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Rishi	Awash in red and gold light it takes a moment to get your bearings. Looking around, you see: A basalt ramp under you, wide enough for two fine carriages to pass, and the ceiling you just came from tall enough that not even Fudou would be able to reach up and touch it. There are two rails of reddish steel set into low grooves, so that walking along will not cause anyone to trip. The ramp curves away leading further down in front of you. On your right is a curved stone wall, lit with high glass sconces each holding a flickering flame. The walls here have been carved with more images of iron and fire, with more normal looking doors set at regular intervals. To your left is a steel lattice, but the scale dwarfs the ones you've seen so far. More reddish steel formed into a repeating triangular lattice that reaches up from the floor all the way to the ceiling stones and many yards wide. Red light coming up from below illuminates the space beyond the lattice. The wind blows past you all through the vast lattice, keeping the area comfortable. Looking through it, you can see that it opens onto a vast hexagonal shaft, formed of five more of these lattices, reaching up to the surface and further down, past a number of strange engines and metal ...sails?, into a goopy mass of molten stone glowing red and yellow. It's hard to be certain, but you think there's a large metal grating at the bottom of the pit and a number of metal catwalks, so, if you went out there and fell you probably wouldn't land directly in the magma. Probably.
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk wonders over to the doors and starts inspecting them looking for ways to open them. "Maybe there some finished product inside or some raw materials we could use to make something powerful. Ames is always looking for weird stuff."
Nine Roads Alani	Wriggling through all those vents and whatnot, for several stories even, is not a great way to keep clean. As "Elena" looks around, she's looking with particular interest at the wooden doors to everyone's right. While she does so she grumbles a bit, brushing a spot of grime uselessly from her robe in the process. Still, her eager, irrepressible excitement is hard to miss as she trots over to where Silk is standing. "I'm a bit better than the -last- time we were both standing at a closed door, Silk, but I'm sure you're the expert still. What's the verdict?" Despite asking, Elena is still inspecting the door on her own. She's curious, and watches Silk's technique as well as inspecting the door on her own.
Misa	"Does it concern anyone else," Misa pipes up, crouched down over larger of the lattices as she looks down into the mechanics of this place and molten metal. "That this place is either dilapidated despite being built over active magma... or still in operation to some degree. Either one poses potential concerns or issues." She stands, brushing her robe off idly as she returns to the side of the others, ponderous- partially to provide the violet-pink light she emits for Silk's inspection purposes. "Ought we select an intact one of these, set some things down as a place to return to as reference point, should we turn out separated at some juncture?"
Rishi	The doors on the right are built to more standard sizes and minimal artistry, but pleasing simplicity, with one major exception a little ways along that a normal person could barely see from here. The exception is a huge door, akin to the front door of the manse in size, though made from reddish steel and embossed with an image of a lion in copper. Above the door is a sign in Old Realm: "Copper Mine." As Silk is checking the doors, she finds that they're unlocked. Peeking in, the three doors nearby you look like a storage room with goods fallen to dust and mold, a workroom bearing silent forges and mechanical hammers, and a dormatory with broken beds and the remains of a living space.
Serene Herald	"I am hoping we are not becoming separated, unless it is being necessary for some to operate devices that others may proceed," Herald states. "It is looking as though the heart of the manse is deeper within. 'Copper Mine'. I wonder, a play on words? 'Mine' as in to extract the copper, or 'mine' as in 'belonging to me'." Then he frowns and looks in one direction then another. "I am being of hearing something. There is being some sort of creature once dead--spirit, zombie, I am not knowing. But something is being nearby...I can hear it."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk sighs in disappointment. "These rooms are a bust. We can use the barracks looking room as a base of operations." She looks to Misa "I'm not that surprised. A building of this size and obvious complexity must be from the First Age. Those things were build to last. This could be a Manse that was build on Dragon Lines. It would mean that the place is being maintained by the mana from the Dragon Lines." "Perhaps we should check out whatever has Perfect on edge?" Silk's leather fingerless gloves manifest a set of golden fighting claws and she looks at Perfect with a raised eyebrow.
Nine Roads Alani	"They really did," Alani murmurs, as she comes back out of the storeroom. She's carrying that wagon wheel, too, over one shoulder. Did it manage to fit down that shaft? "In a way, it's nice to see how much -better- things were then. Or at least better built, I suppose. Really puts things in perspective." She looks curiously at the sign, but then glances at Perfect Question and shakes her head. "Nah, I don't think it's a clever play on words. Everything here screams forthright, brute force power and skill. A magical library or secret stash this place isn't. Then again, it -is- Old Realm. They did like their double meanings." She pauses, though, as Perfect Question starts talking about spirits. Her expression darkens a bit, and she starts looking around again. "I don't know a lot about detecting spirits, I admit. But I don't -feel- like I'm in danger..." Her voice trails off thoughtfully for a moment. "Eh. If we need, I can force most spirits to manifest. It hits -all- of them, though, and it's liable to set them off, I bet. The downside of letting us hit them is...well, them hitting us."
Misa	Misa pauses- and has not yet bothered to draw her short steel blades- simply looking over her companions for a moment. She eyes theclaws Silk produces for a moment. "I have a suspicion we will be fine, physically- Silk here is well equipped, and I am quite able to attest to the other two of you's ability should matters come to blows. I might keep a watch for them attempting to -talk- around us, however," she suggests, brow rising a little. And without further words, she simply strides in Question's indicated direction.
Rishi	The clanking of leaden chains that Question hears is coming from further down, past the door to the mine... but around the curve, before you can locate whatever spirit is making the noise, there is a visible and obvious hazard. Heat radiates from what can only be a large puddle of lava covering the ramp. In defiance of the normal rules of the world, this puddle is simply ...there, with no obvious source, nor is it flowing downhill. It is simply there, blocking any further direct route.
Serene Herald	Perfect Question follows along, and when the lava is there, he frowns. "This is being wide, but not too wide to jump." He smiles slightly, and sometimes having the /idea/ of jumping can help with actual action of jumping. Theory is leading to praxis." And with that, he sumps, seemingly effortlessly, across the lava to land on the farther side, still scanning deeper within, and a hand shifting back towards the hilt of the sword at his back.
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk looks at the lava and giggles a little. "And here I thought my learning Sorcery wasn't going to be helpful. Give me a moment while I cast this spell. I really should practice more often." The wind picks up and Silk starts dancing. Within a few moments a dust devil big enough for everyone forms. Over the rushing wind, Silk calls out "How on, it's safe."
Nine Roads Alani	"Well," Elena muses to herself. "I guess we're going this way." She pauses at the edge of the lava pool, eyeing it judiciously. "Any notion why this hasn't cooled -millennia- ago? I don't see a way it could have gotten in here normally..." She shrugs. "But it's a manse, it's not normal. Gonna feel stupid if a ghost is making an illusion, though." She pauses before making her own jump, though, looking at Misa and Silk. "Before I go, can the two of you make it across? Not sure if I have something to help or not--don't think I do--but..." At Silk's spellcasting, Elena laughs out loud and happily hops into the whirlwind. "Hey, nice! I've seen this one before, but I haven't--PTHBB!" Yeah, she hadn't actually ridden in one before, or she would have known to not let her hair get in her mouth. As it is, the winds blessedly silence her as she argues with her own hair, all the way to the other side of the lava.
Misa	Misa... has some pride in her appearance, apparently. Judging by the couple of moments she takes to sort her hair out after being set down by the localized whirlwind, eyes squinted against the rushing winds for several moments beyond it settling again for the moment. "I... had intended to simply sprint it, much as people cross over coals in some parts. Which sounds foolish, but I am swift enough," she says with a simple, quiet certainty. She straightens up, looking back at the pool for a moment before turning her gaze back down the hall.
Rishi	Throughout creation, dragon-lines shift over time. Over time, these can create mis-alignments with Manses, that require adjustment. In manses that have not been maintained or even visited in many years, minor misalignments can grow into large problems, such as an eddy of fire essence creating a pool of lava where it is not supposed to be. In a manse as old as this one, there are likely many such pockets. Most should be fire related, either metaphysically or actually, though perhaps in an unexpected way, by enflaming or sapping heat or passion. Or other such manifestations. Herald, you can hear the clanking from beyond the next door, likely a workroom based on the decoration.
Serene Herald	"There is being a dead spirit beyond here, what is looking to be a workroom. I am not of knowing if it is being an owner of the manse, or of a servant or slave, or another adventurer as we are. Is there anyone knowing easily to talk with such spirits, would be being of good for them to be trying to talk, and see." "If no-one else is able to? I can be trying myself."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk guides the whirlwind across. She lands it safely and dismisses the storm. "I can see spirits so perhaps I can also hear them. I've never had cause to do it." She looks at the doors then back to Elena "After you."
Nine Roads Alani	As the Stormwind Rider lands, Elena steps out, the comically aggrieved look on her face saying everything. She combs her hair back with her fingers, letting the wheel balance on edge for the brief moment that action takes, all while looking around at the other end of the ramp. "Hrm, I think I just answered my own question," Elena mutters. "Just the manse settling, or the dragon lines shifting, over time. Honestly, in that light, we might be lucky the issue's as small as it was. We should keep an eye out for more of that. Despite magma being kind of one-or-the-other, the manse is probably only fire-aspected." With that pronouncement, she looks at Silk with a cheeky little grin. "You give me the sweetest gifts, Silk. All right, let's take a look..." Already inspecting the workshop door carefully as she approaches, Elena slips a couple slim lockpicking tools from her hair and sees what can be seen...and if necessary, tries to disable any traps, and unlock it if needed.
Rishi	Unusually, this door was in fact locked. Opening the door, you see that several sconces are out, leaving the room dark and shadowy. Ancient machines loom ominously in the background, their shadows making the room even gloomier. For those who can see spirits, there is a low moaning coming seemingly from nowhere. Then you think to look up. The shadows surrounding the high ceiling of the room resolve into the shades of innumerable ghosts, a red ribbon of twisted sinew and bone burrowing through each of them. It covers the entire ceiling. After a few moments it apparently notices you looking at it, as of the moaning ghosts coughs theatrically. "And Good day to you. What brings such fine morsels to my dwelling?"
Misa	"Rather... larger than it is meant to be, no?" Misa muses, glancing left and right at her companions with a quirk of the brow. "The undead are not my specialty, but... Hm. Is this a size that grew over time, or was it induced in the heyday of this facility, I wonder?" She's not really talking to the spirit, to be honest, so much as musing aloud- despite the creature clearly having the capacity for conversation."
Serene Herald	Perfect Question looks up to the ceiling, and there is a glimmer of violet at his brow that illuminates the spirit hiding at the top of the room for a moment. Enough to see, perhaps to recognize, before it fades. "We are of being here to search, to be finding a weapon of renown that was being interred here, perhaps was even of being made here. To show disrespect to you is not of being our intent, but our goal we will not be turning from, honored dead. What was of being your name in life?"
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk looks up at the ghost, at the word morsel, she raises an eyebrow at the spirit. "Did you just call us morsels? We are investigating this place. I do not wish any trouble."
Nine Roads Alani	"That..." Elena stops for a moment to dry swallow. "That is a rantai. It might be the biggest rantai I have ever even -heard- of. There must be -hundreds- of ghosts trapped in that thing. Maybe -thousands-. I still think we can take it if we need to, but what the hell is it doing down here with a whole battlefield up above us?" She frowns thoughtfully, studying the thing carefully before Herald's violet light fades. "Maybe it's looking for a -specific- ghost. But I think it knows we're a bigger bite than it can chew." She starts looking around carefully. "You go talk with it, Question, I'll keep an eye out. Maybe it knows something."
Rishi	Several of the ghosts give a dry, papery chuckle alternating with too wet laughs from others at Herald's comment. The deathly chorus of voices continues "My dear morsel, I have never been anything but what I am now. As for a name...hrm...I suppose you may call me the ...Collector." "Well, if you are exploring this place then, perhaps I can be of help to you and you to me. But one moment." One of the ribbon chains uncoils, lowering a ghost to the floor, the shade taking on a certain amount of color and substance as it falls. Those who can't see the spirit realm, it looks like a ghost is simply standing before you, the immaterial chain stretching up to the ghost mass hidden out of view. The ghost smiles, it's eye twitching slightly. It ..bears a striking resemblance to Misa for some odd reason. In a polite and warm voice it says "There. This should make communicating much easier, yes? I'm here looking for a particular prize to add to my collection and, I rather think you'll find this place much safer with them gone." Her mouth twitches, smile threatening to turn into a rictus "What do you know of the Ancient Dead? The Ghosts left by the Exalted?"
Misa	"Misa frowns rather fully as the singular ghost drops down, arms crossing despite the fact that she still hasn't drawn steel in response to the potential dangers of the situation. She shifts a foot slightly to the side. "Just enough to get the idea- you want to help us find our way, so long as that way includes such a ghost for your... 'collection', as you put it."
Serene Herald	"This is the place of dying of one of the Exalts of old? Of power great so a ghost is being of wandering? It is..." Question pauses a moment, "being of making sense. You are hoping to have us being of working with you to collect this other ghost, where you are of harming us not, neither before nor after when we are of leaving this place?"
Rishi	The ghost nods happily, head flopping up and down on a boneless neck. "Exactly! There are *two* powerful and ancient ghosts interred here and some wards between you and them. If you can cut through the wards and...tire them out for me so I may collect them, I can fill you in on their natures and warn you of a few other traps this place has in store." The woman's grin is overly wide and toothy, hand extended too far. "So, shall we work together?"
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk stares at the ghost and sighs. "I'm willing to do this in exchange for where the treasures are in this place. I'm not shaking your hand. Someone else can do that."
Nine Roads Alani	"The bargain seems obvious, rantai," Elena quietly says. Her attention is focused and determined, the carefree, jovial demeanor is gone for the moment. "You stand to gain a great deal. I admit that what you're offering could be helpful. I think we need to make clear that part of the deal means you don't attack us, though. You won't enjoy trying to backstab us."
Misa	"I am here to see what challenges lie, more than anything," admits Misa, shrugging slightly in her response. "If there are ghosts to be dealt with, I am certainly amenable to doing the dealing, as one might say."
Rishi	The Ghost's grin widens even further, drops of ...something appearing at the corners of her mouth. "Perish, aheh, the thought! I'm *much* more interested in aquiring those two down there than any of you." She puts a finger to her mouth in a way that's likely intended to be impish, but... "Though, well, if any of you did die...I would have a hard time keeping my hands to myself." She claps her hands together, smiling happily, neck bent at a strange angle. "But, as long as you just don't do that, everything will be fine, right?" "So, here's what you need to know..."