Back on the ground?
You pad on out and back to the stairs and start going up hoping for better luck on the next level. This level does not have a door just the outside walls and a large window to an ocean. Funny; you don't recall seeing an ocean when you were outside. Turning around you see the door outside and ground just outside? You stand there, blinking, in mild shock. You had been on the ground, and then you went up two flights of stairs, and you're back on the ground? You aren't at all sure you want to know how that works...
You look out and are surprised to see what looks like roofs in the middle of the ocean. You almost gag on a horrible smell -- the place is heavily infested with mildew! But wait, you can't see any mildew growing... The wallpaper is clearly water-stained, and much of it is peeling off the walls; there's a lot of furniture piled up near the stairs going down. It looks like this room must have been flooded at one point; as for the stench, perhaps you just have a more-acute nose, now that you're a sphinx-creature.
Unfortunately there is nothing here to help you on your quest for greater humanity. You shudder a little and climb up the stairs again. The next landing opens up into what looks like a library; at least, the walls are lined with shelves filled with scrolls and books, and there are a number of free-standing shelves in the middle of this room. A mage's library...
Written by Catprog & Cubist on 13 September 2010