Finally, they'd gotten further into this Call forsaken tower.
It'd only taken them... what? Three or four times to actually get further?
The party was in good spirits, each of them feeling confident in their ability to get further than they'd ever gotten before.

Everyone's pets were delighted at the change in their companions, Que and Acherna specifically had been playing together for the last hour as Euele, Leiken and the others navigated through the narrowing halls in the twisted space. No one was really ready to try and settle down for some sleep, but it became apparent that they were probably in one of the places to do it, seeing as there was a fairly closed off room in fairly good shape that they'd found. It looked a bit like a mage's study, or perhaps bedroom? It was hard to tell, there as a large workbench against one wall with several rusted over lighting elements, but also a large bed off to one side covered in moth-eaten bedding that looked rather comfy, all things considered. Much to Euele's delight, there was no shortage of books, towers and stacks of them scattered here and there, looking practically untouched by time except for the dust and cobwebs. 

Solace looked about, watching as the others shuffled around, examining the room. "We should stay here for a cycle. There's a fireplace we can set a fire in, and a door so we won't have to worry about uninvited guests." A faint smile touched xir expression.

Euele's eyes lit up as she lifted her head from between the stacks of books she'd been sorting through. "That sounds like a wonderful idea." Something about the gleam in her eyes and the flicker of joy in her tone told everyone else in the room that there was no way she'd be getting a wink of sleep tonight. She was going to be far too busy reading and figuring out which books she wanted to take to the surface to bring to the Librarian.

Leiken glanced up from what he had found, hardly able to tear his eyes away from the incomplete wands scattered across the bench. "I also agree." His tone was so distant, it practically scattered into the dust without making a sound the second his words left his lips.

Hawkes let out a chuckle. They were fine if everyone else was occupied by some aspect of this room. This meant no one would be keeping them from adding... things... to the soup. Everyone else usually deeply restricted their cooking, limiting their magnificent chef abilities, all for the sake of food safety. Well, it seemed tonight, tonight would be the night they would go unshackled!

Completely unaware of Hawkes' devious thoughts, Leiken removed their satchel and set it on the work bench, preparing to scoop all the wands into his bag in a quick gesture when there was a heavy clicking sound from the floor. Or perhaps the wall? It didn't really well matter, everyone went still as the distant sound of gears grinding together filled the air. Hawkes and Solace locked eyes, a distant look of terror freezing them still as the ground beneath them seemed to shift. With a horrifying creak, the walls began to move, and the door they had come through disappeared, four new doorways appearing as the gears slowly settled into place with a loud groan.

"Leiken! What did you do?" Euele was already on her way over to him, eyes wide with worry as she looked him up and down, trying to see if he was okay. Despite her words, everyone in the room knew she was far more concerned about his safety than whatever had just happened. They could get through whatever this was, the group had proven that over and over again, at least a few dozen times by now. 

Leiken shook her off. "I'm fine. I just set my bag down to put those unfinished wands in it. I want to take them back up to have Ymir look at them." 

Solace trotted over and nodded, wrinkling xir nose as xey got a whiff of the stale air as it slowly filled the room. "We should probably try and get out of here soon. Gather what you want to take, but be quick about it. I don't think this air will be good for our lungs." Dusty, Solace's moth, fluttered about before landing on xir shoulder, absolutely covered in dust.

Hawkes heaved a sigh, grateful that they hadn't been crushed to death. "Alright. I suppose we shouldn't stay." So long perfect soup, they would have to wait for another perfect time to make a most wonderful gloop. Maybe Solace was right, but that didn't make them less sad. But maybe, maybe everyone would be preoccupied by their finds later and Hawkes would be left alone with the soup then? Their eyes lit up as they trotted up to one of the doors, jostling their hawk, Hawkey awake. "So which one should we go through?"

Solace's eyes flittered about the room before landing on Que. "I suppose we could trust Que's nose once more?" Que's ears perked at her name, wagging excitedly at simply hearing her name.

Leiken nodded. "Seems like a solid plan. As long as there's nothing too interesting down a way that doesn't lead out of here, we should be alright."

"Well then! Lead the way, Que!" Euele smiled at the hound as she pranced about, Acherna flying from Euele's shoulder to land on Que's back as the golden hound bounded into the dark.