Chapter Two:

Location: Above the city of Fayteville

Goal: You must find the secret passage to the private museum and steal the rune artifact.

The Veil: When exposed to any use of rune magic, most humans become dizzy, or can't recall the events of what happened. For a Hexenite, this means that their natural form can have dire consequences if they act publicly. In order not to stick out like a sore thumb, several forms of biohex allow for the Hexenite to change their form. Theoretically, you could be anyone tonight. However, every use of biohex drains the Hexenite, similar to muscle fatigue from hard days worth of labor. Thus, to retain their human forms for long periods, they have to drain the lives of others around them to refuel. As a Hexenite's only source of substance comes from taking the lives of other mortals. Some Hexenites have developed ways to steal the breath of the living, while others ambush drunks in the night and devour them whole like a snake. The life of a Hexenite is a long and brutal game of cat and mouse.

Initiate - You and Violet fly through the night skies high above in the clouds where no one can see. You search far below for the Fayteville cemetery, spotting the large white cross marking the center. You and Violet dive below onto the rooftop of a tall skyscraper. Maneuvering through the tight hallways to reach the elevators, the two of you traverse the rest of the way by foot disguised as humans until you finally reach the cemetery proper.

Fayteville Cemetery: When Fayteville was founded in Arkansas in 1830, it was considered a small town that got its income from beaver pelt training. The heavily forested hills which surrounded it later became the town's next target for capital gain. Large factories and logging mills grew more necessary when the Civil War came around which only destroyed the land further. More blood was spilt in accidents while cutting down trees and operating machinery than in the war itself. Many bodies were buried in piles outside the old factories and a cross was erected later in their honor along with headstones and a grand mausoleum. Unfortunately, the corpses were also contaminated with various diseases, poisoning the soil and those who had handled them without sanitation which later caused an outbreak within the burgeoning city. However, during the Reconstruction Era, Fayteville was revived into an industrial powerhouse in the Land of Opportunity. Now it stands as a dense metropolitan that connects the North, South, East, and Western parts of the United States. Many cultures from around the world always seem to find their way into the city, even if they don't realize it.

Violet - She steps toward the mausoleum and tries to open the door to no effect. She squeezes her hands together until the flesh ripples and contorts. Her skin hardens like steel and with a solid punch, she knocks the two wooden open with ease. The two of you step inside to explore, before going deeper.

Grand Mausoleum: A tourist attraction more than anything. The history of Fayteville is brutal and the locals pride themselves on their resilience. The Mausoleum was built as a "House for the Communal Memory." To them, death is something abstract and considered a natural extension of life. To be truly dead is to be forgotten entirely, and the Mausoleum was built as a testament that no matter how stacked the odds are, the people will find hope in any way they can. The Interior is lined with marble and polished stone slabs. Extravagant coffins are lined inside the alcoves of the walls. A wide and expansive room filled with various treasures and memorabilia left for passed-away loved ones. A set of stairs leads into a lower section connected to the sewers. However, the door protecting the lower passage is sealed with a rune lock. To unlock the door, a code or password is required.

Violet - "The symbol on the door is an Ankh, a common symbol found in ancient Egypt," she remarks, staring at the symbol on the two great stone doors that lead below. "It symbolized the continuous cycle of life and death. Perhaps there is a keystone nearby to unlock it."

Initiate - You explore the interior of the mausoleum, looking at the various coffins for any clues to the riddle. Searching through each coffin, you finally find a slab shaped like the sun. Holding the fragment to the symbol on the door does nothing, however.

Violet - "The loop in the middle symbolizes the sun as it rises in the east to set in the west. Try moving the fragment from right to left." She suggests.

Initiate - Doing as you're told, you slide the sun fragment along the trajectory of the sun in the sky along the door's surface until you hear a loud click. You place the disc in your pocket just in case.

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Rune Locks: Users of Rune Sorcery enact various ways to protect their knowledge. Secret passages, traps, automatons, and locks. Rune Locks are an easy way to bar most people from accessing hidden areas. After all, in order to percieve runes, you need to be able to see beyond the Veil. Locks can be opened with a keystone, a rune with the key engraved on it, or through the use of riddles which has to be answered for the rune lock to disengage.

Fayteville Sewers: Brick tunnels circumvent like a labyrinth beneath the city of Fayteville. Old metal pipes exhaust hot steam while rats scatter against the floor. The smell is rank with excrement and god knows what else. Looking at Alice's map, you can hear her voice again. The page comes alight with a path toward your destination. After looking at the map for a while, your eyes begin to notice a strange aura surging through the ground, leading you directly toward a dead end.

Initiate - Staring at the solid brick wall in front of you, you begin to wonder if you are going the right way. However, the map clearly leads through the wall. Running your hands along the rough surface, you find a brick that is looser than the rest, and with a slight press, the wall blocking your way slides to the right, revealing a slit for you to squeeze through. Quickly, you and Violet squeeze through until you encounter a spiral staircase that leads to a cellar door with another rune on it.

Museum Storage Area: The symbol on the door represents a demonic figure with two branching horns and a straight line which goes down the center. A halo circles above the horns.

Violet - "Interesting," she notes. "It's a symbol representing the duality of the Messiah. The riddle asks if a murderer can be forgiven if he becomes a savior."

Initiate - As you stare at the symbol longer the horns shift into blades protruding from the back of a stick figure. Alice's voice whispers unintelligibly, but you soon realize the answer to the puzzle. Before you can react, however, Violet charges you with a mouthful of flames. You barely dodge the fireball in the nick of time, leaving your tail singed, but a bolt of lightning slings from between your fingers and punctures her right eye. The electric surge to her brain kills her instantly, leaving a pool of red blood. The blood begins to levitate, as if gravity was reversed, and floats toward the demonic glyph, filling its grooves with crimson liquid.

Rune Traps: Using a catalyst such as a Rune Orb, or through the use of Biohex, objects can be sealed from thieves and spies using mind-altering runes. When looked at directly, they can influence the viewer to follow a set of commands instilled within the rune. If you had come alone, you would've fulfilled its request using your own blood instead of Violet's. It's important to remember that allies are not essential, and its best not to get too close to one person.

Museum Main Floor: Following through a narrow crawlspace, you find yourself emerging from a trapdoor located in a storage area beneath the museum. Creeping around stacks of crates and dusty shelves, you finally find the door that leads to the interior proper. The unnamed museum holds many artifacts that are stored and sorted through to eventually be auctioned off if the item is deemed safe for the public. It also acts as a headquarters for the Wykin agents in the area, however, the museum is home to many automatons that patrol the halls of the upper floors while their creators were out. Each room was sectioned off by the artifact's place of origin, its significance in history, and whether it was safe or not for mortals to know about it. The interior is also exceptionally larger than it appears on the outside.

Initiate - Looking at the map again, you watch as a sketch is drawn of the object you came here to steal. A small ornamental vase surrounded in strange inscriptions. You stealthily move through the rooms avoiding the patrolling suits of knight armor that circle the museum. Their glowing red eyes scanned for any sign of trespassers. However, their path is pre-set and as long as you remain patient, the automatons are easily avoidable.

Pandora's Box - Despite the mistranslation coined by Erasmus, the story of Pandora who opened a container to release all evils in the world remains a strong metaphor in today's culture. The actual story recounts a jar or pithos, as the Greeks referred to it. After it had been opened and its contents unearthed, it was immediately resealed with a lock that had never been opened. Whatever is left in the box is thought to contain an unknown power that if unleashed could cause the end of all life.

Initiate - Taking Pandora's Box from its pedestal, you suddenly hear the heavy footsteps of the automatons stomping in the hallway nearby. Somehow, picking up the ancient artifact alerted the inanimate guards. As fast as you can, you race out of the room, ascending a staircase to the upper floor of the museum. The guards are right on your tail as you burst through a set of double doors into a bedroom. Glancing around, you see a window that you can leap out of. With barely enough time left, you break through the glass, reverting to your natural form, and fly away while carrying the jar with your long tail.

Consequences:

- Lost Ally Violet

- Gained Pandora's Box

- Gained Knowledge of Rune Traps and Locks