Oh, wow, refreshing the browser did a world of good.
Trézsia's shoulders bunch and square as she steps forward and unleashes a two-handed swing of the greataxe at the nearest maggot, but a stray rock rolls underfoot and her swing flies wide.
"Hyaaaaaaah!"
Xion lunges up alongside Trezsia, sweeping her halberd toward the vermin as she practically dives into the melee.
Tasnim scowls and readies herself for trouble, placing herself between the injured and the fight. "Careful, Xi!"
Vitalia positions herself next to Tasnim, ready to defend the injured.
The Penitent grins widely, lunging forward toward one of the creatures as it bursts from the abdomen of the dead spider.
"This I understand!" he cries out, diving upon the writhing maggot in a flailing blur of kicks and punches.
Trezsia steps forward, unleashing a mighty blow from her greataxe at one of the maggots, but it fails to connect.
The Penitent dives on the writhing maggot that Trezsia isn't swinging at, successfully grappling the disgusting dog-like worm, despite it's writhing attempts to get free.
Xion moves forward to attack Trezsia's target, cleaving it in half. Each half thrashes mindlessly for a horrible moment before lying still.
The madly writhing maggot in the Penitent's hands spews half digested spider guts on the wrestler.
The remaining maggot crawls forward between the twitching halves of the dead maggot and it's huge teeth reach for Trezsia.
The Penitent struggles wildly with the writhing maggot, wrapping his wiry arms and legs around the verminous slug.
"You will repent and find rebirth in the Light! You will see the Light of the D-"
Covered in maggot slime and regurgitated spider viscera, the Penitent laughs and tightens his grip on the creature.
"-AWN! I will pull you apart and find your true countenance, demon!"
The Penitent fights off the urge to be sickened by the terrible vomit he is now covered in.
Cassander moves toward the melee, sword at the ready.
"Ooh! Watch out! Don't let it bite you!" Horgus yells as the foul vermin burst from the corpse of the giant spider. "Stab it! Quick!"
"Huh? What? What's going on! Is there battle? What do we face?" Aravashnial's voice rings out with command.
"It some...ugh! Look at what it did to the street preacher! He's holding onto it though. It's the largest maggots I've ever seen. Be careful, Aravashnial. There's rocks, the ground is treacherous. Step slowly, let me guide you - they're a ways off, let's get off this difficult ground so we can stand steady if we need to." Anevia struggles with her own balance, but manages to slowly pull herself and Aravashnial behind the protective screen of Tasnim and Vitalia.
"Well struck!" Trézsia cries to Xion, trying to hack the maggot before her to bits.
"It's all right," says Tasnim, calling behind her. "We've got it."
"And you," Xion replies, evading the splash of gore from the bifurcated worm. She darts around Trezsia, moving to attack any of the vermin that remain, bringing the halberd down in an overhead chop.
Laughing all the while, the Penitent bears down on the slimy creature, wiry muscles cording in exhertion as he grips the maggot.
"Now, admit your guilt, demon, cry for redemption in the Light!"
The Penitent raises a clenched fist, the knuckles knobby and laced with pale scars. He then brings it crashing down into the soft slimy mass of the creature.
The foul vermin is badly wounded, but still wriggles within the Penitent's grasp.
"Well struck!" Trézsia cries to Xion, trying to hack the maggot before her to bits. With a mightly blow of her axe, she slices cleanly through the maggot lengthwise. It doesn't even twitch, going instantly still as its last disgusting meal drains from its halved body.
The creature in the Penitent's grasp, though badly injured, still moves. The Penitent raises a clenched fist, the knuckles knobby and laced with pale scars. He then brings it crashing down into the soft slimy mass of the creature, and it falls limp in his grasp.
Xion steps rapidly forward to finish off any still moving enemies, but they are all dead.
"There are foul things down here," Cassander says, stating the obvious. "Was anyone wounded by them?"
"Neither of us," she answers. "The fellow there is drenched in the stuff though...." Xion gags slightly at the rancid scent wafting off the Penitent.
The Penitent releases the lifeless creature from his grasp, springing to his feet in an arcing spray of maggot slime and half-digested spider viscera.
"We are victorious! Our demonic foes have seen the truth of their existence and come to the Light of redemption! I am unscathed!"
He seems oblivious to the gore and fluids covering him, grinning enthusiatically at those around him.
Tasnim sighs and walks forward. Barely managing to withstand the Penitent's stench in her sensitive nose, she waves a hand and mutters "Aquam."
She shakes her head. "That was...fun."
Tasnim creates a showers that falls over the Penitent, washing the ichor off him onto the cavern floor. Anevia is explaining the action to Aravashnial as they're finally standing on rubble free ground, and Horgus is staring at the Penitent with wide-eyed revulsion. "...must get myself a weapon...can't be guarded only by the insane..." Vitalia hears him murmur under his breath.
Cassander inquires to Aravashnial: "There is a path away from here, but it divides at a fork up ahead. Do you have any insight into how to navigate these caverns?"
"I'm going to have a look. Won't go far." Xion moves up around the boulder or stone column in front of her, using her ability to see in the dark to scout ahead a little toward the larger tunnel.
Trézsia pulls up her torch and follows Xion, keeping the changeling at the edge of her torchlight, greataxe held loosely in her left hand.
Cassander likewise follows at a distance, trying to keep an eye on the forward scouts.
As Xion moves forward to peek down the left tunnel, Anevia leads Aravashnial toward the light sources in the cavern. Horgus skirts around the Penitent and the dead spider to stand next to Cassander, peering into the darkness nervously.
"There are no maps of the catacombs beneath Kenabres," Aravashnial explains as Anevia pulls him forward. "So much scholarship was lost during the confusion of the crusades. You should explore ahead carefully. My assistant here will take notes, and that way we can generate a map. I'm sure it would be very useful!" He reaches into his pack on one shoulder and roots around in it for a moment. He finds a thick glass vial and brings it out, struggling with the cork for a moment before drinking down a thick blue liquid.
He smacks his lips and frowns as some of his injuries heal further. The bruises and cuts on his body from his flight through the air during the battle above fade nearly away, though the large scar across his face is still horrible. "Hm...disappointing. Maybe I need to find a new brewer."
"There is some sort of chamber here to the right," Cassander says. "Perhaps we ought to check it out."
"I will come with you if you like, angel."
"Likewise over here," Xion reports back. "A tunnel forty or fifty feet long then an open chamber."
"Let us examine the chamber before we move on. There may be more injured there." The paladin moves in the direction Cassander noted.
Still grinning, the Penitent shakes his head rapidly like a dog, droplets of water from the deluge spraying in every direction.
"My thanks!" he calls to the half-orc woman, "For cleanliness is next to Godliness!"
At the words from the wounded elf, the Penitent's eyes narrow for an instant but after a small shrug, his grin soon reappears.
Looking ahead to the woman with the dual-colored eyes in the dimly lit area, he moves forward, staying some distance behind her as he murmurs in a sing-song voice.
"Gold and Silver will show me my Path once again..."
Xion nods and acquiesces, following after Cassander and Trezsia. They can double back to the tunnel she found if this dead ends, and it's best not to separate, she figures.
Aravashnial frowns. "Two passages? And one seems much the same as another? Well, since we've found nothing of value in here, we should probably choose the left path and see where it takes us. Anevia, my dear, if you could begin to bring me over to the left path, we can begin searching for a way out of this cursed place."
Anevia looks at the unguarded passageway and then the rest of the group questioningly.
Xion just shakes her head and waves for her to follow them toward the path they're now closest to.
Anevia nods and urges Aravashnial toward the pillar. She is still wincing with every step, and leads Aravashnial by having him place a hand on her shoulder.
Trézsia continues slowly forward, light in one hand, axe in the other.
Smiling, the Penitent moves lithely forward to stand beside to woman with the dual-colored eyes.
He murmurs, low and quiet, his voice barely carrying.
"Fragile minds and ego, fragile earth and fragile creatures, all is coming apart and yet all must hold together until the Dawn."
The Penitent then grins and laughs, his voice now carrying to the surrounding men and women.
"The journey to the Light begins, brothers! Rejoice, we are soon to find many wonders!"
As Trezsia and the Penitent peek into the cavern before them, they see that a stone ledge juts out at a right angle on the right wall, about fifteen feet off the ground. The leather strap of a backpack hangs from the edge of the ledge, while above, a narrow fissure less than a foot wide yawns up into the darkness.
Cassander follows the others, peering into the chamber. When he spots the backpack, his voice is concerned. "Someone else is here. Or perhaps that pack fell into a fissure during the quake..."
"We better see if anyone is attached to that pack. Are your wings injured, angel? Can you fly up and see if somebody is there? The rubble may not be stable for climbing, and we need no more injuries if they can be avoided. And if it is just a pack, it may contain useful items to aid our wounded."
Trézsia bows politely to the aasimar.
Without a word, Cassander takes flight and examines the backpack, making sure it is not a trap and that the ledge is unoccupied. If all is in good order, he will retrieve the pack.