Ruika inclines her head as Julius' takes in the danger; "You think lot; as much as talk." She adds to Julius, before glancing at Thurrios' sardonic comment.
Then seeing the mage coat himself in the mystical force-field, Ruika starts to motion with her hands and murmurs softly in elven. Her entire form is bathed in a soft light, a freckling glow that glistens and glitters mildly catching Narkû's torch light and reflecting her dancing ghostly orbs.
She turns to Julius' with a small smile, as if to say she doesn't need a stick to protect herself. Whilst with her other hand she waves Narkû towards the door on the south, respecting his physical power.
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Sarala listens to Julius intently, because she just enjoys a good rambling. When the claw marks are pointed out to her she says, "Oh wow, look at those claw marks. Julius, do you know stuff about claws? How about a little 'identify the animal that left those'. If I were to guess based on my encyclopedic knowledge of jungle animals, I'd say those were left by a big one." She makes her hands into claws and scratches at the air, trying to re-enact what it could be.
"Also, if you hit me with some of that magic armour, that'd be appreciated, 'cause I get the feeling that I'm gonna be in punching range of a claw monster in the not so distant future." She nods towards the direction the others are already going, "This way! Onwards and forward. Tally-ho, gents. Also, lady now. And fox."
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Tucking one wand under his arm, the arcanist reequips the other and mutters some words as a bubble emerges from its tip to then settle around Sarala after which it shrinks to enclose her like a second skin.
Gesturing to the hallway with the clawed doors, Julius winks at Thurrios and asks, "While we're still mostly hale and have resources to spare, maybe we should be inquisitive about the nature of what wanted in so badly, eh?"
Tucking the mage armor wand back in its place, Julius shrugs.
"Better than going down a different passage and having it come from behind...though perhaps if anyone has any bit of tracking skills, they should take a gander at which hall has seen more activity lately."
Julius edges closer to the clawed door hallway, his wand of summon monster i held out before him like a shield and his javelin arm pulled back ready to throw.
"I'm not a terrible tracker, let me see what I can find."
Sensing that the group is finally read to move on, Narkû carefully moves to avoid Thurrios's tracking attempt, and ends up at the entrance to the opposite hallway. Peering torch in hand he peers down the hall beyond the edge of the torch light.
"Narkû sees no dangers for you this way."
Narku peers around the bend in the west hallway, catching a glimpse of the small chamber beyond. Centuries of undisturbed dust and cobwebs litter the walls and floor, obscuring what might have once been glorious stonework. Against the west wall, a pair of niches hold painted statues with distinctly leonine features, glaring with wooden menace from beneath layers of ancient filth.
Ruika peeks into the southern hall, where there is another bend, but the room beyond does not appear to be as well lit as these chambers were. Instead, an unsettling darkness clings to the walls at the end of the hall. The elf white orc can just pick up on the foul scent of a metallic miasma.
Softly Ruika smacks her lips, trying to ascertain what the smell comes from. With a lilting accented cadence she says; "Blood? Or burnt metal?" Before she turns slowly to the rest of the group.
"That good Narkû. Let see if anything here." From beneath the dusky robes she waves her hands and intones, producing a quartet of lights to illuminate the Southern Hall before her. Then she starts forward boldly into the chamber, though tempered by her natural light step.
"Narkû will leave the lion statues there, they are dusty and old anyway," he says as he leaves the western hallway and moves over to Ruika.
"Non-Orcs will like that they can see with your light Ruika. They do have many shortcomings."
He looks about the room with her, getting a measure of its belongs and decorations.
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Current Effects: Whetstone edge on falchion, +1 damage on next successful hit; Torch, 20' radius, 45 min;
"Narku, you do realise I am a 'non-orc' yet I do not need light to see in natural darkness?" he comments still covering the front, his shield ready for unwanted attention of the lethal kind
He did have a smile, making sure Narku knows he is not being accusing towards him
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Narkû pays the comment no heed, as the speaker can not pronounce Narkû's name correctly anyway.
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Current Effects: Whetstone edge on falchion, +1 damage on next successful hit; Torch, 20' radius, 45 min;
Ruika nods to Anapa; "Yes, nobodies perfect." She replies deadpan, making sure that the others are following.
With a glance to Sarala; "Vanara your tribe or your people? Or same thing?" The robed figure asks having never heard of them, or even seen their species before.
"I too am not an Orc that can see in the dark"
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Sarala glances back towards the pale orc, hands deep in her pockets."Vanara is my people. Any time you meet someone who looks sorta like me, you can call them a Vanara, probably," says Sarala in response to Ruika, "I was an initiate in our treetop village's monastery, which was the heart of our religion, traditions and security. Our patron spirit is Ped, the spirit of the trees that we tend to and that protect us in turn. My way of contributing to the village's well-being is different than most of the members of the monastery. Boring stuff to outsiders, though, 'cause you guys don't care much about trees."
"Are they all such nimble, slender, and attractive scouts as you?"
"That good Narkû. Let see if anything here." From beneath the dusky robes she waves her hands and intones, producing a quartet of lights to illuminate the Southern Hall before her. Then she starts forward boldly into the chamber, though tempered by her natural light step.
The hall soon opens into a vast chamber, clearly some sort of ominous worship hall. Frescos upon the walls and dozens of columns depict the terrifying power of magic, as radiant figures destroy entire worlds. Massive pillars support the chamber's lofty ceiling, each covered with complex glyphs and designs. Between each column, glass lamps hang from chains of green copper, radiating pallid, bluish lights that pulse and flicker in unison - the lamps are, incidentally, the source of strange metallic scent. Despite the abundant illumination, the entire ceiling is covered in a pitch black swathe of shadows, giving the illusion that the many pillars are simply rising up into an empty void.
At the room's southern end, the temple's alabaster altar gleams in the erratic blue light, its pedestal carved in the shape of winged, scale-covered bulls. To the altar's left (east) you catch a glimpse of a small passageway leading out of the chamber.
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Not to be outdone by the white orc witch, Julius has a swirl of dancing lights over his head as he strides after Ruika. Javelin and wand held mostly limp as he boggles at the artistry in the room. Of course, he hasn't completely forgotten where he is and immediately begins casting detect magic over the frescos, pillars, lamps, and even the shadows swirling overhead.
Unless he gets a result he's completely not expecting, Julius will approach the altar but stop a healthy distance away and begin studying it and the evident power it seems to emanate.
The pillars and the glyphs carved onto them are not inherently magical, but you recognize that the designs form a sort of ancient magical formula. Numerous spells are present among the different pillars, none of them particularly powerful - with some work, you surmise that it would be possible to scribe these spells into your spellbook. Granted, the time and effort necessary would be substantial.
"Hmmm Temple. Your God?" she looks to Julius slightly puzzled that the man just seemed to worship knowledge and magical theory. She gazes up at the pillars that seemingly hold up the night-sky with some awe, clearly unused to such a temple.
Casts detect magic
"This place is near full of magic, most of it I can not determine what sort it is, but that altar, while it is not currently active does have a weak aura of conjuration. I am reasonably certain that I do not want to know what exactly it conjures."
Anapa stands guard while his companions use their arcane talents to inspect the are
Narkû looks around the room after hearing Thurrios' words, but still careful not to touch anything... yet.
I am not seeing any useful magical items here. How can he say this place is near full of magic? No weapons... no armor... nothing but blue light and black sky, he thinks in utter frustration.
Perhaps you care less about the formulae, but nonetheless, you can see magic within the patterns on the pillars. Only a few of the spells are truly applicable to you, but with the same time and effort, Lyssa might be able to take them into herself.
The eerie silence within the temple persists...
"Narkû will search over here for a secret way to continue, while Narkû lets you search other areas in here."
Narkû begins to search the alcoves for secret passages and anything that could be worth something.
"Good Narkû. We advance." She moves onwards, whilst Lyssa yips at the pillars and scratches her shoulders against them as if she's got an itch.
Taking no interest in the magic present, Narku combs the various alcoves on the walls of the temple for something, anything of value. Unfortunately, instead of treasure or secret passages, he finds nothing more than dust and cobwebs. The only other apparent exit is past the altar.
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Ruika moves upto the altar and looks down the narrow passageway off it. 'This must lead to priests quarters or a preparatory room for the ceremonies that take part here? Wonder if any items remain, I'm sure Julius would be interested in them.'
No sooner does Ruika approach the altar than the ancient magic within it awakens. The eyes of the winged bull sculptures light up, as does the altar's alabaster surface. A wrathful voice booms through the chamber, echoing off the walls.
"أولئك الذين يتجرأون ينجس مقام العين كل رؤية يجب أن تدفع الثمن!"
From out of nowhere three serpents appear, each of them the size of a man. They gaze at Ruika with sinister red eyes, hissing angrily at the interloper.
Initiative Order
1. Thurrios
2. Sarala
3. Julius
4. Ruika
5. Fiendish Asp 2
6. Narku
7. Anapa
8. Fiendish Asp 1, Fiendish Asp 3
Thurrios is first up!
Thurrios announces, "to arms my friends," as he moves down next to Anapa and starts a Judgement to increase his damage.
Thurrios advances and pronounces a destructive judgment!
Sarala is up.
The booming voice does not respond to Sarala's insolence, but the snake certainly responds to her sword. The blade misses its head, but cuts a good deal of its tail right off. It responds with an angry hiss of pain, turning its head away from Ruika to face its attacker.
Julius is up.
"What you call me, Voice? Repeat it!" her loud proclamation makes one of the statues look at her as she nearly touches the alabaster sheen of the altar. A glint in her eye promises that the statue will be chipped away if it raises a hand to hurt her.
Anapa translates when he can
"We seem to be defiling a place belonging to the All seeing eye... according to those snake creatures"
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In any case, the spell should expire soon regardless of whether the snakes are slain or not.
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"Shoot! I don't think I have a Nethysian mask with me," Julius says blushing as if the realization is supremely embarrassing.
"The magic triggered by the altar's defense should end in a short while," he calls to his comrades. "But in the meantime..."
Julius mutters some arcane words and his wand of summon monster i begins to glow.
Ruika looks the asp dead in the eye, meeting the serpent's sinister gaze with one of her own. Even under the power of her hex, it does not even flinch.
The tailless asp lunges at Sarala with its mouth opened wide, but harmlessly slams right into the invisible armor of force enveloping her.
Narkû is up.
Narkû drops the torch at his feet as he grips his weapon with both hands. It seems his tusks grow as a large smile appears on his face.
"Narkû's turn to whack snake," you hear the sound of glee dripping from Narkû's words as he moves forward, raising his falchion high over his head.
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Current Effects: Whetstone edge on falchion, +1 damage on next successful hit; Torch, 20' radius, 45 min;
With one mighty swing, Narkû hacks off the snake's head. No sooner does it hit the ground than all three of its segments vanish, leaving not even a single drop of blood where they once were.
Anapa is up.
Anapa will move at the remaining asp, swinging his chosen weapon in a downward arch
Anapa attacks the fiendish asp, but his swing is just a little too slow. The serpent pulls away, causing the blade to hit nothing but stone. He takes another swing as the creature moves toward Ruika, but misses once more.
Cornering the witch, the two remaining asps make lightning-quick strikes, snapping at her with their fangs. Ruika can barely feel the first bite through her robes, but the second pierces her arm, injecting her with a dose of venom.
Thurrios is up.