Reaching the above-ground portion of the temple was quick and easy, lacking anything in the way of unpleasant surprises, which was really rather nice. Or, at least, it would have been, if the mutual distaste that Shadowheart and Gale were radiating at one another wasn't painfully obvious. A concussed child could probably have picked up on it, though at least they were keeping their comments to themselves. Her brief lecture had been adhered to, it seemed, and she couldn't be any more grateful for it. She had thought Lae'zel and Shadowheart had been an unpleasant pair to be metaphorically (or outright physically, for that matter) caught between, but this took the cake. That had just been sly sniping and some begrudging acknowledgement of competence given through backhanded compliments. This was genuine hate, and it was concerning. Future fights would be even more dangerous if two of her companions were just as interested in murdering each other as they were fighting the group's enemies.
She paused as the wind shifted, the stench of the nautilid's burning flesh-and-metal carcass being swept away, and her eyes narrowed in response to the new scents that introduced themselves to her. There were people ahead, at least a half-dozen of them, but they didn't spell like mind flayers or thralls. She opened her mouth, about to warn the pair following her, before she closed it with a clack. Shadowheart had reacted poorly enough to her vampirism, and that was despite the nascent attraction between them and their forged-by-fire bond. Gale seemed volatile, firmly having opinions on morality, and lacked that connection to them. Best not to draw attention to her inhuman nature for the time being.
She waited until they were on the very edge of the temple's grounds, when a sufficiently alert and talented human could have reasonably taken notice of something, before holding up a hand and dropping to a knee.
"What is it, Ciri?" Shadowheart hissed, kneeling on her right side, even as Gale did the same on her left, both of their hands shimmering with magical power, both sets of eyes roaming the space in front of them for any sign of danger.
"There are people ahead. At least four or five, judging by the different voices. Some of them are arguing, but it doesn't sound like they're on opposite sides, just disagreeing." She responded lowly, putting a hand on the hilt of her short-sword and creeping forward enough to see the temple itself. Unfortunately, that didn't reveal to her any of the people actually doing the talking. They must be further into the ruins, out of sight, and she told her companions as much. "I think we introduce ourselves. If they're enemies, we want to deal with them quickly, rather than risk them ambushing us later on. If they're not enemies, they might know where we are and where we can go for shelter."
"As reluctant as I am to go around picking fights, I have to agree. For all we know, it could be a bunch of mind flayer thralls waiting for more of their friends to arrive so they can hunt us all down." Gale agreed, nodding his head in agreement. "And, as you say, their lack of ill intentions, should it be so, could prove very beneficial for us."
"We are all in agreement, then. If it comes to a fight, the wizard ought to keep his attention on those further away while you and I fight anyone with a melee weapon. We wouldn't want to risk him accidentally hitting one of us, or being hit either." Shadowheart sneered, before subsiding with a huff at the look Ciri shot her, not looking the least bit remorseful for her words but seemingly regretting causing Ciri trouble.
"While she could have worded that better, it probably is best if you stay towards the back if things get unpleasant, Gale. Those robes don't look particularly stab-resistant, and the last thing we need is you getting killed because someone got lucky with an arrow or a dagger." The last princess of fallen Cintra agreed, glancing over at the mage, who switched from glaring at Shadowheart to meeting Ciri's eyes and nodding with a huff of amusement.
"You'll get no argument from me. Mage Armor has always served me well in the past, useful spell that it is, but I've little and less interest in testing its continued efficacy more often than I am absolutely required to."
If Ciri had to take a guess, based on context, 'Mage Armor' was something similar to her Quen sign. A barrier that spellcasters could use to protect themselves while they fought, and she made a mental not to ask her companions more about the magic of this world. It probably wasn't the same as the magic back home, but it still seemed quite useful, and if she was going to be stuck here she might as well learn something useful while she was at it.
Making sure that her weapon was loose in it's scabbard, she rose to her full height and started forward again, Shadowheart and then Gale falling into line behind her as she made her way from forested cliff into white-washed stone. She had all of a moment to spot the very short man with pointed ears wearing leather armor, holding a bow, standing on top of a large wooden crate before he saw her.
"You! Not another step, you hear me? Boss, BOSS! We've got company up here!" he immediately bellowed, and Ciri swore as another three people (a man similar to the first, a regular human man, and a human woman wearing robes) stormed into view, weapons in hand. She half-drew her weapon, sensing blossoming magic from her companions as they moved in preparation for battle, but held herself in that position and met the apparent leader's eyes.
"What are you lot doing here? Searching the ruins and that Spelljammer what just crashed near here? Well, piss off! We got here first, we saw the ship first! Find someplace else to loot, eh?" the knee-height blond spat with a narrowed-eye glare, and Ciri stared back.
"That 'Spelljammer', as you call it, is a nautiloid, you fool. Did you not notice the tentacles?" Gale drawled from behind her, sounding exasperated and more than a little contemptuous.
"A nautiloid, you say? The fuck are mind-flayers doing around here, eh? And what do you know about it? Sounds like trickery to me." the response was a predicitable one, and Ciri didn't even try to resist rolling her eyes.
"We're the one's that sank the damn thing, but if you don't want to believe us, feel free to go and investigate. I'm sure the surviving members of the crew will be grateful for the nourishment, though how much energy they'll get from the brains of you lot I wouldn't dare to guess." Shadowheart riposted caustically, before glancing over at the mage. "Besides, if your spellcasting friend here is any good, she can take a good look at it from the ledge near the beach and confirm it. I'd hurry up, though, the goblins that our own mage slaughtered a few minutes ago might have friends in the area."
A jerk of the leader's head sent the mage scurrying away, leaving the two groups staring at each other uncomfortably, before she reappeared looking rather more pale and frightened than she had been not a minute or two before.
"They're right, tis a nautiloid, a full sized one. Heavily damaged, but I'm sure I saw at least a few Intellect Devourers down there." She reported, and a chorus of swears flowed from her compatriots as the boss rubbed his face.
"Alright, then. I've no interest in my lot getting eaten or turned to thralls by those monsters, not for the ruins of an ancient temple of all things." He finally said, glancing at the human boy beside him and jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "Go on, lad, get down to the door and tell the others. We're heading for the Druid's Grove, figure out our next step."
"A Druid's Grove?" Ciri asked curiously, and he glanced over at her before nodding, pointing north-west as the human scrambled down the steps and disappeared from view, the sound of a fist pounding on a wooden door resounding shortly thereafter.
"Aye, a mile or so from here." He confirmed, making several imperative gestures to his other subordinates, and they scattered to clean up what Ciri was assuming was their camp and supplies. Folding his arms, he met her eyes. "Now, what's a lass like you fancy mage like him doing out in the wilds? Your cleric friend at least has some armor on her, but the two of you hardly look prepared for an expedition to sink a nautiloid."
"None of us meant to be, I assure you. I was on my way to an inn for a nice hot bath and a good meal when I was captured, just outside a fortified city." Ciri said dryly, and Gale (seeing that conflict was no distinctly unlikely) stepped up beside her and speaking up even as he nodded in agreement.
"Yartar, that's where we were when the nautiloid attacked. I myself was consulting with some of the local mages on a few issues when the attack took place. I tried to help them break down the nautiloid's barriers, but I'm afraid I was rather quickly captured as well. I'm afraid I can't speak for our cleric, here."
"Not much different, I'm afraid. I was a part of a group that confronted the mind-flayers, but…well, suffice it to say my compatriots didn't survive and I was captured. Ciri saved me, and we fought our way to the bridge together. We were lucky to survive." Shadowheart chimed in, arms folded across her chest, and she tilted her head. "That being said, I don't suppose you could tell us where we are? None of us recognize the area, I'm afraid."
"Near the ruins of Moonhaven, in the Western Heartlands, a day or so along the Risen Road from the Elturgardian border. Perhaps a month or so of travel from Baldur's Gate." He responded promptly, and Gale groaned, reaching up to rub his head, getting an odd look from Ciri and the others, while Shadowheart quickly concealed a spike of excitement.
"Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate! By the gods, why is there always something going on near Baldur's Gate?!" he finally exclaimed, getting chuckles from everyone in earshot. Even Ciri laughed, both to avoid being the odd one out and, quite frankly, because his exasperation was funny.
"You're not wrong, my spellcasting friend." The leader laughed, before sobering and frowning. "Still, you say that you were taken from Yartar? That's nearly a thousand miles from here!"
Ciri swallowed heavily, having known that the nautiloid, with it's ability to teleport, must have traveled some distance, but she hadn't imagined that it was that vast a distance! That was nearly three hundred leagues, traveled in a matter of moments! Gods, she would be impressed if it wasn't so terrifying. Something that big, moving so far so quickly with so many people on-board…
"We'll be leaving, then. Good luck to you, if you try your luck with the ruins, and more luck to you if you wait much longer before heading for the Grove, with just the three of you." The leader dusted his hands as the human boy returned, another half-dozen people in tow, and the full group headed off together, leaving the three of them behind.
"Awful nice of them to offer to let us come along. Very welcoming. Made me feel quite valued, I must say." Gale drawled once they were out of earshot, getting a scoff from Shadowheart and a snort from Ciri.
"We might have warned them about the mind flayers, but for all they knew we were thralls or something of the sort. Better to leave us behind and look to their own safety, let the druids worry about our allegiances if we live long enough to get there. I can admire the pragmatism." The half-elf said, setting off down the stairs towards the wooden door that had disgorged the second group. "Come on, then. The sun is setting soon, and I have no interest in seeing what comes out at night around here. Best to find the safest place for a night's rest while we can."
Ciri and Gale exchanged glances and shrugs before following, slipping through the door one by one and closing it behind them before barring it with a large, thick wooden beam that just so happened to be directly next to it. Dusting their hands off, they looked around the space they had just entered
It was dimly lit by several torches that the recently-departed explorer's must have set up and left behind, but a murmured word from Gale had a large globe of light blooming into existence above them, turning night into day with almost painful speed. Still, as briefly uncomfortable as it was, his magical assistance proved helpful and, heh, enlightening.
"A dining hall of some sort. Well, dining and communal hall, perhaps. I wonder who this temple was dedicated to?" Shadowheart mused, before her eye caught a plaque on the wall, and she made her way over to it. Brushing the cobwebs off of it, she stared at it closely before speaking again. "Mage, come here. I don't recognize this tongue, but perhaps you will."
"I'm hardly one to be summoned across the room like a simple acolyte." The man grumbled in response, even as he none-the-less obeyed, stepping up and peering at the plaque as Shadowheart stepped aside. After nearly three full minutes, he sighed and shook his head, stepping away and turning to face the two girls. "No such luck, I'm afraid. It bares some resemblance to an ancient language I'm familiar with, but not enough of a resemblance that I can translate it with even the thinnest of accuracies. Whoever it was that was worshipped here, it has been a long, long time. Centuries, at least, I imagine. Perhaps even longer."
"How is it still standing? Gods, how is it that no one has gotten inside before?" Ciri asked, gestured around, where there was very obvious silverware and other valuables still very much present in their places of function, and portraits in gilded frames. Actually, come to think of it… "Never mind, I can guess looking at the portraits. Some kind of stasis, magical shielding to protect the temple and it's interior?"
"Most likely. The gods tend to be rather protective of their houses of worship. It usually takes the power of another god, or significant amounts of magic, to break through the wards of a temple. Without a cleric or paladin, maybea warlock, of appreciable power and experience, it would take a very, very long time to get into a place such as this. I can only imagine that the nautiloid's crash weakened the wards significantly." Shadowheart confirmed, walking over to one of the bookshelves and thumbing through the entirely intact and legible pages of several texts, her brow furrowed. "Some of these books are in elvish, dwarvish, even orcish, but none of them are talking about the temple itself or who was worshipped here. They're just common texts from across the centuries, some religious and some not."
"The mystery deepens, then." Ciri mused, making her way over to another door and opening it enough to cautiously stick her head around the corner and peer at the whatever was on the other side.. "Ah!"
"What is it?" Gale and Shadowheart asked the question in unison, shooting each other vexed looks behind Ciri's back as they abandoned their separate places to head in her direction.
"It looks like a chapel of some sort, at the far end of the corridor. I can see a statue standing in a large amount of sunlight." The silver-haired young woman responded, sounding rather excited as she pushed the door all the way open and moved through it. True to her word, Gale and Shadowheart could see the tall, white-marble statue standing in the middle of what was obviously a rather large room at the far end of the corridor. When the three of them crossed the threshold and spread out to look around, Ciri frowned lightly. "Maybe…not, a chapel? Not seeing many benches or anything…"
"Not a chapel, a records room." Shadowheart said softly from where she was standing beside a small plinth at the statue's feet, once again thumbing through the pages of a text. This time, though, it was a massive tome, the kind that one didn't take anywhere, and even from her position a good few feet away, Ciri could see the vast quantities of writing on each page. "This temple must be dedicated to a god related to Death, somehow. This text is nothing but short obituaries. Someone's name, the god they worshipped, and how it was that they died. Hundreds, thousands, of names."
"Well, that narrows down the list of deities to whom this temple could be dedicated to, oh, a mere twenty perhaps? Progress, I suppose." Gale said dryly from where he was sitting in a remarkably well-preserved and plushly-padded chair and looking through a small stack of books that he had collected from the shelves.
"Oh, that few, is it? If only we had a twenty sided coin…no, a twenty sided die! We could write down all the names, number them, give the die a toss across the table, and see if the god in question reveals the answer to us through fate." Ciri laughed softly as she stepped around Shadowheart (gently laying a hand on her back as she slipped through the space between the cleric and the wall, not noticing how Shadowheart tensed at the brush of her fingers) to inspect something on the back wall. "Think it would work, 'Heart? You're the cleric here, after all."
"Don't be ridiculous, Ciri!" the Sharran huffed, a brief pout creasing her lips as Ciri's hand left her back and the vampires moved away. "As if the gods would dictate knowledge, or anything else for that matter, based on the roll of a dice! If they did that, every gambler across the realms would be the most powerful people alive!"
"I don't know, gods can be pretty strange, sometimes. You wouldn't believe some of the stories I've heard." Ciri laughed softly, crouching down to better examine the skull decoration, which just so happened to have the carved wooden shape of a scroll clenched between it's stone teeth. "Besides, life is a game of chance. Sometimes you lose, and…"
She grasped the scroll on both ends, pulling it straight out and rotating it clockwise. There was a resounding, echoing series of clicks that ended with a loud thud, like a tumbler falling into place, and the scroll returned to it's original position as a brief breeze flowed around them. Ciri sniffed subtly to herself, scenting that breeze, before following the new smell on the air back out of the records room and into the hallway, where a large wooden panel was now slightly ajar.
Turning a pleased look to her compatriots, she pushed the newly-revealed door open and finished.
"And sometimes, you win instead." She chirped, strolling through the door and heading straight down the short corridor for the next, thoroughly unconcerned by any potential traps that she could potentially be blundering into. Though Shadowheart, at least, was somewhat less concerned, given the damage that she had seen the vampires' shield magic shrug off on the nautiloid. Most conventional traps certainly couldn't equal fighting a mind-flayer (especially not one powerful enough to be captain of a nautiloid) nor surviving getting hurled from said nautiloid as it returned violently to the earth.
"Ciri, please, a little more caution? Ruins like this are filled with traps and pitfalls, especially temples. The last thing we need is for you to catch a jet of fire to the face or fall into a spear-pit." Gale, on the other hand, had no such prior experience, and his concern was appreciable. "Above and beyond the shame of losing the company of such a beautiful young woman, I'd be left with no one besides your Sharran to talk to, and how do you think that would end?"
"Probably with the two of you trying to kill each other." Ciri acknowledged freely with an audible eyeroll, turning away from the door to face them, and Shadowheart was almost pathetically pleased by how she neither acknowledged his flirtatious comment nor refuted the idea that Shadowheart was hers, though she quickly tried to chastise herself for the thought. She wasn't a lovesick teen, damnit, she was a well-trained cleric of Shar with a divinely-ordained mission! She couldn't afford to let her heart lead her astray, she had to stay focused!
…but surely it couldn't hurt to imagine what could be when they were free of their parasites and her mission was complete?
"Precisely, so I really must insist that you be a bit more careful." Gale agreed promptly and honestly, and Ciri huffed softly in exasperation. She appreciated that he, and 'heart for that matter, wanted to keep her safe. But she was feeling freer than she had in years, given that she was entire realms away from sources of all her fears and stresses, and she wanted to enjoy that fact. That being said, Gale and Shadowheart were the local experts, and she trusted them for this much at the very least.
"Fine, I'll take things a little more slowly, but I doubt there's a man-made trap around that can catch me by surprise. I'm usied to avoiding things far more dangerous than this, and I've a keen eye. You have to, in my profession." She finally agreed after several long, long moments, trying not to grow more vexed by the matching relief on the faces of her two companions. Turning back to the door, she inspected it for a moment before testing the handle. It swung in smoothly and she stepped through, finding herself in a T-intersection leading to her left and right. While the right was open, and she could see quite the impressive sarcophagus there, the path to the left was barred by a massive, double-paneled door, one she could feel the magic radiating off of.
"If I had to wager a guess, those doors lead to the inner sanctum of the temple." Gale drawled, voicing her thoughts, and she glanced over at him, taking note of the tightness in his expression. "And before you ask, no, I wouldn't care to test my magic against it. It's certainly within my ability, as likely as not, to force them open or destroy them. The potential backlash, however, could quite easily bring what's left of this place down on our heads."
Ciri swallowed and nodded, glancing at Shadowheart and arching an eyebrow, only for the cleric to shake her head as well.
"It might be divine magic, but I have nowhere near the experience or the power, as things stand, to unravel it. Especially not without knowing which god this temple was dedicated to. That being said, it's not uncommon in old temples like this for the worshippers to leave things behind to open the defenses if needed. For artifact recovery or seeking shelter in times of strife, if nothing else. All we need to do is find the key, whatever it is." She answered the unspoken question with a small frown of regret, before glancing over towards the sarchophagus. "Of course, in my experience such things are usually hidden in plain sight, usually protected by a large number of traps. Easier for the traps to deal with intruders when there is obvious bait dangled in front of their faces, after all."
"Spend much time looting tombs and temples, Sharran?" Gale asked snidely, and she gave him a rather unpleasant look even as Ciri groaned and started walking again, though Shadowheart pointedly didn't respond verbally. Not just because she could not honestly say that she hadn't, but because she felt…uncomfortable explaining that much of her experience came from the stories her fellow Sharrans had of wiping out devotees to other gods (especially that bitch Selune) or helping set traps in abandoned Houses of Grief to painfully kill anyone who ventured into them. She had no idea how she could make Ciri understand that it wasn't as bad as it might sound, and she really didn't want her silver-haired companion to start that maybe, just maybe, Gale was right about her.
Standing in the threshold, only feet away from the sarcophagus, Shadowheart could already see perhaps a half dozen traps. Carefully disguised pressure plates embedded in the stone-work, and she could just barely see the gargoyle heads that were more than likely the other part of the trap. Poisoned darts or fire, she wondered? Most likely fire, poison darts were only useful against those not wearing much in the way of armor, and fire didn't care what you had on, it would roast you alive all the same.
"We'll need to avoid the traps to get to the sarcophagus, but the tomb itself is likely trapped as well. Caution will be the watch-word, here, until I can examine the stonework and…" she started to voice her thoughts aloud, eyes narrowed slightly as she mentally planned out the route that she would have to take, before Ciri cut her off.
"Or we could just push the button disguised by the decorations on the center-left pillar." She remarked, pointing into the room, and though Shadowheart and Gale stared, they couldn't see what she was looking at. Not that Ciri gave them much of a chance to say or do anything, because she Blinked across the distance. Her companions inhaled sharply, stepping forward instinctively out of concern for her safety, but she didn't seem to notice as she carefully ran her fingers over the decorations before gently pressing at a particular point. Once again, there was a series of clicks and thuds, echoing from various points around the room, and the pair exhaled and moved forward, recognizing the sounds of deactivated traps with the ease of familiarity.
"Didn't you just agree to be more cautious?" Gale asked, rubbing his forehead as he stopped beside her and looked around, and she shrugged nonchalantly with a small smirk.
"I did, but I was also at no risk whatsoever. I told you, I've dealt with worse than is and am a professional at finding hidden things. Relax, would you? Silver hair looks good on me, I don't think it would suit you nearly as well." She retorted, looking around as well, even as Gale grumbled and Shadowheart gave a soft chuckle. "'Heart, why don't you and I poke around, see what we can find. Gale can look for the key to the doors, since he's familiar with that sort of thing."
"Oh, sure, make me poke around in the giant tomb." The sole male of the group grumbled discontentedly, though he stepped forward and started pushing on the lid to the sarcophagus all the same, the sound of stone grinding on stone filling the room as Shadowheart and Ciri split up to search the small alcoves on either side.
Ten minutes later, they had regathered at the door way, looking at the large, ornate, bronze key that Gale was holding in one of his hands.
"You know, I didn't expect it to be quite so literally a key." Ciri mused, taking the heavily enchanted object from him and regarding it carefully, weighing it even as she scrutinized it. "Anything about this tell you whose temple this is?"
"Not really. I'm afraid most deities with Death Domains share the same symbols. There is only just so much you can associate with such a concept, after all." Gale responded, Shadowheart nodding in agreement as she peered over Ciri's shoulder. "Never the less, once we use it to open yonder doors, we should have our answers."
"Let's be about it, then."
With that declaration, Ciri once again marched away, leaving Gale to shake his head as Shadowheart followed promptly. Always moving forward, this girl, always in motion, with Shadowheart following at her heels. He'd known them barely a handful of hours, and he was already quite sure that this was going to be a running theme in their little group of infected wanderers.
Well, hopefully the answers they were seeking, at least in the immediate nature of things, would be revealed on the far side of the door. This was dead temple to a lost god, after all, what was the worst that could happen?