Character Dig Site

[Tomb: Bottom of Pit]

Rune's response as he was lifted to his feet was very quiet, a low muttering, as much to himself as it was to al Faddil. "And so the war is won... the grade is made... and someone's eyes have seen... once... what lies at the very... bottom... of that dark, dark cavern. ...Even as they are snuffed out... it is not before they have seen... not before they have known. Because... they... put... forth. En... sjanse..."

Rune strained to breath out his last few words, then stopped. It was becoming too difficult for him to speak at all, let alone speak and make sense. He used his energy to bite a chunk out of the chocolate bar, and chew.

I'm going to assume that the chocolate bar is open, otherwise, well... Rune is a ravenous animal.





[Tomb: Outside of Lair] —> [Tomb: Nearing Branching Hallway]

Tucker stopped walking and looked thoughtfully at Knives. He glanced past the boy to make sure that they were what seemed a reasonable distance away from possible danger, then looked back at Knives and considered his question. He wasn't sure how to respond— his life had been eschewed from the norm rather recently. Or... perhaps it hadn't been such a recent turn. Even before what had happened to Joseph, there had been an air of strangeness- a string of strange occurrences leading to it. And even before that... Tucker couldn't imagine that the passing of his last parent, and the encumbrance that had come with it, was an event experienced by someone leading a normal life.

He didn't have a good answer for Knives, but Tucker felt like he should say something, so he opened his mouth uncertainly, and said, "I'm twenty two, but I... I'm not sure that I'm the best person to tell you how a normal person lives. It's not so much that I've got a 'dark' past as you put it, but events in the present have kind of sent what I considered to be my somewhat normal life for a spin— this event included. Half the people here look like they're dressed up in elaborate Halloween costumes, but to them, and to the world, and—by that extension—to me, it's all been quite real. At least, as far as I've seen." Tucker paused, then added with amusement, "But hey, there could be a faker out there, just going along with whatever is thrown at them, because they look the part."

He smiled to himself, then realized that what he said could easily be applied to Rune's schtick as the chief Egyptologist. This realization lead Tucker to cough nervously, a rather pointless gesture; of everyone at the dig, Knives was probably the least likely to be aware of Rune's fib in the scheme of things. Still, Tucker changed the subject to another realization he'd made, "Plus-" he said, "There's the ever-present possibility that you and I don't even come from the same world. That seems to be a common theme around here anyway. What if... what if I told you that my skin is bright blue, and that it's very normal- very common to have bright blue skin?" He shrugged, "It kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? Unless you're still just curious."

edited 13th Jan '13 4:39:38 AM by Ryuhza

[Outside of lair]

The hallway was longer than Marion had expected it to be, but mostly quiet. Good? Bad? She wasn't sure. She couldn't feel anything particularly powerful further down, but then her arcanoception wasn't exactly the greatest. God himself might be at the end and she probably wouldn't be able to feel him.

She abruptly came upon two figures, which it took her a moment to recognize: Tucker and Knives. "So," she asked rather nonchalantly, "seen anything powerful down there?" She flicked her flashlight beam down the hallway. "Because I'm going to try to talk to it."

As she spoke, Marion examined the two. They didn't look wounded at all. They weren't running in terror from anything. They seemed sane enough. In fact, for all she knew, they might have been leaving this place because they were simply bored, as opposed to seeing a soul-devouring evil. The thing being both malevolent and potent was looking less and less likely every minute.

[Branching Hallway/Corridor/Outside of Lair]

Still walking with Marion and the others, Marina had since picked up the pace of her walk to catch up with the others. Even if they didn't trust her much, she was still, in all likelihood, safer as a part of the group than as a straggler. The ominous feeling Marina had sensed upon entering the temple was only getting stronger as they walked along - perhaps unwisely - in the general direction of whatever was supposedly generating this feeling in the first place. The intensifying feeling set her on edge, but what was more bothersome was that she couldn't tell exactly where - or what - the feeling was originating from. Obviously it was something from the general direction they were headed in, but that wasn't very helpful. At this rate, it could be anything. Or nothing; maybe the temple itself just had bad karma, so to speak. That didn't seem very probable, but this whole scenario was pretty improbable, so she tried to refrain from imagining too many predictions...

After a little walking, they came upon two others; a Terran female and... Some other guy. A strange man, to say the least, what with his scarred face and odd trinkets. But at least he looked Terran. Though, at this point, she really wasn't sure. Oddly, though, no-one seemed to greet them... Very shortly afterwards, they came upon another two people. Oh good. She thought, rather sarcastically. More people I don't know.

"I take it you all know each other?" She said, piping up again after walking along in relative silence for the past few minutes. She hoped to make a good impression on some of these new people; it was bad enough to have Marion and whoever was in those bulky suits of armour suspicious of her, the last thing she wanted was four more sets of suspicious eyes watching her.

[Outside the Lair]

"Know would be a strong term. I recognize them," the armor replied. "I don't know them. Even names." The armor looked to Marion. "Do we want to put a shooter on point when we go through the door, or somebody less likely to provoke a reaction?"

[Pit Interior]

"You may have trouble keeping up with a flight mage in a hurry," al-Faddil replied, pulling back more of the bar's wrapper as he maneuvered himself and Rune under the way out. "Rune, I'd close your eyes, indoors flight is not fun to watch and less fun to do. Smoke: Retrograde."

"Specify distance and speed," that was much louder than before, the whispery tone gone for one much closer to a normal conversational.

edited 14th Jan '13 9:35:57 PM by Night

[Tomb: Bottom of Pit]

Rune, mouth full of chocolate, closed his eyes and made a distinct confirmatory, mmhm noise. However, he peeked an eye open when he heard another voice coming from something on al Faddil's person, or so it seemed. Some sort of radio communication, maybe. But the voice was surprisingly clear; clearer than any Rune had ever heard over a radio.

He swallowed what he had, but didn't say anything and shut his eyes again, one eyebrow slightly raised. Rune briefly considered going for more chocolate, then imagined what it would be like to perform the alleged 'no fun' flight while chewing on something. He decided against the idea.





[Tomb: Outside of Lair] Though further away than before, I guess.

Tucker waited for a moment, then turned and started walking again, Knives in tow, saying, "C'mon, we should get all the way out of here- hey! Marion!" He grinned in the dark as he recognized the reptilian person behind the glare of a flashlight. She was with company too, though Tucker couldn't tell if it was anyone he knew well through the dim light.

"Oh geez, am I glad to see you people!" Tucker was surprised at just how far his happiness extended. With the presence of the other members of the dig, those more suited for encounters with the dark and dangerous, he didn't feel quite so vulnerable. "Ah... yes, we did run into something very large and creepy just down that way." He pointed back towards the way they had come, "Didn't stick around long enough to see whether it was powerful or not— Knives and I weren't particularly interested in announcing our presence. Oh- but if you've talked to that Shaman, he seemed to think it was pretty bad news- at least from what I could tell. Still hazy on the details."

When Marion casually revealed her plan, Tucker was still feeling too giddy to do much but shrug and smile, saying enthusiastically, "If you want to talk to it, sure! Go ahead and try." He looked back at Knives and patted his shoulder, "We're definitely in the clear now Knives."

An unfamiliar voice spoke up, asking whether they all knew each other. Tucker tried to see who was speaking, but it was too difficult to tell behind Marion's flashlight, and he figured it wouldn't be in good form to shine his own light in their eyes, so he just answered. "Uh- somewhat. Loosely. Don't ask me for names though!"

edited 15th Jan '13 12:23:58 AM by Ryuhza

[Tomb: Outside of Lair]

Okay, what's going on now? Apparently they bumped into a group of people, which included Marion, but Knives didn't know who else.

"Tucker, are you okay?" he asked quietly, feeling that this needed to be addressed before resuming their conversation, because he wasn't sure if this level of cheeriness was entirely appropriate. He always saw to it that he was the only one allowed to be innappropriately chipper at any given time.

[Pit interior]

Everyone was held aback when they heard the voice. It was so clear, they had thought someone else had been near them.

Huh. Thomas thought, Funny. Not even in our dimension do we have one of those. It feels like we're really behind.

Snapping out of his shock, John cleared his throat to answer al-Faddil. "We'll be fine. Do what you have to. Adam, you do have the materials to bring us back up there, right?"

Adam nodded.

"You two be careful." Thomas said, "If anything happens, contact us immediately."

[Tomb: Outside of Lair]

Tucker glanced briefly at Knives, a look of confusion upon his face. "Wha...? What do you mean? Of course I'm okay; we're just about safe from that thing down there and whatever it plans to do." He spoke quietly, a questioning edge in his tone. "And what's more, now we've got a nice group of people who want to go confront it— or, talk to it rather, but, you know... whatever works."

He leaned against a nearby wall and folded his arms, smiling slightly, though still with a look of confusion in his eyes. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

[Outside of lair]

"Right," said Marion to Tucker. She glanced down the corridor, thinking a bit. If they had seen it, and were unaffected by anything... "Yes, you'll definitely be fine," she said, half to Tucker and Knives, and half to herself. Okay, so it wasn't certain, but it was looking more and more likely all the time.

She turned to the armor. "No, I don't think so," she said. "Based on everything I've seen, it's most likely not malevolent, so sticking the big guns out front would only drive down its first impression of us, and you know how important those are." Right? "I'll head out first, but if you have any reasons as to why I shouldn't, go ahead. I don't want to miss something that would prevent my death or insanity."

[Pit Interior]

"Speed: Subsonic 3. Distance: 700 meters. Stop for living obstacles," al-Faddil said.

"S3 700. Ready to execute."

al-Faddil grimaced and looked up the hole. "Execute."

And he was gone, taking off like a rocket.

[Outside the Lair]

"I wouldn't even ask if I thought those were a likely outcome," the armor replied. "In the event that changes, stick with Seven. She's likely to handle anything brainbreaking better than the rest of us." It pointed to the smaller suit it had earlier posted to shadow Marion, with the grey "7" over its right chest.

edited 16th Jan '13 9:25:15 PM by Night

[Outside of lair]

Oh, well, fantastic. Marina thought. We barely know each other's names, never-mind our motivations or trustworthiness, but hey, let's venture into a dark and probably dangerous tomb together anyway. Again it occurred to her that she was equally guilty of doing exactly that, but she still wasn't pleased with the situation. "Well, if anyone's interested, my name is Marina." She said, simply, addressing the newest additions to their adventuring party.

"And while I'm at it," She continued, turning to address Marion and the armours. "What makes you think this thing - whatever it is, we don't even know - is even capable of speech, much less speaking a language we understand? I mean, did I miss something? Was there a voice from the darkness, or writing on the walls?" Marina was not a big fan of the 'go talk to it' plan. Whatever was in this tomb, she was confident that it was bad news.

[Branching Hallway]

Okul watched the others leave and glanced at Haruka. "I say we follow. Unless you have a better idea."

[Outside Lair]

Raptor and — hesitantly — Blossom followed Marion to the outside of the lair. Raptor said, "a rather strange place. Anybody here familiar with the architecture?"

"Orderly," Blossom muttered. "And there the similarities to our own constructions end..."

"Indeed," Raptor said. "Lots of magic here. I can still smell its..." a warning glance from his wife caused him to change his words, "...distinctive aroma permeating the place."

[Outside the Lair]

"I suppose we could...but generally it is not such a good idea to go waltzing in, playing 20 Questions with eldritch entities," Haruka said, "But perhaps Cain is there."

[Pit Interior]

Kaidza gazed dumbly at al-Faddil, shooting up like a rocket. Damn, wouldn't it be awesome to be able to fly?

She took an unconscious step backward, and the crystal, somewhat sweaty in her grip, suddenly lit up, scaring her. She spun around to see a grinning skull, the remains of its body tangled upon the rocks. There was something in the skull's expressionless face that frightened Kaidza...something in it that made her think that the grinning skull was actually screaming in agony.

She gasped, and stepped back, feeling the pounding of her heart. She glanced at her crystal, which was glowing a dark grey color. Curse, but where?

She looked at the dusty corpse, and saw in its grip was an iron pendant, in the shape of an ankh. Strangely, while the skeleton was dusty, slightly covered in ancient cobwebs, the ankh pendant was not. No dust covered its dull metal, no rust tarnished its polish. Kaidza lifted the crystal closer to the pendant, where it glowed even brighter.

[Tomb: Bottom of Pit] —> [Upwards]

Rune had only seconds to wonder just how fast a speed 'Subsonic 3' was, before al-Faddil's "Execute" took extraordinary effect. They took off too suddenly for Rune's body to brace for anything, and he was caught up with just half a breath in his lungs. The unceremonious leap from the ground was made all the more unpleasant by Rune's lack of immediate sight— or so he imagined. Already, he had decided to avoid indoor flight with al-Faddil in the future, if at all possible. All he could do for the time being was clench his teeth, keep his eyes shut, and wait for them to reach the top.





[Tomb: Outside of Lair]

Tucker shrugged at Knives, then turned back to Marion, his smile returning to his face. He felt that in the darkness, it was easier to look at Marion without feeling nervous or fidgety— though he had no doubt that his still very prominent relief helped this feeling along. She was still a very strange sight to his eyes, but Tucker felt as though he could grow—and was growing—accustomed to it.

"Fantastic, fan-tastic." He said, nodding, "Sounds as though you've got everything covered- mmm, more or less. Good luck in there!" Tucker looked at the someone named Marina, and told her, "Well Marina— a pleasure to meet you by the way— you should know that there was a voice- a voice that I believe did come from the thing down in that room. It didn't have much to say, and it didn't seem all that friendly, but we were able to understand it." he thought for a moment, eyes up towards the darkened ceiling, "At least, I was able to. The thing didn't necessarily speak aloud, but in here." Tucker tapped his forehead, offering a wary and sideways smile. "Good luck."

With that, he put his flashlight away and stuck his hands in his waistcoat pockets, leaning forward to watch as the large group proceeded towards the lair of the spindly dark horror, and whatever that encounter was to hold.

edited 21st Jan '13 3:52:24 AM by Ryuhza

[Outside the lair]

"Well, there you go," said Marion to Marina. "And let's suppose we didn't know that we could understand it. It's still worth a shot, because there's always a chance that we would understand it. And there are other ways of communication besides talking, you know. And then there's the possibility that something as powerful as that doesn't communicate by language in the strictest sense, but more like thought specifically so that it can always be understood."

She turned to the armor. "Glad to hear it." She glanced down the corridor; there seemed to be a room of some kind not too far down. "We're in it now, aren't we?" she said to no one in particular. Taking a deep breath, she continued down the hall.

[Pit interior]

"...Damn." Nick said as al-Faddil and Rune took off. His father then smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow!"

"Language." Thomas said, "Now, that leaves..." He pointed and counted at the people left. "...Five of us. Has anyone else gone into the pit before we got here?"

Jackson shrugged, before turning to Amu. "You haven't said much since we've been down here. Do you want a recap or something?"

[Pit-Upwards]

al-Faddil was right. John had no idea how he was going to keep up with that man. At least he knew the way back, fortunately.

He pulled out his grappling hook and shot it up, letting cling to edge. Then he grabbed Adam's arm and pulled them both up to the top. He only hoped nothing goes wrong when they get there.

[Tomb: Outside of Lair]

Knives wanted to say something like "OH GOD NO DON'T DO IT" but he had a feeling they weren't going to listen. He instead waved feebly at the general direction of the group. "Uh, yeah, good luck and stuff... Tucker, did we have a plan for doing something? I forgot what it was."

[Outside the lair]

Marina sighed softly but went along anyway. There's also a chance it's some horrific, malevolent being that will try to eat us alive - or worse. She thought, rather pessimistically. Still, she figured it might be safer with the braver, more capable people than with the seemingly frightened and helpless ones. She wasn't thrilled about going into this lair, especially since she couldn't sense if there was any kind of danger ahead; something in or about this tomb seemed to be impeding her, but increasingly she suspected that whatever was in there with them wasn't just guarding a few gold trinkets. There must be some artifact of significant power in this dusty old hole - why else would the place have such a distinctive presence?

{Yes, it's the reason I found you interesting enough to speak with in the first place. You had that certain unmistakeable air of age about you.}

The conversation slipped into chilly silence, which allowed a building sensation at the back of the Lich's mind float it's way to the front. It sensed others nearby.

The Prince of Decay became aware of a gathering of people just outside the entrance to it's prison chamber. Strangely enthused, it turned with terrifying speed and dexterity to face the exit, unfolding itself once again both physically and supernaturally, reaching the tendrils of it's arms and it's influence out to envelop the crowd.

It transmitted a telepathic message through the aether and into the minds of each of them.

{New blood! Yes- yes! Come in come in come in!}

Elisif kept her pace near the front of the group at Marion's side, having evidently cooled off since her confrontation with Blossom. If one was observant, she could still be seen shooting dirty looks at the alchemist, but other than that she behaved normally.

It looked as if they were about to make a move into the creature's lair proper, so she checked her weapon and found it satisfactory before tapping her employer on the shoulder.

"Hey boss, I've got a bit of experience with this. If whatever is in there is undead, don't believe that bullshit about shooting them in the head- it'll do jack. Zombies aren't exactly known for using their brains, and anything undead that's bigger than a zombie is probably going to have the part of it that thinks somewhere outside of it's body. Phylactery if it's a Lich, that sort of thing."

Suddenly, that awful feeling roiled through Elisif once again, stronger and somehow different. This time, words accompanied the sensation. She flinched and recoiled from the inelegant contact, clutching at her head with both hands.

"Marion! It's in my head!"

[Lair]

"Maybe," said Marion as they entered the room, "but even if that doesn't kill them, they wouldn't be able to see for sh-"

Immediately, the sensation rolled over her, the words getting pushed into her head. As far as Marion could tell, it wasn't hostile or trying to read her mind; the presence was just really bad at gauging a comfortable force for their minds, partially because it was so big. Her steps faltered a little, but she kept walking. "Try to stay calm," she muttered to Elisif. "I'll see what I can do about this."

Finally, Marion got a look at what they had been searching for. Given everything she had experienced today, she wasn't that shocked, but she hadn't expected it to be so... noodly. Its center of gravity was rather high; unless there was magic supporting it, a good, solid poke could knock it over. Its "face" was a mix between disconcerting and trying-too-hard.

But it still wasn't soul-shattering or obviously malevolent, and it seemed pleased to see them. So... "Ai," she said to the thing, as calmly as she could, "you mind pulling back a little with that? Houseguests don't like oppressive forces on the mind. They tend to put a bit of a damper on conversation."

The Lich cocked it's head, staring with empty, sightless eyes at Marion for a brief moment. Then, with theatrical aplomb, it gave what it must have thought looked like a gracious bow but actually appeared as a vicious glower. It's rubbery arms spread out to indicate the chamber's ample space, welcoming the party to step inside.

"So sorry! Apologies- my extended period of incarceration has left me unaccustomed to physical speech." The Prince of Decay spoke with an actual voice now, transmitting it's words through sound vibrations in the air rather than directly into the recipient's minds through the aether. His mouth didn't move when he spoke, indeed he gave no outward indication he was speaking at all, but the sound of the words did emanate from his body as far as any of the listeners could tell. It sounded odd, muted and somewhat tinny. Unreal.

Elisif swallowed hard, and stayed silent, her eyes wide with something approaching panic.

[Pit]

Amu shook his head and said, "no, no. Sorry I didn't help — I ain't an apothecary." He shrugged then, showing no fear, went up to the ankh and examined it. "Well," he said, "dunno what it is. But it apparently wasn't much help for," he glanced up at the skull, "that poor bastard." Speaking to nobody in particular, he asked, "whaddya reckon?"

[Outside the Lair —> Lair]

Blossom squeezed her husband's hand tightly as the psychic wave passed through her, and her breath grew fast and ragged with fear.

"Do not worry," Raptor said, "I will not let it harm your beautiful mind."

Blossom nodded in silent thanks, and they moved, staying very close, into the lair.

Then Blossom got a look at the Prince of Decay itself. And fear gave way to a mixture of awe and fascination. "Incredible," she muttered. "Absolutely incredible."

"Dear?" Raptor said, suddenly worried. But he could not feel it affecting her mind.

"Look at it," she said. "Really look at it! Humanoid structure, but what it's done with the form... hmm, I do wonder..."

Raptor cleared his throat and said, "remember... whatever else it is, it is magical, and it is dangerous."

[Lair]

Hearing Elisif call whatever was ahead of them 'undead' piqued Marina's curiosity. Gaining such control over 'life', as it were, to the point where death itself could be thwarted was a talent that had managed to elude her... For now, at least.

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, as a terrible chill travelled down her spine. Whatever ominous presence existed within this tomb, it was awake now - and talking to them, no less. Marina's mind became sealed off against any more unwanted telepathic contact; defending against attacks of the mind, so to speak, was a skill set Marina possessed, though admittedly, not one she had to practise regularly.

It was a truly ugly thing, whatever it was, and although it appeared to be largely comprised of some bone-like material, she doubted it was as frail as it seemed. It's behaviour was odd, as well; inviting them in like house-guests to some friendly get-together. What did it want with them, she wondered. Warily, she stepped inside at the back of the group, quietly unclipping one of the metal cylinders attached to her belt and gripping it tightly in her hand.

[Lair]

"Right," said Marion, nodding. So far, so good. Assuming it's genuine, of course. It could just be playing nice to get us to let our guards down, but then if it is, then it's probably not powerful enough to take us head-on. Wish its voice sounded less like it was coming out of a bad speaker, though. It's too... not... fitting.

In any case, Marion decided to proceed as if the thing was telling the truth. "You didn't need to go that far," she said. "Just a bit less oppressive. Less forceful." She sighed. "Still, I won't pretend that I prefer it this way."

Out of habit, she straightened her clothes a little, as if she was meeting a CEO. "So, to whom do I owe this pleasure?" As much as it could be otherwise, Marion wasn't completely lying; she was a little excited about this, particularly since the whatever wasn't obviously hostile. Can't get completely caught up in it, though. I need to stay sharp.

edited 23rd Jan '13 8:13:35 PM by TeraChimera

[Tomb: Outside of the Lair]

Tucker shook his head as the sizable group moved on by. He unfolded his arms and sighed, unsure of what to do next. Knives' question seemed to echo his thoughts, as well as bring the rest of his mind back into focus.

Tucker chewed his lip, looking at Knives. "Hmm... well, we came here to..." He paused, his mind going blank. The appearance of the thing downstairs, and all that had ensued from it's presence, had shoved a hard wrench in the gears of his mind. That's what fear will do, he supposed. It took him a long moment to recollect their purpose, and in recalling the entire 'encounter' with the horror, Tucker felt a little embarrassed at his cowardice, but... he had a lost, blind kid— well, teen, to look after. Running headlong into danger was irresponsible. Even confronting something unknown and potentially dangerous was irresponsible.

These thoughts made Tucker feel a little better. He shook them away with a shake of his head, and a self-aware smile—leaking into the tone of his voice. "We came here to find my buddy Rune, but I suppose he's long since left. At least I hope he would have the sense to, no one knows what that thing wa- eeeyug!"

Tucker shuddered suddenly and quite forcefully, the 'thing' downstairs was speaking to him again— to everyone. He recovered from the surprise, but the words left by the horror kept him from being at ease. The use of the term "New blood"— not a necessarily bad or sinister term, Tucker thought, if used under a different set of circumstances—accompanied with it's eagerness for them to approach, did not bode well with him.

He looked at the group, who seemed for the most part unfettered by the mental greeting. He didn't feel good anymore. His confidence in the group's endeavor waned. Tucker was worried, but the formation had already descended the stairs. He put a hand to his forehead and groaned, "Ohhhhh..."