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Discussion Forums => Games => The Wings of Hall => Topic started by: Krozam on August 19, 2011, 09:23:25 pm
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The Wings of Hall
(http://i.imgur.com/yPPx3l.jpg) (http://raphael-lacoste.deviantart.com/art/Terry-Goodkind-Phantom-162040787?q=gallery%3ARaphael-Lacoste%2F102631&qo=2)
The fortress of Beil, in Eastern Nantii. Currently controlled by Duke Tevor, but besieged by Duke Solius.
Night was falling on the Hills of Beil. Torches were lit in the camp of Duke Solius' army, which spread all over the hills surrounding the impressive fortress. Looking upon the scene from a bird's view, you might think it a disorganized sight, but that was just an illusion created by the disruptive hills. In truth, Duke Solius' army was an oasis of order in the chaos that gripped the whole of Nantii. And it was all thanks to one man: Commander Haakon, the unquestioned leader of this army.
Haakon's tent was situated opposite to the fortress gates, on top of a high hill that gave an unobstructed view towards the fortress. Two armed-to-the-teeth elite guards stood at the entrance. Inside, two men held counsel.
"Tell me honestly... can you do it?" A man sitting behind a desk asked the other man, sitting opposite him on the other side of the desk.
"I'm not good with calculating chances," the other man replied with a completely straight face, "so I'll just say 'yes'."
The man behind the desk sighed and leaned back on his heavy wooden chair, his armor rustling like a bag of coins. "I know your reputation, but we are talking about the Fortress of Beil. It has never been taken with force during its four hundred years of history. I would hate to waste your enormous advance pay because of your arrogance."
"Life is full of risks, Commander. You know as well as I do that this is the most viable option we have in this situation. Time is running short, we need to get inside within a month. And believe it or not, The Wings of Hall are your best shot."
Commander Haakon stood up. He was a large man, around his mid-forties, with a very... commanding presence. He was wearing a full-body plate armor - the thing probably weighed as much as the man himself - seemingly without much effort. Nicolaos had to admit he felt genuine respect for this man. Which is why he'd made a contract with Duke Solius in the first place, instead of someone among his dozen of rivals.
"Wine?" The Commander asked, reaching for the carafe of red wine on his desk.
"No thank you." Nicolaos shook his head slightly. He was dressed in his usual attire: a brown, hoodless robe of fine make and some embroidery, a red sash on his waist. The curved blade on his back also had a red cloth on its hilt, the mark of a Rowosian Swordmaster. He wore no armor whatsoever, indicating a strong faith in his skill and the divine protection of his god.
"It's about time," the cleric said, rising on his feet, after a moment of companionable silence.
"Yes. Good luck on your mission. I'll be waiting for the crow."
Nicolaos turned his back, waved his left hand casually in acknowledgement, and headed out of the tent.
Outside, barely a hundred meters from the tent, waited his band of mercenaries. Nicolaos calmly walked the path down the hill. He felt their eyes on him, some expectant, some indifferent. His face was expressionless, unwavering. He did not stop when he reached them. He walked right through the group and headed towards the fortress.
"Let's go," was all he said to them.
-
Having traveled for a long time finally being able to rest, Darwin sits down on a chair small distance away from the others, looking into the sky and seeing the clouds move slowly. His sword stabbed to the ground standing without having to hold it. Aching to go fly and soar with the clouds waiting as Nicolaos walked into the commander's tent while the others were chatting.
Opening his water bottle to get a drink he notices that its empty. While walking to refill the bottle he notices a woman who was around some of the soldiers. A good looking woman in the near thirties with quite heavy plate armor and a duble edged sword she is holding while the end is stuck to the ground. While filling the bottle as Darwin stares at her he notices that she looks over to him and smiles alittle. Quickly he turned around and turned a little red on his cheekes in embaresment. As he walked back to the tent he thought about that woman, sitting at his seat again and looking at the clouds.
As Nicolaos walked down the road with determination in his eyes Darwin knew we got the job, waiting for him to give the order.
"Lets go" Nicolaos said
Darwin grabbed his sword and placed it on his back while following him but sad that he did not get to know the womans name.
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Aidan had followed Nicholas on a long march through these lands, his equipment tied to his body by various leather harnesses to use as weight training across the long march. They had followed the army to this large fortress, an impressive edifice high on the hill of unfeeling stone that stared condescendingly down upon the pitiful ants that sought to claim it's walls. The towering edifices were impressive, but the awe of such great fortresses had faded by now. Be it walls of wood and earth of his home or mountains of stone of these lands-the tactics to make them fall was always the same.
The camp was obviously led by practiced soldiers, for they worked efficiently and effectively at surrounding and entrenching the fortress upon arrival. The chain of command allowing for quick duties, and making sure even new recruits had the skills to correctly dig latrines and setup tents while more experienced individuals dug into the fortress outside arrow distance to create siegeworks that completely sealed all exits while maintaining a defense network for those monitoring movement. The work was impressive, and he had a general understanding even if some of the local barbarian traditions weren't done by his own men.
It was effective work, but for now he stood near the command tent. His shield rested on the ground, hard packed from numerous feet pounding along it, it's painted surface flashing with numerous colors in the torchlight. His sword was attached to his lower back by a harness and sheath, cover by his cloak as his knees had him knelt and bent, his short spear held in hand and leaned against his shoulder.
Bathed in flashing shadow and light of the torches was his bare body, open to the elements besides the cloak. His skin had patterns of holy paint upon it, divine protection enhancing his physique and defending him with the god of wars hand. He muttered silently, listening to the group around him as he contemplated what may come. He was in a distant land fighting foriegn wars, but would be happy to finally get into battle. His mind drifted inward as his senses stayed outward, tactically viewing what may happen by night end.
He jolted up as Nicholas came out, standing and pulling up his shield as he walked by. His body became much more visible as he turned, the heavy cloak flying up a little as he silently followed the commander. Twould be a long night.
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Harold continued checking his pouches for holes and sturdiness. Satisfied with them, he laid them in a pile, ready to be secreted. He checked over his mattock for nicks and cracks. He noted a couple but decided they weren't bad enough that he'd need to drop it off to the blacksmith. When he does, he'll add a couple more units of weight to make it slightly heavier. He pulled out his leather cloak and put it on. Checking over it's pockets, he starts putting satchels of powder into various pockets, then moved a couple of katas to make sure his movements were unrestricted and silent. Noticing a jangle, he pulled out some loose coins and put them into his money pouch.
As he picked up his mattock, Nicolaos came up, stating, "Let's go." Harold picked up his pack and puts it on. Holding his mattock, starts marching behind the group. Grimly, he thought, "Another day, more shit." and sighed.
-
It had been a long while since the last battle, and Ishman was anxious to polish his technique. Last time he had miscalculated the protection a plate mail gave, and though the man was in no condition to fight afterwards, he did not die, as Ishman had intended. He needed to correct this... imperfection, in his technique.
Though the camp didn't lack squires and servants to suit Ishman's needs, he feared too long of a lay-off would rust his movements. Or worse, his mind. He had performed the 138 forms everyday, to keep his body well conditioned, but only real battle could keep the mind sharp.
Fortunately, Nicolaos had been summoned to a meeting with Commander Haakon, and it seemed they would see action soon. The fortress of Beil was indeed a good challenge. It had never been conquered before. He wasn't very informed on the history of Nantii, but he doubted there had ever been anyone like Commander Haakon commanding the assault before. The mercenary group fitted Ishman's needs better, but Haakon was indeed a great general, who lead his soldier with efficiency. But eventually the war would be over, and Haakon's army would dissolve. Mercenary groups, on the other hand, always found work.
Ishman had been meditating by sitting on his knees with his hands on his thighs, when Nicolaos finally walked out. He waited until the Captain walked past him, and heard him talk.
"Let's go." The words Ishman had been waiting for. He rose up and turned to follow the Captain.
-
Acan stared at the high walls of the castle with a thoughtful look on his face, leaning on his massive crossbow. In the impending darkness the massive structure was quite an intimidating sight, as well as somehow ominous. He was struck by a feeling that this job would be far from easy.
It looked like a challenge. Then again, he'd had his share of challenges in his quite eventful life. Hard to find anything worse than he'd already been through, the man concluded as was his habit. Or anything more dangerous than the people he was currently sticking with, for that matter. He wasn't eager to invade a castle with a group of a dozen, but he was no less calm than usual and as he heard Nicolaos speak he straightened slowly and set to follow the rest alongside Harold.
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Cathair stood some distance from the rest of the group, silent apart from the tinkle of his chain mail in the light wind, he stared at the castle and camp, obviously slightly impatient. One hand slipped to a belt where he kept a small flask containing whatever swill passed for drink in this place, he uncorked the flask and took a long swig before swiftly replacing it upon his belt. He smirked as he watched another skirmish break out along the walls as the sky by the walls blackened under a hail of arrows and crossbow bolts as defender and besieger exchanged fire, muttering quietly to himself "Plenty of blood for the gods t'day"
He soon tired of watching the foreigners kill each-other and a trail of dust caught his eye, a raiding party leaving to harass the local villages, burn crops and generally damage the morale of the region. Cathair had managed to attach himself to a number of these raids and relieved his boredom for a few hours while the foreign dogs deliberated upon the best tactic to take the castle. Of course, Cathair had already suggested a cunning strategy, to find the families of the men in the fortress and kill them, one by one, before firing the bloated corpses into the castle to spread terror and disease... The others believed it unnecessarily cruel.
Cathair shook his head and his hand moved to a silver chain around his neck, his fingers brushed the pendant before he tenderly gripped it slowly pulling it up into his vision. The pendant was carved in the shape of a Howling wolf, the detail so intricate, so deep that one would swear that it was a real wolf, that one could count the number of hairs upon it's face, that one could hear it's howl in the night. If one looked closely at the metalwork, the detail, the design, small blood red veins, so tiny only the most observant would notice them could be seen criss crossing the wolfs fur, adding detail, making it seem alive. Cathair eyed it for a few moments quietly, a small smile on his lips as he uttered a prayer in his native tongue. "Is mian liom mo chuid fola leis an mac tíre, mar a rinne mo shinsir os mo chomhair, i súil déanfaidh sé treoir dom, liom a chosaint, agus deontas an chumhacht dom a mharú go léir a bheadh ag leomh seasamh ar an mbealach ar ár gcinniúint" as he spoke he went down on one knee, pulling his knife from his boot and quietly pulling it over hand that grasped the pendant, watching the blood soak the wolf as he closed his hand over the pendant, looking up at the sky and murmuring "Is é an comhaontú a rinneadh "
As he finished his ritual he saw Nicolaos approach and slowly rose to his feet, letting go of his blood soaked pendant and sliding back within his shirt, his hand dripping blood slowly upon the floor. He nodded at Nicolaos and murmured quietly "I'm ready aye." leaving his still bleeding hand at his side as he turned to leave with the rest of the group.
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Setsuna
I watch as Nicolas leaves our little 'camp' as he walks towards the main tent of Solius's army. I can only wonder what he's gotten us into again.
I sit down, content to watch the stars as the night sky rolls by in it's vast expanse. A few clouds cover some of the stars as they travel across. The constellations aren't bright as they had been during my days in the mountains. Tonight, they were blocked out by too much light from the many fires surrounding this compound we were going to infiltrate.
I had listened to Cathair's 'strategy' only to dismiss it openly.
"Unnecessary," I had told him. "Too much for so little."
Some had nodded in agreement, others ignored him anyway. I can't really imagine why you'd have to kill then launch their dead corpses over the walls just to take out the rest. It should be clear that once the fort was taken, Solius's army would take care of stragglers. We didn't need any more attention brought on ourselves. We were already putting up with his vulgar ritual. He should really just keep it at that.
Ishman was meditating. Acan was staring at the high walls. Darwin had just come back from... something. Looking at us, you wouldn't think we were a group with deadly efficiency. You wouldn't think we were a group that followed orders to the dot of an 'i'.
But I guess that's what we are. Too long had passed since I last fought in such a battle. The pay was high, the job expectancy was higher. Would I have to go all out or would I just end up mechanically killing once again? Walking through group after group, taking out as much as possible with as little exertion as possible. Would I have to use my Ki again? Or would I just depend on my learned skill from seven years ago?
Would thoughts of her distract me or push me forward?
I watch as Nicolas walks back towards us, his hand making gestures to prepare. Of course, he knew we were already prepared.
"Let's go."
I pull on the hilt of my blade and strap it to my side. I safely adjust my glasses so they won't fall off in the battle.
It would be a too short of a night to let go of the years behind me.
-
It was as if death was standing amongst them. If you looked carefully, you could see a tall figure whose existence felt out of place. It was as if his being there was breaking some laws, his presence there being weird. In the Wings of Hall, this presence was not normally "felt". If you didn't know about him, you probably didn't notice him, like a presence in the back of your eye.
This tall figure however bore a name, a name that was forced upon him by the people. Nex Addo was one of the members of the group. His presence was being hidden by magic that Nex Addo usually keeps around him in order to hide his presence.
Nex had seen Nicolaos go off to meet the commander, and while waiting for the result, he stared at the dark structure that lay over his eyes, the great fortress Beil.
Nex was old, really old, and looking at the fortress he started reminiscing on the days when this fortress was built. The fortress did not have a happy story behind it, as it was built when chaos and corruption lay on these lands. Under his breath, Nex said in a low tone: "It's been a while, Beil."
When Nicolaos finally came out from the tent, he said 2 words Nex had been waiting for: "Let's go". Nex knew full well how strong this structure is and breaking into it is going to prove to be quite the challenge. The thought of that brought a slight smile on Nex's face, something that suprised himself.
Nex didn't really like the group he was in and most of the time he kept to himself in the back line. The battles are not his problem. The outcome doesn't matter to Nex because this was not his time. He existed on a whole different times, and for him, this was merely some ants fighting it out. Whether a battle went one way or another did not change Nex's situation or position. However he felt that he should mention one thing to Nicolaos before they went on their mission.
With that thought in mind, Nex caught up with Nicolaos and said: "I thought you should know that there are empty pockets inside the bridge and under it. I don't know if it is there to contain explosives but if the bridge should fall, we are going to need another way out," in a low voice so the others couldn't hear. Before finally leaving Nicolaos side, he added: "I'd be damned if I am to build a new one using earth magic," and with that he left his side.
Nex, thinking as he saw the structure that maybe he should just sit this one out. The thought of challenging the great Beil did however cross his mind.
-
As Nicolaos walked off to talk to the Commander, Jimmy threw himself onto the ground to relax. As he was lying on his back he was thinking about how he and Nex could have one of there sneaky contests during the invasion of the fortress of Beil.
After a few minutes of lying down Jimmy suddenly sat bold upright. "Damn my katana's are dirty" he complained. He whipped out a cloth and started to polish his beloved blades. While he was polishing his blades he was musing over Cathair's plan. "I cant believe he would even suggest a plan like that. Its not right killing women and children"
Just as he had finished polishing his blades and sheathing his daggers Nicolaos walked out of the Commanders tent. When he heard Nicolaos say "Let's go" a smile slowly spread across Jimmy's face. This was going to be a huge challenge and he loved a good challenge.
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Lissa was standing alone practicing with her sword a bit further away from the camp when Nicolaos went to talk to the commander. She said "This should be enough before the battle" and stoped with the practice. She returned to the camp where the others are and looked at the tremendous castle they were gonna attack soon. "This is gonna be a challenge now" she said and sat down on a rock. She looked through her equipment to see if there was something missing or not. It have been a while since their last battle and she didn't want to suddenly notice something were missing.
A few minutes later she stood up and went to the well to get some water to refill her pouch. On the way to the well she watched soldiers as they came and went, some were severely wounded and some only had minor injuries. When she was getting the refill for the pouch she noticed that a lot of soldiers were watching her. she mumbled for herself "This is to be expected, there isn't many women that fights in wars or joins mercenary groups". When she had refilled the pouch, she returned to the camp to see Nicolaos walk out of the tent and towards the group and said "Let's go". Lissa took her packing's and walked behind the others and thought that this is gonna be interesting.
-
Maria
The passage of time stands still as she waits on bated breath for word of tonight. Nicolas has left to get word of the fight in the nigh impenetrable fortress of Beil. High walls. Soldiers armed to the teeth. For four hundred years, the fortress stood as a symbol of power of the people that depended on it. For four hundred years, the world had desperately tried to force open its gates.
Those four hundred years would hopefully end tonight and the Wings of Hall would be on their merry way, drinking and chatting to such a huge score of wealth.
She follows the gaze of Cathair as he watches another attempt to take the fort. The least it would do was serve as a distraction when the Wings took their turn.
She looks away at the sight of more human despair. More human plight. And hides a cruel smile at the thought of people leaving such a world. "Good riddance," she says under her breath. Only one member seemed to notice.
Nicolas had appeared again.
"Let's go."
She follows him, preparing a small incantation to hopefully block arrows that would come her, Lissa's, and Estria's way.
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Estia
She sat, absentmindedly whittling arrow shafts out of pine boughs she plucked from a tree a few days ago. Her eyes wandered around the camp, taking in the actions of her companions. Nex, quiet and solemn as usual stood with such an air about him that you wouldn't notice him standing there unless you tried. Lissa practiced her sword techniques in seclusion outside the camp, ignoring the stares of men wondering about the presence of a woman so close to battle.
"Such a strong girl," Thought Estia, putting the finishing touches on the fletching of an arrow.
"Haec recta, et vera sagittam volantem." She whispered, enchanting the feathers for accuracy.
"There's not much arrows can do against a fortress,though perhaps someone has a plan.." She murmured as she sheathed the unfinished arrow in her quiver. Stretching her arms, she slung the quiver onto her back and adjusted the unstrung yew bow.
Standing up, she watched as Nicolas left the tent. As he walked past the diverse band of mercenaries he said simply, "Lets go." Seemingly as one, the wings of hall shadowed behind him. Estia joined them, bringing up the rear with Lissa.
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Nicolaos whistled.
"Our mission - as many of you have no doubt already guessed - is to sneak in and open the gates." He spoke to the group over his shoulder while leading them through the camp. "Our primary plan is to find the back door. A fortress as well designed as Beil must have one, though very well hidden and most certainly well guarded. Expect illusions, traps and battle. In that order. We have three days: if we haven't found the tunnel by then, we'll go with plan B."
A sound of flapping wings was heard from their right, and in a moment a dark bird landed on Nicolaos' upraised arm. It was Jaar, the raven Messenger of Hall, summoned by the whistle. They spent a moment staring at each other in silence, then the bird spread its wings and flew off towards the fortress.
They arrived to a large supply tent, in front of which there was a pile of backpacks. They were still far enough to not have to worry about any arrows or bolts fired from the walls. Nicolaos grabbed a pack and swung it on his back briskly. "Our supplies. One for everyone. Someone be a gentleman and carry Nex's backpack." He said this with a completely straight face, without a hint of mockery in his voice.
"We'll worry about the explosives under the bridge later," he said, turning to speak to Nex. "Do you have any idea where the back door might be?"
-
As they were walking Darwin noticed the Fortress. With it rising and looking bigger and bigger.
He noticed a tent with the same number of backpacks as the group. Nicolaos told us the mission and while speaking to the child of the Devil ((Nex)) in Darwins eyes, he looks over the fortress thinking off an idea.
Darwin walked toward the tent and picked up a backpack with one hand, held it to check the weight and then put it on the ground and turned to Nic
"As an Avian I have the needs to fly and soar through the sky. if you would like I could soar around the castle to search from the air if I can see a blind spot or spot the hidden passage."
He looked to the sky and saw some clouds that floated in the sky. He felt uneasy about the situation and gripped his sword tighter.
"Even if they do spot me there is no chance in this world or the next that they would be able to hit me. Arrows or magic they are just amatures in the castle." he said with a grin on his face.
Even if he was confident he was still unsure if he would be able to find anything off use by going to the sky.
-
The archer stood in a ready stance, bow lowered as she gazed at the target, eyes a neutral shade of blue-grey. She raised her hand to the quiver on her back, selecting an arrow and nocking it to the string, raising the bow. Back muscles rippled beneath the gear harness as she drew back the string, calmly adjusting for the breeze and resulting hair in her eyes. In battle, the enemy does not wait for your vision to clear, she thought. He will take advantage of your blindness and attack. Fiona Geileis am Brina did not need to see the target with her eyes. Instinct honed from constant practice took over, enabling her to make the tiny adjustments necessary. She knew its location, visualizing it in her mind, her imaginary arrow striking true. A small smile spread on her lips as she released the arrow. That smile widened as she found her arrow had indeed impaled the heart of the target, neatly clustered among several others.
Returning to camp, she frowned at several soldiers ogling her naked body, voicing catcalls and whistling at her. The barbarians in their metal armor were idiots obsessed with sex. She longed to strike them down for their impertinence, but prior incidents had taught her not to cause permanent injury unless they actually tried anything. It still grated on her nerves, and she practically vibrated with rage as she stood by her countryman. "Tell me I get to shoot some of these barbarians in the face."
-
Aidan followed quietly, listening to the camp and those around him. His eyes carried around, alert to all the foriegners as his body swayed with each step. Battle would be soon, he could smell the anticipation in the air. He smirked as Fiona came up, chuckling coarsely. "Soon yes, we'll hopefully have some fun quite soon. Please, aim for the enemy lines though. I'm sure they'll be easy targets given the fact none of these barbarians have ever seen a womens body before."
He kneeled down and picked up two packs, switching his spear to his shield hand and throwing the two over his other shoulder. "I can take his. I need a bit of extra weight to carry around anyways." He grunted, standing as one side held a large heavy shield over a meter in diameter and thick wood, plus a spear, his other weighted by two unevenly held packs he positioned to stay on but to push his endurance a bit more.
-
Harold looked disappointed that he couldn't take two packs but the look faded just as quickly. He picked up his pack and adjusted it for proper fit. He turned to the castle and examined it. His expert eye spots a possible weakness but he won't know for sure until he got closer. Listening to Darwin, he winced at the idea as he knew that the exposure would jeopardized the mission. He considered a few options and puts forth some of his own, "Nicolaos, I don't know about Darwin's idea. Normally, it'd be a good chance, however, they're going to be looking for intruders from the air. I did see a possible weakness from here, however, I won't know until I get closer. I'd also would like to circle the castle for better ways to get in. My proposal is this: I will dig under the weakly defended walls with two other people, Jimmy and someone who can sense magic. I will have to dig slower than I normally do because of the need for silence. I estimate that it'll take me a day of digging to get us into place."
He turned his head to the side and hawked and spat. He turned back and said, "Another option is for me to set some explosives and bring a wall down. That will also get us the opening we need." He grinned with a little bit of pleasure.
-
Ishman followed silently, not giving much thought to plans. Soldiers executed the plans, they didn't plan them. With such a small force they would have to enter the fortress unseen and capture one of the gates, like Nicolaos was just explaining, to let the forces of Commander Haakon inside. But that was the last step in a plan not yet thought up.
But surely any plan would be better than Cathair's. Such an act would just enrage the people in the fortress, and forever taint the Duke Solius's reputation. People might bend the knee but they would never serve him faithfully.
But all these were matters of unimportance to Ishman. He did not care which side of the war he was on. He just wanted to be challenged. And this seemed like a perfect challenge.
Ishman picked up his back and slung it lazily on his back, in a loose fit. It wouldn't fall, but it could be shaken off easily if needed. He didn't want anything restraining his movements in the battle.
-
Acan took his own pack, and while listening silently to the ideas others were proposing he settled it on his back. None of them lacked in problems, to be sure, but he couldn't figure out anything amazing himself, considering what they were aiming to do, so he decided to stick to criticizing everything what had yet been suggested.
"We have quite a bit of ground to cover in order to find the backdoor for a castle of that size. Darwin might be able to cover ground a lot quicker than the rest of us, but I have doubts it'll be really noticeable from air either. If it's indeed covered by an illusion or any other kind of magic, I might be able to break the spell, but I doubt such an amount of power would be used to that kind of magic that I could trace it from very far away."
Acan gazed quickly along the walls of the fortress before he continued:
"I also think it'll be quite a lot of work to find an unwatched and reachable corner to dig on, or even place explosives at around there, Harold. If we can actually reach close enough to the wall to start such an operation, I'll leave it to you though, friend", he continued with a slight smile, "So unless Nex has an idea on where to look, or maybe better means on tracing magic than I do, I actually have some doubts about this", he finished and shrugged.
The man had decided he wouldn't really mind if they'd have to leave this job for someone else. He was never truly negative on his chances in anything, but he wasn't quite eager either this time either.
-
Cathair caught his pack and eyed it, general rations, and not even any whiskey or other spirits, a shame. He strapped the pack to his belt and listened to the plans, one in particular caused him to roll his eyes and sigh in exasperation, Darwin's mention of flight "Oh aye, great idea, the demon bird takes us right inta the range of their bloody bows, we won't all die at all." he glared slightly at Darwin and shifted his weight on his feet, pulling out a hipflask and taking a long sip, listening to the others speak of backdoors and blowing walls up. "The backway'll be well protected, an' if they see us they'll just seal it off..." Cathair looked at the castle and shook his head "What kinda bloody Lord doesnae have a spy in a castle like this ta throw the gates open for 'im."
He stared into the distance for a few moments eyeing the walls, judging the chances of climbing them or digging under before finally shrugging "But I reckon it's the best bet, we'd never climb those walls without gettin' seen, and diggin' under we'd probably get discovered as well." he shot Nex a slight look and smirked a little "Unless 'is lordship over there is startin' ta loose 'is skills in 'is old age and canae find the entrance."
-
Setsuna (My plan involves how I saw the fortress in the pic.)
Setsuna couldn't believe the ideas he was hearing. Fly in? Dig under? The group might as well knock on the front door and hope someone lets them in. No, he had a better idea, and it'd take the cover of night.
"Swim."
A few people had heard this and looked at him, bringing their brows up.
"This fort is surrounded by a moat."
"Aye, but what good would that do?" Cathair asked him, the venom in his voice obvious.
"It's clean water."
"Aye, but what good would that do?!" Cathair asked again.
"That fortress needs to get water somewhere. That moat around it is a flowing river. Meaning that we should be able to get in through a pipe of some sort. At least, a few people should be able to get in."
Cathair, and the others, seemed to be in thought, thinking of the propsed plan. It was better than flying in and better than digging under.
And it'd shorted the three day's to one.
Setsuna incredulously waited for a response.
-
Nex looked disgruntled by Nicolaos question... Well, if you could see his face anyway. But it was not only the question, but the ideas they came up with. Seems like his plan to stay out of this one might fail, not that he was too unhappy with that. A challenge such as this don't come every day. Who knows, maybe the item he is looking for might be there on the inside.
His thoughts were interrupted when Harold piped up with a suggestion: "Another option is for me to set some explosives and bring a wall down. That will also get us the opening we need." Nex couldn't help but just smile. "I'm afraid that won't work Harold. The walls are reinforced with magic and we don't have the hard explosives we need to break it."
Nex didn't follow what the rest of the group said after that. He didn't care so much to pipe up a correction or ideas and therefore didn't bother to listen in. He was also figuring out what kind of explosives could make a hole on a wall that was reinforced with magic. It wasn't until Acan commented on Nex lack of abilities, that he finally tuned in again.
Acan: "So unless Nex has an idea on where to look, or maybe better means on tracing magic than I do, I actually have some doubts about this"
Nex: "..."
Nex ignored Acan's comment. There is no way they will manage to trick Nex into doing anything. Nex tried not to listen on the rest of the conversation. This did not work well when it came to Cathair.
Cathair: "Unless 'is lordship over there is startin' ta loose 'is skills in 'is old age and canae find the entrance."
Nex: "..."
Lissa: "If only we had a real mage that could detect magic and not an old man that needed to be protected by a group of warriors"
Ok, that was it. Nex had had enough. He knew they were taunting him but it was too late. Nex was already pissed off enough to finally answer back.
"Oh yeah sure. I'm too old and I'm losing skills compared to you young folks here, right? How unfortunate indeed. As you say, I'm too old. You wouldn't wanna follow me, an old man now would you? Well I'm just going this way and into the back entrance if you don't mind," Nex said in a very sarcastic tone and started heading away from the castle. He didn't even look back to see if the group was following him.
((When at the entrance, Nex said: "It's not like I'm here to show you the entrance or anything like that, baka"))
-
Jimmy walked over to the tent and picked up his backpack. Jimmy carefully slung on his backpack while listening to the plans of the rest of the group. "Hmm thats two decent plans" Jimmy thought to himself. After a few seconds of deliberation he came to a decision. "Well as much as i don't want to, I'm going to have to side with Nex" Jimmy said. "The swimming plan has its benefits however my katana's will get dirty in the water"
"But that's just my opinion on all of this" he said as he flung himself back down onto the ground. "Better to be comfortable while plans are being made" he thought to himself. While he was waiting to see what the group would decide on his gaze wandered around the group. He saw Cathair looking a bit angry, then again to Jimmy Cathair always looks angry, ans caught the big mans eye. Jimmy gave him a huge smile and said "Déan iarracht gan dul go dtí an am seo thar bord"
-
Lissa followed the group to the tent where she saw some packing's. While taking up her backpack, she listened to the plans the group was forging. She caught the plan that Setsuna suggested was that they would swim. One of the things the group didn't know about her, or so she thought, was that dragons dislikes to swim so that their whole body comes into contact with water.
That's why she sided with the others that was tricking and taunting Nex. She said "If only we had a real mage that could detect magic and not an old man that needed to be protected by a group of warriors". After she had said that, she swung her sword and stuck it into the ground to get something to lean against. She watched the castle while she awaited for the order to move out and get into the castle.
-
Maria
Maria had heard two good plans. Swimming and tricking Nex into showing them the entrance. She sided with tricking Nex, knowing that Setsuna's idea had a small chance at failure.
She picked up her own pack and slung it over her shoulder. She made sure it was tight on her back. She checked over the other three girls in the group; all were doing fine.
She said nothing and followed the group as they continued their attempts to trick Nex into doing as they pleased. It was easier then it seemed.
He was an old man after all.
-
Estia
Slinging the pack onto her shoulder, Estia listened in on the few conversations taking place. She thought the other ideas were interesting, but impractical. Darwin would just get himself shot out of the air, and as Nex pointed out the wall couldn't be blown down with explosives. It was easier just to let Nex find the back door himself. Soon enough, he was persuaded into doing just that.
-
Nicolaos listened to each plan with an attentive look. He was the leader, but that didn't mean he was always the one to come up with the best plan. Far from it.
"No, Darwin, that wouldn't work." He shook his head at the avian's plan. "You may have a bird's wings, but you don't have a bird's eyes. Flying high enough to avoid attention, you couldn't see anything useful to us. Besides, the passage is most likely hidden with an illusion or a shadow spell."
At Harold's suggestion he smiled, so faintly that you'd have to pay attention to notice it. "I applaud your enthusiasm, Harold, but it's a long way to dig. We only have three days. Why dig a tunnel when there's one in existence already? We just have to find it." As for the explosives... he simply ignored the silly suggestion.
He nodded to Setsuna, after hearing his plan. "Good thinking. That's a viable plan. However, I don't fancy getting wet, so yours shall be our plan B. I want to try the back door first."
Finally Nex put a stop to the discussion. With that faint smile on his lips again - though only for a moment - Nicolaos motioned the band to follow and turned to hurry after the old mage. With only a few long strides he caught up and then held up to walk beside Nex.
"If you can get us to the general area where the entrance is located, that'll be enough. When we're close enough, Acan can trace the spell that no doubt hides it. I know using magic causes you pain, so I'd rather you don't exert yourself doing something someone else could do. You are my reserve, my ace in the sleeve, and I need you ready for whatever we face inside the fortress." For no apparent reason, he spoke quietly, privately: not exactly whispering, but so quiet that only those who walked right behind them could hear it.
-
Despite disliking the idea alot, Darwin had no other choice but to follow the group. It was in his blood to hate going underground. Being free in the air, the feeling of walking underground felt like being imprisoned.
However Darwin had to pull through, and with reluctance, Darwin went with the group silently and stayed in the far back.
-
Following silently, Fiona's brow furrowed at the idea of sneaking through some cave. Swimming the moat sounded like a much better plan to her, but then, as a sailor, she was more comfortable in the water than beneath the earth. "I think I'd rather take my chances with the winged one," she muttered to no one in particular.
-
A flash of disappointment came over Harold's face and faded as quickly. He started lifting his mattock in small movements using his wrists. The mattock only moved an inch each time. Harold vowed just to wait and just be patient. He hated how everyone treated Nix. Trick him to do something painful? That's wrong. Nix reminds me of my granthar, he does. Harold started to yawn and tried to stifle it. He wasn't very successful. Looking around for movement, he focused on the castle, just looking for weaknesses. Finding little, he then studied the ground, his boredom fades as he starts noting various things while keeping an ear towards Nicolaos.
-
((Sorry for the delay, got busy and delayed.))
Aidan watched the going on, noting the trickery and pride targeting the others did. Many a warrior from his homeland held such weaknesses as well. Target their pride, tarnish their honor by insulting their ability, and you could draw much valor-but also much folly. His order had trained him to lead, and he had learned the risks of such things. He had heard murmurs and rumors of what the black mage had, and believed that forcing his use in this way was a risk beyond drawing from a warrior who's wounded pride would recover and possibly improve them.
However, it was their best bet, and he didn't believe that such a small task would much affect one so old and powerful. Even if he was wary, his people respected power of all varieties, and raised the masters of such things to heights sometimes above their realistic capabilities. His eyes watched the landscape passing by, wondering what threats lay ahead. Even if his homelands forts were of much different design strengths, as well as what many barbarians would scoff and call inferior technology, they shared many features. Such tunnels were purpose built to smuggle the important people out if there was no point or honor in the fight, or to smuggle supplies in, or even to smuggle out raids of soldiers who could use ambush and guerrilla warfare to exact a telling toll on the enemy before fading back into the shadows.
He knew well that this tunnel, unless forgotten by time, would likely have pickets with an easy alarm system. Likely they could seal it, but the seals were weaker than the surroundings. They likely could dig out the rubbing if they were careful, but it would slow them down and likely they would be forced into a fuller force. He also had seen magic was far more common in these lands, and had known of one fortress in his homeland who had been enchanted by a mage trapped during the siege. The spells that may be woven could be dangerous, for in a confined space there would be no room to move away from torrents of flame, enchanted vines, or other horrors he likely could only have nightmares of.
To this point, he quickened his step, coming nearer to Nicholas. "Penswyddog, I am sure you already have had such thoughts, but what is our plans when it comes to taking out guards before they can raise alarm, as well as any traps-magic or otherwise. Assuming they could collapse the tunnel, we could always dig through-even if they collapse a large stretch, the ground would be softer and easy to dig aside. However, the blades of men are not my concern, as Haiden and <War God Name TBA> watch over me." He did a semi chest beat salute with the last bit, then continued. "I know I am not to question your plans before they are revealed in full, but do you have all this accounted for?"
-
Backdoor huh? The temple had one too. But it could only be opened from the inside. Perhaps this fortress was different. Not that it mattered. They would find a way to get inside. That was the easy part. The hard part was opening the gates, and keeping them open long enough for the main army to get in.
But these were matters to be considered after they entered the fortress, so Ishman just followed Nicolaos and Nex quietly, preparing mentally for the battle, reaching for the focus needed to perform well.
((Sorry for the short post, couldn't really come up with much. Tired... Even after 10hrs of sleep))
-
Acan was a little surprised at Nex's outburst at first. After a little thought he realized that the old mage had probably taken his comment as a sort of a challenge, even though that wasn't quite what it had been meant to be. Acan smiled slightly as he
set to follow Nex and Nicolaos. He somewhat doubted that the mage had been that much against the idea of helping them, but it seemed he'd needed a little prodding as always.
Acan wasn't too eager himself, though for different reasons. Reasons that he soon heard quite well addressed by Aidan. Though he believed that he had the means to address most of the magic that may have been woven into traps, he remained silent and rather decided to listen what Nicolaos had to say.
-
Caithair watched nex storm off with a raised eyebrow, the others may have been attempting to trick the old wizard into finding the gate, Cathair however had no such intentions, he was merely being his usual self. He did however enjoy a slight smirk at the wizards outburst, Cathair did have respect for all forms of power, but found wizards to be an irksome breed, with their arrogance and pride and the fact they always thought they were better than everyone else! Yes, the irony went straight over Cathair's head.
After the outburst he went to follow Nex when Jimmy spoke to him in his mother tongue, Cathair stopped in his tracks and stared dumb founded at Jimmy for a few moments as he tried to form a response and murmured in reply "Feicfidh mé a dhéanamh mar is mian liom" eyeing Jimmy for a few more moments before continuing, closer to the rear of the group.
-
Nex walked away from the camp and away from the castle. He didn't look back too see if they were following or not. His only focus was on finding that entrance. He tried to call back and remembering the diagram of the castle. It was hard as it had happened a few hundred years ago. Still, his focus was clear. It had been a long time since he last did something and his pain, while in agony, was far less than it used to be. Traveling with a group was definitely the right choice.
Recalling the diagram, he quickly realized which way the entrance should be and headed there. After what seemed like a 5 minute walk, Nex suddenly stopped. They had walked over quite a big hill and stood at it's root, opposite side of the castle.
"Interesting..." Nex mumbled to himself. He got down on one knee and put his hand on the ground. After what seemed like a 15 sec wait, Nex stood up. Nex turned around and found slight happiness that the group had followed him.
"It seems," Nex said in a calming voice, "that during the years, the cave entrance itself has been buried under ground. It's still enchanted with magic so we need to be careful. The entrance is about 10 meters or 33 feet if you come from the west, in that direction."
Nex pointed at the root of the hill, downward.
Nex: "It is enchanted inside on the inside and I can't draw the exact location on where inside it's enchanted but it should be close to the entrance."
After that, Nex slowly backed away. The spell Nex had cast there was a very simple trace magic, a combination of dark and earth magic. When done right, it can be easy to cast, not to mention cheap on the caster. It won't report much or any information but it can reveal empty pockets underground. The harder the ground is, the more magic you need to trace further away. To much of Nex's surprise, there was a lot of quartz minerals under him. Quartz is a hard element that can be easily enchanted. It is the number 1 common element used to magnify spells. This had helped Nex a lot in finding the entrance.
Nex slowly walked to Harold and whispered close to him: "If you could find some loose clean, pure quarts minerals, I would be really happy to get it. It could be the final piece I need for... one thing."
-
Setsuna
He watches as preparations are made to enter the cave. Nothing in particular catches his eye. Nothing really did anyway.
He waits for the moment of action.
-
Jimmy's smirk broadened at Cathair's reaction and he had to resist saying something else to the big man. After he had calmed his temptations Jimmy got up and dusted himself off. Jimmy unsheathed and resheathed all his weapons to make sure he could draw them easy if things got heated. Once he was satisfied he dusted himself off and started to trudge after Nicolaus being careful to keep some of the other members inbetween him and a dumbfounded Cathair.
-
Lissa grabbed the sword and put it on her back after that Nicolaos decided how to get into the castle and started walking behind the others in the group.
When they reached the place where the entrance should be and Nex said that it was buried underground, Lissa said "So, we have to dig up the entrance then?" and looked at Harold. As he was most suited for digging than anyone else was.
-
Maria (Sorry for lateness...)
She checks through her bag, seeing nothing to light the way as the group would walk through the underground passage. Her mind wanders as they all prepare for the trek.
"It's bright," the young Maria said. She covered her eyes from the blinding light that was found on top of the hill.
"You want to pick the irises, right?"
Whose voice was that again?
"They're bright colors!"
"What color do you like best?
When was this?
"I like the white and black one!"
She clutches her head.
"Just a headache," she whispers to no one. "Just a headache..."
-
Estia followed along with the group, watching Nex confidently walk towards what seemed to be a hill in the distance.
Any tunnel that's small and close quarters isn't good for arrow combat. Esta thought as she listened to Nex explain the characteristics of the tunnel.
She overhears Maria whisper "Just a headache" to herself, and wonders if it truly is just a headache.
[Plan dialogue with IS?]
-
Nicolaos turned his head to face Aidan. "The passage is no doubt guarded, yes. I have a plan, which hopefully allows us to take care of the guards before they can trigger any defence mechanisms. If it fails... well, we have Harold." He didn't elaborate any further, as he disliked repeating. He'd tell his plan to everyone, when it was time.
Finally Nex stopped and reached for the ground. Nicolaos waited patently, until the old mage was done looking for the entrance and explaining that it was buried. His smile was almost unnoticeable in the fading light.
"We might be in luck. If the entrance is buried, it might mean that its existence or location have been forgotten. Harold, you know what to do. Acan, follow him and dismantle the enchantments once you're close enough. They should be old and weakened, and the mage who cast them probably isn't around anymore... but nonetheless, be subtle. The entrance might be warded, and we don't want anyone inside knowing we're here."
"Nex, please stand guard. The rest of you... take a nap. We don't know what awaits us inside, we don't know how long we'll have to run, hide and fight until we reach the gates. This might be your last chance to sleep for the next two days." The soldiers among the band, especially, would know the wisdom in his suggestion. When on a mission, sleep time was a luxury you didn't want to waste. He neglected to mention that for some of them, this might well be their last chance to sleep till the Final Rest.
He followed his own advice, made a pillow out of his backpack, and laid down. Luckily, there was soft grass underneath, a rarity in these barren hills. He closed his eyes, evened his breathing, and cleared his mind. He closed his mind to the sounds of digging. Sleep took him within a minute.
-
As he lay's his head down, the Avian's thoughts turn to a simple fact.
Avian's don't belong underground. His thoughts soon turn to recurring nightmare that has haunted him for so long. His thoughts turn to his home.
Goldan, once a great and might city, now reduced to the small village it is now. A war he had fought in and the day he almost met his death. The skies were painted red from the flames, the only noise to be heard were the screams of the innocent as they met with the herald of death. At this age, not yet old enough to join the city guard, he believed he could take on the world. He was soon proved wrong in this deadly battle.
A monster had stabbed him in the back. As he lost consciousness he saw a strong man, one who seemed to shine of hope and power as the flames roared around him. He fell the monster with one swing.
He woke up in an infirmary, many men around him injured. He turned and saw that same great man, his own father.
"Virtus, Robur, Decus. When you feel the need to give up, speak these words." With that, he left me to heal.
"Virtus, Robur, Decus." Courage, Strength, Honor. Three words that would imbue him with the strength of the pride of the Avians.
He whispered these words until he was no longer afraid of the cave. He kept whispering them as he drifted to sleep, his last thought being that they seemed to be magical words.
-
A tunnel would be a poor place to use her bow, Fiona surmised as she studied the dig site. She unstrung the bow, slipping the stave into her quiver and looping the string into a small oiled pouch on her sword belt. Battle was not eminent, and she still had her sword, but leave a bow strung too long, and it loses its power. A crossbow could be left strung until needed, but she considered it to be such an inelegant weapon, and thus refrained from touching crossbows unless absolutely necessary. Kneeling comfortably, Fiona wrapped her cloak about herself, scanning the horizon for danger.
-
After checking very carefully with Nex for the exact spot, he studies the ground a bit. Making a decision, he backs away 10 feet and gestures for someone to check for magic. After getting indications there's none, he starts digging quietly and efficiently. He stops every yard for checks on magic wards. He comes across some large pieces of quarts, some twinned and twisted around each other. He pockets them for Nex and continues to carefully dig. After a period of time, he reaches the point just before the entrance way. He gestures for Nex to examine the entranceway and hands to Nex the quartz pieces.
-
Following Nicolaos's instructions, Ishman walked a short distance away, and knelt down to a deep meditation, that mimicked sleep, but kept him aware of his surroundings.
The monks rarely truly slept, finding the vulnerable state dangerous. Deep meditation kept them aware, yet replenished their strenght and mind. Though they did sometimes sleep in extreme situations, it was considered leaving yourself open for attacks. It had been months since Ishman had slept last. And it might be months until he slept again.
-
Acan grunted slightly at Nicolaos' instructions. He might have told the man something about having done the same sort of stuff for the last dozen years, but the leader's most important skill is stating the obvious, after all. Instead he gave a sigh - for missing the only chance to sleep for some time - and took out a small stone with blue veins running around it. Whenever it was brought close to magic woven to any kind of form it started to glow slightly. Simple, but it had sufficed through the years.
It was quite tedious, just watching Harold work. Of course he had to test for any kind of wards constantly, but he didn't find any. He was convinced the time would have been better spent sleeping.
Being careful did, however, pay off as he suddenly saw the stone glowing wildly. He waved Harold back and started to work on the ward without a word. The ward wasn't as weak as he would have expected. In fact, it didn't seem weakened at all from what it probably had been in it's original state, which spoke of good work. Well, at a place like this it wasn't a surprise. It took Acan a while, but after a while he stepped back nodding Harold to start digging again. Very soon they found the entrance, which itself seemed clear of any magical wards and traps.
-
Setsuna
Setsuna laid his head down onto the rather soft backpack he had been given by Nicolas. He didn't expect a nap before the mission. Nevertheless, he took it in stride.
"Goodnight, Setsuna."
A voice? He'd been hearing it for a while. But it was so soft...
He fell asleep anyway.
-
Maria
Maria is already asleep. But someone isn't sleeping. Someone is watching over her. She tends to sleep near the girls, and as a favor, she asked a certain someone to watch over them.
'George' her rather eccentric soul of a knife was enjoying watching four young looking woman sleep soundly. The slow raising of their chests, their faces contorted in whatever dreams their having.
George was enjoying himself. Maybe he'd visit a few dreams?
-
Jimmy couldnt get to sleep so he moved a short distance away from the group and placed his bag and cloak on the ground. Instead of sleeping he would use the time for preparation. Jimmy drew his katana's and gave a modified version of the Assassin's Guild's salute then started to gracefully work his way though several kata's not caring whether anyone was paying attention or not smiling the whole way through as the familar patterns revived memories of his training and his classmates, most of whom are now dead.
After a while Jimmy sheathed his katana's and started on some dagger kata's which weren't as gracefully due to the smaller blades. After working up a sweat Jimmy walked back over to his cloak and withdrew a cloth from one of the pockets and wiped himself down. Now that his practice was over Jimmy rejoined the group. Jimmy lay down closed his eyes hoping sleep would find him before they could break the entrance enchantments, if any existed, or if he was lucky before Harold discovered the entrance.
-
Lissa put the backpack on the ground and unsheathed the sword so she would have it close and easy to get hold of if something unusual happened. She watched Harold and Acan work, Jimmy preparing for when entering and the others sleep before she herself would lie on the ground and try get some sleep. She listened closely to how it went for Harold digging before falling asleep.
-
Nex looked around the group with envy. Watching one person after another fall asleep only brought further envy from Nex. While Nex was unable to sleep due to his pain, he did what he always did on those situations, stood guard.
However he always utilized every time he had spare time to run over spells in his head as well as work on magic on a theoretical scale, both large and small spells.
"Hopefully things won't come to it," Nex said quietly to no one.
((Because it's not like I will save you or anything like that if the time should ever come...))
-
Caithair nodded slightly at Nicoloas' advice, it was sound. In this line of work it was always best to take sleep when you could. Wordlessly Caithair found himself a place out of the way from the rest of the group and slowly took his equipment off, placing it upon the floor carefully. He removed his armour which took a good few minutes and then placed it next to his weapons. He went into his pack and pulled out his hipflask, taking a small swig to help him sleep and he lay upon the grass staring up at the sky.
Caithair mouthed a prayer to his god and clutched the small idol of a wolf within his palm, praying that his gods would guide him through the dangerous realm of dreams. A few minutes later he felt the weight of sleep overtake him and slipped into the darkness that would lead him into the land of dreams...
-
Enjoying the slow, melodic rhythm of Harold's digging, Estia heeded Nicolas' advice and nodded off to sleep.
-
When Harold shook him awake, Nicolaos had but vague memories of a somewhat unpleasant dream. His mother had been in that dream, and that couldn't be good. It put him in an irritated mood.
The sun was still down, and it wouldn't be up for a while yet. Nicolaos calculated that the night guards would be getting tired soon, the perfect time to suprise them would be an hour or two from now. He didn't know how long the tunnel would turn out to be, so he figured they'd better get going.
"Alright, let's get going. Since the entrance was blocked, I doubt they have guards on this end of the tunnel, so it should be safe to light a few torches." He was already rummaging his pack for one. "Listen carefully, I'll explain my plan as we walk." He found a torch and lifted it up, then flicked a finger at it. Crackling sparks of energy emerged from his finger and lighted the pitched cloth.
He led the way into the tunnel. This part was obviously manmade, the shape was mostly symmetric and there were wooden, well preserved supports at regular intervals. The air was dry and without any suspicious odours. However, the further in they went, the colder it became.
"First of all, we need to find the guards before they find us. Be wary of any traps and wards, magical or mundane. There probably aren't many of those, since this tunnel is supposed to be used by the defenders, not us, but you can never be too careful." His own eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings, especially in front of his feet. He didn't look at the people whom he was talking to. "I'm also thinking of sending Jimmy to scout ahead." The assassin could use ki to enhance his senses, and thus move outside the torchlight's range, though it would be dangerous.
"Once we do find the guards, our primary plan is to attempt to kill them before they can trigger any defence mechanisms. We'll need bows and magic. Acan targets the mage, of course, if there is one. Estia, an explosive fire enchantment on your arrow, please. Fiona, you take care of anyone reaching for a switch or anything else that looks like a trigger. I can shoot an energy arrow, but only once, I can't cast that spell in rapid succession. Nex, you're our last resort. Hopefully you won't have to do anything, but be ready for anything. If they manage to trigger a collapse, we may need some heavy magic."
"If we fail, we'll try try to get out of the way when the tunnel collapses, and once it calms down, Harold will dig us through. Any questions or suggestions?" He finally looked over his shoulder as he said these last words.
Right that moment, something clicked under his foot. A few meters further into the tunnel, five bolts shot from the roof, diagonally towards Nicolaos and the people close behind him.
-
Lissa woke up from a nightmare of her childhood in the Gool when she killed her trainer. After she had calmed herself a bit and looked around to see if the others were awake. Some were waking up and some were preparing so Lissa stood up and sheathed her sword and took up her pack. She drank some water and then waited for the others to get up.
Everyone were up and ready to go when Nicolaos started to explain what they were waiting for and what might happen inside the tunnel. Lissa walked right behind Nicolaos this time and listened to him while also listening to their surroundings to hear if something were going to happen, an ambush on them for example.
Lissa was right about to ask what they should do if the guards were waiting for them at the end of the tunnel when she heard the clicking sound from beneath Nicolaos foot and the bolts that were shot and flying towards them, she reacted quickly and pulled Nicolaos in the shoulder hard enough to get him behind her yet gentle enough to not dislocate it. She turned her back towards the bolts were she had the sheathed sword to protect herself and the others and she said loudly "Take cover!"
One of the bolts hit her leg and another bounced of the sheathed sword so it lost a lot of its force and flew in another direction towards the wall, the other bolts flew past her towards the Nicolaos and the others close to him and all she could do were to watch them get hit or not.
-
Caithair awoke from his light sleep, he had been untroubled by dreams and felt a great deal more refreshed. He repeated his ritual and slit his hand once more, feeding the pendant around his neck with his blood before gathering his things, putting his armour on and strapping his shield to his arm. He took in a deep breath and smirked, he had a feeling that today was going to be...interesting.
He followed Nicoloas at a closish distance, holding his tongue and merely listening, his eyes darting around the dark corridor, he was not a fan of small enclosed spaces, particularly when said small enclosed places could be full of all manner of traps, giant spiders and other nasty annoying things. His eyes looked the others up and down, attempting to gauge their reactions to their leaders words and he flicked his vision back to Nicoloas to shake his head and shrug at the request for suggestions when he suddenly heard a click.
Everything appeared to move in slow motion for the next few moments. He instinctively brought his shield up as he heard the familiar sound of flying arrows and bolts, crouching just as he heard Lissa shout at everyone to take cover. He felt the force against his arm and the resistance of his shield as a bolt crashed into it with a dull thud, partially breaking through the wood, a hiss of relief escaping his teeth as he realised he was unhurt.
-
As the night progressed, Nex stood silently at the exact same spot as before. Nex watched as Harold finished digging thowards the entrance and woke Nicolaos up. He listened as Nicolaos gave the order to step in the tunnel. As each one entered the tunnel, Nicolaos explained his plan. Nex's mind was elsewhere and didn't really listen to what Nicolaos was saying. Not that it mattered anyway to Nex. He could already guess somewhat what the plan was.
It was really rare for Nex to contribute to anything that befell the group. His remark before was rare, extremely rare. Even Nex himself was surprised at his actions before. But now it was night time. When night falls, dark magic grows stronger. As dark magic grows stronger, Nex's curse grows stronger with it. And with the curse came always pain to Nex.
Then that click came. That click everyone heard. Nex's saw the bolts being shot. He watched as Lissa barely pushed Nicolaos out of the danger. He also watched as Cathair instincts made him pull his shield just in time. Nex has had years to train reflexes. It came with the territory of being hunted as well as wanted in many countries. Therefore he was able to see each individual bolt and where it was headed.
One bolt actually managed to pass through the whole group. It's heading was straight towards Nex who stood in the far back. The bolt, flying at great speed, hit Nex's right side just above the waist. Because of the speed, the bolt managed to dig into Nex's body but not through the cloak. Nex was pushed back slightly by the sheer force of the bolt yet he stood his ground. He looked down at the bolt, picked it up and threw it to his side, hopefully before anyone else had noticed that Nex was hit.
Nex: "..."
Nex seemed to have had no reaction to the damage the bolt caused to his body. It was to be expected somewhat. The pain he felt through his curse had grown incredibly strong the last few hours. Being hit on the side by a bolt was little compared to what he was feeling daily. Wasting magic to deflect or protect against the bolt would have caused deeper pain to him. Nothing he couldn't manage however but he preferred not to bother using magic on such little things.
Nex looked up at the aftermath the trap had on the group. ((It's not like I ignored Nicolaos helplessness or anything like that... I would have saved him if Lissa hadn't intervened))
-
Jimmy eyes opened the moment Nicolaos spoke. He picked up his stuff and trudged along in the shadows after the rest of the group.
Jimmy started nodding as Nicolaos suggested sending him on ahead as a scout. With his Assassin's training and ki-enhanced senses it should by childs play.
Jimmy opened his mouth to ask a question just as Nicolaos stepped forward. He heard the click and Lissa's warning shout and instantly his swords were out. Although Jimmy moved as fast as he could it wasnt fast enough and bolt flashed passed his face slashing his cheek.
Grimacing in pain he looked around at the rest of the group hoping there was no serious damage of casualties.
-
Setsuna
Setsuna ducked as soon as he heard the click in the rather large, cavernous, cavern. He pulled Maria, who had been on his left down with him.
He heard the clang of bolts as some people blocked.
Once the fiasco was over, he slowly stood up, pulling Maria up with him. Only Lissa seemed injured.
He would later recall hearing the sound of a bolt hitting someone other than Lissa, but he would never find out who that bolt hit.
'Watch for traps...' he thought, snickering at the irony of the moment.
-
Darwin repeated his previous words in hopes that it would finally calm him down. Still he dreamt of his past, his near death experience, and his failure.
When Nicolaos had awoken and gave the command to enter the cave, Darwin pulled himself up and got ready as he followed the others underground.
With the damp air underneath and no visible sky above was making Darwin feel uneasy. Being an Avian it was unnatural for him to step into caves, let alone walk through a long tunnel.
Suddenly he heard the click and saw the trap. He noticed the bolt that scratched Jimmy's cheek was heading straight towards Darwin. In an instant, Darwin sprouted his wings. In the cramped tunnels he only managed to create a small gust, just enough to curve the bolt away from Darwin and into a wall. As fast as the Darwin's wings appeared, so did they disappear in same way. The only evidence left were a few feathers.
As fast as the Darwin's wings appeared, so did they disappear in same way. The only evidence left were a few feathers.
He looked around at the aftermath the trap did to the group yet showed no concern.
-
...
...
<scrape>... <scrape>... <scrapescrapescrapescrape>... <press>... <pull>... <untangle>... ... [?] <unravel [!] - scrape>
... ... <CLICK!> [twitch- ]... <~elth glother-!> ... [?] ...
For time uncounted (by it, at least) it had simply been in the eternal moment before a sound breaks the silence. There was no self, nor language... just silence. Now, there came...sounds... sensations... an unravelling...[!]...perception of movements. They held no real significance save as a difference from before them... except the click. THAT was...drawing, pulling... What had no thoughts...felt. The trap was an old, and simple one, most likely set to slay those that would use the long passage to escape a battle they should have fought to the death, to allow those who knew where and how to...pacify the traps- to escape...the reason for it's being set was unimportant, and long forgotten... but for the silence...it was change.
Perceptions of wards...triggers...passages... began to link together. Not through action...more as normal sequence of interaction between ancient spell, created space...change...and the silence. No more intended than the slow accumulation of physical cues as one begins to stir from a deep slumber, but perhaps will still not waken from...
Without a cascade of sensation following the one...two anomalies [!], the silence eased back to null...but something was definitely changing... but not truly percieved...
... ... ... yet...
-
Maria
Really, she hadn't believed in such irony. One moment, Nicolas is saying to watch for such traps, the next he's setting one off.
Maria was pushed harshly to the ground, only to notice that a bolt had been in the same spot she had been mere seconds ago. Looking at her savior, who was also on the ground, she could only quickly send her thanks.
She looked over the group, finding mostly everyone safe.
Her attention soon turned to Lissa and her leg.
-
"Alright, let's get going."
Hearing that, Ishman's eyes opened, and he "woke" from his trance. He took a deep breath, and let his Ki flow through his body, accelerating it slowly, but surely. It was the most basic of Ki-techniques. They called it Teikan Dou over here. At the temple it was called "Unsheathing the Sword", or atleast that was the most literal translation of it.
After the monk was comfortable that he had fully awakaned the ability, he stood up, and stretched out his back, arms and legs, feeling the good pain of muscles and tendons finding their limits. As he was doing that, the ki in his body flowed to his muscles, infusing them with strenght and hardening them. Ganshuu En to some, to Ishman it was "Wielding the Sword", though again the translation didn't quite match the original name.
Feeling the new ki-infused strenght in his muscles, Ishman readied himself for a fight, and followed Nicolaos, who was talking about something or other, to the tunnel. He considered waking up the Yok Dou ability, but it seemed unnecessary at this point. He'd use it when the fight would start.
Walking behind Cathair, who had a shield and thus a good person to have in front of you, the monk kept himself ready in case of traps.
"Any questions or suggestions?"
Apparently the enemy had some, as five bolts flew from a trap towards the group. But as Ishman had predicted, Cathair's shield came in use, and the monk didn't have to twitch a muscle to escape unharmed. Though he had spied a few interesting things. Like how the one bolt that had passed him had headed straight towards Nex, but by the time Ishman turned around, it was on the ground bloodied, though Nex seemed unfazed. Interesting.
-
Fiona kept watch through the hours that others spent digging or sleeping. She herself was too restless to sleep, her mind too active. She missed the sway of a ship's deck beneath her feet, the comforting groan of wood as it flexed with the tides, the warm fleece-lined hammock that had been made specially for her. Though she could be considered a combat veteran, Fiona always felt the pre-battle jitters that kept her awake. Her body could relax now with experience, but her mind remained aflutter. But, she reasoned, with everyone asleep or otherwise occupied, the group required at least one sentry. One never knows when the enemy might send the odd patrol.
The tunnel entrance was revealed eventually, and Fiona prodded Aidan with her foot to wake him. She strung her bow and rose to her feet, testing the draw and finding it satisfactory. Her dagger was loose in its sheath, secure, but easy to draw. The archer stretched a bit, warming up before the trek into the tunnel, and releasing some of the pent-up energy coiled inside her. She recalled that some warriors could harness their inner energies to enhance their abilities, and wondered if this was a similar sensation. I shall ask later, she decided as they entered the tunnel.
"Once we do find the guards, our primary plan is to attempt to kill them before they can trigger any defense mechanisms. We'll need bows and magic. Acan targets the mage, of course, if there is one. Estia, an explosive fire enchantment on your arrow, please. Fiona, you take care of anyone reaching for a switch or anything else that looks like a trigger. I can shoot an energy arrow, but only once, I can't cast that spell in rapid succession. Nex, you're our last resort. Hopefully you won't have to do anything, but be ready for anything. If they manage to trigger a collapse, we may need some heavy magic."
"If we fail, we'll try try to get out of the way when the tunnel collapses, and once it calms down, Harold will dig us through. Any questions or suggestions?" He finally looked over his shoulder as he said these last words.
Fiona merely nodded at her instructions, opening her mouth to ask whether she should try to scale the walls to open the gate (As a ship's hand, she was quite an agile climber) when she heard a <click> followed by the sharp hiss of projectiles in the air. She hit dirt, rolling to the corner where wall met floor and losing a couple of arrows in the process. She pushed herself to her feet, hissing at a sharp pain in the heel of her hand, and looked to find a cut from a stone from the floor. "It seems the enemy has first blood."
-
Slowly woken from her rest by the quiet bustling of the camp, Estia blinked, looking around the still dark encampment. She squinted as Nicolaos lit a torch, then stretched, feeling a tad bit sore after sleeping on the ground. After his briefing, she notched her bow with practiced grace and unconsciously slung the magical quiver over her shoulder. She made sure to note which of her arrows were enchanted with explosive capabilities, positioning them higher in the quiver for later.
The hole that Harold had dug was rather deep, indicating that this backdoor hadn't been used for centuries. The temperature seemed to drop a few degrees as she descended into the tunnel and she shivered a bit as she trotted along behind Setsuna and Maria. Nicolaos' torchlight felt dim up ahead, so she took out an arrow enchanted with a light spell, holding it out in front of her. It's enchantment radiated a small amount of heat and had a similar glow to the torchlight, without its customary wavering randomness.
They walked through the tunnel for a few minutes, listening to Nicolaos' briefing of the situation. Just as he had finished up, the click of a pressure plate echoed through the narrow tunnel. Estia immediately crouched down, hearing a bolt whistle past where her shoulder had been moments before. After a few agonizing seconds of silence, everyone sighed in relief, and Estia moved up towards the front of the group to check on Lissa, who had been hit in the leg. She called Maria up too, and they checked out how bad the wound was.
-
Acan stood near the entrance to the tunnel as everyone woke up and waited until most people had walked past. He joined on the tail of the group, pretty much alongside Nex. He didn't pay much attention to Nicolaos as the man gave his instructions. Acan knew exactly what was expected of him in just about any situation, and he had become very good at doing exactly as expected through the last dozen years.
Instead, Acan focused on the small stone in his, hand which would reveal any magical ward or trap on the way of the group. The rest hopefully would take care of the less familiar kind of traps, he thought... Just as someone's warning and a series of other noises reached his ears. Cursing the man set his back against the wall on his side and looked up from the stone, to see almost everyone take cover in a similar manner.
At first he thought that no bolts had come so far, but then he realized he'd heard a thud slightly behind himself and turned his eyes just in time to see Nex throw the bolt away. Acan frowned at this, but decided to say nothing in the end, knowing that Nex might not exactly appreciate any attempts to help. This wound would hardly be worse than all the others before it. The man sighed sadly at these thoughts coursing through his head as he looked at the old mage.
-
Nicolaos heard the clicking sound and felt something give in under his right foot. Instinctively he knew he was in trouble, but not knowing where the danger would come from, he froze, heart beating in his chest like crazy. The next moment Lissa reached her hand and pulled him behind her with that amazing strength of hers. Ungracefully he fell on his bottom and witnessed close-up how one of the bolts burrowed in in the unarmoured part of the half-dragon girl's leg. Luckily she had her natural scale armour, so it didn't seem to go in deep.
He turned to look behind, raising his torch higher. Two of the bolts were nowhere to be seen, hopefully flown past them all and into the darkness. One was stuck in Cathair's shield, another one lying on the floor nearby. Some of the group had thrown themselves down on the ground, but Nex, Jimmy, Darwin and Ishman were standing, Cathair and Aidan were crouched behind their shields, and Harold and Acan were flat against the walls. Everyone was moving, no one apart from Lissa seemed to be equipped with a bolt, and no one was groaning in pain.
He spotted Maria on the ground, slowly getting up and looking around. "Maria! Lissa needs a healer." Nicolaos was a decent healer himself, but Maria was much better, and so the job usually fell to her. "Anyone else injured?" he asked, standing up and looking over the group one more time.
When no one piped up, Nicolaos turned his attention back to Lissa. "Are you alright? You probably saved my life just now. Thank you. And... I'm sorry." He dared not look her in the eyes. He feared what he might see in them. This was hardly the first time someone had got hurt, but it was rarely this directly his fault. Frustrated, he shut his eyes, squeezed his free hand into a fist and hit the wall close by, cursing his carelessness. Sharp pain made him vince, but he'd not hit hard enough to risk breaking bones.
-
Lissa reached for the bolt that had burrowed itself a bit into her leg to pull it out. She muttered a few words to ease the pain while pulling it out. It didn't burrow itself deep into the leg so it was fairly easy to pull it out. Once it was out she answered to Nicolaos. "Yes, i'm alright. The bolt didn't burrow itself deep into my leg, so don't worry about it." She took her sword of from her back so she could sit down, to make it easier for Maria to heal the wound. After she had laid down the sword, Lissa sat down on the ground and started to hum a bit on a song from her childhood.
-
Nex was not pleased with the outcome. As the group went out to attend the wounds and listen to Nicolaos, Nex's focus was somewhere else. It was weird but with each step Nex had taken, his pain had grown stronger at a faster rate than it usually has. Being underground didn't help but he still felt an ominous presence. Maybe it was something in the castle or something but there was definitely a great source of black magic and Nex was walking towards it.
"Interesting" Nex thought. A presence such as this could only mean two things, both of which interested old Nex. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all to join this fight.
"I feel a disturbance in the force" Nex said.
-
Jimmy reached up to touch the cut on his cheek with a wry smile on his face while musing to himself "Maybe next time i should use Teikan Dou at the first sign of danger". After a quick look around to make sure everyone was OK Jimmy's eyes came to rest on Nicolaos.
After watching Nicolaos punch the wall in frustration Jimmy walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it to much" he said. "Its not your fault. Anyone of us could of triggered that trap". After those words Jimmy moved away and started to lean nonchalantly against the wall while Lissa's wound was healed.
-
Maria
"Please hold still Lissa," Maria said quietly. "This may hurt a bit."
She slowly began to heal the marred skin, watching carefully for any changes in the skin. Slowly, the wound began to scar over.
"It'll scar for a while," Maria informed her.
"Thank you," Lissa replied. She smiled slightly to Maria and got up towards the front of the group. Maria bit her tongue.
She had forgotten to tell her the scar might not go away.
-
Setsuna
((Sorry for delay between the two posts.))
Setsuna looked around at the group. Only Lissa had been hurt severely, yet she shook off the pain as if it was nothing once Maria had healed it. He did notice it left a nasty scar though.
'Shame...' he thought placidly. He'd keep an extra eye out for her this battle. Not that'd she actually need it.
-
“Another day... in hell...” Luna sighed as she walked through the fortress of Beil, so many eyes watching her as she just walked past but those looks were not of admiration but of fear, distrust and malice. Luna looked around carefully as she walked forward not letting on that she was watching them, watching them talk but not only that she could hear every venomous word they said as she walked through this hall aligned with pillars adorned with strange runic markings.
“These... are my allies...” Luna sighed under her breath as she had begun to think of what would happen with those distrustful and weak minded... allies of hers and that was when the thoughts flooded her mind all she could do then was let out a faint and forced smile. “I’m supposed to... protect them...” Luna thought to herself wondering why she did this just because someone had told her they needed her abilities. So as Luna leaned against one of the pillars and stood in the darkness that the pillar’s shadow had produced, she considered what she should do.
-
Darwin lost his breath for a second. He created the gust too quickly; his breath was short for such a small gust.
He walked towards the bolt as his breathing evened out.
He looked over the group, watching some run over to the injured. Almost like the war. Woman screaming, children crying, the wounded being healed as quickly as possible; death, corpses, and agony lined the streets.
He froze at the sudden thought. He shook his head as Nicolas spoke.
-
Ishman studied his companions silently, especially Nex, who seemed to have forgotten the bloody arrow shaft near him. Very interesting indeed. Should I ever fight him, I will kill him quickly, he decided.
"Shall we continue?" Ishman asked out loud, not really expecting an answer. It's not like they were going back because of scraped knees.
-
Fiona poured a bit of water from a small gourd she kept at her hip onto the wound, washing away blood and dirt. She examined the cut in the dim light but it did not seem deep nor did it interfere with the use of her hand. Tearing a strip of cloth from her already-ragged cloak - I really need to get a new one. - She wrapped it around the injured hand and tied the bandage off. It would do for now. It was best to save the healer's strength for more serious wounds. "Perhaps," Fiona suggested drily, "Our rogue should lead the way so we can avoid further inconvenience?"
-
Cathair grunted in an annoyed manner and lowered his shield, eyeing the arrow sticking out of it and bringing his arm down hard on the shaft, snapping it and pulling the head out from his shield "Bloody careless..." he muttered, mostly to himself as he looked around at the rest of the group, they seemed mostly unharmed, well, nobody was lying on the floor in a pool of their own blood screaming to their gods for mercy, which in Cathair's books that meant everyone was okay. A shame really, he would have rather liked Aiden to catch a bolt in the throat.
He turned his head to look at Fiona and a smirk crossed his lips and he turned to look at the rest of the group, saying gruffly "Aye. We could do with some 'uman shields up front. It'd save me own shield from gettin' any more holes in it." his tone actually somewhat serious as he looked at his battered scarred shield, one hand tracing the hole in it as he finished speaking, his expression one of annoyance.
-
After those who were injured shrugged off their pain, Estia calmly said "A brave group of heroes shouldn't be stalled by such petty traps. Let's continue moving." Then walked purposefully to the front of the pack, continuing on, hoping that someone would follow her lead and start the pack up again.
-
Everyone seemed to be alright aside a few minor scratches so Acan shrugged and prepared to continue. He decided to stay at the back of the group again, since he didn't have the time to watch for traps, as he was tracing for magic in the near vicinity. He was getting an ominous feeling, which got even stronger as he glanced at Nex who seemed even more removed from the world than usual, so he felt the need to be extremely careful for anything magical.
-
Nicolaos stared at his fist for a while. The knuckles were starting to bleed a little. What the hell am I doing? It's not like me to get all emotional so easily. This place must be affecting me, I don't like it. He shook his head as if to shake off the frustration, and turned to face the others.
"Right, let's continue. Jimmy, please take the lead. You're more used to spotting traps."
The further into the mountain they advanced, the colder it became. It was a bit unnatural, in fact, and Nicolaos started suspecting that magic was at play.
"Now would you look at that..." he muttered, when they finally reached a natural cave. It was a pretty large one, and it didn't seem to have a floor at all. Only a narrow bridge - perhaps not completely natural one - connected them to the other side. Crystals glowing beautiful but eerie blue light were everywhere, some even on the bridge, but most were on the ceiling. All in all, it was quite an impressive sight.
(http://i.minus.com/jbtviMKxogBXc2.jpg) (http://88grzes.deviantart.com/art/Arctic-Caverns-101074057?q=gallery%3A88grzes%2F2851871&qo=36)
-
When the wound was healed, it itched a bit but Lissa didn't pay attention to it and stood up. After picking up her sword, she walked to the others as they had started to move further into the tunnel.
As they got further into the tunnel Lissa could feel the air changing, it felt a bit out of place since it was in a tunnel she thought, but as they kept going they reached a natural cave she didn't think much of it anymore. Lissa was amazed at the sight of the cave, and the thought of how long this tunnel and cave is.
That which Lissa could see in the cave was partially covered with crystals that were glowing with a mysterious blue light. "Beautiful" she said with a small smile on the face and then she focused on the narrow bridge to see if there was any visible hinders such as traps or something else.
-
Setsuna
"It's a beautiful cave," he murmured.
And those crystals on the ceiling are interesting. Did they reflect light from an unknown source? Did they produce it themselves? No, that's not right. Inanimate objects don't have the ability to form their own source of energy...
Is it a chemical reaction? No, no! They'd just instantly deform into nothing! And chemical reactions don't just happen without their being some sort of catalyst mixing with the crystal itself at all times. Was it internal?
Ack. He'd just ignore them.
You don't question the pretty things in life.
-
Ishman ignored the pretty lights. The warrior monk was only interested in developing his abilities, and pretty lights were about as useful in combat as a single feather. Which is to say, none at all.
Besides, the monastery was a top a large(ish) mountain, and the view was, quite literally since the air was slightly lighter there, breathtaking. Though Ishman only though so because of it's defensive capabilities. A score of grandmas could hold the monastery for days. A small army of warrior monks? For eternity.
"We should start heading upwards soon." Ishman declared, as if no one else would have figured that out. Warrior monks, real assholes the lot of them.
-
Nex dragged his ragged body forward. His body didn't exist and this earthly body was only a carrier. Yet despite the pain and weakness in his body, his mind was far from being weak. Feeling the looming omnipresence all around only made his curiosity grow.
Finally they got to the cave's opening, and the view was quite something. The glow the crystals were emitting provided a peaceful illuminance. The light was only visible to the naked eye, but there was something else. Nex could feel his pain slightly fade. From this illuminance, Nex slowly straightened himself up and opened his arms, as if trying to catch the rays from the crystals. Embracing it even.
"Well that's a rare sight," Nex said out loud. During all his travels, to come upon these crystals here? A very rare encounter.