Gate of Memoirs/East Hall: Bronze

Yet another day passes with Nimrah being bounded to her Master's Tomb. However, things may just change with the arrival of Renatus...
Portrait 	Dialogue
 	
*[ East Hall "Courage" ]
Music: "Ghost"	Music: "Ghost"
 	
*"—Ah, to whom do we dedicate our fleeting lives?"
*The essence of a being is an intangible...thing, for lack of a better word.
*Even I couldn't tell you what it is.
*Was I anything—or anyone—before I was threaded into this form by Master?
*Equal parts blasphemy and blessing;a sin cast in divine form.
*My memories of anything before Master are muddled.
*Servants like us don't live for ourselves.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
**squeak!*
*The relentlessly teased rat squirms free of slender, cruel fingers, and darts off into the darkness.
 	
*Nimrah: Oh well. It was getting a little much for the poor thing, anyway.
*Nimrah stretches her wings, thoughtfully thumbing at the numerous tears in the membrane.
 	
*Nimrah: (I may be a spirit, but this corporeal form still weathers with time.)
*Nimrah: (Ahh...I'm probably going to fall apart before I find a way out of here.)
*Nimrah: (CAN I even die? Master, why are you so cruel?)
 	
*Floating through one of the tunnels, Nimrah traces her fingers along the brittle bones of long-forgotten explorers.
*Many entered the Scholar's Tomb in search of his magnum opus—the Tome of Desire, said to possess the power to change one's destiny,
*but none had ever escaped from its twisting passages, as if imprisoned by some invisible force.
*Someone would invariably recover that ponderous tome, only to be struck down by jealous comrades or greedy partners...
*...and just like a whisper in the wind, the tome would vanish to some other locked chest in the tomb.
 	
*On and on this game of cat-and-mouse went, and the bound spirit Nimrah grew restless for her own escape.
*Nimrah: (...There has to be someone out there I can make use of.)
*Nimrah: (Has it been that long? Or maybe they've realized how much of a death trap this place really is—)
 	
*Nimrah: Speak of the devil...
 	
*Nimrah: Well! Time to put on a show.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Honor" 	Music: "Honor"
 	
*That's how I got to know Renatus.
 	
*He was handsome.Younger than I expected.
*Said he was here on behest of his pontiff uncle, which I was surprised to hear about...
*Most of the others were academics or robbers. It seems that a whole age has passed...
 	
*Just like some of the more intelligent explorers, he managed to find Master's tome.
*This time, it was in his lavish study, behind a clever false wall.
*Unfortunately, neither of us expected what was about to come next...
 	
*Renatus: Whew, this book's kinda heavy.
*Renatus: ...Figures. It's locked shut. Can't open it.
*Renatus: What's with the skull, though? To keep unsettling passages away from delicate minds?
*Renatus thumbs the ominous cover with its red-jeweled eye sockets.
 	
*Nimrah: I always assumed Master was a touch...odd.
*Nimrah: Either way, now that you have the tome, your true trial begins...
 	
*Renatus: Right...We have to leave this place. You said no one has ever managed?
 	
*Renatus: Got a pretty good feeling I'll be the first and only. I'm armed to the teeth!
 	
*Nimrah: Hmhm. After you, then.
 	
*As Renatus walks toward the heavy door of the study, it slams shut with a resounding crack.
*One by one, every candle in the room is extinguished by a phantom force, leaving only the dull glint of the jewels in the skull's sockets.
Music: "Overcome"	Music: "Overcome"
 	
*Renatus: Hey! What on earth—
 	
*Renatus: ...?!
 	
*The skull begins to cackle in a warped voice.
*Warped Voice: <Foolish one! You have wandered into my domain...>
*Warped Voice: <Now, you shall play by my rules.>
 	
*Nimrah: M-Master?!
 	
*Renatus: What?!
 	
*A phantom force begins dragging them forcefully into the back of the room, where the large desk and chair have inexplicably vanished.
*In its place was a standing mirror, framed in fading bronze.
 	
*Nimrah: That wasn't here before!
*In the confusion, Renatus yanks at Nimrah as they're both drawn into the mirror.
 	
*Nimrah: ?!
*Nimrah: Let go!
 	
*Nimrah bats at the seeker as the mirror yawns a portal before them, and everything goes black.