World Tree MUSH

    The journey to the deserts bordering the Mushroom Kingdom is uneventful - a journey across the rolling plains via blimp, direct from Toad Town. It takes about three hours, with refreshments served along the way, giving our intrepid adventurers time to rest and build up their strength for the no-doubt perilous trials awaiting them.

    The ruins are visible from the airship as it comes in for landing. A large sandstone pyramid dominates the area, its former brilliant white paint only discernible in the ocassional white flecks against a sea of sandy brown. Dotted around the pyramid are a number of half-destroyed pillars, statues and other destritus of a long-forgotten age. A short hike away, by the mooring mast the airship docks are, is a number of temporary shelters set up by the archaological crew.

    The leader of the expedition - one Professor Toadward Carter - paces anxiously as the airship lowers its gangplank to allow passengers to disembark. The tent city is oddly deserted - there are only just enough toads in the area to man the airport. Tools are scattered around in disarray, as if many people left in quite a hurry.

    In the middle distance, the entrance to the pyramid is in view, its dark maw gaping ominously, like a monster ready to swallow the adventurers whole. Nothing can be discerned about its innards from this distance.

Of course Luigi is going to be here! Though much less enthusiastic about jumping headlong into danger than his more intrepid brother, Luigi cares no less for the safety of the Mushroom Kingdom. So when there's people in danger, he's going to be there to do something about it! Or well, TRY, anyway. He's not convinced he's going to be of much help...

Still! There are refreshments on the flight, and that more than helps -- he can forget about where they're going for a little while! Though once they get there, it comes rushing back as he descends the gangplank. The sight of the yawning abyss of the entrance to the pyramid sends a shiver down his spine, but at least he's not freaking out. Not YET, anyway...

With everything that had gone on? Ash could use something simple, straightforward, relaxing...

And this would be all that except for all the bloody sand. Fine, yes the airship ride was nice, scenic even. However as Ash did a check of his backpack, water bottles, and his radio link with ordis he second guessed his descision to go without his frame. 

However what would be the point in going out with a friend if he was going to be behind a set of controls the entire time while she braved essentially the polar opposite of water by herself.

Hence why Ash was wearing a pack at least as large as he was half full of water, which made it extraordinarily heavy, while trudging ahead of Miwa towards the gangplank. "Well, I'd say this isn't the best idea I've had, but I figure something outside of both our usual beaten paths does good, ya?" He chuckled in spite of the added bulk the pack added. If nothing else this whole venture would give him a decent workout.

Then he looked to the Pyramid and smiled, "Well, at the very least we've got a scenic view." 

He looked to Luigi and frowned. "Any advice? there green guy?"

    Much of it's over her head. But the thought of a properly stable monarchy to run across is pleasant enough, at least, and the airship is so painfully quaint it's adorable. Half the people at her mother's airbase would probably love to see it, so Rusalka's been busy playing tourist and snapping the occasional photo. Maybe she'll get a chance to meet the princess, if the royal is here for some ceremony? Something to look forward to, Sally decides.

    Fortunately she's dressed down and light, a simple blouse and slacks and her usual driving shoes. Even leaving the jacket behind - the scarf does a better job of keeping the sun off while being light. Cobalt-blue eyes take in the ancient pyramid, nodding at the thing while idly doing some mental math about just how much work was involved.

    "So they have those here too...the design is similar, from the outside..." What with being called a pyramid, and all. A snapshot, then another of the tents, and brown eyebrows furrow in curiosity at what Rusalka sees through the zoom. "Empty? Are they inside?" Did they all discover something interesting, and high-tailed it inside?

Raven was gothin it up deeeeeep in the bowels of the ship. Why? Because....

She was pouting. Why? Because it was SUNNY! It was HOT! It was SUNNY and HOT, her two most hated things! And bright. And people were happy. And smily. AND IT WAS TERRIBLE!

She had fun once, it was horrible. However, there was one thing that DIDN'T make her want to pout and be a mopey dopey bleh face. A pyramid. Old, ancient runes. Long abandoned secrets. Ancient tombs. Mummies. Curses. All of that... Oh it was heavenly. MAybe there'd even be booby traps! Maybe they'd see the remains of ancient travelers... So when the ship landed, she phased through the walls of the ship to make her way over to them, floating and.... "So, do you think in this world there will be actual mummies? Or maybe there's real curses. Maybe we'll see actual bodies or people impaled on spears. Sigh..." she gave a happy, content sigh...

Miwa enjoyed the ride on the blimp. It was nice and scenic, with even the desert of the sand kingdom offering interesting things to look at dotted among the seemingly endless sea of sand. She was happier still that Ash was here too and they could share a nice quiet ride together complete with refreshments before they all had to get to work. As she joined Ash in disembarking the blimp, walking on her flippers much like a sea lion, she grins a bit and nods at him. 

 "It sure is off the beaten path for me. This is only my second time going to a place quite like this, though at least this time it's on purpose and, with you here, a bit more prepared. I just keep mentally telling myself it's like a huge beach with no water, it helps, a bit." She says with a laugh as she takes a look around at the others, giving Raven a wave even though they had time to greet each other earlier on the blimp.

Anna was honestly tempted to try to head over on her own power. However, Spiral's worried insistence got through to her -- not to mention the prospect of free food -- so she rode along on the airship with everyone else, and got out her summer clothes. She's still wearing shorts under her skirt.

Spiral sits perched on the railing next to the gangplank. "Seems like we've got a big enough crowd that I'd be kinda redundant," she says, flicking her tail. "Good luck out there, all right?"

Anna smiles. "See you later!" Her voice is a bit androgynous. She turns to the toad in charge. "So, what do you think we're looking at here, Professor Carter?" As a college student, Anna's usual lack of formality with authority figures, for some reason, doesn't extend to professors.

    HOURS AGO:
    Even the Mushroom Kingdom's deserts are somehow picturesque, as though each outcropping and dune were arranged just so for the benefit of tourists' photographs. Though a hot wind blows, it disturbs sand on only the highest dunes. No swells and tides of sand, here, like the Ogir-Yena Sandsea; the lack is unsettling to the crew of the Strahl, though none acknowledge it.
    Cutting through the empty desert sky and trailing after it a streak of white contrails, the Strahl comes in smoothly for a landing, hovering behind an inconspicuous outcropping a short hike from the ruins' entrance.
    The ship shimmers and then vanishes, its only tell a faint distortion against the clouds, almost imperceptible. An anchor on cable spooling is dropped earthward.
    Two figures rappel down from the mooring, one of them pausing halfway, scanning the desert horizon before dropping. Both immediately strike out not for the ruins' entrance, but for a side entrance, a slightly longer hike northward and around some nice, obfuscating dunes.
    NOW:
    The air in the entrance shaft is curiously not stale. At least, it isn't as stale as one might think it should be, for having been sealed for so very, very long. There's the faintest hint of movement up ahead. Could it be the way towards long-buried treasure? Or could it be the sound of the missing researchers? Curious; most curious.
    There is an odd smell in here, though, and anyone familiar with technology would note that it smells like the discharge of... a flintlock rifle? A smell Rusalka might or might not find familiar; or anyone passing familiar with such technology, or similar.

    The Professor paces back and forth, forth and back, and then...

    Green cap? Overalls? Fabulous moustache?!

    "Ah! Oh, um, the name's on the tip of my tongue... uh... Green Mario! Thank you so much for coming!" Sigh. "And the rest of you! Yes, yes, hurry now, mustn't dally, curses and all you understand," the gloriously-moustachioed toad yammers as he darts around, trying to herd the group of adventurers towards the pyramid.

    "Now, I'm sure you all know why you're here. See, recent seismic activity uncovered this ancient Sand Kingdomian tomb, and of course what sort of archaeologist would I be if I didn't immediately rush to excavate? Now, unfortunately, it seems the warnings on THIS ruin were a little less fanciful than previous tombs and, well..."

    The party steps into the still air of the pyramid. "You see, the workers have, ah. Come down with a bad case of... mummy rot. Dreadfully serious, you understand. We believe the source of the contagion is located deep in the ruins. Unfortunately, the only known cure for mummy rot is the enchanted burial shroud of a Sand Kingdomian mummy, so..."

    He waves a hand vaguely.

    The entrance chamber is quite large - in fact, the interior of the pyramid appears to be completely hollow, the pointed roof vaulting high above your heads. The ground is cracked, revealing a large staircase winding down under the ground, with sandstone bricks piled up around it - clearly, this is the entrance by which the workers used to access the tomb beneath.

    "Do be careful. Traps, and such."

    Raven's appearance out the side of the ship gets a blink in surprise - and another in recognition. The magician! A surprise to see her here, but Rusalka supposes it makes sense - after all, she'd been interested in the older things. An historian, or at least a history student perhaps? She gives a wry grin; her mother is more interested in such things than she is - but she'll at least wave a hello...which falters at the creepy description of just what Raven's looking forward to.

    Tagging along with the rest, and listening to the professor while walking along, she takes an occasional picture of something interesting here or there. Nothing impressive, just curiously emptied sarcophagi - just like the professor said, there was an earthquake, yes? 

    "Mummy what." Her voice as flat as the stones around them, Sally turns to face the professor. "Mummy //rot?// There is disease present?" Blue eyes dart between the group and the exit. Noone told her about this! Protest is going to be made, in triplicate, and in some poor secretary's //blood//. Ahem. Right, yes, stick with the group. Safety in numbers.

    Safety in numbers with a really powerful magic user, no less. She's going to stick just that little bit closer to Raven. Something's mumbled in a fluid, almost musical language of home. It's probably a phrase to the effect of 'what else can go wrong - and what is that smell?'

Ash's question seems to be aimed in his direction. "Eh? Uh, well... just be careful, that's really all I know to say. Be prepared for anything." Pause. "I mean... ANYTHING." He doesn't really know if Ash understands exactly the depths of 'anything' he means, but he can hope.

There's a brief glimpse of hope though! The professor seems to know who he is! His eyes light up when he notes the reaction, waiting for the name...

And then one can almost hear the audible THUNK as the professor gets 'Green Mario'. In a quiet, thin voice, he notes, "...I'm-a Luigi." He doesn't expect him to remember it, though. It's not super important anyway...

What IS important is finding out that some of the people have come down with mummy rot, and there's only one cure... one they'll have to gointo the dark, scary place for. He swallows hard once he hears this... but he's ready to go in. In fact, he'll be near the front of the group as they enter, knocking knees and chattering teeth notwithstanding!

Green Mario? SERIOUSLY?!

Ash reached over to gently pat Luigi on the shoulder after the professor hit the poor guy with a ground-zero level atomic burn. He wanted to console the poor guy, but unfortunatley he'd kinda neglected to learn the poor guy's name.

"Ordis you getting anything?" Ash spoke as they were huerded into the Pyramid.

"My sensors might have picked up... Something but whatever it was is gone now. Local metaphysics maybe?" Ordis sounded hopeful that maybe he hadn't spotted a cloaked ship. "I am more concerned with hte pyramid's interrior as i could get no conclusive readings."

Ash would look back towards Raven and motion for her to move up. "Sunscreen's in the left outer pocket, Notepad, pens, and rubbing paper is on theright." He sounded rather proud of actually remembering to bring thigns to help with Raven's own research. "Ordis isn't picking up anything from the interrior." Less happy sounding there, "Granted didn't think so since it's likely magic but.. .well... Had hopes."

Then to Rusalka he shrugged. "Depending on how long the tomb's been open fresh air from outside would ahve dispersed any dormant contagians. Most natural biological hazards don't survive the sort of dessication a desert provides over the timescales this pyramid's existed." 

He would have brought up Inaros, but THAT tomb held protection rather more complex than pools of waiting mercury or powdered fungus spread across the floor.

"How're yoru flippers holding up Miwa?" Sure this was just another patch of snadlike her beach at home, but it was still his idea for her t oshow up. "Also i'm getting some nice pictures with my glasses if anyone wants copies when we get out."

Raven blinked and... Wait. Was her face already getting red? she glanced to the girl moving closer and gave a nod. She was the girl from that museum or... whatever that place would be called. And was about to say something... Then THAT. "Red mario? No, his name is Luigi, one of the heroes of this world. And really, mummy r-- WAIT! Did you see we need ENCHANTED mummy-- Okay let's go!"

And before they could stop her, before she took the sunscreen(seriously,. her face was a little red and so was her arms already)... She just darted forward, into the pyramid, ignoring the dangers. The threats. The cobwebs. Instead, she glided in through the halls, staring in awe and happiness. "So incredible... eeeee! Oh my gosh!" Her squeals of delight could be heard from outside. "Here little ancient curses, spirits and ghosties!"

... Peach's live-in mage was weird.

With dry skin after the long blimp ride over, the sand wasn't sticking to her terribly much, which was certainly welcome. She had also thought ahead to wear protective 'socks' over them just in case walking around the insides of the pyramid was like walking on concrete or asphalt. The sun was quite warm without the island breeze she's used to having back home, but it wasn't too bad to deal with in the short trip from the blimp to the inside of the pyramid, where now they at least were protected from the sun. "I'm doing fine, thanks. Though I'm hoping I'm immune to whatever this mummy rot is, assuming it's still around down here... Sure if it was just in the first chamber, Ash is probably right, but if it's also further down then..." Raven's exuberance does bring a smile to her face and an amused chuckle however. "Wow Raven, I've never seen you like this." 'What a change from how she acted on the ship.', she thought to herself.

Anna, who made a point of learning everyone's names on the ride over, gives the Professor a look. Getting someone's name wrong is a great way to put you on her shitlist. "Luigi is right," she says. "I'm kinda used to the Mushroom Kingdom's magic at this point, and 'anything' means 'anything'. Speaking of which ..."

She gathers magical energy into herself, and her body is surrounded by pale blue light for a few seconds. And then it clears, and she's wearing a sky blue dress with green and white trim and lots of heart decorations, slacks under the dress, gloves ... and her hair is cobalt blue now.

She blinks as Raven just tears past and starts squeeing. She glances at Miwa and says, "Uh ... seconded."

>> SUMMARY[Anna Freeman] >> Transforming while annoyed at the professor misnaming Luigi.

    The halls are curiously not as stale or suffocating as they should be, for having been undisturbed for so long. Epochs of Mushroom Kingdom history have gone by around them, and still they've not seen the light of day.
    It involves the simplest possible explanation. Someone has been through here, and recently. A bit of shed debris from a torch, here; a strange track in the sand there, almost resembling... a stiletto high heel, but the pattern of the heel is all wrong. It looks clawed; and there are two points where the heel ought be.
    Curiouser and curiouser.
    Now, however, there is light the closer the party draws to the heart of the tomb. There are side shafts along the way, but little of interest in them. Some have even been bricked and sealed long ago; ancient booby traps triggered by grave robbers from ages past.
    Flickering torchlight projects from the innermost chamber of the tomb, where one would reasonably expect to find a dead king. It reflects off the pale beige walls and off the metallic gold paints that adorn them. It reflects off objects of middling value, everyday items the dead king would have been interred with, to be of use to him in his afterlife.
    There is a sarcophagus in the middle of the room, massive and granite, its lid fashioned serenely in the image of its occupant.
    Reclined atop that sarcophagus with all the nonchalance in the world is a man, one leg hanging off the block of granite, like he owns the entire tomb. He's wearing a crisp white silk shirt, slightly dusty, a vest of embroidered gold, and black leggings. Balanced in the crook of his arm is an antiquated-looking rifle, but it hums with power; part magick, part technology; pointed nowhere in particular.
    The man very slowly arches a brow.
    "Well, well. You were right after all. I should know better than to wager against you, Fran."
    "Yet, again you will wager."
    "An hour ahead of schedule you said, and you were right."
    "Am I not always?" Her tone in and of itself is a subtle barb.
    "Heh. That you are. Well, well."
    His companion is a tall woman, dark-skinned and white-haired, whose red-brown eyes are locked on the group. Standing straight up at the crown of her head are two large hares' ears, white, mottled with black at the tips. She has her weight shifted slightly to one side, one hand resting carelessly on a hip. Slung over her shoulder is a greatbow, an arrow clutched loosely in the opposite hand.
    "The gods do not smile on us," she adds.
    "While ordinarily I might say that I like it better that way, this is becoming a damned nuissance. I really didn't sign up for an audience," he sighs. The sky pirate unfolds himself, hopping down from his perch and folding his arms, as the rabbit-eared woman moves to joins him at his side, resting her hand on her hip again. The two seem the perfect picture of nonchalance. Still looking the group over, Balthier, the hume of the pair, inclines his head. He's still holding the rifle, which he raises to rest over his shoulders, both hands hanging off the weapon casually. "Well, all right, then. What are you lot here for? Take a wrong turn in the tomb, hmm?"

>> SUMMARY[Balthier] >> Being a dashing sky pirate is tough when you keep getting interrupted trying to burglar things!!

    Raven rushes ahead of the group. Several rumbles can be heard as the mage manages to set off every trap that had not yet been triggered by previous grave robbers - or sky pirates. Fortunately, her ability to become incorporeal means she's immune to precisely all of the sliding blocks, pit traps and poison darts. It does make it slightly more difficult for the rest of the party to follow, though.

    The air down here is thick. Thick with magic, that is - runes carved into the walls seem to thrum with thaumic energy. None of it seems to be connected to the traps - those are purely mechanical in design. There's something else at work here...

Luigi gives Ash a kind of weak smile. "Don't worry. I'm used to it," he tries. Raven's sticking up for him gets a sheepish gesture of rubbing at the back of his neck. And Anna's? He blinks. "Aah... n-no, it's OK, really..." he tries quietly. But then several people go tearing off, and -- "Waaaaaiiiit!" Luigi calls, jogging after them.

He doesn't go jogging so fast that he completely misses all these signs, no. So of course he ventures, "Careful. Somebody else has been here before us..." Thankfully he's actually pretty good at jumping over things, burning things, freezing things, and bashing things, so if the party needs any of those things to happen, Luigi is ready with a leap, a fireball, a blast of ice, or a bashing fist. Or he can use his head. Literally. The stone will give way before his head will, most likely.

And sure enough, it probably won't be long before they run across Balthier and Fran. "Um... hello?" he greets hesitantly. Balthier did ask a question, though, so Luigi ventures, "People are suffering from mummy rot, so we need the shroud to cure it." Simple enough. If it occurs to him that these two are graverobbers, he doesn't have any visible reaction in that way. He really doesn't care about treasures. He just wants to be able to help the sick people.

    Brown locks bob slightly, held back by the hairband, as Rusalka looks back and forth in the pyramid. Following along, of course, the esteemed Ash's information gets a nod. He's well-prepared, at least; Rusalka considers. "You will be held to that." The softly accented voice says it as if declaring the sun would rise.

    Step, step, step. No, don't bring boots or a jacket or heavy clothes or a blessed golf club stolen from the local archdiocese. //I can never come properly prepared for these things!// She can't help a glare at her shoes, before sighing and glancing over at the Primarina. Not that there's much she can offer, but she'll bite her tongue for complaining. At least she has a camera, with which to document their assured mutual ends as some kind of apocalyptic log.

    And then Raven is floating off at high speed, leaving her momentary companion behind - glancing back and forth wondering where she should be, only to blink in surprise at Anna's transformation. More surprises...and another snapshot.

    She can't feel any of the energy, the kind of spiritual essences that loom through the area. But the traps and whatnot, the various blocks that come through, she can at least be sure that the continued path is safe. "These will not move further. Gravity has done its work already," she adds, giving the ceiling a stern eye. Sticking closer to Anna, leaving Raven alone to her doom amongst the ghosts, spirits, mummies, daddies, and whatever the hell else might be down there, she follows along to meet-

    There is the sound of a sudden thunderclap echoing in the pyramid's interior. No magic causes it, no special powers draw forth the air; it is simply the sound of her palm striking her forehead about as hard as she can. Gods are fickle creatures, and gods of mischevious fate triply so.

    "Of course the pirates are here. In the ENTIRE world tree, you two are here." One eye takes Balthier in before her hand drops away, and she ... laughs at him. "You complain of audience?" A sly smirk, eyes narrowing. "Are you not supposed to be the 'leading man,' hmmm?" A glance at Fran; you agree do you not?

Raven was... Well. Excited. So, blades, pits, all of it... She spent about a split second staring, ogling, gasping... Then enshrouding herself in darkness, so things went through her. granted, she wasn't the fastest, so a few traps actually knicked her cloak a bit, cutting pieces out of it, but... She was too distracted to notice. When she came into the chamber, she dind't even seem to see Balthier, moving along the walls and tracing them with her fingers, mumbling under her breath as she read them. Yes, she could read it... Well. Not read it. More... she could identify a loto f the symbols. She spent a LOT of time in the library and if there was one thing she knew how to do, it was read different languages. She mumbled softly as she went floating about, lost in thought and focusing only on all this long lost, untapped knowledge. More importantly... The ancient magic that seemed to be drawing her in. Like moths to a flame.

Not even noticing the danger she was putting herself in.

Miwa watches as Raven rushes through the traps, wincing in anticipation when a few of the more deadly ones activate, only to sigh in relief as they phase right through her, at least mostly. Hopefully she won't have a wardrobe malfunction later. Once the traps are finished she presses on with the others, though stops when she hears voices and looks at the woman with bunny ears and the man with the gun, focusing more on the latter due to the obvious threat of the weapon. 

 She glances at Rusalka when she mentions that they're pirates, seeming to recognize them. "You've met these two before?" She questions, before also nodding at Luigi's statement. "Right, we just want the shroud, we don't want any trouble."

Anna smiles and poses for Rusalka's camera. But as the traps start to go off, she sighs, hanging back with the mechanic and waiting for things to settle down, before she moves forward once Sally gives the okay.

Her first impression of Balthier is that he's one of those dudes. Her first impression of Fran is whoops-I'm-gay, but since she's clearly on Balthier's side, she shelves that thought. "You know this guy, Sally?" she says; Rusalka's reaction is at least evidence that his presence is ... not necessarily a good thing.

Okay, Miwa's handling at least part of the negotiations. "Raven, watch out!" she calls out. She clenches her fists, and pale blue light swirls briefly surrounds them, and her whole body tenses up as if she's getting ready to dodge or run in any direction.

"Thirded," Ash just STARED at where Raven had flown. This was the closest he had seen Raven to being genuinely happy in... uh.... Ever. 

Even though it felt more than a bit disturbing, like 'did my buddy get replaced by a pod person' level disturbing, it was stil his friend happy. "I'm... y'know i'm starting to think Iunderdressed for the occasion." He offered Miwa a water bottle since she had no ambiant air moisture to draw from, and this really was the best he could do to help. Plus the poor girl probably was quite thirsty in her own right. "Anyone else need water before Raven decides to wake the dead?" He meant that as a joke but. Well. Part of his mind flashed back to that fish that swallowedhim whole and reminded him that this place operated on a diffrent kind of logic than he was used to.

As they walked through Ash frowned. "Professor," Ash's tone was weary at the rumbles. He noticed the Runes and gave a sharp whistle. "Hey! People anyone able to translate?" He swore in several Grineer dialects at Ravens' rushing off. Magic was HER thing after all. 

It really was lucky Ash even without hsi warframe was good at pathing. Granted he missed being able to bullet jump, or using Luigi as a refrence point for hshort teleport hops. HE mentally made notes on asking Raven for help on upping his training regimen to see if maybe he could work around that out of suit.

That would be fore later after they got out of the pyramid. "Anyone else here magic good?"

    There goes that weird kid who spent all her time asking all the wrong questions the first time they'd met. Balthier's mouth twists in disdain, but fortunately she seems to be too tied up in spazzing out over the old things to be of any trouble--
    *CRACK.*
    Rifle shot in such proximity is by far more deafening than Rusalka's hand on her forehead, and it's enough to make the ears of the unwary ring. A bite is taken out of the sandstone just in front of Raven's feet.
    "Ah, ah." Balthier's sing-song warning is given in a smooth, unperturbed tone of voice, but there's still a core of steel to it. "Stay away from that."
    The warning comes in time as Raven approaches a large golden statue. Fran has an arrow drawn and resting against the bowstring, as well; both her long ears are swivelled forward, red-brown eyes intent as a hunting hawk.
    "We would do well to finish our business quickly," Fran comments, although she doesn't look at Balthier to address him. "Before..."
    "Rather like an annoying itch at the back of one's mind."
    "The Mist."
    "I thought as much."
    They're quite serious with one another, at least for that short exchange. Both sky pirates' attention turns back to the group.
    "Greetings and salutations," Balthier offers, with affable good cheer, to Luigi's stuttering. "A burial shroud? Some kind of magick or alchemical ritual?" The sky pirate frowns, and then both Balthier and Fran exchange a look. Both lower their weapons a second or two later, shrugging. "Take it."
    What? That easy?
    Rusalka, however, earns a long and level look from the hazel-eyed hume. He taps the muzzle of his rifle again the opposite hand, as though considering what to do with this annoyingly blue-blooded twit.
    "I suppose there's that way of looking at it, but in this endeavour, the leading man hews to sky pirate tradition." Those hazel eyes bore into Rusalka. "And our ilk rather don't like sharing."
    The rifle swings over to point toward Raven, but he doesn't seem interested in firing a shot; just indicating her manic bouncing around. His sigh is pure bland exasperation. "Someone make sure she doesn't break anything important, will they? There /are/ still traps in this room, and no, I /haven't/ felt the need to disarm them. Fran?"
    The viera's red-brown eyes dart to each individual in turn, studying them with the cold detachment and dissection of an owl determining how best to catch and kill a particularly clever mouse. She hasn't quite put away her arrow, yet, and the tension on the bowstring is sufficient. If a shot were needed, she could snap one off, if the occasion called for it.
    Balthier, however, is standing aside from the sarcophagus, arms folded, head tilted slightly to one side, as though to say, 'go right ahead.' Honest, he's not going to shoot. He came here for far more valuable things than a burial shroud.

    Raven is easily able to translate the inscriptions. Most of it is pretty standard - tales of great deeds performed by whoever it is entombed here and so forth. One passage may catch her eye, however: 'You who enter for peaceful worship, welcome. You who would commit violence against these sacred halls, leave; else, you will die.'

    A gunshot rings out, heard throughout the entire tomb.

    The bullet chips the sandstone of the burial chamber.

    The runes on the wall begin to glow, faintly - it's too dim to notice, at first, but after a few more moments - just as Luigi is approaching the sacrophagus, more or less - the blood red glow starts to become visible.

    Suddenly, doors begin to slam shut. Floors open up like trapdoors. A mystic force shunts down from the ceiling, forcing heroes and pirates alike downward into the darkness.

    Oops.

    Below the tomb is a massive cavern, the size of a football stadium, with a large circular plateau above a seemingly bottomless pit. The fall is far - but the earth of the plateau is soft, loose sand, knocking the wind out of anyone who lands unassisted by not really doing any injures.

    A voice booms from the air. "INTERLOPERS. YOU WILL BE PUNISHED." The voice seems to be speaking multiple languages at once - everyone hears it in their own native tongue.

Ash heard the CRACK of rifle fire, causing him to sprint then skid to a stopjust outside of the sarcoghagus chamber and extended his right hand, palm forward Fran likely would have heard him even if noone else had He knew nothing of this pirate's letting the group have the shroud. He saw Rifle being waved about. His first instinct was to blow the weapon out of the man's hand. HE could hit a target that size, but even assuming the intruders didn't recognize what he was going to do, that still left the rabbit girl with the bow.

THen doors start slamming shut cuasing Ash to jump for the pit that was forming lest he be crushed by massive stone slabs. He braced his right arm with his left hand and fired downward, Raven and any other suitibly sensetive folks might feel power being drawn from... Elsewhere. It wasn't Magic per-se, but it was the tearing of barriers to allow power through.

Prismatic light flashing every color and type of energy as wide as Ash's hand was aimed downward, perhaps to light the dark, perhaps in attempt to fire upon the man who had the rifle. Hard to say since he was essentially firing blind. "INCOMMING!"

The beam produced no real reactionary thrust so did little if anything to slow Ash's descent. So he tucked into a roll, shutting the beam down before taking the impact through his legs, which immediately bent as he pitched forward into a roll before wobblign back upright. "Alright, fighting later." His voice spoke of expecting to not be questioned. "Finding way out takes priority. Got it?"

At the rifle shot, Luigi ducks down and puts his hands over his head, emitting a tiny whimper. Yeah, this scared little rotund fellow doesn't seem like he belongs here amongst all this ancient magic and all these certain-death traps. That said, he had to have gotten in SOMEHOW. Maybe with lots of help from the others?

Though as Balthier and Fran seem to be ready to let them take the shroud and skeddaddle, Luigi blinks. "...Really?" he asks hopefully. He pauses, looking around, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop when he least expects it... and then he heads over to the sarcophagus -- carefully now, they're both still armed.

And he can't help but hunker down under Fran's withering glare, his teeth chattering for a moment. But he's still going for the sarcophagus. Just for the shroud, mind. He's keeping his hands where they can be seen and his motions slow and careful, so nobody thinks he's planning anything.

This being the case... he's also probably the one that's closest to the sarcophagus when all the stuff starts going down. Luigi freezes in place, eyes going wide with horror... and then he emits a drawn-out shriek as the group falls onto the darkness.

For himself, Luigi falls on his head. As he often does. In fact he actually ends up with his head actually stuck in the sand, which requires a moment or two of flailing around before he can get his feet down on the sandy floor too and pull his head loose. He falls back on his rear with a 'whew' of relief. Though he isn't relieved for long, as that voice booms out. Quickly, he jumps to his feet, quaking in his boots, looking around as he tries to pinpoint the source of the voice.

Explanations to Ash will come later -- right now there's probably a really big, scary, upset thing that's coming to try to smash them all.

Earlier, Miwa drinks down the bottle of water, spraying a bit of it on herself to cool off. Later, she jumps at the gunshot, and looks at the glowing runes on the wall, and thinks 'That can't be good...' just in time for the room to shut tighter than a drum and the floor to give out under them all. Acting quickly, she forms a large water bubble and sends it down toward the ground, providing a cushion for her own landing, as well as any who land near her. Once she's safely on the floor of this new room, she looks around, from Ash to the others. "Everyone alright?"

    A hard flinch as the rifle goes off, and she can't help the instinctive hop back. Pavlov's training gets learned very, very quickly when bullets are involved. At least he's not shooting at her this time. Staring hard, certainly, but she can meet him at that game - at least, as long as the gun doesn't come back to her. Blue eyes meet hazel, and hold a hard stare in return.

    Miwa and Anna get nods. "Yes, I have met them. Twice before, damn my luck. Perhaps things only happen in threes..." That would be nice. Ahem. "They are...'sky pirates' of some sort, with a flying ship. Two, I suppose," she adds, thinking of the hovercycle. She keeps her eyes on Balthier, only slightly aware of the golden statue that has his interest.

    "And...quite aware of what he wants," she adds, under her breath. Well. "Then. If that is sufficient," she begins hesitantly - hardly taking a lead, but knowing the sky pirate is blissfully dismissive of things he's not interested in. Unfortunately it's at this point that the very ground itself becomes blissfully dismissive of the whole idea of 'standing peacefully' for the group.

    Soft, loose sand, thank god - and then she freezes hearing the voice echo. It's actually fortunate, as one of Ash's blasts of light goes off much closer to her than she'd like, getting a shriek from the girl. "Enough! Stop!" And then trying to help pull Luigi the Green from the sand, muttering in some slavic dialect or another...

Raven was torn rather violently from her thoughts by.... suddenly BOOM! The ground in front of her erupted into dust and she stumbled back, staring at the spot in confusion, before whipping around...

Her eyes locked onto Balthier... and narrowed. Her slightly sunburnt face grimaced. How. Could he? What was he.... And then he leveled the gun on her. Her eyes looke from him, to Fran. Gun. Bow. She underestimated both. "Have you come here to steal priceless history as well?" she asked coldly, dark magic beginning to form in the air around her. "You are a fool. Do you not understand what you just--" And then the ground. Ha, she could fl-- GAH MAGIC!

She hit the ground, hard. "O-ow... Dang... pirate. Please. Next time you decide to shoot a gun in a room covered in mystical runes... ASK the mage what they do!" she snapped, before getting up... only to fall to her feet and sit there a minute as the world felt a little odd. After a few minutes, she rose up into the air. 

"Now, it said those who commit violence best leave or prepare to die," she glanced back to Balthier with an annoyed look. "I suggest that we prepare ourselves. I... could possibly teleport us out, or try and carry us out through the walls. But... With the magical defenses going off, it could kill us. So I think we should consider that plan 'No other option'," she added softly. She reached back and shook her cloak, trying to get the sand out. Then her right hand glowed with a dark, black light(For your goth needs) and make the dim light a little brighter.

"If we're lucky, whatever is going to try and kill us doesn't work any more. But I wouldn't count on it..." She floated up, slowly, testing how far she could go, any hinderances....

Anna's just getting ready to fire a snappy comeback at Balthier when the floor opens up! She lets out a loud, even-more-androgynous-sounding yell as she falls down!

But then an idea occurs to her. She gathers her energy into herself once again, and begins using her super-speed to glide in a wide circle. Her power isn't enough to counter the downward force, but she does manage to stop herself from crashing painfully into the ground, a good ways away from the main group.

She then hurries back over to the others on foot faster than a car on the freeway, skidding to a stop. She nods to Raven. "So, in summary, five'll get you ten we're about to have a fight." She punches her fists together, looking around for the source of the voice. If "the source of the voice" is even meaningful in this situation ...

    Balthier suddenly finds the sandstone he'd been standing on was not in fact quite so solid after all. In fact, neither is any of the rest of the sandstone in this chamber. He meets Fran's eyes, and the two look up, then out; watching the patterned chaos as the chamber forces its occupants down and out.
    It's all he can do to seize his rifle, leaping for one of the trapdoors, Fran at his side, and the two are hurled into the abyss together.
    The hume of the pair lands in an untidy pile, wincing and hissing as he pulls himself upright by way of Fran's offered hand. She's not even looking at him but watching the rest of the chamber, bow in her free hand.
    Balthier cocks his rifle, looking up at the sound of that great booming voice.
    "And here I was beginning to think this job needed something to spice things up." The sky pirate's mouth twists in a half-smile as he stands his ground at the periphery of the group. Fran automatically circles, and he half-turns, the two assuming a back-to-back stance without even thinking. Something nasty is scheduled to leap out of the shadows at any moment, here, so they'd best be ready for it.
    Just in case.
    "Order us around all you like, but you hold no authority over us," he comments in a perfectly reasonable tone of voicce to Ash. "Think of us as independent contractors, if that's what it takes to make you happy. And before you think of it yourself, I don't take well to threats, so don't even bother. Of course we're going to be looking for a way out; nobody wants to remain trapped down here, do they?"
    His eyes dart in Raven's direction. "Almost," he corrects himself, with a nonchalant sigh at her indignant theatrics. He shifts his weight, posture casual as one might please, before jabbing a forefinger in her direction. "Shut it," he says firmly, and his attention then slides right off her, peering intently into the shadows.
    Both sky pirates watch, and they wait.
    True to form, Fran is standing at his side, but instead adopts a stance: Viera listening. She's craned slightly toward the shadows at the far end of the chamber, both ears swivelled straight forward, actually pointing forward just a little. Her red-brown eyes are narrowed as though she could actually see into the gloom, bow clutched and an arrow ready on the string, just as Balthier beside her has raised his rifle to brace against his shoulder, squinting down the ironsights at...
    Nothing. Yet, anyway.
    But there will be something. That's /always/ the way with these sorts of places.
    His eyes keep twitching sidelong every time Anna blocks his line of sight, growling something under his breath that is most probably some manner of sky pirate curse.

    As the last echoes of the booming voice fade away, nothing seems to happen for several long moments.

    And then, with a loud BOOM, four large cylinders crash down on the edge of the plateau, kicking up sand. The cylinders are all different lengths - the leftmost being the shortest, while the second from the right is the longest. With another BOOM, four more cylinders crash down onto the other side of the plateau - these ones arranged in mirror image of the first set.

    A moment later, the cylinders rise up into the air, revealing themselves to be the fingers of a pair of immense, bandaged hands. Each is approximately the size of a main battle tank, and each has a large eye set in the palm.

    A laugh is heard, as a large skeletal head rears up from the darkness, its empty eyesockets glowing a sickly red.

    There's only a moment's pause before the hands begin to attack...!

"I don't care. I'm just reminding everyone in the group in-fighting would be foolish and dumb." His tone was level as he looked about. "I was a bit late to the party but it looked like you WERE going to be nice and civil and hand us the shroud we were looking for. So yea..." Another glance around as he stood beside Miwa, waiting for whatever was ienvetably going to happen, well, happen.
Hisnd then the large tings go BOOM and Ash looks around, arms raised and legs bent. Deep breath. "Alright.... Anna. Miwa. You both are gonna be faster than me. You mind coming up with a distraction so I can shoot it in the eye?" No wait them distracting the hand will just keep the fist clinched so the eye is protected. 

Ash grumbled in annoyance before taking a deep breath and squaring his stance. Again there would be this feel of a tear between this world and the other. This time larger. Miwa, Anna, and others might hear the sound of inhaling as Ash's right hand aimed at one of the hands.

And then the energy beam. This time as large as his head. This time it seemed to push him backward with its force as he aimed the prismatic sqwirling self-contradictory energy at the magicked guardian.

>> GAME >> Ash spends an Edge for: TO THE VOID WITH YOU!

    She can't help but overhear Anna mention a fight to Raven. A quick headcount - them, Balthier and Fran, the...strange laser-shooting guy, and the rest down here among them. //Okay. Whatever is yelling at us is damned sure going to be very short lived as far as dangers go, or...we are all doomed.// She suspects the latter...before pausing.

    "Wait. We are missing - PROFESSOR! Professor Toadward!" She calls out, shaking her legs free of sand and wondering what happened to their former head. Damn that stuff, getting everywhere and irritating her. Maybe the professor's not down here...and maybe he's smart enough to go for help. It's a hope that suddenly gets a lot more desperate when-

    She's just barely missed by one of the fingers, knocked back on her rear and completely forgetting proper language. "Dyyavol pobuduvav tse - what is this?!" Hands, giant hands, giant hands wrapped in something with EYES in the hands, this...this is demons loose upon the world, and the end of all things.

    It takes a few seconds, the others cutting loose with their own powers, before she can find her voice. "The...the wrappings! The bindings, they - may be flammable! And structural!" And scrabbling back against the wall, she's hiding as best as she can.

"Thanks..." Luigi notes to Rusalka, for the assist at getting his head out of the sand. He's kind of embarrassed, but that's taking a back seat to hoping to see the thing that's wanting to kill everybody.

As it turns out, it's a giant pair of bandaged hands! Of course when those fingers start slamming down from the ceiling, that gets a momentary panicked running around. It's not too hard to get the idea that he's going to be a liability in this fight. Particularly when get gets knocked flat on his ass at one of the slamming attacks. Aw geez, someone's gonna have to cover the portly middle-aged guy, aren't they, before he gets himself killed.

But then... something happens...

Once he gets the pattern of those fingers slamming down, Luigi skids to a stop mid-run, kicking up a bunch of sand. He waits... looking severe, his shaking stopped. He waits until one of the hands slamms fingers down again, and then he leaps into action. Literally.

He leaps from one finger to the other, scaling the fingers via 'walljumping', until he can fling a blast of fire into the eye in the center of one of the hands. Hopefully repeated applications of this will allow him to scale the hand and then quite literally rocket launch himself into the guardian's face.

>> SUMMARY[Luigi] >> HERE COMES THE MISFIRE! :D :D :D

Raven huffed in annoyance. "Shut it? I will not--" And then rumbling. Then pillars! Why in the world would it... GAHHHH! Giant mummy head! She flew back, moving away from it and.... Magic. A lot of magic. Powerful magic. "It's a magical thing. Distract it and I'll see about weakening it," she said. She held out her right hand as little bursts of black energy would form across her hand, then across the fingers and face. While the others tried to attack it from the outside, she focused on the inside, drawing out, cutting into the very magic that animated it. Letting it leak out, fill the void. Like cracks in a pipe, amplifying it, building it, letting the magic flow out and into the world, drawn along and guided by her own. Slowing it, weakening it.,..

Miwa uses Dazzling Gleam, putting on a bit of a light show for Ash's requested distraction, but as he fires his void beam, she quickly moves over to him. "Ash, I have an idea. I'm going to make a bubble, and I need you to funnel all the water you've got in your pack into it." She requests as she begins forming a bubble around herself, and starts singing softly, her voice causing the bubble to float a few feet off the ground. 

 With Ash letting the water from his pack flow and aiming the hose at her bubble, it begins to grow and fill with water. Eventually, as the tank in the pack finally runs dry, Miwa turns her attention on the mummy creature. She ponders a moment whether to attack the hands or the body, but ultimately decides on the body, aiming between the eyes. A bright blue glow appears around her mouth as she begins to charge her attack, drawing from both the water around her and the water reserves inside her. Suddenly a torrent of water violently surges from the Primarina, a vortex swirling around the column of water as it rockets toward the mummy like a freight train of water. Once the stream subsides, Miwa slumps back, looking a bit exhausted.

>> GAME >> Miwa spends an Edge for: Miwa wants to end this before anyone gets hurt, so hydro pump on steroids it is.

Anna stares at the monster. And glance around at the other eight people present. "This'll be good practice for a level-4 Curse Phantom," she mutters to herself. She opens her mouth to respond to Ash, but ... nope, he's changing his mind! New plan: improvise!

Anna can't do anything firey, so ... Heart Power it is. She just starts boosting around, moving in a wide arc so that she can go after its other eye. "All right, Bones!" she says. "Take a good look at this!" She gathers brilliant blue Heart Power into her hands, pausing to give Luigi a chance to get up in its face without the risk of friendly fire.

As always, it's a bit unstable in her hands due to her lack of experience controlling it. "Yikes!" Nevertheless, she just barely manages to fire it straight into the monster's eye-socket, almost at the same moment as Miwa's Hydro Pump hits it!

    Back to back as they are, the two sky pirates take note of the threat almost immediately. Balthier dashes out of the way, and Fran makes a nimble leap, as a cylinder crashes down to the sandy floor where they'd been standing.
    "Certainly rolling out the welcome mat, aren't they?" the hume comments, tracking the cackling skeleton with his rifle. "What do you think, Fran?"
    He looks to one side. Fran's already gone. Long strides carry her across the arena, away from the immediate threat. By the time she stops running, she's already sunk two arrows in one of the hands. Balthier sighs and strolls after her with considerably less urgency, rifle propped up against his shoulder, shaking his head as though in mock exasperation at her taking off on him. He's watching the way that thing moves, though, and the thing coming close is enough to put a rush in his step.
    Sand doesn't seem to bother him too much, though, as though he's used to walking on the treacherous stuff. There's enough of it in Dalmasca.
    The sky pirate raises the artistically antiquated rifle, squinting down the ironsights. He narrows his other eye, grimacing. "Let them handle it," he comments, to Fran. "If we keep our distance..."
    "Just so." Fran straightens, drawing another arrow past her cheekbone, holding her shot to aim. "It is fast." No 'be careful' or 'don't get hit.' Evidently she trusts Balthier to take care of himself.
    "Actually," Balthier comments to Ash -- having just realised he'd been spoken to in the middle of scrambling to get away -- "we /were/ going to simply hand you the shroud. That's not what we're here after. Take it or leave it; we don't care."
    Oh. Well. That was easy...?
    At the sudden crackle of the void, though, Fran's head snaps up as the viera sucks in a breath, red-brown eyes widening. Balthier squints in her direction, before his eyes flick over to Ash. He shakes his head in silent warning. "Eyes on the prize, Fran," he comments lightly. "It's not the Sun-Cryst."
    "Yes. It is not." She seems to steel herself, firing; trying to pinion the next hand that gets too close to any of the rest of the group. They're providing cover fire as best as they can manage, using their shots to outright deny the creature the ability to move towards other group members. Some of those poor souls look like they need cover fire more than others. Like Luigi, or Rusalka.
    Balthier does afford a quick sidelong glance at the sudden profusion of water. That's a lot of water. A lot of water. Good to keep in mind. He's loosely watching the antics of the others, too; there goes Anna gathering Heart Power and firing, and Luigi doing his thing. You go, green guy! Not that he's ever seen someone employ aerial antics like that who wasn't a viera, anyway. It's actually pretty impressive.

    Really, it never stood a chance.

    Oh, sure, this thing could demolish a whole army of toads, or tostarenans, or any of the other myriad natives of this world. But against this many experienced and not-so-experienced heroes? With Raven draining it of its magic? It was toast.

    The hands are peppered with ranged attacks courtesy of Balthier and Fran, while the main head is blasted with multiple high energy attacks - and then a rocket-powered headbutt from Luigi sends it flying back. The hands sieze up in mid-swing, and then dissolve into sand. The skull flies back, hits the far wall, and then careens into the middle of the plateau - before exploding in a puff of smoke.

    A burial shroud promptly flies out of the explosion and winds up wrapped around Luigi's face, as a shining blue... moon-shaped object floats lazily in the air where the guardian stood.

Ash flexed the fingers of his right hand while using his elft ot holster the nozzel he'd been feeding to miwa while walking slowly over to the purple moon-thing. "Hey Raven... Can you carry that thing or should we leave it here?" He reached out to gesture vaguely at the moon without actually getting his hands near it. No sense risking touching strange object that was in the midle of a cursed mummy thing. "Hey... uh... Luigi?" He glanced around for the green-clad fireball man. "You know what that is? I've had enough run ins with magic to know the glowing thing generally should be left alone."

Then he looked to Miwa and smiled, which then expanded to a wide joyful grin. "And that is why I kept hte backpack of heavyness. How're you holding up girl?"

The instinct is there -- when the moon-shaped object drops, Luigi jumps for it. He's relieved either way, whether he gets the thing or not, but there IT IS! So yeah. hitting the ground, with the moon or without, he looks around. "Whew...!" he breathes, taking off his hat to wipe his forehead.

It really is a switch -- then again, he's always been like that. Other people were in danger, so his own fear gets put away. Though he does seem to have shifted back into the former meek persona of before. "Everybody OK?" he asks, taking a quick look around for everyone else's sake, doing a visual check for injuries.

Ash's comment gets a nod. "It has some magical power to it. It's probably what was animating the guardian over there," he guesses. That's usually how these 'boss' types work -- they get fat and powerful off of a Mushroom Kingdom relic, and go all evil.

The attack took a lot out of her, but after a moment to rest, Miwa looks like she's starting to recover. She smiles at Ash and nods. "We did it!" She cries, moving with him toward the moon, a bit curious what it was, though she also was not about to touch it without knowing what it was, not in a place like this. "I'm fine, just a little tired. Need a moment to recover after using Hydro Canon." She answers both Ash and Luigi. Then at Luigi's explanation of how the moon shaped object worked to power the thing they just fought, she tilts her head a bit then chuckles. "Interesting place. This Mushroom Kingdom is full of surprises."

    Oh god it got loud. So very loud, with fireballs and magic and gunfire and water and giant blocks of stone slamming around. Whispering prayers, Rusalka huddles up as best she can out of the way, eyes clenched and hands over her ears. She manages to sneak just a glance - and stares, momentarily in awe, at the whole group of them.

    Aside from the deafening echoes (in her opinion) it's one hell of a show of acrobatics, strength, magic, fire, water - even gunfire, she's forced to admit - and she can't help but stare. It's...frankly, amazing.

    And then it ends in a hell of a boom, the exploding pieces of the //thing// all over the place, and Sally spitting dust out of her mouth. "I do not know about any of the rest of you. But I am finished with this pyramid exploration." She holds up a broken camera, damaged by a piece of rock in the blast. Film spools to the ground. "I have had enough for one day. Can anyone..." 

    Her hand just raises, floating upwards, the obvious request clear. Elevator to the first floor and the valet parking please.

Raven couldn't help but be impressed by, just, all the destruction. The power. The might. She blinked and turned to the moon and... "If it is something that you know, Luigi, I will trust you to tend to it. After all, you are the hero of this land..." She then looked up and... "Okay, everyone. Please remain calm." Why would...

Darkness spreads out throughout the room, enveloping most, or even all of them.

They were sucked into a black, empty void. It felt a little... Odd. Evil, almost.... And they'd feel movement.

Then moments later, they'd be back on the main floor. Raven would stop in front of Rusalka and motioned to the door. "LEave if you like." She then, started floating around.... looking for artifacts to record information of... And to check for any more remnants of powerful magic....

Anna thrusts her fists into the air as the monster goes down! "WOOOOOOOOO!" And then she lowers her fists as she stares at the magical shiny. "... wooooooooo?"

She nods to Luigi. "Good to know!" she says. "If you know how to deal with it, I guess we can just WAUGH!?" Raven suddenly teleports everyone away! Anna blinks a few times, then laughs nervously. "Uh. Little more warning next time, please, Raven!?"

    The sky pirates slowly lower their weapons, looking on from the periphery of the group as the creature gives its last proverbial gasp, erupting in a cloud of sand and smoke.
    "Well, that was deceptively easy." Balthier frowns, slinging his rifle back over his shoulder and folding his arms. "I wonder if aught like this graces the depths of the Tomb of Raithwall."
    "Doubtful." The viera is at his side and standing with a hand casually on her hip, weapon already stowed.
    Balthier glances at her with furrowed brow, sighing. "Fran, please. Let me have my entertainment."
    Fran does not snort, but she does tilt her head, eyeing him with the faintest skeptical lift of a white brow.
    Both their attention snaps back to the others. Both sky pirates shift their weight, waiting in silence as the others reassure one another that yes, everyone is alive. That's good. Alive is good, isn't it? It's usually preferable to not-alive in most circles.
    The Power Moon is eyed very critically on part of both sky pirates, but Balthier seems no closer to wanting to swoop in and grab it. In fact, he actually takes a step back from the thing, folding his arms again.
    "Might I recommend against touching the lovely glowing thing until we've some idea of what it is and what it does?" Balthier calls, nonchalantly, from the periphery of the group. "The last time someone made a grab for a lovely glowing thing, an entire Archadian battlegroup was lost. Rather messy affair, you know." He shrugs, tipping his head to one side in a gesture of concession, throwing his hands up in resigned gesture. "But by all means, if that's what you want, who am I to stop you?" One of them is probably going to go touch it anyway. That's just the way of things.
    Oh look, the others are being lifted out by some kind of magic. The hume exchanges a questioning look with the viera; the viera shakes her head, almost imperceptibly, piebald black-and-white ears swivelling back to show her displeasure at the thought.
    Raven lifts people up via spell. The sky pirates deliberately step away from the radius of the spell, watching as the others are whisked away to the gods know where. Not so for these two, though. They'll find their own way back. One that doesn't require strange magicks.
    The two then turn, heading off without waiting for the rest of the group. No doubt they're off to find their own way up. Which they will.
    By the time anyone thinks to actually catalogue the artifacts upstairs, there are at least two large golden statues missing, and there are tracks leading out to the tomb's side entrance from which the sky pirates had stolen in. There are still things left, here, but there is statuary clearly missing, burial trinkets obviously gone, and...
    ...Bunny and Clyde strike again, it seems.