Despite the rough currents that swirled the sea around them, down in the depths of the ocean with the faintest of lights breaking through the water that floated above, the world sat in a strange silence. While the waters were certainly quite loud in actuality, the noise was a constant flow, which caused it to meld and grow flat, as if there was nothing there to even worry about. Aside from that, the realm hidden within the sea, with gates available to practically everybody to turn on by, there was very little foot traffic, leading to a single thought.

"Gods DAMN why must things be so damn boring?" A hand rose up to scratch the back of his skull, mulling through his hair as he laid along the back of the zigarrat's gateway. He tried crashing through, thinking there was nothing to really worry about, but NOPE! Traps loved hitting him when he wasn't looking, making him question why he kept appearing in front of the gateway while he was "dominating" the trials. Sure, he COULD try and pair up with others, but every time a new entity appeared before him, they were already associated with their own party with no need for him to fill it.

"This will be easy, Qadim," he told himself in a sarcastic manner, orcish tongue being as brash as ever. "Nothing will stop you from getting to the end, Qadim. Gods, save me from utter boredom…"

The world proved once more how odd and bizarre it could truly be, and in its unnatural state it proved to Alma once more just how wondrous it truly was. The risk of an end of the world scenario was far from her mind, the pure abysmal thought of it far too depressing to linger even for mere moments before she replaced the thoughts with what stood before her. The gods themselves had erected a monument to their power and the wonder of magic, creating a bubble of safety within the depths of the ocean. Unfamiliar shapes passed above with a lack of clarity, but the perplexing thought of what they might be kept her eyes almost straight upward, as Alma slowly meandered towards the ziggurat, almost forgetting about the reason she had come there.

She had, for quite simple reasons, seen it as a means to help people, and to meet them in such an easy way. With something in common for all of them, what better time than to see the people and experience their stories and support? That was, of course, if she would have stopped arching her neck to stare upwards at the watery ceiling above them. She was short, not a dwarf by any means but compared to the standard human, most of standard size would look down on here, her height only compensated by the rightly tall tufts of ears that sprouted from her head. A visible kitsune or fox-girl of some kind, though the wondrous gaze on her face spoke more of a child.

She was so entranced with what was above her that she seemed unaware of those around her, an innocent and slow pace driving her forward. She seemed to avoid bumping into people, seeing as most were walking a great deal faster than her, but one thing was apparent as she walked along past Qadim, just a few feet away, she was most certainly alone, and not accompanied by others. 

As he watched teams pass on by, from couple of pals joking about the night before to personal armadas to cover whatever basis they thought they would need to deal with, there were certainly a variety of challengers coming forth. All shapes and sizes, from novices in the art of the sword to master-level sages, it was easily a well-versed cast of challengers taking up the roll of "heroes of the end." Of course, no one would actually be looking inside this region to seek out any lingering ends. With a sigh escaping him, Qadim muttered to himself, "Maybe I can get someone a pint at the pub to aid them."

However, before he had a chance to gate back out to the surface world, a new face showed herself in a most peculiar way. She was dressed in such casual wear, he could only guess she wandered in by accident, and her attention was clearly stolen by the world above her. IF she wasn't careful in her track, she could very easily veer off into the powerful currents that crafted the walls of the corridor and sweep her into said waters above. He doubted no normal man could survive such tides.

"Little One," he called out to her as she stepped by his way. "You do realize where you are, right? As much as an open invitation it was to take on this challenge, it's obvious a commoner would struggle with it. If you don't think you can take it, you should leave." His mind paused for a bit, thinking over his words for a bit. Mages often not wore real armor or weapons. Maybe she had some magical aptitude? After all, she did share many fox details that reflected that trickster race. "Or…" he recovered himself, pushing himself off the wall, "I can join you, and together, we can crush whatever rests inside." pulling the bow that rested clipped off his back, he assured her, "I can assure you my shot is true…"

A voice called out, and for a moment she ignored it like all the other voices, though it tugged on her train of thought in the way it was spoken, direct and pointed, close, and though she could be wrong it seemed as if it was meant for her. Emerald eyes looked back at him with a naive reflection, truly innocent in their gleam as she regarded his warning. Commoner? Challenge? Both were true, she was fully aware of that, she could hardly call herself a mage and she knew that a challenge such as thing had sent many people to the front entrance time and time again, but neither of which really concerned her given the promise of safety.

"I figured that it would be interesting." She admitted with a grin, the world could possibly end but she had the simplest smile on her face, as if she was just enjoying the fact that she existed. When he pulled on his bow she gave a fascinatingly perplexed look, a tilt of her head and a flick of one of her massive ears. "Shot?" It was as if she never considered the idea of fighting being a possibility. Taking a look at her, she certainly didn't seem the fighting type. Her clothes weren't fancy, but they were comfortable, and unless she was a master at hiding small blades, there was not a single knife or weapon upon her body. Regardless of the odd response, she seemed to understand his offer, as her face lit up with a smile, her eyes brightening with anticipation.

"Oh! You want to go in together?" She basically repeated, her tail suddenly swishing. She didn't seem the adventuring type, more like she just wandered in from her families seclusive home when she wanted to see the world. She certainly didn't seem the type to do something like this. 

Okay, it was clear before him was not a young girl, but by the way her tail wagged at the idea of someone helping her, she seemed much more like a puppy. She can very much be new to going into dangerous areas, so it was possible she was going to see him as some kind of bodyguard. Still, he could not help but cringe internally as she questioned by what he meant of "shot" while holding a long-range weapon, ammunition strapped to his belt.

"Yeah," he assured her, resting the weapon back in its clip. "You watch my back, and I'll watch yours. Even if you aren't combat trained, it does not take much to see a danger coming. …. Unless they suddenly get you under the floor. Spikes suck." Still, if the pair were going to team up for this, they may as well get to at least get to know each other a bit.

Holding his arm out, he introduced himself with, "Name's Qadim. May things go well enough to celebrate with a pint or two." He let her do what she wished before guiding her through the zigarrat's gate.

Despite the teams of folk going in and out, the chamber was deafly quiet, void of people aside from the two. It was as if the gate into the ziggurat blocked out the outside world and into different realities. Hell, even looking back, another team was heading in. However, as they moved forth, their bodies quickly vanished before them. "Its amazing what reality-breaking magic can perform, huh?" he muttered to himself in more of an elvish tongue before looking back forward. Six pillars of light resided around the room, all funneling towards a main circle, which slept quietly. Above each gate was an emblem, most liely dictating what kind of challenge resided before them with tablets noting what they were: Forbearance, Knowledge, Perception, Celerity, Memory, and Insight. However, not much else could be noted.

"After you," he said, motioning his arm at the six gates, allowing her to choose which to tackle.

"Qadim? My name is Alma, it's really nice to meet you!" She spoke with the cheerful tone that seemed to be glued to her. Alma was clearly an adult, and given that she was a Kitsune, there was obviously the feeling that she was a bit more clever than she let on. Regardless of how clever or intelligent she appeared to be, it was obvious that Alma and Qadim operated on very different wavelengths, one could only hope that they could work in tandem long enough to make it through the trial. Though given what Alma had said so far and how she had acted, it was easy to doubt how much she actually wanted to complete the trials.

As they moved onwards to the Ziggurat, her wide eyes continued to glance around, both at the structures and walls of water, but at the people around them. Quite simply there wasn't a thing in sight that she wouldn't stare at for a least a few seconds. "This is such a cool place." She remarked as they were quickly isolated within the unnatural structure. Her sharp eyes narrowed in on the choices they could choose, and as she strode forward, her smile shifted into a look of concentration. It didn't last long, however, as her ears perked and she chose a path, striding forth once more. 

Celerity.

Swiftness was, all things considered, a talent she was quite gifted at. If not in the short form she was in there, it would only take a bit of magic to shift her into something more usable. As for Qadim? He seemed quite experience, she was sure he could at last try to keep up, and with a bit of help from both of them they might just make it to the end. As they headed towards the trial, she broke the silence once more with a rather odd question. "How many times have you run the trials?"

"A handful of times, I guess," Qadim stated as the pair walked towards the pillar marked with the crest of celerity, "though I never really did bother to count. All I know is that the forbearance crest enjoyed jumping me from behind." When the two finally rested themselves in the pillar of light, the room around them began to glow brightly, washing away every aspect of the room before them before dimming down in a new region, placing the pair in high walls and tight corridors. "Of course a place like this would host a maze," he snarled in orcish before taking the first steps forward into it.

The first segment seemed really simple, with Qadim being very willing to answer whatever questions escaped the kitsune. However, it was clear things were not going to be so friendly when a metal door was crossed, with no way to get a grip on it. All they could do was shrug and keep it in mind as they pushed forward… to yet another dead end.

However, not everything was as it seemed. The bottom of a wall was quite different, as if offering hand holds. "Guess this is my part," he said as he knelt down on the ground, slipping his hands under the cracks and tightening his grip. Once comfortable, he began to lift, pulling the wall up and out of the ground before getting blocked, leaving just only a 2 foot gap. Not something he could squeeze through while holding himself up.

Then he remembered the metal door.

"Looks like this is your part," he told her. "Crawl on in and look for a switch or lever of some kind. More than likely, that would let me in through that gate. Still, be sure to watch your six. Never know what's crawling inside here…"

Alma was all to joyous to accompany him forward, but as they entered the odd maze, she soon became quiet, her brow furrowed as she looked around with an oddly focused look. She had seemed so childish before, but after a few vague questions were met with quick and dis-interesting responses, she seemed to move on from the side of things. It was quite an odd shift of personality, and she paused at the large metal door as they approached it. She placed a hand on it as they examined it, and as a few brief shoves illicit not even a shifting of hinges, she moved onward with only moments of hesitation.

Celerity.

Her pace slowed, and her brow furrowed further. Celerity was not caution, it was not cleverness, it was a specific work with a specific meaning. It meant speed, and it meant swiftness of motion. This was not quick, this was not swift, such a trial would not test their speed without giving some indication that speed was required. If the maze had to be solved in a certain amount of time, then it would be focused more on pure luck of finding the right path than actual speed, aside from the ability to recover from wrong choices quicker. The only possible reason she could think of for the lack of the main theme here was that they had not yet found the actual celerity trial. Was this merely an entrance, a precursor to what would come next?

It could not be this simple, meandering through a maze was not celerity. When they reached the slot in the wall that Qadim could raise, she tapped him on the shoulder before he could raise the stone, and gave a curious, but oddly serious gaze. "Doesn't this seem off to you? You know what celerity is, right?" She looked around, the winding but tight corridors decorated with unrivaled markings and runes, with it being unclear if it was simple architecture or if they held any actual purpose. "I imagined something like running, swiftness, like an obstacle course. Not a… Maze that didn't care about speed."

She rolled her shoulders as he lifted the stone section of wall. It was heavy, and given the structure of stone around it, it could only move up and down, and it seemed far more intent on staying down than going up. She knelt down as she peered through the gap, poking her head through carefully as she inspected the other side thoroughly, making sure there was not a single suspicious thing before she began to slip further within. "There has to be something else in here." She audibly concluded. "Meet me at the gate, okay?"

She stood up on the other side, and from there she quickly decided to keep her mouth shut. If that gate was the only way in or out, it was entirely possible that it was not only keeping them out, it was possible that something else roamed the maze, and was being kept in. She didn't know what it was, assuming it existed at all, but if it was attracted to sound, the last thing she wanted to do was pull it right to her. From what she recalled, they had turned left at the door, and had not passed any other diversions right from there, so she placed her hand and the carved wall, and began to walk to her right. It should be fairly simple to make it back to that door.

"The path lacked many dead ends," Qadim did remark before his lift, "however, that does not mean it has shown its fangs just yet. Bear caution and be ready to move with swift motion as you as you feel things getting worse." He had heard stories of these kind of puzzles that had massive signs on from when enjoying pints with strangers: Puzzles that said one thing, but made you question it as you pushed though. By the time that hint had been forgotten, it would reveal its head on you, making you need to re-prepare for it while trying to deal with the issue. This was why he never earned his silver trying to explore ruins.

The moment Alma returned to a standing position, the wall seemed to have gained around ten times as much weight as it did before, easily fighting against orcish muscle and snapping back to the floor, a painful gasp escaping Qadim as he felt like he almost had his shoulders pulled out of place. He had to pause for a moment to roll his shoulders to ease the pain, only hearing the fox girl's footsteps echo away from him, but as she did, something echoed in the halls.

"Gre-ke-kek!"

The sound came from above, and peering up, he saw a foot tall entity peering down from the ceiling from a hole that had not been there before. Its head swayed side to side as it looked down, though the mask that enveloped its head hid any real features to it. On its back was a spear fitting to its size. Nothing to really worry about, except for the light dripping that came from the tip. If the challenge was about speed, he could bet it was probably a typing of sedative or numbing factor. "A shakalaka, eh? … Well shit!" Arming his bow and resting an arrow on the string, he kept looking up and around. Often, they were entities that fought in groups to take down bigger prey, and sure enough, more were revealing themselves from behind.

"CREEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" echoed the halls as the shakalakas began to fall down, Qadim takig to a sprint to the iron gate. Clearly, this was the challenge. He had to fend them off trying to not fall as Alma sought out to open the gate.

As Alma trekked herself back to the gate, the sounds of the small entities echoed through the wall, occasionally getting muted out with an occasional sound of explosion. Unfortunately for her, when she did arrive to the other side of the gate, there was no sign of a switch, level, or loose tile and brick. It was simply a dead end as the gate sat closed. It was hardly a moment after she found it something echoed behind her…

"Gre-ke-kek!"

The distant and muted sounds of unknown creatures on the other side of the wall didn't surprise her, but given the gruff and burly appearance of the companion that she was accompanying, she couldn't say she was overly worried. They'd both be sent back, unharmed, to the entrance if something were to occur to either of them, wouldn't it? Coming across the metal door, she paused as she looked around it, scanning over the same blank and flat spots of it with some degree of repetition. Odd, this was where she'd expect it, she was about to call out to Qadim when the animalistic calls rang out from the narrow confines of the maze.

This was the speed, huh? She'd hope the maze lacked hidden dead ends, in that case, it would be quite problematic if they were expected to run full speed and be wary of such traps. She glanced towards the path she had just come from, whether the screeches of the hunting beasts emanated from, and she wasted little time in beginning to sprint, still going along the wall. She held many ideas, many plans of what she could do, and fighting was not one of them. She carried no blades or blunt weapons that could be used in combat against whatever these things were, so she would have to submit to the idea ever present, run.

She decided, for the moment, to keep running along the wall that she had been following, although this time she was looking for something that stuck out in the walls, something that could be used to open the metal gate and allow both her and her party to move on.