[Syliras Quest] The Lost Necklace (Grandfathered)

[Benacer]

OOC :

I am really sorry for the delay! I had some real life issues I had to deal with, and I could not login to post in the past days! Please accept my apologies, it was not my intention to keep you guys waiting. This most likely will not happen again.

Benacer dove his mind in his own thoughts for several minutes. For some reason the whole situation seemed somewhat familiar to him. He began remembering of his childhood days, in which he would find isolated places to hide from the world, one being a cave that looked a lot like this one. For a few minutes he thought that he had heard the voice of his sister as if she were looking for him in one of his hiding spots, and then the voice came up once again, somewhat louder and clearer this time:

“I am going to travel down the center passage. Conor you are welcome to follow, but if you choose the right I will not hold it against you.”

"Wait, what...?" he thought to himself as he suddenly realized that he had been daydreaming there for a few minutes. He laughed inside at the thought that they probably had tried to wake him up but eventually gave up believing him to be foolish or just slow. After a few seconds, he finally lifted himself up to the corridor and attempted to rid his woolen shirt of the dirt from brushing himself against the stone wall, all in vain. After giving up on it, he simply raised his head to face the changed situation. Apparently one of the three adventurers was gone and the young woman had just entered the central passage.

He had to think this through. Was it worth trying to team up with these people? If this "Conor" or whatever his name truly was followed the woman, one passage would be left. He was unsure if the passages led to completely different paths, or if they all intersected at some point. Nonetheless, if he found the necklace all by himself, he would not have to share his prize with the adventurers, which is exactly what he wanted. He could possibly achieve that by entering the remaining passage alone, though it certainly was a risky choice, as there was always the possibility that one of the others would find it first, but since he had already gone this far, he was willing to take his chances.

Benacer then stared at Conor, raising his voice, "Well, it seems that there are two of us and one remaining passage. I suppose you'd rather follow one of your friends than entering this one with me, right?" Benacer wanted to make sure that no one would interfere if he somehow managed to find the necklace by himself. He did not know Conor, but he knew that it was not likely for someone to trust him just like that. Benacer certainly did not look very friendly at first glance, and the heavy axe on his back did not help with that either.

"It seems that you too are here for the necklace. I will do whatever I can to have it," said Benacer with a serious look on his face. He thought about intimidating the man for a brief moment, but he did not know how Conor would react to his words. It'd be best to avoid conflict, he just wanted to make sure that he would get to go on his own. Regardless of Conor's decision, Benacer began walking towards the remaining passage with a smile on his face.

[Conor]

At first, everything was calm and serene at the cave entrance. The new guy didn’t react to the inquiries of others and he seemed rather “slow” or – but it was best not to underestimate a stranger – retarded. Mella however, continued her habit of being good company by laughing when Conor told her about his affinity towards Kelvic. Her laugh was similar to a cat’s purr and in a way it uncovered her bestial nature. So she could morph into a feline? Well, a normal household cat would prove to be a bad companion inside these little corridors, but a larger beast, perhaps a tiger like the ones in those mythical tales would be an asset. She didn’t act hostile anymore, no, her faith in Conor seemed to shift towards good as she laughed like a cat. “I am not opposed to the idea, and you may follow as you asked. However, any tricks and you will find yourself short of a body part. Is my meaning clear?” Conor smiled. He had expected a daring and bold answer like that, and it amused it him that he was right. He had just started his travels and already his knowledge about people had grown exponentially. Hopefully his skills would do so as well, but he hadn’t had many chances to show his martial prowess off yet. He shrugged and turned back to reality.

“I am going to travel down the centre passage. Conor you are welcome to follow, but if you choose the right I will not hold it against you.” “I got your back,” he answered to Mella; it was a clear and genuine response, though Conor hardly expected to be charged from the rear. But then the stranger demanded his attention, he had climbed up the ridge and was now standing on the surface. "Well, it seems that there are two of us and one remaining passage. I suppose you'd rather follow one of your friends than entering this one with me, right?" He said. How remarkable, Conor thought. So the man had some sort of brain after all? Of course he would rather follow Mella, he had already agreed after all. "It seems that you too are here for the necklace. I will do whatever I can to have it," the man said in some sort of failed attempt to intimidate Conor. The young adventurer just grinned at the man, like he was laughing in his face. “Whatever you say,” Conor chuckled, and then he left for the middle entrance.

He progressed as fast as he could to catch up with Mella, and it didn’t take him very long before he finally found her. The corridor had been straight forward until now. “Well now, I don’t know if you’ve got a plan, but I say we just proceed and see what happens. Unless you happen to have a better plan?”

[Hunter]

As was obvious, not every path led in the same direction. In fact, one of the paths ended quite abruptly. Gintoki, on the leftmost path would soon turn a corner only to be surprised by what would be the first of many traps. An unsuspecting Gintoki would catch his foot on a trip wire, triggering a false wall to collapse, and sending a spherical rock tumbling out of a dead end. Luckily the rock didn't travel too fast, and it would not take too much effort for the adventurer to escape back to the intersection. Was this a punishment from karma after the man's outright distrust of Mella, or was it simply bad luck? Either way, Gintoki would hopefully arrive back at the main chamber just in time to see Conor and Benacer set out. ---- The right path, the one that Benacer set out on alone, ended with a turn and then a wall. But, the wall was far from normal when compared to the rest of the cave. This one was inscribed with writing, and seemed to be hollow. If one were to put his or her ear right up to it, he or she would hear the muffled dripping of water. Based on the fact that the sound was still audible from beyond the false wall, the obstruction couldn't have been more than a foot thick. Aside from the not-too-obvious hollowness of the wall, the writing read the following: Ah, so I see, you've found my first puzzle. Let's see how good you are with riddles, speak the answer to the following and this wall will let you pass. I am lighter than a feather, yet no man can hold me for very long. What am I? What will Benacer think of to get past this little roadblock? ---- Conor and Mella had chosen to take the middle path. The wall on their right was similar to the one that blocked Benacer, but it didn't have any writing on it and with no reason to check, the two would probably never notice it's hollowness, let alone think of breaking it. After a few yards the corridor took a sharp turn to the left and continued on for another twenty or so yards before revealing yet another intersection. This one only had two separate paths. One led into a larger room, more than big enough for the two travelers to both stand side by side AND stand completely erect and still have room to spare. Yet there was a sinister amount of activity in the room, and one would be able to spot a small glow possibly coming from a fire lower into the ground. Friend or foe, it was impossible to tell, but there was definitely a living presence. The other path was just as cramped as where the two currently were and led straight for a bit before turning to the left. ---- From safe in her Syliras home, a sorceress would soon sit by her fire to find the numbers 1 and 2 written in ash along her floor, and then she would cackle with delight...

[Mella]

Mella traveled along the corridor quickly her mind and senses alert. She did not want to be ambushed when not paying attention and so she kept focus on her current task trying to anticipate what the soon-to-be-present future would be. It was not long till she heard Conor catch up to her. His footsteps and breathing were thunderous to her ears making Mella wonder if any human had the ability to remain quiet. You would think it was a stampede of elephants behind her and not one lone man, but that was only Mella’s perception of it. Her heightened senses were sensitive and the echo-like attribute of the cave enhanced the volume. To anyone else, Conor walked almost silently and his breathing was a light breeze that had only a slight resonance.

Her sharp eyes detected another intersection up ahead, and Mella slowed cautious to what might lay in those two corridors. A barely perceptible glow came from one of the passages, and slight rustlings emitted from the room indicating a living presence. The being’s intentions were unknown, whether good or bad, yet a slight prickling along the back of her neck suggested whatever or whoever would not be particularly friendly.

The other passage was in comparison quite harmless. It continued on much like the one they had entered—dark, cramped but otherwise ordinary. It would seem that path would be the safest bet with a rather low risk, yet Mella’s curiosity was peaked at the strange shadow figure and until that inkling was followed through, it would bother her like an itch that could not be scratched.

Stopping altogether, Mella held up a hand towards Conor motioning him to halt. Knowing that in the dim lighting he would not be able to see her miming out her question, she approached and whispered in his ear careful to not let any sound travel. Her words were mere breaths on his neck and even Conor would strain to hear them despite the nearness. “Up ahead there is one passage with a dark figure near a low fire. The other is much like this one. I’d like to investigate the person further as they might have seen something of the necklace. What pathway do you feel would be the best to take?”

If Conor agreed with Mella and decided he wanted to investigate the chamber further, Mella would shrug out of her dress and morph. The action was so practiced and fluid that Conor would only receive a glimpse of her back and its various scars before it shifted quite seamlessly into deep, almost black, mahogany brunette fur. She would nose her clothes out of the way hiding them much the same way as she did with her cloak. The animal Mella would then slink forward her body low to the ground as she approached the opening of the passage trying to get a better view of the figure.

If Conor disagreed, she would remain in her human form and lead the way down the other path.