wanna_be
Really Experienced
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2017
- Posts
- 264
The vaults did strange things to the mind, that's what the servants said. Strange whispers could be heard, ethereal figures fading in and out of focus on the edge of your vision, gone as soon as you tried to focus on them. Sorcerous lightning crackled back and forth in the ceilings, seeking for unwise trespassers to earth itself within. At least that's what the servants said.
Alyss is one of those servants, and she has told her fair share of stories about the vaults, having never set foot down there before. Few enough of the servants had, with only a few of the more trusted and senior servants of the College being permitted access to those secretive rooms beneath the sprawling campus. Gregor Shim was one of those most senior of servants, so senior in fact that his grey hair had long since faded to white, and his corpulent form had earned him the not so fond, ironic, nickname of 'Shim the slim'. He was senior perhaps, but he rarely did any actual work, not anymore, and contented himself now with lording his seniority over the other servants.
That was how Alyss had managed to acquire the keys. When Shim the slim had picked out someone to clean the vault entrance she had been pushed forwards by her friends, friends who had just the previous night dared her to come back from the vaults with a souvenir.
All she has to do is get in, grab something unobtrusive, and get out. All of those stories were just that right? Just stories.
She carefully slides the key into the lock, turning it with a click. The door is oiled well, and swings open silently almost without any pressure on her part. Carefully, Alyss pads through and quietly closes the door behind her. She turns to take in the room she finds herself in. It is surprisingly small, far from what she expects, with rows of doors along each wall. Each door is made of solid iron, chosen for it's insulating properties against magic.
She chooses one at random and walks swiftly over to it, only to pause. There is no keyhole in the door. Or handle for that matter. Instead there are seven heavy bolts. She puts a hand on one and tugs. Nothing happens, so she puts down the heavy ring of keys and grabs it with both hands. This time the bolt begins to move, groaning back as if it resents being moved after all this time.
The other bolts follow shortly afterwards, though each seems to require a herculean effort to move. Eventually all of the bolts have been removed from the door, and a gentle touch makes the enormous iron portal swing open. It does so swiftly, and the bang as it comes to rest on some invisible inner wall makes her jump. She turns towards the door through which she has entered, expecting at any moment one of the College Sorcerers to come storming through, lightning crackling from their fingertips.
No such guardian is forthcoming.
Grabbing one of the EverBurning torches from the wall, she steps into the darkness of the vault. She stops and looks around, then steps back into the lobby. There are huge doors either side of the one she has opened, no more than a foot away on either side.
She looks back through the archway. The room that stretches out beyond the door is cavernous, in the distance the light from the unnatural flame she carries glints off something, but even with it's potent light she cannot see the walls of this chamber.
Alyss walks inside, it seems... Normal. No strange whispers, no ethereal figures on the edge of her vision, just a huge room and heaps of... Well... Junk. She prods one such heap with the toe of her boot. There is a muffled sigh as the entire heap collapses in on itself, dust billowing up. She can't take something like that, they'll never believe her. Instead she continues deeper into the enormous room.
A suit of armour looms out of the darkness, and she jumps back, before realising that it is empty. It's also huge, standing at least three feet above her, and Alyss is tall for a servant. The armoured suit is almost 6 feet across, and there is a blade clutched in it's hand that looked like it could split a horse in half lengthwise with a single swing. She reaches out one careful hand. The armour is strangely warm to the touch.
Snatching her hand back, she looks about, there must be something here that she can actually carry. Maybe a book? There are several, appearing out of the darkness as though summoned, but each is an enormous grimoire, and the writing on their covers seems to shift and move in a way that makes her head swim and her teeth ache.
Then she sees it. Sitting alone on a small plinth, a faint ring of light seems to surround it, independent of the torch she carries. It is entirely nondescript, a simple, plain ring made of some dark metal. That will do.
She snatches it up... And spins in alarm as the door slams behind her.
Sprinting back the way she has come she sees the light illuminate only heavy masonry. The door has vanished into the wall. Alyss begins to panic, hunting around for some clue that there is a route out of here. Nothing, the blocks of stone are smooth and cool to the touch, only the faintest of ridges betraying the fact that this is fashioned stone rather than the wall of a cave.
The ring is still in her hand, warmed faintly by her flesh. She lifts it up to the light, inspecting it more closely. If anything, it looks even less impressive close up, a simple, undecorated ring, the sort of item that a street peddler might attempt to sell for a few pennies. Hardly worth the effort, and certainly not worth being trapped in here.
She puts it on.
Alyss is one of those servants, and she has told her fair share of stories about the vaults, having never set foot down there before. Few enough of the servants had, with only a few of the more trusted and senior servants of the College being permitted access to those secretive rooms beneath the sprawling campus. Gregor Shim was one of those most senior of servants, so senior in fact that his grey hair had long since faded to white, and his corpulent form had earned him the not so fond, ironic, nickname of 'Shim the slim'. He was senior perhaps, but he rarely did any actual work, not anymore, and contented himself now with lording his seniority over the other servants.
That was how Alyss had managed to acquire the keys. When Shim the slim had picked out someone to clean the vault entrance she had been pushed forwards by her friends, friends who had just the previous night dared her to come back from the vaults with a souvenir.
All she has to do is get in, grab something unobtrusive, and get out. All of those stories were just that right? Just stories.
She carefully slides the key into the lock, turning it with a click. The door is oiled well, and swings open silently almost without any pressure on her part. Carefully, Alyss pads through and quietly closes the door behind her. She turns to take in the room she finds herself in. It is surprisingly small, far from what she expects, with rows of doors along each wall. Each door is made of solid iron, chosen for it's insulating properties against magic.
She chooses one at random and walks swiftly over to it, only to pause. There is no keyhole in the door. Or handle for that matter. Instead there are seven heavy bolts. She puts a hand on one and tugs. Nothing happens, so she puts down the heavy ring of keys and grabs it with both hands. This time the bolt begins to move, groaning back as if it resents being moved after all this time.
The other bolts follow shortly afterwards, though each seems to require a herculean effort to move. Eventually all of the bolts have been removed from the door, and a gentle touch makes the enormous iron portal swing open. It does so swiftly, and the bang as it comes to rest on some invisible inner wall makes her jump. She turns towards the door through which she has entered, expecting at any moment one of the College Sorcerers to come storming through, lightning crackling from their fingertips.
No such guardian is forthcoming.
Grabbing one of the EverBurning torches from the wall, she steps into the darkness of the vault. She stops and looks around, then steps back into the lobby. There are huge doors either side of the one she has opened, no more than a foot away on either side.
She looks back through the archway. The room that stretches out beyond the door is cavernous, in the distance the light from the unnatural flame she carries glints off something, but even with it's potent light she cannot see the walls of this chamber.
Alyss walks inside, it seems... Normal. No strange whispers, no ethereal figures on the edge of her vision, just a huge room and heaps of... Well... Junk. She prods one such heap with the toe of her boot. There is a muffled sigh as the entire heap collapses in on itself, dust billowing up. She can't take something like that, they'll never believe her. Instead she continues deeper into the enormous room.
A suit of armour looms out of the darkness, and she jumps back, before realising that it is empty. It's also huge, standing at least three feet above her, and Alyss is tall for a servant. The armoured suit is almost 6 feet across, and there is a blade clutched in it's hand that looked like it could split a horse in half lengthwise with a single swing. She reaches out one careful hand. The armour is strangely warm to the touch.
Snatching her hand back, she looks about, there must be something here that she can actually carry. Maybe a book? There are several, appearing out of the darkness as though summoned, but each is an enormous grimoire, and the writing on their covers seems to shift and move in a way that makes her head swim and her teeth ache.
Then she sees it. Sitting alone on a small plinth, a faint ring of light seems to surround it, independent of the torch she carries. It is entirely nondescript, a simple, plain ring made of some dark metal. That will do.
She snatches it up... And spins in alarm as the door slams behind her.
Sprinting back the way she has come she sees the light illuminate only heavy masonry. The door has vanished into the wall. Alyss begins to panic, hunting around for some clue that there is a route out of here. Nothing, the blocks of stone are smooth and cool to the touch, only the faintest of ridges betraying the fact that this is fashioned stone rather than the wall of a cave.
The ring is still in her hand, warmed faintly by her flesh. She lifts it up to the light, inspecting it more closely. If anything, it looks even less impressive close up, a simple, undecorated ring, the sort of item that a street peddler might attempt to sell for a few pennies. Hardly worth the effort, and certainly not worth being trapped in here.
She puts it on.
