[@Lasrever]...
[hider]
The small figure laughed aloud, smacking both his knees. "Haha! I like you're spirit miss! Not anyone can be a 'hero', so why bother going about it that way. Better to be alive than dead an' rottin' in some book, aye? Some might call you a yellow-belly, traitorous cum, but you're just the type I need..." 

With that said, the hooded man dropped a rope down to Dwyn, pointing the lantern down at her from the ramparts far above. 

With the thin light shining more openly into the room, Dwyn was barely able to take shape of her surroundings again. She was standing at the center of some debilitated library of sorts. It stretched on either side very wide, like a massive rectangle. The large room was lined with bookshelves, some knocked over in a violent commotion, with others standing bare and stripped of their paper guts. Whatever happened must have been finished in a hurry, long ago. Aged tombs lay scattered in mountains around her, the lettering completely foreign to her eyes. It didn't even seem like a language anyone in her time ever spoke. The murky water was notably gone too. Wherever it came from, the foul liquid was not from this direction. 

But what struck out to the most was the statues that stood between each bookcase. 

Each stone depiction was of strange figures, some elegant and others more frightening, the opinion ranging on who exactly looked upon them and their state of mind. These were no Gods that Dwyn could recall, even given her religious background. They did not seem evil by nature alone, but in all cases, they appeared bizarre and unnatural, completely otherworldly. Gathered beneath each of them were old melted candlesticks and decorated offerings of bone shards, pieces of flesh, and other strange things. Some of these things were fresh too, leaving an vile sort of stench of blood and rot in the stale air. Not that anything here smelled that good to begin with. Speaking of which, there was a very peculiarly nasty scent further down into the darkness on the left. Though her magical affiliation was very low, she could feel some sort of supernatural influence lingering about in that corner of the room.

What sort of heretical rituals took place here? Wasn't this supposed to be a temple dedicated to Nera alone? If so, what were these others beings exactly? 

Dwyn was free to take her time investigating, but the hooded figure urged her with a hushed warning, "Come, now. Hurry up! Your friends won't last long as a distraction! If they think things are bad now... these lunatics are far from being done!"

True to his words, a loud eruption sounded from the main chamber.[/hider]  
[@ERode][@kagethekiller][@Rune_Alchemist][@jerkchicken]...

The spearhead missed its mark as Aiv was narrowly pushed underneath the point by Orpheus. There could've been a number of other ways to go about this predicament, but this was certainly a solution. It wasn't exactly the most pleasant situation, being kicked down when they can barely stand as it is, but it was better than being run through and made dead. Or worse. At least, that must've been what the white-haired man surely thought. Though the opinion of the person he 'saved' was to be determined. 

A second blade came down, and another, from the smoke as the black-drenched greatsword moved into position to block Orpheus and Aiv. 

They were now faced with a ghoulish snarl as a pair of twisted hunters pushed through the swirling mass into the open. Though he was able to withstand the initial blows, the continued stress as they pushed down upon him quickly made its toll. Just when Orpheus was about to give out, pushed down to both his knees and left hunched over the sprawled Aiv, a fleshy multi-legged thing flew overhead and smashed the two attackers. 

The attack from the Unnamed anchor wielder seemed to work as intended, the metal connecting with a satisfying [i]Clank![/i] upon the unsuspecting reconstructed 'hound'. He would be left breathless after the swing, but surely satisfied with his handy work. As the action not only allowed Isabella to act freely, no longer chased by the stubborn thing, it also broke Orpheus and Aiv from their increasingly awkward bind. The overgrown men were sent back with a viscous crunch into the smoke along with the hound, leaving the large atrium cleared for the moment. Another source of the pale light seemed to be taken out by this, but just before there could be any celebration, another began to flicker back to life. It was certain now that the noxious priests have been using the guise of the smoke to recover their losses. The unnatural nature of the smoke veil was made obvious now, to all of them regardless of magical affinity. The gap created when the bodies were shot through closed almost immediately, swirling back to full girth as though [i]forced[/i] to linger there. Regardless of these minute details, if one were to look at the bigger picture, the party was able to take them out faster than they were able to regenerate. So in the long-run, this was an assured victory. That is, if they were able to sustain the onslaught. 

Their weapons seem to grant them unnatural bursts of power, but they also taxed the users greatly in exchange. 

The party had managed to hold themselves against the relentless tide of fanatics well enough, but more than half of them were rendered near-depleted at this point. They would need to catch their breath before they can act at full potential again, otherwise they'd risk damaging themselves this early on in the run. The shadows shuffling behind the smoky veil seemed noticeably fewer than before, but there were still a good number remaining. And just to prove the point of their hapless situation, another pair soon stepped forth, giving the party not even a few seconds of recourse. 

This time, one held in its arms a strange instrument instead of the usual blade. Some would know the long-barreled thing to be a rifle, to which it took aim straight down at the skull of the white-haired 'savior', Orpheus. 

There was only a moment to act before a sharp [i]click.[/i] sounded and a fiery explosion filled the entire temple. 

...