[IC Scene w/Lacroix] Catacombs
To say that the catacombs beneath Odessa were huge would have been an understatement -- they were twice as big as the Crimean catacombs, three times bigger than the catacombs of Rome, and eight times bigger than the catacombs of Paris. Thousands of kilometers of corridors existed within the underground catacombs of Odessa; it would have been easy to get lost in the winding passageways had there not been such strict guidelines in place for entering. One of the only parts of the Odessa catacombs that was open to the public was sectioned off as a museum, and only admitted groups accompanied by a tour guide and a security guard. Ash didn’t see this as completely horrible idea; after all, wandering off alone had gotten people killed before, as he'd found out online before this trip.
The tour guide sported a heavy Russian accent even with her exemplary English, and spoke of the catacombs’ use in World War II as a place for people to hide from German fascists who had occupied Odessa from 1941 to 1944. Several hundred people lived in the catacombs for these three years, being helped by the local population for their basic needs. In one section of the museum, Lacroix and Ash observed a kitchen cut out of the rock used by those people so many years ago. A bedroom came next, a stone slab of a bed covered with hay for padding. A bath came after, a patrol post next; the tour guide hadn’t once mentioned deaths occurring during World War II, but even Ash couldn’t rule out that possibility because of how dank and inhospitable it was down here.
Lights posted on the stone walls kept the tunnels illuminated to a degree, but the lighting was still certainly dimmer in here than it was in the light of day. No bones littered their pathways; this little museum within the catacombs was as horror-free as any other museum Ash had visited. It was interesting in a way, yes, but from how Hector and Lacroix talked before, he had been expecting something a little scarier. ...then again, he wasn’t a death mage, and couldn’t sense the weight of death around this place.
Even though this tour felt safe and comfortable to him, Ash wasn’t sure if this was exactly what Hector had in mind when he’d said he wanted Lacroix to visit the catacombs. He leaned closer to Lacroix to whisper near his ear, trying to speak softly so the rest of the group wouldn’t hear them, "...did Hector say we were supposed to stay on the tour, or sneak off on our own?"
The tour guide sported a heavy Russian accent even with her exemplary English, and spoke of the catacombs’ use in World War II as a place for people to hide from German fascists who had occupied Odessa from 1941 to 1944. Several hundred people lived in the catacombs for these three years, being helped by the local population for their basic needs. In one section of the museum, Lacroix and Ash observed a kitchen cut out of the rock used by those people so many years ago. A bedroom came next, a stone slab of a bed covered with hay for padding. A bath came after, a patrol post next; the tour guide hadn’t once mentioned deaths occurring during World War II, but even Ash couldn’t rule out that possibility because of how dank and inhospitable it was down here.
Lights posted on the stone walls kept the tunnels illuminated to a degree, but the lighting was still certainly dimmer in here than it was in the light of day. No bones littered their pathways; this little museum within the catacombs was as horror-free as any other museum Ash had visited. It was interesting in a way, yes, but from how Hector and Lacroix talked before, he had been expecting something a little scarier. ...then again, he wasn’t a death mage, and couldn’t sense the weight of death around this place.
Even though this tour felt safe and comfortable to him, Ash wasn’t sure if this was exactly what Hector had in mind when he’d said he wanted Lacroix to visit the catacombs. He leaned closer to Lacroix to whisper near his ear, trying to speak softly so the rest of the group wouldn’t hear them, "...did Hector say we were supposed to stay on the tour, or sneak off on our own?"