::XianXian still a bit frightened, looks up at Sexodus and crawls, on her knees, into his palm, and then holds onto his thumb....::

"Hmmm... so you're an assassin then? Well, I guess you will be most useful here. Do you have any means of dispatching undead creatures. You see, this is the kind of adversary we have been fighting most of the time here, aside from our unfortunate friend who was possessed..."

Vinoh turned once again to Attrah's remains, a sense of powerless rage growing in him. They were getting picked off one by one. Sure, new people were joining them, but were they as dedicated to the cause as he and the rest of the originals were?

Looking at Sexodus fingering the scar on his chest, the mind mage got some semblance of an answer. Turning back to James, he eyes him appraisingly.

"As for my scanning of your aura, you'll understand that it's hard to get straight answers here. So, what does an assassin, if that is what you are, want with the Tomb of Velix? Honestly?"

Without so much as a blink or facial expression, James responds to Vinoh's question

"Why would an assassin come to the Tomb of Velix? I have been sent to see that the creature who attacked my homeland shall not return to cause us more harm. That is what I was sent to do, I will accomplish the task or die trying. I hope for my sake and for the people of my homeland that the latter is not the result."

Discarding the stern, serious expression, James returns to his less serious and more informal mannerisms.

"You also asked about my methods of dealing with the undead. In my experience, they quite vlunerable to fire, and I have come prepared."

Reaching into his bag, Jmes retrieves a small flask of oil. He applies a small amount to a wooden strip along the dull edge of his shortsword. Placing the flask back into the bag, he takes some flint and steel, and ignites the oil. He makes a few swings and stabs into the air, then allows the fire to burn itself out before sheathing the sword. He shows a bit of a smile as he speaks again, in an amused, almost joking tone of voice.

"I also find that almost anything will stop moving if you cut it into enough pieces."

Darghon sighs as Attrah flames extinguish and there is nothing left of him other than his sheild and sword.. 'would they be safe to touch?' he wonders to himself.. 'No I best not..'

Hearing the footsteps he hides in the shadow crouching low to the ground seeing the new comer in the doorway, he raises an eyebrow and wanders steathly as possible over to where sexodus is now standing.

Darghon standing up on his hind legs whispers in Sexodus's ear.. "Stand still.. I'll accellerate your healing for that wound of yours.." And with that he concentrates and uses his psychic power of Increases Healing (Doubles ones recouperative rate).

Now slinking under that table he watches the newcomer.. raising an eyebrow.. he notices the jerky Darghon grins, licking his lips, he wanders over and sits up in front of 'James' as he seems to call himself watching the jerky go from the bag into his mouth.. listening to the conversation that is goin on between the three warriors..

Sitting against the wall resting after the grim business of cremating Attrah, he listens to james as he explains how he will dispatch the undead in the cursed place. He begins speaking after the sword is no longer ignited.

"Be wary james, Vinoh and I encountered some undead that seemed almost immune to fire. Also if you want to save the oil... and time I can just enchant your weapon to burst into flames while fighting.. no harm will come to your blade and the flames will not die till the time is ready."

Looking back at Attrah's remains Kentelos says.

"Also does anyone have any sort of container we can put Attrahs ashes in. Personally I think we would be doing him a great diservice by leaving his remains in this cursed place."

"Some risks need to be taken my love..."

D'Aleen smiles mischeviously up at Thantos and releases his hand as he examines the shield given to him.

Hearing Kentelos' words she searches in the pouch at her side and after a moment withdraws a tiny, doe-skin pouch with intricate silver beading on it.

"Here Kentelos, if this will be sufficient you may have it for the ashes. It was a gift from my father, in case I discovered any new herbs I wanted to take back to show him......if I make it back to see him..."

Saddened by the thought of not seeing her father again D'Aleen wanders over to the table to get her mind off her father. Wondering if Krazixs has discovered anything about the other items that may be as much use to them as the ring that now lay innocently on her finger, she quietly approaches.

***Walking over to where Krazixs and D'Aleen

Do you mind if help you sort thru some of this stuff?

***Upon approvel Sexodus begins to search thru the items!

"Your help would be most welcome, my friend. Oh....and please, let's ask XianXian if she can shed any light on some of these treasures. She did live with them and their "master" for quite some time. She trusts you Sexodus, perhaps you can ask her."

And with a shy smile the elf goes back to her inspection and retrospection.

When D'Aleen let's go of his hand, Thantos starts to examine the shield he has just been given. Looking at it in detail, checking out the bindings, engravings and feel. Thantos adjusts the straps so it fits better on his arm. He then pulls out some rope strands and figures out a way to strap the shield to his back pack in case he needs to shoulder it for a bit. After he's done that he moves over to one of the doors and keeps watch, talking back to James.

"So James. Did you see anything out there that would come in handy? Do you know where you are and how to get out of here? "

All I know is the way I came in. I shouldn't have a problem getting back out, but I didn't see anything that would be useful.

"We have a few options. We could explore the passageway that was revealed and still is open.....or go back the way we came.

I think we should examine this room thoroughly first, and then make the decision together."

Quietly speaking the words, D'Aleen casts her eyes about the room...watching the movements of her companions, both new and old. The urge to move on is a strong force pushing against her but the desire to seek what other treasures this room may hold is stronger. With a defiant toss of her long hair, the elf leans against the table and examines the blade given to her by Krazixs; while keeping an ear open for the conversation around her.

Darghon looks at the now open secret passage.. his tail flicking back and fro as he stands on his hind legs scratching his chin.. "D'Aleen.. I think that anything that was ment to be hidden from anyone.. or us for that matter.. would definetly need to be checked out" Darghon then looks at the trinkets on the table "But we would definetly need to be careful and on the look out for traps and other creepy crawlies.." Darghon goes back down on to all four of his claws.. "Tell me when you are finished sorting through the gold and I will put it back in my d-bag for ease of keeping.."

Darghon grinned.. resting his head on the table watching them sort the gold and keeping an ear trained on the conversation beside him..

Krazixs smiles. He must be really exhausted, the amount of energy he had to expel to reveal the identity of the two items in his hands, seemed enormous, but he felt it just meant he was tired. Grasping the two items in his hand, one amulet, and one scarab, Krazixs sinks down against the wall and closes his eyes.

"You guys go ahead and figure out which way to go, I need to rest for a bit. I'll tell you about these two things and we can decide who get's them in a second. Just give me a minute to rest. . . "

With that Krazixs closes his eyes and tries to let his mind rest to regain his strength.

***trying to break his eye hold on gems... He stands and looks to the others.

"I vote on a move thrugh the passage. We must press on, to put out the light of this evil. Backtracking will only take us longer!"


***Turning back to the table, he drops the last of the larger jewls back onto the table. walking towards the passage. He fianlly takes a sword and jams it into the door.

"There, now we shouldnt worry about it closing on us!"

Turning to see Krazixs slump to the ground to rest, Vinoh secretly hopes one of the unknown items will help him, seeing as D'Aleen and Thantos got some pretty neat things. The elf now had her bow, the dagger and a ring; Thanots had his cape, Attrah's shield and maybe even his sword, if he wanted it. However, all would be revealed in due time...

With his telekinetic powers, Vinoh lifted Attrah's sword and gently sent it to the fighter.

"Since you have his shield, you might as well have his sword as well, unless you prefer your own."

Keeping the sword afloat until Thantos grabs it, the mind mage turns to answer Sexodus.

"I agree with moving forward into the passage, but first, let's check out the debris that's been strewn about during the fight.[/I]

Wanting to help out Krazixs but not having the healing abilities he himself has, D'Aleen walks over and places a hand on his shoulder offering up a drink from her flask.

"Please....it's not as much as you have been able to do for me but the spring water from my homeland is very restorative. Rest and we shall wait for you to regain your strength before we move on."

XianXian climbs up to Sexodus' shoudler and holds onto the string-harness and his ear and awaits the direction he takes her.

Feeling that he was taking all that Attrah was, Thantos, slowly reaches out to take the sword. Thantos had a sword, in fact it was his Father's sword, it had seen him through some very tough times and he loved it dearly. But in this place with the magical creatures, it wasn't nearly as effective as it could be. This magical sword could come in handy.

"Thank you Vinoh, I will take this sword for now, until a new permanent owner is found. Now, one of you Vinoh, or Darghon, had a spare one of those magical bags correct? I'm getting a little overloaded here, would I be able to borrow the unused one until we are done in this place? "

"Yes, I believe Darghon is our bag man. Perhaps he'll have a spare one for you... I sense that you feel bad about taking the sword, but I'd rather have as many well-armed people on my side as possible in a place such as this!"

"Bag dragon thankyou.." He looks at his friend Vinoh grinning.. "And um.. I only have my own D-bag.. it has ample space though.." he looks at the bag at his scaley side.

"Sexodus is right, we should be off... but only until we are all up to the task" he eyes off Krazixs who is being handed a flask of water from D'Aleen.. "But for the mean time.." he sticks his hand into his D-Bag and pulls out five small sacks.. "It'll be much easier to retrieve the gold from my D-bag if they're in individual sacks before they go into its void.." he says while filling up one of the sacks with an even proportion then placing it inside of the D-bag.. the innards glowing an irridescent blue as the sack is slid in and dissappears, as he pulls out his hand the glow stops, the bag looking like any other sack to the untrained eye...

Krazixs smiles gratefully to D'Aleen. He takes the flask and drinks deeply.

"Need, is the best sauce for any dish, and I can't think of anything right now that tasted better than the water of you homelands."

The cool water flows through the elf rejuvinating all the aches, and sore muscles. The coolness spreads through his body bringing a feeling of life back.

Rising Krazixs looks at the two small objects in his hands wondering who would be the best to give them to. Holding up the scarab in his hand Krazixs considers carefully.

"Vinoh, catch!" Krazixs tosses the scarab to the mind mage."That item my friend will allow you to combat creatures that have been brought to life through magical means. Creatures like Golems. Use it well."

Krazixs next considers the amulet carefully. He already had one similar, but who to give this one to.

Smiling Krazixs tosses the amulet to Sexodus.
"And here you go, this one should protect you from any diseases, should you get any, even those of supernatural origin."

Satisfied Krazixs turns to the rest of the party.

"Ready to leave when you are"

"Thank you Krazixs. I am sure that this will come in handy!"

"I assume everyone else is ready?"

***Looking back to the others for assurance... Sexodus continues down the passageway. Being sure to check for traps and other Strange things.

Vinoh catches the scarab and inspects its flawless artwork, after which he places it in a pocket of his robe.

"Thank you very much, Krazixs. Combines with my gem of strength, I'm sure I'll be able to deal with golems without any problems!"

Noticing that he also had a bag of holding, the mind mage sheepishly holds it up.

"I guess I forgot I'm also a bag man. If anyone wants to get rid of excess bagagge, feel free to give it to me and I'll keep it for you."

With that, Vinoh falls in behind Sexodus in the secret passage, club at the ready and invigorated by Krazixs' gift.

Darghon slides his claw inside of his D-bag pulling out a bag of holding as well "Hrmm.. imagine that.." Darghon looks at Krazixs "Would you like this? I have no use of it Krazixs, having my own.." Darghon continues to fill the other sacks with gold and jewels placing them in his D-bag when they get full..

"Vinoh, can you carry my father's sword in your D-bag? I'll get it later."

Passing the extra sword off to Vinoh, Thantos follows the other down the passage way, shield on one hand, Attrah's sword in the other. Upon seeing the flickering lights below, and that James and Sexodus are moving to check things out (OOC: Sexodus, I'm presuming since you are leading you are doing this..if not just ignore me), Thantos presses his back against the wall and crouches down as far as he can trying to see into the room below him. Moving slowly next to the wall, Thantos waits for the others to wave him forward before continuing too fast.

Darghon fills the last of his sacks, he ties up the opening and puts them in his D-bag... Following the other warriors down the stairs "Gah.. damn these cobwebs.." Seeing the lights down below he casts Invisibility on himself...

Krazixs accepts the sack gratefully and ties it around the rope he's using as a belt. Falling in the middle of the line Krazixs makes his way down the stairs following his comrades

"Hmmmmm. . . "Krazixs considers carefully the room about them."Sexodus I would search for any traps, levers, or anything that looks like it could move along a track. Vinoh does your new amulet tell you anything about the statues around here? Let's be a little cautious before approaching that chest." Gazing up at the hourglass floating overhead Krazixs tries to decipher the writing on the object.

"I agree....I think that although the last chest we came across yielded some valuable treasures as well as our new pixie friend, that we should take great care with this one.

Can you understand the writings on the hourglass Krazixs?"

Wandering over closer to where the elf was looking up at the object, D'Aleen felt a shiver slide up her spine.

"We seem to be in a different place/dimension than the forest we originally entered. Perhaps time has been skewed as well and this is why. By all rights that sand should be falling.......I sure hope that we don't set it off if that means our own time here will be up....."

The invisible darghon wanders down into the room... sitting in the corner waiting for something to happen.. an urge building inside of him.. almost forcing him to goto the treasure...

Shaking that off he wanders over to where Krazixs is, making as little noise as possible and tries to identify the dialogue underneath the giant hourglass...

::XianXian looks up at the statues with open-mouthed amazement, then shivers off a cold gust of fear. Warming her self, by rubbing her hands against the outside of her arms, she whispers across the party::

"I don't think you all were supposed to have opened my box."

(OOC: Oh...sh**!! We in trouble now!! :))

Thantos, realizing that he had a Bag of Holding, puts his father's sword and his crossbow in the bag and then, offloads a bunch of the weight from his pack before following the others down the stairs and into the room.

Thantos has just finished reading the inscription on the hourglass as he notices the sand start to fall.

"This can't be good!"

Looking around Thantos runs to the the door in the middle (just to the left of the one we entered) and tries the door. Expecting it to be locked he moves on to try the other doors, trying to decipher the puzzle as he goes.

"Everyone, we need a way out of here or a way to stop that sand quick. Any ideas?

I'm thinking that palm of your hand may have something to do with the statues considering they have so many palms. Vinoh, Darghon, XianXian, can any of you fly up and see? Or do you have any other ideas?"

"Well just from quick thought I think once the hourglass emptys" darghon looks around "the room might errupt in a enormous fireball burning all to a crisp, and setting us free from out "

"Then again it could mean something totally different... I'll have a think about it more.. in the mean time I think we should try these other doors..."

Vinoh smiles. He had been tested many times with these forms of "exercises" during his training in the guild. Actually, he quite enjoyed these puzzles and mind games, despite their potential deadliness, especially now.

However, his smile faded a bit when his suspicions were revealed by the scarab.

"Alright, people. These two statues are golems and may activate at any time. As for whether they might hold the key for our escape, I do not know. I've been through games like this before and sometimes a percieved threat might just be something to cause panic, while the real answer is simple or requires nothing but patience. Basically, we might just have to wait until the sand runs out, before the doors becomes unlocked; or we might have to defeat the golems in that specific amount of time, then inspect their palms; or perhapes palms refers to something completely different and symbolical... the possibilities are endless.

Whatever the case, please stay away from the golems. Thantos, you might probably be able to slow one down with you web power, and Darghon with your magic, while I take the other down. We could then switch roles... In the meantime, Sexodus, D'Aleen and Krazixs can inspect the brazier and hourglass further.

Whatever happens, stay calm, everyone."

{ooc: How high is the hourglass? Hs the top attached firmly? Could I reach the top? Is there anything on the floor or walls that appears to be flammable?}

James casually eyes the hourglass,then shifts his attention to the golems, then to the chest. He turns and addresses the group.

"Here's my take on things. Nobody touches the chest, if you do, the golems animate. My guess is that trying to open the door will either activate the fire curse or animate the golems. The only way to get out is to kill the golems and find what is written on their palms. We have to stop the hourglass before doing anything else.

James produces a small flask of water from his bag.

Wet sand cannot fall through an hourglass. If we can get some water into it, we can stall, if not prevent, our death by immolation. Meanwhile, if anyone thinks that they can get to a vantage point from which anything on thr palms of the golems can be read, plese try to do so. I think that it is vital to refrain from touching the statues until we have decided on a course of action and are ready to fight."

Krazixs frowns, this was definatley not good.

Concentrating Krazixs focus's his attention on the chest

:Spell-Detect Magic:

Watching Thantos try all the doors, to no avail, D'Aleen walks over to James. Pulling the dagger that Krazixs had given her from beneath her cloak, she holds it out to him.

"Here, take this dagger please. It is valuable when dealing with the undead but I prefer my attacks to be from a distance with the help of my bow. I think it may be of more use to you than to I."

With a slight bow, the elf hands the dagger over and turns to inspect the brazier. Not wishing to see how the flames will react once the sand has run out she ponders their situation.

"Obviously we have to tread carefully with the golems but we are quickly running out of time. I do not think we shall be so lucky as to have the doors spring open when our time runs out.....that is not the nature of this place."

::XianXian, still upon Sexodus' shoulder looks toward the ceiling, slightly transfixed by something she is not sure she sees. Urging Sexodus toward a wall more bare than the others, she attempts to climb up, turning her head often, to see her baring on what she continues to stare at, above.

She makes her way part way to her desired destination and cannot climb any further. With lazed determination, she throws off her rags, and flies up, towards a glint... a glimmer... and gets as close to it to find out what it is that is shining and calling her attention::

XianXian:
* The glimmer that attracts your Fey eye
as you fly high
is one of two stone
in the palm on the left of the iron giant of the left
bright opal, round, smooth, shiny & small
in the other you see in the right
another, but black not bright
one glinting, the other not
in the flames of the hall *

"I see something!!!!!"

::XianXian yelps alarmed.::

"Two stones! One is a beautiful jewel! So full of life!! Life!! ... On the outside!"

::XianXian begins to quiet and flies closer to the dark stone... very close, just within distance for her breath to touch it, and whispers into it, trying to find out what kind of stone it is::

"Are you a bringer of fire, dark one? Or is all you need a flame to burn?"

Krazixs kneels down close to the chest. It was definatley enchanted in some way. The elf leans close careful not to touch the chest and examines the lid and any other marks that maybe inscribed on it.

James:
* The hourglass is floating above the brazier,
there is no support holding it up.
Nothing in the room seems flamable, except perhaps the thick wooden doors or the chest.
The brazier is brass, as is the hourglass with the glass portion of course
The statues are iron, and the room is covered in marble and granite. *

krazixs:
* The chest appears to be locked, you do not see any unusual markings *

XianXian:
* The opal stone flickers light from the flames of the brazier,
but sits quietly in the palm of that statue
The eyes are looking at you though... *

All:
* The sands have reached halfway full to the bottom *

Anxiously glancing at the rapidly falling sands in the hourglass, D'Aleen ponders XianXian's discovery.

"The removal of those stones from the statues will most likely result in their animation. But they could be our only hope as well. Vinoh, Thantos...what do you think?"

::XianXian closes her eyes and beats her weight faster... stretches out her hand, and reaches for the dark, black stone. As each grain falls, her hand grows uncomfortably closer and closer.::

"I don't fee like I should be doing this!"

::Nearing a climax, her hand gets closer and closer, and her eyes shut tighter and tighter:::

Darghon grins, his eyes shimmer a bright gold colour.. "Oh a fight, this should be fun indeed"

"And in response to you idea Jame.." Darghon looks at the hour glass "I could fill that hour glass with water.. if that is what you want.. It would not be to hard... but is it what we want to do?"

Darghon notices the golems watching XianXian as she flies up to inspect the palms of the golems "Either way it shall be interesting when these two start to move around..." Darghon eyes the chest.. "Maybe we should just open the chest and see what's inside?"

XianXian:
* Your hand touches the small black shiny stone.
It shifts slightly with your touch in the iron palm.
Neither iron giant moves *

All:
* There is a third left at the top half of the hourglass... *

Seeing that the sand is filling the downward portion fast, Vinoh activates his telekinesis and flies swiftly to the other golem, to see if it holds gems in its palms as well. Passing Darghon and D'Aleen, he says:

"Don't touch anything yet and don't worry about the sand. Actually, the golems may simply become activated once the sand has gone completely into the lower half of the hour glass, which could be one of the meanings of the inscription on it. I'll check out the other golem to see if it holds anything."

::XianXian lifts the black stone and throws it into the brazier::

Vinoh:
* As you raise to a decent height
within the palms of the giant on the right
are two stone, each hand has one
one red, one blue
their color is true, but not bright like the sun *

All:
* With a swift move & a intent that is strong,
the pixie takes up the stone with a great effort...
and heaves it towards the high flames of the brazier.

The stone arcs up from her and across the divide
Your eyes seem to trail the shiny black stone in slow time
to just land on the edge of the brazier with a clang
and off this rolls into the flames...

The fire quickly consume the stone with a flash
On the wall with the doors of three
opens the one farthest than you came through first.
Inside you see a narrow spiraling staircase going up steeply to the right.

All is quiet, and expecting the worst, all is the still the same.
But when you look back from the door...
But you note the sands have stopped,
as a matter of fact, the sum of sand is at the top again,
nothing at the bottom of the glass. *

"Wow, that was easy. . . hmmmm. Someone prop open that door, so it doesn't close on us again. Sexodus do you think you can try and open this chest?"

Darghon raises a dissappointed eyebrow.. "Yes Krazixs.. I agree.. a little too easy.." Darghon rushes over to the chest.. "Are we sure we want to open this? That might activate the Golems.."

::XianXian, surprised by the results of her experiment, hovers open mouthed, eyes widened in amazement.

She turns her direction and moves anxiously toward the other stone, her hands out stretched to grip it, and throw it into the brazier::

"XianXian, Don't grab that other rock yet!"

still amazed that the sand has stopped flowing, Thantos moves over to the open door and looks for something to wedge it open. Finding nothing, he sighs and stays in the doorway to prevent the door from closing himself.

"I'll stay here and make sure we have an exit but you guys be careful over there. We don't know what set off this trap in the first place."

"Cubby is right, do not touch the other stones. I think that each one, once thrown into the brazier while the sands flow downward, opens one of the doors. There are four doors and four stones, so I think this all follows. As for the chest, I believe the golems will activate if we touch it and there's no telling what will happen to the stones they're holding. They might be destroyed, which would prevent us from exploring the other rooms beyond the still locked doors.

Basically, I believe that we could explore what's beyond the door that just opened, then come back here if we can later. We will simply have to toss a different stone into the brazier to reveal another passageway."

"Sounds good..." Darghon looks at Thantos standing in the doorway.. wandering over to him he looks up at Thantos "So.. I'll go in and have a look and you stay here" Darghon works his way past Thantos into the hallway.. "Well this should be interesting..."

Krazixs moves from the chest, his curiosity will just have to wait. "All right let's go then"

Nodding her agreement with the others, D'Aleen moves over to the passageway.

"I'm ready."

::XianXian, amazed by the excitement of the previous events, zooms along in the air, newly appeased by her reclusive skill in flight. She heads out the room, up the inside well of the staircase, as quickly as she can, her eyes ever on the lookout for what might be her ---.. err... the party's next trial.::


"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Darghon ducks as he enters the corridor the pixie whizzing past his head.. watching her fly off quickly without regard he quickens her pace hoping the others are following and hoping nothing nabs XianXian before he can catch up..

Darghon laughs to himself "I don't care what you lot say.. someone else can look through the door.." Darghon sits patiently for the rest to catch up.. He looks up at XianXian and grins, his tail flicking to and fro with a slight twitch..

"I think we need to try it...can anyone sense anything on the other side?"

D'Aleen asked the others, smiling a little at Darghon's comment.

Krazixs looks at Vinoh, "Well it's either you me or the farie, what say you?"

::XianXian lands on the ground, and turns around, her knees bent, and wings twitched up like the tail of a cat, she turns her head toward the party to await approval as she fits herself to go under the door.::

"Hold it, XianXian. No use in risking exposure by sticking your head under the door. I'll do a scan before we open it."

*Psychic power: Sense presence (other side of oak door)*

Vinoh:
* You sense noone currently *

XianXian
* You feel a warm current of air coming from underneath the door
Very distinct in comparison to the frigid halls of the keep *

Vinoh:
* But wait...maybe you DO sense something...you're not sure... *

"Argh... my senses are garbled for some reason. At first I sensed noone, but now things are somewhat off... How about we let the fighters open the door, while mages back them up?"

::XianXian smiling with glee that perhaps she might be a fighter, continues her perch and ducks lower, sticking her head below the door to see what is upon the other side.::

Darghon picks up the pixie before she has time to scuttle under the door.. "Where do you think you're goin?" He looks at her blinking his large dragon eyes..

"I think you are right, Vinoh. Unless you all want to turn around and go a different route. I am quite curious to see what is behind here though."

D'Aleen waits for a decision and prepares her bow, just in case.

Krazixs takes his place next to Vinoh, letting the fighters go ahead of him.

Darghon puts the pixie down.. "Why send a few fighters when you can send me" Darghon grins.. opens the door and wanders in ready for anything..

Thanking James for spiking the door, Thantos follows the others up to the door. When the request for fighters to enter first is made, Thantos nods and moves to the front of the pack..just as Darghon opens the door and moves in. Close behind Darghon Thantos walks in, shield in left hand and sword drawn in his right.

"Let's see what's behind dooooor number 1 shall we? "

Taken aback by the sudden warmth and relative coziness of the room, Vinoh pauses as he enters and simply looks around in awe. This seems to be a study of some kind. Indeed, the place looks very well-suited to meditation and the acquisition of knowledge.

Finally, his eyes fall upon the cat. Its eyes seems to shine with a certain intelligence that is most unusual for a simple pet. Stepping towards it, Vinoh crouches down to be more at its level and speaks aloud:

"And what are you doing here? Waiting for your master to return? Or are you perhaps a master yourself?"

Darghon in the room already looks around in wonder.. Wanting to fill his curiosity he wanders up to the where the tomes and books are kept seeing if their might be anything useful, perhaps a history of the place.

"Imagine Vinoh.. if that little one were one of my kin... it could paw you across the face and send you sailing across the room.." Darghon chuckles to himself "But I somehow know that I would know that if this cat were a dragon.. I would know" Darghon ponders to himself how he would know that he would know and just settles with the fact he would know.

Darghon turns around to the rest of the group.. reading a book of some interest to him.. After quickly looking through the book he places it back as it was... "So...?"

:::XianXian frightened by the sight of the cat, immediately climbs Sexodus' leg, enters his pocket and hides every bit of body she can.::

Lowering her bow D'Aleen enters the room slowly, drawn by the warmth emitting from the glowing hearth. Wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her, she gazed around at the books lining the walls and took in the soft chairs and luxurious setting.

Moving over curiously to see what Vinoh was speaking to, a soft gasp escapes her lips when she sees the feline.

"Vinoh....I could try to speak with it, as with the horses so long ago. My only fear is that if it is a shifter than I may not break the mental hold. What do you think?"

Krazixs enters the room behind the others taking in the new surrondings and feeling himself relax slightly. Glancing at the feline lounging in it's chair the elf dismisses it from his mind fearing no threat. Stopping in front of the painting for a moment, Krazixs stares at a earthly beauty, whose essence seems captured perfectly in the painting. It gave him a strange feeling however the elf shrugs it off sensing nothing else particular about it. Running his hands along the shelves of books Krazixs idly skims over the titles. The scroll work on the binding is exquisite, great care must have gone into making such tomes. For some reason the books and the room put him in mind of Father Quadriel. As soon as his mind turned to it, something nagged at him. Something was pulling at his thoughts, perhaps it was that he felt there search for him has been for naught. Frowning, Krazixs turns back to the others to see if they have found anything.

Walking in behind Darghon kentelos sees that cat.

"I love cats"

With a smile Kentelos slowly walks towards the cat and gets down on all fours so that his head is level with the cats and crawls forward to it. As he does this he murmurs softly under his breath

"Good kitty"

***Sexodus smiles to XianXian, as she hides in his pockit. Along with the Other tresurs of hers.

"Kraxis, Is there a way you could break the mental hold over Minx? If this where a Shifter?"

***Sexodus walks where the others havnt gone yet. Exploring and Watching. Looking for somthing...

Krazixs frowns.

"I don't think so Sexodus, Vinoh might though"

Still looking at the cat, Vinoh answers D'Aleen, Sexodus and Krazixs.

"Well... judging by the smirk on its face, I'm thinking this is no ordinary cat, hence my attempt to talk to it directly. As for breaking any mental hold it might create against another, I'm not sure if I could be of any help. My defensive powers apply to my own mind only. I could create a group mind block, but that would be to defend against expected mental attacks and would prevent any empathic or telepathic transfers. In other words, if you want to create any kind of link, you're on your own, although I could attempt a mental stun or paralysis if you get out of control, like when Attrah touched the tainted sword..."

Upon saying these last words, Vinoh looked down in regret. Killing one of his companions still weighed heavily on him and he certainly didn't want to experience that again. Looking up, he spoke again:

"However, this is all purely speculation. Just because a cat smiles doesn't mean it's a polymorph with psychic powers. For all we know, it could be a cat that just smiles... but that would be boring, wouldn't it?"

Vinoh smiles at this and attempts to read the cat's aura, to gauge its alignment and relative power, if any.

*Psychic power: Read aura - Cat*