Dungeon Delving, Part 2 - RPLOG
Participants
Date
28/8/478
Log
Mervyn shakes his head at Natska, "I said we have seen some rock spiders moving around, but we did not /find/ the nest, and I am pretty sure that you were warned about dangerous wildlife." Mervyn says as he dodges one of the spiders lunging at him.
% The rock spiders begin their assault at earnest, Fenris managing to dodge two lunging at him, while Zuri avoids another two attempting to rush him, and Cassidy avoiding another who attempted to fall on top of her.
Natska however opts for using her divine maths, a quick spell causing a temporary pillar to form and knock the spider attacking her before crumbling back onto the ground.
Reginald on the other hand fails to avoid the spider attacking him in time. The spider attempts to sink its fang deep into the old lynx's side, but is met with the chain on him, causing it pull back, but remain clinging on him.
Zuri tumbles away from the two rock spiders, his instincts serving him well. He recovers and steps away, trying to clear some distance from the spiders while weaving a bit of divine math to protect his allies. He focuses on Reginald, who seems to be in need of the most immediate assistance, and starts to weave a layer of earth and rock around him to deflect the spider's attacks.
Fenris sidesteps lightly from the rock spider attacks, keeping his hands jammed deep in his pockets, then spins on his heel, launching into a flurry of hard kicking attacks. Mervyn may have seen a certain kangaroo using a similar style when the bandits were driven from the nearby area. The tiger grunts and frowns as he fights, clearly uncomfortable and in pain, but working through it.
Quickly shifting away from the aggressive spiders, Natska drops back and behind Cassidy. As she moves to a more defensible position she begins working her maths, seeking to tilt the encounter in her allies'favor.
Cassidy glances around at the collection of spiders after dodging away from one of the falling ones. She positions herself near Natska, drawing her sword to be ready to fend off any that close in. She's not content to just wait, though, flicking her free hand towards the spiders as she lances out with a number of firebolts.
Knocked to the ground by the force of the falling rock spider, Reginald struggles to keep a grip on his weapon. Despite his armour protecting him from more serious injury, the rock spider's fangs would no doubt leave a nasty bruise behind. However, he does not have time to linger on the pain. Bolstered by Zuri's assistance, for which he would be thankful if he had a chance to notice, the feline brings the stock of his carbine down on the side of the foe atop him in an attempt to dislodge.
Zuri manages to successfully cast his spell coating Reginald in a layer of stone as the lynx manages to knock off the spider off his body.
Fenris's attacks inflict severe wounds on the spiders pretty faces as they squeak in agony, before he quickly dodges the attack of a third spider.
Meanwhile Natska and Cassidy team up together, Cassidy's arrows set two of the rock spiders on fire while Natska's dark miasma cause three of the spiders around the group to begin fighting among each other. The two ladies are quickly attached by three other spiders, Cassidy dodging one of them while Natska pushes off the other two with her air magic.
The spider count has been severly reduced now, most of them lying dead or dying, with Mervyn idly humming to himself while he leans on what looks like a table as he watches the group finish off the rest of the spiders.
Zuri looks around for anyone else to protect or heal. As the party seems to be handling these spiders with no effort the salamander opts to rest instead, not wanting to over-stretch his magical muscles just yet.
Fenris grunts at the effort, but keeps up the onslaught. "Mervyn," he pants, "Why, exactly, do you even come on these expeditions?"
Reginald , using all of the energy he can muster, rolls himself into a kneeling stance. He hastily shoulders his firearm, trying to rest its sights on the, still very much alive, spider. Just as the creature gets back on its feet and rushes him, the lynx steadies his aim, and squeezes the trigger.
Natska puts a little more distance between herself and the spiders, then gestures and afflicts one with dark fire. "Oh well."
Cassidy takes a swift stab at one of the avoided spiders, trying to stick it with her sword as she backs up to keep pace with Natska. "Try not to get yourself wounded again, Fenris! You don't have any fur left to burn off, this time!"
Mervyn looks at Fenris and shrugs, "Mental and emotional support." the sparrow says in a deadpan tone with a smirk on his beak as Fenris continues attacking the three spiders.
Reginald's attack manages to hit the spider's side, causing the creature to writhe in agony as it flops on the ground.
Cassidy and Natska continue their attack, Natska's fires setting two of the spiders on dark flames while Cassidy's sword pierces the third one.
It appears the the spiders are mostly finished, one of them manages to jump on Fenris's back, but thankfully the bite fails to penetrate the armor deeply, while Cassidy dodges another one.
Fenris spins with a grunt of effort to dislodge the spider on his back, continuing his arc to add that little bit of extra power to a brutal kick to the carapace!
Natska focuses on the last remaining critter, setting on it with another tightly controlled strike of dark magic. "I'm sure he just enjoys watching you work, Fenris. It is poetry in motion. Is anyone injured?"
Cassidy darts aside of the incoming spider, bringing her sword up. While she's sure Natska can handle it, she helps expedite the matter, striking out with another thrust. "I am not," she says, stepping back after it is dealth with.
Reginald stands himself up, trying to straighten himself out. He is stopped short by a sharp pain in his side, where the spider's fall and attempted bite had bruised him. He does his best to hide any visible sign of pain on his face, before turning to Fenris.
When he is content that the other being has dispatched the remaining enemies, the lynx stalks towards the other feline, a look of anger on his face, and a growl in his throat. Reginald pins Fenris up against the cold, stone wall with his free hand, the other cradling his own injury. "A little caution wouldn't go amiss, tiger." He almost spits the last word out, before making his way further into the ruin.
Mervyn looks down as the last of the spiders are dispatched as he stretches his arms, "And another job well done." the sparrow says as Reginald commences his short outburst, "Easy there, uncle. We are all friends here." the young sparrow teases as he begins moving to the exit of the room, doodling something on a book he has, Kyth follows quickly after the sparrow.
The group leaves the scene of carnage and the spell of burning chitin and spider insides as they continue their journey into the tunnels. Every now and then the sparrow would stop at one of the forks and crossroads before moving into a certain pass, "Lovely place, eh?" the sparrow says as he inspects one of the less deteriorated murals. The group finally reaches a corridor. The moment Mervyn steps inside, the walls shake and suddenly four blades swing from their hidden compartments. The sparrow raises a brow and sighs, "Really? Where did they get their trap designs from, 'The Mansion of the Mysterious Lord?' he deadpans before looking back at the group, "Let us see how you solve this." he says as he idly leans on one of the walls letting the team deal with the corridor of blades.
Cassidy manages to notice that behind where Mervyn is leaning are four small protruding stones each with the same four symbols as they saw before, a 'fish, a 'door', a 'boat', and finally something that looks like nothing a being would even associate with.
Zuri follows the group after they've dispatched the troublesome spiders. The salamander stays with the group, quite unlike his usual, highly adventurous self. He's not going to take any chances in the current state of things... he blinks at the swinging trap, scritching his head. "Hm... well, last time it was all about jumping on the fish panels, so.. I guess it would be too obvious if it was those again."
Fenris allows the lynx to push him around, though he grunts with discomfort when he backs against the wall with his still tender ribs protesting. He says nothing to the accusations, but turns to walk after the others, hands still jammed in his pocket. "I appreciate the concern," he says to Cassidy with a smile, "Don't you worry about me. I've seen more than my share of places like this." The tiger looks at the tunnel and folds his arms. "After you then," he says, "Since my way is too difficult."
Natska frowns as she watches Reginald and Fenris, her ear flicking. She starts to say something, pauses at Fenris' remark, then gives the tiger a little nod and waits for their group's pathfinders to lead the way.
Cassidy slides her sword back into its scabbard and approaches the edge of the tunnel, eyeing the blades. "Hmmm... Not sure about the rest of you, but Zuri and I might be small enough to dance between them and get across. It'd be risky, though, so I'd definitely prefer it as a last resort."
Reginald , who had put a little distance between himself and the group since his outburst , takes a look around the room. He doubts he'd be able to make it through those blades in one piece, but, other than the buttons on the wall, nothing else stands out to him. Sods law that, after his little lecture about caution, there only way forward seemed to be throwing it to the wind and seeing what happens. Looking at the furless tiger, he lets out a resigned sigh, before leaning up against a nearby wall, still cradling his bruise.
Zuri slowly approaches the swinging blades, nibbling on his lip. "I guess we could make it across... but it's still risky. If we knew we could disable it from the other side then that might be an idea." The salamander wiggles his nose at the swinging blades, as if daring them. "Then again.. it's just a moving thing, right? And moving things can be stopped." He plants both his feet firmly on the ground, channeling his earth magic onto his surroundings to try and reshape the corridor, to create pillars or other impediments that would jam or block the blades from functioning.
Zuri's earth magic works, he finds that channeling powers in this kind of environment is a bit hard than normal, but his attempt is successful as he manages to form two sturdy pillars in front of the first three blades, forcing them to stay in place, however the last blade remains active, managing to knock off the weak pillar that Zuri attempted to form there.
Fenris gives Reginald a lazy salute, then saunters over to the array of levers. The tiger looks between the four switches as a vivid green ? appears on his cheek. He ponders for a moment, and then shrugs, reciting his own version of an ancient chant of luck. "Eenie, Meanie, Minie-" he starts, "FISH!" The tiger reaches out and flips the fish lever, seeing as it was the one that got them through the first puzzle. He looks up and smiles, applauding Zuri's work. "Or we could always try that way!
Fenris's chant of luck must really work as the moment he pulls the fish level the last blade swings one last time before disappearing, a small rumble on that side of the corridor indicating that the blade is once more secure in its container. The path is now clear for the group.
Natska folds her hands together as she watches, tail slowly swishing back and forth behind her as she observes. She miles and nods at Fenris when he pulls the lever, then peers past, looking down the hallway. "After you, gentlemen."
Cassidy grins at Zuri, nodding. "I was going to suggest doing that! You read my mind," she says with a little laugh. "Good thinking." And as the fourth blade comes to a stop, she starts forward again, drawing one of her daggers from its sheath.
Before Fenris had even pulled the lever of his choice, the middle-aged lynx had no doubt in his own mind that the fates would fall in the tiger's favour. Reginald just lets out a sharp exhale in response. However, his eyes are drawn to the newly appeared mark on the other being's cheek. He couldn't about put his finger on the exact meaning of such a strange occurance, but it did make him feel a little uneasy - is there something playing behind the scenes here ...
Reginald follows the other beings, keeping himself at the back of the group.
