Week Three Day Three

            Today it looks like Karnov has decided that the group will patrol in the center-city storage area. This area holds warehouses for the cities various companies and so is patrolled often to route out thieves. They walk about the hulking structures without seeing another living being, the place is quiet as a tomb. Karnov seems to be a bit different today, he seems much more cheerful than...well, ever. Those characters with Sixth Sense begin to get bad vibes from Karnov and quietly inform the rest of the group. Krystal can feel it too, and stays close to Kalawac while looking paranoid. The uneasy tedium is broken as Karnov mentions "You know, I didn't always work for Kannon" (the company sponsoring the 61st precinct where they all work). He turns and walks straight towards a door on one of the warehouses, stops to punch in a code upon a keypad then enters though the unlocked door. The rest of the group are slow to follow, as Karnov is acting strangely. The interior of the warehouse is dark but with what little light is available boxes stacked upon each other can be seen just a short distance away. Out come the flashlights again and the buildings contents become much clearer. Cases of ammunition are stacked up within this building, and beside these cases are machines used for loading which are still on and running. The group and Karnov seem to be the only people in the building, and so they decide to have a look around. Rose is the first one to spot something, a pool of noxious fluid seeping from a damaged box. She is examining it as Karnov comes up to her and warns not to touch. The cases the fluid is seeping from contain acid rounds, and it is apparent that the fluid has done a fine job of corroding some of the floor. Karnov takes a case from the stacks, sets it down and opens it. "You kids could do with a few of these, could help keep you out of a grave or worse", and with that he starts handing them out, two to each person and ten in total. Seems his choice of words did not help them feel at ease, but they continue their search. They come across an area of wreckage near the back of the warehouse, its purpose seems to be a sort of test-fire range on various materials for new rounds. Karnov picks up a shell from the ground that seems to be in fair condition, its an experimental round, code name: Bolt Red (can be found in the tools section). Its given to Rose, who believes she may be able to dissect it later and learn how to craft them. Karnov then leaves them to check up on a few things, walking up a set of stairs to an office suspended above the room. Kalawac succeeds on a secret Hear Noise check and I let him know he hears a rhythmic clacking noise from another section of the building, which may be foot steps (I said it sounded like a rabbit on a linoleum floor, clack clack clack). Upon investigating the area of the sound Kalawac finds three lockers which stand about six feet high. He is unable to tell where the sound is coming from, so Marakin tries his luck at zeroing in on it. He found it to be the locker on the left, which then had its lock picked. Once opened by Kalawac the source of the clacking sound is discovered, there is a rack of six batons, one of which is twitching about in its holster. They all figure what they got here is a supply of Avenger Gravvic Batons, and in this they were right, six in each of the three lockers. Kalawac takes the cell from the malfunctioning baton and replaces it in the holster, next thinking about how to swipe one of them without being found out. He later finds a broken baton in a trash bin that Rose makes look more whole, which he then switches out for a good one from a locker. Rose takes this to be a good idea and immediately switches her Bolt Red for a new one from the cases. One box that is out of the ordinary near the other rounds catches their attention, and so they decide to open it. The lock is not so simple, needing the lock to be opened and three buttons to be pressed all at once, they manage anyway with some trial-and-error. Inside are a few racks of test tubes containing a shimmering viscous fluid, the box itself seems filled with a faintly glowing mist. Rose takes a sample of both the mist and fluid to study later, as she has no idea what it is. Karnov comes back down at this point, seems he was just catching up on things by skimming some files. As he is done here they all leave and continue along their patrol. The whole time they were expecting an impending attack, so thus far the tension was maintained and then released as they left. The patrol continues along to yet another warehouse that has no insignia upon it, apparently empty and un-owned. Karnov opens the curiously unlocked door and enters, the group is once again slow to follow, getting out their light sources. The inside is quite empty, seemingly stripped of its contents, leaving only scraps of metal where benches were and a few sections of hanging catwalk. The only notable features they can get to are large metal support pillars, one of which Karnov walks up to and leans upon. The group walk up to him, some inspect the pillar while the others ask him what they are doing here. "Its uninhabited, secluded, quiet and dark...the perfect place for an ambush don't ya' think?". Now our friends with Sixth Sense are getting even more jumpy and Karnov is not only acting strange he is verbally alluding to getting a knife in the back. Now tensed and ready the group is hardly surprised when three individuals drop from above onto a few sections of the hanging catwalk. Almost immediatly the fire fight starts, shots go off and a grenade is thrown down. Rose uses Mage Hand to push it out of range as she ducks behind a pillar. Jeffery is able to knock one of the attacks from the catwalk with one shot, he lands dead. Kalawac is climbing a rope-n-grapple to one of the catwalks as the attacker upon it begins to whisper. A grey haze forms below the section of catwalk and begins to descend, carrying with it a black shadow of a figure within. It slams into the border of the haze in Kalawac's direction in an obvious hostile action, but is unable to penetrate it. Kalawac leaps down and heads for cover, followed by Krystal. The haze gently settles to the ground with its occupant, and is for the most part ignored until it fades away minutes later. One of the last two attackers jumps from his vantage and begins to run toward the group, carrying a two-bladed sword. Ashley rushes the attacker and makes an attempt to engage him, taking a nearly fatal slash from him as he simply runs by. Jeffery makes a charge at the attacker next, followed by Karnov who does NOT seem to be smoking a cigarette. Karnov stops short and just readies himself while Jeffery continues on to attempt a grapple. He is hit twice before he drops and is very nearly killed (talking -9 hit points here), with the attacker still holder one more attack for that round. Karnov is ready to accept his charge as the attacker comes in, and as he does the group witnesses Karnov's other half. A red silhouette of Karnov lashes out with its left hand (the one with the gauntlet) and connects. The contact seems to freeze the attacker in place for a moment, as Karnov himself lands a blow with the same arm sending the attacker back sixteen feet. The silhouette begins to advance on the fallen individual a few moments before Karnov himself does, seeming to mirror the movements of this strange entity. The attacker gets up as Karnov closes, and the two engage each other. During this time the group continues to fire at the lone attacker still up in the catwalk, dropping him but not before he manages to send a javelin though Krystal. She may not be a fighter, but she is not exactly weak and so this does not mortally wound her but she cries out like it did. While Karnov holds off this rather skilled fighter the group tends to their wounded and helps out as best they can. Karnov slams the assailant with a backhand and sends him into the wall, slowly stalking after him with silhouette in lead. Kalawac follows at his side, giving the silhouette a sideways glance, it returns the glance and a grin, neither of which Karnov himself does. The last attacker decides its time to make a run for it and bolts with Karnov and Kalawac following. He runs to a chain which hangs from above and grabs hold, a mechanism begins to haul the chain up soon after he grabs it. As he assends Kalawac leaps and continues to attack. Rose uses a True Strike spell and hits the chain with an Armour Puncher round, breaking it. Kalawac and the attacker fall, Kalawac puts his gravvic baton between the two of them and as they land the baton hits with such force it splatters the poor sod, leaving nothing intact. The players don't know why it is they were attacked, but it is thought they were assassins sent by someone they bothered during their search for O' Laura some time back. After this event the rest of their patrol goes quietly and they return home to prepare for what the next day will bring.

Week Three Day Four

            Looks like today was that of sweet partings. Or not. Karnov has decided that his job is complete and that his group is now ready to take up their jobs on their own. He leaves them with few words, leaving his characteristic red smoke in the air. Krystal is then given the job of supervising the group for purposes of bonuses and wages, mostly just report on their work. Krystal is given the job because she has the highest rank in the group, something not many of them guessed (she did well on her medical exam). The group decides to use the day to patrol, as not all their wounds have healed and hopefully there will not be any trouble. There isn't and so the day goes quietly.

Week Three Day Five

            Mostly healed up now, except for some stray acid burns from those rounds they used on the assassins a few days ago the group decides that patrol is boring and that they want a special assignment. Krystal heads up to the front desk and asks what they have, she is then handed an assignment dealing with an individual who believes that "there is someone out to get him". This sounds fairly typical of a people who are paranoid so they head of not expecting too much, arriving in short order. Rose is the one who knocks at the door only to be answered by gunfire. A hole is blasted though the door, the bullet missing her (I rolled for this) and passing over her right shoulder. The soon hear the sound of a weapon being reloaded and quickly yell that they are from the 61st precinct an are answering his call for aid. The individual behind the door is sceptical and asks that their enforcer insignia be displayed in front of the new hole in the door. Rose does as he asks, and convinced he allows them to open the door. The buck is kneeling in a ring of shells holding a hand cannon. They ask him where he got the flamer rounds that are in his supply, and he answers that it was left by "them". He is questioned about his worries, and he only answers that "they" are out to get him, never letting on just who that is supposed to be. The occupant is guarded by a pair of members while the rest begin to search the house. While looking about the kitchen area those on guard hear foot falls, not the sound of the feet themselves but only the sound of the weight being applied to the wooded floor. A few moments pass as the sound gets louder, the pair brace for action. A lone buck walks through an open door near the front entry way with his head hung low, which he then shakes violently before backing up through the doorway and out of sight (Jeffery makes a Necrology check and discerns that what he saw was a spectre). They call for their group to aid them and ask the occupant if that was them. He simply responds "one of them". With their quarry sighted and noted, they approach the door slowly with weapons ready. The hallway beyond is empty except for a few doors and an open closet. They move into the hallway, soon hearing a squeaking sound originating from nearby. One of the doors on the left wall opens and a doe in a cleaners outfit walks into the hall pushing a mop and bucket, from which the sound would seem to be coming. She pushes the bucket up to the closet and turns toward it. She goes though the motions of opening the closet, which is already open, and kneels as she searches for something on the ground. She quickly turns her head up and screams silently as she shields her face with her arms. She rises up, still screaming soundlessly as her faces begins to melt. A few moments pass before she falls to the ground writhing, her eyes gone and bone showing where her jellied flesh has dissolved. Soon she lies upon the ground, unmoving and quiet as portions of her face continue to drip from her bones. Ashley is the first to move up past her and look in the closet, seeming less interested in examining the fallen doe. As Ashley moves within a few feet of the still figure it begins to rise. It gets to its feet without the aid of its hands as if it were pulled up by strings, locking its gaze with Ashley. As it begins to thrash its jaws and walk forward Ashley begins to retreat to the protection of her group. Ashley soon passes Rose who then becomes the focus of the thing now walking towards them. Rose, Ashley and the rest all begin a full retreat from the hall as the doe turns back to her bucket and takes up her mop. Soaked with the fluids from the bucket, the mop is hurled like a javelin down the hall where only Rose and Ashley remain. I ask both players for their actions as the mop closes the distance to them: Rose opts to dodge out of the doorway to safety while Ashley attempts to parry the mop with her masterwork blade. As this was a ranged attack with an ethereal, energy draining, corrosive mop I judged that it would most likely just bypass the parry attempt and hit home, which it did. Ashley is fortunate enough to have the feat Breath of Spirit Deepen and so came out physically unharmed by the energy draining attack, yay. Next came the corrosive part, which was not defended against by Breath of Spirit Deepen. The enforcer uniform worn by Ashley is made of thick rubber-like material within which a wire mesh is placed to help fend off piercing attacks. The layer of rubber gave Ashley the time to notice the "hissing" sound of the corrosion and begin to remove the outfit before her own flesh joined it. Kalawac was nice enough to hand Ashley his own suit while he took up a spare set of normal clothing. The suit fit a bit snugly in areas from body differences but it still fit well enough to be used for the moment. As Kalawac was staying with the occupant for the time being he may of felt he had less need for it than Ashley did, and they could always have the damaged suit replaced back at the precinct free of charge when they returned. Looking back down the hall they see it is once again empty. Jeffery makes yet another Necrology check in an attempt to determine what they can do to deal with these things as they are not exactly heavy in the magic department. His roll turns up a few simple scraps of knowledge. A barrier to spectres can be made by drawing a shape of unbroken powdered iron that has never been touched by the forge and placing within it a lump of natural salt. Kalawac thought he would look for iron and salt in the back yard, hoping to find something in the shed located there. All that was found was old, worn tools and bags of soil. In order to get the needed material Jeffery made a trip out to an importer, returning with a supply of each as the rest of the group waited. Before his return, Kalawac and Krystal leave with the home owner to get something to eat, but mostly to just get him out of the house while the rest of the group dealt with events. Within a few moments a ready barrier of powdered iron was placed before the doorway into the hall where he could toss a piece of salt into should the need arise (the salt was said to be slowly consumed if the spectre pressed the barrier). They walk back down the hall and up to the door that the second spectre was seen to emerge from. Opening it they find that the area beyond had been bricked off some time ago, and that memory of the exterior would point to the fact that the room that may have been beyond was no more. Continuing down the hall they begin to hear the foot falls once more. Jeffery quickly begins to outline a second barrier with his power as the rest of the group retreats. He is putting the last touches on the barrier as some of the powder is picked up into the air by something. Looking more closely he notices that it seems to actually be adhering to something that looks like a pair of boots, that are at the moment about to move out of the barrier on his side. Jeffery tosses a lump of salt into the center area of the barrier he has just finished, where it begins to hover even before it can land, spinning on an axis quietly in the air. The boots stop and a low moan is heard as if someone were lifting something heavy. Believing that he has the spectre caught for the moment Jeffery uses what Necrology and Diplomacy skills he has to communicate with it. He questions the spectre of its activities and why it would be here. It begins to wane visible showing itself to be the first spectre, the one with its head hung low. From this distance it is obvious that this individual has a very broken neck, as his head seems to simply hang free from the spine. It replies simply but cryptically "the bars". Jeffery is not to certain what that is supposed to mean, seeing as zelengorsk seldom make much sense. He asks if it will show them the way, it answers by moaning and turning. Before it bumps into the barrier again Jeffery reaches in and removes the spinning lump of salt. As it walks away from them their new vantage gives the impression that the spectre is headless, as his head is hung so far forward. It steps around a corner and "through" a door, through which the group follows. Upon entering they can see the spectre reaching through the floor with its fingers and going through the actions of hauling something up and twisting it. It acts as if it moves something aside and begins to crawl through the floor as if descending a ladder. As soon as it vanishes though the floor Jeffery attempts to find out if there are any hand-holds on the floor in the area, which a simple spot check point out. He hauls up a cover with a twist and finds a ladder leading down a twenty-foot shaft. The spectre is still descending, its head bouncing off each rung. The group waits for the spectre to reach the bottom before trying to descend themselves. They all reach the bottom without complication and begin to scout the area. They notice that the spectre seems to have vanished again and set about attempting to locate him. The hallway at the bottom of the ladder is narrow and straight with two doors, one to the left and one to the right, not far from the ladder. Examining the left door they find a supply room filled with kitchen ware, bedding and dried food goods. The door on the right held three sets of bunks, comfortable but less than inviting. Further down the hall was yet another door on the right, yet this one was more interesting than the first two. The room is bisected by a row of bars, one side made up to be a prison or holding cell. The rest of the room on their side has a table and a few chairs which they figured would be used by guards. Within the cell are a few simple pieces of furniture, some plates and cups, thick dust, and a single skeletal figure sitting against the wall with its own head in its lap. Beside the bones was a shiny object, made of metal or perhaps crystal. A few moments after their survey a figure, looking like their lost spectre but with his neck in better shape, points at Jeffery and pronounces "there is no escape, there is no escape, there is no escape for you!". Saying its piece the spectre vanishes, leaving the group to do as they will. Jeffery is interested in the shiny object and enters the cell to investigate it. As he enters the door to the cell slams shut behind him loudly, locking him within. The group tries to pick the lock, yard it open, bend the bars and shot bars/lock/walls, none of which as any effect besides evoking a chuckle from the air. Seemingly despondent about the fact that they did not even make a scratch, Rose and Ashley leave to continue to explore in the hopes they will find the key to the cell. They travel to the next door on the right and enter, finding a room much like that last, but without a body within. Rose takes a few precautions before entering the cell and searches it, finding little of interest. Back in his new cell, Jeffery continues to attempt to escape, to no avail. "No escape" is head just behind him, to which he turns around and asks "why do you keep me here?". I roll yet another check here before relaying an answer of "I do not keep you". The spectre lets on that the bars hold them both within the cell, but this does not make sense. The group is sure this this the spectre seen walking free above on the first floor, and so should be able to leave. At this point the group takes a break for a few days and re-convenes, so now they have had a chance to think about things a bit. Ashley decides to determine if the location of where the cleaning lady fell is anywhere on top of the cell that Jeffery is trapped in. With a guess, she figures that it lies directly over the part of the room below that is sectioned off as a cell. In an attempt to free Jeffery Ashley begins to hack away at the wooden floor with her masterwork longsword. Ashley began to feel something in her legs, quickly followed by terribly painful freezing. With a cry Ashley hobbled as fast as she could down the hall and out of the house. As this is happening Marakin and Rose continue to explore the second floor looking for a means to free Jeffery. Further down the hall they find yet another room to their right sectioned in half to act as a cell. A search of the room reveals a set of keys upon a key ring hanging from a peg on the wall. Wary of surprises Rose looks for any traps, then uses mage hand to bring the key ring to her safely. Returning to Jeffery and trying the key they find that the key works, but the door re-locks itself every time an attempt is made to open it. Discouraged they leave to continue their search down the hall. Back above ground Ashley re-enters and examines the area where she was chilled. Pouring some of the iron powder she got from Jeffery she notices that it adheres to a figure that lies upon the ground. It soon begins to stir, whispering "filth". Ashley stands her ground as the entity rises fully and swipes at her. Ashley is struck for one point of damage and is simultaneously drained three-hundred experience points. With yet another cry of pain Ashley runs from the house and back into the front yard. A few moments pass as the entity passes out the front door after her, encouraging Ashley to continue running. The two run off into the city, Ashley in the lead. Back down below Rose and Marakin make a right hand turn as the hall bends and find themselves at the end of the hall where they find a door. The door seems locked but is quickly opened with an open lock cantrip. Behind the door is a room almost as large as the top floor of this house, it has but two other doors: one just ahead and to the right and one upon the far wall in its center. The room is decorated with tapestries and fine furniture, the dominating feature, however, is a large desk situated across from the furthest door. Rose is the one to examine the desk, specifically searching for documents. She finds papers of some sort, but they are ruined beyond use, aged and tattered they can no longer be read. Rose does find a small locked box that looks like it had faired better than the papers during its stay. Using a helping of cantrip open lock, Rose discovered that the box contained cash, to the tune of 178 wafers. It seems Rose did not want to look like she was making off with party cash so she set the box down on the desk and decided to go investigate the door just across the room from the desk. The door was found to be a large and sturdy specimen but showed some fracture from age. Rose cast mending upon it, restoring much of its strength. She then attempted to open the door but found it to be locked, barred or latched in some way and so would not open. It was at this point that Rose and Marakin decided to examine the door, finding that it did not have a lock or hinges visible from their side. As this door looked as if it would be a bit of a time-consumer they opted to examine the rooms last remaining mystery door. This one was much smaller and made of metal, also locked to prevent easy passage. Between the two of them, Rose and Marakin unlocked the door and removed it from its hinges, laying it down some distance from its frame. In the short hall beyond was yet another door, but this one was much more flimsy being made of wood. It was also unlocked as so easy to open (not that any other lock so far had stopped them). The other side of the door was scarred by claw marks that may or may not have been made by the claws of hares upon it. Not seeing anything around that may have done this, they entered the room beyond. The room was simple and square and contained nothing but a ladder leading up. Marakin was the one to venture up to see where it lead. The top of the ladder was covered by a sheet of metal which had to be pushed aside in order to move on. After doing so Marakin found a shed supplied with bags of soil, shovels and other lawn-care equipment. Thinking this was the shed in the back yard Kalawac found earlier Marakin walked out of the shed and into...a dilapidated and overgrown graveyard. The graveyard was packed full of head-stones and so may have been filled to capacity some time ago. It had two hilled areas near the middle, upon each was a mausoleum. One mausoleum was of a suspicious sort, having no visible means of entry. Not knowing where the heck he was Marakin descended the ladder back into the prison area to inform Rose what he had found. While this happens, Kalawac, Krystal and their charge return to find the first floor of the house empty, unchanged except for a rather large about of iron dust in a hallway. Back underground, Rose and Marakin decide it may be a good idea to go upstairs and check on things as they have not seen or heard from Ashley in some time now. Marakin makes his way back to the first floor while Rose stays and looks over Jeffery. Marakin finds Kalawac and Krystal on the first floor and brings them down to see Rose. An attempt is made to see that everyone is informed on what has transpired, and for the most part that is what is accomplished. Kalawac notices that Jeffery has found some sort of ornament by the corpse that is with him in the cell. The ornament is passes through the bars and handed to Kalawac who makes an appraisal roll. In order to determine an objects worth I figured one would have to closely examine the object, and so I let Kalawac know what it looked like and a few of its physical properties. The ornament is about the size of a fist, made of worked metals and several gemstones. One large green hemispherical gem dominates the top side, and is itself set in a blue metal and surrounded by red and yellow gemstones. The underside is furnished with simple-looking mechanisms which allow several interlinking parts to move by means of a gear system. The system allows a parts to assume seven different conformations by turning a few dials. The conformations that may be assumed will cycle over and over as the tile is turned. A few moments of experimentation with this device showed that there does not seem to be any purpose or need for this function directly related to the device and so the idea that it may be some sort of key was purposed. Finally, after examining it, Kalawac came to the conclusion that the device was worth: Large green stone 300 wafers, Metalwork 95 wafers, smaller stones 120 wafers total and 65 wafers for the mechanical portion. With the debriefing out of the way, Kalawac and Rose make their way to the old graveyard and investigate its most prominent features, the two mausoleums. Some time is spent examining the apparently sealed mausoleum until that got old, where upon they moved over to the second mausoleum. This one did have a door, which Rose unlocked with a cantrip as she often does. Within the mausoleum are a set of four stone coffins all in fairly good condition. Some debate about how good and idea it would be to open them and view the contents begins, the outcome ending in the two of them choosing a tomb and carefully opening it. Within the first are bones and small, clear bubble-like structures. Kalawac, gripped by a moment of terror over the chance that there are active jix within the coffin, immediately steps back and makes for the door. Rose, noting that these are simply the husks of jix and that no active ones are present, asked Kalawac to help her reseal the coffin and try another. The second coffin tried was a bit more responsive. When theyr tried to move the lid aside something from within, something strong, moved it back before it got very far. This seemed like a juncture to leave the mausoleum before things worse. Kalawac returned to the first mausoleum examined and made some attempt to dig beneath it in order to discover what may have been sealed within. The dig was slow and soon the novelty wore off, it was not long before Kalawac returned to the cells below to rejoin the group. Attention was next focused upon the large stone door within the large chamber and methods with which to open it. Near this point Ashley returns to the house with Karnov in tow, hoping he could aid them in this daunting job. Karnov hardly seemed interested in helping open the door and was somewhat upset that he was called in when there was no pressing emergency, stating that they really have to learn to take care of problems for themselves, especially when it had little to do with the work of an enforcer. Soon it was time for the group to go to sleep and look forward to their day off. As Karnov leaves to return home the others seek out places to sleep. Kalawac and Krystal retire to the first guard room, and by pushing the bunks together form a serviceable bed for the two of them.

Week Three Day Six

            The group awakes to their day off, still within the halls beneath ground. Activity begins almost as soon as they awake, once again turning to the large stone door. Kalawac sets himself to chipping a hole in the door, believing it could be used as a weak point or the like in removing the door as an obstacle. Rose, knowing that even the powder from their gun shells would not have the power to use as a functional explosive busies herself collecting materials to formulate a more potent powder as well as an acid. She collects together such unrelated materials as fuzz from butter, pickle juice, the wing of a flying insect, dust from a dustpan, toothpaste and shampoo. From all these materials she manages to refine the powder from a handful of shells to a number of orange cubes and a blue one, and a red gas collected and bottled from a second formulation. Testing of the red gas found it to be a repeat-explosive, exploding over and over in increments a few seconds long. The cubes, before even being tested, were packed into the hole Kalawac made, sealed with a headstone and then braced. The cubes were detonated with exposure to water, the resulting explosion "opened" the door several dozen feet into the hallway beyond. Stepping past the rubble they came into a stonework room, decorated with a few sparse writings and several painted relief's. The one dominating feature of the room was a large stone spiral staircase that lead up. Rose set about trying to read the writings, soon discovering they were not of a language she knew. Using comprehend languages Rose was able to peruse the writings, of which she gleaned the following:

"Our people hide from the horizons, and reach for each other's throats. For our betterment an end must be put to the Zeitgeist."

Not knowing what a Zeitgeist was but knew that it contained a word meaning "ghost" she consulted with Jeffery. Jeffery said that a Zeitgeist was a type of zelengorsk that could take many forms, and to beware. Returning to the room with the spiral staircase, Rose, Kalawac and Krystal decided to carefully ascend the stairway and discover what was beyond. In sort order the stairs opened up into a room above but continued on meaning there was more yet to see. In this room there was found to be one feature of note; upon the far wall was an inscription:

"Beyond this wall lies the trappings of the Zeitgeist, may it be used to cause its CHANGE."

After examining this wall, Kalawac determined that it was not so very solid and may in fact be a VERY large door. Looking for a mechanism to open it revealed that the letters of the word CHANGE were capable of being depressed. The letters were large and when pressed each produced an audible "click". As the letters were so large Kalawac was unable to press them all down at once, and it appeared that a sequence of press was not the answer. Each pressing two letters, Kalawac, Rose and Krystal were able to unlock the mechanism and cause the wall to slide back a few feet and then descend into the floor. A dresser was revealed hidden behind the wall, both Kalawac and Rose set about attempting to discover if it was locked and/or trapped. Coming to the conclusion that is was safe, Kalawac opened the top drawer. Within, packed to capacity, were rows upon rows of five and ten denomination wafers, a small fortune of them. The second drawer contained stocks, bonds and other investments. The last drawer contained books that documented modern business practices with notations in the margins criticizing the written methods. Noting was they found, the group stepped away and moved back to the stairway. The wall resealed behind them as they left leaving the dresser hidden once more. The stairs continued for a fair distance still, opening to its last destination. The final room was empty save a stone tomb, upon which was carved "My only accomplishment, my only treasure, from this world I take it with me." Rose used detect magic upon the area finding that even trough the stone she could tell that there was a mystical presence within the tomb, centred under the writings. It was apparent that the lid was sealed onto the tomb well enough that they could not lift it, but more careful examination by Kalawac showed that there was a strange impression upon the lid that corresponded to one on the conformations of the jewelled object found earlier. Shifting it to the proper shape, Kalawac placed the object into the impression and was rewarded with a "click". Working carefully both Kalawac and Rose lifted the lid from the tomb enough to see within. All that was revealed was bone, clothing and mouldered flesh. Seeing nothing that was immediately threatening the lid was moved further so that the contents could be more easily investigated. The decayed corpse of a male hare was found within hugging a tome to his chest, upon which there was no name or title. Rose took this opportunity to try and move the arms of the skeleton from the book in an attempt to claim it. She carefully moved the right arm and laid it gently to the side, then tried the same with the left. This arm grasped the book as the head rolled to face her; "From my present to your present, the best weapon". Saying this the skeleton loosened its grip on the book which Rose then took, seemingly more than a little shaken. The lid was placed back upon the tomb and the group returned to Jeffery to see if their actions had managed to free him. A few moments of testing reassured them that he was still indeed stuck within the cell. Taking a moment to skim the book, Rose found it to contain passages exulting the mind and filled with methods of meditation and mental exercise. Jeffery, still wishing to be free again began to question the spirit of the one trapped with him. He managed to get some of the following:

"What is your name?" "Don't remember."

"Is there a way to get out of here?" "There is no escape, he won't let go"

"Why is your neck broken?" " The wall is hard, my neck is not, one won one lost."

"How is it that your neck broke?" "He pushed me, and that was the last."

"Who is HE?" "Don't know"

"Where is HE?" "He is here."

"Did he escape?" "Yes."

"Was he a prisoner here?" "No."

"Why was he here?" "He came to free those I watched."

Addressing the cell, Jeffery attempted to communicate with the spirit permeating the cell that has been laughing at their attempts:

"Where are you?" "I am here."

"Why are you here?" "I am here because I am not elsewhere."

"Why is it you are here and not elsewhere?" "To do the right thing because its funny."

"What is right and why is it funny?" "The guard is now the prisoner, funny, get it?"

"Who are you?" "I am Brom."

Not having the diplomatic skills needed to smoothly communicate meaningfully, this avenue of questioning ends in frustration. Soon after, Rose makes her way to the cemetery to more thorough test the nature of her explosive cubes. A small hole is dug into the soil where a few cubes put under a delayed dose of water. Just as Rose is about to retreat from such a set-up, a shovel strikes her in the back of the head. She retains consciousness but is stunned for a moment. Turning around as she begins to run from the imamate detonation she sees her attacker was a white-furred doe looking much like herself. The attacker, noting Rose fleeing from the area decides to follow the example and runs in a direction of her own. Not being able to flee the blast radius in time both are knocked flat by the explosion that follows. Upon regaining her footing, Rose confronts her assailant, discovering that she lives in the cemetery and knows a little of the Art. This individual, named Lilly, had come to investigate the loud sounds within her normally quite home and found Rose conducting demolition testing. Lilly took offence to this and had given Rose a stern thwack on the back of the head. After talking things over, both decided they could learn a precious bit from each other about the Art and so made a point to exchange notes later. Rose figured Lilly may have more luck with the cell Jeff was trapped in then the rest of them and so brought her down to see it with her own eyes. Noting that the cell was wholly possessed, Lilly guessed that the nature of chill touch might be able to ward the zelengorsk away from the door for a few moments. Furtively enacting the spell and touching the lock with her gloved hand, Lilly forced the entity away long enough to open the door. Jeff took this opportunity to escape while it presented itself and dashed through the door. Having had enough of this house, the team takes care of loose ends before departing, making plans to get Lilly into the enforcers as part of their squad. Lilly, being a necromancer, is somewhat worried about this idea, but what better place to conceal yourself but in plain sight.