"I know a few things." he hissed back to Relveti. "Conrads right," He added. "I see two. Looks like the disciple, maybe a woman, with a dwarf next to her."
He thinks for a moment. "I'm all for an ambush." He decides. In life, Jhael might not have done that. But maybe that's why he died. This time around, he wouldn't make the same mistakes. There was too much at stake.
He turns to Relveti. "You know more about the Disciples - any ideas how we could trick it? Imagine since they're sorcerers we'd do well to make it quick."
Relveti gives you a crossway's glance at the sudden hiss. Without retorting, she completely removes her fur coat, throwing it against the wall. This seemed to be a serious matter to her, that was certain. "That "it" is actually a person, but yes, we'd do well to kill them quickly and efficiently." she says, watching them get closer and closer. "If we stay silent, they won't notice us. Getting the drop on them shouldn't be difficult."
Conrad nervously fiddles with his pistol, slamming a cartridge into the base of it after removing the previous one. "Can't be too careful..." he says, cleaning out the inner workings of the pistol.
The lot of you stand very idle for quite a while, going silent and slowly watching them. The image shimmers from within as Relveti maintains her concentration on it. As the group gets closer you can audibly hear the argument that the woman is having as soon as she gets within 100 feet. She's being incredibly loud.
As she approaches you can see the shimmer of black scales dotting her forearms and forehead. Her legs are pitch black and a long, prehensile tail juts out from the back of her and dances accordingly. 2 Vestigial wings hang off her back, wings far too small for actual flight. They are as dark as coal.
The woman's hair has been replaced with Chitin and it glides all the way down her to tickle the small of her back. Golden, slitted eyes in the middle of her face are opposed only by the amulet around her neck.
She approaches, yelling at thin air. As it turns out, she's not yelling at the Dwarf, rather, she seems to be just yelling. "Dammit Zadrik, no! I am not going back to that piss-brain whelp!" she asks, her claws flailing about and hair standing on-high. "The fiend killed one of my Dwarfs and scorched me and the other! Soon as I showed him who was boss he skittered up the damned tube!" she says.
She pauses a moment, rolling her eyes as she gets closer. For a moment she stops moving, causing everyone's heart to sink accordingly. Suddenly her brow furrows, and is followed by a yell. "I am not going back there! He didn't even have much of a horde! Just a bunch of gold. Soon as I started to sift through it he nearly tore a hole in me!" she states.
Pausing for a moment again, but keeping a casual pace, she listens once again to the voice. "I am not lying you bastard! Listen! He had no gems! Not a one! He's a disgrace to Dahak, and every other dragon god!"
She continues to walk forward, and in the middle of her boisterous yellings her eyes narrow deeply. "Niziriak, hold on, I heard something on this pass." she says, slowly backing away. She can't see where any of you are, but she definitely thinks she heard something, as she walks backwards slowly and pulls out a longspear. The Dwarf has been armed the entire time.
The woman's body seems to be that of someone Lithe and Agile.
Thinking quickly, noticing that there is only a thin illusion between them and the dragon-woman, Jhael looks to a ledge slightly above, and on the other side of the rocky pass.
Finding a suitably small pile of rocks, he waves his hand to slightly move them around.
Jhael turns his head to Conrad, nodding to him to yes, go ahead and shoot her in the back. His own sword drawn, Jhael prepares to charge out and slice at her.
As the rocks fall, the woman's gaze follows over to them. It doesn't necessarily distract her, but it does give just enough of a moment for her to cast a cursory glance in that direction. She had apparently prepared to lunge at anything that came from your direction, but the toss of the rocks was enough to make her lose that.
As soon as you charge, Conrad bursts forth with you, running a decent 30 feet ahead. She falls within his range of fire and he pulls the trigger.
The woman sees him come, but squats extremely low and dodges the bullet as soon as he fires it, but only barely. As for your attempt at slashing at her, she veers aside, dodging it as well. The woman's look of surprise at the sudden number of people is palpable, to say the least.
Far behind, Relveti looks at the situation, calling upon cold, cold powers. She protrudes a long, icy blade and points it at the woman. It drips with cold as the frost protrudes farther and farther from her hand. Finally, 2 long spear-like beams shoot from her hands at the woman in question.
The first ray catches her square in the chest and froths her chain shirt into a rime of cold. The other one she dodges agilely enough, and casts a dark, angry gaze back at the lot of you. Through sudden drips of saliva from her mouth, the woman seems wild, and the Dwarf is as stone faced as ever.
With her wings wide open, she eyes you all carefully with the longspear in her main hand as the cold air falls from her breast. "Fools! Getting the drop on me like that! How quaint!" she says.
The woman laughs heartily, seeming to enjoy the situation as a pleasant surprise. Looking to Relveti, she leaps back 5 feet, standing prominently on both legs, wings wide. "That hurt, elf! I'll remember that!" she says as she snaps her fingers and whispers something to herself. Her nails grow long, and a frothy energy overcomes her body.
Conrad, not wasting any time, shoots at the woman once again.
She dodges once again, making fervish use of her impressive dexterity. The Dwarf, following up on this, runs forward and places himself between Jhael and the dragon lady. Her grin disappears behind the dead, white eyes of the Dwarf in full plate. Hoisting his mace high, he brings it down with both hands.
Relveti, smirking, looks at the woman again and makes it a point to narrow her gaze. She moves around to gain sight of the woman again, the same frosty spikes jutting from her forearm. Spinning, she launches yet another volley.
The second ray stabs into the woman again, though the damage is severely mitigated it would seem as the mist covers the woman's face and cuts at her cheek. She responds properly; "Cute..."
Jhael, twists, swinging again at the scaled woman, but he's still feeling the blow from the Dwarf, and pain through his body makes him stagger, not even coming close to connecting with her.
The woman twists, laughing at your fruitless attempts to hit her. Looking over at the elf, the woman grins. Quickly stepping behind the Dwarf, she looks Relveti with a twisted grin. Her eyes go red and acid drips from her sharp teeth.
She drops the Longspear she'd held fast, and raises her fingers in a snapping position. "Know your place~ Low BLOOD!" she yells. 6 light-yellow balls appear behind her, and the woman snaps her long-taloned hands in the direction of the elf. All at once, the magical missiles head straight toward her, striking unerringly.
The missiles strike in an almost artistic manner, catching the woman straight in the middle of the chest. A myriad of orbs strike her, easily throwing the poor elven woman unconscious.
Conrad booms; "No, No, NO, Sunuvab$%*+!" raising his gun, aiming down the sight. He can't risk missing at this point.
The bullet rips from the pistol, driving itself deep within the belly of the dragon-lady. "Haha! Whatfer!" he says loudly.
Following along, the dwarf attempts to bat at Jhael once more.
A firm thump to the chest. You feel your lungs cringe in agony as the mace undoubtedly strikes you again.
The elven woman rolls about, unconscious as the wounds spread.
Jhael looks back and forth between Relveti and the dragon woman, trying to decide what to do. Realising it wouldn't do any good to revive her just to have the dragon woman pummel her with magic again, he grits his teeth, tightens the grip on his sword and takes another swing at her.
The Woman cringes as the blade sinks into her side. The Dwarf has to veer somewhat out of the way, but the attack pierces her all the same. Her black skin parts as the blde glosses over her, exposing red and purple blood. She cringes in pain, obviously having felt that one.
She hits the floor, going low and holding her wound. "Impressive... To hit me with a weapon... Quite the dextrous one aren't you?!" she says as she turns on her heel and begins to flee in the other direction.
As the Woman turns, you veer past the Dwarf, catcher her in the back with your falchion and squarely severing her left arm, almost. She hits the ground, falling unconscious. The Dwarf in front of you disappears in a sudden puff of smoke, and is promptly blown away by the high winds.
The woman falls over, clutching her arm and collapsing.
Relveti in the far distance suddenly gasps loudly, stabilizing, but not conscious. The Disciple woman infront of you rolls on her back, cursing under her breathe, and with a flutter of her eyes she laughs a bit, dieing immediately as the wound was far too much for her body to bare.
Adrenaline beginning to wear off, with pain seting in, Jhael clutches his side where the dwarf struck him. By the time he stumbles over to where Relevi is lying, Conrad is already by her side, lifting her head up enough to pour a mixture down her throat. Jhael tenses up, hoping for some kind of reaction.
Relveti's eyes flicker and open, and Jhael lets out as sigh of relief. He smiles faintly at her. "Welcome back." Shaking his head, he spoke again. "I don't think I'm paying you enough."
Touching his broken ribs, Jhael concentrates on mending the bones, and then lets his arm drop, already starting to feel a little better.
Conrad doesn't waste any time moving over towards Relveti to help her. Looking at the woman as her eyes flutter back to consciousness, he asks simply; "Ye had us worried, girl! Girl seemed right quick in wantin' ya down. Musta hurt! Haha!" he says, drawing a flask from inside his bag.
The woman gets to her feet, obviously still feeling the sudden barrage. The surprisingly large wound on her chest is all but apparent as it is painful. "The woman was.... strong. Powerful sorcery, to be sure..." Looking to Conrad, she thanks him accordingly.
As she moves towards the woman, she retrieves her coat and it's contents. The lot of you stand over the woman, who appears to be dead, if the giant pool of blood from her gaping shoulder blade is any indication. Kneeling down, you remove the contents of her equipment, consisting of the following.
1 Mithril chain mail
1 Darkwood Longspear
Amulet of Natural Armor+1
Elixer of Dragon Breathe
Sifting through her mundane belongings, you can't help but find a series of papers. Important looking things rolled into a cylinder. The thing seems somewhat cryptic, however, and seems to be written in some sort of code that you can't immediately understand.
Relveti practically rips this from your hands as you pick it up; obviously sore but happy. "This is something of importance to me, I am certain of it...! I just hope it was worth almost dieing for." she says, starting to analyze it closely. Her eye perks up, but she doesn't explain why as she looks closer into it. "This will take some time to unravel..."[b] she states.
Conrad looks at you with a gruff smile. Smacking you hard on the back and leaning on you, he eyes the veritable mass of loot and looks back at you. [b]"Y'know lad, I personally woudln't mind 'at drink 'ere. Whatcha tink it is? Looks frothy."
Relveti takes the moment to look the items over. "That is a dragonkind Elixir. Drinking that would allow one of us to breathe the very breathe of dragons... It would seem this one has been attuned to a black dragon."
Conrad's brow raises at the idea. "Sounds right nasty then! Forget I asked. Long's I get my hand in the Horde, an even share, I'm set. Though I think our Li'l lady could use the chain." he says, making a short note that the woman could be sturdier. With that, he takes a big swig of his drink yet again, quaffing it down and letting it spill off the sides of his mouth as he gulps it.
The woman sheepishly looks to you for confirmation, somewhat agreeing with him.
Jhael nods in agreement, "Absolutely." He replies. "One near-death is far too many already."
"As to that 'frothy' beverage, Reveti's right. Black dragon... Hrm. Probably some sort of acid breath then, yeah? I'll hold onto that one, just in case. It may prove useful should we indeed become cornered by a dragon." He looks at Conrad with a good-natured laugh, "Your alcohol-heavy breath can probably already stop even a dragon in its tracks."
Jhael picks up the elixir and the amulet as well, before looking at the spear. "Relveti, is this of any use to you? If not we can just turn it into Aether with the breastplate and mace from the Dwarf."
"Don't think we should linger here for too much longer. How close do you suppose we are to the forge?"
The woman shakes her head. "Weapons of that sort aren't my Forte, and I doubt anyone back at the Nexus would have a use for it, to be frank." she states. With that, you crush it, a process that takes roughly 30 seconds as the item slowly crumbles away into nothingness. You feel the bits flow into you, but Aether apparently isn't visible in the real world.
Relveti begins walking again, clenching at her side. "We've only another half-hour before we reach the forge. I pray that dragon isn't there..." she states. Conrad laughs; "Still, I believe we should hurry up eh? The trail's almost done!"
The woman walks along-side you as the trail continues, striking up a conversation. "What do you think of that person she'd talked to earlier? She seemed to be conversing with someone before we... interrupted." Conrad looks over, curios. "Yeah, what was that about, eh?"
Jhael contemplates for a few moments.
"She referred to something she had interacted with as a 'whelp', a term usually reserved for something young. This fits with her having scared him off, since she'd have been more powerful. And she also described it as a disgrace to Dahak, god of the evil dragons. So, it sounds like she went to check up on a young dragon, who overzealously and foolishly attacked her party. Sounds like she was looking for gems. Is that how dragons judge wealth, or are they used for something more? Could just be she was checking on his progress, since he sounds younger."
Jhael remembered the gem that Conrad picked up, but remained silent.
"As for who she was talking to, she was shouting, but we only heard her side of the conversation, so it was probably speaking directly into her mind. But she was shouting so it must have been somewhat close by. She called it... What was it... Zadrik. Does that mean anything to you?"
"Wait." The gears turn in Jhael's head. "She was just having this conversation a few minutes ago. And you said the forge is about half an hour more away. What are the chances that it was our wyrmling that she was tangling with?"
Relveti puts a finger to her chin and conrad crosses his arms. The woman says; "That is... a good chance!" she says, her ears perking up. "If she'd fought the wyrmling than we'd do our best to hurry towards the forge. But... at the same time, if she fought it, then that means it's there."
Conrad huffs. "Well Regardless, Dragons're evil, right? We kill it, take it's horde and leave with the tools. Simple, eh?." he asks.
"Hrm. She had said that showed it who was boss and it 'skittered up the tube', so it may have left. Whether it's still there or not, it may very well be wounded. Of course," he added, "So are we."
"Still, I think you're right in that we should hurry. We can always poke around a bit before going inside, see if we have any real proof of it being there or not rather than speculation."
"One other reason we should hurry," Jhael began, paling slightly as it occurred to him, and already starting to walk faster. "The way that sorcerer was talking sounded like she was addressing a superior. Given what she's a disciple of, I think we can figure out what Zadrik might be. And since they were mid-conversation, it, you know, may very well come looking for her."
Relveti reaches down, grabbing the veritable mass of Mithril chain, obviously happy with the turn of events despite her own wounds. She breathed softly as she draped the surprisingly-well-fitting chain shirt to her person. The Dragon woman had been quite tall as a result of her bloodline.
As she collects the items, handing the Elixer to you, as well as the Amulet, she replies merrily with; "Then if we're lucky, it won't be there, and if we're unlucky, it's injured enough to flee..." she said, thinking.
"The wyrmling still repelled the woman, and it's breathe is intense. We should still be on our guard and be away before this "Zadrik" shows up." she states.
Conrad replies with a grunt of approval before taking a swig of his flask. "Jist's long as we kill the damned thing and get some'o that booty, we'rrrre good." he said with a bit of a hickup. "I got sumthin special fer't, hehe!"
The group walks along quietly before another conversation brews. Whether to ease the mood of the impending "Superior" or for just conversation's sake, Conrad beckons a question. "S'lad, waddya think yer goin'be doin after'is?" he asks with slurs. The alcohol was apparently getting to him. "Where ye' gonna 'ead? Eh?"
"We'll be there soon, I hope you'll be sober enough to shoot straight." Jhael replies dryly. "As for what's next, I'm not sure. Figure there's bound to be something more that needs to be done to help the cause." He shakes his head. Gazing up at the land in front of them, keeping his eyes peeled for the forge, he adds softly. "Trying to focus on one thing at a time."
"Aye, lad. If anythin, bein' drunk is gonna help..." he says merrily.
Walking along the path, you finally reach the end of it, signaled by the sudden entrance to what appears to be a man-made cave. The outer bit has been done with some right-proper stone masonry, and is exquisitely crafted. Outside of the cave burns a torch, strange, considering the amount of wind that frequently tears through Hazrit.
The entrance to the cave is a long, but squat, starewell, seemingly having been made for dwarves. The walls are damp to the touch, and sounds echo through as a pebble falls down the staircase. Not enough to alert anything, however.
Outside, against the wall opposite of the overhanging cliff near the door, lies a pile of well-charred bones.
"Must be the woman's other Dwarf." Jhael says, nodding to the pile of bones. "And these carvings look lovely, certainly fits with what I saw of Arcus's work. Shall we see what's inside?"
Jhael crouches down, moving slowly through the cave entrance and down the stairs, keeping an eye out for anything around. Sweat beads on his forehead as he moves deeper and deeper.
Relveti walks up to it and inspect the charred remains. "Hmm... no, this was another dwarf. The prior one turned to dust and it's equipment fell. These bones would have surely done the same..." she says as she casts a glance at it. Walking along, she follows you down the way. Conrad follows as well, but hangs much further back, gun in hand.
Venturing down the entrance, everyone is eerily silent. Relveti has apparently learned to be freakishly careful, judging by the fact that she tests every step. Her eyes froth with rime as she looks about.
The room that the entrance opens up to is a strange one. The stairs that brought you down end abruptly, the final step being a full foot drop. You cringe as you look forward, taking note that the room is filled full with water. It is filled with rust, and a sickly orange froth lies about the top of it.
The room is 15 by 15, and is extremely cramped. The cave continues past this, though the stagnant water leads off beyond visibility, of both darkvision and the light. In the distance, it doesn't take much to hear the sound of a sudden sloshing in the water.
Relveti clutches her wand and tests the water. "This water is foul. Drinking would be foolish, and submerging our wounds in it could cause a disease..." she says, looking back at Conrad. The man, with not a single hole in his body, looks back. "Aye, I ain't gettin in that! You 'eard it down'ere. We get in there, it'll hear the slosh. 'sides, what am I gonna do? Water's not coming in through here." he states.
Jhael looks surprised at Relveti's words. "Didn't think we had to worry much about disease." He replied. "Kinda thought going back, ah, 'home' would take care of that kind of thing." Still, he wasn't too keen on the idea of going for a swim, either, without knowing what might be in the water, and began to look around for a better way across.
"Over there," he gestured to the pipes. "Bet they're clogged, might clear this right up if I can clear them. Not sure that'll be any quieter than sloshing, though." He admitted.
Relveti scoffs. "Touching this water will only serve to cause tetnis and fever, as well as getting yourself charred..." she states. Conrad interjects; "Aye, but the lack o'water will make it where we can actually move though!"
The man gets to the edge of the water and looks at it, swiveling his fingers around inside of it, but not making any noise. "Looks like nuttin but rust. Figure the rust bugs back'ere messed up the pipes?"
As he suggests that, a flicker of fire crawls along the tunnel, casting a silhouette, as well as a light, on the edge of the tunnel. It's pretty apparent that the wyrmling has taken notice of you at this point. The soft flicker of Dark on red, but something strange is avidly apparent in this. The dragon in question is of both red and green scales.
You can hear hisses, as well as hard consonants biting through the air as the dragon clings to a rocky protrusion above the water. As it exits, the room begins to fill with a choking smoke. You can faintly see the glimmer of light bellow in it's chest as it has a breathe attack on standby.
Conrad draws his gun almost as soon as he sees the flicker, but stays his aim.
The room filling with smoke thrills Jhael. 'The less he can see, the better.' The man decides, knowing that time is not exactly on their side. The dragon's breath would surely prove deadly for any one of them. He shuddered, remembering the Dwarven bones on the way in.
'One chance to buy some time.' He thought, already moving towards the pipe. He swirled his hands, words forming on his lips.
Female laughter sprung from Jhael, filling the cavern, before Esmerelda's voice came from his lips.
You hear a blatant hissing in the distance as the embers brighten to a disconcerting roar. Turning, the creature runs avidly back through the hall and disappears around the corner far off. Bagrin can hardly stifle back a laughter, and Relveti merely stands there, eyebrows raised.
You had just caused a wounded dragon to flee with a spell that required no arcane power.
Under her breathe, she whispered; "I can't believe that worked..." Curses in Draconic fill the room as the sound of the hall echos. It is very likely that the dragon has fled.
Cold sweat subsiding, Jhael breaks out into a nervous grin. "I can't either." He replied to Relveti. "Still, he may regain his courage before long. We should still hurry."
"Plus," he added. "Who knows if Zadrik really is coming."
Moving the rest of the way over to the pipe, Jhael began to look into unclogging it.
Taking a step into the waters to reach the pipe, you practically feel the sting of sharp metal and the like, though you hope that's all it's doing. Relveti somewhat winces as you sink waste deep into the water. The floor feels... strange. Algae had apparently taken root in the stoney floor prior, and has all died since. It is quite slippery, but nothing you can't carefully navigate.
Feeling along the pipe, ripe muk fills your palms, slathering it's way among your finger nails. It's unnerving to the touch, but seems rather harmless. It doesn't take much to remove the filth, which floats to the top, a deep, charcoal black. It stains the careful waters, playing against the rust colored background.
As the filth leaves, it enters just as soon as it came in. This time with little trouble, and you feel the wide tube begin to drain the rank fluids. You stand around cautiously, with multiple threats, all inevitable, around you. The dragon you came to steal from is gone, and injured from recent events. Zadrik, who, or whatever he is, is assumedly on his way.
You wait for a solid minute to hear something in the distance, but to no avail. The water at your legs leaves your lower half totally stained, and somewhat strange, as far as smell is concerned. No amount of patting seemed to get some of the crusty filth off.
The water drains sucessfully, but the vile concoction made over time is still somewhat threatening with disease. If a person were to fall on it, there's a chance the slightest of scabs could contract whatever it had among it. Tetnis and filth fever come to mind, though both are equally likely.
Finally, no sound comes at all. It is only silent, with the water gently dripping through the tubes you so recently unclogged. Conrad takes the hint first, heaving his self off the 4 feet high pillar, and taking a look around.
[/ooc]Combat is not going to happen, so assume all non-failable rolls at this point are all natural 20's. Don't know if you can "Fail" a roll? Roll it. Knowledge checks can't be 20'd.[/ooc]
As he ventures about, he doesn't find much of use in this barren room. Going so far as to take the liquid an scrape some of it off with his fingers. He merely grimaces at the viscosity of it, but that turns into a grin when he remembers what's down the hallway. Looking back his eyes are practically smiling, and his face is definitely one of happiness. "Yar! Boys, we did it! If'n no one cares, I'll be headin on down to get a look at it. S'gotta be somethin, right?" he says as he walks down the hallway.
Relveti shakes her head and looks at you. "You should see to checking out those wounds of yours. If they become infected by the water, well... she seems rather downtrodden. "The nexus can't cure disease, sickness, or poison."
Jhael look back in surprise at Relveti. "Conrad was shot in the head and is fine, but I can't do anything about contracting tetanus?" He frowns, realising that there is so much about the Nexus that he still doesn't know or understand. 'It operates on its own rules' he reminded himself. 'Best get used to that.'
Jhael attempts to check his wounds to make sure none of them seem infected. Noticing Conrad taking a swig of his booze, Jhael considers borrowing the flask to help clean his cuts, though he can't decide if that would help or not.
Jhael pulls a canteen out of his bag, cleaning the cuts with fresh water and then bandaging the worst ones after, hoping that it would be enough. He would have to get used to the idea of adventuring in other places, and the 'quirks' present in each. Open wounds were not as much of a problem where he was from as much as staying warm was. 'Always more to learn,' he thought with a pleased smile.
"Well," he said with a grin to his comrades. "Let's go find some treasure." He began following Conrad down the hallway, interested to see what the lair of a Wyrmling looked like.
Venturing through the rather lengthy, 60 feet hallway, you arrive unto a room that is somewhat curious. It is truly a marvelous thing you've walked into, to be sure. The ground floor, above the water, is reached by quaint, yet squat, stairs.
The new floor is smooth and seemless. The faint glittering of gold dots the floor, getting more and more cluttered as you look forward into the corner. In said corner, far away from the rest of the room's unique features, is that of the wyrmling's horde. Now, the horde is not humongous, by any means. It is primarily coins, but a few specific items jump out at you.
At the peak of the horde's most fanciful items are; A series of books, a set, actually. One is Black, the other white, and the other a mixture. Each book is lined with leather, hardback, scored to seem like scales. The entire set is wrapped tightly with a golden chord.
A wand, apparently carved from bone charred black. It doesn't seem humanoid, and is quite well-done.
Another book lies across the room, although not part of the horde, plenty of clawed, and gnawed, golden pieces lay about it. The book is open, but a red gem at the front of it seems rather valuable at first glance. Strange words and formulae lie about the book as well.
Beside the book, a stack of papers lies around it atop a stone table. Plenty of what appear to be schematics for weapons lie about, but you can't immediately make sense of the lot of them.
Conrad seems to be rather preoccupied with sifting through the horde, and letting the golden coins fall through his fingers like rain. He seems rather pleased with himself. Relveti seems to be taking an interest in the various papers.
Along the stone table, and in the other corner, are the various tools that Arcus made mention of. Neatly sitting in the same place, the dragon seems to have left them as they were, as they glitter in even the slightest amount of light.
Jhael heads immediately for Arcus's tools, putting them into his bag and letting out a sigh of relief as he does. Not wanting to rush the others through claiming their rewards, he decided to quietly poke around at some of the items around.
Thinking the series of books might be something that would interest Marco, Jhael took a quick look through those, flipping between several pages.
Looking at the schematics related to weaponry, Jhael wonders if Arcus might be able to make use of them.
Deciding that there is probably something in them that would be useful, he grabbed the stack of papers, placing those into his bag as well. 'Plenty of time to go through them all later.' He reasoned.
Examining the wand next, Jhael considered its applications though without doing any actual casting with it.
Jhael looks around again, trying to figure out if there is anything that has gone unnoticed.
Toying with the wand, you cast it successfully, and a small bead of white, soon-disappearing light hits the ground. From what you know of spells, the thing that this wand casts is the spell "Alarm", and is likely the only way the dragon knew you were coming, as they're more than capable of using such meager wands.
Looking at the papers, you realize that they're weapons, to say the least. These schematics would give Arcus's amazing skills with the crude tools he uses a much easier time constructing the weapons. They seem rather mundane, however.
Skimming through the Draconic texts, you realize that they're religious in value. However, reading through just a tidbit of it, there's a lot to take in, and nowhere near enough time to do so now.
As you peruse the various magical and mundane items, you turn to see Conrad actually unstuffing his pockets. He apparently remembered halfway through that gold holds no weight to Aether. He divides an entire half of the gold on the ground, and soon watches it completely fade from view. Pleased, he turns to look at ya. "Not's much as I hoped, but I figure I enjoyed the trip, eh? There's plenty 'ere for the both of yun's selve's, right?" he asks with a wide grin.
Relveti looks to the Magical book and peruses it for quite some time before handing it to you and stashing her own bit of papers from the room. "Indeed. I've no use for gold at the moment, and I do believe our work is done. Let's be gone." she states, closing her eyes. As she does a soft, blue halo of flame appears at the base of her neck, and conrad likewise.
After a few seconds of uncertainty, the 2 dissolve into the air. That's apparently what it looks like to return to the nexus...
Kneeling over at the gold, your portion is hefty, to say the least, and you immediately aetherize the entire portion. It's a funny feeling really. It feels like static, somewhat. Pricks on your fingers, and a soft "Washing over" sensation as the Aether combines with your self.
Aetherizing the entire mound of gold, you realize that there was actually a mundane item at the base of the pile, and a peculiar object at that. It seems to be a carved statue, a crude one, at that. Hundreds of scratches via claw, most likely the dragon's dot it. The statue is that of a young, young whelp being nuzzled by a crudely carved larger dragon.
As you look at this, something surprising happens. Conrad and Relveti are both gone, and you hear the sound of casual footsteps down the hallway, coming in your direction. They seem to be going slow enough to where you can successfully teleport back to the Nexus...
Jhael tosses the wand and religious texts into his bag, intending to read over them more later. As to the wand, it could come in useful some day. It certainly worked for the Wyrmling. 'At least, to a point.' Jhael thought with a grin.
The image of Relveti and Conrad disappearing lingers in his mind uncomfortably. As glad as he was to not have to take the long way back, the process seemed unnatural and left him feeling unsettled, almost restless.
Into the bag also goes the large red gem and book around that as well. Basically anything that looks even remotely interesting goes in. Refusing to take any chances, Jhael thinks 'I'll be damned if I have to come back here.'
Looking over the statue for a moment, Jhael supposes that it's probably worth something, but the crudity of the carving and claw marks in it strike Jhael as something sentimental. He looks with sadness at it, but does not touch it.
The sound of footsteps perks Jhael's interest. Part of him wants to stay and see who it is. But with Relveti and Conrad gone, with everything that already happened, he knows that he should go. 'Enough is enough.' He convinced himself, and vanished back to the Nexus.
Teleporting back, you find yourself in the company of Relveti only. She smiles, happy to be back, apparently. "That was a ruthless quest that almost cost me my life..." she says as she walks through you, causing you to disetegrate. "I've much to look into. Should you need me-" she states, whipping back to look at you. "- I shall be in the Library for quite some time..." With that, she turns on her heel and disappears through the glyph.
Conrad is nowhere in sight, but a person that is, is Bagrin, who throws a hand up to you and beckons you over. You're in the middle of the Nexus's bottom floor, suspended over the invisible floor. The exhausted woman from earlier has since been moved, or moved herself from here. Curious.
"All the best ones are." He replies with a grin as she passes through him. He turns as she walks through the glyph.
He makes a mental note that he would like to check out the library at some point at as well, especially to pool over the religious texts that he had, erm, liberated. Jhael also makes a mental note to learn more about the exhausted woman, finding her removal surprisingly unexpected.
'First thing's first, though. I should get these items over to Arcus.'
Seeing Bagrin, Jhael's face lights up. Despite not having been gone for very long, it feels like considerable time has passed. 'Probably just so many near death experiences.' He muses, and he moves quickly over to Bagrin. "Hello, my friend."
He smiles as he stands up. "Looks like the new blood managed to survive his first rodeo! Not bad, not bad at all. So... How'd it go?" he asks, rather simply. He leans in, taking sum of what you're about to say with a sort of glee.
"Couple traps, a few wounds. Little swordplay. Lots of daring heroics. You know how it is." He grins, teasing the man, who seems like he wants more details, as one who vicariously lives through the travelers who come through.
Jhael takes a few minutes to tell him the story, from the cave to the bridge to the dragon disciple and the cavern. He leaves out things about Relveti and Conrad's lives, as well as how much trouble Relveti had with her height. She seemed self-conscious about it enough already without drawing more attention to it.
"We succeeded, and no one died, is the long and short of it." He finished, looking satisfied. "All in all I'd say it went rather well, owing largely to Relveti and Conrad, of course. Anything exciting happening here?"
Bagrin seems rather engrossed with the story, at least, until the name "Zadrik" is brought up. His brow raises, showing a rather obvious interest in the name. He shakes off the afterglow of the story rather quickly, musing about it while you continue.
He looks at you rather firmly, almost knowing you left a few parts out. "It's a wonder those 2 didn't cause at least some trouble..." he states. You turn to the sound of someone arriving through the glyph. First and foremost, forming as he approaches you, is Oswald. His facial features are smooth, and his eyes are sharp. The blade that forms on his back is a grandiose scythe that arcs wide, and swiftly curves inward at the tip.
His armor is that of solid black, with a red in-lay, and his hair is shoulder length, platinum white as you recalled. At the tips it is stained red, upon closer inspection. His armor has chiseled memorabilia all about it. The suit of full plate has a wide, circular opening right where his heart should be.
Bagrin leans in close to you, and whispers; "Nothing as interesting as what happens when Mephisto's lapdog is off his leash, I assure you." he states with somewhat of a chuckle.
The man walks up to you, and you're half-certain his posture was so perfect on the way to you that his head never moved, nor bobbed a single time. He gets right up to you, an imposing height of 6'4, and looks down upon you. His gaze is piercing, and long, black lines are tattooed into his face starting at the base of his eyes, almost like tears.
His voice is soothing, but seductive in tone when he asks; "You are Jhael, no? My lady Mephistopheles wishes to speak to you in the observing room when you're free. She has made it a point that it is most urgent." His eyes never stop staring directly into yours, and the man almost seems like some sort of automaton. There's an aura of... fear about this man, really. His presence is unsettling, and a cold feeling surrounds him.
"Uh, yes. O-of course." Jhael stutters, clearly taken aback by the man's imposing personality. "I have something to take care of first," he continues, in a way that sounds almost like he's asking permission, "but I will meet with her shortly."
He turns from the larger man, and forces a smile at Bagrin. "Duty calls." he remarks. As he starts walking away, intending to go see Arcus, he stops and thinks for a second, as if remembering something, and then turns and walks back over. "One last thing. You know the name Zadrik. What can you tell me of him?"
Bagrin looks at you, casting a casual glance towards Oswald as well. "... Supposedly Zadrik is a rather grand black dragon in Hazrit. S'got a few disciples." he says, seemingly casting a knowing look towards you. "That woman you killed was likely a subordinate of his... and from the sounds of it she was in the middle of something." he states as he stands up with a huff.
"Needless to say, you may've thrown a wrench in a plan of his..." Bagrin takes a moment to sum up Oswald, who happens to have been staring directly at you this entire time with half-open eyes. He quite literally hasn't budged, save for the quick darting of his eyes about your person.
"Suppose I've made a powerful enemy today, then." Jhael mutters. He nods to Bagrin, "Thanks," he says, feeling Oswald's eyes bore into him with every passing second. Becoming increasingly uncomfortable under the stony gaze, he moves rather quickly from the room, looking for Arcus.
Approaching the other room, Oswald doesn't budge from his spot, but his eyes do follow you. Bagrin gets up, nods towards you and finds somewhere else to sit that doesn't have Oswald standing still within it. As you walk away, Oswald turns and leaves through the glyph opposite of you.
As you enter the room with Arcus, Finelia, and Marco, the lot of them are, at the least, happy to see you. Finelia is the first to take notice of you as Arcus is pounding away with his crude tools, and Marco is engrossed in his potions and books.
The bow the Elf is working on almost snaps in two as you enter the room, her face bright with delight. Arcus is entirely engrossed in his work, however, he manages to notice you as finelia walks over towards him, gesturing at you.
His eyes alight with fire as he sees you; "Boy! Boy! Did ye really do eet!?"
Marco looks up at the sudden burst of sound. "My..." His dragon reacts surprised as well, but shortly after Marco does.
Jhael waves at Finelia, and quickly bows to Marco before approaching Arcus with a smile. "With help from some friends, of course." He confesses pleasantly. Reaching into his bag he removes Arcus's set of tools, saying "I believe these belong to you."
After pausing for a second, he reaches into his bags again, this time pulling the weapon schematics. "I also found these. I couldn't make much sense of them, but perhaps they'll benefit you as well?"
The dwarf looks at everything with a look of awe and wonder. He gently takes the tools from you 1 by 1, shortly after crushing the lot of his old ones. A grin spreads across his face. As he takes them, he strokes them, eyes them, everything. He savors every single second that they've returned while casually throwing back glances towards you.
He stops for a moment, and then breathes in. Looking at the schematics, he places them on the table and starts to read over them, slowly tracing a finger down as he goes. "Rabaddon, ye' sly bastard..." he whispers under his breathe as he takes in the moment.
"I used 'ese tools fer's long's I can remember, boy..." he says, practically on the verge of tears. "'At dragon killed me'n I woke up 'ere, wit' nuttin. I tried so many times ta' get the tings back, but..." he says, trailing off with a sigh.
Marco walks up behind you, placing a hand on his shoulder as the Dwarf loses himself in a myriad of tears and happiness. Finelia keeps to her work, but watches attentively with a bit of satisfaction. The 2 may rival each other in the field, but it would seem that the nexus forces friendship as much as it does rivalry. With a puff of his pipe, Marco explains something rather dire.
"Jhael? Was it? You've no idea how happy this man is right now. Truly, he tried atleast 8 times to get the tools back himself, and each time he lost a piece of himself in death. When one dies in the nexus, they lose... how can I put this..." he says, stroking his long beard and tapping his chin. "Experience. You lose your adventures, and all memory of them, really. Sometime's it's a lot, and sometimes it's little. Arcus has lost so much of his craftsmanshi-" swish
As the man continues to say the word, Arcus actually looks up at him, with a grin. "I may'a lost alot, Wizard, but I ain't anywhere near bein' shoddy! Soon's I get back on track, I'll be grindin out tings better than I used ta'!" he says, banging his fist on the table. He turns to point a finger at you; "Boy! I'll give ya one on the house with my new tools! Come back tomorrow'n I'll give ya somethin' right for ya!" he says with a boom.
Despite himself, Jhael finds he is getting misty-eyed at both the Dwarf's happiness and the sorrow of his plight. He shudders at the knowledge that one actually loses their memories on death. It fits with what he had been told about fading away, but it still filled him with fear to hear of it. He was suddenly immensely glad that neither Relveti nor Conrad had perished on their journey.
Tears of all sorts in his eyes, Jhael replies with a smile. "Can't wait to see what you can make."
He turns towards Marco. "I bear gifts for you as well." Reaching into his bag he retrieves the papers/books related to formulae and spells. He holds those up to Marco, hoping they'll be of some use to him. "Also grabbed a couple of religious texts that I'm going to bring to the Library after, if those are to your interest."
Suddenly looking embarrassed, he casts a look at Finelia. "I'm afraid I've nothing for you this time, m'dear."
As the Dwarf loses himself in a hail of sparks and joy, pounding away at what appears to be a weapon, you turn to Marco, whom happens to have a smile on his face beneath his beard. Presenting the books and papers the Wizard's eyes alight with joy at the sight of the spellbook. Grabbing the book from you, the item somewhat shimmers as it disentegrates ad re-integrates in his hand like somewhat of a wave.
Taking the precautions to swiftly unlock the long-broken locks, he can't help but have his smile grow. He quickly skims the contents; "Boy, this is a... Transmuter's spellbook!" he says with joy. "Strength surging... unparalleled accuracy... a dash of charisma... Hmm..." he says as he grabs the pipe from his pocket. The Dragon jumps atop him, balancing on his shoulders and begins to eye the book accordingly.
Surprisingly enough, it speaks;
Marco laughs a high pitched yip of a laugh. "Oh Indeed! We must study immediately!" he says with a laugh. He nods to you, thanking you in the process. He walks back to his desk and plops the weight down post-haste, grabbing a pen and getting right to work.
Finelia smiles at you as she sachet's back to her desk and begins to restring a bow, this one of some strange, alien wood you're not familiar with off the top of your head. "It is all fine, Jhael. The fact you've helped us so much in so little a time is more than enough. Please, rest for some time. You've certainly earned it." she states.
A small sense of pride wells up in you as you look about, taking note of the sudden productivity of the room. In this short time, the Dwarf has laid out a long, metal bar, a long piece of green cloth, and has conjured up some strange, green material.
Despite the sense of pride, you still hear the sound of deep, meaningful footsteps. Oswald, in the doorway and out of sight of the professionals, beckons you come along as he sees that you're conversation is done. His eyes are just as cold as prior, and his arms, crossed.
Jhael bows to Marco and his little dragon, quite pleased to have been of service. Exhaling with deep satisfaction, Jhael looks around the room, wondering when the last time was that either Marco or Arcus were so pleased.
As he turns to reply to Finelia, he catches sight of Oswald in the doorway, staring at him like some mad jailer intending to return him to his cell, or like a disappointed father, his stance saying 'Enough games, you have responsibilities.'
"Perhaps later." He replies, forcing a smile. With his shoulders somewhat slumped, he obediently walks over towards Oswald, meeting his eye. "Alright." He says, "I'm ready."
The man turns on his heel as you leave the merry group of people, and then abruptly beckons you follow. You do, of course. As he turns, you realize that the back of his armor is oddly crafted, with 2 lengthy protrusions at the base of the shoulders. Somewhat like removed wings, it was.
As you follow Oswald, something interesting to note is that there is absolutely no one watching you follow him. Just previous, Bagrin had been in here, though you couldn't be certain of the other 2, Anastasia and Rydell, had been there prior. They certainly weren't now, and that was made all the clearer as you ventured forth into the Sigil you'd previously never been in.
As Oswald's Visage shimmers away into non-existence, having went to another area of the Nexus, you take time to consider quite a bit of things, but at the end realize that it is of no matter, really. Physical harm isn't possible in the nexus, after all... right?
Standing atop the Sigil, you look about as the room blurs to form something else entirely. A fanciful sight, really, what you've just walked into.
The room plays along somewhat like a Auditorium, though an odd one, to say the least. Looking out, you realize you are on a platform in the middle of a void of sheer darkness. The sigil you just walked from stays still behind you, and on the other side of the room is yet another sigil. It likely leads to the commons area you'd gotten so familiar with prior.
The room is a semi circle with no walls, and at a certain point, no floor. Rubble hangs aloof in the middle of the abyss, and gravity seems to be working just fine, to make matters worse. A fall could be... interesting. At the center of the room, taking into consideration the lack-thereof a floor, is a commendably large, copper contraption with accents of gold and silver.
The Device seems to be related to Astrology, as small bits of circular copper and other colorful metals orbit the main, misty ball. A white fog eclipses the entirety of the orb, save for key spots, and it doesn't take much for you to come to the conclusion that the orb has something to do with the fog on the actual planet. Perhaps, maybe, it keeps tabs on it? You can't be sure with just a glance. Careful inspection would likely be required.
Just beneath that orb, at a squat, birch table sits the standoffish Mephisto, drinking from porcelain cups. A chair is apparently scooted out just for you, and there doesn't seem to be enough room for Oswald.
Among other places, as you descend with Oswald towards the center, there are rows upon rows of stone chairs, each with a red fragment of cloth in the seat. There also seem to be people in the seats as well, 2 in total, both of which have a strange, yellow symbol radiating in front of their forehead. Their eyes are closed, and their bodies, still. One man is the masked figure you'd met prior, the one that wished to see his jade dagger returned to him, Sebastian.
The other is a slender man of average height with a large, brown hat. Now, when one says "Large, brown hat" you imagine the sort of thing where the person just has a rather wide-brimmed hat, but no, no, not in this case. In his chair, the man's hat literally encompasses the man's entire body, and he happens to be sitting in such a way that his facial features, as well as most of his upper body is indistinguishable.
The woman looks at you as you stand near the table considering the idea of sitting or standing. Taking a quick drink of her brown liquid, likely tea or some form of strange concoction, she smiles at you. "Ah, good, you made it. I trust Oswald was accommodating?"
Jhael frowns as he moves back through the halls, finding it strange that Anastasia and Rydell weren't there after the explanation that they were always there. Following Oswald, he looks with surprise at how much the scenes change. 'The Nexus seems so fluid.'[i] He remarks to himself.
Glancing at Sebastian and the man next to him as he goes past, he notices someone trying very hard not to be noticed. Cloaked all in black with yellow eyes. Jhael stares for a moment with curiosity, but as soon as he blinks the figure is gone.
He turns to Mephisto and sees her sitting down, seeming to prepare for a tea party. [i]'I've arrived in the halls of the mad.' he thinks to himself.
Approaching with a sense of caution, he pauses for a moment before sitting down at the table, though still feeling somewhat on edge. To her question he quietly replies, "Much as one would have expected." Forcing a smile, he asks, "What can I do for you, Lady Mephisto?"
She smiles as Oswald stands at a distance from the both of you. "Well, if we're being frank. I need you to go to Argosal..." she states with a bit of a cold assertion. The statement was quick, and figurative, with a bit of a telling tone. "Not now, of course!" With the clink of a spoon against her cup, she looks at you through her golden mask. A stark red eye and a wry smile; "Seems we may've found a weasel for Argosal himself amongst the village."