ooc: Xune (murderer) (D grade spell typically uses E grade augmenters)
Time: dusk
Weather: Cold but not freezing - warming near the pyramid
Mentions: @Tellussoil@CorvianMERCDB@Karcen@Lulidew
music:


Ryker’s discarded armor clatters into the corridor and slides across the stone. It scrapes, bumps, and comes to rest without drawing any response from the structure.

Lorien was able to move through the threshold cleanly, clearing the spike zone before it could catch him. As he passes into the pyramid, the air changes at once. It is colder inside, not with wind or chill but with something that presses in on the skin. The space beyond opens into a chamber of dark stone and constructed form. Bone pistons the size of pillars sit embedded into the walls, rising and falling in slow, measured rhythm. Thick brass conduits run between them, carrying dim green energy that pulses like a heartbeat through the structure. Further in, tall pylons rotate in place, their surfaces carved with channels that guide the same glow upward and around the chamber. It was pretty active for a supposed ruin of ancient times.

Behind him, Xune's skeletons advance and jump about as well as one may expect of clumsy bone footmen. The floor answers them at once. The seams flare and split as spikes drive upward again, catching the skeletons mid step and lifting them harshly toward the ceiling. The impact would have shattered them, but the soul shields flare and hold just enough to keep their forms intact. The spikes remain for a moment before retracting back into the floor, the seams sealing once more. The skeletons drop back down, their barriers damaged but still intact, and the skeletons continue forward into the chamber after Lorien.

Mantis attempts to read the space ahead but sees little beyond what sharper eyes already catch. The lines in the floor, the shifting surfaces, the same patterns Lorien passed over. No deeper insight comes before she moves, and the moment she does, that clarity is lost. Her step lands where it should not. The floor beneath her foot shifts, the faint lines lighting again as the trap primes. She has a breath to react before the spikes surge upward to claim the same space. (defend yourself)

As the last of them attempts to cross inside, the entrance behind them begins to close. Ryker would have moments to get inside or get locked out. (get inside or get left behind)

Ryker had watched the threshold activate multiple times, especially since more of the extended party had walked into the threshold... when he saw the door closing he began to just run, making a mad sprint into the Pyramid like Lorien, yet instead he also took the extra leap to evade the threshold entirely.

Action 1 Sprint - Fast F, Energize F
Action 2 Leap - Jump F, Energize F

Mantis tried to carefully manoeuvre through the hall. But sadly, that didn’t get far. The magic lines were far more obscure than originally anticipated, and soon she stepped on one of the invisible triggers. "Well fuck this then" The psycho thought as she shifted her footing and launched herself forward in an [agile dash] before the spikes could shoot up. She tried dealing with this with finesse. But this heap of stupid bricks just had to do it the hard way.

Mantis was so done with this. She was going to find whatever this thing has for a brain, heart or whatever can give it the experience of pain when she violently inserted sharp metal objects and go absolute ham on it. If it’s fleshy bits, she might even just eat it while it is still alive, to just further the torment. But one thing is for sure. If it were up to her and within her capabilities, Mantis would make this thing experience a fate worse than death when she gets her hands on certain parts!

As Lorien had paved the way for the others, he turned back and called out for the rest to follow. “Seems like its mostly safe inside. No new traps whatsoever.” But it sure did feel oddly cold for some reason. It truly was a place of mystery and it seemed like the pyramid was a living being itself.

That was when he noticed Xune’s skeletons getting speared by the same trap and Mantis following suite as well. Xune’s skeletons were pretty sluggish after all and they didn’t have the agility whatsoever to go about it, thankfully she had the soul shields to defend them though. Mantis on the other hand… For someone who had been so arrogant earlier, Lorien found it funny that she didn’t avoid the trap at all and went to trigger the very same trap. Or could it be that she wasn't able to perceive where it was? That could have been something he overlooked.

There wasn't much point to Lorien leading the way revealing any possible traps if she was going to step on them regardless anyway. That seemed to defeat the point of this strategy. The boy shook his head, sighing. Although his plan was a reckless plan, sure, but at this rate they would never make any progress trying to trigger every trap by throwing pieces of rubble and broken equipment every 5 steps they took. That would take ages to get anywhere! “Boss lady, perhaps you could put up barriers on us again as we venture deeper in. That could help with any unexpected traps.” He suggested to Xune.

Anyway, the boy would wait patiently for the others to catch up. They should probably regroup before entering the main chamber.

"That's a good idea," a deathly voice rasped from the shadows. "But not necessary... at least for now."

Stepping out of an adjoining corridor hidden within the sides of the main chamber, a ghastly figure in tattered rags and a pale cracked skull for a face revealed itself.

Standing at the height of a man with hands wrapped in bandages and strips of leather, holding together the remains of decaying flesh, it was plain for all to see that the figure was undead. No different in appearance from the others encountered outside of the pyramid.

However unlike those others, this one's steps were fluid and possessed a sense of purpose. It was also very conspicuously not using the sword and dagger at its side to attack anyone.

Instead it rested a dessicated hand on the hilt of its weapon and continued conversationally, "Name's Bones. You must be ones who woke me up. This whole damn place too."

Pointing into the main chamber, Bones heaved an exasperated sigh - or at least the imitation of one - as he groused, "There lies your next obstacle and quite frankly it's got me stumped. Been trying to find a way to get further in, but no such luck."

Well they were in at last, the black pyramid the seat of the great necromancer's power. The frustration with this place was forgotten in an instant. That Xune had not foreseen the traps or magics of the place had been an annoying set back. Still they were here now closer than any other had been in ages abd with the pyramid being awake there would no doubt be more challenges. They should likely retreat the the pocket dimension to re-arm and resupply. Ryker had lost his lack luster armor abd this place did like to taje away the protections she cast.

" We can't be sure the traps are disarmed or not just active or seen yet we should take a moment and rest before going deeper in " Xune said as well she needed to rest a little before her magic fully returned and she released the shields upon the group.

It was then that and undead approached and Xune at first thought it was another mindless minion of the pyramid. It turned out the undead was not mindless, but was a wild undead raised by the magics of the pyramid. It was nothing the first time the great necromancer had created undead with their own wills and this one knew the pyramid it seemed.

" I had not expected to see a wild undead raised by the black pyramid " Xune admitted " still it is a welcome surprise we could use a guide, through this place you are welcome bones. I am Xune, this is Mantis, Ryker, and Lorien. " she said pointing to each in turn.

ooc: Xune (murderer) the end of part 1
Time: dusk
Weather: Cold but not freezing - warming near the pyramid
Mentions: @Tellussoil@CorvianMERCDB@Karcen@Lulidew @Nameless Hero
music:


The spikes retract back into the floor with mechanical precision, each thin shaft sliding down into the seams it came from as the stone closes over them without a trace. The faint lines dim once more, leaving the surface whole again as if nothing had triggered at all.

Behind them, the entrance seals shut in layered plates of black stone, grinding into place with a final, heavy lock that cuts off the outside completely. What little light followed them in dies with it, leaving the chamber lit only by the dull green pulse running through the walls and conduits.

The air shifts. A low, constant hum settles into the space, deeper than before, joined by the steady rhythm of moving parts out of sight. Somewhere beyond the chamber, something larger turns in a measured frequency. The floor beneath them gives a faint vibration in response.

The End (Part 1)

[Redacted]