As the rocky outburst from Hanno's spell disrupted the creatures' advance, Madison saw an opening Shuffling her deck once more and pulling an energy potion off her belt, she surmised that she had enough time to go for broke. The witch drew seven cards and arranged them in a circle on the rocky ground. Closing her eyes, she began to silently speak the incantation. The cards flickered to life, consumed by dancing amethyst flames that appeared to absorb the light around them. This was going to take a while. Madison wrapped up the incantation as the spell drew in more and more power from the world around them. "This is gonna' take a minute, can you all buy me some more time?"
Well it seemed that the group was able to recover from Noah’s mishap. They were able to make a stand at the base of the cavern, with Noah’s range attacks wounding most of the beasts and Futaba’s powerful melee strikes, each creature would succumb one way or another. Their resident witch seemed to be cooking up something rather nasty for their cold blood friends. Without taking his concentration away from the enemies before them, Noah would respond to Madison. Easy Peasy, leave this to us while you get all your ducks in a row!” With that, Noah notched into his bow several arrows at once before letting them loose right into the chests of several lizards. Thankfully Futaba kept them at bay with his attacks or the lizard men would surely be trying to claw their ways into Noah’s throat. While he wouldn’t verbally rush Madison, he was sending out lots of mental thoughts into her direction. Witches spells took time to prepare and cast. He only used his aeromancy for a few party tricks here and there. When pushed came to shove, he’d much rather rely on his bow and arrow than the wind and lighting.
"RIGHT!" Hanno answered blasting off toward the creatures, slamming powerful blows on them and catching their attention as much as he could, covering @Madison Freebird while being covered by @Noah Krane arrows. He worked his best to hold the monsters back, blocking their paths with the shield and pulling a few that were able to go past him with the Shield's tentacle that simply slammed the creatures on the ground. There were still too many to fight though, and he was getting attacked from every side enduring as much as he could. "YOU WON'T PASS!" He threw another slam with the shield on the lizard aberration, before looking back to see the woman doing the last summons for her spell. 'Now, let's make these monsters disappear forever!' He clenched his teeth and raised his hand that had a brightful and burning fire emerging. RADIANT HOLY BLAZE The sacred blazes flew from his hand going toward the woman while surrounding her and wrapping together with the spell, boosting even more the already powerful energy that was being concentrated. After throwing the white magic, Hanno gave a last slam on a monster that charged at him and jumped out of the Madison's way, letting all the creatures at her mercy.
Almost there. Just a little bit more. A liiiittle bit mooooore-- The amethyst and green runes of the ritual circle flared to life, illuminating the witch. Her face contorted in guts and effort as she continued to pour magic into the spell. The world around her reached out and grabbed hold of her very being. Her vision began to flash. And then she saw it. A landscape so unspeakably beautiful and pristine. A pathway choked in green mist leading through an endless forest. Flowers in bloom, insects dancing between them. Beasts unlike any she had witness before in Terrasphere. Off in the distance, a faint voice hollered, "You won't pass!" ...and then, it was all gone. Madison's eyes shot open, and she shot daggers at Hanno. "Did you really just mess that quote up, you little dweeb?" Magic surged through the witch's fingertips as the spell neared completion. She held on as the circle tried to pull every last ounce of energy and strength it could from her body. The runes flashed even brighter, and soon the world around them began to shake. The incoming wave of lizard beasts paused, heads whipping around in confusion, barking at one another while their doom swiftly approached. A wall of thick, thorny stalks burst underneath their paws, sending several of the creatures flying into the air. Branches emerged from the trunks, spreading out over the mob, pushing them back further into the cave. From each of these branches, bulbs grew and blossomed into flowers with petals as dark as night. With each bulb that popped open, a burst of poisonous gas began to float into the cluster of reptilian beasts. It was like a massacre. The cloud of death slowly grew and grew, washing over the beasts as they scrambled over one another, their squaking and hissing growing more and more desperate. Scales peeled away from hide as their flesh boiled and rotted away. Madison slowly stood up as the ritual circle faded into the rocky earth at her feet. "Might wanna' stand back for a bit," she commented off-hand.
Madison’s concoction seemed to be all ready to go. Noah didn’t argue with the woman’s command to stand back, who knew what sort of attack she was about to unleash. She had taken a few moments to prep the spell of hers. Noah had found that typically the longer the incantation for a spell, the more power there was behind it. While he only used his aeromancy for minor things, a lightning bolt here, a gust of wind there, he had seen some strong magic users really using it to its fullest a handful of times. He whispered under his breath a minor spell of his own causing the wind to gather around his legs and his body. With a simple push off from the ground he was able to go somewhat airborne and lept back quite some distances from his starting position. His bow was still gripped tightly in hand and his eyes scanned the cluster of lizards for any stragglers or wiley ones that might be able to escape the massacre that Madison had brewed up. The woman was clearly a witch of some sorts attuned to nature. Roots grew from beneath the ground, thorns dug into the flesh of the beasts, the whole area was quickly a twisted version of Eden. The creatures screamed in horror as they were all disposed of one way or another. Noah was both horrified but engrossed in the scene before him, this woman, she was no joke. He lowered his bow and walked back towards the party. “Well, that was not how I was expecting this morning to go...Think we got them all?” He said in an inquisitive and slightly nervous tone. Part of him knew that the group would need to continue their exploration of the cave system but he’d much rather call it a day on the cave and go find a nice shaded tree to relax under. Since Madison had more or less taken the role of the party’s leader he’d wait for her commands.
The Faerin was already far enough because he jumped out of @Madison Freebird way Completely in vain because it wasn't necessary. So when the woman said to the stand back, all he did was move a few steps backward... And it was for the best, because whatever that gas was, it didn't look comfortable to breath. "Well, that's some new level of sulfur mustard." Hanno stepped away even more just to make sure, as the Shield kept staring at the agonizing monsters intently. After making sure that no creature was moving anymore, he walked to @Noah Krane and the woman so they could regroup. Looking at the man, Hanno grinned. "I'm sure it did. Ms Freebird here sent everyone away to never come back... But they don't look like the type of creatures that know their place. So I wouldn't let my guard down here." The Faerin looked at everyone. "So, what's next?"
Madison took a look at the death field before her. The ritual circle had fully burned away. The thick wall of briars began to recede back into the rocky earth. The cloud of poison slowly dissipated, coating the walls of the cavern and the decaying, bubbling corpses that littered the path. The witch clicked her tongue, eyes glued to the scene ahead of her. "We leave." She glanced down at the faerin, a tired look in her eyes. The massive spell took a lot more out of her than she thought it would. "I... I think I might've gone a bit too hard on that last spell, actually." Sure, everything was dead; but it was entirely possible that she tainted the entire cave with the poisonous gas. The toxins would linger everywhere, in the damp air, on the slick rocks, in the bones of the dinobeasts piled up at their feet. "Nobody's going to get past this mess for a good while," she said as she ran a gloved hand through her messy mop of black hair. "Besides, there's always the chance that this was only a sort of protective front guard. I've never seen these beasts, so I can't say I know their nesting or societal habits. They could be the whole lot of them, or they could just be a small pack of males defending the females and babies further in." Turning on her feet, she added, "Either way, I'd rather not take my chances. This cave's a write-off. Let's get the hell outta' here."
It seemed that Madison was less willing to reenter the cavern this time around, which was perfectly fine with Noah. “Well, we did find a region for them, so they can’t be too upset right? I’m sure other scouting parties probably will stumble upon other dangerous areas out there.” The party started to make their way back towards the camp. Noah couldn’t help but wonder if most of the creatures in this area of the world would be as dangerous as those beasts. Alone they didn’t seem like much an issue but once they teamed up it became a problem. It was slightly ironic though, seeing how most players would be easy to pick off if they were alone but in a group they became quite formidable. Noah made sure to keep his sensing abilities on high alert on their walk back to the base camp. He’d rather not get ambushed by another weird looking creature today. It was also allowing him to take note of all the new plant life that this region of Terrasphere held. Due to his herbology skill set he might be able to come back here and farm some rare herbs that had yet been oversaturated in the marketplace. Once the party made their way back to the camp, Noah filled out the reports that were requested of him by the head of the camp and made his way out of the encampment and back towards the forests of the new region. He had spied some mountains on their return home. From down below he was able to make out the shapes of some sort of avian creatures flying up there, perhaps he might be able to climb up there and tame one of the new region’s creatures?
'Normally I don't like to back out like this. But this situation seem much more complex than we thought it would be.' The Faerin nodded at Madison's decision to leave that place, after all it wasn't like they failed or anything, they did explore the cave enough to find out it wasn't a safe place. At least this secured that no one would be attacked by surprise there anymore, as they will know that something rather sinister probably lives deep inside that cave. The Faerin stared with some sort of corcern at @Madison Freebird, seeing her tired expression. But along with this concerned look, a smile of admiration covered his lips. "You went too hard, but thanks for you good work! You did great!" Hanno nodded, turning to @Noah Krane. "You too Noah, you covered us really well!" He gave a last cheer to his comrades, before finally leaving the cave with them. On their way to the camp, the Faerin couldn't let go the curiosity about what exactly those monsters were... They had this constant hostile aura around them that would made any normal person have chill on their spines, and they were extremely violent, though they were somewhat fragile as individuals. Also... Those claws marks on the rock wall, that thing wasn't something to be taken lightly, if those aberrations actually striked a blow on one of them, they would probably get gravely injuried. 'The strength of the impact on my shield too.' He frowned while rubbing where the claw hitted, if his shield were to be mundane, it would have probably been destroyed. After finally reaching the camp, Hanno also had to take some report, and by the end of the report he made sure to list it as a "Very Dangerous Area" and "Unsuitable for Mining Activities" at least until those creatures were removed or completely exterminated from the area. Finally finishing the report, the Faerin gave his goodbyes for his comrades and moved out of the camp. Stepping out of the tent, a cold breeze made him shiver a bit. "Brrr... Cold" He rubbed his hands on each other to get some heat, before suddenly a private message popped up on his UI. Surprised, he opened it seeing it was a message from one of his friends, requesting him to meet them as soon as possible. "Hm, I think I won't have time to get some snacks..." He covered his hands under his sleeves and began walking away for his next destination.
