A light tapping echoed throughout the hall as my claws clicked on the hard floor, unlike the heavily decorated room, it was completely bare with spotless white walls and a dull grey floor. The thing is, it was way too long, I have walked for around ten minutes now with no end in sight, out of habit I began stroking my lower jaw. I don’t see why it's so long, it’s not even a kill room that’s loaded with traps. I let out a small sigh and continued on.

I kept walking until I noticed an anomaly in the owl's magic signature, it took a hard left and disappeared into the wall, a hidden door I assume. I began inspecting the area while being careful to not trip any hidden mechanism. Though the wall looked unblemished, minuscule cracks let out energy and upon further inspection, I found a series of fingerprints arranged in a peculiar pattern. A slight magic was present in the prints signaling that they were infused with magic when they were made.

Hmm, it’s probably a mechanism that requires magic to be inserted in a peculiar pattern. If whoever made the mechanism was super paranoid it would probably need a certain signature and print as well. I lifted my index finger and willed it to change, my claw shrunk and a pattern appeared on the tip of my finger. Next, I snatched a strain of the owl's magic and began replicating it with my own. The black strands of my magic slowly started to turn into the owl's deep purple, I also mimicked her poor control as well.

After checking the age of each print I determined the sequence, I reached up and began, repeating the process of pressing one and waiting three seconds. After pressing the final one a section of the wall to the left of me opened up, slowly revealing a large staircase leading downwards, *sigh* overcomplicated bases get annoying fast. I observed the energies exiting the hidden door and found a few different unique strands. Once I stepped in the wall behind me closed automatically, after looking at it for a second I turned and began to quickly descend while treading lightly so not to trigger anything. After around five flights I arrived in what looks like a ballroom with a few people occupying it but it was in no ways full.

I observed the room while staying hidden in the shadows of the stairwell. It was large but compared to the rest of the building it was relatively small, a large crystal chandelier that emitted a dull light hung gracefully over a polished wooden floor, large tables littered the room each covered in an elegant white cover. The strange thing is that even though each table could easily seat five people they only had three chairs each. To my left a large polished bar was situated with a large assortment of alcohol and behind it sat a bartender in a red vest clearing a glass. The bartender wasn’t the only person in this elegant dark room, a flurry of servants was also present, each scurrying around preparing the room for guests.

I reached up and pinched my snout in annoyance, what did I just come upon? A door to my left busted open suddenly and three individuals strolled in. A tall man in a suit lead the owl and a man in a black cloak into the room, the owl was in her human form and wearing a golden dress, though she looked calm I could still feel a slight hint of fear from within her. The man in the cloak on the other hand had his entire body concealed and was giving off airs of annoyance. The man in the suit led them until they came to a table in the center of the room. Servants quickly descended on them giving drinks and appetizers.

Once they were situated they started to elegantly eat and chat about nothing in particular. Though I did learn their names, the man in the suit was called Arthur Strix and the man obscured by the cloak was jack. They continued chanting about nothing until the owl, learning her name gives her too much respect, finally chimed in, “when will our fellow members arrive, Mr. Strix?”

“Oh they will be here soon Mrs. [REDACTED], don’t worry about it,” Strix said dismissively while waving a hand, “Though I’m excited as well, it’s rare to have so many conservative successful recruitments.”

It seems like this is some organization's meeting, maybe a welcoming party? My thoughts were interrupted by a slight draft behind me, looks like the guests are arriving. My body quickly started to shrink and morph, soon I was at a comfortable seven feet and much more humanlike. My cloak began rippling shrinking to fit my new form but the skulls and necklace stayed the same. I inspected myself to check if everything looks alright and realized that the antlers on my necklace were way too big for me now so I removed and hid them under my cloak. To conceal my face I grabbed the shadows created by the hood and stretched them across hiding it in shadows.

I slightly unleashed my presence causing a wind to pick up and the lights to dim, the shadows around me started to stretch and crawl outwards like they were among the living, first impressions matter after all. The servants abruptly froze and started shaking from fear and the three individuals also dropped their conversation and looked my way wearily. I emerged from the shadows and let out a small cackle while pretending to look the room over. Once that was done I strolled over to a table in the far corner, a young servant slowly approached while shaking like a leaf. She took uneven steps and tripped on nothing a few times before coming beside me. With shaking hands, she lifted up a note pad and with a choking voice asked,

“Ee-esteemed *gulp* sir, what can i-i get for you?”

Feeling a little bad for the girl I withdrew my presence and responded, “...the strongest...alcohol...and a nice...bone...” my voice was menacing and raspy, I came off as someone who doesn’t talk much, which is true, I guess it will work in my advantage and turn

people away.

She nodded and quickly wrote it down, “Yes sir,” she said, still shaking a bit, “it will be right out.”

She quickly ran off and went over to the bar and entered a door. Soon she came back and placed a large whiskey bottle and a decently sized femur in front of me and asked if I needed anything else which I responded by waving her off. I sat back and opened the bottle she gave me, it smelled incredibly strong but also had a slight sweetness to it. I raised it up and took a swig, it was awesome, strong, and sweet my favorite. Though it was not nearly strong enough to do anything to me I still liked the taste and slight burning feeling. I grabbed the bone and snapped it in half and began picking out and feeding on the marrow, it was savory and had a slight amount of magic in it. I leaned back, got comfortable, and savored my drink as I prepared to watch the show.