"Well in that case we should get on with it," Emmaline declared breathlessly. They stepped into the garden and slipped quickly along the side of the manor house concealed in the darkness beneath the overhang of the second floor. The white coat was not particularly suited for the task but they would only be in the open for a few seconds. They reached the cellar door and Neil bent down over the lock for a few seconds. The engineer didn't need more than a few seconds to spring the lock and throw back the door. They stepped down into the darkness and found... another door. It wasn't the kind of heavy utilitarian door that would be expected in a cellar. It was fine polished timber that seemed to glint in the moonlight.

"What is this," Emmaline asked in puzzlement. Neil shrugged in the darkness.

"Maybe its a vault?" he suggested uncertainly and leaned close to the lock. His tools flashed and he jerked he hand back with an oath.

"Ranald's balls it had a trap," he said wonderingly.

"Did it prick you?" Emmaline asked in rising concern trying to think of spells that might serve against poisons. Neil snorted derisively.

"Not even close, just surprised me is all," he reassured her and then clicked the lock open. Emmaline touched the door and it swung open noiselessly. The interior glinted as moonlight struck metal. Emmaline stepped into the room, her nose wrinkling at a strange scent on the air. It smelled like a fire in a candy shop she had once smelled, combined with a spice merchants pots. Emmaline stepped inside and raised her hand, whispering an incantation. Golden light shone from the ring on her finger. The interior of the basement was paved with green veined marble and etched with symbols in copper. The walls were heaped with books bound in purplish leather and strange objects that defied description. Heads suspended in fluid, the twisted talons of great beasts, jars of strange powders. Emmaline's eyes widened comically as she took in the vista.

"Neil we need to..." the door slammed shut sealing the thief on the other side, arcane runs springing to light in pale fire. The fire spread down the walls and onto the copper sigils.

"Ranald's balls!" Emmaline squeaked turning to pound on the door. She felt the mystical energy gathering into a blue blur and felt her stomach turning as the spell raced towards completion. Something horrifying wrought in blue fire stepped from the center of the sigil reaching for the blonde wizard. Emmaline grabbed up a brass candleabra and smashed it across the things jaw then darted passed towards a set of stairs on the other side of the room, screaming as she went.