Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » The Treasure Lamp 2.0 (closed)

Lance listened and nodded to the other two speak about the 'Black Lense'. He didn't have much to say on the matter given his lack of experience with bandits and mercenaries, but he was still listening attentively to the two. He wondered how much longer it would be until the others had arrived as he longed in a way to see the Doppler he had befriended once more.

Lance looked over when the back door opened, eyeing the figures that walked out, not with suspicion, but with curiosity. He nodded as the group approached.This is it, he said in his mind. He was both excited and nervous at the same time as the brown-cloaked figure introduced herself. He stayed patient and respectfully silent though as the whole procession went on.

Soon after she finished speaking to Damian, a door just within her line of sight slid open as it heralded the coming figures. It seemed a somber and serious scene, the figures quiet until the one in mottled brown stepped forward to speak. Katlina's posture, relaxed but straight, would seem to the careful observer for the moment perhaps too relaxed, as if she had to concentrate to keep it that way, her eyes slightly narrowed as they slid over each figure, lingering on the one in mottled green hues.

As Sparrow stepped forward to join the one who named herself Xyla, Kat's lips curved upward in a soft smile. When he spoke directly to her, his distinctive way of speaking thawed her nerves a bit and she took a step forward as well. First she glanced to Xyla and slowly dipped her head to the woman, respect evident in the gesture, before she looked to Sparrow. "Your name, earth flyer, is Kaito." Was anything else expected of her? Some sort of ritual or phrase she should say? Katlina didn't know, and felt it best to keep things simple for the time being. With a nod to the male fae, she offer one more smile. "Good to see you again."

Sparrow, or Kaito as he had now been otherwise named, nodded at Kat in return. "An right'cha are." He seemed satisfied with whatever requirement had been met, but at some unspoken note glanced at Lance, following Xyla's own gaze.

There was a moment of silence as she glanced back at the rest of the hooded figures, and another moment passed before she turned back to Lance. There almost seemed to be a film of doubt that coated those violet hues. She studied the gunmage before she at last spoke.

"...who are you?" The pointed question was low, not quite accusatory, but with a note of confrontation. "Why are you here?" She took a step closer to Lance, already reaching back to lightly grasp the bronze staff fastened beneath her cloak in what could only be interpreted as a subtle, threatening gesture.

"Who sent you?"

Lance nodded as Kaito and Katlina had their exchange, looking among the hooded figures. He waited and realized the doppler wasn't there as Kaito had been with Katlina.

He felt on edge as Xyla's gaze rested upon him with her motions. He fell silent and waited for her words before he replied. "Indomiel, the shifter." He replied, shifting slightly. "He is the one who sent me here." Lance answered, not letting his inner tension show through his calm expression and stance.

The name seemed to elicit a stunned silence from Xyla, as well as the rest of the members of the Treasure Lamp. Sparrow and Xyla glanced at each other, each shocked and torn, and the other members began to murmur among themselves. Another couple of moments passed before the grip on the bronze staff only grew tighter, although it did not move. Those eyes now were flooded with roiling emotion, the violet gaze against Lance now piercing daggers.

"Where..." her voice faltered, wavering a little, still somewhat firm yet losing a tinge of its calmer and cooler edge. "Then where is he? Why isn't he with you?" She seemed to be slowly stirred into anger with each pointed question. "Why did you leave him?" After a moment, her gaze faltered, dropping away for just a moment before they returned with much less hostile intensity, waiting for his answer as she caught herself.

Indomiel...it had been long enough since he vanished. No doubt he still grieved, as they all did. But the package at the doorstep on that day had stung him so much harsher.

Lance took a step back as Xyla spoke with seemingly harsher words. Ita not like he had wanted to leave him, but he was told to. He shook his head and regained composure before he spoke to Xyla and the other cloaked figures.

"Mountains of Oberon." He replied solemnly. "He told me to go and said we would meet again..." Lance answered in full. "I hoped I would have seen him again when I arrived here... It appears that's not the case..." He spoke in a tone that was apparent that Lance had wanted to see Indomiel again.

Xyla's other fist clenched, as her first instinct was rage. Rage with the backing of such pain. There was only one place he could've gone there. Ever since, again and again, she had insisted that they never go back to that wretched peak. It had been her mistake, and their downfall. And even so, he had still gone back, for Source knows what premise. Revenge, maybe. Likely. And yet...

Sparrow's long fingers brushed lightly against the back of her forearm, a very subtle motion. He was more than aware of the struggle. It afflicted them all. Yet, third to perhaps...well...no, he was no longer third or second for that matter. He was probably the one out of all of them able to keep the clearest head, in light of what had happened to them.

Beneath the shelter of her mask, Xyla bit her lip at the reminder to calm down. She had built this place from the ground up. It was no surprise that at such a harsh loss, she was still so...emotional about it. Another loss upon another loss. Even still, even from whatever visions of delusion or grandeur he seemed to be chasing, Indomiel was... still looking out for the rest of them. He knew the date and time as well as any of them did. And like Sparrow and herself, he had trusted Lance enough with his name as his confirmation...

Slowly, she released her fist, the rage filtering away from her eyes. "...well, he trusted you enough to send you here, and I trust his judgment...we can only hope that he's alright." Her voice was soft in her defeated acceptance. She averted her eyes for a moment, before at last turning her attention to Damian. He had seen her unfiltered before, and so seeing it again must have been of no surprise to him. The idea made her uneasy.

"And, last but not least...what is my name, Damian?"

Damian heard Lance mention the Mountains of Oberon, and saw Xyla's fist clench. Her anger, pain, and grief became apparent to him. He had a feeling he knew what had crossed her mind when Lance had told her where he had last seen Indomiel; indeed, almost nothing else he could think of could garner a reaction like that. Having been a voracious reader and having been taught geography by his Mentor, he knew that the Mountains of Oberon were in the Central-Northern region of Aësteshire. So that's where that happened, he thought to himself, trying not to let his sympathy for her show. She still didn't know that he knew what had happened to her companions, and he figured it would be wise to keep it that way for the time being.

He saw Xyla release her fist and heard the defeat in her voice. His heart started hurting for her, but he still kept the sympathy off his face. However, unbeknownst to him, his body language shifted almost imperceptibly. Anyway, he swallowed and set his dark navy eyes on the violet ones behind Xyla's mask, his gaze resolute. He took a deep breath before speaking to her in Elvish. "Ayura," he said. "Your name is Ayura."

After the attention had been shifted to the two males who'd arrived just before Kat, she felt a bit of the tension coiled in her lithe body drain a bit. As Xyla tensed in anger, her eyes narrowed some, curiosity piqued for a moment. Kaito's subtle gesture didn't escape her and for a moment she felt an inward pause, as if a hint of something... some emotion, was nudging at the back of her mind, yet she didn't yet fully recognize it. The two were obviously close.

Pulling her gaze away, Kat didn't realize her lips had turned downward in the barest of frowns before she looked to Damian in a bit of surprise as the man spoke in Elvish. She picked up the word Ayura, which must have been the name Xyla was looking for. Where had Damian picked up elvish? Did he have elvish blood? Studying the man more closely now, Kat tried to pick up any defining elven features, but he seemed human, like her. Perhaps he was a scholar? Most ordinary folk didn't learn more than one language, if their paths were not diverse enough to travel where they would need to speak more than one. Most didn't have the means for tutelage. Kat had done her best to help some of those in the worst need... with her own methods of course, but her work was thankless, and seemed only a soothing drop in the ocean of poverty.

Kat nearly rolled her eyes at the show of knowledge to go along with his obvious affluence, yet he'd seemed kind, so she kept her face neutral as she waited to see what was to come, arms crossed over her breast, with one hand tugging softly on the tip of her mahogany hued braid.

Xyla, or Ayura as she had now been identified, simply nodded. "...now that that's out of the way, welcome, to all of you, really. Let's head inside. We can talk more about specifics." She turned away towards the rest of the other hooded figures. Gods, she really needed to get a grip. These recruits didn't deserve to be tied up in something that they were never involved with. She wished she was better at hiding her emotions.

Sparrow also beckoned Kat, Damian and Lance through the back door where they had all come from. The back room of the shop looked like a simple, wide-open space; there was a small counter lined all around the edged of the room, and the occasional chair sat before the counters. Along the walls were weapons, gemstones, as well as other items that also seemed a bit on the more pragmatic side. Artifacts, harnesses, the occasional extra cloak. Aside from the back door, there were two other doors that had access to this room. One towards what could be assumed to be the front of the shop, and the other to what could be interpreted as a small storage closet. There were two small wooden crates near the door to the shop's front retail area; one with lusterless gems and the other full of bright ones that evidently contained Ichor.

Habitually, the cloaked members of the Treasure Lamp seemed to settle in their preferred spots. The one cloaked in orange gravitated to the back corner, where there were gears and other mechanical scraps on the counter and a small contraption of sorts on the chair aside it. The short young woman in blue hopped up to sit upon the counter itself, while the taller man in black leaned against the counter aside her, leaning his large polearm against the wall. Sparrow stood next to the back door while Xyla stood just off the wall in front of the storage closet, arms crossed, evidently about to make some sort of announcement to them.

"In general, there are a couple of roles that we have here, although they aren't really strict, per se," she explained. "Someone'll usually be in front dealing with the shop, and that'll rotate every now and again. The rest of us can take jobs as we will, together or separate. Eighty percent of the reward is personal, then split with any partners, while the rest goes to a guild fund. Half of store profits go to the guild fund, and the other half gets split among everyone."

"Any questions to start off, before we all introduce ourselves a bit more officially?" she glanced around at everyone in turn.

Damian followed Kaito's beckoning along with Lance and Kat and entered the back door of the shop and into what seemed to be the back room of the Treasure Lamp shop itself. Instead of finding a place like the other members of the organization, he just sort of stood there in front of the door which they had entered through and looked around. He saw Ayura standing in front of what looked to be a storage closet. Something at the back of his mind suggested that it wasn't a closet at all, but he wasn't certain about that suggestion, so he just kept quiet on that front. All of the masked figures seemed to have their own place in all of this. He hoped that before long, he would as well. If this were to mark his new beginning, he would probably need to find one, and sooner rather than later.

Anyway, the Mage set his gaze upon Ayura, and shook his head. "None here, I have to say," he said, but this time in Common instead of Elvish. He crossed his arms and swallowed a lump that he just now realized was growing in his throat.

At the beckoning from Xyla and Sparrow, Kat trailed after the others toward what she supposed was the Treasure Lamp's inner sanctum. Waiting until all the others had gone in, she slipped in as well, taking a place near the wall with the weapons, her stormy hues habitually checking all the exits, and the walls for windows. It never hurt to be prepared. Not that she distrusted the group. Kaito had gained her trust, the others no doubt would as well, given time and the desire to. She had to gain theirs as well. Time for that later, though. For now, questions.

With a tilt of her head, Kat stopped her perusal of the room long enough to gaze at Xyla. "What is done with the guild fund, if I might ask?" Her voice was soft with only the slightest remnants of a brogue to color it. "Also, do you usually wait until folk come to you for jobs, or do you seek them out?" She found herself curious if there were many people who came to the Treasure Lamp for odd jobs, or if one had to be in the right place at the right time. Kat had a knack for that, so either way, it seemed right up her alley.

While she waited for Xyla's answer, Katlina allowed her hues to roam the weapon wall, interested in what items she could see, assessing their worth and value as she took note of each.

Xyla tilted her head at the questions. Reasonable questions, and of course what people would like to know if they were in such a group. Those were easy to answer, thankfully.

It was the taller man in black who spoke up this time before she had the chance to reply. Beneath his black hood, cloak, and mask that covered his nose and mouth, stone-blue eyes smiled kindly out at them. Wavy, orange-blond hair hung in wisps over what little was visible of his face. "There is a request box at the front of the shop. There are times when the shop receives messengers or birds as well, with requests from all over Veritae," he replied smoothly, his diction smooth and refined like water.

The elf nodded. "People tend to come to us. We of course reserve the right to pass off a job or pass over it altogether," she added. "And as for the guild fund, it's mostly for group expenses. Property tax to Porthcaul, construction and remodel costs, that kind of stuff. Occasionally we'll take a chunk out for supplies or teleportation spells if we're doing a large expedition with all of us."

Lance followed the others into the actual building and marveled at the interior, feeling his gaze drift to the box of ichor-filled gems. He wondered how similar they were to the ichor-filled bullets he fired from his guns, but shook the thoughts from his head as he looked back around the room once more. He listened to Ayura as she asked if they had any questions, thinking about it as both Damian and Katlina replied. He had similar questions to Katlina and decided to pipe down as Ayura answered. He nodded in reply as she answered the questions.

"What gauges the jobs you do and don't accept?" Lance asked. "I know you said you have the right to pass a job off or to decline it, but is there anything specific about a job that makes it unacceptable?" He added, serious and curious in his words. His mind drifted to the Mountains of Oberon and internally felt he knew if there were any jobs around there that they would be declined. He had saw firsthand what laid in those mountains and did not wish to go up there if he could avoid it himself.

Eyes shifting first from the gentleman with stunning blue eyes which were accentuated by his mask, and Xyla as the two spoke in answer to her questions, Katlina nodded a few times to express her understanding. It was straitforward enough, and the longer they group conversed and she had time to observe them all, the more at ease she found herself.

After Lance spoke up, Kat allowed her gaze to slide to Kaito, watching him now in his element, with his family, for these were all surely the ones he spoke of being willing to die for. A tightness grew in her breast at the thought. One day... perhaps she would be one of them in heart as well as name. Perhaps she could find her place here.
Trying to keep her mind on task, Kat pushed away thoughts of the family she was born to, the homeland and name that was all stripped away from her, and instead turned curious hues to the other members of the Treasure Lamp, wondering who they were.

"Most of it's pers'nal pref'rence," Sparrow remarked with a shrug. "Each of us've got our limits on what we wanna do 'n' don' wanna do. We got certain areas we don' like goin' to, and also Xy don' usually like takin' jobs in Aëste, for example," he explained, tossing his chin lightly at the elf to indicate her when she was mentioned. "So, jobs in Aëste might get passed onta sum'un else. Same wi' me, I try not ta off anyone in general if I don' hafta, so 'n assassination job'll go ta whoe'er else."

"It's entirely possible that a job can simply go undone if nobody wants to take it on," Xyla added, having cast Sparrow a brief glance of annoyance for the barest moment when she was mentioned. "We also do our best to try to tailor missions according to the strengths of each person, and try to coordinate when working together. It's the cooperation that makes us so effective." She soon crossed her arms, leaning comfortably back against the storage door that she was standing in front of. "Before we show you to your quarters, I'd like everyone to introduce themselves formally, including the recruits," she tacked on, looking over towards Katlina, Damian, and Lance. "Your name, species, a weapon if you have one, and any skills that you think may be useful to all of us, as well as anything else you think we should know." After another moment of hesitation, she sighed. "And, its normally against general policy to do this if we're not down under, but I think it's necessary just for now."

She pulled down her mask and her hood, and the other five members followed her lead to do the same.

Xyla was a surprisingly fresh-faced young elf with pale ivory skin. Her face and sheer violet eyes were a bright against the rest of her darker ensemble, and long raven hair in a high ponytail trailed into her brown hood. There was a necklace with a single violet gemstone upon her neck that matched her eyes. "I guess I can start. I'm called Xyla, but among just us, my name is Ayura. I'm a wood elf; I carry both a sword and a staff though I kind of lean to the latter. I specialize in Ichoric manipulation, and I guess I'm a fairly accomplished mage, as far as being self-taught can get."

Before she could give any indication of who would possibly go next, Sparrow looked up to the new recruits with a small wave, and one would been able to see the incredibly thick metal bangle that he wore around his wrist. Even without his mottled green and brown hood and mask, he had a striking color palette. In contrast to Xyla, he had deep, mauve-toned skin, stark against his bright, neon-green eyes and his electric-blue hair. "Guess 'm up. 'm Sparrow, bu' m' name's Kaito. Earthen DuskFae. Got no stable weapon 's far's 'm concerned, but same time, got a bunch. I c'n bend earth 'n' metal, and I c'n feel vibrations in th' ground. Also, 'm called Sparrow fer a reas'n, so I'll letcha figure that out." He winked playfully.

The shorter man with the matte, sunset-orange cloak, who had been fiddling with something in his hands more or less the whole time that they had been discussing, seemed to feel than see Sparrow's glance at him before he looked up. He seemed to catch himself, and maybe get just a tad flustered. "O-oh! Me?" He had protective goggles over his eyes, and he pushed them back higher on his forehead, revealing his bright orange eyes. After another moment he placed his small machine on the counter beside him. His hair was a bright red, scruffy and messily tossed away by the goggles, and he also had the smallest tuft of red upon his chin. He cleared his throat. "Well, I'm called the Toymaker...I'm sure you can guess why," he managed a bit of an embarrassed grin as he placed his hands into his lap. "Human, and, well, I got these." He drew two blades from his waist, one from each side. Each looked like an overly large hand sickle, the blades as wide as a machete. He sheathed them momentarily. "So, yeah, I build things...and, oh, before I forget, my name's Kajanh. Kajanh Manoro, but you can call be Kaj."

The man in black, the tallest of the group, smiled. The expression was warm, and kind. However, one may have not expected the brown-tipped, orange fox ears that protruded out from his wavy orange-blond hair. "I tend to deal dealing with the more tactical side of the group, hence the nickname of Maestro. However, my name is Asher. Pleased to meet you all," he nodded in greeting, comfortable and serene. "My sister and I are vulpine beastkin, and we are also the healers of the group." He gestured lightly towards the pale, diminutive girl in blue who sat aside him. "I have some blacksmithing experience, and my weapon is of my own make." Evidently he meant the curious polearm that was leaning on the wall aside him, as he had placed it there earlier.

The girl aside him, Maestro's sister, was a small and petite girl with long, flaxen hair with a couple of thin braids entwined within them. Her ears were not orange like her brother's, but a brilliant white, tipped with black instead of brown. Her skin was even paler than Xyla's, and the blue of her eyes was pale, and so far removed from the stone-blue of her brother's that it looked almost transparent, like water that has barely retained its tinge of blue. Looking at her completely neutral, almost flat demeanor and her albino countenance would remind anyone of a porcelain doll, broken up only by the deep royal blue of her cloak. "I am Snowy," she introduced herself briefly as she averted her eyes absently, pushing a long strand of hair away from her face. Her voice was succinct and precise, so that even if she spoke softly, it was almost impossible to misunderstand her. "Otherwise Lala. My weapons comprise of bladed gauntlets, much like long claws," she stated quietly, sitting perfectly still with her legs crossed. "And I specialize in apothecarical studies. Potions are my forte." Short and simple. She glanced over at any of the new recruits, waiting for them to speak.

Damian looked around at each of the members of the Treasure Lamp as they introduced themselves. He was glad that he was finally able to put a face to a name when it came to Ayura, and he supposed all those aliases were necessary in their apparent line of work. Apparently, not even assassination was off the table. Damian would be sure to steer clear of such a thing. He liked the serenity and apparent kindness of Asher. He also made a small mental note about how well-spoken the Beastkin was. At the moment he seemed to be the rock in this time of emotional turmoil for his companions. They were a motley collection, but incredibly comfortable in each other's presence. Even if he hadn't had his visions regarding them, he would very much liken them to a family.

Anyway, the mage cleared his throat and stepped forward. He took a deep breath before looking around at them all. "My name is Damian Nazael," he said softly, but clearly enough for everyone to hear him. "I'm trained as a mage, and...." Damian's voice caught in his throat, remembering the course of events that had brought him here. He cleared it again and pressed on. "And only recently completed my apprenticeship. I am highly skilled with magic, as Ayura can attest to. Additionally, I'm good with numbers, and like to think I have a good head on my shoulders," he said, trying to remain humble while also expressing what he could do. "Pleased to meet you all." Damian looked around at them all again. And I am sorry for your loss, he thought. There was more, of course, but he didn't think it would be a good idea to reveal to them his blessing, even to Ayura, whom he trusted. Damian then turned his attention to Kaito. "And I think I might be able to figure out why," he said to the DuskFae in the latter's native language before winking in return.

Out of all the introductions, though each one piqued Kat's curiosity, she focused on the man in black, Asher. He knew of blacksmithing? A soft smile lifted the corners of her lips as the thought took her back to her days at the forge. Her eyes took in his odd weapon, as well.. perhaps there was hope for her here. Then Katlina's gaze swept to Lala, she blinked a bit at the woman's almost frail complexion. She knew better than to judge a book by its cover, it was more than likely that the woman had tricks up her sleeve, could take care of herself, despite her quietness. Sometimes the small quiet ones were the most deadly. Kat found herself smiling again, maybe she had more in common with this family than she thought.

Realizing suddenly that it was, perhaps, her turn, Kat ran her stormy hues over to Damian, and then lifted her chin and spoke up. "I am called Katlina, I am just as you see me, human, and..." she hesitated. It wasn't in her nature to reveal her specialties so quickly to people, but... she flicked her eyes to study Sparrow a moment, then gave a nearly imperceptible nod to herself before continuing. "My weapons of choice are knives," which was made fairly obvious by the amount of them strapped to her person. "My specialty is stealth, and, well, being where I am not meant to be, to reposess things that would be put to better use elsewhere." Kat made no mention for the time being of her own skill in Ichor. She only used it when necessary, and, being a late bloomer to the skill she hadn't trained with the others, so she had only her own practice to rely on.

Falling silent, Kat lounged casually against the wall, hoping the spotlight would soon move on and turned to look toward Lance, curious what he would reveal. As she watched and listened, she reflected that knew vaguely something had happened to the Treasure Lamp. Something bad. She had seen glimpses of how it had affected Sparrow, but she had known better than to pry for the time being. Perhaps one day she would learn the history, yet if it was as raw and painful as her own, she knew such had to come to light naturally, and not under pressure.

Lance nodded at the answer to his question. He was sort of glad to hear it was a pick and choose for jobs rather than just being given any ol job and having to take it. He stilled his thoughts as introductions went around. He paused when they got to the toymaker. That's who Indomiel had mentioned before, he thought to himself, recalling the shifters mention of a tinkerer.

Once Damian and Katlina introduced themselves Lance took a step forward. "I'm Lance Faulce, human as well..." He paused and drew his two pistols, spinning them on his fingers. "I wield these two guns and use ichor to make them stronger." He said, sliding the guns back into their holsters. "I'd like to think I'm decent at staying calm in tense situations, but I'm a good shot with my weapons." He said, wondering how the others would take in the fact that he had such uncommon weapons. He recalled Indomiel stating that the tinkerer would have loved to get his hands on them to take them apart and put them back together, but he kept that thought to himself as he looked to the others.

K'zra ru aydin ra nepf iskr' ahkt.

Sparrow jerked a little in surprise at the sound of the tongue of his forebearers, looking over at Damian, who'd spoken. Alright, that was impressive. How many languages did this guy know? And it wasn't as if it were another commonly-spoken tongue like Elven. The original tongue of the DuskFae, many people probably didn't even know that it existed. After the Oni War had scattered the Fae several centuries ago, some of the old traditions had faded away, and individuals sought to fend for themselves in a world hostile to them. He attempted to formulate some reply, although Damian would know that his pronunciation certainly left something to be desired. "Z'va-zrva ra op'num 'lh'ke... ah, t'hell wi' it," Sparrow waved himself off, averting his eyes with a small and wry grin. "Accent in th' damned way...you win, I didn' grow up 'round much Fae," he raised his hands upward in playful surrender. "Jus' common's fine, y'kno'."

The Toymaker looked up at Lance's introduction, particularly when he mentioned that guns were his main weapon. That intrigued him for sure. Guns were uncommon weapons, with few who knew the propulsion mechanism that was so central to the way that a bullet was shot. He was curious to find out all that he could.

Xyla listened closely to the rest of the introductions. Interesting. Everyone was varied, so that was good...she shifted her weight from foot to foot. She had to keep things moving. That way, she wouldn't have time to dwell too much on the weight in her chest. "So, I would assume that you all are wondering to some extent what sort of accommodations you'll be having here in Porthcaul," she remarked after another couple of moments. "Well, there's no need for you to look anywhere else, because you will be staying here in the shop with the rest of us."

This may have been a strange statement, seeing that from the outside, the Treasure Lamp was a single story building that certainly didn't have space comfortably for all ten of them if this was the main commons and the frontroom a retail space.

However, Xyla stepped aside, grasping the doorknob of the storage closet behind her. "We keep quiet about it to any outside our group, but we all take our refuge here. If anything, its our little sanctuary." She opened the door and there was a trapdoor open, stairs leading down into a well-lit space beneath that seemed to be a second commons, complete with tables, couches, and cupboards. Lamps containing small wisps of bright golden Ichor were the source of illumination, and the place was constructed mainly out of wood, the ceiling height about average for an establishment. If not for the fact that there were no windows, one may have almost forgotten that they were underground. Two different hallways continued to descend in a gentle slope from the corners of the room opposite from the stairs, each the joint space for many doors.

Maestro gently shooed the recruits down under if they weren't so inclined to descend at first. "Its perfectly fine. Sparrow's insured the integrity of the place," he teased lightly. "But there are really quite the multitude of rooms in this complex. There are quarters for each of us, latrines, springs, a combat space, and even workshop space, as well as other things."

After a small glance for confirmation at Xyla, Snowy spoke after she descended the stairs. "There are spare rooms that have been cleared as bedrooms. Every room for now has been labeled, either with the name of the owner or the function. If you will, you can claim any of the rooms without signs. There should be three."