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Pointedly ignoring the thuds beneath her feet she climbed back up the stairs set alongside the wall of the tower until she reached the floor she had entered at. She took a moment to reacquaint herself with the tower. Once it might have been a place of beauty and elegance, the tower was mostly open on the inside, she could look straight up through it and see three floors above her, with sections of floor and balcony stretching out from the wall in elegant sweeps and spirals. A spiral staircase ran along the wall, breaking occasionally at a larger floor or small balcony, and delicate iron furniture dotted the place, mostly little tables and chairs. Larger wooden bookshelves and cabinets were dotted about, probably her best bet for finding something useful.
Of course the pristine beauty of the place was heavily marred by the battle that had taken place here. Most of the furniture was mangled or collapsed, the red carpet torn and burned. And everywhere were the dead, old skeletons with shattered ribs, arms scorched black, crushed skulls and more. Disturb not the faithful of Ava she muttered to herself. And try to find a spare robe while she was at it so she could dispense of what she was pretty sure was a transparent charade for both her and the owl.
Speaking of, there was the corpse the owl had shoved down on their first meeting. She knelt at it know, wincing at the still present bits of rot along some of the bones, not that old then. Definitely some teeth to the owl’s words. Despite several deep cuts and rips from what she assumed were owl talons the heavier leather clothing would be a sturdy upgrade to the flimsy white linen she had now, even if it wasn’t covered in hundreds of rips and tears from bird beaks and talons.
“Yeah, I’m looking at you Aers.” She glared at the tattoo of the bird, which had the decency to hide behind a wing in shame.
She got to work stripping the corpse, definitely needed a wash, and probably some repair and refitting, but some actual serviceable clothes were a godsend. Hopefully not actually though. Gathering it together into her satchel she left the body behind and moved on and started up the stairs. There were a few interesting things along the way, a fountain formed of glass, once made of four glass herons spouting water, now three shattered remains and a lone heron, water long dry. A short bridge that terminated sharply, rails along it gilded in golden feathers, although rough iron and rust peaked out from many of them now.
An entrance to a balcony, still in surprisingly good shape, she lingered on it for a moment, enjoying the view and the steady breeze. Something about it lingered in her mind for some time afterward. She found herself working through the paces of her meditations, feeling the flow of mana. Maybe this would be a good place to expand her power.
