Fantasy The Order: Gods Within Us

[TheLightBreeze]

Noivan saw the blood she rushed to it, Starring at it and she murmured "this is clean blood of the pure this is guild security". She felt something she went off for a bit straying from the party for a bit feeling the walls. She noticed a sword then the noticed the string around it, If she picked it up it will trigger something and that's not something she wants to do. The more she examined the darker it got, The lightbulbs were busted and she felt a off feeling in the walls feeling negitivty flooding in the walls, She could feel the fear the hopelessness and the confusion they were up against something shrouded in darkness.

Noivan advanced forward now she made a small tangible ball of light about the size of a baseball but bright. She heard silence a eerie silence still touching the wall she felt as if she's about to stumble upon something unsettling, But Noivan was happy she had a evil grin on her face wanting to encounter this monster and makes it suffer. Then a idea popped into her head no remains such vague details, She stopped in her tracks her hand quaking thinking about this cave, Then her goddess called to her saying very sweetly "My sweet child there is nothing to fear, what are the odds of you encountering that thing" it helped her to take another step but every step forward filled her with dread. Her goddess called to her again "One foot in front of the other my child there is nothing to fear".

 

[Ace Cream]

Ursula

Desmond's shadow twisted and stretched, turning into something that looks like the shadow of a tentacle monster as Ursula tried to cover as much ground as possible. She's anchored to Desmond afterall so she can't scout too far ahead.

"No. Not nearby, but they're not bothering to hide the trace either. See here? A faint trail of blood." The shadow pointed to a red smear on the ground. "Did I just touch the blood? Yikes! But anyway, the blood hasn't clotted yet so whoever spill this much is not that far ahead. Maybe we can even save that person if they haven't died from blood loss."

"Avaunt, adventurers! Ready your sword and spells, and fists and kitten, and arrows and guns. For the enemies might be closer than you think!"

 

[First Rose]

.... alright. We go with sages idea. I’ll call the order and have them send some more security while we go in, Sage heard Desmond announce.

Watching him part to give the Order a call, she called after him with a ragged comment, “don’t let it get to your head.” Once he returned, he went first, which was most likely the best idea, taking the elf laying inside his shadow. Not to mention the fact that she didn’t like going first anyway. It wasn’t a selfish “you die first” aspect, it was just common knowledge that anyone behind a rogue, was a stupid person, a trusted but still brave person, or a dead person. None of her party members fit any of those profiles, so they had the benefit of going ahead of her. Her back was something she let open to very...very few people.

As they started into the cave, she knew why the smell of copper, iron, and a pointless struggle had touched her nose a bit ago, because they soon came upon a pool of fresh blood.

A small callous, “hmph,” came out of her as she approached the tiny kiddy pool of body fluid. With no change of expression, with no sense of consoling, Sage dipped two fingers into the blood all the way up to her knuckles. For no particular reason, she raised them to her nose and took a long whiff. A strange thing to see, most definitely, but some who have known her longer had seen stranger.

“Mhm, hopefully they’re alive….” She muttered “hopefully,” once more underneath her breath before wiping the blood off her fingers on the wall next to her.

The close, low hanging lights of the mines alone made her eyes ache, but when the ball of light Noivan conjured stretched it’s divine brightness across the cave, that wasn’t at all any help. With an annoyed huff, she pulled her hood over her head, and turned to where Ursula was pointing. Tracing her eyes down the trail of blood, her hands clenched for a moment.

The elf's little declaration made things a little less ominous, though it didn't help their odds. “Whatever is in here….” She said quietly, though loud enough for everyone to hear, “Isn’t a measly little Kobold.” Unless there was apparently some type of Kobold Cult dwelling within an abandoned mine, then she’d get a laugh out of that.

 

[Kapowne]

Desmond eyed the pool of blood. If it was from a guild security member, which his gut told him it was, then perhaps he was still alive. If they could save them, that was their top priority now, then killing whatever did this.


“Alright, let’s go.” He said as he drew his second blade. The audible shwing of blade on scabbard echoed through the halls of the mine.


As they delved deeper, Desmond noticed the lights a rubble stopped ahead. Or rather than stop, they were pulled down off the walls. He approached as saw claw marks around where the wires were torn down.


“These certainly look like kobold claw marks....” Desmond mused, he turned back to look down the mine shaft again, the way ahead drowned in complete darkness.


Desmond felt the air whizz by his head before he realized anything had happed. He ducked to the side, just in time to see a bolt sing past where he had just been standing.


“Crossbows!?” Desmond shouted as he created a small ball of light in his left hand, throwing it down the dark passage. Illuminating five seemingly large kobolds with well crafted crossbows and armor. Something was definitely off here!

 

[Aravini]

Sole

Sole followed Desmond deeper in the cave, taking Sage's plan was probably the best idea, even if she was annoying she made a good point. Once they got deep enough, they a saw pull of blood in the area. The rest of the group investigated as Sole sat in the corner, playing with Cheese by making her catch nearby rocks. Detective work was something Sole was not good at so it was best to leave it to the experts.

When Sage talked about the possibility of something else being here, a spike of excitement rushed through Sole. Hopefully, the creature here was a powerful one.

They delved deeper into the cave, the lights barely illuminating them, this could a perfect time for the enemy to assault-

The sound of a metal bolt piercing the wall startled Sole. Desmond threw a small ball of light to the bolt's direction, illuminating armoured Kobalds in their way.

"Looks like we found them." Sole said as he reached the bolt stuck to the wall. He energized the arm holding it, making it glow with a green tint, and threw it towards the closest Kobold.

 

[Ace Cream]

Ursula

"Phew. Good dodge, wingy boy! I wanted to warn you but their trigger is kinda faster than my voice. It's pretty smart for them to destroy the lightbulbs too." Desmond's shadow once again was stretching forward, trying to reach across the gap between them and the kobolds.

"A bit... more... Hey.... Anyone wanna charge forward and kick their ass for me? I will appreciate it. Also, no trap sighted!"

 

[First Rose]

With the darkness of the cave growing, and the dismal-like mood of the mine deepening, Sage's hands hung critically close to the sheathed daggers at her waist. Though, they wouldn't be sheathed for much longer. Following behind them all, her head laid near motionless, occasionally looking behind her watch backside, but her eyes were always moving, darting, scanning. Always watching for the unexpected. That's what she was there for, to make sure all went smoothly. Sage enjoyed action and bloodshed as the next maniacal rogue, but there would be no fight if the challenger is already stabbed from behind. Sage had no intention of becoming that person, in fact, her usual intention it to be the person stabbing the other in the back.

No need to get her hands dirty if the fight is already won.

As the Kobold like marks came into view, Sage looked them over with a skeptical glare. Tracing a hand over the marks as the gears in her mind churned and processed what exactly had been happening. Coming to a conclusion, she decided that the kobold was just being fashionable, marking their territory; trying to spread fear, or it was fighting something. Images flashed through her head of what could have happened, but suddenly, her pondering was interrupted by the sound of a cocked crossbow.

Sage's head quickly swiveled 90 degrees toward the darkness Desmond was walking toward, a darkness that housed a few oddly sized lizards. She opened her mouth to give word but an arrow was already released. She bit her tongue in frustration, hoping he had some kind of skills to allow him to maneuver. Luckily, he did so, and Sage let loose a small breath as daggers quickly whipped into her hands.

Crossbows!, he had said. Sage gave a huff, now he noticed.

With a single force, she threw both blades forward. "On your left Sal!" Not caring if he got his name correct, she just wanted to make sure he moved. To her avail, the daggers flew right by Sole and made their mark into the throat of one of the Kobold's throats, and the second made it's nesting place in its shoulder. Right in the sweet soft layer of skin that was exposed behind the armor.

Anyone wanna charge forward and kick their ass for me? Sage heard Ursula request, and with a small eager smirk, Sage obeyed and sent her feet spiraling. The thunder of her beating feet echoed across the cave as the rogue ran toward the band of the kobolds, another set of daggers shining in her palms at the ready. "Heh, as you wish..." Her sly words replied. Coming in the radius of only a few feet, the kobolds shot their crossbows once more, and with great agility, she dropped to her knees and slid right underneath the projectiles. Sage then pushed on her elbows, getting to her feet once again, and by that time, she was right upon them.

The Kobold on the far left could not prepare for the quick elbow that was sent into the side of its temple, and the quick knee that she thrust up its crotch. With a small jump, because unfortunately, at a height of 5, 4 most things were taller than her, Sage sent the knuckle of her foot up his jaw, a small crack erupted as she most likely split its bone. To top it all off, she swept her feet underneath it and sent it plummeting to the ground. Quickly following, a dagger flew out her hand and into its chest, it made a small impact, but not when she gave a small stomp to it and sent it straight into its heart. With a bored expression, she turned to the remaining few, wondering what else the party had to offer as she let the (Hopefully) dead Kobold fall limp and lifeless.

 

[Kapowne]

The kobolds voices were gritty and deep, their language unrecognizable as they clicked, growled and hissed. Desmond had spotted at least four kobolds before his weak ball of light had dissipated. He watched as sole thew a bolt back at them, somehow the bolt seemed to be even deadlier when thrown by him, because it crushed through a kobold killing it on impact.


Not one to be left out of the fight Desmond prepared to rush into the battle at Ursula’s beckon, only to be beaten to the punch by sage, she was brash, selfish and rude, but at least she didn’t unleash such death of her allies like she did her allies.


Gripping his two short swords, Desmond beat his wings, giving him a short burst of speed towards his own target. The crossbow wielding kobolds. His right sword arcing downward diagonally, sparks illuminating the shaft as his sword met armor. Using the momentum of his first attack, Desmond spun around using his left wing to slap the side of the kobold, knocking it off balance just in time for his left short sword to catch the kobold in its neck. Blood splattered onto his face, warm and wet as the kobold fell limp to he floor. Target dead, Desmond gathered more light into his left hand, and tossed it deeper down the shaft, illuminating three more kobolds with large well crafted axes...

 

[TheLightBreeze]

Noivan was near them as she quickly went to them aiding them by throwing a dagger at the kobold landing it dug into it's foot. She took in a breath of air and grabbed a short sword on her back, in the moment she drew it the sword went from a grey color to yellow and red like lava. She took a slash at the kobold cutting it's head clean off but the heat cauterize the wound and blood. Noivan looked down at the creature and murmured, "Filthy Creatures" She looked at the party and back to the creatures and stepped to the side, Letting her teammates have their time to shine.

She didn't want to kill these things she wanted to torture them make them feel agonizing pain but her party wanted to kill them, So she let them do their thing while she waited for someone to step out of place so she can put them back without them getting harmed.

 

[Aravini]

Sole

A dagger barely passed through him after Sage shouted at him to warn him.

"Careful with that!" He told her as she charged towards the kobolds. The battle had begun.

As Desmond illuminated the tunnel, more Kobolds holding axes emerged from the deeper level. The others could deal with closer ones nearby. Sole ran deeper into the cave, passing Noivan who seemed contempt on letting the others fight . He reached the axe weilding Kobolds as one of the swung his axe, Sole had his hand flat and jabbed the lizard by the throat, reinforcing it to make a devastating blow. He turned to the other Kobold and swung his leg up, hitting the lizard's jaw. No reinforcement was needed. He turned to the other Kobold, raising his arm, gesturing his finger to becker him to attack.

"Come at me!" Sole commanded.

 

[TheLightBreeze]

Noivan watched as Sole did all the work, looking for one moment as he killed the kobolds and taunted the last one Noivan found her opening. Swiftly she let a dagger fly from her grasp, it landed in the creatures tendons, Making it drop to one knee Noivan grinned menacingly as she watched it fall and then die. She whispered to herself,"when he has hope but it was tested and at the last moment it was taken away before life crumbled around it. She walked over and picked up the dagger it was covered in a potent poison that could kill most creatures by a cut, she wiped the blood off the dagger and put it in the empty slot in her belt of daggers. Noivan looked at the party and thought to herself, "These guys are really strong or those things were really weak both outcomes are hilarious". She created a ball of tangible light and dimmed it down for sage till it was as bright as a torch, seeing down the tunnel with a somewhat bright light.

 

[Ace Cream]

Ursula

While the other took care of the kobold in front of them, Ursula got out of Desmond's shadow and approached the already defeated kobold scattered about. She watched as her teammates completely overwhelmed the enemies. Yep, they can handle it just fine. She whipped out a glock from her briefcase, attached a suppresor and started shooting at the dead kobold's, followed by a firm stomp to completely destroy their skull. The sound of suppressed gunshot echoed through the tunnel, though it sounded more like a triggered mousetrap rather than a gunshot.

"You all okay? Good! Give me a bit of time to clean some stuffs, allright? Allright? Just want to make sure they're all dead and never rise again." Continuing her cleaning up, the elf took a glance at the pitch black tunnel in front of them. They really did broke all the lightbulbs, huh.

"Finished! Let's go! Use dark vision if you have it... Noivan, can you give people dark vision?" As an elven hunter, Ursula can use dark vision, but she wasn't sure if the others have it. Especially Desmond and Sole.

TheLightBreeze

 

[First Rose]

As the last of the Kobolds gave their last breath, Sage seemed to have her own intentions. "Let's see now..." She muttered herself as the rest of her party seemed to be heading forward.

Sage searched through the pockets of her dead foes. It was common knowledge that looting the dead was almost unlawful, and it was certainly disrespectful. Sage knew the facts well, but there was a reason she was rogue. Laws and morals had no affect on her, in fact, it gave her a partial motive to break them.

Stuffing the final bits of coppers and silver's into her pockets, Sage got to her feet and prepared to the follow the party deeper in. However, in the far side of her vision, it seemed one of the Kobolds were still breathing, stopping Ursula with a hand before she could shoot its lights out, Sage reached for the lizard and said, "Hold on...Let me grab his crap before you drench him in his own blood." Sage didn't really bother to wait for her response and proceeded to grab it by its collar. She then dragged it up to its feet. The Kobold couldn't even scream before she became a large mass of ghostly fog, and quite literarly, walked through the struggling warrior. As she did, Sage was carrying two handfuls of coins in her palms, and the lifeless thud of the pathetic Kobold echoed through the cave. It was still breathing when it fell, only but a hollow shell of it's formal self. It looked like all she did was loot the pitiful being, but as she walked away from it's pale and stale body, the Kobold's eyes white as snow; it seemed she had looted something else as well.

Catching up with the rest of them, Sage was glad she was in the back, there was way too much going on in the front. Not to mention, the light of the magica torch lights and whatnot made her have to strain her eyes to see. Sage turned back to Ursula, listening attentively as she spoke.
"My helm does..." She repliedht, taking out her earpiece. As soon as sheput it in, her helm expanded over her head. It did actually have night vision, but it wasn't like she needed it. Grouping back with the others, she followed them in deeper.

 

[Kapowne]

With all the kobolds dead, desmond took the chance to evaluate their circumstance. Taking stock of what they knew so far. First was that this was a simple coal mine that had come under attack by a group of kobolds. Makes sense for a D or E rank quest. But now they had several C rank security guards missing, and with the fresh pool of blood, Desmond assumed they were probably dead... what bothered him though was the kobolds they had just fought... they were easy. Too easy. Not only that, they were very well outfitted..

Desmond kneeled down to inspect the kobold he had killed. The armor he wore was made of a good strong steel, one that could deflect his sword. The crossbow bolts were also unsettling, because kobolds-while somewhat intelligent- usually lacked the intelligence for such a complicated weapon... that paired with the armor gave him the inkling there was something else here commanding the kobolds... something much stronger. Which only begged the question... why did they, or it, want a coal mine?

Desmond snapped out of his contemplation when he realized he been kneeling over this body, staring intently, for minutes. Finally he realized the group was ready to move on, and stood.

“Oh! Uh.... Great work team.... Let’s go.” He said as he chose to keep his thoughts to himself. Reinforcements were on the way, and they needed serious evidence to present to them otherwise they might get frustrated for making the trip for nothing. Besides, they knew for sure the security guards were still missing and badly hurt or worse. They had to find out what happened to them at least.
Desmond led the way, still not entirely sure why he was leading the group, but since was able to create a lift source with his left hand, he supposed it made at least a bit of sense. Though he was still nervous about the evil that lurker behind the kobolds, somewhere deeper in the darkness.

 

[TheLightBreeze]

Noivan thought about the situation same as Desmond, Thinking of every monster she came to many conclusion all out speaking them to the party. "Maybe a fire spirit or a creature that's a blacksmith", she giggled and had a outburst "maybe a FIRE GIANT!" she exclaim but not too loudly to draw attention. Her face turned to the party her face turning to a a frown as she stated "oh right whoops I forgot" she went through the party touching them granting them 10 minutes of night vision, Till she got to Sage and she stopped waving her hand, "Can you see" she asked due to Sage's discomfort for magic.

She looked around hoping that the path ahead wasn't that dangerous everything was smooth sailing or we were too powerful and our rank doesn't show off our true power. She loved being with a group of such powerful individuals but she wondered if they were like her, Containing a power of a god but if so which were all of them she pondered this question as they walked her hand on a dagger just in case things went South.

 

[First Rose]

It seemed Noivan was going over to everyone and giving them night vision, how could they just let a stranger do something like that to them. Sure, she had been in the Order for a good couple of years, but that meant nothing, she was in the back, doing...who knows. When the woman finally made her way toward her, if it wasn't for the pitch-black helm she wore, her face of utter disgust and disapproval would have been seen as white as snow.

But to lessen the acrimony, Sage politely raised a hand and shook her head. Her voice was muffled, but still heard, in fact, her helmet coiled her speech in an ill-toned manner. If she already sounded bitter and callous enough. "Yes...I've got it covered, thanks." Sage asserted as she gave a small knock on her helm. An effort to say there were no hard feelings, but to also give certainty of the fact that she obviously didn't trust Noivan.

Not leaving much room to continue much further, she nodded toward the rest of the cave, a way of saying to "let's keep moving." Sage still set on remaining in the back.

 

[Ace Cream]

Ursula

"Nice!" Ursula applauded when Noivan gave them a temporary dark vision. The dark path in front of them became clear as of there's dim light illuminating the way. "With this we're not going to get ambushed by cheap trick like before."

The elf reloaded her gun even though she hadn't gone through all the clips yet, just to make sure she wouldn't need to do it in the middle of a battle. She changed the suppresor to the enchanted one that she showed before. It crackles with electricity as she attached it to the muzzle of her glock. Effective for 100 rounds, each 5 seconds would enchant the next shot with a stun, hopefully it would be worth the 2000$ she paid for.

"But you know? The idea of these kobolds backed up by another smarter creature isn't too far-fetched. Look at those armor they're wearing! It's quite sophisticated. I wonder who is it? And what kind of surprise they've prepared for us? I hope it's not an army of kobold with UZIs. Ah, I should have brought my shotgun if I knew they're going to be armored." Unlike before, Ursula didn't seems to have intention on going into Desmond's shadow again and instead placing herself in the middle of the group.

 

[Aravini]

Sole

Sole felt odd as his vision became clear in the dark. Magic was something still very foreign to him, being more intuned with more natural logic or abilities. He nodded his head to Noivan as a sign of thanks as they started moving further deep into the cave. There was something about that girl that was odd to Sole, he couldn't really figure it out but there's something about her...something familiar...

The group constantly talked about the possibility of a threat controlling the Kobolds, which only made Sole more excited. This threat was better a good one otherwise Sole would have been psyched up for nothing. He checked for his purse, expecting for Cheese to be looking at him annoyed for all the fighting. Instead, she was sleeping still like nothing ever happened.

She sure sleeps like a stone.

 

[TheLightBreeze]

They trudged forward deeper into the tunnel, Noivan in the back of the group moving her hand across the wall grounding herself to reality as her mind kept pondering. Ever since she was young she never got her head out of the clouds she was always thinking, visualizing, and formulating, But she did mostly more thinking then actual doing which became a real big weakness for her. Holding her hand to the wall keeps grounded to reality, she kept talking steps forward thinking about what they were gonna face. Her mind going wild, She recalled and examine how everyone fight especially Sage since she noticed something about her style, But dropped it in favor of examining other fighting styles the others have.

She pondered about what they will face and how everyone fights all this went through her head, Then one thing stood still in her mind as it was Sage's necklace she's seen the symbol before on a cultist. Her head looked up to face Sage examining her more she looked normal enough but something was off, Noivan won't abandon reason so she won't accuse her or turn on her unless she gives Sage a say in the matter, And right now was not the time for that all of them needed to band together and be ready for whatever. We don't need to fight among each other she thought.

 

[Kapowne]

The party moved deeper into the mine for several minutes, with several party members being so good at detection, they were able to easily dodge around pit, spike, and even a few dart traps. Desmond was certainly thankful they had people such as them along. Though he was concerned about what may be in store for them, especially since they hadn’t seen any kobolds in awhile.


Finally though, they found a large cracked hole in the wall, it didn’t appear clean and cut like the rest of the passages in the mine. “This must be where the kobolds broke into the mine.” He said as he inspected the passage with his night vision. It was a good spell to have, it certainly made sneaking in even easier. But more importantly, he was able to see the reflection of blood on the ground. The first sign of blood since the beginning of the mine. “Looks like they brought them through here.” He added as he stepped through into the cavern. As he did he felt a light breeze, cold and even a bit damp across his face. “This passage connects with the surface at some point.” Desmond added one final time before continuing through. The wet moss was smiley on cut and broken walls, almost like mud. Which made even less sense. If a coal mine was just five feet behind him, why was this rock and stone so different, why did it have moss? So many questions....

 

[First Rose]

The mission was actually turning out to be much less irritating than she thought prior, she expected there to be random inputs and ideas, the exchange of dry jokes, and the foolish practice of setting off traps left and right. Perhaps it was because she was expecting the behavior of drunkards from members of a national guild. Indeed, that didn't seem to add up. Sage wasn't usually seen at the guild unless it was within three reasons, someone owed her something, she owed something to someone else, or because she had a task. She didn't have too much interaction with the other guild members, as most of her time was spent in the dark part of the town. The only person who usually knew her whereabouts was Cogaihn, and even he couldn't always keep track.

Listening to everyone exchange what they thought of the Kobolds, she kept her own beliefs to herself, she had an idea that dwarfs were behind this, just because they never had a defined line of loyalty and were good with forgery. Not to mention, smart and witty. Why go to the mines to grab coal when you can just give kobolds a bunch of armor and let them have fun setting traps and killing people in the mines. It seemed like a solid negotiation to her.

However, something caught her attention in the corner of her eye, there seemed to be a tear in her jacket, one that she had just bought just weeks ago. One Of the traps must have nagged her. A small unnatural hiss quietly escaped her lips as she looked toward it, instantly agitated. "What the!? How!?" She muttered to herself in frustration. Due to her focus on her jacket, she didn't see that Noivan seemed to be watching her, particularly, her necklace. Which seemed to be made of a material completely foreign to the earthly plane. Though Sage still felt Noivan's gaze upon her, but she only took it as a curious glance to what she was worked up about. Letting out a sigh in frustration, she looked elsewhere, and forgot the jacket for now, she'd get it fixed later.

Once they came close to what looked to be a hole in the caves of walls, and the familiar smell of blood hit her nose, Sage craned her neck to get a better look. She gave a disgusted expression behind her helm as she saw it was covered in moss and dirt. But out of nowhere, her eyes widened as she realized: Moss...is there some kind of underground water source down here? She thought to herself. Like hell, you all go ahead...There would be no way Sage was going through, at least not first.

 

[Ace Cream]

Ursula

"Well, I agree that there's exit somewhere down this path. Good for us, but anyone noticed the moss? This part of the cave is still pretty much all dark so plant shouldn't be able to grow,, normally." Ursula casually pondering while looking up to the ceiling. Yep, no light bulb, no supporting beam or anything that was supposed to exist in a mine. This place was a totally different cavern and the kobold's nest would very likely to be nearby. She wanted to prepare her dynamite, but she couldn't do that since there might still be someone to be saved.

"You know what this cave reminds me of? Great Labyrinth of Grome. It is a series of interconnected caverns that approximately spans underneath a quarter of the main continent of Aurelon. It causes problems for several kingdoms due to it frequently used as a smuggling route, and best of all, it's infested with subterran monsters like bluecap, taratect and antlion. The last time I entered that place was to recover a stolen relic from the stomach of a giant cobra, yikes. Being adventurer here is just so much easier and safer, paid better too."

 

[TheLightBreeze]

Noivan looked around the place such strange cave design pretended to bump into into Sage, in that second Sage felt a cold touch where the jacket was torn, When looking back it was fixed but how. Noivan kept a fine distance from Sage as she examined the cave and why dwarves would be after it. She jokingly stated "does any of you have dwarf senses can you slap a rock and say that's a good rock" Noivan smirked at her joke taking step after step not wanting to follow the blood but mission requires it. The woman was bored she saw so many questions but no answers to any of them, the thing Ursala said peaked her interested with smugglers all just a bunch of sinners to her. She looked at Sage's necklace once more trying to figure out the materials but she couldn't define them only that mark, Her mind pondered and she waited for her group to go in first, "Despite the eerie signs it's been just kobolds I know we should be on our guard but are we too good for that" she asked herself this to find clarity in this mission of unsettling turns.

 

[Kapowne]

Desmond considered his companions suggestions, but decided they wouldn’t know unless they kept going. Guessing could only do so much after all. So he chose to continue leading the way. For some reason, after entering this new cavern passage, there were no more traps. Just a rugged chiseled pathway, with jagged stones and moss that seemed to grow even as you glanced at it. Ursula had a point... this seems just a bit too magical for earth, but maybe it was moss implanted from Aurelon? The cavern they were in twisted and turned, desperate passages forked off every few feet, at first Desmond had thought that about the group splitting up, but what with their party being so small, and the threat that looked in the darkness... well, Desmond was glad when no one asked about the other passages too much.

Desmond was following a breeze, it had been slight when they first entered the cavern, but had slowly been picking up as he lead them through the cave, not to mention the rough cavern was beginning to become more uniform, more purposeful. Perhaps they were getting close to the kobolds camp? Desmond wondered if they would find the orders guild security nearby soon. He rounded a corner to his left and was met by a huge open cavern. The ceiling was easily two or three stories above them, the open cavern was circular, with one large massive fissure in the middle, and a single rope bridge crossing it. But more importantly than that, Desmond could easily see three large Duergar fully clad in dark dwarves armor and large battle hammers.

As soon as they entered the cavern, the three Duergar readied their weapons and began running at them, yelling something in a language Desmond didn’t understand.


“Ilkalik! Tanook xor el!”

Desmond had no idea what they were saying, but he understood readied weapons better than most, so he didn’t need any more prompting than that. Finally able to stretch his wings, he spread them wide and leaped high into he air, catching the stale air as he glided down with his two swords raised. Landing behind the third Duergar he sound his right shortsword forward, only to be parried sloppily by the dark dwarf. However, he had his left sword ready and slashed hard for the Duergars throat, only to be caught totally off guard by the Duergar’s superior strength shoving him backwards. Perhaps these guys were tougher than Sam few kobolds after all.

 

[Aravini]

Sole

They walked deeper into the cave, Sole barely surviving some of the traps. This was all so different to him. They found a passage which seemed to be the right way as there was blood on the ground, Sole felt a light breeze pass through him from the passage and Desmond suggested of a possibility of the passage connecting to the surface. As everyone in the party discussed the area, Sole laid his back in the wall, planning and detective work was Sole's weakness.

Once they decided to enter, three...dwarves? readied their weapons as they spoke a gibberish language. Desmond tried to get behind one but he was out strengthed by them. Sole rushed in to help and held the one that attacked Desmond, keeping it still with his reinforced arms.

"Kill it!" Sole shouted.