Spareribs Grave [Or Darth & BP Are Very Hungry]

Spirit's Grave
- Lamia, Acolyte of Din (3/4/1 Gerudo) [Blonde Panther] Reward: Flame Aura.
- Judith Vilcaron, Acolyte of Nayru (1/5/2 Hylian) [Darth_Slaverus] Reward: TBA
Dungeon Theme

Lamia didn't care how religious you were or how perfectly safe the place was. Graveyards creeped her out beyond words. The Gerudo walked past headstones and unmarked graves, lighting her way with a lantern and holding her glaive in the other hand. When she looked up, she was faced with the leafless branches of dead trees, which consistently tripped her up with their roots, so she opted to instead keep her gaze fixed on the ground, for the sake of keeping her footing.

Given the choice, Lamia would have told her mother where to stick it, turned over in her bed, and slept in today. Sadly, she had been raised to have too much respect for her parents and superiors for that, and as an aspiring priestess of Din, she had little choice but to follow the instructions of the higher-ups. Thus, here she was; traversing a humongous graveyard in an attempt to reach the large tomb square in the middle, instructed to investigate the paranormal and hostile activity inside it. Why Latifa had chosen to send Lamia was beyond her; out of the entire Order Latifa of all people should know how Lamia hated graveyards.

To make matters worse, the tomb was not property of just the Order of Din. It was a tomb used in the past to inter high-ranked, important priests and priestesses following the teachings of the Goddess of Power, the Goddess of Courage, and the Goddess of Wisdom alike. As far as Lamia was concerned, it was a relic from a time long past. The various religious orders were no longer so united; and no one was more living proof of that than her present company, sent by the Cult of Wisdom to aid and watch her.

Why oh why had the Archcanoness assigned her this charge? It was not in Judith Vilcaron's nature to question the will of her Goddess, but try as she might, she saw no Wisdom in her superior's decision. It would have been so easy to remedy the situation too, she thought sullenly. Were it not for the 'partner' that had been forced upon her, Judith would have been honoured to be selected for such an important mission- After all, this cemetery was a sacred place, the final resting site of many of the Golden Goddesses' finest followers. To stand amongst these fallen saints and pay one's respects... it was a sobering experience, a solemn reminder of the devotion expected of those who swore themselves to Hyrule's patron deities. Yet this was no simple pilgrimage. Whispers of the restless dead were abound; something had defiled their tombs, and it fell to her to cleanse the area and appease the distraught spirits.

Disturbing the earthly remains of the clergy's champions was an unforgivable crime, and Judith had been prepared to perform her duty with a fiery zeal. However, the Cult of Nayru were not the only group who had taken an interest in the recent hauntings. To Judith's utter mortification, she had learned at the last minute that she was to be accompanied by none other than the acolyte Lamia, a member of the Order of Din she had worked with before. Why, she had no idea. Judith disliked the Gerudo, and she was certain that she had more than enough conviction to see this through by herself.

Praying to Nayru for clarity so that she might understand Her divine plan, the Hylian priestess silently trudged through the graveyard. She had spoken as few words as possible to her companion, and she intended to keep it that way. Rather than make small talk, she instead examined the key the groundskeeper had loaned her once more, turning it about in her hand. The duo had needed it to enter the cemetery proper, but Judith wanted to be rid of the ugly thing almost as much as she wanted to be rid of Lamia. The head of the key had been fashioned to resemble a leering skull as part of a tasteless, macabre joke, as the groundskeeper had explained. Just looking at it made Judith shudder. A grim token... hopefully the smith's irreverence would not bring them bad luck.

Seeing the cemetery's centerpiece come into view, a sprawling tomb complex that had been constructed as a monument dedicated to the priests and priestesses of Din, Farore, and Mother Nayru who had given their lives defending the innocent in Southern Hyrule, Judith pocketed the key and quickened her pace, hoping to begin the purification immediately.

Unfortunately, hurrying ahead proved to be a most unwise course of action. Her toe caught on a root that had not yet been illuminated by Lamia's lantern, causing her to fall face-first into the dirt.

So much for avoiding ill fortune...

Lamia suppressed an exasperated sigh when Sister Vilcaron rushed past her, only to trip and fall. Why the acolyte of the Goddess of Wisdom hated her, she would never understand. Surely, it was too petty for the Cult of Wisdom to hate people based on their faith? Still, she had decided after their first meeting to not dwell on it. She had other things on her mind: this was her chance to prove herself. On account of her poor mastery over her magic, she was normally not given missions and existed in a strange position in the Order's hierarchy. So while she wished the mission would have been different, she was also partially grateful that she had been given this chance to prove that she could, in fact, be trusted.

"Here it is," she said, stopping in front of the tomb and holding out her lantern in hopes of illuminating the dark entrance. She was only partially successful, most of the passage remaining shrouded in darkness. Well, she might as well get it over with, she thought, even as she felt an uncomfortable heat in her abdomen. This was not the time, she told herself, not yet. There was nothing that required her fire. She stepped inside, focusing on the way her lantern shone into the darkness to avoid having to think about her fire, or about what they were going to encounter inside.

Not even a helping hand... Judith scowled as she picked herself up and dusted herself off. Nice to know that charity was apparently no longer endorsed by the Order of Din. It would have been one thing if Lamia had been too surprised by Judith's fall to react in a timely manner, but the Gerudo had walked right by her with nary a word, leaving her in the dark once more. To think she had once believed Lamia to be a pleasant young woman! Why couldn't she have been paired with a priestess of Farore?

Wiping off the last of the loose soil that had sullied her robes, Judith hastened to catch up to her rival, this time more mindful of the unforgiving terrain. She stopped once she was adjacent to Lamia, having learned not to stray far from the lantern's light. Closing her eyes, Judith reflected upon her past deeds, still trying to fathom why she had been volunteered for this collaboration. Had she erred, somehow? Was this a punishment? Or was this a trial set by her Goddess, to test her patience and composure? No answers were forthcoming... Mother Nayru preserve her.

As they approached the end of this entryway and the first open area of the tomb, Lamia gave a quick, silent prayer to her patron goddess and held the lantern high. It wasn't necessary, however, as the large, spacious room was lit by torches hanging off the walls and standing on the floor in a peculiar pattern. As Lamia doused the lantern -no sense in wasting perfectly good oil- and walked forward to establish their course of action, she noticed something from the corner of her eye.

In this first room, there was a large monument, a sculpture of a single goddess bearing the three aspects of the Golden Goddesses and holding a large stone tablet inscribed with the names of the priests and priestesses that were interred in the mausoleum. Before confirming her suspicions, Lamia took a few seconds of time to let a few of the names really sink in and skim most of the others, finally turning her glaive around in her hands so the blade pointed down, setting it on the ground and shutting her eyes. She made a quick kneeling motion, immediately getting up, as a means of paying her respects, and as she turned her glaive back around, she turned to the statue's left side to confirm her suspicions.

"Sister Vilcaron," she said, the first thing she had said to her companion since their polite greetings. "Take a look at this." The arm, dress, and leg of the statue on this side were damaged. "What do you suppose did this?"

Following in Lamia's footsteps, Judith prostrated herself before the grand statue that lay within the crypt's entrance chamber, not wanting to be shown up by the Gerudo acolyte. The sculpture was of a curious design, being an amalgamation of all three of the Golden Goddesses, but Judith felt it represented the unity of purposes shared by the Holy Sisters perfectly. Plus, it was more efficient and less extravagant to have a single statue, rather than commission three separate ones... especially given how beautifully the marble had been carved. Multiple copies would have diluted its simple beauty.

Looking up, Judith proceeded to study the memorial plaque held by the statue. She did not recognize most of the listed names, for they were not organized by their allegiance to a particular goddess, nor were they particularly famous. Still, part of her was dismayed by her own ignorance, and she resolved to read up on as many of them as she could, though she knew there would be precious little records of the lives so cruelly stolen by the Dark King.

The mere thought of Ganon's monstrous crimes filled Judith with righteous anger, which was only further amplified when Lamia pointed out that the sculpture had been vandalized. She shuddered in barely contained fury as she beheld the chipped marble on the statue's flank, her knuckles white as she gripped her staff so tightly it might have splintered. In the wake of such utter sacrilege, the Hylian's ire was redirected from Lamia to the perpetrators of this desecration, at least for the time being.

"What blasphemy...?!" Judith murmured, frowning as she inspected the blemishes. "The damage is too random to have been inflicted by an intelligent creature. I cannot think of any symbolic reason to tarnish only the left side... And were it the work of wild beasts, that would not account for the strange happenings of late..." Her voice dropped to a low whisper. "I believe this outrage to be the work of the undead, make no bones about it." Seemingly unaware of the awful pun she had made, Judith concluded her speculation and glanced about the room. Cobwebs were strewn everywhere, lending the chamber an eerie atmosphere, as if it had not been disturbed for centuries. But that couldn't be right...

"I fear we may have a foul necromancer in our midst."

A necromancer, huh? Lamia shared Judith's distaste for the foul art of necromancy. To disturb the bodies and souls of the deceased was an unhealthy and undesirable practice, and one that inevitably came back to haunt the perpetrator. According to the tales, sometimes the undead turned on the necromancer, but usually justice caught up with them. This time, it appeared Lamia and Judith would have to be that justice. She rested her glaive on her shoulder, although gripping the polearm more tightly so she could flip it over and use it at a moment's notice. "I fear we'll have to investigate deeper. Stay behind me, Sister Vilcaron."

The rooms of the mausoleum were connected by various hallways, and to the uninitiated -such as Lamia and Judith- they were impossible to navigate without a map. Fortunately, a map was exactly one of the tools Latifa had given her as she had left on this mission. It made Lamia wonder if the necromancer they were looking for were inside. Surely, the maze of rooms and hallways would have gotten him lost before he could have achieved his goal? Littered across the walls were not only spiderwebs but also peacefully slumbering Keese. Undisturbed... it was looking less and less likely that anyone had been here in recent times. Or perhaps just not in this particular hallway...

She stopped as she heard snorting, holding out an arm to alert Judith as well. Motioning for her to stay where she was, Lamia stepped forward, grabbing her glaive with two hands, pressing her back against the wall as she looked around the corner. In the next room, there were a handful of Moblins sitting around an improvised fire. As she saw what fed the fire, however, she could not suppress a gasp. The Moblins had not brought wood or other fuel inside the mausoleum, and instead had pilfered one of the carefully embalmed interred priests to light. Suddenly overcome with a sense of rage, she leapt out of her cover, bringing her glaive down on the nearest Moblin.

As she did so, she caught the attention of the others and even as her first target fell to the ground, the others took up weapons and rounded on her. She spun her glaive around in her hands and took a defensive stance, feeling her fire swirl around her hands once more. This time, she welcomed it. This disgrace would be paid for- in the blood of the perpetrators.

Quietly falling into step behind Lamia, Judith privately wondered what could compel an individual to walk the path of the damned. The Golden Goddesses were real; the world's very existence was evidence of Their everlasting glory. To go against Their will was not only immoral, it seemed suicidal. Did they hope to escape judgment in the afterlife? Then again, an attitude like that would be in keeping with a necromancer's desire to cheat death... Tarnation. Ganon's conquests in the South had sent the wrong message to evildoers everywhere- that they could defy the Golden Goddesses and get away with it. It was her duty to teach them otherwise.

Already in a dour mood due to the desecration she had witnessed, Judith became increasingly frustrated as she and Lamia ventured deeper into the catacombs. The state of the tomb was a disgrace. Cobwebs were one thing, but wild Keese roosting in what was supposed to be a sacred place was shameful! Small wonder the lingering spirits were upset. She really ought to have a word with the groundskeeper... there needed to be a custodian specifically appointed to keep the mausoleum clean and chase away pests. Perhaps Lamia could donate her map for that very purpose once they had completed their mission.

Speaking of whom, the Gerudo had come to a sudden stop, causing Judith to nearly bump into her. For a moment, the Hylian tilted her head inquisitively, but the bestial grunts emanating from the next corridor told her all she needed to know. Moblins? What were the barbaric boar-men doing here? Somehow, she doubted they had come to pay their respects. Those few Moblins that didn't venerate the Dark King as a god tended to subscribe to more primitive, animistic faiths. Either way, their presence was decidedly unnatural. It would be prudent to do some scouting to see what lay ahead, and thankfully Lamia seemed to be of the same mind for once, volunteering to do so. Judith nodded and waited.

Thus, it came as a bit of a shock when the Gerudo cried out and lunged forward, her glaive raised. Startled, Judith quickly followed suit, fully prepared to chastise her companion for her recklessness. When she rounded the corner and saw what the Moblins had been doing, however, she instead felt like complimenting Lamia for her piety.

"You SAVAGES! May Nayru have mercy on your souls, for you shall have none from me!" Judith shouted, bringing her staff to bear and launching a Magic Bolt at one of the Moblins scrambling to flank Lamia, blasting him off of his feet. She wasted no time acquiring a second target, preparing another spell.

Between her sorcery, Lamia's skill at arms, and the holy energies of their surroundings, there was no chance these heathen creatures could defeat them. It was comforting to know that, in the face of such profanity, the Gerudo was a comrade. They would best these Moblins, then find their vile master and make him or her pay tenfold for what they had engineered.

Judith leapt into the fray as well, explicitly cursing the Moblins for their blasphemy. But any mercy the Goddess of Wisdom would have on the creatures would be wasted. "I do not know whose corpse that is you chose to desecrate," Lamia said, "But I do not have to, to understand that you have defiled Lady Din's sacred element- and for that, there will be no mercy!" Their foul use of fire was enough reason for her to fly off the handle, and when one of the Moblins threw a boomerang at her, she launched a fireball at it to burn the wood before it could reach her. It settled her inner fire for a few seconds, but her anger made it flare up once again seconds later.

"They who sin by fire," she said, whirling her glaive around to challenge the largest of the Moblins, "Shall repent by fire. Come, that I can teach you the truth of the Order's creed." The Moblin snorted, raising a large axe and charging at her. Lamia elegantly danced out of its way, weaving her glaive in front of her to deflect what would otherwise have been a glancing blow. She weighed her options, finally deciding that both the Gerudo Dragon and Eruption were too time-consuming and too explosive to cast in this confined space. Fortunately, her magic was not all at her disposal- she would be a terrible servant of the Goddess of Power if she could not hold her own in a straight battle.

A second Moblin came up from behind, but Lamia heard his approach and whirled around, twisting her weapon over her head to lash it down in the direction of the foul beast and giving it a long, shallow cut over the length of its body. "Sister Vilcaron," she said, forcing her voice to sound calmer than when she had spoken to the creatures, "If you can, please occupy the smaller ones. I've got these two covered."

"Gladly!" Taking inspiration from Lamia's invocation of fire, Judith called upon the weaponized form of Nayru's chosen element to deliver her next attack. A sphere of pure ice formed along the tip of her staff, and without missing a beat she directed it toward the nearest of the Moblins not currently engaged by Lamia. A war cry died in the brutish creature's throat as the frigid missile impacted with said throat, and it crumpled in a gurgling heap, its windpipe frozen solid.

Her companion was doing a good job of holding the larger Moblins at bay, and the barbarians seemed to be wavering. Two of their number were down, a third was still reeling from the Magic Bolt Judith had struck him with, and a fourth had been injured by Lamia's glaive. Pleased to see the Goddesses' enemies driven before them with such ease, the Hylian priestess was about to go to her ally's aid when a smaller, orange Moblin- a Bokoblin, she realized- darted out from behind a funeral urn, drawing a crude hatchet from its belt and hurling it at her.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she raced to bring her hand up to cast Nayru's Affection, but she was too late. The axe sailed through the air and struck her arm before she could complete the gesture... mercifully, it had been the blunt end that had hit her.

"Ow!"

The Bokoblin gave a triumphant whoop as Judith cried out, then brandished a second hatchet and tossed it at her. This time, however, she was ready. Switching her staff to her bruised left hand, Judith held up her right and mouthed Nayru's sacred name. On cue, the shimmering blue barrier materialized just as the throwing axe was mere inches from her chest, halting it in its tracks and sending it hurtling back toward its owner. The Bokoblin's howls of dismay at being thwarted were promptly replaced by ones of pain as his own armament buried itself in his shoulder.

"Behold, the might of Nayru's boundless love!" Unable to resist flourishing her staff with a twirl as she passed it back to her dominant hand, Judith surveyed the battlefield. Aside from the still-dazed Moblin, the only remaining foes appeared to be the duo Lamia was fighting against. Knowing there was little she could do while her spells recharged, Judith moved to reposition herself perpendicular to the three combatants and waited for the Gerudo to create an opening...

"Hrraaaaaa!" Lamia landed on the ground hard, but gave herself no time to recollect her bearings. Instead, she whirled around right away to land her foot in the stomach of the Moblin she hadn't hit with her glaive when she'd come down. She was doing quite well, if she did say so herself- holding off two adversaries larger than herself, and she had yet to take a hit. Meanwhile, the Moblins were covered in bruises from her kicks and shallow cuts from her glaive. Still, she thought to herself as she took a step back to assume a more solid stance, it was time to put an end to them.

The first one approached her with a roar and a charge. Lamia was ready for him, thrusting her glaive forward to impale its fat stomach. When it doubled over, roaring in pain, she delivered a jump strike of sorts to sever its head from its torso, landing to present her weapon to the other one. It approached more cautiously than its kin had, using a crude shield to protect itself from her glaive, but to no avail- Lamia simply shot a fireball towards it, causing the shield to catch fire and the Moblin to panic. It turned tail and started to run, but Lamia had foreseen as much- it had been the reason she had positioned herself with her back to the wall.

Hopping back, she landed both her feet against the wall and used it for leverage, launching herself after the wobbling Moblin. As she landed next to it, the dumb beast staring at her in shock, she had plenty of time to bring her glaive up for a deep cut from bottom to head, tipping the Moblin onto its back and allowing her to bury the blade deep in its chest, where she kept it until the beast stopped struggling.

Drawing the blade back, she turned towards Judith to see if the acolyte of Wisdom was unharmed as well as to let her know she was alright, only to find herself looking at the rapidly approaching club of the final Moblin, no longer dazed and intent on revenge for the pain the two women had caused it. "Eep!"

As it turned out, Lamia's two opponents posed little danger to her, and the Gerudo swiftly dispatched them with acrobatic displays of strength. The true threat came from the stunned Moblin, who had regained his senses and was closing in on Lamia, exploiting her blind spot in the hopes of felling her with a single strike. Luckily for the priestess of Din, Judith was more vigilant.

Interposing herself between the two combatants, the Hylian priestess raised her left hand, and with a flick of her aching wrist, she cast Nayru's Affection in order to intercept and blunt the incoming blow, making sure to position the new barrier at a forty-five degree angle relative to the Moblin. The brute's club struck true, and the magical shield shattered with a brilliant flash of light, propelling several razor-shards of arcane glass into the Moblin's abdomen, slicing him to ribbons. The remainder of the fragments flew harmlessly away from Lamia, and Judith, satisfied with her handiwork, gave the Moblin a gentle shove with her staff to topple him over.

With no other enemies in sight, Judith then wordlessly spun on her heel, plucking her Bottomless Bottle from her sash and dashing toward the original cause of the conflict: The still-burning corpse in the centre of the room. The damage had been done, and she wasn't sure if the priest could be salvaged, but she would do her best to reverse this dreadful sacrilege.

Dragging the body away from the embers, Judith proceeded to pour an endless stream of water upon it to douse the flames, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw that her efforts were not in vain. The remains were somewhat charred and would have to be re-embalmed, but seemed to be reasonably intact.

"Forgive me, Mother Nayru. Forgive me, fallen one. Would that I had been here sooner..." She kneeled next to the body and traced the symbol of the Triforce across her chest, her nose involuntarily wrinkling at the stench of cooked, rotting flesh that now hung heavy on the air. She knew an apology was a pittance compared to the injustice the spirit of the departed priest had suffered, but it was all she could offer until the mausoleum was purified. Rising, Judith stole a glance at Lamia, before dropping her gaze.

"Are you alright?" Not that she really needed to ask, having witnessed her physical prowess firsthand. Lamia's fighting style was freakishly powerful, and reminded Judith of the Gerudo blade-dancers that occasionally performed in Lon Lon. Until now, the Hylian priestess had always assumed that their flamboyant movements were purely for show and would be impractical in an actual combat, but living proof to the contrary was currently standing before her.

Loathe as she was to admit it, Judith was impressed.

"I'm fine," Lamia said, breathing deep to calm herself before inspecting herself for injuries. It was very much to her relief that Judith had taken care of the final Moblin, and even more so that she had done it before it had bashed her head in. "The nerve of these beasts! I should by all means incinerate them as a warning to their kin!" She made a fist, but realised in time it was starting to glow hot with the fire of her Gerudo Dragon and forced herself to relax once more. Violence begot more violence, that was true. And that cycle had to be stopped at some point...

And from a less philosophical and more practical point of view, knowing her fire she was liable to light up the entire mausoleum, defeating the point. Still, that left the question of what to do with their corpses. They couldn't very well leave them here... And unlike certain other monsters, Moblins weren't cannibals to her knowledge. There was little point in using them as bait to lure out any other potential interlopers, other than to enrage them so they would fight more on instinct than on common sense. But seeing as Moblins had very little common sense to begin with, all that would do was make them hit even harder.

"That said," she muttered, "This does open a new possibility." She turned to her companion. "Sister Vilcaron? Do you think that rather than the Undead, these beasts -albeit in greater numbers- could have been responsible for the damage we've seen in the entry hall?"

"Mmm... That may very well be the case. It would explain why the spirits have been so violent in making their displeasure known." Judith conceded, reevaluating her earlier assessment that the statue had been damaged by the aimless scrabbling of walking corpses. It was certainly in-character for wild, unrefined Moblins to deface Hylian property, especially if it were of religious import. Had she been reading too much into things? A common pitfall for an academic mind... Perhaps they had simply tired of mere vandalism and moved on, leaving their desecration half-finished.

Lamia was probably right, and that pained Judith more than she cared to acknowledge. She was supposed to be the clever one, was she not? Mother Nayru and the Cult were depending on her to be a beacon of Wisdom, yet here she was failing miserably. First her foolish spill outside, now this... She would have to redouble her efforts and shape-up, starting this instant.

"But that's not what bothers me the most about their presence. U-Um, well, I mean... Of course it bothers me the most that these cretins are disturbing the final rest of our most honoured priestesses... It just raises a more pressing issue." The Hylian priestess managed, struggling to save face with a hopefully impressive display of inductive reasoning. "The real question is, how did the Moblins get in here? Recall, if you will, that we required a key to enter the cemetery... I doubt they had one. And you would think the groundskeeper would have informed us, had there been signs of a break-in... So either the groundskeeper has not been entirely truthful in his dealings with us, or the Moblins have found an alternative means of entry... Maybe they scaled the fence outside, or burrowed a tunnel underneath the tomb itself. We should be on the lookout for clues regarding this security breach, so we can rectify it."

Stooping next to the last Moblin she had slain, Judith began to rifle through the pockets of its jerkin, continuing to speak as she did so. "I am also curious as to what motivated the Moblins to embark on such an impious expedition... I wonder... Is it simply greed that compels them, or something more sinister?" Looking up, she gestured to the remainder of their fallen foes. "Regardless, they will undoubtedly plunder anything they deem to be of value. Come, we must search the bodies, as well as those of any other Moblins we encounter in this tomb. That way, we can ensure any pilfered artifacts are returned to their proper place."

Defeating these disrespectful intruders and recovering stolen belongings would surely go a long way toward placating the Grave's spirits. Judith only hoped that they were facing a small warband, subconsciously rubbing her arm as her zealous bravado subsided in favour of cold, hard logic. Moblins were fierce warriors when provoked, and she knew the sole reason she and Lamia had fared so well in their first battle was that they had struck with the element of surprise. Vile heretics though they might be, the boar-men were both cunning and strong, as Hyrule's knights could attest. If they met a larger group in open combat, it wouldn't matter how many spells she cast or how well Lamia fought...

Underestimating them would be a fatal mistake, indeed.

Lamia nodded, silently agreeing with the priestess of Wisdom. Moblins were honourless creatures, that much had been proven when they defiled the priest's remains. It was not unlikely that they would have stolen artifacts of not so much monetary, but religious value. Along with the priestess, she crouched down and started searching the corpses, as well as the makeshift camp they had used. There didn't seem to be any idols or statuettes missing, although she did stumble across a small silver pendant engraved with the symbol of the Goddess of Courage. Frowning and giving the dead Bokolin who had carried it an extra punch in the teeth for good measure, she took it from it. "I think that's all. Did you find anything?"

With the situation here taken care of, she consulted the map again. "There's a small dedicated tomb not far from here," she said, first tapping it on the map and then pointing at one of the exits from this room. "That way." It only housed one body, but that meant said body would belong to a priest or priestess who'd earned their stripes, or whose family was rich enough to purchase them a place of their own. It was certainly a place Lamia wanted to ensure was untainted. "Do you think we have time to inspect it?"

"Just this." Judith's hand closed around a small orange (much like the Bokoblin's hide, she couldn't help but notice) ring one of the dead Moblins had tucked into its pocket, and she held it up to the torchlight to examine it more closely. "It appears to be a signet ring adorned with a holy symbol... the Mark of Din, to be exact." Cracking the tiniest of smiles at the bitter irony of her find, she turned to Lamia and gestured to the pendant her companion had retrieved. "... I'll trade you." It did not feel right to carry the emblem of another Goddess, especially when an ordained priestess of said Goddess was nearby. Granted, Farore was not her Goddess either, but that pendant was the closest she would get to having pleasant company. Although Judith now held a grudging respect for Lamia's raw skill and devotion, the woman's exploits still had not erased the memory of her slights.

As if to lend further credence to her misgivings, the Gerudo's next question baffled her. Should they check the tomb? Did she even have to ask? Quietly reminding herself that, of the two, she was the one who embraced Wisdom, Judith suppressed the urge to let sardonicism creep into her tone as she replied.

"How else should we spend our time, if not by performing our duty? Every nook and cranny must be cleansed, Lamia. To do anything less would be a disservice to the Goddesses and to our fallen kin. Come now, laxity is unbecoming of one of Din's servants." Her chastisement complete, the Hylian glanced around the room. She had deliberately chosen her words so as to mirror Lamia's original insult... it was slightly petty, but her messages were valid. Laziness was not to be tolerated among the clergy of any of the Goddesses... and those that lived in glass houses should not throw stones.

Hoping to head any potential argument that her inflammatory statement might have generated off at the pass, Judith then pointed to the walls adjacent to the exit Lamia had indicated, having spotted something unusual during her brief survey of the chamber.

"Look! Etched on the walls, there... The engravings are faint, but that is the Mark of Din, if I'm not mistaken. If this ring belongs anywhere, it's there."

Although she had traded the pendant for the ring without complaints, Lamia couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Judith's chastisement. She hardly believed it was a priestess of Wisdom's place to decide what was favoured and what was looked down upon by the Goddess of Power. Part of Lamia was pretty sure she would be fully within her rights to call the other priestess out on her nonsense, as well as pointing out she was hoping to be efficient rather than lax -sensing unusual things was JUDITH'S field, not hers, and she didn't want to waste time inspecting areas that had no unusual activity- but she settled for a sharp, controlled intake of breath. Arguments would only serve to loose her grip on her fire. She had no desire to contribute to the destruction of the shrine.

Placing the ring on her hand so she would not lose it, she followed Judith. "Well, yes," she said, looking at the etchings on the wall. "While the central hall of and the bordering rooms of the mausoleum are united, the three main wings are divided by goddess. We're heading into Lady Din's wing right now." If that meant the temple would become anything like current testing grounds and trial areas, they would need Lamia's strength and fire to continue on. And sure enough, it wasn't long before they came upon a large, ornate door with a large torch, held aloft by a golden statue resembling her goddess, modelled to look as though she was coming out of the door itself. The torch was unlit, and Lamia knew what she had to do.

Raising her glaive, she called a small fireball to life and launched it towards the torch. Once comfortably nested atop the torch, its colour changed to an almost transparent white, the rubies serving as Lady Din's eyes in the statue glowing briefly, and the door slowly rumbled open. Staring into the darkness that lay behind it for a few seconds, Lamia finally turned her head towards Judith once more. "Welcome in Lady Din's wing of the mausoleum, Sister Vilcaron. Expect traps of fire and tests of strength."

Irritation and Lamia were just destined to go hand-in-hand, it seemed. Easy for her to be a know-it-all about the mausoleum when SHE held the map! Judith refused to count this as a defeat in their unspoken contest of wits, considering her opponent's unfair advantage. Really, if anything, the Gerudo's reluctance to thoroughly scour the various wings of the Spirit's Grave made even less sense now, given her knowledge of its layout. What kind of Din-worshipper couldn't be bothered to purify her own holy sites? Where was the zeal she had shown earlier, when she had engaged the Moblins?

Admittedly, after hearing Lamia's explanation of what lay in store for them, Judith would have advised against proceeding into Din's lair, were it not absolutely essential to their quest. Traps of fire? Were Din's servants completely devoid of common sense? Such devices would simply add to the tomb's occupants... or drastically reduce them, should the flames go awry and burn out of control. What if they spread? Surely they did not intend to use those slain by the traps to replace any remains lost to a fiery malfunction? Not even the Order of Din was that self-defeating, or so she hoped.

Only one thing was certain... The threat of sacred corpses and relics being burned to ash was no longer limited to bands of pyromaniacal Moblins alone. Judith resisted the urge to groan aloud. Despite the danger it posed to the rest of the mausoleum, it fell to her to be a better priestess of Din than the actual priestess of Din and brave the Goddess of Power's sanctuary. So be it.

"... You should take the lead, then. You would recognize what to look for better than I." Judith replied at length, raising her hand to mask the displeasure written across her features, the underside of her index finger resting firmly upon the bridge of her nose. She peered into the darkness ahead, frowning. "We should procure a light source first, though. Pass me a torch. I will ignite it with my Blue Fire and carry it for us, so that you can keep your glaive at the ready. Tread slowly and carefully... I'll be right behind you, so signal me right away if we have to stop."

It wasn't like her to be so assertive, but somebody had to take charge.

"Right." Lamia took the first torch she saw, handing it to Judith. To tell the truth, she didn't think it would be overly necessary, but it would make the Priestess of Wisdom feel useful, which might go some way towards cooling that incredibly hostile attitude of hers. Honestly, wasn't the mission enough reason for her to at least try and be cordial? Lamia shook the thought, once again steadying her fire, and led the other priestess into the next hall. As they proceeded, the stone from which the walls were hewn slowly changed, the normal stones slowly replaced by large bricks baked in incredible heat to make them more fire-resistant. Lamia had heard of the practice- it was often employed in temples and shrines devoted to Din, where fire was to be expected.

What was more... "Try not to touch anything," she said as she pushed open another door and peeked in. "If these urns are disturbed, we could be in for it." She walked into a large, rectangular room, the walls littered with shelf-like ridges on which rested large stone urns, baked like the stones of the wall. She bent her knee momentarily. She knew that each of these urns contained the ashes that remained of the bodies of devoted followers of the Goddess of Power. Their corpses burnt to bring them closer to their patron, their ashes collected here. It was an efficient use of space, as well as a religious practice- and a fireproof one provided the urns were solid enough. The walls themselves were etched with the various markings of Din, as well as various prayers in Ancient Hylian, and in the middle of the room stood a large altar bearing the largest of the urns, itself decorated with the goddess's mark.

"We apologise for our intrusion," Lamia called when she stood straight once more. "We would not disturb your rest had it not been completely necessary... I promise, we will leave soon and seal this wing off properly then." As she spoke, her eyes flitted round the room. And good thing, too, for if she hadn't looked around long and hard, she might have completely missed the shadow moving along the wall. It blended in well with the flickering shadows of the torches that hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room, but there was something different about this one- "SISTER, DUCK!" she cried, leaping towards Judith and pushing her out of the way. When she looked behind her, she was just in time to see a large, red-skinned hand rising back up to the high ceiling and vanishing into its shadows.

"T-that's not supposed to be here!" she cried. "Wallmasters are supposed to be a test of courage, not of strength!" She pointed up at the ceiling. "The only Wallmasters in Din's sacred territory are Wallmasters that are on fire! And that can be arranged!"

If Judith had a rupee for every time she'd fallen, stumbled, been shoved, dived prone, or otherwise ended up flat on the ground in the line of duty, she would have been a very rich woman indeed. Skidding to a halt on her robed knees, the priestess lamented the fact that gravity apparently had it out for her as she picked herself up. Why did the spectre of clumsiness continue to follow her wherever she went? She did not count klutziness among her innate foibles, and she sincerely doubted it was the result of some hidden trait of hers that only emerged in response to external stimuli. It was never like this at home, and besides, half of these blunderous incidents weren't even her fault!

Grumbling at her misfortune, Judith glanced over just in time to view the retreating form of the Wallmaster as it returned to the ceiling, grimacing. The hand-shaped beasts were frustratingly elusive foes due to their extensive use of hit-and-run tactics, and there was no telling what would happen if they got ahold of you. This one might drag her deeper into the mausoleum... or it might simply throttle the life out of her. Briefly, she wondered who could have summoned it.

Lamia had indicated that the creature was not one of Din's guardians and thus could safely be destroyed without offending the spirits, though this news did little to improve Judith's mood. There were flaming Wallmasters in here? Was this a tomb, or a circus?

Shaking her head, she snapped into action. First things first. She was a sitting duck out in the open; she needed to relocate to a more favourable position. Thinking quickly, Judith scooped up her torch from where she'd dropped it and dashed toward the shelves lining the walls, taking cover underneath the lowest one she could comfortably fit beneath. Pressing her back against the wall, she switched to a horizontal grip with her staff and watched for any sign of movement above. Here, the Wallmaster would be unable to drop directly on top of her without crashing into the shelves, and if it made the ill-advised decision of attacking her at an angle, she would be ready for it.

More likely than not, however, she figured it would play the waiting game and go after Lamia. If that was the case, she would need to flush it out of its hidey-hole. But firing off spells haphazardly at the ceiling would be futile, not to mention wasteful, given there was no way of knowing exactly where it was until it struck. She needed bait, and she knew just where to find it.

"Lamia, make a run for the wall opposite me!" Judith called to her companion, her gaze glued to the ceiling. "I need you to draw it out! If you can, I'll blast it out of the air so you can deliver the coup de grace!" She would have been the first to admit that using Lamia as a lure was a bit underhanded, but the Gerudo was the one with the glaive... She could fend it off with her natural reach if it descended upon her, and besides, this was Din's section of the Spirit's Grave. If anyone was to be tested here, it should be Her disciple.