Spirits of the Earth

It was a relatively nice morning in the city of Uthlyn: warm, slightly overcast but with no danger of raining, and just a little breezy. Miklo Quel noticed none of this as he roused himself at the back of his small bookstore, shaking off the old tome that had somehow ended up on his head while he slept and peering down at the book before him in an attempt to remember what he'd been doing when he nodded off last night. "Oh, that's right- shipbuilding. Now what was that idea I had right before I passed out...?" The man adjust his glasses as he noticed his half-finished leek stew from the night before. Not a great breakfast cold- it certainly hadn't been wonderful when it was hot, either- but it was there, and he couldn't exactly revolutionize the naval world on an empty stomach, now could he?

After a brief and somewhat unsatisfying- if filling- meal to start the day, Miklo groggily made his way to the bit of the building he reserved for his living-quarters and dunked his head in the wash-basin. Then he heard a dull thud coming from somewhere- what was that? Lifting his head out of the water, he stopped to listen. "Ah, someone at the door." Odd, he didn't get much business in the early morning, and it couldn't be one of his more regular customer's- they'd have simply walked in and started browsing, as he'd neglected to lock the door before he fell asleep last night. Fortunately such a small place wasn't a prime target for burglary- what would they steal, a few books? So, this had to be a new customer. Or possibly the guard, he supposed, but what would they want with him?

Not bothering to dry his face or his hair before answering, Miklo made his way back through the stacks and shelves of books- as well as those scattered over the floor. He would have been a particularly disheveled sight, and possibly a rather funny one as well with his normally dignified clothing loose and his glasses constantly slipping down the bridge of his nose. "Must adjust these sometime..." he muttered as he opened the door. "Hello?"

((OOC: No ideas in particular for this thread. If anyone has a character that needs a thread and can work with this opening then by all means toss them in however it suits you. Funny, serious, doesn't matter to me.))

A lot had been going on in Connlaoth. She had barely managed to flea Reajh from an escapade that could have cost her her life. And now, no doubt, her face would be plastered all over wanted posters in town. Thankfully, Uthlyn had been unaffected by the threats of mages being  rounded up and marched off to the north, to camps reserved for only Ansgar knew what purpose. So she figured this would be a safe of a haven as possible, but the city still had mage residence here in the beginnings of a lock down. More and more mordecai and soldiers were flooding into this city everyday, and tensions were growing and fears more families would be broken up and sent to the north. Because of this, the Free Folk was ever expanding and had it's work cut out for them.


It was a very real threat, and as part of the Free Folk, it affected her goals directly. She could only hope any wanted posters for her hadn't made their way to this place yet, as she made her way quickly down the street. There were rumors a new archaeological dig site was happening just south-east of Uthlyn, something about some underground tomb or sanctuary possibly being uncovered from some unknown or forgotten kingdom of a time past.

Jinai, however, was far from interested in the historical side of things. What she was interested in was what sort of thing this was they were unearthing. If the dig site they found lead to some underground pathways, as some rumors suggested that were circulating, the mages who are being trapped within the cities under strict martial law might have a way to get out, or at least a safe place to hide for a while until things cooled down. She just had to find out more about this dig site, and once she had begun to inquire, people promptly told her hte funding had been pulled and the dig site, abandoned since the extra monies were being reverted back to the capital to rebuilding the damage done to the Grand Duke's Palace under the most recent attacks.

So while she was making her way towards this digsite to check it out herself, she ran into a bit of a problem. Not only were her wanted posters, infact, pasted all over town, one of the damn guards near the library spotted her and began to make chase. Thankfully she had lost him, and was catching her breath as she made her way down a side street when a small store caught her eye. This place was good as any to hide out within. So she knocked on the door and when a disheveled man answered it, she didn't waste two seconds before simply stepping inside.

"I'm looking for a book," she said casually, her eyes noting the walls lining with them. Hey, she might as well work with it, and appearing as a normal citizen just looking to peruse the wares wouldn't raise suspicion from this stranger either as she needed to remain hidden from the guards.

"Of course, of course," Miklo began, his business sense already beginning to wake the rest of him up. He noticed how abruptly she pushed inside, but he decided to ignore it- after all, she might very well just be in a hurry. "Any book in particular? Or are you looking for something on a particular subject? If it's the latter, I'm sure I can be of help. If it's the former, well, I'll see what I can do. Or just feel free to look around, if you prefer." As he spoke, he began picking up a few of the books that had fallen out onto the floor and returning them to the shelves- not necessarily their shelves, as there seemed little to no rhyme or reason to the sorting of the books, but shelves nonetheless. "Anywhere in the building is open, aside from what's through that door over there- that would be my personal dwellings." Miklo leaned around a shelf and pointed vaguely towards the back wall, nearly dropping the pile of books he'd taken in his hands. "And pardon the mess. I received a new shipment the other day, and I've not yet had time to figure out how to make everything fit."

Jinai seemed to pay the man not much attention as her eyes roamed over the books, before glancing towards the door. A silhouette of the pair of guards passed by, and she held her breath. Thankfully, they hadn't stopped. She had a random book in hand and glanced down at it.
"I heard something about a dig site being unearthed somewhere near the city. I was interested if you had any books on the subject. You know, about er.. ancient Connlaothian history. I was fascinated when the news had been announced, though it's a shame the funding had been cut."
Though it was then she noticed the book she was holding was about goat herding.
"And a friend of mine really likes goats. He really does. Do you have any more books like this?" Might as well go with it.

"Ah, the digging! I heard about that myself. Can't wait to hear what comes of that- I considered offering to assist with that myself once or twice, actually. Somebody needs to watch the shop, though... Connlaothian history? I should have plenty on that. I'll see what I can find about the goats." Miklo shot Jinai a short grin, and then practically disappeared among the bookcases. He didn't even seem to pause long enough to read the full titles before snatching books from their place and adding them to his ever-growing pile. "Origins of a Great Nation... Roots of Connlaoth... Where Did We Come From.... Now where did I put that treatise on Fell? Ah, there it is!"

Returning with a stack of books well above his head- how did he manage to balance those?- Miklo gave a heave and dropped them all on the small table near the door. "There. That should be just about everything I have that might regard Connlaothian archaeology. Now to see to your friend's fascination with goats. That might take a bit longer."

Setting off once more- this time without quite as much energy as the prior topic had evoked- he called out, "So, why the interest in the ruins? If you don't mind me asking, that is. Most of the talk I've heard of it has just been gossip. Is it genuine curiosity, or are you just trying to win a bet or somesuch?" He continued muttering to himself as he scanned the shelves. "Goats, goats... Hrm- treatment of livestock, that might have something..."

Jinai was only half listening to him, one ear was still trained on the door. For all she knew, the guards could come back. But when Miklo returned, placing a towering pile of books upon the table, she quirked a brow, fingers lightly dancing beside them as if counting how many there were.

"Which one would you suggest has the most information and is the most interesting read?" she began, ignoring all other questions as she kept her eyes to the books. "For the books on goats, that is." SHe added. "ANd which one has the most significant section of history. I doubt I could take all of these books home."
Assuming er.. that's what one did in this sort of shop.. it was a book shop, wasn't it?
She made a face and looked around. It was.. rather queer in here. SHe couldn't quite put her finger on what, though.

Miklo peered down at the significantly smaller stack of books he'd managed to find on the current subject, decided that was probably all he had, and returned to the table to drop them besides the earlier pile and take a seat. "Well now, I admit this is one subject that never quite piqued my interest like most. For interest, I'd say this one." He passed over a worn brown tome with very faded writing on the front that said 'Mankind's Greatest Ally, The Domestication of Goats.' The scholar adjusted his glasses and continued, "I think the author was a little bit loony, to be honest, but it's the only one of these four I can really remember, and thus suggest. Now... for history, that's a bit harder... I'd say in all likelihood... These!"

With a triumphant yell and a quick movement, he yanked two of the tomes from near the bottom of the pile, seeming to ignore the rest as they scattered over the table or fell to the floor. One of the books was rather small, while the other seemed almost to strain the table when Miklo put it back down. "That treatise I mentioned earlier had a few interesting points that I personally think apply rather well to this, and this large one here, Antiquity to Now, does a much better job of discussing what we know of those who came before. Much less speculation, many more facts."

"Yes... interesting," Jinai began, taking the book 'Mankind's Greatest Ally, The Domestication of Goats.' And at his comment, she looked down at the cover and smirked at the title. Loony indeed. And for a second, her eyes drifted from the doorway, towards the chaotic pile of books, but most specifically to the ones he pointed out. She wasn't really all that interested to begin with, but to bide her time,s he could keep playing pretend.

"I see, I suppose all three of them would do. How much coin for them?" And as she was inquiring, she didn't notice the shadow looming at the door...

The dig site was busy. That much Jy'aad knew. He had been researching these ruins for quite while, and now he had the chance to see them for himself. His tail wagged with anticipation, but he had to wait, as the workers had only uncovered what appeared to be a small temple. Anything's better than nothing, he thought. He adjusted the scabbards of his twin hook swords as he walked over to a tent with a large table.

Stepping inside, he saw a very unwelcome person, and even more loathsome piece of paper on his table. Ugh, what do they want now? he wondered, as he moved the piece of paper to look at the map that took up most of the tabletop.

"Sir, are you Jy'aad Elveti?" the man asked. He was a government official. Jy'aad loathed government officials.

"Yes, I am. Is there something important you have to tell me, or are you just here to waste my time?" He said, his voice full of disgust. For a while, the Connlaothian government had threatened to pull funding for this dig, saying that the funds could be used for something more useful than chasing a fairy tale. However, history was Jy'aad's livelihood, being an archaeologist, and that meant finding proof of things, even if it meant chasing a wild unicorn.

Miklo didn't notice the figure at the door either, at first, as he was busy thinking of a proper price for those particular books. "Hrm... well, how much do you think they're worth? For these three, I'd say about two, two and a half silver glints." Miklo drummed his fingers on the table, not realizing he'd given the price in Serenian coin out of habit. With a start, he noticed another figure at the door. "Two customers this early? This one can't be a regular either... unusual day. Very unusual day..." In fact, something about this day was beginning to unnerve him. Had he seen that woman's face somewhere before? And why so much activity? Ah well, he'd figure it out soon enough if it was a matter of importance. Best get the door before his mind ran off on a paranoid tangent.

As he stood, he adjusted his clothing- it wouldn't do to make a habit of greeting customers as a complete mess, after all- and took a moment to clean off his spectacles. "Need to make a note to myself to adjust these, sometime..." Reaching for the knob with his glasses still in his right hand, he wasn't quite able to make out who was standing there, and so opted for a simple, "Can I help you?"

The guards stared back at the man and gave a frustrated sigh. "Has a woman come through here? We're looking for one's that's got blonde hair.." they studied the man. "Slightly smaller than you. Have you seen her?"

Jinai cursed under her breath, hiding herself by pressing herself inbetween the book shelves as her eyes darted around, trying to think of what to do. The best thing she could think of was to act quickly, and spotting a pair of glasses upon one of the shelves (one's that were rusty and dusty from age,) and very thick, almost like bottles, she plucked them up and dusted them off, then slipped them on, takig her hair and pinning it up as quickly as she could before grabbing onto another dusty sweater of his nearby and throwing it on over her shouldrs and tying it around the front. Then, taking one of the books, she began to approach Miklo at he front of the store as she used the book to shield her face, and as the spoke to the guards, and at their question, she snapped the book closed and took a hold of Miklo's hand before he had a chance to answer the men.

"Oh, darling, it seems we've got visitors!" She force da smile that was bigger than her face, hoping to distort her appearance enough that the wouldn't recognize her. SHe also gave Miklo's hand a warning squeeze. "Though we weren't expecting any customers at such an hour!" and the men stared at her, uncertain what to make of the frumpy librarian woman with the glasses that magnified her green eyes to appear as large as saucers. SHe batted her lashes at them, noticing they were caught off guard by the silly way she was smiling. "And fo course he has a blonde girl in here. I am his wife after all,"s he stated with a playful hit to one of the guard's shoulders, then a wink. "And the pair of you interrupted us from what we were doing. The shop's not open for another hour." And before the guards could say anything, she leaned forward, drawing Miklo's face hers as she pressed her lips hotly agianst his.

As she finished up that kiss, she gave him a look, hoping he understood her eye gestures before she heard the guards make awkward noises at the door. She turned to them with a giggle of a wave,  "Well, see you in an hour then if you need something?" and before they could reply, she shut the door in their faces.

The guards only stood there, red faced and uncertain.

"Say, I didn't know he had a wife." the one said.

The other replied, letting it catch up to him, "Yeah.. neither did I.." and the two exchanged glances before lookign back angrily towards the building.


Jinai,thankful she was safe for the moment, clicking the door locked, and turned back to him.
"So.. what's your name?" she said, removing the thick glasses from her face as she gave him a once over, then a grin. "So you know.." and began to pace around him, eyeing him up lik ea piece of meat. "So I know what to call myself while I pose as your wife."

OOC: I think I can start the chase scene in my next post, s as to have them inadvertently head towards the ruins, unless you want to start it in yours :D
but yeah, those guards are not going to be happy with either of them B|

Oh, the wanted posters. That's where he had seen her face before. Yes, it was shaping up to be a very unusual morning indeed. Luckily he'd already born a somewhat surprised expression to begin with, so his reaction to the revelation wasn't as suspicious as it could be. Miklo frowned and tapped his chin, as if trying to recall if he had or not, instead contemplating whether he should give the woman up. He'd always had a bit of sympathy for the more rebellious groups, and while he wasn't quite bold enough to actually offer any help, he certainly didn't bear them any ill will. But he was on thin ice already, what with having magic... Just as Miklo opened his mouth to inform the guards that no, he'd not seen the woman they were looking for, Jinai happened to take the matter out of his hands.

Once the door was locked, the man just stood there for a moment, beet red, trying to process everything. Might as well start with the easy bit. Letting out a low, long sigh, he began. "My name is Miklo, Miklo Quel. Now, while the kiss was appreciated, I'd appreciate it much more if you would kindly tell me exactly why you had to go and intervene. It's not like having a fugitive in my home would look good for me- even if I gave you up, some might assume I just turned coat in a pinch. The only rational course of action was to turn them away and get you out as soon as possible... which now will be rather difficult." The bookkeeper folded his arms and pushed his glasses back up. "I could have just told them no- I'm fairly well trusted around here- and they'd have been gone and not come back. Now, if anyone around here hears about this "wife" story, we'll have the guard down on both our heads in minutes, whether you're here or not!" While Miklo wasn't very successful at staying calm- he was both out of breath and glaring at the woman like he thought he could make her disintegrate if he tried hard enough- he did at least have the presence of mind to keep his voice down.

Then the anger slowly turned to a look of fear as something dawned on him. "Wait..." Miklo's palms started to sweat, and a panicked frenzy came into his eyes. "...I think I've met one of those guards before... when- oh." With a deep breath and a gulp, he finished, "When he bought a book for his niece here.... last... week." The much firmer knocking on the door that followed was confirmation enough.

Jinai had been grinning like a cat, twirling the bottle-sized glasses around that distorted her features as the passed.
"Well, you're welcome." she said over the kiss, then eyed him over. "Lighten up, most people don't follow others that closely." But at the knock at the door, she was cursing too.
"I wouldn't open that if I were you.."

But they wouldn't have a choice, as the guards shouted, "Open up! We know that woman is the convict known for helping mages! We're coming in!"

"What ever happened to giving someone a choice?"

THen, BOOOM
the door was kicked in and Jinai's eyes widened. "Shit."

"You're bother under arrest for-" but before they could finish, JInai was dashing towards the back door.

Right. Back door- Miklo had forgotten he had one of those. With a snap of his fingers and a quick "Sorry!" he sent a few sparks flying into the eyes of the guards. Not enough to cause permanent damage, or slow them for long, and it probably wasn't worth revealing himself as a mage... but he was going to be tried for treason anyway, right? With that he darted after Jinai- who he would catch at the locked back door, with his key already in hand. "See? See what you did!" As the door opened, he didn't even bother to put the key back, simply throwing it away as he rushed into the streets. "I know this place; follow me and we both have a slight chance of making it."

Of course, Miklo didn't really care one way or the other whether Jinai stayed with him as he darted through the thankfully now growing crowds. He could hear shouts behind him- what they were he payed no mind to. Best to just focus on running. Or breathing, he corrected as his lungs soon started to scream for air. He couldn't run forever, there had to be somewhere to hide... "Pardon me. In a hurry. If you wouldn't mind..." he said as he darted past the people beginning to fill the streets.  He thought frantically of some way he could escape the pursuit- and shot a quick look back to see if the woman was still with him... but mostly to see how many guards were on their trail.

Jinai was much faster than the bookish man, and quick;y found herself much farther ahead then him, but knowing he was a mage now meant she couldn't leave him behind. He was part of hte cause now, whether he wanted it or not. Slowing, she paused a moment to grab his hand. "Come on!" and dragged him along before she spotted a horse and rider. With a smirk, she finally let go of Miklo's hand, only to leap at the man on the horse, grab him by his arm then dragged him off the saddle.
Not wasting a beat, she already mounted and reached a hand down to Miklo. "Come on, give me your hand!"

OOC: IF YOU WANT TO LIVE

XD

She'd come back to help him? That had been unexpected. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all- but Miklo decided he could worry about things like that after they were done being chased by people carrying lots of stabbing implements. Grabbing the offered hand and doing what he could to haul himself up, he gave another worried look back and wrapped his arms as tightly as he could around Jinai's waist.

"I have an idea, I think. You know the dig site we were talking about? If we can get there and slip in somehow, I imagine the personal will hold up the chase: they wouldn't want a bunch of armor coated buffoons smashing some three thousand year old artifact." Miklo grimaced at the thought, but quickly pushed his scholarly inclinations aside for the sake of immediate survival. "We can get in, lie low, and then slip away as soon as the opportunity arises. By the way, why did you help me? It would be far easier on you just to run."

"The dig site?" Jinai grinned, and snapped the reins.
"And if you think a dig site will deter the guards, you're crazy. All of Connlaoth is in a frenzy. THey'd tear that place apart. We'll have to find a way to get here discretely, though it's a good place to lay low for a while, but I think I hav ean idea. Hold on!"
and she had the horse bounding over a cart blocking their path head, and then turned quickly into a side street, then another, and wove around until they got to a quieter section of town. The ruins were just over the hill side, through the forests. All they had to do was get through the gates.

But hte timing couldn't be perfect, a group of merchants was passing through, and the metal doors were rolling open. With a grin, she pressed her heels harder into the horses side and it took off, and soon the pair were flying through the door, thundering up the beaten path and leaping over the hillside and quickly disappeared into the forests. and just when she thought they were far enough away from the dig site AND the gates, Jinai began to slow the horse to a trot.

"There, that ought to throw them off our sent for a while. Let's get to the dig site before-"
and then the ground suddenly gave way beneath her, swallowing them whole.

OOC: I figure they could fall into an ancient pathway that will lead back to the ruins, and maybe while at the ruins, case a cave in and fox's character can investigate, or accidentally fall in with them XD

Miklo simply held on for dear life as they rode- this sort of thing had never been his strong suit. He nearly fell off the horse a time for three before they slowed, and by the end of it his arms would have been like a vice-grip around Jinai. At least it gave him a chance to catch his breath... sort of. As soon as he was able to think about anything besides not falling off and splitting his head open, Miklo muttered a short, "Very unusual day indeed."

He was about to point out that she'd not answered his last question when the earth quite literally fell out from under him. As rider, horse, and extra baggage all tumbled down, Miklo felt his head hit something hard. He lost all sense of up or down, and he lost his grip on the woman. With a loud crash he hit, and everything went black...

When he came to a few moments later, he noticed three things. First, his glasses were broken- though with relief he found that it was the frame and not the much harder to mend lenses that had snapped. Second, his head hurt worse than that time he'd decided to test his new cure for hangovers on himself. Third, when he put a finger to his head in response to said pain, he found it was covered in blood. His only words, as he crawled to his feet and waited for the world to come a little more into focus were "Urggghhh...." and a hesitant "Miss? Are... you alright?"

"Shh.. hold still," Jinai said. While he had been unconscious, she had been tending to his wounds. Thankfully, she had gotten out seemngly unharmed, though her leg hurt like a bitch, he wouldn't be able to tell as she was sitting down beside him. The horse had been stilled, having taken the brunt of hte fall. It's legs were broken, and the woman had to put hte poor creature out of it's misery.
SHe leaned forward now, applying more ointment to his wound.
"This should help wiht the bleeding," she said, then worked at putting hte jar of oinment away before looking over at him, thenup at the hole they had fallen into. She had since moved them to one side, but staying near the sunlight so she could work.

"Do you think you can walk? There's a path way over there," she said, pointing into the dark "We might be able to see where that leads to see if there's a way out. I doubt we can scale that." and she pointed to the massive drop they had come down from.

Jy'aad was still in the tent, arguing with the government official, when he heard the commotion outside. Great, what now?

When the official tried to stop him from leaving, calling a couple of guards, Jy'aad simply responded by slitting one's neck, then kicking the other in the head.

"Don't try me."

Walking outside, he saw first a plume of dust, then saw the gaping hole in the ground. He ordered the workers to move out. Grabbing the longest rope he could find, he decided to go down in the hole and see for himself what was down there. Tying the rope around a post, he let the other end fall down into the chasm, and heard a resounding THUD when it hit floor. Not that deep he thought.

Climbing down into the mysterious hole, he reached the floor in less time than he thought. And the first few things he saw were more ruins of appeared to be ancient city, and two people, and a dead horse....

Well, my day just got a whole lot more interesting

"Walk? Nothing appears to be broken. No severe sprains, twists or any other debilitating injuries. I think I can manage." Forcing himself to his feet, Miklo almost proved himself wrong, wavering for a moment before getting his balance back- or, more accurately, slumping against the wall. "Ach..." He would have sat right back down if it weren't for the thought that the guards were no doubt still looking for them. "Right... can't stay here..." One step at a time, he made his way towards the darkened passage, getting slightly steadier with each one. Once he reached it he began shooting handfuls of sparks out in an attempt to light it well enough to get a glimpse... unsuccessfully. "I've gone to the trouble of hiding this for eight years and it's not even useful... Have you anything we can use for a torch?" With his impaired vision, Miklo hadn't even noticed the newcomer yet.

OOC: Fyi- killing the government officials for not doin any 'real harm' is going to put them all into a pretty pickle >.>
considering prejudices in Connlaoth as well as the fact I wanted to keep this dig site 'hush-hush' ... so we're going to have to be careful in how we hide the bodies and have the rumors be diverted, considering I don't want swarms of guards on the dig site, and what Jy'aad did WILL bring guards, whether we want them to or not.

Those officials will have to report back to someone. If they're dead, it'll bring all sorts of trouble to the dig site (since that was their intended destination) and I'd rather not bring unwanted attention to this site when the idea was to make it a secret haven for mages (eventually, after it's cleared away) so... I dunno if you want to edit that part of your last post or what, but yeah... (why did they try to stop him anyway? I was confused on that part)

if not, it might break the covert operation before it begins, or.. we'll have to play the waiting game. They might be able to lie and say 'oh, the wanted criminal (aka- Jinai) came through here and killed these men before taking off' to hide the truth so guards and officials don't come sniffing around, but yeah.. in the future, we have to make our characters do more sneaky moves if we want to keep this hush hush, since they'll be going through the ruins the government is ordering to be 'closed down'. and yeah, sneaky sneaky mode is a must!

So yeah, just an fyi for the future. Keep in mind Jy'add, not being human, would have so many prejudices again him already, killing peopel at random (especially guards or officials) wouldn't be something wise for a character like him to do, and I'm assuming he's well aware of how tense laws have become.

and if I didn't mention that in our plotting I'm sorry D: there's also more info on the info page that's been updated.

But poor Jy'.. his precious dig site ;_;

AND NOW TIME FOR A SHORT POST XD
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Jinai smirked as the man was able ot get up, but was obviously all dusty and dirty, maybe a little weak in the legs, but he seemed ok. "Yeah.. I saw that fire display you did back there, why don't you use a little bit of magic to light the way?"

"Because this-" Miklo sent another shower of sparks ahead to demonstrate. "Is about the extent of my power, miss. I've only ever been able to create a solid flame once, and even then I lacked the capability to maintain it for any length of time. Perhaps there's some trick to it I've overlooked... Well, I suppose if I were ever to look for one, now would be a good time..." With that, Miklo sat down and began throwing wild gestures about and muttering about different philosophies on magic. If the sparks he kept shooting were anything to go by... it wasn't helping.

Looking back to see what Jinai was doing- looking for something they could use as fuel, he hoped- his vision had finally cleared enough to notice that they were no longer alone. In typical Miklo fashion, he began muttering out possibilities to himself. "Hrm... difficult to see, but appears canine. Bipedal, therefore it can't be any known animal. Lycan? Perhaps, not likely. Most lycans shift entirely to a beast. Unknown, then... Miss?" He called out. "Your opinion on that?" This was accompanied by a helpful pointing finger right towards Jy'aad.

((OOC:  You never mentioned hiding, so I assumed he was standing out in the middle of the cavern floor. I can fix it if he was actually concealed. Also, yay complications! Now Miklo can facepalm at both of them when he finds out! =) ))

OOC: I have a feeling there'll be a lot of face palming XD
Did Miklo just call Jy'aad 'Miss'? X3 *snicker*
It'd be great if Jinai started coming to the conclusion to use the place as a sanctuary for mages and explains it to the others, and then she sees the guard corpses and goes 'shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit'a nd they have to think of a clever way to hide what happened XD

but yeah D:

XD

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Jinai raised a brow, then smiled.
"I might have a friend or two that could help," and she gave the man a wink, then turned to follow his gaze. She too, hadn't notice the other approach and didn't dare approach him. She placed a hand on Miklo's shoulder.

"Be careful," she said, tensing her grip. "Who's to say he doesn't work for the soldiers?" she said bitterly. Then she gave a pretend smile towards the creature, and whispered to Miklo, "Yeah what.. what the heck is that?" She had never seen an animal-person before.

((OOC: No, he was trying to get Jinai's attention. Though I suppose since Miklo can't see...))

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking, miss," Miklo answered flatly. The shopkeeper pondered the blurry sight for a moment or two longer, then realized there were only two possibilities. Either it was hostile, in which case he'd be very quickly aware of it and Jinai would be the better equipped of them to handle it anyway, or it wasn't, and thus wasn't a threat. With that realization he returned his efforts to something he could actually be productive with- throwing sparks uselessly into the darkness!

Turning back to the tunnel before him, he took a deep breath, wound up, and... summoned an even less impressive bunch of embers. "Come on!" he groaned, annoyed at both himself and his apparently useless magic- and shot out a slightly brighter scattering of sparks. Not enough to be useful, but definitely more than before. Odd... Miklo scratched his head and made as if to adjust his glasses- momentarily forgetting he wasn't wearing them at the time. "Oh, right...Perhaps it's more effective with unconscious or instinctive use? No, no, probably not that." He couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing a rather obvious answer.

OOC: LOOOOOOOL
you should have told me so I could have fixed my post! LOOOOL
now I feels silly 8D

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While Jinai's eyes had been narrowed upon the on coming form of Jy'aad, she was.. taken back a bit when the sparks 'failed to fly'. She raised her brows up at MIklo, eyeing him over once before snorting through her nose as she grinned.
"If your plan was to scare it with your magics, I think you'd better put that sort of fire away." Then with a roll of her eyes, she took a few more steps closer to Jy'aad and called out. "Hello?" Hoping her voice would reach his form. She took another few hesitant steps. "Look, we didn't come here for trouble -" (Well not really, they had come here inadvertently trying to run away from trouble) and had found themselves in this whole other mess (or HOLE other mess, as it were.. considering they fell through a hole in the ground.. well ok, maybe it wasn't a hole until they fell into it. .. but still!)
"And we're unarmed!"s he called out, stating a fact that... well, for this moment they were. "Show yourself and identity just who you are!" and the more pointedly, she added, "And explain to us just what you are doing here."  Though perhaps he could ask her and Miklo the same?

(OoC:

QuoteSo yeah, just an fyi for the future. Keep in mind Jy'add, not being human, would have so many prejudices again him already, killing peopel at random (especially guards or officials) wouldn't be something wise for a character like him to do, and I'm assuming he's well aware of how tense laws have become.

The government official didn't die. The guards did. Furthermore, I didnt state this, but they (the authorities) had figured out Jyaad was a mage. Dont ask me how, because I havent worked that out yet.)
IC:

Jy'aad looked at the two figures. Seeing as the rope was still there, he set one of his swords ablaze, then severed the rope, hoping the guards would find another one. Turning back to the two figures, he walked towards them.

"Tell me first." He said, extinguishing his sword. He could see fine in the dark, but the other two probably couldn't. He would help them, but only when he got anwsers. He'd heard the part about working for the soldiers.

"Also, if I worked for the soldiers, you two would have your heads rolling right now!"

OOC: Ah, ok! See THAT make more sense XD
He'd have a lot working against him because of that. So we'll just have to be walking on egg shells now and extra careful in this thread >:3

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Jinai raised a brow at him.
"Unless you were clever or wanted something else... I suppose we can trust you...  For now." She stared at Jy'aad, skeptically. "You can call me Jinai, though knowing my name will be of little consequence. We had... accidentally stumbled into this tunnel thing and.."
It was only then she paused... her eyes beginning to adjust to the dark that she realized..
"Say, wait a second. Is this part of the ruins they've bee excavating?"  She didn't realize how large this under ground passage had been.. or the fact that Jy'aad probably hadn't known either, since they were only beginning to uncover it's secrets. So far, this portion had now just been revealed due to the cave in,a nd since no other attention had been drawn to this area, it was still somewhat a secret.  The only thing that tipped off this might be an ancient area was the fact there were still some semblance of ancient columns holding up what remained of the underground labyrinth.

Miklo gave up on his poor attempt at fire-conjuring the instant he saw Jy'aad's sword light up. Now there was something they could use. "Likely. If it's not directly connected, it's almost certainly a similar structure of identical origin. This cavern doesn't look entirely natural, and the odds of there being two different sets of man-made ruins within walking distance of each other are... poor, to say the least." Standing, the scholar made a decision. Either they waited here until the guard found them or this stranger tried to slit their throats, they ran blindly off into the darkness and cracked their heads on something, or they tried to make an ally of the newcomer. As only one of them seemed like it could possibly be successful, the scholar started forward with a hand outstretched.

"Miklo Quel," he started, figuring it was safe enough to use his name, at least. "My friend and I ran into a bit of trouble in the city- we've done no real harm, you understand, but there was a misunderstanding. While we were riding away, the ground opened up underneath us, and here we are." The scholar gave a simple shrug, and managed to keep a confident expression the entire time. Just treat this like any other sale, Miklo. Come on, Fezzen could handle this without so much as an ounce of trouble. "We're somewhat stuck here, as it is, and we'd be immensely grateful if you could lend us a hand in getting out.

Then he noticed the blood on the fox-man's blade, and he went from managing to keep calm from managing not to wet himself... barely. His palms began to sweat, his eyes shot back towards Jinai to see if any help would come if things went south, and he began to stutter. "O-of course, i-if you had uh-other p-plans, I'm sure the t-two of uh-us c-could figure s-something ou-ou-out."

Jinai easily picked up on Miklo's uneasiness, and inwardly cursed that she hadn't noticed the blood on the animal-person's sword. Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't hide the fact she had seen it as she kept a stern gaze upon Jy'aad and stared at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to explain himself now that Miklo had so eloquently explained theirs.

"Well, there's no way back up, and certainly no safe way down. It's a sad shame, but be glad your horse took the brunt of the fall." Jy'aad said, pulling out a cloth and wiping his swords. "Oh, and don't mind the blood. Got into a scrap with some guards up there."

Walking towards the pair, he ignited his sword once more, and examined the ruins in a little more detail.

"Oh, and I'm Jy'aad, your resident archaeologist, treasure hunter, and mage."

Miklo let his hand fall back to his side. Well, rude fellow, but at least they were both alive. No complaints there. His sweating slowed and he took a few deep breaths to steady himself. "So onward then?" he said, leaning forward to have a better look at the now illuminated walls himself. "If that's our plan, and both of us are likely to be pursued... might I make the tactical suggestion of not waiting around for the guard to find us?"

Jinai raised her brows. Well that animal-man surely got to the point in a few seconds flat. She wasn't sure if she admired him for being that way or not, but for now, it was nice knowing someone who could light the way.

"I'd have to agree, finding a way out of here, and keeping ourselves out of the guard's line of sight would be wise." Her eyes began to search around to where the light from Jy'aad's blade was reaching. It was strange, most of the columns had a child like goddess sculpted into them. She didn't recognize it, for it surely wasn't Angsar, but it seemed there were some recesses in the sculptures were jewels might have been. Perhaps tomb robbers had taken them centuries ago.

"So.. you're an archaeologist?" Jinai began, stepping cautiously nearer towards the new man. "If that's the case, are you familiar with any of this area or what sort of ruins we're walking inside? Or are we just sitting ducks who have to explore this place to find a safe way out?"

"Yes. However, don't expect me to know where to go, because quite honestly, I didn't think there was anything down here outside of some other part of that temple." Jy'aad replied. He looked around the ruins, and didn't really recognize anything. These aren't Damhnait ruins, certainly not Connlaothian, either.

Walking further, he stepped through a large doorway, and was utterly stunned at what he saw: an entire city, still intact, still usable, all under Uthlyn!

It had been some time as the group walked along; there was a blocked section that halted them from going the first way they had come, and another way they went had fallen columns there which made progress difficult. But as the group continued forward, with only the faint bit of light resonating from Jy'aad's blade, they shared some idle chit chat as they went, but mostly it was quiet. Perhaps they were just all as equally fascinated by this find?

But after a few more turns, Jinai found herself just as stunned as the archaeologist was, as her eyes went wide as she took in the city scape that spread out before them, (at least what parts she could see from where they were standing) but it appeared as if there was almost a whole city beneath the city of Uthlyn itself! It was hard to tell how large it was, for sections were buried heavily beneath rocks, and other parts of it had fallen over, or caved in, due to cave ins and erosion over time; but there it was some peculiar, underground city, that she had to wonder if it had been under ground all of this time.

"Holy Angsar... what is this place?" she whispered, her voice barely carrying across the darkness.

Miklo, while not talking particularly often with the other two, was certainly chatty in one respect. The look on his face was one most men would have if they happened to stumble onto a warehouse full of gold, beautiful women, and bacon. The scholar constantly darted back and forth, gushing over nearly anything Jy'aad's sword illuminated, muttering off an assortment of colorful hypotheses as to the possible purpose of using a particular sort of stone, the significance of any carvings they came across, and the probable age of the ruins based on the construction and amount of damage. In fact, he often spoke up to ask the other mage to hold up for a moment, or come closer to light up more of a particular section of wall.

"Likely a holy place of some sort," he said in response to Jinai's question. "Not enough furnishings and tools to be any sort of living quarters. Built to last, too- only a few collapsed places in an underground structure this large? That's a lot of time, care, and money put into it. Most of the carvings also seem religious in nature." Miklo traced a hand over one of the figures. "Interesting. Few cultures have a child as a patron deity. Possibly a pantheon... Or a strange legend we may never be able to decipher?"

Jinai observed Miklo's gushings with subtle amusement, smirking as she watched him babble on about this thing or that.
"Interesting.. so some sort of God-child do you think?" Jinai murmured as she approached a building, one that looked like some sort of holy church, with a slanted- curled shingle roof top that ws miraculously still in tact, with a rather innocent and ornately carved version of the child-girl diety.

"It's a shame the place appears as if looted," she commented. "It seems as if there was remenants of precious stones once imbedded into the rock. See where there are recesses? It's almost the same in each location, as if some sort of diamond or gem had once been there. On the middle of the girls' forehead, and her wrists."

Standing back, she observed the small church like building in silence, before stepping forward and attempting to open the door. Which she found, ironically, was locked. After a few swears, she gave up on her attempt to open it.

"Damn things probably sealed shut, or jammed up after being under the earth for so long." She frowned, but it was only then she noticed the entire door was carved with some sort of intricate language.

"Hey.. library boy, come here," and she gestured to Miklo. "There's some sort of writing here, but I can't make out what it is." Then to Jy'aad she motioned, "And animal-boy, bring your lighted sword."

"Hrrm?" Miklo shot up and darted over, peering at the door curiously. "Hrm... I can't make out any direct connection with any modern language- if there is one, it's very distant. Reading it would be impossible... but perhaps it isn't writing? Perhaps there are symbols that could give a clue as to what this is about?" The man pulled out his broken glasses and held the frame out before his eyes so as to get a better look. He tilted his head, frowned, and muttered, "No luck. I can make out a few images, but nothing that forms a cohesive story or anything useful- wait..."

Tracing his hand over the stone until it reached the dead center of the doorway, he grinned. Miklo's hand began to run in ever outwardly expanding circles, and he chuckled. "Ah, there's the trick to it. It starts in the middle, expands outward. Very small images for a rather large door, might be hundreds of them..." The first few pictures seemed to be very basic. There was that childlike figure, then what looked like a field that gained features for the next few images- first grass, then a tree, then some sort of beast, then a man... "Possibly a creation story?" Miklo frowned- it was too dark for him to see far enough out beyond that.

((OOC: Hope I'm not treading on any toes with this, if you planned for the writing to have some sort of hint they could use or something.))

OOC: Well, the writing would revolve around the Evherien people and their religion associated in my character Gherrick's (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=13786.msg116633#msg116633) history. So there might be stuff about the ocean and a chain of blessed islands, though the language has long since been dead (minus, you know, Gherrick being the only one who can read it, so should be interesting if/when he were to ever show up at such a place XD

----------

Jinai remained close by and silent, her green eyes taking in the symbols.
"There's a lot of symbols that look like water, waves of some kind.."s he mused. "Take a look... think this looks like a map over here?" and she gestured for the others to follow. "It looks like some sort of island chain, but none that I've ever seen, not that I've done a lot of ocean exploring, but I know my maps and this island.." she pointed at the stone recessed images. "This sort of island chain doesn't appear on any map I know of."

Taking a step back, she took in the architecture with mild fascination.
"This architecture is unique as well. I can't quite put my finger on where it's origins might be, so who knows, we might have just uncovered some lost, forgotten civilization." And at that, Jinai laughed. "An entire city of the forgotten.." and then she recalled her idea..
"A sanctuary.."s he stared at the building before her... to the symbols.. and one that looked incredibly similar to a heart shape as her fingers traced over it.

"A sanctuary of hope."

Jinai glanced over her shoulders to Jy'aad.
"Hey, fox boy, how many people know about your dig site?"

She wasn't about to openly voice her idea just yet... after all, it might not even be realistic, considering if it would become crawling with guards after their cave-in and town-chasing ordeal. Not to mention the fact she still did not know the whole story behind Jy'aads bloody sword (despite him having explained some of it).
Jinai was never quick to trust anyone..

She had a lot of people to protect, after all. And was a vital part of the process to obtaining secrets no one else seemed to be able to get.

"Not many. A few workers, and really high up officials. It's rather insignificant with all the tension in the air." He said, wondering what this girl was up to. Looking around, he saw something else that caught his eye: a staff of some variety. It rather religious in nature, with all kinds of ornaments and ray bola n it. However, he wasn't sure if it was booby trapped or not, so he let it be for the moment.

Jinai's eyes continued to look onward, as she slowly turned around in step from where she stood, eyes sweeping slowly against the world all around them.
"An entire city undergroud... something no one in all of Connlaoth is even aware of..."
And her grin grew wider before she turned back to Jy'aad. "So.. what's the state of the dig site you're working at? And how secret can we keep this place from the public?" ANd she turned from Jy'aad to Miklo, then back to Jy'aad. "Because I know for a fact both of you are mages, and it's only due time before the army comes for you, taking you away and forcing you up north. What are you two prepared to do in order to protect yourself? To protect your family? Are you both willing to simply become faceless slaves to your government?"

Jinai took a step back now, turning to face the sanctuary that resided in the center of the ruins, digesting it in with her green eyes, whcih seemed to sparkle off the light from Jy'aad's blade.
"If we can keep this place a secret.. who's to say this great city can't live once again? To work as a place mages can remain free from persecution while Connlaoth seems tobe going to hell. Even as a place of respite for those trying to get out of this gods-foresaken country... it could be a land mark.. a beacon of hope for those how are entrapped by their own fears."

ANd it was a big idea, and she didn't care if either men thought she was crazy. It was a wild idea, but if her hunch was right..
they might be able to do this, to use this as a secret city for the mages, well.. for whatever mages were still left. So far, only the major cities were having sweeps.. but it didn't mean that the rest of Connlaoth would be left alone. It was only in due time before the army continued it's mage sweep, and that every last one might be rounded up and sent north.

"I'd hoped to remain hidden, but failing that I always assumed I'd run..." Miklo started, "and I've no family in this county to worry about. Although..." The scholar frowned and scratched his head for a moment, his previously thrilled expression fading from his face as he grew introspective. He'd not thought much about the consequences of what was happening in his country- he'd always just hid in his bookstore, expecting it all to pass over his head. He'd never thought about the others who might be suffering, or about taking any sort of action. Maybe now it was time he stood up and fought- metaphorically of course- for once...

But what about the risks? It would be far safer just to move on, to go back to Serendipity, maybe assist Fezzen with the business. Miklo wasn't a revolutionary; heck, he didn't even have the spirit to protest when that one bunch of drunks had tried to vandalize his store! He just wasn't equipped to handle this sort of thing...

No, no, no. There were people out there suffering, and it would be morally reprehensible to just run and hide, even if that were in his best interests. That's something Fezzen would do, and it was the one thing that had always disgusted him about his elder brother. Miklo clenched his fists- he didn't know what he could do, but he needed to try to do something. Stepping up besides Jinai, he offered his hand- which was, admittedly, shaking like crazy. "I don't know exactly how you plan to do all this..." he nervously stammered out. "But I'll help however I can."

"Well, I don't know how realistic it is, but if we keep our damn mouths shut and plot this out with some care, we might actually be able to pull this off."
And Jinai found herself actually smiling. It had been so long since she had genuinely smiled, especially not since all this craziness had begun.
"To think, we could keep people safe, and be right under the guard's noses.."

All this dreaming and scheming up bastions of hope was all well and good, but it occurred to Miklo that they were getting a little ahead of themselves. "Well, if I might make a suggestion, shouldn't we find a way to make sure we don't starve down here and figure out what's going on above us before we start planning?" he said meekly. As much as Miklo enjoyed studying the ruins, he'd feel a good deal more comfortable doing so if he knew he could leave.

The man shivered- he'd not exactly had time to grab his coat before the guard had chased him out, and it was cold down there. It didn't help that Miklo wasn't exactly brimming with muscle mass either.

Jinai smirked.
"You are quite astute in your observations," Jinai said with a roll of her eyes. "Perhaps it's true what they say about glasses giving you more brains?" But her jest was playful, and such was the ways of Jinai Rinstgate as she turned away from the rest and began to step out, studying the remains with a sigh.

"But you're right, husband," she said, smirking over her shoulder to Miklo in jest. "Let's find a way to get the hell out of here, first. If we can find a safe and secluded path that would make this place accessible, but also beneath the soldier's radar, then it might be worth investigating into this for something beyond the fact it's just some ancient remains of a city."

Miklo tilted his head and said, "But my glasses are broken..." entirely missing the joke. Looking about, he noticed two tunnels stretching away into darkness to either side. "No identifiable way to open the door. No distinguishable signs in either direction... any pick would be a shot in the dark. Hrm... some have suggested always hugging the rightmost path in unfamiliar territory to avoid becoming lost. Seems as good a plan as any." Without waiting for a response, the scholar started off down into the darkness.

"By the way," he said as he looked back to make sure Jinai was following. "I don't believe you ever told me your name- unless my head injury was worse than I thought. Or do you prefer me simply calling you 'Miss' the whole time?"

Jinai smirked at his question, silently following behind him before answering, "Jinai."
Her eyes were dancing against the glow from the archaeologist's sword, but it seemed right was as good as any path, and the group followed it silently.
"Should I keep calling you husband?" she asked after a time, her eyes taking in the path in silent wonder. Though now they were moving farther away from the ruins, there were still massive columns that supported the path they were now taking, and it was quite a beautiful sight to be seen. If she had the time in this life time, she would be interested to see what sort of history lay here, but as it were....
there were more important matters, and she was fully focused on her desire to make this place some safe haven for mages... that is, if she could. I mean, how hard could it be to hide away an entire underground ancient city from the guards?

Miklo just shrugged, eyes still darting about at everything the light fell on- though now it was less for pure scholarly reasons and more focused on finding anything that might lead to a way out. "Call me whatever you'd prefer," he said simply. Now, what would be really helpful is anything a city would have near or facing the outward boundary. Defensive structures would be the most obvious, but buildings meant to attract the eyes of travelers would also provide a clue. Inns were the first thing he thought of.

And then he realized he was making the assumption that any tunnel out would be towards the outside of the town- which was completely unfounded. If there was another way out- besides the unearthed dig site, if it was connected to these tunnels- there was no way to tell where it might be. Or at least, Miklo couldn't think of it.

The man shivered again and grimaced, muttering to himself. "Come on, Miklo. There has to be an answer. There's always an answer." It certainly stung the scholar's pride a little. This was the sort of circumstance where he should be at his best (or at least at something of an advantage compared to most), but the most he could do was stumble around half-blind in the dark. No, can't focus on that. Have to focus on getting out. I can worry about pride later.

Jinai smirked as she heard the scholar continue to ramble to himself,but remained silent as the group continued to walk through the ruins. One thing was certain about these underground roads; they were dark, and rather cold. She hadn't been dressed for such a temperature change, and tried ignoring the goosebumps rising against her skin. So she walked a little faster, a little bolder as she remained in the forefront of the group by now. He eyes were adjusting to the limited lighting, so when she noticed a change in the density of darkness, she soon began to realize it must be light coming from somewhere.

"Down that way, it seems some sunlight is getting in. Perhaps there's an opening?" and she moved silently towards it, keeping her breath held.

They had made it to the excavation sight, and by the sounds of it, the guards up above ground seemed rather sore. Jinai shrunk back from the sun light, gritting her teeth before turning back towards Miklo.

"Looks like we can get out this way, but it's too dangerous. Too many guards. We'll either have to find another way out, or wait until night fall."

Miklo took a deep breath of the slightly fresher air. "Well, if we want to use this place as a safe haven, we'll need to find another way in anyway, won't we? We might as well keep looking." The man was confident they'd be able to find a their way back- as they'd been walking he'd been making a mental map of the place, and he was sure they could find some way to mark the proper path back. Come to think of it...

"Miss Jinai, do you have anything we could use to leave a trail back? I believe I can keep track of our turns, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious." The scholar scratched his chin and gave a thoughtful "hrmm." It had just occurred to him that if they did find a more hidden entrance, they'd need to find some way to keep the excavation from digging any deeper. He'd have to think on that.

Jinai was prepared for most things, though most of her supplies consisted of drugs, poisons, or hallucinogenic potions. But she did have a few scraps of paper and a vile of ink, that of whic she took out first and handed to him, and a crumpled, feather quill.

"I don't have something like bread to make a trail, if that's what you mean, but what about this?" She then took out some parchment. "We could map our route and the way we come." She smirked. "Could come in handy if we plan to come back here and use this place. Besides, I see the way you're drooling, Book Boy. So I'll leave the map making to you. Perhaps you can even write a few notes on the relics that you see?"

Miklo quickly reached out to take the paper and quill. "Perfect!" He hurriedly began scribbling away, marking the route they'd taken already. "Sloppy, not ideal conditions for writing, but it will suffice. Lead the way, miss Jinai?" He paused for a moment and gave a slightly indignant twitch, remarking, "And I don't drool!"

The scholar fumbled with the materials for a moment before finally figuring out a way to walk and write at the same time, holding the ink and paper with his left arm folded inwards and the quill with his right. "We really should go, though. Don't want somebody looking in and spotting us."

Jinai smirked at his quip to quickly defend himself about drooling.
"It's ok, I won't tell anyone about your quirks," she said playfully, purposely passing near to him so that her body would create a breeze and rustle the paper he was scribbling out the map on. She stepped away from the opening, where the light was and gestured to him, "So you coming?" He had made a fuss they shouldn't linger, after all, and he'd be able to see her green eyes shimmering before she returned to taking hte lead, heading back the way they had come.

She had seen a split int he path back a ways, but ignored it earlier when she had spotted the sunlit path. Now that she was back there, she paused in the entrance of it and frowned.
"It looks pretty narrow.."
There was a lot of fallen debris blocking the way. Either way, Jinai was hardly deterred and simply moved forward, climbing up and over a large pile of rubble before turning herself side ways to squeeze inbetween two fallen columns.

It was here she paused to look back at Miklo.
"Are you coming?"

Miklo followed the woman at a slightly reduced pace, furiously scribbling down anything that caught his eye in the margins of the paper. Important-looking images, notes on the architectural style of this long dead civilization, things he wasn't entirely sure how to classify, it was practically a treasure trove he took to marking down. The only concern was that when he was done there might not be that much room for the map.

"Well, I can either wait here alone until I'm discovered, or I can continue exploring these ruins in the company of an attractive woman. Logically speaking, there's not much reason for me not to be coming." The scholar struggled over the debris, spilling a little bit of ink on his shirt in the process and slipping- very clumsily- through the columns after her. "Interesting. This bit's in much worse condition than the other areas. I wonder why? Also, what were these columns even holding?"

Jinai smirked at his attempt at a flirt. His face was still well buried in his map,a nd now, he had ink on his shirt. That made her smile broaden before she turned from him and began to examine the way.

"I Don't know, but let's just hope the hallway stays open. Seems there's more debris ahead.."
she frowned and swore between her teeth.
"And looks like a dead end."

Turning around, she held up the sword the archaeologist had given to her. She hadn't known why the deer-person had wanted to go back to the dig site, but hopefully he wouldn't tattle on them. THen again, it seemed he was in a bit of a spot as they were, but Jinai couldn't deny she felt a bit less uneasy without the peculiar third party there.  Then again, she wasn't sure why she felt more comfortable with her 'husband' either.

She stared him over, taking in his hair, which was now unruly and full of dust. That made her smirk, as did the ink spot she noted on his cheek.
Leaning forward, she examined the ink spot, keeping her face but an inch from his.

"You got an ink spot there." she said, and simply turned around, heading back out the way they had come.

Straightening up and dusting himself off, Miklo looked up to see Jinai right in his face. The scholar just blinked, unsure of exactly what she was trying to do, and then realized he'd been holding his breath when she turned away. He gave a puzzled look, and almost went to scratch his head- fortunately he remembered he was holding an ink vial, and thus avoided spilling ink all over his hair. "Erm... thanks?"

And then she went back the way they'd come. "Well, back through the rubble again," Miklo sighed. As he tried to scramble over the debris he got even more ink on his clothes, grimaced, and peered at Jinai.

"And I appreciate what you did earlier, by the way- back in the city I mean. Most people would've just kept running. I mean, it was kind of your fault I was in that situation to begin with, but still, thanks for helping me out of there." Miklo coughed and shivered again, quickening his pace to keep up with Jinai.

"It's what I do," she stated simply, not looking back towards him as she made her way back to the main tunnel. She frowned, trying to think which way to go, but they had little choice, so she turned to lead him deeper into the heart of the tunnels, near to where they had initially fallen. She glanced around, and spotted three other paths they had not tried.

"Three paths but which one to take.." she hummed thoughtfully, then stepped over a broken statue to head to the closest one to their left.
"This one seems it will take us deeper into Uthlyn but away from the dig site where those guards were. Let's try this way." And she lead him onward, keeping the glowing sword infront of her which lightly capped her form in an eerie blue light.

The scholar just kept scribbling away on the paper, once in a while actually adding a bit to the map itself. His only words were his usual mutterings- he figured Jinai's guesses were as good as any, so there was nothing for him to add. Instead he turned to thinking- which unfortunately ended in a laundry list of things that could possibly go wrong.

What the ceiling collapsed on them? What if they ran into an expedition down here? What if that magic sword went out somehow? Miklo couldn't do anything about the first two, but he experimentally blew out a few sparks to try and calm his nerves regarding the third. He grimaced and shook his head- his own magic wasn't exactly a reassuring fallback.

His thoughts of impending disaster were, however, interrupted by a much more real, significantly less instantaneous, and much more audible concern. A loud grumble echoed throughout the hallway, and Miklo sadly looked down at his empty stomach. He knew there wasn't any point in complaining about it, but he also knew the odds of him getting a meal any time soon were slim to none.

A hard biscuit was tossed suddenly his way. Then Jinai kept on walking. He'd hear her chuckling as she'd go.

"Eat that before you cause a cave in with your stomach."

What did she expect him to catch that with, his mouth? Though somehow, despite already having his hands more than full, he did manage to trap the biscuit in the crook of his arm. Setting the quill in the ink vial gave him a free hand to eat with- so he did. "Our footsteps would be more likely to disrupt the structure than simple sound... but thanks," he said between bites.

"So, if we do find some other exit, do you have any sort of plan in mind?" Miklo had a few ideas himself, but it was Jinai's idea to make a sanctuary for mages in the first place, and he was curious to see how far she'd thought about this. It should certainly be possible, but it wouldn't be easy to pull off.

"Well, the idea is if we can keep this a secret... well, I have my sources. I should be able to network a chain of command through these resources. The big thing is to make sure the soldiers and guards, and anyone else involved in the government doesn't find out about this place. From what that fox man told us, they cut the funding, and the government is hardly interested in this place... and, so far, no one knows how large these ruins are. If even for a brief amount of time we can keep this place safe, it would offer at least some reprieve from those trying to get out of this God foresaken country."

She shook her head, then paused to stare back at him curiously. "Why.." she gave a more scrutinizing glance at him. "Did you have something else in mind?"
And seh stepped towards him, grinning as she peered down at his scribbled notes and half-drawn map.
"Adventure now," she said, lifting upt he illuminated sword and staring up into his face. "Research later. There'll be plenty of time for us to play around in the dark once we figure this place out." THough as she turned to leave, she laughed. "That is... if this job doesn't become too big for just the two of us." And she smirked. Because well.. it very well could. This place was so massive an entire team of people ought to be scoping it out.

But hey... they had some time to kill, and Jinai's enthusiasm was through the roof. Though she kept herself seemign placid, the gears were working over time and she was constantly taking in every nook and craning, and formulating a plan inside her head of just who needed to be contacted, and when.

"Well, I don't exactly have a real plan, but I do have a few ideas- for instance, how to make sure they don't discover the sanctuary. If we can find another way in and out, and then somehow collapse the dig site entrance... well, they'll just consider it too dangerous to work and leave it be for a while." Miklo shrugged and gave a wry smile. "That is assuming we can figure out how to do that. I was mostly just curious."

When she pointed out that the notes could wait, he peered back down at the map. It wasn't like it was hard to keep up with the map- a pair of straight lines every once in a while- but he supposed he should probably leave as much space as possible for the map itself. "Fair enough," he said.

After that Miklo fell silent- he could tell when somebody else was thinking, and he didn't want to disturb Jinai's planning. He just walked along, occasionally scratching down the next hallway or puffing out some more sparks- he'd love a way to warm himself right now, if only he could figure out how to make an actual fire. Plus, it'd give him something to boast of to his brother the next time they met; his elder sibling had always made fun of Miklo for his somewhat impotent magic... despite himself having none whatsoever.

If he ever saw him again, Miklo realized. He was technically a fugitive now- he'd thrown his sparks at those guards, and if he was discovered he'd either be tried for aiding a criminal or simply immediately sent to the camps... whichever was worse. The young man shivered again, and this time it wasn't thanks to the cold.

"Cause a cave in.." Jinai smirked. "What a great idea." and she turned around, eyeing him up as he played around with his fizzling, failing sparks of mAgic. "Too bad those sparks don't get any bigger. They would definitely help with that sort of cause." She spoke, stepping up behind him and grinning broadly. She snuck another peak at the map. "How's that coming?"

"About as well as could be expected," Miklo replied. The scholar ducked his head out of the way to give her a clearer look at the paper. The lines were all a little sloppy, seeing as the scholar had to walk and write at the same time, but everything looked pretty well to scale. At some point the man had had the sense to mark the exit down to the dig site. It wasn't exactly a perfect map, but it would do for their purposes.

"As for the fire... well, I'm afraid we'll have to find something else to use. I've only once been able to do much more than this, and I was never able to replicate the incident. Sorry." As if to demonstrate, he blew a few more of the sparks into the air. "Some mage I am. Unfortunately it would seem Connlaoth doesn't care whether or not you're actually capable of using the magic for anything."

She glanced down towards the map, smirking again as she let her eyes trace over it. "Not half bad, book boy." Then at his latter comment...

"It's ok," Jinai said, patting his shoulder with a grin. "It's not about the power of the mage, but his heart." Then she winked and added, "And his intentions. But come on, we've got a long way to go, and thankfully a ton of daylight to kill." She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, continuing to walk through the darkness, nothing but the meager light from the sword coming out and it was only then she realized she ought to stick a bit close to Miklo.. he was probably having such a hard time seeing in the darkness, and here she had been, moving swiftly on ahead. So she hung back, and kept on moving.

"It's strange," she commented as she looked up at the columns supporting the large, gaping halls. "All of these columns follow a theme. They all seem to have that child carved into them in some manner." She paused curiously before one, staring into the recessed eyes of the child goddess with a tilt of her head. "Know of any religions or empires that had once worshipped children?" Then seh paused to consider.. "Unless this is an old fortress of dwarves.." but then she quickly shook away that idea. This place didn't look dwarven, and even SHE knew that and wasn't all that scholarly. So she shrugged it off and continued on.

Miklo grinned. "No, not dwarves. If it were built by dwarves it's unlikely there'd be any collapsed hallways or heavy structural damage at all. Besides, it's too decorative. As for my own suspicions... well, I'm honestly at a loss. I've not come across anything close enough to be directly related to this place." The scholar stopped suddenly, eyes locked on one of the carvings. "Though some of this does seem somewhat familiar. Perhaps I'm simply thinking along the wrong lines."

With a shrug- and nearly dropping his supplies in the process, he'd need to watch that- he started walking again, now having given up on the sparks for now, "Perhaps instead of known civilizations, other discovered remnants of the past, I should try thinking of fragments of legends, bits of what might be either history or myth..."

At that the scholar withdrew into his mumbling once again, suggesting and discounting idea after idea. Once or twice he got so caught up in his thoughts that he nearly bumped into Jinai, and soon enough there were a few more bits of ink on his clothes from where he'd carelessly let the pen drip. He did, however, manage to keep up his previous efficiency at mapping the route they took.

"Watch it, book man," Jinai said, looking back at him after he had bumped into her. "My ass ain't that big."

Jinai's warning snapped Miklo out of his thoughts, and he hurriedly took a step or two away. "Oh, sorry miss. I may have an answer to your question though- or at least half an answer. I recall vaguely reading some legend- a fragment of a legend really- about an island nation who believed that all life had sprung from a goddess. The name eludes me at the moment, and I can't quite fathom why ruins of such a place would be here, but I recall the book having a similar sketch to these figures. That's why they looked familiar." The scholar gave a dismissive wave of his free-ish arm. "It's probably nonsense, but it's the best nonsense I can come up with."

((OOC: Hope him kinda-sorta having heard about it is okay. I can fix it otherwise.))

"Well, unless the legend tells us of a way to get out of here, we can discuss that later.." and she smirked, but then peered back over at him. "You're still keeping up on that map?" she inquired again, leaning the sword between the pair of them so she could see the paper and-
Suddenly screamed and dropped it as a spider suddenly dangled in between them.

Cursing, Jinai picked upt he glowing sword. "Damn bugs," she spat, then turned around, shaking her head as she returned to the path, brushing at the invisible spider webs that might be on her arm.

Miklo shot her a somewhat annoyed glance. "Of course I'm still- wyaaah!" It wasn't the spider that startled him so much as Jinai's sudden screaming. "It's a spider, miss Jinai, nothing to scream over. Likely not even venomous." He didn't really know that for sure, but he figured he might as well try to reassure her.

Then he looked down and nearly had a heart attack. He'd jumped when Jinai had yelled, and much of the ink had flown out onto the map. Large chunks of it were now completely obscured- perhaps they could find their way back with some effort, but the map would no longer be much help beyond that. Perhaps worse, there wasn't much ink remaining to chart out where they went from here. "Umm... miss Jinai..?"

Jinai wanted to be as far away from the spider as possible. To think, just a simple little thing like spiders gave her the chills. She shivered, and almost ignored his words before she paused and turned around.
"Yes?" Then her eyes went wide, noticing the large, big black blot of ink on the paper.

Miklo was panicking pretty badly at this point- it had been reflex, nothing he could have done to stop it, but what were they going to do now? "Okay, we just need a plan, that's all. Just calm down, don't panic Miklo, there's a way to figure this out." After a moment he'd regained his composure enough to explain- though he was still clearly pretty distraught. "You yelled, and I jumped, and- and- and this happened. What do we do?"

Jinai continued to stare at the map, and stared and stared before she sighed and looked back up at him.
"Do you always talk to yourself when you've made a mess of things?" She reached into her bag and pulled out another sheet of paper. "Here, let's work at redrawing and salvaging what we can. I'd rather not get lost down in a place like this."
ANd suddenly the dark, cold walls felt more like a grave as she shivered, bent and retreived mre ink and tried, along with Miklo, to redraw the map, whcih was an interesting feat in itself.

"So what hall was this?" then an "Oh, I see," And "Move your wrist, I can't draw the rest of this shape." And "Stop hogging the map, we're both working on fixing this!"

Finally it seemed they had gotten it fixed into some semblance of what they remembered as Jinai sat back on her heels and sighed. Not only was Miklo covered in ink, but Jinai had a few smudges over her hands, cheeks and nose as well.

"I guess.. that's good enough. Hopefully we didn't miss anything."

Miklo stared at the map, scratching his head. "It appears to be about right. Close enough for our purposes, at the very least. We should stay away from that area over there-" he pointed to a small section of the map with a lot of short, interconnecting hallways and a lack of very distinguishable rooms. "-as one mistake could get us lost in there, but otherwise I think we're safe." Perhaps it would be more accurate to say he hoped they were safe, but what they had would have to do.

Standing up, head bowed, he held the map out to Jinai. "Perhaps it would be best if you held on to this one." He was glad they'd been able to salvage what they could, but he knew full well that that slip up could have easily gotten them both killed. They were relatively lucky, in the end... and Miklo doubted they'd be that lucky twice. It was just sloppy, and he shouldn't have let himself be so easily startled.

Jinai sighed, and took the map and ink, and handed over their light source.
"Alright the, you lead the way." Her patience in this place was wearing thin.

Miklo took the sword, fumbling with it for a moment before getting used to the weight. Holding it up above his head so the light would shine further out, he shot Jinai a final apologetic look before moving off. It occurred to him that they couldn't be far off from the other side of the ancient city- if they kept walking they'd be directly under Uthlyn soon, and the ruins couldn't extend that far, could they?

After a few more minutes of walking he paused and held a hand to his ear, then shook his head and took another step... and then stopped again. This happened two or three times before he turned back to Jinai and asked, "Can you hear anything?"

Jinai, who had been pausing to take a look at the notes he had scribbled on the other, ruined piece of paper; lifted her head up now with a blink. Then she held her breath, looked upwards and thought she heard a noise as well.

"Yes... sounds like..." she made a face, uncertain what to make of the muffled noises, then slowly began to realize.
"It sounds like running water.." and slwoly she approached his side, craning her neck to look up at the dark ceiling above.
"But where.. is it coming from? Is it an underground stream.." she then sniffed. "The sewer?" it was hard to tell.

"Can't be Uthlyn's sewers- we haven't gone far enough, and if the sewers were connected to this place it would have been discovered when Uthlyn was being built. Certainly sounds like running water though." Miklo pressed onward, giving Jinai a hopeful look. "If there's water, it's likely coming from somewhere. Likely somewhere above. Besides, we'd need a source of fresh water to provide a sanctuary anyway."

The scholar quickened his pace- this was the first good news they'd had in a while, now if they could just find where that sound was coming from...

((OOC: Half hoped you'd go with the boulder, but I guess that's just my sadistic streak talking.  :) ))

OOC: Oh who said they were clear of any boulders or traps? :D
It's  a long dark walk they still have ahead of them B|
------------

Jinai smirked. It seemed the 'librarian' could focus his brains on something other than the ruins. Her smirk grew.
"Yes.. with a fresh water source, it'll make it a little easier to keep people here." But as she glanced around, it seemed as if it was impossible to ever distinguish where it was coming from, and that made her frown. Tucking back her hair, she moved a little faster before pausing as the pair of them came to what seemed like...

"A dead end." She frowned, but then noticed something.... interesting and stepped forward. "Hey, bring that light over here.." and as it was cast in her direction, she smoothed a hand over the wall. "This is a false wall." She gave it a knock to confirm. Yep, definitely hollow.

Interesting.. but why?

"Very odd. Perhaps we could find a way to tear or knock it down? Or should we go around?" Miklo felt at the wall, prodding at it for weaknesses. It felt strong enough that they wouldn't be able to break through it- at least with what they had available to them. Nor would the sword be an effective enough tool to dig through.

The bigger question, however, was indeed why it was here to begin with. It certainly sounded like there was water on the other end, so why would the city close it off? If there were danger of some sort, surely they'd want to make any protection from it permanent? A false wall served only to conceal... but conceal what?

"Jinai," Miklo started. "What are the chances that this place has been found before?" It was little more than a guess, but given their proximity to Uthlyn, the lack of any valuables in their path, and the lack of any other good explanations at the moment, it was one of the first things that came to the scholar's mind.

"Well, we haven't seen any piles of gold about, so perhaps when the city was first abandoned, it might have been looted. Though I didn't consider you a real adventurer type."S he eyed him over. "What are you thinking about in that red-haired brain of yours?" she said, poking at the side of his temple, then leaned in real close to his face. "You thinking there's a hidden meaning behind this door? Or..."s he paused to consider with a gasp. "You don't think it's a trap?" and as if on cue, something clicked up above. And there, dangling precariously above them, was a trap door, about ready to let loose the biggest boulder she had seen in all of her life.

"Fucking Angsar's balls, the fuck is that!?" she said, leaping away from it and scrambling backwards in her tracks. Her eyes were as big as mill wheels as she stared at it.
"Hey- Miklo! Get the hell away from there! That boulder is about to-"

But it was too late, the trap holdings beneath it finally gave way in another click, and the boulder crashed to the ground, trembling the earth like an earthquake, and without warning, it began to roll their way, it creating an ominous roar as it rolled down the path.

Not wasting another minute, she latched onto Miklo's wrist and dragged him away.
"MOVE, MIKLO! MOVE!!" and she was nearly tripping over her own two feet as they hammered against the floor. GOds! They were going to be turned into human pancakes if that thing caught up to them!

"I'm thinking that maybe- oh, not good." Miklo just stared up at the mechanism, rooted to the spot. If Jinai hadn't pulled him along he'd likely have been a red-headed pancake then and there. "I suppose that answers that- wyaaah!"

And then they were running. Miklo was right behind Jinai every step of the way, resisting the urge to look back at the impending boulder. He could hear it though. It was gaining, getting closer and closer. It had already halved the distance between them, and still the sword shone no light on a way out of the rock's path.

Miklo could feel himself slowing already, the sword's weight dragging him down. If it were just an ordinary blade he'd have tossed it aside in a heartbeat, but it was their only source of light. If he didn't lighten his load though, he'd slow them both down and get Jinai flattened as well as himself. Wait, maybe there is a way out of this.

Giving a heave, the man chucked the sword towards the wall in such a way that it would land just barely safe from the boulder- it was a surprisingly good throw, at least for Miklo. Soon enough that left them running in darkness, and between panicked breaths the scholar could be heard counting in tens. If he was right about the timing they could slip into the nearest side-passage. If he was wrong... he didn't want to think about that. "...Forty...fifty... sixty... now!" With that he darted to the side, praying to whatever gods or goddesses might listen that he'd be able to pull Jinai along in time.

Jinai was panting, her heart pounding in her ears, but no where near as defeaning as the roar of the rock behind them. ALl of her limbs were sore, her mind on high alert, and as they continued to run. It was a peculiar time for her to try to find faith, but now was the time she was scramblign to do it as she was internally praying to whatever Gods she could.

And then that happened and Jinai watched in horror as Miklo tossed the sword aside.
"Did you just!?" she stammered, her jaw falling open in dismay. "Did you just toss the lighted sword aside!?"
She grit her teeth as they were plummeted into darkness.

"You ass hole!" She could have punched his face in. "Now we're going to die in the dar-ARRRRRRRK!" and the last part was screamed out in a high pitched scream as Jinai was yanked with Miklo into a side passage, evading the boulder by mere inches as he felt the breeze from it roll on by. She was pressed so tightly against him seh hadn't realized she was clinging on so tight, or so near until she was swearing in his face.

"MIKLO!" she shouted, her voice sounding as angry as a thousand demons as her shout echoed all around them.  But then suddenly, she cupped his cheeks, smashed her lips against his passionately before pulling away in a gasped laugh. "We're alive! You did it!" And she laughed again and added with a shake of her head, "Somehow, you did it. But we're alive! Praise whatever Gods answered that call."

Miklo frantically tried to apologize in between desperate gasps for air. "But, I, but- no choice, would have been- only way- I'm- mmmph!" Miklo was as surprised at the kiss as he was before, though perhaps this time a bit more appreciative and slightly less confused. When she pulled away he blinked, face beet red- though she wouldn't exactly be able to see it.

"We're not in the clear yet," he muttered. "Let's see if the sword survived, then we can celebrate not being dead." With that he stepped back against the wall- making sure he still had a hold of Jinai's hand- and sidled over until he felt the edge of the wall. Heart in his throat, he took a deep breath and peered around the corner to see...

Nothing. The corridor was as dark as the rest. At some point, whether it was from a lack of a wielder or because it was shattered by the boulder, the blade's light had gone out. "Not good. Maybe it simply went out? Have to check." Feeling his way along the wall, he walked until he got to about the point where he thought he threw the weapon, and for a few terrified moments he rooted around for it... Finally his hands touched metal, and he let out a cheer! "Yes! Now we just have to- woah!" At that the blade flared up, perhaps brighter than before.... though that just might have been the contrast to the total darkness of a moment before.

"Right," she agreed, smirkign as she followed after him. She was feeling so excited to be alive, she could have jumped Miklo then and there. Role playing out him as her 'husband' would be interesting. And how loud could he scream in these echoing passage ways?
But it was best not to think of that now. They were hardly in the right predicament for her to try to seduce him anyways (not that she figured it'd be hard if she really wanted to), and hell, this place would be quite the interesting location for such an event but.. alas, even she was much too focused on finding the sword.

So she kept her mouth closed, her hand tightly connected to his, and once he found it, she breathed out a sigh of relief, but then when swearing up a storm once it flashed to life.

"Gods.."s he covered her eyes, dropping to one knee and groping the wall. "I think that damn sword just blinded me."

Miklo staggered back a bit from the light, himself- not that it did much good, seeing as he was the one holding it, but it was reflex. "Argh- no, not bright enough to cause lasting damage. Our vision should return momentarily- ah, there we go." Miklo blinked a few times, then started forward. "Think the boulder broke through the wall? Wait here, there could be a second trap."

It probably sounded a lot braver than Miklo actually felt, as he was nearly trembling as he drew close to where the trap had been sprung, listening for the slightest sound of anything out of the ordinary. If a bug had landed on him he'd probably have jumped half his height. "Well, let's see... Oh, by the way, still have the map?"

Jinai nodded and silently followed after him. Her heart was pounding so heavily within her chest, she was afraid it would hammer clean out of her body. And as she crept behind Miklo, being about just as cautious as he was, when he asked about the map, she blinked and looked down.
"Shit.." and the words echoed around them in a series of hisses. She lifted it up, but it was now in two pieces. "Looks like I ripped the damn paper in half."

Miklo peered at the ripped paper, shaking his head. "And I suppose the ink was likely spilled in our run? Ah well, we should be okay, I think. If that noise turns out to be running water after all, we might just have our way out." With that he turned back and felt for the wall- which, he felt with disappointment, the boulder hadn't smashed down. "A fake wall and then a trap... but why? There has to be something behind it."

He poked and prodded at the wall, looking for some kind of switch or something. "No, no, no... random efforts likely won't do it... Perhaps there's some clue, some hint..." The scholar held up the sword and grimaced. "Can't see any... what do you think, miss Jinai?"

Jinai frowned. She was still trying to mentally recover from the boulder nearly crushing them, so she hesitated as she moved around. But then she thought hse saw something and approached it cautiously.

"Hey.. what's this?" but a click under her foot had her yelping, but before the pair could stop it, the walls began to rumble....

OOC: YOu can decide why the walls are a rumbling <3

Miklo had been leaning against one of the walls, inspecting a strange break in the stone, when Jinai stepped on the switch. "I don't know, perhaps another form of tra-" slam. A large stone slab fell down from the ceiling, cutting off the way back and landing about an inch away from Miklo's nose. He just stared at it for a moment, not sure whether to give thanks to whatever supernatural entities might have kept that from crushing his skull in or to panic at their sudden entrapment.

Then he noticed the rumbling was still audible, which meant whatever was happening wasn't finished yet. He looked frantically about for whatever was about to kill them in hopes of finding a way out, and soon enough he noticed that the hand he'd had on the wall was slowly being pushed towards him. "The walls! They're closing in!"

It was a very slow process, by the looks of it. They might have as long as ten minutes before they were totally crushed, but that wasn't exactly the most comforting thought.

((OOC: Hurray for cliched deathtraps!... Now we just have to think of a good reason for the three different levels of security on this one hallway... >_>...))

Jinai backed away from the approaching wall, pressing her back up against Miklo's. She couldn't believe the luck and gave a shake of her head.

"Yeah, and if we don't find a way out of here, we're going to be crushed!"
Her heart was racing a mile a minute and so was her brain. What they hell could be done? Her eyes flicked around the room, up, down, sideways, long ways, at their feet, but she saw nothing.

"Shit!" she moved forward, tried to pusht he wall back but to no avail. Turning to Miklo then, she shouted, "Well don't just stand there, do something!"
And she looked around, panicked.

"Look for some sort of lever, or recess, or...anything." Gods! Well, in short, at least this was not how she predicted she'd die. And she supposed if she was crushed at least it wouldn't be a lonely grave but damn! She did NOT want to know how death felt when it was literally squeezed out of her by these moving walls.

OOC: lol

Miklo was already worried enough, but when he heard Jinai panicking he nearly lost it. What was he supposed to do? The sword wouldn't shed enough light for them to see much at once, and if there was some trick to getting out, they wouldn't be able to find it without more light. The scholar looked at the sword, willing it to grow brighter, hotter, something. Right about now the man was more terrified than he'd ever been in his life; this was far worse than the boulder had been. At least with the boulder he'd known that escape was theoretically possible. There could very well not be any way out of this trap- in fact, it would make a good deal of sense, if this were a fail-safe or backup for the boulder.

As Miklo stared ineffectively at the sword, he could feel his own semi-useless magic stirring. It was stronger than before, however, more volatile, harder to- oh crud it was coming out! The young man felt his small (though much more than usual) power flow through the weapon, causing the flame to grow larger and brighter... enough to clearly illuminate the entirety of their relentlessly shrinking space.

For a moment he forgot all about the impending wall-based death, however, as he gave an astonished cheer. "That's it! Strong emotion- anger, passion, fear! That's the key! Maybe now my magic will actually be good for something..." Miklo coughed and glanced about. "...If we can get out of here alive, that is. Now... what would the key be? Something their own people would instinctively go to, so none of them would fall victim to it... Jinai, see any of those children around here?"

Jinai shielded her eyes from the sudden blinding light from the sword.
"What on earth.." but then as he explained, JInai only growled.
"Look, if you need passion, we can take care of that later, right now, we need to find some quick way to get out of this place."
And at his suggestion, she ground her teeth together, fists clenched as she looked around for something, anything when she finally noticed..
"The ceiling! Look!" and she pointed up to a faded-painted tile of the child-goddess they had seen befre, and residing within her cupped hands was a unreflective, dark black jewel.

"Do you think that could seriously mean anything? Maybe that gem the child is holding is a trigger to stop the walls... but how on earth could we even reach it?" They were as good as pancakes.

Hrm... well out of reach. Perhaps one of them could reach it if they climbed on top of the other? Or perhaps they could throw something at it? "Maybe if we hit it with something?" Miklo suggested, figuring that was the easiest thing to try first. Now that he looked again, the gem was high enough that even if they stood on top of each other, it would still be a sword's length away. Maybe if whoever was on top tried to poke at it with the blade they could hit it, but it was best to try the simple answer first.

The scholar felt about in his pockets- he had a few coins, but nothing else he could really throw. Worth a shot, right? Unfortunately the man had never had the best aim, and most of his throws bounced away to either side of the image. One finally connected... but it didn't seem to hit hard enough to do anything.

Jinai watched, before growling and giving Miklo's arm a shove.
"Stop wasting your coin and our time," she growled."Help me get up there.I can probably reach it with that sword."

"Alright. Here." Miklo handed her the sword- which dimmed a bit when it changed hands- knelt down, and cupped his hands. This wasn't going to be easy- Jinai was a good bit smaller than he was, but the man wasn't exactly a wall of muscle. He just hoped she could get at the gem quickly, or they'd both end up toppling over. "On three, step on my hands and I'll lift you up. Ready? One... two... three!"

Jinai nodded, and kept a firm grip upont he sword, her arms then resting upon his shoulder. And on three, she pushed up, stepping into his hands as he lifted her precariously up towards the ceiling. SHe felt herself waver within his grip, but the walls were closing in fast, which worked for the brief moment she almost fell into it and it supported her wait as it shook and moved closer and closer. Now resting and moving her weight against Miklo, her legs shifted uncomfortably ontop of his shoulders as she strained her arms up and up, reaching for the stone that appeared just a breath out of reach, despite the extension of the sword on her arm.

But with all of the strain, the shaking weight of Miklo's hold below her, the sweat on her face and the walls that were coming in- she knew she had little choice but to jump. And without warning, she kicked off of Miklo's shoulders and leaped into the air, and thrust the blade out. It struck the gem and set a shower of sparks flying out, but she hit it, and as she did the black gem lit up- and so did the walls as they froze all around them-

but Jinai didn't have a chance to register this to celebrate as she suddenly fell into a painful heap ontop of Miklo upon the floor.
The sword had fallne out of her hand, clattering loudly upon the stone floor before it's magic light went out. ANd all she could hear was her breathing, and that's hwen she sat up suddenly.
"Did it work!?"

And a moment later, glowing blue runes lit up upon the walls, nearly blinding her as she shielded her eyes, and a noise was heard, shaking the floors, and as her eyes adjusted, she noticed a thin hallway opened up to them- now illuminated by the glowing blue runes.

Jinai's eyes widened, her mouth gaping open at the beauty of the walls, and well, from the horrendous amount of luck they had.
"We did it!" she shouted, her words echoing around them, then she laughed, tossig her head back and that echoed around them as well. She could not believe this! What luck! SHaking her head, she moved to stand, and offered a hand down to Miklo.
"Looks like we survived yet another trap." Pulling him to his feet, she tucked back her blonde hair behind her ears and looked around. "I wonder where this path leads?"

Jinai landing on top of him had caused Miklo to hit his head on the stone floor, and for a moment all he could hear was the ringing in his ears... and then he realized that meant there was no rumbling. "It would appear... it worked. That or we're both dead." Miklo peered around at the darkness- and then went wide-eyed as the walls lit up. "Well, I suppose that answers that." The man gratefully took the offered hand, and scooped up the dropped blade. "A fake dead-end and two traps... whatever's this way ought to be quite interesting indeed."

Miklo offered the sword to Jinai. "We don't need it for light anymore, and if we need its other purpose, you probably know how to use it better than I do." It was a simple fact- no point in pretending otherwise. And while there probably wasn't another living soul down there with them regardless, he figured it was best to be safe.

"Ladies first?" he asked, peering down the hallway and giving an exaggerated bow.

Jinai smirked and accepted the sword.
"Very well," and she gave an extra sway of her hips. Might as well let him enjoy the show as she walked down the lighted path. It was definitely an interesting thing to witness as her eyes read across the glowing, shapes and figures of light.

"What sort of magic do you think this is? You'd think all of Connlaoth might be in a uproar if they knew about this place, especially since it's obviously not a place of Angsar." This made her murmur her thoughts outloud, "Like.. a religion or civilization of people before Angsar's time..."

The scholar scratched his head. "I don't know. Whoever did this knew what they were doing though. Many magics fade somewhat over time. This looks like it could have been done yesterday." He hmmed, contemplating her other point- with some difficulty thanks her rather distracting walk.

"If it predates Uthlyn long enough to be entirely buried, these people probably did live well before Angsar's time... I really hope the church doesn't get their hands on anything here. Most of them might very well destroy it without a second thought." Miklo's voice was practically dripping with scorn. He didn't even buy into the gods of his own birthplace, let alone myths of some holy warrior who became a god after his death. Oh, sure, he'd lived- history could tell him that easily enough, but he certainly doubted he still had any direct hand in the world. And anyone who'd wipe out traces of the history for the sake of legends was a fool in his book.

Miklo shook his head, trying not to think about that. What mattered was what they were doing then and there. "So," he started. "any guesses as to what's at the end of this?"

"You're asking the wrong girl. I didn't grow up around books, and am lucky I know enough to write my own language. IF my father didn't own his own, small business selling wares, I would have been as simple and uneducated as my mother."

She glanced around, peering at the runes as they walked on by. "These markings are strange, aren't they? It's almost as if they're telling a story." and she paused before one set, tilting her head to one side and let her hands stroke over the air before the runes which made the light flickering under her shadow.

"A lot of the runes point towards some sort of symbol of water.." and then she paused and grew quiet. "Do you hear that?"
It was the sound of running water again.

Halting to listen, Miklo nodded. "That definitely sounds like water. And close, unless I miss my guess." Curious. A focus on water, powerful magic, a civilization predating modern Connlaoth by a significant amount... perhaps that fragment of legend hadn't been far off the mark. Grabbing Jinai's hand, he quickened his pace. "Come on. Whatever we do here is just guesswork. I suspect we'll find something more substantial- or perhaps more useful- once we reach the end of this." In any case, the sound of water had reminded Miklo how thirsty he was.

"Mind if I ask you something, by the way? Why exactly are you helping the mages? I mean, it doesn't seem to me that you have any magic of your own..."

Miklo taking her hand and leading the way was awkward, but his question was what really through her off. Instead of replying, she simply listened to the sounds of water coming closer and closer as they ran,a nd once they entered into a darkened part of the hallway, a room at the end lit up, and in the center was a living, breathing fountain with the same, child like sculpture residing in the center, a jewel pressed ito it's forehead that appeared not to glow, and was as black as the gem they had pressed earlier. But the runes in the room were humming with life, and their colors reflecting in the fountain's water as it continued to cascade endlessly.

It was only then Jinai began to realize what this was...
"This room... it almost feels... holy." she wrinkled her nose, then blinked. "As if this were some sort of shrine." Which would explain the sort of seating resting before the alter of the fountain. Ah.. an alter, perhaps that's what it was? But the question was, why was it to guarded? And why HERE of all places?

The blue light reflecting off of the water's from the glowing runes on the walls danced across their faces, and the sounds the glowing runes made were almost beautiful, in a haunting sort of way. Jinai lifted her gazef rom the fountain to study this room more thoroughly, and noticed there was not a lot too it, except the fountain and pedestals, or alter like place, placed before the fountain in the center.

This was strange. Three different defenses, and all for a fountain? An impressive fountain, to be certain,  but a fountain? Miklo surveyed the walls, looking for any other ways out, or anything else that might give something away. Tentatively he drew closer to the water, trying to get a better look at the gem in the statue. He wasn't quite so afraid of traps here, as he doubted whoever built this would be willing to destroy this place to kill any intruders.

"Likely. That doesn't explain why it was so heavily guarded, though..." Miklo gave one last look around and then quickly dipped a finger into the water. He wanted to see if there was anything magical or supernatural about it- if there wasn't, he could really use a drink.

Jinai's hand shot out and grabbed onto Miklo's wrist.
"I wouldn't do that. We don't know if that water's clean,... or cursed."
Her eyes looked testily around, uncertain what to make of it here.
"It doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense, does it? So many traps for just a silly fountain? I wonder if there's anything else here." And then she paused when her eyes caught something on the far side of the room, a stone statue, this one full sized- of a woman with a crown. Jinai's eyes lingered over the figure, before she realized..
"This is either a shrine.. or a grave."

Miklo froze with his hand halfway above the water, nodding. Perhaps he had been a bit hasty. "A grave? I hadn't thought of that... it would explain the traps, at least." Miklo pulled free of Jinai's grip and stepped away from the fountain and closer to the statue- keeping an ear out for any more traps. "Perhaps for some ruler or other? It looks that way... though why all this for just one monarch? Normally there would be an entire tomb dedicated to such things, for those civilizations which care to do so." The scholar scratched his chin as he examined the statue more closely.

For a moment, he considered the possibility that the place was haunted- but if it were, they'd likely have already provoked whatever spirit inhabited this place... besides, lingering spirits didn't necessarily have to be malevolent, right? ...He hoped.

"Most civilizations don't, but are we dealing with something normal here? My biggest concern is that this place is huge. How hasn't anyone found it by now? And why was it forgotten? Maybe this place is cursed, who knows but whatever the reason we need to remain careful."

The scholar peered at the statue- it was certainly well crafted enough to suit a ruler- no imperfections in the stone that he could see (though he did have to admit room for error thanks to his missing glasses), and he'd never even seen a gem like that before. "Well, if we can't touch anything for the risk of ending up cursed, haunted, or otherwise inconvenienced... should we find a way out of here?"

Though the question of -where- was certainly still a good point. The fake wall was still in the hallway they'd earlier left, and the slab that had trapped them in the hallway hadn't gone anywhere last he checked either. Miklo had a mild panic attack- they could very well starve in there, he realized.

Jinai nodded. She too, feared the same thing as he as her eyes began to examine all the walls. Despite the place having a sense of serenity about it, her heart could not remain at peace knowing they might have found their selves in their own grave.

"I don't see anything in here. Why don't we try back the way we came? Maybe there's another lever or gem we hadn't seen that might be able to open the walls to let us out."

Perhaps they should get going, but... well, Miklo didn't think they'd find much. It was impressive work to fit two mechanisms into that one hallway already, plus the trigger for their escape (though he suspected that one was more magical in nature). Even if there was anything else back where they'd come from, it was just as liable to be another trap as an escape. Which meant it was time to take a few risks. The gem in the statue was the same sort as had been in the hallway- the same sort that had saved their lives earlier. "Maybe, but perhaps unlikely. I want to try something first."

"Jinai," he started, reaching for the gem and taking a deep breath. "You might want to stand back in case this goes horribly wrong." Then he put his palm over the jewel and pushed.

Jinai's eyes widened the moment she saw what Miklo was about to do.

"Miklo, don't-!" But it was too late. The gem was touched and with a hiss, the fountain waters ceased pouring. Jinai made a face, her body poised as if to stop him in mid-motion when she blinked and looked down as the waters began to drain from the fountain.
Hesitantly, she approached and peered in, and just as the water was almost all gone, she gasped.
"Look!" and gestured towards a handle in the water.
"Looks like some sort of handle to a door. Shall I open or would you like the honors?" she asked, giving him a smug grin.

The scholar winced when he heard the hissing, closing his eyes and waiting for some horrible, spiky,  elaborate trap to spring on him and smear him all over the floor... and then realized nothing had killed him yet. Taking in a deep, relieved breath, he turned back and peered into the now emptied fountain. He'd have called it an obvious trap, but he'd already decided that they didn't have much choice but to go along with it if they wanted to see daylight. "Well, I've not been mauled so far... Here goes." The man grit his teeth, offered a silent prayer on the off chance any deities happened to exist and be listening at the moment, reached down and heaved on the handle as quickly as he could.... and nothing budged. "Hrrrmmmmmph! Come on! Open! Errrrf!" Miklo continued to huff and growl, and there was a slight scraping sound, but whatever the old handle was attached to didn't seem to want to give.

"Here," Jinai said, moving beside him. "Let me help. It might be sealed by age. On three?"
ANd she curled her hands onto the iron ring and nodded towards him..
"One... two..." then with a grunt, she pulled, "Three!" and the door gave way, Jinai gasping as she stumbled over painfully onto the floor. But they did it! The door was open and se was scrambling to her feet, ignoring the minor, bleeding scrapes as she peered down at the gaping door way that lead to a spiraling staircase that disappeared into the shadows.

"Looks like the only way out... is down."

Miklo leaned over the stairway, taking a moment to catch his breath. He considered offering Jinai a hand up, but the thought had no sooner crossed his mind than she'd dealt with it herself. "Right then, we've no idea what's down there, so it might be wise for you to keep the sword." Besides, the scholar wanted to try something first. He figured he'd finally figured the trick to using his magic, and now was as good a time as any to test it.

Miklo closed his eyes with a nervous breath. Holding out his hand and calling up his magic, the mage tried to recall as many moments of fear and outrage as he could- neither was too difficult, as the fear of fleeing for his life was fresh in his mind, and he'd held back plenty of fury over the years. It was perhaps not as effective as it might have been, as he knew he was simply trying to manipulate himself, but the scholar figured he must have done something right when he opened his eyes to find a ball of fire about twice the size of his hand floating above his palm. "Well, seems there is a silver lining to all this." Miklo grinned and noted that the fire didn't need the emotional input to sustain itself, only to get started. Good, that would make things easier.

"Careful. Looks like it might be a bit slick down there. I'll go first. If you wouldn't mind being ready to stab anything that tries to bite my head off?"

Jinai frowned. "Yeah, the steps look quite slick, but it seems we've got no choice. Let's take it slow." then she nodded to him and smirked at his fire ball.
"Nice ball." she said, then gestured forward. "Lead the way."

"Well, there's no point to stalling." Miklo carefully stepped over into the fountain and started down the stairwell- which he noted was more than just a little slick. He shivered again- it was even colder here, and his fire was enough to produce light... but not much in the way of heat. Shaking his head, the mage put it out of his mind; he could deal with as little cold... as long as these stairs ended up leading to a way out. If they didn't- no, no, worrying about that wouldn't accomplish anything. "Just focus on not cracking your head open," he muttered.

"Being as you're a source of light, I'll try to keep us both from not cracking our heads," She reminded him, offering a small smirk as she followed after. It was cold, the air sending ripples to her skin. She steeled back her chattering teeth, and held a breath as they inched slowly down the spiraling steps. It seemed to take an hour for what should have taken mere minutes and at the very bottom lay another long hall which, after several feet, opened to a large stair way, which Jinai noted had cracks of sunlight coming from above.

She held a hand up to shield her eyes, trying to focus on the light.
"I wonder what that is?" she said, and moved past him, climbing carefully up the next set of steps, when her boots slipped, and she fell back onto Miklo.

On the one hand, things could have gone a lot worse; Miklo still stood at the foot of the stairs, far enough back that he had time to put out the fire before Jinai hit him and in no danger of falling down a flight. On the other hand, the floor was dampest at the base, and it was still made of stone... A fact which Miklo was immediately reminded of as his attempt to catch the falling woman led to him once again slipping backwards and smacking his head for what was probably the third time that day (at least, he thought they'd not spent more than a day down there). On the plus side, the scholar was technically successful, as he provided a soft, Miklo-shaped shield between Jinai and the floor.

Miklo groaned and felt for the back of his head. "No blood, at least. Urgghhh... I wonder if these people had a patron deity of headaches? It seems to be a core feature of their architecture. Are you alright, miss Jinai?"

Miklo wasn't the only one groaning. Once Jinai sat up, she tried to stand, but as Miklo found out, here the floor was the most slippery and she found herself slipping back onto his lap with an 'ooof'.
Blowing her blonde hair from her face, she peered up at Miklo.
"I'm as alright as I can be. At least you make a nice cushioned landing,"she said with a smirk.
"Guess your head is throbbing? I might have something on me to help ease the pain, though it might make you a bit... loopy."
Yeah.. loopy was the right words for a drug..

Ordinarily, Miklo wouldn't have minded the side-effects, so long as his head stopped throbbing. In the current situation, however, he didn't want to get flattened by some trap because he was completely out of it. Grimacing, he shook his head. "I'll deal with the pain, I think. If it persists once we get out of here, then I might want whatever it is you've got."

Miklo looked at the girl currently sitting in his lap, coughed, and shifted a bit. He could already feel the water on the floor seeping through into his pants, and as much as he liked his present position, the scholar didn't fancy walking around in cold, dark hallways while wet. "...So, if you're alright, we should get up?"

"Well, I did try that once but it seems fate wants me in your lap," she teased, batting her eyes at him. "We are married after all." But then, to be nice, she slipped off of his lap and moved to stand. Better able to gain her balance now, she offered a hand down to Miklo to help him to his feet.
"Come on, let's see where this path leads."
Lucky for him, they had places to be and well, as much as she enjoyed playtime with others, Jinai was pretty focused on wanting to sniff out and search every end of this location and secret path.

Miklo gladly took the hand and hauled himself to his feet. "It goes up," he said, just a bit of sarcasm slipping through. Summoning his fire again- and he noted that it was even a bit easier this time- he was too busy to say much else as he tried to dry the seat of his trousers. After a few moments of fruitlessly (and rather dumb-looking) flailing behind him, he decided to live with it, and instead turned his thoughts to something else that had been bothering him; what was the purpose for all this? The traps had made sense to keep out intruders from whatever sacred place they'd just left, but why have all this extra trickery going on? Surely it wasn't really needed? Hopefully they'd find an answer when they reached the end.

Though... Miklo took a deep breath and expanded his fire a little, trying to get as much extra heat as he could. At this point he'd be happy just getting out alive.

At the end, it appeared as if there was a doorway that lead to the back streets of Reajh.
Reajh? But hadn't they just been in Uthlyn? Perhaps her eyes were playing tricks on her, but as she approached the opening, it appeared as if they were trapped inside by glass. Jinai made a face, reaching out to touch the glass door, and suddenly found herself falling through- and toppling painfully onto the cobblestone alley.

That... couldn't possibly be right. Surely it was just an odd portion of Uthlyn, and they hadn't actually traveled that far. Had they? Miklo opened his mouth in warning... too late to stop Jinai from falling through. "Should have thought of that- could be a portal. No need for us to have traveled that far. That could work...."

While Miklo muttered to himself, he instinctively stepped forward himself, resting a palm on the glass door... and then realized that was also a bad idea. He'd seen Jinai fall earlier, why assume he wouldn't? With an annoyed grunt, the mage toppled after and landed roughly on the woman. "Ooof. Sorry miss Jinai."

When Miklo landed on top of her, just about all of her breath had been expelled. Groaning, she tried to sit up, but surprisingly the bookish man weighed heavy enough she had to ask, "As much as it's fun for us to fall over each other each time we run into some form of danger, I think you're crushing my ribs. Can you kindly get off?"

Miklo hurriedly scrambled to his feet, uttering a series of frantic apologies which continued well after Jinai was free of his weight. Should have thought that move through a little more. When the man was done apologizing, he coughed and peered towards the mouth of the alley, creeping slowly forward and poking his head out the side. "Well... it certainly looks like Reajh. Though that raises more questions than it answers..." Why would an ancient civilization have a portal to a modern city? Was it just coincidence? Could they see the future? No, no, that couldn't be it. If that were the case they'd still be here...

He thought about checking to see if the portal back was still there, but then he realized it made little difference. There wasn't any way back through that trapped hallway regardless, so it was as good as a dead end. "Well, I hope you have a plan," he said.

Jinai cursed before sighing.
"Well, now that we're free of whatever place that was, it's time to regroup and figure out what the hell that was we just walked through, and also..."s he peered up at the Grand Duke's palace looming in the not too distant background with a frown. "And also to find a way to get out of this city without me getting caught." Her lips twitched a little as she smiled sourly. "Last time I checked, there are more pictures of me posted all over this city than there are postings of the new laws." And she looked down the hallway, noted it was clear,a nd also, well, night was coming soon and gestured for Miklo to follow.

"So.. how well do you know how to fight? Cause I don't think we're on the nice side of the city." THough she was surprised whens he rounded the bend to find the building nearest them was a Church of Angsar.

Miklo paled a bit. "I'm not exactly much of a fighter, and I doubt my magic would be much use..." He sure hoped they didn't run into trouble. In the best case scenario, he might be able to set somebody's pants on fire, but that would both draw more attention than they needed and wouldn't be the most reliable method. "Hrm... best avoid fights, I think. Any way we could conceal your face? Or perhaps we could-"

He paused as they came upon the church, and gave her a wry look. "Are you sure we're not on the nice side of the city?" Not that a church of Angsar made him much more comfortable than a bunch of thugs did, but at least the church wouldn't have a reason to go for them on sight- at least as long as he didn't carelessly sling around fire and Jinai wasn't recognized.

Jinai stared up at the sky.
"Night will be falling soon, perhaps we can find a place to lay low until then? Then sneak out?"
Then recalling his question earlier about this being 'the nice side', she simply shrugged. "The alley looked dirty," then she peered back over towards him as she began to approach the side of the church where a thick patch of vines were growing against it, "You coming?" She gave the vines a good tug and began to crawl.... up towards an open window above them.

"It's as good a plan as any, I suppose." Miklo took hold of the vines and hesitated- they had to be pretty strong to hold Jinai's weight, but he probably weighed as good bit more himself. The last thing he needed was for it to snap and drop him head first on the cobblestone street... but he couldn't think of any other good way up.

Waiting for Jinai to find solid footing (he sure wasn't going to risk making the vines support both of them), he peered to either side of the street, really hoping he'd not see anyone. With one or two hurried glances up to check Jinai's progress, he twitched nervously. "Could you hurry up? I don't like standing out in the open like this. I keep feeling like the guard is going to come around the corner any second, and I don't think the vines can hold both our weight."

Jinai hadn't made it but a few feet up when she paused to look down at Miklo as she smirked.
"JUst enjoy the view and follow after me. If we make it up here alive, I'll let you see more than just up my skirts." And a few minutes later, she had successfully made her way to the window ledge. She paused a moment to peer inside, though it was hard to see since it was so dark, but a few candles indicated someone was awake inside, somewhere nearby. She motioned to Miklo to remain quiet before she crawled inside the window, then paused before turning around, offering out an arm to help him inside.

The room was small, a balcony over looking the pews that all faced towards a center statue of Angsar. Down below she noted the rows of candles lit before the statue, and just a single priestess bent down low in prayer. Smirking, she turned back towards Miklo.

"Looks like this place is deserted, minus the priestess below." And she took this moment to give an appreciative look over the bookish 'explorer' who just spent the days with her, traipsing around in some unknown ruin. The excitement had her heated, and her ways were hardly subtly as she asked, "Ever have sex in a church?" and she approached him in a way that said 'If not, soon you will.'

No guards yet, no guards yet, nobody was putting a sharp metal object through his skull... Jinai's comment didn't even register through Miklo's nerves. Once she was inside, he scrambled up after her as quickly as he could- quickly enough to surprise himself, as a matter of fact. He barely even had time to grab Jinai's offered arm before throwing himself through the window.

The man took a few deep breaths, but other than that managed to hold his tongue while they made sure there wasn't any trouble waiting for them. Immediately he started planning. Alright, they'd hide out there until nightfall, slip out and check the guard at the gates. There wouldn't likely be more than one or two on the gate itself, there had to be a way to slip past. They wouldn't know Miklo's face, maybe he could smuggle Jinai out through a cart? No, with everything going on the guard surely wouldn't be that careless. The scholar ran a hand through his dust-coated hair. They just had to... Oh.

Something told him that this wasn't the best time or the best place, but given he'd ignored the more rational bit of his thoughts a number of times already today- in much more dangerous circumstances- and was still alive, he decided one more probably wouldn't hurt. He shook his head, grinned, and began fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.

He didn't need to fumble around with the buttons anymore for in just a few steps, Jinai was before him, a hand smoothing across his now exposed chest as she guided his hands away to her own body where she secured one at her hip, the other one her breast as she smirked, then moved her own hands to pluck each button open, one at a time. Though the second the shirt was open, it was off of him and tossed carelessly in a crumpled heap upon the floor.

With her hands traveling all over him, she could feel the grit from the ruins dusting him, taste the salt from his sweat as her lips met to his, then moved across his jawline and up to his ear where she breathed and moaned softly into his ear. And while one of her hands explored his body, the other one worked beneath her short leather skirt and a moment later... her undergarments were on the floor, discarded as they moved deeper into the shadows, leaving a trail in their wake of discarded clothing... and also leaving a trail of dirt still falling off their clothing from their time traipsing around beneath all of Uthlyn, and muddy footprints as well.

And It was here she cornered her 'husband' up against the wall, and with skilled hands she moved to unlace the front of his pants. They could be caught at any second, for they weren't in any real enclosed room, but she didn't care. Jinai Rinstgate lived for the thrills of life- the most dangerous, and hey, a little kinky role playing after she was digging around in the dirt seemed like an appropriate award. And Miklo was more than willing.

And she had great skills in these sorts of arts, where others were bookish, she relied on the baser instincts of life and learning to sate them. So Miklo was very lucky, and also, soon, very naked as their clothing was all but tossed away, leaving them only partially dressed before she sealed the deal and made herself Miklo's 'wife'.

OOC: We can fade to black from here, or if you're up for playing it out, I don't mind either way XD
Jinai is horrible >.>
just sayin'~
Though I'm sure her 'husband' doesn't mind XD