Treasure in Death (closed with Aludra and Skully)

Myra felt along the walls just inside the doorway to the old Catacombs. Mourningwood was known well for it's dangers, but also for it's dead. Call her a grave robber, but there were ancient things here and she wished to discover them. She left nothing unchecked, not matter how it slowed her and her companions course.

"Aludra, do you think anything will happen here?" she asked offhandedly, figuring that making sure of their safety would be important as she searched a nearly-broken shelf for texts. "Ooh! A history book," she pulled the old musty card-covered item off the shelf.

Even breathing in this dank room was causing Aludra's body to tense. The smell of death and decay permeated the air and the cobwebs that hung from every visible surface made every hair on her body stand rigid. Myra's question seemed almost too simple to warrant an answer. This was Mourningwood, and magic was coming back to Ablion.. How could something not happen?

"There is a good chance for it.." Aludra muttered, hand hovering just over the hilt of her dagger in case of danger. She was prepared for any and everything to go awry, stiffening as Myra pulled out a book. "Be careful of what you touch. There may be traps. I've not really done a thorough exploration of this place..."

Myra flipped through her new book as Aludra talked. It was definitely far older than their current ones, and from it's condition and contents, she'd place it just before the hero of Bowerstone came to power and during Lucian's reign. Maybe even before the Spire. That in and of itself made it worthwhile to add to the Academy library, and she put it in her bag.

She heeded Aludra's warnings though, and rather than simply pulling things of shelves again, she took out a small brush and began dusting the other books off. There were only a few left, but they were also books that the libraries already owned. Standing up, she went to dust off some of the walls, though didn't find any important images, writings, or anything. It seemed even the old chests and the shelves built into the walls were either bare, had potions that were so old they looked and smelled too rancid to trust, or had nothing of real importance.

She checked the other wall, and found much of the same things. She found a very old drawing, untied to anything and proving to not be a trap. The only reason she decided to take it was because it was, miraculously, preserved enough to find images of people from the time period, even if one was so dull, weathered, and washed out they were barely visible. By the time she was done, she had spent at least half an hour on that one room checking and dusting everything. She was even coughing a bit as the dust filled the stale air and forced the open door to actually ventilate it and have some air move.

Satisfied with her search, she decided to move to the door and open that to move onto the next room. As she opened it, she every so often would close it slightly and wiggle the door open to make sure there weren't any trap-triggers. She wasn't sure if old Albionites could make traps like this, but figured that safe was better than sorry.

Though most of her energy was being spent on trying to keep watch on everything and ensure safety, Aludra did take notice of how Myra followed her instructions. Even though she wasn't an expert on these ruins by a long shot, she'd known to expect anything and everything to go wrong when exploring. The last thing she wanted for Myra was to be caught in a trap, or worse, injured because of her indiscretion.

As they moved through the ruins, Aludra kept on high alert, never leaving a 5 foot radius around Myra at all times. The more she looked around, the more she realized how barren this place was.. but that was usually why they called places like this 'ruins'. They were ruined in the past and ransacked for treasure after the inhabitants had left or even during their stay. Still, she made the most of what little she found that pertained to her. There were a few bits and pieces of old weapons lying around that she could easily find a blacksmith to melt down for her for arrow heads or things of the sort.

Finally, when Myra was done in the first room, she sighed softly and followed behind. She hoped in the next room they'd find something worthwhile.. and that no traps would be triggered.

The door proved to be non-trapped, and Myra walked on in. The room was increasingly dark though, so she took a small lantern off of her belt and lit it to provide at least a bit more light than the door did. "I wonder how deep this goes," she murmured aloud. "And if there is anything else worthwhile after all, I mean so far there has only been a book or two and a painti-" she never finished her sentence. Instead it was cut off by a shriek. She had been walking to another wall and the floor had collapsed under her, causing her to fall three feet below and onto a pile of planks, dirt, and bricks. Luckily she hadn't hurt herself too badly, but her calf and hip hurt now since she'd fallen sideways after landing, her hip hitting a brick on the way down.

Her lantern had fallen as well and was sputtering from the rough landing. It wasn't long before it simply went out. "Oh, wonderful," she groaned as she groped around in the dark to find it again.