Woodfield had long since been abandoned by its only saving grace, the presence of RSX once serving as a deterrant for the local feral populace, its absence now permitting much of the local 'wildlife' to run rampant and free to do as they will, well... it didn't much help that a part of those pesky ferals was a legion of undead-looking nanite zombies, did it? Today, four adventurers would be wandering into the heart of the 'undead' infection, appropriately enough a graveyard. Here, in the midst of the mist-covered landscape, where shadowy whispers echoed amidst the blackened, bitter cold terrain, wisps flitting and ghastly visages manifesting out the corners of one's vision, one solitary figure would be awaiting the arrival of those bold enough to step foot into the newly uncovered crypt.

Magnus seemed oddly calm despite his surroundings, his figure garbed in pitch black cloth and his eyes hidden beneath the shade of his cowl. The fox would be holding a lantern, his muzzle tugged into a creepy grin, fur pale from what little is seen, his eyes faintly glowing a dim, pale white beneath his cloak. In his other hand he'd hold a short stave, using it like a walking cane as he wanders the mist-covered terrain. In the darkness, his lantern would be like a beacon, the very thing the adventurers were told to look for to get their briefing. As he walks, the fennec would mutter and whisper things to himself in a tongue not even he could translate, the tome he had taken to carrying with himself dangling off his right hip, attached securely by chains to his waistline. Now, where were the poor souls due a good spooking~

Luna arrives at the scene, this black rabbit woman wearing a full power armor suit with light padding. She doesn't seem to be bringing any weaponry, just a flashlight with a spare hooked to her belt. "You're the one I'm supposed to meet? I expected you to be taller."

Off slightly in the distance, small flickers of blue flame spark and quickly fizzle out like dim will-o-wisps, each very dim candle-like flame showing the face of a feline with a wicked grin on her face. With every new flame though, they appear to be getting closer before finally after about a minute they finally come into lantern light and wave over to the shadowy figure. "Well well, is it finally the witching hour dear? Fear not, Iao is here now."

"Looking awfully seasonal there," Nena comments, largley to Magnus as she winds her way up to the group, the bat nibbling on a... Well, bat shaped cookie. "I'd tug the hood of my coat up, but the ears kind of get in the way," she says with a point, before dusting her hands off. "I haven't been out here in a while... Woodfield was never my normal stomping around, even before, let alone the graveyard. A bit too morose for me."

Rumors of treasures and secrets of the unknown were enough to pique the interest of certain dark-furred kitsune. So what if there would be nasty, rotting corpses or vengeful spirits? Zen was more than eager to investigate the matter for himself, along with whoever else managed to be drawn to the call.

Dressed in a rather unassuming gray-scale flannel top with some worn blue jeans, Zen makes his way to the meeting point. As usual, he would have some kevlar under his shirt to help protect his vitals, but he certainly didn't look like he was ready for a fight. With there being hardly any light from the moon and stars, the glow of Magnu's lantern contrasts even sharper with the surrounding darkness, making it a trivial matter to actually find the one who would shepherd them along their journey.

As he makes his approach, Zen would be able to see a few other figures that were emerging out of the thick mists. One was a dark-furred rabbit that was geared up in some heavy power armor. Although, even with the heavy armor, there was a surprising lack of weaponry. Not that he could talk, having no apparent weapons on himself. The next figure he sees was slightly more recognizable sporting attire that seemed just perfect for the season. The smaller bat that makes there appearance next was one that he didn't immediately recognize, though perhaps that was merely because he wasn't familiar with her form.

Being the last to arrive, Zen walks into the lamplight with quiet footsteps and gives a brief wave of greetings, "Hey there. Good to... uh, see you Magnus? Heh, what are you supposed to be, the spook-threshold check?" His tails flit about curiously behind him before he looks around, "Well, I suppose the rumors did make this sound like a test of composure. Figure any who would be off-put by that would have a harder time later on."

The fox flashes Luna an unnerving smirk. "No amount of armor will protect you here, girl. Hmph, and I expected you to be more polite, but we'll both have to deal with each other's shortcomings now, won't we?" Once Iao arrives, he'd cast her a curious look, then approach her, passing a few sniffs over the feline, the fennec huffs softly. "You're right at home here, aren't you? The stench of undeserved death wafts around you like a miasma of putrid horror. I wonder just how bloodied your hands really are, maybe you'll meet someone you know among the deceased today." He'd cackle softly, then shake his head lightly. "Not that you'd mind though, right?" Somehow, she'd be able to tell Magnus cast a wink her way.

Once Nena arrives however, he'd swallow dryly and reach out with one hand, muttering something about wanting a cookie, before recomposing himself. "Not even close! I need a jack-o-lantern to complete the look. This is just a regular lantern." The fennec snickers as he raises the gleaming oil-fueled light in his lantern. "Maybe next year." Magnus sticks his tongue out at the bat girl, and turns towards Zen. "Hmph, I figured you might show up here. You have a nose for these sorts of things after all. Your tricks won't save you here, though... lies and deceit work only on those willing to listen. The damned aren't known for being so abiding... trust me, I'm the tamest thing you'll see tonight." he'd wave a hand dismissively and turn to face all of them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, ghouls and ghasts, creeps and cadavers, spooks and spirits, what a fine night it is to test your resolve, today you'll be descending into the bowels of accursed earth, where I think you will find certain rules... well, change. The crypt you are about to enter is plagued by the very same saving grace that we all take for granted so thoroughly, you see." Magnus strikes the ground with his stave, causing a new waypoint to illuminate some ten or so meters behind the party, a grim blue set of flames set in an arc, outlining a doorway it appears. "Some of you might try to fight it..." he'd cast Zen a glance. "But you might find yourself a little... outnumbered, you see." Magnus cackles quietly, then lowers the lantern onto the ground. "Your goal is to reach the bottom of the crypt, and open the tomb contained within. There you will find your reward. Good luck..." The fennec winks, and the lantern fades out for a few seconds, shrouding them in the black abyss of the thick mists. Once it lights back up, Magnus was nowhere to be seen.

Luna gives an exasperated sigh with Magnus's performance, but after Magnus's speech Luna does a few stretches and reaches down to pick up the lantern. "Anyone else need a light?" She says, waving the lantern around for someone to take hold of it. Once someone does, Luna turns to the glowing archway to look at it. "Does anyone know how this works or do we just walk through it?"

Without missing a beat, Iao holds up one of her hands, a deep violet orb of light slowly condensing in her palm and filling the area with a suffusing light. "Well, let's just find out why don't we?" with her newfound lightsource, Iao starts to make her way towards the outlined doorway with a brisk spring in her step.

Nena raises a brow, and adjusts her glasses with a push of a finger. "I'd offer you one," she replies to Magnus, "But uhh. They're special cookies. They're for fixing my... Height issue. I just figured cookies would be a better way to get the dose than something boring like pills. If you don't mind gaining a few feet, though, you can have one," she says with a grin. "But just one. If I run out, I will get short again, like some kind of werewolf, but... Small. Wereshort. Though if it's as you say, maybe being small would help if our goal is simply to reach the bottom." With that, she turns to make her way...

Zen gives Magnus a sly grin as he remarks about his usual tricks not working here. With a dismissive wave of his hand, he responds, "Oh, heh, don't worry about me. My clever tongue and charming demeanor aren't the only things I have going for me." Listing to the rest of the explanation, he nods along, conveying that he understood the objective as well as the warnings that were passed along. He would huff slightly at the remark about their reward being a book of all things. Casting a glance to the tome on Magnus's hip, he was about to mention how a he didn't much find some decrepit old book much of a treasure. However, the light goes out and like a ghost, Magnus was gone. Raising his voice into the darkness he asks, "Have better things to do than go spelunking in a tomb? Heh, well, I'll let'cha know if we find anything interesting down there!"

Then with the rest already starting to make their way along, Zen looks to Luna and accepts the lantern. "Yeah, suppose it is pretty dark out. Though I usually have my buddy here light the way." He says as he blows into the air with pale-flames. In a matter of moments, a glowing wisp forms and arcs up above their heads, providing a bit of extra light. "Well, should he find himself extinguished, having a backup light source will be nice." With that said, he nods towards Iao who had already started along the path, starting to follow her into the entrance of the tomb.

The party stands before a grim doorway, seemingly in defiance of physics itself as it is naught but the open door of a church ruin with nothing but rubble on the other side, yet it remains wide open with the light of the lantern they'd been given shining through to reveal a long and narrow corridor of dense stone bricks. Unnatural whispers and ghastly tones resonate through the air all around the unholy gateway. The area feels frigid, as though it were the inside of a cooler set on full blast. Soft whispers echo and reverberate throughout the area. There is a spike on the left of the doorway with a plague that reads "Red Ichor". Beneath it rests a bowl, empty, about a pint's worth in volume. One could easily guess that it needs to be filled, but why?

Luna was just about to cross the threshhold of the gate when she colapses, leaning against the gateway clutching her head. She takes many deep breaths, some of which include swearing. "Yuetu protect me, this is going to be a long night..." She says, looking over to everyone else to check on how they are fairing against this mental threat. "Anyone with nanomagic or something that can replenish their blood faster? I don't have the mass to give a pint of blood without effecting my combat ability."

Iao twists her body from side to side, an audible cracking coming as she attempts to limber up. "Alright, If you guys can wait about 16 minutes I can fill this up completely." she then saunters her way over to the bowl and holds one hand over it, a very small stream of blood starting to come from her fingertips and drip into the bowl. "Those of you with less patience feel free to add your life to the pot now."

Nena wrinkles her nose, ears twitching at something unseen for a few seconds, before giving a little shake of her head. Her hands slide smoothly into her coat pockets, regarding the bowl. She watches Iao for a moment, and leans forward to watch. "... I don't think that's working. There's a knife in there it looks like, maybe you have to do it with that?" She suggests.

Zen's ears flick about as if trying to dial in on some particular sound. However, he soon realizes that the sounds are originating in his own head. With a soft huff and an unamused expression, he glances towards the rest, curious to see if they were hearing those whisper as well. Of course, the cat-witch ahead of him looks to be having no qualms with the incessant rambling of what he presumed to be the dearly departed. Glancing back to Luna and Nena, however, reveals them to be shaken up a great deal more. He extends a hand to Luna before saying, "What, you hear them too? Well, they are certainly eerie, but they are only voices. They can't do any more harm to you than what you are willing to let them." It is hard to say if he truly believes that, but the lip service might do well to help quell some nerves.

Nodding to Iao, Zen steps up beside her and inspects the mechanism. If it wanted a pint of blood, does that mean it was something like a weight sensor? Aside from that, would any only old liquid do? With Nena's remark, about the knife, Zen reaches in to take the knife into his own hand. Flipping it around he inspects its design. "Well, I don't think I'd like to wait out here for 16 minutes... If it gets us on our way, I'll donate some of my own to speed this up." He says, preparing to use the tool to open a would on his hand to drain his own blood. "Heh, unless one of you really needs to go. Hah! Don't worry, I promise not to peek." He adds with a light chuckle.

As the bowl is filled, the whispers quiet down. The wrathful dead are appeased by the willing sacrifice of red ichor it seems. The air grows grimly still and the gateway is now open without any... immediately evident dangers. Curiously, the only light that seems to permiate the darkness within seems to be that of Magnus' lantern. Anything else appears to get drowned out as though fighting to pierce some airborne shroud of blackened mist. Before them the corridor stretches for the better part of fifty meters, wafting with terrible odors of death and decay, each successive step forward bringing them into the chilled abyss of whatever lies again. Half-way in they'd be able to see their own breaths, it was absolutely frigid, and it was only getting worse... Much to Zen's dismay, the wound he had inflicted to his palm to fill the bowl doesn't go away. It keeps dripping sanguine ichor from his hand, the nanites kept from doing their work by means unknown...

Luna sighs yet again as she digresses bringing these useless flashlights along. But at least the lantern Magnus gave will work... and work better now that Luna has an idea. "You! Sorry I forgot to ask your name." She points to Zen with the lantern. "Can you hand the lantern back for a second?" Once Luna gets ahold of the lantern she uses some small tools from her pouches to poke a few holes in the bottom frame of the lantern, organized so the oil doesn't escape but the flame gets more air. "There we go." She adds, handing the lantern back. "And by the way my name's Luna, in case this name problem comes up again."

Iao takes a look down the tunnel with a frown on her face, noting all the scratches on the walls, she even attempts to mimic them with her rather tiny claws before she gives a disappointed grunt. "Looks like we might not be the first ones to come here. Id brandish your weapons if I were you." she then promptly reaches to her side and pulls out one of her pistols before she slowly walks down the tunnel

Upon being faced with the chill, Nena tugs on the hood of her fur lined coat, stuffing her large ears under it. "I'm Nena. Good to meet you," she replies, as she withdraws another cookie to swiftly nibble down before her hands return to her pockets. "This is a pretty unpleasant stench, huh. I'm glad I'm not a dog or something, it'd be even worse I'm sure. I wonder what we'll find..."

After slicing himself open, Zen holds his palm over the container and flexes his hand to pump more blood from the wound. The cut was so clean, having required little to no resistance to breach the skin. He turns to the rest while holding out the knife. "Well, anyone else want to willingly maim themselves for the sake of adventure?" He asks, wearing a sly smile. Though, it was only after the container filled half-way that he noticed the icy chill that seemed to form alongside the cut he made. The discordant, anguish-filled screaming in his head seemed to quiet down, but it wasn't as though he was paying them much mind anyway. As the container fills the rest of the way, he begins to notice that the wound on his hand was... as if it was frozen in time. The nanites wouldn't be doing their job, and his blood wouldn't be naturally coagulating to lessen the blood flow. He grimaces slightly at the revelation but does his best to play it off like there was nothing wrong. Raising more worries before they even entered would only add to any stressors along the way.

With the air growing colder, Zen notices that his wisp doesn't seem to be doing anything. With an implosion of pale flames, the wisp is dismissed. "Odd, I don't think I've ever experienced this odd type of darkness before. Interesting how this lantern is still able to produce light." He says with a curious tone. With Luna asking for the lantern back, he obliges. "Well, I'm glad we at least have some form of light. Probably best to stay within its radius unless you'd want to risk being devoured by a grue." He says with a hearty laugh to accompany it, certainly trying to lighten the tense atmosphere. As Luna fiddles with the lantern, the kitsune takes out a roll of bandages from his pack and starts to dress his wound the best he can. It wasn't like he was really well versed in medical treatment, but something to apply pressure on the cut would certainly help, right? Accepting the latern back, Zen starts to follow behind Iao into the tunnel. His nose buckles a bit at the stench, his own acute sense of smell only making it harder to concentrate. "Ah, yes... I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Zen, a hunter and a scout. Good to meet you Luna, heh, of course, I figure meeting at a bar would have been preferable." He nods to Nena and smiles, "Ah, that name rings a bell... Though, I think you were a bear or something last we met... It has been quite some time." Focusing back on Iao he says, "Heh, well, if any boogie men try to jump us in the dark, I'll be reassured to know at least one of us is packing some firepower." With that, he continues to move along, remaining the second from the front behind Iao. He looks around at the walls that Iao had motioned to earlier, trying to see if there is something he can spot that might have been missed.

Three quarters of the way there, and the team would be subject to near-arctic temperatures, arid winds picking up and blasting them with a sheer cold that rivaled any man-made freezer to have ever existed. To make matters worse, with the howling fury came bellowing screams, banshee-like screeching that pierced their bodies like bullets, testing their nerve once more. Weakened by the cold, this trial proves harsher than the last, and those poorly adapted to the frigid temperatures take it the worst. The group does soldier through, they have the will and the strength to do so... at the final few feet before the tunnel ends, they would all be sharply and suddenly blasted by ice crystal so fine and tiny that it felt like sand against their skin. Regardless, the group's resolve carries them through, and the terrible cold ends once they all cross the threshold of the tunnel. Out of the lot, Zen and Iao seem to have taken it the worst. The group would find themselves in what appears to be a large burial chamber, coffins visible on every wall in every direction, laid on platforms etched into the stone itself. The stench of decay is overpowering here, but as a small consolation, they would no longer be dealing with the terrible chill from earlier.

Luna is resolved from her initial ordeal with the spirits of this place, and with her environmental suit she no longer has any problems reaching the end of the corridor. After that last artic blast though she needed to chip off the collected ice from her power armor, so she spends that time standing back and removing pieces of ice...and then helping anyone who also has problems. In between helping she looks around the room, and notices the erie coffins. "I'd suggest we find awy to lock down those in case there are undead about." She says, pointing to the coffins.