[color=929292]Three rooms, three challenges... In the first room, Chase, Dragomir, Fendrel and Cohen found themselves up against this creature: [hider=Nananananananana BATM-Oh Jeebus..][center][img]https://i.ibb.co/0XZMNr2/30fac77c66d87a403443403ae4fb66b2.jpg[/img][/center][/hider] [hider=post-for-post log] [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] You opened the door and entered a dimly lit, cavernous room that's a little more spacious than it appeared on the outside. As the four of you file in, you hear Zeke forcefully slam the door behind you. As your eyes try to adjust, you here a scuttling at the far end of the room. Your eyes begin to adjust to the lack of light and that's when you see it... Your Opponent. [color=fff200][b]MsMorningstar:[/b][/color] As they were shuffled into the room, Eliza found herself gagging on the stench of blood. It filled her nose and mouth, and she wanted nothing more than to spit it out. She didn't dare look at the floor, hearing her opponent before her eyes adjusted and she saw it. Her eyes widened, she had never seen such a foul-looking beast. What she assumed were its ears were giant and sheer, and it had a mouth full of wicked, yellowing fangs. It looked as if it had no meat on its bones, a full rib cage exposed. Its legs had to be extraordinarily long, the way it crouched was completely disgusting to her. And its talons...Eliza didn't dare make a noise, but she wanted to groan. She was going to die, they were all going to die. If the other group of initiates barely made it out alive, how was she supposed to? She was tiny, frail...what would happen to her if that thing attacked? She tried to clear her mind, turning towards her group. They appeared formidable enough, one of them being the vampire who had glared at her like he wanted her dead. She kept that in mind, hoping he would put aside their differences and focus on the task at hand. "Okay, guys," She began, turning towards her group just slightly. She didn't want to take her eyes off the monster, so she continuously peered at it. "What's the game plan? Do any of you see any obvious weaknesses? It doesn't look like it has many fleshy, stabby parts. What about those giant ears?" [color=fff200][b]ZAVAZggg:[/b][/color] "I don't see any eyes on its head." Vitius said as he carefully dropped into a low crouch and stared at the creature, doing his best not to give into his rising blood lust. "I think it hunts by sound. If we disable its sense of hearing, we'll effectively cripple it." [color=fff200][b]Inertia:[/b][/color] Sadon's hand unconsciously gripped his blade, "What kind of god creates that?" he whispered to himself. "From first glance, it looks faster than it is strong. Don't get me wrong this thing is likely stronger than the average human, but probably alot more faster." he called out, not letting the beast escape his sight "If I were in your shoes I'd disorient it with a loud noise, see if that works. That or try to cleanly dismember one of it's limbs." "With that said, do you have a weapon on you, a small dagger is better than nothing." [color=fff200][b]Duoya:[/b][/color] "Definitely doesn't look like a demon I'm used to..." Edwin dips his fingers into the bag of salt at his side. "The ears are the only part that looks real hurtable, yeah. Maybe the torso if one of us can bash in the ribs, but I think only Mr. Dragomir is strong enough to do that..." [color=fff200][b]ZAVAZggg:[/b][/color] "Unfortunately the Hoods didn't see fit to give me a weapon." Vitius whispered as he kept a wary eye on the creature while feeling around on the floor for an object to throw. Feeling his fingers run over a hard, pointy object, that was most likely a rock or pebble of some kind, Vitius picked it up and tossed it towards the other side of the room, hoping the sound would draw the creature in that direction. [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] The creature hears the clank of the object, but immediately turns back to the last voice it heard. Saliva dripped from its mouth as it pounced forth and scurried up to the vampire at an unnaturally fast pace before leaping into the air and bringing his clawed hand down upon Vitius, scratching his cheek. The beast reared back, making clicking sounds as it surveyed the room, preparing for its next attack. [color=fff200][b]Inertia:[/b][/color] Sadon's eyes widened, the creature seemed clever enough to attack Vitius instead of the pointed object he threw. The noises it made seems to have some sort of purpose. He had remembered reading something about this in a book but he couldn't quite place it. An (albeit risky) idea popped in his head, "If what I try doesn't work, try fire next." he said just loudly enough. He also threw an object across the room like Vitius did. He gripped his blade and shield, ready to smash the hilt with the shield to produce a loud bang to hopefully disorient the beast when it gets within one and a half arms length. [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] The batlike monstrosity looked to the new distant sound and then back again to the voices before lashing out in a fury of swipes, catching Sadon's ear with one of it's claws, creating a superficial scratch. [color=fff200][b]Duoya:[/b][/color] Edwin reached into his robes, fumbling around the various vials and bottles that were located in them. He was used to being around horrible demonic entities, but they were always bound and posed no risk whatsoever to him - whatever this thing was, it was free and had just tried to attack Mr. Dragomir! Edwin needed to make a barrier and fast if he wanted to give the others some protection. Going over what the creature was weak to... sound. Edwin needed either a symbol of silence or something that produced a loud and annoying noise constantly. He had neither of those things, so that was out of the question. Next... it looked pretty feral, so something forged of man and relatively unnatural. Edwin would normally use his dagger for something like that, but thanks to its small size, it'd form a pretty pathetic barrier. Instead, he pulled out a small canister of fire-liquid - Uncle Jason drank the stuff constantly, and it was plenty flammable. Heck, Edwin's mom yelled at Uncle Jason for having so much of the stuff, so Edwin didn't feel too bad taking some for the road. Forming a generous line with the liquid, Edwin pulled out the firestarter and prepared to pour his power into the line when he needed to - Mr. Fendral wanted to do his idea first, so there was no rush to establish the barrier. [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] The creature instinctively charged at Edwin but, upon smelling the fumes of the liquid he laid down, paused. It almost looked like the creature recognized the odor. It backed up cautiously and hissed before letting out a series of clicks. Its face moved to focus on Eliza and screeched out a blood curdling war cry. [color=fff200][b]MsMorningstar:[/b][/color] Eliza took up Sadon's offer, gripping the dagger he gave her with clumsy hands. She stared down at it, before sheathing it in her belt where it hung awkwardly. She looked at their wounds, superficial but still damage. It was her moment to attack. She stared at the creature, at it's giant, bulging head and even larger ears. Perhaps they were looking at this the wrong way. Unless they could get a stab in the eardrum that took out the brain, they'd just be attacking a part of the body that wasn't completely necessary. She knew what she was going to do. Rather than use the dagger, she reached into her knapsack and pulled out a bottle charm labeled plainly, 'earth'. Taking it, she cocked back her arm and threw. In midair, she shouted, "Kemen!" and the bottle broke, becoming a chunk of solid earth with the intent of smashing the creature between the ears and right in the center of it's skull. [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] The demonic looking thing looked up toward Eliza as she shouted the words, but the rock came down hard before it could react, crushing its skull. Blood and brain matter seeped out from under the rock as the creature twitched and clicked. It wasn't long before all motion ceased and the corpse went still. Congratulations.[/hider] The initiates were quick to notice that the creature may be susceptible to audible attacks, attempting to distract it by tossing objects afar to mislead the beast as to their location, but the creature seemed to hone in on their voices most of all. Some of the crew took on some minor scratches but they ultimately felled the monster when Chase crushed it's skull with the help of a spell. [hr][hr] In the second, Locksley, Hae, Rivington and Celestina were tasked with defeating this abomination: [hider=He's Sexy And He Knows It][center][img]https://i.ibb.co/fYmFCCj/fb8365187858c1d9f222faff3e52720c.jpg[/img][/center][/hider] [hider=post-for-post log] [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] You opened the door and entered a dimly lit, cavernous room that's a little more spacious than it appeared on the outside. As the four of you file in, you hear Zeke forcefully slam the door behind you. As your eyes try to adjust, you here a scuttling at the far end of the room. Your eyes begin to adjust to the lack of light and that's when you see it...Your Opponent. [color=fff200][b]Phlegm:[/b][/color] Robert looked at the creature and tried to identify it but he was coming up with a blank. He had never seen anything like it before. He drew his sword and shield and held them at the ready, moving in front of the others as he was the one with the most armor. "Any ideas, guys?" [color=fff200][b]c3p-0h: [/b][/color]Kiri's eyes widened as she watched the bulbous, half-formed thing. Her chest tightened. Her heart thundered in her ears. Monster. This was a monster. Kiri had never actually seen one up close before. She was so distracted by its grotesque form, the terrible scrabbly sound of it moving closer to them, that she didn't even have time to be annoyed at Robert standing in front of her like a great shield. His voice echoed in the room, bouncing off the stone walls. It was enough to pull Kiri back to herself, though her eyes were still glued to the monster. The monster they had to kill. This was the challenge. The first trial. Kiri... she could do this. She was meant to do this. Forcing a slow breath in, she drew her sword, the dull sound of metal sliding out of its scabbard acting as an anchor, tying her to the present. Kiri swallowed. Her mind spun, trying to think. Just another opponent. Observe. Evaluate. Strike. She repeated her uncle's words to herself again and again. It lived in the dark. Low vision. Probably used hearing or some other sort of vibration detection, like a bat or spider. Vicious claws on malformed arms. Powerful-looking legs. Its body looked... decayed. Like it'd been some humanoid beast that died in a forest, only to be possessed, half-decomposed, by a sentient fungus. There was something near the top of its torso, some fleshy opening like a mouth, under what looked like an armored hood. The skin of her palms was slick with sweat where she gripped the hilt of her sword. Her knuckles turned white. Fear. Teamwork. Adaptability. That was what Finlay had told them. An image of Zeke laden with four bloody corpses flashed through her mind. Then there was the man with crimson stumps at the end of his legs instead of feet. Then -- her uncle. Grey and still, a great flower of red and rusty brown staining his ruined shirt where he'd been nearly cut in two. Kiri squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. She couldn't think of that now. She was not afraid. She would not be afraid. Kiri stepped carefully to the side, sword held out in front of her, so she was no longer directly behind Robert. "It probably can't see well," she murmured. Her voice was both too loud and too soft, too sharp and too frail all at once. It bounced against the walls, coming back to her, mocking her. Kiri pressed her lips together, brow furrowing. "Uses sound, smell, or touch for hunting. Could spread out. Give it a wider target range, too many things to focus on." She paused, watching it move in the distance and her stomach flipped. "It's got... some sort of mouth. Vulnerable, if we can get to it." [color=fff200][b]NorthernKraken:[/b][/color] The door slammed, and just like that, they were trapped. A twisting, gnawing feeling wormed its way through Colin’s gut. It was dark, too dark to see much except what was illuminated by Loona's soft glow as it glinted off Locksley’s armour and Kiri’s sword. His breath quickened. The image of the limp bodies, floorboards slippery with blood, was burned into his retina, Finlay’s harsh, mocking words rang in his ears. His grip tightened on Nessy, an arrow hung loosely from the fingers of his right hand. Shoulders tense. Ready to draw. A cool, clammy breeze slithered free from the darkness, chilling the sweat on his face. He suppressed a shudder. A glance behind him at the locked door. It wasn’t going to be opening anytime soon. He wanted to run, pound on the tired, red painted wood and beg to be let out. He didn’t. He had to stick it out. Had to. He faced forward. Jaw set. Gripped his bow so tight his short fingernails dug deep into the flesh of his palm. And then he saw it. Long, knotted limbs hung loosely from its sides, spindly, twig like legs supported a bulbous, veiny mass - the body. Growths and protrusions sprouted from grey mottled flesh that looked almost like – wood? He’d never seen anything like it. Probably a good thing, given he wouldn’t have survived the encounter. The clank of armour – Locksley, stepping out in front of them. Well, if he wanted to make himself a target then Colin wasn’t going to stand in his way. Kiri soon followed. Did this pair want to die first? He listened as she spoke – voice the only sound other than the harsh, grating quiet, and the grinding, snapping sound of the creature itself. It didn’t seem to be attacking them though. Good. They could gather their thoughts. What Kiri said made sense – but that seemed a little… obvious. He mostly agreed though, “Your probably right,” his voice sounded as scared as he felt, slapped up in contrast against the unearthly quiet, “If we can’t get to the… mouth,” he shuddered at the word, “One of yous with a sword could go for the abdomen – it seems fragile as fuck there, I bet you’d be able to hack right through.” [color=fff200][b]Tenma Tendo:[/b][/color] Loona wasn't sure if she even had the vernacular to describe what they were looking at. The creature was enough to block out the sight and smells of what she had come to be acquainted with around them. Getting spooked by something like...that would only waste time. She was use to this, use to creatures of all shapes and sizes around her, some even with the same intent to kill that this one probably had. Although this creature was extremely uncomfortable to look at, she knew that the more mentally aware beings - humans, vampires, werewolves etc. - were even scarier... Immediately once Robert stood in front of the three to be their shield, Loona focused her attention onto the the other two to see what they had in mind. Kiri wanted to go for the mouth, while Colin suggested aiming for the abdomen as well. Both sounded like decent options if anyone asked her. Hopefully she'd be able to add in some direction. “Maybe Mr. Robert can aim for the mouth? His shield could protect him and us from any oncoming attacks... a-and then Miss Kiri, you could go for the abdomen when the coast looks clear?” She began, looking between both Colin and Kiri for a moment before bringing her attention to the ground. “I...I-I want to get a closer look, maybe even be a distraction o-once we figure out what sense it relies on to be s-spatially aware... And Mr. Colin could support from behind?” Brows furrowed with one hand to her chin, Loona frowned, the silver glow of her fairy dust causing her to shine a bit brighter than prior. Everything they could do sounded pretty risky, but what choice did they have? [color=fff200][b]Phlegm:[/b][/color] Robert nods decidedly and begins his charge at the hulking abomination, sword drawn, pointed at the creature's mouth. Each step hammers down with increased intensity until he is finally at the thing and plunges his sword betwixt what one would assume was it's lips. [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] The creature's mouth is pierced, but the action seems to have enraged the thing more than it's hurt it. The monstrosity swipes Robert away with ease, knocking the wind out of the knight and sending him airborne before the latter fell into a tumble. The creature's body then turns to face Kiri. [color=fff200][b]c3p-0h:[/b][/color] Kiri was already sprinting forward, sword clutched tightly in her hands, when the huge armored man was thrown back. She'd elected to run in an arc, trying to get the monster from a different angle so that maybe it'd be less prepared for her. The shock and fear of Robert being thrown back while in full armor registered in the back of her mind. But she forced her focus to narrow on the monster. Kiri charged at the monster, readying to strike -- And it rounded to directly face her. Kiri swung her sword at the thinnest, most delicate-looking part of its abdomen. [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] The sword cut through true. The creature's top half fell onto his bottom half and the gross, glistening skin seemed to reform. The tissue that made up the living nightmare almost appeared as it if were in constant flux, forming and reforming like there were multiple entities within its body trying to break free. The foul smell of its body was enough to bring a tear to your eye. In response, one of the monster's nearly skeletal hands raked Kiri across the face as ut uttered out what could only be a scream of rage. [color=fff200][b]NorthernKraken:[/b][/color] Within a matter of seconds, Locksley was thrown across the room with a deafening crash, plates of armour grating against each other, shrieked so loud Colin couldn't help but wince. A powerful swipe of Kiri's sword, and suddenly blood was dripping, bright and red down her face, gathering at her chin. Colin gagged at the fowl stench, raised an arm to cover his mouth as he squunted at the monster - was it... reforming? He shot Loona a look, heart pounding. There was no way- no way they were surviving this, not when it recovered from thejr attacks so easily. Any man, any monster would have been defeated at that first hit, this didn't make any sense. There wasn't anything he could do against this thing. But then... it had looked almost like it was made up of other, smaller creatures. Simply joining up together to create the whole... if that was the case, something had to be controlling them, doing the thinking. And what was it Andi always said when he didn't think things through? "Use your damn head boy!" It still seemed focused on Kiri, good. Quick as a flash, he notched an arrow. Aimed it at the monster's head. Released. It sailed through the air. [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] The arrow stuck in the glossy, bulbous membrane that acted as the monsters head with a sickening splat. One of its limbs grabbed for the arrow and retracted it, a pair green ooze seeping from the wound. The monstrosity then charged at Colin and, with his own arrow, stabbed down at the man. Though it did not land a direct hit, the arrowhead grazed the archer's shoulder, drawing blood. The abomination roared at several frequencies at once. You could see the odorous fumes coming off of it's disgusting body, creating a small mirage effect that extended off the surface of it's skin as it became more and more temperamental. [color=fff200][b]Tenma Tendo:[/b][/color] It all went down faster than Loona could even process it. Locksley was thrown away like some kind of rag doll while Kiri was swiped at without hesitation, both of their attacks seem to do nothing to the strange reforming beast. She needed to think, and quickly. A swift look around and her sharp green eyes fell on Colin who was looking right back at her, covering his nose in attempts to keep the foul stench from invading and clouding his senses. Although there wouldn't be enough time to cover his nose in her fairy dust like she had done for herself to alleviate the stench a little, she couldn't afford loosing him in the midst of this. Floating directly in front of his face, Loona placed a dust covered hand on the center of his forehead before giving him a calm nod. “Calm down. It won't help if you g-get scared, okay?” She whispered quickly and quietly before pulled away from him and shooting over to Kiri, swinging her arms around to cover her face injury with her fairy dust and heal it. She only looked back over at Colin when she saw the monster they were up against move towards him, using the same arrow he shot to get back at him. Once making sure that her dust was properly healing Kiri's teared flesh, Loona wiped the blood that got on her hands onto her dress and examined the monster from behind for a moment while it screamed. And of course she noticed the fumes coming from its body, but what was she suppose to make of that? Shaking her head quickly, Loona shot up above the monster and began to spin and shake as quickly as she could, dispelling the dust covering her body and onto the monster. Utilizing her small body, she went in and out of the monster's range in attempts to coat the entire membrane now surrounding the beast with her dust. Both Kiri and Colin's attacks gave him an idea, but whether it would work or not was beyond her. Loona flew high up into the air once again before pulling out her sword and preparing to swing down. As she made the motion, she used the fairy dust on her sword to enlarge the weapon into a normal sized rapier and aimed to cut the monster straight down the middle. “Let's keep the parts from reforming! Separate it and cut it into smaller parts until we figure out what's making this thing reform!” [color=fff200][b]Marrock: [/b][/color]The abomination slapped at itself as the dust settled over its skin. As the sword came down upon it, it's flesh was separated by the blade, but it's amalgamous form was quick to repair itself. It was as it physical damage had little to no effect. It's backhand swung, swatting at Loona with great force, knocking her back. The creature was becoming heated and angry as its focus seemed to shift to the armored Locksley. [color=fff200][b]c3p-0h:[/b][/color] Kiri let out a sharp cry at the feel of claws raking down her face, hot blood cutting down her skin, into her eyes, over her cheeks. down her neck. She wanted to gag at the foul stench that assaulted her. Then the small one, Celestina, was fluttering before her, throwing dust in her face. The searing pain of the claws was suddenly gone. All that remained of the injury was the sticky blood, dripping on her skin. Kiri swiped at the blood with her arm, trying to get it out of her eyes. It only smeared the blood across her face. She opened her eyes in time to see Celestina get swatted across the room like an insect. Nothing was working. Weapons might as well have been useless against the monster, with the way it morphed and reformed around its injuries. The smell, growing stronger by the second, brought tears to Kiri's eyes. A smell like sulfur. Kiri sprinted forward, grasping onto the first half-formed idea that entered her mind. As she approached the monster she raised her sword behind her and swung it down in an arc along the floor. There was the angry screeching of metal on stone, the sound making Kiri grit her teeth. Bright yellow sparks shot forward, landing on the monster. [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] The sparks immediately grew to full-on flame as soon as they touched the air around the creature. Before long, the abomination was engulfed, it's regenerative factor unable to keep up with the destructive force of the fire. It didn't go down without a fight, however, and immediately charged at Locksley in a fit of rage. Hot mucus, blood and burning flash seeped over the knight's face as his skin, too, began to burn. Locksley's screams seemed to merge with the creature's in a harmony of torture as the two melted into one in a grotesque flaming heap. Movement slowed to a halt and the cries of agony soon died, along with Lockley and the creature. Congratulations.[/hider] After trying to stab, shoot and swipe at the creature, their attacks seemed to have little to no effect as the thing kept regenerating and reforming. It wasn't until Kiri managed to hurl sparks at the fowl smelling thing that it became engulfed in flame. Unfortunately, the flaming monster, in the throws of death, took Locksley down with him. RIP Locksley. [hr][hr] In the last room, O'Shay, Nyssa, Whitlock and Album found themselves up against this friggin thing: [hider=I Only Have Eyes For You][center][img]https://i.ibb.co/qC9kLX1/333849cf7292a0478e18fba934a9e4f6-migi-parasyte-top-anime.jpg[/img][/center][/hider] [hider=post-for-post log] [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] You opened the door and entered a dimly lit, cavernous room that's a little more spacious than it appeared on the outside. As the four of you file in, you hear Zeke forcefully slam the door behind you. As your eyes try to adjust, you here a scuttling at the far end of the room. Your eyes begin to adjust to the lack of light and that's when you see it... Your Opponent. [color=fff200][b]Almalthia:[/b][/color] Brighid walks into the room and as her eyes adjust she sees the monster."Okay I'm thinking we are looking at teamwork and or adaptability for this one. Although that just looks wrong...So it was in the dark...so it either has night vision or blind sight. I can either make it brighter in here or outline the creature so you guys can hit it. Which one?" [color=fff200][b]Damo021:[/b][/color] Nyssa had followed Brighid into the dark room, 'Perfect no sunlight' she thought to herself as this could be handy for her as her eyes begin to adjust rather quickly to behold a rather unorthodox sight to say the least, she had certainly not seen anything like it before herself and looked like a cross-breed of something rather than one supernatural creature. Nyssa listened to what the Red head had to say, in fact they were pretty good suggestion and both would not effect her sight. "I have seen anything like that thing before... I agree Either of those can work if it is a creature of the darkness, but it certainly looks agile and fast, possibly other senses could be problematic to other than sight, but eliminating one of them to help us get in close will be good, Maybe attack from multiple angles after?" Nyssa then add's to the idea of Brighid. [color=fff200][b]Argetlam350:[/b][/color] It took a brief moment for Tholo's eyes to adjust, at least one good thing to come out from being cursed as a monster, so he wouldn't be stumbling around the dark. The best way to describe the opponent was as an abomination after having catching site of it once his eyes had adjusted."For the most part it seems we are good on being able to see it, despite the darkened environment. I recommended going with blinding it so at least dampen one of its senses," Tholo threw in his own two cents keeping an eye on the monster ",Nyssa's idea of surrounding it after is a good one as well. Would make it hard for it to focus on all of us at once." [color=fff200][b]Exit:[/b][/color] In the cloudy haze left by adrenaline flooding his veins, Nick hadn't realized that he'd taken a step back. He'd seen all manner of beasts. Traveled enough that a wayward stalker in the night no longer gave him a jump, but never in his wild dreams had he imagined being trapped in a room with... whatever that was. The Eyes. There were too many and none of them were placed anywhere that made any sense. Rather, they had been peppered on like salt on meat and it's head? It was as if someone had taken both sides and stretched it apart, the ends of which seemed to come to a rather sharp point. These appendages waved about wildly in the air around it making approach rather dangerous. Not that he wanted to get close. Range was preferred and anything to make his job easier was appreciated. "Light this fucking room up Brighid." [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] The creatures eyes blinked, but all out of sync, as its cranial tendrils moved about it like independent snakes that ended in knives. The pupils suddenly all focused on a single point. They all stared directly at Brighid before the monster shrieked out a battle cry and charged forward as it whipped it's head around, sending the biological blades whirring through the air. One caught Brighid on the cheek, drawing a very small amount of blood. The creature looked at what he'd done and let out a cackle. [color=fff200][b]Damo021:[/b][/color] Nyssa had almost instinctively reacted to the sudden attack of the beast before them, it's quickness almost surprising, it charged her ally and wiped it's head to throw those blades, again another surprise and she knew at this point it was going to be tough, but the actions of the creature actually did help, it seemed the injury to the redhead was minor but opened the opportunity to play through her suggestion as she readied her weapon, still in it's attached form. "This is our chance to put our plan into motion." she spoke up to the others as she quick went to flank the creature, beginning to surround it hopefully. [color=fff200][b]Marrok:[/b][/color] The creature screeched out aggressively before slinging one of it's bladed tendrils at Tholo, catching him on the cheek and drawing blood. It's many eyes surrounding it's head all shifted to focus on one person. Nicholas. [color=fff200][b]Exit:[/b][/color] Even in the dark Nick could see the eyes of the creature turn to find him. All five, bloodshot and staring in his direction, drinking in their prey from afar. All five waiting behind tendrils still slick with the blood of Brighid and now Tholo. He wasn't going to be next. The grip in his hand almost seemed to buck on it's own as he pulled the thing out from a sling under his shoulder. He'd meant to save this for later. Use it when it really mattered at a time when no one else knew what he was carrying. The element of surprise and the effectiveness of the weapon being his ticket out of any dangerous situation he should find himself in. He also knew that he didn't want that thing anywhere near him. So he squeezed out a few pounds of pressure, ignited the powder inside the gun and discharged a single iron ball intending to bury it into the largest bead staring at him. Two things happened that Nick had conveniently failed to consider and account for. The first was the flash. It was impossibly bright within the dark space and within a tenth of a second, Nick's world went from a fuzzy grey to a bleach white... and stayed that way. The second was the sound. The hard walls of the chamber they were all in did nothing to hinder the crack of thunder. Those facing away from the muzzle were spared their eyes, which was everyone save for Nick himself and the creature staring at him. Everyone's sense of sound however was forfeit, the cries of the beast and the shouting from one another replaced with an incessant ringing that easily drowned everything else out. [color=fff200][b]Marrock:[/b][/color] The creature screamed out in agony, the the iron ball cratering its eye as it passed through before ricocheting to and fro within the monster's skull, tearing up and nearly liquefying it's brain. When the crew got their senses back, they'd be able to see that the corpse of the monster was lying on the ground in a pool of blood and ooze, motionless. Congratulations.[/hider] The crew made quick work of their opponent, immediately drawn to its eyes. To the surprise of many, Nick revealed that he had a bit of an emergency weapon: a firearm which he used to shoot the creature right in its biggest eyeball. Save for a few scratches, the team came out relatively unharmed. [hr][hr] Between Zeke, Trent and Finlay, all the doors opened once more and the light from the outside hall shined in. The Yellow Hood Trial is complete. [/color]