Fortunately, the soldiers did indeed bring a rope, and looked ready to lower in anyone who wished. Gilor watched as Pearce drew near the hole, but was a tad surprised to see that he drew back with a puzzled look on his face. Gilor peered into the hole, looking for whatever might have irritated him, only to find darkness.
Of course. It was dark down there. And Gilor, who hadn't expected to be jumping into dark labyrinths today, hadn't brought any light sources. He supposed that if worst came to worst, they could carry around the broken sun rod, but more light sources would be appreciated. Pearce probably didn't have any, and he imagined that if Caerwyn had anything, Pearce's first reaction would be to get a light source from her or something; whatever his reaction would be, it wouldn't be puzzlement.
The nervous halfelf or the acrobat--which Gilor quickly noticed had returned and was by the hole--might have some, but he figured that he might as well request a few the guards. Couldn't hurt to get more light sources, in the event that the others had something. One of the guards, wearing a uniquely-decorated helmet, had ordered the others to guard the hole; probably their commander, or some other high-ranking official. Either way, he was a good candidate.
"Excuse me, sir," Gilor requested, "have ye any spare torches or sun rods? My party--the elf and the beastfolk--weren't expecting to dive into any depths today, and haven't brought any light sources. If you have any you don't need, the supplies would be much appreciated."
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Herne went to a guard and asked for a sunrod to use in the hole. The guard gave him one then Herne slipped it into his belt and began to scale down the crater into the cactacombs below.
Herne found the floor in the void of the cactacombs. He took out the Sunrod he borrowed and lit up the area. As soon as it flickered on Rats from different directions fled away from the light. Herne's eyes opened wide there was skeleton sitting on a chest.
The commanding guard gave Gilor an odd stare, as if doubting his adventuring abilities (a doubt not without reason perhaps) but dug his hands into a pouch on his belt and revealed two sun rods. Gilor gave him the five copper left over as change from his stay at the in as a small compensation, and stuck both sunrods into his belt.
Gilor slid down the scaling rope into the dark chamber; it clearly had not been touched for quite some time. The air was stale and filled with dust motes, and a small cloud of dust billowed up from the ground as his feet impacted the stones of the chamber floor. It was much easier to see now--turning his head slightly he could see the oddly-dressed human holding a sunrod aloft--and could just make out the whipping tendrils of rat-tails as their owners fled into the darkness. Vermin in a place like this does not bode well. I hope they were after the taverns' pantries and not some poor sap that died here recently...
A small, worn chest was sitting in the corner of the room; the oddly-dressed man was oogling it in a humorous fashion. A skeleton was splayed on top, its legs strewn in odd directions and with a big gaping jaw that seemed to suck in what little air there was down here; its back was propped up against the wall and it seemed lifeless. Gilor's back prickled as he looked at it, and hoped that it was merely an innovative decoration or the remains of some unfortunate fellow who happened to be carrying a chest full of gold coins and Wishing scrolls in some godforsaken sewer rather than something that would spring to life the moment he drew near.
Gilor sighed, drew his knife, and crept closely towards the skeleton. He hadn't had the chance to test whether or not his illusions worked on the undead (considering this deceased chap had no eyes, he assumed that answer was a "no"), and he had no armor and only a knife for a weapon; he was not equipped well at all for combat with the undead. If he was lucky, it'd just be an inanimate skeleton and the chest might have some sort of proper weapon inside it, but knowing his luck it'd probably try to claw his eyes out the moment he took a step forward and the chest would not only be empty, but have some sort of trap inside it.
Regardless, Gilor was creeping towards the chest and the skeleton, knife raised and ready to block or parry, and on edge enough to leap away at the slightest hint of movement.
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To the adventurer's dismay, the chest was empty and the skeleton was merely an adventurer long given up from when these catacombs were once sealed off, perhaps there was an entrance somewhere far away from this point, that fact was unclear.
To the northeast of the room was a small arched exit which seemed to lead into another room, to the south was an open corridoor branching left and right, the entire place unlit and eerie. Torch sconces hang from the walls at regular intervals, but they hold not even unlit torches, any adventurers looking to light the place up would have to provide their own.
The walls of the catacombs are decorated with stone carvings that depict odd rituals, dances, dragons and battles, nothing particularly indicative of a purpose. The carvings curve around this entire room, beyond the walls boast a simple curling carved design that looks as if it would be easy to recreate for long stretches of wall.
Catacombs - Elgar
Elgar jumps down into the opening, landing with a fumble but otherwise unscathed. Looking around he doesn't see much of anything, it is too dark in here. He examines the walls of the room briefly before darting off down one of the corridoors to the south before anyone can follow, picking a direction at random while the other two down here were distracted by a skeleton and a chest.
Pearce's feet landed on the floor of the catacomb, kicking up a small cloud of dust that, until today, had probably remained undisturbed for a long time. His keen sense of smell picked up on the dust in the room, mixed with some ash that had fallen in from outside and some unpleasant smells which caused Pearce to cough. Pearce was not the first one to enter the mysterious structure, Gliante, Caerwyn and two people he didn't know had already entered and were looking at the remains of some poor, unfortunate soul clutching onto an aged, wooden chest. Pearce stood still for a few moments to let his eyes adjust to the dim light of the catacombs.
The room was made of stone, ancient and decorated so it was clearly man-made. Pearce approached one of the walls shortly after a man had finished his examination of them. Pearce looked closely at the intricate scene depicted on the wall, it showed a group of wizened figures gathered around a cauldron and tossing ingredients into it. Another showed a battle between an army and a dragon. And a third showed some sort of festival complete with dancing and bards playing music. There were other murals but Pearce did not study them as closely. Any connecting story between them was lost on Pearce, with further study a story might emerge but Pearce was not here for the history. The murals, though a wonder to look at, seemed hardly relevant to what they were doing.
Pearce turned to see that one of the unknown men, the one who had been examining the walls earlier, had vanished, presumably through one of the exits to the room. Pearce finished his examination of the room before looking back to his allies, noticing that Gilante was wielding a knife and standing near the skeleton as if he expected it to spring to life.
"We should explore" he said, "Perhaps there is some clue as to what the beast was doing here." Pearce turned to the unknown man with the green cloak, "You're welcome to join us."
Pearce looked down one of the exits, and then moved to the opposite side of the room and examined the other passageway. The first way apparently lead to further corridors, where exactly those lead to was a mystery to Pearce. The other way seemed to lead to another room. But without further information, Pearce didn't know which way they should take.
"Do you have any opinions on which path to take?" Pearce asked his allies, wandering closer to one of the exits, "Or should we pick one at random?"
Silver didn't know if he was relieved or miffed when the elf turned around, ignoring him, and hopping down into the hole in the ground. He supposed he would have to make a good impression, later on.
At the moment though, it looked like there must be something interesting down in the pit, as everyone was heading down. Now that no one was looking at him anymore and he was out of mind, he might as well go back to being out of sight. He edged his way closer to the pit, past one of the guards, and peered down into the caverns below.
The guard he stood next to gave him a weary side-eye, as if expecting to lose another sun rod. But Silver didn't need one. The darkness below barely hindered his vision. The darkness was his friend.
So he hopped down into it, vanishing from normal view.
On the way down, he reached out and snagged the rope, not holding on but gripping it softly, letting it slow his decent. A few meters from the bottom, he tightened his grip, slowing himself even more, and landed on the stone floor with a gentle *whoomh.* Louder than he would have wanted, but quiet nonetheless. Ignoring the sun-rods held by the other adventurers, he edged around them in the darkness.
It was quite the shock when he stumbled upon a skeleton, lying across a now-opened-and-empty-chest. But the others didn't seem to mind it, so he cautiously left it behind.
The walls of the catacombs were covered with paintings and designs. Silver shivered as he looked at them, unassisted by the sun-rods. This was what he had come for, this history and information. He wanted to know everything. If only he had something to copy down the pictures. He should have bought some charcoal and parchment at the market.
He stayed on the edges of the sun-rods reach, out in the shadows. He didn't mind all too much if the others saw him, but years of staying out of sight wasn't a habit he was going to lose after meeting someone nice. He knew from experience that carrying a light source tended to dazzle your eyes, making the darkness seem even thicker and harder to penetrate with your gaze. The others would be hard-pressed to see anything that wasn't lit up by the sun-rods.
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Gilor warily drew closer until he was right next to the skeleton; it made no movements. He pushed it off the chest with his foot and flicked the chest open, but found it to be empty. He didn't really expect anything different. It probably once contained supplies that the poor skeleton had already used. Probably belonged to the skeleton in the first place, for that matter.
He heard the sound of beating footsteps behind him, and turned around to see yet another human dash off into the thin outline of an exit; Gilor stepped forward and almost bleated out an alarmed greeting, but it was useless; he had already disappeared into the darkness. He wasn't even sure if the figure was human, but whoever it was, they must have had a death wish. Pursuing them seemed useless.
Caerwyn had retrieved a lantern from her pack--looks like Gilor didn't need the sunrods after all--and seemed to be investigating carvings that adorned the wall. They seemed to depict all manner of strange dances and rituals. Dragons, too. Likely just old stories and legends; Gilor didn't bother trying to investigate any in detail, but a historian would be fascinated.
Pearce had decided that exploration would be a good idea, a sentiment Gilor agreed with. If these runes were important, they could be deciphered later by someone with the proper skills. There were two exits from this room, but both were only illuminated faintly by the glow of Caerwyn's lantern. Clearly, they needed more light, and Gilor had the sunrods to make it. He took one off his belt, grasped it in both his hands, and smashed it against his knee with all his might as he had seen the guard from earlier do it.
...and it shattered into thousands of useless pieces. Embarrassing. Gilor sheepishly muttered something along the lines of "more fragile than they look, eh?" and took out the second one and applied a more reasonable amount of force. It cracked dramatically off-center, leaving only one usable light source. Didn't seem to have a very big radius, either, even if it was bright. Alas; but it was still something.
Gilor tried illuminating the two exits he could see; one with an arched doorway seemed to open up into the faint outline of a second room (though Gilor couldn't tell without ample light), and a second seemed to fork off into impenetrable darkness.
Gilor pointed to the arched passage, saying, "I think this path would be best. It looks like it opens up into another room, and I'd imagine whatever would be in a room would be more important than those corridors."
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The room to the north is dimly lit by a strange artifact sitting in the center. An odd shrine resting between two pillars, it shines six beams of light into the surrounding darkness. The shrine has a flat stone surface enclosed by spike-like claws at each corner. Beyond its appearance, the shrine seems mundane in nature, with no magical aura of any kind emanating from it.
Pearce approached the doorway to the next room, the one that his allies had decided would be a good place to explore. He could see some faint light emanating from within. It was eerie and mysterious. What could the source of light be? Was there anyone else in the tunnels? Pearce had his doubts that there would be many other adventurers in the tunnels, other than the one who vanished off on his own earlier. So, the source of light was a mystery.
"I think we should investigate that room" Pearce agreed, a noticeable hint of curiosity in his voice.
Pearce looked around the room once more before he began to head into the next. He saw the murals, if he had more time and wasn't trying to help stop a beast from erasing another city from existence he might have found time to study them more closely. He was certain that there was a lot of history on those walls. But, Pearce had to focus on the task at hand instead. Pearce also saw the other adventurers, Caerwyn and Gilante as well as Silver, who was standing beyond the circles of light provided by Caerwyn's lantern and Gilante's sunrod and was difficult to see, and one unknown person who had already begun moving from the current room.
Pearce cautiously stood in the doorway through to the next room, from which the mysterious light originated. The room was as much a mysterious as the light was. In the centre of the room stood some sort of altar or shrine. Surrounding it were two pillars and six beams of light. Pearce was unsure of what to make of the odd structure. It had the appearance of a magical shrine, but it seemed mundane. Pearce was curious about the structure, but was also wary of it.
"There is some sort of shrine here" Pearce reported.
Pearce was feeling a bit tense, he wasn't sure if it was the recent encounter with the beats or if it was the catacombs themselves. He did not want to miss anything, as it could be some small detail that would help them on their quest. He looked through to the mural room one last time before he decided to finally move on to the shrine room.
Stepping through the archway, Gilor found it much easier to see. This room seemed to be dimly lit. An eerie altar of sorts stood in the center of this room, positioned between two pillars and surrounded by six beams of light; they seemed to emanate from the altar itself. It seemed to be mundane in purpose, though Gilor wasn't very good at identifying magic aside from illusions. Regardless, the altar inspired a curiosity in Gilor; this seemed like a very, very odd place for a shrine.
Pearce and Caerwyn had entered this room alongside him and had an equal curiosity in this odd shrine. For a moment, he had forgotten that they were trying to deal with a leviathan.
That reminded him: they ought to know about leviathans. Judging from their earlier bafflement, they probably didn't even know that their giant beast was a leviathan.
As Gilor idly inspected the shrine, he turned to the other adventurers in the room and said, "So, this beast we're dealing with--a leviathan--how much do you know about it? I know a smidgeon about them from... experience, but I haven't an idea what you all know of them."
He heard distant clashes of metal on metal--the clanging of armor, maybe?--but only gripped his knife tighter. At the very least, this was a dead end, and anything hostile would have to go through the adventurers with actual equipment first.
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Herbe followed the others into the shrine. Looking around He saw several beams of light shining around two pillars between the pillars was an altar. Why would the beast have interest in a altar?
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Etorias Ahmes
The arrival of the backup from Scouur seems to be unnecessary once the city of Blarkenvurk is visible to the group, what remain of the place should no longer be considered a city, the place now contain nothing but ashes and rubble scattering around. The sight of the disaster had discouraged the troop even further knowing that their help was beyond late for Blarkenvurk. However this did not stop the force from their march toward the city. Upon arriving a massive creature can clearly be spotted among the ruin, the creature look very similar to a serpent of some sort however even Etorias himself have no knowledge of a serpent creature this huge comparable to a tower in civilized city. It seems like the presence of the troop came unnoticed to the serpent, it was too preoccupied in its work. From afar, it only looks like the serpent seems to be digging underground “is it looking for something underground?” Etorias ask himself a question. His thought was then interrupted by the loud command from the commander of the guardsman, sending the troop into combat with the serpent.
Before the troop manages to close the distance to the serpent, the creature charges its magical-like power on its forehead crystal unleashing a beam of energy that disintegrated anything within its range. The beam energy was unexpected catching everyone off guard, Etorias dodge to the side while channeling his light upon the palm of his hand, raising his hand forward “Heaven’s Shield!” with his command he summon a great shield that protect both himself and a couple of guardsman behind him. The attack from the serpent was a devastated blow to the troop melting many good men from existence leaving ashes behind. Etorias stood up and dismiss his shield, looking at the serpent while stay cautious for its next action. The serpent spread its wing and take flight into the sky fleeing from the area, even though the abomination had left the site, it was a relief for most guardsman but despair for some knowing that this creature is still out there undefeated and might be heading towards another town right now.
The creature had clearly overpowered the troop completely leaving many casualties behind while displaying its capability, it currently isn’t an opponent Etorias could face now, and the difference in their power is just too great. Getting back to their feet after their defeat, many of the remaining guardsmen are now scouting around the area searching for any possible survivor while a group of them including Etorias help out the medic treating the injured. It was just then that one of the guardsmen shouts out for assistance claiming that he had found something at crater where the serpent had seems to be digging for something. The remaining active guardsman and Etorias rally at the scene along with a couple of adventurer who seems to have come to Blarkenvurk to slay the serpent. What was found is a hole leading to a room beneath the ruin of the city, the discovery of the strange catacomb beneath the city is surprising even to the commander of the guardsmen. After a minute of conversation about what could lies within the catacomb, one of the adventurers suggest that they should explore the room underground, at least it is better than waiting for the serpent to revisit. The commander agrees allowing the adventurers to go beneath the ruin and explore the place while the guardsman will keep the guard the exit along with continuing their search for survivors.
Shortly after, most of the adventurer had descend below, after Etorias had finish his job assisting the medic he decided to explore the catacomb as well since the place make him really curious about what might lies beneath. Etorias walk forward approaching the hole, the guard commander pick his pocket for another sunrod assuming that this new adventurer will be asking him for one anyway, Etorias raise hand in a proper manner and decline the offer “Ah it is not necessary for me, though I thank you for your kind offer” with that parting words Etorias grab hold of the rope and descend down the hole. Etorias landed to the ground below inspecting the area of any hostility, it seems like the group of other adventurer had approach the room in the northeast direction, while on the other hand another path was an open corridor surround by darkness. Etorias head for the corridor path rather join up with the group; from the look of it they seem to know each other at some level. Approaching the darkness Etorias lift his hand once more revealing his golden gauntlet beneath the black cloak, his gauntlet then grow with a shining light casting away the shadow and lead his way.
As expected, the elf was hungry for information. As expected, she wanted a bit more information than Gilor had.
"Sorry to say, I don't know of its weaknesses. If that was common knowledge, I doubt they'd be as feared. But, I do know of their nature; they're highly magical creatures, even moreso than dragons. They're actually quite similar to dragons, in that the color of their scales typically indicates their alignment; you have the prismatic leviathans in duller colors like blue, red, green... black, of course... and others. The prismatic ones are usually evil. Then you have the chromatic, or "metallic", leviathans, which are more radiant and have scales that reflect light as if they were made out of metal. Like copper, or silver. Those ones aren't often evil."
Gilor paused. "It's not of much use to us, but just think that we're fighting something that's essentially equivalent to a dragon in power. They're very similar, really." The clashing and clanking of metal continued in the distance.
This shrine, though it looked magical, did not seem to have any magical purpose. In all likelihood, its appearance was the result of a master illusionist's permanent enchantment (an odd conundrum Gilor couldn't hope to understand yet). Perhaps commissioned by a priest to better appeal to whatever god(s) this is dedicated to. Of course, Gilor was not certain of this.
That clashing was starting to get annoying. And loud. The adventurers that were in the shrine room had taken notice, and were creeping into the entry room to see what was going on; figuring that the source was hostile, Gilor gently laid his sunrod (otherwise stealth would be useless) on the dust-caked bricks of the floor and peeked into the entry room.
For one thing, there was another adventurer in here; he wore a tattered black cloak that hid little from Gilor's keen eyes; golden platemail could clearly be seen beneath, glistening from the few sunbeams that poured into the chamber from the hole. Then again, his gauntlet was clearly visible and emitting light. Perhaps the cloak was for warmth, then...?
Gilor let out a sigh of relief, glad to see that the clanking was merely the armor of an ally. He was clearly a paladin, and paladins usually could detect a thief like Gilor on sight; but, since they likely had the same goal, the paladin would probably have the sense to not behead him. Probably. At the very least, if he was friendly, he would make a good distraction. All that plate armor and miracle-casting attracts attention and is quite good at letting their user not die; meanwhile, Gilor could creep up behind the paladin's attackers and slit their throats. If the paladin was friendly. Please be friendly. I've already got enough things trying to murder me.
Taking a few steps back, Gilor plucked his sunrod off the ground. He took one last look at the intricate shrine before returning to the entry room.
Silver had to admit he was rather surprised to find skeletons moving (and attacking) the others who had descended into the catacombs. What exactly moved them? He wondered. Does the magic give them invisible muscles?
Still, those weren't thoughts he should be focusing on in the middle of a battle. His arrows would be mostly useless, even the ones with proper tips. But his staff... that could still shatter bone, especially if it were dry and brittle. It was probably an even better weapon against skeletons than a sword.
He attacked the nearest skeleton, slinging his bow onto his back and wielding his staff. The skeleton itself wore old and broken armor, which wouldn't help it all that much, and held a sword that was rusted over. Silver didn't want to think of all the kinds of sick he could get if that thing broke his skin. His first priority would be dodging, and his second disabling.
So he lingered back in the darkness, shifting with the shadows, trying to stay hard-to-see. He wasn't 100% sure that it would affect the skeleton at all, since it didn't even have eyes, *(How does it see? Is it a magical sense, or does it have invisible eyes to go with those invisible muscles? These skeletons are strange)* but every bit could help.
The skeleton lunged out at him, and Silver spun to the side, avoiding the rusty blade with ease, then attacked on his own, swinging his staff in a sideways blow to the skeletons exposed ribs. There were some nasty cracks as several of the thin bones broke off and tumbled to the ground, but the skeleton didn't even seem to notice.
It sliced again, a different way this time, and Silver was forced to use his staff to knock the sword an extra couple inches to the side as he dodged. He took a deep breath. The skeleton wasn't very fast, but even a mistake could hurt Silver, and hurt him bad. This time, he aimed for one of the legs, swinging as hard as he could. It collided with the bone, and the skeleton stumbled, but it looked like it wasn't as old, dry and brittle as Silver had hoped. But with the second he had before the skeleton righted itself, he attacked again, the same spot, and the femur finally snapped.
The skeleton tumbled to the ground, losing another rib in the process, and Silver swiped at the sword in its hand with the end of his staff. It took the whole hand off, which skittered out into the corner of the room. A couple more poundings, and the skeleton was a pile of jumbled bones on the ground.
Silver slid backwards into the darkness, a bit proud of how effectively he'd taken down the skeleton. He wondered if the elf had seen.
And that was when the massive, giant of a skeleton burst through the wall, wielding a massive flail. Silver took a half step backwards, deeper into the shadows, even though he was already a fairly good distance from it. The way it stood and gazed around at them, Silver fully expected it to roar in defiance, lungs or no lungs. He felt a good bit smaller than before, even though he was already the shortest one here. This thing dwarfed them all.
But then he looked it over. It was covered in heavy, half broken armor, and the flail in its hand really was pretty rusted. It was probably really, really slow. And Silver knew he was really, really fast (most of the time). Maybe he could do some good damage to that thing. It seemed to be focused on the other cloaked figure, who had rushed ahead, presumably to discover treasure. Instead, he had found a fight.
So, disregarding his instinct to stay hidden and run, Silver flowed forward through the shadows, stepping from corner to corner, getting as close to the giant skeleton as he could. It ignored him, still focused on the others, which made Silver question again just how the skeletons could see.
But right before he got to the skeleton, he paused. Maybe he should wait to see just how fast this behemoth was, before he assumed anything. Speed was everything. It was all he had. And he couldn't afford to lose that benefit, no matter how impressive it would seem to the others. Not even if it would fix his bad first introduction with them all.
Silver reluctantly left the strange pictograms and runes behind, following everyone else as they kept moving through the catacombs. He followed the glow of their sunrods, still careful to stay along the edges, and walked behind them as they entered another room. He peeked in, and saw them all standing, staring at some sort of alter in the middle, so he crept in behind them, through the light of the sunrods, and around to the edges again. Once he was safely back in the shadows, he turned to the strange alter that sat in the center of the room.
It was certainly strange. Two large pillars *(Good for hiding behind,)* sat on either side of it, and several beams of light fell from above. The alter was fairly simple, at least, but it gave off a very strange feeling of... magic. Yes. Mystical magic. The beams of light themselves could even be magical.
Of course, there was one way to see if they were. He tugged out the small, dark orb that was embedded in his belt, and held it firmly in his hand. The Cast Darkness spell from this stone would suck in the light from most everything in the room, including some of the simpler magical light sources such as the sunrods and maybe the gauntlet of the man that stood at the front. But it didn't always work on some of the more... interesting magical lights, so if the pillars of light were meant to be something more than just light, they probably wouldn't dim.
Still, if they did darken, that didn't totally eliminate their potential magical capability. It would only give some information if they stayed lit up.
He stepped forward, out of the shadows by the sides of the room, and edged up to the alter. Taking a breath, he whispered the activation spell, the words that were inscribed on the orb. "Yulna me'a". Drink Light.
Instantly, he felt a drain on himself, making himself just a bit weaker. The spell always took some from him, as well. He watched as the orb almost seemed to suck in the light from the sunrods, dimming them down. Would it affect the light from the alter, as well?
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The dungeon's halls are dark and empty, a concerning silence falls among their walls, stumbling down the hallway to the right reveals a small hexagonal room, the cracks in its walls have become the home to a tribe of rats who can be seen darting among the shadows, passing between hideaway holes. The walls begin to paint a mural in their carvings, an epic tale of long ago. A powerful wizard unleashing chaos on the world in the form of four black leviathans. The murals show the races of the lands fighting the dragons with all manner of weapon and magic but all seems to rebound from their skin as if by undivine protection.
The mural continues around the corner and further down the passageway.
Upon closer inspection the shrine has a small indent in the center for some sort of object to sit, the indent is shallow and caked with dust but its edge is cleanly cut into a hexagon in a way that no natural formation could have caused. The six lights shining outward appear to be more than just lights, they flash with a multitude of greyscale tones that dont mean anything on their own. The lights originate from small holes in the shrine's tablelike surface, and are reflected around the room into their positions by small shiny stones set into the ceiling and pillars.
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Herne examined the area around the altar wondering what it was made for. He then heard something come from the entry point of the cactacombs. "Hopefully it's nothing to worry about" He thought. Looking out into the room he saw someone dressed in shining golden armor, but his tattered black cloak hiding most of it.
Herne moved back back into the room with the others. Looking at his sunrod it started dimming Herne was a little confused at why it started to lose its power. He then noticed Silver in the room too.
Silver's orb does indeed drain the light that the Altar emits, as well as causing all active sunrods in the room to quickly begin to fade before losing all effectiveness entirely. As soon as Silvers concentration breaks though, the light once again stretches out of the Altar, reflects off of the walls and is cast into the exact same positions as before.
Gilor, having stepped into the entry room with the intent of going into one of the hallways, noticed a sudden darkness behind him; the altar-room seemed somehow darker. Gilor nervously poked his head out into the room, and indeed, the room was pitch black. A small fit of panic set in, thinking something might have happened to those inside the room, but the rustling of clothes and movement seemed to confirm that no harm had come to them. Instantly, the light returned to the room, the beams exactly as they were before. Gilor wasn't sure what had happened, but Caerwyn's lantern remained dark and a few shards from the sunrod Gilor broke earlier that had been cast into the room now looked like ordinary glass rather than containing their old dull incandescence. At least his own rod didn''t seem to be effected. The half-elf Silver was holding a fist-sized orb that he had noticed hanging from his belt when he first introduced himself; however, Gilor was unsure whether he had caused the darkness or if they had discovered some function of the altar.
"Hey, what happened in here? The lights went out--did you figure out some function of that altar?"
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Did something happen to you in your childhood to give you this unreasonable fear of rutabaga?
"A leviathan?" Pearce said, "All I know is from a paragraph in a book warning readers to stay away from them. I do not know anything more about them."
The beast was a leviathan, they had been mentioned in a book Pearce had read but that book was lacking in any useful information. It appeared that Gilante had some actual information on leviathans, while Caerwyn was as well informed as Pearce was. Gilante gave some information about the beasts, that they were magical and that they came in a variety of colours. There wasn't very much on how to fight a leviathan, but any information was better than no information.
It was than that Pearce heard the sounds of clanking metal coming from the other room. He moved towards the exit of the shrine room and looked through to the mural room. There he saw someone in wearing armour underneath a cloak, perhaps it was another adventurer like themselves? Light shone from their gauntlet, if Pearce was not mistaken that was paladin magic.
Pearce then returned to the shrine room, intent to further examine the shrine. He walked around the shrine, looking at it from multiple angles. Beneath the dust was some kind of hexagonal indentation. It was cleanly cut, far too cleanly cut to be natural. Therefore, it had been carved by someone. Who had made it and for what reason were mysteries to Pearce. He began to theorise, perhaps the shape held some meaning. He knew that shapes held some symbology in some branches of magic, but he was unable to apply any of that knowledge to the shrine.
"There is an indentation here" Pearce muttered to himself, thinking out loud, "Maybe it's a slot for something? Or a place to put ingredients for a ritual..."
Pearce's sharp hearing caught some whispers, it sounded like a spell. But before Pearce could try to figure out what spell was being cast, or even mention that a spell was being cast, the effects of the spell took hold. Light began to drain from the room, Caerwyn's lantern, the sunrods and even the shrine began to dim. Soon the room was plunged into darkness.
Fortunately, the soldiers did indeed bring a rope, and looked ready to lower in anyone who wished. Gilor watched as Pearce drew near the hole, but was a tad surprised to see that he drew back with a puzzled look on his face. Gilor peered into the hole, looking for whatever might have irritated him, only to find darkness.
Of course. It was dark down there. And Gilor, who hadn't expected to be jumping into dark labyrinths today, hadn't brought any light sources. He supposed that if worst came to worst, they could carry around the broken sun rod, but more light sources would be appreciated. Pearce probably didn't have any, and he imagined that if Caerwyn had anything, Pearce's first reaction would be to get a light source from her or something; whatever his reaction would be, it wouldn't be puzzlement.
The nervous halfelf or the acrobat--which Gilor quickly noticed had returned and was by the hole--might have some, but he figured that he might as well request a few the guards. Couldn't hurt to get more light sources, in the event that the others had something. One of the guards, wearing a uniquely-decorated helmet, had ordered the others to guard the hole; probably their commander, or some other high-ranking official. Either way, he was a good candidate.
"Excuse me, sir," Gilor requested, "have ye any spare torches or sun rods? My party--the elf and the beastfolk--weren't expecting to dive into any depths today, and haven't brought any light sources. If you have any you don't need, the supplies would be much appreciated."
Herne went to a guard and asked for a sunrod to use in the hole. The guard gave him one then Herne slipped it into his belt and began to scale down the crater into the cactacombs below.
Herne found the floor in the void of the cactacombs. He took out the Sunrod he borrowed and lit up the area. As soon as it flickered on Rats from different directions fled away from the light. Herne's eyes opened wide there was skeleton sitting on a chest.
The commanding guard gave Gilor an odd stare, as if doubting his adventuring abilities (a doubt not without reason perhaps) but dug his hands into a pouch on his belt and revealed two sun rods. Gilor gave him the five copper left over as change from his stay at the in as a small compensation, and stuck both sunrods into his belt.
Gilor slid down the scaling rope into the dark chamber; it clearly had not been touched for quite some time. The air was stale and filled with dust motes, and a small cloud of dust billowed up from the ground as his feet impacted the stones of the chamber floor. It was much easier to see now--turning his head slightly he could see the oddly-dressed human holding a sunrod aloft--and could just make out the whipping tendrils of rat-tails as their owners fled into the darkness. Vermin in a place like this does not bode well. I hope they were after the taverns' pantries and not some poor sap that died here recently...
A small, worn chest was sitting in the corner of the room; the oddly-dressed man was oogling it in a humorous fashion. A skeleton was splayed on top, its legs strewn in odd directions and with a big gaping jaw that seemed to suck in what little air there was down here; its back was propped up against the wall and it seemed lifeless. Gilor's back prickled as he looked at it, and hoped that it was merely an innovative decoration or the remains of some unfortunate fellow who happened to be carrying a chest full of gold coins and Wishing scrolls in some godforsaken sewer rather than something that would spring to life the moment he drew near.
Gilor sighed, drew his knife, and crept closely towards the skeleton. He hadn't had the chance to test whether or not his illusions worked on the undead (considering this deceased chap had no eyes, he assumed that answer was a "no"), and he had no armor and only a knife for a weapon; he was not equipped well at all for combat with the undead. If he was lucky, it'd just be an inanimate skeleton and the chest might have some sort of proper weapon inside it, but knowing his luck it'd probably try to claw his eyes out the moment he took a step forward and the chest would not only be empty, but have some sort of trap inside it.
Regardless, Gilor was creeping towards the chest and the skeleton, knife raised and ready to block or parry, and on edge enough to leap away at the slightest hint of movement.
Catacombs - Powergaming Adventurers
To the adventurer's dismay, the chest was empty and the skeleton was merely an adventurer long given up from when these catacombs were once sealed off, perhaps there was an entrance somewhere far away from this point, that fact was unclear.
To the northeast of the room was a small arched exit which seemed to lead into another room, to the south was an open corridoor branching left and right, the entire place unlit and eerie. Torch sconces hang from the walls at regular intervals, but they hold not even unlit torches, any adventurers looking to light the place up would have to provide their own.
The walls of the catacombs are decorated with stone carvings that depict odd rituals, dances, dragons and battles, nothing particularly indicative of a purpose. The carvings curve around this entire room, beyond the walls boast a simple curling carved design that looks as if it would be easy to recreate for long stretches of wall.
Catacombs - Elgar
Elgar jumps down into the opening, landing with a fumble but otherwise unscathed. Looking around he doesn't see much of anything, it is too dark in here. He examines the walls of the room briefly before darting off down one of the corridoors to the south before anyone can follow, picking a direction at random while the other two down here were distracted by a skeleton and a chest.
Pearce's feet landed on the floor of the catacomb, kicking up a small cloud of dust that, until today, had probably remained undisturbed for a long time. His keen sense of smell picked up on the dust in the room, mixed with some ash that had fallen in from outside and some unpleasant smells which caused Pearce to cough. Pearce was not the first one to enter the mysterious structure, Gliante, Caerwyn and two people he didn't know had already entered and were looking at the remains of some poor, unfortunate soul clutching onto an aged, wooden chest. Pearce stood still for a few moments to let his eyes adjust to the dim light of the catacombs.
The room was made of stone, ancient and decorated so it was clearly man-made. Pearce approached one of the walls shortly after a man had finished his examination of them. Pearce looked closely at the intricate scene depicted on the wall, it showed a group of wizened figures gathered around a cauldron and tossing ingredients into it. Another showed a battle between an army and a dragon. And a third showed some sort of festival complete with dancing and bards playing music. There were other murals but Pearce did not study them as closely. Any connecting story between them was lost on Pearce, with further study a story might emerge but Pearce was not here for the history. The murals, though a wonder to look at, seemed hardly relevant to what they were doing.
Pearce turned to see that one of the unknown men, the one who had been examining the walls earlier, had vanished, presumably through one of the exits to the room. Pearce finished his examination of the room before looking back to his allies, noticing that Gilante was wielding a knife and standing near the skeleton as if he expected it to spring to life.
"We should explore" he said, "Perhaps there is some clue as to what the beast was doing here." Pearce turned to the unknown man with the green cloak, "You're welcome to join us."
Pearce looked down one of the exits, and then moved to the opposite side of the room and examined the other passageway. The first way apparently lead to further corridors, where exactly those lead to was a mystery to Pearce. The other way seemed to lead to another room. But without further information, Pearce didn't know which way they should take.
"Do you have any opinions on which path to take?" Pearce asked his allies, wandering closer to one of the exits, "Or should we pick one at random?"
Silver didn't know if he was relieved or miffed when the elf turned around, ignoring him, and hopping down into the hole in the ground. He supposed he would have to make a good impression, later on.
At the moment though, it looked like there must be something interesting down in the pit, as everyone was heading down. Now that no one was looking at him anymore and he was out of mind, he might as well go back to being out of sight. He edged his way closer to the pit, past one of the guards, and peered down into the caverns below.
The guard he stood next to gave him a weary side-eye, as if expecting to lose another sun rod. But Silver didn't need one. The darkness below barely hindered his vision. The darkness was his friend.
So he hopped down into it, vanishing from normal view.
On the way down, he reached out and snagged the rope, not holding on but gripping it softly, letting it slow his decent. A few meters from the bottom, he tightened his grip, slowing himself even more, and landed on the stone floor with a gentle *whoomh.* Louder than he would have wanted, but quiet nonetheless. Ignoring the sun-rods held by the other adventurers, he edged around them in the darkness.
It was quite the shock when he stumbled upon a skeleton, lying across a now-opened-and-empty-chest. But the others didn't seem to mind it, so he cautiously left it behind.
The walls of the catacombs were covered with paintings and designs. Silver shivered as he looked at them, unassisted by the sun-rods. This was what he had come for, this history and information. He wanted to know everything. If only he had something to copy down the pictures. He should have bought some charcoal and parchment at the market.
He stayed on the edges of the sun-rods reach, out in the shadows. He didn't mind all too much if the others saw him, but years of staying out of sight wasn't a habit he was going to lose after meeting someone nice. He knew from experience that carrying a light source tended to dazzle your eyes, making the darkness seem even thicker and harder to penetrate with your gaze. The others would be hard-pressed to see anything that wasn't lit up by the sun-rods.
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Gilor warily drew closer until he was right next to the skeleton; it made no movements. He pushed it off the chest with his foot and flicked the chest open, but found it to be empty. He didn't really expect anything different. It probably once contained supplies that the poor skeleton had already used. Probably belonged to the skeleton in the first place, for that matter.
He heard the sound of beating footsteps behind him, and turned around to see yet another human dash off into the thin outline of an exit; Gilor stepped forward and almost bleated out an alarmed greeting, but it was useless; he had already disappeared into the darkness. He wasn't even sure if the figure was human, but whoever it was, they must have had a death wish. Pursuing them seemed useless.
Caerwyn had retrieved a lantern from her pack--looks like Gilor didn't need the sunrods after all--and seemed to be investigating carvings that adorned the wall. They seemed to depict all manner of strange dances and rituals. Dragons, too. Likely just old stories and legends; Gilor didn't bother trying to investigate any in detail, but a historian would be fascinated.
Pearce had decided that exploration would be a good idea, a sentiment Gilor agreed with. If these runes were important, they could be deciphered later by someone with the proper skills. There were two exits from this room, but both were only illuminated faintly by the glow of Caerwyn's lantern. Clearly, they needed more light, and Gilor had the sunrods to make it. He took one off his belt, grasped it in both his hands, and smashed it against his knee with all his might as he had seen the guard from earlier do it.
...and it shattered into thousands of useless pieces. Embarrassing. Gilor sheepishly muttered something along the lines of "more fragile than they look, eh?" and took out the second one and applied a more reasonable amount of force. It cracked dramatically off-center, leaving only one usable light source. Didn't seem to have a very big radius, either, even if it was bright. Alas; but it was still something.
Gilor tried illuminating the two exits he could see; one with an arched doorway seemed to open up into the faint outline of a second room (though Gilor couldn't tell without ample light), and a second seemed to fork off into impenetrable darkness.
Gilor pointed to the arched passage, saying, "I think this path would be best. It looks like it opens up into another room, and I'd imagine whatever would be in a room would be more important than those corridors."
Herne walked away from the empty chest only to be stopped by someone. Herne agreed to join Pearce on his journey.
He waited for the where they should go.
The room to the north is dimly lit by a strange artifact sitting in the center. An odd shrine resting between two pillars, it shines six beams of light into the surrounding darkness. The shrine has a flat stone surface enclosed by spike-like claws at each corner. Beyond its appearance, the shrine seems mundane in nature, with no magical aura of any kind emanating from it.
Pearce approached the doorway to the next room, the one that his allies had decided would be a good place to explore. He could see some faint light emanating from within. It was eerie and mysterious. What could the source of light be? Was there anyone else in the tunnels? Pearce had his doubts that there would be many other adventurers in the tunnels, other than the one who vanished off on his own earlier. So, the source of light was a mystery.
"I think we should investigate that room" Pearce agreed, a noticeable hint of curiosity in his voice.
Pearce looked around the room once more before he began to head into the next. He saw the murals, if he had more time and wasn't trying to help stop a beast from erasing another city from existence he might have found time to study them more closely. He was certain that there was a lot of history on those walls. But, Pearce had to focus on the task at hand instead. Pearce also saw the other adventurers, Caerwyn and Gilante as well as Silver, who was standing beyond the circles of light provided by Caerwyn's lantern and Gilante's sunrod and was difficult to see, and one unknown person who had already begun moving from the current room.
Pearce cautiously stood in the doorway through to the next room, from which the mysterious light originated. The room was as much a mysterious as the light was. In the centre of the room stood some sort of altar or shrine. Surrounding it were two pillars and six beams of light. Pearce was unsure of what to make of the odd structure. It had the appearance of a magical shrine, but it seemed mundane. Pearce was curious about the structure, but was also wary of it.
"There is some sort of shrine here" Pearce reported.
Pearce was feeling a bit tense, he wasn't sure if it was the recent encounter with the beats or if it was the catacombs themselves. He did not want to miss anything, as it could be some small detail that would help them on their quest. He looked through to the mural room one last time before he decided to finally move on to the shrine room.
Stepping through the archway, Gilor found it much easier to see. This room seemed to be dimly lit. An eerie altar of sorts stood in the center of this room, positioned between two pillars and surrounded by six beams of light; they seemed to emanate from the altar itself. It seemed to be mundane in purpose, though Gilor wasn't very good at identifying magic aside from illusions. Regardless, the altar inspired a curiosity in Gilor; this seemed like a very, very odd place for a shrine.
Pearce and Caerwyn had entered this room alongside him and had an equal curiosity in this odd shrine. For a moment, he had forgotten that they were trying to deal with a leviathan.
That reminded him: they ought to know about leviathans. Judging from their earlier bafflement, they probably didn't even know that their giant beast was a leviathan.
As Gilor idly inspected the shrine, he turned to the other adventurers in the room and said, "So, this beast we're dealing with--a leviathan--how much do you know about it? I know a smidgeon about them from... experience, but I haven't an idea what you all know of them."
He heard distant clashes of metal on metal--the clanging of armor, maybe?--but only gripped his knife tighter. At the very least, this was a dead end, and anything hostile would have to go through the adventurers with actual equipment first.
Herbe followed the others into the shrine. Looking around He saw several beams of light shining around two pillars between the pillars was an altar. Why would the beast have interest in a altar?
Etorias Ahmes
The arrival of the backup from Scouur seems to be unnecessary once the city of Blarkenvurk is visible to the group, what remain of the place should no longer be considered a city, the place now contain nothing but ashes and rubble scattering around. The sight of the disaster had discouraged the troop even further knowing that their help was beyond late for Blarkenvurk. However this did not stop the force from their march toward the city. Upon arriving a massive creature can clearly be spotted among the ruin, the creature look very similar to a serpent of some sort however even Etorias himself have no knowledge of a serpent creature this huge comparable to a tower in civilized city. It seems like the presence of the troop came unnoticed to the serpent, it was too preoccupied in its work. From afar, it only looks like the serpent seems to be digging underground “is it looking for something underground?” Etorias ask himself a question. His thought was then interrupted by the loud command from the commander of the guardsman, sending the troop into combat with the serpent.
Before the troop manages to close the distance to the serpent, the creature charges its magical-like power on its forehead crystal unleashing a beam of energy that disintegrated anything within its range. The beam energy was unexpected catching everyone off guard, Etorias dodge to the side while channeling his light upon the palm of his hand, raising his hand forward “Heaven’s Shield!” with his command he summon a great shield that protect both himself and a couple of guardsman behind him. The attack from the serpent was a devastated blow to the troop melting many good men from existence leaving ashes behind. Etorias stood up and dismiss his shield, looking at the serpent while stay cautious for its next action. The serpent spread its wing and take flight into the sky fleeing from the area, even though the abomination had left the site, it was a relief for most guardsman but despair for some knowing that this creature is still out there undefeated and might be heading towards another town right now.
The creature had clearly overpowered the troop completely leaving many casualties behind while displaying its capability, it currently isn’t an opponent Etorias could face now, and the difference in their power is just too great. Getting back to their feet after their defeat, many of the remaining guardsmen are now scouting around the area searching for any possible survivor while a group of them including Etorias help out the medic treating the injured. It was just then that one of the guardsmen shouts out for assistance claiming that he had found something at crater where the serpent had seems to be digging for something. The remaining active guardsman and Etorias rally at the scene along with a couple of adventurer who seems to have come to Blarkenvurk to slay the serpent. What was found is a hole leading to a room beneath the ruin of the city, the discovery of the strange catacomb beneath the city is surprising even to the commander of the guardsmen. After a minute of conversation about what could lies within the catacomb, one of the adventurers suggest that they should explore the room underground, at least it is better than waiting for the serpent to revisit. The commander agrees allowing the adventurers to go beneath the ruin and explore the place while the guardsman will keep the guard the exit along with continuing their search for survivors.
Shortly after, most of the adventurer had descend below, after Etorias had finish his job assisting the medic he decided to explore the catacomb as well since the place make him really curious about what might lies beneath. Etorias walk forward approaching the hole, the guard commander pick his pocket for another sunrod assuming that this new adventurer will be asking him for one anyway, Etorias raise hand in a proper manner and decline the offer “Ah it is not necessary for me, though I thank you for your kind offer” with that parting words Etorias grab hold of the rope and descend down the hole. Etorias landed to the ground below inspecting the area of any hostility, it seems like the group of other adventurer had approach the room in the northeast direction, while on the other hand another path was an open corridor surround by darkness. Etorias head for the corridor path rather join up with the group; from the look of it they seem to know each other at some level. Approaching the darkness Etorias lift his hand once more revealing his golden gauntlet beneath the black cloak, his gauntlet then grow with a shining light casting away the shadow and lead his way.
As expected, the elf was hungry for information. As expected, she wanted a bit more information than Gilor had.
"Sorry to say, I don't know of its weaknesses. If that was common knowledge, I doubt they'd be as feared. But, I do know of their nature; they're highly magical creatures, even moreso than dragons. They're actually quite similar to dragons, in that the color of their scales typically indicates their alignment; you have the prismatic leviathans in duller colors like blue, red, green... black, of course... and others. The prismatic ones are usually evil. Then you have the chromatic, or "metallic", leviathans, which are more radiant and have scales that reflect light as if they were made out of metal. Like copper, or silver. Those ones aren't often evil."
Gilor paused. "It's not of much use to us, but just think that we're fighting something that's essentially equivalent to a dragon in power. They're very similar, really." The clashing and clanking of metal continued in the distance.
This shrine, though it looked magical, did not seem to have any magical purpose. In all likelihood, its appearance was the result of a master illusionist's permanent enchantment (an odd conundrum Gilor couldn't hope to understand yet). Perhaps commissioned by a priest to better appeal to whatever god(s) this is dedicated to. Of course, Gilor was not certain of this.
That clashing was starting to get annoying. And loud. The adventurers that were in the shrine room had taken notice, and were creeping into the entry room to see what was going on; figuring that the source was hostile, Gilor gently laid his sunrod (otherwise stealth would be useless) on the dust-caked bricks of the floor and peeked into the entry room.
For one thing, there was another adventurer in here; he wore a tattered black cloak that hid little from Gilor's keen eyes; golden platemail could clearly be seen beneath, glistening from the few sunbeams that poured into the chamber from the hole. Then again, his gauntlet was clearly visible and emitting light. Perhaps the cloak was for warmth, then...?
Gilor let out a sigh of relief, glad to see that the clanking was merely the armor of an ally. He was clearly a paladin, and paladins usually could detect a thief like Gilor on sight; but, since they likely had the same goal, the paladin would probably have the sense to not behead him. Probably. At the very least, if he was friendly, he would make a good distraction. All that plate armor and miracle-casting attracts attention and is quite good at letting their user not die; meanwhile, Gilor could creep up behind the paladin's attackers and slit their throats. If the paladin was friendly. Please be friendly. I've already got enough things trying to murder me.
Taking a few steps back, Gilor plucked his sunrod off the ground. He took one last look at the intricate shrine before returning to the entry room.
Skeletons that didn't actually happen:
Silver had to admit he was rather surprised to find skeletons moving (and attacking) the others who had descended into the catacombs. What exactly moved them? He wondered. Does the magic give them invisible muscles?
Still, those weren't thoughts he should be focusing on in the middle of a battle. His arrows would be mostly useless, even the ones with proper tips. But his staff... that could still shatter bone, especially if it were dry and brittle. It was probably an even better weapon against skeletons than a sword.
He attacked the nearest skeleton, slinging his bow onto his back and wielding his staff. The skeleton itself wore old and broken armor, which wouldn't help it all that much, and held a sword that was rusted over. Silver didn't want to think of all the kinds of sick he could get if that thing broke his skin. His first priority would be dodging, and his second disabling.
So he lingered back in the darkness, shifting with the shadows, trying to stay hard-to-see. He wasn't 100% sure that it would affect the skeleton at all, since it didn't even have eyes, *(How does it see? Is it a magical sense, or does it have invisible eyes to go with those invisible muscles? These skeletons are strange)* but every bit could help.
The skeleton lunged out at him, and Silver spun to the side, avoiding the rusty blade with ease, then attacked on his own, swinging his staff in a sideways blow to the skeletons exposed ribs. There were some nasty cracks as several of the thin bones broke off and tumbled to the ground, but the skeleton didn't even seem to notice.
It sliced again, a different way this time, and Silver was forced to use his staff to knock the sword an extra couple inches to the side as he dodged. He took a deep breath. The skeleton wasn't very fast, but even a mistake could hurt Silver, and hurt him bad. This time, he aimed for one of the legs, swinging as hard as he could. It collided with the bone, and the skeleton stumbled, but it looked like it wasn't as old, dry and brittle as Silver had hoped. But with the second he had before the skeleton righted itself, he attacked again, the same spot, and the femur finally snapped.
The skeleton tumbled to the ground, losing another rib in the process, and Silver swiped at the sword in its hand with the end of his staff. It took the whole hand off, which skittered out into the corner of the room. A couple more poundings, and the skeleton was a pile of jumbled bones on the ground.
Silver slid backwards into the darkness, a bit proud of how effectively he'd taken down the skeleton. He wondered if the elf had seen.
And that was when the massive, giant of a skeleton burst through the wall, wielding a massive flail. Silver took a half step backwards, deeper into the shadows, even though he was already a fairly good distance from it. The way it stood and gazed around at them, Silver fully expected it to roar in defiance, lungs or no lungs. He felt a good bit smaller than before, even though he was already the shortest one here. This thing dwarfed them all.
But then he looked it over. It was covered in heavy, half broken armor, and the flail in its hand really was pretty rusted. It was probably really, really slow. And Silver knew he was really, really fast (most of the time). Maybe he could do some good damage to that thing. It seemed to be focused on the other cloaked figure, who had rushed ahead, presumably to discover treasure. Instead, he had found a fight.
So, disregarding his instinct to stay hidden and run, Silver flowed forward through the shadows, stepping from corner to corner, getting as close to the giant skeleton as he could. It ignored him, still focused on the others, which made Silver question again just how the skeletons could see.
But right before he got to the skeleton, he paused. Maybe he should wait to see just how fast this behemoth was, before he assumed anything. Speed was everything. It was all he had. And he couldn't afford to lose that benefit, no matter how impressive it would seem to the others. Not even if it would fix his bad first introduction with them all.
Silver reluctantly left the strange pictograms and runes behind, following everyone else as they kept moving through the catacombs. He followed the glow of their sunrods, still careful to stay along the edges, and walked behind them as they entered another room. He peeked in, and saw them all standing, staring at some sort of alter in the middle, so he crept in behind them, through the light of the sunrods, and around to the edges again. Once he was safely back in the shadows, he turned to the strange alter that sat in the center of the room.
It was certainly strange. Two large pillars *(Good for hiding behind,)* sat on either side of it, and several beams of light fell from above. The alter was fairly simple, at least, but it gave off a very strange feeling of... magic. Yes. Mystical magic. The beams of light themselves could even be magical.
Of course, there was one way to see if they were. He tugged out the small, dark orb that was embedded in his belt, and held it firmly in his hand. The Cast Darkness spell from this stone would suck in the light from most everything in the room, including some of the simpler magical light sources such as the sunrods and maybe the gauntlet of the man that stood at the front. But it didn't always work on some of the more... interesting magical lights, so if the pillars of light were meant to be something more than just light, they probably wouldn't dim.
Still, if they did darken, that didn't totally eliminate their potential magical capability. It would only give some information if they stayed lit up.
He stepped forward, out of the shadows by the sides of the room, and edged up to the alter. Taking a breath, he whispered the activation spell, the words that were inscribed on the orb. "Yulna me'a". Drink Light.
Instantly, he felt a drain on himself, making himself just a bit weaker. The spell always took some from him, as well. He watched as the orb almost seemed to suck in the light from the sunrods, dimming them down. Would it affect the light from the alter, as well?
The Wyrm Watches. The Wyrm knows. The Wyrm reads. The Wyrm Animates too! Check me out at the WyrmWorks Channel on Youtube!
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The dungeon's halls are dark and empty, a concerning silence falls among their walls, stumbling down the hallway to the right reveals a small hexagonal room, the cracks in its walls have become the home to a tribe of rats who can be seen darting among the shadows, passing between hideaway holes. The walls begin to paint a mural in their carvings, an epic tale of long ago. A powerful wizard unleashing chaos on the world in the form of four black leviathans. The murals show the races of the lands fighting the dragons with all manner of weapon and magic but all seems to rebound from their skin as if by undivine protection.
The mural continues around the corner and further down the passageway.
Upon closer inspection the shrine has a small indent in the center for some sort of object to sit, the indent is shallow and caked with dust but its edge is cleanly cut into a hexagon in a way that no natural formation could have caused. The six lights shining outward appear to be more than just lights, they flash with a multitude of greyscale tones that dont mean anything on their own. The lights originate from small holes in the shrine's tablelike surface, and are reflected around the room into their positions by small shiny stones set into the ceiling and pillars.
Herne examined the area around the altar wondering what it was made for. He then heard something come from the entry point of the cactacombs. "Hopefully it's nothing to worry about" He thought. Looking out into the room he saw someone dressed in shining golden armor, but his tattered black cloak hiding most of it.
Herne moved back back into the room with the others. Looking at his sunrod it started dimming Herne was a little confused at why it started to lose its power. He then noticed Silver in the room too.
Altar - Silver
Silver's orb does indeed drain the light that the Altar emits, as well as causing all active sunrods in the room to quickly begin to fade before losing all effectiveness entirely. As soon as Silvers concentration breaks though, the light once again stretches out of the Altar, reflects off of the walls and is cast into the exact same positions as before.
Gilor, having stepped into the entry room with the intent of going into one of the hallways, noticed a sudden darkness behind him; the altar-room seemed somehow darker. Gilor nervously poked his head out into the room, and indeed, the room was pitch black. A small fit of panic set in, thinking something might have happened to those inside the room, but the rustling of clothes and movement seemed to confirm that no harm had come to them. Instantly, the light returned to the room, the beams exactly as they were before. Gilor wasn't sure what had happened, but Caerwyn's lantern remained dark and a few shards from the sunrod Gilor broke earlier that had been cast into the room now looked like ordinary glass rather than containing their old dull incandescence. At least his own rod didn''t seem to be effected. The half-elf Silver was holding a fist-sized orb that he had noticed hanging from his belt when he first introduced himself; however, Gilor was unsure whether he had caused the darkness or if they had discovered some function of the altar.
"Hey, what happened in here? The lights went out--did you figure out some function of that altar?"
"A leviathan?" Pearce said, "All I know is from a paragraph in a book warning readers to stay away from them. I do not know anything more about them."
The beast was a leviathan, they had been mentioned in a book Pearce had read but that book was lacking in any useful information. It appeared that Gilante had some actual information on leviathans, while Caerwyn was as well informed as Pearce was. Gilante gave some information about the beasts, that they were magical and that they came in a variety of colours. There wasn't very much on how to fight a leviathan, but any information was better than no information.
It was than that Pearce heard the sounds of clanking metal coming from the other room. He moved towards the exit of the shrine room and looked through to the mural room. There he saw someone in wearing armour underneath a cloak, perhaps it was another adventurer like themselves? Light shone from their gauntlet, if Pearce was not mistaken that was paladin magic.
Pearce then returned to the shrine room, intent to further examine the shrine. He walked around the shrine, looking at it from multiple angles. Beneath the dust was some kind of hexagonal indentation. It was cleanly cut, far too cleanly cut to be natural. Therefore, it had been carved by someone. Who had made it and for what reason were mysteries to Pearce. He began to theorise, perhaps the shape held some meaning. He knew that shapes held some symbology in some branches of magic, but he was unable to apply any of that knowledge to the shrine.
"There is an indentation here" Pearce muttered to himself, thinking out loud, "Maybe it's a slot for something? Or a place to put ingredients for a ritual..."
Pearce's sharp hearing caught some whispers, it sounded like a spell. But before Pearce could try to figure out what spell was being cast, or even mention that a spell was being cast, the effects of the spell took hold. Light began to drain from the room, Caerwyn's lantern, the sunrods and even the shrine began to dim. Soon the room was plunged into darkness.
"What happened?" Pearce asked, sounding somewhat confused.