The silver stars of the Eclipsing Moon (Chapter 2)

[Maryring]

While the four werewolves stand in the room, stunned by the beauty, a soft melody begins to play. The strange fey stands up and walks over to the beryl harp, from which a soft wind has begun blowing. Small arcs of electricity flow between the harp and the fountain in the center as the third element is added into the mix. The fey remains observing the harp for a few moments, before a ghostly wolf followed by two ghostly cats appear out from the ground. The animals have the same sickly purple glow that the tainted air spirits from earlier were surrounded with. The fey notices the animals and turns to them, her posture still calm and relaxed. The ghostly wolf relays a message to her that causes her to lean against the harp with an annoyed look on her face, which finally brings the werewolves into the corner of her eye. She quickly spins around and fixates her gaze on the group that has been watching her. The ghostly spirits do so as well, though none of them does anything but stare in the beginning.

[Ozzy_G]

This is really strange, mutters Karl to the others. What are we going to do?

[Lycar]

Varek

Looking at the purplish spirits, Varek tilts his head and says "They look diseased, like the birds. Heal them?"

He looks at his club with a bit of doubt in his eyes but hefts it anyways.

Lycar

[Maryring]

The humanoid fey steps forward and looks intently at the group of four werewolves. "Can I help you? Are you new recruits or something? I can't recall seeing you before."

[Ozzy_G]

Yes, we are, says Karl confidently. We only arrived today, and we were told that this was where we should go. Do you know where we're supposed to go down here exactly? We weren't really given a lot of directions, other than to go down the well. The boy at the top said to go through these doors, he says pointing at the doors they've just come through, but he didn't say where to go after that.

[Maryring]

"Really?" She tilts her head curiously. "Strange. I didn't know that there were..." She winces softly "rogue Blessed. Was it Id... Lord Idoneus who recruited you? Oh, it doesn't matter." She shakes her head. "Lord Idoneus isn't in, and I've been instructed to not let anyone but him come down." She looks carefully at the group, her gaze stopping for a long time at Bronsk, until a smile of relief appears on her face. "I cannot go against a direct order, but maybe you could help with activating the portal to water first? After all, you do work here now, or do you not?" She winks knowingly. "I'll send these spirits to guide your way. I hope you'll take good care of them." She beckons to the purplish spirits, who move to stand beside her.

[Amiria]

Lisaa

"Yes, of course. We will help you with the portal.", says Lisaa. She senses some ambiguity in the fey's words. "Maybe she has been forced to work for this Lord Idoneus ?"

[Lycar]

Varek

Just standing idle, Varek bids his time until his special talents are needed again. Now is time for the kind of diplomacy, that does not include roughing people up.

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Karl looks at the spirits, trying to mask his unease. So, where are they taking us? He looks around for any other exits from the room. And what do we do once we're there?

[Maryring]

The tainted spirits move to stand next to the werewolves. The wolf stands beside Varek, while the two cats go to Lisaa and Karl. "Good." The fey says as she walks ahead to the wall behind the sapphire conch. She places her hand on the wall and utters a short prayer in an archaic dialect of Sylvan. Lisaa and Bronsk can't quite understand what she is saying, but they manage to pick out that she is saying "Gaia" several times. When the fey is done, vines sprout out from the ground to cover part of the wall, and when they withdraw, there is an open archway that leads into a seemingly endless hallway. The fey frowns as she looks into the hallway. "So it's the endless hallway this time..." She mutters softly, before she turns to the werewolves to speak much clearer. "Whatever you do, don't split up. The lines of reality is much weaker here, and you may find your surroundings changing often, but keep walking ahead and don't look back. If you stray from the path, by walking through a door for example, you risk getting lost, and can end up anywhere in the temple."

[Ozzy_G]

Karl looks uneasily up the corridor. Uh, okay... and what is it exactly you want us to do?

[Lycar]

"Just go straight ahead until we arrive wherever?" ask Varek with a shrug. As his companions seem reluctant to enter, he takes the initiative and steps into the hallway himself.

"You coming?"

Lycar

[The Great Skenardo]

Bronsk
Barely managing to keep his hackles down, Bronsk's clawed hands clench and unclench as the fey woman motions the spirits to guide the group.
Urgh! Foul, tainted, corrupted! Who would do this thing to spirits? Shred them and then eat them?
As the portal opens, Bronsk's ears flatten back on his head. But maybe there was some way to ruin this "Idoneous's" plans at the end of that hallway. In any case, there wasn't much to do but go forward or fight. So he went forward.

[Ozzy_G]

Wait, says Karl, what are we supposed to do at the end of the corridor?

[Maryring]

"You'll find out." The fey shouts after them, as they step into the hallway and find the door disappearing behind them. As the four werewolves walk through the hallway, they find that several doors appear out of thin air. Some of the doors open and slam shut at random, revealing glimpses of the rooms beyond, though several of those rooms do not look like what one would usually find in a temple, and some of the rooms doesn't seem to be rooms at all due to their lack of walls. Finally, after a long walk, they reach the end of the hallway as it opens up into a small circular room. A torrent of water is falling down in the middle of the room from a hole in the roof above. The wolf shaped spirit moves over to a lever sticking out from the opposite side of the room and pushes it up, and suddenly the water begins to flow upwards instead of downwards. "Enter." He says with a low, unearthly growl.

[Lycar]

Varek

Looking between his companions uncertainly for a few seconds and getting no reaction from any, Varek just shrugs and decides to go ahead.

"Well yeah, let's then."

After taking a last deep breath, Varek enters the flow of water.

Good thing he's a pretty competent swimmer.

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Karl follows Varek uneasily, but stops just before the water, studying it.

[Amiria]

Lisaa

Lisaa walks to the hallway into the small room with the water. "A liquid staircase ...", she whispers. Taking a deep breath, she enters the upward flowing torrent.

[The Great Skenardo]

Bronsk
his instincts howling for him to stay away, Bronsk nevertheless slinks forward to the staircase.

[Maryring]

Varek is the first to enter the waters. The pressure of the water quickly drags him upwards. The ride lasts only a few seconds, before he is shot out of the column. He barely has time to orient himself before he lands on worked blue stone, feet first. Right after him, Lisaa comes tumbling out of the column, followed by Bronsk right after her. Finally, Karl arrives. Once the dizziness of the ride has calmed itself, the four wolves can finally get a good look of the room. They are standing in a room made out of stone coloured a soft, blue colour. Along the walls and floor run small conduits, probably for water, though they are now dried up. The walls curve, making it apparent that the room is built circular. The shadowy ghosts come up through the floor and continues to lead them through the curving, nondescript hallway. They quickly notice that the pathway is curving upwards and that as they continue going up, the path becomes narrower, the slope steeper and the conduits deeper, clearly to make up for the greater angle of the slope. The path seems to go on forever, due to the montonity of the surroundings, but finally they reach the top of the tower. The top contains a lot more than the pathway leading up to it. The floor is about 30 feet across, with a giant blue crystal hovering in the centre. Beneath the crystal is a crisscrossing network of conduits that disappear into the walls. The walls themselves are tall, with windows to the petrified earth outside. The view must've been magnificent long ago. On four locations across the room are pedestals sticking out of the floor, with several buttons and levers on them. Each pedestal is manned by a werebeast, who sometimes push a button or pull a lever, but most of the time seem to ponder over which object to manipulate next. On the floor beneath the crystal is another werebeast, a werecat, along with a fey similar to the one in the main room, though this one has flashes of blue on it's skin, along with clothing made out of rushing water. They seem to be trying to repair the conduits in the floor. Tainted spirits are marching back and forth in the room, doing their best to appear menacing. The only one in this room who isn't working is a wererat leaning against the wall, but when he notices the group of new arrivals, he becomes a lot more active. He casually walks over to the group, judging them with his gaze. "More workers?" He seems to be addressing the tainted spirits that brought the group here. "What's the meaning of this? We don't need more workers here."

"I apologize master, but we were told to bring them here by Green. They are new recruits."

"Oh really?" The rat bares his teeth in a cruel smile as he looks up at the four werewolves. "Well, they certainly look healthy enough. Especially the boy." The rat grins and nods towards Varek. "Very well. I'm Arath Daggerpaw, one of Lord Idoneus' overseers. Do what I say, and you'll do well. Don't, and I'll eat you. Literally. So, any questions?"

[Ozzy_G]

Uh, nossir, stammers Karl in a nervous-appearing fashion. Uh, the fey lady sent us here to help fix the water-thing, sir.

[Maryring]

Arath rolls his eyes. "So she did. Well, get cracking. Blue'll fill you in on what you need to do." He points to the Fey on the floor, who is looking at the four werewolves with suspicion. "He's the Fey over there beneath the crystal. Well, get going." He ushers the group towards the crystal and the Fey. "Except you." He places a paw on Varek's shoulder and holds him back. "I want to speak with you." Without waiting for Varek to agree, he grabs him in a surprisingly strong grip and drags the young werewolf with him down and out of the room, leaving the spirits to guard the path down so no one can follow him.

Spoiler

Show

Varek has been taken to PMing. The rest of you continue here.

[Ozzy_G]

Lucky guy, mutters Karl, just got here and already he's in with the bosses... he walks over to Blue. Hello sir, what exactly do you want us to do?

[Maryring]

The Fey doesn't answer immediately, but looks across the three werewolves, contempt clear in his eyes. "You... can..." His voice is cracking slightly, as if he is trying to be careful with what he says.

"Blue, look here!" The werecat suddenly says excitedly. "I think I've got it."

The Fey looks away from the werewolves to focus on the other worker. The werecat quickly turns some tiles on the floor and then looks up hopefully on the blue Fey. His eyes scan across the area that was just changed, and he nods. "Yes... yes this might work." He turns back to the group. "You can do nothing right now. We're mostly done here." He narrows his eyes as he takes a step towards the group. "So, before Arath returns, why don't you tell me what you're doing here?"

[Ozzy_G]

Uh, well, the fey in the front place told us to come here, stutters Karl. He looks towards the door which Varek was dragged out of. Um, do you know where they've gone?

[Maryring]

Blue shrugs nonchalantly. "I guess he has been taken to his office. Dunno why. I guess he liked what he saw." Blue throws a glance at the werebeasts working the panels and sigh as they one by one light up. When the last one is lit, the entire room is filled with a soft, blue light as the crystal pulses and water pours from it onto the floor, where it reaches out to form an intricate pattern on the floor. Blue nods as the werebeasts line up to walk down out of the room again. "Well, get in line. We're done here now." He ushers the three wolves to walk behind the cat. "So, why don't you really tell me what you're doing here?" He says as the group begins to move, and some distance has been made, so that the other werebeasts likely won't overhear the question and answer.

[Ozzy_G]

As I said, replies Karl in a low voice, the fey in the front room sent us. She thought we'd be... useful...

[The Great Skenardo]

Bronsk
Although deception comes as second-nature to any long-lived werewolf, Bronsk can't help but fidget as the group seems to work its way further and further into unknown waters. They'd get discovered sooner or later, and he wasn't at all sure the group would be able to fight their way out of such a large operation. A little anxiously, Bronsk listens to Karl. Okay, ignorance was a good thing; you learn more when people think they have to explain everything to you...

[Maryring]

"Don't pretend like you don't know." Blue pulls the three a bit further behind to make sure they're not overheard. "You, the big guy, you're followed by a pure spirit. And Green knew that we were almost done here, so she knew you wouldn't be able to help. What are you hiding?"

[Amiria]

Lisaa

Lisaa glances around and whispers, "What about you and Green ? Are you in league with Lord Idoneus ?"