Fantasy Journey of Heroes

[HTCOR]

Han Alister

The young man took a moment to laugh, the words of the woman coming to him- what was he thinking? He just so happened to have this kind of luck. There was a moment where he scanned the people over, before shaking his head with a good-humored smile. His eyes gleamed with amusement, as he watched the Warlock approach. It was a tad evident by his posture and the such that he was a mage, and so he would make his way to stand beside the man.

"Alright, sai Elrich. Mind me being a bit curious about your magic? If you possess any scrying or sensory magicks which could allow us to scout out the area much faster than one could normally?" His tone was filled with curiosity, as he gave the man an easy smile- although to the Mage, he could certainly feel the arcane aura much better, with it reeking of one of the worst elements of magic to mess with- Entropy. Necromancy could be considered bad, but Entropy to this degree was horrid.

His attention was locked onto Elrich, even if he was paying attention to all of the others subtly. His sword still hung at his hip, his hand resting upon the pommel. Could have been an action of paranoia, or merely comfort for himself. Although, his heavy cloak was off, allowing himself to be far more open.

Meanwhile, his thoughts raced about Youko, trying to figure out how they were the way they were- it was either like one of his Lord's courtesans, or his luck was far worse- he managed to encounter a Fae of some sorts.

Hanarei
Birdsie
Silver Wolf
FireMaiden
Khanmon
Mystikelh

 

[Khanmon]

Elrich Antiochus

Elrich was not one to blush, perhaps due to aristocratic conditioning, but even he had to briefly turn his gaze away from this "Youko" character. What manner of person was this? Elrich's arcane understanding was novice-level at best, though with his latent magical prowess, even he could tell that she had some mystical aura that normal people lacked. Her long, run-on sentence further left him flabbergasted, and he merely bowed his head to her, "Charmed, my lady."

Forgot about your wife again, hmm?

The young warlock turned to Han for a moment, first noticing the hand on the pommel, then the question that escaped his lips. "Ah, my magicks? I've always had an interest in scrying, though I lack the ability, myself." He thought to himself about the best way to navigate the question without revealing his attunement to Dark magic. "I've crossed necromancy in my travels before, though not quite to the degree I've heard about. I figured my knowledge could come in handy. Magic has strange and curious ways of cancelling each other out." Elrich took his place beside Han as the troupe continued to push through the crowd.

"Given your garb, I'd wager the one with true scouting ability would be you. Pardon me, but I never caught your name, ser...?"

Hanarei
Birdsie
Silver Wolf
FireMaiden
HTCOR
Mystikelh

 

[Silver Wolf]

Sidon Dulian Keilen

Bowerstone Streets
​

Listening to the talk of flushing out a necromancer was rather dreary. There were two obvious answers. Wait until the necromancer leaves his lair and ambush him, or perform a stakeout at a few cemeteries that were in the process of being robbed for their corpses. He decided to speak after Youko talked to the newcomer who seemed to be a warlock.

Sensing the aura coming out of the Warlock and Han he began to wonder, what was so appealing about one necromancer? It wasn't like they were uncommon. To him, necromancers were a little reliant on undead servants. This may be effective against those who can't use magic, but to those who can it's a simple matter. Divine or holy magic was quite effective, and so was fire since most were rotting corpses. Skeletons were easily taken apart.

"Well, for all their...corpses a necromancer is often reliant on them. Even then, there is a reason they can be so elusive and hard to take down.If you want to lure him out, good luck. Underground magicians are VERY cautious. We would need to stake out a cemetery or ambush him just outside his lair."

The warlock came out of nowhere and offhandedly decided to join. Sidon was rather curious about the warlock-ish figure. He didn't prefer to use the world warlock since its roots came from the word "traitor" when in truth they could be very talented and studious magic users. When the self-proclaimed wizard spoke about magic cancelling each other out, Sidon felt he had to speak.

"Well...it's usually polar opposites that cancel each other out. Light and darkness being the prime example, but I have the feeling none of us can use light magic well. Even my control of such an element is low, and runes are hard to make. Necromancy draws from the darker elements, so if we wanted to cancel it out we would need a light mage or a priest, but fire should work just as well."

Sidon gave a snap and a stream of fire began dancing, swishing, and looping in the air violently before concentrating into a ball and bursting into nothing. A cheap parlor trick, but his almost effortless performance of such a trick showed his skilled control of fire. Most would have to move their arms, fingers, or hands to move the fire in such a way.

As they continued walking through the city streets towards their relative destination, the atmosphere began to switch. Buildings began to grow older and crumble as ancient discolored stone crawling with vines became more prevalent. The girl had come from somewhere without money, so it would be the logical conclusion the Necromancer was sitting near the slums. Filled with the sick and dying, a breeding place for underground practices, and generally avoided by the guards.

Hanarei HTCOR Birdsie Mystikelh FireMaiden Khanmon

 

[Khanmon]

Elrich Antiochus

Before he could get an answer from his scout acquaintance, Elrich was met with the Magic Knight, Sidon.

The warlock raised an eyebrow and chuckled at Sidon's magic trick, unimpressed by the display but wishing to make a good first impression. "Indeed you are correct - douse a fire elemental in water, or a water elemental in lightning, and the situation is resolved. However, I find that illusive magicks such as Light and Dark rarely have such clear-cut oppositions. A feral dog is inherently less evil than a bandit, a bandit is inherently less evil than a necromancer, and a necromancer is less evil than a lich, and so on. There are degrees of Light and Dark, and when it comes to the darker side of magic not documented in regal scriptoriums and sprawling cathedrals, we cannot pretend to know the extent in which they operate." Perhaps it was the books he read, but Elrich could talk about arcanology for hours at length.

He continued along with the group, eyeing the redhead barbarian with some degree of interest, but caught himself for a moment, turning to face the Magic Knight. "Forgive me, I meant that as an observation, not a challenge to you. You clearly have a grasp of magical theory beyond my speculation. Consider this a learning opportunity for the two of us." Elrich said with a smile and a hand extended to shake Sidon's.

Hanarei
Birdsie
Silver Wolf
FireMaiden
HTCOR
Mystikelh

 

[Mystikelh]

Chul clapped happily at Sidon's display of fire magic. Such a goofball, he was. He was simply following the group since it was easier for his big stature to push through the crowd of people once his new companions did. He always had trouble to walk through a large crowd, not enough space, people not minding him, and himself being scared of running into someone with his large body.

"Healing magic is considered a pure form of light magic if I remember correctly," he said, adding to Sidon and Elrich's conversation. "But I fear that it would not help us very much in this situation. But I can always immobilize those undead creatures with vines, if that may help. Though I dislike fighting very much and would prefer to not have to harm anything. Those creatures have been brought back to life against their will, I do not want to hurt them more than necessary."

The cervitaur had never worked in a group like this. All he did until now was healing sick and wounded in small towns, wandering around left and right. Maybe he had been too keen in helping that girl, not thinking about what it would involve going defeat a necromancer. The idea of hurting somebody didn't sit right with the hybrid, but they probably won't have a choice in the matter... Still, he wanted to stick to his non-violence. He would support his new group in every way he could and they would do their work. He just had to remember that a lot of people would be hurt if they didn't take care of the necromancer. Plus, raising the deads from their peaceful slumber was a horrible thing to do. His people always respected the deads and the cycle of life. Somebody tampering with it made the cervitaur shiver.

Khanmon Silver Wolf

 

[Birdsie]

Hanarei
Khanmon
Silver Wolf (There! I hope it suffices.)
FireMaiden
HTCOR
Mystikelh

William Black
Forest

"Magic or not, a sword to the chest will deal with him nicely," the 'hero' mercenary joined into the conversation about destroying the necromancer. "No magic exists that I know of that can repair a crushed skull or a missing head."

~~

The group soon arrived in the forest. After they passed by the graveyard, all it took to know where the necromancer hides was to follow the trail of pieces of rotting flesh on the ground that was clearly left there by his 'followers.'

There was a sound behind the bushes. The sound of footsteps, but also something cracking. "Wait. I'm hearing something."

William drew his sword. Step by step, he slowly approached the bushes and then carefully pulled them apart. Behind them was a group of skeletons, slowly walking, roughly twenty meters away from the bushes the group was near. The skeletons were being animated by some unholy force, made apparent by their glowing, green eyes and the fact that they could exist without simply falling apart into pieces - the human skeleton was not designed to exist on its own without any tendons or muscles, but then again, it's not like that was common knowledge. In addition to skeletons, there were also a few zombies and ghouls. All were dangerous, undead creatures to be dealt with.

William wanted to run in their direction at first, but he could see his mother smacking him on the head with a bat for that kind of thinking. He sheathed his sword, swapping it for the bow. He started drawing it while he turned to the rest of the group.

"Prepare for a surprise attack. On three."

 

[FireMaiden]

"Actually, light runes are easy to make, they just don't work in the same way a normal spell would," Nora said, jumping into the conversation between Sidon and the Warlock. "They end up being less powerful without the desiered effect against the dark arts because many people don't know how much magical energy to put in for it to work correctly. Which is why most people tend to not make them. The actual drawing of rune is just a little complicated because its more intricate than many others." As an example, She opened the leather pouch on her belt, fishing around for a second, before pulling out a smooth stone with a light rune painted on it. "Most people use them as a way to weaken dark magic instead of outright destroying it, or, as a replacement for a tourch."

Chucking slightly at William's comment about, Nora would then fall silent as the group continued on to kill the Necromancer. In odd silence with the occasional forced small talk. So, as they walked, Nora began to observe the group. A motley crew of misfits that had gathered to back William, who was the one that really grabbed her interest. He was from the north, that was obvious in his clothing and his last name. But he had hesitated when telling them. Which she could chalk up to being cautious. Or, he was keeping a secert that would be revealed later on for dramatic flair. Wait, why did her mind go to that explanation instead of soemth8ng obvious?

Maybe Nora just reads to much.

Reguardless, there was something about him that intruigered her more than the others. The only one of them.who had really caught her interest so far was the cervitaur. She had met a bunch if the nomadic centaurs before, most of them hostile and untrusting but tolerable. Their sub species, the deer folk, were most of the time timid and chose to hide when Nora approched, so why did he choose to join the little crew? Of course she didn't have much time to ponder on this as they soon ame upon their destination.

The sounds of clicking bones and footsteps made her perk up. Skeletons were easy to deal with most of the time because they could be toppled with little effort because there was nothing but magic holding them together. And even then, more magic was being focused on the other creatures under a necromancers control. Drawing her silver broad sword and a few fire runes from the pouch, she nodded at William, telling him she was ready.

Silver Wolf Khanmon Mystikelh Hanarei HTCOR Birdsie

 

[Khanmon]

Elrich Antiochus

Elrich sensed the dark magic before he saw it. Just beyond the bushes was a small contingent of skeletons, clattering away in the dark woods. He turned to the group beside him as William silently counted down from three, whispering with a hint of overconfidence, "Well, shall we begin?" He drew his staff from its holster on his back, spinning it with a flourish as he quickly invoked a spell.

He appeared to sink into the darkness, vanishing with a nigh inaudible whish. For those perceptive enough, they may have caught the formless shape of a black cloud drift away, approaching the undead peons.

His dark subconscious spoke to him again:

Why dismantle these skeletons when you could just bring them under your control?

Evil as you want that to sound, I think this will be much more fun.

Hanarei
Birdsie
Silver Wolf
FireMaiden
HTCOR
Mystikelh

 

[Silver Wolf]

Sidon Dulian Keilen

Outside Necromancer's Lair

​

Sidon pulled out his sword and prepared his hand which began to spark and flicker slightly as he began to prepare fire magic. He was about ready to strike and he said in a hushed voice, "Since there are skeletons, which aren't as weak to fire I volunteer to take on some of the zombies or ghouls. Rotten flesh burns pretty easily."

He began to move around slightly to prepare a strike if necessary. He was in place, but he was close enough to listen to anyone else's opinions on the matter. He pulled up his hood and readied himself. A simple fire spell would burn their flesh away, but more explosive magic would be questionable considering the number of people here. On his own, such monsters wouldn't be an issue. Some well placed attacks to disable the damned, but the hard part would be the duel with the necromancer. Such a magic battle could end with him becoming a thrall and being able to wreck utter havoc later, and that wouldn't be good.

Birdsie Maki Hanarei HTCOR FireMaiden Mystikelh Khanmon

​

 

[Hanarei]

Location: Forest​

Youko stood at attention with the others as the 'ambush' on them was revealed. She stared upon the skeletons and zombies, looking on at them in interest. She hadn't seen very many undead in her time as a sword so it was only natural she would be fascinated by it. The skeletons made little sense logically. It seemed completely impractical to have a creature that was just bone. How as it even managing to move around or do anything? It just was a reminder to her just how far-fetched magic could be. At the very least she could accept that as impractical as they were they would likely be more durable... granted she would think it would just be more productive to keep the flesh on like the zombies for extra defense.

She turned her head watching as the others all seemed to get ready to attack. She smiled excitedly, clapping her hand together with a bright smile on her face. It was far from the most 'exciting' scenario to be in for a normal person but she really wanted to see just what they were all like in a combat situation. She wasn't one for committing violence right away, but as a weapon she wasn't opposed to it as a solution. Not all solutions can be solved by words alone and the undead seemed far from the type that would work on, after all skeletons didn't have ears to listen with.

"Let's see what everyone can do! It's been a while since I have been in a battle... well one of any valid worth. Ooo! Maybe if one of you amazes me enough you can use me later!" She spoke, not seeming as if she was in then least bit prepared to fight as if she was some princess in the company of warriors. Truthfully if she was needed she was more then ready to act on her own. She was perhaps getting ahead of herself with the last comment, truthfully she wasn't quite sure if she was ready to be wielded once again fully even if one ofm them managed to wow her enough. She wasn't quite sure of trusting anyone fully to that extent at the very least.

Silver Wolf Birdsie Maki HTCOR FireMaiden Mystikelh Khanmon

 

[Birdsie]

Hanarei
Khanmon
Silver Wolf
FireMaiden
HTCOR
Mystikelh

William Black
Necromancer Lair

William ignored the offers of Youko, dismissing them as her having some kind of weird fetish. As long as she didn't excessively get in anyone's way she wasn't a problem and could as well come with them and be consumed by a stray monster in that damn cave. Ain't nobody's fault.

"One..."

...

"Two..."

...

"Three... Showtime!"

William released the string of his bow, shooting the arrow and destroying a skeleton with it. You can't exactly 'kill' something that doesn't have the properties of a living being in the first place, so it could be said he rather destroyed it - the arrow pierced through the skull, crushing it and causing the undead monster's bones to collapse, falling into a white pile near the entrance of the cave.

William took another arrow from his quiver and, taking a step forward, drew it on the string of his bow. In another second, he took aim with his thumb and released the arrow, firing it at another skeleton with lesser accuracy than before - hitting the very edge of the skull, near the neck, but still with enough raw power to cause the unholy servitor's body to collapse into bits and pieces on the ground. After that, firing from afar made no more sense, so he strapped the bow to his back and drew his sword, going after the rest of the team.

Like asked to by Sidon, he left the ghouls and zombies to the mages. It was true that rotten flesh was easily burned, while it was a kind of natural armor at the same time, so it was better to leave such enemies to mages who could deal with them more effectively. This was a team effort, after all.

...

As soon as the enemies have been dealt with, William led the charge into the dark cave. He didn't have any torches with him, so he hoped one of the mages would cast some kind of light spell to illuminate their way. "Anyone got a light? Maybe some torch magic?" he looked at Nora and Sidon.

 

[FireMaiden]

Nora smirked as she saw the first skeleton crumbled to a heap on the ground. With an arched throw, a now glowing stone set fire to one of the zombies. The heat from the sudden flare up was intense, the corpse burned to a crisp in a matter of seconds; the smell of singed flesh briefly filling the air. After that, She started her attack on the skeletons leaving the rest of the corpses for the other mages. Magic came in handy, but Nora prefers up close and personal attacks. A hard kick, and a downward slash toppled one. Throwing an elbow backward, she heard a satisfying crunching pop as she knocked the head off another. Nora almost managed to surprise herself, normally those didn't work. She couldn't help a but let out a small chuckle, before her sword shattered another skull.

----------------​

"Don't you love how many caves you end up wandering into in our line of work?" Nora muttered, sheathing her sword. It smelled damp, and..."Yeah. Just...I can't see anything, hang on," Nora said, walking nearer to the cave entrance. She would return soon after, and with her, a glow that would light up the area they needed. "Here," She said handing it to William, "It'll run out though. Magical energy doesn't stay in the stones for long, but I have more so we should be fine if we get done soon."
Birdsie
Hanarei
Khanmon
Silver Wolf
HTCOR
Mystikelh

 

[Khanmon]

Elrich Antiochus

Emerging from the darkness like a whisper from the abyss, Elrich swung his staff at a skeleton, the end of it lodging inside the creature's skull. With a crack, the skeleton's head exploded when a blast of dark magic erupted from the staff. The dark bolt soared across the skirmish zone to a zombie, damaging it but not felling it. Reclaiming his staff from the fallen skeleton, Elrich vanished again, this time instantly reappearing in front of the zombie he had attacked. He unsheathed a dagger from his back, driving it straight into the zombie's head, before turning around and throwing it at an approaching zombie. A dark, magical current carried the blade to its destination, killing the zombie, before it flew back and effortlessly sheathed itself back into the scabbard on Elrich's belt.

Perhaps too impressed with himself, Elrich turned to find another skeleton thrusting its spear at him. He instinctively blocked with his staff, just narrowly deflecting the strike, before retaliating with a blast of dark magic from his staff. Before the skeleton could hit the ground, however, Elrich stealthily reanimated it as a thrall, just for a brief second, to throw its spear at another nearby zombie, before it finally collapsed into a pile of bones. Realizing his mistake, he turned to make sure nobody had caught him performing necromancy - it seemed he was in the clear.

...

After the battle, the party descended into a dark cave, and William requested a light. Elrich conjured a green flame from his fingers, but extinguished it when Nora procured a glowing stone and gently handed it to William. Elrich raised an eyebrow at the scene, sensing a kinship form between the two. He kept it to himself but smirked silently.

Hanarei
Birdsie
Silver Wolf
FireMaiden
HTCOR
Mystikelh
(also uh.....)
Maki
Damafaud

 

[HTCOR]

Han Alister

There was a brief moment as Han looked at William with a bit of surprise- direct combat? Him? No. And it wasn't long after before the rest charged into battle, with Han standing there for a brief moment, completely surprised. His blade was drawn, as he took a few steps forwards. This kind of thing was certainly not his deal, as he never had to fight hoards of foes at once. No, he specialized in something entirely different.

So, for now, he would skirt around the edges, picking off any stragglers who decided to venture off or run away. It took him a bit of effort, and sadly- on the first one he stabbed, his blade got caught straight in the skeleton's arm, and completely jammed- but the moment was recovered, as he went on. There were little moments of bad luck, seemingly innocent as he would recover from each one as if he was used to it in an extreme.

____


After the battle was over, Han was moving through the cave, seemingly blending with the shadows as he kept his eyes and ears above, never looking anywhere near the light. His night vision was slowly adapting, as he went on. His soft leather boots kept against the floor, as his blade was stowed away- not a single glint of metal upon him. He was somewhat away from the group, sometimes stepping ahead, sometimes being behind, keeping aware of anything that could be within his path.

His face was pondering, as he wasn't quite sure of what to discuss with the group, if anything.


Silver Wolf Birdsie Maki FireMaiden Mystikelh Khanmon Hanarei

 

[Silver Wolf]

Sidon Dulian Keilen

Outside the Lair----->Cave
​

The first skeleton fell. In that moment Sidon took his chane to release a fire to the ghouls wandering around. Their flesh burned and charred until all that was left was an unsettling pile of black bones whose luminescent eyes looked painfully at him. Before leaving he said under his breath, "You will be released." This wasn't ordinary necromancy. This was forced reanimation. The pained look in the ghoul's eyes said it all. This was a magic that not anyone would wish upon someone. This necromancer was darker than someone merely reanimating a will into a corpse as if it were a golem.

He prepared another fire spell and hit back a zombie with a bolt of ice and pinned it to the ground where he concentrated on burning it. He then heard a snap and turned around to see a zombie's head being pierced by a spear. It was knocked down and the source of the spear was a crumbling skeleton where Elrich, the more darker magician was looking around nervously for a brief period.

Sidon ignored it, the skeleton crumbled almost instantly. The spell wasn't permanent. He took the opportunity to char this zombie as well whose empty skull proceeded to stare at him. He felt unnerved by it. This body had an owner, but that owner had no place in the realm of the living.

Sidon placed a few fire runes down where some approaching piles of flesh were sitting. Once they were in place he snapped his fingers, activating the runes and creating a pillar of flame that burned the corpses to a black pile of ash and bone. A zombie groaning behind him brought his attention and he instinctively slashed off its right arm. Both were surprised. The zombie looked at its new stump then gurgled in anger before having its head chopped off.

He gave a short chant as he held one hand on his sword and the blade began to glow an ember orange. He ran up to another zombie and stabbed it then said, "Ignisque."

It burned to a pile of ash just before it had the chance to strike. With his portion of the monsters cleared out, Sidon sheathed his blade onto his back. It would be far easier to take from there. It also wouldn't hinder his cloak.


----------

The cave as rather damp and stunk of rot. That was typical in a necromancer's lair. The things they kept, reanimated or not, were not technically alive and still behaved like corpses. Caves were quite a comfortable dwelling for mages before the association created the modern day rules. They didn't burn like houses, they could have ample water and minerals, and they had some of the best spaces for work.

The talk ahead of him was fascinating. How did this person know so much about runes? She didn't look like a mage, and to boot she was rather warrior-like in appearance. He wondered...what was her story it seemed rather conflicting from afar as Sidon assumed it.

He felt a small pulse in the air and stopped dead in his tracks as he looked toward another side of the cave where the pulse came from. A dark room that held enough evil magic to make it appear to be the gates of hell to a trained mage. The others may not be able to see it, but the foul aura wrapped around his body and whispered into his ear.

"Shit...it's one of these..." he said as he stared blankly into the passageway. He felt compelled to walk as the dark magic whispered sweet nothings into his being. Once he took one step towards it, a sinister black crystal was kicked across the floor. He picked it up and threw it against a wall that's when he summoned small pillars of crystal from the wall to shatter it. A black mist erupted from the gem and began moving eerily towards what Sidon was looking at. The black mist was visible to all.

Birdsie Khanmon Hanarei Mystikelh FireMaiden Maki HTCOR

 

[Mystikelh]

Chul barely had time to register what was happening that everybody fighting the skeletons. They dealt with them with a surprising ease, or his companion was really skilled in the art of battle. Using his magic over nature, he used vines to grab a skeleton that was out of the way of everyone's sight and entangled it. The undead creature was now stuck, helplessly failing. The hybrid looked satisfied of his work, and when he turned around the others were already moving in the cave.

Oh boy, a cavern. And not a big one, at that. He could already feel his antlers getting stuck in all kind of places. But he was part of the group for this quest and he would follow them to the very end. And so, Chul followed the group, staying behind all of them.

"Is everybody alright? Nobody got hurt, I hope," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, echoing on the walls of the cave.

It was pretty hard to see in the darkness, but his animal sight helped him a little bit. At least, it was better than a normal human.

"Maybe there are a few animals, around here. Rats, or bats. I could ask them if they know anything about what's waiting for us. They probably know that place a lot more than this necromancer man. Hybrids as myself are able to speak the animal speech. So it could come in handy!" he said happily, looking around for the sight of such living creature.

 

[Birdsie]

William Black
Necromancer's Lair

William took the rune, as it illumined the path forward. The murky cave smelled of rotten flesh, so William wanted to pinch his nose, but couldn't. Holding a sword in one hand and a rune in the other, his hands were busy. That said, this is some good psychological warfare the necromancer put up. You have to give the bastard this much. It wasn't particularly rare for necromancers to do this - simply tossing small, unneeded chunks of rotten flesh near the entrances of their lairs to scare away and lower the "morale" of unwelcome visitors of any kind. Pretty grim when you think about it since it's the equivalent of a lion throwing pieces of ribs and chunks of bones into the desert to warn the hyenas that this is his territory and they will be ripped apart in here.

"What?" he looked at Sidon when the mage spoke, then shifting his vision toward the same passageway to investigate what was going on, somewhat absently. And then, in a swift movement of arms and magecraft - a black crystal was thrown and destroyed by Sidon, releasing some kind of gas. William took a step back and observed for a short second, trying to piece together the dazzling nature of the event.

"What's that? Explain, mage," William looked at Sidon, incapable of piecing together what just happened other than that Sidon just destroyed some kind of trap set up by their target. Regardless, information is something you need in this business to survive - learning more at any opportunity was a good choice. Sidon seemed to be well-oriented in this kind of stuff, so he'd know about necromancy - well, at least how necromancers operate and what that trap was.

William waited for the answer....

Until...

A number of shrieking, guttural growls could be heard from the back of the cave. William turned, sword in hand. "Oh, joy. Zombies inbound. Stand close and prepare."

In five seconds time, a group of zombies ran down the corner and into the group. William cut down a pair of the undead with his sword, one of them managing to scratch his face with a claw, leaving the rest to his teammates as to equally distribute the number of monsters per teammate. William frowned. "The bastard's realized we're here. He's sending them to flush us out. The attacks will get intense."

"Cervitaur, think you can heal this? I don't dream of turning into a walking corpse later," he showed Chul the claw mark on his right cheek, unaware that you can't turn into a zombie by being clawed by a zombie. The chances of such a turning were decently low even with a bite unless the zombification was done through a specially-prepared, necrotic disease of some kind, but this necromancer didn't look to be the worshipper of a plague god. Still, better safe than sorry.

Silver Wolf Khanmon Hanarei Mystikelh FireMaiden Maki HTCOR

 

[Khanmon]

Elrich Antiochus

The warlock sighed as more undead emerged from the dark corridor, unsheathing a dagger and throwing it down the hallway, using his magic to spin it like a propeller. The dirk went straight through the stomach of a zombie, carving a perfect hole into the creature's torso. The blade returned to Elrich's sheath, and he drew his staff. He fired a concentrated, eldritch blast of dark magic at the mob, which latched onto a nearby wall like a trap rune. As the horde approached, the orb of magic exploded, knocking down a few zombies.

By this point, the other party members had rushed ahead to dispatch the undead, so Elrich stayed behind with the other mages. He was still perplexed by the dark mist behind him, which had now grown into a larger plume of black smoke that filled the hallway, blocking sight of the cave entrance. Elrich knelt down to focus on the arcane currents in this cave. Maybe if he focused hard enough, he could find the location of the necromancer...

Time's up!

~ THWAP! ~

An arrow struck Elrich in the shoulder, knocking him onto his back and eliciting a sharp yelp from him. As a mage, he wasn't used to this kind of pain, as he spent most of his adventuring days away from the frontlines of combat. "Chul... someone...!" He called into the deafening roar of the skirmish, but not receiving a response. He rolled onto his side as another arrow flew overhead. Elrich was able to pull the arrow from his shoulder, which allowed some blood to escape. "Agh, bad idea, bad idea." He muttered through gritted teeth, backing up against a wall. From where he sat, he fired another dark blast from his staff into the crowd, and heard the distinct gurgle of a zombie dying. He smirked at that, but frowned when he looked down to see his hand stained with his own blood.

He looked up to see another arrow flying toward him...

Hanarei Birdsie Silver Wolf FireMaiden HTCOR Mystikelh Maki Damafaud

 

[FireMaiden]

Nora Strauss
Necromancer's Lair

Necromancers always had an odd likeing towards rotten flesh. Nora knew why, it was a warning. But, the smell shouldn't be this string unless there was a good amount scattered around. Which brought up the questions of how long this guy been here? And why had they just found out today? Didn't someone notice something weird? The city guards would.have been all over this. Which these questions now running around her head, that little girl suddenly seemed a little suspicious. Nora, however, decided to keep this to herself as the adventurers ventured in deeper.

William stopped when Sidon dispersed a trap, an action that also caught Nora's attention. She was indeed a mage, but lacked most knowledge of the darker arts, her father refused her tutor to teach her invade she decided to take revenge on him. So, her curiosity was to be expected. Maybe she could ask Sidon some questions later, if she had a the chance to. If not, she could always read a book. Listening in for an answer, her and William didn't get one as the sick gurgling of the undead filled the cavern.

Nora drew her silver sword, rushing to attack, wincing at the sound of the squishing flesh her sword prieced as she felled a zombie. With another slashnas the boddy hit the cave floor, a second corpse fell; this time in two peices. She would the quickly suck to the side as an arrow wizzed past her, barley touching her hair. Originally it was to did he a zombie trying to grab her arm, Nora quickly dispersed of it as well.

It was then she realized she hasn't heard the arrow hit the cave wall. The woman hadn't heard Elrich call for help, but when she looked, he was nursing a wounded shoulder. Ready to assist him, Morals attention was briefly turned to another corpse getting to close. A quick diagonal downward slash felled the creature, a spary of blood shooting upwards.

Turning her head to the side, she spit getting the taste of Iron out of her mouth. That's when she heard another bow string snap. With a glance at Elrich, still downed, it missed him thanks to quick thinking on his part. Yet there was another, this time Nora sent her sword out. It was no sheild, but it stopped the arrow from hitting the mage. "You alright?" She called back to him. Khanmon

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[Khanmon]

Elrich Antiochus

Elrich blinked, but the arrow never struck him. When he realized he was still alive, he saw Nora had deflected the arrow.

I must admit, even I'm surprised.

"You alright?" She called to him.

You're gawking, Elrich.

Elrich nodded hastily, "I uh... yeah. Yes, thank you!" Looking at his wound, Elrich gritted his teeth. What he was about to do was going to hurt. He conjured the same green flame he offered as a light source just moments earlier, but this time turned his fingers inward, using the fire to cauterize his wound. It was dark magic, so the fact that it would sting infinitely more than a regular old flame was a given. He growled at the immense pain, but after a few seconds the deed was done.

"Alright, you spurious mass of animated flesh! Prepare to meet your maker!"

He stood, a faint wisp of smoke rising from his shoulder, and an angry glare burning in his eyes. He gripped his staff, his fist burning so hot with dark magic that the sweat on his hand evaporated. He held the staff out, pointing it directly at the emaciated walking corpse with a longbow - his assailant. The eldritch blast that Elrich fired vaporized the zombie, sending burnt flecks of undead meat across the floor, while the epicenter of the zombie's implosion was so clean that the stone floor was now polished.

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[Hanarei]

Location : Dark Cave
​

Youko kept back, simply observing most of the time having some fascination by it. Truthfully it seemed like it was a situation she really wasn't needed in... not to mention she was a bit swept up in the moment just watching them fight. She forgot the fact she could really help. It wasn't exactly typical for a weapon to be use to actually being able to act on its own. She followed along with the group into the cave keeping quiet as it was apparent visibility was going to be an issue early on. It made sense that a necromancer wouldn't bother lighting up his cave. The undead didn't really need light when they could simply shamble into someone to hurt them... if they weren't already able to see them already.

Youko stood quietly, watching a zombie shuffling towards her from one of the side paths. She blinked glancing at the others. She held her hand out, a spark of light and a static like sound briefly sounding from Youko's arm. A wakizashi formed form her arm, dropping into her hand. She held the small blade up skillfully cutting at the creature as it came close, her blade razer sharp easily cutting through the flesh slicing off an arm and through its chest. . She sliced through its body a few times before kicking it back. She lifted her right hand, scratching her chin lightly. The zombie, while up seemed to be reeling back up unfazed by its missing limb.

"Wow... they really are sturdy! No wonder why the undead are looked down upon to such a degree... they are quite troublesome to put down with conventional weaponry. though I guess when I was used last against them my Master elected to use my magic ability to destroy them outright in a single blow after having them all gathered up. Seems a little trickier to do here though..." She spoke quite casually not at all seeming to feel any serious risk as she sliced at the zombies leg, kicking it once again back by its chin before it could fully stand itself back up.

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[Mystikelh]

As the second wave of attack began, Chul watched his group carefully. He squeaked slightly as he saw William getting scratched in the face. The healer immediately came to him as he asked for help.

"Of course, my friend. I am here for this," he said as he approached. "Do not move."

The cervitaur reached the knight's face with his hand, a warm and soft light emanating from it. It took a few seconds, but the wound disappeared little by little. There was still a small scar, but it would disappear in a few days. Satisfied, he reached into his bag and gave the man a little bottle of green liquid.

"Here, take this. Just to prevent any infection. This is a powerful curing medicine. It should do the work," he explained.

He turned around to look at the rest of the group, spotting Elrich burning his shoulder.

"Oh! I am so sorry, my friend," he said, quickly walking to him right after he destroyed the zombie. "Here, let me help you." He grabbed a few bandages from his bag with a balm for burns. "I will heal what I can and dress your wound. Stay still."

 

[Silver Wolf]

Sidon Dulian Keilen
Necromancer's Lair
​

The dead had began to move again. These ones were slightly stronger than the last though. Fed by the sinister energy coming from deeper in the cave, they moved faster, lived longer, and they even had more fury. Injuries were now being sustained in this enclosed space where the dead thrived. Sidon was getting nervous. They had to do something, but he didn't know what yet. He was far too deep in now to go back and call for help, but this couldn't be left alone, even after they killed the necromancer.

Sidon noticed a zombie coming for him and released a blast of fire to burn it to cinders when he proceeded to crush the skull with several spikes of ice and crystal. The spherical bones quickly snapped and the skull shattered. Sidon took out a light rune and quickly activated it, the zombie was now gone. All that remained was a puff of black smoke which began to make its way back to the source of the dark energy.

Sidon took a look at Elrich who had imploded a zombie, and stood there briefly impressed. That was quite a high level spell for someone to cast in such a way. High level mages were capable of such things, but Sidon was not one of those.

Sidon shook his head and said, "Destroy as much of the bodies as you can. These zombies aren't like the ones from the surface."

He didn't have time to explain what was happening, but he prepared to fight. Another mess of zombies were approaching. No one was within range, so he took out a rather large rune with very intricate orange and red designs and it began to float. As it did Sidon chanted, "Ignis, ignis spiritus lucem. Idcirco praecipio tibi ut devoret Abimelech. Hastis Fraxinus in furore meo et ardebit tempestate."

A ball of fire grew and grew from the rune and began to dance. It enveloped Sidon and as he continued chanting it began to move towards the zombies. The rune cracked and shattered. Sidon placed an arm out and the rune and a spiral of fire began to twist and rip the zombies apart. It spun and stormed for thirty seconds until the fire vanished. Nothing remained of the creatures. No black smoke or anything. Sidon put his arm down and cursed slightly. He just used up a fair amount of magic energy.

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