[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/0EjtAmP.png[/img] [img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjcyLmJhYmFiYS5TWFpoSjB0eWFHOW8uMAAAAAAA/lovecrafts-diary.regular.png[/img] [color=silver]~~The Illuminator~~[/color][/center] [i]Location: Wall of Hlakth[/i] [hr] Making her way down the sheer cliff was both exhilarating and nerve wracking. Bryyre was certainly strong, no doubt about that. But a single slip and she'd probably die, which was kind of just a tiny bit bad. Lets see, she also needed to get Bryyre down, but how? There were no handholds and ice was pretty difficult to work with in any capacity. She had that pick thing she made - which she was going to use to slow her descent if she fell, but it looked like Bryyre had more or less had the idea. "Hmm..." She didn't have any more rope, and she didn't feel like leaving Bryyre behind. If there were just some footholds or something he could climb down fairly easily, but what could he use? Well...if you didn't have something - you made it. "Hey, hold up a minute!" The rope lowering her jerked to a stop, causing her to nearly drop the tools. "What is it, Iw'an?" "Just...making some foot holds for you!" Lahzria grunted. Well, technically she only had one possible candidate and she wasn't even sure if it'd hold. With a bit of effort, she took the pick she had fashioned and began hammering it into the side of the wall. After a few attempts, she had managed to work the stone object into the wall of ice. Giving it a tug, it seemed to hold well enough...but what could she do? "Alright, keep going!" Not long later, her feet touched the ground below and she looked up at Bryyre. "...Hmm...hey! I'll unhook myself. Wear the harness yourself! I made a small handhold for you, but I dunno if it'll be enough! You still have your hunting knife?" She asked. "I do!" He shouted back down to her. "Great! Uh...hm. Okay, idea! You'll need to lower yourself down! Try grounding the knife in the ice then tying the rope around it! It [i]should[/i] hold! Should!" The next part she was even less sure about. It would have probably gone better had he someway to manually stop the rope from moving somehow. Perhaps a system or something that could let him control how much rope he had, but for now all he had was his hands and probably a bit of rope burn. Thankfully though, it worked. Bryyre lowered himself down carefully, only slipping once. The knife seemed to hold itself well enough once it was lodged in the ice, and the foothold she made helped him catch his fall after the rope fell, too. Once he was down, Lahzria gave him a grin. "Well I'd say that was a success!" She laughed excitedly. "My hands would disagree..." Bryyre grunted, wincing at the new case of rope burn across his hands. "Well come on! Discovery awaits!" She was getting more excited the longer she was in the place and the more progress she made. Walking up the slope to the other side, the two eventually reached what could only be their destination. A large, central chamber of some sort it seemed made of stone and ice. A large stone portal had been built into the ice, frozen over in places after the passage of time. On the floor was a stone basin of some sort, in the center of which was a stone pedestal. "This is..." "An entrance to the Library! It has to be." Lahzria gleefully gave an excited squeal, running over to the pedestal. "Ooh, this is great! We're so close!" "But how do we open it?" Bryyre questioned, walking past Lahzria and towards the large stone circle. "Well lets see...this pedestal has some old script on it..." The young human brushed some frost off of the pedestal. "It's old and worn, but I think I can make it out." [i][center]"Once we traveled, looking for mysteries unraveled Over frozen seas, barren tundra, and lost forests breeze Friends, brothers, for the longest time to hate each other, what a crime! But the pursuit left us wanting, our friendship tested with knowledge taunting Alas! How sad, poetic, pathetic and dire! Friendship has no place, amidst desire! Once we traveled, looking for mysteries unraveled Now I travel, where the knowledge causes the minds unravel Alone, never to atone [/center][/i] "...a poem?" Lahzria frowned, unsure what to make of it at first. She brushed a loose strand of her brown hair from her face, staring at the stone tablet. She'd like to take her time and consider her options a bit, but she was on a time crunch. What she could discern however, it told the story of two people in a fairly short and likely glossed over manner. Two people traveled in search of knowledge. Friends from the look of it. Then somehow, one of them died or they separated. This poem obviously had something to do with it, didn't it? But if so, what? ... It...couldn't mean that, could it? But that's why she was here to start with. To get away from something like that. If her theory was correct, then one of them killed the other for access to the library. Was that what she was reading? To her knowledge that also lined up with a small tale of one of the pilgrims that made a trek here before. Twins. Only one ever returned, and he was quite mad according to the legends. Spent the rest of his days living in the forest until he died. She inhaled. Bryyre was like a father to her. He [i]raised[/i] her after her parents were killed in an accident. He had always looked after her. Him and Yvur both. There was no way she could do it...right? But if she wanted to gain access to the library...she would be great, wouldn't she? All that knowledge at her fingertips. Anything she could possibly want to know. She could...finally not be treated like a child all the time. "...Bryyre, come here for a second." Her own knife felt far too cold in her hands. [hr] [i]Location: Cy'Lathak[/i] Swiftly, the two who had received replies returned easily returning to the Library. Iva was still in his lab, working away at his maddening creations. A severed limb here, a still beating disembodied heart hooked up to some contraption there. A few brains in jars. Quite the fun, macabre appearance. Most wouldn't have dared to bother him in such a state, but the servants were on a strict schedule. The two returned to the depths of the experiment halls. [color=silver]"Ah...so Anu wants to see me! Hee! How rude. I'm quite busy..."[/color] The Illuminator hissed, grabbing a human head and some nearby threads from a nearby table. [color=silver]"And Naswaru says he'll make it if he's not busy. Hmhmm...Little La-Zha is making good progress though, heehe! Oh I wonder I wonder, if she'll go through with it."[/color] Iva hoped she did. There would be no getting to the library without a sacrifice and a lesson of some sort. Hers? Well, she had to learn a harsh lesson all those in the pursuit of knowledge needed to learn. Anything for the sake of knowledge. All else was meaningless. [color=silver]"You there. Take this to Sveiand, and you take this Apolios. Hurry hurry! And don't bother me until you're done!"[/color] He'd need to make time to visit Anu. Ah, she even sealed the letter with a kiss. How scandalous. Expected from the devilishly dark mistress. [color=silver]"Hmm...maybe I'll bring her some flowers."[/color] At the spire [hr] The Aho'Nohg remaining at the spire watched with interest, forgoing its mission of delivering a message to Oao. No, this was far more important for its master to know of, so it watched. Watched everything. Hyperion, Naswaru, Oao...Iarus. This was information immediately pertinent to everyone of them. Gammaton would also likely want to know, but the creature wasn't heading back without a full report to either of them. So it continued to watch and wait events unfold. [hr] Niflheim [@jetipster][@Leotamer] The one tasked with finding Sveiand was not prepared for the chilling winds of the north, but it lacked the ability to care or even feel the intense cold of the north. It landed upon the shore, having to walk the rest of the way for otherwise its wings would have frozen over entirely with ice from the air. The cold air and fierce blizzards buffeted the creature, slowing its progress considerably, and eventually it was forced to land to rest its wings. It was then, the creature became aware of a smaller humanoid creature seemingly in the same position that it was in. Initially it showed no interest in the small humanoid, and instead merely looked curiously out over the vast frozen expanse next to Quill, seemingly contemplating the same things he was contemplating. [hr] Terratoria [@Archangel89] The second headed in the opposite direction, moving towards the warmer lands of Terratoria, the lands of Hyperion. It had a vague idea of where it could find the god of the Sun, but didn't have an exact location. It only headed towards the radiant palace of light - yet once it got to the barrier, it stopped. Halting in its tracks, slowly circling around the barriers exterior. It could not enter without receiving major damage from this security system, and it wasn't quite sure if it could survive the entire ordeal. So the black winged creature gave a loud, mind creaking shriek before landing atop a rocky outcropping near the edge of the field. It would only attempt crossing should its cries not bring the target of its message to its target. It was a being of chaos, after all. It could not cross such a barrier so easily.