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Tovin looks down squinting into the lightened shaft, he then looks up at the others. "I can go down first if you want but i'll have to deal with the light first, or one of you go down and get the light and i'll back you up."

He stands there waiting for confirmation.

“I’ll go” Alvara stated while looking at Tovin. After all if was a candle, nothing more. Even if there was something else she could handle it. Alvara quickly moved down the ladder, heading over to the candles. Footsteps could be heard behind her, very loud and heavy. She quickly put out the light and pulled out her sword, turning around. The noise of her sword could be heard from up top.

Hundreds of candles line the walls, their flames swaying and dancing. Some are tall, as if they were lit just moments ago, while others are burnt down to stubby mounds of wax.

In the center of the room stands an onyx pedestal supporting a massive tome bound in gold and worn black scales.

The walls are decorated with detailed murals depicting what must be the lives of heroes: warriors rising up from humble beginnings to lead armies against forces of darkness; humble apprentices inheriting arcane powers from their masters, casting down kings and emperors with a wave of their wands; meek rouges growing to become daring shadow lords; and destitute warrior monks rising to become leaders of holy armies.

A spiral staircase descends even deeper into the tower...



At the sound of her sword, Dulirn waited, having little doubt the swords woman could handle another of these mongrel pirate humans on her own. Nevertheless, a bit of magical energy sparked to life between his fingers in case he needed to back her up.

Alvara looked up....this man was huge. From what she could see he carried a sword, just a sword. Maybe a knife or two toward his boots. Alvara readied her stance, planing. She thought to herself that it would be nice if someone would simply jump from the latter and stab the man in the back. Alvara striked The man towards his legs, hoping to cause a little unbalance in his stance.

The man grunt and barely moved, quickly knocking the sword from her hand. It hitting the floor with great noise. Alvaras eyes widened as his fist met her stomach, knocking her into the wall. She let out a grunt as she fell down on the ground. Her balance was regained and she quickly jumped up and grabbed both her daggers. She had to do something fast, something quick. Her eyes met the mans as she walked to the left. He moved in the direction she did as she circled.

Alvara ran to the wall, quickly jumping onto the wall then off. Her jump was higher than normal, at most she would’ve made it to this mans chest but...she had made it to his head. She flipped backwards, crossing her daggers over her chest in mid-air. On her way down she stabbed the man in the neck, holding onto his neck with her daggers. Alvara took out one of the daggers then stabbed him one more time, blood spewing everywhere. That’s it...he’s dead.

Alvara removed her daggers and jumped back over his head, landing infront of him. His lifeless body fell backwards with a loud thump. She smirked, “It’s safe”. Alvara put away her daggers, turning around and waiting for them. Alvara wiped her forehead from blood and picked up her sword, putting it back where it belonged.

Tovin climbs down with closed eyes. He feels around. for anything that could help. blindly walking around his foot meets the large mans arm tripping Tovin. He stumbles forward trying to find something to brake his fall. his hands make contact with the tome on the center of the room. "Umm... what am I touching? Also please put out the candles, if i'm blind during the day imagine a fully lit up room."

Tovin picks up the tome fiddling around with it in his hands even opening it.

The book is full of names...page after page. Seemingly in alphabetical order. Many of which have been crossed out. Archaic symbols adorn the margins.

Dulirn makes his way down the ladder, surveying the murals with interest. His mouth gaped as Tovin opened the book, fully expecting some kind of magical ward or trap. But nothing seemed to happen...

Alvara watched them both walk down the ladder, seeing Tovin trip. She didn’t laugh but she did indeed smile. Her next move was to put out the candles one by one. Once she finished she leaned against the wall, resting a bit. Her body still ached from that mans punch. It had felt like a boulder landed on her. “You can open your eyes now” she stated while looking over at Tovin.

Alvara glanced over at Dulirn, remembering what he was here for. She wondered what the pearl would do once he held it. It would most likely give him more power, considering this was wicked mans tower. One that was very powerful. Alvara sighed, “We keep heading down I presume”.

Each time Alvara puts out a candle, another name in the book is crossed out. Just as she puts out a candle of about mid-height, Dulirn collapses, unmoving to the floor. In the book, a line is drawn through the name "Ainsworth, Dulirn".

“Oh my word!” She yelled, running to his aid. Alvara yanked the book from Tovins hands, reading it for herself. She quickly pulled out some flint and her dagger, making a slight spark and dropping the book. Running over to the candle, she started to create sparks. Maybe this would do the trick, bring him back. The candle lit again.

Alvara rushed over to Dulirn, shaking him a bit. “Wake up!” She shook him once more, “wake up you bastard!”. Alvara looked at Tovin then back at Dulirn. She slapped Dulirn, “wake up!”.

Tovin opens his eyes now that the light has dimmed significantly. He could hear the commotion. he ran over ti Dulirns body looking him over, his eyes then travel back to the book. "Maby we should burn it or something!" his eyes search Alvaras for an answer.

“Burn the book?!” She looked at Tovin, “Don’t ya think that would kill him?!”. You could hear the panic in her voice as she spoke. She began shaking Dulirn again, but nothing happened. “Tovin, got any other ideas?”, she looked over at him concerningly.

Within a few seconds, the wizard gasped suddenly and rolled himself onto his side. "What...what happened?" He said, voice shaken.

"I-I don't know! This is the reason my clan didn't mess with magic." Tovin grabs the book and riffles through looking for some sort of answer.
"Hold on! Hold on!"

Alvaras eyes widened, “you’re alive!”. “Tovin! He’s alive!” She put her hand on Dulirns shoulder, looking over at Tovin. Her eyes met Dulirns, “you died on me, believe it or not...”. Alvara stood up and offered her hand to help him up. “Promise me you won’t do that again?” She asked concerningly. This was the first time she had actually shown emotion around them.

Tovin stopped paging through and sat there on his knees, book laying open on his lap. H breathed in and exhaled with heavy sigh. He tosses the book aside and looks at Alvara. "Good."

His eyes then glide down to Dulirn. " You had us worried for a moment." Tovin then peers off into the corner for a bit, his brow raises. "Why would the book have your name in it in the first place?"

"My name is in the book?" Dulirn asked, seeming a bit dazed as he rubbed his cheek where Alvara had slapped him then took her hand to let her help him back to his feet.

He looked down at book now laying on the floor and saw the list of names, most now crossed out, then around at the many extinguished candles, then again at the murals on the wall and his eyes widened. "All the heroes of the land..." he whispered, then suddenly rushed to begin re-lighting candles. Was it some sense of right and wrong? Or simply fear of retribution by some deity?

Alvaras eyes widened...why was his name in the book? He didn’t seem like some hero, nor did he act it. How strange...Alvara looked at Dulirn and began helping him light all the candles. “Sorry Tovin, we’ll guide you around” Alvara stated while looking over at him. “Dulirn” she paused and stopped, standing still. “Is the pearl towards the bottom on this tower?” She asked, looking at him seriously.

Alvara sighed then walked over to Tovin, waiting for Dulirn to finish lighting the other couple candles. Her mind drifted off, thinking about everything at once. Everything about her kingdom and family... Sometimes she would over think things, which always led her to anger and stress. Alvara relaxed her breathing, trying to clear her mind.

((and maybe anti-heroes ))


"That is my guess," Dulirn said in response to Alvara's question as he stepped over the large brute the elf had killed so that he could reach the last few candles. "I can't say for sure." He seemed less confident after his near death experience. "Though that seems to be the only way to go..." he said, peering at the spiral steps leading down.


A trickle of sea water runs down the wooden staircase.

The stairwell is dimly lit by torches hung on the wall, though even a casual inspection would quickly reveal the torches are magical in nature as no heat is given off by their flames.

The walls along the stairs shelter a trio of small alcoves. In each alcove are small statues carved of ivory and decorated with small beads. The first nook holds a fierce looking barbarian and the second, a pair of snarling panthers. The third is yet out of site...

About halfway down, the steps have fallen through altogether. The gap is about 7 ft across and with the drop in elevation, it looks an easy enough jump. (Though jumping back up would be significantly more difficult.)

Tovin closes his eyes and stands up, he extends a hand toward Alvara's direction. "I could use some help if you don't mine." When he final feels some thing he grabs on, when it pulls he fallows when he moves he hears something, a faint... ringing. It's coming from behind him. "Hey, uh, do you hear that?"

Tovin stands extends a hand and starts walking forward, towards the stair way, none of you are touching him.

Alvara watched Tovin as he began to grab in her direction, grabbing onto something that wasn’t her. She raised a brow, thinking he was playing a game. Alvara leaned against the wall, watching him act as if something mysterious was pulling him. Something was wrong. Something was different that she felt in her gut. Alvara moved away from the wall, pulling out a dagger. She looked at Dulirn, trying to see his reaction. Her focus moved back to Tovin, spinning her dagger around in her hand. “Tovin” she paused. “Stop moving” she stated while walking over to him, slowly.

Alvara pulled out her other dagger, spinning it around. She had to see what his reaction was. See what he felt when he just stood still. Her glance moved over to Dulirn, giving him a gesture to make his way over here. Maybe he could sense something she couldn’t about this situation. She looked back at Tovin, seeing if the thing continued to tug on him.