He wandered beyond the door, eventually, heading towards the strange lights rather than away from them. Some nagging feeling in the back of his mind told him to stop, to stay clear of the strange glow. The quills on the back of his neck down through his shoulder hair began to prickle, standing on their own. As if his body wanted to erect defenses even before he'd crossed the threshold in to the dimly lit place.

Teyouma did not notice the shifting of the colors around him. He did not see the orange of his feathering turning more blue-toned in beneath the strange light. Everywhere was darkness, and he was absorbed among it, except for his pitohui-styled wings. He was more intrigued by the glimmering crystals and their strange black ooze than anything else. Each time he'd come across a cluster of them he'd try to pry loose a small chunk; then he'd either roll it in his palms to clear the oil, or discard it. By now Teyouma had a small collection of pebbles from these clusters but nothing of remarkable quality. He'd just as easily discard them as he found them, leaving trails of tiny stones behind him as he investigated the room.

And then he saw it: the largest pile of stone to be found in this place; it reminded him immediately of the blue-light spire of Polaris, but it was different too. The ominous light it emanated sent off more warning bells, but being a monkey-brained fool Teyouma did not heed those either. He approached the lower segment of the oily black spire, staring wide-eyed at it, until he noticed the gaping hollow segments at the base. These alcoves looked immense compared to his own lithe body and he wondered - albeit briefly - what had created them.