Reyo springs forward, rapier flashing as she tries to take advantage of fortuitous positioning by her friends, but slips horribly instead!
A true melee forms on the "stage" as Torcet and Reyo rush in. The detective steps confidently on the rocks and buries his blade deep into the enemy's shoulder, but Reyo slips and tumbles down, passing dangerously close to Daka's wild swing. Still, she manages to roll and find her feet again, ready for another attack.
The bard screams as Torcet's sword cuts into him and presses his hands to the wound. The blood tgat had sprung up suddenly stops. At the same time the "stage"starts breaking apart and the rocks fly up, turning into a tornado of blows!
Reyo spins to one side, deflecting much of the rock away from her body only taking a minor scratch on her arm.
Daka manages to bat a larger rock out of the way using his mace, but the smaller chunks get through and scratch at his face.
Shaking lose another acorn, he tosses it at the man onstage. With a loud rustle, he hollers out "يمكنك إنهاء ذلك!"
Daka swiftly sidesteps around the bard, trying to find an opening and perhaps distract the man from Reyoris' own positioning "I can't believe I trusted you!" He says, and takes a slightly more calculated swing at the raging musician than last time.
Reyo slashes out at the musician, missing once more!
You damnable fraud! Won't you just stand still!
The bard dodges Torcet's sword, which makes Reyo miss with her attack. However, he is not good enough to dodge three strikes in a row, and Daka's morningstar finds him. With a scream of pain he swings his lute around and brings it down on the priest's shoulder.
Meanwhile the hail of stones increases in strength as more and more of the stage goes up into the air. Your footing start to become shaky.
Lobbing another seed into the fray, Leyafold tries to avoid hitting his friends.
Once more, Reyo dances her way around, avoiding most of the rocks, taking just a touch more damage. With a grunt, she thrusts out once more with her rapier.
With unsure footing and a blow to the shoulder to block, Daka has little chance dodging the hail of stones and takes a few nasty hits "Umph... Watch your feet, I'm not sure how much longer this stage'll hold!" He shouts to his friends before swinging with all his might at the bard Gotta finish this quick!.
Losing his balance due to his wild swing at Daka, the bard receives several blows and crumples to the rock strewn ground with a cry. The stone tornado that was forming around you dies down slowly, the rocks losing their hitting power and falling all over the clearing. As the bard gasps in pain with his last breath they start reabsorbing back into the leafy cover underfoot.
"You... Will die too. Everyrhing dies..." The man's last words draw a sad note from his lute and then he stops breathing. Soon the instrument is the only thing left on the scene: the body too disappears under the dead leaves.
Daka holsters his weapon and stares at the remaining instrument "That's two people we've met in this gods forsaken place, and we killed both of them. This place messes with the mind, drives you crazy... homicidal even, and I'm not certain we haven't already succumbed to that darkness ourselves." He sighs and picks up the lute, trying desperately to drive that thought from his mind "This... This alone remains of the musician, much like the drunk's mug before. Perhaps the bard wasn't lying about needing a focus to stay strong here? Or perhaps it was their downfall?" He looks to the others "I just don't know what to think anymore! Do we keep moving aimlessly through this forest, or should we stop for a bit, try to gather our thoughts and make a plan?"
We need to come up with a plan. I've been admittedly wrong in charging off. Let's figure out what we have and what could help.
"Agreed." Daka says to Reyo as he turns the lute over to inspect the back "Well, I don't think this instrument can help us any. It seems perfectly ordinary." He sighs again and places it on the floor. Daka then waits for everyone to gather, and grasping his charred symbol of Sarenra, offers the healing light of the Dawnflower to his friends Forgive me Sarenrae, I have not been as patient as I should be.
"Do any of you feel that... that perhaps we are in some kind of shared dream? I can't say how long we have been wandering through this place, running a good portion of the time. Yet I feel no fatigue, no tiredness! Are all of you the same? Maybe we just need to find a way to wake up..."
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Heading over to join his companions, the druid frowns. "I'm inclined to agree, Reyo. Though I know this entire...place is wrong, I've not thoughts on how to change our situation. Perhaps a time of resting and regrouping will help us."
Looking towards Torcet, he inquires "Have you any suggestions?"
Sitting across from Daka, cross-legged, he begins pruning Leyafold.
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Torcet is momentarily lost in thought as he sees the man whither away into nothingness. He looks to Shirak as he calls his name, and speaks boldly. "Hear me out, it might sound crazy.. but what if Daka is right, and we are in some crazy sort of dream. And in death we find escape? Let's think about it. The man just disappeared out of here in death. And if this was a dream, surely we would not truly die in death?"
It's a good theory Torcet, but the only was of testing it seems quite... final. I'd prefer not to kill myself unless we have solid proof I wouldn't actually, well, die. Is there some way to confirm that this is a dream first?" Daka sits down, contemplating the situation "What would happen if one of us attempted to sleep? Can you dream in a dream? Would it cause us to wake in the real world? I don't know, but it might be a less drastic place to start."
"Why don't you try, while I pray? Shirak and I can keep watch for any dangers." Daka looks up at the grey skies while he rubs the holy symbol in his hand If only I could see the sun. "Maybe if you are unable to sleep, I could try later with you standing guard?"
I'll try to get a rest in, and then I can take watch. Those of you with magic, as I recall my studies, you need rest just to use you abilities well. I just need enough to not fall over onto my own blade! Reyo offers as she lies down.
"I need some peace for meditation too, but I don't feel it will be very useful if I have to keep watch at the same time. I didn't know how it is with praying." He eyes Daka and sighs. "I'll take first watch while you rest."
As Torcet and Reyo settle down and Daka immerses himself in silent prayer the silence of the forest presses down on you hard. At some point however a shout raises all of you from your rest. You see Shirak standing with his dagger out, pointing at the ground some distance away.
A new clearing has formed, and a writhing mass of stones, or at least stone-like worms, has risen in the middle. The mass seems unsure of what it must represent: one second it is a series of intertwined pedestals holding several ancient looking items, the next it resembles a writing desk with several heavy tomes upon it.
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"This place just keeps getting worse! Is...is this...real? Have I finally gone mad? Tell me you see this too!" screams the druid.
'Should I stab this? No...everytime we've seen the world warp there's been a man nearby!'
Shirak looks around to find the source, while keeping his weapon pointed at the strangeness.
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Torcet gazes at the mass with great intent, "For a moment, I assumed I was still dreaming."Why do I have a strange feeling? He says as he walks slowly curiously and cautiously towards it. As it continues changing shapes, Torcet looks nearby for stone/mass and flicks it towards the mass, while still walking slowly towards it.
Daka jumps up and stares at the strange goings on for a moment "Are you doing this?" he asks Torcet, more intrigued than anything else at the moment. He walks up beside Torcet to get a better look at the shifting forms "It's like those people before; what they desire, comes to be. First there was an everlasting stream of ale for the drunk, then a stage for the musician." He moves even closer to get a good look at a worm "Do either of you have an overwhelming desire read or examine strange artefacts?" he asks both Reyoris and Torcet.
All of the treasures..... Reyo starts to say, her words trailing off a bit. Yes, all of the artifacts, they were there! They were ours! We deserve them back! she says, fervently. Then a look of almost resigned relief passes over her face.
pieces of the material. If you touch some part of it it slithers around your fingers to rejoin the rest of the mass. The thing feels like rough leather, or what a rock would feel like if it was soft. You also think that the piece passes as much through your fingers as it goes around them.
Torcet's test does not produce any notable result. The stone-like mass continues changing with the same pace. However, there is also a change: the details of the two states start bursting in angry showers of "stone" before reshaping into the alternate form. The two states seem to be fighting one another as some parts of them start appearing simultaneously.
Daka looks to Torcet with concern "Calm down Torcet, Reyo! Remember, if this is happening because of you... Well, you could lose your minds to it like the others." Should I destroy it... in case we lose them? He takes a few steps back "This stuff it's made of; it's so strange! It feels like soft rock, sort of leathery, but I swear that some of it went straight through my hand when I touched it." Keeping a close eye on his friends, Daka closes his hand tightly over his charred symbol of Sarenrae.
As the mass shifts once more into the shapes of the artifacts she longs to find, her heart soars, to heights she's rarely felt. But the emotion lasts but a heartbeat as the scene shifts and settles again into the image of books and things.
Raaaaggggghhhhhh! Reyo cries out, her voice cracking with anger and frustration as it shifts. The next time the artifacts appear, Reyo dashes forward and attempts to grab the crown.
As the detective and the rogue dive into the shifting mass of stone-like fragments their presence seems to catalyze the formation of two centers in the chaotic occurrence. One holds the central piece that Reyo was aiming for in her leap. The other has a pedestal with a heavy, leather-bound tome on it, that almost jumps up into Torcet's outstretched hands. In the middle between the two forms a double tornado of flying rocks that fly at each other with lightning speed and produce the sound of two mountains rubbing together. A second later the rocks start producing sparks and seem as real as they can get.
Obviously you are enemies and only one can exist peacefully here!
Reyo let's out a howl of rage, before holding her hands in front of her, as if gripping a sphere slightly larger than her head. The rocks swirl to mimic her motion. With a snap, she pulls her fists back to her sides and lets loose a double uppercut, sending the rocks streaking towards Torcet's chest.
"Please stop this!" Daka stares at the duo in shock Their minds have been corrupted! Is this why everyone else here is alone? unsure of what to do, he prays to Sarenrae for guidance "Remember that you are allies!".
The shapes created by Reyo and Torcet clash and spray the vicinity with fragments. For the first time part of the rocks leave the chaotic area and disappear in the dead leaf cover of the forest floor. As the two continue creating shapes and throwing them at one another the available supply of rocks seems to decrease in volume.
Reyo shakes her head and looks down at her hands. What have I done?! she cries out, looking out at Torcet. Torcet! Snap out of it man! she says, as she takes a running leap away from the area of rocky chaos.