The lightning strikes became their footsteps as they ran. The young girl was far swifter than the others; out pacing them with every step. Soon it was only her that hadn't felt the wrath of the storm above. It lasted for around thirty more minutes, which eventually got them into sight of the city. It's once proud towers had sunk and the obsidian spire was nowhere in sight. If you weren't able to peer over the edge of the caldera, you wouldn't see the twelve or so floors below the lip. Some of the towers were slightly askew, and there was obvious signs of bridges and other connections either broken or being repaired. There was one major change however that transformed the city at a glance. The once opulent and jubilant bunting and flags and decorations had all gone. Along with the fall of the rock gardens and waterfall, so too did the colours that accented the buildings. There were all replaced with single plain black flags that had now been attached to the top of the surviving spires.
As they approached closer, the change had affected Eryn. He no longer saw the city as a home of sorts. He was apprehensive, he hadn't told anyone else why they were travelling to the city but now with a newly fortified entrance gate and two broad sword wielding guards coming into view, he thought to himself perhaps it was best if they turned back. In his thoughts, he became lost again and was only aroused by Danton approaching the he guards himself, alone. They were wearing heavily modified Grapnel armour, along with thicker cloth and sharper steel. With a few quick words and money exchanging hands, one of the guards opened the lift cage that lay behind them.
The Guldspar girl had noticed that Danton had given the guards a trinket of some sort and with her head turned away, handed over a screwdriver from her satchel to one of the guards. The guard looked down at his hand and patted the young girl on the head. He turned to Danton and slowly his expression changed. His eyes widened as he scratched his chin. He whispered to the other guard before pointing at Danton and mentioning to him that he looked very similar to members of House Ethis. Before anything could be said, Xera calmly walked up to both of the guards and implanted a suggestion that when asked, everyone in the group were researchers from House Ethis, to which Danton swallowed heavily.
The guards both shook their head for a second before apologising to the group and stepping aside for them to enter. The lift itself was a metal cage on a set of pulleys and ropes, that were attached to some sort of machine which one of the guards was operating. The guard waved at them as they started to descend although nobody returned the gesture. The cage was literally that, a small metal construct that left little room to move with two three bodies, let alone five. Traveling down was slow and the evidence of The Great Decent littered the lower levels. The merchant district was slowly being fixed but it was akin to the speed of The Foundations, not to those with money. It was only further down that the group saw why.
The eventual destination of the lift was in close proximity to the Undercroft market. And as they descended they could see that here, defiance was celebrated. Bright bunting hung from every possible hook and the market stalls had even seemed to refresh their vibrant awnings. The sculptures and decorations that had adorned the space above the market had fallen, but in their place were enormous balloons and other objects that could happily float on their own. The construction crews around here were the same in the merchant district, something Eryn had never seen before. They were dressed plainly with a spot of colour in the form of a rag tied around the wrist or peaking out back pocket. They also shared a similar crest that was embroidered onto their clothes although hardly ever in the same spot.
From the cage Eryn could see a robed figure standing in the main performance area of the Undercroft, with his arms outstretched and a massing crowd around him. He also shared the same crest as the builders but it was emblazoned on his back. There was no telling who the figure was but Eryn was keen to see who had captured everyone's attention. Although Danton had kept quiet after Xera had enquired about his connection to Ethis, he perked up as they were approaching the bottom, asking Xera if he had any place to go. He replied that he did have a laboratory of sorts, although he did not know what state it would be in. A sly smile crept across Danton's face.
The cage jerked to a stop, forcing all of them up against the cage walls as they braced.THe cage door slid open and the group were finally able to breath easy. Xera told Eryn they would meet up at the Undercroft performance area but didn;'t explain why he was leaving. THe fact that he had left with Danton raised suspicion and more questions to Eryn but held his tongue for the time being. The walk to the lab was devoid of people, although punctuated by the sound of building work overhead. The hole that Eryn had made outside of Xera lab had seemed to have stopped looters from coming in. That however, did not stop things coming out. The plants that Xera had grown to harvest his lab equipment had been left unchecked. Although they were not bearing any fruit, they were flowering, and were slowly prying apart the walls of the laboratory. Danton commented on the charred wood of crates outside as well as the crater in front of his door; to which the only answer was Eryn.
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