[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/C7nwoGY.png[/img] [b]Words:[/b] 1,338 (+3) [b][color=ea590c]Edward Portsmith: Level 9 (22 cells) (2 level ups stored)[/color] [/b][color=ea590c]////////////////////////////[/color]///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (28/90) [b]Location[/b] Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk [/center] Edward groaned as he awoke, before blinking once and leaping to his feet with an assistive flap of his wings. He drew his nanite-infested katana in one hand and magelock pistol in the other as soon as he was up, before taking cover behind the barrels. Only after claiming the defensive position did he take the time to fully observe his surroundings, and only once he identified them as clear did he step back out of cover, holstering his pistol but keeping the sword dawn just in case. [color=ea590c]”Teleported. Wondeful”[/color] he said to himself, before setting about investigating the area for signs as to where he was, and where the others might be. Despite the sudden transportation and unfamiliar surroundings, Edward forced himself to remain calm. Most of the others could handle themselves, and even for those that could not, there would be no gain from rushing into danger when he was on the lower end of the ‘being able to handle things’ spectrum. Instead he focused on trying to make sense of the situation, and to discover any clues or items that could aid the team. First things first, he checked the barrels by lifting up their lids with his sword. In doing so, he discovered that he had made a very poor choice when taking cover earlier, given they were filled with black powder. Still, he wasn’t one to turn down the offer of high explosives, and so these were swiftly sent to the armory for later use. He then took the time to examine both the dead bats and the living ones. The latter seemed perfectly healthy, rather than perhaps starved or sickly, which would have explained the presence of the dead but uneaten ones on the floor. These were in varying states of decay, including infestation by unusual large maggots. This all struck Edward as quite odd, especially the corpses. There were clearly decomposers at work here, such as the maggots, so the fact that there was any flesh at all implied that the area must have been created (or copied in) rather recently, else they would be nothing but bone now. After all, no fresh ones would ever be joining them in Galeem’s version of reality where the dead turned to ash. There wasn’t much to do with this information however, other than vaguely worry that what had been recently made might soon be unmade, and so Edward descended the stairs in search of something that was of use, where he found the alcove with its writings. Perusing them, he discovered that the side room was dedicated to the study of a cadre of powerful beings known as the Daedric Princes (worshipped by some as deities) as well as the planes associated with each one. Perhaps, he speculated, they had been drawn into one of those realms, though given the mundanity of the bats compared to some of the daedra described in the documents as being the residents of those planes, this was not a theory that had much evidence at the moment. It was only after he was done reading, and having bound all the writing together into a halfbaked Tome using his magic, that he began to inspect the bell. I did not seem particularly magical in any way, which was a shame, but he was naturally quite curious as to its purpose. Perhaps it would summon someone willing (or able to be ‘convinced’) to explain the situation he was in. The man wisely fortified his location with summoned golems before sounding the bell. Unfortunately this did nothing to dissuade the three [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/dd0f2ccd7dc1.png]gargoyls[/url] that swooped down from a hole in the ceiling in order to grab him and haul him back up into their hiding spot. Said spot turned out to be a vertical tunnel, and, after hauling him up past a secondary tunnel leading deeper into the rock, emerged out of the top into a [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/d297c8f1cee9.png]Perilous Hallway[/url] via the pit in its center. They then deposited him at the top of the flight of stairs before returning back down the way they had come. After a moment to steady his breath, Edward glanced back down into the pit, but found nothing down there but the dark. [color=ea590c]”What a wretched transportation system”[/color] he complained, before setting it aside for now. With a quick few mental commands he dismissed most of the golems he’d summoned down below, but left a squad of bronze ones who began hacking away at the walls to extract any coal or lapis they could with their helbards. Not exactly the perfect tools for the job, but they could keep at it effortlessly for as long as he sustained them. Then he flexed his wings and with a flapping leap crossed the gap to the balcony opposite the staircase. He’d seen that the gold filigree decorated black doors there were ajar, allowing a bright light to creep through into the dim corridor, and was intrigued to investigate the source of that light. Past the black doors Edward found a spacious and elegant [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/a4deac061991.png]bathroom[/url], its white tile floor studded with small black diamonds, and a pattern like a curtain or half-folded fan on the off-white walls. To the left, a huge latticed circular window let light shine across a pristine bathtub that sat atop a raised dias, its arrangement of faucets intriguingly intricate. A rug occupied the center of the room, and opposite the tub stood the bathroom countertop with mirrors and sinks. Towels, soaps, and potted plants could be found in abundance, as well as some other furniture. It was luxurious without being opulent, very clean, and a comfortable refuge in an unknown location. Edward still moved through it with sword in hand nonetheless, but once it was confirmed clear he breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. Certainly the sunlit window was somewhat suspicious, given there was no sun outside and the frosted over texture made it impossible to see what was actually out there. However, after releasing the Snoruyo from their pal-spheres, he felt secure enough to experiment with the bathroom. He tested the bathtub first, purely out of curiosity, and found that its elaborate faucet was capable of streaming out several different colors of perfumed water to create a rainbow bath. A quiet novel setup indeed. Much as it was tempting, however, this was not the time. What he did however have time for was the sink. After the morning’s rude awakening and the whole beard incident, the man was feeling pretty rough and unkempt despite his best efforts. More so than he might expect, even, as despite the fact that he had simply been examining the rooms he was in, he found that he felt somewhat fatigued. As such, a bit of self care was more than welcome. He also took the opportunity to fill a small drinking flask with water that wasn’t made from snow that had been melted using a simulacrum of hellfire. He wasn’t entirely idle while he did this, as the man had a scout drone he’d made before his wash launch itself down into the pit in order to investigate the side passage he’d been flown past while being carried by the gargoyles. It wasn’t a particularly long investigation, as after spotting an interesting [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/b0ed6217cab4.png]blade[/url] that crackled with lighting, the drone was promptly destroyed by a grotesque [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/8e8b0bf8d33e.png]Green Hunter[/url] that lurked within the otherwise mostly bare cavern. An unfortunately unsurprising confirmation that danger did indeed lurk within these halls. He decided to leave it be (for now) and put his re-energized state into further exploration, recalling the snoruyo and heading back out to the Perilous Hallway. Here he glanced left and right, before leaping back to the stairs with a flap of his wings, and then heading down towards the left door in order to continue seeking answers. [hr] Elsewhere in the maze, the Somnadrix presented itself to Roxas, awaiting his commands, while Taffy the traffikrab hunkered down under its neon traffic cone in response to the confusion brought on by suddenly appearing inside of an observatory. Finally, the infernal steed carrying Edward’s grenade launcher lay itself down in a room filled with seated cage wearing [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/4fa3a912a287.png]corpses[/url] at its general’s distant command, lacking as it did thumbs needed to either open doors or investigate the main body more closely.