Shadows of the Ancient Empire

[Margrett]

The door creaked open slowly, light spilling in over a plush looking, if old, small apartment. It was well furnished with gold trim on nearly everything, but most of it was corroded. It was in much better condition than the rest of the ruins, though, with the deep purple still visible on a lot of the furniture. Margrett looked inside approvingly.

I like this guy's style.

She took a few steps inside. Apparently this was the sitting room. A hallway led back to a few other rooms.



The first statue collapsed as its legs were pulled out from under it. The remaining three encircled Kerag, one of them slashing downward with an enormous sword, and one other swinging near the same spot with a large spiked mace.

[Alec]

"Purple," Alec says, watching Marg with the back drop of royal purple furniture. "Y'know, I can see why you like it. Looks good." Following her in, he looks around on tables and furniture for anything worth something. "Scour the whole place?" he asks, brushing debris around on an end table.

[Sir Kerag]

Kerag laughed, watching the first statue collapse when the remaining statues surrounded him and cut the small victory short. Out of the three, two of the elf statues swung their hefty weapons down at him and he had little time to react, barely managing to step out of the sword's downward path. However he hadn't accounted for the mace's direction. The orc was flung across the room when the spiked mace swung home, knocking the wind out of him as he crashed into a few of the glass cases. Glass littered the floor, crunching and breaking under him while he struggled to stand, legs wobbling and weak.

Kerag steadied his feet and charged the statues again, bull rushing the mace-wielding statue, trying to topple it over and crash into the one with the enormous sword. The orc ground his teeth, throwing his shoulder into the charge.

[Margrett]

She nodded, checking some of the table, finding nothing but seemingly rotten garbage and corroded silverware.

Yep. Let's check the back rooms once we're done here.

Alec finds a book entitled "History of the Alyied: How it Came to Power and the Man Behind It." It was in remarkably good condition, and very readable.




Kerag smashes into the statue, slamming it into a glass case of now-deteriorated jewelry. It falls to pieces, the light in its eyes growing dim. The sword statue approaches slowly, and the fourth stature, seemingly a caster, throws a bolt of blue energy at Kerag.

[Alec]

"'History of the Aylied,'" Alec reads off, picking the book up carefully, "'How It Came to Power, and the Man Behind It.'" Shooting Marg a look, he smiles. "You came to learn how they did it. This might as well be a manual." Looking around, he scratches the side of his head. "Though," with some trepidation, "it does seem really really convenient."

[Sir Kerag]

Kerag cursed under his breath, failing to knock the statue where he wanted it to go. Granted it was huge and weighed more than he'd like to think about, so he let the disappointment pass, or rather didn't have a chance to when the blue bolt hit Kerag. Instantly pain surged throughout his body and he growled and wailed, feeling his joints lock up from the magical energy, holding him in place as the sword statue continued to slowly approach. The ruby eyes of the beast on Kerag's amulet glowed a crimson red, slightly intensifying the orc's already glowing red eye. Rage replaced the pain, numbing it until he barely registered he'd been struck in the first place. Kerag looked up and let out a blood curling scream, his shoulders hunched, breath rapid and fierce as his vision blurred scarlet, focusing on the casting elf. He ran at the statue, axe raised high, spit flying from his lips as he braced his legs and jumped high into the air, swinging the axe downward at the elf statue's head.

[Margrett]

Margrett walked over a little excitedly and took the book from him, grinning. She looked it over and then shot Alec a small smile.

Excellent work, Alec. Points for you.

She raised an eyebrow then started down the hallway.

Let's see if he had a bedroom or anything. Maybe more valuables in there.





The mighty leap and jump brought Kerag right at the perfect height to split the statue from head to toe in one fell swoop, cleaving it in two. The sword statue made it to him and slashed its blade sideways in an arc, almost too large to avoid.

[Alec]

"That bed, I've not stopped mentioning since we got separated from Mr. Kerag," Alec says, brightly, following her closely.

[Sir Kerag]

Kerag growled triumphantly as he split the statue in two, landing without so much as a seconds respite when the final statue swung it's sword. There was no avoiding the attack, but the orc raised his axe, widening his stance, legs pressed into the ground. He braced himself for the blow, hoping he could block the attack.

[Margrett]

Uh huh.

She said it a little sing-song, a bit amused. She opened the door at the end of the hallway, revealing a remarkably well-preserved bedroom. Here there was furniture with jewelry cases and a large queen sized purple bed, complete with curtains. Margrett laughed a little as she patted it. Whatever was in it was still pretty plush.

Wow...I wouldn't mind living here.





The sword came down hard, and bit into his axe, the statue pushing against it, competing against Kerag in pure strength. Then there was a brittle snapping sound as the ancient metal in the sword grew weak and snapping, making the statue stumble onto one knee.

[Sir Kerag]

Kerag tensed, gritting his teeth as he felt the sword collide with his weapon, contending their strength. He wasn't sure if he could hold against the stone elf, and was adequately surprised when the sword snapped and his foe stumbled in front of him on one knee. It's neck was perfectly level with Kerag's line of sight, and his lips curled into a fierce snarl as he cranked the axe back behind him, and swung to chop its head off.

[Alec]

"High Elder of the blahdeblah, remember?" Alec says, whumping onto the bed. "Of course you'd like to live here - anyone would like to live here."

[Margrett]

The statue's head exploded into dust as Kerag's axe slammed into it. Its body fell into pieces and the pulsing blue light stopped.




Margrett nodded. She examined the dresser for a moment, pulling out various pieces of jewelry. Then she turned to Alec and put her hand on her hips.

So. About the eyes...

[Alec]

Perking up, Alec meets her eye. "Yes. About them......umm, what about them, now?"

[Margrett]

She smirked, and pointed to another shelf across the room.

Use them. Keep looking for stuff. Check out that shelf and I'll look here.

She turned back to the dresser and kept looking.