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 had pulled his shirt up to cover his nose and mouth at the horrible smell and dust, resulting in a slightly muffed voice]]

No... normally they get cremated or burred, almost always with something to signify where their remains are....

Maybe there really was a sacrifice to the building... [[He hadn't expected to be right about that. It was actually a little disconcerting to think that the people here were capable of something like that... or worse...!]]

But why furnish a room meant only for a sacrifice?

[After a moment, she steps forward, through the hole, and moves carefully to the bedside. When she speaks again, it's not at Bakura.]

What happened to you?

[She knelt by the bed, to get a better look at the body.]

Sometimes rooms like that were filled with offerings or distractions... normally if they used a child, there'd be toys and games in there so that the child wouldn't realize what was going on...

[[It's a little difficult to get a clear picture of the past from the poor state the skeleton was in. The conditions seemed to have been just right to expedite the decay, leaving little but bones behind. But a close look at the skull would show the distinct mark of damage. A blow to the head.]]

Hmm.

[Gently, she reaches out to feel the edge of the hole. Her expertise was more technological, because of the nature of her studies, but she was still a trained archaeologist.]

You don't have to distract someone after hitting them over the head. I am not sure if this would have been fatal, but it caused damage.

[She leans over a little more, moving down the body, trying to spot any other signs of damage to the bones.]

Is there anything on the desk, or in the drawers? Don't remove anything, we simply want to know who this is.

[[The rest of the skeleton was was would be expected from someone living in that realm. Closer examination showed it was a woman's skeleton. Average height and in decent health before she died, nothing to hint at any hardship suffered before the one that had ended her life.

[[Bakura carefully steps over the pile of debris before going to the drawers]] No... they're all empty... It doesn't look like anyone was living here when they sealed it up....

[Liara was not quite as familiar with human as anatomy as she could have been, so most of those details were lost to her.]

Whoever it was, I don't see any other damage.

[She pulls back and looks over at Bakura.]

Do we have a sheet? Something to cover the body with? Until we can figure out how to move this person to somewhere more appropriate, we should offer at least some respect. Walling off a room...Goddess.

I think there were on the other beds... if not I can get something from up stairs! Just a moment...!

[[and he carefully steps over the rubble pile before vanishing out into the darkness, bubble of light following him. He returns a minute later, a white sheet draped folded over his arm]] We can ask at the monastery, there's a graveyard there that I'm pretty sure they take care of... I'm sure they'll know what to do.

Thank you.

[While he is gone, Liara scans the room with her light, looking for any sign on why the body was left there. She focuses especially on the wall that had been blocked up. When Bakura returns, though, she is looking at the skeleton again.]

Our friend was just dumped here. Look at the arms, the angle of the head. Whoever left him here didn't take any time to make sure there was peace here. Whatever reason for sealing this room, it wasn't respect for the dead. This isn't a hallowed tomb for some dear family member. It's a convenient grave.

[She sounds disgusted by that. Even if the work of her lifetime was entering tombs, disturbing the past, she still carried a deep respect for what...for who...she studied. Situations like this disturbed her.]

If they killed her to support the building, why do so in a fully furnished room? And if they cared enough to give an entire room to the dead, why dump the body and leave? This doesn't make sense.

[She took the sheet and laid it over the body.]

I do not know if there are any words that a local would say over the dead. Have you heard of anything?

[[he shakes his head]] Not of what they do here.. but... one moment!

[[and he vanishes back out into the dark. It's a few minutes before he returns with a stick of incense and a bowl of rice. Carefully setting the bowl down, he places the incense in it and lights it before putting his hands together and closing his eyes in silent prayer.

A soft faint glow builds around him as the air in the room becomes lighter, even as the heavy sent of the incense begins to permeate it.]]

[Liara is kneeling, eyes closed, when he comes back. She watches as he sets things up, and bows her head when he begins to pray for this person.]

[[After a long moment, the light and magic fades, Bakura's eyes opening, looking a little distant for a moment]]

I'm sure the monks will know what this world does... but for now...

[She is quiet for a moment.]

What do you believe happens to a spirit after death?

[[There's a distant look in the young man's eyes at that question, and a faint, almost wistful smile.]]

It depends on the spirit, really. Some of them stick around, either having something unfinished or not realizing that they've died, or even just wanting to watch over those who are still living. Others move on to the next life.

[She considers the body in silence for a moment.]

Do you think this one has moved on?

[[There is a very long pause]]

I guess... that would depend how he died.... but the room doesn't feel haunted, I don't think?

Why did you say the King gave this house to you?

I'd asked him for one for everybody, and he said this one'd been abandoned for a long while. He made a joke about it taking a heroic effort to bring it back to it's former glory too...

It certainly isn't well maintained.

[She rises to her feet and crosses her arms.]

I'm wondering why. Especially with this room.

...you think he may have known about this? Or that this is why it was abandoned?

I'm saying there is a reason we found a body in a sealed room, and a reason this place was left alone.

Maybe they are related.

[She shook her head a little.]

But it doesn't matter now. We should send for someone who can take care of the remains.

[[nods, carefully climbing over the pile in the makeshift doorway]] I'll go get one of the monks.

Bakura, I...

[She clasped her hands in front of her, looking back at the bed.]

I'm going to stay here. For a while, anyway.

[[He pauses a moment, before giving a warm smile and nodding.]]

Thank you. I'm sure he'd appreciate it.

I'll be right back.

[She nods, rubbing her arms.]

I wasn't doing anything important, anyway, and I don't mind staying for a little while. Better than being alone again, I'd think.

[[Bakura nods before ducking back out into the basement. His ball of light splits as he does so, one staying behind to keep the room illuminated, the other following him out.

It will take a bit of time, but he will be back, with a trio of monks in tow as well as supplies for the careful removal of the body; much cloth, herbs and a stretcher. ]]

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

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Action | Belatedly, I realize this should have been in the rumors, but... welp. Time.

Action | Alas

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