Old Timmy's Well: Card Crawl

Old Timmy's Well: Card Crawl
Date of Scene:	02 December 2012
Location:	Port Royal
Synopsis:	A dastardly pirate dungeon full of plots and plans down an ancient well where a master card shark met his end. Where has all the rum gone? Here, apparently.
Cast of Characters:	Mercade Alexander, Will Sherman, Seifer Almasy, Aerith, Tifa Lockhart, Minerva
Tinyplot:	The Search for Serendipity

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Stormfall has posed:
It doesn't take much asking around to find that nobody wants to speak about Old Timmy's Well. It's a haunted place that not even animals will approach.

One ancient mariner and his faithful if mangy dog are the ones to break the uneasy silence. He's a crazy old man who speaks in riddles and only to his favorite chocobo. Sadly nobody has told him that his chocobo was lost in a Gyshal Famine several years ago. It's not all insult swordfights and peeling potatoes and making people walk the plank in a pirate's life and they turn a grizzled eye away from the old codger. Those with.. ahem..experience in disguise manage to get the tale from him eventually.

He tells the tale of Old Timmy, and how the infamous card shark was betrayed by his own lads and thrown down his own well. They kindly provided him a rope to bear him down in safety in the form of a noose. Yet those same lads were stymied in their attempts to rob the old pirate of his treasures for only he knew the true extent of the caverns underneath the well, and they entered only to find their doom at the end of their journey.

The storied well and it's location as given by the old man doesn't actually look all that impressive on first examination. The wooden framework above has rotted away, leaving the roughly laid stones jutting from the eroded cliffside overlooking the Port.

The well is covered by moss and the detritius of time. Looking down into it reveals only a dried up well, a circle of sand, mud and leaf litter forming the bottom with an old bucket sticking halfway out of the mire.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart had heard that the mostly-senile old man wouldn't listen to anyone but its own, deceased chocobo.

...

That's why she's STILL dressed as a chocogirl ._.

She had no idea if it would work or not, but apparently faking a few 'kweh' when talking to him, half-deaf and half-blind Old timmy spilled the beans on the treasure trove's locations. She's not interested in the actual treasure though, there's an artifact to find, which is their job at the moment.

... Although lining up pockets with some extra gold wouldn't be a bad thing either, wouldn't it?

She looks over to Aerith following her through the entire story up to now with a smile "Well, looks like this is the place, the well he was talking about. He said there's some traps down there, and how to bypass them." Of course, that's not accounting that the old man probably doesn't remember even half of the traps at this point, so the barmaid is probably not out of the woods either.

Damn bird costume...

Aerith has posed:
Aerith... couldn't take Tifa seriously right now, despite the truth of what she was saying. "So then, you're miss TifaWark the Treasure Hunter now?" She giggled and faced forward, her eyes finally adjusting to the low light conditions. "I never thought I'd see the day you'd be dressed in this silly little getup three times in a row!"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Concidence, coincidence is a beautiful thing. It places one in the most unlikely of positions at the most opertune times to see the most odd things.

Like a befeathered, buxom barmaid bvabbling with batty, old bastards. I could add more Bs.

Seifer Almasy, The Knight of the Sorceress Edea has been spending much time abroad exploring the worlds.

"That was actually kind of impressive." snarked the Seifer, dead leaves and dried earth crunching underfoot as he approached. "Although you probably could have gotten away with anything yellow and vaguely bird-shaped." he mused, arms lifting out to his sides, "But hey, who am I to judge what women do to get what they want?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart sighs as she looks at Seifer "I still had the costum from Don Corneo, but I'm sure you're right." She looks to Aerith <.<; "ChocoTifa LockWark actually, that's what I... I mean Chocolina came up with." She won't admit to having a lapsus and starting to talk like a chcoobo. Well Aerith would know from last time, but not Seifer.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith really, truly wanted to roll her eyes at the insufferable man behind them, who she'd met a while back... and found something innately wrong with. But at the same time, she didn't have any real qualms with him. He hadn't done anything to her... yet. So she refrained from commenting about his quite obvious generalization and went back to focusing on the path before her. Tifa however, asked the question that was quite obvious from the get-go, the one Aerith felt she needed to ask after they were out of the dimly-lit maze filled with all sorts of traps and a treasure somewhere inside, with a potential trap on that too.

Stormfall has posed:
It's not hard to get down into the well.

A bit of rope, a nearby vine, anything handy would be enough to do. It is gloomy, damp and dark at the bottom with only a circle of light above from the overcast sky to cast any light on the surroundings. The bottom is almost a foot of mud and accumulated debris, with no sign at all of any corridor or caverns underneath it at all.

It's an old muddy well.

The walls are slippery stone with faint markings on them, etched into the stone. A rat, a long boat, a razor, a little guard house, treasure, bones, all sorts of markings have been etched into the stones here in all directions, most of them shrouded by leaves and the march of time. There was something else that the old man said. It hadn't made any sense at the time. He had laughed, in the middle of a sentence, until he had coughly rasped out.

"What DO you do with a drunken sailor?" to which he had started laughing again and only through long suffering patience were they able to get him going again.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
With a wave of his hand, Seifer Almasy, Knight of the Sorceress Edea swept her question aside, "None of your business." he answered, face screwing up in a terse, bitter scowl. He'll weather the sharp looks he gets for that one silently. It's a rare occurence.

It just so happened that Seifer had himself a rope, call it a minor perk to his onerious presence. Twisting and fastening it against a nearby tree trunk, he made their decent that much easier.

At the bottom, he likely being the last to go down, being robbed of the view to going first, Seifer shifted and pulled at his legs, trying to keep from being mired in the clutter and muck. He wore a scowl to depict his displeasure.

He got over it however, taking his mind off of his boots just long enough to think out what the man meant. A clue, it looked like.

"Either of you know any sea shantys?" he voiced aloud, turning a critical eye to Aerith and Tifa... Aerith seemed more hesitant to engage with him than Tifa. Cowerdice, timid or meek. Now would be a good time to hold a minor congress... instead, he 'took charge' and trudge towards the razor's etching, probing it with finger and hand to see if it hid a switch.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart is just like that, she's friendly enough, she doesn't judge other people unless they do something directly to her, and its not like Seifer REALLY seems bad, he might have his own reasons though. She just need to ask the right question, maybe. "Okay, sorry for being so forward, let's try that differently. I'm Tifa, and this is Aerith, we're friends of Rinoa. If there's ever something on your mind or you need something, you can come to us, alright?"

She says simply, following the tall man down the well and then through the passageway. She hmms, and looks around the well when she's down there. She sees the scribbles on the walls, she remembers what the old man said, but it doesn't seem to have much link with each other. What do you do with a druken sailor anyway? Toss it overboard? She'd think that most sailors are tipsy most of the time anyway...

Aerith has posed:
Aerith chuckled at his question. "Put him in the longboat and make him bale her, of course!" She took a look at the other depictions, not necessarily seeing them as clues at all. "Put him in the guardhouse 'til he gets sober... Hmm." She turned toward Tifa at her offer. "Y'know, I'd prefer it if we didn't have a man who threatened to /kill/ one of our friends come to us for consolation..." She glanced back at Seifer. "...And I can guarantee you he wouldn't accept it."

Perhaps not so meek after all.

Stormfall has posed:
Prodding the razor does in fact cause a 'CLICK' to softly scrape across the sounds at the bottom of this well.

Several rusty razors snap out from the wall in which that razor was depicted. One at waist height and one at neck height. At least they would be slashing in a vicious arc if they had been properly maintained. The ragged edges stick about three inches from their courses in the walls, shivering with tension.

Something TWANGS inside the stone walls and the blades go slack. So it could be safely assumed that all of these etchings were some sort of button. There was the Long boat, the Guard house, The Razor, The bones, The treasure and the Frog.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith gritted her teeth as the razors jutted out, shuddering to a halt. She shuddered to think at what they would have done if properly cared for. "Right... no touchy the old, dangerous things." She glanced at the symbols. Maybe Seifer had a point... they might be their way out. But the treasure and the bones? No, she had a feeling they had to save those for last. She pointed to the longboat... without touching it. "First verse." Then the guardhouse. "Second verse." She scratched the back of her head after a bit. "And I forget the rest of the song."

Seifer Almasy has posed:
'Taking Charge' has never been Seifer's strong suit. He took charge in all of his SeeD exams and failed everyone. When he had heard that his friends were sent out on a suicide mission, he took charge and almost got himself killed...

Now, he took charge and almost got himself diced. His reflexs, so sharply honed that they would put a cat to shaem, told him to escape, he attempted to spring away... only to find his feet mired to the floor.

The implications all played out very keenly in his head. If someone had taken the time to set up a oil drip for those mechanisms, had water not seeped into them...

Sweat beaded on his brow, his jawline tightend, that was close.

The relief, the sudden, keen awareness of his mortality, Seifer balled it all up and tucked it into a hole, shovaling bravado and egotism over it to hide it away "Tsch!" his features twisted into another sneer, he turned away, one trudging step after another pulling him clear of the wall incase that tension should break through the disrepair that stayed the razors. "It wasn't a threat." he regarded Aerith, "It was a warning." he minded her, arms folding over his chest.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart eeps at the sudden appearing of spikes. Seifer seems okay at least, but the old guy certainly hadn't told her about this trap. She looks at the other pictures "I'm guessing we have the push the right one... Got any idea?" She heard what Aerith said, but it doesn't seem like she ever heard any of those sentences in her life, so she really has no clue. "But I'd take a guess at the long boat... considering the razor had spikes, what would the long boat have for a trap, clubbed by an oar?"

And then she tries to imagine that happening. She scratches her head. "If there's more than one button, I guess..."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded. "And a warning means a certainty, which makes me far less at ease around you." She sighed. "However I am inclined to believe that you have your reasons..." Many of which were not of his own making, that was for certain. "...So I will reserve judgment until the day you actively harm someone." She observed the carved symbols, wondering which one to poke first.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva had been well out and about again and had noitced the strangest thing. It was Tifa dressed a Chocobo, she wasn't alone. Sown theyw ent and well? Call Minerva curious because she darn well is. She'a going shimmy her way down and see just what the heck is going on down there. It wouldn't take long for them to realise they are being followed as someone else is coming near and preahsp into trouble she's not fully aware of.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
And then there is movement at the top of the well.

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!" is the exclamation, as a detective drops down the shaft, using the rope to keep from descending /too/ quickly. He hits the muddy floor, and looks around. "Hey there! You guys looking for treasure t-"

He pauses, looking directly at Tifa. "Tifa..." Mercade Alexander, Detective At Large, asks, "Why are you dressed like a chocobo?" He just had the sailor talk to his chocobo, Watson. It loved the attention and decided to hang out with the old bastard for a while.

He glances to Aerith and Seifer. "And I don't believe I've met the both of you." He gestures, flicking a hand and producing two business cards, which are handed out. "Mercade Alexander, detective with the Twilight Detective Agency. A pleasure to meet you both." He moves a hand up as if to tip a hat, but he pauses, grimacing for a moment, and gives a two-finger salute instead.

He looks at the surroundings and purses his lips. "What do you do with a drunken sailor, what do you do with a drunken sailor, what do you do with a drunken sailor, er-layyy in the morning..." He hums.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart deadpans a bit at Mercade's question. She's been asking herself the same thing for the past few days honestly. Everytime there was a different reason! "... Old quasi-senile old man wouldn't talk to anyone but his deceased chocobo about the treasure..." She doesn't say that very loudly either. More like embarassed, even if everyone here knows the reason she did. She didn't think she'd need to explain it to someone else at this point.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith takes one of the cards and slips it into the inside pocket of her jacket for the time being. She'd give it a closer examination later. "Aerith Gainsborough, a pleasure Mr. Alexander." She decided to try her luck, hoping that following the song would lead to something. "Put him in the longboat and make him bale her..." She poked the symbol with her right index finger, turning away as if fearing the worst...

Stormfall has posed:
Apparently lay there like an ancient well full of potentially trapped carvings with a foot of mud at the bottom. The blades that had protruded from the stones lay quiet and there seems to be no timed mechanisms that still function. The Long Boat, The Guard House, The Razor, The Bones, The Treasure and The Fish have yet to be pressed.

To those who know the song, or even half way remember it, some of these things are not like the others. Some of these things just do not belong. When Aerith pokes at the symbol there is another 'CLICK' of something being triggered. Putrid water pours from the top lip of the ancient stones, bubbling through cracks in shattered pipes and quickly making the bottom an even more soupy morass.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart erks "There goes the theory at least." She looks at the murky water rising, and then back at Aerith "... I'm thinking we need to push the rest of the song before we're up to our necks in this. Just a hunch." She reaches over to the guardhouse, since Aerith seemed sure about that one at least.

At least no more spikes yet...

Aerith has posed:
Aerith gritted her teeth as she guessed wrong. Right, following the song to the verse was not the way to go, and the water just dumped on the mud beneath them. And it was coming up inch by inch. "I'm not sure we need the rest of the song, we just need the right verse!" The problem was, the right verse wasn't about to show itself any time soon, and they needed it! The obvious answer was not always the most obvious one though, so... she glanced at Tifa. "I'm not about to do something I'll regret, you get the next one!" She pointed toward the guardhouse, this time without touching it... "Second verse!"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Give the guy a break, it's not like he's going to fall out of the sky and skewer you with a sword!

He's much more likely to just shove you inside of a large, masculine woman.

He's about to do his best impression of CardCrusher. the card drawn into the palm of his hand, fingers poised to curl around it when... he figured he might be able to use a detective someday. He slips it into his long coat. There are pockets in there somewhere. So many pockets.

Then water, he curses, just curses in general. "Agh, this isn't working!" he barks to the gathered. It wasn't the razor, it wasn't the longboat...

This was a trap for pirates, made by a pirate... They would all know the damn song! They were having trouble with it because they weren't sailors!

"Hold it!" Barks Seifer, trudging over to stop Tifa from pressing the scrawl, a hand whipping out to sharply smack her hand away!

"Think, this guy was hiding his crap from pirates, right. They already know the damned song! And they all died trying to get it!"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart eeps as Seifer slaps her hand. She blinks at what he says "... Well then should we try the skull?" She doesn't know the rest of the song, but that'd be probably the one she'd rather not touch "Does anyone know the rest of the song anyway?" SHe certainly doesn't! And she decides not to touch anything until someone figures it out. At least they can swim to the top if it gets to it... She thinks.

Will Sherman has posed:
There is a sound from the well as someone presses the wrong button as well.

SPLASH.

There is a fit of coughing before...

HOBO LAD HAS ARRIVED. "Man, seriously, I am not waiting up there with the rope! That is boring and you are boring for making me do it!" he says, crossing his arms at Mercade, and the rope was in hand. Wait...how are they supposed to use it to climb out?

"Anyway, what is going on down here and why is there water pouring into the room?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith shook her head. "The only ones that don't belong are...." She takes another look... and slowly remembers the song. Longboat, Razor, Guardhouse, Flippers, all obvious traps each with a different outcome.... But she hadn't heard of a bone verse, and the treasure chest was the last resort. "It's either the treasure chest or the bones, and I can tell you that the chest is the last one I'd pick. Take note that I could be wrong, and it could be the guardhouse for all I can tell."

Minerva has posed:
Minerva pauses as she hears someone else arrive as she catches up with the whole group. She looks at Mercade she knows he's Avira's friend and sht seems flad enough to see him. "Might I ask just what is going on here? I saw Tifa dressed in such a state and had to see just what was happening. Aerith and Seifer. "Grettings I'm Mienrva so just what is gong on here?"

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade scrambles as the water begins to rise. "Uhhhhh... Longboat, guardhouse, razor. The fish, bones, and the treasure don't fit, though the first might! The odd one out are definately the bones and the treasure!"

Mercade shrugs, and then jumps to one side as Will splashdowns. "AAAH! WILL! Don't do tha..." He pauses. "You're holding the rope. Why are you holding the rope?" He looks up at the well. "Ohhhhh damn." He looks back at the others, "Quick! Solve this thing before we drown!" He glares at the treasure chest button and the bones button. "What if that's just what they WANT you to think? Will! You're lucky, pick one of those two!"

He ignores Minerva for the moment.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Seifer considers the remaining glyphs, attention shifting from one to the other. He comes down to three, The fish, treasure, and skull. "All of you climb out, I'll-" someone plummets from above... someone with a rope.

Seifer goes quiet, deathly quiet. He looks upon Will, attention shifting from the rope in hand to the man itself.

"YOU STUPID GODDAMN IDIOT, HOPW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW, WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU UNTIE A ROPE, A ROPE THAT LEADS INTO SOME KIND OF HOLE, ANY KIND OF HOLE, ARE YOU A IDIOT, ARE YOU RETAQRDED, ARE YOU A IDIOTIC DUMBASS THAT JUST GOES AROUND JUST TAKING OTHER PEOPLE'S ROPES!?" his voice ecghoes off tof the confining walls, he's fuming, furious, hands rake back through his hair, teeth bare and gnash.

With a harsh, snarl of anger, he klashes out, a fist crashing into a wall... right over the skull.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade shakes his head. "Nope. He's just kind of a fool-OH HELL!" Mercade leaps for a wall, expecting lots of death.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will blinks and looks at everyone.

"Okay!" he walks up...

He has absolutely no idea what this is even about...

Earlier during the song...

Will had a hat over his face, taking a doze because Pirate music is dumb.

So dumb. Pirates are cool, but their songs are dumb. Then suddenly Seifer starts screaming going on about this or that and then Will kinda looks at him...and decides to remove a string.

Seifer hits a wall...which happens to be a skull button.

"Oh. I shouldn't have done that yet." he says, scratching the back of his head. Will looks suddenly ready...

Stormfall has posed:
Eveerything goes to hell just about the time Seifer loses his temper and PUNCH the Skull button. Spears shoot from pretty much EVERYWHERE.

Every crack, every crevice, every shadow is suddenly a place where a spear of rusted metal or wood can shoot out. Many of them are broken and the trap splintered, but far too many of them are still highly dangerous. There is still the matter of the water being about knee high at this point as well.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart acks as everything goes from bad to worse. Spears, these aren't entirely rusted and broken down, unlike the razors, so she barely manages to avoid the most dangerous ones, one of them still cuts her leg a little, nothing too serious at least. "If its not the skull, then its the chest?" She noticed where Seifer punched only after the fact though. "We're going to run out of time at this rate!"

Will Sherman has posed:
"OH GOD SPEARS!" Will says, suddenly dropping to the ground as one flies over his head. He looks at Seifer and frowns...but he's not going to do anything more to the man...that should be punishment enough. For a while.

"Can I solve this thing now or are you done having a temper tantrum?" he asks Seifer. "Seriously, whoever you are. If you wana punch walls punch the walls that are not buttons full of traps." he says again and closes his eyes.

Will randomly selects a button!

The Guardhouse.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith made to avoid the spears, catching some of them with her staff. By sheer luck, none of them tear a single piece of clothing or penetrate anything vital. She shuts her eyes and makes an attempt not to grind her teeth. This was very, very annoying.

Minerva has posed:
Minervas now hears the water, and realises what a sinking situation this is for everyone down here. It's just really become one of those days for her and she's not a very good puzzel person when you get down to it. Everything is just going bad here she looks about as she sees the old traps go off. It still has teeth and she's attempting to evade. "This isn't the best idea to just be hitting buttongs!" She's looking about trying to find a clue, some hint to the soultion to the puzzel.

Will Sherman has posed:
"It is the best idea! I know what I am doing, I have covered wars before!" Will says towards Minerva. He pauses, looking at Mercade, "That thing on the plains was a war right? That counts as covering?"

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"AAAAH! OOOH! AAAAAH! EEEE!" Mercade bends in all directions as he tries to keep from getting skewered by splintered wood and rusty metal. "WILLLLLLLLLLLL!" He yells, just as four more spears begin pinning him neatly into place. "That was totally not a war. And you didn't cover it at all!"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
"Oh motherf-" Seifer can just make the dome of the skull out over his knuckles, he speaks, lips tucking in between his teeth to complete the explitive when spears make a jungle gym of the bottom of the muddy, wet well bottom. With feet anchored, he can do little against several spears that were meant to kill the pusher of the button. Luck, even luck that was meant to be worse than it was-

Will.

Saves him, a spear jets out at chest height, nothing but a broken shaftm another jabs in from the left, he sways backwards. He twists this way and that, one shaft finds him, it digs across his side tearing through the meager protection offered by his vest and piercing through the back of his coat.

"No, not the chest!" he snaps to the chesty woman.

Shutup!" he offers, ever-eloquently , to Will.

Stormfall has posed:
CLICK.

Giant bars of metal shoot over the entrance to the well, trapping them in a watery tomb of rising waters. As this is happening however there is another fainter click. A three click series that is mostly lost in the general furor of activity. The water rises to about knee height before evening out, rumbling cracks opening in the floor as an ancient door mechanism attempts to slide stones out of the way but impeded by a great deal of rust.

The water level starts to drop as the door finally wrenches open, revealing a small staircase of roughly hewn steps leading down and around a corner. The staircase steps are worn and smoothed and practically a slide with the water cascading over them.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart looks worried as the way up gets barred "Will, what have y-" Then she hears even more noise. What's going on? She doesn't feel at ease with this at all.

But finally the water receedes, and she phews. At least they won't drown while unable to get out of there. She glances up though "Well no choice but going down now..."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith sighed. "The obvious answer... is always the last one you pick, because it could be the most trapped." She had no complaints about making her way downstairs first, and does so without hesitation. "Let's find this stuff." Her steps are careful, yet confident.

Will Sherman has posed:
"Heeeeey! I totally solved it and I don't even get a thank you? A hug? Something to eat?" he whines...so unloved. He looks back at Mercade, "Lies! It was a war. People were fighting and there were ships and explosions. You're just jealous." he says and looks back at Seifer. "You ain't getting lucky again for a long time." he says, mysteriously, as if telling his future, and heads down the stairs after the other ladies. "Seriously, I'd kill for a hotdog right now.."

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Seifer extracgts himself from his predicament, eyeing the hole in his coat sourly.

He does so many things in a sour fashion

"What the h-" he utters in answer to Will, a brow lofting upwards as he tromps down the steps, peering upwards into the barred hole... so there will be abother exit?

"You sound like another idiot I know." uttered Seifer, hands snapping his lapels to straighten his coat.

Will Sherman has posed:
"Does everyone you know sound like idiots?" Will asks Seifer. "Cuz if yes, then maybe you have a problem."

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Seifer Almasy wants to push Will down the stairs, eyes like blue sky narrow, "What the hell are you trying to say, you stick-bundle bum?" he jeers, a left wrist resting across the back of Hyperion's slide, "Just idiots like you that can't think of anything but stuffing their faces."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart claps her hands for attention "Hey now, no fighting, we're stuck together for a while, no matter what you two say, so at least keep it civil until we get out, would you?" Its not like one can just go back up, might as well try to keep things together at least. She goes down after Aerith, wondering where this leads to now... probably more traps. The old guy didn't talk about anything the like at least...

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Can we save the snark until we're done?" Mercade says as he carefully wedges himself out of the spear-like predicament he's been stuck in. "Stupid... spears!" He pulls himself up, and looks over the situation. "Huh. Well, that opened things up nicely. Good job, Will. I'll get you a hot dog when we get back." He peers at Seifer, but says nothing more. He can antagonize Will as his own peril.

He moves on, looking around at the other three. "Are you ladies all right? It's probably going to only get more crazy from here." He carefully begins picking his way down the stairs to go with the others.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith smiled. "Trust me... the situations I've gotten myself into so far define crazy. This is normal, so crazy will have to be impressive." She glanced around at her surroundings, her senses on full tilt for anything... else they had to survive. "So what's your story, Mr. Alexander."

Stormfall has posed:
On to the next adventure. The water slicked steps lead to a long, naturally formed corridor that twists, bending in sharp hairpin curves to where it levels out in a larger and much drier chamber.

It's still pretty small and a little claustrophobic but there is a large gutter that rings the room, the water disappearing while a middle of the roughly circular room is covered by sand. There is an exit from this room on the far wall, where a tightly wound spiral staircase of old wood can be seen going downwards wrapped around it's central pole.

There is also something along the floor. It is mostly covered by the sand but it may be some form of rope winding across the ground.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart looks around her as she reaches the large room. Cough. Its rather dusty and sandy here, considering how wet the well was. She's not about to discuss the finer points of underground feng shui and arrangements though.

She notices the rope there, and certainly doesn't like the looks of it either. It screams 'trap'. She starts to think a bit, before stepping into the room further "What did the old man say next..." she ponders to herself. He did give a bunch of cryptic cules, just have to put them in order.

Aerith has posed:
The first thing she noticed wasn't the sand, or the staircase on the other side. No, it was the rope. If it really was a rope at all. Taken with everything else, it meant they had to cross this room a certain way... or they were more than likely in trouble. "Hold up... this is bound to be bad if we do this wrong." Not that there looks like a right way to do it at all, but they could try to find it.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Seifer Almasy is a walking AOE of antagonisim, a radial douche bag. He scowls at Tifa Lockhart, its different than his usual scowl, lips parted to reveal a glimpse of teeth. He is about to chatter on about him not taking orders from women dressed like animals when the peculiarity of her wearing said uniform sinks in. "Oy, why are you still wearing that, is that the only outfit you have!? Did someone steal your clothes and leave only that behind?"

Were he a gentlemen, he might offer his coat. Seifer Almasy, Knight of the Sorceress Edea, is not a gentlean.

Nobody gets into that coat!

They come to the landing and Seifer picks a spot to the side to overlook their newest hurdle to overcome... He frowns furiously and looks it over, loath to be as... flippant in dealing with that one as he was the last.

He might be sulking, sourly.

Will Sherman has posed:
"Bluh bluh bluh bluh bluh....huge prick." Will mutters before looking at the room a bit. He's really good at getting around dangerous traps, but this one...hm. He didn't hear the song so he has NO idea what was going on besides they were in a trap filled place with a douchebag for some reason.

"Maybe walk around the trap? Seems like the thing to do." Will says, and just stands up and does just that.

Walks around the room, instead of through the middle, to the way through this room.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva says "We'll feed you later if we get out of this alive." She quips back to Hobo King. She seems to be more just trying to keep her mind off hte fix they are in right now. Down she goes with the others keeping careful note to not put too much weight into any one step. I'll buy you one my self if you do get us out of this. I give you my wor." She keeps movign with the rest of the group.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Me?" Mercade chuckles to Aerith. "I'm just a detective, Miss Gainsborough. I'm from Manhattan, and we've been having a lot of Heartless problems lately. I'm out and about looking for things we can do to stop them. Sometimes it seems to result in adventures like this." He laughs, and then looks over the rest of the room. "Huh. This looks ominous." He says. He settles for inching around the edge of the room towards the opposite side.

Stormfall has posed:
There was something about not wiping your feet on the carpet.. and something else about not trusting maypoles. There was one particularly long screed on how he hated stairs. Up or down. It didn't matter. Stairs are a nuisance.

This was peppered through the story about Old Timmy and his cardsharking ways. Will and Minerva continue down the creaking wooden staircase. Each step they take, the old wood creaks and groans.

The tight constraints of the shaft continue downwards and downwards into the bowels of the earth.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart remembers some of the words "He said something about not trusting waypoles... you think it has anything to do with this? Mind you, anything he said made little sense to me." And the more she progresses, the less she understands "Also, something about not wiping your feet on the carpet..." She looks around. Nothing like a carpet, even figuratively...

Aerith has posed:
Aerith sighed and made her way along the edge, eventually ending up at the stairs and following everyone else. Apparently, these scrawls were... well, just scrawls. She almost giggled at the part where he hated stairs. "It's not supposed to make sense. But you really should remember all this stuff." At least, someone should. She was too busy trying to feel out whether there was a killer trap or not around the next corner, or something about to jump at them.

Will Sherman has posed:
"Stairs are kinda shakey." Will says as he starts decending. He moves at a good pace, giving no goosehonks about getting in trouble. He wondered about the carpet everyone kept talking about. "Carpets in a place like this? I mean, can you even get carpet underground? Seems like it'd be a pain in the butt with all the irregular walls and stuff." he says as he continues down.

"I mean, who'd even carpet this place? Gnomes? Dwarves? Other creatures that don't exist?"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
TNeither Will nor Mercade seem to fall to their death. Seifer's frown only deepens.

With Tifa and Aerith leading in the middle, Seifer turns his attention to Minerva, "Go on." he 'suggests' with a cock of his head, indicating he wishes for her to go ahead of him, If the stairs are like the traps, we shouldn't put too much weight on them." He'll follow after her.

Will Sherman has posed:
"Oh that's what's wrong! YOu have self esteem isues! You're not fat whoever you are...a bit...rough but certainly not fat!" Will shouts up at Seifer with a double thumbs up.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart shakes her head to Will "We got this information from a half-senile old man, that is the one that created all of these traps, so don't ask too much abouthow much sense it makes. Its all codewords for traps he placed, just gotta figure out what it means."

Seifer Almasy has posed:
"Fall down those steps and die!" barks Seifer from the top of the stairs.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva is looking about a she moves. She's concerned about the stairs but well? She does seem to know how to shift her weight about sio she hopefully doesn't ruin the stairs. She is keeping an eye out for anything of note. "Indeed we should be careful and who knows what manner of being made this place. It could also be a clue as well."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will shouts back up, "It's okay! I understand! They have places in Manhattan that can help with these problems!" he says and turns to Mercade, "He's just a bit troubled."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith rolled her eyes. Dammit, would these two idiots stop acting like children? She wasn't here to babysit. "Shall we focus? We're almost at the bottom of the stairs here, and I'd like for us all to make it out of here in one piece." Well... relatively everyone. You could never tell when someone would get a bit ticked off and actually do something stupid.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Will is the first person on the stairs. Seifer is the last. There are far too many people in the way for Seifer to throttle Will.

This will change, Hobo. This will change!

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade snorts at Will's joke. "So what about you, Aerith? What's your story?" He asks as they pick their way forward... And then stops, examining the sand. "You know what, hang on." He makes his way all the way back up the stairs, and grabs one of those broken spears, bringing it back down to poke at the sand. "I wonder..." He says, safely staying out of it as he prods. Welcome to the power of ADVENTURING and the 10-FOOT POLE. Well, maybe not TEN feet, but you get the picture. "I'll be with you guys in a second!" He calls.

Stormfall has posed:
The old wooden stairs creak. They creak with age and the passage of the years. They shift under the weight of shoed and booted feet, complaining as they continue their descent. The stairway is magnificently cramped.

The walls of the pillar are close, scratched in long horizontal lines in some places. The stairs continue downwards, wrapped too tightly to really see much past the next couple of stairs.

Creak. Creak. People are descending the stairs. As the next group descends, they see edges of the wood scraping across the wall, the stairs moving across the entranceway before allowing them onto the next spiral.

Poke Poke. The sand. The sand does... nothing. There is still the rope or.. whatever it is buried in the sand. Poking the sand with a spear doesn't seem to have any effect.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart looks over to Seifer, she didn't want to answer the pervious nag about her dressing, she was lost in thought about about avoiding traps, but she can still answer him eventually at least "I don't have my normal clothes with me, if you must know, how would I be carryign them down here." She sighs. Its not like it pleases her anymore than the others to wear this.

Actually, WHO does it bother to see the barmaid in showy clothes? ~_~

"How long does this staircase goes down anyway you think?

Will Sherman has posed:
Will ==> Descend.

Will keeps going down the steps, knowing very well that Seifer probably hates him right now...well, Will might forgive him eventually. But not before the dungeon ends...or something hilarious happens with a trap. Whatever the case, Will keeps going down the hole. "Eh, dunno, but tread lightly or else we'll get to see for ourselves. Also, anyone got a light?"

Will Sherman has posed:
Will then, as an after thought asks, "Why are we even here again? I wasn't paying attention."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart looks over to Will "The rumor is that the old man Timmy's treasure olds the last key to Serendipity. He apparently stored a treasure down here, he's an old card shark, so the Queen of Card is pretty sure it has something to do with Serendipity. They weren't wrong the first 2 artifacts we recovered, so there's no reason to doubt this one either."

She sighs a bit "Although this is pretty dangerous and spooky. I hope this is going to be worth the trip."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will asks the obvious question... "What's a serendipity?" blinking as he considers Tifa. He's also completely approving of her outfit. Because he's an open person, Seifer, not a douchebag.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
SEIFER ALMASY IS NOT CONCERNED WITH YOUR LUSH, FLESHY, MEATY BITS!

He is the Knight of the Sorceress Edea-!

Who... has some kind of skin-condition going on and a motherly vibe that hje just can't shake.

Vibe as in feel. Seifer Almasy, Knight of the Sorceress Edea is not curious enough to worry about what she has in her nightstand.

He has a absent curse and a swear to issue to Mercade when the man bulls past him to go and play in the sand.

He is distracted by the movement of the stairs, he cannot question why Tifa would not have changed clothes wherever she changed into the chocobo outfit in the first place.

He knows she has a different outfit... even if she doesn't wear much then, either!

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade shrugs, and just reaches down to grab onto the rope and pull it. Why the hell not. How bad could it possibly be? "STILL NOT DEAD YET!" Mercade calls. He needs to remind Will of this every so often or else Will starts getting ideas. "God, don't be such a jerk." He calls back to Seifer as he runs past.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva is starting to wonder about these stairs she really is. If only someone had warned the party about stairs. It's too late for them at this point. She ==> Decends along si with Will. She's very careful still as this place something is't right. "I can provide one if needed." She takes a moment as she holds up her fist and it blazes to life wraped in holy light.

Aerith has posed:
And the further down the stairs they go, the more Aerith wonders if this too, is not a trap. So far everything in here seemed to be one, and that set the hairs on the back of her neck to standing. She wanted to hurry up and get out of here, but at the same time, one wrong move would make a step break, and cause someone to fall. So she continued onward, ignoring the quite irritating, yet somewhat justified fear gnawing at her.

Stormfall has posed:
===> Descend_Ok

The old wooden stairs creak. One of them SNAPS under the weight of a foot but not dangerously so. It is simply surprising. The wooden shaft winds the stairs in an constant stream of tightly spaced steps.

This must be an old mining shaft or similiar drop to go down so far. The stairs tremble as they shift under the weight of shoed and booted feet, complaining as they continue their descent. The rope resists him. There is a /considerable/ resistance. At first he doesnt get any leverage but then something gives, just a little bit, somewhere underneath the sand. It's going to take some time pulling with just himself though.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will pauses...

Will Goes through his stuff, for a moment, pulling out his phone. He switches to the flashlight app, and turns it on.

Then, very very carefully...he takes a step. to see what happens.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade gives up on the rope for now. He'll look at it later. Everyone else is getting way ahead! He moves to the stairway and looks down it. "Hey, you guys okay down there?" He calls. How far down /are/ they?

Seifer Almasy has posed:
The next time Seifer Almasy, Knight of the Sorceress Edea, meets someone named Timmy, he's going to slug that person in the nose.

Won't matter who they are. Just, WHAM! Right in the nose.

May poll, stairs, up or down. Were they making any advancement?

The stairs are moving beneath him, he extends a hand to the wall, trying to see if he was making any progress at all on this screw.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith placed a hand on the wall as well... and wondered the same thing, almost unconsciously. Were they in the trap, and didn't know it? Her eyes narrowed as a suspicion arose. Part of her wanted to confirm this, and the rest of her, with each passing second, agreed. "Everyone stop, please."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart doesn't know anything right now, she's just trying to follow and keep a look with her eyes, making sure they miss nothing important, a trap, or a clue to unlocking a trap maybe. "Serendipity is supposely a magical world, like an endless carnival and a casino that never closes. I'm not entirely sure since I never been there, but that's what the Queen said at least. Chocolina apparently comes from there, and she's really hyper. And Corneo... just wants the money I think." She shrugs her shoulders at that. They are almost there in unlocking it, might as well go to the end.

Stormfall has posed:
The stairs move while Will is NOT moving. In fact, the only reason he didn't realize they were moving on their own was because he was moving himself. Mercade sees a ragged edge of wood from the top of the 'stairway' scrape across the stone in a long horizontal line that spirals downwards.

The old wooden stairs creak not only because they are old, but because the major shaft is actually rotating in the direction Will and his group was moving. Since some of the others are still descending from further up in the 'staircase' the pole continues to turn and accomodate them.

Seifer will note that is his hand doesn't make any progress past a certain point. He just seems to be going in a repeating pattern. The 'stairs' are doing the walking for them in the same place, and they may as well be going nowhere for as long as they move downwards.

If and when everyone stops, the stairs will also stop moving.

Will Sherman has posed:
"Well...I guess we need to get out and examine the room above us better." Will shrugs, "Or we can sit here and walk all night! Either way, I would rather eat tonight at some point soon.." he says, sourly.

"HEy MERCADE! Mess with the rope up there could you!"

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade peers at the stairs.

Well, this is a simple problem to solve.

Spear, meet wall. Wall, meet stairs. The Stairs? They are about to be.... JAMMED.

"Now that's a bastardly trick." The Detective says. "DON'T WORRY WILL! I GOT THIS! KEEP GOING!" He calls down. He wants to see if the jam holds before heading down himself.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will blinks...

"Oh okay! Change of plans! Everyone go forward!" Will says, and walks forward. Alot.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
It was a massive waste of time!

Anger flushed hot it Seifer's gut and he was tempted to strike at the wall again, or the stairs, or the central shaft...

But that worked so well last time!

"Agh, damnit!" he snarls! coming to a stop on the stairs and turning back to look at the top.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart hrms "That's probably what he meant about beware of the stairs." She stops and looks down, trying to see underneath the staircase and the wooden planks "If the drop isn't too high, we could just break through and jump down, don't you think?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith shook her head. "No. Drop's probably too far no matter how you slice that. There's another answer to this, and I wouldn't be surprised if Mercade's found it..."

Stormfall has posed:
So. A gentle recap for those watching at home.

While everyone is going down, the stairs go down. While everyone is going up, the stairs go up. When Mercade jams the stairs and people go both up and down at the same time?

SNAP.

Tifa can see a number of gears and pulleys through the ragged gaps in the boards. What she also is privledged to see is the gears being stripped from the machinery as the stairway strains against the jammed spear.

The entire stairway starts to shudder, springs and gears flying everywhere. Will and whoever else who followed him while the stairs were jammed quickly reaches the end of the stairs while they are stuck. They end out in open space about two feet from the bottom of a decently sized shaft. There is another crack, and wood and gears and machine parts fly everywhere as the entire staircase collapses.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith gritted her teeth as she stairs trembled, shook, and... "I /knew/ it!" She leapt from the step she was on, hoping that would at least spare her some of the absolute pain everyone else must have been feeling. She'd heal later if she could, but right now her main thought was just to stay alive. Without any kind of guide what so ever, she landed, rolled over her right shoulder, and peered up at the stairwell that looked more like a traffic accident in slow motion.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Oh, crap. The stairs! they're busted! Mercade leans over into the abyss, and yells down at Will, "DAMMIT WILL! I WARNED YOU ABOUT STAIRS! I TOLD YOU, DOG!"

Will Sherman has posed:
"IT KEEPS HAPPENING!" Will shouts as he falls down the stairs.

Luckily he falls slower than everyone else...and lands on something soft. Only YOU can decide who/what he landed on people!

"That wasn't so bad."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart fell to her doom! Sorta. Well she's not death. She tried to slow down her fall by using her boots along the wall!

Except she's wearing high heels.

She crashlands with a accompagnying 'ow' in the pile of garbage and miscellaneous moldy stuff at the bottom. She grunts, pushing the things away to get back up.

Unfortunatly, no, the chocobo costume doesn't allow to fly, and neither is very squishy to land with.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva is looking at will and Mercade. What have they done? Also the nature f the stairs is bugging her. Then to her suprise everything fully gives way. All sorts of mechanical. she does not waste time as she hears a comment about stairs that's very fair and wise a she goes down the stairs. "Oh for the ..." How she lands is well up to the GM

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Gears grind and groan, everything goes wrong aT EXACTLY THE RIGHT TIME. The step beneath him gives way, twisting and creaking out from underfoot

He drops, falling with horrid, terrible speed. It is dangerously fast, streaking through the dark, being pulled down by horrid gravity and the twist of fate of having angered some tool with his hands in Lady Luck's pocket.He was the last one on the stairs, Will was the first. He hits the ground, painful and hard, it knocks the breath from him... and then something crashes ontop of him

It feels like a hobo.

Stormfall has posed:
And Minerva bumps several times and crashes into the moldy detritus at the bottom of the shaft, cascading down the stairs to thump quite magnificently into the Squeakbo. WHOOMP.

And now everyone is at the bottom of the deep shaft with broken wood and machinery around them. The central pole survived (barely) although cracked and obviously unstable. Several gears are imbedded there. The entrance to the 'stairway' can just be barely seen in the distance above.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
A short time later, Mercade descends into the darkness WITH A ROPE. Yes. THAT ROPE. THE ONE WILL BROUGHT DOWN WITH HIM. ALL HAIL THE ROPE. He lands lightly on the ground from the length of heavenly vertical motion assistant, and flicks on a flashlight, looking around. Because he carries a flashlight. What, you don't?

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart gets flatten a bit more into the pile x_x Yeah, this isn't a good day for her.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will finally stands up, getting off of Seifer and walks away from him. "Wow, that was a lucky break! Anyone hurt?" he asks, looking towards Tifa. "Need some help up?" he offers to help her up, ignoring the guy who broke his fall.

BECAUSE HE DESERVES THIS!

Minerva has posed:
Minerva says, "os nopt so badly off she doens't what to know all the things she's hit on the way down but at least she's landed on something soft. It's warm too. She's dazed and tyring to get up before she realises it's a person. She turns red and attempts to spring off Tifa. "I am sorry!" She's still looking red as she's trying to help Tifa get out of the pile of DOOM"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
There will be a reckoning, a horrible settling of scores and paying of dues. It will come regardless of time or place, in the blackest night, in the brightest day, in the dimmest eveining, it will come. It will arrive in the most dire of moments, in the most dour times, it will come when all is joyeus and gay and peace reigns throughout the lands. When love has conquered all, when all hope has died, it will come.

Will's name, a series of lines that link together and stand alone, it has been etched, uit has been burned into-

The List.

Seifer hauls himself from the ground, growling his discomfort and displeasure as he shakes himself free of the rubble and clutter, brushing it from his shoulder and shaking it from his coat.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart lifts a hand as an answer to Minerva. Yeah, she's hurt, but more in her pride than anything else at this point, she's had worse physically. "... Its okay..." She says meekly, before 'peeling' herself out of the pile with Minerva's help x.x That might hurt in the morning still.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith sighed, thankful that at least everyone got off those stairs... somewhat safely.

She glanced around, hoping to find some way to get out of here that didn't involve springing /another/ trap.

Stormfall has posed:
It's a shaft. About the same size and shape as the last time anybody looked at the walls as they were going down the fake staircase. Although by the magic of Rope there is now a fairly decent egress from the predicament.

Let us skip to the part where everyone (Even Seifer) has used this magic to ascend back to the former chamber. There is still the rope attached to something embedded in the sand and the stairway leading back up to the bottom of the well, but nothing else has changed.

Will Sherman has posed:
"So we all agree that was a waste of time, despite it being hilarious." For everyone but Seifer.

Will instead touches the rope and tries to trace where it connects to.

Because that's smart.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
MERCADESPINNY

Back in the other room, Mercade begins moving sand out of the way of the pit. Maybe he can reveal what's going on in it. "So, that path didn't work. Let's check this out." He scratches tbe back of his head. "Uh.... Sorry ladies. Will. Seifer." HE ACTUALLY APOLOGIZED TO SEIFER? WHAT?

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded. "That's fine. Wasn't the answer I was looking for, but it confirmed what I thought about those stairs." She headed for the rope... which of course, was not a rope. She knew that now. It was something heavier, wasn't it? "I think he needs some help with this thing." 'Course it could be trapped too, but they didn't have much of a choice. "Come on."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart didn't think it was funny either! She gives a kick on Will's shin for that as she walks past in, grumbling a bit. CHOCOKICK!

"So what's next now... we got the carpet and the waypole to watch otu for..." she sighs, and looks at the rope that got unsanded "I guess we have to try this? Or do you want to try to find another way?"

Stormfall has posed:
The rope is actually attached to a large metal ring which is embedded in the sand. The ring, once Mercade starts to remove sand from around it, is attached to a mechanism. A metal cord holds the ring in place and disappears into the buried mechanism. As Mercade discovered earlier, it is very difficult to pull the cord and the ring but possible.

Will Sherman has posed:
"Huh." Will says, and spits into each hand...before grabbing the Rope and...

PULLING!

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Seifer catches his breath. Enough time passes for him to not be fuming about how Mercade not only lead them into the trap... but also almost got them killed by breaking it! He places Mercade's share of the blame on Will, regardless of factuality.

"Yeah, yeah." he answers tersely, perfectly fine with going by Coat Guy. He's actually being hesitent to give out his name for some, ungodly reason recently.

"So what now?" he mutters, hands sweeping back over his, astonishingly unmussed hair. He steps up and takes hold of the rope behind will, "We just pull this damn thing?!"

He doesn't need spit, he has gloves, gloves with fingers, unlike hobo gloves. He sets his feet and gets to it.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart shakes her head "Might as well..." She moves along with the others, helpign them to pull on the rope. ALthough she's lacking a bit of grip on the flood with those high heels...

Aerith has posed:
And yet, Aerith has no problem, with those sandals of hers. She pulls along with the others, eyes narrowed in focus. If this was a trap, fine. Let it spring. They'll just escape again and check another dead end off the list. But she really, /really/ hoped that this was the way to go.

Minerva has posed:
Back up they go to where they should be, man this was all just a trap Thankfully they do have a way out. She's just glad she wore her normal boots than something more ment for a night at the ball. She's got lucky at this point. Seriously what is hidden here that the hiders wanted to protect so badly?

Stormfall has posed:
CLACK.

The sound effect guy is getting the run around today. The metal ring is pulled, the cord stretching back until something engages. A part of the wall creaks on old hinges, swinging away to reveal another corridor. This one looks almost normal (for a certain degree of normal) with tightly fitted stoned and wall sconces adorned with long since burned away stubs of torches.

This corridor terminates in a Y junction. Each pathway splits off to a room with a closed door. The one to the left is made of rotten and splintering wood while the one on the right is scarred by fire and banded by iron.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Seifer edges towards the left bend and fishes inside of his coat, it is a great coat, what with the red crosses on the sleeves. He pulls out a small, glass potion, it's contents red and fizzing. Popping the cork, he downs it quickly, setting right what the fall and the spears set wrong.

Now, with empty bottle in hand, the man in the grey coat reels back and pitches the bottle down the iron-jacketed corridor, seeing if whatever surprises that lay within are activated by motion.

Will Sherman has posed:
"So...any clues in the song about right or left here?" Will says at the cross roads. Oh no, Seifer, don't go...

Will turns towards the others... "So what way?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart shakes her head "I have no idea, he didn't leave a clue for this part, so maybe both are the right direction, but different paths?" She supposes, and heads to the iron door. She looks if anyone else follows her there...

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded. "I'm with Tifa. Someone come with us; the rest head for the other side. At this point, I don't care who gets there first, just as long as we get there." She waved to the rest of the group, letting them decide who would follow with Tifa and her.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
This time, Mercade follows the chocobo woman. Maybe she'll be good luck too. "No indication eitherway, let's follow Tifa." He grins at her. "You know, you're kinda cute in that costume." He grins to Aerith too.

TOO BAD GUYS. MERCADE IS GOING WITH THE WOMEN.

Will Sherman has posed:
"Huh." Will says, and looks at Seifer. "And here I thought they wanted peace." he shrugs to the man. "Women, right?" he looks at Minerva. Yes, he just said that, and takes the group the OTHER direction.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
"What the hell are you even talking about?" remarks Seifer to will, attention drifting to the deranged homeless man

Will Sherman has posed:
"You're not too bright are you, coat guy?" Will remarks back. "Seriously. Pay attention."

Stormfall has posed:
The potion bottle smashes against the iron door. The heap of glass falls to the ground. Opening the iron door doesn't trigger anything dastardly either. However. there are a heap of charred bones greets Tifa if she opens it. The room is a ruin of scorch marks. A high domed room with a central pillar running almost to the very top. There are more bones near the opposite wall where there is another iron banded door.

The old splintered wooden door leads to a maze of living quarters. Rotting maps and old books. Potion bottles. A significant supply of rum (which is where it has gone, apparently) all stacked in rows and racks. Several treasure chests line the rooms, each with a skeleton either beside them or draped over them. One treasure chest seems to have melted and sagged half way into the floor. There are more rooms than that. It will take a little searching, but surely what they are looking for, the Deck of Cards that was the prize possession, must be around here somewhere.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart hmms as she takes a quick survey around. There's nothing of worth, nothing that hasn't rotted away at least. She thinks about what the old man said again "Waypole and carpet... I don't see a carpet, but..." She looks at the set of charred bones right in front of the door... She takes a step back, and picks up a nearby piece of wood, and tosses it into the room, at the pile of bones in front of the door.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
"Whaddya mean, 'pay attention'" Seifer's voice dips into a mocking immitation, "I check for a trap and you flap your gob about peace?!" he rails, hands tossed in the air in exasperation. His arms drop and he heaves a breath, shoulders sagging and arms drooping as he wanders into the living quarters, "You're stupid right? Dumb, slow, dropped on your head as a baby, played with mercury or something?" he continues, coat flipped back and away from Hyperion at his hip as he prowls the room, steps keeping clear from the chests and their dead men.... Or women, he couldn't tell from hip bones. "That's it, thzat's gotta be it! You untie a rope, tyou spout off nonsens, you're dumb, alright, I get it!" he prattles on, more interested in the maps than the other things, even going so far as to pull out his phone, flip it open, and snap a picture... The shattering might have made some of these worthless, but still... Galbadia will need them in time.

Will Sherman has posed:
"Blah blah blah...quiet Talky man, I am searching for things." Will says towards the ranting Seifer, and continues to actually do what he says...search for the legendary Deck of Cards for some reason. Or something, he doesn't even know, he's just here because a lady with feathers tricked Mercade into helping her.

And he's now regreting even coming down here...

Then he remembers landing on Seifer, "Nah, I don't regret that..." he mutters to himself, smiling.

He also avoids the chests...well, he throws a rock at one of them to see what happens.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade looks over the room from his position, and considers the construction. "Well, this looks decidedly trap-like." He says. "I wonder what the trigger is."

He waits to see if Tifa's examination bears fruit. IT wouldn't do for them to get char-broiled.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith meanwhile... takes a good look around the room.

She doesn't like what she sees.

Burn marks, everywhere. As if the whole room had been lit ablaze from within. This trap had all the signs of having something to do with fire, and she didn't want to be in here if they set it off... but splitting up was the logical conclusion. They had to, in order to search both rooms at once.

Just because it was a sound idea didn't mean she liked it, but she went with it, and chewed on her bottom lip as Tifa investigated a pile of bones...

Minerva has posed:
Minerva nods about the party split she's got a bad feeling about this but well what could go wrong for her? She's with Will and Seifer right? She heads on after them and she's not sure just what's going to happen with those two. She may have to grab them both by the ear if it comes to it. She heads up to the rum and sighs . "It's all gone." She sighs and keeps looing about. "So just what /are/ you looking for? Also I have not introduced myself I am Minerva."

Stormfall has posed:
Near the Iron Door-- Tifa's block of wood thunks into the pile of bones, scattering the charred remains. As it does so, clattering and sliding into the room the Iron door swings shut with a lightning quick SNAP and a tearing screech of hinges. Soon thereafter a rhythmic series of heavy thuds can be heard through the door.

In the Living Quarters --

There are only one or two rooms that haven't been checked out now. The rock hits the treasure chest and bounces off. Whatever was in them and whatever triggered the death of whoever wanted them has been completely spent.

There might have been gold or jewels present at some point, or maybe they were just one more temptation that turned around and bit. The two rooms remaining unsearched are mirror images of eachother. The one on the right is the mirror image of the one on the left.

Thick green carpet, matted and thickly shag, extends to the very corners of the room. Each has a desk and more books at the far end of the room, with a small ornate box sitting on top of the desk in the left room and absent in the right.

Anybody with a sense for darkness also knows something is lurking around here, hungry but mostly dormant.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva pauses for a moment looking round to Will and then to Seifer "We're not alone here, there's something and it's dormant we bust make haste. Find what we seek and depart least we wake whatever it is." The monk contiunes to look around now expecting to be jumped by sme slobbering horror.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart looks over to Aerith, and nods, waiting for the sounds to stop, and then opening the door again "Well, obviously, the 'carpet' is when you enter the door here, good thing I checked... I'm not sure if we can move over the carpet, but since the rest of the room seems untouched, should be safe." She tries going in first, jumping over the pile of charred bones to an area that doesn't seem like its burned down. Sees if the door closes behind her.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will looks around a bit...

Hmm...Will starts searching, but he looks at Minerva who says something's a foot. Groaning, he looks around another time for something...he can't see anything, so he shrugs.

Will grabs the Ornate box, and opens it.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith meanwhile... should have known that was coming.

The door closed in front of them, locked shut, and something on the other side made sure it probably stayed that way. She sighed and stood at the ready for anything else that wanted to be annoying. "So then, that room is bad... shall we join the others?"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Seifer continues to mill about, joining the pair. He eyes the carpet and simply looks away, a absent smile drifting across his face. Maybe that was it.

He drifts to the room that Will had not trespassed into and halts at the doorway, stooping down to lift up and peer beneath the carpet of this twin room.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade shrugs. Hey, why not. The room is a deathtrap but Tifa seems to know what she's doing.

He's already almost killed everyone once so he's going to refrain from offering advice until people forget about that one.

He follows along with Tifa, moving where she does.

Stormfall has posed:
Yes. It probably would have been bad to get trapped in the room with the Iron Door. There is a sound of roaring flames inside the room and the faster and faster cadence of the heavy thumping noises.

Meanwhile, back in the living chambers, Seifer pulls up the rug.

The Shag carpet is pretty moth eaten and disgusting, bits of spoiled food and drink and the dirt of ages ground into it. The floor underneath is solid stone, but he is only able to lift a portion of it. The shag extends all the way to the corners of this room, held down in some places by the identical desk with several drawers, multiple closets and tarnished dinnerware. A half finished game of cards sits on the desk, layered by dust.

The Shag carpet in Will's room however, stops him about a step or so in by not actually being a FLOOR. Just a pit of shag carpet that acts like cloth based quicksand.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will slips right through the shag carpet!

"Whoa!" he says, and quickly moves to grab the side of the wall, trying to slow his decent by kicking off of it. However, Will, can't fight gravity without momentum, so the best he can do is slow his fall...his hand grabbing the side of the room's ledge where there was solid floor. He hangs for a moment, before...

Slowly...so very slowly, he starts pulling himself upwards. This is harder than it looks, because Will was not GIANT MAN like Tom.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart listens through the iron door, doesn't look like its opening anytime soon anyway "Well, looks like we'll go see what's going on in the other room. Its probably for the best too." She heads toward the room where Seifer, Will and Minerva went into. They can check in before they enter, seeing if they are fighting anything, since they can hear Will struggling.

Aerith has posed:
It was then, when they began to head for the others, that Aerith's senses finally alerted her of something, a stiffness to the air. Her steps slowed, cautious and wary, as she raised her staff. "Something's watching us, and it doesn't like the fact that we're here." It wasn't that she could sense where exactly it was... just that something was there, and it wanted them dead.

Not gone, dead. Preferrably eaten.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva sees that Seifer is all right, it's Will that's in trouble she moves to the eadge gets down on the floor and reches out her hands to will yelling. "GRAB HOLD I'll PULL YOU BACK!" Hopefully this works and makes her a little more scure from the prone postion she's in.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
"Huh..." grunted Seifer, a brow lofting upwards curiously. Maybe it wasn't the carpet... Well, he'll just have to passive aggressively damn Will some other time. Of course.. were he still watching, he could step on the bastard's fingers!

Letting the carpet drop, Seifer tests the rug with his boot... nothing.

Seifer strolls in, free as you please... and looks down at the cards. A glance behind him shows noone. Was this their objective?

Stuuping down, Seifer gathers up the cards before secreting them away into his coat. There is a bit of ruckous from the other room, Seifer has nothing to give in the way of vulgar terms for intercourse. Infact, he's smiling like a person that has, said vulgar terms for intercourse with the mothers of /other/ people. He goes about searching the room, drawers, wardrobes, anything that might be worthwhile.... it's kind of odd that there arn't corpses in here as well... Meh.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will takes the accepted hand and pulls himself out of the hole of shag with Mina's help. "Phew...thanks. Okay. I got an idea. A crafty idea." Will says.

And then Will jumps straight across the carpet to try and land ON the Desk.

This plan can not fail.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade walks along with the other two beautiful and friendly (and deadly when provoked) women. "I concur." Mercade agrees with Tifa and Aerith, nodding sagely.

He has /no/ idea that something is watching them, but he's good at faking it. "I just hope Will isn't doing any ill-advised plans that he thinks couldn't possibly fail."

Stormfall has posed:
Will JUMPS in a greatly poetical leap of faith across the trapped room towards the desk which can't /possibly/ have any more traps invested in it. An Aquatank ERUPTS from the shag carpet, jaws SNAPPING and thrashing to reach Will's tender hobo based meat products but to no avail.

Will continues in his leap onto the desk, overbalances because Speedy things continue to be Speedy when they are not stopped by something as fun as friction, the lack of friction being a slick surface covered by papers and cards, and slams right into the wall. The Aquatank sinks back into the surf before lunging at the desk, biting deep into it and carving a large mouthful out as Will rebounds back onto the desk.

Seifer in the meanwhile. Loots the Room.

When he gets to the drawers, he finds an ornate box identical to the one in Will's room. When he reaches the wardrobe, there is a faint 'click'

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart blinks as she walks within range. What's going on here? That carpet is trying to eat Will? She leaps forward faster, trying to come in to help out, but it looks like its too late. She avoids the carpet altogether for now, and checks on Will "You okay?"

Will Sherman has posed:
Will looks at the Shark that just tried to eat him and his Desk.

"I win." he says to it, before he looks at the ornaite thing on the desk. He checks, it, of course, to make sure it just won't drop him into the thing below...he'd rather not get eaten by a heartless Shark. If it checks out, he'll start looting it to see if it's legit.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade comes leaping from the side, his coat flying in the air, his EVIL SHARK senses tingling. Oh wait, that's THE SOUND OF A SHARK LEAPING. Mercade has both guns out, firing rapidly at the Aquatank as it dives. "SHAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!" He yells, eloquently. "WILL, YOU HATE THE OCEAN FOR A REASON, REMEMBER?"

Minerva has posed:
Minerva gets Will out of a tight fixt but he goes back into the fire? She watches suprised at Will just gets uyp and manages to well? To go for the prie or at least it might be the prize. Seifer meanwhile is looting she's going to be well careful as she looks for traps before she thinsk about looing here. Totally though she wants to get something out of these antics.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Bingo?

Another, suspicious glance makes sure the coast is clear before Seifer slips this second box into his coat, he'll check the contents later. Things are getting nosier, he'll be having company soon.

He hurries along, the wardrobe is next, there is a click and his Seifer-sense pings off. Holding his breath, Seifer darts away just as one mechanism or another expells a cloud of gas. He's lucky, he didn't bring any antidotes with him... Not the best idea...

Not leaving well enough alone, he continues along, checking a second drawer. His Seifer-sense doesn't save him this time.

There is a click and a boom, a loud, horrible boom. Shrapnle peppers his chest, shoulders, a raised arm barely saves him from catching a wash of it to the face!

Stormfall has posed:
So. Will and the Shark merrily run off together to be happy and to enact a million Punch and Judy scenarios. Guess which one is which and win a prize.

So, while it is shark week in a shag carpet exposition over in the left mirrored room at the back of the living quarters, Tifa and the other group find them just in time to hear the echoing BOOM of shrapnel. Somebody triggered the trap cards. And all the rum is gone.

Worst. Adventure. Ever.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart eeps at the explosion, barely has time to protect her vitals with her upper arms as much as she can, shrapnel flying everywhere and scratching her. Nothing serious, she was far enough from the center, but still surprising there "We can't leave you all alone for a few moments that you try to make the thing explode?!?

Aerith has posed:
Aerith gasps as a HUEG SHARK leaps out at the hobo prince! Aerith readies her staff, the materia lighting up like a switchboard, and just as she readies a spell...

BANG.

She turns around, eyes wide with horror as Seifer gets knocked back by what appears to be either a shotgun in a box or a grenade on a string. Either one is bad, and he goes down hard. She runs into the room and sets to healing him. "Hang on!"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Seifer Almasy has just experienced what it is like to have a small, entipersonel grenade go off in his damn face.

And let me tell you, he does not suggest it.

His ears ring, light dances infront of his eyes, and he hurts... Boy, oh, boy, does he hurt!

Shards of metal protrude from his vest, the armorings there having stopped them after they tore through his coat, other have dug into his shoulder and shielding arm, one protrudes from a section of his coat, it did not pirece through for some reason.

He is taking stock of himself, remembering survival training from Galbadia, he stays still, slowly inventorying his pains and what he can move...

And then, little by little, the pain ebbs away, he cracks a eye open and finds Aerith standing there. If she spoke, it was lost in the ringing of his ears... but here she was.

Aerith has posed:
She doesn't care if he can't hear her, the look on her face, shock turning to disdain, should be enough. She can tell his ears can't necessarily hear her right now, so she mouths, "You idiot!" Before giving him another Cure spell, removing that which successfully got past his personal armor.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade fires, but the evil shark escapes. Mercade snaps his fingers. "Okay, fine! RUN AWAY, SHARK! RUN!" He turns away, stalking impetuously into the other room where Coat Guy and Aeris are. "Hey, how is it. Did we find any rum?" He looks around. "No?" He slumps. "Dammit. Why is the rum gone?"

He looks around and grimaces. "Okay, how about ancient pirate treasure? Do we have that? That would be great."

Stormfall has posed:
So. It falls to the question. The Ornate box is in Seifer's possession. Within is the glowing remnant of an age passed. The cards needed for the quest at hand. He's also in possession of all his limbs. So the question is-- is there any more pirate treasure worth salvaging?

The answer? Sadly no. Old TImmy was a crazy bastard after all, and the money he didn't spend hiring an engineer to make fiendish traps went into treasure chests that explode or stacks of now empty rum containers.

Except for a private stash kept in the trapped Shag carpet room. It may not even have been eaten by a Shark. Luck smiles on the adventurous. As long as you are not a White Coat guy.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
TEN MINUTES LATER

"HELL YES! ANCIENT PIRATE KING RUM-NO! DOWN SHARK! BAD! BAD SHARK! NO RUM FOR YOU!"

Mercade is getting SOMETHING out of this, dammit!

Aerith has posed:
Aerith sighed as she flopped onto the raggedy carpet. Well then, that was the last one... despite what it took to get it. She glanced around the room, silently wondering what else was around here. Probably nothing... then again, she could be wrong. "Tifa, see if you can't find anything."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart moves after Aerith, a little hurt here and there, but nothing like Seifer at least. She sighs to herself, and nods "I'll see if I can't find anything. Has anyone found the deck we were looking for anyway?" She doesn't know, but might as well take a good look around... Let's hope there's no more traps at least.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith looked down at Seifer. "Mister leap before you look here did, but he got a chest full of metal for his trouble." She shook her head. "Either way, we're done, that's all three."

Minerva has posed:
Minerva has lmansged to end up getting something out of this she only tool a single bottle of her own. Mercade and his friends had been involved longer she suspected. Sides she has pirate king rum! That's somethint to crow to the rest of Valkyri about when she gets back to Tranverse town.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
His hearing clears... but he didn't need it, he can even hear the idiots in the next room. He knew those words well enough, he could read them on her lips. Eyes like blue sky turned away, his jawline tightend. He sat up, legs shifting as he levered his upper body off of the carpet, ignoring the dull stabs of pain and the shrapnel that fell away after being ejected from his wounds. "Looking before you leap is a proud tradition in..." The Garden, "