Team Nippon [@VitaVitaAR][@PKMNB0Y][@Crimson Paladin] [hr] The birds were dispatched with swift, remorseless efficiency. Perhaps they should take the time to skin the creature. Its beak seemed metallic, or at least sturdier than what a birds beak should normally be, but whatever they chose to do they wouldn't have the luxury of time. As Nobu and Misaki regained their bearings, Novak made his way to the door. He would be greeted with a slightly somber sight. In front of him was a large, mostly flat plain covered with snow. Large black stone slabs liberally scattered on the ground, some buried deep into the earth and some simply laying on their sides, having mostly been reclaimed by now. To his left, was the base of a large cliff that stretched upwards a few dozen yards, his eyes would follow along it towards what could only be described as a gatehouse of some sort. Two large stone towers stood at either side of a road large road that was carved into the cliff. At some point a gate had likely been in place, but it had long since fallen into disuse. To his right and a little ways across the plains, was a large complex made of the same stone. It was difficult to tell how big it was from here, but one of the more notable features was a large watch tower that seemed to overlook the whole place. wait a minute He could see a flash of blue. Something was swiftly scaling up the side of that tower somehow what was- Novaks vision was cut off by a large slab of rock slamming down in front of him, nearly knocking him off his feet. Wait, no. That wasn't a stone slab, it was a foot, and he barely came up to its ankle! The massive stone being took a step forwards, the earth rumbling and giving way slightly under its weight leaving deep footprints in the snow as it walked. Craning his neck up, he could see a massive body made of chiseled, but weathered stone. Ice had formed on some parts of its body, no doubt due to the colder temperatures here that would drop even further at night. Its left hand had its fingers ending in blunt nubs like the heads of a hammer. The other didn't even have one, rather its other arm ended in nothing more than a large stone blade. Its shoulders were seemingly made to resemble a circular castle battlement. Carved into their stone were figures of some sort, but it was too difficult to make them out. On top of its shoulders, on either side of its head were two stone covered openings. It turned towards the guardhouse, but thankfully didn't seem to notice them yet - or maybe it didn't care? Its head was surprisingly small, seemingly lacking any facial features aside from a jagged row of stony teeth and vaguely reminiscent of a sharks head. Noticeably, it was not made of the same stone the buildings around here were made of. It turned its attention back to the other buildings, turning to face the direction it had come from, eyes scanning the snowy ground on a path from the guardhouse to the other building. A few of those birds were flying overhead, but most had taken refuge on the roof of the buildings across the way. It didn’t seem to have seen them yet, but it definitely seemed to know they were here somewhere. The Roma Mob [@ERode][@Pyromania99][@PaulHaynek] [hr] With the current threat taken care of, the group made a hasty exit towards what was presumably the path that would get them closer to leaving this place. The rest of the experiments paid them little heed, if they had noticed them at all. Perhaps if they explored the place a bit more, they could have gleaned some more information or useful items, but for now they pressed onwards. Immediately upon leaving the building, they would be met with a gentle, cool breeze. The snow crunched under their feet, the stone path showing them the way out of that somber place. In front of them stood a long, rectangular courtyard that might have been larger than it was, once upon a time. Buried in the ground was a large, black, stone slab made of the same stone of the building around them, the same smooth swirling patterns carved into its surface...yet there were other markings and carvings on it, on top of the old smooth swirling ones. Had they been added later? Unfortunately, Augusta's vision did not seem to work on this stone. It only worked on organic, living targets. Perhaps if she took some time to study it she could glean some information. She could feel a faint energy coming from it... Beyond this were several other, smaller ones though they lacked the extra carvings. The stone path seemed to curve around the building to their left, near the mountainous wall in front of them. To their right, was a vista of the ocean itself. A sheer cliff, dropping what could only be hundreds of feet towards the ocean below. The waves crashed upon the stone below, more of the black stone poking up from the ocean floor, creating a treacherous coast line that would have shredded anything that even had gotten close. Their gaze would follow the ocean outwards, where in the far, far, distance they could see an island of some sort, just barely on the horizon and even further a large, black pillar rising high into the sky so far they couldn't see the end of it, and they couldn't see its start either. It just sort of...faded into existence towards the ocean then faded out. As they followed the tower up, however, they would notice something else. Despite the midday lighting...there was no sun. The only celestial bodies that were in the sky above was a large, blue moon that had taken up most of the sky and a smaller grey colored one about a third of its size hidden just behind the larger one. At least the sky itself was clear, not a cloud in sight. The earth beneath their feet rumbled lightly, and they could hear something moving to the left just on the other side of the building. Nicholas's danger sense started to relax a bit. The area seemed safe enough, and those creatures didn't seem inclined to wander here after them. [hr] Team feet pics [@Cu Chulainn][@Crusader Lord][@Click This][@Guy0fV4lor] [hr] Choosing to instead keep to herself, Narkissa focused on the books left on the third floor. Most didn’t seem all too interesting, all falling victim to the sands of time and exposure from the however many countless moons this place had seen since whatever occurred here brought it to its end. Still, a few book titles may have caught her attention as she perused a nearby shelf. ‘-ow to p--k -- f--r m-id--s’ ‘On the -------- ---’ ‘The ----hts of --- S---’ All however, were in condition of great disrepair. A little more searching however, would find proverbial treasure. “A Novice’s guide to Magic” It was old, worn, and had been tossed onto the floor, yet it was in fairly good condition. The pages seemed fragile, and much of the ink had faded yet it was still legible. It seemed as though even if it was written in a language she was unfamiliar with, the Goddess had seen fit to at least give her and presumably everyone else the ability to read, if not write the language she was looking at. She would vaguely recall one of the goddess’ abilities being such...perhaps this could help her understand whatever ‘magic’ was and how one used it in general? Malphas accepted the bow, though he didn’t look too happy about it, pouting off to the side as Donovan got set to work. Twenty phantasmal workers manifested, all with the sole task of building a ramp to the third floor. Prying apart the old shelves and repurposing them was a simple, easy task in the grand scheme of things and perhaps using all twenty was a bit overkill, but it certainly would get the job done. Gathering the needed materials took the most time, if only because of the need to weed out the material that would do more harm than good, especially the books. There hadn’t been many left on the first two floors, almost as if most had been a casualty of whatever happened here. Still, they would find the needed materials relatively swiftly. Many hands make the quick work and all that. Thanks to his quick thinking, it was even being done with minimal noise - which meant there was a low chance of the ‘Guardian’ hearing them. It would be finished swiftly, but in the meantime, they still had to discuss what exactly they'd be doing. [hr] The Lonely Pixie [hr] [@1charak2] There didn't seem to be many useful things here. Likely most anything in the flasks and beakers aged beyond use. One contained some thick, molasses like substance that smelled faintly of ash and was the color of silver. Another was filled with a pale yellow colored liquid, but the lid on it seemed to have somehow fused with the flask itself. Probably not something she wanted to mess with. Countless others were of similar condition. At a brief glance, they didn't seem useful at all. The only thing that might have had some interest to her, were some medical looking implements scattered upon a table. Small knives, clamps...some sort of thin metal rod with a hook on the end. Several syringes and needles were scattered on the floor near the 'operating table'. The grisly nature of the items were something she probably didn't want to imagine. A low gurgle would interrupt her search and let her know she was no longer alone. One of those things had stumbled into the room, but it didn't seem to see her, or perhaps care.