Kenabres is not the most happy city in the world, but the approach of Armasse has brought up the spirits of a city that sits on the precipice of destruction. Tradtionally an opportunity for scholars and priests to come together and study the lessons of history from wars past, the holy day has in recent years become more about training commoners in weaponry, choosing squires, and ordaining priests. Jousting competitions, mock duels, battle reenactments, and other festival events provide the entire city with entertainment, and finds a glory in the dark history of the city and the Crusades that is rarely celebrated. Clerics give speeches and the songs on the tips of bards' tongues are of great heroes immortalized by time for their deeds at the edge of the worldwound.
You gather at Clydwell Plaza, just west of the city's massive cathedral, lucky enough to get good spots to observe the opening ceremonies at noon. Those of you who are lifelong citizens of the city know this to be the happiest time of year, and find a repreieve from the worries of your lives as you eagerly await the festivities to begin.
It has been a long road back to Kenabres, but I made it in time for all this. No time to stop and wash up or I wouldn't get such a good spot on the plaza.
The slim elf has a perfect view of the north and west, from just near the Lion Statue. She looks around for anyone she can recognise.
Lily falls into step behind a priest of Iomadae as she makes her way into the square, before splitting off and disappearing into the crowd. Today is a good day, Lily reflected to herself, having spent the night free from nightmares, the dreams having been replaced by spirits showing her acts of valour of the past, a fine change of pace from what she would usually see.
Lily wanders through the crowd, soaking up the atmosphere, while making a mental note to stop by the Jousting competition later to see the talent on display.
Olivia had spent the what seemed like an age living within the walls of the temple. This was the first Armasse in which she would be able to actively participate with in years.
It was odd to have undergone a calling and left her old life behind and still be excited about ordinary things. Childish things, perhaps. Olivia wades through the crowd, the people breaking around her like water redirected off of rocks as it travels down a stream.
Tieflings aren't looked at with the open hatred they once received, not the fault of the child that they were born part fiend, but many still regarded her with some caution. It seemed as though people walked around when they caught a hint of her yellow eyes or reddish skin.
Her cloak concealed her enough that they had to look right at her to make notice, though she was not wearing it to hide. She just hadn't been outside in five years and there hadn't been much occasion for her to wear a cloak in that time.
Olivia steps into what seems to be a lucky spot Clydwell Plaza, ready to begin her first steps lifting other neglected half-mortals like herself out of the gutters.
Tchriash walks along the parade grounds near the plaza where the opening is going to take place, head held high. She'd removed her helm, letting her long hair blaze metallic gold in the sunlight. She smiles at anyone that comments, giving a short blessing of Sarenrae to them.
I cannot wait for the tourney to start. She shifts a bit with the weight of her scimitar and shield, and tries to find a place to settle and give thanks to Sarenrae.
Jenner sat mostly hidden under one of the many stalls that had been set up in Clydwell Plaza. It was a good vantage point to observe the happenings of the festival without running the risk of getting stepped on and he was fairly certain that as long as he left the wares alone, he wouldn't be chased away either.
Finally, something interesting to watch!
Elmae is on the edge of the plaza, currently entertaining two small children, a human boy and girl. Moments earlier, she'd been juggling a starknife, something which had grabbed the two younglings, not that she was particularly old herself.
"Hey, wanna see something neat?" Elmae asks the pair, to which they both nod excitedly, smiles clear on their faces. With an exaggerated movement to mark the start of her little show, she bends down close to the ground and places one hand on the ground, testing her weight before doing the same with her second hand. It was just a simple hand-stand, but it was much easier to keep a child's attention. Unfortunately, this left the sizable butterfly wings poking out of her armor very vulnerable to being touched, which is exactly what the little girl did, eliciting a sudden wince from the aasimar and, of course, causing her to lose her balance, falling on her back with a silly grin.
"Whoops, looks like ya beat me, right?" she laughs, dusting herself off, messily rubbing the boy's hair about, and heading into the plaza at last.
Suddenly, darkness.
Your heads throb with pounding headaches, made worse by the dominating ringing in your ears, high-pitched and all-consuming. You make near-silent coughs as you choke on thick, heavy dust, and you're sore enough that each cough wracks your body. Slowly you begin to pull yourselves upright. Everyone but Milhar can see given a second to adjust their eyes and refocus the blurs back into a coherent image.
As the ringing in your ears stops and your sense of hearing returns, you can hear some groans of pain amidst the tumbling of small rocks and coughing.
Lily splutters slightly, trying to clear her throat. With the dust upsetting her throat, Lily marshals herself, casting Create Water, drinking her fill and soothing herself, before struggling to catch her bearings, attempting to remember what had happened before she was...here, but failing miserably.
Dusting herself off, Lily abruptly realised she wasn't the only person in the cavern, and belatedly realised that not everyone had access to her superior vision. Muttering a quiet word in the darkness, Lily cast a Light spell, filling the cavern with a pale glow as she examines the other people in the cavern with her.
Tchirash groans a bit before taking mental stock of the aches and pains, and determining that none of them come from broken bones or other serious wounds. She gets to her feet slowly, reaching out to gather in her shield and sword, and then looking around the carnage, trying to see if there are other people in the cavern.
"Is anyone else there?
"I don't...know. Did we fall, from the festival? I don't re-. Where are we? I cannot see much." Milhar stands and stretches to her full elven height. She starts fumbling round for a light.
Then all of a sudden the problem is gone as Lily fills the area with magical torchlight.
"That's better. Anyone hurt bad?"
She naturally moves over to the three on the ground, who appear to be in some pain and starts to comfort the first one, "what's wrong with you?"
Everything is ringing and Olivia's whole body feels like a sword that's singing after a collision with another blade. Her vision slowly returns and she picks herself up to survey the area. Ruined buildings and bodies behind her and in front of her darkness.
"It looks like some kind of cave in...and on Armasse. That can't be a good omen," she says answering Salomae.
"It looks like there's five of us," she tells Tchirash.
"Ow...ow, ow, OW...I know I said you got me, but this is a bit much..." Elmae groans, blinking several times as her eyes adjust to the light, or absence of it. The sound of shifting rubble and pained groans fill her ears, and slowly, she brings herself to her feet, dusting herself off once more. As she does, it seems as though light fills the cavern, not that she minds, although the scattered viscera is something she could do without, and she quickly turns away, shielding her eyes from such a sight. After a quick inspection, she turns to investigate the others around her, as well as the source of the groans, wasting no time in helping the elf assist those three. While Milhar checks on the first, Elmae tends to the one next to her.
"It's okay, we're alive...somewhere! I don't know where, exactly, but...somewhere! And somewhere is better than nowhere!"
Milhar's light sheds some much-needed light, revealing the cavern in full . Three figures lie on the ground. A human woman with messy brown hair holds tightly onto a leg that even to the untrained eye looks very broken. She's the first to respond to Milhar's questions. "I think my leg's broken," she says through gritted teeth.
An elven man a short distance from her paws at his face frantically, grumbling to himself. A massive gash runs across his eyes. He calls on some light shortly after Milhar does, but his hand grows shaky and he begins rapidly cursing under his breath in Elvish. He wears the clothes of a spellcaster, and a wooden staff lies beside him.
With a smug, displeasured groan a well-fed and middle-aged human man rises. His expensive-looking clothes are soiled and ruined by dust and dirt, but the damage all seems very superficial. "What? Did I not seem important enough to bother checking on first?"
Sparkling in the light cast into the cavern, you can make out a few small, shimmering objects in the rubble pile.
Olivia goes to the middle aged human, looks him over and smiles faintly. "I suspect that the others were worried about those two because of the blood and broken limbs, but are you hurt sir?" she asks.
Milhar looks across at that broken leg and gently cuts away at the woman's leggings. The mess of blood and dangerous white bones show proof of the terrible state. "By the light of life, I wish I knew what to do. But this is ......hard. You must be in such pain."
She listens in to the elvish swearing nearby and replies in kind, "I heard that dwarves grumble and gnomes swear. But us First People do neither we just hold the memories." Then she looks up briefly and sees the gashed face.
"Can anyone heal?" she murmurs at the end.
Tchirash makes her way over to the wounded woman. "I have some healing abilities. She looks over the broken limb, and looks calmly at the woman, "I can heal some of the damage, with Sarenrae's grace. She lays a hand over the wound, carefully setting the leg as close as she can to straight. A golden white light spreads from Tchirash's hand to the wound. "The Dawnflower's grace offer you comfort."
The man nodded. "Yes, quite obviously I'm hurt! But it's the principle of the matter; I'm in a position to reward handsomely for help, but her? It's a simple matter of priority."
"Right now I hold memories only of being able to see, something I am currently incapable of doing. I believe the situation may call for something a little different." The Elf feels around for his staff and slowly rises. "My name is Aravashnial. Does anybody remember what happened?"
The human woman sighs with relief as some of the pain fades from body. "That feels a little better," she says to Tchirash. "But only a little. Thank you."
Tchirash will look around for a stout piece of wood for a staff/crutch for the woman, and hand it to her. "I am Tchirash Suntouched. This should help you get around some, but I think we'll need to splint that leg." She looks at the others, "Does anyone know how to splint a broken leg?
She moves over to the blustering man, and after checking for injuries, she casts mending on his clothing. "I believe that magic will cure anything that you injured in your fall."
Elmae stands up with the now-blinded elf and speaks aloud before offering her shoulder to him. "Let's see...I remember being by the plaza, putting on a show, getting tickled, and...falling down...I don't suppose any of you fell down from a handstand, too?" she asks cheerfully.
"I can help you walk, okay? That way you're not stumbling all over the place and stuff!"
Olivia stands with her arms folded near the wealthy man. "I know, in theory, how broken legs and splints work. I'm willing to give it a try." She takes some of the arrows from her quiver and snaps the heads off of them, though she keeps these heads. Then she cuts at the hem of her cloak to get some string.
"Stick out your other leg so I can make sure they match before I tie them up," Olivia smiles. "I've never done one of these before and I can only imagine this is going to hurt something fierce, so bite down on the hilt of this dagger and try not to look at what I'm doing," Olivia says giving her one of the small daggers from her belt.
She groups as many arrows as she can fit around the leg and secures them in place with the parts of her cloak.
The woman bites down on the dagger hard, wincing as Salomae and Olivia work together to fashion a splint for the broken leg. Once it's done she draws in a ragged, pained breath, the dagger falling from her teeth as she lets out one loud cry of pain before settling down. "Gods, that... Thank you. I've had worse than this, but it's been... Wow. My name is Anevia Tirabade."
"Apparently I did not make myself clear," the man says, coughing to draw attention toward himself. "I am in a position to reward you for your troubles quite well. Certainly more these other two can. Perhaps you've heard of me; Horgus Gwerm? I will pay each of you two hundred and fifty gold for returning me to my home. Maybe that will buy your expedience."
Aravashnial nods, putting an arm around Elmae as he pushes his weight into her a little, letting her guide him. "This is very much appreciated, thank you. Who among you has experience with fighting demons?"
The sparkling objects in the rubble pile seem to glow a little more prominently as they continue to be ignored, as if demanding your attention.
|
Lily raises her eyebrows at Horgus. "That won't be necessary, we will bring you back to the surface free of charge - that goes for anyone else we find down here as well, I certainly don't intend to leave people behind if I can help it"
Lily quietly addresses Aravashnial "I haven't had experience fighting demons...yet, although due to personal interactions, I intend to fix this"
Idly, Lily glances at the sparkling objects and examines them.
Tchirash looks back at Horgus as she makes her way over to the shining objects. "We will move out of here with as much haste as we are all able to move with. Nobody gets left behind. We will get everyone home as fast as we can, but right now, we aren't even sure where we are, or how long it will take to get back, or what direction we need to go, so rushing will not solve anything. Once over where the objects are, she will carefully move any stone or dirt away from them to see what they are.
Jenner had been hiding behind some of the rubble, carefully watching and listening to the group of people since regaining consciousness...wherever they had all wound up. He had been uncertain of how to proceed since what training and information he had received from the others didn't quite cover the unusual situation in which he found himself. However, his ears had immediately perked up when the man (elf, wasn't it?) uttered the word demons. Demons...are they behind this? But no, that doesn't make sense. How...?
His attention suddenly shifted back to the conversation that the people were having. So they're going to try and make their way out of here? I need to go with them, but would they even be willing to take me? As he gazed around at each of the people in the cavern, his eyes settled on the redheaded woman. She's the one who stopped to pet me earlier...maybe she'll take me with her if I put on a good enough show. Let's hope this works...
With that thought in mind, he begins to slowly approach the redheaded woman, trying his best to look as sad and pitiful as he possibly could.
"Meow?"
"Perhaps, Horgus Gwerm, you should break your leg. Then we'll be forced to care for your wounds faster." Olivia shrugs. "If you haven't noticed we've fallen into some kind of pit and there's bodies being used as mortar under a pile of rubble. No one is concerned with your money at the moment," she says.
She turns away from him to examine the sparkly things in the rubble.
Horgus huffs as the others don't seem motivated properly by his enticement, but grows silent, Lily's words in particular being enough to convince him you won't be shaken.
Upon touching one of the sparkling items, the memories begin to flood back, as if something magical about them pierces through the shock and confusion.
Armasse officially began at noon, with the blessing of the festival by Lord Hulrun himself, ruler of Kenabres. The crowd gathered in Clydwell Plaza quieted as the aged inquisitor took the stage, clad in shining, resplendent armor. He clered his throat, but just as he was about to speak, a bright light shone from the west, as if the sun were rising from the wrong direction. Hulrun's shadow fell huge and distorted across the cathedral's facade. A moment later, the sound of thunderous explosions ripped through the air and earth, along with a violent tremor.
To the west, the fortress known as the Kite--the location of Kenabres' wardstone--had vanished. In its place, a brilliant plume of fire, lightning, and smoke erupted into the heavens. A powerful roar accompanied a welcome sight rising from the crowd--Keabres' greatest guardian, the ancient silver dragon Terendelev, who had until that moment been attending the ceremony in human guise. Above, another form appeared, as nightmarish as the dragon was breathtaking. A humanoid shape three times the size of any man, with skin coated in fire and lightning, gripped a flaming sword and whip. The creature's identity was immediately obvious; Khorramzadeg, the Storm King of the Worldwound, had come to Kenabres.
As the ground continued to shake and disgorge demons into the streets, the dragon and the balor lord clashed above. The fight was over in a few harrowing moments, as the balor cut deep into Terendelev's body, swooping down to strike the dragon and arresting her charge. A few more blows, and the titanic duo spiraled down toward into the crowd.
The sight of the dragon smashing into the facade of the Cathedral of St. Clydwell is one no witness would ever forget. At that moment, a titanic demon erupted at the far end of the plaza, reducing several buildings to ruins as it smashed into this world. The rift it created shot across the plaza, and this time there was no escape. It opened below your feet, angling away into darkness.
Even as you fell, the dragon noticed your plight. Though she saw death standing over her, she seized this final chance to save a few more souls. After she uttered a few arcane words and stretched out a bleeding talon, you felt her magic take hold of you, slowing your plummet into the darkness as if you were feathers falling into the pit. Yet the fall remained inexorable, and as you drifted downward into the depths, the last thing you saw was the Storm King standing over the ancient silver dragon, his sword lashing out and cleaving full through her neck. As her severed head fell, the rift above you slammed shut, and the light above was gone.
In your hands are silver dragon scales, the only mementos you have of Terendelev. A certain magic permeates them, beyond the reminder jolting your memory's return.
Elmae walks around the cavern just a tiny bit, enough to adjust to the added weight, before she gets an idea in her head.
"Hang on, Aravashnial, I have an idea to make this easier for both of us, okay? I just need you to take a seat first. I'm going to need to touch your waist, so try not to worry when you feel that."
If he agrees, Elmae would then rummage about in her backpack, pulling out a coil of silken rope and a starknife. She takes the measure of rope and slowly brings it to Aravashnial's waist, measuring his waist, followed by her own. Not only did this give both of them some breathing room, but it gave the blind elf a length of rope to hold on to.
"Okay, now I just have to wrap this up...This way, you can just follow me by following the rope, got it?" she explains cheerfully, doing exactly as she explains, tying one end of the rope around Aravashnial's waist, and the other end around her own, connecting the two.
Upon touching one of Terendelev's scales, a great sadness washes over her for a moment, however brief it may be.
"I...I see...I'd heard of Terendelev, the mighty silver dragon, along my travels, but...for my first time seeing her to also be the last time..."
Seeming to come to her senses at last, she flinches, putting on a somewhat cheerful face again.
"O-oh! Pardon my manners, I never introduced myself! Elmae Valmia, traveling acrobat, at your service!" She adds to her introduction with an elaborate series of twists, adding her starknife to the mix by juggling it during the whole affair, finally throwing it straight into the air, performing a curtsy, and catching the weapon as though it was a simple harmless toy.
Tchirash takes in a sharp breath upon touching one of the scales as the memories flood back into her. "...oh goddess, no." A momentary look of anger crosses her face, before becoming calm again. She looks at the scales and then back to the others moving about with some purpose in the cave. "If this is right, we need to get moving, right now. The Storm King and another demon in the square is what caused all of this." She swings an arm to indicate the carnage around them. "The city is going to need capable people. I don't think it's a coincidence that there are six of us and six scales. Terendelev saved us and then gifted us with her scales so we could help, and that's what we need to do.
She turns in Aravashnial's direction, moving a bit closer to him so he knows where she is. "Aravashnial, you are a scholar or mage. Do you know anything about what lies under the city? We could certainly use any knowledge you have to help us figure out where we are, and how we might get out." She looks at Anevia, with a look of some compassion "Anevia, I would not ask this of you, but the situation is not normal, do you think you can walk with the aid of the crutch, so we can start on our way? I would offer to carry you, but if what we are remembering is right, we may need to fight, and we'll need all hands." She turns to Horgus, "I appreciate your offer, and I'm sure that any assistance you can give, or incentive will see that we move as fast as we can."
She looks to the others, "I am Tchirash Suntouched, Warpriest of Sarenrae. Let's see what we can do about getting out of this pit and back to the city that needs us?"
"I am Milhar and I'll help her walk. My eyes are not for down here anyway so this is the least I can do for Anevia." The elf maiden lets the others decide about the scales and keeps her thoughts to herself.
There is a small swelling on her head, rubbing the bump, it feels large enough but well hidden by hair.
"Master Gwerm, I recognise you and I will take that commission. But if we reach the city alive then everyone here will play their part. So you can help by shouldering the other side of Anevia please."
Lily staggers slightly as she touches her scale, feeling a sudden influx of pain and sadness. A moment later, the feeling passes but Lily feels slightly disturbed, but idly wonders if she can contact the silver dragon in the spirit world once she has progressed with her studies.
Show off, Lily thinks to herself as she sees Elma's demonstration, fully aware that her own powers were more difficult to demonstrate in a positive light, suspecting no-one would be impressed if she broke into their mind. Pushing all of this to one side, Lily inclines her head slightly
"My name is Lily, Lily Taharial, Purifier Oracle of Iomedae"
Olivia is quiet for a long time as she mulls over the visions of the dragon battling the fiend in the skies over the city. For these moments the smile is absent from her purple face. "Sorry," she says suddenly. "My name is Olivia, just Olivia." There's a brief pause.
"Salomae is right. We should...get moving."
"Thank you kindly," the blind elf says as Elmae ties him to her. "This will do perfectly, and I am a little calmer knowing I am with at least one person clever enough to make the best of this situation." He gives the Musetouched Aasimar a weak smile as he leans on his staff. Turning toward Tchirash, he doesn't quite face her properly as he speaks. "I know many theories and rumours that provide little help for us at the moment. Communicate with me constantly about anything peculiar you see and I will do my best to help you, but I can do little else in my state."
Anevia nods, grabbing a long piece of wood amongst the rubble to use as a cane. "I'll be fine," she says through gritted teeth, clearly trying to work throug the pain. "I don't want to slow you down any more than I already will."
"Finally," Horgus groans. "Yes, let's leave. And be swift about it. I've no patience to be down here for an eternity."
"Right, right! Let's get moving! It's dull and boring down here, anyway!" Elmae reasons, giving a light tug on the rope between Aravashnial and herself for good measure, before tucking the leftover coil back into her bag. "Sooooo....Who's our mighty ringleader? Every traveling band of adventurers has to have a ringleader, yes? Whoever it is needs to be fearless and brave, and pay for rooms at inns!" Another joke, but she had a point. The group needed someone to lead it through, or they'd be stumbling about.
At this, Milhar keeps quiet. She is preoccupied by a reddish tinge on the walls and shadows away from the light. But doesn't speak up yet for fear of interrupting this important discussion.
Tchirash grins a bit at Elmae's enthusiasm before she speaks. "We'll keep the injured in the middle so we can protect them better. Aravashnial, we'll keep you aware of anything we find, I think your knowledge is going to help us a great deal. Anevia, can you fight in a pinch? If what we saw up above is any indication, we're not going to be able to just stroll back into town, so we may need everyone who can help. Horgus, I need you to keep your eye out for anything threatening. You look like a vigilant type, and extra eyes will help us. Or at least help make you feel important, so you'll stop trying to lord it over us.
"Olivia, you and I make the best front line. Elmae is helping Aravashnial as a guide and his eyes, so she's in the middle by default, and I think Salomae" She gives a quick look to Salomae to make sure she got the name right, "I think you helping in the middle works well too, in case anyone needs an extra hand, and as lightly armored as you are, I feel better if you're between. Milhar and Lily, if you can watch our rear, I think we have protection front and back, and we can get to moving. Only as fast as our injured can move, but we can still move."
Lily nods her head in agreement, "An excellent proposal Tchirash, one I am sure we can all get behind".
Privately, Lily was very pleased at her position in the line, out of the thick of things, but still being within an easy position to help others as required. Lily had no fear of combat, but knew enough to understand her current limitations, content to wait until her divine power manifested further.
She moves to the front of the line glancing back at the others. "Right, maybe it will be safer in the front." She flashes a smile at the others. "I only hope that the path doesn't split--I don't think there's any map for this place."
As you all jostle and help the wounded move around to get into your discussed positions in a loose column formation, you begin to notice some bristling tensions between the three civilians. Anevia bumps into Aravashnial as she hobbles past him with her broken leg. She mutters a half-hearted apology, not bothering to look him in the face. He chides her coldly in his deep gravely voice, "Mind yourself, Tirablade." Meanwhile, Horgus has been mercifully silent. He does, however, glare intensely at both Anevia and Aravashnial from his position in the rear. His brow is furrowed and his expression, dark.
With lights now positioned in front and in rear, it becomes somewhat easier to see the further reaches of the vast cavern you now find yourselves in. There seems to be no clear path to the west, rubble and debris here threaten to shift and finish the job Terendelev so mercifully gave her life to stop. In between the rocks of this mess, blood oozes. Stray limbs and mangled corpses protrude like a perverse pincushion, most bodies disfigured beyond recognition.
To the east, the cavern continues, stretching both up and out into darkness. Most of the debris on this side of the cavern is limited to a few large rocks that have fallen. Only once your formation is complete do you notice the large black spider, almost as large as a horse, crouching on the ground in front of you. It is still and silent, it's back turned toward you.
As the group seems to get adjusted to their formation, Elmae takes a look around the cavern, her darkvision (luckily) letting her see easily even in such darkness. Amidst the bickering, she can't help but feel rather awkward, to the point where she attempts to break the ice between the trio.
"So um...What do all three of you do? I mean...we're down here now, but what about before that? Were you all just kind of celebrating, or what?"
Unfortunately, her question stops there, as an odd chewing noise fills her ears. It's distant, but she can make out something...How odd, two wriggles inside of the spider's abdomen?...Wait. With a start, she tugs on the rope between Aravashnial and herself, pulling a starknife from her belt.
"Everyone, get away from the spider! Something's inside of it, and if those gross noises are anything to go by, they seem hungry!"
Olivia freezes, her hand going for her blade as she stares at the back of the spider and the source of the sound. She glances to Elmae.
"If they're inside of the spider there was a chance they might have been surprised to see us," she tries to keep her voice low and positions herself for whatever's to come.
Lily nods in acceptance at Elmae's comment. Somewhat freaked out by the phenomenon, she carefully and quietly loads her crossbow, before firing once she has a clear shot at the creature.