Jones takes a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking up.
"Zin...I owe you an apology for my outburst last night. And I believe you're due an explanation for why I became so upset."
There's a hint of sadness in his voice.
"In my years as a detective, I've seen countless cases of normally well-behaved people committing uncharacteristic acts of violence. Often these acts stem from feelings of helplessness and anger at the world. And when you unleashed that fireball...I believed that you, too, had finally snapped. I thought that it was my responsibility to keep you on the straight and narrow."
"But...that was not a fair assumption. You have more willpower than most people, and have been coping with these feelings for many years. It was wrong of me to let my past experiences take precedence over your unique situation. I will try to refrain from scolding or berating you in the future."
Z's lip quivers, "Hey, stop it guys, I'm awful with this morose stuff, that's Darius' whole deal."
"Im sorry too Jones, you're very useful to us all and I was lying by saying you weren't."
"I'm also sure if I knew more about actually fighting that I'd find you're a fine swordsman."
Z looks from Amanorm, to Darius standing stoically to the side of the group, to the greasy Jones, and Sledge covered in monster.
"You guys are like, my first buddies you know? Ever since I set out to try to get rid of this curse it's kind of just been me, you know?"
"No one else would even talk to me, maybe some librarians, hey uhhh you.." she says beginning to imitate a man's voice, "Don't umm, well try to not set that book on fire."
Z returns back her regular voice, ".... Anyways, I guess I'm saying thanks???"
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Amanorn raises an eyebrow at Zin's comment. "I also have doubled the speed of our melee compatriots, rained arrows onto chests, blasted glitterdust blindness and sent missiles of pure force into our enemies, but yeah, I guess one battle where my preventive tactics are less effective than 'burn it until it stops moving' makes me worthless."
He sighs. "I didn't want to see anyone get eaten by those things, or us get divided and conquered. Maybe if I had some longer lasting protection spells..."
After her speech, Amanorn smiles, just lightly, but it seems more genuine than the smirks that have accompanied his words in the past. "Buddy, huh? I'll admit, it's nice to have a beautiful woman call me something other than 'client', 'customer' or 'you pervy little slant eared treewalker'."
"I didn't set you on fire for calling me a psychopath." Z reminds Amanorm, "Count your blessings."
"And I'd like to take that line about me being beautiful as a compliment, but with your apparent taste in women, I'm not so sure."
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Sledge glances about cautiously. "We can discuss this later. This place isn't safe. We need to keep moving. Assume we are being observed."
Z shrugs, "Even if so, it's a bit late for them to do anything about it now."
"I mean, it's not like we're a slow bunch, we've become quite proficient at mass murder. In a few minutes time, everything that calls this place home will be dead."
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Jones chuckles. "Sledge has a point. Let's lick our wounds and keep moving."
He taps himself with his Cure Light Wounds wand a few times.
Z shrugs, "Even if so, it's a bit late for them to do anything about it now."
"I mean, it's not like we're a slow bunch, we've become quite proficient at mass murder. In a few minutes time, everything that calls this place home will be dead."
"Or re-dead in the case of un-dead. So do you want to move as a group or get our stealth on? I'm a pretty proficient scout. Jones and I used to sneak around the campus back in the day. He'd always go for 'night reading' and I never quite understood what the deal was with that; the library was open all day...but then I saw the librarian. Who'd have thought he had a thing for half orcs? Personally, I found the tusks off putting, but her hips..well, that turned a few pages, if you get what I'm saying."
Jones rolls his eyes.
"For your information, I preferred the library at night because it was quieter and usually empty. Not something I'd expect you to appreciate, being so much more interested in the librarian than the books."
"No sense in trying to be quiet, obviously our presence is known. Let's just do what we do best and kill stuff."
"Sledge?" says Z indicating the way forwards with her hand.
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Sledge takes point.
The chamber leads into a short tunnel, which branches four ways.
"Let's try the rightmost path first."
"Sounds good to me."
The squishy archer mage will take the center in the five person formation.
"You're telling me all you did was read? The entire...oh by Calistria, Jones...just..."
He shakes his head.
"You're no even half a century, my friend, I worry about you. Is it a half-elf thing? I don't think so. Darius is clearly going to mount Zin like a mantle plaque as soon as the two of them have seven minutes alone without someone trying to kill them..."
He stops when Darius and Zin give him dagger eyes.
"Wait, are we not supposed to point that out?"
The room to the right (as well as the other rooms you can see, contain the same things: Skum.
They sit, still and silent, drooling lightly, the top of their heads cut off and brains exposed, expanded beyond their normal dimensions.
They sit in what appears to have once been a nursery, cradles and beds scattered around.
At Amanorm's words the flames in Z's arms begin to sputter and crackle, the brief warning before her aggression turns to violence. But before she is able to act on it the party comes across the odd scene of the skum, "You should hope this place is the death of you Amanorm, or I will be." she says.
"Are they even still alive?"
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"Oh, no, I pointed out an obvious attraction everyone can see. How horrible I am. I'm such a monster, it's almost as if I insulted you by insinuating such a thing. Humans...act like mating is such a taboo. So strange. No, dear Zin, I doubt they live; removal of the skull tends to lead to expiring in most creatures. They may he undead, but since they're not currently trying to eat us, I doubt it. Still...better safe..."
Amanorn sends an arrow into the chest of the nearest to see if it reacts.
[B]"You know, when your face turns red like that, I can't tell if you're blushing, pissed, doing fire magic, or what. Since your default emotion seems to be pissed..."
The corner of Jones's mouth twitches.
"It always amazed me that a person who has lived for centuries could be so immature."
The arrow slams into the Skum.
It stands up, and its drool turns to froth, eyes turning red and angry, and it lunges forward. The other Skum (14 in total) soon follow suit.
Sledge kills one of the uninjured ones.
Yes he does.
"Actually, before you arrived Amanorm, I'm sure the others would describe me as nothing less than a total sweetheart."
Launching a ball of fire into the largest cluster of Skum, "And besides, angry works for me, it lets me do that."
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Five enraged Skum collapse in burning piles.
Darius chuckles, the group slowly gaining camaraderie. Amanorn's comment an interesting take but not the first time he heard such. " I must admit this is not the first time the connection between Zin and I has been made in that manner. I'm curious as to what gave you such a thought? Is it the conflicting attitudes? The reaction she gives off? My choice of a goddess? You propose a man such as I release stress in some way correct? Heh. "
He positions himself slightly center ready to strike out with his weapon, " I do oh so revel in ridding the world of evil, these foul pitiable beings are no exception. Zin you seem to have left your flank exposed however. "
Darius said in a nonchalant manner.
"One thing about archery, Darius..."
He fires two arrows into the closest in rapid succession between commentaries.
"It requires a keen eye. I notice things. She watches you a lot more than you think. You get a lot more aggressive to the enemy after dealing with her. Not anger, either, otherwise I would turn you into a raging barbarian. No, that's frustration. ...and Jones, it's not immaturity. You're thinking like a human. Mating happens. Desire for it is normal. It shouldn't be something taboo to comment on. You wouldn't belittle me if I was talking about cuts of steak and saying that Darius clearly wanted to devour a perfectly cooked piece of meat."
Amanorn tries desperately not to laugh at that comment. It really wasn't meant to be a pun, but in retrospect of saying it, he couldn't help noticing the comparison.
Keep this up and I'm gonna end up "accidentally hit by the edge" of a fireball. I really should shut up. Still funny.
"Hm, that's an interesting observation. I'll concede that I often feel more in touch with my human side than my elven heritage. Still, you have a particular obsession with "mating", more so than any other elf I've met. If I may be so bold, you have just said a lot more about your own psyche than about elves in general."
Jones disinterestedly skewers a Skum while giving this monologue.
"Or, Jones, perhaps I use it as a diversionary tactic to prevent getting close to people because I've been burned in the past, and crude humor, adolescent though it may be, has the intended effect of icebreaking without any true intimacy."
He smiles slyly, and shrugs.
"Or, yes, I could be as twistedly obsessed as my words, yet oddly none of my actions seem to indicate."
He winces as he watches Jones less than stellar form this round.
"Or I prefer my rapier wordplay to be sharper than your rapier swordplay, and sensuality is simply an easy target"
"Goddess knows, and I'll never tell. Secrets, sensuality, and charm are her domains, and since I'm charming as a bulette, I should emphasize heavily my patron's domains, devout elf I am...even if the b**** sees fit not to give me one divine spell, no matter how much time and money I spend at the temple. Not my fault I'm not spending it praying...."
The toothy grin he gave gave Darius a menacing visage. " You are quite correct, an archer needs keen senses. but what you observed was more likely a form of respect rather than amorous bonding. Out of all here I simply seemed both the most tolerant and the most passionate when crossed. I have experienced a glimpse of her situation. That is all. Though I do find you an enigma Amanorn. The way you behave is very odd for your kind as well. often that Elves take several years to even court one another. "
Grimore lanced out Norther then East.
Zin: 5 6 (Sledge killed one and injured one, fireball finished this one)
Darius: 1
Sledge: 1
Amanorn: 1
Jones: 1
You burn, whip, and skewer your way through 3/4 of them. The remainder surge forward, surrounding you.
Vs Sledge, Darius, Jones, and Amanorn.
Hit, Hit, Miss, Hit.
Darius smirks after the Skum eventually fall; " You know what worries me more... that these Skum were likely subdued... and have thier brains exposed. Something MADE them like that. "
Darius smirks after the Skum eventually fall; " You know what worries me more... that these Skum were likely subdued... and have thier brains exposed. Something MADE them like that. "
"Something, perhaps, with the technical ingenuity to create such an advanced underwater structure. We are slowly peeling away the layers of this mystery, but our work is far from over."
Before anything else can jump out, Jones drinks the Shield extract he had been holding on to this whole time.
Darius cast a simple heal once more " Let's get a move on then. "
his chamber is covered in carvings, and contains an enormous brain-like fungus.
It stares at you in what seems to be curiosity, but not hostility.
These carvings relate to the Dark Tapestry and its multitudes of gods and otherworldy beings.
A voice rings in your minds.
How do crustaceans propagate with barns?
"Well, crabs walk sideways and barns have broad sides, so I doubt they'll have much trouble."