A Cartographer's Dream: Initiation Quest for Lucht du Sol

[A Nony Mouse]

Closed to Esmerelda
“Wanted: Treasure Hunters,” the poster read in large block script. Travis Kiltias admired his handiwork, but was bothered by the way the poster attracted attention. Instead of drawing experienced explorers with equipment for the job and a long litany of previous hunts, the poster seemed to be catching the eyes of every dreg of society outside the tavern. Sighing, the red-haired explorer stepped back from the wall to let others get a closer look. It was going to be a long day.

The Underwood was a city in Concordia Forest where all manner of adventurer gathered. Caravans passed through the city, stocking up on supplies and offering protection to others heading in the same direction. The economy of the city depended on travel and trade, two things that hardly ever went out of style. Travis had chosen the Underwood to advertise his newly refounded Explorer’s Society because he knew that many of the citizens of the lawless town where merely looking for attractive employment offers.

However, he hadn’t counted on everyone who was looking for money taking an interest in the Society.

Luckily, the leader of the Society had been thinking ahead and had written a meeting place on the poster that was far from their base of operations. Hidden deep in the Concordia Forest, Travis had no doubt that their current temporary headquarters was safe from the thieving hands that resided in the Underwood.

The redhead turned sharply and walked away from the tavern wall; whoever took an interest in his poster would assemble tomorrow morning at The Flying Buttress. He only hoped that someone in the group would prove useful.

The Flying Buttress is a shop on the other side of town.

[Esmerelda]

Underwood, just another stop in the quest of one machine to scout and map the large island she was on. Knowing it was the island nation of Corone meant little to her, being from another dimension, in another world. It did however become the title for an entire directory of information.

She never got bored, or desired to change her work, lacking both the emotions and the solid reasons to do so, so each day she marched along the main highways, talking in the sights, recording in her memory a general map of the main pathways and cities of the island.

That is, until she came to Underwood.

Underwood, a city to the south of Radasanth, arguably in the very geological center of the island. Here one could see both sides of the local civil war. War was something she understood, being designed and built for it's execution, and so she decided to take in a brief survey of locals, their customs, and their traditions, away from the propaganda of the capital at Radasanth.

Looking around and merely observing, she noticed a small flock of people crowded around a poster, one of many. Next to posters defaced by each opposing side detailing how each side was essentially the worst scum of Althanas in the eyes of their opponet, was a clean and still untouched sign advertising for treasure hunters.

Esmerelda took a few cycles to process the signs information.
It was advertising for Treasure hunters. Esmerelda's files had them classified as adventurous thieves, one of the most famous having the very clever disguise of a professor of some sort, she didn't quite have all the info, not that it was deemed relevant to her programming. She wasn't normally supposed to associate with theives, but they had information sometimes, rarely, good information. At the very least, they tended to know secrets about the local area.

Either way, assisting with this treasure hunt would enable her to view some lesser traveled areas of Corone, possibly secure a private out of the way spot for her programmer to set up a permanent Laboratory after he was done repaying his debt to the Aibrone monks for finding him and ressurecting him to heal Esmerelda after she was destroyed in a match in their citadel.

She looked at the map again. It mentioned a flying Buttress. She realised that was an inn, but where? She knew how to find out. Presently she wasn't much to look at, having dirty brown hair, brown eyes, warts, pimples, a couple scars, dry cracked lips, and she was four and a half feet tall, so she could be plump. No one payed her much attention this way, and normally, that's ho9w she liked it.

She turned, and walked out of town, hiding in a nearby thicket. There she re-adjusted her swarm to give her a more appealing look. She increased her height to six foot, with beautiful tight curves, and a nice chest and rump. The sort that inspired certain types of men to feel free to touch where ever they desired, lacking the neccessary self control to behave themselves. Her hair she extended half-way down her back, and altered it's color to Red. Her eyes she made green, and gave her self a small beauty mark on her right check not more than a whole entire inch from her luscious full ruby red lips.

She walked back into town, her hips swaying in a hypotic manner from side to side. Quickly she got more attention than she really desired. amidst cat calls and innapropriate invitations to activities she really didn't want to partake of, she merely smiled and chuckled a little.

She looked at the group of men, and occasional woman staring at her, desire in their eyes, and spoke in a soft velvety voice that only served to further inflame their lewd thoughts.
"I really only want to know where The Flying Buttress is. I have to meet my girlfriend there." she lied.
As tunics suddenly became a little smaller, and a little tighter before her very eyes, the entire crowd pointed at the other side of town, each hoping the gorgeous Amazon looking machine would ask them to guide her there.

She smiled, and blew them a kiss, moving in her almost trademark slow seductive walk. She could almost feel the eyes following her as she moved behind a building. With no eyes on her, she quickly resumed her other form, of the short unattractive woman.

As she moved out into the street a drunken bum acosted her looking for the attractive red head he just seen go this way.
"Haven't seen her, you wanna do something handsome?" she asked in a gruff husky voice.
The drunken bum looked sick and ran off. Laughing in her unnatractive voice she moved on.

Machines of this strange woman's caliber can shut down and turn on whenever they want, so at about eight o'clock the next morning, she rebooted, and reassembled, having hidden in a mouse hole in her liquid state, as a puddle of metallic goo.
Instead of taking her unattractive form, she took her attractive red-head form.

She noticed a small line of people trying to convince a red haired young man who looked experienced in the ways of treasure hunting to take them with him.
However each was turned down, for one reason or another, mostly they were just inexperienced drunken bums.

She walked up to the table, most of the eyes in the inn on her, it was her turn. She leaned on the table, well aware that he could see down her armor, her hair falling down her right side.

"Hi handsome. My name is Esmerelda. I noticed you need some, help, and I want to provide you with assistance in whatever you think a big strong man like you needs help with. Unlike the drunks who came before me, I promise I have what it takes to help you, being experienced in getting into very tight areas. I like long, hard challenges, and if you like, I can demonstrate some of my finer abilities, but surely someone as wise and skilled like you wouldn't need to see my skills in public." she said, deliberatly phrasing her words in a manner to lead him to believe she was seducing him.
She smiled, looking into his eyes, waiting for an answer.

If she had to, she would convince him in whatever manner it took to get him to bring her along.

[A Nony Mouse]

It was just as he had expected. When he arrived at The Flying Buttress in the morning, Travis Kiltias was accosted by a veritable horde of lowlife scavengers looking to make a quick profit. He knew by the looks in their eyes that none would stick around much longer than this one mission. The Scison sighed, these are no explorers. Then, after scanning the crowd, he muttered, “What am I doing here? This is a waste of time.” But he was a man of his word and the poster had said he would be at the shop for an hour. It was going to be the longest hour of his life.

When a tall, voluptuous woman strolled up to the counter where he waited, the adventurer almost groaned audibly. Now he was getting prostitutes trying to sign up as well? He rubbed his temples with his index fingers, moving in slow circles to fend off the headache he knew was coming. Whose brilliant idea had this been?

The gathered crowd drooled at the lascivious woman as she worked her charms, but Travis was unfazed. He’d seen beautiful women before; ones who didn’t find the need to sell themselves. Her kind disgusted him, but he was smart enough not to let it show. Instead, he kept the look of mild disinterest on his face and waved her away from the table. The faster these idiots come through here, the sooner I can leave, he told himself.

A muscle-bound thug strolled up to the table and slammed his fist down before Travis. “I’m comin’ wit ya,” he snarled as his other hand produced a wicked-looking knife. “Zat alright wit you?” A chuckle followed the man’s rhetorical question and Travis green-eyed gaze matched the man’s leering stare. He stepped back and spread his arms out for all to see. “Ave ya seen a finer specimen of a man anywhere? I’m just wot ya need.”

The salacious woman who had been in line before him shifted her weight ever so slightly, but it was enough to catch the man’s attention. With a low whistle, he moved toward her at a slow saunter. “Whoo, wot ‘ave we ‘ere? Hell-low gorgeous!” He thrust his hand toward her, cupping her buttocks in his massive paw. “Ooo,” he called to the crowd, “Quite the body on this one!”

Tension thickened the air, but the crowd seemed oblivious to the shift. However, Travis was no thick-headed fool; he sensed that something was about to happen and knew he didn’t want to be around when it did. As everyone focused on the man and his whore, the Scison of Lucht du Sol gathered his things and slipped out of the shop. Cheers sounded behind him as he jogged through the Underwood, but the red-haired adventurer didn’t want to know what had happened.

He was just glad for the distraction. Irritated as he was at not finding any decent treasure hunters, he had learned one important thing: Don’t advertise for thieves or that’s all you’ll get. With a grunt of dissatisfaction, Travis Kiltias melted into the trees and made his way back toward the Society’s base. Back to where they’d started… now he’d need a new plan.

[Esmerelda]

At least, he thought he slipped out unnoticed. As the unwelcome touch came upon her body spikes erupted from every availible surface. Ignoring everything but Travis she followed him out of the pub, running along effortlessly behind him.

One thing about being a machine, you didn't tire like organics did. Not that she didn't get overheated eventually.

"I won't let you ignore me. I will chase you down to the ends of Althanas if I have to, accross the Anti-firmament, The Pyre, and all the other planes of existence. If you thought real women could be stubborn when they set their mind to something, you'll learn machines are far more persistant than any real woman could ever be. Give up now fleshy, because I promise you I lack the programming to do so myself." she called out to Travis.

She had not retracted her spikes, and if Travis saw her again, he would be able to tell fairly quickly that she was infact not a human at all, despite appearences. This was aided not only by the spikes, but by the fact that she was slowly reverting to a completly steel grey color scheme, due to increasing heat levels. Perhaps she deserved a second chance after all. It was at least far easier than finding out if her threats of chasing him down wherever he might flee were true or not.

Internal Temperature: 50 Degrees Celsius and rising.
Her internal alarms were blaring. At one-hundred, she would automatically shut down and melt, spreading out to precipitate faster cooling.

[A Nony Mouse]

She found him as he entered the woods, her unusually loud voice breaking the solace that the trees offered to the red-haired traveler. “Look,” he began as he turned to face her. Then the impact of her words struck him. Machine? The Scison of Lucht du Sol was no fool; he knew a risky situation when he came across one. Had the woman following him meant to let such an important piece of information slip? If so, was it meant to intimidate him or give him reason to offer her a second chance? More importantly, what the hell sort of machine is she?

“Look,” he repeated calmly as she came to a stop in front of him. “Those men back there were not the sort that I meant to attract with my poster. I need someone who’s in the hunt for the thrill of finding, not for greed. And I certainly don’t want to sleep with you.” Her face held no emotion and he continued uncomfortably, “Nothing personal, of course.”

Travis had no idea what to make of the situation. The ease with which she had apparently dispatched the unwanted attention and followed him made him wonder about her abilities. Perhaps there was much more to her than met the eye. But then, were her threats true? Would she follow him to the ends of the world just to accompany him on this one mission? It made no sense to the adventurer. No sense at all.

“Now, I have business to attend to elsewhere… will you let me leave? Surely you understand that a woman of your... talents needn’t accompany me.” Travis hoped that the message got through; he hardly needed her to follow him back to the base.

[Esmerelda]

Esmerelda spotted a creek nearby.

Aquatic mode engaged The words were hollow and empty. But she suddenly became shiny.

She layed down in the shallow creek, steam pouring off her body.

"I am a machine, a warmech. I am a highly advanced and sophisticated swarm of Nanites, extremly tiny machines." She said as she resumed normal temeratures. Her coloring returned to normal.

"As such, I have no feelings of greed. Infact, I have no emotion at all. I used to, but my files are damaged and unreadible. You need assistance with finding a treasure, and I can help you in ways very few organic beings can, namely, I can melt into a liquid state and slide through cracks. As much as I came on as a hoar, I am not programmed for that function like some common pleasure drone, though I am fully functional in female emulation. In truth my current primary directive is simply the scouting and exploration of this world. You need a treasure hunter, I'm adaptable to most situations. You can scout this whole world and not find someone as capable as me." Esmerelda said as she stood and came over to travis, retracting her spikes.

"Besides that, I assure you, I am a machine, not a woman. Could a woman do this?" she asked, and then promptly ripped her own right arm out of it's socket as it morphed into a mace. She swung it about harmlessly, then reattached the mace. Her entire form became liquid momentarily, and then reformed into her attractive form, this time with black silky hair and deep black eyes.

"So, you sure you don't want a woman of, my talents, to help you in your journey? Think of all the time I could save you, being able to slide through small cracks and see if what we want is beyond the crack or not. Think of the locked doors I can open, sliding beneath them and comeing up through the other side. All I want is to be able to continue my directive. I've been exploring the main roads, I have them mapped, and could rattle off the precise measurements from one spot of Corone to another, provided it was along the main paths. I want to explore off the beaten path, for no sake other than that of exploring. I'm not decieving you. I really and genuinly simply want to explore, I just don't know how I can prove it to you." she said.

[A Nony Mouse]

“I’m sold,” Travis admitted with a sigh. The machine certainly had an odd method of getting what she wanted, but she had convinced him. Besides, the first hunt would be a perfect test for her. If she couldn’t do the things she had said, then he would simply ask her to continue on in her travels. With a smile, the Scison of Lucht du Sol realized that the second option was perfect; if she performed exactly as she had promised, he might not even need other members in the clan.

He laughed aloud at his inner thoughts, a wide smile apparent on his features. “It would be a pleasure to have you on-board,” he told her. The only downside he saw to the whole arrangement was that he would be working with a machine. If she ever turned on the clan, she would destroy them all and everything that they worked to achieve. Well, I’ll just have to stay on her good side, he resolved. With a shrug of his shoulders, Travis Kiltias turned back to the path he had been traveling and continued on his way.

Little more than an hour later, the pair found themselves deep in the Concordia Forest. No paths wound their way through the woods here, Travis had mapped his way back to the Society’s base simply by remembering landmarks. “With her on the team, they’ll be no need for that,” he muttered to himself. “She’s already coming in handy.” When they got closer, the door swung open and a bearded man stepped out with a suspicious look in his eye.

“She’s your treasure hunter?” he scoffed. Travis merely smiled again, turning to his partner and motioning toward her with a sweeping gesture.

“Care to put his mind at ease?”

[Esmerelda]

Esmerelda glared at the two.
"Don't tell me this is it. By your note I was at least expecting some abandoned temple in the woods, or in a cave somewhere. If not, then why are we even here? Every second we waste here is another second some theif can steal our treasure." She shouted at the two. It wasn't that she was angry, she lacked that emotion. No, to her, once a directive has been given, it must be followed immediatly, not go off somewhere different and do something else first. This was because Esmerelda was largely self-suffecient.

She stood before the two, tapping her foot incessantly, trying to reconcile her demonstration program with what was left of her abilities.

"Alright, fine. If it'll make you happy, I'm, an unusual woman. Only my employer may know exactly what I am, if he chooses to share that information, then so be it.

I am Esmerelda, I am completly self-suffecient, requiring only steel and gold to continue to sustain myself. Speaking of which, if you have any extra of either laying around, I'd be much obliged if you'd care to share any. I'm certain Travis has something of an understanding why I might need either. Truth is, I need both, however for this present moment, I'm ok.
Now, onto my armaments. I am equipped with the ability to use one Melee weapon, one ranged, and one Defensive ability, as well as a special, extra." Esmerelda said.

She detached her left arm with her right, and as it morphed into a club, she swung it about fighting an imaginary enemy. She re attached it, and it morphed into an arm again.

Then she plucked a lock of her hair, and a section of her left arm turned into a crossbow. She spied a tree Ninety yards away. A leaf was gently falling to the ground. She took aim, and pinned it to the tree. The arrow became a strange steel colored liquid, and crawled it's way over to Esmerelda. It crawled into her foot and disappeared. She appeared to be missing no hair.
Finally, she caused her spikes to appear all over her body.

"Now that I've got that over with, can we get going? I'm not good at idling. I'll put it this way, either change the directive, or lets get going. Otherwise I'm going to hug one of you, and i'm NOT going to retract my spikes." Esmerelda said tapping her foot as though impatient. Once she got onto something, she did not give up easily, as her earlier chasing of Travis proved.

[A Nony Mouse]

“Well,” the bearded man chuckled, “She certainly is something else. Name’s Riley Finnegan, Miss, ‘tis a pleasure.” Riley offered a hand in greeting, but then thought better of it and stepped back.

Travis listened as the machine outlined her requirements and then demanded that they get going. “We’ll go when I’m good and ready,” the Scison of Lucht du Sol stated in irritation. He was the leader of the group, so he would be the one deciding when they moved out. As soon as the thought formed in his head, Travis sighed. He constantly needed to remind himself not to be so proud. The machine/woman clearly lacked some of the basic manners that humans were raised with; he couldn’t fault her for that.

“However,” he said, trying to redeem himself, “we’re just about ready to go. Finnegan?”

“Aye, sir,” the bearded man replied, “everything is fine here; go on.” Travis nodded as the man disappeared back into the base. It put his mind at ease to have the burly fellow on his side. Riley had formerly worked outside of Radasanth in a small smithy. He’d agreed to follow Travis an join Lucht du Sol, but had been less than impressed with their base of operations. Hopefully, the blacksmith would reinforce the walls, set glass in the windows, build a proper door, and seal the roof while his leader was away. Such small changes would go a long way in making the ramshackle hut look more presentable.

“We head toward Jadet,” the red-haired explorer told his charge. “Lead the way.”

[Esmerelda]

Esmerelda retracted her spikes. She looked slightly up and to the left at nothing in particular and everything in general.

Really, she was accessing her databases and doing some complicated calculations based on their location and Jadet's location. Several seconds passed by as her results were checked and rechecked and alternative possibilities mapped out and checked.

"Right then. Off we go." Esmerelda said and promptly began walking off at what was for her a comfortable speed. For most people who needed to conserve energy it was a little fast. Realising this she slowed down to a more normal pace.

She walked on through the forest silent as death itself. Only the sound of things being crushed and snapping beneath her steps made any noise. She did not swerve even the slightest to the left, or to the right, always unnerringly straight, and always towards Jadet. Of course, she did avoid trees, but that was about it. She didn't offer any conversation and if spoken to, only gave effecient and directly to the point responses.

Things continued on in this fashion for a time, until she forced her way through a thicket and discovered the temple. It was fairly large, mostly circular. It looked like it was devoted to the elements, but those that kept it had clearly long since disappeared.

"Intresting. I assume this is the temple?" Esmerelda asked. She entered the temple without waiting an answer. In the entry were a few simple arrow traps activated by simple pressure plates. Esmerelda stepped on them not knowing about the traps, and narrowly avoided the arrows. She melted into the plates and deactivated the pressure mechanisim.

Flowing along in her melted state she found a couple other pressure plate switches for unknown traps. These were also deactivated. Not finding any other traps she reformed next to a silver sphere on a pedestal. This too was a trap, a magical trap. She picked it up to bring it out to Travis and show him the treasure, when bolts of electricty began shooting around Esmerelda, trapping her in place.

"HELP!" she cried out, trapped by dangerous lightning.

There was only one way to deactivate this trap, and after it was activated, it became fairly obivous. the answer was not the sphere, but a little statue of V'dralla that was now glowing, down the end of short hallway. Esmerelda realised she was in the center of the temple, and there was more to the temple to explore. How stupid of her to not realize the first and easiest treasure was a trap.

[A Nony Mouse]

Travis simply watched in amazement as his charge raced toward Jadet without even a thought. If she’s this competent at treasure hunting, he thought, I think we’ve found our first member. The trip toward the druid temple was made in silence; neither explorer needing to speak to the other. When they arrived at the circular temple, the machine/woman dove right in. Travis stayed back; it was her test after all.

The Scison heard arrows thunking into wooden beams, but no cry for help came and so he stayed by the entrance. He had no idea what she was made of, but decided that it certainly had to be sturdier stuff than humans were crafted from. Surely a machine such as her would have some kind of defense. His thoughts were interrupted when her familiar voice screamed for help.

Swinging his spear from its place at his back, the red-haired adventurer dove into the temple and immediately took stock of the situation around him. Many of the traps had been sprung, but it seemed little damage had befallen his companion. However, she was trapped at the far end of the hallway in a mysterious orb of light. “Hang on,” he shouted to her, “I’ll find a way to get you out.” Rushing down the hallway, the redhead scanned all sides for a lever or something to deactivate the latest trap.

When he arrived next to his charge, the leader of the Explorer’s Society instantly saw what to do. Rearing back with his spear as he stepped closer to the pulsating statuette, Travis unleashed an attack as soon as he was close enough. The statue exploded into tiny fragments and immediately the orb stopped its electronic detaining field. “Looks like you could use my help after all,” the traveler quipped to the shaken machine.

“There’ll be a burial chamber deeper in the tunnel; that’s what you’re looking for. The priest of this temple was buried with a map… that is the relic that we’ve come for,” he gestured around him at the several hallways left unexplored. “Where to next?”

[Esmerelda]

"Well, lacking evidence beyond sight alone, I don't know. Chances are approximatly equal. Not knowing where Druids might be buried, I'm going to scout a ways down the hall." Esmerelda said.

She melted on the spot, leaving the circular orb behind on it's pedistal. There were only four hallways, one for each of the cardinal directions. The entry way was to the west, the statuette to the south. The North and East went for a ways and disappeared around corners, brannching off into other hallways, one to the Northeast, one to the northwest, and these continued branching as well. If one could get a bird's eye view of the lay out, one would realise the temple was layed out like a complete compass rose.

First Esmerelda flowed down the north hallway to the temple, she flowed under a pressure plate, and a flurry of arrows shot accross the hallway, they would've easily killed anyone actually standing there, but fortunatly, no one was standing there. She partially reformed, looked at the wall, looked at travis, arched an eyebrow, melted again, and continued on. She disappeared around a corner where a massive swinging blade came from the ceiling accross the hallway.

"Down this way, I can see stairs going down, and sparesly furnished rooms. I think they were for visitors to sit and wait. I doubt anything of intrest is down this way, though there are a few old books that might prove interesting at a later date." Esmerelda said. There was a ring of steel, as though a sword was being unsheathed.
"I found a sword." Esmerelda said walking around the corner. She but the blade in her mouth, and bit the end off the sword. Munching on it she set the sword down near the central pedistal where the orb was, and after she swallowed the blade, waited for several minutes.
"Gotta break down the steel, I reconstruct it with gold to replenish myself." Esmerelda said.

She melted and went down the east hallway, completly bypassing a trip wire. She noticed it as she was under it.

"Watch it, trip-wire here." she said. she went around the corner.

"More of the same, except here there's stairs leading up." she said. There was the jingle of gold as she walked around the corner eating gold coins like they were candy.
"Gold is an excellent conducter." she said in explaination. She stepped over the trip wire, leaving the trap unsprung.

Standing next to travis, she set the gold down next to the sword she was eating. She walked over to where the statue was, examing the wall carefully.

She melted into the cracks in the wall, having broken down the gold. It was still appearent in her swarm though, barely fitting through some of the larger cracks.

"Hey, What's that?" came her voice from behind the wall.
There came a bright flash through the cracks, then silence.
A minute passed, and then she metled through the wall. She staggered her way back to the center, as though she were drunk, and collapsed next to the piller.
She shook her head several times.
"If you happen to see fragile crystals with energy running through them, don't touch them, they don't like to be touched, and tend to blow up if you do. Meanwhile, Up, or down? We might need to go up if they have his burial chamber sealed, like if they had a protected key or something. I say that because I'm assuming they followed similar traditions elsewhere and buried him in the ground. Meanwhile, it'll only take a few seconds for me to recover." Esmerelda said, reaching over and grabbing the sword and gold and continuing to munch on them both, eating them completly in a matter of minutes.

[A Nony Mouse]

It was like she lived in a constant flurry of activity. Travis had a hard time keeping up with the machine’s thought processes, but he supposed that was a byproduct of her superior construction as compared to him. “Whoa,” he finally said when she melted out of the wall near the statue he’d destroyed. “You need to calm down if you want my help in this.” The look she gave him was completely unreadable, so the Scison kept going. “Humans operate much slower than you… that’s just something you’ll need to deal with if you want long-term employment. Think of this as a test; you do well and we’ll let you stick around.” He searched his immediate surroundings for threats as he spoke, but saw none. Turning his attention back to the machine/woman, he decided to give her a plan.

“How about you go upstairs and look for anything useful. I’ll head to the basement and look for a burial chamber. Come find me in a little while and we can trade information and decide what to do from there, okay?” He sighed heavily at her frantic behavior thus far; her programming really must have been fried. He hoped that her master could fix it soon because she was beginning to remind him of a badly behaved child. That just wasn’t something he could deal with.

As they parted ways, the red-haired adventurer made his way carefully past all the traps that she had tripped. Arrows stuck from the walls of the hallway, their tips embedded in the wooden beams that held the stone in place. Large statues carved from solid pieces of stone guarded the staircase at the end of one of the many halls and they made Travis stop for a second. Their gladiator-like armor reminded the explorer of something he had encountered before, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

Oh well, he thought. It hardly matters. With a shrug, the leader of Lucht du Sol descended the stairs into the subterranean level of the temple. The lower level was much less confusing than the ground level and Travis soon got the gist of the layout. One long, circular hallway formed the perimeter of the basement, with a short hallway extending from each cardinal direction to the center. Then, in the very center of the dungeon, there was an altar.

However, each time the redhead tried to take a step closer to the ornate altar, a mysterious force stopped him cold. Try as he might, his legs simply would not take the next step. Even when he back up and tried charging at the center of the circular room, he hung in the air when he tried to cross the same spot. Grunting with exertion, Travis finally gave up and sat down on the dirt floor. “What sorcery is this?” he wondered aloud.

Just as he muttered those words, a low rumbling growl behind him made the blood drain from his face. Turning around slowly, he prayed to the Thaynes that it was his mechanical companion.

[Esmerelda]

Unfortunatly for Travis, it wasn't. She went upstairs as ordered, and while she did have sensitive hearing, that which was in the room with him would have to let out something louder than a growl for her to notice. So, alas, he was on his own.

She went upstairs where she was immediatly faced with a riddle carved into the wall.
"We are the guardians of the gateway of shadows. None shall trespass here, save for those that earn their way." The riddle read.

Puzzled, Esmerelda looked around the room that stood atop the stairs. It was surprisingly well maintained, in one corner stood a book case, with books of all shapes and sizes standing neatly side by side. Next to it sat a writing desk on which two little gargoyles stood sentry, silently watching the staircase.

Esmerelda spied a chair and sat in it to figure out what it could mean. As she sat in the chair, she noticed a peciluar shadow accross the far wall. It almost looked like a sealed door. She walked over and felt the wall. It was a wall just like any other, and as she came close the shadow disappeared.

"Is that the gateway of shadow?" she asked herself. She sat back down in the chair while her logic system puzzled over the clues she had been presented with thus far.
One curious riddle, a common book case, a writing desk, and two little gargoyles.
She looked at the gargoyles closer. One was made to represent a sphinx, and the other was made to represent a more canine sphinx, instead of the normal feline style sphinx.

If she had emotions she would've smiled, but instead went over to browse the bookcase.
It was filled with local history and weather patterns, nothing useful there. She looked through the desk, and found a small stack of gold coins marked with strange symbols, either an archaic currency, or one good only in the temple. She picked up two of them and stuck them in the mouths of the gargoyles. The two gargoyles suddenly animated, and flew into the shadow on the wall, opening the gate therein. Esmerelda walked over to the wall and put her hand on it. To her logic system's complete surprise, the illusion was drawing her into it.

Within seconds, she was naught but a shadow, before a black gate. Deciding going back wasn't an option, she walked through and found herself in a hallway on the second floor.
"Ahh, they must've built the upper floors in shadows to prevent unwanted intrusion. Not that it isn't hard to figure that puzzle out." Esmerelda said to herself. She knew it wasn't particular needful, but she did anyway.
She walked along the hallway, uncertain of what she looking for.
"Though I suppose it was also to deter the unworthy of their own order as well." Esmerelda said.

The Shadow World seemed to be slightly off. Everything seemed subtly larger and more dangerous here.
She passed bed chambers and rooms for various research, each out of The Shadow World and in the regular, each filled with their own interesting artifacts, none of which interested her. Finally she came to a door at the end of the hall with ten knobs on it, marked zero through nine.
A gargoyle animated and spoke to her.
"One went to the north, never to return.
Two went to the East, and came back with two more.
Four went to the south and increased their brethren fifteen times over.
Finally, from the west came the great leader who saw all the lives that had been touched, and divided their numbers three ways accross the north, the east, and the south to bless the world. How many went north?" The Gargoyle asked.

Esmerelda stood there thinking this one over, she had a feeling that if she went through this door, it would be some time before she returned, completly cut off from the rest of the temple, yet she figured there had to be something important behind it. She didn't know if she should solve the puzzle and go through the door, or go get Travis.

Travis, she wondered how he was faring in the basement.

[A Nony Mouse]

The Akashima redwood spear had no hope of stopping the wing drake’s wicked claws as they lashed through the air toward Travis’ face. The Scison of Lucht du Sol knew this and so he dove out of the way at the last possible second. Blue scales flashed over his red hair as he tumbled away, causing the drake to scream its frustration in the subterranean chamber. Scrambling to his feet, the adventurer frantically searched his surroundings for something better to use as a weapon. In a clash of wood versus claws, his money was on the drake.

Wooden casks and barrels of all sizes lined the walls in this particular hallway that Travis was in and the explorer merely shook his head. The drake was closing in and he had more wood to try and defend himself with. As the small dragon waddled ever closer, its wings folded along its back, Travis Kiltias wondered if these moments would be his last.

His hand closed on a torch bracket which had fallen from the wall many years ago and he smiled even as the drake pounced. Its brutal claws raked forward, intent on its prey’s throat. The torch holder swung through the air to meet them, colliding in a great clash of sparks against the claws. The traveler’s muscles strained against the weight of the wing drake, their force matched by the sinewy strength of the fell creature. Grunting with exertion, Travis watched in fear as the razor sharp claws slowly moved closer to him.

Pivoting on the balls of his feet and pushing away with all his might, Travis finally managed to get out of harm’s way. The drake’s claws swung down through the air to pulverize a barrel and then it turned to attack again. Grain flowed from the busted barrel’s sides, spilling along the floor as it emptied. When the next attack came, Travis was ready.

Once again the drake’s claws flashed through the dank air of the storage cellar, but they were beat to the side by the torch bracket. Stepping into the opening he had created, Travis swung again as quickly as he could. Cold metal connected with the soft flesh on the creature’s folded wings and a second scream tore through the burial chamber. Unfortunately, the pain made the beast flail toward the source and the red-haired explorer wasn’t quick enough.

The claws caught Travis in the back of his shoulder and tore through flesh and muscle until they exited his body near his elbow. His scream joined with the angry roar of the drake and echoed along the dungeon’s walls. The torch holder fell from his useless hand and clattered to the floor, forgotten as he tried to maintain consciousness. Short of a miracle, the adventurer wasn’t sure how he’d make it out alive.

As his blood mingled with the drake’s, Travis Kiltias prayed for salvation.

[Esmerelda]

Esmerelda was staring hard at the door processing the riddle, when she heard a loud roar.
"Wait, what?" she asked herself, confused. Then she heard Travis's screams, and without another thought turned and darted down the hallway.
"Keep the gate open for me, thanks bye!" she yelled out at the two mini gargoyles that opened the magic shadow gate for her earlier.

She darted downstairs tripping the wire she had been so diligently stepping over earlier. Arrows shot at the wall, but she was going at top speed, and so narrowly avoided them, but this was no ordinary trap, for in the process of activating, another trap had been activated, this one causing great blades to shoot out from the central pillar where the silver ball had been. The pillar began to turn and spin, winding up and activating a quasi-magical trap. Esmerelda darted down to the first floor as one thousand foot long needels made of Plynt shot out of the walls and through the air chasing her by magic. She knelt by Travis's side even as the drake took to the air to dive bomb her, to rip her to shreds. Esmerelda flipped to her back, front spikes shooting out. The drake covered Travis and Esmerelda, the spikes following Esmerelda darted around the corner.

The Drake screamed in pain as it's backside became a pincushion, it's strength faltered and it fell on them. Esmerelda heaved the thing off them, and sat back up, kneeling by Travis.

"My word, Travis, what happened to you?" she asked, knowing the answer full well.
"If only I wasn't so corrupted I might, but no use crying about that now. We need to wrap those." Esmerelda said. She looked around the room, and spied a cloth banner bearing the symbols of the thayne. Esmerelda took it down, and proceeded to tear it into strips.
"I'm not a healer, I have no medical knowledge due to file corruption, but I do know wounds must be binded securely shut." she said, proceeding to wrap his wounds tightly with the banner.

The drake moaned in pain, it's cries getting steadily weaker as it bled out.
"Shut up you!" she snapped at the dying creature.

Once Travis's wounds were completly bound she helped him to his feet.

"Now, I made some exciting progress upstairs, and I think I found something, but it's hidden behind a door with a riddle." Esmerelda said.

[A Nony Mouse]

The thought that one of the druids’ traps had saved his life made Travis chuckle lightly as his charge bandaged his wounds. The banner was made of very fine material and so the blood seeped through the first several layers. However, the machine was diligent in wrapping his shoulder and arm so that eventually the bleeding seemed to be contained.

“Thanks,” the explorer said weakly, pushing himself up to his feet and grabbing his spear from where it rested against a wall. Whirling it in his good hand so that the steel tip faced down, he hoisted it as best he could and plunged the cold metal into the heart of the wing drake. The mighty beast gave a shudder as its heart was pierced, but soon its struggles ceased. The guardian of the high priest’s sarcophagus had finally been slain.

As his fellow explorer told him of her progress, the red-haired warrior couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of unease. The woman spoke efficiently and without fancy language, but something about her made him question her true origins. It was as if there was something else about him that he didn’t know. Well, he thought, I’m sure there’s a lot about her that I don’t know. But something in particular is bothering me… He vowed to figure out later, but they needed to retrieve the treasure before he bled out. Time was now a factor.

“Riddles,” he laughed as he yanked the spear from the drake’s chest. “Take me there; hopefully I’ll have better luck than I did down here.”

[Esmerelda]

Esmerelda nodded and lead travis upstairs where she noticed she had sprung the tripwire.
"Goodthing I didn't spring that earlier, ehh?" she said, mostly to occupy her idle proceses than to actually make conversation.
Up on the second floor the two mini-gargoyles refused to open the gate.
"I paid my way through! Why won't you open the gate?" she asked.
They both pointed at travis.
"Oh, right. This was the first riddle, albeit one that's missing something to make it hard. I imagine back in their day, the ovvupants had one or two people stationed here to hand out difficult challenges to make people earn these coins. I can't imagine opening this drawer to find them was the entirety of the challenge." She said, pulling out two more coins and feeding them to the gargoyles. They leapt back into the shadows on the wall and opened the gate.

As Esmerelda put her hand on the wall, travis would see her literally get sucked into the shadows on the wall, becoming naught but a shadow herself.
"Be brave, it isn't fatal!" she called back, her voice a ghostly moan due to the magic between them.

She lead him down the hall of shadows, where the gargoyle again activated and repeated it's riddle.
"One went to the north, never to return.
Two went to the East, and came back with two more.
Four went to the south and increased their brethren fifteen times over.
Finally, from the west came the great leader who saw all the lives that had been touched, and divided their numbers three ways accross the north, the east, and the south to bless the world. How many went north?" The gargoyle asked.

"See, I was in the process of solving this one, when I heard the sounds of you and the drake, and rushed off to help. I can't help but feel there's something important beyond this door, but I don't know what. It seems as though once we go through this door, we'll be somehow cut off from everything else, at least for a little while." She said, she looked at the knobs again, numbered zero through nine. She thought she had a bead on the answer, but decided to wait until Travis asked for it.

[A Nony Mouse]

When they reached the upper limits of the temple, Travis stopped and waited to see what his charge would do next. After all, this excursion was to be a test of her prowess at treasure hunting. He needed to remind himself of that fact; the encounter with the drake had shown him that much. No sense getting killed during recruitment quests. Sighing as the machine dug around in an old wooden desk, he stepped back and let her run the show. She’s doing well so far, he told himself.

Each gargoyle needed a gold coin and after they had been fed, his fellow explorer disappeared into the very wall! Travis jumped a little in surprise; what manner of sorcery was this? Warily approaching the area he’d last seen the mechanical woman, the explorer tentatively touched the wall. As his fingers slid into the stonework like it was water, he was transported into a shadow realm similar in many ways to the druid temple he felt he had left.

In the confines of the new realm, the Scison of Lucht du Sol could see a long, dark hallway extending away from the room they had just left. Like ripples on a still pond, his every movement echoed along the hallway and eventually bounced back to him. Other portals similar to the one he had entered lined the walls of the place, but he could see no further into their mysterious depths. Clawing his way forward as if he were swimming in mud, the explorer squinted to try and locate his fellow adventurer.

It seemed that the machine had a much easier time moving through the shadow realm, but eventually the red-haired traveler found his way to the portal at the far end of the dark hallway. The gargoyle there repeated its verse and sat in anticipation of the pair’s next move. Numbered knobs lined the solid wall blocking the portal, obviously the riddle needed answered before they would be allowed to continue. “One went north…” he began puzzling over the answer aloud, keeping track of how many went which way and when. “Four go south, so that makes sixty,” after a few moments, the red-haired explorer thought he’d figured it out. “Twenty go north!” His exclamation ricocheted off the walls and came back much louder than he’d anticipated. “Sorry,” he apologized to no one in particular. Struck by an idea as the echoes of his shout faded, he then added, “But you have to add the first one that left… so the answer is twenty one.”

Looking at the machine to his right, the leader of the Explorer’s Society deferred to her judgment. “That’s my guess, what did you get?”

[Esmerelda]

"That was what I had. So, that's sixty four that need dividing, sixty five if you count the northren loner, but he never returned. Perhaps he found happiness, perhaps he died, who cares? We're not making a story out of a riddle, though I suppose later we could. So the northren loner is out. Now, sixty-four divided three ways is twenty-one point infinite 3, for truely the remainder is such that it can never truely be found, and thus never fully removed. Now, do you all use decimals?" She asked the gargoyle.
The Gargoyle reacted by scratching it's head in confusion.
"What is a decimal?" it asked.
"And that answers that question." She said. She twisted knob two, and then knob one, and then shrank back as if expecting something to shoot her or attack her.
Instead, a great crack in the wall appeared, and the shadows drained into the crack like water down a drain, leaving them in a clean featureless hallway. There was no way back, the shadows took all the doors, leaving only the crack.
"I must say, these are some awful strange druids. I wonder what's waiting for us in the crack?" she asked Travis, before leaping into the crack, it was as wide as a doorway.
She stepped in, and all her sensory input was confused, all sense of feel was instead as smells, which in turn were sight, and she had never seen by smell before. Hearing and taste were both completly offline, and then senses reverted to normal, not that that was much better, for she seemed to be falling down a tunnel of somesort. She looked around at the blue spectrum swirls of energy caressing her body. Beyond them she could see the outside, and was confused, for the sun, the moons, and the stars were running backwards, even as the forest seemed to be growing, younger. She didn't quite know what to make of it, unless they were falling backwards in time. The temple grew around them, restoring itself to it's former glory. Suddenly a great flash of white light blinded her, and she found herself in a great circular room with a massive central pillar. Ropes and Chains ran every which way through walls, ceilings, and floors. She landed on her feet, but the force of the fall gently made her kneel, and yet, was not enough to injure her. It was as falling off one's bed.

Rising to her feet, she looked around.
"Amazing. I'd hate to try and solve this puzzle alone." Esmerelda said.
"That's why I'm here." Said a new voice.
A shimmering ball of light could be seen in the central pillar as it flared to life.
"I am the great master, the one spoken of in the previous riddle, which was by the way, actual factual history, yet ancient enough to bar fools who niether know their numbers or their history. I am, and always have been the master of this temple. I watched my children in life, in death, and once abandoned during The War of The Tap when my children's children died saving innocents, I watched my home fall apart. Now here I sit, watching one intrepid fool after another raid my tomb seeking my last treasure. I want to go on, I want to join my children, yet I stayed behind in death to watch them and all that was ours, and have only one last thing weighing upon my soul. I will give it to you, in my tomb beneath the temple if you can solve one last puzzle, the most difficult my order ever concieved of, so that I may be free of this place at last. But understand, I cannot give my treasures away to any fool who manages to luck their way in here thus the puzzle before you.

You see before you, ropes of many material, some of the common kind, some of silk, and a few Vlince. You see before you Chains of steel, Delyn, Mythril, and Prevalida.
Some hold the ceiling, some hold the walls, some hold the floors, and some hold the pillar. One of each, holds, one of each, that is, each kind of rope, holds them all, just as each chain holds them all. Cut the walls, and the wing shall rake the flesh from your bones. Cut the floor, and spikes await to give their tender embrace. Cut the ceiling, and as a lover shall rush to meet thee. Cut the pillar, and naught but the tomb shall await thee. Before you ask, because I've recieved this question from one-hundred thirty-six others before you, each rope and chain can easily be severed by a mere thought. In this chamber, and this chamber alone, you have that ability, but only until death, or success.

Oh yes, the point, the goal. Severe them in such a pattern, that you unlock them all at once, but you can only cut one rope or chain at a time, per person." The Great Master said.

"I, understand, I think. Do you understand, or do you have any questions?" She asked Travis.

[A Nony Mouse]

As the pair stepped through the crack into the unknown heart of the ancient temple, Travis felt a strange sense of foreboding growing in his chest. The shadow realm had fled, shedding light upon the hallway once more. However, the red-haired explorer knew that this was not the same reality he had left minutes earlier. Something was drastically different.

Pushing the thought aside, he followed the machine through the crack and into a whirlwind of sensation. Time seemed to mean nothing in this room; indeed Travis felt as though years were being lifted away from him even as he gained wisdom far beyond his true age. The Thaynes, or whatever ethereal beings held sway over this temple, certainly enjoyed their fun.

The high priest of the temple announced his presence before them in a burning blaze of light, entering their field of vision on the far side of the room. After he posed his riddle, the Scison’s charge turned to him to see if he had questions. Did he ever.

“Chains, rope, cut, die,” Travis summed the riddle into its keywords and shook his head vigorously from side to side. “Yeah, I think I’ll be fine.” As the machine turned back to look at the network of cords and chains, Travis muttered to himself, “No idea where to start though.” With her ‘superior’ logic processes, the red-haired explorer hoped his companion would be better suited to solve the problem posed to them.

[Esmerelda]

"I've thought of something, what do the different Materials mean?" Esmerelda asked.
"Different materials hold different strengths." The spirit said.
"I thought so. Prevalida does have more tensile strength than any of the other materials present. Why, chains like these I estimate could support roughly eighty-thousand metric tons before snapping, apiece. Now then, what are they connected to?" Esmerelda asked.
"Weights, of course, which are in turn connected to traps. Once they reach a certain depth, they spring. However, if they all spring at once, you've won." The spirit replied.
"And how much do they weigh, these weights?" She asked.
"Enough." The spirit said in a tone that indicated he was done helping.
"Right, okay then, Let the floor be F, let wall be W, the pillar be P, and the ceiling, C.
Aditionally, we shall declassify the ropes and chains as such, and re-classify them as anchors. Let the common flax ropes be one, the silk two, the vlince three, the steel four, the delyn five, the mythril six, and the prevalida, seven. As has been stated, prevalida holds more than anything else, and thus seven shall be the heavy end of the spectrum, whilst one shall remain the light end. It is reasonable to assume that these traps are all on the floor, for the otherside of the ceiling above as is surely a floor of it's own, though in this case I assume the trap is the weight itself for that. Further, there must be some method by which certain anchors lower all traps, as there must be some method by which to activate them all simultainiously unless we are caught in a solutionless trap which hardly seems fair considering.

So, with that in mind, we first need to decide which anchors affect which traps." Esmerelda said, and she began looking at the anchors. She began to melt, but the spirit spoke.
"Uh, no. If you pass beyond this room, you will be destroyed instantly. I will tell you that you are right, but there is only one anchor that affects all traps at once. However, other anchors effect two traps, but most effect only one." the spirit said.
Esmerelda reformed and looked long and hard at the spirit. If looks could kill, but how does one kill a spirit? She stalked around the room looking at each of the anchors, pulling and pushing on some, to no effect, for all were tightly stretched.

She climbed the anchors, liquifying partially to peer into the next rooms.
"Too dark to see." she said climbing back down.
She stared hard at the spirit and the central pillar, then she stared hard at the wall, ceiling, and floor.

"I've got it. Remember when I said that prevalida has the most tensile strength? I knew more than I was saying. Behold how they are all attached to the central pillar, but nothing else is. cut one, and all the other anchors snap, killing us. Yet all others are unattached to anything in this room. Some run through the floor, some run through the walls, and some run run through the ceiling, yet none are attached to the pillar. Behold also how one rope seems attached three ways.

Thus then is the answer. That rope must not be cut, for it is the one that affects all three pillars. The fewest anchors go through the ceiling. Most interlace between the floor and wall. Each mythril chain only appears once, and even though they are the most numerous, I bet they are the ones that affect only one trap.

Now it would seem further that we don't need to sever the prevalida chains, as due to their propeties, I'm betting their perfectly counter balanced to the great weights and are infact part of getting the treasure AFTER we solve the puzzle so we definatly need to leave them be.

So leave all type seven anchors alone, and the one three way rope anchor I mentioned.
We HAVE to do this in pairs, or we will fail without question. One step off in our intricate dance, and we both die. Sometimes we will cut a six, sometimes we won't, but all combinations will equal seven, that is a prevalida anchor, but not that they will neccessarily match it's strength.

You need only cut an anchor of the number I specify, at the exact same time I cut an anchor of a number I need to cut. It matters not which anchor you cut, so long as it is of the proper number, and not a prevalida or the three-way rope. There are thiry-two anchors that need to be severed, so that's sixteen pairs. For example it'll be me one, you six, sever now! and we sever as I say now." Esmerelda said.
She walked around and looked at the anchors one last time. It seemed throughout that she had been half speaking to herself, as though complex mathmatical formulas were running through her mind, which they were, and she somehow needed to speak about them to solve them, which was utterly false. She was merely trying to keep travis informed.

"me four, you three, sever now." she said, pointing at a steel chain and making it snap with will power as she said now. A loud creaking groan could be heard from faraway places as great ponderous weights slowly lowered. Tension on all remaining anchors picked up ever so slightly.

"If we die, it's all your fault." she said to the spirit. She seemed to be in thought for a few minutes more.
"Right, fifteen more to go. Me one you six sever now. Me five you two sever now. me three you four sever now." she said, severing each anchor she assigned herself on cue each time. The stress on all remaining anchors had increased more. Then the three-way rope snapped and Esmerelda nearly shut down permanently on the spot. Cracks appeared in the pillar, wall, floor, and ceiling.
"Now more than ever we need to cooperate." she said in a hushed tone.
She eyed the spirit, and continued.
"Twelve more. Me six you one sever now. Me two you five sever now. Me three you four sever now. Me one you six sever now." She said and as anchors snapped the cracks increased, and bits of debris began to crumble to the ground.
"Eight more, Me two you five sever now. Me one you six sever now. Me six you one sever now. Me four you three sever now." Esmerelda said and as these chains were snapped the room began to shake dangerously, the ceiling threatening to fall on them, even as a great wind pushed at the wall, and spikes could be seen glinting through the floor. Energy ran throughout the central pillar, and Esmerelda shrank back almost expecting something to leap out and attack them.
"Last four, if we die, it's all my fault. I'm sorry. Once more, me six you one sever now. me four you three sever now. Me two you five sever now, me six you one sever now." Esmerelda said, calling out the last pairs to be snapped. She braced herself expecting the worst but hoping for the best.

[A Nony Mouse]

His mind raced to keep up with the mechanical woman blurting out orders as quickly as she could. The moment was surreal; snapping cords with only a thought as the room shifted and settled around them. Travis knew he would likely die unless he did exactly what his companion said; so much work for a simple initiation. The floating sphere in the center of the room glowed ever brighter as they continued their mad race to sever all the cords. The red-haired Scison felt as though the spirit was getting more anxious the closer they got to their goal. Did spirits of priests preserved for centuries feel things like anxiety? The idle thought nearly cost Travis dearly as he broke a chain at the last possible second. With the room tilting and lurching uncomfortably, he turned his full attention back to the last pair of chains.

“Are you sure about this?” he muttered under his breath. No sense in questioning her after she’d done do well this far, but the warrior couldn’t ignore his natural instinct. Everything in him screaming not to sever the last pair, Travis gulped and nearly choked on his nerves. Ignoring all the feelings telling him to act otherwise, the redhead thought about the final cord snapping; willing his thought into the physical world.

And as the world exploded in a brilliant ball of light, the explorer thought he heard the high priest sigh.

[Esmerelda]

As the traps activated simultaneously, their effects caused one another to react differently. First came the walls falling, and with the room designed as it was, it caused the wind to come roaring in, and truly it was as thousands of swords flying through the room, yet energy from the central pillar caused the room to become as a tomb, and in the process, inadvertently shielded the pair from anything that might happen. At about that same moment, the ceiling and floor gave way, as the energy of the pillar curled around them in their descent, causing the whole affair to become as a platform being lowered by ropes. The pair landed safely between the spikes, which soared over their heads. The ceiling fell upon them, pushing the lower floor the spikes were in downward, as it fell, it began to fall apart, and the two fell forward in time, watching the monks abandon the temple, and it slowly falling into disrepair.

With a flash, the pair landed right back in the main room, back at the present, and on either side of the small pillar upon which rested the silver orb, the energy that had shot down with them shot into the orb, changing it, making it glow brightly. Esmerelda picked it up, and it bonded with her nanites, making her it’s master. Neither had been harmed in the whole process.

“I have but one request, after you get my last treasure, hurl this orb back into the temple after you leave it’s grounds, causing the orb to shatter. I wish to take my temple and at last be with my children in the anti-firmament.” The ancient spirit said.
“I think that’s doable.” Esmerelda said.
“Good, see that wall where there once stood a goddesses statue? There’s a secret basement beneath the one below us.” The ancient spirit said.
“Then what’s below us?” Esmerelda said.
“A false trail. We could go through there, bypass all the magic barriers and at the end you’ll trigger a spell that automatically resets all events that have transpired in this temple in the past 24 hours, making it seem as though it never happened. I don’t want to do that, I want to finally be finished with my last task, so I’m letting the cat out of the bag.” The spirit said.
“Ahh, resetting without saving one’s progress is never pleasant.” Esmerelda said.
She looked at Travis, and then walked over to where the earlier trap had been deactivated, and held out the orb. The wall turned into sand, and fell down. Beyond, in the room where Esmerelda had shattered an energy crystal, were hordes of them.
“One wrong step trips off a domino, so make the right decision.” The spirit said.
There were two paths on the floor, one to the left, one to the right.
“One wrong step? Right decision? Your not even trying anymore, are you?” Esmerelda asked accusationaly.
“It’s been centuries, can you blame me if I wish to move on finally?” the spirit asked.
Esmerelda stepped onto the right path, as it curled around and around the room, and finished at a central staircase. She stepped onto it, and it suddenly became a slide, making Esmerelda slide all the way down to the crypt at the bottom.
“Yiii” Esmerelda screamed all the way down.

If and when Travis joined her, he would find her looking at two floor switches, both of which needed pressing, which was fairly obvious.
“12, 52? Although greater in size, their equivalent is the same in time.” An inscription on the wall said.
Stepping on the switches would reveal another set of knobs that needed the answer twisted into them.
“Seems fairly straight forward and simple. The answer’s so obvious I expect anyone would figure it out almost immediately upon reading it.” Esmerelda said.