[Flash_Guardian] The hillside is exactly as before, a veil of light and peppery stone covering the metallic structure beneath. The sky is a touch darker this time, with a few more clouds.

[Flash_Guardian] A swirling yellow portal opens, disturbing the otherwise tranquil scenery.

Blank falls into existance. x.o

Flash_Guardian emerges from the portal just behind Devaine, and the portal quickly closes this time. "Well, we can be a bit quicker about things this time, I expect," he says, giving a moment to recover from his earlier spell.

Devaine_Hawk steps out of the portal and bends to one knee as his eyes scan the surrounding area. Lowering the bag to the ground , he opens it and pulls out his semi automatic pistol grip shotgun stuffing extra shells in his pockets and closes the bag . Standing again he slings the bag back over his left shoulder and pump cocks he shot gun with his right , “ I’m ready “ he grins at the other two , smirking at Flash.

Blank hops up and dusts off his coat and glances at Devaine and Flash. "I'm ready... doubt we'll find anything to... uh... dangerous." He eyes Devaine's guns.

Flash_Guardian puts his fists to his side, gathering energy as before and releasing it in a lightning bolt at the side of the cliff. The veil crackles and lifts once more, revealing the characteristic smooth metal surface of the structure. ((Fast forward to the garage?))

[Flash_Guardian] The group makes their way down the passage, reaching the garage in all its familiarity. Everything is as they left it, save a few more footprints on the dusty floor ... most of which are Flash's. Flash quickly pulls out the crystal key, slides open the door panel, and disables the forcefield. Already having his ball of light out, he pushes the door open, revealing the stone passage beyond. This passage is in the same style as the first, but marble floors and patchwork stone walls give it a much more rustic appearance. Metal brackets with torches also line the walls, their torches dark and unlit. The door at the hallway's end is wooden with a knob, but bears the same strange marking as before.

Devaine_Hawk makes his way through the rooms and hallways , the barrel sweeping right to left in front of him. His eyes remain constantly a buzz as he runs his hands along runes and over symbols . He stops at the wooden door and turns to Flash , well here we are “

Blank walks after Flash with a passive look on. The rogue slips on his goggles over his eyes and lights immidalty blink into existance on the lens. Tracking, energy levels, dark vision, and other statistics and functions activate on the set of goggles. He seemed rather relaxed in the place... he seemed to not care if anything would pop up. He could handle it... or so he thinks.

Flash_Guardian waits for Devaine, as before. "After you," he says, nodding as Devaine sweeps through the door, checking out the room beyond for anything out of the ordinary. The door swings open to reveal a large room, looking very much like the typical wizard's laboratory, right down to the dusty shelves and cobwebbed corners. There are rows upon rows of well stocked bookshelves, tables covered with scrolls, ink and pen, small crystal spheres, bottles filled with strange liquids or hairs or eyes or scales from various creatures, open books, measuring devices, and other various arcane instruments. In the exact center of the room, a large, ornate circular rune has been traced in black ink on the floor. Candelabras are held out from the wall all around the room, each of them holding three unlit candles that are mostly used up. There is no other exit to this room.

Flash_Guardian walks into the room after Devaine checks it out, already fishing in his pouch for the scroll and its translated copy that he, Glyniss, and Kade had worked so hard on translating the other day.

Blank wanders into the room and begins to wander about. "Nice place... bigger than my library." He stops near the center where the large rune is. "Eh?" He looks down at it with a odd look on. "Hmm... interesting. Perhaps it's an inactive Symbol spell of some sorts."

Devaine_Hawk moves along the wall , scanning the tomes on the shelves with his eyes to see if threes anything he might want to read , or give clues to the purpose of this place . He runs his hands over the spines of the books trying for psychic impressions .

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Blank] The rune has a definite transmutation aura to it ... very likely a teleportation circle, though it is currently inactive.

[Blank] "Have you tried to activate this yet?" He scratches his head, glancing up towards Flash and Devaine.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] Dev has an image of several researchers moving about this room, some elven with long robes, some human dressed in suits, and some that even Devaine can't put a finger specifically on ... short and hairy wearing an apron, or tall and lanky with four arms and antennae ... but all seem to have a common goal as they pore over the shelves in search of knowledge silently. Flashes of magic flicker occasionally in the background.

Flash_Guardian pulls out the scroll and its copy, setting them on a table near the rune. "Not yet, but we at least managed to decipher how to activate it," he says, gesturing down at the pair of scrolls.

[Blank] "Need a test dummy? Or is there some other complication?" He glances at the scrolls then down to the rune to make sure it wasn't flawed.

Devaine_Hawk pulls his hands away from the books as sparks cross his eyes , “we’re not the first ones to try and learn this places secrets, elves , humans , some sort of hairy midgets , and things with four arms and antennae , they where all here once , or will be , or what the hell ever in this place “

Flash_Guardian begins to trace his finger about the writing as before, reciting its meaning aloud as he does. "When one stands in the presence of the moon, the stars, and the sun, and speaks the word of passage, Penyoei, the way shall be opened."

Devaine_Hawk might not be a mage , but he gets the jest of the scrolls words and grins “ guess I should take the moon , being the dark broody mysterious ,anti hero guy of the three of us” he jokes

[Blank] "Piece of crap riddle. People from the past and future have to make everything unreasonably hard." He grumbles crossing his arms, he glances towards Devaine and quirks a brow. "Hmm... A place from the future, perhaps. Weird." He looks back to Flash and sighs. "I suppose we have to find a way to make sun, stars, and moon. Wait... wouldn't that happen twice a day? Dusk and dawn? The moon, stars, and sun are all in the sky sometimes. Perhaps its a time of day when we need to do it?"

Flash_Guardian shrugs. "It may not even be that hard," Flash says, bending down low and looking at the rune on the floor ... specifically three circles that Glyniss had pointed out the other day, each of which is large enough to stand on and contains a specific rune. "From what Glyniss told me the other day, these three symbols mean sun, moon, and stars respectively."

[Blank] "... So it's a giant personalty test, just like Dev said?"

Devaine_Hawk smirks at Blank and starts toward the moon symbol , “mark one up for the detective”

Flash_Guardian just shrugs, and takes his place on the sun rune. "I guess this one's mine, then."

[Blank] "So hard... it's simple. Reminds me of my tax forums." He mutters as he shuffles over to the one symbol representing stars.

Devaine_Hawk takes his place on the moon rune and lights up again , pointing his shotgun at the ceiling and readjusting the bag over his left shoulder .”hope these guys don’t have a thing against smokers “ he laughs

Blank scratches the back of his head. "If they do... than I'm sure I've got a lot of other things to worry about."

Flash_Guardian looks between the other two warily. "Okay ... we really gonna do this without knowing where we'll end up?"

[Blank] "I don't care. There aren't too many situations I can't get out of."

Devaine_Hawk glances over at Blank and smirks as blue white sparks of energy fill his eyes “don’t we all like I said , the whole moon , dark thing fits me better than most “

[Blank] "Heh... No one's history is picture perfect." He admits.

Flash_Guardian just shrugs and says, "Okay ... repeat after me, I guess." He coughs to clear his throat, then clearly says, "Penyoei."

[Blank] "Penyoei."

Devaine_Hawk nods to Flash “do that mojo thing you do so well , this is a mystery to beat all mysteries , and I want some answers , not gonna leave till we get em” he laughs in his Texas draw.

[Devaine_Hawk] "penyoei"

[Flash_Guardian] As soon as the words are spoken, the rune underneath them lights up, sending a surge of crackling energy around them in a circle, slowly swirling inward along the rune's elaborately intertwining lines until gathering at the center. A beam of light shoots upward from the rune, reacting with the air at the circle's center, energizing it and causing it to swirl slowly in a counterclockwise fashion. Not the most powerful of portals, by the look of it ...

Devaine_Hawk watches the light show , and his eyes blaze with the blue white sparks of his own .

Flash_Guardian blinks, seeming a little disappointed at the translucent reddish portal. "That's it?"

[Blank] "Down the hatch?" He mutters.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Blank] Blank's goggles read that the portal is in fact fairly weak ... there is no temporal aspect, and it seems to be fairly short-range.

Flash_Guardian shrugs. "Last one in's a rotten egg." With that, he leaps off his rune and into the portal, disappearing in a reddish flare of energy.

[Blank] "Man... even I can make better portal then that. Well... It seems we aren't going to be teleported far. So I doubt we'll have trouble getting out." He states while reading the statistics on his goggles.

Devaine_Hawk shrugs his shoulders and glances at Flash before taking a pull of his smoke . “just a localized rift in the space time continuum , that’s all” he says sarcastically.

Blank shrugs and hops in after Flash.

Devaine_Hawk wathces the other two go in and readies the gun before stepping through"not hearing any screams yet..."

[Flash_Guardian] The new room you appear in next, in contrast to the others, seems to be lit brightly with a light that just seems to drift down from a ceiling of pure white light. A massive set of golden scales, large enough to hold two average humans, dominates the room at its center. The floor is tiled in marble, the walls carved in alabaster, its many motifs depicting epic battles, miracles, the cycle of life, growth, birth, destruction and ressurection, joy and treachery, the sun, moon, and stars. Surrounding the base of the scale is a large pile of wooden tokens, each of which has a particular symbol branded on both sides. There are no obvious exits. The wall to the south has a glowing yellow rune at its center in the shape of a book. There appears to be some sort of writing carved along the entire length of the scale's fulcrum.

Flash_Guardian is already inside, walking about the room and staring this way and that. "Wow ..." he whispers under his breath. "Who'd have thought ..."

Devaine_Hawk walks up to the scale , and reaches out to touch the writing , “ be too much to ask , that they left directions for all this “ he whispers , looking around the room .

[Blank] "... Damn it. Another puzzle. There is no method to the maddness." He growls as he drops down onto the ground and walks forward. "Let me take a guess at this one... we have the make the balance equal in values and weight."

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine] The writing on the scales bear no particular images in his mind ... though the entire room seems to have a feel that is larger than life, powerful and eternal. ou sense something amiss ... a faint presence somewhere around you ... no, a spirit of some kind that is nearby, silent and watching ...

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Blank] The goggles are having a tough time analyzing this room ... it doesn't operate strictly on magical or technological rules, though there is a potent energy signature radiating from the scales at the center of the room, similar to the portal they just went through.

Flash_Guardian nods to Blank. "Probably a good guess." His interest seems to be taken in by the murals that line the walls, and the glowing rune in the wall behind them.

[Blank] "Hmm... Odd energy readings from the scale. Like the portal. Go figure. Perhaps it's linked to Penyoei too. Meh..." He shrugs as he walks over to the objects with the odd symbols on them, looking them over breifly before looking over the rest of the room. "The treasure at the end of this better be worth it." He mutters.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Blank] Blank would note, however ... this place just kinda ... feels like the outer planes. Feels homey.

Devaine_Hawk shudders and pulls his hand away. Looking around the room for auras , and brining the shot gun up to chest level , the sparks in his eyes actually leaking into the air at the corners of his sockets at the level of psychic feedback he’d gotten off the scale. He rubs his temples with his free left-hand , and continues to watch around the room , “ woo… this is major league fellas , and we are not alone in here …"

Flash_Guardian snaps his attention back to his surroundings. "Something wrong, Dev?" he says, a bit more on alert.

Blank winces and looks over towards Devaine. "Huh? What do you mean by that?" He slips his hand into his pocket suspiciously.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Blank] The wooden tokens each bear a particular religious symbol ... holy, evil, law, chaos, knowledge, emotion, destiny, rage, earth, moon, sun, sky ... it seems almost as if there is a token in the pile for everything.

[Devaine_Hawk] “not sure , but I get the feeling this place has or will or both been here , and something is here watching us , trying to lock on it’s aura if it has one “

[Blank] "... Yeah, I'm getting some sort of ether readings... a ghost perhaps?" He winces. He hated ghosts too.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] Dev finds it difficult to pick out an aura specifically ... but there is definitely some kind of presence here.

Flash_Guardian blinks at the other two. "Well, we were starting to wonder if this place was haunted or not ..."

Devaine_Hawk continues to scan the room , watching and listening , sensing even as his eyes blaze with blue white light .” Hawk old boy you’ve realy went and got yourself in way over your head this time “ he thinks.

Devaine_Hawk holds a finger to his lips to quite the others , “if we can’t see it , then let’s try hearing it “ he whispers .

Blank grunts. The ghost wasn't bothering him yet... so he might as well start toying around with the scale. The rogue selected a good and evil symbol objects and places them on either side of the scale. "Might as well... experiment."

Flash_Guardian just looks around the room, silent and alert. For a while, nothing seems to happen, so he turns his attentions to the writing that lines the length of the scale. "Hey ... this is celestial script," he says quietly, beginning to read it to himself.

Devaine_Hawk looks over to the glowing book shaped rune on the south wall , “yeah might as well live and let ..uh well yeah. Flash you bring that old book we found with you ?”

[Blank] "It says... 'Stupidty takes it toll... be sure to have the right amount of change ready'." He lies.

[Flash_Guardian] As Blank places the tokens on either side of the scale, the scale balances and the tokens flare a soft white, disappearing and reappearing in the pile below.

Devaine_Hawk reads between the lines and picks up on the rogues bluff as flashes continue to cross his eyes. “well just being here says we have more than enough to cover the tab when it comes to stupidity.”

Flash_Guardian gestures to Blank with a hand. "Blank's got it," he says distractedly, laughing at Blank's joke. "Oh really? From what I can read, I think it says 'Do not spit over the side.'" Another chuckle, and then he becomes a bit more serious. "Where one sits, another stands. Where one weeps, another smiles. Where one dies, another is born. They that seek balance in all things shall find the way."

[Devaine_Hawk] "that goes back to the twilight , dusk thing , I think , do any of the symbols have anything like that on them ?"

Flash_Guardian just shakes his head. "Some nature loving priest must have thought this one up," he mutters, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. He looks back to the pile of wooden tokens, looking through them.

Blank sweatdrops. "Alright... since Flash is an optimistic guy... he can sit on the right side. I'll sit on the otherside due to my pesimistic nature." <<;

Devaine_Hawk reaches out to touch the book rune , maybe it will tell him something new. " I feel like a screen door on a submarine here , what am i goona do , shoo tsomething already dead or not ever alive as I know it ?" he thinks

[Flash_Guardian] As Devaine touches the rune, its yellowish light comes over him, and he disappears.

Flash_Guardian watches as Devaine disappears. "Awww, crap! What now?"

Devaine_Hawk drops back through the portal in a crouch a few seconds later and grins "found the exit"

Blank sweatdrops. "I take it that's the way back?"

Flash_Guardian breathes a sigh of relief as Devaine appears seemingly from nowhere. "Geez, Dev, don't do that! You scared me!"

Devaine_Hawk nods and walks over to the pile of tokens with Flash , “ find any thing like that ?”

Blank shakes his head at Dev and turns his attention back to the box full of tokens.

[Blank] "So... death and resurrection. Sorrow and joy. Those four tokens?"

[Flash_Guardian] ((Not a box, but a pile surrounding the base of the scale. I'm not going to give a list of all the symbols ... if you can come up with a one-word concept such as emotion or time or what-not, it's in the pile.))

[Blank] "Or maybe it's death and birth. Feh."

Devaine_Hawk helps with the search , “ I’m a scary guy , but can take care of myself , relax , what’s the worst thing could happen , I get stuck in a vortex of crossing time streams or paradox?”

Flash_Guardian throws a token out of the pile. "Here's one for sun ..." He throws another side. "That one is life ... hey!" He beams in surprise and pulls out one that has his holy symbol on it, an hourglass. "Chen's symbol of time!"

Flash_Guardian chuckles back at Devaine. "You heard what Kade said ... don't cross the streams."

Devaine_Hawk digs out two tokens reading “alpha , “ and “omega “ and holds them up to the others ,”I like these two , even if they don’t work , think I can take them for my office wall?”

Blank searches through the pile. "Hey... they have the symbol for Spawn Campers in here too. << That is the purest evil there is. Anyway..." He pulls up one that looks like a skull. "Death?"

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] Dev feels the presence focussing on him as he says this.

Flash_Guardian looks over at Blank's death token. "Hey, give it here," he says, picking up the life token.

Blank hands Flash the token and steps away from the scale.

Devaine_Hawk looks around and winces , “or how bout I just put them on the scale , and if nothing happens , back in the pile?’ he ask placing them on the scale.

Flash_Guardian tosses the life token onto one side of the scale, and the death token onto the other. As before, both tokens flare white in color, disappearing in a flash and reappearing similarly back on the pile.

[Blank] "Perhaps we put sorrow and joy on first?"

[Flash_Guardian] The same thing occurs with the alpha and omega tokens ... a flash, and then they're both back on the pile.

[Devaine_Hawk] "well , alpha and omega are the begining and the end , maybe they go first and last ?"

[Devaine_Hawk] "or do we need to be on the scale with the tokens ?'

[Devaine_Hawk] e asks , picking his favprites back up and glanceing around.

Flash_Guardian stares between Blank and Dev ... perhaps he'll let them do the thinking, as he isn't sure how to put alpha on first and omega on later and still have it work ...

[Blank] "Yeah... Flash, get on there and act like you are dieing and very unhappy. Dev, sit on there look like you are uh... respawning and very happy."

Flash_Guardian gives Blank a wide eyed look. "Re-whatting?"

[Blank] "Being born."

Devaine_Hawk gives a deadpan look , “I don’t think I’m a happy respawning kind of guy , maybe the other way around “

[Blank] "Fine. Flash you look happy and alive and Dev looks dead and unhappy."

[Devaine_Hawk] “first take the life and alpha tokens and give me the death and omega ones , maybe it’s in the balance thing”

Blank sweatdrops. "Eh... okay?"

Devaine_Hawk exchanges the tokens with Flash and glances at Blank , “and where will you be while we play guinea pig ?”

Flash_Guardian shrugs. "I dunno ... should we try sitting on this thing? You know how that usually goes when some goon gets into an old abandoned temple and decides to sit on the altar ..."

[Blank] "You two are tough... I'm the sissy. And don't worry Flash... that is only if you urinate on the alter."

Devaine_Hawk focuses his thoughts on the presence he felt ,and thinks to it , he’d never tried this before . “ if you can hear me , throw the dog a bone here , and tell me if we are even close to doing this , or if we realy want to “

Flash_Guardian nods understandingly. "Oh yeah." Looking up at the altar, he eyes it suspiciously. "Well, here goes ..." Pulling the scale down low, he climbs into one side, which stops just a foot abover the floor, the other end up high.

Blank looks at Devaine. "Uh... Ello?"

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] There is no response, not even an acknowledgement of whether or not the message was recieveed. But the presence is still there ... silent ... watching ...

Devaine_Hawk climbs in with the tokens , on the opposite side. Still trying to communicate with the presence.

[Flash_Guardian] Devaine's side of the scales slowly drop as Flash's side slowly rises, until eventually Devaine and the tokens are just above the floor.

Devaine_Hawk sits and shrugs , “guess I still ain’t no mind talker like you or LoX , “ he laughs at Flash.

[Blank] "So much for that idea." He grimaces.

Flash_Guardian looks down at Devaine, quirking a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?" he says, looking back to Blank. "I don't think it's working."

Devaine_Hawk nods to Blank , “try that book rune now , worst case you end up back in the other room and drop backing here with us”

Blank nods and wanders over to the rune and touches it.

[Flash_Guardian] Blank vanishes, reappearing in the Library, where the portal still stands. There is no other effect.

Blank shrugs and hops back through and into the room. "No luck. Hop off I guess."

Devaine_Hawk looks back over to Flash and shrugs , “I tried asking our unseen friend , but it didn’t work , “ he looks around as the other man touches the rune , “do you realize how ridiculous we look setting here like this?’

Flash_Guardian just grins. "I dunno, it's kinda comfy," he jokes, settling down into the large cup-shaped side of the balance, almost disappearing from view.

Blank sweatdrops and sighs. "... No comment. In the worst case scenario... I could break the balance."

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Blank] Blank feels the presence focussing on him more intently now after he speaks.

Blank snickers at something, interesting responce.

Devaine_Hawk climbs back out of the cup , and drops back to the floor , going back to the pile of tokens . His eyes begin to flash quicker ,”I’m going to match each token with it’s opposite , and put them in two piles , then we can try putting all of them in the cups “

Flash_Guardian begins to reason from his seat inside the scale's cup. "Well, obviously Devaine plus four tokens doesn't balance with me ... so what would?"

Flash_Guardian 's side of the scale slowly sinks as Devaine gets out. "Not a bad idea," he comments.

Devaine_Hawk glances up from the piles of tokens he was starting to separate “what the hell is that supposed to mean ?”

[Blank] "Perhaps if that doesn't work, we put Flash on one side and we put all his characteristics on the other side." He starts to help seperate.

[Blank] "Or his opposite characterstics..."

Flash_Guardian peeks up over the side at Devaine. "Who, me?" he asks, wondering if Devaine was referring to him. "I'm just curious what we'd need to balance me on this thing ..." He hears Blank's musings, and begins to ponder himself. "Yeah ..."

Devaine_Hawk stops to count the murals on the walls , before going back to separating the tokens . How many murals , maybe we need the same number of tokens , the ones that match the scenes in the murals closest on each side”

[Flash_Guardian] The mural is actually one long, circular, continuous mural that surrounds the entire room, with no beginning or end.

[Blank] "... Hmm... Lets try your first idea then mine."

Blank sweatdrops at the mural... it's just there to mock us.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] Sure enough, for each token that Devaine finds, there is an exact opposite for it. Black and white, heal and harm, air and earth ...

Devaine_Hawk stands back up straight ,after the piles are separated , hopefully they are equal innumber and meaning , “ell lets try it “

Blank shrugs. "Lets go..." He assists in puting all the tokens on their corisponding sides.

Flash_Guardian climbs out of the scale before Devaine starts, so as not to interfere. The balance quickly levels.

Devaine_Hawk grins at the other two and dusts his hands off , “some days I love being me” he smirks , with a cocky tone.

[Flash_Guardian] Each time Blank and Devaine throw a matching pair into the scales, regardless of which pair it is, the result is the same ... both tokens light up, disappear, and reappear at the base of the balance in an ever-growing pile.

[Devaine_Hawk] "maybe if we dump them all in at one time ?"

[Blank] "It's a puzzle, Dev... I don't think that'll matter."

Flash_Guardian watches the ongoing pair matching and token flashing ... there are a lot of tokens, so it takes quite some time.

[Blank] "Flash get on... would you be classified as ugly or handsome?"

Devaine_Hawk smirks , “not gonna touch that line with a ten foot pole , “

Flash_Guardian just glares at Blank, before his eyes settle back onto the pile, lost in thought. "I wonder ..."

[Blank] "It was an honest question. You don't need to get all angry." :P

Flash_Guardian goes and finds the token that bears the symbol of time, his deity's symbol. "Maybe ...?"

Devaine_Hawk decides to change tactics all together as he picks his shotgun up off the floor , not aiming or threatening any thing or one , and calls out to the empty room “you know , one would think whoever built this place would have better ways to spend their day than kids games”

Blank has to agree with Devaine. "Maybe I should just trash the whole puzzle."

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] Dev has the attention of the spirit once again, so far as he can tell.

Flash_Guardian climbs up into one side of the scales and settles down into it. He then throws his token into the other side of the scales. The wooden token clatters around inside the scale, and slowly the scales come to rest, exactly balanced. "Hey ..." Flash seems impressed ... though nothing else seems to happen.

[Blank] "..." Blank sweatdrops at Flash. "Geh."

Devaine_Hawk grins as blue white flashes cross his eyes again , “so you can here me , then “ he speaks out loud .”so what do you want from us , or did you set this thing off wrong and get stuck here , need are help to get out , or take your place if we screw it up like you did?”

Blank strolls over to the symbol and touches it... why not?

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] Devaine is suddenly overcome by the presence and a vision forms clear and vivid in his mind. Two figures are standing in an incomplete version of this room, one man that is tall and bearded, wearing robes, the other a younger woman who appears to have cybernetic enhancements. The two are having a bit of an argument.

[Flash_Guardian] Blank gets teleported to the library again.

Blank returns by the portal. "Dang it..." Idea. Blank picks up the book symbol representing Fardell and throws it onto Flash's side and tries to get up on the other side of the scale.

Devaine_Hawk continues to taunt the spirit , “that whole piss on the altar thing is sounding better a along , and I drank a lot of booze before we left “

Devaine_Hawk drops to one knee and the shot gun clatters to the floor as he grips his temples , the sparks brighter and more prevailing in his eyes than ever.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] The girl argues, "Is this really necessary?" The older man looks back at her. "Yes, child. Our very survival, our essence as a unified people is at stake here. We must ensure that if the Triad is ever lost to us, it can only be found by those who are worthy ..." With that, the vision swirls and fades.

[Flash_Guardian] The scales remain balanced after Blank's actions.

[Blank] "... Dev?" He thinks they should be able to piss on the balance... since the balanced had pissed them off.

Flash_Guardian looks down at Devaine, concerned. "Hey, Dev, are you alright?"

Devaine_Hawk seems to watch something the others don’t see , eyes wide as the flashes explode from the corners of his sockets not responding to Flash for the moment as he holds his head and a sweat breaks out on his brow .

[Blank] "Eh...?"

Flash_Guardian shoots Devaine a concerned look, climbing off the scales and heading toward him. "Geez, Dev, you don't look so good ... and your eyes are going crazy! What's going on?"

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] The presence withdraws from his mind and settles back into the background, silent and watchful once more.

Devaine_Hawk finally snaps back into the here and now . Looking around as he tries to stand on shaky legs , and still holding his head with one hand . He reaches for the shotgun with the other, “got their attention , and a migraine to go with it ,” he whispers through clinched teeth.

Flash_Guardian offers a hand to help Devaine up as he tries to stand. "Well, I guess that's what you get, trash-talking this place like you were," he says with a chuckle, then suddenly going more serious. "You didn't have another vision, did you?"

[Blank] "Their attention? You mean the ghost?" He started to scowl, not at Dev, but at the situation. With a sigh the rogue, rested the balance but got the token for Love, placing it on the other side of the scale and positioned himself on the opposite side.

Devaine_Hawk drops back down to a knee , flipping the safety on the gun . “wow , never got a flash like that one , I didn’t just see them , I could hear them to it was almost like I was here with them.”

[Flash_Guardian] Both Blank and the 'love' token are surrounded by a white flash of light and disappear. Only the wooden token reappears, on top of the pile. The form of Blank is nowhere to be seen.

Blank embodies the power of awesome.

Flash_Guardian is about to ask Dev about what he saw ... and then Blank disappears. "Whoa!"

Devaine_Hawk glances over to Blank as he continues to manipulate the scale “leave that damn thing alone for a second, if something does happen, I wont be any good” he blinks as the man disappears and groans “shit”

Flash_Guardian leaps to his feet, going over and looking into the scales where Blank was just a moment ago. "I think he figured it out."

[Blank whispers to Flash_Guardian] "... Great... another annoying puzzle." He touches the symbol to return to the previous room.

[Flash_Guardian] Out of nowhere, Blank pops back into existence in the room once more.

Devaine_Hawk stands and picks up his gun and bag , still on wobbly feet “great , now e have to go in after him , and my head is killing me “

Flash_Guardian is startled by Blank's sudden reappearance. "Yah!" Closing his eyes and shaking his head, all he manages to ask is, "What did you do?"

Blank lands gracefully and sighs. "Another puzzle ahead... joy. Though the secret to this puzzle is to put the token of your opposite element on the scale and yourself on the otherside."

[Blank] "For Flash it would be chaos. For myself it is love. I guess for Devaine it would be good?"

Devaine_Hawk looks at the pile for a long time , and shakes his head ,”not exactly , at least I hope not “

[Blank] "Hmm... well you better figure it out. I just met you so I have no idea." He shrugs to Dev. "You alright?"

Flash_Guardian nods. "That makes sense ... Chen's opposite force is chaos, and that would balance with law and order ... me." Flash lets out an impressed sort of chuckle, then looks back at Devaine. "Good question, what is the opposite of what you stand for, Dev?"

Devaine_Hawk rubs his head and winces , “ wish I’d packed some pain killers , hell morphine even for this one , and that’s a good question , I guess maybe I’m an enigma inside a riddle not sure “

Flash_Guardian ponders at Devaine. "You're a mystery, eh? Well then your opposite should be .... enlightenment?" He begins to search through the pile for the correct token.

Devaine_Hawk starts to dig through the tokens , tossing a few aside before holding two up , “serenity , and redemption , and finally a third is chosen , “peace “…”help me narrow it down , guys ?”

[Blank] "I think the enlightenment one works."

Flash_Guardian spots the chaos token, grabbing it for himself, then turns back to Devaine. "Well, if I remember right, you're out to redeem yourself ... so I don't think redemption would be an opposite. Serenity and peace are both pretty close."

[Blank] "... Peace works too. I don't know. I'm just the guy who figured out the puzzle."

Flash_Guardian grins back to Blank. "This kind of thing always was your cup of tea," he says, grinning appreciatively. "Not really my sort of thing, but I like it too."

Devaine_Hawk tosses aside peace and redemption , as he makes his choice with serenity , “I’m a man in turmoil , I think , can’t hurt to try it right , always have the other two to fall back on ,”

[Blank] "Feh... I just got lucky with my trial and error. Now, hurry up and lets move on to the next puzzle. It's even more confusing than this one." He sweatdrops.

Devaine_Hawk glances around the room again , and grunts as he can’t feel the spirit , or spirit

Flash_Guardian looks back to the scales. "Well, why don't you go first, Devaine, and Blank go last? That way we'll know everyone will get through okay."

Devaine_Hawk climbs on the scale and tosses the token over to the other cup , “sure “ he answers before flinging one more thought into the ether . “ hope we helped “ .

[Flash_Guardian] Devaine disappears, and the token is replaced on the pile.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] You find yourself floating weightlessly in an immense, empty space. Far away in all directions, strange formations and swirls of color shift and waver constantly. The only real landmark here appears to be a glowing yellow rune floating in space. It is shaped like a set of merchant's scales.

Blank snatches up the love token and prepares to follow after Flash.

Flash_Guardian takes a deep breath, then climbs onto his side, tossing the chaos token into the other side. Shortly after, Flash disappears, and the token finds its way back to the pile.

Blank puts the love token on the scale and Blank crawls onto the other side and vanishes away after his party members.

Flash_Guardian appears out of nowhere amidst the void and swirling color, and Blank shortly follows. Flash looks around, completely suspended in space. "Astral!" he exclaims, grinning at his surroundings.

Devaine_Hawk grips the gun and bag tightly to keep them from floating away from him as he looks around . “ I knew it , we collapsed everything , this is it , floating along forever in the middle of nothing , unless those scales tilt the wrong way, then it might get worse for old Dev , and a lot warmer …“ he thinks.

[Blank] "... So do we just fly for the North star or something?"

Flash_Guardian replies to Devaine's thoughts, hearing them clear as day, as does Blank. "Geez Dev, why do you always have to be so negative?" He then looks over at Blank and thinks, 'reminds me of someone else I know ...' Flash's thoughts are also heard by Dev and Blank.

[Blank] "... The hell?" He muttered looking over to Flash. "Were those your thoughts?"

Flash_Guardian just blinks at Blank awkwardly. "What?" He then looks back and forth at Devaine and Blank, startled. "Whoa, did I say all of that out loud?"

Devaine_Hawk starts at the voices in his head , “losing it already…wait a second…Flash ?…get out of my head you peeping tom!“

[Blank] "Since when did you become a psion?"

[Blank] "And you too Devaine?" O.o;

Flash_Guardian is rather confused, but quickly starts to gather that something isn't right here ... Testing the waters, he thinks, Can you guys hear this?

[Blank] "Yes."

Flash_Guardian lets out a sigh, speaking out loud this time. "I'm not in your head, Devaine. It's some kind of unusual property of this place ... wherever it is." With that, he swings his arms up and starts rotating backward slowly. 'Wheee ....'

Devaine_Hawk whips his gaze from Flash to Blank and back again …” yeah… well I know thisaint heaven or I wouldn’t be here are we dead?” he thinks

[Blank] "... We aren't dead. Jeebus." The rogue starts to activate his levitation ability in his shoes and starts float towards what looks like the northern star.

Flash_Guardian shakes his head. "Nah, this isn't heaven. Heaven is ... whiter ... and cushier. This looks a bit more like Limbo, actually," he says, giving a sudden shiver.

[Blank] "How low can you go?"

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Blank] After a moment, you feel a gentle prodding at your mind. Something seeks its attention.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] After a moment, you feel a gentle prodding at your mind. Something seeks its attention.

Blank stops Eh? Another ghost like being? 'What do YOU want?'

Flash_Guardian watches Blank move upward. "Hey, don't go too far!" he calls after Blank ... then gets a weird sort of startled look on his face.

Devaine_Hawk starts to flail about , keeping his grip tight on his gear , and try’s to push toward the glowing scale , “oh well if it is might as well jump on the cosmic elevator and find out if I’ve been naughty or nice ,”

[Flash_Guardian] Devaine finds it easy to move about this place simply by willing himself to move.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Blank] A subtle thought is projected into your mind: Close your eyes, and you will see. Cover your ears and hear. When all is still and silent, the invisible path shall be revealed.

Devaine_Hawk stops and the flashes come back to his eyes as he looks around , but calmer this time , “is that you , is this where you are now old man ?” he asks out loud

Flash_Guardian seems to be listening intently to something for a moment, then seems deep in thought. 'When all is still ...?

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] A subtle thought is projected into your mind: Close your eyes, and you will see. Cover your ears and hear. When all is still and silent, the invisible path shall be revealed.

Blank curses under his breath. I hate these tests of faith. Might as well... close my eyes and cover my ears. He thinks. The rogue closes his eyes and covers his ears.

Devaine_Hawk “shhses “Flash as he closes his eyes and sticks his fingers in his ears

Flash_Guardian catches on quickly. He starts to perform some kind of motion ... but now everyone's eyes and ears are shut.

[Flash_Guardian] .

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Blank] An emptiness settles in your mind, and at the center of that emptiness is a door, standing open and beckoning to a new place beyond.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] An emptiness settles in your mind, and at the center of that emptiness is a door, standing open and beckoning to a new place beyond.

Blank tries to will himself towards this strange door with in the mind.

Devaine_Hawk tightens his grip on his gear and wills himself through the door way.

[Flash_Guardian] You feel your surroundings change ... and suddenly you are someplace new. Seeing this room is like stepping back in time, into a great and elaborate workshop. Tables are decorated orderly with tools of all kinds: hammers, saws, screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, and other assorted gadgetry. Longer tools hang from hooks on the walls: ladders, brooms, shears, crowbars of varying lengths, axes, mauls, and more. Wooden shelves with numerous bins rest against the walls in places. A far corner of the room seems entirely devoted to storing all types of materials, from raw lumber to unrefined metallic ore, black coal to soft clay. In addition, there seems to be all the necessary workstations to work with and process these materials: a forge for the metal, a potter's wheel for the clay, sawhorses and stands for the wood, etc. In short, anything you would need to make anything by hand is here, ready and waiting.

[Flash_Guardian] For those of a more magical or psionic bent, you sense something odd about this room ... possibly some sort of slight resistance to arcane or mental forces.

[Blank] "... I am so in my element."

[Flash_Guardian] "Took you long enough," Flash says. He is seated on the floor of the room before Blank and Dev, sitting in full lotus position in his typical meditation stance. His eyes are closed as he sits, still deep in thought.

Blank giggles like a school girl and starts to race around the room to look at all the tools, devices and materials. "So... so... what do we make?! I can make it in a flash!"

Devaine_Hawk opens his eyes as he steps in and mimics lips the words ,smirking at Flash

Flash_Guardian just beams at Blank, watching him oogle all the room's contents like a kid in a candy store. On the far side of the room is a large steel door bearing three oddly shaped holes, in the form of three narrow slits that spread out in opposite directions from a central point, forming a sort of triangular keyhole.

Devaine_Hawk takes the room in , eyes flashing as he searches for the presence here that he’d heard before , and notices the door pointing to it , “a key”

Blank races over to the door and hops up and down. "I can make this! Keys are easy! I made skeleton keys when I was ten years old!" He skitters off to the materials to find some iron or some metal to go start to shape. He returns to the keyhole with a candle. A candle? That's right, he'll soften the wax just enough to have mold to the shape of the key hole so he can get a general idea of the lock. After several other observations of the key hole, he skitters over to the metal and begins to cut and pound the metal into shap at the anvil.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] As Devaine reaches out with his mind, he finds very little ... the dampening field of this room projects a field of mental calm, rather inhibiting certain more powerful mental manifestations.

Flash_Guardian stands, watching the whirlwind that is Blank in utter flat-faced amazement. "Devaine ... this is the side of Blank that you haven't seen yet ..." he says, making an open-handed gesture of wonder at Blank.

Devaine_Hawk relaxes he gun in his hand , and watches Blank work . “I’m no Bob Villa , can’t do much with this stuff myself “

[Flash_Guardian] Blank finds everything he needs with surprising ease, though the key that is required is rather complex, and will take some time to complete.

Devaine_Hawk walks around the room , running his hands over everything in reach until he makes his way over to the door , reaching out to feel it .

Blank continues to sclupt and shape the key by hammer and other cutting tools until he moves to another device that apparently turns the item rapidly so he can carve out any uniform indentations made for the keyhole. Once complete with that he begins to cut out the unique parts of the key for the door. Little grooves that only appear on one side or edge. The artificer's consintration on the key seems unbreakable. His fine craftsmenship with the simple device even goes as far as decorating the handle of the device with long flowing lines that look something close to wind blowing and curing with the design of the handle. Then he finally arrives at the finishing touches, cleaning and modifying the key. He polishes off any dirt, grim, or other imperfections from the surface of the key then returns to the fire place and billows. He quickly went to work with producing steam... lots of it. Then using a fan of some sort he manages to blast the key with the steam, causing it to slowly change into steel.

Flash_Guardian gets an idea. "Hey, Blank? Tempus Fugit?" Flash makes the beginning motions of a spell, offering Blank a helpful gaze.

Blank cools the key by water and setting time. With in several minutes... possibly under an hour or even a half hour... Blank has the key. "Tada!"

[Blank] "Oro?" He gives Flash a odd look. His face was several soot smudges on his face and it was a little red from the wear and tear.

Devaine_Hawk lets a rare grin play across his face as he feels along the door , “what the hell am I gonna tell Rei when we make it back , she’ll never believe this , accuse me of being in a strip club or with another woman all night “

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Devaine_Hawk] Dev gets all manner of impression from the tools that about this place. These tools were used in building this entire structure. He catches glimpses of skilled craftsmen and women creating, decorating, and forging various parts of the structure that he has already seen ... and a few he hasn't, like the outside of this place.

Devaine_Hawk leans back against the door and rubs his still throbbing head , “ times like these I’m glad I don’t talk in my head or to dead people all the time “ he thinks

[Flash_Guardian] ((Flash teleports Dev out. Finds Glyniss. Takes Glyniss back to just outside the structure. Walks her through the garage, as before ... in the library, there is a portal swirling in the air over the rune, so apparently that puzzle is solved ... oh, the scales are next! *thinks*))

[Flash_Guardian] Flash and Glyniss go through the portal in the library and emerge in a different place. The new room you appear in next, in contrast to the others, seems to be lit brightly with a light that just seems to drift down from a ceiling of pure white light. A massive set of golden scales, large enough to hold two average humans, dominates the room at its center. The floor is tiled in marble, the walls carved in alabaster, its many motifs depicting epic battles, miracles, the cycle of life, growth, birth, destruction and ressurection, joy and treachery, the sun, moon, and stars. Surrounding the base of the scale is a large pile of wooden tokens, each of which has a particular symbol branded on both sides. There are no obvious exits. The wall to the south has a glowing yellow rune at its center in the shape of a book. There appears to be some sort of writing carved along the entire length of the scale's fulcrum.

Blank is busy grooming himself. <<;

Glyniss_McMasters takes one tentive slow limp away from where she first appeared eyes scanning the room and its decor...a tug on the leather strap over her shoulder..the loud clicking of metal following the action.

Flash_Guardian looks back to Glyniss, making sure she's okay. "I almost feel bad, spoiling all of this for you ... we've gotten pretty far in, and I can't help like we're getting close to something," he says, walking over to the pile of wooden tokens. "This room is pretty simple. Each of these wooden objects has a rune on it that represents something. We need to find the one that will balance with you, and when we do you'll move on to the next place."

Glyniss_McMasters rises a brow " An' wher' about' is Tot'.....shouldn' he be abou' ter weig' me sin'?"

Blank is actually like... two rooms later.

Flash_Guardian blinks at Glyniss. "Pardon?"

[Glyniss_McMasters] " Oh com' on Flas' surel' yer rea' som' on ancein' Egyp'.....ter Go' Tot'....suppose' ter be ma' wit' a dog' hea'....he weig' up ter soul' of dea' human' ter see if ter the' ente'.."

Flash_Guardian nods in understanding. "Ahhh, yes. Though I'm not familiar with that particular name for Anubis," he says, shaking his head. "Anyway, we need to find something that stands for the opposite of what you represent," Flash tells her.

Blank 's player is going to leave soon... but he wants to see the last puzzle. So Blank incerts the key and moves on.

Glyniss_McMasters arm rises as she finger flicks the stetson back a little..." An' jus' wha' do I represen'....?" she grins broadly " 'side' ter femal' gender"

Flash_Guardian shrugs at Glyniss. "I dunno ... could be anything. Something you stand for. A belief that you have. Something you value." Flash looks down into the pile, wondering if there even is a token for masculinity in there.

[Flash_Guardian] Blank's key works like a charm ... the whole assembly clicks and ka-chunks, followed by the sound of gears turning and servos unclenching as the door unlocks, swinging open slowly to reveal a corridor very much like the first one near the entrance. Blank can hear a subtle sort of humm coming from down the passage, and his goggles pick up digital signals getting sent to and fro among some sort of idle system ...

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Blank] Blank hears something come from the corner of the room ... a sort of whir ... like a small motor turning over just once.

[Flash_Guardian whispers to Blank] The room he is in currently, that is. THe workshop.

[Glyniss_McMasters] " Singin'....peopl'....." limping now towards where he is...." Wha' represn' yer an Dev?"

Flash_Guardian searches his memory. "Mine was easy. I serve Order, so my opposite is Chaos," Flash explains. "Devaine chose serenity as his opposite, as his mind is still in turmoil and unrest."

Blank 's lips twist into a disapointed look. That was it? Sad. The rogue sighed and scribbled a quick note explaining that he had to leave due to call of duty. Dropping it on the floor... Blank casts a series of teleports to take him out of the structure.