Thratch's palm meets his forehead as he watches the clusterf*+~ going on.
Come on. Everyone get out. One person at a time. Then one single person, perhaps even me, goes in and dances with the light to keep a shadow in one spot so that person can get out. Repeat for the other two. Everyone is out safely.
Until then, out! Stop creating shadow pits! Out out out!
Try making a circle around the light in the center! Then make it to the outside one by one! Wan'di calls out loudly before letting his spider crawl ahead into the next room to scout.
You spider crawls through the opening to the next room and spies an old man pierced with swords totters carefully around the simple room at the far end. The swords knock down chairs and scrape paint in the gloom. He winces as they touch the walls. He moans and coughs out a gas that bleeds from him in drips.
Two piles of ashes are on the floor in the middle of the room.
Wan'di wakes from his trance after giving his spider the order to come back carefully, Well... I'm just going to wait here until y'all can sort this kerfuffle out.
He sits with his back on the edge of the doorway and rests for a moment, I'm getting to old for this...
Ashlyn remains still, carefully watching the ground for any incoming shadows. "One at a time can work, but don't we need to try to get the others out?"
Unable to see in the pits, Wan'di sends his spider to drop onto Aterro's shoulder. Wan concentrates, casting spider climb on the massive man. There ya go, biggin'! You can fish for the others in those pits using that big ass shadow and your muscles!
Tratch, young lady! Get over here to safety!
Lys gives up trying to count seconds, it's evident that all the others wondering around up there are screwing up the rhythm.
How smooth are the walls, can Lys climb most of the way up and hang there?
However,
A secret door is revealed where none had previously been detected. If the Referee has made no provision for a secret door, it leads to the nearest unexplored area.
You discover a secret door within your pit, which leads down a long narrow tunnel, heading roughly in the opposite direction from where you entered the chamber.
"Wait a minute, I've found something" Lys shouts up.
One cannot find a hidden door and not investigate and so Lys travels down the new passageway, albeit cautiously.
Tenchi will take a moment and attune his eyes to the dark then look around the area he finds himself in.
Thratch was about to make his way over to the other side where Wan is, but stopped short waiting to hear about what Lys found.
You follow the tunnel, which leads to a trapdoor in the ceiling. As you open it and climb through, you find you're at the edge of the same room, right next to where Wan'di is standing.
You don't see anything unusual aside from spent torches and lanterns, and a couple decayed severed fingers. Sadly, no secret passages for you.
A stone opens in the floor next to Wan like a trapdoor, and suddenly Lys climbs out of it.
Oh. Well that was nice. Still have two trapped, right? Ok. I'm headed over.
Thratch tries to keep close to the wall and ensure his shadow doesn't hit anyone, and he jumps any shadows he sees.
Tenchi climbs to the top of the pit and leaps when a shadow passes over. He manages to escape.
Tenchi will move to stay in the light and against the wall, jumping shadows as needed, and then exit the room to where the rest of the group is.
As he gets caught into the shadow pit, he curses.
"Damned mortal contraptions! Which spirit taught you these crafts!?!"
Forging newfound vendettas was almost a hobby for the furnace king.
He scrambles to get out of the nether trap with all... vehemence.
He casually dusts himself off, and resummons his eldritch sword to his side.
Vehemence just narrowly gets out of the pit before the shadow moves and covers it.
You peer into the room ahead through the open doorway. You see a simple room with some broken furniture and two piles of ash in the middle. A closed door is set to the right on the back wall. Another open doorway is in the corner of the left wall. You can see three thrones in the otherwise empty room.
Against that far wall an old man staggers around, pierced with three swords. He knocks and scrapes at the ruined furniture and walls, moaning and coughing out a fine mist of noble gas that also bleeds out from him. The gas extinguishes the last torch in the room, which he hurriedly relights as he scowls at it.
He doesn't seem to notice you in the opposite doorway.
Vehemence looks on the man and tries to measure the bravery and cowardice of his heart.
The fact that he is run through and still standing causes him to instinctively wonder if the wounded man is one worthy of his allegiance and blessing. Immediately, a menial amount of favor is incurred due to the nature of his countenance.
From the distance, you can't gather much about the man, other than he seems to have been some kind of royalty.
He finally notices you.
With a heavy cough of noble gas, he exclaims, "Please be careful. The gasses within me ... they were once my knights. They want these swords. Might be best to keep your distance ..."
"I suppose it's fitting, really. I was not the best of kings in my time ..."
He coughs out a large cloud again.
"If ... if you can remove them though ... perhaps ... COUGH ... Perhaps my penance will be lifted ..."
He doubles over in a large coughing fit, gas flying everywhere.
With a sacred indignation the furnace king addresses the paltry noble before him. The ridge of his brows furrow as the man reveals his true nature.
"Were you a coward? Did you betray your men for the sake of fear?"
"I ... was a cruel man, I suppose. A cruel king with cruel knights ... COUGH ... "
"I am Sanguifluus, son of Chronia Torn, born old and cannot die, and I have gotten what I deserved."
He returns to staggering against the wall.
Who f@#&ing cares if he was a coward? There's nothing wrong with hiding, Thratch says in defense of the king. And he's obviously trying to keep the gas knights away from everyone else - doesn't that speak for itself?
Thratch isn't sure what it is about the man that brought him to the kings defense. Maybe it was the swords - Thratch has bad memories of torture being used against people - both his own guild beating him for failure and the city guards torturing people for confessions - and this sure as hell looked like torture.
Come on, the guy is in need of help. Let's get that gas away and those swords out. No one deserves to suffer like that. Anyone got any ideas?
"Cruelty has its merits. I will absolve you."
Vehemence attempts to pull a sword from the old man, unwavering under the threat of knight spirits.
A fine cloud of dark green gas emerges from the old man and surrounds Vehemence, becoming semi-solid and flowing into his mouth and nostrils.
"I would be happy to be your second should you wish to try to regain your honor."
Vehemence manages to dislodge one of the swords from Sanguifluus. Two remain.
He sees an engraving on the sword, “My clock keeps years. Not minutes.”
Also, another of damage from the poison.
Vehemence casts the blade to the floor, gritting his mouth of fangs as he spits the semi-coagulated toxins from his throat.
He goes to unlodge the next sword.
Tenchi awaits a response to his question.
Lys watches curiously as Vehemence inhales the toxins. She liked the guy to a point, but surely it would be better to just leave cursed kings to their fate?
Vehemence pulls out the second blade, at which point a second gas emerges from Sanguifluus. This neon colored gas flickers like a projected wraith and emits an electrical charge at Vehemence.
“COUGH ... You ... are ... quite the foolish creature ...” the old man gasps.
The sword has the following engraving on it,
“You’d like to spend the night with me
But if you spend all day with me,
We’ll sleep together.”
Vehemence flinches as the lightning caresses his nervous system. He continues unphased to relieve the final blade from the man. He chokes on the venom as he exhales a short coarse discourse:
"'WHY DO THIS? IT'S INSANE! THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY!'"
The furnace king grasps the hilt of the final blade as the gases envelop him further.
...But he chokes on the poison too hard and falters his stand for a moment.
"It seems I've given my word to a coward after all. I'll not stoop to meet your eye however."
This time he spits the venom not to the ground, but on the seeping coward himself.
How small their vision...
Vehemence was not enamored by the new person he was helping. If he were one of the mortals he were currently accompanying, he may have pitied him. This was not the state of play. His hands now moved for sake of integrity alone.
Thratch looks on the scene with confusion. "Why is he risking his life, when there are better ways?"
As Vehemence pulls out the swords and is struck with lightning and inhaling poisonous gas, Thratch gets out his rope of climbing, activates it, and orders it to tie around the third hilt. Once tied, he pulls on the rope to pull out the final sword, dragging it all the way to himself. Then he orders the rope to untie and examines the sword.
Wan leans on his staff, wiggles his fingers a bit and uses gust to start blowing the various fogs somewhere else besides on top of his hasty companion, One of these days I won't be there in time to save you, V
Vehemence takes more damage from the two gasses attacking him.
Thratch's rope of climbing pulls out the final sword, this one with the engraving,
“I am a heavy burden
But anyone will take me from you.”
As he lifts the blade, he feels more confident and cooler.
Another gas emerges from the old man, who crumples to the ground and against the wall. He looks peaceful and mutters, "Thank ... you ...", closes his eyes and exhales his final breath.
The gas, glowing golden like sunlight, goes straight for Thratch, blinding him.
Wan'di's spell disperses the gasses around his companions temporarily, but they reform in the far corner and semi-solidify into three humanoid figures (green, neon, gold), poised for attack.
The gas figures howl at the group, "Giiiive usss the swordsssss..."
Combat order: Tenchi, Vehemence, Gasses, Ashlyn, Thratch, Wan, Aterro, Lys
As the gas dispersed and reformed, Thratch discovers his eyesight begins to clear.
Tenchi will move up on one of the ghosts and then his blade will make a *shing* sound as it clears it saya and then swings through the body of one of the ghosts.
Woah! What the f~!!! I can't see? What the hell happened!
As the Golden colored gas moved away and reformed in the corner, Thratch's vision slowly came back. My sight is starting to clear. Watch out for that hold one, it'll take your sight away.
Avoiding the gold one, Thratch gets ready to move after a different one. The blue one. That's lightning, and he's hoping he'll be quick enough to avoid it.
He grabs the sword in two hands and says, You want these? Sure! Take it point first!
The longsword is big and clumsy in his hands. He's not trained in the use of it, but he figures it's these swords that's needed to kill them.
Vehemence breathes deep as the air around him becomes more welcoming.
As he sees the warriors form in the distance he focuses on the moments ahead, regenerating his vitae.
He waits for the nearing assault, taking care to avoid the one that blinded Thratch.
He speaks out to them.
"What are the swords' worth to you, fallen ones?"
Combat order: Tenchi, Vehemence, Gasses, Ashlyn, Wan, Thratch, Aterro, Lys
Tenchi attacks the neon creature with his blade, putting all his force behind it. His energy disperses the creature and it lets out a vacuous scream as it dissipates for good.
Vehemence uses his fiendish vigor to bolster himself in light of his injuries.
The green creature moves to attack Vehemence, responding,
"The ssssssswordssss are oursssss! They are everything to usssssss!"
The creature shifts from humanoid to gaseous form and turns into a giant poisonous fist to pummel the Furnace King.
Vehemence manages to dodge the creature.
The gold gas moves in on Vehemence and forms a giant fist like its green counterpart.
Vehemence is struck by the gold gas and then blinded!
"Give them to ussssssss!" the gasses hiss.
Thratch clumsily tries to attack the green gaseous creature and fails.
Wan'di casts shillelagh on his staff before calling out a word of Her power the forms an eldritch blast with erratic movement lancing towards the gold gas.
He then runs up near the neon gas trying to get between it and Thratch ()