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.]]

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[[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...

Worth a try! They likely wouldn't have cleaned them all out, right?

[[Though the other two rooms showed a similar lack of anything interesting. However...]]

Ne... This room's the same as the one across from it... but there's another one next to that other one where as this one is the last in the row. You'd think there'd be another room on this side to match up...

[Liara frowns, looking at the ceiling.]

We should still be under the house.

[She looks back the way they came from, shining her light over the walls.]

And there's nowhere else I see that isn't at least predominantly symmetrical, either.

A hidden room, maybe? Maybe like.. aaa, I forget what they were called, where they would sacrifice someone to ensure the building would be sound!

...though that's a little dark for a place like this...

This is a place being overrun by thorns that aren't touched by fire or any other normal means to fight invasive plant life.

[In other words, whatever the city is like, Dark is just around the corner.]

Still, there are any number of reasons to close off a room. I'm not sure I'd call it hidden, or they'd have sealed off both of the back rooms with a wall across the hall, I'd think. Then you'd never notice the missing door.

[She's examining the wall, now, looking at it, feeling it with her fingers.]

The other rooms...their doors line up, don't they?

[She turns, and moves opposite of the door to the unpaired room.]

Shall we try knocking? Magic doors respond to that kind of thing, don't they?

Sometimes! Worth a try, at the very least!

Stand back. Just in case.

[She waits for a moment, and then knocks where the door seems like it should be with one hand, the other pointing her light at the lower half of the wall, in case it does open.]

[[There's no motion, but a chill breeze seems to blow through the room, making Bakura shiver. It sounds hollow enough behind the wall, as if she would have knocked on any of the other walls with rooms behind them.]]

...Should we get something to make a hole, do you think? I've never broken into a sealed room before...

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