New Avalon

[CalamityJade]

The Guard gives a groan and walks over to Sam. "Look, I'll walk ya over to the stairs and then you just take them straight down, okay?"

Erika might also note two other things. One being that the card underneath the one T pocketed did not have the same faint tint and that it...seemed to have moved slightly as T moved the card. Was it a trick of the light?

[accalia]

"Ah. Thank you. I seem to have inherited the same sense of direction my ancestors had when they walked straight into the ocean thinking it was just a brook to cross to get to the next town over." Sam babbles, playing up the Amiable-but-stupid aspect and glad the guard left the doorway. now if only he can keep him away from his post long enough.....

[yamikuronue]

"Wait--" says Erika, reaching for T's hand. T's other hand immediately goes to her knife, but Erika hesitates before grabbing T.

"Can I see that card?" she asks, quietly. T searches her face, but hands over the card. Erika tilts it back and forth, watching to see what that tint does.

[CalamityJade]

The tint on the card moved, but it was like turning a compass. It stayed along the same facing no matter how she tilted the card.

The guard rolled his eyes. "Then ya ottah right things down."

[yamikuronue]

Erika's eyes light up. A puzzle! Holding the card in front of her, she slowly begins to turn ina  circle to see what it does.

T scowls. "What are you doing? We need to get out of here."

[CalamityJade]

The faint blue tint traces the cards edge as she turned, with the top edge changing when she faced the door and the bottom edge when she was turned away from it.

[yamikuronue]

Erika nods. "Right. This is leading us this way."

T frowns, but follows as Erika heads for the door, keeping a close eye on the card.

[CalamityJade]

It's definitely leading them out, just around the time that the guard is still trying to get Sam to head in the right damn direction and getting somewhat agitated by the sound of it.

[yamikuronue]

Erika, head bent to focus on the card, entirely ignores Sam; T tries to catch his eye, gesturing with her head toward Erika.

[accalia]

"Write things down? that might help, if i could ever find the writings later" Sam babbles, trying to keep the guards attention for as long as he can.

[CalamityJade]

The guard grumbled a little. "Look" He walked clearly to one of the doors, expecting Sam to follow him. "YA go in there, follow the stairs down, and you will SEE the front desk. You can't NOT see the desk. Just. Go. There."

Once they leave the room the card points down the opposite direction from Sam and the officer, which might be a slight problem since T still hadn't seen the OTHER officer. Was Mordriana in less danger suddenly, or had they left for a smoke break?

[yamikuronue]

Or was she kidnapped by a fake guard, or did she pull a runner and the guard was looking for her, or was she off for some kind of test and the guard is with her, or...

T shakes her head. No sense brooding on it. She's not here, and neither is the guard. The one is mildly annoying, but the other is a problem because it means they could be made at any minute. She's gotta keep her wits about her and keep calm. She's used to keeping one eye open for danger -- which makes it all the more annoying that she's shadowing someone who is totally oblivious, staring down at that card like it's the only thing that matters. She has to tug her out of the way of a goddamn pole, for fuck's sake!

[CalamityJade]

The card seems to be leading Erika in the direction of the other stairwell, which at least meant Erika had to look up from the interesting card. Though....the more she stared at it, the more she got the idea of what was happening. The card had been 'charged' somehow, and that was the cause for the tint she was seeing. There was more to it, but... she couldn't quite figure it out yet. And how had someone managed to get the card to hold a charge!

[yamikuronue]

And if you could turn a card into a simple compass -- for what was Pulse if not a sort of electricity, and electricity could be used to make a magnet, and a compass was a kind of magnet, so really, this all made perfect sense except for the part where the card wasn't metal -- what else could you do with it? Perhaps you could power small machines without need for gears? Perhaps you could make golems, for example, or animate a small paper doll? Erika's mind was awash with possibility. She was startled, therefore, when T grabbed her shirt and hauled her back a step.

"Huh?" she asked, looking up, sleepily.

T scowls, gesturing ahead of her -- to the stairwell she hadn't been cognizant of entering. "Oh," she says, blushing. "I should pay more attention."

"You think?"

[CalamityJade]

Well, the card's definitely saying to take the stairs...which is rather odd, if you think about it.

The officer, now fairly sure that Sam might actually get what he's saying, turns to start heading back for the room he'd been standing in front of.