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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 1878934" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #292] Regroup[/PLAIN]That bit of pain was enough to cause the pieces of his fragmented senses to momentarily coalesce and without further thought about insane geometries he reached into the unconscious reserves that had been drilled into him by his Gelgian brothers from an early age. Fueled by a surge of adrenalin, he felt his muscles suffuse with strength and agility, and he tumbled backward, making a pointed effort to avoid looking at the thing in the pool. He had the sensation of something rank and unwholesome passing close behind him, caught a half-glimpsed image of something not entirely visible writhing wetly in the shadows, and then he was in the hallway and through it back into the oppressive heat of the fire elemental's lair.He was moving so quickly that he collided with Vade before either Feln or the halfling quite realized what was going on and it was a good thing, too. In his blind haste to get away from the awful alien thing in the chamber beyond, he very nearly ran headlong into the firepit that dominated the center of the vault. As it was, he and Vade went tumbling into a heap of tangled limbs, rolling to a stop well away from the fire."Whoa!" Vade cried as he extricated himself from Feln's person. The half-orc just lay on the ground, panting as the adrenalin left his bloodsteam. "Are you alright, Feln?" the rogue asked.The veiled suggestion of a semi-fluid, unnameable thing continued to move unbidden behind the martial artist's closed eyelids, and he pressed his fists against them in a fruitless effort to drive the images from his brain. "No," Feln admitted. "I'm not alright. You do NOT want to see what's in the next room.""Oooh... I had better have a look to make sure," Vade chirped, bouncing at once to his feet. He hadn't taken more than two frolicking steps before Ledare stopped him in his tracks with a cautionary, "V-a-a-d-e." He turned and smiled innocently. "Just kidding," he smirked. "What was there, Feln? Tell us! Tell us!""I don't want to," the half-orc groaned, not removing his fists from his eyes. "That... thing... I'm trying to put it out of my mind."Ledare lowered herself awkwardly onto her knees beside Feln and placed a reassuring hand on the martial artist's shoulder. He was trembling slightly, obvious shaken by whatever he'd seen beyond. "Forget about the... thing. Focus on something else, Feln," she suggested. "What about the room itself? What was that like?"He thought about it for a moment before answering hesitantly. "It was just like this room. And... and the one above. Squarish, about sixty feet or so on a side, with a vaulted ceiling.""Was there a firepit?" Morier asked and Feln shook his head."No," he admitted. "There was a pool of water. But it was foul... filthy... like that thing spoiled it just by being...""Was there anything else beside the pool?" Ledare quickly redirected as soon as Feln's voice started to tremble. "Were there any doors?" Feln shook his head again."Not that I could see, but I only had a momentary glimpse before-" This time, he caught himself before he took another step toward madness. "There was an altar or a monument or something across the room from the doorway. It looked like it had been smashed recently. There was rubble.""Chaos altar, mayhap," Karak suggested, spitting once into the firepit and Feln nodded, drawing his hands away from his face as he sat upright. His eyes had a haunted quality, but he seemed to have regained most of his composure."That could be, considering what was guarding it," he said. Then he steeled himself and began to describe the indescribable as best he could. The others listened raptly, and by the end of his retelling they had all grasped the same sense of both horror and confusion that Feln had. Well, all that is save Vade, who muttered, "Ooooh, neat-o," as the half-orc descried what details of the thing he could put into words."A creature o' Chaos to be sure," Karak growled, clutching his axe tightly as he eyed the connecting hallway. He looked ready at any moment to march into the next room and smite the creature. Morier saw the look on the dwarf's craggy face and decided to forestall any such activity."Time and again I've warned against splitting our numbers," Morier grumbled as he worked his greatsword back into its scabbard. "We continually divide ourselves and someone is continually getting the sh*t kicked out of them whenever we do. It's got to stop!"Grisham laughed heartily at that and grinned at Morier. "You've got fire for an elf, shorty!" he chuckled, wiping sweat out of his eyes. "I like you!" Vade turned his back to Grisham and rolled his eyes."I think Morier might be right," the halfling admitted. "It would be nice if we did not sneak off on our own and get everyone into more trouble." All eyes snapped around in shock to focus on Vade, but no one mentioned pots, kettles, or the color black."I thought it prudent to secure our exit if we needed it," Feln defended. "And to scout out what lay beyond.""You are lucky to have made it back to us alive," Ledare chided. "While your scouting ability is a strong force within this group, it serves us no purpose if you were to scout and die. Better that we face these unspeakable horrors together." "It were nae a bad plan," Karak added, shaking his head gravely. "If we'd all walked blindly into yon Chaos Beastie who knows wha' may o' happened? Mayhaps half o' you'd ended up runnin' like th'orcblood 'ere, leavin' the rest o' us to fight the thing.""Okay, so now we know," Grisham muttered, giving a little flourish with his longsword. "Do we head in to fight it or what?""I'd suggest that we maybe head topside and see if Ledare and Ixin can't try to ask the Treant anything that it might know about this thing," the eldritch warrior suggested, gesturing toward the dark hallway leading out of the chamber. Grisham shook his head disgustedly and Morier quickly added, "I'm not saying that we shouldn't go in there; I'm saying maybe we should know something more about it before we do."Karak harrumphed. "Victors stride ever forward," he said cryptically and Grisham nodded at this bit of dwarven wisdom. Ixin didn't share the two warriors' enthusiasm however."I agree with Morier," she said, stepping forward. "We have dispensed with the guardians so we do not need to worry about a surprise attack. I think we should go back to Tarawyn's home and rest. That will allow Morier and I to replenish our spells and get everyone healed.""I like healing," Vade said enthusiastically. "Healing is good!""I think Ixin's point is well taken. Let us retreat to the druid's shack for the evening," Ledare reasoned. "We'll send word to the Great Oak and see if he can advise us further. Then, should we advance upon this new creature, it will be rested and collected. Until we've considered all of the information we've gathered so far, going blindly forward seems foolish.""Foolish?" Grisham argued. "Every delay we take allows Plonius' killer to get farther away!" Ledare shrugged at this."From what I know of Plonius, he was a good man, and I want to see his killer brought to justice," the Janissary said. "But I won't risk everyone's life just because you can't let your personal crusade wait for one more day so we can prepare. We don't even know if our man went that way."Grisham looked at Ledare in shocked indignation for a moment. Then he sheathed his longsword and started looking begrudgingly for tracks.While Grisham searched the chamber and Karak, Vade and Ixin worked to shuttle the group up the shaft using the Slippers of Spider Climbing, Morier drew Ledare aside and offered her his counsel again."Ledare, I beg of you once more - please try to make the others understand that within this group our might lies in the collective," he told her. "The diversity of abilities we possess make us a formidable opponent for any foe, but when we divide ourselves, those differences become weaknesses. I'm sure nobody here need be reminded what becomes of the weak in the field of battle?"Ledare nodded politely. "Your counsel is wise, Morier, and taken to heart. But I think you attribute to me too much power," she said. "These others are not junior officers for me to order around. They have each tied themselves to my own quest to destroy the rising corruption in the Realms' heart, but they have done so of their own accord, not because I hired or impressed them into the King's service. When I left Barnacus at the beginning of Wealsun, it was with other members of Grey Company. We were equals, making decisions as a group. And now, here I stand little more than a moonsdance later as the only surviving member of that group and I am constantly expected to make decisions for everyone." She sighed wearily and wiped grimy sweat from her brow before continuing."I will do what I can to lead you well, Morier," she concluded. "But know that it is not a duty I sought out. Not is it one that sits comfortably on my shoulders."Grisham's search of the fire room confirmed that the same set of footprints they'd been following continued on into the room beyond where Feln had encountered the loathsome thing. Great Root knew nothing of the creature, but he agreed to send a messenger to the Termlane Forest with the hopes of getting through to the Great Oak advising that guardian of nature what the VQS had so far uncovered beneath Greenhill Woods. He did advise them that it would be several days before they could expect the message to arrive and several more before they could reasonably hope for a response.Not exactly what they were hoping for.</blockquote>

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