Samson turned away. "Nah doll, I think I'll chart my own course. I don't rely on no one" He went to walk away, proud and in charge of the situation. He had Marcus fearing for the safety of his relationship, Samson was on the path to true love. He took five steps before he sneezed.
It was high pitched.
Like a baby bird.
Classy.
Samson turned around, "Doe, if you evuh wanna leave spahklez ovuh-" Marcus and Liss were gone, out of earshot. Samson scurried to reach them. He hopped up and tried to find a place among the nooks and crannies of Marcus' armor. "Now, I don't, eh, what'd Adric say, uh, 'subscribe' to dis notion of 'pets', know what I mean? Companion, business associate, I like. Pet? No thanks doll." When the party regrouped, Adric and Samson stared deep into the others eyes. Adric went up grimly. He grabbed Marcus' shoulder pad and looked straight into his very soul.

"May God have mercy on you both." Adric said glumly. He walked away and popped open a vial of ale. Samson perked up and sniffed the air.

"Hey Addy, dat booze I smell?" Adric popped open another vial and sat.

"It may be" Samson stood up and hopped off of Marcus' armor.

"See ya latuh gorgeous! Oh, and you too Spahklez" Samson trotted over and sat next to Adric, wagging his tail excitedly. He continued to shoot glances at the now opened bottle of ale. Adric produced a small dish and filled it with the ale, and laid it out for Samson.

"You're a mooch, you know that, right Samson?" Adric sighed, taking another sip of his drink.

"True, but I'm also fluffy and adorable" Adric cracked a wry smile. Adric clinked his vial to the base of the dish and they both began to drink.

"Thanks Desmond" she took the key and kneeled in front of the lock, she placed the key inside and said "Let's see what we got..." Jessica then attempted to open the lock hoping that it was the right lock for they key that she had.

The lock to the trapdoor fell to the floor with a loud thump, and they were able to open up the trapdoor with ease. Inside of it was a staircase that seemed to serve as another way into one of the boarded rooms downstairs. There was a dim light coming from said room.

"Well it looks like we've got some natural mystery solvers here. Good job, gang." Marcus spoke proudly of his group. He didn't really wish to pay any mind to Sammy or Adric. Who knows what sort of crazy relationship those two had. It seemed like they put on a show in front of everyone but Marcus could see right through their clever rouse. They had to be lovers! No, that's too crazy. Almost as crazy as the idea of as talking fox. Marcus's head hurt at the thought. Things were starting to become too complicated. Looking to his left and to his right to see if anyone was watching, he leaned his cheek up against Lissettes and licked her cheek rather quickly. "I guess we should see what's down those stairs. Any volunteers?"

"I'll go," Desmond said as he breathed in and out. "My goggles can easily pierce through that darkness and.."

The stitcher placed the eyewear over his eyes and immediately sent a mental message to his companion Ghan to come up.

"..I can already see clearly what's down there. It's better to have no light as we go down anyway, we might surprise something if we bring some in." The stitcher didn't wait for any other words and simply climbed down. It didn't take long for Ghan to arrive on the scene and follow through with his master, setting down the sack of food at the side of the trapdoor. "And we don't want to surprise things at the moment."

"Right behind you Desmond" Jessica said to him as she followed and went downstairs "This will be intersting..."

Adric and Samson looked up from their drinks and saw the party begin to travel downwards into the abyss. Adric motioned for Samson to go first.

"What's dis about pal? Ya don't trust me?" Adric smiled

"Letting you out of my sight puts my life in more danger than I've experienced before" Samson smiled and began hopping down the steps behind Jess. He called back,

"Addy, pal, you're ugly as hell but you sure ain't stupid". Adric followed the fox down the steps

As they tread downstairs, there was nothing out of the ordinary on a first look around. The room was empty, however now they knew that the door was barred at both sides. There was nothing but a bed, however behind the bed was another door. This one was covered in a levy of chains, virtually covering the entire door. There was one lock in the middle, with the same size but different style as the one on the trapdoor, that kept all of the chains together.

"Alright Liss, Let's see if we can't help the others out with whatever is down there." Marcus didn't really like the idea of snooping around, but he also didn't like the idea of everyone being brutally murdered. As Marcus reached the bottom of the stairs with Lissette on his back, he scanned the room and noticed the door. with all of the locks on it. "If someone could move that bed, I'd be more than happy to try this key on that door."

Ahriman decided to show off a little. Casting a layer of mana to cover the bed, he makes the magic as weightless as the air. The shimmering object lifts a foot or so into the air as Ahriman manipulates his magic. He then makes it slightly magnetic, causing it to float towards him before he releases control.

Marcus just smiled and nodded at Ahriman. He wasn't very impressed. Ahriman certainly wasn't Criss Angel.

Anyhow, Marcus proceeded to slip the key into the lock to see if lady luck was coming home with him tonight. Lissette would probably want to eat her if she did.

The key fit in perfectly, and the lock fell from the door. Along with it, the chains retracted, falling to the ground in coils as the door began to slowly creak open on its own. Only a few inches of the room could be seen, however they knew that it was pitch black inside.

Septimius followed behind everyone else and waited with bated breath for Marcus to unlock and open the door. But as it opened slowly, he noticed that it was pitch black inside and he walked forward with his candle. "Excuse me," He edged past Marcus, "Let's see what's in this room shall we?"

"I'll go front too, I'll let you know if I sense anything" Since Jessoca's hearing improoved greatly, only a few steps in should giver her vision of the room's insides. She entered carefully and listening to each sound.