Nice map work Callum!
Kessel holds his attack until he sees the swarm.
Darie tensed up as the beetles began swarming towards the group, but knew that the fire she had conjured up needed to catch as many of them as possible. Thus, she held herself in check.
Once they got really close to her, at arms reach, she would unleash the flames again. But not before - no matter how horrible the bigger bug looked.
The large beetle falls between attacks from Loriel and Tobin, just leaving the swarm. The grouping of acidic beetles heads out and into the corridor, heading straight for the elf but not quite reaching him.
The swarm is still alive although very burnt and continues on it's way towards Loriel. He fires at the swarm with little appreciable effect.
"I don't have anything to burn them with," Tobin calls out, eyeing the swarm nervously. "If anyone else does, please use it now!"
"Darie Fry these pests!" Kessel cries as he pulls out his last vial of alchemist's fire.
Darie felt stunned as she released the flames again, but Kessels cry made her focus on the words of power again... shouted them out yet again, and felt them rush through her flesh, ripping at her inside.
She staggered, as the power left her. She was just... spend.
The remaining bugs of the swarm continue on their path towards Loriel.
Tobin looks at the swarm of beetles, then at his bow. Shaking his head, he drops it on the floor beside him. His hand goes briefly to the hilt of his rapier, but he leaves it where it is and starts digging in his pack for his lantern and oil.
Kessel Pulls out his final vial of alchemist's fire and throws it at the bugs:
Darie was sweating profoundly, and shouted out the words again, fanned out her fingers painfully wide... but no more flames erupted, no matter how much she tried.
She felt as if she was burning up inside, felt there was still fire, but just could not reach it, could not call and coax it forth. Things just did no longer align.
The intensely revolting smell to the sea of beetles moving along is bad enough to turn Kells stomach, but the sound of thousands of tiny, haired legs scritching across the floor made him want to vomit. Kells swung his hammer down, crashing into the sea of bug bodies. For a moment the sound of steel smashing carapaces into goo and ringing on the rock floor fills his ears and drowns out other sounds.
Between the alchemist's fire and the resounding smashing of Kells' hammer most of the swarm are destroyed and with a skitter the remaining few flee and hide themselves in cracks in the walls and floor.
"Phew," Tobin says, "I hope that's the last of them! Darie, you're amazing. We never would have got through this without your talents." Stepping gingerly through the charred remains of the insects, Tobin makes his way into the room that served as their lair. "I spotted some strange shapes in the orange sludge here," he says as he goes. "I wonder what they could be?"
"Phew," Tobin says, "I hope that's the last of them! Darie, you're amazing. We never would have got through this without your talents." Stepping gingerly through the charred remains of the insects, Tobin makes his way into the room that served as their lair. "I spotted some strange shapes in the orange sludge here," he says as he goes. "I wonder what they could be?"
"Let's investigate," Kessel says, "but let's not venture much father then this. I'm out of Alchemist's fire, and I think some of us are running low on magic. Great work everybody!"
Darie leaned her forehead against one of the walls, and sighed. "I've got the... oh damn, my head. Does it always hurt so badly? That's almost a curse by itself."
She pushed herself away, eyes pushed shut tightly. "Alright... don't hold back on my account, I'll just hold back for a while. Truth be told, I feel like dropping and sleeping for a day or so."
Kells nods in sympathy to Darie, then he lifts his hammer and looks at the bug juice dripping head. He pulls a gagging-face at the small hairy legs, goo, and exoskeleton bits covering it and drags the head across the floor a couple of times to clean it off.
Kessel follows Tobin into the strange bug infested room to investigate.
Tobin slips his goggles on and starts poking around in the orange goo.
Darie slowly approached the orange mass, still visibly worn down. "I think i really overdid things. People, would you horribly mind if i went back for the moment? I really don't feel so well."
Darie slowly approached the orange mass, still visibly worn down. "I think i really overdid things. People, would you horribly mind if i went back for the moment? I really don't feel so well."
"We should all go back together Darie," Kessel says, a hint of concern creeping into his voice, "lets find you a dry spot to sit down and rest. We'll look through this room and then we'll all head back together."
KELLLS!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!
The group investigate the sludge carefully, digging up a mummified hand and the skeletal remains of three human figures in soiled red armour, an eightpointed star symbol marks the left breast of each moldy suit.
One body has three potion bottles strapped to his belt and another has a small pouch on his belt that contains a single white pearl. The hand meanwhile has a a beautiful silver ring on one finger with an image of an angelic figure with outstretched wings etched upon it.
"Interesting," Tobin says, wiping his hands on his britches, "I suppose these fellows were grave robbers like us, only less lucky." He gives Darie a wink. "Does anyone recognise that symbol on their armour?" He holds one of the bottles up to his eyes and gently shakes it. "Do we have any way of working out what these might do?" he asks.
"These symbols look familiar, yes now that I think about it, they belong to a nefarious group of scholars and archeologists, interested more in plundering wealth and arcane knowledge then more traditional scholarly pursuits. They play with facts and findings to advance their own agendas. The Seekers I think they're called. Hmmm, we should keep this finding a secret, who knows who else has knowledge of this group, and we'd rather not have to deal with claims disputes as too who owns the rights to the values stored in this dungeon. Things have a way of finding their way back to them."
Darie looked ast the disfigured corpses, and looked a lot as if she was going to be sick right next to the bugs nest. She managed to control her stomach - just barely. "This is a lot less glorious than I hoped. We are not just taking things of people long turned to ash and dust, these people were here not... Ah... yes, I know. They won't need it anymore. But still."
"I suspect that much of everything is a lot less glorious then the tales make them out to be," Kessel says, clearly musing, "I went to bardic collage as you know, and I know how those tales where written. For finals I was forced to sit through the champion's games, a dreadful barbaric, messy, and clumsy thing, and at the end we were forced to compose something . . . actually it sickens me to think back. The Pandering.
"This," Kessel says with a wave of his hand, seeming to mean the dungeon, and possibly including Tobin's looting of the corpses, "is far more appealing to me then offering false flattery. I'd rather root through a ton of bug turds then add poetry to that pointless pounding.
"Besides," Kessel says, "we are making a difference my friends. These bodies tell us that the seekers were unsuccessful, they tried to pillage this place but they failed. There bodies tell us that this place has been a secret for years. I feel as though soon we may discover some corner that has been untouched for centuries . . . but not today, lets gather our things and return to our camp. Darie you look tired. Let's call it a day."
Darie nodded, sighing deeply. "I feel alright, we should go on." She was a horrible liar, with her eyes tearing up as it was, and her posture slumped.
"Alright, that was a lie" She admitted, blushing. "I'm sorry. But I don't want to be a drag." As she turned towards the bodies, and poked one with her weapon. "But I'd like to see the Champion's Games once. I could imagine the man from town looks pretty good all..." she stopped. That was entirely the wrong kind of thought, and she had not just thought it, but spoken it out aloud. She really was tired to let something like that slip.
Quickly tucking his findings away, Tobin smiles at Darie and heads for the doorway. "I agree with KC," he says, "let's get out of here. It's been a tough day for all of us, and I could do with a bit of a rest - without having to worry what might be lurking around the next corner! Let's head back to our lovely home-from-home, relax, and mull things over."