The Crypts
The 1st of Intas, 2719
"Ido miss home, yes. Frecksat was at least familiar, but Anaxas is very different from my homeland. I have tried very hard to navigate the culture, but more often than not I am not sure I am at all successful." Ezre's admission was quiet and honest in the dim lantern light, not looking at Lilanee nor glancing at the walls, dark eyes staring into the shadows ahead as if he knew better where he was going than what he was saying.
He blinked slowly and welcomed the change of subject, nodding at her commentary about Heshath and galdori disuse. Estuan was definitely the favored tongue among galdorkind across the Six Kingdoms and for obvious reasons—it was easily spoken, quickly written, and had a long historical significance stretching as far back as the War of the Book. Whether it had become the common language out of pity for Roannah or out of necessity, however, was certainly left up to Ezre's personal speculation.
The dark-haired boy grinned at her confirmation of Western Drake venom's hallucinogenic qualities, making mental note to follow up on such curiosities later.
"My father would perhaps not entirely agree with such a sentiment, but I understand it." The Hexxos acolyte offered quietly at Lilanne's opinion on the importance of death and the preservation of history, Tuhir Vks a very traditional scholar and one who Ezre was convinced knew the contents of every book, scroll, and tome in every nook and shelf and cranny in all of Kzecka perhaps even better than his long-lived raen of a mother, "He often accuses me of too much optimism, for I do believe it is actually possible to learn from our mistakes instead of simply end up doomed to continue to repeat them."
He watched her huddle closer in her coat, but was quickly distracted by the room they found themselves standing in. The decorations were indeed exquisite, and yet he set aside his admiration of all of the work put into the Crypts hidden so far from common view when the other student asked her questions,
"Warding is a small, experimental branch of Clairvoyant Conversation, zjai. To simplify, it is mostly employed for the blocking of communication, but there are far more complex applications when one is willing to sift through historical grimoires and very esoteric studies. Wards are one of the few magical applications that do not necessarily require an Everspell because of the memory of the mona—most wards require a trigger and therefore are not always active. It is, well, it is a long discourse for another time. Needless to say, I think—I think you are considering things from a secular perspective when you say all barriers must be physical, Kuleda-vumien. You are surely aware of what is able to be accomplished by a Wall spell or something similar."
In the looming darkness, Ezre's face more shadows and ruddy lantern glow, his knowing grin was almost a wicked expression.
And then it was gone, lost in some flustered, sheepish huff as Lilanee made a lengthy treatise over the logic of accepting his coat. There was a hot sensation kindled from her words that settled strangely against his sternum and heated the entire cavity of his chest. For a moment, he was sure more of his breath was visible in the stale, chilled air, but perhaps he was just overthinking things.
"Here, then. I cannot argue with your deductions." The dark-haired boy set his satchel and notebook down, slipping easily out of the dark wool, tattooed fingers holding it aloft toward her and stepping forward to set it gently on her shoulders and allow her to slip her arms into the sleeves still warm from his body heat. Clean and well kept, there would be the faint hints of herbal incense and the subtle earthy scents of chan that clung to the coat simply because of his habits and his small dorm room. He picked back up his things, hiding a smile, feeling that same heat from before pool at the base of his skull and tickle down his spine.
Lilanee hit him playfully, reminding him of her more physical nature, and his smile didn't falter. Instead, it was very clear by the tone of his voice that he was taunting her, even if his expression was in no way as mischievous as he sounded, "Then my acclimatization and preparation benefit us both. You are most welcome."
He chuckled, light and lilting, before turning toward the doorway to examine the most unusual plot on the stone tiles in front of the stairs.
"I was not implying that decayed corpses would be exiting of their own volition. It is far easier to stop a body than it is to stop an incorporeal spiritual entity." Ezre spoke softly, keeping his hands cupped around the candle for a few moments longer than necessary. He closed his eyes, studying the shift of mona and feeling the triggered runoff wash over him. Finally standing, he adjusted the satchel over his shoulder and replied, "Ideally, you are correct. Once a body dies and the soul returns to the Cycle, dead is dead until Rebirth. However, anomalies do occur—"
Ezre searched her face, realizing that he was intimidated by her firm disbelief, suddenly discovering that her persistence was a barrier to his ability to be open and honest. It was, he told himself, for the best that he kept his secrets, that he did not delve too far into the depths of his supernatural knowledge, and yet it stung a little once he realized that he'd been quite enthusiastic about the opportunity to share his heart with someone otherwise so likeminded. There was a divide between them on the issue of the paranormal and while it should not have been a big deal, the raen-born boy felt this particular difference between them very deeply, far more personally than he should have.
His breath hitched, body straightening and delicate features fading back to a much calmer, more deadpan expression as his smile disappeared. His dark eyes swept downward to the candle and then toward the dark archway of the stairs before settling back on Lilanee's freckled, taunting face,
"—and I assure you those anomalies care not whether you have seen them or whether you believe in them. I have. I do. And no, I am not afraid." The Hoxian's voice didn't waver, though he felt the thrum of his pulse quicken at his declaration. There were reasons to be afraid and he knew some of them, though it was all that he didn't know that should have been a source of more fear. Ezre felt the challenge and rose to it in full stoic glory, however, the analytical persistence of his Hessean friend just enough spark to set ablaze his more reserved sense of adventurousness, and so he, too, summoned bravado from the dark depths of his Hexxos-raised soul.
Cold lips pressed together in a thin line, and the dark-haired boy met Lilanee's gaze with a strange sense of earnestness. It was not his nature to be forceful, nor was it at all his calling to press his beliefs onto others if they were unwilling to hear them. He enjoyed the young woman's company too much to cause any real disturbance between them, and so he nodded his head and said with a very heartfelt softness,
"We have agreed to disagree."
As if to make sure she knew there were no hard feelings about such a realization, the flicker of a more mischievous smile briefly passed over his delicate features before he turned and began to descend the stairs into the darkness below, "This way, then, Kuleda-vumien."
The stairs were a straightforward affair, wide enough for them to walk together with a sturdy handrail. They were well-preserved and even though it was obvious that no one had been this way in several years if not decades, there were no signs of disrepair. Down they went for at least an entire story, the air becoming noticeably colder and more stale as they descended to the next level.
Heading downward, the steps gave way to what could only be called an antechamber, the room perhaps used as some kind of gathering place for Everine when preparing to inter a new body. There were alcoves along the wall, one of which still had books of prayers and song on the shelf, and there in the middle of the room was a circular mosaic on the floor. Much like the room upstairs, the theme of this room was a beautiful garden made of carved stone, and depicted beautiful galdori dancing in a green landscape full of Anaxi plants and favorite wildlife. It was an idyllic scene, and bordering it all were ten sections each devoted to a stylized symbolic representation of each of the ten deities of the Circle. Alioe's section was larger and almost appeared like the point of a compass, pointing back up the stairs while Naulanon's was opposite hers, also in the point of a compass, and it pointed further down the hall.
Ezre examined the mosaic and followed the tiled pathway that led into darkness with his gaze before he turned and poked around in the alcoves, unable to help himself from reaching for the prayer book and thumbing through it gently before moving onto a book of song,
"So much painstaking architecture down here implies that previous generations of Anaxi galdori spent more time here with their ancestors than they do now. This must have been much like the foyers in the Church of the Moon that lead down to various parts of the upper level of the Crypts—a gathering place before heading toward graves." He stepped back into Lilanee's lantern, closer than necessary to share warmth as well as light, and pulled back out his notebook to a new page with another map,
"It was exceedingly difficult to find much information on these additional floors. It felt almost as if all documentation on the lower levels had been purposefully removed from the Library shelves out of student reference. Here," Tattooed fingers pointed to the rough circle he'd drawn in pen, the straight hallway leading away, "This hallway will eventually branch into several subsections. My goal was to see if there are interesting libraries on this floor, but honestly, I am now just curious as to why they closed this section at all."
As he spoke, the lantern flickered. It would have seemed logical that his breath disturbed the air in its warm cloud, but there was definitely a breeze for a moment. It tickled their hair and caressed their skin before the air was completely still again. Ezre's eyes fluttered in thought, but he withheld whatever passed through his mind lest he risk the judgment of his Hessean companion, unsure of how she would react should he make mention of potential hazards. Instead, he turned and began to walk carefully around the mosaic toward the archway that marked the beginning of the hallway he had indicated, noting that the arches were painted on with the same monite as above,
"I expected a—"
There, in front of them, halfway down the hall was an iron gate, chained and locked.
"—gate. Here is your more material barrier, Kuleda-vumien. It appears as though the Everine covered all of their options for keeping things secure from ascending to the upper levels. And, conversely, from descending I suppose."
The Hexxos acolyte smirked, clearly taunting her, gathering his field until it was taut and seemed to buzz with its own invisible source of heat, an excitement filling him that his research had paid off. Moving closer to examine the lock, it was rusty and covered in a thin layer of frosted moisture. He lifted it in his hand to curl inked fingers around it and attempted a good tug, but nothing happened. The rattling of the chains and the groan of the metal gates rang out very loudly in the crisp, empty air, reverberating off stonework they couldn't see on the other side.
"Physical Conversation is your focus, is it not? Would you prefer to attempt to open the lock or should I do so with these?" Ezre produced a small bundle of handmade lockpicks, revealing just how much time he'd spent preparing for this expedition.