eswareinmal | Level 5: Things that are all too common [Orb / GHB 15]

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Level 5: Things that are all too common [Orb / GHB 15]

Hey guys! Did you know that there's a basement to Hero House?!

[[The background is pretty dark, the glow of something just to the side making it so Bakura can be seen, but not much else]]

I found the door to it in the kitchen, it was shut up pretty tight and since it's a trap down to get down here, it was pretty easy to miss! Looks like there's a pantry down here, though I'm sure everything's old and rotted by now. Sure smells that way! [[Yet he's so very very cheerful]] Looks like it runs the length of the house too! I'm going to go--

[[He pauses, turning to look behind him and moment in silence before turning back to the orb]] Thought I heard something.. though I guess if anyone's upstairs it would--

[[There's a suddenly strange sound like a wind that can be heard quite loudly through the orb as Bakura gives a small exclamation, the image going crazy as if the orb was knocked into, showing the ceiling above, then the dim stone walls, then nothing at all as everything goes black.]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bakura?

[Liara was in the Library, working on the books from the monastery. When Bakura's message went dark, she didn't waste time with the orb, but went straight to the kitchen.]

Bakura? Are you alright?

[A blue glow surrounded her as she approached the trap door.]

Can you hear me?

[[There was a faint groan before the sound of something moving]]

Yeah... sorry, something--

[[There was a slight pause before a white light flickered into existence in the basement and Bakura could be seen picking himself up off the floor, brushing off his jeans]]

Must have been a rat or something...

[[Now to try and get the dirt from the floor out of his hair... ug.]]

Don't be sorry. And look out, I'm coming down.

[After a moment for her warning to be heeded, Liara dropped down the hole, forgoing the ladder altogether and slowing herself with her biotics, instead. She glanced around, but most of her focus was on him.]

Are you alright?

[She activated her omni-tool and turned on the light, shining it around them.]

You should be more careful. Next time, let me help, okay?

[[The basement was nothing out of the ordinary. Dirt floors, stone walls that arched up to support the floor above lined with shelves that were mostly full of antique provisions, much like had been found in the kitchen when they had first opened up the mansion. As Bakura had said, it did stretch the length of the house, with some small rooms off in the distance.

Bakura nodded, rubbing under one eye to try and get out a smudge of dirt]]

Un, I'm fine. Just a little embarrassed...! Didn't even cast Shield in time before I hit the floor... normally I'm better at that!

[Liara scanned the shelves, then the floor, with her light. Then she turned back to Bakura, and put a hand on her hip.]

Let me look. Make sure you didn't sprain anything.

[She knelt in front of him, holding out a hand.]

Then, we'll look around.

[[Bakura accepted the hand up, a touch unsteady on his feet a moment before getting his balance.]] Doesn't feel like I twisted anything. I feel pretty directly forward...

Remind me to tell you about the time I trapped myself with technology 50,000 years old, sometime.

[She looked him over with a rather critical eye.]

Scrapes? Bruises? Your wrists feel fine when you move them?

[She looked around the room again, and then back at him.]

Also...what is a 'rat'?

[[blink blink]] You know the small rodents that sometimes in the pantries and things like that? Long bodies, fat long tail, about this big? [[he held up his hands to gesture]]

Wrists are fine! [[continues with a smile. Mostly fell on my chest, I'm sure I'll have some sort of bruise later! But I can always heal that away~

[She nods, very slowly.]

I have an idea what sort of creature you mean, at least. There are similar pests on virtually every world with any higher forms of life. I'm afraid I've not actually spent a great deal of time on many Human worlds, especially ones with thriving colonies.

Hmm.

[She considered the room, reassured, for the moment, that he was at least mostly alright.]

So. Which way?

Mmmm... [[and he looks back and forth a moment before nodding towards the side with the small rooms.]] This way?

Alright.

[She shined her light in the direction he indicated, looking around. After a moment, she nodded.]

The structure certainly looks stable enough. The house isn't nearly as bad as it might have been. Shall I lead?

[[another nod]] Sure! Maybe with two lights, we won't trip over anything... [[so sheepish. So very very sheepish.]]

and really, I still can't figure out why this place was abandoned. Even with all the villagers whispering about it, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it at all...

[She's done worse, don't worry about it. After a final look at the ceiling, she starts off in the direction he's indicated. She doesn't move fast, but also doesn't examine every little thing they pass, either.]

Well, nothing down here looks out of place. Certainly no real sign of anyone having been down here for some time, though there are signs of animal life. Rats, I suppose.

Un... I think those are sort of inevitable in these sorts of places.

[[he sends his orb of light over to the walls and then in a slow arc across the floor]]

I think down here's even cleaner than the upstairs was. Maybe because it was shut up? Since there were no windows to break and wind to blow things in....

Better than varren. Or pirates. Smaller, at least.

[She stops, and takes a moment to look into a side room.]

There's not much mess at all, is there? Well, that's something.

Somehow I think any pirates in this would would be cartoon figures with peglegs, eye patches and parrots and wouldn't be caught dead in a non port town. [[His smile is very impish there]]

And it makes it a lot easier to clean it up to be used, yeah. Though we'd have to figure out some sort of lighting... I haven't seen any lamps or anything so far, which is a little strange!

[She isn't quite sure what to make of that description.]

I'm not sure I saw anyone like that when I was down at the coast. Perhaps they all stayed in establishments closer to the water than any I patronized.

[Is she taking him literally? Well, she's pretending to, at least.]

There are candles, and lamps, upstairs, but...

[Diverted, she moves over to a wall, walking along it carefully, looking closely at anything that might be unusual.]

Do you see any fixtures at all? Somewhere to place candles, torches, hand a lamp. Walls, ceiling, even a stand?

I find it difficult to believe there isn't something, even if the source of light isn't down here anymore.

[[Bakura peers, raising his light up]] I can't tell... I think-- aa! Here, that looks like it has a hook for a lamp of some sorts, doesn't it?

[[Or something anyway. It's some sort of hook.]]

I guess since it's just a basement, they just brought individual lights down, rather than leave any behind...?

It's possible. If the house was old enough, and if they only ever expected to send servants down here anyway, I can't see why they would waste money on extras down here.

[She turned and shone her light back the way they'd come from, and then shrugged a little.]

Honestly, even my most educated guess is just that. I don't know nearly enough about human cultures and customs that are not, well. Modern, where I'm from. I never spent a great deal of time studying living races. My specialty has always been the Protheans, and they've been extinct for around 50,000 years.

And this place doesn't exactly follow any logic outside of a storybook...

[[He pauses, a small shiver running through him before he rubs at his arms]] I think there must be a draft somewhere...

Hmm.

[She turns, looking around slowly.]

I don't see anything odd. Well, that I recognize as out of place, at least. Let's check the side rooms. Perhaps one has a chute or something?

It'd have to be a pretty big one to cause a draft, I'd think! Though that could be pretty cool to find. Like a series of underground mines or something?

[[The first of the side rooms is clearly servants quarters. A small shabby bed, a small desk with a cheep lamp and a few books on it and a small dresser all but filled the room, leaving it a bit cramped feeling.]]

They could be used to move materials, if there was cooking done down here, or heating.

[She moves over to examine the desk for anything of any interest, papers or the like.]

Is there anything left in there?

[She pointed at the dresser.]

[[He walks over, pulling open each drawer]] Doesn't look like it...

[[There was only one paper, the start of a letter talking about an impending holiday and the writer coming home to see her family. The books were what looked like pulp novels, much like the ones in the king's library.]]

Alright.

[She shook her head.]

Let's check the next room. Might find something in one of them, and since we're already down here...

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