Trespassing

Quote:

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Closed to Aegis

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“Hullo, g-girl, how looong do we need to st-st-stay down here for?” the portly gentleman pondered. His clothing was a bit ragged, varying shades of gray mired by patchwork leather armor strapped to parts of his arms and legs. The soldier for hire had a large gut and thin brown facial hair that led up to a tan droopy cap sat atop his head. On his back was a flimsy wooden shield and strapped to a belt, which barely held up his trousers, was an iron spiked mace. This mercenary was not very good... but he was very cheap. And Lilly did not think it prudent to spend much gold on protection, this ruin carried a fairly low risk of danger.

“I told you when I paid you,” she quipped back without taking her gaze off her parchment, “as long as it takes.”

Eons ago this had been an important site where expert mages gathered to channel their magic into the structure before her. Now it sat dormant, amidst cobwebs and dust. The ruins themselves were drab stone and as the investigator and her hired protector had come at night it would’ve been pitch black had it not of been for two torches and the resourceful elf’s illuminating gemstone. Scribbling some additional notations of the artifact’s characteristics the young woman raised her head to examine the enchanting device once more.

It dominated the floor space in the center of the boxed-in room. Large jutting brass-colored metal with hundreds, maybe thousands, of rainbow colored jagged crystals dotting the mechanism. Each crystal had been fused to the metallic surface, presumably by magic. At the base of this statue was an opening with what could’ve been mistaken for an altar. Lilly had postulated a theorem that each crystal contained within it a specific type of magic. So, if you wished to imbue stealth into a cloak you would place the cloak on the bench and a group of mages would incant the crystal that harnessed acoustic magic and the crystal that harnessed light magic to imbue upon the cloak qualities that reduced the wearer’s appearance and sound.

Of course, with no mages present it was merely conjecture. Sometimes the darkly colored elf was deeply frustrated she did not possess magic to test her own ideas.

Interrupting her thought process came the shrill voice of her guard, “ma’am, do ye th-thunk we should go grab summ food?” As his stomach rumbled the unscrupulous warrior bowed his head and placed a wide right hand to comfort his hungering gut.

Annoyed, the blackened elf slammed her parchment into her lap and snapped, “we have been here twenty minutes and you’ve been nothing but bothersome!”

Once her head spun around she noticed the dejected look on the complacent soldier’s face. Perhaps she was being a bit harsh. Rummaging through her sack she picked out a large apple and tossed the ruby fruit to her comrade. She felt a sting of guilty for getting so angry but the less this insolent manchild bothered her the sooner they could both be rid of this creepy crypt.

“Look, the path here was treacherous and um, I’m slightly on edge since someone purchased this acre and the surrounding land a few months back,” the drow imparted. Gulping on saliva and trying her best to sound confident she stated, “I need to complete my work and then we will head out.”

Crunch. The sound of the brute chomping into the fruit shook the foundation of the structure. He truly was quite hungry. Shuffling his feet into the dusky floor the mercenary spoke again, “m-my name is Conrad, what’s yours mi’lady?”

She pressed the ink of her quill into parchment once before regurgitating what she had practiced saying so many times before, “I’m Lillian Svalesin, but you may call me Lilly. Nice to meet you.”