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As Alois explained how he had come to his conclusions, Catriona could not help but be reminded of one of the times she had listened in on a strategy meeting. One of the leaders had decided for the squad Catriona was in to be positioned near the meadow downstream of the river ford instead of the more strategically obvious thicket upstream. A reserve squad would dig shallow trenches in the meadow and hide there. She had protested this decision, seeing as it would be far easier to just hide in the forest to the north, but had been ignored. A fortuitous choice in hindsight, as that had been exactly what the Pontics had expected them to do. The enemy had sent most of their men upstream in pursuit of the Garou, sending only a small contingent downstream, which had been easily defeated. It had been simple enough to confront the ones upstream from there. This was the kind of move Catriona could never have come up with herself. It seemed that for every solution she thought up, there were ten more she missed. Even with all the facts placed in front of her, she couldn't cobble them together into a shape that meant anything. Yet people like her sister and Alois could paint a complete picture with only bits and pieces of information. Were Catriona to find out that the mayor was a stargazer, she would dismiss it as a mere trifle. Yet this village boy discerned its significance. It was almost like magic, the way he then combined that with a random scattering of letters to come up with the exact right answer they needed. He offered her a chance to look at the note and book he had left with Penelope, but the lord shook her head. She would probably just end up even more confused. As they walked, Gunther leaned in, whispering: "If it comes down to it, I'd like if we could avoid harming the villagers, they've done nothing wrong here as far as I can tell." Catriona said nothing. If things went south, she could not guarantee the lives of any who went against her. If these people tried to capture her and bring her to Pontus, she would not hesitate to cut them down, civilians or not. After entering the room, multiple people turned to the badger and addressed it. Why, exactly, Catriona wasn't sure. It was a badger; it couldn't talk back. Still, it seemed to react in some way to their words. Purposefully turning away from Alois, it let out a single, gruff bark toward Citron. Near the back of the group, Licorice was fiddling with the door handle on this side for some reason, letting out a hum when it turned under her grip. The fox also seemed to be focused on a corner of the room behind them, though when Catriona turned toward it she saw nothing interesting. There was a rat, but it quickly scurried toward the doorway as soon as she laid eyes on it. Probably just an ordinary rodent. Adel chose that moment to walk up, a scrap of parchment in hand. "My liege, were there any Dragon's Breath wine during your search downstairs? I have found the recipe for it, and its contents were... well, it was quite concerning. It is best that you read it by yourself." The badger twitched, turning toward the two as the lord took the recipe from the pegasus knight. "I did not find any bottles, though it does appear that the mayor is in the process of making wine." She paused as she finished reading. "I am unable to identify most of the ingredients here," the white-haired woman said flatly. This is actually quite strange. While Catriona was not versed in the making of wines, she was familiar with the basics. Calling herself a sommelier would be going too far, but she could certainly classify herself as an enthusiast. So, these unknown ingredients...what did they mean then? Was there something more to this Dragon's Breath wine than she had originally believed? "Princess," Edrick said, voice curt, "I think you may be closer to your goal than any of us guessed. 'Drako,' while not...quite the same is very similar to a word in Old Pontic. It might not have the same importance here, but... well I've only ever seen 'Draco' refer to one thing." So she wasn't the only one bothered by that word. Though it seemed that Edrick had an idea of what it meant, while Catriona was still in the dark. Quite literally, she thought, glancing around the room. Their only source of light was the candle, which seemed to be on the verge of going out, and the faint reflection of Ciela's staff. The lancer was more concerned with another part of their surroundings, however. "That stone's not natural." It appeared that Tsetseg had already come to that very same conclusion, as she had quickly scaled the ladder and began to push up at the white stone. However, it didn't seem to do anything. At least not right away. After a few seconds, the girl seemed to have discovered something strange about the ceiling, and stopped pushing up, only to start pushing sideways somehow. As she did so, a heavy scraping noise came from above, and the white, square-shaped panel seemed to get narrower and narrower, becoming more of a rectangle than a square. However, what was revealed after it being moved was not the dirt ceiling of the tunnel, but bright sunlight. Immediately afterward, the air started to clear up, and the group, who had started to breathe more heavily due to the lack of air underground, would find their breathing going back to normal. The flame that had started to flicker on the candlewick burned bright and strong now. With the new light, Catriona could also see what appeared to be a large square-shaped alcove within the white stone panel, deep enough for somebody to place their hands against the side and push. Eventually, Tsetseg succeeded in moving the panel aside entirely, taking her hands out of the alcove and just shoving against the outside when there was no more space to push. Climbing out of what was now revealed to be another trapdoor of sorts, the archer waited for the rest to climb up. Catriona was one of the first to ascend. From her new angle she could see that she had just exited a large square-shaped hole, and what had been blocking their way out was not in fact, a trapdoor, but a large marble statue with a wide, square-shaped base. That observation was little more than an afterthought, however. Most of her attention was transfixed on the part above the base. BGM A graceful, serpentine tail. Sharp-clawed feet resting atop a bed of clouds. Angular wings cupped ever so slightly as if they were about to take off. The neck, as elegantly curved as a swan. And the head. With its mouth slightly open to reveal pointed teeth and a forked tongue, it would look fearsome and terrible were it not for the eyes. Unlike the rest of the statue, these were not made of marble, but carved from almost flawless emeralds, with a solemnness to their gaze that lent the statue an air of majesty rather than terror. "This...it can't be," Catriona muttered. "Is this...?" "My, what an interesting place we've found ourselves in," Licorice's voice caused the lord to jump slightly and glance around, noting that the rest of the group had arrived while she stood there in a daze. Unsurprisingly, the badger and beaver were unfazed by their surroundings. What was actually surprising was how they had managed to climb up the ladder in the first place. Licorice is right. It's not just the statue. This whole area is...strange. They were standing in an empty, spacious room. While it was already quite large, the vaulted ceiling made it appear even more so. Two stories' worth of arched glass windows interspersed with unlit candelabra let in sunlight that gave certain patches of stone flooring a golden hue. Just in front of the group stood a stone table, atop which rested an empty pewter chalice and a bouquet of multicolored bell-shaped flowers that those familiar with would recognize as snapdragons. Just beyond were several rows of wooden benches, all of which were unusually long, facing their direction. Above their head was what looked to be a balcony of sorts, and just behind was a large stained glass window depicting the same creature from the statue in all the colors of the rainbow. Also behind and to each side were two plain wooden doors, a large contrast to the one at the end of the pathway between the benches. The door was round, tall enough for two people stacked on top of each other, and wide enough for four side-by-side, framed by a carved stone archway showcasing what looked at first glance to be a four-legged wyvern in flight. Watching the dust motes dance in the sunlit air, Catriona let out a breath. "This place is..." she trailed off, unsure how to finish. While there was no denying the beauty of this room, and the peace she felt at gazing upon the statue, there was something unsettling about this place all the same. Was it the alien nature of the carvings? She was used to seeing lions and horses in art, not serpentine creatures. No, it's not that. It's almost as if...there's something that doesn't belong. "It's here," Licorice said suddenly, ears flattening. "The magical anchor. I can feel its presence nearby." The Protean frowned. "I still think we should leave. This is dangerous, and it's none of our business." Catriona felt a spike of irritation pierce through her earlier calm. "And I believe we should stay. We need to break the curse on this village and get some answers from the locals." About this place...and about what they have been doing. The woman turned to the others. "Let us begin searching for this anchor." -- Outside, the doe would wriggle its nose in what looked to be frustration, before starting to scratch at the dirt with one of its hooves. First a long, vertical line. An I. It then moved on to a different letter, and then the next, and so forth, before finally stepping away with a proud bleat, revealing a single sentence. IS ALOIS HERE? It stared expectantly at Peaches, as if waiting for a response. OOC