The Time A Mission For The Church Turned Into A Horror Tale - RPLOG
Participants
Date
17/6/481
Log
It's early in the afternoon. A necessity, almost, given the remoteness of this place, and the amount of hiking it takes to get here, at a little over a day worth of hiking at the fastest rate. The Church, together with the Freeswords, have set up a basecamp at the foot of the mountains, along with a few stops along the way for resupply and recuperation.
Finally, there's the camp right next to the entrance to the once-buried ruins, small but practical, with several priests already carefully categorizing the things found on first few levels of the undoubtedly large ruins. This is where any explorations start, with a briefing by the church.
How long has it been? The wasp had disappeared for a while, more than once, separating himself from the others while he went about to simply learn more about himself, more about the world, and anything he could manage. Still, he never intended to leave forever, so when he hears about the request of the from the church? Sounds like an opportunity to make his way back into the Freeswords. Last night, he had flown in under the cover of dakness, taking his time to become himself again before entering the camp.
He strides in, definitely not worse for wear, also definitely not a Griffon at the moment, as he glances about. Still quiet, still curious and always aiming to take in what he can, learn what he can as quickly as possible. Never hurts to know what you might be getting into. Or at least you who might be getting into things with. If it's the church and the Freeswords, then things could either be simple, or very interesting.
Fenris lounges near where the priests are working, occasionally piping up with an unasked-for and unwelcome opinion. "I'm willing to bet that that is for toasting bread and not a communications device, Brother Gilbert," he offers. The tiger has already been here for most of the setup, and even though he is not officially a priest of Sweetwater, and even though he can be irritatingly interested in everything about Creator ruins, he is just too useful to send away.
Fenris is wearing his unusual, Creator-style jumpsuit today in preparation for going into the ruins. Any edge is helpful, after all.
Unlike his companions, Lidara can neither fly nor is he really a friend of the church! So... he only recently ended up making the hike here with the rest of the Freeswords that were brought in, really. In any case, the feline himself had likely only recently actually woken up, and so he strides out of... whichever one of the tents might be serving as a mess hall of sorts, freshly fed and freshly finished with his morning grooming. The cat is dressed up in his armored robes and clearly has daggers at his sides, seemingly ready for the upcoming expedition as he wanders his way over to the camp closest to the ruin's entrance. Both to await orders and to try to sneak a peek at some of the relics.
"Are you the archivist, or am I? Besides, this is just a preliminary sorting, before we start moving everything back to the Church. There's about fifty different kind of creator machines with very similar appearances so far, and another good bit that look wildly different. Some of them are bound to wind up in the wrong shipment, that's what the priests at the church are going to take care of... And don't you have somewhere better to be?" the short-statured, short-tempered, and likely somewhat overworked bear-being snaps at Fenris, before getting back to his work.
Ultimately, neither Falx nor Lidara attracts all too much attention from the beings milling about, but all three of them should be able to find their way towards the briefing-tent, where a priestly hawk is already awaiting their arrival, gesturing for any able-bodied freeswords to join him and an elderly pangolin for their briefing.
As Falx carefully strides through the camp, he does notice a particular tiger. Fenris... that's someone he met a long time ago, but hasn't seen. He didn't know much about the tiger, but also didn't question him being present. At least it's a face he does recognize. He does also take note of a cat in the camp as well, one who doesn't seem to fit in with the other beings. Probably another of the Freeswords, though who they are eludes the wasp. Still, Falx makes his way to that briefing tent, the hawk, and the pangolin for the briefing. Hopefully this won't be too dangerous.
Fenris laughs warmly. "Alas!" he says theatrically, "It is true. It is with heavy heart that I year myself from your side, Brother Gilbert."
The tiger laughs again and waves his farewells and saunters over for the briefing.
Lidara is a pretty able-bodies Freesword, so he quickly makes his way on over to that tent once he spots it, and... on his way there, the cat finally gets to see who he's presumably working with! He only recognizes one of the two other Freeswords -- that one being Fenris, of course -- but the feline nonetheless offers them both a perky smile and wave once they're all gathered up in the tent. That, however, is followed by him checking his equipment one last time while they're waiting on the briefing. The feline has ditched his backpack -- after all, it'd be far too cumbersome to take it into ruins -- so, he simply has his daggers, a belt with various different pouches on it and a bow and quiver on his back. This would all... hopefully be all that he actually needs.
As soon as the four beings - Falx, Fenris, Lidara, and the hawk - are inside the tent, together with the pangolin, the cloth is closed behind them, and the pangolin offers a simple, almost encouraging smile to the trio of freeswords, and the priest. "I assume you three are either part of a team, or otherwise available on your own?" comes a simple question, before a gesture is made to a series of hastily-drawn maps on a similarly hastily-constructed table.
"Lets begin, shall we? Our main concern right now is to categorize everything inside the ruins and retrieve what we can. As such, we're sending in groups of four. Three freeswords, one priest. So far, we've explored most of the first two levels, and a good bit of the third, but without a doubt, the most valuable pieces of creator-built machines will be found at the bottom of the ruins."
The wasp just looks at the other two before his gaze returns to the hawk. "I am available alone," Falx states somewhat flatly, slowly making his way to the maps and rather hastily constructed table. He takes a quick glance at each of the maps, long enough to get a very good picture of them, before his gaze returns to the hawk, listening intently, antennae slightly bobbing as he nods. He is already thinking they'll delve as deeply into the ruins, retrieving as much as they can, before returning. "Any indication on number of levels in the ruins?"
"Why do you think that?" Fenris asks, "I mean, experience has shown that there are more valuable things hidden further from the entrance to these places, but why do you think that is?"
The tiger's question is obviously just idle banter, and he does not seem to expect an answer. He blinks a little when he realizes he spoke out loud. "Sorry," he says, "Please continue."
Lidara once more glances over the cloaked, hooded figure when he speaks, the cat's gaze... rather curious, really. But thankfully that curiosity doesn't get particularly intrusive before it's turned elsewhere. The feline steps forward and intently looks over those maps, studying them a bit even while he perks his ears up and listens to that briefing.
"Maybe they hoped that no one would want to go through the trouble of travelling that far to reach the valuable stuff?" Lidara offers to Fenris with a grin and a shrug, but then his attention is back on that plan! "Are we going to need to bring anything to help us descend, or are there already paths downwards that we can use? I guess it might be a good idea to bring a bit of rope either way...."
"Because, as you said, experience teaches that the more valuable creator machines are found deeper in these ruins, typically in a concentrated fashion. Like storehouses, if you will," offers the pangolin, before looking at the map. "Who knows? We've yet to properly determine the ruin's purpose or type. Given the size of the levels, though, we'd say about ten to fifteen major levels," he offers to Falx, before pointing at the map.
"Most of the ruins are still largely intact, and there are what appears to be stairwells here, here, here, and here. Unfortunately, on any given level, there seem to have been collapses, so not all of them are easily accessible. There's a central structure here that seems similar to others, designed to bring people to different levels, however, it doesn't seem like the machine spirit will wake from its slumber right now."
"Your job will be to bring Brother William down to the sixth level and aid him with the recovery of any movable creator machines you may find... And please, avoid angering the servitors. We've had too many incidents in other ruins before."
Ten to fifteen levels, that sounds like potentially tedious down the line. A little huff from the wasp, but not much more than that. Plus collapses in the ruins as well. The wasp idly moves to rub at one of his shoulders. He shakes his head a little, and then looks to the map, seeing points to the stairwells in the area. His gaze moves about the maps once more, though returns to the Pangolin, nodding again. Hopefully the servitors won't be too easy to anger... that would complicate things.
Fenris nods and turns a grin on Brother William. "No problem!" he says affably, "Maybe we can even get that thing in the middle running!" Fenris LOVES to tinker with Creator tech!
The tiger gives a whistle, and a silvery little otter scampers into the tent to curl up at his feet. "Can't go without Kawa," he says.
"If there have been collapses, then we should definitely bring along a coil of rope. Just in case," Lidara offers as he takes note of where those stairs are, "Presumably there's somewhere in camp that we can get some from before we leave?" With that question, however, the feline takes a step back from the map and stretches a bit. "Get down to the sixth level and back. That shouldn't be too hard," he gives with another one of those cheerful grins of his. Angering the sevitors was... well. He doesn't know nearly enough about Creator tech to comment on that. Fenris's otter, on the other hand, does get a rather curious look from the cat. "Kawa? Who's that?"
"None of that," the hawk, William, interjects. "You are not touching any piece of large creator tech without my permission," the hawk adds, as he looks from being to being, though particularly towards Fenris. "Place is dangerous enough without you setting off things that might very well be death-traps, or angering the servitors not just against us, but against everyone on higher and deeper levels, too."
"Calm, brother William. You're in charge of the exploration. As for supplies, the freeswords should be able to provide a basic kit... Any other questions before you head out?"
The wasp didn't remember how Fenris behaved, that was too long ago. Just his name and his face, so he has no idea what would have changed. Still, he listens and nods. No touching anything without permission. Easy enough. Though he does have one simple question. "How wide and tall are the corridors? How stable are the ruins currently?" He could help if they aren't too narrow or small. Though his weight as a griffon could always become problematic should the area be too unstable.
"Oh, Brother Williams," Fenris laughs, "You and I shall be such friends!" He turns his smile on Lidara and waves at the shining otter. "Kawauso," he reiterates, "My golem. He is handy in a tight spot."
The tiger pats his coat, checking his pockets, then gives a lazy salute. "Ready for adventure!" he says.
Don't touch anything! That'll... probably be easy for Lidara to manage. Probably. In any case, the mention of the kit from the Freeswords pretty well satisfies what the feline himself needs to know, so he simply nods and gives his equipment one last check. "I'm ready too!" he gives with a little bounce... but that's followed by him turning his attention to Kawa once more, really. He exams the golem for a moment or two before grinning and offering, "He's so pretty! You designed him very well."
"The first two levels are largely intact, although there is the occasional rubble in the way, the freeswords've cleaned most of that up, and the servitors do seem to try and keep the place tidy. However, there's no telling what we'll find further down, and we've found at least one corridor that's collapsed on all three levels. There's a reason we're not going to be taking anything out that's too heavy, right now," offers william, as he gestures for the three beings to follow. "Get your equipment, and we'll start heading down," he offers to Lidara, as he guides Fenris and Falx to the ruins' entrance, where rocks and rubble have been pulled aside to clear the large, creator steel entrance with its damaged, but not unreadable lettering...
Luckily, the wasp has his equipment as it is. He doesn't carry much, not particularly able to given his stature. Nonetheless, he nods to them, resolving to not go griffon unless absolutely necessary. Until then, he falls in step to follow towards the ruin entrance. He glances about at the entrance, the door, the rubble. At least this will be an interesting excursion.
"Thank you," Fenris says to Lidara, while Kawauso primps and preens, "I am quite proud of him."
The big tiger follows along after William and Falx stopping at the entrance to look over the worn lettering. He has probably taken note of it before, but it is always worth taking a second look. "I always like these old places," he says, making conversation, "Maybe we'll find a working comms station. I have not updated my SpaceBook account in ages!"
The cat, on the other hand, is intent on gathering a few things from the Freeswords! He dashes off for a few moments to borrow a bag, a few torches and a coil or two of rope from the Freesword's quartermaster or... whoever it is that can actually provide such things, but once that's done, he's quick to return to the rest of the party. By the time he's there, the cat has that pack over his shoulders and has moved his bow and quiver around accordingly to make room. The cat arrives just in time to ask, "SpaceBook? What's that?" before turning his attention to the doorway before them.
"You, especially, do not touch anything without asking permission first," chastises the hawk as he looks to Fenris, his tailfeathers ruffling for a moment. And then, he ducks past the gateway, gesturing for the others to follow him.
The first two levels are relatively easily passed, thanks to the freeswords' efforts to clear the way and make moving through the place easier, and the place is decently well lit with magical lighting... Servitors move about, similarly working to move rubble out of the way, though they are significantly more methodical, and clearly not quite as well-maintained as they might've once been...
And then, there's the third level, still lit for a few meters, and then... Pitch-black darkness... The sounds of metal on metal, of servitors skittering about, and of whatever creatures might have chosen to inhabit this place during its abandonment...
Throughout the first two levels of the ruins the wasp keeps a careful eye on things. Looking about, doing his best to take in the general layout and compare it to the picture of the map in his head. Though, when they reach the third floor... it's pitch black. He starts to mull over a couple things in his head, trying to form equations mentally to create some sort of light at the very least, as long as no one else provides any.
"Just a joke kid," Fenris answers Lidara, then mutters "killjoy. . . " under his breath, following along and taking note of the servitors as they go. If he has any insight into the purpose of this place, he keeps his own counsel.
"I thought you said you had cleared most of this floor already," the tiger says, waving a hand to produce three little balls of cool, blue flame that zip forward into the darkness like hyperactive fireflies.
Whether or not Lidara hears that muttering is... unclear, but if he does then he certainly doesn't react to it, at least. In any case, thankfully the cat manages to resist the temptation to mess with anything that's on the first couple of floors... though he does give a few of the servitors that they pass a curious look and a close inspection. Once they reach the third one and they're greeted by the deep darkeness, however, the cat's demeanor... does change a bit. He grows a little more tense and his hands rest a bit closer to his daggers than they had before, his ears attentively perked up and his eyes attentively drifting over the area around them. Though, luckily for him, the magical lighting means that he doesn't need to use any of those torches quite yet.
"Of creator tech that needs to be salvaged, yes. We're not going to risk dropping a large slab of creator steel on even a single scorcher, let alone a servitor or machine for the ritual of receiving. Clearing the path on this floor is ongoing," the hawk offers, as he thumbs towards the lighted area. "And given that it's only been a few days, I'd say we've worked about as fast as we can... Assuming nothing goes wrong and it doesn't wind up buried again, this place'll likely require months of work," the hawk offers.
And the darkness continues looming, with that metal-on-metal sound of the servitors, and the soft chittering of whatever lurks deeper...
The wasp just keeps his eyes open, constantly going over formula in his head. Need to be prepared should something happen. His eyes don't cease looking about, used to darkness, but not able to particularly see in it so well. Nonetheless, he sighs softly, staying close to the others, already making sure he's able to cast a couple wards on them should the need arise. Don't want to provoke any of the servitors, or anything else, if he does it before needed. As it stands, they are focused on getting to the sixth floor.
Fenris walks carefully along the passage, his little, blue were-lights orbiting around slowly in front of the group. He pauses for a moment at the doorway, calling a blue flame close so he can examine the doorway and what lies beyond.
Kawauso, his golem? Moves smoothly along by his feet, a soft glow emanating from its inner workings.
For the moment, Lidara mimics Fenris's cautious pace and falls in line behind the tiger. His steps are slow and soft, and one of his hands even drifts down to grab the hilt of one of his blades. The cat doesn't pull it out of its sheath for the moment, but his hand is tense and ready to pull it free on a moment's notice. Even his stance is a little lower than it was before, leaving him in a pose that... isn't quite a crouch, but it's at least something that's much more combat-ready than his posture formerly was. Beyond that, however, he simply peers through that doorway to search for any signs of an actual threat.
And as Fenris shines his light into one of the rooms, he's presented with a rather... Disturbing sight. Creatures, most alike to an overgrown cockroach, seem to have made their nest in this particular room. About the size of a being's head, and with clicking mandibles and a beak to match, filled with some disturbingly green ooze, the creatures don't look entirely too friendly. And if the intensifying chittering is any indication, they don't seem to be too keen on the new intruder and the light he's shining on them...
"Those, uh... They're mostly harmless. So far. Though they don't take kindly to light," mutters the hawk, clearly a little uncomfortable...
And meanwhile, in the distance, the servitors continue clanking along, doing their servitor job..."
Well, now the wasp blinks and stares at the creatures. Strange creatures they are, a hand slipping from his robe already. He could throw some fire, but... they're mostly harmless, supposedly. "Shall we move on, then?" His voice is still level as he intones again. "I advise we avoid adding unecessary conflict." He doesn't move from the door, waiting for them to do so first, already preparing something to throw at them if they become hostile.
"And you did not think that these awful bugs were worth mentioning?" Fenris asks, withdrawing his light and moving ahead quickly and carefully, making sure to avoid impeding any servitors about their work, "I'm a little surprised that the servitors have allowed them to nest, honestly. But you are right, our goal is the sixth floor." The tiger flicks an ear toward the hawk priest, "Though I have to ask, why the sixth floor? Why not just scout out the next floor you have not seen yet?"
Lidara goes a little wide-eyed when he spots those bugs, and that's quickly followed by his ears folding against his head and the cat pressing his back against the edge of the doorway. "We should... definitely move on, yeah," the cat agrees, though his tone... isn't nearly as level as the wasp's, really. Even his voice makes his discomfort pretty clear. "I'm not looking forward to it if we do end up fighting those things.... They look so gross...," he murmurs as he swifly follows after the rest of the group, though really the words were spoken... mostly to himself.
"We're sending several teams. The two teams ahead of us are going to get to work on the fifth floor. We'll probably run into them later," the hawk notes. "You're the adventurers. I figure this is pretty standard fare for you guys? I mean, I've heard about some of you fighting bone dragons. A couple of these kind of bugs is nothing compared to that, no? As for the servitors... We daren't touch them and risk angering them all, but they don't seem to be in the best of states..."
As the quartet moves along through the corridor, there are more doorways, left and right, each hosting a plethora of these bugs... One of them darts from one room to another, almost flying into Lidara.
A soft scowl from the wasp thrown at Fenris for that 'awful bugs' comment. He wasn't to be lumped in with those roaches! Another soft sigh, and a shake of his head, as he stays close to the rest of the group with them moving forward. Bone Dragons... he hasn't fought one, yet, but he has been able to hold his own in touchy fights. "Would fire be a reasonable solution to them?" Falx asks flatly. "Or does that agitate them further?" He does catch a glimpse of Lidara almost getting hit by one, and he immediately looks to her directly, eyes still barely coming out from under his hood. At least until he's sure she's okay, then back to marching forward.
"Ugh," Fenris frowns, "You are definitely going to need to get a team of firebugs down here to clean these out if you plan to keep salvaging this place. And I really don't like the way you said they were MOSTLY harmless." If he is aware of Falx's offence, he does not show it.
The big tiger seems intent on reaching the next floor and getting away from this infestation quickly. "Has anyone tried to talk to the station yet?" he asks, "The central machine spirit?"
"I'm sure that I've fought plenty of things that are more dangerous than these bugs, but that doesn't exactly make me more comfortable with the idea of needing to fight them.... Especially after seeing... whatever that fluid they were leaking out was. Plus they're small and I'm sure they can leap aro-" and Lidara is proven right before he can even actually finish that thought! The cat is constantly glancing between the doorways that they're passing, the noise from inside likely alerting him to what's hidden in that darkness, but... thankfully those nervous ticks help him to avoid being hit. He sees that bug just in time to let out a surprised squeak and duck out of its way, and after that he... simply starts to walk a bit faster and hold onto his dagger's hilt a bit tighter, really. "I'm fine," he mumbles and dusts off his robe a bit.
"I mean... If you don't agitate them, they don't spit... Whatever that green goop in their beaks is at you. It's nothing good, I can tell you that," the hawk offers, as he exposes a rather feather-less part of his arm, which seems to have some signs of burning.
"So far, we're not sure where it's hiding. It's likely further down than we're going today, if the few spirits we've managed to coax out of their slumber are to be trusted. There are some spaces of interest on the fifth, sixth and ninth level, though they refused any information on what is beyond the ninth."
"Fire works. It also agitates any other nests within the vicinity, due to the amount of light it produces, no doubt, so it's best used sparingly."
Even if Fenris doesn't pick up on that disdain, the wasp just keeps going. Don't agitate them, really, and things will be good. But... light agitates them. The wasp grins softly beneath his robe. That means he's definitely in his favored element. Still, he presses on, able to hide his happiness that Lidara is fine. As much as he would like to just... drain those blasted creatures, he refrains from it for now. Don't cause any issue that he's not sure he'd be able to resolve. So fire's out of the question for the time being...
Fenris grimaces as he sees more of those bugs showing increasing dominance and aggression in these halls. "I wiped out an agressive Krick hive once," the tiger says, "But if I did here what I did there, well, it would sort of defeat the purpose."
He continues to move along quickly, trying to avoid agitating the slumbering swarm more than necessary with their passing. The tiger's eyes scan the walls for weiting or markings that might indicate the right path or the purpose of this ruin.
Lidara grimaces a little when he sees the hawk's burn mark, and really that's... all of the encouragement the cat needs to be even more intent on avoiding these strange bugs. "Don't agitate them.... Got it. I'm sure we can manage that, as long as we don't walk right into one of their nests or... something...." Really the feline is mostly reassuring himself there. In any case, after a moment he takes a deep breath and forces a smile onto his muzzle, his stance and his grip on his dagger alike finally relaxing a bit... though he does at least make sure to keep himself combat ready. The cat does try to keep track of where they're going too, but really he's... kind of relying on his companions for that part.
The fork in the road... the wasp remembers back, thinking of the path they've taken, comparing it to the map of the third floor. He follows the route on the map in his head, and then the fork... one path leads the way they need to go. One hand lifts, and he points at one of the two paths. Good thing he got a good look at those maps.
"Y'sure?" offers the hawk to Falx, before shrugging and nodding along. Another servitor, fighting three of the bugs... The green stuff doesn't seem to be too good for the automaton's joints, though the creator steel of its legs seems curiously unaffected at the same time.
And then, a little further down, the hallway's collapsed in on itself, although of the four are careful, they should be able to slip past the junk and the exposed, sparking wiring to come closer to the next stairwell... Assuming it hasn't collapsed, of course.
Of course he's sure! He remembers that map as if he were holding it in his hands right now! Well, maybe better than that, given the light. In any case, he's certain, following behind the three of them once more. Now no longer keeping track of equations for fire magics, instead focusing on dark ones. As long as they're safe and everything, that'd be just useful. Just... hope their use doesn't actually become necessary. That wouldn't bode well at all.
Fenris looks at the wreckage of the hallway, then back the way they came. "You are sure this is the right way?" he asks, "It does not look like we will get much BACK this way until it is cleared. . ."
The tiger frowns in concentration and puts his hand on the rubble. Just a little earth magic should do the job, push most of it to one side and shore up the tunnel. The tiger bites his lip and gives a physical and magical PUSH!
Lidara is much less keen on questioning the wasp's directions... if only because the cat himself wouldn't really be able to offer an alternative path. Still, he does look over the wreckage for a moment, trying to think up any solutions he might be able to offer. "I could scout ahead, maybe.... I'm sure I could fit through there, though like Fenris said, it'd be difficult to bring anything back with all of that in the way." It seems that the tiger has something to try before Lidara can even try to slip past that rubble, however, so the feline simply turns to face the passage behind them, watching to make sure they don't attract any attention from any bugs or servitors.
As fenris uses his magic, the rocks and junk do seem to shift. He might not be able to affect the creator metal directly, but with a little time and effort, he should be able to form a path that can be walked, if barely. "We're mostly going to be seeing what there is on the level. Ideally, establish a safe space at the bottom of the landing. Besides, odds are we're going to encounter a similar cave-in on our way back anyway... Not to mention the bugs."
The wasp just stays back, watching Fenris manipulate the rocks, creating a path. He just watches, really, doesn't say anything or do anything. For now, he just sticks with the group, glancing about. Any forked paths they encounter, as long as it is mapped, he will know which direction is the correct one! For now, at least. Good thing he remembers everything he sees so easily. "Let us hope they do not become hostile," Falx mutters softly.
Fenris grunts and groans and sweats, and eventually manages to make a passable, well, passage. "Then I guess it is time to see what we will see," he pants, releasing the fugue state that comes from manipulating mathemagic. He waves to his little golem, which scampers up to his feet, trailed by the blue wisps he has been using to light the way. "Shall we?"
"Indeed," Lidara gives along with a nod to Falx, "If they decide they don't want us passing through so easily on our way back, then... we're going to have some issues. It'd probably be for the best to leave at least one person completely unencumbered, just in case we do need someone to focus on fighting." Or that made sense in the cat's mind, at the very least. In any case, once all of that rubble is out of the way, he gives Fenris a thankful smile and speaks up once more, "Nice job! And I suppose we should... be on our way down there then, yeah...." Even now the cat is cautiously peering down the passage ahead of them.
As the quartet passes the rubble on the third floor, they find themselves in a stairwell that seems to go not one, but two levels down, all the way to the fifth, even though the rubble will make it impossible to head down to the sixth immediately.
What's worse, is that the chittering sounds of those creatures are becoming more and more intense on the lower floors, no doubt due to the bigger nests deeper down. And this time, there are no lights or torches to enable the four to see easily...
Fenris is glad to skip a floor, but is rather disappointed to find that they can't get straight to the floor they are trying to reach.
"Where to?" he asks, letting his little orbs of flame constrict a bit more tightly around the group, keeping the nearby area well lit. "I'm guessing this floor will not be so easy to breeze through."
Lidara is likewise disappionted once they find that the much more direct pathway to their goal is blocked! He does take a moment to examine that rubble a bit, but... sadly, it doesn't quite seem like this would be nearly as easy to get around as the prior blockage. So, he simply turns his attention to the path ahead. "If that noise is any indication, it probably won't be," he murmurs, the cat's ears perked up and his hands snugly gripping the hilts of his daggers, "I think we're going to need to be careful about where we point our lights. If we're lucky, we might be able to get through without attracting the attention of any of these bugs...."
Well, this floor isn't mapped, that much is definitely certain, though there have definitely been similarities from floor to floor. The pathways are relatively the same, so just... remember back to those other floors, use the pathways they had, find a route that'd lead to another stairwell, or some other way down. He steps into the fifth floor carefully, pointing in one of the directions. "This way. Corridors have been mostly the same each floor. Should be able to find a route to more stairs." The wasp is careful, looking wherever he steps closely, making sure not to accidentally step on any of those damn bugs, or anything they leave behind.
The priest looks... More than a little nervous at this point, staying between the trio as they move about. From everywhere around, there's that same chittering, and whenever Fenris's lights become just a little too bright, there's a hiss from one direction or another. No doubt, the creatures are far, far more numerous, and far, far closer... Even worse, there's a rather large collection of them off in the distance, only heard for the most part, although there's the barest hint of some red light shining out of one of the rooms...
Fenris lets Falx take the lead, though he keeps close, his little blue flames hovering close and his little golem scampering along at his feet. The big tiger waves a hand at the red light and he moves in that direction.
Lidara opts to bring up the rear of the group for the moment, and although his attention stays forward for the most part, he does occasionally glance behind them... and above them. There's no telling how many places these creatures could have gotten into by this point, after all. His ears do swivel towards the much more prominent sound of chittering at one point, though thankfully they aren't nearby for the moment. Hopefully the group isn't travelling in that direction. In any case, as Fenris moves towards that red light, the cat hesitates for a moment, but ultimately starts to... rather tentatively follow behind him. "Are you sure we should be heading this way? What's that light?"
That light... doesn't seem like a good idea to approach. At least, not according to Falx. "Careful," the wasp mutters to Fenris, staying a little close behind Lidara, gaze glancing about. Remember the pathways, map the most direct path to the stairs upward, to the stairs downward. In case things go too far south too quickly.
As the four come closer, the hawk-priest mutters. "It... It must be the other team. The one sent down to the fifth floor. We... You... You're adventurers. You've got to save them!" the priest calls out, as the quartet moves forward, closer to the flicker of the flame, obscured by what must be dozens of the bugs, if not more...
The smell is absolutely rancid, a mixture of burning bug and acid-tainted materials, still lingering in the air, as bug after bug seems to pour into that room from a distance.
Fenris does not bother to waste his breath swearing. He raises his hand with something small clenched in his hand and a lance of fire shoots across the hall at the swarm of bugs. At the same time, his glittering little golem leaps into the fray!
"The other team?" Lidara echoes, albeit with some uncertainty in his voice, "If it is, we can't leave them here...." He does peer into the darkness for the moment, but he doesn't get much longer than that before Fenris leaps into action! As that beam fires across the room, the feline flinches away from the entrance a little before simply taking in a deep breath and drawing his weapons. "I can go forward and try to lead that team back over here. You three just try to keep more bugs from swarming into the room." And with that... he simply dashes forward. Hopefully Fenris's beam has cleared a decent enough path for him to get through....
Not good. Another team in jeopardy. Luckily, what Falx has in mind will, hopefully, deal with them without starting to rile up the others. Making his way to the door, he's already preparing some of his mathemagics, weird equations going through his mind as he prepares a rather lovely spell for the creatures within. Avoid hitting any allies, any friendlies at all, instead focusing such dark energies to tear at what minds they do have, and their bodies. Cause chaos amidst their ranks, as it were, and maybe make a few bleed, too. Just hopefully nothing too harmful on any of the friendly persons in the room. That'd not be good, either.
As Fenris shoots that bolt of light forward, at least some of the bugs chase after it, angrily. On the other hand, another few seems far, far more interested in the tiger that sent that bolt flying, and his dancing lights, much to the dismay of the now incredibly frightened priest, trying to make himself as small as possible against the wall. Another small group is more interested in that gleaming golem, reflecting the light that's coming from inside the room, glittering like stars in the night sky, whenever a beam mamanges to make its way through the mass of bugs.
And then, there's Lidara and Falx. The latter, still at something of a distance, is spared most of the bugs, and even manages to down a small handful around him, while the former will have to dash carefully through the creatures...
Fenris does not seem to mind that he is a target. At least, he does not voice any immediate complaint. "Tear them up, Kawa," he commands his golem before activating the mathemagic in his gauntlet and striking out at the attacking bugs!
Lidara dips, dodges and dashes past the bugs as well as the globs of acid shot in his direction... for the most part, anyways. A few land graze him just enough to cause a bit of a burn and make him wince a little, but thankfully, he manages to actually get far enough in the room to locate... what's left of the last party, at least. He whistle quietly and waves a bit, trying to get the other group's attention before actually dashing over to them, though there is a good chance that the noise will be lost in the cacaphony of chittering, and by this point his gait isn't quite as steady as it is before. It seems that the horrid, potent smell filling the room is starting to wear on him. Still, with the swarm's attention on the light in the center of the room rather than the group, he should hopefully be able to manage.
Okay, some of those damn bugs taken care of. Though Falx does look to the priest, making sure he is okay. If there are even some bugs near them, Falx will hang back, continuing to just use his magic to deal with any that approach - drain, bleed, curse, anything - and, when there aren't any close enough to even harm the priest, he returns to trying to deal with them from a distance. Keep it up for now... no time to change, just do your best with what you have.
As Fenris alights that grasper, and his golem continues to swat down several of the bugs, one by one, he simply makes himself, and by extension, the priest, more and more of a mark. At least five bugs swarm his way at a time, some more easily swatted down than others... And yet, they keep coming and coming... And soon enough, there's another five, from the opposite direction. All in all, Fenris is making sure Falx has to spend most of his time protecting the priest, rather than being able to aid Lidara.
Lidara, on his own, mostly has to deal with a rather large grouping of angry bugs spitting and swarming around the burning bodies of at least a dozen of their compatriots, bright red... The fire is letting off an incredibly foul smell, and the escaping gas and fluids leave marks on the floor around them and the ceiling above... Not a pleasant substance to come into contact with, that's for sure, but luckily, the fire carries it all upwards for the most part.
The four frightened beings, meanwhile, are huddled against that wall, too petrified to move.
Fenris continues to fight, but realizes that things are not going as he would like. The tiger deactivates the sparking electricity in his gauntlet and directs his little swarm of lights away down the hall letting them grow to an near painful brightness, swatting bugs away as best he can.
Lidara might need to deal with a horrible smell, but at least those bugs are actively spitting at and swarming around that fire instead of him! Seeing exactly how scared the four beings are, however, makes him shuffle nervously from one foot to the other for a moment before simply dashing towards them. He runs between them all, shaking or nudging them a bit as is necessary to snap them out of their trance, before speaking up, "We're going to get you out of here! Just... heads towards the room's exit; there are people there who'll keep us covered while we're getting out." Those words are followed by a bit of coughing before he swaps back to mostly holding his breath. If he really needs to then he'll push the group forwards as best he can, but if they move of their own accord then he likewise starts running back the way he came.
Don't stop protecting the priest. As long as those bugs keep approaching Falx and that priest, he's going to keep lashing at them with dark magics. No fire magic, that'd make things worse. He remembers that one. He can't try to split his focus, that'd potentially ruin any chances they have of keeping the priest safe! Just a little longer... get those four beings out of there, get everyone out of here safe. That's the objective.
Fenris's plan works, at least for the most part. Sure, there are still angry bugs swarming around him and the priest, but the majority of them chases the bright sparks, allowing Fenris and Falx -some- amount of respite, even if they'll still have to deal with the bugs swarming from the darkness to chase those lights.
Lidara seems to have some mixed success, with the priest - a rabbit - and one of the freeswords - a turtle - quick to rise, while the swan and the fox seem far more concerned with their downed compatriot. "We can't just leave Michael here! Even if he's dead. Those things... THey'll eat him or something."
Fenris swats aside his remaining buggy opponents, keeping the blinding light shining away down the hallway.
"What do you say, Brother William?" he asks, "Do we press on? Or climb back up to the light of day?" The tiger wades forward, swatting and kicking at bugs to get to the fallen being. He produces some sort of smooth, white device that hums gently as he holds it over the mangled, burned being, seeing if there is anything his sacred doctor can do.
As the two beings rise, Lidara simply ushers them towards the room's exit before turning his attention to the remaining two... and the corpse, of course. Thankfully, however, Fenris comes forward with something that... might be a solution! Maybe. Hopefully. Still, the cat turns to adress the fox and the swan. "If what he's doing doesn't work, then we'll carry Michael out, alright?" he accompanies his words with the most reassuring smile that he can muster at the moment, too. With that, however, he readies his blades and... sort of just stands at the ready, just in case any wandering bugs decide to head in their direction. By this point, even his hands are a bit shakey due to the scent in the room, though.
"Safety of William is our primary concern," Falx states somewhat flatly. "However... we should also make sure this party is safe before we proceed. I believe we were instructed to aid other teams as well." He offers his own response to Fenris, making sure none of the damn bugs are doing anything for the time being. He twitches just a bit. He could become a Griffon, help get the poor Michael get out of here. But that'd take time. Time he doesn't have. "Eliminate the remaining insects. Then we will decide." He doesn't stop lashing out with his magic. He's not going to stop until the present threat has diminished to a more reasonable level.
Unfortunately, Michael is very much dead, and while the Sacred Doctor can work miracles, it can't work -those- miracles. His fur is damaged, and the body smells foul, but at the very least, bringing him up to the surface means being able to give him a proper burial, if they can get him out.
"I... I don't know. I'm an expert on creator tech, not combat operations," yelps William as he tries to make himself as small as possible against the wall. "We need the stuff from the creators' archives, but I also don't want to die," he cries out as he one of the bug flies right in front of his face, only to quite literally *pop* thanks to Falx's magic.
Once Fenris's concluded his scan, and Michael is being carried out of the room, William finally manages to muster something. "We... We should get them to the surface first. After that, we can... We can figure something out."
Fenris sighs and stows away his sacred doctor. "As you say, Brother William," the tiger agrees and moves to join the others in organized retreat.
He holds the light for as long as he can, giving the insects a proper target far from the group, his acid smeared golem scuttling along behind.
Lidara either moves next to the group carrying that corpse or helps carry it himself, but either way, once they're out of the room, the cat leans against a wall so that he can finally take a deep breath of air that's... at least marginally better smelling than the air in that horrid room! He pants and breathes deeply for a moment or two, letting the group get a bit ahead of him before pushing himself off that wall and jogging forward to catch up with them. He still has his weapons in his hands, holding onto them just in case he needs to help keep any chasing bugs at bay. "Getting out of here seems like a pretty good idea to me," the feline murmurs. He'll need to try to find some supplies better suited to fights like this for next time....
As it stands, Falx has no qualms with getting this team to the surface. It would be better to make sure everyone's safe, and come back better equipped for the task at hand. "We should get everyone out," the wasp states directly and flatly. "Regroup, get better equipment and magic, then return. Now that we know of a threat to deal with."
As Michael's body is dragged into the hall, the bugs continue swarming around that fire, and the beings wind up having to dodge one or two intent on joining the swarm inside... And then, right as Lidara steps past the doorway, there's a sudden, loud creaking sound, a crash, and a rush of that noxious gas wafts right over Lidara's back, too fast to respond to properly, and likely leaving a distinct burning sensation, even if it's only skin-deep, and shouldn't do any lasting damage to the poor cat. And then, another creaking noise, as the floor gives, thanks to the combined effects of those acidic globs, the constant heat, and, of course, the weight of the ceiling that only just crashed down on top of it...
And William merely speaks up weakly... "A-are you all alright?"
Fenris stops and turns at the resounding crash. "Huh," he says, "Shortcut for next time, I guess." He reaches out a hand for Lidara and tugs the smaller feline along. "Let's move! I don't want to see how our corrosive friends react to that." He hurries the group along up the stairs.
Lidara jumps in response to that crash, the cat throwing a glance over his shoulder... just /after/ that gas hits his back, thankfully. Else he might have ended up with an eyeful of it. In any case, that burning sensation gets an audible whine from the cat, and he reflexively reaches back to try to brush whatever is there away, but there... isn't actually even anything to nudge away! He doesn't have time to do much more than that before he's being tugged away by Fenris though, and he's all too happy to follow along. "I'm fine," he grumbles, his tone pained, annoyed and a little exhausted, "Let's just get back to the surface."
The wasp curses himself for not being able to protect Lidara, letting out an audible sigh. "Let's just get out of here," tge wasp mutters, keeping his eyes glancing about for any other insects that might try something at all.
For the most part, the journey back up is rather uneventful, though the quartet of survivors don't seem to be all too talkative right now. Not surprising, given the fate of their companion.
Once they get to the third floor again, with its collapsed hallway, the remaining beings are helpful enough to keep everything out of the way so that Michael can be brought along to the surface, so that he may be buried properly.
And yet, both groups leave empty-handed, without retrieving whatever it was they were sent to retrieve...
Fenris sighs as the group emerges from the darkness of the lower levels. "That could have gone better," he admits, stopping to bend down and clean corrosive goo from his gauntlets and his golem. He tuts and fusses over a few burns and gouges, lamenting the needed repairs. "We'll do better next time, I suppose. But getting these folks out was more important."
Lidara almost immediately perks right up once they finally reach the surface again, a relieved smile forming on the cat's muzzle while he takes deep breaths of the much fresher air. "It could have gone better, yes, but like you said, saving them was more important than the mission. Besides, we're at least a bit more prepared for next time." Probably. Now that they're on the surface, however, the cat is quick to start tracking down the bits of his gear that he'll need to repair... as well as assessing the damage that all of that corrosive stuff did to his poor fur.
