The shimmering color seems to be only on various surfaces around the cave, and not in the air itself. But as you examine the area and prepare to enter the cave, you begin to feel rather bored, as if just the very act of existing is too tedious to bear...
Molly shakes off the feeling of uselessness and narrows her eyes. "Something's here and it wants us to stay," she says, readying her musket. "Let's go find it."
Kaska starts to feel a strong need to have a sit-down for a long while, but she shakes off the urge.
"Yeah, something is messing with us. This isn't the sort of thing we can let go without a strong reply."
"Why do you say that?" Fifteen asks, "I do not see or smell anything unusual."
"We must press on, then, as there is no obvious source of disturbance here."
"It's pulling at our emotions, Luv," Molly says in a soft voice meant only for Fifteen. "It's trying to weigh us down with helplessness."
"It is fortunate that my girlfriend is strong then." Fifteen replies, one side of her mouth tugging upwards in a crooked smile.
"Your girlfriend's got plans and she ain't going to let ... whatever it is ... disrupt them," Molly says with a shrug of her small shoulders.
"How much further is it...I grow weary of all this wandering around with our goal no further in sight. Iomedae's light feels further and further from this place with each step," Fireday says mournfully.
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Holg kindly accepts Viv's dried fruit while he listens her story with a smile "That must have been a exciting initial life, discovering all that with your caravan" The man really does not seem akin to ethical judgement of any type and seems to accept the android's past life with interest of discovery.
When things turn out to his sperm, the man seems a bit more confused "Mmm... you mean my seed. Do not know. Numeria's food is really poisoned with radiation and other illnesses. In fact it is strange I never had any progeny. You might be right that something is amiss"
The Kellid seems a bit shocked by the idea "I always trained as a warrior, never thought about raising a family. But given the Red Talons are to be rebuild... do not know... perhaps I should not mind leaving someone behind when Gorum decides to claim my soul"
Holg does not celebrate the frog retreat in his usual mood. Instead he exhales deeply and looks absentmindedly to the caves. Barely holding the sword with a hand, letting its tip touch the ground he just comments "Do we really have to do this?"
"True Fireday, we are just wandering aimlessly" instead of pushing forward to any random direction, Holg just takes sit on a dry stone and rests, his eyes half-shut "You are right Voltine, there are just too much caves..."
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"I've been told that having family is like having foes you can never be rid of, because no matter how much you fight, you cannot kill them. Or at least you are not supposed to. It might prove a... unique challenge. Additionally, if the Red Talons do decide to have a new generation... if I build my clinic in Torch I could certainly assist with the care and upbringing of the children."
The android gazes impassively at Holg and there is an impression that something is inside of her mind that is struggling to come out, but she is simply... lacking something fundamentally human. And yet even so she clearly has some kind of moral compass and a sense of caring for her companions. It is still a stark difference between her and Fireday, who seems to have fully 'grasped' emotions.
"Regardless... it was a very exciting life. An exciting time over all, as almost everything seemed new and fresh. I was quite gullible. Now I am slightly less gullible and more experienced, and I have seen much that Numeria has had to offer, though I have heard that there are parts of the world that are lush and green and untouched by radiation and chemicals. Still, this place has provided what I need to survive, and so it is, in a sense, my home. I have no intention of leaving it."
"What of you? What murky depths of your past have contrived to bring you to this state?"
"Nevertheless, we must persist," says Viv insistently. "On your feet. Whether it matters or not, we will not know until the end. You do not have to like it. It simply must be done."
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"You are feeling the effects of magic." Fifteen informs them bluntly. "I am surprised you are not fighting Holg. Molly has resisted and she is less than half your size. Are you weaker than she is?"
It appears that the android is being motivational...?
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Holg smiles a bit amused by Viv's suggestion. Taking her by the waist, he kisses her "I do not need other mate. Let's take this reproduction thing easy. If it is to happen, it will happen. Right now I only need you and my sword"
The Kellid openly laughs about Viv's ideas on family "Well, that sounds compelling, fighting an enemy you cannot win! In Kellid traditions family is very important as it is the vehicle that drives our culture through time. Everyone has a strong role in the community. I was a warrior appointed to guard our spiritual leader. I was allowed to breed but only with partners able to rise the children alone after I die in combat"
Holg nods in agreement as Viv talks about Numeria. The man looks around with a smile and a spark of nostalgia in his eyes "This is the land of my ancestors. Although discovering the wide world strikes like real adventure, I am bond to defend this land"
He breaths deep before answering the question "Well... the worst thing was sure when the Red Talons were betrayed and assassinated. To my shame I was not allowed to die in combat, and was instead sold and taken to the mines to toil night and day. That was the worst. To work as a slave at the Technique League mines. The oppression drives you mad... but despite all the craziness that probably saved my life. If I had not been forced to work day and night, I would have find the way to end the pain of the loss by finding me killed by fighting alone our assassins"
Whether it is to please Viv or Fifteen's stab on his vainglory Holg begrudgingly stands up "Ok. Where do you say, you want to search next"
Kaska pokes and prods and Fireday and Holg with pointy fingers and boot tips.
"It the magic, or whatever it is exactly. It's not real. You'll have to fight against the feeling. Get up and get your asses moving."
Viv points to the rightmost cave and says, "Let us start with one and explore them systematically."
"If you say so..." Fireday says listlessly, slowly rising to his feet and following after Kaska.
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Viv helps pull Holg to his feet and says, "C'mon. This is no time to lose your fighting spirit. Let's go see." She gives him a little push and then glides closer to the rightmost cave entrance, peering inside with her darkvision.
The rightmost tunnel leads deep into the cave complex. At the rear of the caves, you come upon a chamber that is empty save for four heaps of what appears to be discarded clothing and armor, strewn out on the cave floor as if the people who’d worn it had simply laid down and evaporated away, leaving their gear behind.
Upon closer inspection, swaths of gray ash fill these clothes. The robes and clothing all bear the insignia of the Technic League. A further search among the disintegrated bodies reveals a metal tube containing three scrolls (wall of fire, obsidian flow, and water breathing), a glass vial containing an elixir of copper dragon breath, a flashlight, a pair of veemod goggles with a green veemod installed, and a skillslot with a mark III Acrobatics skillchip still installed.
Holg nods and absentmindedly follows Viv into the cave. As they set foot in there and look at the carbonized remains he says "The fight here was done already. Just another cave remains"
The Kellid kicks the scroll case and sighs, too downcast to kneel and help collect the new equipment and placing no much attention to what must be the insignias of Therace's men.
Fifteen moves carefully through the cave and begins collecting the various items. "I do not know what most of these do." She admits.
"But whatever disintegrated these people must still be around somewhere," says Viv as she idly picks through the remains and starts handing over or tucking away the interesting items. "Come on, something that can disintegrate its foes like I can! That must be a heck of an opponent. We have to keep searching and find it!"
Fifteen looks through the goggles, nods and then tosses them to her girlfriend. "These will help you with the detailed tasks involving your weapon." She says calmly. "Viv, what is this?" Holding up the skillslot.
Molly looks over the goggles suspiciously before slipping them on. She takes a moment to look around with her new perception.
"Now aren't these clever?" she says and a grin creeps across her face.
Viv replies to Fifteen, "It is a cybernetic enhancement that interfaces directly with your neural systems to enable access to data stored on the chip. This one is pre-loaded with a chip that contains reflex data useful in balance, jumping, and contorting."
Viv pulls aside the hair on the back of her neck to show where she has just such a socket installed.
"I have the necessary knowledge to install this upgrade, though I need access to my surgical suite to do so. It is not safe or sanitary to do so in the field."
"I have one in my head," Fireday comments blandly. "It helps my engineering skill."
Viv bags the skillslot and chip. "This one's set up with routines for gymnastics and acrobatics. I'd recommend that anyone who wants it installed should probably do a rigorous stretching routine first so that you don't hurt yourself."
"Please reserve it for my later use then." Fifteen asks politely. "I have found it useful to be flexible in a number of situations."
Once you have gathered and cataloged the gear, Viv urges the group onwards. The tunnels wind around the cave system, and several passageways meet in a large domed chamber. A few rock columns support the ceiling twenty feet overhead, but the strangest feature of the cave is a large oval patch of dusty gray gravel that shines with an indescribable color. At the center of the shallow gravel bed, a ten-foot diameter hole descends into the darkness.
Molly giggles and her face flushes a bright red as she looks away.
Viv scrutinizes the gray gravel with an odd tilt of her head.
"Curious. I cannot seem to directly register the hue of this material."
She tries to focus on the dark hole instead.
"Does someone have a light source such as a torch that can be dropped down this hole?"
The pit drops down 50 feet to a gritty gray stone cavern below. Viv can't see anything else from her current vantage point.
Holg moves forward and drops a torch down into the hole, and a moment later, an eerie radiance, a glow unlike anything else, suddenly suffuses the area, bringing with it a stifling sense of latent malignancy. The glow explodes up out of the lower cave like a geyser of living indescribable colour, moving towards you with swift speed!
Viv isn't sure what you do about a scintillating color out of space that makes you go nuts if you look at it, so she just focuses her energy, clenching her fists as the air erupts in pulses of force around them, and then unleashes a blast of pure telekinetic force.
Fifteen, rather unsure as to what one does in this situation, pulls her pistol and fires a shot.
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"Oh. We're in danger," Fireday says as he approaches it, trying to muster the fervor to hit it with his stick.
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Fifteen's laser blast strikes the odd colour but doesn't seem to harm it. Neither do the cold blasts from Isuma's rifle. Fireday manages one good hit, his ghost touch weapon proving particularly effective! Viv's force blast goes wide, but it inspires Holg to use his own force spell, conjuring a barrier of blades. However, the magic falters against the creature's spell resistance.
The creature focuses on Fireday, attempting to feed upon the warpriest by draining his life force and will to live!
When it becomes apparent that the creature can be cut Fifteen steps into combat, her second sword flashing into hand as she circles around the creature to strike.
Incorporeal or not, Molly knows only one way to deal with threats like this.
Fireday takes the monster's attack seemingly without complaint, retaliating, his movements growing more rigid and robotic.
Viv gathers her reserves of energy and launches another massive blast of aetheric force, distorting the air and creating a boom as it strikes!
Holg observes abashed as his magic fails "This is a signal of the gods... how to fight such a thing?"
Although still deprived of his usual guts and push, the Kellid almost instinctively swings his sword as the spirit comes by to fight Fireday.
Viv’s blast falters against the creature’s spell resistance. Fireday misses, but Molly, Fifteen, and Holg each land one hit on the incorporeal colour. It focuses on Holg, trying to feed on the cleric!
Viv can't do anything and starts backing away slowly, thinking that perhaps she has no powers that can help.
Now in close range Fifteen gets to slicing!
One eye on Fifteen's position and the other on the strange colorful form, Molly continues to fire.
Holg is feeling so afflicted by the previous effect that he cannot feel his health draining.
Instead, he professionally swings at the strange creature "This must be some kind of aberration, not an undead"
"We're going to die. My life in Iomedae's service ends here, fighting an abstract concept I can't even describe. How bothersome," Fireday says as he continues to attack, even if it's futile.
While Viv’s blast goes wide, the rest of you land numerous blows. The strange creature begins to waver, but it lunges at Fifteen, and at its touch, flesh and bone begin to disintegrate!
"Fifteen, let me die first, please."
Despite the situation getting grimmer, Fireday doesn't let up.