New Faces, Old Places [Party/Closed]

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Dollis Hills in northeast Londinium. That was where Sayha was that day. She was there to see if she could find the hidden WWII bunker codenamed Paddock. There was a high possibility that it was unreachable by then, but Sayha held out hope that the entrance was still somehow accessible since it was mentioned in books she had been reading when she was doing her initial research of hidden places.

At that point Sayha was crouching down on top of one of the rooftops where Dollis Hills would probably be in that world. It was a fairly abandoned section of Londinium as a lot of the buildings were in rags and ruins which was fine with Sayha. It meant that she could have her scythe strapped to her back rather than hiding it her inventory. She hadn’t quite gotten used to its massive size which was the only reason she had decided to have it out while in the city.

Sayha decided to stand and stretch for a bit as she had begun to get sore from just crouching down. She had been jumping from building to building looking at the area trying to get a better perspective and possibly a better idea of where to go. However so far, she had no luck… then again Paddock was well-hid. Sayha recalled back on the other side hearing about it and the location being secret even then.

“Well, Sayha, you may be looking for this place for a while,” Sayha said to herself, looking down at her notebook again. She kept re-reading her notes over and over, but she didn’t find any clues. After a moment she rolled it back up and shoved it in a pocket in her jacket.

Words: 289 | Total Words: 289
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Coding by Sayha of LH

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This seems like a lovely spot, the Shikigami mused as Dorian looked around at the nearby surroundings; they had found themselves in Dollis Hill, a quaint little area of Londinium, connected to the London Underground by the Dollis Hill tube station. When there was nothing occupying his time, the Shaman enjoyed exploring out into the unseen areas of the city and beyond, taking the time to get his bearings of the world he now called home. "It certainly seems nice... Deserted and left to rot, but still... Nice." Rolling his eyes, he continued on along the street, drawing himself into a light hum of a tune as he slipped past the various residential buildings that lined the streets. It had been a while since he had gotten time to himself; the past few weeks had been a blur of action and activity, and a lot had changed for Dorian. He lifted one of his hands to run his digits through his newly acquired mop of dark brown hair, his fingers slipping down to play with the pair of braids he always had tied up behind his ear. His new found height was also interesting, but he was getting used to it... gradually.

Alas, the moment of peace and solitude was short lived, as out of the corner of his eye, the Shaman managed to spot a figure standing inquisitively atop a nearby building, staring out as if looking for something in the distance. Whoever they were, they seemed well-equipped, judging by the large scythe strapped to their back. Stepping slowly forward, Dorian kept the sound of his footsteps to a minimum, remaining light on his feet as he slowly approached the building to get a better look at the stranger. As the figure came into a better visual, he realised that it was in fact a female, her armour strikingly familiar. "She's probably an Adventurer," he muttered to himself, standing up straight once more and dusting off his leather armour out of habit. Lifting up one of his hands, he waved it over the top of his head in an attempt to get the girl's attention. "Hello up there! Are you alright? You look as if you've lost something..." He began approaching once more, this time with a friendly demeanour as he waited for the stranger's reply.

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Notes: N/A
Words: 387
Tags: @shadowsaiph

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After a while of standing on the roof top, Sayha decided to activate her <Hearing Aptitude> on the off-chance that she could hear some sort of activity. She had used it in the tunnels to determine and read sounds of possible enemies. She knew that the chance of it actually working was extremely slim, but she figured why not.

It was quiet for a while, but then she heard footsteps and a voice that seemed to talk to themselves… though something was familiar with the voice. Sayha turned to face where she had heard the voice come from. It was an adventurer who looked to be about the same height as Hiro, a good friend of hers.

The other adventurer called out to her, saying hello and if she was alright since she looked like she lost something. Then she suddenly recognized his voice: Dorian. Sayha blinked a few times in confusion before pulling up her friend’s list… and it said that Dorian was in the same area she was in. She suddenly realized how Hiro must have felt when he first saw her in her new appearance… which would have been the reason Dorian didn’t recognize her.

Sayha jumped down from the roof she was to a lower and nearby roof before she jumped on the ground in front of Dorian. When she landed on the ground, Sayha gave him a slight cocky smile. “Well, it appears that I wasn’t the only one who decided that they needed a change,” Sayha said, “Long time, no see Dorian.”

Words: 258 | Total Words: 547
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Coding by Sayha of LH

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Dorian stopped for a moment as the stranger caught on to his voice, turning to drop down onto the lower rooftop beside her before leaping off onto the ground, the scythe on her back shaking slightly due it's weight as she moved with ease. Woah, that bad boy looks much better than your old one, Skrowe mocked irritatingly, the Shaman rubbing at the back of his neck with an extra bit of force in a vain attempt to shut him up. It had been a strange time of his life, that long week of time where he had grown accustomed to using a scythe; he was lucky to have been able to shrug that darkness off of his shoulders, before it ate away and corrupted him like it had done briefly during his hunts with a certain elven Assassin. Shaking his head, he brought himself back to reality, as he noticed the girl appear suddenly in front of him, a strangely smug grin plastered across her lips as she stared at him.

Blinking in surprise, Dorian heard the stranger speak as if she knew him... But, her distinguishable voice, and strikingly familiar attire... The Shaman went wide-eyed in surprise as he realised that the girl stood before him was in fact Sayha, the very elven Assassin he had just thought back to. Ignoring the multiple joyful flips that Skrowe was accomplishing in the back of his mind, Dorian gave a humble bow of respect towards his long time friend and mentor. "It has been quite some time indeed. It's a pleasure to see you again, miss Sayha," he finally replied, clasping his hands behind his back as he idly pulled up his interface, looking through his interface to see how she had been faring; as it turned out, he hadn't been the only one who had improved since they last met. "I'm guessing this is as much of a surprise for you as it is for me. You seem to be holding up well, though; how have you been since our Halloween escapades?" Lowering his interface, he turned his attention completely to Sayha, a delighted smile upon his visage.

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Notes: N/A
Words: 359
Tags: @shadowsaiph

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After a moment, Dorian recognized Sayha and bowed slightly, saying it had been some time since they had last seen each other. He added that this, Sayha assumed he meant the appearance changes, was a surprise for both of them. He continued to say that she seemed to be doing well and asked how she had been since the Halloween event.

During the timeframe of the Halloween event, she had mentored him on how to use swords and how to fight. Later on though he switched to a scythe, and they had partied together during that time though it had also some mutual acquaintances and friends depending on how they looked at it: Dumah and Fletcher.

Sayha let her forced smile disappear, “First off, just Sayha. Don’t call me miss, it makes me feel old. I’ve been doing fairly well. A lot of stuff has happened, but that’s to be expected. Time waits for no one after all. I did more questing; I’ve done some exploration. Oh, Fletcher joined Apocrypha which is the guild I’m in. Though I don’t think I ever mentioned which guild I’m in. How have you been since? Not doing anything stupid, I hope.”

Sayha thought back and thought about saying more, but then she realized realized where they were. “Though another question for you now. What are you doing all the way out here? I’ve been checking this place out for the last few days, and it’s been abandoned by pretty much everyone,” Sayha said, “Though it is possible that you’re out here for the same reason I am, but I find that highly doubtful since from what I’ve heard no one has explored this area for a while.”

Words: 284 | Total Words: 831
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Coding by Sayha of LH

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Dorian gave a soft chuckle at the elf's reluctance towards his formal greeting, bobbing his head in a nod of understanding. "Of course, my apologies; a bad habit of mine, but I'll do my best to keep it in check, mi-... Sayha." He rubbed at the back of his neck once again, holding the nervous smile across his face as he listened to her speak. Hearing her speak of her guild, his face lit up excitedly. "That's fantastic! Glad to hear the old dwarf has a home to belong to. Be sure to take care of him, he's a good friend." The Shaman shrugged his shoulders lightly, amused by her quickly stated hope that he hadn't been doing anything idiotic. Truth be told, he had shaped himself to be a lot smarter with his actions out in the field since his training session with the Assassin before him; if it wasn't for her, he'd still be the snivelling level 1 boy who stumbled into the world, unsure what he was meant for or who to help. Still, he'd gotten up to his fair share of antics.

"I've been busy... Went on a few quests, took down some more Halloween nasties; as for stupid... Well, I did die, but that was a good thing; helped me change into something better, case in point," he muttered in reply, gesturing over himself to indicate his new appearance. "Oh! I joined a guild myself actually, a support guild back in the main part of Londinium. That's certainly been an experience, to say the least." Finishing the quick catch up, Sayha moved onto the current situation, asking of his purpose here in Dollis Hill. "I don't get much free time nowadays, but when I do, it's nice to get away and explore. There's so much of Londinium itself that hasn't been mapped yet, let alone the world outside the city's walls. So, I came here to this quaint little township to try and find anything worth noting of." He lowered his head slightly, gesturing towards her with a nod before continuing. "Then, what are you here for? When I saw you up on that building over there, it looked like you had lost something. Perhaps you might like a hand?"

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Notes: N/A
Words: 375
Tags: @shadowsaiph

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Sayha nodded as Dorian said to take care of Fletcher though she didn’t realize how close of friends they were until then. To her knowledge, they had only been in a party during the Londinium Underground dungeon they had done with Dumah and then during the brief Halloween Hunt they had done.

Dorian explained that he had also done some more quests as well as hunted more of the Halloween monsters. What caught her attention was that he had said he had died… though it was a good thing as he gestured to himself, probably meaning his new appearance. Sayha was glad to hear Dorian was in a guild now which meant that hopefully there would be other people who could keep an eye on him. He then finished by explaining he was just exploring the city just to explore, and he asked what Sayha had been doing there.

“I see,” Sayha started, “Well, I think that dying is inevitable… and to be honest I died as well though not to the Halloween monsters, but that’s a different story. I am here exploring as well, but not to explore just to explore. Recently, I decided to start exploring hidden places around Londinium. I explored a tunnel system in the southern area of Londinium not too long ago with Hiro.” Sayha suddenly realized that Dorian hadn’t met Hiro, “Oh right, you don’t know Hiro. Hiro is the main guild master for Apocrypha as well a very good and close friend of mine.” Sayha and Hiro hadn’t quite established what was going on between them quite yet so she decided to keep it to herself for the time being.

“Though back on track,” Sayha continued, “I’m looking for an old World War II bunker that had the codename of Paddock. Back in our world, it was a last-ditch hiding place for the Prime Minister. Even back then the location of Paddock is a total mystery though it was revealed to be somewhere in this neighborhood. I’ve been going around trying to find out any clues to see if the original game designers decided to put the place in. I did find references to it in books when I was doing research in the Londinium Library so there’s a good chance its real. Finding it, on the other hand, is going to be a pain… would you me interested in seeing if we can find it?”

Words: 403 | Total Words: 1234
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Coding by Sayha of LH

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As ever, the Shaman was diligent in listening to everything the Assassin had to say; a little bit of his training still rubbing off on him, his mind still registering Sayha as his mentor and as someone to listen to. But, she was also a friend, and in this moment, his friend seemed to be in a pickle. His eyes went wide and unblinking for a split second as he heard her explain how she had gained a death experience of her own; from the tone of voice she used when describing it, he gathered it wasn't a topic she wanted to delve into too deeply at this point in time. "Of course. Like I said, I've been there, so I know how... difficult, it can be to talk about it." He did not pry or offer anything further at that point... Death was something all Adventurers had to deal with now, and perhaps the joy individualism meant doing so on one's own. Still, he was here, and help was something he was perhaps programmed to offer. Which is why her next topic of conversation peaked the Shaman's interest.

She started off explaining her journey here; unlike Dorian, who had come to explore for the sake of exploring, she had come in search of something, that much was certain. The name Hiro emerged, Sayha's close friend and guild master in Apocrypha; how close, she didn't say, and Dorian wasn't the type of person to pry into personal matters, especially relationships. "I'd love to meet this Hiro; he sounds like an interesting fellow." Smiling softly, the Shaman let her continue, listening as she explained her goal to find and uncover the lost bunker known as Paddock. He had heard bits and pieces about it back in the real world, his father having been a history nut and a lover of ancient television channels that talked about the time before. Sayha, however, seemed to know more, but despite her knowledge she had yet to find anything.

That was when she asked if he would aid her in the exploration of the surrounding area, detailing the fact that Paddock was supposedly buried somewhere beneath Dollis Hill. Curling his lips up into a beaming grin, he unclasped his hands from his back, extending his arms out to the sides of his body, bowing his head forward in acceptance. "I would be happy to offer any help I can; a derelict World War 2 bunker could have any number of artefacts hidden away inside of it." Bringing his arms down to his sides, he lifted his hand to rub at his chin contemplatively, his eyes darting around to scan the nearby environment. "I would suggest starting with perhaps a map of the train tunnel system beneath us, if you have one; we may be able to pick out spots where the bunker would have been placed, such as large gaps in the system. Unless, of course, you already had something in mind?" He gestured his hand towards her, indicating to her that she had the lead in this operation of theirs.

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Notes: N/A
Words: 516
Tags: @shadowsaiph

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Dorian was right that Sayha didn’t want to talk about dying, at least not at that time. She knew Dorian enough to consider him a friend but not enough to tell him about how she died. At least not yet. “Hiro’s a good guy, you’d probably get along well with him,” Sayha nodded at his remark about wanting to meet Hiro. He went on to say he would be happy to assist in her search for Paddock and that he suggested to start searching in the empty areas of the underground tunnel.

“Yes, I’ve already thought of that,” Sayha said. She opened her inventory and pulled out her map of Londinium. She folded the map so only the Dollis Hills region was showing. On the map, she had marked out the train tunnels, and Sayha handed the map to Dorian. “Knowing that still gives us a large area to start our search,” Sayha explained, “Which is why I have been doing above ground surveys. Overall, the bunker is going to be hidden in an area that appears to be a normal place of course. However, there also must be some sort of clue as to where it is above ground.”

Sayha, with her inventory still opened, deposited her scythe there so that it would be out of the way, “I have a pretty good feeling that we may end up going through near every building here unless you have some sort of ability that can search places quickly.”

Sayha noticed above them that it suddenly got dark. Clouds were building up, and it looked like it was going to rain. “Well, it seems we might get wet during this search,” Sayha chuckled, “Hope you brought a coat.”

Words: 287 | Total Words: 1521
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Coding by Sayha of LH

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"I suspected as much; great minds think alike, I suppose," Dorian mused as Sayha explained how she had thought of the railroads, the Shaman watching as she pulled out a handy map of the Londinium area. After folding it in to only show the Dollis Hill region, she handed it over to him, his hand reaching over to gently take it from her grasp and look it over with a focused squint. From what he could see, Sayha had marked out the tunnel system perfectly onto the map, the Shaman tracing over the larger gaps with his finger. "These will be the first places to look; if there's a bunker out here, it'll be in these bigger areas that lack any railway system cutting through them." He gave a simple nod of agreement, handing back the map before continuing. "You are right though, this may take some time... So we keep our eyes peeled in the areas that look relatively suburban and unassuming, looking for any clues that may indicate a possible entrance to Paddock."

Hearing the Assassin humorously asking if Dorian had any sort of skill that could help search, the Shaman blinked slowly as he remembered picking up a new skill, though somewhat unorthodox in it's abilities. "Actually... I may just have something..." The ability in question allowed him to use a body of water as an odd form of scrying, using the surface to peer in through the water and gain a better view of the land, effectively watching as if he was beneath the water itself. Of course, he had to jog himself back to reality, as right now there wasn't so much as a puddle to use. "Though, it'll only work if we ha-..." Just as he was about to explain, a light drizzle began to patter down around the pair, slowly growing into a downpour, the water droplets pattering over his leather armour; Sayha, of course, making a quip about bringing a coat to get wet. The Shaman merely gave her a smug grin, gesturing towards the puddles that were slowly beginning to form along the abandoned streets. "There... That's our ticket to finding the place, Sayha!"

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Notes: N/A
Words: 363
Tags: @shadowsaiph

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Sayha took her map back from Dorian as he handed it back to her and put it in her inventory along with the notebook that had been rolled up in her pocket. With the possibility of rain, Sayha didn’t want to take the chance of anything getting ruined. Dorian began to say he might have an ability for searching, explaining that it would work only under a certain circumstance, but he had been cut off. The rain began to poor now, and Sayha pulled her jacket on around her tighter. Dorian exclaimed, looking around at the water puddles, that it was their ticket to finding where they were looking for.

Sayha looked around again at the rain collecting everywhere. She assumed Dorian was referring to the water when he said that he knew how to find the place. Sayha was not familiar with Shamans at all, though she remembered briefly meeting the shaman Royah when she went to the Apocrypha guild house initially. “Okay that sounds good,” Sayha nodded, “If you can, try whatever ability you were talking about and lead us there. Though when you get to the entrance, let me go in first and make sure that it’s clear. When I explored some tunnels with Hiro, we discovered some really weird monsters… though they were also in cages but that’s beside the point.”

Sayha took a few steps backward so that she was underneath a bit of cover that would block the rain. She was thankful that it was at least not windy or it would have gotten very cold very fast.

Words: 264 | Total Words: 1785
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Coding by Sayha of LH

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Dorian gave a nod to the eager Assassin, watching her dart off to take cover from the rain, huddling herself inside her coat to protect from the downpour. The Shaman himself was enjoying the new change in weather; though he wasn't fond of getting wet, his leather armour protected him well enough, so the only place that was really getting the worst of it was his hair - and no amount of water could quench the ruffled look of his brown shaggy mess. "Alright, this'll just take a moment," he called back to Sayha, before moving towards a sizeable puddle that had formed nearby, the water's surface rippling repeatedly as various water droplets bombarded upon it, the size of the puddle slowly growing. Standing beside the pool of water, he extended out his hands, palms facing parallel to the ground and hovering above the puddle in front of him. Closing his eyes, Dorian began to concentrate, drawing forth the spiritual mana within his body and conjuring the start of the ritual.

Unlike other spells he had, the casting time for Holy Water Divination was a full minute... During this time, his body began to enter a state of tranquillity, the energy flowing through him just like the water, the gentle patter of raindrops echoing loudly on his skin and on the surface of the puddle. "Focus," he muttered, taking slow, calming breaths in and out, pouring his mana through into the very air itself and transferring his mind into the misty, broken surface, his vision slowly pooling into a blurred view of the world, as if looking out into a reflection. The rain seemed to muddy the picture, however, preventing a clear image from surfacing, but he managed to peer into the ground beneath the puddle itself. Straining to see, he gave a soft gasp as he spotted the gapped space underneath the area, a bunker if ever he saw one. With one last breath, he pulled away from the connection, opening his eyes to return to reality.

"I think I have something," he finally spoke, calling out once more to Sayha and drawing her attention back to him. The view from the puddle's surface was still imprinted into his mind, an after thought perhaps, the lingering magic holding in his brain, available for him to access should he choose to look again. "My vision was blurry, probably because of the rain, but I managed to get a sense of the general location above ground." He moved to tap the side of his head, gesturing towards his mind. "I still have access though; if the rain stops, and we still haven't found the entrance, I can look again," he finished, waiting for the Assassin to collect herself before gesturing for her to follow, stepping off to start leading her towards the place he had spotted out for them.

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Notes: N/A
Words: 477
Tags: @shadowsaiph

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Dorian stayed out in the rain, saying that it would only take a moment. He went over to a puddle of water and put his hands over the puddle. Sayha wasn’t sure what he was doing, but she waited patiently for him to finish what he was doing.

Sayha let her thoughts wander while she was waiting. Back on the other side, she remembered how often it used to rain. She didn’t necessarily like the rain, but she didn’t dislike it. Though she did dislike it a lot on days she had to walk home from the dojo because her father decided to work late without telling her until the last second. Sayha sighed, pushing those thoughts away. There was no reason to focus on the negative memories…

After about a minute, Dorian finally spoke, saying he might have something. Sayha then walked over to him to hear what he had to say. He explained that his vision was blurry but managed to get a general location.

“Take us there then,” Sayha nodded. Dorian than began to walk wherever he had seen, and Sayha followed behind. A general location was as good as any. It was a general location she knew when she had went to find the Tunnels of Chislehurst, and Hiro and she had been able to locate them fairly easily. Then again, Sayha kept forgetting that the world they were in wasn’t as large as the other side. It was called the Half-Gaia project for a reason. It had been a very ambitious project, and Sayha remembered reading extensively into it before she decided to join the game. Hopefully locating the bunker wouldn’t be too difficult now.

Words: 280 | Total Words: 2065
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Coding by Sayha of LH

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The Assassin commended him to lead the way, and so the two of them headed out into the soaking rain, the gentle patter of raindrops hitting the Shaman's leathers making soft sounds that were stifled by the downpour around them. With the general location in mind, he recalled back to the map he had been shown earlier, with the tunnel system drawn over the top; recalling one of the large gaps he had pointed out, he decided this would be the best place to look. "You know, I think this is the first time I've actually felt rain since arriving in this world," Dorian muttered over the sound of the weather, attempting to make idle conversation as to pass the time while they walked; no need to travel in silence, after all. The area was a good ways away from where they had originally started their search, so it would be some time before they got anywhere near the bunker area. Still, with the Half-Gaia project, it wasn't a long walk in itself, considering it had been halved by the conversion into the game.

"I think this is the place," Dorian finally confessed, looking around at the street they had wound up on. It was fairly simple in it's design, somewhat suburban, given the multitude of residential houses dotting the landscape; giving Sayha a silent nod, the Shaman split off to begin inspecting the various houses, looking for any clues as to which one contained the entrance. Look for something somewhat out of place; not so off that people would question it, but just off enough that a few select people could pick it out with ease. Skrowe's intelligent words seemed to drive the Shaman further, his eyes lingering over a particularly off house; whereas most of the buildings in this area were two-story residents, the one Dorian had found was only one story. "Sayha, this might be the entrance!" He called back to her, gesturing towards the shortened house in front of him, indicating that she was to go in first, as she requested.

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Notes: N/A
Words: 345
Tags: @shadowsaiph

[Deleted]

As Sayha followed behind Dorian, he made the comment that he believed it was his first time feeling rain in that world. “I think this is my first time as well, though I’ve never been fond of rain so it really makes no difference to me,” Sayha shrugged.

As the two of them walked, they entered a more suburban area where there were more residential houses. Dorian said that he thought that this was the place he had seen. Sayha recalled looking around in the area, but she hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary at least not to her. Sayha was about to go roof hopping to see what all was around when Dorian called that he might have found the place.

Sayha turned and walked over to where he was looking. It was a one-story house that looked rather unloved. Sayha walked over to the front door which was the best place to start. It looked rather run down, and the door looked like it was stuck. Sayha jiggled the doorknob, but it was stuck… so she took a step backwards and did a side kick into the door. The door slammed open, and a bunch of dust floated around. Sayha waved her hand in front of her face so she wouldn’t breathe in too much dust and walked in.

The floor was mostly dust, but there were puddles all over the floor… and a puddle that seemed to slowly leak into the floor. Sayha walked over to where the water seemed to be leaking and hit the floor hard with the heel of her boot. When she hit, the sound was hollow. She then knelt down on the floor trying to find the seam… and she did. Sayha pulled out one of her katana blades out of her inventory and pried a piece of the floor up which revealed a trap door. Once the trap door was open, Sayha pulled out a lantern from her inventory and shone it down into the door. There was a ladder but she couldn’t see much beyond that.

“Well, looks as if you were right,” Sayha said, “I’ll climb down first and call you when I reach the bottom.” Sayha put her sword in her inventory and climbed down the ladder slowly and carefully.

After a few moments, Sayha reached the bottom into a decent sized room. Off in the corner was some sort of machine but other than that… it was pretty decrepit.

“I think it is safe enough, Dorian,” Sayha called up towards the trap door. She moved away from the bottom of the ladder so that Dorian would be able to come down without any problems.

Words: 448 | Total Words: 2513
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Coding by Sayha of LH

[Deleted]

With a resounding crack, Sayha's foot collided with the front door of the single story household, sending it crashing back off of it's hinges and into the entryway, kicking up a cloud of dust that mixed with a rain to create a musty smell that permeated the area. "Solid," Dorian spoke, commending the Assassin's decisiveness. Normally he would be against kicking in people's doors, but he wasn't about to make the mistake of trying to order Sayha around this time; she was a free spirit, and this Shaman was not one to hinder anyone's freedom. Giving the house itself a quick and more detailed glance before heading inside, Dorian noted the rather decrepit look it was giving off; even more so than the other houses alongside it. Whoever had built this version of the house in this world, they had no interest in keeping it maintained. "A shame... A real shame." Shaking his head gently, the Shaman followed Sayha into the building, covering his mouth with his leather-bound arm to protect against the contaminated air.

With the downpour still going strong, the gaps in the roof of the house had allowed various puddles of water to form in the floorboards and the dirt, the colour becoming a muddy light brown as it mixed with the dust and grime. Glancing over the nearest form of water, the Shaman noticed just as Sayha did the apparent leaking of the puddle into a section of the floor, as if there was some sort of gap beneath it. "Could be something," he spoke, but the Assassin had already moved to check, beating on the space with the heel of her boot, causing an echoed sound to ring out around them. "Huh..." Dorian merely watched in silence as the elf quickly knelt down to find the seam, pulling out of her inventory one of her katanas - a memory of her blades popping back into the Shaman's head - and proceeding to cut the floor out. Stashing her sword away, she revealed the trap door that lay underneath.

Sayha indicated her desire to go down first, to which Dorian wholly approved of, gesturing for her to continue before waiting beside the entrance, looking down into the dark. Slowly but surely, the Assassin trudged down the ladder, her lantern gradually illuminating bits and pieces beneath her; but, by the time she had reached the bottom, her lantern was merely a dull glow on the fringes of the shadows. "Alright, I'm coming down," Dorian called back, shifting the leather strapping around his waist to make sure his longsword didn't bump against him, before descending down onto the rickety ladder. Taking it slowly, rung by rung, he eventually found his feet pressing into the floor below, stepping himself off into the light of Sayha's lantern. "Quite the trip," he muttered under his breath, habitually dusting himself off and resetting the straps of his sheath to sit comfortably on the left side of his hips. "Well then, shall we head off? Tally-ho, and all that?" Dorian chuckled softly, his light British accent coming through pleasantly as he gestured into the darkness beyond.

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Notes: N/A
Words: 521
Tags: @shadowsaiph

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After Dorian had come down the ladder, he had done a British accent impersonation which made Sayha roll her eyes. “I vote for no accents,” Sayha responded, looking around the room that they were in. The walls were made with brick or cement blocks though they had been painted over at some point in time as the layers of paint were visibly chipping off the walls. Above them on the ceiling were old pipes and tubing as well as old HVAC lines… or at least that was what Sayha thought they were.

“Not a very inviting place,” Sayha commented as she made her way over to the machine she had noted earlier. The machine was like a huge square box that went almost all the way up to the ceiling. On the back side were circles with wires coming in and out of the circles. Most of the circles were once labeled, but the labels were faded, peeled off, or practically not there. Sayha tapped the machine with her boot, but nothing happened. “I think this used to be the switchboard… if I’m remembering correctly,” Sayha said heading to the doorway without a door that was near the machine.

Through the door, Sayha could see a rather long hallway with openings branching out on the left hand side and possibly all the way at the end of the hallway. The ceilings looked exactly like the small room’s ceilings, and the floor was concrete. The concrete floor looked rather damaged as there were cracks running all over the place… and there were water puddles scattered throughout the hallway as well as small piles of debris.

Sayha walked forward through the hallway, assuming Dorian was following, and looked down the first hallway on the left. It was another long hallway, but it was longer than the one they were in, and there were doors on either side of the hallway dotting it all the way down.

Sayha tentatively walked forward, her footsteps echoing as she moved. “Well what do you think so far, Dor?” Sayha asked turning to Dorian slightly, “It’s not as run-down as I thought it would be.”

Words: 358 | Total Words: 2871
@serenityspace
Coding by Sayha of LH

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Dorian blinked slowly at the elf's statement, before releasing a gentle chuckle under his breath, shaking his head idly as he responded. "I apologise, Sayha, but unfortunately it is my natural accent; I'll try to keep it to a minimum if I must." The Shaman gave her a playful, friendly wink before turning to follow her movements, looking around the darkened interior they had descended into. "Sturdy... Well, it used to be, anyway," Dorian commented, gesturing towards the hardy cement used to build the walls, ceiling and floor. It was a common material used in most bunker designs, though it seemed like the version here had been left unattended, the various cracks and missing parts in the room evidence enough. Sayha observed the rather lacklustre appearance, drawing a smirk across his features. "True, but when have we ever needed an invitation for anything?" Chuckling once more, the two of them ventured over towards a run down machine, Dorian inspecting it over the Assassin's shoulder.

Sayha seemed to gain interest in the old object, gently beating it with her foot to see if it would react to outside pressure. "Yeah... Though, given the nature of this world of ours, it may be magitech; chances are the mana has faded, which is probably why it doesn't understand the input of 'firm boot kick'." After giving his teasing comment, Dorian stepped out of the way to let Sayha turn back to the empty doorway that led out of the room, following close behind. Walking through into the hallway beyond, the Shaman gave a glance around at the interior once more, noting the decrepit look that had befallen most of the walls, the concrete itself no longer fit to call itself a protective bunker. "Well, I know where I'm not going during the next apocalypse," Dorian remarked, stopping for a moment to squat down and trace his hand over one of the larger cracks in the floor, running his digits over the broken up concrete.

Tilting his head up, he noticed that Sayha had begun moving again, hoisting himself up to stand properly, re-balancing himself to follow her lead. As they walked down the hallway, the Assassin came to a stop in front of the adjoining system that went off to her left; looking over her shoulder provided Dorian with a decent view of the array of doors that marked either side of the hall. As they continued on, the Shaman keeping close behind Sayha so as not to lose her or the guiding light of her lantern, she managed to speak up, asking what he thought so far. It was interesting to think how they had both changed, her in particular; she seemed genuinely interested in what the Shaman was thinking. "Well, you are right, it has survived... But I wouldn't call it a bunker now." He gestured to all the interior damage that loomed over them as they walked. "However, a little TLC and this place could become something. As to what, I'm not sure; after all, you were the one who wanted to find this place, so what do you think?"

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Notes: N/A
Words: 520
Tags: @shadowsaiph

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“Oh…” Sayha said in response to Dorian’s comment about his accent, “Then… your accent is fine… I just never noticed it before, my bad.” Sayha had smirked at his comments about the place being sturdy and not needing an invitation. It was true that they didn’t need an invitation, and Sayha had no intention on waiting for one. After all, exploration was fun… maybe once she was done there she’d see if she could find some hidden places elsewhere.

“Well,” Sayha shrugged after Dorian’s comment about not returning here during the next apocalypse, “It’s still standing despite the debris so I think it’s impressive.”

Sayha nodded, listening to Dorian’s comments, saying that it did survive though he wouldn’t call it a bunker in its current condition. “I do agree that it needs some serious work though if it were to become usable and livable… maybe a project for later on down the road,” Sayha commented after being asked her opinion, “I’m not expecting to find any sort of treasure or monsters… I’m just here for the sake of exploring. If we find something, we find something. If we don’t, we don’t.”

Sayha walked down the hallway she was in a bit more to one of the doorways. It was cracked open, and she tentatively pushed it all the way open. Inside there was a bunch of black grime all over the floor, and Sayha opted not to investigate further. She went over to a few more doors, but inside them so far was only dust, grime, debris, or a combination of the three.

After a while, Sayha opened a door that looked to be an old machine room. “Well, this looks a bit more promising,” Sayha said, walking in.

Words: 289 | Total Words: 3160
@serenityspace
Coding by Sayha of LH

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Sayha had made a good point about the bunker; though it was severely damaged, there were no cave-ins or monsters or anything else dangerous within it's walls, which counted for something. It was built strong, that was for certain, and was able to withstand all of the damage it had taken from years of neglect and the general pressure of 6 feet of earth holding it down. "It's been well engineered, I'll give them that," Dorian replied, nodding slowly as he looked over the building once again. As they continued further in, the Assassin communicated that perhaps it could be a project down the line; an idea that highly intrigued Dorian in it's prospects. "This could certainly be useful in the future, I'm certain... With magic and terror all too real in this world, perhaps a devastating event is more likely here; who knows what could happen to Londinium should we continue to agitate the greater powers of our age." A foreboding and terrifying idea to think of... The Shaman shook his head, quickly moving away from the subject, for fear of spoiling their discovery.

Of course, Sayha and himself were both down here for similar reasons; lately, Dorian had gained a newly found love of the unknown, the desire to explore having grown within his mind during his travels and adventures. The world was still young for them, with still so much to discover and learn about who, what and why. "I completely agree... I didn't come here to find out what valuables were left behind when this place was no doubt abandoned; I came here to find out why it was abandoned in the first place. Or perhaps it is as you said; we are simply here to find that which is hidden... A no less thrilling endeavour." It was good to finally find equal footing with Sayha, after so many troublesome encounters with her during the youth of their friendship. Dorian couldn't help but smile at how much they had both grown in such a short amount of time. Alas, this was not the time to reminisce, it would seem; Sayha kept moving, the Shaman quickly following her lead as they inspected what lay ahead.

Most of the rooms that were accessible - the doorways busted and beaten as they swung with irritating creaks on their hinges, sometimes swerving loose and falling to the floor with a thud - had little to show for, taken up by the dust and dirt and other unmentionables that one would expect from a neglected, underground bunker. Alas, it seemed their searching would not uncover any hidden secrets, until eventually a room opened to them, Sayha discovering the remnants of a machine room that had been set up within. "Hmm, yes... It looks like it might be a broadcast station, or perhaps some other communication type room?" Dorian posed the question as they entered, squinting to see the nature of the machines as he followed the Assassin inside, using the light of the lantern in her grasp to get a glimpse of labels or names or perhaps even just a general sense of what purpose the technology here was designed for.

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Notes: N/A
Words: 528
Tags: @shadowsaiph