Samkhar, the Mausoleum Buried in the Scorched Sand

[pepsi]

-- ABADDON #1

Who the hell wears a scarf out in the sun?

That was the main question that popped into the minds of the many inhabitants of Dis as the lone man Strife walked down towards the docks. His eyes staring not beyond two steps ahead, his posture almost slouching. Even for the standards of a city inhabited by demons of all sorts, he still managed to stick out like a sore thumb.
That day, the heat from the sun was almost unbearable; while the weather of the Demon World didn't exactly follow the same logic as that of the Human World, one could tell that such a day was much closer to summer than it was any other regularly scheduled season. And yet, he walked, his fluffy scarf still firmly wrapped around neck and mouth.

An old MP3 player and a pair of headphones in his ears contributed to reaching the docks much faster than he'd realize. His objective? Find passage to Pandaemonium, and possibly acquire some more firepower along the way.
The riverside of Dis was possibly one of the greatest feats of architecture in the city. As the city encroaches the river Styx, the buildings spread out more and more; the Victorian-esque clock towers become small two story buildings, the two story buildings become small shops, and lastly the shops give way to wide, flat ground covered in stone and bricks, rippling with life where the communities gather to pass the time outside.
On the opposite side, sometimes one can find the occasional pier extending over the river Styx; a dangerous place, especially where Dis is located, since it has already absorbed all the toxins and malevolent energy from Devil's Garden and is ready to incubate it. Nobody has ever died just by falling into the water, of course, but it is not any less dangerous than a flowing mass of water on the Human side of Earth.

After some walking, Strife had finally reached what seemed to be a branching point, where the water of the Styx meets some artificial canal dug up on purpose by the city so that boats could avoid having to traverse the center of the Temen-Ni-Gru. By its very nature, it was also a place of high traffic, where he was bound to find a good boat There, he reasoned, he could probably find the passage he'd need.
He just hoped not to find some Anima scumbags looking to rip him off. Last time it happened, he had to switch out; he didn't regain control of the body for at least a month afterwards.

Finally, he saw out of the corner of his eye a boat just entering the artificial canal; he approached the side, and started to walk along the boat as it navigated the canal. Fortunately, it was slowing down to a crawl.
"Hey, mister!" he called out, "A route to Pandaemonium? I can share my pay!"

"Are you crazy, lad? Pandaemonium?" a four-horned sailor looked over from the bow. "We bring food to Elysium. You want to die down there, boy?"

Strife simply stopped following after that. There was no point in continuing. Tough luck, he thought; but if he kept on asking every boat that passed by him, he thought, eventually someone with a more adventurous spirit would show up...

-- NAME // STRIFE

-- RANK // D

-- TECHS USED // None.

[John Black]

It wasn't too long until John's boat came speeding up to the docks. He wasn't really in control of it though, the process was automated in his case. The magic-powered boat had something of an auto intelligence that made boating easier in the sense that John wasn't. If he was manually piloting the boat, he probably would have crashed it by now unless he drove at the pace of a small row boat, because that was about the limit of his skills when it came to sailing.

But at least the boat knew what it was doing, it was fast, reliable, and in control. It only needed John to direct it and off it went. It was in the shape of a sleek black speed boat, glistening darkly in the light that shined over Dis. The boat was a mix of human and demonic styles, which might not be too surprising considering it was at least partially designed by the Umbral Witches, though he would have liked a car or motorcycle more, a boat was supposedly the easiest method to transport immigrants looking to go from the planes of hell up to Earth. He had no clue and just took everyone else's word for it. Not that he hated sailing. He did love the scent of the sea, and the breeze on his skin, but not that many could tell given his often blank if not stern expression that rarely shifted.

His boat slid easily beside the dock where he stepped off to tie it in place and looked around. He was not wearing his coat at the moment, though his clothes were still on the dark side, his olive colored shirt, in particular, was buttoned, belted, and held a high collar, and his sleeves reached to his wrists where he wore black leaver gloves that went nicely with the boots he wore. He had an almost military look to his outfit. He preferred the heat to the cold any day.

While he stood on the docks he pulled out a small notebook from one of his pockets and leafed through it. He had a few things he could do here, none of them too important, but he was expected to get them done eventually.

[pepsi]

-- ABADDON #2

Strife shook his head, watching as the boat simply floated by and disappeared behind an elevated canal. He should've realized that not everybody likes the idea of plunging deep into dangerous territory; perhaps he did realize that, but to him Pandaemonium wasn't exactly the kind of danger everybody claims it is. Yes, you can find the odd demon here and there, but if you know your way around, you're mostly safe.

Instead of running along the canal, Strife decided to stop and sit on a nearby bench, waiting for the next boat to come his way.
He wondered how long he'd been in control of "the body". He was certain that it wouldn't last too long, especially since he found himself incapable of using any of his usual magical abilities since he gained control. On the other hand, he knew Alexander had a much better hold on his own magic - in a pinch, he'd be forced to give up control over to him.
If only he could muster enough mental energy to summon out his Library...

Fortunately, Strife didn't need to wait too long for a second chance. A shiny black boat came floating placidly through the canal, passing right by; he sprang up, and chased after it. "Hey, mister!" he called out once more, "A route to Pandaemonium? I can share my pay!"

-- NAME // STRIFE

-- RANK // D

-- TECHS USED // None.

[John Black]

John looked up from his reading to face the younger man. Or at least he assumed they were younger. He could be wrong, but it was just the feeling he got on first contact.

However, on a less intuitive note was the scent of the other man which John breathed in. It didn't stand out when he did, it was just a normal breath, but he focused on the scent he gained from the other man. At there very least it was evident from that scent that this man was unlikely to be entirely human. He could not be sure of the ratio, just that they didn't smell the way most humans did. This made sense since few humans would really have much interest in coming to hell. A normal human might even hesitate to visit Elysium, and that was almost certainly the most relaxed location in the demon world.

He took a moment to examine the other man. His dress, and attitude. He seemed friendly enough. It was clear from his question and offer he had things he wanted to do, and was willing to pay for it. Likely he had been asking around and been rejected a number of times even so. What did this man hope to find in Pandaemonium?

"I'm willing to assist you. I don't require you to pay me, but I am curious what the cause for your destination is? I've never been to Pandaemonium myself, though I know the way." Or rather his boat did, but he didn't need to explain that yet. Still if the reason for going there proved interesting perhaps John would stick around to explore the place a while as well.

[pepsi]

-- ABADDON #3

Strife stopped waving his arm once he got the stranger's attention. He started walking along the canal, at the same speed as the boat to try and keep up. There might have been a chance, finally...

"The cause for my destination..." Strife mumbled, thinking back. Should he say it out loud, that he was a Devil Hunter looking for an ancient artifact? Perhaps yes. That was Dis, not a human city; the likelihood of finding Devil Hunters such as himself was exponentially larger than anywhere on Earth. And yet, he did not wish to give it away. Perhaps he was just being cautious.
He pulled up the scarf to cover his mouth. It was a subconscious motion, he didn't really pay it any mind.

"I'm an archaeology student," he said. "Lead archaeologist called me. Apparently they found something of great value on site. It's very urgent. Sadly, I lost all contact with the group and can't ask them to come pick me up."
It wasn't completely false. His contractor discovered the buried mausoleum called "Samkhar" after an archaeological expedition was indeed performed. At the time, the academics could not foresee that they would also meet their demise under the sand. Strife was sent there not because of academic interest, of course, but to understand what happened and, possibly, neutralize whatever threats were still under there.

"My stop would be... Pandaemonium."

Pandaemonium, the lawless land of the Demon World. Once a sprawling city richer and more advanced than Dis itself, it succumbed to time and gradual degradation of the minds of its inhabitants. Now nothing more than a pile of scorched earth, rubble, rocks and ruins as far as the eye can see, with a rich history hidden under the sand. Water and food was hard to come by.
Packs of demons roamed the land, pillaging each other for resources that often just came in the form of junk and scrap that floated from more civilized cities down to the shores of Pandaemonium. Not a hospitable land, and yet some manage to live their life there without asking for anything more.

-- NAME // STRIFE

-- RANK // D

-- TECHS USED // None.

[John Black]

Hearing that this guy was an archaeologist, or at least studying to become one, was very much a surprise to John. Although his response was simply to blink once, before rubbing his chin in thought as he considered the idea, glancing off to the side for a few moments.

He supposed that of the planes of hell for an archaeology group to go, Pandaemonium certainly made the most sense, but it also left John with plenty of other questions.

To John Pandaemonium was something of a no man's land, the wild west of hell where anything goes because it had long since crumbled and become something untamable, although he could not recall much history beyond that. From what he knew the place used to be something useful but other planes of hell had long since taken up that role. Dis probably came close to what Pandaemonium used to be if it had not already been surpassed.

"Can a group like that actually defend itself down there? I didn't even know there was a group that made a point of going down there to dig up old history, though I guess it makes sense as far as locations go..." He noted before gesturing to his boat. "Hop on then, and I'll take you down there." He said ready to head out as soon as the other guy was. "But how are we supposed to find your group, do you know the site location? And can you defend yourself?" He wanted to be aware of whether he was going to need to protect this guy, or if he could defend himself enough that John could just focus on ripping apart any danger they ended up bumping into. Being an archaeology student didn't really imply combat experience to John.

"Oh, my name is John by the way. John Black. And you?" He asked introducing himself. "Or if you got a nickname you wanna go by."