Catastrophe!

[WEContact]

"De Cursed Vun?" Ignatz says. "Feh, dot's vay too long. Hyu iz lookin for a name, so hy giff hyu vun!" Ignatz smiles, completely oblivious to the fact that the man's quest can't possibly be so simple. He purses his lips thoughtfully and then claps the man's armored shoulder. "Hy vill call hyu Boris! Boris, my name iz Ignatz, and eet's a pleasure to meet hyu." He shakes the Cursed One's hand vigorously, and then turns his attention to the tunnels while he allows Dina to siphon some of his vigor off into one of her infusions. "Hey, vhen it comes to dese tonnels, my instincts say hy should follow Dina. She's schmot, hyu know."

[sblock=Statblock]Ignatz Jägerkin - Male Half-Orc Barbarian 4
Status: Augment Energy
Initiative: +5, Passive perception: 19, Passive Insight: 13
AC:20 Fort:18 Ref:16 Will:13
HP: 45/48 Bloodied: 24 Surge value: 12 Surges/day: 6/10
Speed: 6 squares, AP: 1, Second Wind: unused, Temporary HP:
Melee Basic Attack: +9 vs AC, 2d6+7 brutal 1 (Bite: +10 vs AC, 1d8+6)
Powers: Body of the Wolf, Howling Strike, Pressing Strike, Furious Assault, Swift Charge, Battle Awareness, Desperate Fury, Brutal Slam, Thunder Hooves Rage[/sblock]

 

[jbear]

The Cursed One winces as Ignatz slaps him with a name. His mouth opens to respond when Ignatz grabs him in a powerful and enthusiastic handshake and whatever he was about to say is shaken into oblivion. For the first time in a long time his face cracks a smile.

"Thank you Ignatz ... Boris is ... a fine name. Much easier on the tongue and my ear than the Cursed One. I take it as my name for now as a kind gesture that you offer in friendship."

The simple exchange seems to have left Boris somewhat dazed and troubled.

 

[Medina]

Corragan watches the exchange between Ignatz and The Cursed One with a wry smile. “It’s a good name,” he says, “it suits you.”

Corragan returns to where they entered just a few paces away and peers down the tunnels to see if he can make anything out, now that the immediate threat is dealt with.

OOC: Is anyone else quietly singing The Who’s Boris the Spider to themselves? Corragan’s levelling up is basically done. I’ve decided to stick with Fire Hawk for the time being, at least until I pick up Gauntlets of the Ram and can start knocking everyone over with Magic Stone (which I'm not even 100% I want to take to replace my Claw Gloves)

 

[CrimsonFlameWielder]

Following the barbarian's instincts, the group allows Dina to pick which path they would take of the three. Heading into the rightmost tunnel the group travels about seventy feet before reaching a sharp bend to the right and heading directly south for a while.

In the light of the sun rod, held by Ignatz, the walls of the tunnel look rough and jagged. It is obviously the work of the Kruthik workers whom you have encountered previously. Occasionally, you spot small fragments of minerals in the wall that don't match with that of the rock surrounding it. These purple fragments seem to be slightly incandescent, though it is not enough to shed any worthwhile light. To anyone that looks well ahead or behind the sun rod's luminescence, it is as though you are gazing into the sky and seeing purple stars.

The tunnel meanders for another hundred or so feet before making a wide u-turn, circling east and then back toward the north. Hoping that the tunnel would bend back around to the south east, you trudge along for another couple hundred feet where the tunnel begins to restrict your movements due to its obvious narrowing, and you are forced to march in single formation.

It is not long before you reach the end of this tunnel and gaze into a small anti-chamber. Bits of rock are strewn about all along the floor. Some of this rock, you notice, has the purple glow of those you passed by in the tunnel behind you. A couple of very young kruthik can be seen sifting through the bits and pieces of stone, their as-yet dull claws thunking against the floor, leaving only minor scratches. So consumed in its task of separating, sorting, and...eating(?) prized bits of the stone is the extremely young reptiloid that it doesn't even notice the light trespassing into its territory.

The walls of this featureless chamber circle around, and there are no other entrances or exits from this chamber. It seems that you have hit a dead end.

 

[jbear]

Quietly Boris says: "Unless someone wishes to take the purple crystals, perhaps we should leave these young ones alone and return to the first chamber and take another tunnel ... "

 

[WEContact]

"Oooooh," Ignatz says. "Pretty!" He steps boldly into the cavern, ignoring the infant kruthiks. Gently- Ignatz clearly doesn't register the creatures as worthwhile opponents- he brushes a few aside to grab the biggest chunk of purple rock he can see. If nothing happens he grabs another and brings them back to Dina, gnawing tentatively on the smaller of the two rocks.

 

[VanderLegion]

Sha'kar focuses his magical senses on the rocks Ignatz brings back with him, trying to determine if there is anything special about them, or if nothing else, what makes them glow.

 

[jbear]

As Ignatz strolls into the chamber, Boris stifles his surprise, takes two steps forward and tenses his blade, ready to act at the slightest sign of aggression or sound emitted from the small Kruthik.

 

[CrimsonFlameWielder]

What Sha'kar's studies have not taught him, his keen eyes have discovered for him. After staring closely at the purple glowing chunks, he can see the smallest of life-forms moving about inside the rock. With pieces of rock in hand, both Ignatz and Sha'kar can feel a small amount of heat emanating from them.

Even with the presence of the adventurers, the small kruthik in the chamber continue their continual pursuit for the perfect piece of purple glowing rock. When Ignatz brushes one aside, the small kruthik snaps at his hand with its mandibles, but being so young, it was like a human baby sucking on his finger.

 

[Medina]

Corragan’s eyes flit over the stones beyond the light of the sun rod. “That’s incredible,” he whispers quietly to himself.

When they reach the dead end, Corragan looks around. “Some sort of nursery perhaps?” he ponders. “Fascinating as it is, I don’t think this can be what we’re looking for. It must be down one of the other corridors.”

As Ignatz steps in to the room, Corragan follows, looking over the purple crystals curiously.