple tiger raises a flask to his lips and looks out over the landscape. &quot;They should be along soon,&quot; he says, and heaves himself from his seat to greet incoming Freeswords.<br> <br>A Coyote comes around the bend, straightening his disheveled outfit and checking...checking his pockets? That&#39;s an awful lot of pockets... The Freesword pats himself down, as one might to make sure they weren&#39;t forgetting something. He pauses, patting a spot, blinks and digs through his pocket before grinning and pulling out a throwing knife, slotting it back into place, where it belongs. The canine grins and makes his way over to two beings. &quot;I take it you&#39;re the one that left the notice?&quot; he asks, slipping his hands into his pockets.<br> <br>A small shape in the sky slowly gains in definition and size as Zuri, a small blue-feathered pegasus being makes his final approach on Silvervein Pass. The small being swoops as far down as he can without hitting the canyon walls, then slowly flaps the rest of the distance, landing almost-gracefully on his little hoofies. He peers around, and spots in the distance the rather corpulent but familiar feline. &quot;Amar!&quot; He shouts out, far too distant for his voice to be properly heard. He runs the rest of the way, ducking around the underbrush characteristic of this region as he finds his path as best as he can, until finally reappearing from behind a rock closer to the other beings. &quot;Hi Amar!&quot; He says again. &quot;Hi Gavin! And uh.. hi there!&quot; He beams brightly at Mal. &quot;I hope I&#39;m not late for the exploration thingy! I brought snacks and water for everyone!&quot;<br> <br>&quot;Right on time, Mister Pondleaf,&quot; Amar says, resting his fat paws on his fatter stomach, &quot;I am glad to see you all here. I had feared that poor Gavin here would have to leave me here on my own to go searching this place.&quot; The obese tiger waves to the group to follow him and he waddles around a tall rock formation to where a landslide has left skree and rubble spread out in a narrow ravine, revealing a dark opening surrounded but what must have once been an elaborately carved arch. The high, stone doors are closed, but one side is broken and caved in, leaving an opening large enough for a being to pass through without difficulty. &quot;There it is,&quot; Amar says, grinning, &quot;Ruin&#39;s that predate the arrival by a thousand years!&quot; He turns to face the Freeswords, &quot;All you have to do is go in there, scout the place for old traps and things and carry out anything interesting you find. Clearing any traps or complications will net you a fine reward, and if you bring me anything of particular interest, I will certainly reward you for that as well. Any questions?&quot;<br> <br>The Coyote grimaces, patting himself down again. &quot;I swear I&#39;m forgetting something,&quot; he mutters, brow furrowed. He huffs and brushes himself off, tapping each item on his bandoleer. &quot;Whatever, it couldn&#39;t have been that important, if I forgot to bring it...&quot; The Freesword&#39;s lazy grin returns and he looks to his new companions, rubbing his hands together. &quot;Shouldn&#39;t be too hard.&quot; After a pause, he leans forward, extending a hand to the Salamander. &quot;Apologies, name&#39;s Mal,&quot; the Coyote says, introducing himself. Mal looks to Amar and nods. &quot;Alright, that&#39;s all? Scout, disarm and loot?&quot; He claps his hands together. &quot;Alright; I&#39;ll try not to break much.&quot; He pauses before adding, &quot;And, ah, what&#39;s the pay like?&quot;<br> <br>Zuri giggles at Amar. &quot;Yea, that sounds like top fun to me! I love exploring stuff!&quot; He looks over at Mal and shakes the coyote&#39;s offered hand. &quot;Nice to meet ya Mal! Zuri.&quot; He looks back at Amar. &quot;I don&#39;t think we have any questions, no. I presume we&#39;re the first ones to go in judging by the state of the place so.. off we go.&quot; He looks over at Mal and smiles. &quot;Always more exciting to be the first ones going in, yea?&quot; He flicks his wings and hops over to the entrance into the ruins, peering inside. Seems the little pegasus isn&#39;t quite concerned about payment at this point.<br> <br>Amar strokes his pointed goatee. &quot;The pay is excellent, so long as you don&#39;t break ANYTHING,&quot; he says, &quot;This is about retrieving priceless antiquities! Find something worth salvaging and I promise, you won&#39;t find the remunerations lacking.&quot; 

Inside the broken door, it is dark, though the daylight filtering in through the entrance provides twilight illumination to the room. It seems to be some sort of antechamber or welcoming hall for whatever this place is. Cracked and broken tiles litter the floor mostly hidden by the dust of centuries. Elaborate friezes on the walls seem to depict tall, lanky figures going about various activities, but time and the elements have ruined much of the paintings and makes it difficult to make anything out. Four tall pillars form a square in the center of the otherwise empty room, each carved in the likeness of a tall, robed creature of some kind, with long, pale features. These too are eroded past real recognition. 

Four doors lead from this room, one to each the east and west, and two elaborately carved doors on the north wall, though the one to the right has cracked and caved in.<br> <br>Mal puts two fingers to his head and gives the tiger a lazy salute. &quot;Not a scratch! Well, that wasn&#39;t already there, anyway.&quot; The Coyote coughs and gets moving, shaking his head. He looks around as he cautiously enters the antechamber. &quot;Never know when the floor&#39;ll give out...&quot; he mutters. The Mercenary looks around and hmms in thought, scratching his neck idly. &quot;Think we&#39;re gonna need a few torches,&quot; he says, &quot;I seemed to have forgotten to bring some,&quot; he says, half-jokingly, grinning his grin at Zuri!<br> <br>Zuri nods at Mal&#39;s words. &quot;Yea, it&#39;s gonna get dark plenty quick in here. Lucky I brought a thing!&quot; He shuffles inside his pack and retrieves a tiny glowing crystal, about the size of one&#39;s palm. It projects a constant but somewhat faint light in all directions, like a candle. &quot;This should do fine, for now. We can make a torch or two if things get tooooooo dark and spooky in there.&quot; He steps further into the room, carefully watching his step and measuring each footstep carefully. &quot;Let&#39;s keep an eye out for traps. I guess we should check out that caved-in door first?&quot;<br> <br>The doors are interesting, all made for creatures as tall as the largest of Heavy Clan beings, but not partucularly wide. The broken doorway, along with the useable one beside it appears to have been an open arch with no actual door. The broken arch seems mostly blocked by rubble, though there is a small space near the top where a small being could squeeze through. Some of the rubble seems to have ornate carvings and a few flecks of some sort of purplish pigment still imbedded in the grooves of said carvings, but in the damage is too great to make out what sort of pattern it might have been in this dim light.<br> <br>&quot;...I need to get me one of those,&quot; Mal says, eyeing the glowing rock, before looking around. The Coyote follows along behind Zuri, alternating between watching his feet and looking at the various doorway options. &quot;Eh, it&#39;s as good as any. Might even be able to clear the rubble...&quot; he says, eyeing the cave-in. The Freesword looks at the doorways, noting their height and width, before muttering something about &quot;tall and thing being creepy&quot;. He carefully makes his way over to the cave-in, looking over the rubble and trying gauge whether there are weak spots. &quot;Hm. Little small up there,&quot; he says, eyeing the small sized opening. &quot;Can you fit through there?&quot; he asks, looking back at Zuri.<br> <br>Zuri wiggles his snout at the small opening. &quot;Hm. I may be able to, but I don&#39;t think we should split up.&quot; He looks at the other north-facing door. &quot;But maybe I can open something from the other side. Worth a try.&quot; The small pegasus begins his ascent, clambering over tge rubble to try and wiggle through the opening.<br> <br>Scrambling up to the dark little opening is not difficult and finds the little pegasus and his light in a small room. There is not much in the way of furnishings, the room is pretty much empty. There are three niches in the walls, spaced around the room to the east, north, and south with short (read Zuri&#39;s height) plinths with ornately carved, stone bowls on top. The tiling on the floor is mostly intact here and makes a picture mosaic. On the northern wall is another open archway while the western wall has another tall doorway, this one with a closed door. 

The decorations carved in the bowls and the mosaic on the floor and along the archway are alien, but not so alien that anyone could miss the obvious feminine elements depicted in the pictographs.<br> <br>Mal cautiously wanders the room, looking over the designs on the walls as he goes. While he waits, he examines the other doorways, and pokes his head into the archway next to the rubble. Might as well investigate, he&#39;s got nothing better to do.<br> <br>The little pegasus looks around the room, wiggling his snout thoughtfully. &quot;Some kind of ritual chamber. No real treasure.&quot; He observes the designs carefully, thinking he should know what they are, but nothing comes to mind. He wiggles back out and goes to join Mal.<br> <br>With the reappearance of Zuri and his light, exploring the first chamber is much easier. The two side doors are closed, and judging by the collected silt and rubble near them, will not be easy to open. The open archway, however, leads into a room that is a mirror image of the one Zuri was just in. Low plinths on three sides of the room with carved, stone bowls, one of them cracked right down the middle and in pieces on the ground. The far arch in this room is also open. The only really notable difference between the rooms is that all the decoration in THIS space has a decidedly phallic tone to it.<br> <br>Mal brushes his hands off as the Pegasus crawls back into view. &quot;Welcome back. Anything valuable back there?&quot; he asks. The Coyote motions to the doors, explaining that they&#39;re blocked. &quot;We could /try/ to open them, but I don&#39;t know how well that&#39;d go over. This room, though,&quot; he says, jabbing a thumb to the other archway, &quot;leads to the recreational room. Looks to be another archway on the other side, too.&quot; The Coyote grins wide, like he just made the greatest joke ever. &quot;Heh, recreational...&quot;<br> <br>Zuri peeks inside the new chamber.. pauses.. then giggles. &quot;Wow, its like the waiting room at the Twin Pillows over here. The other room was like this except with girls.&quot; He considers this a moment. &quot;Maybe that means this is the men&#39;s entrance. We&#39;re in luck!&quot; The small pegasus steps in, traveling to the other archway.<br> <br>The far archway lead into a narrow hallway, wide enough for one being to pass at a time. Unfortunately, it does not go very far before coming to an abrupt end. After only a few steps, the hall ends at a wall with an engraved image of a very female fox figure complete with heavy breasts and pregnant belly. Anyone who has ever seen the spirit Shaila will recognize her image. There is a small window about 6 feet above the ground that leads into a dark space, certainly too small to crawl through.<br> <br>Mal mutters, &quot;Nico would&#39;ve laughed,&quot; before following along behind the Pegasus. &quot;That was funny though,&quot; he mumbles, shoving his hands into his pockets. &quot;These got any value?&quot; he asks, pulling a hand out to point at the...general style of the room. He pokes his head into the next room, blinking at the engraving of the fox. &quot;...huh. Maybe this WAS their version of Twin Pillows...had decent tastes, I guess,&quot; he mutters, stepping into the room and looking around. &quot;Looks like a dead end, Zuri,&quot; he says, &quot;Unless you think you can crawl up there,&quot; he adds, pointing to the window.<br> <br>Zuri giggle as they enter the room, and facepalms in a rather over-acted manner. &quot;Of course! Shalia! The man bits and the lady bits and the bowls and the.. yea, we&#39;re in some kind of temple or shrine to her. Has to be.&quot; He looks at the small opening and wiggles his snout. &quot;No way I can fit through there, I&#39;m small but not THAT small.&quot;  He looks around. &quot;I think this may be a dead end, yea.&quot; He walks over to the engraving, observing it closely before turning back to look at Mal. &quot;What now?&quot;<br> <br>With the particularly buxom form of Shaila in the way, there is not much chance of progressing any further this way. The little window opens up on darkness. Maybe a parallel hall.<br> <br>The Coyote rubs his chin. &quot;You didn&#39;t see an archway in that other room, did you?&quot; he asks, as he turns to makes his way back to the antechamber. &quot;Might be a way to get into the rest of this...temple...from there.&quot; Mal stops in the main room and looks around, glancing at the blocked doors in thought. The Freesword huffs and turns again, making a bee-line for the engraving of Shalia. He looks around the room again, then turns to Zuri. &quot;I don&#39;t know if we should try unblocking those doors yet...&quot; The Coyote looks back up at the window and hmms. &quot;Can you get a look through that window?&quot; Mal hmms and looks at the wall below the window, maybe there&#39;s a foothold. No need to have the Pegasus do all the work...<br> <br>Zuri nods at Mal. &quot;Yea, there was another archway. I&#39;d guess it mirrors this room and is just another prayer room type thing.&quot; He walks over to the nearby locked door. &quot;Mm.. this one, however. I also saw one of these on the other archway, but on the opposite side. I guess this whole place is mirrored.&quot; He analyzes the door, trying to check if the lock is something he can overcome by either picking it or fiddling with it&#39;s mechanism.<br> <br>After examining the door, Zuri manages to puzzle out the mechanism for the heavy, stone door. Hidden in the carvings on the door is a small catch. When the little pegasus presses it, the door slides aside with a rumble of stone on stone, revealing a dark corridor that bends off to the south.<br> <br>Mal blinks and turns around just in time to see the Pegasus pick the lock to a door he hadn&#39;t even noticed. Once again, Zuri is doing all the work. The Coyote&#39;s ears droop slightly, but a sweep of his hand through his hair and a grin, and Mal&#39;s back on track. &quot;Heyyy, clever...&quot; he says, walking over and peering down the corridor. &quot;You mentioned that the other room had a similar door?&quot; The Freesword huhs, but stands clear, gesturing for the Pegasus to go first. &quot;Lights first,&quot; he says, grinning.<br> <br>Zuri giggles. &quot;I guess that makes sense.&quot; The light-bearing pegasus ssteps into the room, following along it. &quot;Yea, the other room was basically the same as we were in, but in reverse. I think this whole place is mirrored and we&#39;re on the boys&#39; side. If that makes sense.&quot; He keeps his eyes low, looking for tripwires or pressure plates as they walk along. &quot;I wonder what kind of treasure there could be in this place. I&#39;m not sure Miss Shalia would have anything you&#39;d want to take.&quot; He pauses, remembering his own &#39;patron&#39; and looking up at Mal. &quot;Or whether we should be taking it at all.&quot;<br> <br>The little hallway is little more than a simple, bare passage with hooks on the walls where some kind of lanterns must have once hung. The hall curves around pretty sharply and ends at another closed door. The mechanism is not hard to spot on this side of the door, but when Zuri activates it, the door opens only a little bit before grinding to a stop. But that short distance is enough to reveal the room beyond! 

The antechamber. 

The little passage led to one of the blocked doors in the entry way.<br> <br>Mal falls into step a few paces behind the light-bearing Pegasus, and shrugs. &quot;I dunno. Up to the employer, don&#39;t you think? I&#39;m here for the thrills and the crowns,&quot; he says, grinning at Zuri. &quot;And depends. She got anything around here to make me more attractive?&quot; he asks jokingly before holding up a hand. &quot;I know, I know. &#39;Mal, why would you want to take something that makes you sexier? You&#39;re already too sex...y...&quot; The Coyote trails off as he realizes where the path led them. &quot;Dammit!&quot; he snarls, &quot;I thought we were actually making progress!&quot; Mal rubs his face and sighs before turning and making his way back around. &quot;Waste of time...&quot; he mutters, stepping into the Men&#39;s room and looking around. &quot;Zuri, you want to check the Women&#39;s side? See where that one goes?&quot; he asks, adding, &quot;I can probably guess, though...&quot; The Coyote grumbles and steps back into Shaila&#39;s room, squinting at the window. &quot;Do you have another one of those light rocks? I&#39;m gonna try to climb up and look out the window.&quot;<br> <br>Zuri pouts as this latest twist is revealed. He smiles at Mal. &quot;Oh well, that does beg the questiono of what&#39;s on the other side. If it&#39;s perfectly mirrored that means it&#39;s also a curvy corridor that leads to the women&#39;s side.&quot; He paues, then giggles. &quot;Here, take my light. I&#39;m gonna go back to the women&#39;s side. I think.. I *think* that may be part of the whole idea. Shalia likes her couples, you know?&quot; He grins and passes the glowy crystal over, then runs off to clamber back into the women&#39;s room, this time descending on the other side to see what&#39;s there.<br> <br>The little pegasus has no trouble scrabbling up into the opening to the female side of the ruin again. Upon entering the archway, he finds that this passage also comes to a dead end. 

Nearly ten feet further in! Zuri can see the light of Mal&#39;s crystal through a small window, beside which is a sort of handle for turning. 

The wall up ahead also bears the image of a many tailed fox, but this one is decisively male.<br> <br>Mal peers out past window, trying to see if he can find a way in. His ears perk when he spots Zuri, the little pegasus all light up and glowing. &quot;Zuri! Is the entrance on the Womens&#39; side? What&#39;s over there? Anything valuable?&quot; he asks, bombarding him with questions.<br> <br>Zuri lets his bioluminescense shine through more strongly - literally. The entire process takes about a minute while he&#39;s climbing up and climbing down and dusting himself off, but soon enough he&#39;s a rather glowy pegasus examining the room. He steps up to the little window, pausing only to eye the fox statue up and down, and letting out a soft whistle. He makes no further comment as he hops over to the wall and peers up to look at Mal. &quot;Hi Mal! I think there&#39;s something here.&quot; He puts a hand on the handle, giving it a quick wiggle. &quot;I&#39;m about to do a thing here, see if anything happens on your side or.. stuff..&quot; The small salamander turns the handle, his wings fluttering briefly as he hops up to grip it.<br> <br>The handle turns easily under Zuri&#39;s hand and there is a grinding of stone on stone. 

On Mal&#39;s side of the wall, the stone panel of the female fox slides slowly aside, making way for Mal to continue forward. Some ten feet ahead, there is another small window, and a stone handle protrudes from the wall.<br> <br>Mal hops down easily, brushing himself off as he steps into the next room. He glances around, eyeing Shaila&#39;s counterpart before hmmphing and making his way to the other window and handle. &quot;Well, this is getting easier...&quot; The Coyote peeks through this window, too. &quot;Might as well know what you&#39;re walking into,&quot; he comments, &quot;No sense in going in blind.&quot;<br> <br>Zuri tries to peek through the window. &quot;What happened? I heard something happen!&quot; He flaps his wings to stay half-aloft as he clings to the small window with his hands. &quot;I was expecting the statue here to move but nothing moved!&quot;<br> <br>&quot;Nah, nothin&#39;,&quot; the Coyote replies, gripping the handle and wiggling it. &quot;Might as well carry on.&quot; The Freesword sighs and rubs his face with his free hand. &quot;I just want a shot of vodka...maybe the whole bottle, I&#39;m not picky...&quot;<br> <br>The Coyote coughs and turns the handle, stepping into the next area. &quot;I&#39;mma start carrying a flask of vodka...my senses are dulling...&quot; That&#39;s how this works, right.<br> <br>Another rumble and the panel of the well endowed male fox grinds aside to let Zuri through. Up ahead is an open archway, along with another small window and a turnable handle.<br> <br>Zuri perks as the wall suddenly moves, and reveals a new passage and a new handle for him to turn. &quot;Yea, you did it!&quot; He runs into the little alcove that opened up, and turns the handle, his little horsey tail flitting excitedly.<br> <br>The panel on Mal&#39;s side of the tunnel slides aside, revealing an open archway.<br> <br>Mal leans agains the wall and rubs his face, eyeing the fox. &quot;Ohhh, we meet again...&quot; Creators, he must be going mad, talking to a wall. &quot;Seriously, though. The amount of detail they put into these things...leave a little to the imagination...&quot; The Coyote pushes himself off the wall and rubs the back of his neck. &quot;Onwards,&quot; he says, making his way forward.<br> <br>The newly revealed room is large, with a high, vaulted ceiling. The ravages of time and nature do not seem to have reached this far into the ruin. Not to the extent that they have on the outside. The mosaic on the floor has some damage, and a fountain that once graced the hall is broken, but elaborate freizes on the walls are in perfect condition, depicting huge images of both a male and a female Shaila on either side of the room. The wall in front of the arriving duo has another monumental carving depicting a Shaila that has both male and female attributes over a raised dais and some sort of altar.<br> <br>Zuri steps in and starts examining the new room, smiling at Mal as they are reunited. &quot;Hi again! So yea, turns out the idea was we had to work together like a couple! Silly Shalia and her family values bit.&quot; He giggles and slips off to examine the carvings. &quot;Mmm... I really wonder what the purpose of this place is...&quot; He pauses as  he looks at the.. doubly endowed figure, blinkblinking in confusion. &quot;Uh.. I think the sculptor for this one did something wrong... &quot; He walks past the carving, observing it from all angles.<br> <br>The Coyote steps into the room, looking around for a moment, before shrugging and moving further into the room. &quot;Whatcha think, Zuri?&quot; he asks, blinking as his gaze moves to the Shaila on the dais. &quot;You think?&quot; he asks, before looking around again. While his companion looks over the statue, the Coyote decides to check the rest of the room, anything valuable, or even useable.<br> <br>Along with the large carvings, there are smaller ones etched around the room from the floor to about the height of a being. These smaller carvings depict pairings of strange, humanoid figures, male and female in. . . compromising and surprising positions. 

There are little alcoves set all around the room where small statues, each about a foot high are set. There must be at least twenty of them, maybe more, each very different from the others, depicting unusual beings. On either side of the altar is a low door with no hint as to where they lead.<br> <br>Zuri pauses as his eyes pan over a specifically lurid statue, and coughs lightly. &quot;Wow. Well.. hm..&quot; He looks at the small doors and starts heading over to the one on t he right hand side of the altar, running his hand along the wall as he examines everything on his way there. &quot;Well, the obvious part is that this is some kind of fertility temple but.. I have no idea what the -purpose- of all this is. I&#39;m half expecting to find a bed here somewhere at this rate..&quot; He slowly pushes the door open, peering inside without going in.<br> <br>Mal stares at the walls, his eyes going from the nude carvings, to the smaller, more...risque engravings, before puffing his cheeks and letting out a quiet sigh. &quot;I&#39;ve seen more nudity in this tiny ruin, than I&#39;ll see in my whole life,&quot; he mutters, shaking his head and turning away, instead looking over one of the statues. He looks it over for a good several moments before glancing over at Zuri. &quot;Eh?&quot; he asks, making his way over, holding the little glowing rock up, trying to shade some light on the situation.<br> <br>The stone door swings open with a grating of stone on stone, opening up on a small room. The floor here does not have any of the fine tiling or mosaic that has characterized the place up to here. Instead, there are large, stone tiles, each engraved with some kind of symbol. Skulls, crowns, some sort of bird, a flower and a stylized scyth in no apparent pattern on the floor. On the far side of the room is an open archway and a pair of plaques, each bearing some inscription.<br> <br>Zuri steps into the room, suddenly aware of the need to watch his footing once more.. just in case of traps. He walks along the wall, measuring his steps carefully as he goes from symbol to symbol. &quot;Hm.. not entirely sure what these could mean... &quot; He stops near one of the plaques, taking the time to read it before stepping over to the archway and peering through.<br> <br>There is a grinding of stone as Zuri sets foot on the first tile in the room, bearing the image of a scythe and the tile sinks a bit. The little salamander is fast enough leaping backward to avoid a long, stone shaft that imbeds itself where he stood only a moment ago.<br> <br>Mal peers at the etchings, as if deciphering them. After a moment, he ahas. &quot;I don&#39;t know what these say,&quot; he says with a shrug, starting to follow along behind his companion...or he would, had a stone shaft not tried to impale Zuri. &quot;What the-?! WHO PUTS TRAPS IN A TEMPLE?!&quot; he says loudly, chest heaving from the adrenaline. The Coyote grins wide, crouching to peer at the floor tiles. &quot;I love it!&quot; He continues to try and read the tiles, maybe he can piece together a pattern...<br> <br>The inscription on the far wall is illegible. . . until it isn&#39;t. The wiggly script begins to shift and change until it is legible in Promise script. 

Three roses laid upon the bower. 
A scythe for he who cuts the flower. 
A crown, 
A dove, 
Most noble race, 
Thy bones make sacred this dread place.<br> <br>Zuri somehow managed to combat roll his way out of that trap, surely on pure instinct as he had otherwise been preoccupied with the other contents of the room. He plops down on the floor, looking up at the large stone pillar that almost crushed him. &quot;Heh.. eheh..&quot; He starts to giggle to himself. &quot;Too easy..&quot; He avoids making the cheap, lurid joke as he picks himself back up and dusts himself off, then looks about the room again. He notices the inscription, and reads it aloud. &quot;I.. hey, I didn&#39;t cut any flower! Unless you mean Rokarion but if that&#39;s the case.. bad temple! Naughty temple!&quot; He wiggles his snout and returns to look at the room. &quot;I.. um.. do we have to step on them in order?&quot;<br> <br>&quot;...Thy bones make sacred this dread place...&quot; the Coyote repeats. &quot;Wait, what.&quot; Mal looks around, then back at the tiles laid out on the floor. &quot;Lovely. Just what I want at the end of the day, a nice, relaxing puzzle with a chance of DEATH,&quot; he says, grinning. The stakes couldn&#39;t be higher. He glances at Zuri and raises an eyebrow. &quot;I...don&#39;t need know what kind of hobbies you&#39;re into,&quot; he says with a smirk, before turning back to the puzzle. &quot;I don&#39;t know. We might need to. Lemme see...&quot; he murmurs, holding the glowing rock aloft, hoping to get a view of all the tiles they&#39;ll be dealing with...<br> <br>The sunken tile slowly grinds back into place. That is good craftsmanship right there. The room waits, silent again.<br> <br>The floor looks like this: 

DXKD 
CKRD 
SRKD 
RERC 

S=Scythe R=Rose D=Dove C=crown K=Skull X=exit E=Entrance<br> <br>Zuri scratches his head. &quot;Wow. I uh.. I&#39;m not sure.&quot; The small pegasus hops on his feet briefly, thinking about this situation. &quot;Only thing I can think of is we try to do then in order. Three flowers, a scythe, a crown, a dove, a skull.. but somehow that seems too obvious..&quot; He looks at the rose markers that surround the exit. &quot;I guess we just have to go around this, then step on the scythe in that corner.. try not to die.. then the dove next to it and the skull after?&quot;<br> <br>Mal hrms, looking from the puzzle to the tiles. &quot;You can try that, I guess,&quot; he murmurs, trying to the think and failing so miserably. He points to the rose dead ahead, then to the rose on the right. &quot;One of these first, I&#39;m almost certain. It calls for three roses, but that one,&quot; he says, pointing to the leftmost Rose, &quot;is directly in front of the Scythe. If it&#39;s as obvious as it seems, we&#39;d go from that rose,&quot; he continues, pointing at the rightmost, &quot;To that crown. Then to the dove...and then I guess we&#39;d step to the skull? Or hop over to the Rose there,&quot; he adds, pointing the to rose closest to the exit, ebfore continuing, &quot;And from that rose, step onto the skull, then out the exit...&quot;<br> <br>Zuri wiggles his snout again. &quot;Okay.. I think that makes sense.&quot; He visualizes his course, and gingerly steps out onto the first rose, ready to roll away again if he gets attacked by a piece of masonry.<br> <br>Mal rubs his face and yawns...they&#39;ve been in here for so long, is it night? Or is it the gloom... The Coyote blinks when he realizes Zuri is just going to take the chance, and he was too distracted to notice! &quot;Uh...&quot; he mumbles, before staring straight at the Pegasus&#39; wings, and simplicity roundhouse kicks him in the face. &quot;...Why don&#39;t you just fly across?&quot;<br> <br>The rose tile beneath Zuri&#39;s feet holds strong. Looks like he made the right choice!<br> <br>Zuri lets out a little cheer. &quot;Okay! We&#39;re on to something!&quot; The small equine hops onto the next rose, and quickly onto the next one.<br> <br>Three roses later, and the little pegamander is no worse for the wear!<br> <br>Mal watches the Pegasus carefully, crossing his arms as he takes a few steps back...maybe he could take a running leap across...best wait until Zuri&#39;s out of the way, though...<br> <br>Zuri giggles. &quot;Yea, I think this is it!&quot; He does the next two hops, onto the nearby scythe, and then the crown, then the dove nearby, in quick succession.<br> <br>That series of hops brings Zuri to the far side of the room and the archway leading forward. No sweat!<br> <br>Mal blinks. Or he could just hop along the same tiles... The Freesword hmmphs and takes the cautionary steps onto the same tiles as Zuri, in hopes of hopping along to the end.<br> <br>Zuri does a nice wingedy flip onto the exit and lands. &quot;Tadaa!&quot; Yep, he could have flown all the way there, probably, but it&#39;s all about the game, and how you play it.<br> <br>The open archway leads into a narrow tunnel that leads downward. The floor is sandy and bare, but the walls are etched with detailed and complex designs featuring skeletons with elongated skulls, all marching downward.<br> <br>Mal pops his back and groans, squinting at the Pegasus. Playing the game...pssh, why play along when you can just win... The Coyote sighs and shakes his head, lifting the glowing rock as he looks down the hall... &quot;Going down...&quot; he murmurs.<br> <br>Zuri slinks alongside Mal, hopping along with his horsey tail flicking behind him. &quot;That was fun! I wonder what&#39;s up ahead?&quot; He smiles at the coyote next to him. &quot;We make a good team! We should do this dungeon delving thingy more often!&quot;<br> <br>The hallway is not long and leads down into a wide chamber with several arched cupolas in the cieling and long shelves in the walls where long, wrapped bundles lie uniformly.<br> <br>&quot;I suppose,&quot; Mal says, giving the Pegasus a smirk. &quot;Oh, yeah. All the time,&quot; he says, rubbing an eye. &quot;Maybe give me a few days, though. Need a breather. Preferably a breath of fresh air, not musty, dusty air.&quot; The Coyote slows down as they come to the wide chamber, holding the lit rock higher as he looks around. &quot;...Are those what I think they are?&quot; he asks, pointing out the bundles.<br> <br>Zuri perks up as the coyote points at something. He blinks, looking around the room before focusing on the bundles again. &quot;Huh.. could be anything.&quot; He steps in gingerly, his tail flicking apprehensively as he nears the shelves, and hops up to cling onto one with his little wings flapping behind him to keep him half-aloft briefly. He reaches forward to take one of the bundles, trying to assess what it is before gripping it.<br> <br>The gauzy wrapping crumbles at Zuri&#39;s touch, though there are many layers underneath. Each bundle is roughly seven feet long and the shelves, which start about three feet above the floor, are stacked five high up to the ceiling. Their uniformity and the skeleton motif around here strongly hints at the probable contents of the gauze. A pair of coins glitters on one end of the wrapped bundle.<br> <br>Mal peers over Zuri, raising an eyebrow. &quot;...Yuuuup.&quot; As the glitter of coins captures his attention, the Coyote makes his way over. &quot;Money, money, money~&quot; he sings softly, picking up a coin and flipping it, checking which side it lands on upon catching it, because what else are you going to do? He peers at the coin for a moment before stowing it and its twin into a pocket. &quot;Money, money, money... Anything useful in here, Zuri?&quot; he asks, glancing around.<br> <br>Zuri pouts, clinging onto the shelf as he looks at the bundle. &quot;Yea.. burial chamber.&quot; He wiggles his snout. &quot;I.. I&#39;m not sure we should be stealing from the -dead-.&quot; He watches the other being collect the two coins. &quot;It&#39;s.. bad luck. I think.&quot; He hops down and lands on the floor, going around each of the shelves looking for anything different about any of them. &quot;I&#39;m really confused about this place. Why such an elaborate burial place?&quot;<br> <br>The coins are like no coins that are minted in Firmament, with strange symbols on each side. They are also not especially round, more of flattened blobs than anything. There is no apparent way to move further here, though there is a large stone slab in the center of the square room with a raised skull symbol sculpted on it.<br> <br>Mal turns around and grins, clapping Zuri on the back. &quot;Nah, don&#39;t worry about it. Poor sap&#39;s already dead, what&#39;s he gonna do with them, eh?&quot; He pauses and pulls one of them back out, looking at it in the light. &quot;Granted, this being one of those Ancient coins, I doubt it&#39;ll be any use to me, either. Maybe Amar&#39;ll want one...&quot; he says, thinking aloud. He trails off when he notices no way out...but that slab does catch his eye. The Coyote slips the coin back into a pocket and makes his way over, looking over the slab and the skull symbol sculpted into it.<br> <br>Zuri scratches the back of his head. &quot;I suppose... yea, I guess Amar will like this stuff. And hey, we&#39;re getting paid anyway so..&quot; He wiggles his snout at the other being, looking thoughtful. &quot;I guess I just don&#39;t wanna upset Shalia too much, you know? She&#39;s a nice lady. Er... spirit.&quot;<br> <br>The floor does not look like it plans to go anywhere soon. But there have certainly been a number of things in the temple, its shrine and this small burial chamber that would probably be of great interest to Amar.<br> <br>&quot;Eh, never met her. Not my spirit, not my problem,&quot; he says, pressing his hand along the slab. &quot;Zuri, think this can open?&quot;<br> <br>Zuri perks up as Mal catches his attention, then runs over to the slab. He looks it over with interest, having completely missed it&#39;s presence before. &quot;Huh..&quot; He peers around it, and slides his fingers along the edge looking for any irregularities. &quot;Weird, a skull.. altar.. thingy..&quot; He feels around the skull, before giving it a quick experimental twist.<br> <br>Mal You&#39;ve doomed us all.<br> <br>There is nothing especially interesting about the stone skull, aside from its unusual shape. This may be as deep as the rabbit hole goes.<br> <br>Mal peers for a moment before shrugging. &quot;Ah, well. We should probably head back up to Amar, we said we&#39;d be in and out,&quot; he says, patting the Pegasus on the shoulder, turning and heading back the way they came, stepping on all the right tiles on the way out. &quot;...Mm, should make note of the puzzle...&quot; he murmurs. He takes his time making his way to the entrance, making sure he hasn&#39;t forgotten anything.<br> <br>Zuri nodnods. &quot;Yea, I think it&#39;s time to go back.&quot; He starts making his way back to the entrance, this time using a quick flap of his wings to bypass the puzzle altogether. He hurries out, eager to see the sun.. and hoping he didn&#39;t annoy the resident spirit way too much today. He steps outside and peers around, looking for Amar and Gavin.<br> <br>It is a simple jaunt to get back to the entrance, now that the way is clear. Amar is back in his folding chair with Gavin standing guard. And providing a steady stream of snacks and adjusting the umbrella from time to time, of course. 

&quot;Well?&quot; Amar asks, a sparkle in his eye, &quot;What did you find?&quot;<br> <br>&quot;Not much. Some statues. A burial chamber. Speaking of which, the hall to the burial room is trapped. Gimme a piece of paper, I&#39;ll jot down the puzzle,&quot; Mal says, pulling out a pen and scribbling the way past the trap on any paper provided. &quot;We found these, too,&quot; the Coyote adds as he tucks the pen away, flipping one of the blobby coins. &quot;Ancient coins, two of &#39;em. Found &#39;em on one of the corpses,&quot; he says, holding them up for the tiger to see, each coin held between his knuckles. &quot;Zuri can probably fill you in regarding to the religious bits, I don&#39;t have the head for it.&quot;<br> <br>Zuri scratches his head. &quot;Yea, what Mal said. Place is -clearly- dedicated to Shalia.. like... it couldn&#39;t be more obviously Shalia if they had painted her name all over. It has.. mm.. imagery.&quot; He giggles. &quot;But otherwise not much. The temple has an interesting design, almost as if it&#39;s split into a male and female half that occasionally come together and split up again. Sorta like.. I think it was very symbolic, really. A couple coming together. Stuff. Rokarion would probably be way better at this than me... but anyways, tadaa! Exploration done!&quot;<br> <br>Amar takes the coins from Mal and nods happily at the description the duo gives him. &quot;Very good!, very good!&quot; he says, looking over the coins and stroking his pointy little goatee, &quot;I am overjoyed! Thank you very much for your service!&quot; He accepts Mal&#39;s mock up of the trap and nods, &quot;Excellent, excellent! Gavin, fetch the reward for our explorers.&quot;<br> <br>Mal thanks the Tiger and his manservant, and starts to walk off, before turning, walking backwards. &quot;Hey, Zuri! Catch,&quot; he calls, pulling out that glowing rock and tossing it to the Pegasus! &quot;Catch you later!&quot; he says, turning to face front just in time to round the bend.<br> <br>Zuri catches the glowy crystal, offering the coyote a cheeky grin. &quot;See ya, fella.&quot; The small pegamander collects  his lucre, and after a quick stroll and a flick of his wings he&#39;s airborneagain, off on his way home.[[Category:RPLogs]]