Endyr was reeling internally after learning what lay in the stone coffin before her. While she was no stranger to dead Gods, and had committed her fair share of deicide, she had never expected to find the corpse of an Ancient God while on her first mission. The discovery left her thoughts scrambling as she tried to make sense of the coincidence.
'Why would the body of a long dead God that was likely active on Neriea be buried here in the Gaia Continent? The Almighty barely paid any attention to the other landmasses. Wait, could the Gaia Continent have been owned by the Goddess of Weather in the Third Era? The coffin implies "Her" name was Tamar...no, it doesn't ring any bells. Durnoff and the records I've read never mentioned "Her" in any way.'
'This is getting more and more unsettling. My first mission literally hours after I left the Academy involves Cultists, Evil Gods, Epic existences and the tomb of a Goddess. Even if my natural curiosity and pride would enable me to take this mission, what are the chances there was one spot left just in time for me arrive at the Guild? Coincidence? Heh, like hell I believe in that!'
Endyr rapidly reigned in her thoughts as she entered a deep calm. She went over everything that she had said or done since leaving the Academy. As she flitted through the rather short list, she came across something that served as a cause of alarm.
'After leaving the inner circle, I came across a Gaian church. I entered it and did some casual motions to blend in...Did my presence attract the attention of Gaia just like that? No, I didn't even pray or recite "Her" Honorific Name! Unless the Gods of Orvonia are even more sensitive than I thought, there is no logical way Gaia could detect me. It's not like "She" is personally inhabiting every single temple!'
However the more she thought about it, the bigger the seeds of doubt grew. 'One of the first things I did upon entering the first layer of this complex was use my Mana Manipulation to peer beyond the Veil and into the Astral World. Almost immediately after, i was attacked by multiple Gods...Could it all have been arranged?!'
Endyr felt a chill running deep through her bones at the idea. Being unknowingly manipulated in such a silent manner deeply scared her, since she knew all too well the outcome of most "puppets". Furthermore, there were certain Gods with a history of controlling the world from the shadows. Endyr's eyes unwittingly flickered to the stone doors, where the symbols of Daemon, Jester and Fallacy were engraved. 'Out of all the Gods that focused in on me in the Astral World, the ones that came closest to capturing me were three figures wrapped in grey fog. And one of them definitely had tentacles squirming around...This was all within "His" expectations? Or rather, everything was carried out under "His" design?'
Endyr's mouth went dry as she gained a deeper understanding of what it meant to be called the God of Horror. While Jester would boisterously seize control of your fate, and Daemon would slowly drain you of everything you hold close, Fallacy was by far the worse. You would go about your day, talk to your friends and family, and undergo your adventures all the while ignorant of the puppet master holding the strings in the background. 'Not just the God of Horror, Fallacy should be called the God of Reality TV!'
"His" modus operandi was just like a director of a Reality TV show, where the participants acted out their days under the unknowing guiding hand from behind the stage. What was real and what was fake would blur together, as you were slowly consumed by doubt and paranoia. In the end, you would either meet your end in a completely logical yet bizarre manner, or would be driven into a maddened state until the day you died. Either way, Fallacy would have fulfilled "His" goals.
'At least I have my answer for why "Their" symbols are on the door. Kulkiri seems to have been right: Tamar should have perished at the end of the Third Era and "She" was buried here for a while until the Dread Three sealed it away sometime in the early Fourth Era. Of curse, another possibility is that "She" was moved buried elsewhere and was moved into this tomb when the door was constructed.'
Having detected the strings of conspiracy surrounding her, Endyr found that Authority Point well spent. She stepped away from the tomb and looked at Victoria. "Why didn't you get Kulkiri to translate this?" she asked, pointing at the Aesir on the stone coffin. Erich scoffed as he shook his head, standing up and dusting off his hands. "We already did, but tall and mysterious over there didn't know anything more than a few basic words. Of course, I somehow doubt "death's advent" are including in "basic words" but if he doesn't want to say it, then there is nothing we can do."
Endyr found Kulkiri's attitude suspicious too, but she didn't blame him if he was keeping the owner of the coffin a secret. She didn't know if the body was even still in there, but telling a bunch of profit-oriented Adventurers they were beside the corpse of a God wasn't a good idea. Who knows what weird shit they would get up to? And of course, telling them the Vampires had been using a God's corpse for their nefarious plans wouldn't help moral either.
After exploring pretty much everything unique or interesting in the tomb, Endyr turned her focus towards the pathway leading deeper into the tomb. Unlike here, the torches on the walls were not lit, and a gloomy darkness stopped her from seeing what lay at the back of the hall. Himmel and Ruby were facing it and talking to each other, the blonde frowning heavily as Himmel looked at the darkness with wary eyes.
Making her way over to them, Endyr opened with a question. "What's your opinions on the dark and gloomy tunnel?" she asked casually as she joined them. Ruby corrected her expression as she flashed a smile at Endyr. "My senses are even more dulled in here than they were outside. I'm basically useless in that field now" she sighed. "However, even my mortal sense knows that blindly going further ahead is highly dangerous. Have you traced the Crystal Mana to the source yet?"
Endyr shook her head as she took another glance at the Spirit World. "It leads down there" she pointed down the hall. Himmel gave a grunt of annoyance as he ran his hand through his hair. "If its not Kismet himself, then it's likely guarded by multiple Grandmasters. The latter is only slightly better than the former."
"Don't be so negative" Ruby teased him. "Honestly, sometimes I think you're actually a Dwarf rather than a Human." Endyr looked between them in surprise as she blurted out. "You guys have met Dwarves?"
The Gaia Continent was mainly populated by Humans, Elves and the Beastkin. Dwarves preferred the Borealis Continent most, so they were a rarity everywhere else. And there was also a long history of racism between the Elves and the Dwarves. Since the latter were created by the Giants as slaves, the haughty Elves looked down on them as inferior.
Himmel laughed as he fixed Endyr a look. "One or two, yeah" he shrugged. "It was at a small port town, by the south coast. They were...rowdy fellows, with a penchant for drinking and brutally honest."
"They were also incredibly pessimistic about everything" Ruby added. "Honestly, they had nothing positive to say about life. Always complaining about the cost of housing, the cost of alcohol, the cost of prostitutes...You'd swear the world was out to get them."
"Can't blame them though" Himmel defended the Dwarves. "If I lived on that frozen wasteland too, then I'd be pretty damn sour about life. Borealis in no place to live, even if the underground is full of resources."
As Endyr mentally made a note to visit the Borealis Continent at some point, she noticed Aryll and Kulkiri walking over with the others in tow. "Everybody done looking around?" she asked. Aryll nodded and peered into the uninviting darkness as she whistled. "Boy, what I would give for night vision" she laughed.
"That darkness isn't natural" Johan said with a grim face. "I can't control or even sense the shadows at all. And this is different from the interference from outside. That stuff is artificial."
"If we have no solutions, should be just march in and stick together?" Endyr proposed, earning her a stare from the others. "What?" she defended herself. "It's not like any of you have a better solution. According to Johan, that darkness will likely devour any light cast on it. We might as well just brace ourselves and rush."
Kulkiri tapped his finger against his thigh before shrugging. "I suppose she's right. So who wants to go first?"
The tomb fell silent.