After a small struggle, the rest of the party found their way out of the bushes and emerged from the tree line to stand at the edge of a large clearing alongside the ranger. Before them loomed a massive brick building. At the center of the front of the structure, a tower rose nearly twice as high as the canopy of the surrounding forest, and patches of ivy crept up the walls in various places, suggesting the structure’s extended age. The grounds surrounding the facility appeared to be natural, though a few uncommon flowers and shrubs appeared to be deliberately planted along the path leading to the main door.

Keerasa-Shei looked to the dragon-fox with a confused expression.

“Is…This the crypt you mentioned?” he asked while the mage reviewed his map.

Cryo sighed as he joined the pair, resting his sword on his shoulder, “It looks more like an academy of some kind, don’t you think?”

“I-I…guess it’s the place,” Magromancer said with a hint of uncertainty in his voice. “It’s the right sort of spot, but—”

“How about we consult an expert, hmm?” Cezmera smirked, taking a few leisurely paces toward the towering structure. “Not to say I have experience with this sort of thing…but I know what I’m talking about. See, wealthy folk like to splurge just to show off, right? So maybe they just spent a lot, hired a groundskeeper, and maybe they have something nice inside.”

The she-wolf crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the rogue as he suggested plundering a possible crypt.

“What? All I’m saying is that we can take a look and make sure it’s the crypt!” the weasel cried, “If it’s not, we can set up camp for the night, and take off in the morning.”

Kaila turned her attention skyward and extended her arm toward the sun, measuring the distance between it and the tree-riddled horizon with the width of her hand.

“We won’t have the light for much longer,” she sighed. “If we don’t want to work in the dark, it would probably just be best to establish our camp and continue in the morning.”

The gnoll nodded in agreement, “Since we don’t quite know if those buggers on the road followed along, we should avoid starting a fire.”

“Agreed,” said Keerasa-Shei, “But perhaps we might save the effort and take shelter in the building for the night? After all, we would avoid making noise from building the camp, so it’d be the best way to hide for the night.”

The dragon-fox sighed as a chilled breeze blew in from the woods, gently carrying a few leaves along with it, “I suppose it’s for the best. We’ll still post watch, naturally.”

“And take care not to disturb the space in the slightest,” interjected the healer.

“Right, right! Of course!” reassured Cezmera as he treaded with a backwards gait toward the door. “Just relax a moment, take in the sights, and I’ll make sure we can get in, yeah?”

Carefully, the young man approached the door and examined it closely while he worked to pull a roll of soft leather from one of the pouches on his belt. With the roll finally free, he turned and knelt, unfurling it to display a vast array of picks and tools of illicit nature nestled snugly into the narrow pockets lining the parcel. Methodically selecting a pair of rods from the bag, the rogue turned and attached the two to form a longer piece, which he attempted to pass through the gap between the door and its jam. Unable to fit the rod through, he disassembled it and replaced it with another, which yielded the same result. A third failed attempt prompted the weasel to mutter a series of curses under his breath as he began to select a pick and tension wrench while the others gathered near to watch him work.

After a few moments of wriggling the pick within the keyhole, the turnkey pressed against the rogue’s thumb gave way with a firm click. With the wave of one hand, Cezmera shooed his companions away and braced the door with his shoulder as he took hold of its handle and slowly began to pull it open. Once more, he took up a rod which he swept along the gap of the open door in one swift pass. Satisfied with his work, the weasel quickly set to work disassembling the rods and replacing his tools before rolling up the bundle and returning it to his pouch.

With a gentle tug, he pulled the door to open just enough to allow himself to pass through. As he slipped inside, he gestured with his hand for his companions to hold their position. A moment later, three sharp raps rang out from the door, prompting the party to approach, weapons in hand.

As the door swung open, it revealed a brightly-lit space, though no torches nor braziers could be seen. Instead, light emanated from glass spheres set into the ceiling, and those set on metal posts atop the tall counter on the right side of the room. Behind the counter, stretched a series of wooden drawers, each labeled with a piece of parchment settled into a slot on its face. A few inkwells housed their own quills atop the counter, along with a pair of pounce pots. Across from the counter, an open doorway gave way to a shadowy room lined with simple chairs and cushions. The group spread out to afford themselves a better view of the space; their boots issuing a series sharp clicks as their soles met the polished marble floor below.

“Pretty outlandish for a crypt, don’t you think?” Keerasa-Shei whispered, strolling over to one of the chairs in the nearby room. “The air doesn’t even smell right, does it?”

The others paused to deeply inhale. The air was cool, and carried a faint floral scent with it.

“Let’s not dismiss it yet,” Cryo murmured as he found his way to an empty seat. “Perhaps this is typical of foreign lands, and perhaps someone was recently interred. We can investigate in the morning. For now, we should get a bite to eat, and get some rest.”

“Agreed,” nodded the healer, removing the knapsack which hung heavily from his shoulder. “It’s a shame though that we cannot build a fire. I prefer my meats warm.”

Magromancer grinned as he approached, lowering his own pack to the floor.

“Not that I can roast a whole hog in a single go,” he said, making strange gestures with his fingers above his outstretched palm, “But my magic will do in a pinch.”

A small flame burst forth from his hand and grew as he gently blew over it. The water dragon’s eyes sparkled with its light as he watched in gleeful anticipation, all the while fumbling to produce a small wheel of white cheese and a large chunk of smoked meat wrapped in parchment. Kaila and Cezmera joined their companions, removing their own packs and dropping them to the floor before gathering around the mage.

Together, the group set to work, slicing bits of smoked meats, cheeses, and dense bread to fry in a small skillet held above the magician’s flame.

“Are we about done?” Magromancer asked with an impatient sigh as his companions each tucked into their own small meals. “My arm is getting tired and I’ve yet to eat.”

“Sounds as though you should let it sleep,” Keerasa-Shei remarked through a mouthful, prompting the mage to issue him an annoyed glare.

The rogue sighed and quickly finished the last few bites of food in his hands before wiping the oils away on his trousers.

“Thick or thin?” he asked, his knife poised to cut into a smoked sausage log.

“A few thin ones, please,” Magromancer replied as he shifted his position slightly.

Following his colleague’s request, the rogue cut away a trio of thin slices of meat before returning the rest to his bag. The pieces hissed sharply as they met the hot iron of the skillet and filled the room with a pleasant, savory aroma as they cooked.

“That’s good enough,” the dragon-fox sighed after several moments, extinguishing the flame in his palm and quickly adopting a more comfortable position.

Shrugging, Cezmera stabbed each piece with his blade, pulling them away from the pan, only to let them rest atop a slice of cheese and bread before handing it to the mage who quickly dug in. All the while, Kaila worked to spread out her bedroll over the cold stone floor.

“I wish we weren’t dealing with a stone floor,” she said as she sat up. “Though, I suppose beggars can’t be choosers…Who’s on first watch?”

“Keerasa-Shei,” Cryo mumbled, gesturing toward the lizard with a nod while he lazily worked to unfasten his armor. “Good thing too. I’m exhausted.”

“It’s still a bit—” started the weasel before erupting into a wide yawn. “It’s still a bit early, but the sooner we retire, the sooner we can get back to it.”

Clicks and rattles echoed through the space as the warrior removed his armor piece by piece, and nestled it all in one large pile upon an empty chair. Meanwhile, Cezmera quickly wiped the inside of the skillet clean with a scrap of cloth before retrieving his own set of blankets from his pack, with Magromancer following suit.
While the others nestled into their blankets and began to doze off, Keerasa-Shei wrapped himself in a heavy woolen blanket and selected an empty chair as his perch. The minutes passed by slowly as his companions softly snored, leaving the healer to chill in the cool air. As he remained still, the lights began to fade until the space was perfectly dark, save for a few rays of moonlight that shined through the window set into the building’s main door.

Eventually, he reached his limit; the cold of his surroundings had sapped what heat he had retained, leaving him fatigued and his muscles sore and stiff. Slowly, he rose from his seat and cautiously felt his way into the middle of the cluster of sleeping adventurers where he wedged himself to absorb as much of their body heat as he could.

“Cez,” he whispered as he used his foot to attempt to nudge the sleeping weasel. “Cez!”

“Huh?” responded a groggy voice in the darkness.

“It’s your turn,” Keerasa-Shei explained, his voice still hushed. “I can’t take it any longer.”

“…’Kay,” came the voice once more before the rustling of blankets overpowered the party’s snoring, yet no shuffling footsteps followed.

The next morning came quickly as the gentle warmth of the sun’s light met the lizard’s face. As he shifted to find relief from the torment of the light, a swift kick to his side startled him awake. Bolting upright, he was met with the angry glares of Kaila and Cryo who towered over him with their arms folded over their chests.

“How’d you sleep?” Kaila asked, her glare and harsh tone quickly relaxing.

“With my eyes closed,” the lizard smirked.

“Notice anything amiss?” Cryo interjected.

The healer blinked slowly, casting his gaze about the room. The trio were alone, save for their possessions and those of the distinctly absent mage and rogue.

“Where’d they—” Keerasa-Shei began, only to be sharply cut off by the gnoll.

“That’s what we’d like to know! As memory serves, you were to keep watch, but you fell asleep! Now look, they’ve probably been dragged off to serve as sacrifices to some lich or something of the sort!”
Kaila rolled her eyes and stooped low to meet the healer’s gaze.

“Look,” she said. “They probably went off to explore without us, but Mister Paranoid over here nearly went mad—they’ve been gone since before we awoke, and it’s at least been an hour’s time. Just…let this serve as a reminder as to the importance of keeping watch.”

Keerasa-Shei lowered his head and nodded lightly in acknowledgement as he pouted, “I can’t help that I’m cold-blooded…I get too tired when I’m cold.”

“Be that as it may,” Kaila sighed as she stood, “We need to ensure the next shift is away before we turn in. Regardless, we need to find those two and figure out what they’ve determined with their little expedition.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________

At long last, Part IV is finally here! I'm sorry I vanished for so long--my primary writing job was requiring a great deal of attention recently, but I've finally managed to catch up on things on that end, so I'm back!

What is this place? Where did Cezmera and Magromancer go? When will there be diapers?! Tune in next time for well...I can't really spoil things, can I? :P
Same Bat-Place, Same Bat-Channel, etc. etc.

Featuring:
as Cryo
as Cezmera
as Keerasa-Shei
as Kaila
as Magromancer