Silent stood there, eager to engage in combat but knowing that at his level, it would be suicide. But there had to be something he was capable of? Some way he could help? Was he nothing more than a mouse among the giants surrounding him? In spite of his name, he felt like little more than a pebble besides the stream. Merkaba at least seemed confident enough in her abilities to sit back idly and not feel shame or guilt. Her magic made her an asset from the rear, and a viable one at that. The most his magic could do was... Opening the menu, Silent mountain stared at his minuscule spell list. Pact of Stone and Earthen Strike were the only spells he had access to at his level. A small armor buff and an empowered strike. The most basic spells in their class, and he was still oddly glad to have them. He could only use them on himself, which doesn't do the party much good, but at least he might survive if things get intense. Silent's attention was torn away from his spell list as his allies began to take damage from the gas secreted by the worms. A poison debuff. He'd originally planned on attacking a worm with his team, assuming that it would behoove him to gain some experience off of the smaller creatures, but it had already became apparent that there would be no "easy" creatures in this dungeon. Silent practiced casting Pact of Stone on himself, trying to get familiar with the spellcasting mechanic. His off-hand began drawing earthen runes in the air, leaving a trail of brown fire in his finger's wake. Once the runes were complete, Silent instinctively stepped through them, and they wrapped around his form, giving him a grey-ish hue and adding an armor buff. It wasn't much, but it was way better than the trash-tier clothing that the game started him with. Hopefully he could prove to be at least slightly competent by the end of the dungeon, but for now, he simply watched and waited.
As soon as Roland's blades sunk into the putrid creature, he knew he might have made a mistake as the poisonous gas quickly enveloped him. Shutting his eyes and holding his breath he did the only thing he could do and focus on sticking his landing before he was forced to inhale. It was like breathing fire, which invaded every nook and cranny of his respiratory system. The burning pain was enough to send him to a knee. His eyes began to tear up, and nose run freely as he forced himself to look upwards towards his stats. He had used a bit more energy in the previous attack than he'd of like, and worse he was now afflicted with two debuffs. Whatever they were, one of them was making his vision wave in and out of focus as he forced himself to regain some composure. This close to the worm, and afflicted by the poison he only really had two different options, run or flee. He took a quick glance to Merkaba and Silent Mountain who were currently standing in some buzzing cloud spell. It didn't look like they were going to be any use during this fight. He prayed that one of them at least be able to cure the affliction as he lifted his blades in front of him. Running away wasn't an option, the best hope of survival would be to kill the worms before the affliction burned away the rest of his health and energy. Roland forced himself up while he lifts his blades staring down the worm before him, "...bastard!" With a growl, he swung both his blades inward on lopsided arcs aim'ed at the side of the creature.
The duo of simpletons were poisoned in a instant by the cloud of gas. Merkaba swat a annoying bug with her hand without a care in the world. This was not completely unexpected but it was a unpleasant discovery that yes, once again the dark lady was among a bunch of idiots. Old news at this point. They at least seemed to damage the creatures. Merkaba saw that the hammer wielder was actually doing something now. He was literally just standing around for awhile. Maybe he too had seen that close range attacks would lead to poison with these worm beasts. Or perhaps the witch gave him too much credit. Roland was continuing the assault however. Well, had to give the man credit for being aggressive in getting things done. Merkaba decided that maybe a little bit of help would not hurt. Sigh, the pitiful worms would be a waste of mana... it was good that the witch had a fair deal of mana to go around at this point. She was not so foolish as to use her full power here though. "Pungendo tenebris carnis indignus figunt et agnum desperationis supplicio aeternum... quiescet Malefil hasta!" Crossing her arms in front of her chest and chanting her words. She summoned two dark energy spears to rise from behind her and fly towards the worms. Aiming to hit each one with a dark spear. She could have generated more at her level of mastery but that would be reckless so early. @Aaron Marone
Aaron coughed and gagged as the poisonous air filled his lungs. By the time his coughing fit was over, he looked up to see Merkaba preparing some magic spell, with two spears of dark magic forming before her. As she sent them launching toward the worms, Aaron dived away, getting clear of both the gas and the spear attacks. Typically, it wasn't smart to use ranged spell magic when people were engaged in a melee, but at this point he was at least glad she was helping in some way. Aaron turned toward Roland, who had elected to remain in the gas. Aaron cursed under his breath. Being poisoned like that was going to cause the man to get killed if he didn't get out of there. Likewise, he hadn't seen what Merkaba's spears had done, or if they might have hit Roland as well. As such, Aaron opened up his spell menu and selected a spell to heal Roland a tiny amount, as well as to remove any debuffs. It wouldn't heal as much as a dedicated heal, but he figured the man probably didn't need anything that strong yet.
The fight ends as abruptly as it started. The combination of two magical spears and two not so magical, but equally effective swords cause devastating damage to the pair of large scavengers. The combined effect of magic and steel dispatches one of the creatures outright. The other is badly wounded and is acting purely in the name of self-preservation as it dashes with unexpected speed towards a large gash in the floor, diving in and disappearing beneath the surface before any of the members of the party have a chance to take meaningful action. The player known only as silent Mountain spent a few moments browsing his limited selection of spells before settling on one. The display of runes and earth colored flames are visually impressive, but the spell has no immediately apparent effect. Those with a general knowledge of magic will correctly deduce that the speechless man has chosen to evoke some sort of self-enhancement spell. As all of this is going on, Aaron withdraws from the noxious cloud and begins to evoke a light healing spell aimed at Roland. While the spell works as intended, the effect is a bit underwhelming. Roalnds health and status are temporarily restored, offering fleeting relief from the effects of the toxic cloud. To Aarons disappointment however, the poison effect returns to Roland as quickly as it vanished as he is still exposed to the slowly dissipating fumes. In the aftermath of the skirmish, the ruin has returned to its default state of crypt-like silence, punctuated only by the occasional groan and creak of the dilapidated structure, and the distant sound of a small bird that had apparently been bold enough to nest somewhere inside. A moment of complete and almost otherworldly silence is broken as something or someone in the room to the south weakly scratches at one of the barricaded and partially buried doors separating the group from the unknown that lies beyond. The door located in the center of the western wall seems to be the more inviting option of the two. Upon closer inspection the party can see that it has been badly damaged by repeated blows of an ax or something similar, and hastily tacked back together with scavenged planks. Through small cracks in the doorway, the group sees that this room is reasonably well lit, and appears to be uninhabited. @Merkaba @Roland Rutledge @Silent Mountain @Aaron Marone AR:HP[////////--]EN[///////---]POI(3) RO:HP[/////////-]EN[///////---]POI(4) SI:HP[//////////]EN[////////--]+DEF(2) ME:HP[//////////]EN[/////////-]
Merkaba passed by the group towards the doors. Not saying anything to them. They were busy curing and having to fix their mistakes. Perhaps Merkaba should have just been done with those worms sooner. Once again she learned how pointless it was to expect a swift solution from a 'ally'. Hearing the sounds and seeing the nailed up door. The witch gestured towards the door with the momentary scratching sound. "We are here to hunt are we not? So.... should we go where there is less danger or seek it out? I have a goal here so I know what I am doing." The dark witch stuck out her hand and made a short chant. The darkness was her servant. Nothing that hid within it could stay out of her reach for long. Several long black tendrils of pure darkness began to slither around her left arm. pointing towards the door where the sound had been heard. She smirked as her eyes lit up red. The abyssal tentacles like a wave of energy shot forth through the holes of the wooden planks. Seeking out whatever was in the room so close the door. They would grasp whatever it was and try to drag it through the planks into the room Being sure to squeeze it for whatever damage their decaying grasp could do. If the others wanted to go through the nice lit room that was their prerogative. She would just solve this particular mystery right away. (OOC: Merkaba uses Call of the Abyss, to grasp at whatever is within the room, pull into the party's room and cause it some damage if the black energy can corrupt it's body at all. If it resists too much. She will let go. Not using too much mana on it lol.)
Roland let out a relieved sigh as he saw the second worm run for its exit. Or at least he started to before, he began coughing on the poisonous fumes he was surrounded by. Swiftly he pushed himself out of whatever gas may still be remaining in the immediate area as he headed to the other side of the room. As he moved his eyes shifted to the icons below his health bar. It seemed he was still inflicted with whatever poison debuff that gas had given him. He grimaced at the sight he could have sworn the paladin had cured him of the disease, but it seemed him lingering in the cloud was enough to reinfect him, "Im sorry, I was dazed and unable to move out of that cloud, if you could remove the debuff again I would appreciate it" Roland said to Aaron with a genuine smile. Looking back over his shoulder at the dead worm he refused to argue with the results. He had no idea that Merkaba would suddenly decide to join the battle at that moment unleashing that powerful spell. He was slightly remiss in the fact she had decided to do so, her spells would likely be their best bet against the rock beasts when they found them. Shifting his thoughts forward Roland inspected the doors before him. "I think it would be best if we too-" His thought was cut off by Merkaba as she berated them before she began to summon a black ball of energy into the middle of the room. "Stop that!" Roland cried out looking at the large gash in the floor, "There's no telling if this room is even stable enough to hold whatever's in there!" Of course, there was nothing he could do but back away from the center of the room, standing near the western wall both swords in hand waiting for the spell to finish. Once it did, as long as there were no immediate signs of collapse, he would charge whatever creature would be pulled through, attacking it with a single blade, leaving the other for some sort of defense. ((OOC: Roland will move out of the gas to the western wall, wait for/if something gets summoned, if the room is undamaged he will attack with one blade 'leaving the other for defense options rp or otherwise))
Silent stared at Merkaba, slightly perturbed. The gap in skill level was insane. She'd finished off both worms in a single go, with minimal repercussion to herself. She was definitely a player worthy of respect. It was abundantly clear that her haughty demeanor was earned. But perhaps her arrogance would lead to her downfall. As she attempted to drag the unknown into the open, Silent struck a defensive pose. There was a clearly less dangerous path before them. Why did she see the need to drag danger towards them? Wouldn't the best course of action be to defeat their target and bring down the building? Surely that would kill anything inside anyways? Silent's mind raced, though all he dare show on his face was conviction. What was done could not be changed, and regardless if her attack was successful, the aggro had been drawn. Silent could only wait for the smoke to clear to see what they were up against. His grip tightened on his hammer, eager to be given the chance to use it.
Once Roland was out of the poisonous gas, Aaron would scroll through his spell menu to find the AoE cleanse spell he had. It wouldn't restore any health, but it would cure both players of the poison effects they were suffering. "Now it would be best to rest, so that we can recover our energy and our health before we face another threat that will certainly be stronger," Aaron said. He turned, however, to see Merkaba using some spell that seemed to be drawing their next fight closer to them. Aaron sighed heavily. There was no point arguing with the witch. She seemed to believe that nothing could harm her, especially when she had three human bodies to deal with whatever threats she may encounter to keep them from getting to her. He prepared for a fight, but did not position himself in anyway to protect Merkaba from whatever may come through that door. If he had to let her get hit once or twice in order for her to learn she had to think and work as a team, then fine. Aaron was beginning to understand why Jack acted like so much of an asshole.
The group waits in fruitless anticipation as nothing happens. Merkaba seems to be unsure why the spell was ineffective, though another series of faint scratching noises can be heard against the door closest to the far wall. After a few moments of waiting at the ready, the group realizes that nothing will be crashing through the half burred and barricaded doors to the south to face them in mortal combat. The noxious gas has all but dissipated and besides a potent sting to ones nose, it seems to no longer pose a threat, though both Aaron and Roland are still both acutely aware that they are still suffering from the negative effects as they choke back waves of nausea. This ends as the paladin casts his spell and cures the two of the worst of the effects. The surge of magical energy in the room does little at first besides knocking lose a cloud of dust and a few fingernail sized flakes of stone from the walls at first, but a moment later, a loud groan can be heard, and the pillar in the south west corner collapses, showering the corner of the room in heavy stones and splintered lumber. More groaning from the ancient structure can be heard and it is apparent that the entire ceiling could collapse at any moment. @Merkaba @Roland Rutledge @Silent Mountain @Aaron Marone AR:HP[////////--]EN[/////-----] RO:HP[/////////-]EN[///////---] SI:HP[//////////]EN[////////--] ME:HP[//////////]EN[///////---] ((I'm not letting players hit things with targeted spells like that when they have zero line of sight and/or no idea what they're targeting. That is too OP/unbalanced.))
Silent breathed a sigh of relief as the spell fizzled, relaxing his muscles and standing upright. His relief was short-lived, however, as the pillar behind them collapsed. Surely, the room they were in would not stand for much longer. Silent wasn't sure what horror lied in waiting beyond the door, but he was certain he had a better chance at surviving his encounter with it then he had at surviving the collapse of an entire stone room. With just a few seconds left on his spell's duration, Silent Mountain charged at the worn down door (western door, closest to where the bugs were), planning on shoulder-checking the door open and catching his opponent by surprise. Yes, it was a risky move, as they had no idea what was beyond the door or how many of them were present. But the door had to be opened. and Silent had grown bored of doing nothing. (Edited for @evilandlazy )
Roland let out a relieved sigh as nothing came through the portal Merkaba had created. "Good, now let's take a moment to catch our-" No sooner had the words come out of Roland's mouth than the aptly named Silent mountain charge at the worn door. "Wait!" Roland called as the man slammed his shoulder into the decaying door testing its durability. It was of course too late. He was beginning to grow very agitated with a few members of the group. One moment, they seem to want to have nothing to do with a fight, the next the two of them are going out of their way to start one. Roland, sheathed one of his swords, as he walked to the door. If they wanted to be reckless, fine, but Roland had no reason to suddenly jump down the gullet of a monster unprepared because someone got impatient. From the threshold, he would try and get an idea of what was inside the room before charging in after Silent Mountain.
((@Silent Mountain Which door? there are 3 in the room. plz edit post Hidden: Map Map is pre-worm fight, bottom right pillar has collapsed. Doors to the south are barricaded.
Aaron cursed under his breath at the practically unarmed member of the party decided to blindly charge into the room where there was definitely some threat of some kind. "Gods damned idiots," he muttered. He shook his head and made his way toward where Roland, who seemed to be the only smart member of the group, was waiting. "Stick close," Aaron said to Roland. "I'm not going to waste my energy healing those two if they're not going to actually work as a team," he said. He cursed once again under his breath. "I've finally figured out why Jack acts like such a bastard. He literally has to be one in order to deal with people." He sighed heavily, readying himself for anything that might come through that door, or to follow if Roland chose to also charge in, but only after getting a clear idea of what the hell would be behind those doors.
Merkaba avoided the falling pillar and made a slight look of annoyance. The prey was playing hard to get... It could have been a Rockbeast. Their heavy bodies would resist unless she used a great deal of power. Well, whatever. Merkaba saw the hammer wielder charge a door. Stepping back and keeping her weapon handy she waited. Perhaps something would still make this easy and come to her... (OOC: Sorry for shit post. Got a lot to do atm.)
