Of Magic and Dungeons [IC/PG-16/Accepting]

[Skaia 578]

With the group having met back up again, Lana grimaced at the sight of the shadow darting away from the light and listened to what Estelle had said about their mystery enemy. "Great. More magical zombies to deal with." The girl let out a heavy sigh before Estelle asked if they were injured at all. While it was true that she had gotten a small hit from the zombie earlier Lana didn't really think it was something so urgent that she needed healing from. After just shaking her head no, the girl looked towards the mausoleum near them. There was a door on the east side of the building, and as she made her way over to the rest of the group she was able to notice that there was a second door on the southern side. 

Not wanting to just blindly wade further into the mist and deal with the creepy staring shadow zombie thing, or the what sounded like a zombie coming from the north end of the room, the girl walked over to the mausoleum to check it out. After all it was the biggest point of interest in the room. "I'm gonna try to open it," the girl declared as she paused, grimacing and saying, "uh, get ready if anything crazy jumps out." Walking up to the door, the girl placed her hand on the door and pushed, only to find that it didn't budge at all. Looking at the door, she noticed that there was a keyhole on the door of it, and started saying, "hey Chris, the door's locked do you think you could-" 

The sound of something running towards her interrupted her and the sudden clawing of her arm made her swear under her breath. The girl reflexively looked to the side, seeing the figure of a ghoul that attacked her, before swinging her axe immediately towards it. The ghoul dodged backwards from her attack and Lana herself was starting to feel her arm numb, a familiar sensation though not quite the full paralysis she had encountered on the last floor. As she cursed under her breath again, the girl saw a skeleton approaching with a sword in hand. Her mood only turning fouler the girl said, "oh great more of them. Ugh, alright." The girl gripped her axe, her annoyance growing as the numbed arm wasn't gripping quite as tightly as she'd like. "Stupid undead." 

OOC

New Map

[radio414 907]

“I’m fine,” Chris said. He didn’t need any healing in specific, though if Estellise could conjure up a nice warm bath or something, that would be great. Oh, and if Estellise or anyone else could get his dagger back from that one creature’s head, that would be great too. But there were small blessings. Everyone was together again like he’d wanted, and now they could see part of the dungeon a little bit better. There was still all this fog, but they had some light now. Would torches be useful in later runs? He wondered how many other preparations could be done, assuming everyone still wanted to explore with him after his plans for that night. Not that he could look too much further into the future. They were still in the middle of combat. Chris could see new shadowy figures dancing in the fog. 

Lana moved to the center of the room and tried the door. “Chris, the door is locked, do you think you could-” She got cut off by one of those creatures jumping out at her. Thankfully, Chris had already been heeding Lana’s other instruction, to be ready in case something jumped out, and though coming from behind one of the pillars of the building was not what Chris had been expecting, he’d still been ready enough to rush in.

“I’m on your left!” He didn’t want to be a hypocrite and not warn his teammates. Chris took a running jump and whirled his weapons around, bringing them both down upon the monster’s arm, the same arm that had just struck his friend.

That certainly got the thing’s attention, but Chris hopped back instead of staying within grabbing range, and stepped back behind Lana, getting a closer look at the door. “Oh, it’s one of these,” he said as he dropped down to be eye-level with the lock. This was the plan, huh? Well, he could oblige if everyone else was willing. “I can probably get this open, but you’re all going to have to watch my back as I do, ‘cause it’s going to take a bit.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them -- this wasn’t the first time he’d had to jig open a door while they kept him safe -- but just in case, he didn’t sheathe his dagger as he took out his lockpicks, instead keeping it in the same grip as his tension rod. If anything happened, he could whirl back around, but otherwise, he kept his full attention on the puzzle in front of him.

[Doggo 218]

For her part Estelle wasn't entirely sure how best to heed Lana's advice. They needed to be on guard for further surprises, but when a look from one of them could cause you to writhe in pain and hallucinate it put a damper on wanting to keep a proper look out. It was no surprise then that Lana was first to catch on to their next assailants, especially when they attacked her first while she investigated the locked door. With Chris' help Lana was in a position to at least fight the ghoul on fair terms while the former took to picking the lock. Estelle for her part readied her magic, uncertain of how best to intervene with the immediate threat. She was as liable to hit Lana from this angle as she was the monster and her brain hadn't as yet thought to move, perhaps fearing the risk of being out of sight of the others due to the fog.

"Lana, are you-" the Fereis tried to assess her friend's situation. But it was then the unfortunate silhouette of the sword wielding skeleton came into view for her. The mage gasped and nearly squeaked in fear that the bodak had returned to the fight. Less than eager to see her death again, at once her aim was on the skeleton. The magic in her hand erupted into a fireball rather than her usual fair of elegant light constructs. The spell sailed away from her hands at alarming speed and exploded on impact with the skeleton's ribcage and spine. It was a messy but effective separation of its legs from its torso. The sound of shattering bones after the explosion's reverberation through the cavern confirmed the skeleton to be all but unable to move but Estelle couldn't see it clearly enough through the fog to tell. It was enough to know the larger threat still loomed in the fog somewhere though which didn't help her nerves.

"Ziun, I advise we split our watch." She called out to the bard behind her knowing she wouldn't be able to react in time if something came from that direction. "I shall attend Lana from our front, you alert us of anything from behind and keep it off Chris." Estelle said trying to employ a simple plan to keep Chris covered from all sides. She readied another fireball, taking her time with this one as she looked for a clean spot to intervene in Lana's confrontation.

Edited October 30, 2023 by Doggo

[LordCowCow 840]

The ghoul didn't seem about to back off after its arm injury. If they were paying attention they would notice it seemed more cautious than the other undead, as though it had some level of intellect left. Despite this, now that it was out in the open, it didn't seem to be much for strategy. It crouched down and rushed at Lana. It seemed wary but still decided to attack head on. Perhaps in part due to the lack of space on top of the steps.

Ziun would soon see a zombie, possibly the zombie he had previously distracted, come out of the fog towards him. Ambling without any thought in its head except to reach him to attack. Out of the corner of his eye he would notice something else. A ghoul like the one fighting Lana sneak out from behind a gravestone and clamber atop of the steps heading for Chris.

Estelle, for her part, wouldn't notice anything from the direction the skeleton she had destroyed. At least not directly. Near where her orb of light hovered she noticed something. Something moving nearby it. It seemed to be intentionally trying to keep away from it so it likely off to the side of the orb and coming closer.

Spoiler

Things are heating up, the undead are coming from all sides at this point basically. Radio already knows what needs to happen for the door plan to work but will tell the rest if he has to stop to fight it will take a lot longer.

Map

 

[Skaia 578]

As the ghoul got ready to move towards her, Lana locked eyes with the creature. Based on how it had moved before it was fast enough to get away from her swing and, unlike every other undead she had fought thus far, actually seemed to be somewhat aware. Annoyed at having to deal with an actually thinking opponent, Lana tried to slow herself down as well. She could feel the numbness in her arm hindering her a bit and knew that the straight forward approach didn't really work with the mindless zombies so it was probably not going to work against something that could think. Taking a deep breath, Lana shifted her grip up the haft of her great axe and readying herself as the ghoul made its charge towards her. Thrusting the axe head forward, the ghoul swiftly ducked under her attack opening its jaws and readying to bite down on her. Gritting her teeth she grunted as she swung her axe above her and as result the haft of the weapon into the ghoul's face. With the wooden pole stunning it the girl shouted, "just die again!" bringing her axe down onto the creature's shoulder. 

Her numbed arm was starting to lose the strength behind it, and even with gravity on her side she didn't manage to do nearly as much damage with her axe as normal. "Tsk," the girl could start to more plainly feel the weight of the axe, her still good arm straining more as most of the burden of carrying it started to transfer to it. Needing to use more than just her arms to dislodge her axe, the girl kicked the ghoul, pushing it away as she pulled her weapon back. The ghoul, however, wasn't stunned by this for long as it lashed its claws out at her. Off balance, Lana pulled her leg back hastily and as a result ended up falling on her face. Letting go of her axe, feeling that she couldn't properly get up if she was still holding it, and letting it fall to stone floor of the mausoleum she was at, Lana stood back up.

Using her good arm to ready her hand axe she kept a watchful gaze on the ghoul. It, in turn, seemed perched up on all fours, as if trying to get a read on her. The two of them were both waiting for their moment to strike but, with a shorter weapon and a bummed arm the girl didn't think she would win a direct clash again. It was then that the girl thought of something. While she had won the last clash, that was mostly on instinct. But, what if she could plan to do something like that? 

This time, Lana had been the first to make the move, charging towards the ghoul. As the girl readied her axe to swing, once in range, the ghoul instinctively dodged away from her attack as it had each previous time. However, Lana had never swung the axe. It had never dodged an attack as there was no attack to dodge to begin with. Smiling as she caught the ghoul in its movement the girl said, "gotcha," and swung her axe for real this time, burying it into the undead's skull. Pulling out her axe and letting out a sigh she looked over to Chris shouting, "how's it going with the lock?"

[radio414 907]

The first thing Chris tried was just raking his lockpick through the pins trying to get any of them to stick up through the force of his tension rod alone. He figured if the dungeon was eternal and timeless, it wouldn’t exactly follow the latest lockpicking technology. But the lock was as tricky as it looked. He wondered how everyone would react if he got it open that quickly after saying it would take a bit of work. Probably they’d just scramble through the door in the heat of the moment, but afterwards?

No, he did need to focus. He took his pick back out, reset the tension bar, and tried again.

Once upon a time, back before Chris could ever have conceived of doing this for a living (because earning a living was for peasants, obviously), back before he was even picking the locks the maidservants set on the larder, a man came to Ellwood Manor looking to ply his trade. As it turned out, the man was a locksmith, a new trade branching off from the classical skill of blacksmithing, specializing in exactly what the name implied. If a noble needed something secured, a locksmith was who they would turn to.

Now, this was back before Chris’ father and mother, patriarch and matriarch of the Ellwood estate, had imposed any sort of restriction on Chris’ activities, so the man never went near any of the things Chris cared about. He didn’t actually want valuables, yet. In fact, Chris was encouraged to be around the locksmith, helping the guards keep an eye out in case the man tried to pocket something from the coffers. “It might even teach him something,” Chris’ father said. “What a good work ethic looks like.”

In a way, his father got what he wanted. The locksmith invited Chris to get up close to an installation, to survey his latest installation. Even to Chris’ untrained eye, it looked like a masterwork. “It’s perfect,” he said.

The locksmith shook his head. “It’s not perfect,” he said. “But it’s okay. You make enough of these, you learn to spot the imperfections, the ways to do it better next time. That’s lesson one -- you can tell your father I told you that. Lesson two is this: Nothing is, especially not locks. If it can be opened with a key, it can be opened with a pin and some dedication. My job is to make there be as much dedication as possible.”

Well, he certainly was dedicated now. He could feel a ghoul breathing down his neck over on his right, but he just had to keep trusting the rest of the group.

Lana broke his concentration. “How’s it going with the lock?” she said.

“It sure is going,” Chris said. Only then did he feel the first pin click into place. “Okay, that’s a start.”

[Chaos Sonic 443]

With a skeleton gone, thanks to his and Lana's efforts...Ziun now was staring down a zombie...again. It was the one he previously distracted, to which he slightly cursed under his breath, really hoping this one would end up being distracted a bit more until after they were done. But alas, they weren't...and lo and behold, the zombie now was shambling towards him from the fog...and now a few feet away. The bard simply stayed his blade, waiting for the zombie to make it closer to him...which only took a few seconds...to which he watched the creature rushed at him with arms out in front of him.

"Confound it, you undead creature!" Ziun huffed, crouching down and immediately attempted to cut the creature off at the knees. Which worked...sort of. The moment he crouched down, he felt the zombie grab a hold of him as his blade began to cut into the knee. "T-Tch...damnit...will you just die...again?" he pleaded, taking the weapon and proceeding to make a few slashing motions, really cutting into the knees. After a few swings, the knees came off...now it was holding itself up by grabbing Ziun's shoulders...and it was going in for a bite.

"O-Oh no you don't!!" he shouted, shoving the rapier upwards, having it stab into the zombie's chin. This made it harder for the creature to make a move on biting, but it was giving the bard a moment to get out of the way...or in this case, stand up. After he finally stood up, he slammed the zombie onto the ground...albeit with some difficulty...and immediately yanked the rapier out. "Accursed wretch..." he said, simply kicking the zombie's head and immediately returning to where the others were. "...so...how's the escape plan coming along?"

[Doggo 218]

Upon even the glimpse of a figure moving in the edge of the light her prior sphere was still casting Estelle instinctually averted her gaze to avoid a repeat of her earlier encounter. Thankfully Lana seemed to have her opponent well in hand because this shift in focus drew the mage's attention to the new assailants coming from the other direction she'd turned Ziun's attention to. Said bard was engaging a zombie while another of the ghouls was making a mad dash to Chris who was still devoting himself to lock picking. Estelle turned about to better aim and attack the monster, quickly shifting from the exploding fireball strategy back to a more common approach for the Fereis. A lance made of light sailed through the air piercing the ghoul through the chest before lodging itself into the wall of the building. The thing's movement was stopped just a hair shy of being able to reach Chris which gave Estelle a moment to pin down the figure she had spotted.

"Where are you hiding?" she muttered as she shifted the orb of light's direction of travel upward through the room. If she really had seen the bodak it was trying to get closer to them without coming into view. There was no sign of anything except the outlines of head stones marking graves along the ground. That was until the orb stopped at its new intended destination. Again another figure hiding in the edges of the light, just out of view. And again Estellise jerked her head away for fear of seeing her own death. Thankfully all she saw was the ongoing struggle to keep Chris protected so they could leave this undead nightmare of a floor. She returned to the ghoul still trying its hardest to tear Chris apart. Her spear wouldn't last long so the mage aimed and shot several more arrows of light into the thing's head. It died fairly quickly and just in time as the lance spell faded, letting the now corpse slide down the wall.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Doggo

[LordCowCow 840]

For a brief moment all they could see was each other. As Ziun got closer they all were in clear view and as far as any of them could see it was just them. This didn't last long. First came the now familiar wave of fear as the bodak emerged from the fog. Coming from nearly exactly where Estelle's orb of light was. The creature didn't lurch like the zombies but it did move at a steady, slower, pace. It seemed to be focused on the two standing near the door as it made its way forward.

And as it moved it turned its twisted face towards Lana, gazing at her intently.

Ziun would suddenly feel something at his back. Claws slashing him from behind. Another ghoul had emerged from somewhere nearby and had attacked him as he made his way towards the group. As soon as the ghoul's claws sliced into his back he could feel a numbness spreading and a paralysis setting in.

Estelliese, too, would have an encounter with a ghoul. As it emerged from behind a gravestone and rushed at her. Because of Estelle's position she could see the creature coming for her, unlike Ziun, but wouldn't have long to react before it was upon her.

Spoiler

Map

How ghastly. Things are getting close here. Already told radio but essentially Chris will be able to unlock the door this round. However they have to be the last post of the round. Once radio posts no one besides me can post after so try and get posts out sooner rather than later and communicate with each other.

This also means that Chris will only be able to open the door. I'll have at least one more post before you can try and get inside.

Of course if Chris is interrupted during this he won't be able to unlock it anyway.

 

[Skaia 578]

"Well that's reassuring," the girl muttered towards Chris's less than favorable response. At least she didn't have a ghoul immediately pressing down on her. Unlike her other two door guarding companions. With the sound of a ghoul coming from behind her as well as seeing a ghoul go towards Estelle. While she had a half mind to go intercept the latter, she was paralyzed and unable to move forward as she felt a wave of fear rush across her. Out from the fog, lit up by the orb of light behind it was a creature that made her hairs stand on ends. While it was certainly a disgusting looking beast, like a zombie but with worse skin care, there was something about it that unnerved her. Add to that her numbing arm and hand and her primary axe on the ground near her, she was certainly feeling threatened by it. Her fears also were becoming more justified as it seemed to focus its attention on her. No really knowing of what it was capable of nor if there any more ghouls near it readying themselves to spring out at her, Lana did what she was learning to do more frequently and that was take her time. Taking one cautious step forward, she looked the creature in the face -

She was running. She didn't know why her legs were moving but they were. She didn't how she got into this place but she was. She couldn't understand what she was seeing, which was herself, running. And the ground beneath her started to give way. The once solid ground beneath her feet had started to turn to some kind of sludge, to some kind of thick substance that pretended to be a floor. Her feet were moving less, she was running slower until finally she came to a full stop. She didn't actually stop running so much as the ground had rendered her immobile, her feet, ankles, legs slowly sinking deeper into the muck that this floor was now made of. Of course she tried to free herself. She tried to push her legs to the limit to force them out. She placed her hands on the ground to try and push herself out. But try as she might she was just sinking deeper and deeper and deeper until - 

Her eyes widened. Her chest was in pain and she gasped for air as she tried to get her bearings back again. She saw sweat dripping from her face onto the floor below - the stone floor of the masoleum she had dispatched the ghoul on. She looked back to see Chris still working on the lock. And she looked forward to see that the creature she had met eyes with was now closer. Estelle had mentioned something about a monster before hand and only now did she really understand what they were talking about. Gulping, she took a step back as the creature was alarmingly close now, standing at the foot of the steps. The girl planted her feet on the ground, nervous to even take another step as if the ground under her would give way at the slightest movement. But she still had to keep Chris safe from this creature. 

And so with her first hand axe, without looking at the monster, she tossed it towards its chest. The toss was somewhat blind as she couldn't afford to keep her gaze on it for too long, but it was large enough that that didn't matter and the axe found purchase. However, the creature didn't seem to be bothered a bit by it and continued to move forward, taking a swipe at her with its arm. The girl stepped to the side and dodged before drawing her second axe and going for another swing at the monster. It proved to be more nimble and aggressive then she thought such a beast would be, grabbing her arm and stopping her swing. Lana grit her teeth as she could feel a burning sensation coming from its grip and could tell the monster was moving its head closer to her in an attempt to lock eyes with her once more. She had no idea what would happen if that occurred a second time, but she had a good idea from the position she was currently in that she was likely going to die. And so, the girl took a deep breath, dropping the second hand axe to the ground and using her free hand to grab the axe still in the monster's chest. Closing her eyes she shouted "get off of me!" and tackled the monster, freeing her arm and axe from it as well as sending the creature down the stairs. It was certainly strong, stronger than her, but the natural disadvantage of standing on stairs was enough for her to overpower it. A burning sensation coursed through her still as the girl did her best to keep the monster in view without looking directly at it. "I feel like I've said that a lot today." 

Edited November 25, 2023 by Skaia

[Chaos Sonic 443]

"What in the devil is that?!" Ziun exclaimed noticing the bodak, not being privy to noticing it before. But alas, he couldn't handle that right now...not when he had a surprise attack on his side...or rather...his back. The bard felt the claws digging and slashing at his back, causing him to yell in pain as he tried to gather himself. "T-Tch...that was my favorite coat you imbecile!!" he shouted, gripping his rapier...though he started to feel...numb...it was spreading. It hit him on what this was a moment later: Paralysis. "D-Damnit...it appears I've been more careless than I wanted..." he muttered, gripping his rapier tighter as he just stared the ghoul down.

With a quick flick of his wrist, he tried to slash at the ghoul. However, to his dismay, the ghoul seemed to be more limber and agile than a normal zombie or even skeleton. No, this ghoul simply crouched down and hopped backwards as it glared at the bard. It seemed to just study the young man, almost waiting for him to make another move. Ziun wanted to, be he glanced back in Chris' direction...it was a last line of defense situation here. With a slight exhale, he remained in his position, moving slightly in place in an effort to stave off the paralysis. ...got to make sure he gets the door open... he thought, staring the ghoul down yet again.

The ghoul made the move first: rushing towards him to attack yet again. Ziun gave his weapon another quick flick, hitting the creature's shoulder...but alas, it was weaker than it should've been. Ziun cursed under his breath at this, watching as the ghoul now grabbed his sides and proceeded to pull him down. "G-Get off!!!" he shouted, attempting to push and kick the ghoul...though it only proved to have him end up on the ground either way. Now the bard found himself grappled with this ghoul. "A-A-Any time now would be most appreciated, Chris!" he called to his ally, hoping he'd be finished soon.

[Doggo 218]

The bodak didn't keep Estelle waiting long. She'd wanted to know where it was hiding and it soon made itself known in spite of the light. As did some other undead, a ghoul most particularly attention grabbing for the mage as it was coming right at her. With a bit of luck the bodak's gaze did not seem to be on her as she couldn't help but look its way once or twice instinctually to make sure it wasn't looking at her. The paradoxical nature of that line of thinking would have to be parsed out later as she returned her attention to the advancing ghoul. Making use of the time it would take the creature to close the gap the mage aimed carefully to blast an arrow into the things head. The magic sailed not a moment too soon, striking the creature down. This seemed enough to stop it unlike some of the zombies taking damage to their heads. Useful information maybe but again something for another time. From the sounds around her the mage could take stock of Ziun being in immediate distress and Lana having perhaps experienced some of the bodak's powers for herself. The latter was at least not immediately grappling her foe so despite her concerns the mage moved to help the entangled bard.

"Hold on!" Estelle called as she took off running toward Ziun. Given she was as likely to hit Ziun as the ghoul from this range it seemed only right to attack the thing directly. What would normally be one of her arrows condensed into a rough approximation of a dagger in her hand ready to slash the beast off her ally. That seemed a bit less likely to accidentally hurt him at least.

[radio414 907]

Chris wondered if Ziun had ever picked a lock in his life. It wasn’t just some magic “wiggle some pins in the keyhole around until it works” method (that was reserved for the actual magic tricks -- well outside Chris’ purview), doing something like this under pressure was work! The sounds of the battle behind him obscured any audible clicks from the pins, which left the job of detecting his progress to however delicate his hands could be and a dose of intense concentration. It was enough that Chris didn’t even bother responding to Ziun’s question. There was just a little bit of work left to do.

Just like that, he felt the lock give way, and he was able to turn the lock. Chris would have pumped his fist in success if there weren’t so much riding on this and so little time to do it in. He’d noticed before starting that the door didn’t have any hinges, which meant he had to push it. Of course, the dungeon didn’t make that easy either. Pushing shifted the door slightly to the left, enough to realize that it was more of a sliding mechanism with a more complicated deadbolt than he’d assumed. There wasn’t more time to think about that, though. He pushed the door open and saw the contents of the building beyond.

That was to say, he tried to see, but all he could make out in the darkness was a passageway leading downward. “Stairs!” he called out. “Door’s open, everyone in!”

[LordCowCow 840]

If Chris looked closer at the darkness he'd notice that it didn't fade into black like usual darkness. Instead there was a certain point down the stairs that it simply cut off into a screen of blackness.

The sight he saw when turning back was not the most heartening either. The Bodak had been slowed and had taken a tumble down the steps but it was already back up and approaching again. The undead paused as it started up the steps and grabbed the dagger still in its head. It yanked it out and took a look at it.

There was a moment where the creature seemed lost in thought, if such a thing had any thoughts, as it looked at the dagger but then it resumed its approach. This time holding the dagger properly as though it were intending to use the weapon. Lana would feel the paralysis more strongly in her arm now which made that arm nearly useless.

The ghoul grappling with Ziun didn't seem as strong as the zombies had been but it was strong enough. Especially as the paralysis seemed to be working harder now. Ziun would find every movement difficult to do. The creature would have overpowered him by now but Estelle, using her awkward makeshift weapon, stabbed the short blade of light into the creature's back. It barely seemed to notice it but it noticed it just enough that Ziun was able to squirm out of its grip.

Though as soon as it noticed that it had lost the advantage on Ziun the ghoul sprang back up, ready to attack Estelle or Ziun. Whichever one moved first.

Spoiler

So the door is open for anyone to go in, provided they can reach it.

The Bodak is now armed for whatever that's worth. Speaking of arms Lana can only fully use one atm.

While Ziun will only be able to do simple movements.

The ghoul will attack whichever between Chaos or Doggo posts first essentially.

Map

 

[radio414 907]

Chris was surprised his cry of success had not been met with a stampede of three other people trying to get down, especially given all the yammering they had been giving him beforehand, but that was probably for the best. He didn’t want to be trampled. He did want to get out of there as soon as possible, though, even if the darkness was emanating down there below him in a way the stairs in the dungeon had not done so previously, but he was thankful for the moment to collect himself.

He stood up and put away his lockpicking kit, making sure everything was in his proper place. Sword sheathed, the magic thread was put away, his daggers… Oh.

It wasn’t a big deal or anything. He still had the one dagger to wield in his off-hand when necessary, and he could just acquire a new one later, whether through legal means or not. Surely, Chris thought, he was not the first person to lose something down here. Really, with the way he threw them around so often, it was amazing it took fifteen floors and several desperate flights away from attacking monsters to leave one behind.

The sounds of continued fighting rang out behind him, but Chris still faced forward down the stairs. He had plans for that afternoon and night that he had to get ready for. Everyone else would get there when they were ready. They could take care of themselves.

But then he thought about every time Lana and he had charged to the other’s defense, or whenever Estellise had gone out of her way to ensure his safety. He thought about Ziun charging in behind him when Ziun thought Chris might be in trouble. They were still a team, and they had to finish as one.

He turned back around and saw the thing from earlier menacing Lana with a dagger. His dagger. Chris’ other dagger was out of his hand before he even had time to think, hurtling through the air and chunking into its chest. It staggered and stopped in place for a moment to collect itself, but that meant it was still very much aware of what was happening to it, and pretty soon it was trudging toward Lana again. “We can get out of here,” Chris said, “I’ve got your back if it chases us.”

[Skaia 578]

Lana grimaced, gritting her teeth as she still held her hand axe firmly, as the monster she was facing now made it was towards her with a dagger. Typically, a dagger was not the most threatening weapon and she wasn't even sure if it was any worse then the claws of a zombie or skeleton or something. Though, there was something incredibly unnerving about the fact that this monster seemed to understand how to take what was lodged in it and turn it into a weapon. An inherent intelligence to it that made it far more threatening then any of the other bizarre and unnatural power it had with in it. The girl gulped once more, her situation only growing worse by the minute. She had one hand axe that she was armed with and one arm that was beginning to no longer function. Unsure of the proper course of action, her thoughts were broken up as a dagger whooshed right past her. The weapon planted itself in the chest of the monster, creating a moment of pause either from hurt, shock or both of the attack. The girl looked back to see that Chris had come to her aid and with the monster stunned, brief though it may have been, and nodded. "On it!" 

Without a second thought the girl ran straight into the now opened building. Her grip on her axe was still tight, the darkness around her serving still to unnerve her, as she continued to run towards the stairs. Making her way down them, approaching the abruptly transitioned wall of darkness, the girl found herself unable to continue down them. "What?!" Panicking for a moment as she could no longer make her way down, she backed up to try to ascend the stairs only to find that she no longer could as well. Her nerves didn't stop screaming at her until a moment more passed and she realized that this feeling was a familiar one. The same one that would have happened if she tried to go up any other set of stairs and ascend to a previous floor in this dungeon. "Oh..." She spoke for a moment as the realization hit her. "I guess it's over?" 

[Doggo 218]

In her desire to not blow the impaired Ziun up with the ghoul clawing it at, Estelle had found her improvised attack only good for getting the beast to scrap with her instead. The bard was out of its grasps and that was good. But the Fereis was not good at these down and dirty kind of engagements and so raised her hands to channel magic about the only thing she could do in the situation. The ghoul, perhaps because of the simplicity of its task, knew much more readily what to do to the mage and lodged a claw in her side after swiping at her. The pain that shot through her waist quickly subsided as the paralyzing numbness effect struck her for the first time. How her companions had fought as long as they did under these effects was a question for later. She returned a blast of light into the thing's face which stunned it off of her for a moment but did not kill it as readily as when she had time to aim and prepare the spells. Still, Estelle wouldn't waste time. Before the the ghoul's blight spread to any of her limbs she needed to get Ziun through to the staircase. She provided another quick improvised blast to the ghoul's face, not enough to kill it but it would have to do.

"I have got you, do your best to move!" The mage hurriedly assured Ziun as she lifted one of his arms up and over her shoulders. While not in the best physical shape for this sort of task she had bought the pair enough time to make it closer to the stairs before the ghoul continued in pursuit of them. What's more the bodak was now concentrating on the pair and Estelle only barely managed to escape its gaze as its attention darted to her from Chris. With a bit more of an idea to her magic this time she called back the orb of light she had sent out into the room, it's glow all but extinguished from her lack of attention. It flew between the escaping party and the undead and began glowing in brighter intensity than before while shrinking in size as magical power again flowed into it.

"Eyes forward, into the stairs!" came Estelle's warning to Ziun if he had his eyes open at all and to Chris if he was still waiting for them to make it through to go down himself. Not a moment sooner the orb erupted into a powerful burst of light, forcing the bodak's curse-laiden eyes shut and the already partially dazed ghoul to pause and cower from it while the Fereis finished dragging Ziun to their goal. The flash lasted only a few moments, just barely enough to ensure the entire group's escape.

[LordCowCow 840]

As all of the adventurers narrowly escaped the remaining undead they would find themselves on a staircase much like the ones they had been on before. Lana would notice that the darkness she saw before simply faded away. Or rather it looked as though the darkness was moving down the stairs and revealing more of it until it vanished completely.

These stairs were a brief journey before it leveled off into a small, square, room. Directly on the right was a stone wall and across from them more stairs leading down. The room was mostly empty except for two things.

One, on the left-hand wall, was a portal like those they had seen before that would lead them back to the surface. Next to that was a simple wooden chest. Inside said chest was some coin as well as a single object. It was a wand of some sort that appeared to be made of bone. On the left of the wand were three white stones embedded into it and on the right three black stones.

Were they to take the portal to the surface they would find that night had fallen and they would be allowed to heal their wounds, though their fatigue was not so easy to heal, before being led out of the walled area protecting the entrance to the dungeon.

Spoiler

If you really want you can continue but somehow I doubt it. So yeah, you've now cleared 5 more floors of the dungeon and got a reward. You may do as you'd like with remaining day. Remember that what you do outside the dungeon is wholly up to you.

Also Doggo, Chaos, we should probably discuss stuff when you can.

As for the wand you found. It has two effects. One is that it can remove magically inflicted curses and diseases, though not some exceptionally powerful ones, and the other is the ability to briefly control undead. Both effects have 3 charges.

 

[Skaia 578]

Looking back Lana was feeling antsy not knowing what the fate of her other party members were as she had been the first to get to the stairs. After all, their situation had been particularly dire and Lana felt a bit bad just leaving them to it. Thankfully, her worries were only so for a few seconds as the entire rest of the group had managed to make it to the stairs. With everyone making it down, the path before them opened up and once more they were met with a pile of riches and a wand for the people that cared to use the magic item. It was far out of Lana's wheelhouse and so while she was curious about it, she made no bid to actually take it, instead being satisfied with the fat pile of cash she had just gotten. 

With their exit route being cleared, Lana said, "I am so done with skeletons for today," before leaving the dungeon. With all of their wounds being treated and her paralysis being cured, the girl let out a large sigh of relief. "Well, I guess that's another five floors down. Just...however many more to go." The sheer scope of the dungeon and the lack of the girl's knowledge of it was worrying and a bit demotivating all at once. However, with the money in her pocket and her fatigue making such thoughts fleeting she didn't pay the daunting imagery an endless labyrinth of monsters any real mind. Though, she was far from at peace or content. Switching to a whine the girl said, "ugh, I'm gonna need to buy new weapons. My poor axes." 

After walking a bit forward, the fatigue in her legs becoming more apparent now that the day's dungeoneering was done she looked back to the others saying, "alright. I'm done for the night. Good job everyone. Let's meet up...I don't know, later. Good night." With an abrupt leave, the girl made her way back to the church she had been staying at. She didn't quite make it to her bedroom, though, instead only managing to get through the front door before sitting down at a pew. "I need a rest first before bed..." She muttered, stretching her legs out and reclining back in her seat. 

[radio414 907]

Chris was the last one into the stairwell, diving through once Estellise had dragged Ziun past the threshold. He popped back up quickly, though, having safely tumbled to protect his head and neck, leaving just a few bumps that, though they would surely bruise, were about to get healed away once they exited the dungeon. There was some part of Chris that wondered if he was being a bit dramatic. He probably could have just turned and ran just like everybody else, but he had already done it, so he’d never know the answer to that question.

He pulled himself up all the same. “Everybody okay?” Chris said. He revised the question almost immediately, though. “Everybody okay enough to make it ten paces through a portal?”

Walking around without his daggers was an odd feeling. Without one, like, there was still a little bit of weight there, and he could justify it to himself that he had one in his hand all the time, but without both, while he did feel lighter on his feet, he could also feel his right hand drifting to grab something he’d never find. He moved where he kept his magic string and its spool in the meantime, even if it meant that felt weird instead.

Lana was also up and moving about. She was the one who got to the treasure first, though she passed on the special item in favor of more coin. Chris held the wand in his hand and fiddled -- though didn’t press -- any of the stones on the side. Unlike the string, which he felt safe fiddling with when he’d first picked it up, the wand felt like something for someone with a little more magic experience to explore, so he too just took a share of the treasure. “I have to get… a whole bunch of stuff, actually,” Chris said. The money could help with some of that. Rent had to get paid somehow.

When they all stepped out, the first thing Chris noticed was the time. “Oh, I thought…” Hadn’t the dungeon transported them out just a few minutes after they’d gone in before? And now, the one day where he was counting on such a weird quirk, it decided to not work that way? It was rude, was what it was. All of a sudden, his mental timetable narrowed. “I have to go wash up,” he said. “Estellise, um, I’ll see you in a bit when I don’t have skeleton dust and pain all over me.”

[Doggo 218]

Relief was all Estelle could feel as the battered team hobbled over the finish line for this leg of the dungeon. In the next room waited their reward and their ticket out which they would certainly need. With respite afforded them the mage looked over Ziun for any injuries in need of immediate attention. Their escape would provide them means of healing anyway but it wouldn't help much should any of them bleed out prior to walking through the portal. Her patchwork healing satisfied she turned to the group's reward for surviving this wave of floors. The Fereis' eyes landed immediately on the wand which the others had passed up. Magecraft theory abounded and eyes darted back and forth excitedly as she took in its structure and composition while attempting to divine it's function. Ultimately it was a project for a much more fresh Estellise but one she was eager to undertake.

"I should like to examine this with my father. He has a brilliant mind for these sorts of things. Once we have ascertained its nature I shall present it to the group to propose ownership." Estelle decided on the magical objects short term fate. As with previous ventures she took next to no gold and left a greater share for her comrades who did not have one of the town's major family's financial backing. With the loot decided and divided the group took to exiting through the portal. For a moment it felt natural that it should be night time. Yet only as Chris addressed her did she manage to take notice of the oddity herself. So long as she herself welcomed Chris at the front gate to the estate she didn't foresee difficulties with their agreed upon meeting but she did worry what her mother would say at her coming home this late from the Dungeon. That lecture might well take until well past Chris' arrival and it wouldn't do to be unkempt herself for their appointment. She had the walk home to strategize on how best to avoid her mother's ire at least.

"Yes of course Chris." she said with a well practiced curtsy. "I shall greet you personally to avoid the previous complications. Do take your time, the library should not be going anywhere." Estelle joked and couldn't help but giggle to herself about the idea of the books dancing away from their grasp. A harmless trick to play one day with her cousin should he ever find the free time. Once all farewells were accounted for Estelle began her walk to the Fereis estate, thinking of how best to duck into her room without attracting too much attention.

Edited December 16, 2023 by Doggo

[Chaos Sonic 443]

Ziun was pleased that the others wished to do their own thing after they exited through the portal. He stood there for a moment or two, watching the others walk off...in what seemed to be a slow paced motion. His mind was plagued with the adventure of the five dungeon floors they had gone through...and what did he, himself, have to show for it? No physical wounds due to the magic of the dungeon's exit...but the mental scars of the past five floors continued to plague the young bard. One of the best illusionists this side of the Bard's College of Glamour, taught straight from his mentor Jhaan...and yet...AND YET...

"...it's not good enough...I'M not good enough..." those words escaped Ziun's lips as he looked back in the direction of the dungeon. His fists began to clench tightly, trembling greatly. He had nothing but his illusions and his shoddy at best swordsman ship. Ziun grabbed the rapier in it's sheath, his fist clenching around it. He wanted to throw it, he wanted to just stop... He was no good to these three he called his allies, even practically sentencing someone to die. That image still rang true in his mind, to which a tear did fall from his eye. Perhaps his time on the road led him here just to realize...he should return to Cheron and go back to being the son of a blacksmith and nothing more.

The bard turned away from the dungeon and made his way back towards the tavern. He needed to drown his sorrows...to numb this pain he felt. Ziun finally himself at the tavern's bar area once more, after what seemed like an eternity with the walk, just by himself. Strangely that was how he found himself here before she... He paused in his thoughts, fighting back another tear, looking in the direction of the bartender, Hector, and motioned for him. "Barkeep, I request whatever you have that's strong...two of them to be precise." he said in a bit of a defeated tone.

"Hm. Well I won't say no but be sure you can handle it." He'd then get the drinks.

"Only one is for myself, good sir..." Ziun let out a pain ridden sigh. "Nevertheless, I think it should dampen the feeling I have after the previous excursion. Whether I can handle it or not remains to be seen."

"Mm." Hector grunts. He's quiet for a bit, going about business, then comes back to Ziun. "You know if that Dungeon is too much you don't have to do it."

Ziun looked in Hector's direction and shook his head, before taking a long swig of the drink. "There are stories still to be shared from those halls...songs unsung...who better to go there than myself? To perform those unsung verses..." he sighed, looking at the bar-stool next to him, shaking his head slightly.

"I...see. No, sorry, I don't have any idea what you're talking about. Are you sure you're not already drunk?"

"No, I fear I'm not...on the count that I can still feel the pain of this previous endeavor." Ziun lamented, waving his hand slightly.

"That's rough, buddy."

Ziun let out a sigh, placing his head on the bar itself and spoke, albeit a bit muffled. "...to top it off, the team I went with...I feel as though I've let them down. That my illusions and even my swashbuckling, as it were, did nothing to truly contribute against the hordes of the undead we found ourselves in. I fear as I may not be anywhere near the level and prowess as the others."

Hector didn't respond for a while, it wasn't even clear if he was listening or not, then with a grunt he said "at least you know there's a problem. Seen a lot of fools charge in thinking they know more than they do and it never ends pretty. All you can do is do better next time."

Ziun's head didn't move from the spot he had it, just really taking in what Hector spoke. Maybe he had a point in him actually thinking and knowing there was a problem, lest he be like every other fool that charged into that accursed dungeon. It still really didn't make him feel all that great though... "If there was a way to better aide my fellows...but illusions are my thing..."

"If it's not enough then you'll have to find something more."

"But what else could I possibly do?" Ziun lifted his head from the bar, drumming his fingers in a small rhythmic fashion. "It's not like I can just conjure something else...up..." He paused for a few moments, before his hand met his face. "...con...jure...oh sweet goddess...that's right! I do have something else I can do!!"

"Looks like you already got your answer huh? Sometimes just takes a bit of thinking out loud." Hector nodded to himself.

"Apparently so..." Ziun nodded, moving slightly upright and waving his hand a bit...as a small mug appeared onto the bar. After a moment, he grabbed it and started tossing it in the air and catching it. "OHO! I still got it! I suppose it'll be time to retire the rapier and get back to my roots...the very ones I neglected when I took up the blade."

"I don't know much about magic but I do know all about retiring weapons." Hector said. He then glanced at the mug. "Try not to fill my place up with all that stuff."

"At your behest, barkeep." Ziun gave a revitalized smile, putting the mug on the bar. He then looked at the rapier on his waist, before nodding. "I suppose it's time I leave this behind in favor for my own style." He said, before grabbing the quill from his hat and pulling out his notebook, noticing what the last few things he wrote in it:

An ode to a dear friend, one who swore we'd see the end
But alas: the time came and went, and while she was the one the goddess sent
She was the one the zombies hate, thusly she was ate
To the Dread Pirate Robin, for she'll continue to sail untrodden

Ziun read this verse and nodded, before turning to the drink and downing it immediately. He wrote a few things, musical notes from the looks of it, but nevertheless he stood up and placed a few coins on the bar before giving Hector a smirk. "I added extra...whether you want to admit it or not, you have given me the best advice I could ask for, sir. And for that, I'm humbly thankful. Now if you'll excuse me, I must sell this in order to finance my next exploration with my compatriots!" he said, tipping his hat slightly. With a reinvigorated goal in mind, Ziun Castir left the tavern, planning to sell his rapier and prepare for the next dive into the dungeon.

[LordCowCow 840]

Lana, alone in the church...unless?

Despite that it was getting darker outside the church was still lit as there were several candles around the area. In particular as Lana sat there, resting after her harrowing adventure, she saw the candelabra atop of the pulpit at the end of the room. Perhaps it was due to being tired but the flames seemed to be flickering more than was normal. The more she watched the more certain she became that the fire was moving. And then they went out entirely.

Moments later the candelabra itself fell off the pulpit and hit the ground with a ringing crash.

Silence reigned for some time after that. And then Lana felt something. Something cold touching her cheek.

"Hello." Anna said, having somehow managed to come in and stand behind Lana without her realizing. "Were you going to sleep there?" She asked, not moving her finger which was still poking Lana's face.

[radio414 907]

Chris took a deep breath. He’d spent every waking moment since last night -- save the ones he’d spent fighting for his life, obviously -- thinking about this job. In a way, this would be the most important one he’d ever do. Chris could think of no better reason to do something like this. Of course, he couldn’t think of a worse target either. He had been careful to not outright lie to Estellise. In fact, he had specifically said when and why he was concealing information from her. But that made it worse in a way. He had spent a lot of social credit getting this far, even outing himself as a disgraced nobleman if he had been paying attention, and he was about to burn through a whole lot more.

The job didn’t need much, though. Materially, anyway. His entrance had been sorted yesterday, so all that was left was as clean a presentation as he could muster given his circumstances (oh how he hated bathtime growing up, what he wouldn’t do for a proper scrubbing now!), his sword with crest that proved he was who he said he was, and the magic spool and string the dungeon had so graciously provided him. Chris held that last one in his hand, just looking it over. There were a lot of things he did not understand about magic. Really, that was half the point of this job was trying to understand it! To do that, he had to put some trust in some unknowns. He put the spool away at his waist opposite his sword. He was as ready as he would ever be.

Ziun was downstairs talking with Hector about something or other. Chris didn’t pay them any mind and hoped they both would be courteous enough to return the favor. He went straight to Fereis Manor. His stomach started to cramp up -- he was nervous! Why would he be nervous? Estellise had told him of some complications and didn’t say what they were, sure, but what could House Fereis do to him once he was already inside? They might be expecting his ulterior motive, but that wouldn’t stop him. It just wouldn’t. This was necessary. Maybe that was why.

“Stick to the plan,” he mumbled as he walked up to the manor’s servant’s entrance. He took a moment to tussle his hair, making sure he looked his absolute best, and knocked on the door. “Estellise Fereis is expecting me.”

[Skaia 578]

Lana continued to sit back reclining, thinking about the days events and spacing out as she stared at the flame of the candelabra. At first she didn't pay much mind to it other then the light it provided, but soon she couldn't help but notice the way that the light was moving was anything but regular. As she continued to stare, trying to figure out what was happening, candelabra eventually leaped from its perch onto the ground, letting out an audible crash that was accompanied by Lana's audible "ahh!" Shifting back further into the pew, the girl's nerves from her exploration before were being set off once again as she looked every which way to make sure that there was some dark entity creeping up - 

Poke

Lana yelped, feeling a cold press against her cheek with a voice accompanying it, forcing her to turn to face her assailant only for her turn to be stopped by the finger of them still poking her cheek. The girl looked up to face her poker, staring with wide and fearful eyes. Then, after seeing who it was for a moment, she let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's just you Anna," her voice slightly warbling from the finger in her cheek. "No, I was just sitting down and resting...well, I wouldn't want to sleep on this anyway." The girl pulled her face away from Anna before asking, "do you uh, sleep here?"

Anna looked down at Lana for a bit. "No. I sleep in my bed." She tilted her head as if confused by the question.

"No I meant - well, no you don't." She had learned as much on one of her first days here. "Nevermind." The girl cleared her throat, finally collecting herself. "Well anyway, I was just getting ready to go to bed anyway. I had a pretty hard day in The Dungeon, and a whole lot of things didn't make it easy on me either! Also I'm not sure if I can look at tombstones the same." She mumbled the last part.

"Oh. How did you look at them before?" she asked. As she spoke she moved around to sit down next to Lana.

"Like they showed you where dead people are or something." Thinking about it some more she said, "they still do I guess, but like now I have to worry about if those dead people are just gonna try to eat me or claw my face or something. Did you know for being literally nothing but bones skeletons have terrifying grip strength. And the least they could is die without a head or something! And there were so many - do people bury dogs around here?"

"I see." Anna said. "Not here, no." She looked off at the other end of the church. "Do any of the people in the graveyard ever get up?" She is silent for a while seeming to be listening. Then she looked back. "I don't think they can claw your face from under ground."

"I've never seen any, and I really don't want to check right now..." The girl looked to the other side of the church with Anna before looking back to face her. "N-no they don't - they were above ground. Walking around like, raaaa," the girl stuck out her arms, mimicking a zombie's movements.

"Raaaa?" Anna copied, in a monotone voice, and raised her arms up similarly. "I don't think they do that up here..." She then looked over at the spot again. "Maybe the Ptoma family knows more about that."

"I think the less i get involved with them the better then." Letting out another sigh, this one more exhausted, the girl looked over and remembered how dark it was suddenly. "Oh uh, right I don't know if your candle holder broke or something it just kind of...fell, uh yeah....I didn't do it, if your dad asks."

"Oh. I know who knocked it over. She does that sometimes."

Blinking for a few moments, the girl looked around and said, "...she?" She continued looking in that direction, as if trying to find some kind of stray cat or something.

You don't see anything there at all, and Anna just nodded. "Yeah, her." she pointed to the empty space near where it fell.

Lana rubbed her eyes and looked again. Then back to Anna, then back again before looking back to Anna with a raised eyebrow. "Are you messing with me?"

"Why would I do that?" She asked. "Hm?" She looked over there. "Why?" Silence. "She's going to be here for a while." Silence. "Eventually she'll have to." Silence. "Because I'm not going to stop talking to you." Silence. "I'll ask." She then looked at Lana. "Do you want to see?"

Lana looked between Anna and the empty space she was talking to, only growing more confused and irritated before the question was asked. Skeptically, and a little on edge from the day's events she just said, "sure..."