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

[Skaia 578]

Lana grinned as she heard the snapping of bone underneath the weight of her axe. As she pulled it back, this was soon replaced with a face of horror as she saw the nightmarish visage of the rat's broken up face. "Gross, gross, gross!" Backing away from the creature as it seemed to be in a frenzy, trying to bite her. Turning her axe to now have the blade facing the creature, the girl let out a scream. "Die you vermin!" Shouting, the girl swung her axe into the creature's mouth, burying  the blade deep into it. Pulling out the axe from the creature's mouth, Lana let out a sigh of relief only to be met with a painful strike to the head. It wasn't anything too large, just a small rock being the culprit, but it caused a throbbing in her head which was none too pleasant. Frustrated with the goblins and their gross mounts, she looked over to them and started grinding her teeth. As they tossed another one, hitting her shoulder, the girl let out a deep breath. Letting out a loud yell, the girl charged with her axe at the ready, running straight towards the two sling wielding goblins. 

[Doggo 218]

With Chris mended, Estellise turned her attention back to the shroud of darkness. Sergei had reacted rather quickly and had managed to escape the spell without too much issue. The mage began focusing her own magic into her hands to fire off a spell at the shamans still inside. Just as she prepared to release the magic she was caught off guard at seeing the rat spring forth from the shroud. The darkness itself was beginning to fade and as best she could tell, only one of the shamans was still inside the perimeter. The other had gotten to Sergei's position. Taking magic from two directions would prove problematic for most anyone and so Estellise readjusted herself and focused on the shaman's outline, just barely visible through the darkness.

The mage pulled a hand back as she had been doing when firing light arrows up til now. But the shaft of light seemed bigger than her usual fair. And then another layer of magic appeared over it, brighter than the usual light. The energy around it grew for a moment but Estellise didn't draw the procedure out for fear of losing control of her power from the earlier usage. Her shot was mostly straight, encouraging as she wasn't confident in her ability to bend the projectile after launching. With a determined look in her eye, Estelle let fly the bundle of light. It moved faster than a normal light arrow, on direct course for the rat that had charged forward. If it found a mark, the outer layer of magic would give off a bright shine as it propelled the inner bolt. Ideally through the rat and into the shaman behind him. The girl had come up with the concept on the fly, admittedly not the best time to be experimenting, but this was nothing to a Fereis she thought.

[Ren✧ 18]

Electricity arced through Sergei's body, causing him to spasm and his muscles to seize. He lurched suddenly, nearly falling to the ground, but managed to catch himself before the goblin could further gain an advantage on him. He gripped his knife and plunged it into the shaman's chest. The blade cut through the thin flesh and rended painfully through the goblin's sternum. The goblin made a hollow choking sound as its lungs began to fill with blood. It struggled, trying to get away but it was too late. 

Preoccupied, Sergei was unable to dodge away from the ray of frost launched at him by the other goblin. The concentrated blast of ice magic, struck him in the back, causing Sergei to gasp at the intensity. He was looking forward to leaving The Dungeon and taking a nice warm bath. He had put his body through a lot in the last few hours. 

The goblin he had stabbed was still weakly fumbling with the blade that Sergei held firmly in his hand. Putting the creature out of its misery, he took the knife out and stabbed the goblin again. There was barely a reaction to his attack, the goblin going limp almost immediately. He was reminded why he preferred to fight without a weapon, without a blade specifically. He felt like a butcher. 

[LordCowCow 840]

The sling wielding goblins were startled by the fact that both Chris and Lana, despite the rocks hitting them, were now running towards them. They each panicked and urged their rat to try and retreat from the adventurers directly in front of them. Unfortunately for the goblins their paths led them to crash into each other. Both the goblins fell from their steeds, who began to hiss at each other, and it took them a moment to get back up.

They saw the two still approaching and flung more rocks their way. One of them which would be on a direct path for Lana's head and the other just glancing off Chris's shoulder.

Estellise's improvised rat-piercing shot did indeed manage to go through the beast. It only able to let out half a squeak of surprise before falling to the side. The magic seemed to be slower on the way out and the goblin shaman, with a scream, dove to the ground and avoided it.

They then stood up and began to, slowly, retreat. Throwing rays of frost back at the two of them wildly as he made his way around one of the ponds.

The largest of the rats was now closing in and Lana and Chris could see that it was more than twice the size of the other rats.

Spoiler

Map

Might be good to work together OOC a little given the smaller number of enemies in close proximity.

 

[radio414 907]

Estellise had told Chris to be careful and here he was going and getting hit in the exact same spot. He could just imagine the lecture now, but what was he supposed to do, not keep fighting? He took a quick glance at where the rock had struck and immediately regretted it. It was a mess. Maybe it looked worse than it actually was, but it was a mess all the same. And yet, thanks to Estellise’s spell, moving his arm around still felt no worse than anything else. Pretty soon, he was resuming his charge, allowing Lana to pass in front of him as she ran after the goblin/rat pair -- they weren’t mount and rider anymore, but it was easier in his head to think of them like that -- before running at the one on the right.

The only real obstacle was the second rock lobbed at him, but Chris made sure to not let that interrupt his step again. A flash of violence later, one sword stab for the goblin and a pair of daggers into the head of its accompanying rat, and that was that. He looked up to see Lana dealing with her half of the rock-slingers and rats as well, so all that was left was a shaman (that Sergei hopefully could manage, maybe with Estellise’s help) and a giant rat.

They’d all been giant rats to be fair, but this particular one was a giant among giants. It had been inching forward throughout the entire fight, maybe that was its top speed, at least? Chris rubbed his shoulder and took a breath. “Alright,” he told Lana. “Um, don’t get eaten, don’t get clawed, don’t get hit with the tail, uh, don’t get trampled…” He kept trying to think of last-minute warnings, but they all sounded so mundane against the actual scope of the thing.

In the end, Chris settled on, “Aim for the head, I guess. Should be the fastest way, right? Ready?” He didn’t feel ready, but something in his gut and aching shoulder told him he had to be ready real soon.

[Skaia 578]

Charging forward, Lana saw the now dismounted goblins hurriedly throw more stones at her from their sling. Despite her clear fury towards the goblins and the rats, Lana was not in the mood to continue being pelted in the face. So instead, the girl raised her axe and shielded her face with the flat of the blade. The stone hit the weapon, letting out a resounding noise of rock hitting metal - I'm sure you're all experienced with that noise - and bounced off her weapon. Continuing her charge, the girl managed to close the distance, with the goblin trying to back away from her and instead backing into the hissing rat. The rat seemed even more annoyed now, both by its fellow rat and its previous rider but neither of them were around to be annoyed at for much longer. With a hefty swing, Lana brought down her axe onto the goblin, splitting its face open and killing the creature instantly. 

The rat didn't seem to be fond of this. Whether it because it liked its rider, didn't like Lana or was just naturally an disagreeable sort, that would remain a mystery to its grave. Which was coming up. As the rat moved towards her, the girl planted her foot into goblin corpse and hefted the blade out of its skull. Swinging it towards the rat, she slammed the blade into the side of the creature's face causing it to hiss with a pained garbling noise accompanied by it. Pulling the blade out, the girl then moved to raise the axe above its head, bringing it down and felling the giant rat. 

As it fell to the ground, the girl looked towards Chris who pointed out their next foe. Seeing the actual scale of the rat before her, the girl shivered being clearly skeeved out by the creature. "Oh, oh gross, that's so - uh, right. Hit it in the head." The girl looked to the rat she just killed, axe still embeded in its head saying, "I think I can do that." 

[Doggo 218]

That an improvised spell had mostly done its job was something to be pleased with. Her family would likely consider the idea boorish so there was little actual speaking about it Estellise would be able to do. But she would be sure to add the idea and execution down into a journal of similar ideas to work on and perfect at some later time once they were outside of the dungeon. For the time being, the rat was dead but the shaman had managed to escape the slower projectile and began moving towards the nearby water. Estelle had been ready to try and fire more basic arrows but found her magical control lacking after the exertion and was staring down a barrage of frost rays fired haphazardly at herself and Sergei.

While not in a position to protect her friend, the mage hurried to raise her cape to deflect what rays came her way. Mid-failed spell as she was the maneuver was rushed and didn't allow her to exactly send the ray back at the caster like she had another of the shamans. This one instead flew off in the direction of the enemies Lana and Chris would be engaging or what was left of them at this point. But Estellise herself had not managed to track the spells well enough to be able to warn them if the rays were on a collision course with them or not. For the time being the mage tried channeling her magic again to fire arrows at the remaining shaman. But the magic flickered as she channeled it, causing irregularities in the size or precision of her shots. Unexpected curves might cause them to miss or the spells might fizzle out altogether. But surely, she thought, so long as she fired enough one would land into the shaman and remove the threat of enemy magic.

[LordCowCow 840]

The shaman was having a very no good day. All of the other goblins had been killed by these unknown large people. He had tried all the magic he knew and it didn't seem to be working very well. He thought he might have hit that big guy but it wasn't nearly enough and he was running low on energy. Even running was difficult.

Though he tried to pick up the pace as the other one started shooting at him. With an alarmed cry he did his best to run away but simply ended up wearing himself down faster. And the moment he slowed he was done for. An arrow catching him between the shoulder blades and sending him down.

His last thought was regret that he never got to become a professional rat racer.

---

The giant rat. The absolute giant of giant rats. The undisputed king of size as far as giant rats were concerned. It seemed to actually notice Chris and Lana for the first time as they prepared to face it. The creature had been just moving towards the noise but now it was actually looking at them. And the way it did gave them the impression all it saw were a couple moving blocks of cheese.

It let out a wild hissing noise. Spittle flying from its mouth as it opened its large maw. Then, moving with heavy steps, the rat lurched towards the pair. It didn't seem to be worried in the slightest and as it moved it didn't look like it was going to stop. If they did nothing the two would be bowled over by the heavy creature.

Spoiler

So, Ren, there will be at least one ray of frost hitting Sergei and a couple more going his way.

Radio and Skaia you can include the stray rays that Estellise deflected in your post as well.

Feel free to ask me or the others for reactions/actions from the rat or other PCs to make this go smoother as there's just one left now.

Map

 

[Skaia 578]

Lana was still very unnerved by their last foe they had to deal with. Even more so as she couldn't help but feel like the rat in question seemed to look at her like she was a piece of food. Shivering a bit, nervous and tense she was not looking forward to charging at the creature. And so when it instead decided to charge at her she wasn't really sure how to feel. Running towards it was quite daunting but she wasn't really sure that she wanted to be treated like a snack either. Regardless, she was especially sure that she did not want to be eaten in general. And so as the creature began to ran towards her, she began to run away from it. 

Getting away from the creature, the girl then saw its flank was exposed to her. Raising up her great axe, the girl began to charge forward to strike at it. She brought her axe into the creature and while she managed to hit it, it seemed that the rat wasn't really keen on slowing down. Holding onto her axe, the girl was dragged along by the momentum of the creature before the blade dislodged itself from the creature's side and Lana herself was thrown to the ground. "Hitting while running is not good," the girl spoke towards Chris, thought it came out muffled as she was speaking into the ground. 

[radio414 907]

The moment the rat hissed at Lana and him was the moment Chris realized all those words he had just said were for naught. You couldn’t really have any sort of plan when confronting a rat that huge, because it would be doomed to fall apart the second it started moving in your general direction. When words were replaced with actions, his action was to throw himself to the side, dodging the rat, but ending up landing face-first in the dirt.

“Hitting it while running is not good,” Lana said, though her voice was kind of muffled; she had not fared much better, it seemed.

“Well, at least you hit it, I guess,” was all Chris could respond with. He pulled himself up to a kneeling position and rubbed his shoulder. “I dunno if hitting it while standing is gonna be any good either though. Maybe if, we, like, get on top of it and hold on for dear life?” Ah, but he was planning again. If anything was going to get him killed, it was probably gonna be some dumb plan like that.

He looked for Sergei and Estellise and was glad to see they’d managed their side of the room. That meant calling them out would be much easier. And yet, the only thing he could manage to say was a simple “Hey, uh, help?”

[Doggo 218]

With the shaman goblin dead, Estellise turned her attention to Sergei first who had been assaulted by magic she hadn't been able to deflect. He seemed alright but she wanted to devote a lot of time she didn't have to healing each member of the group. That had to wait as there was still one monster left as brought to her attention by Chris' call for help. The giant rat was all that remained but it seemed to of course be the most durable and dangerous thing that had been on the floor. It was going to take several more solid hits to kill it and ensuring no one got injured in the process of trying to bring it down was going to prove difficult. The mage began moving closer to Lana and Chris as she took stock of the situation.

"I am not certain what help I can offer..." Estelle offered back somewhat disheartened as she attempted to channel more light. Already she had been struggling with the arrows that had slain the last goblin. At this point, providing offense for the team seemed unlikely. But then a thought crossed her mind as the sporadic light between her hands faded. She seemed absorbed in thought as she bounced several ideas around her head at once. Her face lit up with the thought process finished and with a quick motion she waved a hand with no no light show as one might have expected until a soft magical glow would appear at both Lana and Chris' feet and legs.

"I do not know how long I can do it, but I will try to keep a speed enchantment up."  The mage informed her friends of her intentions. So long as they could dodge, getting a fatal blow in seemed like it would be easier.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Doggo

[LordCowCow 840]

Sergei cursed himself for being so foolish. He hadn't been concerned with the Goblin. Thinking they were just fleeing in a panic. Rookie mistake. The ray of frost he took to the chest wasn't powerful but it still hurt, still slowed him down, which was the last thing he needed then.

Especially with that gigantic rat threatening his comrades. Comrades who were proving to be having difficulty facing off against it.

With Estelliese's spell enchanting Chris and Lana's boots they were able to move more nimbly to avoid the rat's attacks but it's bulky body and large size meant that if they wanted to close in on it at all they risked being hit by a shoulder or head. With how big it was even the rat's side could bowl them over were it to turn towards them too fast at the wrong moment.

They were far away but there was a, thankfully simple, spell he could use to catch up. It was a spell often used to make an expeditious retreat but it would serve him fine here. Allowing him to move across a long distance in a short burst. It didn't last long but he only needed it long enough for...

-

The rat let out a snarling noise as it moved towards Lana. It turned quick enough that if Chris had been near he would have gotten a face full of rat flank. But it didn't seem too concerned about the boy's actions as it descended towards Lana. It made the last bit of distance with a sort of hop towards the girl as it aimed to slam its head onto Lana when it would then go to bite her.

Which was when Sergei came in, jumping and slamming his fist on the side of the rat's face. The large creature's head snapped downward and then looked over at Sergei and snarled again.

It then opened its mouth wide, and went to bite down on Sergei's head. The large front teeth aiming to pierce the man's skull.

Sergei reached up and grabbed the rat by the mouth. Struggling to hold it in place as the rat tried to bite down. It was clear he wouldn't last long and he called out a breathless "Hurry!" to the others.

Spoiler

No map needed I think. Before Sergei gets there the rat would be trying to attack the others so you can feel free to put that stuff into your post and take advantage of the temporary enchantment.

 

[radio414 907]

Chris narrowly avoided the next rat attack, though he was momentarily caught off-guard and let out a “Whoop! Okay…” as he threw himself back. Estellise’s speed charm did throw him off a little bit -- he wasn’t expecting to move as quickly and as fluidly as he did, but he did still manage to land on his feet. Getting out of further attacks was much easier too, especially as he got more and more used to the effects. But still, Estellise had implied that the spell couldn’t last forever, or even very long at all, really, which meant that he -- they, really -- needed to be on the offensive, and soon.

Sergei, at least, had taken that initiative, though he too had ended up on his back. Of course, his situation was worse -- the rat was literally right on top of him. It wasn’t what Chris had meant by “help,” but it was a distraction, at least, and if there was one thing he was good at, it was capitalizing on distractions. He ran at the giant rat again, sword as ready as it ever could be, aiming for the neck.

The speed boost definitely helped because, while the rat definitely noticed Chris coming, it wasn’t able to pull away completely before Chris landed a healthy slash right where he was aiming. Between Lana’s hit earlier and this new missing chunk it was clear, whatever they were doing was working, they just needed to keep at it. With that in mind, Chris charged at the rat again, ready for round two.

[Skaia 578]

As the rat moved to slam down on her, Lana rolled herself to the side. Seeing that Sergei had now taken her place, the girl couldn't help but be in awe of the man's strength. She definitely didn't envy his position, though. Getting back to her feet, the girl watched as Chris charged forward at way faster speeds then she was used to seeing. He seemed to be able to cut into the beasty fairly well too, which was good. As he was readying a charge of his own, Lana began to step forward only to stop in shock. She felt way lighter on her feet and she couldn't help but feel like she went further than she was used to in the short amount of steps she took. After a second of adjusting, though, she got used to her new enchantment and began to charge forward herself. 

Darting towards the rat, the girl made her way to the side of the beast as it was beginning to move towards Chris. With greater momentum then before, the girl swung her axe at the same place she had before. Digging the blade deeper into the wound this time, the rat let out a squeal of pain as it started to bleed more profusely now. 

[LordCowCow 840]

With Lana's axe in its side, Chris coming up on the other side, and Sergei in front of it the rat was starting to panic. Its instincts kicked in yet it was torn between fight and flight. Were they larger than it flight would be easy but they were just small prey weren't they? Which meant it should fight and eat them.

This confusion, combined with the loss of blood, caused the rat to go berserk. It started to thrash about. Lana would have trouble holding onto her axe as the creature's large body slammed back and forth. And all three of them would have to be careful to avoid being hit by its body or stepped on as it reared back.

Sergei saw a chance and started forward. The rat went to bite down on him again but the man drew back and threw an attack towards it. Striking one of the rat's large front teeth and cracking it. This caused a surge of pain to go through the rat and it let out a loud, especially given how close they were, shriek.

"We gotta...finish it!" Sergei said as he dodged backwards.

Spoiler

So figure out how you wanna and which should finish the rat off. If you want to both go at it then talk to each other about coordinating that.

Whoever does it though lemme know what you do so I can give results and, if you kill it off, what happens afterwards.

 

[Skaia 578]

Grabbing onto her axe, Lana started to get jostled around as the rat began thrashing around. "Wh-whoa whooa- ahhh!" The girl was eventually forced off of the giant rat from its thrashing. Having held onto her axe tightly during the process, it jostled in the creature's wound, digging deep before it was finally pulled out and she was tossed to the ground. Her wrists ached from holding onto the blade and her side didn't take too kindly to the fall either. Gritting her teeth, taking deep breaths, Lana slowly picked herself back up from the ground. 

Her legs were aching and arms were shaking as the fatigue was starting to set in. Thankfully, she was still quick on her feet thanks to Estelle and Sergei seemed to be doing a good job at holding it in place. The girl winced on behalf of the rat as well when the man cracked its tooth, but took a deep breath as she got ready to start her run. Crouching down, the girl darted forward towards the side of the rat. What had worked twice would surely work thrice, and she swung her axe once more into the same spot she had before. Finding purchase in the already cut up wound, the girl managed to dig her blade in even deeper then before and started to drag it around in the wound to cause it grow deeper and wider. 

[radio414 907]

Chris’ next charge proved not to be as successful as the first; the rat was thrashing about now and even with his Estellise-given speed there wasn’t much in the way of entry. In fact, he spent more time leaping back avoiding fang, claw, and tail to mount much of an offense, all the while gravely aware that the reason he was even able to dodge at all was temporary. Sergei had more luck, though, striking the rat straight on. Still, when Sergei said, “We gotta finish it!” Chris didn’t need to be told twice.

He grit his teeth. Lana went in for another hit as well, which Chris took as a sign to move in as well. First, though, he took out his daggers again, holding them both in his right hand while keeping his sword in his left. If he was going to hit the rat again, he was going to hit it with everything, he decided, and, with that, he tossed the daggers into the air and charged forwards once again.

Estellise’s speed boost was enough that he was able to overtake the daggers, especially with the high arc he had given them, and as quick as a wink, he was right next to the rat, driving his sword into the gap Lana’s axe had helpfully made. There was just enough time to catch his daggers again and drive them into the squealing rat’s eyes.

They had done it! If the daggers weren’t covering them up they surely would have been able to see the light fading from the rat’s eyes as it let out a final rattling wail and collapsed. The ghostly silence afterward only served to accentuate the accomplishment.

Chris was the first to move after, letting out a loud, exhaling “Ow…” while rubbing his injured shoulder. “Okay,” he said. “Someone said they were buying drinks right? We just need to take the portal out of here?”

As if on cue, it lit up, and a purple vortex appeared inside. Chris also noticed there was a treasure chest that hadn’t been there before, and while his immediate instinct was to claim it as his own, it was an instinct he managed to quash, instead pointing out the chest to everyone else with an “I guess that’s for us too?”

[Doggo 218]

Estelle's only focus was maintaining her enchantment. That much at least seemed to be holding firm. Lana and Chris' movements were improved enough they could safely engage with the large rat. But the details of it almost didn't register in the mage's mind. She had to maintain focus on control on the limited magical power she had left to her to channel. Eventually the pair ended the rat's life and before anything the woman sighed in relief as she released the spell and stumbled forward. She stood in place, eyes vacant, as she began to realize what had occurred in front of her.

"Very impressive everyone!" she managed to cheer as her breathing stabilized. She began moving despite the apparent fatigue. She needed to take stock of serious injuries among the group. Nothing seemed life threatening but they certainly needed some more of her magic. More than she had at the moment. As the teleportation device activated with the floor conquered, Estelle's eyes locked on the path she knew the group needed to take. She had wanted to go deeper but she couldn't discredit the achievement of making it here with such a small group. The mage took to ushering the group to the chest and means of escape before moving to open it.

"It is our prize for making it this far, yes." she spoke in reassurance of Chris' earlier question. And while she opened it, she soon stood back for the others to see the contents. Inside were four small leather pouches. Once opened, one would find blast powder. A pretty common substance. As the name implied its main use was for blowing things up, though somewhat magically at least. It wasn't much but then what could one expect so early into the Dungeon.

"Let us claim our prize and make our way out. I need to heal you all but I will not be able to until we have had time to rest."

[LordCowCow 840]

With the beasts defeated and the portal opened up for them the group of brave adventures deemed it a good idea to bravely run away. That is leave for the day and recover their strength for the next dangerous challenge of the dungeon.

As they lingered to distribute their, admittedly meager, spoils of victory they would feel a strange sense of urgency. The longer they remained here the stronger their urge to either leave or go down into the next floor was.

They stepped up to the portal. The swirling vortex inside may have seemed intimidating for those who hadn't experienced it before but there didn't seem to be any sort of danger as they stepped inside. They would experience a strange sensation. As though they were standing still yet the world was racing past them. They felt a tugging that grew more and more forceful until suddenly they emerged back at the surface. The sudden stop perhaps causing some to stumble.

The knight didn't so much as turn to face them. However a group of medics came to them and began to ask them how they were feeling and healing their injuries. Though they could do nothing about the drained feeling of fatigue that set in after the battles.

It seemed that on the surface an hour had passed. Meaning it was still not late in the day. Leaving them open to do what they wished for the rest of their time.

Once they left the vicinity of the knights they would be beset by multiple people asking for information on what they saw. However the experienced among them would know that it was best to keep the information to themselves and that, if they felt okay with sharing the information, which may be given to other adventurers to gain more knowledge on the dungeon, it would be more prudent to sell it to various information brokers in the city.

Spoiler

So basically I wanna know from all y'all if you want to go about doing stuff for the day or if you'd prefer to skip into next day's journey. I'd suggest not going right into the dungeon right away again so we don't overdo it. Since it'd be more boring to just do "Wake up do an interaction go into dungeon for five floors" I imagine.

Also depending how much time you all want to spend on rest of this day will determine when we put Sethera's character into this.

 

[radio414 907]

Chris took his allotted share of blast powder and felt the weight of the bag in his hand. It wasn’t much, but surely one didn’t need loads of the stuff, right? He thought of all the ways he would have put it to use back in Ellwood Manor. A pinch here as a surprise BANG to scare the servants, maybe some under a stove to send food everywhere, what would have been easier? In fact, with a creative enough application, he could probably even -

His thoughts were interrupted by a foreboding dread, the otherwise indescribable kind that he could only place on one thing. “Let’s get out of here,” Chris said. He faced the portal. “So, do we just…?” He mimed a couple steps to show his intent, but that sort of teasing only made the dread worse, so with a final gasp, Chris stepped forward into the swirling vortex.

It was a sensation he certainly wasn’t used to, that was for sure. He was moving and yet not moving? This was why he could never be a wizard. He appreciated magic, sure, especially when it was saving his butt, but up close and personal like this? Chris nearly collapsed as soon as his feet touched solid ground again. In fact, he did, and the only reason his face didn’t reach the dirt for the umpteenth time that day was a medic who reached out and caught him.

Estellise had already patched him up a few times, though, so really it was just his shoulder that needed to be looked at the most. They still were quicker than he would have liked, though, especially when they told him to chill his shoulder “unless he wanted the soreness to get worse” without giving him a way to do that.

Once that was done with, though, he turned to the rest of his party members. “I’m going to the Drooling Dragon,” he said. “Figure we’ve earned that much. And hey, if what we learned is worth anything, maybe Hector’ll let me stay there another week or two when work dries up.” He gave a little smirk, turned, and went on his way.

[Skaia 578]

Grabbing the pouch from Estelliese as she handed them out to the group, Lana looked into it. Seeing that it was some kind of powder, Lana looked examined it for a few more moments until she finally recognized the stuff. She had seen it before, if only sparingly, at the market place near her house. Recognizing this as blast powder, Lana immediately jumped place and in her startled response almost tossed the pouch, only to grip down on it even tighter as she realized what she was going to do. Looking around sheepishly, the girl let out a sigh of relief. Holding the pouch up and looking at it again, now examining it once more Lana smiled. It wasn't much, but it was a magical item of some sort. One that Lana would never have been able to get if she were just back at the homestead herding goats. Which meant she was getting closer to her dream still. 

Nodding at Chris's statement, Lana walked over to the circle with equal curiosity and dread. Then, stepping into it the girl felt a strange sensation pull on her. As she felt space move around in her in a way that she was sure was surely unnatural the girl blinked and ended up outside. The sudden whiplash of scenery caused her to pause, clearly confused and disoriented, barely able to balance herself as she took a step forward. That the ground was still felt strange to her, her feet feeling like they were being pulled along by some invisible current until finally, after a few moment her body seemed to readjust to the world around her. Getting over a small bout of vertigo,  Lana blinked once more and simply said, "weird." 

Almost immediately, they were beset by a squad of medics, asking Lana a whole bunch of questions about how she was feeling at once. Due to Estelliese her wounds weren't very extensive, mostly limited to just a few scrapes and bruises from falling and being pelted by rocks. So, the medic team's work was fairly short and easy. Walking alongside Chris, the girl said, "well, I still have my own place to stay for the time being. And I got some stories to tell now too." Lana smiled, as she now confidently had adventures befitting an adventurer that she could tell Anna about. Though, she figured it was best to leave the blast powder out for now...for both of their sake. "Buuuuut, all that work made me hungry. So seems like as good a place as any to get some grub and celebrate." 

[Doggo 218]

Teleportation wasn't a sensation one got accustomed to, however many times one did it. At the least, Estelle had yet to adjust to it. And so this escape from the Dungeon, like others before it, still managed to catch the mage off guard. She nearly stumbled and might have had she not oddly been anticipating the feeling of not being ready for it. It was all very bizarre but the woman was not well versed in human physiology to attempt to speak to what all effects were at play.

Before the Fereis could do so, medics that stood by at the entrance to the Dungeon swept in onto the party to check them all over. Estellise was able to quickly dismiss the mages from her own person in favor of seeing to the others. She had not sustained physical injury and was merely fatigued from prolonged use of her magic. The medic team was thorough in their work and soon the team found themselves restored and Estelle found herself not in need of tending to them even when her magic had sufficiently recovered.

Chris and Lana were quick to agree on the group's next course of action. Returning to the Drooling Dragon seemed in order. The woman smiled and agreed eagerly before scanning the area. Just a quick check but it had definitely distracted her. Still, whatever she had been on the look out for, she had not found it or else judged unworthy of attention at the moment. Instead she turned back to her friends to usher the group onward. There was celebrating to do after all. However brief their venture had been, it was still a successful venture and the group's first at that.

"I am eager to report back to Hector myself. I made him a promise after al-" Estelle started but soon cut herself off as a people flooded the group as they advanced. As ever, people were hungry for the latest news of the dungeon. This wasn't the woman's first rodeo after all. She had a practiced response to dismiss any who would trouble them: "Inquiries into our venture into the dungeon must be made at House Fereis. We can share nothing at this time."

With a triumphant grace that flew in the face of the fatigue the mage felt, Estelle marched through the town with her friends. All things considered this was a great victory for them. Surely it would be no time at all before they surpassed the official Fereis caravans into the depths of the Dungeon. The thought carried her to the doors of the Drooling Dragon which flung open with overly dramatic flair.

"Let us feast!" she declared to rest of the group.

[LordCowCow 840]

The Drooling Dragon was more crowded than it was before the group went to the dungeon. It was still not nighttime, when it would get the most patrons, but it seemed that the room was getting more filled. From both those who had been sleeping in on the upper floors and also, given the armor and weapons they could see, from various adventurers who were either preparing to go or coming from the Dungeon.

Hector was in his usual place behind the bar but a couple of others were also with him. Moving between the bar to various tables. Music could be heard coming from the small stage where a man was strumming on a harp. It seemed most of the patrons were ignoring him though a couple of them had turned their chairs to watch him play.

The elf from before, with her large sword, was still in the same place they had seen her earlier. Though she had a large plateful of food in front of her this time. She happened to look over as she was noticed by the group and would watch them with a passive expression if she noticed any of their gazes lingering.

Though her expression shifted slightly to a frustrated one and they could see one of the girls that they had seen exiting the dungeon the other day standing at the other side of the table. One hand on the table and leaning towards her the girl seemed to be asking the elf some questions. The elf responded in quick responses which seemed to not satisfy the girl. However with a sigh and slump of her shoulders the girl stood straight and moved over to the bar and started to talk with Hector instead. She glanced back the way of the group and seemed to recognize them and a smirk appeared on her face as she sat down.

Beyond those two most of the people in the tavern only looked towards the door as Estelle flung open the door for a few moments before going back to their own business. While more people were in the place it seemed as though the atmosphere was rather relaxed still.

Spoiler

Alright, scene changed. Depending what y'all wanna do I can add more info and such. At the moment the only recognized characters are Hector, the elf, and the girl (Julian).

Sethera, if you want Sia to appear here she can be here already or arrive or if you want something else lemme know.

 

[radio414 907]

A lot of the Drooling Dragon, Chris observed, was still the same, from the clientele to how it was lit to the feeling of the ground beneath his feet. In fairness, it had only been about an hour since they left at all, so the static nature of the bar was almost something to be expected. Even the smell -- that grimy, sweaty, dank stench that reminded Chris that, as long as he could still perceive it, he wasn’t completely gone -- was unchanged. Still, it was good to be back, and Chris couldn’t help but saunter over to the bar right up to Hector, and say, “Two pieces of good news for you: first, I’m alive, and second,” he jammed a thumb Estellise’s way. “She’s already said she’s paying.”

“Ha, you learn fast not to look a gift family in the mouth,” Hector said, which was a weird sentiment because what was Estellise going to do, pray him to death? Well, that wasn’t quite true, Chris had seen Estellise’s magic in action, but also, like, come on. Especially when, like he said, she was offering, “Just be sure not to promise her anything in return. Welcome back, good to see you didn't bite it early.”

“‘Kids these days, all thinking they’re invincible.’” He wasn’t quoting Hector directly, it was just an amalgamation of paraphrases he’d heard his whole life. “Maybe I still do, but at least I can take care of myself.” Chris had enough respect for Hector to avoid rolling his eyes, fortunately, and toned down the swagger as he placed an order. “Anyway, uh, I know she said, ‘Let us feast,’ but I figure we could just start with some drinks and we’ll see how things go from there, yeah?”

He waved back at the rest of the group. “Grab a table,” he said, raising his voice to make sure they heard him. “I’ll be right over.”

[Skaia 578]

As the group walked towards the Drooling Dragon, Lana grabbed at a strand of hair that had fallen in her face, fiddling around with it before tossing it aside. The girl couldn't imagine how unruly her hair must've looked at the moment, having had to take any number of face plants into the ground and a fire ball or two exploding near her. Well, that was a problem for later. For now, the girl simply had to not worry and sit back, relax, and feast. Once they made their way into the tavern proper, seeing that there was still a lot of the same crowd as before, Lana stood by as Chris conversed with the barkeep. Lana looked around, only half paying attention to the conversation, with her eyes going to a familiar looking elf woman. As the woman smirked at them, Lana gave a wave back, confused about what to make of the girl's expression.

Eventually, though, Chris had told them to go get a table. "Don't have to tell me twice. Drinks sound good." The girl turned away and began walking, before turning back and saying, "oh and also that apple pie from earlier." Lana eventually found a table, as the bar wasn't too crowded yet, and sat down at it. Letting out a sigh she said, "if I never have to fight a giant rat again it'll be too soon." Lana then slumped back in her chair, fully relaxing as she did so and waited for their food.