Above Ground: Inner Sanctum (Effigy Room)

The Inner Sanctum would have been a well-guarded area in its former days, what with being the room that leads down to Morpheus Keep. It is highly ornate with a creamy ivory being its main color. It would seem as though the architect couldn't decide whether or not to make this room circular or octagonal...


In the center of the floor are a total of seven effigies - images of fallen men of influence or honor to the initial Heads of this Church. They almost look like knights... crusaders, perhaps? Not unlike The Remnant, some might say...



Along the marble floor, one will notice five strategically-placed cobblestones in the shape of a four-leaf clover. Those in the know are aware that the one with a Star of David engraved in its precise center is the pressure-plate needed to access Morpheus Keep.

Stepping on the plate will cause what sounds like a thunderous fall of boulders, but in actuality causes an ages-old mechanism to lift the effigy of The Unnamed Poet-Knight up from its place on the floor, revealing the stone stairway into the Tunnel Corridor of the secret area now inhabited by The Remnant. Even though one must step off the plate to enter, they will have sixty precious seconds to get there and down the stairs before the effigy once again descends. Some of the little ones may need to actually jump on the plate for the pressure to register.

Alternately, provided they can move them, there are a grand total of three urns about the room. Removing them from their pedestals, one will find that the bottoms of all three would fit perfectly onto a certain four-leaf clover-shaped area...




... Mind your head on the way back up, though!

Will was headed out again, however, a few of the effigies caught his eye. He stood there, musing quitely on who or what these effigies were for.

Lara entered the effigy room, intent on re-entering Morpheus Keep after a flight, only to find Will there once more, studying the effifies.

"Nifty little rocks, aren't they?" Lara asked, heading over to stand by him to study what he was looking at.

"Yeah," Will said distractedly. "They are pretty cool. I wonder who they are..."

"Tell me about your father." Will said suddenly. He then realized it might a question that was too personal. "I mean, you don't have to... I was just thinking about my own parents..."

Lara stiffened upon hearing her father brough into the conversation, feeling a lump of emotion in her throat. "He was... the greatest man alive. He sacrificed his life for me, Demyan, Lynn and her." Lara replied, deliberately skipping over her mother.

She smiled softly at Will. "Yeah, your folks were real nice people. I don't remember a whole lot, but enough to totally get why you would miss them."

Will nodded and sighed. "I don't remember them much either, sometimes... sometimes I feel angry at myself... I feel like I should remember more... But I can barely remember what they look like... only pictures refresh my memory..."

He didn't exactly no why he was telling her these things. He never really told anyone them. Only his sister. To everyone else he'd say that he'd remember his parents clearly. He was embarrassed that he couldn't remember anything else... he knew it was stupid but it just felt like to him that people might think that he didn't miss them that much if he couldn't remember them.

Lara looked down, focusing her gaze on the effigy so she wouldn't have to make eye contact. "Same here. It's crazy, really. Lynn looks so much like Dad... and Demyan looks so much like her, yet sometimes I just can't remember exactly what he looked like. Which is why I look at this quite often." she explained as she revealed the signet ring on a chain around her neck that had an image of her parents on the jewel.

Lara didn't know exactly why she was telling Will all these things. She wasn't one to sit and chit-chat about the past, especially her parents. She'd never revealed the ring to anyone else and wasn't even sure her siblings knew she had it. But there was something about Will that seemed to easily coax out all Lara's innermost secrets out of her and leave her with the sense that anything she may utter to him wouldn't leave this room.

"I always wondered what you looked at." Will said looking at ring across her neck. "Was it your parents'?"

He took his hands out of his leather jacket. On his right hand was a golden band. "This was my father's ring."

Lara nodded. "Father's. It was a Christmas present form her."

"Your father's wedding ring?" she replied in a half-statement, half question. Briefly she wondered whatever happened to her own parent's wedding rings, if they had died with them.

Will nodded. "My sister has my mother's, she gave it to her just before she died and my father gave me his just before he did."

"Listen Lara, don't take this the wrong way but... Why do you refer to your mother like that? As a pronoun, like she wasn't your mother."

The teen nodded in comprehension. "That's what happened with our parents and their lockets. Demyan and Lynn have them."

Lara sighed. "Referring to her as a pronoun is about the politest thing I can do. If I call her what I really want to call her, it upsets Demyan and Lynn. After all she's done she deserves it..." she muttered.

"Don't you ever feel...angry... at your parents? You know, for leaving you and your siblings all by yourselves?" Lara asked, biting her lip lightly, hoping she wasn't the only one occasionally feeling that way. Not to mention the odd, unknown reason why Lara cared what Will thought of her...

"I did... I do." Will said. He did sometimes feel that way about his mother and father. Afterall, he was just six at the time his father died, and even younger when his mother died. And Elizabeth didn't even have decent memories of them. "But... I don't think it was their fault... I mean, with the bloody Purgers it was out of their control... Dad was only trying to get justice for what happened to Mum... when he was killed."

He looked at Lara in the eye. "I mean isn't that what your mother did?"

Lara broke her gaze from the effigy to meet Will's. "No. She left us with strangers to go get revenge." she replied, but in a softer tone she added. "She broke her promises."

He was glad that Lara looked at her. He brushed a strain of hair away from her face. "What promises?" Will ask her.

Lara flinched from the contact, awkwardly pulling back. "What does it matter? They were all broken so what good are they?"

Will felt a very unpleasant feeling when Lara pulled back. He put his hands back in his pocket. "I'm sorry."

He sighed and backed away slightly. "I didn't mean to pry."

"No, you weren't. It's just... hard to explain." Lara replied, feeling a little guilty for shoving Will away, especially judging by how he looked when she pulled back.

Wanting to change the subject, she asked Will. "Are you going to go by another name for the future?"

"I hadn't really thought about it..." Will quickly reverted back to his old less serious self and walked over to examine a chip on the wall. "I suppose I should though, huh? I mean the last thing I want to do is give my parents a heart-attack. Now that would be counter-productive."

"I'll make my name something cool..." He turned back and grinned at her. "What about... Brad Pitt?"

Lara wrinkled her nose. "Ok, I know the guy must've been a stud when he was younger, but by now he's probably a scrawny old raisin! I don't want that image in my mind whenever I look at you!"

Will laughed at that. "Yeah, and I think back then, they'd know who Brad Pitt was and I suppose that wouldn't be much of a cover..."

"What's your secret name?"

Lara nodded with an amused expression. "No kiddding."

"Right now it's Lorraine Halliwell, but I might change it. Not too sure yet." she shrugged. "Depends if I find a niftier name."

"Lorraine Halliwell." Will repeated, trying the name out. "Sounds good. That'll probably be Lorry for sort then right?"

"Basically. I figure it'll be an easier transition. Lara - Lorry, ya know? I'm tempted to go by Ana Conda though!" Lara laughed.

"Now that's something." Will chuckled.

"I'd probably go by Robert though - my middle name." Will said. "Well alright, it's Roberto...." He then stopped. "Why am I giving you more ammunition?"

"Maybe I'll get Lynn to go by it. Her name means noble snake anyway."

Lara snickered at the revelation of Will's middle name. "Well then I have the perfect nickname for you!"