There was a snort of laughter as Gwyn offered him the stick for seven hundred gold pieces; a price which he felt was exorbitant, but then that had been the joke no hadn’t it? Waving a hand dismissively at the stick, he cut off any further attempts at negotiating its purchase and instead focused his attention on the den around them. Still nothing. How incredibly dull. And to think he had been nervous about entering the caves and getting stuck in close quarters with the beasts they’d been sent to kill! The only thing that seemed to be dying was the spirit of their teamwork, and their collective patience as personalities grated against one another harshly.

Gwyn of course had quite the point as she continued to speak, and Earley quietly berated himself for taking Rein’s bait and allowing himself to become impatient with the man. He would have to control his temperament and conduct himself in a more professional manner in the future, and not let people get under his skin so blatantly. They needed to work as a team. They shouldn’t come to aggression with one another when there were, presumably of course, wolves or some such that they were meant to be fighting. None had shown of course, and so with one tired final try the rogue mage looked about the cavern in an attempt to find something of value to take away from this experience. Perhaps he could find a rock shaped like a heart to sell at a knick knack store, or a stick like Gwyn’s that healed people when you hit them with it. That was how it worked, wasn’t it? No matter. Keeping his eyes peeled, he stopped giving a damn about any hidden and awaiting canines and focused instead on coming out of this with something to show for it.

@Rein @Gwyn ap Herne @Pandora

• OOC: using last search point

 

Earley seemed rather entertained at her offer, but sadly didn't take it up. Hopefully that would do to lighten the air in some manner and she shoulder herself falling back into old habits. Namely the rolling her shoulders in an attempt to pop something. This body had no wear and tear on it, however, and it was incredibly unsettling not to hear the grind of cartilage. Though not having arthritic tendencies was firmly in the camp of being a good thing. Sabine didn't escape as Gwyn to go about being physically miserable here too. She shook her head lightly in an attempt to get said head back in the game and tossed her longbow to the other hand to dry the palm of her left against her thigh.

The eerily quiet and and inactive den was beginning to wrack up a mound of nerves, all of them screaming something was off about this or that she was an idiot for some reason or another to come here. Perhaps they were in the wrong place, here at the wrong time, here too soon after others, or just straight up misunderstood an objective? No. No she knew she wasn't wrong, even if a quiet voice wanted to point out how 'well you could be' and decided to just oust the treacherous little thing. Gwyn didn't mind a voice of caution, but pessimism was for the world weary and jaded. Life was too vibrant in her eyes for such a waste of everybody's damn time.

No, now was a time for caution and for adrenaline to find an outlet that wasn't twigs caught in the light. They stood on the cusp of glory, of blood, of honor through sacrificing health and safety in the name of winning it for others! She'd have her hunt come hell or high water and the ranger barely heard herself as she growled at the shadows ahead of them, a hungry fire beginning to burn as she was continuously denied her hunt. The party was here to slay wolves, but she was beginning to feel like a starved one. Her attention skittered over the floors, the walls, and the ceiling of the cavern... but her longbow's sights were set dead ahead.

[ OOC: Gwyn uses a Search Point. ]​

 

[Exploration Post]

It had been approximately three years before the group had begun the descent into the cave of nothingness. Rein's mind whirled as he continued to push himself forward, for the reason that even he didn't know anymore. Glancing around he saw his companions. Of course, they were nothing but apparitions, as he had eaten the two of them weeks ago. A small smirk grew on his face as he remembered tearing them apart limb by limb eating their flesh raw like some kind of animal. However, It seemed that even in death there was no escape from the never-ending den of solitude. Instead, both ghosts hovered around him pretending they still lived in a never ending attempt to torture Rein. Fourtantly hood guy's spell persisted even after his death, floating at an unreasonably slow pace forward.

Slowly trodding ever forward Rein tried to focus his mind on looking for some sort of food. He hadn't eaten in over thirty years, and would likely starve to death if he didn't find something soon. His search was, of course, limited to the light he had nearby him, and he'd ask for the ghosts for help, but they likely wouldn't bother. Rein shot a glare at Earley, "It must be nice not to have a eat.... undead bastard...." Shaking his head he would ignore any reply the ghostly visage gave him; there was no point in listening after all. That's how they got you.

His focus had been broken, he was supposed to be looking for food. Redoubling on his attempt, Rein continued to scan the floor in front of himself searching for something. He forgot what specifically he was searching for, but it didn't matter. Whatever he was looking for he would know when he saw it, because that's the way things worked for him.

((Rein travels with group, uses last search point))
@Pandora

 

The hunter generally kept well on her toes. She kept an eye for anything and everything. After all, between the real world and the virtual world, the first rule of day to day life was to be prepared. One had to educate themselves and prepare themselves for whatever challenges life may see fit to set against them. She'd forgotten to pack an extra rainproof tarp once when a storm that lasted two straight days had thundered through the Rockies and caught her off guard. Sabine had learned better. Better safe than sorry to be exact. The point of her line of thought rested politely in the palm of her right hand.

A rock.

The item showed up as a Bounce Rock and she could be honest with herself and say that she wasn't prepared for such a damn weird item to literally throw itself off the floor with an unnatural spring to its flight considering the weight of the stone. When the snarling cut off her wondering, her blue eyes snapped back up to meet those of the slavering wolves standing in opposition of them. Gwyn immediately bore her teeth back at them, the item vanishing into her inventory as she whipped an arrow out to draw across the bowstring. It gave the faintest tremor as she pulled across it, the nock settling easily as both were pressed to curve farther back by the power of her right arm's draw. Meanwhile, the ranger backed up as best she was able to keep her distance with the bow. Range was in the name for a reason.

With a mimicked growl back at the wolves she fired toward one of the beasts. She had the thing's eye as her mark in an attempt to partially blind it and make the coming fight a little easier. If one took the time to consider it they'd probably find it harder to bite things once their depth perception had gone all to shit.

[ OOC: Gwyn attempts to move back and keep at a distance and fires an arrow, trying to hit one in the eye. ]​

 

It seemed as though luck favored his companions more than himself as they each also found the strange rocks that populated this den. So far there had been more bounce rocks than wolves, and he had to wonder if they were perhaps loot from the dead monsters and whether or not somebody had come in to slay them all before they arrived. The bouncing rocks could very well be magical kidney stones of some sort. He caught Rein’s glare in his direction and stared back blankly, not quite sure to make of what he was muttering. Assuming he’d heard it correctly, the man was more insane than he had first suspected and was probably in need of a healthy dose of shock therapy.

His attention snapped to Gwyn as her poise changed and she seemed to catch sight of something, his eyes drawn in that direction and spotting the two wolves beyond the pale purple glow of his light. The growls came echoing down the cavern walls and he kept his left hand raise to keep the light active. It would not due to lose their ability to see right now. With himself handicapped to maintaining their source of light, if only for the sake of giving Gwyn the ability to see what she was shooting at… Now there was a thought. If he turned the light off, perhaps she would accidentally shoot Rein in the back and he’d be less of a worry in the future? But, no. That would put himself at risk as well, and he couldn’t afford to be so cavalier with the safety of the group just to spite the rather interesting fellow. Perhaps his manner would calm down after he took out his gauntlets and cut a few wolves up? If not, then there were hopefully plenty more to sake the madman’s bloodlust and quiet down his antics and outbursts. What Merkaba saw in him, the mage could only try guessing.

• OOC: maintaining spell and staying away from combat.

 

[Battle Post]

Rein almost tripped over the second bounce rock he found. Amazing how it appeared seemingly out of nowhere, but the item was clearly what he was looking for. Speaking of things he was looking for as soon as he picked up the rock when he heard a growl in front of him. "FINALLY!" he screamed with excitement, as small tendrils of electricity started to arc off his gauntlet. Rein wasted no time moving to the front of the group, they were after all just ghosts that he had consumed long ago.

Standing at the vanguard of the group, Rein eyed his opponents in a moment of greater clarity. "Those aren't puppies! I was told there would be puppies! Those are full grown wolves, they will actually put up a fight! THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER HAHAHA! COME ON DOGS SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!" As Rein taunted the beasts he began waving his hands in large arcs as he channeled his magic throughout him. He wasn't some school taught mage, he was a self-learner, most of his abilities were intuitive in nature. As such he didn't really think about what he was casting, as much as feel it out.

In this case, he was busy charging the air around him, steadily offsetting its current balance as he forced more and more of his mana through his skin. As the wolves would inevitably bear down on him, or try to streak past him, he would try to send a surge of this collected mana into the immediate area around him. The sudden shift in balance in the air would create a small electrical storm that would strike at any moving object in a small five-foot radius around Rein. He couldn't maintain this skill for long, however, as the toll it took on his mana was staggering.

((OOC: Rein moves forward, taunts wolves, and begins charging a defensive counter spell for the wolves turn))

 

"Well, fuck," she bit out in a harsh whisper as she watched her arrow miss. It didn't miss the wolf if the long shaft buried in its muzzle and the pained noise were any indication, but it was enough of a point made that she'd need more practice. She could work with that at least. She figured, in the low lighting that clouded her aim, that taking a sturdier target was the smarter option for now. As the wolf set to righting itself, she focused on drawing for another attack and this time decided to put a little bit more bang for her duck into it. The other two seemed to be content to pull from their mana pools without reserve and so she'd do well to join in the fun. Rein set up an unpleasant looking effect that singed horribly at one of the wolves fool enough to attack the madman. She was no mage, but MMOs would be terribly dull if melee and ranger fighters didn't have their own skills.

Gwyn was still getting used to the skills she had only recently gained access too. She could also admit that she hadn't really played MMOs before and so remembering to use said skills was more difficult that learning them half the time.

"Thanks for keeping the light on." The human activated her Swallowtail Shot skill. The next arrow she drew didn't have the faint point to it, but instead an arrowhead with two long tails from the metal points at the base. The barbed broad head was made to sink in deep with longer edges to slice and a flatter width to fly easy. The point of the adjusted point? Bleeding. The nasty little thing was unsheathed and she intended to find it a new one in the chest of her original mark. With that she freed up a breath to call over with Earley. "You consider working for Motel 6? Wait, is that against like... some IC rules or something? Shit, sorry."

[ OOC: Gwyn fires a shot with a bleeding effect on the wolf she initially hit. ]​

 

Their fighter was of course elated to find wolves to fight and went to it with more gusto than Earley had imagined; standing there as it were in the center of the path and charging himself up like a giant bug zapper, actually waiting for one of them to come up and bite him. That seemed… stupid. Very, very stupid, and he hoped that each wolf they faced wasn’t about to do that or Rein would not be long for this mission. The man had gauntlets and ought to be using them! What was he thinking, or was the point perhaps that he didn’t?

Gwyn of course was the polar opposite and immediately took deadly aim, shooting the wolf in the snout with deadly precision. How she had made a shot like that he couldn’t comprehend, particularly in this dim lighting, but her skill was impressive to have made it. Little did he know of course she had missed her true target, and so his silent praise was silently unearned. He gave a politely brief chuckle at her joke and shook his head, not wanting her to fret over any particular rules.


“An important note is that NPCs will not hear you talk about the real world or understand references to it. Or if they do, it is highly confusing to them. They don’t understand references like a Rick Roll, things happening in the news, or the Sword Art Online incident and the World Seed. You won’t get in trouble for breaking character, but the more you do it the more crazy you’ll seem to NPCs which can complicate things for you. Now… Squint your eyes because this is going to hurt a little- but let me show you what can really be done with my little light.” Focusing on his spell, he began to alter the way in which the power was utilized and dampened it in sections, brightening it in others. The result? The exact same amount of mana being used, but the light had gone from a constant dim to a marginally brighter strobe light that gave them sharper but brief views of the cave like in a horror film or a rave club. Hopefully it might do something to stun the keen eyes of the wolves who were acclimated to the darkness of this den and the night time hunt; but if not, at least it would give Rein and Gwyn a more interesting experience in slaying the things.

• OOC: turning the dim light into a somewhat brighter strobe light

 

[Battle Post]

One of the wolfs came bursting forward towards Rein; he couldn't help but lean back and let out a mad cackle as it entered into contact with his spell, filling the room with a quick flash of light as a bolt of lightning hit the beast singing its fur. The defensive spell was of course not enough to stop the monster as it continued rambling forward striking at Rein's chest quickly tearing through his flesh. The crazed man stumbled backward, ending his channeling prematurely, as trails of blood worked their way down his torso. It took a moment, but a sense of euphoria suddenly bathed Rein as the scent of blood wafted through the air. Pushing himself forward, he regained his footing, "HAHAAHaHa!" he screamed in laughter, "Now this is a fight!"

Rein eyed the wolf with hungry eyes, his hand twitching slightly in anticipation. The lights in the cave had suddenly changed, it seemed that one of his ghost-like tormentors had detected Rein's change in pace. Where there was a soft glow before, now was replaced with a headache inducing strobe of purple and black. A soft growl escaped Rein's lips as he ventured towards the beast in a slow gait, an arrow flying by his head, nearly clipping his ear. With a sudden and ferocious howl he launched his entire body towards the wolf thrusting his metal gauntlet forward, blades pointed towards the wolf's neck as he tried to end the creatures life with a vicious slash.

((OOC: Rein attacks wolf that attacked him))

 

While the ranger's initial hit on the wolf at the beginning of their fight hadn't quite taken it down to half health, the additional bleed damage on the next arrow was enough to put it down before it could join its mate in attempting to tear Rein apart. An electrical field couldn't protect you if your concentration was ruined and it failed after all. Not that he seemed particularly bothered by it, if anything he seemed to be thriving off of the pain and kicking back up into his maniacal laughter as he attacked.

"Huh, thanks for the tip then. Odd about their AI. Is that normal for these types of games?" She spoke to him in turn before the shift in lighting by their other companion. It did little since the battle had drawn to a close in the span of a handful of moments, but she appreciated the attempt. They wouldn't have been able to do much at all but fumble in the darkness without his spell. As the unstable third of their party tore through the last with blood up to his shoulder, Gwyn moved by with a shift in demeanor. Even with the tension of a fight, she hadn't had such a serious set to her face and shoulders from the beginning, but with the parents dead it was time to ensure their whelps didn't grow to cause a problem as they had. Without the parents the pups would most likely starve anyway, but a slow death was a horrible was to go.

Instead, Gwyn moved toward the approaching end with a quick and merciful death in mind. She had a bad feeling that this Rein fellow would torment the poor things. They couldn't help the circumstances of their birth any more than they could their coming deaths. The huntress would see that it was as peaceful a passing as she could make it and she hoped it would remain peaceful between their trio as well.

[ OOC: Gwyn uses her last Search Point. ]​

 

[Exploration Post]

Rein let out a terrible laugh as he ripped through the beast before him, spilling a pile of organs and blood onto the cave floor. He continued to laugh with maniacal glee as he stamped his fists into the beasts corpse over and over again, affirming his intentions for the rest of the pack to the others. As he wailed on the rapidly unrecognizable monster he over heard tidbits of a conversation the others were having. He had been so immersed in the heat of battle before he had ignored the ghosts static laced comments. Now however the words were like nails on the chalkboard of his mind.

"Huh, thanks for the tip then. Odd about -HEAVY STATIC-. Is that normal for these -HEAVY STATIC-?"

In response Rein suddenly let out a wail as he doubled over in exaggerated pain. He tightly gripped his scalp as he glared at the girl in mouth foaming anger, he screamed at her, "SHUT UP!". And then it was gone. The pain had receded, and Rein was back to normal. He thought he had grown used to the condition but it never failed to flare up around player characters. Or rather in this case the ghost of ones. Rein forced himself to just laugh it off as he slowly stalked forward into the dungeon struggling to return to his normal cheery demeanor.

(Ooc: Rein continues forward in the cave)