Treasure in the Dark - RPLOG
Participants
Date
25/8/477
Log
"Let's just go, Marcus!" one of the two sparrows huddled around the little campfire says to the other, "No one is coming!" The other snorts at him. "Relax, David!" he says, "I'm sure that they will show up soon. That treasure is bound to be down here! Just think about last time!"
Thelergramor walks towards the campfire, hands in his pants pockets. His plague mask upon his face, one lens cracked from a slight altercation with a certain fox and her prosthetic limb. Equipped heavily with weapons, the wolf silently steps up to the sparrows. No words, glances behind him for anyone else coming.
Garbed in her full combat regalia, Natska approaches the pair of bird-folk at their campfire. The jaguar rests her ornately inscribed gauntlets on her hips, tapping at her metal tassets for a moment, then nods. "There was a notice that you needed Freeswords," she says, glancing around.
A clanking lion swiftly jogs towards the job location in all due haste, each step forcing his equipment to clank against each other with the subtltly of an overloaded blunderbuss. "Greetins!" Dio exclaims with a somewhat heavy pant. "I came 'ere as fast as I could with all this 'eavy armor I got goin' on." Thrusting out his chest and reclaiming his breath, he slams a fist upon the heavy armor on his chest in a proud fashion. "Dio the Traveler at yer service. 'ow can the Freeswords 'elp ya today?"
Trailing just behind Natska, Cassidy slinks onto the scene in her apparel. A red tailcoat worn above a short black skirt, with her hat and mask in attendance as usualy. "Not quite a relaxing day, but it should be fun at least, right?"
Towards the campsite of the sparrow beings the figure of a tall, monochrome furred being travels casually, clad in everyday garb with no hint of armor or weaponry to be found visibly on his person, save for the fact that the badger is followed by a fire elemental of roughly the same size and shape as him. As he approaches the sparrows, he gives a quick nod to the pair of sparrows, as well as Dio, Natska and Cassidy, quietly agreeing with their sentiments. "Haven't had a good treasure hunt in a while... not since that farm incident with all the corpses..." Cedric muses, scratching his cheek idly. "Anyhow, we should get down to business, I s'pose..."
The jumpier of the two sparrows cries out and whirls on Thelergramor. "Lost scouts!" he cries when he sees the wolf's masked visage, firing off a shot from his small pistol!
"David!" the other sparrow shouts, grabbing his brother's arm, 'What are you doing!?" Marcus looks around at the coming Freeswords. "I am so sorry!" he says, "Is he alright? David is a terrible shot!"
Thelergramor blinks as one of the sparrows pulls a gun and fires at him. The shot hits his left upper arm, tearing a bit of his chainmail and leaving a nice, bleeding gash. A few inches to the left, might have hit bone. As it is now, just a flesh wound. "...Are you fucking KIDDING ME!" Thel drops his hands to his swords, glaring at the bird. Able to contain himself out of some divine miracle, he doesn't attack the bird. "...I'm fine." Thel takes his scarf, ties it around the wound. "Be glad I'm in a good mood. Yesterday, you would have been dead already." The wolf crosses his arms, leans back. "Alright, what are we doing?"
Natska tenses at the gunshot, ready to leap... but not to Thel's defense, and she relaxes, and then gives Cass a nod. "Yea, but it sounded too interesting." She moves closer, and calls out. "Please do not shoot Private Meat. He is good enough at hurting himself, thank you."
Dio quickly draws a hand towards his spear and prepares to defend himself after hearing such a sudden gunshot, but soon lets out a sigh after observing the truth. "Indeed, let's not get too jump 'ere. Ya could've killed a person with that itch trigger finger ya got there. Now then..." Reaching back, the lion unstraps his tower shield and brings it to his front before placing it upon the ground and leaning upon it in a relaxed posture. "Tell us a bit more 'bout this job ya want us goin' on."
Cassidy leans back, a little surprised at the gunshots already! Well, it wasn't aimed at her or Natska, at least, and there was no threat. A lift of her shoulders in a shrug and she nods. "You've got a point, Natska. I don't mind -one- more little thing before our nap!" She snickers softly and nods at Dio. "Yes! Please, fill us in!"
Cedric is a bit shocked for a moment at the gunshots, but things appear to have calmed down considerably, and the badger just taps his foot impatiently, a bit bored as he waits for an explanation of what they'll be doing.
"Heh!" Marcus coughs nervously, "Sorry about that. But you shouldn't have snuck up on us like that! There are all kinds of things that lurk around in the dark down here!" The sparrow adjusts the fine cravat he is wearing and motions to a narrow walkway that disappears across the nearby subterranean lake. "This is what we are here for," he says, giving his brother a punch on the arm. "The path is usually underwater," he explains, "But for a few days each month, it is exposed. The lost usually stay away from it, so we are relatively safe setting up a camp here."
David, the other sparrow stows his pistol and points out over the narrow passage. "According to our sources," he says, "There is some kind of ruin down here even older than the arrival!"
His brother nods and continues. "We don't know what is out there for sure," he says, "But if you do the leg work and find out, you get an even cut of whatever is there. If there is nothing," he shrugs, "I guess we can pay you for your time and part ways."
Both avians look at the group expectantly. The underground lake and its exposed path glitter at the edge of the firelight's glow.
Thelergramor glares at, well, everyone. "Your concern is touching. It's not like I was shot or anything." Spiteful tone, sarcasm. Not one of his 'friends' asked if he was ok. Shaking his head, the wolf draws his swords, begins walking toward where they indicated the group should go. No questions for the jumpy birds.
Natska sighs heavily, bringing one of her mailed palms to rub along her muzzle. "Theler..." she starts, then tilts her head to the side. "Waaait. You said pre-arrival?" she asks David. She takes a moment to look between the birds, then nods. "Want to get the light, Cass?"
Dio listens intently at the job's explanation and picks up his tower shield once more. "Treasure! I'm pretty excited, but that are sure is dangerous an' a half. But I suppose that's what we're 'ere fer, eh?" He says with a heavy laugh. "Don't think I've seen too many pre-arrival artifacts in my lifetime, so this should turn out pretty interestin'. Let's get goin' 'fore it gets too dark an' all," he claims, bolstering his tower shield.
Cassidy glances around for a moment. No Fenris! And no Selena! She -could- get the light this time! "Why, yes! I will indeed get the light! Thanks for the suggestion, Natska." She brings up her left hand and snaps her fingers to conjure a little ball of flame. "Thel, we know you're fine. You get yourself injured all the time."
Cedric pays no attention to the wolf's pointless grousing as he quietly listens to the details provided by the pair of avian beings, nodding his head in response to the lion."Sounds good to me. The sooner we get this done with the better..." he says, glancing up towards the sky to gauge how much daylight is left, approximately. He looks towards Cassidy as she conjures up a flame, raising an eyebrow curiously as he looks between her, and his conjured fire elemental.
The path is not wide, nor is it lit. Good thing that Cassidy and Cedric have provided illumination. The path seems to wander rather than traveling in a straight line and the sandy ground shifts a little under passing feet. The silty sand is completely washed away in a few places, revealing worn, pocked stone beneath. Perhaps this was a maintained path once, long, long ago, but now it can hardly be distinguished from any natural formation. Occasionally, one of the blind, luminous fish that populates these waters flashes by just at the edge of sight.
"Be careful!" David calls to the group as they walk away. As if they needed telling.
"Not the point, Cassidy." Thelergramor continues onward, hoping to find something to vent his rage on. The sparrows don't get any acknowledgement that he heard them. Keeping his swords in hand, he glances around the path; unamused and unconcerned by the darkness. The illumination provided by Cassidy and the elemental help, though he makes no comment.
Natska heads off... well, not in *front* of the party, since Thel was already going first, but she makes sure she is the next one to head down the path. The feline moves with a smooth, graceful step, careful of her footing. When a chunk of the path crumbles beneath her foot she easily hops past it, then looks back to see if anyone needs help before continuing on.
Dio holds his tower shield out steadily in front of him as the group pushes on, making sure he's ready for any particular adversaries that may cross his path. "Oh! That was a close one, lass," he says in a dull whisper, not wanting to bring anything about with a hasty shout. "Let's watch out fer any more decayed construction. Use a walkin' stick o' sorts if ya can," he claims before trying to hop over the newly created hole.
Cassidy lets her right hand dangle freely, keeping it near the knife pouch on her leg as she follows up near Natska. "You alright there? Don't go falling on me, now!" She gives a little chuckle and adjusts her hat as she continues along, making sure to keep her paws on steady ground as she maintains the light.
Well, it probably doesn't hurt to have a little more light anyhow, and the badger keeps a careful eye on his footing as he follows along the path. Once he's on sturdier-looking ground, he takes a look around at his surroundings for anything interesting or out of the ordinary in the general vicinity.
That was not so bad! The path had been winding and rough, but uninterrupted. Until now. Up ahead, at the edge of the illumination cast by the combined efforts of Cassidy and Cedric, is a huge, yawning opening. Unfortunately, the path ahead is gone. A good 20 feet of dark, still water lies between the end of the narrow path and the opening. No problem. Right?
Thelergramor glances back at Natska, says: "You alright?" Now that's how you react when a friend stumbles! Or gets shot...
Thel glances at the pool of water. "Yeah... That doesn't look good to me. Water magic, drain it?" Actually being cautious as opposed to walking right up to the pool, the wolf shrugs. Keeps his swords ready.
Natska nods absently, although she gives Cass a happy smile. "Just fine." She reaches the end of the path and kneels, peering into the water, then out across at the opening. "Well then. Does someone want to freeze a path for those of us that can't make the jump?" she asks, ear flicking; after a moment she glances over at Cedric, knowing that Cassidy's talents were with fire instead.
Dio peers over the edge and lets out a small and dull whisper in awe. "Quite a big lake there. If this was made intentionally, I wonder what they built it fer. Maybe to keep a few o' there fish nice an' fresh, eh?" The lion laughs heartily and turns back to the group. "But yeah, if one o' ya could freeze a path in that lake, it'd save the trouble o' havin' to float other people over it, 'specially with all this 'ere armor."
Cassidy tilts her head and peers into the water. "I will try to illuminate the area ahead." She kicks up a bit of air magic to lazily float her way over the water, keeping her ball of fire steady to help light the way ahead. And maybe even catch a glimpse of whatever might be below the surface lying in wait!
Cedric steps forward, close to the edge of the water and ponders what the best course of action might be. If it was just him, he could fly over the water, but getting the others across is a bit more tricky. It seems that at least Cassidy can fly herself, so if only two people need to cross it, it shouldn't be too hard to make a very rudimentary bridge quickly. The badger sets to work, crouching down at the bank of the lake, and carves some mathemagical runes and equations at the bank to help guide the math into a very straight, narrow pathway of solid ice. Which might not be solid enough.
"I think that's the best I'm going to be able to manage without more time..." he says to the others, scratching his head. "It might not hold up, so I'd float across if you can... I'll wait back here and just float myself across in a moment once I get some of my energy back. Just so I don't put more strain on this thing than necessary..."
Cassidy's bright flame flickers over the dark water, revealing little of its murky depths. Small, eyeless fish float a little below the surface, but swim quickly away as the warmth of the flame reaches them. Creepy little things.
Cedric's efforts pay off as a fractal pattern of icy crystals start to form on the surface of the lake, connecting the end of the path and the large opening up ahead. Gradually, the crystals join to form a glittering, icy bridge. It may not last long though, with the way that the stagnant water swirls and laps at its edges.
Off in the darkness, there is a faint splash. Creators! Those little fish were creepy.
Thelergramor shrugs again. "...That stable?" Thel takes a moment to poke at the ice with his sword. Satisified that it can take the weight of a one hundred and fourty pound wolf with about 40 more pounds of equipment, Thel proceeds to walk across the ice bridge. Stops, considers skewering one of the fish. Decides against it. "Creepy little bastards..." Continues onward, quickly. Expects something to jump out of the water at him.
Natska gives Cedric a small nod. "Thank you, Cedric." She gathers herself then, and with a push of air magic, bounds across the gap to perch at the edge of the opening, peering down into it to see where it leads.
"Well done," Dio comments as the ice bridge begins to take shape amongst the surface. "'owever, I don't wanna end up breakin' the thing with my weight an' 'eavy armor, so I'll be floatin' across." After a few air magic calculations, the lion begins to hover and attempts to make his way towards the other side.
Cassidy keeps herself hovering above the bridge, providing some light for those crossing before she'll move towards the opening herself. "Yes, very well done! I'd hate for us to have to carry someone across that couldn't fly themselves!" She takes up her position next to Natska again, half expecting something awful to leap out of the opening.
The badger watches as two of the other three also float across the lake, and lightly pinches the bridge of his snout between his eyes for a moment, closing them. "True enough. Though if I'd known more of us had the skill to float, we probably could have worked together to fly those without across..." he says, though he doesn't seem particularly annoyed by the revelation. More amused by the clarity of the hindsight, honestly. In any case, he gives himself a boost with his own air magic, following the others across with a short flight, careful not to blow any air in the way of any beings crossing the ice bridge.
The room across the watery chasm is bare and worn. The floor itself is under a few inches of water, held in by the threshold. The rough walls might have had carvings on them once, but they have long been worn to incomprehensible bumps and pocks in the surface of the stone. Up ahead, there are three doorways, though two of them seem to be filled with rubble. The water on the floor seems to be trickling from the ruined hall on one side while it flows out through the black doorway on the far wall. Only one pathway, it seems.
Just as well that most of the group flew across. As Thelergramor reaches the end of the ice bridge, it starts to crack and groan quietly. Might not have withstood the whole group tramping across it.
Thelergramor coughs, for no discernable reason. "Hmm. Cedric, if everyone had flown and left no bridge, I'd rather swim than have you all pull me with magic. Don't like the feeling of being lifted by air." Stepping back to the front, and noting the water on the floor, the wolf glances between the pathways. "Only one open to us, no use standing around. Onward, yes?" Without waiting for an answer, Thelergramor proceeds ahead of the group and down the passage way. Stops for a moment at the doorway, as it occured to him there may be traps present.
Natska begins to follow along behind the wolf, although she pauses when he does; she looks around, and then nods her head. "It looks as though this is often submerged and I would not expect traps, or creatures, to have survived. But some caution is always good." She draws her longsword, and waits for Thel to signal the way is clear before proceeding.
"Never know when a nice wall o' poison darts o' somethin' could come shootin' outta the wall," Dio claims in a half-joking manner before ending his hovering session and landing on the floor with a metallic clunk. Using the base of his spear as a walking stick, the lion follows along with the group and stares at the impending tunnels. "There was an' old sayin' 'bout this kinda thing. Don't split the group o' adventurers o' somethin' like that. Suppose we'll just take 'em one by one 'til we find our treasure!"
Cassidy touches down in the shallow water, a little thankful to have decided on her skirt instead of pants tonight! Won't have to worry about getting her cuffs wet. "Well, hopefully we don't get hit by traps! That would be most unpleasant."
Cedric lands at the other side of the lake, followed still by his radiantly glowing elemental to light the way for him. He glances down at the water surrounding his boots and then towards the paths in the room. "Right, right... frequently traps in places like these have a tendency to remain active long after you'd think they'd break down..." he says, following the others still.
The tunnel slopes away into darkness, those same time-worn carvings in the walls, impossible to decipher. The sound of dripping water echoes up from the depths.
Thelergramor points at a line of floor tiles, slightly... off from the rest. "Those. Could be a trap. Pressure plates? Or, it could be a draining system. One moment..." Thel sheathes his Life drinker, pulls his axe and tosses it towards the tiles.
Thelergramor's axe drops heavily onto the off-plumb line of tiles and they sink under the weight of the weapon. There is a loud clanking sound and the sound of stone grinding against stone before the gentle trickling and dripping sounds of water are subsumed by the roar of a rushing waterfall! Tiles from the ceiling of the room flop open and a torrent of water flushes out, sending the party tumbling into the dark, descending hall!
Thelergramor is knocked down, pulled towards the tunnel. He slides on his back, grabbing his axe as he passes it. "Shit!" The wolf holds his weapons to his chest, keeping them from flailing out and wounding anyone.
Natska makes a grab for the floor as she is knocked off of her feet, then orients herself as she goes down the dark hallway, using her armor to help keep from getting scratched up too badly.
Dio's ears twitch as they hear a curious clank. With the sound's mystery quickly solved, the lion thinks for a moment and looks towards his tower shield. Quickly, he settles the front down upon the floor and puts his body upon the other side as the wave of water comes crashing in, forcing him forward in a comical surf. "W-whooa!" He exclaims as the water pushes him forward into the room. "I ain't never surfed 'fore!"
Cassidy lets out a startled yip as the room is flushed with water, doing her best to keep standing, but with how small and light she is, the water sweeps her away pretty handily. Her hands fly up to keep her hat on as she is carried into the next room by the water, sucking in a deep breath so she doesn't choke.
Cedric squints a bit at the oncoming rush of water, caught by suprise, and only having a few moments to think, he swiftly utilizes some water magic to part the water around himself and his elemental, managing to keep the water from extinguishing it. "Sorry everyone, this is too much water to stop entirely!" he shouts, rushing after the others along the path of parted water he's created for himself, though not too fast, as he doesn't want to slip on the damp floor. He reaches the area where the flood has so rudely deposited the others, with a very casual strut. His nonchalance as the water parts around him is just as stylish as a magician should be. "Well, that was a bit rough..." he says, looking around at the other beings, and checking to make sure he didn't get himself too wet...
It is a wild ride as the group is swept away through the dark, watery tunnels. It is tricky, but everyone manages to stay away from the walls as they rush by in the blackness. After an immeasurable amount of time, there is a change in the surroundings as dim, almost undetectable light starts to fill the area. After the darkness of the tunnel, it almost seems like daylight. Really, the ride had been sort of fun. Until it came to an abrupt end.
At the bottom of the chute, the sudden cascade plunges off a sudden drop! Two narrow bridges of stone span the gap, but only Dio is fortunate to wash up on one of them. Natska, Cassidy and Thelergramor plunge off the edge into the wide gap. Fortunately, the drop is not too far, and the trio only falls into a deep pool of dark water.
Cedric arrives a little too late to change matters, but his arrival does help to alleviate the darkness a little with his elemental.
Thelergramor resurfaces after plunging into the water. Immediately laughs, muffled by the water still withing his mask. Lifting it so the water drains out, Thel looks to the others. Shouts: "Everyone alright?" Still holding his weapons, the wolf sheathes them. Proceeds to swim toward the nearest wall, tries to climb. Knowing the others, with their magic, will miss out on the fun challenge of a climb. He laughs again, greatly amused.
Pushing back up to the surface of the water Natska takes a deep, welcome breath of air. Her legs kick and the jaguar works at treading water in her heavy gear, sliding her sword away so that she can use both hands. After a few moments her water-logged ear flicks, and she quickly pushes herself against the wall next to her, leaps high up the side of the wall and across the pit, then gathers herself for another assisted jump from that side up towards the ledge. Between her water-logged clothes and the slippery footing though, she slips, and drops back down below the water.
Cassidy thrashes about as she's desposited in the water, the small fennec being briefly lost under the surface while she tries to reorient herself. She scowls a little at the fact that her suit is now soaked and kicks up her air magic to try to lift herself clear out of the water and up to the ledge. "Are you all alright? And would you like help getting up, Natska?" She's doubtful of her ability to help the larger, armour-clad being up... But she's willing to offer and try!
When the jaguar's head breaks the water surface again, barely, she is wearing a scowl that could disolve stone, and mutters a quiet "There is something in here," her voice echoed up the walls.
Dio's shield grinds against the floor as his momentum continues, but luckily it eventually comes to a hault. "Phew," he whispers under his breath, slowly peeling himself off the tower shield that had carried him. He places two hands upon the bridge's sides and peers down bellow. "'re ya'll okay down there? An' I 'ope that thing ya see down there ain't movin'. Better get back up 'ere quick."
The water in the wide trench starts to ripple with motion. More ripples than can be ascribed to the three beings down in the water. Suddenly, something seizes Thelergramor's leg and the wolf vanishes beneath the dark, murky water!
Meanwhile, Cedric Huffs and puffs on the shore, trying to catch his breath!
Thelergramor falls back into the water after failing his climb. Is immediately dragged beneath the water; quickly holds his breath and turns to look at what grabbed him... Blood from his bullet wound probably drew it to him. That damn sparrow... Reaching down to whatever grabbed his leg, the wolf tries to drain all the life from it in one shot with dark magic. Should also heal his wound, if successful.
Natska had expected the thing to grab her, and not Thel; still, the jaguar is ready for -something- to happen. She takes a quick breath and dives under the water, quickly lunging after the wolf in an attempt to catch him.
Hearing the sounds of thrashing and bubbling, Dio readies his spear and gather up his shield before getting off the bridge and floating his way down. "What's all this sound goin' on down there?" He questions on his way down, prepared to strike at any adversary if required.
Cassidy stares on blankly. First, Thel was pulled under, then Natska dives under. She curses under her breath and shrugs off her wet coat and drops the hat next to it before drawing her sword. She didn't favour going in there, but she wasn't about to leave her companions in there. Especially not when one of them was Natska. She takes a deep breath and dives off the ledge into the water.
Cedric peers off the edge of the bridge, and mutters a few curses quietly to himself as he watches, floating his way down as well, to get close enough to see if he can help matters any.
The thing, whatever it was loosens its grip for a moment on Thelergramor's leg with the touch of his dark math. The wolf's wounds start to heal, but blood continues to billow around him in the water.
A moment or two after the wolf and Natska disappear under the water, the whole trench starts to roil and heave! Suddenly, a massive, writhing serpentine form bursts from the water with a horrific SCREEEEECH! Its awful, spotty flesh unmarred by eyes, but its toothy maw appearing far larger than any creature has any right to!
Thelergramor is rolled and tumbled by the water roiling about. Completely disoriented, the wolf tries to get his bearings, begins to swim in the direction he thought was up... Turns out, he swims deeper into the water. Pulls his sword-rapier into one hand while he stops to find out exactly where he is now.
Natska pushes herself back up to the surface of the water, letting out her breath and then drawing in a new one. She quickly looks about as she tries to account for the rest of the group, then curses as one is missing; with another deep breath, the jaguar dives back under the water to try and find Thel.
"Oh my! That's a big one!" Dio exclaims as the creature breachs the surface in a less than majestic fashion. Looking directly into the mysterious monster's maw, the lion questions his spear and decides to take another approach. Running a few fire magic calculations within his mind, he attempts to create arrows of fire and fling them into the mighty maw to hopefully temporarily stun the creature.
Cassidy glances at Natska, relieved to see that she is alright. She hopes to keep it that way, though, and when the jaguar dives back under, she does as well, keeping her sword at the ready. Swinging in the water was awful, but she could still stab, if needed!
Cedric whistles appreciatively at the sight of the water monster, and runs his own fire magic calculations after a moment, once he sees the volley of flaming arrows from Dio. Though instead of arrows, he would seek to wound the beast with a mighty explosion!
The creature roars as Dio's fiery barrage hisses against it's rubbery flesh, searing and blistering the thing's foul hide. Cedric's own blast tears into the beast, flaying its flesh away with shards of raw force! With a brain scraping SCREEEECH the thing flails and throws itself down toward Cedric!
Below the water, things are not going as well, as suddenly horrible, toothy maws shoot toward those under the water! More serpents?
Thelergramor blinks at the approaching serpents, as one latches onto his armored arm. The already bleeding one. Thel tries to stab it in the brain-area while it is still attaatched to him. Successful or not, Thel will swim quickly to the surface, dragging the serpent along with him if need be.
Natska drives a flurry of hammering blows at the thing latched onto her armor, still intent on finding Thel and getting him back up to the surface of the water.
It would seem the strange monsters have spared Dio from their rampage. Noticing this moment, the lion moves in with his spear, hoping to land a powerful blow upon the blistering creature!
Cassidy flails a bit, leaving Natska to search for Thel alone as she's preoccupied with avoiding the teeth. And only narrowly, at that, as they scrape by, taking a bite out of the side of her sleeve. She curses in her head and lashes out at the thing that had attacked her, thrusting with her sword again.
The beast is rather large and somewhat easy to spot, to the badger, and as he floats along the surface of the water, he finds it not too difficult to fly entirely out of the way as the raging creature screeches and lunges towards him. He even spots another opportunity to strike at the moster alongside the lion's spear with a twirling kick.
Thelergramor's stabbing and Natska's pummeling is at least effective enough to convince the nasties to release them, leaving them to struggle toward the surface! Meanwhile, Cassidy has managed to lodge her weapon deep in the head if her beast and Dio strikes true! Between Dio and Cedric's powerful strikes, the flailing serpent begins to still and sink into the water.
The water churns and boils and suddenly four horrible heads burst screeching from the water! It was not five serpents! It was one multi-mawed beast!
Thelergramor doesn't take any time to gawk at the serpent. Too busy franticly swimming to the surface. Breaching it, the wolf takes a breath and attempts to make the serpent bleed internally, and leak blood from its orifices, with dark magic. After the attempt, Thel swims straight for it in a blind rage.
Breaching the surface of the water again, Natska looks around and nods. Better. Or, as better as fighting a multi-headed, eyless horror in confined spaces and partially submerged was going to get. The jaguar takes a moment to gather herself and then slip into her battle fuge, launching herself off the wall again right at one of the writhing heads, fire trailing her hands.
One down, many more heads to go! Dio pulls out his spear from the descending mass and decides his next target. Watching Natska take on one head, he charges at another, priming his spear for another piercing blow!
Cassidy is hoisted up and out of the water, clinging to her sword for dear life! Once she gets her paws planted firmly atop the beast, she wrenches her sword free, only to stab downward with it again. She does pretty good at maintaining her composure, thankfully, though she's still a little annoyed about the suit.
"Well then..." Cedric mutters to himself as the first head goes down and the rest ascend from the depths of the water. He sends his elemental off to fight one of the other heads while he prepares to focus his assault with fire magic on an entirely different head. "The first one went down quickly, a few more shouldn't be a monumental task!" he shouts to the others as he makes his attack.
The creature, horrible as it is, was certainly unprepared for an onslaught of this caliber! Who knows how long it had lurked down in these blind, silent depths? Natska's blow is powerful and sends the head she attacks reeling and flailing as she slides down it's gargantuan neck to a level spot at the base. It must be nearly 5 feet in diameter here! The other heads fare no better and most fare worse. While the one in the water floats listlessly, Dio has sunk his spear deep into the neck of another while Cassidy's chosen opponent is crashing wildly back toward the water as blood and froth trickle from its abundantly toothy maw. Cedric's burst of elemental flame has joined Dio's strike and set the wet, rubbery flesh of the beast ablaze while the remaining head seems to be trying to attack the one that Natska has disoriented. Thelergramor's dark magic at work. The wretched thing can't possibly last much longer!
While the wolf is too caught up in blind fury to notice... His leg is torn, bloody and mangled. Still connected, mostly, thus the bloodloss hasn't yet put him into shock. And, of course, the adrenaline is helping. Managing to get to the body, Thel brings his sword back with both hands, and aims a stab at it; planning to use his blade almost like a climbing hook.
Natska slides to a stop on the creature and plants her feet, knees bent as she draws her steel longsword. The jaguar swings her blade right at the base of one of the necks with a loud wordless shout and a vicious grin.
Dio slides his spear out from within the monster's throat and takes a brief moment to survey the battle scene. "Can't be too much more, lads. Just another big push!" Once more, he primes his spear and drives it right for the creature.
As the head starts to fall, Cassidy pulls her sword free again and takes another leap for the ledge, whirling around to throw a knife at the dying creature as she goes. Not much on its own, but anything to help hasten its demise.
The badger agrees, the hydra is on it's last legs, so to speak, and so he continues the calculations for his waves of flames, focusing on searing the flesh right off the aquatic beast's bones with intense elemental heat.
Between the slashing and the stabbing and the fire and the general trauma, the subterranean beastie can handle no more! It's remaining heads fall crashing to the water and it begins to sink into the unknowable depths of the underground waterway. Surely with a guardian this fearsome, there must be some great treasure just ahead! If only everyone was not floating in a stagnant chasm of ichor-thick water.
Thelergramor withdraws his blade as the creature collapses. His adrenaline begins to fade, alerting him to the pain in his leg. "...Fuck." Sheathing his sword, the wolf swims back towards the walls, unwilling to ask for help, he tries to climb with a useless leg, fails, falls back into the water. Manages to stay afloat. "..." No words, tries again.
Natska growls as she cools down from her combat peak, giving the watera disgusted sniff before she looks back up at the ledges. She shakes her head, then swims over to Thel. "Here. Teamwork. Hold on. Guys?
" she calls up. "Care to help give us a lift? I'd do what I could on my own but we're a bit water logged and heavy."
"Phew," Dio exhasperates, wiping a bit of sweat off of his dirty brow. "One o' the strangest creatures I've ever seen in my life. Let's get outta 'ere 'fore any more creatures pop up." Noticing the small struggle near him, the lion begins concentrating some air magic to help lift the pair to the top. "Mind 'elpin' me out, lad?" He asks the badger mage. "Two people doin' air magic should make this task a... breeze."
Cassidy glances over towards Dio and Cedric, waving a hand about as she reclaims her coat and hat, settling them back on her person as she makes her way over. "I will help, as well." And so, she turns her attention to help Thel and her love out of the water below! She wanted to change and be out of this awful place.
Cedric floats over towards the others, wiping some sweat from his own head and combing his disheveled hair back a bit with his fingers as he nods to Dio, chuckling slightly at the pun. "Of course, of course... shouldn't be a problem." he says in agreement, as he takes a look around to make sure nothing else is lurking about, waiting to strike.
After everyone is finally hauled from the black water there is nothing to stand between the group and the low, stone building that lies ahead at the edge of the glow of Cedric's elemental. Best to move quickly, it looks like Thelergramor's leg is going to need attention soon!
As the wolf is set down by the air magic, he stands tall, as if nothing is wrong. For a moment. Thelergramor then looks down at his leg, as it detatches at the knee and falls, held up slightly by his pants. For a half second. "Oh, fuck me..." Then, he passes out, due to the drop in blood pressure. Hits the ground, unconscious.
"Right, let's-" Natska pauses, eyes widening as Thel suddenly collapses into a steadily growing pool of his own blood. "Oh," she says, quietly. "Well then." The jaguar takes a slow, deep breath, then drops to her knees next to Thelergramor... and then the underground cavern becomes awash with light as the two are enveloped in a blazing maelstrom of (surprisingly harmless, for the Freeswords at least) fire.
Dio watches as Thel passes out onto the floor in a bloody heap with a slight cringe. "Let's see 'ere..." The lion digs around in his pockets until he eventually discovers his bag of soul gems. And in addition, a sacred doctor! "Been takin' some time to train up on Creator tech an' such now that they've been walkin' 'round 'ere more often. Thought it might be 'elpful one day." His eyes widen at the fiery display, making him take a couple of steps back even if the process isn't painful. "We'll give this a try if this doesn't work."
Cassidy isn't usually one for being startled, but even she blanches a little behind her mask as Thel's leg falls off. "O... Oh." It's all she says as her ears lay back. It could have been worse, but she hated seeing such a thing happen to a friend. And this was the second time. Lacking any method of helping with the healing, she simply turns her back on the situation and starts looking for a way to proceed, hoping to distract herself.
Cedric finishes helping with the lifting, only to see the wolf's limb fall off. He frowns visibly at the sight, but otherwise his reaction isn't too strong. He watches on as Natska begins the familiar phoenix technique, one he's used before, and so his reaction to the flames is also quite subdued. So as not to get in the way of that, he wanders over to Cassidy to help with the search for a way to proceed.
The low building is open, and if that monster was any indication, undisturbed for a very long time. As Cassidy and Cedric peer in, they can't help but be amazed! It is beautiful! This is definitely a treasure room! Not a huge one, but there are a number of beautiful pieces of ornate jewelry set in places of prominent display. The pedestals are ancient and crumbling, and everything is coated in dust and silt and grime, but the shine of glittering gems lies beneath the patina of the ages. The sparrows would certainly be pleased.
The wolfs' leg is cauterized by the flames, in a way that is primarily healing as opposed to burning closed. The phoenix fire revives Thelergramor, bringing him back to consciousness. "The fuck..." He leans up to look at his leg as the sacred doctor un-mangels the still attached parts of the limb. "...Techs going to be pissed..." He lets his head drop back down, remains conscious. "Thanks, for, uh, not letting me bleed out."
Natska rises up to her feet, the phoenix not seeming to notice that she was still wrapped in flames. Fortunately it is relatively tame fire, leaving nothing more than a gentle warmth as she pats Dio on the shoulder. She crosses her arms then, and peers down at Thel. "Uhm. Yes. Don't mention it. I know you want to get yourself killed, Thelergramor, but it is not happening under my watch." She watches a moment longer, then flaps her wings once and turns to follow Cedric and Cassidy into the store room, having a look around.
Beep boop beep boop. Dio plays around with the sacred doctor for a few moments over Thel's body. "There we go... I got this 'ere from the church not too long ago when they cleared me fer it. 'aven't gotten a chance to use it on the field. Just the trainin' they gave me, but I think that'll do it." The lion looks up at Natska with a smile and nod before stuffing the device away and standing once more. "Alright, let's gather everythin' we can, transport this lad out, an' we'll call it a day. We can get ya in touch with some people that know how to make some good prosthetics."
Despite the somber events, Cassidy does smile a little at the sight of the treasure. Her eye catches on one piece in particular, which she takes and eyes for a moment before slipping it onto her left arm, under her jacket sleeve. "What a trip this turned out to be." She glances over at Natska and gives her a little nod. "I was a little worried for you back there. I'm glad it didn't manage to get both you and Thel."
Taking a look around at al the sparkly treasure as he enters the room, Cedric gives another appreciative whistle. "Not too bad, I suppose." he states, folding his arms as he nods. "I'm not too sure it was worth the trouble now, but ah well... hindsight and all that." he adds, before nodding to Dio and the others. "Right. We should be quick about it... we'll need to bring him for more extensive care..."
If this is the first chamber, just imagine what might be down in the deeper places. Though the very faint light that seems to filter into the darkness is strange. Perhaps it is moonlight reflecting down from a crack in the distant cavern ceiling. Maybe it is some sort of faint, ancient magic. What it definitely is, is a question for another day. For now, it is probably best to get this back to the sparrows and report the mission's success.
