740/Digging Deeper

Digging Deeper
Date of Scene:	04 October 2014
Location:	The Secret World <TSW>
Synopsis:	Henry Hawthorne tips those off with additional information that might lead them to new secrets behind the history of Kingsmouth...
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 40, Staren, 151, Riva Banari, Inga, 560

---

Riva Banari has posed:
The events that began in the Kingsmouth Congregational Church recently continue to ripple, creating events and further consequences.

One of those happened to be someone doubting Henry Hawthorne's ability to dig up information on the internet about strange Illuminati artifacts. Apparently, he found something, and he had called some of those who participated back to the church to hear his findings. Others, of course, may be brought as well, and the artifacts have been removed from Syndicate custody and brought to the church with them.

Henry seems to be as blue as ever, bathed in the faint, fog-dimmed light that streams through the blue-stained, Illuminati-emblazoned windows. The damage to the floor has ben crudely covered up with some scrap lumber. It looks like Henry is about as good at carpentry as he is with dealing with secret societies.

The presence of Ainsley doesn't even seem to faze him this time, the revelation of the artifacts and current events has clearly come to a resolution in his mind. There is a tinge of fire in his eyes that was not there before, his voice holding a hint of desperate knowledge. As soon as he sees the group arrive, he begins addressing you all. "I am glad you all have arrived. In the time since we last met, I have managed to find several fragments of information that give us a lead as to the use of the artifacts you have found. Meanwhile, you have been walking Kingsmouth's secret trails." He gestures, leaning in slightly. "Was it illuminating? Were you enlightened?" He straightens, putting a hand on his heart. "Were it not for... circumstances, and my duty to the Lord, I would join you, document your expedition! Although..." He trails off, finally giving someone a chance to get a word in edgewise.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Miss Eleanor Lamb is here, looking... very rugged today in a warm plaid jacket, carrying her two handed spanner she lifted from someone's back yard. "Thank you, Father Hawthorne. I know that the Union is, at least, concerned over things here, as are the various... other factions here as well." She carefully plants the business end of the wrench against the wood floor and smiles. "Anything more you can offer will be greatly appreciated. History lessons of foreign worlds is not in act my strong suit."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is once more in town armed and ready as she can be, she was shocked that Henry found some info, but thankfully he did hopefully it will be of use but she has to say he did find something, that's good right? so here she comes as they are greeted.

"SO I hear you founf some information, and it was ... interesting information but I'm not the best with the sorts of things afflicting this town. Undead? Monsters from the sea is just the thing of stories and myth back on my world. Either way thank you for your efforts Father Hawthorne."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Seeing that there's a meeting scheduled at Kingsmouth again, and without any real word on how things were going, Emiya Shirou decided to check the place out. The bubbly curse that had to be sealed was rather worrisome - what if that kept flowing and never stopped?

    So he's come around to ask, and happened to spot people heading for the Church.

    Shirou enters the building in his ordinary attire, empty-handed just as Henry's beginning to speek. The boy's eyes widen as curiosity rises in him. 'Who is this guy, and why does he seem so fired up,' his look all but asks.

    And so instead he spots others around. The boy looks around with a sheepish expression. Maybe he should come back later...

Inga has posed:
The wisewoman is here, but she is by no means in the best of moods--even beyond having to set foot in a Christian church. The woman is back in her dark ages style dress, cloak over her shoulders, oak staff in her hand. Her hair is split and hangs in two long braids over her shoulders. Her hands grip her staff a bit too tightly, a line of anxiety drawn between her brow.

Inga nods to those gathered, friends such as Kotone and Eleanor get a brief smile before she turns her full gaze on Henry. "You do not want to go out there," she assures him. "Before we do, if anyone present does not have their own protections in place I offer my services. You do not want to come into close contact with these creatures without wards," she says.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley has taken to looking a little more tired since the last time that Henry had seen him. She walks into the church, dressed in robes and adorned with a proto-abstractum ribbon tied to her tail. Her mouth wilts into a little frown when Henry isn't immediately forthcoming about the information he ran across, but as the lizard girl stays at the back of the group, she doesn't speak up about it. She looks at each of those present, her frown fading for a mild curiosity as some urge Henry to explain and one offers protection.
    "I would like some wards, Inga," the spanish-voiced lizard tells Inga, with a warm gratitude in her voice. "I have yet to figure out that spell, myself."

Staren has posed:
    Staren is here, though he's a bit clueless about whatever artifacts they're talking about. Weren't Ainsley and friends solving some puzzle here back when he was solving puzzles in Mizuki's world?

    Staren's in his armor, because zombies, although he's taken his helmet off now that they're inside. He scratches his head. "So... we're here to do what, exactly?"

Riva Banari has posed:
Henry looks over to Eleanor with a kindly smile. "I see a glint in your eyes that I recognize from the bathroom mirror. You're a seeker of knowledge, are you not? I mostly concern myself with the history of this town. The works of Solomon Priest and Isaac Fletcher, the founders of Solomon County and those who built the town itself. Were it not for the fire, well..." He shrugs and sighs.

Inga's assurance that he doesn't want to go poking is met with a nod. "Understandable. Ordinarily, it would be different, but with the zombies things are somewhat more dangerous than it needs to be."

He spreads his hands, and then claps them together. "So, as one might expect, the artifacts are intimately linked with the history of our town. The madam believes that these artifacts are keys, but keys to what? There isn't a door in the town that these would open."

He pauses, and gestures at that. "However, the town is not the only place touched by the Founders. Tap your foot on any paving stone down Main Street and you might hear the echo of Illuminati history. Why, the whole of Solomon Island is positively riddled with tunnels! But I wouldn't expect most people to notice..."

Henry turns to poke at his laptop, bringing up a map of Kingsmouth town proper. Several locations are highlighted as possible areas to examine, most of them clustered down Main Street and the environs. "If you want to find the door for the keys, you will need to look underground. They will not be a part of the sewer system, that is too new, too easy to spot and gain access to. You will need to seek out another entrance. The older areas provide more possibilities, of course."

He turns away from the laptop and looks to the group. "You have come this far already. You can't stop now. I know the feeling intimately, the desire to keep digging..."

He leans forward again, his expression intense. "That glint won't fade, the restlessness in your heart won't stop. The voices... Won't fall silent." He shakes his head, and gestures, waving a hand out palm down and forward. "Dig further. Dig deeper. Always deeper."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa Was glad to see Inga she smiles she nods in agreement she will take any beings willing to interced. They need all the help they can get and she knows it. She sighs and nods "I'll take the wards...I'd be a fool not to."

She listens for a moment and she blinks for a moment.

"...Catacombs this town's old enough to have them isn't it?"

She pauses at the mentioning of digging deep.

"Drums drums in the deep..."

She muses recalling a fantasy movie, and old one but a very solid one for the pre cyberentic age she had to admit. You dig too deep and sometimes you get something you wish you never found.

"Right shall we get to it?"

Inga has posed:
Inga turns as Ainsley enters, nodding to her, her lips tugging into a small smile at least. Inga looks tired as well, tired but angry and that anger would fuel her for a good while. "Of course. Heh, well I hope you'll not learn all my secrets so quickly," she replies to Ainsley, moving toward her.

Inga reaches for her knife and quickly draws it across her finger. A rune is drawn into the air as Inga chants, the blood sparkling crimson before seeming to sink into the lizard woman and suffuse her with protection. A protection against invasion of the Black Stuff. "This should protect you from...infection. If we see battle I can provide more immediate protection," she comments.

Inga looks to Staren, glad he'd worn his armor. She raises a brow toward him, a silent offer for a ward. She's fairly sure he doesn't want to be infected /again/. "We are here to figure what the Illuminati were doing in this town--I think it quite possible someone played with magic beyond their ken," she replies to Staren.

The wisewoman turns her eyes back toward Henry, nodding to him. "The door is hidden," she confirms. "In my vision it did appear to be beneath ground. I will try to divine the location, gods willing," she comments. The cut she's opened on her finger has already healed, so she reopens it with her teeth, closing her eyes as she begins to draw a complicated magical stave upon her brow. Not an easy task without a mirror. A charm to see the Unseen. It will help her to see sources of magic, and surely, these tunnels must have a magical signature.

Before they leave, Inga will provide her ward to anyone who desires it and isn't too put off by blood magic. "Even with the wards...be cautious," she reiterates. Inga has had a Bad Feeling for a while now.

Inga exits into the street, closing her eyes and chanting, holding to her staff as she activates the stave upon her forhead, opening her mind's eye, feeling for magic in the area.

Staren has posed:
    "If you've figured out a ward against that stuff..." Staren nods back. "That would be helpful, thank you." He looks to the others. "So, we're looking for a tunnel, huh? Hmmm... If I'd known, I would have brought something to search for those... hopefully your divinations will work." He follows Inga out, putting on his helmet again. He'll wait to see if divination works before worrying about choosing his next course of action.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley watches what Inga does as if she's a student looking to soak in the information in action. She silently mouths any Norse phrases that might correspond with the rune that Inga creates, or anything else that the rune may represent. She then cross-references information in her head, which gives her a distracted demeanor. She nods at Inga once in further gratitude for her help, and gestures for the blood magic woman to lead the way, eager to see how powerful her sight-enhancing spell really is.

    The lizard, on the other hand, just thinks about all the things that would be built in the earliest days of a town. She thinks about wells, foundations, she thinks about the Town Hall and of the oldest houses, about the center of the town and the extensive planning that would go into building sewers when underground tunnels are already present. She does not, however, run off on her own this time.

    Ainsley wants the others to handle this one, because she handled a rather large portion of the previous search and she's had enough of Illuminati puzzle chains at least for a couple of island visits.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Ainsley." Shirou nods towards the lizard woman, acknowledging her with a friendly look. "Trace, on." The magus then chants, bringing his Magic Circuits to full operation. His body warms noticeably to those sensitive to such things. It won't be that much, but circulating magical energy through his system does suffice as basic protection against very minor spellwork and curses. It's like fending off a wave by throwing another wave at it.

    He's honestly too fascinated by Inga's sudden magic. "Divination...?"

    He's a bit awed, truth be told.

    But then they're moving outside again. Idly, with a faint golden double flash to herald their birth, Ainsley's daggers appear in his grasp - as a precaution. These streets are dangerous.

    "Lead the way. I know a few tricks for figuring out the structure of things, that can help with secret passages... did the divination work?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa Takes the ward she's always been wary but she has seen the horrors, she may end up in a confessional for a while but that's another long story she doesn't need to bring up. Either way here she goes makine sure she's ready. She's got her pistol ready as she moves out following Inga and everyone else. She also looks at Shirou and grins a little bit he seemed like a nice guy.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor is following along with Inga and the rest, keeping close to her friend. She's still here, just... waiting to be able to contribute things. People seem to have a lot of this covered and she's really itching to try out her new Plasmids on something.

Riva Banari has posed:
The group leaves Henry to his anticipation. He doesn't even seem to care that Inga is practicing blood magic in the middle of the church. For a priest, he seems exceptionally tolerant. Or maybe he's just afraid someone will do something permanent to him if he raises an objection.

Whatever the reason, the group finds themselves out on the street. The Kingsmouth Congregational Church faces Main Street, running straight towards Fletcher Pier. Ainsley knows this area well, having had to traverse it multiple times to resolve the prior series of puzzles that led to the discovery of two ofthe four keys. Zombies cluster around various things, their forms blessedly hiding whatever is keeping their attention as they make unnerving noises. It is simple enough to skir around the edges of their perception to avoid them, or a group with this level of firepower can likely alpha strike them before they even really notice. These zombies are weak and easily dispatched, unlike those on Priest Island. Whatever force bolstered them on that location is either weaker or absent here.

Inga's divination magics show Anima flows at several points around the Church, the wards that protect the building from the undead standing out easily. There is little else, except for, perhaps a faint signal down Main Street. Shirou examines the area instinctively, easily noting the sewer system beneath them. But if those aren't the tunnels, what could they be?

Travelling down Main Street, however, brings up a strange abnormality. Shirou discovers that just out front of the City Hall, the sidewalk is loose and can be pride up... Like a cover. Beneath it is a metallic door that seals off a path below. The metallic door has a giant keyhole, bearing the words, 'CLAVIS AUREA' around it.

It requires a key, but it's an oversized keyhole, not something the artifacts would fit into.

It turns out that the words of the Father might have been prophetic.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor's voice leaps out before she can stop it. "Clavius Aurea. Golden Key. A golden key for a golden door." He snorts. "How full of themselves, putting this right in front of the Town Hall. Though... maybe they put the door here and the hall came afterwards?"

Staren has posed:
     Well, they seem to have a sense of purpose, so Staren follows them! This leads them to a keyhole. In the street, "How did the inhabitants not notice this?" He reads the text. "Clavis aurea... The sound of... bells?" He blinks. "'Golden Key'. Well, I was way off. Is gold really a good material to make a key out of, though? I'd be concerned it would wear or bend."

Inga has posed:
Inga gives Ainsley a smile as she observes her, knowing she's carefully noting what Inga is doing. One couldn't ask for a better student than Ainsley--well, except her tendancy to run off on her own, but to Inga's delight she is not doing so today!

Inga looks to Emiya, nodding to him, watching as he opens himself to his own magic. She nods approvingly. "That would be very helpful, let us know if you discover anything," she replies.

For once, she appears to be leading the way. Hah! Which means they will have to move at /her/ pace! That's rather novel. Inga moves with a pronounced limp, using her staff to compensate some. She keeps up a steady pace down Main Steet, going quiet as she tries to tune herself into the weaves of magic in the air. If they meet resistance in the form of the undead, there could be trouble. She would have to let others handle them if she were to maintain her concentration.

The weaves of anima by the church are a bright light, but those she expected. Those are maintained. What she seeks is older, and she does indeed sense something that keeps her following down Main St.

Emiya's other talents lead them to the sidewalk trapdoor. Inga looks at the words, but before she can even ask, Eleanor reads it. A small frown. Tch...does this priest have a bit of the gift of prophecy as well? "Shaped like a key, not like what we have. This is not the door I have Seen," she says. She looks up toward the town hall then, frowning gently.

Inga turns to Ainsley. "What was it you learned in your last investigation? Anything that might be a clue as to the location of another key?" she asks, leaning in then to examine the entrance with her magical senses, essentially checking for magical wards that might stop them from actually forcing their way in via...that Stuff Staren does.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa thinks for a moment a she looks at the hole that requires a key.

"Another block humm we nered to find this key, it could be on all the manholes also I might be able to force this thing open if we really need to I might as well put my body to use, right?"

She looks to Shirou and then to Inga for a moment thinking over their last bit of tromping about here. Humm was there anything they could use?

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou does find something. he points out the suspicious spot after pausing several times and bending down to feel the ground with one hand. And that leads them to where they are right now.

    "Man, who went and hid something like this right in the middle of town?" he doesn't approve of secret organizations and all the taking ordinary people for chumps style things.

    The redhead presses his hand against the door, extending his senses into the construct and trying to figure out the lock. He'll probably also get a feel for the structure BENEATH it. Is there a giant hole? MAybe a ladder? Etcetera.

    "... Well, I can see what shape the key should be." He mutters, then raises his free hand...

    This'll probably be slow going. As it's not a sword, he has to work from designs the hard and 'normal' way. Golden light flickers in his hand and begins taking shape into a raw gleaming steel shape. But he banishes the creation several times, as if unsatisfied with the designs.

    This'll probably take a few minutes before he comes up with a design he's satisfied with. Plenty of time for others to figure out their own methods.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley follows the group, silently observing the undead as they're passed by. There's not a lot for her to contribute along the way, and she doesn't seem super excited to get to wherever they're going. But she does seem on guard, and active enough. She even brought her longsword, and when an undead thing lurches out from around a corner behind her, she smoothly snaps around to behead it and place the longsword back in its scabbard before it can even notice she's standing back there behind the group.

    They climb down into an underground chamber, and Ainsley sees the lock for a second. She lids her eyes, frowning heavily at the sight. She looks at Shirou as he tries to forge a key from his magic. "Save your energy," she tells him, gently, stepping over to rest a hand on his shoulder. She smiles at him, though. Then she turns to go into the Town Hall, she goes up the stairs, she seeks out the Mayor's Office... and she picks up the golden key she saw when she was in there earlier off the wall.

    She returns with a large key in her hands, and she tries to use it in the lock, slotting it into the keyhole with both hands and a grunt of effort, if it works for their needs. It's made of metal, so it's pretty heavy. "Key to Kingsmouth," she explains to everyone, with a lackadaisical tone to her voice. She gestures with a hand for a moment, "The Town Hall is built right nearby. Seemed like the obvious solution to me."

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at Ainsley. "...There's no way that'll work. It's too obvious." He looks at the lock. "But maybe that's what they /want/ us to think."

Inga has posed:
Inga looks toward Emiya, eyes widening. Well /that/ is really something. "Fascinating," she comments. "I've never seen magic like this," and so just watches while Emiya uses his abilities to actually create a key with magic. She's quite impressed.

Ainsley doesn't just have a clue, she has the answer. And soon enough the key. "Well then," she says, nodding to Emiya. "Still, that's impressive," she informs him.

If there are no magical protections that need circumventing or obliteration, Inga motions for Ainsley to open the hatch and procede.

Riva Banari has posed:
Inga can feel faint magics below them, deep, running beneath the city even now. Something is down there, unable to be completely hidden. It is like the secrets of the Illuminati are practically leaking out of the cracks of the streets, waiting to be found.

Shirou begins analyzing the area, checking the ground intently. It seems like there is a ladder under the cover that heads deeper than the sewer system, breaking out into a tunnel system. As he begins to work on replicating the key needed to open it, he notices that the key itself is way bigger than one would expect. What could it- oh. Thanks Ains!

The Key of the City is unwieldy as hell, and God knows why someone would use it for an actual lock, but someone did. The key slides in, and with a little effort, produces a loud CLICK. It can now be pulled open, revealing said ladder that travels down into the depths.

The first thing that hits you when you get down to the bottom is the smell, a mix of ancient dust and more recent trickles of water seeping through aged cracks in the wall. It almost looks like the tunnels were originally intended to be part of the sewer system, but older... Perhaps they were repurposed in some way. The tunnels travel in a branching path, heading three directions at junction a short distance ahead. The way is lit, light shining down in pools from recesses. Inga can feel the flow of Anima from them, as can any mages should they choose. It is clean, at least, bearing none of the taint of much of Kingsmouth. Abandoned at one point is a book. Age and environment has rendered much of it illegible, but there is one part that can be read:

'A Man who seeks Enlightement shall set himself in Motion:

    He shall show Appreciation for the Exertion of his Fellows,
    And make as a Church-Going-Man does before Holy Symbols.

    He shall show Great Disdain for the Trappings of Old Empire,
And avert his Gaze from schemes Coiled and Chaotic.'

The end of that branch is collapsed, full of rubble that even Shirou can tell goes for some distance. That way is impassible.

However, the other two directions each end in similar doors, that show unusual design. The doors seethe with Anima, clearly warded to mage-sight. The energy runs from the door on each hallway to a set of four indentations. Each set of four is similar: An eye-in-triangle, a pyramid, a bird's claw, and a strange obelisk-like design. The plaques on each side are different, however.

One reads: 'Oculus, Rara Avis', and the other reads, 'of Khufu, of the Grand Lodge.'

Mysterious. But these are definately the doors. What do to with the keys, however?

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Once the way down is opened, Ainsley doesn't spare much thought to the dusty and ancient smell pouring from the tunnels below. She knows this is where they need to go. She considers the key, and then sighs, stuffing it in the back of her belt in case some part of this adventure requires her to use it again. Always best to be prepared, after all.

    Upon realizing Inga would have trouble with the ladder, Ainsley steps over to her blood magic tutor and gives her what looks like a hug. And then lifts off the ground, floating down to the bottom of the ladder, before gently setting Inga on the ground again and giving her a little smile.

    For this next part, she waits and observes the others, seeing if they can catch on. She makes sure to get a look at both of the doors and their associated riddles. "An eye, and a rare bird," she points out for one of the doors, expecting everyone else to fill in the blanks for the rest of this. Meanwhile, she carefully looks over to check on this sensation of Anima, baffled by the feeling where the rest of the town lacked as much.

    "They were clearly powerful people back then," she muses aloud.

Staren has posed:
    "Hm." Staren grunts as the key does indeed turn, and down they go...

    A book with riddles in it. "So we need to kneel in front of one thing, and not look at another thing."

    He follows to the doors, and looks at Ainsley curiously. "Who were? You're saying these are the personal symbols of powerful individuals?"

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor still looks anxious. They're down in the tunnels, sure, and these Illuminati things look... sturdy. But with all these people puzzling around, the Big Sister is still prickly all over, that wrench being squeezed in her hands every so often.
    "I'd ask why there are no zombies down there but that would invite them, I think."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "This thing is huge. Who'd make a key this big?" Shirou complains, trying to produce what is needed through sheer effort and study where his odd talent doesn't work. He's made plenty of things through projection - all hollow shpes - so a key should be doable.

    But Ainsley beats him to it. He cancels the effot when she arrives and he lays eyes on the thing she's found. It's exactly the shape he was trying to manage, after all. "You've gotta be kidding... it was right there for anyone to grab?"

    Oh well. what follows is a long climb down when it's his turn, and down into the ancient tunnels. What astounds him the most is...

    "There's light." He's nto sure why. He's not very sensitive to magic, though distortions and disturbances tend to stand out. This feels much nicer than Kingsmouth though.

    Shirou hasn't bothered with the book. Someone else is probably carrying and studying it. he's more interested in the passageways. He doesn't have anyone else's knowledge, and the things he's finding as he walks down the 'Oculus, Rara Avis' hallway and comes to the doorway he can only stare at it in consternation. he doesn't have the keys to this one, and there seems to be a puzzle.

    "Hm..." he's none too good at sensing the magic either, so instead he focuses on the strange quartet of indentations.

    But it's no good. He doesn't recognize any of the symbols, but instead...

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley looks up at Staren, distractedly briefly. Then she tells Staren, in a soft voice, "No. Because there is a sense of magic in here. The Anima, I think, is what is it is called here." She frowns after that, obviously not certain.

Inga has posed:
Inga sees the ladder and immediately sighs. What else would it have been, really? Ainsley has this too figured out, so Inga just holds onto the woman as she's hugged then floated down the ladder to the bottom. She looks vaguely embarrassed by this. "Thank you," she says to Ainsley, then continues on, frowning at the anima resonating. Well, perhaps the Illuminati weren't fuck-ups after all.

Once a book is found, Inga represses a sigh. It is becoming apparent that she is going to have to learn to /read/. Distasteful, but it seems like it is necessary.

Inga stops before one of the doors, looking at he plaque. "Can someone tell me what this says?" she asks. "Ainsley, you have the objects? Yes, they call it anima," she confirms.

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks at Eleanor. "Well, since you've brought it up now..." He turns back towards the ladder with a sudden spring in his step. "Ooh, I've been waiting for a chance to try this!" He climbs back up the ladder. "Morg gave me a ritual for blessing things! Now I can try it out!" Suddenly, he switches to a lecturing tone. "Now, I've prepared a solution which contains nanomachines, programmed to analyze the chemicals in any flesh that contacts it, determine if the subject is alive, and then attack if they are not. In other words, science holy water! Now, of course, by itself, that's not powerful enough to stop a zombie /quickly/... But it should be enough /symbolism/ for divine power to fill in the gaps and... um... I don't actually know! I hope it'll fry zombies."

    By the time he's finished speaking, he's scattered 'science holy water' around the entrance to the tunnel, and then left a camera to observe, because he totally does want to see some zombies burst into flame.

    Then he climbs back down. "So, you said you have only half of the keys?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa isn't alway the best at puzzlers she looks at them all the whole set up makes her wonder abotu this. She takes a moment. She's taking in the whole thing right no there's a puzzel she ponders for a moment.

"Heh not only did they hide it, they put a secitrity system in right out of a bloody movie."

Sjhe muses for a moment she's trying to figure this out and she's clearly thinking.

"A Man who seeks englightenment shall set himself in botion, he will show appication for his fellows and make as a church-going-man does before holy sumbols. he shall so great distain for the trapping of the old empire and avert his gaze from the scheme coiled and chaotic."

Riva Banari has posed:
Ainsley checks on the door she's next to. The door appears to be warded to prevent people from breaking through it or bypassing it through magical means. Standard fare for what one might expect, except for the whole 'magic isn't supposed to exist here but who's counting' thing. Even if someone threw a fireball or used shaped charges on it, they'd probably collapse the tunnel on themselves before breaking through.

The 'symbols' are indentations. It looks like things can be placed in them. They kind of resemble the 4 artifacts that were recovered earlier. Perhaps they have something to do with it.

Meanwhile, Staren engages in anti-zombie SCIENCE. He seeds the area around the ladder with nanomachines, and he checks his camera. Eventually, he gets a good view of a couple zombies shambling past. They get within the activation range, and gets a good output of debug information from the nanotech as they do analysis... And then there's a sudden seizure in the chemical analysis code that causes it to begin spitting gibberish into Staren's logfiles. What the hell? Regardless, the divine power linked to the process begins slowly setting zombies on fire! It looks like it's working after all. Ish? It's not as glorious as Staren might hope but hey, proof of concept.

Staren has posed:
    "We got Infected approaching! Err, I mean draugr!" Staren warns, and aims his particle cannons at the entrance.

    Things happen. "What the hell?" He near-instantly figures it out, though. "They're infected with the black stuff!" And then he smiles as the video feed on his HUD shows zombies on fire. "It works! It works! It's burning them!" He raises his fists in the air. "I have called down the power of a god!" A successful experiment with even divine magic is a victory for SCIENCE! Which is what the god in question would want, anyway.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou's getting really jumpy by this point. No answers are coming, so he decides to put his hand on the sealed door down his passageway and try Structural Grasp magecraft to figure out just how it's supposed to open - in what direction it will move, that is - and if there's anything wacky behind it, like traps or fragile things.

Inga has posed:
Super Catboy is calling down the power of gods now? Odin's bones! Which god, she wonders. When she hears infected are approaching, she curses. "Hold them off Staren or close the hatch! There are wards to keep them out," she calls.

Alright. Inga turns her attention to the door. After hearing the translation and a little radio help, Inga places the two pieces into the depressions--the eye and the bird thing.

Riva Banari has posed:
Shirou checks for traps with his magical abilities. It is hard with the warding, but it looks clean.

The eye-and-yramid and claw artifacts fit perfectly into the indentations. There is a faint shimmer of light as there is a low CLICK from the door, and it opens without incident inwards.

Inside it smells kind of musty. It is a single large, dim room with a stairway leading upwards on the opposite side, but what's /in/ the room is more interesting.

It's a sepulcher of some kind. Candles and a candleabgra burn above, providing light eternal through the power of Anima to the room. There are a series of steps leading up to a raised area, the centerpiece of which is a large sarcophagus with a cross at the head. The stone slab lid contains ancient, worn markings. What can be read of them reads: SOLOMON PRIEST

The rest of the room contains a small altar and a memorial bearing ornate stonework, a set of pillars arching over a statue, presumably of Solomon Priest himself. A great deal of work clearly went into this room.

Inga has posed:
Inga is still open to the magic around them, the blood symbol on her forhead still intact. She moves into the dark, noting the lights that still burn. "...A grave?" she remarks. She moves to draw her knife from her belt only to touch her hand to the iron of the blade, murming a prayer to her gods. Having taken the proper precautions, Inga continues in, eyes searching.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "... it was really that simple?" Shirou blinks at the ease with which the door ends up opening, pulling his hand away the moment it starts moving, then pushing through.

    He slowly wanders into the crypt(?), gazing all about.. and shivering. It's a grave. A crypt. "Yeah... seems like it, Inga." His eyes have gotten used to the dim light by now, and he's on guard against anything weird.

    But eventually he reaches the sarcophagus and averts his eyes from it slightly. He doesn't want to be in a place with a dead body, that's just creepy. "..."

    But he overcomes his disgust quickly, and goes to examine the markings, even if he has to clean them off first. "Solomon...Priest? Like Priest Island?"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley enters the tomb of Solomon Priest, and steps up to the altar to get a look at it, as well as the sarcophagus. And instead of being revulsed by it, she runs her fingers over the lid and a smile grows on her face. The smile only a historian can have. "Some part of me always found it strange, to revere the leaders or founders of a civilization, when they were only a piece of the puzzle," she thinks aloud.

    And then she tries to push or lift the lid off to get a look inside the coffin, to see if what is inside gives her a hint as to what's next, what further step in this chain of Illuminati puzzles is before her.

    "Sorry, Solomon," she says, in a gentle voice.

Staren has posed:
    "Wait, but we didn't do what the book said!" Staren protests, as he hears them opening doors behind him.

    It works anyway, though.

    "Man, I hate bullshit riddles like that... Putting fake clues like that..." Grumpily, he follows along, now much more willing to just solve puzzles with LASERS instead of figuring out clues that clearly don't even apply.

    And then, tomb! "So... that's it? One puzzle and we're in the big secret room already? So what are we looking for, here?"

Riva Banari has posed:
It is very much a grave. No angry spirits come to scream at the presence of the living in this place of rest, nor are there any additional wards present. Solomon Priest isn't all that concerned about Ainsley's desecration of his tomb, as she, with some effort, opens up the tomb.

This is because the sarcophagus is empty.

Or, more accurately, there is no body within. There is a faded piece of paper, looking like it was torn from something larger, as well as a lever.

The page bears a clear, flowing script that seems to have survived the three hundred and change years intact, it seems, and reads:

A CONFESSION,
penned in the Year under the Eye 1702,
Kingsmouth Town

One might consider this an Admission to two Acts of Cowardice, and
also of bad Faith within the Enlightened Order, and as such I shall
see to it that this Missive, once written, is sequestered with my own
Corpse. My Time on this Earth runs short, and Much is left to be
Undertaken; by this I mean the Order, and by our Third, but more
on that Apiece.

The Remains of Solomon Priest were moved at my Instruction, by
Loyal Men, who fashioned for him a new Rest within the Tunnels.
On This matter I declare my Reasoning was to prevent our Enemies
and Consorts alike from Digging too Deeply. The reail to the new
Tomb shall die with my Retainers and my Self, and so too shall die
any Looter or Gawker seeking to negotiate its Traps, should they not
hold Enlightened Knowledge.

The plot thickens.

Inga has posed:
Inga glances toward Emiya, nodding, her lips thinning. Priest island. The Black Stuff.

She looks down at coffin, frowning. Empty, save for a lever. And a note. WELL good thing she hadn't come alone or she's be utterly useless here! "The other door?" she says to the others, indicating the lever. Perhaps it would open the other door?

To Staren, she sighs, shrugging her shoulders. "Anything Staren, anything that could help us figure out what happened. So just stay aware," she advises.

PULL THE LEVER! Yoink.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Oh great, a mysterious lever. Just what does THAT do. exactly? Shirou's Structural grasp tricks don't have great range. Several meters, maybe 10 if he pushes it and the material's not too weird. "We should be careful about--" ANd then Inga yanks it.

    "E-EH?!"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley looks over at Staren incredulously as he complains about fake clues. "There are red herrings, and then there are Illuminati gibberings that may later find relevance when you least expect it," she tells the scientific catboy, her voice as tired and gentle as before, barely above a funeral-grade whisper. She reaches down into the grave, and picks up the note.

    And then Inga pulls the lever. The lizard girl looks at her with some shock and clear offense. Mostly because /she/ wanted to do that! But also because it may, in fact, be a trap, from what she just read of the note. "Inga," she tells the woman, with a dry amusement, "We are going to need to have a talk later."

Riva Banari has posed:
Inga pulls the lever. It proceeds to lock into place.

With a rumbling noise, the door they entered through swings shut and locks again with a loud CLICK. Another rumbling noise is heard from the top of the stairs as old, thick bolts come undone, opening up a doorway at the top of the stairs.

Opening the doors at the top of the stairway reveals... daylight. And a graveyard.

They're in what was until thirty seconds ago a sealed sepulcher in the middle of the Church graveyard.

And the direct way back is sealed.

They'll have to go back around to the City Hall to go back down if they want to investigate again.

God damn Illuminati.

TO BE CONTINUED IN DIGGING DEEPER PART 2: THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MIX CLASSICAL WRITING, MUSIC, AND NEUROTOXINS

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa finds their way in and is happy they were able to figure it out the way in she pauses at what they find and she looks over the page she pauses for a moment as she moves to scan the message and make sure to be able to have it for later.

"I Can get how that can be. Smoke, mirror and riddles."

She looks over to Inga for a moment and then comes the level.

"...lovely here we go agian another adventure."

Inga has posed:
Inga blinks, then says the old norse equivalent of "Ooops."

Staren has posed:
    Staren can see that, somehow, Inga has the instincts of a true gamer. Hopefully that isn't the 'doom them all' lever, although Staren's fairly confident his technology can violently deal with any deathraps...

    But no, it was the lever that opens the exit. "Huh. So, now we need to prove ourselves enlightened... Why do we need this guy's body, again?"

Riva Banari has posed:
WELCOME BACK TO THE STAGE OF ILLUMINATI HISTORY.

When last we left our brave adventurers, information from Henry Hawthorne had prompted them to seek out the existence of tunnels beneath Kingsmouth town proper, plumbing the mysteries and history of the Illuminati influence upon the island. However, they became immediately embroiled in more puzzles.

Soon, however, they discovered the tomb of Solomon Priest, an ornate mausoleum that contained no body, but part of a note that claimed to be a confession! The body had been moved by someone, deeper into the ruins. Unfortunately, the wisewoman Inga caused the grou pto fall afoul of a devous Illuminati trap, forcing them out of the now unsealed front of the mausoleum and into the zombie-infested graveyard behind the church.

One is unsure why they designed it in this way, as this doesn't prevent people from just going back to the entrance before the City Hall. The ways of the Illuminati are strange, sometimes.

Regardless, the group is faced with the other sealed door, now. Four plates with indentations are present, which the phrase 'of Khufu, of the Grand Lodge' inscribed upon it. The process of elimination has solved this one for them, however. The door opens once the remaining artifacts are inserted, swinging open to reveal...

A hallway full of books. Ainsley may have suddenly found a slice of heaven. The floor is tiled and the area ornate. Entering the hall creates a mild feeling of tension, as if one is passing through a faint membrane. The air within is dry and cool, as opposed to the clamminess felt elsewhere in the tunnels. The ceiling has braziers hanging from them, within which burn blue-white flames eternally through the power of Anima and magical infusion. There is an archway leading into an expansive room beyond, richly appointed and surmounted with the triangle-and-circle insignia of the Illuminati.

The room beyond would not be out of place in the old libraries of Europe. Walls hang with rich paintings, and low bookshelves contain a massive amount of esoteric information from classic literature, to history, to mathematics and occultism. The vaulted ceilings reflect the light throughout the room in a soft warmth, allowing for easy reading should one care.

To the right is a locked and warded door with a series of letters incised into the floor, however. Odd, that. The letters appear to be linked to the warding on the door but they seem to be a jumble.

A scrap of paper lies on the floor before the letters, however. Upon the scrap reads the following:

To proceed, write as a Learned Man would. Look to Jerome's Work on the two score and first Psalm, the eigth part, the first Darkness.

God damn Illuminati.

Inga has posed:
The wisewoman has an unwise moment. Mostly because she couldn't READ the note that was there.

Now she's brushing zombie bits off her dress as they get through the other door....

To a library full of books!

Ing throws her hands up. "I'll be over here, let me know when I am needed," she grumbles, moving to a chair and taking a seat.

Staren has posed:
    Staren gasps softly when they find BOOKS. What knowledge could be buried here? Staren looks around as he steps in, frowning slightly at the flames, then nodding to himself when his scanners confirm they're magic. The riddle gets a hmmm, but what he's wondering more is: "I wonder if there's any sort of index for this library... if it's all old secret stuff, maybe we could learn what's up with the draugr and the filth and John if we could just find the right books...

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Miss Lamb is wiping zombie bits off her heavy wrench, grumbling as she watches the questers doing their thing over in the stacks. She murmurs helpfully.
    "Staren, let's focus on findign whatever it is at the end of this rather than simply sitting here with books."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "With everything I'm seeing down here, I've got to wonder. Did the Library of Alexandria really burn down, or did someone just raid it and burned it to hide the evidence." Shirou's tone is a bit joking and light as he strolls past loads and oodles of books written in a langauge he's honestly pretty bad at. He's not here to solve puzzles as they were meant to be solved. He might not even succeed at solving them in ways they were not meant to be solved. But he can check for traps, oddities in their surroundings, and honestly?

    If there's trouble, he'd rather be here rather than let the girls get hurt on their own.

    When the group inevitably finds the piece of paper...

    "I don't know any Jerome or what their crazy idea of a learned man must be. I'd guess in latin. Psalm means the Christian bible, but I only remember that from seeing a list of names once..." His commentary is probably not too helpful, but it's honestly everything he can think of on the subject.

    So instead of worry about that for now, when there are more intelligent and culturally knowledgeable people about, he studies the room itself and periodically checks the walls or ceiling.. looking for any surprises in the structure.

    "I'm glad this place seems protected from the corruption that's up above. The air down here's not rotten or slimy at all!"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley arrives with everyone else, a few ounces more tired and unhappy than she was before, gives a bit of a grumpy frown at Inga when the wisewoman wonders over to sit down. She shrugs after that, though, evidently not one to confront others when she gets mildly unhappy. Besides, who can argue when there's Books to read?

    Certainly not Ainsley.

    The first chamber gets a mild discomfort out of her. She's not really accustomed to areas of such... powerful contrast to the rest of the world. Her own world feels like this all the way through, but in this world, this is actually an oddity. It gives her a sense of wonder that doesn't lift her spirits but instead reminds her of how alien she is compared to the places she visits.

    She quirks a corner of her mouth at the library they reach. It has brought her out of a murky mood, but she finds herself unable to enjoy the books just yet. She walks over to the next door, with the riddle laid out before the group. "A passage of a book. Maybe another bible." She reaches up to tap at her cheek. "That verse is:"

    "I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart."

    And then... she reaches down to try it like a combination lock, but then there's a hissing sound. The lizard girl frowns and then turns to the others, "Everyone out! Out out out!" She doesn't bother explaining what it is.

    It seems the room is filling with Deadly Neurotoxin. Oops.

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks to Shirou. "You think so? Man, then there might be lost knowledge that applies to other worlds here!" He sounds excited at the prospect.

    And then there is a hissing sound. Staren immediately closes his visor and switches to internal air supply, but he also runs, just in case the gas is also explosive or something!

Riva Banari has posed:
The Illuminati didn't plan for Staren. Who can? He's generally all right since he brings environmental sealing with him, but anyone who breathes the poison will feel the toxin. It's a nasty one, but it shouldn't be lethal unless people stand around in the cloud like doofs. Or Unenlightened.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou snorts, and, looking amusedly at Staren, "Of course not! That would be cool, but I was just joking--" Hissss.

    "....Hiss...?" Blink, blink. The boy goes wide-eyed, then the severity of Ainsley running off like that overcomes the comedic qualities... "...U-Uwah! Run! It's some kind of trap!"

    ZOOOOOOOOOM! He heads for the door. But he'll probably be the last one out. Not due to any laziess on his part, but just making sure nobody else is stumbling... if anyone does? He'll physically drag them out himself if need be!

Inga has posed:
Inga looks toward Ainsley, brow raising in response to her grumpy frown. What? She's in a room full of books she can't read! What is she suppose to do? Sighing, Inga stands and head over to look around with the others. "Yes, they do seem rather fond of Latin," she comments in agreement with Shirou.

The floor is given a careful look. She frowns gently as Ainsley moves forward to try to open the way forward.

Then suddenly, running! Everyone out!? Inga backs away then starts moving out of the room as quickly as she can--which is sadly not that quick. She's already gotten a full breath of the deadly toxin, and does not make it to the doorway before collapsing. Her staff hits the floor with a clatter as she falls in a heap to the floor, unmoving.

Dying.

Staren has posed:
    Staren hears the clatter and looks back. He stops running and hurries to help drag Inga out of there.

    Sure, she's immortal, but dying is very unpleasant so why not help her avoid it?

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    BOTHER.
    Eleanor Lamb hears the deadly neurotoxin hissing, sputters a very unladylike curse, and... dashes into the chambers, holding her breath, and rushing for Inga's body. No time to say any healthy words of encouragement. She simply grabs the seer, concentrates...

    And then vanishes. She reappears in one of the corridors along with inga in a cloud of sweet smelling smoke, busily trying to get the lady some fresh air.
    She's also got a broadspectrum antidote syringe in her hand, which she jabs in Inga's shoulder. Pophisssss.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley then reacts to this toxin by using Magic at it. She projects a wave of wind, and swirls the toxic gas away from her, then tries to push it out of the room through whatever ventilation the room might have, or at least repel it for however long she can to avoid just collapsing and frothing like Inga just did. She'd rather not die. She doesn't have any extra lives to lose.

Riva Banari has posed:
The good news is that the gas doesn't proceed past the archway. Some form of containment? Additionally, the gas only lasts for about a minute before it begins to dissipate on its own. It seems that would be enough to deal with most people. If Ainsley can hold out her wind barrier that long, she should be fine.

The bad news is Shirou can immediately tell that the trap is still armed, if triggered. Is this /magic/ poison or something?!

Inga has posed:
Inga has been told that dying is quite unpleasant and Riva has unfortuntely done it a few times now. Inga, for her part, is actually kind of morbidly curious about the ordeal but still not exactly in a hurry to experiment.

Staren, then Eleanor, get her out of there just in time. Inga's regeneration kicks in, the broadspectrum antidote counteracting the toxin. Inga gasps, brought back from death's doorstep, flailing slightly. "By Thor's beard," she croaks.

Then, to Eleanor and Staren, "Thank you. Let's...not do that again," she suggests.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou's not so sure about this entire matter. And he definitely is not a guardian like Inga - he will die if he's killed, unlike her. But there's no suppressing his desire to save people who need to be saved, and Inga's in that position right now. "Get her out, then I'll seal off the chamber!" He's really close to the door, so he sucks in a deep breath of the fresh air... and rushes to give Staren a hand, dragging Inga out of the chamber.

    He's holding his breath, of course.

    ... IF everyone gets back to the room BEFORE the one now filling with gas... well, he extends his hand, ready to do said sealing. It would be a literally airtight wall of swords, but he never projects it. The gas... isn't spreading. He lowers his arm. "... Some kind of boundary field's keeping in the gas...? Then... I bet the trap isn't disarmed. Ainsley, what did you do that set it off?"

Staren has posed:
    They're safe! Staren thinks back to the puzzle. "The words Learned Man were capitalized. It must mean something special. Is there a code they wrote in? Or maybe... backwards? Or, since it's magic, the buttons are a trap and we need to actually /write/ it and place the paper nearby?" Staren tries to think of possibilities. "Ooh, maybe it has to be in latin? Or greek? Which one was that verse originally in? Wait, the greek characters are different..." Staren rambles on.

Inga has posed:
Inga gets to her feet, frowning deeply as she looks around to account for everyone. Of course, they're all much quicker than she is. All the same, she's pretty sure at least most of the people here are mortal and will not wake up again if they are killed.

The wisewoman sighs heavily. "There was a riddle, yes? To proceed, write as a Learned Man would. Look to Jerome's Work on the two score and first Psalm, eighth part, the first Darkness," she repeats, thoughtful.

She shakes her head after a few moments. "I have not a clue. The numbers..a score is twenty... two score and first...21rst?" she offers. That is all she can contribute. These names mean nothing to her.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou, too, is relieved to see Inga getting up. "Bringing that medicine was a great idea!" he cchimes at Eleanor, happy - quite happy, really. Nobody died, whew. "Forty-first." He points out at Inga. "Two score, not one score... why is a score even a term? Twenty's easy enough to say..." Never mind all of the linguistic hoop-jumping he's not actually doing, as he's speaking Japanese and throwing in words other people are using...

    "Old scholars used latin a lot, so I think Learned Man refers to that. Maybe the passage needs to be in latin."

Inga has posed:
"Ah, yes," she says to Shirou, nodding. Two score, twenty plus twenty. "Hmph...bloody Illuminati," she grumbles.

She has no doubt she's not the best person to figure out this particular problem. They are resourceful however, they will get it.

Probably.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou eventually ends up staring at Staren. "... Um... I know you have some kind of mental computer, right? Cany ou search the internet for latin words and the passage? .... Oh, I bet we don't get reception down here, do we... Well, heading back to get them isn't that big of a deal either..." Never mind the weird distortions around the city that block most communications... "Everything we need should be in here. I just don't know latin... or the book being referened." He looks at Ainsley instead, eyes full of curiosity.

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods. "I thought Ainsley might know it anyway..." he looks to their friendly neighborhood librarian lizard. "If not, then I can search for translations... but wasn't the bible written in greek? That would mean any latin version would be a translation, and how do we know which translation they mean?"

Staren has posed:
    Staren shrugs. "Well... I guess I'm protected from the trap anyway, so..." He walks in, and then types out:

    abyssus abyssum vocat in voce cataractarum tuarum omnes gurgites tui et fluctus tui super me transierunt

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor is still fussing over Inga, and idly checking for any risidual effects from the DEADLY NEUROTOXIN.

    "Bloody Illuminati."

Riva Banari has posed:
It takes Staren some dancing around to properly spell things out. As he touches the A, it begins glowing. He steps carefully, Indiana-Jonesesque balancing amongst the letters, because he knows to misstep would mean more poison gas.

He hops around, spelling out ABYSSUS. First Darkness, right? Thankfully, before he steps again there is a low tone and the door unlocks, opening to reveal...

A second large library room. HOW MANY OF THESE DO THEY HAVE? The primary difference, however, is that there seems to be a set of pipes framed by pictures at the end of the room, each with an actuator to activate individual pipes.

The pipes are clearly labeled in a scale, with several levers with notes on them in increasing duration. There is a piece of paper mounted to the wall with a set of notes. Part of it is scribbled out.

There is also another scrap of paper:

Should thy desires be thwarted; weep not for thyself, but for Dolandi.

So, how good are you guys with music?

Inga has posed:
Inga smiles to Eleanor, patting her on the shoulder gently. "I'm fine Eleanor. Really, its the others you should worry over. I'll...just come back I'm told," she informs her.

Inga then looks toward Staren, blinking. "We'll stay back then..." she says. Super Catboy, to the rescue!

Standing back, Staren dances among the letters until a low tone sounds and the doors open. After that, it seems to be safe to cross the floor. Inga moves further inside carefully and slowly, eyes wary, senses attuned to any magical wards or traps.

The found another confounding contraption in this room, along with another note. She will wait for someone to read it out loud. "Weep for Dolandi," she says, brow rising. Again, she has absolutely no idea what this means. "Again, I am at a loss...but I'll stand back in case something similar happens with this device. Indeed, perhaps we should let Staren try his hand at this one as well--what with his helmet," she suggests.

Inga looks around, sighing. More books. Once she /can/ read she's coming back here.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou enters the new chamber, but he's scratching the back of his head and looking around in wonder... but only for a moment. "... A second gas trap probably won't happen, but whatever's in here will be just as bad if not worse. Don't touch anything too quickly, okay? Eleanor might not have an antidote for the next disaster!"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley approaches the next puzzle, delightfully free of neurotoxin, and frowns at the display. She looks at the scrap of paper giving them the hint to this puzzle. She'd try to look for anything on the topic, first, but she does know what she's looking for. "Doldani," she murmurs, "Flow My Tears, obviously." She shakes her head after that, though, frowning yet more. "But... I don't know the notation to this, exactly." She starts looking around the room before she even begins... but then lets out a sigh.

    And sings the verse to herself, "Ex-iled... for ev-er more..." Her voice is rich and not nearly as mellow as her speaking voice.

    Half-note A, Half-note plus beat E, 1/4 note D, 1/4 note G, 1/4 note G. She tries to input that according to memory... and she's got very good memory. It's a good thing her teachers LOVED the most dull music in existence.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has been oddly quiet since they got down here. She had not been idle, she's been thinking about the nautre of this place. "These books ... are likely princeless...and yes Staren does seem to have a hand for this. She notices Inga's look for a moment. "I know the feeling I used to not be literate in my father's language...I wonder what's hidden in here."

Inga has posed:
Well, she's in a room filled with books and things. The place is richly decorated. She has absolutely no idea what to do hear, as all things things happened so long after she was born and she's only been in the multiverse for a couple of months. So, what is a viking to do?

Loot the place, of course!

Inga wanders around the room, a sack in her hand, picking up shiny objects and sticking them into her bag.

She does observe Ainsley's lovely singing voice with a smile.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor... starts helping Inga. "You've got the right idea, some of these are first editions. Ah, that's the first time they were printed." Old pholosophers, translations, classicals, the odd occult book here or there. Nothing directly heretical she can see but the evening is young.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "Music is something that I think just about any culture I'm aware of said. There was a man who said a culture without music was one without a soul. This really something isn't it Eleanor the books to me are worth more than any gold or silver. Information is ... real power after all. My world is very .... heavily info information really."

Staren has posed:
    "Oh, okay..." Staren comments as the door opens long before he finishes the verse. At least his energy wings made it easier.

    "Huh. Pipes? What's the Dolandi?"

    Before he can finish searching, Ainsley comes forward. "Oh! Huh..." he listens to her singing, and watches her play the piece. "I didn't know you played music..."

Riva Banari has posed:
Inga doesn't really find anything in this room to take unless she likes books or paintings. The anima-infused lightstands might get something, though, if she wants to stash things.

Ainsley, meanwhile, barely is fazed by the mysteriously musical puzzle. She sounds out the missing portion of the music, and the pipes begin to play on their own, a beautiful organ rendition of the song continuing as the doors to the next room open once more.

If Inga was looking for loot, perhaps this room might be more interesting. Amidst the books, some of which seem like they have been read as they lie in stacks and piles in some places instead of upon the shelves, there are four statues, each facing in towards the center of the room. They are flanked by candlesticks that burn on even here.

First is an angel with a blade, looking down as if from on high.
The next is a knight in an ancient suit of armoy, with pick and shield.
Third is an athletic young man with a discus.
Fourth is a coiled snake in copper, fangs bared.

There are no clues here, but the door beyond is locked and warded much like the rest.

Another Illuminati test?

Inga has posed:
Well maybe Inga isn't currently interested in books, but she will be! Plus, she knows many other people who certainly might be interested in books from a secret Illuminati library.

Ainsley solves the puzzle. "Well done Ainsley," she says with a smile, holding a sack full of books. She doesn't look at all ashamed.

Moving in, Inga eyes the candlesticks. Hmm...maybe. Statues? She can't carry out statues!

Bloody Illuminati.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Hooooooh. So music is the key!" Shirou didn't know about Ainsley's talent either. He's quite pleasantly surprised, especially when the doors open and THERE AREN'T BIG TRAPS to worry about.

    Instead, though, in the next room the obstacle facing everyone has Shirou even more baffled. And more scratching the back of his head. What the heck is this?

    "A mechanical test...?" He reaches out to touch the Knight statue.

    "Trace, on..." Glowing light flows along his arms in a pattern much reminiscent of circuitry. He's used this trick before several times during the expectation, but now his player knows how to visually describe it!

    Prana flows out from him and into the statue, slowly flowing over and through it much like a scanner reading a piece of paper. If there's some mechanical gimmicks involved, he's trying to read into its structure. For instance, some kind of locking device!

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Miss Lamb lets out a delicately happy noise. "Ah! Goodness. Fiction, they have fiction down here." She tugs Inga over, and murmurs. "What kind of stories do you like. Like, heroic stories, I think we can find some of that to teach you with."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou withdraws his arm, and the strange emerald circuitry flowing through the statue fades instantly. So does the glowing on his arm. It was pretty faint to begin with, really... "... It's NOT mechanical.... I feel a little magi, but it's out of my expertise.... a knight with a pick instead of a sword or axe, an angel, a snake, and an athlete? What do they have in common?"

Riva Banari has posed:
There's a great deal of fiction present. Classical literature is present in great quantity, as well as older works from the Renaissance and even some volumes from the Middle Ages.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa looks at inga for a moment at the statues, art? Curious. She'a clearly curious about such and is looking over the books very much wide eyed. She cares not for the actual loot but the statues snap her out of it. "If it's magic i'm useless then...Hummm wait that verse we found eairler...I wonder."

Inga has posed:
"Hmm? Oh, ah...alright. Heroic stories," she replies. "History would be helpful, I think," she adds.

Inga continues looting. Yule shopping done early! Books for everyone!

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    There's a clatter and a clunk from Eleanor before she looks over at the others with the statues and the stuff and she blinks. "Oh goodness. This looks familiar. Ah."
    The Sister steps over next to the man with the discuss. "This fellow is an Olympian or something like it, so." She looks around the base of the statue for any place in particular like a marking or something... and then looks up at it.

    Appreciation. "How do you appreciate an Olympian?" And then she cheers and claps. And blushes, looking embarassed for cheering for a statue.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley makes an attempt at this puzzle, again not stopping to appreciate the literature. She does recall the puzzle from before, and it does coincide with this one. And then she tries to light the candles in order, but stops at the first one because they just don't stay lit. She frowns at the statues thoughtfully...and then looks over at Eleanor distractedly, and to the statue, as if watching for a reaction out of it.

    Hey, the Illuminati did use magic, maybe this one requires a more creative approach like that.

Staren has posed:
    Staren listens to the song playing... when everyone moves on to the next room though, he follows.

    He stares at the statues for awhile, his gaze eventually resting on the snake. Something's bugging him about it...

    Schemes coiled and chaotic.

    "Wait..." Holy symbols... exertion of fellows... old empire...

    "Well, here goes. Might wanna be ready to run out of here when this inevitably doesn't work."

    And then, he turns to the knight, and bows. He turns to the angel, kneels, and traces a cross with his fingers. He turns to the discus-thrower. "Hrmph." He turns away and holds his hand out to it in a 'talk to the hand' gesture, and then he turns his body to the snake, but doesn't look at it -- his head turned away, arms crossed.

    "And then this is the part where it doesn't work."

Inga has posed:
Inga watches Eleanor and Staren try to figure out this particular puzzle, frowning gently, wondering what horrible thing will happen to them if they get it wrong. She is very ready for this to be over. At least she's got some books.

Hmm...hope the Illuminati don't decide to hunt her down or something.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "... Hrm..." Shirou ponders on Staren's actions. He recognizes some of the actions, but it's taking him a while to put it all together and figure it out... "...Oh. Act like a priest...?" This would be much easier if they brought Henry, surely.

Riva Banari has posed:
First, Eleanor Lamb begins cheering the athelete. The candles to each side of the statue light up.

Meanwhile, Staren also seems to get exactly what's going on. He begins interacting with the statues himself. The candles light up on the angel when he mimes praying to it, whether for real or not. The candles also light near the snake. However, when he shows disdain for the Olympian, the candles turn off. When he shows appreciation for the armed knight, there is a hissing noise.

Remember the gas? It's back!

The good news, at least, is that like before, the gas stops at the entrance to the room and dissipates in a minute or so. Hope none of you die from poisoning in the process!

Damn Illuminati.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Annnnnd once again Eleanor rushes over to Inga and safely houdinis her to safety BEFORE the gas can hit her.

Staren has posed:
    Staren just /sighs/ when the gas starts up. "I knew it." He rushes to help others out of the room.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa swears violently in both Japanese and english as she tries to grab Inga and drag her out of the room way from the fumes.

Inga has posed:
Inga is about to say something, probably a curse, when Eleanor poofs her away from the Kill You Dead gas.

Siiiiigh. "What did we do wrong that time?" she asks.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley is picked up again. Her tongue sticks out awkwardly as she raises a hand to repel the gas away from herself with more wind magic. It gets very blustery in that room for a moment.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    THIS time Shirou was ready for something to go wrong. He rushes out of the room, but liners at the edge in case there's no barrier this time, so he can seal it off. No reason to do so though. Phew.

    "At least we can just keep trying." He points out in a positive tone. "This stuff is nasty enough that I doubt it'll get worse if we have to keep trying..."

Riva Banari has posed:
The gas dissipates and gives you all another chance at it. No one died, and it seems likely that things will go better this time. Things do, however, after the hiccup. The candles alight as the proper acts are performed (presumably in line with Colonial-Era Illuminated thought), and then the final door opens.

The room exposed beyond is a small, simple place, with several steps leading up to a dais. There is a coffin there of stone and without markings. Behind it, an ancient skeleton sits, bowed down as if slumped over in its last moments. At one hand is the remains of a paper and writing tools.

The paper reads as follows:

To the Second Part, then, the reason for this Deception is that I
did take the man's life, all true. I did Poison him as the Rumours
have long circulated, and likely shall Continue. For truly it was less
an act of Murder as of Martyring, and though I assumed his
Duties I perform them with Hollow Ritual, and as his Name is
remembered, mine remains in his considerable Shadow. In the one
score of Years since my Fateful Act, I have come to accept this was
always my Rightful Place, and in seeking to Unseat him, I did
only Seal it so Forevermore.

The Third knew of my Treachery, of this I am Certain, even
though he remained in London; now finally, as I breathe my last,
he comes to America with Designs for the Order in New York.

Isaac FLETCHER,
Governor of Kingsmouth,
Grand Master of the Illuminated Lodge

There seems to be only one mystery that remains, then...

Staren has posed:
    Staren hmphs as the solution works this time. He walks into the next room. "/Another/ coffin. What do you think the chances are it contains another note saying the body was moved? What do we even need the body for, again?"

    At the sight of the skeleton, he jumps a little... but when the note is found, after a brief hesitation he hurries over to read it. "Some ancient murder, but why does it matter now who did it? What does that have to do with Draugr all over the city? Is Cthulhu sending divine retribution centuries late? Because that doesn't sound right at all..."

Inga has posed:
Finally, the final door. Inga moves inside to find a simple room, with only a coffin on a dias, a skeleton sitting neary with paper in his hand.

Inga stop, blinking. "Really? This is it? All of that..." she gestures to the note, handing it to someone who can read. "What does it say?"

Upon assumably being told, Inga looks incredibly disappointed. All she had really wanted was some clue to how to deal with the Filth. Suppose it was too much to ask for. They have something...but it is just another vague clue. "An act...took his place...some kind of ritual murder?" Inga sighs heavily and walks out of the small room, taking a seat. "I do not know what it means. I will attempt to divine on it," she says, reaching up to rub her own temples. What a headache.

Staren has posed:
    Staren shakes his head, then heads back into the library to look around. Man, that was pointless...

    After a few moments, he comes back to the others. "No, no, /no/, this /can't/ be all. All this effort, just for a confession? Could one man even have /set up/ all this? There have to have been more people involved. This... whether this is true or not, there /has/ to be some deeper meaning. Something the right people, the illuminati, would know if they found it. While this story about a man confessing centuries-old sins is set up to make people like us, who stumble on to it, /stop looking/."

    Staren glares at the skeleton, then turns and glares at the room. "Who was this message really /meant/ for? Specifically?"

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor huffs. "Some mysteries aren't all that compelling, Staren." She shuffles in her bag and pulls out a capri sun. Gotta get her electrolytes back up.
    She sips on it, and then pulls another one out for Inga, handing it over.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "... Out of curiosity... does anyone think there's anything in the coffin... ....egh, I don't want to think about it." SHirou mumbles unhappily. "... But if it's like the last one?"

Inga has posed:
Inga takes the capri sun, looks at it for a moment...she looks up to see what Eleanor does with it, then copies her. She takes a sip, finds it extremely sweet but refreshing, then sets it down for a bit.

"I don't know Staren. Has anyone opened the coffin?" she asks, moving back into the little room. "Well, whatever else...I'm not letting good bones go to waste."

Inga strides to the skeleton and promptly removes his head.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley looks over at Staren as she steps into the room, brows raised. Her steps lead her over to the skeleton. She leans in to get a proper look at it, considering the ancient sign of someone who was once an important figure. "Acting like this isn't important... as a chronicler, I am immensely displeased at your lack of appreciation for finding the Truth," she tells Staren, sounding just a tad haughty about it. "I mean, really, did it need to have sparklers and strobe lights for you to appreciate it? A pile of gold? We're in a tomb full of ancient books that may have information no one would have known otherwise."

    She smiles lightly at the skeleton. "Governor, hmm." And then Inga removes his head.

    "What the HELL," she snaps at Inga, having finally lost her temper at something quite abruptly. She reins it back, and waves it off, turning to find some books for reading purposes, if Inga and Eleanor didn't pilfer all the good ones while she wasn't looking.

Staren has posed:
    When people remind him that the coffin is unopened, Staren turns to look at it. He shrugs, and then goes to open it -- but Ainsley tells him off. He blinks at her. "Well... I mean... it /is/ important, for history, and you're right about the books, but that was two puzzles ago. This work wasn't done /only/ to hide the books, or that would have been the end of it. The books are important, but there's more here. Something people would set up magical traps to stand the test of time to guard until the time is right."

    Back to the coffin. The power armor's super strength is more along the lines of 'human strongman' than 'throwing cars', but even so, it's a machine -- at worst it lifts slowly, but there's no grunting and straining on Staren's part even if this /is/ heavy.

Riva Banari has posed:
Too late, Ainsley! Staren's power armor is easily enough to handle the job of moving the stone lid. The coffin opens, revealing...

Another corpse. These must be the true remains of Solomon Priest, as a good deal of Illuminati and Masonic objects lie within with him.

More importantly, there is also a book held within the skeleton's hands. It appears to be a journal of much of Solomon Priest's work in Kingsmouth, much of it dedicated towards the actual edification and construction of places of learning and enlightenment for the people under his care. Near the end, however, is a point of interest:

I have never before had Concern for the Native Populations of this
land before we have come to form this Colony. This is a known Place
of Great Power, but much of it remained inaccessable even to the Enlightened.
However, an ancient Legend of these Peoples have come to light, speaking of
a great Enemy, who was Battled in this place, and with the Assistance of
Mighty Warriors from across the Ocean, they struck it down.
They speak of a powerful Weapon that the warriors carried with them,
and its Rumour fills me with Ill Disposition.
A man of Unseemly Attitude and Unpleasant Demeanor came seeking information
on the Weapon. The man was Warned, but eventually
Banished from this place for his Crimes when he
Sought our Hidden Knowledge. The Weapon is clearly known to some outside this land.
I pray that such a thing never returns to these Shores, with its Dark Tidings.

Inga has posed:
Inga looks to Ainsley, eyes wide and filled with a quiet fury.

"I apologize about the lever, but I DO know what I am doing when it comes to the bones of the dead," she replies. "If you take issue with it, fine, but it would have been a powerful charm against the myriad of terrible things waiting to eat the remaining people of this town," she says, placing the head down and moving out of the room.

She's quite done.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley crosses her arms, her tail lashing like an angry cat for a few minutes.

    She quietly tries to think of a way to apologize to Inga later. It would probably be best not to pursue her right this second.

    She looks over at Staren's activities, instead, mildly interested in the coffin despite her distraction.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou, oddly, does not seem bothered by the presence of old bones. Sure, they might be creepy, but he's... not really creeped out. Only Inga's treatment of them creeped him out... but he's not going to intervene in that. Two girls arguing? The only loser would be himself if he got involved in that.

    The redhead hardly twitches at the corpses, really. An oddity - he hasn't been bothered by the zombies too much, either. They have no horror factor for him, only upsetting him from the loss of life.

    Right now, he's most interested in the books.

    When the important passage is discovered... ".... warriors from across the ocean? Then the Draugr would make sense, as that's... Icelandic? Nordic? It's their word for zombies." He's showing his odd bits of mythological lore again. "Natives would mean the native Americans, probably... Vikings? Then the weapon might be something magical, like Hrotti or Gram. Or something like it."

Staren has posed:
    Staren sighs at the confrontation between Inga and Ainsley... but he's not sure who, if anyone, is right here. "Hey, Ainsley." Staren calls her over when the book is found.

    Presumably, they speed to the end to see what the last entry is. "Place of great power... A legend of /which/ Peoples? Enemy... mighty warriors from across the ocean and a Weapon? Who /were/ these people? And someone was looking for it... banished... dark tidings... Could the man be John? See, /now/ we're getting somewhere. This is hinting at something big!" Staren smiles.

    Then he looks thoughtful. "Still... what are the /intended/ recipients supposed to do here? He doesn't want the weapon sought out, so..."

Inga has posed:
Inga hears something about vikings. Something she is called frequently these days. "Read it in full if you would be so kind?" she asks either Staren of Shirou.

A frosn. "From across the sea...I'm told my people landed here. Indeed, the Agartha entrance...there is a longship my people often used," she continues. Slowly her eyes grow brighter. "If that is the case...perhaps that is why I am here," she says quietly. Some rhyme and reason for why she was chosen, some thousand years removed.

Inga looks to Shirou, nodding. "Perhaps....and perhaps the Thing this priest speaks of has come back."

"Much to consider," she adds, running the message through her mind several times, digging it into her memory.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa stares for a moment.

"Let's have some respect for the dead shall we?"

Kotone's looking rather horrifed at this point. She's also intendin to recover books for reading and safe keeping for later. She does look a little flabergasted. Culture class people that's what's up.