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The team moved with haste up the steep walls so they could reach the safehouse in time.
After the fountain incident followed by a short break, the wind began to cool and the sun began to lighten its overbearing rays. This meant there was no longer any time to idle away before they would need to continue the climb, whether Ethan finished reading the briefs or not.
Feathers held on tight as they were fastened by rope and tied to Alexander's back, acting as the gator's eyes for the muscle that carried them both.
With a growing understanding of the environment, Ethan scouted the way by taking brief risks.
By fixing a cord to the cliff, he would launch himself out into danger to get a quick preview for the best routes above for them. In doing this he was also verifying that their climb has not changed since the last map update, before landing back on the vertical ground with a strong tug against his anchor.
This system worked well for some time until Feathers pointed out the very quiet tumbling of rocks that clattering from the paws of unseen creatures amongst the building ruins.
In their ascent they came across only 3 collapses from only small parts of buildings that did not pose a threat to their route to make them redirect their path.
The most imposing threat was the sun as it crawled towards the horizon, darkening the skies and taking the light with it. The stretching shadows across the face made the climb all the more dangerous, losing visibility for the next handhold to grab, narrowing the distance ahead that they could see.
While this slowed their climb significantly, they had just barely made their way to the safehouse by the time that all traces of light had disappeared.
A hole opened up above them in a brick wall, carved out of genuine marble that the team crawled through one by one. First was feathers who led the way by the light of a red flair, next was Alexander who carried them on his back, before Ethan slipped in last with ease.
The place they crawled into was one made up by some odd construction, less from a conventional building, but one made up from the geography of the tilted city and reinforced to be a safe haven.
In another time, the marble brick wall would have blocked intruders from entering this narrow alleyway, flanked by petramir buildings on either side. Small staircases to unopening doors served as sturdy ledges for one to rest their sleeping bags upon, steel handrails serving as anchors to tie hammocks.
Where the sky would have been visible standing on the cobbled ground, adventurers of the past plated the open exterior with steel as a protected safe space.
A large and imposing marble wall sheltered the opposite end of the alley, offering no passage or exit from the safe house, preventing anything from falling down on top of them, by accident or by force.
Over the years, more small construction was built up on the inside as well from the ones who came before for the ones that follow.
A metal lectern was bolted to the steel wall containing a single ledger that carefully preserves the writing inside by inscribed arcane runes.
Scattered around the room were many candles, some with handles to be carried and some melted in place. Most of them were collected against the wall opposite of the ledger. Years upon years, rows of candles lined against this wall, melting together and standing tall to frame a single quote one brave soul had carved into the marble face a long time ago.
"Today is my discovery to give the many of tomorrow."
An adventurer's sworn oath and silent prayer to the goddesses, for missions that adventurers take knowing that they may not come back.
Alexander lit his own candle before setting it amongst the memorial silently without a word as Ethan watched on from a small distance. He took in how many had been left behind by all those who came before.
Feathers gave a small nod and tucked themselves away to perch atop one of the higher staircase ledges, lighting an old candle to see as they marked the changes they discovered on their route. They marked down the collapses, the loss of the former waterfountain. Adding in more notes about the marble bookshelves within the library, they made sure to include the potential sightings of a viperwolf pack that might be nested near the main route and marked down a possible safer route.
Ethan turned to the ledger and read through the names of the recent teams on the open page, including notes of the ones who returned and the ones who didn't.
Flaming Minion left with a party of 6 a little over 2 years ago and only 4 returned 2 weeks later.
Eclipsing Rise left with a party of 4 a year and a half ago, only 1 returned almost 4 weeks later.
Ballroom Waltz left with a party of 5 not long after Eclipsing Rise. Only 4 returned 1 week later.
The last team was the only name Ethan recognized, Clockwork Locomotion.
They had passed by this very safehouse 3 months ago on their way into the basin. There were 8 on their team including Mr. Froyd.
Based on the ledger, only 5 had made it back here to report their departure starting at a week and a half after they arrived. Their names trickled in one at a time, with one to a few days apart from each other's exit, the last one leaving 4 days after the previous.
2 party members were undocumented in this ledger. By the testimonies of the previous team, one of them was killed by the architect, the other they lost track of along with Froyd in the chaos.
Ethan continued the time in silent respect for the individuals that dedicated their lives to adventure as he wrote down his party's passage.
The Soaring Horizon. Party of 3. Ethan Lupis, Alexander Laveau, and "Feathers" Rook Nevermore.
The odds of all of them making it out was as small as their party's numbers compared to the ones that came before.
Ethan turned away, before he could let that idea set in his mind. They all were going to make it out of there. The three of them were going to find the scribe's journals and make it out better than anyone else has done before.
Alexander propped himself up, leaning back against the wall, already in a meditative state.
"I was thinking, in the morning, maybe we could try and scout along the rim of the basin. And maybe we could spot the architect if they're out and make sure the path is safe before we make our way into the labyrinth." Ethan said hopefully as he walked over, joining Alexander on the cold floor. "It would give us a better idea of the general geography of the area before too."
Alexander's eyebrows furrowed when he heard Ethan's voice but gave him a small nod and a curt grunt without opening his eyes.
They sat in silence for a few moments as the light flickered. "You know, now that we're in the basin, we won't have to worry about crumbling water fountains." He laughed gently with no response from the gator still.
More silence filled the air between them until Ethan moved on, giving Alexander the space to rest. Ethan set up his own sleeping bag as a pillow halfway into the alley, not too far below where Feathers finished tying their hammock.
"Our best chance at finding those notes is by re-tracing the previous team's steps, so let's try not to waste too much time on scouting." Alexander stated flatly to Ethan's back.
The specule paused before turning around with a half hearted smile "Of course". Alexander still refused to look at him from his relaxed position and Ethan nodded in acknowledgement before he turned in for the night.