Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carnifex" data-source="post: 892174" data-attributes="member: 227">Six figures were clustered together slightly hesitantly in the gloom of the gave, a jutting javelin and bolt casting light over the scene as the adventurers looked with none too much eagerness into the darkness before them. Wolf was down on one knee, hunched over to look at the ground closely and sniffing the air. "Tracks. This sandy floor picks 'em up pretty well - looks like something comes in and out of here regularly from the way its all kicked and scuffed up. Can't tell what though, but there's that smell on the air." He stood, straightening back up again, eyes gleaming in the steady light of their magical sources. "Be ready because we might meet something that isn't too glad for our company. Sebastion, Kale, you two head the front with me; Cord, Ebri, stay behind us for support and rearguard and keep Burl protected in case anything decides our wizard looks a tasty snack. Stay alert, speak if you see anything out of the ordinary, keep weapons to hand." * * *Now only the wychlights gave them sight, except for the blind Cord to whom there was no discernible difference. The elderly monk moved with his usual confident grace down the sandy tunnel. The air was heavy with cold damp and the path irregular and twisting, all illuminated in the pure white of Melisande's innate magic and the watery hue of Wyshira's prayer. Occasional patches of some sort of moss or fungus sprouted in out-of-the-way corners. There as still that faintly unpleasant smell on the air, Cord making comments about its growing strength as they ventured further downwards in the twisting, wandering tunnel. Even the others less sensitive olfactory senses could pick out that the scent was growing in its intensity, until it was unignorable in its intensity some while later.Here, down in the deeps, they found a cavern. * * *The jagged, cracked floor slanted at some thirty degrees, askew and disorientating. The ceiling matched the skew of the floor, dipping down as well and alarmingly low, only some six and a half feet high. Myriad grotesque statagmites and stalagtites pierced the place, obstructing the view which rapidly diminished into darkness. The further-off growths seemed to gleam in rainbow colours as the wychlights glimmered and reflected off their rich mineral veins.The entire place dripped with water, trickling away down the angled floor to seep away in the darkness. The foul smell was heavy on the air. Somewhere down and to their left, a warm glow like that of a firelight shimmered, though they couldn't see the source of the light with the stalagmites blocking their clear view. * * *Wolf stared suspiciously into the gloom. "Well, here we are, but this is more than just strange..." His head moved to follow, to trace a slight shift in the deeper darkness. The others could see it too. Something in the slanted cavern that sloped down before them was moving. And something else. And something else... myriad shapes slipping between jutting rock-growths, and that smell growing stronger. It was accompanied now by faint growls, snarls, the gnashing of teeth. Gangly figures crept closer to the light of the band. The ring of eyes glittered sick yellow in the gloom.* * *"This might just be the time to try out Mel’s wand.” spoke Burl as he reached into his pouch to pull out the wand. Making sure it was the one he wanted, Burl pointed it in the direction of the yellow eyes.The ceiling of the rocky tunnel was too low for Sebastion's two-bladed sword, so he took up the black-bladed sword he'd opted for from the takings of their last battle, after carefully buckling his large shield onto the other arm. It felt strange not to be wielding his father's blades, but as with shoeing, it was a case of the right tool for the job. Reaching the end of the trail, stood with Wolf's obvious unease, the right tool for the job became important again as Burl raised the wand from his last cavern adventure. "Hold, Burl." he whispered, not excessively worried as he knew they'd already been seen. "These creatures may wish to parlay... they've shown themselves and not set an ambush. Perhaps they are held here by the Beholder too?" Diplomacy, he knew, was the best tool for the job here... but given his last effort at that he left the task to Kale's overly smart mouth.Yeah, maybe they want to talk, Kale thought as he relaxed before the approaching ring of eyes. Preparing himself, he knew that if the small creatures wanted to attack, they would wait until they were in the best position... and got their courage up. Settling his balance and readying himself, he could be glad at least that Burl didn't immediately fly with the fire rod. Ah, mages with their new toys. But that magic may be needed yet... Not making eye contact, but still standing tall, the young mercenary regarded the very long odds that the creatures would allow the crew to pass, just to bust off some stalactites from their home. Yet, fear they might respect. Kale's mind turned, wondering how he could get the things to believe they had killed the beholder, or some other fearsome display. In a moment, the fire rod did not seem such a bad idea after all. Poised, the mercenary waited a moment as the two groups faced off.Just as Burl was pointing the wand, he stopped, heeding Sebastian’s words. Maybe, he was too quick to react, but he hadn’t run into too many wild creatures of late who wanted to talk before sinking their teeth into his flesh. Remaining ready to unleash the power of the wand, Burl waited to see who would be their spokesman.Sadly, the creatures of the cave seemed too hungry to care about diplomacy. * * *There was a moments pause as the two groups faced off, time enough to caution Burl against unleashing the Fire Serpent rod, and then the ghul-pack sprang into motion. Overcoming any residual fear it might have had of the wychlights the band carried, the first ghoul scrambled forwards, the sinewy beast reaching out with yellowed talons to try and calw at the face of Wolf, the foremost of the party; metal glittered as the mercenary brought his bastard sword and heavy mace to bear to fend off the attack but the sheer impetus and berserk ferocity of the undead thing carried him a few steps backwards into the middle of the group. The others swarmed forwards then, until at least half a dozen undead beset the adventurers. Ravening claws and teeth seemed the most distinctive feature of the gangly monstrosities as they attempted to tear apart the interlopers; but at the same time an alarming co-ordination about their attacks was evident as they swarmed amongst their foes, as if the entire ghul-pack was instinctively acting as one entity.</blockquote>

Verification