Nedoma finds himself once again in the poorer part of town, although this time having walked down a different street than the one he had been on the previous night. As he arrives where he needs to be, he tries to ignore the building on his left. Whose sign depicting chains does not reveal its main product, which likely sits in cells under the main floor. His focus instead lands on the building to his right, which gives off an impression of a store or perhaps tavern rather than a class guild. It's appearance can be described as poorly kept. The door hangs on a single hinge, the other having lost its grasp over the entrance. The stone steps are cracked and crumbled leading up to the door, with a few overgrown weeds protruding in between. Two windows on the face of the building both appear slightly cracked, and so dirty that it was impossible to see through. Looking around one last time to verify he was at the right location, Nedoma walks up the aged steps and knocks on the door a few times. After a brief moment of silence, he lets himself in.
The light outside floods the room, joining the specs of light provided by the windows. Nedoma expected to see rats or some other creature scurrying around as he looked around, but instead found nothing. In fact, as he searched around the room that was all there was to be found. There were no tables. No chairs. The wooden boards which stretched across the room were covered in a brilliantly dull coating of dust. The only thing that seemed to be here was an impressively long counter-top, with a large shelf behind it. This would be where you'd buy stuff I guess...if there was anything left to buy Nedoma thinks as he stares at the empty shelf. The dust which settled on the floor appeared to have made its way up there as well. Nedoma once again tries making some noise, hoping to grab the attention of anyone who might be here.
“Hello, is there anyone here?” he shouted. “Is this the Demon Knight's guild?” This is not looking good so far... In the corner of the room, Nedoma spots an open entryway, which at first glance leads up to a barren wall. As he walks closer, he sees that it leads to a stairway going downwards. The light barely reaches where he is standing already, and what lies below is almost completely devoid of any. He calls out one last time for good measure. “Is there someone here?” As quickly as Nedoma did so, he began to almost immediately regret it. If there's some unsavory type staying here I just announced that I'm coming in. With no reply, he still hesitates to take the plunge into the darkness, but eventually begins his slow descent.
In the little light available he can make out an empty shelf near the bottom of the steps. From what he can see, the floor and walls are made completely out of stone, giving a more cold and unwelcoming feeling compared to the upper floor. While he slowly advances, his hands take on the role of navigator. They slowly move around, feeling and uncovering what his eyes couldn't quite make out. He finds what feels like another empty shelf, which then stops at a corner, marking the end of the wall adjacent to the steps. As his hands move to the next side, he discovers more shelving. Finally, he touches something different- some sort of metallic shape which was protruding from the wall. Probably something to hold a torch. Continuing onward, he is surprised to have already reached yet another corner. As he continues down the next wall, the discoveries his hands make follow a similar pattern to the ones before. This is probably just a storage room. Yet as he reached the end of the current wall, he came across an oddly empty section.
He meticulously moved his hands along the stone, looking for the presence of something. Anything. Nedoma felt that in a room that seemed so polluted with shelves, an empty spot seemed strange. Yet try as he might, all he felt was the cold sensation of rock rubbing against his fingers. Nedoma abandoned his search and gripped the necklace given to him at the adventurer's guild while he gathered his thoughts. This building is right across from where the slave store. That's where the map said that the demon knight's guild should have been. Could the map have been wrong? The receptionist did seem like she didn't know much about them... Nedoma continued to fidget with the jewel in his hands. It's soft surface an outlet for Nedoma's frustrations.
He stares at the jewel, its dark color a -. Wait, I can see it's color? A faint light flows through the cracks of the bricks along the wall. The sound of stone being dragged over stone roars in front of him, reverberating throughout the small room. It is soon joined by the rapid thumping in his heart at the sight of the wall moving towards him, as if it was reaching out to grab him. That was all Nedoma needed to see to make his next decision. His legs worked furiously carrying him back to where the stairway stood inside of the room. As he rushed up the steps, clinging to his belongings so as to not lose them, he takes a quick glance at what he had unleashed. The flat, glowing surface now faced directly back at him. Behind it, a glow of light stretched into the storage room, now illuminated. This is all the motivation Nedoma needs to continue running, bursting through the broken door and slamming it shut behind him, before sprinting a short distance away. He stares at the alleged demon knight's guild door, waiting for something. Anything. To burst through. To open the door. Moments turned to seconds turned to minutes. And Nedoma continued to stare unblinking at the door, his fist tightly clenching his sword. And yet, just like his first impression of when he walked into that building...
There was nothing.
