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[Ash]

Anduriel's eyes flitted around the room, then looked back at the model in her hand.
"They can't know us. Besides...I've never seen this armour before, and I've been amongst Elf soldiers all my life."
She pocketed the statue, and beckoned for her companion to follow her down a long and fancifully-decorated passageway. It led into another chamber filled with much of the same sorts of paintings and murals, depicting what looked like a wonderful crystalline city, the whole wallscape must have been crafted with the utmost love. It would have taken one man a lifetime to produce this work, and there was no way such a master craftsman would allow anyone else to assist him with such a rendition. Her mouth dropped as she looked at it all, moving her gaze across the image of the city. It was entirely believable for her that these images had been doing whatever it was the picture was depicting, and that they'd only stopped because she and Neelahn had entered the room. She moved her head round, and saw eventually a grand palace interior situated on one wall. The throne room depicted an image of the king, but the queen was actually a sarcophagus bolted to the wall, standing by her husband's side. The sarcophagus bore all the detail of a portrait, and atop her head was a carved slot into the coffin, where a fine-crafted crown headband still sat.

Anduriel had worn crowns, and had seen crowns, but never anything so beautiful as this. She could not control herself but to reach for the trinket from the head of the sarcophagus. She hadn't even noticed the likeness of the queen's face to her own, her eyes were so fixed upon the crown.

[Athena]

"Maybe they are not from here.." Neelahn's voice died away when she looked at the walls of the passageway. Amazing.. she thought. It must've taken very long to make it all. She saw the queen's face, looking like Anduriel and wondered how it could be. They had seen a lot of similarities with themselves in this odd place, why, how, had there been people looking like them? The question continued to puzzle Neelahn.

She saw Anduriel looking at the crown, then reaching for it. It looked beautiful. Neelahn wasn't sure though that grabbing it would be a good idea.

"Anduriel, no.." Neelahn whispered and tried to grab Anduriel's arm. "I don't think that would be such a good idea.."

[Ash]

Unheeding of Neelahn's counsel, Anduriel grabbed the crown from the slot. As she did so, the gems seemed to take on a glow, and a strange grinding rumble could be heard, as though something had taken notice of the act.

The rumbling stopped, and both of them stood for a few tense moments, half-expecting to have the ceiling fall on them or something. When it never came, Anduriel tried on her prize. When she stood next to the sarcophagus, it was as if the coffin was made to resemble her.

"That's odd..." she said, suddenly looking around the room in a wide-eyed and utterly mystified manner. Her head swung round and her eyes darted, as if she were seeing something totally different.
"I can read them..."

Suddenly, millennia-old runes and symbols and lettering became as intelligible to her as modern Memorian. It was as if she'd known the whole time how to read them, even though she knew five minutes ago they had been completely unintelligible.

[Athena]

Neelahn's voice was stuck in her throat. She had half and half expected for something to get very angry now to come out and attack Anduriel, and was relieved when this seemed not so.

"That's.. that's very odd" she managed to whisper eventually, after she'd heard Anduriel saying she could read the symbols. Neelahn couldn't explain it. Was this some kind.. magical crown? Somehow influencing Anduriel's mind and her ability to read languages? "What.. what do they say?" Neelahn asked her, very curious on what the symbols meant. And that sarcophagus.. did it look like that some moments ago? Something was going on down here.. and Neelahn wasn't totally sure on what it was. She hoped she'd find out though, and that they both would make it through this.

Standing there with that crown on Anduriel really seemed like a queen or princess to Neelahn. She remembered seeing the palace and Anduriel's dad.. seemed all so long ago. She wasn't sure how long it had been.

"What do those symbols mean? Anything of interest?"

[Ash]

Quickly she flicked over the runes and symbols, looking for anything that might offer some explanation.

"Ah, here we go," she said, before beginning to reel off a long paragraph in a language Neelahn could not understand. It was only when she saw Neelahn's perplexed expression that she even realised what she'd been doing. "Oh my...let me try again. It says, 'Here lieth the Great Queen Sabinar, ruler of all She surveyeth in this great and glorious land. She createth this tomb that Her successors may acknowledge her undying beauty, and worship Her in all Her greatness.' Wow, she was a bit full of herself, no? It goes on, 'The Great Queen believeth not in an expanse of treasure to rule Her people, indeed, Her Holiness gaveth of most of Her worldly possessions to Her bethrothed, the Great and Holy King Velaru, Slayer of Ten Thousand Chariots, Glorious Victor of the Dwarfen Campaign, Feller of The Last Citadel, His Most Holy and Assured of A Place In Heaven...' Well, he sure isn't Velaru the Modest." She skipped on some. "Ah, here we go, 'To whomsoever weareth Mine Holy Crown, and be able to unlocketh its power, thou shalt be married with all of its knowledge, that it may bring you strength against the vile serpent that wracks our land. It be that Crown that they seek, and the charge doth fall upon thou to keep it from the serpent's head, lest this sacred tomb be defiled.' Hm. Lucky me."

Suddenly, a strange clicking sound could be heard back through the door. It was a very rapid clicking sound, like a thousand crickets all chirping together. Lord knew, that wasn't crickets...indeed, a veritable army of skeletons came rushing round the corner, clearly rather ticked off that their eternal slumber had been disturbed. And what's more, they bore arms and armour.

One would have expected them to be glad to see their Queen's prophecy had been fulfilled, but that was not so.

[Athena]

((OOC: Well written and funny post there Ash ))

Neelahn listened to the words and gave a giggle when she heard Anduriel's comments. She wondered what "serpent" was meant in the words. When she heard the strange sound she felt something was wrong. As she saw the army approaching she immediately got her bow ready. "Skeletons.. can you actually kill them?" She put an arrow up the bow regardless. She pointed it at the head of one of the first skeletons approaching.

[Ash]

As she spoke, Anduriel had already slashed her sabre through the first one in the line, and it broke apart, its bones scattering across the floor.

"It would appear so, though I doubt arrows will have much effect; there's no flesh to puncture."

((OOC: Just like oblivion...can't really kill skeletons well with arrows. Nothing a good blade won't cure tho ))

[Athena]

((OOC: Yeah I know. But my character doesn't have anything else . Not sure if I can make a dagger or something appear out of nowhere.)

"Yeah.. my arrows won't harm them much." Neelahn replied. She put her bow and the arrow away. Barehanded she approached a skeleton, ready to fight him with her hands. She bit her lip, knowing it could possibly hurt for her as well. When she was near enough she made her hands into fists and pulled out. With her right hand she hit the skeleton in the face.. or skull rather. She made a short, faint sound that could be interpreted as "Ouch".

[Ash]

Anduriel came in with a swift upperslash with her own sword. As she summarily smited them, the skeletons dropped their weapons, leaving an assortment of everything from hand-axes and maces to flails, bill staffs and the odd sword.

Anduriel snatched up a bill staff in her free hand and began to drive the hooked end into skulls and spinal vertebrae, dragging the undead fodder down to the ground.

All of a sudden, an arrow scythed through the air with a characteristic fwoosh, the barbed arrowhead embedding itself in Anduriel's upper thigh. She faltered and fell quickly to the ground to throw the sniper off, but had the sense to follow the arrow's trajectory back as she fell. She saw a black-cloaked man turning and walking away coldly. Doubtless, he assumed that he had hit his mark in somewhere more life-threatening. Now Anduriel was safe from the archer, but there were still a horde of these damned skeletons to overcome.

[Athena]

"Anduriel!" Neelahn turned around as she saw her friend getting hit. She wanted to walk towards her but stopped halfway. Behind her she heard something. The skeletons. She noticed the skeletons getting nearby, she heard them approach. Quickly she looked around, searching for anything nearby that could serve as a weapon better than her bow with arrows and her hands. There! Anduriel's blade. Neelahn had never used such a blade in a real life fight or had never even hold it. Her dad had a blade.. but he never let her wield it.

She picked up the blade. It felt somewhat heavy at first, but when she held it longer the feeling lessened. Hope this works out all right, she thought.

She walked to the skeletons, holding the blade in the way she'd seen Anduriel holding it, and her dad in the earlier days. "This one's for you dad.." she thought. "Love you".

With a nice swing she paraded the blade into one of the skeletons' chest. It cut through bones and the skeleton fell apart. She blocked the attack of the next one, after which she made the sword struck in its neck. Its head fell off and the rest of its bones fell down on the floor.

She readied the blade for a next attack. Quickly she looked over her shoulder and saw Anduriel lying on the floor. She looked back forward again while asking Anduriel "Are you all right?". She was breathing heavily and a drop of sweat was visible on her forehead.

[Ash]

"You could be one of the Guard any day," Anduriel laughed through gritted teeth as she pulled herself to her feet using a pillar for support. The leg hurt like hell. It wasn't a life-threatening injury. It had probably been aimed for her back or head, and she'd just got lucky. She sent the bill staff through the cranium of one of the other skeletons, before the six who remained seemed to stand still for a moment, perplexed, as if given some peculiar message inside their undead minds, and fled.

"You'd better run, cowards!" she screamed after them in the old tongue granted to her by the powers of the crown, before looking back down towards her bad leg. Her leggings were completely covered in blood.

[Athena]

Neelahn stepped closer to Anduriel and lay down the sword for a moment. Her face showed a caring, concerned expression. "Here.. hold still for a moment." She gently touched the other girl's shoulder. She removed her hand and knelt down to examine the leg. "The arrow's still in.. what do you think is best?" She moved up again and looked at Anduriel's face. She picked up the sword and then went to stood beside Anduriel. She wrapped an arm around her. With her other hand she hold the sword. "We could try to get going, but it's up to you. I'll stay with you whatever you decide."

[Ash]

"We are no use here," she replied, "we would be better finding a way out of here, but first..."

She began to hobble forward, taking Neelahn with her for support. "I'm looking for two spoons." she said, without explaining why as she bent forward to a treasure chest and began to rifle through the golden trinkets.

[Athena]

"Two.. spoons?" Neelahn had a puzzled expression on her face. "What do you think are the odds of finding two spoons in a .. whatever weird tomb we're in? You might as well asked me to find a chicken!" She looked at Anduriel and tried to see what she was doing. Neelahn then looked around the room to see if there was anything of use to find. She noticed Anduriel's blade that she was holding in her hand. "This of any help?" She hold out the blade.

[Ash]

At the chicken reference, Anduriel laughed, a strange good humour coming over her as she still hobbled, looking in the chests nearby. "You would be surprised what old kings and queens took to their grave. Some cultures buried you with everything you might need in the afterlife. Like the figurine army - clearly those people believed that those figurines would defend their king in death as the real army had in life."

Incredibly, she did come across two silver spoons, one ever so slightly daintier than the other. Both were as ornately crafted as anything else you were likely to find in this room.
"Ah. There. You see? I knew there'd be some in here somewhere. Now here's the really gross part...you might want to look away."

Anduriel began to ease the pointy tips of the spoons around the base of the arrowhead, gently but firmly bringing them beneath her skin, following the contours of the arrowhead. Wincing with the pain, she explained to Neelahn, "The arrow's barbs mean it won't come out unless I get beneath it and present a smooth surface to slide out...ah!" A sudden click inside her flesh indicated that she'd now covered the barb, and with a scream of pain she began to reverse the movements she'd originally made. With the arrowhead now safely cocooned inside the two spoons, she was able to remove them without too much additional damage, save the splurge of blood that chased the arrow from the hole it left.

Almost superstitiously, she snapped off the head from the shaft, before reciting a blessing in both Elvish and in the incomprehensible old tongue, kissing the arrowhead and pocketing it. "Good luck charm."
She rose back to her feet, tentatively putting weight on the leg. It would heal well now.

A sudden squawk seemed to echo in the chamber, followed by a familiar voice. "Sheez, when you next decide to go off gallivanting into massive caves full of stuff to make a magpie think he's died and gone to heaven...please don't forget your dearest and bestest friend!"

Crow came and sat down upon Anduriel's shoulder, and he looked down at the bloodied clothes she now wore. "Woo, glad I got here just in time to save the day. I wouldn't want you to be feeding the carrion birds..."

"You are a carrion bird," Anduriel responded, grateful for the respite, and relieved to see that Crow had escaped those knights.

"Well...yes, but who would I annoy if I'd just eaten your entrails?"

[Elvenlord]

(OOC(What does that mean anyways?)Mind if I join, you two look like you are having fun by yourselfs
If you guys want to do it by yourselfs, just ignore this post)


Mithelen had heard the screams coming from up ahead. The clash of steel. He whispered to his horse, and it took off, out running even the wind. He came upon a small village. Bodies littiered the bright snow. He muttered a brief prayer, then noticed the bodies of fully armed knights. They bore a serpent upon their armor, and he remembered the symbol in the dim reaches of his memory, but didn't remeber its siginfance (I can't spell ). They were near a tavern, so he entered. More men were on the floor, but no one else.
Noticing a staircase, he went down. More men were dead, and a dwarf man. Upon his body a dwarf woman was crying. He stepped closer, but stepped in a puddle of some liquid. The dwarf woman rose and pointed a crossbow at him. Reliasing he was an elf, she lowered the weapon and pointed to another staircase. "There are more elves down there, I want you to ensure their safety", said the woman. Mithelen simply nodded, and decended the stairs.....

[Ash]

((OOC: OOC means 'Out Of Character', and mmyeah, this was kinda our storyline between me and Blaat, and the person you just conversed with there is actually dead. Post a new thread, I'll RP with ya in that. ))

[Athena]

Despite the fact that Anduriel was hurt and the trouble they were in, Neelahn had to laugh hearing the conversation between Anduriel and the bird. It was indeed good to see Crow back.

"Are you allright Anduriel?" Neelahn asked her, just to make sure. "Hmm what do we do now.."

[Ash]

"Well, I saw a way out just up the way," Crow suggested, using his wing to point in the direction of his exit. "Wouldn't bet on it being easy, though - it's a long way off, and there looked to be a lot of those bony buggers just up ahead. Not even a scrap to pick off 'em, either."

"They've been down here over four thousand years," Anduriel retorted as she began to hobble to the corridor entrance. It was as gigantic and regal as anything else in this tomb, but it was lined with two rows of huge statues of the soldiers they'd seen in miniature figurine form before. Twelve feet tall, these ancient Elven guard held their swords aloft ceremoniously, pointing them upward but towards the front and their opposite numbers to create an archway of swords under which the honoured would pass. Much like when a monarch was crowned in Elven tradition; the king or queen would pass under a procession such as this. The statues were large enough that anyone could have passed under, but the effect was awesome. It didn't appear as though they were guarding, but who were they hailing? And why was this not typical of some of the other corridors?

The two Elves set off walking down this corridor, with Crow perched anxiously on Anduriel's shoulder.
As they walked beneath the third of the statue pairs, Neelahn waited just a little too long to examine something on the floor, and as soon as Anduriel had walked clear, the trap sprung; the sword-arms of the soldiers came down by way of some mechanism, making a grinding noise which caused Anduriel to look back and yell to Neelahn in alarm, "LOOK OUT!"

Fortunately, she was able to leap forward just in the nick of time, the only thing being cut was the string of her bow as it had been slung on her back. It was now rendered useless until she could get another string. As she picked herself up and dusted herself off, the swords raised up again.

"Weird how they only lowered on the third one...when we walked side by side they remained upright."

She looked upwards, seeing an explanation inscribed on the ceiling. It was worn by time, but one line was still readable. 'For our goddess to pass, we raise our swords, for else we strike, and slay the filthy hordes....

Ah, so that's it, she thought, the crown must be the key.
"Stay close," Anduriel cautioned, "They won't fall if I'm nearby...they think I'm the queen. See? I knew this thing would come in handy."

Sure enough, the magic that coursed through these statues held itself at bay so long as Anduriel walked beneath. The soldiers' vigilant hands were stayed by the power of the crown, though one could almost feel their irritation - they sensed an outsider, a possible threat to their mistress, though they could not end it, lest they damage her.

Anduriel's eye began to twitch slightly, and she began to turn as if hearing voices all around her. Fortunately, by now, they had reached the end of the line of soldiers, but she couldn't get the voices out of her head. Her breathing rate increased, and she began to look terrified, a look Neelahn hadn't ever seen grace her features.

"Uh...am I missing something here?" Crow squawked, "Did she eat any...y'know...weird mushrooms while I was gone?"

[Athena]

"That crown makes that they see her as their Queen. We saw her grave/tombstone or however you'd call it." Neelahn replied. She was still feeling a bit unedgy because of the scare she'd had. She was careful to stay close to Anduriel.

When she noticed the look on Anduriel's face she got even more frightened. She'd known Anduriel for a while now and they'd been through quite some danger, but this look was unknown to anything she'd seen on her face before.

"Anduriel.." she whispered quietly. "Something wrong?"