Crimson Paladin

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Novak

I suppose that answers my question of where the skull came from. I didn't think the answer would be this repugnant, though, Novak mused as he beheld the sickening sight of the human skeletons, trapped within what looked like animal cages. What sort of twisted, depraved experiments were these people running? And just where did they get their victims? And what about the hunters? Were any of them involved here? Could they possibly be involved in something similar?

Novak had no memory of every killing another human, but if he ever needed to start, what he was seeing would make for a good motivation. Not that he'd necessarily get such a chance- even without poison or bows, Novak didn't think he'd be able to defeat even one hunter, not in his current, empty-headed state.

At the back of the room was what appeared to be a black slime, and it almost appeared to be stuck to something. On the ground in front of the slime, sat the skull from earlier, tendrils extending out, offering a piece of meat to the large slime. It looked like it might be a smaller slime under the skull. Most curious was how it reacted when the trio drew nearer- it made a sound like a frightened scream and fled into one of the cages.

"Did you two see that? The way it was feeding the larger blob, the way it screamed and fled, it almost seems...intelligent," Novak observed, surprised at what he had just seen. The sparse knowledge within his mind that survived his rebirth told him that this was an oddity, that something like this sort of creature ought to be mindless, its capacity for intelligence closer to that of a plant than an animal. On the other hand, this was a strange new world, and whatever vestiges of knowledge that survived within him might not apply here.

Novak recalled what Narkissa had said, that the slimes could be killed by tearing out or perhaps damaging its core. He wasn't entirely sure how to do that, and in the dim lighting he wasn't sure where its core was in its body. It was a lot smaller than the big one that Narkissa had killed, so she probably knew how to deal with this one. On the other hand, if it was intelligent, perhaps there was another way...

"I wonder just how smart it is," he said as he looked down at the piece of meat that the skull had failed to feed to the slime. Novak drew his sword and inched closer, careful as to stay out of range of the slime's tendrils. Noticing how slow the slime's attacks were, he waited until it lashed its tendril and then moved forward just far enough to skewer the meat on the tip of his sword, then withdrew just as quickly.

"Here..." he spoke softly, offering the meat on the end of his sword to the black blob. He felt even sillier than he did when offering the armadillo viscera to the fox, but he figured it was worth a shot. Even if the slime was unable to comprehend gratitude, it might at least understand satiation, and be less hesitant to attack if it wasn't hungry.

@Rune_Alchemist@Click This

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

"There's definitely something very strange that happened here, Fleuri spoke to Gerard while accepting the note from the well-mannered mercenary. He didn't recognize the name "Abigail the Stingray", but he did notice the similarity of her name to her leader. Were there any other mercs in the band named after aquatic animals, he wondered, or was it unique to the two of them? It wasn't really any of Fleuri's business, but way Abigail spoke of Alette implied sounded like they were lovers. All the more reason that the Reonite knight hoped that the others would not set Alette off.

Find a black shard in the fort, don't touch it, kill anyone who interferes...is this black shard what caused the soldiers to go mad? Hold on...surely it couldn't be... Fleuri's eyes widened as a most dreadful possibility dawned on him. Having been educated by Reonites and mentored in the ways of knighthood by a paladin, he was familiar with the tale of Orodrunn, and the dark lord's shattered weapon Angroron. Fleuri hoped that there was another explanation- any explanation- but only something of incredible evil power could cause an entire garrison of loyal soldiers to kill one each other in a fit of murderous insanity. Also alarming to him was the notion that at least two groups knew about the shard before the Iron Roses did.

"By the goddesses...could one of the shards of Angroron really be here?" he asked in horror. "We'll help you locate this thing, Lady Abigail," he offered, turning his head towards Gerard as if to "volunteer" him.

"I don't know how much you and your fellow mercenaries have searched this place, but I'd like to take a look at the commanding officer's quarters," he spoke to Abigail. "If a strange artifact passed into the fort, whoever was in charge might have had a log or record or journal mentioning it. It could have been stashed away in whatever passes for storage, or it could simply be in a chest in the barracks, hidden away by a greedy, maddened, or malevolently-intentioned soldier. Assuming, of course, someone didn't leave with it before the other mercenaries got here."

There was still the problem of who got the shard when they found it; the mercenaries wouldn't want to fail their employer, whoever it was, but the Iron Roses surely couldn't let some anonymously-hired soldiers of fortune to walk off with such a dangerous and evil artifact. Nevertheless, the potential danger posed by this shard- particularly the unsettling possibility that it could affect them if they were here too long- made it seem prudent to focus on locating it now and worrying about who gets it later.

@HereComesTheSnow

Dungeon Clearer! A Fantasy Adventurer RP

Léon Reverdin

The sight of the skeletons was quite alarming to Léon. He didn't scream and flee like the Hundi mage did, but he still found it deeply unnerving to see those rattling crimes against nature emerging from the darkness. As a cleric, he had been trained to fight undead, and knew more than one way to bring them down, but this was the first time the young Mayonite had actually run into hostile undead. It was fortunate that his helmet concealed the worry on his face, for he did not want the others to realize how unnerved he was.

Unsurprisingly, Nuri was the first one into the fray. For a Reonite paladin like herself, killing undead was probably a regular part of her job, Leon thought. Even so, and despite his apprehension, Léon knew he couldn't let her handle this alone. It was his duty as a Mayonite, and as a cleric, to aid her and protect his companions. He was tempted to use his magic but even as unnerving they were, he knew that basic skeletons were fairly weak and that he ought to conserve his mana for more dire situations, so for now, his hammer would suffice. With his resolve steeled, Léon gripped his hammer and rushed forward.

Léon swung his polehammer down on one of the skeletons with all of his might. After the blow connected, he thrust his hammer forward at the next-nearest skeleton, striking with enough force to push it away from him, but not enough to break its ribcage. It was his first fight against undead, and he wanted to be cautious, not just to avoid getting hurt, but also to avoid accidentally striking the wall, ceiling, or a companion with his polearm.

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Novak

Novak considered his options as he looked down at the mannequin and the note, not particularly surprised or upset that the god had decided to ditch them. If Lazhira's hunches and Novak's mask were any indication, going out the way they came wasn't an option, not unless they wanted to risk getting ventilated by poisoned arrows or getting stabbed by poisoned knives while navigating the fog. On the other hand, they couldn't stay here forever, if the hunters were out there, they might eventually get impatient and delve into the temple.

The laboratory and its apparatus wasn't much use to him either. If Novak's hypothesis about it being the source of those slimes was correct, it could be possible to create more to even the odds against the hunters, but he had no idea how to do that, and even if he did, they didn't have the time and they probably didn't have the necessary ingredients. Perhaps one of his companions knew how to better utilize what was here, but the most he could see them doing here was using the furniture to barricade the exit to buy them a little more time.

It was possible, Novak considered, that the altar might have a secret exit, with which the Illuminator could have used to slip away without a trace. On the other hand, it might simply be that the Illuminator teleported out. Another possibility would be exploring the barricaded room. Even if it didn't lead out of here, the furniture blocking the door suggested that the former inhabitants feared whatever was behind it. It might be risky to unseal something that the Illuminator's faithful were afraid of, but at this point, riskier still was sitting around and waiting for the Illuminator's faithful to come down here. With his mind made up, he dashed over to the blocked door.

"Could I get some help unblocking this door?" Novak said as he tossed a chair away, "I don't know what the Illuminator's faithful were afraid of enough that they'd try try to block this door, but if Lazhira is right about them using lethal poison on their weapons, we're screwed if we don't find either an escape route or a way to even the odds."

If Lazhira and Narkissa protested or opposed Novak's actions, he would heed their advice and cease to dismantle the barricade. If not, he would continue to pull it apart until the door could be opened. Judging by the rest of the temple, if there was something alive in there it'd probably be another slime, but fortunately his companions were familiar with how to kill them.

@Rune_Alchemist@Click This

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Novak

Novak looked over the images that the mask showed him, trying to figure out what they meant.

The arrow is pretty obvious- they must have bowmen. For all I know they may have archers hiding in the fog, ready to fire as soon as they have a clear shot. The mask grabbing the symbol...it looks like the symbol on Lazhira. She seems afraid of them...it might mean that they're here for her, which would make sense considering her disfavor with the Illuminator. The flowers...I've no idea what that means. Perhaps Lazhira might understand the symbolism.

Novak quickly climbed back down the rope, not wanting to leave himself open to getting shot. His climb back down gave him a bit of time to ponder on the situation. If the hunters were worshiping the Illuminator, it'd explain why the Kyrinth was upset. Not only were they breaking the village's covenant, but for all Novak knew, the hunters might be killing things or encroaching on territory that they shouldn't.

It was a shame the Kyrinth wasn't here right now, because the more Novak thought about it on his way down the shaft, the more dire their situation seemed. If it was the hunters lying in wait, that meant Novak and the others wouldn't be safe even if they made it back to the village. The mask might allow Novak to identify Illuminator worshipers among the villagers, but Enli couldn't punish them without evidence. Upon reaching the bottom, he removed the mask, showing visible worry upon his face, and reported what he saw.

"The mask showed me a few disconcerting images in the Temple, images that weren't there before. An arrow, a...something grabbing a symbol that looked like the one on Lazhira, and some flowers with something dripping from them, I'm not sure what that last one meant, but I don't think we should go up there." He left out the detail about the phantom mask, worried that it'd draw suspicion upon him.

"I'm afraid I don't have a lot of ideas on how to tackle this," he admitted. "If Lazhira's right and it's the village hunters, they'll probably know the terrain better than us, and even if we do make it back to the village, what's stopping them from killing or abducting us in our sleep? If we surrender, they'll probably kill us to keep their secret safe. The only thing I can think of is to hunker down here and find whatever we can on this level to even the odds. I don't suppose either of you have any ideas?"

There was one advantage that Novak saw- their foes couldn't anticipate that their arrival was warned of by their own god.

@Rune_Alchemist@Click This

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Novak

Novak still had more questions, most importantly what was going on with Leannah, but it looked like the Illuminator had lost interest in them. He felt a sense of dread rising within him over just what he had gotten himself into. Lazhira had made it clear that she believed it to be a very bad idea to do this, and Iva’Krorh had made it clear that there would be dire consequences if Novak reneged on their agreement.

He didn't see any other choice of course, not if he didn't want to hand over Lazhira, the girl who had done so much to help him and the others out, or at least that's what he assured himself. Regardless of her unwillingness to disclose anything about herself- something that Novak certainly wasn't guiltless in doing- she didn't deserve to be trapped here with this crazy god. The town certainly wouldn't believe them if they returned without Lazhira and claimed to have met the Illuminator in the flesh, who coerced them into handing the girl over.

But what did Lazhira think of this? Would her gratitude for him talking Iva’Krorh out of taking her amount to anything, or would she consider it more important to prevent the Illuminator from retrieving the orb? Would she backstab Novak at first opportunity using whatever powers or skills she had concealed from him? And if she did, would Narkissa cover for her, disdainful as she clearly was of Novak? Just what sort of person was Lazhira really like? Perhaps he should've asked the Illuminator about this while the god was in the mood to answer questions.

Just what have I gotten myself into?

Novak stepped away from the hag and back into the laboratory room so that they may converse away from the Illuminator. "Well, what do you think we should do now? There's still one unopened door down here, and Leannah still hasn't returned. I don't like the thought of leaving her behind in this place." He didn't want to talk about the deal he made with the Illuminator, so he hoped that focusing on more pressing matters would push that into the back of their minds.

It might not be a good idea to spend the night here, but if they needed to, there was a living space on this level, with beds and a kitchen.

"Speaking of leaving," he continued, "You two heard the Illuminator's warning too, right? Be careful though on the way out, the foolishness of mortals can’t always comprehend the words of a God and may act rashly. It sounds like there's trouble waiting for us if we leave. Lazhira, what do you make of this warning? Do you know who the Illuminator may be referring to? Are there people in this region who still worship him? The people who resided in this temple, for example, are any of them still around?"

@Rune_Alchemist@Click This

Dungeon Clearer! A Fantasy Adventurer RP

Léon Reverdin

I really should remember to ask more questions about a job before accepting, because I did not anticipate this, Léon thought as he gazed through his helmet at the rock wall before him.

From the job description, Léon had assumed that it meant they'd be be excavating around old stonework jutting out of the ground deep in the woods. As he looked at the cliff face, it dawned upon him just how inaccurate his impression of this job had been. Instead, the monastery had somehow ended up completely underground, something quite bewildering to Léon. He didn't think that the church would build a holy place underground where it'd be cut off from the sun and moon, so how did something like this end up down there? Perhaps a sinking foundation and centuries upon centuries worth of built-up forest detritus could push the ruin underground, but would it really sink so far as to be accessed by a hole in a rock wall? If this was from Orodrunn's time, it may very well have been magic that buried this place.

If the entire monastery was buried in a cavern, this meant it and the relics with could be much more well-preserved than if it had been half-buried on the surface, but it also meant a lot more dangers. Aside from the risk of cave-ins, there was always a chance that some left-over vestige of Orodrunn's evil could have survived within. Léon couldn't help but feel reluctant to enter the cave.

"If you want to lead the way, I'm fine with that," he replied to Neffy, "But it might be best if you don't get too far from the rest of the group, we don't know what's in there and we certainly don't want anyone to get separated in there." As a healer, Léon believed that prevention was the best medicine, but as a rather cautious adventurer, however, he was appreciative that someone else was willing to go first into that ominous cave.

"Now, I don't know how much all of you know about the background history of this place," he spoke to the rest of the group, "So for those of you who don't know, here's some background about this place. Long, long ago, Orodrunn was a divine servant of the Dark Lord Hidroroth. When his master was slain, Orodrunn took up the mantle of Dark Lord, rallied the remnants of Hidroroth's forces, and began his own dark crusade sought to subjugate the world and all who lived within it. Nations stood united against him, but his divine power was far too great to be stopped by mere mortal armies. When all seemed lost, the twin goddesses intervened, empowering their champion, the knight now known as Saint Lilianna, with the strength to shatter Orodrunn's black sword and strike him down. It was some time during this conflict that this monastery was lost. If it's been underground all this time, that'd explain why it took so long for it to be rediscovered."

"As for what's inside, I can't be sure," he continued. "It might be empty, inhabited by nothing more than spiders and bats, but I suppose there's always some possibility that some remnant of Orodrunn's evil from that time might survived within. I'd humbly suggest that we tread with care."

@Rune_Alchemist@Raineh Daze@Darner@Pyromania99@Zoey Boey

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Novak

Novak considered the Illuminator's offer carefully. Lazhira believed that the orb was a seal to something, and that the god would use it. She also seemed to think that endeavoring to return it would be a bad idea. If she wanted to prevent this, perhaps that was her motive for stealing it, he thought.

On one hand, there were a lot of unsettling things about this god. Dancing with a corpse-mannequin outside a laboratory where human hearts were used as ingredients at the bottom of an abandoned temple surrounded by an unnatural fog and infested with slime monsters...it was only natural that someone be a little apprehensive about dealing with someone like that. If the orb was as seal, does that mean the Illuminator wanted to break it? And what would that mean for the world?

On the other hand, from a pragmatic standpoint, agreeing to this was likely the only way to get Lazhira out of here. Novak counted himself fortunate that Iva’Krorh had been swayed by his reasoning, and to back out now would be foolish. Even if they were able to escape this temple- a task easier said than done considering the only way was a rope- they'd be marked, and the god's wrath would catch up with them sooner or later. Not to mention that Leannah was still somewhere here and they couldn't risk doing anything that'd jeopardize her safety.

There was one other consideration, however- their divine mission.

The goddess had pulled them from death and brought them here to restore the world. She told them that world is dead, inhabited by people who cling to survival with no future, and she wanted it fixed. He didn't understand quite what breaking this seal would do, but considering the world's current state, it might help rouse this dead world back to life. Furthermore, perhaps earning the Illuminator's favor could lead to the locals regaining the knowledge that was taken from them.

"I agree to your terms, Illuminator," Novak finally answered, his mind made up. "In exchange for allowing Lazhira to leave this place, I will do what I can to find what is yours and return it."

@Rune_Alchemist@Click This

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri made his way to the door just as a massive metal-clad warrior emerged from the opposite the courtyard.

That must be the Bors she mentioned. That'd explain the state of the fort's gate, he silently noted as he looked back at the new arrival, not wanting to enter the fort until he was sure that the situation wasn't escalating into violence. Truth be told, he couldn't really blame Alette for calling someone like Bors to her side, not while she was surrounded by Iron Roses. A few tense moments later, once it was clear that the giant fellow hadn't been ordered to attack, Fleuri turned around and entered the fort.

The inside of the fort was a gruesome sight. Previously Fleuri had assumed that the fort's defenders had been killed by the boar-tattooed mercs via some act of treachery, perhaps an infiltrator or two opening the gates during the cover of night. The state of the corpses inside the fort, however, suggested something more disturbing. It didn't look like a battle had taken place here, it looked more like a massive, lethal brawl had happened. A few of Alette's mercenaries were also milling about and searching the place. Perhaps Fleuri should've been a little concerned about mercenaries rummaging through kingdom property, but his mind was more focused on the shocking state of the bodies.

This wasn't the first time Fleuri had seen the aftermath of a battle. Back when he was a squire, his mentor, a Reonite paladin, was investigating possible evidence of body-snatching going on in one corner of Thaln during the War of the Red Flag. A group of traitor soldiers had carried out a number of successful ambushes in one corner of Thaln, and a few of the victims were always unaccounted for when the ambush sites were found. At first they thought it was slaving, but when the ambushers were caught off-guard and defeated (in a battle that Fleuri, at the time, lamented that he had missed out on), the survivors swore they hadn't taken anyone alive. Fleuri's mentor had a hunch that they should visit the battlefield where the ambushers were defeated. To make a long story short, this eventually led to the two of them bringing down a coven of necromancers who were covertly amassing undead from the dead of both sides, but he never really forgot that first battlefield, and how what he saw now in the fort was nothing like that.

Mercenaries don't discard their swords in the backs of their victims. They don't forego their weapons to beat foes to death. And if Alette's story is true, they couldn't have already been fully disguised when this happened, Fleuri noted as he looked over the bodies and examined what killed them. But if these are all Thaln's soldiers, that must mean...

"... They all killed each other," spoke one of Alette's mercs, a deathly pale-white woman in leather armor and a plethora of knives.

This conclusion painted a far more worrisome picture than murderous infiltration by mercenaries. To compel the entire garrison of a fort to kill one another had to require immense magical power. It was certainly be far beyond anything an average mercenary band ought to be capable of. Perhaps Tyaethe, in her centuries of experience and knowledge of magic, would have some idea as to how this could've happened.

"Have you found anything here that might give a clue as to why these soldiers would kill each other like madmen?" he asked the pale girl. No sooner had he asked this than he heard the voice of Tyaethe, confronting someone about something outside. He hoped that the First and Youngest wasn't going to turn Alette hostile, because Fleuri didn't want to suddenly find himself in combat with all of these mercenaries.

"Apologies, I haven't introduced myself, have I? Sir Fleuri Jodeau, Knight of the Iron Roses," he said as he turned back to the woman, hoping to break the ice and assure them that he had no hostile intent.

@VitaVitaAR

Dungeon Clearer! A Fantasy Adventurer RP

Léon Reverdin

Looks like I'm in, Léon thought as he was released from Nuri's hug. That should make six of them- three Swords, two Coins, and himself as a Cup. Wait, no, we also have her, so that makes seven, he thought as he watched Corrine, a novice Wand, get "volunteered" by her wife. With the addition of Corrine, they had all four classes of adventurer for this task, which Léon thought was reasonable precaution to take when dealing with a quest like this one, where the dangers were not known. Additionally, more hands would mean an easier time lugging the artifacts back to Estival.

"Don't worry, Dolivodro, Nuri and myself ought to be able to handle any undead," Léon reassured the big Ingvarr. He might not have the training and fire magic that the Reonite paladin had, but his hammer ought to suffice for normal mindless undead, and if they ran into one that couldn't be brought down by breaking every bone in its body, he knew how to summon a lamplighter, a divine psychopomp servant of the dual goddesses renowned for their anti-undead powers as well as their very short attention spans.

While the fairy was busy irritating Liliane, Léon decided that now was a good time to officially sign up for the mission. He approached the receptionist and spoke.

"I will be joining the quest as well." He wasn't entirely sure whether or not the church would expect him to accept payment for doing a job for them, but he could worry about that later. Besides, he wasn't doing this for the reward, he was doing this because he wanted to be one of the first people to visit the lost ruin, and because it was his duty to recover whatever lost relics that lie within.

@Darner@VitaVitaAR